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VOLUME 40, ISSUE 9 FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2011

NYCor bust

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“Hey, hey, here we go,DaviessCounty” Thecheer thateveryoneheardonthenightofMarch4toget the Panthers basketball teamready for the big game againstBreckinridgeCounty. The boys had been pre-paringsince thebeginningof theseasontosucceedgreatly.Witharecordof23-4 the teamhaskeptupwiththatexpectation. “Theseasonhasbeenasuccesssofarandweareproudofthat,”seniorTylerLashbrooksaid. Aftergettingpastthedis-tricttournamentinaflash,theteamknewtheirnextgoalwastomakeittothestatetournament.Theyhavebeentryingtogetmotivatedmanyways. The thought of the seasonbeingdoneafterjustonelossisa

bigthought. Something that DC isknownforandhelpsgetourteamsmotivated is our school spirit.Along with the thought of goinghomeafteronelossisonemotiva-torbutthefactoflettingdownthefansisanotherthingthatgetsthempumped for the game. The morethe people there to cheer themon,themorepumpedtheguysaremakingthemplayharder. “Whenwehavealotoffansthere,ithelpsusgetpumpedandmakesusnotwanttoletthemdown,”juniorPaulWilkersonsaid. ThefansgavenoupsetintheRegionalchampionshipvictoryagainstMuhlenbergCounty,Tues-daynight. Theboysfoughthardun-tiltheendofthegamewitha64-63victory.

SWEET SIXTEEN awaits DC boysEmmalee RyanEntertainment Editor

DC’s Smith named Coach of the Year

AllphotosbyBrittanyGreeson

Basketball: seepg.14

Emily FergusonCopy Editor

“Tobecoachof theyear,youneed three things,” said Mr. CalebSmith, head boys’ basketball coach.“Numberone,youneedgoodplayers.Numbertwo,goodassistantcoaches.Andnumberthree,goodplayers.” CoachSmithwouldknowwhathe’stalkingabout, seeingashe is theMessenger-Inquirer2011CoachoftheYear. With the help of these good players andgoodassistantcoaches,CoachSmithledtheDaviessCountyboys’ basketball team to their victory in theboys’3rdRegionchampionship.Thisisonlythethirdtime inDChistory thatsuchmomentoussuccesshasbeenachieved.Thelasttimewasin2003. “He’sagreatcoach,”saidseniorChristianBelcher.“He’sbeenworkingonthisforthreeyears...

thisyear [theboys’basketball team] startedplayinghowhewantsustoplay...every-thingstartedclicking.” FellowplayerseniorJohn Allen agreed withBelcher’ssentiments. “He deservedit,hewasagoodcoachallyear,”Allensaid.“Hemadeuspracticehard;he never gave uponus.”See pg. 14

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After hours upon hours of studying and long, demanding prac-tices, the Academic Team finished out their season this past week-end at the state compe-tition in Lexington, Ky. Seniors John Tian and Emily Free, junior Logan Leathem and sophomore Ella Shipp com-peted in the meet. In order to ad-vance to state, all four students placed first or second at the re-gional meet in their respective cat-egories. The regional meet was

two weeks earlier at Apollo High School. Tian won science, Leath-em placed second in science, Free won composition, and Shipp won social studies and placed second in Language Arts. “I would have liked to have won Language Arts, but I’m friends with the winner and he is very smart, so I don’t mind coming in second so much,” Shipp said. Shipp, the youngest member of the varsity team, feels very excited and humbled to be able to be so competitive with people older than her. However, success doesn’t come at a low cost to Shipp or any of the team members. JV team practices were held every Monday until 4:30, and varsity practices were held every Tuesday and Thursday after school until 5. “I am constantly read-

ing books to study, current events magazines, and I often study packets,” Shipp said. “Ms. Koshy (the academic team coach) also gives us practice tests.” Shipp also juggled her time with track practice, which she attends almost everyday after school. At the state meet, the categories consisted of social stud-ies, science, math, Language Arts, Arts and Humanities, composition, future problem solving and quick recall. The top 10 place at state. “The crowd really gets into it,” Shipp said. “It’s a bit like the crowd at cross country state.” The Academic Team may go on to compete in the spring Vanderbilt meet, but is still unsure. Wherever they go next, the team-hopes to shine and bring back titles for the school.

Sydney SettleSports Editor

Academic Team takes regionals; state next

Look out, New York City. The concrete jungle is about to get a new set of dreams—those of 14 members of the Big Red Machine and Echoes staffs, March 15-20. Seniors Deron Millay, Morgan Katchuk, Sydney Settle, Brittany Greeson and Taylor Kratzer, juniors Kaely Holloway, Ashley Roethemeier, Brandyn Atherton, Jamie Adkins, Rachel Boles and Emmalee Ryan, sopho-mores Mackenzie Morris and Morgan Carrico and freshman Kaitlyn Hale were given the op-portunity of a lifetime: to go to New York City. However, it took powerful convincing. “I probably wouldn’t have gone if it wasn’t for the con-stant questioning from the staffs,” adviser Gail Kirkland said. The staffs aren’t going for the heck of it. They will attend the 87th national journalism con-vention at Columbia University. Attendees will wake ear-ly, take the subway to Columbia, attend journalism classes from 8 a.m until 3 p.m. daily. Students going can choose from 350 or more sessions organized in seven sequences: newspaper, yearbook, magazine, online media, video/broadcast-ing, law and ethics and advising. All seven sequences will run simul-taneously. However, New York City wasn’t her only choice for a jour-

nalism conference; she also con-sidered one in Anaheim, Calif. “I chose New York City because I know that the instructors at Columbia are the best of the best,” Ms. Kirkland said. “They al-ways bring something new every year and there are many schools who go every year.” Although the staffs at-tend primarily for the conference, Ms. Kirkland has a full agenda planned for them. The staffs will enjoy Broadway’s longest running show, “Phantom of the Opera.” They will also take a Gray Line Bus Tour throughout the city, tour Radio City Music Hall, visit the “Today Show” and “Fox and Friends” and enjoy the Big Apple’s night life. Look for DC basketball spirit signs on Thursday’s “Today Show.” Upon returning from the trip, students are expected to cre-ate an informative presentation for the staff members who weren’t able to attend. Ms. Kirkland is every bit as excited as her staffs. “It’s just a joy to show you around New York City and see the excitement on your faces,” Ms. Kirkland said. Ms. Kirkland also has high hopes for the students to come back inspired. “In a practical way— I hope my students come back with an increased passion for journal-ism, as well as an enriched cultural experience for being in New York City,” Ms. Kirkland said.

Deron MillayLifestyle Editor

Echoes, BRM staffs to study journalism in New York

Brittany Greeson

SLEEP OVER. Senior Sean Southard and other AYL members perform a skit in front of College View Middle School’s eighth grade class. The skits were part of a yearly project by the Academy of Young Lead-ers (AYL). Over the course of three to four days, AYL members from every high school in the area went to every middle school in town to talk about high school and being above the influence. Skits included a sleep over bit, gossip bit and several others. AYL is a city-wide high school leadership club. Members apply at the beginning of the year through guidance and are evaluated based on their application, ACT score and GPA.

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Bonjour. Veux aller pren-dre un café? For those who don’t speak French, it’s an invitation to get some coffee...and DC’s French Club has taken up the of-fer. Though the classroom setting is different and dry-erase boards are no where to be seen, school is in session at The Creme for students in French Club. “I thought of doing this several years ago and we held class at that time at Beyond the Brim. Since France has a lot of cafés and people meet there and talk over coffee, I thought that it would be perfect for us to go and practice our French in a ‘French’ atmosphere,” said Ms. Terri Coke, French teacher and club adviser.

Wintery weather and snow-days have so far blocked the club from going. However, the students still look forward to the event. Juniors Macauley Camp-bell, James Coy-Dibley, Cecily Stilley, Anna Coke, senior Jade Renfrow, Kayla Hutchason and Ms. Coke are attending. “We are going to go on a Wednesday during Panther Read and 2nd block, so we will have plenty of time—whenever it stops snowing,” Ms. Coke said. The club hopes to relax, drink coffee and do what they do best: chat in Français. “We just want a differ-ent, more relaxed environment to speak French in, because being in a classroom all the time gets really old,” junior Anna Coke said. “Drinking coffee and speak-ing French—just getting out of the classroom for a while!”

Morgan CarricoAds Manager

March 14• Pi Day• Scheduling with

advocateMarch 15• ACT for juniorsMarch 16• Girls’ basketball

banquet @ 6March 17• End of 9-week

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March 18• Grease spring

musical @ 7March 24• TB schedule for

Flex Friday slipsMarch 25• Flex FridayMarch 29• ACT make-up • Blood drive starts

(3 days, see Ms. Knight to register)

March 30• Club dayApril 1-8• Spring Break!

History reveals that protest and radical movements have changed the world. Just to name a few, the Protestant revolution, the push for women’s rights and the civil rights move-ment of the 1960s. Now in 2011, a whole new movement is beginning—fueled by social networking. It started with the over-throw of the Tunisian government and then the uproar continued on into Egypt and then Libya. It was a domino effect and lately the highlights of the news are centered on the protest in the middle east. The protest started because of mistreatment from government leaders. Civilians were infuriated by everything from lack of financial security in their countries, lack of freedom and a lack of overall hap-piness. The groups of people leading these pro-test had to be brave. They’ve had to stand for what they believed in even if it meant punishment. In many protest, citizens have been raped, beaten and some even shot. But what is most surprising is that accord-ing to Forbe’s magazine, 70 percent of them are un-

der the age of 25. Yes, it’s the youth that are fueling the changes. Young people tend to be known for re-bellion but what has been noted in many national newspapers is the overall respect that’s held for these young citizens. It comes down to taking a look at how these individuals are viewed by the youth of America. And to even hit closer to home, the youth of Owensboro. “I think it’s cool how the people in the Mid-dle East are using technology to organize rebellion against a totalitarian government. It’s raising our gas prices here in the U.S., but I’m glad for their free-dom,“ senior Adam Rumohr said. In addition to simple encouragement, teen-agers here in the states are posting Libyan flags on social networking sites as their profile picture to show their support. “I think it’s good that they are actually do-ing something about the unfair treatment they’ve ex-perienced. I admire it,” junior Brandyn Atherton said. As the protests in Libya continue, leader Muammar Gaddafi is still pressing hard. The use of the military fire has increased and so have casualties. It seems doubtful that he will back down anytime soon, but neither are the youth of Libya.

Brittany GreesonStaff Writer

DeronFRIEND FOR FFA WEEK. Students gather around to pet a furry guest in the lobby, who generated a flurry of interest. The horse was brought to school in celebration of FFA Week. Throughout the week students were able to participate in a variety activities courtesy of FFA: the tractor pull, corn hole, hay sack races and a Boston butt lunch—all very popular with the students and staff.

Youth of Middle East lead brave revolts against tyrants

Date

Students enjoy food, fun, French

Friday, March 11, 2011

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It has been debated whether dancing is a sport or not. Most people who say dancing is not a sport don’t real-ize how much physical activity is needed. Dancers spend almost ev-ery week perfecting their skills. They work hard, dedicate them-selves and have fun, too. “If you really want to dance you have to be 110 percent committed to it and you have to be able to push your-self in order to accomplish what you need to do,” freshman Ash-ton Davis said. Davis is a dancer at Joy Johnson’s Dance Studio along with junior Holly Rice who has been dancing for 16 years. Rice said she enjoys the adrenaline rush she gets when performing and says that danc-ing is her medicine. “When you get on the stage and start to dance, you have a feeling of accomplish-ment,” Davis said. With that feeling of ac-complishment and the adrenaline rush comes a lot of responsibility. Rice is at the dance studio five

nights a week at least, depend-ing on if they have an upcoming performance, which would mean even more nights at the dance stu-dio. “My least favorite thing about dancing is being sore and long practices, but I know this is all just part of it,” Rice said.

Not all dancers with a dance company however. Fresh-man Rachel Wallace started dancing seven years ago. She started at Joy Johnson’s and then made the DCMS dance team. “Our team worked our butts off every practice,” Wallace said.

Although Wallace is no longer a Pantherette, she is still an avid dancer, practicing three nights a week. Dancing is taken very seriously by these girls. They love what they do and work hard at it; however, they would be nowhere without their instructors.

“Instructors are there to critique and work us hard. If they didn’t, we would never be pushed to do the amazing things we are capable of,” Rice said. Davis agreed, saying that the instructors are there to help improve each dancer. “Dancing is in a league of its own. We are the level between a sport and an art form! Every sport out there has some kind of prop. Whether it be a soccer player and a soc-cer ball, or a basketball player and a basketball—dancers

don’t have a prop. Their prop is basically their body. It’s an art form because you use your body to portray art. So I think people need to understand that dancers work just as hard as an athlete to make what they’re doing seem easy and graceful. It’s not all pink ribbons and frilly tu-tus,” Rice said.

Kaitlyn HaleIntern

Dancing takes commitment

Daviess County has a doctor on campus. Ms. Angela Gunter recently aquired her doctorate in educational leadership from Western Kentucky University. “I was the first (person) to get a doctorate at West-ern; they’d never graduated a doctorate before,” Ms. Gunter said. “Mr. (Matthew) Constant got his doctorate right after me.” Ms. Gunter teaches English IV, Accelerated English III and AP Language here, then goes to OCTC to teach English 101 and 102. She chose her doctorate program and classes to enrich her knowledge for these subjects and English as a whole. “Most every one of my cohorts were getting their doctorate to get to a higher position or just to get somewhere else,” Ms. Gunter said. “I was one of few who wanted to stay where they are. I love my job and just wanted to learn more about it.” Getting her doctorate took three years of course work and a cummulative dissertation, which is a very large research essay. Ms. Gunter wrote her 20-plus page dissertation over the differences in teacher and student opinions about what encourages students to read. Mr. Constant was in several of her classes, giving her a partner and friend to team up with for projects and study sessions. “Mr. Constant was a huge motivator; we really helped each

other out along the way,” Ms. Gunter said. The moment of truth came on President’s Day, Feb. 16. Ms. Gunter went up to WKU to present and defend her dissertation and thesis in front of a board of directors. “It was so nerve racking, they really grilled you about your thesis. Then I sat outside waiting on pins and needles,” Ms. Gunter said. “They finally opened the door and said ‘Will Dr. Gunter please come in’ and then the jumping started!” Student reaction to the news was more than welcomed by Ms. Gunter. Several students in her AP Language class set up a small party (including cake) for her the day she came back. Senior Sean Southard took the job of informing as many people about the party as possible. “She definitely deserved it,” senior Madison Wathen said. “She’s an inspiration to everyone.” Her new title is still taking some getting used to, even though she has been called “doctor” by several of her past students. She, how-ever, won’t require her students to call her Dr. Gunter. Students can call her what they choose, even if it is Dr. Ms. Angela Gunter (a nickname given to her by former student Adam Hancock). “It’s still weird,” Ms. Gunter said. “I guess it’s true now. I really am (Dr. Ms. Angela Gunter).”

Kaely HollowayNews Editor

““

I was the first (person) to get a doctorate at Western; they’d never graduated a doctorate before.

- Ms. Angela Gunter

Gunter earns doctorate

HAPPY DOCTOR DAY. Ms. Angela Gunter blows out the candles of a cake given by her students, celebrating the earning of her doctorate. The students threw a surprise party in honor of Ms. Gunter’s accomplishment.

Deron

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Dancing takes commitment

A fresh new face is roaming the halls at DC. Say hello to new guidance counselor Sallie Bullock. Ms. Bullock will be tak-ing over most of Ms. Marcia Car-penter’s previous duties, including E-J counseling, working with com-pass testing, junior advocates, GSA and GSP, as well as OCTC classes. Her history at DC goes back to the days when she was a student herself. She’s a DC gradu-ate and even attended school with journalism teacher Ms. Gail Kirkland’s sons. “I love being back; I had a good experience when I was here in high school. There are a lot of familiar faces. This is my first counseling job so it’s nice to be a counselor at my own school. It’s my little dream job,” Ms. Bullock said. After graduating from DC, Bullock continued her edu-cation at UK, majoring in social

studies. Following UK she taught at Henry Clay High School in Lexington while she went back for another degree in guidance counseling from Morehead. But there is much more to Ms. Bullock than just her edu-cational background and every-thing to do with school. She’s a person with real hobbies and as-pirations. She’s a new mom with a one-year-old, was a swimmer in high school, is involved in her church, enjoys video games and plays the piano. She’s someone that students can get to know and she hopes to stay here. “Even though right now I’m an temporary counselor filling in, I hope to keep the position. I love all of the students. They have been so polite and appreciative. The teachers have also been helpful. Everyone in the office is a Godsend. They’ve had a lot to pick up until I make the transi-tion,” Ms. Bullock said. So far it’s not known if Ms. Bullock will be back next year, but one can only hope.

Ms. Bullock’s

Fun Facts:


DC welcomes newguidance counselor

‘Benvenuti’ to America The best of both worlds. Cliché Hannah Montana lyrics? Think not. It’s the experience Benne Saulini had when her Italian family stayed with her American host home family, the Carmons. Saulini’s mother Irene, 14-year-old sister Beatrice and brother Nicoló traveled to visit her. Flying into the U.S., they headed straight to see Benne, or as they call her back in Rome, Bennedetta. “The first night my family was here we had fried chicken, American food; other nights we cooked Italian for everyone, my host family, too,” Saulini said. For Saulini’s mother, the experience wasn’t surprising; her older daughters have also been ex-change students in the U.S. However, for Nicoló, the trip wasn’t what he expected. “He (Nicoló) thought it would be a lot smaller,” Saulini said with a small laugh. “Like, one school and two houses.” However, the entire family got to share the city—and Evansville—with Saulini. “We went shopping for my prom dress, and my family got to see my baptism...A lot of people here share with me, so I thought it would be special to have them here to see it,” Saulini said. During school hours, Saulini’s sister came to DC with her to experience what an exchange would be like, and her brother visited a local middle school. Neither plan on being an exchange student when they are old enough. So did seeing her family after so long make Saulini more homesick now that they’re gone? “Not really, I’m more of an independent person...I want to go to school here, in the U.S., too...we talk on Skype and Facebook, too,” Saulini said. Saulini plans on attending an American high school for another year in order to better learn English and get either a volleyball or academic scholarship. “There are two ways to be able to stay. Hopefully it will all work out,” Saulini said.

Morgan CarricoAds manager

1. She likes to travel.

2. She’s an awful cook

and has to follow every

step of a recipe to get it

right.

3. She played in the band

in high school.

4. People say she is a

good listener.

BRM asked:

Where do you want to travel if you had the opportunity?

Egypt senior Blakely Keith

Australia freshman Chase Whitmore

Zimbabwe sophomore Mason Carter

Hawaii junior Emily Zoglmann


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Every teenager hates waking up in the morning. It’s a fact. Every teenager also spends at least 10 minutes picking out what they will be wearing for the day because it’s high school—what they look like matters. So why not make it easier? Uniforms are the answer. What’s wrong with uniforms? What’s wrong with students looking cute and dapper everyday? With Gossip Girl and Harry Potter all over teenager’s brains, it stands to reason they would want to imitate them. Start with the uniforms! A cute sweater, tie and skirt combo will look precious on everyone and no one would complain if all the guys wore hot blaz-ers, Dalton Academy style. It just makes everything feel cleaner and more professional. To all of those who say “I like being an in-dividual!” Newsflash: this is high school. Save being an individual for college where mature decisions are the cool thing to make. Those “individuals” are the ones who are in the office crying be-cause what they were wearing was too inappropriate, and they have to call mommy to bring them something that’s suitable for school. So many problems would be solved if students didn’t have so much stress on their shoulders, so let’s lift one of the many trifling stresses: Clothing. It’s so hard to keep up with what’s cool and in style and what everyone else is wearing. So why bother? Uniforms fix that problem. Also, some people can’t afford what’s cool or in style according to the rest of popu-lous, so let’s eliminate that cause of bullying. Slap a uniform on them and they’re just as cool as everyone else; not that they already weren’t. So much money can be saved by only having to buy a couple articles of clothing in fall and then a couple in spring. Besides, mix and matching is the new thing. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to walk down the hallways and hear students complimenting each other on their mix and match choice? “I love how you wore that blazer, tie, skirt combo.” “Thank you! I love your sweater vest long sleeve button up.” Peace, harmony and uniforms. Keep it classy, DC.

The dress codes at this school are a bit more than strict. The official dress code states that shorts, skirts and dresses must be no more than two inches above the knee, but many still get in trouble for anything that’s above the knee. The issues with this dress code really restrict

girls from expressing their sense of style, which is a part of who they are. Now, there does need to be some restrictions. Nobody can really say they’re expressing their sense of style or who they are by wearing tube tops and short shorts that are most likely from Abercrombie & Fitch. Dress code causes much controversy. However un-fair the dress code may be, the school should not turn to uni-

forms as an alternative or a solution. There are bet-ter options to please the conservative staff and expressive students when it comes to dress code.

Shorts, skirts and dresses should still be two inches above the knee, BUT students should be allowed to wear shorter clothing as long as

the legs are completely covered. Many outfits can be seen that combine mid-calf shorts, skirts or dresses with col-ored tights or leggings. With these colored tights or leggings underneath, the legs are completely covered and cannot be seen. There are different kinds of tights, but rules can be made

to explain which kinds of are appropri-ate. An example would be banning fishnets. As long as the leg is covered (un-less the bottoms are two inches above the knee) students would be fine. Administrators clearly think that the leg is horrible to show, but stretching this rule gives girls way more of a chance to express themselves.

Uniforms would restrict creativity and free-dom of expression. This is a public high school, not a private school. That offers more rights to expression. Uniforms would also create unnec-essary expenses. Some students have a hard enough time covering school fees; adding up to $50 extra would be a problem. Overall, something needs to be done about

the dress code. It’s insanely too strict and teach-ers “attack” students for being even half an inch above the two inch rule. In that particular situation, the girl’s legs were not visible at all under thick, grey tights. Bottom line, cut students some slack or

alter the dress code.

Uniforms

Uniforms Free StyleEmbry LuallenEditor-in-Chief

Kaely HallowayNews EditorT

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Black and white. Happy and sad. Tall and short. There are so many opposites in the world—including people, their morals and who they hang out with. People will never be able to agree with the world’s other inhabitants. Seeing eye to eye was never meant to be; humans were made to be individualistic. Moreover, a person isn’t going to be friends with everyone they meet. However, how we, as teenagers, as teachers, as moms and as dads, deal with our differences MATTERS. It could be a classroom debate or heat-ed conversation—the scene and situation doesn’t matter. Yelling loudly over others or calling their thoughts wrong is disrespectful. Seeing something differently because of personal ethics or ex-periences doesn’t make the opposite wrong OR right. If someone said your belief was wrong, how would you feel? Maturity level has a lot to do with the defensive speaker. A feeling of being at-tacked is frequent, and people think sputtering a blunt rebut-

tal will suffice. For the opposer of the topic, make sure words don’t sound offensive. In addition, don’t be only closed-mind-ed. Hold ground but don’t hold too tight so that change isn’t possible. Being prejudiced isn’t cool with race, and it certainly isn’t with opinions either. Agree to disagree. A simple little saying that can conquer controversy. Be able to handle saying, “I don’t agree, but I respect what you think, too.” Respecting a difference isn’t just about big issues like abortion or the death penalty or re-ligion. Friends, enemies and frienemies alike need to be kinder. Don’t take that as advice to act overly sugary sweet, though. Being fake or two-faced is a whole other story. Still, saying a neutral hello rath-er than looking the other way or holding a door at the top of the stairwell will not kill anyone. No

lie. Highly unlikely students will ever see the same

way or be best friends, sit-ting in a circle and singing

kum-ba-ya. However, peo-p l e CAN look at each other

and appreciate that they aren’t the exact same.

Almost every girl has dreamed of being a ballerina when she was young. But it’s not all Sugar Plum Fair-ies and Swan Queens. Dancers go through tons of mental and physical hardships. Is it really worth it?

Dancing is a great form of exercise, a good way to tell a story and express emotions. It also has its downfalls. Dancers suffer from all sorts of injuries such as knee, shoulder and foot injuries. Dancing can be as hard mentally as physically. Some dance instructors tell their dancers that they aren’t skinny enough to fit a costume and that they need to go on a diet. This causes some dancers to go to extreme measures like not eating. This has caused some mothers to make their dancers quit. Dancers who are serious about dancing tryouts for the dance company, which is like a junior varsity or varsity team. Dancers in the Joy Johnson Dance Company practically live at the studio, spending almost every night at the dance studio. It stops them from trying something new in school, even joining a club. It also increases the stress of school work. Most of the dancers don’t get home until late at night, which de-creases the amount of time for homework. Dancers can kiss their sum-mers goodbye. The Joy Johnson’s Dance Company travels to Chi-cago for two weeks during the summer to participate in “Jazz on Tap” and then after that they have five weeks of the “Summer Inten-sive Program.” While this is a good experience, some people wait for summer all year and don’t want to spend it in a dance s t u -dio. D a n c i n g requires dedication, no question about it, and dancers are admired for being so dedicated. After a while though, it can overtake a dancer’s whole life. A teen’s life should be a balance of commitments, fun and happy times. It comes down to personal choice. Some choose to dance, some don’t.

Emily Ferguson Copy Editor

Sometimes Sally just wishes she had some earplugs. In all honesty, Sally has actually brought earplugs to school before—she simply couldn’t stand listening to other people’s conversations on the bus rides there and home. Maybe it’s just Sally and her sweet vir-gin ears, but she wonders how many other people have ever—completely by accident—overheard someone else’s conversation and immediately wished they had been wearing the thickest pair of earmuffs imaginable. Here are a few examples of what poor Sally has had to put up with: just the other day, she had the honor of listening to two girls sitting next to her discuss their oh-so-riveting sexual excur-sions. Another time, while waiting in line at lunch, Sally was subjected to the exasperating torture of

some people laughing about how they couldn’t remember what they’d done that weekend, they had been so drunk. Or high. Maybe both. The thing that most people don’t seem to realize is the fact that, when speaking in a normal tone of voice in a quiet classroom, people can ac-tually hear them. People like Sally, who really don’t care to know what so-and-so’s boyfriend said or which of the choicest expletives were screamed in righ-teous anger. So for Sally’s sake, and all the others like her, have a little self-awareness, people. Have a little decency. No one is forbidding anyone from speaking of their sordid affairs with their confidantes, but please, realize that NO ONE ELSE WANTS TO KNOW. Those like Sally who haven’t thrown away their morals and self-respect really don’t appreciate the mental pictures or ex-panded vocabulary.

Individuals need to learn to make light of differences

Heard in halls—shocking!

Dancing hardships seem to be more

than sore feet Kaitlyn HaleIntern

The life of a 17-year-old isconstantly changing physically,mentally,emotionallyandjustaboutanyotherwaythereistochange. Foryears, celebritieshavehadamajorimpactonpeople’slives.Infact,forcenturiesnow,theprominentoftheworldhaveinfluencedtheev-erydayperson inmoreways thanone, includingbothgoodandbad. Celebrity influencesseemtohavenega-tive connota-tions along-side them,butthat is not al-waysthecase. “ Idon’t wantto end uplike CharlieSheen,” se-nior MadolynSmithsaid. Smith says situations like Sheen’s areevenmoreofanencouragementtostayawayfromdrugs,asaresituationslikeLindseyLohan’s. “I don’t think all influences are bad,”Smith said. “You can learn from celebrity’s mis-takes.” SmithalsosaysathleteslikeRyanHallin-fluenceherinanextremelypositiveway. “IwanttorunlikeRyanHall,”Smithsaid.“That’sdefinitelyaninfluenceinagoodway.” Television shows like “Jersey Shore,”though,doseemtohavemoreofanegativeeffectonteenagers. “Showslike‘JerseyShore’influencehowkidstalk(inabadway),”Smithsaid. Ontheflipside,however,celebritieswhoportraycharityworkhelpencourage teens tobeproactive.OnJustinBieber’s17thbirthday,which

wasMarch1,hewantedpeopletodonatetohiscleanwatercharityratherthansendinghimgifts. As far as the way teens dress and eat,Smithsayscelebritiesdonotaffectthatpartofherlife,butsaystheydoforotherteenagers. “I thinkcelebrities influence thewaywedresstoacertainextent,”freshmanAmeliaReyn-olds said. “We look to them for the latest trendsandfashion.” ReynoldsandSmithagreethatcelebritiesdonotaffect their eatinghabits inanyway, liketheydotosometeens. “I’dsaycelebritieshavealotofnegativeeffectson teenagers,but thereare somepositiveones,too,”Smithsaid.

Shewentontogive someex-amples of theseinfluences theyportray. “Things likedrugs, alcoholandsexscandalsencourage teensto stay away sothey don’t getmixed up in thesame type of

thing,”Smithsaid. Celebritiesseemtohaveamuchstrongereffect on girls than on guys, according to juniorWesleyMorris. “Girlsatleastcaremoreaboutcelebritiesthanguysdo,”Morrissaid. Morris thinksguysareinfluencedbyce-lebritiesinsomeways,butnotineatinganddress-inghabits,forthemostpart. “LilWaynetalkingaboutsexanddrugsmakesguysthinkit’sgood,”Morrissaid. Morristhinksathletescaninspireteensaswellaspushthemtodothingssuchassteroidstotrytogettotheelitelevel. Celebrities have always had an impactonteensinthisareaaswellasacrosstheworld.Whethertheinfluencesbegoodorbad,theyareoutthereforthetaking.

Thereisthatonemodelinthatmagazinewhohasperfecthair,makeupandtheexactbodytypeyouwishyouhad.ThereisthatoneTVshowwhereeveryonegetscrazyandalwaysseemstobehappy.Theyhavethelifeyouwishyouhad.Then,thereisthatonemusicianwiththecaptivatingvoiceandlisteningtothemjustmakesyouwanttodance. Music,TV,magazines.Theyallhaveaninfluenceonthelivesofteenagers.Asateenagersit’salmostimpossibletogetawayfromthemedia,especiallywiththeeaseofbeingpluggedin24/7withsmartphones.Asteenagersinthemosttenderyearsoflife,it’simportanttodecidewhetherthisinfluenceisnegativeorpositive. Whattendstostayintheheadlinesinblogsandnewspapersisthenegativeimpactthemediacanhaveontheyouth.Associetychangesintoamorepromiscuousandself-servingsociety,themediamaytendtoreflectthatsociety.Theysay‘youarewhatyoueat’butareyouwhatyouwatch,listentoandsee? “Ithinkthatthemediahasmoreofaneffectonpeoplethantheyrealize.Forexamplewhenkidsareexposedtoviolentgamesitmakesthemwanttoplaymoreviolentgames,andsometimesmakesthemwanttogooutanddoitinreallife,”JuniorBrandynAthertonsaid. Eventhoughthefocusinthepastdecadehasbeenpointedtowardhowthemediacaninfluencethewayteensthinkabouttheworld,ithasalsobecomehighlyevidentthatitaffectsthewayteensfeelaboutthemselves.Forinstance,eatingdisordersareoftencausedbyskewedimages.Theseskewedimagescanbecausedbyviewingamodel’sbodyasideal,perfect,attainable. “America’sNextTopModelmakesmewant to loseweight. I feel like that ishowtheirbodiesaresupposedtobe.Ihavebeendesensitizedtobodyproportionsandit’smademeconsciousofmyweight.It’slikemagazinestendtotellyouthatyouhavetobethissizetofitinandthishasmademewanttobeacertainsize,”JuniorBrittanyBolingsaid.“Idon’tthinkIshouldfeellikethat.Idon’twantlittlekidstolookuptosuperskinnypeoplebecauseit’snothealthy.Youareyouandyoushouldn’tchangeyourimage.“ It’sapparent that thefaçadethemediapresents isobvioustoviewers.Teenagersknowthey’rebeinginfluencedandsotheycantakethebravestepstofixit.Butthemediaisn’tallevil.Someteensagreethatthemediacanactuallyhaveanreverseeffectonthem. “Idon’tfeellikeI’minfluencedmuchbyTV.EvenwhenIwatchshowslike‘JerseyShore’ithasanoppositeeffectonme.Iwouldneverwanttoactlikethosepeople.Also,IthinkthatTVshowsstretchthetruth.Theytendtooverexaggeratethingssoviewerswillwatchmore,”JuniorJaysieCampbellsaid. Themediawillpresentanidealversionoflifeortheywilltellteenstobethemselves.Thetypeofinfluencethemediahas,however,isleftuptotheviewer.Onwhomwillthemedialeaveitsfootprint?

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Sydney SettleSports Editor

Noonelikestobealoneandthatgoesdoubleforteenagers,butwhodotheytakearoundeverywhere?Theirfriendsofcourse.Aretheysuretheirfriendsarethebestinfluence,oreventherightpeopletobehangingaround?Well,someseniorsarespeakingupabouthowtheirfriendsinfluencethem. “Idefinitely thinkmy friends influencemebecause I’maround themmore. I’malwayswith themso,obviously, they’llhaveaneffectonme. Igo tomyfriendsbeforeanyoneelseforadviceandthingslikethat,”EmilyRobbinssaid. Sheisn’ttheonlyonewhofeelstheirfriendsaffecttheirbehavior,spendingasmuchtimeaspossiblewiththem. “Myfriendsdefinitelyinfluenceme;I’maroundthemallthetime,we’reintothesamethings.I’mmorelikelytodosomethingmoreadventurouswithmyfriends,”KaitlynBartlettsaid. However,MadisonWathendoesn’tthinkherfriendsinfluencedeverythingabouther,includinghermusicandtasteinmovies.Whenaskedifshefeltinfluencebyherfriendsonhermusictaste,sheexpressedherindividuality. “Honestly,no,becauseIfeellikethat’sonedepartmentwhereI’mdifferentfrommyfriends,”Wathensaid. Bartlett doesn’t agree, she thinks her music taste and interests have changeddrasticallybecauseofherfriends. “Ifitwasn’tforMadisonWathenIwouldstillbelisteningtoGarthBrooksandKennyChesneyeverydayofmylife,”Bartlettsaid. Robbinsalsobelieveshermusichorizonshavebeenbroadenedbyherfriends. “IhavealotoffriendsthatlistentometalandIusedtohateit.Imean,Idon’tlikeitorlistentoitnowbutIdon’tcompletelyhateitlikeIusedto,”Robbinssaid. Butaretheythebestinfluencetobearound?Somefriendshavethebestofinten-tionsbutitdoesn’talwayscomeacrossthatway. “Idon’tthinkmyfriendsareabadinfluence.Like,Idon’tthinkthey’rebadpeo-plebuttheysometimesmakebaddecisionsandIcanlearnfromthem,”Bartlettsaid. Robbinsdoesn’tsharethesamefeelings.Althoughshedoesn’tthinkherfriendsarethedefinitionbadinfluenceshestillthinkssomeofthechoicestheymakewillnotinflu-encehers. “Sometimestheyjustmakesomewrongdecisions,butIusuallymakemydeci-sionsbasedonme,butIalwaysgotothemfirstforanything,”Robbinssaid. Wathenisn’tquitesurewhetherherfriendsaregoodorbadbutsheknowsshelearnsalotfromthem. “Myfriendsdefinitelyinfluencemewhetheritbegoodorbad.Idefinitelylearnwhatnottodofromthem,”Wathensaid. Althoughshedoesmakesuresheissurroundedbygoodcompany. “Itrytosurroundmyselfwithpeoplewhosharethesamebeliefs,”Wathensaid. Whenaskedwhethertheirpersonalityhasbeenchangedoralteredbecauseoftheirfriends,theyallrepliedwithapositiveyes. “Ithinktheymakemypersonalitybetter.I’mmorewillingtobeoutspokenwithmyfriendsthenwhenI’mbymyself.Likeifit’sjustmeI’mguardedandsecluded,”Bartlettsaid. Wathentendedtoagree. “Idefinitelyactdifferentlyarounddifferentpeople.I’mnotthesamepersonwhenI’maroundmyfriendsthanotherpeople.I’mmoreoutgoingwhenI’mwithpeopleIfeelcomfortablewithandwon’tjudgemeforactingacertainway,”Wathensaid. Robbinsstateditperfectlyhowherfriendsinfluencedherpersonality. “OverallmyfriendsmakemethepersonIam,”Robbinssaid.

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Friends change eachother for the better

...ofcelebrities,surroundings,friendsandeventhemedia.Butwhat influencesaregoodandwhich are bad? Students tell how they feelabouthowtheyarebeingswayed.

Media projects false images of perfection

makes students set unreachable goals

Embry LuallenEditor-in-Chief

“ “I don’t want to end up like Charlie Sheen.

- Madolyn Smith, senior


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The Ohio River, which has been providing Ow-ensboro with fame, could become the city’s downfall. It’s been eroding the waterfront and coming dan-gerously close to immersing the streets in water. A federal $40 million was granted to the city to construct a steel con-tainment wall to prevent further erosion. The money provided an inspiration in civic lead-ers to restore and revitalize downtown. Since World War II, leaders of the city have wanted to transform the area into a more tourist attractive place. Lacking the financial means to do it, though, the idea was con-tinually pushed away. The federal dollars convinced leaders that if they work together they could discover a way to make a redesign possible. They strived for an urban con-cept known as place making, whose goal is to make an area so important that all kinds of different people want to congregate there. “We want people to come for schools, busi-ness, retirement and all areas of life. We want it to be a cool place,” Owensboro City Manager Bill Parrish said. A plan for the redesign effort was presented in 2008 and in 2009 was officially approved by local city

and county commissioners. They immediately began work on the project. They increased local taxes and have raised $20 million from the county and $59 million from the city. This provides the $79 million needed to begin the project. The plan intends to improve the quality of the community economically and socially. New businesses and centers will create jobs for community citizens. This in-cludes high school students who will have many new part-time jobs available to them. The plan should also bring in

many tourists, which will affect local businesses positively, bringing them more customers. It will also provide enter-tainment, giving people something to do on the weekends.

The highlight of the revitalization, the events cen-ter, currently is in design phase and is estimated to cost $27 million. The multi-purpose indoor events center will be 40,000 to 70,000 square feet and is planned to open in 2013. It will be available to accommodate concerts, conventions, conferences, sports competitions and other events. A pedestrian walkway is also planned, going di-rectly through the heart of downtown Owensboro. In addi-

tion, an Arts Academy, Farmers Market, museum, hotel and other attractions are slated to be built. Improvements have already been made by local entrepreneurs, Larry and Rosemary Conder. The couple purchased several downtown buildings and have been repairing them. They currently own a gift shop, coffee house, a bar and rentable condos. Downtown is going through a massive transfor-mation, hoping to use the Ohio River as a foundation for greater economic and social status. “I think that in any town the downtown area con-tains the heart, soul and history. Those are the places people enjoy seeing because they are unique to a town.

We have a natural asset in our town, (the Ohio River)” said English teacher Nancy Skiadas, whose husband owns and operates a downtown restaurant—The Bistro.

Ali ThompsonIntern

Riverfront transformation costly

“ “We want people to come for schools, business retirement... We want it to be a cool place

- Bill Parrish

Owensboro is a growing town with many new restaurants coming on to the scene. Japanese restaurants, in particular, have been popping up all over the city. Shogun, Fuji, Ninki’s and now Pan Asian have opened lo-cally. Pan Asian is unique, though, offering both Japanese and Chinese cuisine. Located in Wesleyan Plaza between Kroger and Five Guys, Pan Asian opened last fall. Their Japanese food includes sushi and hibachi style, while their Chinese food includes szechuan and hunan style. Szechuan is known for its bold flavors, be-ing sweet and spicy. Hunan style is planer; it’s spicy and dry. The restaurant is very pretty and the atmo-sphere nice. It’s decorated elegantly and the furni-ture gives off a high class air. There was a problem, however, with the small restaurant’s design. The door

was located in the middle of the room, swinging open directly to the tables. Every time a new guest arrived every customer would receive a blast of cold air, knocking the breath out of them. The service is not worth five stars. The wait was forever long for drinks, food, a check and all other services. Guests had to find an employee and complain just to receive a waiter. Apologies were made by the short staffed employees, but nothing was done to fix the problem. A line of over 20 peo-ple accumulated due to the wait and mix-ups with the meals. The food was absolutely delicious. It may have taken a while, but it was warm and fresh. The chicken was cooked to just the right point and sea-soned perfectly. The rice tasted heavenly and the vegetables were delicious. The food could have pleased the most judging food critic. The food was also displayed beautifully. The plates came from the kitchen looking as if a professional designer had organized the food in to a work-of-art masterpiece. The restaurant has high and low points. So is Pan Asian the place to go or totally whack?

Ali ThompsonIntern

Pan Asian offers slowservice, delicious food HOT

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The Cheshire Cat, The Mad Hatter, Twiddle-Dee and Twiddle-Dum—everyone’s favorite will come to life at the RiverPark Center through Owensboro Dance Theatre (ODT). A school performance of “Alice Returns to Won-derland” will occur on Friday, March 18. On the night of Saturday, March 19 will be the public performance. Tickets can be purchased at the RPC box office. Four DCHS students will have a role in the sequel to the classic “Alice in Wonderland” as a part of ODT: freshmen Jena Thompson and Ashton Davis and juniors Holly Rice and Jaysie Beth Campbell. Campbell holds the character of the always-mischevious Cheshire Cat, Davis plays an animal and Rice holds several roles. “During Act I, I’m in Trowage, ‘the victorious’, Jay-sie and I are duet soloists in Swan Lake, Jon Lehrer’s piece; “Hearth”, Tap, and Sound Effects, which includes the entire company. In Act II I’m a forest animal,” Rice said. Each dancer has a part of the production they look forward to the most. “Well this year the costumes are all new, outra-geous, and very colorful! The music is very different this year as well; some of the music comes from the new movie that just came out,” Campbell said.

Rice comments on the overall feeling of the up-coming ODT performance. “(My favorite part is) the dreamy and crazy atmosphere...the adrenaline rush I get when performing in front of a full audience, and no school,” Rice said with a smile. Stage fright? Not for these ladies, who are regu-lars on the dance scene. “...but I still get butterflies and I like that feeling,” Campbell said. Rice uses a different method. It’s not really the “picture the audience in their underwear” tac-tic most people think of, though. “I just try my best not to think about it too much. Some people don’t look out into the audience but I make fun of the scary situation by picking like one person in the audience to look at. And I always keep a serious at-titude before a performance because I don’t want to lose

my character,” Rice said. However, before the dancers can enjoy the thrills

of being on stage, they slave to the expression “practice makes perfect.”

“It takes a lot of work in order to pre-pare for any performance. Dancers must put in many hours of rehearsal time in order for a production to look its best,” Davis said. “I think that once you get on stage you realize that all of the rehearsals were completely worth it. It makes you feel so much more ac-complished once you realize that each

and every rehearsal became a reason the performance went as well as it did!” Campbell thinks her

love for dance makes the hours devoted worth it as well.

“If it takes working our buns off to make an awesome show, then its worth it. Nothing is more satisfying than all us dancers be-

i n g on stage, taking our bows and t h e people in the audience are on their f e e t , have smiles on their faces, and are clapping. That’s when we all know that our hard work was really worth it,” Campbell said.


In large cities, visitors will notice that many people travel by bike. Biking is becoming a very popular way of transportation throughout the world. One group in Owensboro, Bicycle Owensboro, a non-profit organization created by Da-vid Burden, has plans to extend biking routes throughout the city.

Bicycle Owensboro “is a group dedicat-ed to creating a friendlier, healthier, greener Owensboro through bicycling. We advocate

for safe bike routes throughout the city and sur-rounding areas of Daviess County. Part of our mis-

sion is promoting bicycle safety education for young and adult cyclists,” according to their Facebook

page. “I think there are a number of benefits,” se-nior Sean Southard said. “One, you have

people getting involved in local government, in order to bring about a change

they think is needed. Two, you have a healthy initiative. Biking

is great for your health, whether it be for exercising or relaxing. It also makes Owensboro stand out as a city, you know? We have this option for our citizens, other cities may not.” Southard found out about Bicycle Owensboro through a family friend, Patricia McKeegan. She and a group of adults (the administrators listed on the Facebook group) began Bicycle Owensboro as a way of improving access to the green belt and as a way of encouraging younger and older bikers to get out and ride. “She is one active woman,” Southard said. “She loved the Green Belt, but was frustrated because there lacked a way to get to it (the Green Belt) from anywhere in the city.” Bicycle Owensboro’s goal is simple: get more people to ride bikes. They plan to extend routes from West Fifth Street all the way to Daniels Lane. A final decision has not been made to extend biking routes, but until then, Bicycle Owensboro will keep teaching bike safety to anyone willing to learn. “I, too, was frustrated when I moved from Philpot to Owensboro, to see I couldn’t access the Green Belt easily,” Southard said. “My brother and I, along with some friends, would hop on our bikes in the summer and make long treks to get to the Green Belt on the main roads, which could be dangerous. Once we were pulled over by a policeman.” Bicycle Owensboro has recently met with Daviess County Judge Executive Reid Haire, regarding “Share the Road” signs on some county roads leading into the Greenbelt. They also discussed improving the safety of bicyclists on Fairview Drive near the Greenbelt and around US 231 and Old Hartford Road/Hill Bridge Roads. They are just at the begin-ning of their plans.

Alex AndersonPeople Editor

Bike paths becoming more prominent

ODT brings classic ‘Alice’ to lifeWonderland tumbles onto RiverPark stage


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Toallgirlswholooktoplaythegame-thegamethatev-erygirlhaswantedtowinwhen-ever they are told “don’t hatetheplayer,hatethegame”...hereisthekey. Steve Harvey’s book“Act Like a Lady, Think Like aMan”istheguidetotheinsideofaman’sschemes. The book is brokendownintochapters,mosttitledwith the questions that everywomanasks.Forexample;chap-ter8stitleis‘WhyMenCheat.’ Harvey’s book is oneofNewYorkTimesbestsellers.Itisveryaddictingtoreadalltheanswersnevergivenfromaguywhen they’re asked the ques-tions. “ActLikeaLady,ThinkLikeaMan”isaverygoodbookto read if you are a lady NOTwantingtobeplayed.

Thebookiswrittento-wardsanolder,morematureau-dience,butthat’snottosaythatitwon’tprepareyou for futurerelationshipsifyouareateen. Harveywrotehisbookfroma talk showhehas, calledthe “Steve Harvey MorningShow.” He had done a sectioncalled the “Strawberry Letter”whereheaskedpeopletosendinquestionsabouttheirrelation-ship. Harvey has a comicwayofexplainingsituationsthatcouplestendtorunintoduringtheir relationships. It makes iteasiertopayattentiontowhenflippingpagebypagewithnopic-tures. It’s definitely worththe 229 pages of reading. It’sjustuptothegirlsthatwanttotake the time to unlock man’severysecret.

In everyone’s lifetime they get to witness someone great; someone involved in music, mov-ies, civil rights or anything impor-tant to society. To some people who lived through the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s that great person might have been Tupac Amaru Shakur. Most of his fans know him as 2pac or just Pac. Born in 1971, he had parents who were members of the Black Panther Party in New York. Even with hav-ing parents involved in many court cases with the party, Shakur en-rolled in the Harlem’s 127th Street Ensemble and was cast as a part in A Raisin in the Sun. After two years of regular high school, he enrolled in the Baltimore School for the Arts where all of the magic started to happen. After moving to Marin City, California Shakur was in a concert group, which got him signed with Atron Gregory which led to the rap group Digital Under-ground. In 1993, he formed the group Thug Life with a few of his closest friends and a member of the Shakur family. Thug Life: Vol-ume 1 was released in Sept. 1994 and went gold. When the group would perform, a lot of the time it

would be without Shakur. As his career blossomed, so did his legal issues. Standing up for his African American rights, he claimed that members of the Oakland Police Department beat him for jaywalking. At one point a Texas state trooper was shot by a kid who was listening to a song of Shakur’s that talked about shooting police, which caused the Vice President of the United States to have that album removed from stores. Shakur was later charged with sexual assault by a young woman and the day before the verdict, Shakur was shot. He received two bullet wounds to the groin, two to the head and one to the arm. A day after his surgery he went to the courthouse in a wheelchair and was read his verdict-guilty. He was sentenced to one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years in prison. While in prison he released the al-bum Me Against the World, which was multi-platinum. A famous song that ev-eryone is familiar with “Califor-nia Love” came about soon after Tupac was released from prison. The song was released under the production of Death Row Records.

Something that came up shortly after working with Death Row Re-cords he started talking about Ma-kaveli Records, which was going to be a music label for fresh and new musicians. Makaveli Records nev-er got to happen because on the night of September 7, 1996 Shakur was shot and killed. At 11:15 p.m. a white, late-model Cadillac pulled up next to Shakur and shot rapidly at him and a friend of his in the car with him. A bullet hit Shakur’s right lung, later having it removed. The friend in the car with Shakur got shot in the head but survived. When he was in the hospital, close friends of his said that the shooter called Death Row Record repeated times mak-ing death threats to Shakur. After surviving multiple surgeries and nights, Shakur’s survival changes dropped to 13%. While in the criti-cal unit of the hospital, he died on September 13, 1996. To this day there have been no charges made to anyone in the case of his mur-der. When someone great comes in music, embrace it and make the best of the time they have here.

EM! NEWS ALL DAY‘Keep ya head up!’ Tupac said

Conan O’Brien is once again hosting a new late night show. Premiering on TBS instead of NBC, the show airs every night at 10 p.m. Last Wednesday (March 2), Chelsea Handler, Anothony Mavis and Mavis Staples were guests on the show. The episode, which lasted a bit over an hour, had its high and low points. The opening monologue was pretty funny, with Conan making jabs at Charlie Sheen, Michelle Obama’s fitness campaign and a skier who’s famous for video taping himself falling off a mountain. Handler’s interview was also en-tertaining. Being the host of her own show, “Chelsea Lately,” Handler knew how to seem effortlessly funny in her interview. O’Brien tag teamed the interview with Andy Richter, the announcer on “Conan.” Honestly, as soon as her inter-

view wrapped up and they came back from commercials, I turned it off. I watched the episode only for that interview and the monologue. I was going to give the other guests a chance, but the Ma-vis interview was boring from the start. This week and next week, “Conan” will be streaming to Fin-land as well as the States. With the new Finnish audience, O’Brien has been pulling out anti-Swedish jokes (to endorse the Finnish-Swedish rivalry) and poking fun at Finnish products and celebrities. There were some pretty good jokes in that, one involving the Muppet Chef , a Swedish model and a mime being locked in a steam bath. The joke kind of failed when the “locked” door fell open, but that

honestly made the joke funnier. Overall, half of the episode held my attention (which is saying a lot consid-

ering the show is an hour long.) My only wish is that he would have more interest-ing guests and musical guests. The musical guests are the worst; it’s never anyone inter-

esting or anyone I care to hear. O’Brien’s monologues are always the highlight of each episode, so if anything..tune in for

that and enjoy! The show ended up not getting as much feedback as was expected. The views were low said by teamcoco.com. Some people just don’t have the respect for Chelsea Handler so the reviews weren’t very nice towards the show. Many comments criticized her for being on the show. Although there weren’t many some do find her rude re-marks quite hilarious so not all of the com-ments were negative. The show had a quick turn to-

wards religion which was reviewed as funny at first, but others took offense to some of the harsh statement made about the Pope.

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From the Broadway phenomenon 42 Street to in the streets production The Wiz, DC has done every kind of musical un-der the sun. The halls of Rydell High will be transported to DC’s auditorium in this years spring musical “Grease” the weekend of March 18 through the 20. “Everyone knows the story line of “Grease” and we are happy to bring it alive to them in maybe a different perspective,” junior Elliot Talkington said. To many of the actors, getting the part they did means quite a bit. “This meant a lot to me because, going into this, I didn’t really know if I had the talent or the motivation to really get out there and get the part, but upon receiving the role, I realized I had more than enough,” senior Madison Wathen said.

DC is getting its first taste of “Glee.” No, no Rachel Berrys, no Finn Hudsons. This is DC’s FIRST show choir. Ms. Candace Miller will be the director and is very hopeful for the pro-gram. “I am very excited because I’m pretty sure it’s never been offered here,” Ms. Miller said. Show choir will be offered as a 12 week course next year on the trimes-ter schedule. No auditions or prerequisite classes are required. “Glee” is to thank for the inspira-tion to start thefirst show choir. “I’ve always wanted to start one for several years, but ‘Glee’ has sparked an interest to people and opened up many doors,” Ms. Miller said. During the course of the class, Ms. Miller hopes to learn a few songs and perform them, and learn how the whole process comes together. Show choir versus regular choir? The main difference is there is actually choreography and the type of music is dif-ferent. The show choir will focus more on Broadway show tunes and pop music to perform.

The show choir will not be exactly like “Glee.” The show choir will perform the same genres of music and will be main-ly performing group numbers. “There won’t be as many soloists as there are on ‘Glee’. We will perform lots of group numbers,” Ms. Miller said. The show choir has also sparked some outrage with graduating seniors. “I was very upset when I heard about it,” senior Preston Middleton said. “Show choir is very theatrical and I’m a very theatrical person.” However, Middleton is planning on coming back to see their performances in the upcoming years. “I hope she does a Cher medley in tribute to me. I will definitely come see that performance,” Middleton said. Ms. Miller hopes to also have a professional choreographer come into class and help with them. “I also would like the class to cho-reograph and perform their own numbers,” Ms. Miller said. Wicked fans rejoice—Ms. Miller spills that it is possible that the new show choir will perform a number from Wicked. “I will be very disappointed if people don’t sign up for it because I’ve wanted to do it for several years,” Ms. Miller said

Friday, January 25, country star Miranda Lambert performed at Roberts Sta-dium. She was on her “Revolution Tour,” and was joined by Josh Kelley and Justin Moore. The concert was sold out and there’s no question why. The opening acts were better than most would expect starting the night out with a bang. Josh Kelley was the first opening act and his singing was nothing short of amaz-ing. He sang “Whiskey,” which he wrote as a tribute to his love for the drink. His final song was a favorite among the audience, “Georgia Clay.” He wasn’t very rowdy like everyone would expect from a male coun-try singers, but over all he had an amazing voice. After Josh Kelley was Justin Moore. With his cowboy hat and flannel shirt on he took the stage, ready to make some noise. Justin Moore was the total opposite of Josh Kelley; he was loud and not afraid to dance around on stage. He put on an amazing show, singing some of his popular songs, “Small Town USA” and “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away.” Justin Moore’s performance was very memorable and only brought the night along better. Not only were his songs amaz-ing but the talk between the songs wasn’t

Lambert impresses fans, joined by fellow artists

the boring chit-chat like most would expect. Calling the audience rednecks, teasing the people in the “cheap seats” and talking about his family made the crowd go wild. As Justin Moore finished his last song the anticipation was growing for the main event. When the lights went out the crowd starting screaming and clapping, hoping that soon Miranda Lambert would walk on stage. When Lambert finally came out, it was obvious that the wait was worth it. The crowd filled the stadium with scream-ing noises. She started off with her song “Kerosene,” which was the title of her first album and is popular on country radio stations. Not only was Lambert impressing the audience with her voice but was also giving them the background of each song. She talked was telling the audience how she was inspired to write each song. She sang many of her popular songs, and dur-ing them she wouldn’t even have to sing because the audience knew every word and song along everytime. She sang the famous girl power song “White Liar” and “Only Prettier”, along with many more. The concert was a night full of amazing country music. Josh Kelley, Justin Moore and Miranda Lambert all have a tremendous amount of talent. This was a night that will surely never be forgotten.

Kaitlyn HaleIntern

‘Grease’ preparations pressed for time

First show choir excites ‘Glee’ fans, students

To others it was quite a comical honor. “Well my character Roger is known for mooning people, actually he is known as the mooning champ of Rydell High, and I guess the fact that I got this part means I have a good physique,” Talkington said. What quite a few students don’t know is how much time and preparation goes into bringing this script to life for all the students and community to see. “I’ve been preparing for this part all my life, but not really. Actually we have been working on this for like three or four months but it’s been a struggle,” junior Gar-rett Leanord said. Without hesitation Talkington was quick to add in what it was like. “We went through lots of different things. The cast list was posted in November but we didn’t even get the scripts until mid

December and then we tried to get into heavy practice during January but it has been very hard with all of these snow days we have had,” Talkington said. All of the cast have different parts that stand out to them as their favorites. “My favorite thing about all of this has been how the cast interacts with each other on stage. I really enjoy being able to do what I love with people who also love that,” Wathen said. There are things to be said for the cast off stage that is different then how they interact on stage together. “Well, people tend to get really cliquey and there are always those people you won’t get along with; it almost portrays ‘Grease’ in real life, it’s kind of funny,” Talk-ington said. For some of the cast, this is the last performance they will be making on

the DC stage. “It is sad for me because this is my high school career, and it will be kind of hard to imagine my life without it,” Wa-then said. “If I get offered I will continue to perform in college, but it will be much more difficult because there is so much more competition out there.” Down to the last show, the cast explained their need for support. “People really do underestimate some of us as actors, and they don’t re-ally think of all the work we put behind it. Also, some people don’t think about the crew, they give up all of their time to work on something that no one really knows they are doing because they are never seen,” Leanord said. “We are like a team, and just like a team we need to have people out there cheering us on and encouraging us.”

Deron MillayLifestyle editor

Andrea HowardEditorial editor


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BIGREDsports

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Basketball: How it is...

Brittany Greeson Brittany Greeson

Smith: Coach of the yearjumped from front pagejumped from front page

After triumphing and overcoming the hard fight, the team will travel to Rupp Arena on Thursday, March 17 to compete in the Sweet 16. This will be the third time in DC history for a boys basketball team to appear at the Sweet 16. Students will be excused from school on Thursday if they are attending the game. The game begins at 11 a.m. eastern time, and is against Rowan County. If the teams win, they will play again Friday. The championship game is to be held Saturday night. The basketball team will be selling shirts for the game starting on Monday, March 14.

ALL 3RD REGION GIRL B’BALL TOURNEY MEMBERS

Shaina Tinnell and Jill Jones

This award was decided on by the girls’ performances during the district and regional tournament games.

Meaghan Glenn

Basketball: Rupp-bound According to Belcher, the amount of hard work and dedication Coach Smith put into the team was phenomenal. “He works hard every day; he’s into every practice. Sometimes I think he puts us before his own wife and daughter,” Belcher said. “He loves us, he takes care of us. It’s been fun these past four years. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Coach Smith, however, remains modest about his achievement. “It tells you you have a good team,” Coach Smith said. “It’s a compliment to our guys.”

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Friday, March 11, 2011BIGREDsports

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Brittany Greeson

On Feb. 25 and 26, the swim team participated in the KHSAA state swimming championships in Louisville, Ky. They started their season off with a splash and ended it with a bang. The girls ended up 18th out of 41 teams, and the boys finished 22nd out of 41 teams. Freshman Kate Hornaday was one of many swimmers on DC’s team who did well. She went into the meet seeded 3rd in the 100 yard freestyle and 6th in the 50 yard freestyle. “I was kind of nervous because the whole thing of me being seeded so high in my events,” Hor-naday said. “I am only a freshman and most of those girls are two years older than me.” After the preliminary round on Friday morn-ing, Hornaday was still ranked high enough to be in the championship final heat on Saturday. To be in the championship heat the swimmer has to place in the top eight in the preliminary round the day before. If the swimmer places ninth through sixteenth, they will be placed in the consolation heat the next day. “After prelims, I knew I could do better in the 50; It’s just a matter of focusing all my energy into the race,” Hornaday said. The next day at finals Hornaday swam the 50 freestyle in a personal best time

of 24.11, which qualified her to get an All-American Consideration time. With that time she placed 4th overall instead of 6th, which was what she was seeded. Ending up 4th also qualified her for the 2nd All- state team. “It really meant a lot to me when I got the All-American Consideration time be-cause I asked my coach the day before what it took to get on the All-state and 2nd All-

state team,” Hornaday said. “He said, ‘You’ll have to swim an All-American Consideration time.’” Hornaday automatically counted herself out of that category even before she swam ei-ther of her events because, in her opinion, those times were really fast. After she swam the 50 freestyle, she swam the 100 freestyle and got a time of 53.57 which placed her 7th in the state of Kentucky. “When I’m up on the block before my race, I try to block out all negative thoughts so I don’t psych myself out,” Hornaday said. To achieve goals there has to be a goal

set, and when that goal is accomplished people need to set their goals higher and higher. That is what Hornaday does and why she is where she is today. “I think what has helped me achieve my goals is visualization, team support and my work ethic at practice,” Hornaday said. At the end of the day, Hornaday represented DC well and also broke a few records while she was at it. She only has one more thing to say... “I don’t think, I just do.”

Mackenzie MorrisNews Editor

Hornaday breaks records at state meetFreshman Kate Hornaday qualifies for All-American swimming time

“ “When I’m up on the block before my race, I try to block out all negative thoughts...

- Kate Hornaday, freshman

6th grader Morris impacts diving team, competes at stateAli ThompsonIntern

RACING UNTIL THE END. Freshman Amelia Reynolds runs to a 3rd place finish in the 1500m run on March 5 at the Mason Dixon Indoor State Track Meet. Reynolds ran a personal best of 5:14.69.

Bryan Reynolds

Age is just a number. The cliché is of-ten scoffed upon, but 6th grader Jackson Morris plans to prove it true. Morris, a student at Daviess County Middle School, is already an active team mem-ber of DCHS’s swim and dive team. He recently competed in the state competition as a meter diver. “I hadn’t thought I would make it in the first place, and when I found out I flipped,” Morris said about the state competition. “I felt on top of the world.” The young diver worked hard. Mr. Don Clark the dive coach had many practices and re-quired 110% of his diver’s effort. The competition made him realize how hard diving could be and how much effort it truly requires. “I need to work hard, practice hard, and work on form,” he said. His previous experience to the team includes Splash, backyards pools, etc. This is his first official year of swimming competition, but he’s taking the dive team by storm. “He has done very well,” Mr. Clark

said. He had always enjoyed swimming and heard about the team meeting, which was open to public. He decided to get more information and visit a practice. “I came to one practice because I thought since I used to be a gymnast, that I could convert my skills to diving, and I ended up really liking it,” Morris said. Being younger than most other students has not brought him down. He fits in as well as any other team member. “There are other middle school students on the team so he has them to hang out with at meets,” Mr. Clark said. “Plus the dive team is small, which makes it easy to make friends.” Diving has had a positive effect on him. Even with a bit of a tight schedule, because of all the practices, he said he has enjoyed the experi-ence. He is always ready to work hard and learn new tricks. “He is a huge dare devil,” sophomore Jesse Sook said. He plans to continue showing off his amazing talent and hard work for years to come. “I am a meter diver. Next year I might swim, though,” Morris said.

ALL 3RD REGION GIRL B’BALL TOURNEY MEMBERS

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