RLRAMPANT LINES

Students win design competition

INSIDE

r a m pa n t l i n es . c o mCheck  out  more  photos  on  our  Facebook  page  and  on  our  web  site!

HOGGARD vs ROSE

* CONFERENCE CO-CHAMPS

>>  Continued  on  page  7.

NATIONAL ELECTION* O-BOMB.com A OR R-MONEY?

If you could vote, who would you pick? Rose

students get involved with the election through

volunteering and campaigning.

>>Continued  on  page  8.

Y THE L NOT?* YOUNG LIFE

Students are judging the club without

ever giving it a chance. Why not try it out?

>>Continued  on  page  5.

‘STAY FLY’ or ‘BE SMART’

TSWIFT IS RED HOT* ALBUM

Taylor Swift has done it again. The country

queen expands her audience.

>>Continued  on  page  3.

Staff Writer

On October 11, three students in the Graphic Communications class placed in a graphic design competition for the North Carolina State Fair. Sophomores

and third place, respectively in the 9th and 10th grade division. Junior Brock Rogers won second place in the 11th and 12th division.

The students were given the assignment by the Graphic Communications teacher Robert Puckett. Puckett had all of his students create a design to submit, and the classes voted on which ones they thought should represent Rose in the competition. Puckett has his students enter the competition every year because he feels it’s a great way for them to learn what it’s like to have a deadline and to showcase their skills.

“I feel like their skill sets are pretty good, and in that competition they had a really good possibility of winning,” Puckett said.

Each year the competition has a theme, and this year’s theme was Discovering Local Foods. The students handled this by including locally grown vegetables, fruits and animals in

included many fruits and vegetables overlapping each other with a title plainly stating “Discover Local Foods.” Rogers’s design, which included a farm behind a pumpkin patch with the word “Discovering” shining in the sky, took him to second place in his division. Hyman’s design, which took her to third

a carrot with the phrase, “It’s the real

“I was really surprised when I found out that I had placed,” Hyman said. Hyman has never taken the graphics class and said she is inexperienced in poster designing.

Puckett also entered the competition under the teacher division. Winning second place overall, Puckett stuck to the theme by creating a design displaying a hiker watching a pumpkin rise into the sky, replacing the sun.

Puckett has his students enter several other competitions throughout the year as well. An example is PICA, the Printing Industry of the Carolinas, who has a competition every year in December that Puckett has his students enter. Puckett does these competitions not only so the students can get a hands-on experience with deadlines and the like, but also so the students can critique each other and people from other schools. After competitions, the students look at the designs that won over theirs and see what they could’ve done better and what mistakes the designer of the work made.

“They start to really critically analyze other people’s work for good designs,” Puckett said.

helpful exercise for his students, not only for his class but for an analytical approach to all classes that his students are in.

The Election project has always been regarded as the highlight of taking AP U.S. Government. Social studies teacher Liza Knight has her government classes run mock campaigns for the United States Senate.

“The project involves running a full out campaign from the beginning of choosing a candidate, writing a platform, organizing, fundraising, advertising, polling, all the way through election day,” Knight said. “I got the idea for the project from the teacher who taught the class before I did. I took his base ideas and have made it more complicated over the years.”

The first thing the classes must do is choose their candidate.

“It is completely up to the classes who their candidate is,” Knight said.

In past campaigns, the candidates have been students who have experience with public speaking and are familiar with politics.

“We picked Will Fry as our candidate because he is the smartest guy in our class,” senior and fourth period’s Head of Fundraising, Nicole Jones said.

The candidates play a key role in the classes’ campaign.

“My job as the P.O.O.L. [Political Organization of Outstanding Leaders] Party candidate is to

run against the candidate from the opposing class’s party for a US Senate seat,” candidate for first period’s party, Adam Hart said. “This entails preparing for debates, campaigning and addressing my party’s platform.”

Then the classes choose their campaign manager and split into five committees. The first committee is Image and Public Relations.

Their main job is to develop the candidate’s image and write speeches.

Next is the Polling and Public Opinion Committee, whose main job is to determine public mood through polls.

Another committee is in charge of advertising.

“The Advertising Committee helps the campaign by persuading voters to vote for Adam and by giving people information about the platform and candidate,” first period Advertising Committee member Allyn Hollingsworth said.

“We will be using advertisements including posters, flyers, and newspaper ads as well as events for the voters, such as a teachers breakfast.”

The Budget Committee keeps the budget and is in charge of all fundraising.

“A lot of money goes into the project, fake money and real money,” Jones said.

Rose science department participates in Big Sweep

PCC CLASSES* COUNSELOR

Students who are planning on taking a class at

Pitt Community College next semester need to

see their counselor to pick up forms.

ELECTION DAY* VOTE VOTE VOTE

The election for the next president of the

United States of America (and other important

people) is Tuesday, November 6. Rampant

Lines encourages all eligible Rose students

and faculty to get out and vote. Our country

depends on you.

r a m pa n t l i n es . c o mCheck  out  more  photos  and  stories  

MAKE-UP PICTURES*

Make-­up pictures for senior portraits are next

Friday, November 9 in the PAC.

For several years, the Rose science department has participated in the North Carolina Big Sweep. On Saturday, October 20, members of the Science Club, the National Science Honor Society and AP Environmental classes at Rose participated in this cleanup event. 50 students from Rose attended the event.

The Big Sweep was founded in 1987. Efforts of the Big Sweep aim to pick up trash around our state.

The North Carolina Big Sweep Incorporation coordinates the state-wide sweep. The Big Sweep event strives to eliminate litter and pollution from our environment through this annual state-wide cleanup.

All of the counties in North Carolina pick locations around water areas to clean and pick up trash.

“For us it has always been the Tar River,” science teacher Michael Walter said. “Sometimes

>> Continued on page A2

it’s the Greenville Run Stream that goes through Greenville.”

The Big Sweep in our area is hosted by the Tar Pamlico River Foundation out of “Little” Washington, North Carolina.

The foundation coordinates our local event, and hosts the clean-up at the Tar River in Greenville and the Pamlico River in Washington.

The Big Sweep consists of land-based and water-based clean ups.

“The big focus has been on trying to get people in the water on kayaks and boats to pick of trash on the river banks,” Walter said. “Then there are land-based cleanups for people who don’t have boats to help clean with.”

Not only does the sweep help eliminate trash from our local water areas, but it also tries to identify the source of the trash to eliminate future pollution.

This year, Rose collected around 20 garbage bags full of trash in an hour and a half.

News Co- Editor

BRIEFS

Graphic design students win competition at the North Carolina State Fair

>> Continued on page A2

TEACHER LOVE DAY* APPRECIATE

Students-­ remember Teacher Appreciation Day

is Wednesday, November 7. Let your teachers

know how much they mean to you!

MATH TUTORING* FREE TUTORING

Math Club and Mu Alpha Theta are offering

tutoring before and after school in Dr.S’s

room, 206, and during all four lunches in Mrs.

Moore’s room, 210.

Staff Writer

>> Continued on page 8A

The Amazing Race: Presidential Election 2012

Robert Puckett’s 2nd place winning design.

With only four days until the

U.S. Presidential election

COUNTDOWN  IS  ON

the

Nom Nom Nom. . .

2A RAMPANT NEWS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2012

in the idea immediately and we decided to make it happen,” Bennett said.

When students want to start a new club at Rose,

That person will help manage the club and make sure that all decisions are made in the best interest of

“We chose Mr. Worthington and Mr.

because they often make

pertain to the material that we are learning and we thought that they might get some enjoyment out of it too,” Bennett said.

Worthington often tells stories in his classes

to the material they are learning in class.

interested in how you can share a story with a camera and a script,” Worthington said.

The club has only had a couple of meetings so far.

Right now, they are trying to get a list

watch in the future.“Members of the

AFI’s [American Film Institutes] Top 100

and come prepared to

“Also members can, but are not required to,

we will be planning

nothing gets too bad.”Some “questionable

tactics” used in the past

information around the

hopes that the opposing

from the other class.“One year the

campaign managers for the two different classes were best friends,” Knight said. “One manager asked the other if she could borrow the

throughout the year.”S o p h o m o r e

Preston Bradsher is a member of the club.

yet,” Bradsher said. “I think that is going to be the main goal of this club. You can make new friends that share the same interests as you, while also gaining knowledge

Armstrong gets to interact with students

club, which he said

of being a teacher.

impressed with how the students handle

meetings,” Armstrong

said. “This shows me how mature they are as students, which makes me feel good as a teacher.”

Bennett and

presidents of the club.“We get more

responsibilities being

the club, but it will be worth it,” Bennett said.

Since this is a new club at Rose, Bennett,

are always encouraging newcomers to join.

“If you enjoy a wide

would like to discuss them with others, feel free to stop by a meeting,” Bennett said.

The meetings

after school and they

are currently in the process of planning

students with a chance to meet new people

might be new to them,” Bennett said.

Packs and bottles of beer, undergarments, cigarette butts and frisbees are among items found during the Big Sweep.

Walter enjoys the uniqueness of the items

A new club has started at Rose that allows students to watch and discuss culturally

Seniors Andrew Bennett and Brandon Morrissey decided to start the club after

“[Morrissey] and I

one day and he mentioned that it would be cool to start a club in which we

discuss them with other people,” Bennett said.

out how to start a club, they decided to make it happen.

“We both took interest

News Co-Editor

communicate with all the schools attending the conference and

attended the leadership conference from more than six different schools including local students from Rose and Conley.

The turnout was larger that Naziri and her fellow SGA

Decorating the school, planning workshops and seminars, organizing meals and setting up

that had to be done.“I helped out on

the morning of the conference,” sophomore Stewart Fussell said. “We had a lot to do and it was a little hectic.”

Students had many different reasons for attending the conference. The appeal of food and games brought some but for sophomore Nick Kowalski, it was the opportunity to learn better leadership skills that attracted him.

Kowalski is a part

As the time of homecoming season winds down, it is time for

Association to switch gears from parades and hall decorating to fundraising and

For student councils, autumn is typically the

galore. To kick off the beginning of the SGA season, Rose hosted a leadership conference for the Eastern District of the North Carolina Association of Student Councils.

On the morning of October 13, students

eastern region of North Carolina came to Rose to attend the conference.

Junior Erin Naziri was in charge of putting together the conference. Last year, she was elected to be the Chair of the Eastern District student councils. Naziri spent many hours organizing

with the conference.“There was a lot

Naziri said. “I had to

Staff Writer

but it is how we are

period and P. O. O. L. party candidate, is taking a different approach

“In order to win

something rather radical in politics,” Hart said. “I

them the honest truth

them the straight facts

of my positions and

my opponent's, I trust

this election by allowing

on the truth instead of misconceptions.”

the campaign will end when an electorate, consisting of teachers and Amity Kea’s third and fourth period

decide the winner.

leaked to the opposing

The committees work together to make

taken care of and that nothing is left out while planning the campaign.

“The students get

Knight said. “Classes sometimes

use questionable tactics

other classes. They really go after each other, though I try to make sure

downloaded all the other team’s information.”

The project includes a lot of strategizing. Campaigns must decide

that they are the better option for the Senate.

“We plan to win

what the teachers and students want to hear because those are the people who are going

Candidate Will Fry said. “I know it sounds bad

“Mrs. Knight tries to make the election as realistic as possible. We use ‘fake money’ to pay

commercial. It doesn't cost us any real money but if we were in a real campaign it would.”

The last committee is the Strategy and

Committee. This committee focuses on key issues and skeletons. Skeletons are

the candidate that are

as the president of the Debate team at Rose and felt the conference could help him learn techniques to become

“Attending the conference taught me a lot of good leadership skills that I hope I will be able to use to better myself and the community,” Kowalski said.

Multiple workshops took place at the

planning, teacher appreciation, study buddies, fundraising and school spirit were the topics that were focused on. Rose students were in charge of holding the workshops.

“We wanted

the conference to learn something new that they could take back to their own schools,” Naziri said. Kowalski said he felt that he learned the most about fundraising.

The theme of the conference this year was the same as homecoming:

mind, the commons and the lecture hall

games were held throughout the hallways.

Games such as bobbing for apples, bean bag tosses and cornhole were played in the interim between

food such as hot dogs and cotton candy

“It was actually a lot of fun to play

all the games at the conference; I especially liked the bobbing for apples,” Kowalski said.

Along with seminars

conference included a keynote address

member Sheldon Taylor.

pleased with his speech and thought he did a great job

with the students.After hours of

preparation and strenuous work to put together the conference, Naziri says it turned out better than she

“We had a great group of students come,” Naziri said. “I

a lot and had a good time while doing it.”

are the students’ expressions when they pick up interesting trash items,” Walter said.

Senior Andrew

supporting the Science Club, National Science

Honor Society and his

“I think the Big Sweep is great because you get to help out

Pofahl said. “I don’t want our town to look like trash; we want to

Senior Allyn Hollingsworth also

and helping clean up around town.

“It is fun making the area cleaner,” Hollingsworth said.

Contributed photo

Students from Rose pick up trash near the Tar River in Greenville on Oct. 20

WHAT’S HOT (OR NOT) ?We’ve got the answers for you. Read on my friend, read on.

T-Swiz back in the Bizdedicate not a line, but an entire song to her age. In her sixth track, “22,” T-Swizzle sings about the glories of

being twenty two and of

c o u r s e m e n -t i o n s o n e

of her m a n y

b o y -friends.

T h e m a i n

f o c u s of the

album, as in all of her others, is her broken and s o m e t i m e s mended heart. Some people might think this is re-petitive and bland, but can you real-ly complain?

While we will always

sympathize with Tay-lor’s inabil-

ity to keep a boyfriend for longer than a few months, we love the re-sults.

As much as we love Red and hate to be the bearer of bad news, we feel like it’s our duty to inform T-Swizz that her music no longer falls under the category of country, so please switch it to pop on iTunes. We are not say-ing that it’s a bad thing. Change is good! It was inevitable that she would drop the country twang and jump on the mainstream train. It’s like biology...evolution is key to survival.

The biggest piece of evidence for Tay-lor’s departure from c o u n t r y -pop has got to be the tech-no-laden “I Knew You Were Trouble.” The song is yet a n o t h e r r e g r e t -

boy who broke Taylor’s heart. Although the concept of the song is trite, the song itself is something completely unlike any other Taylor we’ve heard before. In-stead of soft-crooning and acoustic guitars, we’ve beats that almost sound like they could fall within the dupstep genre and an auto-tuned voice.

It’s no doubt that Taylor Swift is good at what she does, and it’s true that she could have taken the famil-iar route and stuck to her safety zone of love songs and acoustic gui-tar. However, Red is a more mature, more

developed T-Swiz that s h o w s just how m u c h six years in the m u s i c i n d u s -try has changed her.

Nine out of ten people will agree with the belief that Monday is the worst day of the week. For me, Monday’s are not enjoyable. Usually Sunday night I am not in bed until past midnight because of a certain test that has happened to be on a Monday for the past five weeks. After oversleeping because of a lack of rest, I am forced to rush to school without having eaten my favorite healthy breakfast of Honey Nut Cheerios with extra honey.

But fret no longer, students of Rose; it is that time of the year again. The time when we not only put aside our dislike for the first day of the week, but we welcome it graciously into our homes, more specifically our televisions. We go through the day unaware of the usual problems this day brings because we are thinking about one thing, and one thing only: sitting on the couch at 8 P.M. eastern time with your favorite nighttime snack and tuning in to CBS for How I Met Your Mother.

How I Met Your Mother, or HIMYM (him-yim), is coming out with, possibly, its last season. This strikes up a lot of questions revolving around the show. But if you are somehow new to this renowned show, I will summarize the last seven seasons for you in one paragraph.

HIMYM is the story of how the main character, Ted, meets his wife. This story involves past and failed r e l a t i o n s h i p s , the occasional one nightstand, strippers and, of course, his four best friends, Marshall, Lily, Robin and Barney. You will never catch Barney Stinson out of an expensive custom-tailored suit. This ladies man, for lack of a better word, “dates” A LOT of girls. He pulls off ridiculous

3A RAMPANT ENTERTAINMENT FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2012

WATCH THIS...

or ELSE...”

MARIE PAYNE and JUN CHOU

Entertainment Co-Editors

magic tricks and is the New York laser tag champion 3 years running. Robin is a Canadian news anchor. Her and Ted have dated on and off throughout the seven seasons. It is extremely annoying because I love Ted, and I certainly don’t enjoy seeing Robin play with his feelings time after time again. Marshall and Lily are the original married couple on the show. Marshall is a lawyer, and can never land the job he wants, an environmental attorney. He is from Minnesota, but is also the biggest softy. Lily, on the other hand, is a kindergarten teacher, who’s personality goes hand in hand with her students. With a history of credit card debt, Lily is always stirring up trouble, and in the last season, Lily is pregnant with a baby. This only leaves Ted, the wannabe romantic. Ted is always falling for a girl too quickly. Planning his wedding and naming his nonexistent kids are some of the things Ted enjoys. Ted is a blooming architect, and his goal is to put up a string of his own buildings on the New York skyline.

On the last episode of the last season, major events happened. Barney and his girlfriend Quinn were arrested by airport security while on the way to Hawaii when Barney refused to open a box they are travelling with. The box is an elaborate magic trick that, when performed, revealed an engagement ring. Ted picked up his old girlfriend, Victoria, at a random wedding. Turns out it was her wedding. The two drive off in the sunset together. At the end of it all, a flash-forward to Barney’s wedding reveals that Robin is the bride!

This last season is certainly going to be action packed. Starting September 24th, look forward to Mondays instead of dreading them. Be sure to join the gang as they reveal whatall the mysteries surrounding the last season. The biggest one being…who will be Ted’s wife?

“Once upon a d mn time”is able to answer questions left open when Lillian died. These characters go through a series of personal revelations, which ultimately leads to a conclusion of Lillian

on.The acting throughout

the entirety of the play was near, if not completely, perfect. If the Rose drama department had a “Tour de Force” award, than it would, with no doubt, be going to McKinnon. McKinnon’s character was nearly always present providing commentary on the actions of the other characters. This was quite impressive, considering the two hour duration of the play plus her top-notch performance.

I extremely disliked Mildred Flumac. And because of that I congratulate Ivy Jarmon. She perfectly portrayed an annoying, rude, completely oblivious estate agent.

Charlie Cannon and Connor Sturgis, who

portrayed Windsor and Nobody, respectively, both demonstrated their superb theatre skills. Charlie became the epitome of strict, regimental, angry military men. He solved problems with his daughter, played by Rachel Taylor, by screaming commands at her. His anger appeared completely genuine, almost frightening. Charlie’s character was contrasted by the more charming demeanor that Taylor had when playing his daughter.

Where Cannon was mostly pure anger, Sturgis showed a spectrum of feelings. He was depressed, angry, confused, mysterious, and, at times, scary. My favorite moment of the play was his maniacal shouting of the quote “once upon a d*mn time.” His awe-inspiring performance could be described as a showcase of raw emotion.

As to the meaning

behind the play, I remain unsure. I originally thought that, because of her status as widow of war, the play was a declaration against war and the evils of the military. The character of Nobody forced me to think that it is a statement about the desensitized state that our generation forces upon us, as Nobody initially appears uncaring to a boy he watches die. Lillian, when she was still alive, urged Nobody to “rage” and “howl,” making me believe that there is a message about expression of emotion.

With all the possible themes and messages that remain hidden to me in this play, I think that the power to judge its meanings relies solely in the minds of those who were lucky enough to catch one of the shows. Congrats to the Rampant Theatrical Department for a job well done.

By Remigio Devente

Brandon Morrissey

Writer

production of the year, titled “Do Not Go Gentle,” centers around a recently deceased widow named Lillian Barron, played by Tara McKinnon. After a heart attack kills Lillian, she lingers in the house allowing her to watch her family, with the help of real estate agent Mildred Flumac, set up a sale of her worldly estate. The family consists of an emotionally stunted Air Force Colonel named Windsor; his naïve, guilt-ridden daughter Kelly; and Lillian’s niece Joanna. Not aware that Lillian is able to see them from her ghostly world, they marvel at the sometimes frightening, sometimes amusing, always symbolic pictures that have been painted on the walls of her house. The family eventually comes in contact with a troubled youth, called Nobody, who

You think they would learn

Movie goers were glued to their seats as they were enthralled by the epic movie thriller,

out just three years ago. This movie is about Bryan Mills, a retired CIA opera-tive, trying to reclaim his daughter after she was abducted and sold into prostitution. Through-out the movie, Mills kills numerous people while trying to get his daugh-ter back, thus enraging the dead men’s families. After viewing and enjoy-

eager to see Taken 2, and was sure it would exceed my expectations. The sequel to Taken was re-leased on October 3, 2012, and this action packed thriller is sure to impress any viewer.

The movie’s plot was extremely well thought

out. It was close enough

could easily follow the chain of events. However, it was made so that view-ers did not have to have

understand what was go-ing on. Past events were

-backs. The sequel’s plot is based around the dead men’s relatives seeking revenge and hunting down Mills. Numerous times during the movie, Bryan and his ex-wife are abducted and held in captivity. His wife has a bag over her head for the majority of the movie and is unconscious. Neverthe-less, the CIA operative’s clever m i n d a n d f a s t thinking al-lows him to escape death several times. The daughter is the only one in the

family who is not ab-ducted, and Bryan uses her to help pinpoint his location. By throwing grenades, he is able to

-cation in Istanbul based on the amount of time it takes for the sound waves of the explosions to reach him.

Mills’ daughter is put to the ultimate test in the movie, as she navigates in a high speed c h a s e t h r o u g h I s t a n b u l , T u r k e y . This was an e x t r e m e l y t e n s e m o -

ment in the movie and had everyone in the the-ater ready to jump out of their seat. Mills is forced to shoot the Albanians who are chasing them, and the chase eventu-ally comes to an end as they purposely crash into the U.S. Embassy. After escaping the dan-ger, Mills and his daugh-ter go back to rescue his ex-wife. After several close encounters with

death, Mills is able to ward off the bad guys, save his wife

and restore or-der to the Mills family’s vaca-

tion.

Hunter MillsEntertainment Staff Writ-

Alert Alert! There has been an outbreak of Red fever. If you walk down the hall-ways of Rose, it is impossible not to hear an out-of-tune ver-sion of one of Taylor Swift’s songs from her new al-bum Red.

T h i s n e w g l o r i -ous ad-d i t i o n to the m u s i c world is her fourth album in six years. That’s i m p r e s s i v e considering that she has already won six Grammy awards and is only 22 years old.

Speaking of, she decided to

!“ i met your mother”

+

A4 RAMPANT OPINION FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2012

Cheater, cheater pumpkin eater; not cool dudeAfter spending

hours of your evening after school working on homework assignments, projects and studying for tests, the last thing anyone wants to do is come to school and have some other lazy, less motivated student copy all of your hard work.

Not only is this extremely irritating, it is also cheating, and cheating my fellow Rampants, is unacceptable.

We understand that the night before

your dog may have eaten your homework

died, but do not use it as an excuse to take your friend’s paper and copy it word for word.

More often than not, your teacher will catch you and give you both a nice, big ZERO on the assignment. When, in fact, you could’ve just admitted you forgot, taken the late grade and both you and your friend would not have gotten in trouble. Let’s face it, a 70 for turning in homework late is much better than receiving a

zero and being reported for violating the Honor Code. Your friend would also not be happy if he or she got a zero for helping you after doing the work that you copied.

Cheating on tests another thing that seems to annoy most people. Sitting beside the “smart kid” in math and copying his or her test answers isn’t going to help you go anywhere in life.

In fact, all it does is teach you to be a cheater and ruins your reputation when you

ultimately get caught. Then, at that point, you might as well wear a big sign on your face that says “I got caught cheating” because other teachers will hear of it and watch you like a hawk whenever you take a test.

If you have been sitting here reading this and thinking “Oh my goodness, I did that an hour ago” then you may want to take a moment to reevaluate your priorities. When

out college applications and you have to tell

RAMPANT OPINION* By Austin Bryan and

from the halls What were you for Halloween?

“A  dancer.”Alexis  Perkins,  11

“Tina  Turner”Mrs.  Willis

“Super  Man.”Mary  Lisa  Sypawka,  9

“A  polar  bear.”Nazzar  Brothers,  12

“Michael  Jackson.”Kysheem  Sheppard,  10

Alonzo Davis

Naphatis Hopkins

Josh Moore

Stop sipping on the YL haterade* Opinion Editor

Young Life has been a huge part of my life since freshman year. Mondays are a little less miserable because I know that every Monday I get the chance to come together with friends and sing songs, play games, enjoy funny skits and learn a little bit about a pretty cool dude named God.

I’m sure a lot of you think Young Life is a little immature and hypocritical. We jump around, act like crazy fools, play dumb games and embarrass ourselves 75% of the time. It is

a time to let loose and possibly build a better relationship with God and your friends. In the grand scheme of things, don’t we all need some time to forget about our huge six weeks test on Wednesday or the anticipation all of us seniors are feeling as we await our letters of acceptance or denial? I think we do. Young Life is the perfect place to forget about all the stresses of our everyday lives, be ourselves and have a great time.

Why is Young Life so great? Let me tell

you why. First, you get to act like a complete fool, you scream loud, jump around, and play fun games. Secondly, you have the chance to build a relationship with God. And lastly, you get the chance to go to the most beautiful place in the world, Windy Gap!

As I flip through Twitter and Facebook and see a negative comment or tweet about Young Life, I can’t help but wonder if they have ever been. I resist the urge to write paragraphs and paragraphs of

why they are wrong. I understand that

Young Life is not for everyone. And if you have attended at least one Young Life and decided you did not like it, this isn’t written towards you. However, nothing irks my nerves more than someone talking bad about Young Life when they have never once gone and seen what it is all about.

Young Life has changed many people’s lives, and in my opinion it is extremely inconsiderate and disrespectful to trash

talk something you probably don’t know anything about. Just because you may think Young Life is dumb and not worth your time, it means a whole lot to some other people. I am sure you would be very offended if someone bashed something you feel strongly about.

All I ask, is before you make false accusations, come to club on Mondays with an open mind and give it a chance. You may thoroughly enjoy it and want to come back for more, I know I do.

Spy: Rampant Edition

Letter to the editor: Social media not a place for political viewsThe upcoming

presidential election has stirred up quite a few statuses and tweets regarding our current president, Barack Obama, and his challenger, Mitt Romney.

Now, I understand there are some people who get very worked up over this election stuff but there are some who take it a bit far.

I am all for supporting your candidate - of- choice but the ruthless name calling has to stop.

I respect our freedom of speech guaranteed by our great Constitution of the United States but please think before you type.

Everything you put on Facebook and Twitter is there for the entire world to

see and if you make a status saying “F*&% Obama!!!!” or send a tweet bashing Romney for his Mormon faith then there is no taking it back. It is there and you can never get rid of it.

Even if you delete your not-so-appropriate tweets and status updates two seconds after posting them, chances are someone saw it and

now think a little less of you.

During the Vice Presidential debate, I saw that someone posted a tweet that called our vice president, Joe Biden, a “prick.” Would you really walk up to the vice president and call him a “prick” to his face? I highly doubt it, so I would politely ask you to quit tweeting it.

If you wouldn’t

say something to someone’s face then you should not put it up on social media.

You make yourself look unintelligent by putting up such slanderous things, but hey, it’s a free country.

Sincerely, Andrew Pofahl

Zach Munn

Mrs. Noles

12th

TV Show:

Song:

Movie:

Book:

10th

11th

admissions you got caught cheating and failed a class, you can guarantee that they are not going to be saying “Sorry you got caught. We will still let you come to our college.”

They might in your dreams, but in reality you can kiss your chances of going to that school goodbye.

Copying homework or cheating may not seem like something to make a big deal about, but next time you try to fake a sneeze and look at your friend’s answers, you may want

to think about your

If you want to continue acting like this, you can. However,

in a situation one day where the nice teachers at Rose will no longer be able to have your back, bail you out, or let you slide once again.

iRates

5A RAMPANT OPINION FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2012

Facebook is not your diary

I, like most people I know, like to occasionally “creep” on Facebook, or at least scroll through our news feed every once in awhile. I like to look at pictures that my friends post of themselves having crazy adventures and read their ambiguous or joking status updates. However, I have noticed that some people have taken the “share your life” approach to Facebook a little bit too literally. And I mean literally. Some people share absolutely everything there is to know about themselves in both status and picture form. They have no boundaries and most of the time, that can lead to consequence. The other day, a

teacher of mine told our class a story of how a Facebook friend of hers posted some questionable photos of herself for the whole world to see, and according to my teacher, they were pretty embarrassing. My teacher also told our class that this friend of hers is friends with her young daughter and some of her daughter’s friends, who were all able to see those same disturbing photographs which were not for the eyes of younger teens. This is something I do not understand about some people on Facebook. After the countless number of lectures we are given from our parents, teachers and friends about online etiquette,

some still treat Facebook like the place to share every single thing about their lives, no matter how embarrassing, inappropriate or personal. These things can come back and haunt the posters who thought nothing of it at the time. It can present a negative image of oneself to friends and even current or potential employers. Facebook is not a personal diary. It is not hidden in the space under your mattress or locked away in a box, somewhere only you know about. It is on this revolutionary and worldwide thing called the Internet. It is available to anyone and everyone

once it is on the Internet, it never really leaves.

I am not saying that posting what you want to post is a bad thing. On the contrary, I think that people should say what they want to say. There is a great part of our country’s constitution called the First Amendment which allows us the right to say what we want. Social networking has become a larger part of society in the last few years and makes it easier for people to put themselves out there and make their voices heard. Yet, what is appropriate to write in a diary or show and tell someone is completely different than what is appropriate to post on Facebook for friends to stumble upon while casually scrolling through

their news feed. Inappropriate pictures, extremely rude, deeply personal or just plain embarrassing status updates will come back and bite you in the butt. I guarantee it. A couple of weeks ago when I was thinking of ideas of what to write about, I was discussing this issue with my super-cool Calculus teacher. He told me something that his mom used to say to him which I think strongly applies here. “Always tell the truth, but don’t always speak the truth.” If someone asks for the truth, it is good to be honest, but you don’t always have to throw the whole truth and nothing but the truth out there for everyone to see.

RAMPANT RANTS

and RAVES

Stop mumbling, we can’t hear

you.

Chilllll, it is just a hoody. We are only trying to stay

warm.

Regular weeks after three day

weekends are not okay.

Why is it so cold outside?

Why is Halloween on a Wednesday?

No shave November is for

guys only.

Don’t forget WR�ŤQG�DOO�WKH�,�Spy items.

Don’t be a bully.

mark edwards, 9

POP CULTURE GRIDfavorite

senior?windy gap is... rowdie or rosie? hart or fry?

damion spellman, 11

ms. penny

mary margaret lyle, 12

“jordan

holder.”

“all of them.”

“ryan slade.”

“bridget

demery.”

“fry but hart is a champ.”

“i don’t care.”

“i don’t know either

one of them.”

“hart, i don’t like fry.”“rosie, she is booshy”

“rowdie has a little

more going on.”

“rosie because it’s lyda.”

“rowdie.”“awesome.”

“on a bad

weekend.”

“what’s windy gap?”

“for white

people.”

In four days, we will head to the voting booth and select the next leader of our nation. We will choose the best among us to represent our interests on the world stage. Or will we?

Do you honestly believe that either of these men bickering on the television is worthy to make the decisions that will shape your future? Do you feel, with

no reservation, that we should arm Syrian rebels, cut PBS and roll the dice on some ambiguous tax plan that remains

we drop welfare reform, support nationalized health care and allow the national debt to skyrocket? Obama makes promises of progress and reform, but all we are progressing into is a depth of despair. Romney puts forth an

image of experience and conservative certainty, but all he has done in this race is double back on his principles, bastardize his past and lie.

Only a fool would spend their vote on either of these hypocritical shells of men, but we “know” that we must. Everyone is driven to these two choices; taking the “lesser of two evils” is their mantra, their

for anyone who meets the

but instead, we settle for the two inadequate choices we are presented with.

As a country, we are lazy. We gobble up whatever is laid in front of us instead of searching for a candidate worthy

among us.Everyone says to get

out and vote, but if you

Hate the player, it’s not a game Asst. Opinion Editor

don’t understand the issues and are voting based on what you are being fed by political parties and the media, then do not. Please do not vote. Take a little bit of responsibility; I myself cannot vote, so please do not abuse your right. If you are not willing to educate yourself, then do not insult me by tossing your vote at who spent the most money on advertising. Thank you.

mark edwards, 9

RAMPANT SPORTSWant to read about your favorite sports? We’ve got it here.

WNBA: It’s not all about the dunk

“There is no talcum powder resi-

due in the air , just basketball

played in its purest form.”

By: Erin Walden, Sports Co-Editor

Cardinals earn a comeback win

Contributed PhotoThe St. Louis Cardinals baseball players celebrate after comeback win.

Athletic

EMILY CLARK

Sports Co-Editor

>>SARA  HOWARDSenior  Cross  Country  

ATHLETE  SPOTLIGHT  ROSE  STUDENT

Q : W h a t ’ s y o u r

favorite aspect of

cross country?

A: I love to run, and I l i k e t h e f e e l i n g I g e t a f t e r I r u n . Running makes me feel energized and really good.

Q: Do you have any

pre-run rituals?

A: Yes, this sounds really weird, but I always pop my hips before I run.

Q: Do you plan to

run in college?

A: No, I do not plan to run cross country in college.

Q: What keeps you

m o t i va t e d w h i l e

running?

A: I try to keep my mind on the finish l ine. I t keeps me m o t i v a t e d t o g e t through the race.

Q: What’s your best

time this year?

A: My best time is 24:28.

Q: How do you think

cross country helps

you with soccer?

A: It helps me to be able to run and keep a steady pace.

BRIEFS

Volleyball:

The NCHSAA State Championship will take place on Saturday, November 3rd in Raleigh,

North Carolina.

Lacrosse:

Workouts have started for the Spring lacrosse season for both the men and women. The

conditioning every Wednesday after school, while the girls will have

every Tuesday after school. Both, the women and men, will do strength training and conditioning at Elite Fitness and Training on Monday’s and Thursday’s. Contact Mrs. Edwards if you have any questions or

comments.

Football:

The NCHSAA Football Playoffs begin on

November 2nd.

Women’s Soccer:

Workouts for the Spring Season have started and take place on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s right after school. If you have any questions or comments, contact Coach Dameron or Anna Sells

for more information.

There are not many things in sports as exhilarating as watching an unexpected comeback win unfold before your eyes. The enthralling comeback occurred on October 13th for the St. Louis Cardinals major league baseball team. The sequence of the sudden and shocking reversal of an order that seemed to be set in stone at the start of the game, turns around to be an exciting victory that left thousands of fans in astonishment, myself included. The Cardinals defeated the Washington Nationals in the National League Division Series, 3-2 in the best out of five s e r i e s . T h e v i c t o r y was by no means h a n d e d to the Cardinals due to the fact that it was a long journey to get there. Prior to the start of the NLDS, the Cardinals had to defeat the Atlanta Braves in order to earn a spot in the series. They ended up defeating the Braves, therefore earning their spot in the NLDS under a wild card. They stayed determined going into the series and it was evident in their

turn around game against the Nationals. As a spectator, watching the Cardinals defeat the Nationals was thrilling enough, but watching the occurrences of how the victory played out was even more exciting. It was game five of the Division Series and the Cardinals faced the Washington Nationals. Watching at the start of the game, I knew that it was going to be a definite loss for the Cardinals. The Nationals took a 6-0 lead. For those of you who are Cardinals fans, like myself, it seemed as if the odds of the Cardinals winning were slim to none. Then, relentlessly, the Nationals slowly gave the game away to the

determined Cardinals. The Cardinals found themselves down to their last strike in the top of the ninth inning two separate times before crushing the Washington Nationals' hopes, with a stunning comeback making it a 9-7 victory. The Cardinals became the first team in major-league history to overcome a

shortage of more than four runs in a winner-take-all game, as they

r a l l i e d f r o m six runs down to defeat the Nationals . Growing up in a family full of C a r d i n a l s fans, I can recall c o u n t l e s s

times watching them play. That victory over the Washington Nationals was by no means one of the most entertaining baseball games I have ever seen and I was shocked to see the determination of the Cardinals as the game progressed. D e f e a t i n g the Nationals was definitely a milestone game for the Cardinals

and if there is one thing you can predict about the NLDS this year, it’s that no lead towards the beginning of the game will determine who will take the victory. The turn around of momentum contributed not only to the success of the Cardinals, but for many athletes as well. The incredible turn around wins occurs at all levels, including at the professional, college,

6A RAMPANT SPORTS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2012

Upon mention of the abbreviation WNBA common responses of “What’s that”, “Why would I watch that?” or “Dude, they can’t even dunk” can often be heard.

have similar thoughts in on a tidbit of knowledge. The WNBA stands for the Women’s National Bas-ketball Association. It is a professional basketball league for women that was founded in 1996, with a season span-ning the months of June through October. It is the

only standing women’s professional league in the United States today. The WNBA opened up many doors for women’s advance-ment in athletics, gave girls across the nation role models worthy of their affection and provided a stage for collegiate ath-letes to continue their playing careers within the borders of their own country. How is it that something this promi-nent does not receive the attention it deserves and prompts aforementioned questions? The answer is a social bias, a tendency

-ing world of the NBA full of people playing for the money and the lifestyle it provides rather than the quote on quote love of the game itself. There is no broadcast of the play-er’s decision as to where they will “take their tal-ents” but usually just a

document signed behind closed doors and a plane ticket taking them to their new home. There is no talcum powder residue in the air, just basketball played in its purest form. The lowest paid player in the NBA makes a recorded 475,588 dollars per season and is lucky to get off the bench to grab a loose ball rolling out of bounds or hand Kobe Bry-ant his towel. In contrast, the high-est paid player in the WNBA makes a r e c o r d e d 97,500 dollars per season and plays more than 40 games, not including pre or post season com-petitions. They do not even receive the luxury

-vate planes but instead

-mercially, a feat that would make most NBA play-ers cringe. T h e best players in the WNBA have signed e n d o r s e -ment deals with cor-

p o -rations rang-

ing from Nike to Adidas. Such deals compensate for some of the dispar-ity in their income. Maya Moore, a four time All-American and the all time leading scorer in UCONN basketball history, signed a million dollar endorse-ment deal with the Jor-dan brand and became

sign with the company in 2012. However, the bulk of a professional women’s basketball player’s salary is earned overseas. At the conclusion of the WNBA season the vast majority of the players take their talents overseas and com-pete in various European leagues for

t h e E u r o -L e a g u e -champion-ships. This is where they are treated with the respect they de-serve, treated like the world

class athletes that they are. A common salary overseas ranges from 400,000 to 1,000,000 dol-

basketball, private planes, catered meals, and gym-

-ity with screaming fans. The name Dwight Howard registers in just about everyone’s brain, but how about the name Diana Taurasi? Her acco-lades are mind boggling. She won 3 NCAA national championships, 2 WNBA championships, 3 Olym-pic gold medals, and 4 Euroleague champion-ships. She is a 3 time All-American, Wade Trophy winner, 2 time Naismith College Player of the Year, WNBA Rookie of the Year and WNBA Player of the Year. There isn’t anything left for her to accomplish on the court. She’s done everything imaginable for a basketball player both individually and as a member of a team.

Dwight Howard, on the other hand, chose to forego college and is an NBA all star, NBA Defen-sive Player of the Year and Olympic gold medal win-ner. Not taking anything away from his accolades, because in my opinion he is a “freak of nature”

and I’m saying that with the utmost respect

and admiration, but how is it that his

face is gracing the cover of sports illustrated and hers isn’t?

It is sad to

know that talented female players, like Taurasi, have to leave their homes, their lives, their families and friends behind all in the pursuit of their dream. Here their talents are simply statistics on a page unlike those of Lebron James or Dwayne Wade which are seen as dol-lar signs or a new slogan to put on a tee shirt. As a female basketball player, I look up to these players and admire the toughness and desire with which they play the game. They are my motivation to get better each and every day. These women play simply because they love it, because they can not imagine their lives with-out it. The idea of a day where they don’t hear the clank of a ball off the rim or the sound of sneakers squeaking on the hard

-able. As the WNBA slogan states, “They’ve got next” and its abut time they do.

There are not many things in sports as exhiliratating as watch-ing an unexpected comeback

win unfold before your eyes.” -Emily Clark“

high school or even middle school level. Even in the halls of Rose today there are many athletes who have experienced a similar phenomenon that the Cardinals experienced. Many of you who are athletes have experienced those particular games where the odds were not in your favor towards the beginning of the game and something clicked for your team. This led to a stunning victory.

Sports

7A RAMPANT SPORTS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2012

Volleyball claims conference title

Chili Night results in a draw such as utensils, were donated by the team’s parents. Approximately 1000 dollars was raised that night and will go towards new equipment for the team and will help them upgrade the soccer facility. There was also an additional 1000 dollars earned from the amount of tickets sold, which were seven dollars each. A large portion of the Rowdie Rampants showed up and made up most of the Rose fans at the game. “The game was very fun and the Rowdie Rampants made the game very exciting,” said junior Chad Sullivan. “A lot of people got horns to blow and me and my friends got green and blue paint and wrote ‘R-O-S-E’ on our chests. I think that the crowd really

helped the team out.” started at Rose last year. The Rose vs Conley game

that the club appeared at this year. The club is well known at football games for their school spirit and support; they didn’t disappoint at the soccer game. “The Rowdie Rampants got me so pumped for the game,” said de Quieroz. “It’s always good to see friends rooting for us and

and our playing because we want to play our best for them, especially in this game against Conley. It’s always been back and forth between us. Ever since my freshman year on varsity, the games have always been very close.” It is a well known fact that Conley and Rose are big time rivals, no

matter the sport. The team had already played and lost to Conley in mid-September. This was their chance to make up for their loss

“The game was good,” said head coach Charlie Harvey. “We were a little fatigued to start out with, but that’s partially due to the game before on Thursday after competing against Wilmington. It’s disappointing that we’re not winning more games, but it’s not for lack of trying. The team is working hard and trying to compete.” T h r o u g h o u t the game, calls were being made left and right. Despite this, the referee had good things to say about both teams afterwards. “That was one of the better games I’ve seen

Lauren Coltrain: Drives solo to succeed

At Rose, students are used to sports teams having multiple players, but there is one exception. Senior Lauren Coltrain is the only member of the women’s golf team and has been a dedicated player for four years.

Coltrain has been playing golf since she was thirteen. Current Rose teacher Van Tucker is both the men’s and women’s golf coach. Coltrain said that she uses her coach’s inspirational advice to motivate her, especially being the only player on the team.

“When I’m not playing well, I tend to get a little frustrated

with myself,” Coltrain said. “Coach Tucker will calm me down by saying, ‘Move on to the next shot, everything is going to be alright.’ He helps calm me down when things aren’t going right.”

With the help of Tucker, Coltrain has a wide range of personal goals she would like to accomplish.

“Last year I finished 27th in the state championship,” Coltrain said. “This year I set a goal for myself to finish 15th or better.”

In order to accomplish these goals, Coltrain aims to practice at least five times a week. For a typical practice, Coltrain begins with hitting balls out on the

range, followed with putting, and finished with playing six to nine holes on the course.

Coltrain practices at Greenville Country Club, and she goes through a similar routine each day. Sometimes Tucker will come out to help coach or teach Coltrain new techniques.

Coltrain said that she doesn’t find it troublesome to be the only player on the team. She also said that she wouldn’t mind there being more players.

“It’s definitely a little strange, considering we’re suppose to have a team, but it’s not all that different considering golf is an individual sport,” Coltrain said. “I would definitely like to have more of a team.”

Coltrain finds golf to be exciting because she never knows what the outcome of the game will be. She also gets fed up when the game

doesn’t go as planned.“Golf is such a

challenge, it’s never the same,” Coltrain said. “One shot is not exactly the same as the next shot you’re going to hit. This keeps it interesting. It is also frustrating sometimes, too. It’s just the challenge of the game, really.”

Just a few weeks ago, Coltrain finished

With fans holding their bowls of steaming chili and Rowdie Rampants blowing their horns, junior Justyn de Queiroz shoots the ball past the Conley goalie, tying the game up 1-1. On October 12, the Rose men’s soccer team played against long time rivals, Conley. That night was the team’s chili night; a fundraiser that was built to earn money for the school’s soccer program. For 5 dollars, the team sold chili, chips, fruit, a drink,

were given the chance to win a number of prizes. The chili was cooked and donated by Winslow’s; the cups were donated by McDonald’s. Other items,

Rose play,” said center referee Mike Priest. “It was a very good game. Great environment, good crowd, and it was a very fair result for both teams. I know it’s a very heated rivalry, but they played a great game. Good job to them.”

half ended with the Rampants down by one point, but that didn’t stop them. de Queiroz scored for the Rose team in the second half. “I was very excited when I scored,” said de Queiroz. “Not just because I scored, but because it meant that our team was still in the game. And it boosted

have been someone else that scored and I would have been equally excited. Because it’s not about who scores, but that we do it as a team.”

third overall in her conference match. Coltrain has trained hard for the past four years to get to this point in her golf career. She hopes to continue with golf after high school. Being the only player on the team, Coltrain takes pride in her hard work. Even with a busy life, she finds time to practice golf almost every day.

*

Staff Writer

*Staff writer

*

Staff Writer

BLURBSSports

Photo taken by Collin Loy

The varsity Rose volleyball team discusses strategy after a conference game against Hoggard.

Contributed Photo

Lauren Coltrain practices her golf swing at practice.

rampantlines.c m

San Francisco Giants won the baseball world

series behind the pitching of Sergio

Romo.

Read more sports and all of your other favorite articles online! Check it out today!

Or tweet us @rampantlines

and like our Facebook page!

A tie breaker was necessary to determine seeding going into the NCHSAA 4A volleyball state playoffs. Rose played Ashley High School, a familiar conference opposer, to secure the number one seed in this years tournament. With a top seed in the playoffs, the Rampants established home court advantage throughout

This season the 17-3 Rose Volleyball team beat Ashley in four games and became conference co-champs for the Mideastern Conference. With a Conference Champions banner up on the wall, the Lady Rampants volleyball team has reclaimed the Mideastern Conference title that they lost last season when Hoggard took home the title. “It is great being Conference Co-Champs

because this is our last year in this conference,” sophomore Macie Wright said. ”Going out with a bang is the perfect ending for us with all the Wilmington teams. It’s pretty great to have a banner up on the wall.” The team had a powerful offense and recorded a total of 51 kills on Wednesday night to beat Ashley 3-1. The match’s notable players include seniors that stepped up this game to help put Rose

on top. Emily Steele had 24 kills, 4 blocks and 10 digs, Kalee Hathaway had 30 assists, and Marie Payne had 21 digs. Rose was able to put together a solid 4 sets of volleyball and correct the mistakes that caused them to lose the regular season match against Ashley on September 18th. “Last year, we were missing something,” junior Kendall Douglas said. “And this year we have all the pieces of the puzzle.” The team, as a whole, had a total of 705 kills for the season. This statistic proves that they are capable of being a very competitive, high scoring team. Steele led the team in kills and will continue her volleyball career at Gardner Webb University next fall on an athletic scholarship. The 2012 volleyball team season came to a halt on October 23 with a loss to Hoggard High School in the second round of the playoffs.

The rampants put up a

set of the match 12-15. The volleyball team will lose seven seniors after four years of hard work and dedication. “The seniors brought us all together and helped us strive for one goal,” sophomore Merritt Anderson said. “They always gave us good advice. They really made us a team this year.”

u n d e r c l a s s m e n returning next year, the future of Rose volleyball looks bright. Along with Anderson, sophomores Annie Randall, Macie Wright and freshmen Maggie Hallow and Shelby Casey look forward to continuing their volleyball career here at Rose. “I look forward to being older and having more e x p e r i e n c e , ” Hallow said. “And being in the samee conference as Conley.”

NC State men’s basketball is

predicted to win the ACC regular season

championship over rivals North

Carolina and Duke.

Matt Ryan, quarterback of the

Atlanta Falcons, has led his team to the best record in the NFC South and the best overall record in the NFL at 7-0.

The National Hockey League

is currently in an on- going labor

dispute that began on September 15,

2012.

The Baylor women’s basketball team is expected to repeat as National Champions after a 2012 season where

record of 40-0.

8A RAMPANT FEATURES FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2012

THE AMAZING RACE

Whether you are scrolling through your Twitter timeline or read-ing Facebook status up-dates, the presidential election between Repub-lican candidate, Mitt Rom-ney, and Democratic can-didate, Barack Obama, is everywhere. On nights of the debates, it is close to impossible to go on a so-cial networking site and not see anything about Romney or Obama. This year’s election has made for a busy time in the po-litical clubs here at Rose, Teen Republicans and Teen Democrats. Mem-bers of the clubs have been doing a lot to spread the word about the elec-

tion and promote their party.

Junior Alice Reed sup-ports President Obama and is a member of Teen Democrats.

“Our club went to

in Greenville and had an ‘Obama night,’” Reed said. “We called people asking them if they were interested in early voting, and if they were planning on voting for Obama. We also gave them more in-formation about early voting.”

In an effort to get peo-ple excited about voting, the Republican party held a project called “Super Saturday” on Saturday, Oct. 6 to get volunteers to go out and promote Romney and the Repub-lican ticket. Senior Ben-nett Jethro is a member

of Teen Republicans at Rose and supports

Romney.“ W e

h e l p e d out on

Super Satur-d a y b y

making phone calls and driving around in an effort to get people in-formed about the election coming up,” Jethro said. “I’ve also been working at

in Greenville.”Freshman Susanna

Spratt is also an avid member of Teen Repub-licans and has been help-ing spread the word to vote for Romney.

“On Super Saturday, we went door to door for a few hours and asked registered Republicans if

voting for the Republican ticket,” Spratt said.

Senior Andrew Bennett who is an ac-tive participant in Teen Democrats feels that their efforts on behalf of Presi-dent Obama are helping the campaign along.

“I feel like we have been able to spread the word about what Presi-dent Obama is doing and raise support for him,” Bennett said. “For exam-ple, when I was helping with phone banking, all of the people who I got in touch with, except for the two who were deceased, were willing to talk about the President and really gain support for him, and this was all just by talking on the phone.”

Teen Democrats have also been volunteering with the local campaign of Marian Mclawhorn, who is seeking re-election in the NC State House.

Many Rose students are able to vote for the

even more exciting to be involved in making a dif-

ference.“Politics is

a big interest of mine,” Je-thro said. “I’ll be able to vote this year, so I

think it’s impor-

tant for me to be involved with something that is go-

country.”Bennett says that he

is also excited about being

time this year.“I want to make my

voice heard,” Bennett said. “For me, there is no better way to do that than voting, and I am thankful that I am able to do that this year.”

It is important for students who are not old enough to vote yet to get involved, too.

“I think it’s impor-tant to get involved now, because if some people don’t get involved early then they never will get involved,” Reed said.

Even the students who cannot yet vote can take the opportunity to get informed since they will be able to vote within a matter of a couple years.

“In a few years we’ll be able to vote anyway,” Spratt said. “So it is better now that we know about the issues than having to catch up on everything later on.”

Students have a lot of different opinions about the candidates.

“I don’t think Obama is taking our nation in the right di-rection,” Jethro said. “I do think that Romney and the Republicans’ plans are going to do much bet-ter than Obama’s for this country. He has obviously not done what he planned to do, so we need change.”

Bennett feels differ-ently about the election.

“In all honesty, I feel that both candidates could have been better,” Ben-nett said. “However, you

between what is ultimate-ly right for the country as a whole and what is right

for a group of people. I personally feel that Mitt Romney’s plans focus on a group of people instead of the entire country. Some people may disagree, but that is the way I feel.”

Whether one sup-ports Romney or Obama, it is evident that this will be a close election. With both candidates tied in most polls, give or take a couple percent, it is hard to predict who will come out victorious.

“I support Obama,” Reed said. “I think it is go-ing to be a very close elec-tion.”

Politics is something that is always affecting us, and some students may even see a political career in their future.

“I think it would be interesting to have a career in

p o l i t i c s someday,” Jethro said.

“I’m re-al-

l y into gov-

ernment and histo-

an interest.”Bennett is also

thinking about pursu-ing a career in the po-

“What I want to do

but I think that after that I would like to become a politician,” Bennett said. “I enjoy public speaking and making my opinion known and for me, there is no better way

to combine those two things than to have some kind of career in politics and even hold a public of-

However, a political career is not everyone’s cup of tea.

“I’m not really inter-ested in pursuing a career in politics myself,” Spratt said. “I really actually don’t like politics much, but I wouldn’t sit around and complain about what the government is doing and then not do anything about it.”

Whether it is Teen Democrats or Teen Re-publicans, both sides agree that it is important for young people to make their voices heard.

“Young people always have the lowest voter turnout rate, but young Americans should really get involved,” Bennett said. “This is the future of our country and soon young people will be able to vote and help make decisions that will shape

the future of our country. If they

get involved in

p o l i t i c s early, they

will gain an understanding about what’s go-ing on so that

they can make in-formed de-cisions for

the future.”

MITT ROMNEY

Romney’s Running Mate:Paul Ryan OBAMA’S RUNNING MATE: Joe Biden

-51 years old-First African-American President of United States

ECONOMIC ISSUES:President Obama wants to invest in the middle class and increase taxes for the wealthy. He plans to reduce the de!cit by more than $4 trillion over the next decade. He wants to create more jobs for Americans by increasing the number of manufacturing jobs in the US, rescuing the auto industry and cutting tax breaks for industries.SOCIAL ISSUES:President Obama wants to make higher education more a"ordable by doubling the funding for Pell grants and establishing a college tax credit. For other social issues, such as equal rights, he plans on establishing equal pay for women in the workplace and supports equal treatment for same-sex couples. However, he does support the freedom of religious institutions to administer marriages as they see !t without government interference.

PLATFORM:

-65 years old-Former Governor of Massachusetts

PLATFORM:ECONOMIC ISSUES:Mitt Romney plans to cut all taxes by 20% and eliminate taxes completely for families with less than a $200,000 adjusted gross income, which is a family’s total income minus certain reductions. He wants to cut the deficit and reduce or eliminate funding for certain federally-funded programs, such as PBS. He plans to create 12 million new jobs and create “Personal Re-employment Accounts” which would facilitate programs for on-the -job training, similar to what he did in Massachussetts. SOCIAL ISSUES:Romney feels that education is a central aspect of the American Dream. He advo-cates a broad spectrum of reforms to the educational system, and will take steps to tying teachers’ compensations to their individual results. He believes that marriage is an institution between a man and a woman, but feels that basic civil rights and some benefits should be available to those in non-traditional relationships.

-69 years old-Ran for president in 1987 and 2007 but later dropped out of the race

-42 years old-Is the chair of the House Budget comittee and is considered a !scally conservative voice in the Republican party.

HOW WELL DOES ROSE KNOW POLITICS?Secretary of State? Vice President? Mayor of Greenville? Governor of NC?

We asked Rose students if they knew some key players in the world of politics. Here’s what they thought:

55% 69% 8% 44%Of students know that it’s Hillary Clinton.

Of students know that it’s Joe Biden.

Of students know that it’s Allen Thomas.

Of students know that it’s Bev Perdue.

Teen Dems/Repubs get involved in Presidential Election

Features Co-editors

BARACK OBAMA