Issue 4 May 22nd, 2013 FREE

The voice of Liberty High School students

Liberty High School850 Second Street

Room J17Brentwood, CA 94513Lion’s Roar

The

It is your night, the only night where you can part from the pres-sure of school and future prospects, a night where you can let loose, hang with your peers and dance around the notion of complete and utter freedom…or at least an extent of it. Five minutes till the start of your prom and you look fabulous; your hair is great, your outfit is amazing and you have just chugged down 8 oz of Red Bull, to put it simply, you are the most ready you have ever been. The pearly gates of your night open and you are over-whelmed with feelings of excite-ment and unadulterated freedom; however, something catches your attention. Two people are getting incredibly aggressive with one an-other; their outfits wrinkled from dishevelment, their hands clench and unclench and you think they are five seconds away from butch-ering each other’s face. You begin to wonder what could have moti-vated their conflict; lo and behold, your answer comes in a 4oz flask of what you deem as alcohol. There goes your night you think bitterly.

Blame it on the alcoholBy Amy LoocStaff Writer

Officers in the McLean District promote alcohol free prom with these magnets during Prom/Grad season.

Photo courtesy of Fairfax County Police Department

You look at the clock for what seems like the hundredth time as the music stops and the night comes to a close. Suddenly, a friend pulls you aside with a brilliant question: why should the night have to end so soon? That’s right, everyone- I’m talk-ing about prom and/or senior ball after parties. We’ve all heard of them, and many of us have been to one. Why are they so popular? Well, the usual length of prom ranges from about 3-4 hours which many believe is not long enough to have a truly fun time. Due to this, and the wave of excitement that flows through the students once prom is “over”, many young adults feel the need to let festivities continue; i.e., the modern day after party. These are generally non-super-vised, larger scale versions of prom or senior ball. Typically, they

Possibilities at a prom after partyBy De’Varryia SmithStaff Writer

Spring, a time where rejuvena-tion, renewal and eventual growth take place; flowers begin to sprout from their dormancy, the sun stays out a little longer to play, and the air is crisp and ready to be taken into breath. However, spring is also a time known for its intoxi-cating stench of inebriated youths jiving to tunes of freedom and pure ecstasy during a night dedicated to solely just them. Consequently, spring has the ultimate pleasure of declaring April the title of ‘Alco-hol Awareness Month’. Prweb.com released an article stating, “One of the reasons that April was selected as Alcohol Awareness month was to curb underage drinking,” fur-thermore, notifying that, “ One third of the alcohol-related traffic fatalities involving teens each year occur during prom and graduation seasons in the months of April, May and June.” According to Statisticbrain.com, the percent of minors who drank more than four drinks on prom night was 53%; we can presume that the other half of sober students were glad they were not peg for such a statistic, which they rightfully should. However,

the question is not what but how. How are these students getting away with consuming these haz-ardous substances? Despite the abundance of anti alcohol promo-tions prior to prom, teens are more aware, or rather distracted, by their own advertisements of what they call as, rebellion. Some ways to rebel are: some teens can simply get their booze satisfied at a meet up prior to the dance, they can use the excuse of renting a limo to drink since, “I’m not drinking and driving” seems to be a valid and responsible reason, the most com-mon and overused tactic? Spike the punch.

“I found a way to get drunk at my own prom.” Narconon Fresh Start’s director of Drug Education, Tony Bylsma warns, “Many high school students do not know how danger-ous alcohol can be.” He goes on to speak upon the consequences of this ignorance, “they [the students] often do not understand that alcohol is poisonous and that consuming too much can be fatal. Also, they may not understand the impair-ment in judgment or slower physi-cal reaction time caused by using alcohol which can lead to automo-bile accidents and other alcohol related injuries.” Alcohol related deaths not only attribute to car ac-

cidents; however, it is the number one cause of demise. The other af-filiated causes deal with homicide and suicide. According to Camy.org factsheets excerpted directly from The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking 2007, “Annu-ally, about 5,000 people under age 21 die from alcohol-related inju-ries involving underage drinking. Approximately: 1,900 (38 percent) of the 5,000 deaths involve motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 (32 percent) result from homicides, and 300 (6 percent) result from suicides (Call to Action, page 10).” Drink-ing can also be a gateway to other substances as well, such as illicit drug use and tobacco use, since it lowers one’s inhibition and sense of judgment. One may think that getting away with alcohol at prom is easy since it is prom after all, and God forbid anyone from acting remotely sane during this event, besides, how easy is it to stand out in a crowd of equally erratic peers? Extremely easy. Loud and unruly behavior, property destruction, vi-olence, unintentional or intentional Continued on page 3

are held at someone’s home, or at public venues such as hotels or nightclubs. Here, students can let their true selves run wild, without the worry of nagging parents or ad-ministrators being bothersome. However, these parties don’t come without their fair share of dangers. Frequent, and sometimes uninvited guests at these events include al-cohol, marijuana, drugs, and other dangerous items. In fact, 1/3 of al-cohol-related drunk driving deaths concerning teens occurred in April, May, or June, the most common months of prom. Those who host

after parties that provide alcohol to minors can be fined up to $2,500 or even get up to a year in prison! If you do choose to go to an after-party, make sure to make smart de-cisions. Stay away from drugs and alcohol, and if you think a friend may be under the influence, DO NOT let them drive. Try to call a cab or find a designated driver. Remember, prom night can be either one of the best memories of you life, or one of the worst. It all depends on the choices you make.

Prom… a kinetic and galvanizing night, with the capacity of discon-solateness. But what is its purpose? Why are annual proms a tradition at almost every high school in America? And more importantly, where does it come from? There must be more to prom than just another night of partying. Surely it wasn’t invented for what it is now infamous for? To solve this mystery, there is a little etymology involved. The word “prom” is short for Prom-enade, the formal introductory pa-rading of gusts at a formal party. In the Victorian era, upper class guests were introduced before en-tering a grand ball. A similar event for young people called a debutante ball was held for teenagers (usu-ally girls) entering a certain stage in their adolescence. The person of honor “came out” to the dating scene to meet appropriate suitors selected by their parents. Strict etiquette was a must, and only the finest apparel was worn. The first

“prom” came about as middle class replicas of debutante balls. Middle class parents admired the sophisti-cation and wanted the same thing for their children, thus proms were created as less expensive, less elab-orate avocations where teenagers could dress in their finest clothes to share dinner (and sometimes dance) while learning social eti-quette together. This is where the basic concept of prom comes from. But the prom we all know and love actually only goes as far back as the 1800’s. 19th century American universities held simple co-ed banquets for each graduating class. Growing teenage culture pushed prom younger and younger until it hit high school. By the 1950’s it became a regular high school event and went from intricate gymnasiums, to baroque hotels and country club banquet halls. However, prom and its origin have not always been that unmiti-gated; in the past proms have been smothered in egregious regulations preventing people of a certain race or sexual orientation from attend-ing. Continued on page 3

By Tavaris TillmonStaff Writer

What the heck is prom?

One could say, “Bravo and brava,” to these methods, really, it takes a lot of ‘wasted’ noggin to come up with these sorts of tactics. It is ad-mirable then to have your grave-stone engraved with that one ac-complishment,

The end of STAR, page 2 Food, page 4 Track, page 5Senior wills, page 4

Photo courtesy of untouchablesoundsmiami.com

Dress code, page 7

All one can hear is the scratch-ing of pencils for several hours, a sneeze here, a cough there, but otherwise, silence. This silence is symptomatic of our annual STAR test; however, the sound of pencils against paper may be replaced by the clicking of keyboards as part of the new Smarter Balance test and all of the new standards that come with it. How does this rest really differ you ask? Imagine you come to a grammar question, you review the options and identify C as the answer, but you aren’t done. In a blank box below the question you must now write exactly why you chose to bubble in the answer C explain exactly how you came to your conclusion and what rules you used to justify your answer. “During the math section, your fi-nal answer on the problem is only 20% of your points! The real score is in how you got your answer and the steps you showed to demon-strate your logic and understanding of the material,” explains Valerie Stillwell, chair of Liberty’s own math department and a teacher on Liberty’s campus. Most would look at this format and ask why the district would choose to change to such a difficult system. Well, the answer is twofold. Firstly, this test arises out of the need to judge a student’s proficien-cies in the newly adopted Common Core standards. These standards were adopted after the Obama

Goodbye STAR testingBy Darrion BurgessEditor

Auto ClassicsBy Tyler SoaresStaff WriterStudents at other high schools throughout Contra Costa County are envious of what we have here at Liberty: an auto shop elective. Students enrolled in this elective are able to learn the skills to a trade that will always be needed. The auto shop program is a great class for students to take if they are interested learning how to work on cars, or if they even want to make it a career. In fact, after graduating from Liberty, most students either go to a trade school like UTI to specifically be in the auto indus-try or they still may even take auto classes at colleges like LMC. Auto shop also has some perks. If your “check engine” light comes on or if you need new brakes, you

administration introduced the sig-nature Race to the Top Program that supplied schools with large amounts of funding based on per-formance. The catch? Only schools that adopt the “Common Core stan-dard” would even have a chance to get any money. Interestingly, these

standards do not hold nearly as much change for Liberty students as they may hold for students in a state such as Kansas. For example, under the current state standards, California students are taught Al-gebra 1 around 7th grade, while in Kansas, students are not required to learn Algebra 1 until around sopho-more year! These standards would attempt to equalize state standards and have both states teach lessons around the same time. “However,” said Mrs. Stillwell “the high school level has had the largest overhaul,

and math specifically, because the other grade levels are mostly training to reinforce needed skills, whereas in high school students are expected to learn a new thing every year.” The second reason for the Smarter Balance test was California’s own

analysis of what skills students needed to move into both college and the workforce. “These stan-dards were actually a response to complaints from employers. Many employers say our kids are brilliant but they don’t have the skills to fig-ure out a problem on their own,” commented Mrs. Stillwell. “Any student can bubble in a letter, but a student needs critical thinking in order to lay out proof of how that student got his or her answer,” said Susan MacDonald, a freshman and senior English teacher on Liberty’s

Breaking NewsPage 2

campus. All of this transpires to a very important question, how exactly is this going to change how teach-ers teach in the classroom? Some of the biggest changes are going to come in the form of math. Valorie Stillwell reflected on the changes most math teachers are going to experience, saying that “exercises where we ask you to do 20 exam-ples of a certain kind of question are going to be replaced by maybe 5 word problems so that you re-ally have to use critical thinking showing you not only understand the concept but you can figure out the question.” “What we do with writing will change, we will have to implement much more in-formational text,” explained John Romeis, “We’ll still read out of the big books like reading Most Dangerous Game and maybe we’ll have more readings on, say, ‘the life of an animal as compared to the life of a human.’” and he also noted, “We are going to have to do a lot more writing, maybe the num-ber of essays will stay the same, but we will do a lot more writing in-class.” “We are asking more of the student, instead of us spoon feed-ing students and spend more time collaborating with other students and in this way they are primed to be more independent college level thinking,” reflected Mr. Romeis. “That’s the Socratic method, where kids go home and read the text and come to their own conclusion (or

no conclusion at all), but they bring something to the conversation.” District officials did a retrospec-tive analysis of skills needed in col-lege starting by analyzing college level text books and stepping back to see if standards were preparing high school students for the rig-ors of college. Surprise, surprise; research shows high school stu-dents were not even close to being prepared for the rigors of college work and higher thinking, leading to a very high dropout rate during college. However, many on Liberty’s campus are questioning the vi-ability of such a test. Since Liberty barely has a working computer lab, people might wonder how every student will be able to take a test on the computers we don’t have. “We will not be able to take that test in two years,” remarked Mrs. Stillwell, “but they say they will give us a paper version of the test.” All griping aside, this is going to be a very large change in the edu-cational system. “I think it’s ex-citing, it’s certainly a step in the right direction and I always love when we try to model students to be independent thinkers and hear-ing their voices rather than hearing one voice and that voice being the teachers.” What the future holds will definitely be a transition, how-ever seeing whether these changes are the best ideas is a judgment call that won’t be able to be made for several years.

Seniors! They think about home-coming, prom, championship games, and graduation. But a select few take a different path than that. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard. They are the few men and women who choose to protect this nation. And some of them pass us everyday in the halls. Some of them go to Liberty High School. Do you recognize these names? Audrey Aanonson, Jacob Aslin, Christopher Williams, Alberto Sevilla, and Daniel Johnson. These are only a few of the people at Lib-erty High School who have chosen to serve our country and there are many more. He could be the per-son sitting next to you in Algebra; she could be the one who lent you a pencil yesterday. According to cha-cha.com, as of 2002 studies show that 62% of high school graduates go directly into the military branch-es and that percentage is growing every year. We shouldn’t just thank these few people, we should al-ways keep them in our hearts. They give up their lives so we don’t have to. They fight for freedom and de-mocracy around the world. College and trade schools can be just as ful-filling but maybe just maybe these few students don’t get the recogni-tion that they deserve. We all sit in class and listen to the names being

Photo courtesy of kpax.com

By Kristina VanZantenStaff Writer

Photo courtesy of Microsoft Clipart

Military service needs to be heard

called who have been accepted to college but not once have we heard about students going into the mili-tary. Are we not as important or are high schools now too afraid to advertise this choice? If we can have recruiters on campus then we should have those names of stu-dents who choose that route to be heard. People suggest that the mili-tary is so easy to get into but Pen-tagon data shows that 75% of those aged 17 to 24 don’t even qualify to take the military entrance exam because they are physically unfit, have a criminal record, or didn’t graduate high school. So should we include these names in the morn-ing announcements? I asked Mr. Walsh why these names were not included in the morning announce-ments and his response surprised me. He said “because no one has ever asked.” I think that we should make it a tradition to announce the names of students at Liberty High School who have joined the mili-tary. People ask “Well, isn’t col-lege just as important?” College is just as important and people in the military also choose the route to get a degree while serving the country. ROTC (Reserve Officer’s Training Corps) is a great program that the military offers that gives you the opportunity to further your educa-tion and to become an officer in the military. A lot of people choose

college after high school, but you can go to college and get the de-gree of your choice with little to no cost on your part and you can serve your country while doing it. High school students all over the country choose that route and if you don’t know what you’re going to do af-ter high school maybe you should look into the military.

can service your car in class! The shop gives students access to a di-agnostic machine that is updated annually, along with an impressive variety of other equipment to use. Additionally, each year the auto shop classes have a project that they work on all year. Every year it is something different; last year the project was a dune buggy. This year, however, they have some-

thing more than a buggy to show at the annual car show; they have a 1977 Camaro Super Street drag-ster. Auto shop held a car show May 18th which was open to the public. Various car clubs showed off their cars along with Liberty. Food and drinks were provided by local ca-terers.

Photo by Tyler Soares

Campus Life

We see them every morning before, and after school. They have smiles on their faces, and looks of joy. These are our very own all- star, life skill students. How many people at Liberty know about this class, or about these students? Have you ever in-teracted with them, or just said hi? Do you ever wonder if they like the same things other teenagers do? Well that can be answered that for you. Yes they are just like nor-mal teenagers, they like the same things, and are human beings just like us. Their class structure, however, is more unique than ours. On the day of the interview I managed to get an idea of what their class sched-ule is like. This is an example of what their daily routine consists of: 8:30am- 8:45am- Morning Routine & Breakfast 8:45am- 9:00am- Weather Pre-dictions

9:00am- 9:40am- Groups: Writ-ing or Computers 9:40am- 11:10am- Electives 11:10am- 12:00pm- Lunch 12:00pm- 1:00pm- Groups: Garden or P.E. (Special Olympics Practice) 1:00pm- 2:00pm- Groups: Math or Computers 2:00pm- 2:45pm-Check out & Choice 2:45pm- 2:50pm- Clean Up 2:50pm- Bus A senior in the class, Gage Van-Amerik, was asked what he likes most about this class he replied, “I like the special Olympics.” The Special Olympics is an event where children and teens that are mentally and physically disabled can show off their athletic capabili-ties. Last year I had the honor of helping with the soccer event of the Special Olympics. It was great to see all of them come together and perform to their strengths. I wondered what it was like work-

ing with these kids, so I asked the one person who could answer that, Ms. Gates. She gave a very heart-felt response, “It is very rewarding. Every day is different, and offers new challenges. It’s great to see the students progress, and participate in campus activities.” Ms. Gates was also asked if there was anything she would like every-one to know about these kids. Her response was, “They are just like every other teenager. They have the same interests, same feelings, and are faced with the same chal-lenges every other teenager faces.” I was also told by Ms. Gates that the students in her class feel like part of the high school community when students come into the class and work with them. On May 17, 2013 the track and field event of the Special Olym-pics is being held at Liberty High School. If you have a period when you can come to the event they would greatly appreciate it.

The Heart and Soul of Liberty High School

VSDesired Effect

Actual Effect

By Brittany FerkingStaff Writer

The not-so-fun summer sunThe summer sun is finally here and coming with it is swimming, shorts, tank tops, but mostly importantly, tanning. Instagram will soon be full of girls showing off their new bathing suits while tanning by a pool. The effects of it are absent in the teenage mind; but teens are easier targets for skin cancer because their cells are changing and dividing more rapidly than adults. While

2.3 million teens are going to a tanning salon they are becoming more susceptible to cancer. But what is the better option? The only way to healthily get the sun kissed skin you want is spray tans. Some students only get tans for proms or special events but even a short time in a tanning bed can lead to deadly consequences. But why do teenagers keep doing it even though they know it is harming their bodies? Teens don’t care about the problems it will cause later in life

because the status quo says tan skin looks better than not. “I tan so I can wear white shorts and not math them,” said Lexi Wallen, a sophomore here at Liberty. Celebrities in television shows and movies are sun kissed and teenagers will do whatever it takes to be attractive in their peer’s minds. In our society a $30 tan and a couple hours lying out in the sun is worth a couple extra compliments. But in the future will the consequences be worth the benefits?

War of the Titans

In the last several years, video gam-ers have had one question that has yet to be answered. Which game system is better, the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox 720? Both systems should be released to the public late this year. There has been com-petition between the two gaming systems for a long time and all ar-guments are based upon the many specs each of the systems has to offer. Specs ranging from the over-all prices, internet usage, graph-ics, DVD/Blu-Ray player, and the amount of memory each system holds play key parts. As many examples there are to determine the difference between the two, there is a high possibility that the two are going to be similar. Senior developer of Eurogamer, Yannis Mallat, gave feedback on the systems. “It's going to be con-nected. It's going to be social. It's going to be immersive. It's going to be interactive,” Mallat said.

Both systems will have Blu-Ray players, more memory space, cam-eras, and new ways to share game-play on popular social media. The big features that Xbox 720 will have are that it will require a man-datory Kinect, have a new control-ler, could pack in a TV tuner, and a solid Internet server. All specs mentioned are approved and guar-anteed by Microsoft. Many of the features in the PS4 are similar to the last model PS3, including upgrades. Unlike the Xbox 720, the PS4 has changed the game by making it more acces-sible to use and share on popular social media by adding a screen on the controller. The controller also consists of a six-axis motion sensing system, a built-in speaker, Bluetooth, and a built-in recharge-able battery. The PS4 is expected to come out during the fall of 2013 while there is talk about the Xbox 720 will be for sale a little later, possibly dur-ing the winter of 2013.

By Nate AtkinStaff Writer

Photo courtesy of 9e3k.com

By Alicia EvansStaff Writer

Photos coutrtesy of meme.com

Page 3

Continued from page 1In the past, it had been reported that proms had been shut down entirely for the sake of not allowing admit-tance to same sex couples. But as time moves forward so does the lib-eral mindedness of society. Today, people bring forth a new age in the concept of formality. Some schools have permitted the attendance of same sex couples and students of all ethnic backgrounds are accept-

ed. Some students even arrive date-less or in groups of friends, rather than the tradition of enjoying the night with a date. After probing the depths of the ancestry of prom, one can securely say that a lot has changed; today, prom is nothing more than just a florid name for a junior/senior class dance, and as prom opens its doors to liberality it will continue to change. Because that is the only true constant of humanity and the basis of the concept of history…change.

Continued from page 1 injuries and even death can stand out like a sore thumb, especially when one is slur-ring his or her words and wobbling around like a tranquilized bear. What do you get when the spotlight is on you? Consequence. CBS Baltimore covered a news story in which Aimee Liebman, a sev-enteen year old at Northeast High in the Anne Arundel County, was punished for alcohol related reason at her own prom. Aimee Liebman, who spent over a thousand dollars for her prom, states, “As soon as we [herself and eight other Northeast High students] got into prom, they were all accusing us of drinking [.]” Due to a zero tolerance for alcohol use, the punishment was severe: no prom, a three-day suspension from school and no senior or gradua-tion ceremonies (CBS Baltimore). The sad thing is Liebman claims that she was guilty by association, she reveals, “about half of the stu-dents in the limo were drinking, but [I] didn’t” (CBS Baltimore). Yes, be aware that just because you are not drinking, it does not mean you should condone your peers to do it, because frankly, you are in

this together whether you like it or not. Unfortunately, not graduating should be the least of one’s concern especially when life is on the line. We as human beings know that death is an inevitable feat; it is our fate to say the least. Frankly, no matter how much you workout, no matter how many weights you lift or how many vitamin supplements you take, the thing is, our body is vulnerable when it comes to fac-ing death. Death can take life away just as fast it was given. Since we only have one life to live, we should make the best of each day while we are still capable of do-ing so. However, how one directs his or her life is according to one’s own will; society creates choices for one purpose only and that is to differentiate each individual. The road that one takes is ultimately his or her own choice, and if that path leads to a pool of alcohol then so be it; but there is no confirmation that it will not entail drowning. So let us take a step back and see what one’s night would have led to if alcohol were still present in that first paragraph. You really cannot recall exactly what happened af-ter the two people were separated from each other, just that there was a loud clamor of fear in the air and

Photo by Brittany Frerking

a large bustle of people rushing to the outside entrance of the hall. You remember seeing scraps of metal of what used to be a car and red, red everywhere. Red on the wind-shields, the metal, the pavement, the clothes of victims and on those who were aiding the injured; you hear bits and pieces of words such as “car accident”, “drunk”, “dead”, “call 911”. You look closely at the person behind the wheel of that ru-ined vehicle and sure enough, that face did strike familiarity. Images of clothes wrinkled from dishevel-ment, hands that clenched and un-clenched and what you had thought would have been five seconds away from brutality flood your mind with insistency. Indeed, there goes your night.

What the heck is prom?

Blame it on the alcohol

Campus Life

The Lion’s Cafe

Oodles of Noodle and More isn’t just a name. The amount of noo-dles present in a bowl can only be described by such words as oodle, plethora, or a superabundance. For $7.57, a huge serving of noodles, chicken, and vegetables can be purchased. If that doesn’t interest you, can change it up. Oodles of Noodles isn’t a restaurant in the usual sense. It is between a buffet and a fast food joint, but they cook the food while the patron’s watch. The ordering process starts at the register with a choice of protein and noodles, white rice, brown rice, or a tortilla wrap. They hand over a bowl to be loaded with a selection of veg-etables. At the end lies a sample section of over 8 types of season-ing sauce, which they recommend

you mix. An employee then cooks it all on a round, flat, grill behind the counter, in full view. The end result is a full plate of personalized vegetables and noo-dles. This bowl could sustain a hungry teenage to at least the next meal, as long as you aren’t afraid of greens. If spicy in the thing for you, the spicy Mongolian sauce is strongly recommended, but if you want to cut the spice and keep the flavor, ask them to mix it with the normal Mongolian sauce. They also have teriyaki and pineapple, if that is more to your tastes. Honestly, I haven’t found a bad mix yet.

Want to know More?Hours: 11am-9pm, dailyPhone: 925.418.4907Website:oodlesofnoodlesandmore.comLocation: Suite 5, 6670 Lone Tree Way, BrentwoodPrice: $6-10

Cookies:Use whatever chocolate chip cookie recipe you want, but keep it basic. Mix, and set aside.

Brownies:Use whatever brownie recipe you want, but keep it basic. Mix, and set aside.

Oodles of YumPreheat the oven to 350 degrees.Place a scoop of cookie batter in the bottom of a heavily greased muffin tin. Flatten the scoop with an Oreo cookie. Pour brownie batter to not quite fill that cup of the muffin tin. Once every cup is filled, place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool in the tin, then remove and enjoy.

Homemade Recipes: Easy Layered Brownies

“Its not what it’s cracked up to be but its something different to do and its just something I wanted to do for the expe r i ence , ” Says Jena Nelson, senior at Liberty, reflecting on her experience at a night club. Once teenagers have reached the age of 18, they’re legally permitted to attend night clubs; however, other find alternate paths to attend these adult activities, such as, simply sneaking in or purchasing a fake I.D. Some say ‘what’s all the fuss about?” Night clubs are sweaty, dirty, and have

the potential of being invasive of your personal space. Others have found night clubs a great place to let loose and have fun with friends. Hailey Smith adds, “I actually had

a great time, I’d like to go again, there’s just so much energy and I can get my groove on.” Whether some see it as a great way to have fun and others as a risky

expense, the question remains, is it appropriate for these 18 year old to be hanging around where alcohol is provided? How does it affect the school climate? And how does it reflect the school as a whole?

Teen Night LifeBy Vanessa MunozStaff Writer

Photo courtesy of: brightlights.com

By Jared TurnerEditor-in-Chief

All photos courtesy of Jared TurnerPhoto courtesy of oodlesofnoodlesandmore.com

By Jared TurnerEditor-in-Chief

Page 4

Senior Wills for the Class of 2013I leave Starbucks to all the sports enthusiast and pro-crastinators staying up till 3:00 in the morning, slaving away on homework. To all the thespians, and choir kids I know you’ll all become the big stars, you want to be, just put your minds to it. To all my close friends I leave you our endless random conver-sations, jokes, and our love for La Costa burritos. And to all the underclassmen I leave you memories, traditions and my amazing work ethic. As cliché as it sounds, high school definitely flies by and I won’t forget anyone I’ve come to know in these past four years. I wish the best for everyone, and I’ll always remember to stay classy!

Raina Perez Nathan AitkenI, Nathan Ait-ken, leave my top locker in N to my little sister Gen, my hangout spot between the gyms to all my Sophomore friends, and my loud mu-sic to Trevor. I leave my high-tops to Matt for his Senior year, and finally, I leave my a w e s o m e s c h e d u l e to Jimmy.

I, Sierra Parks, leave my favorite Pink Floyd sweater to Juliana. Hopefully you will be able to go to the Roger Walters concert with me this summer. To Ms. Leonard, I leave my empty desk to a new student on your case load. I hope you impact their lives as much as you have im-pacted mine. I couldn’t have made it to gradu-ation without you. To the freshman who is assigned my locker next year, good luck—it’s stubborn. Goodbye Liberty, you’ve given me some great memo-ries!

Sierra ParksI, Kristina Van Zanten, give my locker com-bination to Marissa, I hope you will be able to open it because I know I sure couldn’t. I give my TA position with Mr. Ambrose to Tay-lor. I hope you can take his witty comebacks and remember if you give him back talk he will thump you in the head. To all the people that came into sick bay with excuses to get out of class, Cody, you should really make up better stories. I give my Ta position with the at-

tendance office to derrick. Hopefully you won’t whine every time you get a town pass to the J wing like I did. And trust me there will be a lot of them. To all the students at Liberty High School time will fly by so cherish the moments that you have here. Love like it’s your last love and dream like you will never dream again. Hoo Yah and God Bless America.

Kristina Van Zanten Jared TurnerI, Jared Turner, do hereby de-cree that upon my exit from High School, I relinquish all rights to the contents of my locker. I leave the half cinder block to Kaitlyn Zei-gler, may it serve you well as a pa-perweight or conversation starter. I leave my glitter paper to Jordan Stanton and Allie Re, for it it sums up your friendship: infectious. I leave my baby leg to Michaela Pip-pin, and maybe people will finally realize that “Because” is a perfect-ly good reason for having a plastic baby leg in your locker. I leave the picture of the dragon and Gandalf to Rachel Kennealy, to serve as a reminder to you of how we met.

Opinion Poll By Matt Albright

Staff Writer

Mother’s Day: the one day of the year to pay tribute to the woman who gave birth to you. What did Liberty students do for their moms this past Mother’s Day? Here are the results:

18% = go out to breakfast 54% = go out to lunch27% = spend the whole day together

Liberty Athletics

Water polo is better than football. No, wait, football is better because it’s harder. Which statement is true? Water polo players seem to have a sort of rivalry against players of football, even if it has simmered down over the years. The two teams used to go back and forth about how their sport is “harder” or “more entertaining to watch.” At one point, our water polo team had team shirts, and on the back was text that said “If Water Polo Was Easy, It’d Be Called Football.” Simple research can help to decide which sport is “better.” On the topic of which sport is harder, length can be a good subtopic to start with, as it implies endurance. A standard high school foot-ball game can run from any-where between an hour and a half to two and a half hours. This takes into consideration the time that players take to line up on the field, for tim-eouts, and for penalties and injuries. However, a normal high school water polo game only lasts anywhere from thirty to forty-five minutes. The reason they don’t last as long is because the game

clock doesn’t stop as often as in football. In football, after each play, the clock stops; but water polo, being the com-pletely different sport that it is, usually tends to have a back and forth style of game play with hardly any rest in between. It’s plain and easy to see that during a football game, the players take much bodi-ly abuse from other players. Getting tackled, sacking the other players, and holding them off for other players to pass by; it’s no wonder they get the few second grace pe-riods in between plays. Foot-ball players are also taught that for each play, they are to

give it their 110% best, mak-ing it seem logical that this is more of an anaerobic sport. This means that it doesn’t require much breathing be-cause of the short bursts of play. Also, the amount of padding and the helmets they wear probably weigh them down a bit too, adding to the heat element from the sun. In that manner, football players might envy water polo play-ers for the fact that they are always cool because they’re submerged underwater. But still, water polo gets pretty rough underwater where the referee can’t see. “I think that water polo is great simply because it’s a

little bit more unique than others.” Josh Cariaso, Senior, said in regard to how water polo is a better sport. “What made it more fun in particu-lar for me was the crowd of people. I think the reason for that is that the sport itself draws different people in; people who are willing to try something completely unfa-miliar and new to them.” The lack of clothing, pad-ding, or protection, can tend to present negative consequenc-es. Really, the only amount of protection they wear is on their swimmer caps, where a plastic shell covers their ears. Other than that, besides maybe the occasional cup, water polo players are quite vulnerable. Some horrors stories about water polo in-clude where members of the opposing team will purposely sharpen their nails to scratch the other team while they’re guarding them. Thankfully, a precaution is put to op-pose that where before every game, the referee checks all players involved in the game

before starting. However, the referee can’t quite see what’s going on underwater, so people can freely kick, wrap their legs around each other and pull them down, or even pull on their Speedo as long as they don’t make it blatant-ly obvious. Also, since the players are treading water for a large majority of a game, water polo can be considered to be an aerobic sport, requir-ing the use of oxygen. So who knows? At this point, water polo and football both seem to be opposites, yet share the same amount of difficulty, although being in different forms. Football is said to have too much resting time, and water polo is said to have the luxury of coolness by water. Yet one question re-mains. Why hasn’t baseball, soccer, track, or any of the other sports been involved in this debate? Think about that the next time you attend a Liberty High School sports event and decide for yourself which sport is better.

Photo courtesy of menswaterpolo.group.wesleyan.edu Photo courtesy of buckeyextra.dispatch.com

By Wayne LeBlancStaff Writer

A special thank you goes out to Mr. John Ambrose,

for his years of dedication as Liberty High School’s Athletic Director,and

Congratulations to Mr. Curtis Cunningham, Liberty High School’s Athletic Director

starting fall 2013

Running, jumping, and throwing: the three skills that athletes have been partici-pating in during this year’s spring track season. The Lib-erty Lions track team is well into their new season, which began in early February. The team is led by Coach John Ambrose, a PE teacher and the Athletic Director here at Liberty High School. Am-brose and his team of assis-tant coaches have been train-ing their athletes to acquire the skills need to be success-ful during their season. The team's skills will be tested as

they reach the near end, with the last meets being the most important. The events that athletes take part in consist of a few different categories. The short distance running events are the 100, 200, and 400 me-ter (1 lap) sprints. The long distance running events are the 800 meter (2 laps), 1600 meter (4 laps, or 1 mile), and two mile. There are also two relay events, the 4 x 400 and 4 x 100 meter. The 4 x 400 is four runners, each running one full lap, and the 4 x 100 is four runners all running ¼

of a lap. The jumping events are the high jump, long jump, triple jump, and the 100 me-ter hurdle, as well as pole vaulting. Finally the throw-ing events consist of shot-put and discus. Liberty's team has two lev-els, Frosh/Soph, and Varsity. The two levels are put into two groups, the boys and girls, each group being sepa-rate in points. Points are giv-en to each school depending on how well an individual places in their event. If a par-ticipant from Liberty places first in the 100 meter, he/she

is rewarded with five points for their team. Three points are given to second, and one point is given to third place. Points from all events are added together to determine which school has won in ei-ther boys or girls. The teams have participated in six dual meets this season. The Varsi-ty boys took the win against all teams but one, Heritage High School. The Varsity girls have had a tougher sea-son, finishing on top against only Antioch High School. The team this year

Runners take your marks.....get set.....go! Liberty track team has successful season

The ultimate battle: waterpolo v football

By Jack RayStaff Writer

Photo by Motion Photography And he’s off! Walter Cruz, Liberty sophomore, takes off during the 100 meter relay. Continued on page 6

Page 5

Liberty Athletics

“Liberty High School Swim & Dive”. That’s what the polos, swimsuits, sweaters and crewnecks say, but; does Liberty High even have a dive team? If so, where do they practice? Do they have “meets” like the swim team does? Do “they” even exist?! Although being much like a mysterious breath in the wind, “They” do exist. “The Dive Team often goes unnoticed mostly because we have so little members. This year, we’re practicing at Heritage’s pool, so even though we’re working hard, we’re noted even less,” diver Savannah Rose says. Truth be told, the team is a relatively small one, made up of only four divers including: Sarah Doria, Julia Griffin, Savannah Rose, and Rosie Doria. “Diving is really such a beautiful sport; I wish most people would join,” Savannah wishes. While most people feel differently, swim and dive are two entirely different arts. Given, swimming is a

In past years, the team only seemed to lose game after game. Defeat after defeat, show-up after show-up: four years of frustration. However, there is a new team, one entirely committed; reluctant to concede defeat. One bent on turning anew the reputation of the Boy’s Volleyball team. Meet your 2013 lineup. “The difference between this team and previous teams is that we have put in the time to build a proper foundation. This year has been solely focused to understanding the basics of the game. I’m not worried about what the scoreboard says. I’m worried about whether we are in the right spots (positions), doing the right things. Once we understand the basics, we can build upon its complexities. We are focused on learning the game and build our skills. If we continue to do this, the wins will come in more easily.” said Coach Matthew Webber. Furthermore, the team consists of the two subdivisions Japanese Varsity and Varsity. Coached

by Johnny and Danny Nguyen, players for Junior Varsity include: Austin Power, Edward Chavez, Cole Parsons, Cade Bonte, Ty Bush, Shane Goodwin, Mauricio Baltrons, Justin Hendrix and Logan Rodgers, respectively. Varsity is coached by Matthew Webber and is constituted of: Chaney Lao, Dylan Capps, Nick Gash, Dylan Gilfoy, Kyle Trego, Kyle Metzler, Derrick Knowles and Ian Lasher, respectively. “I’ve really come to enjoy this season. We’ve all worked pretty hard and have overcome some tough challenges,” said Nick Gash “Our practices are a great workout.” As aforementioned, practices are quite rigorous, indeed. Players must start practice by setting up the net in an insanely limited amount of time (failure to meet this time results in a running drill). Then, the players dash around the gym, stretch, and do an up-most grueling conditioning drill: dive-lines. Players feverishly throw themselves onto the rigid

court, sprint, and repeat this cycle about ten-count. The drill teaches players the importance and zest of an impeccable dive in a game. The team is then subjected to other “magnificent” activities such as: the “2-Touch” drill, where players have the volleyball vigorously rocketed at them in order to sharpen their passing technique, the “Mountain Climber”, an exercise where the team surges down the full length of the court to and fro in twenty-four, eighteen, and sixteen seconds, and finally the dreaded “6-Touch” drill. Feared not for its difficulty or finesse, but for its repetitiveness; players run the axis of the court touching each sideline three times in an intimidatingly short ten seconds, in up to five or six sets. Thankfully, these harsh practices pay off. The team is already on a roll with its triumphant conquests over the worthy Deer Valley and Heritage teams. “We’re looking at boundless season ahead of ourselves,” says Coach Webber excitedly, “I couldn’t have asked for a better team”.

draining and physically demanding sport, diving calls for a technically different skillset. Divers must maintain perfect form when leaping from the nerve-racking high-dive. In order to perfect this bearing, the team does a methodological drill called “Hallowing Out”: a concave version of the streamline that is retained in a stiff posture in order to make a graceful splash. Diving also requires a daunting amount of balance when making an entrance on the board. Despite having no actual coach (a volunteer helps for now named Travis Cook), the team has high hopes of competing in this year’s NCS and their recent score at the Pittsburg Swim Meet backs-up their extraordinary aspirations. “(The) dive team is going do great things this season,” Savannah notes. “Hopefully, someone at Liberty will know we’re around”.

Volley Ballin’By Mauricio BaltronsStaff Writer

Making a big splashThe dive team: earning the respect they deserve

By Mauricio BaltronsStaff Writer

Page 6

has had its ups and downs, but when the end of the sea-son comes along, that is when it really counts. The final stretch of meets began with the BVAL, Bay Valley Ath-letic League, trials. This meet is held to see who qualifies to make it into the BVAL cham-pionship meet. Depending on how well the participants do in the BVAL championships will decide if they qualify for NCS, North Coast Section, finals. This meet includes the best participants from every school in northern Califor-nia. Finally, if participants place high enough in NCS, they could qualify to com-pete against the best athletes in all of California for the CIF California State Finals. Athletes from all over Cali-

fornia have special ways of preparing for these crucial last weeks of the season. Wal-ter Cruz, sophomore sprinter for the Varsity team, explains how the season has led up to these last meets. “Running on Varsity all season has shown me a great level of competi-tion. When I’m preparing for meets such as BVAL’s, I like to work on sprints to keep my endurance up. Also, hav-ing good form is key to being a successful sprinter. Even when I am not at practice, I try to work on form because it helps a lot. The day before a meet, I like to stretch and work on block starts, just to work on some things I need to perfect.” Walter partici-pated in the 100, 200, and 4 x 100 meter sprints, as well

as long jump in the BVAL fi-nals. The Liberty Track partici-pants have been practicing and going to meets since ear-ly February. Many students have been very successful and have high hopes for the upcoming meets. The NCS finals take place on May 24th and 25th at UC Berkeley. Fi-nally, The CIF State Finals will be on May 31st and June 1st, at a location that has not yet been determined. Never-theless, Ambrose’s team will have to give it all they got to fulfill their ultimate goal, a State Title.

Continued from page 5

Runners take your marks....get set....go!Photo courtesy of Motion Photography Sophomore Walter Cruz getting set for his race.

Photo by Mauricio Baltrons

Photo by Mauricio Baltrons

The winner of the Warped Tour Joke Contest is Lexi Wallen

See Mrs. Busch in J-17 for your tickets.

Page 7Opinion

Dear Freshmen...By Julia McCoy Staff WriterSo you’re a freshman now, a little fishy in the big ‘ol lake. A lot of people have a hard time adjusting to high school but I didn’t; I have an older sister who goes to Liberty and with two years of listening to her problems, and learning from her mistakes, I knew what was coming for me. But for all those people who are the older sibling or only child all you’re going off of is what friends have said or movies where the lame freshman gets canned or gets wedgies. Well, let me tell you something: that doesn’t happen.

Things you do need to worry about is remembering your locker com-bo, that trick to open your locker, a bigger campus so a lot more walk-ing, A-B day schedule (for me a binder for each day works better), but don’t forget your stuff for the opposite day or your screwed; your class periods are a lot longer than middle school they’re 1 hour and 40 minutes when in middle school they were only 45 minutes, talk about a numb butt! Recess is no more, like a forgotten galaxy far far away. There are also some nice things, like you have two nights to do your

A letter to the incoming eighth graders

High schools all around the world enforce a dress code of some sort (some stricter than others). For the longest time schools have been de-nying students the ability to wear certain types of clothing and acces-sories for they have been deemed as inappropriate, unprofessional, and distracting. It is understandable why a dress code is needed and that certain clothing’s shouldn’t be allowed but I do feel as though our schools rules on dressing is a bit ridiculous and outdated. After reading the dress code it’s clear that it’s targeted, for the most part, at girls in particular. The dress code would be easier to follow seven or nine years ago with it’s black and white idea of fashion, but in this day and age the fash-ions are drastically changing. For example, finding a pair of shorts going passed a girls fingertips is a rare occurrence, and finding a top that accommodates the rules with-out being dreadfully bland can be quite the task. Our school’s dress code, like many, is flawed. It ignores the fact that not everyone has the same body, and that we’re in 2013 not the 1950‘s. There should be a set

length for shorts for any person, rather than saying shorts should be fingertip length, because not all stu-dents have the same body propor-tion. I feel like having a set length would solve a lot of “unequal” problems; for instance, many girls with full-figures cannot wear boo-ty shorts and crop tops while girls with smaller proportions can. It’s unfair that some girls can’t wear the same clothing, just because they have more of a body. I feel our school should change the fin-ger tip length rule to shorts having to be a minimum of 3” long from the inseam. For the rules regarding backsides and shoulder showing tops, what’s

inappropriate and distracting is a plunging neckline- Not my shoul-ders, not my back. Tops that cover your chest and expose your back, neck, and shoulders aren’t inde-cent. The most irritating thing about the dressing rules is that the only real reasons teachers and any other fac-ulty member gives you for being dress coded is that your clothing is distracting and unprofessional, or at least, those are the only two rea-sons I’ve been told whenever I’ve been dress coded. It seems evident that teachers and campus supervisors are much more worried about the dress code than student’s education. They’d

rather you be late and disrupt an entire class than wear a spaghetti strapped tank-top; rather you miss taking notes for an upcoming test, because Heaven forbids wearing a strapless shirt; and rather you not eat at lunch than wear anything that is “distracting”. I can think of lots of reasons why I’d be distracted by someone’s outfit but none of them are because of how little or how much clothing someone has on. How come it’s not against dress code to wear un-matching socks, or hideous overalls, or Halloween accessories? If people think that boys will get distracted because of what girls wear, it’s really the boys’ (and whoever else it bothers) problem, not ours. If you’re in high school and you can’t control your hor-mones over a girls legs, back, or upper arms showing, that is your own problem. I personally think as long as you can’t see anyone’s undergarments I don’t see how it’s considered un-professional or inappropriate. But oh wait, women only show skin to distract men. Right. Not because we’re wearing what makes us com-fortable or what we think makes us look good. Not because it’s 100 degrees outside. Why is individu-

alism interpreted as “inappropri-ate” and why are honors students suddenly “unprofessional” because the hem of their skirt is above their finger tips? If you’re going to respect or dis-respect a girl based on the clothing she chooses to wear maybe you should get sent to the office for an adjustment, not the girl who’s showing off her legs. We live in a generation where individuality is a key part of life and I feel our schools handbook shouldn’t be saying to any individ-ual that, “…Any apparel, hairstyle, cosmetic, jewelry, or piercing, even if not specifically mentioned, which creates a safety concern or detracts from the educational process is pro-hibited” is beyond ridiculous, male or female. Although I do agree that students should not be dressing promiscuously or displaying any violent messages through cloth-ing, I disagree that the dress code should be able to dictate how a stu-dent chooses to present themselves be it a hairstyle, piercing, clothing, or even makeup wise. I believe each student deserves the right to wear their clothes and style their hair anyway they see fit, because in this day and age, life definitely is not all just black and white.

By Raina PerezStaff Writer

Dress codes stink, mostly for girls

Photo courtsey of tumblr.com

Editor in Chief:Jared Turner

Editors:Caitlin Nunes, Darrion Burgess

Staff Writers:Nate Aitken, Matt Albright, Mauricio Baltrons, Darrion

Burgess, Joseph Caraballo, Alicia Evans, Brittany Frerking, Wayne LeBlanc, Amy Looc, Julia McCoy, Dustin Miller, Vanessa Munoz, Caitlin Nunes, Raina Perez, Jack Ray, Lindsey Rothrauff, Juli Sierra, De’Varryia Smith, Miles

Smith, Tyler Soares, Tavaris Tillmon, Jared Turner, Kristina Van ZantenAdvisor:

Mrs. Busch

The Lion’s Roar Staffhomework (do it the night of well its fresh in your mind), there are a lot more extra activities/sports you can get involved in that middle school didn’t have like football, swimming, water polo, dodge ball, golf, tennis, male volleyball, etc. not to mention all the clubs, Math club, S Club, Red Wave, Black Student Union, Christian Priority, CFS, NHS, etc. Plus there are a lot more people so you have the oppor-tunity to make more friends. Lastly don’t ever give props to Square-a-tage! So from everyone who was ever a freshman, good luck!

We have all been immersed in the wake of harrowing firearm-related tragedies such as that of Sandy Hook’s 2012, Columbine High’s 1999, and Stockton Elementary’s 1989. These horrific, grotesque events are difficult to adapt to, and entail thought-provoking repercussions all within themselves. One we are very familiar with is the suggestion of teachers being allowed to carry concealed weapons; which is not a very recent suggestion. When we first assess this seemingly logical policy, we find it absolutely viable. But, as many have pondered time after time: what would allowing this measure mean for other high-risk areas of work?

Theoretically, imagine that the City of Brentwood passed an ordinance allowing the Burger King and other establishments in the shopping center across from Liberty High School the right to arm their employees. It’s an amusing idea, right? The grumpy manager of BK waving a handgun at loiterers standing around, laughing at his insolence. Or new t-shirts from Willy’s Bagels plastered with the logo “I Willy <3 The Second Amendment”. Or even Baskin Robin’s new flavor: “America” featuring small hints of that gun powdery goodness. It’s all guns and games (pun) until some idiot steals a bag of Oreos from Safeway and gets a bullet to the chest. Then

picture the chaotic media circus that ensues: Kron-4 news vans congest the shopping center right after school, delaying your way home, protestors lined up and on the street pleading out their deep concerns for the community, now prayer vigils noting the aforesaid “idiot” as some kind of war hero, and you’ve got something like the “Trayvon Martin case” on your hands. The blunt truth is: guns DO NOT prevent crime in any distinguished amount. Less than 6% of victims use a gun to retaliate against an armed perpetrator, much less PREVENT the crime. Having said that, know that someone is attacked in the United States

every two minutes. That is about 1,814,400 people and only half of those are reported. After some math, you’ll find that less than 1,000 of those people will use a gun to defend themselves. So what DOES prevent gun violence? Laws. Quite simply, the pen is much mightier than the sword (or in this case, the gun). In some Florida cities, crime rates went down 60% after council designed laws that superimposed harsher punishments on criminals that used a deadly weapon in a crime. Florida is only one example as many other states across the country have followed suit with this incredibly simple idea. So why hasn’t the government enacted any kind

Gun control measures quickly spin out of controlBy Mauricio BaltronsStaff Writer

of national law like this? Well, look into our nation’s budget and you’ll find that we’re flat broke, and punishing criminals is “expensive”. Isn’t it nice to know that money defines how much our lives are worth in the eyes of our capitalist homeland? While it would be nice to rain guns across the land like beads at a Mardi Gras festival, annihilate every last bad guy, and save the world “American-style” we have to stop and think of the consequences. In the end, we must take our passion out of the oh-so coveted Second Amendment and arm ourselves not with a firearm, but with an idea, an opinion, and a strongly-worded letter to Congress.

OpinionPage 8

Relationships are amaz-ing, they make you happy, you get to be with someone you like and hold them close. Although what happens when your relationship changes to a different level, when your loved one is farther away; like college. How long do you tend to last, is it worth it, is it possible? Statistics say that 40% of long distance rela-tionships break up after 4.5 months, but this is all statistics, I believe

that if you truly love someone then distance does not matter. My proof is Ashley Larea and her girlfriend. Ashley and her girlfriend have been dating for almost two years now, “Ever since the first day we met each other, we haven’t stopped texting one day.” They ex-panded their texting to talking on the phone and skyp-ing when Ashley moved to college. The two girls try to go no longer than two weeks without seeing each

He said, she saidLong distance relationships, espe-cially for guys, can be extremely difficult. As we know guys can be rather prideful, and jealous, espe-cially if their significant other is rather easy to look at. And when they are far away it’s easy to get these feelings. While in college, these feelings can be intensified, greatly. Another large part of the issues that arise with long distance relationships is of course, the cur-rent cost of travelling. Gas prices are still high, taking the airplane during the on-seasons when visit-ing would be pleasant but can get up there in price, and trains are just… expensive. It all comes down to money when it gets to travelling, and if your visit is less than overwhelming you will most likely feel like the money you spent to get there wasn’t worth it. All these things lead to the major issues that all couples face while in

long distance relations. It is also important to note, that the guy is ex-pected to be the one to visit her, not her visit him. However, most guys should be thankful these days. Not only have Facetime, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram broken down the barriers, there is also texting and phone calls. Anywhere, at anytime, in any place. Guys can call to check in at any time, and as long as

By Matt AlbrightStaff Writer

By Lindsey RothrauffStaff Writer

they are not busy, calls can last for hours on end. I should know, I was in one myself for a long time. Texting can send all sorts of messages, and pic-tures across the distance that separates you. So, guys, while it can still be difficult, if you love your partner you should stick with them, even if you only get to see them a few times a year.

other, “whenever one of us leaves, the first text sent is two seconds later and it says “I miss you al-ready.” Ashley has been in her long distance relationship for one year now and has already beaten statistics; they state that long dis-tance relationships only visit one another 1.5 times per month, take 2.7 days between phone calls, and have 14 months before they can move closer together. My point being is that if you have it in your heart that you love someone then you will do anything in your power to be with them, it is your choice to make the relationship work and by all means they have both done ev-erything they possibly can. Luck-ily for the two girls they will get to be reunited next school year in the same college and won’t have to go two weeks without seeing one another. If you’re going to college this summer and are in a relation-ship I would consider being posi-tive and always knowing that if you want something to happen you can make it happen.

Long Distance Relationships

If Liberty is a free public school, why is senior year so expen-sive? Everything seems to start casually; just a few costs here and there. We’ll start off with a yearbook, which is $85. But that price could increase to as high as $300 if you’re interest-ed in buying a senior ad. Short-ly down the line, literally and metaphorically, grad night tick-ets will be on sale. Grad night only happens once, so YOLO, right? But don’t YOLO too hard because tickets are $45 at walk through, but prices will soon jump up to $80. So we are look-ing at a total from $120-380. But what would senior year be without a senior trip? On a hot summer day, it’s nice to get away and spend some time in the sun on a waterslide trip. Transportation, lunch and slides all included for only $45...even though Waterworld is open daily for only $34… This trip brings our total up to $165-425. Spending in the middle of the year will plateau until the time senior ball rolls around. This is when things get really pricey. Let’s start with tickets. A smart shopper would make

Senior spending never seems to ceaseBy Caitlin NunesEditor

Advice from the Male and Female Perspective

Photo courtsey of englishchannel.com

We love you, we are proud of you, we can’t wait to see where life leads you! Stay in touch! “We hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow and each road leads you where you want to go and if you’re faced with the choice and you have to choose we hope you choose the one that means the most to you and if one door opens to another door closed we hope you keep on walkin’ ‘til you find the window if it’s cold out-side, show the world the warmth of your smile but more than anything, more than anything… Our wish for you is that this life becomes all that you want it to your dreams stay big, your worries stay small you never need to carry more than you can hold and while you’re out there gettin’ where you’re get-tin’ to we hope you know some-body loves you and wants the same things too yeah, this is our wish. We hope you never look back but you never forget all the ones who love you and the place you left we hope you always forgive and you never regret And you help somebody every chance you get oh, you’d find God’s grace in every mistake And always give more than you take but more than anything…Our wish for you is that this life becomes all that you want it to Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small You never need to carry more than you can hold and while you’re out there gettin’ where you’re gettin’ to- We hope you know somebody loves you. This is our wish for you We hope you know somebody loves you May all your dreams stay big.” “My Wish for You” by Rascal FlattsWith our love and our best wishes,Mrs. Branstetter, Ms. Abono and Mrs. Groseclose

To the amazing Senior Class of

2013

sure to buy their ticket the first week they are available. Tickets start at $45 and end at $65. Af-ter playing for tickets, our total stands at $210-495. But tick-ets are the first of our worries. How will you get Senior? Tele-porting would be lovely at this point but let’s try to be realistic. For $1200-1400, you can get a party bus, $400-600 for a limo, or maybe you should drive yourself. Don’t forget about gas; that will be about $30. The cheapest option? Bart is $12, round trip. This may not be the classiest choice, but it’s cheap. Then where will you stay after the party? A hotel in the city is at least $140 a night. The cheap solution? Enjoy a (safe) night in the city with some friends, drive home, and crash at a friend’s house that night. This means our cheapest price can be $222 and the most expensive, theo-retically, would be $1,895. Next we have the dresses/tuxedos. Dresses can be the most expen-sive part. One savvy shopper could look for a dress to bor-row or buy a used one on Ebay. This writer has heard of stu-dents spending as little as $20 for a new dress. Or, if you’re dying to go HAM, some buyers

at this school have spent $800 for one dress. A per-son could buy a wedding dress for that price. Girls may also want to pay to put on their faces and get hair and make-up done, this averaging from $50-150 and nails can be $30. Now our price difference for girls is spanning from $242-2,695. Boys, boys, boys. Tuxes (or even

suits) could cost as much as $300. One might want to look around for borrowing or renting pieces since being a gentleman for the evening can get a little pricey. Boys are looking at a to-tal from $222-2,195. Graduation will follow shortly after which means many people will send announcements. Pho-to sessions can be expensive. In this day and age, almost every-one is bound to know someone who can claim to be a photog-rapher. If not, sittings can range from $45-200, not including prints. Gradation time also means its time to party! Grad

parties cause little things to add up fast. Some parents can get this catered for about $300 or regular people can spend about $100. Overall, the memories of grad-uating from high school come at a cost $333-2,495. Realistically, who wants to spend $2,500 when college is right around the corner and will cause a burning whole in your wallet? Some ad-vice/word of caution, don’t get sucked in to the excitement of the season. If you keep level headed, it will help you save in the long run.