November 6, 2009

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If you’re like most Americans, you probably want to eat your Thanksgiving turkey this season without thinking about what kind of life it had or what it went through. But looking at the truth behind the turkey industry and what really happens to your turkey might shock you. Undercover video footage of turkey hatcheries and turkey farms conducted by organizations like PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), COK (Compassion Over Killing), and Mercy For Animals reveals the horrible conditions turkeys encounter from birth to death. This footage shows evidence of sorting machines crushing turkeys and tearing of their limbs, as well as workers cramming the turkeys into cages and sheds and physically abusing them by throwing them and hitting them for fun. Turkeys that are bred to be slaughtered never get to live a normal life. Just moments after they are born, turkeys are stored in small cages and treated just like any product manufactured and processed in a factory. Workers toss them into crates and boxes, and force them through all kinds of metal machinery where the turkeys are often injured or killed before even reaching the slaughterhouse. Workers also may remove the feet, beaks, or other body parts of many birds while they are fully conscious. When they are old enough to be slaughtered (nine to 21 weeks old), the company ships the turkeys to the slaughterhouse where they will spend their last moments hanging upside-down with their feet shackled on a conveyor belt. It is here that workers were seen physically abusing turkeys by punching, grabbing, tossing them around, and even strangling them. In order to preserve their freshness, the birds are not killed until they finally have their throat slit by a machine. This means that if machinery and/or workers abuse, mutilate, or badly injure turkeys, no one removes the turkeys from the conveyor belt as long as they are still breathing. If any of this makes you uneasy about eating turkey this Thanksgiving, PETA recommends trying another main dish like “Tofurky” or “Unturky” which are soy and wheat-based. But, if you’re dead set on having a turkey this Thanksgiving, at the very least buy a “free range” turkey, where turkeys endure slightly better conditions. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2009 INSIDE Royal Banner NOVEMBER 6, 2009 VOLUME 50, NO. 3 1515 GREENBRIAR BLVD. BOULDER, CO 80305 SENIOR Musical Madness Turkey day Turkey truth: WHAT REALLY HAPPENS BEFORE IT ENDS UP ON THE DINNER TABLE 110 Get ready for this year’s first major pro- duction from the theatre department, 42nd Street! For details, See 6,7 COUNT DOWN Days till Graduation Greg Wahl Staff Reporter What are Fairview students and staff thankful for? See 4 How the Thanksgiving holiday has changed since its creation See 5 How our generation will be impacted by the current crunch Turn to PAGE 2 ECONOMY UPDATES Assistant Principal Sarah Digiacomo chills with her 1994 Dodge Dakota in the staff lot. “I’ll never get stuck in the snow again,” Digiacomo comments on her trusty Dodge (PHOTO: CERNY). WHAT MAE BE ANNOYING RIGHT NOW... Not a fan of Gossip Girl? Look no further for venting See PAGE 4 By the fall after their voyage, only half of the pilgrims who had sailed on the Mayflower were still alive. Beer was the most plentiful drink that the Puritans brought with them on the Mayflower. The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days. Turkeys have heart attacks when exposed to loud noises. When the Air Force was conducting test runs to break the sound barrier fields of tur- keys would drop dead. Benjamin Franklin wanted the nation- al bird to be a turkey because it was a symbol of strength. A spooked turkey can run at speeds up to 20 miles per hour. Turkeys can also burst into flight approaching speeds between 50-55 mph in a matter of seconds. The male turkey is called a tom and a female turkey is called a hen. Only male turkeys gobble, while fe- males make clicking sounds. Caroline Kruger and Rachel Joyce THANKSGIVING FASTFACTS NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, is an opportunity for students to showcase their literary talents. It is essentially an event where students write a 175-page novel (50,000 words) about anything they want. There is no specific theme or format one has to follow. However, they can’t use previous work; everything has to be done from scratch. The month of November -Nov. 1 till midnight of Nov. 30. “It’s crazy, but it’s a lot of fun.” –Brittany Hughes, 12 “It’s quite the accomplishment. You feel fulfilled when you’re done. It’s a positive experience.” –Hannah Robinson, 12 “It’s fun. Normally I just start writing and see where it takes me.” -Sophie Saouma, 12 Dize Hacioglu NaNoWriMo begins What is NaNoWriMo? What do previous “Wrimos” have to say? When is it? START END Nov 1 Nov 30 You can sign up at http://www.nanowrimo.org/user/ register. It’s free!

description

The Royal Banner from November 6, 2009

Transcript of November 6, 2009

Page 1: November 6, 2009

If you’re like most Americans, you probably want to eat your Thanksgiving turkey this season without thinking about what kind of life it had or what it went through. But looking at the truth behind the turkey industry and what really happens to your turkey might shock you.

Undercover video footage of turkey hatcheries and turkey farms conducted by organizations like PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), COK (Compassion Over Killing), and Mercy For Animals reveals the horrible conditions turkeys encounter from birth to death. This footage shows evidence of sorting machines crushing turkeys and tearing of their limbs, as well as workers cramming the turkeys into cages and sheds and physically abusing them by throwing them and hitting them for fun.

Turkeys that are bred to be slaughtered never get to live a normal life. Just moments after they are born, turkeys are stored in small cages and treated just like any product manufactured and processed in a factory. Workers toss them into crates and boxes, and force them through all kinds of metal machinery where the turkeys are often injured or killed before even reaching the slaughterhouse. Workers also may remove the feet, beaks, or other body parts of many birds while they are fully conscious.

When they are old enough to be slaughtered (nine to 21 weeks old), the company ships the turkeys to the slaughterhouse where they will spend their last moments hanging upside-down with their feet shackled on a conveyor belt. It is here that workers were seen physically abusing turkeys by punching,

grabbing, tossing them around, and even strangling them.

In order to preserve their freshness, the birds are not killed until they finally have their throat slit by a machine. This means that if machinery and/or workers abuse, mutilate, or badly injure turkeys, no one removes the turkeys from the conveyor belt as long as they are still breathing.

If any of this makes you uneasy about eating turkey this Thanksgiving, PETA recommends trying another main dish like “Tofurky” or “Unturky” which are soy and wheat-based. But, if you’re dead set on having a turkey this Thanksgiving, at the very least buy a “free range” turkey, where turkeys endure slightly better conditions.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2009

InsIde

Royal Bannernovember 6, 2009 volume 50, no. 3 1515 GreenbrIar blvd. boulder, Co 80305

Se

nio

r

Musical Madness

Turkey day

Turkey truth: What Really happens befoRe it ends up on the dinneR table

110

Get ready for this year’s first major pro-duction from the theatre department,

42nd Street! For details, See 6,7

Count Down

Days till Graduation

Greg WahlStaff Reporter

What are Fairview students and staff

thankful for? See 4

How the Thanksgiving holiday has

changed since its creation See 5

How our generation will be impacted by

the current crunch Turn to page 2

Economy UpdatEs

Assistant Principal Sarah Digiacomo chills with her 1994 Dodge Dakota in the staff lot. “I’ll never get stuck in the snow again,” Digiacomo comments on her trusty Dodge (Photo: Cerny).

What Mae Be annoying Right noW...Not a fan of Gossip Girl? Look no further for venting See page 4

By the fall after their voyage, only half of the pilgrims who had sailed on the Mayflower were still alive.

Beer was the most plentiful drink that the Puritans brought with them on the Mayflower.

The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days.

Turkeys have heart attacks when exposed to loud noises. When the Air Force was conducting test runs to break the sound barrier fields of tur-keys would drop dead.

Benjamin Franklin wanted the nation-al bird to be a turkey because it was a symbol of strength.

A spooked turkey can run at speeds up to 20 miles per hour. Turkeys can also burst into flight approaching speeds between 50-55 mph in a matter of seconds.

The male turkey is called a tom and a female turkey is called a hen.

Only male turkeys gobble, while fe-males make clicking sounds.

Caroline Kruger and Rachel Joyce

Thanksgiving FasTFacTs

NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, is an opportunity for students to showcase their literary talents. It is essentially an event where students write a 175-page novel (50,000 words) about anything they want. There is no specific theme or format one has to follow. However, they can’t use previous work; everything has to be done from scratch.

The month of November -Nov. 1 till

midnight of Nov. 30.

“It’s crazy, but it’s a lot of fun.” –Brittany Hughes, 12 “It’s quite the accomplishment. You feel fulfilled when you’re done.

It’s a positive experience.” –Hannah Robinson, 12

“It’s fun. Normally I just start writing and see where it takes me.” -Sophie Saouma, 12 Dize Hacioglu

NaNoWriMo beginsWhat is NaNoWriMo?

What do previous “Wrimos” have to say?

When is it?

START END

Nov

1Nov

30

You can sign up at http://www.nanowrimo.org/user/register. It’s free!

Page 2: November 6, 2009

A 31 year-old British war veteran received a donated lung from Pap-worth Hospital in Cambrigeshire, England. The only issue was that the lung that was donated belonged to a heavy smoker.

A 75 year-old California man who committed suicide was mistaken for Halloween decor in Marina Del Ray.

Fearing riots and public drunkenness, residents in Melbourne, Aus-

tralia imposed a 24 can limit on beer for the Bathurst 1000 auto race.

Police arrested 86 year-old Chicago woman Ella Orko for shoplifting $252 worth of groceries. Orko has been arrested 61 times previously.

A 40 year-old man accidentally shot himself to death while teaching a gun safety class in Imperial, MO.

Tom Elton and Brenda Blondell, two ex convicts who were fighting for prison rights, earned parole and were released. The couple married. In June of 2009, police charged Elton with the murder of Blondell.

High schoolers now face new, considerable financial challenges with the turns of the economy. One aspect that has overwhelmingly caused, and is still causing, the U.S. economy to crumble is debt. Over the last decade, the US consumers, speculators, and corporations en-abled by Federal Reserve policy and extremely low interest rates, have taken on an enormous amount of debt. The problem with this is that the interest on the debt and the underlying principle amounts must eventually be repaid. There are only a few ways to accomplish this task. Earn the money to pay the principle and the interest back or sell whatever was bought for more than what was borrowed.

The fact is, consumers and corporations borrowed too much and are now unable to spend more. Home foreclostures are at their high-est levels of all time due to the increase of “distressed selling.” To keep the economy going, there must be spending. This is why the government has chosen to spend so much recently. The U.S. govern-ment spends more than the entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Australia, China and Spain combined.

In order to keep the economy afloat, the federal government spends ludicrous amounts of money. Accomplishing this has increased the na-tional debt to approximately $12 trillion. Current U.S. Gross Domes-tic Product (GDP) is $14.2 trillion. Approximately 85% of US federal spending involves these four components: Medicare/Medicaid, social

security, inter-est on federal debt, and defense spending.

Where is the government get-ting all of this money?

The govern-ment borrows the money, and eventually the peo-ple .will have to be paid back.

Which of these expenditures are we willing to cut to reduce federal spending?

More importantly, how are we, today’s high school stu-dents, the next generation of workers of the world, going to pay this off?

It will be up to us, the youth of America, to pay off this massive national debt. The national deficit is skyrocketing and it is higher than it has been in any point in our nation’s history, even relative to our output.

The government will have limited choices. They can reduce federal spending and use the surplus to pay off the debt, they can raise taxes dramatically for the rest of our lives, or they could print more money and reduce the value of our currency.

Another possibility is that the economy grows substantially and that tax receipts will be sufficient to pay off the debt.

Royal BanneR newsFriday Nov. 6, 20092

High school students now have national responsibilitiesNate FormanStaff Reporter

National Debt from 1940 to Present (Photo: httP://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/).

Banner’s believe it or notMatt SparkmanStaff Reporter

Net debt as a percentage of GDP, excluding financial sector interventions (Photo: httP://www.brillig.com/).

We apologize for misspelling Daniel Jacobson’s name in the October 16 issue under National Merit Scholars.

Page 3: November 6, 2009

Ameri-can Beauty is a film that both Jung and Freud would surly give two thumbs

up due to the exten-sive Freudian and Jungian images. In the very beginning

of the film Lester is plagued by the overwhelm-ing sense of his Superego in which he ‘should’ maintain a job or ‘should’ stay in a miserable marriage to preserve an image. However, in Lester’s dreams his Id desires are apparent. In Lester’s dreams he sees his daughter’s best friend, a girl who he projects a positive anima of carefree youth upon. In his dreams Lester in-dulges in an aspect of his Id, his sexual desires. Likewise, Lester’s wife Carolyn is unhappy in the marriage and is indulging in her Id else-where, proving that she fits the archetype of the “Unfaithful Wife”. Lester’s wife seeks out a successful Real Estate Agent to sleep with because she views him as more interesting and more attractive than her boring husband Lester. Also, both Carloyn and the real estate agent she sleeps with are extremely concerned with their ego or mask, because they try to “maintain and image of success” and neither are willing to admit that their marriages are failing because they are too busy maintaining a public persona, instead of delving into their collective uncon-scious. Also, Carolyn appears to be a character that had issues coping with the ‘Anal Stage’ as a child because he exhibits behavior in which she is extremely uptight, rigid and controlling. Ricky and his father Cornel Frank Fitts move in next door to Lester and Jane. Ricky is a dope dealer who quickly becomes infatuated with Jane. Frank however is extremely homophobic and is also very strict with Ricky. Frank is ex-tremely overbearing and is constantly terrified that Ricky is becoming a “faggot”. Later in the movie Frank becomes convinced that Ricky is having a homosexual relationship with Lester, though he is actually selling drugs to Lester. When Frank goes to confront Lester, Frank kisses Lester on the lips. This suggests that Frank himself is gay, which shows that Ricky has acted as the “The Shadow” for Frank. Though Frank himself may have homosexual feelings, he instead says that his son is gay and beats him and abuses him harshly with his words. This is a display of Frank’s re-pressed feelings and he instead chooses to bury these feelings to keep the “shadow” of his true feelings at bay. Frank has many guns in the house, and constantly tries to prove his manhood so that he will never be accused of being homosexual. However, Frank has such angst and anxiety with this issue that he ends up murdering Lester, because he would rather commit a murder then allow anyone to see his repressed feelings. Overall, this is a great movie due to its rich use of psychology images however, even without these studies this film is extremely thought provoking and keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats to see what will happen next.

AmericAn BeAutyAmAndA K & mAe J Tuesday 10, 2009 3

Lester met Angela and his life changed. Previously his life was miserable and filled with sexual frustration, anger in his marriage and overall distain. However, Lester met Angela, who embodies every-thing that is young and beautiful. Since Angela was young and beautiful she appeared to be free from the neuroses that plague adults. Lester was not only intrigued, but he actually begins to project his positive anima onto her. Lester put Angela on a pedestal

in which she is revered as the perfect object of Sex and Youth. Lester was willing to do whatever it would take to become the archetype of the Hero so that Angela will become more attracted to him. After meeting Angela, Lester began his process of Individuation because he started to ignore his Progressive Psyche and started behav-ing erratically because he was more possessed by his Regressive psyche. It is ironic because though Lester pro-jected his positive Anima of youth, and carefree life onto Angela, his projection actually allowed him to reveal the aspect of himself that he projected onto Angela in the form of an Anima. After meeting Angela he began to live his life in a way that resembled his youth, and in a way in which he could appreciate beauty and be carefree. Lester bought a flashy new car, started working a job that is fun but wouldn’t make much money and started smoking pot just as he did as a teenager, just as Angela does. Though Lester continued to project his Anima onto Angela, he is living his life embracing his libido and allows it to “leak” out of his unconscious so that he was in a sense living the life of his Anima as well. Finally, when Lester was presented with the opportunity to consum-mate his lust for Angela he was so excited that his working out and carefree living had finally paid off. However, Angela told Lester that she was in fact a Virgin. Lester had put Angela on a pedestal and projected a positive anima on her, however after she admitted she was a virgin, she is suddenly replaced with a negative anima, which instead displays that naivety and foolishness of youth. At that moment Lester no longer saw Angela as his ideal youthful beauty because she revealed the negative side of her Anima. Also, Lester realized that he no longer needed to project his anima onto Angela, because he unlocked the part of his unconscious that created that Anima in the first place, so really he needed Angela to unlock this Anima, but it was in fact his own qualities that he was searching for. Unfortunately for Lester, after he came to this realization he was then murdered.

Movie Review:American Beauty

Amanda KruegerMovie Critic

News: Lester and Angela in love?Amanda Krueger

Staff Reporter

The Old Wise ManIn Need of some guidance? Then you are in need of the Old Wise Man! This individual serves as a teacher in worldly realms. The old wise man can be somewhat reclusive and may need to be sought after in caves, castle towers or far off planets. However, finding this man will be worth your time. The Old Wise Man is a Mentor that gives great advice about life changing decisions. Also, because the Old Wise Man has lived for so many years he is a man of great respect and he often is the keeper of important information that is vital to continue on life’s greatest journeys. However, it may be like solving a riddle when it comes to deciphering this man’s advice. Also, Do not be fooled by this man’s frail appearance, wise men are often hundreds of years old and are extremely patient and even tempered however in the face of true evil or danger, the wise man will fight with the most impressive tricks and spells of the ages. Call 1-800-WISE-AND-OLD to get in touch with men such as Yoda, Dumbledore, Merlin, Obi Wan Kanobi, Sages, Hermits and Nestor

The Trickster If you are searching for someone to get your work done in a clever way that’s bound to bring laughs and cheer to all, The Fool or The Trickster is the perfect candidate for your job. Be forewarned however that The Trickster is not one to follow the rules. Though this witty character is fairly reliable to meet your end goal, he may not attain the goal with completely orthodox means. The Trickster lives up to is name and is willing to go to great means to stupefy his enemies, all the while leaving observers in stitches. The Trickster has a great sense of humor and loves to have fun and play jokes while striving towards a goal, weather it be a goal of personal gain or otherwise. If you enlist The Trick-ster as a distracter of your foes, he is guaranteed to provide laughs as well as clever ideas. Though the Trickster can be erratic and unconventional, his humor and quick mind is worth your time. Call 1-800-TRICKY to reach Tricksters such as Bart Simpson, Cupid, Kokopelli, The Joker, Odysseus, Eric Cartman, Kevin McCallister from Home Alone, Peter Pan and Brer Rabbit

Page 4: November 6, 2009

Every year people roast turkeys and thank the p i l g r i m s for being so brave as

to claim some land. We bust

out the cranberries and pumpkin pie and pretend that the

New England of Yesteryear must have been a lot like fall all the time. But let’s face it - the way we cel-ebrate Thanksgiving is beyond his-torically inaccurate. The pilgrims were no rosy-cheeked idealists; they were curmudgeons from Eng-land who took flight because they were deemed wacky. They claimed religious persecution as a reason to cross to the new world, and soon after got really good at per-secuting people for their religions. In all honesty, in order to really follow a celebration in the Puri-tan way we would need to bring the fire and brimstone back to Thanksgiving. The first Thanksgiv-ing wasn’t just about thankfulness, it was also about fear. The Puritans would gaze unto our festivities of today most disapprovingly, and to truly honor them we would need to make several drastic changes. For starters, we would need to take all the pictures and decorations off of

our walls. The fact that we decorate our houses even more for Thanks-giving would do nothing but annoy Pilgrims, who believed that such frivolities went against God’s will. Furthermore, we would have to exclude from society those who re-fuse to take the pictures off their walls, and possibly banish them for the duration of Thanksgiving for not being in the holiday spirit. The next most important step in keeping with the Thanksgiving tra-dition is to burn all our clothes with words, pictures, bright colors, or patterns. This is because Puritans believed these colors and words would attract demons and venge-ful natives. Once again, those who are not partaking in this festivity must likewise be excommunicated. After we have made these prepara-tions for our Puritan Thanksgiving, we would have to walk onto someone else’s property and declare that it is ours because our house didn’t pro-vide an altar on which to properly worship our religion. If the owners of this property objects give them small pox. It is important to remem-ber to keep around a few owners be-cause they might prove useful later. If we are truly trying to celebrate the meaning of Thanksgiving, we’ll also have to change the length of Thanksgiving. Today we celebrate Thanksgiving for one measly day, but the Pilgrims suffered through their toils their entire lives. For this reason, I suggest that we stretch

Thanksgiving to last eight months. that time a number of things may occur. Most historically accurate and grateful Americans will spread immense paranoia throughout their communities. They will fight con-stantly with their neighbors, fail to nourish themselves properly, and suffer high death rates just like the God of Thanksgiving wants them to. The one thing we get historically right with Thanksgiving now is the feast. Every good celebration should have a feast. At the end of Thanks-giving (sometime in June), we should graciously thank the native owners of the land we have settled by get-ting them to teach us to cook well and then allowing them to eat the food they have taught us to cook. Until we celebrate Thanksgiv-ing like this, our Puritan ances-tors will be ashamed of us. It’s time we either revert Thanksgiv-ing back to the house of prayer it once was, or admit that we nev-er really celebrated Thanksgiv-ing for the reason we say we do. There’s no problem with fami-lies getting together and eating loads of food and having a good time. In fact, just saying that makes me rather hungry. However, claiming that we’re doing this be-cause of the Pilgrims is just a lie.

Gossip Girl: Go away

Royal BanneR op/edFriday Nov. 6, 20094

Eli Boonin-VailStaff Reporter

I d o n ’ t have a p r o b -l e m w i t h t h e Gossip G i r l

books. In fact, I’ll readily ad-mit that I’ve read all twelve of them.

In seventh grade.

But, now that the books have gone mainstream with their very own television show on the CW, a cult following of disillusioned girls has developed. These aforementioned girls worship people who don’t even exist, treating them like the second coming. The number of conversa-tions I’ve over heard about Chuck, Dan, Jenny, Serena, and Blair is unreal. If I didn’t know better, I would think that these names rep-resented real people, not fictional, airbrushed television characters. But, I do know better, which is why I am so annoyed. Teenagers need actual role mod-els. As in, real people who have done exceptional things for oth-ers, not false idols who spend their imaginary lives spending exorbitant amounts of Daddy’s money on shoes they’ll wear once . Maybe twice if no one of im-portance sees them the first time. And most of the time, judging from Blair Waldorf ’s mismatched ward-robe, those shoes aren’t even cute. So, if you can’t boycott Gossip Girl for deeper moral reasons, do it for fashion! Because neon trenchcoats just doesn’t say “It-girl“ to me. Not only does Gossip Girl offer up completely meaningless (and style-less) characters, it promotes the skewed impression that as a high school senior you can seduce, cheat and buy your way into the college of your choice. Which, for most of the TV show’s characters incidentally turns out to be New York University, one of the na-tion’s most popular and competi-tive schools. Instead of spending a majority of their time filling and refilling out college applica-tions, Serena and her crew spend their senior year cavorting around New York City and basically doing nothing. So, when you don’t get into NYU, blame Blair Waldorf and her cronies for taking your spot. Oh, wait. They don’t exist.

Mae JacobsonOpinions Editor

It Mae Be Annoying Celebrate a very Puritan thanksgiving

Op/ArtBy: Stan Whitcomb and

Nate Forman

“Im through running.”

Open Mic:What are you thankful for?

“That a girl is talking to me right now” Davis English 11

“My friends and family and my good health.” Miya Holley, 12

“Avatar, Blow Pops and sloths.” Morgan Briggs, 10

“Yoga. music and women” Ben Miller, 12

Page 5: November 6, 2009

Royal BanneRFeatuRes Friday Nov. 6, 2009 5

Then (The 1600’s) Now (The 2000’s)Grub Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce,

mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, sweet corn, fall vegetables, pumpkin pie. YUM?!

The Holiday

Highly religious. Popular version: English pilgrims giving thanks to Jesus for survival aid from Wampano-ag Indians in Plymouth, MA. They were taught how to plant corn, which helped them through their first few winters. Real version: the above, followed by systematic attacks on Indian villages and enslavement, and Thanksgiving feasts celebrating these casualties.

Secular (cultural; non-religious). As we know, key words: autumn harvest, fam-ily and friends. Football, feasting, Charlie Brown, Macy’s day parade, Black Friday.

Values The Puritan pilgrims were pretty up-tight folks, seeing as they were willing to leave their home hun-dreds of miles away, for the sake of “purifying” the Christian Church. They were big on knowing Scripture and education - they founded Harvard. Prayer was a very serious matter - they were committed to mak-ing the whole of Sunday a holy day of Sabbath.

Well. We are agnostic (non-reli-gious), Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Quaker, Bah’ai and more. And capitalist.

Clothes

Modern perception v.

The same basic vegetables of the modern Thanks-giving dinner, which were native to the Americas, and new to the European settlers. However, cran-berrries did not appear until later and they were prepared differently:Venison (wild deer Indians brought), rabbit, duck & goose with Wild Turkey.Garlic & Onions - dietary staples, because of their benefits to the immune system.“Succotash” - a Narragansett dish - corn and bean soup made with bear fat, water, corn flower,

and crushed nuts. (Indians in New England prac-ticed agriculture and cultivated corn before the English arrived.)Pumpkin Pudding - the pie had not yet been invented!A popular dish among Colonial English housewives - “Pompion,” (what the English called pumpkins in squash back then) - pumpkin or squash soup.CornbreadCheese pie - the English liked cheese There were no forks - only spoons & knives.

Celebrated since the mid 1500’s in North America (Canada & the U.S.), Thanksgiving has seen considerable transformations since its creation.

Mom and Dad wore wigs, which came in many styles, and cloaks when they went out. Dad wore knee-length pants called “breeches,” over stockings of scratchy wool - what most clothing

was made from. Sometimes with a tri-corner hat.The women and children got bonnets. Mom would often have only two sets of clothing - for the week and Sundays, with corsets restricting her breathing, possibly breaking a rib.

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Thanksgiving, Then & Now

What the media tells us. Calling it mutual romance is probably easier.

“Kill the Indian, save the child” - What Europeans believed about the natives who they would either force into conversion to Christianity, or just slaughter.

“A time for sharing and giving” -What we believe today.

RAPE: Native women were abused across the country by colonists and unwanted contact was common. The Hudson’s Bay Company traded Indian women as items along with beaver pelts and buf-falo skins in Canada. Sex trades were soon set up from Northern California to the Southwest United States by settlers, who traded hundreds of girls and horses with the Spanish to the south.

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Written by Connie Ge

Historical Reality

Page 6: November 6, 2009

Fairview’s production of “42nd Street” is a jazzy, zesty musical that breathes life into the old, barren halls of Fairview High School. Janice Vlachos is heading

the production, and is thrilled with how well the musical is coming along. “We’re in the last-minute phase of trying to get everything done, but it’s actually com-ing along really well,” said Vlachos, while confidently painting the under-construc-tion set. The musical is set to open next week, and as always, expectations are very high.

The original Broadway production of “42nd Street” ran in July of 1980. The musical was an adaptation of the 1933 musical film, and was written by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, with music by Harry Warren. The Story of “42nd Street” takes place in the early 1940’s, focusing on producer and his team of writers putting on a production entitled Pretty Lady. The cast of this show-within-a-show includes Billy Lawlor, the juvenile lead actor, Peggy Sawyer, a starry-eyed chorus girl from out of town, and Doro-thy Brock, a once-famous Prima Donna who’s past her prime. “42nd Street” went on to win the 1980 Tony Award for Best Musical, and has been revived countless times since its debut.

What sets “42nd Street” apart from previous Fairview musicals is the danc-ing.

“This is the biggest dance show we’ve ever done, because of the gigantic dance numbers,” said Vlachos. The musical has a very large emphasis on tap-dancing, which lead Vlachos to bring in a profes-

sional choreographer to help with the extravagant dance numbers.

As always, Vlachos has tried

to make the school musical different than those from previous years. Vlachos makes an effort never to repeat herself in her musical choices, which can be seen in the variation in previous shows. This year’s show takes place in the 1940’s, while last year’s musical, “Footloose”, came out of the 1980’s, and the show before that, “Beauty and the Beast”, was produced in 1994.

Other important factors in choosing which musical to produce includes the specific talents of that year’s students. Every class is different, and Vlachos al-ways takes that into consideration when picking a musical.

Vlachos has an enthusiastic twinkle in her eye while talking about the impend-ing production. “I just love watching the set come alive, I love watching the pro-cess,” Vlachos says with an excited hint to her voice. All of the hard work from students has really paid off, and the mu-sical has taken on epic proportions. The show is running from November 10th to the 14th, and it is sure to be one of Fairview’s most ambitious, tap-dancing good times yet.

A world of brick and steel stands tall on the Fairview stage. The set towers massively with its imposing walls and sweeping staircases built to house a cast of more than 75 students.

This year’s musical, “42nd Street”, takes place in the dazzling world of 1940s showbiz. To encapsulate the feel of the time, the musical’s set incorporates large brick walls and marble staircases that bring back the feel of the era.

The set is a tool for the actors and painstaking work has been put into designing it.

“Painting the bricks has been a pain,” says producer/director Janice Vlachos. “We painted each panel individually and then when we put them together they just didn’t line up.”

The brick wall backgrounds are convincing from far away, and they draw a strong nostalgia from the audience. But for the people who hand painted all of them, the bricks were a frustrating task.

Yet building the set is critically important, for without it, the actors lose their greatest prop.

“Creating the illusion of the 40s has been very important,” says Vlachos, “we have to make sure that the audience is brought into our world.”

While its construction has been strenuous at points, the set still has a charisma that shines through and elevates the musi-cal’s mood.

“Building the spiral staircase has taken a gigantic amount of time.” Says Vlachos, “That being said, I think the spiral staircase is the best thing about the set. I guess it’s not really a full spiral, but I love it.”

Vlachos herself has worked on the set alongside Dave Mazze-no, a professional set designer from the Buell Theatre. Vlachos says that she and Mazzeno created a common ideal for the set: a set that works with the actors, not behind them.

“Since we work together, our vision for the set is the same,” says Vlachos. “[Mazzeno] wants the set to be big, for it to not shrink around a cast of 75 people.”

According to Vlachos, a big set is almost a standard at Fairview High School.

“All of our sets are quite large be-cause we always have a large cast,” she says, “this one is especially big, it’s close to 2007’s Beauty and the Beast.”

Right now, the set sits dormant on the stage. Soon, the set will shake with dancing feet.

Hear the beat of dancing feet...

Royal BanneRFriday Nov. 6, 20096 Royal BanneRIn-Depth Friday Nov. 6, 2009 7

Sam GoldnerStaff Reporter

Eli Boonin-VailStaff Reporter

Musical taps its way to show time

Auditions

Rehearsals start 3:15-5:30 after school

Tech week rehearsals 3:15-9:00 after school

September 2009

November 2009

Opening Night

Final ShowPerformances

Cast76

Orchestra18

Crew28

By the Numbers...*Royalty fee for a production of 42nd Street = $2,200 up-front + an addi-tional $900 for a sold out show *Money spent on set dressing and build-ing = $11, 000*Most expensive musical put on by Fairview was Beauty and the Beast, Cost = $33,000* Approximate amount spent on this years musical = $28,000

*Potential profit from this years musical

= $25, 000

Hannah Killian and Calvin Hicks performing dur-ing Extravaganza. (Photo: Kumar)

Setting the stage

42nd Street

(Top Right) The marble staircase is almost com-plete, only waiting for a few finishing touches. (Middle) The labor intensive brick wall is almost ready for show time. ( Bottom) Students work to cut out props for the set. (Photo: Kumar)

Performances will be on November 10-14 at 7PM, along with a Saturday Matinee at 2PM. Tickets are $10.00 and will be on sale at the FHS Box Office starting Nov. 4.

(Left) Cast of “42nd Street “ performs at Ex-travaganza. (Above) Students rehearse a musical number. (Photo: Kumar)

(Right) The-atre seats in the Fairview auditorium. (Below) Cast dances during Extravaganza. (Photo: Kumar)

(Page Layout: Rani Kumar)

Total number of students working on the musical: 122

Break-down of the Students

Page 7: November 6, 2009

Sequel SpectacularThe holiday gaming season is just about in

full-swing, and several sensational sequels are set to be released in the coming months, all of which look bigger and better than their fantastic predecessors.

by Greg Wahl and Christian Allen

GamesRoyal BanneRFriday Nov. 6, 20098 enteRtainment

Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 could be the largest video game re-lease of all time. The sheeer amount of hype for this game is daunting, with the developers even marketing a $150 “Prestige” edition of the game which, among an array of other trinkets, fea-tures a pair of fully-functional Night Vision goggles.

The game’s campaign will take place in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Bra-

zil. The multiplayer has kept a similar formula, with an intense first-person shooting experience that utilizes an updated graphics engine.

This hype, apparently, should be believed. Modern Warfare 2 is a game to keep an eye or two out for; no night vision goggles required.

To be released November 10th.

Left 4 Dead 2The first Left 4 Dead took an “all

killer, no filler” approach, featur-ing five relatively short, deliberately simple storylines so gamers could just focus on the zombie killing. Left 4 Dead 2 looks to replicate that magi-cally violent formula.

Left 4 Dead 2 will be a first person shooter that focuses on four player co-op, with some added weapons and tactics, including melee weapons such baseball bats, axes, chainsaws, and even frying pans.

With new characters, new settings, and new weapons, Left 4 Dead 2 will have enough new material to warrant being called a sequel, but will stay true to the over-the-top zombie-killing madness that the original employed so enjoyably.

To be released November 17th.

Uncharted 2:Among Thieves

The PS3 finally has its masterpiece. Uncharted 2 is an action-adventure game following the exploits of adven-turer Nathan Drake as he unlocks se-crets of the world’s ancient past. The game features lush locations, includ-ing ice caves in the Himalayas, jungles in Indonesia, and temples in Nepal.

In addition to having fast-paced, enjoyable gameplay, Uncharted 2 has an intruguing narrative and is full of solid voice acting. As well, the game’s graphics are perhaps the best seen on the Playstation 3 thus far. Uncharted 2 is about as perfect as an action-ad-venture game could possibly be.

Released October 10th.

Assassin’s Creed 2The Assassin’s Creed series has al-

ways been interesting in its ability to mesh truly solid action gaming with enthralling bits of history. The first game takes place during the Crusades and the upcoming sequel resides in Renaissance Italy.

Assassin’s Creed 2 is a 3rd-person adventure game that lets the player step into the shoes of no-bleman-turned-assassin Ezio Auditore, an in-credibly athletic man who can climb tall towers with the greatest

ease. On top of that, he’s armed with a true arsenal of melee weapons, mak-ing him a true tool of destruction.

Overall, Assassin’s Creed 2 looks to be an enticing in the upcoming holi-day season that should not be missed by fans of the genre.

To be released November 17th.

For every triple-A title released, there are several games created by independent develop-ers. Despite their lack of recognition, these games are often more innovative than their popular counterparts.

One such game is Mount & Blade. This Medieval-themed game throws linearity, nar-rative, and plot to the wind, forcing the player to come up with objec-tives in a surprisingly well-developed world.

Braid is a well-recog-nized indie game that innovates by taking one of the most well known

gaming concepts in gam-ing history–Mario-style platforming–and add-ing an interesting twist: Braid gives players full control over the passage of time. There is no real

death, because you can rewind to right before you died, and puzzles are based around manip-ulating the flow of time. This mechanic allows the developers to create countless mind bending puzzles, and also opens up a whole new world of storytelling.

Without the restric-tions imposed by the mainstream, and with-out any obligation to stick to safe and well explored areas of devel-opment, developers can innovate to extremes no big developer would ever dream of touching.

Tristan HillStaff Reporter

Indie games offer alternativesSony, the corporation

behind everything from Seinfeld to CD play-ers, has decided that it’s about time for their beloved PSP to get a flashy, incompatible, and annoying cousin.

On Oct. 1, Sony re-leased the “PSP Go.” A thoroughly confusing piece of marketing, the Go embraces the “If it ain’t broke, fix it anyway so that it looks more shiny” philosophy of the ever-growing gizmo universe.

The name “PlaySta-tion Portable Go” is almost as redundant as the concept of the Go itself. In essence, the Go is an even more por-table version of an al-

ready portable product, prompting intrigue at the first look and bore-dom after the second. For a company that nailed portable gam-ing five years ago, Sony should know better.

Released alongside the disappointing “Gran Turismo PSP,” The slid-ing mini-me game sys-tem appeals to people who text in their sleep. The interface, which al-lows for only download-able games, will remind dopey consumers of their iPods.

This hunk of junk will satisfy people who only play video games on their phones and have more money than sense. Other than those peo-ple, the Go produces nothing but pure frus-tration. Even the low-

est form of a gamer will be thoroughly irked by the Go’s lack of Univer-sal Media Disk (UMD) compatibility, a fault that makes the system completely incompat-ible with the PSP it’s supposedly based off of.

The 16GB Go costs $250, $50 more than its superior precursor, and $50 less than the 120 GB PS3 .

Thank God the Go is small, it’ll make it easier for Sony to hide when they realize what a mis-take they’ve made.

Eli Boonin-VailStaff Reporter

PSP Go dazzles with disappointment

(Photo: Ubisoft)

(Photo: NaUghty Dog)

(Photo: ValVe CorPoratioN)

(Photo: iNfiNity WarD)

(Photo: NUmber NoNe)

(Photo: soNy)

Page 8: November 6, 2009

®

Sponsored by University Bookstore and the UNL Phone & Computer Shop

Specific majors are available on these dates:Architecture: October 9Business Administration: November 2Education & Human Sciences: October 5Engineering: September 28Fine & Performing Arts: September 30Journalism & Mass Communications: October 12Pre-Health related majors: October 26

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is an equal opportunity educator and employer with a comprehensive plan for diversity. ©2009, The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska. All rights reserved. 090909

RED LETTER DAYS (SENIOR OPEN HOUSES)

All majors are available on these dates:

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Want free Chipotle? text in to Win!For a chance to win a $10 Chipotle gift card, text message your answer to the following question.

QUESTION: How much did the 2007 “Beauty and the Beast” musical cost? (Answer somewhere in this issue)

To participate: In the message, enter 103543 plus your full name and answer, text it to #99503. If that doesn’t work, try texting 103596 and your message to the same number. Only one entry per person is allowed, standard messaging rates may applyhowever answering is free. Raffle winner will be notified within one week.

Sample text:To: 99503 Message: 103543 Sherlock Holmes, The answer is $50!

Royal BanneR Friday Nov. 6, 2009 9enteRtainment

Sagittarius (No-vember 22-Decem-ber 21): Yes, groom-ing chihuahuas is your calling.

Capricorn (De-cember 22- January 19): Remember that deodorant you ran out of last week? It’s time to make a special trip to Target. That smell in science class is not the girl sitting in front of you. Aquarius (January 20-Feburary 18): Stop it. You’re embar-rassing yourself.

Pisces (Febru-ary 19- March 20): Although your lack of money seems to be a problem right now, just think of all the things you could be wasting your earnings on.

Aries (March 21- April 19): The stars hint that you are a champion of the game Apples to Apples. This rare talent may come in handy this week.

Taurus (April 20-May): A quizzical gift will appear on your doorstep this week. Be careful!

Gemini (May 21-June 21): How do you keep a blonde in suspense? Read your next horoscope to find out.

Cancer (June 22-July 22): Watch out, pogo-sticking can be dangerous.

Leo (July 23- Au-gust 22): Now would be a good time to start that math home-work that was due two weeks ago.

Virgo (August 23-September 22): The gym is beckon-ing for you to get in shape for your school sport. Stop, drop the Twinkies, and roll down to the YMCA.

Libra (September 23-October 22): Mercury is behaving exceptionally well this week. You may be rewarded by this planet’s unusual ac-tions.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21): Remember when your mom insisted on giv-ing you her hideous hippie clothes from the 1970’s? Save them. Good things will hap-pen to you if you wear them on your next date.

In “The Brightonomi-con”, Robert Rankin proves that the genre of humorous surrealism will never die. Following in the footsteps of authors such as Douglas Adams, Rankin continues their proud tradition of alternately cracking up and confusing his readers. Rankin is well known in the UK, and has many running series, some more impenetra-bly British than others. Be warned, though--”The Brightonomicon” may be one of the most acces-sible of his works, but is still by no means intended for those who do not ap-preciate British humor. Rankin does not so much break the fourth wall as

he fails to have a fourth wall in the first place, and will frequently carry running jokes from one of his series’ to another without any explanation. The plot centers around Hugo Rune (Reinventor of the Ocarina, the Mum-

bo Gumshoe, the Hokus Bloke, etc.) and his assis-tant Rizla, who go on a quest to solve the mystery of the Brighton Zodiac.

Further explanation would ruin the many surprises that the book throws at you, but suf-fice to say that it swiftly descends into a thorough exploration of the bizarre and inexplicable, and is a must-read for anyone who appreciates a healthy dose of the surreal in his/her reading material. Tragi-cally, Rankin’s books have never attained popular-ity in the US and are only available through im-ports, but if you ever get the chance, “The Brigh-tonomicon” is well worth your time.

Tristan HillStaff Reporter

Book review

BrightonomiconRobert RankinVictor Gollancz Ltd.

RoyalRating

Horoscopes

(Photo: Victor Gallancz ltd.)

Page 9: November 6, 2009

The New York Yankees, the

Los Angeles Lakers, the New England Patriots. These teams can com-monly be asso-ciated with four things: victories, championsh ips , dynasties, and fair-weather fans. There is one thing, and one thing only that I hate about sports and it is fair-weather fans.

These fans jump on a specific team’s bandwag-on only if the team is doing well. The only reason you should like one of the teams above is if you are from the area where the team is located. Oth-erwise, you fit the stereotypical fair-weather fan category and should be ashamed of yourself.

Fan bases for sports teams of any kind are de-fined by two words: passion and loyalty. Obvious-ly not all of us are going to go on to a professional or even college sports career, but our sport’s spir-it will always be carried out when we root for our respective “teams.”

We athletes continue our sports careers vicari-ously through the athletes we cheer for. Passion is a given; any competitive sport will draw out emotions and fervor we have no explanation for. Loyalty among fans on the other hand is wither-ing as more and more people by the day fall into the oblivion of being a fair-weather fan.

As a true sports fan, no matter where I end up, no matter the situation of the team, I will be a fan of Colorado professional sports. To me it seems as if this would be pretty much the same for most of my peers. Of course there are students who have moved, and when they like their respective teams of old, it makes perfect sense.

But then I see a fellow Coloradan sporting a Yankees hat and jersey- what? It makes abso-lutely no sense to me. How can a kid born and raised in Boulder like a team like the New York Yankees? There is no excuse for this. These fans are demoralizing all true sports fans and should not be considered as fans at all.

These “fans” disregard a team if they see it struggling or hype up a team if they see it achieve success. This is nothing less than appalling. The worst part is that these fair-weather fans know who they are, and continue to carry around their false sense of pride. Actually it is more like a fake swagger. True fans can see right through this feigned shield of gratification, and all we can do is sit back and laugh.

Yes, these successful “dynasties” always rack up the victories, herald superstar players, and bring home the championships, but this will never change my views on a team that I have been and will be a fan of for the rest of my life. To some, sports are just sports, but to me, and I am sure others too, sports are more than the name can suggest. Sports present a culture, a way of life.

Most importantly, sports become part of our identities. Whether you can fathom this or not doesn’t really matter, and if you are still reading this, I am sure you can.

I was born in Colorado, and no matter where my life experiences take me, I will bleed the col-ors of my home state’s teams, and I will not leave any doubt in anyone’s mind that I am a true fan.

Comments? Email me at [email protected]

Ghoshbustin’ Fair-Weather fans never fail to annoy

The 2010 basketball season is wide open after the 2009 champions North Carolina lost their top five players. Kansas is an early favorite to take home the national title in March, but other programs will look to challenge the Jayhawks.

It is very difficult to predict the outcome because there are so many variables that affect the season - for example, suspensions for grades or poor behavior. How-ever, one thing is for sure: this season will be as crazy as ever. Interesting subplots are in store: John Calipari attempting to re-store Kentucky’s legacy, Isaiah Thomas coach-ing at lowly FIU.

Kansas re-turns two sen-sational players, Sherron Collins and Cole Al-drich, who will make a formi-dable duo. Kan-sas also added Xavier Henry, a skilled 6-6” guard out of Oklahoma City. However, the Jayhawks must overcome off season distrac-tions that included an on campus brawl with the football team and a player with a DUI. The biggest

threats to the Jayhawks in the Big XII are Texas and Oklahoma.

Meanwhile, Roy Williams and the Tar Heels from North Carolina are reloading this year in hope of advancing to the Final Four. The Heels have a plethora of big men, three of whom are freshman. Ac-cording to ESPN.com the Heels have the second best recruit-ing class only behind Kentucky. However, the Heels will have to go through Duke and Maryland in a surprisingly relatively weak-er Atlantic Coast Conference.

Perhaps the most interesting story in college basketball is John Calipari attempting to resur-rect the great Kentucky Wildcat legacy. Calipari brings with him

not only a top-flight recruiting class, in-cluding the NBA ready number one prospect in the na-tion John Wall the, but also transfers from his former school, Memphis. The Wildcats are the favorites to win the SEC.

Other contenders in-clude Texas, Michigan State, Duke, Villanova, and Purdue.

The best conference in all of the land is arguably the Big East which consists of a multitude qual-

ity teams. The top teams in the conference are the usual suspects, Connecticut, Louisville, Syracuse, but also has teams on the rise like West Virginia and Notre Dame.

College basketball fans are al-ways trying pick bracket bust-ers, and this year the teams to watch out for are Butler, Xavier, Dayton, Siena, and the always dangerous Gonzaga. Another potential surprise in the col-lege basketball world is the CU Buffs. Yes the team who plays at the Coors Event Center.

The Buffs are not going to win the Big XII, but they have enough talent to greatly im-prove on their 2009 season. Their team leader Cory Higgins can play with anyone in the Big XII and is one of the most po-tent scorers in the conference.

The problem last year for the Buffs was a lack of consistency from the supporting cast. They added Alec Burks, guard, who will significantly improve the supporting cast for their star. If their point guard, Nate Tomlin-son can control the pace of their games and become less careless, and the post players toughen up the Buffs could turn some heads this year in the Big XII.

This season will certaintly turn heads as a crazy race is in store for college basketball this year.

2010 College Basketball will not fail to dissappoint

On March 26, 2009, a legendary skier, base jumper, father, hus-band, friend, and hero to all extreme skiers Shane McConkey died in a base jumping acci-dent in Italy. He was 39.

While skiing in the Dolomite Mountains in Italy, after perform-ing a double back flip off a cliff, he had a bind-ing malfunction, where only one binding of the skis was released, caus-ing him to spin in one direction multiple times.

By the time he got his skis off, it was too late. McConkey already had been falling for 12 straight seconds, spin-ning wildly, and when he realized he needed to use the parachute, it was already too close to the

ground. The parachute did not malfunction; it was never deployed. Shane died on the scene.

Most people would not know who Shane was; only the small com-munity of extreme ski-ers does. He was the pioneer of free-skiing, much like Warren Miller or Salomon Ski’s Mike

Douglass. He had set the corner stone to freestyle skiing, always innovat-ing ideas and working

with people to bring free-ski what it is today. Before his time, ski-ers weren’t allowed in most terrain parks. Many of them were kicked off, hearing that the park was “snow-b o a r d e r ’ s turf.” How-

ever, people like Shane did not just leave.

Constantly practicing air moves and tricks, he showed how “extreme” skiers can be in big mountains all over the world, whether it was in

Alaska, Utah, Italy or Ja-pan. Continuously mov-ing forward, his video segments became popu-lar, and many decided to join what he was doing.

He was a childhood hero to countless skiers all over the world, and his passing was the one of the biggest and most upsetting losses in the history of freeskiing.

It has been 5 months since he was killed, but his loss canwwnot be forgot-ten. As winter approach-es, his death does not seem to fade away from hearts of backcountry, race, freestyle skiers all over the world, but gets stronger and stronger.

He is survived by his wife Sherry and their 3 year-old daugh-ter Ayla, He will truly be missed by all skiers.

McConkey an inspiration to allRoyal BanneR SpoRtSFriday Nov. 6, 200910

Alec PronkStaff Reporter

Justin SongStaff Reporter

Neal GhoshSports Editor

McConkey preparing to base jump(Photo: Wikimedia Com-mons).

Kentucky freshmen sensation John Wall (Photo: Wikimedia Commons).

Page 10: November 6, 2009

Royal BanneRSpoRtS Friday Nov. 6, 2009 11

New, fast, exciting, and incredible stick han-dling! Those are just a few of the statements that encompass the new Colorado Avalanche roster. It has been clear as of last season that the Avalanche needed a change in the team’s makeup. Since team captain Joe Sakic retired in July, the team has been attempting to develop its new-found talent.”

This season, the team has its youngest roster since it moved from Quebec to Den-ver in 1995. New players in-clude Craig Anderson (goalie), T.J. Galiardi (left wing, 21 yrs. old), Ryan O’Reilly (center, 18 yrs. old), Kyle Quincey (defen-seman, 24 yrs. old), and Matt Duchene (center, 18 yrs. old).

Anderson is the oldest of the new players, 28 years old, but has played as starting goalie in-stead of veteran goalie Peter Budaj. He is the most expe-rienced of the new players as well. He has played nine seasons professionally and was named the NHL’s No. 2 Star of the

Week for two of the first three weeks this season.O’Reilly came from a major junior team in the

Ontario Hockey League, the Erie Otters, and is serving as a strong addition to the Avalanche team’s pen-alty-killing unit. In the first eight games this season, he has a goal and five assists.

Duchene hails from the same Ontario league as O’Reilly, but played for the Brampton Battalion. This year, he was the franchise’s highest pick since Eric Lin-dros in 1991. Duchene scored his first NHL goal on Octo-ber 17th against the Detroit Red Wings, a fierce rivalry that continues to this day.

The new head coach, Joe Sacco, still has to prove him-self as a decent replacement of the last two head coach-es of the Avalanche, Joel Quenville or Tony Granato.

Sacco has experience through coaching the AHL’s Lowell Monsters (’05-’06), the Albany River Rats (’06-’07) and serving

as an assistant coach for Team USA at the IIHF Men’s World Championship in Switzerland 2009.

So far, the young Avalanche have a winning record and have a promising future ahead of them. Already this season, the team has given stellar shootout per-formances and that extra effort that can be seen in every fresh, new player. Being healthy is essential to every team. The players have so far avoided in-jury, and if they can keep doing it, their chances of succeeding this season will be exponentially greater.

This is not the Avs’ first successful sea-son. Not by a longshot. The franchise has won the highest honor in hockey, the Stan-ley Cup, twice since it moved from Quebec.

The 1995-1996 season resulted in a Stanley Cup victory for the Avs, as well as the 2000-2001 sea-son. These seasons featured some of the best play-ers in hockey history: Peter Forsberg (center), Ray Bourque (defenseman) and Patrick Roy (goalie).

Hopefully, the team will get a chance to com-pete in the Stanley Cup playoffs at the end of the season, which eluded them last year. These players have a lot of potential and have de-livered what Avs fans have been hoping for.

Make sure to watch the upcoming games after the blistering pace the Avs are setting in the early part of the season. Reminiscent of earlier championship teams, this years Avalanche definitely have the po-tential and talent to make a deep playoff run. They will definitely get you excited for the ‘09-’10 season!

After an off-season full of doubt and controversy, many “experts” figured that Josh Mc-Daniels and his Denver Broncos would struggle. They were wrong.

At 6-1 , the Broncos are among the teams in the NFL, joining New Orleans, Indianapolis and Minne-sota. The Broncos have been led by an underrated offense includ-ing standout players such as wide receiver Brandon Marshall, rookie running back Knowshon More-no and tight end Tony Scheffler.

Josh McDaniels has coordinated the offense and balanced it out well with a balanced running game using Moreno and former Philadelphia Eagle Corell Buckhalter, plus a dangerous passing game with Marshall, rising star Eddie Royal, and veteran Brandon Stokley.

The kicking game has remained effective with Matt Prater, who has replaced none other than the great Jason Elam. The offensive line has also improved, provid-ing better pass and run protection utilizing Ryan Clady as the main pow-er source at left tackle.

Less than a month after McDaniels replaced Mike Shanahan as head coach, McDaniels dangled star quarterback Jay Cutler as trade bait to acquire former New England Quarterback, Matt Cas-sel. Weeks later, Cutler demanded a trade to an-other team.

T h i s s h o c k e d

the NFL world, and teams immedi-ately began pursuing the yount gun-

slinger quarterback, includ-ing Washington, Chicago, Tampa Bay and Minnesota.

During the time period of di-saster within the organization, Cutler allegedly had a meet-ing with McDaniels in hopes of bringing the coach and the quarterback back onto the same page. Instead, the situation deteriorated, and Cutler reit-erated his request for a trade.

Seeing that there was no oth-er solution, McDaniels and the rest of the Broncos front of-fice made the decision to trade Cutler to the Chicago Bears, in exchange for Kyle Orton,

a 2009 first round draft pick and a

2010 first round draft pick.Many experts thought that

the offense would suffer due to the loss of Cutler. That coupled with one of the league’s worst de-fenses from a year ago led experts to believe that the Broncos would bring up the rear in the AFC West.

Instead, the defense has made staggering improvements. New ac-quisition Brian Dawkins, a safety, has greatly fortified the overall lead-ership of the defense. Through six weeks, Elvis Dumervil leads the NFL in quarterback sacks with 10.

Offensively, The Broncos have dumbfounded experts and analysts everywhere. Orton has been one of the NFL’s most effective pass-ers, distributing the ball evenly amongst his receivers. In doing so, the Broncos lead the second place Chargers by a staggering figure.

After wins against Cincinnati, Cleveland and Oakland, the same “experts” were admittedly impressed, but also questioned the strength of the opponents that they had played.

Denver quieted the doubters with wins over Dallas, New England and San Diego. After a minor setback loss to the Baltimore Ravens after their bye week, the Broncos are looking forward to bounce back against the stingy Pittsburgh Steelers and adding to their impressive record to prove that they are the best in the west.

Broncos defy experts, expectationsMatt Sparkman and Jordan MyresStaff Reporters

Avalanche annihilating opponentsNate FormanStaff Reporter

Seasoned veteran on the Avalanche, Milan Hejduk, shows the new players how it is done (Photo: Wikimedia Commons).

Brandon Marshall is back in business and leading the Broncos (Photo: Wikimedia Commons).

Page 11: November 6, 2009

Royal BanneR SpoRtSFriday Nov. 6, 200912

The Athletes Song you would bump without friends around

Family Guy or South Park

If you didn’t play the sport you play now, what would you play?

Secret Celeb-rity Crush

Favorite Movie

Least Favorite Athlete

Paul Benz (Soccer)

Who Are You, The Who “Family Guy” Baseball Reese Witherspoon “Without a Paddle”

Barry Bonds

Lewis Commons (Cross Country)

I Gotta Feeling, Black Eyed Peas(Right: Will.I.Am)

“Family Guy” Ice Hockey

Dr. Gregory House (left)

“Trans-formers 2: Revenge of the Fallen”

John Coats, haha-haha

Emily Schneider (Volleyball)

Big Green Tractor, Jason Aldean

Yuck-I hate them both

Rugby Taylor Lauther, Jacob Black from “Twilight”

“Beauty and the Beast”

Anyone on the Spurs (Above: Tim Duncan)

Sam Rock (Golf) Sagittarius Silver An-nouncement, Flaming Lips

“South Park” Tennis Beyoncé “There Will Be Blood”

Vince Wilfork, New England Patriots

Kristen Narum (Cross Country)

Lip Gloss, Lil Mama (right)

Honestly, I’ve never seen either

Lair/Parkour Darrell Scott “Shrek 2” Casey Thayer, not because she is better than me, just be-cause...

Dave Warren (Tennis)

Anything by Taylor Swift

“South Park” Soccer Kyle Orton(right)

“Notorious” Phillip Rivers, San Diego Chargers

Melanie Kronen-berg (Softball)

Goofy Goober Rock, Spongebob Squarepants

“South Park” Soccer Eric Dane, Mc-Steamy from “Grey’s Anatomy”

“Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”

Terrell Owens, Buf-falo Bills

Chance Wilcott (Football)

Party in the USA, Miley Cyrus

“South Park” Curling Taylor Swift “Hot Rod” Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees

1. When was the last time the Denver Broncos began their season 6-0? 2. How many regular season games did the 2009 Colorado Rockies win? 3. Rodney Stewart, a running back for the University of Colorado football team, surpassed 400 yards rushing during his 6th game of the sea-son against Kansas. Who was the last Colorado running back to have

400+ yards through six games? 4. How many teams did Chauncey Billups play for before being traded to Denver? 5. When was the last time Fairview High School won the state football champion-ship? 6. Where did the Colorado Avalanche play be-fore being relocated to Denver? 7. In the Dan Hawkins era, the Buffs have

played 19 road games. How many have they won? 8. Who has higher passer rating – Kyle Orton, or Jay Cutler

9. When was the last time that the Fairview Golf team reached state?

10. How many winning sea-sons have the University of Colorado womens basketball team had since coach Ceal Barry left the program in 2005?

All you want to know about your favorite athletes

Can You Stump Lil’ Sparky?

Coors Field (Photo: Wikimedia Com-mons).

Dan Hawkins (Photo: Wikimedia Commons).

Answers: 1. 1998 2. 92 3. Hugh Charles 4. five ( Boston, Toronto, Denver. Minnesota and Detroit) 5. 1987 6. Quebec 7. Two 8. Kyle Orton 9. 2008 10. 1 (2007-2008)

(All Photos: Wikimedia Commons).(All Photos of athletes: davids).