In the newsNovember 23, 2010 Eaglecrest High School 5100 S. Picadilly St. Centennial, CO 80015 Volume XVIV, Issue III

Opinion 2-3News 4-6In-Depth 8-9Student Life 7, 10A & E 11-13 Sports 14-16

Index

Art contest winners

Winners of the fourth annual “Living Life to the Fullest” Art Contest were recognized at the Aurora Mental Health Center’s 35th Annual Celebration. Junior Beryl Allee won first place for grades 9-12, for her piece: “Happiness is never out of Reach.” Junior Mandi Quinn also won a Director’s Choice Award for grades 9-12 for her piece: “Love is the Root of all Happiness.

FCCLA coat drive

The FCCLA coat drive concluded Nov. 18, contributing to the 25th annual Dependable Cleaners and Denver 7’s Coats for Colorado. Two hundred coats were collected and given to Dependable Cleaners, who will distribute them to homeless shelters in Denver. FCCLA will be doing a “Be a cake boss” challenge Dec. 14, which will consist of decorating cakes for underprivileged families during the holidays.

by Mackenzie McCreary Opinion Editor

The sirens of fire trucks and helicopters outside junior Dalton Bobek’s house where he lives behind the school,

alerted him to the brush fire that started around 4:00 p.m. after school on Nov. 3. It was a dry day and the flames kept on going. “It was frightening to watch how fast they traveled,” Principal Gwen Hansen-Vigil said. The firefighters of the Cunning-ham Fire Department responded quickly and stopped the blaze be-fore it consumed the newly renovated baseball field. The blackened strip of brush is reminiscent of the many brush fires that have cropped up over the past couple of months. The piles of ash are reminders of how quick and dangerous fires can be. But the main question on ev-eryone’s mind is: what started this fire? For every school fire, the fire de-partment has an investigative team that searches for the cause, whether it is natural or man-made. The investigative team has been making progress. So far, they have found that this was not a sponta-neous fire. It was a sunny day, so there was no lightning, and no kind of electrical spark that could have ignited the brush. That means we know that the fire was man-made, whether inten-tionally or not. The location of the fire has caused students to speculate that the cause was a cigarette that was not completely snubbed out. Some students choose to follow the path down to the “Smoker’s Corner;” smoking is not permitted on school grounds, however, that area is just outside of the school border. Many

ZACH’s Place on Pepsi Refresh Project needs votes.

Page 2

Sophomore aspires to ski in 2012 Olympics.

Page 8-9 Page 15

Students of different faiths share their beliefs.

Blistering mystery

The gymnastics team, a combination of all the district schools, took fourth at the state competition, with Bear Creek taking first. One of the three Eaglecrest gymnasts, junior Emma Olsen, was injured and not able to compete.

Gymnastics state

Investigation of fire behind school continues

—photo by Alison Bleser

The fire behind the school Nov. 3 left a blackened strip of brush. It was stopped before reaching the newly renovated baseball fields. The fire department has an ongoing investigation to determine the cause of the spontaneous flames.

“They need to realize that another five minutes, and it would have had a big impact on the baseball field and the rest of the school.” —Jim Roome, assistant principle

students believe that The fire department’s investigative team was researching a surveillance video to see if they can find the cause of the fire, who was involved and exactly what happened. But the only things that could be seen on this video were blurred figures — no specific people could be identified. “If someone is seen on the video, then there will be con-

sequences for them,” Jim Roome, Assistant Principal, said. “They need to realize that another five minutes, and it would have had a big impact on the baseball field and the rest of the school.” The administration is aware that students go behind the school to smoke and acknowledge that it is their choice to do so. “They need to know that those choices don’t only affect themselves,” Hansen-Vigil said. Students should not expect to hear the results of this video sweep because certain privacy rules within

the district prevent the disclosure of investigative results.

2 EditorialEagle Quill Staff

Editorial

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFLauren Holter

OPINIONMackenzie McCreary

Tiffany Brookover

NEWSJason Jimmerson

IN-DEPTHLaura Omvig

STUDENT LIFESharon Cleere

ASSISTANT STUDENT LIFEJessica Dankenbring

ARTS & ENTERAINMENTAisha Clarke

ASSISTANT ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTRachel Radebaugh

SPORTSChelsea Culver

ASSISTANT SPORTSMelissa Westhoff

GRAPHICSAlison Bleser

ASSISTANT GRAPHICSMallory Sullivan

COPY EDITORMike McGowan

ReportersTaryn DiRito

Erin O’DonnellHannah Pelletier

Nicolette ThompsonDaniel Zhuravlev

AdviserYoni Fine

Eagle Quill Staff PolicyPurpose The Eagle Quill strives to inform, educate, and entertain the student body of Eaglecrest High School as a monthly student-produced newspaper. The paper will also provide a forum to express community attitudes and opinions. It will also serve as an educational opportunity for the mem-bers of The Eagle Quill staff to learn the different attributes of journalism.Opinion Commentaries and columns will be signed by and reflect the view of the author alone. They are not the official position of The Eagle Quill.Letters to the Editor Any person interested in the Eaglecrest community and has an opinion to be voiced is encouraged to submit letters to the editor. All letters must be signed, but anonymity may be requested. Anonymity will only be granted if deemed necessary by the Editorial Board and each request will be reviewed on case-by-case basis. Letters to the editor may be submitted to a designated box in room W354, or mailed to Eaglecrest High School, care of The Eagle Quill. All sig-natures will be verified by phone call or interview. Letters should be fewer than 300 words in length. If ex-cessive editing is needed, the letter will be returned to the author for corrections. The staff will not make grammatical corrections to the letters, but reserves the right to edit for libelous content or space limitations. It is preferred that letters are typed, but handwritten letters will be accepted, if legible.Correction of ErrorsIn the event of an error, the Editorial Board will attempt to mitigate the damage. Every reasonable precaution is made to avoid these errors, but some amount of error is inevi-table. Each case will be reviewed on its own merit.

The Eagle Quill Editorial Policy was developed and altered from the Grand Junction High School Orange & Black Editorial Policy.

Autism housing project builds momentumZach’s Place needs help to become a reality for young adults with autism across Colorado

Staff Editorial

ZACH’s Place, started by student achievement services teacher Linda Dewey, is in the running to receive $250,000 from the Pepsi Refresh Project, hosted by Pepsi to fund ideas that will have positive impacts on communities around the country. The goal of ZACH’s Place is to establish model housing and support services for autistic young adults. It’s in-spirational that this project originated at Eaglecrest, but dis-heartening that the news was not more widespread. If funded, it will establish small housing units for young adults with autism, partner with college students to build com-munity relationships, provide independent living and social skill training and create a model that can be replicated across the country. In order for this to happen, the project has to be ranked first or second in the $250,000 category. The impacts of ZACH’s Place would reach beyond Eaglecrest and even the

How to help Zach’s Place win $250,000:

1. Text the message 104080 to Pepsi at 73774

2. Go to the Pepsi website: http://www.refresheverything.com/zachsplace

3. Vote from the Facebook group: ZACH’s Place

Denver area as an example for the rest of the country. Though it was discussed on the morning announcements, they are often not heard and many that did hear had no idea what it meant. With only one month to vote for such a great cause, the student body should have been aware of the details right away and more heavily encouraged to vote. No one is going to vote when they don’t understand what they’re voting on. It would be much more effective for teachers to take two minutes of the beginning of class to debrief their classes as to what’s going on and allow them to use their cell phones to quickly text a vote. It isn’t too late to make a positive impact. Voting continues through the end of Nov. and is as simple as sending one text a day. ZACH’s Place’s ranking has been gradually moving up and with support from the school it could win the money to fulfill its goals. Take your cell phone out, send 104080 as the message to 73774, and tell a friend to do the same.

Arapahoe and Parker construction untimely but ultimately beneficialby Tiffany Brookover Opinion Editor

The crossroads of Arapahoe and Park-er have totaled to a pointless 16.4 million dollar project to allow free-flowing traffic. It is supposed to make for a safer road

and more car carrying capacity, but the whole timing of this project and how it is being done feels like engineers whose knowledge of engineering is slim to none, designed it. Alas, we have found a use for geometry and mathematics! Construction starts as early as 6 a.m. and may end as late as 5 p.m. or later, and while there is no perfect timing to do this, I wonder why this project started at the same time schools opened back up. Along with people trying to get to their jobs, there are hundreds more teenagers added to traffic at these times. Coming from Englewood, living directly by these roads, and also dealing with construction going on around school takes its toll, especially when my detentions add up for some-thing that was idiotically planned. The construction workers that were paving the roads by school had the idea; work during lunch and hours when school and work is in session, not during normal traffic hours, (6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. seem to have the most trouble-some traffic on these two roads). It does not seem to help them work faster when half the workers are so focused on directing traffic that very few of them are actually working on the road. Yes, all this construction may have a positive outcome and may be all ‘fancy’ to some people, but it is also derailing many people with how it is being done. It takes nearly 20 minutes

Construction of the clover-leaf highway has been underway since before the beginning of the school year.

—photo by Alison Bleser

to go down a road with a 55 mph speed limit, which normally takes five to ten minutes to do so. The lanes that we lose dur-ing this traffic time are so vastly important, that traffic is con-gested even more. If you are going straight on Parker and want to turn left onto Arapahoe, you will notice the piercing gaze of the ‘No Left Turn Here’ sign, so the urge to get onto Arapahoe is go-ing to have to be replaced with the idea of an alternate route, unless you thoroughly enjoy u-turns. Of course, teenage drivers and their lack of knowledge about ‘courteous driving’ could be added to the list of prob-lems with this traffic, but it is ultimately the timing of this construction that is so problematic.

College-prep school should exercise college grading systemby Jason Jimmerson News Editor

In our mission statement, it is said that Eaglecrest is a “college preparatory” high school, yet one major aspect necessary for students to be prepared for college is

grossly misrepresented. The grades. When you think college, you expect a huge final and one or two big papers to be the main grade in a class. Despite this, the grading system at EHS is the opposite. “Grades for students are based on multiple assessments for the various things they learn,” said AP Lang teacher Karen Wagner. “ The fact that the students learn the skill is more important than the grades or number of assignments.” Drawing attention towards the actual learning is important to the overall high school success of a student. Unfortunately for EHS students, when we gradate from high school, we’ve been prepared for the rigors of a high school learning experience, not a college one. Even in classes with the “AP” moniker, the grading system doesn’t change. “No, I don’t” said sophomore Brandon Jordan when asked

if he felt ready for a college grading experience. Most AP classes are just a lot of homework. I’ve never been in an AP class where a semester final could save your grade.” Even after high school, the EHS grading system is a let down. “ The curriculum is mostly large papers and tests,” said Beau Thomsen, recent Eaglecrest graduate. “After school, I was comfortable with the work load, but the lack of tests re-ally left me in the dark about how to prepare.” A class worth college credit should replicate a college at-mosphere to the T, but English coordinator John Madden disagrees. “It’s the same curriculum, just executed differently,” says Madden. “ When you hear AP, you think a class should be pulled straight from a college, and that’s an incorrect stigma. You have to remember that they’re still just high school kids.” High school or not, the old adage still remains true: If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail. Personally, I believe that the complete lack of a college grading system or lack of a choice brings us closer to failure. The choice to choose your own grading system would ben-efit students, or at least draw awareness toward the subject of alternative grading. The current grading system fails to reflect all sides of the college-grading spectrum.

Opinion 3November 23, 2010

Versus: Black Friday shopping bargainsNov. 26: worth fighting for the deal

by Nicollette Thompson Reporter

The world is expensive; Black Friday is cheap. Yes, it’s rather crazy to think the hectic shopping day is just around the cor-

ner, but I’m stoked. You should be too. Why? Black Friday is all about the experi-ence. There is nothing else quite like it. You wake up at three in the morning, throw on your sweats and slippers and embark on a great adventure to find the cheapest things a store usually charges 300% too much for. It’s dramatic, exciting and completely fun. Maybe Black Friday shopping is not an experience you need every year, but it’s certainly one we as Americans owe to our over-used wallets. Fighting my way towards that $50 iTunes gift card priced at 35 bucks is worth it. It’s perfect best-friend-gift material! It may just be me, but I’m selfish and don’t really like to spend money, especially my own. So spending a trillion dollars on frivolous Christmas gifts is just a giant waste. Thanks to Black Friday, cheap high school students can buy genuine gifts without spending too much. If spending zero dollars on good gifts means nothing to you, maybe this will! Spend-ing zero dollars on wonderful products that

you can keep for yourself ! It’s the perfect time of the year to splurge on self-indulgences. Just go ahead and buy that top. Sure, Aunt Maggie may have the matching handbag, but it’s only five dollars. If in the end there is no one to give the cheap items to and you don’t want them, there is always eBay. What does eBay have to do with anything? Buying stuff for a low price is one thing, but when you spend hardly any-thing at all on it, selling it for twice what you paid is money in your pocket! How can anyone complain about Black Friday when it’s such a business investment? We capitalists should understand that better than any other people in the world. What I am trying to say is simple: Black Fri-day is the cheapest American tradition I think I’ve ever encountered. Plus, there is nothing better than walking out of a store feeling like the cashier didn’t rob you, for once. Nov. 26: too dangerous for 20% off

by Hannah Pelletier Reporter

Black Friday is that dreaded day after Thanks-giving, where people should coop up in their

home and avoid the insanity outside. The people that do go out are met with to-tal chaos and should be afraid for their lives Millions of crazed citizens wake up before the crack of dawn, somehow ignoring their turkey-filled stomachs to risk being shoved, trampled or beaten just for the chance to get that sweater for a “whopping 20 percent off its original price.” That is the biggest waste of time… Around Christmas, it is understandable to want to get all the gifts for friends and family for cheap and affordable prices, but Black Fri-day is not the way to go. Stores are packed and lines have around 2 hour waits just to get to the register. It has gotten to the point where absolutely nothing will get done. All that you will end up with is failed bar-gains and a “most adorably stylish” purse, five bucks off what you could have next week. Congratulations. You must be so proud. Waking up at four a.m., sleeping on that cold snowy ground and being glared at men-acingly by the people behind you must be completely worth it. And when they open the

doors hours later, it doesn’t mean that you’re the only person who could get 5 “heavenly” items, with prices slightly cut. It just means that you have to fight with the 500 people that are also going for those beloved bargains. Good luck! People have been trampled and hurt just for showing up or opening store doors at the wrong time. If someone falls, they are lost in the crows of careless people focused on nothing but beloved possessions that could be theirs. In fact, in 2008 a Wal-Mart worker, Jdimytai Damour, in Long Island, NY was trampled to death by 2,000 people rushing in the building. There were four others hurt by that stampede alone. People get hurt during Black Friday ev-ery year. The deals that stores have on this day are not even what we think they are. Let me tell you a secret: the best sales aren’t always on Black Friday, and not everything is a bargain. They mix items together to help earn profit. And get this: If you order online, you might not even get free shipping. If having to wake up at four a.m. and get-ting pushed around all day just for the result of frustration and one little item you tackled a grandma for sounds fun, then go for it. But staying inside by a warm fire and eating left-over turkey with the family sounds so much more appealing.

—art by Beryl Allee

Number the Deals: Biggest Discounts of Nov. 26

Nikon Coolpix L110 Black Digital

Camera:Previously:

$279.00Black Firday:

$199.00

Flip UltraHD White Video Camera:

Previously: $129.00

Black Firday: $99.00

Sony Reader eBook Pocket Edition:

Previously: $139.98

Black Firday: $99.00

Magnavox Wireless LAN Blu-ray Player:

Previously: $118.00

Black Firday: $69.00

—compiled by Mackenzie McCreary

Bennet’s votes pass unnecessary laws; promises followby Melissa Westhoff Assistant Sports Editor

Colorado was one of the only states to elect a democrat into any office. Colo-rado, the rest of the nation is right in not doing so. Our political system is based on voting

and majority wins. Majority wins because it is assumed that the majority of the people will be right most of the time. The ma-jority of the nation voted republican, so that does, in a sense, make Colorado wrong. A democratically controlled Congress passed multiple bail-outs. Sure you need to spend money to make money, but that is more when you are starting a business. Not when the business is failing due to its own shortcomings. Throwing money at a recession has never proved to be suc-cessful. Why try to prove that wrong now? All that has created is more dependence on foreign money and debt. We have dug ourselves quite the hole here. And if anyone is happy about that, then they disappoint me. This is not the only problem Colorado is facing. When the CEO of Home Depot was interviewed the night of the elec-tion, he made some very interesting points. His biggest and most prominent concern was that there was not nearly enough jobs. And I agree. The nationwide 9.6% unemployment does not include people who are working part time, or people who are looking for work. Some jobs have been created by the Put-ting America Back to Work Act. The idea of that act is to start

improving America’s infrastructure. That is where the fund-ing for all the construction around Eaglecrest’s campus came from. And if you drive around, many construction sites have signs announcing that they are part of that Recovery Act. Traditionally, improving the infrastructure has been the first step to coming out of a depression or a recession. It is a first step, but does anyone see a second step in sight? What needs to happen next? I think it will be just a slow and painful recovery. So it is imperative that people who understand business be put in charge. And typically republicans are more in favor of business and keeping the economic sector separate of the government. The government only screws stuff up that they get involved in. They are not experts, nor were some of the CEO’s like GM’s, but many businesses prosper because they are lead well. A business needs to manage itself. If the federal government gets tied up in the economic sector, things are going to get messy. One thing I cannot even begin to fathom is the healthcare bill. It shouldn’t have even passed. Now, I support some con-cepts. Health care currently is unfair. Some who want it cannot obtain it. On the other hand, no one even knows what is going to happen until it is implemented. The bill shouldn’t have passed. This bill was full of pork, or in more understandable terms, bribes. In order to pass that bill, benefits had to be placed to different states so they would in turn vote for the bill. That is bribery. The last vote to pass that bill was needed from a representative from Nebraska. So a rider was added saying Nebraska would not have to pay some tax associated to Medicare, amounting to about 200 mil-lion dollars a year. That is outrageous. That law should not

have been passed. Representatives should vote based on how their constituents feel, how they feel, and how their party feels. So if they were not voting for the bill without the pork, then that bill did not deserved to pass. Bennet voted for this, he went along with the bribes, he did not stand up for the common man’s morals, and for that, he should be chastised. Now he has the privilege to serve for another six years. He can use these six years to shine and stand up for Colorado.

Is Black Friday a great deal or just violent

chaos?Write a letter to the editor and tell

us what you think.eaglequill@cherrycreekschools.com

Agriculture:• Conserve natural resources and invest in farming

Economy and Jobs: • Strong Wall Street Reform bill and tighter discipline

on the budget

Education: • Strengthen economy and make higher level education more

affordable

Health Care: • Keep your current health care and invest in medical research

Bennet’s Issues

4 News

by Daniel Zhuravlev Reporter The lines get longer the more detention slips are getting handed out. It is no surprise that more students at Eaglecrest High School are getting drastically more tardy slips on Wednesday mornings than any other week-day. “On average, [weekdays] we get about 50-75 tardies in the morning.” Michelle Whittet, Dean of Students, has had countless experiences with tardies associated with the morning congestion on weekdays, and the course Wednesday mornings. She adds, “On Wednesdays, they’ve been up to 130 tardies.” Wednesday mornings have had a high tar-dy turnout for a few years now, however this year holds a higher burden due to the new school schedule conflicting with the starting time of our surrounding schools. “Thunder Ridge starts nearly the same time that we do, so the traffic is worse.” However the traffic is only one of a few reasons for the escalation of tardies on Wednesday mornings. “But last year, there was also more tardies on Wednes-days.” Another contributing factor to the spike in tardies is the notion that students aren’t considering exactly how much more time they have on Wednesday mornings. “Stu-

Deans preach late start smarts

New grammar books receive mixed reviews

dents think that they have an hour more, but really, now it’s only 40 minutes.” The deans have taken note on this issue and have taken action to make the flow of traffic and getting to school on time a little easier. “ A couple things that we have done [on any day of the week] is now we have a crossing guard to help, and then student council is making posters to help educate students.” The Deans don’t want to see so many students having to do detention, and with the help of Student Council, want to educate students on the traffic and congestion that mornings, especially Wednesday mornings, present. “Be Smart With the Late Start” posters from Student Council have been placed on various walls throughout the school, and an educational video has been created to inform students on how to be smarter with how they handle their time on Wednesday mornings. Mrs. Whittet advises students “Either arrive to school at the regular time, or just plan on 20 minutes rather than the extra 40 minutes or the extra hour,” to avoid any hardship from being late. So students: Be smart with the late start.

by Mallory Sullivan Reporter

Grammar books have been added to the nineth/tenth grade English curriculum this year.More students now know that a comma goes in between two independent clauses. At least that’s the hope for English teachers who have been spending the first 10 minutes of class working with the grammar books. But, the reactions from students are mostly negative. “There is absolutely no point in the grammar books because we already know this stuff.” Sophomore Michael Chidester said. Even though students think there’s no point in the books, teachers disagree and believe it will be a huge help and success. “The key to grammar is to have the students actually implement their skills into the writ-ing, and not just know it,” English teacher Tracy Wolfer said. The English Department got several opinions from parents, saying they wanted to see their kids bring home more grammar, or at least practice it more. “Grammar is extremely easy; I don’t mind having to do things that I already know.” Fresh-

men Brandon Dieiner said. And since the teachers created the books, the plan was to focus on ACT practice, which in time will help students achieve higher scores on the reading and writing sections, according to English coordinator John Madden. “It’s such a huge advantage for these kids to get in their practice now instead of later.” Madden said. But some teachers spend more time than necessary on the grammar books, going over every exercise or reading every rule, creating a cumbersome condition according to some students. “I can get done with it in minutes, and since it wastes a lot of time, most of the class I can sit back and relax,” Sophomore Devin Aaro said. According to Madden, grammar is like math because you have to get the basics to move up, and if high school students aren’t getting past the first level there’s going to be some trouble. “Grammar is fundamental to the English language, you have to know it to move on with reading and writing,” Madden said, “Once you know grammar, everything will become excep-tionally easier.”

by Sharon Cleere Student Life Editor

Despite the seemingly in-nocent nature of preparing a Thanksgiving turkey, fire de-partments across the nation are warning that deep-frying your turkey is a huge fire hazard! Roughly 1,000 home structure fires were reported on Thanksgiving in 2005, which is about three times the average; during 2006 and 2007, there were 1,400. With the risk of combustion of an overflow of boiling oil, you have to ask yourself: is a tasty turkey worth burning your house to a crisp? If the idea of a simple turkey turning into a terrify-ing bird of fire seems too farfetched to be real, watch videos of this Thanksgiving treat gone wrong. Deep-fry-ing may be the best cooking method for creating a moist and flavorful turkey, but the process is too risky to try in the comforts of your own home. Although all it takes is letting the turkey rest in the fryer until it’s cooked, risks mainly occur when setting the turkey into the oil of the deep fryer. If the turkey is too cold, the extreme heat of the oil can cause combustion; if the fryer is set on uneven or flammable surfaces, it may overheat and result in a fire; if oil should spill out of the fryer, it can severely burn someone or start a fire in your home; if the oil starts to boil, it may spatter and burn the encompassing area. The list goes on and on. If you simply cannot resist the tempting taste of a fried turkey this holiday, be sure to follow the necessary precautions: aAs recommended by The National Turkey Federation (NTF), thaw the turkey in the refrigerator approximately 24 hours for every five pounds in weight; a frozen turkey

set in such high temperatures may cause an overflow effect as it expands or even combustion aWear safety goggles to protect your eyes from oil splatter aDo not use propane gas if you intend to deep fry your turkey aAlways use deep fryer outside and never on a wooden surface aSet fryer on a flat surface to reduce the risk of tipping and oil overflow aMake sure no water enters the fryer. When oil and water mix at these high tem-peratures, it can create an overspill and result in a fire or even an explosion hazard aMake sure the oil level isn’t too high, so that when the turkey is later added over-flow doesn’t occur aWhen placing turkey into the fryer, do so gently and with assistance; when doing so, try to maintain a safe distance from the fryer.

Frying a turkey; the how not to

—art by Joe Law

Shelby Frazier-10th “It’s a waste of time, there are better ways to learn grammar. Note cards or even worksheets probably will work better than a spiral.”

Tia Young-10th

“It’s common sense to know grammar because we learned it in elementary. Since we already established the rules, the books are just bad revising.”

Paige Valero-10th “The work is tedious. I bet you we probably won’t even get to the end of the book, so there isn’t a point in doing it.”

by Mallory Sullivan Reporter All over the school,, students were getting snapped at, laughed at, and even a little bit embarrassed. During thespian induction week, stu-dents had to wear signs and sing, dress up in costumes, wear crazy ties, talk in ridiculous accents, carry around props, and finally dress formally for the ceremony on Friday, Nov 12th. According to senior Claire Mills, a lot of the student body does not know about the inductions, which leads to confusion. “To start randomly seeing students dressed in bedazzled clothing can be odd.” Mills said. “It’s kinda embarrassing because the people that don’t know what’s going on think we’re insane,” Sophomore Hillary Peterson said. Sophomore Maggie Shaver believes that the weird circumstances make some students want to be a part of the thespians, and she

thinks other groups should follow their lead. As the new students walk around doing the crazy requirements, the students who got inducted in years before can not help but remember their time. “It felt so weird not being the one that was going through it,” sophomore Dallas Slankard said. “But then again, it felt power-ful to be able to ‘haze’ the incoming thespi-ans.” Even with all of the peculiar events and strange commands, the club isn’t just having fun, but also taking a step to help them in the future. According to the post grad specialist Toby Wright, colleges look for well-rounded students, ones that aren’t afraid to take risks. “When you’re in an activity, it shows lead-ership, and when it comes to college, leader-ship is extremely important,” Wright said. “It’s so much fun to see the reactions from other students,” Peterson said, “and be able to do these crazy things without getting judged.”

Thespian inductions turn heads

News 5November 23, 2010

by Mike McGowan Copy editor Duct-tape wallets have been around for a while, and our NEHS chapter is taking that concept to the next level: a duct tape drive. Throughout the month of November, Ms. Avery and her NEHS members will be creat-ing duct tape products in an effort to raise funds for their cause. NEHS is an organization founded on the appreciation of the English language, and our chapter is one of around 400 across the nation. There are many benefits to joining the society, such as national recognition and scholarship eligibility. “It’s fun, and I like the chance at earning scholarships,” said Michael Kidane, as he crimped the center of his green and black bow. At the meeting on November 5th, the members were chatting and laughing as they built their products. They knew they could only keep the products they liked the most, as the rest were to be sold to the student body in order to fund the normal expenses of the club. “Our chapter is very organized and active because of our participation in fundraisers and our Write-A-Thons,” said Avery. Es-

sentially, these Write-A-Thons are NEHS meetings where the members write for a set amount of time on a topic determined by the sponsor. This is both a manifestation of their love for English as well as a show of their dedication to the club. On top of these writing exhibitions, the members also write poetry. The subject matter of the poetry is based on whatever appeals to the members, so the poems end up being quite out of the ordinary. One member could write about a stapler, while another could be writing about courage. These poetry sessions help enhance vocabu-lary, word usage and abstract thought, which all lead to more advanced writing style. The creativity of the members is what really drives the success of each individual chapter. The meeting during the first week of November prompted a lot of such cre-ativity, as members created colorful wallets, stylish bows and clips, and even a duct tape skirt. The innovative fundraiser was aimed at attracting attention, which is the primary goal of the chapter, according to Avery. The whole inventory will be in produc-tion during the month of November, so the sale should occur soon after, just in time for the holiday season.

Sticking up for the English language

—photo by Mackenzie McCreary

by Taryn Dirito Reporter As the seventeen girls in Dance Compa-ny go to the locker room to change, one lone boy goes to the bathroom to change. When Training Company comes in with the thirty girls, the same thing occurs. One boy goes to the bathroom to get ready for his class. Senior Arnold Garcia and sophomore Taylor Billingsley have had to get used to be-ing the only guys in their dance class. These two boys have had to make the adjustment of being the only guy in a dance class. They had to get used to being sur-rounded by girls and being pushed to do better. Garcia and Billingsley have their challenges, but those chal-lenges are inspirational for them. “I feel like the girls push me to be a better dancer,” Billingsley said. “I also have to be a stronger dancer be-ing the only guy.” For Garcia, he feels as though he has to be perfect. “I have to always be cor-rect,” Garcia said. The girls like being able to have the variation of having a guy in their class. “Having a guy in the class is better for us be-cause it changes things up,” sophomore Alia Palacio said. Garcia takes multiple dance classes, on top of Dance Company in school. He works hard to be the dancer that people push him to be. He leads the girls in choreography, some-times. For Billingsley, he goes to technique dance classes two nights a week instead of the required one. The boys don’t only push themselves, but the girls in the class push them to be better as well.

“I expect him to work harder because not many guys do the sort of dance that Taylor does with us,” senior Kelly Silva said. Dance Company has sleepovers to bond as a group. Garcia is welcome to come, but rarely shows up because of his busy dance schedule. All the girls get along with the guys and make it so they are included in everything they do. “I even feel closer to some of the girls because I dance with them,” Billingsley said.

—photo by Alison Bleser

The dancing duo; lone male dancers stand out

Rep.Diana DeGette-opposes the war in Iraq, bring troops home-wants to improve under privileged children’s health- wants to make more digital advancements-wants to promote more mid-sized business growth-wants to protect wilderness and private land-successfully implement health care reform

Rep.John Salazar-protect Colorado’s agriculture economy-improve Colorado’s transportation -expand access to health caresuccessfully implement national health care-providing veterans with benefits-privatize social security -keep Colorado’s water clean

Rep.Betsey Markey-increase small business jobs-cut taxes and boost small business lending-support family farm agriculture-cap government spending-keep social security non-privatized-give veterans rights-promote green energy jobs

Rep.Mike Coffman-cut wasteful spending-control economy’s debt-rely on American energy-give benefits to veterans-get rid of national gas tax-protect homeland security

Rep.Ed Perlmutter-bring tax relief to the middle class-give more funding to schools-make more green jobs-protect environment by boosting recycling and biking-strengthen intelligence agiencies-secure nation’s borders

Sophomore Kate Ahrenkiel makes a duct tape wallet. On Nov 5 and continuing through Dec, the fundraiser is being held to collect money for matching club apparel.

Senor Arnold Garcia focuses intentley on his upcoming dances.

Meet Colorado’s new elected officials

—compiled by Melissa Westhoff

6 News

by Aisha Clarke Reporter

It’s the time of year to cuddle under a blanket on the couch or under your covers in bed with warm pajamas - but you may want to think twice before you do. With a breakout of bed bug infestations in the U.S., people are encouraged to keep an eye out for signs of the tiny critters in places more than just your home. A bed bug infestation could come from the simplicity of not taking care of a bleed-ing scratch before heading off to bed. These guys feed off of blood - it is how they grow. Once a bed bug bites, they’ll come back for more and open wounds can fester when they continuously feed - something very recogniz-able when it happens.

The main difficulty with bed bugs is how easily and often they travel. They will travel to different furniture and/or objects to lay eggs and spread. They can even spread before you discover the infestation. This is why hotels and even retail/fur-niture stores can be dangerous. Without knowing, the bug infestation will spread to you or your stuff and settle. In populated urban settings, it is com-mon to find issues with these infestations because of the clutter. However, some areas not as populated, even areas with low travel rates, have had increases with bed bugs in the past five years and entomolo-gists (insect experts) are working to find the source of the problem. They are calling it the largest outbreak since World War II.

Bed bugs swarm the Denver area

Chef Taro Arai from Mikuni Res-taurant in Park Meadows presented to classes on the art of making sushi on Nov 16 in the lecture center. Students learned how each of his sushi rolls are made . “You have to know everything to make it right,” Chef Arai said. Arai started cooking sushi from the age of 16, he has perfected his art over 25 years. “Sushi is a long process. [Learn to]

cook the rice for five years, clean this. It takes forever.” Along with the level one Japanese classes, AVID, German and busi-ness students came to see him speak after Japanese teacher Laura Williams invited all teachers to the presentation over email earlier this year. “[He’s a] really entertaining speaker and [tells] interesting stories,” Japa-nese teacher Laura Williams said.

Bed bug facts4Adults: Red or brown, their average size is the size of this “O”4Babies: Translucent and about 1 mm in size4Feed on blood, so cover up your wounds at night!

Think you have them? Here’s what you check for:4Blood spots = Those are crushed bed bugs4Black spots = Those are bed bug excrement stains (like moth poo)4Can be on mattresses, box springs, couches, clothes, drawers, picture frames, books, curtains, bed sheets, pillows, stuffed animals and curtains What to do when you find a bed bug infestation4Report it (exterminators)4You can use a vacuum - make sure to use a fine par-ticle filter so they don’t escape - be thorough4Wash the clothes and/or sheets in HOT water - best way to kill bed bugs and their eggs

—photo and caption by Alison Bleser

Student Life 7November 23, 2010

Every month, seniors Lauren Holter and Laura Omvig check one item off of their list of things to accomplish before graduation.

L L’s& Senior bucket list

4:09- Arriving at 16th Street Mall via lightrail, we track down Mad Greens to get a bite to eat before the concert. We are starving and pressed for time. We stuff our faces in less than 20 minutes, Laura eating too much bacon… of course.

4:45- When we get to the Marquis Theatre, we walk right up to the ticket window. The window is crowded by middle school girls in line for their VIP meet and greet.

502- Finding a group of other high school girls, we discover that Laura is the only one that’s heard of Allstar Weekend.

5:51- Because we are not familiar with the band, we think every guy that comes out of the venue was a member of the band. Laura corrects us.

5:55- We were able to interview the band and waiting for them behing the venue, the four guys come out the back door and line up in front of our awkard semicircle. As we question and photograph the band, a woman clearly under the influence needing to back out her vehicle (we do not condone this behavior) forces us to move our semicircle to the left, to the left, nearly running over Laura’s bags on the ground. Zack, the lead singer, graciously rushes to the bags’ aid and saves them from a brutal death. Laura is very grateful.

6:07- Interview over, we need to go inside

2. Go to a concert downtown. So many great bands play in Denver that it’s necessary.

for the show, but Laura’s “professional” cam-era is not allowed inside the venue for who knows what reason. We ask Seth what we should do and he offers to take it inside with him and give it to us once we are inside. 6:09- We wait for Seth inside and become worried as he runs outside to the tour bus without Laura’s baby, whom Seth names Click.

6:34- Harassing Seth as he comes back inside (without Click once again), he asks if he can use it during the show to photograph the band from backstage. Laura reluctantly agrees, fearful for Click’s life.

6:56- Deciding not to actually watch the show, one reason being Lauren’s throbbing headache and lack of interest in Allstar Weekend, we make friends with one of the other managers, Owen, and hang out at his merch stand for the remainder of the show.

8:12- Running out of things to entertain us at the merch stand, we begin a mini game of ninja by the ATM that Laura secretly wishes would turn into a transformer. Lauren wins both times.

9:47- Following the show, the herd of middle school shriekers swarm the merch stand at which we are standing. We are quickly surrounded with no way out. There is no available air.

10:03- As the venue clears out, the same guy that yells at us before the show, rudely tells everyone to exit the building, problem being, we still have not recovered Click. Our new friend Owen, tells us to come behind his merch table so that we can stay.

10:07- Spotting Seth, we yell at him, asking for Click to be returned. He runs to retrieve it and safely hands off Laura’s baby. Seth and Laura exchange contact info so that he can get the pictures from her. Night over.

by Mackenzie McCreary Opinions Editor Throughout the day, the savory scents of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and yams waft into through the house from the high intensity kitchen. Once you all sit down at the table, it’s a constant stream of spoons digging into full dishes of steaming good-ness, and relatives constantly asking you to please pass the rolls, or would you mind passing the green bean casserole? Some-where amidst the chaos, you find that you’ve devoured two full plates of food, your pants feel tight, and you still have pumpkin pie to eat later. It’s hard to resist the many sweet and savory dishes that will inevitably grace your dining room table this holiday season. Here are some tips to lighten up the calories and fat without losing the taste, or the after-dinner nap. Trim down: Turkey has a substantial amount of lean protein that is good for you, but if you keep the skin and fat on, it will add up later on the scale. If you baste your turkey accordingly, the flavor will sink all the way through, and you won’t be trimming the fat from just Tom the Turkey.

For crust:2 cups Fiber One bran cereal (original)¼ cup light whipped butter3 tbs. Splenda1 tsp. cinnamonFor filling:One 15 oz. can pure pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)One 12 oz. can evaporated fat-free milk¾ cup Splenda½ cup fat free liquid egg substitute (Egg Beaters is good)¼ cup sugar-free maple syrup1 tbs. pumpkin pie spice½ tsp. cinnamon 1/8 tsp. saltWhipped cream for the top

An a day: Have a healthy holiday

Lighten up: The creamy mashed pota-toes and other buttery dishes are where you’ll rack up calories. Ask whoever is cooking the meal that day, to cook with skimmed milk and low fat butter. Eat the veggies: Veggies are a great part of any holiday meal, just be sure to keep the veggies healthy. Avoid large amounts of butter or other sauces that can completely eliminate the healthy contribution of the vegetables. If you like your green bean casse-role, try light mushroom soup and let people add their own crispy onions. Stuff your face: Stuffing is a flavorful ad-dition to any turkey dish. However, cooking stuffing separately can reduce the amount of fat while still bringing out the flavor of the spices. Lighten the gravy boat: Gravy goes with turkey, it’s simply a fact. Making your gravy with turkey drippings is just adding on the fat (even if you trimmed away the fat from the turkey). Use a low fat broth, such as Swansons, and skim milk if called for. The sweet side: Cranberries are a great source of Vitamin C, and making your own can retain these nutrients, where canned sauce does not.

Nontraditional Thanksgiving traditions:

Directions:Preheat oven to 350 degreesIn a blender, grind Fiber One to a bread-crumb-like consistency. Combine with other crust ingredients. Stir until mixed well. In an oven-safe 9-inch pie dish sprayed with non-stick spray, evenly distribute mixture and press against sides to form the crust.In a large bowl, combine all ingredients for the filling and mix well. Pour into pie crust (filling may be taller than crust).Bake in oven for 45 minutes. Remove and cool. Chill in the fridge (for best results, chill overnight). Top with whipped cream and enjoy!

Hungry Girl’s Too-Good-to-Deny Pumpkin Pie

—photo illustration by Jessica Dankenbring

8 In-Depth

By Hannah Pelletier Reporter

Dane Jackman believed in his family’s religion, went to church and read the Bible like many devoted Christians do. But six weeks ago he changed his religion entirely. He converted to Judaism. According to the Pew Research Center, about 44 percent of the U.S. popu-lation converts to a different faith by the time they hit their mid-twenties, many in their teen years. So Dane isn’t alone in his new beliefs. “When I was in Church I always thought, ‘well Jesus was a Jew, why not see things the way he did?’” Jackman said. He knew he wanted to look into the religion and it turned out, it was exactly what he was looking for. Even though the change was going to be difficult he believed it was worth it. “I have absolutely no regrets about this. It really feels right,” he said. Because of the change, Jackman does things in his life a lot differently. However, he also keeps some of his old beliefs. He reads both the Old and New Testament and celebrates holidays from both the religions: Christmas, Easter, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah and Hanukah. “Religion is a really confusing thing, people have trouble with choosing these things their entire lives.” sophomore Shannon Sullivan said. Jackman was having trouble believing certain things in his religion of Christianity. There were too many questions for him that he felt there were no answers to. He needed more of an explanation. “This is so much closer to what I actually believe in. It shed a lot of light and answered questions I couldn’t answer myself,” Jackman said. Sometimes religions are hard to convert to because beliefs are completely switched around from what someone is used to. Especially in the eyes of a converter, life can be completely changed and looked at in a whole new way. To convert to Judaism is difficult. There is research that must be done around the basic of the rituals and beliefs. One has to truly believe what they are learning and dedicate time to learn exactly what the beliefs are in the new religion. There are also important days, important people to know and the impact on oneself and family to consider. You also have to fully let your past religion go, completely. For Jackman, converting for Judaism is a very long and hard pro-cess. He had to study the Torah and practice all the traditions to begin with. It takes a lot of study and work to get to a place of fully becoming Jewish. Now Jackman reads the Torah, goes to a synagogue, and believes more of the Old Testament. He wears a kippah, a traditional head covering worn out of respect and when praying. He also asks a lot of questions about things that he feels he needs to know, and his parents question him just the same amount.

“They ask me a lot of questions about these things that I be-

lieve in but they always tell me ‘we support you

in whatever you want to do.’”

Differentwalks of

faithChoosing a new path

“It’s just

like being a normal teenager,

only I get up earlier and have to refrain

from drugs and alcohol,” senior Tyler Louie said. He

practices Mormonism, which has

influenced his life in several ways. The structure of Mormonism is rather different from other religions. It follows a policy of avoiding addictive substances, like tobacco, alcohol, coffee and tea. Other than that and the early church services, the Mormon belief is relatively relaxed. “My parents started bringing me to church every Sunday when I was little kid, and I guess it just stuck,” Tyler said. Tyler meets with his youth group on a regular basis, and they’ll play ultimate Frisbee or just hang out. There is a strong population of Mormon individuals at EHS, and their personalities tend to reflect the structure of their religion. By combining their dedication with the structure of the religion, Mormons have a well-founded church community that meets with high frequency.

— MIKE MCGOWAN

Morm

on

“I know that what Christianity teaches is the truth,” freshman Maren Jorgenson said. Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God and came to earth and was crucified on a cross to cleanse the world of its sins and give believers eternal life in heaven. Growing up in a Christian church, Jorgenson accepted Christ into her heart at age eight. “I know that [God’s] the creator of everything and that he came down and died for me,” Jorgenson said. “I know he loves me crazy amounts.” Reading the Bible is an important part of Christianity and Jorgenson reads hers right when she wakes up every morning. “We live out what the Bible says,” she said. Jorgenson’s relationship with God is very close in her opinion because she can feel his presence growing. “I don’t know everything about Him, but it’s a learning relationship because I’m constantly learning more about Him,” she said.

— LAUREN HOLTERChristian

— photo by Lauren Holter

In-Depth 9November 23, 2010

Differentwalks of

faith “I know that what Christianity teaches is the truth,” freshman Maren Jorgenson said. Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God and came to earth and was crucified on a cross to cleanse the world of its sins and give believers eternal life in heaven. Growing up in a Christian church, Jorgenson accepted Christ into her heart at age eight. “I know that [God’s] the creator of everything and that he came down and died for me,” Jorgenson said. “I know he loves me crazy amounts.” Reading the Bible is an important part of Christianity and Jorgenson reads hers right when she wakes up every morning. “We live out what the Bible says,” she said. Jorgenson’s relationship with God is very close in her opinion because she can feel his presence growing. “I don’t know everything about Him, but it’s a learning relationship because I’m constantly learning more about Him,” she said.

— LAUREN HOLTERChristian

“Atheists don’t generally believe that there is anything out there aside from what is in front of you —things that are proven and tangible. I believe there is something out their I just don’t know what it is,” junior Kendra

Keeley said. Often Agnosticism is confused with atheism but the two have major differences. Agnosticism is defined as taking a stance and identifying what is belief and what is fact within their own thinking. “I don’t believe in God but I do believe in a higher power,” Keeley said. “I believe in science, evolution and anything that can be proven. Things with statistics I can identify to be fact.” Agnostic theists identify themselves with a particular religion, but use agnosticism as a way to think about that religion and what they then reveal as truth. Keeley still joins her family in celebrating Christmas, Easter and other major Christian holidays but not for the religious aspect. She tends to focus more on the family and the feeling of the holiday. Without the guidelines of following the religious path of her parents Keeley was left to make decisions on her own. “In middle school I remember a lot of my friends would talk about Christianity or their religions and I would think, well I don’t really believe in that. So I had to figure out: what do I believe?”

— SHARON CLEERE

Agnostic

“One who submits to God.” This is the literal meaning of the word Muslim. For sophomore Jibreel Frawan religion is so much more; “You just live it – always.” Frawan has been Muslim since birth and it has greatly shaped his lifestyle. Everyday he prays, eats and lives through his religion. Commitment is key in this profession of faith. “We pray five times a day,” Frawan said, “and I go to the mosque on Fridays.” Prayer, also known as Salah, is a very important part of Muslim religion too, but it’s not always taken with the same amount of dedication. “You take prayer more seriously with time,” Frawan said. “The little kids aren’t praying in the same way as teenagers.” Frawan and his family follow the five pillars, which are monotheism, justice, prophethood, leadership and the last judgement. The five pillars secure the lives of Muslims and also guide them through the hardships of life. Fasting, reading the Qua’ran and pilgrimage also fall under the five pillars. Pilgrimmage falls under the fifth pillar and involves a trip to Mecca, Saudi Arabia to prove submission to God. “I fast, but I haven’t gone to pilgrimage yet,” Frawan said, “I hope to go some day if I can.” Muslims face a lot of judgement from Americans, in light of recent terrorist attacks. Since 9/11, people have been even more judgemental of Middle Eastern individuals. “We’re not extremists; we’re peaceful people,” Frawan said. “People just make assumptions. My whole family got ‘randomly’ selected at the airport. It’s not cool.” Frawan feels he fits in — inside and outside of the muslim community, though, and especially at school. Being with people that aren’t of the same religion as him, doesn’t make him uncomfortable. “I don’t know why, I just do,” Frawan said. “I feel completely normal.” — JESSICA DANKENBRING

Muslim

— photos by Laura Omvig

10 Student Life

by Chelsea Culver Sports Editor Juniors Elham Manshadi, having just moved from Iran, and Chinar Aldawoodi, having moved from Iraq when she was two years old, walked down the middle school hallway on the first day of school, and became best friends right away. “It was like love at first sight except for in the way of friendship,” Man-shadi said. “She was my first friend in middle school,” Aldawoodi said. Manshadi and Aldawoodi now know each other’s life stories and neither of their stories are easy. Manshadi was born in Iran and moved here while in middle school. “We moved here because our government would not allow us the opportunities that other families got, like job opportunities and education opportunities, because of our religion,” Manshadi said. Manshadi’s family had to move to Austria before their move here. The Iranian government does not allow people to move to the United States directly from Iran. “Our country is a lot more locked down. We were forced to move to a different country first,” Manshadi said. On the other hand, Aldawoodi was born in Iraq, a country with similar cultural elements to Iran, but at the same time different. The first move that occurred for her was when her family came here when she was two years old.

“I didn’t really have to deal with many hardships when I first moved here,” Aldawoodi said. “I was only two.” Aldawoodi’s family moved back to Iraq about two years ago. “We moved back there because we wanted to be with our relatives and live in our own country and the hardest thing about this move was leaving my friends behind,” Aldawoodi said. “But after a few months, we decided to move back here because we are use to the American lifestyle.” Because a lot of her relatives still live back in Iraq, the fighting over seas hits close to home for her. “It’s really hard for me sometimes because they’re in danger.” The hardships that these girls and their families are facing bring them closer together.

“We are like one big fam-ily. We have so much in com-mon. We love each other for who the other person is, and we don’t judge each other based on cultural back-ground and our differenc-es,” Aldawoodi said. One differ-ence between the two is the way that they perceive their countries now. “My fam-ily and I want nothing to do with our

homeland anymore because of the way we were treated, but I am lucky to have the beliefs of my old and new culture together,” Manshadi said. On the other hand, Aldawoodi feels positively about her country. “I’m absolutely proud of where I’m from and I love my home country, but I choose to live here, so I can have a good education and have options.” These girls’ experiences have made them who they are, and they have learned a lot through these experiences. “I’ve seen what it’s like in another country and I’ve seen all the hardships that people have to face. It has made me more appreciative of the life that I have here,” Aldawoodi said.

by Lauren Holter Editor-in-Chief Every weekend after work, senior Sam Lessard smells of gunpowder. It’s not because he is hunting; he’s never even shot a gun. Lessard works at the Aurora Gun Club, pressing a button that throws skeets, targets simulating game birds in flight, into the air for others to shoot. Lessard stays entertained at work by listening to the mens’ conversations while they shoot the skeets he is throwing in to the air. “There was this one guy, he missed like ten times in a row, so everyone was talking crap to him,” Lessard said. “Then he said to all the other guys ‘I’m going to hit

you with so many lefts, you’ll be praying for a right.’”

He explains that the men, who are often older, include him in the conversation,

allowing him to build relation-ships with the regulars.

“I have like 15 grandpas now because they all ‘adopted’ me,” he said. Never having had the opportunity to shoot a gun, Lessard explains that he would like to, but the club doesn’t provide guns for people to use. “I wouldn’t want to kill anything,” he said. “It’s against my nature.” Only having worked there for two months, Lessard got the job through a friend, senior Nick Hawkins, who has worked there longer.

The downside to the job is having to clean the clubhouse: sweeping, mopping, and cleaning

the trap house, where the skeets are kept.

He enjoys only working weekends because it

leaves time for homework throughout the week. Only working until three or four in the afternoon, Lessard

still has time for a social life on the weekends, mainly because his friends are still sleeping

while he’s at work.

Different nationalities

The true driver’s test On your way home from a long trip, you take I-70 west. While driving along at 70 mph, the driver behind you honks and speeds past you, yelling profanity and flipping you off. Apparently, you’re not up to their standards of driving. What do you do when faced with an aggressive driver?

A. Avoid eye contact (ignore their cries for attention).

B. Make every attempt to ir-ritate them (honk /scream/make rude gestures).

C. Challenge them at every chance you get (if you can beat them, you win the battle).

D. Drive reckless, to show them that two can play at that game.

E. None of the above

strong friendshipbut

AHHH! Your brakes have just gone out. You think back to when your little sister claimed she’d cut your brakes if you ever snuck into her room again. Now you’re hur-tling down Hampden with no way to stop. What do you do when your brakes malfunction?

A. Downshift to a lower gear

B. If you don’t have anti-lock brakes, pump the brake pedal fast and hard 3 or 4 times

C. Use parking or emergency brake to slow the vehicle

D. Steer to safety and be sure to turn on your hazards to alert other drivers.

E. All of the above

—compiled by Jessica Dankenbring

You’re late for school! You decided to take a shortcut. You pass neighborhood after neigh-borhood and finally come to the last turn. All of a sudden you see a random surprise in the middle of Picadilly: a 3-cushion couch. What do you do when there’s something in the road?

A. Immediately slam on your brakes.

B. Strike it instead of swerving to avoid it.

C. Pull over, put it in the back of your pick-up, and take it home with you.

D. Answers A, B, and C

E. Turn off your car and jump out as it approaches, save your-self from impact.

You’ve set out for a day of shopping, and head towards Park Meadows in your car. As you reach Arapahoe and Parker, you notice that the stoplight is out. Traffic’s a mess and there’s no one to direct traffic. What do you do when a signal is malfunctioning?

A. Get out and direct traffic yourself.

B. Treat the intersection as a four-way stop.

C. Cool people have the right of way, so just drive right through it – others will stop for you.

D. Start madly honking until you can successfully get to the other side of the intersection.

E. Make a u-turn and avoid the intersection altogether.

Information gathered from autotips.plenty-car.com, www.defensive driving.com, and the CDL driver’s handbook.

Answers: B, B, E, A

Think your a good driver? Test yourself on these tricky driv-ing situaitons. Do you kow what to do?

Aurora Gun ClubPosition filled:

— photo illistration by Alison Bleser

— photo illistration by Alison Bleser

Arts & Entertainment 11November 23, 2010

by Mackenzie McCreary Co-Opinion Editor

It is 1922, archeologist Howard Carter pulls away a few stones from the wall of a tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Surrendering his arm and lit candle, Carter peers into the darkness of the tomb. “Can you see anything?” he is asked. Carter replies with one phrase: “Yes. Wonderful things.” It was the summer of 2010, and I waited outside the Den-ver Art Museum. The blistering sun, intense heat and early hour didn’t matter to me – I was there to see the artifacts from the tomb of the famed Pharaoh, Tutankhamun, The Golden King. Once the doors were opened, I made my way up the slanted stairs of the museum. As I wound my way through the maze designed for waiting visitors, I got excited. Once our tickets for the 10:00 a.m. group were scanned, we were brought to a room where a monitor hung above an Egyptian archway with closed doors. The introductory film ended with the words: “Come and experience the world of the pharaohs and The Golden King, Tutankhamun.” As the video faded away and the doors opened, I truly felt that I was stepping back into the world of Ancient Egypt. In the beginning of the exhibit, we are taken through a condensed version of the history of Ancient Egypt. Plaques throughout the rooms inform visitors of Ancient Egyptian hierarchy, customs and burial practices. Statues of various pharaohs as well as important people of the Pharaoh’s court are displayed throughout this part. And the most memorable thing: an intricate sarcophagus for a family’s cat (it’s purely coincidental that whoever walked by it that day sneezed). As we move on, we come to the jewelry of Ancient Egypt. Placed in a dimly lit, almost completely black room,

the pure gold of the jewels sparkles like no diamond I have ever seen, enhancing the colors of the inlaid stones and the size of the pieces. Moving through time and Pharaohs, we come to Akhenaton, who is believed to be the father of Tutankha-mun. Akhenaton is famous for his establishment of a mono-theistic style of worship; in this way, Akhenaton established a national religion, where they would worship a single god, Aten, as opposed to the many gods of the original Egyptian religion. After we have learned the history of Ancient Egypt be-fore “King Tut,” the exhibit goes on into Tutankhamun’s life. Many know that Tut was only eight when we was crowned as king of Egypt – a very large responsibility for someone so young. Throughout his life, Tut studied with priests and the Egyptian ministry, where he learned of the past and current religious views. He worked to restore the polytheistic (mul-tiple gods) style of worship. As the exhibit continues, more things about Tut’s life and death are revealed to us. Finally we come to the tomb, the treasures of The Golden King. We are led through masterfully reconstructed rooms of the tomb that display things such as a bed that Tut

King Tut visits Denver Art Museum, worthwhile exhibitprobably slept in as a boy and a sort of board game that he may have played with a friend or sibling. The final part of the exhibit is the burial chamber. Here is where we see things like sandals that Tut was wearing when he was buried, and an elaborate canopic jar, which held the Pharaoh’s internal organs that were taken out dur-ing the mummifying process. Although I was slightly disappointed when I found that we would not be seeing any part of the sarcophagus or burial caskets, I was still in awe of the artifacts that had been found in a tomb that had been sealed for over 3,000

years. DAM has done a wonderful job setting up this exhibit, working through the many facets of Ancient Egyptian histo-ry and shedding light on the intricacies of life and hierarchy in the deserts of Egypt. Not only was the exhibit educational and easy to understand, but the accompaniment of the art and artifacts from many different pharaohs is the final touch to the effect of stepping back in time. “Tutankhamun: Golden King, Great Pharaoh” is an overwhelmingly amazing exhibit that offers visitors the live and breathing exhibits that classroom teachings cannot offer. This is the last tour of the exhibit before the artifacts return to Egypt, and it is a once in a lifetime experience. The exhibit will remain on display in Denver until January 2011. I recom-mend that everyone see these “wonderful things” before they are returned to their homeland. Not only will you walk away with a greater understand-ing of Ancient Egypt and a deep hankering for your own elaborate golden jewelry, you will walk away with a greater understanding of society, religion and a whole new meaning of what it means to be a leader.

History: Since the early 20th century, musical theater stage songs have been adapted into everyday lives. Songs have had contents of humor, love, anger and any other aspect of the emotional spectrum, ranging from “Phantom of the Opera” to “Foot-loose”. Shows: Cats, Sound of Music, Lion King, West Side StoryTrack: “He lives in you”, a classic Dis-ney song from “The Lion King” ranks as the number one showtunes song.Student Opinion: Sophomore Dal-las Slankard lives for showtunes and loves the expression inside the songs. “I absolutely love showtunes. They re-ally express human emotion, and they pinpoint human experiences in life and portray them through song!”

-complied by Mallory Sullivan

Genre Profile:Showtunes

The Sound of Music is a classic movie about the Von Trapp family in Austria during the 1930s.

Due Date: The Hangover part two?by Laura Omvig In-Depth Editor

When I heard that director Todd Phillips, the man that brought the top grossing R-rated comedy The Hangover to the big screen a year ago, was gracing the public with a new flick, I was ecstatic, to say the least. Due Date, which feels

pretty similar to the previous film, is a fast-paced comedy that is carried on the shoulders of the all-too unique

acting styles of Zach Galifianakis and Robert Downey Jr whose awkward and impetuous rela-tionship provides the plot. The storyline follows the forced cross-country road trip of Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.), a successful Atlanta architect desperate to get home to his pregnant wife, Sarah, and Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifi-anakis), an aspiring actor who claims to have glaucoma and is obsessed with the TV show Two and a Half Men. The duo

butts heads throughout the whole movie as Galifianakis innocently antagonizes a rage-

ridden Downey with his childish antics and mindless ulterior motives.

I have to start by saying that the best thing about Due Date is Downey’s extremely heated character. This is a man who lives his life as a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any moment, clearing all who dwell in his path. In this case, the one man taking the brunt of every breakdown happens to be of a heroically unique personality as he is able to indirectly contradict every-

thing Downey has to dish out. The casting in this movie is definitely to be applauded.

I can honestly say that no two people could have played these characters better. Downey did such a fantastic job play-ing the man everyone wishes they could be—a guy who is able to say anything to anyone’s face no matter how hard-hitting or corrosive it may be. And for Galifianakis… well let’s just say that if you need someone who can turn awk-wkard, inept and socially uncomfortable into 2 hours of pure comedy, he’s your guy. Due Date is every bit as funny as The Hangover, however a lot of the comedy hits that been-there-done-that territory. Don’t get me wrong, I found myself laughing out loud con-tinuously, but afterwards I was contemplating whether or not they chose to make the two movies so similar simply because it’s what the people want, or they just don’t know how to do it any other way. Regardless, the movie had the potential to be a flop, but seeing as they did everything right, especially in the casting department, it definitely found its way to the top.

12 Arts & Entertainment

Anthony’s Pizza: Located off of Smoky Hill was really just a step up from Papa John’s and Pizza Hut. It was a little better quality and much bigger (almost a foot long!), but the random burnt spots did not impress me. At times I felt like I was chewing on something dead. The

crust was also difficult to deal with as it was so hard my teeth wanted to run away and jump for cover. I do give them props to their goal of being original and a comfortably casual place.

Pizza contest: where to get the best pizza

3

California Pizza Kitchen: This restaurant has a great envi-ronment — not crowded, lots of light, and nice people. On the outside, it’s the Park Meadows mall (or Cherry Creek), but on the inside a feel for California itself. Their pizza is more festive by trying different combinations and separating from the traditional cheese and pepperoni. Their efforts are successful in making good pizzas that are pretty unique, such as the roasted artichoke with spinach or the tostada pizza (an entire Mexican salad on that dough). Not for everybody, but definitely one of my favorite restaurants; they’ve got so much more than pizza, like pasta, salads and sandwiches.

Lil Ricci’s: I knew it was going to be great from the moment I walked into the door. The entryway placed me in New York City with a four-wall design of a great view. It was a casual place with a sign reading “please seat yourself.” The service was great, knowing how to keep their distance but was still very friendly. There

weren’t many people there at 3:30 on a Thursday, but the piz-zas cooked faster than you can say “cheese.” Fresh out of the oven, everything was cooked perfectly. The cheese was much different from your average, (not plasticized at all) and buried into the flavorful sauce. They place any toppings you ordered right on top instead of half way into the cheese or under it. So fresh, so satisfying, so inexpensive — this was truly New York’s style of pizza right in Parker, CO.

21

The Walking Dead: TV Phenomenon

Top: The zombies appraoch. Bottom: The main protagonist, Rick Grimes, wakes up in the hospital in the first episode.

by Rachel Radebaugh Assistant A & E Editor

Let me start out by giving Microsoft a huge thumbs up. On Nov. 4 the new game attachment to the Xbox 360 was released, and it goes by the name Kinect. Now you may all think that the gaming system, Kinect, is like the Wii, where the player has a remote and uses their body to play but is technically only using their arm. Kinect for the Xbox 360 is much greater than this. The Kinect has a camera, a motion detec-tor, and a microphone built into it. As you step into the Kinect’s vision the machine scans your body, identifies you and projects you into the game. Your whole entire body is the controller—literally. You wave both your arms, your avatar in the game does it. You bend down and do a little dance, your avatar does it too. Kinect senses every single thing you do. The first game I played on the Kinect was Kinect Adventures. This game is a stel-lar series of five mini-games that basically introduce the player into what the Kinect is possible of. My second favorite of this game is called 20,000 Leaks, and it really empha-sizes what Kinect can do. You avatar, that you’re able to edit to look exactly like you, is an underwater bar-rier, and fish and crabs are poking holes into your safe chamber. Once a leak pops up, you move whatever body part to the hole that you see in the game, and it plugs it up. Say the leak is to the side of you, you reach your physical arm out to where you see the hole on the screen, and the avatar does the same, and the hole is plugged up. Another fantastic mini-game on Kinect Adventures is Space Pop, and you’re in zero gravity. Wave your arms around, flap you arms to hover and jump across the room all to pop the bubbles coming out of the chamber in space. This mini-game is es-pecially fun because of the fact that you are able to fly by literally flapping your arms. The goal of this mini-game is basically to pop as many bubbles as you can, but remember: your body does the controlling. Oh, and I wouldn’t forget the best mini game of all, River Rush. This particular mini -game isn’t just about you leaning, arms wav-

ing, looking like a fool game; it’s the extreme of all movements put together In this mini-game, your avatar is on a raft and is going down a rapid water river. You lean to make the raft change directions so you don’t hit stuff, and so you can collect the coins. Jump so your avatar can get over the obstacles, and jump off a ramp so you can float on a cloud. And sprawl across the room to get that one coin you missed. I think the greatest part about Kinect Adventure is that it takes pictures of you while you’re playing. I was playing River Rush with one of my friends, and at the end of the river, while gasping from so much move-ment, a picture popped up of us looking pretty crazy, like pictures that are taken on a rollercoaster but funnier. Kinect caught both of us in mid air and we looked crazy. There are other games for Kinect out right now that include: Kinect sports, Joy Ride, Dance Central and Kinectimals. I think —by far—the best of these games is Kinect Joy Ride. This game is a car game with no worrying about remotes. Just pretend like you’re grabbing a wheel in front of you and get ready to drive. It sees everything about you, tracks every single tiny movement you do. There is no controller; your body is the controller. This is probably the greatest invention I have ever witnessed… so far. So everyone, literally everyone, you must play Kinect Adventures. There is no button pushing and remembering the sequence to perform a special attack; it’s all in your body movements. Don’t just take my word for it, go out and play.

8-Bit Rachel: Kinect Adventures

by Taryn Dirito Reporter

Despite the bad acting, the special effects and the interesting plot keep me wanting more of The Walking Dead. If you’ve ever seen “28 Days Later” then this show is for you. Based on the popular comic-book series, The Walking Dead is about Rick Grimes and his journey to escape the zombie-infested city. After being in a coma, Rick Grimes wakes up and discovers that zombies have overtaken the world. The show explores the weeks and months that passed after the epidemic. I don’t know why, but I love gore. I love the “Saw” movies. Maybe I’m weird, but I like how they show all the details of people dying. There’s not much you can do to kill a zombie. But in The Walking Dead, they kill tons of zombies. They bash them in the head with a baseball bat, chop off their head with an axe, and shoot them in the head with a gun. During the second episode, a mob of the living kills a zombie and takes it into an abandoned warehouse and dissects him. We see everything, from amputating his limbs to opening his stomach to pulling out the organs. This show may not keep my interest, however. The acting is horrendous. Typically when you lose a family member, you would cry your eyes out. Well, when Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), fell to his knees and tried crying, no tears fell from his eyes. If you are going to cry, at least make it believable.

My 8-year-old brother could probably do a better job with picking the actors. Some actors are just that way, though. Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes), like Nicolas Cage or Keanu Reeves, is very monotone. That’s not very appealing. You want some emotion in your acting. Show that you have a passion for it. Andrew Lincoln’s acting says to me that he just took this job for the money. I mean who wouldn’t, but at least make it worthwhile for the viewers as well. This show could be amazing, it just needs better acting. A word of warning-I was watching this show with my father, and there were some parts that were shown that I would prefer-ably not watch with my father sitting next to me. The things I saw with him made things a little awkward. The Walking Dead is on every Sunday at 8 p.m. on AMC.

Playing Kinect with my bestfriend was a good way to work out and laugh at the same time.

-complied by Aisha Clarke

The Walking

Dead

on AMC

Sundays at 8p.m

mountain time

Arts & Entertainment 13November 23, 2010

Best bets for December entertainmentThe Chronicles of Narnia:

Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The third movie in the Chronicles of Narnia series follows Lucy, Edmund and their cousin Eustace on an

adventurous ride on a vessel called the Dawn Treader upon their return to Narnia. Although

two main characters from the previous movies, Peter and Susan, are absent, the third chapter is predicted to be even more thrilling than

its predecessors, as the trio encounters merfold, dragons,

dwarves and a band of lost warriors.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader is rated

PG and hits theatres on Dec. 10.

Tangled

The classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale of Rapunzel is coming to theatres with a lavish makeover.

Directors Byron Howard and Nathan Greno have teamed up to tell the story of a fair-haired

maiden (voiced by Mandy Moore) and her love affair with a gallant

hero (voiced by Zachary Levi) that is threatened by the evil witch who prides herself on keeping

the two apart. Sure to be a family favorite, Tangled is rated PG and comes to theatres on Nov. 24.

93.3 Not So Silent Night

Who: 3OH!3, Innerpartysystem, The Epilogues, Oh My Stars and

othersWhere: The Broomfield Event

CenterWhen: Nov. 26, 7 p.m.

Cost: Varies upon seating

Channel 93.3 is hosting their annual Not So Silent Night event

that’s dancier and more electronic this year than any years previous.

Get your tickets online and for more info visit www.eventful.com.

Golden Corral

The Golden Corral is a buffet-style restaurant that prides itself on its food quality and nutritional value. Around the holidays, it’s a perfect stop for families on a tight budget looking for a wholesome meal together that tastes great

and is good for you, too. Located on East Mississippi avenue, they have a large seating capacity and love contributing to group events.

-complied by Laura Omvig

by Laura Omvig In-Depth Editor

In an age where poppy, electronica music is making an extreme comeback, it’s hard for talented musicians to stand out and really make a name for themselves. New pop-rock band Allstar Weekend knows all too well that finding your way to the top is pretty cut and dry— you either make it or you don’t. “We were just a band from San Diego, all

regular guys going to college and working,” Lead Vocalist Zach Porter said. “We never expected to be out here on a nationwide tour.” The quartet is composed of four guys who grew up going to school and making music together simply because it’s what they love to do. They all had different plans for when they grew up that didn’t involve being a rock star, with the exception of lead guitar-ist Nathan Darmody who’s known ever since he was little that he wanted to be a famous

musician. In any situation, the band is deter-mined to have a good time, not only for them but for their fans

Exclusive interview with Allstar Weekend on touras well. “We like to have fun. At all times. That’s our mission statement,” bassist Cam-eron Quiseng said. When the band played in Denver at the Marquis Theatre on Sunday, Nov. 7, the horde of screaming fans seques-tered outside the doors at the beginning was an unofficial declaration of that statement. The young group of twenty-something’s made it big when they won the Disney chan-nel Next Big Thing contest that finds young musicians across the nation and gives them a chance to hit the big time. Allstar Weekend then found themselves holding the No. 1 spot on Radio Disney and are currently on the road for their first headlining tour with contemporary band The Scene Aesthetic. Having just released their full-length album Suddenly Yours, Allstar Weekend is learning what it’s like to balance being a group of best friends as well as national

icons with thousands of fans, the majority of which are young middle school girls with gargantuan crushes on all four members. The album is a good collection of songs expressing the group’s desire to represent themselves as four regular guys just doing what they know and love. Their newest single ‘Come Down with Love’ is an anthem for any young person who’s experienced the fireworks of a first love. One could argue that the band centers most of the songs on the album on young love and girls, but they disagree. “Yeah a lot of our songs are about girls, but there’s a deeper meaning to all of them,” said Porter, who writes most of the lyrics. “They’re all about things we’ve experienced before.” Regardless, there are several songs on the album that do a good job of representing the band in a light that they want the public to see them in. The song ‘Journey to the End of my Life’ talks about wanting to live a full life and working hard to ensure that it’s worthwhile, an anthem that’s not only rel-evant to their fans but pretty much everyone. Although many of the songs that the band has produced sound similar instrumen-tally, Allstar Weekend is a talented bunch who have the potential to go a long way, especially if they tap into their ability to expand their fan base. If they play their cards right, we could be seeing a lot more of them in the future.

Top Left: The band prepares for performance back stage. Top Right: Cameron Quiseng during the performance. Bottom Left: Cameron Quiseng singing to the fans. Bottom Right: The band talks with EQ before the concert.

—photos by Lauren Holter and Seth Scott

14 Sports

Go figure, no time for Olympics

by Mike McGowan Copy Editor

You’re running down the pitch. One of the forwards is coming right for you. Your only choice is to pass the ball back to your teammate and take the inevitable tackle. A few laterals later, and your team scores a try; it was all worth it. Rugby is a sport that is enjoyed around the world, but it is yet to hit its stride in America. “Many Americans are not brought up with the game and see it as confusing or difficult to understand, when it truly is less complicated than football,” said Social Studies teacher Adam Nance, who began playing when he was in high school. “Rugby is a sport that is always gaining attention and is now currently one of the fastest growing sports in America.” Yeah, it’s a rough sport, but that doesn’t mean teenagers wouldn’t play it; in fact, it almost means the opposite. “I can speak from experience that teenagers do enjoy this sport a great deal,” said Nance. The game involves amazing amounts of fitness and conditioning, which may not appeal to all teenagers, but Nance believes that high school students would love the sport because of the rigor.

Normally, a sport like rugby is loved by its players due to its exclusivity, but what Nance loves most about the game is very different. “Rugby is a great game that has forever shaped me. It has provided me with some of the greatest moments of my life and also life-long friends.” Another important aspect about rugby is that it is played worldwide by both males and females. “There are many women’s

rugby teams all over the state, the country and the world,” said Nance. The USA rugby headquarters are located in Boulder, so it’s very popular in Colorado, even if it is somewhat ignored across the nation. Rugby is liked by teenagers, centralized in Colorado and enjoyed by both genders, so it could probably be easily implemented in the EHS sports program. Rugby is certainly rough,

but it’s not nearly as complicated as other sports, so it doesn’t necessarily need to be excluded from high schools. When in the midst of a game, the players seem to hate each other, but that’s just because of how violent the game is. Off the field, the teams are very respectful of each other. “There’s an old saying that ‘rugby is a game for barbarians played by gentlemen,’ and that is absolutely true,” said Nance.

“Many Americans... see it as confusing or difficult to

understand, when it is truly less

complicated than

football”

Moving from fields to courtsby Erin O’Donnell Reporter

Work hard. Play hard. On a grassy field and then a polished floor. Every year, three or four football players make the varsity basketball team. It can be exhausting to go from one sport to another, but football players bring key aspects to the basketball team that John Olander, head varsity coach of 10 years, notices. “I love having football players,” said Olander, “they bring a lot of competitiveness and strength.” The basketball boys have been in sports training during their fourth hour class as well as spending Tuesdays and Thursdays after school in the gym. But, the football players have experienced competition for about nine weeks. Coming off of a season, a majority of players want the next season, no matter the sport, to be better; players keep the drive to win games and work their hardest in the next season. “I bring the ‘I wanna win at all costs’ attitude,” said junior, Zech Green. Going from one sport to another where both ask for great amounts of physical strength is bound to wear down on athletes, but these players find the strength to push through. “It’s hard to go from football to basketball because your body is all beat up from football, and you don’t have time to rest and let yourself heal,” Green said. But constantly being involved in a sport

does add to a consistent schedule. These players have managed to stay on track with school during football season, so they are already of time management skills that transfer from sport to sport. “My schedule doesn’t change much [between the sports] because I’m used to having sports after school,” said junior, Ryan Dernocoeur. Schedules don’t change very much

between the two seasons, but neither does teamwork. “Good team players benefit everyone,” said Olander. Football players

also come in to the season aware of how to work as a team and work off of each other. According Green and Dernoceur,

the biggest differences between the two sports

are the physical aspects of the game and the types of

practices. “Football practices are more set in stone [as to] what we are going to do and basketball is [less so],” Green said.

The basketball team has had much success in the past. Since Olander has been coach, Eaglecrest has been Centennial League champs three times, to the final 16 six times, to the final 8 twice. Successes in the past allow for excitement towards the season as well as peer support. “Everyone only looks at the winning column,” Dernoceur said when noticing the change in excitement and support of the basketball team.

Rugby: the next big thing?

by Chelsea Culver Sports Editor

The typical figure skater has big goals to go for in their athletic careers, such as making it to the Olympic level. Because of this goal, most figure skaters only focus on figure skating and practice hour after hour when they’re not in school. For junior Briana Zimmerman, who is a figure skater, the story is different. Though she loves figure skating, she decided that she wanted to do multiple sports and isn’t able to devote enough hours to practice to ever realistically make the Olympics. She goes to the Family Sports Center twice a week for an hour. “My goal is to just take one step at a time and move up to the next level,” said Zimmerman. Through pretending to be a figure skater with her sister when they were younger, she decided she wanted to actually be a figure skater. “I love it because not a lot of people do it; it makes me feel beautiful, and it comes to me easily,” Zimmerman said. Zimmerman dances and plays soccer, along with being part of the marching band. She believes that figure skating helps her in those three activities.

“It works multiple muscles that I use in all of my sports, and it also helps with my gracefulness,” Zimmerman said. When marching band is active she has to manage her athletics and academics differently than when it’s not, but either way she has to manage her time wisely. “During the marching band season, I have to cut down on ice-skating, and I only go every other Wednesday and once every weekend,” Zimmerman said, “throughout the whole year. I just have to use my free time, such as my study period, wisely and effectively.” While there are some positives and negatives to doing multiple sports, Zimmerman believes there’s more good than bad. “You get a lot of exercise, it’s a lot of fun to experience different things, and you make many different friends,” Zimmerman said, “but you don’t get any free time to just relax and do nothing.” Zimmerman feels that all the sports she does are difficult, but figure skating is the hardest, which is why professional figure skaters spend at least five hours a day in the morning to accomplish their goals. “Ice-skating takes a lot longer to learn. It’s like you have to learn how to walk a different way,” Zimmerman said.

Junior Brianna Zimmerman skates with her younger sister during practice at the Family Sports Center. They practice there two days a week.

— courtsey of Stacey Zimmerman

The Basic Rules of Rugby1) You can’t pass the ball forward.2) You can’t knock (drop) the ball forward.3) You can’t tackle above the shoulders.4) You can’t talk back to the referee.5) You must always wrap-up during a tackle.6) You can’t block.

—compiled by Mackenzie McCreary

Sports 15November 23, 2010

Olympic hopeful trains solo

team like high schools in the mountains, so she can’t get in more time at the slopes and can’t achieve any P.E credit like she could from a school sport. Spending weekends in the mountains can keep Cody from doing some of her weekend homework, but she tries to stay on top of it by doing it all during the week or on the long

by Erin O’Donnell Reporter

Throwing her skis in her car along with her poles and a helmet, sophomore Callison Cody starts out for the double black slopes in the snow capped Rocky Mountains. “I’d marry my skis if I could,” Cody said, “My future is pretty much planned around skiing.” Cody has her sights set on the 2012 Sochi Olympics, competing in mogul and freestyle skiing. She has already competed in around 10 mogul competitions winning several first and second place ribbons. “It’ll take a lot of hard work and dedication to skiing to get to the Olympics,” Cody said. She starts her season the minute the slopes open in November and doesn’t stop until they close, which, if Cody gets her wish, is in June. Cody even makes visits to the Andes in Chile in August just so she can get some skiing in during the summer. Cody is not currently on a skiing team but plans to get on one this summer in order to get serious coaching to help her on her way to the Olympics. She already has sponsors looking at her, so she always has to stay on top of her game. Cody first learned to ski at three years old from her father, who lived in Norway as a child and did much recreational skiing. “My dad is more of a mentor instead of a trainer,” Cody said. Cody’s father has always been aware that skiing is the only sport she has been seriously dedicated to, but has never really been one to pressure. Skiing is more important than school in Cody’s eyes, and that is why she will be graduating a year early. Cody spends most her time on the double black diamond trails of Breckenridge, which “always has good snow coverage.” But, as a fun little break, she occasionally hits up the backcountry, which is filled with “a lot of powder”. Cody visits the mountains, with family or friends, at least once a weekend, if not twice. “When I’m in the mountains, I feel happy, nothing affects me,” Cody said, “When I’m skiing, it’s a feeling that can’t really be expressed in words.” But living in a Denver suburb does hinder her dreams, since not many other skiers go to Eaglecrest. Eaglecrest doesn’t have a ski

drives to and from the mountains. “I don’t really have a social life in the winter,” Cody said “I’d rather be skiing than hanging with my friends.” Constantly being in the mountains does take its toll on Cody’s friendships, but it all turns back to normal once summer comes around.

Gear for the slopes

Sophmore Callison Cody rides through the hills going off of jumps and doing crazy tricks as she trains herself for the Sochi Olympics in 2012.

Bern Berkeley HelmetCost: $110Available at rei.com

Burton snow pants Cost: $150Available at rei.com

North Face JacketCost: $129Available at rei.com, Sports Authority, Dick’s Sporting Goods

Oakley Crowbar GogglesCost: $65Available at oakley.com

Q&A with JV Poms’ Kara Ojebuobohby Alison Bleser Graphic Editor

Q: How many competitions does Poms do in a season regularly?A: There’s not an exact number of competitions a team does. But this season, the JV Poms team is scheduled to compete at five competitions.Q: At league, what do the judges look for in your routine?A: Judges look at many things, from difficulty to sportsmanship. Every judge is different and wants to see different things. Whether it is creativity in your routine or hard combinations. Q: Poms, in your words, is what exactly? What differs it from cheerleading?A: Poms is a team of dancers who support their school with their love of dance. Cheerleaders are gymnasts, and Poms are dancers. We perform various styles of dance instead of tumbling like cheer.Q: Do you have any bonding outings

with your team, or how do you feel you’ve come together more?A: Our team does bonding outside of school and practice. I think our team has become pretty close, but I believe that we can always become closer and become better friends and a better team. I think we have grown closer through our similarities and differences. Q: How do you think the team has done, and what are your goals for the rest of the season?A: I think our team has done very well considering that more than half of the team has never been on Poms before. In the end I plan to place at state and end the season strong.Q: What other additional things can you say about Poms?A: Poms is a great experience that has made me a better dancer and student. It feels good to be part of a team and to have made life-long friends that I probably wouldn’t have ever met if I hadn’t joined.

—photo courtesy of Katie Cody

—photo by Alison Bleser

JV Poms does well in league and hopes to make it to state through hard work and rigorous practices everyday after school.

—compiled by Erin O’Donnell

16 Sports

by Lauren Holter Editor-in-Cheif

After dominating in league, districts and regionals, the girls’ varsity volleyball team lost its undefeated streak at state, ending the season with a record of 27-2. First playing Rolston Valley at the Denver Coliseum Nov. 12, state started off with a win. Later in the day, the team suffered its first loss of the season to Doherty, and the next day to Ponderosa. At the beginning of the Ponderosa game, as senior Morgan Bohl, starting outside hitter, ran after a ball that had been poorly dug, she tripped on another teammate. The tears came as soon as Bohl went down, knowing she was out for the rest of the game. She was immediately helped off the court and into a back room where she was met by her parents and brother, senior Connor Bohl. “They took her off, she was laying down,” Connor said. “She was in a lot of pain. I think it was more of an emotional thing that tied into her whole pain.” Morgan was disappointed that this happened at state, her senior year. “It just sucked,” Morgan said. “Being on a great team, playing on varsity all four years, making it to state my last year and ending on

this, especially knowing we could have gone all the way.” Her disappointment was obvious to her teammates and coaches. “She was heartbroken. She’s an incredible athlete. [She has] lots of respect throughout the state [and is the] potential state player of the year,” said Sarah Hancock, girls’ varsity volleyball assistant coach. Replacing Morgan was sophomore Dani Williams who swung from JV to varsity all year. The score remained close, but they couldn’t pull it through in the end. “They had to all of a sudden find all this strength and power to beat Ponderosa. It just wasn’t enough,” Hancock said. “It just proved how much they care about their teammate — how willing they were to rally around that and still finish strong. They did a really good job of having a lot of courage and doing their best despite a setback.” Rather than going straight to the hospital, or even home, Morgan wanted to go back onto the court to cheer on her team. After she figured out this was her last game, she said ‘I just want to go out and support my team,’” Conner said. “She cared more about supporting her team and just being out there for the last time, and that just blew my mind away.”

—photo by Erin O’Donnell

Varsity Volleyball brings home the win at regionals after having an undefeated record. They went on to get 6th in state, finishing with a 27- 2 record. Losing Senior Morgan Bohl in the second game of state was a heartbreaking loss for the team, but they fought until the end.

Volleyball run ends at state after injury

Taylor Loyd, 9th 304 digs 52 serving aces 703 serves recieved

Dana Hilton, 12th 47 blocks 150 (1.8 kills/games)attack kills

Stats of the season

KarinaYampolskaya, 11th 109 kills 54 aces 190 digs 301 serves recieved

—compiled by Jessica Dankenbring