The RamView Spring 2012

Southeast Polk News Magazine l Spring 2012 l Volume 1 Issue 1

The truth on

ScoresACT

$7.5 Millionin debt

What got us in

AfterSchool?

What do you do

Are you a

Ram?True

SE Polk50 Years

trivia

What isNEWin the

Area?

Prom 2012uncovered

Details on

Your View. My View. Our View.

Did you know?

4 l The RamView l Spring 2012

Did you know that Southeast Polk’s 50th Birthday was not celebrated this last summer on July 20, 2011.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY SEP!

The “Old” high school was

NOT A BOMB SHELTER

The former High School building was actually a state-of-the-art school.

The “Old” high school actually gained national attention for the innovative design, which limited the number of windows to make it more efficient to build a school with air conditioning. It was the first school in the state with

air conditioning.

Altoona High School was home to the Rams before

SEP was ever formed. Altoona’s Rams was short for the Altoona Ramblers.

Altoona High School’s colors were

Purple&

Gold

RAMSDoes not only stand for

Runnells, Altoona, Mitchellville Surrounding area

It also stands for the Right Attitude Means Success

1Only

Person in the City of Pleasant

Hill voted in favor of SEP during the

first election

TheRowdy Howdies were originally

TheBleacher Creatures

With one of the original members

being English teacher

Julene Felice

114Southeast Polk Covers

Square Miles

Southeast Polk High School was built...

at the geographical center of the district

Southeast Polk

High School

11School Districts

were merged together to form South-east Polk. The fight to form the district was the longest school merger fights in Iowa history due to opposition from

Pleasant Hill residents.

Jim Peterson

Art Teacher

Designed the “New” Ram logo

that was unveiled in 2008

Did you know?Southeast Polk News Magazine l Spring 2012 l Volume 1 Issue 1

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Alex Payne

________________________________

MANAGING EDITORMiriam Lopez

NEWS EDITOR Claire Kinder

FEATURES EDITOR Nettie Payne

DESIGN EDITORBen Moeller

PHOTO EDITOR Justine Blanchard

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Angela Smith

Contributing Editors Alex Payne, Claire Kinder, Nettie Payne,

Ben Moeller, Miriam Lopez, Angela Smith, Justine Blanchard

_________________________________

Printed by Jostens Publishing

AdviserAmy Wilterdink

_________________________________

The RamView magazine is a brand new magazine that was created by a group and of students inter-ested in journalism, photography or design. If you are interested in becoming a part of the RamView staff contact Adviser Amy Wilterdink. The RamView consists of stories, school events and fun puzzles for students. It is a magazine made by students for the students of Southeast Polk High School. The RamView was named for the view of the students. This publication is one that students can choose what they want in it. Students are able to share their view on the school and community. The RamView was created by Alex Payne during the 2011-2012 school year. Payne was inspired by the journalism talent at Southeast Polk and wanted to create a different way for students to use their talents.

contents

6 8

Southeast Polk, Did You Know?A smorgasbord of sorts, with trivia on Southeast Polk history.

features4

Tattoos: Are they for you?Every year students decide to “get inked.” Find out what is behind the craze.

6

$7.5 Million in DebtHow did we become the school with the most debt in the Metro?

16

Great New Things Coming Soon Altoona is growing, bringing more opportunities for you to do in your free time. Plans include a new mall, concert venue, water park and more.

8

Your ViewFacebook members respond to a question RamView staff asked on the popular social networking site.

students21

ACT-The Truth Behind the TestStudents worry every year about getting a so called, “good” ACT score. Find out the truth behind the test.

14

After SchoolRamView follows a student to see what students do after they walk out of the classroom doors at 3:01 P.M.

22

Who Wore it BetterRamView fashion correspondent, Justine Blanchard, weighs in on who wore it best in the halls of SEP.

24

PromProm committee members are working hard on making prom one that students will never forget.

26

Are you a True Ram?Follow this flow chart to find out your level of pride.

27puzzles

Crossword and Sudoku Try the puzzles we decided to add for your entertainment.

28

Spot the DifferenceLook at the two pictures. They may look the same at first glance but spot the ten differences between the two.

31

Spring 2012 l The RamView l 5


When Barbie® released its latest collector doll, one might take less notice

to her short, pink hairstyle or trendy clothes, and more on her elaborate sleeve, neck, chest and back tattoos. The doll demonstrates how the pop-ularity of tattooing has grown among, usually, well-educated women. The cultural status of tattooing has steadily evolved from that of an anti-social ac-tivity in the 1960s to that of a trendy fashion statement. Tattooing in women has quadrupled, and it is estimated that almost half of the tattoos now being done are on women. Tattoos used to be most common with motorcyclists, criminals, gang

members and individuals who were less than sane. These early tattoos were often two-dimensional and poor-ly done. Over the last fifteen years, two sepa-rate classes have surfaced from the tat-tooing industry. One has an urban feel, glorifying itself with a gaudy exterior and offers “pictures-off-the-wall” as-sembly-line service. This is the “tattoo parlor” and its sense of cultural rebel-lion often over looks its less sanitary procedures. However, the “tattoo art studio” has aimed themselves towards middle to upper-middle class professionals and has the feel of an upscale beauty salon. Their tattoos are more often custom-

made with fine art designs. Tattooing tools have stayed con-sistently the same since 1891 when invented by Samuel O’Reilly. The tat-too gun moves a solid needle up and down to puncture the skin between 50 to 3,000 times per minute. The needle penetrates the skin about a millimeter,

depositing a drop of dense ink into the skin with each puncture. Although it appears painful, most cli-entele report being surprised by how much the process didn’t hurt. Most say that it feels like a sunburn or just feels annoying. Of course the location of the tattoo has a lot to do with the pain factor. Wrists, ankles, feet, ribs, fingers or places close to bone or ma-jor veins tend to make the experience more painful. So what happens when this beauty mark done by ink is unacceptable to the future you? Though it’s not excruciating, tat-too removal is often reported as being much more painful than the tattoo. Re-moval is most commonly used with la-sers that react with the ink in the tattoo to break it down. The broken down ink is then absorbed by the body. According to a poll done in 2008, the most common reasons for regret are “too young when I got the tat-too” (20%), it’s “permanent” and I’m “marked for life” (19%) and finally, I just “don’t like it” (18%) or all of the above. What kind of tattoos are people in-terested in? The most common tattoos, reported from rankmytattoos.com, in-clude: tribal, stars, the cross, angels, wings and dragons.

by Claire KinderNews Editor

Tattoos: Are they for you?


And the most commonly removed? Cursive, names, roses, stars, tribal, dragons and butterflies. But there are ways to end up with a great tattoo and one you’re not go-ing to regret. According to galadarling.com, you should avoid getting your first tattoo below the wrist, above the neck or anywhere you can’t cover up easily to avoid scrutiny at the work place or interviews. “I am extremely happy with my tat-too,” senior Amanda Waterman said.Waterman got her tattoo of the Wiccan pentacle on her wrist at the Pink Ele-phant in Clive. According to Waterman her tattoo came at what she considers a

Honoring his late uncle, grandfather and father, senior Jared Johnston (above) poses with a tattoo, using family symbols and a quote his grandpa always said to honor his beloved family members. During downtime in World Issues class, junior Shawneesha Clark (right) draws a possible tattoo design to honor her late classmate and friend Sydney Schwiene-bart, who died in a car accident August 29, 2011. Senior Amanda Waterman (oppo-site page), proudly displays a Wiccan pentacle tattoo showing her faith. Alex Payne Photos

reasonable price of $75. Waterman said she was able to bring in a design she liked from the internet and the tattoo artist at the Pink Ele-phant was able to recreate it. After college, Waterman plans on getting a second tattoo. She said that she is planning on getting a paw print on her shoulder blade. Be willing to spend as much as it takes to get your desired look. Most tat-too artists have pages of what is called, flash art, up on their walls which you can pick from. They’re cheap and usu-ally purchased from another company but they don’t show what kind of tal-ent the artist might have. Ask to look at

their portfolio and to draw up an idea for your tattoo. Then take it with you to make sure you’re confident that it’s the design you want. You should also avoid asking a tat-too artist to copy another tattoo you’ve seen online. Your design should be your own, although, you can bring in pictures to help the artist visualize what you’re looking for. Finally, do your homework on the artist who’s giving you the tattoo. Make sure their needles and work ar-eas are sanitary so you can avoid infec-tion and that they seem to be talented professionals who can create beautiful work that is up to your satisfaction.

NEW THINGSGreat

Coming Soon

by Alex PayneEditor-in-Chief

Altoona, Iowa is considered the “Entertainment Capital of Iowa.” As Altoona grows so do the surrounding communities.


Architectural renderings of StereoType Des Moines, who plans to come to Altoona, Summer of 2013. The $40 million project will help solidify Altoona as the Entertainment Capital of Iowa. Owners are hoping to locate the facility south of Bass Pro Shops. Photo Special to RamView - by StereoType Des Moines

Concert Venue’s eyes on Altoona

A $40 million concert venue is plan-ning to be built in Altoona this year. StereoType Des Moines, a

new concert venue company, plans on using a unique business plan they hope to franchise around the world. Currently, StereoType owners are in the process of raising $16 million from private investors before looking to finance the rest. Owner Ryan Lebo, hopes to get all of the funding in the next couple months, allowing them to purchase land so they may break ground by the end of this sum-mer with construction expecting to take up to a year to complete the project. Officials say the venue will draw over half a million people to Altoona, employ-ing over 60 people in jobs that the state of Iowa considers, “high quality jobs.” StereoType is looking into three loca-tions in Altoona. “Our ideal location is in the Shoppes at Prairie Crossing,” Lebo said, “by Bass Pro Shop.” Planning to open in the Spring of 2013 is a bit optimistic, claimed Lebo, but he said that the realistic opening date would be sometime in the Summer of 2013. As the project is still in the planning phase, specific jobs are unknown but hir-

ing high school students could be likley. “Nothing is set in stone as to what positions would be available as we have to weigh the legal issues associated with each position,” Lebo said. “We’ve looked into hiring high school students to work on our street teams to actively engage the public, letting them know about our events and products.” According to StereoType’s business plan, the same street teams will be interviewing the bands backstage and maintaining three social media sites to get the word out and to build excitement. They also plan to hold a contest between all interested schools in the area. “We ask them to pick a local charity of their choice,” Lebo said. “Whichever school raises the most money, we will pay for their prom, including entertainment.” StereoType is more than a concert venue; the facility can be leased out for weddings, trade shows, proms and sport-ing events like wrestling and boxing. The facility will contain six venue spaces in the building, ranging in capaci-ties from 200 to 10,000 square feet. Lebo hopes to bring in any band out there. “Essentially, we could have Slipknot on a Saturday night, then Sunday after-noon, have Dora the Explorer,” Lebo said.

To ensure profitability, tickets will set at a price where it would be a deal for the customer yet draw in big bands to cre-ate a profit. Their goal is to keep ticket prices down in hopes to sellout most of their shows. “It will be significantly different for Altoona,” Altoona Community Develop-ment Director John Shaw said, “and an additional draw to the area.” “It will be more like the Civic Center than Wells Fargo Arena,” Shaw said. “It will be able to hold more people than Prairie Meadows and Adventureland.” It also will offer better acoustics which will draw in world class acts, according to Shaw. According to the StereoType business plan, StereoType will cover the entire roof of their building with solar panels, which will potentially power the entire facility, other than the nightclub. StereoType also plans on bringing a restaurant that will serve upscale soup, salad and sandwiches, like a gourmet Jimmy John’s. Five additional 2,000 square foot retail spaces are planned for a section of the building, lining one side of the outdoor venue. StereoType plans on renting the retail space to such businesses as bistros, coffee shops, CD/DVD shops and other gathering spaces.


Building a big band concert venue will help keep Iowans from seeking entertainment elsewhere like Kansas City, Omaha, Chicago or Minne-apolis, which could help local Iowa businesses like hotels, restaurants and retail shops. If you decide to buy your tickets too late and the show is sold out, do not worry. “Log on to our website and purchase the live stream and watch it from your own living room,” Lebo said. You don’t even have to leave your

home to watch a concert. Every show is recorded with downloads of the perfor-mance for sale at StereoType.com. StereoType will bring more than concerts and shows to Altoona. They hope to soon grow to host international music festivals like Ozzfest right here in Altoona. Plans are also in the works for a nightclub with a rooftop extension. The rooftop space will be home to a hydro-ponics garden to grow herbs fruits and vegetables. The produce from the garden will be sold at the local farmer’s markets and local restaurant owners. The garden will need sophisticated paid agriculture interns to maintain the garden. This will be done in hopes to con-nect with Iowa colleges to bring college students to StereoType shows and events. StereoType will prove to the world that Iowa is an ideal location for entertain-ment. For more information on StereoType Des Moines go to their website www.stereotypedesmoines.com or like them on facebook at www.facebook.com/StereoType.DM.Inc.

Planning a World Class Mall

The Shoppes at Prairie Crossing will be a new 173.4-acre outdoor mall planned south of Bass Pro Shops. Bass Pro was the first phase of the shopping complex.

Bass Pro originally claimed that they would bring two to two and a half mil-lion people, according to Altoona City Planner Chad Quick. “It has not spurred what we thought,” Quick said, “but it has had an increase in Altoona’s growing economy. Shaw noted that Bass Pro has prompted people to pull off of the interstate who would have normally passed by. Those people will stay and do some shopping, get something to eat and even find a place to spend the night. Currently, the developer of the mall, Heart of America, cannot disclose which stores will be coming, according to Heart of America’s Vice President of Real Es-tate Development, Damen Trebilcock. “Even when the lease is signed, the tenant holds the right for the announce-ment,” Trebilcock said. Some of the different types of stores you can expect at Prairie Crossing, ac-cording to Trebilcock are: Juniors Mens/Womens, accessory stores, service stores, big-box, pet and electronic stores. Other than retail stores, the Shoppes at Prairie Crossing will offer restaurants, office space and a movie theater. Prairie Crossing is not the first major mall that has planned to be built in Al-toona. In 1981 three investors built a water park, Otter Moun-tain, across the s t ree t from Adven-tureland. D u e t o cold weather in 1981 the wa-ter park was c losed , and Adventureland owner, Jack Krantz, bought the land. The

property sat until 1988 when Altoona City Administrator, Tom Hadden and Mayor Tim Burget decided to meet with Krantz about cleaning it up and possibly redevelop the land. But it was not until over a year later when the citizens of Altoona started to complain when redevelopment became an option. “Adam Pirillo, 13, of Altoona made a statement to the council regarding what he considers to be the unsightly condi-tion of the land that used to house Otter Mountain, “It doesn’t look very clean. It’s one of the main ways into Altoona and it gives a bad first impression.” Burget remarked that Jack Krantz, owner of the land, had been contacted several times about the property. He has removed the dilapidated buildings but the ‘mountain’ remains. Burget and Hadden agreed to make another contact but expressed doubt that anything else will be done with the property until it is developed,” read the September 21, 1989 edition of the Altoona Herald-Mitchellville Index. According to Altoona Herald archives, Krantz planned on turning the property into “Adventure Village.” A mall similar to the Williamsburg Outlet Mall. Plans were started in

May 18,1994. The plan was to break ground that fall of 1994 and open the first $11 mil-lion phase in the summer of 1995 but the funding fell through and now over 15 years later a different type of mall is planning on coming to Altoona. Heart of America is well known for their restaurants. Many locals enjoy Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse and the Machine Shed in Des Moines which are just two restaurants in Heart of America’s restaurant franchise. There will be a steakhouse, Italian restaurant and fast casual restaurant at the Altoona mall according to Trebilcock. “There is a planned 56,000 square foot all digital 12-14 screen theater that is scheduled for development,” Trebil-cock said. “Two national theaters have approved the site and are waiting for the economy and financing to turn around.” Sitting around waiting for the Prairie Crossing to start construction has been a long time. When asked, when they would

like to see construc-

tion start on the project, both Shaw and Quick laughed saying, “Tomorrow.” “This is all dependent on the retailer. We plan every year to break ground before the winter,” Trebilcock said. “If construction begins on some part of the center this year it would be 12-14 months before opening. It is impossible to predict, as the last couple of years, retail and the economy have been going against expansion. We are working very hard to get something moving.”

Water Park Expansion As Altoona sits waiting for Prairie Crossing to become a reality, the original Altoona attraction Adventureland is get-ting ready to move waves this summer. “New for our 2012 season is a great addition to Adventure Bay! Breaker Beach, Iowa’s Largest Wave Pool will be 25,000 square feet of water fun! A new kid activity pool is almost complete,” Adventureland’s website reported. New waterpark expansions keep things fresh at Adventureland according

to Shaw. He said that the water park has been

a huge success in Al toona and Ad-ventreland is ahead of schedule. A d -ventureland did not reply back to our request to an interview.

New for Gamblers February 24, 2012 Prairie Meadows opened their brand new hotel. The ho-tel features an indoor swimming pool, restaurant and lounge, ballroom, event and meeting space, fitness and business centers, wireless high speed internet and interactive in-room service system, ac-cording to www.PrearieMeadows.com. “Self-cleaning windows and a salt-water pool are just a few of the latest technology innovations featured in the 168-room structure,” according to Prairie Meadows’ Media Kit. “The hotel project covers 135,000 square feet and connects to the Prairie Meadows facility from the northwest.” The windows of the hotel are Cardinal Glass Industries’ Neat Glass which uses a layer of titanium dioxide. The UV rays from the sun will decompose whatever is on the glass and easily rinse away the rain. Along with the hotel, Prairie Meadows has given out their annual Community Betterment Grants. Southeast Polk received two grants this year. The Hall of Honor received $3,000 and the Junior High School received $9,980 for iPad Education. The racetrack and casino has given $1.2 billion back to the community since 1995, with $513 million in community betterment funding and $664 million in taxes, according to the Prairie Meadows officials. Two Southeast Polk seniors, along with two seniors from every high school in Polk County, will be awarded $2,500 scholarships this year. According to of-ficials, 386 students in Central Iowa have benefited from the scholarships since


2001. Applications are due Friday, April 6, 2012, according to Prairie Meadows Media Relations Specialist Mary Lou Coady.

Future Pleasant Hill Plans The City of Pleasant Hill is planning on a lot of work in their local parks this season. “The City Council and park and recreation commission are working on several ideas and plans,” Pleasant Hill Community Development Director Ben-jamin Champ said. “Additional parking at Copper Creek Lake and permanent rest rooms are an immediate priority. Efforts are also being planned for improvements at Doanes Park for more parking, ball field upgrades and new concession facilities. The newly refurbished sign at Doanes is now the model that will start showing up at other parks soon. New trail signage will appear in the spring with some key locations that match the new metro-wide standards.” Last year, there was a great deal of conversation about the city purchasing the former White Water University Water Park or building an aquatics park of their own but Champ said there are no current plans from the city regarding White Water University or an aquatic center. August 2, 2011 the voters of Pleasant Hill voted against a new youth sports complex that was to be built on the south side of the high school across Meacham Drive. The plan was to build four baseball fields and five soccer fields. It was not the first attempt for the plan to pass. It had been voted down twice before in 2009 and 2010.

“ T h e r e are no cur-rent plans o r e ffo r t s toward an-other referen-dum for a new sports complex. The concept of a large quality f a c i l i t y remains important for economic devel-opment purposes and the need has not gone away so the issue may resurface in future years,” Champ said.

School District Expansion With our school’s budget crunch, not many projects are being planned for a while but Superintendent Craig Menozzi said that there will be normal changes, like new windows at Centennial. Menozzi said that in a few years the district will be looking into renovating Mitchellville Elementary and possibly purchasing land. Purchasing land is important to plan appropriately for the potential of building a new elementary school in the future. Many students say the high school is already starting to get over crowded but Menozzi said that is not true. “We are in good shape,” Menozzi said. “We are not growing that fast.” We are at around 1,800 students at the senior high but it was built to house 2,400, according to Menozzi.

Why Altoona? Many people wonder why all of a sud-den these places want to build in Altoona. “Location,” Shaw said. “Research shows a large population is underserved with

retail.” Many people are travel-

ing to the westside for shopping and Shaw said that it could stay here. Many people from the eastside of the metro including Ankeny, Pella and Grinnell pass through Altoona if they want to go shopping. “Why not have them stop here,” Shaw explained. Currently, the city is looking into other large-scale projects to bring to Altoona. Shaw thinks a large-scale indoor water park resort would be a good fit. There are also other large-scale proj-ects that the City of Altoona is working hard on bringing to the area. Shaw could not talk about the projects that are in the works but they plan on breaking the news about one of the projects very soon. Large-scale projects are not the only thing that Shaw hopes to come to Altoona. He is hoping for more clothing, retail stores and restaurants for Altoona. StereoType, Bass Pro and the Shoppes at Prairie Crossing are helping put Altoona on the map and solidifying Altoona as the “Entertainment Capital of Iowa.” Altoona will soon bring in world-class music acts and a world class shopping center. “It is like a mirror image,” Shaw said, referring Altoona to becoming like the west side. Like the popular Altoona T-shirt for sale at the famous East Vil-lage shop Raygun reads, “Altoona: the westside of the eastside.”


by Ben MoellerDesign Editor

Students all over America take the ACT to be able to get into the college they desire. Southeast Polk is trying to make sure students do the best they can to get

what both students and colleges consider a “good” ACT score.

The ACT is our nation’s premier ap-titude test. Students all over the coun-try take it in anticipation of college, hoping to get a “good” score so they may be accepted. The story is no different at South-east Polk: get up early on a weekend, check the list to see the room you are in and hunker down for two hours of a test that will hopefully get you into the college of your choice. While some students study dili-gently, some not at all; some students take tests from previous years in prep-aration; some, as 2010 Southeast Polk graduate Tyler O’Connor has said, just take it a bunch. ACT offers many different solutions to prepare for the difficult test. Some of the products they provide are ACT Online Prep,™ the only test preparation program designed exclusively by ACT development professionals, and The Real ACT Prep Guide, which is the of-

ficial ACT prep guide—the only one that includes five actual retired ACT tests—each with an optional writing test, according to www.ACT.com. Southeast Polk offers a workshop for students to attend, RamPlan ex-cused. Dr. ZAPS ACT Workshop will be hosted at Southeast Polk April 26 and 27. The workshop costs $75 and is worth it according to many students who have taken the course. Students first take a sample test and after the training, the workshop leader helps with suggestions on how to im-prove your score. The workshop is similar to the new Composition II class taught by English teachers Shelly Stille and Julene Felice, which was created to help pre-pare students for the ACT and college life. ACT staff suggest to get plenty of rest the night before test day, dress

comfortably, make sure you have ac-ceptable identification and bring snacks or drinks to consume during the break. Southeast Polk will be a testing cen-ter June 9, 2012. The deadline for sign up for the June 9th test is May 4, 2012 and a late fee would be required if you sign up between May 5th and 18th.

ACT

Source: College of St. Scholastica


Working on a practice ACT test, junior Matt Juhl uses skills from ACT prep books to help increase his score. Students like Juhl work hard to be able to get the highest ACT score they can. According to ACT, the national aver-age ACT score is 21. Alex Payne Photo


Slowly a financial crisis has crept up on Southeast Polk. Spending money we do not have has left us in a $7.5 million deficit with the worst solvency ratio in the metro. The Southeast Polk School Board and new Superintendent Craig Menozzi

have had to make difficult cuts with more on the way.


With a $7.5 million deficit hover-ing over Southeast Polk the 2012-2013 school year will be a

difficult one according to Superintendent Craig Menozzi. When Menozzi stepped up as Superintendent, summer of 2011, he inherited a district that was already consumed in debt. Menozzi referred to our problem like a credit card. “It is like we maxed out our credit card,” Menozzi said. “We do not have the money to pay our bills.” “It cannot be fixed in just one year,” Menozzi said. He plans on reducing our budget by $3 million every year, with the hope of getting to a 0% solvency ratio, in the next five years. Currently, Southeast Polk’s solvency ratio is the worst in the Metro at -15.34% with the only other negative school being Ankeny at -3.2%. It may be the first time anyone in the Southeast Polk area has heard of a solvency ratio. So how bad is a -15.34% solvency ratio and what is a solvency ratio? “One of many ratios used to measure a company’s ability to meet long-term obligations. The solvency ratio measures the size of a company’s after-tax income, excluding non-cash depreciation expenses, as compared to the firm’s total debt obliga-tions. It provides a measurement of how likely a company will be to continue meeting its debt obligations,” according to www.investopedia.com. “Acceptable solvency ratios will vary from industry to industry but as a general rule of thumb, a solvency ratio greater than 20% is considered financially healthy. Generally speaking, the lower a company’s solvency ratio, the greater the probability that the

company will default on its debt obliga-tions,” www.investopedia.com, explains. Menozzi said that Southeast Polk does not have a reserve fund, which makes it hard when the funding dries up. That is why our ratio is so bad according to Menozzi. Other school districts have a reserve fund and when funding dried up they were able to tap into

their reserve fund to stay in the positive. The State of Iowa did not give Southeast Polk any more money this year but will increase funding to Southeast Polk by 2% for next year. The amount of money that Southeast Polk must include in their budget increase 4% - 5% every year so we will still be adding

to our debt if we do not do anything now, according to Menozzi. Although the state will be giving South-east Polk more money next year, we will not be receiving money from the Federal government through the Education Jobs Fund. The fund granted the State of Iowa $97,915,400 and created 1,406.23 jobs ac-cording to educationjobsfund.gov. Southeast Polk received $1,205,936 through the one time grant, according to the site. “Ed Jobs funds are used to repair cuts to staff at the school district building level,” according to educationjobsfund.gov. The program provided $10 billion to states to pay salaries and benefits and to rehire, retain or hire employees. These funds were not able to be used for administrative ex-penses, overhead or other support services. Changes, like moving the Harbor to the high school and raising parking pass and activity prices, have been tossed around and are rumored to be put into effect next year. One of the programs that does not take up much of the budget is Ram Plan. Ram Plan is an incentive program put in place to keep kids from skipping school and showing up tardy. If you miss two or less days of school you are able to “Ram Plan” or opt out of semester finals for those classes you are passing to meet all of the Ram Plan qualifications. Since it was put in place, teachers say it has cut down on the number of absences. But Menozzi said that the rumors were false. He is not looking into the Ram Plan himself. “The (school) board is looking at review-ing and reassessing the Ram Plan,” Menozzi

“It is like we maxed out our credit

card. We do not have the

money.” —Craig Menozzi

The Harbor Alternative High School, in Altoona, has fallen victim to the $7.5 million deficit for the school district. After this school year the building will be sold and students will attend classes at the high school. Har-bor students will have their own section of the building to house their classes. Alex Payne Photo


$Metro Schools

solvency ratios best to worst $ $$$

$Source: Craig Menozzi

said. As many students are worried about Ram Plan, other things need to change too. The district will have to cut programs that cost the district money and we will all feel the pinch according to Menozzi. In an email sent out by Menozzi on Janu-ary 23, 2012. Menozzi stated we will all experience cuts. “As we silence the selfish voice of in-dividualism, we can begin to offer ideas of how each program and group can do their part,” Menozzi said in a district email. Like the famous quote President John F. Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.” Menozzi changed it up a bit by saying, “It is time to stop asking, ‘What can the Rams do for me and my program?’ And ask instead, ‘What can I do for SE Polk?” But this is not the first time that Southeast Polk has had to deal with a budget problem. Two years ago, in 2010, $2 million needed to be cut. In the spring of 2010 the board released a budget reduction plan to get Southeast Polk out of debt. The plan called for eliminating $2,195,698 in spending and creating $75,000 in revenue through increasing registration fees from $25 to $50. The reductions included: getting rid of the Unifier, a monthly newsletter sent out to the community, eliminate district paid field trips, eliminate 7th grade athletics, eliminate Director of Communications, eliminate Title 1 Math Coach, eliminate Language Arts Coordinator, reduce 2 industrial technology

teachers at the high school, reduce 1 busi-ness education teacher at the high school and driver education was to be paid by parents. “At the June 24, 2010 meeting, the Board of Education contracted with consultant Dr. Theodore S. Blaesing to conduct a study to review and identify those SEP programs, services, budgeting and staffing processes, that if modified, instituted or abandoned, could realize potential savings or additional revenue streams to the district,” according to the district website. The final report was received at the September 16, 2010 board meeting and is available on the district website. At that time, many groups protested the cuts, mainly from the music and fine arts, who wore yellow ribbons and were kicked out of the Iowa State Capitol building for playing in the rotunda to protest state fund-ing cuts for the arts. This time Menozzi said that all programs will feel some sort of cut. Menozzi does not know the number of staff that will need to be cut but he said that the district will try to keep it from the teaching staff. Right now about 83% or four-fifths of the budget goes for salary and employee benefits. “I am not really that shocked,” sophomore Drake Allen said. Allen said that he sees a lot of wasteful spending in the district that should be cut. Many students like to point out the new baseball field built last year with a price tag of over $1 million or the brand new high

school building that totaled well over $50 million. According to Economics teacher Mike Johnson, there is a difference in the types of funds. Students said that Johnson has described that there is a “school-house fund,” which is brought in by property tax and can only be used on fixing the “school house.” Students said that Johnson taught them that it is a very hard process to cut the $7.5 million deficit and he has put it in perspec-tive where they understand that the next few years will be difficult. On March 1, 2012, the School Board proposed $1.3 million in teacher reductions, which Menozzi and Johnson’s students have both said is something that is obvious to have some cuts. The proposed cuts by the budget com-mittee are: 1.5 health services reductions,4.5 administrative assistants reductions,JH security management restructure,1 HS family consumer science teacher reduction, 1 CEC support staff reduction,.75 warehouse custodial reduction, 9.25 library clerks reductions, 1 TAG reduction1 counseling staff reduction (retirement),1 PE teacher reduction (retirement), 1 behavior interventionalist reduction, 1 HS world language teacher reduction, 1 HS campus monitor reduction, .75 JH ac-companist reduction, .5 Spring Creek band reduction. The $1.3 million is just a portion of the $3 million Menozzi is hoping to cut.

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My Life. My Lunch Card.


YourVIEW

Walking from the junior high is far enough as it is, especially during the winter when it is freezing cold but the one thing I don’t understand is why it is so hard to shovel the staircase. Chaining off the staircase and making us walk around just adds more time being cold, possibly making us late for class. Considering how we pay as much to park at the junior high as people pay to park at the high school and also having to walk five times

farther, I do not believe it is really that hard to just shovel the staircase. I do not get why the chain was up for a few weeks with no snow and then gets taken down for about 3 days and after we barely have an inch of snow it is put back up again with no snow on the ground and no snow even showing on the forecast. Just frustrated.

Adam Galasso, senior

Recently our girls basketball team came close to winning the state championship but our rival, Ankeny slipped their way in to beat us in the class 4-A semifinals March 3, 2012. The loss was disappointing as any loss would be but it would have been only the second, team state title in Southeast Polk history. As I drove home after the game all I could think about was how proud I was of our girls basketball team. They truly represented what Southeast Polk is all about. I also had the question in my head: “Do the girls on this year’s team know the significance of girls basketball and Southeast Polk?” Through my years of researching local history, I have learned that many people were not happy to have their school become part of the bigger school, Southeast Polk. It was not until Southeast Polk’s 1977 girl’s basketball team won the state championship that people’s view of Southeast Polk changed. People were actually proud to be a Ram. People were proud to be from Southeast Polk. As I sat there in my car driving down University Avenue I was thinking about all of the people who left school to go to the game, not being Ram Plan excused. That is Ram Pride. I was proud,until I remembered that in the latest issue of the school newspaper, the Rampage they had a “Ram Dic-tionary” in which they had the definition of The Southeast Polk Way as, “A description of a type of behavior that often is used as a joke among teachers and students when a student is caught acting up. EX: Teacher #1: A student got caught smoking in the bathroom. Seriously, what’s wrong with kids these days? Teacher #2: Well, it’s the Southeast Polk Way… *giggle giggle*” Giggle, giggle? That is the way we now show school pride? Seeing an example like this in a school publication made me sick. That is not the way to show pride for our school. We should always be proud of who we are, like we were on March 3rd or in 1977. I had a wake up call March 2nd when one of my teachers said, “Forget Ram Plan. Your high school years are limited and are more valuable.” I knew I couldn’t let something like Ram Plan stop me from supporting my school to show my Ram Pride. I believe that our pride has been slipping and I think we need to regain our pride again. We need to be proud to be a Ram; it is what makes us strong. I know many people make fun of Bredlow for his “Proud to be a Ram” saying but it is true and exactly what we need to be continually reminded.

Alex Payne, senior

Your view on issues at Southeast Polk and in the local community.

The RamViewWhat do you hate to love?Like · Comment · 8 hours ago

Brett Ratashak Laughing at things that aren’t funny but that’s just me.8 hours ago · Like

Maddyson Herselius I hate to love food because it’s hard to burn off the calories afterward.7 hours ago · Like

Connor Botts I hate to love filmmaking; it’s fun but it is complicated sometimes and it takes a lot of effort. Mostly with the editing I do.7 hours ago · Like

Rachel Hanson I hate to love going shopping. I always end up spending more than what I plan on. So many things to buy.6 hours ago · Like

Juan Hernandez I hate to love working. It takes time out of my day but it’s always worth it.6 hours ago · Like

Caitlin Wilson I hate to love buying things like shoes, clothes and movies. I buy a lot of movies. 2 hours ago · Like

Morgan Doerhoff I hate to love Twitter. It’s so addicting. I spend lots of time on it. about an hour ago · Like

Please Just Remove the Chain Letter From the Editor


After RamView Managing Editor Miriam Lopez followed a student to see what some students do after they walk out of the classroom doors at 3:01 P.M.

Mariana Vega, senior I like to workout after school. There’s nothing better than losing weight and gaining muscle. On Mon-days, Wednes-days and Fri-days I do circuit

training. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sat-urdays I run 2-3 miles consistently but I increase the number of miles I run without stopping every two weeks. I want to get to the point where I’m run-ning 8-10 miles consistently. All this hard work I’m putting in is for the half marathon I’m running on June 2nd for

the Dam to Dam. I have ran a half marathon in the past; this

time my goal is to beat my personal record from

2010 when it took me 2 hours and 22

minutes. When I run the marathon this spring, I want it to be un-der 2 hours or at

least 10 minutes less from last time.

I know I will be able to do better because

when I ran it in 2010 I was a vegetarian and didn’t eat

any meat which wasn’t good. My body

needed more iron and protein from meat to give me the proper strength and energy. Now my diet is normal. I try to eat small amounts of food every 3 hours so I don’t end up eating more calories than I can burn. Running a half marathon was on my bucket list, which was what made me run one in the first place and I’m think-ing to run a full marathon this October if everything goes well with my half marathon. These types of things take dedica-tion and hard work; it feels good once you cross the finish line. I haven’t been a runner my whole life. I joined cross country my sophomore year and that’s where it all began. I am strong and I believe that I can do anything I set my mind in to. You can’t ever say, “I can’t do it,” when you haven’t tried or pushed yourself far enough. I have to say that it does take a lot of motivation but just working out is like brushing your teeth or taking a shower, it’s something you must do ev-ery day. So that’s what I do after school.”

Schoolby Miriam Lopez

Managing Editor

School


WHO WORE IT BETTER?From the SEP hallwaysRamView Fashion Correspondent, Justine Blanchard weighs in on...

SheDid!


WHO WORE IT BETTER?

SheDid!He

Did!


The 2012 Prom Committee is hard at work on a prom that will be like no other. Prom Committee members came up with the theme “High Seas Affair,” towards the beginning of the fall semester. The nautical theme will give the feeling of being on an elegant cruise ship. The committee will use the same deco-rator, InnovativEvents, of Des Moines, as they have for the last two years. According to the decorator, students will enter through the west doors and walk down one of two bridges with red aisle runners leading to checkpoints. At the checkpoints, students will present their “Boarding Pass,” identical to what a Titanic Boarding Pass

would have looked like. Once students pass through the check-point, they will walk into the ship’s “Grand Ballroom” with crystal chandeliers, elegant drapes and projected stars. Committee members have decided to help with the decorations to keep costs down. Due to the budget crunch, they decided to cut some of the decorations they felt were unnecessary so they went out searching for decorations that would cost less, sometimes the same thing that the designer had planned but cheaper. “It is a lot of fun being able to help pick out the decorations,” junior Allison Woodard said.

“I have enjoyed looking up things that I think students would like to see.” If the ballroom and the dancing is too much for you, the committee decided to have an area for you to kick back for a while, on the back of the ship. Along the east side of the commons there will be a starry backdrop with a moon hanging from the ceiling, lighting the deck of the ship. The ship deck will include lounge chairs and cocktail tables. “It will actually make you feel like you are standing on the back of a cruise ship at night,” Woodard said. “I think the moon-light will just top it off, making it romantic.” Sherry Lynn Photography will be taking photos at prom again this year, according to Prom Committee advisors. Sherry Lynn will be located in the locker banks, which will add more room for decorations and dance space in the commons. Tickets are expected to go on sale the week before Prom and committee advisors said to expect tickets to be around $20 each. “I think that this year’s seniors will be pleasantly surprised,” Woodard said.

Prom 2012

A Lavish CruiseYou will Never Forget

SEP students enjoy the 2011 Prom, Knight of Dreams. File Photo

Philip Velez: “I’d have a swimming pool and drop money from the sky instead of balloons.”

Matt Curry: “I’d turn the air down below 60 degrees and bring in the wind.”

Savannah Wallace: “Make it way darker, add more strobes and have lots of glit-ter.”

Tiana Tiao: “No glitter! It’s the herpes of arts and crafts; we’ll never get rid of it.”

Myles Brown: “Music is the biggest thing. They should only play remix, club songs.”

How would you spice up a

Titanicthemed dance?


are you a...

True Ram?We are all a part of the Ram Nation but a “True Ram” is someone who participates in activities here with gusto. A True Ram supports other students, respects teachers and ultimately loves Southeast Polk. Find out what it takes to get more out of your Southeast Polk experience by taking this quiz.

SEP fought their way to the foot-ball playoffs and were one game

away from the dome. Would you rather go to a SEP foot-

ball game or a movie?

The movie is more entertaining for me.

Game of Course!

This year’s homecoming dance was out of this world with hun-dreds of space creatures at the “Space Jam.” Did you attend

this year’s dance?

Definitely not.

Absolutely!

This year’s Spirit Week included class colors, ugly sweaters,

athletic wear, formal wear and Black and Gold Days. Did you dress up for Spirit Week?

YES!

Nope.

Southeast Polk is known for having the craziest fans around. Some people say that our fans are the reason we are so good.

Do you agree?

I totally agree!

I don’t agree.

There are dozens of clubs offered here at Southeast Polk

with more and more being offered every year. Are you a

member of one?

The members of Skills USA hosted their annual “Combat Hunger” food drive. Did you donate food for the food

drive?

This year’s students and staff started a clothes drive for local families. Did you donate or volunteer at the clothes

drive?

Of course!

Regrettably no

Drama members took on the task of preforming a play

with an invisible rabbit, in the play”Harvey.” Did you attend

this year’s play?

The SEP girl’s basketball team and wrestling team were some of the top teams in the state.

Did you go to either of their games/meets?

This year’s students had to go online to vote for Homecoming King and Queen. Did you log

on to Infinite Campus to vote?

Absolutely not.

Giving back

makes me feel better.

No way!

YES!

Definitely

Fired up Ram!

Moderate

Half-hearted

fan

Unenthusiastic

Cold school spirit

I’m in a club!

Nope.

No.

I wouldn’t miss it!

What play?


themed dance?


7 8 5 6

2 4 5 7 3

9 3 6

5 7 8

3 6 4

4 2 4 3 9 8 9 2 1 4

sudoku andcrosswordS

EPOLK

ACROSS1. Hippie History4. Gamerz Club6. New Superintendent8. Skills USA9. Adult Living Skills11. The largest city in SEP13. Student Body President19. Literary magazine21. Traditional lunch food25. Local theme park26. French teacher28. Health Occupations29. Activities31. Student newspaper32. Prom decorator34. Assistant Principal37. Yearbook Adviser39. Weights40. Same lunch everyday41. Varsity Show Choir42. Prairie Meadows built a43. Volleyball44. Boys Track

DOWN2. Drama/plays3. Softball5. “Great day to be a ram!”7. Prom theme10. The school yearbook12. Water Park in Altoona14. New concert venue 15. Designed the “new” Ram 16. Wrestling17. Ethnic lunch food18. New Mall for Altoona20. OASIS22. # of schools formed SEP23. New Assistant Principal24. SEP Mascot27. DECA

29. Newspaper Adviser30. Student Council33. Girls Golf35. Football36. Associate Principal38. Boy’s Cross Country

Answers

NO Cheating

Southeast Polk Community School District Pleasant Hill, Iowa (515) 967-4294

Be ProudBe a Ram. Southeast Polk Schools

Difference

10Changes.

Keep Score

Spotthe

Statistics Jill Niehaus started working for Southeast Polk in 1989. In 1986 Niehaus graduated from the Uni-versity of Northern Iowa. Niehaus has a masters in math-ematics and has also studied com-puter science and coaching. Niehaus is the only teacher for the dual credit Statistics and Finite course offered at Southeast Polk, in which students earn high school and college credit from DMACC for completing the class. Niehaus’ statistic’s students are currently working on creating their Stats Olympics events, in which high school students will be invited down to take part in the games so statistics students can collect data for their chosen project.

Answers: The greater than sign was changed to less than. Niehaus’ glasses are missing. A blue marker was changed to red. The n and p in the standard deviation equation was switched. A shading line in the box on the board is missing. A hook is missing on the top of the board. Niehaus’ sleeve is longer. #18 was changed to #1. A B was added to the answer key. Niehaus’ back pocket now has some “bling.”


Ready For Summer?So Are We!

The 2012 Ramshackle coming soon!

The RamView Spring 2012

Documents

Transcript of The RamView Spring 2012