The October 2009 five-year forecast esti-mated Lakota Local School’s cash balance will have a $28 million deficit by the 2012

school year and $120 million by the 2014 school year.

“By law, [a school district must] have a positive cash balance at the end of each school year, which means money in the bank, basically,” Executive Director of Business Operations Chris Passarge said.

There are two ways a district can eliminate a negative cash bal-ance: making reductions or pass-ing a levy. Lakota is currently try-ing to work with a combination of both in order to operate with a positive cash balance again.

“We have a levy out there to in-crease our revenue,” Superinten-dent of Lakota Local Schools Mike Taylor said. “And at the same time we’re trying to decrease our spending.”

These deficit predictions have Taylor and Lakota School Board President Joan Powell describing the situation as a “crisis”.

“This is one of the most diffi-cult processes I’ve faced,” Taylor said at the February 22 Board meeting. “We need to plan for the worst. If May 4 (the election day for the school levy) doesn’t turn out the way we want it to, we need to keep catch-ing dollars for the future.”

Lakota began cost containment in 2007 and in 2008 they made their first decrease by eliminat-ing $1 million out of the budget, and another $4.2 million at the beginning of this school year. On February 1, Taylor presented the Lakota School Board with an additional list of proposed budget reductions for the 2010-2011 school year. Lead-ership teams comprised of administration from throughout the district were assigned the task of proposing cuts and analyzing areas in every as-pect of expenditure that could be reduced.

Long before this February 1 meeting, howev-er, was a 1997 Ohio Supreme Court finding that has had a continuing effect on school districts across Ohio. This finding concluded that Ohio’s educational funding system was unconstitutional, which some, such as Powell, say has had a direct effect on Lakota’s budget crisis.

“We had a very, very difficult time making it

(the 2005 levy) last four years because of the state reducing its education funding to the district,” Powell said. “Since the state reduced its funding, it was really a challenge to get it to last that long.”

The current system bases state funding on property values, and with Lakota considered a “wealthy district” by the state, funding has been cut short. As a result, Lakota has been forced to operate below the level of cost per pupil. (For more information on the Ohio educational fund-ing system, see the side bar on page 3.)

“If you look at the educational opportunities Lakota offers students at the cost at which we of-

fer students that, we are truly a community val-ue,” Taylor said.

According to district officials, the district has been aware of the upcoming deficit for some time, but the exact amount of time is unsure; about four years ago according Taylor, but only a year ago according to Powell. Preparation for the bud-get balancing has been an ongoing process, but no levy was proposed last year, even though levies are normally proposed every four years.

“At the end of the four years, everyone was in such economic turmoil that we felt so terrible go-ing and asking voters to approve something last year, so we put it off, hoping the economy might be improving,” Powell said. “It’s maybe a little bit improved, but not much; yet, we have really used up all the time we could possibly have to wait, and it’s just created a very, very difficult situation.”

On May 4, levy voting will occur and the final cuts will be decided. When voters go to the bal-lots, they will actually be voting for increases not

only in 2010, but also in 2012. The levy, if passed, would increase the average $100,000 home own-er’s property tax $211 per year in 2010 and addi-tional $111 per year in 2012.

“It [the two phase levy] allows our tax payers to hold onto their money a little longer rather than paying it all upfront,” Taylor said.

Local businesses will also be affected by the levy. Bob Hutsenpiller, a local business man, and his business partners have been developing com-mercial property in Lakota for 35 years. He says he has supported every levy in the past, but due to the consequences the passing of the current levy

will have on his companies and tenants, he will not vote for this levy.

“Since [previous levies] always increase the property taxes to our commercial tenants, it causes complaints and threats that the tenants will move to other areas with a lower tax base,” Hutsenpill-er said. “Given the size of this levy, it might be devastating to some of my tenants and force them to consider alternatives. The water-fall effect of this would be vacant buildings and would potentially put me out of business.”

The cuts that were approved at the March 8 Board meeting in-clude 85 staffing reductions which affect band, elementary arts, li-brary aides, licensed school nurs-es, preschool aides, counselors and assistant coaches, among oth-

ers. Almost $1 million in operational reductions include a transition to walking schools, an across the board cut in athletic funding and various fee increases for many extracurricular activities.

Since Lakota is trying to both reduce expenses as well as increase revenue regardless of the pass-ing of the levy, the cuts proposed and accepted at the previous three Board meetings are mandato-ry. While $2.4 million in cuts may be temporary if the levy passes, $3.5 million in cuts will be made permanently in this budget cut proposal.

“We’re looking at $5.9 million, and that’s a drop in the bucket of what we need to cut,” School Board Member Ben Dibble said before voting to approve the cuts at the March 8 meeting. “So, yes, there are a lot of things in the works, and, yes, we’re still looking at those, and the administra-tion hasn’t stopped looking at ideas. But we have got to start at some point. If we send everything to committees it’s going to be two years before we do anything, and by then it will be too late.”2

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Austin McCarthyEditor-in-Chief

Erica ZaccagniniEditor-in-Chief

Lakota’s financial future is shown in this graph.

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Additional reporting by Elise Maxfieldand Danielle Seamon

Voice infographics by Jessica DukesVoice graphic headline by Dylan Geiser

If the levy passes, the taxes will increase and the proposed cuts will go into effect. One major program that Lakota will be making significant cuts to even with the passing of the levy is band. Kindergarten general music will be completely eliminated, sixth grade band will be cut from two to one day a week, junior high band will be cut to 1.5 directors per school.

“I believe that if sixth grade band is cut, then it won’t affect the program now, but three years down the road, it will have huge impacts,” senior band member Hunter Stew-art said. “I think that the staffing changes will significantly change how the program is run, and will hurt the program more than it will help the district’s deficit problems.”

Lakota’s award winning and nationally recognized band program’s reputation is in jeopardy. Cuts to the band may have negative effects on the program, which is difficult to ac-cept for those involved.

“The band program at Lakota is among the best in the country and consistently one of the best programs in the district,” West band director Andrew Carr said.

In phase one of cuts so far, programs have faced reductions, but none have been eliminated. In phase two, this will not be true.

“We were able with phase one to at least not eliminate any pro-grams,” Taylor said. “That will not happen with phase two.”

If the levy passes, anoth-er permanent cut will be to school nurses. Lakota will be saving $188,000 by reduc-ing licensed school nurses in the district from 16.5 to 11. Rather than having all licensed nurses, the buildings will instead be staffed with a combination of li-censed nurses and clinic aides. The dif-ference in training between the two could have a significant impact in case of emergency.

“Nurses have more training,” mother of Lakota students Patty Benton said. “I could be a clinical aide, but I have no clue about specific symptoms that might come at me.”

The difference is especially important for students with medical conditions that utilize the nurse frequently, such as Stewart who has diabetes.

“[Having a licensed school nurse] would be ideal for me because I have a chronic ill-ness and interact with them every day,” Stewart said. “If something happened to me, or someone else for that matter, I would much rather have a licensed nurse be there for me, not just an aide.”

Even for students without chronic illnesses, the comfort of a licensed nurse is important.

“I would be weary of clinic aides and concerned about their clinical knowledge and ability,” senior Caitlyn Shively said. “In short, I don’t think I would trust them very much, or feel very safe.”

Among other positions to be cut, media cen-ter specialists will be reduced by 10.25 full time employees, commonly referred to as FTE. Up to 8 high school teaching positions will be cut as well. All of these cuts, however, are just the tip of the iceberg if the levy does not pass.

“If the levy does go down in May, we could have even more staff reductions at the high school level

before the start of next school year,” Taylor said. Because Lakota is trying to reduce the deficit

by a combination of reductions and the passing of the levy, if the levy does not pass the reduc-tions will be much more severe.

“Because its law that we cannot operate the school system with a negative cash balance, if we do not get the levy passed we have to make sure that all the reductions eliminate that $28 mil-lion deficit,” Taylor said. “Those would be huge

reductions for this school district.”Reductions of this level would cause the district to move towards

a state minimum school dis-trict, which would eliminate

many of the opportunities Lakota now provides for its students.

“We offer a lot of dif-ferent things in our school district because we aren’t just a state minimum school

district,” Taylor said. “A state minimum school district would

mean that we would have to offer basically only the core classes, and any-

thing that goes beyond that core begins to exceed that state minimum.”

Opportunities eliminated in such cuts will eventually negatively affect the ‘excellent’ rated

education that Lakota is now capable of providing.

“We have budget cuts, we fail a levy and nothing happens and

everyone goes ‘see nothing happened its fine’, and then by the time you start seeing the impact you’re really deep into the muscle of the school district and its really difficult to rebuild,” Powell said.

However, it is not only stu-dents’ education that will feel

the impact of the cuts; it could have a community wide effect.

“Having good strong school systems in your community makes the type of commu-nity everyone wants to live in,” Taylor said. “One of the attractions to businesses coming into the community is the school system.”

Without the affluent school district, the community could see a decline

of businesses moving in, as well as a decline in the number of

families moving into the La-kota district.

“People are looking for communities that have ex-cellent districts,” Powell said. “They are going to lo-cate here because that is im-

portant to them.” Board members have said

they recognize the difficulties of passing a levy in such tough financial

times, but they hope that the community will see the impact of a strong school district and support the levy.

“I would encourage those [who don’t want to support the levy] to decide if they really want this to happen to their community,” Powell said. “When the school goes down, the community goes down.”

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Band, choir active in springAshley JeffersEntertainment Editor

This year, Symphonic Winds and Chorale are both presenting a major concert as well as heading on Spring Break trips.

For the first time ever, Symphonic Winds and Chorale are getting together to perform the song Carmina Burana.

“It’s [Carmina Burana] a collection of texts written by monks,” junior Chorale member Max Jansen said. “It’s about fate and the fickleness of fate and the wheel of fortune.”

Carmina Burana is a concert within itself that lasts about an hour, which is different from both Chorale and Symphonic Winds’ other concerts where they typically play multiple songs.

“It’s [Carmina Burana] very ambitious for a high school,” senior Chorale President Nicole Gonthier said. “But I’m really excited to pull it off. There isn’t a reason why we can’t do as good as college or professional.”

The work is full of different move-ments, harmonies, and languages.

“It’s full of energy and rhythm and drive,” Chorale director Anthony Nims said. “This is a work that has 25 movements. Harmonically and melodically it’s pretty straight forward. It’s r h y t h m i c a l l y more challenging, but mostly it’s all of the language. The poems that are set in Carmina Burana are from the 13th century and it’s in a very strange cross b e -tween Middle High German and Latin and at times French so it’s a lot of words and it’s all in foreign language.”

Chorale has been practicing for awhile; first learning the music and notes, then learning the text.

“There are a lot of words,” senior Chorale Sec-retary Stephanie Rampton said. “Nims wrote out phonetically how to say it [the lyrics] and then we each went home and wrote in pronunciations so we’d know how to say it.”

Since this is the first time that the two groups will perform together, there is a lot of excitement surrounding the concert.

“I think it’s a really amazing thing you can

combine two of the biggest things at West,” junior trumpet player Alyssa Stoltz said. “It’s [Carmina Burana] one of the most beautiful things ever. So it’ll be an amazing concert.”

With such a large group coming together, over 140 people, a lot of practice must go into the pro-duction. Both groups will be ready in time for the first-time ever May 13 performance, however, the problem is that they’re still looking for a venue.

“Our biggest problem right now is finding a performance site big enough for the choir and band together,” band director Greg Snyder said. “Our auditorium here isn’t big enough. We can-not fit the band and the choir here. We had Mi-ami University lined up and then they canceled on us; and then we had another place lined up and they canceled on us. So that’s the biggest piece of the puzzle right now: where we’re

going to perform this.”Not only are Symphonic

Winds and Chorale getting together to do Carmina Burana, but both groups are also heading East for Spring Break.

Symphonic Winds is going to Rutgers University, New York City, and

Washington D.C. “We’ll [Symphonic Winds] be

participating in a clinic at Rutgers Univer-sity,” junior bassoon player Alex Boyer said.

“We’ll also tour Ellis Island. We’ll also be touring Washington D.C. and New York

and seeing a Broadway play called In the Heights. We’ll be seeing the Ma-

rine Band and take a tour at George Washington’s Mt. Vernon Estates and Gardens,

Tour Arlington Cemetery, go to the Dixie Classic Festival in D.C. and visit the Smithsonian.”

Chorale is going to New York City and West-minster Choir College.

“We get there on the 7 and go to the Rock-efeller Center,” Jansen said. “Then for the rest

of the week we go to different sites and we’ll sing at St. John the Divine, which is the biggest gothic cathedral.”

The Chorale trip is about $700 and each stu-dent is responsible to raise the money on their own or through fundraisers.

“We are having multiple fundraisers going on for kids,” Gonthier said. “We [had] Sweet Jazz. We have our own personal accounts so if we sell so many sub sandwiches, which is one of our fundraisers, some of that money goes into our ac-count. We’re doing a Chamilia bead sale and a couple other things.”

Symphonic Winds had to pay for their spring trip as well.

“We told the students how much it costs and most of them either have jobs or we’ve had some fundraising opportunities,” Snyder said. “A big one was the pizza sale and I know some students raised a couple hundred dollars through the pizza sale. So we give them opportunities to help fray the costs.”

Both Symphonic Winds and Chorale are look-ing forward to their joint-effort May 13 concert as well as their respective spring break trips.

This year, eight seniors from Lakota West were named finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. In order to be qualified as a National Merit finalist, students must first take the Pre-liminary SAT (PSAT).

“It starts with a good score on the PSAT. A good score is determined as the top one or one and a half percentile [of the country], depending on the year. My score was high enough, which qualified as a semi-finalist,” senior and National Merit Scholarship Finalist Alex Hart said.

Of the 1.5 million juniors in the 22,000 high schools around the country, only the top 16,000 students are named semi-finalists in the program. As semi-finalists, students are given the chance to become a finalist, as well as compete for more than $34 million in scholarships and awards.

“From there, I had to fill out a scholarship form and write an essay in order to be considered for the finalist position. I found out in February [that I was a finalist],” Hart said.

Lakota West students named finalists are se-niors Eric Dobson, Ryan Fore, Jacob Hamilton, Cameron Hammel, Alex Hart, Erika Lower, Ra-chel Sawicki and Daniel Shen. In addition, Fore was also named a finalist for the 2010 National Achievement Scholarship program, an academic competition for outstanding African American students.

Receiving this honor allows for recognition from colleges and creates many opportunities for scholarships.

“It benefits me a lot. My future school, Univer-sity of Cincinnati, offers a scholarship for Nation-al Merit Finalists. This UC/21 Scholarship gives me full tuition, pays for base housing costs, and gives a money grant towards a laptop or a service project of my choice. So National Merit has pretty much taken care of the cost of college,” Hart said.

Eight seniors named MeritScholars

-Danielle Seamon

*Following the publication of this article, it was announced that Symphonic Winds would no longer be performing Carmina Burana due to the lack of a performance venue. Chorale will contin-ue on with the performance.

Voice illustration by Elise Maxfield

Voice graphic headline by Dylan Geiser

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During fifth period, many students are eating lunch or sitting at their desks. If one were to step in the gym, however, he

would hear Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean” playing over the stereo system. While some stu-dents are walking around the perimeter of the gym, others are shooting some hoops, playing volleyball, lifting a nylon multi-colored parachute, and interact-ing with one another. Out of the group of 133 students occupying the gym during 5A-5C, 70 are West volunteers that are con-tributing their time and energy to help 63 special needs students participate in sports and other ac-tivities. Students participating in this program come from La-kota West High, Lakota West Freshman, La-kota Ridge Ju-nior, and Lakota Plains Junior. Some of the West volunteers come from student government, but most of them come from study hall.

“I just go to study hall and have students raise their hands and say ‘I’ll do it!’” West physical edu-cation teacher Tracey Kornau said.

The group first met on Friday, February 5, but this is not the first time that this event has taken place.

“I think we started this program when West first opened,” adaptive physical education teacher Diane Ayers said.

When the program first started, there were about 20 volunteers and 20 special needs stu-

dents. With each year comes increas-ing numbers, and Ayers said that this year has the biggest group so far.

There will be a to-tal of six Friday ses-sions, each session with a different un-derlying theme, such as relay races, fitness circuit, sports, and dance. Dance was

chosen because many parents found that their students did not know how to dance and often did not know what to do at a dance. In years past, the group has done roller skating, but Ayers said that

it was a bit too crazy. All of the different activities allow participants to learn, have fun, and interact with others.

“There are so many different types of special needs and they’re all so different. They all react differently and are all so fun to be around,” soph-

omore volunteer Rachel Hux-hold said.

There were some volun-teers who enjoy the experience because it is part of their daily lives.

“I have a little brother—he’s not really severe, but he has au-tism—so I’m really passionate about that kind of stuff,” junior volunteer Rachel Mantyla said.

Volunteers will be needed for next year’s program, so interested students should talk to Tracey Kornau. Any person that

agrees to volun-teer must have a free fifth period.

“Both groups are getting so many benefits from this,” Kor-nau said. “Wheth-er you are a study hall student or a student with spe-cial needs, both students are get-ting benefits that

they will carry with them for life.”

Following its initial boost of popularity in 2006, Facebook has been utilized by prac-tically all age groups- high school teenag-

ers, college students, and even the parents and grandparents of those who initially populated the social networking site. However, amidst its pop-ularity, there seems to be a small group mostly missing from the website, Lakota West teachers.

Although several hundred of Lakota West’s two-thousand students have profiles on Facebook, many of the teachers choose to avoid the Internet phenomenon for various reasons.

“There is no policy [that teachers] cannot have [a Facebook], but it is encouraged they do not,” Principal Richard Hamilton said.

Despite the recommendation, some West teachers create a profile anyway. These teachers use the website for various things, including keep-ing in touch with friends and family.

“[I have a Facebook for] connecting with old friends I have around the country who I don’t see very often,” teacher James Riley* said.

Although it may be considered unfair that teachers are encouraged to steer clear of the so-cial networking site, there is reason behind the recommendation.

“If [a student] posted something on my Face-book that was offensive or derogatory, [I am] re-sponsible for that posting.” Hamilton said.

West teachers with Facebooks take various precaution to prevent this from occurring.

“My settings [on Facebook] are very private;

I’m not searchable,” West teacher Ashley Miller* said.

West teachers are also responsible for their own postings- inappropriate, derogatory, or of-fensive posts and status updates can lead them into trouble. Although there haven’t been any major troubles with this at West, problems have occurred in other parts of the country.

In the fall of 2008, NBC affiliate WCNC in Charlotte, North Carolina reported on various Charlotte-Meckleburg Schools teachers posting inappropriate content on their Facebooks. As a result of this, the district recommended the ex-pulsion of one teacher and the discipline of three others.

Despite all the risks involved, some West stu-dents think that teachers should create Facebook profiles to interact with students- the exact thing that the board warns teachers not to do.

“Teachers, in my opinion, should act like counselors,” sophomore Adam Hess said. “They should engage in friendships with the students, so a Facebook could help that.”

When a teacher creates a Facebook page, they accept the risks that come with socializing in cy-ber-space and realize the consequences if nega-tive interactions occur between themselves and their students.

“[Teachers] just have to use their best judg-ment,” Special Education teacher Teri Ploscowe said. “They should know what’s appropriate and what’s not.”

*This is a false name used to represent a source that wished to remain anonymous.

Ty MullinsStaff Reporter

West provides Friday activities for special ed

Staff restricted on Facebook

Whether you are a study hall studentor a student with special needs, bothstudents are getting benefits that will carry with them for life.

they‘

’-Tracey Kornau

One of the activites includes a parachute.Volunteers interact with special ed students.

Voice photos by Delaney Orr

Delaney OrrStaff Reporter

Voice infographic by Jessica Dukes

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When one walks down the chilly halls of West, one can see

many different styles of dress. People will wear anything from sweatpants to neon-colored tutus. However, the reveal-ing trends emerging recently aren’t just a matter of personal taste, but also violate the dress code.

The first problem with fla-grant disregard of the dress code is that some West girls have unfortunately forgot-ten their pants on the way to school. Maybe it was a time is-

sue, but instead of grabbing their regular jeans or trousers, or even a skirt or dress, they have opted for leggings. Hate to break it to you: leggings are not pants. They are the illegitimate love child of yoga pants and tights, and the result is an article of clothing that – by itself – is not acceptable within the confines of the dress code. It doesn’t look stylish; it looks stupid, especially with snow boots.

Furthermore, the pant height level in this school has dropped to a ridiculous new low. We understand, you’ve got swagger, but why you can’t have it with your pants up escapes us. One sees guys with belts not effectively holding their pants up, and nearly tripping over themselves running on their way to class. Use the belts to hold up your pants, it’s easier, and nobody needs to see your underwear.

Appropriate clothing choices should just be common sense, but unfortunately some West stu-dents don’t think about what they’re putting on

anymore. It is freezing outside, why does one need to be wearing a short skirt and a strapless shirt. Add some sleeves to your daily apparel and suddenly that shivering you can’t control will go away. The draft that you’re feeling is probably not only due to the lack of climate con-trol in the building, but also the fact that more

skin is showing than clothing. Straps are necessary also for modesty. We un-

derstand this isn’t the 1950’s, but the dress code really isn’t that unreasonable. There’s no need to don a nun’s habit but thinking about how trashy your off-the-shoulder top looks might be a good idea. That clothing cannot be functional either. There is a lot of bending, stretching and sitting that goes on throughout the day. Do you want to flash that creepy guy in your Algebra class when you bend over to get a pen? Do you really need the girl behind you to know what’s on your box-ers every day? The clause in the Newsflash: no-body needs to see your underwear during school hours.

Other violations include wearing hats, slip-pers, and pajamas. These pieces of clothing may be warm and snuggly, but completely against the dress code. Hats, except for fashion statements, do not need to be worn indoors. We know the cafeteria’s cold, but go buy some hot fries instead of wearing a banned hat. Slippers also are com-fortable, but not functional. Pajamas, besides, you know, not being acceptable to wear outdoors, are unhygienic. Nobody wants to smell your sleepy sweat odor wafting everywhere. Comfort should be a factor in deciding your clothes, but it shouldn’t be everything.

One doesn’t have to crack open a planner to make sensible clothing choices. When you get up in the morning, pick clothes that are warm and stay within the dress code, while still managing to be fashionable. Clothes don’t always make the man, but they do make lasting impressions. You don’t want your first impression to be made with see-through leggings, a T-shirt and Ugg boots. Trust us.

Voice Illustration by Cait Cook

It’s the notorious ques-tion we were all asked countless times through-

out elementary school and junior high: What do you want to be when you grow up? It was a simple ques-tion and most often an-

swered with ge-neric answers like, doctor, lawyer, police-

man, etc. The future was uncharted territory, and we filled it with whatever dreams and am-bitions we felt fit. As we draw near to college and career decisions, we have to start thinking of some concrete plans, but elementary school is too early to start considering any definite plans, even though this thought process is en-dorsed in the younger grades today.

Everyone probably remembers taking those seemingly endless multiple choice online tests in junior high that, supposedly, when com-pleted honestly, would determine your future career right before your eyes. These questions appeared arbitrary and unrelated to jobs: just because someone “enjoys building birdhouses” doesn’t mean they’ll be an architect, or even en-joy that hobby in ten or twenty years. Also, I’m pretty sure we can all agree with the fact that, by what seemed like the millionth question, fill-ing in random circles doesn’t seem like such a bad idea if it meant completing the assessment faster, and this carelessness makes the results that much more inaccurate. It’s impossible for a computer to tell me how I’ll spend the rest of my life: It can’t gleam from some illogical questions my personal-ity, my aptitudes or my goals. This whole system is an ineffective way to conclude a career based on things I enjoyed when I was thirteen.

In about third grade, I started going into dif-

ferent classrooms for math and was in the “smart” reading groups, thus deeming me an advanced kid. This early placement made it easy for me to be in accelerated classes in junior high and Hon-ors and AP classes in high school, which, in turn, can aid me in getting into my first choice of colleg-es. However, this isn’t the case for many students. Once on the CP or general level track, it’s nearly impossible to gain admission into some Honors

or AP classes, especially English and math, mak-ing it more difficult to stand out to colleges. In this way, it’s almost like the school is determining our academic futures as early as elementary school, and we have very little say in which track we’re put on. Even if I only had trouble with one con-cept early in my education, this one lower level class can make it nearly impossible to move up even in junior high. If someone has aspirations of becoming a doctor and is only in general level classes and wants to move up, it may take a lot of

jumping through hoops when the administration doesn’t seem to condone “moving up” whereas kids placed on the higher track early don’t have to deal with this.

Also, the repetition of some subjects and the complete exclusion of others eliminate many ca-reer options and learning opportunities for stu-dents. I can’t even remember how many times I’ve learned that the legislative branch writes

the laws, but, in complete contrast, my knowledge of astronomy is practically nil since I only learned about it in elementary school. What if I’m interested in being an astronomer? Situations like these make for an education that’s not very well-rounded and seems to only promote certain careers. Simply by lack of choice we are not given a fair say in our future career.

I’m not saying that be-ing prepared for the future is a terrible thing; it’s defi-nitely important to set goals and stick to them. However, flexibility is vital when con-sidering the future, because

we all change and grow as people in some way or form throughout high school. Our career should reflect these traits instead of the ones we pos-sessed five or ten years ago. More variety should be included in course selections, and pressure to choose a career while in high school should be minimal. I, for one, don’t have any permanent plans yet.

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Fame, doin’ it for the fame/ ‘Cause we wanna live the life of

the rich and famous/ Fame, doin’ it for the fame/ ‘Cause we got a taste for the cham-pagne and endless fortune,” asserts the bridge of Lady

Gaga’s song, “The Fame”, a look at the obsession of people with the Hollywood

lifestyle. Normally Lady Gaga and I don’t agree on matters of life, but here I’ve got to agree with her. The media and the people of this country, es-pecially teenagers, prefer to focus on the hi-jinks of celebrities rather than the critical and relevant news.

I am not claiming to be above this trend. I will turn to an entertainment channel over a news channel any day. The exploits of celebrity couples interest me a lot more than those of America’s politicians. I don’t watch C-Span daily, but I do watch E-News more often than not. I just don’t find the news fun to watch, even though I secretly

know I should be watching it.This idea of the news “not being entertain-

ing” is what is preventing our nation from stay-ing informed. Teenagers will turn on the news to something about budget reform and think that it doesn’t apply to them, or that it is boring. The newspapers have been shoved out in favor of glossy celebrity magazines that have become shrines of the rich and famous. Coverage of Mi-chael Jackson’s death, though tragic, is not more important than political events that could change the world as we know it. People will more likely know which celebrity couple has broken up than the name of the Secretary of State.

News has become something perceived as mundane and depressing, and therefore people aren’t watching the news. Pop culture, especially in high schools, has become a more discussed topic than health care except for the few people who are actually informed about it. This is wrong. Really, how much are celebrities going to change your life?

The question is: what can we do to change this? Well, nothing really, except emphasize how important it is for citizens, especially teenagers, to

stay informed about what’s going on. Don’t think it applies to teens? Everything applies to us. We may not be paying for healthcare now, but what happens when you contract mono? We may not be being taxed right now, but our parents are, and when you get that first paycheck and are disap-pointed because taxes removed a huge chunk, you’ll wish you would have known.

The point is, everything described on the na-tional news does affect the people in this country, including teenagers. Watching the news shouldn’t be that much of an effort. Watch it while eating breakfast, watch it while you run on the treadmill, or watch it while doing your homework, it doesn’t really matter, as long as one stays informed about the issues that affect you. And think about it; how great would it be to demolish your ultra-opinion-ated father in a debate? Knowledge is power, and power in the hands of the informed teen, even better.

Katie JohantgesAsst. Entertainment Editor

Emily BamforthAsst. Features Editor

Voice graphic headline by Jessica DukesVoice infographic by Jessica Dukes

Voice graphic headline by Jessica Dukes

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In early February, all of Lakota West’s students were handed a course

booklet to help guide the registration process for the 2010-2011 school year. The book contains every class offered at Lakota West with course descriptions and graduation requirements. Many students probably lost theirs before they even

left the assembly, but I myself read through sev-eral course descriptions in order to assemble my senior year schedule. The course book has been helpful in this process for me for several years, but this year, its con-tribution was mini-mal.

As I was flip-ping through the book, I saw several classes that sounded interesting to take, one being Sport Sci-ence. In the book, the class is listed as a science credit, and a two semester class. As the schedul-ing deadline came closer, I heard a rumor that the class was being changed, possibly due to Lakota’s pending budget cuts. The rumor was that the class had been changed to a health credit, and would only last one semester. A friend of mine looked in to this rumored change and was consequently sent from counselor to counselor and teacher to teacher, and no one knew the details of the class. It took all day for the office to find out the final-ized description of the class, and even then the answer was delivered with an “I think, but… I’m

not sure.” I don’t know where the blame should be placed in this situation, but somewhere, some-how, signals were crossed and no one ended up getting the memo.

Here’s the point: What use is the course book-let, if the course descriptions are inaccurate? I would say that the majority of students at least skim these descriptions before registering, but of those, how many have the tendency to ask around to find if they are accurate? Most wouldn’t, and the fact is, they shouldn’t have to. The course book is a tool given by the district to the students to make sure they are as happy as high-schoolers can be with their upcoming classes. There should be no need for extra investigating to know what the core details of a class are (i.e. how many credits, what

the class ap-plies to, etc.)

Of course, there is the budget to fac-tor in to these changes. And

with this, it is understandable that some smaller classes might be re-shaped and re-scheduled to fit into the upcoming cuts. But there is no excuse for the lack of communication with the offices. When the counselors are mainly there to help students with scheduling and graduation credits, the de-tails of course changes should be communicated to them so that they can do their job. It should not take an entire day for a student to find out the an-swer to such a simple question. Every staff mem-ber should be informed of these changes so that they can keep the student body informed, espe-cially during the scheduling process. This will cut down on problems and complaints and will make the entire process go much more smoothly.

We all have heard the shocking statistic, 67% of Americas

population is obese. Shows like, “The Biggest Loser” are awe inspiring as 7 mil-lion viewers stare at the TV screen watching contestants drop amazing amounts of weight, the healthy way. It seems as though the na-tion is moved to get moving.

Even food companies are jumping on the band wagon, “junk food brands” are hiring research-ers to make their prod-ucts health-ier. And by mak-ing them “healthier” I mean d r o p p i n g calories and grams of fat not the actual improvement of the product.

As much as I support the great weight loss movement, I can’t help but cringe at the fact that these companies are catering to the worst in hu-man nature. We all want to eat that giant bag of Doritos or Lays potato chips, but, it’s called self control. We don’t eat it because it isn’t healthy for us. Those diet fads that claim that you can eat a brownie everyday are right, you can, if it is about

the size of a postage stamp. This general ability to say “no” to oneself is greatly lacking in our current society, part of the reason why so many people are in so much debt, they must have everything right now.

But, a postage stamp size serving of anything is not satisfying, so companies are rounding up the researchers and having them put tons of chemi-cals in the food so it will still taste great but won’t have the massive calorie count. Here’s the prob-lem, these chemicals aren’t supposed to be eaten in large quantities. Granted, they won’t kill you but, eating a giant bag of fried or baked chemi-cals cannot be good for you, it is simply common

sense. Making the food choic-es less calorie-filled will not stop people from inhaling a massive bag of Doritos.

What kind of message are we sending to

the large number of overweight Americans? Go ahead! Eat the whole bag. Oh, but 20 years from now, you may develop some form of poisoning from all the chemicals that we just allowed you to intake, and your children may end up with diseas-es or growth abnormalities. Why is it too hard to demand that these companies start valuing quali-ty over quantity? We may end up eating ourselves to death if we do not.

With the recent creation of the mustache

competition for teach-ers, I have seen a strange influx of students who apparently think they themselves should enter the fray. I myself am a beard-wearer, and I am here to set the ground rules for the growing and wearing of facial hair.

1. If you can go a week without shaving,

and it’s still not notice-able, you CANNOT grow a beard.

2.If you are an underclassman, you CAN-NOT grow a beard.

3.If you cannot take the beard jokes from friends, girlfriends, family, teachers, coworkers, bosses, politicians, baristas, popes, world lead-ers, the FBI and really anyone you may encounter ever, then you CANNOT grow a beard.

4.If your beard grows, and, to your dismay, there are patches in it, shave it. You too CANNOT grow a beard.

5. If you have light-colored facial hair, and it’s difficult to see, you, unfortunately, too closely resemble a peach-fuzz-wearing junior-high kid. So shave it. You CANNOT grow a beard.

6. If you look like a pedophile when you grow your beard/mustache, shave it off. And never try it again. Ever. You CANNOT grow a beard.

6 a. If you look like Adolf Hitler, that’s worse than a pedophile, and rule 6 applies.

7. If you have a thin, scraggly, pathetic at-tempt at a soul patch underneath your chin, that is not a beard, that is laziness. You CANNOT grow a beard.

8. If you catch food in your facial hair, that is disgusting. It can turn a mustache, into a crust-ache. Clean it, shave it and, by the way, you CAN-NOT grow a beard.

9. A beard should speak for itself. If you talk more about your beard than other people do, you CANNOT grow a beard.

10. If you are a girl, for the love of human-ity, you CANNOT grow a beard.

Look. I know you want to have a beard as great as mine. But it’s just not for everyone. If you can-not grow a beard, you could do other things to be manly. Get a tattoo. Wrestle bears. Grill: lots. Drive a cool a car. Listen to rock. Play a sport; a real sport. There are many different things you can do to prove your manliness. But, please, if you meet any of these listed criteria, do not, do not, do not grow a beard.

Austin McCarthyEditor-in-Chief

Elise MaxfieldCopy Editor

As much as I support the great weight loss movement, I can’t help but cringe at the fact that these companies are catering to the worst in human nature.

‘’

Course booklet out of date

Obesity: who’s responsible?

Here’s the point: What use is the course booklet, if the course descriptions are inaccurate?

‘’

Voice graphic headline by Dylan Geiser

Amy RubensteinAsst. News Editor

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Christina Anderson - One in a Million

Kara Back - Park

Arthur Congo - Stretch

Caitlin Cook - Hungry

Sara Dittrich - Chillin’

Gabrielle Gingras - Tree God

Ericka Haverkos - Alice

Lia Heinze - Breanna

Brandon Helmkamp - Focus

Tara Kessling - Bobbing For Apples

Lauren Meng - The Red Door

Lyndsey Vu - Self Hate Kimberly Wallin - Red Reflecting Eternity

Eric Willis - Breakfast

Ashleigh Witte - Anger

Kaitlyn Meng - Poison Apple

Voice headline graphic by Jessica DukesVoice graphics by Emily Bamforth and Justin Sharp

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Kristina Nguyen - Scrunch

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Christina Anderson - One in a Million

Kara Back - Park

Arthur Congo - Stretch

Caitlin Cook - Hungry

Sara Dittrich - Chillin’

Gabrielle Gingras - Tree God

Ericka Haverkos - Alice

Lia Heinze - Breanna

Brandon Helmkamp - Focus

Tara Kessling - Bobbing For Apples

Lauren Meng - The Red Door

Lyndsey Vu - Self Hate Kimberly Wallin - Red Reflecting Eternity

Eric Willis - Breakfast

Ashleigh Witte - Anger

Kaitlyn Meng - Poison Apple

Voice headline graphic by Jessica DukesVoice graphics by Emily Bamforth and Justin Sharp

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Kristina Nguyen - Scrunch

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You cheer over the football team’s latest vic-tory. You hear stories about West’s basket-ball team and you see the dance team shak-

ing their stuff. But what about other groups who don’t get as much recognition? Freestyle rappers, hip-hop artists, and beat-box geniuses roam the halls of West and it’s time to show ‘em some love. Everybody knows and loves music, but mak-ing it? Not as easy as it sounds. Writing catchy lyrics, creating a beat that compliments the lyrics, and presenting it in a way that captures the interests of others is no simple task. It takes a lot of talent, determi-nation, and effort.West junior, Brian Anderson, has taken rapping to the next level.

He collaborates with junior, Jamie Morris, to produce their own songs and aspire to be-come known in the en-tertainment industry.

“I’ve been involved with music for years,” Anderson said. “Writ-ing is definitely the best part. It really stretches your imagination.”

When asked about a career in music, it is clear

that they are definitely working towards fame.“I’m striving to make it big, but at the end of

the day, you have to have fun making the music too,” Morris said.

But to be the best, you have to look at the oth-ers who came before you. Having someone as inspiration can help you to become more mo-tivated to reach your goals.

“Jay-Z, Lupe Fiasco, Kid Cudi, and Kanye West are just a few of the artists that I look up to,” Morris said.

This talented duo describes their music as “90’s style rap” and they are completely open to change when it comes to their greatest passion.

“The problem with the music industry right now is the lack of hard work and determina-tion,” Anderson said. “Everyone’s too similar. No one is willing to take any chances with their mu-sic.”

You may very well be hearing more from these future rap stars in the making.

“We’re working on a lot of different things right now,” An-derson said. “Brad Beckles has been working really hard on his mix tape and Jamie Morris, also known as X-11, has been in the

studio nonstop.” If you’re interested and want to hear their mu-

sic for yourself, you won’t have to wait too long

before their debut CD is open to the public.“We’re working on our debut mix tape that

should be released towards the end of the sum-mer so just keep a lookout for us,”

Morris said.Beatboxing is a whole dif-

ferent art in itself. Some-thing that seems so easy takes a whole lot of con-centration and creativity.

“I do a lot of beatbox-ing and I create my own

rhythms on the computer,” senior Dylan Goshade said.

“I just play around until I find a beat that sounds nice.”He spends his time listen-

ing to hip-hop and R&B in hopes of becoming inspired.

“My dad was a hip-hop artist, so he’s probably the main reason I love music so much,” Goshade said.

As for a career in entertainment, Goshade plans to take it slow and just have fun.

“I plan on submitting my beats into a contest or maybe a recording studio,” Goshade said. “ Other than that, I usually just do it [make music] for fun.” There’s no telling if these three West stu-dents will make it to the limelight, but their deter-mination, hard work and raw talent are definitely working in their favor. Who knows, you might be blasting their hit songs on your iPods one day. Af-ter all, the greatest artists in the world had to start somewhere.

Natasha MilliganStaff Reporter

Voice illustration by Cait Cook

West students spit rhymes in hallways

Before basketball games, one can see the dance team walking the halls in their sparkly uniforms, getting pumped for their mid-game performance. However, there are more to dancers than

hairspray and kick-ball changes. Madeline Vanbenschoten, senior and captain of the dance team, proves this point.

Vanbenschoten started dancing when she was 3 years old and has been pirouetting ever since. She enjoys being on dance team and holds the title of captain very seriously.

“People look up to me and go to me for help” Vanbenschoten said. “[They also] expect me to motivate the team and put together the team outfits.”

A team player, Vanbenschoten feels that the dance team has really improved over the course of the year.

“We have improved so much,” Vanbenschoten said. “Our team bonds very well and we even performed at football games, which is new.”

Vanbenschoten loves dance for the friendships that form and enter-taining the audience. However, the downside is that dancing is very ath-letic and requires a lot of practice.

“Practice takes a lot of time,” Vanbenschoten said. “It [dance team] is a big commitment.”

While dance team makes up a large part of Vanbenschoten’s life, there’s more to her than just being captain of the dance team. Before she performs, she hangs out with her boyfriend, Adam. She also enjoys movies, her favorite being “Mean Girls” and eating her favorite food, pizza. She also has a close bond with her mom, who is her role model.

Vanbenschoten, while she has a good support system at home, is looking forward to college.

“[I am going to] Miami Oxford for education,” Vanbenschoten said. “Yes, it’s big change from high school but I also am very excited. It’s the

Emily BamforthAsst. Features Editor

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Anderson is working on a debut mx tape.

Additional reporting by Shannon Breen

The auditorium is filled to capacity, the lights dim, and whispers of anticipation fill the air. Suddenly, something goes wrong,

and panic replaces the calming atmosphere. The lights come on and the backstage heroes rush to the rescue. Lakota West theatre crew is behind ev-ery class act production at West and they are the ones who make the magic happen.

“I was always on running crew for all the shows that I was on crew for,” senior Bradley Piri said. “ It was always, “Move this here.”, “Turn that turntable faster.”, or “Get that wagon on-stage now.”

Piri believes that there are many perks and detriments to being on crew.

“A perk for being on any crew would be meet-ing new people,” Piri said, “A negative would be that there’s never really a planned out schedule for when crew starts, or finishes so we kind of play everything by ear.”

For senior Sabrina Nucci, tireless work on crew has paid off in the end.

“At times crew can be extremely hectic, but overall the experience is a positive one,” Nucci said. “Personally I love crew, and I find it exhila-rating to work on a show.”

Even though working for crew may be reward-ing in the end, tech week, and performances can be deeply stressful.

“Long hours of tireless and thankless work, under appre-ciation by

a majority of the actors who treat te-chies as if they have a lower level of intelligence,” Nucci said, “Staying focused and attentive to you job during performances, and if something goes wrong, it is all your fault.”

Even though work may be tiring, and crew members do not get the same perks as actors, Nu-cci has a sense of humor about it.

“The only color you can wear is black, which is rather monotonous for a fashionista such as me,” Nucci said.

Being on crew also means that one is in charge, and if the time is right one can also poke fun at fel-low actors. Working in the West Theatre takes a lot of time and close friendships are also started.

“You get to tell the actors what to do when you’re in charge, and you can secret-

ly, or openly (if you have guts), laugh at the actors when they mess up,” Nucci said, “Good friendships are established, since you spend a significant amount of time with your fellow techies.”

Even though the theatre crew may not have the glitz and glam-our that their fellow actors and actress’ might have, but for a cer-

tain type of person it can be life changing and deeply satisfied. Being on crew, has it’s definite perks and downfalls.

“I wouldn’t trade my crew experience for any-thing in the world, because quite frankly, it has made the person I am today, Nucci said.

If you’ve kept tabs on the packing of his pass-port, you know that he travels to China for family and to Italy for fun. If you’ve kept re-

cord of the scoring of his ACT’s and SAT’s, you know that he’s earned perfect points in math once on the former and twice on the latter. If you’ve kept notes on his aspiring ambitions, you know that he dreams of finding a cure for cancer. If you’ve kept track of the names on academic banners yet to be hung on his alma mater’s Main Street, you know that West has served outstand-ing student Jimmy Lin well in his education.

Lin was born January 28, 1992. Raised in Up-per Arlington, Ohio, a town north of Columbus, Lin grew up pondering a career in theatre.

“My first memory is that I wanted to be an ac-tor,” Lin said. “To be honest, I only wanted to be an actor because I loved Arnold Schwarzenegger as a kid, but I realized that my roles would be limited because of my race, so I abandoned that dream early on.”

After this realization, Lin began directing his attention toward his parents’ profession: medi-cine. Taking part in makeshift apprenticeships as a child, Lin began to prepare for a career in the realm of medicine. He continues his volunteer work at Heritage Spring Health Center Nursing Home to this day.

“I think I’ve always wanted to be a doctor. My parents are researchers, so I’ve been in the lab for as long as I can remember,” Lin said. “Over the years, I volunteered at the hospital and oth-er places. I enjoyed interacting with all sorts of people from kids to the elderly. I realized that as much as I enjoyed research, I valued interperson-al relationships more, so being a doctor would be the best way to do both.”

With a medical career in mind, Lin has per-formed exceptionally well throughout high school, taking part in five years of accelerated Latin study and AP courses in chemistry and physics. Af-ter being acknowledged regularly on the Honor

Roll, the name “Lin, James Shuhan” has been engraved into the High Honors bulletin. Reflect-ing his commitment to the Classics, mathematics and leadership, Lin has taken part in three years of cross country and four years of SGA, JCL and Mu Alpha Theta, serving as mathematical histo-

rian. Through this academic dedication, Lin has secured a place among the top three in the class of 2010. He maintains a 4.734 GPA and may very well speak at this year’s graduation. An all-expense-paid trip to an Ivy League cannot be far behind. His academic mantra?

“Just don’t stop until you get it done,” Lin said.

With his remarkable transcript, AP scholar award and AP entrance scores, Lin is the pinnacle of West excellence. Despite such an intense work ethic at school, Lin also has passion beyond the textbook.

“I joke about quitting school and starting the revolution in music,” Lin said.

Much like Lin’s potential as a pediatric sur-geon, Lin is also adept in music theory. He has been playing guitar for the past six years, includ-ing electric and acoustic models. Lin’s repertoire of music spans everywhere from classic rock to rap. His iPod plays pieces from this vast selection on an average count of 400 songs a day.

“My top five bands would have to be The Kooks, Kings of Leon, The Beatles, Eve 6 [and] A Day to Remember,” Lin said. “My favorite artists to learn [on guitar] are Third Eye Blind and Bright Eyes.”

When he isn’t strumming guitar or listening to his iPod, Lin occasionally plays Halo 3 and Call of Duty. When it comes to film, Lin favors comedies such as Airplane! (1980) and the stand-up and skits of Demetri Martin and Jim Gaffigan.

“I hang out with friends, do typical things like watch movies and listen to music,” Lin said.

With his closer colleagues, Lin tends to dine and debate at Skyline and Chipotle, his favorite restaurants. A typical companion is friend Alex Turvy, a senior from Miami University who serves as a life leader. Together with peers, the group discusses the Bible over chili and cheese.

“He’s [Turvy’s] just a really nice person. He tries to teach us lessons from time to time,” Lin said.

Through his time dedicated to religious discus-sion, Lin has developed a strong sense of charac-ter beyond that of turning in midterms on time. Honors English teacher Lori Zugelter recognized this.

“As brilliant as he is, he is also truly endearing in his sincerity and earnestness,” Zugelter said.

I have my wagers figured already: after this June, Lin will move onto a university—probably via scholarship. After a half-dozen years or so, he’ll have a doctorate—most likely with summa cum laude. For now, and until then, and beyond that, Lin will continue his excellent performance, whether it be in studies or scruples, just as Lin stated as his perseverant philosophy: “Reach for the stars, even if you have to stand on a cactus.”

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Academic ninja: salutatorian Jimmy Lin

Senior Jimmy Lin has a GPA of 4.734.

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Theatre crew creates class act theatre Justin SharpFeatures Editor

Voice illustration by Cait Cook

Jordan TaylorStaff Reporter

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The 2010 Winter guard isn’t stupid, but they are dummies; crash test dummies, that is. Similar to the well-known book series, the

guard puts on a step-by-step instruction guide for the less than average audi-ence members during this year’s show: “Color Guard for Dummies”.

“It’s basically like the books Typing for Dum-mies or Dance for Dum-mies,” director Eric Jones said. “For this, we are tak-ing color guard and break-ing it down like you would see in a dummy book.”

The girls take the audi-ence chapter by chapter through their “book”. They start with the basics in chapter one with dance. In chapter two, the three types of guard equipment is introduced: flag, rifle, and saber. Chapter three chronicles the creation of a drill, and the final chapter teaches the audi-ence to enjoy the performance. The narration of their instruction guide is set under the classical song “The Marriage of Figaro” by Mozart.

“I like the parts [of the show] where we are ‘dummy-fied’ because it is so fun to take on the character of a crash test dum-my,” ju-nior Kelly Holtgrefe said.

During their per-formance, the girls’ m o v e -ments are mechani-cal and technical to emu-late a ro-botic crash test doll. Not only do they move like a dummy, they are dressed as one, too.

“[The costumes] are all white, except for black stripes around the joints, and yellow stripes down our forearms and legs, like a crash test dummy. We even have the yellow and black circle on our uniform. And to make it cute, we have a little skirt,” senior Caitlyn Shively said.

In the show, there are many dance and equip-ment features, such as a rifle ripple in which each girl in a line throws their rifle in the air and catch-es it. The last girl in the ripple, Shively, throws a “six”, or throws the rifle to the point where it spins six times in the air and is successfully caught.

“This show is probably the most challenging show we’ve asked of them so far because it take a great deal of performance to pull it off. It’s not like they can just stand there and look pretty; they actually have to represent a crash test dummy,” assistant director Allison Hunyady said.

The difficulty of the show requires much prac-tice. The guard has practiced every Tuesday and Thursday night from six to nine, as well as some additional Saturday morning practices since No-vember. However, now that the competition sea-son is underway, the guard will sometimes prac-

tice three or four times during the week. “[At a typical practice], we start with a warm up

of our bodies that includes dance basics, like bal-let, modern, and contemporary movement. Then, we go on to warm up on our equipment, flag, sa-ber, and rifle. And then we start doing small por-tions of the show and perfect and clean them. We just do that over and over until the end,” Jones

said. So far, the guard has

attended a Miamisburg, Bellbrook, and a Con-nor High School com-petition.

“Our placing [in the competitions] have been random, but I

think the best so far is third place. Our score keeps go-ing up though, so we should h o p e f u l l y place even better,” soph-

o m o r e Kristina Eriksen said.

However, this year’s guard has made Lakota West history by being the first Lakota West guard to make the Winter guard In-ternational (WGI) finals in Dayton, Ohio. The WGI finals takes the best Winter

guards in the US and ranks them on a 100 point system. In order to qualify for WGI finals, a guard must receive a certain score and place in the top ten of their class. West placed in the top of their class, Scholastic A, in the preliminaries. They scored a 70.9 and was ranked tenth place out of eighteen guards at the finals. The first place guard scored an 86.

“WGI finals was so much fun, but it was intimidating at the same time be-cause there were so many great guards

from other states,” Holtgrefe said. Although the guard has received this honor,

there is still much to do to clean their show. “I think our strong points are that we’re very

tight-knit and very hard-working, but there is always more to work on in guard. We’re always working and always improving,” sophomore Ka-lyn French said.

Even though much work and time is put into Winter guard, many of the girls who do guard re-turn the next year. Shively has done Winter guard every year since her freshman year, and she says she has no doubts or regrets.

“The feeling you get when you hit that last note of the song, and you’re out of breath after giving everything you have, the roaring cheers and claps of the crowd reaches your ears and fills your en-

tire body. It’s just an amazing feeling, knowing that you and your team has just put their heart into a performance. You will literally get goosebumps; it is an indescribable feeling,” Shively said.

The guard performed at Centerville on March 14 and Milford on March 20. They will finish their season on March 27 and 28 by attend-ing the Mideast Performance Association (MEPA) Champi-onships at Miamisburg High School.

Danielle SeamonNews Editor

Winter guard gives crash test performance

Guard members perform with their flags.

Members perform their show “Color Guard for Dummies”.

Voice photos by Danielle Seamon

Winterguard practices flag portion of the show.

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For the first time since the 2004 season, the West girls’ gymnastics team won the South West District Championship on Sat-

urday, Febru-ary 27. A major contributor for this Firebird vic-tory? West ju-nior Stephanie Powers. Powers scored a 9.075 on the bars, good enough for first place in the event. She also won the All-Around gold medal at the meet after contributing a score of 35.500 points out of the possible 40, the highest individual score re-corded in the last five years of West gymnastics.

“It felt amazing [winning All-Around at Dis-tricts]. And the fact that the team got first was amazing too,” Powers said.

Powers, who has been competing in gymnas-tics for the past fourteen years, first got involved in the sport because of her energetic and active personality as a kid.

“I was really enthusiastic as a kid, so my mom just put me in something that required a lot of work and was really active,” Powers said. “So gymnastics was it.”

While gymnastics in high school is classified

as a winter sport, Powers trains year-round in order to keep up her skills and master new rou-tines. Practices include performing all four events – bars, vault, floor and beam – and con-ditioning.

“We work out on each event for about thirty minutes and then we do

conditioning at the end for about thirty min-utes,” Powers said. “The season starts in Novem-ber, but I work through-out the whole summer, so it’s pretty much ev-ery month except for March.”

While in-season, practices take place ev-ery day and are inter-mingled with meets dur-ing both the week and

weekends. Because of this hectic schedule, balancing school, gymnastics and friends can seem like a daunting task. However time management, hard work and dedication can work wonders according to Powers.

“It’s a lot of time management. It’s a lot of right after gymnastics you have to do your homework and then on the weekends is the time when you get to see and hang out with your friends,” Pow-ers said.

Gymnastics meets are time consuming events that take up a lot of the gymnast’s time. The four events must be performed at every meet, along with warm ups and medal ceremonies. Depend-ing on the meet, a gymnast could be in attendance at a meet for up to eight hours.

“There are quad meets which usually take around 2 hours. And then there are the invita-tionals, which can take anywhere up to around

eight hours,” Pow-ers said.

Gymnasts com-pete in each event by themselves, and are given an overall individual score. But what many people do not know is that each individual score counts towards the overall team score. This reason, among many others, is why Powers stresses the point of teamwork and team chemis-

try. Teamwork, while crucial for any successful gymnastics program, ultimately prepares the gymnast for life outside of the sport.

“I think the team is the most important aspect. Out in the real world you have to work with a lot of people, and it’s definitely a team environment,” Powers said.

The pressure to perform well and do well for your team often over-shadows the true meaning of gymnastics. For Powers, gymnastics is more than just medals and scores given out by judges.

“I just think about having fun, and doing well for the team and not really for myself,” Powers said. “It’s really all about having fun.”

Jaymee HeinekeSports Editor

Gymnast Stephanie Powers tumbles to gold

Male athletes are known as the “hot shots” in high

school. Most of them do work really hard to gain their sta-tus as a bat-swinging, hoop-shooting, touchdown scoring stud. But what about the fe-male athletes? They work just as hard as any male does, yet do not receive the same recog-

nition as the males. Even with all the fighting the females of the past have done for equality in the world, women are not equal on the field or the court.

To start, let’s think about which has more fans in the stands, the men’s games or the women’s games? If you did not know, it’s the men. How-ever, I wouldn’t blame this on people not want-ing to support both genders, but the times of the games assigned to the men’s games vs. female’s games. The time and day the game is on will influ-ence if people show up for the game. For example, the men and women’s schedules for basketball at Lakota West are dramatically different. Now, which would you rather watch based on time: a Friday 7:30 p.m. game or a Saturday 2:00 p.m. game? Everyone would rather hang out with their friends Friday night at a basketball game than mid-day on Saturday. But here at West the men’s basketball teams are given the privilege to play Friday night for the students and parents to come watch. The woman’s team however is given the Saturday mid-day game that does not attract as many fans. Wouldn’t it be considered equal if the women’s basketball team had Friday night

games as well? The women’s basketball team has won 17 games this season, compared to the boys who won 14 games. While both records are good, it simply proves our women’s team is just as com-petitive as the men’s team and the women’s team should be given the chance to show the student body and parents how talented the team can play basketball.

Whoever makes up the schedules is not grant-ing equal rights to the woman athletes. Another example of unfair scheduling occurs in the fall; both the football team and the women’s volleyball team play during the fall. The guys are supported Friday nights with hundreds of fans packed in the stadium, but the women’s volleyball does not have the luxury to play Friday nights for the same adoring fans. The volleyball team won 21 games

this season, only losing three games to rival oppo-nents like Ursuline and Mount Notre Dame.

Here at West a lot of our women’s sports pro-grams end the season with excellent records. Now I know, if people really want to see the girls play they would no matter what time or day the games are on, but people think women’s sports are less aggressive or not as exciting as watching men’s games. But just because women do not have bulg-ing muscles bursting out of their shirts does not mean they can’t have an intense game.

Some of the most exciting games I’ve been to have been women sporting events. When watch-ing a women’s volleyball game as opposed to a men’s volleyball game, the girls can pass the ball and think about placement of the ball rather than just attempting to rack up kills like the boys do. While it’s impressive to see how hard the guys can hit, it’s much more entertaining to see a nice vol-ley between the two teams. And in other sports, women seem to pay more attention the finesse of the game rather than the masculine mindset of brute force and strength.

With all the talk and assemblies Lakota West has forced us students to sit through about mu-tual respect, you would think they would say something about the inequalities between gen-ders. Women do not receive the respect given to men for being an athlete. The athletes, both male and female, work hard to earn their statuses on a team. So why are people more interested in men’s sporting events? Or why is it more of an honor to be a male athlete than a female? Both deserve the same respect, yet women are not getting as much respect as men do.

Women’s sporting events go unattended

Powers competes in All-Around at District meet. Powers, bottom left, first joined as a kid.

Voice photos contributed by Stephanie Powers

Voice infographic by Jessica Dukes

Abbi KearnsStaff Reporter

On Saturday, March 20, seventeen acts of students came together to compete at the Roost, West’s talent show put together by

the Student Government Assembly (SGA). Junior SGA board member and treasurer Nina Vrbanic believes that the Roost is important be-cause it showcases students’ abilities that the rest of the school would be unaware of otherwise. “I just realized that West has lots of different talents,” Vrbanic said. “If you’re not in a sport or stuff like that, people don’t really know what your talent is.” After an introduction to the show by emcees senior Christian Carey and junior Max Jansen, seniors Jacob Bogart and Sara Dittrich took the stage for an energetic rendition of “Ice, Ice Baby” originally by Vanilla Ice, and senior Uncle Arthur continued with some stand-up comedy. The Brain Surgeons, comprised of seniors Ni-cole Gonthier and Megan Marshall, junior Tay-lor Pramuk and sophomore Katie Davis sang and danced to “Gravity” by Sara Barielles. Davis played piano and Gonthier sang while Marshall and Pramuk depicted a sister’s addiction through dance. Later in the show, junior Anna Lendl decided on baton twirling for the variety it would bring. “I decided to twirl for the talent show because not many people know about baton and it is unique,” Lendl said. Senior Teddy Kofron played “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley, accompanied by a chorus of voices from the audience, followed by se-nior Garian Perry who performed “Working Man” by Rush on guitar. “I feel pretty good about it; it’s my last year. Last time to show what true rock n’ roll is,” Perry said. The show closed with junior Alex Muel-ler, who decided to tap dance for the same reason as Lendl. “I decided to do this act because I want people to think ‘This is just another act, how boring,’ then after I dance they’ll think ‘Oh my gosh that is not just another dancer,’”

Mueller said. While the votes from the audience were being calculated, Roost par-ticipants senior Jil-lian Ellis and junior Brianna Oliver per-formed “One More Day”, a tribute to the late sophomore Am-ber Robinson written by Ellis while a slide-show of pictures of Robinson played in the background. Last year’s Roost winners juniors Nancy Cors-meier and Jeremy Myint then played two songs, followed by a set from Side Slip, a rock band comprised of Myint on guitar and vocals, junior Jimmy Bax on drums and junior Jesse McClintock on bass. The winners were then revealed. A $25 prize for third place was awarded to junior Jeff Felders and freshman Dominic Williams, who performed an original song titled “Get It”. Second place and $50 went to junior Martez Morris, who sang a

soulful version of Byron Lee’s “Dance With My Father Again”. First place and winners of $100

were sophomore singer Liz Landis and ukulele player and singer Kofron. The tal-ent show took place on a special day for the sinning act—Landis’s sixteenth birthday. The duo sang In-grid Michaelson’s “You & I”. Their road to the Roost was a rather unusual one, as they didn’t plan on try-ing out. “I just happened to be jamming in the hallway the day they were doing the last audition with my friend Teddy Kofron who

was playing the ukulele,” Landis said. “When they walked by and heard us they asked if we’d do a quick audition and we had nothing prepared, but just did the song we had been doing and from there I was in.” The show closed with Side Slip and Corsmeier performing “Barracuda” originally by Heart. Con-gratulations to all the winners and participants.

A group of seven under-graduates who attend Harvard Uni-

versity and write for the Harvard Lam-poon have come up with a comic version of the hit sensa-tion Twilight. This comedy novel, titled

Nightlight, follows the hilarious life of teenager Belle Goose as she moves to Switchblade, Oregon, and falls for com-puter nerd Edwart Mullen. Much like the Scary Movie series, this book mocks the plot and characters of the Twilight phenomenon. However, this novel does something that the majority of the Scary Movie films didn’t: provides sufficient humor minus the disturbing language and conduct.

The beginning of Nightlight had me skeptical about the actual amount of comedy it contained. However, I was soon sur-prised by my own giggles and chuckles from many

of the immature yet witty jokes the book had to offer. Thankfully the plot does not scene-by-

scene mimic that of Twilight. The main difference is that Belle Goose’s love interest, Ed-wart, is merely mortal. What’s so comical about the situation is that Belle is consumed with the thought that he automati-cally must be a vampire. Her as-sumption comes from what Belle supposes are hardcore facts: Edwart leaves his Tater Tots un-eaten at lunch; he

even saves her from a flying snowball! Thus, the pursuit begins.

Belle’s stalker-like behavior towards Edwart, the tech savvy nerd with no interest in the female population whatsoever, and the awkward situ-ations which the duo places themselves in only adds to the uproarious laughter that is comic ge-nius.

As I read this novel, I began to digest the fact that for a parody written by a group of students, the writing was superb. Its style not only oozed sarcasm page after page, but also was smooth and flowing, which made the novel sound like it was written by only one person instead of a group of seven. And for those who aren’t huge fans of reading, this spoof of Twilight is a mere 154 pages long, which is a far better deal than the 458 pages that Twilight has to offer. This novel essentially includes all of the basic details and plot outline of the bestselling book Twilight, but in a smaller version. So for everyone out there searching for an easy-to-comprehend, laughable novel with an appropriate amount of pages, I recommend Nightlight.

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Twilight re-vamp:Nightlight a Parody

Danielle DeanStaff Reporter

West students display talents at RoostKatie JohantgesAsst. Entertainment Editor

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Liz Landis & Teddy Kofron, the winners of the Roost.

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The Bounty Hunter’s stupid premise of “ex-husband gets to arrest

ex-wife he hates for no real reason, but they fall in love instead because who knows why” makes for a terrible movie and serves only as an

excuse to put two pretty faces on screen at the same time.

Milo (Gerard Butler, 300), a professional bounty hunter, learns he can get a $5,000 reward for turning in his ex-wife Nicole (Jennifer Anis-ton, Office Space) for skipping bail. However, a newspaper story she is working on gets her inter-est from an illegal loan organization that gets them both hunted down, allowing them to connect and re-spark their love, because threat of death fuels love or something.

The movie feels like it goes on for far too long, even though it is only about an hour and 45 min-utes long. However when it ends, you feel like the movie ended without resolution thanks to it pointlessly drifting away from the main plot and it’s extremely anticlimactic ending for the pur-pose of putting more stupid jokes into the movie. While Aniston and Butler do fine, the supporting cast, writing, and story are awful and drag down their performances. The soundtrack is ear-bleed-ingly awful and doesn’t match at all with what is going on in the plot.

For a movie with any sort of feasible plot or character development, abandon hope all ye who enter here.

She’s Out of My League tells the story of Kirk (Jay Baruchel, Night

at the Museum 2), a socially awkward, geeky guy stuck in a security job at the local airport. Kirk’s life involves

living at home with his outrageous family and driving an old Dodge Neon. Needless to say, Kirk can’t get a girl. So when Molly (Alice Eve, Cross-ing Over), a “hard 10” on the scale of women, ac-cidentally leaves her iPhone at the security check point where Kirk works, he’s thrust into a life completely different from what he’s used to.

I went into the movie with high expectations. After the numerous commercials and reviews, I was expecting a unique story with lots of comedy. For the most part, I wasn’t disappointed. She’s Out of My League is chalk full of laughs. Person-ally, Kirk’s best friend Devon (Nate Torrence, My Best Friend’s Girl) was my favorite with his innuendos and his constant references to songs from Disney movies. Kirk’s interactions with his family, especially the “slap-shot roulette” that Kirk and his brother engage in are sure to prompt many laughs. The story line, while a little cliché with the whole geek-gets-the-supermodel deal, does manage to put some unique turns to it. Most of the movie follows with Kirk and Molly trying to figure out what exactly their relationship is, and how to get around the obvious individual social standings of the two. What results of this struggle is a funny, yet romantic chain of events.

Alice in Wonderland is Tim Burton’s new-est creation, bringing

Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adven-tures in Wonderland to the silver screen and transform-ing the familiar fairytale into

a brand-new adventure for today’s audiences.This new adaption of the classic story follows

Alice (Mia Wasikowska, Amelia) after she tumbles down a rabbit hole and finds herself in Wonder-land, where the wicked Red Queen (Helena Bon-ham Carter, Terminator Salvation) rules over the kingdom. Alice sets out on a mission to rescue her friends from the Red Queen’s clutches and to re-store peace to the citizens of Wonderland.

The film is stunning thanks to its cast, score, and landscapes. The actors successfully breathe new life into the classic characters, the music is synchronized perfectly with the on-screen action, and the blend of live-action and computer-gener-ated animation is seamless.

However, the movie cannot help but feel in-complete as the credits start to slide across the screen. Although the acting, music, and visuals were all fantastic, theater goers failed to emo-tionally connect with Alice as Burton had initially hoped for. Instead, like all past reincarnations of the classic story, the movie can be summed-up as a helpless girl wandering from one crazy scene to another. In the end, the film proves itself as enter-taining, but fails to satisfy.18

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Alice in Wonderland

Starring: Johnny Depp, Mia WasikowskaDirected by: Tim Burton

Genre: SciFi/Fantasy

The Bounty HunterStarring: Gerard Butler, Jennifer Aniston

Directed by: Andy TennantGenre: Action/Comedy

She’s Out of MyLeague

Starring: Jasika Nicole, Jay BaruchelDirected by: Jim Field Smith

Genre: Comedy

Evan Maxwell Jaymee Heineke

Ty Mullins

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Voice graphic headline by Jessica Dukes

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Smoke & MirrorsLifehouse

$9.99 on iTunes

Emily Bamforth

From here on, the CD review page is over-hauled. In every issue

there will be one CD reviewed and then beneath there will be someone’s Top 10 favorite songs and why. If you would like to submit your own Top 10, you can drop it off in room 128.

1. “WhyDon’tYouandI”-Santanaft.AlexBand

I love Santana plain and simple. He’s an amaz-ing guitar player and with this Latin-inspired tune he brings in the vocals of Alex Band, a pretty good singer. The lyrics of this song really are cute and endearing, and the guitar riffs in the back-ground just put the cherry on top of the sundae.

2. “TiKToK”-Ke$haThe fact that Ke$ha seems to be an complete

idiot doesn’t mean she can’t produce good songs. The beat is infectious, and when it comes on in the car, one cannot help but sing along. I may be a fool for falling for this Top 40 hit, but I’m a fool that’s “feeling like P. Diddy.”

3. “DoYouRemember?”-JaySeanNormally with a dance-oriented track like this,

the lyrics hold no value, but Jay Sean manages to bring in meaningful words with Sean Paul rapping incomprehensible nonsense in the background. That’s a feat, and it pays off, creating a song that can be played over and over without any problem.

4. “Starstrukk”-3OH!3ft.KatyPerryKaty Perry and 3OH!3 make a perfect team.

The lyrics of this senseless rap song hold no phil-osophical content, but it’s light and happy, and whenever I saw the “When In Rome” trailer, I was happy to hear this in the background.

5. “DropsofJupiter”-TrainTrain is known now for “Hey, Soul Sister”, but

before that, the group manufactured “Drops of Jupiter”, a heartfelt ballad with some of the most well-written lyrics I’ve ever heard. The hopeful-ness of this song is a great pick-me-up, and it’s interestingly composed as well.

6. “AreYouGonnaBeMyGirl”-JetI discovered this song while doing karaoke one

night, and it’s been one of my favorites ever since. Jet does a great job here, prompting endless air guitar riffs and lyrics that while slightly mindless, are fun and light.

7. “Cousins”-VampireWeekendTrue, I am a fair weather fan of Vampire Week-

end, but this song has grown on me immensely. This song has amazing runs on the guitar and the lyrics while incomprehensible, are made up for by the voice singing them.

8. “Hearts”-AlexDayAlex Day, aka Nerimon, reads and makes fun

of “Twilight” and also is a hilarious vlogger, but also sings, and has an album called “Parrot Sto-ries”. “Hearts” is a duet between Day and another YouTuber, which conveys an unpredictable love story. The song is cute and bouncy, and great for lighting up gloomy spring mornings.

9. “Somebody Like You”- Keith Ur-ban

Kieth Urban is one of my favorite country artists and he doesn’t disappoint in this soulful number about finding love. Play this when you’re down and you’re guaranteed to smile.

10. “HeyBaby”-BowWowandOmari-on

Bow Wow and Omarion team up to create this hip-hop track which features both artists to their fullest. Bow Wow’s rap lyrics combined with Omarion’s amazing R&B voice create a catchy track that has no substance but is truly entertain-ing.

Pop/rock act Lifehouse is known for their moving acoustic tracks and energetic rock num-bers, both of which are included in their fifth full-length album, Smoke & Mirrors. Most tracks are either playing it safe or are too bizarre to be taken seriously.

“All In”, the album’s opener, has an anthemic feel that included a solid guitar tone and textured vocals, which instantly made me anticipate the rest of the album. Sadly, though, this one song es-sentially represented every song on the CD, with little variation between the beats, instruments, and vocals. An exception is “Nerve Damage”, where a country-tinged, languid opening, tran-sitions to a heavy beat, then works into a bluesy guitar solo, and this originality is something to be rewarded. “Here Tomorrow Gone Today” had an awkward dance-club vibe—a risk that didn’t pay off for the band.

Overall, the album is good background music, but it won’t make a huge splash in the pop/rock industry.

Lifehouse’s fifth studio album, Smoke & Mir-rors, is all brought together by the lead vocals of Jason Wade. Wade has such a strong voice that he automatically draws the listener in. All of the album’s songs have lyrics that actual mean some-thing which is a nice change of pace. This rock band hit a home-run.

My favorite track on the entire album is “Nerve Damage.” This song goes from an almost jazz intro into the usual rock sound and back to jazz making it an unusual track on a rock album. “Had Enough” has great lyrics that leave the listener wanting more; not to mention the fact that it has a great back-beat. “In your Skin” has a steady, laid-back feel that still holds the typical rock feel all the while having powerful lyrics.

Overall, this album is a hit; from the dominant vocals to the inventive instrumentals. However, with 19 songs on the album, some seemed to sound the same after you’ve made it through about 13 songs. I wouldn’t let that stop you from buying though because this album is phenomenal.

Voice graphic headlines by Jessica Dukes