Issue #3

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StatesmanL H S

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Obama trumps Romney 51%-48%Four more years

It is finally over.President Barack Obama has been

re-elected a second term, becom-ing the only democrat to do so since Franklin Roosevelt in 1936.

“Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America the best is yet to come,” said Obama in his acceptance speech.

�e House of Representatives and Senate remain virtually the same as before the election. Republicans will remain in control of the House, and Representative Paul Ryan of Wiscon-sin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, will return to his position as Chairman of the House Bud-get Committee (he was re-elected to his House seat despite losing his vice-presidential bid). Democrats exceeded expectations and strength-ened their control of the Senate, even winning a Senate seat in the solidly Republican state of Indiana.

Since the Iowa Caucuses started the Republican Primaries on January 3, news of the presidential elections has dominated the airwaves. From the daily state by state tracking polls, to the inevitable gaffes, to the unre-lenting advertising barrage, the past months have inundated most Ameri-cans with an onslaught of politics.

�e newly elected Congress and the President face daunting challeng-

es in coming months. Dealing with the political party gridlock and the so called “fiscal cliff” will force both parties to compromise and come to a deal, an already difficult task made even more challenging after a drawn out election season. �ough President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner came close to a bipartisan deal on spending cuts and increased revenue, the deal fell through, and each party blamed the other. �is time, failure to reach a compromise will prove more costly.

Around one trillion dollars in spending cuts split evenly between entitlements, defense spending and tax increases will automatically take effect if both parties can agree. �e Congressional Budget Office and most outside sources agree that fail-ure to avoid the “fiscal cliff” will se-verely slow economic growth.

While both Democrats and Re-publicans desperately want to avoid the massive tax hikes and spend-ing cuts, Washington has remained gridlocked for the past two years, leaving this daunting task to the cur-rent lame-duck session of Congress. If the lame-duck sessions extend the deadline for implementing a deal, as it is widely expected to do, the Presi-dent and the incoming Congress will have a major problem to solve almost immediately after the inauguration. Nevertheless, President Obama looks forward to the future.

“We want our children to live in an America that isn’t burdened by debt...We want to pass on a country that’s

safe and respected and admired...” Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) who

won her first term during the Re-publican surge in the 2010 midterm elections, won reelection, defeating Democratic challenger Matt Varilek 57.5% to 42.5%.

Varilek, previously serving under Sen. Tim Johnson in Washington, was disappointed he wasn’t able to pull off a win, but was still proud of the people serving his campaign.

“I won’t sugar it, I’m deeply disap-pointed our hard work didn’t deliver a better result. But I’m also proud our campaign had the courage to fi-ight the good fight in the face of long

BY PRANAM DEY AND

KADEN GREENFIELD

odds,” said Varilek in an e-mail. “I’m hopeful we’ll stay engaged in some way for the sake of the causes we hold dear.”

In addition, South Dakota voters approved two changes to the state constitution. Money from the ce-ment plant trust fund will now be removed each year (to fund educa-tion) as a percentage, rather than the set amount it used to be. �e second change to the state constitution ex-plicitly requires the state government to submit and pass a balanced bud-get every year. Voters rejected other amendments, including a proposed increase in the sales tax from four to five percent and a system of teacher

South Dakota merit pay. At both the state and national

levels, the end of the election season means politicians will have to focus on governing, rather than campaign-ing. Since the national elections left both parties with some areas of control in Washington, there was not a clear mandate for the policies of either party. �e election results ensure Republicans and Democrats must work together to find common ground, something they have shown little ability to do for the past four years.

For more election coverge see pg. 5

PHOTO PROVIDED BY ABC.NET.AUPresident Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden embrace their election victory.

Veterans abound at LHSCenter Spread

Statesman sounds off on

Twitter usePage 7

Boys Cross Country takes

statePage 22

“Skyfall” and “Wreck-It Ralph” open holiday movie season Page 18

2 NEWSSTATESMAN | November 16, 2012

The LHS school store has changed yet again this year.

“We’ve decided to order new spirit wear, rearrange everything, and bring in items that have been requested by students,” said mar-keting teacher Michael Jones.

Many of the store’s new prod-ucts include Lunchables, Star-bucks-produced cold coffee drinks, warm pretzels with cheese and new Under Armor apparel.

“Having the different products is drawing more interest in the school store, and when we put messages on the announcements

it brings kids in to buy the certain things we are featuring in the ad-vertisement,” said Amy Sweeter, who runs the store full-time.

Sales have increased 33% so far this year, compared to the last three months of the 2011-2012 school year. The school store will continue to change as the year goes on to bolster their already high sales.

“We will always be soliciting student’s opinions and asking the students what they want,” said Jones

LHS students help out in the school store in more ways than

School store makes profitable changesBY MARIE CLAIRE CHRISTENSON

The school store now offers a wider variety of merchandise, including new spirit wear and food and beverages.

PHOTO BY MARIECLAIRE CHRISTENSON

Some LHS students have not been responsible for their textbooks this year or in the past years for that mat-ter.

According to library textbook clerk Russ Fjellanger (“FJ”), many text-books are not currently accounted for that have been issued to students. On any given day at LHS, there are about 25 missing books, meaning they are not accounted for, either with a stu-dent or with Fjellanger.

LHS students have neglected to return textbooks after using them for various classes, and the total is add-ing up for these “floating” books. �e grand total in lost/misplaced text-books is at $6,500, which has accrued over the past several years. Fjellanger says this year’s totals have not been re-corded, and they are currently in the process of recouping losses for books lost at any time, past or present.

“In the summer, Principal Don Ryswyck will send home a letter re-

minding students to turn in their textbooks, or to pay for them. We would primarily prefer the book be returned, but if it can’t be found it should be paid for,” said Fjellanger. “It’s the district’s responsibility to purchase the books, but it is the stu-dents’ responsibility to pay for them if they cannot locate them.”

Fjellanger and the library peer mentors student assistants claim many students do not take into ac-count that a textbook doesn’t belong to them and is in fact paid for by taxpayers. �is fact, says mentor and LHS senior Nadia Elshami, could be a major cause as to why students are not more diligent in returning their lost materials.

“When people lose their textbooks, it’s usually because they’ll throw it in the trunk of their car, or they won’t care about the value, since it’s not theirs,” said Elshami.

�e value of textbooks is not neg-ligible, especially when all the uses

for each and every textbook are con-sidered. �e bottom line, however, is that each book has a tangible value.

“While the cost of books at LHS widely varies, prices of textbooks can be upwards of $100,” said Fjellanger. “Give and take, you have $5 novels, and then you have the highest price for a textbook at over $100, so the av-erage would be right about $75.”

In order to combat the textbook situation, Fjellanger has started the “Got Textbook?” campaign to raise awareness to the problems lost text-books pose for the school. Some stu-dents have been receptive to the cam-paign; textbooks have been turned in since its inception in October. Fjel-langer also hopes to produce an ad room video with students to further educate LHS on the problem the textbook department is facing as text-books get lost or not returned.

Principal Val Fox has approved barcoding for all textbooks. In a few months, the textbook department will

Can’t find your textbook? �at’ll be $6,500BY KADEN GREENFIELD

just manning the cashier. DECA students in particular work in the school store to gain retail experi-ence.

“The students who work in the store are hugely important,” said Sweeter. “They help stock the stock room, stock the shelves, work the cash registers, clean, and help check in inventory when it comes in.”

With the school store having its busiest hours in the mornings and during passing periods for lunch, the new arrangement of the store makes moving throughout the store, and the flow, a bit easier.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL O’HARAWith roughly 115 missing textbooks averaging $50 each, the textbook department at LHS is working to recover those unaccounted for.begin to supplant the current practice of “charging out” books on paper with a system of scanning books to each student. Every checked out text will be traceable to the student, elim-inating the pile of unclaimed books sitting in the textbook room. �e costs of barcoding are still unknown,

and Fjellanger says the system most likely won’t be in use until the 2013-2014 school year.

If a student fails to return a text-book or pay for its replacement, library checkout privileges may be blocked and senior diplomas may be held at graduation.

3NEWS STATESMAN | November 16, 2012

Donald Moeller took 20 steps or so from his holding cell to the ex-ecution chamber. Dressed in orange prison-issue pants and a white t-shirt he walked, fettered, escorted by a guard or possibly two, as though he would try to escape after 22 years of incarceration. After all formalities had been completed, the table was set. �e coroner was given clearance to begin what would end a dark chapter in South Dakota’s history.

Moeller was pronounced dead at 10:24pm, October 30, 2012.

�e execution had been effectively carried out. As Moeller was secured to the table, his last words, allegedly in sarcasm, were “�ey’re my fan club?” He was most likely referring to the group of people who had come to see Moeller’s last breaths for a crime of heinous proportions. Others believe his words were in reference to the cheering inmates in the adjacent facil-ity, and that Moeller had in fact said, “Hear my fan club?” �e right answer will never be known. Nonetheless, the group of witnesses for the execution included the mother of the victim Becky O’Connell, Tina Curl, and her husband, Becky’s stepfather.

Curl and her husband traveled by

car from their home in New York to attend the execution. Curl has suf-fered several health problems since 1992 and was, therefore, unable to fly. She says she has suffered consider-ably since O’Connell’s death, but the execution offered some justice.

“I was anxious [when driving to Sioux Falls], but once he was execut-ed, I felt like justice had been served,” said Curl. “I felt like something had been lifted off of me, yet I still didn’t feel closure. It was more like relief.”

As in the case of many parents who lose their children to savage murder, Curl had some words to offer to those in her same life position, struggling to gain closure in the aftermath.

“Be prepared for the long haul—all the years it takes to get justice,” said Curl. “While I feel better that he [Moeller] won’t be able to kill again, I’ll never feel completely satisfied.”

Curl traveled to the crime scene on the �ursday following the lethal injection with her husband. �ere she said she would play some of the songs O’Connell enjoyed, in addition to si-lently reflecting on the life and death of her daughter.

O’Connell was abducted on May 8, 1990, near a convenience store as she went to purchase sugar for mak-

ing lemonade. Her body was found in a secluded area near Lake Alvin the next day. She was in the nude when authorities discovered her body; there was evidence of rape and her throat had been slashed. �ere were also sev-eral stab wounds.

While Moeller sat in prison for 22 years on Death Row, awaiting execution, he vehemently attempted to ap-peal the crime, until finally admitting guilt to the rape and murder in October, just weeks before his death.

Curl, in an attempt to connect with Moeller in the weeks before the execution, wrote him a letter.

“He didn’t respond, but I didn’t expect him to,” said Curl.

If Moeller were to have written a letter, it would have been during his day’s routine on Death Row, of which the circumstances are quite strict.

According to the policies of the SD Department of Corrections, each capital punishment inmate is held in solitary confinement. �e inmates are given 45 minutes a day for out-of-cell recreation, but can never go outside. Visits are limited to twice a week.

�ere is no doubting the savage rape and murder of O’Connell has had a lasting impression of the South Dakota landscape. For the past two decades seemingly no other crime has compared to the magnitude of which Moeller committed. Convicted of First Degree Murder, kidnapping and aggravated rape, Moeller has gone down in the books as one of the most prolific murderers to ever walk the halls of the Jameson Annex at the State Pen. �e punishment for his crime has caused a stir among many Sioux Falls residents.

�ere were a handful of people protesting the death penalty gathered outside the training complex on that brisk fall evening. Many seniors of voting age at LHS, however, also hold

Inmate #28137: Moeller execution closes grim chapter of SD historyBY KADEN GREENFIELD

PHOTO BY MICHAEL O’HARATina Curl unveils a rendering of how O’Connell would look now, 22 years later.

passionate views regarding the death sentence as well, both in favor and in contention.

“I don’t think that taking another human’s life is a choice the govern-ment should be making, although I do recognize it can provide a sense of closure to those involved,” said senior CJ Point. “But as a general rule, I always regard killing people as unac-ceptable.”

Senior Charlie Mogen holds simi-lar views to Point.

“�e death penalty has no moral rightness. �ere’s nothing right with killing killers. If that were the case, shouldn’t we be killing the execution-ers? It’s impossible to place value on human life,” said Mogen.

For senior Kenzie Trammell, hold-ing a blanket view on the death pen-alty is not right, she says.

“When it comes to the death pen-alty, I think it’s dangerous to take a strict for-or-against stance. I do be-lieve, however, that in this specific case Donald Moeller deserved the death penalty,” said Trammell. “In a case like this, it’s important to look at the crime and decide for yourself if it is evil enough to kill for.”

Crimes punishable by death, re-gardless of one’s view on the con-sequence, are said to be blatantly egregious in American society, espe-cially ones involving children. �ese offenses are often randomly commit-ted. �e compromised circumstances of children are tampered with, and forever changed. Before children can even grow out of the innocence given to them, their lives are taken from them in an act of pure evil.

As the American judicial system continues to convict murderers and sentence them to death, more ques-tions emerge than were present before the fact. Is the U.S. justice system do-ing a morally sound job in bringing closure to the families of victims by choosing to punish with execution? How young is too young to let chil-dren roam the streets alone, exposed to the world at large? Is enough be-ing done to prevent more crimes like the one involving Becky O’Connell from happening ever again, both in South Dakota and in the nation? �e answers may only be found reverber-ating through the hollow space of the execution chamber.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL O’HARAMichael Winder, director of media for the South Dakota State Penitentiary, addresses the press after Moeller’s execution.

Jackrabbit Reception12/2 | Sioux Falls Convention Center

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5NEWS STATESMAN | November 16, 2012

Senior Sara Atske was not born in Ethiopia, but her parents were born and raised there, and Atske still has many family members there. Atske is preparing for her first trip to visit Africa, and she is taking school sup-

plies with her for underprivileged students.

Atske is also selling wristbands that come in red, yellow and green, the colors of the Ethiopian flag, with ‘ETHIOPIA’ inscribed on each one. As of this month, she has

raised more than $275, selling the bracelets at $2 for one and $5 for three.

“I started selling them at my mom’s workplace and my aunt’s store,” said Atske. “Ethiopians are very proud of their culture, and any Ethiopian you meet would be more than willing to talk about their heri-tage.”

�is has attributed to easy sales thus far. Atske has not yet met

her goal of $600 by the time of her trip in June of next year.

With the currency ex-

BY MADDIE SCHULTZ

Atske fundraising for close-to-home(land) cause

very proud of their culture, and any Ethiopian you meet would be more than willing to talk about their heri



With the currency ex

Africa, and she is taking school sup- one. As of this month, she has very proud of their culture, and any Africa, and she is taking school sup month, she has very proud of their culture, and any Ethiopian you meet would be more than willing to talk about their heritage.”



With the currency ex

change being one US dollar to 18 Ethiopian Birr, a dollar can go a long way.

For this young girl looking to make a difference, the idea was as close as her TV, and it occurred to her over the summer.

“Oprah is a celebrity I really look up to. I knew she had established a school for young girls in South Af-rica,” said Atske of her inspiration.

Although Atske is aware of the scandals that have plagued Win-frey’s school since its establishment, Atske aims to make a difference in a local school, as Oprah tried to do. �e school receiving these donations is not set in stone, but Atske has plenty of family members who will help her make an educated decision. Most schools don’t have supplies ac-cessible to everyone. Teachers usu-

ally teach by making students repeat the information and memorizing the lessons.

Filled with nerves, but just as much excitement, Atske patiently awaits the end of the school year for her trip to Ethiopia. �e trip will last a mere month, but it will be a life-changing, memorable experi-ence for Atske.

“I am really excited to meet family I’ve never seen before, and connect-ing with the students is something I look forward to as well,” said Atske.

Atske and her family are happy Sara will get to know her Ethiopi-an heritage and donate money for a good cause. Atske is planning to make it a lifetime mission to help students in her home country and elsewhere where education suffers because of a lack of funding.

Twitter takes nasty turn on election nightBY KADEN GREENFIELD

Americans made history on Nov. 6 when the first African-American president was re-elected for a second term. Barack Obama, seen by many as a more progressive, hip reformer of the twenty-first century, benefited from undying support from both parties in winning the election. �e president’s challenger in the election also saw a large following that mani-fested itself on Election Day. While most Americans who voted had le-gitimate reasons for choosing their respective candidate, Twitter become the unofficial outlet to voice pessi-mistic, politically charged opinions regarding the election results.

“I personally tried to stay off of social media during election night. I love healthy discussion, but it had gone past that point,” said senior Ben Gertner.

Gertner said he believed both parties chastised the other for their

opinions pertaining to their respec-tive political parties, with no intent to persuade. He expressed discontent at how conceited the tweets of many people were on Tuesday.

“I noticed how close-minded a majority of my peers were and it honestly made me sad.”

Other LHS students, like sopho-more Christine Keller, were not as taken aback by the surge of political rhetoric via social networking sites.

“I guess I wasn’t surprised [at the number of tweets on Election Day]. �e country is so divided that it would be expected,” said Keller. “People are more apt to express their opinions on Twitter.”

According to Twitter, the amount of tweets per minute (TPM) reached 327,453 at 10:19pm CST on Elec-tion Day. �is is, most certainly, far more than ever before; the amount of tweets sent on Election Day four years ago (Nov. 4, 2008) represents

only six minutes of tweets sent in Au-gust of this year. Since the campaign season began, Twitter has seen an overall spike in the amount of TPM, in addition to an unprecedented amount of opinion concerning per-sonal reactions to the events shap-ing the election, and the candidates themselves. Gertner said he thinks the large volume of opinion-centered tweets can be attributed to the ano-nymity of the Internet.

“It’s always been easier to bully people that way,” said Gertner. “However, I think some students our age are growing out of hiding behind social media and are able to face problems and arguments in person.”

If students are in fact hiding be-hind the mask of social media, they will certainly succeed in minimiz-ing their respectability among their peers. Gertner believes likewise.

“I tend to side with the people who can support their ideas in per-

son. It’s so easy to come up with a response when it can be thought out and typed,” he said.

Attesting to the views of both Keller and Gertner, there were sev-eral brash claims on Twitter Tuesday night that would otherise not have been accepted. Anti-Obama support-ers posted racist comments about the President. On the left, there were also comments brazenly critical of Romney.

“You have those people saying Romney can’t be trusted and he’s just for the rich, also as much as he hates women and likes to push grandma off the cliff, and it’s voiced through Twitter,” said Keller.

�e purpose of social networking is for people to communicate with their peers in a dynamic, healthy fashion. While political opinions can certainly fit this bill, there comes a point where individuals need to think before they speak.

“People are passionate about what they believe in and it oftentimes comes across too strong. Not every person necessarily meant to direct

hate towards another, but some people were passionate enough that it came across as hate, or even turned into hate in the end,” said Gertner. “�ink before you type.”

“If students are in fact hiding behind the mask of social media, they will certainly succeed in minimizing their re-spectability among their peers.”

6 OPINION/EDITORIALSTATESMAN | November 16, 2012

Don’t sweat the small stuffBY MAGGI IBIS, STAFF WRITER

Haven’t I seen this already?BY ELLEN KOESTER, STAFF WRITER

had the prettiest dress, or who got asked in the cutest way. It’s also not about who spent the most money or who looked best. �e reason we have school dances is so everyone can get together, take pictures and enjoy a great night with close friends as well as the LHS student body.

I have come to realize that as an upperclassman this year, my days at LHS are numbered, and the most

i m p o r t a n t thing is no longer stress-ing about all the de-tails that go into winter formal. �e most impor-tant thing is just going

and having a good time, because those memories are going to be the ones we will remember most when looking back on high school, not the small details.

knew when everything was going to happen, and there were no climactic surprises. Some readers may enjoy this but many others won’t appreci-

ate the predictable plots.I doubt I even need to mention

the horrific sequels Hollywood has tried to sell to us. “Taken 2,” “Pirates of the Caribbean 4”, “Indiana Jones 4,” “Men in Black 2” and so on. It seems as if the higher the number at the end of the title is, the less enjoy-

Here are two words that sum up modern-day Hollywood: déjà vu.

Lately Hollywood has been giv-ing audiences an abundance of sequels and remakes or movies inspired by a popular book or true story. “�e Hunger Games,” “Taken 2,” “Total Recall,” “Flight” and “Paranormal Activity 4” are a small sample of recently released movies that make audiences stop, scratch their heads and think ‘Haven’t I seen this already?’

One of the most common kinds of déjà vu flicks are movies based on books. �ese can be a recipe for di-saster. “�e Hunger Games,” while a good movie, was under a lot of pres-sure to please its six jillion fans. �e movie followed the book a little too closely and therefore nothing about it was new. �ose who read the book

Every year around �anksgiving, the buzz around school turns to the subject of winter formal. �e buzz soon becomes a frantic rush by the end of November, for both boys and girls at LHS. For boys, the rush in-volves finding a lucky lady to ask, and for girls, it’s taking care of basi-cally everything else

But ladies, is it really all worth it? I still remem-ber my winter formal check-list from last year that I referred to weeks before the event: find a dress, find shoes, get my nails and hair done, etc. �e days lead-ing up to winter formal at LHS are hectic, but my question is, what is it all for?

It is easy to forget the purpose of these school dances is not to see who

Note to future generations: think for yourselvesBY DYLAN ENSZ, STAFF WRITER

America claims to be a country of choice. Democracy supposedly gives us all a choice in how the country is led. We are free to practice what-ever religion we choose, so long as we break no laws in doing so. But while the government may allow us to choose our own religion and political party, quite frequently our own upbringing will not.

90 percent of children raised with Protestantism remain Prot-estant. 82 Percent of Catholic children remain Catholic and 85 percent of Jewish children remain Jewish. In an ideal world, parents would advocate true religious free-dom and education of all faiths. �is would, theoretically, lead to the same percentage of children from Catho-lic, Jewish, Protestant, Atheist and Muslim upbringings becoming Prot-

estant. �e same percent of Mus-lims and Protestants would become Jewish; the same percent of Atheists and Christians would become Athe-

ist. Ultimately, young adults could choose for themselves, free from bias and parental propaganda.

True religious choice can be easily and effectively achieved. While par-ents could still practice their religion and teach it to their children, they would also expose their children to other religions and educational text

regarding these religions. My par-ents are a shining example of this: while my brother and I lived in a Christian household, we were never

forced into devout Christian-ity. We were allowed to choose what to believe.

Similar statistics exist for political beliefs, demonstrat-ing that more than 75 percent of children will grow up to be-come a member of the same political party as their parents. While much of this can be ex-plained away as these children

sharing socioeconomic status and religious beliefs with their parents, the fact that only one of every four children will change political parties sheds validity on the statement that many Americans mimic their parents’ beliefs rather than freely thinking.

Of course this idea isn’t unwar-

“...those memo-ries are going to be the ones we will remem-ber most when looking back on high school.”

“As long as these movies keep lining the executives’ pockets, they’ll keep making them.”

ranted. We place a lot of trust and security in our parents to steer us the “right” way. But I still believe an ideal system would lead to the same percentage of children raised in Re-publican and Democrat households becoming Democrats, and the same percentage from each background becoming Republicans.

Do the world a favor and think

for yourself. You’re not actually con-tributing to society if you’re blindly

toting your parents’ beliefs without truly questioning them. Research both your own religion and other religions. Question the stances of each political party and ask yourself which you agree with more. And when you have children of your own, please don’t baptize them when they’re babies and haven’t the slight-est idea who “God” or “Jesus” are. Please don’t threaten to disown them if they don’t vote for Mitt Romney in the upcoming election. Instead, encourage them to research religions and politics and decide which most closely fit their morals and beliefs. Our world can’t move forward with great thinking unless we’re truly al-lowed to think.

Only when we think for ourselves and allow others to do the same can our society advance.

“Our world can’t move forward with great thinking un-less we’re truly al-lowed to think.”

able the movie will be. Although there are exceptions to this rule, the majority are terrible.

However, as long as these movies keep lining the executive’s pockets, they’ll keep making them. �ey do try to make the movies good, but it often doesn’t work because they’re trying to recreate the origi-nal. For example, “Men in Black 2” did everything the original did. �e sequel had gross-out aliens, Will Smith, banter and the weird pug dog thing. It tried to be the first “Men in Black.” But audienc-

es didn’t want to see the same movie again; they wanted something like the original with a new twist.

Hollywood needs to put more original movies in our theaters. It’s nice to see the occasional sequel or remake, but it’s better to watch something totally new.

Hollywood using same formulas time and again

“Ultimately, young adults could choose for themselves, free from bias and parental propo-ganda.”

7OP/ED STATESMAN | November 16, 2012

Ever heard of John Isner, Roger Federer or Andy Roddick? What about Tim Tebow, Pey-ton Manning or Tom Brady?

In today’s football crazed society, some people seem to have forgotten about other ath-letes. Professional tennis player Roger Federer, currently ranked #2 in the world, has won a record 40 Association of Tennis Players World Tour finals and has won 17 Grand Slam titles, a record in professional tennis. Andy Roddick, who announced his retirement from profes-sional tennis earlier this year, hit a shocking 150 mph serve in the 2004 Davis Cup against Stefan Koubek. While this was one of the

fastest serves in professional tennis thus far, Roddick’s fame seemed to take a backseat to “Tebowing,” started by New York Jets quarter-back Tim Tebow.

“Tebowing” did not set any sort of record in football, yet it managed to quickly sky-rocket Tebow’s popularity. During the 2009 US Open semifinal match, Federer hit a shot between his legs which breezed past his oppo-nent, Novak Djokovic, and put Federer one point away from being in the finals. Various tennis professionals, coaches and even Federer himself declared this to be greatest shot ever in his professional tennis career. Although the shot led to major YouTube fame and world-

Serving up some tennis historyBY SAN CHANDRA, STAFF WRITER

wide popularity for Federer, many Americans still question, “Who is Roger Federer?”

Yes, it’s true that tennis isn’t as frequently televised as football in the U.S. and major tour-naments aren’t as well-advertised as football games. �ere are only a few top-ranked Ameri-

Every once in a while on my Twitter feed, there is an extremely awkward con-versation going on: A Twitter-battle. A Twitter-battle, by my definition, is an argument between two or more people’s tweets that takes up at least five minutes of Twitter feed. Some are even more extreme and go on for hours, at which point follow-ers are lost. But here is what I have to say to instigators of Twitter-battles: the per-son you’re arguing with probably doesn’t care about your opinion. You won’t change their mind, you won’t gain a band of sup-porters. All you’ll do is take up the entire feed and lose followers.

If someone posts something controver-

sial, you can simply let them know that you disagree. But you probably won’t change their mind, so why have an extended argu-ment about it?

Subtweets have also become a problem in the Twitter world. A subtweet is a tweet

that is aimed directly at someone, but their name is not mentioned. Responding to a subtweet aimed at a person is a big fat DON’T, because it is likely to cause a Twitter-battle. As much as people love dra-ma, it gets old. Fast.

The advice I have for you, Twitter-folks, is to avoid battles at all costs. Don’t have an extended argument over someone’s tweets, and don’t tweet something that will get you into trouble with someone; if you do say something controversial, prepare to be ar-gued with. Just keep long battles outside of the Twitterverse.

First world problem, first rate annoyance: tweeting with anger never a good idea

When I scroll through my Twitter newsfeed, all I see are tweets about pumpkin spice lattes and questions like “who wants to cuddle?” Honestly? Tweeting lately has become less and less original, and the more of the same tweets I see, the more I don’t want to check Twitter.

With the fall season at its peak, many people appreciate typical fall activities, and although everyone enjoys doing these things, it does not mean they need to tweet about them. I appreciated the first tweet about fall I saw, but the next 500 tweets lost my com-plete attention. �e other tweets that can cer-

BY KAYLIE ERICSON, STAFF WRITER

BY MACKENZIE JONES, STAFF WRITER

#TwitterProblems

cans in professional tennis, but let’s not for-got the American players who have changed the game of professional tennis forever. Pete Sampras, known as “the king of swing,” was ranked #1 in the world for 286 consecutive weeks during his 14 year professional tennis career, a record for over 15 years. Andre Agassi won an Olympic gold medal in 1996 for the U.S. and he is one of the few men in the world to win at least four major titles on clay, grass

and hard courts. Before planning a big party for the much

anticipated Superbowl this year, spend some time brushing up on your tennis knowledge. �e Australian Open starts Jan 16.

tainly annoy an avid tweeter are the “national” tweets. For example: National Best Friend Day, National Sibling Day, and even National

Pet Day. I would call for a Stop the Stupid Tweets Day.

�e most aggravating of all Twitter “no-no’s” is the misuse of hashtags. �ese are used when a person writes a phrase or word using the number sign (#) as a prefix. If #YourHashtagHasTooManyWordsInIt you need to re-evaluate your tweet, because it’s go-ing to take people too long to figure out what your hashtag even says. And if you’re #try-ingtofit #toomanyhashtags #inonetweet, you should just delete your account. #NoOneWil-lFollowYouIfYouDo�is. (Seriously though, how hard was it to read that paragraph?)

Tweeters of today need to come up with original and exciting tweets everyone will ap-preciate reading. If not, Twitter will become the new Myspace: just another fad of the past.

“If you do say something controversial, perpare to be argued with.”

“Tweeters of today need to come up with original and exciting tweets everyone will appreciate reading.”

“In today’s football crazed society, some people seem to have forgotten about other athletes.”

8 OP/EDSTATESMAN | November 16, 2012

If your diet advisory comes from a morning news show, it’s time to reassess.

Most of what the “experts say”, honestly, are obvious facts that are taught to us sometime in early grade school.

Believing that eating salads and not laying around the house are revolutionary health dis-coveries is a crude habit, frankly. Everything media (local and national) inform their view-ers of the obvious by occasionally having health segment blips on something of this sort - which really come off as filler stories because it seems they don’t have anything else to report. We need more exercise? Yeah, we know that.

One of the news channels ‘tips and tools’ to a healthier life held the headline “TV and soda: Small bad habits cause excess pounds.” Now this does, in fact, have a point, which is that many unhealthy patterns lead to some ex-tra weight; but don’t most people know that? It isn’t a breakthrough that being lazy, in any amount, leads to problems sometime down the road.

Another headline - “Want to lose weight? Eat off smaller plates!” �ey very well could have titled it “Smaller portions equals less food – don’t super-size it America.” It’s a shame, though; small plates don’t stop Americans from

obtaining their desired quantity. What is to stop them from loading them up again at the buffet line? Let’s not complicate it – we’re sim-ply not tricked by the small plate trick.

An alternative to worrying over specific things to do differently in your life is, quite possibly obvious, but simply moderation. In a perspective, it seems like moderation could be

the key to life: moderate your sleep and you’ll feel better; moderate what you eat and you won’t cause later health issues; moderate how hard you work and it won’t’ turn the rest of your day upside-down.

Americans seem to always want excess, well, everything. Heed what moderation means and how easy it is to keep track of, then see how quickly these “health news alerts” will seem silly.

Moderation is key to healthy livingBY PAT BOWDEN, STAFF WRITER

If you think of your body as less than perfect, then you have an incorrect im-age of “perfect.” I don’t mean that like the old cliché, “You’re perfect just the way you are.” If you can’t seem to be satisfied with your image, and struggle to make it look a certain way, chances are your body isn’t supposed to look that way or you have

widely unrealistic expectations and/or a poor self-image. Youmay blame it on poor diet and not enough exercise, but that is only part of it.

There are several very healthy body shapes, such as tall, thin, stocky, muscular, pear-shaped, and so on. They are all healthy

and normal. Please consider then that the stereotypical model figure is only one of many healthy figures and their pictures are almost always photoshopped. Some people naturally look model-like. They don’t have to try, they just do. So if you inhabit one of those shapes that don’t fit your precon-ceived idea of the “desired mold,” then ac-cept your body and start to think of your shape as just as good because it is.

Now let’s get back to the, “You’re perfect just the way you are,” saying. When some-one says that to a girl, the usual response is something like, “No, I’m not,” and then females start pointing out the reasons why. Females fail to see their own perfection and are often seeking out unhealthy images.

Now I want you to reconsider the open-ing paragraph of this article: If you think of your body as less than perfect, then you have an incorrect image of “perfect”. The problem is that we don’t think about our bodies with logic. The fact is, our bodies have one mold, and one mold only. It’s just up to us to make it a healthy one. Own your body-type. Be proud of what you are.

Please see your beautyBY TAYLOR GLASOE, STAFF WRITER

“Please consider that the stereo-typical model figure is only one of many healthy figures.”

“It isn’t a break-through that being lazy, in any amount, leads to problems sometime down the road.”

1/2 PAGE AUGIE

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LHS.11.2012.v2.indd 1 11/1/2012 12:31:14 PM

9FEATURE STATESMAN | November 16, 2012

Profile:teacher?’ I realized that if he thinks I can do it, maybe I can do it,” Carlson said.

Carlson’s passion led him to Da-kota Wesleyan University in Mitch-ell, SD, where he became the first in his family to go to college. He also found success as a member of a band called “Classmen,” who together ap-peared on television four times dur-ing their career.

�e LHS band teacher of more than a decade has enjoyed the kids he has taught, and Carlson says he is thankful he could connect with high school students through music.

“�e kids are good to me, and they’re good for me,” Carlson said. “I’m a 16-year-old guy in a 66-year-old body, so it’s fun to mess around with them.”

In addition to connecting with the students, Carlson has many fond memories with his band students that he will remember long after he

retires. “I’ll never forget our performance

at the Youth in Music Field Compe-tition at the Metrodome in Minne-apolis,” said Carlson. “It was my last marching band performance. It was really emotional.”

Carlson plans on keeping himself very busy once he retires from teach-ing, by going to rummage sales, get-ting involved with fundraising and having more time to travel with his wife. Although he is looking forward to the free time and relaxation, he will always remember and cherish the memories he has from his time at LHS.

“I used to drive by this building thinking of it as being the greatest band program in the area, and I nev-er thought I would get to teach here with my son,” Carlson said. “It’s been a great experience, and I am honored to have worked here.”

Students and faculty will say goodbye to head band director Bob Carlson at the end of this school year. He is retiring after 14 years of band instruction at LHS. Carlson has made numerous contributions to LHS, including building and main-taining the reputation of the LHS band as an outstanding and highly respected program.

Before his time at LHS, Carlson spent 21 years teaching in Pipestone, Minn, followed by nine years in Park-ston, SD. Carlson grew up in New York and was expected to work in a steel mill after high school. Because no one in his family had gone to col-lege before him, he was pressured to do the same. His love for music was recognized by his own band teacher in high school, whom he credits to giving him the idea to pursue music.

“My band teacher asked me one day, ‘Why don’t you become a band

BY MAGGI IBIS

Living legend Bob Carlson has been a part of the LHS family for over a decade. He has led thousands of students through what has become one of the best high school band programs in the United States.

Over, and over and over again: Statesman staff joins marching band as they prepare for RosebowlBY MADDY RYAN

You know it’s going to be a tough first day of marching band when one of the first things that you hear Bob Carlson say is, “We are going to do this over, and over, and over, and over again until you puke!”

�roughout rehearsal both Bob and Dan Carlson announced, through their megaphones, many different motivational state-ments to keep the band in check. “�e entire state of South Dakota will be watching you,” said Bob. “And their dogs,” added Dan. “So don’t mess up,” said Bob.

Going into this rehearsal, never having marched a day in my life, I was looking forward to it, excited for it, in fact. Little did I know, this rehearsal would be the near death of

me.�e Tournament of Roses Parade

route is roughly five and a half miles long. At this rehearsal, I marched about half of the parade route. I couldn’t imagine doing what I did at this rehearsal twice without any stops, as the band will do in Califor-nia.

In preparation for the route in Pas-adena, California, the LHS march-ing band marches through the side streets around LHS. As we marched down the residential streets all of the residents came out of their homes to watch us, some even from their roof tops so they could get a better view of the famous LHS marching band.

Near the end of rehearsal, I recall one of the Carlsons reminding the band members of their 7 a.m. re-

hearsal they had after the long week-end. He also didn’t resist mentioning that the temperature was supposed to be around 15°F that morning.

By the end of it all, my body ached from head to toe. I am not the type of person who exercises often, so this assignment was definitely a challenge. As Zac and I were leaving rehearsal, all I could think about was lying down on my couch and eating all of the junk food I could find in my house. From this experience, I have gained so much admiration for our LHS marching band members. For anyone who thinks that march-ing band can’t be that difficult, try marching in any one of the 245 LHS band members’ shoes for a rehearsal; that’ll change your mind very quick-ly.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL O’HARAMembers of the LHS marching band help Statesman staff members Zac Campbell and Maddy Ryan with the basics of marching.

Bob Carlson

PHOTO PROVIDED BY RONDA HAUSHILD

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY DAN CARLSON

10 FEATURESTATESMAN | November 16, 2012

What you will need: -Whiteboard -Hot-glue gun and glue sticks-Package of round magnets (�ey can be found at any dollar store or Hobby Lobby.)

Steps:1. Choose a top that would look good fringed.2. Try on the top and decide the best place to start the fringe. �e common place to start is right beneath the stomach area. Mark the spot to make it clearer when cut-ting.3. Lay the top across a flat surface and cut off the bot-tom hem of the shirt.4. Start cutting upwards to-wards the mark. Ideally do the front and back at the same time. Try and make the

Magnetic-Makeup Board Fringe Top

Steps:1. Gather up the makeup to include in this project and turn on the hot glue gun.2. Once the hot glue gun is heated up, glue one magnet to the back of each makeup con-tainer (Some may need more than one magnet depending on the size of the container.)3. Once the glue has dried, hang up makeup to the board.

Instead of throwing a shirt in a pile of “clothes I don’t love any-more,” students can create something they will continue to wear.

Do-It-Youself: The project phenomenon

What you will need:-An old t-shirt of any color. Men’s size XL works best-Sharp scissors

Definition of DIY: “Do It Yourself ” is the building, modifying or repairing of something without the aid of experts or professionals. DIY has historically been used more for home improvement projects. However, recently, the term DYI has taken on a wider significance that covers a broad, but simple range of tasks. Due to websites like Pinterest, the DIY project phenomenon has become more common in the construction of inexpensive decorations and fashion accessories people of all ages can create.

T-Shirt ScarfWhat you will need: -T-shirt/ tank top -A good pair of scissors

Steps:1. Cut the bottom seam off the shirt.2. Beginning at the under-arms, cut the shirt horizon-tally all the way across. 3. Cut the shirt into 13-18 strips of about one inch. �ese cuts do not have to be precise, and it is okay to have uneven or jagged shirts. 4. Stretch the strips, aiming to make them the same length.5. Cut the last strip in half and remove any remaining seams6. Use this loop to neatly wrap around the strips so they are

Also include inspiring quotes and sayings on the board to make you feel good about yourself as you get ready for the day.

fringes equal in length.5. Once finished with step four, pull on the fringes to make them look slightly thin-ner. Be gentle, or else you risk ripping the fringes off.

fastened together. 7. At the end of the wrapping, tie creative knot to secure the strips together. 8. Use the other half of the strip and repeat step seven on the other side of the scarf.

Since white-boards are already magnetic, there are only three easy steps to complete this project.

Taking an old t-shirt and transforming it into an accessory I can wear with anything is an excellent way to save money.


Drawing: Kaitlyn Southwick

BY KAYLIE ERICSON

Some consider drawing a hobby or a way to pass time in a hopelessly boring class, but other students consider it a lifestyle. Senior Kaitlyn Southwick, one of the many talented artists at LHS, specializes in drawing.

Southwick’s art has been showcased around Sioux Falls, as well as within her family.

“My mom hangs up my work around the house,” said Southwick.

Southwick also plans on studying art in col-lege, hoping to become an art therapist. Art therapy involves using forms of art as a thera-peutic pastime for people in need, specifically hospitalized children and the elderly.

Inspiration comes in different forms for every artist.

“I’m inspired when I come across certain pictures that I like because I want to expand on the idea of them,” said Southwick. “Right now I’m working on a picture of a girl. I’m not even halfway done, and I’ve been working on it since the second week of school.”

Southwick is no stranger to the idea of how much time and effort goes into drawing. “�e most challenging part for me is that I’m a perfectionist. It takes a lot of time to go back and make everything perfect. Last year I did a drawing of myself, and it took me 50-60 hours.” For young artists, Southwick gives ad-vice about taking classes and practicing. “If you think it’s good, it’s good. Don’t wor-ry about what everyone else has to say,” said Southwick.

Photography: Nick WestphalenBY CARLY HOHMAN

�ey say a picture is worth a thousand words, and senior Nick Westphalen has a talent in capturing a story in the smallest time frame. He furthered his interest by taking Photogra-phy I.

�ere is more to taking a picture than sim-ply pressing a button. �ere is a science behind getting the perfect pic.

“It is difficult getting the perfect lighting, the best angle, and the focus right,” West-phalen said.

Westphalen’s favorite thing to photograph is nature and action shots of people.

Westphalen said, “My favorite photo I have taken is a silhouette photo of one of my friends snowboarding, his body is black and everything

else is in color.”According to Westphalen, an adequate pho-

tograph consist of good lighting and the right contrast between focused and unfocused areas to bring ones eye into the picture. However, Adobe’s Photoshop can transform some pic-tures into whole new perspectives

“Photoshop has definitely changed pictures for the better. If it wasn’t for Photoshop 90% of my photos would not be what they are now,” said Westphalen.

Westphalen plans on continuing with pho-tography.

“I would like to do photography in the fu-ture, probably not as a profession but definitely as a hobby on the side,” said Westphalen.

PHOTO BY MADDIE SCHULTZ

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Pottery: Luke VeatchBY MADDY RYAN

Sculpting his masterpieces, day by day, se-nior Luke Veatch creates his original pieces of artwork through pottery.

“I always liked art,” said Veatch. “One sub-ject of art that I liked greater than painting or drawing was definitely pottery.”

Veatch first began his hobby of potting here at LHS.

“I started in 3D design my sophomore year,” said Veatch. “I didn’t put all of my effort into pottery until my junior year. �e change in classes definitely gets me more opportunities to work on my own.”

During these classes, Veatch works on his artwork intensely with having only an hour long class period to create a piece of art.

With the past few years on his shoulders, Veatch has gained quite a gathering of all of his pottery pieces.

“I have a giant collection of all of my pieces,” said Veatch. “At the end of the year, I plan to have a huge sale with a majority of them in it.”

After high school Veatch plans on continu-ing with pottery career, and gains inspiration for his pieces from many subjects.

“My inspiration for a majority of my work is other historic pieces of pottery,” said Veatch. “I am really inspired by old Incan and Aztec pottery with native symbols and patterns on

them.”A majority of Veatch’s creations are fully

functional and practical pieces of art. “I love to create functional pieces of art that

have a purpose,” said Veatch. “I tend to make a lot of cups and pots. I like the physical as-pect of creating pottery. With it being 3D, I can basically go anywhere with it. I am not as contained as I would be if I were drawing or painting.”


LHS artists use their talents for creation

PHOTO BY MICHAEL O’HARA

12 FEATURESTATESMAN | November 16, 2012

BY CARLY HOHMAN

Will and Patrick RoseBY PAT BOWDEN

To an outside spectator, it would seem that fraternal twins Will and Patrick Rose are as complete oppo-sites: one has more outdoor-orientat-ed hobbies, the other more indoors. �ey are, in fact, different, but share a life-long friendship that can only be described as being brothers.

“Patrick is a funny kid so living

LHS Freshmen Sydney Sweeter and Andrew Sweeter are one of the pairs of fra-ternal twins at LHS. �e Sweeters say they are very close and love being twins because they know each other well and can help each other with homework.

Sydney Sweeter, the older twin by eight minutes, said,

“Not many people are twins so it’s unique to be able to say I

am.”

As twins, Andrew Sweeter and Sydney Sweeter have a very close bond and have a few things in com-mon, other than their appearance.

“We always know what the other is thinking and sometimes we will answer a question the same even though we have the class at different times,” said Sydney Sweeter.

Although they look alike, these twins have their own personalities. �ey have separate interests and hang out with different people.

“I am outgoing and talkative while Sydney is very athletic and a

with him can be a blast,” said older twin Will Rose. “It’s nice having someone to talk with about anything or just to chill with.”

Will Rose enjoys the company of his younger brother even though they don’t hang out with the same friends.

“We used to hang with the same group of people, but that all changed when we learned how to drive,” said Patrick Rose.

�e younger twin claims to em-brace this change of pace; but their childhood past of Legos and Poke-mon cards won’t be forgotten.

“Twins are stereotyped all the time and are thought of as the same,” said Will Rose. “�e truth is our per-sonalities are not similar at all.”

For the Rose twins, occasional fights came with their brotherhood - but that hasn’t changed the views they have of each other.

“It’s great having someone to have bro-time with whenever, we still fight to this day,” said Patrick Rose. “His stuff becomes my stuff and my stuff becomes his, and we still fight over all of it.”

Andrew and Daniel SpanglerBY CARLY HOHMAN

Andrew and Sydney Sweeter

Fraternal twins Daniel and Andrew Spangler were born one minute apart, with Andrew Spangler being the older. �ese brothers are seemingly connected at the hip and are virtually indistinguishable.

Like many sets of twins, Andrew and Daniel Spangler are very alike, but these brothers have their own in-terests and identities. Andrew wants to be a chef, while Daniel is

into technology.“In sixth

grade we

started becoming our own people be-cause there were more students,” said Daniel Spangler. “�at was when we started making different friends.”

�ere are many misconceptions about twins that some people as-sume are true and apply to every set of twins.

“Some false stereotypes about twins are people think we are the same person, that we have telepathic pow-ers, and that we can feel each other’s pain,” said Daniel Spangler.

�ere are always challenges that come with being a sibling, but by being a twin it can get a little more

frustrating at times. At times people think twins are like the same person and have the same mentality.

“In middle school, sometimes people wouldn’t respect us or treat us as only half a person,” said An-drew Spangler. “If one of us did something wrong, we both would get in trouble.”

Nevertheless the brothers say they love being twins and have a friendship that will last a lifetime.

Andrew Spangler said, “He is like a friend, and he understands

me more than other people.”

Bev Harvey and Barbara WenigerBY MADDY RYAN

About eight years ago LHS Eng-lish teacher, Bev Harvey’s sister was in town, and they decided to play a little trick on the teacher’s unsus-pecting students. Harvey was in her room almost to the time when school started, so the kids saw her and knew what she was wearing. �en, just be-fore the bell rang, she met her twin sister, Barb Weniger, in the bathroom where they switched clothes. Unan-

nounced to the students, Weniger came in through the doorway with her sister’s clothes on. Harvey stood out in the hallway watching her sis-ter do what she typically did; Weni-ger gave Harvey’s students a hand out and talked about the due date. Harvey, meanwhile, watched the stu-dents, some of whom were looking very quizzical, like something wasn’t

quite right, but they didn’t know exactly what it was. Finally, after about ten minutes Weniger said, “Well, we have a guest here” and in walked Harvey.

Much to her stu-dents’ amazement, they learned Bev Har-vey has a twin sister, and they were victim to a short twins-switch prank.

Identical twins, Bev Harvey and Bar-

bara Weniger are separated by a mere four minutes.

“I do enjoy being a twin,” said Har-vey. “Although, it is hard to compare it to anything else since I have always been a twin.”

Even though Weniger lives in Bos-ton, Mass., and Harvey in Sioux Falls, they are always close, no matter the distance.

“We are great friends,” said Har-vey. “We talk almost every day on the phone.”

Growing up Bev and Barb were al-ways told to be their own individual selves, unlike most twins growing up.

“My dad is also a twin, and he didn’t like always being compared to his brother. As a result, he made a real effort to tell us as we were growing up that ‘you don’t have to do everything the same,’” said Harvey. “As much as he wanted us to be good friends, he didn’t want us to feel that we should be mirror images of each other, and I really appreciate that now.”

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Sydney SweeterWill and Patrick Rose

PHOTO PROVIDED BY BEV HARVEYBarb Weniger and Bev Harvey

Daniel and Andrew Spangler

Sometimes they share the same genetic code, often times they share the same childhood. Some are identical, some fraternal, and some even mirror.


little mellower,” said Andrew Sweet-er.

Like all siblings, Sydney Sweeter and Andrew Sweeter say they some-times have their differences.

“It’s difficult when I’m annoyed with him, and I have to see him during class. I can’t get rid of him or avoid him,” said Sydney Sweeter.

In the end, the twins claim to en-joy each other’s company and have more positive outlooks on being twins than negative.

Andrew Sweeter said, “�e pro of being a twin is that everyone thinks

Trevin and Taylor HarmacekBY HEATHER HAUSHILD

Two hours and one minute sep-erate the two tall LHS senior twins, Trevin and Taylor Harmacek. For the most part, the Harmaceks say they enjoy being twins.

“I guess I don’t mind being a twin. I don’t know anything differ-ent,” said Trevin Harmacek. “Grow-ing up I just thought it was normal. I just assumed everyone else was like us. I can’t imagine life without a twin.”

Although they are physically similar, there are differences between them.

“Everyone assumes that we are ex-actly the same person, but we defi-nitely are not. We have generally the same sense of humor, but we differ in just about every other aspect of our personalities,” said Taylor Har-macek.

By virtue of twin-hood, twins are rarely alone during childhood and teen years.

“Being around someone all the time can get annoying. If you’re around someone enough they definitely can get annoying. We’re not going to the same college. It may be hard, but I think it will be good for us,” said Trevin Har-macek.

Although they probably would hate to admit it, the Harmaceks are more alike than they think. Both have experienced seemingly tele-pathic situations.

“Sometimes we say the same thing at the same time,” replied both Har-maceks.

While Taylor claims that they are more opposite, Trevin says

they are more similar. Most people, especially those

who don’t know them, can’t tell

the Harmaceks apart.

“We get mixed up all

of the time. It’s usually by those who don’t know us, or those who haven’t seen us in years,” said Tay-

lor. �e Harmaceks

get along very well for being brothers.

“It’s not so much like we’re brothers, but best friends,” said Trevin Har-macek.

it’s really cool, and we have double the fun at birthday parties. �e con is that people think we can read each other’s minds.”

When college comes around, the Sweeter twins say they hope to stay close even though they won’t see each other as much.

Sydney Sweeter said, “It will be weird not seeing him every day and not having the same classes together.”

Emma and Anna ArcherBY MACKENZIE JONES

For identical twins Emma and Anna Archer, being one another’s best friend is their favorite part of being twins.

“We enjoy doing the little things together, like playing Wii and hang-ing out at home,” said Anna Archer, who is older than Emma by 80 sec-onds.

Growing up together was always interesting for the two of them. �ey were always dressed the same as tod-dlers and the only way they could b e identified was by the different

color of the hairbands they wore. 25%

of identical twins end up being mir-ror twins, which means they have a lot of the same features that mirror each other on opposite sides of the body. Features can include right-and-left handedness and birth marks on op-posite sides of the body.

“It’s really freaky,” said Anna Ar-cher, “Sometimes when we cross our arms, one of us will cross our right arm over our left and the other will do the opposite.”

Although they enjoy being twins, sharing gets difficult for both of them.

“Sharing a car is really difficult because we have such different sched-

ules,” said Emma Ar-cher.

Although this may cause a lot of problems for most

siblings, the Archer twins think of sharing as second nature.

For the most part, they enjoy being twins, except for the stereo-type of being the same

person.“Personalities can really

make a person different and that is the best way to tell us

apart,” said Anna Archer.

Derek and Drew Peters

Andrew and Sydney Sweeter

BY MARIECLAIRE CHRISTENSON

�ink you are seeing double? It could be the Peters twins. Sophomores Derek and Drew Peters are fraternal twins, although they could easily be mistaken as identical.

Derek and Drew Peters are both ac-tive with the LHS football team and are involved in many of the same ac-tivities. Being so alike can easily cause people to confuse the two.

“Some people think that if my brother does something, I will

do the same, but we are differ-e n t

people,” said Derek Peters.Sometimes, it is said that twins

know what the other is thinking, or when the other is in pain. But that is not always the case; it’s different with every set of twins.

“Our minds aren’t connected,” said Drew Peters, “but we sometimes say things at the same time.”

�ere are some occasional negative aspects of having a twin.

“Sometimes growing up with a twin was annoying because I had to get used to being confused for a different per-son,” said Drew Peters.

As children, the Peters were put in the same clothes but Derek would

wear red and Drew would be in blue so as not to confuse the two. As they grew older they started developing their own style.

Although the Peters twins were frequently being confused for each other, growing up they have always had one another to count on.

“Because we do the same things, we are never alone,” said Drew Peters. “We always have someone to hang out with.”

PHOTO BY LEXY MEDEMA

PHOTO BY MADDIE SCHULTZTrevin and Taylor Harmacek

PHOTO BY MADDIE SCHULTZDrew and Derek Peters

Anna and Emma ArcherPHOTO BY MADDIE SCHULTZ

Andrew Sweeter

While they may look alike on the outside, the defining feature of twins of LHS are their personalities and interests.

ValorActs ofSgt.Maj. Scott Bakken

BY MICHAEL O’HARA

PHOTO PROVIDED BY SGT. MAJ. SCOTT BAKKEN

Michael JonesBY LEXY MEDEMA

Michael Jones spends his days at LHS transforming and running the school store and teaching busi-ness marketing. However, before he started teaching, Jones had a success-ful 25-year-long career in the South Dakota Army National Guard.

Although he was only seventeen years old when he enlisted, Jones was no stranger to military service. His fa-ther was a recruiter for the guard while he was growing up. When several of Jones’ classmates at WHS were enlist-ing, Jones proposed the same idea to his father.

“When I told my dad I wanted to join the army guard, he said ‘fantastic, call my office and make an appoint-ment,’” Jones said. “I went out there,

and he treated me like everyone else. He explained what the guard was and about its dual mission. I decided to join based on that information.”

�e dual mission of the Army Na-tional Guard is serving at the state level in times of emergencies as well as the nation during times of armed conflict. Since, the Sept. 11 attacks, Jones said, the majority of service-men in the guard have been mobi-lized and deployed.

“I was mobilized on March 17, 2003, out of the Lincoln High School gym, as a matter of fact,” Jones said. “I then went to Fort Sill and was be-ing certified for combat when Bagh-dad was being taken over.”

Jones remained at Fort Sill, lo-cated in Lawton, Okla., for several

weeks as he received training before deployment, but was eventually sent back to South Dakota. With Jones’ position in the guard as artillery sec-tion chief, his potential role in the Iraq war was greatly diminished once the U.S. had control over Baghdad. As Jones explains, “Once direct com-bat has ceased, there is not much of a mission for field artillery.”

After his return to Sioux Falls, Jones took a role as an administrator of a military schoolhouse and spent several years in military education, a role he says he enjoyed.

“I enjoyed working with people who shared the same mindset as me,” Jones said. “I got to see students from all over the United States who came to our school, and that is why I stayed in it as long as I did.”

Semper fidelis.�is is the motto of the United

States Marine Corps and one that LHS-resident Sgt.Maj. Bakken has lived by for over 30 years now.

Sgt.Maj. Bakken enlisted Feb. 11, 1981 and during his service of 22 years, and 3 months as a Marine, he said he believes he was most positively shaped by his faith.

“�e most important thing I had was my faith, my belief in God and my trust in my fellow Marines, my family and my country,” said Sgt.Maj. Bakken.

To this day, Sgt.Maj. Bakken lives under the principles instilled upon him by his training with the Marine Corps, and just as he was taught, pass-es his empirical knowledge on to his students at LHS. He finds that teach-ing the leadership traits and principles encouraged by the USMC to high school students comes naturally.

“I’ve been teaching this for 20 years,” said Sgt.Maj. Bakken.

Sgt.Maj. Bakken teaches the same leadership traits and principles he himself utilized while he was stationed both in the United States and overseas. �ese traits range from enthusiasm to integrity, from unselfishness to cour-age, but each trait serves as a corner-stone to build a strong leader.

Wholly altruistic, Sgt.Maj. Bak-ken takes pride in his kids; his actual children as well as his students. While overseas, his first son was born, and Sgt.Maj. Bakken saw him for the first time when he returned from his ser-vice in the Middle East during Op-eration Desert Storm to his station in Hawaii.

“Missing family is the hardest part, but it’s a sacrifice you accept,” said Sgt.Maj. Bakken.

It’s men and women like Sgt.Maj. Bakken who have made the United States and the world a place full of good people. Just as they keep their faith, we should keep our faith in them

“Semper fi. God, country, family

Chris MonekeBY SAN CHANDRA

Chris Moneke, the school build-ing engineer, served in the Army Re-serve for eight years.

“My job was chemical opera-tions,” said Moneke. “If there was a chemical or nuclear attack, my team was called to clean it up.”

Moneke was stationed in Sioux Falls, but he was sent to Kuwait and Iraq after being activated.

“�e hardest part about being away from my family was that they didn’t know what was going on in the Middle East.” said Moneke. “From watching the coverage on the news,

they always assumed the worst. I al-ways worried about what they could be thinking.”

From his journeys, Moneke said he will always remember the people he bonded with and the culture he was exposed to. Moneke reminisces riding in a helicopter and a hover-craft, along with meeting many Ku-wait and Iraq locals.

“�e people were amazing,” said Moneke. “At times, the locals were able to be speak English more prop-erly than the rest of us. From my ex-periences, I have been able to see so many great places, and I want to see

more of the world.” �e military has helped pay for

Moneke and his wife’s college tu-ition. Even though Moneke and his wife had to make sacrifices, such as having to postpone starting a family, Moneke claims the service was well worth it.

“From serving, I have learned that personal boundaries can be exceed-ed,” said Moneke. “What I thought I couldn’t do, was done. �e military positively shaped me by giving me time to figure out who I was.”

PHOTO PROVIDED BY MICHAEL JONES

PHOTO PROVIDED BY CHRIS MONEKE

On Nov. 11, thousands of Americans across the country took the day to thank our veterans--those serving both at home and abroad. In honor of Veteran’s Day, the Statesman salutes LHS servicemen and women, as well as their spouses and family members, who have made personal sacrifices for the safety our country.

and Corps. �at would sum up what I care about most,” said Sgt.Maj. Bak-ken.

Bakken receiving the St. Barber’s Medal for artillery.

Jones prepares for Operation Enduring Free-dom at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, 2003.

Moneke serves in the Middle East.

ValorActs ofBY LEXY MEDEMA

“His deployment was hard, I had never dealt with anything like that before, and it was scary, because I didn’t know what to expect.”

Mary Peters, LHS librarian, has personally felt the fear of having a loved one sent overseas and has ex-perienced the adjustment that comes with not seeing them every day. Her husband, Troy Peters, served 20 years in the Army National Guard, and spent three months training before a yearlong deployment to Iraq.

“We had two kids, and when he left, I had to adjust everything to fit a single mom version of my life,” Pe-ters said.

Peters had contact with her hus-band throughout most of his deploy-ment through e-mail and phone, but there were also times when the situa-tion in Iraq didn’t afford Troy Peters the opportunity to call home. �ese were the times, Peters said, that were the hardest to deal with.

“For the most part, I knew where he was, but there was a time when they went into Najaf, Iraq, and I didn’t know exactly where,” Peters said. “�is was during an especially bad time during the war, and they were sweeping the roads for mines. �at was the time when I didn’t talk to him the most, and it was hard be-cause I knew he was in a bad part of the country.”

Since his service in Iraq, Troy Peters has been stateside for 6 years and retired from the guard. Peters, though, hasn’t forgotten what it was like to see news reports of the war while he was away.

“Before, I just watched the news just to watch it, but when he was gone, I didn’t like to,” Peters said. “When he called, at least I knew that he was safe…At the time, it was hard to believe that we had all these soldiers over there because you just think about how many people it af-fected.”

BY HEATHER HAUSHILD

LHS English teacher Sue Bull has experienced all of the ups and downs of being a soldier’s wife. Her husband, Scott Bull, enlisted in the military in 1977 and is currently a member of the U.S. Army National Guard.

While her husband was overseas, Bull had to raise her sons on her own. In the desert, Scott Bull was in a small tent, with very little commu-nication back home. Scott Bull’s first deployment was when communica-tion was limited to letters, without even email to inform his wife of life in the Middle East.

“�ere were times when I didn’t hear from him for six weeks at a time… Besides being busy, he often gave the younger soldiers the first opportunity to call home,” said Bull. “We had already been through war, and I just had to buck up and wait for a call.”

When her son was three weeks old, her husband was deployed to Saudi Arabia. �is left Bull a single mother while her husband was overseas.

“�rough my experiences, I learned just how coupled up our world is,” said Bull. “It was pretty lonely…But you do what you have to do.”

Although living alone from time to time was hard for Bull, she has received many benefits from her hus-band’s service. One of these benefits is the Post- 9/11 G.I. Bill, which pro-vides financial support for education and housing to individuals with more than 90 days of aggregate service, or to servicemen and women who were discharged due to a disability after 30 days. Bull’s husband is passing down the G.I. bill to their son so that he can go to college.

Citizens of our country should be aware that spouses of soldiers are also “serving” by sacrificing their family for their country, a fact that Sue Bull has learned first-hand.

BY SAN CHANDRA

During the month of Novem-ber, we should remember, honor and thank the troops that serve for our country, but we should also not forget the ones who are “serving” at home.

Machelle Kocer, wife of LHS math teacher Brian Kocer, has been serving in the Air National Guard for twenty one years. She was influ-enced by her father, who served in the Air Force, to join the military. Machelle and Kocer have four chil-dren, all of whom are accustomed to their mother leaving for a period of time to fulfill her duties.

“Machelle makes many sacrifices to fight for the country,” said Kocer. “I’m so proud of the overall dedica-tion of the Air National Guard.”

Kocer recalls many great memo-ries Machelle has made by being a part of Air National Guard, espe-cially being able to see many new places, including Alaska and Sin-gapore. However, during the times when she is away from home for her service for months, Kocer and the children have learned to rely on each other.

“�e hardest part for the kids and me is missing Machelle when she is away,” Kocer said. “We also have to

divide the jobs she usually does to make up for her absence.”

Over the years, the Kocer fam-ily has formed special bonds with the families of other servicemen and women.

“Although it has been difficult, we know that we always have others who will comfort us, and we hope we can do the same for them when they’re having a hard time,”Kocer said. “Peo-ple don’t understand what it’s like to be away from a loved one for so long until they’ve been put in the same situation.”

MMary Peters

“�ere were times when I didn’t Sue Bull

“Machelle makes many sacrifices divide the jobs she usually does to Brian Kocer

PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARY PETERS

PHOTO PROVIDED BY SUE BULL

PHOTO PROVIDED BY BRIAN KOCER

On Nov. 11, thousands of Americans across the country took the day to thank our veterans--those serving both at home and abroad. In honor of Veteran’s Day, the Statesman salutes LHS servicemen and women, as well as their spouses and family members, who have made personal sacrifices for the safety our country.

Troy Peters returns home

after being deployed for 15

months.

Bull poses with her husband, Scott, and son, Michael,

who was three weeks old when Scott Bull left.

Brian and Machelle Kocer at the Air National Guard Enlisted Dining Out, April 2012.

SOUTH

TECHEAST IT’STIMEM

OVE!

TO MAKEYOUR

southeasttech.edu605.367.6040

of today’shottest degrees!

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FRIDAY FYIVISITATION DAYSFebruary 1March 1

visit campus!

11.12LHStatesman.indd 1 11/7/12 2:57 PM

17STATESMAN | November 16, 2012ENTERTAINMENTA formal affair: Preparing for the dance

�e one question on many stu-dents’ minds this time of year is: Who could be going to formal with whom? �is question is particularly concerning among freshmen. Many freshmen are unfamiliar with formal dance protocol.

Some students of all grade levels have crazy ideas that winter formal is a magical night they will spend with

their significant other, and they will remember the night for the rest of their lives. �e idea of dressing up and dancing the night away is some-thing many teens have dreamed of since they saw their first Hilary Duff movie.

In truth, freshmen and other for-mal-dance-fanatics, it’s all hype. For those of you who haven’t been to a formal dance: I know how eager you

are to go to your first dance, but this is what it’s really like: Picture yourself standing in the small, noisy old gym. Now picture the lights dimmed, awk-ward couples surrounding you, some showing way too much PDA, and the hottest songs from 2008 blast-ing. Finally, think about being in that position for three hours straight. And there you have it: winter formal. It might not be what you’ve always

dreamed it to be. But somehow, as upperclassmen,

we’re still excited for it. �at is be-cause we know the other side of the story: the preparation and the post-dance festivities. Girls know how ex-citing it is to be asked by a guy and to plan the preparation party with friends. Guys know how great it is to plan big after-parties when the obligatory 1-hour stay at the dance

is finally over. When the big night actually comes and everyone is look-ing fabulous, it’s the memory of the entire experience that is cherished.

So guys, good luck asking your girls to formal. And ladies, I know you’ll have a blast picking out the same dress as everyone else at DEB. Just don’t have too much fun at the dance.

BY KAYLIE ERICSON

Winter Formal: reality vs. the hype

•Manupandaskher.Whenyouaskher,becreativeandcute.Nothingistoocheesy!•Ifyouarealreadydating,gobig.Shehastosayyes,sopublicisokay.•Spendmoneyonher!(whenyou’reaskingher,knowthatgirlslovegiftsandfood.•Remebertobuyacorsage.•Gotieshoppingtogether,Asacouple,evenifyouarejustfriends.Boysthinktheyneeda pink tie, but girls actually want mauve with a hint of scarlet, and that’s hard to describe over text.•Havealittlepatience,sometimesourtimemanagementdoesn’tincludedoingourhairover twice. •OPENTHEDOORFORHER.•Complimenther,sheprobablygotreadyfor2hours.Yougotreadyin15minutes.

•Askherovertext.•SURPRISEher!Unlessyou’reChanningTatum,you should probably talk to her more than twice in your life.•Getanorangesuit--that’snasty.

• Forget to plan which groupyou’re going to go in, reservations are made in advance, and I’m hoping you don’t want

to go to McDonalds in your suit.•Letherpay…you’retheboy!•Askherinfrontoftheclass.That’sweird(saveprofessingyourloveto

for a private moment).• Ask late! Dress shopping is a big

decision and takes a looong time. Boys can’t even imagine.

• Take her home late. Those scenes in movieswhen her dad is cleaning his shot gun are not too far from the truth.

Helpful hints for guys, from a girl

Don’t...text.her!

you should probably talk to her more than twice

orange

you’re going to go in, reservations are made in advance, and I’m hoping you don’t want

to go to McDonalds in your suit.••weird

for a private moment).Ask

decision and takes a looong time. Boys can’t even imagine.

homewhen her dad is cleaning his shot gun are not too far from the truth.

•AskAsk her over•SURPRISESURPRISE her!you should probably talk to her more than twice you should probably talk to her more than twice in your life.in your life.• GetGet an orange

•you’re going to go in, reservations are made in advance, and I’m hoping you don’t want

to go to McDonalds in your suit.•

weirdfor a private moment).

•decision and takes a looong time. Boys

can’t even imagine.• TakeTake her homewhen her dad is cleaning his shot gun are not too far from the truth.

Do...BY MADDIE SCHULTZ

•Seemexcitedwhentheyaskyoutoformal.It’sabigdealforaguytoask.•Rejecthimkindlyifyoudon’twanttogowithhim•Complimenthissuit;evenguysappreciatebeingtoldtheylookgood.•Lookpretty.It’saspecialdayforyouandyourdate.Don’tdisappoint.•Gettowhereyou’retakingpicturesontime!•Becautiouswithspraytans,thereisafinelinebetweenlookinglikeyoujustgotbackfromatropicalvacationorlookinglikeaDorito…yum?•Lettheguychoosethemusicinthecar.Heispaying,driving,etc…Hegetstodecidewhat you listen to• Bring flats if you’re taller than your date. It’s embarrassing to be taller than yourman.•Makesuretothankhimforyournightafterwards,hespentalotoftimeandmoneyonyou.You’rewelcome,ladies.

•Getadressthatishardtomatchatiewith•Standaroundwithyourfriendsatthedance.Besuretodance.•Be that annoying girlwhodemands themost expensive food,flowers,etc.•Orderawkwardfood.(Hint:friedchickenwillmakeyou smell like fried chicken, spaghetti is very messy, anything with a lot of onions/garlic is a no-no.• Make the night awkward if you’re with someonewho you don’t really know. •Waituntil the lastminutetogetyourdress;guys need to know what they have to match so they look freshious.•Expecttobetreatedlikeatotalprincess.Be realistic.•Bedemandingwhenitcomestotak-ing pictures. Guys want to get pictures over with as soon as possible.

Do...

Do’s and Don’ts for girls, from a guyBY ZAC CAMPBELL

Don’t...

18 ENTERTAINMENTSTATESMAN | November 16, 2012

�is may sound like a pretty wild claim, but “Skyfall” could be the best James Bond movie yet.

In the 50 years that Bond movies have been adapted from author Ian Fleming’s series of the same name, six men have assumed the role of 007, each adding their own flair and personality to the classic character of MI6 Agent James Bond. �e current actor taking the reins, suave, youth-ful-looking Daniel Craig, has played the role to critical acclaim in the pre-vious two films of the series, “Casino Royale” (2006) and “Quantum of Solace,” (2008). Each of these movies have been imbued with such raw feel-ing; directors Martin Campbell and Marc Foster have portrayed James Bond as so much more than just a suit out in the field, unfazed by every-thing that happens to him. On-the-edge-of-your-seat action has become less of a focus in these films. Acting and cinematography have entered the forefront, complementing the series’ staples of finer things and picturesque locales.

“Skyfall,” however, takes the cake in about every category over both these movies.

“Skyfall” grabs audiences from the very beginning. In the opening

scenes, Bond sneaks around a house in the heart of Istanbul in attempts to recover a stolen hard drive, contain-ing, of course, confidential informa-tion, by a mercenary. As Bond and an “unidentified” agent track him down in one of the most dynamic “007” chase scenes yet, I was drawn in. As it comes to its resounding peak, on the top of a train (unoriginal, but still adrenaline-packed), Bond is suppos-edly fatally shot by his accomplice by

accident. He falls into water below, which cues the opening credits that play to the theme song of the film, performed by Adele.

Meanwhile, as Bond is assumed dead, “M,” the head of MI6, is told to retire; she is getting old, and has not adapted to the modern ways of the agency. Immediately after, MI6 headquarters are bombed by a myste-rious cyber entity. Bond, returning to London from his supposed death after

hearing of the attack, tracks the Hun-gary mercenary to Shanghai, where the thread of consequential events that form the plot to “Skyfall” begins.

What makes the rest of the movie so gripping and well done is how di-rector Sam Mendez has structured the film. While the movie is somewhat slow moving, it’s not out of error. �e plot is meant to display the nuances of each character and to dig into their relationships. It does just that.

“Skyfall” Daniel Craig’s best Bond movie; possibly the best “007” yetWe see more into “M” and what

her relation is to Bond in “Skyfall.” We also come to know Bond as a flawed, real human being who doesn’t always come out on top every time through the confrontations he has, both with his enemies and his allies.

�e climax isn’t all that defined, and is somewhat predictable, but by no means does it take away from the high quality of this movie. I won’t give anything away about what happens, but the resolution will forever change the events in the Bond series.

So after all this, viewers may won-der if this is even a “007” flick. It cer-tainly is one, and the timeless Bond elements (shaken martinis, Aston Martin DB5s, witty one-liners and at-tractive women) can attest to it. In ad-dition, there are also a few new, clever Bond moments, one even involving Komodo Dragons.

Bond fan or not, audiences will find value in “Skyfall” as a top-notch movie to open the holiday season of cinema. Artful shots of the mountain-ous Scottish countryside, emotional moments in M’s character and the suspenseful moments between Bond and the film’s main enemy, Raoul Sil-va, make for a film that could possibly enter the Oscar circle for February.

I won’t jump the gun, though.

BY KADEN GREENFIELD

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE TELEGRAPH.COM

Disney’s “Wreck-it Ralph” is, in a word, delightful. �e story focuses on four characters, from three wildly different arcade games. “Wreck-it Ralph’s” blend of retro arcade graph-ics and modern CGI is both master-ful and gorgeous; the score is spright-ly and commands the film’s mood. �e plot is fresh and well-developed, and the voice acting is flawless.

John C. Reilly gives a perfect per-formance as Wreck-it Ralph. Ralph

is the villain of the game in which he works. His entire job is to break things (as his name would imply) so that the human playing the game can control Fix-it Felix Jr. to repair the damages. Ralph’s job is largely unrewarding; for thirty years, he is thrown from a building repeatedly each day, and at night he lives alone in the dump.

After a disastrous attempt to fit in, Ralph decides to go on a quest to prove he’s a “good guy.” He finds

“Wreck-it Ralph” a smash hithimself in a nauseatingly cute racing game called “Sugar Rush,” where the world and its inhabitants are made of candy and the characters have names like Vanellope Von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) and “Taffyta Mutton-fudge.” Eventually, Ralph’s actions lead to the endangerment of several games, along with the jobs (or lives) of their characters.

“Wreck-it Ralph” deftly juggles many stories at once, making it allur-ingly difficult to tell what the movie

BY DYLAN ENSZ is really about. �e plotline is rife with moral lessons. Ralph learns that living alone in a penthouse is just as bad as living alone in a pile of gar-bage. He also must come to terms with his bad-guy identity: “I’m bad, and that’s good, and that’s not bad, there’s no one I’d rather be than me.” It’s almost chilling.

Even without its fantastic plotline and voice-acting, “Wreck-it Ralph” would be a pleasure to watch just for the beauty of the graphics and mu-

sic. During many of the cinematic sequences, I found myself totally re-laxed and grinning widely. �e set-tings are gorgeously rendered, with attractive coloring and an insane attention to detail. �e characters, though smooth and graceful, fre-quently move in quick bursts remi-niscent of arcade movement.

Plain and simple, “Wreck-it Ralph” is an enchanting movie. See it.

Daniel Craig’s performance redefines Bond’s character.

AT THE MOVIES

19STATESMAN | November 16, 2012ENTERTAINMENTGeorgia-born and raised, Jason Al-

dean, who prides himself on not being the usual hick town country musician, did it on his 2010 crossover album, “My Kinda Party.” He scored three No. 1s, in-cluding the pioneer of country rap cross-over songs, “Dirt Road Anthem.”

�e next question is, can he do it again?

Yes.Aldean’s new album, “Night Train,” is

a force to be reckoned with. Al- dean’s multi-platinum

s u c - cess depends just as much on

his willing-ness to take

chances as he relies on his band.

Aldean has made every

one of his a l -

bums with his producer, Michael Knox. He has also kept his touring band mem-bers as instrumental accompaniment for all of his albums in his career. Aldean’s band is what gives him the little push over the edge of country rock crossover.

“Night Train” shows how confident Aldean is with his team. From the re-markable guitar performances to the hard core rock drum beats filling up the cho-ruses of a multitude of his songs, Aldean is no stranger to putting the spotlight on his band instead of himself. Aldean showcas-es his lead guitarist during the astonishing guitar solo in the song “Wheels Rollin’.”

Aldean not only shows how well-rounded his band members are, but he also shows how well he can collaborate with other fellow country musicians. In the song, “�e Only Way I Know,” fel-low country musicians, Luke Bryan and Eric Church, help Aldean with a killer-collaboration that is sure to get all of the female country music fans going.

“Night Train” is sure to help Aldean’s country music career. �e title track, “Night Train,” and “�e Only Way I Know” are destined to be No. 1s for the country music star this year.

All aboard the “Night Train”BY MADDY RYAN

Following a long day of filming and shipping around the film crew, LHS senior Fletcher Day sits down to cut and edit what he has on tape. He is in for the long haul – it could be an all-nighter. Making the deadline is the most important part of a competition; and that is what he intends to do. �is movie, of many, will project Day’s idea of how he sees his movie through by fine tuning angles of film and stylizing of

editing.After four years of writing, direct-

ing and editing his own short-films, Day can comfortably look back and appreciate his hard work and meticu-lous effort he has put into his works of art. All of his experiences, winning first place in a regional film competi-tion and having an outstanding media portfolio, are all first steps to his goal of making it big as an actor.

“My plan is to pursue acting and hopefully work my way into direct-ing,” said Day. “It all started in eighth grade when there weren’t a whole lot of acting opportunities for kids my age - so I decided to direct my own movies at home.”

Day creates movies of a variety of genres that “deal with psychological characters.” One, in particular, has proven to be his favorite and worth an award: His 2012 Prairie Grass film competition entrant, Chrono, dazzled its way to first place and won the young film maker $250.

“Unfortunately, because of the time limitations, I only have four days to round up my equipment and ac-

Day makes “reel” life of self-produced filmsBY PAT BOWDEN tors then shoot what I can,” said Day

describing the hectic atmosphere of a film competition.

�e intense seven-minute action film “Chrono” takes place in the dis-tant future where the main character is able to control time, but he has no idea where he is.

“I started out with a little handy-cam four years ago but now have much better gear,” said Day. “Tech-nology makes the outcome of a pro-duction look ‘pretty’, but my scripts have actually gotten better as well.”

As Day does most of his movies on his own time, the media room at CTE offers in-class time to work on his pro-ductions.

“I’ve taken A/V Tech at the CTE academy – they offer multiple classes which apply to media. It’s is a good at-mosphere for anyone going into film making,” said Day. “�ese courses give me time to pursue my interests in school.”

As Day marches on his path towards the big screen, intrigued audiences can find many of Day’s short-films and other cinemas on Youtube and Vimeo under his username ObsidenSleet. PHOTO PROVIDED BY JASONALDEAN.COM

Al dean’s multi-platinum cess depends

just as much on

his willingness to take



one of his

PHOTO PROVIDED BY JASONALDEAN.COM

Al- dean’s multi-platinum s u c - cess depends

just as much on

his willingness to take



one of his

of how he sees his movie of making it big as an actor.

hopefully work my way into directing,” said Day. “It all started in eighth grade when there weren’t a whole lot of acting opportunities for kids my age - so I decided to direct my own movies at home.”

genres that “deal with psychological characters.” One, in particular, has proven to be his favorite and worth an award: His 2012 Prairie Grass film competition entrant, its way to first place and won the young film maker $250.

time limitations, I only have four days to round up my equipment and ac

of how he sees his movie through by fine tuning angles of film and stylizing of

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21STATESMAN | November 16, 2012ENTERTAINMENT�e iPad was a great idea. Admit-

tedly not an original one, but as far as Apple was concerned with origi-nality, that was irrelevant. Apple in-tegrated their own signature flair into what would otherwise be a somewhat boring tablet, and created the iPad—a flashy, easy-to-use, good-looking machine.

�e main concern with those who decided to find fault in the design of the original iPad was the size. It was simply too un-portable to be appeal-ing.

Despite the “inconvenience” caused by the actually quite sleek tab-let, transitioning from apps to music to videos was quick and smooth, and the iPad was equally as adept at displaying movies as it was at play-ing games, and the newest model boasted a rather powerful camera. It was a versatile, effective substitute for a computer that could be used wher-ever cell phone signal was available.

But still, the size was too much of an impediment for so many poten-tial buyers.

�e obvious solution? Make it

And we shall call it… iMini-meBY MICHAEL O’HARA

You better redneckognize that “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” isn’t leaving American television sets any time soon.

Alana “Honey Boo Boo” �omp-son and her outrageous southern Georgian family have become a pop culture phenomenon with their first season in the bag. �e hit show, “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” follows six-year-old Alana and her family: stay-at-home mother June “Mama” Shannon, chalk-mining father Mike “Sugar Bear” �ompson, and sis-ters 12-year-old Lauryn “Pumpkin”, 15-year-old Jessica “Chubs” and 17-year-old Anna “Chickadee” who, in the finale of the first season, gave birth to a daughter, “Baby” Kaitlyn, who was born with a third thumb.

One of the comedic aspects of this show is that, although the entire cast speaks fluent English, each episode is laced with subtitles at the bottom of the screen trans-lating their speech as if it were in a foreign language.

Although the entire show is translated for the viewers, there are still many words the cast uses that are not in the dictionary quite yet. Many of the shows fans call them “Honey Boo Boo-isms.” Some of the most famous “isms”

“A dolla makes me holla” for Honey Boo Boowould be “Redneckognize” which is an exclamation that recognizes the redneck qualities of a person or thing, “Beautimus” which is a syn-onym for beautiful, “Vajiggle Jaggle” which does not refer to what you may think, but does, in fact, refer to bodi-ly flap that jiggles, and finally “Door Nuts” which no one actually knows what it means, but is still frequently used by the star of the show.

�is popular television show f i r s t got its start

as a branch off show from the hit TLC s h o w , “ T o d -d l e r s & Ti-

ar-

as.” On this show Alana was a contes-tant in the featured toddler pageant. What made her stand out from the rest of the other featured young girls was her outlandish behavior and drinking her “Go-Go Juice,” a self-made mixture of Red Bull and Mountain Dew, to keep her ener-gized throughout the entire pageant.

Alana’s “Go-Go Juice” isn’t the only concoction this show has in-troduced to the outside world. �e show has given us “Sketti.” For those who don’t know, sketti is like spaghetti but instead of the usual marinara sauce and meatballs, it is ketchup and butter splattered on top of spaghetti pasta noodles. �e outrageousness of this loveable Southern family is what draws the viewers in by the millions. With over 2.9 million viewers, “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” isn’t going any-

where.While in the

transition between seasons, TLC is

premiering three HOLLAday specials for

Halloween, �anksgiving and Christmas for all of those beau-timus Honey Boo Boo fans out

there who are anxiously waiting for the next season to begin.

BY MADDY RYAN

PHOTO PROVIDED BY TLC.COM

six-year-old Alana and her family: �is popular television show troduced to the outside world. �e

Some of the most famous “isms” PHOTO PROVIDED BY TLC.COM

troduced to the outside world. �e show has given us “Sketti.” For those who don’t know, sketti is like spaghetti but instead of the usual marinara sauce and meatballs, it is ketchup and butter splattered on top of spaghetti pasta noodles. �e outrageousness of this loveable Southern family is what draws the viewers in by the millions. With over 2.9 million viewers, “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” isn’t going any-

transition between seasons, TLC is

premiering three HOLLAday specials for

Halloween, �anksgiving and Christmas for all of those beau-timus Honey Boo Boo fans out


stay-at-home mother June “Mama” Shannon, chalk-mining father Mike “Sugar Bear” �ompson, and sis-ters 12-year-old Lauryn “Pumpkin”, 15-year-old Jessica “Chubs” and 17-year-old Anna “Chickadee” who, in the finale of the first season, gave birth to a daughter, “Baby” Kaitlyn, who was born with a third thumb.

One of the comedic aspects of this show is that, although the entire cast speaks fluent English, each episode is laced with subtitles at the bottom of the screen trans-lating their speech as if it were in


stay-at-home mother June “Mama” Shannon, chalk-mining father Mike “Sugar Bear” �ompson, and sis-ters 12-year-old Lauryn “Pumpkin”, 15-year-old Jessica “Chubs” and 17-year-old Anna “Chickadee” who, in the finale of the first season, gave birth to a daughter, “Baby” Kaitlyn, who was born with a third thumb.

One of the comedic aspects of this show is that, although the entire cast speaks fluent English, each episode is laced with subtitles at the bottom of the screen trans-lating their speech as if it were in


�is popular television show f i r s t got its start

as a branch off show from the hit TLC s h o w , “ T o d -d l e r s & Ti-

ar-

troduced to the outside world. �e show has given us “Sketti.” For those who don’t know, sketti is like spaghetti but instead of the usual marinara sauce and meatballs, it is ketchup and butter splattered on top of spaghetti pasta noodles. �e outrageousness of this loveable Southern family is what draws the viewers in by the millions. With over 2.9 million viewers, “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” isn’t going any-

where.

HOLLAday specials for Halloween, �anksgiving and Christmas for all of those beau-timus Honey Boo Boo fans out


smaller.�at is exactly what Apple did.

On Oct. 24, the iPad Mini was an-nounced. �e new iPad features ret-ina display, the A5 processor and the same five megapixel camera present in its predecessor, making it a viable rival for the iPad 3.

Most notable, however, is the size difference. Instead of the standard 9.7 inch screen found on the regular-sized iPad, the mini will have a 7.9 inch display, and it will be nearly as thin as a typical pencil.

�e Mini will be closer in size to

rivals such as the Kindle Fire HD, the Google Nexus 7 and the Galaxy Tab 7.7, but it will also be the only tablet operating on a system besides Android. Unfortunately, it will be priced about $100 more.

�is newest addition to the iPad family is shaping up to be possibly one of the best tablets around… Let’s hope it doesn’t grow up too quickly.

PSY gallops to “Gangnam Style”�e pony-hopping, South Korean

sensation PSY has found his way into the American Music world. �e quirky K-pop singer has more than 700 million YouTube views on his hit single “Gangnam Style.”

On Sept 20, “Gangnam Style” was acknowledged by the Guinness World Records as the most “liked” video in YouTube history. PSY has performed his “Gangnam Style” dance at numerous A-list shows and venues such as “Saturday Night Live”, Dodger Stadium and “�e El-len DeGeneres Show.”

Although PSY seems peculiar, he grew up in Gangnam, an affluent Seoul neighborhood in South Ko-rea. Gangnam can be compared to the Beverly Hills 90210 district in the U.S. PSY informally pokes fun at the residents of Gangnam with lyrics like, “a classy lady who can afford a relaxing cup of coffee.”

Gangnam’s wealth is manifested

by the hippest boutiques, gyms, clubs and growing industry of plas-tic surgery clinics. With top-notch education, private tutoring and prep schools, Gangnam households spend nearly four times more on education than the national average.

“Gangnam Style” has inspired mil-lions of parodies around the world. PSY may be a short, pudgy man, but he is an expert of capturing the ears of listeners, no matter someone’s na-tive language. PSY’s eccentric sound and look is unlike the typical well-built and eye-catching American pop star.

“I’m not handsome, I’m not tall, I’m not muscular, I’m not skinny,” PSY recently said on the “Today” show. “But I’m sitting here.”

�e hit’s number one status can be attributed to the catchy beat, the comical music video and unusual dance moves.

Gallop on, PSY.

BY SYDNEY TORGRUDE

PHOTO PROVIDED BY HUFFINGTONPOST.CO.UK

PHOT

O PR

OVID

ED BY

APPL

E.COM

SportsLHS STATESMAN NOVEMBER 16, 2012

By the Numbers

130NUMBER OF SEASON

KILLS MADE BY SE-NIOR KATIE SIM.

73NUMBER OF SEASON TACKLES MADE BY SE-NIOR LUKE MEYERS.

NUMBER OF YARDS JUNIOR TREVOR

NAASZ PUNTED THIS SEASON

991

NUMBER OF POINTS THE PITTSBURG STEEL-

ERS BEAT THE NEW YORK GIANTS BY IN THE

NOV. 4 GAME AT THE GIANTS’ HOME STADIUM

4

U E

Friday, December 14Varsity Boys Basketball vs. O’Gorman

@ LHS 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, December 4Varsity Gymnastics vs. Mitchell/Yankton Tri

@ LHS 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, December 11Varsity Girls Basketball vs. Roosevelt

@ RHS 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 15Varsity Wrestling at WHS Tournament

@ WHS 9:00 a.m.

The LHS Boys Cross Country team won the state title, success-fully ending this year’s season. Al-though there were a few obstacles to overcome, the boys pushed through to the end.

“I was feeling nervous and anx-ious to get started. There were three starting shots because there were two false starts,” said soph-omore Nathan Schroeder, who placed second at state.

After the race finally started, Mother Nature added to the dif-ficulty of running 3.1 miles. The wind slowed many runners down and tired out the boys.

“The wind slowed the times down a little, but we weren’t con-cerned about time, just about where we placed,” Schroeder said.

The team’s first place finish was the result of their training. Team members ran 50 to 70 minutes ev-ery day, and the team’s hard work and dedication to training paid off.

“Coach Pooley made sure we didn’t put too much pressure on ourselves and made sure we had fun,” said Schroeder.

The boys see each other as a

family and are proud of the ac-complishment they made as a team this year.

Senior Luke Jelen, who placed fourth at state, said, “They are the people I spend the most time with. We go through a lot of pain to-

gether, and that makes us closer.”Jelen and Schroeder also accom-

plished goals they set for them-selves for the year. Jelen wanted to place in the top five at state and get first as a team, and Schroeder wanted to help his team do the

Cross country brings home state titleBY CARLY HOHMAN

Sophomore Nathan Schroeder senior Luke Jelen, junior Free Bump and senior Cory McComber race to the finish line at the state meet on Oct. 20. The last time the boys team took the state title was in 1984.

best that they could. Schroeder sees a bright future

for the young cross country team, and Jelen plans on continuing to run cross country in college at a Division I school.

During the month of October, pink seems to cover the entire nation. Whether on the football field or prod-ucts in grocery stores, breast cancer awareness is advocated practically ev-erywhere. October brings awareness to individuals of all ages, and it raises millions of dollars for research for the sometimes terminal cancer, which kills over 40,000 people each year.

“I think Breast Cancer Awareness month is a great thing, but some peo-ple tend to focus on it only during the month of October,” said junior, Levi Rozeboom.

Rozeboom’s great aunt and grand-

ma have been battling breast cancer since 2006.

�e month of Pinktober has come to an end, but will breast cancer aware-ness end also? Stores will begin to clearance the pink ribbon products on clothes, decorations and food, and NFL games will no longer feature players, coaches and referees wearing pink game apparel, on-field pink rib-bon stencils, special game balls or pink coins. It also seems as if some people buy and wear the signature pink prod-ucts because of its image, which also became more of a marketing strategy than a research-funding strategy. �e

campaign that began in 1985 in order to educate women about breast cancer has recently become a gold mine for pink embezzlers and a way for people to enhance their appearance.

While playing football during the month of October, Rozeboom wore pink cleats, gloves, tape, a towel and a mouth piece to display awareness and represent his family members.

“I wore pink to show awareness does matter,” said Rozeboom. “It also made my grandma extremely happy.”

Perhaps people will continue buy-ing the “I heart boobies” bracelets, not because they are supporting the honor-

able cause, but for other immature rea-sons. Many people don’t understand the struggle of breast cancer victims, along with their family and friends.

“�e ‘I heart boobies’ bracelets are disrespectful and people aren’t buying them for the right reasons,” said Roze-boom. “Breast cancer changes people. Breast cancer patients try to act like they are happy, even though they are struggling. I’ve learned to never take anything for granted.”

Citizens need to continue to ad-vocate breast cancer funding in the correct way. �e altruistic cause is the center of a cure.

Standing Patriette PinktoberBY SYDNEY TORGRUDE

PHOTO PROVIDED BY ERIC POOLEY

23SPORTS STATESMAN | November 16, 2012

�e Patriots football season came to an end Oct. 29 when the team lost 21-3 to RHS in the quarterfinals of the state 11AA playoffs. Aside from being doubted in the preseason, the Patriots had a lot of success and end-ed the season 7-4 and ranked fifth in the state.

Senior Luke Meyers says his favor-ite memory of the season was beating Roosevelt in the President’s Bowl.

Success is hardly new for Man-ning. Manning consistently lead the Colts to the playoffs. He has earned four MVP awards, more than any player in the history of football. When the Colts won the Super Bowl in 2007, he was named the Super Bowl MVP. In his career he has won a staggering 147 games with only 70 losses. Manning is truly a football legend, and one of the greatest players of all time.

Manning is a workhorse both on the football field and off. His phil-anthropic nature led him to found the “Peyback Foundation” to help

Peyton Manning has led the Denver Broncos to a solid start of 6/3 and a lead in the AFC West. After a neck injury forced him to sit out last season, many doubted Man-ning’s ability to perform at an elite level. Most doubters, however, have been silenced by Manning’s perfor-mance thus far. He has completed 70 percent of his passes and thrown twenty-one touchdowns and six interceptions through his first nine games as a Bronco, and is currently a frontrunner for the Most Valuable Player award.

A Manning among men: Peyton Manning BY DYLAN ENSZ

Football to return strong in 2013


At an attempt to three-peat as vol-leyball state champions the Lincoln Patriots season ended abruptly as they lost in the regional game to make it to the state tournament against #2 ranked Roosevelt November 9.

�e season for the Patriots was a struggle for the team as they only managed to string together six wins this year, a major difference from the two previous championship teams. Aside from the record being different this year, the personnel on the team provided a new feel as well. With se-nior heavy classes the last two years, graduating almost every starter from last year’s championship team, and adjusting to a new coaching staff, the team had a hard time finding the same chemistry and balance from previous years.

One thing that hadn’t changed for the team was their heart to play and win games. Even though they were tagged as the underdogs in a majority of the games they played during the season this year, they played every game their hardest and never gave up

Finding a new rhythmBY ZAC CAMPBELL Winning that game was a turning

point for the Patriots, as it proved not only to the fans but to the rest of the state they were a legitimate contend-er for the state championship when the state playoffs came around.

With the seniors reminiscing on their season, Luke Meyers and Ethan DeCosse credit the good people they got to know playing football and the ‘Lincoln Crazies’ as the best part of playing football over the last four

trying. With only five seniors graduating

from this year’s volleyball team, next year’s team will develop more chem-istry and more experience in hopes to bring the state championship back to LHS.

disadvantaged children in Louisi-ana, Tennessee and Indiana. �e foundation has distributed more than four million dollars in grants in the past decade, helping econom-ically disadvantaged youth.

Losing Manning was very diffi-cult for Colts players. Mason Kirch-ner, an Indianapolis Colts super fan, said “I shed tears during the press conference last spring when the Colts officially released Manning. I've been rooting for him this sea-son, and wish him the best, unless of course he's playing the Colts.”

Michael �ury, another Colts

fan, said “I still love Manning. I drafted him on my fantasy team, and I’m rooting for the Broncos al-most every week.”

Despite being a member both of the Colts and of the Broncos, Manning never horses around with his game. Peyton Manning is a four time MVP (with possibly more in the future), a phi-lanthropist and an inspiration to foot-ball fans everywhere.

A Manning among men: Peyton Manning fan, said “I still love Manning. I drafted him on my fantasy team, and I’m rooting for the Broncos al-

Despite being a member both of the Colts and of the Broncos, Manning never horses around with his game. Peyton Manning is a four time MVP (with possibly more

A Manning among men: Peyton Manning fan, said “I still love Manning. I drafted him on my fantasy team, and I’m rooting for the Broncos al-

Despite being a member both of the Colts and of the Broncos, Manning never horses around with his game. Peyton Manning

BY ZAC CAMPBELLyears.“Getting to know some great

people and entertaining the Lincoln Crazies really made playing football something I’ll never forget,” said Meyers. “�is year the Lincoln Cra-zies were the best. �ey really helped us. We love it when it’s loud on the field,” said DeCosse.

After beating Douglas in the first round of the playoffs 56-0, the run the LHS team hoped to make during the playoffs was short lived.

While the loss to Roosevelt was a disappointment to the seniors on the team, the underclassmen are already looking forward to next season.

“Knowing that we return a lot of good talent next year is huge for us and our preparation for making a run to the dome,” said junior quar-terback Connor Burchill.

Next season hopes are high for the Patriots as they return a majority of their starters on offense and defense.

“I hope they get that ring for Lin-coln next year, and even though we won’t be playing with them, we will be supporting them all the way,” said Meyers.

That’s a wrap: fall sportsThat’s a wrap: fall sportsThat’s a wrap: fall sports

PHOTO PROVIDED BY HEIDI SCHULTZPlayers Katie Sim, Briana Hammer-strom, Steph Buss, Kristin Nassen, Abbie Jarratt and Maddie Schultz huddle between games.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY BLEACHREPORT.COM

The LHS defense line takes down an RHS receiver in the playoff game Oct. 29

24 SPORTSSTATESMAN | November 16, 2012

After a disappointing 10th place finish at state last year, this year’s LHS gymnastics team has an opti-mistic view on the upcoming season. �e team’s goal is to place among the top five, and with their six returners, new assistant coach, and injury free line up, their goal seems achievable.

“Some of our most valuable gym-nasts were injured during last year’s season, and that really hurt the team. �is year we are hoping for a success-ful season,” said varsity gymnastics coach, Les Frederick.

�e team trained periodically over the summer and is having multiple practices a week in preparation for

Gymnastics team hopes for a successthe new season.

“We are strong on floor and beam. Our weak events are definitely bars and vault. �ey always have been,” said senior Sydney Torgrude.

Rapid City and Watertown will be Lincoln’s toughest competitors. Both Watertown and Rapid City are strong in all four events and are re-turning most of their team. Although the competition is high, Lincoln is determined to compete well.

“I’m excited for this season. We have a fairly young team, but we have been working hard to improve from last season,” said Torgrude.

�e first gymnastics meet of the season will be held in Vermillion on Nov. 27.

Head basketball coach Jeff Halseth is already looking forward to the up-coming season. �e team won’t have a single returning starter from last season, but Halseth is confident this year’s LHS team will be strong.

“Our open gyms have gone really well so far,” Halseth said. “We’ve had about 60-70 guys coming, so we have many players to choose from.”

�e open gyms sessions for the boys basketball team are an hour and half long, two nights a week, and while they are not a requirement to attend, Halseth stresses their impor-tance for the players who want to show dedication to the squad.

“It’s a chance for them to work on their game,” Halseth said. “It’s a chance for me to see where they are at and who wants to be a part of the team.”

�e LHS boys’ biggest competi-tion this year will be the Sioux Falls schools, similar to every other year. RHS is a particularly big threat; they didn’t lose a single starter. Halseth’s goals for the team have not changed: to win districts, win the conference game and get to the state tourna-ment.

No matter what this season

brings, Coach Halseth looks forward to watching the players grow into a team that will work well together and accomplish great things.

Looking forward to a new season

Although the 2011-2012 basket-ball season didn’t end the way the lady Pats planned when they lost to RHS in the district finals, the 2012-2013 season is a new year, and one with a bright future.

With four of last year’s five start-ers, seniors Darby Hugunin, Cera Ledbetter, and Mica Standing Sol-dier, and junior Emilee Pierson, re-turning, and a talented group of un-derclassmen, Coach Lyle Pearson is looking forward to seeing what the team will bring to the court.

“We return an experienced, tal-ented team with a number of se-niors leading the way. �ese girls will be expected to set the tone for our team with their play and with their leadership,” said Pearson. “For the first time since I’ve been with the girls, we have several players who can help us coming off the bench. I can’t wait to see who emerges from this group.”

According to Standing Soldier, the great number of upperclassmen on the team will give LHS an edge when the season begins, not only

Returning starters and talented newcomers fuel LHS girls basketball

Senior Luke Meyers guards junior Graham Huckins during open gym as the team prepares for the new season.


BY MAGGI IBIS

“I want to watch these guys come together,” Halseth said. “When that happens, we’ll be very good.”

BY TAYLOR GLASOE

BY LEXY MEDEMA with their experience and leadership level, but also when it comes to the on-court dynamic between players.

“�ere are a lot of seniors on the team, and we’ve all played togeth-er since elementary school,” said Standing Soldier. “What I expect this year is that we’re going to be a much stronger team, we’re going to have much stronger relationships and we’re going to be able to show them on the court.

�e team has spent the summer and fall season training and practic-ing in order to prepare for the new

season, including participating in outside programs like X Fitness, and currently meeting at LHS three nights a week for open gym. Stand-ing Soldier is confident that all of the team’s experience in summer ball will be advantageous as the first practice nears.

“�e first three days of practice, they’re the Olympics,” said Standing Soldier. “�ey’re the testing period for players, so if we can all be in shape for that, that will make every-thing easier.”

PHOTO BY MADDIE SCHULTZSenior Cera Ledbetter practices her freethrows during open gym.

PHOTO BY MADDIE SCHULTZJunior Ember Newman practices her floor exercise for the new sea-son.

25SPORTS STATESMAN | November 16, 2012

Bike, Swim, Run and Ride

Imagine a sport where the players have to hold their breath during most of their competitions and their feet aren’t allowed to touch the floor. �e sport combines swim and dance, two very different activities. Freshman Autumn Klaudt and four other LHS students have been participating in synchronized swimming on a non-school sponsored team for years.

“Synchronized swimming is ballet in the water,” Klaudt said.

Synchronized swimming is cho-reographed swimming to music. It is an Olympic Sport and Sioux Falls has its own team. Klaudt, along with LHS students Kim Infield, Brooke Infield, Hattie Seten, and Adri-ana Hart swim for the Sioux Falls synchronized swimming team, the Cygnets. Klaudt has been involved in synchronized swimming for six

years, but some of the girls have been swimming for much longer. �e Sioux Falls team has three to four competitions a year in South Dakota and surrounding states.

Klaudt and her team members learn three routines a year which can be team, trio, duet or solo. �ey prac-tice for six hours a week at Augustana and learn complex swimming rou-tines which they perform to music. �en it is off to the competitions.

“We pay $100 a month and when we travel for competitions we pay for hotels. A custom swim suit costs $100,” said Klaudt.

BY SAN CHANDRA

Along with being involved in Oral Interpretation, Bike Club and Con-cert Choir, junior Kate McCoy is an active equestrian. She enters many horse shows throughout the year. A horse show has various categories testing the ability of the horse, its rider and how well they work togeth-er as a team. McCoy’s companion, Ollie, has been part of her life for two years. “My horse’s registered name is Sir Magic Man, but his barn name is Ollie. When my fam-ily bought him, his name was Ole, but we pronounced it Ol-lie, and we liked it better,” said McCoy. McCoy participates in the West-ern and English style categories, which include showmanship and halter. Showmanship is when the rider presents the horse to the judges, who then judge the horse based on

grooming and the rider’s ability to present. �e halter category involves

the rider leading the horse into the judging area rather than riding. Judges evaluate the overall con-formation of the horse, including its muscles and movement.

“I have been the all-around champion for the South Da-kota Quarter Horse Association and been the grand champion for the 4-H Horse Pro-

gram multiple times,” said McCoy.

McCoy competes in the summer in South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. She has also attended a na-tional competition in

Tennessee. During the winter, Ol-lie is sent away to be able to train away from the cold. With the trainer, outfit and amount spent on gas and hotel fare, McCoy’s hobby can be ex-tremely costly. “Ollie alone was $7,500. I have competition shirts that can cost as much as $800. �ere are many fac-tors that can hike up the cost. It’s like Toddlers and Tiaras but not as crazy,” said McCoy. Horse showing is McCoy’s passion and through this hobby, she has been able to travel to new places, meet new people and learn from the horses. “Horses have taught me the respon-sibility of taking care of an animal. �ey can be very stubborn animals, and I have learned to be more patient with them,” said McCoy. “�rough determination and commitment, I have made it this far through horse showing, and I’ll ride until my hips break.”

As a triathlete, junior Ryan Patrick admits to flirting with insanity.

When describing a triathlon, which consists of a 750m swim, a 20km bike race and a 5k run, Pat-rick describes a point toward the end of the race when the body does not want to keep going.

“You hit the wall, and your mind just has to override that,” says Patrick. Patrick knows the only path to suc-cess is relentless practice. Although most of his triathlons are in the sum-mer, Patrick trains for 20 to 30 hours a week during the winter, swimming 40,000 yards, biking 100 miles and running up to 40 miles every week.

“Training is the hardest part. �e race is an hour, and the pain is tem-porary. �e training is where triath-lon happens. When I hit the wall during the race, I have to have the courage to trust in my training,” said Patrick.

His intensive training regimen has certainly paid off. For the last two years, Patrick has raced in the under-20 Nationals, the most pres-tigious triathlon in the country for his age group. �is past summer,

he traveled to Westchester, Ohio to compete against the best in the coun-try and placed 26 out of a field of 75 competitors that included many col-lege students and even a professional athlete.

“It’s a dream of mine to be on the podium at Nation-als by senior year,” said Patrick. Given his level of dedication, it would hardly be a surprise if Pat-rick were to achieve his goal. Since 2011, Patrick lives with a host fam-ily in Des Moines, Iowa for up to eight weeks during the summer to train and compete with his team, Z3. �is past summer, he was home for barely 30 days. Patrick was in-spired to start triathlons after see-ing his father complete four Iron Man Triathlons. Patrick had already been swimming competitively with Snow Fox, a local swim team, so triathlons seemed a natural jump. “I like pushing myself and the experiences it [triathlon] has given me. It’s the most trying of all sports. When you do one, you’ll understand why we make the sacrifices we do,” said Patrick.

No horsing around for McCoy

BY PRANAM DEY

Klaudt dances with waterBY ELLEN KOESTER

Even though the activity is very challenging, many people don’t think of synchronized swimming as a sport.

“It is a sport because it takes a lot of talent and hard work,” Klaudt said. “It’s very difficult because we have to hold our breath while con-ducting difficult moves with other team members.”

PHOTO PROVIDED BY AUTUMN KLAUDT

PHOTO BY KYLE KRANZ

PHOTO BY LARRY LARSON

Interpretation, Bike Club and Con-cert Choir, junior Kate McCoy is an active equestrian. She enters many horse shows throughout the year. A horse show has various categories testing the ability of the horse, its rider and how well they work togeth-er as a team. McCoy’s companion, Ollie, has been part of her life for

“My horse’s registered name is Sir Magic Man, but his barn name is Ollie. When my fam-ily bought him, his name was Ole, but we pronounced it Ol-lie, and we liked it better,” said

McCoy participates in the West-ern and English style categories, which include showmanship and halter. Showmanship is when the rider presents the horse to the judges,

the rider leading the horse into the judging area rather than riding. Judges evaluate the overall con-formation of the horse, including its muscles and movement.

“I have been the all-around champion for the South Da-kota Quarter Horse Association and been the grand champion for the 4-H Horse Pro-

gram multiple times,” said McCoy.

McCoy competes in the summer in South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. She has also attended a na-tional competition in

Triathlete Patrick pushes the limits

26 MEET THE VARSITYSTATESMAN | November 16, 2012

Adam Rye, 12What singer are you most like: Susan BoyleFavorite song: Chief Rocka by Lords of the UndergroundInspiration: Ben Gertner’s face...

What singer are you most like: Katy PerryFavorite song: Pirates of the CarribeanInspiration: Adam Rye’s voice

Ben Gertner, 12

Jordan Hoy, 12

Grace Norton, 11

Jade Gunnarson, 11

Chloe Litzen, 11What singer are you most like: Sean CalhounFavorite song: “�rift Shop” by MacklemoreInspiration: Choir Shoes

What singer are you most like: Aretha FranklinFavorite song: Adam Rye’s jambo rafiki medleyInspiration: Ben Gertner because he loves picturing me in my wedding dress.

What singer are you most like: Jack-son Browne/Mark FosterFavorite song: “Gimme Shelter” by �e Rolling StonesInspiration: Susan Bull’s wise words and hilarious observations

Kaden Greenfield, 12 Liz Magnuson,12

What singer are you most like: I strive to reach Mike McKenzie’s fal-setto rangeFavorite song: Jordan Hoy’s rendition of “I am Beautiful”Inspiration: Hannah Lamberty

What singer are you most like: Be-yonceFavorite song: Homeland, but really, HomelandInspiration: Jeremy Mettler’s light-ing skills (because Natasha moved to California)

What singer are you most like: Pa-varottiFavorite song: Jambo Rafiki (jk!) Inspiration: Brandon Hendrickson because he is skilled at everything

Meg Kelly, 12

Rachel Nevin, 12

Brody Krogman, 12

ALL-STATE CHORUS

What singer are you most like: Christina AguileraFavorite song: “Die Young” by Ke$ha because of its true artistry and musi-cianship.Inspiration: Ke$ha, because it’s amaz-ing that someone that bad could find her way on to the radio.

What singer are you most like: Alex MeyerFavorite song: Can’t Stop �inking about You by Steve MoaklerInspiration: Ben Norton, my lovely brother

What singer are you most like: Tay-lor Swift because of my golden locksFavorite song: When Bobby Grady sings me anything by Kid CudiInspiration: Ethan Gette

MEET THE VARSITY 27STATESMAN | November 16, 2012

Ryan Patrick, 11

Skye Dearborn, 12

What singer are you most like: 2 Chainz because we’re both from the hood (Georgia)Favorite song: Any beat that Jade lays downInspiration: Pranam

What singer are you most like: Car-rie UnderwoodFavorite song: “Hit and Run” by Breathe CarolinaInspiration: Not wanting to sound like a dying cat!!

Anna Archer, 12

Madelyn Barr, 11

Instrument name: Bob Carlson Favorite song: Bob Carlson Inspiration: Bob Carlson

Instrument name: Demon SpawnFavorite song: �rough the Fire and FlamesInspiration: Doing my best

Kate McCoy, 11Alex Meyer, 11What singer are you most like: Grace NortonFavorite song: “Little Lies” by Fleet-wood MacInspiration: Reality TV show theme songs

Alec Beaird, 11

Maria Formiller, 11

Laura Andrews, 12

Mary Engfelt, 11

What singer are you most like: Bryant Yang; he’s tone-deaf!Favorite song: You know, that one that goes “da da da”Inspiration: Not... pigeons?

What singer are you most like: Russel SvenningsenFavorite song: Con Te PartiroInspiration: Andrea Bocelli

Zach Swanson, 12What singer are you most like: Johnny CashFavorite song: I’m BlueInspiration: James Pischke

What singer are you most like: Ke$haFavorite song: “Some Nights” by Fun.Inspiration: Kiri Jacobsen

John Pischke, 12Charlie Mogen, 12

What singer are you most like: Biz MarkieFavorite song: “One Angry Dwarf & 200 Solemn Faces” by Ben Folds FiveInspiration: �e Pope

Hannah Lamberty, 11 Sean Calhoun, 11What singer are you most like: An alternate-dimension clone of myselfFavorite song: “Outrage” by Capital LightsInspiration: Choir T-Shirts

ALL-STATE ORCHESTRAInstrument name: Violin: “Ivan”Favorite song: Party in the USA Inspiration: Charlie Mogen & Mason Kirchner

Instrument name: ViolinFavorite song: “Home” by Phillip PhillipsInspiration: Hannah Stock

Instrument name: FluffyFavorite song: ...Inspiration: Jared Bitz!

Instrument name: TubaFavorite song: “Dvorak” by Symphony No. 8Inspiration: My Dad

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