> > 10585 Mountain Vista Ridge Highlands Ranch, Colo. 80126 Mountain Vista High School Volume 9 | Issue 5 | March 17, 2010 eagle eye INSIDE THE EYE Photo used with permission of Mario Masitti Fighting for attention In-school fights shed light on unfortunate attitude of students >page 6 VISTA STUDENTS MIRROR OLYMPIAN DEDICATION >> George “Snap” Palmer races for a ski team at Winter Park Pain worth the permanence? >page 12 Golden Eagle Salute Military-minded students tell their stories >page 8/9 > page 16 Ohhhhh... Illustration courtesy of The Seattle Times/MCT Photo courtesy of Raleigh News & Observer/MCT SNAP Tattoos
Transcript
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10585 Mountain Vista RidgeHighlands Ranch, Colo. 80126
Mountain Vista High School Volume 9 | Issue 5 | March 17, 2010eagle eye
INSIDE THE EYEPhoto used with permission of Mario Masitti
Fighting for attentionIn-school fights shed light on unfortunate attitude of students
>page 6
VISTA STUDENTS MIRROR OLYMPIAN DEDICATION >>
George “Snap” Palmer races for a ski team
at Winter Park
Pain worth thepermanence?
>page 12
Golden Eagle
SaluteMilitary-minded students tell their stories >page 8/9
> page 16
Ohhhhh...
Illustration courtesy of The Seattle Times/MCTPhoto courtesy of Raleigh News & Observer/MCT
SNAPTattoos
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School trips span globeStudents, teachers travel across the world as part of Education First Tours
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Day 3 > Cairo , Africa’s largest city, tour of Memphis, pyramids and sphinx
Days 1 and 2 > Evening flight from DIA to Cairo
Day 4 > Four-day cruise along the Nile River, with stops in Thebes and the Valley of the KingsDay 5 > Nile cruise continues, with stop at 2,000-year-old Temple of HorusDay 6 > Cruise continues, stopping at the twin sandstone temple Kom OmboDay 7 > Final cruise day, with stops at the twin temples of Abu Simbel and the Great Temple
> Day 8 > Visit Aswan High Dam
> Day 9 > Sightseeing in CairoDay 10 > Travel back to Denver>
AsiaEgypt>> Trip Dates: Mar. 17-27>> Chaperones: Charles Patrick, Catherine Ayers, Heidi Schuster and Julie Sturgeon>> Students: 18 from Vista, ThunderRidge and Arizona>> Price: $3,300 + spending money
India&Q ASpanish teacher Alicia Brown opens up about moving to India and leaving her students behind
EAGLE EYE: How long have you been a Spanish teacher here at Mountain Vista?ALICIA BROWN: “Overall, I’ve been at Vista for five years. I was here in the U.S. at Vista for approximately three years, and then I moved to Dubai and taught at their International School for one year. Dubai was incredible, but the school wasn’t.”
EE: So what is causing this most recent move from the U.S. to somewhere overseas? Is it the budget cuts? The students? AB: “Let me put it this way. It is not so much that I don’t like it here, it’s just that I would prefer to be somewhere overseas. “I decided to make a move towards going somewhere out of the country in October of last year, so the budget cuts weren’t really
factored in at the time, although now it seems like it was fate that this job opened up. “Put simply, I love traveling, and going to live somewhere in Asia affords me a lot more opportunities to travel to other areas of the country.”
EE: A lot of people who know of your travels are now asking: Why India? Why not Peru, or Egypt? AB: “Well, I had some standards when I went to pick what school I wanted to go to. “The first was that the school had to be an International School, and the one in New Delhi, India is one of the best on the scene.
“I also looked at the International Schools in Istanbul,Turkey, Bangkok,Thailand, the Bahamas and Germany, but India really caught my eye because of its easy access to other interesting areas that I want to go to.”
EE: We know you are not planning to take your family with you on this trip. How are you planning to keep in touch when you are three countries away?AB: “This is the technology age. I plan to Skype my family so that, in a roundabout way, I get to see them often. “It will be kind of different for me this year since I don’t plan on coming home for any of the holidays, making it really hard to move that far away. “But the school I am going to is very open and accepting, so I feel like I am moving into an immediate community who is very willing to make me welcome and a part of their group.” >> continued on page 3
>> Trip Dates: June 1-11>> Chaperones: Frank LaVoie and Jake Sabot>> Students: 11 from Vista>> Price: Approximately $3,446 for students and $3,841 for adultsHot Spots
Bangkok, Thailand> Boat tour through the Chao Phraya River and klongs (canals).>>Grand Palace, adorned by gilded roof-tops and golden spires.High walls surround-ing royal compound once served as a barrier between kings and commoners.> Ancient City, a theme park featuring smaller ver-sions of some of the country’s popular attractions.> Chance to explore the many wats (temples) through-out the city or a visit to the Reclining Buddha.
Photo courtesy of Thomas Swick/MCT
Information from nationalgeographic.com
THE SPHINx AND PYRAmIDS AT GIzA>An estimated 20,000-30,000 workers built the pyramids over 80 years.> The Great Pyramid stands 481 feet, built from around 2.3 million stone blocks.> The ancient Greek word “sphinx” means strangler.> The sphinx stands taller than a six-story building.
Phot
o cou
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of Ch
icago
Tribu
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CT
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Siem Reap, Cambodia>>Angkor Wat, stone temples dating back to the 9th century, dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. The temples constitute the world’s largest religious monument, spread out over 40 square miles.Ho Chi minh City, Vietnam> Visit to the Reunification Palace, home of the president of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.> Cai Be floating market. A collection of stores located on boats or stilts over the river offer traditional Vietnamese trinkets and snacks.
Photo courtesy of Detroit Free Press/MCT
BRoWN > INDIA
> Nearest passport office—Highlands Ranch branch post office
> Download an application at http://travel.state.gov/passport/forms/forms_847.html
> Have proof of U.S. citizenship
> Have proof of identity >> naturalized certificate
>> driver license >> government ID
> Have two passport photos >> 2 x 2 inches >> color >> taken within the last six months
> Pay the applicable fee >> $97—16 and older >> $82—under 16
> Have social security number
Getting a Passport
What’s the schedule for the Egypt trip?
GAm
E PLA
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Information from Education Tours
Information from EF Tours
LAVoIE > ASIA
Phot
o by A
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Phot
o by C
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PATRICk > EGYPT
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Phot
o by C
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New fees, cuts latest in budget storyExtra costs for athletics and technology added to budget reduction planAshlyn mckesson > Reporter As every day passes, more information comes out about how the lack of money will affect Moun-tain Vista. Students fear their favorite teachers will be let go and increased class sizes will take away from a sound learning environment. It is well known that some teachers will lose their jobs. Though it has not been divulged to the student body, Principal Steve Johnson said seven teachers will not be here for the 2010-2011 school year. “My fear is that many valuable teachers will be let go,” sophomore Ashlyn Ellingson said. Where the cuts are being made in each department varies on the size, said Johnson. For example, since Public Speaking is no longer a requirement, there are likely to be cuts in the English Department. Also, since there are only five P.E. teachers, there is no room for cuts in that area. According to the budget tables from the last four years at Mountain Vista, provided by Douglas County School District, teacher salaries have made up about 70 percent of the school’s overall budget. This means class capacity will be increased from the regular 150 students per teacher to 180 students per teacher.
Students should expect about 36 students per class, which is higher than the current 30 student to class ratio, according to DCSD. “This will make classes much crazier, and with more people, it will consequently take more time to
learn lessons because more people will need help,” Maggie Williams, sophomore, said. “Also, the teachers will be over-whelmed and have less time for individuals,” she said. Johnson said the amount the school is losing is equal to nine teachers’ salaries but the school has figured out ways to not have to cut nine teachers. They are doing this by increasing fees in athletics, technol-
ogy and transportation. The bus fee will be $1 per day for each rider. This equals around $170 per family for the year. The price being looked at for the technology fee is $25 per family. According to the presentation given by the Douglas County School District Feb. 4, this fee will help support high-speed network and Internet access to the school. The athletic fee may bring a $30 increase to the current $100 fee. As this school year ends, Vista has to prepare for some dramatic changes to its learning environment.
>>Continued from page 2EE: What about your student fan base? Will you be creating a Web site for students to contact you through?
thelowdown<< >>2.2 >>
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40437
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176
billion-dollar revenue shortfall in the State of Colorado
percent of state bud-get allotted to K-12 education
percent of K-12 bud-get allotted to DCSD
average cost per year in dollars for riding a bus to school
million-dollar loss in DCSD revenue due to state shortfall
Principal Steve Johnson addresses the student body at the fall pep assembly. At Vista, seven teachers may be let go next year due to budget cuts.
Budget cuts will make classes crazier, and with more people, it will consequently take more time to learn lessons because more people need help.
“
”mAGGIE WILLIAmS, 10
AB: “Of course I plan to stay in touch with the kids that I met at Vista. “I’m going to be creating a Facebook page that is only for my stu-dent friends, but in order to get the address, you will have to come talk to me directly. “I don’t want just anybody and their mothers to get a hold of this!”EE: If you had to pick any two things that you would bring with
you to New Delhi, what would they be?AB: “My cart. No, just kidding. I’ll be returning that to the library when it’s time for me to go. “The two things that I would take would have to be a picture of my whole family, and my iPhone.”
Brown to teach in India
Photo by Rob Denton
Carli Auran > CO-Editor-in-Chief Distracted drivers in Colorado have reported driving while using a laptop, playing the Ukulele and even shaving their legs with a lighter. Listeners reported their own unlikely be-havior to KOA Radio 850 Feb. 25, adding flavor to the topic of the day with host Dave Logan but failed to focus on the number one driving distraction in the nation: reading and sending texts. Texting while driving is the same as driving with a .08 blood alcohol level and quadruples the danger of crashing, according to several studies. Confident drivers, feeling bold, trust their multi-taking skills to keep them safe as they read and type on their hand-held devices which now feature Web browsing and e-mailing capabilities. “I read in a magazine that there are more accidents caused by texting than by drunk driving,” senior Jessica Michel said although she has continued to drive and text occasion-ally, despite the recently passed Colorado bill banning drivers from texting and driving. “I will text and drive sometimes, but overall I do it a lot less now that it has been made illegal.” According to Car and Driver magazine, stopping a vehicle while reading a text takes three times longer than doing so while driving undistracted and twice as long as the drunk driver. At 35 miles per hour, this equates to 45 extra feet to stop the car, compared to 41 feet while typing a text which appears to be slightly less dangerous. Drunk drivers take 25 extra braking feet to stop at the same speed. Forty-five feet is the difference between stopping safely at a crosswalk and sliding
halfway through the intersection — or halfway through the back of the car in front of you. Similar to Michel, senior Walker Brown said he still texts on the road as well. “It is hard to ignore answering a text. I try to wait until stop lights though. I think crash-ing while texting is much more likely,” he said. “Most people cannot focus on roads and their phones at the same time.” According to KeepTheDriveAlive.com, distracted driving is “anything that takes your mind and eyes of the road.” Texting does both and now 14 states have banned texting while driving. While the human brain is designed to tackle several tasks at once, multitasking expert and cognitive psychologist Steven Yantis said texting is worse because you have to look away from the road in order to read and respond to the text message. Recent studies discovered the brain takes longer to mature than previously thought and this process develops well into early adulthood. The parts of the brain controlling judgment, impulses, decision making and multitasking are the last to fully mature. The consequences of mistakes made while driving 60-70 miles per hour, can be disastrous. The cost was fatal for Patrick Sims. In 2005, the 17-year-old Colorado resident killed a bicyclist while texting at the wheel. “That day, the text message seemed impor-tant to me,.” Sims told the Denver Post. “Now, I couldn’t even tell you what it said.” Sims spent nine days in jail. But if Colorado follows in the footsteps of other states, longer jail time may become the standard for punish-ing text-driving culprits.
Drive the message homeKeep your friends safe at the wheel, text them another time
Last May, Utah, passed the nation’s toughest law yet to crack down on texting behind the wheel, declaring texting while driving a “willful act,” similar to driving while drunk and can therefore, be punishable as a criminal offense. Offenders in Utah now face up to 15 years in prison under the new law. “A simple ticket may not sway people from texting but a more serious punishment such as losing one’s license could,” Brown said. “If driving drunk is the equivalent of texting and driving, then how come you only lose your license for a DUI?” Brown said he supports the new texting law because the safety of drivers and others are serious concerns. With the Colorado law banning texting and driving, which went into effect early December 2009, the concept of safety may be more simple than we think. The one common thread between Michel, Brown and even Sim’s comments point to the apparent importance of responding to the text immediately, instead of ignoring the phone
Jessica Michel, senior, checks her phone for text messages as she leaves the school parking lot. Michel said she still texts on the road at times, despite the dangers. and the law banning texting at the wheel. Photo by Carli Auran
and waiting until a more appropriate time to respond. “It is pretty easy to read a five- or 10-word text, but for most people to text back they must be constantly looking at the keys and making sure what they said was right,” Brown said. Al-though both Brown and Michel agree replying to rather than receiving a text is more danger-ous, the key factor in the equation continues to be taking ones eyes off the road. Michel said most of the time is spent re-reading the words she types to make sure they are correct and Brown said he is constantly looking back at the keys, essentially doing some light-reading at the wheel.
keepTheDriveAlive.comfor more information on safe driving✓OUT
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Isabel Salinas > Reporter Due to a partial grant from Xcel Energy, Mountain Vista will receive solar panels, just
another step towards making the school green. Under the guidance of science teacher Lori Schwen-deman and the ideas sparked from teaching A.P. Environ-mental Science, a group of high school students’ dreams
will soon come true as the district and school finalize plans to install solar panels over the cafeteria. Schwendeman said Colorado falls within a belt of sunny states where the sun shines 50-75 percent of the year, easily allowing the coming solar panel system to output power from the 30 percent of energy it pulls from the sun. The school intends to put up a 20,000 kilo-watt system, resulting in final cost of around $40,000. Due to grants from Xcel, the company from which Vista will receive the panels, 40 percent of the overall cost will be covered. Schwendeman said the “key players” in the proposal included previous graduates Cedar Blazer, Cathy Feng, Katie Halloran, Shane Long, Dominic Montoya, Katherine Packard and Ross Weistroffer, plus current senior An-thony Adair. “A good portion of my Global Science class (worked on the plan),” she said. She said when the idea for solar panels on the school was first thought up, the students in her class “sprang into action.” They checked around the school for additional and un-necessary light bulbs, picked up trash, started lights-out-lunches and then, after collecting mass amounts of information on energy ex-penditures and creating a PowerPoint all about why solar panels would benefit Vista, decided to target the school district superintendent. The students created a commission willing to speak on the subject matter and set up a time and date to meet with Jim Christensen, the previous Douglas County School District
superintendent. Schwendeman said the superintendent’s administrative staff was incredibly impressed with the professionalism of the students and their ability to present the problem of pollu-tion and energy wastage and the proper actions necessary to fix it. After receiving Christensen’s permis-sion to proceed with their plan, the district’s energy manager Lee Smit, who has saved the district about $7 million over his three years of employment, according to the DCSD Web site, became involved. Between the students and Smit, the district originally planned to place solar panels on top of Cresthill Middle School and Mountain Vista High School for both academic and energy-saving purposes. However, budget cuts this year resulted in the cancellation of Cresthill’s solar panel installment and jeopardized the installment of Vista’s solar panels. “Truly, the only reason I think we are still going through with the solar panels is be-cause of the kids and the impression they made,” said Schwendeman, “as well as the efforts they are making now.” According to Solar Sunwerx, another solar panel company, a solar panel system should pay itself completely back in 6-8 years, and every sunny day that it is active, it will pay itself back 100 percent in green energy. Regardless of the facts and arguments won by Schwendeman’s class, it has taken more than two years for Xcel to personally scout out the lunchroom roof. Xcel must organize the best angle for the panels. Schwendeman said she is well aware that this effort will contribute to Vista becoming a greener school, and said the efforts of the entire
Security precaution leads to first alcohol-free dance since 2005Valerie Buccio and Ryan Winter > Word Co-Editors There has been a lot of talk surrounding the addition of Breathalyzers at school dances including this year’s Sadie Hawkins. At the “Through the Looking Glass” themed dance Feb. 6, junior Shannon Cassidy felt like the new requirements were unnecessary. “Breathalyzers were a waste of time because it took so long to get into the dance,” said Cassidy. “They should have only had students blow on the Breathalyzer if they were suspi-cious.” Administration, on the other hand, is en-couraged by the results from the Sadie Hawkins Dance Feb. 6. Compared to the homecoming dance this school year, where there were nine cases of students under the influence, this past dance there were no bad occurrences. “Of all dances since 2005,” said Pat McCabe, junior dean, “there has only been one without an alcohol-related incident due to the use of breathalyzers.” “I think we will continue (using Breathalyz-
>>The sunny side of budget cutsVista receives grant from Douglas County for installation of solar panels
ers) because it works out well,” McCabe said. “It’s little hassle for kids.” McCabe also said there have been few complaints from parents, mostly just questions about the procedure. Some students were not bothered by the use of breathalyzers at dances. “I don’t have a problem with (the Breatha-lyzers) because I don’t drink,” said David Murphy, senior. He said he does not judge people who choose to drink, but said he opposes underage drinking and would not want students under the influence to be at the dance. Due to the success at Sadie Hawkins, there has been discussion of using Breathalyzers at after-prom if it is held at Mountain Vista. There have also been questions as to where the money for the Breathalyzers came from when the District needs to cut over $40 million from its 2010-2011 budget. However, Lead Security Officer George Gardner said he was able to lock up a bargain. Vista purchased two Breathalyzers for $403
each, which, he said, was a discount. The school already had one prior to the dance. Leadership sponsor Doreen Smith said there were an estimated 350 kids in attendance at Sadies. Mountain Vista currently has an enrollment of over 2,000. McCabe said Sadie’s is always the least attended dance, but under 20 percent of the student body is still rather low in attendance. Compared to other schools in Highlands Ranch, Vista was the only one with no alcohol-related instances at Sadie’s. Gardner said ThunderRidge’s dance had five incidents. “The children are awesome at this school,” Gardner said. Gardner said he is proud that Mountain Vista has had no alcohol-related death since it opened in 2001, and he wants to keep it that way. So for him, requiring breathalyzers at dances makes sense. “We aren’t trying to be mean,” Gardner said. “We are trying to save lives.”
SCHWENDEmANPhoto by Cody Enboden
Photo by Amy Markowski
>In one hour more sunlight falls on the earth than what is used by the entire population in
one year.
> A 1-kilowatt home solar sys-tem will prevent approxi-
mately 170 lbs. of coal from being burned,
300 lbs of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere and 105 gallons of water from being consumed each month.
> 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) = the amount
of electricity required to burn a 100 watt light bulb
for 10 hours.
> Accounting for only 5 percent of the world’s population, Americans consume 26 percent of the world’s energy.
Photo courtesy of Chicago Tribune/MCT
Information from facts-about-solar-energy.comVista’s student body are at the core of conserv-ing energy. “This very much is a student-driven pro-gram,” she said. “It is continued due to the kids’
passion. They are stewards of the future and models of energy conservation efforts that can succeed.”
Breathalyzers at Sadie’s dance successful
SolarSTaTS
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noses, broken hands, scratches and cuts.” Getting into a fight at school is a cry for attention. It’s a well-known fact the situation will most likely be subdued right away. I guess some kids just feel hardcore being talked about as “the one who almost got in a fight.” Fighting isn’t a solution to a problem. It’s a building block leading to bigger problems. “While it’s obviously entertaining to the bystanders, your classmates are beating on each other,” Ceglie said. “It’s unfortunate that kids act that way. It also prevents security and administrators from getting in there to break it up.” If I had $1 for every time I
STUFF THAT MAKES ME TICKMCalebWilliams>>
The fight for attention
School spirit makes impact
In-school brawls waste of everyone’s time, energy The chants start up, a circle forms, the up-per hallway rail-ings support the weight of 100
kids looking down to see what the commotion is about, hoping to see a few punches thrown. The two kids in the center of the action exchange some words until a teacher or security comes out to break up the disturbance and everyone walks away disap-pointed. What is so intriguing about the prospect of seeing a fight at school? You know a staff member is bound to notice, you know it’s going to be stopped
and you know it’s not going anywhere. And even if it did go unnoticed, would it make you feel good inside to see a helpless kid unconscious on the floor? “I think a few of (the fights) are a result of kids’ friends getting them all riled up and almost promoting a fight,” Ad-ministrative Dean Rob Ceglie said. “Most of them aren’t too serious, but we still treat them as assaults.” Ceglie said approximately 10-15 fights have occurred at Vista so far this year. Each incident is handled on a case-by-case basis, but each results in a minimum three-day suspen-sion. “Kids can get hurt,” he said. “We’ve had kids with broken
heard a kid complain and say, “I always miss the fights,” I would have my college education paid in full. If, by fight you mean an immature, swing-and-a-miss insult contest, then I apologize you feel you’re missing out. You are not cool for having a shouting match lasting just long enough for administration to catch wind of it. Either talk it out or just move on with your life and try to forget about it. Most of us have a class to get to and don’t need a chanting circle of back-packs blocking the way over some Jerry Springer combat. If you want to see a fight so badly, try watching Ultimate Fighting Championship 111 March 27. Knock yourself out.
Trevor David > Co-Editor-in-Chief
Remember a couple years ago when the Rockies went to the World Series? No, you don’t because the Rockies aren’t the cool thing anymore. Anyone remember what team they went up against? If you answered the Broncos, then you emulate
everything I hate about high school kids. “Avatar” was considered one of the great-est movies of all time by critics, so viewers
assumed it must be. But who really thought the movie was life-changing? The movie did not impress me to the degree that it promised. Sure, nothing says great cinema like crippled Marines and weird blue alien sex, but what made the movie stand above any other sum-mer blockbuster? The bandwagon effect. Yeah, I know the “Avatar” comments are going to get me in hot water with the same people who said “Dark Knight” was the great-
est movie of all time two years ago. Caleb you don’t understand, “Avatar” was absolutely insane! Why? Because all your friends say so? Anyone remember Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance as the Joker? Probably not, because you wore the T-shirts and bought the posters when the movie was cool, but now all the merchandise is buried at the bottom of your dresser next to your old Ninja Turtle underoos from third grade.
How do you think an artist, if I can even use that term, like Ke$ha is successful? I’ll tell you one thing. It’s definitely not because she’s a positive role model towards all the little pre-pubescent, Hollister-clad seventh grade girls across the country. It’s because a couple of the aforementioned middle-schoolers found “Tik Tok” to be a musical masterpiece. What followed was the spread of a virus across the country. The same thing happened
Feb. 22 – After the treacherous ascent from the iced-over street I
live on, my truck busts out something a professional snowboarder would be jealous of: a 1080 quadruple backflip. I then sit at the in-tersection of Southpark and Broadway, waiting for a gap in traffic the size of Michi-gan so I might struggle through the left turn. Despite brand new tires and nearly 200 pounds of sand in the bed, attempting to push my truck past 20 miles per hour results in a fishtail and an upset trans-mission. Another left and I’m headed down Wildcat Reserve Parkway. Lo and behold, the ac-cident I had been expecting all morning. Three police cars, an ambulance and a fire truck surrounded the light pole smothered in SUV. This, however, is not where our story ends. There is still a war to be had, the war fought by fric-tion, gravity and Newton’s laws of physics against an infuriated, exhausted, madly muttering student and his equally frustrated Ford Ranger.
I am perhaps one of the most confident drivers
I know. I drive up to 100 miles a day,
in all kinds of weather.
In days pre-
vious I could be found in empty parking lots and curvy roads drifting and otherwise breaking every traffic law imaginable. Yet the fact that ice-rink streets and horrible visibility do not warrant a snow day, or even a delay frightens me. Douglas County School District insists, “The safety of each of our over 56,000 students is our priority.” I highly doubt this. This morning it took me 35 min-utes to make a five minute trip to school, and a student was in an accident. Visibility is under 1 ½ miles, and there are looming clouds on top of the ice and snow already on the ground. Forcing students to drive to school in this, not to men-tion without even a delay, is dangerous. There is no way around it. Whoever is in charge of deciding when we receive snow days is either igno-rant, stupid or careless. Understanding is also a key problem here. Or perhaps we are dealing with a high-paid school official, who probably drives a nice car, with good traction, who will not under-stand that we do not all drive 4x4 Jeep Wranglers. It serves to ask, what will have to happen before we do get a snow day? Ice, a foot thick, covers the road. You can not see five feet into the distance aside from the faint glow of the erupting volca-noes and sparks of fighting between dragons and uni-corns. The real problem with the roads is that the earth has split and a gaping hole has now engulfed the school. The weather is no excuse. Please be on time, students.
Lack of snow days sacrifices road safety
Time to jump off the bandwagon;
There is nothing like the exhilaration of balancing on the rocking bleachers of
Shea Stadium, between two screaming friends, decked out in green and gold while cheer-ing on the Vista football team. These days, it’s hard at-tending a school event without finding huge crowds packed into the gym or the auditorium. It seems Mountain Vista students have finally realized what it means to have school spirit and everyone is playing a part. From the sporting and club events to theater perfor-mances, students and teachers alike are showing their support for the Golden Eagles. Principal Steven Johnson said he has seen an increase in school spirit and can attribute the change to a number of reasons. “As schools get older they change and I think it’s sort of natural that schools go through different phases, so we’re kind of maturing now,” he said. Since Mountain Vista opened nine years ago, class sizes have increased signifi-
cantly and the involvement of Mountain Vista students in the community and school events has flourished. “There’s been a good crowd for a number of games and we’ve been active and enthu-siastic in terms of assemblies,” Johnson said. “I think (teacher Lindsey) Jaffe and the emcees have done a nice job, but I also think students deserve some of the credit.” I’ve seen changes just walking the hallways at school. It’s more something you feel actually. There is less tension between cliques and grades. It’s rare to see a “big bad senior” pushing around a freshman.
Johnson said he noticed a more “laid back” feel this year especially, despite recent changes and added restrictions with attendance and tardiness. Social studies teacher Patrick Maguire said he thinks Student Leadership has a lot to do with the increase in school spirit. “The many varied activities that they plan has brought the student body closer together,” Maguire said. “Recognizing the varied accomplishments of this talented group of students allows those on the outside looking in to believe that what they do is important no matter what the setting is.”
Whatever the reason is, students have been increasingly showing their Golden Eagle pride whether they’re covered in all white at the basketball game or waving their phones in silence to the sound of a fellow student’s voice at an assembly. Students look forward to participating in events like Mister Vista, Vista Idol, the prom fashion show and Gol-dust, which have all become cherished traditions. Seniors have to set the bar for the classes behind, by how they portray themselves as Golden Eagles. Finishing this year with as much enthusiasm and support for their school as they have during football season will set the precedent for classes to come. Keep lining the bleachers with hundreds of screaming fans. Fill every seat in the audi-torium. Every friendly glance or wave in the hallways makes a difference. Prove to the other High-lands Ranch schools that we are a team. Mountain Vista isn’t just a jumbled mix of impulsive, un-stable teenagers. We are a team. We play as a team. We perform as a team. We thrive as a team.
District decisions preventing snow days are getting out of hand
Positive attitudes create lasting effect for years to comeCarli Auran > Co-Editor-inChief
>> my.hsj.org/co/highlandsranch/eagleeye | word | VISTA | juice | soul | pulse | advertising | eagle eye | March 17, 2010 | 6
The Vista crowd cheers, arms linked, at the boys basketball game against ThunderRidge. The Golden Eagles took the game, 49-37. Photo by Rob Denton
Photo courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution/MCT
Ryan mckinney > Reporter
>> continued on page 7
>>
THE FIRST AMENDMENT Congress shall make no law respecting an establish-ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to as-semble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
>STAFFEAGLE EYE 2009-2010 STAFF>CO-EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Carli Auran Trevor David
SECTION EDITORS Val Buccio Brenna Cameron Kelsey Krebsbach Tyler Mustin Zachary Smith Kyle Tosch Ryan Winter Caitlin Young
ADVERTISING Jordan Laeyendecker
ADVISER Mark Newton, MJE
REPORTERS Allison Cole Taylor Ernest Andrew Frieman Brooke Healey Makeeba Helms Joanie LyonsAshlyn McKessonRyan McKinneyMacy Morgan Erica Rasquinha Isabel Salinas Jake Smith Caleb Williams
>POLICY > Eagle Eye, a legally recognized public forum for student expression, is published six to nine times a year by the Newspaper class for students of Mountain Vista High School. Expression made by students in the exercise of freedom of speech or free-dom of press is not an expression of Douglas County school board policy. The views expressed in Eagle Eye do not necessarily represent the views of the entire staff, adviser, MVHS administration or the Douglas County School District administration. Board policy regarding student publications (JICEA and JI/JIA) is available in the journalism/publications room (Room U328) or in the principal’s office.
>LETTERS TO THE EDITORS > Eagle Eye welcomes and encourages letters to the editors. This is a chance to express your viewpoint on important issues. Letters should be limited to 250 words. Letters will be edited for space and legal considerations, but not for inaccuracies, grammar or spelling. Letters must contain information pertinent to the students of MVHS. The staff retains the right to not publish any letter not meeting these requirements. Unsigned let-ters will not be published. Please submit typed letters in person to Room U328 or via mail or e-mail.
>CONTACT > Eagle Eye, Mountain Vista High School, 10585 Mountain Vista Ridge, Highlands Ranch, CO 80126. Phone: 303- 387-1500. FAX: 303-387-1501. Adviser e-mail: mark. [email protected]. Publication e-mail: EagleEyeNews@ dcsdk.12org
>COST > Single copies are free. Where available, additional copies of this paper are available for purchase for 50 cents each. Contact Eagle Eye for more information. Taking more than one copy of this paper with the intent to prevent other individuals from reading this edition of the paper is prohibited (C.R.S. 18-4-419). Violators, subject to prosecution and penalty under C.R.S. 13-21-123, will be prosecuted.
Flops to the boring, redundant coverage of the Olympics. The new, seemingly never-ending time slots on NBC changed some events from excit-ing to mundane. That’s enough curling for the day.
Props to the yearbook staff for organizing and taking photos of school clubs. Everything went smoothly and now everyone will be recognized in the yearbook.
PRoP
S FLoPSDD
PRoPS>
FLoPS Flops to kids who sit and cheer in the other team’s student sec-tion. Stick with your school during the game. Don’t participate in their cheers, especially when they’re beating us. You’re an Eagle.
>
>
>
>
Flops to the prevention of seniors from participating in the “do it” cheer on the basketball court. If it’s a timeout and the stands are crowded, why can’t they jump down and have a little bit of fun in their last year?
Props to business teacher Rhead Kinder and his wife for rais-
>
ing over $2,000 for the Haiti relief effort. Kinder’s Interna-tional Business class competed against his wife’s elementary school class in a rendition of “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” and took pledges for aid.
Props to the performers who played at the Key Club and Hope Reigns pankcake breakfast. They volunteered to entertain guests for free at 9 a.m. on a Saturday. The breakfast raised nearly $800 for Haiti.
It seems as though Breathalyzers are here to stay. After a “successful” implementation at the Sadie Hawkins dance Feb. 6, Administra-tive Dean Pat McCabe said he thinks passive Breathalyzer tests will continue to be an entrance requirement at future dances. The idea in principle makes perfect sense. Administration wants to keep kids safe and minimize illegal activity. But, forcing everyone to take the test turns the concept of innocent until proven guilty into guilty until proven innocent. According to the surveys taken at our school, the majority of students don’t con-sume alcohol. If that’s the case, we should be treated as sober teenagers unless we give a reason saying otherwise, like falling over at the door or yelling with slurred words. By testing every kid entering the doors at a dance, an assumption of wrongdoing immediately extends. That may not be the intention, but it undeniably implies the kids at the dance did not make good decisions. The Breathalyzer needs to operate on a case-by-case basis. Students pay money to get into the dance and most likely wouldn’t waste their money just to fail a sobriety test and face a run-in with their parents or the cops. “There were kids who were just strictly opposed to the idea of Breathalyzers who didn’t go because of that (and) not because they drink,” Leadership representative Josiah Workman, senior, said. Some students were simply put off by the idea of being forced to accommodate to the rules of the Breathalyzers and did not attend the dance. Assuming they were part of the mass percentage of students who don’t drink, they missed the dance only because they didn’t like being treated like delinquents.
oUR VIEW
It is unfortunate that the idea of Breatha-lyzers connotes such a negative impression even to teenagers who have never had a sip of alcohol in their life. As for the small fraction of students who do participate in illegal activities and avoided getting caught at the dance, they probably went elsewhere to partake in such behavior. In this case, students are now out drink-ing — and probably driving — at places far more unsafe than a school, most likely hid-den under the radar from their parents. Teenagers who insist on drinking under-age are not going to stop just because there are Breathalyzers at a school dance. They’ll take their habits somewhere, to places where adults cannot monitor their safety or tell them what to do. Workman said Leadership had the responsibility of publicizing the advent of the Breathalyzers. But, there was a notable decrease in attendance at the dance this year. “I feel like we did lose a lot of ticket sales and it might reduce ticket sales in the future,” Workman said. If silly behavior or apparent intoxication warrants a test, so be it. Kids who are acting out of control can suffer the consequences of being tested. The rest, however, do not deserve the unnecessary inconvenience. It insults our integrity, holds up the line at the dance and takes away ticket sales and proceeds the school needs for charitable organizations or things like After Prom. As teenagers, we deserve a little more credit. According to the statistics, most of us don’t drink. Instead of assuming we’re all going to show up wasted to a school dance, have a little trust in the rest of us and take strong action if the situation warrants.
Forcing all students to pass sobriety tests at school dances is unnecessary in the long run
Broken Dreams?” Yeah, there we go. Because that’s when every kid in America decided Green Day was their favorite band. I asked one of the kids in my class around sixth grade, “Can you name one song by Green Day that isn’t on ‘American Idiot’? and he awkwardly replied, “Um, ‘Holiday’?” You know what’s unfortunate? Some of you will think he’s right. And, you’re the same people who like a band because you played their song on Guitar Hero. OK, now that I’m done spouting out
examples like I finally got really good at those “justify your answer” test questions, time to enlighten you all on some stuff that you already know. Once the hip, now thing loses its status as “the greatest movie of all time” or “the most talented young artist of our generation,” etcet-era, etcetera, the cool kids move on to the next thing. And just to fit in, everyone follows. It’s a never-ending bandwagon. “Dark Knight” was the greatest movie of all
time, but now “Avatar” came out. All this shows me is nobody ever liked this stuff. I know full well that fads come and go, but don’t change your iTunes username to something like xBiebersGirl4everx, because you won’t be. You’ll move on to the next pre-pubescent boy toy who comes along, and Justin will be left with a Macaulay Culkin-style fate, eventually resurfacing six years later as a lonely drug addict on a low-rated reality show.
>> continued from page 6 with Justin Bieber. Yeah, the little 12-year-old Aaron Carter clone whose voice sounds like he swallowed 20 helium-filled balloons. Hate to tell you ladies, but the kid who could pass as the fourth member of Alvin and the Chip-munks is not talented. Everyone just jumped on the bandwagon. Green Day was one of my favorite bands before 2006. Anyone remember the album “Dookie?” No? What about “Boulevard Of
find some originality despite the temptation of fads
my.hsj.org/co/highlandsranch/eagleeye | word | VISTA | juice | soul | pulse | advertising | eagle eye | March 17, 2010 | 7
Photo courtesy of LA Times/MCT
Curling photo courtesy of Canwest News Service/MCT
Graphic by Jamie Woodworth
While most students are preparing to head off to college, DJ Pozzi spends time training for the U.S. Marine Corps.
Pozzi, senior, is scheduled to attend to a summer camp July 12, and plans to leave for active duty in August.
“I wanted to sign up for active duty instead of a military college because I wanted to fulfill my duty to serve the country,” Pozzi said.
To gain admission to the Marines, the academic requirements are a high school diploma or a General Equivalence Diploma, in addition to passing a standardized test called the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB.
The ASVAB tests personal and individual skills to determine what occupation would best suit the po-tential military person.
“I failed the practice test, but I passed in mechanical engineering and puzzle solving,” Pozzi said. “The field I’m going into is either radio control communi-cations or electrical ground operations.”
According to the
my.hsj.org/co/highlandsranch/eagleeye | word | vista | JUICE | soul | pulse | advertising | eagle eye | March 17, 2010 |
HOO-RAH, SOLDIER
SING FoR oUR TRooPS“Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” by Toby Keith“There are a lot of men dead so that we can sleep in peace at night when we lay down our heads.” Keith sings that when any country messes with us, we’ll light up their world “like the fourth of July.” We will defend it until we die because that’s how important it is to us. This song emphasizes the noble and honorable endeavor to preserve what we have gained.
“If You’re Reading This” by Tim McGraw“Tell dad I don’t regret that I followed in his shoes.” Evoking appreciation for veterans and their families, McGraw sings of family tradition that strengthens patriotic feeling. The song tells of soldiers writing home to their families when they realize there is no more hope.
Caitlin Young > Juice Co-Editor
>>
Photo courtesy Nicolas Khayat/Abaca Press
Erica Rasquinha > Reporter
In the cr sshairsLiving “Semper Fidelis”
Photo by Amy Markowski
D.J. Pozzi enrolls as Marine despite family’s worriesUS Marine Corps Web site, www.marines.com, radio control com-munications deals with aircraft weapons and systems, and electri-cal ground operations destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver.
“I would also like to try out for the Force Recon team,” Pozzi said. “It’s like the special forces of the Marines.”
Counselor Cathy Mumper said a person’s family reaction could really affect a decision to enlist in the armed services.
“Since I’m the only guy in my family, telling my mom about my decision to enlist was really difficult” Pozzi said. “I had my buddy Zach Garfield who also enlisted to help me break the news, but my mom still had a hard time dealing with it. I even had a family member stop talking to me because of my decision to enlist.”
“Because DJ is so determined and has faith in the Lord to keep him safe, I was a little less scared about all of this” Lisa Pozzi, DJ’s mother, said. “He told me, ‘Mom, I know this is what I am sup-posed to do.’”
His older sister Brittney Pozzi, who graduated from Vista, shares nothing but a supportive attitude.
“I buy everything on the Marines Web site and I even have a bumper sticker that says ‘My brother’s a Marine’ on my car,” she said.
One of Lisa’s main fears is that DJ will leave their home as DJ, but after the intense boot camp he may not come back the same person.
Pozzi said he is excited for basic training. “It’s some thing I know I’ll be good at,” he said.
He said he would always miss and think about his mother and sister.
“If any kids at Vista are thinking about joining the Marines, Zach Garfield, Andrew Farber, Steven
McClung and I would be happy to help advise other kids,” Pozzi said.
“My opinion is that the Marines are the best of the best,” he said, “and
I’m going to live my life by Semper Fidelis (always
faithful).”
my.hsj.org/co/highlandsranch/eagleeye | word | vista | JUICE | soul | pulse | advertising | eagle eye | March 17, 2010 | >>8/9
HOO-RAH, SOLDIERWhile most students envision attending “normal” colleges, others consider years with the military or various academies right out of high school. Hoo-rah, soldier.
zack Smith > Juice Co-Editor Eyeing an intangible spot in the sky, junior Thomas Hemmings grinned as he imagined his future career. “I like the feeling of beating nature, and feeling like I can do better than it,” he said, “but at the same time, you have to respect it because it can kill you in the air.” The life of an Air Force pilot, Hemmings realizes, is one of interminable rigors and risks. His route of choice to attaining his dream job is to gain ad-mittance to the prestigious U.S. Air Force Academy. Located in Colorado Springs, the Air Force Academy pays full tuition, room and board for its students and provides them a monthly stipend. Graduates receive a Bach-elor of Science degree and a commission as a second lieutenant in the Air Force. The only catch: Potential cadets must go through a demanding admissions process that includes having high academic stand-ing, being in “pristine” physical shape, attaining letters of recommendation from congressmen and serving eight years in the Air Force upon graduation. “It’s the best college experience I could have” Hemmings said. “It’s a great education opportunity. It provides you with a good job and you get to serve your country.” He enumerated that other positives include job security and government health benefits. “I’ll have a job the second I get out — hopefully as a pilot” he said. Hemmings’ fascination with flying began at a young age. Growing up with the academy almost as his backyard, Hemmings watched countless planes and jets take off
every day. Because of these childhood memories, he said he has wanted to be a pilot ever since he was a kid. But his path will certainly not be an easy one. Hemmings admits the “physical train-ing for sure” and the regimented lifestyle of
the academy stands in stark contrast to the typical experi-ence of a college student. However, preparation for his dream began freshman year, and his training has continued to intensify. Hemmings cur-rently drives 30 minutes each weekday to an aviation class at Cherry Creek High School, where he learns the basics of flying a plane. Although he has yet to venture a solo flight, he has flown with an instruc-tor once before and plans to get his pilot license at the
age of 17, barely a year after receiving his driver’s license. “It’s a lot like driving except harder and more dangerous,” he said. “And, you turn with your feet.” Talking to school counselor Cathy Mumper about how other Vista alum gained admission to the academy has sig-nificantly helped him, he said. In addition, Hemmings will attend Air Force and Navy seminars over the summer to grasp what life at an academy is like. “You get to be a cadet for a week and get a feel for the lifestyle,” he said. And with baseball season underway, Hemmings, an outfielder, can see how his skills on the ball field translate to the mili-tary. “In the field there is always somewhere to go and something to do,” he said. “It helps to be successful because you have to work as a member of the team.”
SING FoR oUR TRooPS“Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” by Toby Keith“There are a lot of men dead so that we can sleep in peace at night when we lay down our heads.” Keith sings that when any country messes with us, we’ll light up their world “like the fourth of July.” We will defend it until we die because that’s how important it is to us. This song emphasizes the noble and honorable endeavor to preserve what we have gained.
“If You’re Reading This” by Tim McGraw“Tell dad I don’t regret that I followed in his shoes.” Evoking appreciation for veterans and their families, McGraw sings of family tradition that strengthens patriotic feeling. The song tells of soldiers writing home to their families when they realize there is no more hope.
“Chicken Fried” by Zac Brown Band“Salute the ones who die, the ones who give their lives. So we don’t have to sacrifice all the things we love”. Brown describes the typical southern American life filled with simple pleasures such as “sweet tea, pecan pie, and home made wine.” America contains many benefits and attributes that define the ideal “peace of mind”. It’s because of soldiers that we have all of these freedoms.
“American Soldier” by Toby Keith“I will always do my duty no matter what the price.” This song is about the amazing drive and sacrifice soldiers have in order to lay their lives down for their families and the wellbeing of their country. Another factor in his message is a camaraderie between the soldiers and thus the song’s audience. He conveys his belief, singing, “Besides my brothers and my sisters I will proudly take the stand.”
macy morgan > Reporter With his hands in his pockets, sophomore Josh Bandstra radiated the fervent aura of knowing one’s dream. Although joining entails much danger, he aspires to join the Marine Corps, a branch of the U.S. Navy, and ultimately become a scout sniper. “I’ve always known, really,” he said. “When my dad told me to go watch Scooby-Doo, I’d watch the military on the History Channel.” Bandstra said one of the main reasons for the strong appeal of the Navy is due to his parents’ careers as Navy personnel. However, he said, “My parents think it’s stupid. They think I’m gonna get killed.” Despite his irrefutable will of achieving such an ambition, Bandstra ac-knowledges that, like most dreams present, he has a few hurdles to overcome. “I plan on entering the Corps at 17, but you need parental consent. If (my parents) don’t let me, I’ll just wait until I’m 18 when I don’t need permission,” he said. On top of the risk and the disapproval of his parents, Bandstra accepts the fact that to receive admittance to the Naval Academy will be extremely dif-ficult. “It’ll be the toughest thing I’ll have to do,” he said. School counselor Cathy Mumper said upon looking up the stats on Naviance, the acceptance rate for the U.S. Naval Academy was a mere 13.9 percent last year. Additionally, applying to the Academy requires an immense amount of community service. One has to prove they’re passionate about helping others, said Mumper, and Bandstra plans to do so by building houses with Habitat for Humanity. As Mumper described, these obstacles appear frequently among the young men and women striving to pursue a career in one of the four military branches. Bandstra, however, confesses a unique concern. “I’m allergic to the flu shot,” he said. The vaccines are distributed during boot camp as the Marines march be-tween two men with injectors, Bandstra explains. “(My allergy) is the biggest deal involved with me getting into the Marine Corps,” he said. “You do have to meet medical qualifications,” Mumper said, “but (Band-stra’s allergy) is not an automatic out. They look at everything, all medical history. “They’re selective because it’s a very rigorous environment, both physically and mentally to be in. It’s very challenging,” she said. “For some students (the military) is a great way to earn a great living.” Bandstra said he knows he is one of those students — for although he must face the barriers looming in the future, he still sustains an unwavering look of tenacity with an ardent smile. “I want to help people,” he said, “and I think the Marines is where I’m best suited to do it.”
In the cr sshairs
Photo illustrations by Caitlin Young; Soldier courtesy X-ile Pictures/MCT. Mountains and predator courtesy Los Angeles Times/MCT.
in airFuture sniper eyes early enlistment Junior pursues pilot aspirations
THomAS HEmmINGS
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She sits on the couch to talk about a subject that most would deem “touchy.” But as she
begins speaking, all tension melts away. “The best thing is getting her back into the church,” Adams’ mom Kim Bakke said. Bakke discusses how all her children have taken different paths with faith — Michelle just picked Mormonism to believe in. “We raised our kids to be independent, explore different religions, then go with what’s in their heart,” she said. While Bakke doesn’t necessarily agree with the Mormon faith, she says she’s agreed to disagree. “When she turns 18, she can do what she wants anyway,” Bakke said. “I can either support her now or support her then. It’s not my decision. It is what it is and you can’t change it.” Bakke sits on the words as they come from her mouth, speaking slowly as if every word will have the greatest effect on her own perception of her daughter’s decision. “What religion is the true religion?” she said. “God says that we’re not to judge other people, so who am I to judge?”
Lounging in a reclining sofa, he scratches his gruff beard and his bald head gleams, all behaviors suggesting a biker
instead of a supportive dad. But as Adam’s dad, Dennis Adams, speaks, one can see he’s just a man proud of the decision his daughter has made. “I’m extremely happy and proud of her that she’s made a decision on her own,” Adams said.Adams knows just how hard it can be to switch to another re-ligion. He confesses that he himself is exploring the Mormon religion. The decision came after a friend at work introduced him to the religion and his daughter converting at the same time is just a coincidence, he said. But through both of their change of hearts, they have found a way to hug tighter, talk longer and love harder. “It’s made us closer,” Dennis Adams said. “We’ve been able to have some good discussions about it.” At the end of the day, Adams says with a little smile he has no regrets in either his or his daughter’s decision to explore other religions. “It’s all been a very positive change,” he said. “She is find-ing a type of direction in her life.”
Collin Willardsen raises his voice just a little louder as he talks about the
“persecution” his girlfriend has faced since she announced she wanted to become Mormon.
“I’m kind of numb to (persecution) because I’ve experienced it all my life,” the senior said. “She’s been crying about it so many times that I feel horrible and it tears me up inside.” The couple has only been dating for four months but Willardsen says they like to think its
true love. Willardsen says he’s never dated a Mormon before and he speaks with enthusiasm as he admits his excitement about baptizing his girlfriend. “It’s really exciting to date someone who has the same beliefs as you,” he said. “We can help each other out on a very personal level.” Even Willardsen, who isn’t converting religions, can already feel the effect of Adams change in heart. “This will affect the rest of our lives,” he said. “Each discus-sion draws us closer together. This will make us so much closer.”
CoLLIN’S PERSPECTIVE
Afterwards, she said she knew she was ready to be baptized. “It was a big moment in my life,” Adams said. “(At that moment) I knew the Book of Mormon was true, I knew the Mormon faith was true. I knew the Bible was true.” Even with this crucial step in her transfor-mation, Adams says the time between when one says that the religion is true and when one gets baptized is the hardest time of a person’s
religious life. Adams admits her family’s acceptance has been one of the hard-est things she’s had to overcome because of her decision to convert. “At first my mom was really supportive of it.
She always thought we should be able to choose our own religion,” she said. And Adams’ mom, Kim Bakke, believes she has become more accepting of her daughter’s religion as time passes. “To me, (Mormonism is) something I can’t believe in,” Bakke said. “But if that’s what she believes in, then I can’t change that.” Letting her eyes glance around the room, Adams says in somewhat of a hushed voice that her father didn’t seem supportive when she first told him of her decision to convert. But once her dad admitted he was consider-ing converting to the Mormon religion as well, Adams said their relationship began to mend itself. “I’d go to him if I’d have something that was bugging me and he’d give me advice,” Adams said. “He influenced how I would deal with a situation.” Somehow Adams still sits tall and speaks with utmost grace as all her hardships sur-round her and make her decision more of a challenge than she could ever imagine. She doesn’t waver on these struggles but embraces the joys and change that will come from the experience. “My heart is really set on this,” Adams said. “This will change my life entirely.”
‘I knew the Mormon faith was true’
mom’S PERSPECTIVEDAD’S PERSPECTIVE
Adams finds herself, God by converting
I just woke up and I knew automatically I wanted to be Mormon.
“”mICHELLE ADAmS,11
>>my.hsj.org/co/highlandsranch/eagleeye | word | vista | juice | SOUL | pulse | advertising | eagle eye | March 17, 2010 | 11
M
Photo by Amy Markowski
Brenna Cameron > Soul Co-Editorichelle Adams talks with the eloquence and the grace of a woman 20 years older than herself. She adjusts her black glasses with little jewel embellishments as she speaks about the methodical way she has gone about making her decision. The confident way she carries herself in a crowd full of teenagers who have no idea who they are reveals the depth of understand-ing she has reached from the experience. “(One night) I asked God in one of my prayers, ‘Should I convert to mainstream Christianity or the Mormon religion?’ the junior said. “(The next morning) I just woke up and I knew automatically I wanted to be Mormon.” Without knowing Adams, anyone would expect she decided to change religions because her boyfriend, senior Collin Willardsen. But this simply isn’t true, Adams said. Adams says she remembers growing up and going to church only a couple times a year, dressing in a frilly pink dress at Easter and donning black stockings with Mary Jane shoes at Christmas. Playing only a small role in her childhood, Adams said she never truly believed in her Christian faith. “My parents always wanted us to choose our own religion. I was like ‘Oh, I’ll just figure it out when I’m in my 20s,’” Adams said, “but this was the time in my life that I was ready for it.” Ready because Willardsen had already introduced Adams to the Mormon religion and Adams became somewhat intrigued. “I had a rough day and I would talk to Col-lin about it,” Adams said, “and he would tell me things (from the scripture) that would cheer me up.” Adams said she started going to church with Willardsen’s family in December and after awhile it just seemed right. Recently, Adams said she experienced the most pivotal step of her religious conversion. Tears flowed from everyone’s eyes, dripping faith to the floor in a beautiful moment Adams says she’ll remember forever. With the church’s missionaries she watched a movie about Jesus Christ restoring the church through the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith. Photo courtesy of Detroit
Free Press/ MCT
Wait, you’re sticking that where?Tattoos and piercings go mainstream, and students share their own experiences
kelsey krebsbach > Soul Co- Editor
Senior Brittany Leeser winced as a shiny 14-gauge needle slid through her ear. With blood rushing to her cartilage, a
bar carefully chosen in size is left hanging from the hole as another hollow needle is positioned an inch-and-half away. Glancing around, she realized her friend had just passed out. “My industrial was definitely my most painful piercing,” Leeser said of the 2-inch metal bar stretching across the top of her left ear. Leeser, who has 12 piercings total and plans to get three more along with two more tattoos, is part of the trend gaining main-stream popularity with teenagers. According to womenshealthcaretopics.com, approximately 10 percent of high school teens have tattoos and about 30 percent have body piercings. While most adults regard piercings as a symbol of rebellion, Leeser argues it is simply
a form of self-expression. “Its kind of like having any other piece of jewelry, it’s just more permanent. It can even show individuality, especially when you have something unique,” she said. Catherine Ayers, a psychology teacher a Mountain Vista, agrees that body art is gain-
ing social momentum, but is not necessarily a bad thing. “Society does seem to judge tattoos and piercings,” she said, “but I think it just reflects a teenager’s identity.”
By law, a parent must sign their permis-sion for tattoo or piercing for a minor, but with over 15,000 tattoo and piercing shops throughout the United States, there are some that do not ID. Leeser said she got her first piercing when she was in eighth grade, and has been getting
them ever since. “My parents signed for all of them except my tattoo and my rook. So, for those I just went to a place downtown that doesn’t ID,” Leeser said. Her parents were less than pleased, she said. Leeser, however, remains confident that she will not regret her rook piercing and thin heart-shaped peace sign next to her ear. “They think I made a mistake and that I’ll regret it in the future, but I didn’t just get it on impulse. I thought about it for a long time,” she said. While these types of body modifications may seem innocent, some psychologists be-lieve the pain can even become addicting, and has even been linked to depression and illegal activity. When Leeser heard this she shrugged casually. “I guess they can be,” she said, “but I think it’s just exciting to have a new piercing. I don’t like the actual feeling of getting it done, it’s more about how it looks.”
What doesYoUR TATToo
Morgan Manwaring, 12
Brady O’Donnell, 11
Katie Buettner, 12
“I got the daisies because all the girls in my family have them, and the lyrics represent the people I know who died.”
“I got my tattoo be-cause I am Catholic. I am also part Irish, and the shamrock represents luck.”
“[My tattoo] is sup-posed to symbolize the tree of life. The flower buds repre-sent my two friends who died.”
The Silhouette kathryn Hardin, 10TALENT: SINGING
Kathryn Hardin smiles as she talks about the duet “Half of My Heart” she hopes to perform in the upcoming Goldust produc-tion with her boyfriend.
“He’s playing the guitar and I’m singing,” she said. “We picked the song together.”
Hardin has been singing since elemen-tary school, and is now involved in both her church and school choirs.
She also has been playing guitar for four years and plays with a worship band every few Sundays.
“I like the idea of expressing my-self through music,” Hardin said. “Song lyrics just seem to go deeper than normal words.”
She hopes to make it to the most ad-vanced choir at Mountain Vista, Gold Tones, next year.
Hardin said if she makes it, it would be a chance to experiment with new, different types of music.
“I want to keep singing in college and continue to challenge myself,” Hardin said.
It’s kind of like hav-ing any other piece of jewelry, it’s just more permanent.
“”BRITTANY LEESER,12
Senior Brittany Leeser cleans out one of her 12 piercings with a Q-tip in the school bathroom. Leeser says she likes when she gets something new. “It’s exciting to have a new piercing.”Photo By Tessa Kaufman
mean to you?
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Photo by Tessa Kaufman
Courtney Brennan, Scott Hall dish on dress code at Hollister
12
] [>> The Critique>>
What do we hear during passing periods?
“Don’t use a pillow like that. The feathers will explode.”
>
“At least you get to sleep and relax in jail.”
“We’re guys. We show each other.”
>
“I think your butt is like a magnet.”
>
“I wish I had a tail so I could scratch my back.”
>
“You pushed me with your nipple.”
>
“Guys, I’m so mad at my fish right now.”
“We all know guys throw grapes at each other.”
>
Taylor Ernest > Soul Reporter
“It was something I needed to do, my mom was sick, tension
was built up in my house and with my family. My life was not very stable,” said Kayla. “I thought doing this would help.” Kayla, senior, whose name has been changed because she wishes to remain anonymous, began cutting her wrists at just nine years old when her mom was diagnosed with cancer. You may have noticed students at Mountain Vista writing “LOVE” across their wrists Feb. 19. Kayla and other par-ticipants of this day do so to spread the vision of a move-ment, “You need to know that your life matters.” To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit move-ment devoted to helping with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide across the
United States. Kayla let her depression out through self-injury for a year. “Sometimes I would cut once or twice a week, but it was mainly random urges,” said Kayla. After her mom’s breast can-cer was clear, the self-infliction stopped. Tension built up at home again and her cutting habits returned the beginning of her sophomore year. “All you can do is tell someone. It has to be their choice to stop themselves,” said Kayla. As she watched her friend John, who also wishes to re-main anonymous, cut himself to the point where she feared losing him, Kayla decided to help his addiction by stopping herself. Though she quit, her friend didn’t. John continued to deny cutting himself but he could no longer hide it. His parents took him to Urgent Care for
stitches numerous times. His cutting habit contin-ued for a year while attending Mountain Vista before getting a severe intervention from his family that saved his life. He is now attending boarding school and fully clean from his addic-tion to self-injury. “(Cutting) is nothing that is going to help, it is just you fooling your body. The worst part is I knew it was bad and still did it,” said Kayla.
Prom Fashion Show
A A few weeks ago, DECA put on a prom fashion show at Ralph Schomp BMW. As I walked into the venue, I could feel the high energy. When the stu-dents started coming down the red carpet, I wanted to jump up and grab almost every dress that appeared. All the attire was gorgeous . Along with the outfits, the students made the event entertaining by showing off playful poses making everyone laugh and smile. The night also boasted door prizes and raffles which got me excited, hoping I might win a gift card to my favorite store TooLips. The new venue, high spirits and lively atmo-sphere made this annual event a success and ultimately made me enjoy a night out.
The Passage
B Stage Flight Theatre recent production had a spectacular set that made me feel like I was sailing the sea myself.The impressive special effects—or at least the
effects they can do for a play—amazed me. One character stood on stilts for the entire production. However, the plot was a bit confusing. With so many subplots and themes intermingling throughout the play, I sometimes forgot what the true conflict was about. Some long stretches of
dialogue bored me and I didn’t quite see their point until much later on when it really didn’t matter. Ultimately, the stage presence astounded me, but the plot development made the actual story line somewhat puzzling.
Dear John
C+ The movie that everyone couldn’t wait to go see left me wondering what happened to the characters long after the movie had ended. While it started out with Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum falling in love so quickly it made the whole audience blush, it started to make every-one yawn when Tatum went back to war and the letters between the two began. The letters revealed nothing about either one of the characters. As the movie came to the end, I felt even more disappointed. When the credits rolled across the screen, I couldn’t help but think there had to be more coming. I left the theatre wanting to know more about the characters and wanting a different ending.
&Q A
Eagle Eye: Why is the dress code so specific at Hollister?Courtney Brennan: “I think it’s because they are trying to create a certain image.”Scott Hall: “It’s so specific because they want to portray a certain style. They think the customers will look at the as-sociates and want that style.”EE: Do you think it por-trays a positive image to kids who shop there?CB: “I guess. I don’t think they look at us and notice.”SH: “I really don’t think it portrays an image at all. It’s just a style of clothing.”EE: Do you like the dress code?CB: “We have to be limited on our makeup and wear slip on vans or flip-flops with grey or navy shirts. It’s not horrible. It’s better than wearing an apron or hats like at other jobs.”SH: “Yes, I like the dress code, but the only thing is I wish we could wear more colored shirts.”
EE: Do you think having such a specific style cre-ates a stereotype?CB: “Yes, definitely. We have to wear skinny jeans and flip-flops. Who wears flip-flops in the winter?”SH: “No, not really. It’s not a way of life. You can look all around and there will be ‘jocks’ wearing their clothing, ‘skaters’ wearing their clothing. So, it doesn’t create a stereotype at all.”
with Brenna Cameron
Photos by Cody Enboden
The National Institute of Mental Health says the third leading cause of suicide between the ages of 15-24 is untreated depression. This is what To Write Love on Her Arms is trying to prevent. “I think the movement helps remind people that depression is relevant and all around them,” said Kayla. “It also reminds me of how bad I felt after cutting and the reasons I quit.”
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Senior exposes her experience with cutting
“Keep taking pictures like that and I could file for harassment.”
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thelowdown<< >>90% >>40-60% >>
of cutting problems start when an individual is an adolescent
average number of people hospi-talized each year due to self-injury
of suicides can be linked to cut-ting and other forms of self-injury
154,598source: www.teenhelp.com
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turning next year, we expect big things.” LaVoie said his favorite memories from the season were the team’s close victories. “The close wins are indeed the most stressful, but after the match...the most fun,” LaVoie said. “We beat Douglas County, Regis Jesuit and ThunderRidge, all in tight bouts. We actually beat T-Ridge by a tie-breaker criteria, winning 34-33 to take the Battle of the Ranch this season.” After completing his first full season on the team, Bull said he now knows what it takes to succeed in the sport. “I need to practice a lot, get better technique and lift weights if I want to do even better next season,” Bull said. With the season less than a month com-pleted, the team is already looking towards next season. “We started training for this season the day that last season ended,” LaVoie said. “We con-sider ourselves a year-round program with an intensive post- and pre-season weight-training and condition regime.”
Young wrestling squad exceeds expectations, sends three to state
>>37 Escapes: Nick King
thelowdown<< >>25 Pins: Taylor Gutierrez
195 >> Team points: Taylor Gutierrez
>>31 Wins: Mike Carter
Wrestling records broken this season
Tyler mustin > Pulse co-editor
4 QUESTIoNS FoR JUNIoR mIDFIELDERDaniel Zamora
Q:Q:Q:
EAGLE EYE: Why do you play lacrosse?DANIEL ZAMORA: “I play lacrosse because it is so much fun and there is no other sport that combines the skills that lacrosse does. There is no other sport that has the relationship that lax bros do in lacrosse.”
EE: What is your favorite part of lacrosse?
EE: What are your expectations for the season?
EE: Do you plan to play lacrosse in college?
Q: DZ: “I like how physical lacrosse is and how I get to hit people. I also like hooking chill ‘celies’ (celebrations) after sweet offensive possessions.”
DZ: “We’re a young team so a lot of guys are getting their first varsity time. But, we have a lot of talent, so I think we’ll be really good as time goes on and as we start to work more as a team.”
DZ: “I would really like to play in college but I’m not sure yet. If I do, I would like to go Division I and stay in Colorado.”
MATMATPhoto by Brian Vu
Leave it on the
Photo by Brian Vu“
”FRANk LAVoIE, HEAD CoACH
We broke many team records, and with most of the team returning next year, we expect big things.
This season was a good year con-sidering we had a new lineup. Next year will be one of the best seasons we’ve had.
Photo by Rob Denton
“” NICk kING, 11
Winter sport
Final record
Favorite memory of season
9-15 “Beating ThunderRidge and practicing with the guys for one last season.” TANNER WISComBE, SENIoR
Girls Basketball
12-12 “Going to Arizona for the tournament of champi-ons. We did a lot better than anyone expected.” ALI STAJDUHAR, SENIoR
14-9 “Our dominant win over Highlands Ranch.” FRANk LAVoIE, CoACH
Girl’s Swimming/Div-ing
Fourth in Continental League
“Swimming with the team and how supportive everyone was.” YANA GARVEY, SENIoR
Girls Swimming
Girls Basketball
Wrestling
Boys Basketball
Three Mountain Vista wrestlers competed in the wrestling state championships Feb. 18-20. Dylan Bull, sophomore, competed in the
112-pound division, Michael Carter, junior, in the 145-pound division and Taylor Gutierrez, senior, wrestled in the 285-pound division. Although Gutierrez qualified for the state tournament, he said the highlight of the season was winning the Survivor Series Belt: A two-day, 10-team event where any wrestler who wins all 10 matches in his weight class wins a championship belt. “This was definitely the best season I’ve ever had,” Gutierrez said. “The one thing I will take away from my wrestling experience is the hard work and dedication necessary to succeed.” Third-year head coach Frank LaVoie called this season a success considering the inexperi-ence and youth of the team. “We lost 11 of our 14 varsity starters from last year, but maintained a winning team record and had a good performance at the regional championships,” LaVoie said. “We broke many team records, and with most of the team re-
Madison Kolar has never ques-tioned her passion for skiing. “I’ve always skied, and I remem-ber I always wanted to be like the big kids,” Kolar, freshman, said. “So, my parents signed me up for the ski race team when I was six, and I’ve been skiing ever since.” Kolar, a member of the Winter Park Ski Race team, competes in slalom, giant slalom and super giant slalom. Her drive to ski comes from her friends and her love of the slopes. “I get to spend the whole day with some of my closest friends and doing what I love,” she said. “What can be better?” One of Kolar’s most memorable victories didn’t just end with a medal. “I had wanted a Facebook for a long time, and my parents said I could get one if I did well at my competition,” she said. And Kolar didn’t disappoint. That competition, she had four podium finishes — and got her Facebook ac-count. Hitting speeds of 60 miles per hour, Kolar said she holds nothing back. And, sometimes, she confessed, this isn’t always a good thing. “I’ve
crashed many
times,” Kolar said, “and it’s painful. Very painful.” But despite injuries, she said, the end result is always worth the pain. “The adrenaline rush when you’re hitting speeds like that,” Kolar said, “it’s insane.”
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Vista’s version of
oLYmPIANSSince she can remember, Tess
Golding has started her day before the sun comes up. Her alarm goes off at 3:30 a.m.
every Monday through Friday. “I don’t really know anything different,” said Golding, junior. “I’ve been figure skating my whole life.” After her early awakening, she heads to the ice rink and skates for 90 minutes before school. She then attends a full seven-period school day, includ-ing two Advanced
Placement classes. In the fall, she runs cross country after school, and in the spring, she’s on the track and field team. Two times a week she has strength training at 7:30 p.m., and dance classes once a week. Despite this crazy schedule, she still manages to get to bed at about 10:30 p.m. And, she said, she still finds time for friends. “Unlike a lot of figure skaters, I find a way to incorporate a social life,” she said. Golding said it’s hard to pick out just one of her best moments on the ice.
While most hit the slopes solely for fun, skiing is no joke for George “Snap” Palmer. Palmer, freshman, spends every Saturday and Sunday in Winter Park competitively training and racing down the slopes. A member of the Winter Park Ski Race team, Palmer wakes up between 5 and 6 a.m. to drive to Winter Park. “I’m on the mountain by 8:30 a.m. and ski until 3:30 p.m., with a lunch break in the middle,” said Palmer. Palmer competes in downhill, slalom, giant slalom and super giant slolum. “My favorite part is the friends I’ve made,” Palmer said, “and the speed.” And speed is one thing Palmer doesn’t lack. Hitting speeds up to 75 miles per hour, Palmer said he is always pushing himself to the limit. “Going that fast, it’s really loud,” he said. “With the wind and every-thing, it kind of tunes everything else
out.”Palmer’s proudest moment
yet was when
he went to the Junior Olym-
pics in Vail last
year. “It had
been my goal for a while,” Palmer said, “but, I fell and broke my arm, so I didn’t get to compete for the whole time.” However, Snap, whose nickname has been passed down through the family since his great grandfather, isn’t letting anything slow him down. “I want to keep ski racing, and ski race in college,” he said.
madison koLAR
Beating USA Olympian Rachael Flatt? Maybe. Qualifying for nationals for the last four years? Perhaps. But, she said, if she had to choose one though, it would be taking the top spot at a regional competition in Kansas in 2008. “Winning regionals was probably one of my favorite moments,” she said. “It was an amazing feeling.” For Golding, the future remains up in the air. “I would consider going to the Olympics, but I would have to com-pletely give up my life,” she said. “So,
for now, we’ll just have to see where this takes
me.”
snap PALmER
Golding balances school, figure skating
the facts>> >>She hopes to coach
skiing in the future.
Her idol is Ted Ligety, a 2006 USA Olympic gold medal winner.
the facts >>He skis a total of 12 hours on
weekends during the winter.
>>He has met Olympic speed skating gold medalist Apolo Anton Ohno.
Photo courtesy of Madison KolarPhoto courtesy of George “Snap” Palmer
Photo courtesy of Tess GoldingStories by Brooke Healey
