February 29, 2008 131 High School Road Latrobe, PA Volume 85 Issue 9

The Heart Fair, heldFebruary 11th to the 15th, wasput together by Excela Healthwho teamed up with school dis-tricts around the area to presentthe Golden Hour Heart Fairscholarship program. The HeartFair is an annual week longevent held in the CSC in whichstudents from the Anatomy andPhysiology classes promoteheart health. Excela’s mission isto “improve the health and well-being of every fife [they] touch.”

First students choosefive family and friends and edu-cated them about the importanceof the golden hour. The goldenhour is the hour after someonehas a heart attack in which theyshould seek medical helpbecause they are more likely tosurvive within that hour. Then,they must do a visual displaythat signifies the importance ofthe golden hour.

The projects must showthe signs and symptoms of aheart attack and the importanceof calling 9-1-1 and seekingtreatment within the first hour.Students can make their projectbe anything from poster to ascrapbook but must clearly rep-resent the golden Hour. The proj-

ects are hung in the CSC for acompetition where they arejudged by Mrs. Rost the schoolnurse; Mrs. Golden, director ofthe CSC; and Mrs. Herrod, aretired anatomy teacher. Twowinners from each school arechosen and awarded $100 sav-ings bond prizes. Those projectsare submitted in a regional com-petition to compete for two$1000 scholarships towardshigher education. Also aPeople’s Choice Award winnerwill receive bonus points in theirAnatomy and Physiology class-es.

The winners of thisyear’s competition were JessicaGhrist, 1st place, and AngelaPalombo, 2nd place. Ghrist cre-ated a quilt and Palombo made ascrapbook with moveable parts.A three way tie called for a judgeoff, the Principals evaluatedthose three projects and thescores were averaged to breakthe tie. Senior Abby Diamond,the winner of the Peoples ChoiceAward, created a hand drawnposter of the heart.

“Abby showed tremen-dous artistic talent, she is anincredibly gifted artist. Studentswere drawn to her project duringthe heart fair so it is no surpriseshe won the people’s choice

award,” said Mrs. Levan. On Thursday February

14th Mrs. Deidre Mangini, Mrs.Pam Ferraro, and a representa-tive form Mutual AidAmbulance Service spoke to theclasses in the CSC. All health,academic biology, anatomy, andphysiology classes will attend.The representative from MutualAid Ambulance Service showedhow they respond to heartattacks and the equipment usedto monitor patients. Mangini, afitness instructor, tested personalfitness levels with a rate monitorand Ferraro provided cardiovas-cular health and organ transplantinformation. Each speaker hadeither a display or activity topresent to the students. Also stu-dents played Excela Health’sGolden Hour Bingo game whicha group of volunteers ran.

The desired outcome ofthe fair is for student to under-stand more about cardiovasculardisease, recognize the signs andsymptoms of a heart attack orstroke, and to know what to do inthe event of a heart attack.

According to theExcela Health manual the goalof the Heart Fair ScholarshipProgram is to “teach the messageof the golden hour to family andfriends.”

Senior students takeNAEP Test

Greater Latrobe High School was select-ed to participate in the National Assessment ofEducational Progress or NAEP testing. The gov-ernment picked schools across the country at ran-dom to be a part of the standardized test. The par-ticipating students are from every state and inevery grade. In GLSH’s case, a group of 116 sen-iors, chosen at random took the test on differentsubjects such as reading, mathematics, and sci-ence. The 90 minute test was held on February 26during the student’s first and second periods.Senior Ryan Anderson who took the science partof the test, which consisted of completing a seriesof labs, said he did not like the test and felt it wasnot organized. “You weren’t given enough time tofinish the labs and the directions were really con-fusing. I think that they should revise it and giveus more time and think of better labs,” saidAnderson. This test will provide research for fed-eral government’s Department of Education. Thestudents will not get to see their scores but will beable to read about the results as a whole insources such as Newsweek, Time, or reportsissued from the government. This research willhelp determine the feasibility of a national stan-dardized test.

Mrs. Kuhn, who was in charge of organ-izing the test said, “I’m not a big advocate of

standardized testing but in order for things tochange, I feel it is necessary.” The standardizedtests were established to raise the knowledgelevel of the basic educated student.

According to the NAEP, these tests willhelp the President, Congress, and the U.SDepartment of Education set policies aimed toimprove the educational system. “It’s like thenations report card and I think it’s very importantthat we participate and do well,” said Dr. Teppert.The scores reflect directly on the education sys-tem of all the school districts. “Students need todo their best because this is the only national test.This is the test that is reported back to the nation,”said Dr. Teppert. The participating students havethe ability to influence those decisions and con-tribute to the quality of education for future stu-dents. However how can a test that not all the stu-dents take, have so much influence?

The results of the research from this testwill determine future changes in the educationalsystem. “We all want each student to do well andtry their hardest,” said Mrs. Kuhn. By completinga short 90 minute test the students of GLSH willbe able to make a huge impact and potentiallychange the way we learn.

Mary MaattaStaff Writer

YAC hosts second annual Winterfest FestivalThe second annual

Winterfest Festival was heldduring the week of February 25,2008. This festival was hostedby the Youth AdvisoryCommittee (YAC), but also hadthe participation of major clubsin the school. During the weekof the festival, various competi-tions and events took place. Tomark the completion of the fes-tival the annual Student/TeacherVolleyball Game took place inthe gym. All money raised dur-ing the week was donated to theCaring Cats organization.

The festival beganwith a chess, checkers, and

scrabble competition held afterschool on Monday, February25. The first event was hostedby National Honor Society andthe winners of the three compe-titions were awarded points tobe added to their class total.

On the second day ofthe festival, the National ArtHonor Society hosted a pic-tionary contest in the CSC. Inorder to get students hyped upabout the contest, sample pic-tionaries were shown on themorning announcements. Also,more points were awarded tothe pictionary contest winners.

On Wednesday,February 27 a fitnessball tour-nament was hosted by Student

Council in the Gymnasium.Students can signed up for thetournament in the Student Store.The best dodgers, duckers,divers, dippers, and dodgerswere on display in the fitnessball tournament. Fitness ball isa slightly modified version ofdodge ball.

The Key Club thenhosted a relay race on Thursday,February 26. This race allowedstudents a chance to be activeand complete a never beforedone activity. Students willactually be permitted to runthroughout the school hallwaysand locker areas. Again thewinners were awarded points.

To finish off the

Winterfest week, the commonsarea will play host to a numberof booths. These booths willhave food and tokens for pur-chase, so remember to bringyour money. For exampleStudent Council is hosting aguitar hero game on the big tvs,and Pep Club is holding a bas-ketball shooting competition.

Following the boothsales in the commons, GLSHSstudents and faculty will partic-ipate in the annualstudent/teacher volleyballgame. All students will get outof their 11th period class to wit-ness the students beating theteachers. During 11th periodthe winning class will be

announced based upon previouspoint totals.

Mrs. Levan, the advi-sor of YAC, played a huge rollin making the WinterfestFestival possible for GLSHSstudents and faculty to enjoy.“Winterfest gives studentssomething to look forward to,”said Levan. Although otherclubs play host to differentevents, it is YAC that is incharge of all the Winterfestactivities for the week.

Last year, the moneyearned during the WinterfestFestival went towards buyingpicnic tables for the outsidecourtyard. This year, however,YAC decided to do something

different with the moneyearned. “The money earnedduring the week is goingtowards a good cause,” saidLevan. Money earned duringthe week will go towardsCaring Cats. Caring Cats in acommunity-based organizationthat helps different people, par-ticularly students, for when theyare need.

The WinterfestFestival promises to be excitingand worthwhile. So come ondown and participate to helpthose in need while having a lit-tle fun!

Courtney Briggs and SamanthaService

Staff Writer, News Editor

Classes participate in annual Heart Fair

Walking into theCommons Area on Tuesday,February 5, 2008, the area wastransformed into a cultural expe-rience. The French Club andFrench National Honor Societycarried out a Mardi Gras celebra-tion. French students bandedtogether to bring a French tradi-tion to the students of GLSHS.

Mardi Gras is Frenchfor Fat Tuesday and is held everyyear on the day before AshWednesday. Because peopleusually make sacrifices or givesomething up for Lent, FatTuesday is the last day to party,eat, and celebrate before Lentbegins. At a traditional MardiGras celebration parade, treas-ures such as plastic cups, dou-bloons, and necklaces are throwninto the crowds. The necklacesare always the customary colorsof Mardi Gras, purple for justice,green for faith, and gold forpower. These traditional itemswere all used at the French club’scelebration.

French Club andFrench National Honor Societyused an approach that stayed trueto a traditional Mardi Gras cele-bration to bring a new culturalexperience into the student body.

One game used to raise moneywas the “Doubloon Toss.” Oneside of the doubloon traditional-ly shows the insignia of theorganization that organized thecelebration and the other sideshows the parade’s theme. Otheractivities included a bead sale,face painting, “Pin the Bell onthe Joker,” and a bean bag tossnamed “Jeter le Sacco.” Thewinner was awarded with ticketsto put into a raffle to become theMardi Gras king or queen. Thewinner, sophomore King GordonKaylor, was awarded ten dollarsand a jester hat.

A month of planningwent into “Fat Tuesday.” Thetraditional French Crêpes andfruit smoothies were sold.Crepes are thin pancakes withfillings such as strawberries andice cream. The club memberswere allowed to add ice cream,as well as cherries or strawber-ries, to the crêpes as long as allof the food met the new calorieand fat requirements.

French Club has alsobrought the cultures of France tothe school at other pointsthroughout the year. “Earlier wedid French week, and now weare doing Mardi Gras,” saidFrench Club president Angela

Repko. “It makes people moreculturally aware.”

Two hundred dollarswere raised to be donated toDoctors without Borders. “Weadopted Doctors withoutBorders because it is Frenchbased,” said French teacherMadame Zalewski. Doctorswithout Borders is an independ-ent and humanitarian medicalorganization that provides emer-gency aid to people of Africa, theAmericas, Australia, Asia, andEurope who are affected by war,epidemics, natural or man madedisasters, and people withoutadequate health care. They havefive main operational locationsin Belgium, France, Holland,Spain, and Switzerland. “Wefeel that they do a lot of good,”said Zalewski. “They go wherethe Red Cross doesn’t.”

Mardi Gras is a way toshow ancient traditions in a placewhere these traditional celebra-tions are not commonplace. TheFrench club’s celebration pro-vided students with a culturalexperience that they probablywon’t find very often in smalltowns like Latrobe.

Mardi Gras celebrationheld in commons area

Photo by: Angela Repko, Photo Editor

Anna SylvesterStaff Writer

Kaitlin ZurawskyStaff Writer

Senior Abby Diamond was named People’s Choice for her heart fair project.

FEATURE Rockdown 2008Rock Odyssey 3

Chit Chat

Opium cultivation inrebel-controlled areas in south-western Afghanistan is expectedto grow this year. Drug moneyalone can fuel the Taliban insur-gency. The report on the topic bythe U.N. Office on Drugs andCrime, said that Afghanistan, inturmoil since a U.S.-led militaryoperation toppled the repressiveTaliban regime in 2001, is alsosteadily increasing its productionof marijuana. Afghanistan sup-plies some 90 percent of theworld’s illicit opium, the mainingredient in heroin, and the U.N.estimates the Taliban rebelsreceive up to $100 million fromthe drug trade. Think about thekinds of people you are support-ing, and what they stand for if youpartake in those activities.

The Justice Departmentattorney responsible for recom-mending presidential pardons hasbeen transferred out of his officefollowing accusations of misman-agement and racism. RogerAdams, who served as the gov-ernment's pardon attorney forover a decade, told internalJustice Department investigatorshe probably has some faults, butracial prejudice is not one ofthem. The department's inspectorgeneral concluded otherwise,finding that Adams acted improp-erly in describing a drug convictapplying for a pardon “he is asabout as honest as you couldexpect for a Nigerian.” Theseaccusations against him couldpossibly call for Adams to resign.If he is racist then he should keephis personal views separate fromhis business views, but these dayswe tend to see things as they donot appear. Stories like these tendto get blown out of proportion.

Iran launched a researchrocket and unveiled its first majorspace center. The latest steps in aprogram many fear may be coverto more fully develop its militaryballistic missiles. These eventswere showed live on an Iraniantelevision Station. Scenes fromthe event at the new space centerconsisted of President MahmoudAhmadinejad issuing the launchorder to accomplish Iran's longdeclared goal of developing aspace program. The first Iranianrocket Explorer-1 was fired intospace. Although the exact altitudeof this launch went un-reportedthese recent developments couldprove possibly to be dangerous toour military bases. Spying on ourgovernment headquarters willbecome simple. Along with thepossible damage that could bedone to our satellites.

On Monday, February3rd authorities overreacted inVirginia Beach, Virginia whenthey confiscated twoAbercrombie & Fitch co. displayphotos of a man and a womanfrom a clothing store and cited themanager on a misdemeanorobscenity charge. A city officiallater said the charge would bedropped. The marketing images inquestion shows less skin than yousee any summer day at the beach,and certainly less than theplumber working in your bath-room. One photograph showedthree shirtless males. The otherimage was of a woman whosebreast was barely exposed.Personally, I often go toAbercrombie and the scenes don’tusually bother me. This is simplyanother case of something gettingblown out of proportion.

Opinion Opinion 22 February 29, 2008February 29, 2008

Aroundthe

world

High school stress factors February may play

host to Valentines Day, but attimes it seems the holiday isthe only joyful thing about it.The month is accompanied bysnow, bare trees, and browninggrass. As nature continues todie off, so do our spirits. Inaddition, stress levels due toschool are at an all time high.Contributing to this stress is thelack of days off, the many tests,the awaiting of college accept-ance letters, and as always,grades and report cards.Contrary to popular belief,being a kid is not easy.

Attending school, fivedays a week, eight hours a day,is challenging. Truth be told,students are not faced with thisdifficult task until the month ofFebruary. In previous monthswe received multiple days offfor holidays and in-servicedays. For example, Labor Dayand Christmas Break. Days,such as Martin Luther King Jr.Day, were scheduled off; how-

ever, unexpected snow daysforced us to come. For the timebeing there will be no morelong weekends in which torelax. February is the long haulperiod, the hardest of all.Weeks will be filled with stressas we attempt to make itthrough the month without abreak.

As if merely survivingthe weeks isn’t hard enough,the many tests seem to make itnearly impossible. Forinstance, subject tests likevocabulary quizzes and chaptertests are a daily occurrence.

Students have come todread PSSAs, or state tests. Asa junior, I feel more pressurethan ever before to pass all sec-tions. In addition, the scoresare seen by colleges, remain onyour permanent record, andaffect your GPA. So for thosewho feel they can just slide by,goof around, and put forth min-imal effort, you are wrong.Heed the advice of your teach-ers. Focus, try hard, get plentyof sleep, and eat a healthy

breakfast. Believe it or not,they went through this oncetoo, so they know what helps.Do yourself a favor and listen.

I know the stress doesnot end here. For example, Iam being forced to miss firstperiod three days in one weekjust to take the English portionof the PSSAs. It just so hap-pens that first period is Pre-Calculus, a class in which Istruggle to earn a B. Missingclasses is stressful, but studentsshould stay strong and not letthemselves be overwhelmed.Teachers whose classes areinterrupted by the tests will bemore than happy to help you,just set up a time that is con-venient for all parties involved.

Midterms are nowrequired for every class.Although annoying, I see thepoint, they are trying to get usto retain the information. Lotsof schools do this; however,they do so more wisely. Dayswere not assigned for each sub-ject to give midterms.Therefore, last month, all tests

were crammed into a matter ofdays. Some students, myselfincluded, were forced to takefour or five tests in a row.Until this happened, I had noidea what stress was. I wenthome crying to my mom, as didmany others, school hadbecome too much. Hopefullyfor finals our school will thinkthings through a bit morebefore enforcing a new rule.

As if all this doesn’taccumulate enough stress, sen-iors must await college accept-ance letters. They must applyfor scholarships and financialaid, all while maintaining theirgrades in order to graduatehigh school. The journey tocollege won’t end there. Whileeveryone else is relaxing dur-ing break, seniors are unable.The arrival of summer willmean planning everything fromwhom to room with and whatto prepare for college. Justremember, everyone wentthrough this at one time andthey all survived. Ask yourparents about it if things seem

to be too much. Report cards always

cause stress. Some peoplewant good grades for them-selves, others only wish toplease their parents. Eitherway, no one wants to be disap-pointed on report card day.Bad grades translate into pun-ishments like grounding. Toprevent massive migraines onthis day, don’t procrastinate.Work hard all quarter andthings will run a whole lotsmoother.

While winter may notbe as care free as summertime,you can still survive it. Excusepeople’s grumpy behavior,after all, you are not the mostpleasant person to be around atthis time of year either. Thecause may be the ugly whether,or stress from school, but don’tfreak. Stay calm and the stresswill simply melt away.Complete your work on time,get plenty of sleep, and try tobe as nice as is possible.

Carmella StankoColumnist

IssueGiveaway:Congrats to

Mara Greiner.Come to roomC109 to claim

your prize!

Patrick LynchColumnist

The staff of The High Post is committed to serving the stu-dent body of Greater Latrobe Senior High School. The opinions pagecontains the ideas and views of individuals and does not represent theviews of the staff, advisor, or administration in its entirety.

The High Post is a public forum for student expression,therefore any student who wishes to create dialogue concerning anissue may do so by submitting articles or Letters to the Editor inroom C-109. In order to uphold the integrity of the publication, TheHigh Post reserves the right to edit submissions for grammar, styleand available space. Submissions should not exceed 300 words.

Advisor: Mrs. Renee Stallings Administration: Dr. Georgia Teppert, Mr. Steven LoCascio and Mr. Chad Krehlik Printed by the Latrobe Bulletin

The High Post 2007-2008

Editors-in-Chief Mike DeFabo and Amber Biddle

Section EditorsNews Editor- Samantha ServiceFeatures Editor- Courtney Furwa Sports Editor- Matt ZittOpinions Editor- Stephanie SiorPhoto Editor- Angela Repko Distribution Manager-Ian KishAd. & Prod. Mgr.-Nick BaughBusiness Manager-Chris James

StaffTyler Baloh, Ben Battaglia, Courtney

Briggs, Joe Ferlin, Justin Downs, RyanLaDuke, Pat Lynch, Mary Maatta,Brian Noel, Angela Repko, Brianna

Saddler, Natalie Schade, AndySmithhammer Carmella Stanko, Anna

Sylvester, Kristina Wiggins,LindseyYelenic, Kailtin Zurawsky

Intern:Robert Himler

Editorial Policy

Photo Courtesy of Robert Himler

Senior lot Friday February 15, 2008Senior Class Attendance

173 absent of 320(not including early dismissals)

Critic’s CornerDeveloped by

Harmonix Music Systems, pub-lished by MTV Games, anddistributed by EA Distribution,Rock Band is a music videogame for the Xbox 360 and thePlayStation 2 game systems.The game was released rightbefore Christmas on December18 and has since become a hugesuccess selling over 1.5 millionunits. The game is similar tothe previously popular trio ofGuitar Hero video games. InGuitar Hero the gamer onlyplays as the guitarist where as

in Rock Band the gamer canplay as the guitarist as well asthe singer and drummer. Thischoice variety has made thisgame increasingly popular. Thegamer uses peripherals mod-eled after the instruments tosimulate the playing of rockmusic by hitting notes thatscroll down the screen. RockBand has online multilayercapabilities which also arehelping make this gameincreasingly popular. In addi-tion to the songs already on thegame disc, hundreds of new

tracks are available as down-loadable content.

As a big fan of theGuitar Hero game, I can hon-estly say that Rock Band is bet-ter especially because of thevariety of instrument selec-tions. Rock Band is also a lotmore fun to play multilayerbecause it is like an actualband. I personally like the druminstrument peripheral probablyjust because of the differenceafter playing so much GuitarHero.

Ben BattagliaColumnist Game Review: Rock Band

Patrick LynchColumnist Movie Review: No Country for Old Men

Like several of CormicMcCarthy's previous novels,No Country for Old Men chron-icles a series of violent deathsalong the Texas-Mexico border.But this time the setting is1980, and instead of horses andland the mayhem revolvesaround a leather case packedwith $2 million in drug money.Directed by the Coen brothers,Joel and Ethan the movie ver-sion of the novel seems to fol-low McCarthy’s master piecescene by scene. With an in-your-face approach using non-

stop action and hard hitting vio-lence, The Coen brothers didnot let McCarthy down. Themain character Llewelyn Moss,a welder hunting antelope nearthe Rio Grande, comes acrossthe remains of a botched heroindeal. Shot up 4x4 trucks,Mexicans and the leather case isall that remains. Moss carriesthe case away and becomes theobject of competing manhunts.Among the hunters are SheriffBell, who lives in the samehometown as Moss and hiswife. Carson Wells, an ex-

Special Forces officer hired bythe case's original owner andAnton Chigurh, a freelance hitman. At one point Chigurhforces Moss’s wife to call a cointoss for her life. For all his hard-earned reputation as a throw-back, McCarthy is a thoroughlycinematic novelist, and nevermore so than in No Country forOld Men. This movie is possi-bly the best blood and goremovie. This feature will keepyou on the edge of your seatwaiting for the next shot to befired.

Voicebox

What are youlooking forward tomost about theROCKDOWN?

“Drinking lots of redbull andplaying games all night.”-Ryan Matsko, sophomore

“I’m really lookingforward to all music,especially LP”-Josh Koutsky, soph-omore

“The bands because itsalways fun to go to agood concert and I’mhoping there will bebands I like”-Annie Maroon junior“Seeing The Clarks

because they’re one ofmy favorite bands and Ireally hope they play‘Better off without you’-Natalie Snizaski, sopho-more

“All the tournamentsbecause my team is goingto win them”-Chris Trumbetta, sophomore

“I’m looking forward towatching The Clarks andhaving fun with all myfriends”-RJ Nevin, senior

“Spending time withmy friends and seeingthe Clarks.”- Natalie Wickham,sophomore

“ Hanging out with myfriends and having fun andplaying dodgeball.”- Kaitlyn Moore, junior

“ Beating every single stu-dent team in every singleevent with my one hand.” - Mr. Evans, teacher

Sports Sports 33February 29, 2008February 29, 2008

Varsity Hockey(18-2) 2/20/08

Wrestling(3-5) 2/20/08

Girls Swimming(3-0) 2/20/08

Boys swimming(1-2) 2/20/08

Boys’ Basketball (16-8) 2/20/08

Girls’ Basketball(12-9) 2/20/08

Justin DownsStaff Writer

Number one ranked Icecats reboundfrom only second loss of season

Ryan LaDukeColumnist

On the ice

With the beginning of the Penguins Cup playoffs rightaround the corner, the 18-2 Greater Latrobe Icecats are notfinishing the season they way they planned. We lost only our sec-ond game of the season 4-2 to the same team, South Park, in theirbuilding and on their senior night. Once again they played us realtough, creating a lot of pressure with their body checks and gettingtwo goals right before the first and second periods ended that werecrucial in the final score. The refs, however, called a lot of penal-ties against Latrobe that seemed a little unclear as to why the whis-tle was blown.

The next game was against an Elizabeth Forward teamthat we had previously beaten 11-1 earlier in the season.Throughout the entire game we couldn’t really generate a lot ofoffense. It wasn’t like us to score only four goals against a hockeyteam that is sub-par in Class AA. Usually when we face teams offwith less talent than us, we take full advantage on the scoreboardby defeating them with ease. It was definitely not one of our bettergames of the season, but we got the 4-0 victory which is all thatmatters at the end of the day.

Surprisingly, suffering a loss before the playoffs mighthave a good impact on our team. We hated the fact that we lost toSouth Park, again, and even more because it was their senior night,but we have been overlooking weaker teams. Our eleven gamewinning streak gave us that attitude that no one could beat us, butthe truth was we were beatable. We lost for only the second timethis season against South Park and we know we don’t want thatawful taste of losing to happen ever again.

Even though we now have two losses on the season, weare still ranked first in the state. As long as we can win our last twogames of the season against Greensburg Central Catholic andThomas Jefferson, we will lock up the first seed for the PenguinsCup Playoffs. Getting those last two wins of the season won’t beeasy especially up against our ach-rival Centurions, but I know ourteam is up for the challenge. We really want to secure the first seedfor the playoffs. Fortunately, we have already solidified a bye forthe first round of the playoffs because we have secured one of thetop four places in Class AA.

With earning a bye for the first round of the playoffs, wewill be able to rest and tune up the feeble parts of our game. Also,it will allow us to get a better look at our opponent for the quarter-finals. Not having to play a first round game and the rest could bevery crucial in making a serious run at a Penguins CupChampionship. Our team experienced losing early in the playoffslast year, but with the talent we have this year, we know it won’thappen again. We know our destiny is to play at Mellon Arena forthe championship.

Mens Basketball Team• 16-8 (overall) 10-4 (section) 13th seed for playoffsFg%- 48.1% 3pt%- 33.9% Ft%- 68.4%

With Signing Day for division one football playersstarting on February 6, everybody had their eyes on where dual-threat Jeanette quarterback Terrelle Pryor would commit.However, the number one football recruit in the nation delayedsigning his letter of intent to give all the schools he is consider-ing another look. In the spirit of Signing Day, we take a look atthe recruiting process and where some Latrobe athletes will beextending their athletic careers to the college level.

The recruiting process for each athlete depends on thelevel that they will most likely be playing in college. Manywould think that division one recruiting is a lot different thanrecruiting for division three schools, but it is still pretty hectic atthe division three level. Recruiting is definitely more intenseand rigorous for division one athletes, but division three athletesgo through some of the same things that they do.

“A little bit after my senior season ended, I was gettingcalls almost every night from coaches. Coaches also wouldcome and visit me in school about three times a week in thebeginning,” said senior defensive tackle Darrick Dominick. Healso said that the recruiting got less chaotic when he let theschools know that he was not interested in them. “After I’vetold a lot of schools that I am not interested, I now only get aboutthree calls a week from coaches of schools that I am still inter-ested in,” said Dominick.

Coaches aren’t always the one that get in contact withthe athlete to play at the next level, sometimes they have to goout of their way to get their name out there. “I had to e-mail alot of soccer coaches to get my name out there so I could play incollege. I would say that I was interested in their program, give

them my stats, let them know about me and then they would getback in contact with me,” said senior soccer player AmberMondock. Going out of her way to e-mail the coaches definite-ly paid off as she has been offered and will accept a division twosoccer scholarship to Seton Hill.

Another tough issue that Dominick is dealing with, likea lot of other athletes, is choosing whether to go to a smallerschool to continue an athletic career or go to a bigger universityand concentrate solely on academics. He has narrowed downhis football choices to Waynesburg and Washington andJefferson, however he has concerns about going to a smallerschool. “It is an important and difficult decision because I haveto choose between focusing on academics or continue playingfootball, where I might not be able to concentrate on school asmuch,” said Dominick. Focusing on education will definitely bea lot harder if he has to deal with playing a college sport.

Latrobe had a few division one athletes to sign full-ridescholarships to big-time programs like Ryan Goodman (WestVirginia) and Michaela Kissell (Miami, FL). Latrobe’s biggestrecruit this year is WPIAL softball player of the year AlexaBryson. She had numerous division one scholarship offers, butin the end she signed with Robert Morris University. AnotherLatrobe athlete that has already signed is Lindsey Muchnock,who will attend Seton Hill on a basketball scholarship.

Signing Day may be a big deal next year for a few cur-rent Latrobe juniors as they have already been going through therecruiting process. Juniors Natalie Bower, Andrew Fisher,Dylan Nowe, Tony Lamosek, and Jeff Yunetz are already gettingletters in the mail and having coaches contact them.

Athletes sign with schools to continue athletic career

Wildcat Cardbook

Junior guard Jeff Yunetz attacks the hoop as he scored his 1,000thpoint against the Hempfield Spartans in the final section game ofthe season. Yunetz became the first junior in school history to reachthe 1,000 point plateau.

Photo courtesy Latrobe Bulletin

Ryan LaDukeStaff Writer

Girls Basketball Team• 14-10 (overall) 10-4 (section) 8th seed for playoffsFg%- 38% 3pt%- 36.10% Ft%- 65.89%

Inline Hockey Team• 11-5 Tied for second 23 pts 139 goals for86 goals against Plus/minus- +53

Swimming Team• Boys - 2-3 in the Section= 2nd place in Section behind PennTrafford, Norwin and Hempfield-3 way tieGirls - 4-1 in the Section= 2nd place in the Section

Ben BattagliaStaff Writer

Feature Feature 44February 29, 2008February 29, 2008

Alaska’s weather is amix of treacherous snow stormsand below zero temperature. Itwould be a scary thought tohave both of your parentsthrown into that mix. Imaginegoing to bed every night notknowing exactly where inAlaska your parents are, howmuch longer they will be goneand if they are safe? JuniorAbby Hewitt will be thinkingevery moment for almost amonth while her parents arerunning the Iditarod Trail in thefreezing below zero tempera-tures of Alaska.

Abby’s parents,Loreen and Tim Hewitt will bebattling the elements while run-ning the 1,100 mile trail fromAnchorage to Nome. This trailis usually navigated by a teamof sixteen dogs; however theHewitt’s will be running onfoot. For Mrs. Hewitt’s firsttime making theexpedition she has sether goal to completethe first part of therace to McGrath, a350 mile run. Withtwo completed racesunder his belt, Mr.Hewitt will then con-tinue on the next 750miles solo to finishhis third Iditarod.

“Both of myparents are the kindof people who alwayspush themselves waybeyond their limit, soit scares me that theymight get in overtheir heads trying tocross some river thatisn’t frozen all theway or something

unexpected like that,” saidAbby.

“I definitely am get-ting more and more worried asthey are getting ready to leave,”said Abby. “Every time my dadcomes back he tells me sometreacherous stories that healways seems to barely make itout of alive. The thing thatscares me the most though wasthe third time he went and howhe had to be life-flighted outbecause his bronchitis was sosevere he couldn’t breathe.” Forthe majority of us who haven’ttraveled far enough north toexperience these 40 below tem-peratures, it is hard to fullyunderstand how difficult itwould be to be outside in thatkind of weather let alone run-ning over a thousand miles in it.Because of this, you can onlyimagine the types of trainingand work out plans they neededto do to train their bodies tohandle this frozen temperature.Some of their workouts includ-

ed pulling their sleds so theycould get used to carrying their45 lbs of gear and food.

“They have beenworking really hard gettingready for this by going on longhikes overnight and sleepingoutside and it shows they have areal passion for it. A lot of timespeople will ask them why in theworld they would ever do it andif they are crazy, but they do itbecause they love it, not toprove it to anyone,” said Abby.

You would think thatwith her father completing thistwo times already and both par-ents going up for this years thatit would inspire Abby to jointhem eventually. “Originally Iwould have said no way butover the years it has becomemore appealing. But for now, Iwould just have to say if I dodecide to do it; it wouldn’t befor a long time!”

The Hewitts train for1,100 mile Iditarod

Race in Alaska

Mrs. Ross expresses herselfthrough the arts

Each person expresses themselves in adifferent and distinctive way. Mrs. Lydia Rossexpresses herself through the arts such as paint-ing.

In her spare time, Ross enjoys spendingtime with her family and being outdoors.Showing her love of art, she likes to go to muse-ums and galleries and paint. Ross also takesgraduate classes, reads, and shops. “My favoritething about art is probably creating it,” said Ross.“I really enjoy painting, especially, but don’thave all that much time to do my own work.”

Ross also shares her passions with herstudents. Field trips are also something Ross’sstudents look forward to. This year, she hastaken various classes to see Phipps Conservatory,the Carnegie Museum of Art, and the “Bodies”Exhibit at Carnegie Science Center. She is alsoplanning trips to two houses designed by FrankLloyd Wright, Fallingwater and Kentucky Knob,and the Hall of Architecture at the CarnegieMuseum of Art for her Art History classes.Ross is the advisor of a unique program calledArt-to-Wear. Art-to-Wear is a joint programbetween the art and family and consumer sci-ences departments. The students create their gar-ments from fabric they dye themselves, and thenshow off their creations in afashion show. Ross and Mrs.Balko assist in teaching the stu-dents the dying techniques andprocess.

Ross teaches art histo-ry, art exploration, ceramics,drawing and painting, humanfigure, printmaking, and port-folio prep. “I’ve known Iwanted to be involved with artsince I was about four yearsold, but didn’t decide on teach-ing until my senior year of highschool,” said Ross. “That’swhen I completed my applica-tion to Penn State and choseArt Education as my major.”She got her B.A. in art educa-tion from Penn State University

and her Master’s Degree in art education fromKutztown University and California StateUniversity.

Ross’s art students feel that she is a veryhelpful and caring teacher. “She wrote a letterof recommendation to get me into the ArtInstitute of Pittsburgh during the summer,” saidjunior Jenessa Thomas. “That’s something thatI’ve always dreamed of doing.”

Family is very important to Ross. Shegrew up as one of nine children. Most of her sib-lings and her mother also still live in the Ligonierarea. They are also interested in art, as some ofthem are interested in jewelry. Ross grew up inLigonier and still resides there. She has alsolived and taught in Philadelphia, New Orleans,and Northern California. Ross has been marriedfor 23 years and has a 12 year old son, Mitchell.“My son is probably the most important thing inmy life right now,” said Ross. “Especially tryingto find a balance between trying to help him growup to be a productive, responsible, kind person,and not being on his case constantly.” To some, art may seem like an unusual hobby forspare time. To others like Ross, art is a way oflife and the most important way of expressingthemselves.

Not So Shady:Neal Henderson

Junior Neal Henderson’s life is prettyhectic right now. He is playing on two hockeyteams, trying to manage his grades, and still tryingto have time for his friends and family.

Henderson plays hockey for the highschool team which is number one in the state aswell as for a traveling team called the AlleghenyBadgers.

Henderson also played football this yearbut plans on leaving it behind next year so he canconcentrate on hockey. “I am dedicated to hockeyfor my last year here at Latrobe and don’t want torisk any injuries,” explained Henderson. Neal is a huge Penguins fan which is the reason hestarted playing. “I just remember my dad would bewatching Penguins games on TV and I wouldwatch them all the time and I just started saying tomyself how I would like to try that sport. I gotreally into it,” said Neal. Henderson takes pride inbeing able to participate in sports at Latrobe and isexcited that he can be one such a good team witha great group of guys. They are currently rankedfirst in Pennsylvania. He feels that we have one ofthe most athletic schools around. “It’s nice to beapart of.” Neal’s greatest accomplishment in hock-ey is scoring his first varsity goal. It wasn’t just aregular goal though. It tied up the game and theyactually ended up winning 4-3.

Along with hockey, grades are anothervery important part of Neal’s life. He mentionedthat at the beginning of the school year it was real-ly tough to juggle three teams and school work. “Ihardly had time to breathe, so grade wise I alwaystried to get everything done ahead of time so I did-n’t have to worry about it later on,” saidHenderson. Staying on top of things was on wayhe kept up with his classes. Also he always leavesenough time for his harder classes like physicsthat. “I have just learned that you have got to maketime for school as much as you possibly can,” saidNeal. “He is just a very responsible kid,” said his

math teacher Miss McLaughlin. He has goals thathe wants to accomplish this year with his gradesand the main one is to get his GPA up a 3.5 orhigher.History is something that Neal is really interestedin and it is his favorite class. “I’m always interest-ed in how things were before our time and I justlike to learn how things shaped up to be the waythey are today,” said Neal. He plans on becominga history teacher someday.In his free time, Neal enjoys sleeping, eating,hanging out with friends and also playing videogames. Any chance he gets to watch Pittsburghsports teams he takes. The penguins are hisfavorite team and he also likes the Steelers and isa Panther fan.

Neal Henderson is an athletic teen tryingto work his way up in hockey and improve hisskills. He is a responsible student, knowing how tomaintain his time and keep his grades.

Senior Spotlight: Hannah Straight

Nicknames Hannah Banana, Louise

Motto “C’est la vive”

Plans after High school “To make a lot ofmoney.”

Sports play(ed) Dance ballet, pointejazz, lyrical, modern

Proudest moment “It will be graduationday.”

Describes self as Outgoing

Dream Date Channing Tatum

Strangest thing in yourpurse

a master lock, vitamins

Anna SylvesterStaff Writer

Kristina WigginsStaff Writer

Mary MaattaStaff Writer

Natalie SchadeStaff Writer

Photo by Angela Repko, Photo Manager

Photo by Angela Repko, Photo Manager

Photo submitted by Abby Hewitt

Photo submitted by Hannah Straight

2008 Rock OdysseyThe hype is mounting. The posters are hanging and rumors are spreading concerning the Latrobe

Rockdown, a twelve hour “lock in” where teams of five to seven students will compete to win lavish prizes.Get ready because this year’s 2008 Rock Odyssey is something to get excited about. With a space and futur-istic theme, this community benefit event it will be held on March 7 from 7 p.m. to March 8 at 7 a.m. in theGreater Latrobe Senior High School gymnasium wing.

In addition to the competition aspect, the event will entertain students with live performances bylocal talent The Clarks, Nothing Unexpected, The Hope Fallacy, and Heroes Against Villains. Additionalmusical appearances include DJ Squid and an open mic with GLSH student performances by LP, Revenant,and National Catfish among other young talents.

Teams will compete to win a grand prize of two VIP season passes to the Post Gazette Pavilion forall shows. Other attractive prizes include a country music bundle of tickets and a series of passes to showsat Pittsburgh’s Mr. Small’s.

Teams who are serious about winning should prepare ahead of time by participating in theScavenger Hunt involving local businesses who have donated. To earn easy points on the night of, teammembers should dress in costume relating to the space theme and bring non-perishable food donations forthe Westmoreland County Food Bank. In order to accumulate points throughout the night, mini-competitionswill be held such as dime toss, poker, a game on space themed trivia, chuck-a-luck, a pie eating contest, lasertoss, a robot arm challenge, putt putt golf and corn hole.

Points can also be accumulated through athletic and gaming strategy. Teams will be able to provetheir athletic ability on the rock wall and a challenging obstacle course, in dodge ball, soccer, and basket-ball. Teams will also show gaming skills to participate in the LAN event. The entire back half of the auxil-iary gym will be sectioned off and transformed to a gamer’s heaven complete with Xbox 306, PS2, N64,Super Nintendo, and computers. Tournaments featuring Guitar Hero, Halo 3, Call of Duty, Madden 08,Dance Dance Revolution and other games will be held throughout the night.

Rockdown is not just for teams, all attendees can participate in any competition, game, or sport.Any individual who brings in food for the needy Westmoreland County Foodbank will be rewarded with freeraffle tickets. Other entertainment includes an appearance by the Pittsburgh Pirate’s mascot, a balloon maker,movies, board games, and an “Energy Lounge” filled with Bawls energy drinks.

Everyone can be a winner. Raffle tickets will be sold and prizes include an $800 RusbosinFurniture & Flooring recliner, autographed sports memorabilia, local restaurant and entertainment gift cardsand other themed raffle baskets. You have to play to win, so be sure to bring some extra money. Food willbe available at the concession stand throughout the night. Breakfast will be provided free of cost.

Money raised will be split between the GLSH student publications and Arnold Palmer Pavilion, apart of Excela Health, to comfort cancer patients. The Rockdown’s organizing committee set a lofty, yetachievable goal of attracting 600 presale ticket holders. Senior Courtney Furwa said, “Being on the organ-izing committee has taken a lot of time and hard work but it will all be worth it in the end.”

The $20 tickets will be sold to GLSH students grades 10-12 only during lunches starting February25 through March 6. No tickets will be sold at the door. A completed signed permission slip must be sub-mitted to purchase. Each student of GLSH may sponsor one outside student in 10- 12 grade to attend theRockdown. Those who have purchased a ticket are permitted to attend an informational assembly onThursday, March 6. Door s will open at 6:30.

Kristina WigginsStaff Writer