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18218 north road, lynnwood, wa, 98012volume xxiii, issue i, october 16, 2012an open public forum for student expression

2 | The Gazette | October 16, 2012

gNews

keikodelucastaffreporter

The new school year has brought about new changes, and old traditions that had been left and forgotten these past few years.

ASB has decided to make a few profound changes, particularly homecoming. One change in particular has riled up a number of distressed seniors. In an attempt to make stu-dents feel less inclined to spend large sums of money on homecoming gear, ASB decided to get rid of class themes.

At the old Lynnwood High School, classes were not separated by themes. The tradition of class themes was put in when the new school built four years ago. However it seems to have

been taken out as fast as it was introduced. “We hope that by choosing accessible themes, a lot of students will find it easy to pull costumes to-gether and participate,” Soren Steelquist said.

Still many seniors have voiced their com-plaints. “It gives us a direction,” senior Misha Lee said of class themes. Other seniors have also expressed the notion that removing class themes will make it harder for students to find class unity. “It costs money either way. It unites us as a class,” senior Fnan Negasi said

ASB also announced at the Welcome Back assembly that they plan to bring back yellow gold for black and gold day. For the past few years, students were discouraged from wear-ing anything aside from real gold. However,

with the growing economic struggle and over-all difficulty in finding gold clothes, ASB al-lowed yellow gold in hopes that more people will celebrate homecoming with spirit.

“This year we decided to take in cost a lot more because of the rate of families on free

and reduced lunch. We thought that yellow gold would be more affordable and way easier to find,” ASB spirit coordinator, Allie McKay said.

To further amp up the spirit of the students, homecoming had two extra days added before the actual homecoming week.

“We added two spirit days because we wanted a lot of participation during the actual homecoming week, so we hoped the two ex-tra days would give people a heads-up and a warm-up. And besides, who doesn’t like spirit days?” Steelquist said. “Overall, our main goals are to encourage more people to participate and raise the level of spirit in the school.”

Politics at LHS

ASB makes changes to the order of Homecoming week

stephaniehallstaffreporter

The rambunctious black and gold covered se-niors of Lynnwood high school are trading in their silly spirit gear for the patriotic red, white, and blue banners in time for the 2012 presidential election. This time it’s the students who are voting, though some are more eager to head to the ballots than oth-ers, if at all.

“I think it’s stupid when people don’t vote” said Brianna Huff, ASB officer and senior eligible to vote, “If you have the opportunity to put your opin-ion out there, then you should do it.” With so many controversial topics being brought up such as the le-galization of gay marriage, marijuana, and the abor-tion debate, it’s an opportunity to have a say in what you believe in, but not everyone is as enthusiastic about the election.

“I didn’t register” said Modou Janneh. “I don’t know, I didn’t really have time.” The topics impor-tant to student voters are, not surprisingly, educa-tion, and fixing the economy. “Someone that’s will-ing to fix our economy and help with the education”

said Huff. Senior Kaitlin Evers also agrees that it is important to improve economy and education.”

But that’s not all young voters are concerned about. Gay marriage and the possible legalization

of marijuana have more than just politicians and pastors in a tizzy. “Personally I think it should be le-gal,” Huff explains. “I think gay marriage is okay. It doesn’t affect me, they should have the right.”

Janneh has a similar opinion “gay marriage, I don’t really care about it, if you love someone you should be able to get married.” The legalization of marijuana is where opinions start to stray from in-difference to curiosity. Janneh said “I think students in high school are exited for it ‘cause they think they are going to get free weed.”

Janneh may not be voting this time around, but

he does have an idea of the candidate he would likely vote for. The same one many students are con-sidering. “Probably Obama because Romney seems to flip flop around on a lot of stuff.” Huff agrees. “Obama. He was part of the younger generations. He was doing a good job; I think he deserves an-other four years to keep that going.”

But when it comes to making the decision on who to vote for, research is where seniors are slack-ing off. “I don’t really know a whole lot” said Janneh. “I would say I know more than most high school stu-dents but I could defiantly learn more” said Huff.

There is a reason students learn about the elec-tion in their history classes: To get information and form their own opinion without the influence of parental views. “I think it’s unfair for the student or person,” said Evers, “They have their own mind, or, their own views and their parents shouldn’t affect it.

Seniors may be comfortable with the voting age, but with the stress and priorities of being a senior, voting for the next president of the United States doesn’t always make it to the top of the list.

I think gay marriage is okay. It doesn’t affect me, they should have the right.

>>>briannahuff

Overall, our main goals are to encourage more people to participate and raise the level of spirit in the school.

>>>sorensteelquist

Survey Says

20%

President?

ObamaRomney

80%

LHS seniors’ votes count for the 2012 Elections

Changes to make homecoming more affordable

graphicbykatieeno

28%

Legalize marijuana?

72%

YesNo

12%

Approve gay marriage?88%

YesNo

24%

Governor? 76%

McKenna Inslee

The Gazette | October 16, 2012 | 3

gNews

nickmccannstaffreporter

As of the start of the 2012-2013 school year at Lynnwood High School, new vending machines have been installed and prices have been raised on all food and drink products.

“We switched vending companies and they offer a percentage of return on each item,” Lindsay Schi-laty, coordinator of the Associated Student Body said. “If the prices are higher, then we get a higher percentage back.”

The contracts that the school had with Ever-green Vending, the old provider, were renewed over

the summer and the school now does business with Advantage Vending. Advantage provides our school with more efficient machines at the cost of higher prices.

There is a split profit plan where both the school and Advantage Vending get a share of the money made from. Because of this, the school gets on aver-age 30% of the money made on each item, making it a 5% increase.

The vending machines themselves have a much better built quality, making use of a small platform that has a drink land on it and guided to the deposit slot. Students praise the quality but have reacted un-

favorably toward the raised prices. “It might make more money in the short term,

but in the long term less people will be willing to buy from there,” junior David Jorgensen said. Stu-dents also dislike how the machines are closed off until 9:30 AM.

The raised prices look like to better benefit the school coming down the line, giving more money to clubs and activities to suit the needs of the many. With the students disapproval of them however there could be lower sales of chips, candy bars, soda, flavored water, and iced coffee.

Vending changes bring increases in prices

Ivanov organizes leadership conference for senior projectkeikodelucastaffreporter

LHS senior Arsenia Ivanov isn’t content to sit on the sidelines. On October 4th for her se-nior project Ivanov organized and conducted the Girls and Women in Sports Leadership Conference at the Shoreline Conference Cen-ter

With thirteen high schools in attendance, including local schools Everett and Edmonds Woodway, it was crucial that the conference go off without a hitch. Surprisingly, this pres-sure was nothing compared to the stress in the preparation leading up to the actual event.

“The conference was definitely the easiest part,” Ivanov said. Ivanov has spent the last five months contacting schools and presenters, or-ganizing transportation, finding sponsors, and

deciding on an appropriate conference venue. By the time the actual date arrived, she had al-ready finished most of her 40+ hands on hours required for the completion of her senior proj-ect.

All of the hard work ultimately paid off in the end and the conference boasted a wide panel of successful women in sports related careers including sports journalist Lindsey Schnell, Seattle Sounders defender Stephanie Cox, and professional bodybuilder Katy Way-man-White.

“It is important to win, that’s why we keep score. But hopefully we teach more than just that.” Keynote speaker Joan Bonvicini said in her opening session. “All of you in here you have something to give, each of you has a gift.” Bonvicini, head coach of the Seattle University

women’s basketball team, used her opening presentation to highlight a general theme that was echoed throughout the entire conference. “People, both the attendees and the speakers, just came up to me throughout the conference saying how great the opportunity was for them to come on this field trip.” Ivanov said.

Overall, the attendees seemed to really enjoy the conference, and many walked away with new perspectives. “I went to one session where she talked about the mental side of playing sports and that really taught me a lot about, like just how to keep a positive attitude and how you’ll only be as good as you expect yourself to be.” junior Grace Douglas said. The important thing about this conference was that realizations such as the one Douglas had, can be utilized both on and off the court as

the girls embrace leadership roles throughout their lives.

Five short hours after the doors to the Shoreline Conference Center had opened to let all of the athletes in, the event came to an end. Ivanov’s senior project had been a suc-cess. “She was very relieved at the end,” con-ference attendee and close friend of Arsenia’s senior Katie Laban said. “She was extremely happy.”

Anyone would be if they had just finished their senior project long before even the early presentation date, but before that fact sinks in Ivanov is still reveling in the achievement of putting on such a successful conference. “I definitely just felt it went absolutely amazing and it couldn’t have turned out better,” Ivanov said. “Just a great overall experience.”

LHS recieves 5 percent more from vendors

Student brings SPU’s Joan Bonvicini as keynote speaker

“The prices are not reflecting what people can afford”

“People can’t afford it and that’s ridiculous”

“I’m not going to buy as much anymore”

David Jorgensen, 11

Shelby Dimick, 10

Shane Wynn, 12

photobyabbymartinez

4 | The Gazette | October 16, 2012

Obama’s plan can help us realistically af-ford college.

newseditOrskatieenonickmccanOp/ededitOraubreyannspreadeditOrsidneysheaFeatureseditOrrachellockharta&eeditOrpaigemorganhOmegrOwneditOrnicoletrautmanspOrtseditOrevanweiderspohnphOtOeditOrsabbymartinezweb&graphicseditOrkatieenocOpyeditOrelijahbruingtonbusinessManagermargauxbashamstaFFrepOrtersadelbarnesangelblancomaryjoclinekeikodelucastephaniehallladawnharrissarahkimzeyalyssalyonsgianguyentaylorrust

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memberwjea, jea, nspaitalicized names, are members of the editorial board

Since 1973, the Royal Gazette haS exiSted aS a Student-pRoduced newSpapeR and an open public foRum foR Student and community expReS-Sion in policy and pRactice. the Gazette haS eStabliShed SeveRal open public foRumS foR the lhS community.

gthe royal gazette

Mission Statement: Our mission at the Royal Gazette is to be the paper of record for the Lynnwood High School community. The Gazette is to provide the students, staff and community of Lynnwood High School with well-written, well-researched stories to allow readers to form their own opinions. Editorials: The opinion section of the Royal Gazette is for well-written forms of expression that is the opinion of the writer and only the writer. Any editorials that are not bylined is the view of

a majority of the Editorial Board, and are written to express their opinion on the topic. The views that are printed do not necessarily represent the view of Lynnwood High School staff or the Edmonds School District board. Ad Policy: The Royal Gazette accepts advertisements for most products and services. However we also reserve the right to decline any ads submitted that we believe are misleading, inaccurate or that we believe are inadequate for the Gazette. The

advertisements chosen do not necessarily represent the view of the Gazette staff, Lynnwood High School or Edmonds School District. Submissions: The Royal Gazette accepts any student, staff or community submissions. We make it our highest priority to put the works in the paper with space allowed. The Gazette staff reserves the right to edit any piece of work submitted with out changing the content of the work. Please submit work to gazettetalk@thelhsgazette.com with full name and contact information.

Reject apathyaubreyannop/ededitor

With the election nearly upon us, many se-niors are faced with a choice they have never been faced with before. They can vote.

The problem is that many young voters don’t care, are uninformed, or simply unaware of the issues that affect them in very real ways. At stake in this election are issues surround-ing education, jobs growth, and taxes as well as gay marriage and the potential legalization of marijuana, and issues surrounding women’s reproductive health and birth control in their health insurance plans for employees.

The fact that 80 percent of Planned Parent-hood clients are under the age of 20, suggests that us young adults should be offended by Romney’s plans to cut funding for Planned Parenthood. In fact women everywhere should be offended by the plans to cut funding of Planned Parenthood and the plans to cut birth control off health insurance given to us by our employers. We have the right to make the deci-sion whether we want to get pregnant or not and birth control is one of the main ways to avoid pregnancy.

Gay marriage or the legalization of marijua-

na may not affect everyone, but what can affect all of the seniors today is education. With Pres-ident Obama, his goal is to cut college tuition and fees in half over the next ten years. Obama has established a college tax credit for students and their families worth up to $10,000 for over four years of college. Obama’s plan can help us

realistically afford college, and with a better education we can achieve our dream careers in the future.

The president’s goal if re-elected is to cre-ate one million new manufacturing jobs by 2016. I’m sure we could benefit from the plans of President Obama, because after we benefit

from his education plans we will all be looking for work within the next five or so years.

In President Barrack Obama’s tax plans no household making more than one million each year should pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than a hard working middle-income family pays. Conversely, Romney wishes to protect loopholes in tax plans that keep mil-lionaires like himself paying lower taxes than those hard working middle income families. It makes more sense that if you make more you should pay more in taxes, these taxes are just a small amount compared to how much the upper-class makes.

Romney showed his hand two weeks ago when he lamented that 47 percent of Ameri-cans were essentially mooching of the govern-mnet, asking for food, health care, and shelter.He is out of touch with regular Americans, and even more out of touch with our generation.

To the 47 percent of United States citizens who get federal help or to the seniors who can vote who just don’t care or are too lazy, these plans the presidential candidates have will af-fect you all now or later on, so get up and vote! The consequences of inaction are too high for you to keep playing Skyrim right through the election.

Simple reasons why you need to vote

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The Gazette | October 16, 2012 | 5

gOP/Ed

Pro/Con: The Dress Code

davegoldenlhsprincipal One the first things that you may have not-

ed this year is that there are many classes that are large. One of the reasons for this is that it is

very difficult to predict exactly who is going to show up in September, although we have to put together our schedule in the previous Spring. This year it seems that everyone who showed up as a new student

was in 9th or 11th grade, so we are crowded at those levels. As the year goes on, we tend to have more student move out than in so class size should decrease, but for now we really don’t have any other options. One suggestion – please be patient about the return of papers and tests. Remember for every test you take your teacher may have to correct 150+. Here’s to hoping everyone is off to a great start!!

izzymazaasbpublic relations As you all know, Homecoming just ended

and we have been getting such good and posi-tive feedback! We really would like to thank everyone who helped out in making this year’s Homecoming the best it could be; everyone’s hard work and effort has paid off. Also, thank you guys for coming out to the dance! We sold about 457 tickets, which broke the record for most tickets ever sold. As an ASB, we hope to set the standards for future dances which can

be something everyone should now be look-ing forward to. You guys should also be look-ing forward to these upcoming events:

Nov 5th: Macho VolleyballNov 7th: Districts for Macho VolleyballNov 8th: Veterans Day AssemblyNov 13th-30th: PPPNov 14th-17th: Fall Drama Production

Class sizes require patience Upcoming asB events

The Gazette provides this regular column for LHS administration to communicate with the LHS community.

The Gazette provides this regular column for LHS ASB to communicate with the LHS community.

C keikodelucastaffreporter

“Read a F***ing Book”. Senior Klare Smith donned this shirt on college shirt day. Unsur-prisingly, she was promptly told to change into a more suitable shirt.

Is this reason enough to get in trouble? “You know I just wish it wasn’t. I feel we’re young adults and we’re used to hearing and seeing vulgarity and shouldn’t be so afraid of it.” Smith said.

Smith has a very good point with this. High school is the final step to college and after that we are thrust into the real world. Perhaps she could have been a little more sensible with the wording but the shirt is attention grabbing and interesting.

“If you don’t like it, debate with me. Talk to me about it or just look away. It’s not hard to do.” Smith proclaimed. A few minutes with

Smith and it is clear to see what she meant with the shirt.

Smith explains, “People should educate themselves, whether its about religion, science, culture, or just someone else’s perspective on life. More people should expand their minds. The shirt just put it in a more blunt way.”

And that is exactly what should happen. If schools would spend less time restricting stu-dents from everything and anything and used that time to encourage students to strengthen their character, dress codes should not be such an issue. Children grow up being told to be-come an individual thinker but somewhere along the way that notion is forgotten.

So, are offensive words, short skirts, and baggy pants to blame? No, we are the ones letting ourselves drift farther and farther away from our first amendment that our fore fathers fought to death to achieve.

margauxbashamstaffreporter

Is it self-expression, or simply inappropri-ate?

Walking down the halls of Lynnwood high school, many students feel distracted and neg-atively affected by the inappropriate clothing that some are wearing.

“It degrades women,” Emily Ottman, a se-nior at Lynnwood high school said. Ottman feels that girls, especially, should not be able to wear some of the things that they do at school. Ottman also believes that it puts a label on ev-eryone else who have no intention of being a slut.

And she’s right. When students dress inap-propriately they create an expectation of inap-propriatness.

A strong argument for being able to wear revealling clothing may be that it does not ac-

tually affect any one else. Except that it does. Senior Sierra Olsen points out that when

students, especially girls, wear overly revealing clothing that it creates an atmosphere of jeal-ousy. Naturally, this is unhealthy in life, and it is poisonous in a school.

However, it’s not just the girls who wear short skirts to school that is bringing negative vibes- it’s also the people wearing shirts with what can only be called outright offensive slo-gans or mssages.

“It makes us look like delinquents,” and not only that but it “makes our school look bad,” says Olsen.

Again, she’s right on. When a small group of students are setting a poor example or are drawing negative attention to themselves it re-flects badly on all of us.

While freedom of expression is important, the restraint to use it well is too.

P

Students are expected to dress in a fashion conductive to a positive learning environment and to meet health and safety standards. Shorts and shirts must be sufficient length to reach beyond fingertips. Exposed midriffs, exposed undergarments, backless, strapless and/or low cut clothing will be tolerated. This includes clothing with excessive rips or tears in a manner that would vio-late the previous stated conditions. Clothing and hats with words or pictures advertising drugs, alcohol or tobacco products will not be permit-ted to be worn by students.

The Code

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* taken from LHS Student handbook

6 | The Gazette | October 16, 2012

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I feel like it’s been a blessing more than anything.

>>>madisonbingham

Moving past the baby bumpSenior Madison Bingham works through pregnancy towards graduation

gianguyenstaffreporter

For most people, the thought of being 17 and pregnant is a worst case scenario. Senior Madison Bingham, however, isn’t most people. She counts her pregnancy as a blessing. Juggling pregnancy while in high school isn’t simple, but it’s possible. Bingham is optimistic about graduating this year and continuing her plans for the future.

Although some people at her school think it’s not great, her perspective on her pregnancy is different.

“After the test that showed positive, I literally sat on the toilet for like two hours and cried” Bingham said.

Afterwards, however, she said she was okay. In fact, she doesn’t regret her deci-sion to keep her pregnancy.

“Honestly, at first I wondered, I wouldn’t say I regret it but I really won-dered on what I was going to do with my options,” Bingham said, “but now, no, I feel like it’s been a blessing more than anything.”

Her family and friends are also very supportive towards her. “My family, my mom and my grandma and my boyfriend Gabe, and my close friends have really been supportive,” Bingham said. Her mother took the news without trouble. “She kind of just acted calm, but of course she cried and smiled at me and told me everything was going to be okay.”

Bingham’s mother is also pregnant, “I try to look at this in a positive way,” Madison said. Bingham’s pregnancy has brought the two of them closer and her mother states that Bingham has matured more since she has been pregnant.

After calling over to Alaska to telll her father, “he was more shocked. He wasn’t ecstatic, but now he’s happy about it,” Bingham said.

Gabe Del Rio recalled how shocked he was when he heard the news. “I didn’t know what to do, it was unbelievable,” Del Rio said. “My plans are to stay with her and try to make the best of it.”

“He’s been really supportive, he’s been a really good boyfriend” Bingham said.

“I really care about her, I wouldn’t want anything bad happening to her,” Del Rio said, “I’m actually trying to get into college, after high school and do what’s best for our baby.”

They all support Bingham and her choices; they believe that she will be able to balance her plans of college while hav-ing her baby.

“I feel like if I didn’t get pregnant I wouldn’t have graduated, honestly like very honestly speaking, I would have had trouble graduating and now I don’t have a worry in the world,” Bingham said.

She knows that it will be hard to bal-ance a baby later on with her future plans but she is determined to do it.

Her family and teachers know this is a challenge for her, but they all have faith in her.

“Challenge is what makes people grow,” LHS English teacher Lindsay Vil-lalobos said. “I feel like it’s a really hard road for a student who doesn’t know their own path yet and it’s a huge chal-

lenge but I think that she’s going about it in an incredible way.”

Another teacher who Bingham has known throughout her high school years is Stacy Wright, who agrees that this is a hard road for Bingham but has no doubts in her. “Whether you’re seventeen, twen-ty-seven, or thirty-seven, having a child is not easy,” Wright said. “It’s a challenge for anybody. Do I think Madi will be able to handle it? A bsolutely. I have no wor-ries about that.”

For other teenagers that can relate to Bingham’s situation, she feels that she and others can still live life fully even when pregnant, as long as they focus on what they want in life. Bingham’s plans are to go to Shoreline Community Col-lege and get her Associate’s Degree as a registered nurse.

Bingham says to “Go to school, finish school, don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t.” She is much more focused on graduating now than she was in her ear-lier high-school years.

“I have to think about more than myself now” Bingham said, “I feel like I brought this human into this world, I should take responsibility for my ac-tions.” Although she agrees that it might take some of her ‘social life’ away, she knows she has a more important task now; her baby.

Bingham is described as a force of na-ture, always trying to do what she feels is just. Wright has said “I feel like the world is a better place with people like Madi… who will stand up for the little guy.”

To her teachers, Bingham is a very strong person.

“I admire her because she stands up for what’s right, even if it’s not easy. Even if it means you know, being loud, even if it means making a scene she will stand up for what’s right and you want her on your side” Wright said.

Additionally, her teachers brought out the fact that Bingham is very com-passionate and committing. “She is very loving” says Villabolos who also says that she and boyfriend Del Rio are helping each other get through this road.

Although school is already tough right now for the Del Rio and Bingham, she doesn’t blame it on the pregnancy. “It’s not the end of the world, it’s not the worst thing that can happen, it’s just another human coming into the world” Bingham said.

She knows she has options, but she is keeping this baby. “My personal views on adoption and abortion are, adoption to me, I don’t see anything wrong with it,” Bingham said, “I just don’t believe in abortion.”

With so many people that have faith in her, the others are brushed off.

“Those that look down on us, I just don’t understand it.” Bingham said, “If they were put in my shoes or they knew somebody who is, who they are close with they would change their views no doubt.”

Aside from her family and Del Rio, she truly appreciates that her true friends are here. “Some of my friends have kind of gone missing or they don’t really talk to me as much,” Bingham said, “but those good friends still talk to me and include me.”

To those that disapprove of her choic-es, she doesn’t care. “I’m just as capable as anybody else…to take care of a baby, I may be younger than and not as experi-enced as other people, but I’m a lot more mature than [some] 30 or 40 year olds.” said Bingham. “It really just depends on the person you are, it doesn’t depend on the age.”

Wright also expresses that she dislikes the way others judge people. “Sometimes we describe people by putting them into little boxes to make sense of it in our minds and I don’t like that,” Wright said.

Those that know her have agreed that there is no doubt in her being able to achieve what she wants in her future.

Mary-jo Cline & Max Crouse lick a plate covered in pea-nut butter during a game at the assembly. The junior class came in 2nd during this assembly game.

Nathan Fabia tries to make Bailey Showstead spit water out during the class vs. class game at the assembly. All classes tied when none of the girls laughed and spit their water out. (middle left)

Senior Andrew Basham takes out Warriors’ ju-nior Andrew Mahoney-Fernandes. The Royals lose 49-7 to Edmonds Woodway. (middle right)

Seniors Arsenia Ivanov & Izzy Maza cheer at the homecoming assembly. Seniors won the spirit boot having the most points of all classes. (bottom right)

photographsbyabbymartinez

Sophomore Amy Cichy, attempts to catch a marshmallow dropped from the bridge into the agora during lunch game. Sophomores fin-ish third in the hunt for the spirit boot. (bottom left)

Homecoming 2012

8 | The Gazette | October 16, 2012

gA&E

Costumes, elavator parties, and raves, oh my

alyssalyonsstaffreporter

First time con-goers have been warned: if you don’t know the rules you will be shunned.

Every October, Aki-Con is held at the Hil-ton Bellevue Hotel in Bellevue, WA. For three days anime and video game fans alike join to-gether for a weekend of chaotic, rewarding, and extraordinary fun. This year it is during the weekend of the 26th – 28th with no preregis-tration badges available on the Thursday before-hand.

There is a constant celebrity voice actor lineup and even some DJs for the raves and other dances. Everyone

will be able to recognize at least one person that is showing up for auto-graphs.

Some recognizable voices for the lineup this year are Micah M. Solusod who voices characters such as Soul Eater Evans from Soul Eater and Thomas Walls from Black Butler II and Chuck Huber who voices Austria from all versions of Hetalia and Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho. There will be screenplay writers and more voice actors, too. If you are looking for someone who voices your favorite character, chances are, he or she will be at Aki-Con at least once.

“I am looking for-

ward to all of the people and the merchandise,” Brittany Collins, junior, said about this upcom-ing con. “But I’m most especially looking for-ward to the elevators. They have really nice el-evators for elevator par-ties and they break. I’ve done that before.” Col-lins, who goes by Koko, is attending this year’s Aki-Con as Kaito from the musical fandom of Vocaloid.

An elevator party is described by Aki-Con goers as a break period for people to relax and ride the elevators as a group.

“Austria’s voice actor is going to be there and I’m so excited,” Kianna Sinfuego, a sophomore,

said about the new fea-tures of this year’s con. “Plus I’ll be cosplaying as England from Hetalia for the first time and I’m extremely excited.”

Cosplay is the act of dressing up as a charac-ter from a specific show or manga/comic book. People wear cosplays of characters ranging from live action shows such as BBC’s Sherlock to obscure animes like La Storia Della Arcana Famiglia. They can be simple or extravagant and each cosplayer has a chance to win competi-tions with their hand-made cosplays.

New cosplays are constantly being de-buted at cons like Aki-Con. Cosplayers are al-

Aki-Con Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s:- Wear Deodorant-Join fandoms-Cosplay-Make a to-do list of the things you want do at con

Don’t:-Touch people or their costumes without permis sion-Glomp without warning-Disobey con rules-Take candid photographs

ways proud about the cosplays they make, especially when other people have never seen them. It gives them a sense of pride to know that people are im-pressed by the work they have put in towards mak-ing their cosplay perfect.

This is the case for sophomore Kaitlyn Blakely. This year she is debuting two new cosplays along with having fixed one very popular outfit.

“I have Roxy from Homestuck and Robby from Gravity falls. Those are my new ones,” Blakely said about her new cosplay lineup. “I’ve also fixed up Kenny from South Park to bring as well.”

With this wide range of cosplay for one single person it is obvious that there is a little bit for ev-eryone to enjoy. You just have to go out to a con and look for it.

Tips on how to plan the perfect Halloween movie nightMovie Night

A strange storyline about a girl whos body is taken over with an intense exorcism performed by young priest.

Contains a psychological storyline that has depth and takes many twists despite it’s age.

Must watch movies:

Based on true events, this movie is an original horror film that causes fear as a house is haunted and fights back even against the exor-sist himself.

This year’s Aki-Con is sure to entertain

SNACKSMUST HAVE

Pop corn

Cider

Caramel Corn

Chips & Salsa

Halloween Candy

Pumpkin ice cream

The Gazette | October 16, 2012 | 9

gA&E

Boy bands then and now

karaernystaffreporter

The fangirls are in chaos again as the next name in boy bands makes the headlines. But be-fore One Direction there was N’Sync and, even earlier, New Kids on the Block. It seems boy bands just keep coming around. So what makes them so irresistible?

“They all sing about love,” said Klare Smith, a senior at Lynnwood High School and a self-proclaimed punk rocker. Smith adds that most importantly the songs are vague so that they can appeal to anyone.

But even Kailey Thorpe, a huge One Direc-tion fan and a sophomore at Lynnwood High School, says that she prefers old boy bands, such as N’Sync, to newer boy bands. “They’re more cheesy,” Thorpe said about newer boy bands, “like, their music is really stupid”.

Mark Heberlein, an English teacher at Lyn-nwood High School, says that he thinks that there will always be a market for boy bands. “People like the idea of a team,” Heberlein said, “it’s appreciated, especially if you really pick up on the distinctive skills that each have and yet how they all contribute to the whole”.

Thorpe fully agrees that the market will last. “There was an era where boy bands were really popular and then they kind of went away,” Thor-pe said, “but they came back so it’s like they’re always going to be there.”

The Backstreet Boys are considered the best-selling boy band of all time and are among pop’s most influential. But, interestingly enough, they came together because of New Kids on the Block. Lou Pearlman was inspired by NKOTB’s success and formed the Backstreet Boys.

Not only did Pearlman create the Backstreet Boys, he also created N’Sync, another huge 90’s band. It seems that Pearlman knew the formula for this continuous industry.

And now, years after the peak of their suc-cess, both New Kids on the Block and the Back-street Boys are making their big comebacks. They have re-established themselves as top boy bands once again, even touring together in 2011 as NKOTBSB.

“I like boy bands because they don’t have to try that hard to be successful… they do more because they have more possibilities and op-tions for music and for performances,” Thorpe said.

Heart throb boy bands make presence in LHS student body

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PrettyUglyTrends that are in and trends that just don’t work

Curly hair and bow

pretty

Hairbow

ugly

Pastel tops

pretty

Fitted jeans

prettyCombat boots

pretty

Mixing prints

uglyBasketball shoes

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taylorrust and ashleyevangerstaffreporter

10 | The Gazette | October 16, 2012

gSports

Eligibilty in EdmondsWith only WIAA minimum requirements in place, do students in

Edmonds have an advantage over their neighbors?evanwiederspohnsportseditor

The athletic eligibility standards for the Edmonds School District affect athletes differently than many districts. The WIAA (Washington Interscholastic Activities Association) states, “In order to maintain athletic eligibility, the student must maintain pass-ing grades or, minimum school district standards, in minimum of 5 of 6 class periods.”

This is at a center of controversy for some, since many school districts require at least a 2.0 GPA to be eligible for sports.

According to sophomore Nick Carwin, not many students at LHS struggle to remain eligible through-out the course of a season.

“Very few people I know have academic prob-lems for sports, it’s pretty rare,” Carwin said. While this could be the result of excellent academics, but it could also be because our district has the bar set comparably low for our academic athletes.

In the Everett School District students are re-quired to maintain passing grades in all classes, with

mandatory grade checks every two weeks. Many other surrounding districts require that student-athletes maintain at least a 2.0 GPA.

However, while Edmonds’ eligibility require-ments are right in line with the WIAA, they do allow student-athletes to allow grades to fall while main-taining eligibility. This can lead to students becom-ing hard pressed to get grades back up.

“A lot of students don’t know how to dig them-selves out of the hole”, English Teacher Bill Moliter said.

Some students even find that they need the as-sistance of their teachers and coaches to help them out.

“Some coaches ask me to compromise my class-room standards, for their athletes to be able to turn in assignments late, or have an unfair edge,”Moliter said.

While most of the eligibility issues take place in the classroom, some students face the issue of age. The WIAA again states, “A student shall be under 20 years of on September 1st for fall sports, Decem-

ber 1st for winter sports, and March 1st for spring sports”. Many 5th year students are not able to par-ticipate in sports because of this rule, but this is not the case for 5th year senior quarterback, Morgan Skelton, who unlike a lot of students, is eligible for another football season for fall sports.

“I had to come back to school to graduate, so I [thought I] might as well play sports, too,” Skelton said. Skelton also faced some challenges, eligibility wise, this year, “I had to fill out about 20 pages of paperwork, and attend a hearing in order to become eligible”, says Skelton.

The eligibility standards for this district raise a lot of questions, and some argue that the rules are not strict enough, and not challenging enough. Some may also argue that the district puts the value of sports over academic excellence. “It’s just ridiculous. The school should never put sports over school, aca-demics are more important, and should be put be-fore sports,” sophomore Matt Carwin said.

Fifth year senior Morgan Skelton looks on at practice. Skelton was required to com-plete a lengthy appeal by the Edmonds school district in order to maintain eligibility after returning to complete his diploma.

The Gazette | October 16, 2012 | 11

gSports

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LHS

nicoletrautmanhomegrowneditor

As the fall draws closer and closer towards its end, so do many of the sports seasons at Lynnwood.

While it is safe to say that many of our teams will end the season with losing records, there are a number of bright spots to focus on.

Girls SoccerGirls soccer has won one game out of 12,

and tied one game as well. The record, how-ever, does not reflect Coach Mark Heberlein’s feelings on the year.

“We had a good season,” he said. “This is like the season of close games.We would lose games by two or three, but it didn’t reflect how close the games were.”

Cross CountryCross country in currently ranked 8th in

WESCO 4A, and is 3rd in the district. While

a numer of stand out runners are graduating, including senior Alex Ashenbrener, the team is looking towards the future. With juniors Stephen Orato and Alex Jimenez, as well as sophomore talent Tyler McArthur and fresh-man Mikayla Pivec, the team looks ready for next season.

FootballThe football team is sitting at the bottom

of Wesco 4A South and despite initial anticpa-tion surrounding the move to 4A, the season has been anything but easy.

“We had high expectations,” said junior David Nguyen. “Every game we’ve lost has been our fault.” Still, Nguyen and his team are excited to put this season behind them and move forward.

“We’re all excited go into the off season and work our butts off,” he said.

Girls SwimDespite a disappointing record of 1-8, the

Girls Swim team also has a bright future next

year. “We didn’t beat a lot of teams, but we’re

improving a lot” said junior Alexis Anderson. With a large freshman class and a number of

returing swimmers including some who swim year round, the team looks to improve in the future. Later scheduled with away meets on October 16th, and a diving qualifier the 20th, we expect more wins from our girls because the Royals have faith in their teams success.

VolleyballSitting at 5-5, the volleyball team is poised

to make it to the district tournament, but will have to go through Jackson in order to get there.

Despite the tough route to the tourna-ment, junior Grace Douglas is optimistic about the team’s chances.

“We have to keep winning,” junior Grace Douglas said..

For much of the team, this season is one final chance at making a run at the district tournament.

Boys TennisWhile the team record is 3-16, putting the

LHS boys second from the basement in Wes-co South 4A, Brandon Pel, Ryan Tsuji, and Peter Veth, Chung Pham, and Justin Lam as well as one other individual are on their way to the district tournament at Jackson later this week.

Fall sports roundupEdmonds-Woodsway QB Davis Giles is pursued and wrapped up by the LHS defense. Despite a promising start, the Royals fell to the Warriors 49-7 in a Homecoming loss.

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12 | The Gazette | October 16, 2012

ghomegrown

I’m usually a zombie.

>>>klaresmith

elijahbruington COPYEDITORThe days are becoming shorter, and the

nights are becoming colder. It is the time of year when death and decay are strongly em-phasized. As the leaves on trees gradually change from a lush green color to dry golden browns and reds, before we know it rain will be upon us. Fall is often looked upon as a de-pressing time of year, and the end of outdoor activities and festivities until next spring, but this is simply not the case. There are plenty of seasonal events to attend, especially during this time of year and the best part is people don’t have to look any further than local Sno-homish County.

Fall and its festivities are quite different from those more cheerful and sunny activities that take place in the summer. The most well known local haunted houses and cornfields are notorious for horrifying customers, and most are located in the Snohomish area.

One of the more known local attractions is the Haunted Nightmare, which actually has a

few LHS students volunteering at it. Students senior Klare Smith and junior Rylee Rein-heimer volunteer at Haunted Nightmare as workers dressed up as monsters with one ob-jective: to scare living daylights out of the cus-tomers. “This will be my fourth year,” Smith said. “I’m usually a zombie”.

Volunteers and zombies aside, there are also students who enjoy going to be the vic-tims of the scare.

“I went to the KUBE 93 Haunted House last year,” junior Nahuel Correa said. “It wasn’t super scary, but some stuff made you kind of jump”.

The KUBE 93 Haunted House is located down in South Center Mall in Tukwila. Al-

though this haunted house is quite popular with teens and anybody looking for a good scare, some more local ones that are closer to Lynnwood include Haunted Nightmare, Field of Screams, the 106.1 House of Terror and the Haunted Swamp Corn Maze, located in Lake Stevens, and many more scary and seasonal attractions

Junior Gabe Valdes has gone to a handful of haunted attractions over the years and has experience his fair share of shock and awe.

“I went to one in Woodinville in 2007,” junior Gabe Valdes said. “It was all zombies pretty much. It was the longest and scariest.” The one that he is referring to is the Haunted Forest in Woodinville, which has a different theme every year. The year that Valdes went it was zombies. One year it was broken out pa-tients from a mental hospital.

Even with the days growing darker, and colder there is still much fun to be had. With the chill in the air you can continue enjoying your time outside, even if it does result in you being eaten alive by a zombie.

nicoletrautmanhOmegrOwnEDITOR

If sometime during this Halloween sea-son you are looking for a good scare or just a great adventure, go check out these allegedly haunted places. But be sure to bring a buddy, a flashlight, and a fresh pair pants, just in case.

Most of these places are just a short drive from Lynnwood, and they’re all sure to leave your spine tingling and your legs shaking with fright.

Edmonds Theater: It has been said that at nights a glowing fig-

ure has been seen walking the aisle ways of the theater.

Francis Anderson Leisure and Cultural Center of the Arts:

Very long ago this building was a middle school, and it has been reported that some-times childrens spirits and even the former principal Francis Anderson has been seen.

Central Baptist Church:This church used to be an old Masonic

Temple that would allegedly sacrifice animals, and it is said there have been mysterious slam-ming of doors and the sight of a strange old man wandering about the halls.

Maltby Cemetery: This cemetery was allegedly founded by a

Satanic family who made the now-famous 13 Steps to Hell. It has been reported that when a person walks down these steps, they drop into a coma.

Others have even claimed to have seen into hell itself upon reaching the 13th step.

Hamilton Middle School: It is said that many years ago a young girl

had died in the bathroom, which now remains haunted when gone into alone.

Animal:An animal is a simple costume the will only cost a few dollars for a pair of ears.

What you will need:Any kind of animal ears•solid or animal print clothing •

to match the ears

James Dean: This one couldn’t be easier. You prob-ably have all of the components in your closet - except that awesome hair, of course.

What you will need:white t-shirt•blue jeans•black jacket•

Ghost: This is a great ghost-to (get it?) costume because come on, who doesn’t own a sheet?

What you will need:a sheet •scissors•

Gangster/thug: this is a good go-to costume because these are articles of clothing that most people wear often.

What you will need:Baggy bottoms (sweats, •

shorts, jeans)oversized shirt•some sort of sneaker•hat or beanie•

Quick and easy last-minute costumes

HauntHunting

Haunted Houses bring fears to reality

5 local places sure to terrify this Halloween

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