Issue 5 2009-2010

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A Tradition of Excellence

march 19, 2010 Volume LVI, issue 5

The Clypian

South Salem HS 1910 Church St

Deca dominates state conference T

Reporter kereth curliss

his year, 36 South students qualified for DECA Nationals at the DECA State Conference. The State Career Development Conference was held for all Oregon DECA students on Feb. 21-23 in Portland. The SCDC participants roleplayed and presented research projects to judges to qualify for nationals.

“I feel elated. For a teacher it is really rewarding getting to see the final results,” DECA advisor John Dixon said about the results.

This year’s DECA team sent 136 students to the SCDC, including 25 freshmen. To qualify for nationals, students have to place in the top three in their events. South qualified in 54 events, with four triple qualifiers.

“The chapter has never been bigger or better quality,” Dixon said before the conference.

South’s DECA leadership team planned a Hollywood theme for the conference. At the opening ceremony students wore glow glasses and team shirts while there were fake paparazzi in

the background. All the schools cheered for themselves too.

The actual conference was spent mostly practicing projects

“You kind of stress a little bit so I was presenting a lot

When not competing or worrying about projects, students were hanging out with friends and eating junk food. The traditional DECA dance was also held. The SCDC ended with a ceremony announcing results and awarding the finalists.

There will be a conflict for the qualifying students. Nationals are being held around the same time as IB testing and Prom.

For seniors it was a difficult decision because IB testing is critical and Prom is a cherished event few wanted to miss. For the underclassmen, it would be the last DECA competition with their senior friends and few wanted to go without them.

“It’s kind of weird not to go this year but it was a good decision,” qualifier Sarah Hill ’11 said. Hill also attended nationals last year.

To make up for missing nationals, a trip to Seattle is being planned for all South Courtesy of Lynn Howlett qualifiers. This will give seniors a good way to wrap South DECA students celebrate their victories at the State Conference. South brought home 54 qualifying spots. up their last DECA season.

“It was like a big cheer that would later be presented. to chaperones, Mr. Dixon and They will be taking industry off, to show school spirit,” Most students had more than just in my room,” qualifier tours of the Boeing plant Kelsey Moe ’10 said. one presentation to focus on. Kennan Howlett ’11 said. and the Microsoft museum.

Saxon students say guten tag to germany reporter forrest smith

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his spring break, South will be hosting a group of German exchange students who will travel here through the German American Partnership Program. GAPP has existed at South for the past 25 years and serves to build a stronger connection between Germany and America as well as introducing students to foreign languages and cultures.

Most of the incoming exchange students from Germany speak English fluently with around three to five years of English classes.

This year’s partner school in Germany is Lise-Meitner Gymnasium in Unterhaching, Munich. Munich is located in southern Germany near the Austrian border of Bavaria and is home to renowned art museums and beautiful scenery. Fifteen students from South will be traveling to Munich, but they will not be leaving until this summer. Tanja Langen, who teaches German and

French at South, will be traveling with the students this summer.

“I think these exchanges are really important because students get a deep insight into a different culture and they enrich what we teach in foreign languages,” Langen said.

The benefits of foreign exchanges expand to more than just the students who are directly involved and Langen believes that the experience will be good for the whole school.

“They will bring different perspectives and outlooks that are more imprinted by their European lifestyle and location. I think that offers insight you would otherwise not get if you just traveled through that country,” Langen said.

The students from Germany will have many views and customs

that are foreign to us and their visit here will teach us about the different cultures and customs.

Students staying in Germany will be able to hike in the Alps, visit famous art museums, and, of course, expand their German-

some challenges, as will those leaving for Germany this summer.

Differences in the daily routine between the U.S. and Germany will provide students from LiseMeitner and South with difficulties.

“I would say for a German student, the school system is very different.

A German student stays in his or her classroom all day and the teachers travel. They actually get out of school around one o’ clock and do homework and have more free time in the Photo by Jake Gordon afternoon,” Langen said. speaking skills. The German According to Langen, German students arriving on March 12 will students are also more reliant on a stay in Oregon for three weeks system of public transportation that to experience American life. The does not even exist in some parts of students coming here will face the United States. German families

are also more bonded throughout the days, and most German families still gather for a family lunch or dinner.

“I think it’ll be weird staying with a different family because it’s in a totally different country and you’re just not used to staying with anybody,” Kyle Graham ’11 said.

Staying with a German host family promises to be a new and exciting experience to most of the South exchange students, but, at the same time, most are also nervous about staying with their host family and communicating mainly in German.

“I’ve only been communicating through email with my exchange student. I think I’ll get more confident when my student comes here in about two weeks, I’ll get to meet her and get to know what she’s like,” Kyra Stillman ’11 said.

The idea of staying with a new family may be frightening, but South’s outbound exchange students all seem enthusiastic to go. The prospect of not only traveling to Germany, but completely immersing themselves in the German culture is exciting and many have been waiting for such an opportunity for years.

NEWS 1-3 FEATURE 4-6 OPINION 7-9 SPORTS 10-12

I N S I D E The Clypian

S AXO N S South Salem

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Schools to be remodeled this summer Reporter kristi lewis

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his summer South and 47 other schools in the SalemKeizer district will be undergoing construction to repair and upgrade the schools’conditions.

Along with the repairments, three new elementary schools and one new middle school are being planned. The new middle school and an elementary school will be opened in West Salem in 2011.

South and East Salem elementary schools are set to open in 2012.

“At Walker Middle School, the school is so overcrowded that all Photos by Kristi Lewis stairways are one-way. Students at Walker have to use the right- The large remodeling project will begin this summer. New pipes, heating system, and windows are expected. way [up or down] stairwells to get around the school,” Michelle assistant of Construction Services In 2008, voters approved a South is receiving multiple Harryman, administrative for Salem-Keizer schools, said. $242.1 million bond for the updates including replacing Salem-Keizer school district for damaged roofing and flooring school renovations. The bond and improving the locker rooms. has designated 48 percent of the The heating and ventilation money to go to current schools system is also being refurbished needing repairs, 50 percent will for better operation. Construction go towards building the four is set to start at the beginning of new schools and the remaining this summer and renovations two percent will help with are expected to be completed overcrowding relief in schools. by the end of this November.

“South was built to address The updated schools will be overcrowding at the original Salem beneficial to all persons involved, High School, now called North students and staff. The higherHigh School. Many of the areas quality schools will provide a we are repairing probably have not better learning environment for been updated since the school was students and help to revitalize opened in 1954,” Harryman said. the surrounding communities.

Saxon swimmer shatters school records reporter marcela harden

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his swim season was a record breaking season for one member of the Saxon swim team. Marie Miner ’10 broke three school records for South at the 6A State Swimming Championships. She swam the 200 freestyle and got a time of 1:57.85, the 100 freestyle and received a time of 53.91, and the 50 freestyle in the time of 25.12. The Saxon swimmer broke three records in these three events. The previous record times for these three events were a 2.37 for the 200 freestyle, a 54.52 for the 100 freestyle, and a 25.29 for the 50 freestyle, which were set in the 2004-2005 season.

Miner is the only female swimmer in South’s history to swim the 200 freestyle in under two minutes.

“She is very talented. There is a lot of talent involved, and if you don’t have the talent, you can’t really move past that,” fellow swimmer Gayleen Brown ’10 said.

Miner started the first day of the

meet in the preliminaries, which starts with the top 18 swimmers in the state for that particular event.

From there, the top 12 swimmers with the fastest times go onto finals. At finals, she placed seventh in the 200 freestyle and fifth in the 100 freestyle. From there she advanced to the finals heat for the Class 6A 100 yard freestyle race, where the top 6 people for that particular event competed. She tied for fifth place with another competitor. Miner stated that her record breaking times were her personal best times. She had been hoping to break records in the 200 and 100 yard freestyle races. The record time in the 50 yard freestyle came as somewhat of a surprise.

“I came into the meet just to swim my races; I wasn’t really expecting to get anything out of it. I came out with more than I could ask for,” Miner said.

Miner stated that she had taken swim lessons for her entire life, and had even been swimming competitively before transferring to South, which competes at the 6A level; the highest competitive

level. She had previously been on Blanchet’s swim team, which competes as a 4A school. The competition is smaller at this level. Marie decided to start attending South to compete at a more competitive level. She had previously placed second four times in events at the 4A level and earned medals for these events.

She was second in 2007 in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle. In 2008, she finished second in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle.

Miner has been a dedicated member of the team all season, training with the team and swimming as many sets as she could instead of resting.

“She trained extremely hard this season, she had times she was looking to receive and she put the time into getting them.

Her hard work and dedication made it possible,” swim team coach Eric Richey said.

Miner has recently been chosen as Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Athlete of the Week, an award for which she will enjoy a breakfast award at Willamette University.

News Clyp Congratulations to the South High DECA team! South Salem had its biggest year on record.

South qualified 54 total spots for the International Conference this April in Kentucky. To qualify, students had to place Top 3 in their event at State.

The qualifiers are: Ethan Jones, Sarah Miller, Ryan Mooney, Cristobal Franco, Sarah Hill, Zyanya AguilarNelson, Marissa Kreitzer, Chris Helwig, Kim Gao, Tai WhiteToney, Alisha Knapp, Kennan Howlett, Connor Myers, Abigail Heringer, Rachel Heringer, Jordan Martin, Chris Patel, Matt Kaiser, Fiona Bai, Vinay Bikkina, Ricky Manley, Katie Virden, Cheyenne Ruiz, Lindsay Kelly, Kyle Graham, Collin McWhorter, Tanya Tran, Teah Williams,Tyler Petersen, Lila Hawkinson, Kristin Prodzinski, Mars Jacobson, Bailey Garfield Claire Sappingfield, Tawny Martin, Raymond Jin.

Obama health care stalled at senate

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reporter sarah leon

ince Obama’s health care reform came to attention in America, there have been frequent meetings between Obama and the Democratic and Republican Parties. As time has passed, both parties have been putting their personal agendas before the

national crises which have caused difficulties for the health care reform to move forward. The Republican Party is focused on Social Security, taxes, and education while the Democratic Party is focused on civil rights, drugs and crime.

The Obama Administration is giving $975 million in grants to help states and health care providers such as Providence and

Blue Cross Blue Shield. This is the first time that government programs are covering more than half of health care in the U.S. In the previous year more people agreed to the health reform, but half of America is still not satisfied with it. With reform in progress more Americans will start to support the health care reform: 46 million people are already

uninsured because insurance companies have to increase their rates, which have caused lower and middle class Americans to be unable to afford insurance.

Insurance companies have had to raise their rates because of the poor economy. Once both parties come to a bipartisan agreement to put health care reform first, reform should be in effect by 2012.

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All-white scholarship draws controversy reporter christopher helwig

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his February, Promise King, Executive Director of the Oregon League of Minority Voters, announced that they would be funding a whites-only scholarship. The scholarship will total $2,000 over the course of five years. Only Caucasian students who intend to study race relations in college will be eligible for the money.

“I want to reach white students because I believe the more the majority is involved in our conversations and in our work, the more we are able to get to solutions,” King said to the Oregonian.

Unsurprisingly the decision has drawn a lot of fire from a number of different sectors, minorities and the majority alike. The OLMV has stated that the scholarship is an attempt to make more of the white majority aware of the ongoing racial discrimination.

However, one of the minority activists staunchly opposed to the idea is Nicole Maher of the Native American Youth Family Center. She believes that the scholarship is trying to solve the issue of racial insensitivity the wrong way. Rather than bringing more whites into positions of leadership she wants the OLMV to ensure that whites are willing to step aside for, or share that leadership with, people of color.

Some students at South seem to have a different take on the issue.

“It can be a perceived as a bad thing - racial separation but it should give people who are interested in [race relations] a chance to open their minds,” Cheyenne Ruiz ’11 said.

Senior Kim Gao is of much the same mind as Ruiz.

“I think [the whites-only scholarship] is kind of fair.

You see Asian-only and Hispanic-only scholarships but you don’t see whitescholarships,” Gao said.

This scholarship has drawn less criticism than similar scholarships from years past primarily because of the OLMV. In 2006 the College Republicans of Boston University were browbeaten by the national media when they tried to offer a whites-only scholarship. While the College Republicans group was derided as racist and featured on the Drudge Report, the OLMV’s scholarship has been met with a gentler resistance. The public outcry has been largely focused in the realm of the Internet, and as a result, the League is ready to move ahead with the scholarship. The scholarship will be available to Caucasian students this spring.

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Choir sings their way to chicago

Later, they went on to the Historic Navy Pier and the Sears Tower Skydeck for some sightseeing, shopping and performances. embers of South’s The next day, the students went Symphonic Choir to the Art Institute of Chicago and departed for Chicago a university clinic with Professor on March 12 from the ACDA Emily Elssworth Northwest concert in Seattle, at the Fourth Washington. South’s choir Presbyterian was one of two Oregon high Church. To wrap school choirs selected to up the day, they perform at the concert. Those saw the Blue who were not going on to Man Group Chicago from Seattle returned perform at the to Salem on a bus; 42 members Briar St. Theatre. continued on to Chicago.

Monday brought “Choir trips are always the exchange with fun and unpredictable and NVHS, the Adler a time for bonding. As Planetarium, an underclassman, I had the Mozart always looked forward to performance and the trips. Over time, I built additional time to relationships with all the other spend downtown. choir people, which really The singers also enhanced the trip experience,” had dinner at the Chelsea Harmon ’10 said.

Hard Rock Café.

Among the many stops the “Before, I was choir made during their trip to really psyched.

Chicago was a clinic at Neuqua Chicago was a Valley High School. NVHS cultural experience is the current home of Dick that I will not Photo Courtesy of Carol Stenson Bauer, the former director of forget,” Ellie South’s orchestra. After much South’s Symphonic Choir performed in Seattle and traveled to Chicago over the weekend. Freeman ’10 said. communication, the NVHS On Tuesday, the top choir and South’s Symphonic Adler Planetarium, the Art knowledge of the arts, the choir group attended their last event Choir decided to participate in an Institute of Chicago and Neuqua had the opportunity to see the at the Field Museum of Natural exchange in Chicago. Both choirs Valley High School. Those who sights of Chicago. On the morning History. That afternoon, the group contributed ideas about technique went also had the opportunity to of March 13, they visited the departed from the Chicago O’Hare and arrangement on March attend performances and plays Shedd Aquarium and Oceanarium. Airport and returned to Portland.

Reporter anna sieber

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15 at the Illinois high school.

“We like to take them to larger cities with a different cultural and music scene,” South’s choir director Carol Stenson said.

The choir performed at the Fourth Presbyterian Church,

while in the Windy City. On March 13, at The Theatre at the Center, they saw the production Noises Off. They also went to Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro performed by the Lyric Opera.

Along with enriching their

Local restaurant files for bankruptcy reporter marcela harden

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cGrath’s Fish House, a Salem-based restaurant chain with 20 locations, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The company’s expansion outside of the Pacific Northwest about three years ago was the main reason for the seafood restaurant’s financial problems.

McGrath’s Fish House locations in the Northwest have weathered the recession, but the newer locations in the Southwest have struggled.

Mcgrath’s Fish House has inevitably been affected by the recession. When consumers are worrying about paying for necessities and eating out less, the restaurant industry simply does not make as much profits as it would in a more stable economy. The company has three locations in Arizona, where home foreclosure rates have been high.

Mcgrath’s Fish House has also accumulated debt, as a result of

the new locations it has started.

Chapter 11 protection typically allows a company to hold off creditors and operate as normal while it develops a reorganization plan. The company’s restaurants will remain open during

the reorganization and the business will honor gift cards.

McGrath’s is traditionally an Oregon and southwest Washington institution.

The

company’s goal is to keep as many of its restaurants as it can.

Its reorganization aims to do this.

McGrath opened the first McGrath’s Fish House in 1980, located in downtown Salem.

The business was founded with

employs over 1,000 workers.

Roughly half of its work force is employed in the Pacific Northwest, including Oregon and southwest Washington. The company also has other restaurant locations in Idaho, Colorado, Arizona and Utah.

McGrath’s Publick Fish House Inc., the operators of McGrath’s Fish House, filed bankruptcy papers. Court documents show that the business listed its estimated assets at $10 million to $50 million. Estimated liabilities were also $10 million to $50 million.

General Electric Capital Corp. is at the top of the list of creditors holding unsecured claims. GE is owed more than $3.8 million, of which about $2 million is a secured claim. Sterlings Savings Photo by Marcela Harden Bank has a claim of more than $3.4 million, of which about $2.4 million is secured. money provided by family McGrath’s Fish House has members and a Small Business two restaurant locations in Administration Loan, according Salem on Chemeketa St. NE and to the company’s website. Center St. NE, and a corporate McGrath’s Fish House currently office also located in Salem.

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Storms affect entire country reporter kristi lewis

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ancelled flights, damaged crops and record snowfall are all effects of El Niño, the storm that has been moving throughout the world over the past month. El Niño is a climate pattern which happens every three to seven years and consists of the warming of the temperature in the tropical Pacific Ocean.

El Niño affects every region differently. In the Pacific Northwest and the upper Midwest states, temperatures tend to be warmer than average and the climate is not as wet.

Central and Southern California and Southwestern States become much wetter and cooler than usual. Eastern states have much colder temperatures and higher amounts of snowfall.

With all the different weather, many people are facing problems. Thousands of flights have been cancelled across the U.S. because of the large amount of snowfall. The roads are not much better as some cities like Chicago and Baltimore have seen 45 or more inches of snow.

In California, people have been asked to evacuate their homes in case of mudslides. A cold storm hit California and had people who resided in the hillside neighborhoods wondering if the ground would withstand all the downpour. Weather crews worked hard to set up barriers to help stop flooding and mudslides.

In the United States, El Niño has been a very wet storm this year and forecasters are predicting there might be a rise in the occurence of tornadoes by up to nine percent according to some climatologists. Effects of the storm have also been felt globally. In Southeast Asia the unusually dry weather has caused panic over the fall rice crops. Malaysia also reported their lowest palm oil production in three years because of the dry spell. As a result of the storm, many are anticipating price increases on both products.

Those affected are taking it day by day. Everyone is hoping it ends soon so things can return back to normal.

Saxons find ways to fight haitian devastation reporter sarah leon

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he earthquake that hit Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010 had a devastating effect on the already suffering third-world country.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with four out of five families living below poverty level. The massive earthquake was the most catastrophic

natural disaster Haiti has suffered from for over 200 years. The estimated deaths reached 200,000 although several people are capsized beneath the buildings that collapsed because of the quake. 4,000 Americans are unaccounted for in Haiti, according to the State Department spokesman, Noel Clay, and there are 79 recorded American deaths.

Since the disaster struck, one million more Haitians have became homeless. 300,000 people are injured, and Haiti is struggling

without proper funding or medical care and is relying on the aid of other countries, suck as Barack Obama’s contribution of $100 million and 5,000 American troops.

The Haitian official in charge of the reconstruction of Haiti is Patrick Delatour, who is working with American, Brazilian, French, Mexican, Canadian and Haitian troops to search destroyed buildings for bodies and to retrieve surviving victims trapped beneath the debris and rubble.

The most affected city is Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, where the effects of the earthquake seem to have hit the hardest on the country’s once most prosperous city.

There are lots of volunteer programs and ways to aid Haiti in the country’s time of need as well.

For those wishing to assist in the effort to reconstruct the damage done in Haiti, contact the Leadership class or donate to the Haitian Relief Fund.

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Student-directed Murder mystery engages audiences copy editor taylor applegate

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he Saxon drama department’s second play of the year was Occupation: Murder! written by Billy St. John and directed by Laura Nile ’10. The play was performed March 11 and 12 at 7 p.m. The play takes place on the set of the fictional game show It’s A Living! The characters range from Broadway stars to fiery Italian women to Buzz Langston, the nervous director of the show.

But the game show is not the only thing Buzz and the other characters have to deal with: Tony Fabrizi, the show’s sponsor, has been murdered during the live telecast and the characters must figure out whodunit.

Audience participation is an important part of the show and rounds of the game show are played in each act. According to Nile, audience members come up on stage with made-up occupations and participate in a game that resembles 20 Questions.

“I really enjoy how there is audience participation because that just makes the whole mystery essence of the plot so much more real for

the audience,” Sydney Gilbert ’12 said. Gilbert plays Fran Rawlins, the assistant director of It’s A Living!

Nile is the first student to direct her own play in about five years, and there have only been three students to direct their own shows since Julianna Gibbons became South’s drama teacher. Nile was originally student director of South’s production of The Diary of Anne Frank. The following year she student directed A Christmas Carol, which was a much larger production. This year she wanted an even bigger experience so she asked to direct a play by herself.

“Being an assistant director you kind of help with the acting, but being the director you design the set and what colors you want and the costumes and the hair and makeup and everything,” Nile said.

According to Nile, her favorite part was having complete control over the show. Using this complete control, she cut out the last five pages of all the actors’ scripts so that they would not know who the murderer was. She gave the pages back a few weeks before opening night, which gave their characters time to develop without letting their performances

be affected by the knowledge of the identity of the murderer.

“Laura cut out the last few pages from the script so no one, not even the murderer, knew who committed the crime up until a few weeks ago. I thought that was funny,” Tanya Tran ’11 said. Tran plays Allene Clark, who is described as being vague

erary world with a ream of names: post-modernism, post-colonialism, structuralism and deconstructionism among others. Each marked a significant change in literature and yet few people were even aware.

Modern literary works are often ignored, but are equally important as the classic literature of years past.

One American author that South students have studied is Cormac McCarthy. McCarthy published The Road in 2006 to critical and popular acclaim. He subscribes to the literary movement often termed as dirty realism, which is much like the modernism of Ernest Hemingway. McCarthy tends to use concise sentences with a focus on imagery and other sensual qualities.

“It’s a different type of style that’s not normally seen. It takes short sentences and makes you derive a whole story from them,” Daniel Rehm ‘10 said.

This style can confuse readers, but it allows McCarthy and his compatriots to paint vivid and often startling pictures in our minds.

Action and meaning abound in McCarthy’s works, but only for

students willing to invest the time needed to read a difficult novel.

Another American dirty realist is Richard Ford. His most acclaimed novel The Sportswriter is currently being dissected and reformed for television by HBO. Best known for his themes of societal disconnectedness and the pursuit of self, Ford’s writing is a powerful resource for students feeling lost or isolated.

“He really captures the ironies of the post-modern male,” Rob Woods said.

More contemporary than Ford or McCarthy, Michael Chabon is still a black horse in the American literary scene. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay in 2001. Unlike Ford and McCarthy, Chabon believes strongly in the plot-driven novel. This style of writing makes him exceptionally easy to read and he captures readers with the constant question: “What will happen next?” Primarily he focuses on protagonists isolated from society. Chabon’s works are perfect for students who are interested in an easy

and from a different dimension.

At first, rehearsals were only on Mondays in order to avoid conflicts for actors in both Occupation: Murder!and South’s musical Little Shop of Horrors, which ran Feb. 12, 13, 19 and 20. This caused frustration for some actors, but for others it was an added benefit.

“Our rehearsal schedule has been pretty spaced out, so I like that I am able to participate in the play without feeling like it’s a huge timesuck out of my schedule,” Tran said.

South’s next play will be The Romancers, directed by Janet Gruber. The Romancers will be performed in April.

Photo by Amanda Summers

In this scene, Tony Fabrizi has just been murdered and all characters are gathered around and terrified.

The rise of new american literature

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reporter christopher helwig

n his acclaimed short story Harrison Bergeron American author Kurt Vonnegut proclaimed, “The year was 2081, and everyone was finally equal.” With Vonnegut’s death in 2007 followed closely by J.D. Salinger’s early this year, the terrifying future proposed in Vonnegut’s short story seems to loom over the literary future of America. Are we beginning to fall into the trap of mediocrity?

Without access or interest for publications like The New York Times Book Review, students are often left with the feeling that literature is dead, stale and crusty.

This is a sad state of affairs.

To remedy it, a quick look at some vibrant new American authors is called for. In order to understand the authors, it is important to know the era in which they are writing. Writing styles come and go in cycles.

After the modernism of Hemingway, American literature has walked a long and twisted road. A crowded fifty years has left the lit-

to access intellectual adventure.

A fourth well-known new American writer is Richard Russo. His Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Empire Falls, was published in 2001.

Like most of his books it is set in small town America, specifically a small town dying a slow and inevitable death. Though this might sound terribly depressing, Russo is often found to be one of the most comic and upbeat authors of four

day. On top of that, he is renowned for his sharply realistic characters and expansive story arcs.

American literature is as deeply alive and growing as it has ever been. Russo, Chabon, Ford and the others are simply prime examples of the new movements sweeping through American literature. Remember, the only way to discover the works of these great authors is to read them!

tumblr spotlight: hello from ecuador foreign correspondent alex decker

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ometimes being a foreigner can be quite the advantage.

You get free drinks, whistles in the streets, and are exemped from tests and homework.

During Carnival week, however, being a “gringa” just means you get extra eggs in your hair.

In Ecuador, Carnival officially starts on Feb. 13, but the festivities start long before that date. It’s definitely one of my favorite holidays here…it’s pretty much just an excuse to throw water on

strangers without them getting mad.

I spent Carnival in Riobamba with my family and some friends and the city was complete mayhem. I spent the afternoons with my nine-year-

old cousin, dropping buckets of water on the people passing under our second story window (it was hilarious to see their reactions!).

One of the days I went with

some friends to the main street in Riobamba, where most of the action is. It was crazy! The sidewalks were littered with water balloons, egg shells, and bags of flour. Most of the people who were playing Carnival were in the back of the trucks, throwing buckets of water at the people passing by.

Another funny sight was at one of the local parks. This park has a huge lake in the center - and during Carnival week - hundreds of people pushing each other into it.

The next day I went with my family to their friend’s house in a nearby town. They were hosting a big

Carnival celebration, and let me just say, this was another level of Carnival playing. We used freezing water, five cartons of eggs, three bags of flour, and for the finishing touch, they wiped car grease on our faces. It took me forever to untangle my hair that night!

Anyway, I’m thinking that this is one Ecuadorian tradition that I might just introduce to the States when I get back. So, if I happen to throw a bucket of water on you or smear egg yolk in your hair, don’t get mad…it’s just Carnival season!

Check out Clypian.com for more of this and other staff blogs!

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Help spring to spring: how to garden photo editor anastasia smith

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s spring slowly creeps up on us, we start having memories of summer and tend to jump into summer apparel a bit early, which can cause discomfort. Something that you can do that does not involve freezing to death, assuming that sunny meant warm weather, is gardening. This time of year you can start preparing a garden for summer. Whether you are planting vegetables, flowers or fruit, the first step is ordering seeds. There are many different catalogues to choose from, but I would recommend buying from a local company that sells nonGMOs. GMOs are genetically modified organisms, in other words, plants that have other things pumped into their DNA. The best vegetable seeds to buy would be heirloom vegetables considering that they are all original, and you can use their seeds the following

year which ultimately saves money on buying new seeds.

Once you choose a company to buy seeds from, the hardest part is deciding on which seeds to order.

An example of this would be the lettuce catalogue my mother and I recently received in the mail which has hundreds of types of lettuce. A great seed catalogue that my family orders from is Territorial which has tons of different veggies and fruits to choose from to grow in your garden. You can also find some of their seed packets at certain stores, such as Life Source. When planning your garden, make sure to look up what time of year to plant your vegetables. The appropriate time to plant depends on the zone that you live in. Peas and spinach are some vegetables that can be planted outside already here in the Willamette Valley, and you can start growing cabbage inside.

It is good for growing your garden to have soil made out of your own composted scraps. If you don’t compost already, you can

always start now. Composting can be as simple as a couple of poles stuck in the ground with wire, a tumbling composter or a worm bin. This year my family is trying a new technique where you simply put your compost straight on your garden and let it decompose there, taking away a step of the process.

The step we eliminated is turning the soil, which you must do to prepare the earth for your vegetables.

Gardener Dave Engle of West Salem advises new gardeners, “if it’s a new garden space, kill the grass with a layer of cardboard or newspaper. I have also used a shovel and flipped each chunk cut from the sod upside down so that the grass gets no photosynthesis action. One of my biggest mistakes has been digging soil that is still too wet and then it dries and turns into hard clods that need to be smashed somehow.”

I personally do not use raised gardens, but some people prefer them because they are less messy and they conserve space. Engle

Photo by Anastasia Smith

Spring time is the perfect time to start gathering your gardening gear. gardens in his neighbor’s plot which she gave to him to use. He has various types of vegetables; he raises honey bees, chickens, and rabbits, and brews his own beer. Engle’s rabbits and chickens provide fertilizer for his produce.

Engle also grafts on fruit-producing branches to the ornamental trees

that the city has already planted conveniently in his own backyard.

Engle also recommends reading the book Vegetable Gardening West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon for the new gardener.

So go out there, get your compost started, build a raised bed, order some seeds and get to work!

Let’s get spicey: india palace Yoga

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feature editor spice walker

midst the plethora of local restaurants and cafés around Salem, different types of flavors can be tasted at India Palace, located on Court St. across from the Reed Opera House. I have walked past India Palace numerous times while meandering downtown, but had never actually stopped in for a bite to eat. I have heard raving reviews about India Palace and how great their food is. On the other hand, I have also been given the advice to not eat there because their food is horrible and not worth the prices.

I decided to take my chances and give the restaurant a try.

When I arrived at India Palace, I saw that it was closed, despite the fact that it was 4:50 p.m. I thought this was bizarre and proceeded to take a look at the hours. I noticed that every day they close at 2:30 p.m. and reopen at 5:00 p.m. After waiting ten minutes, I took a look around inside. The restaurant appeared not to be

Photo by Spice Walker

India Palace is located across the street from the Reed Opera House. decorated too extravagantly. It was simply a white room with a few hanging lights as well as some Indian décor and paintings.

For an appetizer, I ordered the Vegetable Pakora vegetable fritters with a side of Garlic Naan, a leavened, oven-baked flatbread.

I also ordered the Kashmiri Rice, which I was expecting to be more of an entrée dish based on the description and price.

The first thing that was served was

the Vegetable Pakora, which was delicious. The fritters were light and crispy on the outside with a blend of soft vegetable filling on the inside. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that they were not layered in grease. The $3 fritters were very filling, even for just an appetizer.

I was disappointed by my dish of Kashmiri Rice. It was nothing like what I expected it to be. The description said that it was a rice dish with vegetables, almonds and

raisins, so I thought it would be like a rice bowl. When it was brought out, I saw a plate of orange rice with a couple slivers of almonds and raisins.

I could not tell if there were any vegetables. I felt confused, dissatisfied and ended up taking most of the rice home in a doggy bag. The Garlic Naan was not as disappointing as the rice but I still did not think it was great.

Perhaps I was being too safe with my choices or maybe they don’t have the best vegetarian meals, but in my opinion, India Palace did not live up to the royalty that its name implies. Compared to other Indian restaurants I have eaten at, their flavors were bland and did not put to use enough herbs and spices in their dishes.

It did not make me feel like I was having the experience of a traditional Indian dinner at all. If I were to go to again, I would probably go for a light meal of appetizers and drinks.

It was an okay restaurant, but not somewhere where I would go out of my way to eat again.

club

thriving in its third year reporter vanessa moya

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rs. Fortey is going on her third year of hosting the Yoga Club which has interested not only students but staff members as well, such as several teachers from the language department. According to Mrs. Fortey, there were 44 people attending before spring sports began. Yoga Club has been a great way for students to bond with their fellow peers and meet new friends. Mrs. Fortey encourages everyone to join the Yoga Club. The club meets on Thursdays at 2:45 p.m. in the south cafeteria. Mrs. Fortey will provide a yoga mat or you are welcome to bring your own. So come and try out your yoga skills!

Gallop along with the equestrian team reporter kendra moe

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ne of the less recognized athletic teams that South has is the Equestrian Team, led by Mona West, the SSHS OHSET advisor and mother of member Kate West ’11. Equestrian sports include different horseman activities, which involve timed events, showmanship, patterns and paired activities. Only two South students are currently involved, Annie Murray ’12 and Kate West.

This is West’s third year involved and Murray’s second. Equine athletics are counted as a winter and spring sport with state and district championships just like football, soccer or any other American sport. Activity and athletic letters

are given as well, and thousands of athletes are involved. There are three district competitions, two of which qualify athletes for the State Championships, in which all the district winners compete.

For the Willamette district, the competitions will take place at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Feb. 26-28, March 26-28 and then April 23-25. Those who qualify for the OHSET state championships compete at Central Point, Jackson County Fair and Expo.

“On a small team it’s harder to do team events because you don’t have enough people to have alternates in case someone or their horse gets hurt and if someone doesn’t want to do an event it’s really hard to compromise,” Kate West said. “On the other hand, it’s a lot easier to schedule things because you have

less people’s schedules to worry about. There are pros and cons to both but I’d like to see our team grow a few more people.”

Rules are strictly followed in the Equestrian organizations. For example, teams will be disqualified for competitions if they begin to have team practices before Dec. 1.

“It’s not unusual to have to be at the fairgrounds before six in the morning and not be done until after ten at night,” adds Mona West, who was not familiar with equine athletics until her daughter began to ride horses.

To be involved in the Equestrian team, the horse and horsemen must pass certain qualifications.

The Willamette district opened with the Matrix NAET Premier Show Fundraiser on Oct. 2325, 2009 to help athletes with

the financial burden. In addition to that, the individuals are held accountable for transportation, equipment, and their horses. West

“I’d like to see our team grow with a few more people.” kate west ‘11 claims to spend anywhere between 15 and 30 hours a week with her two horses, Melvin and Nemo.

Nemo is currently in training, and she competes with Melvin.

“It is a lot of work and it’s expensive and you not only have human team members but equine

partners too. They have to work together really well,” West said.

Lots of different events are available, including timed events, pattern classes, and team events.

Some of these include dressage, barrel racing, break-away calf roping, jumping, and figure 8 skate races, English riding patterns, Western style stock seat equitation, reining, driving, in which a horse pulls a cart, in-hand trailing, showmanship and many more.

Even for individual events, all students train and practice together.

Although there are only two members in the South High Equestrian Team, our participation is crucial in the Willamette District Equestrian Team. The team also includes other Salem schools, such as McNary, Sprague, West Salem, North Salem and Salem Academy.

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Support local businesses reporter Samantha Grainger-Shuba

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round downtown Salem, it is hard to ignore the abundance of locally owned shops with “Closing Sale!” sign placed in their windows.

It is hard to imagine that a few years ago, these windows held “Opening Sale!” signs.

The recession has hit local businesses hard, which has only been to the advantage of stores like Wal-Mart and Target. Large chain stores can offer low prices for imported goods and gain a larger profit. Economists are searching desperately for a way out of this recession. They have discovered that if each town were to support their local businesses, the local economy would be stimulated

and people would have more money. This practice would slowly mend the recessed economy.

“Oregon’s economy is recovering, although slower than in previous projections, from its biggest downturn in almost 30 years,” Tom Potiowsky, state economist, said to the Statesman Journal website.

According to TIME magazine, the New Economics Foundation, a research organization based in London, discovered that twice the amount of money stayed in the community when people bought locally.

The “locavore” movement is Photo by Anastasia Smith one idea to strengthen the local economy. To be a locavore, The Salem Public Market is one place to shop to support local business. people buy food that is made from things grown, raised or caught consuming the strawberries that local economy, such as purchasing within a 100 mile radius of your we bought. Instead we are eating goods from local revenues such as city. Not only does this practice hormone-injected, not entirely ripe farmers’ markets and locally owned stimulate the local economy, your strawberries that have traveled businesses. Not buying from malls nutrition can also be improved over 2,829 miles to get here. or other big corporations, when by buying locally. On average, “Supporting the local economy possible, will definitely help this most of our daily nutrition and promoting local business country’s fight against the recession. travels 1,500 miles before we owners were some of the main For more information on ways to consume it. This decreases the goals of the locavores,” Dede support the local economy, check overall quality of the food that Sampson, a locavore founder, said. out Ana Smith’s “Living Local we eat, meaning that we are not There are other ways to support the in Salem” blog at Clypian.com.

Saxons contribute jeans for teens reporter victoria schmidt

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eropostale and DoSomething.org put on their third annual Teens for Jeans campaign, an organization that gathers jeans from teens throughout the United States and Canada to support local homeless shelters. South has joined with this organization to help gather 100,000 pairs of gently worn jeans to send to the devastated areas of Haiti that will be given to homeless teens.

Aeropostale matched the first 100,000 pairs donated to provide Haiti with 200,000 jeans. This drive ran from Jan.19 through Feb.14 and raised around 50 pairs of jeans from South.

The Outreach Club led by Cheyenne Ruiz ‘11 helped organize the drive at South.

There are around 20 students from South and several from Sprague in this group. They meet Mondays at 2:20 p.m. in the Leadership office. This group puts on the Teens for Jeans drive as well as a separate drive for all kinds of clothing for homeless teens. They also do canned food walks in which they collect donations of canned food for the homeless shelter downtown.

Aeropostale gave each donator a 25 percent off coupon for a new pair of jeans.

“This is the first year I offered the coupon to South, and it really didn’t affect the turnout.

I think that South students

Photo by Victoria Schmidt

These boxes are piled high with donated jeans.

Clypian Staff Movie Reviews Movie Title

Grade

Alice in Wonderland

C

A Single Man

B+

Dear John

D

Fantastic Mr. Fox

A-

Percy Jackson

D

Shutter Island

A

Review Pros: Johnny Depp creates a strong character Cons: Slow to develop, differs from the spirit of the story Pros: Beautiful cinematography, excellent acting Cons: Flashy cinematography distracts from plot line Pros: Stuck to the story of the book Cons: Ending gave no closure Pros: Funny, cleverly written, made claymation enjoyable Cons: Nothing!

Pros: Attractive lead actor Cons: Lacked plot structure, deviated from book Pros: Unexpected twist at the end Cons: Overall predictable

weren’t concerned about what they would receive, they just wanted to donate.

In fact not a lot of students took the coupon,” Ruiz said.

Due to the economy, there was an even greater need for jeans this year as well as a concern that people would not donate as many pairs of jeans. To the Outreach Club’s surprise, there was an economic impact, but not the way they thought.

Because many families are having a difficult

time, students felt like this was an easy way to make a difference.

The number of jeans did not make a significant drop from last year because donating a pair of jeans doesn’t cost the donator anything but helps ease the financial burden on the recipient. “I think that it is important to reach out to the community and donating a pair of jeans was a really easy way to do that. One out of every three homeless people are teenagers and I felt obligated to help them,” Kinsey Belden ‘13 said.

Overall, South students did a great job of raising jeans and have helped provide Haiti and local homeless shelters with relief. There were 200,000 pairs sent to Haiti and 624,893 jeans donated to homeless shelters.

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Obama needs distance from Bush editor-in-chief aaron Lorenz

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errorism. Every American knows about terrorism.

The Bush administration made sure of that. President Bush and his government created and drew upon the concept of terrorism in the minds of the American people. Under Bush terrorism was the greatest of all evils. We were fighting a war against terror and we were not going to stop until all those with the capability to unleash terror on the world were neutralized.

His administration drew on the fears of terrorism created by the events of September 11, 2001 to justify many of their actions and to garner the support of the people through their passion. The new president changed the methods of the government in regards to this issue when he took office.

President Obama has discouraged the use of the phrase War on Terror, and rightly so. It is not possible to wage a war on a concept, a method of aggression. One can fight a person, nation, an alliance, but one cannot fight a concept.

The term Obama chose to replace that chosen by the Bush administration was no better, however. Overseas contingency operations is a phrase that

means close to nothing to most Americans. This phrase, while successfully avoiding any of the controversy or emotion that surrounded the War on Terror, is extremely vague. It is official sounding, but really tells nothing about the operation whatsoever.

It clarifies nothing other than the fact that the operations are not happening in the States. The rest is left up to the imagination.

Operations for the contingency of what? Obviously one knows that it is the contingency of safety from terrorism. But if the term is used out of context, or to begin a conversation, then how is one to know what it is?

Obama has also created a new name for the war which actually justifies the use of troops.

He has renamed the offensive the War on al-Qaeda. This allows him to keep deploying troops to combat the threat that terrorists, namely al-Qaeda, represent to the U.S. and to the rest of the world. Early in his term in office, Obama drafted a plan for the removal of American troops from Iraq,

Safety should be priority for spring break reporter sarah leon

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pring break is notorious for too much booze and too little clothing, at least as far as young adults are concerned. Spring break has become more about drugs, sex and partying and less about going on family vacations or volunteering for local organizations. Some teenagers think that the only way to have fun during this time off is by making it a wild and memorable week.

But once spring break is over there is usually a bad outcome which most people do not see while they are having their fun-filled break.

Spring break is a period of time off of school and work, where people can go out and relax without having to worry about appointments to keep or projects due the next day. If you party and are out of control, there will be negative consequences, ones that will make life difficult. Some bad things that happen during a typical spring break are young girls getting pregnant, drinking and driving, car accidents and spending a lot of money.

All these things have intense aftereffects. Many people do not think about the outcome to these actions during the

act but as soon as break is over it is too late. The damage is already done.

There are many ways to have fun and cut loose without being dangerous. If spring break was filled with activities that did not include so much hard partying, spring break would have a better reputation. Things that one can do during this break are to take a walk where you have never been before, go to a coffee shop that is new in town or have a movie day with a group of close friends.

People could even go to Silver Creek Falls and take a hike with some friends.

Teenagers think that partying is the only way to have an enjoyable spring break but that is not true at all.

As years go by you will want to remember the good times you had with all your friends and not have regrets about your break. It is okay to stand out from everyone else and not go to parties, have sex or do drugs. Most of the friends you make in high school and have adventures with will not be with you when you are older.

So do not go crazy during spring break. Plan activities you will not regret when you look back on them or when you are trying to convince your kids not to partake in them when you are a parent.

promising that United States involvement there would end, except for a group of about 50,000 who would remain to continue training and antiterrorism operations, by August of 2010. He also announced, however, that the contingency in Afghanistan would be enlarged by 17,000 before the summer of 2009. Though he has attempted to shift the focus of the conflict in the Middle East back from Iraq to the actual terrorist groups, he has not been extensively successful in doing so. The American public still sees our country’s involvement in the Middle East as linked to or centered around Iraq, not

focused on the terrorists who actually caused the fear that runs through the hearts of U.S. citizens.

Many Americans disapprove of Obama’s endeavors in the Middle East simply because of the resentment they feel for the policies of President Bush.

Obama has done well to attempt to distance himself from the terms and policies of Bush, but has not succeeded in replacing them with anything meaningful or different enough to change the views or opinions of the populace. He needs to create a new policy or title for the current policy which is completely different than that used by the Bush administration.

Clypian Staff Editor-In-Chief Aaron Lorenz

Copy Managing Editor Editor Taylor Applegate

Kimberly Cooper

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Feature Editor

Aleida Fernandez

Spice Walker

Opinion Editor

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Lauren Cheek

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Photos

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Art

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Vegetarianism: healthful or harmful? reporter victoria schmidt

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n the world of food, we are divided into three groups based on our moral standing on animal rights.

Whether we are vegetarian, vegan or choose to eat meat, we have our beliefs that hold us accountable for what ends up in our stomachs. In the United States, more than 925,000,000 people refuse to eat meat and make the choice to be vegetarian, and 30,000,000 people choose veganism and avoid using all animal products. In today’s society, it is almost impossible for the people of our generation to be vegan or vegetarian because they do not take the steps to ensure their body’s health. For this reason, it is not a good idea for high school students to attempt a diet lacking protein or animal products altogether.

Our generation has found it challenging to maintain a healthy vegetarian or vegan diet because many choose to remove foods without filling in the missing nutritional spaces necessary for the body to function.

When vegetarians at South were asked if they made special changes to fulfill the needs of the average body when they dropped meat, 80 percent replied no.

People do not fully understand what a lack of protein will do to your body. Our bodies cannot store protein so we must obtain it from the food

we eat on a daily basis. When the body does not consume the proper levels of protein it begins to waste and shrink the tissue of the muscles, and the blood cells are unable to deliver sufficient oxygen to the cells.

Although there are many people who have hurt their bodies by following a vegetarian or vegan diet, there are also many success stories. Many students who I spoke with admitted that they did not realize how much they loved fruits and vegetables until they became a vegetarian. When precautions are taken, this can be much a healthier diet because it lacks most of the fat found in a carnivorous diet.

“When I decided to go vegetarian I talked to my doctor about what kinds of vitamins I would need, and what kinds of protein-rich vegetables there were along with meat substitutes like tofu. If

y o u e a t h e a l t h y, a n d monitor your protein levels, it is a much healthier diet than one with meat,” said Taylor Stennet ’13, a three-year vegetarian.

Only the minority of our generation is able to benefit from a diet without meat or animal products, and because of this, being a vegetarian or a vegan as a high school student is not what is best for the body because it is too hard to keep nutritonal balance.

S a m a n t h a Grainger-Shuba Marcela Harden Forrest Smith Anna Sieber Travis Samuels Kristi Lewis

Sarah Leon Mark Mason Kereth Curliss Vanessa Moya Chirstopher Helwig Victoria Schmidt

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Students feel pressure to perform on SAT Opinion Editor Lauren Cheek

D

uring the final chapters of high school there are certain things that must be accomplished; accumulating the required credits to graduate, choosing a college or finding a job and possibly the most monumental event for high school students, taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test. There is a tremendous amount of pressure on students to get a high score on their SATs, especially because the scores are one of the biggest things college admission officers look at.

Statistics show that most students do not achieve their best score on their first try, which is why many students take the test more than once. But when does striving for the perfect score become overzealous?

May. A month filled with cherry blossoms and sunshine, the primetime of spring and the event no high school student welcomes, the SAT. Pencils are sharpened, along with minds, notes are fervently looked over, flash cards become lifesavers and students are poised to take the most important test of their educational career. They have spent months preparing and studying, stuffing their brains with endless vocabulary, practice math problem and reading excerpts. But what does all of the hard work boil down to? The SAT is scored in three main categories: math, critical reading and writing. Some drawbacks of the test is the actual test taking process. Many students feel that taking a test is not the best way to measure strengths and weaknesses.

According to a 2007 study, most public colleges require around 470 for math, 490 for reading and 570 for writing. A student must score at least a 1470 to be accepted to the University of Oregon and a minimum score of 1540 for Oregon State. The fact that SAT scores are the deciding factor in whether or not a student will be accepted into an university, creates a “do or die”mindset.

Luckily, the SAT is offered every few months so students can try to improve their scores if they wish. Traditionally, juniors first take the test in May and many later return as seniors to take it again in the fall, just before college applications are due. While it is quite clear that SAT scores are the most important element to ensure acceptance to most colleges, there are other schools that do not require SAT scores with the application. For instance, if one were to apply to Oregon Culinary Institute, the only real requirement is a talent for cooking and no SAT test can measure that. Autumn Wedeking ‘11 believes that standardized tests are not the best way to evaluate a student’s intelligence.

When considering a trade school such as the OCI or a cosmetology school, a student usually puts more emphasis on their talent and real world knowledge.

“Going to a trade school is about how well you perform, not how well you retain knowledge,” Wedeking said.

The idea of less educational pressure and the ability to go straight into a learning environment she is passionate about was what drew Wedeking to cooking school.

“You get all worked up for a test that judges you on math, reading and writing, but not your real world knowledge or common sense,” Wedeking said.

Whether a four-year public college or a specialized school is the desired choice, all students must prepare for the SAT. Preparing oneself for such an important test is a daunting task. Many stressful late nights of studying are included, along with a general sense of anxiety leading up to the day. Scoring well is what every student wishes for, but there is such a thing as overpreparing. As Mr. Isom, the SAT prep course advisor has said, “it is all about learning how to beat the test.” After all, it all comes down to a Scantron, a number two pencil and the strong determination of a student who can, and will, conquer the SAT.

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How involved should parents be in college search?

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reporter samantha grainger-shuba

icking which college to attend is one of the most difficult choices a high school student will have to make before becoming an adult. There are so many variables to take into account, such as where the student wants to live, what they want to do and how much the tuition costs. An average teenager would be right in admitting that they are intimidated by these factors. Parents, to help with the stress of choosing the right one, usually take their teenagers on tours of colleges toward the end of their high school career.

In the beginning of the year, my parents started to talk to me about touring colleges. As a sophomore, I thought it was too early to be looking at colleges. I a m nowhere n e a r mature enough to know what I want out of life, let alone what I want to do for a career. Besides, there are millions of universities, colleges and other forms of higher education to explore. How could I possibly know how to choose just one?

My parents answered this mental conundrum: you don’t have to. This simple statement was completely effective at changing my outlook on the pre-college application experience.

Touring colleges does not pick and plan out your future; the tour is a chance to receive information. Haven’t you ever heard the phrase information is power? Well, that was how I felt.

“My mom has been being really pushy

lately, especially in making me look at applying to colleges that I’m not particularly interested in. I want her to back off on my college plans a little,” Julia Leslie ’12 said.

In a poll done by studentPOLL.com, published by College Board, 26 percent of parents were extensively involved in developing a student’s consideration list for colleges that they want to apply for. 26 percent of parents helped their students choose the college that is right for them. Also, 28 percent of parents went on the college campus tours with their student.

“The earlier you and your parents start looking at colleges and thinking about college itself, the better,” Kristen Svenson, a current senior at Willamette University said.

It is proven that if a person is informed on a subject, their decisions on that subject are much easier to make.

P a r e n t s try not to pressure their teens into picking a career; they just want to help make an informed decision.

After talking to my parents extensively, we came to a compromise. They would not pressure me to take my tour of colleges during spring break, but I would have to start before my junior year.

The one thing I learned by talking to my parents is that communication is vital when starting to explore colleges. Talk about college plans and decide what works for both you and your family. This will stop you from feeling like your parents are becoming tyrants, and will also help get on the path you want and to succeed in whatever career you choose.

student involvement: a call to action news editor Aleida fernandez

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here are probably as many opinions about student involvement as there are people at South.

A quick scan of the yearbook index shows that the majority of students either don’t participate in activities or at least don’t participate in official activities.

The last four ASB presidents have participated in the IB program, as well as at least one sport. They were also members of at least two after-school clubs and each president was either on Homecoming or King of Hearts court. Our current ASB president, Ethan Jones ’10, is a full IB candidate, plays varsity soccer, leads Empowerment Club in addition to participating in five other clubs, and was on King of Hearts court this year. By participating in all of these activities, Jones knows more than 150 students at South.

It would seem that Jones had a large voting block at election time.

However, after talking to many students, I observed a general consensus that the student-elected

class representatives as well as the student-elected Homecoming and King of Hearts court members represent a small percentage of the student body because they are either athletes or Leadership members. This assumption intimidates them from involving themselves in these activities.

Leadership member Sarah Hill ‘11 believes that the reason many of the student officers and court members are part of Leadership is that they participate in many other activities around the school.

Most students know the names of those who campaign for such positions and are more inclined to vote for a student that they know is involved in multiple activities. Although it is discouraged for Leadership members to campaign for student body president or court, there continues to be elections of these students.

Activities director Kathy August disagrees with Hill, stating that the idea that all elected representatives are members of Leadership is not true.

“If you look at this year’s King

of Hearts court, there were only two members [Ethan Jones ‘10 and Ian Ogami ‘11] from Leadership. I

prohibit my Leadership kids from voting during election time so [whoever gets elected] is completely

up to the student body,” August said.

Then why do Leadership and the elected officials get such a bad rap from the student body?

According to August, Leadership’s reputation has been improving steadily over the years.

“Only 26 out of 100 [South] teachers participate in student elections; that’s not a very large portion. Kids vote for who they want. I used to hear about fights that the Leadership kids would get in defending Leadership, and I don’t hear about those anymore,” August stated.

The current system says that no one on Homecoming or King of Hearts court can be elected more than once until their senior year.

There is no rule against presidential or officer repeats, however.

South currently has the least amount of assemblies of any school in the district because according to Phelps, teachers can get pretty possessive of their teaching

time. The assemblies typically focus on dances or honoring sports teams.

One thing that both administrators agreed on was that only 50 percent of the student body participates in activities other than sports, and that percentage should be raised.

“It’s an issue of kids inviting kids to participate and adults encouraging students to be involved even more so than there currently is. There always needs to be a door open,” Phelps said.

Maybe it is a lack of communication between students and administration, a lack of varied assemblies, a sense of intimidation, or all three, but there seems to be an overall shortage of motivation for most students at South to become involved. One thing remains certain about South: there are nearly 2,000 students and numerous opportunities to be involved in but only a 50 percent student involvement rate. With such a low student involvement rate, this is a call to action to the student body to increase their enthusiasm and their participation.

This story is a condensed edition. To read the full version of “Student Involvement: A Call to Action” visit Clypian.com.

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Tim burton impresses Women’s day lacks audiences with a a p p r e c i a t i o n new wonderland Managing Editor kimberly cooper

reporter anna seiber

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im Burton’s Alice in Wonderland was like Michael Phelps at the 2008 Summer Olympics: it was expected to win, and it did. The movie was peppered with a multitude of curious characters, such as the selfcentered, cruel, and chatty Red Queen; the overly-courageous dormouse; and, of course, the crazy Mad Hatter.

The show really belonged to the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat. With the wild orange hair, enlarged lime green eyes, constantly changing accent and fabulous one-liners, the Mad Hatter is easily the strangest, most eye-catching character. However, the Cheshire Cat was my favorite character. While his appearances were short and far-spaced, he gave the perfect medley of mystery and necessary information to Alice.

In both of her Lewis Carroll books, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, its sequel, Alice is a little girl around the age of six.

Needless to say, it is a little weird that in the new movie, the main character turns out to be nineteen, receiving marriage proposals and participating in a multinational company. This change is both good and bad. Due to the increase in age, Alice is more relatable to older audiences. However, it detracts from the idea that imagination is one of the greatest aspects of childhood. And of course the idea pops into your head that screenwriter Linda Woolverton is attempting to sex up the Alice in Wonderland story, particularly when you pick up on the Alice-Mad Hatter scenario.

The plot of Alice in Wonderland follows

the current Disney idea of basing a movie off of a book: the central i d e a s are used, but otherwise, the story is completely different. Yes, Alice follows the White Rabbit down the rabbit hole into Wonderland. Yes, she meets up with the Blue Caterpillar, Mad Hatter and March Hare. Yes, there is a Red Queen with an army of cards. Yes, this all belongs to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, but that is about as far as it goes. The only apparent connection to the second book, Through the Looking Glass, is a game of chess, which neglects to play by the rules of chess.

Instead, Alice fights a Jabberwocky. No pawns, no logic, no moves. Only battle.

Rather than follow the book, Alice in Wonderland, the movie, relates the return of Alice to Wonderland. The Red Queen with her abnormally large head, is terrorizing her people, leaving them enslaved and in poverty. Needless to say, a band of rebels has formed to take the Red Queen down, and reinstate her sister, the ethereal White Queen, who refuses to kill another living creature. A future-telling scroll informs that Alice will kill the Jabberwocky, the final key in ending the Red Queen’s reign of terror.

Though the film was made by Tim Burton, it lacked his usual level of creepiness. While Alice in Wonderland was dark, it did not have the typical gloomy and ominous flair that I look for in Burton’s style.

One other key thing that Alice in Wonderland missed the boat on is the blue caterpillar. The famous “Wh-oo are you?” was a mere “Who are you?”

Alice in Wonderland was an excellent movie, with great lines and a Disney moral: believe in the impossible. The strangest, and best, part of the movie was during the chess-fight scene where the Mad Hatter turns up in a kilt.

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arch 8 has come and gone, and a disappointing amount of people were aware of the significance of this date.

Women’s Day is a holiday celebrated around the world, and in many countries it is as widely celebrated as Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day. Russia especially has strong ties to Women’s Day; in fact, without it they most likely wouldn’t have had the opportunity to become the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

The initial riots that ignited the revolutions which led to a Sovietrun government in Russia were led largely by women, some of whom had been marching in a Women’s Day parade and others who interrupted the parade and shared their troubles with the marchers. These women fearlessly stood their ground and stood united against their government. These events inarguably changed the entire course of history, and took place on Women’s Day. Yet somehow, this momentous holiday is widely ignored in America. Why? Perhaps it has something to do with the general lack of appreciation American women face every day. It is the year 2010 and the wage gap is still at 77.1 percent. That means for every one dollar a man earns, a woman makes 77 cents. This gap has only closed 14 percent since 1963, less than half a penny a year.

Not only are women paid less for the jobs they

are performing, too many of them are forced to deal with harassment or other kinds of degrading discrimination in their work environment.

Between 1992 and 1999, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported a 45 percent increase in sexual harassment towards women in their working environments. Only a disappointing 5-15 percent of these women filed complaints.

American women are not the only females facing discrimination, either. At the U.N.’s Pan Pacific Southeast Asia Women’s Association 21st National Conference it was stated that “in the world as a whole, women make up 51 percent of the population, do 66 percent of the work, receive 10 percent of the income and own less than one percent of the property.”

Am I the only one sensing the discrimination and inequality against woment imposed by a patriarchal society?

This misogyny is ever-present and allencompassing. A recent study done by Professor Susan Fiske of Princeton University found that when many men view photographs of “sensual” women, the part of their brain that identifies objects lights up. In addition, the part of their brain that coordinates social interaction essentially turned off.

The remedy is simple: change the view of women.

This onus does not lie solely on the shoulders of men in our society . In fact, a good portion of this change has to occur with women. Women, do not allow yourself to be viewed as an object, and you will not be. And if it is unfortunately too late for our generation to make a change, we can at the very least teach the next generation just a little bit better.

The plague of technology reporter forrest smith

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n recent years, technology has been advancing at a fantastical rate. Online games, cell phones, chat rooms and blogs have grown prolifically. The negative effects of a growing technological emergence are just as numerous as the benefits, from physical health to mental health and personal ethics. Personal information becomes available to the masses of the internet, children are introduced to obscene violence through video games, and time spent with families and friends in the physical world is decreasing.

Another jarring effect of our technological renaissance is a new efficiency in tracking. Criminals and law-abiding citizens alike can be tracked through their use of online services, and hideouts normally invisible from the ground can be discovered through satellite imagery, such as Google Earth.

Recently, a fugitive from Illinois fled the country in order to avoid arrest. Unfortunately for the fugitive, he was addicted to the online computer game World of Warcraft. Deputies from Illinois

received a tip that the fugitive was an active player in WoW, and requested the man’s IP address from Blizzard Entertainment, the makers of the game. Using that information, officials were able to trace the fugitive to his hideout in Ottowa, Canada. With help from Canadian authorities, the man was arrested.

Another man, a reporter, attempted to disappear from his job, family, and government for a year. The reporter was found within months. Fans had used his IP address to track him to an internet café where he had accessed Facebook from his laptop. The fans located the nearest hotels through Google Earth and successfully found the reporter.

Although this technology promises an efficient way to track and capture dangerous criminals, the speed and accuracy of this ability is unnerving not only to fugitives. Movies like Eagle Eye, or books like 1984 by George

Orwell play on this fear of an allseeing, all-powerful government.

Although fictional, these works

are becoming more realistic as technology quickly advances.

There are negative effects of technological submersion more serious than shrinking privacy and more realistic than an almost godly

government; hearing and eyesight can be harmed by constant use of iPods, computers and TVs. Many students that multitask while using their electronics also develop shorter attention spans, and the speed of the internet has created serious impatience in younger generations.

The advance of technology is also leading to failing grades, the rise of obesity and related afflictions.

“On an average day, depending on the amount of homework, I’d say I spend three to four hours on electronics, including iPod, computers, and cell phones,” Carson Adams ’09 said.

These numbers are rather low compared to average statistics of the age group; recent studies show that children between the ages of eight and 18 spend up to an average of seven hours and 38 minutes using electronics a day. Most of this time is spent multi-tasking with other media.

Most teens also participate in what is often called ‘mediamultitasking’, using multiple electronic devices at the same time, such as listening to an iPod while texting or using the computer.

With media-multitasking factored in to the statistics, the average time spent on electronics in a day is ten hours and 45 minutes, and over 75 hours in a week.

While hours spent on electronics soar, hours spent sleeping, studying or exercising dwindles.

Schoolwork is becoming more and more reliant on computers and the internet and many teens spend hours more on assignments that can only be completed using a computer.

“On an average weekday, I’d say I spend around two to three hours on [electronic] schoolwork and on the weekends, three to four hours a day,” Adams said.

As we indulge in the benefits of a growing technological age, we often ignore the negative effects or dismiss them entirely, an unwise action that may prove to have terrible effects. The internet is doubtlessly a helpful and promising field, but spending less time with technology and more time outside is without question the healthier and more satisfying choice.

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Saxon spring sports teams look to complete year of athletic excellence looks to have some young talent as they only have one returning senior after losing three seniors from last year’s team. The boys pring sports are starting expect to succeed this season and up again and the Saxons intend to compete for the Central will continue to honor Valley Conference title. Last year the tradition of excellence at the boys went to state as a team South. The baseball, softball, for the first time in nine years. tennis, track and golf teams The girls’ golf team is coached began practices on Feb. 22. by Brian Eriksen in his second This year’s baseball team, led by year of coaching, and first as head coach Joshua the girls’ coach.

Kerr, has high Eriksen coached expectations after the Saxon boys’ being the 2008 “I want everyone golf team last and 2009 Central year. Eriksen has Valley Conference to love this sport, a strong girls’ champions. team this year, The Saxon I want everyone and has filled up softball team looks his roster for this to do well this to become a better year’s team. Just season; last year like the boys, the they made it to the and stronger girls lost three state semifinals but seniors and only Photo by Ricky Manley lost to Sunset High person because of have one returning School 1-0. They varsity player. have a strong team their time spen The boys’ Saxon boys’ tennis, led by Hal Gordon ‘11, pictured here, is just one of many Saxon this year with two tennis team got spring athletic teams training hard in preparation for the new spring sports season. returning seniors as a part of this second last year Alexa Peterson ‘10 in the conference conference to second and this The track team, led by head this season should consider having. and Ashlie Gardner team.” and beat McKay year looks to be even better as coach Rob Wood, looks to have a “I want everyone to love this ‘10. The team went for the first time there are 28 players coming out. great season this year as they have a sport, I want everyone to become 16-2 in league Rob Wood in eight years to “The expectation I have on strong team with at least 120 students a better and stronger person and 23-7 overall. claim second place my team is sportsmanship. It’s participating. With good depth on because of their time spent as a Boys’ golf in the conference the biggest one on my team the team the Saxons believe they part of this team. I want everyone coach Thomas behind Sprague. and growing together as a team have a legitimate shot at winning to learn the responsibility of what Rommel is back to coaching after Head coach Todd Bobeda took and bonding and having a great the Central Valley Conference title. it means to be on a team. And I taking a one-year layoff last season. over last year and brought the time but our biggest goal is to Wood has a lot of strong goals for want everyone to reach their The boys’ golf team this year Saxons from finishing last in the beat Sprague,” Bobeda said. his team and goals that every team potential as an athlete,” Wood said. reporter Travis Samuels

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Vancouver olympics provide thrills and chills Both the United States and Canada Set Olympic Medal Records at 2010 Winter Games Reporter Travis Samuels

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he Vancouver Olympic Games were somewhat of a surprise to many as the U.S. dominated the games.

Finishing with a record high 37 medals, this will be known as the best performance by any country in the Winter Olympics. Canada, the host of the winter Olympics, got off to a slow start but they finished third in the medal count with 26 medals and the highest number of gold medals by any country with 14. Germany, the favorite to finish first, ended in second with 30 medals and 10 gold.

The Winter Olympics consist of snowboarding, ice skating, skiing, hockey, sledding and curling.

Along with these sports are some of the most talented and famous faces in winter sports; such as U.S. snowboarder Shaun White, U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn and U.S. short

track speed skater Apolo Ohno.

Snowboarding Twelve years ago snowboarding events were added into the Olympics.

Events such as snowboard crossand half-pipe which have attracted a lot of attention because of athletes like Shaun White who has gone above and beyond by creating his own trick, The Double McTwist 1260, with which he won this year’s Winter X-Games.

On his first out of two runs at the Olympics, he did not perform the Double McTwist 1260 but still picked up an excellent score of 46.8 that ended up being enough to take home his second straight gold for the U.S. in the men’s half-pipe.

In the women’s half-pipe U.S. snowboarder Hannah Teter took silver and teammate Kelly Clark took the bronze, but the winner of the gold medal in the women’s halfpipe was Torah Bright of Australia who surprised and sparked the fans with her brilliant run of 45.0 to win gold. In the men’s snowboard cross, Seth Wescott of the U.S. won his second straight gold in the event after taking a layoff from professional snowboarding after he won his last gold at the 2006 Torino Olympic games. Nate Holland of the U.S., who has won this event five years running at the Winter XGames and was a favorite to medal, had another disappointing finish as he placed 14th in the Torino Games four years ago. Holland made it to the finals this year only to place last in the final race when his board slipped on a sharp turn, causing him

to lose all his speed and a medal.

Speed Skating In speed skating, American Shani Davis took home gold in the 1000 meter race and in the 1500 meter race. He came .06 seconds short of the top time set by Mark Tuitert of the Netherlands who won gold. In short track speed skating, which has become a popular event due to the extreme intensity of the sport, American skater Apolo Ohno took silver in the 1500 meter and bronze in the 1000 meter. JR Celski of the U.S. is a rising star in short track and won bronze in the 1500 meters at age 19. Also in short track the 5000 meter relay including Ohno and Celski won the bronze medal.

Figure Skating In men’s figure skating the defending gold medalist Evengi Plushenko of Russia lost gold to Evan Lysacek of the U.S. who won his first medal in the Olympics.

Alpine Skiing In women’s alpine skiing Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. has been the most talked-about skier this year because of a bruised shin. It was unsure whether or not she would compete in the games due to her injuries, but she took gold in her first event in the women’s downhill and then took bronze in the Super G but failed to finish the slalom, giant slalom and the slalom combined as she crashed on all three of those runs. On the men’s side, alpine skier Bode Miller had a stellar performance in his events, taking gold in the super combined, silver in Super G and bronze in the

downhill to lead the men in alpine skiing on the American side. In the women’s moguls, U.S. skier Heather McPhie, who was expected to get silver, got bronze. Hannah Kearney, the last skier to ski in the event, took gold in her last run and won by a long shot. Canada’s Jennifer Heil took the silver.

Sledding In the sledding events, the luge and bobsledding events were held at the world’s fastest track, the Whistler Sliding Centre, which has records of people traveling over 90 miles per hour. Before the Olympics even began, on a practice run at the sliding centre, the track claimed the life of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili. On his last turn, he lost control of his sled and flew of into an unprotected steel support pole on the sideline of the track. He died at the age of 21. The day following his death, the track

was inspected and repaired with guards on the sharp turning spots and the steel support poles where padded. The Americans had no medaling athletes in the luge. In the four-man bobsledding competition, the Americans took gold as driver Steven Holcomb, a veteran in the sport, drove his team to victory.

Hockey Both U.S. hockey teams made it to the gold medal match but both fell to the host team, Canada.

The girls lost in a 2-0 shutout and Canada won gold fairly easy. In the men’s game, Canada got off to a good start and took a 2-0 lead until the Americans came back with two of their own goals to push it into sudden death overtime.

In overtime, NHL hockey player Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins scored the winning goal in overtime for Canada and they defeated the U.S. 3-2.

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Guard jake fohn leads showstoppers through hard work take aim at state reporter Vanessa Moya

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ake Fohn ‘11 has been quite the star on the basketball court. As this year’s team co-captain, Fohn’s role as a leader is not just verbal but physical.

According to Eric Bowman, the head varsity coach, Jake Fohn has the most important position in basketball as point guard and Fohn knows how to play it.

Standing at 5’8” Fohn is the third leading rebounder, first in a s s i s t s , Co-captain Jake and fourth in scoring.

“Playing three varsity sports and getting good grades he deserves the respect,” Bowman said.

Fohn’s goals in practice are to make sure the team gets better every day and that they have a hard and competitive practice, but his main focus in the game is to make sure everyone is on the same page at all

times. Fohn takes his leadership role seriously to set that example for his team on and off the court.

“I am the guy who will get the job done and make sure no one slips around me,” Fohn said about his work methods.

Bowman said that being a player on the court and in practice are

The game that has been most rewarding to Fohn this year was against McNary because he believes it was a huge turning point of their season. Coach Bowman had to agree because during that point of the season, McNary was the team to beat and several of South’s players were coming back from being injured. “[Basketball m e a n s ] going harder, stronger and smarter than the other team for 32 minutes, with my best friends right beside me,” Fohn said.

F o h n ’s integrity and strong motivation for his team and the game of basketball Photo by Vanessa Moya has led the team Fohn ‘11 in a game against the McNary Celtics to success in games very different and it takes a lot to and they are improving be both and that he believes Fohn every day in practice. has proven himself to be a strong Fohn will be one of the team enough player. Fohn is very proud leaders next year on a much to be a part of South’s basketball more experienced team. The team and proud of his teammates boys’ varsity basketball team but one player that stood out the will only lose one senior next most to Fohn was Jake Withnell. year, and many key players “He is aggressive and will do this year were underclassmen, whatever it takes to win,” Fohn said. including several sophomores.

competition helped their overall performance.

“One of the best things about being part of the team is all the friends I made throughout the years,” he South Salem captain Jazmin Torres ‘11 said.

Showstoppers had a For the past seven months successful season this the team has spent every week year. The 19 girls on the team practicing their routine. During that have been practicing all season time they also built a close bond and it has definitely paid off. This with one another. The team worked season the dance hard to become in team took second sync with each other place at Canby and The 19 girls on in order to take Dallas and third their performance place at Philomath. the team have been to the next level.

Lexi Evanoff ‘10 “This was my first won first place in practicing all year of dance and advanced drill down it was so fun. Our and Abby Mudd season and it has coach is amazing ‘12 also placed in and we all rocked novice drill down definitely paid off. her choreography, at the Sprague it couldn’t have Competition. been any better,” The theme for their hip-hop Kendra Montoya ‘11 said. dance this year was transformers There were a variety of dancers and was performed to the songs “I on the team this year. For some Can Transform Ya” by Chris Brown this was their first year, and others and “Imma Be” by The Black have been dancing since they Eyed Peas. The team’s costumes were little. The dancers all had stood out as they wore bright different strengths which were pink wigs and sequined dresses. showcased in the end routine.

“This season has been a great The team is very proud of the success. Since I have started accomplishments they have made coaching we have been working this season and hope to continue hard to get the team to this level,” their success in years to come. On head coach Christy Rogers said. March 17 and 18 the Showstoppers Of the few years Rogers has performed in the OSAA State coached at South, this has been Dance & Drill Competition, their best year to date. The held in the Memorial Coliseum. dancers have all made great Results of the competition will individual improvements which be posted on the Clypian website.

Reporter Kristi Lewis

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Atkinson heads talented sophomore class Reporter Mark Mason

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yle Atkinson ’12 brings more to the Saxon boys’ basketball team than just a skilled point guard. There are a lot of people who can say they started for a varsity basketball team in high school. Playing at a high level, for a first-class program, in a 6A conference is challenging.

But to say you accomplished this as a sophomore is a rare sight.

Atkinson is just one of a few sophomore standouts at South. His

basketball knowledge and skills are praised by the upperclassmen.

His energy and good attitude give confidence to the whole team and make his teammates play at their best.

“Being a starter on varsity as a sophomore makes the whole team better. No one wants to lose their spot to a sophomore, so the competition in practice is more intense, making everyone better,” Atkinson said.

On every successful team there is a player who helps his team by more than his skills or numbers that show up in the stat book.

They help the team in ways that are not always recognized, such as

confidence, s m a r t decisions, leadership, and energy.

Atkinson believes he brings all these aspects of his game to the team. “ K y l e leads the league in three point shooting with 41 percent, but he is important m o s t l y because of his Guard Kyle Atkinson ‘12 prepares to pass the ball confidence to make big time shots for us. The work he puts disadvantage to most athletes, but in outside of practice is what makes Atkinson believes that only makes Kyle play like he’s not a sophomore,” the challenge more entertaining, head coach Eric Bowman said. and does whatever it takes to Atkinson admits he needs to work make the team more competitive. on the defensive side of his game.

Atkinson wants to play college “Nobody is perfect on basketball someday and has a dream defense, and your guy is going of winning a state championship to score. But, you can never put in high school. Off the court, too much time into it,” he said. Atkinson is a laid-back, normal kid Being young and undersized is a that likes to crack jokes. Basketball

Photo by Mark Mason during a regular season game. is not his life, but it makes him strive to be the best. The basketball court is one of the many places where Atkinson has seen success, on the baseball diamond, football field and the classroom. Atkinson plans on carrying over the same confidence he has now to make him become the best basketball player he can be, and an even better leader for his teammates.

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OSAA cheering rules limit fans, hurt spirit of high school basketball programs Reporter Mark Mason

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here are two minutes left in the game. The Saxons are only down five points, playing the number one team in the league at home and no one in the student section is on their feet, let alone cheering.

As you may have noticed, there are less die-hard basketball fans in the student section this season.

Students now sit in the back of the bleachers, hardly watching the game. Sitting in cliques and leaving the game with no recollection of what the final score was.

Why is this? Let’s just say the OSAA is being more up tight than usual. Our administrators mean well by strictly enforcing the OSAA rules, but does it have an effect on the team’s play?

When people think of varsity basketball they think about being a part of the student section. It is tradition to stand on the bleachers and cheer for their team. Occasional taunting and distracting the other team is part of the game. The opposing players willingly accept the fact that being away from home is a disadvantage, and South’s team captain Pedro Casteneda ’10 agrees.

“Getting taunted by the other team’s fans doesn’t affect me, it happens. It pushes us to play harder. But without it, the atmosphere of the game isn’t

the same,” Casteneda said.

Dealing with the fans and emotions is a part of basketball.

It creates a home-court advantage and is what the team feeds off. The

sportsmanship is important. But the OSAA needs to make sure that all teams enforce these new rules. There is nothing more unfair than one team being able to chant

Photo by Mark Mason Saxon basketball fans and cheerleaders cheer for the team during a game. OSAA crowd rules control what fans are allowed to say and do during high school games. energy and spirit from the fans is the connection to the players. Without it, it is like the team is playing one man short. I understand why our administration wants to create the perfect positive atmosphere for the opposing fans, having good

whatever they want, while the other team is not allowed to say words such as “you!” the classic “air ball!” chant is now banned while there are teams that are using curse words and racial slurs against opposing players. I am not advocating for

Teamwork propels winter sports

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Sports Editor Mars Jacobson

axon athletics stormed into the winter sports season on a wave of confidence after an extremely successful fall season, and did not disappoint. Every Saxon sports team accomplished lofty goals and was able to enjoy success.

Both boys’ and girls’ basketball teams succeeded in qualifying for the postseason, swimming qualified several swimmers for the 6A State Swimming Championships, and wrestling experienced a solid first year under a new coach.

The boys’ basketball team overcame a slow preseason, and was able to finish strong in conference play to tie for third place in the conference standings with Redmond. The Saxon boys finished with an 8-15 record overall, 6-6 in Central Valley Conference play. In the first round of the OSAA 6A Basketball State Tournament, the Saxons were overmatched by the No. 7ranked Newberg Tigers, and were knocked out of the playoffs 62-38.

However, the boys’ basketball team can take some comfort in the fact that they were an extremely young team this year. Only one senior was on the varsity team this year, and the Saxons were led mainly by underclassmen, including Justin Burgess ‘12, Maximo “Junior” Espitia ’12, and Kyle Atkinson ’12, all sophomores.

our administration to let us abuse the other team; however, I do think that enforcing the rules to all fans in our gym should be required.

If you were to Google search,

On the girls’ side, qualifying for the state playoffs was a major goal for the team, as they worked to improve off a disappointing fifth place finish in the CVC from last year. Led by a strong senior class, including Tia Williams ’10, Kirsten Boda ’10, and Erin Edmonds ’10, the girls were able to accomplish this feat, and made it to the playoffs, finishing third

“We were a lot more of a team this year than last year, so it was really fun.”

-Fiona Bai ‘10

in the CVC with a 13-10 overall record, 7-5 in CVC play. Despite a successful regular season, the Saxons were seeded to play the No.1-ranked Jesuit Crusaders in the first round, and lost 82-37, bringing an end to their season.

In swimming, both the girls’ and boys’ teams had phenomenal seasons as teams and as individuals.

In dual meets, the girls’ team went undefeated and the boys also did very well during the season. At the CVC District Meet, the boys’ team finished in first place, while the girls’ team finished second in the district.

Individually, the girls qualified four swimmers and three relays for the 6A State Swimming Championships, and the boys qualified one swimmer and the 200 Free relay team. The girls’ team was led by Marie Miner ’10, who set three school records in the 200m Free, 100m Free, and the 50m Free leg of the 200 Free relay.

Miner finished seventh in the 200m Free and fifth in the 100m Free at the state meet, and led off the 200m Free relay that finished eleventh.

For the boys, Paul LaVine led the team, finishing in eleventh place at state in the 100m Free.

Teamwork was a huge key to the swimming team’s success, and even though the girls did not win districts, the season was still a triumph for many of the swimmers, including Fiona Bai ’10.

“It was disappointing that we couldn’t win districts, but the season still went really well,” Bai said, “We were a lot more of a team this year than last year, so it was really fun.”

Saxon wrestling undertook a major change during the off-season, as Stryder Davis was announced as the team’s new head coach. This adjustment paid off for the wrestling team, as they were very successful coming off of a lackluster season.

The team had six wrestlers who placed at the CVC District meet, including Tyler Rookstool ’11 and Tyler Scheideman ’11, who placed fourth and sixth respectively in the 145 pound weight class.

“high school basketball chants,” the first site it recommends is, “Best Student Section Chants.” A high school in Indiana says that when their team is about to win, they jingle their keys and chant to the opposing teams’ fans, “Drive home

safely! (Clap, clap, clap)” I also looked up Appropriate basketball fan chants. No where to be found are the words, Appropriate, Fan, and Chants for one website. Every website given was talking about information on the most classic basketball chants and how they have been yelling them for years.

It has been tradition at places that you come up with clever cheers that get people riled up. People and players know that this is a game of atmosphere, created by the fans.

I am all for making our gym an encouraging and safe place; you will never get the same atmosphere if the fans are not engaged. However, cheering and distractions are what makes the game of basketball great.

Being appropriate and distracting other teams could go hand in hand if the administration and fans are on the same page. It takes cooperation from both parties to come to a mutual agreement. No one will get exactly what they want, but that’s how the world works. The administration and fans need to give up a little bit of what they want if we desire our fans to be energized and appropriate, ultimately helping the players play at a higher level.

So ask yourself, if you were playing, would you want your fans to be sitting in a close game or have the student section jumping around, getting excited about the game? These rules were supposed to protect the players, but the players are begging the fans to be loud and cheer for them.