WIRE
THE
Lewis Central High School
Issue 1
October 2015
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STAFF wire Co-Editor in Chief Mateo Rodriguez Bailey Teply
Co-Assistant Editors Emily LeMaster Abby Oswald
Manager
Brenden O’Brien
Co-Design Editors Jocelyn Nightser Taylor Smith
Co-Business Manager Ally Bergsten Addison Smith
Photography Editor Arianna Young
Sports Editor Jake Lieber
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Copy Editor
Hannah Dunlop
Reporters
Olivia Alexander Megan Bailey Ally Bergsten Morgan Fields Kristin Huey Colton Lear Zach Moore Gabbi Naab Allison Ryan Olivia Schneider Shaylee Udas Isabel Villanueva Bailey West
So what’s next? What do you dream of becoming?
Someday I’ll Be... Bellevue University will help you fill in the blank to create your future. START YOUR SOMEDAY at Bellevue.edu/Highschool
EDITORIAL POLICY:
The Wire is the official Lewis Central student newspaper and it is distributed free of cost to the students. The opinions expressed in this publication reflect those of the student writers and not Lewis Central administration, faculty, or its adviser. The Wire is published seven times throughout the school year and by the Suburban Times in Papillion, Nebraska.
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THE PURPOSE OF THE WIRE IS TO:
-inform students of current and relevant events
-interpret and analyze complex events and issues that affect students -serve as a forum for discussion of controversial issues
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
The Wire staff strongly encourages responses to articles appearing in the newspaper. Letters may be submitted to room 401. The letters must be signed, legible, and concise. The staff reserves the right to edit letters for length, grammar, and punctuation. These letters should also be free of profanity, vulgarity, or words with undesirable meanings.
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Boredom Buster, Bringing in the New Guy, New School, New Regulations, El Si Loco’s
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Special Feature
Summer Hits of 2015, Coming Soon in 2016
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News
Every 40 Seconds The Riddle of Gender Fighting Aids Cop Controversey Nuclear Deal Goes Boom
Change Isn’t Always a Good Thing
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Fine Arts
Marching Band
Into the Life of
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Opinion
#BlackLivesMatter Game Changer
Sports
A Tale of Two Quarterbacks Driving to Success, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Race to the Finish It is Bond, Mike Bond Working Their Way In The Cochranes
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Editorial Columns
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Back Page
On
Edu-Decaying on Creativity, My Shopping List of What NOT to do, Video Game High School
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Around The School
-table of contents-
Homecoming Dance Collage, Meet the Melikas
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Cover
The 2015-2016 Dance Team shows off their moves at homecoming. Photo by Abby Oswald
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-around the school-
NEW IN SCHOOL OLIVIA ALEXANDER REPORTER
There has been some new changes around the school for the new school year. Not as many early out dismissals, the bagged milk, sophomore retreat, soon to come renovations, even a whole new security system around the school. Some of these changes are seen as irrelevant by the students, so why change them in the first place?
EL SI LOCOS
Meet the faces of the chants.
“The milk here is weird, but surprisingly l like it better than the cartons,” says junior Tristan Jones, a new student here at LCHS. One of our administrators, James Haver, informed us the reason why we changed the milk to being bagged is because it is cheaper to package.
The Youth Frontiers came here on Friday, September 18th and pulled the sophomore grade out of their classes all day to participate in activities in which include music and games for team bonding and to teach them about respect for themselves and others. “The morning was boring but in the end everyone was crying and it was cute!” says sophomore Hannah Myers. There will soon be renovations in the office. They’re planning on moving around the structure of the offices and raising the attendance and activities desks. The administration is making these changes just to improve staff privacy and safety.
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Photos by Gabbi Nabb and Brenden O’Brien
“It’s awesome how I get the opportunity “It’s pretty great. It’s to represent the EL completely different “It’s great being SI LOCOS and our from what I expected “I really enjoy being able to show school it to be! Dude, it’s so “Cheering on the LC school.” an EL SI LOCO spirit and support the much fun!” -senior sports with this group -senior Mason HPJ because I get to school.” Alex Schoening of guys is awesome. support my school -junior Chad Moran I’ve always wanted and hype up the to be a Loco ever crowd.” since I learned about -senior Mason Jones the group.” -senior Bailey Teply
“Its’s awesome to “It’s like being on a know I pump up the rollercoaster inside “I have a blast. crowd at sporting of an F5 tornado. I remember as a events my senior year You better put this “It’s an honor freshman wanting to and get to do it with in there!” being the security be up there and run my friends.” -senior Sam guard for the locos. the flags.” -senior Kirby White Gilmore #BestSecurityGuardEver -junior Brenden -senior Ryan Price O’Brien
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There’s only 5 early outs this year because the district switched our system from days to hours. Instead of the school year being 180 days, it is now around 177 days. “I think it’s a good thing because since we go off of hours now, we are planned to get out of school sooner in july,” says junior Erica Smith.
“It’s completly crazy! It is amazing to see the amount of school spirt at sporting events.” -senior Noah Korner
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BRINGING IN THE NEW GUY FRESH FACES SHAYLEE UDAS
Making his way down Harry Langdon Blvd.
REPORTER
On your first week of a new job at a high school, you might not expect to hear all of the students in the cafeteria pounding on the table and cheering. Our new assistant principal, James Haver didn’t, infact he said it “freaked him out a little”. Some of you may know Mr. Haver from the past in the awkward years of middle school. Now, he’s back and eager to watch the students grow and see what they accomplish. What he says he’ll miss the most is “getting to know the kids in my classroom and seeing them everyday.” James Haver has many goals to achieve this year , one of them is to learn how the high school works as far as schedules and other extracurricular activities go. He has already started to, by organizing the sophomore respect retreat, with Julie McComas.
He has a challenging road ahead of him, but with hard work and dedication towards the student body and staff he will accomplish all of his goals.
Blake Johnson
Overlooking the students, Assistant Principal James Haver supervises the Homecoming dance. Photo by Shaylee Udas
BOREDOM BUSTER A smartphone app made to detect
ADDISON SMITH
when you’re bored.
REPORTER
They say that there is an app for everything, well now maybe there actually is. Researchers from Telefonica Research have developed an app that can detect when you’re bored and fix the boredom problem you’re facing. The app is called Borapp and is a prototype under development, not a product. Borapp will only be available for people with android phones. What it does is take all the interactions with your phone- the amount of time, time of day, how often the screen is turned on, and so on into consideration to determine when you’re bored. Many teens across the globe waste time every day on their phones because boredom has hit them. Researchers say
“It is great. I went to school here, was part of The Wire and it’s better the second time around being here.”
they have evidence that boredom and phone usage are directly related. The way the researchers are hoping to solve the problem many teens and adults face is offering a Buzzfeed article for the Borapp user to read. If the app was right about their prediction of your boredom, you are more likely to click on the article and read it. This app could be very helpful, pushing you to make more of a positive use of your boredom to overall help you learn more. “I think that it would probably give me something interesting to read and since I am bored all the time, I would probably use that,” says sophomore Cooper Halbrook. Borapp will be out soon, would you give it a try?
“I like Lewis Central because I feel like it has a great atmosphere of success, that is very community oriented and that people come first.”
Dan Hoch “Me encantan los estudiantes en nuestra escuela. I’ve been coaching Lewis Central students for years and now it’s great to be a part of the school again.”
Keith Massey “I really do love it here, everyone is really friendly, the students are great, I feel like I was meant to be here.”
Deneen Healey “The kids and staff have been really nice, and welcoming. Everyone asks me how I’m doing and if things are going alright and it’s great to have that.”
Getting excited for Borapp, sophomore Cooper Halbrook is awaiting the release of the app. Photo by Mateo Rodriguez
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Junior Taylor Ring sits in the pod in need of Borapp to be released so she can fight her boredom. Photo by Morgan Fields
Amy Shannon Photos & Quotes by Kristin Huey
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Vika Fedchuck
LC Marching Band
Rebecca Nightser
Macey Verschoor & Amber Leidel
AS TITANS WE MARCH
ARIANNA YOUNG
March, March, Marching!
PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
“Marching band is family to me. The brothers and sisters I’ve gained by being part of marching band for the last four years will stick with me forever,” said senior Delayne Andrews. A new addition to the family was added this year; the students gained a new band director, Dan Tucker, originally from Omaha. Tucker moved away and attended college in Missouri to study music. As a band director for twelve years in Missouri, he eventually decided to come back to his home town and continue to pursue his love
Band Director Dan Tucker
Tanner Hawkinson
of music and teaching. While many things are different and new to him, Tucker says he is enjoying himself and having fun at Lewis Central. Along with Tucker, there are many other things students enjoy about marching band. Senior Vanessa Cox says, “The band dance is so much fun to learn. Coming into high school you meet new people and you just have to jump in and be crazy with all these strangers. It’s so much fun and brings the band really close.” This goes to show that the students in marching
band aren’t just there for the music and marching; it’s the fun times and bonding with their friends that makes spending so much time on it worth it. Marching band isn’t just fun and games. The band started to get down and dirty in early August with the beginning of band camp, as a preparation for the season. With competitions coming up on October third, tenth, and seventeenth plus performing at all the home football games, the Lewis Central marching band definitely has their work cut out for them.
Faith Buckles, Sarah Gan, &Rae Woods
Tristyn Carl
Taylor Brockmeyer
Brianna Foster & Tristyn Carl
Emily Finnegan
Aryka Davis, Hannah Ackerman, & Macy Verschoor
Nic Saldana & Paige Kelly Photos by Arianna Young
FINE ARTS BRIEFS TAYLOR SMITH
CO-DESIGN EDITOR Marching band kicks off next month with a performance on Saturday October 3rd at Clarinda, and another at Iowa Western next saturday for the Loess Hills Marching Fest. All State auditions for both choir and band will be held on October 24th. Auditions for “Arsenic and Old Lace,” this year’s fall musical, were held on September 16th and 17th; parts have been posted.
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Large group and Individual speech are on the way, with large group starting up after the fall musical, and individual in late January. Also make sure to see both show choir groups perform at the Opener on December 17th. Art club is beginning with a bang, and looking for new members. For more information, see Mrs. Lewis in the art room.
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GAME CHANGER Societies effect on the nature of the game show. ALLISON RYAN REPORTER
Imagine winning 25,000 dollars for giving the best first impression. Believe it or not, the short lived game show Without Prejudice? gave one of five strangers a nice, big check for being the most liked. The contestants were judged by another panel of people based on their appearance and then their occupation, yearly income, and view on social and political issues. Shockingly, this show was only aired ten years ago. Taking a small look back in time at game shows will reveal many inequalities and bias’ that would never be accepted by society today. The game show has slowly evolved with the social norms throughout history.
To see this, take a leap back to the 1960’s, when a game show called The Match Game was introduced. This popular show exhibited small inequalities between men and women. For example, the women were asked where they were from, and the men what their profession was. During that time some women were seen as the “housewife.” Society has been the director for many aspects of the game show, but could the game show be affecting society too? Next time you are watching your favorite show, take some time to think about what social normalities can be seen and what kind of message is being sent to the viewer.
THE IDEA OF PERFECT CO-ASSISTANT EDITOR
Everyone wants what they don’t have. Whether it’s different colored eyes, bigger lips or to be taller, we all want something to be different about ourselves. In 2012, over 236,000 cosmetic procedures were performed on teens as young as thirteen years old. Plastic surgery is overrated and dangerous with unpredictable outcomes. New television shows such as Botched or Atlanta Plastic make people feel more comfortable and secure about getting plastic surgery, but even if you can get the problem fixed, it’s still risky and a lot more expensive. There are always risks of infection, blood clots, or damage to skin, nerves, or even vital organs. A lot of people who consider plastic surgery have problems with their self-esteem, but studies show that those who get cosmetic surgery are more likely to get body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) a condition that is defined by the American Psychiatric Association as “a preoccupation with an imagined or slight defect in appearance that leads to significant impairment in functioning.” People spend thousands of dollars to possibly ruin their bodies and get infections that could take their lives, when they have a body that is perfectly capable of doing anything that anyone else could do.
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Does plastic surgery add up to perfection? “I don’t think that it is needed. It’s a waste of money and a waste of time.” - sophomore Nic Saldana
“It is useful when something is noticably wrong or for medical reasons. Not for when you just want to make your lips plumper. I think we should focus on accepting ourselves.” -Mrs. Phillips
“I have had plastic surgery before for a medical cause, but I think it’s ok if it isn’t that big of a change.” - freshman Natalie Mohatt
“Sometimes it is necessary when it is performed for a needed cause.” - senior Nicole Miller
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EMILY LEMASTER
#BlackLivesMatter
A movement going the wrong way. ZACH MOORE
REPORTER
The Black Lives Matter Movement has been a top news topic for past months, starting with “#BlackLivesMatter” on Twitter and gaining more attention with protesting the death of Michael Brown, who was proven to have been shot while attempting to harm a police officer. As well as Freddie Gray, who slipped into a coma and died after not being strapped down in a police van, along with other damage caused by the six officers involved. Black Lives Matter is a movement founded by three activists, who run an organization, but the movement as a whole is unconnected in many ways. They have been trying to get justice for unarmed black civilians that they think are being targeted by law enforcement officers because of their race, but they need to change how they are going about it. They rioted, looted, burned and destroyed their own hometowns, and clashed with police using bricks and bottles. Even now, after those riots, they are still holding rallies and marching down the streets shouting “Pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon,” and many other anti-police chants. They stormed onto the stage at one of Bernie Sanders rallies, forcing him to stop his speech and leave. None of these things are going to do very good at bringing change, along with many protests not being related because the movement doesn’t have any structure. If they want to actually change some things, they need to get an agenda. Instead of taking over the rallies of the presidential candidates that could be their best ally, they need to meet with them and other officials to talk about the problems and discuss changing things and get some kind of structure so they can plan peaceful rallies at good times, instead of violent ones. But they also need to remember that many police aren’t racist, and there aren’t any laws against blacks, so stopping violence against non-agressive unarmed blacks is going to be a fight against stereotypes and racism, rather than actual rules. It will be a lot more difficult to fight biases, but the more people they get on their side the better. There have been others besides blacks that have been killed by police while unarmed. Following the start of the movement the hashtag “#AllLivesMatter” started appearing on social media and the news, but they shot it down and called it racist. They are going to have change their impression on people so they are treated more like a movement and less like a hate group. Until they begin hold peaceful rallies and protests, the news and social media are going to continue to criticize everything they do.
Artist: The Weeknd Album: Beauty Behind the Madness Top Song: The Hills Release Date: September 19th Artist: Taylor Swift Album: 1989 Top Song: Bad Blood Release Date: January 24th
Title: Straight Outta Compton Director: F. Gary Gray Genre: Drama, Comedy, Music Title: Furious 7 Director: James Wan Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Title: The Visit Director: M. Night Shyamalan Genre: Comedy, Horror
Artist: Drake Album: If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late Top Song: Know Yourself Release Date: Febuary 28th
Title: The Girl on the Train Author: Paula Hawkins 3.85/5 stars
Title: Gone Girl Author: Gillian Flynn 3.98/5 stars
Title: The Fault in our Stars Author: John Green 4.35/5 stars
Title: Mortal Kombat X Publisher: Warner Bros. Release Date: April 7 Title: Grand Theft Auto V Publisher: Take-Two Interactive Software Release Date: September 17 (Popularity grew after first person released on Nov 18)
Title: NBA 2k15 Publisher: Take-Two Interactive Software Release Date: October 7 Drawings by Taylor Smith, Graphics by Doug Mastropietro
Artist: Lady Gaga Label: Interscope Genre: Pop
Artist: Red Hot Chili Peppers Label: Warner Bros. Genre: Funk rock, Alternative rock
Artist: Guns N’ Roses Label: Geffen Genre: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Title: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Director: Zack Snyder Release Date: March 25 Title: Finding Dory Directors: Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane Release Date: Title: Planet June 17 of the Apes 3 Director: Matt Reeves Release Date: July 14
Title: Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End Sequal To: Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception Developer: Naughty Dog Genre: Third-person Shooter, Action-adventure game Expected Release Date: March 18
Title: A Torch Against the Night Sequal To: An Ember in the Ashes Author: Sabaa Tahir Expected Publication Date: April 26
Title: Into the Dim Author: Janet B. Taylor Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers Expected Publication Date: March 1
Title: Dark Souls 3 Sequal To: Dark Souls 2 Developer: FromSoftware Genre: Action Role-playing Expected Release Date: March 24
Drawings by Taylor Smith, Graphics by Doug Mastropietro
MATEO RODRIGUEZ CO-EDITOR IN CHIEF
In this issue we will be focusing on two families, Natalie and Nathan Cochrane and Artur and Monika Melika. The Cochranes lost their parents when they were young and face a future of uncertainty and challenges, but face them together. See page 16 for the Melika’s story.
Here’s what I got: Q: So then tell me, is your life easy or not? Natalie: No. Nate: By no means. Q: Why? Natalie: Living... not having your parents around, is not the easiest thing in the world. Nate: It’s not the easiest thing to deal with either, and you know you gotta learn things on your own. Natalie: You’re independent at a young age. Nate: Yeah coming up at the age of 18, getting ready to move out, start figuring out the college stuff. Q: When did you guys lose your parents? Natalie: When we were 10. Nate: Yeah 2008. Q: What was it due from? Natalie: Different things, our mom died of a brain aneurysm and our dad died of COPD. Q: So are you guys are living with your aunt and uncle? Natalie: Yeah our aunt and uncle. Q: What is it like living with your aunt and uncle? Natalie: It’s tough Nate: Mm Hmm, tough yeah, it’s a bit frustrating, especially since we’re getting
THE COCHRANES
to the age where we all got things we gotta do. I gotta work, I got things to do, I just can’t sit at home, I gotta go, I gotta do things. Q: So you guys are starting to have busy lives now? Natalie: Yeah. Nate: Yeah, been having a busy life. Natalie: It’s like no one is ever home anymore. Sometimes it feels like they make it seems as if Nathan and I are invisible. Or what makes it worse... they try and put me on a high pedestal. Nate: Yeah, I’ve always had it worse
cause’ she’s on the pedestal, cause’ she never did nothing wrong. She doesn’t do anything bad, so when I do anything it’s 10 times worst than what it would be for her. So I really gotta watch my P’s and Q’s. Q: What do your aunt and uncle expect from you? Nate: They don’t really expect much from me, they don’t expect me to stick around after 18, and none of that, but they do know that I’m furthering my education, different kinds of fields. Mainly I’m
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Into The Life Of...
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trying to go kind of architectural and construction kind of field. Those are the fields that I worked before I even worked a real job and those are the funnest. Demolition would be my ideal field. Natalie: They want me to go to the top notch colleges I can get into, they pretty much are telling me that they want me to the best child to go to get a better education and all that. They wanted me not to quite show choir they wanted me to keep doing show choir, they wanted me keep doing speech and everything else. They want me to push to do everything, to look good on college resumes. Q: What are your goals? Natalie: All I Wanna do is be a massage therapist, because then I can help people. Nate: They want her to be the overachiever for college. Q: So where do you see yourself in five years? Nate: I see myself doing the things I’m doing now, working hard. Trying to figure out how to make things better, gonna further in my education. Cause you never stop learning, you know you gotta keep learning. There is always something new to learn. Natalie: I wanna be in college, I do like education as long as it’s something I would like to learn, so I would like to be in college learning new things. If I can I wanna be out of my house, and most definitely helping the people I love. I just wanna help people and care for them. I wanna be there for others. Nate: Honestly, provide a better future for my future family, something better than I had ever have. That mainly be my goal, also to be financially stable, and be able to live a good life for my future family and not have to worry.
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There are two sides to Lewis Central’s offense. BAILEY TEPLY
CO-EDITOR IN CHIEF Filling in the shoes of someone great or living up to expectations is never easy, especially when it is the shoes of Austin Simmons. There are two candidates who are in the running for the star roll. First, last years backup, the guy who played in the shadow of Simmons, junior Kenneth McMahan. Second, the new guy, coach’s son, freshman Max Duggan. You would think that the battle for the starting job would be a close one but it was not. In the end, football had nothing to do with the decision. Rock, paper, scissors is a very common way to settle debates or see who gets what amongst people but it is rarely seen when it comes to important decisions. A few days before the first game of the season against Sergeant Bluff, head coach Jim Duggan decided to bring the two quarterbacks together to let them know who gets the starting job. He had them compete in a game of rock, paper, scissors which had freshman Duggan come out on top. “I think the game was fun. It was a good way to settle a close battle,” said freshman Duggan. The two quarterbacks are both very different when it comes to their play styles. McMahan, who is accountable for 66 of the teams 718 passing yards, plays more of a wildcat style. When it comes to rushing Kenneth has almost half of the teams 866 rushing yards with 412. While McMahan is the mobile QB, Max on the other hand is known for throwing the ball and leading a totally different offense than the one ran by McMahan. Now that the season is in full swing head coach Jim Duggan has made some lineup adjustments which puts Mcmahan at more of a versatile role. Kenneth was seen at QB, wide receiver and even running back against Thomas Jefferson. “I like what coach is doing with the two of us. It is working so why change it.” Max said. There may be two different sides of the Lewis Central offense but that doesn’t change a thing. Success is expected and success will be achieved.
IT IS BOND, MIKE BOND
Watch as they ‘Bond’ together and become a new team. ALLY BERGSTEN
CO-BUISNESS MANAGER
Mike Bond, sound familiar? Bond was the TJ volleyball coach for 18 years. Bond has a lot of experience with the sport, not only has he coached school ball, but also club for several years. He even played the game himself for a good amount of time. Bond says, “My experience at Lewis Central has been wonderful so far because I’ve got the opportunity to watch the team grow and build not only as a team but improve daily as
individuals, when we first started practices, we were all strangers and I got to watch them become a team and work together.” So far LC is off to a good start for the season, the team got 2nd in the Iowa City tournament and swept St Albert in three sets. Senior Reagan Bradshaw says, “I like having a new coach, it’s like having a fresh start.” Bradshaw goes on to say how much she loves the team this year and how well they all get along.
Coach Mike Bond lecturing his players on VB tactics. Photo By Bailey West
Lewis Central VB celebrating a win with 3 sets to nothing against Saint Albert for the 4th time. Photo By Abby Oswald
RACE TO THE FINISH Two wins for LC at invite meet.
ZACH MOORE REPORTER
The morning following the homecoming football game, Lewis Central held it’s cross country invite meet. The meet was held at Iowa Western Community College with the 3.1 mile races starting early in the day, with eight other schools showing up to compete. To start off the day the JV boys team finished in second place with 70 points, losing only to Glenwood by nine. Keenan Diercks finished in second place and Paul Mortensen in 13th, with Cody VanWinkle following up right behind him. Varsity boys came in third behind Plattsmouth and Harlan with 103 points, with Brenden O’Brien finishing in second place and Daytona Smith in 20th who was followed by Chris Ogg in 21st. Smith has improved his times a lot since last year and comments, “I feel like I might be able to finish in the top 20 at districts this year.” The varsity girl’s team got first with 48 points, with Kye Madsen in second place, Madi Parks in sixth and Alissa Pomrenke in tenth. At the previous meet, Madsen finished
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A TALE OF TWO QUARTERBACKS
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in first place, earning her first career win. “I’m really excited for this year because I have lots of goals to accomplish,” says Madsen, “and it’s going to be lots of fun to do it with my friends since it’s my last year to run.” JV girls then placed first like the varsity girls with a score of 27, beating the Harlan team by one. Jacey Martin finished in first place by over two minutes, followed by Cameron Williams in third and Abby Malskeit in sixth.
Senior, varsity cross country runner, Kye Madsen pushes herself to a second place finsih at the Shenandoah Invite. Photo By: Zach Moore
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DRIVING TO SUCCESS WORKING Patience plays a big part in the game. THEIR WAY IN Women changing the BAILEY WEST
JAKE LIEBER
SPORTS EDITOR There are 122 teams in professional sports, (NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL) but there are zero women that are currently coaching in any of these sports. Although women’s sports are predominantly headed by women coaches, it is not uncommon to see men coaching women’s teams. Geno Auriemma is a male coach and has been coaching Connecticut women’s basketball for 30 years and has won multiple championships. So why would it be unusual for women to coach men’s sports? The answer is unclear but there has been noticeable progress of women working there way in. For example, Becky Hammon. She is a 38 year old, former WNBA player and is now an NBA assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs. She had wanted to become a coach after her playing career was over. After retirement, she attended the Spurs’ practices and meetings. She was awarded an assistant’s job after thoroughly impressing the coaches. Hammon was the head coach for the Spurs’ summer league team this past summer and lead them to a Summer league title, which helped her secure a full time job with the Spurs. The most recent example of women making their way into men’s sports is Jen Welter. Welter is a former rugby and women’s football player. She had previously coached indoor football before earning a chance to coach the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL in the preseason. She was the first female coach ever in the NFL, although she didn’t earn a full time job with the Cardinals. Maybe the reason women find it hard to coach in men’s sports is because it is perceived that women are less in worth in terms of sports knowledge, so for a man to take orders from a coach that is a women would somehow emasculate them. Even though it’s not much, it is finally being realized that women can coach for men. These women potentially open the door for more opportunities at coaching jobs and change the way sports are ran in the future.
Golf is all about keeping calm and having patience; without patience, it could lead to losing confidence. Anyone can play golf with enough devotion, time and effort. Varsity player and one of the team captains, Max Regester, who has played all throughout high school, is the only senior playing this season. Senior, Lewis Terry who is the other team captain, is hurt. Their team is not that experienced because there’s a lot of new kids. Regester says, “There is a lot of young talent on the team.” Last year, Regester started out pretty rough because he didn’t commit enough time to golf and didn’t work on specific things but as the year progressed and season went on, he got better with each day of practice. Regester likes golf because “it is a peaceful environment to help get stuff off your mind.” At the end of the day golf is a sport built
around patience. Playing a great game doesn’t happen often because it takes talent. Playing a great game one moment then doing bad the next can happen to anyone. Coach Koester says “We are a young team this year. I see a lot of potential and with a some practice and refining the team could see some success in the near future.”
Senior, golf captain, Max Regester takes cuts out on the Fox Run golf course.
Photo by Bailey West
TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME
Remembering the Titans baseball and softball.
COLTON LEAR
Sad endings to great seasons. Lewis Central’s baseball and softball seasons were bright, but unfortunately had to come to an end. The baseball team started their season out with a 12-4 record, while the softball team started out to a 10-4 record. The season got off to a fast start for the Lewis Central baseball team as they got off to a great season. Leading the way were seniors Austin Simmons, Luke Sutherland, Mason George, and Payton Mehsling, with a lot of help from junior, Caleb Shudak, who was second team all state. The baseball team ended their season with an astonishing 27-11 record and won the Hawkeye 10 conference. The team won their first two substate games 8-2 over Sioux City West and 6-4 over Sioux City North. In the Titans last game of their
season, they fell 10-0 to Sioux City East, just falling short of qualifying for state. The softball team looked very sharp as well this past season. The softball team was led by a senior trio of Asia Sockrider, Kaley Lightfoot, and Kallie Legband. Juniors Mckena Duffek and Allie Wolf both helped out the team a lot as well pitching most of the Titans games this season. They finished off their season with a 24-14 record. The Titans won their first substate game against Carroll 4-1, but went on to lose their next one against number one ranked ADM. “We were all very excited about making it to the 2nd round of substrate for the first time with Ron Wittstruck being our coach but just couldn’t get the job done against ADM,” said senior McKena Duffek. Both teams are looking forward to build on the foundation set by the teams of last year.
Senior Mckena Duffek prepares to high five an excited Allie Wolf (senior) and Asia Sockrider (graduated). Photo Submitted
Sophomore Gabriella Martinez looks down the pitcher as she awaits her time to swing. Photo Submitted
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landscape of coaching.
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MORGAN FIELDS REPORTER
In elementary school we are told that it is okay to be unique, to be ourselves, and to be who we wanted to be. As we grow we come to find out it isn’t as “okay” as we thought it was. We learn that doing our best to fit in is more acceptable than standing out and being our own person. Now think about being someone who can no longer conform; this group of people would be transgenders. Living their lives in a body they believe isn’t meant for them. Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) found that 65 percent of transgender people have reported being publicly harassed in places such as restrooms in restaurants, movie theaters, libraries, and airports. Only seventeen states prohibit discrimination of gender identity in public places, covering only 36 percent of Americans. If we are told to be unique and be ourselves, why does today’s society make it so difficult to do so? In schools, only 13 states have laws protecting your child from gender identity discrimination. Studies show that transgender children who are bullied are most likely to miss school, drop out, not seek further education, and face higher levels of depression. About 35 percent of students in grades k-12 reported being physically assaulted due to their gender identity, 12 percent reported being sexually assaulted, and 1/6th reported having to leave school because the harassment become too much for them to handle. By age two or three children start identifying the differences between boys and girls. This is when they identify themselves as one gender or the other. Children, even at this young of an age, can identify as the opposite gender. By preschool age children have developed a strong sense of being either a boy or girl and start to explore themselves more. They do this by exploring gender roles. What is masculine? What is feminine? By grade school age most children understand what gender they are and what gender they will stay throughout adulthood. The one thing that remains consistent in every age group is support. They need support from their parents, friends, siblings, and even their community as a whole.
EVERY 40 SECONDS Suicide rates declining as more information emerges.
GABBI NAAB REPORTER
Some being; lack of appetite, sleep changes, School and school work was the loss of energy, loss of interest, and reckless main source of their stress, said 83 behavior percent of teenagers. According to If you see anyone showing these healthresearchfunding.org, there are over symptoms, seek help. For help, there are one million suicides in the world each year, plenty of therapists, student counselors, and one suicide somewhere in the world teachers, friends, even your doctor could be every 40 seconds. When someone commits someone that can help you. suicide, at least six other people are Hopeline Network 1-800-SUICIDE(784-2433) affected. That’s at least six people Suicide Prention LifeLine that would have been willing to help, willing to listen, and willing to make 1-800-273-TALK(8255) a difference in that persons life. Knowing how to deal with suicide, or knowing how to deal with depression is a big issue and not a lot of people know how to handle it. But knowing how to treat it is even worse. There are many signs of someone Speak up. being depressed that you should look Suicide is 100% preventable Reach out. for.
CHANGE ISN’T ALWAYS A GOOD THING Climate change leading to the end for the Inupiat. HANNAH DUNLOP REPORTER
A change in global or regional climate patterns. Does that sentence mean anything to you? Does it grab your attention, or is is just another definition from the back of a textbook? As of recent events, this definition of climate change has lead to deeper realizations, especially those in our generation. The town of Kivalina, Alaska has felt the repercussions lately and risk relocation. The Inupiat people, a Native Alaskan group, are isolated from all roads and base their civilization off the ice hunting of bowhead whales. Over the past years the Chukchi sea of ice has slowly began to melt, which was once eight feet thick, is now melting away along with the civilization. To make matters worse, this is cutting off a major food supply, which is now catching US government attention. The town is up for debate to be moved further down the coast or further inland. President Obama issued a plan to help with relocation for the Inupiat. He claims that 50.4 million dollars will be set aside the
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for Native Americans to deal with climate change each year. Though the cost of relocation of just Kivalina is twice as much as Obama’s plan. Some feel it is a waste of taxpayer dollars and the budget shouldn’t be passed. What some might have thought as a potential threat is now an everyday problem. The people in the midwest may not be feeling the pain of the Inupiat, but may unknowingly be feeling the effects of climate change, through the five inch rains and high temperatures. We will see if simple steps taken by the public such as walking instead of driving, and flipping the light switch will change the spiral of climate change or if more urgency needs to be taken.
Flood creates pools of water in parking lot. Photo By Hannah Dunlop
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NUCLEAR DEAL GOES BOOM
What’s the deal with the nuclear deal?
OLIVIA SCHNEIDER REPORTER
A historical agreement was reached recently pertaining to Iran’s nuclear weapons program. According to the outline of the agreement, the deal would limit Iran’s capabilities of making nuclear weapons, but wouldn’t completely stop it. This has aroused some frustration in our nation’s capital. Most notably, Donald Trump has been attacking the deal, saying it was “... demonstrating to the world, yet again, the total incompetence of our president and politicians.” in his statement to USA Today. Experts from UCLA including a political science professor and a former mechanical and aerospace engineering professor say that people should give the deal a chance, the only alternative was no deal. Iran hopes to escape the many sanctions they’ve
received that have had a negative impact on their resource-based economy. They can continue working on nuclear weapons, but at a much slower, nearly stopped pace, and it may take upwards of fifteen years for them to make any real progress. Could a better deal be in the works?
An agreement is reached between the U.S. and Iran in this re-enactment. Photo By Mateo Rodriguez
FIGHTING AIDS REPORTER
FDA finally reaches breakthrough.
The moment everyone has been waiting for, the FDA has finally brought a cure to the table for the disease of HIV/AIDS. The FDA found this cure on a patient when they found that jamming the cells using enzymes called “zinc finger nucleases.” This technique uses gene editing in order to stop AIDS from replicating. Of course this is not the first time scientists and the FDA have tried to attempt gene editing to stop AIDS. Just back in July of 2010 they attempted the first gene editing on a patient with AIDS, scientists were extremely excited about this because this didn’t just lead to a chronic treatment, this led to an actual cure for a terrible sickness. Researchers of this new exciting news for patients believe that HIV/AIDS eat up the healthy cells in our bodies, leaving us extremely sick. Researchers believe that by editing this process this disease takes, that they can actually end up curing patients. Researcher Paul Knoeplfer adds “Cure is a big word, but there’s hope. The first step is to assess safety, but IND approval is a major positive step. Then determine efficiency.” Since the AIDS discovery has estimated a total of 36 million deaths worldwide (as of 2012). It resulted in 1.34 million deaths
and as a of 2012 it resulted in 35.3 million deaths. AIDS has a tremendous impact on society, it causes ridges in families and discrimination in the public. Many people have taken their lives just because of the AIDS diagnoses, if they are diagnosed with HIV in many cases, it leads to AIDS, making the disease worse. AIDS can be prevented by encouraging safe sex, safe needle exchange programs, and treating those who are infected much more safe and efficient. 1 in 8 people in the U.S. are unaware about their HIV infection.
CDC estimates that 1,218,400 persons aged 13 and older have the infection.
DID YOU KNOW? Around 658,507 people with AIDS in the US have died overall.
Early symptoms of the deadly disease are the same symptoms of the common flu.
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MEGAN BAILEY
COP CONTROVERSY JOCELYN NIGHTSER CO-DESIGN EDITOR
The latest news has been all about police brutality and whether or not they’re taking advantage of their power. In my opinion, this statement could go two different ways. Either you believe that the police are taking full advantage of not only enforcing the law, but being the law, or, you could say that they’re just doing their job in protecting the community. It all just depends on your perspective. By saying police brutality is a problem, most people focus on the victims, and who they are or where they come from. Nobody expects a traffic stop to turn into a car chase, but again that all comes down to who’s involved. Many people would agree that if you say the wrong thing to a police officer, the results are bad. Another accusation about police brutality has to deal with race. Since the incident in Ferguson, Missouri, reporters and researchers have been pulling information about how many people have either been killed or wounded by the police. In 2012, The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime reported approximately 410 were killed in justifiable homicides by police. For those who believe that police brutality is not a problem, they’re focusing on the police, their position and what they stand for. Some would even say in some situations, the police are the victims. Lately they’ve been targeted in the news, media, social media, protests, and the public as a whole. You see it everywhere. Police are risking their lives in order to create safety for the community. In 2014, a total of 126 police officers were killed in the line of duty. Many would argue that the reason police brutality isn’t actually a thing, is because it is apart of their job. Not only are they trying to protect the lives of the community, but they’re protecting their own life. Police work is by no means an easy job, and not everyone can do it. Whether you believe police brutality is a problem or not is a matter of opinion. Looking at the facts and doing your research may benefit you.
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VIDEO GAME EDU-DECAYING MY SHOPPING LIST HIGH SCHOOL OF WHAT NOT TO DO BAILEY ON CREATIVITY TEPLY MATEO RODRIGUEZ In today’s generation creativity is a rare thing to have. Especially in education, classrooms can sometimes kill the creativity and bring out the literal of things. Ken Robinson, an author and educator, argues that education is teaching students to be good, hard workers for the future, rather than teaching them to be powerful, creative thinkers. Even though, education is supposed to get students ready for the future, and yet scientist and economist can’t predict the future with this ever-changing society, a revolution could happen any moment. Ken Robinson mentioned at a TED Talks convention about how arts are not important as other subjects are. He tries to get to the point about how important subjects, like mathematics and language are but how the arts is also important. Throughout his presentation he makes solid evidence about how creativity is important if not, crucial. School should however measure how much creativity we have and let us students be artsy in our own ways. I remember when I was younger and at a parent teacher conference, and my teacher complained to my parents of how I was doodling in my notebooks that’s not ‘right.’ How come it’s not right though? According to Sunni Brown ‘Doodling isn’t bad.’ Author of The Doodle Revolution, she also says “Our highly visual brains see words as images, Doodling, which unites different neural pathways in the brain, opens us up to greater insights, better information retention and higher levels of concentration, getting us closer to those coveted “a-ha” moments, she argues.” Basically when people doodle on the sides of the notes, connections are made for those words and are linked to the doodles. I’m not going to tell you how to be creative, because you were already creative. So doodle on.
ABBY OSWALD
CO-ASISTANT EDITOR
Try on the most ridiculous outfit you can find. Put the clothes on inside out and backwards. Pretend like you love it, and ask everyone that walks for their opinion. Get on a motorized scooter and ask what the speed limit is, honk at people that are going too slow. Try to pay in monopoly money- if they don’t accept ask the cashier to speak with the store manager. Invite strangers that are shopping to your family gathering and don’t take no for an answer, claim that they are your aunt and need to be there. Throw embarrassing things into peoples carts and check out behind them. Test ride a bicycle that is obviously too small for you. Ask for the Barbie knee pads. Buy a dog costume for your baby sister. Try it on at the store. Pretend to record a music video for your friend’s hot new single, ask strangers to be back up dancers and singers. Jump roping and hula hooping while shopping is a great way to burn calories and confuse others. Buy laxatives and a birthday card. Make sure you ask for a gift receipt and the what the return policy is.
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CO-EDITOR IN CHIEF
CO-EDITOR IN CHIEF
Surviving high school is similar to a video game. You choose your difficulty and begin, and the rewards depend on your difficulty. Some students take the easy way out. They slide through high school with no problems because they take the basic classes and do not challenge themselves. There is nothing wrong with this but the student might not see the reward such as scholarships. Colleges look at students and the classes they have taken throughout their high school career and take note. They prefer a more impressive résumé. On to the medium difficulty. Some students feel the need to push themselves in high school, which is the majority of us. They sign up for core classes and some more challenging classes, such as anatomy or in my case, EVERY SPANISH CLASS EVER. Challenging yourself in school is great because it shows you what you didn’t know you could do and it also pushes you in directions you wouldn’t have thought of going in the first place. These kids may see a rise in ACT and SAT scores which ultimately leads to college notice and scholarships. Anyone who took college readiness knows that the ultimate goal is going to the best college for the lowest cost, thank you John Baylor. If you did slide by high school or find yourself in the majority then that means you attempted the one and only...hard mode. There is not a whole lot I can do but applaud you. While I am taking music appreciation as a senior you are taking some college math class or something that I wouldn’t dare trying. So for you video game players, and girls, think of high school as a challenge that you can tackle however you want. The rewards are as good as the work you put in so be smart and just remember, you only get one life in high school.
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MEET THE MELIKAS
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Homecoming 2015
Photo by Mateo Rodriguez
ADDI SMITH
CO-BUSINESS MANAGER
ALLY BERGSTEN
CO-BUSINESS MANAGER
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Kaitlin Schmitt, Meredith Ellis, Sadie Devine, Erika Benson
Paige Hickey, Brent Malskeit, Artur Melika, Josie Ellis, Colton Schlines, Nik Johnson
Jared Runte, Hannah Kobes
Anna Ford, Grace Edwards, Kayla Christainsen, Zohie Damgaard
Adrianna Adams, Alex Whittington
Jessica Drummey, Kristin Huey, Aliesha Newlan, Dylan Rose
Austyn Gregory, Drake Nettles, Caleb Putnam, Eli Jones, Dane Norville
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What are the odds of your parents winning a green card? Very slim. Artur and Monika Melika’s parents were lucky enough to get the chance. Artur, 6th grade and Monika, 4th grade knowing no English moved to the U.S. from Ukraine. Q: How did you guys learn English? Monika: “I remember my dad teaching the English Alphabet on the train headed to the airport in Ukraine.” Artur: “When we got to America my mom encouraged us to watch lots of movies and listen to music and TV, it really helped. If you’re thrown into a swimming pool, you’ll learn how to swim. We just emerged ourselves completely into it.” Q: How was your first day of school? Artur: “Everyone was really welcoming and friendly and tried to help us understand,” Monika: “I remember meeting my first friend and how helpful she was in showing me around.” Q: What was one of the differences? Artur: “Here you can go about anywhere in your sweatpants and t-shirts, in Ukraine everyone likes to go out looking as rich as they can. They will have crappy apartments but they’ll be wearing Gucci.” Q: What was your lifestyle like there? Artur: “The best to describe our hometown in Ukraine it was very similar to the Old Market, small, brick roads, small styled shops, everyone knew everyone, and all locally owned stores. I remember right when we got here we stopped at McDonalds and I ordered french fries, cheeseburger and Pepsi because that was the most American thing I could think of.” Q: Do you ever want to go back? Artur: “My friends are graduating this year and I would love to go back and enjoy celebrating with them.” Monika: “I would also like to go back maybe after high school to see family and friends.”
Shelby Brunn, Harley Waldstein, Ryan Main
McKena Duffek, Meredith Ellis, Heather Henderson, Mckenna Hanafan