Vol. 91, No. 4

battling for league title

Backstage with the cast A&E, A8

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Vandals sentenced to juvenile detention The culprits of the break-in on Nov. 18 are convicted and sentenced to time in juvenile detention

by GIOVANNI GALVEZ

Two MHS students have been sentenced in the Nov. 18 break-in that resulted in an estimated $8,000 in damage.

Both of the students involved in the break-in, Ryley Crile, 16, and Anthony Becker, 15, have been convicted and sentenced.

The school is recovering

from the damages, mostly everything that needed to be replaced has been.

According to the News Register, Crile, a junior at MHS, was sentenced to 27 days in juvenile detention and was released early. Crile is also serving five-years probation and 40 hours of community service.

Becker was also released from juvenile detention and charged with first degree theft. Crile and Becker must pay $7,800 together in fines.

“That is not fair at all.

That doesn’t teach them a lesson,” said sophomore Hailey Gooch. “It only startled them and gave them a taste of punishment.”

MHS is taking the necessary precautions to make sure the school and the property inside is safe.

“The cameras are off a little bit; we have to insure the camera system is running proficiently, also the motion detector lighting needs to be running well,” said MHS principal Kris Ol-

sen.

When the students broke into MHS, they left a lot of questions circling the school campus.

“I’m just very disappointed that they would choose to damage things that belong to their friends.

Please see BREAK-IN, Page A2

Local company creates new iPhone apps

Teacher rally Talks continue between District and MEA

Three local citizens come together to make a company that creates apps for iPhones

by JOSH STROMME

OLIVIA NILAND / The Bruin

English teacher Don Witten attends the union protest on Jan. 31 at the District Office building. The school district and MEA continue talks to ratify the contract which expired on Jun. 30, 2010.

by OLIVIA NILAND

District and MEA still $1.1 million away from settlement, meeting face-toface Feb. 16 and 17 for the first time in months

As the McMinnville School District approaches the one year mark in its contract negotiations, the District and licensed teaching staff still face sizeable challenges in the process of finalizing another three-year contract.

Despite numerous bargaining meetings since last March, and four mediation sessions since September, proposals put forth by the District and the McMinnville Education Association (MEA) still differ more than either party would like.

During the most recent mediation session on Jan. 31, the District presented the MEA with a new salary proposal

which outlined salary and benefit information for teachers through 2012, or two years from the expiration of the previous contract in 2010. The District had prior to this proposed three year contracts, while the MEA has consistently bargained for a two year agreement.

“We’ve presented the MEA with three different financial offers to pick from,” said McMinnville School District Superintendent MaryAlice Russell. “Each proposes keeping the same contract language from the previous contract, except for the tentative agreements (TA’s) already agree upon during bargaining.”

Should the MEA agree to any of the three District proposals, cost of living (COLA) would in-

crease anywhere from 0-2% and insurance coverage would increase from 3-7% for the teachers over the course of this year and the next.

Due to the fact that the District and the MEA have already bargained for nearly a year, the two parties would meet at this time again in 2012 to bargain over benefits and salary for the third year of the contract, if the most recent District proposater 2013.

While this contract proposal was presented inside the District offices, about 100 community members and teachers from districts around the state took to the streets to support the MEA. The McMinnville

The McMinnville based company Savage Apps began when its creators were just hanging out, playing cards and of course talking about new cool stuff to do with their broken iPhones.

Savage Apps is run by John Marr, Mark Armstrong, and John Kent, and was started by Marr and Armstrong. Kent was later recruited for his professional programming skills. “[The company] is the perfect marriage of logic and creativity,” said Marr.

Marr began creating games as a child with his first computer, an Atari 600. He would create flight simulators where players land on the aircraft carrier and stuff like that.

“It’s just fun to create stuff,” said “I Am Beat Box” Armstrong. “Start- and “I Am Rock” ing with nothing, are two iPhone and then having an apps created by idea and seeing it Savage App. Co. come to life.”

Armstrong is the only full time worker in Savage Apps. He is now responsible for most of the programming and public relations. Marr’s role is creating most of the graphics. Kent is the most involved in the company’s research and development.

“When we started it was just kind of a free for all,” said Armstrong. “Get together and have fun and see if we could make something. Now it’s segmenting pretty nicely into roles.”

The company is currently focused on creating music apps. Their most successful app “I Am Beatbox” hit the number

Please see RALLY, Page A3

Please see APP, Page A3

Gas prices rise steadily at gas stations Gas stations in town showing drastic rise in prices weekly

by HAYLEY CAPENER Changes come with the New Year, and one that is really making its way is gas prices. Within the last month gas prices have been flying through the roof, increasing from $2.90 to about $3.20 a gallon, just for regular.

Many people are shocked and worried about how fast prices are rapidly increasing.

“Gas prices have gone up

twenty cents within the last month, and it’s supposed to be around four dollars a gallon by summer time,” said senior Seth Case, an employee at the shell gas station. “The prices go up four cents a week.”

Many people expect gas prices to increase in the summer, but this year it’s starting early.

“I didn’t expect gas prices to go up,” said James Duckworth, a student teacher here at McMinnville High School. “But then again I did. With the war we got a lot of oil, so with the extra oil why do we need prices to go up?”

As the prices go up, more people become cautious as to where they get their gas and how much they end up spending.

“It’s complicated where to go and get gas,” said Duckworth. “I don’t know exactly where the oil is coming from, and I like to buy oil from the states rather than other countries. I like the idea of gas prices increasing because it means getting more jobs and that stimulates the economy.

Plus if it goes to lower level employees, it’s more likely to be spent in state.”

Driving isn’t just something

Senior Seth Case pumps gas at the Shell gas station on Lafayette Ave. Local gas prices rise to $3.20 a gallon.

Please see GAS, Page A3

HAYLEY CAPENER / The Bruin

News: New water park takes flight INDEX

“Wings and Waves” makes progress and is expected to open in the near future

News ....................... A 1-3 Opinions................... A 4-5 A&E......................... A 6-8 Sports...................... B 1-4 news insert................ C 1-4

News Insert: Astro Event Students at MHS and Easa get the chance to personally speak to astronaunts in space

Opinions: Websense Do we really need everything restricted when trying to research at school?

Please recycle this paper.

Sports: Boys Swimming Boys swimming remains undefeated in the Pac-8

Arts & Entertainment: The Oscars

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Chris Haddeland and Will Waterbury rock climb

Find out which awards are up for grabs, who’s nominated, and who the Bruin predicts will win

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Students converse with space starion astronauts

McMinnville High School 615 NE 15th Street McMinnville, Oregon 97128 © 2011 Oregon Litho Print

News

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BREAK-IN:

Campus Beat

Juveniles convicted and sentenced

Art

DECEMBER-JANUARY

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Continued from Page A1 I know the Action Corner kids worked really hard making the Café; it’s just disappointing,” said Olsen.

“I would just like to ask them if there was any particular reason my window was targeted, if it was just a random act of vandalism or if there was a personal connection,” said Dean of Students Steve Cooper.

“I think the worst thing is that it consumed unnecessary time, took janitors from other schools, and instead of serving a elementary school students,

T h e B r u i n : M o n d a y, 2 . 1 4 . 1 1

they are here sweeping broken glass,” said Olsen.

In the end, the break-in gave MHS a chance to band together and become stronger. It also gave the opportunity for Mac High’s pride to shine through.

“There are a lot of kids and adults that take pride in this place; I was impressed at how staff members and kids worked together. Kids came to us and helped us, it showed all the pride in our school,” said Cooper.

EASA forms a robot team to battle the creations in a competition Students at EASA prepare for the robot competition scheduled for Feb. 12.

The robots that have been built battled at the Evergreen Aviation Museum.

Tetrix kits were used to build the robots and battled other teams across the state.

THEFT................................................................. 6 HARASSMENT................................................. 4 DISORDERLY CONDUCT............................... 3 PROBATION VIOLATION............................... 3 DRUGS............................................................... 2 ASSAULT............................................................ 1

Officer Doug Cummins

Volunteer work helps students earn credits outside of school By doing service projects outside of school, students are receiving elective credits for more community-based activities

by KYLE CLINTON Service learning through volunteer work can earn students up to 0.5 elective credits towards a GPA. Students need to rack up a total of 65 hours of community service and write a one and a half to two page summary paper.

There are two credits available for doing this, and students can gain hours from multiple sites.

In order to receive the community service hours, students need to do is go into the Career Office and ask for a volunteer sheet. Students need to record the hours that were volunteered and the location. The

next step is getting “Doing the work the adviser to sign off will make a student on the sheet and give feel well, and it looks some contact infor- good on applications mation. for jobs and for col“I participated lege.” in service learning There is no time to make limit for how my tranlong it takes script to get the 65 look bethours. ter,” said If students senior are in clubs Jack Bellthat do comville. munity service, “Your then the hours h o u r s could come can start pretty quickly to gather if they do work the sumon the club Bellville mer before projects.

Volunteered your fresh“Club work, to improve like emptying men year,” credibility on out the recycle said Koch, his transcript who is the bins for envistructured ronmental club work experience as- is an easy way to get sistant. volunteer hours,” said

Koch.

“I would suggest doing service learning to others since you can get credit for you work and it looks great,” said Bellville.

“I would tell someone to do this because it is a good way to get 0.5 credits while getting volunteer hours,” said senior Jordan Gonzalez.

Any type of work that is not for a student’s family and for the better of the community, non-profit, will work to get hours.

There are plenty of opportunities to do community service, and the career center has a list of suggestions for sign up.

Chemeketa advances with the addition of the new campus Local community college’s newest building construction comes to an end and is expected to open for the summer term Jack anderson/ The Bruin

Moldy odor floats through old part of the building Students and teachers are starting to get both fed up and worried about the foul smell circulating first hall

by DIANE SELVY For years now, there has been a distinct smell in first hall’s Room 15, Larry Saunder’s room.

Students mention and complain about the odor that has been noticeable for years.

“Of course you smell it right when you walk in,” said senior Tyler Kadell.

“It’s hard not to.”

The smell, however, isn’t as consistent or distinctive as a jug of sour milk. It seems to vary depending on the weather, the people in it, and how the room is kept.

“I’ve had many students comment on different things they think it smells like,” said Saunders. “They even started making a list on the white board.”

Some of the things included on this board would be very unpleasant in any environment, like vomit, body odor, a pet store and human waste.

“If you add up all of the days and take the average smell on a regular basis, I’d say it evens out to some type of musk or BO,” said Kadell. “Basically just a really badsmelling Florida.”

“I don’t know how to explain it, there’s a variety of things,” said junior Alexis Godwin. “Sometimes it smells like moldy fruit, or just mold in general. Other times it’s BO or just people who don’t shower.”

The cause, however, is not known. There’s been suspicion of some sort of mold growing over the course of 30 years, despite the lack of visible water damage anywhere in the room.

“When I taught in Room 16, there was always a smell there but I

don’t think it’s the same kind of smell that the other teachers in the hall are noticing,” said assistant principal and athletic director Sean Burke. “They checked for mold at one point and said there was some present, but then they got someone to come in from outside of the school and said there wasn’t anything there.”

“Awhile ago they told me that it was because

Kadell Noticed stench every day in class of a couple of old chairs in the room, so I took those out,” said Saunders. “That didn’t make it any better. Then they told me it was because of a big stack of old magazines I had stored in a part of the room, so I took those out.

That didn’t help either.”

It seems as though the people coming in and checking on the ongoing odor aren’t coming up with the answer that everyone wants to hear: that there’s a way to get rid of the smell. Another teacher, like social science teacher Joe Crafton in Room 13, noticed the same smell in his room awhile back and doesn’t take it lightly.

“I think it has something to do with the insulation between the roof

and the tiles inside the classroom,” said Crafton.

“When I came here in 1994 they replaced the roof but didn’t replace any of the tiles, which may or may not be part of the problem.”

“Every morning, he opens the windows and turns on the fan right when he gets in,” said Saunders, “no matter how the weather is outside.”

The fact that the smell is so noticeable every day makes some wonder if it’s dangerous to be breathing it in on, for some, an regular basis.

“I don’t know if there’s any correlation, but I have to blow my nose very often when I’m in room 15 compared to when I’m in my other room,” said Saunders.

“It seems like students may have to do the same sometimes.”

“I’ve had assurances that it’s not harmful at all since it’s not mold,” said Burke. “But I don’t know if they tested for anything harmful, just mold.”

“One time we even heard water dripping in one of the walls,” said Saunders. “They opened it up and couldn’t find anything, but there were a couple of us that heard it, so there must have been something going on in there.”

There’s clearly a couple of theories as to what is the cause of this awful odor, but not all of them seem to be consistent.

Some say moldy fruit, rotting food, or a pet store.

“Maybe teachers and students worried about the smell should start looking at the people who inhabit the rooms everyday: Crafton, Saunders, and Bunker,” said Burke.

“They’re all old.”

HAYLEY CAPENER / The Bruin

A crane at the new site allows construction workers to easier work on the new building. The new addition will allow 3,000 students to attend Chemeketa.

by RYAN CORNELISON The new Chemeketa Community College campus is being constructed on the Highway 18 bypass. It is set to be done sometime in the summer, starting classes this coming fall term.

“We are expecting to be operating for the summer/fall term,” said Dean John Plett.

The old Chemeketa campus will not be holding classes.

Instead, all courses will be held at the Highway 18 campus.

The new campus will have 16 classrooms, including computer labs, as well as a chemistry/biology lab. It will contain twice the seats as the present campus.

As of now, 1,600 students attend per term, at the new campus 3,000 will be able to attend per term. This includes students who are taking one or two courses.

The new campus will also

offer easy access to health care facilities, making the medical program an improved success.

The campus will be able to offer a larger schedule, both in the variety as well as the depth of classes.

“For the first time we will have live sciences,” said Plett.

“Our classrooms will be larger, with average access to thirty one seats, compared to twenty one now.”

The new campus will offer three new elements that the one now does not. The bookstore will contain all the needed course books, and there will also be a brand new state of the art cafeteria. The library will be a big plus to the new campus.

“As of now, our bookstore is a closet,” said Plett. “Our cafeteria is three vending machines.”

This summer will be the last term on the old campus.

There will be no changes in requirement for admission.

Students are expected to be delighted by the new opportunities of the new campus.

“If the new campus provides the classes I am taking, then I will attend,” said sophomore Daniel Saltvick.

As of now the campus is smaller and classrooms are tight. Some students enjoy the short walks between classes.

“The setup is easy to understand,” said Saltvick. “Everything is close together.”

Plett said the main important difference was not only the increase in size, but the support for housing, full book stores, and full food courts.

The main goal of the new facility will be the happiness of the community.

“It will be something the community will be happy with,” said Plett.

News

T h e B r u i n : M o n d a y, 2 . 1 4 . 1 1

APP:

Savage Apps creators make money from the comfort of their homes Continued from Page A1 one ranking in 33 countries.

“Beatbox Ultra” is a paid expanded version of the app. Though it has had less downloads, it has generated around the same amount of profit.

“It’s really cool to see when people like your stuff,” said Armstrong. “It’s like, man I worked hard on that and now people are actually receiving it well.”

A new app, “I Am

Drums”, has reached number one in Austria as well as number three in Germany, and it is the Savage Apps Company’s first paid app to reach number one.

“By far the best app is “I Am Drums”,” said Armstrong.

Most of the Savage Apps Company’s creations consist of a backdrop and multiple icons such as drums, voice, synthesizers, and many others that can be moved around the screen to create different combi-

nations of sounds. “I Am Drums” is set up as a touch screen drum kit with different kit styles; the newest edition to the app is a loop creator which allows the user to create his or her own drum loops.

“I like getting better at it, trying out new stuff out, and making recordings,” said Elijah Thomas, who a customer of Savage Apps.

“The possibilities are endless.”

Savage Apps has already had nearly two million

Evergreen’s ‘Wings and Waves’ flies through construction New water park in town makes progress and expects to be done by summertime

downloads of their apps.

“I can sit in my little office in McMinnville, or mostly on my sofa in my living room and create things that three weeks from then will be played in Germany and the UK and all over the world,” said Marr.

Millions of people are already enjoying Savage Apps, and to see the apps in action go to youtube.com/ savageapps. To download Savage Apps Company’s creations, go to savageapps.

RALLY:

Both parties seek a resolution

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What’s going on . . .

MHS calendAr for FEB. 14- MARCH 10

FEBRUARY

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Interested in playing a spring sport? Make sure the physical exam form and money are turned in before practice.

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No School

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Vocal Solo Contest

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Honk!

It’s President’s Day! Celebrate with a cake shaped like Mount Rushmore.

Choir students get together in ensembles, or sing alone in a vocal competition.

by KAREN ANAYA

be able to slide down in tubes.

The fourth one is a body slide Imagine this: four brightly (slide without a tube). The park colored slides that send thrill has a wave pool, water basketball, seekers splashing down into the arcade, kids’ area and interactive pools of the Wings and Waves exhibits. It holds about 91,000 Water Park in McMinnville. Not gallons of water. This water park only is there a 747 jumbo jet on will be the only non-profit water top of the building, but riders park in the United States. get to curve down into the water “It’s definitely on schedfrom it. ule,” said Evergreen Director of It also comes along with other Public Relations Kasey Richter. fun and “The water educatesting will tional atbegin in tractions March or inside.

April.”

Wings T h e a n d next EvWaves ergreen Water project is Park is the Lodge set to which will Hayley Capener / The Bruin open this begin consummer. struction “I am Evergreen Aviation begins to wrap up within a super ex- the construction on the new water couple of park off of highway 99.

The tubes for cited,” months. said se- the slides come in pieces that they put S t u nior Ian together at the end of the process. dents beR o b lieve the ins. “It’s Wings and Waves water park will about time McMinnville has be a success. something exciting like this.”

“I think it will be a huge Students at MHS are excited success especially since it’s infor the opening of the park. Ju- doors,” said sophomore Martin nior Miguel Angeles said he’s Rubio. looking forward to going on one “If the museum was a success of the big slides that connect to then the water park will definitethe plane. ly be one too,” said senior Daniel It’s set to open this June, Nice. which is the 10 year anniversary “It might not be as successof Evergreen Aviation Museum. ful with kids from McMinnville,” There will be four water slides said senior Myles Horton. “But coming out of the belly of the others that want to see Everplane, three of which people will green.”

GAS:

Prices increase as availability decreases Continued from Page A1

little easier.”

Many aren’t happy about the people have to do, it is a necesrise in prices, but it happens evsity to many, and it can become hard when prices of gas start to ery year.

“Many people complain increase at a fast rate. Many people have jobs, kids, and errands when they come through the that they need transportation in station,” said Case. “People have order to do, but there are other places to be, though so there ways to get around besides a car. isn’t really anything we can do “The gas increase hasn’t re- about it.”

There are ally changed always alternahow much I tives to help drive because Recent Gas Prices In Oregon there are places save gas and Today 3.207 I want to go and such 3.203 money, places I need Yesterday as carpooling, 3.199 to be,” said One Week Ago 3.124 riding a bike, M c M i n n v i l l e One Month Ago etc.

2.736 walking, High School One Year Ago that people can teacher Laura choose instead.

Vickers. “Plus There will aleverything in ways be the disthis world costs money so you just have to deal cussion “Why are gas prices so with it. Usually though me and high?”, until the government my boyfriend try to car pool as can handle it correctly, this dismuch as we can so it makes it a cussion will never change.

Spring Sports Forms Due

See our very own drama club participate in the showing of the play, HONK, in the MHS auditorium, 7 p.m.

MARCH

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OLIVIA NILAND / The Bruin

Teachers and civilians stand on the side of Highway 99 in order to settle negotiations.

The contract expired on June 30, 2011.

Continued from Page A1 teaching union and its supporters have rallied, with flashing fluorescent signs and candles, outside each of the past four mediation sessions. The crowd gathered at the District building on Jan. 31 was the largest yet, and included teachers from the Newberg, Sherwood, Tigard-Tualatin, and

Negotiation Information -Next Meeting: Face-to-face meeting without mediator Feb. 16-17 -Mediation Meeting: March 2 -Issues yet to settle: TIFF Grant Unfair Labor Practice $1.1 million separating District and Union Teacher preparation time Furlough days (Unpaid days) Salary and health insurace coverage The current contract expired June 30, 2010

Dallas school districts.

“I think that this size of crowd shows the District that the community cares,” said Leslie Johnston, the Bargaining Action Chair for the MEA. “Negotiations are slow, but the MEA has presented some unique ideas.

We’re hoping that the school board sees that employees come out here, and that they’ll be willing to bargain.”

In addition to presenting three contract options, the District also called for cooperation from the MEA on the TIF (Teacher Incentive Fund)

grant, and proposed that both parties sign a memorandum of understanding.

The memorandum refers to a $6.7 million grant awarded to the District by the US Department of Education (USDOE) in order to create performance-based incentive programs for teaching staff in high-need schools.

McMinnville School District teachers who participate in the grant would be eligible for bonuses of up to $2,500 annually, regardless of duration of employment. Participation is optional and non-competitive, and the funding provided by the grant is designed to last through 2015. The District was recently granted its request to extend planning for the grant through May, with final decisions to be presented in the fall, however, the $6.7 grant will be returned to the USDOE should the District and the MEA fail to reach a consensus by this fall.

The loss of the multi-million dollar TIF grant would negatively impact the District, particularly at this point in time, as the projected budget deficit over the course of the next five years is $2.5 to $3.5 billion. This astounding shortfall is also the reason why the District has made little effort to close the $1.1 million gap between the two contract proposals.

“In a time of less revenue, funding either proposal will be difficult,” said Russell.

Still, many MEA members stress that the $3.3 million price tag of their contract proposal is necessary to cover the higher cost of living, and that issues such as hours on the job, healthcare, and furlough (unpaid) workdays are also important enough to continue bargaining for.

“Negotiating has been a long process,” said MHS teacher

Pathway Cutoff

Seniors! If you’ve earned a C- or better with at least 2.5 credits in one subject and want the Pathway Endorsement on your diploma, make sure to apply for it by March 1.

4-5

Honk!

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Spring Choir Concert

See our very own drama club participate in the second showing of the play, HONK, in the MHS auditorium. 7 p.m. both days, and an additional showing at 2 p.m. on the March 4.

Come see fellow students belt their hearts out at the spring choir concert at MHS, 7:30 p.m.

Senior “To Do” List Things seniors need to get done this winter before they can graduate

Submit OASC eApp for Early Bird priority review.

Submit FAFSA online or on paper (online is faster and easier). Three days to three weeks later students will receive SAR (Student Aid Report). Use this to make any last minute corrections and re-submit to the FAFSA processor.

Complete any last scholarship applications and visit all colleges possible

Register for the SAT. The next testing date is March 12, at McMinnville High School. It’s too late to sign up on time, but late registration is just as good, with a late fee of $24. Late registration ends on Feb. 25.

Register for the ACT. The next testing date is April 9 at McMinnville High School. Registration deadline (without a $21 late fee) is March 4, otherwise it’s March 18. Both the ACT and SAT are good to have but not required.

On Feb. 23, students grades 10-12 may attend the ASVAB (Armed Services Aptitude Battery) meeting assessment in the library at MHS, 8:30-11:30. This is designed to identify strenghts, talents and work-related interests.

Sheila Lenker. “A lot of people don’t understand how much work goes into it. This isn’t just about money.”

Lenker taught in the District during McMinnville teachers’ first and only strike to date, in 1990.

“We definitely don’t want to strike again. It’s not a good atmosphere during a strike, there’s just too much tension. My job as a teacher is just to show support for the cause. I can’t expect anyone else to do that for me.”

“Most negotiation processes go much more smoothly than this,” said Daryl Hemenway, a UniServ Consultant for the OEA. “But I’m just out here to support Mac teachers.”

Despite the similar contract situations of other districts in the region, many within the McMinnville

School District share the consensus that contract negotiations have been unusually prolonged.

“When we last bargained [in 2007], we didn’t settle a contract until February [2008],” said Russell.

One of the District’s final stipulations in its recent contract proposal is that both sides drop their Unfair Labor Practices. The MEA filed a complaint against the District in November for violations against bargaining laws, to which the District responded with a countersuit.

The District expects this and other issues to be addressed at the next mediation session on March 2, however, there is little indication that an end is in sight for the contract negotiation process.

Opinions

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T h e B r u i n : M o n d a y, 2 . 1 4 . 1 1

Why websense in a country that supports no censorship?

Erica Bowman / The Bruin

Is there a point to censoring our at school internet experience?

Your teacher has just assigned the class a research essay, and reserved the mobile lab for you to use the entire class period. In most cases, and probably most h i g h schools, t h i s makes everything easier so you

Diane Selvy News Editor

don’t have to do much work on it at home. For MHS, this isn’t exactly the case. We have this thing called Websense that blocks virtually any website that you attempt to look at, even if it doesn’t seem the least bit dangerous or inappropriate.

I know I have had my fair share of frustration trying to get information off of the school computers, because of the mere fact that the people operating the system are afraid to let us read basically anything other than the News Register and the MSD website. I realize that there are sites

that some students may not be mature enough to stay off of, and may be extremely or mildly inappropriate, but it doesn’t seem necessary to block anything containing the genre “Entertainment” or “Social” in it. If we’re given resources, we should be able to use them to their fullest.

As far as games go, the blocking of the sites providing these games isn’t solving the problem.

Many of the games that students play are found on multiple sites that aren’t blocked because of their “educational benefits.” I don’t see any knowledge being gained by games like Bloons

Tower Defense, Red Beard, or even Parking Mania on sites like coolmath.com. It just seems contradictory to me to block certain sites that provide these games when we have a school site that has them for you to play as well.

So what’s next? If the school doesn’t want us to read anything other than what’s happening in the small town of McMinnville, will they block The Bruin site, too? Our reporters write about things that are not only important to our school, but what’s also important to our students.

Sometimes these things are quite controversial and spark some

argumentation, but isn’t that helping us in the long run? It’s healthy for people, and especially students with brains that aren’t fully developed yet, to be able to talk and read about these issues with at least some freedom. If we’re not able to do it at school, what’s going to motivate half of our school’s population to do it at home? What if they don’t have an internet connection? The way I see it, there’s always going to be someone unhappy about the way things are going, but if it’s causing problems like not being able to complete an assignment, something needs to change.

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Editor-in-Chief DIANE SELVY News Editor JESSICA MCMILLIAN Sports Editor DOMINIC ALLEN Opinions Editor RYAN MARTIN Arts & Entertainment Editor STEPHEN GRINICH Instert Editor DYLAN LEATHERS Photo Editor ALFREDO MARTINEZ Business Editor OLIVIA NILAND Copy Editor KATHY BEYER Advisor

Contact The Bruin (503) 565-4159

Winter sports this year have been excellent and all around have shown a great improvement from previous years. The Bruin editorial board would like to congratulate both the coaches and players on their hard work and effort that has given the students at McMinnville highschool a very exciting Winter sports season thus far, and leaves us with a lot to look forward to in the future.

Senior Schedules. As a senior, nothing makes school more enjoyable than having as little of it as possible. As students reach their senior year it becomes the norm to have a few open periods to “work” or just lounge around and be lazy. Yes, this means that we have to compete for two hour parking spaces at odd times of the day, but all that is worth it to sleep in, and leave early.

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REPORTERS Bronte LaRue Grace McMillan Hayden Allen Alex Andersen Giovanni Galvez Joshua Stromme Jack Anderson McKenzie Barnes Karen Anaya Isaac Gutierrez Wyatt Waterbury Zev Egli Blake Egli Rocio Martinez Jesenia Martinez Ben Lentz Sandra Flores Jacob Weigel Mac Myers Aaron Haddeland Alex Worth Chad Springer Myles Horton Kyle Clinton Megan O’Leary Erica Bowman Jake Cummings Ryan Cornelison

National Awards of The Bruin

National Pace Maker award-winner for 2001, 2002, 2004 National Pace Maker Finalist for years 2000-2005 National Design of the Year 2001, 2002 All National awards are distributed by the National Scholastic Press Association The Opinions and Editorial pages are intended to educate and spark debate about issues that affect McMinnville High School and the community. Editorials represent the opinions of The Bruin’s editorial board. Other articles reflect the views of their authors.

Letters to the Editor Policy

Letters should be limited to 200 words and may be subject to editing for libelous and/or obscene content as well as length. All letters must be signed and names will be published. Submission of material is not a guarantee of publication. Letters may be be dropped off in Room 227 or mailed to The Bruin, McMinnville High School, 615 E. 15th St., McMinnville, OR 97128.

The Bruin is a member of Quill and Scroll, International Honorary Society for High School Students, The Journalism Education Association, and Northwest Scholastic Press.

First lunch for finals. We on the board found it hysterical to have our final’s schedule called “half- days” when we ultimately, had to be at school until two o clock pm. That’s longer than many kids with open 7th or 8th periods stay at school each day. Maybe it would be smart for the administration to quit changing how things in our school work seeing that they’re not appreciated. So far this year the schedule changes and now the finals schedules have been terrible changes for students. What’s next?

Members of the Editorial Board include:

Though The Bruin editorial board did not make an appearance at MORP, we have heard from our reliable sources that DJ Bojangles and DJ Brown Bear held it down with style. That said, certain groups found it frustrating that not all genres of music were offered, and that Mac Dre’s funky dance beats were not blasting out of the speakers at least a couple times during the dance. Coming off a strong diversity week, this seems ironic.

The Bruin is a registered member of the National Scholastic Press Association.

Weird Haircuts. Though we think that’s enough explanation, I guess we’ll go a bit more in depth for those that haven’t been paying attenion to your classmates in the halls. It seems as though since the pilot of Portlandia debuted, people at MHS have decided to embrace the “Keep Portland Weird” slogan by chopping off their hair. Newsflash, we’re appoximately 38 miles away, and are not trapped in a 90’s throwback culture.

Chris Haddeland Editor-in-Chief

Dominic Allen Opinions Editor

Diane Selvy News Editor

Jessica McMillan Sports Editor

Dairy Queen satisfies her MHS subjects once again Four piece chicken baskets rally kids behind the crown Follow south down Evans Street, and take a right on 12th Street. Pass Muchas Gracias, and turn left on Adams Street. Your first right takes you to the best

of course, about the Four Piece Chicken Strip Basket.

With four 100 percent white meat whole tenderloin chicken strips, crispy fries that are amazing drenched in ketchup, and two slices of Texas Toast melts in your mouth, it’s almost impossible to resist. To make it even better, add a medium drink for only $1.50 more. What makes McMinnville’s Dairy Queen unique is the price.

A four piece basket is $3.99, compared to the average Dairy Queen four piece Wyatt Waterbury basket of $4.99.

Bruin Reporter One dollar might not sound like much, but when of the best when it comes you get the chicken strip to fast food, Dairy Queen. basket at least three times With an enormous selec- a week, like me, those doltion of frozen treats such lars add up. At the end of the as blizzards and cones, you week you will have paid for would expect a place such three baskets, rather than as Dairy Queen to focus on four. this group of foods, but hidMaybe you don’t have den somewhere inside their the stomach to consume a book of recipes hides the full four piece chicken strip queen of foods. I’m talking, basket with the toast and

fries, or just don’t have the time with McMinnville High School’s short lunch time allotted. There is a simple solution. The famous term “Split” can help you out.

Bring a friend, pitch in $2, and devour two chicken strips, a piece of toast, and a good amount of delish fries.

If you’re low on cash, hook yourself up with a water cup, for free.

If you’re the kind of person hat is watching your calorie intake, the Chicken Strip Basket might not be for you. Dairy Queen reports that their four piece basket with gravy has 1360 calories, 567 of those calories coming from fat. But if this doesn’t scare you, and you enjoy the greater things in life, then the basket is for you.

For me, going to Dairy Queen daily never gets old.

When the cashiers know your order, the sauce you prefer, the fact you order to go but eat in, and your name, then you can step up to my level.

Opinions

T h e B r u i n : M o n d a y, 2 . 1 4 . 1 1

Valentine’s Day Photo Poll

What the ladies are expecting from their guys on Valentine’s Day:

What guys had in mind for their ladies on Valentine’s Day:

“ I’m getting her red roses.” ~Junior Wesley Bodkin

“ I don’t know... probably a rose.” ~Junior Jacob Secor

vs.

“Nothing, because if you love someone you should show them your appreciatation every day.” ~Senior Marissa Moberg

The real Valentine’s Day It’s not all about the money and chocolate Love is defined as the strong emotion of affection and personal attachment, and represents human kindness, compassion and affection. It is in every human’s vocabulary and is imbedded into every human’s brain.

There are songs to express how people need to love one another and what love even means. The Greeks had Aphrodite and Eros and the Romans had Venus and Cupid. In society today, we have Valentines Day which allows society to express their unconditional love for one another.

McKenzie Barnes Bruin Reporter This day started when St. Valentine was imprisoned, and before his execution wrote a letter to his beloved and signed it “From your Valentine.” It is the day where it is socially acceptable for two people to show PDA without onlookers yelling “get a room!”

Although, this day has soon evolved into a day where couples only anticipate the gifts that they are to receive and forget the true meaning.

Like every other holiday, Valentines Day has turned into a holiday that has lost its true meaning. So, why celebrate Valentines Day if it’s

only about the chocolates instead of showing love? Do people really need just one day to say how much they really care or love one another? Many people believe that Valentines Day is – for lack of better words – crap if you’re single, while to others it means CANDY!!!

Personally, I have never had a Valentine, so I don’t truly understand what the big hype is all about. I observe couples flaunting their gifts to their friends and saying their boyfriend or girlfriend truly must care for them because they got a teddy bear holding a heart or a box of chocolates.

It seems as though this “holiday” has turned into a competition to show that a person really cares by receiving a gift. Does that really show compassion or love? Not really.

This day is supposed to be about sharing the love, but does there really need to just one day to show someone how much you care? How significant is that? Shouldn’t that important person show another person how important they are the other 364 days in a year? Sure the concept of making Valentines Day extra special in showing affection and appreciation is sweet and wonderful, which makes the idea of Valentines Day great!

So happy Valentine’s Day everyone, may it be memorable. Hope you find that important person to share this day with in the present or future.

Make it wonderful and special even if you’re single. But remember to show how much you care every day and to not just leave it for this one.

“ A rose dipped in chocolate.” ~Junior Emily Everheart

Wishes for no homework...

If only all dreams came true The Merriam-Webster definition of homework is “an assignment given to a student to be completed outside the regular class period.” What student wouldn’t love this?

I mean, I love going to school for eight hours a day and then adding two hours of homework to that. Then add eight hours of sleep to that. That is 18 hours spent each day on school and events, leaving six hours for free time.

But when you work and play sports, your free time gets cut down to zero. I hate free time so getting as much homework as I can is like Christmas morning to me. And I’m sure that most high school students would feel the same way!

Everything stated above was completely a lie. Homework is a joke. Teachers say that homework is for practice, and to get your skills better. I think this should be the Will Waterbury student’s decision to study Bruin Reporter or to practice his skills. What normal teenager has the time to do homework every night? We do work in school, we learn in school. I can understand that if you don’t finish your class work then you should have to take it home and finish. I’m fine with that; it makes perfect sense. But when teachers send you home with extra work, that’s what I don’t understand.

Obviously not getting homework isn’t going to happen. It would be awesome though. It would make our lives so much easier; even the teachers wouldn’t have to do as much, because they won’t have to grade the papers.

But this probably won’t happen. I can only imagine. Who knows though? Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream came true.

Maybe mine will! I could have a day named after me! With no school!

Halo: Reach, best addition to series yet The latest addition to the popular Halo series was released Sept. 14, 2010. The game immediately had good reception as the Halo formula was not changed much but simply took all the best aspects from the previous games. Halo veterans will instantly feel at home with this new title. The campaign has an easily followed story line which succeeded triumphantly as the last title.

Personally my favorite aspect of the game is the multiplayer. It can be a lot of

fun, but also extremely frustrating. The people who play Halo online can typically be expected to act like complete idiots and take part in many annoying ways of playing the game, such as “camping”. Also for some reason everyone tends to vote for the map “Sword Base”. I personally despise this level now, and though it’s been out since the beta, still one out of three games I play is on Sword Base. The map is easy for players to camp on and when mixed with game types I hate, such as: Elite Slayer or Head Hunter

Despite competition, Reach comes out on top

I get even more annoyed and frustrated.

The game has the tendency to make players extremely mad and frustrated; I know it has that effect on me and my friends.

Other than Sword Base I think the game has an alright selection of maps ranging from large maps like Hemorrhage (A remake of Blood Gulch) to one of my personal favorites, Pinnacle. Pinnacle is just an over all good map for most game types.

It has an open field in the middle for firefights with two sniping spots on opposite sides and

Ben Lentz Bruin Reporter

Submitted by: BRITNEE NIEHUS

some more closed space corridors along the edges of the map. Reach includes an improved Forge which you can customize maps in. The maps you make in Forge can be saved and downloaded by other players to be played on their own or online.

I really like this because I get tired of the same old maps and like to be able to play a bunch of different maps that other Halo players have made. I think its interesting and a good way to spice up matchmaking a little, even if the maps people make aren’t always that good or fun.

I like the special abilities you can choose from, the campaign, the variety and power of the guns both new and old.

That said, I think the DMR should have continued to have a three round burst feature like the Battle Rifle in previous Halo games, rather than a single shot. Lastly, I think the map selection isn’t as great as it could have been, and the way the game types are categorized leave me playing a lot of game types that I never want to play.

However, despite the few flaws that are expected with any game (especially when compared to Call of Duty: Black Ops’ large list), I still think Halo Reach is one of the best multiplayer experiences out today, and best Halo title to date.

E- readers or books, where’s the future?

As technology advances, books begin to have tough competition New to the technology world, e- readers are new to scene.

It’s hard to see the point of having books electronically stored for you. It’s like an I Pod for books.

The expectation

Gio Galvez Bruin Reporter

of buying something like that is, ultimately, the money you spend buying it will eventually pay for itself by the money you save.

Unfortunately for the people who have purchased items like the Nook and the Amazon Kindle, prices seem a little too steep for something that is almost free to publish.

The careless art of reading in the grass or hanging close to water is gone with E readers; it’s just one more thing to look after, and if it is destroyed you are not just losing ten or twenty dollars, you are losing around two hundred plus every five to ten dollar book you have in that device. You can’t throw

an e-reader in your pack when you’re in a hurry, you have to stop and carefully put it in a safe place where it won’t get smashed.

It’s really more of a burden having to keep E readers away from anything hazardous.

The smell and feel of books is by far their knock our punch against E readers, it is an experience that is above and beyond most others in the world. E-readers kill the moments when you’re flipping page by page feeling everyone between your fingers, enchanted in the story at hand. In short, ereaders are an inconvenience and take from the experience of traditional book reading.

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I HATE JERSEY SHORE

Generation of uncaring learners should be ashamed Forget global warming, war, terrorism, loss of faith, and the antichrist. If Nostradamus was alive today, he’d assure us that Jersey Shore is a sign of the impending Judgment Day. If you’re unaware of MTV’s Jersey Shore, allow me to enlighten you.

A group of “adults,” of less-than-averageintelligence, inhabit a house for a period of time.

The women of the show all seem to have mothers who were strippers, since they’ve all been named with trashy pizzazz like “Sammi Sweetheart” and “Jenni JWOWW.” (As I wrote this article, Microsoft Word underlined Sammi and Jenni with a red squiggly line, informing me that the names were spelled incorrectly. I shook my head in solemn response, envious of this machine’s innocence: to assume that the only error of these women was an “i” instead of a

Ranger Wallace Bruin Reporter “y”.) The men of the show all seem to be characters from Goodfellas, with names like “Pauly-D,” “Vinny” and “Mike the Situation.” (I’ll have you know that their names are all they have in common with this great film, for not a single word that oozes from their mouths holds even a morsel of originality.)

The show’s premise goes something like this: the group of eight or so spends their days separated, the women smoke or complain (or both) and form grudges against one another over god knows what.

Meanwhile, the men of the show retreat to the gym to bulk up their bodies (and egos,) then spend the remainder of the day tanning and doing laundry. When night falls, their true contribution to society begins.

These eight promising alcoholics spend what seems to be every night of the week at a club drinking themselves into a stupor.

Sigmund Freud saw sexual desire as the principal driving force of human life. Jersey Shore personifies this, in the sleaziest possible way. Both men and women stalk the dance floor like predators hunting for someone to sleep with. Sadly, they often succeed, and the viewer is forced to watch the sordid sex scene that follows (an experience full of love and tenderness, reminiscent of watching a lion chase down and dispatch an antelope.)

The group congregates in the living room, their appetites slaked, and finally the show’s engrossing plotline comes to a climax: they fight. What about, you ask? I tried my hardest to glean some sort of reason through a fury of censor bleeps, but alas, I found nothing.

Let’s recap. They work out, tan, do laundry, drink, copulate, fight over nothing. That’s it. This is a dangerously stupid premise on a dangerously stupid show that doesn’t belong on a channel directed at the youth. It belongs on Animal Planet. The show is dangerous because it’s so popular.

It maddens me that a show based on indecency and idiocy has gathered a dense following. I can understand encountering something stupid and saying “oh that’s stupid” and never returning to it. What I can’t understand is why people religiously return to something as stupid as this without being overwhelmed by revulsion.

Consider what we’re granting these people: a large viewing audience guarantees copious amounts of cash to these brainless individuals. In a country where good people must take extra jobs to make ends meet, we bestow unlimited riches and attention upon idiots without talent or decency.

Thoughts from your editor-in- chief You may notice that our headline story is over the MEA/District negotiations. This has been our lead story two out of the four issues and has gone on long enough. As the year has progressed the outlook of the situation has not improved. At one point, the two sides at were unable to even sit in the same room and talk. Even when a state mediator came in, a contract was not agreed upon after months.

The situation is very complicated; I don’t completely understand every issue.

But the longer it takes for an agreement to be reached upon, the more likely it is to effect the students education and experience in the Mc M i n n v i l l e School District.

It is time for a settlement. This has

Chris Haddeland Editor-in-Chief stretched out much too far. The teachers have been working without a contract for longer than the strike year of 1990. Although both sides may not get exactly what they want, a strike would be devastating to everyone in the community, especially to seniors like myself, who want a fun, calm, and fairly normal end to their 12 years of education in the District.

I am optimistic about the Feb. 16 and 17 meetings, where the two sides will sit face-to-face, and finally settle.

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T h e B r u i n : M o n d a y, 2 . 1 4 . 1 1

Bruin’s

The

y a D V s m a J XOXO Mixtape

The average person will have 24 first kisses in their lifetime. And if one of those kisses happens to be on Valentine’s Day, here are some songs that will aide you in setting the mood.

Here are our picks for some of for the best love song to play on Valentine’s Day

Photo Courtesy of WikipedIA

ELECTRONICA THE RISE OF DUBSTEP

Celion Dion

“My Heart Will Go On”

Tweet feat. Missy Elliot “Whoops (Oh My)”

by RYAN MARTIN

If you haven’t heard of Dubstep yet, you will soon. Dubstep is beginning to invade American pop music from all fronts, and chances are you won’t be able to escape it. What began as a modest, progressive, UK electronic genre in the middle of the 2000’s, has exploded into an internationally-known movement, gaining attention from musicians everywhere.

Over the last year, Dubstep has made its move overseas from the UK. After spending the summer of 2010 gaining popularity in American clubs, it set it sights on pop music, both in its home country and in the US. Because of electronic music’s increasingly popularity over the last five years, the Dubstep sound has already made the next natural step into pop music. On last year’s Fantasy Ride, Ciara enlisted productionduo Chase and Status to give her four lightweight Dubstep beats for the album.

The question is not whether dubstep will make its way into pop, the question is: for how long?

Dubstep came about in the early

Try These

Rusko

Ginz & Baobinga

Freestylers

Doctor P

“Da Cali Anthem”

Cover Flow

Cage the Elephant

Thank You Happy Birthday

Sounds Like:

Mumford & Sons getting in a fight with the Gorillaz

For Fans of:

Oasis, MGMT, Velvet Underground

by MEGAN O’ LEARY

2000s, with heavy influences in dub reggae and UK garage, a dance genre known for its aggressive drum rhythms. Artists like Starkey and Badawi were pioneering in the genre, which at the time was just considered a nameless subculture of dance music. As time passed, Dubstep became more focused on bass. Bass, bass, bass. All bass, all day. In addition to the hard-hitting drums and even harder basslines, there was sub-bass, which was an ultra-low frequency sound that didn’t have any melodic qualities and exists just to make your insides go crazy.

Skip to early 2009, Skream remixed La Roux’s “In For The Kill,” which became bigger than the original song in almost all aspects. Before long, the track had become a crossover success in the US and put Dubstep on the radar of the American music industry. Then, almost out of nowhere, a Snoop Dogg track called “Snoop Dogg Millionaire” surfaced last spring. Then not too long after that, Eve came out with a track called called “Handle This,” which is also featured signature dubstep beats. Dubstep

“Cracks”

“The Good Stank” “Sweet Shop”

had made its way into American music at last.

Sensing a trend forming, American music producers immediately jumped on the Dubstep train last summer, snagging the dubstep producer, Rusko, and signing him to his Mad Decent label and in the process making the mainstream music media start to take notice. Then, following Rihanna’s foray into the genre, Rusko announced that he will be producing songs for the upcoming album of none other than Britney Spears, the pinnacle of pop mainstream music We could be watching a situation where Dubstep will gain a moderate level of pop-culture significance for a few months, and then be banished to a pop wasteland with other things like Christina Aguilera. Think of it this way: what Justice did for infectious, top level electro-house in 2007, Rusko is about to do for the unrelenting, dark sounds of Dubstep over the next year. Put money on it: we’ll be seeing a Dubstep album from Justin Bieber in 2012, and it will sell millions.

Breakage Chasing Shadows “Speechless”

Joker & Ginz

After hearing the first single from the album Thank You Happy Birthday, I held high expectations for the album. Upon hearing more of the songs, it actually ended up surpassing what I was originally holding the standards at. It wasn’t only catchy beats that held my interest, but it also had strong vocals with some wacky lyrics to keep it fun and moving. This album is one that can be definitely listened to all the way through.

Some of the songs on Thank You Happy Birthday are more dance music, but others slow down to make you understand what they mean. I feel that they stripped the world down to what it truly is, both fun and brutally honest, and they are now representing the way it is. Cage the Elephant on this album held nothing back and threw everything into these 12 songs. Starting on the first song and all the way to the last one, there’s a non-stop supply of energy and the notion to stay moving.

Upon just seeing the song titles I instantly saw a connection between this and My Chemical Romance’s new album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.

There is a song called 2024, and I saw the par-

“Purple City”

Britney Spears “Slave 4 U”

The Donnas “Take It Off ”

Rufus Wainwright “Instant Pleasure”

John Mayer

“ Your Body Is aWonderland”

Kings of Leon “Sex On Fire”

R. Kelly

“Bump N Grind”

The Beatles

“Why Don’t We Do It In the Road”

Chris Isaac

“Ill”

“Wicked Game”

Reika

Lady Gaga

“Rabbit Rounds”

“Teeth”

allel in how My Chemical Romance’s album is set in 2019. The whole idea of the future must be a new thing for this era in music. A band I would compare Cage the Elephant to sound wise is the Gorillaz. Their way of music is very compatible in a sense they both have the tendency to use lyrics and beats that go to a new level. Their music styles are basic, but they have complexities hidden between the lyrics.

The band served an extra dose of invincibility with the strength of the lyrics; the feeling that you can control your life just thrives throughout the flow of their music.

I would most definitely recommend listening to Thank You Happy Birthday. Music is meant to evolve, and through this new album you can really see where it is heading towards in the future. It’ll continue to change and be represented in new styles using different techniques. This album is going to set a really high bar for Cage the Elephant when they go on to make a new one.

Lady Gaga Returns

!Born This Way!

3/4 Bruins

PhotoS Courtesy of IFC.COM

Where in America can “young people go to reIn one episode, Armisen and Brownstein are tire”? During the opening scene of a new comedy that joined by Washington native Kyle MacLachlan,

by DIANE SELVY premiered earlier this month on IFC, we hear about this who plays the mayor of Portland. He asks the duo strange and wonderful place to create a Portland theme where “the dream of the ‘90s song, but warns them: “Please is alive,” where people are still don’t make it like Seattle. The “talking about getting piercSpace Needle, ugh, like we ings and tribal tattoos” and haven’t seen that before.” In “all the hot girls wear glasses,” many aspects, Portland has where going to clown college or always been like a little brother taking a part-time job that lets to our neighbor up north you sleep till 11 a.m. is a totally Seattle. When Seattle grew credible career move. While into the metropolitan city it is this place sounds strange and today, during the 90’s, Portland exotic, us Oregonians recognize was left stuck in the “not-sothis place immediately. Portcool” bubble, creating a perfect land. inferiority complex, perfect for “Portlandia,” a collection of a television show. short comedy sketches conViewers are rapidly catchceived by Saturday Night Live ing on to the six episode series, alum Chris Armisen and the and it is in large part to the hishow’s co-creator, former Sleatlarious content. One such skit er-Kinney vocalist/ guitarist Carrie Brownstein, is an outgrowth was about a feminist bookstore where Brownstein and Armisen, of the duo’s online sketch comedy series “ThunderAnt.” With its both sporting long, scraggly locks that would make Ke$ha jealbeautiful landscapes, quirky stores and even quirkier people, ous, try to guilt actor Steve Buscemi, into buying something Portland was the ideal setting for the show. While the show because he used the “paying customers only” bathroom. pokes fun at certain groups like hipsters, feminists and overly “Portlandia” has really tapped into something great here, organic diners, both Armisen and Sleater admit that those who and have the right mixture of humor and characters to satisfy inhabit this “sub culture” depicted on the show, are the type of the viewer. The show will no doubt be back with more episodes, people that they are friends with. making hipsters quake in their “I’m cooler than you” boots.

by RYAN MARTIN “I’m beautiful in my way, cause’ God makes no mistakes, I’m on the right track baby I was born this way!” Lady Gaga is back with what is most certain the best single of her career. After over six months of waiting, the much anticipated single “Born This Way” was released to the masses on Feb. 11th.

With a sledge hammering disco beat that never lets up, acapella breaks and inspirational lyrics, “Born This Way” sounds like a mix between Gaga’s hits “Just Dance” and “Dance in the Dark.” The song also takes heavily off of “Express Yourself,” a hit from the older, less talented version of Gaga, Madonna.

“Born This Way” is basically a huge love yourself and who you really are anthem, that many, including music giant Elton John, are calling this generations “I will Survive.” With lyrics like “Don’t hide yourself in regret, just love yourself and you’re set,” the song sets out to please the main core of Gaga listeners who she frequently describes as “Little Monsters,” due to their hunger for all things Gaga.

“Born This Way” has already become one of the fastest selling singles of all time, proving that Gaga still knows how to make a hit. There is no doubt that this single is a prelude to amazing things to come from Gaga’s upcoming album also titled “Born This Way,” that comes out in May.

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Bruins

PhotoS Courtesy of HAUS OF GAGA.com

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T h e B r u i n : M o n d a y, 2 . 1 4 . 1 1

Oscar 83rd An

o r W thy Performance

Best Picture

Sunday Feb. 27th on ABC

The Socrkial Our Prediction:

THE NOMINEES

Netwo

- “The Social Network” - “Black Swan” - “The Kids Are Alright” - “Toy Story 3” - “The King’s Speech” - “127 Hours” - “True Grit” - “The Fighter - “Inception” - “Winter’s Bone”

For the second year in a row, the Academy Awards expanded the field of Best Picture nominees to ten. While this gives more films the chance to get the credit they deserve, the obvious best of the best like “The Social Network,” “Black Swan” and “The King’s Speech” are

THE NOMINEES

THE NOMINEES

- James Franco ...................................................... for “127 Hours” - Colin Firth ............................................. for “The King’s Speech” - Jeff Bridges ............................................................. for “True Grit” - Jesse Eisenberg ................................. for “The Social Network” - Javier Bardem ........................................................... for “Biutiful”

......................................... for “Rabbit Hole” - Nicole Kidman Lawrence .................................. for “Winter’s Bone” - Jennifer

Portman ........................................ for “Black Swan” - Natalie - Annette Benning ......................... for “The Kids Are Alright”

for “Blue Valentine” - Michelle Williams ..................................

Our Prediction:

Natalie Portman

Our Prediction:

Colin Firth

for “Black Swan”

for “The King’s Speech”

For Colin Firth his portrail of King George was catching attention from critics all around the world even before the film was screened. After winning the Golden Globe last month for Best Actor, Colin was a shooin for a nomination and we are placing our bet on the King to win the Oscar.

Best Supporting Actor Our Prediction:

Christian

Bale for “The Fighter”

Christian Bale is one of the last great actors in Hollywood to never have been nominated for an Oscar.

Now that the Academy has seen the error of their ways, they will finally give Bale the recognition he deserves.

Animated Feature

Our Prediction:

Toy Story

3

really the only ones that have any chance at taking home the little golden man. Put your money on The Social Network to win due to the fact that it was really the only nominee to have a plot that resinated with younger members of the Academy.

Best Actress

Best Actor

Best

ACADEMY AWARDS

After months of hard training which led to the loss of 30 pounds, Natalie Portman’s portrail of a demented ballerina in “Black Swan” has paid off in more ways than one. The film has become a box office success and also one of the most acclaimed films of the year.

Like Colin Firth, her winning the Golden Globe was a given that she would be taking home the Oscar.

Best Director

Best Supporting Actress Our Prediction: Melissa

Our Prediction:

David

Fincher for “The Social Network”

This year, the race will come down to the brilliant directors Darren Aronofsky and David Fincher. Both directed what many are saying are the best movies of their careers but the Academy will most likely go with Fincher due to his stronger past work.

Best

Leo

for “The Fighter”

Let’s face it, Pixar makes the best animated films .. ever. And with “Toy Story 3” grossing over a billion dollars in 2010, the film overshadows the other nominees in virtually every way, there is no way Pixar won’t win.

Best

Original Song

Our Prediction:

Art Direction

Our Prediction:

lice In “If I Rise” WoAnd erland Since “127 Hours” will not be winning in any other category that it was nominated in, the Academy will feel the need to throw the film a bone.

And with the song actually being the best out of the nominees, “127 Hours” has this on lock.

While “Alice In Wonderland” may have been one of the worst movies of the year, it was one of the best visual movies to be released in years. With 90 percent of the film being green screen animation, this gave way for the film to create landscapes that had never been done.

PORTLAND PIZZA MAKERS ATTACK!

by RYAN MARTIN

Local Rose City pizza makers fill bellies with eccentric saucy pies

Photo Courtesy of WikipedIA

COMING SOON

I Am Number Four

2/18/11 Starring: Alex Pettyfer Genre: Action Running Time: 108 Minutes

Hall Pass

2/25/11 Starring: Owen Wilson Genre: Comedy Running Time: 96 minutes

Beastly

3/4/11 Starring: Vanessa Hudgens Genre: Romance Running Time: 99 minutes

Rango

3/4/11 Starring: Johnny Depp Genre: Family Running Time: 119 minutes

Battle: Los Angeles

3/11/11 Starring: Aaron Eckhart Genre: Sci-Fi Running Time: 93 minutes

Red Riding Hood

3/11/11 Starring: Amanda Seyfried Genre: Thriller Running Time: 101 minutes

The

Bruin’s

CLASSIC (Of the Issue)

Rear Window (1954) Starring James Stewart Grace Kelly Thelma Ritter

’ g g i i n D

CRATE

Bruin Staff members’ favorite old-school albums.

Well, old school for us.

Backstreet Boys

Melissa Leo, who turned 50 while filming The fighter, has had a long acclaimed career. But her role in “The Fighter” seems to be not only the best supporting role of the year, but also of her career. Leo also won the Golden Globe, which for this category is normally a sure fire win.

for “127 Hours”

from Pixar

Your list

When it comes to the great food of pizza, let’s face it, we have really let ourselves go. Gone are the days when a pizza took time and dedication before it reached the mouths of hungry bellies. But in the heart of Portland, there is a pizzeria that is bringing pride back to pizza.

Located in the Rose City at 523 NE 19th Eastside, Lonesome’s Pizza, open since last summer, has been receiving rave reviews not only for the eccentric menu they have, but also for the level of deliciousness the saucy spheres pack.

Now at Lonesome’s, you can order your pizza two ways. One, by the number that coronates with the pizza, (simple enough) or by title the pie holds. Every pizza at lonesome’s comes attached with the name of an imaginary fight, making ordering possibly more fun than eating. With names like,

Eric Estrada vs. a Komodo dragon, my dad vs. your dad and Lee Majors vs. a barracuda with a bowie knife, there is no denying Lonesome’s packs originality.

Another quirk about Lonesome’s are the boxes that your food comes in. Replacing the boring square cardboard box used by other pizzerias, Lonesome’s pizzas come courtesy with a box that looks like a child with ADHD attacked it. Every box comes complete with photos and other random things that the workers feel like throwing into the box.

With a 10-inch costing 9$ and 17-inch ranging from 18$ to 23$, Lonesome’s combines affordable prices with a fun experience that you wouldn’t expect when just ordering a pizza. If you are ever in Portland, and looking for a pizza outing that packs a punch, check out Lonesome’s.

A7

Millennium (1999) Albums Sold : 22 million Bruin Rating : ATen years ago, the earth was ruled by five young guys, who dance and sang their way to millions of records sold. That band was the Backstreet Boys.

In 1999 the band released their biggest critical and commercial success to date, “Millennium.”

Selling over 20 million copies, “Millennium” was the biggest selling album of the year, and is still one of the biggest of all time. With hits like “I Want It That Way,” and “Larger than Life,” the Backstreet Boys topped their debut album, which was also a huge success.

Honored with five Grammy nominations, “Millennium” received praise for being a great bridge into a bigger fan base and bigger sound for the group. Moving towards a more dance heavy and ballad album, the Backstreet Boys cemented their “Kings of boy-bands” title. - Bruin Staff

Bruin’s

The

SIDE NOTES For those with small attention spans

American SKINS disappoints

After months of anticipation and waiting, the American take on the hit UK televtion show “Skins” aired on MTV. The show was instantly panned by critics and viewers and almost every sponsor of the show retracted their ads

Femme Fatale

With her first single “Hold It Against Me” shooting straight to number one, the Britney Spears success train is back in full speed. Spear’s seventh album “Femme Fatal” is due to be released March 15th

Lohan to play Louis??

With the reboot of the “Superman” franchise about to start filming this year, rumors have been swirling about who will play iconic Louis Lane. We think they should go with Lindsay Lohan, since the actress has experience in going high places

T h e B r u i n : M o n d a y, 2 . 1 4 . 1 1

A&E

A8

Top Left: Senior Ian Robins strikes a pose before the curtain rises on opening night.

Middle Left: Juniors Lacey Taron and McKenzie Barnes help each other get prepared for the big show.

Middle Left: Junior Megan Bannister takes on the task of transorming the cast into their characters through makeup.

Middle Left: Senior Ricky Bodle gets ready for his close up, spending close to an hour in makeup before the show.

Top Right: Seniors Tori Town and Lacey Calligan decide on a look that would be best suited for a fairy.

BEHIND THE SCENES OF

Middle Right: Junior Olivia Burke takes the time before the show to get an ethereal look.

Middle Right: Senior Shaneese Barnes takes a moment to show the progress of her look.

Bottom: Senior Amber Abrams shows off her extravagant makeup used for her role as fairy queen.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

The Cast The Atenians:

Theseus, Duke of Athens - Brian Sterns

Hippolyts, Queen of Amazons - Valerie Sherwood

Egeus - Brad Gale Hermia - Kate Schwartz Lysander - Ian Robins Demetrius - Alex Van Meide Helena - Oceana Shearer

Fairy Servants:

Dewdrop - Kristin Short Peach Blossom - Shanesse Barnes Cobweb - Tori Town Mustard Seed - Kate Premer Oceaneana - Olivia Burke Rosebud - Chrissy McCord Firefly - Sarah Allen Sunbeam - McKenzie Barnes Moonshine - Grace Lawson

The Acting Troupe:

Peter Quince - Stacey Jarvis Nick Bottom - Chad Amodeo Francis Flute - Donnel Marzo Robin Starveling - Michaelyn Morgan Tom Snout - Kelly Van Patten Snug - Devin Draper

The Supernatural Actors: Oberon - Ricky Bodle Puck - Cesar Abquiano Titania - Amber Abrams

INSIDE THIS SECTION BOYS BASKETBALL Tied for first place in league with Tigard and Tualatin, the Grizz look to run

Snap Shot of the Issue B2

B5

Conference Standings B4

New Batting Cages B3

S PORTS 2.14.11

INSIDE SPORTS

Spring Sports Preview B4

SECTION

B

Chris and Will explore the adventures of Rock Climbing at Club Sport in Beaverton

UP TO THE TOP GIRLS HOOPS B4 WEIGHT LIFTING CLUB B3

Looking to state Boys have a strong chance to win the gold

by WYATT WATERBURY The McMinnville High School swim team is looking fantastic so far this season.

T h e s w i m m e r s’ perseverance and dedication to the team is bringing them closer and Katie Porter closer to the Girls Varsity top of their league.

NEXT UP: “We won OSAA State two meets Championships, and barely Sat. 19th lost our first at Mt. Hood CC meets,” said senior Katie Porter. Porter continued to say that she is looking forward to Districts this season. “It’s going to be really fun.”

Jan. 11, 2011 was a good day for the MHS swimmers. The boys won against Tualatin, 98 – 72.

The girls also came on top against Tualatin, 97 -73, regardless of the close call of the meet being cancelled due to harsh road conditions caused by the weather.

“Boys’ swimming is in close reach of getting first or second in state,” said junior, Blake Tillery.

“I’m hoping to qualify in the 50 freestyle.”

Senior Matthew Chauvin, another boys’ swimmer, also looks good for state.

“I haven’t decided what I’m going to swim,” said Chauvin, “But all my options have a chance at another state title. Ninety-nine percent of the boys’ swimming team will win state.”

“I think it’s all about us getting stronger,” said Porter. “Our team is young, and we need experience.”

“We need to work a lot harder during practice,” said Chauvin.

And every swimmer has something that makes he or she stand out from the others.

“I’m a happy person, and get Please see SWIM, Page B2

HAYDEN ALLEN / The Bruin

Eddie Castellanos runs through a line of high-fives during a meet against Century. The Grizzly Boys beat the Jaguars 132-36.

Chants create controversy Athletic Director picky on what students yell

Me: “Hey, check out the score board! Is that there a 55?”

Crowd: “Yes that is a 55!”

Me: “Is that there a 47!”

Crowd: “Yes that is a 47!”

Me: “Is that there a winning team?”

Crowd: “Yes that is a win- Chad Springer ning team! Commentary W i n n i n g team, losing team, winning team losing team, winning team, losing team. Goooooo Bears!”

Although quite controversial, this is one of the new founded chants for the MHS student section at this season’s basketball games.

This created some problems with

our schools Athletic director Ben Patterson; students seem to butt heads with Patterson about the creativity factor. Plus after taking a lot of heat this off season because it was rumored that the student section got a bad reputation because of lack of attendance and some shortage of spirit. But our section sure is turning around.

The Grizzly fans have stepped it up of recent games and you can tell through the player’s performance. They are competing and winning more games.

“This year the section has been poppin. My boys Chad, Yoel, and Chas and have been holding it down, of course with the support of the other students at the games,” said junior Turner Grimm.

Please see FANS, Page B2

A

by CHRIS HADDELAND

Adventure: an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks (according to Merriam-

Webster Dictionary). Although there was no danger in the trip Will Waterbury and I took to Club Sport, there were plenty of unknown risks and skills needed to perform the task of scaling the 45 foot rock walls.

Club Sport Oregon, located in Tigard, is private recreational club with basketball courts, fitness

center, aquatic center, yoga facilities, spa, café, kids’ area, and a rock climbing area called the Adventure Center. There is something for every type of person, and makes being healthy much easier.

The attraction that we went for was the Edge. This artificial rock climbing arena has over 11,500 square feet of textured climbing surface, spanning over walls anywhere from 25 to 45 feet high, with over 100 routes.

We strapped into our harnesses, put on our shoes, and headed towards our first obstacle, a twenty five foot wall. This wall was fairly simple, and was a blast for both Will and I. There were different paths on these walls, labeled by different colored tape.

All of the vertical walls that climbers are harnessed into are graded by the Yosemite Decimal System, which is a scale from 1-5, ranging from flat ground to a vertical wall. The fifth class is divided into different decimals, which range in difficulty. As beginners, 5.3-5.7 was the range of paths that we escalated.

DYLAN LEATHERS / The Bruin

Sophomore Devon Draper screams his lungs out at a recent home game versus Tualatin. The Grizzlies won the close game by three.

After climbing five or six routes, we moved over to a different type

Please see ROCK, Page B4

Sports

T h e B r u i n : T hu r s d ay, 2 . 1 4 . 1 1

B2

SNAP SHOT OF THE ISSUE

The Ultimate Frisbee Club poses for a group shot after practice under some sunny skies.

“I joined it not because I like competing or athletics or anything like that, but I really enjoy the people and I enjoy being outside,” said junior Natasha Balwit.

Every issue the Bruin Sports staff will vote for a photo(s) to be the snapshot of the issue.

This Issue:

GRIZZ FRIZ

Ryan CorneILson The Bruin

NOTE WORTHY

PACKERS=Champs

Both of these players are from losing teams, while the Blazers are four games above .500.

Aaron Rodgers finally erased the Brett Farve legacy.

The quarterback threw for 304 yards and had three touchdown passes in the Green Bay victory.

The Steelers gave the Packers the game with their three turnovers, in which GB turned every one into a touchdown.

And the filthy Ben Roethlisberger threw two interceptions.

Game over.

BROSIUS TO COACH

Scott Brosius, who coaches baseball at Linfield College [his alma matter] and is former World Series MVP [1998], was announced the manager of the national under-18 team for the United Brosius New coach States.

The team will play at the Pan-America Tourney in Colombia.

Yes, the country.

ALDRIDGE IGNORED

What more can one ask a player to do?

LaMarcus Aldridge absolutely delivered for his team this year. Averaging around 25 points from December on, the power forward has helped the team win games with the absense of Brandon Roy. Aldridge was thought to have gotten an All-Star bid, but was snubbed. Twice.

Blake Griffin was picked as a reserve and Kevin Love was selected to fill the injured Yao Ming.

SULLINGER LEADS

Jared Sullinger has led the Buckeyes as they remain the only unbeaten team left in Division 1 basketball.

Ohio State has beaten any challenges that they’ve faced so far, the next one being No. 12 Purdue on the Feb. 20.

Mug courtesy of Linfield.EDU

conference standings boys swimming

wrestling Pac-8

TEAM Glencoe Newberg Hillsboro McMinnville Century Tualatin Tigard Forest Grove

Pac-8

RECORD 6-1 6-1 5-2 5-2 3-4 2-5 1-6 0-7

McMinnville

Pac-8

1st

boys basketball

Game of the week

Pac-8

TEAM McMinnville Tualatin Tigard Century Glencoe Hillsboro Newberg Forest Grove

RECORD 7-3 7-3 7-3 6-4 6-4 4-6 3-7 0-10

Blazer Beat athlete of the issue

Starters: #24 Andre Miller #2 Wesley Matthews #88 Nicholas Batum #12 LaMarcus Aldridge #10 Joel Pryzbilla Head Coach Nate McMillan leading scorer leading rebounder leader in assists leader in blocks leader in steals

G G F F C

Matt Valentine

LaMarcus Aldridge 21.6pg Marcus Camby 11.3pg Andre Miller 7.3pg Marcus Camby 1.8pg Andre Miller 1.6pg

Games of the Week: Mon. 14 Wed. 16 Wed. 23

@ Minnesota vs. New Orleans vs. LA Lakers

5 p.m.

7 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

Northwest Division Standings: Team OK City Utah Denver Portland Minnesota

W 33 31 30 28 13

L 18 23 22 24 39

CONF 19-13 16-16 19-15 18-15 5-28

PCT. 0.647 0.574 0.574 0.538 0.250

GB 3½ 3½ 5½ 20

STRK L1 W1 L1 W2 W2

CBS Sports/wikipedia

Grizz Friz

Ultimate Frisbee Club

RYAN CORNEILSON / The Bruin

& Q

The Bruin sat down with junior swimmer Matt Valentine to discuss the success of the swimming team and what has gotten him to the level that he’s at. Here’s what he had to say.

of swimming?

Bruin: How long have you been swimming and why did you stick with it?

Bruin: Do you intend to swim at the college level?

A

The Ultimate Frisbee Club meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school on the football field.

Matt: I think it’s been nine years that I’ve been swimming. I guess I stuck with it because having something to do gives you a sense of identity. I like playing in the water.

“I’ve made a lot of good friends, it’s good exercise, and it’s fun because you get to ly out in the mud and catch a frisbee,” said sophmore Liam Cocker.

Bruin: Who has been most influential in your swimming career?

Matt: That would have to be Kyle Kimball, who is the swimming club coach because he’s been my coach for a very long time.

He makes sure to make practices interesting and different.

Bruin: What drives you to be at the level that you’re at?

“I like the shirts we get. I hope I can play it a lot because it’s fun and I want to get better,” said junior Natasha Balwitt.

Matt: I am driven by the hopes that we will win state this year.

Bruin: What is your favorite part

Matt: The other people, it’s amazing how you can get to know someone by spending an hour under water with that person.

Matt: A lot of colleges that I am looking at don’t have a swim team. But it is possible, yes.

Bruin: How do you think your talents will contribute to your team?

Matt: Hopefully, I will be able to help us win state this year.

Bruin: What do you think about before a race?

Matt: I try to think about not thinking. I relax and try to have a clear mind.

Bruin: What are your team’s chances at a state title?

Matt: We got third last year, but there were a lot of mistakes.

We’re a stronger team now and have a lot more talented people.

Bruin: What race do you prefer?

“We’re a stronger team now and have a lot more talented people.”

Matt Valentine Varsity Swimmer

RYAN CORNEilSON/ The Bruin

T1st

STANDINGs Not Available

Pac-8

RECORD 10-0 9-1 7-3 5-5 3-7 3-7 2-8 0-10

McMinnville

STANDINGs Not Available

girls basketball TEAM Tigard Glencoe Tualatin Century Forest Grove Hillsboro Newberg McMinnville

girls swimming

BOYS BASKETBALL. VERSUS HILLSBORO. IN THE FURNACE. FEB. 15TH [TOMORROW].

7:15 P.M. WHY COME? THE SPARTANS ARE ONE OF ONLY THREE LOSSES IN PAC-8 PLAY FOR THE GRIZZ. COME OUT TO SEE WHAT SHOULD BE A GOOD GAME.

FANS: Cheers okay...

Continued from Page B1 “My favorite Grizzly cheer is the winning team losing team one. That’s an awesome cheer,” said Grimm.

“Our section has been really great this year. Especially as of late the fans get us excited to play,” said senior Brandon Harris. “In my opinion the winning team losing team cheer is the best. It’s new and original.”

The main thing that students need to know is that you don’t need to be in the game to change it. As you can see the games are a lot closer if not won more when there are big crowds and loud Grizzly fans.

“The section has been absolutely amazing. They really get us going,” said junior guard Grant Geelan. “The fans make us play hard, and when we play hard we are hard to beat.”

Not only do Turner and Brandon agree, most of the team does. Out of five players that I interviewed, four told me that it was there favorite chant.

And I sure hope that administration allows it because it shows the students that they can express their creativity and idea’s during the games.

And if you need to step on a little bit, little bit of toes to get there that is a price that us students are willing to pay.

SWIM: State champs?

Continued from Page B1 along with everyone,” said senior Clara Hammell, an exchange student this year at McMinnville High School, says, “I have fresh abs, a good attitude, and I wear a speedo,” said Tillery.

“I’d like to get better times, go to districts or state, and get to know the other swimmers more,” said Hammell.

The team, before meets, has a team breakfast, and the occasional movie-night to strengthen them as one.

Placing fifth last year in state, the Grizzlies plan to bump up to first, with their 60 sum swimmers.

“Come watch us, we walk on water,” said Tillery. “Come watch us, we glide on water.”

The swimmers will be competing in districts Feb. 11-12, and if they make it, will proceed to state Feb. 1819.

4

Years in a row that the boys swim team has placed first in league and districts

B3

Sports

T h e B r u i n : T hu r s d ay, 2 . 1 4 . 1 1

RYAN CORNEILSON / The Bruin

The new batting cages were installed over Winter Break in the white gym. Baseball and softball players alike are excited about the new equipment.

New indoor batting cages!

Rain no problem for softball, baseball players with addition

by MYLES HORTON

The McMinnville High School Baseball and Softball programs now have a new set of batting cages inside the MHS white gym. After years of not having an adequate indoor space to hold winter practice in, the teams now have a great place to practice during the winter and poor weather conditions.

“They were planned and put together by the softball and baseball programs with youth programs as well. They should really help us to prepare when we can’t practice outside,” said head baseball coach Darren Bland.

Because the baseball team has to dismantle their outdoor batting cages at Patton Middle School during the rainy season they have had no place to practice batting until now.

“We haven’t had any indoor facilities in the past and this will help a lot, it’s pretty important here in Oregon,” said Bland.

Practicing has to be scheduled around current sports but the benefit is still worth it. Players and coaches have to come to the school early for a time when the gym is free.

“You have to get up early to use them, but it’s worth it,” said senior Jack Bellville.

Players appreciate being able to practice before school because other sports and activities interfere with workouts after school. Although they can’t practice any time, the time in the mornings is a great option for players with conflicting after school engagements.

“I love the batting cages!

It makes it so much easier to practice in the offseason,” said Britnee Neihus.

The addition of the new cages has been noticed by players as a great way to train in the offseason and as a significant upgrade from the lack of indoor batting cages in the past.

“I love the batting cages! It makes it so much easier to practice in the offseason.”

Britnee Neihus

Varsity Softball Player

Cheer team changes their routine Lady Grizz work hard, want to reach top five in state this year

by ANDREA HERNANDEZ They dance, yell, and even defy gravity. The MHS cheerleaders will show off their m ov e s a n d strength at the O S A A s t a t e Williams c h a m p i - One of captains onships on Feb.12 at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, where they will be competing against 12 other co-ed cheerleading teams.

“The state competition is a huge deal.” said senior Daniela Montiel. “It’s what we work towards all year.

Everything we learn and accomplish shows.”

The cheerleaders’ competition routine is two and a half minutes long and consists of stunts, jumps, and choreography. Their rou-

tines are usually themed; through recent years, their themes were “School” and “Numbers.” This year’s routine is all about “Stars and VIP’s.”

“The content of our routine is a lot different from what we do at games,” said coach Tracy Brandt. “Instead of referring to the football or basketball teams, our routine is about the cheer team.”

The team practices as much as possible in order to prepare for their biggest competition. They have to make sure that their routine is sharp, clean, and all together.

“During practices, we perfect technique and execution on stunting, jumps, tumbling, dance, motions, voice, formation changes, formation spacing, and choreography.” said Brandt. The team plans to perform their routine during half time at the boys’ basketball game on Feb.4.

At the OSAA state championships, the cheerleading team won third place last year and second place the year before. Their goal for this year is to reach the top five.

“I’m hoping the team does well this year,” said Montiel. “We haven’t been doing so great because of all the difficulties we’ve had but hopefully everything comes together.”

The cheerleading team hopes that as they compete week to week, they improve their performance and scores each competition and see all of their hard work pay off.

“Before getting on the mat,” says Montiel, “I think about all the times where we’ve hit our stunts without difficulties and think about how everything’s going to turn out good. I hope to do my best when we’re out there and have fun and just know we did our best.”

RYAN CORNEILSON / The Bruin

The cheer team practices for the OSAA State Championships that happened last weekend. The team has been working on the routine for five months.

DYLAN LEATHERS / The Bruin

Senior guard Zev Egli goes up for a shot against Century in the Furnace. Egli had three three pointers and 11 points to help the Grizzlies to a league win.

Boys compete for top spot in league

Players step up in games after rash of temporary suspensions

by CHAD SPRINGER This season the McMinnville High School boys’ basketball team had some big shoes to fill. Losing seven seniors last year, NEXT UP: there were Hillsboro at d e f i n i t e l y McMinnville, some ques- 7:15 p.m. tions from Tues. 15th many people about the team.

Who was going to take charge? Who was going to stand up and be leader?

And the biggest question: what was the outcome of the season going to be?

Looking at their first 16 games the Grizzly boys’ basketball team has filled those shoes admirably, earning a 4-2 record in league and putting the Grizz in second place in the current league standings.

Brandon Harris is a starting senior guard for the Grizzlies. Harris had some big expectations coming in to the season having to replace former senior guard Connor White last season.

“Our season going very well,” said Harris. “We’re finally getting in a rhythm and playing as a team.

Our goal is to finish first in league this year. And if we

keep with how were playing I don’t doubt that wont finish first.”

The Grizzlies this year have scored 840 points in only 15 games, and they’re state ranked 21st. Turner Grimm is a junior at MHS who transferred from arch rival Newberg High School before is freshman year.

That obviously created some tension between the two schools, as if there wasn’t enough already. Grimm is happy with the choice he made has looked back since.

“I really think that this season is going very good,” said Grimm. “I’m glad that were getting everything together. Our goal for this season is an obvious one. To win out and then win league.”

Grant Geelan, another junior, was also very excited for the season this year. Having to replace two year starting guard Michael Burke from the season before, Geelan was excited for the challenge and took it in stride.

“The season is going

55.6

Points per game being scored versus an opponent

very very well. We are working hard and getting better in the process and that’s what every team needs,” said Geelan. “When I look at our new and very talented league this year I can’t choose one favorite. Every team is pretty much equal to one another so every night will be a battle. But were going to take it one time at a night.”

“Our team goal is a common one, to win league,” said Geelan. “But my personal goal is to do a better job at leading, taking one day at a time, and taking the proper steps to achieving our goal.”

This season the MHS boys have had some tremendous support from their home fans.

March 9-12 is the final site for the 6A boys’ basketball state championship. It is held at the Rose Garden the home of the Trail Blazers.

The Grizzlies would sure like to make a run there this season but need the support from their fellow student body.

The first round for the 6A boys is on March 1, and there are many games left to attend so come out and support all the Grizzly basketball teams.

Weightlifting club helps athletes Many teachers volunteer to help students improve their strength in various sports

by AARON HADDELAND Starting this winter, the McMinnville High School weightlifting club gives the opportunity for students to gain muscle and become more active. The club is Monday through Thursday from 3:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.

Lifting weights helps students live a fit lifestyle and has other beneficial properties, like giving the athlete energy and building strong bones. But weightlifting club doesn’t just focus on straight weight lifting.

“Everyday we have an SAQ [speed, agility and quickness] workout for about 30 minutes,” said club

adviser Luke Buchheit.

Each day the SAQ workout changes from linear speed to overall quickness.

The building of muscles and quickness is extremely beneficial for athletes that join the club.

“Probably 98 percent of people do a sport in there,” said Junior James Ramos “I would say mostly football and baseball players [are in the club],” said Buchheit.

Even though mostly

13:1

Student to teacher ratio in the new weightlifting club after school

athletes attend the club it is open to everyone. Even inexperienced lifters may join.

“We cover proper lifting technique for a solid week.”

Said Buchheit.

This is done to prevent injuries. Injuries are uncommon in the weight room, mainly because of the precautions the athletes and the club directors take.

“We have more than one coach in the room at all times. They are coaching and lifting with the kids to help show them proper technique,” said Buchheit.

“Also, there is safety equipment like belts, collars and clips available at all times for the students.”

“We cover both the upper body and lower body on different days,” said Ramos.

“We also do a lot of body weight stuff to improve strength and get more repetitions.”

The club has had quite the turn out so far, but there are always spots open.

“There’s an average of 40 to 50 kids,” said Buchheit.

There are also around three or four coaches in the weight room with the students, making the student to teacher ratio around 13:1.

These numbers aren’t always available in strength and conditioning class, so it is the perfect opportunity to get more one-on-one training.

THOMMY SMALL/ The Bruin

Freshman Christian Medina works out after school at the new weight lifiting program. It is led by Luke Buchheit.

T h e B r u i n : T hu r s d ay, 2 . 1 4 . 1 1

spring sports preview Golf

Sports

B4

by JAKE CUMMINGS

Grant Geelan Junior

“I know my teamates have been working hard as well as myself and hopefully all the hard work pays off with a trip to the state tournament.”

Rachel Payne Senior

“I think I am going to do pretty good, I worked hard this summer and overall we should do better as a team.”

LAST YEAR Boys Districts : 5th / League Standing: 3rd Girls Not Available

Track

Ashante Horesly Junior

“I think we will do well this year, as a team there is a lot of determination throughout.

The freshman this year have a lot to offer.”

Kane Kennedy Sophomore

“I worked hard in the offseason, I am looking forward to seeing the hard work pay off.”

LAST YEAR Boys Overall Record : 2-3/ League Standing: 5th Girls Overall Record : 1-4 / League Standing: 6th

Baseball

Chris Haddeland Senior

“This year will be interesting.

We have a lot of new people, a good defense and strong pitching. Timely hitting will help us make a playoff run.”

Zev Egli Senior

“We are a good contender for playoffs, especially with two strong arms at the mound with Chris Haddeland and myself.”

LAST YEAR Overall Record : 9-19 / League Standing: 4th

Softball

Jordan Williams Senior

“It will be better this year becuase a lot of younger players have matured.”

Taylor McAnally Junior

“I feel like we will have more success this year. We are a lot older and more experienced.”

LAST YEAR First Game : @ Clackamas, March 21 / League Standing: 5th

ROCK: Climbing adventurous Continued from Page B1

of climbing called bouldering. Bouldering is free climbing (no harnesses), on walls up to heights of feet or less at Club Sport).

The goal of bouldering is to start with your hands on one or two hand holds, and make it up to the top of the wall by only using that color.

Bouldering is categorized on the V scale. The V scale is ranged from 0-16. Being inexperienced and untalented climbers, Will and I hovered around the V3 level.

My highlight of the day was climbing in this tunnellike wall. They called this the chimney at The Edge, and it was four vertical walls

surrounding the climber as he/she tries to reach the top of this 45 foot column. The neat thing about the chimney is that instead of using foot or hand holds, the walls were close enough to stretch our arms and legs across and push ourselves up. This is a different type of climbing, which is very exhausting, but fun as well.

Club Sport was a great time for all. There were plenty of things to do, and the rock climbing was fantastic. There was a wide verity of difficulties on the walls with multiple different types and styles of climbing.

The staff was helpful and friendly, and made a strenuous activity very enjoyable.

All photos by DYLAN LEATHERS / The Bruin

Top Left: Chris Haddeland and Will Waterbury blow chalk in the air like Lebron James before attempting to climb a wall. Both climbed for an hour and enjoyed it.

Top Right: Waterbury looks off in the distance as he prepares to climb a section of The Edge. He eventually reached the top.

Above: Waterbury struggles to make it to the next rock at Club Sport. Will enjoyed the experience.

Only looking up

Girls find challenges in league, look to overcome with defense

by ALEX ANDERSON

The 2009-2010 McMinnville High School girls basketball season was dis- NEXT UP: a p p o i n t - McMinnville at ing to say Hillsboro, the least. 7:15 p.m.

W h i l e Tues. 15th many expected a similar 1-23 outcome, with the departure of five seniors, roles were replaced and embraced. The Grizz used their prior tumultuous months as motivation for the upcoming season.

The Grizzlies, led by Coach Sean Coste, have turned to senior point guard Carlie Price to steer the inexperienced offense. Add in transfer post junior Ariel Oliver to the mix and one word comes to mind, success. One can say the girls have been very successful, already doubling their previous win total in their prior season.

Despite being (0-10) in league, overall they’re (4-12), due in part to numerous last-second defeats to the Century Jaguars losing in the final seconds 40-42, and the Hillsboro Spartans losing by two once

again, 52-54. Heart breaking losses have been the story of this season, continuing this pattern in a losing effort to archrival Newberg, 37-41.

The Grizzlies last win dates back to Dec. 28 where they defeated Gresham handily 50-35.

In the game of basketball, leadership rests solely upon the shoulders of the point guard. Leadership is a trait Price exemplifies at since she took the reigns of starting point guard her sophomore year.

“I really want to take charge, be patient and create plays for my teammates,” said Price, proving Price’s unselfishness perfectly fits the mold of the point guard. It is said that offense wins games, but defense wins championships, which is something the Grizzlies strived to add to their arsenal.

“Our defense has really improved along with play execution on different sets,” said Price.

Despite a plethora of injuries throughout the season, key contributors for the Grizzlies have emerged.

One notable underclassman has stepped in admirably filling the role of the defensive specialist: sopho-

more Mikalee Gilbreth. As a freshman, Gilbreth played JV and worked her way into the varsity rotation through hard work and determination, a main ingredient for success.

“I feel I need to improve on offense and look to score more,” said Gilbreth, “I can’t just be so defensive minded.”

More contribution for the Grizzlies offensively is something Gilbreth looks to continually strive for and add to an array of talents.

While Gilbreth’s role takes place on the court other players’ roles are on and off the court.

Coming off of a rather down season one would expect the morale of this MHS team to be low, however, thanks to senior Britnee Niehus and her upbeat attitude moods are always high in practice and around game time.

“Keeping the team positive I feel is one of my main roles,” said Niehus. “We all need to continue to work hard and keep winning as a main motive.”

Amidst the up and down season the future looks very bright for the Lady Grizz.

SNOW REPORT

by DYLAN LEATHERS

Hoodoo Ski Area Santiam Pass, Oregon $45 Long Day $36 Late Day (12-4 pm) Fun Fact: Hoodoo is located on a volcanic cinder cone and includes 1,035 ft. of vertical rise.

Mt. Clackamas, Hood Ski Bowl Oregon $20 All-Day

Fun Fact: Mt. Hood Ski Bowl has the largest night ski area in the U.S.

Timberline Ski Area Government Camp, Oregon $46 All-Day (ages 14-17) $56 All-Day (Adults) Fun Fact: Timberline Lodge was built in the 1930’s and is a National Historic Landmark.

Mt. Hood Meadows Mt. Hood, Oregon

$69 All-Day $99 for 3 sessions (Learn how to ski) $39 Night Fun Fact: Mt. Hood Meadows is the largest ski resort near Mt. Hood.

Boys Tennis

Jesse Stahl Junior

“I’m really excited for the season this year because we have a new group of schools to compete with and it will be fun to see how we match up.”

Myles Horton Senior

“We lost a lot of seniors last year but we have a great chance of doing well again this season.”

LAST YEAR Overall Record : 10-3-1 / League Standing: 2nd

Girls Tennis

Amelia Henry Senior

“This year will be awesome.

We may have lost a lot of seniors but this year will be a lot of fun.”

Jean Spalding Senior

“We lost a lot of seniors from last year and we’re going to have to make up for it through hard work and determination.”

LAST YEAR Overall Record : 16-2 / League Standing: 1st Mugs by RYAN CORNeilson & jake cummings / The Bruin

THOMMY SMALL / The Bruin

Senior post Kayla Sheller goes in for a lay-up versus Century. The Grizzlies lost the close game in overtime at home in The Furnace.

Staying strong

A view of Mt. Hood Meadows WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Wrestlers fight through injuries

by CHAS LAUGHLIN

McMinnville High School, third year head c o a c h S h a w n NEXT UP: Keinonen Districts Tourhas had ney at Newberg, a rough All Day season on the mats. Sat. 18th

Injuries h a v e plagued the wrestling team this year with concussions, and even a broken neck suffered by sophomore Tiger Paasch. These injuries have only allowed the Grizzlies to wrestle with their starting line up once.

“We’ve won the dual meets we should have won, but we haven’t been able to win the big meets,” said Keinonen about his team’s performance this season.

The boys have been wrestling since December and have already hosted

their last home meet in The Furnace this year on Thursday, Feb. 4.

Against the undefeated Crimson Tide, the Grizzlies seemed destined to find defeat. But the wrestlers started out strong earning a quick lead and holding on to that lead until the final heavy weight match in which the score was tied 33-33.

Junior Carlos Acevedo approached the mat with all hopes of winning resting on his shoulders. At the beginning of the second round, Acevedo immediately sprung out of his opponent’s grasp to score the first point of the match. The crowd roared as Acevedo pinned his opponent moments later and with that, MHS would hand Glencoe High School their first loss of the season.

“Man I better not hit the

THOMMY SMALL / The Bruin

Sophomore Jered Sublet wrestles against South Saxon.

The match was in the Furnace. wall and die on the mat,” Glencoe.

Acevedo said about what “I’m very proud of the was pulsing through his way my boys preformed,” mind during his brilliant tri- said Keinonen of his team. umph.

One of the biggest crowds This win has proved in recent memory was at the more vital than any other the wrestling team has had Glencoe-MHS home meet.

Come out and support this year, thrusting them into a three-way tie for the wrestling team. They alsecond with Newberg and ways encourage the support

Downlink Evergreen hosts event that allows students to personally ask the astronauts on the International Space Station questions via live video stream.

by STEPHEN GRINICH

The Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum has been a site of education and curiosity, among many other things, since its establishment in McMinnville many years ago. From the museum’s signature “Spruce Goose” to the more recentlymounted Boeing 747 on top of the underconstruction water park, the constantly growing collection of buildings has something that can interest anyone. In recent years, a program called EASA (Engineering & Aerospace Sciences Academy) that operates through MHS has provided students with hands on learning in engineering and aerospace science, taught by engineers and technicians that bring real world projects into the classroom.

In January, Evergreen continued to offer its amazing opportunities by hosting an incredibly unique even; an International Space Station downlink in the IMAX auditorium of the museum, in which a live video was streamed from the ISS to the museum, and vice versa, allowing conversations and questioning.

A large number of students asked the astronauts questions about their experiences in space and their journey to get there. Since the astronauts constantly have work they have to perform inside and outside the ISS, the space-walkers had a limited time on how long they could communicate with the ground. Although this constraint was present, the organization of the event provided a swift pace that easily allowed many questions to be asked. 12 questions were arranged to be asked in a 20 minute period.

Elementary students from schools such as Wascher and middle school students from Duniway and Patton started the questioning for the first part of the 20 minute period. Many kids asked about the process of becoming an astronaut, and if they were able to do any social networking in space. In addition to the younger students, a few EASA members were also able to speak to the astronauts.

“My heart was beating really fast,” said sophomore Danielle Miller. “I was really happy to be talking with them.”

Miller asked the astronauts about the experiments that they were working on, and got a lengthy response on some of Please see SPACE STATION, Page C2

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Space Station:

Students question astronauts the science projects being done on the ISS, many of which are unique to the microgravity environment.

Freshman Amanda Sheller was also privileged enough to be able to ask an astronaut a question. Sheller asked about

the personal space that the astronauts were able to have on the International Space Station, and what sleeping was like. One of the astronauts replied about the difficulties of sleeping in space, but how over time it becomes more comfortable.

“It was really cool to have the opportunity to be able to do the downlink,” said Sheller. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Other students that were able to ask

questions included Nathan Lawsman, Hannah Lang, Seth Shalbrocke, and Lucas Simpson. Lawsman asked about how challenging it was to work with different people from different nations and cultures in the ISS, and Lang asked what the best part of being in microgravity was. Shalbrocke asked about what types of recreation are performed in the space station, and Simpson asked if any changes on the Earth were visible from their point of view

DYlan Leathers / The Bruin

An audience patiently waits for the downlink to start. The event was not just an event for the students of EASA; many other people from the community came together to see the live feed of the astronauts, an opporotunity they did not want to miss.

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Sam LUndeen / Submitted Photo

The two astronauts aboard the International Space Station wait for students to ask them questions about their experiences being astronatus. The two astronauts, Commander Scott Kelley and Catherine Coleman, live aboard the International Space Station for long durations at a time, and were able to connect with Evergreen via a live video stream. in orbit, such as global climate change.

All questions were answered with enough depth and detail to make sure all of the questions were able to be answered in the 20 minutes.

As expected, there was a process which dictated the questions asked and who were able to ask the astronauts them.

“We submitted our names if we wanted to do it [the downlink],” said

Sheller. “Before that, though, we all wrote our questions and submitted them and then we were able to ask the ones that were accepted and chosen.”

This surreal opportunity, as some students called it, occurred on Jan. 19 and was part of a three hour event. It was a difficult process to be one of the schools chosen for the downlink, according to organizers.

“We had to write a proposal to NASA,”

said the director of education at EASA, Matthew Van Dixon. “We asked to provide an opportunity to public school students, mainly McMinnville High School since that’s what we run out of, that they would never have without us. A lot of people got involved. Colleges, and other schools and classroom teachers helped us out a lot.”

The day’s events started with a welcoming and introduction by Larry Wood,

the Director of Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum. After the short introduction the main attraction of the day, the downlink began.

Two astronauts on the International Space Station were interviewed: Commander Scott Kelley and Catherine Coleman. Commander Kelley, a veteran of space flight, has been on missions to the Hubble Space Telescope and the Interna-

tional Space station, the later on multiple occasions. Currently, he is serving on a six-month tour of duty of the International Space Station that started on October 7, 2010. His fellow astronaut, Coleman, is a retired Air Force colonel. She launched to the ISS in Dec. 2010, and is planning to land in the spring of this year.

After mission control had cut communication to let the astronauts get back to their copious work in space, a keynote speech was given Dr. Jack Higginbotham, the director of the Oregon Space Grant Consortium. Higginbotham spoke about the involvement of NASA in Oregon, and the many opportunities students here have.

Once a short break after the keynote speech was over, the members of the audience were treated to special showing of IMAX: Space Station 3D, a video that depicted the process of assembling the ISS the work undergone inside of it. After the video was finished, a closing statement was given, and the audience departed.

Many of the EASA students loved the special event. It provided extra insight into a topic that they were already familiar with and interested in.

“It was really good. It was like I was given a huge cake, and all of a sudden astronauts jumped out of it and answered all of my life questions,” said junior Sam Lundeen. “I liked how they let EASA students ask questions.”

The education didn’t end after the three hour event was over, though. A large amount of what the students learned continued to benefit the young minds inside of the classroom.

“In the classroom, we present a lot of technology engineering and science concepts,” said EASA faculty member Dr. Owen Griffiths. “What the ISS demonstrates shows how what we’re teaching in the classroom applies in real life. It helps reinforce what they’re learning. It’s also a ‘think big’ concept; something like the space station gets the students really into it. The great opportunity, the downlink, is much more personal.”

Overall, the downlink event was a great experience for everyone. It was a great experience for those who attended, and helped enforced what was being taught in the classroom.

“We wanted to inspire future scientists and future leaders. I think we accomplished that,” said Dixon.

DYlan Leathers / The Bruin

Seniors Devon Hayes and Miles Ireland discuss the downlink after leaving the auditorium. Both are EASA students and will be able to apply what they learned during the event on the Feb. 19. into the classroom.