NS Times 9th edition

Three NS students win big at region art competition

Softball ends season tied for second place in region

-story on page 11

16 may 2017

see story on pg 9

www.nstimes.org

volume 9 issue 9

WELL SAID “A selfie, unless you're holding a fish, just shouldn't happen. People want to see a fish; nobody wants to see your face.”

–Timothy Kidder on his hatred of selfies

UPCOMING EVENTS Thursday, May 25 Spring Sports Awards Ceremony (Auditorium) 6:00 pm-7:00 pm Sharon Christensen Retirement Open House (Commons) 7:00 pm-8:00 pm Hawkstock 8:30 am-3:00 pm Senior Sunset 8:00 pm-9:00 pm Friday, May 26 Half Day Last Day of School Graduation 7:00 pm-9:00 pm

BY THE NUMBERS

63.5 Percent of NS students who would rather have a Chromebook than an iPad

11.36 Parker Hightower's 100 meter time that got him first place in region track

200 The amount of money for which Jackson Blackhurst sold his first place photo

57 Percent of seniors who plan on attending Snow College next year

CONTENTS Features................5 Sports...................8 Arts......................11 Crossword...........12

Educators urge caution on new Netflix series about teen suicide BY

A DDIE A NDERSON

Since its Netflix debut on March 21, the original series “13 Reasons Why” has sparked controversy on a national level.

The show, which is based on a young adult book written

by Jay Asher, tells the story of a girl, Hannah, who commits suicide and sends out tapes that are to be listened to by thirteen people who “helped” her in her decision.

“Young adult books, at times, tend to sensationalize circumstances. It’s kind of their intent. That’s the

draw,” said principal Nan Ault.

“They have taken this book and sensationalized something that’s incredibly serious.”

The show includes graphic and intense scenes, including sexual assault, rape, and the suicide itself. In the book, Hannah commits suicide by overdosing on pills, while in the show, her death is caused by slitting her wrists and bleeding to death in a bathtub. The show is so graphic that therapy dogs were present on set to help the actors cope with the intense scenes. “[The makers] specifically made choices that would make

Graphs showing the percent of NS student who have watched "13 Reasons Why," and the percent of those who would recommend the show to others.

it more sensational,” counselor what this is about.”

Ben Cox said. “They’re not inThe show is for mature auterested in helping anyone deal diences. In fact, Netflix categowith suicide. They’re interested See 13 Reasons, page 2 in making money. That’s clearly

NS Times staff places in top 3 programs in state the state between 1A3A. The NS Times competed in the competition known as the Utah High School Future of Journalism Awards.

These students will go to the University of Utah on May 20 to formally receive their awards and learn whether they placed first, second or third.

While there have been numerous journalism competitions in photo by NS timeS the past years, this year The NS Times staff placed in the top three newspaper staffs in the state at a recent competition, and had eight writers win individual is quite different from the previous ones; the awards.

BY A LEX B. L ARSEN dents recently placed in high school newspaper competition included a the top of the state for program also ranked category for broadcast NS journalism stu- journalism writing; the among the top three in stories, which NS did

Two years later: How do students, teachers feel about the iPads now?

BY

A BR AHAM BUNTING

prefer a Chromebook to an iPad. Further, more than half, 55.5 percent, do less than 25 percent of their homework on the devices.

Many students feel that the iPads are useless. Though the reasons are varied, the concerns expressed follow a few general themes.

‘They are slow, they are out of date, they are hard to type on,” said senior Janey Christensen, speaking about the iPads. “I only use it when I can’t get a Chromebook.”

NS seniors received an iPad mini 2, so their software is older than that of the younger grades, who received an edition newer. Though the speed of the

Technical difficulties and software issues in the last two years have left students frustrated with school-issued iPads, though both teachers and technology employees express general satisfaction and optimism for the devices.

In 2015, the NS district made a massive investment in the technology program, handing every student in the high school an Apple iPad Mini.

Two years later, problems with the devices still persist, students are frustrated, and most would prefer Google Chromebooks to their iPads.

A recent NS Times poll found that nearly two thirds of See iPads, page 2 students, 63.5 percent, would

not compete in due to short timing. But regardless, the journalism class entered some of their works into the competition, and they were pleased to learn that they would be awarded.

“Every year we did pretty well, [and] that was against 1A through 5A, and there were times where we actually walked away with the most awards,” said NS journalism advisor Ben Cox. Cox feels that although there has been

See Journalism, page 4

Students elect new student body and class officers BY

CARLI JOHANSEN

NS has a new group of students at the helm of the ship.

With the end of the year drawing closer, new class officers and SBOs have been elected for next year.

It started with SBO week, which was the week of April 10-14. While for the student body this meant funny videos and free food, for the N and S teams this meant stress, frustration, and no sleep.

“SBO election week was literally the most stressful and most lit week of my entire life,” said junior Makade Talbot.

SBO week is campaign week between two teams of students running for office.

The N team, against the S team. Each group spent the week campaigning for office via posters, food, music, and other forms of bribery.

“It was the most chaotic and yet most enjoyable week I have ever lived,” said junior Cooper Rosenlund.

At the end of the week, the final votes were cast, and the new officers were inducted. The student body chose Talbot for President, Ty Bailey for Vice President, Anna Staker for Secretary and Rosenlund for Activity Agent. These students' main goal for the coming year is to make every student, no matter what group

See Officers, page 3

2 news 13 Reasons, continued from page 1 rizes the show as being rated TV mature and is in the same Netflix viewing category as shows rated R and NC-17.

“I think they are being reckless and dangerous with a sensitive topic that can really cause great harm to a lot of people,” Cox said.

Despite the high maturity levels, the show’s focus audience is young high school students, and the students at NS are not excluded. In a recent survey sent out to NS students, 77 percent of students have heard of the show, 36 percent have seen it, and 21 percent of those who have seen it would recommend it to other students. With such a large number of students who have heard of the show, NS ad-

ministration and counselors feel that how to talk about and handle such a serious topic needs to be addressed and parents need to be informed.

“I would advise parents to watch it first and then make a decision about whether they watch it with their child or whether they have a discussion about this with them,” Ault said. “Make sure that they are a part of that.”

Cox agrees with Ault that parents should be involved in making sure their children understand the importance of the topic, but also thinks that students are better off avoiding the show altogether.

“Don’t watch it,” Cox said.

“I think it’s harmful. I just don’t think there’s any real benefit

that would come from it.”

The series shows Hannah seeking help from her school counselor, who does not take her problems seriously or help her in her situation. Because of that, the counselor becomes one of her reasons for committing suicide.

“I don’t want [students] in any way to think that that’s how adults respond to a problem that a child has,” Ault said.

“You try to give them resources. You try to let them know that there’s always somebody out there. You don’t handle it this way.”

Some of the resources available for students who need help include the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

which is available 24/7 and is also available online at suicidepreventionlifeline.org as well as Teens Helping Teens which is available to call at 310-855-4673 or by texting TEEN to 839863.

There are also local organizations dedicated to helping people in these type of situations, as well as teachers and counselors at NS. “If [students] watch it, and if they’re struggling and if this causes any sort of suicide ideation, please come and talk to a counselor, come talk to me,” Cox said. “We’ll help them work through those challenges because these things are real and very difficult.”

iPads, continued from page 1 iPads may be better for most NS students than for Christensen, the lack of a keyboard is the biggest complaint about the devices.

“Most people can’t get their homework done on an iPad, because you can’t type a six page paper on an iPad,” said senior Hannah Howard.

Often, students are required to use the iPads for classwork. Although they usually fulfill their function, students wish they could use the Chromebooks in portable computer labs instead.

“When we use them in Language Arts, most kids just turn to the Chromebooks,” said junior Cassie Swapp. “Basically, it’s a paperweight with a camera. Chromebooks are just more convenient.”

The functionality of the iPads is also a concern. Senior Jordan Hope prefers the Chromebook because they can multitask, something the iPad struggles with.

“I would have gone with Chromebooks,” Hope said. “Yeah, they’re bricks, but you can do so much more, and at least you can have more than one tab open.”

Although most students would prefer the Chromebooks, there are those who do like the iPads.

“There’s a quality difference, for sure,” said senior William Ah Kuoi. “[Chromebooks] just feel cheap.”

The portability and ease of use of the iPads makes them preferable to sophomore Russell Madsen. For him, a Chromebook is simply inconvenient while an iPad is smaller and more intuitive.

“I prefer using

ALEKS on the iPad,” Madsen said. “It's easier to use; it’s portable, and they are easier to carry around.”

Although some students enjoy the iPads, most dislike them; however, both technology staff and teachers would prefer the iPads over the Chromebooks as a oneto-one device.

The NS Times found that, of the teachers surveyed, a narrow majority, 52.6 percent, preferred the iPads over the Chromebooks.

English teacher Jori Turpin believes that the iPads are superior because they have the ability to download and use apps that the Chromebooks cannot.

“I would go with the iPad[s],” Turpin said.

“There are so many more things you can do.”

For Dax Higgins, the technology trainer at NS, this is a full-time job.

Higgins also believes the iPads are the better device because they engage in content creation and augment education, rather than just being a word processor.

“Where the iPad excels is in things like video and content creation, developing the creativity and presentation-type skills,” Higgins said. “Even though the Chromebooks have the keyboard, that is the only benefit.”

Higgins also mentions a more practical reason for the choice of iPads over Chromebooks. Chromebooks are flimsier and have no case to protect them, while the iPads are sturdier and well-protected. “iPads are the more solid solution,” Higgins said. “They are generally...more durable [than the Chromebooks]. If

NS Times Staff Editor in Chief

Avery Briggs

Managing Editors

Makenzy Palmer Kaleb Cox Emi Palmer News

Nicole Burton, editor Carli Johansen Alex Larsen Aaron Andersen Makade Talbot Megan Aldridge Features

Lydia Madsen, editor Christian Sanchez Mayzie Talbot Sports

Abraham Bunting, editor Hannah Ostraff Carlos Navarro Abi Clawson Arts Addie Anderson, editor Trayson Thompson Salem Kimball Lucy Anderson photo by

AbrAhAm buNtiNg

Students in English 1010 work on their choice of technology, either an iPad or a Chromebook. The results of a recent survey showed that about 64 percent of NS students would've preferred getting Chromebooks instead of iPads.

we had gone with the Chromebooks, I think we would have a lot more in repairs.”

Further, Higgins feels that although the last few years have been technologically rough, the possibilities of the iPads make the temporary frustration worth it.

“Technology can do things that were previously inconceivable,” Higgins said. “The expectations are increasing because the expectations of the world are increasing…[but] if you use [technology] correctly, it will open up a whole new array of things.”

The possibilities may exist, but right now, students don’t see this kind of use in the classroom.

“It’s not like we use the apps, anyway,” said junior Cassie Swapp.

“I only use my iPad for ALEKS.” Though Swapp may not use her iPad in class much, science teacher Brad Bentley uses them in his classes frequently.

“I’ve become more comfortable with them, so now, we use them quite a lot,” Bentley said.

“We’re more and more using the apps...in some of my classes, we’ve

done an iMovie trailer.

English teacher Kate Carney, one who has embraced the new technology and transferred over 90 percent of her course onto electronic mediums, also expresses hope that more teachers will buy into the iPads.

“I wish more teachers embraced them,” Carney said. “I have some students who tell me, ‘You are the only teacher that I use my iPad for.’”

FACS teacher Sterling Whipple sees the value in both devices.

His classroom utilizes both a Chromebook lab and the tools of the iPads, and Whipple recognizes that some students are simply more comfortable with one form of technology over another.

“There are those who really like the tablets,” Whipple said.

“There are those, like me, who would much rather sit down with an old-fashioned laptop.”

Whipple believes that students should be competent in all forms of technology to be fully prepared for post-high school life.

“I believe that the future requires that we are

apt in all forms of technology,” Whipple said. “I think it’s important that we have both [the iPads and Chromebooks].

Secondary technology specialist Enoch Brown agrees with him.

To him, training students in technology use is a central mission of education.

“Our point is, as a district, to train people for the world in which we live. If that does not include technology in a very meaningful way, then we have failed.”

Brown admits that the last few years have come with challenges for both teachers and students, but he remains optimistic for the future.

“We’ve had some technical glitches this year that have put everybody back,” Brown said.

“We’re going in really great directions, but we are playing catch-up, and frankly, we sometimes get blindsided.”

Brown references the system before the iPads, where there was one technology employee and states that many of the issues with the iPads have come as a result of years with too little technology support. Although the sys-

Voice

of

the

North

Sanpete

Hawks

tems set up in past years worked, they were inadequate for the thousands of additional devices placed on the network.

“We had the easy stuff that worked, but certainly not adequate[ly] when you’re talking about thousands of devices.”

With additional funding, employees, and infrastructure, Brown predicts that the issues with the technology will be fewer next year.

“We’re moving into proven, more stable technologies than what we’ve had access to in the past,” Brown said.

Despite the admitted problems, Brown tries to explain the vision of the iPads -- that the iPads can augment education in ways far beyond the Chromebooks.

“Your books can have a little arrow in it, but your iPad can show and transform and you can see what the book can never show you,” Brown said. “That’s where we’re going, and when that’s used in conjunction with a great teacher, I think we’re going to have teachers looking back and saying, ‘How the heck did I teach without this?’”.

3

news Officers, continued from page 1 or type, feel included. “[I want to make] the school year enjoyable for everyone, not just certain groups,” Rosenlund said.

Sadly, even though electing new students to represent us is exciting, it means saying goodbye to the group who led us through this year. This year’s SBOs, President Jackson Blackhurst, Vice President Gavin Cox, Secretary Angela Clayton, and Activity Agent Brenden Blackham have done much before having to pass the torch on to the younger generation. In the past year, they have resurrected the Squawkers spirit club, made daily broadcasts, and have been friends to all.

"I loved it, it was so much fun and I learned a lot,” Blackham said.

In addition to SBO week, class officer elections also happened on May 1.

Our new senior class officers are Alex Larsen as President, Tanner Wil-

son as Vice President, and Trevor Ence as Secretary. The senior class officers play a large role in helping with graduation, and handle planning the 5 and 10-year class reunions.

“I want to make the school feel like a more safe, friendly place for people to be,” Larsen said. photo by Avery briggS The new junior class officers are Student body officers (L to R): President Kaleb Cox, Vice President Cooper Rosenlund, Anna StakAubree Ison, and Secretary Tyler Had- er, Makade Talbot, Ty Bailey ley. Junior officers handle the ever famous promenade, which means announcing names, decorating, and organizing. With how big of a deal NS prom is, this proves to be quite the task.

“I'm excited to see what I can do to help my class,” Cox said. “It’s a unique opportunity.” photo by Avery briggS Representing the new sophomore Senior class officers (L to R): class is Mason Bailey as President, Alex Larsen, Trevor Ence, Devin Palmer as Vice, and Scott Shock Tanner Wilson can, be that planning, organizing, or as Secretary. Sophomore class officers assisting other class officers and SBOs are there to assist in any way they in their duties.

photo by

Avery briggS

Junior class officers (L to R): Aubree Ison, Tyler Hadley, Kaleb Cox

photo by

Addie ANderSoN

Sophomore class officers (L to R): Scott Shock, Mason Bailey, Devin Palmer

“I just like doing stuff for my classmates,” Bailey said. “Just getting everyone involved would be awesome.”

School ends, summer approaches; NS students discuss upcoming plans BY

M EGAN A LDRIDGE

Summer vacation is the highlight of the year for most students at NS, and for many people like senior Audrey Oldroyd, you are literally counting down the days until your summer plans begin.

“You know that feeling you get at the end of the school year when you know that summer is coming? I have had that feeling since August,” said senior Audrey Oldroyd.

For Oldroyd, traveling to Europe is coming up on July 6. She was nominated to be a music ambassador along with seniors Brenden Blackham and Cody Booher. London, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany are all on the list of countries that they will go to and in some of these places, they will be performing.

“If you know anything about me, you will know that I am obsessed with England and the United Kingdom for several different reasons,” Oldroyd said. “My family originated from England and I relate to the culture the

most. I knew that this was a once in a lifetime experience.”

However, Oldroyd is not the only one leaving the country. Senior Blade Cox is as well.

He and his family are taking a trip to Cancun, Mexico. Though this is not his first time traveling to Cancun, he is still very excited for many things, the biggest being authentic Mexican food.

“I would say that my favorite part of traveling with my family is every time we go someplace where we are not being watched by people we know; I always learn something. I always see a different side of people,” Cox said.

Cox enjoys going on adventures in the places where he goes. He specifically loves cave diving and snorkeling.

“Back here we try and hold a really high moral character of ourselves, when we are not around people that we need to impress then we can just relax and laugh with each other,” Cox said.

Cox is not the only one going to Mexico. Junior Luis Cruz is leaving on May 19 to visit family there. His

grandma has a heart problem and he is going there for three weeks to help her and to see his mom. This is his second time going to Mexico.

“I’m happy I got the chance to see her and that I had the chance to see her at such a young age,” Cruz said.

Junior Hannah Ostraff is also going on a trip out of the country. She is revisiting England, Scotland and Ireland for a month.

The last time Ostraff went, she struggled with keeping in touch with her friends.

“I wouldn’t talk to them for a while, and when I came back, they had all moved on,” Ostraff said.

Ostraff says that this time, she will email her friends more in order to erase the communication problem.

They are going because her dad recently finished a lot of their family history and he is going to put pieces of art in the places where their ancestors once lived. As for Ostraff herself, she will be working on her own art pieces. She loves the architecture in Europe and plans to take pictures of

some of her favorite buildings. Out of these pictures, she will make books.

“I really like the culture, where you can just be driving down the road and see a castle just sitting there,” Ostraff said.

Many other students are attending multiple summer camps, many of which are religious oriented.

Sophomore Lucy Anderson is attending Especially For Youth (EFY), one of the many religious camps offered over the summer, and is looking forward to meeting new people.

“Seeing different people from all over the world that share one thing in common is very exciting,’’ said sophomore Lucy Anderson.

She is also going with some of her other friends.

Lots of students are going on big trips, but it is important to recognize the importance of a staycation.

“Life is very busy and sometimes over the summer it is nice to just relax,” senior Lydia Madsen said.

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4 news Journalism, continued from page 1 success some years, other years can be quite the struggle with such a large competition.

“1A-5A is really, really tough, when you’re competing against all of the big schools with their big programs, it can be really difficult,” Cox said.

“We have a paper that compares favorably, even with the bigger schools.”

Cox feels that even though NS is at a disadvantage compared to 4A and 5A due to

their size, time, and resources, the journalism class still performs well. Cox is very proud of the work the students have done to make the newspaper possible being as though the program started from almost nothing.

“I got here and they hadn’t had a newspaper [printed] in about 12 years and I just thought we needed one,” Cox said. “I had never written for a newspaper, I had never done

anything, I just thought that a school newspaper was necessary.”

Having the newspaper come such a far way has been quite the accomplishment for Cox, although his students who won awards are also surprised.

“I don’t know how the quality of other writers compares to my own writing,” said senior Abraham Bunting. “I wouldn’t be surprised if ei-

ther of my pieces won, but I wouldn’t be surprised if either of them lost.”

Bunting entered the journalism class as a junior and has been writing stories for the class ever since. Bunting believes that the class can be beneficiary to those who put something into it.

“If somebody has a desire to write and desire to improve in writing and is willing to work hard, I think journalism

will be good for that person,” Bunting said. “It can give you a lot of benefits if you apply yourself.”

Overall the journalism class of NS has come a long way from where it first began and is now quite successful, placing among the top three in the state between 1A-3A. The journalism class has hopes to continue its success and pick up more talented journalists as the years come and go.

As high school becomes history, NS seniors look to the future BY

AVERY BRIGGS

Contrary to the musings of John Cougar Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, and Bryan Adams, the thrill of living is not gone after the “glory days” of high school.

Life does go on, as NS seniors are soon to discover.

In a few short months, the senior class will be scattered all over the world as students enter religious or military service, begin a level of higher education at a college, university, or technical school, obtain employment, or pursue something entirely different.

A recent survey conducted among NS seniors showed that 57 percent plan on furthering their education by attending Snow College. Catherine Lund will attend Snow College on a softball scholarship.

“I’m looking forward to playing two more years of the game I love,” Lund said. “I’m glad my hard work over the years has gotten me

somewhere.”

According to the survey 21 percent plan on entering religious service following graduation. Justice Green is one of these people, as he will serve a two-year, LDS mission to Costa Rica. According to Green, high school taught him responsibility and how best to achieve all he is capable of, things he will share with those he meets in Costa Rica.

“We’re pretty lucky to live where we are and have the education we have,” Green said. “I’m excited to help other people and I look forward to the humbling experiences I’ll have.”

Upon returning, Green also plans to attend Snow College, then transfer to Weber State University and become involved in law enforcement.

Snow College is a popular choice for NS students to pursue higher education, and there are several reasons for this. A few are: it is a small community college, it is close to students’ homes, and it

is relatively inexpensive. The nearness to home is what attracted Lund to it, before she even signed to play softball.

“I wanted to be close to home, especially for my first two years,” she said. ‘I was going to go to Snow with or without softball so with is a bonus.”

Green agrees with Lund, and sees Snow College as a good place to transition back into life after living in a foreign country.

“I’m going just to have an easier adjustment to college life and get back into the world after mis- Senior plans after graduation sion life,” Green said.

Wyatt Nunley is part of 8 percent of the senior class planning on enrolling in a trade, technical, business, or apprenticeship program as he works to become an electrician. His ultimate goal is to become a lineman for a power company.

“The money is great and I like that it’s hands-on work,” Nunley said. “I couldn’t sit behind a desk.”

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5

features 16 may 17

Student magicians amaze and entertain at NS

photo by Nicole Burton

Makade Talbot demonstrates a magic trick for junior Christian Sanchez. Talbot gets his inspiration from several sources, including Chris Ramsey and Harry Houdini.

by Nicole Burton They might not be walking around the halls pulling rabbits out of hats, but most NS students have seen junior Makade Talbot and senior William Cox do magic with a deck of cards.

Magic has been an interest for both of them since they were young, but that interest is growing as they learn street magic for themselves.

“It was sort of a gradual thing,” Talbot said. “I can’t remember a moment when I just said I want to be a magician, I want to do magic...It’s just always been there.”

It was after Talbot started doing magic that he introduced Cox to it.

“When I was little I saw magicians, and it was always really cool,” Cox said. “Then when I started hanging out with Makade, he showed me a couple of tricks and magic was more interesting.”

Both share the same rea-

son for choosing to practice street magic as opposed to stage shows or birthday magicians. “[Street magicians] don’t know these people. They aren’t getting paid for it,” Talbot said. “They’re just doing it purely for entertainment’s sake, to take these people out of reality for a moment and just brighten their day.

It’s completely unexpected. I wanted that connection with people.”

Talbot and Cox have plenty of reasons for enjoying magic. Talbot finds it a useful way to form connections with strangers.

“I love socializing with new people, and making new friends is probably one of my favorite things in the world,” Talbot said. “Magic has been a huge tool in doing that...I can connect with these people I never would have connected with because I have a deck of cards.”

Cox’s passion lies less in

the social aspect and more in the fact that it’s magic.

“I like it because there’s always something unexpected,” Cox said. “There’s always something new, something magical.”

However, despite their love for it, neither plan on pursuing magic as a career “I love to learn magic and I’m probably going to continue to learn magic for my entire life,” Cox said. “I don’t think I’ll even make it a business or become famous out of it because I would like to do more street magic and just be fun and entertaining and not have a high-stress life.”

Although both Talbot and Cox see magic as only a hobby, they still find meaningful connections through the rising magic community, both on and offline.

“For me, I stay connected online with people through Instagram and YouTube,” Talbot said. “Hopefully one day I’ll be able to move to a bigger

city and there are conventions and people that will meet up regularly in restaurants just to get together and talk.”

With a growing community building around street magic, the opportunities for rising magicians is growing.

Whether it be at magic conventions, street shows, or even competitions.

A rise in the popularity of a skill like magic leads to stiff competition and sometimes unfriendly feelings between those within the group. However, according to Cox, this isn’t the case with the magic community.

“If you’re a magician, then you’re kind of in this other, elite group,” Cox said. “If you meet a magician then there’s this instant bond you have because you both feel the same way about this one thing. Most magicians are pretty close unless they get off on the wrong foot.”

This growing community has contributed to the rise in street magic’s opportunity and Talbot doesn’t think it’s just a passing fad.

“I mean, magic is just really taking off. I feel like this is a moment in history for magic,” Talbot said.

Along with the growing community, both magicians cite different sources of the sudden popularity.

“I think that’s why it’s taking off because people can learn it so easily, especially with street magic,” Talbot said. “There are all these different types of magic and people are making it their own and they’re not sticking with the norm. They’re thinking outside the box. I think it’s fantastic.”

Cox attributes the move-

ment to a different source.

“It’s rising because it’s a skill, almost like a sport,” Cox said. “You practice it so you can get good and impress people with it.”

The movement is growing, whatever the reason. With the addition of platforms like Youtube and Instagram, it is easier for magicians to share their talents and inspire others to do the same. Many of these well recognized social media magicians have inspired both Talbot and Cox, like Chris Ramsey from California.

“No one else in the world will know who [Chris Ramsey] is unless you’re a magician,” Talbot said. “He was definitely an inspiration for me and he has a really cool beard like Albus Dumbledore, which is probably why he caught my attention.”

Talbot also finds inspiration in the Russian Genius as well as the famous magician and stunt performer, Harry Houdini. Cox’s influences had been similar with the addition of Criss Angel.

“Although I don’t admire a lot of his work, [Angel] has been a pretty big influence on my magic,” Cox said. “He has a reputation of staging audiences and doing magic just for the show instead of the fun.”

Both rising magicians find more meaning in street magic than in stage shows, which may contribute to Cox’s wariness of career magicians like Angel.

“Street magic is spontaneous,” Cox said. “A random person on the street could look like they’re having a bad day.

Boom, magic could help cheer them up.”

Cinco de Mayo: the story behind the commonly confused holiday BY

C HRISTIAN JONATHAN SANCHEZ

Why do we celebrate Cinco de Mayo? What really happened on May 5 that caused all this celebration?

Don’t be confused, Cinco de Mayo is not independence day for Mexico. The celebration comes because of a great military victory by Mexico.

On May 5, 1862, a group of the French army came to Mexico to invade and make it their property, because the Ice cream

Drinks

President wanted to acquire more territory and needed money.

The French came to the city of Puebla and tried to invade, but a ragtag band of Mexican troops managed to defeat them. Although they were out-numbered and the odds were against them, the Mexicans never gave up. With this great victory, they not only showed France not to mess with them, they showed a great amount of resistance against the French ImperialSnacks

MAIN STREET, MORONI

ism.

After the Mexicans kicked the French out, word spread all the way to the United States, giving inspiration not only to the Latinos with immigrant parents but also a great amount of American soldiers. The celebration of this victory was celebrated as Cinco de Mayo. It is celebrated to show courage, even when the odds are against you.

Much of America and parts of

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Mexico celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the same way, with the essentials to a good party. You’ll need a piñata, Mexican food, Mexican music, and a crazy grandma who loves the old times.

In brief, Cinco de Mayo is a celebration honoring courage and will. If you ever feel like the odds are against you and you have no chance of winning, just remember Cinco de Mayo.

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features

6

Fizz Soda Shack tightens hold on students' wallets BY

M AK ADE TALBOT

Purple straws, foam cups, and creative soda flavor combinations have joined forces to create the ultimate money spender for high schoolers: Fizz Soda Shack.

Soda shacks, tiny businesses that sell soda mixed with flavor shots, have been booming in popularity in the last decade. Fizz claimed its place as Mount Pleasant’s soda shack in 2012, and has taken control of many lives and wallets.

An NS Times poll reveals that over 50 percent of students buy one or more Fizz drinks per week. But those who only buy one have nothing on Mckenna Nielson, a junior at NS. Nielson is an employee at Fizz, and her soda consumption shows it.

“I only really started drinking soda once I started working at Fizz,” Nielson said.

“I usually have like two a day.”

Only 2.5 percent of students say they get seven or more drinks a week, so 10 drinks a week is definitely an anomaly.

Nielson began working at

Fizz shortly after it opened, but she didn’t join for the soda.

“I needed the cash. I clock in, I clock out,” Nielson said.

Fizz has served as a steady income for Nielson, but for others, it’s a steady money drain. Results from the survey show that about 38 percent of students spend 2 to 5 dollars at Fizz each week, but nearly 10 percent spend $6 or more, and 2.5 percent spend over $10.

According to the survey the most popular drinks at Fizz include “Blue my mind,” “Brown Cow,” “Tropical Sunset,” “Frozen Hot Chocolate,” and water.

This Fizz drink epidemic may be caused by the short distance between the high school and the shack, the low prices, and the quality drinks.

But NS junior Kory Olsen has some alternate reasons for his Fizz addiction.

“They’ve always got some cute girls working there, especially Pam,” Olsen said. “It’s also a good excuse to sluff school with your friends. Just a good place all around.”

Olsen has been going to

photo by Makade Talbot

Kory Olsen waits for his drink at Fizz. Olsen is one of the many students devoted to the soda shack. Fizz has been opened since 2012, and since then, students have bought hundreds of drinks fom the business.

Fizz since it first opened, and he’s become a regular over the years. He blames his frequent visits on his love for local businesses.

“I love to support local businesses,” Olsen said. “You know, I think it’s all locally grown Mountain Dew and coconut and vanilla and stuff like

that. It’s all grown right here in Sanpete County.”

Although Olsen may be a little confused on where the Mountain Dew and coconuts come from, his respect for the business comes from the right mindset.

Matt Syme, a new math teacher at NS, gives the scoop

on Fizz from an educator's perspective.

“I feel like we’ve got a couple students that have an addiction to Fizz perhaps, and it’s starting to affect their academic progress,” Syme said.

“You can definitely tell based on their behavior.”

Grinding their gears: What sets NS teachers off M AYZIE TALBOT

has been around for a while, the word even being added to the Oxford EngWe’ve all had to deal with annoy- lish dictionary in 2013. For music ing kids in math class. We’ve heard teacher, Timothy Kidder, they are an someone chomping on their gum or abomination. Selfies annoy Kidder, eswe’ve been stuck behind an idiot in pecially when adults take them. traffic. Our teachers at NS are no ex“I hate selfies,” Kidder said. “A ception; they all have things that they selfie, unless you’re holding a fish, just absolutely cannot stand. shouldn’t happen. People want to see a The art of the selfie is a trend that fish; nobody wants to see your face.”

BY

photo provided by Timothy Kidder

Music teacher Timothy Kidder holds the only item that makes a selfie acceptable: a fish. Kidder's hatred of selfies is matched by other teachers' phobias at NS.

Bad manners are a deal breaker for a lot of people, but business teacher Andrew Rainey is utterly repulsed by bad table manners and people that chew loudly or with their mouth open. In college, Rainey went on a date with a girl he really liked. They had spent the day hiking and having an enjoyable time, but then came time for dinner.

“She ate like a pig,” Rainey said.

“She would make these disgusting noises while she ate; it was really awkward.”

Rainey trudged through the date, thinking it was just nerves and they went out again a few nights later. It ended up being the same torturous experience for Rainey.

“I was just like nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. I can’t do it and so we never went out again,” Rainey said.

Science teacher, Kolby Henrie, wins the prize for most random pet peeves. He despises jacked up trucks, washboards and dogs.

“I hate dogs with a passion,” Henrie said.

Although some people may disagree with Henrie’s distaste for the animals, he has his reasons.

“Four reasons: they poop, they pee on my tires, they shed and they’re ugly,” Henrie said.

Students who have been irresponsible about their grades all quarter and

then suddenly start caring when it’s crunch time at the end of the quarter bother English teachers Kaylene Johnson and Jori Turpin.

“Students come in and literally want me to save their grade but don’t want to put in the effort until the last minute,” Johnson said.

Another thing that bothers Turpin is when people leading the Pledge of Allegiance say ‘please repeat after me’ instead of ‘please recite with me.’

She also hates when people try to turn right while driving, and they have a whole other lane to slow down in, but they choose to slow down directly in front of her.

“It’s like ‘I’m going to make a right turn, let me slow down to a complete stop,” Turpin said. “And then I have to also stop.”

Brad Bentley, a science teacher at NS, has a major aversion to students crinkling their water bottles. They interrupt class and make a lot of unnecessary noise. Bentley has confiscated many water bottles because students can’t seem to stop playing with them.

“I actually took a water bottle once and then immediately another kid started crinkling theirs,” Bentley said.

“So I threw the first water bottle at them.”

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8

sports 16 may 17

Tennis places second in region, competes in state

photo by Hannah Ostraff

Senior Benjamin Palmer serves during the region tournament at Manti. Palmer took second place in his bracket.

by Hannah Ostraff The season came to an end for the tennis team last weekend. The state tournament ended early, with all the singles players losing in the first round, and both doubles teams losing in the second round.

Though they lost out, the team was set to do well from their good showing at the region tournament. Both doubles teams were able to get the first place seed; which placed them against the fourth ranked seed of another region in 3A. While the singles had a little rougher seeding going into the state

tournament, the team was in a favorable position.

“We have a real chance to do well at state, especially the doubles since they are going ranked as number 1,” said senior captain Benjamin Palmer.

Although Palmer didn’t play well, the first doubles team played well against the opponent, Toole, in the first round beating them 6-3, 6-2.

“We had a lot of energy out on the court, and played really well,” said first doubles player and sophomore Kendall Grasteit.

Unfortunately, the

team then lost their second round to Snow Canyon 1-6, 0-6.

The second doubles team, Brendan Blackham and Tanner Morley, beat Juan Diego first round 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. They then lost to Stansbury 4-6, 4-6.

Palmer, the first singles player, took second at region, and had to challenge the first singles player from Union on Friday morning. Palmer lost 1-6, 1-6 in the first round against Union.

“I played horribly, it was a rough match for me,” Palmer said. “If I could go back I would come out with more energy, I played the game

very lethargically and I would change that.”

The other singles players also lost in the first round; Ethan Ostraff lost to Juan Diego with a score of 1-6, 4-6, and Russell Madsen against Desert Hills with a score of 2-6, 0-6. Ostraff was seeded at second, and Madsen was seeded at fourth going into state.

“I needed to focus on the drills the coaches run and finding my weak points and improving on them before state, and perform my best during state,” Ostraff said.

Ostraff was able to use this technique in his

second set and it paid off for him, even though he didn’t win, he was happy with how he played.

“I played really well, and I was able to improve during the second set and I started to move my opponent around more,” Ostraff said.

NS tennis team took second in region and participated in state on May 12. Both doubles teams took first place in their positions, and Ostraff and Palmer took second place with Madsen taking fourth place.

Where each position places is where the player is seeded for state.

If you place first you will play someone who

placed 4th, and the 2nd and 3rd places will play each other.

With only a week left to prepare for the state tournament the boys are going to have to work extra hard to get ready to compete.

“I need to be getting in lots of practice and really work on the mental aspect of my game,” Palmer said.

“We are going to review region and try to pinpoint what we did wrong, and talk about how we are going to fix those mistakes,” Whipple said.

The first two rounds of state will be held on Friday, and the team goal is to make it to the second day of state.

“We have a real chance, especially the doubles since they are going ranked as number 1,” Palmer said.

The team would have to play their best and their best will have to be played through the whole match in order to make it to the second day of state.

“We all have the potential to make it to the second day, but we have to play our best physically and mentally,” Ostraff said.

Each player has their own goals to work on, because everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, and each player has to find those weaknesses and make them stronger by the first match on Friday.

“I need to focus on the drills the coaches run and finding my weak points and improving on them,” Ostraff said.

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sports

9

Season ends for soccer with home state playoff loss BY

M AKENZY PALMER

The NS boys soccer season came to an end on Tuesday, May 4, after a hard-fought 1-2 loss against Tooele. Having seen vast improvement over the season, the narrow loss was a tough way to go out.

“It was really hard losing to someone that we shouldn’t have,” said head coach Julio Tapia. “We had the opportunities, we had the better team overall, we just could not capitalize.”

Many of the players were frustrated with Tooele’s style of play which resulted in an extremely physical game. NS responded, and the game ended with five total yellow cards.

“I was not impressed with the way Tooele played; they played a very primitive style of soccer,” junior Makade Talbot said. “I was just trying to have fun with it, but once they started playing dirty and injuring my players, I got angry, the whole team did.”

Senior Kelton Christensen agrees.

“I can’t say that they suck because they beat us,” Christensen said. “I just wish we could have played a team who respected us a bit more, and respected themselves a bit more.”

Although Tooele’s sportsmanship was less than ideal, the NS players admit that the loss can’t be blamed on that alone.

photo by Makenzy Palmer

Senior Marcos Garcia drives the ball downfield during NS’s home playoff loss against Tooele. This game would mark the end of the season for the team.

“Some of our players got mad, and it gave them opportunities that they shouldn’t have had,” senior Eddy Mendez said.

Freshman Luis Rodriguez also thinks that the team made some key mistakes that cost them the game.

“When they made that last goal a lot of us were frustrated at that point,” Rodriguez said.

“We still had chances after that but we couldn’t finish and that’s why we lost.”

Despite the disappointing end, this team did impressive things over the course of the season, although the beginning of the season didn’t go as planned.

“We always had the talent, we had the skill, but we didn’t have the chemistry,” Mendez said. “We didn’t know how to communicate, we didn’t trust each other, and that’s why we were losing.”

The team began doing other activities together, and

becoming close off the field made a clear difference on the field. They made improvements and managed to finish second in region, earning a home playoff game for the first time ever.

“We had a bit of a rocky start, but once we started winning,” Talbot said. “We saw that we could actually play to the level of these other teams that had always treated us like trash in the past and that just pushed us to try even harder.”

Tapia won’t be returning to coach next year, but this season was a good way to finish his nine years at NS. “As a coach I love to see the growth, both in the game and in the individuals. Once we came together as a team, I really enjoyed the season,” Tapia said. “It was the most fun I have had in all my years coaching.”

Softball reflects on ups and downs of past season BY

A BIGAIL C LAWSON

Another season of NS softball is coming to an end, and with that comes saying goodbye to head coach Sharon Christensen and four seniors. But this goodbye ends on a sweet note as the team finished this season tied for second in region with Canyon View, both with a 4-4 region record.

The Lady Hawks won the coin toss between the two, giving them the second seed going into the state tournament. NS heads into the tournament after a 13-6 loss against Wasatch last Wednesday, but with their 10-0 win against Lone Peak the previous week the team feels confident about their chances at state.

“I think we’re going to do really good at state,” said junior Lexie Olson. “If we bring our A-game and are confident in ourselves and within our team, and trust each other then we’re going to do really

well.”

While the team feels good about state, there have been rough games they feel they should have won but didn’t, and they hope to avoid this at state.

“We played really well early in the season,” said coach Landon Bailey, “but the last few weeks or so we’ve kind of went down a little bit, but we’re starting to play better now so hopefully we’ll play better when state actually happens...We have a pretty good draw [of girls], and hopefully we play like we should and do well.”

While the players and coaches look forward to state, they also look back on this season to see what they have accomplished and to see what improvements can be made next year.

“Overall we’ve performed well,” Christensen said. “We have a lot of talent, but we’ve still made more errors defensively than we would like to, and offensively we’ve maybe

struggled with our bats more than we would like to, but we have a very talented team...They put a lot of effort in in the off season, they’ve been very dedicated during the season.”

Many coaches would look back on the season and wish they could change the way they did

things, but Christensen says she would not have done anything differently. The players agree with this, saying they would make few changes.

“I liked how they coached,” Olson said.

While there may be a few changes made, the players are happy with the coaching, and will

certainly miss Coach Christensen, as well as their seniors. Losing these girls will have an impact on the team, especially as this team meshed well together.

The younger players will need to step up for the next season to continue what they had this year as a team.

“The team was amazing,” said sophomore Annika Rainey. “We all got along; we were all happy.

Personally I feel like we could have done a little bit better, but I feel that I’ve gotten better over the years so hopefully we keep progressing.”

photo by Carlos Navarro

Senior Ryann Tapia lands a hit during the Lady Hawks’ last game against Wasatch High School. NS lost 13-6.

sports

10

Track performs well at region, prepares for state

BY

E MI PALMER

Track competed at region last Wednesday and Thursday.

Throughout the season, they have been training hard, and it showed at the competition.

Parker Hightower came away with a first place, running an 11.36 in the 100-meter. Linzy Flinders ran 1:01:73 took second in the 800 meter with a time of 2:27:76, and the girls sprint medley, consisting of Cambrie Roper, Nicole Day, Isabelle Hightower, and Flinders took second, with a time of 4:35.45.

The boys 4x100 meter relay team, consisting of Brage Anderson, Karson Parish, Parker Hightower, and Kabrien Cosby, took third with a time of 45.55, and the boys sprint medley, consisting of Carl Peel, Wyatt Roberts, Parker Hightower, and Cosby also took third with a time of 3:50.46.

Additionally, Isabelle Hightower took fourth in the 100 meter, Day took fourth in the 800 meter, and Peel took third in the 1600 meter, fourth in the 800 meters, and fifth in the 3200 meters.

Peel feels proud of the track team, and the progress they have made this season.

“I think we did very well, considering the size of the team,” Peel said.

As the team prepares for state this weekend, they are going to be lightening practice so they can perform at their peak.

“Running is really hard on your body,” Day said. “[This week], we’re taking it easy, so we have energy at state.”

Peel is preparing for the meet with business as usual.

“Our focus won’t change,”

photo provided by Nicole Day

Junior Parker Hightower sprints during the 100-meter dash. He placed first in this race.

Peel said. “It’s just another meet, that happens to be important, apparently.”

Day agrees with Peel, and credits the coaches for the a large part of the success of the team.

“We have some of the best coaches in the state, and they know what they’re doing,” Day said. “At the beginning of the season, we all set goals for the season...we accomplished every single one of the goals that we set.

This year, coaches Scott Butler and Bill Bedford decided to prepare for region and state by trying something new.

“As you train it is like putting money into the bank and when you race you are taking money out,” Butler said, relating training to a bank.

Four weeks ago, the coaches then decided to cancel some meets so the team could focus on their training more. They went to the Dixie Invitational and did very well; the majority of the team set a personal record.

“A lot of teams try racing 2 times a week and it just burns them out,” Butler said.

This season, by training more and racing less, the whole team has improved their times. The whole team have been pushing themselves to do their best.

However, there have been concerns with several athletes. Day and Isabelle Hightower, specifically have struggled coming back from injuries. Day is working with a physical therapist for her knee to get her back on the track.

While Isabelle Hightower is coming back from an injury on her hip flexor, she has been working to strengthen it and ready for region, and possibly state.

Day along with a lot of the team, have been improving their times. At the BYU Invitational a week ago; Day dropped seven seconds in the 800 meter. “[BYU Invitational] was really rewarding, after mile repeats, to finally drop some time,” Day said.

Although they are excited for state, they are also looking forward to the season ending, so they can relax.

Each member of the track team has set personal records throughout the season.

The new approach on training more and racing less has proved to work well. Bulter is happy with how far the team has come as a whole. He is pleased to see many kids do so well at region.

their talents.

“Baseball’s not a sport that you can just pick up and go play,” Christensen said. “If the [younger players] put the

work in with the existing juniors we have, we can have a pretty solid team next year.”

NS baseball goes winless during region play

BY

K ALEB C OX

NS baseball’s season ended in similar fashion with previous seasons: less than ideally.

It didn’t originally look like it was going to be this way, as the Hawks began with a respectable 4-6 preseason record. After region started, NS failed to win another game, finishing 0-12.

The Hawks were actually able to get a lot of runners on base, but they often struggled to get a final hit to send runners home.

Head coach Dan Christensen saw good things out of the players, especially during preseason.

“Our pitchers threw a little bit better during the preseason,” Christensen said.

“Which is weird, because they should start throwing better when region starts.”

Next season, the Hawks plan to capitalize on what they did well during the preseason to see more success.

“When we did win, we won by a lot,” said sophomore pitcher Niel Briggs. “We were able to find a rhythm.”

NS will be bringing back starting varsity pitchers, which is a category they felt they performed especially well in. “[Our pitchers] have learned a lot this year as juniors,” Christensen said.

“They’ll feel a lot better next season.”

Even though they weren’t able to pull off a region win, the Hawks were able to see the positives and smaller victories. The team batting average was raised forty points from last year.

“Despite the record, this is one of the best teams I’ve played with,” said senior centerfielder Kincade Grasteit.

The incoming varsity players are a talented bunch, but according to Christensen, it all depends on their willingness to work hard and develop

photo by Makade Talbot

Junior Keegan Eliason hits the ball during a region game against Carbon. NS didn’t win the game, nor any other region game.

1050 S State Mt. Pleasant, UT (435) 462-3388

11

arts 16 may 17

NS students win awards at regional art competition

Allred played a part in prompting students in his art classes to submit pieces, even if they didn’t feel like they’d win he thought the students should still try and make the best of their work and

see what they could get from it.

Blackhurst was taking pictures of his friend and accidentally messed up the photograph.

“I decided that I didn’t like that picture,” Blackhurst said. “I never used it for anything, and then Mr. Allred told me, ‘You should submit it.’”

Listening to Allred’s advice worked out for Blackhurst in the end. He won first place overall and received $200 and even had someone buy the picture.

“When I first filled out the information on it, there was the list price, and I just thought, ‘I don’t want anyone to buy it, so I’ll just price it way high,”’ Blackhurst said. “I priced it for $200, and someone bought it!”

Blackhurst wasn’t the only student at NS that did well. Ostraff won second place and a $150 prize because of her book art piece.

“I didn’t expect it,” Ostraff said, “but it wasn’t like a giant surprise.”

Johansen also performed well. He submitted a still life

piece titled “Trash.” He received a scholarship from Snow College to further his abilities as an artist. “[Snow College] waived the tuition for the summer workshop,” Johansen said. “I get to go and do art stuff.”

Allred has high hopes for the art show in the years to come. He wants to see more students participate and win.

Next year, Snow College will allow the schools to hold the show on their campus. It will take place after Snow’s graduation and the Summer semester. Allred hopes that as the art show grows so will students interest in participating.

“Hopefully next year having a larger area and once we get it going more districts will be a part of it,” Allred said.

Allred wants to help students succeed and help them be confident enough in their art to enter their pieces into more shows.

“Don’t doubt Mr. Allred,” Blackhurst said. “He is a very amazing guy, and I wouldn’t have placed without him.”

Peter are what is known as “Celestials” a race of all powerful beings with the power to do pretty much anything. This is basically what starts putting the whole plot into motion, and it’s as much of the movie I can summarize without giving away major plot points.

The characters of the movie are the same as the first one, however, since Groot sacrificed himself in the first movie and had to be regrown, Groot appears as a small version of himself as he continues to grow back to his original size. Other than that, everyone is pretty much the same as they were in the first film.

Yondu (Michael Rooker) makes a return, but instead of playing a secondary villain, he gets a ton of character development and be-

comes a good guy.

The music in the film is mostly comprised of classic 70’s and 80’s songs, and it gives the film a very light hearted and fun tone, even during the more serious scenes of the movie. It makes the movie feel like a modernized 80’s action/comedy movie. It’s great!

The director of the movie, James Gunn, really knew what he was

doing with the tone and sound of the movie.

Overall, “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol.2” is a great movie with lovable characters, great classic tunes, and a great deal of humor. I definitely recommend that you see this movie as soon as you can; you will not regret it.

photo by Jackson Blackhurst

Jackson’s Blackhurst’s winning photograph. Blackurst was one of several students to place in the competion, held in Spring City. The students who placed won cash awards.

LUCY A NDERSON

arship to Snow College at the region art show held in Spring City.

On April 28, senior Jackson “It really went well. There Blackhurst won first place, Han- were a lot of people that came nah Ostraff won second, and to it,” said NS art teacher Paul Christian Johansen won a schol- Allred.

BY

Guardians of the Galaxy expands existing Marvel universe

BY

TR AYSON THOMPSON

In 2014, the movie “Guardians of the Galaxy” was released to surprisingly high critical acclaim, and now, in 2017, the sequel to Guardians, “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol.2,” has just opened in theaters across the globe. Is it as good as the fun, light-hearted adventure of its predecessor? Here’s the short answer: YES! But I’m just going to give you the long answer anyway.

“Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol.2” takes place just a few months after the first one, opening with Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Drax (Dave Bautista), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), and Groot (Vin Diesel) fighting an in-

terdimensional squid monster to stop it from stealing energy from a highly sophisticated society.

This sequence at the beginning of the movie perfectly portrays what was so awesome about the first movie, it’s got action, comedy, and some sweet 80’s music playing over the whole thing. This scene sets up what the tone of the entire movie is going to be like, and it’s just plain fun to watch!

A little bit later into the film, after the team gets attacked by an army of robotic drones, Peter Quill meets a man named Ego that claims to be his father. Ego then asks Peter and some of his friends to come to his homeworld, a planet entirely built by Ego himself. Ego then explains to Peter and the team that he and

Summer 2017 brings many new movies, albums, and games BY

SALEM K IMBALL

The human race. Over millions of years, the human race has evolved into a species capable of incredible feats; we’ve carved through mountains, we’ve built immense empires, and we have accomplished all of these things by learning to work together despite all of our differences.

How do people who are all so different from each other learn to work together? Well, it’s simple. We discover what we have in common, we discover what likes and dislikes we have in common. And what “like” does almost every

civilized human on earth share? Media; there isn’t a person alive who doesn’t enjoy either music, movies,or video games and if there is then they are most likely an outcast from society.

So let’s see what the media giants have in store this summer that will (hopefully) blow us away once again.

First up, MOVIES. We’ve got adventure, we’ve got action, we’ve got a series that had been wrung dry long ago but still seems to keep going. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” coming to theatres near you on May 26.

You’ve got your usual plethora of superhero movies making their way into the theatres as well including, “Wonder Woman” coming June 2, and “Spider-Man Homecoming” swinging in on July 7.

Landing in the section of movies that will most likely end up being less than stellar, we’ve got, “Captain Underpants,” the animated adaptation of the classic children’s series, and the ever endearing, “Emoji Movie,” which is sure to be a hit with the whole family.

Finally, the movie that may flop, but everybody is go-

ing to go see anyway because it’s Pixar: “Cars 3” is skidding in June 16. And of course we’ve also got a whole slew of other big movies and lesser indie films coming out as well.

As for you gamers out there, don’t worry, we’ve got some treats for you as well. First off, Nintendo has their newly announced 2DS XL releasing this July.

And as long as we are on the topic of consoles, let’s address the new games coming to the “Switch,” because the newly released, “Nintendo Switch” is bound to give endless amounts of entertainment from these games.

“Splatoon 2” is the sequel to the hit “Wii U” title set to make a splash on July 21. Nintendo’s new IP, “ARMS” is also set to spring into action on June 16 of this year.

Sega has got two new Sonic the Hedgehog games coming out this year. One, “Sonic Mania,” returns to classic 2D Sonic coming out this summer with no set date, and the other, “Sonic Forces” having no set release date currently.

That’s a wrap for the summer of 2017.

arts

12

Goodbye Songs B Y A DDIE A NDERSON GIVEN THE SONG TITLE, NAME THE ARTIST

Heard in the

Halls “I am impressed with your garbage bag finding skills.”

“Then I’ll go steal cookies from the blood people. Blood cookies!”

“You know how vegans get their protein? They suck the fun out of everything.”

“We call coconut milk, milk because it is white and creamy... does that mean I’m milk?”

“My brain is literally the slowest brain I have ever met.”

“Uh ya, just a minute let me pull it out of my backfolds.”

“You don’t “neeeed” your eyes to drive.”

“This is Sanpete so he probably has a gun strapped to a cow, better be careful.”

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