Rolla High School ECHO September 2015 Issue

ECHO

Rolla High School - 900 Bulldog Run - Rolla, Missouri 65401 www.rhsecho.com

Vol. 66 - Issue 1 - Sept 18, 2014

Foster parents provide a safe haven for children pg. 12 Students debate on gun regulations in Political Arena pg. 17 How social media alters your perceptions pg. 5

The sociological impact of body image pg.10

In this issue...

Boudica: Iceni Warrior Queen...............................................................3 RHS Welcomes New Teachers...............................................................6 New Dual Credit Classes........................................................................7 Breaking Down the Dress Code.............................................................7 Featuring Exchange Students...............................................................11

Foster Care pg.

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Letter from the editor b y

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Something I have always been irrationally bothered by is people’s obsession with certain breeds of dogs. “Oh, I want a husky so bad,” or “Corgis are the cutest dogs.” I’m not going to slam them. Huskies are beautiful and who wouldn’t be smitten by a corgi’s stubby little legs, but just like with a person, the most important part of a dog is their personality.

Being the Editor in Chief has its perks, but the worst part is going to be letting go of my old column, Looking Fur Love, in which I highlighted different pets at the Rolla animal shelter and wrote the entire thing as a dating profile for the pet. So in memoriam of Looking Fur Love, I’m going to use my first letter from the editor to tell you to adopt. Don’t shop and advocate the Rolla Animal Shelter one last time.

The Rolla Animal Shelter consistently maintains clean cages, vaccinates their animals and posts various public service announcements about pet care, as well as current shelter pets on their Facebook.

Despite their 97.38 percent adoption average, some people may still be wary of the Rolla Animal Shelter on account of the fact that they’re

ECHO Magazine Staff Editor In Chief - Maggie Duncan, Managing Editor - Theodora Leventis, Webmaster - Rohit Allada, Staff Writers: Chloe Myers, Trustin Dinsdale, Rahel Pommerenke, John Giesey, Amanda Steineman, Luke Walker

ECHO is an open forum for student expression. All letters to the editor must include the writer’s name, signature and class or position. Anonymous letters will not be published. ECHO reserves the right to reject any letters. should be sent to ECHO, Rolla High School, 900 Bulldog Run, Rolla, MO 65401.

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a kill shelter. However, even PETA, an organization known for being somewhat radical in their animal rights activism, advocates so called kill shelters.

No Kill shelters are a deceptive name, due to the fact that they actually result in higher death rates. Because they do not euthanize the old, sick or dangerous animals, they quickly reach full capacity turn animals away. So instead of a quick and painless end, more animals wind up on the streets, braving the elements, illnesses, battling starvation, and if they’re lucky, meeting a relatively quick end courtesy of a vehicle. Animal shelters are also more likely to euthanize dangerous or rabid animals, but a no kill shelter turns away animals less likely to be adopted, meaning more eventual spreading of disease and a higher chance of a person being bitten or attacked by a stray. No Kill shelters often hit capacity the moment that they are opened and wind up referring animals to the very shelters that they are trying to undermine public support for.

I encourage you to watch the video Ingrid E. Newkirk Exposes “No Kill” Sheltering which can be found on YouTube or on PETA’s website for more information, and I implore you to donate, neuter and adopt, because for every pet purchased from a breeder, a shelter pet goes another day without a home.

Boudica A Rebellious Celtic Queen

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To come up with the band’s show theme, band directors Michael Goldschmidt and John Slowensky met with ex-choir director Jeff Sandquist and others to discuss in late March. Sandquist suggested doing a theme that revolves around Celtic.

After thinking for a long time to find a focus for their theme, former Rolla High School student Bailey Gruben suggested the story of a Celtic Queen and warrior, Boudica.

“We have a music writer, who is actually one of our percussion technicians. So it is a completely custom written band show,” Goldschmidt said.

The Rolla High School Latin teacher, Carin Allen, teaches students about Boudicca in Latin I. Based on the Cambridge Latin Course book that she uses and the University of North Carolina’s website, when the Romans invaded the Celts, some resisted, such as Boudica, the Queen of the Iceni tribe, but were unsuccessful.

To appease the Romans, when Boudica’s husband died, they made the emperor co-heir. Ignoring this, the Romans took the king’s property and land. After Boudicca protested this, her daughters were raped and she was flogged.

Boudica then began to lead a rebellion against the Romans in a.d. 60.

Rachel Crowley performing in the halftime show. Photo by Stacey Marler.

Katie Bohannon as Boudica in the halftime show. Photo by Laurie Myers.

The Iceni saw Boudica as the rightful leader, even though she had no claims to the throne because she was a woman. Other tribes close to the Iceni were willing to help in the uprising because the Romans has harshly taxed them for many years and used many Celtics as slaves.

The army had around 100,000 men.

The rebellion was successful in part because the Romans were overconfident. Using chariots and guerilla warfare, Boudica and her rebellion were able to overrun the Roman cities of Camulodunum and Colchester. The uprising was eventually put down by Roman soldiers.

Though the rebellion had more men than the Romans, the Romans were well-trained and had better weaponry.

Boudica returned to the Iceni land, where she committed suicide instead of being captured and eventually killed by the Romans. In Romans’ eyes, Boudicca was remarkable, fascinating, and fearsome.

Dio Cassius describes her as “huge of frame, terrifying of aspect, and with a harsh voice. A great mass of bright red hair fell to her knees: She wore a great twisted golden necklace, and a tunic of many colors, over which was a thick mantle, fastened by a brooch. Now she grasped a spear, to strike fear into all who watched her.”

Senior guard member Katie Bohannan portrays Boudica in the band show.

“She moves around the field during the show and joins the different guard sections. But she is definitely a great leader so you see her at the beginning. She strolls down the middle, acting as a fierce warrior. At the end of our first movement, all the guard lifts her up into the air to show that she is proud and strong,” Goldschmidt said.

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Social media influences our generation b y

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Retweets. Favorites. Followers. Likes. Hashtags. Such is the life of the modern American teenager, immersed in today’s world of social media. In a society that has grown to rely on the internet for many aspects of daily life, the ability to interact with anybody in the world at any time has become a way of life. Social networks such as Twitter, Instagram, Vine, and Snapchat have revolutionized communication to the point where millions of people depend on them every day. However, many have been opposed to this movement, citing cyberbullying, an overdependence on technology, distractions, and most of all, a lack of face-to-face communication in our generation.

“I think that social media is a really cool form of technology, but it can become very time consuming if you aren’t careful,” senior Aarika Froehlich said.

Froehlich, like many other teenagers, uses social media quite a bit.

“I use social networking for around two or three hours a day I would guess. I check in the morning, in between almost all of my classes, during lunch, and after practice,” Froehlich said.

In contrast, senior Savannah Swaringam isn’t as reliant on social networking.

“I use social media about once a day, for a few minutes unless I have to communicate with someone,” Swaringam said.

Though the two are different in their usage of social networking, they agree that it holds many advantages for students.

“Social media is really good for students because it’s an easy way to catch up on what’s going on,” Froehlich said. “It makes it easier for students to talk to or work with each other and for teachers to communicate with students,” Swaringam said.

However, many disadvantages exist, especially distraction.

“I think social media is a huge distraction for students

whether that means in class, or after school when they’re trying to study or do homework,” Froehlich said.

The urge to be “popular” on social networks causes many to feel pressured into using them to gain a social standing in real life.

“As much as I want to say I don’t care about the amount of likes or favorites or followers I have, I definitely do,” Froehlich said. “It’s stupid because it’s pretty pointless, but it really boosts self- esteem whenever someone follows you or likes your post.

It makes you feel kind of important, I guess.”

Pop culture, trends, jokes, and memes are an integral part of social media, and some feel that those who don’t use it may feel a bit left out.

“I would say that I honestly think people who don’t use social media are out of the loop. It’s sad, but I definitely think you will miss out on stuff, even if it’s just trivial stuff. Social media has caused me to become distracted a lot more easily, but it has also kept me informed on what others are doing and what events are happening,” Froehlich said.

Besides the pressure to understand the references used in social media, many feel a pressure to have social networking accounts in order to connect with others.

“I would say that there is social pressure to use social network.

If you meet someone and then you want to keep in touch, you probably ask for their twitter handle or their Instagram username before anything else. People expect everyone else to have the same social networks as them,” Froehlich said.

For better or worse, social media is a tool that, if removed, would devastate the world’s population. Most feel that it has evolved beyond a trend and is now a part of daily life.

“I think that it is good for people to communicate with each other but besides that I don’t think it is really necessary.

However, it is definitely here to stay, at least for a long while,” Swaringam said.

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RHS welcomes new teachers, coaches b y

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“We were, this past year, really young. We had one senior, and that makes things a little bit more difficult,” said Longwell.

This year, Longwell will be working with a lot more seniors who also logged a lot of time on varsity as juniors last year.

“I’m excited. We got guys coming back that played a lot last year, and they were successful last year. We have high expectations. Obviously, you have to improve every year. That means doing better than last year, and we won districts last year,” Longwell said.

Longwell’s goals and expectations for this upcoming season are similar to Floyd’s.

“Get better everyday. If you’re doing that, you’re winning ball games,” Longwell said.

There have been several changes to the coaching staff at Rolla High School. Students will see some new coaching styles with the arrival of Luke Floyd, Clint Longwell, and Trish Knight.

Floyd, the news girls basketball coach, transferred from Sturgeon, MO. He is experienced in turning athletic programs around for the better. He started coaching in Hale, MO and coached boys basketball for eight years before moving to Sturgeon to become the girls basketball coach “Before I came, I think they had won two games in three years combined, and we built a pretty good program there” Floyd said.

In five seasons with the Sturgeon girls’ basketball team, he boasted a 111-27 record. In the 2012-13 season, he took the team to the Class 2 State Tournament quarterfinals.

Floyd met with the Bulldogs this past summer playing in pre-season games, and he got to see what he would be working with this upcoming season.

“They’re a good group of girls and they have fun and work hard. I think they’re eager to get in and get started, just like I am,” Floyd said.

Floyd has big goals for his new team.

“Improve, work hard, develop a team first attitude, and develop a good, hardworking, defensive-minded team,” Floyd said.

Senior starting forward, Kalise Garner, is excited to start playing under Floyd’s leadership and see what this upcoming season has in store for them. er Mr. Bartelsmey “I think [Floyd] is a very good coach and very knowledgeable. He is Choir Teacher s Home by Phillip very nice and he encourages you to work hard, even when it’s hard to.”

Favorite song is s ip ill Ph Garner said.

Coming off a not-so-hot season last year, the RHS Lady Bulldogs are looking to come back this season and they have a with a hunger to win and improve. “[Floyd] expects a lot out of us, which is good. He just wants us to work hard. We have a lot more togetherness than we did in previous years,” Garner said.

How well a team gets along with its coach, as well as with each other, is important, almost vital for a team to be successful. “[Floyd] is very fun. He’s stern, but in a good way. He makes you work, but it’s not as laborious. You want to work hard. It’s not like ‘This sucks, I want to go home,’ It’s in a fun way,” Garner said.

Rolla High School also hired Clint Longwell, from Buffalo, MO, as the new head baseball coach. He replaced Karl Odenwald. Longwell also Mrs. McN teaches U.S. Government and World War II through the Vietnam War. even Drama Tea “The transition has been hectic, but great,” Longwell said.

Also teach cher Longwell came from a Buffalo team that had potential, but was not es at RJH Directing Alice in W quite there yet. onderla

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New dual-credit 2014 b y

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Welcome back to the new school year. Once again, the sophomores can’t find their next class, there are about fifteen football players out with concussions, every one of the teachers says something along the lines of, “Gimme a second, I’m still trying to learn names,” every hour, and students are still trying to adjust from waking up at 10:30 to eating lunch at 10:30. With every new year comes adjustments from the school in order to provide students with the best education possible. This year, those adjustments include the addition of two new dual-credit classes: Leadership and Child Development, both taught by Jamie Cantrell.

What dual credit means is that if one take any course offering dual credit, then colleges will recognize that that class’ content was fairly advanced, and the student probably learned material that they would have learned in some of their more basic or introductory classes.

Therefore, one can skip those basic classes and save themself lots of time, money and stress in college. It is true that not all colleges accept some dual credit, but a vast majority of them do.

Therefore, if a student is interested in going to college, it is definitely in their interest to take some of these classes (for more information, guidance counselors will be there to help). No matter what any student’s planned major might be, it may be in their interest to look into Child Development or Leadership, which are now dual-credit classes.

Child Development is a course focusing on child psychology and, well, development. While there are plenty of college majors that could benefit from the credit, the knowledge offered from the course is useful outside of the classroom as well. It could also be beneficial simply towards a general education or as a useful elective. The credit is offered through Missouri State University.

“The credit is labeled under child psychology. There are a [number of majors that could benefit from that credit], but the most immediate would probably be education and psychology. I think that this is information that students can use throughout their life outside of the classroom; it’s especially useful if they ever plan on having kids,” Cantrell said.

The course is far from a blow-off class, and is well-deserving of its title of a dual credit class. “[In] first semester, we primarily focus on child psychology, how children’s brains work and how they think, what they respond to, and their mental, physical, and emotional development. In second semester, we primarily focus on our Bulldog Preschool, where we have around twenty-four preschoolers come in every day, and our students actually get to teach them independently,” Cantrell said.

The class has been deserving of its new title for awhile now, but

New school year, new opportunities for post-secondary education at a significantly reduced price

hasn’t been recognized until this year.

“I knew that my curriculum was somewhat advanced so [ this summer] I just went out on a whim and applied for it. Then the colleges came back to me saying that they would definitely accept it. They were especially impressed with our Bulldog Preschool, because in their programs, most of their students don’t see anything like that until their junior or senior year. It really is a class that pays off and will prepare you for your future, and the colleges recognized that,” Cantrell said.

“The colleges came back to me saying that they would definitely accept it. They were especially impressed with our Bulldog Preschool, because in their programs, most of their students don’t see anything like that until their junior and senior year.”

Cantrell’s Leadership class is now offered as a dual credit class this year as well through Drury University. Cantrell believes that she is certainly qualified to teach that class due to her past life experiences.

“Something not a lot of people know about me was that before I was a teacher, I was a district manager at fashion bug for six years. I was in charge of almost three states and around two-hundred employees. I had to know when to fire or hire people and how to motivate workers who are basically minimum wage to work really hard and stay happy with their work as well. From doing that, I learned a lot about leadership. It is truly rare for someone to be able to settle people down and motivate them and get them to do something,” Cantrell said.

The students who take this class are deserving of their dual-credit recognition as well.

“Each student has to create a leadership project, and every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, they have to write something about how they led people in their project or another event. I teach it just like a college class and I expect extreme effort from all of my students who take it.

Before I let anyone take it, I have to check their discipline records, get an okay from their parents and I have to trust them with driving passes,” Cantrell said.

Like Child Development, this class offers tons of knowledge that could continually pay off not only in college, but in life. “ [Majors that could benefit are] definitely business and education, really almost anything involving other people, so, a lot. But it is more than that. To be a leader, you have to know how to work hard, to recognize the value of teamwork, to be able to take the initiative, keep calm when things go wrong and so many other things. It also teaches you how to make yourself an example; leaders can’t be walking around doing drugs and misbehaving and slacking off, or else people will lose respect for them entirely and they’ll be ineffectual. This class teaches you these things and so much more,” Cantrell said.

School dress code policy regresses ‘shirts must have sleeves’ b y

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Everyone’s heard it all before, “Cover up those shoulders,” “Change your shorts!” It’s become so common that it’s more pesky than it is troubling. On a daily basis, we hear that girls need to dress more modestly so their peers won’t be tempted to do or say anything inappropriate.

“I think the dress code is too strict. It makes girls feel like their body is bad and [that they] have to hide it when girls should feel confident with themselves. It's body shaming. I could understand if girls were showing off intimate parts, but shoulders are unnecessary,” junior Hailey Parks said.

Some would argue that girls should be just as comfortable as guys are allowed to be. Many people are adamant that they should have the right to wear what they want and there shouldn’t be restrictions. While the advocates against dress code are numerous and loud, there are others who are just tired of the old argument.

“I think it’s pretty fair. If you’re referring more to the sleeves/no sleeves thing, I really don’t mind it. It’s easier to say that everything has to have sleeves than try defining what is and isn’t enough. Compare it to the shorts policy. They let us wear shorts, but there’s always that one person who has their butt hanging out. Nobody wants to see that,” senior Krystal O’Connor said.

Up until now, the argument has been all about people being for it or against it for the same reasons, but there is another angle to this story.

What about students about to leave for college? How can people be expected to go straight from having to cautiously select clothing and hoping that they don’t get called out for it to making all their decisions on their own? In this respect, should students be given more freedom so that it’s easier for them to think for themselves in “the real world?”

“The fact that I'm going to college in August and I can't even show my shoulders is kind of a joke,” senior Paige Newkirk said.

Society and media play a huge part in what people choose to wear.

With so many different ideas bombarding everyone’s poor eardrums, is it possible to listen to the “right” one? The stress to look “perfect” when you go out in public is enough to make any one person break down.

The pressure that society puts on youth in this day and age is gigantic.

“Personally I do not think the school dress code is up-to-date. The policy against wearing shirts without sleeves is a bit ridiculous considering that's a huge part of women's fashion. The fact that our principals strictly enforce that rule, but let females get away with their butts hanging out of their shorts and cleavage being highly revealed doesn't really make sense to me. Parents are more concerned about their child's butt hanging out more than if their child's shoulder is showing so why can't the principals do the same! As long as the sleeveless shirt has at least three inches up top, I believe they should be allowed,” Newkirk said.

Others argue that the dress code is more sexist and that students should be free to wear what they want.

“I feel like it is sexist in a sense because my clothing should not play a part in my education. If you can't control yourself enough to not stare at someone because of what they're wearing, that’s your problem, not theirs. They shouldn't have to dress for you. If I want to dress a certain way that makes me feel good, then I shouldn’t have to change it because I’m here to learn too,” junior Alex Sapaugh said.

However, Dr. Pritchett has a different opinion.

“We have somewhat of a duty to make sure that people come here to learn and sometimes dress can be distracting. I think that it’s our duty to oversee that and to make sure that students have the opportunity to learn and not be worried about what they’re wearing,” Principal Dr. Jim Pritchett said.

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‘Man enough’ to disregard gender stereotypes b y

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Sometimes, stepping out of the box can be hard to do and take a lot of courage. This is the case for junior Drake Davis and senior Laine Marler. Both are members of activities that are generally stereotyped to be exclusively for girls. Davis is a cheerleader and Marler is a member of the color guard. Both agreed that the activities that they’re involved in are heavily stereotyped towards girls.

“Guard is an all girl stereotype, because most people associate dancing with girls.

It [took courage to join]. It was something completely new, and on top of that a bit out of my comfort zone,” Marler said.

Davis has a entire different perspective on the stereotypes.

“I get nervous because it is stereotypical. You think that everybody is watching you because you are the only guy out there,” Davis said.

According to Davis squadmate senior Sarah Jones, Marler during his routine cheerleading is becoming less confined to just girls.

“There are 10 boys for every 15 girls. So I do think that it is becoming a more co-ed sport. It will [continue] to develop more as a sport,” said Jones.

Since Marler is the only male on the squad, it gives him the motivation to succeed.

“Since I’m the first guy in guard for like 10 years, i know people will be watching me. I know I have to push myself and work hard at it,” Marler said.

While having a male on the team might make some people look at the show differently, to Crowley it could not be better.

“I think it adds a little more, a little more people from all situations coming together. It changes a little bit of our story. Changes our product, what we put out on the field,” said Crowley.

The relationship between one male and twenty four girls, could be rather questionable. Teammate senior Rachel Crowley contests for the good relationship that Laine has with the rest of the team.

“I think that the whole team is really happy to have Laine. We just treat him the same as everybody else.” said Crowley.

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However, there’s a vast amount of opportunities for men who are in traditionally female sports such as cheerleading or color guard.

“There’s a lot of college scholarships for male cheerleaders. Colleges are always looking for guys,” Davis said.

Marler has the same plans.

“If I go to a college [that has a] guard, then I’ll for sure go audition,” Marler said.

One could also wonder why they had the desire to join activities when they would receive backlash from peers.

According to Crowley, Marler has done a good job dealing with the comments and backlash that he has received.

“I mean things are going to be said no matter what, so he just has to keep his head up and know what’s in his heart is the real truth, and he does that for sure,” said Crowley.

Marler enDavis, pictured middle, with squadmates courages guys to try out for the guard team and also thinks that having more guys audition would be an effective way to break the gender stereotype.

“I would just encourage guys who want to dance to do it. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun,” Marler said.

Crowley can atest to Marler’s work ethic and desire to succeed.

“Laine works so hard. He has put in so much extra time. He is the hardest working new member all 4 years that I’ve been in it. He has done extremely well. He is exceeding beyond all [expectations.]” said Crowley.

Davis agrees that while it was hard at first, cheerleading has grown on him.

“At first I thought it was kind of weird, but now I really like it,” Davis said.

Sometimes, stepping out of your comfort zone and doing something that you’ve previously thought was just for one gender can totally open up ones mind and give you an entirely different perspective.

“Im glad I did it. I’ve found something that I’m very passionate about,” Marler said.

Selfies with exchange students b y

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Rolla’s new four exchange students are here, and they know how to take a mean selfie. The purpose of the exchange student program is to give students the ability to travel and study abroad in a foreign culture with the goal of becoming fluent in the language.

Neruki Takahashi . . . is from Aori, Japan. That is approximately 10,287 km from Rolla.

J: How old were you when you first started learning English and how were you introduced to it?

N:I was fourteen and it was a class at school.

J: How old are you now and what grade are you in America?

N: Seventeen, a senior.

J: Have you been to Wal-Mart yet?

N: Yeah!

J: What did you get?

N: Clothes!

J:Favorite American food?

N: Hamburgers.

J: Favorite Japanese food?

N: Sushi J: Do you have some impressions of America you’d like to share?

N: No, I don't think I know how to say much.

J: How long have you been in America?

N: A year. I was in Sacramento before.

J: What are some of your hobbies?

N: I play saxophone.

J: What's Japanese high school like?

N: American high school is too big! There's too many kids, and the building is too big too. In Japan, teachers come to you and high school is three years.

J: How many kids go to your Japanese high school?

N: I think three hundred.

Rico Vieria . . . is from Natal, Brazil. Which is approximately 7,592 km from Rolla.

J: How were you introduced to English?

R: I started learning at two years old. And I've been learning it in school for a long time.

J: What sort of hobbies do you have?

R: When I lived in Brazil, I surfed and hung out with friends a lot, I also played soccer. In America, I'm still playing soccer, but with the high school team.

J: How old are you and do you know what grade you are enrolled in here?

R: I'm eighteen and I'm a senior here.

J: Have you been to Wal-Mart?

Do you like it?

R: Yes, I did a lot.

J:What is your favorite American food so far?

R: American BBQ. J: What is your favorite Brazilian food?

R: Brazilian BBQ. J: What is your opinion of American football?

R: It is very different from Brazilian football. I don't think I understand it at all. But sometimes I would watch NFL games in Brazil.

J: What was your opinion of the World Cup in Brazil?

R: It was awesome. I was able to go to three games.

J: How about Brazil's finish?

R: It was very bad. I don't have much more to say about it.

Grace Kang . . . is from Daegu, Korea, approximately 10,804 km from Rolla.

J: How were you introduced to English?

G: I had it as a class in Korean school when I was ten.

J: When did you arrive in America?

G: On August second.

J: How old are you, and do you know what grade you are enrolled in here?

G: I am fifteen here, and I'm a sophomore.

J: What sort of hobbies do you have?

G: I like to play cello.

J: Was that a part of a Band or music class in Korea?

G: No, in Korea we have a music theory class, but we never play anything.

J: What town in Korea are you from?

G: It is called Taegu.

J: Have you been to Wal-Mart?

Did you like it? Is there anything like it in Korea?

G: Yes, and I did. Kind of.

J: What is your favorite American food?

G: Steak or lasagna.

J: What is your favorite Korean food?

G: Probably kimchi.

J: What is Korean high school like compared to American high school?

G: I don't exactly know, because I was in the middle school. But it is all very much more intense and focused. School begins at 7:00a.m, and ends at around 10:30 p.m.

J: Is there anything you'd like to say to the school?

G: English is not my first language, so please be patient with me. I like it here, because school and being a teenager here is much more freer than in Korea.

Enrica Veneri . . . is from Parma, Italy. Which is approximately 7,957 km from Rolla.

J:How old are you and what grade are you in in America?

E:I am seventeen and in America I would be in the twelfth grade, so a senior. But in the Italian school system, we have thirteen grades.

J:What were some of your hobbies that you liked to do in Italy?

E:I like lots of artistic things, like painting and especially to play guitar. I don't really do any sports.

J:What is your opinion of the marching band/American music class? Do you have anything like that in Italy?

E:I have not really seen much of the marching band, but I really want to.

In Italian schools, we have nothing close to a music class. Being able to play any instrument that you like in school is just absolutely awesome to me.

J:How were you introduced to English?

E:In Italy, it was an elementary school class that I took. I have been learning it ever since then.

J:How long have you been in America?

E:I arrived on August second.

J:What is your favorite American food so far?

E:Pancakes and Pizza.

J:What is your favorite Italian food?

E:Probably pizza. Italian pizza is different from American pizza though; but I like American pizza as well.

J:Have you been to Wal-mart yet?

Did you like it?

E:Yes, it was okay. Although we have similar stores in Italy.

J:What is something you like about living in America?

E:I like American country music; one of my exchange parents plays a lot of it and I am happy because of that.

J:What is something you want to tell the school?

E:I am very happy to be in America because everyone is always very kind; they accept that I am not American and everyone is very curious about me.

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The sociological impact of

Body Image

The pressures of social media have caused serious turmoils--from movies, magazines and activities in everyday life, the strain to be perfect seems to be everywhere people look. It’s unavoidable and many individuals are finding it difficult to keep up with the higher expectations.

“I think for the ideal, it’s really hard even knowing to not have issues with body image, but still dealing with changes,” Sociology teacher Samantha Kaysinger said, “So I think people have to understand that throughout their life, they do go through many changes at all stages of their life, and in addition to that, really not focus on what their body looks like so much, because I don’t think there is an ideal for people.

But being healthy and focusing more on how you feel and how your body is working for you than how it looks is so much more important.

That is the ideal I think that we should strive for, but again, it’s easier to say that than do that, because we have many messages out there that kind of indicate that we should feel otherwise.”

Only 5 percent of women in the world naturally posses the “ideal” body type often portrayed by Americans in the media, which means for the other 95 percent, it is a constant battle to achieve an unattainable goal. Senior Morgan Snider feels that the pressures to be perfect have gone too far, especially in the cheerleading world.

“We often relate cheerleading with lean, flexible, ideal body type girls dancing around in short skirts which is not at all the true perception.

Yes, we like to be uniform and look the same by dressing alike, wearing our hair and bows a certain way, but we have never gone to the extent that college cheerleaders go to. I’ve read articles about how they have to weigh in and meet a certain weight and if they go over, they will be kicked off. It is so insane that the cheerleaders have to sign a form stating what their look will be for the year and have to wear their hair a certain way all the time-professionally done-and they have to tan if they are not already. There is so much more that goes into it that people never see. It is crazy that people have this idea in their heads of what perfect is. And you find yourself wondering who made that ‘perfect’,” Snider said.

Women are not the only ones who are affected by the media. Men worry about the opinions of others too, and some take the drive to improve themselves overboard. 43 percent of men have reported to being

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dissatisfied with their bodies.

“If I were to be anything, I would have a perfectly clear face and [be] well built, but not like ripped or super skinny. And I’d want to be tan. I guess that’s kind of what most guys want to be like, but some guys have different perspectives. Some want to be super big and have a lot of muscles, but that’s just unattractive in my opinion. At a certain point it’s just too much,” senior Ryan Priesmeyer said.

Of course, the media plays a huge role in advertising body image, but even without it, it wouldn’t be gone. Looks are the first thing people notice and unfortunately, the only thing they can gather about a person before they decide to get to know them.

“In some situations in history, it was better for women to be more plump and to be extremely pale and even cultural standards of beauty are so different than what we see for example here. This is just our definition of what beauty and ideal image is, but I think we would all still want something. I think there would always be this norm or perimeter of what is the norm and what’s more exceptional. I think that’s kind of a natural human tendency is to categorize into norm, below norm and above average. I think we would strive for something there. Do I think that we would feel more comfortable with ourselves, though? Yeah, I do think we would without the excess media attention,” Kaysinger said.

People look and people judge. It’s just what happens. Two people meet each other for the first time and in a matter of seconds, they are already assessing each other and making mental notes. People are competitive and want to be the best, but at the same time they are looking to find their place.

“When we talk about symbolic interaction and general social dynamics, we look and we judge. Our brains are trying to process and categorize people so much that sometimes those judgements and prejudices get in there based on how we view individuals, so I think that’s largely what keeps people from engaging further with individuals based on how they look or based on a particular body image. I think also, though, some of that lack of interaction comes again from portrayals of, ‘This is what’s cool and this is what’s not,’ and you’re always striving to fit where you feel you fit in, but also mainly to kind of one-up that in a way. As shallow and superficial as that sounds, I think people do try to do that,” Kaysinger said.

Despite of what people think, being better looking will not make life educating people in school and through acceptance and through just better. It’s all about what they think of themselves. Happiness is deterat home as far as doing the best we can do to be healthy and that is the mined by feeling at peace regardless of what others may say. standard of ideal, and so striving for that is more important than this “It’s always that standard of better than what you are. The funny ideal image of perfection, because again if you look through the ages, thing people also need to realize is people who are pretty and people these ideas of beauty and the perfect image have drastically changed who are beautiful or are what we consider perfect, their lives aren’t any even in supermodels and what is expected. And that’s really not the better or happier for that necessarily. Those people that I see that are norm, so I think just that basic education has to occur and it’s really the happiest and actually come off well when it comes to personality difficult as you get into those school years. I think as kids we always and having the whole package are those who are striving to be healthy say, ‘Oh mom, oh dad, you’re gonna say I’m perfect no matter what,’ and who actually are okay with so I think it needs to come first themselves and with their body at home, but then again it needs Between 28% and 68% of males with normal weight image,” Kaysinger said. to be kind of a community-wide perceive themselves as underweight and hope to increase Body Image is everywhere people effort as well and to negate those their muscle mass through dieting and stength training. look. With the media making apimages [and] to evaluate media Roughly 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies and and say, ‘Hey, this is out there. pearance so important, it doesn’t take long for everyone to grasp resort to unhealthy diets to achieve their ideal body shape. Maybe we can’t stop that, maybe what’s socially acceptable and we can. But if we can’t, how can what’s not. we at least process it in a healthy “I think with increased access to mass media outlets, it makes [body way and deal with it and show you that this is not an accurate portrayal image] seem more pervasive and prevalent. First, as a society and as a or representation of body image?’ So maybe those discussions even are culture, we value appearances and materialism and being the best that more important than trying to make it go away, because I don’t know you can be personally with what you have. So I think that’s there and that it’s something that will go away,” Kaysinger said. looking toward those for inspiration. I mean, why do we look at celebBeing emotionally happy shows in appearance. Studies show that the rities? To be like them and to want to be like them. I think it’s just that people who are happy with themselves mentally are the most happy idea of the grass is greener on the other side sometimes. Like, ‘Oh, if I physically. It’s all about bettering oneself. look like this, my problems will go away or I will have fewer problems,’ “I think the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens really and it doesn’t help that there are psychological studies out there that focuses on bettering yourself and I think the physical comes with that, kind of back that up and that prettier people over the course of their but really it’s focusing on, ‘What do you want out of your life?’ You lifetime earn more money. They have different opportunities than know, do you want this constant self-loathing hatred or feelings of imthose who have a more negative body image, and not just a self-perperfection? There’s a chapter in there about beating yourself up. What ception, but an actual negative body image. Our society just naturally are you accomplishing by that? So I think definitely focusing on your kind of promotes that and so I think knowing that or even not knowing principles and what you want to live by and what your future holds for that, just having that perception in the background, is always with you gives you something to work toward and therefore you’re already people,” Kaysinger said. too busy focused on that and working toward that to worry so much Influences can come from anywhere. Education about the media and about self image, but I think also for teens, having those conversations social norms can go a long way and help people to strive to be the best within groups, within classrooms, within advisories and looking at they can be on a healthy level. pieces of media and ask, ‘Is this reality?’ and ‘What is wrong with this “I think early socialization and how we approach body image for image?’ Having those conversations is really important to kind of getboth males and females [plays a huge role along with the media]. My ting over that hump, but I would also encourage those who are feeling son hears me put myself down various times. He’s five and he early badly about themselves to think about those things we are born with on picked up those images and ideas of what’s good and bad and right and blessed with and about those things that we do have control over and wrong as far as body image. So it’s not just the media and I think for example our general health and being healthy,” Kaysinger said.

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A Place to b y

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Although High School is stressful in a million different ways: cliques, friends, GPAs, homework, sports, most of us at least have the cushion of our parents providing for our basic needs. But what happens when they fail? For approximately 10,174 children in the state of Missouri alone, the answer to that question is foster care.

The foster care system is highly complex and very complicated for all involved. It is difficult to determine what is best for the sometimes troubled kids and how to determine whether or not the parents are fit enough to take back custody.

“Children wind up in foster care for a variety of reasons. Parents can no longer take care of them, parents pass away, drug related issues, parents going to jail, unsanitary conditions within the home, lack of supervision within the home, physical and emotional abuse,” foster parent Margaret Gray said.

The purpose of the foster parent is to provide a safe and stable home for the displaced children, many who have never had one before.

“You basically hope you plant a seed, a good seed for a child to grow and reflect back on throughout their life because they never have any stability so we try to give them some kind of stability and to know that life was different than what it was at their own home, that they can actually succeed and be somebody no matter what their family’s done you always have the support of your foster family. Even when you’re out of foster care, I mean we have kids who come back to us all the time, they’re not in foster care but they come back because we’ve been a positive influence in their life,” Margaret Gray said.

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When fostering, the Grays’ philosophy is to try to treat the child as one of their own and provide them with the experience of what they think a family should be like.

“The thing about it is the kids don’t know how react with family because their family doesn’t do it. Mom and dad might go out and do what they want and the kids do what they want, so when they come to our house we treat them as family. We go to a ball game, everybody goes as one family. We even take them on vacation with us. We treat them just like family so when they go back they say ‘This is the way a family should be,’” foster parent Leonard Gray said.

Although all foster parents like to think of their home as a comforting space for the child, they recognize that in the ideal situation the children will return to their biological family.

“We had two little girls, one was a baby one was a four year old.

The older one had been abused by mom’s girlfriend. The mom didn’t know, the mom worked evenings and the girls lived with us for approximately six months until mom got things straight and the boyfriend got arrested and it was really really nice to see that mom worked hard to get her children back. And a very surprising thing happened, we went to court and the judge granted mom the right to have her children back right away. Normally that happens within a week after the judge grants it. The children were granted the right to go home immediately right after court. And even though they got to go home, we are still their mom and dad. They still keep in contact with us, they still call us mom and dad. And they’ve done that for three years, we are still their mom and dad. They call if they have a special thing at school, you know ‘Mom and dad I need you to come to this program of mine,’ or ‘I need you to come to Thanksgiving dinner at school with me,’ I mean that’s what you want to see. We mentored their mom enough that she got she got her children back, and it’s a

o Call Home

Photo by Maggie Duncan.

Gray said.

The social life of a foster child is also affected as well as their home life. Foster children have a unique set of rules that they have to follow in regards of how their time is spent. Foster children must be under supervision at all times. They cannot simply go to a study date or to grab food after school because all activities must be supervised by the foster parent, and they cannot spend time at a friend’s house without a prior background check on their friend’s family. Foster children also have many rules regarding confidentiality. Children are not allowed to be on facebook so outside parties don’t know when the child is or is not within the state’s custody. They are also not allowed to tell their families where they to prevent their parents showing up at their foster home.

“Children have rules. Without the case workers previous acknowledgement they are not allowed cell phones and they are not allowed to talk to their biological family without supervision because of things that parents promise children that they cannot deliver. We had a placement where the mom and the dad would always say ‘You’re gonna be home in two weeks, you’re gonna be home in two weeks,’ they were within our home for fifteen months,” Margaret Gray said.

The many rules and regulations of the foster care system can be problematic for everyone involved. When working with such a volatile and sensitive topic a lot of gray areas are created about what may be best for each individual child, however the numerous rules can sometimes hurt more than help and result in the child getting “lost in the system.”

“There’s a lot of flaws in our system. We let kids fall through the cracks. Sometimes these kids, their needs are met but not met because there’s so much red tape, there’s so much paperwork, there’s so much going on that everything has to be a certain way, certain fit. And sometimes the kids end up being the ones that are thrown down from it.

Sometimes the kids aren’t the ones that the needs are met for. Which is sad. We all have a lot of flaws. These kids they come into care because they have needs. They need something that we should be able to give them, that we as a society should be able to give them but in return we kind of get more worried about this is the way we’re supposed to do this, this is the way this is supposed to be done instead of meeting the kid’s needs, and that’s the biggest flaw in the foster care system,” foster parent Connie Moentmann said.

Although there are always rumors of foster parents trying to make money off of the foster care system, both Moentmann and the Grays stated that there is no money in foster care, and if the money given is spent on what it’s intended the parents will break even.

“You hear someone say ‘Well I’m gonna join foster care, because I can make a lot of money that way.’ No you can’t. I don’t know where they got that idea, because it’s not true,” Leonard Gray said.

Even though it’s almost impossible to make money off of foster care, unfortunately some foster parents still try. Foster children get a clothing allowance every six months, and some parents will use only a small amount for the foster child and the rest for their own children or personal use. Other families will take their biological and foster children out to dinner, but refuse to use their own money to buy the foster children food. Other abuses of the system are much more subtle, and may be as small as a parent joining not to help other people’s children, but in search of children to adopt for themselves. To combat all the previous negative influences in a child’s life foster parents have to first be open themselves to get a child to open up to them. “[We have to] be ourselves. Be who we are. Bring them in as part of our family and not as if they’re some kind of outsiders. Any kid that comes into my home is part of us, and still will be when they leave.

They’re still a part of us,” Moentmann said.

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The Grays also believe that trust is essential in forming relationships with their foster children. “[They open up] when they start feeling safe in the home, and trust you. That’s the biggest thing, is earning trust from the kids because they’ve already been dumped on by their parents or whoever and they need somebody to trust,” Leonard Gray said.

When a child begins to open up is when the rewards truly begin for foster parents.

“We can be sure if we plant a good seed, and that’s my world, I love to plant good seeds, that somewhere that seed is going to grow. It’s going to blossom out and become like a beautiful wildflower. That’s just how I see it, because kids are awesome when they’ve just been through a lot and suddenly they can just be who they really are. They can show their real side [and] the love that comes out of them,” Moentmann said.

Even if the rewards may not be immediate or evident, parents still hope that the good seed that they’ve planted may eventually surface.

“We had a boy, that we had off and on for three years. He was a very rebellious teenager that ran from our home when he turned 18. It kind of broke our hearts but then I saw him about 8 months later and he came up and hugged me and he said ‘Mom you know what? I did a dumb thing when I ran from your home. You were the best thing that happened to me. And I just want you to know that I love you and I appreciate everything that you’ve done for me and showing me the right way to go even though I’ve decided to chose a different path I still think of you and I still love you guys,’” Margaret Gray said.

While foster parenting is fulfilling, it can also be frustrating, and the frustration can quickly become heart wrenching when a child endangers themselves or is returned to a situation that is dangerous for them to be in.

“We had a little girl, about a year old that we had for almost a year. Her mom had been in the military [and the daughter] came to us with a cracked skull. Found out later that it was mom’s boyfriend that had done it, but they gave the little girl back to the family even though the abuse was still going on within the home. The day I had to give her up the mom’s boyfriend walked up and took her, and she was reaching out screaming ‘Mom, mom, don’t leave me, mom, mom, I don’t want to stay here.’ It breaks your heart, because you know that she’s going to get hurt again. And it was less than three weeks later that her and her mom moved into a battered women’s shelter. But since then, she has moved out of state with her family and they are all doing wonderful. But that’s heartbreaking when you know that they are going to be abused again, and the state gives them back,” Margaret Gray said.

Foster care can have some unexpected perks however. If a foster child who gets adopted wants to go to college there are a multitude of grants and scholarships that will be provided for them, as well as their medical costs being taken care of until they’re 25. The Grays have adopted two children, one at 16 and the other at age 2.

“My littlest one that we adopted, she told her preschool ‘I’m adopted. Do you want to know what adopted means? Out of all the kids in the world my mom and dad picked me and adopted me. So I’m special.’ That kind of hits you real close there, out of a four, five year old kid’s mouth. The rewards are worth it if you do it right. Not every kid’s going to walk up and thank you, but most of them will,” Leonard Gray said.

Both the Grays and Moentmann agree that the most important value that one can take away from foster parenting is to be supportive and fair to those around you.

“Treat everybody equal. It doesn’t matter if you’re in foster care, it doesn’t matter if you’re with your biological parents; we’re all human. And teenagers are all just teenagers. Who knows if that person just needs somebody to say ‘hey’, or just a smile, and it can brighten a day. I’ve had a lot of foster kids come through the high school and I personally would hope that people would treat them the same they would treat their friends that have biological parents because these kids are no different.,” Moentmann said.

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will get you there, will Living on your own Life you be ready?

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Managing Editor

It’s never too early to start thinking about living on your own. I get it, the idea is quixotic and completely unpredictable. It’s a little scary imagining that one day you will be completely responsible for everything you do. Yes, you. Responsible. About everything. But you will get over it, I’m sure. So much will depend on you. If you haven’t read the poem A Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams, I advise you to.

You’ll get what I’m saying here. If there are things you don’t do, you could end up in quite a mess. We have our own temperaments which work well in some situations and bad in others. But ultimately, when it comes down to it, there are things we just can’t avoid. Each time I write to you, I shall pick out one of these tedious little things on the endless list and explain how to not screw them up.

Now, for this issue I will be discussing about how to not listen to people successfully. Okay, so yes, you should probably listen to some people about some things, but when it’s something in which varies for each person, you should probably not analyze what they say too much.

When you’re on your own, it’s important to remember not to psych yourself out.

I just recently got my wisdom teeth extracted on the same day I had to march at a home football game. Lo and behold, everyone continuously told me I was crazy and that it would be such an awful experience. There was no way I could march. I would be in so much pain. I wouldn’t even remember that day. Well, I did march that night and I was pretty dang alright. While I was sitting in the chair, waiting for them to numb my mouth, the negative comments crept into my mind.

I started to tremble and my face went white. I saw all black and the next thing I knew I was inhaling this terrible smell. I decided right then that just because this procedure was so unpleasant for others, doesn’t mean it would be for me. I went through the withdrawal without being sedated and I didn’t even need ice-packs or narcotics. By 5:00, I was ready to head back to the school and put my uniform on.

I realize I was not technically on my own during this time, but things like this do happen. It’s important to not let others get in your head.

The pressures build up as you get older, and when you’re by yourself, you are your own rock. You have to remind yourself to not let negativity sink you. In this case, especially, the circumstance was different for every person and I let myself think it was the same for me. Obviously, that was not the case. It’s good to hear all sides, but not to hear all sides and only listen to the negative.

of crackers and People in your neighborhood: purveyor mittens edition b y

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Staff Writer

There you are, walking down the hall with your favorite cardboard cutout of Taylor Swift. All of a sudden, your pet tarantula escapes from your fanny pack and scuttles out of reach. You cry out “Ecthelion, harken to me!” but as you continue your panicked pursuit, you trip on your man-skirt and break your arm. Oh no! Now you’ll have to make awkward small-talk with the school nurse while you wait for your mom to pick you up. I have taken it upon myself to ensure that no such encounter must ever take place again by letting you get to know our favorite nurse, Sandy Van Aken.

She has been working at the school for twenty-one years, and is the senior most nurse in the district. But however did she stumble across our humble public educational facility? “[My] family moved down here because my husband got a job at the university, and so I looked in the newspaper and that particular year there were five openings for new school nurses. At my first year I worked at Truman elementary, and after that I came over here, so that's what I've done for twenty-one years,” Van Aken said.

But how does she deal with kids who just want to get a pass to go home and sleep?

“They're really good actors at this school. So sometimes I don't know when they’re not really sick. If someone feels sick, I'll take their temperature, and if they have a fever they go home. If they don't have a fever, I’ll try to get them to stay and keep trying,” Van Aken said.

Over Van Aken’s tenure here, she has accumulated quite a few stories, but one sticks out as her favorite.

“Several years ago, I sent a student home, cause they were really sick.

Then, two days later, in the newspaper, I read about them, and fifteen minutes after leaving my office, they had been caught shoplifting from Walmart. Then the next time that person came in and they were really sick, I said, 'Hm, how sick are you?' and they said, 'Oh, I'm really sick', then I said, 'Well, last time I sent you home I read about you in the newspaper, so I think you can stay here in the school this time,' and they were shocked and awed. They didn't think I would find out, but I did,” Van Aken said.

Enough about her job now; if you really want to prevent an awkward atmosphere whenever the inevitable ebola pandemic arrives, you’ll need to know the answer to cliche get to know you questions.

“I was born in Rockford Illinois. My husband and I met after we graduated. I went to Bradley and received my Bachelors degree in nursing and that’s my only educational degree I have right now,” Van Aken said.

How does she spend her free time? If you had her pegged for German speed-metal, you might be dissapointed.

“I love to swim. I’m at the Center about five-thirty in the morning four days a week to swim. Me and my husband have Springer spaniels, so we spend time raising them and use them for field trialing and hunting and general pets. I also love to sew, quilt and knit. [My one grandson] just gets so excited when I make him mittens. He has twenty-five different pairs of mittens to wear to school and he loves that. I’m looking forward to retirement, because then I can do all those things full time, but that’s a long time away,” Van Aken said.

Speaking of grandma things, her family is actually kind of adorable.

“My family is amazing. I’ve been married to my husband for thirty-six years and he is a professor of metallurgical engineering at the university. I have two children. I have a son, and he is married and has four children. They live in the Kansas City area. And I have a daughter, and she is an ER nurse in downtown Philadelphia, and her husband is an ER internal medicine resident, and hopefully they’ll move back here real soon cause we’re missing them very much. My son and his wife are both teachers at the same school; he teaches second grade and my daughter in-law-teaches fifth. I have two grandsons, who are five and three, and two granddaughters, who are fifteen and eleven,” Van Aken said.

Sometimes, she just likes to kick back, let her hair hang down, and watch professional sports but which ones?

“For professional sports, I really like the Cubs and I have a Cubbies shirt, because Rockford is where the Cubs primary farm team is located. I get in a lot of trouble whenever I wear it at school, but I wear my Cubbies shirt proudly,” Van Aken said.

There you have it. So maybe the next time you are in the nurses office due to your chronic case of deathitis, you could ask nicely for some mittens and maybe, just maybe, assuming you’re not too loyal to the local Major League Baseball team, have swimming listed as one of your hobbies on Facebook, are not planning on preventing her daughter from moving closer to Rolla, and are able to keep your kleptomania under control, she might make you some.

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Here Comes the Bride b y

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In the 1800s marriage at 17 or 18 would have been commonplace, but over the years as life spans have increased and priorities have shifted, the average age of marriage in the United States has risen to 29.0 for men and 26.6 for women, according to the 2013 census. With marriages happening later and later in life, getting married as a teenager is now considered to be somewhat of a taboo and young couples may struggle to be taken seriously. However, some couples still feel that saying “I do,” before they’re out of their teens is the right decision for them.

“We loved each other and it just seemed right. I can’t see myself with anybody else. It was early, yeah, but I don’t think that would have changed anything if we didn’t get married,” Avery Heimbaugh said.

Heimbaugh and her husband Brennan met when she was almost 15 and got married almost a year later when she was 16 and he was 19.

The couple soon had a daughter and although that was what initially got the couple thinking about marriage, they also considered her father’s battle with cancer in their decision making process. “ My dad got to walk me down the aisle before he passed away. It just happened, and I’m really happy it did. I don’t want to say it was a big part, but it was a factor. That was really nice, him getting to walk me down the aisle. It was, it was good,” Heimbaugh said.

“We want to prove the statistics wrong.”

18 year old Rebecca Maples ( formerly Pierce) got married on her one year anniversary to Thomas Maples just three months after her graduation. Rebecca enlisted in the Air Force, and her impending deployment is what prompted her walk down the aisle.

“Long distance relationships tend to be very difficult. However, the military tries to keep married couples and families together, so we decided to get married. That way, there’s a larger chance of us staying together, so long as I’m stationed stateside or in a friendly country,” Maples said.

Although Heimbaugh and Maples both got married under unique circumstances, McKayla Bixler, a senior at Rolla High School, says she got engaged to fiance Mason simply because it is the right decision for their relationship.

“We want to prove the statistics wrong. They say a man’s brain isn’t fully developed until age 24, but even so we think being together while finishing growing up will be strengthening for us and as a couple,” Bixler said.

While things may seem simple to the couples involved, the brides

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Photos provided by interviewees.

have often faced criticism from their family and friends for their decision. “[There was] definitely a lot of criticism. Both friends and family have thought I was too young to be getting married. Age hardly matters.

People much older than me are getting married and divorced all the time. It’s the relationship that matters and Thomas and I have a pretty good one,” Rebecca said.

Criticism and judgement aside, teenagers have hectic schedules trying to keep up with school, clubs, and jobs without set hours. Maples and Bixler both cited time management as the biggest challenge to their relationships.

“During the first part of our relationship, it was really hard to find time for us to be together. I had school and color guard and Thomas worked full time. We ended up having rather late nights just so we could spend a few hours together,” Maples said.

High School is a time for growing up, and while teenagers naturally mature at different rates, getting married as a teenager undoubtedly puts a person on a faster track to adult life than everyone else and creates a stark contrast between the bride and her peers.

“To be honest, I haven’t paid much attention to what they think or don’t think. Planning the wedding was stressful enough without worrying over how people felt. All I can say is that regardless of how they really felt, they’ve been supportive and that is what matters most to me,” Maples said.

Although friends may be outwardly supportive, being a married woman changes friendships as well as the relationship with the spouse.

“I mean, it’s not like we’re just boyfriend and girlfriend anymore.

We focus on each other more than our friends. We’re each other’s best friends now. Not that we don’t have time for everybody else, but we live with each other so we see each other more, we’re together more.

Also, his friends aren’t friends with my friends, so we don’t all hang out together because it’d be weird since they don’t know each other,” Heimbaugh said.

Although divorce may be technically an option, it is not on the table for the Heimbaughs who are firm in their belief that they made a mature choice that was the right decision for their lives.

“I think people judge the situation before they knew our reasoning and our views on why we got married. We actually thought things through before we decided. We talked about it with our families and with each other and we knew that when we got married it was forever; through the good and the bad. We accepted that it was going to be hard and that we were going to have a lot of growing to do; not only individually, but as a couple and as a family,” Heimbaugh said.

Political Arena It’s not always black and white

Yes!

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In 2012, 72.75 percent of murders were committed with a firearm.

Gun laws in the United States are too loosely defined, and although the second amendment of the Constitution prohibits the government from restricting guns, the ownership and handling of firearms should be more finely regulated by the government. Their role is not only to govern us, but also to protect us from potential dangers.

A controversial question that pops up is: do citizens need to own private firearms, and if they do, shouldn’t those weapons be registered? Gun registration laws exist in most states, but Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Vermont. In Missouri, the legal age to buy a gun without parental consent is 18 for long guns as well as hand guns. If the firearm is bought from a registered gun dealer, the weapon must be registered and a background check must be completed before the purchase can be finalized.

There are various reasons to own a gun, such as hunting, recreational purposes, government forces such as federal forces, as well as to protect private property. For every one hundred people that live in Missouri, there are 88.9 registered guns.

According to fbi.gov, “Before ringing up the sale, cashiers call in a check to the FBI or to other designated agencies to ensure that each customer does not have a criminal record or isn’t otherwise ineligible to make a purchase.”

The purchase will be denied if the consumer has been convicted of a crime and sentenced to more than a year in prison is a fugitive from justice, abuses controlled substances, has a mental defect, has been admitted into a mental institution, resides in the United States illegally, has been dishonorably discharged from the military, has renounced their United States citizenship, has had a restraining order placed against them or has been convicted of domestic violence.

The FBI site continues to explain that, “The National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, is all about saving lives and protecting people from harm—by not letting guns and explosives fall into the wrong hands.”

This enables the purchase of guns from private parties, who are not required to complete background checks or see the identification, simply because they claim not to sell firearms.

“They are quick and convenient and their anonymity will attract those at their premium, but these same attributes make them the principal option for a felon or other prohibited person,” Garen Wintemute, director of the Emergency Medical Department in Sacramento, CA, said in Private-Party Gun Sales, Regulation, and Public Safety, an article in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The undocumented gun traffic occurs in forty percent of all gun purchases. To stop the firearms falling into the wrong hands, all gun sales, private and federal, should be required to pass a background check as well as be registered.

According to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, “Firearm registration laws create comprehensive records of firearm ownership, which include a full description of each firearm and identify the owner.”

The common goal is to protect oneself and the community that one lives in with or without guns. The federal regulations such as the background check and gun registration are prohibited from sharing private information other than within the FBI, according to the Privacy Act of 1974. These safety measures are still far from unconstitutional.

“Our mission is to prevent terrorism, reduce violent crime and protect the public. With respect to firearms, ATF works to take armed, violent offenders off the streets and to ensure criminals and other prohibited persons do not possess firearms,” Carl J. Truscott the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said in the letter from the director in the Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide.

Does gun registration keep us safe?

No!

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In today’s culture, guns are often very demonized. With anti-gun culture and groups who support regulation, America is doomed. The right to bear arms was such a fundamental right that the founding fathers found it important enough to be in the Bill of Rights. Guns, whether you like them or not, are here to stay. The worst thing about the gun culture we live in today is people are so dead set on getting guns off the street and out of law abiding citizens hands that they would use means that wouldn’t work effectively. Some are so radical that they think that all guns need to be seized by the federal government. Some are almost reasonable in suggesting that all guns be registered. That doesn’t need to happen as 1.) It will do nothing to prevent crime or shootings, 2.) It is a huge overreach of government control and finally, 3.) registration leads to confiscation.

A gun is a gun, it doesn’t matter if it’s registered or not. In the same breath, an unregistered gun can commit a crime the same as an registered one. In Boston, Cleveland, and California, registration of so called “assault weapons” is required by law. Their compliance rate? Not even 1 percent. Even when registration is required, it is not effective. According to a Congressional Research Committee, there are an estimated 310 million guns in the United States. The FBI estimates that 250-270 million of these are registered. That leaves approximately 40-60 million unregistered. It’s also very interesting to note that 78 percent of gun related crimes were committed with unregistered guns.

Not even 1 percent of crimes committed with firearms are by legal gun owners with registered guns. This just goes to show that gun registration is an ineffective tool.

The government was not intended to babysit the people of America. It was intended to protect the rights that it was founded upon. One of these rights is the fundamental right to bear arms. By passing laws that limit and regulate sales, the federal government is un dermining one of its original intentions.

With every law passed that puts restrictions and regulations on guns, the government is further distancing itself from its brilliant founding fathers intentions, but more importantly from the people who are the ones that it is working for.

While I don’t like Franklin D. Roosevelt as a president, I do like his quote on government responsibility that says “I never forget that I live in a house owned by all the American people and that I have been given their trust.” With this in mind, the citizens should be the one who decide what laws and regulations should be placed upon them. According to a poll CNN took in 2011, 49 percent of Americans thought that protecting gun rights was important. Americans are for protecting their rights, rather than having them taken away. Therefore, the U.S. government should not be doing anything to implement stricter gun registration laws. The government was made to ensure rights to people, not slowly regulate them away, precisely what extensive gun regulation would do.

My final point many believe to be a conspiracy theory. Registration, in fact, does lead to confiscation. Let’s use progressive Canada for example. The country implemented a gun registration system in which people had to enter all long guns (rifles, shotguns, ARs). In 2011, a gun that resembled an AK, but shot a .22 caliber bullet, instead of the bigger 7.62x 39 that an AK usually shoots, was deemed illegal. A letter was sent to all the owners of that gun that read, “You are required by law to return your firearm registration certificates, without delay, either by mail to the address shown in the top left corner of this page or in person to a peace officer or firearms officers. You have 30 days to deliver your firearms to a peace officer, firearms officer of Chief Firearms Officer or to otherwise lawfully dispose of them,” and was sent by the Canadian Firearms Center. This is just one example of many of registration leading to confinstaction.

There are 600 Federal gun laws on the books. To me, that is 600 too many. Sure, guns have evolved with technology, but does that warrant a need to regulate them into the dirt? No. Gun registration does not need to be in effect, as it has relatively no effect on crime. Registration is a useless tool to curb gun violence.

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Athlete of the Month b y

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Name: Elliotte Bourne Grade: Junior Sport: Volleyball Position: Outside Hitter and Middle Back Favorite part of playing volleyball: “Hanging out with my teammates and improving my skills.”

Hardest part of volleyball: “Having good communication on and off the court. Without communication, your team does not work well together, and if your team doesn’t play well, you lose.”

Hopes for her team: “To win districts and earn a state title.”

Other activities she is interested in: “Volleyball takes up a lot of my time, so I do not have a lot of free time. But, when I have time, I play the piano.”

Life after high school: “I hope to play volleyball in college because it’s something I love to do, and if I could get a scholarship to help pay for college that would be even better.”

906 N. Cedar St. Rolla, MO. (573) 368-0999 Fax: 368-2777 e-mail: sport@fidnet.com

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Elliotte goes for a ball in the Rolla vs Hickman game. Photo courtesy of Lorie Bourne.

Why she plays: “I love playing volleyball, its one of my favorite things to do.”

Proudest moment: “When I went and played with High Impact,17’s team at the National Qualifier in Kansas City because I was playing up an age level, and it was a National Qualifier. There would be college coaches there, It was such an amazing experience, and I am glad that I had a part in it.”

4017 Hypoint Blvd.

Rolla, MO 65401 Phone:(573) 364-4833

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Staff Writer This column’s purpose is to not rant on about my opinion in a totally lame way. I am not going to stand on my soapbox saying everyone else is wrong, but me. I am using this space to provide a new outlook of different issues that affect high school kids, like myself. I do, however, promise some silliness to lighten up the seriousness at the end.

Imagine this: You are scrolling through Instagram after school one day and something catches your eye. You scroll back up through the normal selfies and Man Crush Mondays to find whatever it was that stood out. To your horror, the picture that caught your eye was your overweight Aunt Sally with her dress stuck in the seat of her panty hose. A bunch of different thoughts and emotions run through you.

Why is this on here? How awful! Oh, Aunt Sally, you are pretty strange.

But who did this? Much to your anger, it was a classmate, publicly humiliating someone you care about.

This is something that happens to people. I had an experience like this. Only it was not my Aunt Sally with her dress tucked in her panty hose. It was someone in my family, whom we will call Cousin Joe for privacy. Cousin Joe started substance abuse when he was about our age and still has not broken the habit decades later. Cousin Joe is not by any means dangerous. He is actually very kind. He is, however, pretty messed up both physically and mentally from all the choices he has made throughout his life.

I care about my Cousin Joe. He is a part of my family. That is why I was pretty angry when I was shown a video of him at the grocery store, poking fun at him. After the anger had left, I felt incredibly hurt. I watched the video a couple times, feeling let down at the lack of compassion shown by my classmates. I just kept thinking about how incredibly careless and immature it was.

Regardless of the way this made me feel, it did make me realize something very important: despite the way someone looks or acts, they have someone who loves them.

Although it was humorous to see that lady in the grocery store, bending over with her dress tucked in her tights- that is someone’s Aunt Sally. Even if they know that their Aunt Sally is a little strange, it hurts to see them publicly humiliated online by a careless classmate who thought it was funny. My point is, we need to think before we post, because even the weirdest people at Wal-Mart have someone at home who loves them.

Now, for the silliness I promised. Cousin Joe once said, “Money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you a big F’ing boat to park next to it.”

Show-Me College Showcase b y

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It’s never too early to start hunting for that perfect college. While some people may be thinking about going out of state, others may just want to be close to home. That’s where I come in. I will showcase a different small college in Missouri in every issue.

Located roughly two hours from our cozy town is Point Lookout, Missouri. Just a few minutes outside of Branson, this small town is home to The College of the Ozarks. The largest appeal to this college, is that the tuition is absolutely nothing. Thats right! Zero. Zip. Zilch. Now, you may be asking, “ Wait what’s the catch?” Well, here it is. Instead of taking out student loans, they give students an on campus job. You are required to work fifteen hours a week and two forty hour weeks each year.

While this is definitely an attractive idea, some may be wondering what this college specializes in. C of O is primarily a christian school.

They offer Majors in anything from Art to Nursing. Students can study Criminal Justice on the expansive lawns or ponder Music Education while looking out over the river. They can also cheer on your lady bobcats at a home volleyball game or get their school spirit going with the cheerleading squad. There’s a spot for anybody at this charming college! It truly lives up to its nickname, “Hard Work University.” If a student is willing to work hard and strive for their future, this may be the place for them.

This college is definitely one of a kind and should not be overlooked when high schoolers are out searching for that “not too close, yet not too far away” college. For further information, visit their website at www.cofo.edu.

Pictures to the right are of the campus. On top is The Lyon Memorial Library.

In the middle is the cafeteria/high school. The highschool is on the third floor and the cafeteria is on the second. Pictured on the bottom is the campus post office.

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@rhsechonews #RoMoBulldogs Rolla High School ECHO 20 sports feature