Eagan IndependentVolume 6, Issue 6 Eagan High School | 4185 Braddock Trail | Eagan, MN 55123 March 8, 2011

Triple “A” nominations go to Frankenfeld, Hasslinger

Numbers add up to StateJohnson ranks fourth as math team heads to state tourney

By Alanna ThelenNews Writer

Each year, two seniors from Eagan are nominated for the Triple “A” Award, spon-sored by the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) to recognize students’ out-standing participation in the areas of art, academics, and athletics.

This year, seniors Dan Frankenfeld and Jessica Has-slinger are the nominees from EHS. Throughout the state, 2 students may be nominated from each school – one girl and one boy. The MSHSL then chooses two of the nominees from each section for consid-eration for the state awards. The four recipients of the award are a girl and a boy from both a Class A and a Class AA school.

The selection process starts with either a nomi-nation from a teacher or a self-nomination. A committee at the school then reviews the applications, looking at the student’s grades and co-cur-ricular activities. From there, the final nominees are chosen. “Generally in the Triple “A”

award you have to have a balance of those three things [arts, academics, athletics], so we tend to see that the stu-dents that win the award are active in many different areas and tend to be pretty well rounded kids,” said Athletic Director Mrs. Setter, the orga-nizer of the Triple “A” Award at Eagan.

The male nominee, Dan Frankenfeld, has been involved in numerous ath-letic and fine arts activities throughout his high school career, including football, cross country, and track, as well as Drumline, Jazz band, theater production pit orches-tras, and many other local community and honor bands. “It’s a lot of scheduling,” explains Frankenfeld about juggling his busy schedule. “It gets pretty hectic. I’ve had 16-hour school days before where I showed up at 7 and left at 11. You need to manage your time well.”

Frankenfeld’s record of success speaks for itself. He was also one of the recipients of the Excel award last year, which honors juniors who, according to the Minnesota

State High School League, are for students “active in school activities, who show leadership qualities, and who are model citizens.” About the Triple “A” nomination he says, “I really appreciate it. It feels good because I’ve put a significant amount of work into high school, so it’s a good way to be recognized.” Jessica Hasslinger is equally fitting for the nomination, with an activities resume that boasts debate, speech, soccer, lacrosse, and student ambas-sador, among other activi-

By Laurel ScottNews Writer

Following a success-ful season, the EHS math team has received an official invitation to participate in the state tournament, an honor reserved for the highest-performing math teams in the state.

Out of the eight schools in the South Suburban divi-sion, Eagan came in sec-ond place this sea-son, behind top-seed Eden Prairie.

“They take the top team from each division,” said coach Mrs. Blundell. “But sometimes, even if we aren’t on top, our scores are higher than some of the top teams from other divisions.” Added Mrs. Reitveld, “Our division sometimes sends our top three or four [teams] because the teams in our division score so high in state.”

At each of the meets dur-ing regular season, the math team members participated in both individual tests as well as a group tests taken collec-tively by eight team members. Their scores on the group tests are what got the team to state, but the individual tests earned special honors for par-ticular high-scoring members.

Senior math team mem-ber Lars Johnson says, “I was first place in [our] division; also, across the whole state, I’m fourth. After the season tournament they bring the top fifty kids to go to state as indi-viduals, and roughly the top twenty-five teams.” Johnson hopes that he’ll perform his best at the state tournament.

Eagan’s math team has had a long history of impres-sive performances at meets, but this year is no less than exceptional. Mrs. Rietveld attributes the team’s success to its ability to work together at meets. “I think I can say it’s truly been a team effort,” she said. “Everyone’s had a chance to have their points count at a tournament; it’s not just the same eight kids every meet. It really says a lot about the team.”

The state tournament will be held on March 14 at South St. Paul High School.

Photo by Genevieve Stivers- BiscusoNominees Dan Frankenfeld and Jessica Hasslinger pause for a hallway snapshot.

Elemental Encore! lights up stageBy Laura HarfordNews Writer

As of last week, Encore! 2011: The Elements has com-pleted its run of five perfor-mances on the Eagan stage. The cast’s debut weekend kicked off with performances Friday, February 25 and Satur-day, February 26. This year’s Encore theme of the elements features the four classical ele-ments of earth, air, wind and fire. The opening scene was “Brother Blood” performed by the full company with soloists Marc Boubelik, Lisa Christianson, and Evan Guet-zlaff. Dancers included Keddy Conocchioli, Tom Rahman, and Maddie Sachs.

The next act delved right into the theme of air, with seven exciting numbers from the cast. The very last, and most memorable, song of this section was “Defying Grav-ity” from the musical Wicked, performed by the full compa-ny with soloist Molly Norman and featured dancers. The next performance featured the EHS Jazz Band with junior Jack Forsman on the alto sax, performing “Fly Me To the Moon.”

Next was the core ele-ment, Earth. To start this section off, Encore performed “I Feel the Earth Move,” with soloists Britta Skaar and Brett Studer on guitar. Encore has so much variety from Bal-

let, Tap, Jazz, and singing and dancing. Solely men or women, or a mix of men and women performed songs. The Earth element contained songs about dust, gardens, mountains, and stars. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and the Theme from “Six Feet Under” was also performed along with the Earth Song to complete the Earth element. Following was a 15-minute intermission in between Earth and the upcoming element of Fire.

Fire contained the very popular Disco Inferno and others such as Burning Down the House and Ain’t No Sunshine. Disco Inferno was

performed by the full compa-ny with soloist Robert Knapp and featured dancers. To end the show the final element of the four was water.

Water involved many songs including “Stormy Weather,” “Rainy Days,” and Monday - Beyond the Sea with soloist Pearce Olson.

Last was the finale piece, Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine, which included a full perfor-mance by the EHS Jazz Band, the full company, and all dancers.

Although Encore has already finished its full week of performances, DVDs of the live show can still be pur-chased.

Photo by Michelle Metcalfe(Left to right): Mark Boubelik, Lucas Petersen, Pearce Olson, Bailey Richardson, Courtney King and Kelley Lokensgard sing to “Come in From the Rain.”

Photo by Michelle MetcalfeSoloist Alissa Anker, along with back ups Molly Norman and Mad-die Sachs, belt “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”

Photo by Michelle MetcalfeSenior Lars Johnson

ties. Hasslinger confirms her appreciation about the honor that the award has brought. “It’s sort of a validation. It’s really nice to be nominated because I’ve done all these activities and kept up my aca-demics and done the athletics. It’s nice to know it’s being recognized.”

If either student is the final award recipient, they will be honored at the Boys’ State Basketball Tournament in March, where they will receive a $1000 scholarship.

EdITorIalEagan Independent | Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The Staff

Editor in Chief Joe Stelman

NewsMayzong Lee - EditorAnnika GrasslLaura HarfordEllie MehrLaurel ScottAlanna Thelen

FeaturesCameron VanDyke - EditorGrace AblanAbby JohnsonSeth LynchMatt NovitzkiPearce OlsonShelley SibleyTwie Souvannavong

SportsMolly Martinez - EditorBailey HennenKenzie MarklandTaylor McKenzie

Photography Michelle Metcalfe - EditorHaley DavisRachel LarsonErica MelroeGenevieve Stivers-Biscuso

AdviserSara Stensaas

The Eagan Independent is a monthly publication produced by Eagan High School students from all grade levels in a cocurricular setting.

We are committed to provid-ing a limited open forum within the community of Eagan High School - one in which opinions, discussion and input are always wel-comed and encouraged.

Comments, questions, thoughts and ideas may be addressed to:

Eagan Independent4185 Braddock TrailEagan, MN 55123

or e-mailed to:eaganindependent@gmail.com

Letters to the editor must be signed by the author and be 500 words or less. Letters to the editor submitted that are more than 500 words may be edited by the staff. Letters may also require editing if they contain false or libelous statements.

Editorial policies and content decisions are made by the editorial board. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the writer and/or the Eagan In-dependent staff and are not necesssarily the opinons of the adviser, administration, students, faculty or Indepen-dent School District 196.

Editorial Policy

By Joe StelmanEditor in Chief

After nearly four years at EHS, I have to say that I wholeheartedly approve of the quality of education I’ve received. Nonetheless, the four years have not been without a few complaints, and I’ve often found myself scratching my head at certain school and teacher regula-tions. The least of which is a restrictive campus atmo-sphere. I won’t try to delve into a manifesto for an open campus. But I do ask some questions, like, is there a point to teachers marking students tardy even before they have officially started class? And should 17 and 18-year-olds still be held accountable to request bathroom passes of their teachers? I think a dif-ferent approach may be more beneficial to students’ needs, trust, and maturity. The issue of tardies is one that I think needs revisiting. While many teachers have lenient tardy policies, still others mark tardies for sense-less reasons. Case in point: if a student walks into class a minute late, before the teacher has begun to conduct class,

I don’t see grounds to mark a tardy. Assigning tardies is meant for students who habitually skip out on class, missing vital information; the former example unnecessar-ily punishes a student. Even when students are habitually tardy, I don’t think the ulti-mate consequence of deten-tion is the answer. From my experience, detention does not have a remedial effect on students, and pointless punishments seem to only de-incentivize student desire to learn, and takes away valuable time. Ultimately, if students miss class time, it is their responsibility to make it up. Falling behind is punish-ment enough, but it’s the student’s choice to make. And lastly, what about the passes we always need to step foot into the hallways during class, whether to run to our locker or go to the bathroom? I think teachers simply need to place more trust on this issue with the students, and use their discretion if it really happens to be a problem. We can’t show that it necessarily “disrupts” learning, and like I mentioned, students can take control of what they missed. But for a school policy that

says leaving the classroom without the teacher’s permis-sion is “insubordination” – even when some students are legal adults – I think some-thing needs changing. But while certain policies and procedures create unnec-essary hardships for students who aren’t culpable of any wrongdoing, still others coddle students into a false sense of security. One of the biggest classroom coddlers, I believe, is extra credit. Now, I know that students are likely to object to any proposal that would slash their ability for a grade boost, but I believe extra credit actually hin-ders more than helps. When boundless extra credit oppor-tunities are available, students don’t focus on the material they are supposed to learn. Teachers make a point of pre-paring us for college academ-ics and the adult world. But extra credit gives us a sense of safety we won’t have in either of those areas, and instead cultivates a lazy approach to learning. Without extra credit, students would face the real task of learning material to heart, one that I believe is undeniably more beneficial. With these proposals,

I’m not trying to make the atmosphere of the school any less controlled or any more difficult for students. I simply believe that students should have the ability to independently take charge of their own needs (yes, even if it is as simple as going to the bathroom), and shouldn’t be met with pointless restrictions in achieving them. At the same time, however, I believe this freedom comes with the responsibility of students to take charge of learning class-room material, and find the incentive to actually learn it. Students would benefit from taking a more active stance in their own choices. Obviously, we should look at the administration’s view on the matter too. Campus security must be taken into consideration, and the chief goal is administering educa-tion in an orderly and safe manner. But if we are truly going to be taught to act and think like adults, we should also be treated as such. In that case, it’s time to air out needless policies and restric-tions, and maybe let in a fresh sense of more adult freedom – as well as responsibility – to students who could use it.

By Cameron VanDykeFeatures Edtior

Two years ago, Flex Days were initiated at Eagan for the purposes of helping students who are struggling in their classes to get some extra help, and to offer extension activi-ties for students who wanted to learn more about a given topic. Having two days of lon-ger class periods and the extra “CAT Time,” was supposed to encourage students to go to remediation sessions, catch up on missing work or tests, and ask questions on topics they didn’t understand. Enforcing Flex Days last year was experimental, but conversations among students and teachers have come up regarding whether or not we should keep these days twice each trimester. A couple of weeks ago, my A.P. Language class had a long discussion about the pros and cons of Flex Days, as well as some controversies regarding CAT time. Having just completed our proposal essays it was a chance to debate a timely topic and use the skills we’d just learned. We compiled a list of concerns, and proposed some alternative options to remediation time. Students who favor Flex Days believe it is nice to have longer class periods, because

there are fewer classes in a single day and there is more time to do homework, con-sidering students do not have the same classes the next day. They believe that longer class periods give teachers more time to thoroughly explain lessons, and they give stu-dents more opportunity to ask questions and get things done in class, again resulting in less homework. One common complaint is that some teachers don’t ef-fectively utilize block periods. They are accustomed to filling up approximately 45 minutes of class time, so when they are given twice that amount, they end up giving work time for the last 30 minutes or so. Though there are benefi-cial factors of Flex Days and CAT time, a large number of students, including myself, have become frustrated with these days, and question how necessary they really are. If the purpose of Flex Days is to help the ten percent of students who are not keeping up in their classes, why do we compromise the time of 2000 other students? More so than the Flex Days as a whole, it is the 90 minutes of CAT time that seem to cause the most controversy. First of all, many students who are referred to go to remediation don’t

go, whether it be because they simply skip CAT time altogether or because they need remediation for several classes and are only able to pick one for the scheduled block period. It is overwhelm-ing and stressful for the students who are not able to attend one class’s remediation in exchange for another. My class decided that for those who do need remedia-tion, there are several alterna-tive options to having CAT time. One option is to have PAWS for an extended time once a week or once a month. This time could be used as a study hall for students that feel they are managing their classes well, and as a time for students to get help from teachers if they feel they are struggling. However, to keep it organized, students would need to sign up to meet with teachers beforehand rather than having unorganized mobs of kids just showing up in a classroom. Another alter-native is to limit remediation to a scheduled time before or after school, with guidelines similar to detention. Another common com-plaint is that CAT time is too restrictive. Students reported that last year, enrichment time was fun because students got to choose the enrichment activity they attended. Now,

many teachers require that their students go to mandato-ry CAT time sessions for their class; these are sometimes even used as assignments that are put into the grade book for points, and students must make up these activities if they miss CAT time. Likewise, freshmen rarely get to choose enrichment options because they are required to go to sev-eral LINK activities through-out the year. Doing this takes away students’ freedom of picking a “fun” enrichment activity for CAT time. All in all, students’ CAT time is be-ing eaten away by the pres-sure of other activities, when last year, it was more “fun.” I personally think Flex Days go by extremely slowly, but that is mainly because I am not used to the longer class periods. I believe that the idea of CAT time has good intentions, but the original purpose of it is fading, and it is beginning to cause more problems and stress for stu-dents than necessary. There are other ways to remediate students that need it, but only if those particular students are willing to take the initia-tive to get help. Flex days will definitely remain in effect for the rest of this year, but we have yet to see if there are any future changes.

School rules, procedures need revision

CAT time alternative options

Eagan Independent | Tuesday, March 8, 2011 3

One Act “stars” at StateAnnika GrasslNews Writer

On Friday, February 11, Eagan High School’s One Act play cast performed their 30-minute cut of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at the State One Act play festival at the O’Shaughnessy Theater of St. Catherine’s University in St. Paul. The Minnesota State High School League sponsors the festival.

“The goal is to earn a star performance from the three judges. We earned this honor along with 4 other schools. Out of a total of 8, that was pretty good,” said Mrs. Owzarek, the director of this year’s One Act play.

However, the biggest challenge, as Owzarek explains, was getting there. The Eagan cast had to beat out four other schools at the section competition at Tartan High School on February 2 in order to advance to the state festival. Though Eagan suc-cessfully advanced beyond sections, they were also met with challenges at the state performance. A snow bank blocked the loading dock at the festival, so the tech crew

had to disassemble the set and then re – assemble it once they got into the auditorium.

“Luckily out tech crew was very handy and quick,” said Owzarek. “There is also the challenge of learning the staging of new curtains, lights, etc. in the ten minutes that you are allowed to set up. It was all a little scary but we did well.”

Mrs. Owzarek said that she was very pleased with how students reacted to the play at the English-class previews in the week before the state festival. There were many positive comments about the performance, in-cluding how enthralling the characters and plot were to watch, she explained. “I was really excited to see so much support for the arts; I know the cast and crew appreciated it a lot,” remarked Owzarek.

This year’s State One Act Festival performance repre-sented Eagan’s 16th ‘starred performance’ out of 17 total appearances. And like the others, this performance proved to be a testimony to the Eagan cast ensemble’s persistent ability to engage and enthrall an audience.

Chess Team gears for state tournamentMayzong LeeNews Editor

An after school activity that simply requires brain power and continual practice, the Eagan High School Chess Team has been giving their best performance at every state competition and tourna-ment thus far. Senior captains Johan Hed-blom and Dan Erickson have helped Eagan rake in many key wins.

The team’s regular sea-son was in the fall,and the competitors achieved a 4-6 game score. The decision on whether a team wins or loses is based on the team’s top five players, whose game scores are the only ones taken into account. However, if there happens to be a tie, the sixth player’s score is the deciding factor. A player’s

opponent is chosen based on his or her standing position on the team; for example, the best player will play against the opposing team’s best player.

If students are inter-ested in joining, there is an interest meeting every fall at

the beginning of the school year. And though there are many students who come to the meeting, only around 15 will stay throughout the year because of other activity interference, such as speech or

debate.As advisor Ms. Hansen

explains, “you just work on the game to be better than your opponent and you can put time outside of school to improve.” The team practices every Thursday and play against each other as oppo-

nents, in ad-dition players can also play online with other people who may be in a dif-ferent country.

The South Sub-

urban Conference is to be held on Saturday, March 12, followed by the state tourna-ment in April. The tourna-ment is open to the public and anyone who wishes to compete.

Speech students boast season of suc-cess, prepare for National Qualifiers

Ellie MehrNews Writer

As many of us know, the Eagan High School speech team tends to be a very popu-lar thing. Many people in all grades try out and the stu-dents that are on it are proud to be a part of it.

The speech team is now halfway through its season, and despite a third of the team being comprised en-tirely of new members, it’s a season that has been met with phenomenal success.

At this point in the sea-son, the team has garnered first place in team sweep-stakes at three out of four instate tournaments, placing second only to Apple Valley at the Bloomington Jefferson tournament. The season has also been full of many events.

According to senior Christina Johnson, “Eagan speech has had numerous highlights at each tournament with contributions from all its members- we are espe-cially excited when an Eagan Speech member is awarded category champion. Every-one on the team knows this to be the most noteworthy and electrifying experience.” The team as a whole thrives on much more then taking first and winning awards at tournaments.

The speech team is much

more then a group of people who enjoy public speaking. They are a group of people that are learning from expe-riences, making memories and having a great time. Says Johnson, who has been on the team since freshman year when everyone on her debate team was trying out, “The team has cemented my confidence and love for public speaking. I learned how to shake off mistakes and leave all my nerves behind. I am en-tirely energized and empow-ered when there is an audi-ence listening.” According to Emerald Egwim, a freshman, “My favorite speech memory so far would have to be all the bonding that went on in our hotel lobby at our first speech tournament in Marshall, MN.” And as for her hopes for her future on the team she says, “I’m looking forward to becoming speaker and just learning and growing as a performer. [I also] am looking forward to is creating more memories with the Eagan High School Speech Team.”

The Eagan Speech team, full of members that joined for many different reasons, is having a great season full of accomplishments. How-ever, their season is not over yet and they will continue to make new accomplishments and strive for new goals ev-eryday and at every meet.

Medallion Hunt ends, students reflectAnnika GrasslNews Writer

On Wednesday, February 9, as EHS students partook in Winter Blast Week’s clas-sic Polar Bear bingo during PAWS, junior Genesis Agus-tin had another reason to cel-ebrate: he had found the cov-eted medallion, thus ending the third annual medallion hunt. Agustin flashed the medallion before the cameras that broadcast stu-dents running down the main hallway to collect their bingo prizes. Like most other stu-dents interested in the search, he simply used other people’s ideas but just thought about it more thoroughly. He also admits “I was just bored and I figured I have all the time in the world so I might as well go and look for it.” How-ever, fellow medallion hunter Robert Knapp says, “I looked everywhere and was angry I couldn’t find it even though I followed all of the clues to a T. I didn’t even go to school for five days to devote my time to searching.” Knapp also believes that the thrill of

the hunt comes from the fact that “the medallion is always in a different place, and you never know where it will be.”

Some pieces of advice from these two medallion-hunt-ing enthusiasts include thinking outside the box and taking a group approach to searching so that no minor detail is missed.

In the words of Agustin, “I was laughing with joy. I felt like I owned the school for a day!”

Photo by Rachel LarsonOne of the five leading players on the team sophomore Charlie Goshey (right) plays against teammate Trevor Zarecki

Staff PhotoProud winner Genesis Agustin holds the medallion and takes a picture in the area where it was found

Staff PhotoThe medallion was put in a can to protect it from any damage

“I felt like I owned

the school for a day!”

FEaTurESEagan Independent | Tuesday March 8, 2011

AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT...

• 650,000 = the number of people expected to attend the five-day Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

• $35 million = Average income of sales for lime-green chrysanthemum flowers dur-ing this holiday.

• 2.5 billion & 40.7 billion = Pounds of cabbage and corned beef produced in the United States in 2008. The combination of the two serves as the most popular dish for St. Patrick’s Day.

• 40 pounds = The amount of green dye that is annu-ally poured into The Chicago River in honor of the holiday. • 98 feet = Length of the World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which has been held in Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas for the past eight years.

• 107,000 DKK = Money raised since 2007 for the St. Patrick’s Day Three-Legged Charity Race in Copenhagen, Denmark. (107,000 DKK=$19, 751.53 US dollars).

• 2 million = Number of people lining the streets of New York City on March 17th for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. This has been noted to be one of the largest St. Patrick’s Day parades in the world.

• 12 = Amount of city blocks painted green by alumni at the University of Missouri Rolla before the annual pa-rade takes place.

St. Patrick’s

Day

Image courtesy of moon.com

Image courtesy of instructables.com

Abby JohnsonFeatures Writer

Luck: the secret behind good oddsMatt NovitzkiFeatures Writer

Violet JessopImage courtesy of findagrave.com

Image courtesy of casinog-amblingrules.com

It is fair to say that the word “luck” means some-thing different to everyone. While some may think that luck is finding a penny on the ground or picking a four-leaf clover, others may believe that carrying a rabbit’s foot around with them will bring them good fortune. Many adults would say that win-ning the lottery would be the luckiest situation to ever be in, but what does luck mean to high school students? For high school students, being lucky usu-ally has something to do with grades or schoolwork. When asked what luck meant to her as a high school student, junior Keegan Leddy replied, “Luck is when you walk into class the day of a test and find out you have a substitute teacher.” Similarly, junior Joel Lynch said that luck is, “Not failing an honors math test!” Other common responses when Eagan High School stu-dents were asked what luck meant to them was randomly guessing the correct answer on a test, or a snow day in District 196. Some students’

responses were not linked to school life. Freshman Adam Stromme stated that, “For guys, when a girl asks you out it’s pretty lucky.” Junior Mag-gie Pescheret believes that luck is, “Having the opportu-nity to be a part of something that you never thought you’d

What does “luck” mean to high schoolers?By Grace AblanFeatures Writer

According to Diction-ary.com, luck is “the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person’s life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities.” Unfortunately, for most of us seeking good fortune with hopes to win the lottery or drawing good cards in a poker game, the idea of luck isn’t as simple as one sen-tence. Some people seem to consistently find it, some are born with it, and some seem to make it happen on their own. Depending on one’s perspective, Violet Jessop was either the luckiest woman ever or a walking curse to anyone on a boat. Violet was an ocean liner stewardess who survived the disastrous sinkings of the RMS Olym-pic, HMHS Britannic, as well as the famous RMS Titanic. While it could be argued she was a walking target for ice-

bergs and other ship-sinking entities, clearly Jessop had some good luck as she ended up living until age eighty-three, passing away from something not quite as epic as a sinking ship – congestive heart failure. Some people’s “luck” isn’t as bittersweet as Violet’s. Seguro Ndabene from Cal-gary, Canada, has collected more than two million dollars from winning the jackpot on four different lotteries. But while Ndabene obviously has some luck, he says that he does buy hundreds of lottery tickets a week. While people have all different types of luck, it’s ap-parent that a common theme for lucky people is putting themselves in the position to find that good fortune in the first place. Like Ndabene, people with extraordinary luck definitely have been working hard at attaining

their goal for quite awhile. According to the “Seven Simple Secrets of Naturally Lucky People,” lucky people don’t necessarily even believe in luck and tend to be good at find-ing opportunities in problems. So whether one has been “lucky” enough to be a passenger on three sunken ships, won the lottery four times, or taken it upon oneself to tackle his or her goals and finding luck on the way, there’s a good chance that there was a lot more to it than get-ting a good hand of cards.

have the chance to try.” The word luck has many different connotations. For high school students, luck is usually not the cliché carrying around of good luck charms or to avoid stepping on the sidewalk crack. Luck is all about random chance

Sophomore Austin Weber, freshman Ed Olson, and senior Andrzej Radke hang their heads in sadness as they agree that it is unlucky that the heaviest snowfalls of the year have all come on weekends - giving District 196 no opportunities for snow days.

situations that usually don’t occur.

Staff photo

Eagan Independent | Tuesday, March 8, 2011 5In the Clubs

French Club honors Mardi Gras with Food & Fest

Although the unre-strained revelry of the annual Mardi Gras parade is present-ly unfolding in New Orleans, the French Club produced its own take on the yearly festivity two weeks early, on February 22.

The early celebration, explains French Club advisor Ms. Retka, was due to Mardi Gras’s unfortunate calendar placement the day before this trimester’s final exams. Nonetheless, the early timing didn’t make it any less genu-ine for the French students who annually flock to what turns out to be French Club’s biggest celebration of the year.

“It’s definitely the biggest event of the year,” said senior club member Salwa Janjua. “There’s people here you don’t usually see come to the meetings.”

The French Club’s modest Mardi Gras bash took place in the Student Commons after school on February 22, featur-ing the crafts of mask-making and beads, music, games, and of course, the famous pastry crepes that keep students coming back.

“Crepes are my favorite thing about coming,” said junior Alissa Anker.

The crepe – which is a very thin pancake made of wheat flour and filled with any sort of delectable filling – was indeed the centerpiece of the party. Advisors Ms. Retka and Ms. Deyo stayed busy assisting crowds of students lining up to stir their batter at each of the five crepe-makers offered by Ms. Retka. Once the crepes were ready to eat, students could fill them with an array of savory fillings,

including cherries, caramel, whipped cream, and Nutella chocolate.

After a crepe or two, most students continued the festivity by making a mask, using the available supplies of feathers, beads, sequins, markers and strings.

As Ms. Deyo explains, masquerade is an important facet of Mardi Gras tradition. “It’s about disguising your-self…like Halloween here,” she explains. As the New Or-leans tradition would have it, it’s the only day that one can be truly free of their identity.

The Mardi Gras festival stems from the larger Catholic tradition of Carnival Season that takes place in the weeks leading up to the 40-day fast-ing period of Lent. According-ly, participants enjoy a period of uninhibited celebration before the period of penance that ends on Easter Sunday of the Christian calendar. Today’s most popular Mardi Gras parties are the world-renowned New Orleans festival (the biggest), as well as a few notable celebrations in southern France. Among the music, the masks, and the much-coveted crepes, French Club students encapsulated a little bit of this French flair in the otherwise bland setting of the Student Commons.

As big as the Mardi Gras hype is its importance in the French Club’s calendar year, the high point, as Ms. Retka explains. Though the climax of its year ended with the coveted Mardi Gras party, the French Club still has big plans in toe, including a spring game day and an end-of-the-year party in May.

Joe StelmanEditor in Chief

Word in the HallsWhere are you going for Spring Break?

“I was going to go to Hawaii, but my dad canceled our plans. So instead I am staying at home and doing nothing.”- Emma Randolph (11)

“I might drive up to Duluth for a couple of nights with some friends. I will also be going to the Rose-bowl Speech Tourna-ment!” - Connor Swanson (11)

“ I will be sleeping in for once, because Encore and speech are over. And I will hopefully be enjoy-ing the nice weath-er!”- Thomas Rahman (11)

“I am probably go-ing to Florida with my family. Either that or staying home and relaxing.”- Ryan Lowder (9)

Photos and Interviews By Grace Ablan

Features Writer

Connor Swanson

Emma Randolph

Ryan Lowder

Thomas Rahman

Gambling and the “Hot Hand”: What 18-year-olds say about their luck in casinos

“The fun of it is the risk. I won two black-jacks in a row once...I think when you’re lucky, you’re lucky for a while but then it stops.”

“There’s always a certain table where everyone’s winning and where every-one is losing.”

“I believe that strategy is the best way to win....[but] I’ve experienced a hot table when you get on a streak and you feel like you can’t lose.”

Ben SicoliMichaela Banz Mark SchmeisserBrady Anderson

Is it in your blood to donate?

Help give to the annual EHS Blood Drive, sponsored by the American Red Cross.

When: Friday, March 18 7:30-11:30 am Where: Auxiliary Gym Contact: Ms. Setter

“It’s definitely sometimes all in the cards. My first time I won $20, but the second time I lost $20 in six hands.”

By Joe StelmanEditor in Chief

Eagan Independent | Tuesday, March 8, 20116TWENTY QUESTIONS

FEATURING: KELSEY SCHERF

1. Who is the most played artist on your iPod?- Bo Burnham and T-Swift

2. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?- Ireland, because I’m Irish.

3. If you could be any Disney princess, who would you be and why?- Ariel, so I could breathe underwater.

4. If you could switch places with any EHS teacher, who would you choose and why?- Mr. Roleff, because he gets to go everywhere and everyone loves him!

5. Team Edward or Team Jacob?- Team Harry Potter.

6. If you could be any cartoon character, who would you be and why?- Woodstock from the Peanuts Gang. He’s adorable.

7. How will the world end?- In madness?

8. What car best describes your personality?- Yellow Slugbug.

9. What is your favorite food?- Steak. Medium rare.

10. If you had to be handcuffed to someone for the rest of the school year, who would you choose and why?- David Wickard. Just because.

11. If you could delete one word from the English language, which would you choose and why?- Chunk, because it’s a gross word.

12. What is your favorite nail polish color?- Hot pink.

13. What is your favorite thing to do after school?- Hang out with my friends!

14. What is your spirit animal?- Something with a lot of energy… like a squirrel or something.

15. What is your favorite article of summer clothing?- FLIP FLOPS!

16. If you were stranded on a deserted island and you could only have one thing, what would it be and why?- A boat with a full tank of gas so I could escape.

17. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?- I would want to fly. That would be so awesome!

18. If someone made a movie of your life, who would play you?- Amanda Bynes because I love She’s the Man.

19. If you could speak with any accent, which would you choose and why?- A strange mix of British and Australian because they’re so cool.

20. If you were on T.V. what would it be for?- Probably falling or doing something stupid.

Fashion

Passion for

About a week ago I was forced to do the unthink-able: clean my room. I prob-ably should have seen this coming. After all, I had been nagged about doing this since at least winter break. In the midst of haphazardly tossing my old fashion magazines in my closet, I stumbled upon the greatest thing since…I don’t know, but something amazing! Beneath last tri-mester’s chemistry notes and some items left over from the 90’s, I found my moustache necklace. This was the mous-tache necklace that probably would knock Charlie Chap-lin’s (silent film actor from the 1920’s with a toothbrush moustache) socks off. Need

less to say, this was kind of a big deal at the time. Right next to my Girl Scout badges, my finding of this necklace was a huge accomplishment. Such an accomplishment resulted in me rewarding my-self by not cleaning the rest of my room. Yes, that does count as a reward. Later that day, I got to thinking about this new style of fashion. Moustache necklaces, blazers, oxfords, Indie glasses, suspenders, etc., were all becoming present in women’s fashion. Based on that list, I realized that I have a check mark next to each of those categories. Not to men-tion my collection of bowties that I use for headbands. It was like my worst nightmare had come true. I was officially on a slippery slope to dress-ing like a guy. Before I knew it I’d end up wearing Bermuda shorts that are practically at my ankles, baggy sweatshirts, and other obscenities. All that I could think about for the next few days was what style my clothes reflected. Boy or girl? I couldn’t decide wheth-er I should just surrender and trade my headbands and bowties in for an ill-fitting hat, or eliminate all traces of my menswear fashion before the fashion police came after

me. Roughly a week after my discovery of my mous-tache necklace I decided that I was going to let fashion stereotypes stand in my way from wearing what I want. True, I most likely will never fully dress like a guy (thank-fully), but I figured, what’s the harm in taking inspiration from menswear? I concluded that as long as I’m happy with what I’m wearing, then it doesn’t really matter if I break away from the stereo-type I grew up to know: girls wear pink and dresses, and boys wear blue and pants. If women have been blurring the lines since the late 1800’s with wearing pants, then I see no reason why I can’t wear men-inspired clothes. In hon-or of this, I vow to wear my moustache necklace everyday to school. Now, if only I could find it…

Charlie ChaplinImage courtesy of borninthewrong-

decade-niamhy.blogspot.com

Blurring the LinesFashion Column By Abby JohnsonFeatures Writer

As humans, we always want something we don’t or can’t have. From being a super hero to owning a Rolls Royce, it seems everyone has something they fantasize about. Some single men are sick of chasing after girls and long for a relationship with someone special – a connec-tion, maybe even marriage. While conversely some mar-ried men miss the hunt, they think the pickup game has gone dormant and they have lost a part of their manhood. Panic sets in when married men feel trapped, unable to satisfy the gap in their life. Hall Pass is the story of best friends Rick (Owen Wil-

son) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis, SNL) who get a little restless with their marriage and miss the single life but would nev-er admit it. The first twenty minutes of film are filled with Rick and Fred thinking they are smooth but in reality are ogling at the sight of every woman they see. Their urge becomes so obvious that their wives Maggie and Grace (Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate) decide to give them both a “hall pass,” which basically gives them a week off from marriage. The idea is that Rick and Fred will find out how bad their pickup game is and how much they really love being married. Maggie and Grace take the kids to a summer

home upstate and Rick and Fred are left to do whatever they want for the next seven days without consequences. Comedy takes the reigns as they start the week off with their buddies acting as wing-men attempting to find “hot women” at Applebee’s. What soon follows is the realization that maybe they are not as skilled at picking up women as they once were. The best part of this movie is probably how realistic Wilson and Sudeikis look as middle-aged suburbia married men. With their pale skin, tucked-in t-shirts and medium-sized beer bellies they look like guys that live in my neighborhood. They have hilarious corny jokes, the kind that only they think is funny, and a definition of cool that is incredibly cheesy. This movie has so many naughty jokes that teenage boys will be close to tears and most girls will find the humor lame and inappropriate, but not every-one can be pleased. Hall Pass is an absolute hoot and worth seeing, but is really nothing more than a compilation of funny one-liners. Don’t take this movie too seriously and I think it will be worth the time. Hall Pass receives 2.5 O’s out of 4.

Image courtesy of onlinemovieshut.com

Hall Pass Review

Pearce OlsonFeatures Writer

Pearce “O’s” Rat-ing Scale

Zero “O’s” = Are You Kidding Me?

One “O” = Waste of Time

Two “O’s” = Wait for DVD

Three “O’s” = GoFour “O’s” = Must See!

Submitted photo

SporTSEagan Independent | Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Boys’ Hockey High Hopes for StateKenzie MarklandSports Writer

Eagan Boys Hockey team continues to show their impressive skills during sec-tions. Thurs-day February 24th the boys played Park High School and beat them five to zero. With Senior Tom-my Bodeker received the win and the shut out for this splendid game. Bode-ker saved all seven goals

that Park was able to shoot. Eagan peppered Park’s goalie with fifty-three shots and unfortunately for Park, he let five goals in. Junior Will Merchant scored two consecu-

tive goals and managed to receive one assist during that game. Junior Eli May stated, “We hoped to do our best and we did.” Saturday Feb-ruary 26th the boys played Hastings’ High School and won five to two. Again

Tommy Bodeker was in net and saved fifteen hard shots. While Eagan continued to out shoot the other team. The Hasting’s goal stopped thirty-two goals and only let five in. Merchant continues to rack up the points with one goal and one assist dur-ing the game. So far he has scored the most goals and assists during sections this year. Junior Captain Michael Zajac led the team in assist

with three. Junior Joe Malloy said, “I hope the team contin-ues doing as well as they are doing.” The before sections the team had won seventeen games and only lost six and tied two. In the standing Eagan is ranked fourth while East-view is ranked seventh. On Thursday March third Eagan have played Apple Valley who was ranked sixth in the Lake conference.

Coach of the Month

Cheer Team Returns Home 9th in the Nation

Kenzie Markland Sports Writer

The Eagan Cheer team came home from their annual trip to Florida with a shinny new title. They placed

ninth in the entire nation. The Cheer Team finished on a high note with their last competition in Florida. Junior Competition and Football Cheer Captain, Sydney Chris-ten said that taking ninth in the nation wasn’t easy. “We practiced anywhere in the hotel where we could find flat land,” and “From there we practiced however long we needed too.” With that dedi-cation in the Florida heat no wonder why they placed so well. Freshman Jenna Pond, said “Even though it was a lot of work I still had a blast with everyone.” During the competi-tive season Eagan continued to place very high in the rank-ings. This year their highest score was in the mid-seventies out of one hundred. Nation-als are judged differently than

the regular competitive sea-son. Jenna Pond explained, “At Nationals there are judges for the different sections of the team: lifts, jumps, and other things like that. They are more meticulous at judg-ing too.” Besides working and improving their routine for the best they could be, they still had plenty of time to have fun. Sydney Christens’ favorite memory from Florida was, “On the last day two other team members and I went to Magic Kingdom and watched the fireworks and got to met Donald Duck.” Jenna Pond’s favorite memory had nothing to do with the magic of Disney. Her favorite memory was, “Meeting the competition and watching their routines.” The team did very well this year and Pond believes that, “We really improved this year and dur-ing Florida we became very close and starting working as a team.”

Last spring, Eagan spring ath-letes were fortunate enough to get out on the fields within the first week of spring sports starting. This year’s track team looks exceptionally talented with a new emphasis on long distance. “We have a few great distance runners, Michaela Banz, Elizabeth Frick, and Danielle Anderson, who are all looking great this year,” states girl’s track and field head coach Mr. Graham. The track team said good-bye to 3 all state athletes last season and now is the time for new athletes to stand out. “It’s almost like were starting over,” Coach Graham admits, “We’re very optimistic about this years track team.”

Spring Sports (hopefully) Start Soon.

Wolter and Palluck Represent Girls Gymnastics at StateBy Bailey HennenSports Writer

Julia Wolter and Katie Palluck, flipped, ran and jumped their way to state for Eagan girls gymnastics team this year. The Gymnastics team saw two of their se-niors to state where Wolter finishing fifth overall in floor exercises, that was a reflection of their stellar regular season. They finished out the season with an undefeated record of 8-0. When interviewed, Coach Shelly Eklund said “that at the end of this year the team will be losing some very strong talented seniors,” but that “the underclassmen

are all very talented and will be able to step it up.” “The senior group this year is extremely talented and will be greatly missed but the juniors, sophomores and the freshman will all be able to contribute and make a great team next year.” Gymnastics takes a lot of commitment. You really can’t do gymnastics just in high school; you need full 100% commitment. You have to work hard during the off-season also, to keep in top shape and make sure that you are ready to go when the next season rolls around. Girls who are looking at join-ing Gymnastics next season

should have some experience and are looking to become part of a close-knit team. “Gymnastics is one of the sports that takes a lot of time and dedication,” senior Julia Wolter says. With all the practice and time together a strong team bond develops between team members. That bond can set gymnastics apart from other sports where you just show up to practice for a few hours and have to work as a team, and you may not get the chance to make really close friends. While getting to a meet may take a lot of effort and hard work, it is only half the battle.

Asking Julia and Coach Ek-lund how they prepare for a meet, we got mixed answers but they followed the same basic routine. The day before a meet the whole team comes together to figure out what they are going to do the next day, it is about focus. “The senior group this year is extremely talented and will be greatly missed,” states coach Eklund “but the juniors, sophomores and the freshman will all be able to contribute and make a great team next year.”

Cheer team supports team-mate in practice.

Photo by Haley Davis

Photo by Haley Davis

Photo by Haley DavisFowards Will Merchant and Eric Peterson look score against Bloom-ington Jefferson.

Coach Virgin

Photo by Haley Davis

By Molly Martinez Sports Editor

Spring sports are starting up in the coming weeks. Adapted softball began yesterday. Track and softball both begin the 14th, golf and baseball are both set to begin the 21st, boy’s tennis the 28th, and finally lacrosse will start the 28th. We’ve had a year of sports so far,” states Mrs. Setter “I’m excited to get the spring sports rolling.” One of Mrs. Setters concerns this spring is that because of all the recent snow we’ve had this winter, the fields wont be dry enough to use for a while.

By Bailey HennenSports Writer

Kurt Virgin has been coaching at Eagan High School for over 20 years, but has been coaching for a total of 36 years. Last year Mr. Virgin was recognized for winning his 500th game as a boys basketball coach. In his 21st year of coaching here at Eagan he has led the varsity boys basketball team to five straight victories with a re-cord so far of 20-4. Mr. Virgin first became interested in coaching both soccer and basketball because of his high school and college experiences, he wanted to stay close to the sports after graduating college and found that the only way to do that was to go pro or coach. His two sons who were both all-state athletes while they were here at school join him on the coaching staff. He coached both sons while they were at Eagan and a daughter.

Eagan Independent | Tuesday, March 8, 20118Athlete of the Month

By Bailey Hennen and Molly MartinezSports Writer & Editor

Jessica Hart has been excelling as part of the Eagan girls varsity basketball team since her freshmen year. On February 17th in a game against Apple Valley Jess hit a milestone that has only been reached by five other Eagan basketball players, and only two by their junior year. Hart hit her 1,000th point with a free throw just before half of the game against the Eagles. The bench and stands erupted with cheers from both Hart’s teammates and fans. Sophomore Sammie Delzotto, Jessica’s teammate who has been playing with her for the passed two sea-sons, knows that Jess didn’t let it get to her head, “Jess played like she always plays, amazing.” Hart finished the game with 23 points and 13 rebounds.

She has been recog-nized as an athlete of the week by the Pioneer Press, is a top college prospect, and has been deemed “tuff as nails” by her coaches and teammates. Head coach Liz Carpentier has noticed Jess’ improvements and stated so to the Star Tribune, “Her decision making has been fantastic,” and “She is doing a great job of distributing the ball.” Jess has many more opportunities to make head-lines with her last season as a wildcat next year.

Dance team places third at StateBy Mayzong LeeNews Editor

With all of the Eagan Dance team coaches being new this year they were able to place 3rd at the Section 3AAA competition. With their last competition being the state competition, it can be seen that a lot of progress was made.

This year’s dance cap-tains were Kelly Briody, Courtney Mehus, and Katie Hedquist. For Briody the most memorable achievement for this year’s team was, “when we qualified for state in kick. We had worked hard all season [so] it was great to see that it was paid off.” Mehus agrees with Briody by adding, “competing at state was a big [event] and then getting third at state for our jazz piece [was really memorable].” This year the team faced many fitness challenges because of the new coaching styles however be-cause of these workouts they were able to perform at state.

Overall, the dance team was able to end their season very strongly with a success-ful performance at state. As a captain Mehus says this year’s accomplishment at state was, “Great, I’m really happy about how we did at sections and to [even] get the chance to perform at state was good.” And with this year’s team Briody states, “We’ve done really well, we improved a lot from last year, and we’ve made a lot of progress.”

Boys’ swimming on to StateBy Molly MartinezSports Editor

The shaved heads must have shaved enough time of the already stunning Eagan boys swim team to earn them a well-deserved 2nd place finish at sections. Stand out swimmer Zach Bonifacio con-tributed to three new school records and was awarded the section 3AA swimmer of the year award. Bonifacio set a new school record in the 50-meter Free with 21.56 seconds. Bonifacio, Andy Knutson, Zach Sun-dry, and Griffin Voss on the 200-meter freestyle relay team also had a great meet. They bested the school’s top record of 1:29:11 seconds with 1:28:82 seconds. The 400-meter free relay team with Voss, Sundry,

Rob Miller, and Bonifacio beat the school record of 3:14:56 set by Bonifacio, Sundry, Voss, and Eagan swim team alum Will Meagher just last year. This years relay team achieved a time of 3:14:26. Five swimmers and a

Photo by Rachel LarsonSeniors Griffin Voss, Rob Miller, Zack Bonifacio, Zack Sundry, ju-nior Andy Knutson and sophomore Keith Krawza swam in the State meet last weekend.

Photo by Haley DavisSenior Jake Lueck wrestles opponent at a home meet. Seniors Bob Rada, Yonas Gebreab and junior Mitch Johnson went on to wrestle in the State meet in the 189, 130 and 285 pound weight classes, respec-tively, last weekend at the Xcel Energy Center.

Photo by Genevieve Stivers-BiscusoJuniors Shea Mandli, Joey Haire and David Satre practice before the the Lakeville South game. The team won that game 73-70. State tournament play starts tomorrow.

Jessica Hart

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diver all qualified for State on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th of March at sections. Zach Bonifacio, Andy Knutson, Rob Miller, Zach Sundry, and sophomore diver Keith Krawza all par-ticipated in State.

Wrestling sends three to State

Boys’ Basketball first in conference, prepares for tournamentBy Molly MartinezSports Editor The boys’ basketball team is continuing to do well as they fight their way through sections. The Wildcats are

ranked 10th in state and are tied for the top seed in the south suburban conference with Eastview, both teams have a record of 13-3-0. Rosemount recently gave Eagan a run for their money

on February 22nd. The Wild-cats pulled off a close win led by Jameson Parsons scoring 15 of their 60 points and Eric Wittenburg leading the team with 6 rebounds. Eagan came of a two game win streak to win a close game against Lakeville South, ranked fifth in the division AAAA standings with a score

of 71-74. The team played Blooming-ton Kennedy on Friday March 4th to continue their journey to state. The first time Eagan faced off with Bloomington Kennedy Eagan pulled off a win with a landslide of 82-57, with Nick Sabatke scoring 15 points and Patterson leading the team in rebounds with 7.