Augusta High School2020 Ohio StreetAugusta KS 67010

January 31, 2011 Volume 77, Issue 5

Inside3 Dance Team

goes to State.

8 Wrestling brings home

10 New column: The Silver Lining

12 Should you be able to walk away from a commitment?

14 Bumper to Bumper features Joe

Pherigo’s Van. Winter Is Finally Here! Augusta High is pictured shrouded in a blanket of snow

and ice. Augustans at last got a taste of winter as students enjoyed the first snow day of the year Jan. 11. (Photo by Josh Riddle)

trophy.

The Oriole

Oriole Augusta High School 2020 Ohio Augusta, KS 67010

Policy Statement The Oriole is published monthly from October-May and distributed free to the members of the high school community. It is reproduced at the USD 402 Copy Center. The Oriole is a student-produced newsmaga-zine published to entertain the community and educate members of the Newspaper Publications class. Opinions expressed are those of individual authors and do not necessarily relfect the views of administration or the staff. Signed guest articles are encouraged but are subject to editing for grammar, length, legiblility, and taste.

(Member of KSPA)

StaffEditor in Chief................................Nathan DanielBusiness Manager......................Rachel PangracCartoonist......................................Kirsten SmithCopy Editor.........................................Nick ReimerEntertainment Editor.................Casey MatlockNews Editors..................................Halley Groom, Rochelle BrowningSports Editors.........Adam Tabor, Natalie SykesReporters: Hailey Base, Ally Spease Adviser.......................................Kathey Gibbs

Coming Next Month...Feb. 8/10 Winter Homecoming/ DanceFeb. 10 End of Progress Term 1 Second SemesterFeb. 11 NO SCHOOL (Grade Prep)Feb. 21 NO SCHOOL (Presidents’ Day)

2

By Halley Groom Following the comple-tion of the new Science Wing, the construction on the old science rooms has begun. They are being remodeled to four business rooms. The first step of con-struction was tearing out all the old cabinets, ceiling tiles, floor tiles, etc. These rooms will have the same color scheme as the rest of the school. Since starting the con-

Walled Up With construction started on the old Sci-ence Wing, a wall has been placed to keep out wander-ing students. (Photo By Kirsten Smith)

struction, the workers had to turn off the power to the surrounding walls of the old Science Wing. That includes the back walls of Jeff Regi-er’s and Joan Reichardt’s social science rooms. Also, Joe Conner, science teacher, lost power to the west wall in his room. “I didn’t even know the power was off until my data projector wouldn’t turn on,” said Reichardt. The construction is due to be finished by this March.

Construction started;old rooms revamped

January 31, 2011 3

By Hailey Base Every year there is a state dance festival in Olathe, Kansas, where dance teams from all over the state come to compete and perform their routines that they have been working on for months. Augusta’s dance team attended the festival Jan. 15. The Augusta Dance Team took three different routines: a jazz routine to Adam Lambert’s song “If I Had You,” a novelty routine to Duffy’s song “Mercy,” and a mix routine to Ciara’s

song “Work.” Apart from the group routines, five dancers, Ashley Rieschick (10) Kennadi Kropf (10), Hailey Base (11), Courtney Sigafoose (12) and Laura Powers (12) took solos as

well. “I was more nervous for my solo than a long-tailed

cat in a room full of rocking chairs,” said Kennadi. By the end of the day the dance team had earned four trophies: the Shining Star Award, a Technique Award for their mix routine, and

By Nick Reimer Auditions for the Spring Play, “The Crucible,” will be Feb. 1, and the results will be posted the following day. “The Crucible” will be performed April 8 - 9, at 7 p.m. The first rehearsals will start Feb 3. The cast will consist of

20, 10 boys and 10 girls. Reading of “The Crucible” is required for all juniors, so any juniors considering starting a thespian career are encouraged to try out. Arthur Miller wrote “The Crucible” in 1953 as an analogy to the persecution of communism in America

two Showmanship Awards for their Jazz and Novelty routines.

“We didn’t do as well as we could have, but with the lack of experience, it’s kind of to be expected,” said Rieschick. Even though they didn’t come home with as many trophies as they have in years past, it was a great learning experience, accord-ing to Coach Rachel Sim-mons. “I did what I could with the amount of time I was given to prepare, and I tried my very hardest. I’m proud with what me and my team did,” said Cassidy Wheatley.

at the time. It later won a Pulitzer Prize. The play shows how intolerance can get out of hand quickly. In fact, good examples of “witch trials” are still abundant today. For example, the infamous West Memphis 3. Three boys were accused of killing

“I was more nervous for my solo than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.”

-Kennadi Kropf (10)

three children, but there was no physical evidence. The only “evidence” was that the boys wore trench coats. “The Crucible” is based on true events during the Salem Witch Trials. In total, 145 people where accused, and 20 where executed. Let the trials begin!

‘Trials’ begin for spring play, ‘Crucible’

Dance team goes to state festivalStrike A Pose! The AHS Dance Team (left) performs their jazz routine to Adam Lambert’s song “If I had you,” at a home basket-ball game. This is just one of their three routines that the AHS Dance Team performed at State Jan. 15. (Photo By Hadleigh Jones)

The Oriole4

By Halley Groom

Chances are by now you have seen the three brand new LCD TVs around the school. The TV by the main office was donated

to the AHS Renaissance program, and the other two in the commons the school purchased. Jeremiah Zweifel from the El Dorado Wal-Mart donated the new TV by the main office. It will

be connected to a laptop to show the morning announcements, in case you missed them, and pictures of students around the school, the same pictures that play in the “Gotcha” case, according to Jeff Regier, Renaissance sponsor. Also, ads from the Renaissance sponsors will be shown. AHS purchased the two televisions in the commons from the Augusta Wal-Mart

at a great discount. These two TVs will play the news, and teachers have the option to show instructional footage to a class. The TVs will also be able to broadcast what is going on in the auditorium if it becomes full and the over-flow audience is seated in

the commons. All the TVs should be operational by February or before.

AHS begins broadcastingGoing high-tech What did

you do on your snow

day?

“I came to school,

and no one was here.”

-Amanda Montgomery (10)

“I watched Crim-

inal Minds.”-Breanna

Burkett (9)

New Technological Toys The new TV by the main office shows a picture of a

wrestling match (Photo by Halley Groom).

By Rochelle Browning

Winter Homecoming is approaching quickly! AHS

spirit days will begin Feb. 7. The spirit days will be Monday, Mismatched Day; Tuesday, Orange and Black Day; Wednesday Twin/Look-alike Day and Thurs-day, Class Color Day. Class colors will be as follows: seniors- pink, juniors- red,

sophomores- green, fresh-men- blue and faculty- purple. The Homecoming theme this semester is Classic Video games. Each class has been assigned a few classic video games to base their decorations on. Anyone helping with the decorations will need to ask their class sponsor for the details.

Homecoming game day is Feb. 8 against the Abilene Cowboys and Cowgirls. Freshman boys and girls play at 4:15 p.m., JV boys at 5:45 p.m., varsity girls at 6 p.m., and JV girls and var-sity boys play at 7:30 p.m. Because there no classes on Feb. 11, the Homecom-ing dance will be held Feb. 10 from 9:30-12 p.m.

Winter Homecoming approaches

“We went sled-

ding!”-Cassidy Wheatly,

Brendon Apel,Hope Travaille (9)

(Photos by Ally Spease)

January 31, 2010 5

By Hailey Base

The death of a loved one causes brutal heart-wrenching pain that keeps you up at night bawling and wishing for days in the past. However, after the initial heartache, death can be a revelation for those left behind, showing them that maybe they aren’t living their lives to the fullest. Mai-thy Ta endured the death of a close friend, and after much reflection, real-ized that she wasn’t living life to its fullest. Her search for a new experience led her to the world of pageants, a place even she was wary of in the beginning. “At first I was a skeptic.

Pageants have a reputation for being superficial and

materialistic, and that was only affirmed by the high

price tag of competing,” said Mai-thy. National American Miss was her first pageant, and it

proved to be a stereotypical pageant. After her first week of

pageants, Mai-thy’s per-spective went from skeptical to becoming a full-blown pageant lover. She met girls with whom she bonded and still keeps in touch with to this day. After her first pageant

was over, Mai-thy walked away as a Top 15 finalist,

earning third place overall in the talent portion, second in resume, the spirit award, and a real life experience. “Pageants make me feel confident. I don’t care

what anyone thinks, dress-

ing up and feeling beauti-ful, having the courage to place yourself on stage to be judged and criticized from the way you look to the way you speak, feeling that and still competing…what’s so wrong with that? Pageant girls are strong individu-als. I didn’t win, but I was

happy; first pageant ever

and I did very well!”

Months went by, and she kept with the pageant life,

applying for many other pageants until school kicked in. Then along came Saydie Liu, Mai-thy’s pageant di-rector who is also in charge of Miss Asian U.S. and Miss Asian World. She was impressed with Mai-thy’s National American Miss scores. Miss Asian U.S. is a fairly new pageant and was desperate because of budget cuts, so Saydie Liu appoint-ed Mai-thy as Miss Kansas Asian U.S. Teen, saving the state thousands of dollars that holding a separate pag-eant would have cost.

Mai-thy Ta comes across as a very outgoing girl, speaking and performing easily in front of the large crowds; but it would only be natural to be nervous with hundreds of beautiful girls while being judged by people you don’t even know. “I’m really new to the

pageant scene. There are some girls that have been doing it since they were

four. It’s frustrating how

easily it comes to them, the ‘bebop’ (pageant walk), the chime in their voice, the ease during interviews. When everyone is judging you, you compare yourself to your competition. It’s

only natural, but that’s what makes me nervous. The best thing for me is to act the opposite of what I’m trying

to be. Instead of trying to be

such a perfect little princess, I put in my earphones blare

Lil Wayne and Wiz Khalifa, eat a Big Mac, hike up my dress, and dance around like

a fool in my hotel room. It

reminds me of how imper-fect I am, but at the same

time, how unique I am, too.

That with or without a title, I’m still who I am at the end

of the day,” Mai-thy said. With the title Mai-thy was given, she is required to make regular appearances at the Wichita Asian Associa-tion. She has to take a ton of pictures and sign loads of autographs whenever she shows up at Asian Fest in Wichita, and she was asked to model in a fashion show for Tony Bowls. Every month she has a photo shoot, and in the spring she has a trip to Florida where she will meet with other state queens for a National photo shoot, along with a day trip to Disney World. “What it all boils down to is, pageants for the most part are a confidence

booster. I have learned life

skills, like how to properly sit, stand and walk while exuding confidence. I know

I can nail any interview I

want. I’m blessed to have

the opportunities I have

received, but I’ll never for-get where I came from and

who I grew up with. Even if

pageants lead me to Holly-wood or NYC, I will always

be the girl from Augusta, Kansas. The best thing I

have learned from pageants is, it’s not the make-up, the thousand dollar jewel en-crusted gowns, or the tiara and sash that make girls beautiful; it’s that unmistak-able confidence in every-thing they do.”

Overcoming stereotypes, learning self-confidence

The Next Big Thing! Mai-thy Ta (12) flashes her

confident smile. Not only is Mai-Thy a well respected

student at AHS, but she also is Miss Kansas Asian U.S. Teen. (Photo by Rochelle Browning)

The Oriole6

By Rochelle Browning

This year the forensics team is hosting the first tournament of the season here at AHS. The tourna-ment begins at 8 a.m. Jan. 29. Each member of the team was required to find either eleven part-time judges or three to cover all day by judging three rounds and a finals round. There will be a total of nine competitive categories: extemporaneous speaking, original oration, dramatic interpretation, humorous

By Hailey Base Wednesday, Jan. 18th, at 6 a.m., students enrolled in American History left for the only museum in the nation dedicated specifically to World War I. Since the museum was located about three hours away in Kansas City, the students left very early in order to get back to the school at a reasonable time. “Getting up early for the museum was a pain because I’m not used to getting up that early in the mornings,” said Harley Alexander (11). Once they got to the mu-seum, the students watched an informative video sum-ming up everything that had happened during this First

World War. After that, they split up into groups, accord-ing to teachers, and went off to explore the museum. There was everything from replicated trenches that the soldiers would hide and fight in during the war to real grenades used in the battles. Despite the fact that there was nearly six hours on the bus and only about one spent in the museum, the students still learned a lot. The educational director at the museum kept telling students that everything was real. Everything in the mu-seum had affected someone during the war. Everything in the museum told a story about American history.

interpretation, duo acting, informative speaking, duet acting, poetry and prose. The forensics team has high hopes of roughly 17 schools to attending the tournament. Every competitor will perform in three rounds. The six competitors with the best ratings will move on to finals. Six medals will be given out after finals, and the top two medalists qualify for state. All 13 AHS forensics members will be required to work the tournament.

Juniors travel to KC

to visit WWI museum

Exploring! (Top) Zachary Budda (11) plays with a com-puter screen at the museum. (Bottom) Leah Jacobs, Audrey Bacon and Emily Abernathy (11) walk to the bus after exploring the top of the museum with the rest of the class. (Photos by Rachel Pangrac)

Forensics hosts

first tournamentYearbook commendedBy Ally Spease

The 09-10 yearbook staff received word this month that their yearbook production received the Award of Commendation. This is the first time Augusta High School has received this award in at least six years. Yearbook Adviser Julie Baker said that there are only three levels of awards for year-books. The Commendation Award is the second best award possible. The award is based on design, coverage, pho-tography and theme all around. Only four other schools in the state re-

ceived an award higher than Augusta’s this year. “Any award you get is really a reflection of how hard the kids have worked, and the staff worked hard!” said Barker. As for the staff this year, there are only five students on staff who were members previously. Barker said the trip the new 2011 staff made to Kansas City earlier this year will greatly impact their critique award this year. The trip taught the staff a lot, and hopefully it will help them get an even higher goal than the one they received previously!

January 31, 2010 7

Administration The second pizza and pop party was Jan. 7. Due to the snow day, the No Tardy Party was resched-uled to Jan. 13. The num-bers for both events have increased, according to Principal Donna Zerr. At the end of this school year Jim Lentz, Superintendent, is retir-ing, and John Black, Deputy Superintendent, will fill the position.

Class

And

Club

News

Scholars’ Bowl The varsity meet at Andover was resched-uled to Jan. 27 due to bad weather conditions. AVTCTL was on Jan. 26. Unless the team advances at regionals Feb. 3, then their season will be over. State will be Feb. 12 if the team does advance.

NHS National Honor Soci-ety worked concession stands for the basketball game Jan. 4. The money raised will go towards the NHS scholarship fund. NHS will participate in Bowl for Kids’ Sake Feb. 12 from 2 p.m.- 4 p.m. at Prarie Bowl in El Dorado.

Art Before Winter Break, several AHS artists submitted artwork to the Scholastic Art Competi-tion. Those who submit-ted art were Arikka Hill (11), Emily Abernathy (11), Cheyenne Watkins (11), Taylor Metcalf (12), Sarah Schnake (12), Kirstin Smith (12), and Tori Goines (11). Wat-kin’s photograph was the only piece selected in the competition.

Stuco Stuco gave AHS students the opportunity to participate in a compat-ibility match quiz. The quizzes were passed out during English classes, and the results will be returned at the beginning of February.

Spanish Club Spanish Club met Jan. 18 to decide who the club officers would be. The new officers are Catherine Hughes (10) president, Marion George (9) vice president and Aubrey Gaston (9) secretary. Spanish Club is also scheduled to work concessions at the basketball games Feb. 18 when the Orioles play Mulvane.

FEA FEA will be work-ing with Reading Across America at the local elementary schools. FEA is also visiting colleges in the near future. They will be going to Emporia and McPherson to visit and explore the college campuses. The members of FEA will be mentor-ing teachers around the district.

Counselors Attention, seniors! Scholarship applications are available. Pitt State was at AHS Jan. 7 during lunch. The ASVAB test was Jan. 12 at noon in the library. Jolene from Butler was here Jan. 13 to enroll students in college classes which began Jan. 18. The counselors will be meeting individually with students to go over their future plans of study.

Renaissance Thanks to the manager of El Dorado Wal-Mart, Jeremiah Zweifel, the Renaissance program received a 40” flat-screen TV for free. The TV is located by the main office and will display pictures, announcements, Students of the Week and ads for Renaissance sponsors. Also, the Renaissance program gave out perfect attendance awards for the first semester.

Choir Show Choir performed at Millard North High School in Nebraska Jan. 21. The purpose of the trip was for viewing competition and performing in front of their audience. Rachel Simmons sponsored the group.

Junior Class This month the Junior Class went to Kansas City for American History Wednesday, Jan. 18. Also, on Jan. 31 there will be a parent meeting for prom at 7 p.m. in the library.

YEK Tuesday, Jan. 25, YEK took a trip to Century II for a convention called “Dare to Dream.” The mem-bers were accompanied by surrounding Wichita schools’ YEK groups. All of the schools attending participated in many fun activities through the day that taught them about personal finance. The day ended with a motivational speaker.

Jazz Band The Jazz Ensemble traveled to Hutchinson Jan. 27 and participated in the Hutch Jazz Fesival. Director Todd Hollis ac-companied the group.

8 The Oriole

By Halley Groom The wrestling team is 10-2, losing to Andover Central at their first duel, a team ranked second in 5A, and to Mulvane only 35-31. At Augusta’s own tournament Jan. 8, AHS placed 4 of 14 teams. The following weekend they took home the big first place trophy from the Kapaun Dual. At the Kapaun Duel Jan. 15, the Orioles took on South East, Valley Center, Wichita West, Great Bend

and Kapaun themselves. Augusta won the first four duels by landslide victories, beating Wichita West 75-6. No school came close to beating the fighting Orioles, except Kapaun. Kapaun brought on the heat for AHS, sending them into four tiebreakers. In the fourth tiebreaker the wrestlers rose above Kapaun, winning the tournament. When Buhler came to AHS Jan. 6, the pressure

After fourth tie-breaker,wrestlers first at Kapaun

Orioles place third in Baldwin Tourney

Grand Prize! Oriole wrestlers display their first place trophy from the Kapaun Tournament which they won after four tie-breakers. (Photo by Deena Kreutzser)

Offense! Connor Carman (12) looks for an open team-mate in the game against Hesston Dec. 3. (Photo by Ally Spease)

was on. The Orioles pulled out a victory with a final score 38-31. Augusta also crushed the Winfield Vikings Jan. 13 with a massive win ending in a

score of 63-9. “The season has been going great! The state wrestlers last year will most likely be returning,” said Head Coach Brandon Terry.

By Natalie Sykes As the weather gets colder, winter sports have started to heat up at AHS, and there have been some hotly contested games on the basketball court. In a match with Wichita

Collegiate Jan. 25, many turnovers on their own part contributed to Augusta’s 61-54 loss to Collegiate. The Orioles did earn a third place finish at the annual Baldwin Tournament the week before. At Baldwin they chalked up two wins and one loss. In their previous game Jan. 14 the Orioles played Circle to win 30-24. Augusta would have

played Rose Hill Jan. 11 except that school was cancelled due to bad weather. The rescheduled games Jan. 13 resulted in a 58-48 AHS loss at home. The Orioles played the Mulvane Wildcats Jan. 7

in the seventh game of the season, again losing 66-59. In the first game of the new year, the Orioles’ luck seemed to be changing after a pre-holiday loss. They faced the El Dorado Wildcats at home Jan. 4 for a 55-47 win. Dec. 17 the Orioles lost to Buhler 42-37 in a close game. In the third game of the season, the Orioles played Winfield at home Dec. 14.

The score was 76-44. All three boys’ teams won. The Orioles played Andale Dec. 10, losing in a two point game. The final score was 46-44. The basketball teams played their first game Dec.

3 at home against Hesston. The varsity boys were victorious 67-63. Orioles had many scorers for this game with Connor Carmen (12) taking lead. Six of his fourteen shots were from the three-point arc.

...Connor Carmen taking lead with six of fourteen shots from three-point arc.

9January 31, 2011

Girls open season with win over Hesston

By Adam Tabor The 2011 bowling season was in question for the Ori-oles with the local Holiday Bowl closing down, but now the Orioles call The Al-ley in Wichita home. Augusta’s boys’ bowling teams’ match against the Andover Central Jaguars came down to the final few frames of the day Jan. 25 at The Alley. The Orioles were up by a mere 16 pins going into the final game. In the last game, Issac Gonzalez (10) bowled a 216, Kayl Warne (10), 211; Brandon Hallmark (11)205; and Sam Davis (10) shot a 202, clutching AHS’ varsity boys’ bowling win over Andover Central. 2420 to 2389 Kelcee Sullivan (11) led the Oriole girls with a game-high 223 and series-high 563. Katy Nordman (9) bowled a 524 series and

Alyson Blackwell (11) a 485 series. Even with all this effort the girls’ varsity still came up short, losing 2180-2061. The Orioles swept the El Dorado Wildcats Jan. 2 at their home lanes. The boys varsity won by 180 pins shooting a 2154-1974, but surprisingly the Augusta JV boys also beat the boys’ var-sity team 2208-2154. The girls’ varsity won by 158 with a 1935 to El Dorado’s 1714. The first Augusta girls’ varsity bowling loss was handed to them by the Newton Railers Jan. 18 at Play-Mor Lanes in Newton. The girls started out with a 664 to Newton’s 689, a 25 pin difference, and the Railer’s lead expanded to 90 after the second game. The final pin difference was 158, with Augusta scoring 1953 and Newton 2111.

By Natalie Sykes Positive perspective and hard work are goals the girls’ basketball team set at the beginning of the year. “The girls have a good line of defense, but need to work on scoring consis-tently,” said JV Head Coach Joan Reichardt about the varsity team. In the first home game and season opener Dec. 3, the girls put a “W” in the win column, scoring 52 points against Hesstons’ 39.

In this game, Kyrsten Craw-ford (12) hit six three-point shots. With those shots, she scored a total of 23 points. Twenty of those points were scored in the first half. Their first loss came during their first road game against Andale Dec. 10. Crawford scored 14 points and led the team in points. The final score was 24-21. The Lady Orioles played Winfield Dec. 14. Taylor Williams (11) forced 10 turnovers, while Crawford

That same day Newton also gave the boys varsity their first win this season. The Oriole win was close, 22 pins. The boys had one more team than the girls be-cause Peabody-Burns didn’t have a girls’ varsity, girls’ JV, or a boys’ JV. Peabody-Burns had two girls on their boys’ varsity team. Tyler Newman (12) led the boys with a 610 series. At the home opener Jan. 13, Augusta faced the Circle T-Birds. The girls’ varsity team shot 2110 as a team, with Bethany Watson (9) leading the team with a 582 and a high game of 212. Katy Nordman (9) also helped the cause with a 219, and Heather Spyres (11) assisted the team with a solid 200 game. The T-Birds bowled 1817 with their highest bowler bowling a 543. On the boys’ varsity side

of the lanes only two Au-gusta bowlers had a series of more than 600, Newman and Adam Tabor (11), com-pared to Circles’ four out of six bowlers with more than 600 pins. Circle bowled 2694 as a team and Augusta scored 2363. Kicking off the season with an explosive start were the girls at varsity Bishop Carrol-Baker Tournament, Jan. 8, but the boys varsity started out slow throughout the tournament. Augusta was one of the only 4A schools in the tournament. With the strong perfor-mance from the girls, they placed 13 out of 24 teams. Of the other 24 teams the boys placed 22, beating only Wichita East and Collegiate. Due to the snow day Jan. 11, Augusta’s home meet against Maize South High School was rescheduled to Feb.1.

Bowling team finds home at Alley

scored 11, leading the team for points. The final score was Augusta 50, Winfield 34. Their next game Dec. 17 was a close 43-42 loss to Buhler. In the first game of the new year, the girls faced the El Dorado Wildcats, losing again 40-35. Next came another loss to the Mulvane Wildcats 37-32. After losing 41-36 to Rose Hill Jan. 13, the Lady

Orioles played Circle Jan. 14, losing once more 49-42. Augusta played Colle-giate Jan. 18 to win 50-36. Williams made 13 steals and 20 forced turnovers. Craw-ford finished with eight points, and Christina Downs (11) finished the game with nine points. Most recently, the girls lost 57-44 to Gardner-Edgerton at the El Dorado Tournament. They were set to play the second round Jan. 27.

10 The Oriole

“Seven days

without ex-

ercise makes

one weak!”

Silver Lining?

By Ally Spease

If I had a dollar for every time something bad happened to me and someone tried to make me feel better by saying the cliché “everything happens for a reason,” I would probably be living the high life with Bill Gates. I am not attacking people who use this line to comfort themselves or the people they care about. The words are always full of the best intentions, to make others feel better about their predicaments. But I’ve come to find that people pass this expression to one another without ever actually thinking about its true meaning. The saying itself seems to mean that when something bad happens, something good can come out of it, too, but it’s all about interpretation. I don’t think I know anyone who has ever thought that any situation was all bad because no matter how small, there is something positive that comes from it. It all comes down to the character. If you want to find something good in a bad situation, you always can, but ask yourself, is it really right to connect the two situations? For example, my best friend watched his aunt’s life and family fall apart while the aunt was strung out on drugs; therefore, he chooses not to do them. Does it make it okay to say that because of the mis-takes she made, he has a better life? I find it disturb-ing. It’s like a natural disaster causing many people to convert to being religious in their time of misery. Maybe it’s good that they’re being “saved,” but the fact that it took thousands of lives for that transfor-mation to happen? I don’t find that comforting at all. “Everything happens for a reason” really means the same thing as “every cloud has a silver lining.” Both are optimistic statements, and that in itself is okay. But instead of trying to figure out why the rut we are in really isn’t so bad after all, why don’t we just acknowledge the fact that bad things happen to everyone? With that acceptance, we can do our best to repair our damages and enjoy the good things in our lives, no matter what it took to get them.

By Rachel Pangrac

Disappointed students had to brave the snowy roads from Kansas’ first major snowfall of the season, on Monday Jan.10. The students awoke the next morning to the news that brings excitement. You wake up and look outside: there it is, a won-derland of white! Then the

question comes to mind… snow day!? Off you go to find the answer. Some high school stu-dents jump at the chance to go sledding, while others decide that sleep is a better idea. Those who go sled-ding confront the cold wind with grins as they fly down the snow-covered hills. Some meet friends or usher younger siblings into sleds.

“Everything happens for a reason” really means the same thing as “every cloud has a silver lining.”

Snow day fun Then there is the group that picks sleeping in or hanging out with friends indoors. Rather than braving the cold they hide inside, like chickens in a chicken coop, with heaters blast-ing and movies or music playing. Some people gather friends together and have a video game day or a movie day.

Harley Alexander (11) and Heather Yates (12) among others, many agree that sledding was a fun way to spend a snow day. Exandrea Moorehouse (10) went an alternate route and spent the day playing Xbox. No matter what you do on a snow day, students will agree that it’s nice to have a break.

Then the question comes to mind...snow day!?

Muscles! Phil shows off. (Photo by Rochelle Browning)

Phil-ismof themonth

January 31, 2011 11

Striking photo

makes the cutBy Kirsten Smith

The artistic spotlight this month of January is focused on the photograph by Cheyenne Watkins (11) that achieved entry in the Scholastic Art Competition. The photograph depicts a scene of an old milk barn located behind Watkins’s home. In the photo the sun is positioned just so that the shadows of the barn are elongated across the ground. The scene is something an Augustan sees regularly in the country. Worn-down barns with odds and ends scattered about feeding drums are hardly a rarity. However, it is the lighting and the composition that make this piece art.

The photograph captures the barn during golden hour, when the sun is setting with its characteristic golden glow. The sun casts long shadows across the ground that contrast strongly with the very straight lines of the nearly silhouetted barn’s many supports and fences. This creates a wonderful ef-fect, drawing the eye toward that section of the page and leaving the audience admir-ing the warm glow of the sun. The composition is also very well done; the photo-graph is a fine example of the rule of thirds with the focal point of the sun draw-ing the eye away from the center of the image.

Stunning Photo! Cheyenne Watkins (11) shows off the only piece from Augusta to be accepted into the Scholastic Art Competition. (Photo by Kirstan Smith)

By Nathan Daniel and Kirsten Smith On the 29 of January, a hundred and fifty years ago, our great home Kansas celebrated its admittance into the union. One may consider Jan. 29 to be our state’s 150th birthday. When people think of Kansas, immediately many individuals associate it with sunflowers, green plains dotted with vast amber fields of wheat, and even perhaps The Emerald City. Minus the land of Oz, all of these images are pretty accurate, but because this is all that is associated with Kansas, the mental picture painted of our home is more dull than reality. Many Kansans have made names for themselves and earned a spot in the history books. Throughout history, Kansans have excelled in many areas. Does the name Amelia Earhart sound famil-iar? Or Walter P. Chrysler? How about Clyde Cessna, Rudolph Wendelien, Clyde Tombaugh, or George Washington Carver? All these famous people, and countless more, were either born in Kansas or once called it their home. Amelia Earhart is known as the first woman to attempt to fly around the world solo. Walter P. Chrysler invented one of America’s top car com-panies, “Chrysler,” just as Clyde Cessna started the

Cessna aircraft Coopera-tion. Rudolph Wendelien is as well known as Amelia Earhart, though not by his name. He is the artist who drew “Smokey the Bear,” the idol for U.S. forest fire prevention. You can’t go into many forests without seeing Smokey’s catchy motto, “Remember, only YOU can prevent forest fires.” Clyde Tombaugh was the Kansan who unwit-tingly discovered the ninth planet, Pluto, in 1930. Although Pluto has been demoted to a dwarf planet, the achievement still stands as important as ever. George Washington Carver we all remember as the scientist who invented more than 300 applications for the peanut. Among these is also Langston Hughes, an author and playwright; Martina McBride, a famous country singer, Robert Ballard, who discovered the wreckage of the Titanic; Clark Kent, or rather, Superman was sup-ppssedly raised in Kansas. The list continues to include a variety of famous athletes and coaches, actors and actresses, musicians and bands, scientists and Nobel Peace Prize winners. They are far too numerous to list them all. So when you look out over the golden plains of Kansas, and you think of how boring a Kansan’s ex-istence is, always remember the many before you that made their names known.

Famous Kansans

Home, home on the range....

The Oriole12

By Adam Tabor The most recent hyped-up video game, Call of Duty: Black Ops, set the record for most copies sold on the first day, Nov. 9, 2010, with over 7 million purchased. Treyarc made over one billion dollars from the profit of Black Ops. Treyarc is the developer of many well known games like Call of Duty 2:Big Red One, Call of Duty 3, most the Spiderman games, James Bond: Quantum of Solace, the first two Tony Hawk one and two, many other games and more hope to come. The story line of Call of Duty: Black Ops is set in the 1960s, with Cold War hot spots and one mission in Vietnam. The campaign may be the best one I have played. It brings elements such as flying helicopters, slow-mo door breeching and directing troops in a SR-71 Blackbird. This campaign is very intense. Multiplayer is still one of the best, but some things need fixed. A good thing is that they took out the perk commando (the ability to lunge knife from ridiculously far away) from the game Modern Warfare 2. These changes were big plus. A bad thing is the hit detection. It looks like a shot hits a guy, but it won’t detect it. Another big problem is knifing. Treyarc never fixed the pitiful knifing from World at War.

Players can knife only from the left side and sometimes trying to knife someone right beside them misses them somehow. Another odd thing in the game is the perk Second Chance. With Second Chance, after taking the normal amount of damage, the character lies on his back with his pistol, able to shoot enemies. How does someone take that many shots and not die? On the other hand, the customization of emblems is fun and calls for creativity on it. Theater mode is an awesome addition to the game because it’s able to find those funny moments, like watching game film in sports. Zombies made a return with new maps, new guns, and a special map after you complete the campaign. The zombies on this game are harder than the original Nazi in Call of Duty: World at War, but in Black Ops it’s a struggle to do well because of how hard it is to kill the zombies. A good thing about Black Ops zombies is that co-op mode, with an extra controller can be played side by side with friends without live. With Xbox Live, co-op mode connects is also available with split screen and friends on Live. I would rent before buying this game because of the multiplayer problems, but if you’re not playing online, buy this game.

New game franchise sets record for copies soldTabor’s top 5

Viedo game series

1. Resident Evil- Horror Survival 2. Final Fantasy- Well Strategy Role- Playing Game 3. Doom- The “Original” First Person Shooter 4.Mario- Trippy Plummer Game 5. Grand Theft Auto- The Original Game Against “The Man”

January 31, 2011 13

By Casey Matlock 2011 kicked into high gear as soon as Snooki, from the Jersey Shore, was dropped inside the hamster ball on MTV. The year has just started, but it is sure to be full of surprises from the runway to the hallway. Bloggers around the Internet predict that this year will be a mix of ‘70s, biker chic and romantic styles. One of the “new” trends is expected to be a blast from the past. Styles are moving back towards a casual ‘70s look which revolves around fitted tops, high waisted-wide leg pants, vests, pieces combined with

leathers belts, shimmering evening wear and LOTS of jewelry. Neon colors such as pink, green, orange and yellow are for those who are not afraid to stand out from the crowd. Look for bright accessories with

By Casey Matlock On 620 South Andover Rd., across from Dillon’s Marketplace, you will find a new addition on this busy, bustling street. Scooter’s coffeehouse brings varieties of java that are sure to put a skip in your step. Franchise recently added this new coffeehouse in Andover. Inside you find everything essential for a coffee-house: dim lighting, guitar music playing softly in the background, neutral colors everywhere you look, plants by the win-

dows and the overwhelm-ing smell of freshly brewed coffee beans in the air. Scooter’s offers a large variety of coffee drinks and then some. The menu contains the usual items you would find in a coffee shop such as coffee (hot and cold), tea and smoothies. Also the coffee house has a large assortment of cof-feehouse baked goods and gourmet chocolate from the Lavish chocolate store Cocoa Dolce. What sets this place apart from the other coffee houses are the unusual flavors. Some of the

“out-of-here” flavors for the coffee are: German Choco-late cake, scooter doodle (Snicker Doodle), Southern Pecan, Viennese Cinnamon and my personal favorite; Candy Bar! If you are not in the mood for coffee but still want a “pick-up” why not grab a smoothie. I had the houses “Red Bull Vertigo” smoothie (which has fruit choices of wild berry, lem-onade (seasonal), mango, peach, pina colada, straw-berry and strawberry-ba-nana) mixed with Red Bull energy drink. Be warned,

the drinks and baked goods are a little pricy. I got a Grande size of the smoothie for $4.25. Also the non-store branded drinks are IZZE (sparkling juice), bottled water and organic milk. Besides the location, (a nail salon is next door) you can get your groceries from Dillon’s, get a mani/pedi and grab a cup o’ joe for the ride home. Everyone should go to Scooters for the top-notch drinks and sweets for the whole family to enjoy! I loved the selections, and I know you will too!

these colors, and put them with a dark outfit to make a statement. Fashion editors predict these to be the colors of 2011. For those who have a

feminine sense of style, designers will create a retro-romantic silhouette. Patterns that consist of wallpaper-wall flowers with a sheer, flowing chiffon are pre-dicted to be a hit in stores. Fitted conservative dresses

Scooter’s coffee ‘scoots’ to AndoverNew java shop puts spring in city’s steps

Spring trends go neutral, retro

with a tail hem (longer in the back) and maxi dresses will be all the rage this com-ing Spring. For these colors think clean, fresh and “beachy.”

Colors such as white, beige, cream and off white will be the main color for dresses. For the girly rebel, biker wear is coming loud and clear. Though this “tough” trend is coming back, this does not mean you need to have a Mohawk dyed pink or ride a Harley Davidson. Mixing up trends such as a feminine dress or top with a leather jacket brings an edge to your usual look. This look can branch out from the traditional leather jacket to other punk pieces such as combat inspired thigh-high boots, studded bags, thick chain necklaces and dark wash-fitted jeans.

Change in season

Neon colors such as pink, green, or-ange and yellow are for those who are not afraid to stand out from the crowd.

The Oriole14

By Rochelle Browning Once you’ve entered your four years of high school, you receive the choice to choose classes and, of course, join sports and other activities. Yet every year there are people who choose to quit for multiple reasons, and sometimes for no reason at all. In my opinion, that’s wrong! For example, when you request a year long class that you must apply for but drop it, it’s very disrespectful. Someone took the time to sit down and read what you had to say. When you applied, you persuaded them to believe you were a reliable and hardworking person deserving of the opportunity. You made a commitment for a full year

to your peers and teacher by joining. Dropping that class shows a sign of weakness on your part. Others won’t respect you for. Quiting, the same goes for a sports team. Once you have made that commitment to be a part of the team, that’s something you need to fulfill. In a majority of sports, you must try out to make the team. When you make a team and quit, you just took away someone else’s chance to be on the team, someone who would have actually stuck with it. Even when you don’t have to try out, it’s still wrong to just quit. Next time you make a decision to commit, think about it before you do. If you’ve any doubt then DON’T DO IT! No one wants a quitter around.

Great DebateShould you be allowed to terminate a commitment?

No Yes

By Nick Reimer Students have the right to step down from any challenge that they cannot surmount. This is the long and short of it. Despite the judgment and prejudice that this may cause, they DO have the RIGHT to quit. Things come up. Your parents dislike your after-school time being spent at school working, or you coming home from practice too sore to do anything. Your job interferes with practice. You break your arm and can’t play basketball. These are all very valid reasons to step down. However, those of you who think that because you have the right to leave, you should be able to drop whenever you wish should reconsider direly.

When you sign up for something, when you compete against others for a position that you are expected to stay in, it is your duty to do just that: stay in. When you signed up for the position, you knew the baggage that came with it. If not, then it is by your own stupidity and negligence of research that you are in the situation you are now. You should know what waters you are diving into before diving. To reiterate; Sure, you have the right to walk away from your commitment. You do. But it is my creed that you stay with your commitments. Don’t disgrace yourself and your team by abandoning the people that expect you to be there.

(sugar-coated “no”)

January 31 , 2011 15

By Rochelle Browning Every year people set goals for new year’s resolutions, but a good chunk of people don’t stick with them. Even though resolutions often fall through, it’s still good to set goals because some day you may actually achieve them. If you don’t set goals, what do you hope to achieve? Among all the resolutions, the most common are to lose weight, to exercise and to stop smoking. Other, popular resolutions deal with better money management or debt reduction. Approximately 40-45% of Americans set one or more New Year’s resolutions each year. Only 75% maintain

their resolution past the first week, 71% past the second week, 64% past one month, and 46% after six months, according to proactivechange.com. Many people question what the point is of making resolutions when chances are they will break them anyway, but researchers have said that setting resolutions is still useful! People who make resolutions are ten times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t make resolutions at all. So what are some ways to help keep your resolutions? First, last year is over- LET IT GO! Don’t sit around dwelling on the past you’ll never get

anything done; the past is called that because it has PASSED. Second of all, be honest with yourself about everything. Don’t pat yourself on the back when you don’t deserve it or else you’ll just be reenforcing the very habit you were trying to change. Also, write things down and make plans it helps! Something about the physical action of writing down a resolutions helps you remember and follow it. It may sound weird but it reallly does help. Finally, expect setbacks. Nothing is ever OK forever. Things happen, and that’s life! If you trip and fall, just get back up. When

you trip, at least you know you’re taking action, and that’s what is important. Regardless of the outcome, if you gave it your all and you didn ‘t cheat yourself, the result will be progess. Don’t let the fear of failing keep you from setting a resolution. Resolutions are made to help motivate you to change your life for the better. It matters not if you succeed or fail. The fact that you made the effort matters. The ability to percieve your flaws and then fiind the motivation to fix them is a valuable skill to teach yourself. Only you can truly influence whether you succeed or fail.

New Year’s resolutions: the good, the bad, the ugly

Teens too reliant on networking for socializationBy Rachel Pangrac and Kirsten Smith As teens we have become way too dependent upon Facebook and texting.High schoolers and middle schoolers alike are constantly clicking away at their keyboartds or phones. The drama-filled banter is never ending. Let’s take Facebook as an example of this ceaseless network gabbing. Facebook is easily the quickest way to catch up with any news regarding people now-a-days. Someone hooked up? It’s on Facebook. Someone got a speeding ticket? There

is a status on Facebook. Someone puke at a party the other night? It’s gonna be on Facebook. Someone eat a really tastey sandwhich from the deli down the street? It’s on Facebook! See what I mean? We need to break out of those screen conversations, and meet someone new! With the new year of 2011 finally here, the perfect opportunity to branch out of our virtual conversations and meet new people face-to-face is here as well. In August, users spent in average five hours and forty-six minutes a day on Facebook, responding to

friend requests, casually stalking long lost friends and playing games, compared to an average of three hours and fourteen minutes users spent surfing Yahoo over the course of the month. Social network sites have the potential to weaken the quality of relationships for teenagers and those around them. Using text as the chief comunication tool can be promblematic. Cold written words can be easily misinterpreted and twisted to convey a meaning not intented by the author. Drama readily thrives in such a environment. This

drama may be a reason why sites like Facebook are so popular, but it doesn’t contribute anything to the relationships of the teen or society. This year I believe we should make it a goal to put down the phones and turn off the computers. Instead of responding to friend requests, go hang out with friends. Rather than having an entire conversation over text, call ,or better yet, go talk to them face to face! The hardest thing I challenge you Facebook fanatics, and cell phone wizards to, is to go out and make a true friend this year.

January 31, 2011 16

Parrot Fa Nalia: best prices,nuff said.

By Joe Pherigo (edited by

Nathan Daniel)

At about 7:45 every

morning, a violet 1993

Plymouth Voyager

screeches into the school

parking lot. Worn and

weather beaten, every

scratch tells a story.

“This vehicle came into

my family when my parents

realized they were going

to have a child, said Joe

Pherigo (10).

My parents and I have

taken vacations into the

New Mexican desert, up

and down mountains, and

through the brutal Kansas

elements in the van. You’ll

notice the roof looks like

someone took a baseball

bat to it. That’s because

when my dad drove

through Western Kansas for

business, he was caught in a

hailstorm with hail the size

of grapefruit. You’ll also

notice there are handprints

on the back windows. These

were the result of shutting

my nieces, nephews, and I

in the back while screaming

and giggling throughout the

pastures of the Flint Hills.

Speaking of flint, it isn’t all that forgiving on the tires!

When fencing the

family farm, we lacked a

truck for hauling, so we

made do. For an entire

summer you could see

that violet streak bumping

up and down the hills and

buffalo wallows, fence posts

and barbwire almost parting

Baaah! Joe Pherigo (10) stands proudly alongside his legendary violet Plymouth

Voyager. (Photo by Nathan Daniel)

company at every turn. The

lack of a truck also resulted

in the improvisation of an

animal transport. From

Towanda to Chase County,

we hauled a sheep, bleating

and jumping the entire way.

Another 21,000 miles

and it will have traveled the

distance from the earth to

the moon. That’s quite the

distance, I know.

The Voyager may not

look that good, but the

memories more than make-

up for it.”

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