RAMPAGENorth Th urston High School

February 10, 2012 Issue 406

The library. Only a few words can describe it. Boring, silent, and full of... books. But Mr. Coker, North Thurston High School’s new librarian has transformed the library to so much more. It’s not just a place where you check out books, you can research with the handy research databases he has and go on the computers he has set up. He also has made a “Laptop Bar” in which allows more accessibility to computers if there isn’t any more desktops. Overall the old library that was barely inhab-ited has transformed for the better. The better being a place that students can fi nally study and enjoy time with their friends at the computers. The rules have changed and what you thought was the library has expanded, and is no longer just about published books.

Mr. Coker has been a librarian for 5 years and also is the past president of the Washington Media Association. He is the man behind the changes in the North Thurston Library, Mr. Coker, who says his favorite thing about his job is “the incredible amount of diversity,” explaining the changes in the library. Mr. Coker justifi es the changes by hoping to “facilitate and increase usage.” With the hope of increasing the usability of the Fiction section, the library staff have made this part of the library more accessible. Since January 9, 2011 the circulation of Fiction books have increased by 70%. The library staff is also going to be undertaking more alterations to improve the North Thurston Library experience. We can look forward to the development of a computer lab, Mr. Coker hopes to “use the space” and make it “more functional.” Additionally, they hope to start managing textbooks and start to blend the reference books into the Non-Fiction portion. Another new feature to the NTHS Library, is the “Quiet Zone.” This a place mainly for people who need to focus or need a quiet environment. The Quiet Zone is just another asset provided to “meet the needs” of students according to our Librarian. He also installed Google Chrome on all of the computers. With the obvious physical changes within our school’s library, the resources and references aren’t limited to books. Mr. Coker says on a daily basis only 10% of what he does as a librarian is dedicated to actual print books. He takes pride in the sources provided on the library’s website. You can fi nd class links, book reviews and “crash courses” on the library’s YouTube channel (nthslibrary). The library doesn’t stop at YouTube, they also extend into Facebook and Twitter. Ultimately the advancements are made with the students in mind. When asked what is the one thing he could say to the students of NTHS, he said, “if you need any help, ask.”

Turning the Pages from Cover to Cover by Kayla Purdue-Mosley

Club News Page 2

The very first meeting of book club was during activity period on February 1st. So far, there have been nominations for officer posi-tions for President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary/Webmaster. The purpose of the club, as the name implies, is to promote recreational reading, and discuss books. Talk to Mrs. Udo in room 227, or Mr. Coker in the LRC.

Book Club

Because of the snow week No Name Calling week has been post-poned until February 13-17. Look for GSA members at your lunch with pledges you can sign. Some upcoming events regarding GSA include the Day of Silence, which will take place on April 20th.

G.S.A Club

In February, there are two events that some students will partici-pate, North Thurston Kiwanis Grape-fruit Help at the fair grounds to sort and load which is on February 14th to 16th from 3pm to 5pm and North Thurston Fruit unloading at Thurston Country Fair grounds at Rabbit Shed which is on February 11th from 8am to 10am. Students will be able to get great experiences with joining local society and community service.

Key Club Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) members captured 40 awards at their February 6 Regional Winter Conference. Award winners qualify for competition at the upcoming state conference in Seattle. Paperwork (event materials and fees) for state competitors is due March 1st. FBLA is doing lots of community service and raising money for the conference through scrap-booking crops. The next upcoming crop is February 25th. Also, this coming week is Career and Technical Education Week (CTE) which is about creating new skills and being a part of business.

F.B.L.A Club

With over 350 students that competed at the Regional competition 28 students from NTHS qualified for state. Here are the individual students and teams who qualified for state.

1st place- Megan Beatty and Lydia Rush(team)-Business Law and Justice4th Place- Jake Daniels and Grant Geisler(team)-Financial Analysis1st Place- Allen Herrera and Zain Abid(team)-Financial Analysis2nd Place- Elizabeth Vanier and Morgan Willie(team)- Hospitality Services5th Place- Starlynn Simon and Rebecca Huynh(team)- Hospitality Services1st place- Alina Houston and Cassandra Fogel(team)- Marketing Communications3rd Place- Hannah Trefsgar and Emma Baldwin(team)- Sports entertainment1st place- Megan Kramer and Allie Egolf(team)- Sports and Entertainment2nd Place- Logan Russell and Joey Renaud(team)-Sports and Entertainment4th Place- Avery Miller and Myranda Paquette(team)- Travel and Tourism5th Place- Jennifer Barrere- Apparel and Accessories3rd Place- Katie Gibbons- Human Resources Manager2nd Place- Tyler Briggs- Marketing Manage-ment1st Place- Jennifer Hodgman- Restaurant and Food Services2nd Place- Emily Rood- Retail Merchandising4th Place- Erin Eckstein- Sports and Entertain-ment1st Place- Josh Hunt and Kylie Herrlyn- Adver-tising Campaign ADC

D.E.C.A Club

Last early release the officers of The Nesain Islander Club met with the president of the state FBLA, Si Cave, for a lesson in organi-zation. After the officers were finished the V.P. Tonette Santos took the girls to continue learning how to hula. While a group of ten guys per-formed a quick Hakka to show those new to the Hakka how it’s performed. For those who don’t know what the Hakka is, it’s a warrior chant that came from New Zealand used before going into battle. The V.P. has also said that at some point they plan to make flower leis for club members and candy ones for senior members. When asked what he thought of the club Justin F. says “[It’s a] nice club… [Helps people] get close to the culture for those born on the islands but moved away.” When the V.P. is asked she said the club was “like one big family… we all feel connected not just because of school but culture [too].” Just as a reminder the club is open to everyone not just islanders. Just as Jared S. has said “Aloha cuz!”

Nesian Islanders

“One of the big things they do at conference is networking. Being successful in life isn’t always about what you know, but who you know. You never know what person you may meet who will help you get your foot in the door. ” - FBLA Advisor, Marion Salcedo

NewsPage 3

Valentine’s Day by Kelsey Gonzales

North Thurston technical drafting students nearly swept the regional competition this past Saturday. NT’s drafting class had their very first official competition at the SkillsUSA Olympic Region Contests. They had to use their drafting skills to solve an architectural problem. The problem includes a written test, a hand sketch, and drawings either computer-generated or board drafted. They did a wonderful job! The student who got first place was Josh Miller, second place Aaron Adler and the third place was Zach Hoppe. The other competitors who placed were Brady Neely, Jordan Williamson, and Evan Hosni.

The RamPage talked to Josh and asked how he felt about the competition. He said, “it was interesting and a new experi-ence. I liked the challenge and how you could solve it in different ways and express your creativity.” We also asked him what he gained from this experience. He replied with “I really had to learn how to manage time and to be detail orientated.” Zack said the contest was fun and that he loved the challenge of applying his skills. He felt in this experience he gained a great deal of knowl-edge, especially in time management. Congratulations to all of Mr. Marshall’s students who attended.

NT Drafters Sweep Regional CompetitionbyLibby Bert and Kelsey Gonzales

Back in the day the holiday was called Saint Valentine’s Day, commonly shortened to Valentine’s Day, which is an annual holiday held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was es-tablished by Pope Gelasius. It was deleted from the General Roman Calendar of Saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and send-ing greeting cards. People in the United States celebrate Valentine’s Day every year on Feb-ruary 14; those in love take opportunity of the occasion to reaffirm their love for their sweethearts. Many people also express gratitude and love for friends, family and other people that they care about. Around here most people give Valentine’s Day gifts like cards, fresh flowers, chocolates and balloons. Some of us in our school are not fans of Valentine’s Day. One reason is because they may have to pay for gifts; another reason is the chaos. For example, last year a guy bought his girlfriend 20 balloons, so people couldn’t walk the halls without getting hit with them. Many people hate “V-day” because they are alone with no special someone. Also, people sometimes despise Valentine’s Day because they hate seeing everyone so cheerful and seeing all the beautiful flowers and just wishing that they are for them. At North Thurston people have different views about this special day. We asked a few what they think of Valentine’s Day. Some of their responses are on page 4. Continued on page 4...

Features Page 4

When I walk the halls, I see couples everywhere; in front of lockers, sitting at tables, and chatting during class. How-ever, there are couples that you can’t see. We are rare, few, and far between. Opinions on our mental state vary from the clini-cally insane to the deeply committed. We are the long-distance relationship people. On Valentine’s Day, we don’t get the privilege of being

with the people we love- at least not most of us, not face-to-face. We get to see our significant others a few times a year. We have to make do with phone calls, letters, Skype, and the internet, but it’s not the same. What to get them for Valentine’s Day becomes a whole other question when we include the fact that most things will have to be shipped instead of given. Continued on Page 5...

Editorial: Long Distance Relationships by Jada Cerniwey

...Continued from page 3Name What do you think of Valentine’s Day?

Jazmyne Johnson I like Valentine’s Day because I get gifts. It’s just a day when the significant other shows how much they love and care for you.

Seth Kilbourne I have mixed feelings because usually it will cost me some money. It can be a good day if you have someone to spend it with, but if you’re alone it can be a sad day.

Sori O’Connor Valentine’s Day is love. Showing your love to somebody…with sweet chocolates.

Nick Salazar Valentine’s Day only has one meaning to me...if I have someone I care about more than I normally do. Otherwise it’s just another day.

Jordyn Colborn Valentine’s Day is usually a day where love is celebrated. If a boy likes a girl, he gets her flowers, chocolate, cards, or stuffed animals, etc. … I think Valentine’s Day is dumb. … I don’t think Valentine’s Day should be a holiday. If you really love someone it shouldn’t take a holiday to show it.

Hunter Simpson Valentine’s Day? The day of love. It should be celebrated more often. It brings couples who are really in love close together. (Girls, one message to you, if the boy takes care of you, looks deep into your eyes and tells you every day that he loves you, hugs you even in public, doesn’t care about PDA, and kisses you slowly and gently, and doesn’t use the terms hot, sexy, and usable to describe you to his friends, then keep him.) Thank you for listening. And have a happy v day!

Alexandria Gartland Valentine’s Day is the day everyone celebrates love. Or complains about not having that special someone because they are Debby Downers.

Erik Turner How can a holiday about love have so much bloodshed? The murder was planned. Valen-tine’s Day is based on the Roman St. Valentine. He would help the wives of the soldiers deliver letters to their husbands. Valentine’s Day has a history of bloodshed. In the 1900s Al Capone murdered seven of Bugs Moran’s mobsters. Valentine’s Day has been soiled in my mind. I believe in a day of love being every day rather than one day.

Thanksto theseRams

for their ideas about

V-Day!

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February 14th….. Valentine’s Day! This is a big day in Japan as well as in America, but Japan celebrates Val-entine’s Day a little bit differently from America. On Valentine’s Day in Japan, GIRLS give presents to BOYS, and the girls do not get anything! That is not fair you say? Don’t worry though, girls do get gifts eventually. We have “WHITE DAY” on March 14th, kind of like the opposite of Valentine’s Day. White Day is the day boys thank girls by giving them a gift. Although this is tradition, in recent years, boys are increasingly giving presents to girls on Valentine’s Day. It is called “GYAKU CHOCO,” which means “opposite chocolate”. I think this is pretty normal in America, but it is not common in Japan. Girls who receive a gift on Valentine’s Day are usually very sur-prised as they do not expect to get a gift. I believe that is the reason guys are giving “GYAKU CHOCO,” to surprise the girls. On both days, presents are not chocolates alone. Especially on white day, the gifts come in a wide variety. For example, a person might receive: cookies, marshmal-lows, candies, flowers, teddy bears, jew-elry, and so on. White Day is a really big deal in Japan, as well as Valentine’s Day. Another difference between Ja-pan and America is that we give different names to the gifts depending on who the present goes to. Giving presents to friends is called “TOMO CHOCO,” which means friends chocolates. The purpose is to exchange presents between friends. I think this is the most common between teenage girls. I made about 100 chocolate brown-

ies a couple years ago. That means I got about 100 treats in return that year. The treats were really yummy, but it was really hard to finish eating all of the chocolates. Way too much sugar! Giving presents to people as a “thank you,” like your parents, siblings and teachers is called “GIRI CHOCO” means thanks chocolates. I have been going to girl’s only high school in Japan for 2 years. In my school, the high school and middle school are in same building so there are six grades, made up completely of girls. My teachers get a bunch of presents from students every year on Valentine’s Day. We go crazy on that day giving presents to people that we want to say “I love you” like boyfriends, hus-bands, and crushes. These chocolates are called “HONMEI CHOCO” which means the “favorite chocolate.” During valentine season teenagers often talk about whether or not they are going to give someone “HONMEI CHOCO.” This is big deal for Japanese teenagers as well as American teenagers. I love Valentine season, and I get really excited about it every year. In Japan, about one month before Valentine’s Day, shopping malls and streets are filled with love songs, heart monuments, and smell of chocolates. Some TV commercials are changed to fit a Valentine’s Day version, especially companies selling chocolates. I often hang out with my friends on the weekend before Valentine’s Day to make chocolate treats. Making the chocolates is actually much more fun for me than Valentine’s Day! I have said that Japanese Val-

entine’s Day is big deal as well as the American Valentine’s Day from beginning of this article, but I feel like the Japanese version is much bigger. I feel that Ameri-can Valentine’s Day is more for couples than friends and family. In Japan, I feel like girls, boys, young, and old… every-body looks forward to Valentine’s Day.

Japanese Valentine’s Day by Yuki Terada

..Continued from Long Distance Relationships Page 4 Most people at this school don’t know how lucky they are. “There’s really no advantages, it’s hard to be apart,” agreed Senior Tim B., whose fiance lives in Oklahoma. “It makes it easier when both people want it to work.” On one hand, for us long-distance people, it’s sort of like being single, which according to your point of view, can be a good thing. On the other hand, it’s lonely. There’s no one there when we really need them to be. We don’t get to go out on weekends, because they don’t live in our town and neither of us have the time or the resources to travel that far. Visits mean a week where both parties have no school for a week or more and one party is willing to spend a long time in a plane/train/bus/car. No matter how many letters we send, or how much time we spend chatting with them on Facebook, or how often we’re on the phone together, it never makes up for the fact that they are not actually standing next to us. We miss out on all the coupley things that normal people get to do, and it takes two very dedicated people to make it work at all.

Features Page 6

Four years, only four years in this place we see as a playground, can create a lifetime for the future. Being the best you can be, thinking outside the box, giving that 110%, growing through experience, learning new things about yourself and your education, finding inspiration and passion, new ideas, changes in life, these are all the things we may encounter on this ground. These things are thrown at us sometimes day by day, and we don’t understand why. We are told to catch an opportunity if we see it fly by, but we weren’t told how. We know why getting good grades is important, but how? Stu-dents go through depression, stress, pres-sure, and irritation in school from knowing what grades they want, but not knowing how to execute their plans successfully. They want to be successful so bad, but they have their feet in the sand and don’t know how to get them out. Getting those grades up and keeping them up is a pain in the butt for many of us. We learn how to succeed through experience. Since we were babies, we have been corrected from our grammar, knowledge, manners, and actions and we still are corrected as teens. We were taught what to do, when, where, and why, and what to say, how, if, and because. If we were not taught anything or corrected, we would be in a serious world of hurt. So what if the secret to success was by our failures and corrections? At the age of seven, we fell off our bikes, and got back on the next day faster and better, because we learned what not to do through experience. For many students, since 6th grade they have received straight (A’s), but ever since they have entered high school and started taking honors classes, things have been difficult. Most people don’t understand what they could be doing wrong; they do their usual study habits for hours and hours then go to take the test and bomb it. Sometimes we feel we have worked so hard to get those perfect scores, and when we do the best we can do, we do not con-gratulate ourselves. Many students have incredible work ethics and can memorize things off the top of their heads, but when

it comes to critical thinking on a test, they are stuck having a meltdown. Some of us love to blame our pressure on the people who surround us, teachers, our household, relationships, even our future, but none of them are to blame. Only you can be weak according to your own expectations. You are the one who set those expectations, and the one who wants to achieve your goals the most. Trying your best is what leads you to success. We are humans and all of us have to make mistakes to learn and grow from them; that’s just a part of our human nature. Education is the one thing no one can ever take from you; that’s unless they cheat off you. Is cheating really worth getting an (A)? Cheating is just stealing a piece of information from someone else even though you don’t know if it’s true. This sleazy way to an (A) will only make you look like an idiot, but let’s admit we all have been idiots before, and slightly looked at the dude’s paper sitting next to us. We find being sleazy is our clever way of cheating. Just about everyone agrees that cheating is not right or ethical. When students are very stressed or very lazy, they don’t mind doing anything for a good grade, especially stealing the education off someone else. The problem with cheat-ing is the cheaters themselves. All to get an (A) our individual character becomes the reasons for cheating. Character is something you have to be careful about. Character strengths can become charac-ter’s weaknesses. Your character portrays the way you live your life, so if you had the habit of cheating off people and ille-gally “borrowing” information? If students see cheating as a simple violation of the rules, then they would want to know: Are these rules reasonable? Who devised them? Who stands to benefit by them? Since these questions are never answered or asked by students or teachers, many students think it’s okay to cheat as long as it leads them to a good grade for today. Different kinds of cheating involve illegal actions such as plagiarism. For most stu-dents, it’s not always crystal clear where to draw the line between an idea that has

been influenced by the work of other writers, and one that clearly created with someone else. At NTHS, we do not sup-port anyone who does not like to use their imagination or have time to think about their own opinion and steals ideas from someone else. There are many benefits to studying and taking the time to understand and brainstorm things, and there is no rea-son or excuse for people to say it is okay to cheat and copy off someone else.Well how can we get that (A) grade in the first place? Sometimes all we need to do is spend one to two hours every day after school to just confess to our teachers and admit we do not understand, but most people do not see the benefits to spending that time with their teachers. Other times having discussions with a group of friends helps us think outside the box. When you know you aren’t alone, it becomes much easier to relate with people and ask the teacher more questions that you do not understand. Checking Skyward Access is very important too because not all teachers are as up to date as you may be so making sure you have completed assignments and turned everything in is all a part of your responsibility in order to get good grades. Having good memory skills, study skills, and note taking skills will help you get good grades. When trying to understand a concept that seems very complex, you will have to do some critical thinking and maybe have a class discussion. Critical thinking is just like brainstorming and will help our minds explore around the subject we are learning. Finding a specific interest in the subject is very important, because you become more involved in the subject and it becomes easier for you to learn other than memorize. Teachers love critical thinking because it forces students to think outside the box and relate to ourselves. It is not about how fast or how much you can write, and it’s not about the pencil or paper you choose to write with, it’s about you showing an interest and effort to thinking outside the box for the subject. Continued on Page 7

Striving for Excellence by Masai Hunter

FeaturesPage 7

On Friday, January 27, I had the pleasure to sit in on a special guest speaker to Ms. Bennett’s fourth period class. Craig Seasholes, an ex-librarian and now a mountain climbing instructor and a climber himself, surprised the sophomore English class by entering the room raving in Napoli and dressed in full mountain climbing gear. After asking the students many obscure questions he left the room in a rage after he was told that the commu-nications equipment had been left behind at base. Thoroughly confused, the stu-dents were given a prompt asking them to write a story about what had just hap-pened. After a few moments, Mr. Sea-sholes returned and lo-and-behold, he did actually speak English. He told the students that in the mountains, when sometimes your only companions may not speak English, you have to learn to communicate and rely on each other. Seasholes was there to discuss with Ms. Bennett’s students the novel the had been previously been reading, Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer. The fic-tional story revolves around the real-life mountain climbers, Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, and his tragic expedition up Mount Everest. Craig, whom had known Fischer, talked about mountain climbing and its dangers. He showed the students

his equipment and talked about all his mountain climbing experiences. He also discussed the book and his own reactions to the Mount Everest disaster where eight climbers where killed and several oth-ers were stranded by a ‘rouge storm’ and spoke about the brave guides who help protect lives that day. Craig had also brought along the wife of Scott Fischer, Jeannie Price, who shared her experience in having the story of her late husband’s expedi-tion being presented to the public. Like Seasholes, Jeannie had a point to relay to the students; the importance perspective in both reading and in actual life. She talked about how some of the characters (those based on real people in the expedition) where sometimes misinterpreted such as the city women who supposedly had the guides carry around a cappuccino maker she would not go anywhere without. In actuality, the machine was light and easily packed away and it may have been Scott who had introduced her to the idea. She also spoke of her late husbands love of mountain climbing, joking that if he has to choose between the climb and his wife he would most likely choose the climb. For myself, one of the most memorable parts of the resent actions was a photo that Craig Seasholes showed of Scott looking down the edge of the moun-tain as some of the others were heading

back down. It depicted the true determina-tion of a man in love with his work. Seasholes finished his presenta-tion with another photo taken at the top of Everest. He said that despite the struggle of getting to the top, it was worth it for the view. He described it as truly and com-pletely awesome. Craig Seasholes and Jeannie Price’s visit was much anticipated and truly memorable. Having guest speakers is a real inspiration to students in whatever subject it is they are speaking. I would like to sincerely thank Craig for his visit.

Dangers of Mountain Climbing Revealed by Guest Writer Taylour Grier

... Striving for Excellence Continuned from Page 6 When it comes to executing our goals, having a thought is the first place to start. Before success, there is effort, before effort, there is a plan, before a plan, there is a thought and from one thought, sparks many ideas. We love to skip many of these steps because putting in the time for things doesn’t work in our society the way we want it to. The question is, how do we balance out our lives? Life is like a triangle, one angle is our education/job, the other is sociality/relationships, and the other is our energy/time. It seems impossible to balance your life. People do not want to have their lives completely focused on their classes, and people should not want to have their lives completely focused on their social aspects. Teens focus on their grades more than their education because they have their heads set in the future. We must keep our heads held high and see what is at us right now before we think ahead. Taking the day one step at a time will help you realize the little things in life that have never been noticed. In high school, we love to rush through everything, even lunch. We need to take things slow, but realize when it’s time for us to catch up. On a highway with the speed limit of 60, most cars go around 66, some go more around 75, and others go 60. The cars that go 66 look back at the 60 and think they are going too slow, and look up at the 75 and think they are out of control. The cars that go 75 look back to everyone and feel on top of the world. But then that dumb deer walks across the road and the cars going75 and 66 forget what to do and swerve off track, but the cars going 60 slow down and stop, waiting for the deer to cross. Life is just like a highway, and if you don’t take the time to learn how to control it, you will not know how to protect yourself and see opportunities or safe chances you could take. Experience and understanding is the key to learning and growing. We all need encouragement from not just other people, but ourselves. If we cannot hold up ourselves in confidence, we will not be able to support or execute our plans.

Review Page 8

Youtube: The Vlogbrothersby Maggie Angel and Teal Christensen

The Vlogbrothers are, well, as their title suggests, two brothers that run a video-blog. But these aren’t any two broth-ers, and it’s no run-of-the-mill blog. John Green is the author of New York Times best selling, and often Tumblr-quoted, Looking for Alaska, as well as several other books. Among those is the newly released The Fault in Our Stars, but more on that later. John’s brother, the sec-ond half of the Vlogbrothers equation, is Hank Green, a graphic designer, self-pro-claimed musician, and founder of DFTBA records. He is also the creator of EcoGeek, and VidCon. Their vlogging project, spawned merely out of a desire to become closer, and temporarily abolish text communica-tion between them, is still active, five years later. Each of their poly-weekly YouTube videos racks up hundreds of thousands of views. Around these videos, John’s books, and Hank’s music, a society has formed, Nerdfighteria. As the name implies, Nerdfighteria is loyal fandom made up of Nerdfighters- nerds who fight to Decrease World Suck. All it takes to be a Nerd-figher is to realize and proclaim that you are made of awesome- instead of bones, organs, etc- thus, the Nerdfighter motto, DFTBA, (Don’t Forget To Be Awesome.) By proclaiming yourself a Nerdfighter, you are bound by the belief that knowing about the world, and its people is important. Myself being a Nerdfighter, strongly suggests that if you want to know who the Swindon Town Swoodilypoopers are, or just sincerely a person who enjoys the existence of cool stuff, (AKA a nerd,) you check out Youtube.com/vlogbrothers. Their YouTube channel is chock full of vid-eos including dance songs about particle physics, intense admiration of pizza, pok-ing fun at presidential candidates through the lost art of anagramming, and interest-ingly profound musings about philosophy, and the nature of things. Their other YouTube projects in-clude John straying away form the pattern of our occasionally drawling lesson plans to teach history, (Youtube.com/Crash-

Course,) Hank keeping us updated on the magnificent and frequently confusing world of science, (Youtube.com/SciShow,) YouTube fact-based game show, (YouTube.com/TruthOrFail,) and the surprisingly hilarious exhibition of Hank and his wife playing the Wii, (Youtube.com/Hank-Games.) Every now and then, there are Nerdfighter events in our area. (Facebook.com/groups/226960950700014/ will keep you updated about that.) Just last week, John and Hank were in Seattle at Third Place Books, as part of the 2012 Tour de Nerdfighting, and the release of The Fault in Our Stars. I was lucky enough to be one of the 800 people to not only briefly meet the Green brothers, but also watch them put on a show with music, reading ex-cerpts, mild electrocution, and even sock puppetry. Seattle was one of the sixteen national stops on the tour, (as well as one in Vancouver, BC.) Experiencing Nerd-fighteria IRL for a mere few hours was, admittedly, indescribably wondrous, and incredibly geeky. Overall, the collective goal of John, Hank, and all their fans, and friends, is to Decrease World Suck, by inserting more Awesome into the world. This is done is a number of ways. First of all, sim-ply through collaboration. This means be-ing creative with one another, and follow-ing one another’s blogs and channels, and responding and questioning. This is also done, more directly, through projects such as Project 4 Awesome, which is YouTube’s biggest charity event. Project 4 Awesome is when hundreds of YouTubers, including iJustine, and Alex Day (Nerimon,) make creative and awe inspiring videos promot-ing charities. Last year more than $100,000 for various charities was raised in one day, not to mention all the amazing videos of songs, skits, and ideas. John and Hank are also very big supporters and contributors to This Star Won’t Go Out, an organization to help cancer affected kids, founded by hte family of Esther Earl, close friend of John and Hank, after she passed away in 2009, and KIVA.org, which lends money to

small business owners all over the world, in order to work toward eliminating pov-erty. I urge you to spend five minutes watching a VlogBrothers video, click on to their Tumblrs, (fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com & edwardspoonhands.tumblr.com,) check out one of John’s books at the library, or listen to a few of Hank’s, or all of the other great artists’ on DFTBA records, songs. And, of course, don’t forget to be awesome! As for The Fault in Our Stars, I must say, wow. This book is set apart by other novels, that usually entertainingly present a central theme; TFiOs contrast-ingly presents several ideas, among them, the mostly serious question: Are heroic lives the only that matter? Is there some-thing so ridiculously necessary and enjoy-able and fantastic about not being special, or maybe even being forgettable? The protagonists in this novel are two cancer-stricken teenagers. Ha-zel Lancaster and Augustus Waters met unexpectedly in The Literal Heart of Jesus (support group), and develop a completely envy-worthy, loving relationship in the short amount of time they have together. It was interesting to watch their contradict-ing personalities mold together, and often clash. Continued on Page 12...

ReviewPage 9

Expert wording and explosive images in the hands of Patrick Rothfuss. Your mind is but a blank canvas being master-fully worked over by the hands of a professional. In the book Name of the Wind, young Kvothe is family to a traveling troupe of performers, his parents are asking around the country for infor-mation on a select group of entities called the Chandrian. All the while Kvothe is learning the Arcane from a traveling mage. Late one night when returning from an errand in the forest, he finds his entire troupe brutally massacred, bodies splayed across the greenery, the stench of blood hanging in the air; he cries out, drops his bundle and races through the devastated camp search-ing. With a child’s need for his parents, he finally finds them, war torn as their bodies are, and begins to mourn. Kvothe gathers what he can and sets out with nothing but what’s on his back. He

heads out to the nearest city he knows; there he spends his early adolescent years as a rough almost bestial, wretch. Eventually he makes his way to the college, to continue his education in the Arcane, and to pursue his newfound hatred of the Chandrian. This book is easily one of the best in the last century. Rothfuss makes you weep with the tragedies and make explode with joy at his achievements. Kvothe leads you on a wild chase through his life, from the killing of a narcotic crazed dragon to him and his demon apprentice. With just words on a page, Rothfuss can make you weep uncontrollably, or laugh until you choke, his fingers and words control you like no other. Rothfuss has received praise from the highest of the high, from the late Anne McCaffrey, to Publishers Weekly, one of the most sought after reviews. Rothfuss delivers like no other.

Book Review: The Name of the Wind by Guest Writer Patrick Burke

There is one rule when seeing this: do not expect to see sparkly dramatic vampires and love struck werewolves, be-cause this is not what the movie is about. Underworld: Awakening is about a war be-tween vampires, werewolves, and humans. The movie follows the vampire Selene as she tries to piece together what has happened while she was locked up.

Underworld is full of bloody violence, so if you’re a fan of awesome action, then this movie is for you. There are moments in this movie that will make you rethink how it’s going to turn out. Even with those couple of twists, it’s not a mystery movie- it is full-on, nonstop action. You will feel like you were in the movie theater less than an hour but it lasts two full hours.

People who enjoy dramatic vam-pires should stay away unless you want to improve your experience by seeing this amazing, violent, gory movie. This film should get 5 out of 5 stars on the amazing meter. Underworld: Awakening is rated R and playing in IMAX 3D (which is really cool).

Underworld: Awakening Movie Reviewby Guest Writer Wyatt Sinnett

Zombie apocalypse: Check. Team of highly train military group: Check. A corporation that unleashed a virus that started the zombies: Check. It’s another installment of Resident Evil, and unlike previous games, the characters you have played in the past are not in the spotlight in this look behind the main story. On the Resident Evil time line this game would take place between Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Players take a role as one of six officers of the Umbrella Security Service (USS), each with unique abilities from cloaking to engineering biological weapons. Your objective: Get rid of all evidence that Umbrella (a pharmaceutical company that started the infection) has been part of illegal activities which includes killing survivors and getting rid of the special operations team that is trying to uncover Umbrella’s secrets. Another feature that this game his is allowing the player to make major “what-if ” deci-sions such as killing Leon S. Kennedy, one of the protagonists in Resident Evil 2 and the protagonist in Resident Evil 4. Besides the main story the game has four-player co-operative play, which is like a team death match between the USS. and the U.S. Special Operations Task Force. When your bitten in a regular Resident Evil game you lose some health and you knock the zom-

bie off , but in this game once you bitten your set up to turn into a zombie yourself. Once bitten, the player has a limited amount of time before they are turned. Once they run out of time, the player transforms into a zombie loses control of their character. Their newly infected character starts to attack his/her former team-mates until they are shot in the head allowing player to respawn. Another feature is a “bleed out” mechanic, meaning when you’re badly wounded your deemed “bleeding out” and makes you the first person infected will attack. Besides the regular feet shuffling zombies there are the B.O.Ws (bio organic weapons) such as hunters, lickers, and ty-rants. Players will be able to control these B.O.Ws when the time and circumstances are given in game. Also there is a hero mode which allows you to play as classic heroes like Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Jill Valentine, Carlos Oliveiera, plus a few villains such as Ada Wong, HUNK, and a new character Lone Wolf. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is a great look into behind the scenes of the Raccoon City incedent and will be at a nearest Game Stop near you on March 20th, 2012.

Resident Evil: Operation Racoon Cityby Kalei Sabas

Sports A week after Super Bowl XLVI, the dust is settling on the sports world, revealing a NBA season which is full of big surprises and disappointments. After experiencing a month long delay after a Lockout between the Owners and the Players union, Christmas day began the season with a bang featuring 8 playoff teams from the previous year facing off. Since then it has been a hectic scramble by teams to stay healthy and fresh, battling through the condensed schedule. Beginning in the Eastern confer-ence, specifically in Chicago where a new Bulls dynasty may be emerging. A core of young athletes in Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose, and Luol Deng, the Bulls are good enough to run with any team and after los-ing a heartbreaking series to the Heat last

year, look for Rose and company to make a deep run into the playoffs. Speaking of those Miami Heat, the Big 3 is back in action this year looking much better out of the gates then they did a year ago. Though exploited by teams like Milwaukee and Golden State, I would be shocked not to see this team in atleast the Eastern Confer-ence Finals come May. Other teams such as the 76ers and Indiana are shocking the East landscape, Atlanta and Boston are once again on pace to be contenders as well. Moving farther to the West, Okla-homa City is dominating almost every team they face. Kevin Durant is averaging 27 points and 8 rebounds a contest, com-bined with Russell Westbrook’s 22 points and 6 assists is making a strong case for

a team that should, assuming they don’t experience any devastating injuries, make it to the NBA finals. Below the Thunder is gets a bit messy but truly 3 teams are fighting for the #2 recognition of the conference, San Antonio, L.A. Clippers, L.A. Lakers. The Spurs and Lakers both past their primes have been a power for years but the Clippers with newly acquired Chris Paul have turned into not only one of the most exciting teams but a true force to be reckoned with. About 1/3 of the way through the shortened NBA regular season there is still a lot of room to move around for teams in both conference. Expect upsets, blow-outs, and some collapses from a few teams moving forward into late February and March.

Tim’s Sports ColumnBy John Corey

John’sPage 10

SubmissionsPage 11

Dear people that I am forced to be trapped in a building with for 6 and a half hours every day, I’ve noticing more and more people dressing like everyone else, acting dumb, poising, pretending, and being unoriginal. Stealing someone’s nickname and putting it on a dog tag and wearing it around on a collar (just like the one they had last year before it was a trend and they were just being themselves) doesn’t make you original, cool, or “in-style.” It makes you a COPYCAT. Please, I beg of you guys; quit copying, posing, and pretending and just be your freaking selves! Sincerely, Originality.

What Ifby Kory Dixon

Anonymous

r o g y v e l v e t u t l o oo c s w z z j n e c m z a x ks u e f y n v u c g u m c m ue i n k c o y d f a g p e g ks b r g n i p h p n c c i m ef a r e a t d s e i l i o d fl y w w f c s b r z a k e x ol b w j x e u h t r l s h l tw q y m l f f n o i s s a p rs h c d h f r h z e l u c o qf r n e b a i t n f s k m e xf a e y l x e d n n l a m s xc t a v c o n e e i n s d g sx d y k o o d s x c a q c d hb m j d f l e o e v e s r f x

Valentine’s Day Word Search

rosescupidsaintvelvetromancepassionaff ectionfancyfrienddoiliesloverslacefondnesscandlessensual

By completing this word search and turning it into Room 104 to Ms. Bork you can be in the drawing for 10 Rambucks. Please being it in before Februrary 17th 2012.

What if Marley and GhandiBoth had control over the world,

Concentration wouldn’t be a campBut an opened mindsets pearl,

What if the race of the human beings put aside our blatant greed?

Our people could be freed from the dictation

Surrounding you and me,What if all the what ifs and dumb kids

spontaneously combusted,What’s left would be a sum

of sonsAs strong as the ancient tundras,

And what’s goin’ down when 20-12 comes around,

Is it gonna be a solar fl areor the aliens comin’ to town,

What’s this,What’s that,

What’s fake and what’s fact,What’re you and me,

If what surrounds us is just black,We’re small as an atom in a nucleur

react-Shun the doctor back

What’s your medication pack?Well,

the ingredientsto obedience

Was thought up by evil geniuses, and Put into billions of bottles

To leave millions fi ending it,You’re really sick,

You’re needing this,Side eff ects include

DizzinessFeeling sick,

And coming backFor appointed meetings with-

Th e man I am against his darn evil plan,

I stand out with the few that choose grab my hand,

Coyotes on the lamb with holographic contraband in hand, not hiding;

But Compromising their goal for mass control of land.

-Kory “emcee unyKe” Dixon

Entertainment

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Eccentric HolidaysFebruary 10th: Ask The Question DayFebruary 12th: Kiss And Make Up DayFebruary 13th: Show Up Late To School DayFebruary 16th: Pick A Hobby DayFebruary 17th: Don’t Clean Your Room DayFebruary 19th: “Back In My Day” DayFebruary 22nd: Fancy Shoe DayFebruary 23rd: Read A Horrible Book DayFebruary 24th: Don’t Text For A Day DayFebruary 26th: Draw Tattoos On Your Friends DayFebruary 28th: Highlight Acheivments DayMarch 2nd: Stare Into The Distance Day

Continued from Youtube: The Vlogbrothers page 8... Augustus, as perhaps many people facing their possible death, is obsessed with leaving something behind, something meaningful. Out of this, many other questions arise, generally involving the concept of life having a distinct meaning. To even the toughest kids, this book is surely tear-inducing, and laugh-causing. Yet, not in the expected way. You care less of their illnesses than you do about their beautiful and sometimes ordi-nary thoughts, and overall, their navigation through a problem with no solution, and a world they cannot fi gure out what to do with. TFiOS presents Augustus and Hazel much more than sick kids, but just kids, who happen to be sick, in addition to being themselves. It will challenge what you think about a lot of things that you couldn’t even previously imagine could be in a novel about teens that are suffering their way through adolescence. As always, John Green’s language and style is easy to read, yet very eloquent and intellectually stimu-lating. I recommend this book a hundred times over, and you should be sure to check it out in the LRC.

2011-2012 RamPage Staff MembersEditor-In-Chief: Cindi PanManaging Editor: Kayla Purdue-MosleyAssistant Editor: Maggie AngelLayout Editor: Cindi PanBusiness Manager: Teal ChristensenSports Editor: John CoreyAdvisor: Cara Bork

Photography Editors: Kalei SabasFeatures Editor: Masai HunterContent Editor: Jada CerniweySta� Members: Esperanza Rodriguez, Yuki Terada, Robert Burns, Libby Bert, and Kelsey Gonzales