New approach to safe driving shocks LC
Transcription
New approach to safe driving shocks LC
Go bananas for Jane Goodall! Page 7 New LC Lacrosse team Explore the nightlife The JOURNAL Issue 6 April 2013 Page 5 Page 8 New approach to safe driving shocks LC PHOTO BY DEVIN WOLFORD DECA teacher Chantal Czarapata enlisted help from several LC Drama students to act out a crash scene. The wmock crash was performed to prevent students from driving under the influ- by Devin Wolford Ad Manager LC launched its very first Biannual Mock car crash orchestrated by DECA, and Leadership teacher Chantal Czarapata on April 17. LC began its new Mock Crash demonstration program to help students learn the dangers of drinking and or texting while driving. “Last year, North Central High School did a mock car crash. I had several Leadership students attend and observe the event,” Czarapata said. After seeing the successful results with the NC mock crash, Czarapata expressed interest in bringing the program to LC. “This is personal; Jacoby Bryant was one of my favorite students. She was in DECA and went to nationals in Orlando, Florida,” Czarapata said. LC graduate Jacoby Bryant was killed in a car accident on February 14 2010 by a drunk driver. Czarapata set the program into motion with assistance from people who were experience in the field of work. “Charles Filippini and Paul Fuchs both assisted me in this program, they have done many mock crashes in the past,” Czarapata said. Imprint organizer Paul Fuchs works for an organization known as ‘Project Imprint’ and works with State Troopers, Fire-fighters, and funeral homes to stage mock car crashes around Washington state. Fuchs lost his sister to a drunk driver at the age of 16 and has had strong emotions on the topic of drunk driving. “What I saw that night literally changed my life,” said Fuchs to the LC students. Fuchs urged students to stay safe. He asked where they would be in the coming years to which students responded loudly “alive”. Following Fuchs’ emotional speech in the gym, students were led outside to the front of the school where the mock crash was set up. Drama students took charge of both makeup and acting for the mock crash. Among the actors portraying the characters were Seniors Danny Palomba, Davis Matthieu, Grace Martz, Kiley Barz, Katie Heitkemper, Sumner Goodwin, Sophomore Brie Cole, Freshman Emma Lyons, as well as Seniors Taylor Wright and Brennen Maguire. “It’s going to be hard killing my friends,” said Palomba the day before the event. “I’m playing the drunk driver and it’s going to be a pretty scary experience.” Palomba went on describing his role in the scene, first seeing his friends (Martz and Matthieu) dead, and then getting arrested by the police. “They picked me because they wanted someone ‘squeaky clean’,” said Palomba. “I thought it was a cool opportunity to teach my fellow students about how devastating this can be,” said Palomba. “If you are drunk or whatever don’t take the risk,” said Barz who portrayed a passenger in Palomba’s car. “This was important to me, my family has a history of alcoholism so it really hits home,” said Cole. The actors that portrayed the victims of the accident also had an emotional experience participating in the mock crash. “One of the weirdest things was writing our own eulogies,” said Matthieu. “Some people might take this as a joke but I hope this gets taken seriously… it’s emotional and intense,” Martz said. “I knew that all of it was fake, but all of the chaos just made it seem so real…I was taken out of the car on a stretcher and I couldn’t move,” Goodwin said. Following the crash students gathered again in the gym to break down what happened as well as to watch a mock memorial service for Matthieu and Martz. Martz’s mother attended the crash and expressed how heart breaking it was to watch her daughter and her friends suffer. “Stop and think of the life you would miss,” said Martz’s mother. LC Scholars excel in academics COLIN WEBSTER JULIO PINEDA ERIN MUAT SCIENCE ENGLISH DANNY PALOMBA ELLEN KACZMAREK PHOTOS BY ROSE HIRSCH KATE DINNISON SOCIAL STUDIES MATH FINE ARTS WORLD LANGUAGES The LC scholar nominees attended a recognition dinner to celebrate their achievements in their respective subjects. Senior Ellen Kaczmarek received a $3000 scholarship. by Rose Hirsch Staff Writer Out of 25 high schools and 150 nominees, one LC senior earned a scholarship from the Spokane Scholars foundation. Senior Ellen Kaczmerek won second place and $3,000 for her work in world languages. The Spokane Scholars foundation annually commemorates student achievement for their academic excellence. Teachers at each area high school nominated six students to represent the cream of the crop in their respective subjects. The six categories that students can be nominated for are English, fine arts, math, science, social studies, and world languages. Teachers from each subject suggest students that should be honored at the annual banquet that was hosted April 22. Social studies student scholar senior Kate Dinnison won the honor because “[she] likes government. You excel at what you like best,” Dinnison said Science scholar Julio Pineda completed all available AP science courses that LC offered, while also participating in science based extracurriculars. The Fine Arts Candidate senior Danny Palomba felt very honored to be picked out of the group of the students and his peers from the LC fine arts community. “Inspiring others to become more creative and notice the fine arts really gives me the drive to act,” Palomba said. Palomba has been acting since he was six-years-old. His favorite play he has done out of those twelve years was Urine Town that he performed his freshman year. “I approach life analytically,” said senior math scholar Colin Webster. “It is my natural thought process to think mathematically.” In order to qualify for this honor, Webster took a whole years’ worth of calculus during winter break so that he could move on to Calculus AB. Not only that, but he was one of the few students to score a 5 on the AP Calculus AB Exam. In order to go into the engineering field, Webster took lots of math classes because that is what his desired field is based on. He was honored to be selected because “there are a lot of other qualified and talented math students at LC.” Kaczmerek learned three languages, excluding English, throughout her experience at LC High School. She is fluent in Japanese, Spanish and Greek. “Greek was the hardest to learn and Japanese was surprisingly easy,” Kaczmerek said. Kaczmerek has been and still is learning Japanese starting from the fourth grade, and because she worked with Japanese the longest, it became her favorite. Kaczmerek wants to study International Studies in college. The LC English scholar senior, Erin Muat, was surprised, like the other scholars who were nominated for this honor. “I like every subject, but I definitely go way deeper into English,” said Muat. “I worked really really hard and never took any Spark Notes short cuts because I knew it wouldn’t help.” Her love of books and journalistic style of writing has inspired her throughout her school career. NEWS Page 2 Issue 6 April 2013 Fluent? Earn a language credit by Jacob Frederick Features Editor PHOTO BY ERIN MUAT Science teacher Nate Edmons (center) assists English Language Learning (ELL) students with their homework. Coming from a wide range of academic backgrounds and living conditions, they must still meet the same state and national standards as any other students. Refugees find a new home in LC by Erin Muat News Editor Every morning, these student refugees awake along with their families of six plus. Some live way below the poverty line, but are fortunate enough to have running water and electricity. Upon arriving at LC, they smile and share jokes with each other, pushing through the school day with absolute eagerness. Laughing frequently with their friends, these students have a lighter attitude towards life than what you would expect from kids who have escaped the horrors of war-torn countries. Beneath this layer of happiness and motivation lie the memories of a darker past. “In Nepal, life was really hard, and just completely hopeless. It was like, you’re going to be just like your father and nothing more, since we don’t have money to be educated,” said senior Sagar Rai, a non-ethnic Bhutanese raised in Nepal. Both countries denied him and his family citizenship. “Our family was kicked out of Bhutan because we didn’t want to speak their language,” said Rai. His story is one of over 100,000 whose lives the Bhutanese government has damaged with their ethnic cleansing campaigns starting in the 1990s. “These people were beat up, put into prison camps and tortured,” said English Language Learning (ELL) teacher Frank Newman. “Most camps had no electricity. I mean, these were camps, surrounded by barbed wire.” Newman compared the Bhutanese’s ethnic cleansing of minorities to a hypothetical situation in the US: “This is like if we told all the Americans of Hispanic origin to go back to Mexico.” The Burmese government participates in similar atrocities through its ongoing exile of minorities starting in 1950, several minorities of which currently attend LC (specifically, we have some Karen students, but other ethnicities such as the Chin and Karenni were also pushed out of Burma.) As a result, these people fled to refugee camps along the Thailand-Burma/Myanmar border. “These kids were ripped away from their friends, ripped away from their language, ripped away from their culture,” said Newman. According to a 2011 study by The Border Consortium (TBC), almost two-thirds of households of refugees in South East Burma were unable to meet their basic needs. Perpetuating their poverty, they have no official means of earning income or gaining employment, thus they remain largely dependent on outside help and resources. Newman said that these minorities’ lives were at stake, and could not return to their Burmese homeland; they had no choice but to flee to the nearest country. “These people were actively be- work and asking partnering teachers (including math teacher Thomas McNeice and ELL assistant Bhakta Giri) for help. “All of a sudden the students were blossoming. I’m hoping this model will spread to other schools because it is so powerful,” said Edmons. Though many ELL students think teachers are more laid back in the US, and that school is overall more casual (“You feel like you’re going on a date without a uniform,” said native Iraqi Haya Muhssin, a sophomore), they also perceive American education as higher quality education. In fact, most students’ families’ give education as the number one reason for applying for asylum in America, along with employment opportunities. According to Rai, the education level and the quality of American teachers adds to the appeal. In Nepal, teachers are not required to receive college-level training (or any sort of training at all). After completing high school, they can jump right in to a teaching career. Not everything these refugees left behind were necessarily bad. Some were even essential, and difficult to part with, like friends and family. For junior Malita Yapemacho from South Africa, it is a sister and a brother; for Rai it is a grandpa and several friends. All the students I spoke to had high hopes for the future. Muhssin is determined to study nursing at Gonzaga University; junior Eh Moo from Thailand wishes to go into teaching; and Rai has his heart set on video-editing. Former LC student Semir Hasedzic, who fled from Bosnia at a young age and worked his way up to assistant professor at Georgetown University, said, “A friend of mine recently said, on the anniversary of the eleventh year of his residency in the United States, (my fourteenth year will be on May 19), that ‘while not perfect, I can’t help but to be extremely grateful of all the opportunities and joys this country has brought me. At the end of the day, it’s not about being Colombian or American or any nationality, but rather loving the world as much as you love yourself.’” Rai echoed a similar sentiment. “I’m thankful to the US government. We were just strangers to them, but they gave us a home.” “These kids were ripped away from their friends, ripped away from their language, ripped away from their culture.” -ELL teacher Frank Newman ing hunted down and killed,” he said. LC also has a few students from African nations such as Sudan in similar situations, facing ethnic and civil wars. Despite their history, many students show a positive attitude towards their lives in the US. Newman wanted to emphasize that “most work extremely hard,” mentioning this many times. “ELL [English Language Learning] students are just great – they value education and see it as a ticket to better life,” said ELL science teacher Nate Edmons. Part of the success and enthusiasm that Edmons and Newman so often praise may also come from LC’s new curriculum for international students, created last year by Newman. Rather than scattering the 34 students into many different classes based on ability, Newman consolidated them into one cohort, so they move from class to class together. According to Edmons, the students were less afraid to talk and get involved in discussions with a larger, more familiar group. In addition, Newman reserved an entire period for the group – “sixth period Study Skills” – for working on home- Spokane Public Schools students can earn competency-based credits (CBCs) in world languages as of March of 2012, though students are just beginning to take advantage of the opportunity. CBCs are earned not through a traditional classroom environment, but through a test to assess language skills. The tests are held twice per year, and students can earn up to four credits depending on their performance on district-specified language tests. The most recent test was held on April 13 at Rogers High School; Junior Erin Kaya took the Turkish CBC test. “It was interesting, since Turkish isn’t a widely known language. The test was only 90 minutes long and it was three questions and I had to write an essay for each,” Kaya said. “Somebody is going to call me later to talk on the phone in Turkish.” CBC classes offer students an alternative to spending nearly an hour each day reviewing a language that they already know. “I feel like I’m slowed down by the other students in Spanish class,” said senior Elena Robinson, who is fluent PHOTO COURTESY OF INTERNET in Spanish. “Sometimes it seems like I have a supercomputer brain.” The extra seat time, however, is not exclusively negative. “It’s nice to go over it though because I can really delve into the language,” said Robinson. “I’m reading Spanish philosophical books at home, so it’s nice to have that firm base to work with.” “The program is designed for native speakers who grew up with the language and can write it, too,” said world language teacher and past CBC coordinator Mary Myhre. Most of the language tests were three hours long and included multiple-choice sections, reading sections and listening sections. Students earn credit based on their weakest performance out of reading, writing, and speaking; students cannot earn credit for only one language skill. “The test is actually pretty hard,” said Myhre. Most students who are skillful enough to qualify for competency-based credits learned the language as they grew up. “I lived in Mexico when I was younger, and my mom is from Mexico,” Robinson said. Freshman Ava Sharifi, who speaks Farsi fluently, said “My parents both moved here from Iran so I grew up with Farsi being spoken at home.” Students interested in earning competency-based credits can find more information by scanning the QR code provided that links to the Spokane Schools World Languages CBC website or by talking to Nancy Hough in room 047. The JOURNAL Issue 6 aPRIL 2013 Features Page 3 LC senior awarded full ride to Gonzaga by Abigail Stickney Staff Writer Senior Olivia Nagozruk (Nuh-gauze-ruck) will attend Gonzaga University next fall on a full tuition Act Six Scholarship. Act Six awarded her the scholarship after three months of intensive competition. Nagozruk learned in January that she had won the scholarship, which is aimed at students who show strong leadership qualities and are involved in the community. The scholarship seeks to build up urban leaders to be agents of change on and off campus. “The scholarship isn’t just a handout. Along with it is training to become a leader and to be involved in the community, and to build inter-cultural relationships,” Nagozruk said. The scholarship offers full tuition, meeting the full need of all winners, which makes the scholarship worth up to $180,000 At first, Nagozruk was hesitant to apply. “I found out in September about the scholarship and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to apply,” she said. 1,300 students applied this year from across the Pacific. She said that the number of applicants itself was intimidating, not to mention the uneasiness associated with knowing whether she would be more qualified than the next applicant. The program selected eight students from Tacoma, Seattle and all across Spokane to receive the scholarship to attend Gonzaga. Nagozruk is the only winner from Lewis and Clark this year and was given the option to attend either Gonzaga or Whitworth University. Nagozruk visited both campuses and eventually decided PHOTO COURTESY OF OLIVIA NAGOZRUK Nagozruk received The Act Six Scholarship for her community involvment and leadership in and outside of the classroom. Ashley Pyle: singer, pianist, inspiration on Gonzaga. Her choice was based on “finding a place that focused on community. [She] felt drawn to the campus and the activities.” The training received by the scholarship winners have focused on teaching students how to be ready and present on campus. The training also encourages teamwork, leadership, open-mindedness and a holistic approach to challenges. She wants to pursue a pre-med major and minor in Spanish. Another reason Nagozruk was chosen was her ability to act as a leader in the classroom. “She was a good student--a solid student. She was always making sure she understood what we were doing,” science teacher Dan Worthy said. “She is one of the most intensely focused students and takes a great deal of pride in everything she does. She has a lot of compassion and is very much aware that others are not going through the same thing [that she is]. That makes her unique as a high school student,” English and Mythology teacher Barbara Murphy said. College and career advisor Christine Mackleit originally gave Nagozruk the information she needed for the scholarship. She provided practical advice for getting these kinds of scholarships. “Any volunteer work counts. Think outside the box. Think of ways you are already bettering your community. Think about what you are already involved in and expand on that,” she said. Nagozruk became aware of the scholarship last September and has worked towards the goal ever since. “She knows what she wants and tries really hard to get whatever that is. She is so busy that she isn’t able to eat lunch with me anymore,” senior Andrea Felice said. PHOTO CREDIT TO ALLISON LITTLE Social Studies Department Lead Susan Gerard emphasizes the effects of Baroque and Protestant Dutch works of art. Next year’s tour will revolve around the Renaissance. PHOTO COURTESY OF ASHLEY PYLE Junior Ashley Pyle plays flute, piccolo, piano and guitar, sings and also performs. by Cynthia Aparicio Staff Writer Among the many talented students here at LC, junior Ashley Pyle is a singer/pianist who loves sharing her talents with the Spokane community. Pyle has been involved in music for twelve years, and her love for music began at age five when she realized she wanted to learn how to play the guitar. Her mother informed her that she would not be allowed to play the guitar until she learned to play the piano; Pyle’s mother thought that the piano was easier to learn. Pyle said that outside of school she could practice if she wanted to, but her mother thinks it is too loud so Pyle only practices in rehearsals. In school, Pyle is involved in five music/groups, including marching band, jazz band, pep band and wind ensemble. Pyle has never thought about dropping any of her classes but has, if possible, considered adding more. Pyle has been involved in a few school related performances. Her favorite experience was playing Keyboard Two for the recent musical “In the Heights.” If given the opportunity Pyle would do are, audition for Julliard and get involved with the civic theater. On top of all of this Pyle was also recently hired to perform at restaurants, showing the community her talents. At one point Pyle reportedly “hit a wall” when she wanted to quit piano lessons because she felt like she was not getting any better. However, she knew that if she did quit she would not be able to pick back up in the same spot she was before. There were a few times that she thought she was ready to give up but as soon as she picked up the instrument she knew that that was what she wanted to do with her life/ “It’s my destiny,” said Pyle. “Whenever I felt down about, myself music picked me up.” Pyle has a love for music and loves what she does. She thanks Daniel Nord for his help with music and supporting her through everything. Pyle has advice for her musical peers: “If you are thinking about joining music but aren’t sure, go for it now while you have the chance and stick with it. You will learn better and be able to keep the strengths you have. So many people who could have amazing opportunities did not take them simply because they were scared to be called a band geek,” said Pyle. “I know so many people who could have done something big with their lives but did not and it upsets me because they really could have so many amazing chances in life to do something unforgettable,” said Pyle. LC art collection: our school’s hidden gem by Allison Little Guest Writer LC’s art collection started with a donation from the class of 1916. Over the years many graduating classes donated prints as part of their senior gifts. Susan Gerard took the Parent Teacher Student Group (PTSG) on a tour of the LC Historic Art Collection on April 10. Gerard focused this year’s collection tour on a specific time period, highlighting the works of Catholic European Baroque art and Protestant Dutch art. “The art collection was called one of the best art collections west of the Mississippi,” said principal Shawn Jordan. “It’s one of the special features of Lewis and Clark.” Themes Gerard displayed on the tour included striking contrast of colors, expressionless people and large, fantastic buildings, mostly with religious associations. According to Gerard, the buildings portrayed in the pictures with clocks have particular significance. “Clocks meant that the town was wealthy,” said Gerard. “It was expensive to maintain; the town had to pay to keep a clockmaker living in the town. It really was a big deal.” Many of the pictures’ original dates are unknown, as the single written record of LC’s art collection stopped being updated several decades ago. The LC art collection was traditionally contributed to as a senior class gift, up to the late 70s when senior classes decided to put funding elsewhere. The school has more pictures stored in the LC archives, according to Jordan. LC has only one original painting, to the best of Gerard’s knowledge, on the southwest corner of the first floor of the main building. The painting is a Bailey and the date is unknown. Gerard has lead the PTSG on an art collection tour for eight years and also takes her AP European History students on tours throughout the year. Next year’s art collection tour will be centered around the renaissance era. The PTSG encourages teachers, students and parents to look for the event in LC News You Can Use email sent by Theresa Meyer monthly. “It’s a shame more students didn’t come,” said PTSG Vice President Lisbeth Little. “The art collection is something to be proud of, and most students would really appreciate listening to what Mrs. Gerard has to say about them.” Interested students can also contact Gerard to find out more about the collection. The JOURNAL Page 4 Features LC boasts budding STEM program by Lauren Guthrie Photo by jamie kennedy Sophomore Kim Stapleton triumphantly holds up her black belt after passing her Blackbelt test at War Horse Karate. Black is the new belt for Stapleton by Emmalyne Fuson Staff Writer Sophomore Kim Stapleton has achieved her black belt status in karate. She spent 14 years at War Horse Karate trying to accomplish her goal. When Stapleton achieved her goal, she was thrilled. Karate has twelve belts in all. The belts in order are white, yellow, orange, orange and purple, purple, purple and blue, blue, blue and green, green, green and brown, brown, brown and black, and black. “I was stuck at brown and black for a long time,” said Stapleton. The test to earn a black belt is composed of many different things, it starts with half an hour of warm ups, 100 pushups and 100 sit ups and that’s before the test even starts. She was then required to show her skills against her superiors. “It was such a relief getting my black belt because it was such a long time and my schedule was always packed,” said Stapleton. Karate not only teaches self-defense, but also discipline and confidence. “The adults in my life have noticed a change in my character, for the better of course,” said Stapleton. After she got her black belt Stapleton quit karate so she could have more time on her schedule. “My schedule was always packed and I didn’t always get homework done,” said Stapleton. When she was not training she was either at school or catching up on homework. Despite this booked schedule Stapleton still had to have a lot of energy for her training. Stapleton had to learn the forms with utmost precision and no mistakes. She also had to keep her energy level the same through the whole session. “It’s not like running, you can’t start with a certain amount of energy and then lose it, you had to keep the same amount of energy the whole time,” said Stapleton. Other things that Stapleton had to learn were cordial sets and discipline. Usually it only takes four years to earn a black belt but Stapleton faced some challenges. “It was really hard because I kept injuring myself,” said Stapleton. “I would recommend this for other people because they don’t just work on self-defense, They [War Horse Karate]work on character too,” said Stapleton. “When the students are warming up for the session they use all of the muscle groups. They stretch to avoid discomfort and injury and to make training more effective. Before each session students do a number of cardio-vascular exercises and stretches so their body is thoroughly warmed up,” according to Fudoshin Karate Club. “When karate is first started they start out with the basic techniques. These are composed of mostly punching and kicking and learning to control body movement. A lot of the training is done in pairs, people are paired together based on weight, height, and ability.” according to Fudoshin Karate Club. Frisbee-shooting robot excels in Cheney intense six-week period of designing, building and programming the robot, and their time constraint caused difficulties in the build process and the competition. Co-Editor-in-Chief “During the build season, a few students took things personally and The LC robotics team competed at Ellensburg on March didn’t accept their mistakes. There was a breakdown in leadership and 21 - 23 placing thirty-ninth in this event, but for the first lackofcommunication,”saidHatfield.“It’sanissueonbothparties.The time in five years, the team participated in the final elimina- leaders shouldn’t be cruel but everyone should accept their mistakes.” Despite the difficulties they faced, the robotics team has a tion round at Cheney April 4 - 6., The organization responsible for this event, For Inspiration and Recognition of Sci- strong freshman support that will bolster their chances next ence and Technology (FIRST) robotics, challenged students to season. Edmons and senior co-captains Sam Hatfield and Jacreate robots in a disc golf-like game called Ultimate Ascent. cob Frederick agreed that the freshman this year were interested and actively participated in the Ultimate Ascent involves two teams of building process unlike previous years three robots shooting Frisbees to goals, when the freshmen were not as active. and these robots have a chance to climb “The strongest seniors are leaving but a pyramid structure for extra points. Acpeople will take their place,” freshmen cording to robotics mentor and physics Kaitlin Willingham said. “We’ll do much teacher Nate Edmons, the competition better next year because we have more exhas two different phases: an autonomous perience now,” said freshman Luke Laxton. round in which only a program control FIRST robotics and the robotics program the robots and a teleoperated round in in LC hope to pique the interest of students which the students control the robots reinto joining the Science, Technology, Engimotely. The students also have a chance neering and Math (STEM) fields. “[Robotbefore the end of the round to throw ics] opened my eyes to the engineering the Frisbee themselves to earn points. process, and now, I see engineering as a “The competition wasn’t just about rofuture career,” sophomore Ian Baer said. bots or humans, but rather the meshing of “I used to be set for law, but now I’m the two,” mentor and math teacher Chris considering engineering,” said WillingDavis said. “30 seconds of robots, two ham. “I think FIRST is incredible and minutes of robots and humans and a few the district should do more for this proseconds of humans trying to score – in a gram. It is amazing for students and sothree-minute round, all of that happened.” Photo Courtesy of the internet ciety; Technology is where it’s going.” For this engineering challenge, the LC The LC robotics team built the robot The LC team is proud to be a studentteam prepared by researching a prop- “Dreadnaut,” for the Spokane and Ellensburg er design for the robot. Edmons said competitions. They qualified for the elimination led group who are guided by the mentors according to Frederick. Frederick that the team found a group of profes- round at Cheney for the first time in five years. sional engineers who took on the challenge of creating a robot said, “In the competition, I hear students asking their mentors if for this competition in three days. After four days, the LC team their robots are fixed yet. But when we were getting our robot inhas enough instruction from these engineers to create a robot. spected, the inspectors asked for our mentors but they were all out Edmons said, “We voted on a shooting robot early in the build season for coffee. The mentors let the students do the work themselves.” “We have students with hands-on skills that are betand by the end, we had no way of attaching a lifter to do the climbing challenge.” But in the competition itself, the team adopted a defen- ter than other college students. This gets students topsive stance which allowed them to be part of the elimination round shelf programming and building, not Legos. This proBefore the competition, the robotics crew underwent an gram is gonna help them in the future,” Edmons said. by Julio Marco Bello Pineda Issue 6 April 2013 Staff Writer The Science Technology Engineering Mathematics Academy, STEM, is up and running, as well as looking forward to new opportunities for growth and improvement. STEM is a growing concept in schools across the nation. The program aims to generate students’ interests in these fields and then provide opportunities to try their hand at them. LC has applied STEM-based programs within the school and is working to implement more opportunities for students to gain experience in these fields. Engineering, Computer Science, and Robotics are among these courses. Chris Davis, an algebra 2, conceptual physics, pre-engineering and future AP physics teacher, is a fan of the program. “The goal [of engineering] is to show the importance of work ethic and that failure is not a bad thing. The idea is to find what works and that it is okay to fail as long as you learn from it,” Davis said. The class is growing in popularity, especially because of the heavy emphasis on kinesthetic learning rather than simply hours of equations and formulas, as many science classes can be. According to freshman Sam Atewala, he enjoyed the time he was able to spend working with his hands. Robotics is another STEM related program, but one that has been around longer than engineering. It continues to draw new students each year of all grade levels. Ian Baer, a sophomore who has been on the Robotics team for nearly two years, said, “I like the energy of it. You don’t need a lot of experience; you just have to be eager.” “It is a really good idea. It makes you more aware of jobs in those fields [STEM fields],” Baer said. Freshman Luke Laxton said, “It is lots of fun building things and meeting with other schools and teams.” Although both of these programs are popular and growing, they both suffer from a lack of females involved. A 2011 report by the U.S. Department of Commerce found that only one in seven engineers is female. Additionally, women have not seen any employment growth in STEM jobs since 2000. Male or female, the STEM academy can help build your future. “It provides a sort of roadmap for kids. They may think ‘Hey I kind of want to go into a field that is STEM related and it is helping kids get through to be in the most advantageous position to pursue those goals,” said Don Worthy, head of the science department and teacher of human biology, human biology systems and general science. Practice in engineering generated sophomore Sanjay Rai’s interest in engineering. He hopes to work towards an engineering degree in college and become an engineer. “It is fun, frustrating, and you only have a certain amount of time to finish the project,” Rai said. “It is a great opportunity to a great future.” According to The SpokesmanReview, Washington State is home to the highest concentrations of STEM based jobs in the nation, but sits in the bottom five of states that produce undergraduates in those fields. As far as working to develop interest in STEM fields, Worthy said, “Be more visible. Talk about it, talk to students about it. We encourage STEM in particular in extra credit that we do [Robotics, MESA]. Students need that after high school vision – ‘What’s this getting me?’ They Issue 6 April 2013 Features Page 5 Check out new LC lacrosse team by Rose Hirsch Staff Writer Persistent and innovative LC students interested in maintaining their physical physique have created and started their own sports team this year. Lacrosse, a recreational activity especially known to be both violent and strategic, has maneuvered its way into the lives of several freshman and sophomores. Lacrosse, a sport that tends to be violent includes lots of running, hand eye coordination, and skill with the tools. The team members need to be swift, even though they need to wear a multitude of protective padding. They have done exceptionally well taking into account their inexperience as a team and the fact that it is the beginning of the season. “Even though we lost one game, I feel like we are really coming together as a team,” Freshman Matthew Murphy said. Coach Paul Dillon is a player on the Gonzaga lacrosse team who influences the players Monday through Thursday. Despite the fact that this band of stick wielders practices four days a week, they have not acquired official LC team status because LC has no girls’ team to even out the number of sporting organizations between boys and girls, as per Title Nine rules. Sophomore Ryan Webb said that he started playing the game because, “I was looking for a sport to play when hockey season ended.” Hockey is a sport that is similarly violent to lacrosse. As of April LC Tigers Lacrosse Team has played two games. One was against U-High and the other was against Mead and Mt. Spokane. They were not victorious against the seniors on the U-High team, but beat Mt. Spokane by 4 goals. “To prepare for games, we always start by taking warm up laps around the field as a team as well as warm up drills but when it comes to game time we always have a pump up speech which gets everyone riled up and ready to play,” sophomore Kalvin Thomas said. The Crosse is just the technical term for the stick with a mesh net at the end that they run around with and pass the ball. Its secondary use is to whack the opponents. To score points, the participants in the fierce game need to bolt across the length of the field and heave the ball into the goal net at each end of the field. “Lacrosse is a very hard sport to master,” freshman Sebastian Greer said. “Cradling the ball in the net is the hardest to learn,” he said. Lacrosse is one of the only extreme contact sports to allow the brutal act of whacking opponents with an aluminum stick. The separate parts are the head and shaft. Because this sport has the potential for great injury, the rules insist on a great deal of protective padding. The essential materials used to protect the body are shoulder pads and liner, helmet, gloves, and arm pads. The additional optional protective gear includes rib guards and a cup. Freshman Max Hufnagel said that the pads can be pretty uncomfortable, but that they help protect from serious injury. “I get hurt a lot, but there’s nothing that would stop me from playing,” Hufnagel said. Photo by Rose hirsch Freshman Payton Sieveke cradles the ball during a scrimmage. As a running midfielder, Sieveke has to control most of the field. LC athletes are on track to win their field by Elle Collins Staff Writer With their season almost over, the girls’ and boys’ track team have started strong as of April 19. The girls’ team has dominated most track meets with 4 wins and 0 losses as of April 19. Girl’s head coach Stephanie Splater said, “Our meets have been highly competitive and outstanding.” With 2 wins and 2 losses, the boys’ team is hoping for a comeback. Freshman Sam Adewale believes that the team is very strong and will be able rise above their losses and make LC proud. Although track is mostly an individual sport, the team members must come together as a whole group to win the meet. The rules of scoring for a track meet are complex. Overall, the girls’ team must earn a total of 150 points and the boys team 145 points. To win a meet a girl’s team must score more than 75 points and a boy’s team must score 73 points or higher. The reason for the boy’s having a smaller point count is because they do not compete in the 800 meter relay. On race day many runners have their own way to prepare for their events. Freshman distance runner Elise Arguinchona said, “I drink tons of water and listen to music to get mentally focused.” Other track stars like junior Matt Burns enjoy stretching alone to get in the zone. Adewale said just running and doing whatever the coach has said to do is the best way for him to get ready for a meet. “I think it might be a sprinter thing, but a lot of people will do these weird stretches in front of their box before the race starts,” said senior captain Grace Martz, also a sprinter, who competes in the 1600 and 3200 meter races. “We work hard to learn and practice our Photo courtesy of the internet The girls’ track team competes at their first GSL meet of the season. At this meet and every other meet since, the girls’ track team has come out on top events, breakdown our opponents and what we need to do to come out on top with the team score,” said Splater about how she helps prepare the team for their meets. Splater said that this years’ team is one of the most talented groups she has ever been a part of. “They have veteran leadership and also enthusiastic younger girls. It’s a great combination,” said Splater. “Seeing the girls come together as a team, and watching someone work really hard all season to achieve a personal goal they’ve set for themselves is the best,” said Splater about her favorite part about being the girls’ track coach. The girls on the team also have some favorite parts about being on the track team. Martz likes the pep talks before the meet starts. “They’re only slightly motivational. They are usually just really funny,” said Martz. Although the teams are doing well, the individuals on the teams are always pushing themselves. “My meets have gone okay. The first one was better than the second because I had a slower pace than usual,” said Arguinchona. Boys soccer team kicks major grass by Catie Hartman Staff Writer The LC Boys Soccer varsity team’s season kicked off on March 8 with a win against Hanford. Since then, the nineteen players have managed a 8-5 season at of April 24 with two more games to go. The season ended for all teams on April 26. This year also included a new C squad, giving all interested boys the chance to play soccer. Because Jefferson Elementary on Grand is now rebuilding on what once was the northeast corner of Hart field between Thirty-Seventh avenue and Manito Boulevard, varsity soccer has been practicing on the baseball field diamond across the street from Sacajawea Middle School. “During track practice we occasionally run by the track field and find it ironic that the boys [soccer team] have been playing on the baseball field,” junior Katrin Pardue said. Consequently the boys play their home games at Joe Albi Stadium on Everett in North Spokane. With 12 points in the GSL, LC boy’s soccer stands in a fifth place tie with Mt. Spokane and G-Prep, but still possesses the possibility to move up in the league. “Spokane has lots of really good [soccer] teams, but we have awesome players and an opportunity to be the GSL league champion if we win these next two matches,” coach Mica Lamb said. Wins include games versus the following schools: Hanford: 4-3; U-High: 2-1; Cheney: 2-0; NC:7-0; G-Prep: 2-1; Shadle Park: 4-0; Mt. Spokane: 2-0; and University: 2-1. “We really wanted to beat Ferris this season…They won 1-0 but it’s okay because in the end they’re just Saxons,” junior Austin Schott said. “The most challenging and rewarding game this season was definitely against Cheney. Best full 80 minutes of pure effort especially since I think this is the first match the boys figured out their new formation, as we’ve changed the formation in which the defense is set up—4-3-3. And Cheney was the runner-up in state last year so our win (2-0) was worthwhile,” Lamb said. “We’ve had a pretty good season this year. We work hard, and even if we lose a game we still have a good time; the losses only push us more to win,” sophomore Alex McNeil said. At a standstill varsity is a melting pot of all grade levels, as this year features a boy from each grade level. “Every year at LC talent comes through the door, for instance this is the second straight year JV is undefeated, but mainly every year we try our hardest to compete as a top team,” Lamb said. “I enjoy the players on [the] team and respect all of them. We will have to do some rebuilding with all the seniors leaving, but we will still be competitive in the GSL behind our leaders Ben Thompson and Ben Blakely,” freshman Jackson Moore said. “Day in, day out, my overall highlight this season is practice. Getting to know the boys and watching them grow and gain responsibility is why I really coach,” Lamb said. Games yet to be played are against Rogers and Shadle Park. Photo by catie hartman After winning the first game of the season against Hanford, boys’ varsity soccer is currently 8-5 in the GSL. OK Sports The JOURNAL Page 6 Baseball hits it home, holmes by Rose Hirsch You got served by LC Tennis, son by Lily Morehouse Staff Writer The LC baseball community is made up of three separate teams: varsity junior varsity and freshman. Varsity has won five games and lost eight as of April 19. Sophomore Tyler Hojnacki said that he feels the varsity team is prepared and that they have a pretty solid team. His older brother junior Connor Hojnacki who is also on the team and said that when a freshman makes the varsity team it is a big deal, and that is just what freshman Cal Webb did. “At the beginning, when I first joined I got a lot of crap, but after playing with the team for a little while it’s all good,” Webb said. Webb said his drive to play comes from his competitive nature and desire to win. Junior Hunter Lee, another member of varsity, enjoys playing against G-Prep because “they’re pretty good, so it’s a nice challenge.” “This year our team is strong but we’ll keep working hard especially for next year when some of our strong seniors will graduate,” junior Karver Pate said, an LC baseball player who started on varsity in his freshman year. This year the varsity team has some new management. Steve Bennett has just started coaching varsity baseball this year but has coached freshman and JV since he started teaching at LC in 1998. “Our coach is a boss. He’s super solid and knows our strong suits. He also knows how to get us in shape,” Pate said. The LC freshman team has been holding up their end and have won most of their games this season. Freshman Luke Copley has been playing baseball since the first grade and loves the LC Golf is par-fect PHOTO BY TAZ EMBAYA Freshman Herron Davidson steps into the batter’s box in a game against Mt. Spokane. LC eventually won 16-15. amount of thinking involved in the game and the amount of skill needed to play. They have no captains, but “our entire team is strong individually,” Copley said. “We are a strong team,” Copley said. They are at the top of their standings, losing only one game to U-High and tying one against Shadle. Another member of the freshman team has also been participating in the sport for the same number of years as Copley. Freshman Herron Davidson agrees that baseball is a great sport, but added, “my favorite part is just having fun and enjoying the competition that always comes along with baseball.” However, not all players are the same. Freshman Adam Jacobson plays in order to spend time with friends because most of them are on the team. Along with Camryn Schon, another freshman player, they stared as young boys on a T-Ball team together, and are still friends. PHOTO BY JULIO PINEDA Staff Writer Well over halfway through the season, LC girls tennis is 5-6 and boys are 5-1 in this season’s GSL matches. For those who are unfamiliar with how tennis matches are scored, all that one needs to know is that there are four ‘singles’ matches and three ‘doubles’ matches and a school wins based on the, “best of seven” matches, according to varsity boys coach Tobin Phelps. Making it to state championships is determined by individual success of the players. Phelps coaches tennis because he played some when he was younger but also because he “enjoy[s] the kids who turn out [for tennis].” Phelps coaches the varsity team mainly but also occasionally the junior varsity and because of this, Phelps considers LC tennis, “one unit.” Varsity member Jacob Larson has played tennis for “a long time,” he said and has been on varsity since freshman year. Larson said that this year’s team has many “very good players” and added no other schools that they play against are better than LC. Larson is, however, worried about their match against G-Prep on April 23. According to Larson, G-Prep has a lot of good players. For instance, Larson said that one of their players has a scholarship to Oregon State University. Like Larson, Woodhead worried about their game against prep. Woodhead said that the team’s best game of the season was against Mead, which he said is a very tough team and that the match against them was a “nail-biter.” John Kenlein coaches girls varsity Junior Kassidy Krug tees off for the fairway during an 18-hole round of golf at the local Indian Canyon golf course. Girl’s varsity is currently coached by Michelle Grafos. working really hard. The JV and development teams are working really hard and I’m really impressed.” Grafos said that the district event is competitive with only six spots open. “I think we’ll do fine,” said sophomore Sierra Kersten. “We’re looking to qualify and hopefully two people will get it. It will be tight.” Similar to the boys’ team, the girls practice in the course before each match. They also warm up by chipping and putting. Grafos said, “A lot of girls play summer golf too and that’s important to be competitive.” The freshman golfers showed great interest and potential to be varsity, according to Travis. Garrison said, “The freshman guys are posting up some great scores and they look to be keeping the LC’s golf program headed in the right direction.” PHOTO COUTESY OF YEARBOOK Junior Ellie Maurer serves during a match. tennis. He said that he does so because “It is a great game that is accessible to nearly all ages and ability levels.” As far as making it to post-season games, Kenlein hopes to do so by playing their best. Kenlein also said that tennis is an “easy sport to learn, but difficult to excel [in].” Kenlein coaches girls varsity tennis. Kenlein said that the team at practices, members work on their tennis strokes, play modified matches, and scrimmage against each other. Softball plays hardball all day er’ry day, dawg one of our pitchers, and left fielder, a first baseman, and a catcher. But some of the other girls will step up,” Neff said. Freshman varsity first baseman Ava Patello said the older athletes Girl’s fastpitch has an overall standing taught her some important lessons, of four wins and eight losses as of April including “how to learn from losing 23. The team earned four of those - they’ve taught me quality stuff wins in league play against East Valley, about school also,” Patello said. Rogers, G-Prep, Shadle and Ferris. Softball is nearly a year-round Schools in outlying Spokane, sport. Athletes can play slowpitch in including Central Valley, U-High the fall, fastpitch in the spring and and Mead, have proven to be their independent summer league in between. toughest competition, all beating LC “We usually get about six to seven by a margin of at least five points. girls that are committed to softball year “This season, we’re focusing a lot on round. The rest are good, strong athletes not overestimating or underestimating that play softball, “ Neff said. “You can any team. steal, and it’s not There’s already a hitter’s game,” been plenty said senior of upsets this varsity captain year within the and pitcher GSL!” outgoing Sydney Dixon. senior varsity “Being a pitcher, captain and first a lot of the game baseman Emma rests on how Bragg said. you’re pitching.” The collective Dixon is goal of the pursuing options team is to make to play at Seattle it to District University, playoffs; most Salina College are confident in Kansas, or they can achieve SFCC. Senior this goal. “We’ve varsity captain PHOTO COURTESY OF YEARBOOK done it for the Senior Emma Bragg swings in a game against CV. M a c k i n z i e last six years Bragg is currently in her final season. “Every asHoiland is in a row. There pect of the game will be missed,” Bragg said. pl a n n i n g are five teams to play in the 4A GSL, you have to be in for SFCC in the fall. the top four to qualify,” said varsity Bragg has some advice for the up-andcoach and science teacher Paul Neff. coming players: “Have as much fun as you The fastpitch team is comprised of girls can and make memories. High School ball from all grade and experience levels. “We goes by way too quickly for your team. have four strong freshmen that are with Everybody needs some encouragement us. We’re losing a key component with and inspiration.” by Kate Dinnison Co-Editor-in-Chief by Julio Marco-Pineda Co-Editor-in-Chief The LC boys’ golf team placed fourth and fifth in the team matches and the girls’ team took the second and third spots in the matches as of April 19. Despite the small numbers of seniors on the girls’ team, they hope to follow their tradition of making it to state. The boys hope to peak right about districts which will determine if they qualify for state. “We have not met our potential,” boys coach Jim Travis said. “Fourth and fifth places are respectable but the players can do better.” Travis said that they hope to play and realize their best in the upcoming two weeks before the districts. Senior varsity captain Joey Garrison said, “I still feel confident that we can finish with a GSL title. Right now we are considered the underdogs, but our top 6 will be posting low scores and I think we’ll surprise the teams we are competing against. In regards to districts, I’m hoping that we will all be at the top of our games and perform well when it matters most.” According to Travis, the boys stay in shape off-season, and they practice by playing golf doing nine to 18 holes a day. Travis said, “Typically we play the course before the tournament. Over spring break, we went to Windermere Golf Course in preparation for the match.” Senior varsity captain Carson Fuhs said that they always have a team dinner before the matches and that he prepares mentally before matches thinking of how he will play the next day. The girls’ team expects to take a couple of spots in the qualifiers for state. Girls coach Michelle Grafos said, “I’m really happy, and we’re Issue 6 April 2013 Opinion Issue 6 April 2013 Page 7 Student Facebook pages get crushed by Jacob Frederick Features Editor Principal Shawn Jordan sent out a letter late last February regarding the forced removal of certain Facebook pages with “LCHS” in the title. Similar pages around the district were taken down, too. While these pages did have ‘schoolinappropriate’ content, the administrators’ response was an overreaction. Many Facebook pages were created, but the first one that gained significant popularity and thus caught my attention was “Ferris Confessions,” which allowed anybody to, through a third-party website, submit anonymous ‘confessions’ that would be posted to the page by the page admin. Within a couple of hours, the page had reduced to submissions featuring exaggerated praise of students that were obviously self-submitted by those praised students. The page that hit closer to home popped up a few days later, with the title “LCHS Crushes.” With the same type of anonymous submission, users would post messages to their crushes at LC. The first handful of posts seemed legitimate and contained sentimental messages from some anonymous, shy student to a ‘popu- PHOTO BY CARTER POWERS BEGGS Sophomore Riley Gabbert and senior Lauren Guthrie are shocked at LCHS Crushes posts. lar’ student. Similarly to the “Ferris Confessions” page, however, the authenticity quickly eroded. The posts became crude name puns and backhanded compliments. Occasionally a teacher’s name would slip in, seemingly only for shock value. Thus, I can understand why the school would not want to be associated with the inappropriate page. But there are better solutions than shutting down any LCHS Facebook page that had ever posted any content that might offend somebody. True, Facebook will not allow page name- changes, but under THREAT of removal, I am positive the page admins would quickly adopt a healthy level of discretion regarding the appropriateness of their posts. Such was the case with a friend of mine and his page, LCHS Memes. The page was a place for harmless funny pictures in the style of various internet “advice animals”, usually featuring teachers and students doing something ridiculous or memorable. Many of the pictures featured band director Dan Nord, who had a lengthy talk with the class one day regarding his lack of control over his reputation. In response, my friend took down all of the pictures of specific people who had not given explicit allowance for their picture to be used in such a manner, and he updated the description to explain the new policy. Regardless, the page was automatically removed within a matter of days. The posts on these pages were harmless high-school gossip and friendly teasing but in an environment that promoted classic teenage vulgarity. In such a case, the district has no choice but to overreact in order to protect its students from harm and protect itself from lawsuits. Therefore, if you want to make a Facebook page, go ahead. Just leave Spokane Public Schools out of the name and save everyone a lot of hassle. Goodall’s story is definitely worth a listen by Lily Morehouse Staff Writer Dare I say I was bananas for Dr. Jane Goodall’s speech on April 9 at Gonzaga University’s McCarthy Center? Goodall walked on to the stage holding a mediumsized monkey stuffed animal, smiling as she stood at the podium. In sixth grade I read and greatly enjoyed her book, “My Life with the Chimpanzees,” and throughout most of my childhood I have loved chimpanzees and many other animals. So, when I heard that Goodall would come to Gonzaga University and speak about her life, I was thrilled. Goodall is the official United Nations Messenger of Peace and founder of the 1977 Jane Goodall Institute. The institution is nonprofit and aims to, “empower people to make a difference for all living things,” according to the institution’s website, janegoodall.org. Although Goodall is most famous for her work with chimpanzees, the institution also focuses on conserving natural environments and communities as well as encouraging youth to help conserve the environment. Goodall’s speech revolved around these beautiful and simple statements. She first spoke of stories about she and her mother, about how their strong and loving relationship helped Goodall achieve her goals of working with animals. While speaking, Goodall did not speak perfectly; she stumbled a few times and did not always look straight at the audience as many public speakers do. Instead of this making her look like an amateur and unprepared, Goodall seemed real. She acted like someone you would want to have a conversation with; she was not at all pretentious. Goodall told the audience of how she came from a family that did not have enough money to send her to college and instead sent her to secretary school. After completing, Goodall worked as a waitress to save up for a round-trip to Kenya when an opportunity arose to go to Kenya with a friend. In Kenya, Goodall met archaeologist and paleontologist Louis S.B. Leaky who soon after meeting her hired Goodall as an assistant. Leaky later asked Goodall to study some chimpanzees with him. Goodall was the first person to observe an animal using a tool for food, inspiring Goodall to research more about the similarities of chimpanzees and humans. After studying that chimpanzees are able to use tools to get food, Goodall enrolled in Cambridge University and received her doctorate. Goodall’s speech told the story of triumph, of achieving what may seem impossible. For me, this is great to hear. Anyone who aspires to help the world needs to know that doing so is possible; you just may need to do some extra work. After reciting some facts to the audience about what a terrible state our world is in, Goodall gave us four reasons to have hope for the world. The first reason was that nature is resilient, that it is able to repair some of itself. Second, she believes in today’s youth. Goodall believes that the youth of the world are determined to help people. Goodall’s third reason for us to have hope for the world was that the human spirit will never give up. Goodall’s fourth reason was that human beings are beginning to understand that the problems affecting nature will also affect the humans themselves. Goodall explained that humans will use their brains to make wiser and more responsible choices. The beauty in Goodall’s four reasons to believe that our world can get better left me with hope for humans, something that is so often droned by the horror we hear and for that, I am very happy to have seen Goodall’s speech. rabbits) go off in search of a new, safer home. They undertake a perilous journey, and eventually find an ideal home on Watership Down, in Southern England. Once they have excavated a small warren, Hazel and his bucks realize that they have a problem- there are no does in their warren, and thus, their warren has no future. The rabbits then go on a dangerous search to find another warren, one with does who they can take back to their own home. Yes, rabbits are misogynists. The thing I love about Watership Down is not the plot, though it is masterfully done, and not the writing style, though it is mature and interesting, but the fact that the book has no thematic value. Watership Down is a book about rabbits, and nothing more. The idea behind the novel arose when the author was on a road trip with his family, and started to tell his children a story. The story extended beyond that road trip, and eventually Adams wrote it down. After being rejected by multiple publishers, Watership Down became Penguin Books’ bestselling novel of all time. Why? Because Watership Down is a good story, not an elaborate allegory for the social justice system, nor an extended metaphor for adolescent angst. Kids do not like to read because our schools tell them how to read. English teachers insist that Catcher in the Rye is bursting with symbolism (Holden’s red hunting hat, anyone?) and that The Great Gatsby is an allegory for the decline of the American Dream in the 1920s. Even a simple SparkNotes search for Watership Down argues that the novel is hemorrhaging with themes of home, nature and leadership. I maintain that it is a story. Stories have value, but a story manufactured on a road trip for the pleasure of children is not a thematic goldmine, and if you believe that, you are trying too hard. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE INTERNET PHOTO COURTESY OF THE INTERNET Jane Goodall has spent over 45 years studying Chimpanzee family and social behavior Watership Down delights in its own simplicity by Katherine Lawlor Copy Editor Not every book has some deep seated moral message for us readers to dutifully interpret. In fact, some stories are just that—stories, which are just as worthwhile. Recently, I read Watership Down, Richard Adams’ 1972 novel about rabbits, again, for the first time in years. And, like the first time, I loved it. The novel’s characters are anthropomorphized—that is, the rabbits are given human qualities—but they are still distinctly rabbits, with little familial loyalty, large warrens, fear-based rabbit politics, their own language (Lapine) and even their own mythology. In the novel, the rabbit warren is threatened by human developers. Warned by the prophetic rabbit Fiver, Hazel and a small group of bucks (male Nightlife The JOURNAL Page 8 Bored with movies and staying at home on the weekends? Give these local, teen-friendly hot spots a try. Issue 6 April 2013 Zap that! by Spencer Moore Sports Editor So you, dear reader, came in search of something fun to do during your weekends, breaks and holidays. Well, look no further than Laser Quest, located at 202 West Second Avenue. As the title implies, Laser Quest features live action laser tag, complete with digital scoring, state-ofthe-art equipment and the largest multilevel arena in the United States, according to the Laser Quest website. Of course, if you do decide to play a few rounds sometime, you should know three things prior to your arrival. First (and most importantly), get to Laser Quest late. When I first arrived at Laser Quest at 1:30 p.m., I was absolutely blown away by the colossal line…of 8-year-olds. None of these pint-sized laser-tag warriors amassed at the front desk measured more than four feet, making my friend and I feel completely out of place. So, to avoid feeling like an absolute giant amongst second graders, come to Laser Quest later in the day, ideally at 8 p.m. Trust me, the crowd will be much older and the games more exhilarating. Next, call ahead of time. As a business, Laser Quest thrives on group packaging, so the facility may have already been reserved by a larger, more numerous party. When I went to Laser Quest, a group of about twenty children and four adults rented the whole arena. I, unfortunately, was forced to wait another two hours before I could enter into a public game. To avoid similar inconveniences, just call beforehand and ask if any groups reserved the facility prior to your own arrival: our local Laser Quest can be contacted at (509) 624-7700. Lastly, do not overthink the games. Avoid hashing out some elaborate strategy: you will fail miserably. In a similar scenario, my friend (who shall remain unnamed) attempted to execute his own complex laser-tag game plan, but placed eighteenth, twenty-first and twenty-ninth in our three allotted rounds. He sucked. Follow my advice and just take it easy; your experience will be more enjoyable if you just let it fly. But, whether you accept my advice or not, your Laser Quest experience will be plenty enjoyable. With over fifteen thousand square feet of running space, humorous employees and invigorating games, Laser Quest is undoubtedly worth a weekend afternoon. PHOTO COURTESY OF INTERNET Try any of the Satellite’s delicacies, such as the Cheese Bomb or Barnyard Burger, and you are bound to feel like you are at a three Michelin star joint. Eat late at diners eating options nicknamed the Cheese by Carter Powers-Beggs Bomb. Priced at ten dollars, the Cheese Bomb Opinions Editor If you are looking for a great early morning breakfast, quick place for lunch or no frills late night eats in downtown Spokane, The Satellite Diner and Lounge is the restaurant for you. Open until 4 am, the Satellite offers great food for a reasonable price all night long. The Satellite serves everything from omelets, to biscuits and gravy to comfortably gargantuan hamburgers. The Satellite is a great place to fuel up after a successful night of Salsa dancing or concert-going. The service is cordial but not overeager, and quick to fill up your coffee. I ordered one of their extreme is a sandwich made by taking two grilled cheese sandwiches and pressing them together while inserting mozzarella sticks between them. This towering freak of nature that results is a dish both terrifying and delicious. With dripping cheese and perfectly toasted bread, the sandwich was the best ten dollars that I have ever spent. The Satellite Diner and Lounge is located at 425 W. Sprague Ave. Situated across the street from Chicken-N-More and the now defunct A-Club, the Satellite is right in the middle of downtown Spokane. Whether you’re looking for a black cup of coffee or a heaping burger, the Satellite is the diner for you. PHOTOS COURTESY OF INTERNET These Boots are made for dancing by Lily Moorehouse Staff Writer Boots Bakery and Lounge sits in on an old brick building with a Tiffany and Company blue painted on aged wood surrounding large glass windows downtown. Owner Alison Collins describes it as a “100 percent” vegan bakery, which makes it stand out from the usual Starbucks and Dutch Brothers coffee houses. Vegans cannot use other animal products and byproducts such as eggs, dairy products, honey, leather, fur, silk, wool, cosmetics, and soaps derived from animal products. Senior Caleb Malm has been a vegan since birth; he says that he and his family “live by the philosophy that you can find the same nutrients [in a vegan diet]” He added that vegan PHOTO BY LILY MOREHOUSE foods are more wholesome because all of the foods come Boots bakery and lounge is located 24 W. Main Ave. from the earth. Boots offers a large variety of vegan Also on the first and third Saturdays of goods, everything from cupcakes to chili. every month DJ Darkside Som performs They do not serve any milk and instead at eleven in the morning. Other local offer honey Agave as a sweetener for artists include Cedar and Boyer and Wyatt drinks, located next to carafes of coffee Blue and the Architects. and Yerba Mate. Collins says that in Boots is open from Sunday till Tuesday addition to being vegan, most of the food from six in the morning till six in the at Boots is gluten-free. evening then from Wednesday till Food and drink is not all this bakery and Saturday from six in the morning until lounge has to offer; areas can be reserved ten at night. People of all ages are always for meetings or parties and many events welcome no matter the time; but of course take place there in the evening. On the only those over 21 years of age are allowed first Sunday of every month, the bakery at the bar. hosts a poetry slam, allowing local poets Collins thinks that her bakery is a great to showcase their talents. Tango lessons place for teenagers to hang out; they have, are offered on the first and third Saturdays “coffee or whatever else [for them],” she of every month starting at seven in the said. Collins said that she would, “Love to evening. have LC students come.” PHOTO COURTESY OF INTERNET At Sky High Sports, the young and old can play a game of pick-up dodgeball, bounce off the trampoline walls or just jump in place to their heart’s content. Jump, dodge and flip by Kate Dinnison Editor-in-Chief Put a spring in your step at this hoppin’ all-ages hangout this weekend: Sky High Sports, Spokane’s indoor trampoline park. Picture a room, floor to ceiling with fluorescent yellow and blue trampolines, awaiting you and your friends’ exertion of energy. Boundin’ around at Sky High is a great way to have some good, clean fun with friends, and to release some endorphins while you’re at it. At Sky High, you can free jump for $10 an hour, and $5 any hour after that seven days a week. But, if you want to jump for exercise, not entertainment, join their AIRobics classes three days a week on Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30 pm and Saturday at 10:00 am, all for $8. Either way, you’ll get a good workout. If you are under 18, your parents will have to sign a waiver before you jump and know that there is some risk involved. Wreckless 8-year-olds and expert gymnasts oft jump according to their own agenda, with little regard to beginners, like myself. The stories of broken limbs and fractured jaws may deter you at first, but your fate is up to whether you are careful or not. You can option out of the more extreme pick-up Dodgeball, but for most of us South Hill kids, this may be the most risky thing we ever do. My personal philosophy when it comes to trampolines is: though others might be doing insane flips and stunts around you, don’t feel obligated to do much more than bunny hop. For more information or reservations, go to www.spo.jumpskyhigh. com. It’s located just a short drive or bike ride away from LC, on Front Avenue at the north end of Perry street near Trent Ave. Thanks to our sponsors! Dancing Crow Media & Joe Comine Dave & Cathy Hughes Vicki & Scott Jones LCHS CO-OP LCHS DECA Kristine K. Mietzner The Showalter Family Eric Woodard Michelle Grafos