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INSIDE:
New Schedule
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December 16, 2013
Volume 78, Issue 4
LHS finally gets a reasonable
Page 4
class schedule
Lathrop High School
Are Lathrop students
Teens average 3,000
texts per month
pages 12-13
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The
Paystreak
News
5
The voice of Lathrop’s students
December 16, 2013
Volume 78 Number 4
Plowing in Fairbanks
What do you think of the plowng in
Fairbanks? Student drivers think it’s
not going so well.
By Chris Kroker
8 Philippines typhoon
Student expresses his opinion of the
unfortunate typhoon in the Philippines; it is truly devastating.
Page 17
By Cole Stephens
16 Guess Who
The teacher from last issues “Guess
Who” is revealed and a new “Guess
Who” has arrived. Can you guess who?
By Jennifer Ludtke
17 Holiday traditions
Pages 12-13
Everyone has their own traditions
on Christmas. Whether it’s making a
certain baked good for the holiday or
opening a present on Christmas Eve
mbly
sse
Holiday a
By Taylor Mckillican
23 Wrestling
Lathrop wrestlers are off to a great
start this year. Because of their hard
work, Lathrop has quite a few first and
second place match winners.
By Jennifer Ludtke
Page 1 : A collage of cellphones
include a screenshot of a mother upset
with her child for their texting in class.
Photo illustration by Jalynne DuVal
mbly
sse
Holiday a
In the halls
The
STAFF OPINION
Christmas assembly
Paystrea k
The staff
Nick Wardle
Editor in Chief
Chris Kroker
News Editor
Cierra Batchelder
Opinion Editor
Malyssa Gibson
Features Editor
Reggie Poland
Special Section Editor
Shane McKinstry &
Tristen Ramaker
Sports Editors
Tahnee Raymond
Layout Editor
Jalynne DuVal
Photo Editor
Taylor McKillican/Paystreak staff
Student council members Sam King, Teresa Weeden, and Enrique Santos perform a skit at
the holiday assembly on Dec. 3 in Hering Auditorium. The skit was about a student who had
trouble studying for finals.
New bell schedule, finally
Finally, the awful bell schedule issue looks
like it's going away.
After months of anger, frustration, and
lobbying, the administration has finally
decided to lengthen passing periods. And
guess what? It looks a lot like it did last May,
with just a few minor tweaks.
We like the new bell schedule and feel like
it will be much better for all the students. Adding more time back into our passing
periods will really help with all the tardies
and absences. Students will have more time
to get their stuff out of their locker for the
next class, and they will have more time to
be mentally ready for the next class they're
going to. The change should mean that kids
won't have to leave in the middle of class to
use the restroom. Students are already not
allowed to leave class the first 10 minutes
and have to wait until the attendance is
done. We did not have enough time to go to
the bathroom during break, so had to leave
after the 10 minutes, which is often right in
the middle of the teacher's lecture.
This will also be good for the teachers and
give them more time than they had also to
be mentally prepared for the next class of the
day. We believe Lathrop will be a happier
place with this new change to the schedule,
but we also think it could actually be even
better with a few more changes.
The administration should consider extending lunch. The lunch lines are long, and
the time to check in with teachers is still too
short. We need the extra help, especially at
the end of the semester. Going back to the
longer lunch will give the students time to
leave school to go to fast food places. This
would make the lunch room less crowded
and let everyone get their food faster. Not to
mention, some students really don't like what
is being served every day in the cafeteria.
A longer lunch would help because we
used to be able to go to our teachers and finish
up homework that we didn't have time to do
during class. It was successful last year, and
the schedule is already starting to change
back to normal.
A few extra things that the schedule being
better is couples will have more time to make
out and see each other between periods,
YUM. The extra time will also give kids plenty
more time to start fights with each other and
cause riots towards the school.
Go Malemutes!
k
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—Paystreak staff
Tyrus Beam, Reporter
Abigail Kuhlman, Reporter
Jennifer Ludtke, Reporter
Autunm Marley, Reporter
Taylor McKillican, Reporter
Michael Resmondo, Reporter
Carly Sjordal, Reporter
Cole Stephens, Reporter
Tim Parker, Advisor
Dave Dershin, Principal
The mission
The Paystreak is an independent
publication of the students of Lathrop High School. The staff’s goal is
to inform the student body of both
what they want to know and what
they need to know. The staff uses
proper journalistic principles to seek
the truth, and strives to be respectful
while still minimizing harm. The
Paystreak is not reviewed prior to
publication by the administration.
The staff is accountable for all stories
and decisions.
Page
4
Lathrop NEWS
News editor:
Chris Kroker
December 16, 2013
New schedule for next semester
A new schedule has been proposed for next semester, and it appears
that students and parents finally agree with what the administration
has proposed.
Lathrop’s department heads met Nov. 22 and drafted yet another
new schedule idea. Passing periods would be similar to last year’s
time frame in that Monday/Friday have seven minutes, and the
other days have primarily 10. There would still be two academic
enrichment periods, and no Wednesday late starts, but the class
periods would be shorter.
Students have been complaining since August about the 5 minute
passing periods Lathrop currently has. Upperclassmen especially
want to go back to the schedule from the last three years. Also,
teachers are fighting for a better schedule as well.
Larry Ehnert, engineering/math teacher at Lathrop said, “We
spent a lot of time getting to an easy solution, and I’m glad we got
to the solution.”
In the past, the schedule at Lathrop was very lax. Monday and Friday had 7 minute passing periods, the only advisory was on Tuesday,
Wednesday didn’t start until 8:30 a.m., and Tuesday/Wednesday/
Thursday had 10 minute passing periods. Students were happy with
that schedule. As a compromise, Lathrop will not be reverting back
to the single advisory or the late start, but the extra 2 or 5 minutes
for passing are still much appreciated by students.
Lathrop senior Nick Wills said, “Spread it out!” when asked for
his thoughts on the debate.
With the proposed new schedule, the population of Lathrop
seems generally happier. Students appreciate the chance to use
the bathroom and get to their locker during a break. Teachers can
breathe, prepare, and relax a minute between periods. Everyone
gets time to reflect and really learn from his or her last class.
Principal Dave Dershin, when asked of what he’s heard in response to the second draft, said “More than 90 percent of the people
think it’s a good solution.”
This is much better response than was received from the initial
draft change. Under that proposal, lunch would move to after fourth
period and just a few 10 minute passing periods were inserted, and
they were balled BIPs, which stood for “break in period.”
In response to that proposal, Lathrop senior Tyler Price said
he’d “rather have extended passing periods instead of a ‘break in
period’”
—Nick Wardle
Reporter
Mentors at Lathrop do more than you think
As we all know, the transition into high school life can be very
difficult. The Malementor program at Lathrop High School is a
tool that the administration, as well as students, use to help the
Freshmen class in their transitioning year to high school. We try
to make sure that students will be successful in their high school
career, and attempt the students to start early for getting ready
for not only the next school year, but life after high school. Mentors play games called fuel sessions, which also has some sort of
meaning or lesson afterwards.
What has the Malementor program done for Lathrop?
• We have helped Freshmen with their school scheduling, time
management for school, and have offered help with their classwork.
• We have “Fuel Sessions” for the Freshmen almost every
Thursday during Academic Enrichment period.
• We have held a tailgate party for the freshmen at the “Dog
Bowl.”
What do we do now?
• Us Mentors practice the Fuel Sessions on Tuesdays, and
prep for the following Advisory where we get the Freshmen to
Sam King photo
A group of mentors pose for a picture earlier this month. These mentors
help freshmen transition to high school by working with them during adivsory. From left Tyrus Beam, Kacey Duffield, Patty Boonprasert, Princess
Jennings, Tyler Schmidt, and Cierra Batchelder.
participate.
As an example, on Nov. 21 the mentors’ topic was to talk about
traditions that the students have with their families. The students
talked about what it is that they do around the holiday times and
how things are different, based on where they come from.
—Tyrus Beam
Reporter
December 16, 2013
Lathrop NEWS
Paystreak
5
More snow means more plowing
It has been snowing a lot in the Fairbanks
area recently, and the schools parking lots and
sidewalks are still coated in layer of snow
and chunks of ice.
Many students and teachers have complainted of bumpy parking lots, and slippery
sidewalks leading to the school. Most people
would agree that slipping around and falling
isn’t very enjoyable.
However, many at Lathrop probably don’t
realize that the custodians aren’t actually
responsible for plowing the school parking
lots.
“I’m only responsible for sidewalks and
handicap parking,” says Henry Baldwin the
school’s day custodian. The plowing for the
parking lots is done by the Arctic Ground
Works company.
When asked how often he plows, Baldwin said, “Every time it snows. If I get here
around 7, I usually plow after all the kids
are in at around 8-8:30. The employee with
the graveyard shift (night shift) is usually
here from 10-12. We push everything into
the grass. We have a tractor with a four inch
blade.”
Whether it’s a fun job or not is up for
debate, but Baldwin still likes to make jokes.
When asked what he does if the school gets
a foot of snow, he said, with a laugh, “We
use snowblowers and you pretty much get
the day off.” And when asked how often the
Arctic Ground Works Company plows, he
said, “Whenever they get here.”
But do the students and teachers of Lathrop think that the job is really getting done?
Principal Dave Dershin said, “I do know
after we had the big snow a couple weeks ago
we were a little behind. Our tractor actually
broke so we were using snowblowers, which
Henry Baldwin on the school snow plow
Chris Kroker/Paystreak staff
Lathrop’s day custodian, Henry Baldwin, sits on the school plow. Baldwin and the other custodians
plow the school sidewalks, but they do not plow the parking lots. That job is contracted out to a private
company. Baldwin plows every time it snows, but the parking lots are only done once in a while.
takes a lot longer.”
When asked if she thinks the plowing for
the school was done efficiently, Laura Gudshinsky said, “Some days it’s good but other
days I’ve had to step in really deep snow.”
Laura proposes that we “plow it more.”
However, the plow the school has is pretty
outdated and doesn’t work very well. It’s
size is really small when compared to all the
ground it has to plow.
People throughout the school have been
irritated with the amount of snow on the
ground outside, but what can the school do?
Maybe they can hire new people to plow
the parking lots or buy a bigger plow themselves. The school could even get students
to do it after school as a sort of community
service. Either way, the students and teachers
of Lathrop would appreciate if there was
much less snow on the ground.
—Chris Kroker
Reporter
Many celebrate Thanksgiving in America
People all across the United States celebrated Thanksgiving on
Thursday, November 28th. Some people wait all year just for this
one day of the year where they can gorge themselves with turkey,
ham, mashed potatoes, and anything else they decide to bring to
the table.
Some people make interesting foods for Thanksgiving. Maybe
they’ll mix Sherbert ice cream with ginger ale or possibly put sweet
potatoes in orange peels and bake them.
No matter what you decide to make for Thanksgiving, most
families have the same tradition of saying what you are thankful for.
You can be thankful for anything. You can thankful that you finally
asked that one girl out or that your family is healthy. You can even
be thankful that your mom made those cookies that you really like.
Most people would say that the food is their favorite part about
Thanksgiving but others decided on something else. Some people’s
favorite part of Thanksgiving is the part where they give thanks!
Who wouldn’t like to hear what people are happy about?
Some people don’t care about being thankful or the food, however.
These people are just waiting for the holiday sales to buy that one
Batman toy for their kid or that necklace their wife really likes or
even that one cool video game for themselves. Nobody is judging
them, however. Who wouldn’t want great deals on cool things? You
just have to get past the crowd of people!
What do the people of Lathrop do for Thanksgiving? What are
they thankful for?
Senior Acacia Lindgren said, “My whole family gets together and
has a giant feast and then we get family portraits taken.”
No matter what you do on this holiday, people across America
enjoy and celebrate it every year. If you haven’t celebrated Thanksgiving before, it is recommended that you do. All people could use
a turkey break every now and then.
—Chris Kroker
Reporter
Lathrop NEWS
6 Paystreak
Vintage Paystreak
December 16, 2013
Carly Sjordal
Humor from the past
Hey guys! It’s getting a lot colder outside, and this week
I thought you could use some ... err ... “humor” from the
past. Not a lot of Paystreaks included humor sections or
comics, but I found some illustrations from the 80’s and
one ongoing humor column dating back to the 1930’s
called “The Merry-Go-Round” by Murph. I also included
a fashion column from the 90’s that I thought you might
find funny.
So for all of you who are rocking bowl cuts and turtlenecks with leather short shorts, this is for you.
What’s hot and what’s not at Lathrop
By Kristi Aloysius
Staff Writer
Burr-It’s pretty nippy outside,
time to bundle up in your new winter
wardrobe. You can still look “HOT”
when outside it’s not. I’m here to tell
you what’s hot and what’s not for the
Winter 1989/90.
WHATS HOT
Neon Jackets
leather (anything)
Turtlenecks
Shorts (for all you people who haven’t
realized there’s snow on the ground)
and the all famous Sweats
Footwear: Nike Air, Keds, and Soreal
winter boots
Assesories
African Peace symbols, big hoop
earings, Liz Clayborn handbags, and
Gucci.
Hairstyles: The all popular “Get up
and go look” Short bowl haircuts with
a touch of shave and the new gumby
hairstyles.
WHATS NOT
Friendship Braclets
Spicked hair, Spiral hair is slowly leaving
SIlk vest
Guady jewlery
Mooonboots
and the jacket worn hanging by the
arms because it’s too cold
TANNING (white is in)
Lathrop OPINION
7
Christmas music: is it really all that merry?
Page
Opinion editor:
Cierra Batchelder
December 16, 2013
Malyssa Gibson
Pro
Christmas is just around the corner, lights are out, trees are up
and music is playing because Santa Claus is coming to town! Oh,
Christmas! A time for gorging yourself in chocolate, candy canes,
and sugarplums. Whether you’re more traditional for the whole
shebang, turkey and all, or tend to go for a more classy take on it,
Christmas dinner is great! But what makes it better is the music that comes along with the
season. Christmas brings a sense of joy, love, and hope for all ages!
Whether it is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for kids, All I Want
For Christmas for girls in love, Kissing by the Mistletoe for those
who like a little extra something, and even Rockin’ Around the
Christmas Tree for a friendly sing-a-long. We get an excuse to think
about more than just ourselves and give! Music has such an effect
on how we think and act and Christmas music can turn the worst
of days into the best if you really listen.
This may seem a bit strange, but even the smell of Christmas
gets me excited. The scent of fresh snow mixed with hot cocoa, cinnamon, gingerbread, and pine trees—I can almost hear the sleigh
bells ringing. And as music plays in the background, the smell of
Christmas is brought to life.
I love the feeling when a present you’ve bought for someone
really makes them smile. It feels like, somehow, you’ve made them
a little bit happier. Christmas music is what gives us that sense of
belonging, we want to feel like those singing the song and make a
difference. “Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane, snow is
listening. A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight, walkin’ in a winter
wonderland!” Like, why would someone not want to listen to a
beautiful melody and songs about happiness?
Christmas music is awesome and can bring out the best in people
if they really get into it! Don’t let the Grinch steal your Christmas,
or be the grandma who got ran-over by a reindeer. “Our cheeks are
nice and rosy and comfy cozy are we. We’re snuggled up together,
like two birds of a feather would be. Let’s take that road before us
and sing a chorus or two. Come on, it’s lovely weather for a sleigh
ride together with you.”
Merry Christmas!
Nick Wardle
n
o
c
Christmas music is terrible. Period. November rolls around, and
all you hear is Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls, Noel, Rudolph, and the
Twelve Days of Christmas. Oh, you wanted to listen to anything
else? Well, lucky you. Every band in existence has covered, yup,
you guessed it. Christmas music!
Everything from the chart topping heavyweights to local bands
looking to find a break. The Beatles, Kenny Chesney, Pearl Jam, Skid
Row, just a very minor excerpt of a list of covers just of Jingle Bells.
Don’t get me wrong, now. I think it’s great the first time I hear it.
Two months of “personalized renditions” later, Christmas is burnt
out for me. Especially with how over-played all of the covers are in
Fred Meyer, Walmart, etc.
Another issue is the repetition. Every Christmas song in existence
has to consist of a chorus being repeated 20 times over, an overly
simple verse, and a jingling bell in the background. Am I wrong
for asking for some originality? Why can’t someone blow tradition
out of the water and make a unique Christmas song? Throw in a
crazy guitar solo or something. Jingle rock, meedly meedly meedly
moooow!
Third problem. It starts in November. (If you’re lucky, sometimes
late October.) I don’t want my Halloween and Thanksgiving plagued
with the sound of sleigh bells! I want Jack Skellington in October,
and the clink-clank of forks on plates in November. I feel like I can’t
see snow on the ground without Santa peering over my shoulder.
Main point here. Christmas music is being beaten to death, and
really needs to disappear or be revamped.
If it disappeared, yeah, people would complain about a tradition
being gone, but they’d also learn to appreciate the rest of Christmas
more. Less focus on jingle bells jingle bells jingle bells jingle bells
jingle bells, more on spending time with loved ones.
On the other hand, a complete overhaul could have a similar
effect. If Christmas music was less of a complete bore and more
diverse, more people could learn to enjoy it.
Main point here, Lathrop. Christmas music in its current manifestation is terrible.
Lathrop OPINION
8 Paystreak
Typhoon
December 16, 2013
Cole Stephens
Tragedy strikes the Philippines
A giant typhoon named, Typhoon Haiyan,struck the islands of the Philippines on
November 8th, and it has been devastating to
the land and the people of the nation. The city
Snow
Chris Kroker
Fairbanks:
Step up on
the plowing
The roads are getting pretty bad with all
the snowing and the recent storm. The plows
are out, but are they doing a good job? The
roads have large spots and patches of snow
on them, making a simple ride around town
feel like you’re taking an off-road trip. The
roads are icing up causing accidents and
many close calls, and that’s just on the main
roads! The side and back roads are barely
plowed at all, some with 1 or even 2 inches
of snow still on them. It seems that they don’t
even make an attempt at plowing the turn
lanes on any road, either!
Personally, I think the plows could be
doing a much better job. When I’m out on
the town I feel like I could slide off that
roller coaster of a road at any time. I’m sure
everyone would agree with me when I say,
that would not be a fun experience. The state
plans on using a new snow plow, sometime
next month, that will cover two lanes at one
time. We can only hope that it will be better
than our current snow plows.
of Tacloban, is said to have been hit the hardest. Winds up to 195 miles per hour triggered
storms that wiped out many communities on
the islands of Leyte and Samar. At least 5,000
people were killed and another 1,500 people
are still reported as missing. Many support
groups, such as UNICEF, have been sending
volunteer’s to the Philippines to help rebuild
suffering towns and to supply clean water
and food.
I personally find it pretty hard to look at
pictures of where the typhoon struck, seeing
people struggling to survive without shelter,
Video games
food, and water is pretty disheartening. I believe that the United States has done a good
job funding support groups and donating
money to the Philippines. So far the United
States has provided more than $50,000,000
in humanitarian assistance. Many celebrities, such as Baseball player Robinson Cano
and Singer Rihanna, have donated money
in an effort to help the Philippines and it’s
people.
If you would like to make a donation to
help the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan,
visit www.thereforthephilippines.org.
Kyle Lindquist
Video games, not so violent?
With all the issues surrounding mass
shooting going on in America, people
are wondering what the cause could be.
Typically the first thing people target is
videogames, more or less violent videogames. Video games such as “call of
duty” “Halo” and “Grand theft auto”
are some of the few targeted for violent
behavior. Those videogames are seen for
aiding violent behavior due to the key
role of harming others while rewarding
the player with points. I, being an avid
gamer, have personally never linked violent behavior and playing video games.
I am opposed to the thought of videogames making people into violent psychopaths. Just because someone enjoys
the action and intensity of videogames
doesn’t mean they are mentally unstable
and are bound to snap at a moment notice.
Some of the most popular games on the
market include violence in their gameplay
and they make great sellers. You would
think that with the amount of gamers that
play games as religiously as they do there
would be a lot more violence.
Dr. Laura Davies MD said “There are no
numbers. It’s impossible to prove causality
with theses sort of things.” In addition
she also noted “Certain personalities are
unable to so easily differentiate between
fantasy and the real world. As kids grow
most distinguish fantasy from reality”
I understand that not everybody is the
same, but those with disabilities should
not be held accountable on behalf of the
gaming community. The videogames
should not be the one getting the blame
for the destructive actions of people who
are a tad bit screwy in the head.
So opposed to targeting videogames,
stop and take into account that there are
other factors that play a role in affecting
a person’s attitude. Factors such as environment, emotions, values and ethics are
also held accountable.
For example, call of duty ghosts sold over a
million copies in one day alone. You would
think that with all those copies sold we’d
see a larger increase in violence. Over a
million copies in less than 24 hours is pretty
crazy, but what isn’t crazy is how video
games haven’t cause violent acts to go as
far as being seen as socially unacceptable.
December 16, 2013
Lathrop OPINION
Drilling for oil
Paystreak
9
Taylor Bahm
ANWR: It’s time to save the animals
How would you feel if someone came into your home, and started
destroying everything in your bedroom, the bathroom, or any room
for that matter? Wouldn’t that suck? Well, in ANWR (Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge), that’s what the country on doing.
Alaska wants to drill ANWR for some crude oil deposits. Don’t
get me wrong, we could definitely use the oil, but one part of society might not enjoy our drilling there. That part of society is the
environment in ANWR.
Drilling in ANWR could result in a fatal tragedy similar to the one
that happened in Prince William Sound, Valdez, Alaska back in 1989.
Kim Trust, a science director of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee
Council, said “the oil from the spill is a continuing ‘far-ranging’ problem for fish and wildlife.” Drilling in ANWR could cause something
similar to the Apocalypse for the surrounding environment.Exxon
Cigarettes
is the company that caused the Valdez spill and wants to go in and
drill. Why should we let them when they are 900 million dollars in
debt for the spill back in 1989? In 1991, according to Climate Progress,
Exxon agreed to pay $900 million for the damage in Valdez, but we
haven’t seen a single penny come out of them.
It has also been said that drilling in ANWR will create thousands
of jobs for Americans. How do we plan on getting a hold of some
cash to pay these employees? It takes 10-15 years to get any type of
income from oil deposits, and Exxon already owes the government
money, so paying their employees might be a bit difficult with a
delayed income and a pretty large debt standing in the way.
Drilling in ANWR is not a good idea, considering not just the
environment, but the finances as well. There are some alternatives,
however. Alaska has many natural gas deposits just sitting there
untouched. Why not switch over to natural gas, instead?
Exxon needs to definitely pay off their debt, but once that happens, and if we find somewhere else to drill that is more barren and
useless, I say “go for it!” Yeah, ANWR may be pretty ugly, but many
animals call it home during all seasons. Finding other areas to drill
will help with both sides of this debate.
ANWR is home to many animals. It is like people having their
neighborhoods destroyed. Destroying the animals “neighborhoods”
is a bit messed up, since that is where they lived, and they have
always lived there. So finding somewhere else to drill, or finding a
different energy source, will solve this debate, once and for all.
Josh Houghton
Smoking on school grounds needs to stop
Way too many kids and high school students smoke. The problem
is, students that know the school rules, and still continue to smoke
on school grounds.
First off, I am against smoking on school grounds. Smoking
itself can cause many problems to the human body such as, growth
development, and learning problems. Almost 11 percent of Alaska
teenagers are smoking cigarettes; that means it’s double the number
for people who are consuming second hand smoke.
Smoking can cause many different types of diseases such as lung
cancer, and heart problems. The drug and alcohol policy for Lathrop
High School states, “smoking is bad for your health and effects your
ability to learn.” There are many different chemicals in cigarettes that
are bad for you such as titanium oxide, which is the chemical that
enhances the cigarette papers ability to burn for longer durations at
a time. This chemical when inhaled can be destructive to your lungs
over time, thats why people get the stigmas in their necks because
the fiberglass in this chemical cuts up your throat.
Also you have other bad chemicals such as tar, and arsenic, (commonly found in rat poison) causes your lungs to slowly blacken.
Nicotine is very powerful and I understand how hard it is to quit
but you have people going around Lathrop smoking against school
policy which is wrong, but what’s worse is my friends and I have to
deal with all of the second hand smoking problems. We can’t even
go outside without getting second hand smoke.
What I think the school should start doing is really start cracking
down open people for doing it and pay closer attention to what’s
going on outside the building and what’s happening on Lathrop
school property.
Another way we could solve this problem is if we as a nation
stop selling cigarette smoke all together, but we all know that’s not
going to happen anytime soon. All of us as Lathrop students can do
is sit and watch to see if people start getting busted for it. I’m sick
of dealing with second hand smoke, and I’m sure the rest of non
smoking Lathrop.
Lathrop OPINION
10 Paystreak
Your brain
December 16, 2013
Reggie Poland
Video games can help ADHD/ADD
Many people were taught that video
games and TV were bad for you. This is
not necessarily true, but in reality for the
average person, video games and TV are
too fast paced for their brain to keep track
of what is actually happening, and when it
comes to people that have been diagnosed
with ADHD/ADD, games and TV have a
different outcome.
People with ADHD/ADD have brains that
Women
are simply hardwired to function at a faster
pace than the normal person’s brain. This
is caused due to the Theta frequencies over
activity in the brain. The extra time spent in
the Theta frequency causes the brain to not
only function faster but also to do so with
little thought or processing. That is why it
is difficult for a person with ADHD/ADD
to take a test, study, or sit at their desk in
school all day because they can’t shut that
side of their brain off and just focus. People
with ADHD/ADD need something that is
much faster paced for their brain so that they
could fully concentrate, and this is where
video games and TV come into play.
Fast is, the only speed that the ADHD/
ADD brain knows is fast, so why not do an
activity that takes a fast mind to complete?
Physical activity is great for everyone but
for people with ADHD/ADD, full mental
activity is easier to achieve while playing
games or watching TV. Both video games
and TV provide a huge outlet for their fast
minds, and even though it is just a game, it
gives them a sense of accomplishment and
excitement that would otherwise be hard to
achieve in a world that is, in a way, seen to
them in slow motion. These activities can also
release built up stress and frustration because
the brain is being occupied. These activities
will not, by any means, cure ADHD/ADD,
but it provides an activity that is filled with
action, suspense, and an interesting story line
to follow. These are all things that ADHD/
ADD brain desires, and for these people it
can be hard to find these things in everyday
life when you are always caught up in school
or work.
Cierra Batchelder&Tyrus Beam
It’s time to ditch that attitude, ladies
&
Many women (NOT all, but many) want
to be treated with respect, yet they can’t even
respect themselves and/or their partners. It is
time for women to start taking responsibility
for men being so called “jerks”. The clothes
you wear can tell a lot about you. Many teenage girls think that if they dress
provocatively they will get attention from
guys when in reality, modesty rules over. In a
survey I found online, 500 guys were asked if
they had less respect for an immodest woman
than a modest one and 75.6 percent agreed,
11.7 percent were neutral, and 12.8 percent
disagreed.
It is very common to hear girls complain
when a guy looks at them for dressing inappropriately, but they are actually provoking
the situation when they show themselves off.
From what I’ve observed, if a guy sees something attractive or something that catches his
eye, he can’t help but to look, stare, peek, or
glance. It’s sad to see that some girls have no
self-respect these days.
Poor friends and poor parenting can also
affect a girl’s self-respect if you’re not hanging
with the right crowd and being miss guided. Whether it is from a lack of attention or
care or just not knowing how to guide their
children, parents often fail to encourage their
children in the right direction. Some women
don’t even realize what they are doing.
I’m not saying every woman is like this,
but it’s all about the choices YOU make. You
have free will and you always have more
than one choice. Sadly, sex & promiscuity
is everywhere. Every movie, every music
video, in magazines, and many women are
influenced by it.
Some people don’t understand that although most of society is lacking, covering
yourself up provides a sense of wonder and
appeal. That is what most guys look for in a
future spouse, not just a one-night stand.
People shouldn’t lower their standards to
be noticed. Set high standards for yourself and
don’t make choices that are disrespectful to
your life and who you want to be. Girls get so wrapped up in things that
don’t really even matter. I’m not trying to
say that I don’t do this every now and then,
I definitely do. But isn’t it about your personality? Does the inside even matter to people
anymore?
—Cierra Batchelder
I agree with everything that Cierra said
in her statements. SOME women, girls, females, whatever you’d like to be called, dress
inappropriately to get attention, but it isn’t
the only thing that is done. Some girls will
lead guys on and say that they like them and
in reality will simply just try to break their
hearts with the attention they received.
We’ve all heard of that girl that is “always
with multiple guys.” I am not saying that
women are the only ones that do that, I just
don’t see a lot of girls hanging around one
guy as often I see the guys with girls.
I personally believe that people shouldn’t
do things to, in a sense, objectify themselves
by wearing provocative things to get attention, because it shows that you are trying to
get attention not only from one person, but
multiple people.
On another note, with, from the attention
received, a person might get some sort of
significant other. Today, high schoolers text
a lot of people. So, if that person uses that
attention that they get from what they wear
and try to lead other people on, then of course,
they’re going to hurt someone yet again. I
myself have had this happened to me, and
its horrible, and I wish it wasn’t happening
to anyone anymore.
—Tyrus Beam
Lathrop FEATURES
December 16, 2013
Paystreak
11
Is your girlfriend texting other guys?
Dear Paystreak,
I think my girlfriend is cheating on me.
Maybe I’m just too suspicious, but I’ve seen
her texting other guys, but I check her phone,
she has already deleted the messages. She
has been acting really shady, and when I text
her, she takes an hour to text back. What’s
up with that?
Sincerely,
Concerned BF.
What’s in your iPod?
Tahnee: I don’t think there is anything
wrong with her texting other guys, but the
fact that she is deleting them is a little weird.
There is a possibility that she just likes to
delete her messages so she doesn’t use up
her data. I like to delete my messages that
aren’t very important at the end of most
nights. I can’t tell you why she is acting shady
because I don’t know what she is doing
specifically. Do you think your girlfriend is
going through some stuff at home, maybe?
iPod
friend what’s up and to stop being weird and
checking her phone. Even if you do think she
might be cheating on you, going through her
phone is just lame. It does sound like she is
being a little shady but it might not be what
it seems.
Maybe all the other guys she’s texting
are just friends, probably not, but there’s a
chance. When she takes an hour to text you
back, just do something else while you’re
waiting for a response. Don’t let a girl not
texting you back ruin your whole day.
Maybe you should just straight up call
her out for being shady and you’ll probably
get the true story of what she’s been doing.
When it all comes down to it, it’s a high
school relationship and you aren’t going to
die if you two just so happen to break up.
If you don’t trust her then you probably
shouldn’t be with her in the first place. Just
sit down and have a talk with her and see
what’s going on. You’ll feel a lot better.
By Tahnee Raymond
& Cole Stephens
H
M
elp
e!
She might not feel like texting or talking a
lot because of that. Honestly, you should
just straight up ask her what’s going on. In
the end you, guys will figure it out and if
it’s meant to be then it will be!
Cole: You should probably ask your girl-
Taylor McKillican
20:17
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Ajahni Richards
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Shopboys
Erica Burr
Warrior
Ke$ha
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Katy Perry
Applause
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Waka Waka
Shakira
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Macklem
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Miley Cyrys Ft Wiz Khalifa
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Report Card — ‘13
Wrestling
100%
Good job, Joe, Jack, and Jacob!
Winter holiday assembly
83%
The show was good, but we could use a little more spirit ...
Proposed schedule
78% It solves a lot of problems, but can’t top the old schedule.
Winter snow days
64%
Ready or not!
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Yay for no school, but we’ll have to make it up in May
49% Finals are just around the corner, and we’re already stressing. Are you?
Texting
Pro
Jalynne Duval
Although there is a time and place, texting is a big part of
my life. I think that it is an amazing way to communicate with
people. Whether those people be in your same city, in a different
state, or in a different country. Texting allows us to communicate
with anyone, at anytime, on any day.
My mother has lived in Nome, Alaska for around nine years.
Texting allows me to keep in touch with her in between visits.
Some would argue that it is easy to make a phone call and catch
up. However, I go to school and work 6 days a week. My mother
is an Alaska State Trooper and has two little children at home.
I’m sure we could make it work and call each other, but it’s a
lot easier to take a few seconds every now and then through
out our days and exchange texts. Not only does it allow me to
talk to her on a daily basis, it gives me a chance to see pictures
and videos of my little siblings in Nome.
Texting is essential in my life for communicating with my mother,
and it’s also just an all around time saver.
Texting allows people to send short texts about various things
such as, “Are you here yet?” “What time is dinne
good day!” Think, if we didn’t have texting in o
would have to call everyone and say those few wo
of dialing the number, waiting for someone to pic
other end, and then asking one of those simple qu
could just shoot them a text! It is a thousand time
to send a quick text. I spend most of my time at
or school, so I’m all about quick communication.
Despite the fact I love texting, I have mentioned I
of my time at work or at school. I know when is a g
text, and when it’s inappropriate. However, some d
the obvious one is texting while driving. We are all
one. I certainly am. But, I can say with all the recen
texting and driving, and a few youtube videos, I c
say I don’t anymore. Then, there is the texting durin
school. I believe that if you’re old enough to own a
should understand when is a good time to text an
shouldn’t. Some people fail at this concept, of kno
you should and when you shouldn’t. Although, w
pages and pages about the different incidents we
that one lady that kept texting through the movie
theatre, or those commercials of families who ha
loved one from texting and driving. People are a
to be annoying and text during inappropriate tim
I’ve had a phone since 7th grade, and I’m going to
text every day. Texting is perfect for my fast paced l
me to reach family from anywhere and connect wi
a quick manner. Despite the people that need to wo
and where they text, keep on texting.
Age
go
The number of texts sent per month drops from a high of around 3,000 texts per month to near no text.
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Abigail Kuhlman
For a majority of teenagers their main form of communication
is texting. Texting is a great and fast form of communication; I
see adults, college students, teens, and even kids younger than
7 texting. The problem is not that they are texting, it is the context in which they text that is the problem. What is considered
appropriate texting? During class, late at night, or during a date?
Some teachers let it slide and you can text during class, and
others will take your phone away.
Most of the time we (students at high schools across America) try to text where and when we think that teachers don’t
see us, when they usually do. Was the last text you sent during
class really so important that you had to answer it right then?
It couldn’t wait? I am not saying that you should not text at all
or that family is not important. I understand emergencies and
sometimes it can’t be helped but do you seriously need to be
caught up on all the drama at that precise moment? Did you
really need to answer that text from your boyfriend/girlfriend
right then? Chances are it could wait. You could have replied
with “class cant txt sry” is that really so hard?
Texting late at night...where to begin....
The Mayo Clinic stated it well. “Texting after turning out the
lights or going to bed can interfere with a good night’s sleep —
especially if the messages are stressful or emotional. This can
lead to issues such as lost sleep, difficulty falling asleep, poor
sleep quality and daytime sleepiness.”
If this has happened to you, don’t you think that you could
take the texting down a notch? Then we add sleep-texting and
texting addiction into the mix. Some teens text so much during
the day that they send texts to people while they are sound asleep,
or when they are unconscious, or they text so often that they
are addicted to it like others are addicted to alcohol or drugs.
This is not the majority of people that text but it can happen to
anyone. There is now a texting De-tox guide that they have for
parents so that they can help their children stop abusing texting.
Moving on to texting during a date, business meeting, or job
interview. If you text during these times not only is it disrespectful, rude, and distracting but you are unknowingly telling the
other people around you that they are unimportant, not your
focus, and that you are off track. Would this be how you want
to come across?
Times to text: in between classes, lunch, before and after
school (before and after work). The general idea is to text in
moderation, don’t text to much, set parameters so that others
know when you will stop texting and so you know when you
should stop texting.
e and texting
together
gradually decreasing with age. The average teenage student
ages of 13-17, sends a huge number of 3000-3500 texts in
nth.
gly, this number immediately begins to drop at the age of
rage young adult in the 18-24 year old range only sends
texts per month. That's an average of about 50 texts a day.
ill quite a few texts, but it is nothing compared to the 13age group. They sent on average 116 texts in just one day,
p to about 42,583 texts per year. Once the average person
of 25, their texting numbers drop by almost 500 texts per
is a more gradual decrease but it is still is about 33 texts a
s is a lot for a 25-34 year old adult with big responsibilities,
or a job. After the average person goes into the 35-44 year
heir texts drop even more to barely over 500 texts a month.
down to about 16 texts a day, so at this point this person is
texting just to make plans, instead of texting just to make
n.
person turns 45 they almost stop texting. They send on
out 350 texts per month, and this is about 11 texts a day.
age person, 11 will stay as their average number of texts
day until they hit the age of 65 and older, and from there,
no texts are sent. At that age you are most likely just using
for emergencies, if at all. These numbers will not stay how
e amount of texting is constantly increasing, and as long as
relies on our technology to communicate, then the texting
y never stop increasing.
—Reggie Poland
Jalynne DuVal/Paystreak staff
Abigail Kuhlman checks her phone during class without the teacher catching her.
Lathrop FEATURES
Page
14
Wheels
Features editor:
Malyssa Gibson
December 16, 2013
Tahnee Raymond
Slow rider,
good driver
Senior Lars Hege enjoys cruising around
in his 1999 Toyota Corolla CE. He bought the
car himself a year and a half ago, and hard
work pays off.
The best part about his vehicle is that it
only costs $40 to completely fill the tank. Hege
has put 25,000 miles on his car, starting with
115,000 when he bought it.
The 99’ corolla is basically his closet,
and his kitchen. Who wouldn’t want such a
homey vehicle?
Hege said his least favorite part about his
car is that it doesn’t have turbo.
When asked if he had any good memories with his vehicle and he responded,
“The hunnies.” When approached with the
question “How is Lars Hege as a driver?”
Horoscopes
—Malyssa Gibson
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Don’t sweat the small stuff! If you are
still worried by the effect of recent changes,
don’t worry. Everything eventually comes to
pass, and this very change will move you to
where you are meant to be. As much as you
like to control things, sometimes it is best to
simply get out of your own way.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
What comes around goes around! Most
favors are not free; they are done with the
expectation of a repayment at some point.
Understanding this makes you a realist. Be
prepared for someone to call in a favor you
may owe them. It’s as if the universe is tallying
what you give and take, with karma eventually evening
the score.
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
Take the weight of the world off your
shoulders. Some of the people around you
need a wake up call, and you’re the alarm
clock. Once you get a few things off your
chest, you’ll enjoy life much more.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
A lucky break could be headed your way.
But before getting too excited, make sure it’s
Tahnee Raymond/Paystreak staff
Lars Hege sits on the trunk of his car in Lathrop parking lot in early December.
Moriah Flynn responded “He is a very slow
driver, as in he always goes 5-10 miles under
the speed limit.” Another response from a
friends of Hege’s, Alex Jordan said, “He is
very very slow, he goes 30 in a 55.” Hege
likes to call this, “cautious driving.” On the
positive side, Randall Garcia said, “seeing
how bad his vehicle is, he’s actually not a
bad driver.”
Drive safely Lars.
genuine, not just something which sounds
good. There is no point agreeing to something
that won’t benefit you.
common sense to cut through the confusion.
Leo (July 23-August 23)
The good things in life aren’t free. It is
wise to check all the details of financial
transactions. Temptation will be to overlook
a transaction. It’s not that people try to be
dishonest, but mistakes do happen. If you
are not diligent about checking every detail,
you could end up having to pay.
Virgo (August. 24-Sep. 23)
The only time you run out of chances is
when you stop taking them. Life is in the fast
lane, and the energy can excite and motivate
you to accomplish more than even you think
is possible. Be organized and use extra time
wisely to get ahead on obligations so you
can achieve everything on your to-do list.
Libra (Sep. 24-Oct. 22)
The mind is like a parachute, it doesn’t
work unless it’s open. Don’t accept the first
thing you’re offered; something better could
be in play. Look at all options, and accept
what is best for your future. Take into account
which one will best fit your lifestyle, as well
as provide a good financial return.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22
Don’t look where you fall, but where you
slipped! If something happens as a result
of a miscommunication,try not to blow it
out of proportion. Put energy into finding
a resolution, rather than harp on how the
problem started. Keep a level head and use
Sagittarius (Nov. 23-Dec. 24)
Be a fruit-loop in a bowl of Cheerios! It’s
not like you to follow the crowd. You have the
capacity to be different. This is a competitive
time in business, and anything you can do
to differentiate yourself will put you in front
and your competitors in back.
Capricorn (Dec. 25-Jan. 19)
Stay calm and don’t rush! A work project
or concept you have discussed with the power
players can move you into a different league.
Just don’t get too excited until the deal is done.
Also, remember every situation has an upside
and a downside. Balance the good and bad
so you can keep things in perspective.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
Over thinking will lead to anxiety, relax!!
You recently decided not to go ahead with
something, there must be a good reason.
Don’t be too quick to regret a decision you
made in good faith. The first move is often
the right one. Things may not be set in stone,
so it’s very possible that you can keep your
options open for now.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Expecting too much is one way of hurting
yourself. Be careful that your expectations of
a friend or co-worker aren’t too high. If you
give someone a job to do, make sure they’re
capable of following through with it. People
feel proud when they can accomplish a task.
Pushing someone to learn is one thing, but
don’t set him or her up to fail.
Lathrop FEATURES
December 16, 2013
How to
Paystreak
15
Abigail Kuhlman
Hungry teens need quick food on the go
3/4 teaspoon garlic salt
Blend all of the ingredients together with a blender (magic bullet,
handy chopper etc,) and serve.
I know after the last bell rings and I walk
past the vending machine to board the bus, I
am hungry and looking for a snack. We had
a family friend that always made a salsa
that she would bring to parties and serve at
dinner so I asked her for the recipe, and now
it is one of my go to snacks and dinner side.
Patti’s Salsa
1 can petite tomatoes
1 cup rotel tomato
7-9 slices of jalapeno
1/2 cup onion diced (cut into small pieces)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Student World
What about after snack is done or the
dishes are cleaned and put away and I want
something sweet? That is a good question, I
know that personally I just get a craving for
something sweet but when there is no candy
and I dont want to eat just straight sugar,
I make a toffee that another family friend
showed us how to make.
English Toffee
2 sticks real butter
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon white karo syrup (optional)
5-7 plain Hershey bars (or 1 one pound bar)
Prep: Before you make the candy, you
have to have a place to put it. Have a cookie
sheet with buttered tin foil ready before you
start to cook. Also, unwrap the chocolate bars
and break them into small chunks. (If you
have Hershey bars then the indented lines
are where you want to break them)
Cooking the toffee: Put a pan deeper
than 3 inches over a medium high flame.
Melt the butter then add sugar, water, and
karo syrup. Stir continuously with a wooden
spoon until darker than a brown paper bag
or light brown sugar. When it reaches the
color of a brown paper bag, pour it onto
the cookie sheet and spread around. Drop
the chocolate on top of the toffee while it is
still hot. Wait for the chocolate to soften on
the hot toffee then spread with a knife. (you
want to cover as much of the toffee as you
can with chocolate) Cool in the fridge/freezer
or outside. You wouldn’t want to waste that
perfectly free freezer called the outdoors!
Once the toffee is cooled/ frozen, peel off the
tin foil, break into pieces and store in an air
tight container (zip lock, Tupperware, etc.)
in the fridge/freezer.
I hope you enjoy your snack and treat.
Carly Sjordal
Fascinating fashion across the world
As I’m sure you all know, fashion is a
global worldwide thing. High fashion had
originated during the renaissance in Paris
and London and eventually carried on to
the United States. Every country has its own
fashion ideals, but lately, there have been
worldwide trends such as plaid, checkers,
nail decals and geometric leggings.
Did you know in France that it’s acceptable
to wear the same outfit two days in a row?
Contrary to belief, French fashion relies on
less clothing, but more on a small number
of well fitting and versatile pieces. And if it
looks good? Go ahead and wear it again! No
judging.
Paris is regarded as the world fashion
capital, as many designers have started out
and have headquarters in Paris (Yves Saint
Laurant, Chanel, Dior).
The ‘big four’ fashion capitals include
New York City, Paris, London and Milan,
but some of the leading fashion industries
are in Spain, Germany, Japan and China as
well.
Forever 21 was founded by Do Won Chang
and his wife Jin Sook Chang and was made for
the Korean American community mirroring
people styles seen in South Korea. Without
Don Won Chang, I wouldn’t have a 9-dollar
prom dress. Score!
Casual outfits and statement jewelry and
scarves are very popular in Germany.
It’s very common to see a lot of unique
clothing expression of college students in
Korea. Since hair, makeup and dress are
restricted all throughout high school, college
students often go all out with self-expressed
fashion and colored hair.
Outlandish Japanese fashion can be
interpreted as self expression, while others
view it as a resistance to the homogeneity of
Japanese society and the opposition against
adult life.
‘La bella figura’ means dressing up well
for a good impression in Italian
Italy is known for it’s luxury brands such
as Prada, Dolce and Gabbana, Gucci and
Fendi.
Some popular UK style icons include
Alexa Chung, Twiggy, Victoria Beckham,
Princess Diana, Carey Mulligan and Kate
Moss
In the UK, instead of jumper meaning a
one-piece suit, it’s the word used for sweater.
Running shoes are called trainers, suspenders
are called braces, pants are called trousers
and undershirts are called vests!
There are 25 different versions of the
popular fashion design reality show ‘Project
Runway’ shown around the world in different
languages and different judges, Including
‘Proje Moda’ in Turkey,’Super Designer’
in Taiwan, ‘Muodin Huipulle’ in Finland,
‘Designerspirene’ in Norway, ‘Project Catwalk’ in the Netherlands, ‘Mission Catwalk’
in Jamaica, ‘Proyekt Maslul’ in Israel, ‘El
Musamim El Arabi’ in Israel and so many
others.
16
Lathrop FEATURES
Paystreak
Guess who
December 16, 2013
Jennifer Ludtke
Don’t go Greek with this teacher
This staff member is a male teacher and is
known for his entertaining and outgoing personality that can make any student laugh during the
most boring lectures that would normally make
you fall asleep.
• He was born and raised in Fairbanks.
• His favorite childhood memory was playing
football at LHS, where he was the quarterback.
• He graduated from Lathrop High qchool.
• He taught at North Pole.
• He is currently teaching at Lathrop and West
Valley high schools.
• His hobbies and activities are: home repair-
Music Review
ing, couching, and muscle cars.
• His favorite subject is behavior econometrics.
• His favorite thing about teaching is having
the kids interacting with the lesson and enjoy
their lives.
• The reason he become a teacher was because
it would “take too long to become a doctor.”
• The worst part of being a teacher is grading
poorly done projects. Students, just don’t turn in
the work if you’re not going to try.
• Before he became a teacher, he painted
houses, shoveled, and worked at a factory.
The Guess Who from November was Chief Garret
Autunm Marley
‘The Expendables’ are worth a listen
Being musically diverse is never a bad
thing. Where could you go wrong with a
band that mixes reggae, ska, punk, and a
style from the 80’s?
I’ll tell you where, you can’t. “The Expendables” have claimed their territory in
the California surf rock genre, just below
Sublime. The Expendables would share the
stage with Slightly Stoopid and catch the
attention of founders and front men, Kyle
McDonald and Miles Doughty.
“The Expendables are the best thing to
happen to metal since the 80's, the rise of
hair metal dub,” said Stoopid’s guitarist
Doughty.
In 2007, “Slightly Stoopid” formed their
own independent label, Stoopid Records,
and signed The Expendables for the label’s
first non-Stoopid release, which was The Expendables Self-Titled. Released in September
2007, the album received rave reviews fueled
by instant classics like rhythm, and is now
known for its intricate melodic lyrics.
The men behind all this intricate lyricism
is Geoff Weers (Guitars and Vocals), Adam
Patterson (Drums and Vocals), Raul Bianchi
(Lead Guitar) and Ryan DeMars (Bass). Their
first release in 2000 No Time to Worry became
an instant summer time classic with songs
like the dub reggae “Right Time” and their
punk rock favorite “Fire Starter.” “Let me
tell you what went on last night, you were
drunk then, you may not remember right.
The night started out, just like any other;
while getting wasted together, laughing at
each other. Then you got this wild look in
your eye. Yelling the cuss words, middle
fingers at the sky. When you get this rage so
built up inside, it only happens when you're
drunk and a mile high…”
The significance of these lyrics is it telling a story in a song, it’s about his friend
that acted a complete fool, and always does
when they try to have a good time. Many
people can relate to this because we ALL
have THAT one friend that is out of control.
There’s no doubt to it that The Expendables’
dueling guitar solos have made people’s
heads turn and listen closer for years. The
band continued supporting the album with
hundreds of shows over the next two years,
gaining fans around the world and respect
from the bands that influenced them.
Early 2009 found The Expendables in the
busiest times of their career. In case that was
not enough, The Expendables were honored
to join 311 on their Summer Unity amphitheater tour, rocking huge stages, opening
new doors, and taking the band to a new
level. Despite relentless touring, the band
decided idle time was not an option after
the conclusion of their tour with 311.
The Expendables went straight in to the
studio to begin recording their next record.
Paul Leary (producer of Sublime, Slightly
Stoopid, Pepper, Supersuckers and many
others) would man the helm at Big Fish Studios in Encinitas, Calif., during their August
recording session.
This band is really unique. Now, I know I
say that about a lot of bands, because every
band does something to make them unique,
but this band—this band has got it going for
them. Every song has so much meaning and
passion behind it.
It’s a story within a story you could say.
They sing a story in a song, telling you about
the night their buddy wound up in jail, or
revealing their lives and how they just want
to “sit back and unwind,” and of course how
could we forget what fuels some of the best
artists around—their drug abuse. However,
this band isn’t known for their lead singer’s
heroin addiction, or their bassist’s alcohol
problem, or even their drummer’s coke binge.
They sing about their love for a girl named
Mary Jane, especially in the song “Bowl For
Two.” “Yes you know it is time, for us to
sit down and unwind. I know the feeling, I
know the feeling, so stay with me tonight.”
I truly have nothing bad to say about this
band. Who would with such wise lyrics like
those?
If you enjoy just laying back and unwinding after a long day and listening to
the chillest music around, The Expendables
has your name on it. I know many Lathrop
students who feel how I do about music like
this, and I guarantee if you listen to it, you’ll
like it. What’s not to like? It has everything
we’ve been looking for. From awesome lyrics,
a great voice with a story behind it, to some
really cool instrumental solos.
The future for the band looks bright, and
there are many doors to knock down to the
road of platinum success.
December 16, 2013
Going north
Paystreak
Lathrop FEATURES
17
Alanis Duff
Arriving in Alaska leads to adventures
Seven days, three states, one country, over
ten motels, and hours of car riding filled with
five people, two dogs and finally arriving
into Fairbanks on Nov. 1.
My name’s Alanis and my family and I
left Kansas City on Oct 24. This is our third
time moving from another place we called
home, thanks to the military. Although it was
“cold” the day we left, it wasn’t Alaska cold.
It was more like 45 degrees. The week before,
it was in the 70s. That’s Missouri. Then, we
were headed for Alaska.
Going through Canada, my family and
I were hit with this freezing arctic weather
that makes you want to stay inside and hide
by a fire. The crisp, white snow covered the
ground making it look like a magical land
of wonder. Large flakes fell and covered our
car like a pillow, and I just remember waking
up and seeing nothing but white.
Even in Missouri it wasn’t this bad, but
then again this is Alaska. After crossing the
border, it didn’t take long to see our first
caribou. They were standing in the middle
of the road, and they weren’t planning on
moving for us to pass. I remember looking
at the huge mountains and thinking, “those
are bigger than skyscrapers.” The car was
being pounded with snow and ice.
When I first stepped foot into Fairbanks,
the first thing I noticed was the snow and
icy road and how I have never seen so much
snow.
I cringed with the idea of actually walking
around in it everyday and feeling the snow
Traditions
Alanis Duff/Paystreak staff
Two caribou walk across the road on the Alaska Highway near Tok in September.
and wind pierce my skin up until May. I’m
so used to the kind of weather that makes
you want to swim all day and have a family
barbecue outside. That won’t be happening
here for a while.
Getting around Fairbanks has been really
weird and different with the ice on the road
and snow on everything. We had to get our
cars into snow and ice mode with the temperature continuing to drop more into the
negative.
Then I had to get my dogs their snow
boots, but actually trying to make them keep
them on was the hard part. For me, there will
be no more sandals or short-sleeved shirts
or my long flowing skirts. It’s all pants and
scarves and big coats until the summer.
Fairbanks is one of the smallest places I
have lived in with nowhere to really go shopping at or hang at or even look at. I came from
Kansas City, Missouri so I am really used to
malls and little shops and multiple theaters
all around, but in Fairbanks the nearest “real”
mall is six to eight hours away.
I guess we will have to change to snowboarding and skiing ... or my little brothers
can.
Fairbanks is really beautiful. It’s just the
snow that really gets to me, however I would
love to see the aurora. Photography is my
life, so I am going to capture every moment
of my life here in Alaska.
Just looking around at my surroundings
I would have never pictured myself in Alaska. I grew up in the South and have always
been close to the smothering heat, so being
in the cold for so long will really take some
getting use to.
This will be a big change for my family
and myself we have never been around snow
for more than a few months.
Coming to Alaska was a great adventure
even though next time I would rather fly on
an airplane than drive to arrive in Fairbanks,
and over the next three years I hope to see
more of Alaska and the many people in it.
Thanks for welcoming me to Fairbanks
in the middle of this very crisp, cold winter.
Taylor Mckillican
Many celecrate unique holiday traditions at LHS
Everyone who celebrates Christmas has a holiday tradition.
Whether it’s just opening one gift on Christmas Eve, or putting
popcorn on the tree, everyone does something.
Here at Lathrop, the traditions range greatly. Throughout the
month of December people come together and celebrate the true
meaning of all kinds of holidays and traditions, including Christmas.
English teacher Steve Brown says his holiday tradition is when
he was 5 years old his grandfather Hugo handmade him a nativity
and he gets new figures to place on them every year.
Spanish teacher Lance Cheney says that he buys new pajamas
for his kids to open up every Christmas Eve to wear to bed.
Senior Kristina Sunborg says she has three Christmas’s, one at
her house, one on her mother’s side of the family and the last on
her fathers side of the family.
Counselor Lisa Geraghty plays Chinese Christmas every year
with all her sisters.
Counselor Bill Mangano for the past 5 years has made homemade
Italian food for all of the counseling office.
Christmas is coming up very soon, Lathrop. If you don’t have a
holiday tradition then consider starting one with your friends.
18
Paystreak
Lathrop FEATURES
December 16, 2013
Careful, you’re being watched
Dynamic web pages are the new thing that companies use to try
and get you to buy their products.
For those of you that don’t know what a dynamic web page is,
it’s when you look up something on the Internet, let’s say a laptop
on Amazon.com. It would use this to pop-up ads for laptops while
you are on another web page.
Knowing what you want, they put ads up for exactly what they
think you need. For example, if you looked up laptops and go to
Facebook or Reddit later, it will show an ad for laptops. This sounds
like something out of a sci-fi movie with all these companies knowing
what kind of things they should market to you. This can be weird
and unwanted, or it can be neat, and helpful. Either way, they’re
here and it looks like they won’t be going anywhere, anytime soon.
This might be extremely helpful now with the holidays coming
up and with everyone spending so much time and money on sites
like Amazon looking for gifts for their family and friends. This also
could be a little worrying for those of you who don’t like the whole
world always watching you buy stuff or Big Brother or things like
that.
This can be kind of scary if you think about it because it means
that these companies can see the kind of stuff you’re looking to buy
on the internet and know exactly what to try and sell you. How
much do they know about you? The answer: Everything.
This could be a good way of showing people a wider selection
of things maybe they didn’t know was out there and if it’s used
correctly maybe it can prove useful.
• “I think it’s cool. It’s cool because you get to see more of a
selection but it could get annoying,” said Chris Oktollik.
• “I don’t like ads, they get in the way of what I’m doing,” said
Morgan Dunn.
• ” No. I think it’s lame,” said Logan Dille.
The opinion of this subject is split and it will be interesting to see
Taylor McKillican/Paystreak staff
Staff writer, Michale Resmondo, eyes a famous World War II propoganda poster. Being worried about somebody watching you has been around
much longer than the Internet.
people’s opinion on it in a few years if it’s still around.
—Michael Resmondo
Reporter
Video games effect eye-hand coordination
A study shows that some video games
help your eye-hand coordination. According
to Yahoo Voices, Peter Browning said, “Sports
have always been regarded as the best way to
improve hand-eye coordination, but recently
it has been proven that video games may
improve it just as much, if not more than
sports.”
Eye-hand coordination upgrades your
senses by controlling eye and hand movements and processing the information to
your brain, teaching your brain, hands, and
eyes to work together.
Tracy Hampton from the ‘Your Health’
show said that not only kids and teens use
this help but to bump up their skills but
surgeons do too, “While older generations
may see the hobby as a waste of time, research
indicates that the “training” they received
through video games may provide young
surgeons with better skills and hand-eye
coordination, particularly for robotic and
minimally invasive surgeries”.
Now there’s a fun way to level up your eyehand coordination, with video games! Yes,
video games. Don’t believe me? Remember
the first time you played video games? The
controllers and the new games were difficult
to use and look at yourself now. Using the
controller is so easy that you don’t even have
to look at the buttons. And the same games
you’ve been playing for the past year got so
much easier that you’ll feel like a pro each
time you play it.
Senior, Adrian Camacho, said, “I have
an Xbox and I play RPG Fantasy games like
Final Fantasy, Skyrim, Dark Souls and other
games. I play an hour a day or more. Games
help eye-hand coordination because each day
I play, I remember the controller button, now
I can use the controller with out even looking
at it like typing.”
Junior Andrew Arroyo siad, “I own an
Xbox 360 and I play sports and shooting
games. I play 3 hours during weekends. I
mostly play Call Of Duty but some times
football games to. I think it would help my
eye-hand coordination because the more we
play the easier it get to play.”
—Eric Alderman
Reporter
19
Lathrop FEATURES
Paystreak
Video games
December 16, 2013
Parker Nielsen
Get ready to be ‘annihilated’
The age of humanity has long passed; the
endless conflict continues to march into the
vast darkness of space. Battles rage across
the cold void, annihilating planets, moons,
and asteroids, cosmic obliteration for a purpose long forgotten. Technology has been
captured, assimilated, refined, and transformed into brutally efficient, self-replicating
mechanism of war. Welcome to Planetary
Annihilation.
Planetary Annihilation (PA) is a large scale
real time strategy game, and the soul sequel
to the game Total Annihilation. As with a
majority of strategy games, the game is a PC
exclusive and can be purchased from Steam
or from www.Ubernt.com /pa/. The game
is currently in beta, and is going through
multiple large changes. What separates this
Music Review
game from the other large scale RTS games
is that its maps aren’t maps of an area, but
a whole solar system complete with planets
moons and (smashable) asteroids. With all
these theatres of war to deal with, it can be
overwhelming for the inexperienced, but the
user interface does a good job of showing
where high value areas are and enemy units.
The economy system returns from Total annihilation and has not changed dramatically.
The games art style is a minimalist, but
certainly does not lack detail, the textures are
crisp and the dynamic lighting is stellar. The
games use of high dynamic range and bloom
make night time and sun rises/set beautiful
to look at and battle in. While the visuals of
a nuclear blast or a carpet bombing are lack
luster, the game has the excuse of being work
in progress.
The gameplay in PA is very solid, everything does what you expect it to do, and does
it well. While there are some pathing issues
on mountainous ice worlds and in crowded
bases, a majority of units will not get stuck,
but when it does happen, it is frustrating
especially if that unit is an engineer, forcing
you to re-queue up building and movement
orders. The unit roster is kind of stale right
now, but it offers up to multiple strategies, is
well balanced, and crashing planets into each
other is extremely fun. The only reason you
got nuked or sniped from orbit is because you
didn’t build anti-nuke or orbital defense, not
because the randomly generated maps didn’t
favor your position or because you require
an arbitrary resource that is not acquirable.
All this comes at a price unfortunately. The
game itself requires a beast of a computer to
run well and even then can occasionally choke
up as more units are built and issued orders.
The loading times while waiting in the pregame lobby are abysmal and sudden memory
leaks while making your own custom solar
system can lock up your computer or even
force a restart. Even if your computer isn’t
having issues, the servers all multiplayer
games run on may start to slow down as well,
causing lag and making micro managing a
fight painful.
All in all, Planetary Annihilation is a solid
real time strategy game with an absolutely
huge scale. Its poor optimization might chase
away some people, but when these errors are
fixed in the official release, this game will be
a must play for those who long for a large
scale RTS game with a twist.
Alec Pilcher
Things are getting easy with G-Eazy
Having risen from nothing to something
over the course of a few independent releases,
G-Eazy is poised to become hip hop next big
thing with the release of his latest album, Must
Be Nice. Must Be Nice marks a clear evolution
in Eazy’s style and delivery, with plenty of
experimentation along the way. The stoned
fellow we found dealing with heartbreak and
planning big things on Endless Summer has
now seen even more of the world and found
himself somewhere amongst the chaos and
success littered along the way.
G-Eazy is so smooth he’s going to slide
to the top of hip-hop very soon.
The Oakland MC balances a classy RatPack-style swagger with ary, 22nd century
production and rhymes that are worthy
of their own tweets and Facebook statues
updates.
Case and point, on “Plastic Dreams,” he
spills from “fell asleep in a freshmen class
woke up on a tour bus,” to ballsy boasts
like, “I just keep dreaming of the day I
bang Rihanna. They say ‘I’m a dreamer’.
I say ‘Wait until mañana’.” It’s easy to root
for G-Eazy and not just for him to get with
RiRi.
Must Be Nice carries out some dark
themes, and that holds true throughout.
Don’t get me wrong, The lighthearted
wordplay we’ve grown to love is still
present, but now it’s met with stronger
metaphors and 100 percent original instrumentation that’s derived from countless
hours spent studying, cutting, remixing,
and learning to understand the workings
of classic pop hits.
What made Eazy unique with Endless
Summer is now what puts him into a completely different league of young hip hop
talent. No longer is he another young rapper
with a lot to say about girls and weed against
a few good beats, he’s an actual songsmith,
building hits from the ground up with ideas
and melodies pushed forth from his soul.
Must Be Nice is a well-written, gorgeously
produced look at the life of a young 20-something trying to make his way in a world filled
with villains and pitfalls. There are songs
about the good times and rhymes about the
bad.
Must Be Nice truly works best when enjoyed as a complete listening experience from
beginning to end. It’s not just the sequencing
that will hook you, though it is flawless,
it’s how Eazy can give us 10 tracks (and a
bonus) that stand well on their own while
simultaneously representing a single part
of a whole vision. Few young artists in any
genre can accomplish something like this,
and something tells me Eazy is only getting
started.
Art
Artist’s
Corner
Edited by
Jalynne Duval
Created by: Becca Avila
Created by: Elaina Boman
Created by: Morgan Dempsey
Created by: Gabrielle Jeffords
December 16, 2013
Lathrop FEATURES
Restaurant review
Paystreak
21
Kimberly Hanvey
Shogun puts on quite a ‘show’
Shogun is fairly new to Fairbanks.
Children and adults view Shogun as one
of the best food and entertainment variety
in Alaska. People have recognized shoguns
intriguing style of combining food and entertainment, appealing to numerous people
here in Fairbanks.
People want to be treated with respect,
and when you go to shoguns you get to experience that feeling. The employees always
give you a warm welcome, the customers
Pokemon X & Y
aren’t looked at as moneybags.
When my dad and I arrived at Shogun
around 5 p.m. On a Saturday the staff working welcomed us. We told the ladies 5 people
would be attending with us. She kindly said
okay your wait would be around 40 minutes.
We patiently waited. The lady came back
telling everyone how she was sorry for the
wait but we should be able to get seats in
just a few minutes. We waited for another
20 minutes before we got our seats. No one
was happy at this point they were all bitter
and just wanted to go somewhere else.
Kristina one of the guy’s wife said, “we
already waited and now we’re here the food
is supposed to be tremendous”.
We sat tight and waited for our food.
I ordered the steak. The rice and noodles
were absolutely great; on the other hand
the vegetables weren’t completely done
they were hard and didn’t have as much
flavor as they normally did. How sad, the
vegetables were my favorite part and they
weren’t even done.
Even though I was really bummed that
they weren’t finished the rest of the food
was just as phenomenal as every one had
said. The steak was tender and juicy, the
sauce they gave me on the side was white
sauce and it was categorically amazing. The
sauce made the steaks flavor stand out.
When it comes to rice I am a very picky rice
is hard to cook and hard to get everything
right. But Shoguns was right on point the
rice was mouth watering. It felt like heaven
in my mouth.
The service could have been much better but when you have all kinds of people
rushing you and calling in every direction
I can understand if you’re not always there
to help me.
Shoguns are a great place to take your
family and enjoy one big meal. I left happy
and full of food.
Yasser Ortiz
Pokemon ‘catches’ some attention
Things usually take some time to improve
but just like humanity Pokémon has taken
a huge step in its evolution in a short time,
Pokémon x& y is in ever way shape or
form better then its processors. The new impressive online features and 3d look
have given this 15-year-old franchise a
much-needed update.
Appeal
Pokémon primarily appeals to children but
their are some people that just aren’t necessarily
children but still love it….like me, but i’m not
alone here there are plenty of other strange
young adults and misfits that play it. but all bad
jokes aside this game does a wonderful job of
appealing to a large audience i mean you would
be amazed how many soldiers were at the local
gamestop the day it was released. It accomplishes
this appeal partly by having a wide variety of
lovable characters and adding strategy to its
gameplay with element-based combat, it’s kind
of like rock paper scissors certain moves and
types beat others. The game also does a good job
at challenging series veterans while still making
it easily accessible to newcomers.
Gameplay
Pokemon x and y is faster paced than previous
games in the series which means you’ll be able
to capture and train more pocket monsters than
ever before in this roughly 35 hour adventure
but that number can easily be bumped up to 100
hours because of plenty of game content. unlike
the tedious first hours of its predecessors you’ll
have your first gym badge and plenty of pokemon
within the first hour. but pace isn’t the only thing
thats been improved because this adventure is the
first fully 3d game in the series, it has a great art
direction and thanks to the new look intimidating
pokemon actually look intimidating and creepy
pokemon actually look creepy and so on and so
on.
Another thing thats been revamped is the
gameplay that consist mainly of battling and
trading.this time around instead of having a
2d picture of pokemon twitch uncontrollably
to signify an attack the creatures actually have
battle animations that involve moving of limbs.
these battle animation go wonderfully with the
addition of mega evolutions that transforms certain pokemon into overpowered killing machines
(not really its still rated e) .the trading on the
other hand has been improved because it been
made easier than ever before with the addition
of features like wonder trade. this new trading
option trades pokemon of you choice randomly
for another random pokemon. also as long has
you in reach of wifi you’ll never be alone because
the game constantly updates a list on the bottom
screen of nintendo 3ds that contains players
around the world that are interesting in trading
and batting.
Verdict
Eight years ago pokemon emerald was released and unlike most self proclaimed poke fans
it was the first pokemon game i really got into.
right from the beginning i was hooked everything
from the story to the collecting of pocket monsters
was highly entertaining and i’m happy to say
that pokemon x and y has kept every thing that
made the series great and threw it into a bucket
of awesome, game freak the creators have really
outdone themselves.the only issues i had with the
game was the lackluster story which wasn’t nearly
as good as black and white, the previous game.but
for the most part the writing is solid an example
would be the descriptions of the pokemon one
states “it pines for the mother it will never see
again. seeing a likeness of it mother in the full
moon it cries, the stains on the skull it wears are
from its tears.it wears its mothers skull, never
revealing its true face”.thats pretty disturbing
and impressive for a children’s game, i’m fully
convinced that the pokemon this describtion
describes will grow up to be batman.
Overall this game is really entertaining and
will give you plenty of gameplay hours so if you
have a 3ds and an extra 39 dollars go pick this
game up and “catch them all” but be warned this
game has 718 pokemon, say goodbye to life and
goodluck.
22
Lathrop FEATURES
Paystreak
Music Review
December 16, 2013
Michael Resmondo
New Top hit on the music techno chart
Dressed in full robot gear, Daft Punk rocks
the house in the dance and house music
genres. Daft Punk is one of the most well
known groups in their type of music.
Showing up with one of their first big
hits, “Homework”, they made themselves
known in the minds of people everywhere.
Both members of Daft Punk, Guy- Manuel de
Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter met
one another in Paris in 1987. They formed a
band named Darling.
One review of their first band called one
song “a bunch of daft punk” and the rest is
history. In 1992, Daft Punk released a single,
“Da Funk”, which sold 30,000 copies. They
later signed to Virgin Records and in 1997,
they made “Homework”. The next album
they released was “Discovery” with songs
such as “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”,
“Digital Love”, and lastly “One More Time”.
In 2001, they followed with “Alive 1997”
and “Daft Club” in 2003. In 2005, they released
“Human After All”, and “Musique Vol. 1
1993-
Music Review
2005” in 2006. It was a collection of their older
and newer music.
The album Alive in 2007 and in the year 2010
they released an album named Tron Legacy
specifically for the movie soundtrack Tron
and was used in the movie. Some songs were
Overture, The Gird, and my favorite from that
album, Derezzed. Lastly the album Random
Access Memories, which was released this
year 2013. This album was one of there first
in a long
time almost a decade without anything and
this year we get this album. Some songs
you may
have heard of from this album are “Get
Lucky”
and “Lose Yourself to Dance”. Both songs
featuring Nile Rodgers on the guitar from
the band Chic and also featuring Pharell
Williams on the vocals.
This album, in my opinion, is one of their
better albums but my favorite from them is
either between Human After All or Discovery. I love both albums and I can’t pick one
because I like the song Human After All from
the album Human After All and the song Face
to Face from Discovery. I have been a fan of
this duo for a long time now and I am eagerly
anticipating their next album. I recommend
everyone should at least go give their music
a listen but I do understand reasons why this
couldn’t be the music for you.
Kahlena McKellar
Nothing was the same with Drake
There are dozens of Drake fans at Lathrop,
and with his new album out called “Nothing
Was The Same,” it should win over even
more fans. This CD is definitely worth buying if you enjoy music that will have you go
through reminisce of feelings. Drake’s songs
are easily connected to and understood by
any teenager who has ever gone through
relationship problems, feeling alone and
having to do things on your own, and just
knowing what it’s like for life to suck-but
also knowing you’re going to succeed in life.
The song “Own it” connects with the
feelings of a past relationship. For example,
he sings “ You’re still the one that I adore,
ain’t much out there to have feelings for,”
these words make us think of the fact that
once your in love, and then that relationship
gets ripped apart, it takes apart of you with
it, and everybody who’s anyone can connect
with that.
Truly understanding lyrics is a hard thing
to do because everybody comprehends things
in their own way. All me is about Drake doing
everything on his own, having no one to help
him
succeed in life, but not forgetting where you
truly came from. “Came up that’s all me
stay true that’s all me no help that’s all me,
all me for real” This is where he’s talking
about how he did all this by himself. “…
Should I listen to everybody or myself?”
That’s him remembering he does have a
family, he was at one point a regular guy,
and deciding if he should listen to where
he came from, or do what he do. I think
Drake has came a long way from where or
who he used to be portrayed as.
I have a lot more respect for him because
he
isn’t just rapping about typical racial slurs,
white girl booty, or hard drugs.
He’s making a stereotyped music genre
and turning it into an actual art, he’s turning
it into actual music that makes people connect
on an emotional level.
He is a respectable musician, unlike the
mainstream rappers these days, who we all
know rap about the same thing every time.
I feel that Drake doesn’t get the credit he
deserves- even though he has hundreds of
thousands of fans. His fans these days don’t
pay attention to the bigger picture or read
between the lines to find out the true meaning
behind the lyrics to the songs.
I think Drake’s new album has more potential to show that he can be a caring, classy
guy, who actually does know how it feels,
just like us common folk here at Lathrop. So
next time you want some great beats, with
kick butt lyrics that have you going for an
emotional rollercoster ride, I definitely recommend listening to Drake’s new album,
Nothing Was The Same.
December 16, 2013
Lathrop SPORTS
Paystreak
23
Why so many deaths in football?
Head injuries are all around us every
game, every day in practice someone gets a
concussion. The reason people get concussions is not because the equipment, It is the
way players are taught to tackle. I personally
have had a few concussions for myself, I'm
always tackling with my head and not my
shoulders. I would always try and hit people
helmet to helmet.
You can hurt yourself more by the way
you hit them. Depending on the way you hit
the other persons helmet with your helmet
or if you hit them in the right spot you can
hurt them a lot worse then it would going
to hurt you.
In football ever since 1990 to 2010 there
has been an average of 12.2 deaths every year
in football. Cardiac arrest, brain injuries, and
heart illness are common for serious football
injuries.
The deaths for brain injuries are normally
in the NCAA level of football but it happens
at the high school level too. Most of the brain
injury deaths are during games.
The cardiac arrest and heart problems
will most likely come up before the season in
the minicamps and preseason football. Since
1990, 100 of the deaths were from a heart
illness, 62 were do to brain injuries, and 38
were from cardiac arrest up until 2010. The
other 43 deaths in football happened over
the last three years of expansion. Lately we
have had a lot more deaths in football because
players that haven’t played lately have been
dying from their past injuries.
People are not dying because of there
equipment or because they are not strong
enough to play the sport. It is because it's
football; it’s a gladiator sport. You put your
body on the line for the team, even your life.
Football is a team sport that takes a lot of
heart to play. When your body hurts and your
team is down, you can't just give up. You have
to put your body on the line for everything
just to win for your team. Sometimes when
you take the big hit you are going get hurt,
and get knocked out of the game. That's
football.
Football is not just a game to have fun;
it's also a game built to take your anger out
on other people and hit them as hard as you
can. You don’t get flagged for it if it's not a
dirty or illegal hit on the other player to try
and knock them out of the game. Football is
a dangerous sport and when people get hurt
in the high school level, the college level, or
even the NFL level we all know what we are
getting into. We know the risks but we are
willing to put our bodies on the line to play
for the love of the sport.
on a thursday of this August there was
a lawsuit on the NFL for concussions. The
concussion rates have been high and players
every week have been getting knocked out of
games for unnecessasry blows to the head.
for exaple the one on Wes Welker. He had
suffered a concussion for the second time in
4 weeks and was not able to play against the
sandeiago Chargers.
The lawsuits against the NFL were for
retired players that have suffered from head
injuries and 4,500 people made a lawsuit, But
18,000 got money for it because these 18,000
player’s were also had a head injury that they
were suffering from.
765 million dollars was paid to these 18,000
player’s in return for the injuries.
—Shane McKinstry
Reporter
Lathrop wrestlers
off to good start
The wrestling season has had a great start at Lathrop this year.
The team went down to Wasilla for competition on Nov. 21. They
then traveled over to Lancer Smith where they spent Friday and
Saturday competing in the biggest tournament in Alaska—an event
that is even bigger than state.
Over 10 schools competed during the tournament, all hoping to
claim the title of number one. Jacob Wharton came close to claiming
that title, but missed his chance to earn it when he was injured during
the meet.
He placed second in the finals. Wharton is currently undefeated
for the big schools, which ranks him number one for all the big
schools since he went against the all around undefeated wrestler.
Joe Dickinson came up right behind Wharton, placing third, and
his brother Jack Dickinson placed fifth.
Lathrop’s wrestlers are starting the season strong. With a few more
competitions left, they hope to be able to keep this up and place first
in their next competition.
—Jennifer Ludtke
Reporter
Deanna Wharton photo
Lathrop’s Jacob Wharton wrestles in a match at Palmer in November.
Wharton placed second at the competition.
Page
24
Lathrop SPORTS
Sports editors:
Shane McKinstry & Tristen Ramaker
December 16, 2013
LHS hockey gets a wakeup call
Lathrop’s hockey 2013 - 2014 season has been pretty upsetting
so far. The team is very young and has a lot have new players
that are still trying to come together as a team.
We have five seniors on the team this year and we are all ready
for our last season of high school hockey. Last year we had a
couple players that left the team and didn’t finish their last year
with the rest of the seniors. One player who left is Logan Parsley,
and he left Lathrop to play for the Pikes Peak Miners, a Midget
18AAA team in Colorado. The other player that didn’t finish his
last high school season at Lathrop is Connor Nilson, who is now
playing for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. Parsley and Nilson were a
big help to the team during their high school hockey careers and
could have helped us out a lot this year with our young team.
Our first game this year was against Hutchison High School
and the outcome was not expected by any of us Lathrop players.
Hutch ended up winning by a score of 3 - 2 in overtime for their
first ever win against a Lathrop hockey team. I feel the loss was
because of nervousness with players and brutal officiating during
the game. All of the players, including myself, were disappointed
in the outcome of the game and also embarrassed because Lathrop
hockey has never lost to Hutch until that game.
But losing wasn’t such a bad thing to happen to the team,
because now we realize how we need to play against teams to
which we shouldn’t be losing.
Lathrop’s next game was against North Pole, and we capitalized on what we needed to do and came out with a win. The final
score to the Lathrop and North Pole game was 2 - 0 in regulation
for a win for Lathrop.
Lathrop recently had one of our players and our head coach
lose a family member. Our teammate Wesley Evans lost his father
Sports in brief
Lathrop rifle
Lathrop
The Lathrop rifle team started practice in
August this year and is still competing. They
had matches on Nov. 22 and Nov.23 against
North Pole and they scored.
The Lathrop team uses basic air precision
guns called Anschutz air rifles. The rifle
team’s coach is teacher Curtis Watkins, and
he has been the coach for three years.
“The most exciting thing about the rifle
team is watching the growth of the individ-
Meier photo
Lathrop’s Cole Stephens hits a player from Eagle River to gain control
of the puck and a game in November at UAF.
in the beginning of the season, and our head coach Curt Franklin
lost his mother soon after. Our whole team went to Wesley’s
dad’s funeral on a Wednesday right before we had a road trip
to Anchorage for games and the week after we all went to Curt’s
mom’s funeral.
Evans and Franklin both did not come on our trip because
of their family tragedies and that really affected the team as a
whole. We are all happy to finally have Evans and Franklin back
on the bench with us and are hoping to get a fresh new start to
the season after all the incidents that jumped up on us.
—Tristen Ramaker
Reporter
uals and watching them get better over time
and make it to varsity,” coach Watkins said.
“Being committed is an important part of
being on the rifle team. It’s lots of fun and
competitive and you must know what you
are doing if you ever decide to join.”
The top shooter on the rifle team is senior
Kasey Barnes; her top score for air shooting
is 584 and for shooting the small bore is 560.
Barnes has received interest from colleges
who would lik eher to shoot for their teams.
The Lathrop rifle team is due to have more
matches coming up in December. The rifle
team has been at Lathrop for 30 years. Basi-
cally what competitors do is stand, kneel or
prone and shoot an air rifle at a small target.
The goal is to hit the center.
The best shooters get a good shooting
stance with balance. They keep a good
posture so that they aren’t off balance to the
target. They have at least 8 seconds to shoot
the air rifle from 50 feet away and hit the
center for 10 points or less, depending on the
distance from bullseye. The individuals who
are shooting are working as a team and the
more points you hit, the better their team’s
score.
—Alanis Duff
Reporter