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December 2012Issue ThreeDecember 2012Lewis Central High School

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Co-Editors in ChiefBlake Huber

Cassidy MillerDesign Editor

Taylor UnderwoodCopy Editor

Brook DeMarque

Co-Business-EditorMonica Nikseresht

Claire Fischer

Photography EditorJenny Pedersen

ReportersAbigail Bergsten

Kaleigh BrayChelsea EretCarey Jacobs

Courtney LorenzenSeth SchlemmerMadison Short

Amanda StephensHalle StichlerAlex Tucker

Madie VerschoorPhotographerEric Finnegan

2323 W. Broadway(712) 328-9792

1745 Madison Ave.(712) 322-9260

Open 24 hours a day,7 days a week!

Editorial Policy:The Wire is the official Lewis Central student newspaper, and it is distributed free of cost to the students. The opinions expressed in this publication reflect those of the student writers and not Lewis Central administration, faculty, or its adviser. The Wire is published seven times throughout the school year and by the Suburban Times in Papillion,

Nebraska.The purpose of The Wire is to:

*inform students of current and relevant events*interpret and analyze complex events and issues

that affect students*serve as a forum for discussion of controversial

issuesLetters to the Editor:

The Wire staff strongly encourages responses to articles appearing in the newspaper. Letters may be submitted to room 401. The letters must be signed, legible, and concise. The staff reserves the right to edit letters for length, grammar, and punctuation. These letters should also be free of profanity,

vulgarity, or words with undesirable meanings.

cassmiller@msn.combhuber@cox.net

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-table of contents-

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SportsPages 10-11

The Lewis Central Boys

Basketball team’s season is underway!

LC hosts the LEGO Competition for bright young engineers.

AROUND THE SCHOOL

P. 4-5

How the internet has escaped.

ENTERTAINMENTP. 13

Doomsday: How near is it, and how should we prepare?

FEATURE

P. 8-9

OPINIONP. 14-15

How should College athletes be paid, if at all?

NEWSIphone or Android? Taking a look at what’s behind the screen.

P. 12

ADVERTISING

Hy-vee is a proud supporter of Lewis Central with multiple students currently employed.

P. 2 & 16

Speech season is going strong- find out what these outspoken individuals have to say.

FINE ARTSP. 6-7

OntheCover

Lewis Central girls baketball tips off the season with their first road contest against Sioux City East.

PHOTO BY JENNY PEDERSEN

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TRUE TITANMIKE KING; KING OF

THE TITANS

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BRICK POWERSome build houses, others build cars. Then there’s those that build

autonomous robots.

Thousands, thousands as far as the eye can see. Your imagination untamed, unfiltered, and unmatched. Hundreds of students must prepare themselves for the ultimate competition. A battle of your wits, ingenuity, and friendship. The Lego® Competition.

First Lego League (FLL) is the organization behind this amazing event. Students from ages 9-14 in teams up to ten will challenge themselves to program and build autonomous robots (out of Legos) to solve real world scenarios. It’s not all just Lego Battle-Royal. The event focuses on three elements: the Robot Game, Project, and FLL Core Values. The game is conducted on a themed playing field with the Project being a solution to the problem they have identified. Past challenges have been based on topics such as nanotechnology, climate, quality of life for the handicapped population, and transportation.

There’s a purpose behind this event other than just building “self-thinking” robots out of Legos and engaging them in real world situations. Giving young kids a head start on what kind of career path in engineering is

LEGO League was quite the success with the help of the multiple volunteers such as the ‘Team Buddies’ that guided their designated teams throughout the day.

“He is a True Titan,” says sophomore Connon Hanafan. It is in all honesty to say that Hanafan doesn’t stand alone when saying those few, yet mighty, words. Mike King wasn’t just a janitor around the school, he is a True Titan and his story will tell it all.

Just about a year ago the school was blessed to welcome not just another janitor, but an individual that would unknowingly change multiple lives. “He was great with kids. He was good with the public and good when it came to the cleaning. He was just an all-around good guy,” said fellow janitor, Chuck Skokan. Mike King was well known around the school as the “tall, skinny janitor,” that is, until the story behind Mr. King finally got out.

Mr. King was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease about three or four months ago. Lou Gehrig’s disease is a disease in which the nerves in a certain region of your brain and spinal cord gradually die; eventually the patients lose the ability to move essential limbs and muscles. “He doesn’t have all the time we have, but he still lives his life and he’s still happy,” says Hanafan.

“There are a handful of students that ask about him, which then tells me that the kids like him and care. That says in my mind that he has left an extraordinary impact,” says Skokan. With no doubt, Mr. King has left an impact on our school. His compassion for the students and knowledge on how the kids did at each of their activities is unbelievable. He will definitely be remembered in our hearts as a true Titan.

what the event creators hope to accomplish. The idea of creating solutions to real world problems opens up to endless possibilities.

A team of girls ranging from 9-14 won $20,000 dollars for creating an apparatus that can be attached to the hand of a disabled individual, giving them the ability to hold a writing utensil again. “Our team last year did the research to find out the amount of bacteria on cutting boards and created the Cutting Board Cleaner (CBC)”, said Engineer teacher Aaron Nickman. The real world applications are endless.

You don’t have to be a young student to be involved in Lego League. They are always looking for volunteers to help coach students during the competition. Don’t worry, you don’t have to know anything about engineering, it’s a team building and learning situation for everyone. More information can be found about the organization and events at firstlegoleague.org. Be the seed to a world improving idea, or the instructor to help the idea grow, either way the world will change for the better from this.

Around The School

Photos by Jenny Pedersen

SETH SCHLEMMERREPORTER

TAYLOR UNDERWOODDESIGN EDITOR

Kaylee Reynolds. Shoveling is the one part kids don’t look forward to.

Snowdays can drag on too. If we have a lot of snow this winter than it seems like summer will never come. Our built in snowdays are Feburary 18 and April 2. But if we have more than two, we will have less summer. The days set are May 28 through the 31. Just depends on how many we have this winter. “I like snowdays, but later on I don’t because it goes into summer,” said Shailey Hurley. Summer is the season most kids enjoy the most. But having a snowday does not sound too bad.

We are forecasted to have above normal precipitation this winter. But also we can expect warmer than average days

Seniors Austin Lear and Alex Martin, along with Junior Tanner George show off their facial hair.

NO SHAVE NOVEMBERThe charitable reason behindthe facial hair

Have you ever wondered what “No Shave November” was really about? Well we all know you shave on the first day of the month and don’t shave for the rest of the 30 days November consists of. But have you ever even wondered why, or where did this very random celebration come from?

Junior Brendan Johnson says, “I think people do it as a contest just to see who can grow the most facial hair.” To most people that seems to be all they care about and the only reason they participate. But to others it’s to help out a great cause. “No Shave November” started years ago

termed “Movember”(meaning a cross between Mustache and November) and was started to promote prostate cancer and men’s health awareness. Anyone who participates in “Movember” is asked to sign up online at “movember.com” to help raise money for charity. When they sign up people can choose to sponsor them based on how impressive their hair grows in the 30 days allowed, starting freshly shaven on November 1st. Anyone who chooses to not shave and is signed up online is named a “Mo Bro” or “Mo Sista.”

This group started with 80 men that came up with the idea and term “Movember” one night in a pub in Adelaide, South Australia. Last year in 2011, there were 854,288 “Mo Bros” and

“Mo Sistas.” They together amazingly raised 126.3 million dollars for charity in only one month. The money raised goes to help find cures to prostate cancer, and to help inform men they need to get regular doctor checkups.

“Number one so I didn’t have to shave weekly and number two it helped me feel like more of a man opposed to this baby faced shaved face,” says senior Alex Reed when asked why he participated. This year Reed grew out his beard but shaved a few days shy of the end of the month. Next time you see a friend or even stranger with a beard or mustache, hopefully they’re doing it for the purpose of helping out with men’s health awareness and encourage them to sign up online.

-around the school-

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TopTweets

“I’m also on the twitter.”

Austin Lear

Senior@learbron

Good start to the wrestling season #2-0

Paige Beacom

Freshman@paigebeacom2

I’m in my happy place when I’m eating christmas cookies, drinking hot chocolate, and watching christmas movies!!!

Lindsey Mastropietro

Senior@LindsMasto13

I still can’t believe today is my last state... But I know this one is going to be the best one yet. #MemoriesIWontForget

Hannah DmyterkoJunior@HannahDmyterko

My sister and I have the best sledding ideas. Hopefully it snows :) @alliedmyterko

Mallory Allen

Junior@MJAkcfan

It’s always nice to see high schoolers help others! #mademyday :)

Photos by Jenny Pedersen

MADISON SHORTREPORTER

It is a cold, crisp winter night. The snow is lightly coming down outside. All you want is hot chocolate and no school tomorrow. Many people get excited when they see snow in the forecast. It is a day to have a break and not have to worry about anything. But would you like to continue until June 7th again?

Snowdays consist of sleeping in and getting to spend the day relaxing and sledding. “On snowdays I usually stay home and watch cartoons. I also like to go outside and have snowball fights with my brother. Then come inside for a nice warm cup of hot chocolate,” said sophomore

CLAIRE FISCHERCO-BUSINESS EDITOR

followed by cold Canadian air. There are many dry areas. Iowa is almost 9” below the average precipitation for the year. The snow would benefit to many areas. So hope for a lot of snow, a lot of snowdays, and moisture to help our dry areas.

Make sure you have hot chocolate and marshmallows. This will make the day ten times better. Also, go play in the snow and make yourself a snowman and don’t forget your coat.

THE SNOW DAY CYCLEWhat to do on that coveted day off

Sophomore Amy Pedersen enjoys a day off with food, her cell phone, and her pet. Photo by Jenny Pedersen

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The moment of fear before impressing the judge, the excitement, and the facial expressions routinely carried by the performer. As they hit the stage, speechers feel they spark of nervousness while

getting into character. Lewis Central Teams usually enter in eight categories: Readers Theater, Choral Reading, Ensemble Acting, Improv, Group Mime, Radio News, Short Film, and Solo Mime. After bringing home the All-State banner for Readers Theater last year, this year’s

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OPERA AT THE HOLLANDHigh school students collaborate with

Opera Omaha and the Omaha Symphony

Many musicians only dream of performing in the Holland Performing Arts Center, but for Lewis Central kids in Bella Voce and Chamber choir this was a reality. “Not many people can say they got to perform with the Omaha Symphony,” says junior Jacob Cannon about his experience at the Choral Collaborative.

For the past three months students in Bella Voce and Chamber Choir have worked on opera pieces. All of this preparation led up to a chance of a lifetime performing with the Omaha Symphony and professional opera singers at the Holland Performing Arts Center.

“The language was really challenging,” says sophomore Jakob White about the music for the collaborative.

The students performed twelve songs; sharing this experience with other vocal students from Westside High School and Lincoln Southwest High School.

The three schools got together for two rehearsals, both just days before the big concert. One rehearsal was held at Westside High School and the other was held at the Holland Center itself.

“I thought it was a really cool experience, because you don’t get to see behind the scenes every day,” says sophomore Molly Mailahn. On performance day, all the musicians got V.I.P. treatment. Students used ‘behind the scenes’ stairways and used a separate entrance door.

“It is good for students because, it exposes them to the symphony and professional musicians; it’s unlike anything,” says Choir Director Sara Langdon. The Choral Collaborative was an amazing opportunity for all high school students involved. “This is one of those things that students will remember long after high school is over,” says Choir Director Brian Johnson.

Practing for the big day is the Omaha Symphony. The symphony ac-companied the high school and opera singers at the collaborative.

Photo by Morgan Jones

-the briefs-What’s happening

outside of LC

Hurricane Sandy wasn’t as destructive as Katrina, but it was the largest hurricane to hit the Atlantic, covering 900 miles wide.

A momentary cease fire was implemented during the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha. The cease fire was short lived with a car bombing. Both Syrian Rebels and Government are pointing fingers back at each other.

Sandy Island is a real island that might have never existed. Google maps it and you’ll see it, just off the coast of Australia. Try and travel to it and you’ll never step foot on it.

Fine Arts

teams start off the year with high standards and great ideas.

“I feel like our group is just as strong, if not stronger, this year,” says sophomore Olivia Overholtzer. There are approximately 30 students involved this year. Many participants are returning this year, so most feel that the teams have a wealth of strength.

“We got big shoes to fill,” says senior Taylor Stuart. With as much hard work and determination as last year, Stuart feels they can be awarded the All-State banner for a second time. The banner is like a

traveling trophy; it goes back to the competition and is awarded to the next year’s chosen team.

“Interpretation more than script” is what senior Holden King says about their skits. Teams are doing anything from Cinderella Story to Those Darn Squirrels. Almost all of the skits are hilarious, but some are serious. Usually the participants hold a Large Group Speech preview right before a competition. Join them for a night of laughs!

SPEECH SPARKS UP

AMANDA STEPHENSREPORTER

With the start of the season LC large group speech is preparing for success at competition in January. Photo by Madison Short

Briefs by Seth Schlemmer

Speech is starting again with new people and great starting skits

MADISON VERSHOORREPORTER

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Lewis Central’s Ecology Club works toward making our school a greener place.IT’S EASY BEING GREEN

A quick look at the grounds outside reveals trash left lying around. Most people would walk on by without a second thought, but there is a group of people willing to put forth the effort to stop and pick it up. These people make up the Ecology Club. The Ecology Club is a school club created to promote conservation awareness along with alternative ways to save energy not only through the school, but throughout the community.“We support recycling efforts such as grounds cleanup at the high school. We are also selling reusable water bottles to decrease the amount of plastic in landfills,” says senior Alysha Daley.The club also volunteers outside of the school with other organizations.“We volunteer at events such as

Helping to creat an eco-friendly environment at our school is the Lewis Central Ecology Club. Photos by Kaleigh Bray and Jenny Pedersen

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BELCHER TRAGEDY RAISES MORE QUESTIONSAnother heartbreak strikes the NFL

KALEIGH BRAYREPORTER

BLAKE HUBERCO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

the Iowa Western electronic recycling. We pick up after football games and help other organizations with their big cleanups, “says junior Mia Blackman. The club is president run by Daley under the supervision of club sponsor and science teacher Brett Ford.“My job in the ecology club is overseeing the activities and just helping coordinate things between the kids and other groups. My favorite part about the club is getting to work with the kids,” says Ford. The club isn’t something that people just do--the people in the club genuinely love what they’re doing.“I love being outdoors and in nature, so Ecology Club just fits who I am and what I am passionate about,” says Daley. The Ecology Club meets on the third Friday of each month at 7:10 in the morning. The club is always welcoming new members, so if you’re interested contact Alysha Daley or Mr. Ford for more information.

So next time you drop a gum wrapper on the ground or throw trash out of your car, think about all the hard work the kids in Ecology Club and people around the community do to keep our home clean and a healthy place for us to live. We can help the environment one piece of trash at a time.

December 1st was definitely a day to remember for not only the Kansas City Chiefs, but one for the NFL too. This is, in the morn-ing around 9 am, Javon Belcher, age 25, killed his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, 22, and then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and took his own life. Belcher was the sixth football player in the last two years to take his own life. There have been 21 known suicide deaths by NFL players. If this doesn’t raise red flags, I don’t know what will. A lot of people will start to ask “Are all those hits taken to the head affecting their everyday life?” There are approximately 300,000 people that are diagnosed with concussions every year. There have been hundreds of for-mer NFL players suing the league for lack of care once they retired.

Former players say they struggle with various injuries including headaches and depression. The problem is, foot-ball players are too stubborn. Chicago Bears star linebacker Brian Urlacher said “he would lie about a concussion to get back into the game.” That’s a major problem. The NFL can only do so much with safety, but if the players don’t cut out the stubbornness, these tragedies could continue to happen.So what can be a resolution to concussions? There are certain safety methods that can be done to try to cope with concussions, but the bot-tom line is it’s football, it is a violent sport. So the key is for players to go to doctors and say something is wrong and hold themselves out if they feel woozy. Players not only need to think about the present, but the future.If NFL players are honest with doc-tors, I believe that NFL suicide deaths will go way down and hopefully, the event on December 1st will not hap-pen ever again.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith gets plastered by St. Louis Rams linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar. Smith got a concussion and has not returned to the lineup since; getting replaced by backup Colin Kaepernick

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When the planets were on the same side of the sun on March 10th, 1982, people predicted mass chaos causing earth-quakes, tsunamis, and every other natural disaster possible. On Janurary 1st, 2000, the world was predicted to end because of the turn of the century, where all the worlds’ computers would shut down simultaneously. June 6th, 2006 (6/6/06) was definitely the end of the world considering that is said to be the devil’s

number. All of those dates were not the end of the world obviously, but some say this year, on December 21st, the world will end… or will it?After the movie 2012 came out in 2009, it started to make people aware of the theory the 2012 could possibly be the end of the world. The most common theory scientists have developed is the “Plant X” theory. The theory revolves around the idea of the end being brought on by the collision of another planet (“Planet X”). The idea that Earth’s creation would in turn be its demise. The Mayan calendar, The Long Count, lasts about 5,125 years and ends on about December 21st of this year. True believers say that this is the end of the world itself. On the other hand, skeptics believe that the

MONICA NIKSERESHTCO-BUSINESS EDITOR

date was miss counted. Different Mayan city states contained different Long Counts. For instance, some lasted 7,886 years which is 2,761 years from now. When the calendar itself ends, it could have meant the end of a cycle, but not of creation. The Earth is supposed to pass through the Galactic plane according to believers, but at the moment we are about 24 light years north of the plane and won’t cross it for another 27 mil-lion years. Who really knows when the world will end? W ith the countless predictions and theo-ries, no one really knows what to believe. In the meantime, don’t worry too much, stay busy, and make time for those who you care about the most. Take one day at a time and let life take its course.

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SETH SCHLEMMERREPORTER

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The end is nigh. In a few weeks life as we know it will cease to exist, or so the Mayans say. Everybody knows the story with the Mayan cal-endar, it ends mysteriously on a date that is astronomically significant, but what does that even mean? The

ALEX TUCKERREPORTER

end, that’s what it means. Everyone knows that stars aligning is either good or bad news and this time, it’ bad news. So you need to prepare by taking shelter. Take shelter from everything to be exact, these sort of bad omens and astrological magic is going to totally mess humanity’s day up. Our forecast for the end days are a nice downpour of living snakes spiders and salamanders, because it’s

not an apocalypse without two to four inches of amphibians climbing over everything. You should also expect fire tornadoes, ball lightning, the fault lines cracking open and every super volcano erupting at once. It is recommended you stay inside with your loved ones during the apocalypse, but I would sug-gest that you stay away from the tv, cellphones, computers and anything shunned by the Amish because the airwaves are going to be oversatu-rated with juju, making it a direct line to the dead. What you should do is open up those presents and hope you got some board games, if you’re feeling lucky you could try to Skype Shakespeare for a rousing game of Scrabble, or you could try your luck outside and hope the sala-manders don’t try to crawl into your mouth. Those doomsday preppers know what’s going on when buying truckloads of non-perishable items, seeing as anything perishable will perish immediately. With all edible food stuck in cans and spending all your time weeping in fear, going insane or playing mad-libs with Ernest Hemingway you should basically give up on life right now. Seriously, do whatever you want right now, because soon we will all be under the reign of Gozer the Gozarian.

Scared for their lives are Sophomores Hayley White, Sydney Morris, Shaya Paulsen, Gabby Lancial, Jamie Sulentic, Asia Sockrider, Amy Pedersen, and Hannah Shea.

Photo by Jenny Pedersen

A LITTLE END-OF-THE-WORLD HUMOR...

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Scoreboard

Sports VS. Glenwood

43-39VS. SC East

26-56VS. Creston

63-27VS. SC East

42-50VS. Creston

34-75Basketball

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Girls Girls Girls Boys Boys

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Promising Start For LC SwimmersBoys look to improve state run...

Freshman Caleb Shudak practices his free style catch-up drill at Titan Hill swimming pool; preparing hard for his upcoming events.

New Leadership, Same Goals New coaches and players lead the team...

Taking the tip senior Aubrey Norville wins the ball for Lewis Central.

Photo by Eric Finnegan

Photo by Jenny Pedersen

Lining up to do the Pledge of Al-legiance , the LC girls Basketball team is excited to face SC East.

BROOK DeMARQUECOPY EDITOR

Cassidy MillerCO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Photo by Jenny Pedersen

The Lewis Central boys swimming team has high hopes for this season. Last year, Lewis Central finished in 9th place at the Boys State Swimming competition. With Junior RJ Hemmingsen finishing in 2nd place in the 100 fly his sophomore year at the state competition; there are great expectations for this year. Along with Hemmingsen’s 2nd place finish, he also placed top ten in 3 events, two of them as the anchor for relays. In addition to Hemmingsen’s talent, senior Brandon Farnum from Red Oak finished top ten in the 50 freestyle, a 3rd place finish in the 100 freestyle, and as the 2nd leg of two top ten relays. This year the team has been working hard to repeat last year’s state run, and improve on those times. “Practices are getting pretty hard, they are getting exhausting and we are just really

working hard.” says Hemmingsen. The team practices 5 days a week, twice a day, with competitions on Saturdays and Sundays. Morning practices are an hour and half, and afternoon practices are two hours and 15 minutes. “[There] is a big step up on the practice workload. Practices are a lot harder than they were last year.” Hemmingsen says. This year, freshman Caleb Shudak has impressed the masses. Rumored to be the next great swimmer, he works just as hard as every other swimmer on the team. His goals include qualifying for state in his 100 back, and various free style events. He also wants to get top 5 as a team. “I feel I am right there with RJ [Hemmingsen] from his freshman year. I am trying to break some of his freshman records.” Says Shudak. With all this talent on the Lewis Central Swim Team, it will be no surprise when LC places well in all events.

The Lewis Central girls’ basketball team was the Hawkeye 10 champions last year with Chris Hanafan running things. This year will be the first time in over 10 years that Hanafan will not be the head coach. Hanafan stepped down after last season. Derek Archer, JV coach and Hanafan’s assistant last year, has taken over as varsity head coach. So far this season the girls have gone 3-1, winning against Sioux City North and Creston, while losing to Sioux City East. Lewis Central’s top performers so far are senior Aubrey Norville, averaging over 20 points per game, and freshman Paige Beacom, who almost had a triple double in her first career high school game, with 9 points, 9 rebounds, and 10 steals. Paige is one of two freshman making

the starting lineup for the Titan girls, the other being Kye Madsen. “It is nerve-racking but really exciting!” says Madsen about having her name called in the starting lineup. “I have so much adrenaline. But this has been my goal since fourth grade so it is su-per cool!” Kye gets the privilege of starting alongside her sister, se-nior Natalie Madsen. That is some-thing not many sisters can say. “It is great. She has been the best example I could ask for and that is what I have been shooting for. I have learned a lot from her,” says Madsen. Inexperience is a word that comes to a lot of people’s minds when you think about two freshmen in the starting lineup, and it makes people think about where the season is going to go. “In a positive direc-

tion if we keep working hard and giving 100% always,” says Madsen. The Titan ladies have a bright future ahead of them, with Madsen and Beacom, along with a new head coach. Go out and sup-port the girls against Kuemper on December 18th here at home.

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CHANGE IS COMING

BOYS BASKETBALL HAS STARTEDA new season calls for

new goals

BCS changes are coming in 2014

Starting at the end of the 2014 season, college football will have a four-team tournament to decide the national champions. It’s about time, right? But it couldn’t come soon enough, starting at the end of the 2014 season. Does this end the controversy? Absolutely not; there will always be a team that feels they’ve been left out, but I believe it helps clear up some of the controversy.

One big issue I have with the current BCS system is that there are so many good teams, and there are so few BCS bowls. There are four BCS bowls, the Rose Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, and the Orange Bowl, along with the National Championship Game. The National Championship is rotated between the locations of the other BCS bowls, each one hosting every four years. Only

BOWLING TEAMDon’t be afraid to strike out

Striking out isn’t always a bad thing. The Lewis Central bowling team is hoping to strike out in their first meet on November 27th at Thunderbowl bowling alley. Their team has been working with Coach Pat Ryan to improve individually as well as, as a team.

There are somewhere close to 30 kids on the bowling team at Lewis Central. Why join bowling team one may ask, “I’ve been bowling since fourth grade and have loved it ever

since because of how fun it was,” senior Kristen Hemmingsen says.

The bowling team offers different things for everyone. If you don’t bowl the best one day, you can be put on the Junior Varsity team, then say you bowl great the next you can be moved up to Varsity. “My favorite part about bowling is the enthusiasm everyone has,” sophomore Genesis Rigg

Just like any other team, bowling can be challenging, but it can also be extremely fun and rewarding. “The team kind of becomes your family after a while, and it’s really fun,” Rigg says. Some people don’t believe that

two teams can make a BCS bowl from each conference, so the problem this year is the SEC, as it usually is every year. You have #2 Alabama versus #3 Georgia for the SEC title, and

the winner is likely going to go to the National Championship to play #1 Notre Dame. Then you have #4 Florida, #7 LSU, #9 Texas A&M, and #10 South Carolina, all from the SEC, and all with legitimate chances to maybe play in a BCS bowl

game. With the way things are looking right now, however, it seems to me that the winner of the #2 Alabama and #3 Georgia game will be in the National Championship, and

#4 Florida will get the other BCS bid, leaving all of the rest out in the cold.

For the four-team playoff, the teams will play in two of the current BCS bowls on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, with the National C h a m p i o n s h i p being about a week afterwards, depending on the calendar. I think they should have the semifinals and finals separate from the other four BCS bowls, that way you get the worthy teams

in the BCS bowls without giving them the cold shoulder. Yes, there will always be controversy, but I feel NCAA and BCS committee has done a fairly good job in deciding who the national champion is fairer and more exciting.

Junior Tony Rew hopes to set up a play on offense.

Photo by Jenny Pedersen

The boys basketball season ended pretty well last year with a record of 17-7. One returning key player from last year is senior Alex Reed. He was averaging 13.8 points per game as a junior and led the squad with 5.8 rebounds per game. This year sophomore Mitch Moran is looking to bring great talent to the team. “Mitch gives us a point guard. He should bring great offense and defense to our team,” said coach Dan Miller. The boys basketball team is looking to have a great season this year. “We have a great group of guys who are willing to go hard and work together as a team,” said senior Nathan Pettepier. Coach Miller also feels confident about the team this season, “I’m excited for this season. I think they can be as good as they want if they work hard and bring good defense,” said coach Miller. Their first game was against Sioux City East, and they lost. Be sure to come cheer on the boys basketball team this season. The next home game is December 11th, at six o clock against Denison.

BROOK DEMARQUECO-BUSSINESS EDITOR

COURTNEY LORENZENREPORTER

ABBY BERGSTENREPORTER

bowling is a sport, but the Titans show hard work and teamwork, two necessities of being a great team.

Photo from www.zumaworld.blogspot.com

Photo from Wikipedia

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iPhone vs. AndroidBoth have the same purposes,

but they are two completely different prices, apps, accessories, companies, networks, services, and looks. The sleek new iPhone 5 took over the Apple user’s market, but Android phones captured the hearts of teenagers and PC users. Our generation is so hooked on getting the newest thing as soon as possible but with technology changing so fast, we have to choose wisely.This billion dollar network all started in December 1999 when Apple, the company, bought iPhone.org, which made people believe that it was going to launch into the mobile phone market soon. What they did eight years later in January 2007, Steve

Jobs announced the first iPhone at the MacWorld convention in San Francisco and it hit the market in June of that year. Time magazine called the iPhone the invention of the year. This was the first step in the right direction for Apple. One year later, the new and improved iPhone 3G, the first with voice control, came out one day after apple opened the iOS App Store. They didn’t stop there; the unique iPhone 4 came out with the video-calling capabilities in 2010 and then the iPhone 4s in 2011 when we met the leading lady in iPhone’s life, Siri. All of this history leads us to September of this year, when the iPhone 5 popped up into the market for $200.00. Junior Mason Stoufer says, “I like the iPhone because the apps are faster and more efficient. The touch screen is way better, and the cool phone

cases are always a plus.” Who knows what Apple will add on to the next iPhone. Unlike the iPhone, there are numerous types of Android phones with the first one created in October 2008 by T-Mobile. These may have smaller screens and less apps, but they are the cheaper alternative to the iPhone. Originally created in 2003 by Andy Rubin and Rich Miner, they later sold it to Google for $50 million. Google kept it under wraps until 2007 when it announced its plans to launch the Android mobile platform. Consumers like the Android because of all the free apps in the Play Store (the app market). The only way there can be this many free apps is by all the advertising shown in the apps themselves. “I would rather have an iPhone because of some of the features it has that an Android doesn’t. My favorite

feature on the iPhone compared to the Android is the internet capability. With the Android, even if you are connected to WiFi, sometimes it doesn’t work. But with the iPhone, it rarely ever has a problem connecting,” says sophomore Kristen Ahrens, “Also, because even though all electronics have glitches, it seems that Android malfunctions more than iPhones.”Looking around it’s hard to tell whether the iPhone or android is most popular at Lewis Central High School. Both have their flaws and advantages, but everyone makes a decision based on personal preference. PC users tend to lean toward the cheaper, smaller, version of the iPhone, an android, while Apple users themselves stick with the company by choosing the latest iPhone.

STATEHOOD FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Since the early twentieth century Israel and Palestine have been at war with each other. Reasons for such disagreements are territory boundaries, security, and water control. However, the most pressing issue

raising conflict between the two groups is the control of the Holy City, Jerusalem.

From around 3000 B.C.E. Jerusalem has been under complete Israeli control with only mere attempts to change that by the Palestinians. Although, all of this may be changing due to a vote taken on November 22nd in the United Nations which granted Palestine official “non-member statehood”

thus giving Palestine all of the authority any other nation has. This includes the right to ratify international treaties and the ability to hold trials in the International Criminal Court. Palestine could use this to hold Israel accountable for actions committed against the Palestinian government and people. Palestinians have said that Jerusalem will be the “eternal capital of Palestine forever,” according to sources from CNN.

Representatives from both the United States and the United Kingdom disagree with the UN vote towards Palestine. President Barack Obama believes that it will take

News

Which one would you pick? Photo by Jenny Pedersen

MONICA NIKSERESHT CO-BUSINESS EDITOR

SETH SCHLEMMERREPORTER

a lot more than a vote to change the conflicts between the two cultures. “Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the UN, if it were that easy it would have been accomplished by now,” said President Obama when addressed on the matter.

The United States is currently not intervening for the most part, but as Israel’s ally, it is possible that action will be taken if civil bargaining between the groups does not take place. Ultimately, until the both the Israelis and Palestinians acknowledge that coexistence is a necessity, conflict will continue.

Palestines indepence, not going swell...

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CHELSEA ERETREPORTER

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PITCH PERFECTRight on Key or Falling

Flat...

Jason Moore’s Pitch Pefect tells the story of a group of talented musicians taking on the cut-throat world of college a cappella. When the new girl on campus Becca (Anna Kendrick) arrives to school she finds herself among a mix of social groups, not feeling fit for any of them. Through a turn of events she finds herself drawn into a diverse group of singers that are only connected by the way they sing. Becca then takes this group past traditional a cappella and far out of their comfort zones. Though this story of finding passion as a young person is touching and very humorous, one can argue it’s similar to a grown-up version of Glee, which is quite disappointing.

Anna Kendrick, the lead actress, was fairly new to the silver screen when she began filming Pitch Perfect but with multiple appearances on Broadway and several award nominations she was a perfect fit for the intensive role. The cast is rounded out with great supports by Rebel Wilson and Skylar Astin, each being very experienced in both theater and film. Overall Pitch Perfect is a great comedy for those unfamiliar to similar series’ on television but for all the Gleeks out there, stick to Fox.

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THE SPREADINGWEB

Progression takes over

some time, someone had to make a game for Slender-man to start haunting the nightmares of the common people, but the internet is evolving and it is getting faster at creating, rather than discussing, pop cul-ture. A more recent contri-bution to society from the internet is the immensely popular song “Gangam Style” by the Korean musi-cian Psy. I first found it in summer by way of gifs (looping animated pictures) on a blog a frequent. By the time school was in session “Gangam Style” was taking the world by storm and now it is being played on radio stations across America, and few people know what the lyrics mean. In a few short months a Korean artist became a worldwide sensation, this is the power of the internet, and it’s only getting better at its job. Who knows how quick the next piece of the internet will escape into our daily lives, how influential it will be or even what it might be. The future where the internet is the hub of our culture is looming nearer and we are stuck in its spreading web.

From telegraphs to apps, our generation has became a generation of progress.

Photo by Jenny Pedersen

Movie ReleasesEntertainment

Playing For Keeps-Dec. 7

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey-Dec. 14

The Guilt Trip- Dec. 19

The Impossible-Dec. 21

As high school rolls on and we’re forced to make decisions about our future, we miss being a kid. We feel nostalgia towards things like participation medals, loosing baby teeth, and Saturday morning cartoons. Some things from childhood can still be part of our lives.

When we don’t have some sort of after school activity or job, we find ourselves channel surfing for something decent to watch. Cartoons seem like good options with channels like Boomerang playing childhood favorites all day. These are more of the type of show that would’ve been watched on Saturday mornings, like the Mystery Gang solving crimes in a comedic way in “Scooby Doo” or a porous fry cook in “Spongebob Squarepants.” Junior Morgan Montgomery says that of the cartoons her favorite is Scooby Doo because “I’ve liked it since I was a kid.”

Around 4:30 p.m. throughout the week, cartoons become more geared towards the teenagers, especially on Cartoon Network. These cartoons still have a sort of fantasy theme to them with characters that are animals (hardly) working in a park

like in “Regular Show,” or some with heroes that fight mythological creatures and save princesses like in “Adventure Time.” Senior Amarissa Rhubottom says of “Adventure Time,” “I like how it’s different; you never really know what’s going to happen.” The issues however, relate more to typical teenage problems, without the fake tans or the all too common “bleep” of conversations.As the day closes and rolls into the next, there are some cartoons meant more for a mature crowd. These cartoons are generally filled with the humor of adult situations, but also integrate satire of current events with a certain language not meant for younger people. Most of the adult animations are centered around a group of students with some colorful language, like in “South Park”, on Comedy Central at 6 p.m. throughout the week, or a family with individual characters like an evil baby wanting to take over the world or a talking dog in “Family Guy,” on Fox at 8 p.m. on Sundays. “South Park is super offensive, but it’s offensive to everybody, so it’s okay,” says sophomore Brett Probst. So there really is no specific age as to which you should or should not be watching cartoons, especially when they are being written for all ages. At any given time of the day, you can find fictional characters roaming around the television world. The storyline may not be the same as when you were young, but that doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate it just as much

CHELSEA ERET REPORTER ALEX TUCKER

REPORTER

CAREY JACOBSREPORTER

E FOR EVERYONEHere they come

Welcome to the informa-tion age, where messages and documents travel the world in a matter of seconds.On the internet almost any bit of in-formation can be found if you look hard enough in the right places. It is also the great-est source of pop culture, in jokes, and funny videos. The internet is rife with in-jokes in the form of pictures and text or a comic, crudely cobbled together in Microsoft Paint, these are memes (pronuncia-tion: meems). Memes are the in-jokes of the internet. They started on forums and image boards like 4chan and Reddit as a sort of picture shorthand where the image adds humor and meaning to the words that went alongside them. Slowly, these injokes rose to the surface of the informa-tion sea first to sites like Memebase, then as Facebook posts and now we have apps like iFunny, dedicated to the spread of memes. As these memes are integrated into our culture and daily language, it would seem that the internet is starting to escape.The first time I heard of Slenderman was by word of mouth and investigation into the concept of creepypasta, scary stories told on the /x/ board of 4chan, and that was years ago. Today everyone knows who Slenderman is because of an indie game that surfaced this summer and quickly became popular. In the matter of months, the boogeyman of the internet became the new boogeyman, popularized by “let’s play” and reaction videos. That took

Sophomore Brett Probst and Freshman William White proclaim their love for cartoons.

Photo by Courtney Lorenzen

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Basically, the end is near. No, I’m not

referring to December 21st, and all the fiery

terror. I’m talking about graduation. Each day,

May 19th gets a day closer. As I think about

college and scholarships and classes and the

millions of other things I have to deal with, I

also think about the sweetest part of this whole

graduation deal- independence. I’m so ready

to make my own curfew, because this 11 pm

curfew isn’t working for me. I’ll get to see who

I want when I want. I mean, I know I’ll have to

buy my groceries, but I will just get a part-time

job. And my car insurance? That 150 dollar

payment will be pretty easy to pay for with

my $4.25-per-hur-plus-tips job. It shouldn’t be

too hard to put gas in my tank, because I have

that little Kia Spectra, which takes $35.87 to

fill up. I mean, that will just be around $235.00

a month for necessities, plus I’ll want $50.00

for fun stuff, and I’ll need a savings account,

not to mention- Well, let’s just say I’d much

rather have the 11 pm curfew, than have to

pay that 500.00 dollars a month. When I start

to break college down like that, I already start

missing certain things. I miss being newly 16,

and my parents giving me twenty bucks for

gas. Starting high school, and having it be

fresh and exciting, not full of tear-filled lasts

like this year. I’ve already experienced my last

football game, my last homecoming, and my

last first trimester here at Lewis Central. Now

I’m counting down the columns I get to write.

There aren’t many left. Now, before I get too

many tears on the keyboard, I’m just going to

leave it at this: Even though I may be desperate

for the freedom college is going to allow me, I

may just cherish these last few times my mom

tells me, “Be home by 11.”

Have you ever heard of Drew Stanton or Graham Harrell? Not many people have. These two guys are backup quarterbacks in the NFL. So is one Tim Tebow. The backup quarterback is a valuable position, but a lot of fans couldn’t name three backup quarterbacks in the whole NFL. I assure you one thing; they could name the backup for the New York Jets: Tim Tebow. So why is it that Tim Tebow is so famous for being in an “irrelevant” position in the NFL.

Tebow is one of the greatest quarterbacks in college football history; he won two national championships at the University of Florida and a Heisman; which means being the best college football player for that season. He even has his own signature move “Tebowing.” No one denies the skillset he had in college, but many question his skillset in the pros with his funky throwing motion and his inconsistency in the passing game. He proved himself a lot last year with the Denver Broncos. Tebow had six fourth quarter comebacks and seven game-winning drives, leaving some people calling this guy a miracle waiting to happen. He also won a playoff game on a game winning 80 yard touchdown pass in overtime against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

One of the big reasons he is so famous is his faith. Tebow is more open with his faith than any other athlete in any other sport. Christians are glued to the television just to get an opportunity to see Tebow play. Often in college, Tebow would put Bible verses on his eye black. Tebow also is known singing Christian music during some of his games with the Broncos last year. He is rallying the Christian faith with his football abilities.

Another reason I think Tebow is so popular is because he is a feel good story. Everyone roots for this guy, they may think he’s not very good, but the majority of Americans root for Tebow. Everyone also sees the off the field work Tebow does for people. Tebow also has a foundation, “The Tim Tebow Foundation,” where their goal is to help underprivileged children. One of these examples was a mission trip he took to the Philippines to help out the under-privileged children. Tebow said at first it was “nerve-racking,” also saying “we needed to help these people. There is no question Tebow has skills on and off the field.

The biggest reason I believe he is so popular is because he is defying the odds. No one really gave Tebow much of a chance to play quarterback in the NFL. A lot of people said the Broncos would have to move him to fullback or tight end. Also, no one ever thought Tebow would be a first round draft pick. An NFL draft guru, Mel Kiper Jr., said that Tebow’s only chance in the NFL was to play running back. No one gave Tebow any chance in the world to win a playoff game at quarterback for the Denver Broncos.

Some Americans love Tebow, and some not so much, but the fact of the matter is, Tebow will always be in the tabloids.

DON’T PAY COLLEGE ATHLETESWhy Athletes shouldn’t get additional benefits

INDEPENDENCE DAY

THE PHENOMENON OF TIM TEBOW

End times are near for seniorsWhat’s the big deal?

There are roughly 25,000 people that go to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Not many of those students are getting paid to even go to the school. They are the ones doing the paying. Most of the student athletes on the football and basketball teams get their whole four years of school paid for. On average per year, college costs about $15,000 a year for room and board and all the fees that go along with college. If you add up all four years, that’s 60,000 dollars that a student athlete is making. This is why, in my opinion, there is no reason that college athletes deserve to get paid anymore than what they are already getting. There is a reason why they are called student athlete, not paid or pro athlete.

Some of these young athletes are two or three years away to starting their own brand or sneaker line, so why do we need to start paying them in college? Anthony Davis (aka the Unibomber) was the number one pick in the NBA draft last

year after playing a season at Kentucky. Davis signed a three year, 16.1 million dollars. These athletes are getting treated like fairy princesses. They get to fly to every road game, they get a lot of their food free, a lot of athletes get special tutors that a regular college student could not even dream of having.

Everyone knows the famous Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski. Throw out a number of how much you think one year at Duke costs. I’m waiting. Would any of you have thought it was 57,180 dollars? Yeah, I can’t grasp my head around that either. That’s almost 230,000 dollars that one student athlete gets for free in the four years of being at Duke University.

I’m not saying that student athletes shouldn’t get schooling paid for, because I believe they should get schooling paid for, but don’t tell me that they deserve extra benefits. Student athletes should be blessed with the opportunity of playing a collegiate sport, with the hopes they can make their money at the next level.

College athletes receiving money continues to be a big problem for the NCAA. USC star runningback had to give his Heisman back for receiving improper benefits. Photo From MidwestSportsFan.com

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BLAKE HUBERCO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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HOW DID YOU FIND OUT THE TRUTH ABOUT SANTA?

“My older brother told me.” -Freshmen Klaire Cross (pictured left)

“I waited at the Christmas tree all night for him to come, but he never did.” - Sophomore Mariah Alfaro (pictured left)

“I never even believed in Santa.” - Sophomore Brandon Matzger (pictured right)

“My family sat me and my siblings down and told us.” - Senior Amarissa Rhubottom (pictured right)

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ON THE IHSPA SWEEPSTAKES!

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