Auburn Riverside Student VoiceDec 18, 2012 • VOLUME 18 • ISSUE #4

Will Santa arrive before the world ends? See pages 6-7

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InFlight policiesGreetings from NewspaperInFlight

staff reportersMackenzie Brown Lisa GrayAlexa GrimDylan Johnstonguest reportersPhil CoutureAutumn GrayJude HannoJonny MyrickAriya PhaophongsavathSierra RaderAlex VandenbergAlex Vasquez

editor-in-chiefJaymes Fleury

business managerLisa Gray

cover illustrationAriya Phaophongsavath

InFlight Dec 18, 2012Opinion2

adviserPatrick Swenson

During the winter time, many students find both warmth and comfort in wearing hats or beanies. Not only are they a form of personality and expression, they’re com-fortable; add a nice twist to an outfit, and save many people from bad hair days. Al-though they have so many positive benefits, the school continues to strip us of the right to wear hats and keep our heads warm.

Assistant Principal Nola Wilson gives us her input on the school dress code. “I think the school dress code is one of the tough-est codes to get your arms around because there are so many factors to it.” According to Wilson, the hat policy has been around for 19 years, and it originated in the middle

Jude HannoGUEST REPORTER

Wearing a suit made of garbage bags and duct tape and running two miles, a quick and not too easy way to drop weight. Sleeping without clothes or blankets in front of an open window in order to shiver the pounds right off, also a sure-fire way to drop weight. These are also great ways to achieve heat stroke, heat exhaustion, de-hydration, pneumonia, and a spread of other illnesses. Wrestlers are known to take reckless and potentially dan-

Weight management cuts cornersJaymes Fleury

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFgerous risks so they may either have a phys-ical advantage or make the varsity lineup.

The stories are frightening: student wrestlers dropping tens of pounds a week. But what do the coaches do? Many seem to believe our wrestling coaches are encourag-ing students to drop this weight, no matter what the cost. This is entirely untrue. Our coaches are in no way Gny. Sgt. Hartman from Full Metal Jacket. In fact, the coach-ing staff is installing every precaution to make the wrestler’s sport as safe as pos-sible. The coaches are implementing regulations that make the arena a safer

place. “Before a wrestler is advised

to drop weight,

schools of Auburn because of different so-cietal issues.

Wilson has an answer about why stu-dents can’t wear hats in school. “There’s like a hidden anonymity to it. There are clear behavioral differences. When a teach-er is working with a student in a negative way, the students with hats on have worse behavior than those without hats.”

What good does it do to keep stu-dents from wearing hats? To say that hats are a cause for students to act in a negative behavior is stereotyping all people who wear hats. I wear beanies, but not once have I been in trouble in high school. I cannot find a reasonable explanation for banning hats during school hours.

Sophomore Erica Russaw has a very strong opinion on hat wearing. “Wear-

ing a hat doesn’t hurt a single person!”When Russaw had her hat taken away,

she felt very irritated. “I didn’t really get why. It’s not like it’s a gang-related issue. It’s just a beanie!”

Sophomore Alivia Hammond doesn’t see a big problem in obeying the rules. “I think it’s unfair, but it’s easier to not wear

a hat and to listen to what the teacher is saying.”

I understand that they are in the dis-trict dress code and they should be en-forced. But if that’s the case, why aren’t short and tank top dress codes enforced? Wilson replies, “Hats are more obvious to see. We’re not trying to nitpick.”

They can’t enforce only a part of it! That’s completely unfair to all those who are cold in the winter and want to wear a hat!

Instead of only enforcing a part of the dress code, the school should be more strict on what we wear. Another possibility is try-ing to lift the ban on hats during the school time. Hats are a very liked contribution to the growth of a student’s personality, and I strongly believe that wearing hats should be allowed.

No hat rule leaves students cold

we are required to administer urine tests, hydration tests, and we take their percent of body fat,” wrestling coach Shawn Mar-tinson said.

These tests are taken to determine if a wrestler is in a healthy enough condition to cut weight. “We don’t call it weight cut-ting. We call it weight management,” Mar-tinson said. If a wrestler were to be caught wearing a sauna suit (the garbage bag at-tire mentioned earlier) they would be told to take it off. “The sauna suit is meant to make you sweat like crazy while you work out, but it’s basically been outlawed,” se-nior wrestler Cody Child said.

Dropping weight is a wrestling strat-egy; wrestlers cut pounds to compete with others as close to their own weight as possi-ble. If a wrestler weighed 196 lbs. and was

in a weight class of 195 lbs. he could then drop his weight to 190

lbs. This way he could have the advantage over anyone between

182 and 189 lbs. Coaches here follow

every regulation and warn their wrestlers about the new rules regarding “weight management.” However, coaches can’t fol-low students home and micromanage their diets and exercise habits. Any wrestler may go home and recklessly drop weight, and no one would be the wiser. This being said, coaches do warn their athletes of the po-tential hazards and consequences.

Dangerous and habitual weight drop habits are “Never implied here at River-side. Outside of school though, state cham-pionship coaches do imply wrestlers to cut [weight],” an anonymous wrestler said. This wrestler told a story of his state coach hav-ing them wrestle in a heated room, while outside it was almost 100 degrees. “We were just soaked in sweat. He basically had us cut our water weight.”

Coach Martinson sums it up well: “Wrestling isn’t so much a sport as it is a lifestyle,” he said.

Riverside should praise its athletic de-partment, not condemn it for the acts per-formed by its athletes.

Why can’t students wear hats in school?PHOTO BY JUDE HANNO

InFlight Gangnam style

Sophomore wrestler Taylor Child pins opponent

3Auburn Riverside High School Opinion

Over the course of the last century, nutritional supplementation has become a common occurrence between athletes and ordinary people. Whether that is implement-ing extra vitamins and minerals into their diet, or increasing protein levels for athletic purposes, high school athletes implement-ing performance enhancing supplements (creatine, protein, etc.) has become a con-troversial topic.

There are many benefits towards supplementing vital nutrients in our body, and many negative effects that could occur as well. I personally believe that creatine is a great supplement that works, and I’m for it, but it’s only necessary for dedicated, hardworking athletes. For the most part, it is something the general population does not need to partake in.

The main issue people have with cre-atine derive from the stories of athletes who exceed the recommended doses. Many athletes have died not solely from creatine supplementation alone, but factors of other situational issues as well. Some benefits from taking supplements are increased energy, en-durance and power. Creatine is an incredibly important substance in our body that is ob-tained primarily through meats, and provides energy to all cells in the body through ATP

synthesis. Without ATP, life surely wouldn’t exist. Many athletic trainers and sports coaches have chosen different sides as to whether or not high school athletes should supplement protein or creatine.

“Professional athletes are better recipi-ents for supplements because they are on the road so often, and may not have the time to have the recommended three meals a day,” anatomy teacher and previous athletic coach Christopher Tucker said. “There are many problems with creatine. One ma-jor thing is that it greatly dehydrates the body; so much so that many teams on the NBA have banned creatine supplementation altogether.”

Studies have shown that creatine supplementation has proven to provide insignifi-cant levels of muscle growth. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, side effects of creatine consump-tion may include weight gain, muscle cramps, strains and pulls, upset stomach, diarrhea, dizziness, high blood pressure, liver failure, and kidney damage. Most studies, however, have found no significant side effects at rec-

ommended doses used for up to six months. This is extremely vital for professional

athletes; it is debatable whether high school athletes truly need it. However, this doesn’t stop student athletes from taking it.

“As a strength athlete, extra nutri-ents to fuel our bodies are as important as

water is to the human body,” senior strength athlete Chris Peterson said. “I recommend supplements to ath-letes who want to per-form at their best.”

A lot of specula-tion exists about the benefits of creatine or protein supplementa-tion and their effect on athletic performance; and it does help, but at some point it’s no longer necessary.

“There’s a limit to where protein loses it’s effectiveness,” said Phillip Thompson, head strength trainer at the

Seattle Private Dance Academy. “Whether you are a hardcore strength athlete work-ing out 2-3 hours a day, or just an average Joe, once you’ve reached that limit, you’re only taking in extra calories and it goes to

waste.” Some athletes use it only to add to

what they already have. “I would only ever supplement protein,” senior strength athlete Salvador Greer said. “It’s generally agreed upon from all sides that it helps with muscle recovery, and as an athlete that is what I’m striving for.”

Many trainers, coaches and athletes have a lot of different opinions have about creatine. Some of them may have their un-derstanding from personal experiences with the substance, and others may have taken the time to analyze scientific articles and seek advice from professionals in the field.

Thompson is well educated in the science of creatine, both from personal experience with it and a deep scientific understanding of the topic at hand.

“I believe the only reason to take a cre-atine or protein supplement is for medical reasons,” Thompson said. “Probably 95% of people are getting enough protein in their everyday diet.”

In the end, athletes should ask them-selves a couple of questions. Does my diet currently fulfill the recommended daily amounts? Will my performance be improved upon taking it? Is it necessary? If athletes and regular people alike were well educated and aware of what these substances are, there would be less false claims and stories about the supplement industry as a whole.

Phil CoutureGUEST REPORTER

Educate yourself about sports supplements

Many accidents happen each year due to driving while under the influence. Even with the minimum age set as 21, that doesn’t necessarily mean that people un-der that age aren’t going to drink. In many states there are exceptions.

For example, minors are permitted to drink alcoholic beverages on private prop-erties with a parents’ consent and present in Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecti-cut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Loui-siana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wis-consin, and Wyoming.

In my opinion, I think the drinking age set as 21 is appropriate, but lowering it would be a very bad decision. I think the responsibility of drinking follows the matu-rity of knowing how much is enough. See-ing the news or newspaper talk about how a teen just died from drinking way too much alcohol or driving while drinking alcohol is heartbreaking.

The National Center of Addiction and Drug Abuse found in 2005 that each day in the United States, approximately 13,000 teens and children have their first alcoholic beverage.

Even if teens are allowed to drink with a parents’ consent, it’s not a good thing to allow. “I have been to too many fatal accidents and just plain fender benders,” L.A. teacher and former police officer Glenn Dickson said. “I’ve even been to ac-cidents where two drunks crash and kill each other.”

A few students around the school have a slightly different opinion about the drink-ing age. “I think the age should be lowered because if children drink when they’re younger, they’ll know how much is enough for them and have control over it when they’re older,” freshman Taylor Price said.

“I think that people are going to do it anyways, so it’s whatever,” sophomore Loreah Maranan said.

“I think 21 is fine, but definitely not lower. Lower would just cause more and more deaths,” Dickson said.

Teenagers who drink heavily are more likely to cut class, skip school, perform poorly in their classes, argue more, and commit suicide. Heavy drinking also in-creases the likelihood of delinquent and violent behavior including running away from home, fighting, vandalizing property, stealing and getting arrested.

So next time you have an issue with something, or get into an argument with a friend, or just get bored, stay smart and find another activity that will keep you calm and relaxed. It’s definitely for the best.

Autumn GrayGUEST REPORTER

Underage Drinking Costs You

Fast food can be delicious, but have sstudents ever thought about con-stantly eating greasy fast food? I bet not. A lot of people don’t go through the drive-thru and think: “Well, this is 500 calories, so I can’t have that.” They are interested in what looks, smells and sounds good. I bet students didn’t know that the pictures on food menus that you see are made of clay!

According to Reader’s Digest, McDon-ald’s McGriddles (a piece of sausage sand-wiched in between two mini pancakes) has 20 more calories than the Big Mac. Although it might look appealing, it is so unhealthy, and most food they serve at fast food restau-rants are heart attacks waiting to happen. They may be absolutely delicious, but not so nutritious.

A lot of students think fellow Americans would rather choose fast food over a home cooked meal. “Definitely fast food,” fresh-man Brooke Johnson said. “My mom is a horrible cook.”

But some people think different. “Home cooked is best because they taste better and are healthier,” sophomore Alyssa Bunday said.

Sierra RaderGUEST REPORTER

Fast food “fast” but unhealthyHave you ever thought

about the amount of calo-ries in those deliciously greasy sandwiches? Most people don’t. “I don’t pay attention to calories,” fresh-man Taylor Price said. There are too many numbers.”

People are taking ad-vantage of how “fast” fast

food is. Instead of taking the time completing a healthy and delicious meal (which fast food does not offer), they are attracted to the convenience of it. They think “Why waste the time in making a home cooked meal when you could just run out and get a meal that someone else makes and it’s fast?”

Fast food has contributed to an obesity epidemic in America. “High fructose corn syrup is illegal in other countries,” Bunday said. “It’s not a coincidence that the U.S is the fattest.”

Fast food has contributed to obesity because back in the 1990s, fast food restau-rants were less frequent and people were smaller.

In a recent student poll, 81% of students said they had eaten fast food in the past month.

Maybe what sounds good is not actually good. Some fast food can be healthy, such as many meals at Subway, but sometimes deciding between healthy and that delicious ice cream cone can be a hard decision.

A Sausage McGriddle from McDonald’s has more calories than a Big Mac

InFlight Dec 18, 2012Opinion4

Are you one of those people who spend hours in the mall? Or are you the one, like me, who sits at the mall drinking hot chocolate and watching everyone fall over each other trying to get to the sales? Well, welcome to the wonderful time of year where this all happens. That’s right. It’s… CHRISTMAS TIME!

My personal opinion is that you really

Keep Christmas shopping saneAlex Vasquez

GUEST REPORTER

OPPAN GANGNAM STYLE! This phrase created a sensation across the world. With “Gangnam Style” being the number one most viewed video on YouTube, kpop seems to be becoming popular at an unstoppable rate. Unfortunately, kpop or “Korean Pop” is still being seen as dumb or stupid despite Gangnamania.

Kpop is not getting enough attention in the U.S. as much as dubstep or electro-dance music. Internationally, kpop is very popular in Europe to the point where Big Bang, a very popular South Korean pop group, won the MTV TRL Best Fanclub Award. Kpop is looking to be the next big genre in the world and I am a supporter of it.

The “in” in the music industry in Korea is male and female pop groups. An example of a music group would be The Backstreet Boys. There are differences between the two international styles of pop, though. “They’re kind of a copy of American style, but it’s more electro,” senior Dahae Cheong said.

Kpop has since evolved from the more electro American style pop that many old fans have come to know and love. Recently kpop has been making a smooth transition to a more R&B and hip hop style, yet still

has a kpop feeling to it. Though kpop is be-come more “American,” I still prefer kpop over the music in America. Even though Korea’s music genres are getting closer to America’s, many fans would agree that “it’s got a cleaner concept than music over here,” junior Luis Rodriguez said. Cleaner meaning less alchohal and sex and virtually no drugs in their songs.

In my opinion, Korean pop groups have a much harder time training for their debut than most artists in the U.S. In Korean pop groups, each group member would focus on a certain element that contributed to the group’s overall talents. A few examples are main vocalist, sub vocalist, main rap-per, main dancer, and even visuals, as in their looks are one of the main reasons why they’re in the group. But don’t get miscon-strued, just because someone looks good doesn’t mean they get to become an idol right off the bat.

Music companies have auditions to find “potential idols” and make them into trainees. The company would take these trainees and train them for years until the company feels that they’re ready to debut as either a solo artist or part of a group. With this example many could say that idols are a product made by the music company. “It’s different because even though the groups

are banded by a company, they’re still closer with each other than the company,” said Rodriguez.

Even though there are many lovers of kpop in the U.S., many would agree that the genre should be kept off the radio. “In America the songs are overplayed on the radio,” Rodriquez said. “I like kpop because people barely listen to it. I don’t get tired of kpop because of that.”

Kpop is getting a kind of culture hipster feel to it. One of the reasons why I prefer kpop over the music in America is the same exact reason why Luis Rodriguez liked kpop: it isn’t overplayed and I don’t get tired of it.

Like all song genres, a few people aren’t

Ariya PhaophongsavathGUEST REPORTER

Kpop’s unstoppable takeover

shouldn’t be spending hours and hours at the mall just for all your Christmas shopping. You should have everything all planned out so you are able to spend as little time wandering around and worrying, and more time wrap-ping and decorating.

Others don’t really care. “I spend about 17 hours total at the mall for Christmas shopping,” f r e s h m a n Issac Guti-errez said.

fond of it. Take “Gangnam Style,” for ex-ample, with an astounding amount of views on YouTube and countless amounts of dance covers, parodies, and even singing covers. “‘Gangnam Style’ is overrated,” junior Alex Lawson said. “It’s not my style.”

I can see her point of view; many main-stream songs that everyone seems to love, I sometimes find garbage.

Kpop doesn’t have a strong standing or significant history in the U.S. like rap or any of the mainstream music on the radios. But with songs like “Gangnam Style” and Big Bang’s sold out concerts in New York and Los Angeles, it’s obvious that kpop is starting to get a firm grasp on the U.S.

PHOTO COURTESY CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE, www.allkpop.com

Also, you shouldn’t have to ask the person what they want; you should know the person well enough to go to the store and not even hesitate to buy them a gift that you know they will love.

“I spend a lot of time thinking about what I’m going to get the person, but after i figure it out I’m better,” Principal Dave

Halford said. “I’ve noticed that everyone is trying to get the next ‘big thing,’ instead of ‘it’s the thought that counts.’”

Some people believe that if they spend the most money, their present is the best. My family has a maximum of $20 per person, and the same is with my friends who I buy presents for. Mostly, that rounds up to about

$110-$150. But other people are crazy, spending well over $200 just on three people!

If you’re buying presents for a lot of people I can understand all the money, but still, it should be a reason-able amount. “I try to limit myself to $230 total each year,” freshman Rachel Filler said.

Something else that confuses me: where does everyone get their money? I mean some students may have jobs but a lot don’t. “I just ask my mom for money, or my dad,” Gutierrez said.

Others who are too young for jobs and whose parents don’t have a lot of money, have other ways of getting money. “I get most of my money from babysitting and allowance, then I just save it all up,” Filler said.

Bottom line is, Christmas isn’t about spending tons of time shopping, or spending as much money as you can. The whole point of Christmas is to cel-ebrate being together and having fun.

“I love Christmas because it brings everyone together,” Bunger said.

Left: Shoppers spend too much money and buy too much stuff during the holiday season. Above: Shoppers should prepare ahead of time so they can calmly go about their business of buying gifts.

PHOTO BY JAYMES FLEURY

5Auburn Riverside High School News

It seems like the United States of America might just be saying “hello” to a 51st state, Puerto Rico. Approxi-mately 1.8 million residents of Puerto Rico filled out a two part ballot earlier in November regarding its current state of government. The two-part ballot asked first if the vot-ers were happy with their current status as a U.S territory. The second question asked what form of government the people would prefer. Those choices included: statehood, independence, or becoming a free, independent society.

According to The Huffington Post, “More than 900,000 voters, or 54 percent, responded “no” to the first question, saying they were not content with the current status.”

What: Riverside Holiday ConcertWhen: Tonight! Jazz Combo @ 6:30, Concert at 7 p.m.

Where: Performing Arts Cen-ter. The PAC is at Auburn High School: 800 4th Street Northeast Auburn, WA 98002

Who: All five choirs: Man Choir, Bella Voce, Chorale, Vocal Jazz, Symphonic Choir

Statehood for Puerto Rico?Jonny Myrick

GUEST REPORTER

The long awaited educational programs levy (Proposi-tion 1) has passed with a healthy 58.54 percent. Auburn High School will be receiving a one hundred and ten million dollar bond for a total rebuild.

The sixty-one-year-old school is “in disrepair and is no longer cost-effective to operate and maintain,” principal Dave Halford stated in his interview with The Auburn Re-porter. The list of required repairs include leaking roofs, poor air quality and ventilation and outdated classrooms and labs.

However, it has been decided that Auburn High will be much better off with a total rebuild rather than a simple remodeling. The entire infrastructure would have to be replaced along with its water supply and sewage systems.

The school will be scheduled for demoli-tion and replaced with a 600-stall parking lot. Auburn School District will take advantage of construction prices being at an all time low. The new school will be built further back from Main Street, creating a safer path for students who previously loaded onto buses from the street. Also, all buildings will be under one en-ergy efficient roof. Energy costs will decrease by a quarter million dollars annually with the modernized facilities. Plans are also in place to rebuild the Auburn High School Performing Arts Center and the school’s sports fields.

The new high school will be three stories high, overlook-ing East Main Street. Many believe that the school rebuild will save the Auburn School District from hefty costs in the future (three million dollars annually) for maintenance. Superintendent Kip Herren is very happy with the passing of

Puerto Rico is about the size of Connecticut. Puerto Rico has been a U.S. territory since 1989 when Spain lost it to the U.S. in the Spanish-American War; they do not pay federal taxes but can also not vote for president or congress.

“Will it better both sides?” electronics teacher Frank Medina asked. “As long as both sides benefit, I think it’s a great idea.”

The Huffington Post also has the numbers for part two of the ballot. Nearly 800,000, or 61 percent of those expressing an opinion, chose statehood. Some 437,000 backed sovereign free association and 72,560 chose inde-pendence.

“Puerto Rico can’t survive independently,” Spanish Teacher Carol Barnett said. “It’s been a territory forever,

and I really think it should the 51st state.” The problem coming from these numbers

is that a significant number of voters filled out the first question but not the second. This is significant enough to where if everyone who an-swered the first question had answered the sec-ond, then Puerto Rico could become sovereign instead of a U.S. state. On the other hand, it is also the first time in 45 years that votes from Puerto Rico residents have reflected a want to become a U.S. State.

“U.S. debt is a huge problem,” fresh-man Alonso Tirado said. “The government has enough to worry about right now.”

If, in fact, Puerto Rico truly wants to be-come a U.S. State then the matter will be taken to Congress and addressed there.

Jaymes FleuryEDITOR IN CHIEF

Modernization district bond measure passes

this proposition. “Auburn High School is falling apart on the inside. The bones weren’t built to go over 60 years.”

Within the upcoming years we will see a brand new school ready to stand longer than its predecessor. New tech-nology will be installed in order to invite the degenerating Auburn High School to the 21st century.

With the passing of the bond measure, Auburn High School will be completely rebuilt, modernizing it to last even longer than the old school.

Asteroids: 4179 Toutatis is one of the largest asteroids to ever come near Earth. With D-Day approaching, the sight of a large fiery death rock might be soon to come.

Polar Shift: The earth’s poles will shift and the axis and magnetism will be switched, meaning that the earth will literally stop spinning and start turning the other way. Put on your seatbelts, kids. This is gonna be a bumpy ride.

Alien Invasion: Aliens now currently exist on earth, they are just disguised as human beings. These aliens, the “Annunaki,” are plotting to hypnotize the en-tire human race on the night of December 20, 2012 and enslave the human race. Aliens on Earth include George Bush, Lil’ Wayne, and the British Royal Family.

If the world were to end, how would you want it to happen?

Sophomore Erykah Johnson:

“We Would All Wake Up As Babies!”

WORLD’S

END...

?by Ariya Phaophongsavath & Jude Hanno

Super volcanoes: Yellowstone Caldera in Wyoming is a super volcano waiting to explode. Mount Pinatubo erupted 11 years ago and killed 800 people while leav-ing 100,000 homeless. Even though this was the 2nd largest eruption in the 20th century, the next super volcano eruptions will make Mount Pinatubo look like a science fair project.

Asteroids: 4179 Toutatis is one of the largest asteroids to ever come near Earth. With D-Day approaching, the sight of a large fiery death rock might be soon to come.

Polar Shift: The earth’s poles will shift and the axis and magnetism will be switched, meaning that the earth will literally stop spinning and start turning the other way. Put on your seatbelts, kids. This is gonna be a bumpy ride.

Planetary Alignment: On December 21, 2012, the Earth will be in exact alignment with the planets and the center of the Milky Way galaxy. No one knows what this means, but if a giant laser beam skewers all the planets into one giant shish kabob and destroys our entire solar system, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Alien Invasion: Aliens now currently exist on earth, they are just disguised as human beings. These aliens, the “Annunaki,” are plotting to hypnotize the en-tire human race on the night of December 20, 2012 and enslave the human race. Aliens on Earth include George Bush, Lil’ Wayne, and the British Royal Family.

If the world were to end, how would you want it to happen?

Senior Stephanie Riley:

“Catapocalypse! I won’t be mad with all these

adorable little fuzz balls attacking me.”

JuniorPablo Rosales:

“Zombies! It sounds like the most fun.”

WORLD’S

END...

?

InFlight Dec 18, 2012Feature8

For some, it’s a recovery day, sleep-ing in the next day after a huge meal. For the adventurous, the daring, and the crazy, however, it’s the ultimate shopping day. Moshing in crowds of psycho shoppers, look-ing for the best deals, the ultimate gifts, the greatest giveaways, bundling up to wait in the long lines, sometimes in the freezing cold, and sometimes, even leaving Thanks-giving dinner a little early just to score a sweet spot in line are some of the few things ultimate shoppers will go through. Black Friday came and went and some stu-dents around Riverside were there to expe-rience the craziness.

This year more than others, the trend of opening at midnight was really popu-lar amongst stores. Most shoppers have started late night shopping because stores have begun initiating sales around mid-night. Senior Sarah Murgittroyd went out around midnight to shop at the Auburn Supermall. “[The amount of people was] not too bad, but the lines were a little bit longer than usual. Normally five minutes became twenty minutes in Pink,” Mur-gittroyd said.

Junior Yuta Moxely also went late-night shopping, but at Southcenter. When he ar-rived around 10:30p.m. to visit H&M, it was really crowded. “There was a huge rush when H&M opened,” Moxely said.

Other students, including senior Shel-by MacKenzie, didn’t start shopping un-

til the morning. When MacKenzie went out, things weren’t as busy on Black Friday as she thought it would be. “It was like a busy Saturday type of feeling. Not su-per crowded, but kind of busy,” MacKenzie said.

At bigger stores, things can get really crazy. In 2011, a woman shopping at Walmart in California used pepper spray on others in order to get electronics before them, injuring around twenty people.

After arriving at Walmart around 7 p.m., sophomore Thailer Mc-Cleod witnessed some of the crowded and in-tense shopping. He later posted a picture to Fa-cebook stating, “World War III started!”

It’s crazy, it’s crowded, it’s intense, and for some people, it’s worth it. The deals each year can be worth the risk, but shoppers are warned about the chaos.

Did you get the deals, or break the heels?Mackenzie Brown

STAFF REPORTER

Top left: Shoppers search tirelessly for parking spots in the packed Southcenter parking lot. Top right: Everyone crowds in H&M. Bottom left: Walkways become crowds of people as some wait in line to enter stores. Bottom right: Carts collide with each other in Walmart while shoppers buy out all available discounted appliances.

PHOTOS BY PHIL COUTURE & THAILER MCLEOUD

#PrayforJacoby’s health and well being If students have been on Instagram

and Twitter lately, you may have seen the hashtag #prayforJacoby. Jacoby Miles, who lives in Puyallup, was practicing her double back dismount off the high bar into the pit at her home gym Roach Gym-nastics. She opened before her sec-ond flip was complete and landed on her neck on an eight inch mat.

A CAT scan showed her C4 ver-tebra had dislocated, sitting slightly in front of her C5. She was paralyzed from mid-chest down. Doctors per-formed surgery. Her surgery went really well, and she’s now gaining movement in her shoulders and is able to sit up.

Her mom recently posted on getwelljacoby.blogspot.com, saying Jacoby has shown a little firing of the left triceps, some sensation of touch in her right thumb and pointer finger and can now do the pageant wave with both hands, although better with her left than right. Her recovery is looking up.

If anyone would like to help Jacoby’s family with expensive and ongoing medical bills there are a few things that can be done. On the

same day of the accident, Melanie Roach’s new book Lift: Enjoying the Journey of Life, was released on Amazon.com. Melanie has committed to give 100 percent of book sale profits to aid in Jacoby’s recovery and ongoing expenses.

Roach Gymnastics is also accepting do-

nations for Jacoby until a charity account can be set up in Jacoby’s name. Collect a bit from family and friends before stopping by to donate. Riverside is also doing “Stars for Jacoby” here at school. Students can donate a dollar or more and put their name on a star until winter break. Once they’ve

Alexa GrimSTAFF REPORTER

collected all the stars, the stars and money will go to Jacoby.

Many students here are affected by this tragic accident. Sophomores Caprice Gau-thier and Daisha Campbell both trained at her gym for a while. “I talked to her when we worked out in groups,” Gauthier said.

“I talked to her every day. Stay strong, that’s all you can do.

It hit home for the both of them. “Knowing that could’ve been me or any of my other teammates when I was there is really scary,” Campbell said.

Knowing someone who has had a se-rious accident like this is quite scary. If given the chance, the girls would offer words of encouragement to her. “God has a plan for you,” Campbell said. “Every-thing will work out, just stay strong.”

The girls believe that in tough times everyone around Jacoby just has to keep rooting for her and encourage her through this rough patch.

Hard times fall on the best of peo-ple. The most students can do here is give generously and help Jacoby and her family through the recovery and medical process. Any amount helps. Giving to the family can help Jacoby make the best and fastest recovery possible.

Remember to keep that in mind this holiday season.PHOTO BY DYLAN JOHNSTON

Students collect dollars in exchange for “Stars for Jacoby” to help out injured gymnast Jacoby Miles.

Auburn Riverside High School Feature 9

RIVERSIDE students and staff Deck the Halls

InFlight Dec 18, 2012Feature10

Military recruiters have been coming to high schools for years. Their goal is obvious: to recruit as many students as they need. The recruiters drive students to join with numer-ous strategies. Military recruiters have been busier than ever this year in high schools, according to a Navy recruiter poster.

In this school year, teachers Frank Medina, Thomas Earl, and Principal Dave Halford all say 5% of all graduating seniors will go into some sort of military branch. At the same time, however, math teacher Ernie Zeiger believes that 15% of all graduating seniors will join some kind of military branch.

Military recruiters come to high schools with goals. Ac-cording to Medina the recruit-ers are more or less selective depending on the needs of the recruiting branch. “In WWII the military was eager to get any-one,” Medina said. “However, outside of wars, the military can be more selective.”

Earl, however, believes re-cruiters come to high schools to get as many students as possible by offering students money for college, a paycheck right away, and allowing the student to go right into the career path they want to do. “Students who need

help paying for college and need money have great opportunities with the military branches,” Earl said.

Zeiger states almost the exact thing as Earl. “The majority of the students going into the military want their schooling paid for and a good education.”

Likewise, Halford believes students are driven to join because of the college money. Halford also thinks students join because of the G.I. Bill, friends, experiences, to follow parents’ footsteps, or students do not know what’s next in life; therefore, they join.

Halford, Medina, Earl, and Zeigar all believe the Marines have a tough reputation while the Air Force is perceived to be weak.

Halford very badly wanted to join the Navy because of the movie Top Gun. When Halford applied, he was put onto a six year waiting list, and this changed his future op-tions. After Halford received his notice, he then pursued education. Halford was happy with what happened and is glad to be where he is today.

Some students find the constant barrage of military recruiters a bit much. “Military recruiters are always [bothering me],” senior Chelsie Perez stated, “and I can’t stand it. If

Alex Vandenberg GUEST REPORTER

Recruiters offer cheap education

The 2012-2013 ASB had to make some changes when senior Jocelyn Mitchell an-nounced her resignation and then left to move to Arizona.

“I love you all so much and I wouldn’t be half the person I am without you,” Mitch-ell said via Facebook.

Senior Secretary Yeh-Eun Lee discussed her feelings towards our president leaving. “It was really sad and really sudden. Joc-elyn was a strong leader and I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to handle it. But so far it’s going smoother than I anticipated.”

RSVP Chair Senior Amanda Vixie was also upset that Mitchell left. “Obviously, losing her was something none of us had ex-pected or dealt with before. It’s definitely been kind of a speed bump.”

But when one door closes another door opens; senior Julie Pollard used to be the ASB Executive Board Vice-President, but she has now taken on the position of President.

“It’s a big change but I’m really excit-ed!” Pollard said. “It’s a new opportunity to lead and to be the best I can.”

Pollard also has her own set of goals she wishes to accomplish. “My goal is to

change the culture, not in a bad way, but to create an atmoshpere in Riverside that’ll last and continue. I want people to be more and more and more proud. I wanna have a really positive environment. I want people to be like ‘Oh you go to Riverisde? I’m jeal-ous.’”

Senior Cassidy Brown, who was previ-ously the Spirit Chair, left her position to became the new Vice President. Miranda Martens left her position in junior class and became the new Spirit Chair.

ASB as a whole feel as though they are working towards a better future here.

“Everyone is so awesome!” Pollard said. “ASB is awesome and so is Mrs. Bene-dict.” “We make such a good team!”

When they all went through the experi-ence of losing their president, a new deep-er unity was found within the remaining ASB members.

Lee explained her input on the current ASB. “I’m very proud of my officers.” Lee isn’t the only one who thinks things in ASB are taking a turn for the better. “Joc-elyn was my close friend,” ASB Senior Trea-surer Brett Davis said. “But as far as ASB goes, we still have a great group of kids who came together to get the job done!”

Vixie also thinks ASB is getting better.

“Even though Jocelyn left, it still jolted us foward and gave us a new energy.”

On Monday, a “mini retreat” for ASB members was organized to plan fun activi-ties for the remainder of the year. The Win-ter Sports Recognition Assembly happened the Wednesday before break, with mem-bers of our school council incredibly busy.

The assembly honored winter sports. “We recognize the winter sports because we do this each year,” senior ASB public re-lations officer Deion Villa said.

In addition to all these projects, ASB has a semi-formal dance they have orga-nized February 2.

“The winter formal is a big thing,” Lee said. “We’re still in the beginning process and we’re trying to make it something that everyone wants to come to. We’re really focusing on the unity.”

Lee also explained the reason behind the dance. “The distance between Home-coming and Prom was too big and since our school is such a good school with student cooperation, we wanted to reward every-one.”

ASB has high hopes for this semi-formal event. “This is a dance we really want to put on,” said Davis. “ It’s not as expensive or formal as Homecoming. It’s just some-

thing we wanted to do for the past couple years. I remember freshman year when we got dances taken away. We wanted to bring those back. I think it’s a big part of high school and the fact that we haven’t had them was disapointing.”

ASB also organized the last spirit week before break. The theme was Winter, and featured snow clothes and tacky sweaters last week, and comfy pajamas and North Pole scenes on Monday and Tuesday. Stu-dents should see plenty of Christmas colors today, with the Color War Competition be-tween the classes.

“We always do a spirit week this time around and we just assumed since it’s close to the holidays, we should do nice holiday themes!” Villa said.

To top all this off, ASB has also been experimenting with new ideas to make our school a more unified place. “We have been brainstorming ways to get a better school involvement and a better community,” Vixie said. “We have a couple different projects that haven’t been fully developed.”

The ASB is working hard to make im-provements and leave their positively influ-ential footprints on the long history of our school.

Jude HannoGUEST REPORTER

Lisa GraySTAFF REPORTER

ASB UPDATE

I want to join I will let them know.”Earl believes the army recruiters come

mostly because they need people to join, and students should not be uptight about recruiters coming to high schools.

Students should be more receptive to military recruiters, and understand that they have a job to do. Their demand can be met by targeting high school seniors, that’s why they are here. Students should not be disre-spectful, even if they do not want to join.

Auburn Riverside High School 11

On Tuesday, December 4, a new James Patterson and Mark Pearson novel by the name of Private London hit stores nationwide. The novel centers on a worldwide de-tective company by the name of Private. One of these de-tectives in the company goes by the name Dan Carter, a detective especially popular in his Private Base city, London.

The case the story centers around a 20- year-old woman named Hannah Shapiro from America, a girl who turns heads wher-ever she is. Hannah is a very wealthy girl who is wanted by a plethora of bad guys because of the fact that her father is a mil-lionaire who did not pay his dues to a bad company. For their revenge, they vowed to murder both his wife and his daughter, Hannah. Although Hannah escaped from this fate in America, her mother did not. When Hannah escapes to London, her fate escapes with her and her kidnapping oc-curs once again.

The story takes off on the start of a greater mystery and an even greater ad-venture. Trying to please the kidnappers of Hannah Shapiro, Dan Carter experiences a challenge he may or may not be able to solve.

One author, Mark Pearson, is the author of the best-selling Jack Delaney Crime Series.

The other author of the book, James Patterson, is a very successful writer. According to bookscan, Patterson’s whopping 260 million copies sold of a single book is the

most book sold by any other author. Not only that, but James Patterson holds the New York Times record for 76 hardcover fiction bestseller titles by a single author, which is also mentioned in Guinness World Records.

Being an avid James Patterson teen book reader, I hadn’t read any of his adult books until this one. I was surprised to see that not only was he able to right lovely children and teen books, he was even better at writing

novels for an older age group. Throughout the entire book, I found myself laughing, crying, and overall enjoying this amazing book I was reading.

What really bothered me while read-ing this book was the fact that most chap-ters were literally every other page and I quickly lost track of the chapter I was on due to the fact that I pass an estimate of three chapters every ten pages I read. Although this isn’t a big deal, it caused me to be frustrated of the pace I was going on because I would lose track every break I had between reading the book.

Another annoying aspect is just of the fact that James Patterson has never fully written a novel on his own. Every single book I’ve read by him has him being a co-writer with another author. I feel like he may not be capable of finding and writing

books by himself.Private London isn’t the first of a series! There’s a book

before it called Private by James Patterson that was so good, a sequel was demanded. Another chapter to the Pri-vate series comes out January 21st called Private Berlin.

Patterson succeeds with Private London Jude Hanno

GUEST REPORTER

Arts & Entertainment

InFlight CinemaThis is 40Jack ReacherDjango Unchained Les MiserablesParental GuidanceWest of MemphisQuartetTexas Chainsaw Massacre 3DPromised Land

December 21December 21December 25December 25December 25December 25December 26January 4January 4

InFlight Dec 18, 2012Sports12

Sports Update

The gymnastic team started off their season with some serious strength. They came second in their first meet against Kentridge, Mt. Rainier, and Emerald Ridge with 152. Senior captains Sarah Murgittroyd and Casey Caku are hoping to lead as many athletes as possible from the team to State in February.

“We’d like the entire team to make it to State, always,” Murgittroyd said. “But we’re hoping for as many girls as possible to make it. Last year, the team sent two girls to State.”

Some of the key players this year in-clude Kylie Urban, Maddie Miller, Libby Sakai, and Bri Cook.

The team’s last meet was against Ken-tridge, Kentlake, and Auburn High. Due to the printing schedule of this issue, we were not able to cover the results of the meet.

The team’s next meet will be tomorrow at 7 p.m. Join the team for the home meet against Sumner, Kentridge and Decatur.

The girls basketball team hopes it will be a strong and successful season. Tryouts were on November 4, and when their sea-son ends depends on if they go to State or not. So far they are 5-1, but the game they lost was not a league game, and it does not count for their league standings.

“We could be doing better but it is still early in the season,” senior Kendall Foster said. “But we know what we need to improve on and we should go far this season.”

Some key players are Ilona Snyder and Brittni Williams.

Their goals for the season include beating Mount Rainier and Kentwood High Schools, and also to make it to State and win.

Last Saturday’s game against Kent-wood happened after press time. The girls’ next game is tonight against Mount Rainier.

WrestlingGymnastics

Girls BasketballBoys Basketball

The boys basketball season started on the November 27 and ends in March. So far, they already have 4 assists, 6 turnovers, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 1 block. While everyone is a valuable team player, captains include Derek Brown, Derek White, Cody Crawford, and Drew Wallen.

“Our goal this season is to win the state championships,” Crawford said.

They’ve played against Tahoma High School, Mountainview High School, Kent-lake High School, and Thomas Jefferson High School.

As of December 12, the boys bas-ketball team had won one game and lost three.

Key players this season are junior Drew Wallen and sophomore Mitch Wet-more.

The team’s next game will be a home game against Decatur this Friday.

The 2013 wrestling season is now un-derway. Riverside had multiple wrestlers place in the recent Auburn Invitational Tournament. Keaton Dalfrey, Dylan Ghetian, Taylor Child, Michael Ajeto, and Christian Kaseburg all placed in their respective weight classes.

Their first dual meet against Kentwood took place Wednesday Dec 12, but results were not available before the paper went to press.

Over Winter Break another invitational tournament takes place. The All SPSL (South Puget Sound League) tournament will be held at Auburn High School. Attending teams include: Auburn High, Auburn Riverside, Bethel, Curtis, Federal Way, Emerald Ridge, Graham-Kapowsin, Kentlake , Kent Meridian, Kentwood, Mount Rainier, Puyallup, Rogers, Spanaway Lake, Tahoma, Thomas Jefferson, and Todd Beamer.

This is one of the season’s largest tour-naments and it hosts some of the highest competition in the league.