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Sweat, blood, and tears can be seen from this year’s tennis

team as they start off the season loud and proud. Tennis has a total of 25 players this year

with 6 seniors. All the varsity athletes are back from last year and Coach Licari says he hopes to have a solid season

with the team. Licari says the depth the group has is one of their greatest strengths, while their weakness is their second serves.A

regular tennis practice entails some agilities and stretching to warm up the athletes, preceded by 10-15 minutes of hitting, and depending on the day, 30-40 minutes of drill work. After that, the team works on their serving for 10-15 minutes, and they also occasionally add in some practice matches, along with some tennis drill games.The players’ conditioning involves shorter distanced sprints while changing pace and direction with some abs workouts too.Although they have been practicing inside, Licari says they are really lucky to have the YMCA to go to, whereas

other teams may not be as fortunate to have an available place to go.The team has 8 tournaments this year counting state. There

is one doubles tournament and six regular tournaments with doubles and singles matches. Although Coach Licari does

not know what attracts so many girls to the sport, everyone knows that all the players are ready

to go for this upcoming season!

Take a second

to imagine being in the mind of a track

runner. He has prepared himself and worked ruthlessly solely for this occasion. He looks around, eyeing his competition be-

fore walking ahead to the start line. His heartbeat pulses even faster as adrenaline enters his veins. Bang! The gun goes off DQG�WKH�UXQQHUV�MXPS�LQWR�WKH�UDFH��7KLV�\HDU��ERWK�WKH�ER\V·�DQG�JLUOV·�WUDFN�WHDPV�DUH�ÀOOHG�ZLWK�UHWXUQLQJ�DWKOHWHV��&RDFK�

Hopp is proud to say that he knows his returning girls will be passing on their wisdom to the new members who joined WKLV�\HDU��:KLOH��&RDFK�&ODUN��KHDG�RI�WKH�ER\V·�WHDP��UHPDUNHG�WKDW�WKH\�KDYH�VWDWH�TXDOLÀHUV�DPRQJ�WKH�UHWXUQ-

ing players. He also states that they have seven returning lettermen: seniors Seth Sabata, Matt Stankoski, Logan Menke, Jake Jasper, juniors Dylan Wiese, Zach Walkenhorst and Nolan Rine. Every day, the runners, jumpers,

throwers and vaulters work diligently to improve their skills at whichever event they plan on competing in. With 69 members, Clark plans on improving on a weekly basis this season. The boys have

ten varsity meets that lead up to state. The girls, with 71 members, have nine varsity meets The home meet is Monday, April 4th at 4:00 pm. at

Pawnee Park.

��� ER\V�� RQH� ÀHOG��only nine get to start, who will it

be? The 2014 baseball season is in full swing. With tryouts from March 2nd through the

�WK�� ��� ER\V� ÀJKW� IRU� WKH� YDUVLW\� VWDUWLQJ� VTXDG�� &RDFK�Thomas Keiser says the team’s weakness every year is

themselves. Each player strives everyday to make himself a better person, but only they can do that themselves. If one would

head out to Pawnee Park and watch these boys play they would no-tice a few differences this year. The Columbus High baseball team said goodbye last year to legend coach, Mr. Mark Mueller, but hello to a few new coaches. Three coaches are helping this team towards victo-ry, Coach Keiser, Coach Brokaw, and Coach Johansen. There is no doubt that these coaches cannot lead the CHS baseball team to some gold. Although it may seem like baseball has a short season, they practice all throughout their offseason. Whether it may be summer conditioning, win-ter lifting, or individual workouts, the baseball team is always working hard. Junior Spencer Humphrey prepares himself for the season by lift-

ing, hitting, and throwing consistently throughout the offseason. So as one can see, baseball is no easy sport. Whether it

may be Gladiator workouts, practices, or games, this team puts in a 110% everyday. Come out

and support the baseball team Monday, March 31st at Pawnee Park.

“Making state is also always on my mind; running in front of 20,000 plus fans would be pretty

legit. I might throw RXW�D�WZLWWHU�VHOßH�during the race for my loving followers

@Jakejasper14.”-Senior Jake Jasper

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Odalys AguilarCo-Editor

Caitlin EdzardsStaff Reporter

Emma GanskowStaff Reporter

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has the ability to control the move-ment of the muscle. Because of the brain’s loss of control of muscle movement, people with ALS can become completely paralyzed. ALS is a disease that affects one in every 1000 people mainly from the ages of 40 to 70. So, what actually is dumping ice on heads good for? This trend of dump-ing water on each o t h e r ’ s head has surprising-ly helped the ALS foundation t r e m e n -d o u s l y . B e f o r e this move-ment start-ed, many p e o p l e had nev-er heard of this d i s e a s e or what comes of it. Now that it is all over the news, the

but on August 31, he went in for surgery on his knee. He is ex-SHFWHG�WR�EH�EDFN�RQ�WKH�¿HOG�IRU�either the matchup against Fresno State or the home game against Miami. However, football is a rough and unforgiving sport, so will Gregory be able to last the entire year? If he goes down, the rest of the defensive line is young and inexperienced with the other three starting positions being held by sophomores Greg McMullen, Vincent Valentine and Maliek Collins. This young group will need grow up real fast playing in a rush heavy Big Ten conference. Last year, opponents rambled for over 2,000 yards against the Huskers averaging around 156 rushing yards per game! If the Huskers want to be holding that BIG 10 C h a m p i o n s h i p trophy come December, the

Offense The Husker offense has GH¿QLWHO\� KDG� D� KRW� VWDUW� WR� LWV�2014 campaign but let’s not start prophesying about a Rose Bowl appearance quite yet. Quarterback Tommy Armstrong KDG�D�VROLG�¿UVW�JDPH�JHWWLQJ�IDQV�excited for the future by throwing for 257 yards and 2 touchdowns according to ESPN.com. But when one starts to dissect the sophomore quarterback’s performance, it is scary to realize that he only completed 15/29 passes against a team that greatly struggles on defense. Thankfully, the turnover prone quarterback has avoid these mistakes for the most part, but it will only be a matter of time before one or more of his passes falls into the

Ebola

Weak LinksAn In Depth Look at Your Nebraska Cornhuskers

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hands of a defender, like against McNeese State when he threw a pick 6. Plays like this will be a turning point in the game and it will be interesting to see if the young Armstrong can avoid the domino effect of the mistake that plagued his performance all last year. Tommy Armstrong Jr. without a doubt is a young talented Quarterback, but he is inexperienced and inconsistent at times. Will the sophomore rise to the challenge or will he let the Big Ten get the best of him? Only time will tell. Defense Let’s face it, ever since the 2009 season of Suh and Crick, the Blackshirts’ defensive line has never really been that impres-sive. Sure, they have the animal 5DQG\�*UHJRU\�URDPLQJ�WKH�¿HOG��

trenches need to be locked down and controlled by the big guys up front, otherwise we might be looking at another 9 win season. Wild Card Every team has their weaknesses (even the mighty Seminoles) and every team has their strengths. Nebraska’s strength comes on the ground through their running backs. Let the stats speak for themselves. Opening day against Florida Atlantic, the Huskers rushed for over 400 yards and the biggest contributor to this was none other than Ameer Abdul-

lah. This kid is amazing! Stand-ing just a mere 5’9” and weighing 195lb, the senior can bust runs in between the tackles thanks to his 580 lb squat, or scamper out-side with his 4.4 second 40 yard dash speed. He is without a doubt one of the hardest workers on the team and it is showing as he is poised to make a run for Heis-man candidacy. That is, as long as offensive coordinator Tim Beck gets the ball in this playmaker’s hands more than 20 times in a game (cough cough McNeese State, only 17 carries).

Tate TobiasonStaff Reporter

The Nebraska Cornhuskers, led by coach Bo Pelini, troop into a game. Photo taken from Google.

Antonio CoronaStaff Reporter

Emma GanskowStaff Reporter Back when George Washing-ton and Abraham Lincoln were shaping this nation to be the very best it could be, they never had the thought of Americans dump-ing buckets of ice water on their heads to raise awareness and money for an organization. Yet, that is actually what is happening. Amyotrophic lateral sclero-sis (ALS), or also know as Lou Gehrig’s disease, has sparked the attention of people around the United States and even the world. This incurable disease has made its way into the spotlight of news channels with the help of social media, including Facebook, In-stagram, and Twitter. To bring awareness to ALS, people have been dumping buckets of ice-cold water on themselves, thus explaining the name “Ice Bucket Challenge.” Approximately, $94 million dollars has been raised since the craze started. So what actually is ALS? It affects a person’s nerve cells in their brain and in their spinal cord. Neurons in the brain travel from the brain to the spinal cord and then to the muscles in the person’s body. The motor neurons progressively degenerate in the ALS, which will eventually lead to the neurons’ death. After the neurons die, the brain no longer

ALS foundation has gained mil-lions of dollars in research money and awareness. Even though this may seem weird, dumping cold water and ice has brought a ton of aware-ness and money to the ALS foun-dation. So, keep dumping ice wa-ter on people.

An infectious and generally fa-tal disease marked by fever and severe internal bleeding named Ebola has once again out broke in certain parts of Africa. With nearly four thousand vic-WLPV�DQG�DQ�HVWLPDWHG�WZHQW\�¿YH�KXQGUHG� GHDWKV�� (EROD� ¿UVW� DU-rived in Sudan and Zaire, Africa. The disease has become more fatal since then however end-ing more lives than every other Ebola outbreak combined. This epidemic came as a surprise to many because of its crossing over multiple borders into hot, densely populated areas. There are even a few cases of Ebola in the United States. In order to be treated, at least three Americans have returned to the states with the illness, two of which have been treated and re-leased. The third remains right here in Nebraska. The disease FRQWLQXHV�WR�VSUHDG�DQG�LQ¿OWUDWH�borders across the globe.

Due to public campaigns be-ing too last minute to catch the attention of the populations, the disease continued to spread with-out attempts to stop it. Since the people were uninformed on the topic, no rapid action was taken against stopping the illness. Un-like in past cases, where people were able to react to the outbreak quickly to stop the spread im-mediately, the opposite occurred with this present outbreak. Since there is no known cure to Ebola, scientists and doctors ZRUN�YLJRURXVO\� WR� WU\� WR�¿QG� D�medicine that works. Ebola it-self is not highly contagious, however, it is extremely deadly. Because it is not incredibly in-fectious on a normal basis, it has received the attention of so many this time around. The specialists continue to la-ERU�RQ�WR�¿QG�WKH�FXUH�ZKLOH�RWK-ers commit to ending the spread. According to many, Ebola will soon be contained like other dis-eases that have threatened human health before it.

ALS patients taking turns pouring ice water on ALS researcher Dr. Robert Pascuzzi. Photo taken from Google. A microscopic shot of the deadly Ebola vrius. Photo taken from Google.

Designed by alumni Jacquelynn Watson

The Discoverer

Friday, December 19, 2014 Vol. 98, Issue 5 Photo Editor: Noah Augustine

Un Día en la Vida de Señora

Not ALWAYS About the

Christmas Spirit

“I’m Columbian, ZH�JR�ZLWK�WKH�ÀRZ�´

Toree HempsteadEditor-in-Chief

Emma GanskowStaff Reporter

&KULVWPDV�LV�QRW�D�UHTXLUHPHQW��3KRWR�WDNHQ�IURP�*RRJOH�

7KH�DOZD\V�IDEXORXV�6HxRUD�9HODVFR�KDUG�DW�ZRUN��3KRWR�WDNHQ�E\�7RUHH�+HPSVWHDG�

Christians Non-Christians

96% Celebraters

4% Non-Celebraters 19% Celebraters

81% Non-Celebraters

*The following names have been changed for the privacy of stu-dents It is the most beautiful time of the year, for most. For Columbus High School student, Jane Doe, it is just another time of the year. Jane is different from majority

of the students here at CHS in the fact that she does not partake in one of the most talked about holi-days of the year, Christmas. What is a joyous time of celebration and family gathering for most is yet just another December 25th for Jane. Not only does Jane not celebrate Christmas, she also

does not ce lebra te birthdays and other holidays. Every h o l i d a y season, the stockings are hung above the c h i m n e y with care, the tree is put up, twinkling lights dan-gle from the roofs

of our houses, and red and white furry hats can be found almost everywhere. But how would this affect somebody who does not celebrate Christmas? Well, when asked if it bothered her, Jane said, “No not really because I’ve

grown up around it.”���$QRWKHU�&KULVWPDV�¿JXULQH�ZH�all love and cherish is good ol’ Saint Nick. Young children leave cookies and milk out for him, but be honest, our parents just want-ed a midnight snack. However, would a small child who never got a present from Santa Claus believe he existed? “Maybe when I was little [I believed] just be-cause he adds a little bit of joy and mystery to little kids but I feel like I would catch on pretty quick and know he wasn’t real,” stated Jane. So this just goes to prove you do not have to cele-

brate Christmas to wonder if Kris Kringle was is real. Also, another holiday tradition in the world, especially in the United States, is Black Friday. A day when people will get up at the crack of dawn just to get punched in the face by a crazy old lady who wants an Xbox. Jane, just like every other girl in the world, loves shopping and participates in the madness of Black Friday. Jane may not celebrate Christ-mas, but this does not change the way we look at her. Just another person trying to get through high school.

Señora Velasco begins her day bright and early at 5:35 a.m. She GHFLGHV�KHU�RXW¿WV�D�ZHHN�LQ�DG-vance and lays them out the night before so she is always ready to take on the next day. Once Ve-lasco is ready for the day, she wakes up her daughter Sarah. While her daughter gets ready, Velasco sets out her daughter’s clothes and prepares breakfast and school lunches for her fami-ly. Since her children Sarah and Juan attend school in Central City, a Columbus resident who teaches at the school drives them every day. Having her daugh-ter go to school so far away and not getting to see her during the day is hard on Velasco because, “Sarah is my bff and I’m her bff and we’ll be like this forever.” When her children have left for the school day, Velasco goes to Casey’s gas station where she gets a cup of coffee and has her daily conversation with Sheryl, a Casey’s employee. Occasionally, her husband will go to Casey’s and pay for her coffee in ad-

vance or leave cards with Sheryl to give to Velasco as a surprise to brighten her morning. “...my husband is always very sweet and I love him very much” Velasco noted with a smile on her face. Velasco’s school day com-mences with plan time during 1A followed by teaching Span-ish 5 during 1B. She revealed that she will miss the seniors in her Spanish 5 class next year because, “As a teacher I see the potential for greatness in every-body, and it is heartbreaking to me when people do not live to that potential. And this class has that potential and work ethic that I would love to see in all of my students. However, there is only so much I can do, at some point that greatness must be re-leased from within my students”. Due to the long dis-tance trip her

children make to school, the time they arrive home varies due to WUDI¿F� DQG� KHU� VRQ¶V� ZUHVWOLQJ�practices. Therefore, Velasco and her husband always have to be prepared to change their eve-ning schedule. Velasco stated that they are always able to take on that challenge because, “I’m &ROXPELDQ��ZH�JR�ZLWK�WKH�ÀRZ�´

After moving to America thirteen years ago, Velasco and her Hus-band have recently become U.S. FLWL]HQV�� ,W� KDV� EHHQ� D� ¿YH�\HDU�process, but Velasco explains that is was worth it be-cause, “For

me, I wanted to do it. I want-ed to be a part of a country that has given me so much. I am here because I didn’t feel I had the same op-portunities in my country for my family”. Velasco has also recently received the F r a t e r n a l O r d e r of Ea-gles’

“Teacher Appreciation Award”. This award is presented to a WHDFKHU� ZKR� LV� ³6HOÀHVVQHVV� LQ�a career devoted to the mold-ing of minds and character in the classroom”. Mr. Woodside commented that Velasco was selected for this award be-

cause, “Whether it is the class-room or within the district, she just kind of does it all without

asking anything in return”.

Velasco can really do it all. She explains her secret to suc-cess is to, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, with all your might, and with all your strength”.