ECHOESScottsbluff High School | September 2010 | Volume 94| Issue 1the

begin

(paintball)GAMES

Let the

How an ordinary Oklahoma field became a re-enactment of D-Day | pg. 15

[ ]Mission: Uganda | pg. 5

Jack Johnson’s new sound | pg. 11Tennis teams face homelessness | pg. 16

THISMEANS

WAR

Junior Chris Lang, in his paintball gear, sits in a helicopter that played a role in a D-Day re-enactment. The re-enactment was held in Oklahoma where attendees were split into Axis and Allies teams. Courtesy Photo

“

proved by the administration,” Surbur said.

Some stunting students may see this year will include an elevator which can be taken further to an extension. One

group of cheerleaders can have the flyer do a forward summersault to dismount.

Cheerleading may no longer techni-cally be a sport, but it provides some-thing special at sporting events.

Some students think without cheer-leaders there is something missing.

“We will always have cheering in the crowd but without the cheerlead-ers there would be a lack of tradition,” Rojas said.

Though this court ruling over the summer may affect cheerleading at the collegial level, it won’t change much of what high schools do in Nebraska.

“I feel it should be ruled as a sport, being we have to do the same

thing other athletes do.-LaTosha Rojas, 12

story bySCOUT WILSON | news editor

2 | NEWS

Cheerleader

By 8 A.M., the temperature had already soared to 80 degrees and senior LaTosha Rojas was drenched in sweat.

In the previous hour she and eleven other cheer squad members had stretched, practiced cheers and chants and rehearsed multiple dance routines. They closed out the last half of practice by stunting.

It was an exhausting routine played out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of the entire summer, one that would put many athletes’ workouts to shame.

Still, it had little impact on the out-come of a federal court judge’s ruling in July that said cheerleading is not a sport.

The ruling came about when Quin-nipiac University in Hartford, CT, tried replacing volleyball with competitive cheerleading to meet gender-equity requirements.

U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill ruled cheerleading does not qualify under Title IX as a sport.

Title IX specifies in order for an activity to be considered a sport it must have coaches, practices, competitions during a defined season, and a govern-ing organization. The activity must have a primary goal to compete, not to only support other athletic teams ac-cording to Associated Press reports.

Quinnipiac, and seven other schools, recently formed a governing body, the National Competitive Stunts and Tumbling Association, to govern and develop competitive cheer as a future sport.

Reaction to the ruling received mixed reviews locally.

“Some larger schools have com-petitive squads that travel all over and compete, but most schools in Nebraska have not reached that point yet,” cheer coach Deb Surbur said.

The squad recently started par-ticipating in the state competition, but does not have a defined season. Mem-bers are split on opinions regarding the court ruling.

“With this in mind, I do feel that the court ruling was correct,” Surbur said.

“I feel it should be ruled as a sport because we have to do the same thing other athletes do,” senior cheer captain LaTosha Rojas said.

Cheerleading has requirements just as any other sport. To try out, girls must have a 2.0 GPA and all squad members must keep a 60% or above in all their classes to cheer at events.

There are also opportunities for girls to improve their skills at cheer camps during the summer. The squad at-tended a camp in Denver, CO at Regis

University this past summer.Besides academic requirements

cheerleaders must be able to perform a proper jump, be loud to bring boldness out of a crowd, and keep their poses

clean and sharp.Experience in gymnastics isn’t re-

quired, but is recommended.“It is always fun to show the crowd

what skills we have,” Rojas said.Skills which they do have including

some new and exciting skills the girls have been demonstrating by stunting, which is basically anything from a simple lift to a toss with the cheerleader flipping through the air.

“Many think Nebraska is ‘ground-bound,’ which means no stunting, but in all actuality the ruling is that you can stunt if your coach is certified and ap-

Being Happy “It’s hard to be a sad cheerleader.

Everyone wants to be pumped up and if you’re happy, you automatically get into what-ever you’re doing which happens to be cheering oth-ers on.”

– Briana Robles, 12

Outgoing “Being outgoing is important

because we can’t be shy. We need to be involved in everything and be exciting to get the crowd pumped at pep rallies and games.”

– Christina Tarin, 11

Positive Attitude “Being positive is a good trait

because it hopefully passes the positive attitude on the team that is playing and also the crowd that is at the game.”

– Megan Gealy, 12

Cooperation“In cheerleading, you get ordered

around to do cheers. It’s crucial to be cooperative for things to turn out right. We also do stunts and for one person to not be on the same page as the others is dangerous. Cheerleaders need to be able to adapt to anything and being cooperative helps.”

– Briana Robles, 12

Having Fun “Being fun is very important; we

want people to have fun just as much as we are all the time. No-body wants a cheerleader who never brings out the fun in any-thing.”

– Christina Tarin, 11

Being A Leader “Being a leader is a good trait

because we need people on our squad to set good examples and make good de-cisions so that the squad runs smoothly.”

– Megan Gealy, 12

Court rules cheerleading NOT a sport

SchoolSpirit

Junior Nicole Towne rallies the student section at the Cheyenne East volleyball game won the Bearcats 3-1 earlier this fall. Although many people believe Nebraska cheerleaders are grounded, stunting is allowed with a certified coach and approval by the school’s administration. Photo by Gordon Rock

t ra i t s

story byRYAN MEISTER | news writer

NEWS | 3

Senior Meghan Pritchard arrived at school at 7:45 on the morning of Aug. 23. She turned into the east parking lot, crawled over the speed bumps, and began the search for a good spot.

But something was different. Every-thing was black. Shiny. New.

While the new surface was nice, what Pritchard was actually hoping for was more parking spaces.

The additional spaces that were promised last spring after the school board adopted then-junior Erik Krzyz-anowski’s makeover plan to add extra spaces to the east lot.

“The reason I had decided to re-design the parking lot was that there were so few spots for kids to park they would always have to walk quite a ways to get to the school, so I thought I could make it easier on those kids,” Krzyzanowski said.

However, not everything worked the way it was supposed to.

“In my original plan, there were supposed to be three rows with parking on both sides and then two ends, one by the building, and the other by the practice field. When I presented this plan to the board, last year, I just ex-plained the idea. They thought it was a great idea and decided they would try to enact the plan how it was,” Krzyz-anowski said.

After the proposal, Krzyzanowski was anxious on how the presentation went.

“The proposal went very well and they told him that when the time came to repair the lot they would try to apply the plan the way it was,” Principal Rick Porter said.

However, in the middle of the process, Krzyzanowski’s plan had to be altered.

Then, at the beginning of the current school year, many students complained that there were fewer spaces in the redesigned east lot than there had been in previous years.

School officials refute this rumor as simply untrue.

“The rumors going around about the number of parking spaces are not true, there are actually more spaces, they just weren’t able to get as many as

Eric’s plan called for. This could be for a number of different reasons. It might have been as simple as he forgot to fig-ure in the six inch line for each space, which after a little while to tend to add up,” Porter said.

Erik was excited because of the plans adoption last year, but wound up disappointed with the way the plan was altered.

“I think it was stupid that they didn’t follow through with my original design because now it seems like there are fewer spaces in the parking lots.” Krzyzanowski said.

Students are learning to cope with the parking lots as the school year pro-gresses, but many still wish that there were more spaces in the lots.

BRIEFLYs pe akingReconfigured parking lots add spaces,

TheKRzYzANowSKIplan

Called for 150 stalls in the east parking lot compared to the old 128 stalls

a

but did not follow adopted ‘Krzyzanowski’ plan

U.S. Cellular cup winners announcedScottsbluff finishes third in Class B for second consecutive yearstory bySCoUT wILSoN | news editor

The Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) announced the 2009-2010 U.S. Cellular Cup winners in June. Scottsbluff took third place in Class B for the second year in a row in the combined all-school boys and girls competition.

The Bearcats were the top finishing public school in Class B, behind tra-ditional athletic powers Omaha Skutt Catholic and Lincoln Pius X.

The U.S. Cellular Cup features a girls’ division, boys’ division and a combined all-school division.

Schools within each division are divided into four classes (A,B,C and D) based upon enrollment used for the boys basketball classification.

The U.S. Cellular Cup winners are determined by a point sysem based on performance in state championship events within each division and class.

The boys and girls competition in

each class features schools earning points from their respective athletic activities.

In the case of coed schools, the fine arts activity points are divided in half and awarded to each school’s boys and girls U.S. Cellular Cup totals.

The all-school division contest in-cludes all activities in which each high school participates.

Member NSAA schools earn five points for participating in an NSAA sponsored activity.

Activities Director Lee Dick was pleased with cup results.

“It’s an indication of the quality of our activities sponsors. The credit should go to the activities sponsors and students for all their hard work,” Dick said.

All schools that finish in the top eight (plus ties) of a state championship event will receive points.

Winnings schools receive their cups this fall.

Top 10U.S. Cellular Cup finalists

Class B

1. Omaha Skutt Catholic - 5902. Lincoln Pius X - 4753. Scottsbluff - 397.54. Gretna - 3905. Beatrice - 362.56. Omaha Gross Catholic - 357.57. McCook - 332.58. Seward - 3309. Blair - 327.510. Norris - 265

All-School

•Seniors Madelin Parsley, Karin Shedd and Sara Frederick have been named National Merit Scholar semifinalists, making this the most semifinalists the school has had since the 2008-2009 school year.

Shedd became the third member of her family to be named a National Merit Scholar semifinalist.

Her brother Dan, a 2008 SHS graduate, and sister Sandra, a 2009 SHS graduate, also quali-fied for the honor.

“I’m hyper-competitive when it comes to my older siblings (even though they’re not), so I was extremely excited when Mr. Porter told me I had been named a semifinalist,” Shedd said.

The semifinalists will be in-formed if they have qualified for finalist standing later this year.

National Merit Scholars

•On Oct. 2, the band will be travel to Sidney to compete in the Sidney Oktoberfest parade and field competition.

Oktoberfest

•This year, Homecoming will be on Oct. 15 against the Sidney Red Raiders. The home-coming dance will follow on Oct. 16.

Homecoming!

•Vice Principal Matt Huck is in China first semester on an exchange program.

Huck will be posting some of his stories on the school’s web-site under the “China Exchange” section.

Foreign Exchange...Principal?

•“The Insanity of Mary Girard” has been chosen as this year’s One Act competition play.

The story revolves around a sane woman forced by her husband into an insane asylum. The play was last performed nine years ago.

One Acts

4 | FEATURE

story byRACHEL CLEMENS | feature writer

Junior Chris Hartsuiker plods into his house, clumps of dirt falling off his boots. He is looking forward to a shower and some rest after 8 hours of non-stop irrigating.

That’s right. Irrigating. Hartsuiker works for local farmer

Jerry Lovelace all summer, 40 hours a week.

A typical day for Hartsuiker con-sisted of waking up at 5 a.m. till noon. He then took a break until 6 p.m., where he started back up and worked until 10 p.m.

Hartsuiker lays pipe for the water to run through, then he has to open up the gates for the water to set in the rows.

“I like working outside and with my hands,” Hartsuiker said. “Plus the pay is good.”

Hartsuiker has to unclog the pipes, which often have dead frogs and sticks. The biggest catch was a dead raccoon.

“The pipes are really heavy. They don’t go together very easily,” he said. “It is extremely strenuous work.”

Hartsuiker also has to fertilize the crops.

“The fertilizer can stink really badly, some can be explosive, but it helps to keep bugs and harmful diseases off the plants,” he said.

The worst was yet to come.“When I reached my hand down

there was a rattlesnake about an inch from my hand,” Hartsuiker said. “It freaked me out!”

He enjoys many things about his outside job.

“It is easy work if you know what you are doing,” Hartsuiker said.

This year was a different irrigation season.

It was very slow and Hartsuiker didn’t do a lot of irrigating in the spring and early summer because of all the rainfall.

“When we were in a drought it took two times more water to irrigate com-pared to this year,” he said.

There are many reasons why Hart-suiker does his job. He grew up on a farm in Goodland, KS, where his family had the biggest farm around.

His family then moved to Scottsbluff looking for a new start after the bank took their farm away.

Right after Hartsuiker moved to town he didn’t work for a few years. He then was offered a job by Lovelace, and he took it since he grew up around it.

Occasionally Hartsuiker wishes he had a different job in welding or with animals.

Junior Chelsea Wickard also had a dirty job this summer as a Certified Nursing Assistant at the Residency.

Wickard faced the brunt of the entire medical field.

Most little girls pretend to be prin-cesses or dream of wearing a crown. Teresa Scanlan and Jessica Littlejohn, both 2010 SHS graduates, experienced a bit of royalty during the summer by participating in pageants.

While they were given a glimpse of their childhood dreams, they learned the ups and downs of being a pageant queen.

Scanlan won the title of Miss Nebraska on June 5 in North Platte. At 17 she became the youngest Miss Nebraska ever.

Along with a crown, Scanlan re-ceived a 2010 Pontiac G6, free servicing and cleaning for it, a free Blackberry with a year of unlimited service from Viaero, a $10,000 scholarship, a $6,000 budget for Miss America prep, com-plimentary hair care for a year, and several travel opportunities.

Her favorite pageant perk, how-ever, is the opportunity provided. She plans to use her title to further promote her platform helping girls with eating disorders.

Jessica Littlejohn, this year’s Miss Scotts Bluff County, had quite a differ-ent experience.

Littlejohn’s pageant period started off positively. She made new friends, got to know herself better, and was able to speak in front of people.

However, she also learned the dan-gers of being a pageant queen.

During the bull riding event at the fair in early August, a bull escaped while the pageant queens were being introduced to the crowd.

The bull charged at Littlejohn, throwing her in the air like a ragdoll. She landed on her left side with her back to the audience, when the bull then stepped on her arm.

Littlejohn received a concussion, but no serious injuries. She only remembers waking up in a hospital, but nothing about the accident.

Through her pageant experience and her trauma, Littlejohn has kept an opti-mistic attitude and realized how much

support from others pageants have given her.

story byASHLEIGH SMITH | feature writer

Jessica Littlejohn & Teresa Scanlan

two different storiestwo queens;

One year;

IT’S A DIRTY JOB

Junior Chris Hartsuiker spends his day laying irrigation pipes for the summer’s harvest. The strenuous hours took up most of his summer. Photo by Chris Miller

has to do themSomebody

“I have to clean up vomit, change briefs, dress people, make the beds, and any type of assistance the residents need besides giving medication,” she said.

Being a CNA is not the easiest job in the world.

“I took a resident named Mac to the bathroom and while I was waiting for him he had a seizure,” Wickard said. “ I held him until he was finished and afterward poop, pee, and vomit were everywhere.”

It only got messier for Wickard.“One time a woman resident

wouldn’t get off the toilet for three hours and the bathroom was covered in diarrhea,” she said.

Although her job was very physi-cally and mentally stressful, Wickard sais she enjoyed getting to know the residents.

6. Ape Urine Collector7. De-construction Worker8. Zoo Cleaner9. Hot-Zone Superintendent10. Dentist

1. Roadkill Collector 2. Manure Inspector3. Portable Toilet Cleaner4. Crime-Scene Cleaner5. Pest Control Worker

top

dirtiest jobsIn order from “aww, sick!” to “ehh, not so

bad”, here are the top ten dirty jobs

story byMEGHAN PRITCHARD | feature editor

FEATURE | 5

on a

“What should I do this summer?”This question is on everyone’s mind

once school gets out and for junior Jed Weis, he needed an excuse to get out of Scottsbluff.

It was the summer before Weis’s freshman year. Ready for the new experience of high school, he needed something to keep him busy until the first day of school.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes camp to him was just going to be a fun excuse to get away from Scottsbluff.

Little did he know it would change his whole life.

On the Thursday night of camp the main speaker talked about the world and how people lived for it.

“People may call themselves Chris-tians, but unless you believe in Jesus and live your life for him, it’s merely a title,” the speaker said.

Those words ran Weis over like a bulldozer as he realized the truth of the statement.

Before this epiphany, Weis had called himself a Christian, coming from a Christian family; but when he looked deep into his life he knew he lived for the parties and friends.

He wouldn’t make it through the pearly gates.

That night Weis was saved. He realized that Christianity wasn’t

just believing Jesus was real, but an ac-tual relationship with Jesus Christ and living a life that reflects the Christian faith.

He was prepared to be different for Jesus, but the pressure-packed world of the underclassman high school years dragged him down by making him act how he was before he found his faith: partying, cussing, and indulging in his

own interests. But things changed when he went to

a winter retreat with his youth group.“I needed a reality check of what

Jesus did for me,” Weis said. “I was determined to live my life differently and give up the party life.”

And he did just that when he got home, living for Jesus as best he could.

“I’m not perfect and I mess up often, but I’m forgiven by the greatest sacrifice of the world,” Weis said.

It’s an everyday growth and struggle for him.

“It’s not easy to live for Jesus but completely worth it because I get to spend eternity with Jesus someday in heaven,” Weis said. “I read my Bible every day and pray as often as I can.”

But God had something more in store for him.

At Mitchell Berean Church where Weis attends, youth pastor Barry Hol-brook had arranged a mission trip to Uganda for July 10-29.

“When I first heard about it I thought it would be a cool experience and a fun thing to do,” Weis said. “But I soon realized that the trip wasn’t just about having a good time.”

Twenty-three people signed up and had to raise about $3,000 each to go.

“We raised our money through sup-port letters and a trap shoot fundrais-er,” Weis said. “God provided enough money and supplies for the whole trip.”

The team finally left July 10, 2010 with a 10 hour layover in London.

When they arrived in Uganda they stayed at the home of a missionary family.

“To America the house would be typical and livable; to Africa it was a mansion,” Weis said.

The house had indoor plumbing

and heating and resembled a mediocre American home except for one thing: the mosque next door.

In Africa the main religion is Muslim and witch doctors are found in every village. Being a Christian in that coun-try could mean being kicked out of the house by a spouse, losing everything they have, or even death.

The team’s mission was to evange-lize to the people in the towns by going hut-to-hut and offering Bible school for the kids and people.

“I mostly helped with Bible school where we taught them Bible stories, sang songs, and played games,” Weis said.

But a few times his evangelism took him down a dangerous path.

Weis walked with his interpreter down the dirt roads to different huts, talking to anyone they could find.

“Be ready, because this group has been drinking,” the Ugandan interpret-er, Richard, said.

Feeling totally unprepared, Weis spoke about Jesus through the inter-preter.

After getting no response from the men, a woman close by, who had lis-tened to everything Weis said, spoke up saying that she wanted to be saved.

Weis told the woman that to be saved she just had to tell God that she couldn’t live on her own anymore and that she wanted to give her life to Jesus, believing that he died on the cross for her sins.

As Weis and the interpreter walked about a shout came from behind them.

A man from the drunken group, re-alizing that he needed Jesus, stumbled down the road to ask Weis how to be saved.

After getting over the initial shock Weis told the man more about Jesus and how to be saved, like he did to the woman.

“I thought it was cool that he chased us down the road to hear more of what we had to say,” Weis said.

The trip proved to be a success; Weis and his missionary team brought 500 people to Christ. They wrote down each person’s name so that local pastors could stay in touch and plug them into churches close to their village.

“I will never forget the experience I had in Uganda and hope to visit again someday,” Weis said.

Having the trip come to a close, Weis was ready to go home and show through his life actions that he is a Jesus freak.

Junior Jed Weis shares his faith on a summer trip to Uganda

Population: 31,657,000•Languages: English, •Luganda and Swahili•Life Expectancy: 53 •yearsLiteracy Rate: 76.8% •(men), 57.7% (women)Religion: Christian •(66%), Muslim (16%), Other (18%)

UGANDAtoday

Man MISSION

NEW FRIENDS

Junior Jed Weis embraces a Ugandan girl at a school where his evangilism team taught Bible stories. Weis said the kids loved touching his skin and his hair as they visited. Courtesy of Jessy Richard.

T & Company

Psychological & Neuropsychological Assessments

Forensic PsychologyAll Age Groups

Individual, Marital, Family

Anne Talbot, PsyDMark Hald, PhD

Nicole Vidlak, PhD308-632-8547

www.optionspsych.biz2622 Ave C Scottsbluff308-632-8547

Cat CalendarSeptember Events23rd- SB Var.@Ogallala vs. S.Valley & Gothenburg- 3pm23rd- FB 9th vs. Gering- 5pm24th Native American Day25th- VB JV & SHS JV INV- 10 am25th- GGO JV & VAR @ Alliance- 9 am27th- FB 10th and JV vs. Chey Central- 5 pm

October Events1st -GGO Var GNAC 2 Hatsings- 9 am1st -FB Var vs. Grand Island Northwest- 7pm1st- VB- Twin City Inite- TBA4th- Teacher in service NO SCHOOL8th-Booster Club Pigskin Picnic Tailgate@Gering-5pm9th- SAT testing11th- GGO State @ Grand Island11th- Columbus Day12th- SHS Vocal Recital- 7 pm14th- BTN State @ Lincoln- TBA

The Cat Calendar is brought to you by the SCOTTSBLUFF BOOSTER CLUB

All school-year longEvery 10th

student gets a free lunch

632-36442201 Broadway

Scottsbluff

Student Specials Available

MulligansAt the Monument Shadows Golf Course

Great food & atmosphereOpen to the public all year round

2550 Club House Drive Gering, NE 69341 308-635-6868

Offer good through Oct. 1

Bring this ad in & get

10% offMiss Me Jeans Located @

2925 North 10th St.Gering, NE

635-3384

Check out our

DAILY SPECIALS

The 2010-2011Echoes Staff

encourages you tosupport those

businesses who advertise in The Echoes.

Space is available by contacting The Echoes Ad Managers: Casey Sigrist & Chandler Brill or contact Mr. Pitkin in

room 130. Call 635-6248.

editor-in-chief | KARIN SHEDD

OPINION | 7

A change for the betterA lot about this school changed over

the summer.1. Newly paved and freshly painted

parking lots. 2. Freshmen flooding the cafeteria

every day at 11:30 because all other lunch options are closed to them.

3. Shorter passing periods during which visibly sending a text no longer spells trouble.

But one difference has infected the psyches of students and, fueled by dedicated administration crack-down, grown to apocalyptic proportions.

4. The dress code.It floated around in the rumor mill

for a while, and, upon its official an-nouncement shortly before school start-ed, facebook exploded with statuses and comments either singing its praises or denouncing its stricter guidelines.

The opinions of students and staff, however, are moot, because none can argue with the good intentions behind and the fair enactment of the dress code.

“Last year, clothing became more and more revealing as the year went on, and I’ve heard from both staff and students that certain types of clothing

make them feel uncomfortable,” princi-pal Rick Porter said.

The purpose of the dress code is to put an end to the MTV-esque at-tire so popular amongst both males and females, and redirect the focus of students. The point of school, after all, is to get an education, not to audition for “The Real World” or seduce a mate (which, contrary to popular belief, can still be done effectively with a dress code-appropriate wardrobe).

“(With the dress code), there is a greater chance that someone will be judged for their thoughts, actions, and character rather than how they are dressed,” Porter said. “When I interact with someone, I want them to show me who they are by how they think, how they speak, and how they conduct themselves rather than what they have or where they come from.”

The administration’s adamance on this point is immediately apparent by the many students, from all walks of

life, who find themselves pulled from class or unable to enter the building due to clothing violations. Male or fe-male, brown, white, or black, young or old; none are immune to the rules.

The message is clear: the dress code is here to stay. As well it should, because school is not New York during fash-ion week; the halls are not runways and members of

staff aren’t admiring spectators. We are here to learn, and the social aspects of school shouldn’t overshadow the education.

At the very least, we students should obey the dress code for fear of what might happen if we don’t. Imag-ine a future where all fashion freedom is thrown out the window, a world where every student walks the halls in matching khaki pants and red or white polo shirts.

The administration means business, so take it seriously. Cover up.

The views expressed in this editorial were supported 11-1 by

The Echoes staff

A well-groomed teenage boy, his shirt neatly tucked and shoes as shiny as a freshly-waxed car, pulls open the door to the school. His date, a perfectly primped and styled teen girl wear-ing the latest fashion in dresses, glides through the entrance on three-inch heels. They can feel the pounding beat and quick, high-pitched melody of Cas-cada’s “Every Time We Touch” even be-fore they see the hundreds of teenagers bobbing up and down in the center of the cafeteria. The two teens toss $5 each at a teacher manning a table outside and charge into the circle, their bodies blending into the mass, individual fea-tures lost in the rush of movement.

The short narrative above is a brief sketch of a classic tradition enjoyed by many, if not all, high school students in America, a time when teenagers, the awkward in-betweens of humanity, no longer kids but not quite adults, get to gussy themselves up in their Sunday best and dance the night away with a couple hundred of their similarly-attired peers.

Lamentably, the opportunity for such carefree frivolity is severely lim-ited for SHS students - the Drill Team

dance, Homecoming, Winter Royalty, and Prom. Eliminate prom for 90% of underclassmen, and that leaves about half of all students with just three ex-cuses to dress up in their fancy swag.

Why so few? Dances are a safe - this is ensured by the several adult staff members monitoring the clump of danc-ers at all times - and fun - with the fringe ben-efit of burning a few hundred calories - way for teens to spend an evening.

And, for those of us too young to frequent night clubs or get married, chances to show off our sweet dance moves come few and far between, which makes the lack of school dances that much more frustrating.

Furthermore, it seems dances should be encouraged by adults who are look-ing to mold students into responsible young men and women, as they are inherently drug and alcohol free. Hav-ing a dance to attend on a Friday night

might dissuade other forms of enter-tainment, especially those of question-able legality.

And if that weren’t enough rea-son to add a few more dances to the calendar, they can also be an excellent

form of fund-raising for clubs who rely mainly on themselves to function. The Drill Team, which hosts a dance near the beginning of every school year, has a monopoly on this

cash cow because there is currently only one miscellaneous dance allowed; why not give other groups the same chance? The Key Club, for instance, tried last year to raise money for under-privileged families through a dance, but their attempts were shot down because the dance quota had already been met.

By the reasons listed above, the strict limitation of dances is illogical at best and unreasonable at worst. More dances would benefit many people - underclassmen, Key Club-ers, and everyone in-between.

The views expressed in this editorial were supported 12-0 by

The Echoes staff

Share the groove

Students have lost perspective about the new dress code rules

A lack of school dances limits fun, funds for students, clubs

the

staffECHOES

news editor | SCOUT WILSONnews writer | RYAN MEISTER

feature editor | MEGHAN PRITCHARDfeature writer | RACHEL CLEMENSfeature writer | ASHLEIGH SMITH

center section editor | GABRIELLE CARLINcenter section writer | ETHAN HUGHES

entertainment editor | RUSSELL MORGANentertainment writer | VICTORIA BRAVO

sports editor | KELSEY EMPFIELDsports writer | MADDIE HOLSCHERsports writer | MICHAEL MILLER

adviser | TERRY PITKIN

The Echoes is a monthly pub-lication printed by the Business Farmer. The Echoes is a member of the Nebraska High School Press Association and the International Order of the Quill and Scroll.

The Echoes encourages read-ers to write letters to the editor in response to a story, but does reserve the right to publish said letter.

The Echoes also encourages all readers to submit their ideas for story coverage, feedback on stories, and any other input.

The EchoesScottsbluff High School313 East 27th St.Scottsbluff, NE 69361Letters with obscene, slander-

ous, libelous, or false information will not be fun. The letter must also be signed to be run. Content may be edited due to grammati-cal or content needs. A signed copy must be presented to the Scottsbluff High School journal-ism department, room 130. Also, please check out Echoes Face-book.com group and MySpace page online!

“I’d actually rather have a uniform instead of being told every day that I’m dressed inappropriately. I just think they took it a little far this year,” Salazar said.

However, enforcing uniforms isn’t at the top of the administration’s list.

“I think we could switch to uniforms,

but right now that’s not my goal. How-ever, if we can’t get the students to go along with the dress code we would have to take things another step,” Porter said.

Students have been complaining left and right about the new dress code, but the administration isn’t budging on their

New & ‘Improved’

8 | CENTER SECTION

At a glance...

Don’t sneak the freshmen out for lunch.

Student Translation:

Freshmen will remain on campus throughout the school day.

Handbook Says:

Cell phones, personal listening devices, and other electronic media devices may be used dur-ing lunch and passing periods.

Handbook Says:

Pride and care of SHS. Each student should be respectful and take pride in the school’s fine facilities.

Handbook Says:

Shirts and tops must have necklines close to the collar bone. Shorts and skirts shall be of a length where they are close (3-4 in.) to the top of the knee.

Handbook Says:

Don’t trash the school...don’t be a jerk.

Student Translation:

No further explanation needed.

Student Translation:

Modest is hottest y’all.

Student Translation:

A look at the new rules and what they mean to students.

CENTER SECTION | 9

Students struggle to adjust to the new dress code rulesstory byGAbriEllE CArliN |center section editor

It was 6:45 on a Monday morning when junior Cheryl Salazar rolled out of bed. She dragged her feet to the bathroom and let the warm water of the shower wake her up.

Feeling more alert, Salazar threw on a pair of athletic shorts and a yellow sweatshirt. Once she was finished with her morning routine, Salazar was on her way to school.

Salazar entered the school doors with confidence, but was stopped in her tracks when Principal Rick Porter pulled her aside and told her to go home and change her shorts.

“My first reaction was ‘Really? Are you kidding me?’ But by homeroom, I was at my house changing into some jeans,” Salazar said.

Students have been busted all over campus, making this story all too familiar.

In fact, Porter estimates that in the first five days of school, about 50 students have been asked to either not wear the same thing again or go home and change.

Students are left wondering why the

changes were made.“We as a staff found it a little hard to be

as consistent as we wanted to be with en-forcing the dress code. We haven’t changed it that much, other than to define it a little bit more,” Porter said.

Many students have been surprised by how much the teachers and administration are crack-ing down on the new dress code.

“I definitely wasn’t ex-pecting the teachers to be this strict. I don’t think the way our students dress is that inappropriate. I mean some girls dress really trashy, but I don’t think my shorts were too short,” Salazar said.

Some students are so fed up with the new restrictions that they’re flirting with the “U” word. That’s right. Uniforms.

“My first reaction was ‘Really? Are you kidding me?’ But by homeroom, I was at my house

changing into some jeans.”

-Cheryl Salazar, 11

good intentions.“One of my biggest issues is that I like

for our students to make a good impres-sion on the adults that walk through our building. I am really proud of the students in this school and I want their appearance to make a good impression,” Porter said.

Maybe their motives aren’t too bad after all. Plus, there are some exceptions to the new rule.

P.E. classes, sports practices, after school activities, and dances will be regulated, but not as extremely.

“These environments require different rules. We aren’t going to send someone home during these activities if they’re outside of the dress code limits, but still decent,” Porter said.

It’s all about understanding and learn-ing the appropriate times to wear certain clothes.

So ladies, hang up your booty shorts, and fellas, buy a belt, because the new and “improved” dress code is here to stay.

Being dressed to impress

It’s the same story. The 11:30 bell rings for lunch and students file into the cafeteria only to be greeted by a sea of hungry faces, faculty, upperclassmen and most com-monly, freshman.

The school board recently passed a rule which forces freshman to stay on campus for lunch. With around 200 students in the freshman class, obvious problems arise.

“The lines are the biggest issue. Students don’t want to stay in line so many of the older ones leave, and some freshman choose not to come to lunch all together.” Peggy Sittner, food specialist said.

“The lines are re-ally long, it’s annoy-ing. On average I get like ten minutes to eat.” Freshman Ra-chel Madden said.

Madden is just one of many students who are directly affected by the passing of the recent rule, and she doesn’t have it the worst.

“I’ve always gotten through, but there are a lot of people who choose not to eat, because it’s such a hassle.” Madden said.

Lunch is not the only time students are no longer eating.

“With the switch to five minute pass-

ing between homeroom, we’ve seen a loss in revenue. In past years, the ten minute window between 1st period and homeroom generated the most revenue. Some of our staff members who worked snack bar have had to find more hours in the kitchen. But they miss seeing the students and conversing with them as they come through the line.” Sittner said.

With all the negative attention focused on the new rule, many find themselves ponder-ing: ‘Why the change in the first place?’

“I think it’s to keep kids safe. Decrease accidents at lunch and tar-

dies to class. I think some parents requested it as well.” Sittner said.

“I wish I had open campus, but I don’t know where I would go. I

usually bring my lunch from home.” Madden said.

“A better option would be a split lunch hour. One group comes, and then an-

other in ten minutes.” Sittner said.

Although it is young, the new rule seems un-popular.

To add insult to injury, the

five minute passing has not only cut cafeteria revenue, but has directly affected the DECA store during its once booming ten minute passing time.

There must be a positive reason why the school board made the change, but until a positive benefit is seen, we’ll just have to wait in line and rush to class.

story byETHAN HuGHES | center section writer

CRUNCHThe new closed campus lunch rule puts students, teachers in a race against time

Lunch

Acceptable unacceptable

Shirts must cover the collarbone, midriff, and shoulders No tanktops; shorts must be 4 inches away from the knee; no exposed underwear

When most people are announced as the winners

of a major competition, they are normally jumping up and

down with excitement. It’s probably one of the

happiest times of their lives.It was not like that for me.

10 | OPINION

the art of stereotypingMISGUIDED PASSION

personal commentary by KARIN SHEDDpersonal commentary by KELSEY EMPFIELDWarning: this column contains

uncensored discussions of potentially explosive political/social issues.

Reader discretion is advised. I am about to state two facts about

myself, each of which relate directly to two controversial social issues of today. Then, based on that information, I in-vite you to guess with which of the two major political parties I affiliate.

Okay, here they are.I support gay marriage.I habitually recycle because I am con-

cerned about the health of the planet.Now, with those facts in mind, it’s

time for you to guess: am I a Republi-can or a Democrat?

I’m going to take a shot in the dark and guess that many of you selected the Democratic Party. Well, that particular party is known for its support of gays and concern over climate change.

Maybe some of you, sensing reverse psychology in my guessing game, chose the Republican Party. Also sen-sible, because clearly there’s a lot left in this column, which means I had more to say beyond, “why yes, you’re right, I am indeed a Democrat.”

So here’s the truth: I don’t know.Yep. I have no idea. How could I?

As much as I like to sound educated and aware, the only thing I know about the economics of running a country is that FICA took a considerable chunk of change from my summer lifeguarding paychecks. I’ve never even taken an ac-counting class, so how could I possibly fathom the potential ramifications of any bill that passes through Congress?

Oddly enough, I seem to be one of the few people I know who feels this way. Apparently, most American citizens are able to decipher and com-prehend the political jargon (Macroeco-nomics? Line-item veto?) tossed around by our nation’s representatives, or at

least have it explained to them by one of television’s many political pundits and accept that as concrete fact.

This kind of political enlightenment is also, it seems, omniscient, as if those who possess it have insider access to the opinions of those around them. My encounters with these people usually follow the same pattern:

Politically savvy person: *inquires about my social opinions*

Me: *verbalizes same ideas stated earlier in this column*

Politically savvy person: “Oh, so you’re a liberal Democrat?”

One little conversation like that, and BAM! I know who I am in life: a tree-hugging, big-oil-hating, hemp-sandal-wearing, left-wing hippie. Oh, and I also get personally offended when somebody comments not-so-positively about President Obama. The responsible person always casts me an apologetic look and says something along the lines of “oh, sorry, I forgot you’re a Democrat.”

I guess it’s nice to have this decided for me. Now I don’t have to think about it myself. I’ll just sit back, tune my TV to a left-wing news station, and vigor-ously nod in agreement with every-thing Hillary Clinton says.

But, instead of resigning myself to that fate, I will instead peel away the thick layer of sarcasm coating this column. The point I’m trying to make is this: I’m tired of being pigeon-holed into a political label based on nothing more than the two social opinions I actually hold. Who knows? In ten years, I could be the most fiscally conservative person to ever express an opinion in America, interning for Rush Limbaugh or organizing Tea Party rallies.

But I think, before I make that transi-tion or any other, I need to find out what on earth a “subsidiary” is anyway.

The road to finding a passion can be illusory

“And now I announce the new class B 2010 girls bowling state champions…Scottsbluff!”

When most people are announced as the winners of a major competition, they are normally jumping up and down with excitement.

It’s probably one of the happiest times of their lives.

However, it was not like that for me. Last winter, the Scottsbluff/Gering

bowling team was amazing. And by amazing I mean undefeated, which is super cool. And winning state was cool, too. This is a com-mon goal for most sports teams, and most don’t reach it. So, it should’ve made me feel over the moon.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I was very happy, but winning state wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

Whenever you see people like Bruce Jenner or the Yankees winning they are just so…beyond thrilled. It seems like, if they would happen to die at that mo-ment, they would feel like their life is totally fulfilled.

I did not experience that fulfilling feeling.

Perhaps it was because I did not bowl to my full potential.

I did okay, but okay is never good enough for me. Call me a perfectionist, but even though we had won, I wanted a second chance. I should have picked up that spare. I should have taken a deep breath before I threw. Should have, should have, should have.

But maybe I did not get that success-ful feeling because I had false expecta-tions.

I thought that being the best would feel…well…better.

It was great that we had won, because all of my teammates and I had worked hard for this moment through hours of practice. It was well earned.

My team was on top of the world (or at least the Nebraska high school bowling totem pole), but my emotions didn’t mesh with the victory. I felt re-ally happy, but I assumed my feelings would be taken up a notch.

Possibly I did not have a fulfilling feeling because I’m not passionate about bowling. I started bowling my

freshman year and thought I loved it. It’s a fun activity and I enjoy doing it, but I can’t hon-estly say I’m legitimately in love with it.

I am pas-sionate about softball. I love to pitch.

I love hearing the crack of the bat when I get a hit.

If I had won state softball, I think I’d have felt different from winning state bowling.

I don’t dream about winning state bowling, but I almost cry thinking about winning state softball.

I am fortunate to have discovered my passion at a young age. Now I realize that I am going to give my all to softball. Hopefully I will know how Michael Phelps felt winning the gold medals at the Olympics.

My advice to whomever reads this column is to find a passion whatever it may be. Some of my teammates’ passion is bowling. So bowl! If your passion is band or art, go for it. Shoot for the stars and reach your dream.

Find your passion and go all out. What have you got to lose?

POLITICS:

story byRUSSELL MORGAN | entertainment editor

ENTERTAINMENT | 11

don’t

JackJack Johnson has always been the

definition of “chill” music. He’s as-sociated with the surfing and “tree hugger” lifestyle.

All of the above are true.Countless interviews of Johnson, or

simply his lyrics, will tell you that he is a very mellow person, an avid surfer, and extremely involved in protecting the environment.

Die-hard fans can barely sit still when the rumor spreads about a new Jack Johnson album; however, the crit-ics know to expect the same old song and dance: He’ll sing about love, the environment, take a few shots at the government, and sing about living the simple life.

His first four studio albums follow this exact trend.

So when Johnson announced his new album this past spring there was the usual excitement, and the same expectations.

The new album arrived June 1st, and it was nothing short of a complete shock to fans and critics alike.

The first noticeable difference came from his new look: he strayed from his usual buzz cut and grew a head full of hair along with a beard. As Outside Magazine put it, “He’s turned into a wild man.”

The second change comes with Johnson’s voice.

He has always sung with his relaxed monotone and eventually worked the vocal chords on the occasional chorus; however, in the new al-bum, we hear Jack sing- re-ally sing.

His voice rings out and it doesn’t let up until the last track ends.

To un-derstand the third change, one has to understand Jack.

Through-out his career, there has al-ways been one thing Johnson would never sing about: the ocean.

It seems strange, seeing as it is the basis of his lifestyle, but it is for that exact reason he won’t sing about it. It is such a close force to him that he has always kept it in.

“To the Sea” is the title of his new album, and Jack is talking about the ocean.

So why the change?Johnson’s been asked the question

countless times this past summer. From his answers, it’s been gathered

that three people are responsible for the change: his father , Jeff Johnson; author Robert Bly; and Johnson’s new baby daughter.

Last year Johnson’s father passed away.

Jeff Johnson was a great inspiration to Jack. He was a professional surfer, and he was always in the water. He

once fixed up an old boat and sailed from California to Hawaii where the Johnson family finally settled and Jack was born, the youngest of three broth-ers.

The cover of Jack’s new album is a picture of his father build-ing a wooden wave while he

attended college at UC Berkeley.

Robert Bly wrote the book titled, “Iron John: A Book

about Men”.Johnson’s keyboardist, Zach Gill,

gave the book to Johnson as a gift be-fore his father passed.

The book tells the story of a young prince who is taken to the wilderness by a wild man to be guided through many trials that help the prince in his quest of becoming a real man.

Johnson is the prince, and though

he keeps his usual mellow self, he has grown into a tougher man.

That growing process took a step when Johnson had his third child, a baby girl. His song for her is found on the new album; entitled, “My Little Girl”. Johnson writes in his new album about his approach to fatherhood and leaving behind who he used to be.

In an interview with Outside Maga-zine, Johnson was quoted, “I’m in the place where I’ve had a few kids and lost my own dad last summer,” he answers. “It’s this transitional period, where part of me is reaching in one direction and trying to hold on to the people I’m losing, and part of me is reaching the other way to hold on to these new kids coming into the world.”

It’s a very interesting phenomenon to see artist’s mature through their music. Johnson’s new songs reflect the changes he’s gone through and he makes many references to his family and the inspirations he’s come upon in recent years.

Music is a powerful thing in that how it relates to the life of its listeners. Musicians are real people, though we often see them as supreme beings. Mu-sicians experience the same everyday struggles their audience does, and that is their inspiration.

Johnson’s new album covers his growth into both fatherhood and adult-hood: the stages of life some listeners are yet to reach, are approaching, or have established their tenure.

It’s something all people will be a part of and face in their life; as a result, they can relate to Johnson’s works. Everyone will be the prince taken to the wilderness someday.

IRON INSPIRATION

Robert Bly’s book was a significant inspira-tion to Johnson’s production of his new album. He refers to the theme of the story througout the album. Photo courtesy of Bing.com

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Jack Johnson in his L.A. studio recording his new album, To the Sea. It is Johnson’s fifth studio album to date.Photo courtesy of Bing.com

AND HE WILL BE A WILD

MAN

On the cover of his new album, Johnson places a photo of his father, Jeff Johnson, building a wooden wave model while attending college in California. Jeff was a great inspi-ration to Jack and passed away soon before Jack started working on the album.Photo courtesy of Bing.com

know

You

One of today’s most popular musicians steps away from

his usual style to show...

story byVICTORIA BRAVO | entertainment writer

12 | ENTERTAINMENT

“Take these chances; place them in a box until a quieter time, lights down, you up and die,” blares Dave Matthews Band’s “Ants Marching” at the 2010 Mile High Music Festival in Denver on Aug 15.

Senior Susan Lawrence’s* heart soared when lead singer Dave Matthews belted out the first line of the chorus.

It was Lawrence’s first time attending Mile High Festival.

She was able to go with her mother and two of her close friends. She was sick the first day of the festival and was unable to attend Jack Johnson’s performance, but she still enjoyed her time there immensely.

“I was sad because I didn’t get to see my favorite artist in the world, Jack Johnson, but it was okay,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence was literally speechless when asked what her favorite part of Mile High was; there were too many to choose from.

“My favorite part was getting to listen to the live music, dancing to it, and being able to get away one last time before school started,” Lawrence said.

Senior Margaret Baker said her favorite part of the festival over all was spending time with her sister.

“It was really fun to get to have that whole week-end with my sister, and enjoying great music at the same time,” Baker said.

Baker, who also went to Mile High Music Festival for the first time this year, was able to see Jack John-son’s show.

Johnson was her favorite performance on the first day, but Dave Matthews Band, who she first saw in 2007, was her favorite overall.

Matthews closed the festival on Sunday night.“The entire festival was really tiring, like, stand-

ing around and camping out to see ‘Dave’ but it was totally worth it, because it was such a happy envi-ronment. So many difference people were there from little kids to older people, and they were all there to enjoy the great music,” Baker said.

Baker purchased what were called ‘Early Bird Tickets’ in April, which cost about $150.

Lawrence however was not as lucky; she paid $175, but said it was worth it, and that she wants to go back in the future.

Both Baker and Lawrence braved the three and a half hour drive to attend the festival that was held at Dick’s Sporting Goods Field in Commerce City, just outside of Denver, CO.

Unfortunately, Lawrence contract-ed food poisoning on the first night of the weekend getaway.

Despite her sickly state, Lawrence concluded she enjoyed the overall ordeal. One part of the experience Lawrence particularly enjoyed was getting to meet one of the people that performed, Joe Purdy.

“I got to shake his hand and I told him, ‘you are so awesome!’” Law-rence said.

Both Lawrence and Baker agreed that attending the festival was the greater deal, rather than going to one single concert.

A normal ticket for a Dave Mat-thews Band concert ranges from $77 - $211, but at Mile High, $150 - $175 buys more

shows and better seats.

“You can actually bring your own seats, like lawn chairs, but most stand or sit on blankets. We were front

row for Keller Williams, pretty close for ALO, probably ten rows back for Jack Johnson and about 20 rows back for Dave Matthews Band,” Baker said.

“Everyone was standing shoulder to shoulder, but we were probably 20 feet away from Dave Matthews, and we got front row for Joe Purdy. When we went to see Trevor Hall, we were probably only

ten ft. away,” Lawrence said. “Music festivals are way better; I mean they’re

more tiring and everything but, it’s a better value,” Baker said.

The festival was a better value for both Baker and Lawrence musically, not to mention, a better value to their wallets.

SATURDAY NIGHT

SPECIAL

Jack Johnson closes the festival Saturday night, August 14th. Mile High was in the middle of Johnson’s tour promoting his new al-bum. Johnson invited many guests up to play with him, including Donavon Frankenreiter and Paula Fuga.Photo courtesy of Bing.com

THE LINE UP

The flyer for the festival included the line up of artists and what days the performances were. The spectrum of shows ranged from small indie bands up to headline artists (above). Dave Matthews closed the entire festival on Sunday, August 15th. Mat-thews will be taking the year of 2011 off, and the Mile High Fest. was one of his final shows of the year (below).Photo courtesy of Bing.com

MOUNTAIN MUSICPLAY ME

SOME

Air Conditioning Repair Tune ups Brakes Engine Diagnostic Service

Cooling Sytems CV Axles Custom Exhaust Service

NE Licensed Technician& Instructor

Located @102 E. 23rd

Call for an appointment

@ 220-0077

Coming Soon!Your opportunity to purchase a copy of the award-winning

Scottsbluff High School yearbook.

On sale in October!

14 | SPORTS

Off to a great start...story byMICHAEL MILLER | sports writer

...but looking for more

Stouffer adds depth to talented softball team

A FORCE IN THE CIRCLE

Junior Maci Stouffer prepares to throw a pitch against Sterling.Courtesy Photo

When Maci Stouffer walked in Scottsbluff High on Aug. 23 she may have been a junior, but it was her first day attending public school - ever.

After being home-schooled her entire life, Stouffer chose to come to Scottsbluff to play softball.

The high school nearest her home, Gordon-Rushville, didn’t offer the sport. Although Chadron was closer, Scottsbluff’s softball program appeared stronger

and there’s only a 45-minute difference in drive time.This semester Stouffer is taking two classes each morning which fulfills the

school’s twenty-hour miniumum requirement. The other classes her mother teaches when she arrives home.

As the team’s starting pitcher this fall, Stouffer and her teammates are enjoying a lot of success.

“My favorite experience of the year was the Gering double-header. The atmo-sphere was great; I’ve never seen that many people at a softball game,” Stouffer said.

Stouffer said she is eager to help the team reach state for the first time in the school’s history. She also splans to return next year to help out the team after it gradutes nine seniors.

SHE’S BACK

Junior Cheryl Salazar makes a throw from shortstop at a recent game. After spending last semester at Mitchell High School, Salazar is back for her third season with the ‘Cats. Courtesy Photo

Junior Cheryl Salazar stood quietly in front of Scottsbluff High School. She breathed in and slowly pulled open the glass door.

Her white Nikes squeaked on the newly waxed floor as she greeted her old friends. A new vigor surged through her veins and a smile shown across her face.

Everyone’s first day of school is nerve-racking, but for Salazar, it was even more so. This was her first day back to Scottsbluff after transferring from Scottsbluff to Mitchell last semes-ter.

Throughout the day she went from class to class with only one thing on her mind: softball practice.

“I loved Mitchell, but I loved soft-ball more. I transferred back to Scotts-bluff so that I could play,” Salazar said.

In a normal transfer case, this would have meant she couldn’t play any sports for the first full semester of school. However, she was able to avoid this and be eligible immediately upon her return due to the fact her parents live in the school district and she did not participate in any Mitchell sports.

Salazar definitely picked a good year to play. She is one of the twelve returning letter winners and the team is off to the best start in school history with a record of 19-5.

“This season has been great and the team received me very well when I came back from Mitchell,” Salazar said.

A lot of their success is due to the stingy defense they have shown throughout the season including a complete shutout in the Lexington tournament, where they faced four teams and left all of them with a zero on the scoreboard.

That was not the only shutout they posted, however, as they have also throttled Alliance 12-0, and the season isn’t over yet.

Defense isn’t the only thing that has led the Cats to success thus far. They have also showed a lot of character throughout the season.

This was best displayed at the second Scottsbluff-Gering game, where they came back from a 6-2 deficit to defeat the Bulldogs.

With so many letter winners, the team dis- plays a good deal

of depth on the roster as well, along with a good amount of experience.

“We have nine seniors, which is a school record,” head coach Kendall Vogel said.

Five of those letter winners are now team captains: Kira Bowhay, Megan Brown, Kelsey Empfield, Marcie Sindt, along with junior Maddie Holscher.

“The team is more experienced this year and we only lost one senior,” Sindt said.

There are many factors to the team’s success, but the underlying theme is team unity.

“The team is sticking together and encouraging each other, and just getting

along very well,” Brown said. “Most of us have played together

for years, so we have excellent team chemistry,” Salazar said.

The team’s ultimate goal is to make school history with a first ever state ap-pearance, which is more in reach than ever before.

“There are so many strengths of this team. They always support each other in practice and in games and they work together as a team. They also have great team unity. It’s just a matter of putting all of the factors together in one game,” Vogel said.

The team is well-rounded on and off of the field. The senior GPA average is 3.89, which is yet another school record.

“I’m really proud of how hard all of the seniors have worked over the last seven years and how they’ve kept together as a team. They all have great character and they are all great kids,” Vogel said.

“We have many good hitters. We have two great pitchers, Kelsey Emp-field and Maci Stouffer, in addition to two great catchers, Megan Brown and Maddie Holscher,” Vogel said.

The close games make the team keep level-headed.

“The team plays best when they have to come back from a deficit or from adversity. It’s when our backs are against the wall when we play the best because then everyone is focusing,” Vogel said.

With state in sight, the team pushes through the most rigorous part of their season with the GNAC and district tournaments still ahead.

“We’re all trying to work for state. We’re striving to get there. We have a good team so we all work hard and hopefully peak at districts,” Vogel said.

story byKELSEY EMPFIELD | sports editor

SPORTS | 15

Junior Chris Lang stood in the make-shift U-boat, fiddling with his gun.

He glanced to his right; two other boats were moving along next to him. To his right was a third, just like his.

The chatter around him got quieter and quieter and anticipation built as the fleet of boats approached Utah Beach.

Lang’s fellow soldiers stood next to him, most of them of the Bravo and Charlie companies. Silence suffocated everyone present.

He stared at the 4th ID commander as he moved in front of the crowd to speak, “See those Germans? Go kick the crap out of them! Whose beach is this going to be?”

“Ours!” everyone repeated like a well-oiled machine.

Just as the shouts ended, people started flooding out of the boat and onto the rugged terrain. He tried to not push the other soldiers as everyone started running around the bend seek-ing shelter from the Germans.

‘Find the nearest cover. Find the nearest cover.’ The voices in his head repeated as his heart beat out of his chest.

He tucked his gun under his arm as he dove for the closest bush, but SPLAT! A twinge of pain raced through his ribs on his right side as bright yel-low paint exploded onto his shirt. He had been hit.

Did Lang spend his summer in Iraq? No.

This summer, Lang participated in a D-day reenactment. It was paintball extravaganza in Wyandotte, OK, home of the world’s largest paintball event.

This year was the event’s 13th an-niversary and took place on a 60 acre field. People from all over the world came to take part in the incredulous event such places included: New Zea-land, England, and America.

The event attracts both war and paintball buffs, but Lang went for the paintball.

“Paintballing is just a hobby that I really enjoy. I like more recreational activities,” Lang said.

Among the paintball enthusiasts were World War Two veterans.

“When I was participating in the D-day reenactment, I felt like what the veterans would have felt in the actual D-day battle,” Lang said.

Lang drove 1,000 miles one way to Wyandotte with two friends and one of his friend’s dad to take part in D-day.

The event recreated D-day, Allies vs. Germans and everything was histori-cally accurate.

When they approached Utah beach, which was not a literal beach, but rather a field, the gamers rode on U-“boats” which were flat beds with plywood for the sides.

“If you made it off of the boat and didn’t get hit in the initial wave, you

were lucky,” Lang said.Lang heard about the conference

through friends and registered last March over the phone. Lang requested to be a part of the Ally team and was placed on the allied 4th infantry divi-sion.

The conference started June 6, 2010 with registration and check-in.

During the week, there were mini-scenarios: Battle of Stalingrad, Bridges and Bangalors, V2 Rocket Mission, Air-field Assault, and Civil War Style Battle.

These events all led up to the grand finale, D-day. The battle of D-day started at 9 a.m. and lasted until 5 p.m. Eight hours of non-stop vigorous battle.

“Once you start the game, you get immersed. All you want to do is take out the Germans,” Lang said.

The game also has a competitive edge. There is a point system for each battle. Whichever team holds the designated area gets points. The longer a team holds an area, the more points they receive.

In the games this year, Lang’s Allies lost to the Germans.

But beside the paintball games, the event has many other activities includ-ing 36 vendors on the property.

“Without a doubt, I am going again next year,” Lang said.

A D-Day re-enactmentpaintball styleJunior Chris Lang participates in the world’s largest paintball

extravaganza in June

Paintball (equipment) 101A Pose With

The Best

Junior Chris Lang stands next to a poster at a recent D-Day reenactment in Wyandotte, OK. Lang was on the Allied Fourth Infantry division. The conference lasted a week and Lang took part in the festival with two close friends. Courtesy Photo

It all ADD$ upHelmet $100Camo Shirt $15Camo Pants $35Gloves $15Paintball vest $60Underarmour Cleats $80Tippmann A5 Paintball gun $200

TOTAL $505

story bySCOUT WILSON | news editor

16 | SPORTS

At 3:20, senior John Haslam gath-ers his books and leaves his Anatomy and Physiology class behind a pack of students.

Instead of heading to the locker room, Haslam goes to his car, heads to Sonic for a Route 44, and drives 1.9 miles to the Scotts Bluff Country Club for practice.

The boys tennis team can no longer practice on the closed courts at the high school. They have to hold practice at the country club.

Superintendent, Rick Myles, closed the thirty-year old courts in late July due to large cracks which had become a liability.

“Since this spring, the courts have gotten much worse,” Activities Direc-tor Lee Dick said. “The heat seemed to make the cracks expand even more.”

Although there were no serious incidents with players getting injured, the condition of the courts made play-ing more difficult when the ball would land on one causing a re-serve on the play and a laughing matter against the school.

“It gets kind of embarrassing when other teams come and have to play on our courts when they have brand new ones,” Haslam said.

Teams won’t be playing on the courts any longer, but challenges still arise with the transition to the country club.

“It gets inconvenient to drive out there every day and it is different going from having six courts to four, but the courts are definitely better and we get shade too,”Haslam said.

“From a coaching standpoint, the country club has a great setup to see everyone and really try to help each athlete,” head coach Nate Lewis said.

“Plus we have a small team this year with only 12 guys out so it’s a lot easier to give individual attention to every player and focus in on what they need to work on.”

For the Scottsbluff Invitational, matches were held at the country club, Gering High School and Oregon Trail Park in Gering. The Cats finished in 7th place with a 5-17 record.

The plans for new courts to be built are pending. Designs are being made by Baker and Associates in Scottsbluff and bids will be placed in December by several different contractors.

“Once the bids are in, the school board will vote on whether it approves of the cost. If it goes through we are aiming to have them complete by next fall,” Dick said.

The process would include tearing out the current courts and then build-ing new ones on the current location.

The new courts will be made from

post tensioned concrete which is a special surface that helps prevent split-ting by placing cables in both directions and tightening them once the concrete is poured.

Using this material is essential considering that the soil underneath the current courts is soft clay and gravel, setting up any other surface for major splits.

“The post tensioned concrete doesn’t prevent cracks but it prevents those cracks from splitting open,” Jack Baker from Baker and Associates said. “This means that there may be hairline cracks at the most.”

This will provide for a much nicer playing surface and a longer life expec-tancy.

“I’m really pushing for this to go through. I really think having good facilities would expand the program,” Lewis said.

Goodwin enjoying banner season Senior Nate Goodwin isn’t wast-

ing any time this season. Coming off a state-qualifying run last year and a winning record to start off this season, expectations are high.

“I’m pretty happy with how things are going so far,” Goodwin said. “The guys on the team are a lot of fun to be around.”

His season has been highlighted by a third place finish at the No. 1 singles position in the Scottsbluff invite and a 5-2 record at the North Platte Invite.

Although he is satisfied with the way things are going right now, he wants to continue to strive toward his goals.

“I just want to keep working hard in practice and do my best. My goals for this season are to win districts and

make it to the sec-ond day at state,”

Goodwin said.With the way things are going, it will

be no surprise to see him reach these goals.

The places they call home

story byMADDIE HOLSCHER | sports writer

NO PLACE

The tennis team has been forced to use a plethera of courts across the twin cities for practice, duals and its invitational this season.

The team regularly practices at the Scotts Bluff Country Club (above right) which is also where the teams holds it duals.

In order to host the an-nual Scottsbluff Invitational meet on Sept. 4, competing teams played at Oregon Trail Park (immediate right) and at the Gering High School courts (below right).

Head coach Nate Lewis and assistant coach Dave Griess spent the day driv-ing to each location to keep tabs on the team.

Photos by Terrence Lake

Condemned courts force boys tennis team to relocate

to call home

A BANNERYEAR

Senior Nate Goodwin is shown in action at the Sterling dual where he won his match at No. 1 singles. Photo by Terry Pitkin

Not What It’s

Cracked Up

To Be

A lone ball rests in a crack at the condemned high school courts. The team now holds practice at the Scottsbluff Country Club.Photo by Terrence Lake

NO PLACEto call home