Volume 51Issue IIDecember 16, 20106001 Cassia St. Boise, ID 83709borahsenator.com

The Borah

Senator

“My mom told me to do it when I was 42.” Page 15

Read about the crack down on PDA rules.Page 11

See which student preformed at Winter Garden aGlow.

Page 8

Ceramics, Japanese 3 classes collaborate for a tea ceremony.

Page 19

Letters to the Editor2 The Borah Senator December 16, 2010

Senator StaffEditor in Chief: Megan MizutaAssociate Editor: Megan Harrigfeld Tech Support: Troy RobinsonEditorial Catoonists: Chris Lawson, Roxanne Lewers, Aubrey WillisPrint Photo Editor: Katie Helm Assistant: Ali ClapierWeb Photo Editor: Ashley RiceStaff Photographers: Kristin Bracewell, Ali Clapier, Katie Helm, Jamie Jones, Megan Miztua, Ashley Rice Graphic Designer: Adam ThompsonText Editors: Megan Harrigfeld, Megan Mizuta, Samantha Nelson, Jacob Schiess Advertising Manager: Kristin BracewellPage EditorsFront Cover: Megan MizutaLetters to the Editor: Ali ClapierArtist Bio: Ali ClapierNews: Megan MizutaOpinion: Samantha NelsonLife: Jamie JonesSpread: Megan HarrigfeldA&E: Felicia Arnold, Justin KirkhamQ&A: Kristin Bracewell Assistant: Jessica PowellPeople: Samantha WhittakerSports: Brandie CichyJV Sports: Tyler AlbretsonPhoto Essay: Megan MizutaFun & Games: Adam ThompsonInter Writers: Ari Anchustegui, Matthew Bergman, Matthew Bray, Mechelle Conner, Grace Gibney, Brittni Hanrahan, Savannah Har relson, Shelby Hinkle, Haylie Pelton, Jacob Schiess, Nic Schweitzer, Howard Sharp, Sage Unsworth, Aubrey Willis Adviser: Michelle Harmon

By Nic Schweitzer

I should start by mentioning that it’s tradition in my house to have a 20 pound Butterball turkey or chicken on Christmas Eve. The year was 2004, and I was 11. My mother was trying to defrost the bird (it was chicken this year), by running it under cold water, like you’re supposed to, and let it cook for 7 hours.

I was peeling potatoes, to make mashed potatoes. I was sitting on the left of the table, peeling away, when my mom picked up the chicken and did the stupidest thing I think ANY-ONE in Boise has EVER done on Christmas Eve.

She started swinging it around, like she was cradling a baby made out of rocks, and then she stopped. Then she moved closer and closer to ME. TO ME!! Why?

My mother, a then-51 year old woman, who had adopted 2 boys and had 2 sons, didn’t have the sense to re-alize that when a frozen slab of meat is being swung around like a friggin’ Cirque du Soleil belly dancer back-stage at NASCAR, stuff flies. And it did. Right into my HEAD! IT HIT MY HEAD!

When I remember back, I felt like I fell to the floor, backwards, because the bird hit me head-on, but I don’t

remember it. All I remember was hit-ting the shelf behind me, the bird in my lap, and my brother, who was peel-ing potatoes, laughing his ass off. My mom was laughing, too.

My mom, realizing that having a 20-pound frozen bird thrown at your face hurts, saw that I was, in fact, cry-ing. And her attempts to get me up and comfort me didn’t help, since she was squeezing me. And that, kids, hurt.

It was the worst pain I had ever felt, and I’ve been to the Texas State Fair. I got to the bathroom and turned on the shower, to wash it out. Bad move. I don’t think you’ve ever had to clean out an open wound caused by a 20 pound bird thrown at you by your mother before, but, despite that de-grading sentiment, it stung like crazy. Except, from what I remember, it was more of a good stinging, like I knew after this, it would all be over.

I never wanted to leave the shower. It was a mix of pain and hope, damn this hurt, but I’m hopeful I’ll remem-ber my ABC’s or home address or what color Cookie Monster was be-fore this. Thankfully, I did. I turned off the shower, and laid down on my bed. I fell asleep, and woke up 7 PM that night, on Christmas Eve. And I got my revenge. I ate that friggin’ bird to the bone. That was really all I could do. But, I did it. And I was satisfied.

How I survived Christmas dinner

A satire

Artist BioThe Borah Senator December 16, 2010 3

Monster talent: cartoonist’s creations come to lifeAndrew Adams, junior, is known

among his peers and teachers as a quiet guy. But get him talking about his art, and he quickly reveals himself to be passionate about his work. Ad-ams is described as a “quiet guy” with a good sense of humor that “comes out in his art” by student teacher Karelia Dubkowski, who stu-dent taught Adams’ AP Studio De-sign/Art-Drawing class with teacher Jen Compton. Compton, who has taught Adams in art for two years, also described the artist as a quiet, imaginative kid with a lot of talent.

Adams is known to most of Bo-rah for his first place win in last year’s talent show. Adams won the show with a claymation, and used the prize money to purchase software he now uses to create his artwork. Adams said he draws first with colored pencil and then scans his drawing and uses software to “digitally paint it.”

When asked about Adams’ art, Dubkowski noted the “line qual-ity of his work” and his “use of col-or.” Compton likewise noted his dis-tinctive cartoon style.

The character on this issue’s cover is one of many that appear through-out Adams’ work. “He’s got a million different monster characters,” said Compton. Adams said he comes up with the characters by “throwing a bone in my head and a monster brings it back and I draw it.”

Many similar creatures make ap-pearances in Adams’ claymations and animations, which can be viewed on Adams’ YouTube channel, andrewad-amsanimation. Among the so-dubbed “Toon Boom Animations” on Adams YouTube channel are clips of monsters playing Wii only to throw the control-ler out the window in “Playing Wii” and “Board Breaker” in which a mon-ster tries to chop a block of wood us-ing its head only to shatter into pieces. But Adams’ most viewed video thus

far is “istopmotion tests” which runs just under a minute long, features clay creatures melting into puddles, doing cartwheels, changing the TV channel with a remote, and ends with a pink monster eating items like dice, batter-ies, and what appears to be a set of chatter teeth.

Despite his apparent success with claymation, Adams said he prefers cartoons and drawing. Adams likes to draw “whenever I can” and tries to draw something new every day. Adams is currently in AP Studio De-sign/Art-Drawing, where Compton said he has pushed to do some work in styles outside of his comfort zone, like realism. Adams has taken art classes “ever since I could.” However, he said that he taught himself “to draw in my own style.”

Adams also said to look for his work in this year’s talent show, but would give no hint as to what he might enter, and said he wanted it to be a surprise.

Photo by Ashley Rice

By Megan Mizuta

“A Safe Place”“Fun In Space”

“City View"

Additional work by Andrew Adams

Check out youtube.com/ andrewadamsanimation

Video: “Board Breaker”

News4 The Borah Senator December 16, 2010

Naviance streamlines college app processBy Megan Mizuta

The days of requesting transcripts by sign-ing up on a clipboard in the registrar’s office are over. Borah students will now be able to request transcripts, check scholarship information, and keep track of colleges to which they are applying via Naviance.

Not only can Naviance be used by Borah stu-dents to keep track of colleges they’re applying to, but also it can help students compare GPAs and test scores to admission requirements, among other fea-tures, according to Kathi Lecertua of the Career Center.

Naviance is an online program intended to “en-able schools to develop and manage multi-year plans for every student to chart a path toward graduation while achieving college and workplace readiness,” according to information posted on naviance.com

Borah seniors were the first to register for the program, followed by sophomores and juniors; Le-certua expects to have all students registered by win-ter break.

Lecertua noted that Borah has registered faster than most schools, which generally phase in one grade level per year. “By the time sophomores are seniors,” she said, Naviance will be “second nature.”

Senior Taylor Blas offered similar sentiments

and said since sophomores and juniors are being “introduced now, they will find more uses for it.”

Among the features Naviance offers are a sched-ule of colleges visiting the Career Center, and a list of scholarships it has information about.

Among the main tools Borah is emphasizing is the “Colleges I’m Applying To” section, which al-lows students to enter data about items like appli-cation status, whether their transcripts have been requested or sent, and the application submission deadlines.

The program also offers a personality test and resume builder. While Lecertua said that she doubts “any public high school our size uses Naviance to its full capacity,” she expects students to use it “a lot down the road.”

Lecertua said she hopes to use the program to e-mail parents and students by the end of first se-mester, and that Borah will use “more advantages [of Naviance] as times goes on.”

Seniors will use Naviance to take an end of year survey where they will self report what college, if any, they will attend. While Lecertua conceded there is some “margin of error when anything is self reported,” she said the survey generates “lots of good data.”

Some of that data, for example, can be viewed under “acceptance history,” which shows the num-ber of applicants accepted to and enrolled at each

college. The class of 2010 used Naviance “just for the exit survey” and “barely waded into Naviance,” according to Lecertua. But the data generated from the 2010 exit survey supplied the current “accep-tance history” for Borah students with Naviance ac-counts.

According to Lecertua, Naviance was purchased through the counseling department on the district level—all other Boise School District high schools are using it as well. Despite a tight budget, Lecertua said that she expects Naviance to remain in use in “the foreseeable future.”

Prezi emerges as alternative to PowerPointBy Sam Nelson

Tired of making PowerPoint after PowerPoint and only having so much to work with? Have no fear! Prezi is the new PowerPoint, and is being used more and more by English teachers and students at Borah.

Prezi is a new presentation tool that uses zoom-ing and movement rather than individual slides. The website boasts that, “[Prezi] prefers not to fol-low trends. Instead, we learn about culture and re-spond with technology.”

Both PowerPoints and Prezis have their ups and downs, according to students who’ve used them.

“I think that they both have their advantages,” said senior Thomas Van Peursem, who used Prezi along with the rest of his AP Literature class. “Pow-erPoint goes way in depth on personalization and customization. But Prezi is very user friendly and easy on the eyes.”

However, as user-friendly as Prezi is, the work

that goes into it often calls for much bigger projects. “If I was in a bind and needed to create a quick presentation, I’d definitely use PowerPoint,” Van Peursem said. “Personally, it just depends on my mood. [I would use] Prezi if I want it to be cool. And PowerPoint if I don’t really care.”

It’s true; PowerPoint does prove to have more

customizations options than Prezi, with the latter providing limited color and font choices. But per-haps what Prezi does have to offer compensates for what it lacks.

Prezi lets the user double click anywhere to add text, zoom in and out to develop ideas and elaborate on larger text, and it uses a knob-like ‘zebra’ tool to enlarge and shrink text, as well as turn it any which way the user desires.

Images can be added via the ‘insert’ menu, and once again users can use the ‘zebra’ to enlarge and tilt them to their heart’s content.

After each grouping of information is created, a path can be made between areas that will be fol-lowed through the slide show once it’s completed and presented.

“It made some really cool presentations, but it was kind of confusing at first,” said senior Saman-tha Beebe. “It looks a lot better than PowerPoints, though. I didn’t really use it that much, but I am going to the next chance I get.”

A student composes a Prezi in the library.

Photo by Katie Helm

This Naviance map shows the locations of colleges where 2010 Borah graduates are currently enrolled.

Photo from Naviance

NewsThe Borah Senator December 16, 2010 5

Competitive cheerleading squad forms Student SenateBy Grace Gibney

Student Senate’s goal is to encour-age involvement in activities that are taking place at Borah. Not only does this include members of Student Council and clubs, but school-wide participation.

The meetings are held during fourth period every quarter, the first having taken place Oct. 5 and the most recent Dec. 7.

For 20 minutes, each of the spokes-people for the clubs discuss important issues that are taking place at Borah, such as upcoming dances, school-wide activities, and upcoming spirit weeks.

Club leaders or advisers select stu-dents to be representatives of their groups. Most clubs choose to rotate representatives, while others let the

same representative attend every meeting. These students are very in-volved with their clubs and are picked because they are good representatives.

“It’s pretty easy,” said junior Bree Berlinguet, who was a delegate for de-bate last meeting.

All meetings are led by Student Council Vice President Chanse Ward, junior, and supervised by Erica Albert-son, junior, and Ryan Dennis, senior.

Student Council is in charge of holding and arranging each meeting. However, most of the council does not attend the meeting. While the meet-ing is taking place, the other Student Council members are completing var-ious responsibilities. One leader from Student Council and a couple other members help keep the discussion on track.

By Megan Harrigfeld

At the beginning of this school year, the Boise School District purchased an online research re-source called Noodle Tools, the cost at eight dollars for a full year. The Internet software program is used at Borah as a “personal work tool,” according to Librarian Jenn Boyd. The resource is also used by teachers as class tools.

English and Spanish teacher Samantha Mora used her English students as their resource for build-ing a bibliography. However, she had less than suc-cessful results with the students. “I don’t see why we are paying for something that is free,” Mora ques-tioned. In her class, the NoodleBib tool was utilized, to help the students with bibliographies. “There are free resources that are easier to use than [Noodle-Bib].”

While Mora doesn’t see the point of having this resource, it has helped some students. “[NoodleBib] is easy to use and makes the bibliographies fast,” said senior Marie Gerard.

Noodle Tools will still most likely be purchased on subscription and available next year, said Boyd. “It isn’t like us to adopt something and then drop it so fast.”

By Samantha Whittaker

The Sadie Hawkins Dance, usually held in early December, has been postponed until February due to a lack of planning time.

“I was planning a big committee and four peo-ple showed up,” said junior Cristina Chavarria, the choir member who planned the dance.

After hearing that there would not be a Sadie Hawkins Dance, Chavarria decided to organize a committee. “I believe that we need a relief from school, and a dance is the perfect way to do that.”

The dance committee set a deadline of three weeks, soon realizing they would not have enough time.

Although the date and ticket price are subject to change, the announced theme of Super Heroes will remain the same.

By Adam Thompson

The recent ban on texting within Meridian city limits has many wondering if Boise is considering the same thing. Texting has become an everyday part of life, and many students seem to find it hard to keep away from their phones for more than five minutes at a time.

But the big question, will Boise ban Texting while driving? “The City of Boise has considered a texting ban,” stated Michael Zuzel, an employee at the Office of the Mayor in Boise, “but believes a statewide law would be much more effective and en-forceable. Mayor Bieter and the City Council hope the Idaho Legislature will take up the issue in the session that begins next month. We will be moni-toring their progress before deciding on a further course of action.”

Noodle Tools aids students with research projects

Annual Harvest Dance conspicuous by absence

Boise to follow Meridian’s texting and driving ban?

Club leaders meet with Student Council

“The City of Boise has considered a texting ban...”

--Michael Zuzel“I was planning a big committee and four people showed up.”

--junior Cristina Chavarria

By Brandie Cichy

Borah’s competitive cheer squad is getting ready for a tournament, or competition, in late March. There they hope to go on to the state com-petion.

Cheerleading Adviser Brad Baumberger com-mented, “The competitive cheer squad is there to elevate the level of talent and train the members.” Mi-chaela Mehas, senior, who is on both teams, said that the sideline cheer squad doesn’t have as many practices because they have been working to-gether so long.

The cheer squad competes for a couple of months, sometime in late February or early March they will have their first competition. The Borah competition squad competes against any high school who has a competition cheer squad in Ida-

ho. They are also eligible to compete in neighboring states.

Mehas stated, “All the high schools go to the competition and compete in separate divisions like all girls and co-ed for example.” Borah will be com-

peting in the division against s c h o o l s like Rocky

Mountain, Mountain View,

Timberline, and Boise. If the team makes it past that they will go on to state.

The first tournament is in late March although they had an offer to go to one in January. She said that it was on too short of a notice and that the team won’t be prepared.

Photo by Katie Helm

Micheala Mehas, senior, cheered during a boys basketball game.

Opinion6 The Borah Senator December 16, 2010

Senator Staff Opinion

The Borah Senator’s staff shares their opin-ions on current topics in news and pop culture.

‘Tangled’ beats ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1’ at the box offices

WikiLeaks posts more than 250,000 private US State De-partment documents online.

The Beatles’ music finally be-comes available on iTunes.

Full-body imaging scanners be-come the norm in United States airports.

Prince William gives Princess Diana’s engagement ring to fian-cee Kate Middleton.

New policy puts an unneeded halt to any degree of PDA

It’s no secret that watching students’ intimacy in the hallways gets really old, really fast. One distract-ed, kissing couple can block a hallway from one end of the aisle to the other, and it’s a real pain while trying to get to class on time. With that in mind, shouldn’t the recent morning video announcements publicizing the rules for public displays of affection be welcome?

Well, sure, for someone with a barrage of touch-ing issues, or a strange bout of claustrophobia.

For most of us, hugging is a natural behavior. Friends hug each other before going off to class. They squeeze in a goodbye before they take off after school. Children and teens tenderly clutch their par-ents, their siblings, their pets, and even sometimes acquaintances. It’s likely that most of the student population was raised to think that hugging is per-fectly okay.

Obviously, it’s easy to get carried away, but as long as no disturbances are made to other students in the vicinity, there should be absolutely no prob-

lem with sharing a hug with a friend. Five seconds may seem reasonable, but if friends love each other so much that they want to share a 10-second hug in the library, how is it the business of anyone else, or rather, the stuff of administrative concern?

Ditto for kissing. Even teachers can understand the desire to peck

a girlfriend or boyfriend a quick kiss before head-ing off to class. Those who clog entire hallways and block lunch lines to makeout ruin it for the many tactful couples who don’t.

High school students are under the influence of an amazing amount of hormones; we’re still in this stage where we love the concept of a girlfriend or boyfriend so much that it sometimes seems like the most important thing in our lives, as important as breathing.

In the mindset that kissing is the romantic ver-sion of hugging, we come back to the same issue. It would make for a better school if both students and faculty kept to business, focusing on their education-al relationship, rather than on whether little Susie and Billy hugged for seven -- or was it six?-- seconds.

Staff Editorial

Illustration by Chris Lawson

OpinionThe Borah Senator December 16, 2010 7

Black market for Spice could have been prevented through education

With a flash of his pen, Gov. Butch Otter crossed the T’s in his signature, adding the chemicals found in Spice to Idaho’s controlled substance list in the same group as marijuana. Before Otter’s final approval, Jamie Grey from KTVB.com wrote, “Board members decided creating a ban, at least temporarily, on Spice was in the interest of public safety.”

Spice was, until the recent ban, an everyday consumer product that anyone, no matter his or her age, could buy from a local seller. “It’s sold as incense,” said sophomore Logan Fox, “and it has chemicals in it to get you high.” Spice is usually smoked by users. “It can give you a weed high,” said junior Austen Acos-ta.

This misuse of Spice essen-tially stems from the ignorance or ex-treme negligence of consumers. Us-ers have a choice whether to smoke their incense or burn it for aroma-therapy. One must weigh his or her choices carefully: a medicinal aroma

Comic books have a place in the classroom

By Justin Kirkham

Comics should be considered lit-erature mainly because they have everything a novel does, except there are pictures.

If more teachers offered comics as a literature substitute in their classes, then students might comply more when their teachers assign it.

“I would also like to point out that comics are a brand of literature them-selves. They have a plot, a conflict, pro and antagonists, rising and fall-ing actions, etc,” stated senior Caitlyn Bridges.

“To illustrate this, let’s use an ex-

By Felicia Arnold

or “physical and mental side effects,” according to the KTVB interview.

Contrary to what one may think, the banning of Spice was an unintel-ligent move on Otter’s part. “Ban-ning Spice could create [a] more dangerous, underground market,” wrote Grey. Now that Spice has been banned, there is no doubt that illegal trading of Spice will spring up.

Ryan Holdaway, an attorney for Spice sellers interviewed by Grey, said, “So, really what I think is the ironic twist to this is they’ve increased the danger to public safety rather than preserved it.” In essence, the banning of Spice will create more problems than it has solved.

The government could have en-forced age requirements for the buying of Spice or promoted better educa-tion about its effects if used improper-ly. Instead, the door for an even worse underground market, wherein Spice will be distributed without any form of regulation, has been opened. Basi-cally, what could have been improved with smaller measures, has been in-flamed by a hasty ban.

ample, Batman. As a character, he has history, when his parents were killed when he was eight, a horrible conclu-sion to a random mugging. From then on, he devoted his life to making sure that no one else would feel the pain he felt,” said Bridges.

English teacher Stefan deVries said, “I think graphic novels are okay in cases such as ELL when covering long complex things, not in place of literature. It should be a choice thing on your own time.”

When considering deVries’ view-

Illustration by Chris Lawson

“Comics are a brand of literature themselves.”

-- senior Caitlyn Bridges

point, it’s very imporant to acknowl-edge that not all literary information is included in a comic book.

“I don’t think that teachers allow comics as literature because I feel like we are distancing ourselves and los-ing the ability to read, because not all action is in 10 pages. You lose real characters and plot,” explained deVr-ies.

Teachers should have a say on whether their students should be al-lowed to use comic books as literature or not.

If more teachers did allow this, then there would be students reading all over the place.

Life 8 The Borah Senator December 16, 2010

Photo by Katie Helm Winter Garden aGlow sparkles in the night lights at the Idaho Botanical Gardens through January.

Not only did visitors to the Idaho Botanical Garden’s Winter Garden aGlow see sparkling new lights, but they were greeted by SkillsUSA members from several high schools, including Borah and the orchestra.

Timberline art teacher and SkillsUSA Adviser Patri-cia Thorpe said, “It’s always fun, a bit cold each time I volunteer, but I wouldn’t miss it! Christmas wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t spend at least a couple nights at the Winter Garden aGlow.”

The annual holiday event offers a jump-start to the winter weather. Office and Volunteer Coordinator Kar-en Christeson described the mood there as “a festive holi-day atmosphere.” She added, “All ages are excited with the lights.”

Senior Violinist Lindsey Rogien was excited to play music with her fellow orches-tra members at the Botanical Garden as a volunteer proj-ect. Rogien explained that they went through about 50 Christmas music and people sang along. “They are really fun because the lights are im-

pressive.” She said that every year

the lights are “artistically pre-sented” by volunteers who try to create new lighting designs, decorations and arrange-ments. Christeson said, “We like to offer something new for the community.”

The sparkling 250,000 twinkling lights do not go up by themselves, and making the affair possible takes some dedication.

The crews begin hang-

By Kristin Bracewell

ing the lights in September. Then they leave the lights up until January, and the process of taking them down begins, which can also take months.

Students help at local holiday event

Graphic by Nic SchweitzerOn Dec. 1, the Boise School District experienced the first snow day of the season. “I spent my day snowmobiling in my neighborhood, pulling my friends on snowboards,” junior Makenzie Moncur said.

Christeson stressed their switch to more efficient LED lights to contribute to preserv-ing the environment.

This production could not

go on without the average number of 600 volunteers. Christeson stated that there is usually over 3,000 volunteer hours for the winter occasion.

She said that large groups and corporations give back to the community and join the volunteer effort. “It gets them in the holiday spirit,” she said.

“It (Winter Garden aGlow) is one of our ma-jor fundraisers,” Christeson said. The money raised goes to supporting education and horticulture programs. Many sponsors donate, and this year sponsors that donated had lighted flowers named in their honor.

Christeson said she enjoys the children who visit the gar-den and see all the sparkling lights. Christeson was also thrilled about some of her volunteers. “I really am excit-ed this year to have so many high schools involved.”

LifeThe Borah Senator December 16, 2010 9

Hanging out at coffee shops and Urban Outfitters, hipsters hopped on the scene looking from thick-rimmed glasses and ironically thin mustaches into a world of art and politics. The triangle from which these mod-ern hippies live their lives is an equi-lateral one filled with a vast knowledge of choosing coffee beans, repairing their fixed gear bicycles, and savoring Bob Dylan trivia.

Hipster lifestyle has moved from counter-culture to mainstream, where in every direction there is a grandfa-ther cardigan adorned by unruly hair atop a person, most likely “being seen” in a coffee shop or art museum.

The original “hipster” slang term appeared in the 1940s, associated with aficionados of jazz culture, and was reborn around 2008 when the completely oversaturated term was reincarnated in New York City.

Today’s hipsters are rather remi-niscent of their early 20th century counter parts. With peacock feathers and pixie haircuts back on the scene, these hipsters are modern-day, an-drogynous versions of 1920s flappers. However, members of this modern subculture have, for all intents and purposes, picked and chosen certain trends from every decade since their

1920s inception with high-wasted pants from the 1980s and “grunge” looks popularized in the 1990s.

“We’ve contrived all these differ-ent cultures, clothing, ideas—and put them into one,” said junior hipster Gabby Baker. Baker, according to ju-nior Resid Beganovic, is the epitome of hipster; complete with tights and a love for photography and the blog-ging site Tumblr.

For music, an informal code de-termines what is acceptable. From the Shins to Run DMC, a hipster’s musi-cal taste is wide and varied. “You have to acquire the taste for it,” said junior Austin Fender. “(It is) the music that is usually different (compared to other genres).”

Tights and grandpa cardigans are merely examples of hipster fashion, which is practically genderless. Almost anything that the hipster female may wear, the hipster male can as well.

Stores like American Apparel ac-tually have alternate views on their websites where the clothing item can be viewed on a woman or man. As being natural is very important to the hipster, many girls go without make-up, and veganism is the acceptable diet. The absence of clothes is anoth-er aspect very popular among “natu-ral” hipsters. “They like playing chess in the nude,” commented sophomore

Photo by Ashley RiceA pair of hipsters stroll along the sidewalk of downtown Boise.

Hard work and determination and hours of practice. Borah’s Jazz band prepared for the Dec. 3 Dis-trict III Jazz Festival for months. It was held at Capital High School. According to Kevin Sullivan, Jazz Band teacher, the festival is not a competition, but rather where all jazz bands from the Boise area come

By Megan Harrigfeld

Hipsters

to perform pieces they have rehearsed. Sullivan has taught at Borah for 19 years, and every year he has been teaching Borah’s Jazz Band has earned a “superior ranking” at the fes-tival.

A superior ranking entails an aver-age score of 90 or above out of 100. Sullivan said that Borah has won the highest score several different years, but that this year wasn’t one of them.

Judges from three colleges scored the bands at the festival. Jordan Fife, senior, said that Borah’s Jazz Band earned scores of 89, 94 and 99. Jazz Band began practicing for the festival once school start-ed, Kelsey Nelson, senior, said. A class devoted strictly to Jazz Band is held during fifth period. Sullivan stated that the week-long Thanksgiving break, economic sum-

mit and the snow day interfered with preparation for the festival; in the 15 days prior to the festival, there had only been three real practices where everyone was present. Sullivan em-phasized that attendance was impor-tant -- there is no one to take the place of a missing member of the band. With the festival over, the band will practice for a February concert in Moscow.

Jazz band depends on hard work, discipline

Christian Gravenmeir. As for shoes, oxfords, ankle-high

boots or anything that looks like it could have been made out of wood is acceptable, said Fender.

The hipster walks among the masses in daily life but is not a part of them. As sophomore Raegyn Hawkins said via Facebook, “I am too p for this.”

By Haylie Pelton

New generation of coolredefines years of style

8 Volume 48 Issue I NOVEMBER 12,

10 The Borah Senator Volume 51 Issue II December, 16 2010 11Crime and PunishmentBathroom grafitti entertains, antagonizesBy Felicia Arnold

“A man is no less a slave be-cause he is allowed to choose a new master once in a term of years” –Lysander Spooner. Written on one of the stalls in the Old Gym building, this is merely an example of the new editions of eye candy added by bathroom visitors that use the stall walls as a canvas.

“I think girls write on the bathroom stalls because it’s an easy thing to do, or a pas-sive aggressive way to express negative emotions to get away with it,” said School Resource Officer Steve Kincheloe.

The writing in the girls bathroom stalls is growing week by week. Although the janitors are painting over the so called “bathroom talk,” it is still an issue that grows at a slow pace.

“It’s entertaining. I love reading all the things girls are talking about in the bathroom stalls,” said senior Amber Vann.

The bathroom talk is an endless cycle. Immediately af-ter the janitors paint over the bathroom talk in the stalls, the graffiti reappears. Cleaning up this grafitti is no easy task. Head custodian Rodney Eells reported spending a half an hour on one stall, and some-times more.

This year, the resources at the school’s level couldn’t deal with the immense levels of writing in the boys bathroom in the New Gym. Professional painters had to come to the school for it to be repainted. The cost of labor was around $100, according to Eells, and then the addtional cost of paint was costly as well.

“It’s taking so long to get taken care of because it sim-ply and completely doesn’t get reported. Not enough fac-ulty goes into the student bath-rooms, so nobody knows,” said Kincheloe.

However, the janitorial staff does know, and would hope that the grafitti could stop. “It’s not hurting the school [as a community], it is just causing more work for the custodians,” said Eells.

Other students believe, however, that “It keeps spread-ing because no one wants to hurry up and get back to class,” according to senior Ka-tie Craig.

Even though some may find the graffiti entertaining, some of the messages portrayed in the stalls are of a serious na-ture. “I think that if people are talking about serious issues in

a bathroom stall, then maybe they should visit the counsel-ors,” said Vann, “because in all honesty, I think those shouldn’t be in there.”When dealing with stress, it seems this year that many girls are writing out their issues on bathroom stalls, in particular, the girls bath-room located in the Old Gym. This region has been painted over several times to keep the inappropriate messages away.

Photos by Kristin BracewellWriting and artwork in bathroom stalls has been around since writing utensils were put in hands of students. The janitorial staff tries to cover up the artwork as much as they can at one time, and recently painted over the writing in the Old Gym building bathrooms by the 500-level classrooms. Writing still remains and the staff continuously has to remove or cover the writing. However, the bathroom stalls aren’t the only places that students have taken to decorating. Some teachers complain that desk tops are also being used as art surfaces.

10 The Borah Senator Volume 51 Issue II December, 16 2010 11Crime and PunishmentAdmin gives PDA kiss of death Incense called Spice put

on banned substance listBy Adam Thompson

The Borah administration recently advocated for more enforcement with rules pertain-ing to Public Displays of Affec-tion (PDA) When asked if the new rules had always been in place, Principal Bonita Ham-mer replied, “The rules are not new, but are rather a clarifica-tion of the current rules.”

When one traveled down the halls, it wasn’t uncommon to see a couple holding hands, nuzzling closely, or even kiss-ing, but, while they may enjoy it, several students did not. It was the complaints by many such students that prompted the clarification.

“The new rules are nec-essary,” stated senior Ashley Todd, “and the [PDA] rules were not always followed any-way. People need to get over themselves.” Several students replied similarly. So why the clarification? Hammer men-

tioned several reasons, such as kissing in the halls, and com-plaints from other students. “The biggest reason, though,” she said, “is the need, and goal, to educate students about ap-propriate behavior for life, but

more specifically, for the work-place.” Many students are still finding ways around these new rules, as there are spots within the school grounds that are not as heavily policed by teachers and staff as the main halls.

By Justin Kirkham

Once a widely popular in-cense smoked for a marijuana-like sensation, Spice, or more exactly the chemicals in it, has been temporarily added to the controlled substances list in the state of Idaho.

According to Jesse Nance from the Idaho Press-Tribune, after signing the ban on Spice, Governor Butch Otter said, “We are the 14th state to take action like this, and I’m confi-dent we won’t be the last.”

Spice, also referred to as K2, Zohai, and Genie, affects the body in several ways. “I heard it affects [users] worse than weed,” said junior Aus-ten Acosta, “because of all the chemicals in it.”

In tests on mice, the Drug Enforcement Administration found that Spice can lower one’s body temperature and

temporarily eliminate one’s ability to feel any sort of pain.The agency also found that Spice can lead to partial pa-ralysis. Nishi Gupta, from KTVB, said Meridian police officers have “seen kids on it, even taken some to the hospi-tal.”

“It makes them less knowl-edgeable and more crazy,” said sophomore Logan Fox. Fox hears of people using Spice about twice a month.

“I’m sure there are peo-ple at Borah that use it,” Fox added.The punishments incor-porated with Spice are severe. Gupta said, “Anyone caught selling it, using it, sharing it, or even possessing it will get ar-rested and face a misdemean-or.”

People caught with Spice will be fined for as much as $300 and will face up to six months in jail.

Students disillusioned after possessions stolen, violatedBy Matthew Bray

A series of local break-ins has led many Borah students to realize that their belongings are only as safe as they make them.

At the beginning of this school year, junior Jake O’Reilly discovered that his 80 gigabyte iPod and $50 of his brother’s money had been stolen, O’Reilly stated that he knew the possessions were sto-len because he had left them at his house that same day, and when he returned they were gone.

In reaction to the invasion, O’Reilly felt “weird, just know-ing someone was in my house,

and in my room. I mean, I shouldn’t have to worry about my stuff in my own house.”

The person who filched O’Reilly’s iPod and his broth-er’s money is still unknown. His advice to others to pre-vent this from happening is to keep one’s house locked, and keep expensive things away from windows.

Junior Sarah Ash reported a smashed car window after being at a party at a friend’s house near South Junior High.Her purse and $15 had been stolen from her car. She doesn’t know who was responsible, but she said that junior Jamie Wees’ car was also vandalized while at the same party. Ash said that

her purse was found in “some random guy’s backyard” with everything inside save for the small amount of cash.

The purse had been report-ed to the police and was re-turned to her, and she said “for awhile, I didn’t want to drive.” Ash is thankful that the situa-tion didn’t turn out worse, and her advice to others is “if you

leave your purse in your car, keep it out of sight.”

On the first collabora-tion day of the school year, sophomore Shelbie Hackett went into the girls’ locker room during volleyball prac-tice and discovered her wal-let stolen and her clothes thrown around the floor. Hackett lost about $300 in cash, her driver’s license, gift cards, credit cards and more that was in her wallet.

According to Hackett, the school security cameras revealed a middle-aged man coming in and out of the girls locker rooms, but the Officer Kincheloe wouldn’t allow her to see these tapes.

Hackett claimed that she re-ceived no help to compensate her for her stolen property, and that no efforts were taken to find the suspect. Her only ad-vice to students is to make sure belongings stay locked in lock-ers.

According to the SRO, however, her case was reported to the police department, but the man was never found, de-spite other students claiming to have seen him.

He said that all exterior gym doors are locked during after-school hours, and though things are stolen all the time, usually the suspects are found and prosecuted, and that this was an isolated incident.

“I shouldn’t have to worry about my stuff

in my own house.”--Jake O’Reilly,

junior

Photo by Ashley RiceSenior Payton Peterson and junior Cameron Berkenmeier defy PDA rules in a posed shot.

A&E12 The Borah Senator December 16, 2010

Curators develop opportunites for teens

Comic book offers twisted perpective on zombies

Blackest Night is a dark and twisted journey throughout the DC comic universe where dead superheroes are brought back to life as the living dead.

One may start thinking, “Oh cool! A zombie comic…FINALLY!” Well, be prepared for total disappointment.

The comic contains so much information that one must practically be an expert to understand it. Trying to follow all the information about how su-perheroes have died and come back to life makes the comic more confusing than necessary.

Hal Jordan, also known as Green Lantern, is the main character who must join with the Green Lantern Corps to fight the dead.

The Green Lantern Corps is forced to put a war with the other corps aside, and are forced to team up and defeat the zombie heroes.

Through out the series, the information be-comes too much of an overload and no longer makes sense. Superheroes are fighting villains who have died and become evil because they have somehow had a force bring them back to life.

Despite the overload of information, and even if the story line was too complicated, the artwork was fantastic. Blackest Night is definitely a story of its own kind and cannot be replaced in the comic universe DC has created.

By Samantha Whittaker

By Felicia Arnold

Ever wonder what a museum would look like after hours? On May 19, the Boise Art Museum (BAM) will hold its next Teen Nite.

Held twice a year, Teen Nite is an after hours event that is free to teens ages 13 and up. Doors will open at 5 p.m. with the event closing at 8 p.m.

“Working with teen groups has been really positive for the museum because we get to see a group we normally don’t see,” said Terra Feast, Curator of Education. Previously anywhere from 80 to 100 teens have attended the event featuring open galleries, open studios, food, and artist demonstrations. “We want teens to feel comfortable visiting the mu-seum,” said Drew Williams Larned, Associate Cu-rator of Education.

However, Teen Nite is not the only opportunity to experience BAM. The museum offers options for volunteer work as well.

Options include but are not limited to commu-nity service hours for helping with camps and class-es in the summer. Although the museum sees fewer volunteers during the school year, there are about 12 helpers each summer.

“We often have students from local junior high and high schools come in after school to volunteer,” Larned said.

Want a little some-thing more? Become a part of BAM’s Teen Advisory Committee.

Although the pro-gram was started only two years ago, the committee gives the museum feedback and helps plan events such as Teen Nite.

Committee mem-bers also learn more about the inner work-ings of a museum.

Run by the education department of the mu-seum, the Teen Advisory Committee has a current roster of 12 members, although the education cura-tors would like to expand toward 15 members.

A recruitment event will be held at the museum during spring semester. “I think it’s a great way for

teens to get involved in the museum,” Larned said.Although the committee does not require an

application, members are asked to sign an agree-ment form stating that they commit to the program. Meetings are held once a month at the museum as well as at community events.

Looking for a place to display art? In March, BAM will begin accepting submissions for its sixth Higher Ground Art Exhibition.

This exhibition is held once every other year and features only teen art from the Boise and Meridian school districts. Art for the exhibition will be dis-played March 1 to May 5.

While conscious of their participants’ busy schedules, the BAM Education Department wants to see teen programs grow. They also hope to see program participants go on to pursue art in col-lage or return to the museum as collage interns and volunteers.

The Boise Art Museum (BAM) in Julia Davis park is home to teen extra-curricular activites.

“Working with teen groups has been really positive

for the museum because we get to see a group we

normally don’t see.” -- Terra Feast, Curator of

Education.

Photo by Katie Helm

A&EThe Borah Senator December 16, 2010 13

Photo by Katie HelmThe Borah library houses a variety of manga, including Tsubasa, Death Note, Chobits, and The Legend of Zelda.

Roleplayers embrace new personas in various mediums

Graphic novel drive proves unsuccessful thus far

Sketch by Laura Gray, Photo by Katie Helm Senior Laura Gray roleplays as her character named Langdon, whom she created to personify her laptop.

Writer’s Corner:Ashley Todd

By Samantha Whittaker

Manga lovers are taking budgetary matters into their own imaginations, calling for donations.

“Manga is Japanese animation that often reads backward,” said Borah librarian Jennifer Boyd.

As a result of the library’s budget cuts, fund-raising has accounted for this year’s entire budget with the exception of a $1,000 grant from the Boise Schools Foundation. The library has been accept-ing donations of money and books from those who can afford it. However, a separate drive is being held for a different kind of book, manga.

“Most people wouldn’t think to donate manga,” said senior Jessica Meyers. She and a group of stu-dents from Japanese Club started the drive with a box, some fliers, and permission

They began with the goal of making manga more accessible to students but have found the drive to be unsuccessful so far.

To donate manga, it must be in good condition, school appropriate, age appropriate and placed in the box in room 202.

The drive has no set ending date at this time and may continue for the remainder of the year if it be-gins to see success.

By Justin Kirkham

Iambic quatameter, meter, rhyme scheme, and stanza are terms very familiar to senior Ashley Todd. Her fa-vorite form of creative writing is “honestly, po-etry, because I have a short attention span.”

She loves this more eloquent and rhythmic form of writing because she can use poetic lan-guage and techniques. “I write because I love to write,” remarked Todd with a laugh, “the end.”

“She has a very lyrical writing style,” said cre-ative writing teacher Chuck McHenry. One of Todd’s creative writing classmates, senior Mat-thew Hale, said, “[Her writing] flows in a kind of rhythmic way.”

Todd does not have a common theme in her poetry. “They’re just about regular things,” she explained. “They are the genre of reality.” Out-side of class, Todd can be found jotting down her ideas in small, neat letters. “Anytime I have a moment or an idea comes to my mind, I write it down before it’s lost.”

One of her favorite pieces of writing is her poem, “Music Box.” It is written in the compli-cated form of iambic quatameter, wherein each line contains eight unstressed then stressed syl-lables. “I think that’s just the best I’ve ever done,” Todd explained.

Read Todd’s poem, “Music Box,” on the Cre-ative Fiction page at borahsenator.com.

By Samantha Nelson

Have you seen a lot of people passing notes in class lately? There’s a pretty good chance they aren’t just making small talk. Many students, espe-cially the anime-loving community and Japanese Club members, love roleplaying.

Roleplaying, or RPing, is a hobby that involves two or more people writing an ongoing story while taking the roles of different characters. It can be done online or in notebooks, and can be focused on original characters, or characters from an already-existing video game, show, movie, or book, such as Harry Potter, Final Fantasy, or Lord of the Rings.

Entire websites exist that are dedicated to role-playing. Many of them are forums, where multiple people can join in one storyline as different charac-ters. Some participate in two-person RPs through social websites, such as the Notes section on devi-antART.com or messaging on Facebook. This is known widely as paragraph RPing. In addition, many happen through some kind of chat room, such as Yahoo or MSN.

“I mostly do paragraph roleplay,” said senior Laura Gray. “Chat once in a while.”

Some card games are also considered roleplaying scenarios because of the persona the players take on while playing them, such as Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh, and sometimes even Pokemon. Stores like All About Games and Magic Dragon Games often create leagues, where like-minded players can gather and compete to their hearts’ content.

Even more popular are multiplayer online role-play games, such as World of Warcraft. These fea-

ture a large number of roleplayers interacting with one another in a huge universe, with many different races and levels. According to Blizzard Entertain-ment, the company that publishes the Warcraft se-ries, their subscriber base for World of Warcraft has reached over 12 million worldwide.

“I roleplay because it’s natural, like painting a picture with someone’s help,” said Gray. “You get to imagine a world with another person, and to me that is beyond amazing.”

Photo by Ashley Rice

Q&A 14 The Borah Senator December 16, 2010

What is your most hilarious holiday tradition?

“We do the ‘Turkey Walk’ at Thanksgiving, where

whoever walks like a turkey the best wins $10.”

~ Junior Nicole Daun

“Every Christmas I always watch ‘A Christmas Story’ the entire day. On New Year’s eve I have a

tall bottle of sparkling cider to accompany me.”

~ Senior Ryan Dennis

“Probably when my Grandpa tries to sing Christmas songs.”

~ Sophomore Anne Lyon

“We decorate our tree with Halloween lights and

decorations, then wrap the tree in fake spider webs.”

~ Sophomore Jason Fairchild

“Every Christmas present me and my mom wrap in silver

wrapping paper,silver bows and silver

‘to and from’ stickers. The Christmas tree has ALL silver decorations.”

~ Sophomore Jacobi Tucker

“My most hilarious holiday tradi-tion is the ‘Family Music Concert.’ Yes, that’s right. My parents STILL make me and my two younger sib-lings (29 and 24) play holiday mu-sic while everyone else eats des-sert (Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie and Grasshopper Ice Cream Pie). It’s horrible. We can’t even have des-sert until we’ve played. This has been a tradition for 19 years...and

every year we have fought it.” ~ Teacher Stephanie Maughan

For more answers visit borahsenator.com

PeopleThe Borah Senator December 16, 2010 15

Educator not just your average Joe

Brad Baumberger may seem like just the average joe teacher, the video broadcast-ing and technology teacher. But he is so much more than

just a teacher. Many of his students praise him for who he is as an individual.

Senior Danielle Schall-horn said of her teacher Baumberger, “He is overall great. Very funny and always has great stories.”

Senior Thom-as Van Peursem agreed. “Baum-berger is very inspiring as a teacher.” Van Peursem said he is motivational and that his teaching technique is basi-cally “to be able to learn you have to be able to learn on your own,”so Baumberger gives students many in-dividual freedoms.

B a u m b e rg e r has been involved in much around Borah from the

Student Store to track, foot-ball to his current position as the cheerleader adviser. “I like to change one component every year to keep it interest-ing. It keeps me from getting bored.”

Schallhorn said, “(As

cheerleader adviser) he is re-ally cool. He’s strict and he has his ideas of what he wants done, but he’s laid back.”

Baumberger became a teacher because of his mom. “My mom told me to do it when I was 42.” He was in between coaching jobs at the time and his mom thought he needed to be doing some-thing. “It is the most fun I ever have for a career,” He added that he had substituted all over the Boise School District and was very fortunate to be a teacher at Borah. He likes the diversity. “It’s fun trying to blend all the people together.”

The advisor has had a very successful life. In college, he was became a Division One quarterback and team captain for the University of Wyoming. His college days pushed him to master in Ad-ministration of Athletics Pro Secondary. He also received an Undergraduate in Busi-

By Megan Harrigfeld

Long time dancer Melissa Lee, senior, is pirouetting on to the scene of sugar plum fairies and roses in the 2010 Eagle Performing Arts Center (EPAC) per-formance of the Nutcracker.

“We tell a story through dance,” said Lee. The seasoned dancer has been a part of the EPAC ensemble of dancers for four years, and has been a part of other dance teams including Ballet Idaho and Dance Unlimited. “I go to dance [practice] pretty much every day.”

In the production, Lee plays a myriad of roles, including the Rat King, Rus-sian Lead, Spanish Lead, a rose, and a snowflake. Although roles are distributed over two different productions, three of her parts are lead roles in the dance performance.

Lee started her organized love of dancing at the age of four, where she joined her first team. “It was pretty apparent to my parents that I would love to dance,” Lee commented. “I never walked… I danced.”

Including her dance teams and ensembles, Lee has also participated in sum-mer programs known as Summer Instances. These programs include inten-

ness, a Teaching Certifica-tion, and Specialist in School Administration.

“My parents and my life experiences in business and college athletics” caused him to be so successful in life, he said.

After being at school all day, Baumberger tries to dis-tance himself from his class-room life. “I do not personally own a computer of a cam-era”, he said. He explained that he got rid of them about six years ago and “does not miss them”.

Since he was raised on a farm, he enjoys being in the great outdoors instead of cooped up inside all day. Ba-umberger takes pleasure in doing anything around his home “as long as it’s under the clear blue sky.” He enjoys to fix stuff around the house and hang out with his fam-ily “me, my wife, and my two dogs, Gunnar and Luke.”

Photo by Ali ClapierTeacher and cheerleading adviser, Brad Baumberger, is part-teacher, part-mentor to his keyboarding and technology students.

sive training in technique, learning repertoire, as well as body training such as yoga.

At school, Lee has also show-cased her dance skills. She partici-pated in talent shows at Borah and West Junior High.

Although Lee’s passion for dance goes beyond a hobby, she does not plan to continue dancing as a professional. “I like how there is a technique, yet it is creative be-cause it is an art form,” said Lee. “I’ll probably always dance; it is just a really hard career.”

Other loves of Lee include phys-ics and film. “I would like to find something including (dance, physics and film).” Motion Capture Tech-nique may be something Lee said she would be interested in.

However, Lee still doesn’t know exactly what the future holds. “Who knows, maybe I’ll change my mind and want to be a dance teacher.”

Photo courtesy of Michael Lee

Astute senior conveys stories through dance

By Kristin Bracacewell

Sports 16 The Borah Senator December 16, 2010

Nationally ranked Borah wrestlers unnoticed Pickup ultimate frisbee games lack attendence

his junior year was 117-18, and he plans to go undefeated his final high school season pushing his win totals over 150.

Even with confidence, he understands the discipline he must maintain to be success-ful and achieve his goal.

“I jumped up a few weight classes--I’ll be facing bigger and stronger kids than be-fore,” said West. “But I’m bigger, stronger, and smarter now as well, and see myself as number one.”

Evans holds the record for most pins in a single season

with 26 his junior year. He looks to substantially increase that record his senior season.

“I haven’t lost to anybody in my weight class in Idaho, and I’ve only improved since last year,” he said.

Evans’ weight class doesn’t lack competition. He just doesn’t allow his competitors to catch up.

He has a rigorous training schedule demanding him to practice twice a day as well as fit in a cardio workout.

Both West and Evans said they plan to have their best seasons yet.

Snow team readies for challenging seasonBy Savannah Harrelson

Snow team kicks off this January, starting a season full of shredding the slopes and racing for the win.

Meetings have already started, and are held every Tuesday at lunch, but the rac-es do not start until January

Qualifying for the Dotty Clark race, which is on Feb-ruary 17th, is only a part of what these snowboarders and skiers are about.

The Dotty Clark race is

the finals or the champion-ship for the snow team and

they must have raced a mini-mum of three races to qualify.

They also go on many trips, such as one to Brundage Ski Resort in McCall in Janu-ary, and one to Sun Valley in March. The trip to Brundage is on Janurary 5th.

“My favorite part about snow team is probably the ski trips,” said junior Evan Huntsman, a snowboarder. Cameron Partee, senior, said that the best part of the snow team according to him is, “We just get to go up on a moun-tain and do what we do.”

Just three Saturday races

qualify the snow team mem-bers to compete in Dotty Clark, a race held at Bogus Basin with no skill level bar-riers. “It’s basically just every-one versus everyone, which I really like,” said Partee.

Snow riders can partici-pate in slalom races, which consist of the rider weaving in and out of gates marked on the course. Also, mem-bers can take part in freestyle, which consists of rails and jumps.

On race days members get

By Brittni Hanrahan

“Rain, snow, sleet, hail, ice, we will still be ready to play at Ann Morrison Park” commented Alex LaChance, coach of the Ultimate Frisbee team.

However, there have only been three people, all juniors, that have attended those Sat-urday pre games.

“The Saturday games are way fun! It would be nice if more peopled showed up though” answered Sky Begin,

one of the three students who attend the Saturday games.

“I think the pre games are awesome, especially if people show up. “

“They can help us start working as a team and they give us a chance to play with people with different experi-ence levels.”

“Also we get in better shape and they help us work on things during the off sea-son so we are ready when the season starts” commented Tracie Curl.

By Sage Unsworth

Most of the student body has never seen two of the most decorated and gifted athletes compete. Most haven’t even seen a match of their sport, other than the chair smash-ing, body slamming, and choke holding theatrical acts on television.

Seniors Taylor West and Patrick Evans aren’t actors; the winners of their matches aren’t chosen before hand, although they already know whom it will be.

They have put in countless hours of exhausting practices, forming the technique, stam-ina, and strength required to be wrestlers. But to reach the level they are it takes more than just that. It requires de-termination, pride, and heart.

West and Evans are ranked among the top 50 high school wrestlers in the nation and are both expected to win state titles in their weight classes.

Taylor West is on track to becoming the most winning wrestler in Borah history. His overall record at the end of

Nationally ranked wrestlers Taylor West and Patrick Evans sit in the weight room where they frequently work out in preperation for their matches.

Photo by Ashley Rice

“It’s basically just everyone versus everyone, which I

really like.” --Cameron

Partee, senior

to go to one of the races, do it and then they can go any-where afterwards.

The team practices when-ever they want on their own time. Every Saturday there is a race and some Thursdays they let them miss school to go up for a race.

When the team races they have to go through marked gates and they are timed. The gates are there to weave in and out of as they try to be the first to pass through the finish mark.

Ultimate frisbee players practice their skills at Ann Morrison park in preperation for the upcoming season.

Photo by Ali Clapier

SportsThe Borah Senator December 16, 2010 17

Team has more depth than last yearBy Sage Unsworth

In recent years Borah has established itself among the elite boys high school basketball teams in Idaho. The team has been a top contender in the state tournament, but this year the Lions intend to put forth the effort to become more than just an-other contender.

“We have a really good chance at running the table,” said Senior Kevin Shepard. “We have to stay focused and keep improving.”

Shepard is returning to the team this year after taking his junior year off, and will make an impact on the team’s success. However Borah’s strengths aren’t in an individual talent like years past, but team unity and cohesiveness, and a shared desire to win.

“We are more of a team this year,” said senior Jeremy Jones.“There isn’t one person carrying the whole team.”

Borah has talent, overflowing with it in fact, and not just the starting five, the entire roster has depth

Hockey family breeds winnerSoftball begins open fieldBy Brandie Cichy

Senior Kelci Lester is on Borah’s hockey team; she also travels and plays for a city team, the Her-ricanes.

Playing hockey for seven years, she recalled when she first got into the game. “My little brother Jesse started playing when he was three. I was at the rink everyday all the time. I used to watch him and felt like I was missing out on the fun. My mom also played. I started in fifth grade and have been playing ever since then.”

Lester’s whole family plays hockey. Her broth-ers have played travel like her and a few of them referee.

Kelci stated that Borah hockey is doing really well and that they have lost only two games. “The coach helps out a lot. He has a really positive at-titude,” she said.

Her travel hockey team, the Herricanes, won their first tournament in Idaho Falls. They played teams from Wyoming, Sun Valley, Idaho Falls, and Utah.

The Herricanes will participate in an interna-tional tournament in January. Three American teams and three Canadian teams will play each other, respecitively, and then the winners of each will have an American vs. Canadaian champion-

ship showdown.Lester knows it’s the last year she will play hock-

ey on both teams.She stated, “It’s my last year playing as a kid

and it’ll be hard because a lot of the people are leaving.”

However,“The reason I love hockey is that it’s not the same as running and you can do so many different things in skates. It’s awesome when you make great plays. Hockey is more of a mind game as well as the physical part,” she said.

By Matt Bergman

The softball pre-season kicked off with the first open field on Tuesday, Nov. 30. From this open field, the girls learned the positions they were go-ing to play this coming season, who some of their teammates were, and who would be the coach.

Senior pitcher and midfielder Shelby Zinn said, “I know the coach pretty well because I played trav-el ball with her, so she’ll push us pretty hard.”

“The coach this year is really good, so she’ll push us harder than ever,” added sophomore first baseman and pitcher Jennifer Porter added about this year’s coach, who is also a P.E. teacher at Bo-rah, Linda Plew.

“She’s a really good coach; it will be a good challenge,” said senior infielder Courtney Arm-strong. “She’ll expect hustle and us to work hard.”

Armstrong added, “It will be a building year, but if we work hard, we will have a successful sea-son.” Porter said she also hopes that she will do a whole lot better than she did last year.

One more thing Zinn proclaimed: “There are a lot of new girls on the team this year, so it all depends on how good they are.” When asked how well she thought the team was going to do this year, based on the roster, Porter commented with, “A lot of fresh faces this year.”

Senior Jeremy Jones tries to take the ball away from an opposing player during the Dec. 7 game at Timberline. The varsity team beat the Wolves 61-46.

Photo by Megan Mizuta

Photo by Ashley RiceSenior Kelci Lester sports her Borah-Capital jersey.

in every position, with players of all grades. This abundance of talent and familiarity of players brings with it an opportunity for the Lions to run a more potent and fast style of play.

The Lions are off to a good start with a big away win over Mountain View, a conference rival and a team projected to be a top team.

This isn’t the same kind of basketball team Borah has had in the past, from the way they present themselves outside of the gymnasium, in the classroom, and especially on the court. The Lions bring an intensity for winning, and the team knows that starts with mastering the little things.

“Everyone knows the significance of the opportunity we have, and won’t do anything to jeopardize it,” said junior Braden Cor-pus. “We also know how hard we have to work in order to take advantage.”

JV Sports 18 The Borah Senator December 16, 2010

Boys basketball expects teamwork, great season

Photo by Megan MizutaFreshman Anna Benavente helped Borah in a win over Columbia, Dec. 8.

Girls basketball has average start to year

By Tyler Albretsen

Imagine dribbling up a vividly lit bas-ketball court, fighting against the roar of the crowd as you set your team up to score the fi-nal basket. There is only 10 seconds left on the clock and your team is down by one point. Who’s going to take the shot?

For the junior varsity boys basketball team, expectations are high and games aren’t just won by individual efforts. Junior Ryan Anderson said, “We must play together as a team, play hard, and see what follows.” Second year head

coach, Manny Varela said, “We must compete every game, and put forth our best efforts”.

Expectations also run high for the JV boys bas-

ketball team. Junior Zach Cada said,

“Our goal is to reach districts.

It’s going to be a lot of work, but we must play together as a team to get there. No indi-viduals.” Varela also added, “I expect our team to follow in the traditions of the Borah basketball program.”

The JV boys current over-all regular season record is 2-3 (wins-losses). The team opened the season against Bishop Kelly on Nov. 27 with a one point loss. However, the team’s next game was against Skyview on Nov. 30 and the team rebounded by winning 59-38. The JV boys have a win over Vallivue, but have losses against Mountain View and Timberline.

Anderson added, “We need to step up defensively and be more aggressive on the boards. As long as we play our game, we’ll see what follows for the rest of the season.” Anderson also said, “We defi-nitely have to make a lot of improvements, but if we work hard, we should have a suc-cessful season.”

The JV boys host the Boise Braves on Dec. 14 and their following game is against Caldwell on Dec. 18. Cada added, “I expect us to live up to our potential and play hard every game. I think we will do very well. We just have to play together as a team.”

By Tyler Albretsen

“We need to work as a team and support each other because JV girls basketball is like one big family,” said sophomore Kristine Bahmer. For the girls JV basketball team, expectations run high and teamwork is an essential part to having a successful season.

Junior Renae Pasta said, “My expectations are very high. I want us to make it to districts and be a great team.” Sophomore Skyler Stillings also said, “I want us to win more than half the games and make it to at least the semis in districts.”

The JV girls current over-all record is 5-5. The girls opened up the season beating Skyview, and also have wins against Caldwell, Capital,

Columbia, and Boise. How-ever, the JV girls also have losses against Mountain View, Centennial, Eagle, Timber-line, and Vallivue.

Bahmer said, “We need to be more bonded as a team, be more aggressive, and also work as a group efficient-ly.” Pasta added, “I like our chances, but we need to work more together as a team.”

The JV girls basketball team is led by head coach Kristin Harwood and assis-tant coach Deena Taylor. The JV girls host Caldwell Dec. 17, and their next games are against Capital Dec. 21, and Centennial Dec. 28. The JV district tournament, hosted at Borah, is Jan. 29, Jan. 31, and Feb. 1.

“I think we have a good shot this season.” Bahmer added, “We just have to work

Photo by Katie HelmJunior Gomane Boller

“We must compete every game

and put forth our best efforts.”

-- Junior varsity coach Manny Varela

Photo EssayThe Borah Senator December 16, 2010 19

Tea for Two Traditional tea ceremony brings together Japanese 3, ceramics classes

Senior Kara Pierce, part of the Japanese 3 class, remarked that the project of the tea ceremony is nice because it “really calms the [Japanese] class down.” Here, she is holding the bowl she made for the ceremony, crafted to look like a turtle.

Surrounded by many colors of glaze, senior Marki Wayne concen-trated on perfecting the pattern on her tea ceremony bowl.

Sophomore Amanda Hendry, from the ceramics class and her Japanese class counterpart, senior Paul Hatcher, work together on their tea ceremony bowls.

Junior Dyllan Espin-dula’s simple tea bowl, colored red with cracks on the inside and black on the outside.

Two subjects that usu-ally have little contact with each other came together to create ceramic vessels to be used in a Japanese tea cere-mony. The ceramics and Jap-anese 3 classes made pots for the ceremony a month ago, and glazed them on Dec. 15. Students from both classes at-tended the tea ceremony. Al-though some tea ceremonies can take hours, this one was abbreviated to fit into a single class period.

Photos and Text by Ali Clapier

Fun & Games 20 The Borah Senator December 16, 2010

Directions: Each row, column and block must have numbers from 1 to 9 in them. No number can appear more than once in any row, column, or block. When the entire puzzle

is filled, with all the rules above, then the puzzle is solved.

Starcraft II Review

Sudoku

Protoss and Terran and Zerg, oh my!By Justin Kirkham

The array of races in Star-craft II is startling: an alien race with supreme technol-ogy and superior shielding, morbid creatures spawned in a green, ooze-laden orbs, and determined humans with overwhelming fire-power. Placed in a complex sci-fi setting, this real-time strategy poses various deci-sions. Money, humanity, or retribution? Protoss, Zerg, or Terran?

In the story mode of Star-craft, Raynor and a group of Terrans (humans) try to fight off the Zerg, his spawned alien friends, while raising money

for a revolution. Throughout this single-player campaign, Raynor is faced with a variety of choices based on morality, revenge, and individual pros-perity.

This story mode is thick with plot and rich in con-tent. If the level is complete, why not bump it up in dif-ficulty, or even strive to gain the level’s individual achieve-ments. In between missions, there are various options: catch up on the plot, upgrade Raynor’s forces, or chat with important figures in the game for more insight.

Starcraft even offers stun-ning cinematics, through which the story can be relived

over and over again. The graphics in these clips of action, intrigue, and reflec-tion are finely crafted. They thoroughly enrich the game play as the player revisits important moments in the storyline. These cinematics occur throughout the cam-paign. For old time’s sake, unlocked cinematics can be viewed whenever needed.

The multiplayer mode is where a player is truly per-plexed. Each user can link up with friends online against a computer or face off against other players at random. But there is a choice of utmost importance. Select from three races: Protoss, technologi-

cally advanced aliens, Zerg, spawned creatures that thrive on Creep, or Terran, run of the mill, shoot ‘em up hu-mans.

The Protoss are a basic defensive race, given shields for prolonged life. But their structures are expensive and slow to build. The Zerg are arguably the hardest race to master. They consist of weak, but agile forces, meant to be spawned uncontrollably into a mass of jittering, slimy limbs. The Terran are sim-ple: they focus on attack force and have average defense, the ideal race for beginners.

It can be as simple or as complex as desired. The point itself is easy: kill the other players while construct-ing buildings, gathering re-sources, and training an army.

Sounds great, right?

Not if unskilled players are constantly paired with old men sitting in their moth-ers’ basements, on a 64-hour Starcraft streak. Basically, the ranking system is terrible. If a player is new to real time strategies, or is just plain bad at them, he should stay away from multiplayer.

It is supposed to separate players into leagues, bronze being the lowest. And even if someone is rank 100 of 100, he or she will be constantly paired with someone 10 times more absorbed into Starcraft strategy than the player is.

Ultimately, the campaign of Starcraft II is exhilarating, but if a user is not Starcraft savvy, multiplayer will be a miserable nightmare.

Starcraft II gets four out of five stars.