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6 FEATURES

It was only a short time ago that earthquakes sent DC into a panic. However, the very same thing could happen to us here in Kentucky! Western Kentucky sits right on top of what is called the New Madrid fault, a huge, active fault line which crosses Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Western Kentucky. According to a website created by the St. Charles County Department of Com-munity Health & The Environment, the fault line averages over 200 registered events (those above a 1.0 on the Richter scale) per year. Second only to the West Coast, the New Madrid fault is the highest earthquake risk area in the United States. Earthquakes over 6.0 on the Richter scale occur about every 80 years (the last such quake occurring in 1895), and earthquakes above 7.5 happen roughly every 200-300 years (the last one occurred in 1812). It was on this very fault line that a devastating earthquake hit the area in 1811. Ac-cording to absoluteastronomy.com, this earthquake is what formed Reel Foot Lake, and hurricanenews.whatishotnow.net reports this same earthquake caused the Mis-sissippi River to flow backwards. The latter reports the damage was so extensive, it prompted the governor, William Clark, to make the first request to the President for

disaster aid in US history. What does this mean for Paducah? Exactly how prepared are we for an earthquake? To get answers, we went to our own Richard Abraham, who serves on Paducah’s City Commission. “We’ve had some…minor disasters, if you will,” began Mr. Abraham during the interview. He then listed all of the previous disasters to hit Paducah-such as the ice storm of ’09, the floods, and the recent tornados-and how well our emergency teams responded to them. “However, we had some form of warning before hand,” Mr. Abraham elaborated. “You don’t get a warning for an earthquake. The only way to gauge our readiness would be to look back on past emergencies and how we re-sponded.” The positive side, Mr. Abraham continued, is that more communities have upgrad-ed their building codes. According to paducahky.gov, Paducah has adopted the 2007 Kentucky Building Code, which does have provisions for making buildings earth-quake resistant. This means Paducah’s buildings are built to withstand earthquakes up to a certain degree. As Mr. Abraham put it, “It all depends on the severity of the earthquake.”

Is Paducah prepared for an earthquake panic?by Zach Winfield

The cool, crisp breeze in your face…the bright blue of the sky….the crunch of the golden leaves under your feet. Fall has fallen! To make this wonderful season bet-ter, we are out of school for an entire week! Most people like to take this time to go and catch the last few rays of sunshine down in Florida, while others are “trapped” in the Paducah prison. While the status of an inmate may not sound appealing on a so-called “break,” with the help of these ideas, the Paducah prison can be transformed into a Paducah party! Monday- Take a trip to the pumpkin patch! Fall is one of the best seasons to be outside, so take time today to go and enjoy the weather. Gather a group of friends and head to Wurth’s Farms. There you can take a hay ride to the pumpkin patch where you can pick out a pumpkin. After making your selection, make sure you take a trip through the corn maze, but be careful not to get lost on the way! Tuesday- Explore Paducah’s award winning down-town! Paducah’s downtown area is filled with wonder-ful surprises that high school students usually miss out on during the day due to school. Here’s your time to ex-plore! Wander in various antique shops where you never know what you will find. Make sure to bring along lunch to enjoy on the riverfront after your day of exploration. Wednesday- Halloween is near! Spend the day cre-ating a Halloween costume. We all can simply buy a Halloween outfit from Halloween Express, but to make yours uniquely you, design it yourself! Research ideas on the Internet or think of your own. After you decide on an idea, scavenge items from around you and your friends’ houses to create your costume. Thursday- What is red, brown and orange all over? The leaves of the trees! During fall, Land Between the Lakes is the perfect place to go to view beautiful scenery. So, grab a few friends, pack a picnic lunch, and hit the road! You can spend the day hiking various trails while enjoying the season. Friday- It’s time for kick off! Tonight is the perfect time to get back together with all of your friends that were gone during the week. Put on your favorite Tilghman shirt and come out to support the Big Blue Tornado foot-ball team! After the game, in celebration of a wonderful week and hopefully a Tilghman victory, host a bonfire! Roast hot dogs, marshmallows, and make s’mores while enjoying each other’s company. Fall is here! We hope that with our ideas and some of your own, you can have a great week in Paducah!

Tips for those stuck home this Fall Break

by Kaitlyn Curry and Chandler Smith

*The Bell staff members conducted an unscientific poll of the majority of the Paducah Tilghman student popula-tion. Classes were polled during sixth hour and answered anonymously. The following five questions were asked: Would you rather…

1.) See Lady Gaga or Lil Wayne in concert? 2.) Watch football or basketball? 3.) Watch Jersey Shore or Glee? 4.) Hang out with Justin Bieber or Taylor Lautner (girls only)? Megan Fox or Mila Kunis (boys only)? 5.) Have better food at Tilghman or a more lenient dress code?

The votes were hand counted by The Bell staff members and are displayed in the graph to the right.

W h a t w o u l d y o u r a t h e r d o ?by Alicia Humphrey

by Susannah Wilson

Europe: A trip to remember Have you ever walked in the famous church of Westmin-ster Abbey, where kings and queens once married? Can you say you rode the London Eye and actually watched traffic go by on Tower Bridge? Have you ever spent a whole night viewing the incredible city of Paris from the top, yes the top, of the Eiffel Tower? Can you actually say you had the chance to see and walk around in a real life castle, not the ones in your pop out fairytale books as toddlers? All of these sights seem very surreal, but for my PTHS classmates and I, it was reality. This past summer we trav-eled to Europe, where we vis-ited two countries, England and France. We departed the U.S. on June 8th and returned home on the 18th. Each day was jam-packed traveling to different sights with our per-sonal tour guide, Helena. The first day after a thirteen hour flight was exciting just to arrive at our destination, London. We saw the Traitor’s Gate, the armory of a long generation of kings, Crown Jewels, and the Torture Tower, all in the Tower of Lon-don. Last we rode the London Eye, the biggest Ferris wheel in the world. We were in complete awe looking down at the city from such a high place; it seemed like we were in another world. In England the highlights of my trip were seeing the Changing of Guards at Buckingham Palace, West-minster Abbey, the town of Stratford (which is Shake-speare’s birthplace), Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and the many breathtaking cathedrals. You might have heard of Westminster Abbey recently on the news; this famous church was where Prince William and Kate Middleton married in April of this year. There are no words to de-scribe this Gothic monastery in London. Stonehenge, which you might have learned about in your history class, is a prehistoric monument located in England. It was exciting to see what should be one of the old Seven Wonders of the World! Today archeologists are still un-aware of how the earthworks, surrounding a circular set-ting of large standing stones actually came about. It was fun to think of all the things it could have possibly been in the Neolithic period. Then we saw Windsor Castle, a medieval, royal castle. The humongous castle is occa-sionally the residence of Queen Elizabeth. The castle was

absolutely gorgeous; this is something you would not even be able to see in your dreams. This was another great memory of England. After a long five days in England, we prepared to get on the ferry, where we traveled across the English Channel to reach France. We first saw the Cathedral in Rouen, as well as Joan of Arc’s memorial, where she was burned at the stake. We then traveled on to the town of Normandy, where we saw the Mu-seum of Arromanches. This museum showed us real-life videos, and we looked at exhibits of the D-day battles. We actu-ally got a glimpse of the D-day beaches, where battles took place back in 1944. It was ironic

because it was so peaceful on the beach, but it was any-thing but peaceful during times of war. This day was an emotional experience in seeing the memorials dedicated to the men that fought many years ago. In France, the highlights of my trip were visiting Mont-Saint-Michel, and of course the Eiffel Tower! Mont-Saint-Michel was one of the most unimaginable, shockingly incredible things I’ve ever seen. There is a beautiful church in a medieval village, set on a rock base surrounded by deadly quick sand. By the time you reached the top of the steep steps to the church, you were exhausted, but I can assure you it was well worth it. One of our last nights was spent at the Eiffel Tower, one of the most famous tourist attractions in the world. It is noth-ing like the pictures, books, and movies you‘ve seen; it is so much more! The tower stands 984 feet tall. Not much can compare to this, it is equivalent to an 81-story building. We were all anxiously waiting for exactly 10’ o clock, for this is when the sparkling lights start to flash from the very top of the tower to the bottom. We were all very impressed to see the gleam of the lights reflect on the incredible city. This was truly an amazing attraction. Overall, this trip was beyond what we expected! The great memories we made we will look back on for the rest of our lives. It was not only an enjoyable trip, but also an educational experience; this was truly a trip that I will cherish and remember forever.

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8 Arts and Entertainment

“Frangoline was bright and clean, She always ate up all her greens. Pure as milk and good as gold, She always did as she was told. But….” So starts Frango-line and the Midnight Dream, a children’s sto-ry of the well-behaved but sneaky Frangoline. Every night, little Fr-angoline escapes her house for a midnight adventure. She scoffs at the moon’s worried

warnings, exclaiming, “I’ll do exactly as I please! I’m Frangoline!” Danc-ing and running through the forest, she thinks little of waking scary beasts and ghouls. Once they catch up to her, though, she rethinks her carefree wanderings…”At least until tomorrow night!” Written by Clemency Pearce as her first book and illustrated by Re-becca Elliot, the book features playful rhymes and drawings that will catch your eye from page one. Frangoline takes you on her adventure just as if you were “the little minx with hair so red” wearing a “jet-black velvet cape;” you will blow raspberries at the monsters and make friends with the moon. But you, too, will know when bedtime is soon, just like adorable little Frangoline. Frangoline and the Midnight Dream is a great holiday story for all ages and is a must read this Halloween season.

Frangoline and the Midnight Dream

by Mackenzie Bruce Assassination, amnesia, and a plot twist around every corner: such is the premise of the 2011 thriller Unknown. The story begins with the arrival of Dr. Martin Harris (played by Niam Neeson) and his wife Liz (January Jones) at a Berlin airport for a biotechnology summit. Upon arrival at their hotel, Martin realizes he left a brief-case at the airport and rushes to a taxi to retrieve it. Along the way, the cab crashes over a bridge, and Martin hits his head during the accident. His cab driver Gina (Diane Kruger) manages to save him, and after spending the next few days in a coma, Martin awakes with no recollection of the events surrounded the accident. Martin returns to his hotel, assured that his wife would be up-set, but discovers that a “Martin B” has appeared and seemingly replaced him. On top of that, Martin starts running into assassins, which prompts him to turn to the former Stasi agent Herr Jürgen (Bruno Ganz) and the taxi driver Gina for help. The actors all give strong performances, especially the leads, and the characters are unique and engaging. However, Unknown’s stron-gest draw is its story. From beginning to end, this movie will keep the audience guessing. Just when everything seems crystal clear, the movie throws yet another twist to keep to keep the audience on their toes. When combined with a brisk story flow, the result is an intrigu-ing, thoroughly entertaining thriller. If there is one drawback to the movie, it is that certain elements are shaky in their plausibility. The precision of Martin’s amnesia is questionable, as are some of the choices of certain groups of char-acters. However, this problem is minor, and when immersed in the story is easily overlooked. Overall, Unknown is a unique, well paced, and very entertaining. It is a must-see for any fan of thriller films.

Unknown makes itself known

by Zach Winfield

Photo by: www.amazon.com

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One of the oldest and most tra-dition filled rivalries in high school continued as Tilghman took on the Mayfield Cardinals on September 2. Coming off a tough loss to Indiana powerhouse Evansville Reitz, the Tornado was looking forward to a hard fought game with Mayfield. “Mayfield Week” did its job in fir-ing the students up as they dressed up throughout the week with Jersey day, 80’s day, Hick day, Doomsday, and blue and white day. On Thursday afternoon of that week, the tradition of the burning of Mr. Mayfield took place.

With a week full of anticipation building towards the game, Friday night finally came. McRight sta-dium was packed with fans from both schools. As the game kicked off, Mayfield struck first with a field goal to take the lead in the first quar-ter. The Cardinals dominant defense shut down our attempts as the Tor-nado went scoreless in the first half. Not long after the field goal came a 58 yard pass to Mayfield’s William Higginson as the Cardinals scored to make it a 10-0 ball game at the end of the first quarter. As the second quarter took off,

so did the Tornado with back to back field goals by sopho-more Miles Butler. But with the slight gain by Tilghman came the next attack by the Cardinals with another touchdown from Guhy to Higginson, extending the lead 17-6. With the quarter progressing, a major blow was taken by the Tornado as quarterback Tyler Presnell was taken out of the game with an injury. He was re-placed by sophomore Jordan Tyler for the remainder off the game. The whistle blew for halftime with the score-board still showing 17-6. The third quarter only held one touchdown coming from Jonathan Jackson of Mayfield, putting the score at

24-6. The fourth quarter was scoreless as the game came to a close. The Tornado was

stumped as the Cardinal defense overpowered and shutdown several drives, including those to the red zone. Six fumbles and a total of four turnovers weren’t helpful either for Tilghman’s offense production. Coach Wyatt commented, “We were outcoached and outplayed. The team needs to play with more aggression and motivation, and our boys need to learn to break down the wall.” With a hard loss, the team will look forward and try to make the rest of the season a positive one.

Rivalry loss gives Tornado new targets

by Alex Boyd and Brock Sigler

Photo by: Michael Langston

Tilghman’s favorite PE teacher has gotten a new job. But he isn’t going anywhere new: he’s the new Lady Tornado Head Basketball Coach! As an assistant coach for the Lady Tor-nado for the past three years, it wasn’t hard for him to transition to the position. When asked how it feels to be the new head coach he re-plied, “It feels great; I’m excited.” He went on to say that when most new head coaches walk into a situation, they have to rebuild the team and may have to go through tough times to get a winning title, but he thinks the Lady Tornado have a chance to win and make it to the Regional tournament this winter. Despite the disappointment with Coach Barnett’s departure, Coach Thomas feels that the girls’ responses to him as head coach have been great. When asked to take a guess to what the season this year would look like, Coach Thomas jokingly replied, “I’d rather not.” He didn’t want to give his first season as head coach bad luck. Destiny Skinner, a four year starter on the Paducah Tilghman Girls Basketball team, is really excited about having Coach Thomas as the new coach. “I think he’s a really good coach this year. I think he has a better un-derstanding of the players, and he’s going to make us work better as a team and not tolerate drama.” Coach Thomas has let them know that what happens off the court needs to stay off the court and not affect the teams’ ability to play. He also encourages getting over adversity and addressing problems and making solutions be-fore they turn bad. Karlee Humphrey, a freshman on the team states, “I look forward to the coming up year; it isn’t my first time playing, but it is a new ex-perience for me being in high school. I played last year during my eighth grade year and re-ally got a good feel of the varsity competition. It was rough coming up, but it was really fun after I got to play with the girls to see how they played together.” With a new gym, new energy, and a new coach, this year’s season is an event many are looking forward to! Go Big Blue!

A familiar face fills a new spot

SPORTS

by Ngodoo Itiavkase and Michael Smith

The fog was thick as the Massac County Lady Patriot invitational began early Saturday morning. Eleven teams represented their school’s golf teams. Five Tilghman girls, defending champions of the tournament, showed up to give it their all ending the day with an overall score of 323 and taking home the first place trophy. Teri Doss, with a final score of 74 placed 3rd in the tournament, Morgan Kauff-man finished with a 76, placing her 5th overall. Lauren Eickholz shot an 86 and Charli Doss shot an 87. Morgan Kauffman (11) predicted this about the rest of the season, “We won the Massac tournament, which was good. We all played well, we’re defending champs with two wins under our belt making it feel like home turf. I also have a good feeling about the Regional’s. We have some competition with Marshall and Calloway, but if we play well we could win, and it would be nice to go to state two years in a row.” Teri Doss, an 8th grader said this, “I really feel like our team came together at the tournament and shot really

well. It showed how much we improved over the summer. I think we will be good contenders at Regional’s. If we play to our potential, we have a pretty good chance!” The heated rivalry between Tilghman and Lone Oak boys is not unheard of; it occurs in most sports including golf. After the golf team’s defeat earlier in the season, they set out to reclaim their pride on Monday the 12th. The boys approached the match with one goal, win! They hit the course with determination, and as a result they came out with not only a win, but also the lowest score shot in over 10 years!! A proud coach Bret Larimer said to his team, “Great job, guys. Practice and a positive attitude will take you far.” Nick Loe (12), Will Barker (12), Trae Hampton (10), Donavon Riley (12), and Zach Strahan (12) were the players in Monday’s match. The team combined to shoot a 157. Senior Will Barker commented on the match, “It was outstanding. We are finally coming together as at team and looking good to head into the Regional tournament.”

Tilghman Golf Swings to Regionals

by Alex boyd, Brock Sigler and Audrey Withrow

The Tornado is doing a fantastic job bouncing back from a hard loss to Mayfield. Even though it wasn’t the performance the team was looking for, they pulled off a win in Graves County on September 9th. Trailing until the fourth quarter, the Tornado’s J.D. Harmon ran back a kick return from the three yard line. Next the Tornado completed a two point conversion to give them a 22-21 lead giving them the win. The following weekend Tilghman faced off with Crittenden County, with a final score of 49-0 in Tilghman’s favor. With these two wins

behind them, Tornado football is looking to take down one team at a time. Head Coach Randy Wyatt said this about the two victories, “I was disappointed in the way the boys played in Graves, but I’m glad we pulled it together and came through with a win. In the Crittenden game we achieved all three of the areas of improvement we have been striving for: to eliminate turnovers, cut down on penalties and to improve our aggression on the field.”

Tilghman Bounces Back from Mayfield Lossby Alex Boyd and Micheal Smith

Graves County- 102 yards rushing, 46 yards passing

Crittenden County- 297 yards rushing, 109 yards passing

Football Stats:

photo by Bo Cole

Darrius Spivey Nun completeing a catch

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Date Opponent Place TimeDec. 3 Trigg County Away 7:00 p.m. Dec. 6 Mayfield Tornado Alley 7:30 p.m.Dec. 9 Christian County Away 7:30 p.m.Dec. 17 Lone Oak Away 7:30 p.m.Dec. 21-22 Tilghman Tournament Tornado Alley TBADec. 28-30 Centralia Tournament Away TBAJan. 3 Reidland Away TBAJan. 6 Heath Tornado Alley 7:30 p.m.Jan. 7 Graves County Tornado Alley 7:30 p.m.Jan. 10 Marshal County Tornado Alley 7:30 p.m.Jan. 13 Ballard memorial Away 7:30 p.m.Jan. 16-21 Superman Classic Away TBAJan. 24 Reidland Tornado Alley 7:30 p.m.Jan. 27 Marshal County Away 7:30 p.m.Jan. 28 Crane (Chicago, IL.) Tornado Alley 7:30 p.m.Jan. 31 Graves County Away 7:30 p.m.Feb. 3 St. Mary Tornado Alley 7:30 p.m.Feb. 7 Heath Away 7:30 p.m.Feb. 10 Lone Oak Tornado Alley 7:30 p.m.Feb. 11 Carlisle County Tornado Alley 7:30 p.m.Feb. 14 Calloway County Away 7:30 p.m.Feb. 20-24 District Tournament Tornado Alley TBAFeb. 29-Mar. 6 Region Tournament Murray State TBAMar. 14-17 State Tournament Lexington TBA

Boys Basketball Schedule

Tilghman girls’ basketball finally comes to a start. Losing Coach Bar-nett might have been good after all. With Coach Rod Thomas taking over the head coaching position, the Lady Tornado is ready for war. Calloway, Ballard Memorial, Murray, and Lone Oak seem to be their toughest com-petition around the area. Coach Thomas and the Lady Tornado look to be a very competitive team in Region 1 and even in the state. “I’m hoping to win the District Championship off top,” Coach Thomas replied. Chelsey Shumpert, Ngodoo Itiavkase, and Destiny Skinner, returning starters, are leaders of this Lady Tornado team and definitely the players to watch during this season. Lady Tornado Junior Guard, Chelsey says, “We look real good in practice and can’t wait for this good intense season with our running game and team chemistry.” Lacking with leadership in the past, Coach Thomas really emphasizes leadership in many ways on and off the court, especially asking the seniors Ngodoo Itiavkase, Destiny Skinner and Alexis Taylor for them to step up in all ways possible and to lead the Lady Tornado team like seniors are supposed to. This year Lady Tornado looks to abide by their team motto “Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together, and Play like Champions.” Go Lady Tornado!

Girls Basketball Preview The Blue Tornado has lost a lot of starters, but that does not stop them from hav-ing a winning mentality. There is not a way to compare last year’s team to this one but accomplishments, which we are soon to find out. With such a large group of males, it is too early in the season to seek out leadership, but the seniors are always looked at to lead the way. Cody Schultz, Ja’Darion Harmon, Michael Smith, and Dwayne Mor-row are the returning seniors for this season and as for playing time Coach Stieg looks to the upperclassman letting us know off hand, “you can’t win without good seniors.” With the depth of the players, there is no problem with switching out players to substi-tute when a player gets into foul trouble or gets hurt. Every basketball team has a few strengths and weaknesses to work on and this year’s team does not have the height and athleticism they have had in the past, but they make that up with great guard play, ball handling, shooting, and quickness. The Blue Tornado has the same schedule, but every year is a challenge. Their first game is Dec. 3 against Trigg County. Also, look forward to the 2nd longest annual Christmas tournament in the state hosted by the Blue Tornado. Coach Stieg is looking forward to the season and has a great group of young men on his hands!

Basketball Overviewby Ngodoo Itiavkase by Michael Smith