BRAVES

FOCUVolume 83

By: Samantha Stockhausen & Jasmine Gheith

December2 Berea High Focus

T h e B e r e a H i g h S c h o o l F o c u s The Focus Staff Adviser: Mrs. Marcia Roach

Cover by: Jasmine Gheith and Samantha StockhausenCo - Editor-in-Chief: Ian Robertson

Staff: Cody Anderson, Kiya Boyd, Matthew Coleman, Lucas Crom-well, Jasmine Gheith, Joshua Goforth, Peter Harmon, Torrelle How-ard, Joseph Kaye, Shawn Lowrie, Andrew Magee, Shavon McGhee, Zachary Mog, Asia Nagy, Brittany Porter, Lorenzo Reed, Ian Rob-ertson, Lauren Scheerer, Brendon Scullen, Ashley Secotte, Skye Ste-phenson, Danielle Stewart Samantha Stockhausen, Cosmin, Brandon Trsek

Berea High School 165 East Bagley Rd. Berea, OH 44017

E d i t o r i a l P o l i c y The purpose of the Berea Focus is to protect and promote free speech by creating a forum for student expression and a positive educational environment for students. Con-tent of The Focus reflects only the views of the student staff and individual students and not school officials. Therefore, The Focus will not be reviewed or restrained prior to pub-lication. An editorial board made up of students on the staff of The Focus will make all decisions of content for each issue. The role of the adviser is to educate the students about journalism, including laws, ethics, and practices, as well as to guide students toward publication. The adviser is not a decision maker. The students will not publish any material that falls under the category of unprotected speech, and the adviser will help the students to recognize unprotected speech. These areas include libel, unwarranted invasion of privacy, ob-scenity, copyright violations, and a material or substantial disruption of the school day. To find a complete explana-

tion of these refer to the Student Press Law Center website at www.splc.org. Students are able to publish and report any topic within the bounds of protected speech (so long as the re-porters do it in a way that accurately, thoroughly and completely covers the story.) In case of conflict between adminis-tration, adviser and students, students may use the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) for legal help. Any photo manipulation that could not feasibly be done in a dark room must be marked as a photo illustration. Students on The Focus staff reserve the right to accept or reject any ad-vertising.

December 3 News

THE LEVY IS A NO GO based on the school minimum. “Teachers are tied

to opportunities for students,” Mr. Sheppard said. Students could lose electives and music classes; you have to take into consideration the priorities when cutting classes.

BHS senior Moses Cox said “If they were to take all of my favorite electives away because the levy didn’t pass, I would feel so upset. I love choir, and for them to take it away isn’t fair.

BHS senior Robert Speed also said he would be upset if they cut classes that he enjoyed.

“It is not easy because it affects every-body,” Mr. Sheppard said.

Pre-Engineering teacher Ryan McElyea said he felt terrible after the levy did not pass. “I understand that these are harsh economic times. However, I think that funding education is an im-portant investment,” McElya said.

“It’s very disappointing…between this and the bond issue not passing I’m struggling to understand the people in these communities…and I am a resident of Berea,” Math teacher Mr. Mike Rice said

“It is important to know what you’re voting for and to really get the facts to know about it,” Mike Sheppard, Berea City School District Superin-tendant, said about the recent levy.

With the levy not passing there may be a reduction in teachers which, naturally happens when the budget is smaller, and a reduction in the certified staff, classified staff and administration.

Because of the economy lots of cuts happened before the levy went on the bal-lot. These cuts equal about five million dollars worth of costs, almost all people; about 71 employees.

“We wouldn’t like to hurt the students [with budget cuts],” Mr. Sheppard said.

However, the additional cuts that are due since the levy failed, will impact the stu-dents.

“We lost about a full year of tax dollars,” Mr. Sheppard said. This is worth about 2.5 million dollars. This levy was a small levy, which is the amount of mileage you earn. The levy was just a tax for the residents

of the school district. One mill equals 1.4 million dollars. The tax dollars that would be earned would be used for general funds, such as text books, technology, etc.

BHS social studies teacher and Coach Mr. Matt Wilson said “The district will be forced to make more cuts in all areas. Programs and person-nel will be cut.”

“It’s sad, but usually levies at Berea do not succeed on the first try, so I am optimistic for future attempts,” BHS social studies teacher Mrs. Sheri Fox said.

Garfield Heights English teacher and Berea resident, Kristen Porter said she feels discouraged because of the levy not passing, but feels elated that senate bill 5 did not pass.

“I do not know what will happen. Cuts in staff and fundraising” Porter said when asked about the levy not passing.

Since the levy did not pass the BCSD is, “starting to identify cuts.” This would result in the, “fees possibly increasing.” Buses could also be cut

FAILBrittany Elizabeth Porter & Jasmine Gheith

December

PolarisCareer

Center

DriveBlood

On Nov 22, 2001 Polaris Career Center held a Red Cross blood drive. A lot of people have a positive outlook on the blood drive and people giving blood.

Mrs. Simmons, a teacher at Polaris, didn’t give blood but thinks that the blood drive is a good thing.

She thinks it is a great opportunity for the young to help those in need in the world, and the best part of the blood drive is seeing everyone working toward a common goal, because she feels it brings people together.

“This is how it should be; everyone working together,” Simmons said. Mrs. Simmons thinks that it should be continued at Polaris, but one thing she would change about this Blood drive would be the people that volunteers see way before giving blood because she says they are rude.

Just because you gave blood one time doesn’t mean you will qualify to give when your school has another blood drive.

Ariel Hicks, a senior at Polaris, was not able to give blood because her iron was too low, hers was 12.3 on one finger and 12.4 on the other, and in order to give blood your iron has to be 12.5.

Because her mother needs blood transfusions, Ariel feels that giving blood is a beautiful and helpful thing for people. The giving of blood is the best part of the experience for Ariel, be-cause she knows that she’s helping someone’s life when she is giving blood. One thing Ariel would change is not that much different from what Mrs. Simmons would, she just thought everybody that was checking to see if she was able to give blood was rude and didn’t want to be there. Hicks has donated before and thinks that it was about 4 times.

The shortest person in the senior class medical professions program, Ashly Schiman, was able to give blood this time around at Polaris Blood Drive. Over the years she couldn’t give blood be-cause she didn’t meet the weight requirement for her height.

Ashly thinks the blood drive is a great way to give back to society especially when people do not have money to sponsor charities. Giving blood to save lives is Ashly favorite part of the blood drive because anyone from any social class can give blood and doesn’t have to pay to give it. One thing Ashly would change about the blood drive is the requirements, they are too extensive.

“Weight requirements are too high and I don’t want to have to become obese just so that I will be able to give blood,” Schiman says.

4 News

December

Don’t people just hate being turned away because of their iron every year they try?

Nyah Laitmer was unable to give blood this year again due to her iron being low. Nyah takes iron pills just so her iron will build up and she is able to give blood but again that was not the case for Nyah.

“Even though I can never give blood my favorite part is the giving blood part because I like to see my friends saving a live,” Laitmer says. However, Nyah thinks that the appointment people who check people in could have been more organized.

An interested person can go to http://www.redcross-blood.org/ to find more information about how to donate and dif-ferent types of donating that donor might be willing to do.

The Red Cross thinks that people should maintain a healthy iron level, drink an extra 16oz before and after donating blood, and have a healthy meal before you donate but you should avoid foods high in fat just prior to donation. There are many types of donations such as Blood (or Whole Blood), Double Red Cells, Plate-lets, and Plasma.

Blood (or Whole Blood) is the most common type of dona-tion, during which approximately a pint of ‘whole blood’ is given. This type of blood donation usually takes about an hour, though the actual donation takes about 8-10 minutes. You are eligible to donate ‘whole blood’ every 56 days.

Platelet Apheresis donations are collected at select Amer-ican Red Cross Blood Donation centers only. During this type of donation, an apheresis machine collects the platelets and some plasma and returns the red cells and most of the plasma back to the donor. The donation takes approximately one and-a-half to two and-a-half hours.

Plasma Apheresis is collected simultaneously with a plate-let donation and is collected at select American Red Cross Dona-tion Centers only. During a plasma apheresis donation, the blood is collected by a machine, which separates the plasma, red cells and platelets and returns the red cells and/or platelets back to the do-nor. The donation takes approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Double Red Cells donation is done with the help of an apheresis machine which collects the red cells but returns most of the plasma and platelets to the donor. Red cells are the most transfused blood component, and certain blood types are often in short sup-ply. Double red cell donations from Type O donors and donors with Rh-negative blood types play a very important role in maintaining blood supply levels. Donors need to meet slightly higher hemoglo-bin and body height/weight requirements in order to be able to give a double red cell donation. Double red cell donations take approximately 1 hour and 25 minutes, though the actual donation takes about 30-35 minutes. Red Cross allows donors to give two units of red cells.

Givea

LittleSave

Alot

5 News

December6 Feature

“Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring-ting-tingling too, come on it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.” As winter fast approaches, BHS prepares for favorite winter past times, hot chocolate, and of course the Christmas tree. Dr. Ferrante, BHS’s choir teacher, can’t wait for the snow to come and cozy up with a book after taking a nice walk through the Metro parks. Every holiday season brings cheer to every-one by Christmas carols; Ferrante looks forward to it every year. Halie Cantrell, a senior at BHS, also looks forward to singing.

“I can’t wait for the radio to play them [Christmas music] nonstop! We’ve been singing all sorts of it in choir, so I’ve been ready,” Cantrell says. Allie Collins can’t wait for the first snow day of the year. “I love waking up and being told there’s a snow day and getting friends together to go sled-ding and come back to my house for hot chocolate and movies,” Collins says. A common denominator in all Christmas memories is sled riding; Ferrante, Cantrell, Collins, and Meghan Lowrie all make sure to go every year and take their turn going down the slippery hills. Lowrie makes sure to go sledding or ice skating, it’s her favorite winter past time.

Cantrell loves winter for a completely different reason than most peo-ple; most of her free time in the winter is spent at her barn.

“I ride my horse, Rio, through the snow; it’s the best feeling in the world,” Cantrell says.

Winter has different feelings and meanings for everyone. Some like it purely for Christmas, while others love it for the memories and time shared with others.

“The snow and feeling of holiday spirit, that’s the true meaning of win-ter,” Cantrell says.

Walking in a By: Samantha Stockhausen

WINTER WONDERLAND

December 7 Feature

„You

say yes, and I say no.’’

Hello Goodbye, by the Beatles, is the favorite song Halie Cantrell sings in the OK Chorale here at BHS.

Show ChoirBy: Matt Coleman

The OK Chorale is the BHS Show Choir where the members sing and dance to popular songs such as songs on the radio, The Beatles, Grease, Glee, ect. Halie Cantrell and AJ Martin, both members of the BHS Show Choir say that they consider the OK Chorale as more of a club or an activity more than a class and they both enjoy it very much. “We do it everywhere!” says AJ Martin about where they perform they concerts. Their last concert was at the Brook Park Recreational Center on Nov 15 for a senior luncheon. Dr. Ferrante says that “he encourages people to come and see the OK Chorale.” They meet for class everyday 9th period, and he says that everyone gets along very well.The OK Chorale is performing at BHS on December 21 as part of their Christmas tours that they do for all the elementary schools. Anyone interested should ask their 10th period teacher about the performance.Members of the OK Chorale get in by audition at the end second semester. Each member has to successfully match pitches Ferrante gives them in order to get in.

November

Anyone who has a dream of becoming a health care provider should consider going to Polaris Career Center their junior and senior year of high school and get into the medical professions program.

During junior year at Polaris a medical professions stu-dent learns the basic things he/she needs to know and learn, like medical terminology and anatomy & physiology.

I myself attend Polaris Career Center for the medical professions class. For someone who is un-sure about what he/she wants to be after graduating high school should come to Polaris and try the program and if it is not right at semester time a student can drop it.

Whether that’s what an individual student wants to do or not I am sure he/she will change their mind going into this program because it changed mine.

Nyah Latimer a senior at Polaris Career Center chose to come to Polaris for medical professions because she feels like it was a good program and she plans on becoming a nurse.

The best part about Polaris medical professions class to Nyah would have to be the STNA certification the seniors receive after the classes they take. The education is also good.

“The part I enjoyed the most is the opportunities and friendships I’ve made,” Latimer said. Certifications that students will get are CPR certification, successful nurse aid training cer-tification and first aid. “I feel the most happy about the nurse aid certification,” Latimer said. Nyah plans on going to school to be a neonatal RN. “I want to help babies and I love them,” Latimer said. Nyah’s favorite part about the class was practic-ing in labs and skills demos. Out of Nyah’s experience at Polaris to her knowledge Nyah would not change anything about the program.

“Yes, the teachers here have the correct knowledge and skills training to help me succeed and become a good health care provider,” Latimer said. Nyah’s last thoughts about

the medical professions program/health academy “The health academy is the best part about Polaris and so is this program, just saying,” Latimer said.

There are other people that go to Polaris that feel the same way that Nyah feels about the medical professions class.

My experience at Polaris has been nothing but the best. My junior year I learned so much fun and helpful things at Polaris. Like for example medical terminology, when you first get into learning it, it seems hard. But once I knew all the pre-fixes, suffixes, and root words that I needed to know to form a medical word or even I then thought this was easy and I could figure out the word meanings.

For example Bradycardia is a medical terminology word. The prefix is Brady which means slow and the root word “cardi/o” means heart, so when you put the word together Bra-dycardia the meaning is heart slowness. Another example is Cardiomegaly, Cardi/o which means heart and megaly which means enlargement so the medical word cardiomegaly means enlargement of the heart. One more example is bradykinesia, which Brady means slow and kinesia means movement so the medical word would be slowness in movement.

PolarisCareer

CenterMedical

Professions

8 Feature

November

I wanted to go to Polaris for the medical professions class because I like to help people because my mom is sick, and I just love to take care of her whenever she needs me to. I like helping people so why not make this into a career so that I will have fun and loving what I do. Instead of having a career that I do not love doing, I chose to.

The great part about going to Polaris is that when I grad-uate this year I will have a few certifications such as STNA, CPR, and First aid.

When I finish the program at Polaris, I want to go to nurs-ing school to become a RN then eventually becoming a Labor and Delivery nurse. Working with children is a beautiful thing to me.

Polaris is not all about the students there are awesome teachers that help the students learn how to be a great health care provider.

Ms. Coldiron a 23 year teacher at Polaris wanted to teach/encourage students to enter the medical field. Ms. Coldiron’s favorite part about teaching is having the opportunity to work with enthusiastic, caring young people.

The courses that Ms.Coldiron teaches are Medical theory, medical lab, medical terminology and ethics.

“Medical terminology is my favorite subject because it is like a secret language or a puzzle to be put together,” Ms.Coldiron said. “I want my students to be caring, compassionate, hard-work-ing and enthusiastic learners,” Ms. Coldiron said.

The skills the students should and will know by the time they leave their junior year at Polaris is transfers, vital signs, posi-tioning, CPR, first aid, and bandaging.

“I am honored to be an RN and encourage the right people to enter the medical field,” Ms. Coldiron said.

Student’s junior year maybe fun getting certified in first aid and CPR, but the one certification that the students look for-ward to getting is in their senior year which is STNA.

Ms. Bamrick a 15 year STNA instructor 12 of her years at Polaris and 27 years in all as a teacher has been a nurse aide for her whole life and wanted students to get certified. The best part about teaching STNA is when students get certified “it’s cool, very cool,” Ms. Bamrick said.

The courses Ms. Bamrick teaches are sports med. junior year they learn infection control, vital signs, Medical terminology, medical lab, and medical theory. For the medical program senior year Ms. Bamrick teaches STNA and the courses she teaches are feeding, grooming, death and dying, and patient’s right.

The STNA course takes 9 weeks before the students are able to take their exam and get certified. Between lecture time and skill time Ms. Bamrick’s favorite part is skills, the clinical aspect, because students actually do the skills on real patients and not just on their classmates. Just seeing students do what they are learn-ing in lab time. “My favorite part is when students roll their eyes (laughter),” Ms. Bamrick said. The thing Ms. Bamrick wants most out of her students is to be successful. STNA certification, getting through this program, getting certified in everything that Polaris of-fers you, and just seeing the students happy in the end. The health academy is a terrific step in becoming a health care provider.

STNA is a no brainer; there is nothing to learning the work and being able to get a good grade or getting certified. As long as students pay attention and study what they need to know then, they won’t have any problems in finishing the program.

9 Feature

December10 Feature

In the article “Black Friday, Pepper spray, and Holiday Shopping myths” Dan Beucke writes “Police and fire officials in Los Angeles say a Wal-Mart shopper used pepper spray ‘to gain preferred access to a variety of locations in the store’ during a Black Friday shopping frenzy” Unfortunately people may end up hurting other people over an object or item which should be no excuse to physically hurt someone but it happens on Black Friday, and throughout the holiday season.

People may end up spending a lot more on Black Friday all because of the sales, more than they would any other day.

Some people camp out overnight to get a place in line for the big deals. “One year I camped out at Best buy to get a TV with my mom”, Zelek said.Dan Beucke writes “As for the legendary deals, computer scientist Oren Etzioni

showed the Times why the best prices for electronic gadgets don’t come until early December”.

Are the deals really that good? “I attend to get things I want on sale”, Senior Krystal Rivera said putting

emphasis on the sale part.I guess only you can decide if the deals are worth all the emotion, stress, and

money spending.

Black Friday Are the deals really worth it?

n Black Friday, the day af-

ter Thanksgiving, millions

of people attend malls,

department stores, grocery stores. Many

stores open extremely early and have ex-

tremely good discounts on items to kick off

the holiday season. This year it has become a lot more of an event than people going shopping. The media has made it bigger than past years, and it continues to get more popular. “I attend Black Friday because I personally think its fun. I mostly do it to get good deals”, Junior Mariah Kendel said. Many people go to extremes, and go really early in the morning.

“This year a lot of stores opened at 12AM so I was there at 12, but other years I have gone at 3AM”, Senior Shelby Zelek said.

“I don’t take any extremes on Black Fridays except not getting much sleep”, Senior Britney Lopez said. Some people wait in line, or go very early for a certain deal that the store would normally not have. “The best deal I have ever got-ten on Black Friday is ugg boots that were 50% off!!” Kendel exclaims. “Two years ago I got a 32 inch flat screen TV for my bedroom for 200 dollars when it was originally 300”, Lopez said. Some people think it’s worth stand-ing in line for a long time, or getting up be-fore the sun rises to shop. Some people may even fight over the item that they want.

Black Friday Shoppers at South Park Mall

O

Black Friday 2011

Do you love getting the best deals? Are we willing to wake up very early in order to receive those great deals? Then black Friday is the day for you. Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving, tradi-tionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. On this day many retailers open very early often at four A.M., or earlier, and offer promotional sales to kick off the shopping season. According to Wiki-pedia Black Friday is not actually a holiday but many employers give their employees the day off, increasing the number of potential buyers. Every year it seems that the lines in front of the good stores such as Best Buy, Walmart, Target, Game Stores, Toys R Us, ect. keep getting larger as the holiday keeps getting more popular with each passing year. The rates are up .3% more than last year and its said the rates may increase more if the stores opening up early is successful. Keith Owens, a yearly Black Friday shopper that comes 4 hours from New Philly to Berea says “ all the best deals don’t start until as early as four or five in the morning; I usually get here a day early so I can just wake up and get straight to the stores that I’m interested in’’ Keith Owens has had many experiences in the store when the other shoppers have started getting really rowdy and not do what they were asked. “ In one of my first years of doing this, I witnessed a group of teenage kids take electronics that where sold out, out of somebody else’s cart,” Mr. Owens said. About three years ago in 2008 there was a Wal-Mart em-ployee that was crushed to death by the mob of people when he un-locked and opened the doors. There were also four other people in-cluding a twenty eight year old pregnant female taken to the hospital for injuries sustained during the incident.

This year Wal-Mart rethinks black Friday safety, instead of letting customers charge in the store and run to ev-erything they want, Wal-Mart workers will be in front of the store to direct customers and keep them moving. Also shop-pers will have to form lines in front of large product displays if they want to buy one rather then them just take it off the shelf. The new safety measures where developed by experts who deal with crowds at events like the Super Bowl.

Also this year Wal-Mart and other super stores with the hottest gifts like target and Toys R Us will be holding a huge online sale the week after black Friday. This online sale is called cyber week and it lets shoppers get Black Friday deals online for a week after Black Friday. Cyber week start-ed with just being a one day thing that was only on Mondays but Wal-Mart decided that they would extend the great deals for a week straight. Steve and Candice Jakubic, former cyber week shoppers say “ When “Cyber Monday” originally started a couple years ago, you had to be online as soon as the deals started to get anything, but now that the stores are holding the black Friday deals for a week, it will be a lot easier to get what you want, and special stores like Wal-Mart and Toys R Us are giving free shipping with any orders during cyber week”. Cyber week will end Friday December 2nd so if you didn’t have the chance to go to Black Friday then this week is your opportunity to get what you want for a lower price. Collin Bodi, a former student at Polaris and cyber week shopper says” If u know what you want, then you should wait till this week to buy it. Most orders online that are over twenty five dollars get free shipping, plus, you’re already getting it for the lowest possible price, so its just as easy to get and cheap as if you were to go to black Friday.”

Josh GoforthStaff Writer

11

December12 Feature

Remembering theHolidays

We all celebrate our holidays in our own particular way, but do we know how others celebrate their holidays, both religiously and non-religiously? There are many holidays during this time of year that are observed by different groups of people throughout the country.

The most popular day of celebration during this season is Christmas. The ori-gins of Christmas come from celebrating the birth of Jesus, and, according to AllThingsChristmas.com, may not have been on December 25th. Many people believe that the month of December was chosen so that Christianity could com-pete with other pagan holidays around the winter solstice.

Since then the holiday has evolved. The holiday is celebrated by Christians as well as non- Christians too, celebrating it as a day of peace and kindness while spending time with family, as Demira Berbiglia does. Many Christians such as Sarah Jenkins go to church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

But Christmas is not the only religious holiday in this time of year, there is also Hanukkah, a Jewish holiday that celebrates the miracle of the oil Menorah (Candelabrum).

JewFAQ.org states that the holiday’s history dates back to the rule of Antiochus IV, when the Jewish people revolted against the Greek government which was forcing assimilation. After the revolt there was little oil left in the Menorah, which was supposed to be lit throughout the night every night. The Menorah only had enough oil to burn for one night but burned for eight days.

To celebrate Hanukkah, which History.com states is “a relatively minor holiday” in Jewish culture, eight candles are lit from right to left, one on each night. Candle blessings are also recited when each candle is lit and people often play

Another religious holiday that falls during this time of year is the Islamic holiday of Ashura. Ashura com-memorates two events that happened on the 10th of Muharram which is the first month in the Islamic calendar. For Sunni Muslims, Ashura commemorates the day when Musa (Moses) was saved from the Egyptians by Allah. Shia Muslims mourn on this day in memory of the martyrdom of Husayn, the grandson of Muhammad, notes ReligionFacts.com.

Many Muslims celebrate Ashura by preparing pud-ding and sharing it with their community. It is also cus-tom to provide free meals on certain nights through-out the month, while others fast on the day. There are also public processions in many countries on Ashura.

[Christmas] is celebrated by Christians as well as non- Christians too, celebrating it as a day of peace and kindness.

American

DreamJoseph KayeStaff Writer“American Dream”

“The American Dream”, a simple short phrase that would grow to be the basis of many people’s lives arose centuries ago. Most Americans have hopes, dreams and plans for where they want their lives to go whether they know it or not this is the same thing as the American Dream. The Declaration of Independence states the all men are created equal and are entitled to certain rights and among these “Inalienable Rights” are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The pursuit of happiness, one of the rights clearly given to all men in the declaration of independence gives every American the right to strive for happiness. People have the right to try to better themselves.

What is the American Dream? “The American Dream is the belief that any person regardless of

race, color and economic situation can become successful” principal Ruggiero said. The American dream is also defined by Dictionary.com as “The ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American.” Americans and foreigners that migrate to America have the oppor-tunity to better their lives. “America was built on hard work. People wanted more than what they came, from and were willing to work for it,” Consoler Miss. Kolis said. www. Brookings.edu states that America is known as the “land of op-portunity.”However according to Brookings.edu Americans have always been more con-cerned with equal opportunity than they have been with equal results. This does not mean that there is no longer a chance for success. Different sources had a different view on success and achieving their dreams.

From wanting to be a cartoonist for Walt Disney Studios to a simple family, friends and people in your life that I care about. Ray Terris from what is success.com says “What is success? Truly living, struggling to strive is not liv-ing.”

The

“what is suc-

cess? Truly

living; strug-

gling to strive

is not living.”

THE AMERICAN DREAM!

13

December

14 Feature

Behind Closed

DoorsWhat is the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear the words,

“foster care?” According to one student at Berea High School,” I imagine seeing a group of abused and neglected children with no parents and or a place to call home.” For the most part, this is the truth that many children in foster care face, on a day to day basis. www.bchfs.org/ says that they require years of therapy and medicinal treatment.

As you may know it, the buildings adjacent to Berea High School on E. Bagley Rd. are a system for foster youth called, The Berea Children’s Home. Berea Children’s Home is as close to a safe haven for foster care youth and runaway teens as you can get.

Established in 1864 as a German Methodist orphan asylum, Berea Chil-dren’s Home dedicated its time to provide shelter for dependent, neglected, and abandoned children during the Civil war. In 1960, after a study with the Child Welfare League of America, Berea Children’s Home shifted its focus to serv-ing children and in need of therapeutic treatment. Annually, they serve around 13,000 Children and Families throughout the state of Ohio. According to www.childrenunitingnations.org, there are about 400,000 Children nationwide in the United States that reside in foster care.

According to sparkaction.org, children in foster care range from infancy to eighteen years of age. Some possibilities of foster care include being reunited with parents or having parental rights severed altogether. This leaves them without a home or loving family with anybody to provide structure when they need it the most. Not many children in foster care end up going to college due to the lack of structure which is needed in the teen years.

One foster care client says he is sick of waking up every morning in a stranger’s home.

“Every morning I wake up, it’s a different place. I’ve been in foster care for 14 years and I still have no idea what home is. Do you have any idea what it’s like to wake up in a stranger’s home, being expected to call the ones taking care of you a replacement for mom or dad? Do you have any idea what it’s like to feel out of place and poked at a spit on like you’re different? Sometimes they spent the money they took from my checks and spent it on their biological children.” This was the unfortunate case of one foster youth.

“I love foster care,” says one teen. “Its given me opportunities that I never thought I could get before. I’ve only been in foster care for 4 years and it isn’t so bad. So far, I’ve joined the national honors society, entered independent living, and maintained a job for 2 years. I’m on the fast lane to Ohio State University and nothing could possibly get in my way now.” This was a fortunate case of a Berea foster youth.

In the end, Berea Children’s Home’s mission is to incorporate the follow-ing: Hope, Faith, community, personal responsibility, education, and stewardship. A staff member at BF cottage says, “I come to work every day because I too, have suffered hardships and I don’t know who will take care of these children when nobody else will. This is my job. This is my niche.”

Joe WStaff Writer

December15 Feature

Divorce and its Influence

“My parents got divorced when I was three years old. Both are very strict about my education,” Heather Vagasky said, a senior at BHS. “Sometimes family issues get the best of me and it’s hard for me to do any schooling, but I always try to get education done first.” Vagasky said.

Depression, stress, and anger can lead to complication towards a teen when the parents are di-vorced, http://parenting247.org.

School and family can be an issue for some, but Va-gasky responds by saying “Both of my parents are very strict about my education, and it has been that way since I can remember,”

“It’s tough when there is a problem at home though…”Vagasky responds.

“It’s hard for me to communicate to my par-ents.” Samantha Stergar said. A freshman at BHS, who also has divorced parents. Her response to stress with family and school is “Yes, it’s hard to get my work done when I’m having family situations.”

With starting off as a freshman and di-vorced parents, Stergar sometimes feels depressed in some situations and it is difficult for her to stay focus on school. Stergar feels that she had as much freedom as she would like to have.

“I would like to have a say in things that we do or if we go anywhere,” Stergar said. “The freedom I would like to have is where I can make my own deci-sions and learn from my mistakes, but of course there will be limits.” Stergar replied.

United States divorce rate is forty-nine per-cent in 2008, that is almost fifty percent. United States is number twelve, ranking in the frequent divorce coun-tries. Divorce has a powerful affect on a child’s emo-tions, www.divorcerate.com.

Leah Lutsock is another freshman student that attends BHS, and has divorced parents. The freedom she has isn’t much, now that she lives with her dad.

“Before I moved in with my dad I could pretty much do whatever I wanted.” Lutsock said.

If having children, Lutsock would never give as much freedom as she has had in the past and for mak-ing the decisions she did.

Lutsock has thought about her friends and if they have more freedom than her. “Yes

because they can probably go out more with their friends,” Leah said. Most of it is because she isn’t able to hang out with friends as much as her friends can.

Staff writier: Ashley Secotte

COLLEGE PROBLEMS IN HIGH SCHOOL?

December 16 Feature

One of the biggest things about Senior year is choosing a college, and trust me it is a crazy process. Peo-ple usually have to find the best fit in a college for them and they do not have much information to base it on aside from the people who try to recruit them to go to that college, and the friends they may know that go to each school.

One of the biggest questions seniors go through when they decide on a col-lege is whether they want to go to a State school or a Private school. There’s a lot of differences between the two, Public colleges are usu-ally bigger with more to do and less money to pay. Pri-vate colleges are smaller fo-cused on education and pay students a lot of money to go to them. The real question is, is that all that’s different be-tween the two.

One person that goes to a public college, Bowling Green is 2011 BHS Graduate Val Arko.

“At first I felt like BG was huge because I was new and had no idea about anything, and I was constantly getting lost” Val said.

“As time goes by you feel like BGSU as a whole is a pretty big school and has tons of people, but I think the campus itself is small” Arko said

Val talked about

how she likes Bowling Green for a few different reasons

“It’s not only a great campus but it has a good atmo-sphere” “The people are fun and I’m actually learning stuff in my classes” Arko said.

She did have some complaints about college as well though

“I miss Berea and my friends and family all the time. I don’t really get homesick but being away for months at a time has taught me to appre-ciate Berea a lot more and it showed me how much I really love Berea, being home and all of my friends,” Arko said.

“I don’t like the windy weather and studying for tests” She briefly stated.

Another person who went to a state college is 2010 BHS Graduate Ashley Hart, she attends the 2nd largest universi-ty in the country, The Ohio State University.

“There is literally something for every single per-son that goes here,” Ashley said.

“At a big school you can never feel left out because there is so much to get involved in and so many people to meet along with tons of networking opportunities,” Ashley said as she continued complimenting her school.

However Ashley did say how a big school could be bad to go to

“OSU is so big it can be easy to fall through the cracks at times but as long as you make yourself known with the right people and with the right depart-ments then there is no dif-ference between a big and a small school,” Hart said.

Another person who attends a public school is Meghan Wade 2011 BHS graduate, she goes to Penn State University.

“Yeah, I definitely like the college lifestyle bet-ter than the high school life-style. You obviously have a huge amount of freedom. In high school, you don’t get as many options when picking classes and things. In college you get to personally design what’s right for you,” Wade said.

Penn state like Ohio State is a very big school to go to and it shows.

“There are tons of activities to do here, I’m not in a huge amount of clubs because I do varsity diving, which is obviously another activity you could do here. There’s activities like varsity sports, intramural sports, clubs sports, entertainment clubs, photo clubs, future educator clubs, clubs for ev-ery major possible and a lot more,” Wade said

Meghan also went more in depth about her diving team.

“I love diving here, practic-es and workouts are tough though, but it’s worth it. The team is awesome and the team is generally great. Col-lege sports take dedication but I definitely love it,” Wade said

“I love being a Nit-tany Lion and we have a lot of pride even with all the crazy news going on around here,” Wade said

While Public schools have a lot to explore and many things to do that does not mean that they are the best schools to go to, Private schools also have their ad-vantages for the students that go there.

Corey Waldron goes to a smaller college, Co-lumbia College Chicago.

“I don’t like it, I love it” Corey exclaims, “I like my classes and the way the cur-riculum is structured, and there’s so many opportunities to get yourself out there and live what you love” Corey said.

“Also, living in down-town Chicago is definitely a plus. There’s always so much going on so it’s hard to get bored” Waldron said.

Corey also talked about the sport she plays at Columbia.

n. We’re the

Torrelle HowardStaff Writer

Continued on page 28

December 17

By: Kiya Boyd Staff writer

Eating D i s orders“Eating disorders are something that some people have when they eat too much, too little, do something to themselves after eating.” Tanya Neumann a senior at BHS said. An eating disorder is an illness that disturbs the everyday diet. “The person is obsessed with food,” Mrs. Hostelley the Psychology teacher at BHS said. According to the NIMH website, eating disor-ders are commonly found in teens and young adults. There are a few roles to play in eating disorders. Like perfectionism. Mrs. Hostelley said to think self worth is on appear-ance, which our society creates. “Because people are expected to be perfect.” Junior at BHS Gabriann Har-ris said. Perfectionism can come from what Hollywood has set for our society “Celebrities are made to look perfect. The media por-trays stars with ideal body images. These are unreal-istic expectations to adolescents who are still develop-ing.” Mrs. Wilson BHS health teacher said.Health is not the only issue that eating disorder has, its also a psychology problem as well.“Many Celebrities have the “ideal” body that regu-lar people want or that society has told us we should want. However, maintaining a certain look is part of the celebrity’s job. People in the general population

strive for the “ideal” body even though it’s not their job.” Mrs. Hostelley said. With some celebrities having eating disorders, some people want to be like them. “Some teens think its “cool” to starve and be skinny.” Senior at BHS Kiera Miceli said. Because of low self esteem that some teens have, they will try their best to fit the body im-age. Eating disorders are complicated and can cause different behavior. Anorexia Nervous is an eating dis-orders where people see themselves as over-weight. They will only eat certain foods or not at all. Bulimia Nervous is an eating disorder where a person eats a lot of food and then forc-es vomiting. Bulimic behavior is typically done secretly because of disgust or shame. Binge- eating disorder is an eating dis-order where people lose control over their eat-ing. They experience guilt, shame, and distress. “Binge eaters use food as a substitution for an-other emotion,” Mrs. Hostelley said. The brain can show that a person can have similar responses to food as they do with activities. Someone with an eating disorder can feel upset when eating, or feel completely hap-py. Treating an eating disorder can be hard, if the person with the eating disorder does not want help. But with group Therapy with fam-ily and friends, or even with people who have gone through it too, there is help. Medication can also be the solution.

“Because people are expected to be perfect.”

“Celebrities are made to look perfect”

December 18 Feature

Is Twitter the #newthing

Starting in middle school and going into high school we have all known about social network sites like Facebook and Myspace that allow someone to connect with people from their past and present. Both of these sites were able to start and grow into a phenomenon in a very short time, Myspace being the first and Facebook later knocking it off the top of the social networking ladder. Now it is Facebook’s turn to lose its spot on the top as Twitter, a social network-ing site that is described as the SMS (short message service) of the Internet is quickly gaining momentum across the world as a way to express one’s feelings in 140 characters or less. From celebrities, to world leaders and to just your regular everyday average Joe, everyone is jumping on the Twitter bandwagon. Ian Robertson, a senior at Berea High School (BHS) is quite familiar with the site having already tweeted 201 times to date. “It has a lot less drama than Facebook and is more of a short interac-tion,” Ian said. Ian is one of those people on Twitter who spends time trying to get re-tweets from celebrities, which is when someone tweets a celebrity in the hope that the celeb will either tweet back, or re-post what the person said. “It’s a very fun way to communicate with celebrities; if celebrities weren’t on Twitter it would be completely useless and boring,” Robertson said. “Yes, it is definitely the new thing,” Robertson said about Twitter taking over Facebook. From the point of view of a minor tweet-aholic, Torrelle Howard a se-nior at BHS stated that Twitter “Is pretty cool, but really pointless at the end of the day” To date Torrelle has tweeted 1,893 times and is on pace to surpass 2,000 by the time this article is published. Torrelle looks at Twitter as being a lot like Facebook, but with more pointless babble. Torrelle responded with an emphatic “YES!” that Twitter is the new “thing.” Twitter is not impressing everyone though, as hard as it may be to believe there are still people out there that haven’t joined the tweeting community. Senior at BHS, Josh Samol, has yet to create an account on the fast growing social networking site, even though all of his friends have urged him to. “Twitter is a place for e-thugs and celebrities” Samol said of the site. “I don’t have one because I haven’t had the time, but unfortunately I am planning on making one soon,” Josh said about not having an account. Josh will become a new tweeter just like Rachel Kaiser, senior at

“It wasn’t as user friendly as Facebook. I had no clue how to use a hash tag or if all my tweets had to be witty or not,” She said. Anyone would agree that with Facebook and Myspace, came a lot of cyber bullying and dra-ma. When asked if she thinks there will be less drama now with everyone going to Twitter, Rachel re-sponded “For awhile, but that’s also how Face-book used to be and before that Myspace.” Twitter may be on fire now, but Rachel predicts that Twitter will not be able to sustain as long of a run as Facebook and Myspace did and that it will begin to lose momentum eventually. We will all just have to wait and see.

Shawn LowrieStaff Writer

Strongsville High School recently became. With just thirty-four tweets to date, Rachel is starting to get used to Twitter, but was not sold on it right away.

December 19

Ian Robertson

FOR THERECORD There are four ways the current high school student obtains music. The most popular way is downloading songs illegally off of various unauthorized sites. If they don’t steal it, they’ll most likely purchase music through online stores, like iTunes or Amazon. Very few will still go out and buy cds, but figure if most people steal it, so should I. Finally, almost every student burns eachother music through mixed cd’s and online playlists, so they’re sharing (for the most part) sto-len music. But it’s safe to say this generation of teens is missing out on the greatest experience of music listening, and they’re unaware of it. The twelve-inch vinyl record was extremely popular through the sixties to the early eighties, from notorious, controversial artwork to the spellbinding art-ists who popularized it (The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, etc.) Since then cassettes, compact discs, and mp3s have taken over claiming to have a clearer sound. It’s pretty clear and well-known to those who’ve heard both, that the vinyl record has a more intimate, warm, and soothing sound to it. Although cds can be clearer, it’s also more artificial, and takes away the truer sound vinyl brings. Mp3s also compress as much as ninety percent of the music, so there’s almost no experience to it. BHS math teacher, Brian Mehmed, thinks the vinyl record has both posi-tive and negative qualities. “The best part about records is the nostalgia,” Mr. Mehmed says, “Some-times it came with artwork, lyrics, and posters. Also artists back then didn’t have to worry about pirating.” But he also thinks mp3s are more convenient and a more revolutionary sound. “You’d have to worry about scratches, skipping, and cleaning the needle. Mp3s are just easier to download, and have a way better sound,” Mr. Mehmed said. Berea High senior, Brad Hart, loves rock, but only likes records from a collectible stand point. “It’s nice to have a physical item in your hands,” says Brad, “But it’s just easier to download, or even buy a cd, because of it being portable. Although records were great and are awesome to collect, it’s best that we’ve advanced onward.” BHS English teacher, Mrs. Bassani, loves vinyl records and believes the artwork on the covers were stunning. “I remember my huge record collection and just being fascinated with all the artwork each vinyl had,” Mrs. Bassani said, “And the bands were just ground-breaking back then.” “Records have a different sound,” says local musician and BHS senior, Peter Harmon, “Records were more beneficial to the music industry, because there was no piracy, or way to copy them.” Peter thinks the evolution of mp3s will be the downfall of the music industry. “Why would record companies keep producing these artists and new ones if they’re not going to generate revenue?” Peter asked, “ T h e release of records back then we’re huge events, and now students only care about the two popular songs on the radio, than the whole album …they’re missing out.”

Current high school students are living in the digital age of music. Whenever they want a song they download it straight from their smart phones or illegally online. Is pirating the end of the music industry as we know it? All in all, the music business was thriving the most in the vinyl record generation. Maybe history just needs to be repeated. From last year, cd sales have gone down 13 percent, and records have in-creased 14 percent, and the online market for vin-tage records has never been this big.

Editor

December

20 Sports

READY TO WRESTLE

B

“We may not have a championship team, but we have championship kids,” wrestling coach Joe DeLuca said about this year’s wrestling team. This is De-Luca’s first year at BHS, and he is hopeful about this year’s season. The off-season has been different than others because of a new hire at head coach. Kids on the team this year had to stay in shape them-selves this summer instead of camps or summer practices because they didn’t have a coach. Captain Steve Cehovic and other wrestlers this year watched what they ate all summer long, they also ran and lifted weights. “I do a lot of endurance training, trying to keep my stamina up and make sure I stay in shape,” Cehovic, a junior on the team this year said. Coaches and players alike, think wrestling practices are the hardest any sport has to go through. They go for a straight 2 hours and 15 minutes, they run, work drill moves and condition at the end of practices. Problems for the team this year are how many kids have actually come out and participated early in the season. “Having low numbers on the team makes it harder to succeed in wrestling,” Coach DeLuca said. In spite of numbers Ryan Kolp is excited about another season ahead, and hopes to succeed in a good amount of matches this year. “My goal every year is to always get better, but also help the younger kids, especially freshmen, helping them find a place on the team,” Kolp said.Kolp like others look forward to facing teams in the Southwest Conference but most of all Midpark, BHS’s biggest rival. Each kid on the team has goals of winning certain matches or going to districts, but sophomore Shawn Koesel has a different goal in mind. “I want to get a varsity letter this year,” Koesel said. Even though Shawn wants to win as much as possible, he has a smaller goal for the wrestling season. This year is a rebuilding year for the wrestling team because of the coaching change, but Joe DeLuca is up for the challenge. One thing that DeLuca likes about coaching wrestling is helping kids and teaching them life experiences. “If you can get through wrestling, you can get through life. Every day is a wrestling match, how we go about handling the day is key,” Coach DeLuca said. Hopefully the team can succeed this year even with low numbers, but they mostly just want to compete.

Zach MogStaff Writer

December21 Sports

Cleveland Coaching Column

Cleveland is a football town through thick and thin. Ever since the Browns entered the National Foot-ball League (NFL) in 1950, they were one of the dominat-ing forces of the league. Sadly, all of that changed when Art Modell moved the team to Baltimore in 1995. When the Browns were granted a team in 1999, the expansion era began. Re-entering the league with high hopes and expectations from the media, they disap-pointed all fans as they started out 0-7 en route to a 2-14 finish. During the expansion era Cleveland has burned through six coaches while only making the playoffs one time. To anybody looking at statistics of season’s past, you can blame the players all you want, but the real problems with NFL teams come from the roots of the team—coach-ing.

“Coaching inconsistency since the expansion era has absolutely affected the team’s overall perfor-mance,” Bob Magee, an avid, life-long Browns fan said. The first coach of the “new era” was Chris Palm-er…yes, Chris Palmer. Though he had a rich history and background in the NFL, he was not a proven head coach in the league, he was simply a well known assistant. But the players can be partially blamed for his first two seasons of sadness since it was difficult to get a new team to be competitive because of the inexperience, thus leading to a combined 5-27 record.

“Other than coaching, staying consistent with players on the field is a key issue,” Zach Mog said.

Following Palmer, a man known as Butch Davis entered the picture. Despite coaching three semi-decent

seasons and appearing in the playoffs, his Draft ability was horrendous and he made a serious mistake by not drafting the stud running back, LaDainian Tomlinson in 2001.

“Butch Davis ‘butchered’ his drafts and we have not yet recovered,” Ma-gee said, “He drafted Gerrard War-ren over LaDainian Tomlinson. Also, Davis drafted Jeremiah Pharms. He was sent to jail and never even made it to Cleveland.” Davis’s combined record for his first two seasons with Cleveland was 16-16, including a playoff appearance in 2002. In the third year, the Browns slumped and finished with a 5-11 record. Finally in Davis’ fourth year as coach (2004), following a 3-8 start to the year, Davis resigned as head coach and left the rest of the season to Terry Robiskie, the offensive coordinator at the time. Robiskie was put into a bad situation being named the interim head coach for the 2004 season. He tried to implement the same ideals of Davis, but since he had no time to change anything mid-season, this resulted in more failure, finishing the season 1-4. After Robiskie, the defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel was named the head coach. Crennel was obviously defensive minded based on his past jobs and this most likely explains the offensive struggles of the Browns during his first two years as coach. He started off his head coaching ca-reer 6-10 and 4-12. However, in 2007, Crennel coached his team to a 10-7 season which uplifted the spirits of all Browns fans. To make things even better, Cleveland only lost one home game that year. Sadly, the Browns did not make the play-offs as a wild card since Tennessee had a better record. This great season gave the Browns momentum going into the next year. The team was even getting hype from the media to be contenders, but in typical Browns fashion, the team went back to their ways of years past and went 4-12.

Andrew MageeStaff Writer

December22 Sports

The slump of a season lead to the firing of Cren-nel, and the hiring of the New York Jet’s Eric Mangini. He started things off by signing and trading for players he was familiar and impressed with from the Jets.

His first year in power was a disappointment to Cleveland as they went 5-11. Granted the fact that a new coach always brings new things to the table, the first season in general is not a good benchmark for judgment of a coach’s ability.

“Each staff views talent differ-ently and we have been a mess in the coaching department,” Magee said.

For year two of Mangini’s coaching, it was ‘déjà-vu all over again’ (the words of Yogi Berra), and the Browns went 5-11. They won the final four games of the season but that was not enough for Mangini to keep his job and he was promptly fired.

“When Mangini began to show promise, he was cut short by lack of confidence from the front office,”

Shawn Lowrie, a ‘student analyst’ said.

The current Browns coach is Pat Shurmur. Taking over in a bad situation (noticing a trend here?) he has start-ed out the 2011 season with a 4-7 record.

“I trust Shurmur in general, just not as a play caller,” Alejandro Chock said. When asked about the play calling, he stated that the of-fensive coordinator should be calling plays.

Right now, it is too soon to tell if Shurmur is the man for the job, but there is one thing for certain: I want him to be that man. Over my seventeen years, I have seen too many coaching changes and I have seen how much it affects the on-field performance.

If the Browns’ front office truly wants to succeed, they will give Shurmur a chance to prove himself before making the ultimate decision of finding another head coach for Cleveland.

December 23 Sports

The Cleveland BrownsThe owner of the Cleveland Browns, Art Modell, moved the Browns to Baltimore, Maryland to form the Baltimore Ravens in 1995. Cleveland would go without a professional football team for the next four years, until 1999 when the Browns would return

under a new owner in Al Lerner. Unfortunately since their return, the Browns have been an almost nonexistent factor in the AFC North for the past 12 years. Except for their one and only post season appearance in the AFC Wild-card game against the rivaled Pittsburgh Steelers in

2002. “Words cannot explain how horrible the Browns are” BHS Senior Andy Magee said. The Browns have a combined record of 68-136 since returning in 1999 easily supporting Magee’s state-

ment. “Poor drafting and unwillingness to take risks in play calling are why the Browns are so hor-rible.” BHS Senior Zach Sullivan said. An example of the unwillingness to take risks would come from week ten vs. the St. Louis Rams. The Browns had the ball in the Red Zone with little time left to play. Trail-ing 12-10 instead of passing for the end zone, the Browns decided to run the ball 3 straight plays to kill time and kick a field goal from Phil Dawson. Dawson is usually money on field goals. However week ten didn’t work out as planned. The snap was botched and Dawson missed the field goal, giving the Browns

their 3rd straight loss this season. Another issue the Browns have faced is the “revolving door” at their quarterback position. Since 1999 the Browns have gone through sixteen differ-ent starting quarterbacks, Ty Detmer, Spergeon Wynn, Tim Couch, Luke McCown, and Ken Dorsey to

name a few. Berea Braves head football coach Matt Wilson believes out of the sixteen quarter backs

Jeff Garcia has been the best.“Jeff Garcia has been the Browns best quarterback since returning. He has a proven record as a starting

quarterback,” Wilson said. Senior Andy Magee believes Tim Couch was given up on too early. “He was the one. Too bad he got run out of town and never had an offensive line to help him out. He would have been a great QB in time,”

Magee said. Brian Mehmed, Math teacher at Berea be-lieves that current Browns quarterback Colt McCoy is

the best quarterback the Browns have had. The Browns have room for improvement ev-erywhere on the team. “The Browns need a consistent

player on Offense,” Wilson said. “Linebackers (OLB) in particular. D’qwell Jackson is solid. Gocong and Fujita need to go.” Ma-

gee said. Even with all of the problems the Browns cur-

rently face, they still have a few strengths. “The Browns pass Defense is where their strength is,” Sullivan said. Currently the Browns have one of the top Pass Defenses in the NFL. This is a stat that may be tainted as the Browns haven’t played

many great passing teams this season. However fans may feel, true Browns fans will always show up to the Factory of Sadness known as Cleveland Browns Stadium every Sunday, to possibly

witness a rare sighting of a Touchdown.

Brendon Scullen Staff writer

December24 Sports

“The Big Three” When we here this phrase we usually think of The Boston Celtics. Most people know that the Boston Celtics are the most dominant team of all time. They have never gone any more than 6 consecutive years without at least making the playoffs, and they also have only had 18 losing seasons out of 65 total seasons.

2010 Berea graduate Tom Lowery said “I think they should re-nick-name them The Big Four, because Rondo is one of the best point guards in the League.” He is averaging approx. 13 assists per game, and broke the assist record in Madison Square Garden with 24 and with 20 assists in the playoffs at (MSG). Rondo also nearly averaged a triple double in the 2009 playoffs.

2011 Berea graduate Christian Tropkoff said “Boston is my favorite team; it has been my favorite team since I’d started watching bas-ketball.” He then continued “Paul Pierce is my favorite player too; I love how he creates offense and can always get to the line.” Paul Pierce always bumps into the defender before he releases the ball to go to the free throw line and get the and1 attempt. He is actually somewhat known for it.

Brook Park resident Edward Orcutt said “Boston is easily my favorite team; they were so good in the old days that you couldn’t not like them.” He then said “Boston is also where I’m from so I visit there every so often.” He continued “I remember my first Boston game; it was in the Finals in 1963. This was their seventh straight Finals victory. Midpark Senior Suhayb Hamden said “I love Boston, I also loved their draft, and they took JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore.” He continued “Both of them out of Purdue, they are the best duo in his-tory of the boilermakers by the numbers scoring about 40.0 ppg combined, and they have team chemistry so they won’t be as nervous as the other rookies.”

Bill Russell, who was the Celtics long time center, won 11 championships in 13 seasons. This is the most championships won by a single player to this date. Bill Russell is a five-time NBA MVP, and a twelve-time All-star. He won a gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics as captain of the U.S. national basketball team.

Ray Allen, One of the most accurate 3-point and free throw shooters in NBA history, broke the 3-point record last year on February 10, 2011. He is a ten-time All-star, and he won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the 2000 United States Men’s Basket-ball Team. Ray also appeared in 2 movies He Got Game, and Harvard Man.

Kevin Garnett, won the national player of the year award, coming out of high school. He became the first NBA player drafted directly out of high school in 20 years. Garnett made an immediate impact with the Minnesota Timberwolves leading them to eight-consecutive playoff appearances, and in 2004 he took them to the western conference finals and was named NBA MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year in 2008. Since his second NBA season, Garnett has been named to every subsequent All-Star Game; also he won the All-Star MVP award in 2003, and is currently tied for 3rd-most All-Star selections in NBA history. He was also a part of the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Rajon Rondo, Is their current point guard who just so happens to be on the trading block. He is one of the best point guards in the league, but the Celtics want to trade him to the Hornets for Chris Paul. Ron-do currently holds the record for assists in a regular season game at Madison Square Garden. He also holds the same record in the same place for the playoffs.

The Boston CelticsLorenzo ReedStaff Writer

December 25 Entertainment

“Boy bands are the great-est musical acts in the world.”Berea High School (BHS) Junior, Ryan Kolp said. What happened to boy bands? They used to be some of the most successful performers in the world (although many do not think so), and now they are almost extinct. Back in the early 2000s, almost every girl was obsessed with a boy band. Most guys would say that they hated boy bands, but even though they most likely found boy band tunes to be catchy, however they were too embarrassed to say so. However some people believe that boy bands have no musical talent and that all they have are terrible dance moves and good looks.“All boy bands have are good looks and bad dance moves.” BHS Junior, Allison Barnard said. BHS senior Brendon Scullen believes that boy bands have very little musical talent, but he still enjoys listening to them. “Their songs are catchy, but you can tell they don’t have much musical talent because all their songs sound the same,” Scullen said. Did boy bands die out because they have very little musical talent? Or is there another reason?

NSYNC-No Strings Attached

Kolp believes that boy bands broke up because they were too talented to be around each other. Barnard believes that it was because their songs all sounded the same, and that they had no musical talent.Very few boy band members have achieved suc-cess from their solo careers. Justin Timberlake has been the most successful person to come out of a boy band. Timberlake left the boy band NSYNC and started his own solo career. He has come out with two albums and has had some hit singles in-cluding: “Cry me a River”, “Rock Your Body”, “Sexy-Back”, “My Love”, and “What Goes Around …Comes Around”. He has also started an acting ca-reer. (http://www.people.com/people/justin_tim-berlake/biography/0,,20005757_20,00.html) Senior at Strongsville High school, Nate Lampert is a huge boy band fan and has been trying to keep boy bands alive. Lampert would love if boy bands became popular again. “I try and get my friends to listen to them [boy bands] and I have even tried starting my own boy band,” Lampert said.Boy bands still exist today, but they are not as pop-ular as they used to be and they are hardly ever on the radio anymore. Is their time in the spotlight over?Lampert believes that boy bands will become popu-lar again but not anytime in the near future. “When they do get popular again, I am definitely going to have to listen to them,” Lampert said.

By Peter Harmon

December

Movies which call for audience participation are few. Possibly the most popular and longest lived is the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” (RHPS). RHPS was made in 1973 by Richard O’Brien and was adapted to film in 1975 by Lou Adler and Michael White. The style that Lou Adler and Michael White used is different from that of normal films.

RHPS is a unique movie, giving the audience an opportunity to interact with the film by bringing props, and dressing up. Rocky Horror still plays in theatres around the world today and has a large following of older viewers who con-tinue to go see the show, as well as people from a younger generation who are new to the film.

Kiera Miceli (BHS senior) first saw Rocky Horror when she was 17, making her very new to the film and its audience. Despite being very new to Rocky Horror, she is still fond of it and has dressed up for the film before. Many viewers do not go to the excess of dressing up for the showing, but are still happy to go. Marissa Weineke is one of these people.

Marissa Weineke (BHS senior) first saw the show when she was 15, making her a bit more used to the audience participation and understanding the show. There are many reasons that so many people go to see Rocky Horror. “The subject matter isn’t main stream but people are still able to enjoy the film and relate to the characters” Marrisa said.

Rocky horror has a feeling of heritage in it for some people, and so they watch because their parents decided that it was time they see the show. Joe Westphal is one person to follow in such a family tradition

Joe Westphal’s (BHS senior) first viewing was when he was 14. He has been with three people who have dressed up for the show.

“The show will remain a film tradition,” Joe said.

Rocky Horror is not a child friendly film, so often people wait, or are made to wait, until they are at least 13 before seeing Rocky Horror.

Many people first begin watching Rocky Horror at the age of 13 because the show contains scenes which are considered explicit as well as some language. Chelsea Richings and Marco Blacken (BHS seniors) both saw the show when they were 13. Chelsea watched the movie with her mother and sister, who both were dressed up for the show. Marco saw the show with his friends, and is in-decisive about his favorite song.

“I’m a sweet transvestite, no I’ll make a man out of you!” Marco said

Brianna Zahir (BHS junior) first saw Rocky Horror when she was twelve and has been a fan ever since. Brianna plans to go to more showings of the film with friends and be dressed up because she has never fully been involved.

Lets Do The Time Warp Again!

“It is basically a call to all freaks, weirdoes, and all those who are different and celebrates them for being exactly who they are,” Zahir said about Rocky Horror’s popularity.

Rocky Horror even finds its way to younger peo-ple, instilling in them the idea of being a part of Rocky Horror.

The closest Veteran around is Janel Nice (BHS se-nior), having first watched the show when she was 5 years old. She has been to showings with her friends dressed up, but has never gone so far as to do so herself. With the popularity that it holds and the people who keep the show alive by going to see and participate weekly, Janel expects the Show to stay in theatres, “Forever.”

Asia Nagy& Cody Anderson

Staff Writers

26

27 Entertainment

Robert Plant vs Lil Wayne By: Brandon Trsek Who has more Talent?

Robert Plant and Lil Wayne: two of the most talented artists and perform-ers ever seen, will go down in history as legends of their genres, but who is actually more talented? Lil Wayne, born Dwayne Michal Carter on September 27th 1982, was raised in one of New Orleans poorest towns, Hollygrove, and attended the local schools. In his youth he made connections with the notorious gang the Bloods, and sold crack for a while but stopped when he accidentally shot him-self in the chest. At age eight, his life seemed to be at an all time low when brothers Slim and Brian William’s, creators of Cash Money Re-cords, saw him rapping and were impressed enough to give him a business card. Wayne reportedly called them multiple times until they allowed him to sit and watch the artist’s record. This started Waynes career, first rapping professionally in True Stories (1993), then in Get it how U live, Guerrilla Warfare (1999) Lights out (2000) 500 de-greez (2002) Da Drought (2003) and The Leak (2007). In 2004, his talents were truly realized as a solo artist with the release of albums The Carter 1 and 2. This launched him into mainstream music, later releas-ing Dedication 1 and 2 in 2006 and Like Father, like son, also in 2006. “I don’t like his work, but I respect where he got from where he came from.” rock enthusiast Emmet McGrath said.

Wayne still receives worldwide attention and praise, along with much criticism from music fans. Wayne is currently working on a new album, and has just been released from prison for possession of an illegal firearm and drug possession. “He has talent”, Austin Paytosh said, “But his voice is squeaky and he’s a huge drug addict.” Robert Plant, born on August 20th 1948, is among the best know artists in the world, recognized for his amazing voice and prestige from his days in Led Zeppelin. After high school, he formed the Band of Joy which failed to grab much attention. In 1966 he left college and formed the band The New Yard Boys with guitarist Jimmy Page. In less than a year, the band name was changed to Led Zeppelin and history was made on 1969 when Zeppelin I was released. While it got mixed reviews, it seemed obvious either people loved this new hit band or they hated them. Following Zeppelin I, Zeppelin II was released in 1969 and ranked Number 4 on Pop Charts. In 1970 Led Zeppelin III, featuring Immigrant song was released, the Album which sealed Led Zeppelin’s name in history, as Craig Wesolowski said “Zeppelin III was the poster child of great music, something like that has never been done, and will never be done again.” Following Zeppelin III the band had limited success with albums Houses of The Holy, featuring D’yer Mak’er in 1973, Physical Graffiti featuring Trampled Underfoot in 1975 and Presence in 1976. When Zeppelin broke up due to drummer John Bonham’s death, Plant continued his career doing solo work, something Emmet McGrath was thankful for saying “Even though Zeppelin’s done, it’s cool that he continues to make real music from the heart.” Plant took time off in 1975 due to a car crash. He is currently a solo singer/songwriter and is married with two kids.

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Torrelle HowardStaff Writer

October

“I play Ultimate Fris-bee and it’s pretty fun. We’re the most established sport at Columbia. I really hope to see our other sports teams grow in the near future. As a school I think we really could use that,” Waldron said.

The last thing Corey talked about was her feelings about visiting other colleges.

“I haven’t visited any other schools but I plan on it. I’m sure it’ll be pretty fun, getting out and meeting new people is what college is all about, isn’t it?” Waldron said.

Another person who goes to a smaller college is Jor-dan Woods, he goes to Capital

University. “It’s just like most other things, it has some good parts and some bad parts,” Jordan said as he commented on how his life’s been going in college.

“It’s alright, but I feel like I have too much time and I end up taking naps a lot,” He continued. “I go home a lot and it’s always a good feeling being at home,” Woods said.

Jordan had some good things to say about go-ing to a smaller college.

“You have more of a family feel; you can go to your professors whenever you want; you don’t have a class of 150 students. I feel like that’s huge,” Woods said.

At the end of the day, no school is absolutely perfect, but there are dif-ferent schools for different people.

If you are a per-son who wants more to ex-plore, wants to make more friends in bigger classes and want to really be a part of a lot of things in the school then you should look into going to a Public school.

If you are a per-son that wants smaller classes, a closer relation-ship with your professors and your friends and do not want to be overwhelmed by a gigantic school then

you should look into going to a private school.

Really at the end of the day you may want to ap-ply to both types of colleges so you can look around and see what you want in a school for yourself.

28 FeatureDecember

Happy Holidays and have a safe winter break! ~ The Focus Staff