As the Columbia Area Career Center continues to undergo the extensive

construction necessary to complete an 18,000 square foot addition, students must cope with a slight decrease in the number of available parking spaces. “We lost 10 [faculty parking] slots

in the current construction that’s going on, and so we have added 10 faculty slots to the west of our building that used to be available to students,” CACC Assistant Director Oscar Carter said. “The main reason for that is we have several teachers on our staff that are traveling teachers between here and Hickman and other schools, and they have to come back and find a park-ing spot in a relatively short period of time or they will be late to their next class.”Some students continue to park in

the 10 spots against the west side of

the building, though they were clearly converted to faculty-only parking.“A few more students have been

parking in the Career Center faculty parking area than usual [since the con-struction began], but other than that it hasn’t been too bad,” parking lot at-tendant Chris Plummer said. “I usually have to give about 10 tickets a week to students parking in Career Center faculty spots. Before the construction began, it was about half that.” In addition to reducing the number

of available student parking spots, the construction along the south side of the CACC has made it difficult for students to safely enter and exit the lot during times of heavy traffic. “It’s hard to drive through the north

lot right after school because of the traffic back-up from the construction,” junior Martha Miller said. “The fence they set up makes the road really nar-row so only one car can drive on it

story continued on page 2

4303 S. Providence Rd. - Columbia, Mo. 65203 October 29, 2009Rock Bridge High School

ROCKThe

Volume 37, Issue 2

Students participate in Artrageous

photo by Kelli Buchanan 15Artists at RBHS share their art at Artrageous Friday, an event hosted by The District.

Absences plague administration

NewsAcademicsFeaturesIn-DepthsEditorialsSportsArts & Entertainment

pg. 1pg. 3pg. 5pg. 7pg. 11pg. 13pg. 14

Index

art by Oliver Clark

Fall MusicalThe theater department presents the RBHS adaptation of “South Pacific.”

Nov. 12

Upcoming Events:

art by Oliver Clark

Powder Puff Football The seniors look to defend their perennial title on the football field.

Nov. 6

CACC construction adds to parking congestion

Students come together to commemorate classmate

The week of Oct. 12 seemed to be a normal one at RBHS, with

one exception. On any given day of that week more than 15 percent of the student body was absent. However, this spike in absences has not been isolated to RBHS. “Overall there has been an

increased number of absences district wide,” District Health Coordinator Lori Osborne said. “There [have] been pockets of high absenteeism at [different] schools, but it’s just been spo-radic throughout the district [from] week to week.” Reasons for absences at RBHS

included college visits and fam-ily vacations, but a majority of absences both here and through-out the district are, Osborne said, because of seasonal illness such as influenza.“They’re not testing for swine

flu; they’re testing for influen-za,” Osborne said. “A lot of the cases are either an influenza or strep throat – something upper respiratory. But we are seeing a lot of positive influenza cases, and even though they are not testing for H1N1, we do know that approximately 98 percent of all influenza cases are H1N1.”That means Friday, Oct. 16,

when 332 students were absent, potentially an estimated 325 students were gone because of the H1N1 virus. With decreased student attendance, the adminis-tration is struggling with teacher absences as well.In an average week princi-

pal’s secretary Denise McGonigle said she has about four absent teachers. During the week of Oct. 12, however, there were at least 10 teachers gone each day. This left McGonigle, who also co-ordinates substitute teachers in the building, struggling to make sure classes have teachers.“I print [a] report out in the

morning, and it tells me [how many people] I have gone,” McGonigle said, “and then I have to go through it and see what’s the name of the teacher, what they teach and if there’s a substitute coming.”The report comes from the

district’s automated system for contacting substitutes, SubFinder. Once a teacher has called the system to report an absence, the system generates a call to a substitute to fill in for the teacher. However, SubFinder can-not always find substitutes.When there is no substitute

for a class, McGonigle must manually compare the schedules of the available substitutes to the classes that need teachers. “I start piecing it all togeth-

er like a big puzzle,” McGonigle said. “And that’s why sometimes you might have a class where you have a sub and then you have [a substitute] come in [a different class] to teach.”There were some days dur-

ing the week of Oct. 12 where McGonigle had to go through the task of manually assigning sub-stitutes, but for the most part teachers always had substitutes. The influx of substitutes, however, along with the noticeable lack of students in the building, caused rumors to begin to develop.“I heard plenty of people say

things like, ‘If there are three more people absent, two more people absent, then they’ll close school,” junior Luke Volkmann said. “But the whole time I was thinking, ‘That’s probably not true. I haven’t actually heard anything from administration.’”Volkmann was right in his as-

sumptions. Despite the rampant rumors, closing schools never crossed the district’s mind.“I think it is all student-based

rumor. It’s not faculty-based or administration-based,” Osborne said. “There’d have to be a high percentage, about 35-40 percent absenteeism, and there has been no school that has been close to having 25 percent absenteeism.”

Though homecoming typi-cally brings exuberance, the week of Oct. 5 was solemn as students mourn-

ed the sudden loss of senior Stuart Eiken. In the wake of his passing, students looked to each other for comfort, empathy and ways to commemorate the life of a friend. Throughout the week students

came together to organize ev-erything from a memorial ban-ner to scholarship fundraising. Senior Logan Parks took charge

of one of the first memorial ef-forts, a floor-to-ceiling banner on which students signed their names and wrote down their memories.“I suggested the idea to some

friends to create a giant dedi-cation wall, and they were all very fond of the idea so it just kind of progressed from there,” Parks said. “I wanted to give people a place to vent their thoughts about Stuart, to write down small stories and say whatever they needed to. [The banner] has done so much for a lot of people, and I’m just glad that I was able to

help people with it.” For many students simply

signing the banner was not enough to celebrate a friend’s life. The football team adopted multiple pre-game rituals to help ease the grief that comes with the loss of a teammate. “We say a prayer on the

22-yard line of our home field before the game, we have ‘SE’ golden decals on the back of our helmets above our num-bers and many write notes of remembrance or ‘R.I.P’ on their tape, arms or spat before games,” senior Chase Rome said. “The guys who were really close with Stuart have worked out exchanging [his no. 22 jersey] throughout districts. It’s just a sign of remembrance, saying that we know you are here and wish you were here for certain people. It’s respecting the ath-letic ability that left along with him.”As a result of Eiken’s last-

ing impact on the field, the Eiken family plans to start a scholarship fund for low-income athletes. DECA will help begin the fund by contributing the proceeds of the newly-created “StuCrew” shirts. “The idea of making the

shirts came up one day in our Sports and Entertainment Mar-keting class,” said senior Beau Reiske, DECA director of pub-lic relations. “Since our teacher Ms. [Elizabeth] Rawlings had Stuart in two of her classes, she suggested that the shirts be sold in the DECA Den. DECA [is selling the shirts] so that more shirts will be bought, which means more money will go to the fam-ily and the schol-arship fund they are setting up. About 200 shirts have been sold so far.” The cheerleading

squad also made memorial T-shirts to commemorate Eiken, wearing them at the home-coming assembly and football game against Riv-erview Gardens. “We started with the idea

that we wanted to do something for him, but we weren’t sure exactly what,” senior football cheerleader Morgan White said.

“We decided on T-shirts because they would be quick and per-sonal to us. We thought it was important to do something not only because a lot of the girls were close to Stuart but also out of respect. He deserves some-

thing even if it’s minimal because he influenced so many people and made a difference at this school.” As various

groups continue to publicly commemo-rate Eiken, individ-ual students must begin to reflect, mourn and come to terms with the loss of a class-mate. “I think it’s re-

ally good that so many people are deciding to do things in honor of him,” White said.

“It sheds a good light on him, which is exactly what he de-serves. And for everyone who didn’t know Stuart personally, maybe all these things that peo-ple are doing will help them get to know him too.”

“[Eiken] deserves something even if it’s minimal because he influenced so many people.”

Morgan Whitesenior

Remembering a teammate: Football players pray on the 22-yard line in remembrance of senior Stuart Eiken before the homecoming game Oct. 16. The prayer is one of many tokens of memoriam the student body has given in his honor.

photo by Kylee Fuchs

Kelsey KupfererEditor-in-Chief

Kelsey KupfererEditor-in-Chief

Zach GoreeProduction Manager

photo by Kelsey KupfererFenced in: CACC construction compresses the north parking lot with an expansive work zone.

October 29, 2009ROCKNews2

The

story continued from page 1at a time.” Though the CACC construction is in-

conveniencing students who park in the north lot, it was CACC funding which paid for the recent and much needed parking lot expansion into the old “grav-el lot.” “The whole northwest corner was

paved by us, not Rock Bridge,” Carter said. “We provided the funding for that project; it was part of our capital funds grant. It cost us roughly $45,000 to pave that area.” CACC administrators have no plans

for additional changes to the parking lot in the future. “We’re getting into a landlocked situ-

ation so we can’t do much more,” Cart-er said. “We can’t grow to the North because there is a gas propane line that runs through the property, so the Career Center won’t be making any more changes to the parking lot this year.” Though the coveted spots against the

west side of the CACC will remain re-served for faculty even after the comple-tion of the addition, students can expect the north lot to be free of construc-tion for the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year. “It’s unfortunate that the traffic flow

[in the construction area] has been a struggle for some students, and of course the few parking spots that we’re using for construction is unfortunate,” Carter said, “But expanding the Career Center will really benefit our students, many of which are Rock Bridge students. We have several programs that students are turned away from every year — it will be nice to finally get culinary in their own classroom as opposed to our cor-porate training center. So if everyone will just hang with us here, things will definitely get better.”

As part of its six-year curriculum development pro-cess, the Colum-

bia Public Schools board of education is proposing several changes to second-ary curricula, including major band alterations for the high schools.Miscommunication and

protest surrounded pro-posals to revise music classes, especially as it re-lates to band. During its last September work ses-sion, the board suggested cutting junior high march-ing band as well as mak-ing high school marching band an extracurricular activity. Some marching band students fear a sepa-ration would damage the programs.“If you made [marching

band] an extracurricular it would kill it,” said junior Nick Orf, who has been in band since sixth grade. “It would kill both march-ing band and concert band because if you make it a class, it’s more appropriate to get involved as opposed to extracurricular where you lose funding; you lose support; you lose kids.”Parents and teachers at-

tended the Oct. 12 school

board meeting to protest these changes. However, that particular proposal was not on the agenda for the Oc-tober meeting. Instead the board members discussed the effect of cutting junior high marching band.Junior high band stu-

dents “have something to look forward to,” RBHS band director Steve Mathews said to the board. “There’s something mysti-cal about them looking forward and going on to the marching program.”Although there was little

dissension about the need to teach junior high stu-dents fundamentals, there was no consensus about how freshmen should con-tribute to high school marching band.“Say we decided ninth

graders are taking high school band,” said Dr. Tom Rose, vice president of the board. “That’s not going to be until 2013 when ninth graders are with the high school anyway.”However, transportation

and scheduling are key is-sues in determining fresh-men involvement in the time until CPS becomes a 9-12 high school system, as well as the development of young band members.“I understand where

they’re coming from [cut-

ting junior high marching band],” Orf said. “Because I remember freshman year learning how to play your instrument and march-ing in a straight line was hard enough.”With the amount of

protest and logistical is-sues, the board postponed a decision on junior high and high school bands. However, band students anxiously wait to hear about the future of their program.RBHS and Hickman High

School marching bands “are some of the best programs in the state,” junior Nathan Cotner said. “It would be a shame to kill it.”To show their support,

a number of RBHS and HHS students, including Cotner and Orf, came to the board meeting. The board members listened to Orf’s defense before agree-ing to suspend a decision for the curriculum com-mittee to ponder the deci-sion and argument.“Separating marching

band and concert band would be very difficult. You limit the opportunity to take marching band and concert band,” Orf told the board. “It’d be a shame to see such talent and work put in, only to end up killing it.”

Craig ChvalNews, Academics Editor

Construction affects north parking lot

Tri-Theta hosts belt battlesOn a Monday morning, senior

Monique White stood outside tallying the number of drivers wearing seat belts as they entered the north lot.White volunteered for RBHS Tri-

Theta, which will be hosting a month-long campaign promoting seatbelt safety with proceeds going to ThinkFirst, an organization for injury prevention.“Teenagers have the highest age

group percentage of automobile ac-cidents,” White said, “So we’ve been doing unannounced seat belt checks, hanging posters around the school and having people sign pledge card to wear their seat belt.”Sophomore Joshua Hayes is aware

of the dangers of not wearing a seat belt; his aunt died in a car crash in 2008 because she was not wearing her seatbelt.“She was driving down the high-

way really fast,” Hayes said. “It was her and her friends, and she lost control of the car and crashed into a diesel.” According to www.savemolives.

com, only 77 percent of Missouri drivers buckle up regularly. This lack of seat belt use motivated the creation of Battle of the Belt.The Battle of the Belt competi-

tion educates youth about seatbelt safety through Public Service An-nouncements and educational cam-paigns. The Missouri Emergency Nurses Association and St. John’s Hospital developed this program. In 2006 the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety and American Fam-ily Insurance expanded the competi-tion to be statewide.RBHS broadcast journalism stu-

dents are producing public service announcements to enter in the com-petition. “The PSA encourages students to

buckle up every time they’re in a car,” broadcast journalism teacher Haley Brueck said. “The students really enjoy it, and it allows them to be creative and have fun.”Winners of their respective re-

gion receive rewards. Schools that reach above 91 percent of students wearing seat belts will receive state-wide recognition. “This is our second year par-

ticipating, and having last years’ entries for examples will help a lot in placing this year,” Brueck said.Battle of the Belt is not the only

seatbelt campaign. The Seat Belt Dance competition, Click It or Ticket and Arrive Alive assist in motivat-ing people to buckle up to save lives. With the help of these pro-grams, the national seat belt usage increased from 68 percent in 2001 to 83 percent in 2008 based on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s National Occupant Protection Use Survey.Reducing the injury and fatality

rates is imperative, especially when 15,147 lives could have been saved if a seatbelt was used, according to www.savemolives.com.“Everyone should wear [seatbelts].

You never know what could hap-pen,” Hayes said. RBHS’s participation in campaigns

like Battle of the Belt aims to edu-cate students on the importance of seat belt safety and encourages them to buckle up. “You could make a lot of people

sad,” Hayes said, “just by not tak-ing the time.”

Obama proposes more school hoursIn a press conference Oct. 6, President Barack Obama suggested lengthening the school year in order to help bridge the achievement gap between American teenagers and those in foreign coun-tries. On comparable stan-dardized test scores, Ameri-can teens consistently rank behind Asian nations, ac-cording to Obama’s speech. American students spend

1,146 hours in the class-room each year, while kids in the Asian countries that consistently achieve higher scores on math and science tests spend much less time — Singapore (903), Taiwan (1,050), Japan (1,005) and Hong Kong (1,013) — de-spite the fact that Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong are in school for 190 to 201

days. The United States’ school year is, on average, 180 days. The reason for this global achievement gap is unknown. “I don’t think that

lengthening the school year or school day would be nearly as effective as eval-uating how teachers and students use class time,” sophomore Charlie Davis said. “If we got rid of all the unrelated busy work, we could spend more time really learning and we wouldn’t have to lengthen the day. Then maybe over a long period of time we could get Americans to value education the way other countries do.” Because the ramifica-

tions of longer school years may have adverse effects, senior Georgie Zitsch opposed Obama’s philosophy.

“If the school year was lengthened, we’d just slack off more because that’s what we do most of the time anyway,” Zitch said.After considering global

differences in cultural val-ues, some reason that the achievement gap is natural and unstoppable.“I don’t think there is

a way to bridge the gap,” Zitch said. “Our lives are just so different; I don’t think there’s anything we could do.” English teacher Rebec-

ca Greer echoed Zitch’s thoughts.“The solution to the

achievement gap entails much more than longer hours,” Greer said. “It’s a cultural, societal and economic issue that needs much more than simply extending the school year.” Differences in cultural

mores play a major role in deciding the importance of academics in western and eastern countries. Some believe the only

way to solve the global achievement gap is to do so in traditional American style.“We need to reconnect

with a sense of an in-trinsic value for learning,” guidance counselor Samuel Martin said. “Education is often seen as a hoop to jump through in order to prepare for the future in-stead of a commitment to valuing learning, critical thinking and a desire to be inquisitive.”

George BrandStaff Writer

Latisha HickemStaff Writer

Potential Obama Plan

infographic by Oliver Clark

After a disappointing fund-raiser last year that brought

in close to $1,500 less than their 2008 campaign, Global Issues Club has reorganized, implemented new leadership and reevaluated their mission. Club leadership has under-

gone drastic changes since last year. In addition to a new sponsor and student officers, two student activists from the University of Missouri-Columbia, Nadege Uwase and Phil Klop-fenstein, have dedicated their time and support to making the club a success. “As a leader I want to

teach kids something new and increase their interest and awareness of global perspec-tives.” Uwase said. After three years as club

sponsor, English teacher Matt Webel stepped down because of his lack of available time. First-year math and person-al finance teacher Kathryn Fishman-Weaver has assumed sponsorship of the club. “I have been involved in

service learning and not-for-

profit work, and I think it’s important to help with human-itarian causes here at Rock Bridge,” Weaver said. “I’ve al-ready been impressed by the student leaders. As soon as I met them, I knew there was no turning back. I was swayed by their ambition for the club and its goals. Beyond all else,I want to keep this a student-run organization.”Senior Kelsey Saragnese, club

secretary, is optimistic about GIC this year after receiving help from new sources. “Global issues was badly in

need of structure and orga-nization,” Saragnese said. “It sounds pretty obvious, but Na-dege really hammered home the idea that we always need to know exactly what we’re doing, and so does everyone in the club.”The club’s focus for first

semester is raising money and awareness to help victims of human trafficking in the Dem-ocratic Republic of Congo. Be-ginning Nov. 16 the club will host a week-long fundraiser which will include a documen-tary screening, concert and 5K run, among other events.

In addition to fundraising, the club has another major goal: help revive some con-temporary issues activities that left RBHS along with teacher Matt Cone. “Contemporary issues always

had a lot of speakers that either came to the class or spoke to us on the phone,” Saragnese said. “GIC is hoping to restart that and have some global issues-sponsored speak-ers and forums.”The long-range goals for the

club include collaborating with Hickman High School’s global issues club and possibly the Amnesty Inter-national clubs of both high schools. “Both clubs

have similar goals,” Saragnese said. “I think we can be more effective if we work together.”Uwase hopes

the club’s influ-ence will extend beyond Colum-bia. She wants to implement an

alternative spring break trip that will send sophomores on service trips around Missouri, juniors around the United States and seniors around the world.“I want to do these trips

through a program that I participated in.” Uwase said. “I went to Philadelphia and worked with kids in low-in-come areas. I think it’s very feasible to do these service trips this spring break. We want to change peoples’ atti-tudes about global issues. This will prompt people to inspire change in others.”

Global issues club reorganizes, works with HHS counterpart

George BrandStaff Writer

Congo Week Schedule Monday: FREE documentary, 7 pm in the PAC Tuesday: Bake sale with It’s A Grind coffee Wednesday: Bake sale, cell phone drive Thursday: Bake sale, wear your t-shirt

Friday: Dance party with live bands and DJ, 8 pm in the PAC

infographic by Kelsey Kupferer

Tooting their own horns: The marching band plays at the football game on Oct. 12. The district is considering changing the secondary marching band curriculum.

photo by Kylee Fuchs

Protestors organize to support band curriculum

TheOctober 29, 2009 ROCK

Academics 3

New clubs take offS

tudents chatting at desks, music blaring from speakers and club presidents yell-

ing out directions are all a part of club meetings. Chaotic Style Crew,

Women’s Outreach Club and Future Lawyers of America were founded since the beginning of this school year. The Light, also new, is school-affil-iated but not sponsored, meaning that a teacher sponsor is not allowed to participate.Sophomores Lexi Lacy

and Heather Zarhouni started the group out as Rock Bridge Steppers but changed the name to Cha-otic Style Crew. They es-tablished a club that ful-fills their wish to open a dance crew dedicated to dancing for fun.“It’s for the people who

want to dance and can’t get into the other dance teams,” Lacy said. “If they just want to dance and have fun, they can just join ours because we re-ally let anyone in, and if they can’t dance, we will help them out. We just want to see their style.”The Chaotic Style Crew

meets Wednesdays in the math wing from 3:15-4:15 p.m. Future meetings will consist of discussing where and when the crew will perform and learning different styles of dance moves that they hope to incorporate into each dance.“We are very different.

We have our own style of dancing,” Lacy said. “We are going to have a com-bination of Latin dancing, ballet and tap all in one song.”

Lacy and Zarhouni hope integrating numer-ous styles of dancing and letting anyone in to the crew will build up the club’s popularity and en-tice people to join.“We hope to be as big

as UNIQ because they are really good, and we want to live up to our name,” Zarhouni said. “You should come and be yourself and you can contribute any i d e a s f o r dances.”On a

s imi l a r l e v e l as the Chaotic S t y l e C r e w ’ s goal to change w h a t p e o p l e think at R B H S , the goal of Women’s Outreach Club, or WORC, aims to change how students think specifi-cally about women. Junior Leslie Neu, pres-

ident of WORC, decided on the club’s acronym for one reason in particular.“It is supposed to be

the best ‘work’ you ever have to go to,” Neu said.And for many the ac-

ronym fits the descrip-tion completely. Through fun meetings, such as a women’s self-defense class planned for November, Neu hopes to keep attendance up and help change how people treat and think of women.“You know you hear so

often the ‘that’s what she said’ jokes or ‘you want to hear a joke? Haha, women’s rights,’” Neu said. “I just want to see people be more respectful

of women and how we see them here in high school and during social life.”Though the club may

sound as if it is aimed at women, Neu hopes many male students will join meetings as well as she tries to make the club geared toward both women and men.“My joke for the guys

is this,” Neu said; “if the club is for women and there will be a lot of them there, then why w o u l d n ’ t guys want to go?”A club

that helps focus any student at a law ca-reer, Future Lawyers of Am e r i c a ,

founded by sophomores Tahura Lodhi and Stepha-nie Perry, has a set goal to get as many people in-terested in coming to the meetings to talk about law and government.“There are people I

know interested in get-ting together to talk about what it takes to be a lawyer here,” Lo-dhi said. “Also the na-tional organization was telling me that they have a mock trial program, so I was going to talk to people to see how many would be interested be-cause it sounds like a lot of fun.”Meetings will be every

other Tuesday in rooms 206-207. Lodhi plans to hold elections for officers and discuss different law cases at future meetings.Lodhi hopes people will

come to the meetings to get the word out about the club even though it is new.“I am kind a dork be-

cause I love law and gov-ernment, so if I had just heard about a club like this I would have been interested,” Lodhi said. “But I think people should come to the meetings be-cause I really want people to know about the mock trial because I know Hick-man has one and went really far so it would be cool if we could do that too.”While Lodhi hopes her

new club can discuss law and governmental ideals, meetings for The Light is taking more of a spiritual route.Formed by sophomore

Taylor Buster, the club has a focus on Christi-anity. Buster expects The

Light to be similar to the Fellowship of Chris-tian Athletes, but he hopes to make the reli-gious time spent a little differently. “I have noticed that FCA

is kind of short to get very deep,” Buster said, “so I made The Light so

kids could have longer de-votions.”Although he plans

to make the devotions lengthier than those of FCA, Buster wants to in-clude more time in the meetings to prepare fund-raisers, such as one for kids who want to go to Christ In Youth, a Chris-tian youth group retreat to have a little fun in the process.“We play a lot of

games, and they are a lot of fun; they are hi-larious,” Buster said, “and we spend half the time laughing.”

FFA competes in national convention at IndianapolisWhile some see agriculture

simply as a career choice, Future Farmers of America spon-sor Larry Henneke sees it as an opportunity for students to take farming into a competitive set-ting. The Columbia chapter of FFA

returned for the 82nd National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana Oct. 21-24. The chapter competed against students from all over the country in the larg-est recurring youth convention in the world. The teams achieved second place in the Livestock di-vision, second place in the For-estry division and sixth in Land-scaping. “I was hoping for first place

but still thankful because I be-lieve we deserved it,” senior Josh Remus said. “We practiced twice a week for two 1/2 months be-fore the competition.”Two groups in the Columbia

chapter included students from RBHS, including sophomore Kody Henneke and seniors Josh Remus and Andrew Pestle in Forestry, seniors Brady Chasteen and Russ Chambers in Landscaping and se-nior Jimmy Bennett in Grasslands. Before the competition the stu-

dents prepared for the challeng-ing convention ahead of them. The Grasslands event “was

about evaluating grasslands for wildlife habitat and for livestock value as well as identifying plants that grow in the grasslands,” Ben-nett said. “I also had to read soil test reports and be able to tell what the soil had to offer.”Students participated in two

days of competition, including topics in management, topograph-ic map reading, orienteering, in-sect and tree analysis and a 10 minute oral presentation. The landscaping team performed sale demonstrations and set up nurs-eries, and all competitors com-pleted a written exam about their respective subjects.The students also found time

to enjoy various activities at the convention. These included a Toby Keith concert, a haunted corn maze, a hay ride and key-note speaker Mike Rowe, host of Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs. “I really liked the environment

at convention,” sophomore Leyna Craigmile said. “I liked seeing the cowboys because I like the wranglers.” The competition also gives stu-

dents a chance to plan for their futures and get interested in ag-riculture early.

“FFA Nationals taught me that when you set your mind to any-thing, you can do more than you would ever dream possible,” Ben-nett said. “I’m given the chance to be in a team and do projects such as welding and showing lambs.”Henneke encourages students to

join FFA to create more of an in-terest in farming professions and hopes more students will consider agriculture in their futures, either in practice or in college. “We stress that we want involved

students because it leads to bet-ter job opportunities in the future. We promote it pretty hard as part of curriculum,” Henneke said. “Just about every college with an agricul-ture program also recruits at nation-als with booths and information, so those sessions can attract students.”FFA not only shapes a foun-

dation in agriculture but teaches them to be proud of what they do. “For those students who will con-

tinue school in Columbia, it helps them to realize that they won’t just always be considered ‘Aggies,’” Henneke said. “When they go to a function and see that 20 percent of the population will end up work-ing in agriculture, they realize the actual prospects in such a field. It ends up teaching leadership, but it’s also a big reward.”

Morgan HausmanEntertainment Editor

Pumpin’ it up: The Chaotic Style Crew breaks it down and works on their dance moves during practice. The group practices Wednesdays from 3:15-4:15 p.m. The crew started in October for the first time.

Tasmeen HussainArt, Design Editor

College Board names Commended Scholars

The College Board selects the top one percent of scorers on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test as National

Merit Semifinalists; RBHS has 13 students, in addition to nine Commended Scholars, who are some of the top scor-ers in the nation.Seniors Amy Berry, Hannah Cambell, Heather Eaton,

Katherine Gale, Cyrille Goldstein, Katelyn Gribble, Kelsey Kupferer, Joshua Litofsky and Thomas McClure scored at least 200 on the PSAT out of a possible 240, earning them Letters of Commendation.Barely missing the cut for National Merit Semifinalists,

Commended Scholars receive potential benefits when com-peting with other students for college admissions. “Between National Merit Semifinalists and Commended

Scholars, either is a good assessment of what you are,” EEE teacher Marilyn Toalson said. “As a junior it’s the first look at comparing yourself to other really smart kids.”

story by Craig Chval

For the second consecutive year, the RBHS scholar bowl team took first place at the Truman Library American History Contest. The Bruins defeated seven other schools, mostly from the Kansas City area, to claim the victory in a contest that featured questions from the different branches of government.Seniors Zach Goree and Alan Hatfield and juniors Craig

Chval and Marc Micatka fielded the team coached by his-tory teacher Greg Irwin. Although all four varsity members graduated last year, the group was able to defend the title in the second annual competition. “We just studied hard and did well,” Irwin said. “It feels

good being the champs again.”story by Kelsey Kupferer

Scholar bowl wins history contest

“We hope to be as big as UNIQ because they are really good, and we want to live up to our name.”

Heather Zarhounisophomore

photo by Bethany Ahlersmeyer

Academic Briefsart by Tasmeen Hussain

October 29, 2009ROCKAds4

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Sports 13

the course, that’s what I asked them to do,” Melahn said, “and it obviously worked.” Having conquered districts the

team glided toward the green: Missouri State High School Activities Association Championships. For senior Kayla Burri, preparing for state was extremely important. Because she does not plan to play in college, this was her last season to shine.“I wanted to do the

best I could,” Burri said, “so I can look back and know I did the best I could rather than regret something I could have done.”Being goal-driven

paid off as Burri tied for fifth at state in the individual competition. Junior Meghan Mueller was also successful individually, tying for ninth with 81 the first day and 82 the second day. This is the first time RBHS has had two top-10 finishers at state. Both athletes earned all-state distinction.Mueller admits she made some minor

A first place finish at districts Oct. 24 by the boys’ cross country team enabled all seven varsity runners to compete this Saturday at sectionals in Camdenton. The girls’ team, which nabbed second just barely

behind the first place Jefferson City Jays, will also send its seven varsity runners. The strength of these district wins opened up an opportunity for the Bruins junior varsity team to compete in the open race Saturday, hoping to qualify for the state tournament Nov. 7 in Jefferson City. The Bruins’ success came in spite of the illness

that spread throughout the team. “Callie Floyd was feeling really ill but ran a

tough and respectable race [in district meet],” Coach Matt Miltenberg said, “and Meghan Schulte had the race of her life and stepped up huge in Callie’s sickness to place in the top 10.”The boys’ win was the first district championship

in the Bruins history. Sophomore Caleb Wilfong was the individual district champion and 14 varsity runners claimed all-district honors. Competing while sick displays the perseverance and dedication the team has had all season. “There were times when runners missed weeks of

training,” Miltenberg said, “but the team has depth and a competitive edge.”The team’s early season had both highs and

lows. Motivated by a loss at the Liberty Invitational Sep. 5, the Bruins performed exceptionally well, head coach Neal Blackburn said.“It was one of the biggest meets in the United

States,” Blackburn said. “Out of 80 schools, the boys [varsity] took third and girls [varsity] took seventh.”Nearly a month later in the Border War

Championships Oct. 10, the boys varsity won by 80 points, and the girls varsity lost by just three points to Kirkwood, taking second place.As the Bruins head into sectionals Saturday,

Blackburn hopes all the runners will “remain healthy, stay relaxed and do what we have been doing all season long.”

Boys hope to make a big splash at state

Hannah StrawnStaff Writer

Since its start in August, the boys’ swim team has been training three hours per day, swimming thousands of yards and lifting dozens of pounds. Despite the rough start the boys have had, they

are positive their hard work will pay off at the upcoming state championship, Nov. 15-16 at the St. Peter’s Rec Plex in St. Louis. “We’ve not performed as well this year,” senior

Devin Robinett said. “Our first few meets were sluggish, but we’re hoping to turn that around.”When it comes to making this change, Robinett

is looking to the season’s new and improved support system, something that has not been as strong in years past. “We’ve been hanging out a lot more this year

than in seasons past,” Robinett said. “It’s brought us a lot closer, which helps us in the pool as well. We support each other a lot more, and we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”One form of team building included the traditional

Speedo run at the homecoming football game, a cold experience but great for team bonding, senior Zach Mertens said. Another reason the boys have a closer team this

year is because the roster is much smaller. The size has led to an increase in individual swimmer quality, meaning there are more people on the team that score points and have the ability to swim a wider variety of events, Mertens said. “This year the team has been much smaller so

everyone has a more personal relationship with every swimmer,” Mertens said. “The team doesn’t have that typical divide between age and ability level anymore.”The team’s strong relationship gives Mertens high

hopes of winning at state. “I decided a long time ago that I’m winning at

state this year,” Mertens said. “This means that I’m going to place first in the 100 breast.” While Mertens is sure he will score points at the

upcoming championship meet, Robinett is confident in the team as a whole. “At the moment we have less guys qualified for

state than we did at this time last year,” Robinett said. “We’re hoping, though, that at state three different people will qualify for finals. Our relays will also be pretty stacked this year as well, so I’m expecting Rock Bridge to finish well.”

Girls’ tennis takes second place

After their first undefeated season in history, the girls’ tennis team topped off their wins with a second place finish in the state tournament. The team played hard against several of RBHS’s

largest competitors, Coach Ben Loeb said. The most difficult moment for the girls in getting to

the state championship was defeating Marquette High School in the semi-finals. They beat Marquette with a large margin of 8-1 in the regular season. It was an unexpected challenge, but the girls still won 5-3.“We were down by three singles

matches,” Loeb said, “two of which were 10-8, which is very close. It was difficult in the tiebreaker, but the girls pulled it together successfully in the end.” RBHS fell 5-0 to Ladue Horton High

School. Despite the loss the girls who played in the state championships are satisfied with how far they progressed this season, Loeb said.“Ladue had great ball speed and

tactics. They really did every play excellent, and we had to pull out an answer to every shot they had. Sometimes we didn’t have an answer,” senior Alice Mends, ranked no. 5 in singles, said. “We tried our hardest, and I’m satisfied with it. I know our whole team gave it their all. We were at state fighting for first; I’m proud of that.”In the weeks leading to the post-season, when it

became clear the Bruins were going to finish the season undefeated, Loeb changed the team’s routine at practice. The Bruins began reviewing games and working on specific strategies for the upcoming games against rivals, such as Kickapoo and Ladue. “We tried to break down and analyze each play,”

Mends said. “Each [of the] girls knew the strengths and weaknesses of who she was playing against. So to focus before the game, I just had to think about my strengths and abilities and the things I could do. I just have confidence in myself. I try not to stress myself out.”Loeb motivated his players with a less-than-

conventional approach. Toward the end of the post-season, he took more time to focus on breathing and visualization techniques, Mends said. Loeb set the

After defeating Hickman High School five times during the

regular season, the volleyball team lost to their cross-town rivals in the first game of district play. “We went into the game too

cocky and assuming we would win it,” junior Emily Holt said. “We realized that we weren’t playing well after the first game, but we thought we’d be fine, so we didn’t really feel alarmed or anything. Once we dropped the second game pretty bad we de-cided we needed to try and pick it up. In the third game we were up 18-13 at one point, but we kept making a bunch of dumb mistakes.” The loss was an upset, as

the Bruins were ranked third in the district tournament while the Kewpies were seeded sixth. “I think ultimately we beat

ourselves,” Holt said. “We weren’t playing very well and so that made us get down on ourselves, which led to bad attitudes and more mistakes. I think it brought us closer as a team to go through something like this together, though.” Disappointed with the outcome,

some members of the team dis-agreed with Holt’s reason for the loss. “I don’t think we were overly

confident or cocky,” senior Lizzie Frericks said. “They just came out on fire and wanted it more than we did. They were really upset about us beating them on senior night, and they felt like they had something to prove.”

Cross country changes history at districts meet

Girls’ golf finishes season undefeatedGoal - driven team engages in a successful season falling just below the title of state champions

The girls’ golf team sunk its final putt with success. The Bruins placed fifth

overall as a team at state at Freemont Hills in Nixa, a feat that has not been accomplished since 1983. The girls played 18 holes each day and the top four players’ scores counted toward the team result. Although the team faced some difficulty,

coach Melissa Melahn said they worked hard. “State was a really long two days for

us,” Melahn said. “The course itself that we played is a pretty difficult course. It’s really lined with trees, and you’ve got to be really careful about making decisions about what club you’re going to use and where you’re really going to hit your shot to keep yourself out of trouble. I think the girls did a really good job during their practice round knowing where they were going to hit it and what club to use.”Standing at the tee early in on the

season, the girls’ golf team could not predict the success that would come in the long journey ahead of them. The first challenge to conquer was dealing with the shortage of upperclassmen.“We are a fairly young squad,” Melahn

said. “The bulk of the team [is] freshman

“It hasn’t just been one per-son. [The suc-cess has] been spread, which has added to the depth of the team.”

Melissa Melahngirls’ golf coach

Breanna DumbacherIn-Depths Editor

ambitious pace for the post-season where the girls had to defeat their toughest competitors, senior Sarah Heeter, ranked no. 2 in singles, said. The team did better than expected from its very first match.“The team came back stronger than last year, which

was a real confidence booster,” Heeter said. “We have much more depth this year, which just means there’s a good amount of skill level from top girl all the way down to junior varsity. We don’t have a point where the expertise drops off. The team is solid all the way down.”One of the challenges of tennis is trying to build

a cohesive team out of individuals who are constantly competing against each other for top ranks on the lineup. Senior Alex Majors, ranked no. 3 in doubles with junior Abby Kayser, said she tries not to worry about where she is on the list each particular day in order to help her focus on her entire game.“It’s hard for tennis teams to be tight-

knit and together because technically I am always competing against the girls I’m standing right next to,” Majors said. “But our team definitely works together as one unit instead of individuals working towards personal gain, which is where a lot of our success comes from. Even though we have many different types of personalities on our team, we all understand the importance of working together towards a common goal.”

The leadership of the team does not only come from Loeb. The structure of the tennis season also allows senior leaders to make many important decisions that influence the overall atmosphere of the team.“Seniors set the tone for the team. We have to watch

how we carry ourselves,” Mends said. “If we don’t want to play a match and have a bad attitude, that attitude is going to cascade down the team. There’s a responsibility because we have to show the younger girls how to act on the court.” Some of the girls are going to take much more than

just physical fitness and a sense of satisfaction away from this successful tennis season. Players also learned the value of perseverance in competition.“I have learned from this season that I have to

believe in myself even in the worst scenarios when you think you’re totally down and not going to win it,” Mends said. “There’s always that chance that you’ll come back and get it, that the odd thing is going to happen. Never give up on yourself because things can totally change, and always give your best at each point in time because every little thing counts in the end.”

Kelli BuchananCommentary Editor

After impressive season Bruins battle best at state tournament

Latisha HickemStaff Writer

After cross-town rivalry games, Bruins feel pain of defeat Defending their title: Junior Emily Holt jumps to block an HHS player’s spike dur-ing RBHS’s senior night showdown at the Hearnes Center Oct. 22. RBHS easily domi-nated the Kewpies, winning the first three of five games. Yet the Bruins were taken by sur-prise Mon-day evening as they were defeated in three games by Hickman in the first round of the district tour-nament.

photo by Kelsey Kupferer

and sophomores. It was a rebuilding year, but the girls who came in were talented, and we were able to be just as competitive as last year.”Once camaraderie developed among

players, the girls were ready to compete. Victory at their first tournament, the

Warrensburg Invitational, started the season on a positive note. The team continued soaring above the fairway with multiple victories. Undefeated in match play, the Bruins

won eight tournaments, placed third in one and fifth in another. Melahn thinks the success is because of a team effort.“It hasn’t just been one person,”

Melahn said. The success has “been spread, which has added to the depth of the team.”With a positive outlook, the team

headed to districts. This year Melahn took a different approach to preparing the Bruins for this event. Last year the team focused on imagining districts before it happened. This year, however, the girls viewed it as just another game and decided not to get nervous about its implications because the girls had seen all of the teams already. The result: the team won districts for the first time in 20 years. “Just concentrate on themselves and

mistakes but sees these slip-ups as opportunities to improve next year and into college, where she plans to continue playing.

“My goal this year was to get top-five, and I tied for ninth,” Mueller said. “It was really just one hole yesterday that really stopped me from reaching that goal, but I know I have one more year to come back and do it again, so hopefully that happens.”Melahn agrees the team

should be able to improve next year upon the mistakes made at state. She points out they

missed the fourth place spot by two strokes, letting them improve for next season. “I know the girls have

the potential to do this, and I’m just excited that

now that they’ve been there, and they’ve played that they realize they had that ability all along,” Melahn said. “It’s a tremendous accomplishment whether we made it in the top four or not, and three of those girls will get to come back and give it a good run next year.”

“We were at state fight-ing for first. I’m proud of that.”

Alice Mendssenior

Kelsey KupfererEditor-in-Chief

October 29, 2009ROCKA14

TheEntertainment

rts&

Taking the Stage

Racism, deceit and love are the main themes in “South Pacific,”

the fall musical. It will be performed at 7 p.m. Nov. 12-14 and at 3 p.m. Nov. 15 in the PAC. The musical tells the

story of a young navy nurse, Nellie, who falls in love with Emile, a French plantation owner, when she travels to an island in the South Pa-cific during World War II. Romance also blooms between Lieutenant Joe Cable and a young Tonk-inese woman Liat. Both couples are torn apart by prejudice and racism, and the characters have to choose between love and the rules of society. Although the musical

addresses some very ma-ture, serious issues, senior Hannah Satterwhite, who plays Nellie, said high school students can relate to the story because of the universal themes of love and war. “Everybody has prob-

ably experienced some-thing that’s in this mu-sical, whether it’s at a personal level or they’ve just heard about it,” Sat-terwhite said. Satterwhite also believes

that the subject of racism is still relevant to today’s audience. When the musi-cal was written in 1949, racism was a predominant social issue. Despite the societal changes that have taken place since then, Satterwhite said she still witnesses racism occasion-ally among her fellow students. “There are still stupid

jokes that people make about different races,” she said. Besides drawing atten-

tion to the main themes of the musical, director Mike Pierson said another way to help students relate to the play is to make sure the story seems real. All of the characters in the story are adults, making them especially challeng-ing for the young actors to portray realistically.

Pierson tries to help the actors portray the adult characters in a way that is believable. “We talk about develop-

ing that character through an accent or through ac-tions,” Pierson said, “and everything they do in developing that character then has to come out on stage.”Jessica Iveson, who

plays Liat’s mother, Bloody Mary, found the best way to get the audience to relate to a character is to play that character convincingly. To do this Iveson is studying the script and the backstory of Bloody Mary to better understand the personal-ity of the character and communicate that person-ality to the audience. “I said lines like I

would say them, and then I thought, ‘Well, how would Bloody Mary say it?’” Iveson said. “‘How would she say it with the a c c e n t ? H o w w o u l d she say it with the older kind of deep earth mamma tone?’”Despite the challenges

Pierson likes the way high school students can con-nect to a story like South Pacific through the young actors. He believes see-ing high school students portraying adult charac-ters on stage makes the audience able to relate to the story in a unique way and helps them see the issues involved from a different perspective. “I think there’s an in-

teresting connection of looking up on stage and saying ‘That kid is the same age as I am, but he’s portraying a charac-ter that’s much older, and now I can see different points of view through his performance,’” P i e r s o n said.

By merging the lyri-cal diction of poetry with the drama of

the spoken word, students are bringing new vitality to the world of poetry. The Advanced Place-

ment Literature and Act-ing classes are participat-ing in Poetry Out Loud, a nationwide competition in which students memorize and recite poetry. The purpose of Poetry Out Loud is to introduce Eng-lish and acting students to the dynamic aspects of oral poetry according to www.poetryoutloud.org.After all of the act-

ing and AP Literature stu-dents perform in front of their individual classes, a panel of teacher judges will choose one student from each class who will go on to compete in a school-wide competition Nov. 19 in the PAC.

Senior Allison Frisch, an acting student, be-lieves her theater back-ground gives her an advantage over the AP Literature students. “Acting students

know how to take text and make it personal because we act,” Frisch said. Acting teacher Mary

Margaret Coffield said her students are more

comfortable performing in front of an audience be-cause they have more experience.

“It may be that my students overall are go-ing to be more effective as a class in articulating and projecting,” Coffield said, “because they’re so used to doing that com-pared to the AP kids as a whole.”Although the acting

students have more ex-perience, Coffield also believes they have some disadvantages because they are used to a dif-ferent kind of perfor-mance than what is required by the competi-tion. Acting students are used to portraying a spe-cific character, but poetry requires them to convey

the emotional tone of the writing. “You’re really investigat-

ing more how the power of words can convey an experience, whereas, with a play, you really have to be interactive, and they are just totally differ-ent skills,” Coffield said. “Sometimes it can be a detriment because they may think they’re sup-posed to act the poem, and they may not be al-lowing the words from the poem itself to be as powerful.”Frisch agrees the most

challenging thing for act-ing students is resisting the urge to act out the poetry while reciting it. The acting students have to learn how to act only with their voice and not their actions. “If the poem’s like,

‘Then I dropped a piece of cheese,’ then you’re not going to actually drop a piece of cheese,” Frisch said, “but you’ll make your voice sound like you’re sad because you dropped the cheese.”Coffield also thinks the

AP Literature students have an advantage over the acting students be-cause they are accustomed to poetry analysis. “I think some of the

lit. kids are more able to pick challenging po-ems that are also really interesting,” Coffield said. “They’re very good at analyzing the meaning of the poems.”Despite the differences

between the two classes, English teacher Debbie McDonough believes the students’ passion for po-etry, and not their acting or literature background, will decide who wins the competition. “I don’t think that they

necessarily have an ad-vantage over each other,” McDonough said. “I think it’s about the passion you have for the poem that you’re working with, and when you are very pas-sionate about the meaning of the poem or the struc-ture of the poem, that’s going to come across to the audience.”

Musical addresses mature themes

Students combine theater, poetry

Katelyn GribbleFine Arts Editor

Katelyn GribbleFine Arts Editor

art by Jessica Wells

TheOctober 29, 2009 ROCK

15AEntertainmentrts&

perspectives on contro-versial topics such as global warming, human

a l t r u i sm and hos-pital effi-ciency. T h e

v a r i o u s sub jec t s , more than 15 in all, are all suppo r t -ed with s t a t i s t i -cal facts, no matter how con-troversial. This was the case when the a u t h o r s

addressed human al-truism, beginning with an initial theory, mov-ing to a different, ex-

perimentally-supported theory and finally end-ing with a completely new, factually-supported proven theory. By the end of the

book, claims such as the safety of drunken driving over drunken walking, how necessary child car seats are and the continued sexism in society are supported, if not proven, by fact and a number of in-triguing case studies.Super Freakanom-

ics, like its predeces-sor, sells itself through the attraction of hu-man curiosity. Even a quick skim of the pages is sure to draw attention and demand a more thorough read-ing, if not the whole book, then at least a chapter.

Sequel elaborates on freaky bestseller

Past the hustle and bustle of downtown life a loud whistle is heard. This whistle comes from art teacher Sharon Hyatt-Wade as she prompts and prods her art

students to change canvases. The District’s Artrageous Weekend Oct. 9-11

showcased many of Columbia’s downtown gal-leries and this year RBHS students showed off their art skills in a non-traditional way. The Columbia Art League’s education director Patty Jaconetta-Groening proposed the idea of RBHS artists painting outside the Art League during the Artrageous Weekend, but that idea evolved into something much bigger.“Sharon got back to us with this idea that

the students wanted to do a sort of participato-ry, wearable art with cardboard,” Groening said. “I can’t even quite get my head around it so I can’t wait to see how it unfolds. It’s turned into an art happening. It seemed to evolve, especially from a perspective of the students, and that is what I am excited to see.”Hyatt-Wade has high aspirations for her stu-

dents and always pushes them to go above and beyond traditional art. This drive motivated

Painting a masterpiece (top): A young spectator joins in and paints on a representation of the Mona Lisa. Drumming with the crew (bottom left): Junior Isabel Ac-curso takes a break from art to join the percussion crew.Abstract art (bottom right): Senior Katy Ross combines water color spray and webbing to create an abstract look.

‘The District’ offers artistic venue

Create a steamer with pumpkin, spice and everything nice

Kate HrdinaEditor-in-Chief

The title Super F r e a k a n o m i c s :

Global cooling, Patri-otic Prostitutes and why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insur-ance only alludes to a fraction of the materi-al covered in Stephen Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s new book. Released Tuesday,

Oct. 20, the 2005 se-quel to Freakonomics, reports on the same bizarre economic find-ings. It introduces readers to an odd as-sortment of people, from a Southern Bap-tist turned prostitute to a real world Harry Potter. The book provides

intriguing insight into

Imagine the music realm as a solar system; millions of celestial bodies moving at their own pace and occasionally colliding. Now imagine it as a second-grade solar system project, where the second-grader carrying it trips, causing all the planets and stars to be knocked off their axes in an indescribable calamity. On Nov. 20 at The Blue Note in

downtown Columbia, the latter image is exactly what to expect from Bassnectar. Bassnectar holds true to its style — it connotates sweet beats with their delicate intensity in every song. From hip-hop mixed with classical to jazz mixed with rap, Bassnectar gives variety while staying tied to its obvious favorite electronica. With a new album, Cozza Frenzy, just released Tuesday,

Bassnectar’s performance at the Blue Note is sure to be different from anything previously seen at one of their concerts. The concert is sure to be packed full of people in their teens to mid-20s, lively with high energy and full of crazy dance moves. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 the day of the show

with a $2 minor surcharge; the doors open at 7 p.m. —Lauren Baker

Third Eye Blind

Bassnectar

Combining complex, energetic riffs with memorable hooks and smooth

vocal harmonies, Hinder aspires to join the ranks of rock legends Aerosmith, AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses. Promot-ing their album Take It to the Limit, which debuted at no. 4 on the Bill-board 200 with 81,000 sales its first week. Hinder will be at the Blue Note Nov. 13 with The Veer Union and Faktion. A risky blend of raucous anthems

and melodic ballads, the album is a compelling sampling of rock reminiscent of the classic rock of the ‘70s and ‘80s. The album’s lead single “Use Me” has already generated massive radio buzz and impressive iTunes sales, peak-ing at no. 3 on U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks. If hard rock isn’t your thing, the album has no shortage of soft and slow ballads to counter the more rambunctious songs. With provocative lyrics and catchy melodies, the album has earned its praise. Known for their rowdy, enthusiastic stage performances, Hinder is the one concert that should not be missed. Tickets are on sale at The Blue Note box office or Ticket-

master for $22 in advance or $25 the day of the show, not including the $2 minor surcharge. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. —Kelsey Kupferer

Hinder

Many RBHS students can remember summers of their youth, popsicles

by the dozen and frolicking in the yard sprinkler. That scene wouldn’t be complete without Third Eye Blind’s summer smash “Semi-Charmed Life.” While nearly 12 years have passed since their self-titled debut album, the band is still churning out soon-to-be classics. With the August release of their first album in six years, Ursa Major marks a turning point for the alterna-tive rock band, debuting at no. 3 on the Billboard charts. The pre-released single “Non-Dairy Creamer” struck a chord with old and new Third Eye Blind fans alike, while integrating a political tilt unknown to a band of catchy guitar licks and witty lyrics. The next single, radio ready track “Don’t Believe a Word,” deals with a messy breakup, and retains the scream-the–lyrics-out-loud quality that Third Eye Blind fans have come to expect. And those devotees will get the chance to do just that, as

Third Eye Blind comes to the Blue Note Nov. 3. Tickets are $28, and doors open at 7 p.m. —Lauren Croll

art by Garrette Daugherty

Nov. 13The Blue Note

Nov. 3The Blue Note

Nov. 20The Blue Note

Zach GoreeProduction Manager

everything from soci-ety to monkeys. In the very first

p a g e s , S u p e F r e a k a -n o m i c s sugge s t s c l a i m s that seem contrary to com-m o n s e n s e . However, the au-t h o r s ’ evidence p r o v e s their as-sert ions , such as t e l e v i -s i o n ’ s positive effect on women’s rights in In-dia. The subsequent chapters offer unique

You know what the worst things in the world are? Broken things.

Things that are highly dysfunc-tional when they are not supposed to be. Take my dog Buddy, for ex-

ample. He lies directly in front of the door, motionless, every day. He can run for about a tenth of a mile before getting exhausted. He sinks like a rock when put in a pond or river. Buddy is a Golden Retriever. He is supposed to be active and

energetic. He isn’t exactly what I meant when I wrote “dog” on my Christmas list, Santa. Another thing that invariably

breaks around this time of year is the heater. Oh, it’s fine, heater.

You’ve only had a six-month-long vacation. I understand that you’re still tired. Lazy bum. So if you stop by my house in the next cou-ple of weeks, don’t be surprised if you see me garnished in col-orful fuzzy socks, multiple layers of plaid flannel pajama pants, an ugly homemade Christmas sweater and my ski hat with the fluffy ball on top. I’m peacocking. Thinking about the inevitable

the other day, I decided to try something new this year. Instead of waiting for the morning when I wake up to the chatter of my own teeth, I prepared for the com-ing cold. Take that, procrastination. But after resurfacing my insulated face mask, I realized warm clothes hadn’t really cut it in years past. And they weren’t going to this year. So I had to find myself a friend

who would snuggle under the cov-ers with me and my book when that fateful day arrived. In the past I resorted to hot chocolate. But he was a bad friend. He made me feel slightly chubby. So I tried a pumpkin spice

steamer. Much healthier, right?

Hah, fat chance.The ironic part of this situation

is that I realized I, too, am highly dysfunctional at times. My first in-dication: my attempt to make “sim-ple syrup.” Simple my asterisk. Once upon a time, my uncle

told me that to make simple syrup you just have to melt sugar in a pan. I now consider that uncle a liar. I put sugar in a pan and turned on the stove. After quite some time, the sugar

started to burn so I added water. The nasty gooey mess started to boil and sizzle. It turned black and started to smoke. My attempt to make simple syrup had turned the sugar into a bubbling witch’s brew. After quite a few failed efforts,

I came up with a wonderfully de-licious Pumpkin Spice Steamer. It tasted like Thanksgiving. I am no longer the worst thing

in the world. I have cured my dysfunctionality — at least for the time being. So accept your failure. Embrace

your brokenness. And then fix it. And while you’re at it, have a

Pumpkin Spice Steamer.

her students to do more than Columbia Art League asked.“When the Art League invited us to come

down, it was their idea to just do artwork in front of the building,” Hyatt-Wade said. “The art students and I decided to do music and nontraditional techniques. We wanted to add just a bit of zip.” Students were stationed outside the Columbia

Art League at 207 S. Ninth St. with multiple corrugated cardboard canvases and a variety of artistic media and supplies. When the students heard the whistle, they had to change either the material they were working with or the canvas they were working on. Accompanying all this activity was a slew of drummers giv-ing the artists a funky beat to listen to while working. “It’s kind of crazy, but it looked like fun,”

senior Morgan Pitchford said. “They seemed like they were having a lot of fun and I like the idea that it is downtown because then people in the community can get involved and see what kids in our school are doing in the art world.”Jessie Hicks, National Art Honor Society sec-

retary, thinks that community involvement is important for the RBHS artists. “Last year our art started getting put in

shows here at the Art League and PS gallery. We have gotten more involved in the commu-nity,” Hicks said. “I know this year National Art Honor Society is trying to do a lot to not only benefit ourselves and our students, but to also benefit the community.” CAL is supportive of RBHS artists and their

desire for more community involvement. They hope RBHS artists can participate and help plan other events that CAL hosts. “From my perspective having students de-

termine the program themselves is important rather than adults coming up with the pro-grams,” Groening said. “I think this is a per-fect fit as far as youth driven programming. We are looking forward to hearing more sug-gestions and feedback from Rock Bridge about what kinds of programs we can offer here at the Art League that would be of interest to them.”

Bethany AhlersmeyerFine Arts Editor

photos by Kelli Buchanan

photos used under fair use exception to copyright law

infographic by Kate Hrdina

photo by Kylee Fuchs

October 29, 2009ROCKBackpage16

The

Friday the 13th (1980):“Friday the 13th is the best. If that isn’t enough, you can watch parts two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight in this decade. Hollywood can smell money over blood.”

—Rich Hadfield

The Blob (1958):“My first contact with scary movies was as a young child when my uncle took me to see The Blob. My mother didn’t know. Today this would be far from a scary mov-ie, but when I was a young child, I’m sure it would have been PG-13, and I was, like, six.”

—Rich Hadfield

Psycho (1960):“Psycho is one of the pivotal pieces of modern horror. It’s still creepy after all these years, thanks to Bernard Hermann’s nail biting score, Tony Perkins’ career defining performance and, of course, Hitch-cock’s quintessential direction.”

—Scott May

Alien (1979):“Director Ridley Scott set the stan-dard for all modern sci-fi horror with this stylistic masterpiece of ooz-ing, claustrophobic terror. Fantastic cast featuring a strong female lead, played by the then unknown Sigour-ney Weaver.”

—Scott May

May is a movie critic who writes reviews for the Colum-bia Tribune’s Go! magazine. He is also a computer con-sultant and has been writing information about personal computers since 1989.

Scott A. May

Critic Biographies:

Rich Hadfield

Runners-Up

1950s: The Fly Invasion of the Body Snatchers

1960s: Rosemary’s Baby The Pit and the Pendulum

1970s: The Exorcist Carrie

1980s: Nightmare on Elm Street Night of the Creeps

1990s: Silence of the Lambs Cape Fear

Faces of Terror Through The AGES

The Experts expose the most spine-tingling Thrillers

Hadfield is the music and film analysis teacher at RBHS. He was graduated from the University of Missouri-Colum-bia and majored in music. He has always had a pas-sion for movies and completeted film workshops in Chicago before teaching here.

Haunting horrors of the new millenium

Ginger Snaps (2000): “This droll, feminist ode is one of the better ex-amples of modern horror, intelligent and well crafted.”

—Scott May The Others (2001): “A brilliantly told ghost sto-ry with a classic twist. Even if you know how it ends, there’s enough brilliance in the small ensemble cast to warrant repeat viewings.”

—Scott May

Other scary sights: Jeepers Creepers (2001)The Ring (2002)Saw (2003)Paranormal Activity (2009)

The Shining (1997):“Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is at the top of my list for the ’90s. Jack Nicholson tearing down the bedroom and sticking his head in with his “Heeeeere’s Johnny” is a funny moment in a very scary movie.”

—Rich Hadfield

TheOctober 29, 2009 ROCK

Features 5

The bracelet is simple — nothing more than a single bead on an eight-inch strand of hemp. Yet it was this simple idea

that raised more than $200 in only a month for a friend with cancer. “I went to Christian Fellow-

ship School with [Amanda Mc-Daniel] my freshman year,” se-nior Molly Totten said of her friend. “That year she got diag-nosed with Sarcoma cancer.”Osteosarcoma is a childhood

bone cancer that usually occurs when DNA errs during a growth spurt. The treatment of Osteo-sarcoma is most often chemothera-py. McDaniel, now 17, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 15. Chemotherapy

caused McDaniel to lose her hair and when treat-ment did not work, her leg was amputated. Still, McDaniel and her family remain strong. “It hasn’t ex-

actly been a re-ally easy road,” McDaniel said, “but I’ve been blessed. I cannot complain at all.”Even with a gloomy diagno-

sis, neither McDaniel nor friends lost hope. Totten came up with the idea

of selling bracelets at school and church for one dollar apiece after receiving encouragement from her mother. To Totten’s surprise her bracelet sales have added up to about $10 a day for McDaniel’s family.

Emilie LewisEditorials Editor

Braceletsspin supportSenior Molly Totten sells bracelets to support her friend Amanda McDaniel, diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in 2007.

Hanging onto hope: Merely a single string with beads, each bracelet made by senior Molly Totten raises $1 for Amanda McDaniel’s family. The money helps cover small travel, treatment and other costs. With McDaniel’s help Totten comes up with a new design monthly for the bracelets. November’s bracelets each have one green bead; some also have two complimentary beads on either side.

“When I look at it, I remember to pray for her and just think about her.”Bethany Eubankssophomore

“When I look at it, I remem-ber to pray for her and just think about her,” Eubanks said.But the bracelets represent

more than just a prayer for a friend; Totten hopes her friend’s struggle will inspire many more.“It’s just the thought of some-

one having cancer who is our age, and you hear about it but you don’t really think about it,” Totten said. “I see this girl, and she goes home and does her homework. She’s still trying to graduate with her class next year, and all summer she [had] chemo and stayed inside.”Yet McDaniel has not let can-

cer get her down. She has de-pended on support from friends and family to overcome the dis-ease. “It would have been very,

very hard to do this — to be as far as I am now — without them,” McDaniel said.McDaniel continues to garner

help from friends and support-ers through the blog her parents write, www.CheersForAmanda.blogspot.com. She relies heav-ily on her twin brother Caleb, and her stepsister Abby, a 2009 RBHS graduate, who shaved her head along with McDaniel in

Totten is not the only one who is helping support McDan-iel and cancer research. After McDaniel’s initial diagnosis, her friends made T-shirts in sup-port along with a 5K run and father-daughter dance that are now annual. “I think it’s important be-

cause I wouldn’t want anybody else to have to do this,” Mc-Daniel said. “And the more the research progresses, the num-bers [of patients] continue to go down.” Aside from attending the same

school, Totten and McDaniel be-came close when they spent the summer of 2007 together in Houston, Texas while Totten was visiting her sister, and McDaniel was receiving radiation.

The over-all cost of c o m b a t i n g the disease has been ex-pensive. Mc-Daniel wears a $60,000 prosthetic leg and frequent-ly travels for treatment so every little bit helps. Thank-fully many are dedicat-ed to raising money and awareness for McDaniel.“I never

take it off,” junior Justin Miller said of his bracelet. Miller met McDaniel at CFS and has supported her since her initial diagnosis. “It reminds me every day of what Amanda’s going through.” Miller is not the only one

to support McDaniel. Sophomore Bethany Eubanks continues to correspond with McDaniel since their days at CFS.“Amanda is one of my really

good friends,” Eubanks said. “I keep in touch with her and call her a lot.”It is not just former class-

mates who are showing their support. Senior Page Dodam has never met McDaniel, though she actively supports her. “I’ve got some friends who

are really close to her,” Dodam said, “and I don’t know her that well, but I think every thought counts for her condi-tion.”Upon hearing of Totten’s

project, McDaniel was nearly at a loss for words.“I think it’s absolutely amaz-

ing,” McDaniel said. “It just blows my mind. You wish you could say thank you to abso-lutely everybody that’s helped in one little way or another. It’s amazing.”The outpouring of sup-

port has encouraged Totten to continue to sell the bracelets monthly. McDaniel will pick out the bead color, which Totten hopes will remind everyone to send out a thought each time they glance at it.The beads are not necessar-

ily prayer beads, though seeing them does spark a few to send a thought or two heavenward.

2008. Totten says the blog is a

way for her to feel connected, even when she has not talked to McDaniel for some time. The McDaniels update the blog with treatments, family outings and anything that has had some ef-fect on McDaniel’s condition and recovery. Though McDaniel has proven

strong, she has recently encoun-tered a scare. “They thought it was in her

other leg, [too], but it turned out there was nothing there,” Totten said.But cancer or no cancer,

Totten values McDaniel most for her friendship, noting that McDaniel “has this personality [that is] on fire.”With an attitude that draws

people in and a group of CFS and RBHS students behind her, McDaniel has proven to be an inspiration to all.“I think she just deserves

this because she’s fighting can-cer where we’re living our teen-age years. [While we are] strug-gling with different things, she struggles with everything on top of that with this cancer,” Tot-ten said. “She definitely has inspired me.”

photo by Kate Hrdina

photo by Kylee Fuchs

October 29, 2009ROCKAds6

The

TheOctober 29, 2009 ROCK

In-Depths 7

Art by Sawyer Wade

Inside these pages you

will surely face fear.

Abandon hope all ye who

enter here.

8ROCKT

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In-Depths 9

“Wicked Cold”

Customs that linger

Kylee FuchsPhotography Editor

hallows eveAll

The first Halloween dates back 2,000 years to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (sow-in). The Celts lived in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and North-

ern France. The Celts celebrated the New Year Nov. 1, which marked the end of the sum-mer harvest and the cold winter ahead. For this reason the day was often associated with death. On New Year’s Eve, Oct. 31, the Celts believed that the boundary between the living and the dead became tainted. They believed ghosts of the dead reverberated back to earth on this night. To celebrate, Celtic priests called Druids built a sacred bonfire and people dressed in costumes burned crops and sacrificed animals in honor of the Druids.

European immigrants brought many different Halloween customs when they came to America. When these traditions began to mesh together, an American version of Hallow-een emerged. New immigrants poured into America in the second half of the 19th century and promoted the spread of the Halloween celebration. The tradition of dressing up in cos-tumes came from the Irish, who went from house to house asking for food or money, which American transformed into today’s “trick-or-treat.”source: www.historychannel.com

The woman lay in bed, curled into a tight ball, every muscle taut, listening to the crashing of the thunderstorm outside. Colin was late, later than she had ever

known him to be, and the weather was fierce in its fury. She hated to think of him outside in this torrent, up on the poles. They needed the money from the overtime, but she real-ized, not for the first time, that it might be better just to have her Colin home with her, safe and warm. The life of a lineman was never easy, but on nights such as this, it was absolutely murderous.

A thunderbolt crashed, filling the room with noise as the flash of lightning filled it with blue light. It was then she sensed Colin in the room and heard his long drawn out groan of exhaustion as he peeled off his sodden clothes. In a minute she was rewarded with the sensation of feeling him climb into bed, one arm around her waist, pressing himself against her.

“God, you’re frozen,” she complained.“Wicked cold out there,” he said simply, his voice tinged with a profound tiredness.“Jesus, you’re like ice. Come on, snuggle up closer and get yourself warmed up.”His voice sounded far away, as if he were near to sleep. “A transformer blew while we

were up in the bucket, and it snapped off part of the cable. The tension was tight, the wind caught it. Cracked around us like a bullwhip. We were right next to it.”

“Damn,” she whispered, pressing up against him, trying to bring him her warmth. “You’re lucky you weren’t killed.”

“Funny you should mention tha

8ROCKT

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In-Depths 9

Bill Schnell, owner and manager of Necropolis since its opening in 2004, is a hard man to please. Heavy breathing, pupils dilating, veins bulging— this is how he expects his customers to feel after exiting his haunted

butchery. One aspect that is unique to Necropolis is that their actors can touch customers in order to scare them.

“With Necropolis, we are trying to be as intense and scary as possible, and touching adds to it,” Schnell said. ”Because of that we have to do things like not let anyone under 12 go through without an adult. It’s mainly geared towards high

school age and above.”Necropolis is located downtown on Rogers Street and offers one attraction: the haunted Bishop Factory Butcher. Necropolis

is not the only haunted attraction for teens. Fear Fest, the alternative scare in mid-Missouri, features four attractions: Sarah’s Legend (a haunted house), a corn maze, a hay ride and the Slash Masters’ Asylum according to wwwfearfesthauntedhouse.com. It is located three miles west of Columbia off the Fayette Exit of I-70.

“The general theme and feel of the two are different, and a lot of that has to do with location,” Schnell said. “We use the old butcher factory, giving us an old, industrial theme, while Fear Fest uses more of a country feel.”

Despite the differences between the two, both places made changes to make their sequences less predictable. Fear Fest “re-did Slash Master’s with new actors and new roles,” Courtney Barker, first-year actress in Sarah’s

Legend, said. “There’s the same basic theme, just everything is switched.” Unlike Fear Fest Necropolis got rid of their second attraction Freak Show in 3-D in order to have more space to

focus on the Bishop Factory Butcher.Though both haunted attractions vary from year to year, the question of which one people prefer continues to

stoke controversy in most teenagers. Junior Kyle Sherman said Fear Fest is the scarier of the two “because it changes what it does, so you’re more prone to be surprised.”

But junior Laura Mellitt disagrees with Sherman’s assessment.“Fear Fest is a lot bigger, but Necropolis is scarier because they can touch you and get closer,” Mellitt said.

Location also affects Mellitt’s decision.“I’ve never been to Fear Fest,” Mellitt said, “because it’s a lot farther away and a lot more expensive, and

people usually choose Necropolis.”Whichever the preference both Fear Fest and Necropolis have maintained the same back-story throughout

the years, and both offer fun and fright. Fear Fest and Necropolis close after this weekend; both attractions are open tonight. The last chance to experience Necropolis is Halloween night, whereas Fear Fest lasts until

Sunday. Fear Fest costs $23 for all four attractions, and Necropolis costs $13.

Haunted houses battle for dominanceLauren BakerStaff Writer

hallows eve

art by Sawyer Wade

’

October 29, 2009ROCKIn-Depths10

The

Every year on the night of Oct. 31, senior Ellen Gold cheerfully walks with friends down little kid filled neighborhood streets carrying a pillowcase full of

candy. Everyone around her dresses in crazy costumes, from spaghetti and meatballs to Dorothy carrying a wicker basket with a tiny, shivering Toto underneath a

miniature blue blanket. Gold plans to continue the tradition

of candy crammed nights this year by trick-or-treating with a group of friends like she has for so many years in the past.

“I love trick-or-treating, and it is free candy,” Gold said. “High school

students are not too old to go trick-or-treating. If people feel too embarrassed to trick-or-treat in high school, then don’t, but if not go right

ahead.” Gold demonstrated her love

for trick-or-treating last year by strolling through the streets with

nine friends. The crowd started out by meeting at a friend’s house. They snacked on cookies and roasted marshmallows over the

heat of a fire, setting the scene by adding music to the background.

Gold and her friends waited until a little before dark to hit the road. While they walked they

chatted and laughed, and every once in a while awed at adorable little kids in pumpkin costumes walking by.

At the same time, they debated who had the best costume in the group. They had to choose from a banana, a robot and a southern belle. “We had a costume contest while we were trick-or-

treating,” Gold said, “which made it even more exciting. In the end the robot won.” The excitement of costumes, knocking on front doors and saying

‘trick-or-treat’ also plays a large part in senior Alex Jacobson’s Halloween nights. Jacobson made it a “habit” to go trick-or-treating every year to keep with the tradition from when he was a kid. Like Gold and her friends, Jacobson loves costumes and seeing the

different outfits everyone comes up with. “It is a chance to dress up and be

ridiculous,” Jacobson said. “You want to see people every day in what they wear during Halloween because it is creative and you can be whatever you want.” Last year on Halloween, Jacobson created

his own innovative costume as he carved a face out of a Styrofoam pumpkin and cut a hole in the bottom so it could fit over his head. Then he added a bike helmet light in the back and it became a lit up pumpkin head.“I guess I was a Sleepy Hallow-esque

person,” Jacobson said. “I have been just about everything for Halloween.”Jacobson and friends wore their costumes

door to door collecting candy just like the younger children out on Halloween night. “I mean, some people could argue

[trick-or-treating] is for little kids and that older people could be taking advantage of the holiday,” Jacobson said, “but it is a random American holiday that makes no sense so I think it is fair game to anyone.”Besides students teachers celebrate

this American holiday, as well. Chemistry teacher Gregory Kirchhofer has fun dressing up and making Halloween a family day. Kirchhofer goes trick-or-treating with his

children every year, most of the time wearing costumes such as a wizard or a black-eyed pea. This year he plans to keep his costume top secret until Halloween day.“I go trick-or-treating with my girls and they have to give me 10

percent. It’s a math lesson,” Kirchhofer said, “and a way for me to get candy but mostly a math lesson.”

It’s all in the bag

From the catalog vampire to a webbed Spiderman to the personally designed ‘chick-magnet,’ costumes can morph into millions of forms. Halloween prompts wild at-tire, and there is no rule saying teenagers are too old or cool to

join in on the celebration. “I think we are going to be superhe-roes,” junior Shannon Fox said, of her friends Gabby Gotangco and Han-

nah Reese. “We saw some costumes at Hot Topic, but they

were really, really slutty.” Although Fox doesn’t plan to pur-chase the costumes, the superhero idea has stuck. But, gathering funds and resources may be a common problem for teens. “We’re going to come up with [outfits] on our own,” Fox said. “I’m

kind of broke. I’m not willing to pay for a Halloween costume.”

In senior Anchal Sethi’s case, costumes aren’t hard to come by.

“Last year I got a Greek goddess dress at the drama de-partment sale for 50 cents,” Sethi said. “Next time there’s a toga party I’ll wear it.” This year, her costume took more effort and adjusting.

“My mom’s friend gave her a dress,” Sethi said. “I guess it’s fashionable. I cut it up and made it into a Pocahontas dress.”

Unlike Sethi junior Teddy Perkins did not have a hand in the creation of his Halloween attire. “I’m going to be Hannah Montana,” Perkins said. “It’s a bet against Kristen [Thackery]. I didn’t think I’d get a job at Factory Card Outlet. So I made a bet that she’d owe me $5 if I didn’t get the job and if I did, I’d wear a Hannah Montana costume. And then I lost.” As much as Perkins looks forward to wearing the wig and skirt for fun, he probably won’t wear them anytime after Oct. 31. “Hannah Montana was the first and lamest thing I could think of,” Per-kins said. “I’ll never again dress up as her unless I lose another bet.” Although trick-or-treating is one trendy way to rock the pop-star, su-perhero and goddess looks, parties are an alternate way to spend Halloween night. “My parent’s won’t let me trick-or-treat anymore. They said I’m too old,” Fox said. “If there’s a party I’ll just be a superhero there.” Whether the incentive for dressing up is candy, a bet or a par-ty, the costume tradition will continue on. People like Perkins participate just to have a good time. “There’s nothing better than a cross-dressing guy on Halloween,” said Perkins.

Morgan HausmanEntertainment Editor

Mis

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how

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mak

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Cos

tum

e The Cowboy1) Wear jeans and a plaid shirt.2) Find a brown ten gallon hat.3) Get a large belt buckle and a belt to compliment it.4) Wear some cowboy boots and attach spurs. Or even safer make spurs out of aluminum foil.5) Dig in your toy-box and find a stick-pony. Giddy up.

The Football Player1) Go in your dad or brother’s closet and find a football jersey.2) Find some very tight pants… hopefully from your sister’s drawer.3) Get some pillows and stuff them up your shirt. Real shoul-der pads might work too.4) Grab some tennis shoes or cleats and put them on your feet.5) Paint two black horizontal streaks on your cheeks.6) Get some Gatorade! Quench your football thirst.

The Birthday Present1) Get a cardboard box off your street corner. Be sure the box is not wet or covered in food. 2) Remove the bottom of the box. Cut two holes on each side and one on the top that your head can fit through. Be real. If you have a big head, the box needs a big hole.3) Wrap the box with colorful paper. 4) Wear bright pants that compliment your box. These directions are for a birthday present, not birthday suit.5) Put a ribbon on your head, attach it firmly to prevent it from falling in any costume party craziness.

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Rocking the Halloween ‘not-so-spooky’ lookJunior Coral Hoelscher models Greek goddess, Dorothy Gail, and go-go-girl costumes for The Rock. They are for sale and rent at Gotcha, a costume store downtown at 27 N. 10th St.

Missy WheelerStaff Writer

art by Garrette Daugherty

“I’m going to be a ferret this Halloween. I made myself a fur dress, and I have a fur tail. I also have long black nails for claws, and I have a mask with whiskers.”—Becca McCaulley, senior

“I dressed up as a wacky sci-entist once. I took my mom’s science coat and glued eyeballs, snakes and a fake hand on my shoulder. I also had wacky hair and glass-es.” —Collin Williams, junior

“Chuck Norris, for sure. I wore a flannel shirt tucked in with coal on my face and I also had a Texas Ranger badge.” —Erik Knight, senior

photos by Kylee Fuchs

art by Kelsey Reimler

“It is a chance to dress up and be ridiculous. You want to see people every day in what they wear during Halloween because It is creative and you can be whatever you want.”—Alex Jacobson, senior

90% of parents admit to sneaking

goodies from their kids trick or treat bags

Did you know?

art by Sawyer Wade

What was your most original Halloween costume?

art by Sawyer Wadeinfo from purpletrail.com

Students search for Halloween style

Students take time outto go trick-or-treating

TheOctober 29, 2009 ROCK

Editorials 11

Coming home each day in time for dinner is a difficulty for many busy American families. Just

as unique is eating dinner at school every day with your peers instead of your family.With President Obama proposing to add three

hours to the school day, students would not leave school until close to their dinner times. Family dinners have decreased by one-third, according to http://childmin.wordpress.com. Obama did not just have the idea to lengthen

the school days because he wanted to show his con-cern for education. American students’ test scores were not as high as other coun-tries; recent scores prove his assumption true. But test scores are not an accurate reflection of the country’s progress because every stu-dent’s test scores are part of the count. As for other countries,

they only send in their best and brightest students’ test scores, which gives them an advantage, making scores un-fair to the United States.This basis of comparison

is not consistent. There is no need to add hours to the school day because lengthen-ing it wouldn’t necessarily make us any smarter, and as a result would not make our test scores any higher.The United States would

not lengthen the school days, not solely because of students’ views on school but because the lifestyle of Americans is not the same as that of people in other countries. The three-hour difference would only hinder after-school activities because our lifestyles are unique;

students have extracurricular activities that require a lot of time, especially for students who want to par-ticipate at the competitive level. According to www.bls.gov, students spend an average of 2 1/2 hours a day doing homework, though many students stay up late, around midnight to 1 a.m. with extra work from honors and Advanced Placement classes. If Obama adds three hours to the school day, will

that result in students staying up until 4-5 a.m.? While students in other countries have sports, they don’t coincide with school the way American stu-dents’ schedules do. Instead students overseas tend to specialize; either they are in school full-time or in a sport full-time, unlike many American adolescents completely committed to school and sports.Whether the additional three hours would be ben-

eficial or not, when a drastic change occurs in educa-tion it costs a lot of money, especially with adding three entire hours to a school day. Money spent by each school district include: energy costs, paying teachers, sponsoring of each new club that arises and sports. Were Obama to make many changes to the United States, it would be extremely difficult because we are already in extreme debt. The extra cost spent on this proposal would be astronomical to the United States and the outcome will not necessarily be as promising as anticipated. Three extra hours every day will not make the American students any smarter. It may make us work more diligently and stay up later but that in no way guarantees an increase in intelligence.

Extending school days will not lead to higher U.S. student test scores

The RockRock Bridge High School4303 South Providence Rd., Columbia, Mo. 65203-1798Vol. 37. Issue 2

The Journalism: Newspaper and Honors Seminar classes produce The Rock. Please call us with comments at 573-214-3141.

The Rock’s purpose is to inform, educate, enlighten and entertain readers fairly and accurately in an open forum. The Rock is a member of the National Scholastic Press

Association and International Quill and Scroll.

Advertising is $50 for a quarter page, $90 for a half page and $130 for a whole page. The Rock accepts letters from the

students, teachers and community members signed with a valid signature only.

The Rock reserves the right to edit contributions if they are libelous or obscene. Any grammatical errors at the fault of the writer will be printed.

Editors-in-Chief: Kate Hrdina, Kelsey KupfererProduction Manager: Zach GoreeChief Financial Officer: Ismam Islam News Editor: Craig ChvalFeatures Editor: Omar Taranissi Editorials Editors: Emilie Lewis, Soumaya Necibi In-Depths Editor: Breanna DumbacherCommentary Editor: Kelli Buchanan Sports Editor: Michael Trecha

Entertainment Editor: Morgan Hausman Fine Arts Editors: Bethany Ahlersmeyer, Katelyn Gribble Personality Profile Editor: Ashley Claybrook Art/Design Editor: Tasmeen HussainArtists: Garrette Daugherty, Jessica Wells, Kelsey Reimler, Oliver Clark, Sarah Brennan, Sawyer WadePhoto Editors: Jessica Schlager, Kylee Fuchs Staff Writers: Brian Dresner,

George Brand, Hannah Strawn, Latisha Hickem, Lauren Baker, Lauren Croll, Mary Herndon, Missy Wheeler

Adviser: Robin Fuemmeler Stover

Where has the creativity in television gone?

In MemoriamDec 9, 1991 - Oct 3, 2009

EDITORIAL CARTOON

When I tuned in to watch Fox’s “The Cleveland Show”, I did so

with an open mind. Seth MacFarlane already had two programs on the Fox Animation lineup: “Family Guy” and “American Dad”, and the two shared an identical style of sporadic, edgy humor. Sure enough, as I watched “The

Cleveland Show,” I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was just viewing another episode of “Family Guy.” Now don’t get me wrong, “Family Guy” is a great show, but after seven seasons, a nearly identical counterpart and now a spin-off, it all gets a little stale.And it is not just “Family Guy;”

a majority of television nowadays is recycled. Lost takes the two hour “lost-on-an-island” film and stretches it to more than 100 hours of programming. House is the same as Grey’s Anatomy, which is the same as ER. If you played a 10-minute Law & Order clip, I couldn’t tell you if it was from the original Law & Order, CI or SVU. And don’t even get me started on “reality” television. Like everything else in our society,

cable programming has fallen to capitalism. Network executives care more about ratings than the content they broadcast because ratings equal money. If they have a show that’s getting big numbers, then their job is to milk that show for all it is worth. The result is that cable

programming is all starting to look the same. It has gotten to the point where I’ve actually considered reading my AP U.S. studies book for variety. What has happened to

original programming? Is it dead?No, but original programming is

on life support. Any starting program labeled “different” poses a risk since it doesn’t bring instant ratings. Fearing even the slightest drop in profits, executives shut these risks out, leaving intricate, well-thought out shows to suffocate in their i n f a n t stages. “ T h e

Whitest Kids U Know” takes sketch comedy to a whole new level, u t i l i z i n g dark humor to garner three times as many laughs per episode as S a t u r d a y Night Live. Nevertheless, it finds its home on the obscure Independent Film Channel and brings in minimal ratings. Aziz Ansari is God’s gift to

women trapped in the body of a chubby, greasy Indian guy. He and Amy Poehler make any episode of Parks & Recreation worth watching, yet the series’ undersized audience has put it at risk of cancellation. When Arrested Development

premiered in 2003, it provided a breath of fresh air for those looking for change. The six-time Emmy award-winning series had an array of intriguing characters and a satisfying plot. Like the “WKUK,” Arrested

Development experimented with new and creative ideas to keep content fresh and stimulating. And like the “WKUK,” Arrested Development didn’t earn as much commercial success as “The Hills.” After failing to bring in ratings for

three seasons, Arrested Development was canceled in 2006.Now maybe I’m

wrong. Maybe there is a depth to “The Hills” that I’m missing out on. Maybe I don’t see the artistic vision in all those “reality” television shows because I don’t complain about my boyfriends all day.More than likely

though, we as a society are at fault for the garbage that Hollywood subjects us to. When network

executives slip us the same show nine times under nine different titles you would expect people to start turning away. It could be that a repetitive, monotonous television schedule parallels the repetitive, monotonous lives that so many of us lead. If so our acceptance of mediocrity will leave us an accessory to murder.Capitalism has original

programming by the throat. How do we solve this? We don’t. We could try to yell

and shout and demand change, but we won’t. If there is one thing that should be clear to us living in the United States, it is that capitalism always wins. Original programming, rest in peace.

Omar TaranissiFeatures Editor

photo courtesy of Brad and Beth Eiken

Stuart B. Eiken, a RBHS senior, passed away Saturday, Oct. 3 in Columbia, Missouri. He was 17 years old. He was born to Bradley J. Eiken and Beth T. Graessle-

Eiken in Columbia, Mo. on Dec. 9, 1991.Eiken was a member of the RBHS varsity football team

last season and was the second-leading rusher with two touchdowns and 457 yards. He participated in the Show-Me State games with the Columbia Tigers football team. Eiken had played football since second grade. He was also a member of the Jefferson City Vipers and Columbia Cobras baseball teams.Eiken is survived by his parents; sister Maribeth

“MB” Eikin of Columbia; maternal grandfather Donald A. Graessle of Jefferson City; parental grandparents of Bernard and Jadine Eiken of Jefferson city; aunts and uncles Dan and Dawn Eiken of Jefferson City; Donna and Simak Hagh of Shawnee, Kan., Jeanne and Ron Prenger of Springfield, Dale and Carol Graessle of Benford, Mass., Ellen and Max Deshon of Overland Park, Kan., and Glenn Graessle of Olathe, Kan.; and 10 cousins.His grandmother Mary Graessle preceded him in

death. A funeral Mass was held Oct. 7 at Our Lady of

Lourds Catholic Church. Eiken was honored by fellow RBHS students with posters and t-shirts.

The Rock staff vote: Would adding three hours to the school day in-crease test scores?

Yes: 2No: 24

The result is that cable programming is all starting to look the same. It is ridicu-lous; it has gotten to the point where I’ve actually considered reading the AP U.S. studies book for vari-ety.

October 29, 2009ROCKAds12

The

Moonshadow Studio owner and lead photographer Jennifer Roberts (RBHS Class of ‘92!) invites you to let us help you celebrate your senior year with a photo session designed around YOUR personality and talents.

Your session at our new studio in downtown Columbia will include studio shots, urban architecture, and an outdoor setting, weather and time permitting.

Bring a few outfi ts, your football helmet, your guitar, or whatever you’d like that helps tell YOUR story. Packages range from $250-600, depending on length of session and product needs. GO BRUINS!

Rock Bridge Seniors!

Congratulations

Moonshadow Studio owner and lead photographer Jennifer Roberts (RBHS Class of ‘92!) invites you to let us help you cel-ebrate your senior year with a photo session designed around YOUR personality and talents.

Your session at our new studio in downtown Colum-bia will include studio shots, urban architecture, and an outdoor setting, weather and time permitting.

Bring a few outfi ts, your football helmet, your guitar, or whatever you’d like that helps tell YOUR story.

Packages range from $250-600, depending on length of session and product needs.

Contact Jennifer Roberts to schedule your Senior Session at 573-268-3321, jen@moonshadowstudio.com, or at moonshadowstudio.com