Students at Mounds Viewhave always been pressured totake demanding classes.
Now, not only do studentsneed to participate in rigorouscourses, but they are alsoexpected to gain college creditsin the process.
Advanced Placement andCollege in the Schools are bothcollege-level courses that allowstudents to earn college creditduring high school.
However, in 2001, theCollege Board came up with yetanother way for students to earncollege credit. The CollegeLevel Examination Program,known as CLEP, is an examgiven to high school or collegestudents to test their knowledgeof college-level curriculum.
The concept of a CLEP testis fairly similar to that of anAdvanced Placement exam.
A student can test on a spe-cific subject, and depending ontheir score, earn credit for col-lege. The tests can be taken atcolleges like the University ofMinnesota and St. Paul College,
but are not offered directlythrough Mounds View.
As of 2006, the state ofMinnesota has been pushing par-ticipation by paying the $65 test-ing fee for interested students.
Yet few know what the testsare, and therefore only a selectfew have taken the exams. Itwas originally estimated that5,000 to 7,500 students would betaking these exams over the pastyear. However, since 2006, onlyabout 900 CLEP exams havebeen taken in Minnesota.
Similar to many othersthroughout the state, studentsand teachers at Mounds Viewhave heard little or no informa-tion about this testing opportuni-ty.
âWhat the heck is a CLEPtest?â said Jared Carlson-Stevermer, 11.
The goal of the CLEP examsis to provide students with anopportunity to gain college cred-it for non-AP classes. For exam-ple, âCollege Algebraâ andâPrinciples of Marketingâ aretopics on two of the exams.
However, the program stilloffers tests on calculus, UnitedStates history, and psychology,
which are also AP exams.Despite the similar concept
of the AP and CLEP tests, thereare important differences stu-dents may want to considerbefore taking a CLEP exam.
âWell, you donât take a classto prepare for it,â said DeanScott Wiens. âAnd selective col-leges wonât even consider it forcredit.â
All schools in the MinnesotaState Colleges and Universitiessystem accept the CLEP test.
However some schools, likethe University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, only accept highscores on select tests. The Uusually doesnât give out morethan two or possibly three cred-its. Many out-of-state privatecolleges do not accept the testsas credit at all.
Knowing that certain col-leges donât accept the tests forfull or even any credit greatlyreduces many studentsâ interestin taking the exams at all.
âI wouldnât be interested in itjust because it would feel like awaste of time. Iâd be workingfor nothing if the college didnâtaccept it,â said Taylor Martin,10.
While students are waryabout the sparse acceptance ofthe test, teachers are formingtheir own concerns about theprogram.
âYou wouldnât go throughthe beneficial process of taking aclass,â said science teacher MarkJohnson. âYou donât get theexperience of learning a subjectwith labs, question and answer,or with other people in a struc-tured setting.â
The lack of an accompanyingclass for the test not only causesstudents to miss out on fullylearning the subject, but canleave them unprepared for thiscollege level exam.
âIf you havenât already takena class to prepare you for it, [thetest] could be difficult to pass,âsaid Wiens.
However, some teachers atMounds View believe that theCLEP exam would be helpfulfor students.
According to social studiesteacher Scott Oberg, âIf itâs freeand you could potentially earncollege credit, why not take it?â
John Van Buren can barelyhear himself think over thesound of the rushing cars.
âIf this proposal goesthrough, we wonât be able tobarbecue in our backyard any-more,â said Van Buren, a home-owner living near the Highway10 and County Road 96 intersec-tion.
Van Buren was angry whenArden Hills Mayor StanHarpstead called an emergencycity council meeting on Feb. 13to discuss a proposal to changethe intersection. He and otherresidents were excluded from themeeting. To him, this was a slapin the face.
Sentiments were similar fordozens of families living aroundthe intersection. Arden Hillsâproposed expansion of the tworoads will force many residentsout of the area.
Some city leaders say achange needs to occur as ArdenHills prepares to take control of,and ultimately develop, 585acres of the Twin Cities ArmyAmmunitions Plant (TCAAP). Ifnothing is done, an already dras-tic rate of accidents at the inter-section may increase further.
The current $29 million pro-posal, which includes a possiblesix- to eight-lane bridge carryingHighway 10 over County Road96, was discussed Jan. 28. Thecouncil voted 4-1 against theconstruction plan in its currentform. The only vote in favor ofthe plan was Harpsteadâs.
Harpstead has been attempt-ing to push the referendumthrough city council, accordingto Van Buren and other councilmeeting participants.
The 585 acres of land thecity is reclaiming from the
TCAAP is the largest parcel ofdevelopable land within 30 milesof the metro area. According tothe city, the development planincludes 160 acres for homes,160 for business and retail, andthe rest for parks.
City council member FranHolmes said, â[There are] plansfor retail stores, a corporate cam-pus and a hotel. The commercialarea will provide jobs for indi-viduals living throughout theTwin Cities area as well as anarea for companies to grow andrelocate.â
And, according to Harpstead,âThe development will bring inkey amenities that the city ofArden Hills has been lacking,â
If development continues asplanned, the already-congestedhighways could come to a com-
plete standstill.The city estimates that the
TCAAP property could create a100-200 percent increase in carspassing through the area; up toan additional 40,000-80,000 carsdaily. This massive influx ofvehicles could create havoc foran already accident-plaguedintersection.
âI always feel as if Iâm goingto get t-boned in that intersec-tion,â said Kelsey Wise, 10.
Ryan Meyer, 12, knows thissituation all too well. In the sum-mer of 2005, Meyer and hismom were passing through theintersection when an accidentoccurred.
âA police officer ran a redlight responding to a call. Hecame through the intersectionand hit us head-on,â said Meyer.
Meyer, knocked unconsciousas a result of the crash, and hismother both came out with bro-ken bones.
âI still have a plate in my jawfrom the accident,â said Meyer.
He believes that if Hwy 10passed over the intersection, asis currently proposed by the citycouncil, âMy accident probablywouldnât have happened.â
Harpstead is of the same sen-timent: âItâs a dangerous inter-section already, and a lot ofMounds View students gothrough there every day.Sometimes sacrifices must bemade now to make the futuresafer.â
Could such âsacrificesâ bene-fit the nearby community? VanBuren, who says the noise andtraffic of Highway 10 is alreadyintolerable, thinks not.
âIf the stoplight is removedat the intersection,â he said, âthenoise will become unbearable.â
Worse are the possible evic-tion notices Arden Manor resi-dents could face. By Minnesotalaw, mobile home residentsforced to move are to be relocat-ed within 50 miles of their cur-rent dwellings, or be fairly com-pensated with a similarly valuedhome. Yet Arden Manor resi-dents claim this isnât goodenough, citing rent at othermobile parks as too high.
Harpstead has maintainedthat he only has the best interestsof the city in mind. âIn terms ofmyself benefiting from [theTCAAP property]? Noâthereâsnone of that,â he said.
Still, his handling of the mat-ter has left some residents bitter.
âIf I was a sheep, I sure ashell wouldnât be following him,âsaid one anonymous resident inan email to Van Buren.
Friday, February 29, 2008 Volume 54 Issue 8 <[email protected]>
Custodian Day, held on Friday, Feb.15, was a part of Student Councilâstraditional effort to show appreciationfor the schoolâs custodians. KristenAnderson, 12, above, helps out on oneof the custodiansâ shifts. StudentCouncil members took turns cleaningthe lunchroom and working shifts.
IINNBBRRIIEEFF
Finishing third out of eight teams atthe Section AA tournament last Friday,Feb. 22, the MV Swim Team will sendfive swimmers to the state finals onMarch 1. Pictured from right to left arefinalists Zach Nachtsheim, 12, SamOlson-Anstett, 10, Joe S. Carlson, 12,Roman Becicka, 12, and Greg Stacy, 10.
photo courtesy of Cara Morphew
Arden Hillsâ proposed expansion of Hwy 10 and County Rd 96 (above) will resultin the displacement of many homes in the Arden Manor mobile park. Residentsstrongly oppose the expansion; a result of developing the TCAAP property intocommercial and residential areas and a greater influx of traffic.
photo by Debbie Li
photo by David Derong
By Sean Moorestaff writer
iewerVTT HH EE MM OO UU NN DD SS VV II EE WW HH II GG HH SS CC HH OO OO LL
Local intersection in dispute:
CCLLEEPP tteessttiinngg ooffffeerrss aalltteerrnnaattiivvee ccoolllleeggee ccrreeddiittBy Marysa Meyerstaff writer
The College Level ExaminationProgram, CLEP, offers high schoolstudents the opportunity to earn col-lege credit by passing a test in oneof 35 subject areas. However, thecatch is that few out-of-stateschools accept the credit. Since2006, only about 900 CLEP examshave been taken in Minnesota.
photo by Nate Grann
Families face losing homes as result of proposed expansion
The job of a music snob is athankless one indeed. Day afterday, the âsnobâ struggles tosave the quality of the thingthey love most, only to beseen as pretentious, judgmen-tal, or conceited. And thoughthey often make one feel hor-ribly about oneâs music tasteand feel the need to point outthe flaws in every popular song,it is important that we begin tolook past this and shine somelight on the services they do forsociety as well.
Music snobs are the garbagemen of the musical world. Theywork their hardest to make surethat the radio station streets arenot filled with mundane, mind-less, trashy songs. If not for thefear of these music snobsâ criti-cism, music artists and produc-ers would be allowed to put out
whateverâs easiest forthem: cheap, easy, andunoriginal crap.Music snobs act asfilters and provide uswith a higher standardof musical quality.
They also help usdiscover bands andartists we may neverhave heard otherwise.Because of their pho-bia of âmainstreamâmusic and constantsearch for âthe nextbest thing,â snobs pro-vide us with interest-ing, and sometimeseven good, discoveriesthat we never would
have been exposed to other-wise.
Take Nirvana, for instance.They were an obnoxiously loudand hardcore grungy garageband playing local gigs untiltheir loyal fan base of musicsnobs started distributing theirdemos to friends and strangersalike.
Next thing you know,Nirvana became one of themost well-known bands of thecentury and almost everyonecan mumble along to theanthemic lyrics of âSmells likeTeen Spirit.â
It has been said that thosewho do not know their history
aredoomed torepeat it. Aspainful as it isto listen to theaverage snobrattle off a ran-dom fact aboutevery song theyhear, considerwhere we wouldbe today if noone took thetime to learn orcare about thesethings.
If thesnob/music histo-ry buff didnâtremember to con-tinue to remind usthat Bob Dylanâsreal name wasRobertZimmerman andthat he came fromthe humble townof Hibbing,Minnesota, thenpeople may stillbe under theimpression thatonly those hail-ing from cultur-al hot-spotshave a chanceat making itbig.
Some mayargue thatmusic snobsâhate theBeatles.â Thisis another mis-understanding. Noself-respecting music snobhates the Beatles; theyâre justable to appreciate their great-ness without obsessing overthem. They use a background ofclassic music knowledge to bet-ter understand contemporaryartists.
So the next time a musicsnob judges you while scrollingthrough your iPod, try not totake offense. Instead, think ofall the ways the music snobactually benefits you andimproves the overall quality ofmusic in the world today.
Each yearas more andmore peopleare introducedto new music,and better tech-nology makes iteasier to sharetunes, a terrible
beast is growing.A monster so terri-
ble and annoying,that it would putCarrot Top himselfto shame. This con-descending newbreed is worse thanany clique knownto man; they areMusic Snobs.
As UrbanDictionary definesit, a music snob isâA person whobelieves s/he hasa more refinedtaste in musicand has muchmore knowl-edge in thefield ofmusic ingeneral.Musicsnobs feelobligated toenlighteneveryonewith unwel-come cri-tiques andirrelevantmusical
trivia.âThe music snob can often be
found in musty basements lis-tening to demo tapes of theirnewest find, or at concerts nothaving a good time.
Studies show that 90% ofmusic snobs are on anti-depres-sants; this is most likely due tothe fact that they can never findanything good in music.
Although the music snoboccasionally helps the âcommonmanâ find new artists, momentslater he will condemn that manfor listening to them.
Music snobs hate anythingthat is famous even if it is good.Take the Beatles. The Beatleshave affected the music world
in many numerous waysand if you single out anymusic snob and take a tripback to his past, chances areat one point he was obsessedwith the band.
But because the Beatles areso well-known and loved,almost every music snob willcall them âoverratedâ andâhyped-up.â The music snobhas lost all sense of meaning inmusic, forgotten what he onceloved and decided to condemnsomething just because heâsnot the only one to appreci-ate it.
The biggest mistakeyou can make is to let asnob ride shotgun in yourcar. You will have lessthan a second before theyhave whipped out theirown iPod and started play-ing some seizure-inducingâindieâ track.
On the rarechance that theyhave forgotten tocharge their MP3and are forced touse yours, you arein for a far worseexperience. Theywill spend the restof the car ridebelittling youralbum list andsuggesting bandsthat you shouldâdefinitely checkout.â
Music snobsoften offer tomake you a CD.This apparently nice gesture isonly a trap. Soon they will hateyou for making their music pop-ular. And in the off chance thatthey can decide on an âOKâsong to play, you wonât be ableto listen to any of it withoutbeing interrupted by uselessinformation about the musician.
So the next time a musicsnob approaches you in public,be sure to be equipped with thelatest Nickelback CD, which,like holy water on vampires,will send this animal back towhere he came from: his dankbedroom to listen to the latest,literally painful, âgroundbreak-ingâ indie release.
10
2Best parts of a
leap year
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Andrew LarkinCCoommmmeennttaarryy
Sam LouwagieFFeeaattuurreess
Abby HouseKathleen Gormley
SSpprreeaadd Lauren Peake
Vicky Kelberer VVaarriieettyy
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Chelsy MateerAndy Madsen
GGaalllleerryy Ashley Aram
BBuussiinneessss MMaannaaggeerr Elizabeth Steele
PPhhoottooggrraapphheerrss//AArrttiissttss Nate Grann
David DerongDebbie Li
AAddvviissoorr Martha Rush
AAssssiissttaanntt AAddvviissoorr David Weinberg
SSttaaffff -- Cassie Ahiers, Colin Anderson,Karly Bergmann, Anna Blaske, SeanDelahunt, Divya Gupta, Dan Heaney,Alex Hoffman, John Liu, Marysa Meyer,Sean Moore, Collin Nisler, BrandonOsero, Shaked Peleg, Ross Peterson,Brooke Roberts, Maddy Stephens, EmilyStorms, Sam Toninato, KristenVanderburg, Sarah Wang, Christina Xia,Kirstin Yanisch, Sabrina Zappa
The Viewer is published bythe student editors at:
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6
2
4
8 Children born on February 29thfinally get birthdays!
February wintersjust arenât long
enough
One more dayalone...
Thereâs only one left . . .
Astronomicalmiscalculation rocks!
10
Wait, itâs a leap year?
Dude, remember thatsweet Leap Yearâs Dayparty last time?
...seriously. The Mayan calendar ends in 2012.Weâre all dead, man.
Another day with Jae
Since its an âextraâ daywe have no obliga-tions... right?
79
5
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By Cassie Ahiersstaff writer
Changing in the locker roomafter swim practice one day, Iheard a voice exclaiming, âI amso fat!â
I turned around and, ratherthan a morbidly obese person, Isaw a girl I hadnât even knowncontained an ounce of fat on herentire body.
Immediately, a chorus rangout, saying, âYouâre not fat,what are you talking about?â
I was completely baffled asto why this person would saysuch a thing, until I realized Ioften do the same myself. Iâllcome out of a test I probablyperformed well enough on,telling everyone that I musthave failed it.
Itâs reassuring to hear every-one tell me how smart I am, orhow pretty, or nice. Whenever Ihear similar self-deprecatingcomments from other people,however, I realize how absolute-ly annoying it is.
Different media have recent-ly focused on this issue and itsconnection to self-esteem. TheMarch issue of Seventeen ran anarticle by body image expertJess Weiner, telling girls toâchange their inner sound-tracks.â
Girls in particular will oftentell themselves that theyâre notpretty enough or theyâre unwor-thy of any success.
The New York Times recent-ly highlighted a psychologicalphenomenon called ImpostorSyndrome where one feels that
they are not as capable as othersthink. People susceptible toImpostor Syndrome are oftenâless confident, more moodyand rattled by performance anx-ieties.â
Perhaps I had no real reasonto be annoyed with the waypeople were constantly puttingthemselves down. It could, afterall, be a psychological disease.
As I continued reading,however, I learned that manysupposed impostors were actual-ly only pretending to be impos-tors. Thus, peopleâs expectationsof them were lowered, and theygot credit for being humble aswell. In effect, the act became aself-presentation strategy, ratherthan a personality trait.
I think itâs understandablethat I would be slightly bothered
by this negativity. People areusing it to better themselves inother peopleâs eyes, but oftenitâs just bringing down theirown self-esteem.
This self-deprecation is alltoo present at Mounds View.
Merit Stewart, 11, is oneMounds View student fed upwith people fishing for compli-ments.
âWhenever someone insultsthemselves, I agree. I amunfishable,â he said.
Stewartâs strategy may seema little harsh, but ultimately, it isbetter than giving in to othersânegativity. So next time some-one is fishing for compliments,just say no to negativity, andrefuse to be fished.
FFii sshh iinngg oouutt tthhee ff rraauuddssBy Shaked Pelegstaff writer
1
art by Nate Grann
Painful to putup with
Quintessentialto quality
Music to whose ears?Music snobs split the student body
February 29, 2008editorialsBy Karly Bergmannstaff writer
33commentaryFebruary 29, 2008
Walking towards the library,my anticipation was difficult tohide. I found it hard to standstill and my Velcro shoes dart-ed from side to side, lighting upon every bounce.
Hands held restless by myside, I jumped up and down fora look. Peering over the top ofthe countless bookshelves, Iwas just able to make out thegrey bubble that symbolizedhistoryâs greatest stories, cul-ture, and science.
Star Lab was, to put itquite simply, the peakof all my childhoodmemories. Mr.Briggs, my elementaryscience teacher, hadintroduced my peers and Ito our greatest frontier withhis seemingly infinite knowl-edge of stars.
âThe star lab is a great wayfor students to see and learnabout the constellations. Wealso learn about light and shad-ows in there, too,â said GinaWills, the current scienceteacher at Turtle LakeElementary.
âAll students benefitbecause they have the opportu-nity to visit the Star Lab everyyear,â she added.
But our district decided thatproviding students enteringmiddle school with such storieswas no longer necessary. And,unfortunately, high schoolwould be the same. Apparentlythere was nothing left to begained. But isn't there stillsomething to learn from navi-
gating our stars and ponderingthe tales of our most ancientancestors?
Graham Wright, MVâsAccelerated Chemistry teacher,has long held interest in teach-ing an astronomy class andlikes the idea of a MoundsView Star lab.
âItâs a basic planetarium.The benefits are that, ultimate-ly, you get to project the nightsky without having to go out-side or wait for the weather tobe just right,â he said.
And the interest isnât onlyfrom the staff; students whofondly remember their Star Labdays like the idea of a Star Lab
at Mounds View.âI loved the Star Lab. I real-
ly liked all the stories that Mr.Briggs had about all the con-stellations and stars,â saidMichael Chalmers, 11.
Chalmers isnât alone.âSome of my best memo-
ries of elementary school wereof the Star Lab. I wish wecould still have it,â said MikeTruso, 12.
Yet, even with evidentinterest in the subject, ourschool hasnât found a way tointegrate astronomy and theStar Lab into its current cur-riculum. Star Labâs exclusion
could be because it maynot provide enough real-
life information to serve asan alternative to the actual
sky.âThe value of the Star Lab,
academically, isnât going toreally help demonstrate con-cepts,â said Wright.âAstronomy is very mathemati-cally intense. It is very difficultto do the labs at any time otherthan night.â
The Star Lab is, and per-haps always will be, myfavorite memory of science.Taking off my shoes and crawl-ing into the tiny, chilled bubble,nothing matched the sense ofanticipation and enjoyment pro-vided by the Star Lab.
Losing the privilege of it inmy later years only really addsto its legacy. After all, it wasthe Star Lab that introduced meto the magnificent world of sto-rytelling, even more than myEnglish classes. So, in a way,Star Lab has already given meall it has to offer.
Wishing upon a star: Star Lab could still have value By Dan Heaneystaff writer
When social studies teacherScott Oberg walked into hisclassroom on the morning ofFeb. 6, the day after SuperTuesday, he found that the cau-cusing Democrats who had usedhis room the previous night hadleft a couple of souvenirs.
On the whiteboard, the talliesof the caucus remained: BarackObama had defeated HillaryClinton by about 30 votes.
Someone was also resource-ful enough to grab a piece ofpurple Post-It note and partiallycover the image of RonaldReagan, which is used to notifyhis tenth grade students to bringbooks.
The Democrats also left apersonal note to him:
Thank you, Mr. Oberg, forthe use of your room. Your fellowDemocrats.
However, Oberg had attend-ed the Republican caucuses theprevious night.
âI thought [what they did]was humorous, clever, didnâtreally offend me. But it was a bitpresumptuous to assume thatbecause you are a public school-teacher, you automatically are aDemocrat,â he said.
The common assumption thathigh school faculty areDemocrats surprises no one. Thestatewide teachersâ union hasendorsed Hillary Clinton and isadamantly Democratic.
Democrats provide moresocial benefits, which mightattract teachers with modest pay,and Bushâs and the Congressâshorrendous approval ratings areswinging many undecided andconservative voters to theDemocrat side.
It might seem that thereâs noreason for a teacher not to votefor either Hillary or Obama, yetthat would be the wrong assump-tion.
There is no question thatschools as well as teachers bene-fit from a Democratic federal
government. Once in power, ittends to increase federal spend-ing, including school funding,which directly ties into benefitsfor teachers.
However, this is in no wayindicative of the political viewsof the Mounds View staff andstudents. Not all teachers let asingle incentive determine theirvote. They may very well con-sider larger issues such as taxes,the economy, the war in Iraq, thehealthcare system, and alterna-tive energy, which may be onsome levels more important thanfunding the education system.And sometimes, these issues canswing voters over to theRepublican side.
âI would say that althougheducation is an important issueto me because it deals with mycareer, there are other issues thatare more important to me, and[they align] more closely withconservative, or Republicanthought,â Oberg explained. âIâma strong proponent of small gov-ernment and lower taxes, [and]less government spending.â
The Viewer attempted to sur-vey 20 teachers to find outwhich caucus, if any, theyattended. Only half returned thesurvey, and half of those attend-ed no caucus. There was no clearpreference for Democrats.
Itâs wrong to assume thatsince Democrats emphasizeschool district funding, theRepublicans must want to elimi-nate it. Despite the now-wide-spread notion that the No ChildLeft Behind Act was a disaster,Republicans drew it up. And no,its intentions were not destruc-tive. In fact, as senator, BarackObama supported the bill. Hestill admires the intentionsbehind it, but opposes it for itshorrible execution.
Itâs just as wrong to assumethat because a person is associat-ed with Mounds View, they areDemocratic-leaning. While pub-lic education is important to pub-lic school teachers, there areother issues at work, too.
NNoott aallll tteeaacchheerrsslleeaann ttoo tthhee lleeffttBy John Liustaff writer
Social studies teacher Scott Oberg disagrees with the notion that all teach-ers have Democratic views: âIt [is] a bit presumptuous to assume thatbecause you are a schoolteacher...you are a Democrat.â
photo by Sean Delahunt
A high schoolerâs dreamrecently became a reality inIndia when Tata Motorsreleased a car that retails at$2500, a price affordable formillions of Indiaâs 1.136 bil-lion people. The Peopleâs Caris likely to help make India apost-industrial megalith.
But perhaps the more excit-ing development in the Indianauto industry is Tata Motorsâdevelopment of a compressed-air-powered car, to be releasedwithin the year. These two newcars exemplify the greatlengths India has gone to inorder to become a greener andmore entrepreneurial nation.They also highlight Americaâsempty promises hidden behindour brazen chest-beating.
The Peopleâs Car, affec-tionately called the Nano bysome due to its small price andstature, has signaled a new erafor Indiaâs castes. No longerwill an automobile be a symbolof status for wealthy Indians,as millions of Indiaâs dawningmiddle class take to the streets.
Tata Motors has attemptedto offset the enormous surge ofcars onto Indian streets byengineering the Nano to emit
as little as possible. The cargets 56 miles to the gallon,excellent both economicallyand environmentally. In addi-tion, the car is designed toburn fuel cleaner, releasing asmidgeon of the pollution theaverage American-sized mon-strosity would.
Tata has gone one step fur-ther though. Its compressed-airpowered car, created in a jointventure with MoteurDevelopment International(DMI), seeks to take Indiandrivers into the zero emissionsrealm. Though technically nota Zero Emissions Vehicle dueto the electricity required tocompress the air, the car isimpressive, filling up for $2 atâairâ stations, or in about fourhours plugged into the wallsocket at home.
All this effort on the part ofIndian industry to mitigate andrelieve their enormous amountof polluters serves as a starkcontrast to Americaâs efforts.Or rather, lack thereof.
Our current âeffortsâinclude inspiring speeches,expensive research, andimpractical ethanol use.
Yet at the same time,America is the first to criticizeIndia for their attempts at mak-ing the world a better place.
Yale Environmental LawProfessor Daniel Esty joinedthe chorus of people criticizingthe car when he recently toldNewsweek, âThis car promisesto be an environmental disasterof substantial proportions.â
India has seen the massiveproblems weâve createdbecause of our industrializa-tion, and now America wantsto limit Indiaâs attempts at fol-lowing in our footsteps. Butwe donât actually care aboutthe environment; if we did wewould be employing somepractical reform on our homesoil. Instead, we hideAmericaâs racist tendencies, aracism that has been imbeddedinto our culture with catch-phrases like âManifestDestinyâ and âWhite ManâsBurden,â under the thinlyveiled guise of concern for theenvironment.
India will continue to makeleaps and bounds towardsindustrialization. Americashould be proud that India istaking steps towards a cleanerworld. We should be taking apage out of Indiaâs book,instead, weâre holding a book-burning party and inviting therest of the western world tojoin.
EEnnvviirroonnmmeennttaallllyy ffrriieennddllyy IInnddiiaannccaarr llaappss AAmmeerriiccaaBy Sean Moorestaff writer
Mike Truso, 12, gazes up at the nightsky, wishing for the Star Labâs return.
photo by David Derong
After school on Dec. 12, acurious group of 20 upperclass-men dashed through the hall-ways under the tutelage ofAccelerated Chemistry teacherGraham Wright. Wright wasnâttrying to foster mischief; thestudents were only trying toraise their heart rate enough tobe able to see their veins underWrightâs infrared camera.
Then, with the students fas-cinated and the doors locked,Wright started his first gatheringof something called, âA Bitewith Wright.â
After being awarded withthe â2007 Outstanding ScienceTeacher Awardâ by the Collegeof Biological Sciences at theUniversity of Minnesota, MVAccelerated Chemistry teacher,Graham Wright learned about anevent called âCaffeine with theDeanâ at the U. After thinkingabout it, he decided to start thenew monthly event in his room.
This event takes place oncea month after school dependingon Wrightâs schedule. The stu-dents attending eat Wrightâshomemade snacks as they dis-cuss current science topics. Atthe last two meetings, topicshave ranged from bioengineer-ing to cloning.
âThe reason I started thiswas to promote students to thinkmore about the current scienceissues. During the two hours, Icook for them, chat, and create arelaxing atmosphere to talkabout science,â said Wright.
The discussion at the meet-ings, though led by Wright, ismuch more relaxed than it isduring classroom lectures.
âAt the last meeting, we gotoff my planned topic right away,and that was alright. Instead, wetalked about U.S. energy poli-cies and what alternative ener-gies we will use in the future.We also talked a lot about bio-
engineering,â said Wright.Although mostly upperclass-
men have attended past meet-ings, students donât have to bejuniors or in AcceleratedChemistry to participate. Wrightdoes, however, limit each ses-sions to only 20 kids.
âThere is a separate sign-upeach time so different kids cancome, but you have to sign upin advance. Just see me person-ally to sign up,â Wright said.
After only two meetings, thestudents that attended haveenjoyed it greatly.
âI think itâs a lot of fun! Itâsreally great to talk to a teacheroutside of class that knows a lotabout science. Itâs also interest-ing to keep up with the currentscience topics,â said IreneSaunders, 12. âAt the last meet-ing, we discussed issues likeways to preserve energy and thedifferent types of energy we canuse to replace fossil fuels. Thatwas really cool.â
James Shablow, 11, hasattended both of the meetings sofar and has found it remarkable.
âI love it! Itâs awesome!âsaid Shablow. âWe usually startoff by chatting with each other,and Mr. Wright would cook ussome homemade food that isreally good. Then, we usuallydiscussed things like new andcurrent science issues orevents.â
With around 20 studentsattending the last session,Wright is enthusiastic about thegreat start and eagerly lookingforward to future meetings of âABite with Wright.â
âI really enjoy it! Itâs a greattime. I will definitely continue itin the future. I might even plansome field trips, like to go offcampus and go to the U,â saidWright. âAt the next meeting onFebruary 27, I think we will talkabout space.â
Stepping into Room 226 on aTuesday or Wednesday after-noon is like walking into a stadi-um of jazzed sports fans⊠butinstead of the face-painted,screaming enthusiasts of a sportsgame, one is bombarded withenthusiastic fans of another sub-ject: Anime.
Anime Club, one of MoundsViewâs newest groups, focuseson more than just the cartoons.
The goal is to âcelebrateJapanese culture, animation, andart,â said club member RachaelSchumann, 10.
The club was started thisyear by Tatiana Davenport, 10.Her inspiration came from a clubat her former school.
âI went to Centennial lastyear. They had an Anime Cluband I kind of missed it and want-ed to bring it here,â she said.
While many clubs devoteonly one day a week to a partic-ular subject, anime is a full-timepassion for its members, andthey are always looking for newpeople who are interested. Theclubâs interest goes to all facets
of Japanese cul-ture includingJapanese clothes,food, writing andmusic.
Tena Rausch,9, said, âAnime isthe ultimate anti-drug because youput so much timeinto it.â
The clubâsactivities varyfrom week toweek, but arealways centeredon the arts andentertainment ofanime.
âWe do any-thing that fits intoanime. We talkabout comics, andwe have DVDs of the shows thatwe watch,â said Hannah Frey, 9.
The club members have alsolearned many Japanese wordsthat are associated with theJapanese art form. TessaAnderson, 9, described a fewterms that anyone interested inanime should know.
ââAnimeâ is a French word
thatâs short for âanimation.ââ shesaid. âIt [applies to] shows andfeature-length movies. âMangaâis what the books are called, andâOtakuâ is like, a major fan ofanime or manga.â
Many of the members areartists with notebooks full ofanime drawings of people andanimals. Others write fan-fictionstories using their favorite anime
or manga charac-ters. They alsoread many tales ofanime characters.
Anime Clubâsinterests alsoinclude uniqueaccessories thatrepresent theirdevotion to the art.One of the moreunusual pieces ofclothing that someAnime Club mem-bers wear is a tail.
Anderson saidthat the tails areactually anotherway the groupincorporatesJapanese cultureinto their lives.
âIn anime,sometimes people
have animal traits. [Wearingtails] is called Cosplay. Cosplayis short for âCostume Play.â Itâsdressing up as an anime charac-ter. Kind of like Halloween,whenever you feel like it,â shesaid.
Dressing like this has causedsome members to have issueswith other students. There have
been multiple cases of otherspulling off their tails. The clubfeels that this is because of alack of understanding aboutanime in general.
Anderson said, âThere arepeople who know what anime isbut are a little biased against itbecause they think of it asAmerican animation [for littlekids].â
While some of these miscon-ceptions have affected howAnime Club is viewed aroundthe school, the club continues todevote time to their passion. Thegroup already has plans for thefuture. In the spring they plan toattend the âAnime Detourâ con-vention in Minneapolis runningfrom April 4 to 6.
Most of all, Mounds ViewâsAnime Club hopes to continue toincorporate what theyâve learnedtogether into their lives and fur-ther their understanding ofJapanese culture.
As Rausch said, âWeâve got-ten very into [Anime]. For mostof us, itâs our dream to go toJapan.â
By Christina Xiastaff writer
AAnniimmee CClluubb :: BBrriinnggiinngg aa bbiitt ooff JJaappaann ttoo MMVV
Members of Anime Club await their meeting. Tatiana Davenport, 10,created the club as an outlet for her passion for anime.
photo by Sean Delahunt
By Kirstin Yanischstaff writer
College student Karl HelgeHampus Svensson, 31, wasexpelled from the prestigiousKarolinska Institute ofMedicine in Sweden on Jan. 24after breaking no rules. He hadalso received top grades in allof his online high school cours-es. The problem was that he hadtaken those courses from aprison cell.
In 2000, Svensson shot acoworker seven times after theworker complained aboutSvenssonâs sympathy for theNazis. Svensson was put into amaximum-security prison witha sentence of 11 years. No oneat the college knew aboutSvenssonâs past, and, after tak-ing a life, he began learninghow to save one until the dayhe was expelled.
Though an extreme case ofexpulsion, this story does raisethe question of what can followa student from high school tocollege and what past discipli-nary actions could keep a col-lege from accepting a student. Few at Mounds View have acriminal record, though manyhave received some form ofpunishment.
âI got a detention because Iwas truant. I was so worriedthat colleges would see it, I wasfreaking out!â said KatieVolhaber, 10.
While many shareVolhaberâs fear of even theslightest blemish on theirrecord, be it from high schoolor middle school, some donâteven know what to be worried
about. âI have no idea [what col-
leges see on your records], Idonât think anyone really does.âsaid Anthony Tallarico, 12. âIthink people just assume [col-leges only see] grades or what-ever they want to pry into.â
Many students are left in thedark about what diciplinaryactions actually appear on col-legesâ records. Others could notcare less.
Laughing, a group of fresh-men boys recalled the story ofhow they stole plastic signsfrom outside classrooms, brokeceiling tiles, light bulbs, afloodlight, and stole threeclocks one day in eighth grade.Their reason? They âwereboredâ and it was âjust for fun.â
The boys received severepunishments of three-day toweeklong suspensions and finesranging from $96 to $206.However, none of them seemtoo worried about what theirfuture colleges will think.
â[Iâm not worried] becauseitâs eighth grade. Nothing goeson your record until, like, highschool,â said Vinay Pai, 9.
âColleges only look at yourGPA. And I donât want to go toa college that would care aboutthat little thing,â said AndyLapham, 9.
Contrary to studentsâ popu-lar view, there is more than agrain of truth to this opinion.
According to Dean DaveNotaro, âOnly big-time col-legesâŠlike MIT, Harvard, orCarletonâŠwill ask if a studenthas ever been suspended orhave any other felonies.â
Since a detention is nowherenear as extreme a disciplinaryaction as a felony, collegeswonât judge an applicant basedon how many theyâve received.Instead, colleges will be morefocused on trying to find outwhat kind of a person the appli-cant is.
âThey [the colleges] willask us to rate a studentâs moralcharacter⊠Generally itâs basedon a percent scale going fromthe top student I have ever metto the top 3 percent of studentsI have ever met, to the top 5percent and so on. They willask about moral character andactivities, but this is also theplace where I have to be veryhonest if they do have a shadypast,â said Notaro.
Dean Scott Wiens agreed,âSometimes colleges ask [ifyouâve had disciplinary prob-lems in the past]. Typically wesay ânoâ unless there is some-thing severe⊠like long suspen-sions or multiple chemicalabuses.â
However, Notaro advises tobehave while in high school, asâColleges are not only lookingfor academic potential, butsome character too.â
Do previous punish-ments harm studentsâfutures? MV Deansexlplain how muchthose detentions reallyaffect college admis-sions
By Karly Bergmannstaff writer
HHuunnggrryy ffoorr sscciieennccee??Have a âBite with Wrightâ
4February 29, 2008features
Drew Laughlin, 10, said detention isnât that serious of a punishment.Fortunately for him, many colleges donât see that way either.
photo illustration by Nate Grann
Disciplinary records
With the end of the quarterrapidly approaching, springsports just around the bend, andno break from stress in sight, itis no wonder families are hard-pressed to find time to spendtogether. Combine this withsleep deprivation, and you havea recipe for family feuds.Conflicting schedules and longhours can make it difficult formany families to connect.
âThe only time I spend withmy family is in the car drivingplaces,â said Jenny Kaczynski,10.
Statements such as thesehave led worried parent volun-teers in the Burnsville SchoolDistrict to start a new program:the 21-Day Challenge. It urgesstudents to spend 21 minutes ofquality time with their familiesfor 21 days. The logic behind thenumber 21 is that it takes at leastthree weeks to form a habit, andin order for there to be any last-ing effect, a habit must beformed.
The initiative is just a part ofa larger effort by the city ofBurnsville to improve its citi-zensâ standards of living.
In response to students likeKaczynski, Barbara Carlson, co-founder of the program, said at arecent seminar, âTake back car
time. If you only have ten min-utes in the car, you have to finda way to make it countâŠyou canhave some great conversations inthe car.â
The program has gainedmuch support, both in Burnsvilleand in surrounding areas.Mounds View students havefound that spending time togeth-er can be as simple as watchingtelevision, going for a walk, orplaying a board game.
Sophie Kem, 11, has turnedTV shows into a family affair.
âWe always watch Deal orNo Deal together,â she said.
At recent auditions, her fami-ly even tried out for the show.
Others take a more classicapproach to the matter. AbbyMarolt, 9, and her family gobowling together regularly.
âItâs a chance to get awayfrom our house and itâs not awk-ward. Thereâs always somethingto talk about,â she said.
Matt Miles, 11, agreed withMarolt. His family also plansbowling trips, as well as playingboard games or watching moviestogether.
âI like spending time withmy family on weekends,â hesaid.
Some students say that theeasiest and most widely support-ed way to fit family time intobusy schedules is at dinner.
âWe eat together almost
every night,â said NickiBudnicki, 12.
The Burnsville City Councilcited research showing that eat-ing dinner with a family regular-ly decreases the likelihood ofteen drug and alcohol use.Additionally, it can greatlyreduce stress levels and thechance of eating disorders, espe-cially among girls.
At MV, many students areapplauding the effort.
âI think itâs going to helppeople who donât spend any timewith their families a lot, but itprobably wonât do anything forpeople who already do,â saidGreg Northrop, 10.
Others question the future ofprojects like these. Frank Li, 11,doesnât think it would benefit
him to spend more of his alreadybusy time with his family.
âFamilies are just morestress, and we all already haveso much stress coming fromschoolwork and other responsi-bilities,â he said.
While opinions vary now, thefull scope of the Burnsville proj-ect will only be clear when it isfinished.
5February 29, 2008 features
âMustang Mocha delivery!âSpecial Education students prepare, deliver coffee to staff
âMustang Mocha Delivery!âAdriana Roberts, 11, stood
outside the computer lab dressedin a green apron, a Styrofoamcup of Caribou Coffee in hand.Her voice broke the muffledsilence of Mounds Viewâs hallsduring second hour, as most stu-dents sat in class.
With a smile and a âthankyou,â health teacher GretchenZahn received her coffee.Roberts, accompanied by TonyBourgoin, 11, and SarahLevinski, the program advisor,continued down the hall to makemore deliveries.
They are part of a new roomservice program for MoundsView staff and faculty calledMustang Mocha. Students fromLevinskiâs Vocational Skills
class, as well as other specialeducation students, make andserve coffee, tea, and breakfasttreats. These goodies are thendelivered right to the room of theteacher or staff member onTuesday and Thursday morningsduring second hour.
Their base of operations is inthe concessions area, which theytake over with their gourmet cof-fee machine and well-suppliedcarts. The scent of tea and coffeemix in the air and each cup iscarefully made and secured in awicker basket for delivery. Theshining black gourmet coffeemachine has multiple cups readyin minutes, and Tony Bourgoin,11, shoots the empty containersinto the garbage can with perfectform.
Based off a similar programat Irondale called âKnightâsDelight,â the start-up costs of
Mustang Mocha were coveredby a District 621 grant. With thisgrant, the Special Educationdepartment was able to buy thegourmet and easy-to-use coffeemaker, as well as other supplies.
Mustang Mocha is intendedto help special education stu-dents practice work skills in acomfortable and somewhat real-istic situation.
Levinski, who started theMounds View branch of the pro-gram, said, âWeâre hoping thisprogram will enhance studentsâwork readiness skills, especiallytheir food preparation and cus-tomer service skills.â
Not only are students prepar-ing for the future but MoundsView staff are benefiting fromthis program as well. The firstweek of Mustang Mocha allorders were complimentary andso many poured in that an extra
day had to be added to accom-modate all the orders. Now, evenwith the nominal $1 charge percoffee, or a special punch carddeal with 10 drinks for $9,orders have still been coming inregularly.
It looks like it wonât be verydifficult for teachers and staff tocontinue orders.
Zahn, a regular customer,said, âI love the coffee, and itâsgreat to see someone starting aprogram like this in our school.â
Some students are a bit jeal-ous of the teachersâ new privi-leges.
âCaribou Coffee at MoundsView?â Emily Duddleston, 11,exclaimed. âWhere can I getsome?â
Unfortunately, MustangMocha doesnât have the materi-als required to serve the stu-dents.
âWe just donât have the sup-plies necessary to handle the vol-ume of orders that would comefrom students,â Levinskiexplained.
Perhaps someday MustangMocha will expand to serve stu-dents, but for now the staff arecounting their blessings. So ifyou walk by the concessionsarea on a Tuesday or Thursdaymorning, and think you smellwafts of Caribou, know that itâsnot just wishful thinking. Atleast for the staff, a new kind ofroom service has come toMounds View.
And staff are loving MustangMocha for more than just thecoffee. Dean Kendra Eckmansaid, âI enjoy seeing their smil-ing faces delivering my coffee.â
By Divya Guptastaff writer
photos by David DerongLeft: Anthony Bourgoin, 11, prepares a staff memberâs order. Center: Bourgoin, Adriana Roberts, 11, and Chris Rowe, 11, make a deliveryto dean Scott Wiens. Right: FACS teacher Julie Coopet delights over her âMochaâ delivery on Thursday, Feb. 21 during second hour.
Family matters: 21 minutes a day to a stronger bond
By Emily Stormsstaff writer
QA small group of school administra-
tors knocks on the door of your class-room. After a few moments of hushedconference with your teacher, the teacherannounces that the school is being evacu-ated. Suddenly, everyone realizes thereâsbeen another bomb threat.
Some seniors at Mounds View stillremember hearing about the winter of theâ03-â04 school year, when Mounds Viewreceived a series of race-related bombthreats. School was evacuated once andthere was one early dismissal after threethreats were found around the school.
Since 2004, Mounds View has taken astance to promote diversity at school andcreate better understanding to preventthis from occurring again.
Principal Julie Wikelius, who becameprincipal in 1999, said the threats were avery real sign that Mounds View neededa change.
âEven more upsetting than thethreats [themselves] was the hate lan-guage. You can check for explosives andadd building safety procedures but as forthe values behind them⊠It became clearthat we needed to do some work. It wasour job to switch from a reactive to aproactive stance,â said Wikelius of thegoal to change community attitudes.
One of the first measures taken topromote cultural understanding was thecreation of the Community Liaison posi-tion filled by Wonkemi Gongar. His jobis to promote community ideals. Thoughhe was not on hand during the year of thethreats, he felt their effects on a diversestudent body.
âI talked with nearly 300-400 stu-dents one on one [about the bombthreats]. A lot of them felt that it was ahorrible situation, others called it stupidor extremely immature, and then therewere some who simply tried to ignore it,âWonkemi said. âThen there were the stu-dents who thought that it would never goaway, in their minds the person or per-sons who committed this crime are still apart of them and will stay with them untilthe day they die,â
One theory about the reason thesethreats occurred was the lack of diversityat Mounds View. Over the last five years,however, the school has seen an upwardtrend in its racial diversity. In 2001, thepercentage of the majority (Caucasian)students was 89.7%, but this year thenumber has changed to 84.9%.Administrators believe the populationwill become more diverse over the nextfive years.
Wikelius said, âI think the trends indi-cate that metro-wide and at Mounds Viewthere will be increased numbers of peopleof color and those not born in the UnitedStates.â
This appears to be the case, as evi-denced by Chippewaâs current demo-graphics. The percentage of Caucasianstudents at the middle school is 81% thisschool year.
Even with this upward trend, theMounds View experience is still seen asless than diverse. Unlike many of theirpeers in the metro area, Mounds Viewstudents are unaccustomed to hearinglanguages other than English spoken atschool. Biology teacher Amy Alvarez,who in the past has taught in schools thathad a majority of Hispanic students, was
surprised to find the Mounds munity contained so few multi-lingualmembers.
âAMounds Spanish speakers in the class and nothearing Spanish in the hallways,â shesaid, âThe problem is really a lack ofexposure.â
The issues that arise from this lack ofexposure vary from larthe threats Mounds to ofStudents at Mounds how unintentional remarks can afstudent body
Jeremy Scheinerdefinitely subtle stereotyping... the Asian-American stigma at MoundsVieware always more intelligent.ââ
Mai Lubega, 10, has experienced misunderstandings about her religion at otherschools she has attended. She said, âIgrew up assuming people knew what aMuslim was, because I knew what aCatholic and a Jewish person were. Itdidnânât know why I was wearing a scarf onmy head.â
She thinks that at Mounds is a ââŠbetter understanding about multi-cultural societies because you learn moreabout it in school and in the general population here.â
Most of all, teachers and studentswant to recognize, as âSome of the diversity [at Mounds is invisible. People have to be aware ofthat too. It extends beyond the countryyou come from or the color of yourskin.â
A&
...with Wonkemi
By Kirstin Yanischstaff writer
Slicing up the pie......how MV measures up-past, present, and future
Native American
Hispanic
Black
Asian
Caucasian
Q: What was your motivation to become a community liaison?
A: During high school I was the vice president of my schoolâsdiversity club. There werenât a lot of people of color, and I hon-estly felt there was a need for change. I talked to my principalabout this issue, [and] I brought up the possibility of shuttingdown the school and holding a panel. I thought it would neverhappen, but loâ and behold my principal called me down andsaid it needed to be done. That is what really motivated me tofind a career involving human services and social work, particu-larly with youth.
Q: How has your job changed over the years?
A: I came to MV right after the bomb threats of the late â90s.Many people stereotyped me as being the âblack peopleâs coun-selor,â and thus would not approach me if they needed any guid-ance. But times have definitely changed, and as the stereotypebegan to fade students began to realize that I can help them withadvice and directionâand not only just those students of differ-ent ethnicities or races.
Q: What is the biggest problem you see in the attitudes of stu-dents towards diversity?A: I think [the problem is] with the whole concept of the termâdiversity.â Many people think that it only applies to those ofcolor, but it most certainly does not. We donât want to leaveCaucasians out of the spectrum because they have a long andunique history, too. People need to get sparked about their fami-lyâs ancestry and where their families come from... minorityraces today and the Caucasian ancestors of many years ago havemore things in common than people would think.
Q: Do you feel MV students are pressured into forming cliquesbased on race?A: That is really an excellent question. This concept is reallyembedded into white studentsâ lives. In all reality, despite whatpeople may say, Caucasians are still the ones in power. With thisfact in mind, what is there to challenge you to change? But onthe other hand, many people think whites are never looked downupon, and that is hardly true. White students and other minoritystudents call certain groups âwhite trashâ... I feel there needs tobe a change in viewpoints, and it may as well be the kids at MVwho make it. If there was ever a point I could get across itwould be this: race is just an excuse to continue to be arrogant.
By Sabrina Zappastaff writer
photo by Debbie Li
The world is hhuuggee. I always challenge my students to go
somewhere where they ddoonnââtt ffiitt iinn, donât speak the lan-
guage and ddoonnââtt llooookk lliikkee the other people. Put yourself
in the situation where yyoouu aarree tthhee mminority.-Amy Alvarez, science teacher
âMV 2002-2003
88.7%
0.4%
7.1% 2.0%
Difficult past sparks change at MV
D i v e r s i t y ?D i v e r s i t y ?
MV 2007-2008
88.7%
0.4%
9.5% 1.9%2.0%1.9%
rprised to find the Mounds View com-unity contained so few multi-lingualembers.
âA huge adjustment [to teaching atounds View] was not having otheranish speakers in the class and notaring Spanish in the hallways,â shed, âThe problem is really a lack ofposure.âThe issues that arise from this lack of
posure vary from large issues such ase threats Mounds View has experiencedoff-hand remarks in the hallways.udents at Mounds View have noticedw unintentional remarks can affect the
udent body. Jeremy Scheiner, 11, said, âThere is
finitely subtle stereotyping... Thereâse Asian-American stigma at Moundsew. The idea that âAsian-Americanse always more intelligent.ââ
Mai Lubega, 10, has experienced mis-derstandings about her religion at otherhools she has attended. She said, âIew up assuming people knew what auslim was, because I knew what atholic and a Jewish person were. It
dnât even occur to me that people did- know why I was wearing a scarf on
y head.â She thinks that at Mounds View there
a ââŠbetter understanding about multi-ltural societies because you learn moreout it in school and in the general pop-ation here.â
Most of all, teachers and studentsant to recognize, as Wikelius said,ome of the diversity [at Mounds View]invisible. People have to be aware ofat too. It extends beyond the countryu come from or the color of yourin.â
, present, and future
Students at Mounds View see tracesof the school's cultural clubs on a dailybasis. There are often announcements inthe morning bulletin about upcomingmeetings, many students participate inthe events hosted by the groups, andwho could forget Unity's grand openingfor the '07 Homecoming PepFest? Yetmany people at Mounds View are stillconfused about why two different cul-tural groups exist in the first place andwhat makes them unique.
Members of the clubs feel that thedifference between the groups lies in theway the meetings are held.
âDiversity Council is more organ-ized and goal-oriented. You go to ameeting and itâs very well planned,âsaid Unity member and PR GeorgeSakkal, 12. âI feel that when you go to aUnity meeting, you go there not know-ing what to expect. We never have a setschedule and we just do what feel willbe the most fun.â
After the bomb threats of the â03-â04 school year, Unity formed as sup-port group for those who felt attackedby these threats. Diversity Council wasa pre-existing group whose mission wasto enlighten Mounds View studentsabout different cultures around theworld.
"I understand why they [were sepa-rate] at first, but now I think it goesagainst what we both stand for,â saidUnity President Reyna Sawtell, 12.âWeâre not a unified front, and I thinkwe should come together in the nearfuture as one diverse group."
Some students feel that having sepa-rate clubs with similar missions has hadnegative consequences, such as theapparent division of clubs along racial
lines. They point to the fact that 60 per-cent of Diversity Council is Asian and80 percent of Unity is black.
Nate Chan, 11, said, âThe demo-graphics of the two clubs are different.Most in Diversity Council, particularlythe leaders, are Asian, while most of thepeople that I know that are stronglyaffiliated with Unity are AfricanAmerican.â
Others felt this racial gap could bebridged if the two groups became one.
âI'm not sure what the point of hav-ing groups promoting diversity is if thegroups themselves are not diverse,â saidPaige Lindley, 12. âIf they came togeth-er, I think it would show people thatthey are willing to cooperate to makeMounds View a more accepting place.â
Students who don't belong to thegroups sometimes perceive them asonly being for members of the minority,perhaps explaining why the groups lackmany Caucasian participants.
"I was pretty sure that white kidsweren't supposed to join, just go to theevents they put on," said Alex Jacobs,12.
Sakkal said, âUnity is not just forAfrican Americans. Iâm a part of theclub, and my sister and her friendsenjoy it as well. Itâs about your individ-ual personality and having that as thedecision factor.â
Many members, including Sawtell,speak of a future combination of thegroups. But for now, the idea remainsjust that: an idea.
Diversity Council President DebbieLi, 12, said, âWe did do an eventtogether The Funk art gala... [We mayboth work at the] the World Fairtowards the end of the year. There ispotential for us coming together onthat.â
Former members of the club also
hope to see a bridge between the twogroups in the future. Mounds View â07alumnus and last year's DiversityCouncil President Himadhari Sharmahoped the two would be able to unite inthe future.
âI really wished that they were one,I see no reason that they should bedivided. With how globalized the worldis becoming, we all need to be under-standing [of] and educated [about] thedifferent people who live in it,â shesaid.
Sawtell said, âThere will always beDiversity Council along with Unity. Butnow itâs more focused around beingmore accepting of other peopleâs differ-ences and trying to expose students tothe world around them.â
Sakkal also said, âI have no problemwith them being connected. In fact Ithink in the near future it will happen.With Mr. Wonkemi holding the twogroups together it would be a perfect fit.It could be called âUniversity!ââ
While Unity and Diversity Councilmay not exist as one group, both holdfundraisers and events that aid the com-munity. Unity annually holds an eventcalled African American Perspectives, acelebration of Black History Month thatspotlights African American membersof the community, and in the past hashighlighted talents of its members withmusical performances.
Diversity Council also holds manyevents, including an Iron Chef multi-cultural cook-off at Chippewa MiddleSchool, an upcoming Salsa dance withthe Spanish Club, and a diversity festi-val at the Shoreview CommunityCenter. This festival is hosted withIrondale High Schoolâs DiversityCouncil, and is an intricate night of cul-tural dancing, singing, food tasting, andmuch more.
information compiled by Kirstin Yanisch
By Sabrina Zappastaff writer
Separate but equal?Cultural clubs consider unification
ge my students to go
donât speak the lan-
r people. Put yourself
e mmiinnoorriittyy.Amy Alvarez, science teacherâ
Chippewa 2007-2008
81.0%
12.9% 2.1%3.7%
at MV
e r s i t y ?e r s i t y ?photos by Sean Delahunt
Marcus Charles, â06In response to the bomb threats: â[The
threats] bothered me really bad. I didnât think itwould happen here [at Mounds View]. I washurt and I was hoping the school would do moreabout it. I wanted to get out of the schoolbecause I didnât feel safe.â
Advice to current students: âI want [MoundsView students] to treat all diverse people equal-ly. The point Iâm trying to get across is to beyourself. If people belittle you, you have to bethe bigger person. You canât make someone likeyou, but you have to try and gain respect andshow them all that youâre equal.â
In response to the bomb threats: â[Thethreats] didnât make me want to run becauseI knew that was what they wanted me to do.People took it lightly at first, as somethingsome kid did to get out of school. But to me,it doesnât make sense to go out of your wayto [make it racially motivated] unless thereâssomething else going on there. I decided tokeep my focus on what I had to do.â
The administrationâs handling of thethreats: âAs soon as we had all these threats,we hired Mr. Wonkemi. Before that, I donâtremember seeing any minority faculty mem-bers. Club Unity was also formed. Theyhanded out letters to meet at a certain timeto talk about some of the threats. I neverwent to one of these meetings because does-nât this add to the problem? When you [sin-gle out one group] itâs more segregated.â
In response to the admin-istrationâs handing of thethreats: âI disagree [withMichael]. I think the [Unitymeeting] was more to sayâWeâre not ignoring you.âBut, [other than that] all thatwas done was sending a let-ter home. They should havehad an assembly to say thatwe are not this community ofhate, and tried to change atti-tudes.â
photos by Nate Grann
Michael Duncombe, â07
Kealy Randle, â07
SSoommee MMoouunnddss VViieeww aalluummnnii rreettuurrnneedd ttoo tthhee sscchhooooll oonn MMoonnddaayy,, FFeebb.. 2255 ffoorr aa nniigghhttooff AAffrriiccaann AAmmeerriiccaann PPeerrssppeeccttiivveess,, hhoosstteedd bbyy UUnniittyy.. TThheeyy ssppookkee aabboouutt tthheeiirr eexxppeerrii--eenncceess aatt MMoouunnddss VViieeww,, ssppeecciiffiiccaallllyy ttoouucchhiinngg oonn tthhee ââ0033--ââ0044 bboommbb tthhrreeaattss..
is anotherâs thrift score
âA little worn/ a little torn/check the rack/ what went out iscoming back/ what wear is whatwe are/ and what we wear is vin-tage clothes!â Paul McCartney,âVintage Clothes.â
One may wonder how any-one could ever have enough pas-sion about vintage clothes towrite a song about them. But asit turns out, vintage clothes, andthe shopping of thrift stores ittakes to find them, havenât justinspired music in recent years.They have also inspired count-less students at Mounds View tostart practicing their own art ofâthrifting.â
Thrift stores have beenaround since the 1940s whenthey were used to aid familiesduring the shortages of WWII.Later, they became popular againamongst flower-children of theâ60s, during the punk movementin the â70s and â80s, and, itseems that in recent years stu-dents at Mounds View who havebraved the disorganized racks ofclothes have brought back thetrend once again.
Fortunately, thrift stores inthe area are easier to find thanthe merchandise in them. Forthose constantly on the lookoutfor vintage finds ranging fromclothes to records, Unique Thriftis the place to go. Most of thevast floor space is filled withracks and racks of childrenâs,menâs and womenâs clothingwith a specific section for vin-tage wear. The rest of the store isdedicated to furniture, books,electronics, and a plethora ofother trinkets and jewelry.Unique is also a haven for musicenthusiasts and has a wide rangeof records, cassette tapes, andCDs.
âUniqueâs selection hassomething for everyone, whetheryou want crazy or casual,â said
avid thrifter, Sigourney Couture,10. âI like their plaidshirts...[but] I never go to therandom knick-knack sectionbecause it scares me.â
âI once found a DARE shirtthere,â said Laurel Carlson, 10,âand they always have reallycool jewelry; Iâve found a lot ofcool rings.â
Goodwill is another popularthrift store among the students atMounds View. Goodwill is aChristian organized charity storethat not only takes clothingdonations and sells them at rea-sonable prices, but offers jobs todisadvantaged people in the area.
Not necessarily known for itsvintage finds, Goodwill special-izes in carrying gently used orsurplus clothing from brand-name stores such as Old Navy,Hollister, Abercrombie, Expressand more. With its better-than-average cleanliness and color-organized racks, Goodwill is lessabout the adventure of findingthe clothes and more about thetreasure at the end.
â[I like it] because itâs supercheap for the high-qualityclothes you can buy there. I gota pair of shoes for $2 that havekept me going for the past year,âsaid Mahyar Sorour, 11.
But students arenât the onlyones âthriftingâ at Mounds View,teachers have also joined in onthe fun and economically-benefi-cial trend. Ross Fleming, gymand health teacher, has been adedicated thrifter since his col-lege days.
âWhen I was in college, myfavorite place would have beenRagstock. It was the place,â hesaid.
Ragstock stores, the closestbeing located in the Rosedalemall, no longer necessarily qual-ifies as âthrift stores.â Most ofthe clothing now carried isbrand-new and brand name. Thesmall selection of clothes thatare not brand-new are either
ârecycledâ clothes with stylesranging from the â80s to today oroutlandish costume pieces, suchas a 1920s flapper dress or afull-body chicken suit, that areperfect for themed parties orHalloween.
While thrift stores are themost commonly searched placeswhen looking for vintage wearor costumes, there are stores inthe Twin Cities area that provideshoppers specifically withauthentic vintage wear.
Viaâs Vintage in Uptown andLulaâs Vintage Wear and Up Six,both off Snelling, offer a widerange of 1800s-1980s dresses,menâs wear, hats, purses, shoes,jewelry, and furniture. Thoughmany unique and bona fide retroitems can be found, they do notcome with the benefit of a thriftstore price tag. Because of this,many only browse these types ofstores for special occasions suchas Prom or a wedding.
âWhen my wife and I weregetting married, we decided tohave the ceremony in a littlewooden church from the 1850s,âsaid Flemming. âWe also tin-kered with the idea of dressing
in 1850s attire, but it was toomuch of a challenge trying tofind anything.â
But if one is up to the chal-lenge of searching through racksupon racks of previously ownedclothes, there are many treasuresto be found.
âThis Christmas I did findauthentic Star Wars action fig-ures and other collectorsâ itemsSTILL IN THE BOX for mygrandchildren⊠it has to be oneof my greatest finds,â saidFleming.
âI found a lime-green jump-suit [at a thrift store] once andbought it for my friend for herbirthday,â said Mara Rogers, 11.
Whether youâre searching fora gift, costume, authentic vintagewear and goods, gently-usedbrand name clothing, or even acompletely unique dress or suitfor Prom this year, stay withinyour budget and your local areaby hitting up the thrift storenearest you.
8 February 29, 2008
By Karly Bergmannstaff writer
photo by Nate GrannUnique Thrift Store makes âthriftingâ easy with a convenient location and tidy store.
variety
UUnniiqquuee TThhrriifftt SSttoorree1657 Rice Street, St. PaulHours: Mon-Sun 7:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.
GGooooddwwiillll1627 W County Rd. B, RosevilleHours: Mon-Fri 9 a.m.-9 p.m.Saturday 9 a.m.-6 p.m.Sunday 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
MMyy SSiisstteerrââss CClloosseett1136 Grand Ave, St. PaulHours: Mon, Tues, Fri 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Wed, Thurs 10 a.m.-8 p.m., closed Sunday
RRaaggssttoocckkRosedale MallHours: Mon-Sat 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-6 a.m.
VViiaaââss 2408 Hennepin Ave S, St. Paul Hours: Mon-Sat 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday 12 p.m.-5 p.m.
LLuullaa1587 Selby Ave, St. PaulHours: Mon, Fri 12 p.m.-6 p.m., Tues-Thurs 12 p.m.-7 p.m., Saturday11 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday 12 p.m.-5 p.m.
UUpp SSiixx++157 Snelling Ave. N., St. PaulHours: Tues-Sat 12-6, Sunday 12-4,closed Monday
photos by Nate Grann
One personâs junk...
$$1155
$$11//eeaacchh
$$44..9955
$$1100
$$1155
$$2255
Items found at Unique Thrift.
classy menâs waistcoat
old-style menâs shoes
trendy knock-offcoach purse
indie rocker shirt
quality telescope
vintage records
Ah, the Oscars. A time for Hollywoodto congratulate one and destroy the hopesof four others, a time for stars to meetand sit for three tedious hours. Thisyearâs 80th Academy Awards was noexception; it continued the tradition oflong, drawn-out presentations that wentnowhere.
For the past 30 years, every Oscarshow has had a red carpet segment. Thisyearâs was hosted by Regis Philbin, whopretended to care. Of course, there wereplenty of Regisims.
ââŠEveryone wanted to be CaryGrant, but now they want to be GeorgeClooney,â and, âI just saw Jon Stewart,he looks as cool as a cucumber,â werejust a few of the inane things that he spatout.
With the arbitrary red carpet bore-fest out of the way, the show beganwith host Jon Stewartâs line,âYouâre hereâI canât believe it,youâre actually here.â
Similar writersâ strike jokes fol-lowed. To Stewartâs credit, hismonologue this year was betterthan the last time he hosted.
Living up to his name,Stewart fit in some politics aswell. For the most part the
jokes were well timed andactually funny.
âOscar is 80 this year,which makes him auto-matically the front runnerfor the Republican nomi-nation,â said Stewart.
The Democrats werenâtspared either when he men-
tioned Away from Her: âAwoman who forgets her hus-band: Hillary Clinton called
it the feel-good movieof the year.â
Thefirst Oscarwas for
costumedesign and
was awarded toElizabeth: The
Golden Age.Following the firstaward, the show
introduced the first ofits many montages:a recap of theOscarâs first 79years.
If the writersâstrike hadnâtended, the Oscars would have most
likely been a 30-minute press conferencewith montages.
Instead, the audience had to down aprolonged three-hour version of the samethingâone montage was shown beforeeach award.
To be fair, the show was at least will-ing to poke fun at this with two fakemontages: one to binoculars and anotherto bad dreams. Nonetheless, the mon-tages were boring and ran like an entryfrom Wikipedia.
Another big part of the show was fivemusical numbers from the best originalsong category. Enchanted received threenominations in the category, and all threesongs induced sleep. It wasnât surprisingthe film didnât win.
While the âentertainingâ parts of theshow were important, it really was aboutthe awards. Javier Bardem surprised noone when he won Best Supporting Actorfor his dark and disturbing portrayal asAnton Chigurh in No Country for OldMen. Best Actor went to Daniel-DayLewis for his work in There Will BeBloodâa brilliant film where his use ofmethod acting helped him win.
The Best Actress and SupportingActress awards were more surprising.Marion Cotillard from La Vie en Rose, afilm most Americans probably havenâtseen, and Tilda Swanton, from MichaelClayton, won respectively. Truthfully, the
award should have gone to Ellen Pagefor Juno, but sheâll probably win anOscar eventually.
It was difficult to pay attention duringCotillardâs speech because of her dress;apparently dressing in fish scales is pop-ular now. Swantonâs win was surprising,but then again the category wasnât filledwith strong performances. At leastMichael Clayton won one award.
With the actor and actress awards fin-ished, the last two awards wereannounced. Best Director and BestPicture went to Ethan and Joel Cohen forNo Country for Old Men. By the end ofthe night, the film had won four awards.
The academy chose wisely. NoCountry for Old Men was beautifullydirected by the Cohen brothers, and theacting of Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones,and Javier Bardem pushed it to OscarGlory.
It is good to award the hard work ofpeople in the film industry. However,there has got to be some other way topresent it so the show isnât depressing forthe audience. If it werenât for the shoddymontages and lax musical numbers, theAcademy Awards this year could havebeen great... provided a little more effortwould be put in. Hopefully it will be bet-ter next year, because this yearâs showwas a boring mess.
courtesy of solarnavigator.net
By Brandon Oserostaff writer
Throughout the film Atonement,you hear the clanking of an age-oldtypewriter. It serves as not only amusical piece for the picture but alsorepresents the main charactersâdesires for control and lust.
Atonement stars Keira Knightleyand James McAvoy as two passionatelovers whose affair gets out of handwhen Knightleyâs younger sisterBriony (played by Academy Awardnominee Saoirse Ronan) accusesMcAvoyâs character Robbie of acrime he did not commit. He is sentto prison for four years and mustserve in the army during WWII.
With the combination of the warat hand and Briony growing up andrealizing what she has done, the fam-ily is ruined.
A very interesting aspect aboutAtonement is the filmâs use of music.The typewriter serves as Brionyâssafe haven and also as a doomsdaydevice when McAvoyâs characterRobbie writes a fatal note that landsinto Brionyâs tiny hands.
What does the letter mean? Howcan she explain this to her familyand, most importantly, her sister?While her mind races with thesethoughts, the clunking of the type-writer musters its eerie cries, keepingin time with Brionyâs heartbeat. Itrepresents a certain nervousness forthe characters, as well as a calmingdevice in uncomfortable situations.
The movie also uses strikingsilence as a contrast to its music âeffective particularly with the lovescene between Robbie and Cecilia.All you could hear throughout thetheatre was the heavy breathing ofthe passionate lovers and quiet tiptoe-
ing of Brionyâs feet into the loversâlibrary room.
Atonement had one of the bestcasts for this yearâs Oscar race.Audiences were pleasantly surprisedby Keira Knightleyâs strong perform-ance. Many of her other feature filmstend to dwell more on her bonyphysique and perfect features ratherthan her acting abilities, but this filmshowed her truly gifted range.
Her eyes show the sorrow andheartache she must face, which boilsdown to if sheâll ever get to be withher lover again. She doesnât simplytry to act heartbroken or weak, sheknows how to get to that inner psy-che and lets it free. She has the mak-ings of a truly remarkable actress,and with this film she gets one stepcloser to this achievement.
The Last King of ScotlandâsJames McAvoy was fantastic as thevictimized Robbie. Robbieâs charac-ter is very quiet and naĂŻve; he didnâtrealize that a simple slip of thetongueâor in his case a very vulgarwordâcould change the course of hisentire existence.
All of this sorrow and regret isput upon his handsome shoulders,and he is the one who truly carriesthe film. Robbie makes you believein true love and pulls in his audienceon how much tragedy he has seen,displaying that one little girlâsskewed understanding can foreverruin lives.
Atonement is a truly magnificentfilm that will be talked about for gen-erations to come. Whether it is aresult of the music, the actors, or thestory in general, this tragic tale hits adeep chord.
Atonement induces swoonsBy Sabrina Zappastaff writer
Halfway through the new Hot Chip songâShake a Fistâ the music stops, and a myste-rious voice begins.
âBefore we go any further, Iâd like toshow you all a game I made up. This game iscalled âSounds of the Studioâ⊠You may besurprised⊠Now, if you have a pair of head-phones, you better get âem out, and get âemcranked up, cause theyâre really gonna help.â
An explosion of sound follows this briefinterlude, with electronic buzzes pulsatingover pounding drumbeats.
Hot Chipâs new record, Made in theDark, is filled with these bizarre and joltingmoments. The band attempts a lot of differ-ent techniques, with upbeat rock songs nextto slow, techno-tinged ballads, and, for themost part, it works. Most of the strangesounds are endearing and fun to listen to,while others are annoying and do not work atall. Overall, the album is nice, but a littlemore focus would have served it well.
The album opens with a light pop song,âOut at the Pictures.â The bright, poppy toneyields partly a dance song, yet partly a rocksong. Guitars mix over funky electronicbeats, creating a sound that is immenselycatchy and very unique.
Hot Chip keeps up the energy for the firsthalf of the album, writing songs that rangefrom straight up techno to light rock. âReadyfor the Floorâ is one of the highlights of thealbum, a sweet, semi-love song that calls thelistener to join the dance floor.
âBendable Poseableâ mixes crunchy gui-tars with bizarre filtered vocals. It starts as asomewhat traditional rock song, before trans-forming into a mysterious techno dance
song. It is a strange mix that attempts to defygenres but ultimately ends up soundingmashed together.
From here, Hot Chip completely changes.After four straight songs of energetic techno-rock mayhem, they throw in a slow, soul-infused ballad. Unfortunately, this throws theflow of the whole album. The song is by nomeans bad; itâs just poorly placed.
After that, the group transforms again;this time delivering an upbeat, pulsing mas-terpiece with the song âTouch Too Much.âThe booming chorus and pounding percus-sion make this a song a must-hear.
Hot Chip continues this shape-shifting actfor the rest of the album; alternating betweenslow, smoky ballads, and fast-paced technorock songs. Some of the tracks, such as thedelightfully slowed-down and stripped-backtitle track, work. Other songs, such as theridiculous âWrestlers,â crash and burn withan over-reaching mix of musical styles andare, simply put, a little boring and repetitive.
Hot Chip is known for being eclectic, andon Made in the Dark, they reach from allkinds of genres and styles. While some songshit the mark, others fail miserably. Somesongs deserve to be listened to again andagain, while others should never have evenmade it on the album in the first place. Therelease is spotty, but it pulls through theseweak spots, and ends up being a somewhatenjoyable album, if not a very strange one.
Hot Chip works with no lightBy Sam Toninatostaff writer
courtesy of rottentomatoes.com
courtesy of last.fm
TT hh ee OO ss cc aa rr ss :: B a s i c a l l y a l o t o f m o n t a g e s
9February 29, 2008 reviews
66..55 / 10
SSoouunnddss lliikkee:: Short-circuited pop with a mini-malist techno influence. Has LCD System andCut Copyâs feel... a little !!! (Chk Chk Chk) butmuch less grimy and a lot more color.
88..55 / 10
February 29, 200810sportsAs the spring season approaches, fans will wait anxiously on the sidelines, straining their necks to seethe playersââŠuniforms? With a new season of sports comes a new season of fashion, and since our ath-letes will be training too hard to model these under-appreciated fashion statements on the catwalk,the seasonâs highlights are featured here.
Those uniforms are so hot right now
As most have noticed, skinny jeanshave almost replaced yogurt parfaits as
the next big thing at Mounds View.And just like the new treats,
theyâve managed to makethemselves enjoyed by girlsand boys alike. This season,girls softball and boys base-ball will utilize this fashion
trend to draw fans to theirfashion-forward games.
âThe tight pants are hot,theyâre the reason people come to
the games!â said Bekah Roth, 10,softball player.
And what self-respecting fashion-ista wouldnât want to see these sporty,skinny-jeans in action? The tight fit atthe bottom fashionably paired with thevoluminous, mesh jerseys on top is outof this world, or, at least out of the ball-park.
Whoever said men canât appreciate fashion wasas mistaken as the person who thought leg warmerswould never come back. Mounds Viewâs rugbyteam proves this with its fashionable uniformthat is anything but girly.
By simply wearing a rugby uniform, youlook manlier, even if youâre clad in short-shorts. Despite their lack of fabric, theshorts do their job and show the world thebod these rugby players have been work-ing for in pre-season training.
âI like the short-shorts, they show offmy nice legs,â said Nate Gelbmann, 10.
However, the shorts may be too much, orrather, too little, which is why the players havethe courtesy and fashion sense to pair themwith trendy spandex leggings.
If youâre still not convinced that rugby uni-forms are fierce, consider how ârugby stripesâhave managed to infiltrate popular fashion in theform of scarves, sweaters and polos that can befound at your local Gap, American Eagle, andHollister.
Rugby
Not since Sporty Spice told us whatshe wantsâwhat she really, reallywantsâhas anyone made wind pantsbabely. That is, until this season, whenMounds View track will be strutting theirstuff on the catwalk... I mean, track. Butthe warm-up sweats are just that, warm-ups, when compared to the hot sleevelesstop and shorts underneath.
âThey [the uniforms] are nice andbreezy. And the colors are pretty cute,âsaid Athena Apikelis, 10.
But the best part for the spectatorsand teammates alike is that the short-
shorts allow for as much shameless oglingas a real runway show.
âI donât like watching girls run around inshort-shorts for 20 hours, but guys I donâtmind so much,â said Alyssa Leyendecker,10.
Softball
Though other sports have managed to coverall of the trendiest and mainstream fashions, theViewettes have established themselves as themost avant-garde activity at MoundsView by far.
With glitzy outfits ranging fromclassic black to neon green and blue,designed everywhere from a â60s tospace-age style, the outfits are higherfashion than the Viewettesâ highkicks.
Notice how I said âoutfits.âThese girls have more costumechanges than a Cher concert, butmanage to make each one betterthan the last and often accessorizewith matching headbands; a hot hairtrend this year.
And if the rhinestone-embellishedcostumes donât blow your mind, thiswill: Viewette moms hand-appliedeach of those rhinestones for that per-fect sparkle accent. How couture isthat?!
Viewettes
Track
The snow that now coversKohler Meadows Park in WhiteBear Lake will soon give way tothe unyielding advance ofspring, and the Mounds Viewbaseball team will once againmake the trek to their practicediamond.
For about 10 years, thesedistant fields have been the onlyplace that the team could prac-
tice or play home games.On Feb. 5, the school board
changed that, when the boarddecided to put a field in onMounds View High Schoolgrounds in time for the â09baseball season.
âItâll be sweet,â said NateIliff, 10. âCloser fields meanweâll get more time toimprove.â
As revealed by last yearâslevy controversy, there is con-cern in the community abouthow district money is being
spent. Even now, some maywonder why the school is put-ting in a new baseball fieldinstead of spending that moneyto help shrink class sizes or payteachers more.
Bob Madison, MV athleticdirector, responded to thesequalms: âWhen we redid theschools the leftover money wasput into a building bond. Thismoney canât be used for thingslike hiring teachers, just for var-ious construction costs.â
Now, instead of about
$140,000 staying in a bankaccount, it is going towards animprovement on MoundsViewâs grounds.
The exodus from the oldKohler fields will hopefullybreathe new life into theMounds View baseball program,as the distance to the old fieldsin Vadnais Heights proved to betoo much for some fans.
Dave Bothwell, 12, baseballcaptain, said, âThe problemswith the old field at Kohler wasthat it wasnât on school grounds,
not a lot of fans knew how toget there. The city owned thefield, so we couldnât decorate orchange it in any permanent way.We really didnât have anythingthat had a home field appeal toit.â
Principal Julie Wikeliusagreed, âI think itâs great thatbaseball is finally back on cam-pus. The closeness of the fieldwill definitely benefit the stu-dent body.â
Natalie Evanson, 12, sports her styl-ish warm-up. At the time of thisphoto, costumes had to be turned in.
photos by Nate Grann and softball picture by Debbie Li
New baseball fields just a hit awayBy Colin Andersonstaff writer
Kevin Bradley, 12 sports his short-shorts onthe runway track.
Skinny jeans have traveled from fashion runwayinto softball must-haves. Softball playersMichelle Brunn, 12, and Katie Kruse, 12, displaytheir outfits.
story by Karly Bergmann, staff writer
Spandex isnât only for volleyball players anymore. Rugbyplayer, George Tremann, 10, shows off his spandex.
Excitement resonates in cheerlead-ing captain Sarah Imhoffâs voice whenshe talks about the upcoming competi-tion; a first for Mounds View cheer-leaders.
âSpending time with the girls willbe a great end to my senior season,âsaid Imhoff, 12.
The team will be traveling toWisconsin Dells for a two-day contestMarch 8-9. Stillwater and White BearLake, perennial competitors, will alsobe participating, but the competition isnot only local.
This is the first time MV cheerlead-ers will participate in a competition.
In the past, Head Coach JackieBest wanted the teamâs main focus tobe on cheering, not competing.
âMr. Madison okayed the competi-tion this year, but we mainly focus oncheering at games,â said Best.
In an effort to prepare, cheerlead-ersâ practices have become a lot moreintense and focused on more difficultthings like stunting; tricks wherecheerleaders are thrown into the air.
âIn practice we work a lot more onstunting, before we would spend mostof our time practicing cheers,â saidKerri Haider, 12.
âWe have always been morefocused on cheering, and itâs really funnow that we actually get to compete,âsaid Imhoff.
At the actual competition thecheerleaders will perform a mixture ofdancing, cheering, and stunting. Thecheerleaders have a 40-feet by 40-feetarea in which to compete and receiveapproximately three minutes to com-plete their routine.
According to the NationalCheerleading Rules, the competingteams are judged based on the overallappeal of the routine, perfection of theroutine, difficulty, dance ability, spirit,technique, stunts/pyramids, tumbling,jumps, projections, and formations.
âThereâs a lot more pressure withcompetition since weâre all used tocheering in front of Mounds View peo-ple,â said Chandler Vandersteen, 9.
Mounds View does not sponsor thecompetition since cheering is not rec-ognized as a high school sport.
âAlthough it is not sponsored byMounds View, we still hope they dowell. When they make themselves bet-ter, it has a positive effect on all oursports teams,â said Bob Madison,activities director.
The cheerleaders have come upwith their own money to pay for theirparticipation, not having the privilegeof school-sponsored sports whose feesare paid by the school.
âThe money [forthe competition]came from funds ourcoach had and weâreall paying a fee tocontribute to the costof the competition,âsaid Imhoff.
Currently, theteam is still unsure ifthey will competenext year. Thisdepends on a coupleof factors whichinclude how the teamperforms this yearand what the coach-ing staff decides isbest for the team.
Cheering has yet
to receive much recognition at MoundsView as a sport. If the squad does well,they could change the attitudes of stu-dents towards cheering and receivemore recognition for what they do.
âI think students will think aboutthe cheerleaders differently,â saidKristin Thompson, 11. âI also think itâsgood for them to compete becausemaybe theyâll gain more respect.â
âItâs a lot of work, but Iâm superexcited for [the competition], even if itmeans more working out,â saidVandersteen.
The cheerleaders have respondedwell to the changes. Competingrequires a stronger team connectionbecause teammates rely on each otherfor their success, and it consequentlybrings a team together.
âWe have already bonded a lot overthe competition, and a reason we didthe competition was to bring us clos-er,â said Imhoff.
MMoouunnddss VViieeww cchheeeerrss ttoo tthhee nneexxtt lleevveell
February 29, 2008
Andrew Dinndorf, 12, has beenswimming since the second grade. Whenswim season comes around, he immedi-ately drops everything else in his life,including Jazz Band and Boy Scouts, tofocus on the sport.
Yet, he hasnât broken any records,
and heâs never appeared in sports newsas the star of the team.
Dinndorf contributes to his team in adifferent, but equally important, way. Heleads by example, encourages youngerathletes to stick with a sport, and enjoysthe friendship and cohesiveness thatbeing on a team provides.
âHe has a positive attitude all thetime⊠which creates an entire team posi-tive atmosphere,â said swim coachStephen Bauer.
âThere are a lot more importantthings than just performing well,âDinndorf said.
Many people at Mounds View partici-pate in some kind of sport, but few stu-dents are recognized for their commit-ment: after all, a team can have only somany stars. Just sticking with a sport forfour years merits recognition.
Jesse Cronquist, 12, is another athletewho has devoted his entire high schoolcareer to one sport: basketball. He playsmostly on the junior varsity team, butdoes get varsity playing time.
Mike Kauls, social studies teacherand assistant basketball coach, commend-ed Cronquist for his âeffort on a dailybasis, even without getting all the glory.â
Few people stay on the basketballteam all through high school. This year,the team only has six seniors.
âAnyone who finishes all the waythrough is an example,â said Kauls.
The loyalty Cronquist shows to the
team encourages younger players to stickwith it, he said.
Cronquist listed âlearning how towork together with other peopleâ andâmeeting new people I might not haveotherwiseâ as some of the greatest bene-fits of playing basketball.
These athletes continue putting in thiseffort because of the benefits they getfrom being on the team. Other than theobvious benefits of staying in shape andlearning about a sport, the teams becomevery close.
Dinndorf describes the swim team asa family.
âWeâve always prided ourselves onbeing one of the closest teams,â he said.
It is almost difficult not to formstrong bonds with teammates who spendso much time together. The friendshipsand leadership qualities the athletes gainfrom being a part of the team are verymeaningful to them.
As much as the athletes gain frombeing on the team, they also contributetheir years of experience and leadership.
Bauer said that Dinndorf leads by hisexample of a strong work ethic and gainsrespect with his presence. He has gainedso much respect, in fact, that last year theteam voted him captain.
As seniors, this season marks the endof their high school careers on thesesports teams. Dinndorf does not plan onbeing on a college team, but he doeswant to continue swimming recreational-
ly, participating in triathlons. Cronquist is undecided about his col-
lege plans, so he is unsure if he will con-tinue playing, but he hopes to join thebasketball team as a walk-on whereverhe goes. Whether they continue pursuingtheir sport or not, these athletes havegained something immeasurable fromparticipating on their high school team.
â[Joining the swim team] was thebest decision of my life,â Dinndorf said.
Athletes out of the spotlight
By Shaked Pelegstaff writer
These student-athletes are f inding ways to shine on their respectiveteams even without the publicity some of their teammates enjoy
11sports
photo by Debbie Li
By Anna Blaskestaff writer
photo by Shaked PelegAndrew Dinndorf, 12, brings a positive atti-tude and leadership to his team.
photo by Debbie LiCaptains Michelle Brunn, 12, and Stacy Grosinger, 12,are ready to lead the cheerleading squad in their firstcheerleading competition.
Jesse Cronquist, 12, may not get the samehype as some teammates, but he is stillviewed as a key player to the team.
February 29, 200812
Jack Humphrey
Everyone can admit to belting out the lyricsto their favorite pop songs in the shower at leastonce in their life. But how many of those peoplecan say that theyâve crooned to their own music?Jack Humphrey, 12, has been composing musicsince 8th grade and has always found it morerewarding to sing to his own tunes.
âIt always seemed more gratifying to me toplay my own stuff, rather than play somebodyelseâs,â said Humphrey.
Humphrey, who writes music both for him-self and for his band, Deus Ex Machina, uses acomputer program called Guitar Pro to composethe different parts of his pieces.
âIt works well for Deus, because I can writethe music out in either tabs or sheet music andthe program can easily switch between the twofor different instruments,â he said.
He started writing music with some of hisband members, but over time he began to per-sonally take more interest in its theory and com-position. Although Deus is a progressive deathmetal band, Humphreyâs own music has a muchdifferent sound.
âIt really depends on my mood, but mymusic features a slower feel with acoustic guitarand piano,â said Humphrey.
Humphrey often uses poetry that he has writ-ten and formats it into lyrics in order to get amore personal gain from his music.
âThe best thing about writing music is itâs away to express myself, and to change negativeemotions into a positive product,â saidHumphrey.
The next time you begin to belt out thewords to Bohemian Rhapsody in the shower,you can take a hint from Jack and sing to thebeat of your own drum. You might just gainmore from it than you expect.
âMy music provides a way to better under-stand myself, and allows me to see clearer howeveryday events affect my emotions,â saidHumphrey.
Spencer Mann, 11, quietly concentrates on themusic stand in front of him. Without a word,Mann slowly scratches a few notes onto a sheet ofpaper, picks up his worn viola bow, and beginsplaying a lush, mysterious melody. But this is noordinary song. This is a viola concerto that Mannis in the middle of composing.
While some may be intimidated by the compo-sition of classical music, Mann has discovered anuncanny talent for composing music, starting lastwinter. Several months later, he finished his firststring trio. Since then, Mann has created animmense amount of music; including severalsonatas, a string quartet, a French horn and bas-soon duet, and an entire movement of a sympho-ny.
âLast year, I just started writing music,â hesaid. âI was just listening to a lot of classicalmusic, and I decided to try and write some of myown.â
Mann got together with several other studentsand performed his string trio at a piano recital.
Ross Hoppe, 11, was one of the students whoperformed Mannâs piece. According to Hoppe, hewas blown away by its depth.
âIt was very complex, with a lot of minorkeys. It was sort of dark and mysterious, but alsomelodious and nice to listen to,â said Hoppe.
According to Mann, his main influence isRussian composer Dmitri Shostakovich.
âShostakovich is great. I find his works to beemotionally intense. It is really harmonically inter-esting, and there is so much going on in themusic,â said Mann.
Spencer was a casual fan of classical music hisentire life, but when he began to play the viola infifth grade, he began to really take an interest inthis type of music. His love of classical music hasonly grown since then.
Spencer said that he plans on pursuing a futurein music. He would like to take compositioncourses in college, and continue to play the violathroughout his life.
âI have ideas that I want to share with people,âhe said. âI love music, and will keep playing andwriting for as long as I can.â
By Sam Toninatostaff writer
By Cassie Ahiersstaff writer
musical minds
Itâs Friday night and Merit Stewart, 11, isnot planning on sleeping. Heâs not going to bepartying or interacting with his friends at all.Stewart will spend the next ten or so hoursalone, his headphones carefully wrappedaround his ears.
He will listen to every style of music hecan get his hands on. Come morning, heâllhead to his kitchen to make a much-neededpot of coffee. As the machine whirrs, themish-mash of music from the night before willbegin to organize itself into Stewartâs new pre-occupation: techno.
âUsually, Iâll go down to my computer,and Iâll take the music â Latin, funk, blues, allkinds of things â and put it all together,â hesaid. âIâll write without editing myself, andthen after 16 bars or so Iâll go back and pickout the good parts.â
Stewart has been composing music thisway since middle school. He began with folkand rock, influenced by musicians such as theRolling Stones and Jessie Cook. Later hemoved on to techno duo Daft Punk andGeorge Clinton, a member of the famous funkgroup Parliament.
âOut of everything blues music in generalhas inspired me the most,â he said.
Although he is not part of any groups cur-rently, he plans on starting a band with RonTowne, 11, this summer. Towne, who hasplayed informally with Stewart since middleschool, has recently begun dabbling in com-posing himself.
âIâm kind of am amateur compared toMerit. His music just makes me want todance,â he said. âYou canât not bop your headto it.â
Stewart intends to release a CD of histechno music in late February.
However, when asked about a futurebeyond that, he said, âI donât really have anyplans, but I would love to keep doing this, itwould be awesome.â
Jack Humphrey photo by Nate GrannSpencer Mann photo by David DerongMerit Stewart photo by Sean Delahunt
By Divya Guptastaff writer
Spencer Mann Merit Stewart
the composition of
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