SpotlightVol. 40 Issue 5

Francis Howell High School www.fhhstoday.com

April 20, 2011

Upcoming April 22Good Friday–no school

April 25Snow make-up day–full day

April 26End-of-Course-Assessment Exam Week– Special schedule Tuesday-Friday

April 28-30Spring play–6:30 p.m.

April 29Spring Pep Assembly

May 13Prom–St. Charles Convention Centre 7 p.m.

May 19Singers Choice Concert–5 and 7:30 p.m.

Worth Mention

Congratulations to Scholar Bowl, who won Districts April 9.

Congratulations to Jake Rhodes, who won Mr. Viking April 9.

Congratulations to the Chemistry Club and the Engineering Club for becoming school official. New members are welcome.

Congratulations to all of the seniors who attended the 4.0 luncheon April 8.

7001 S. Highway 94, St. Charles, MO 63304

Senioritis

Pg. 4

Radical church goes too far

Pg. 3

Battle for Busch Stadium Pg. 8

Andrew Odle: staff writer

District cuts staffing due to budgetAfter the board decision

declaring a budget shortfall of $10.3 million and a 96 teacher cut, the next crucial decision for the district was determining which teachers would be impacted. After retirements, the district relied on its Reduction-in-force (RIF) policy, which involves teacher cuts.

The district relied on seniority to determine who was effected.

“The tenure plan is how we establish seniority for teachers,” Principal Chris Greiner said. “Being a tenured teacher means that you have worked at the school district for five years or more. We are working to try and keep these teachers at their current employment, although we do have some who were put into an awaiting assignment pool.”

The district will try to place teachers from the pool in either a different position or building once a spot opens. Often this occurs because of retirement or someone resigning.

“Seniority determined who was going to be placed in the awaiting assignment category,” Greiner said.

Unfortunately, not all teachers

may be placed. Howell will have five FTE’s (Full Teacher Equivalence), 30 teaching sections, and one dean position eliminated. The district will also be dismissing instructional coaches, reducing spots for other teachers. Each department chair will lost two hours previously provided for release time to attend meetings and do other assigned duties.

“Teachers are being kept and put into the pool based on what classes students are signing up for, not the performance of the teacher,” Greiner said. “It’s solely based on the enrollment shortfall in that area. It is decided by certification and the goal is to have all these teachers kept at their current employment.””

Due to the enrollment of the English department and return of two writing lab teachers to the classroom, two teachers were short classes.

“When I started teaching here,

I signed I contract stating that I understood the reasons why certain people get promoted, fired, laid off,” English department teacher Greg Gaia said. “It is simply, first in first out. And since I was one of the most recent hires in the department, I am

one of the first to leave.”

B e c a u s e a retirement opened a spot, instead of losing his job totally, Gaia will be transferred to Howell North

next year. He will be leaving behind students who have grown to admire him.

“I understand why teachers are being cut and transferred,” junior Meagan Hilke said. “But it does not seem fair to me because [Mr. Gaia] is a really great teacher and he helped increase my ACT score.”

Although Gaia is leaving the building, he will still be around to support the Vikings.

“The district does not really have a choice in deciding who is laid

off and who stays,” Gaia said. “I am going to miss my students and my colleages and the Francis Howell environment. But I will probably be around for a few sporting events next year.”

The history department will also experience changes in their staffing due to the student enrollment in that area. History department teacher Sam Kohler will be teaching half of his day at Howell and then going to teach half a day at Howell North.

“I’m leaving because this is part of the whole RIF.” Kohler said. “It’s kind of a downhill effect, one person gets placed, then another person gets replaced. It’s all based on seniority.”

Leaving Howell full time is difficult for Kohler, although he is thankful for being fully employed in the district.

“I’m happy to be working full time, but I don’t want to be away from Howell,” Kohler said. “It was a bitter sweet moment. It’s a family atmosphere around here and I don’t want to leave all the teachers and students I’ve met.”

Ann Molina: Staff Writer

“Teachers are being kept and put into the pool based on what classes students are signng up for, not the performance of the teacher.”

–Principal Chris Greiner

Student parking committee formedNew computers for the business department.

New lab equipment for the science classes. A new school for everyone. And a new parking permit system for juniors and seniors? Under discussion for 2011 is the possibility of a new system of parking pass distribution.

Because of construction and demolition of the old school buildings, the number of parking spaces will be in short supply. As a result, the Principal’s Advisory Council (PAC) tossed around the idea of a revised system. Junior Class president Drew Nelson leads the committee of representative students working on the issue.

“I’ve had my own problems with parking this year so I proposed to Dr. Greiner that we create a committee dedicated to the parking situation. So, he talked to Dr. Thompson and the committee got approved,” Nelson said.

Assistant Principal Brian Thompson oversees parking and distributing passes.

“Basically there are two ideas out there for next year. The simple one would be to keep things as they are with no changes. The other would involve limiting senior permits and distributing them more so on whether or not a student has an activity after school,” Thompson said. “Drew and the committee are simply trying to help decide which would be better. However, Drew’s main idea is to poll next year’s junior and senior class and find out what their opinions are.”

The current system has been in use for several years and has become a sort of tradition for the seniors. Seniors get permits first if they apply and meet the qualifications.

“As of now, each season I look at the number of yearly permits available. If a senior meets the

qualifications, they get a permit,” Thompson said. “Then we assign work program and tech school passes for the year and A+ passes in the spring and fall. Once we have those done, we take the remaining passes and assign them to athletics with the same process for each season,” Thompson said.

“I look at the number of juniors from each sport requesting passes and then create percentages for each sport. These percentages tend to vary each year. Using them we decide how many passes each sport needs. Finally, we take a five day average of how many spots are left open due to absences and then look to special needs, clubs, and other groups. Those passes are again distributed using the same method,” Thompson added.

As the head of the committee, Nelson has gathered information to help create the second alternative plan.

“Basically the committee’s plan is to narrow down various ideas to two concrete plans, with one that is similar to the traditional one, and one that places more influence on activities, and find out what people think of them. We’ve already done a preliminary survey on Facebook to help determine the two plans and to help predict which way the official poll will go,” Nelson said. “The next step will be to draft a letter that will be handed out to homerooms with a link at the bottom to where students can go vote and leave comments.”

Because of the impact of the decision, parents and faculty will also be able to cast their vote and comment.

“The letter will also be emailed to parents

and faculty over the school’s enews system so they can be included too,” Nelson said. “We need to get the survey out by mid April so that when the decision is made it can be added to the code of conduct in time.”

While the survey will be a major and helpful tool, ultimately the decision rests on Thompson’s shoulders.

“I’m about 50/50 right now. I can see it one way or the other since this has always been a tradition for seniors but there will still be juniors in need of parking passes. Hopefully the survey will shed some light and be helpful when it comes time to make a decision,” Thompson said.

Both sides of the issue have opinions on what should happen.

“I’d like to drive because all the seniors in the past have gotten to and a lot of people will be really upset if they change it on our senior year,” junior Dan Rogers said. “Hopefully the sophomores will think of their own senior year because there won’t be enough spots then either.”

“I think that people who play sports or have activities should get parking passes because they’re actually doing something instead of just going home after school. I play tennis so I’ll definitely be hoping for a pass next year,” sophomore Derek Dallas said. “I don’t think the sophomores will take into consideration their senior year. They’ll focus on getting a parking pass as soon as possible.”

Parking will certainly be an issue until construction is finished and the committee hopes the survey will yield helpful results. The school expects to have ample parking by the 2013-2014 school year.

Vol. 40 Issue 5April 20, 2011

OPI

NIO

N

Spotlight

Francis Howell Highwww.fhhstoday.com

Purpose“Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...”

––The First Amendment The Francis Howell Spotlight

is the official student newspaper at Francis Howell High School. The Spotlight began as a Francis Howell publication in 1971. The Spotlight believes it is essential to preserve the freedom of the press in order to preserve a free society and its purpose is to inform, interpret, and entertain through accurate and factual reports.

Therefore, this school newspaper will serve the best interest of the students of Francis Howell and keep itself free from any other obligation; the staff of the school newspaper will accept guidance from its adviser, but will make its own editorial decision; only the editorial board may veto any material intended for publication, judged to be in violation of the Spotlight editorial policy; and this school newspaper will vigorously resist all attempts at censorship, particularly prepublication censorship; the school newspaper will serve as an educational laboratory experience for those on staff.; the school newspaper will run as a limited open forum; the goal of the school newspaper is to cover the total school population as effectively and the staff will strive to be impartial and responsible in its coverage of issues.

AdvertisingAll ads must be approved. Ad rate schedules and policies are available by calling 636-851-4820 or email evan102110@yahoo.com

PoliciesAll letters to the editor should be sent to Mrs. Dunaway in room A115 or emailed to spotlight letters@gmail.com. Letters will be printed in the op-ed section. All letters must be signed, be under 400 words, and contain appropriate material. Material will not be printed if content is obscene, invasive of others’ privacy, encouraging physcial disruption of school activites and/or implies libel. The editorial board has the right to have letters edited for length, grammer, punctuation, clarity, etc. The school newspaper will only publish one letter per author per issue and all letters become the property of the school newspaper upon receipt and will not be returned.

StaffSamantha Gibson, EIC; Kassie King, web editor; Olivia Cassidy, photo ed.; Michele Dunaway, MJE, adviser. Staff Writers: Christian Adams, Madelyn Brandt, Alyssa Crawford, Lauren Crider, Alison Dunaway, Emily Fernandez, Leah Garrett, Austin Hayes, Carrie Haupt, Kaci Jolly, Ann Molina, Andrew Odle, Katie Roberts, Nina Rosenberg, Sara Shabany, Haley Shave, Savannah Shine, Gabrielle Soto, Samantha Strange, Alex Timpone

Kiss and Tell: PDA making others uncomfortableStaff Editorial

High school is the home of hormones. Relationships blossom all over the campus. Make-ups and break ups are part of the school’s daily routine. Another daily reminder of the relationships is the PDA occurring next to lockers,

in the commons, and well, everywhere. School is not an appropriate place for public displays of affection.

High school relationships are a great opportunity for students to meet new people and express feelings for one another. It gives them a chance to feel loved and respected by a person they care about. While public displays of affection are great for the couple involved, it’s just plan awkward for everyone else.

PDA is downright obnoxious. Walking down the hallway and seeing couples making out or cuddling is annoying and makes others feel like it’s an invasion of privacy, even though the hallways are a public place.

School is an environment in which students should feel comfortable with their surroundings. Public displays of affection violate that right.

In most situations, high school relationships are short lived. Couples that actually are in long term relationships normally do not participate in PDA. They’re often seen holding hands, but usually don’t exceed much more than that. These couples understand that physically displaying their feelings for one another makes their peers feel uncomfortable. They are a great example of how couples should behave on school grounds.

Couples should keep their feelings for each other contained while in school. Avoiding displays of affection is respectful to fellow students and makes the environment much more comfortable for learning. So next time, keep the hormones in check and express those fuzzy feelings off school campus.

Shout at us!

Send comments

and letters tospotlightletters@gmail.com

or drop them in room A115

The fine print: all letters must be signed, be under 400 words, and contain appropriate material. Material will not be printed if content is obscene, invasive of others’ privacy, encouraging physcial disruption of school activites and/or implies libel.

hits

Hit or Miss for March

[a quick Howell about the good and bad]

misses Seniors prepare for graduationAnnouncenents are out, and graduation practice is soon.

Publication students win awards Yearbook and Newspaper staff bring home 10 at state competition. Operation BensonStudents support math teacher ken Benson by donating care items and shipping overseas.

Mr. Viking Senior guys let loose and compete for the title. Parents and classmates came to support them.

Scholar Bowl team wins GAC titleRishi Mohan, Alison Dunaway, Nathan Stein and Will Hardy competed by answering trivia questions.

Warm weather hits the Midwest Despite the unexpected snow storm, warm weather has been working its way into St. Louis.

Great concerts hit stlLil Wayne and Niki Minaj came to St. Louis and had a great turn out. The concert served as a preview of the concerts coming this summer.

Scholarships Many students recieved scholarships for sports and academics.

Fighting Little fights over nothing- waste of energy.

Tom’s Day with out shoesIf the dress code was enforced for going barefoot, it should be enforced when studnets wear slippers to school.

Detentions for skipping homeroom Administrators cracked down on skipping homeroom with detentions.

AP testing right around the corner Testing begins in early May, and students stress about last minute preperations.

Snow on spring break delays vacations A snow blizzard was not ideal weather for the first day of spring break. It caused airport delays for the choir’s Hawaii trip as well as other vacations.

Graffiti of lockersVandalizing school property is disrespectful and immature. Have some class.

End of third quarterThe end of third quarter came after spring break. This added stress to break and a rush to complete last minute assignments.

Spirit WeekPoorly publicized, students weren’t aware of it.

Bren

nan

Rile

y

You know, if I wanted to learn about PDA, I would have taken a Health class.

Radical church goes too far, offends sensibilities

The decision has been popping up on various news reports and talk of it has refused to die down, but to those who are unaware, the Supreme Court recently voted 8-1 in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church’s right

to picket and protest soldiers funerals. As disrespectful and ignorant as the church’s acts are, the Supreme Court says that they’re protected and legal instances of free speech.

The extremist group believes that the death of U.S. soldiers is the will of God and that he is pouring out his wrath upon this country. As a result, they also believe that 9/11, the explosion of the Columbia space shuttle, and even the death of 9-year old Taylor Christina Green at the Tucson shootings were all instances of God showing his hate of this country. The church believes that this nation is one of nothing but sin due to actions such as allowing same sex relations and sending troops to fight in various ares of the world. In short, they believe that God hates the United States of America and that he is beginning to let us face his wrath. They protest these so-called sins which bring forth God’s wrath every chance they get.

First off, for a group that seems to do nothing but criticize America, they seem to forget that this is one of the few countries where they can even get their points across safely in the first place. It’s not so hard to imagine this spineless church singing a different tune in somewhere like Saudi Arabia. It only serves to emphasize that this group is blind to the truth and ignorant of the feelings of the people in this country. Now of course many would say that they had no respect for the feelings of this country’s people to begin with. They would be correct. The church is, at its heart, only interested in forcing their opinion on people anyway they can without any sense of respect, morals, or conducting themselves properly. However they still claim to be followers of God.

This group-this cult, for all intents and purposes-claims to study and understand scripture. They claim that U.S. soldiers and

even citizens deserve to die because God wants them to. Now this article certainly won’t claim a perfect knowledge of theology but the Christian religion teaches quite the opposite of the Westboro Baptist Church’s ideas. Jesus teaches followers to be kind in their attempts to spread their faith and that they should forgive those who have sinned. It teaches them to have respect for all people. With those thoughts in mind how could the Supreme Court vote to allow the Westboro Church’s behavior to continue? In the end, people will never know. But, it does bring to mind the core beliefs and principles the decision relies upon. This nation was formed on Christian beliefs and with God in mind. True, the nation has become accepting of all religions and has come to prefer a separation of religion and government; and true, the First Amendment guarantees free speech of any kind. It must be said that these are not bad changes in the slightest. However, that does not change the fact that some speech is nothing but disrespectful. The Westboro Church crossed the line into ignorance long ago and even now they are still bringing their disrespect to a whole new level. So, what can people do?

The law is the law and while the reasoning of the Supreme Court is easily followed, the decision was still morally wrong and shows great disrespect to this country and its people. But Westboro Baptist Church will continue to protest in the heat of their ignorance and because they have the law on their side it is difficult to stop them. Still, there is an easy way to fight back. This is one case where fighting fire with fire is perfectly acceptable. The Westboro Church is not a large one and those who are against them outnumber them by far. So the next time they go to protest a soldier’s funeral, protest right back at them. The people have a voice too and they have every right to use it, and in this case, use it against the Westboro Baptist church. They can use it to drown them out and make a point. In short, they can use their voice to show them that the United Sates deserves better than such radical behavior.

Vol. 40 Issue 5 April 20, 2011Op-ed Spotlight

Francis Howell Highwww.fhhstoday.com 3

Face inCrowd

Would you rather go to a prom or a concert?

In my opinion

During every April I invest myself in an Internet blogging program called BEDA, or Blog Every Day April. This was created in 2008 by young adult novelist and Twitter personality, Maureen

Johnson. Participating in BEDA is exactly what it sounds like: I write up a personal blog to be posted on my Blogspot and my Tumblr on every day of April.

Blogging is an entirely interesting medium to me. While, I’m more partial to video blogging and uploading content to Youtube, it is invigorating to go back, and read about my April from three years ago.

The thing about blogging that strikes me as particularly intriguing is the way that it combines narrative with networking. On the Internet posting a blog or sending a tweet puts your name in circuit, which is also called “branding.” I love blogging as

a branding tendency because it allows me to share pieces of my life through the written word.

In the media, hype that the “written word” is dead has been circulating for years. While, I do think the relevancy of print journalism, specifically newspapers and magazines is falling, I can’t imagine that the written word will ever be dead because it is preserved through technology.

Social networking platforms that encourage teenage writing and reading are incredibly important in a day and age that is at slight risk of fazing out formal publishing. What is so cool about online outlets is that we become the writers. No longer do amateur authors need an agent; all they need is an email address.

As a society, we keep communication relevant. It is our job to read and publish and expose ourselves to different social networking tendencies. Personally, I find this communicative experience through making videos on YouTube and blogging every day of April, which is a particularly beautiful part of this new cyber world.

Internet blogging replaces print, yet keeps written word aliveKassie King: web editor

Kelsey Kane

junior

>> Prom, because I don’t want to regret it later. It only comes twice in your life.

Lacey Wildschuetz

soph

omor

e

>>The concert, because I’m not going to prom.

the

Nathan Loraine

senio

r

>> The concert, because prom is a waste of money.

princ

ipal

>> I’d rather go to the concert because over the years I’ve been to prom about 10 times.

Brian Thompson

Andrew Odle: staff writer

Library becomes noisy, space is disrespected

The once peaceful library has become a haven for noisy distractions and messy tables. Librarians allow students to eat lunch in the library as an alternative to the crowded cafeteria. Students abuse this privilege and must realize how fortunate they are to even have a choice in where they eat.

Students are turning the library into the exact place they want to avoid, the cafeteria. Loud conversations echo

off the walls, disrupting those trying to study or read. Trash is left on the tables or by the trash can. Crumbs cover the tables and an occasional spill is left for the next group to deal with. Students eat in the library to avoid the noisy and messy cafeteria. But they treat the library as if it is a cafeteria. They forget that it is a place for quiet reading and studying. Having the choice to eat in the library is a huge privilege and students should be extremely thankful towards the librarians for that.

Librarians have good reason to kick students out of the library for lunch. They should not have to pick up the students’ messes or deal with their inappropriate behavior. Sure, it may seem unfair to punish everyone for the poor choices of a few, but lunch in the library is not a right. The librarians do not have to deal with students’ disrespectful conduct, and should not.

Students need to show some respect towards the librarians for their generosity. Treat the library as a library, and keep the cafeteria downstairs.

In my opinion

Tori Buescher: journalism student

Tiffany Morris

fresh

man

>> I have two other years to go to prom, so I would choose the concert.

Vol. 40 Issue 5April 20, 2011

FeaturesSpotlightFrancis Howell Highwww.fhhstoday.com4

As fourth quarter begins, symptoms of senioritis sky rocket. Bored, tired and eager students put high school on the back burner and set their focuses on the future.

“I have no motivation because it’s so close to the end of the year. I’m so ready for it to end,” junior Ginger Gairani said.

Students suffering from senioritis don’t realize how crucial the last semester can be.

“I do see some seniors struggling in their fourth year English classes. That class is important because it’s needed to graduate,” counselor Jennifer Lowery said.

Lowery has seen an increase in seniors that might not graduate.

“I have more students that I’m not sure if they’re going to graduate,” Lowery said.

Some students are so close to the borderline, that it comes down to the last day of school to find out if they will walk on graduation.

“Sometimes it comes down to the last final. We don’t know until the last minute,” Lowery said.

When a student doesn’t graduate, he isn’t the only one disappointed.“Parents are usually devastated. They’ve already bought the cap and gown,” Lowery

said.Although parents are disappointed when they learn their child won’t graduate, they

are not surprised.“It’s not a surprise, but disappointing,” Lowery said.Graduating students who slack off can lose scholarship opportunities because of bad

grades.“Students in the past have lost scholarships because of

last semester,” Lowery said.Principal Dave Wedlock is concerned that the habits

seniors develop now will follow them later in life.“I’m worried about the habits this will create,”

Wedlock said. “To some extent it’s natural progression. Many believe they have already met their goals and turn their attention to the future. There are two things we can do. One would be to use a stepping stone to where they go next and use it as motivation. And working with teachers and parents to motivate them and get them thought this tough stretch,” Wedlock said.

Although it seems like everybody suffers from senioritis, it hasn’t effected the entire senior class.

“I haven’t really been suffering from senioritis. I still procrastinate, but my grades haven’t suffered too much,” senior Jullianne Illy said.

Illy avoids senioritis by keeping college in mind.“I don’t want colleges to look at me as a slacker. I want them to see that I stayed

strong the entire time, and I didn’t let the fact that I’m a senior effect me,” Illy said.Illy hopes that the habits she attains now will follow her in college.“With everything that goes on in college, it’s easy to put things off. If you set a

schedule for yourself, you’re more likely to get things done if you set yourself up to succeed,” Illy said.

Most students who suffer from senioritis can manage to graduate.“Overall we have a good graduation rate and responsible students,” Lowery said.With reporting by Austin Lowery

As spring arrives, senioritis epidemic spreadsCarrie Haupt: staff writer

Alison Dunaway: Staff WriterVoice of unreason...Bring on the Billy Joel jokes, but I am

definitely an uptown girl when it comes to New York City. I was up at Columbia University for a journalism convention, but it was one of my ventures to midtown that led to me getting punched, kicked, cursed out, almost getting arrested, and eventually meeting Daniel Radcliffe. All in a couple day’s work.

For my sixteenth birthday, my mom gave me third row orchestra center seats to How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. In the musical, Radcliffe stars as J. Pierrpont Finch, a window washer who, after finding a book (aptly called How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying), decides to climb the corporate ladder. Reviews promised a lot of singing and dancing and Anderson Cooper narrating. This was something I wanted to see.

When we got to our seats, I thought about a photo I saw in Time magazine about Daniel Radcliffe signing autographs by the stage door after the first preview show. However, I’m short and not very quick, so I knew it would be a long shot, so I plotted an escape. However, during

intermission I forgot my plans after being lost in the plot of the musical, being interviewed by German radio, and after talking to the film critic from the United Kingdom who was sitting next to me. As the cast took their final bow, I only then remembered I needed to go to the stage door. Where was that again? It was where the huge crowd was. Luckily, I was able to slip without any pushing, shoving, or elbowing in to a position where I was two people rows from the barriers. After that I got smushed against a girl in front of me. She didn’t like that and started screaming at me to back off even though I had absolutely nowhere to go. The security guard thought I must have shoved her and threatened to put me in handcuffs. Great. I managed to get the girl to chill out long enough for Christopher Hanke to walk out. I shoved my Playbill out, hoping that he would see me. He did! He was reaching out for my Playbill, his fingers just mere inches from it…and then the girl in front of me shoved hers in his hand. Awesome. It was worse when Dan came out. Continued on Pg. 6

Are 25 hours of silence possible? For members of the Invisible Children club, 25 hours are a small price to pay for the highly influential impact silence can have. Participants in the 25 event will show their support for Uganda and the Congo April 25.

“During the 25 event people stay silent for 25 hours, the same number of years Joseph Kony has been in power in Uganda.

“I’m definitely going to do 25. I’ve done the day of silence for GSA, and I don’t think 25 hours will be difficult,” junior Michelle Adzido said.

Junior Megan Horn does not see 25 hours of silence as a burden, but rather as a necessary way to raise awareness of the violence in Uganda and in the Congo.

“It won’t be difficult. It’s worth it for the cause,” Horn said.

Invisible Children sponsor Melissa Dumas also believes in the silence movement to remove Kony.

“I hope to participate in the 25 event. I will need to creatively think of something else for my class that day that would not need me,” Dumas said.

Members of Invisible Children are devoted to helping those who have no voice, or those whose voices are oppressed by unjust governments. At Howell, members hold fundraisers and have presentations to raise money and support for the campaign to help those in Africa.

“It’s important to realize that there is a whole other world outside of the United States. Most students have never left this country to see that,” Horn said.

Dumas also takes the organization’s purpose to heart.“It gets you thinking about the world outside and

what’s happening,” Dumas said.Adzido feels the presentation March 21 was an

effective way to inform students of the violence in Uganda and to show them ways they can help, such as the 25 event.

“People can actually show their support as an entire school. It makes them feel like they can make a difference,” Adzido said.

Invisible Children has more plans for future events to aid those in need in Uganda.

“We may hold a book drive. We would collect books and trade them for money to buy school books for the kids,” Horn said.

Tori Buescher: journalism studentStudents pledge to stay silent for 25 hours April 25

Senior Ginger Gairani naps as her Algebra III class goes over test answers April 7.

Carr

ie H

aupt

There are millions of hours spent on Skype

whether it’s talking to someone on the opposite side of the world or five minutes away. Skype allows one to see and talk to friends and family who aren’t there.

“When I’m on Skype I talk to my close friends about school or plans for the weekends,” sophomore Drake Toarmina said. “I like it because then I can see my friends reactions to things I say.”

Skype uses a camera and software so people can see each other.

“I like being on Skype because it’s easy to figure out for technologically challenged people like myself,” junior Ashley Unland said. “I can also use it for homework and talking with my friends.”

Most people use Skype to chat with people who are a few miles away.

“I use it to talk to my friends from different schools,” freshman Amy Borgstede said. “I love it because I don’t get to see them very often and it’s nice that I can just call them up and see their faces.”

Others use it to talk with friends who are far away.

“I mostly got into Skype because I get to talk to all my friends that went away to college,”

senior Abby Sung said. Some don’t even Skype at all.“I don’t really see the point in Skype,”

freshman Alex Crawford said. “I just call people if I need to talk to them.”

There are two different ways to get on skype: computer and phone. Most students prefer computer.

“I think using a computer to Skype is better because there is a bigger screen to actually see people,” junior Grant Ciezadlo said.

Some prefer using smart phones, like IPhone 4, Android, and the EVO.

“I love using my phone to Skype because I can use it anywhere there is wifi,” sophomore Anna Bocek said. “It’s more convenient that way.”

Skype is not only used for talking to friends,

but also to get work done.“We are going to use Skype in the intro

to engineering classes to stimulate a business environment,” engineering teacher Phil Colter said. “Our goal is to video chat with three different schools to work on building a three dimensional model. With Skype we will be able to share files and have meetings about the project.”

Some of the students believe it might be hard.

“I am kind of looking forward to the engineering projects because I enjoy a challenge,” junior Keith Wigert. “We don’t know anything about working with Skype and it will be much more difficult to work with the other schools without direct contact.”

Other students think it will be a learning experience.

“I think it will be fun and it will help us communicate ideas with each other more effectively with the visual aspect,” senior Lauren Wertz said. “Since we go to different schools, sometimes communication can be a hard aspect to deal with while completing our projects.”

The intro to engineering class start using Skype on Monday April 11.

Vol. 40 Issue 4 April 20,2011

Features SpotlightFrancis Howell Highwww.fhhstoday.com 5

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Face to Face contact lost with the increased use of technology

Technology has advanced too far for its own good. Sure most of the advances make life easier, but technology has reached that place where it is beginning to destroy more than create.

Using cell phones to text short messages has slowly destroyed the normal teenager’s ability to maintain a verbal, face-to-face conversation. Almost everything we

do nowadays deals with technology and reduces our ability to talk to our ability to type.

Instead of meeting a person and having a personal conversation, Facebook enables people to know what others are feeling based on a posted status. Then, instead of calling a sad person, all the concerned friend does now is post a message on a wall. No longer do we see a face and hear a voice and sense emotions, we see a screen with words. I would rather be there in person to comfort a depressed friend instead of posting a distant, unsympathetic message onto his Facebook wall.

Dating has also dissolved from social outings to mere conversations via texting or calling. How can that lead to a deep and meaningful relationship? It can’t! The whole purpose of going out on a date is to interact with a potential spouse, learn about them, have fun, and go out. Technology has reduced this social necessity to nothing more than two friends texting each other from their houses. This isn’t dating, not even close.

As we become more dependent on technology, actual human contact and interaction becomes difficult and awkward. As we become addicted to texting, we lose our fundamentals of being a human being. We are more interacting, dating, and talking to our cell phones than to our friend. This is ludicrous and it must be stopped ASAP.

Cell phones are not only destroying our physical ability to communicate but they also indirectly cause thousands of car crashes. As we drive from place to place, we constantly check our phones to see what our friends have sent us. This simple act puts our lives and the lives of the other drivers in danger. Is it really worth it? Can’t we just wait a few more minutes?

The constant texting has even produced what I call ghost vibrations. Ghost vibrations are when you feel your phone vibrating to let you know that a text has been received but, upon looking, there is nothing. This is when you know that technology and texting have become too important to us as a society.

With instantaneous messaging, our ability to be patient has severely decreased. We can no longer wait for anything: food, bathroom, or people. What happened to the good old proverb of “silence is golden” and “patience is a virtue”?

Simple, they no longer exist in this technological world where everything is available in a matter of milliseconds. So I plead, put away the phones, close the laptops, grab a pencil (yes a pencil) and write a letter and then deliver it in person. Actually talk to that person instead of texting and you’ll be surprised as to how much fun and personal a conversation can really be.

In my opinion

Gregory Fletcher: journalism student

Skype: Alyssa Crawford: staff writer

During class, senior Justin Wu plays around with the features on Skype. “Using Skype is like talking to someone in person and it’s easier then just a phone call,” Wu said.

Technology used to converse with friends over long and short distances

ornadoes Dec. 31 and severe weather Feb. 27 confirm that spring is on its way.

Tornadoes can be dangerous and even fatal. With winds from 65 mph to as great as over 200 mph, tornadoes are the most violent of all atmospheric storms. Tornadoes destroy everything in their path.

If a siren sounds, this means to stay inside and take cover. Tornado sirens aren’t the only kind of warning for a possible tornado - all local news stations provide weather coverage such as tornado watches and warnings.

A tornado watch lets everyone know that there is a possibility that the weather conditions could form a tornado. A tornado warning is notification that a tornado has been seen or picked up by radar in a certain area.

Neither a tornado warning or a watch should be something taken too lightly. Certain precautions should be made well in advance to

protect against a tornado. During a tornado watch, move cars into the garage, lawn furniture into the house, have an emergency kit ready and keep a radio or TV on the news. When there is a tornado warning issued for the area, it is time to take shelter immediately and grab the emergency kit.

An emergency kit should include flashlights, batteries, food and water to last a week, and a small first aid kit. This will come in handy if the storm causes wounds or is bad enough to knockout electricity and destroy food supplies.

During a tornado, seeking shelter underground in a basement, storm shelter, or the lowest level of a building is the safest route to take. In the chance of being outside during a tornado, lie flat in a nearby ditch and watch out for flying debris. Most deaths and injuries in a tornado are caused by flying debris.

Spring brings tornadoes Gabby Soto: staff writer 5 Tornado

Tid-Bits www.nationalgeographic.com

www.skydiaries.com

Average speed of a tornado is 30 mph

Most tornados occur between 3 and 9 p.m.

U.S. has an average of 800tornados per year

Most tornados are 250 feet in diameter

Peak tornado season is March through September

Vol. 40 Issue 5April 20, 2011

FeaturesSpotlightFrancis Howell Highwww.fhhstoday.com6

Voice of unreason continued from Pg 4.

Don’t forget to check out www.fhhstoday.com for the latest news and sports updates.

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The crowd surged forward. I was shoved against the girl in front of me, who was tarying to kick me back while I was taking photos. The girl in front of me didn’t get an autograph since Radcliffe quickly got out of the area. As I was about to turn to leave, since the rest of the cast had already left, the girl in front of me punched me in the stomach. That wasn’t a pleasant moment. When I got back to my mom, who was being smart and waiting outside of the huge crowd of obsessive teenage girls, I decided I was definitely coming back to wait outside the stage door another night.

My mom refused to go the next night because it was cold and wet, but on Thursday I took the Number 3 express train into Times Square and bravely approached the theatre. I talked security to let me in the theatre, while the show was going on, to let me buy a poster. My mom walked away while I was doing this and I spent a minute trying to find her. When I turned the corner towards to walk towards the stage door, I noticed a crowd of people on the other side of the street. This was where the security guards were sending people to wait while they put up barriers. I was about to cross over when I saw my mom standing next to the security guards. For the next 30 minutes, my mom and I talked to the security guards and never had to leave the stage door, unlike everyone else who had to go across the street. The security guards coached me on not getting hit by cars and after one of the security guards heard my story about getting punched, he promised that I would get an autograph. It was only he went inside and after looking through the photos on my phone that I realized I had been talking to Daniel Radcliffe’s personal bodyguard.

I spent the next few minutes freaking out. What would I say? What would I do? There was no how-to manual for this type of stuff! Somehow I manage to remain to stay calm. When they put up the barriers I had to take a few steps back, but I was right up against the barriers with my poster. This was really happening.

You could hear when the actors took their bows as the theatre erupted into massive applause. As soon as that ended, however, the people rushed into the barriers. The pushing, shoving, and problems I had were happening behind me.

It seemed like an hour, but it took about 20 minutes until the stars started coming out. Cheers, whistling, applause surrounded me. People walked out of the theatre and into their awaiting cars.

When actor Michael Park (Mr. Bratt) came out, he walked directly over to me and smiled. We started talking about St. Louis and newspapers, even as he made his way down the barriers to sign other people’s posters and playbills. He even told me that his father was the publisher of the newspaper of his hometown of Canandaigua, New York. My mom talked to Rob Bartlett about how teaching really does have an effect on the lives of students, since he met his drama teacher at the backdoor. They had stayed in touch for over 33 years, before Facebook, before texting, and definitely before cell phones.

All of this was minuscule to when Radcliffe came out, with his bodyguard, a hovering, imposing figure right behind him. It was absolute chaos. A wave of people surged forward. Everyone was slammed against the barriers. Playbills, posters, everything were being

flung towards the guy. He went to the barriers on the other side of stage door first and began signing. Then the next thing I knew, he was right in front of me. The bodyguard I’d met didn’t hurry him immediately along, giving us a brief moment to chat.

We talked about the difficult choreography he had to do and that he could (actually!) dance, as he made his way down the barriers. He then disappeared into the waiting Escalade. The crowd disappeared with the car and I said my good-byes to the security guard who was so nice to me. I walked back to the hotel cradeling my poster and Fed-Exed it home the next day.

I know New York isn’t all Radcliffe and Allman brothers (who I swear I saw, as they were staying at our hotel),

but the people like Mary, who Fed-Exed my poster, and my crazy taxi driver who almost rear ended a bus on the way to the airport. I discovered a new found love for New York that I didn’t think I had, making my decision to graduate early and apply to colleges so much easier. Flying home from New York was a sad experience. I finally did felt like I found someplace I belonged when I sat on the steps of Low Library with some Columbia students, sitting near the statue of Alma Mater, gazing up at the classical architecture. I’ll be back one day. I know that.

Exiting from the stage door March 17, Daniel Radcliffe signs autographs.

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Vol. 40 Issue 5 April 20, 2011

SpotlightFrancis Howell Highwww.fhhstoday.com 7Sports

Myopinion

Austin Hayes: Staff Writer

~ Caitlyn BiddleSCC student Francis Howell alum

Ask your counselor how to get started at St. Charles Community College.Call 636-922-8000 or visit stchas.edu.

“SCC has a great partnership with UMSL, which will make it

easier for me to transfer when I graduate from SCC.”

Beyond the game: Sports are a luxury–pray that fact never changes

Sports are s omet hing of a luxury for us students. The

equipment is usually provided and paid for by the school. Yet increasingly school districts are turning to pay-to-play and that idea causes worry.

With all the academic budget cuts and teachers getting cut, sports are suffering as well. Over the last two years the sports budget has been cut by 30 percent, with 10 percent cut this year and 20 percent cut two years ago. I went to discuss this issue with football coach Bryan Koch, baseball coach Darrin Cissel, wrestling coach Kevin Stroh, and basketball coach Linsey Lutz.

They all agreed that these cuts are hurting the programs and that it makes it harder for practices. Another idea brought up by the schools to save money was to cut the freshman sport teams all together. All the coaches agreed that it would be disastrous and could cripple the programs if this happens. Koch told me that there would be no going back if they agreed to get rid of the freshman

teams. All of Howell’s sports programs would be ruined and development would disastrous.

Another concern would be missing some all star talent if there was no freshman team. For instance a couple years ago there was a FHHS freshman named James Allen who was not good enough to make the junior varsity team at the time. So if Allen didn’t have this freshmen team training he probably wouldn’t be where he is today, which is a potential first round baseball draft pick coming out of Kansas State.

Now do not misunderstand me, there are no other cuts planned at Howell except for the 30 percent cuts that had happened over the last two years.

I am just throwing possibilities about stuff that we take for granted. So we all should understand this and be more thankful to our activities director and activities office. The athletic director for our school Dave Witter has assured that there will be no changes for years to come. Sports are somting that is cherished here at FHHS. Because without sports school would probably be completely unbearable.

Andrew Odle: Staff WriterAs the temperature dropped, athletes huddled in

tents and under blankets wearing anything to keep warm. Come race time they stepped to the starting line, and as the gun went off, heavy snow pelted their faces. Saturday March 26, at Washington University, the track team faced down temperatures in the 20’s and 30’s and three inches of heavy snow.

“I’ve ran in rainy, cold, windy, and extremely hot conditions but this was the first meet I’ve ever had to run in the snow and temperatures as cold as that,” junior Rachelle Halbrook said.

Meteorologists predicted conditions and the team prepared for them.

“One or two of the coaches thought it should have been canceled but basically they just advised us to bring a ton of clothes and be prepared to run no matter what the weather was,” junior Ali Barker said.

Despite the weather, the meet continued, al-though with a few changes.

“They’re usually really strict on any extra cloth-ing, especially when it comes to things like colors and logos but they let people wear whatever they needed

to since it was so bad,” senior Sam Lazechko said. “Once the snow picked up they started rushing to get all the events done too. They combined the boys and girls 3200 meter for instance, which I’d never seen before.”

The weather was a challenge for many.“Running the races was difficult because it’ hard

to breath in so much cold air but I didn’t try anything new. I just sucked it up and hoped for a good time,” Barker said.

For others it added a fun twist to their race.“In the steeplechase there’s a water jump and at

first I was edgy about jumping into a freezing pool of water, but then it just turned into something fun with everyone cheering for me and daring me to go crazy,” junior Ian Powers said.

Despite some schools leaving early, everyone stayed to support the team.

“I wasn’t terribly thrilled about the meet while I was waiting around for my race to start, but once I got out there I was glad I stayed,” senior Sam Lazech-ko said. “It was a good meet for the team all things considered and we made it to the end.”

The boys placed fifth and the girls placed first.

At the Francis Howell North Tri Meet, senior Justin Wu runs the 400 meter. “ I was just trying to do my best and since it wasn’t a strict meet the officials allowed me to wear my Mizzou hat,” Wu said.

Freshman Alex Martin runs the 1600 meter at the Francis Howell North Tri Meet. “I wanted to do my best and I was really proud of myself because I was able to place,” Martin said.

Photo Credit: Katie RobertsPhoto Credit: Katie Roberts

Snowy conditions make for tough races

April 20, 2011

SpotlightFrancis Howell Highwww.fhhstoday.com8

Vol. 40 Issue 5

Back page

Juniors Curtis Reed and Ty Jones prepare their set for playing at Busch Stadium, May 3. “Our practices have become a lot more productive. We’re a lot more focused now that we have something to work for. Our goal is to get a lot of exposure for our band at the show, so we’re going to make the best impression we can,” Jones said.

Howell Central junior Drew Anderson plays the drums during Downcast’s weekly band practice in his basement. “We have been practicing about as much as usual. At practice we have just been working on the same five song set though, nothing else,” Anderson said.

Downcast Takes on theStaff Writer: Sara Shabany

Sara Shab

any

Sara Shab

any

After being in a band

for five years, playing multiple concert venues around St. Louis and being

on the radio, junior Curtis Reed and his band Downcast are about to take on their biggest performance

to date. “My band is playing Busch Stadium before a Cardinals game,” Reed said. “A promotional guy from Cardinals got my email from our association with the Point radio station and asked me if we’d like to compete in the Battle for Busch Stadium competition.” Seeing as this is the largest venue that Downcast has played, Reed and band mates Drew Anderson, Tyler Jones, Brad Goldman and Brett Barry have already started preparing. The game is May 3 and the band is required to sell tickets in order to ensure their spot. “We have to sell 150 tickets to play the show,” Reed said. “But since there’s so many tickets we are selling $50 tickets for $20 each.”

Band members have confidence in their abilities. “We have to sell a ton of tickets and all, and at first I wasn’t so

sure we could do it. But know I’m feeling pretty confident that we can do it,” Goldman said. The band practices at least once a week. “We try and practice as much as we can. It’s sometimes hard to do practices though because everyone has a job or is busy on certain days,” Goldman said. With even just one practice, the band tries to make the most of it. “Our practices have become more productive. We’re a lot more focused now that we have something to work for,” Tyler Jones said. “Our goal is to get a lot of exposure for our band at this show. We’re going to make sure to play the best set we can.” Downcast is excited about the show. “I don’t really get nervous. It’s going to be a huge show and I’m excited to get to play in front of all these people,” Reed said. “I think its really awesome that we get an opportunity like this. It will be good publicity to play a such big crowd,” Anderson said. As well as the publicity, Downcast will receive for being in the contest, the band also receives a prize if they win.

“There’s two rounds that we have to win, and if we win those then we get $1057,” Goldman said. “We also get to keep all the money we make off tickets, after $2,400. So we could actually make a lot of money off this.” Downcast has come a long way since they first started. “The first time that we all played music together was in about fifth or sixth grade at Drew’s house,” Reed said. “But back then it was only one guitar, one bass, and some drums. And I’ll be the first to admit that we weren’t good at all back then.” Since then Downcast has undergone several modifications in members. “For the most part, we have had the same members. Our singer, Brett, used to be the guitarist. But he was kicked out a few years back because of some complications. Then shortly after, we got our guitarist, Ty. Eventually, we got ex-guitarist Brett back, but now he’s on vocals instead,” Reed said. With a solid group of musicians, Downcast has now been able to expand their musical talents. “We had to change members a bit and had received some help from another

band, which has since then broke up,” Reed said. “But we knew after we played our first show with the current members in late 2009, that we were finally onto

something good.” In all, Downcast feels it has come a lot farther than the average teenage rock band. “The most memorable moment for me was when I first heard one of our songs on the radio. But some other notable moments would be having a few photoshoots, interviews in magazines and other publications, and now of course, being able to play at Busch Stadium,” Reed said. As far as for the future, Downcast is not positive what will happen to the band. “The band consists of mostly juniors in high school. So we’ve still got another year at least,” Reed said. “After our senior year, we’re going to have to make a big decision of if we want to try to make it big with the band, or go our separate ways and move on to college.” Although there may be some who feel the band should not continue, these people do not seem to have an effect on the member’s decisions. Some have said that they dislike us because we’re not original. I’ll be the first to admit that we are nothing new,” Reed said. “There are tons of other bands out there that play the same style music that we do and that’s fine with us. We’re really not trying to be new or different, we are just trying to play music that we like. As it turns out, there are other people who happen to like our music as well.”

“I’m super excited about Downcast playing at Busch. It’s definitely something I never thought I would be able to do.” -junior Ty Jones

Junior Curtis Reed strums guitar during practice in preparation for their performance.