Eagan IndependentVolume 6, Issue 2 Eagan High School | 4185 Braddock Trail | Eagan, MN 55123 NOVEMBER 9, 2010

196 levy fails The district projects that without the levy funds, it will need to eliminate 200 more jobs, further reduce services, and increase the teacher/student ratio by 2.5. With that change, a class that had 34 students last year will have 38 or 39 students next year. Dr. Reikowski said, “If parents’ decid[ed] to vote against the levy, student fees will increase even more and there will be fewer oppor-tunities available because of possible electives and after school activities [that will get cut.]” Freshman Casey Gersch said, “I like doing things after school,” but without state funding there will no longer be certain activities available. The state itself is facing an estimated $6 billion deficit for the next two years. K-12 education is the single largest category of state spending (40%). Considering the cur-rent situation, the district’s 2011-2012 budget assumes a 7% cut in state funding.

The levy was one option to offset the 7% cut. State law allows school boards to raise additional revenues from the local residents via a property tax increase if ap-proved by the voters. Some students are concerned with the effects of these cuts to EHS specifically. Sophomore Sophie Callahan says that with the increasing budget cuts, “[Eagan will no longer] be able to afford good stand-ings without good funding.” The funding sources for ISD 196 are as follows: 73% of general fund rev-enues from the state, 20% from local property taxes, 3% from federal aid and 4% from other sources. The district budget for 2011-2012 will need to be established before the state legislature determines its budget early in 2011. With the state being the largest source of school funding, the 2011-2012 bud-get is based on an estimated level of state funding.

Graphic by Michelle Metcalfe

Eagan 150 celebration rakes in food, aids residentsBy Annika GrasslNews Writer

Hundreds of families in Eagan do not have enough money to buy food including some families of Eagan High School students. Just in the last several months, local food shelves have seen an increase in need of food from about 80 to over 300 families.

The Eagan 150th Anni-versary food drive is trying to change this statistic. So far the food drive has sur-passed its original goal of 150 pounds of food. Its new goal is 300 pounds, with the help of Eagan High School, Gla-cier Hills Elementary School, the 150th Executive Board, and over 60 other organiza-tions and groups helped

the city reach its goal in less than three months. Most of the events surrounding the sesquicentennial anniversary are coordinated under the supervision of Scott Swenson, Eagan Rotary Club President-elect and Chairman of the 150th Executive Board.

Explained Swenson, “Many people were surprised that Eagan is 150 years old this year,” adding, “This great outpouring of support is sim-ply a reflection of what a great city we live in.”

Another special event commemorating Eagan’s ses-quicentennial was the Taste of Eagan at the Eagan Com-munity Center on October 21st, with the participation of 27 different restaurant vendors and over 400 attend-

ees. Profits went toward the growing food drive. Eagan High School is also becoming an active part of the 150th an-niversary by participating in the creation of a time capsule to be opened fifty years from now, in honor of Eagan’s bi-centennial in 2060. To help fill the capsule, student govern-ment members were asked to write what they believed Eagan would look like in 2060. The time capsule will be placed inside the Fire Safety Center under construction, and hopes to provide future members of the city a glimpse of Eagan life in 2010.

Principal Dr. Reikowski is also getting involved by writ-ing a letter to the principal of EHS in 20 years. When asked how Eagan High School is

By Laura HarfordNews Writer

District 196 voted on the levy referendum on Novem-ber 2nd as part of the gen-eral election ballot. If voters passed the levy they would have agreed to provide the school district an additional $15 million each year for 10 years, beginning with taxes payable in 2011. Voters rejected the levy referendum at a time when the state’s education funding level is up in the air. With the governor race still uncertain at press time and without funding from the state, the options are diminshing for making up the $15 million. “[There aren’t] many choices left, I can’t imagine it getting any worse,” Dr. Reikowski said. Funds raised by the levy would have offset the $23 million in budget cuts the district is anticipating for next year, leaving $8 million to be cut from the budget instead. Students have already felt the effects of $15 million in adjustments made over the last two years to the bud-get in response to flat state funding and delayed state-aid payments. Cuts last year included the elimination of 144 jobs and reductions to various academic support programs. Changes at EHS includ-ed the elimination of activity buses and higher activity fees.

I-DanceStudent dance showBy Alanna ThelenNews Writer

Everyone has a passion, and it’s different for each person. The students in the Eagan Dance Department took their passions and ex-pressed them through dance. They participated in a show which took place Thursday, November 4th in the school auditorium. The show was called WIPS, standing for “Works In Progress,” a suit-able name, given that the dance department had only a month and a half to prepare. “It is an informal showing of the dance department’s work for the first month of class,” explains Ms. Glaws, the dance department teacher.

All dance students from Technique 1 to Technique 3 classes exhibited their dance abilities and progress they have developed thus far. The theme of the show was “I-Dance” which showed “ex-ploration of the joy of move-ment,” Ms. Glaws explained. “Each dancer is finding their own motivation and hunger for dance.” The show began with a dance media film called “I-Dance” that was made by Tony Vu, Adam My-hand, and Melvina Cha. The rest of the show featured the dance styles of hip hop, break dance, a fusion piece combin-ing contemporary, jazz, and hip hop, and a modern piece that uses minimalist move-ment to portray waiting at a train station. Ms. Glaws choreographed many of the pieces; however students

Continued on page 3

doing to help the commu-nity cause, Dr. Reikowski responded, “I really think a school of this size could do more; I think more incentives to get PAWS involved would help.” Dr. Reikowski goes on to say that she would like to see the city of Eagan have a goal for food drives every year.

Said Scott Swenson, “This really makes you step back and think

What does that mean for EHS?

of history; if someone really takes the time they will be amazed at what’s going on in our city.”

www.eagan150.com

EdITORIalEagan Independent | Tuesday, November 9, 2010

The Staff

Editor in Chief Joe Stelman

NewsMayzong Lee - EditorMarisa AnayaAnnika GrasslLaura HarfordEllie MehrLaurel ScottAlanna Thelen

FeaturesCameron VanDyke - EditorGrace AblanAbby JohnsonSeth LynchMatt NovitzkiPearce OlsonShelley Sibley

SportsMolly Martinez - EditorBailey HennenKenzie MarklandTaylor McKenzieMatt Tran

Photography Michelle Metcalfe - EditorHaley DavisDevyn KiszewskiRachel LarsonErica MelroeGenevieve Stivers-Biscuso

AdviserSara Stensaas

The Eagan Independent is a monthly publication produced by Eagan High School students from all grade levels in a cocurricular setting.

We are committed to provid-ing a limited open forum within the community of Eagan High School - one in which opinions, discussion and input are always wel-comed and encouraged.

Comments, questions, thoughts and ideas may be addressed to:

Eagan Independent4185 Braddock TrailEagan, MN 55123

or e-mailed to:eaganindependent@gmail.com

Letters to the editor must be signed by the author and be 500 words or less. Letters to the editor submitted that are more than 500 words may be edited by the staff. Letters may also require editing if they contain false or libelous statements.

Editorial policies and content decisions are made by the editorial board. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the writer and/or the Eagan In-dependent staff and are not necesssarily the opinons of the adviser, administration, students, faculty or Indepen-dent School District 196.

Editorial Policy

By Joe StelmanEditor-in-Chief

One of my middle school teachers once told me that “you can never be too busy.” I was inclined to believe it then, even taking the advice to heart as an ambitious eighth grader fighting to put my name on all the activity ros-ters at our introductory high school activity fair. But over three years of high school drudgery (not that it’s been all bad) has done its wear and tear, and the long hours of schoolwork, occasional sleep-less nights and demands of a few taxing extracurricular ac-tivities has got me rethinking my former teacher’s prized axiom. I know it’s obvious that a dedication to schoolwork will pay off in the long run, especially with the outlook of college getting closer on the horizon. But were there ways I could have eased the burden I placed on myself, without sacrificing academic profi-ciency and competition? And how does this apply to other students at EHS, some of whom are caught in the same hard-working grind with little ability to manage stress? Not every student may suffer an overworked com-

plex at the same level. Part of my problem is a tendency to over-exhaust myself in the face of pressure. But no mat-ter the type of student you are, the pressure of “working hard” has likely been felt in some way: from a teacher, from parents, from a coach. At an early age we’re encouraged (or prodded) with directions to “always try your hardest” and “settle for noth-ing less than your best.” We’re subtly ingrained to believe that if we want to excel at something, this is where the entirety of our energy and resources should be spent. A good testament to this atti-tude is the growing trend of students to perfect technique by participating in year-round sports, though this has dem-onstrated a trend of muscle fatigue and “overuse” injuries in young athletes. In school academia, if a student at-tempts a course load weight-ed with rigorous classes, they are assumed to be throwing out the opportunity for fun activities or a social life. Most of us probably realize that overexertion – whether physical or mental – is unhealthy. But too often this realization must compete with the imposing challenge of working our very best, put-

ting in 100% maximum effort. After years of some degree of this work ethic, I believe working your absolute hard-est isn’t necessarily a good thing, and evidence can show us it might not do much for our productivity, either. So what contributes to our overworked attitude? It might not just be our im-mediate circle of school and friends. Evidence suggests that Americans in general have an inclination to work too hard. Online maga-zine Salon.com reports that American workers now clock in about 400 more hours per year than their German coun-terparts, a culture we usually associate with hard work and seriousness. Even Japanese working hours are reported to be declining past those of Americans – almost perplex-ing for a society where over-exertion is traditionally one of the leading causes of death. But this American work-ing mentality seems to have crept into our schools, too: as students, we spend more total hours in school (1,146 per year) than the Asian countries that repeatedly outrank us in math and science, according to the Huffington Post. Perhaps the best case against this overworked way

of life is that it doesn’t seem to be doing anything posi-tive for (maybe even hurting) our productivity and quality of life. The same Salon.com article tells us that Germans outperform us in workplace productivity, as well as the French, whose workweek usually amounts to 35 hours with a guarantee of five weeks vacation. The key is increased productivity in the workplace. The same idea should go for students who are being fashioned into this mentality. A fixation on work itself – and not the labor that can be derived from it – breeds an attitude of quantity over qual-ity. We need to manage our resources so that being “over-worked” isn’t just a product of being inefficient. But for some of us, we need to dimin-ish the sheer quantity of work we take on, which probably isn’t effective in giant doses anyway. In that case, take a step back and scale back in-volvement in activities. Don’t bend over backward trying for your absolute best – not because you shouldn’t work hard – but because it will only promote exhaustion. Sometimes, it pays to just say no to busy.

Work-hard mentality not always best for students

Brett Favre battles adversity, interceptions most consecutive starts as a quarterback. In my book Brett Favre can do no wrong. Sure he’s thrown the most interceptions out of any NFL quarterback, but that’s only because he throws the most passes out of any quarterback. Try to remember he has also thrown the most touchdowns the next time he passes to the oppos-ing team. Favre wasn’t always blessed with a golden throw-ing arm. When he started his professional career for the Atlanta Falcons, Favre’s first pass was intercepted and his first year didn’t get much bet-ter than that. His luck didn’t turn around until after he was traded to the Green Bay Pack-ers. Even then the first game he started the crowd chanted for his removal. Anyone who can recover from thousands of fans telling you how bad your game is, simultaneously, should be allowed to play for as long as he wants. I admit, I hardly cared for Brett Favre. Not while he was retiring, and returning, and retiring…and returning again. I didn’t even like the guy until well into his first season as a Viking. Then his southern charm kicked in and I was helpless to resist the

risks he takes and unable to fathom the pay off he receives because of them. Anyone who has seen one of his passes connect with a teammate’s hand knows what I’m talk-ing about. Every Viking fan has become familiar with that scary second where you think Favre is crazy for attempting such a pass but it ends up working. His endurance and love of the game is admirable. It seems like nothing can stop Brett Favre, not a fractured ankle, concussions, the death of his father, or old age. He runs like a moderately oiled machine, and that’s more then enough for me. If he throws a touchdown, I’ll cheer. If he

throws an interception, he’s still the same guy who turned the Vikings into a threat for the first time since Randy Moss departed in 2005 and Daunte Culpepper followed suit soon after. I admire the man even if he is aging; he has remarkable field vision and can get the ball anywhere he wants. He can still compete with younger quarterbacks and I think the Minnesota Vikings are lucky to have him as part of the team. Even if he can be scandalous and kind of a drama queen. When he con-nects a hail Mary with Sidney Rice or Percy Harvin, I won’t lie, I get a little choked up. It’s just so beautiful.

By Molly Martinez Sports Editor

We know that Brett Favre is getting older; we’ve established that he’s passed his prime, and I’ve accepted that he’s, well, falling apart. Every time he gets hit I can practically hear grandmas crying foul. Every time he stands up is a testament to his strength and what he has contributed to the Minnesota Vikings. I probably won’t go out of my way to defend him. He’s hardly a saint, but in an era where only the scandalous make the news, Brett Favre is a testament to older values, until recently. I understand that he was a bit of a drama queen when he retired, three times, but that doesn’t negate Favre’s many experience filled years as a NFL legend. Brett has too many accom-plishments for us to just dis-card him as soon as he starts to take some hard hits. I fully support any of Favre’s foot-ball decisions; anyone who plays on a fractured ankle when he’s 41 years old for something he loves deserves that decision. Brett is the only quarterback in NFL history to throw over 500 touchdowns, over 70,000 yards, with the

www.minnpost.com

Eagan Independent | Tuesday, November 9, 2010 3

Math team places third in first meet of the season

All ‘sines’ are goodBy Laurel ScottNews Staff

The math team is gear-ing up for another season of mathematical conquests.

With the first meet of the season under its belt, the team faces fierce competition against eight other competing schools in the South Suburban division. There will be five meets throughout the sea-son, and the highest-scoring schools will go on to the state tournament. If the team makes it to the state tourna-ment, which takes place in March at South St. Paul High School, they will be compet-ing against the highest-scor-ing math teams from around the state.

The math team’s first meet was at Rosemount on Novem-ber 1st with Eagan placing third behind Eden Prairie and Easview.

Ms. Rietveld, math teacher and the head coach for the team, says that they expect particularly keen competition

against Eastview and Eden Prairie during the meets. Current math team members comprise students from every grade level. “We have some of our top mathematicians back,” says Ms. Blundell, the assistant coach, “as well as some good new ones. Some of the ones coming back have been on the team for three years now… They’ve been to the state, and they’ve been to a lot of meets now, so they know what to expect. We have high hopes for this year.”

The math team has gone to the state tournament for several years in a row. Last year the team got 15th out of 28 schools in their section at the state level. Team members have attended weekly prac-tices to prepare for the tests they will take at their first meet. At each meet, individu-als take two of four possible tests with subjects ranging in difficulty from pre-algebra to pre-calculus. Eight of the best members of the team are

chosen to work together on the group test.

“The questions are so difficult that if they get them correct it’s a really, really good feeling,” says Ms. Blundell. And no matter how well the team does during the meets, the math itself is a big part of what makes the experi-ence worthwhile. Says Ms. Rietveld, “I enjoy watching the kids [solve problems]… and just doing something that they like. You get a whole bunch of kids in a room who love math and they just shine.”

Photo by Michelle MetcalfeSophomore Thao Nguyen takes her practice test

Hairspray rehearsals in full swingBy Ellie MehrNews Staff

As the winter musical Hairspray kicks off, the cast of 75 people are full of pride. In many different aspects, it’s been an adventure for all of them.

It starts with the Eagan Theater Department, which is proud to be performing this

production as the first high school theater program in Minnesota to get the script. The cast couldn’t be hap-pier. “Its one of my favorite movies and after the movie came out, me and my friend decided that if it ever became a play we would try out” said cast member Georgie Krall.

It has been a tough journey for many of these cast

members. It all started during audition week in September. There were three auditions. The first audition was singing, the guys singing the musical number “It Takes Two” while the girls sang “Good Morn-ing Baltimore” in front of the directors. The second audition involved dialogue, reciting a few lines The third part of the audition entailed dancing

Photo by Genevieve Strivers-BiscusoCast members practice in the MPR. Rehearsals are held daily with various groups of students.

Photo by Michelle Metcalfe Junior Conner Schulte, a first year mathematicians, practices.

Fall dance from page 1

also handed in the choreog-raphy as well. Three of the pieces were choreographed by students, “Showing a wide variety of movement vocabu-lary. They follow their passion along with the curriculum of ‘musically driven move-ment,’” states Ms. Glaws. Having to learn six pieces in total, students had to practice. Hannah Johnson, a sophomore in the dance department explains about the preparation, “We practice inside and outside of class.” Dancers had to practice at home to retain the movements as well as meetings outside of class for choreography. Another full length perfor-mance is expected to take place in the spring.

with the cast members learn-ing a piece of “The Nicest Kids in Town.”

After results were posted the cast began working towards their December 10th debut performance. They have rehearsals five times a week including days when there is no school. The outgo-ing cast works together as a team, showing up at rehears-

als and getting along. “Every-one is really nice to each other and really accepting” said Georgie.

The cast has high hopes, but not just about the play. To them it’s more then just a production, it’s an experi-ence. They want to succeed and have fun, but more than anything the cast wants to fulfill each and every aspect that they endured.

Tickets go on sale De-cember 1st and and can be purchased at the school box office.

FEaTuRESEagan Independent | Tuesday November 9, 2010

Focus on RECYCLING

Whatcha gonna do with all that trash?By Seth LynchFeatures Writer Eagan High School produces thirty-two tons of trash every week. That is the equivalent of eight compact cars’ weight worth of waste per week. By the end of my fourth year at Eagan, I will have helped create 4,864,000 tons of trash. However, the city of Eagan can recycle at lest fifty percent of its waste. The classroom garbage is sent to the recy-cling plant, and all waste from the kitchens and lunchroom is sent to the dump. While this does cut down on our gross total, it still leaves 608,000 tons of garbage in a land fill a year. The easiest way to im-prove recycling would be for Minnesota to adapt a bottle bill. A bottle bill will insure a minimum refund for all bottle and cans deposited to be paid by the retailer, who will then sell the empty can or bottle back to the manufacturer. In other words, money could be received for recycling. The best part is that this costs the state itself almost nothing. But do bottle bills really work? Right now only eleven states have bottle bill laws (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Main, Massachusetts, Michi-gan, New York, Oregon, and Vermont) yet they account for fifty percent of all recycled bottles and cans. While researching for this article I was bombarded with facts. For example, a four foot stack of your homework recycled is the equivalent of a forty foot fir tree. Every glass bottle recycled saves enough energy to power a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. Also, every three months Americans throw away enough aluminium to rebuild every commercial airplane in the US. Every page I found consisted of a few fun facts and a cute cartoon pleading people to recycle. So I was

Green pros and cons

By Shelley SibleyFeatures Writer

For years we have heard the words “recycle,” “save the en-vironment,” and “go green.” These words have been forced into our lives for so long that to us, it’s something that needs to happen. We agree with every political figure that pushes these issues, believing it’s the right thing to do. But what do we really know about recycling? Have we really looked deeply into how it affects us and our environment? Or have we just assumed that it is the correct thing to do because of what the media has told us? These are some reasons why we should question our recycling policies, and also reasons why we should support it.

The Cons• It costs more money to recycle than it does to dump things into a landfill.• The cost of collection is very high because of trans-portation and processing.• Some recycled products let out harmful toxins that pollute our air.• Some recycled materials such as vehicles and electron-ics include toxic materials that are a danger to our public health.

The Pros• Each time a person re-cycles, they conserve energy.• It protects the environ-ment and all living creatures.• The more people that recycle, the less it costs • According to the national recycling coalition, recycling creates over 1.1 million jobs for people in America. For some people, there is no such thing as a con to recycling. Junior Jenny Roby says, “When we recycle it is beneficial in the end, instead of going to a landfill where it just fills up and fills up.”

Sourceswww.grosscatholic.orgwww.ehow.com/factshttp://www.livestrong.com/article/124212-cons-recycling/http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-benefits.html

Image courtesy of www.bottlebill.org

Image courtesy of stcloudstate.edu

Image courtesy of sandhillskids.com

Getting Big Blue to be more green

startled when I found an article in the New York Times titled Recycling is Garbage. John Tierney argues that recycling is a waste of human time, effort, money and re-sources. He traces the begin-ning of the recycling move-ment back to 1987 when there was a panic over running out of landfills. However, there was and is no shortage of land where we can build environ-mentally safe landfills. Statistics still show that re-cycling does save energy and reduces air pollutants. By us-ing recycled aluminium com-panies save ninety percent more energy, and air pollution decreases ninety-five percent. Paper saves forty percent on energy and reduces air pollu-tion by seventy-three percent. So clearly, recycling does have its benefits. Recycling is more of a two-sided issue than people think. Packaging is a great example of this. Many com-panies are scolded for waste-ful packaging, but others argue that small portions in more packaging saves overall waste. On average, Mexican households waste one third more then American houses. However, most is rotten or excess food from buying bulk

items which contain much less trash then its American small portioned counterpart. Plastics are given a bad rap as well. Plastic packag-ing is not only cheaper, but is more energy efficient then pa-per and decreases the demand on forests. Styrofoam also is lighter, cheaper and more energy efficient. In a country where adver-

tising and the media shout at you what to think, it is some-times hard to have your own opinion and not just reflect someone else. Recycling is something that clearly needs more time than we are giving it to come up with an eco-nomical, moral and ecological solution.

2009-2010 Minnesota Recycling Refund Act

Proposed 10¢ on all sealed containers of plas-tic, metal or glass.

Introduced to House and Senate in 2009. Referred to committee.

Eagan Independent | Tuesday, November 9, 2010 5

By Abby JohnsonFeatures Writer

With the first two months of school behind us, Students Against Destructive Decisions (S.A.D.D) has started off the year with plans to educate the student body about the importance of good decision making and to make students aware of the impact that poor decisions have on us.

Led by math teacher Ms. Alyssa Hanson, students in the club come together on the third Wednesday of the month to discuss underage drinking, drug use, impaired driving, teen violence and depression.

In the past, S.A.D.D has been known for organizing the mock car crash as their spring project. However, this year the spring project will be “Click it and Ticket,” which aims to educate future prom goers.

“There are so many stu-dents that should be helped, so a lot of [us] students can help them by spreading awareness,” says group mem-ber senior Janie Larson.

Hanson alludes to the fact that the purpose of the group is not only to make stu-dents aware of the impact that destructive decisions have, but to support the people that are making good decisions. “[We] know that not everyone uses [drugs and alcohol], so we are just aware of the good choices that the majority of students are making. And [we portray] that through peer to peer education,” said Hanson.

The group held its first meeting on Wednesday, Octo-ber 19th. Students discussed the new spring project, and organized new and creative activities for the group to work on. Seniors Amanda Snyder and Carly Strey discussed that since their freshmen year, “[S.A.D.D] has helped us become more edu-cated. Overall, [it changed] our perspectives on these dif-ferent topics because we now know more about it. [We] can base our decisions on what we’ve learned.”

Students interested in joining or learning more about S.A.D.D are welcome to attend the monthly meetings. If anyone has further ques-tions, contact Ms. Hanson or Ms. Hook.

Harry Potter ‘magic’ hits, againBy Matt NovitskiFeatures Writer

After 4,175 pages, and 903 minutes, fans have eagerly read and watched the Harry Potter book and movie series unfold for the past decade. On November 19th, after much anticipation, the first of the two part finale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hal-lows- Part 1 opens nationwide. Being one of the most beloved and successful book and mov-ies series of all time, it should be no surprise to anyone how eager fans become during the weeks before the movie’s premiere. Just in case some people haven’t heard, the movie series is an adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s critically acclaimed and best-selling series of fantasy novels about a British teen wizard named Harry Potter. The first film adapta-tion was released in 2001, and turned Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson into pop culture icons thanks to their portrayals of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. After many smash box office receipts, the film series is beginning to come to a close. The two-part movie finale begins midnight showings all over the country on Novem-ber 19th. Considering the last entry in the movie series,

Editor’s Note: Abby Johnson, Eagan Independent staff writer, has introduced a new fashion column to the paper. In this edition, she begins by telling the story of how she found the fashion community in Minnesota.

Golden ticket to fashion

When I think of the word ‘fashion’ images of runways and high end couture labels pop into my mind. A thought not quite as synonymous also comes to mind - Minnesota. Minnesota is not the apex of the fashion industry. This is the thought that wakes me up in the middle of the night: I live in the No-Mans Land of Fashion. Last year I was determined to find a trace of fashion some-where in the Twin Cities, and with Google on my side I was relentless. After a solid half hour of aimlessly browsing on the Internet, I found it. As the webpage loaded onto my screen I felt the world around me come to a screeching stop. Two words flashed before my very eyes: MN Fashion. I had no idea that Minnesota had a fashion industry. Amidst all the questionable websites I encountered this one was my golden ticket. Without hesita-

In the Clubs

An ounce of pre-ventionS.A.D.D. aims to inform students of choices, good and bad

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, made an incredible $22 million at its midnight premiere showings alone, there’s no doubt that the next installment will be a hit as well. Of course, being a staple in pop culture, many students at Eagan High School are anxiously awaiting the open-ing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Despite the fact that the morning after the midnight showing, students will surely be groggy for their first few classes or conve-niently “sick,” attending the late night/very early morn-ing premiere is a “must” and quite the popular event for all Harry Potter fans at Eagan, including junior Tess Berg-man. For many students at Eagan, the Harry Potter celebration begins the Thurs-day before the movie comes out. “I am probably going to dress up that day for school in Harry Potter attire, just as many other Harry Potter fans will be doing at Eagan.” says senior Mackenzie Becker who will be going to the movie with fellow seniors, Bre Steele and Jordy Drenttel. The girls plan on making glow-in-the-dark t-shirts for the movie, which will each have dif-ferent Harry Potter sayings on them. After going out to dinner, they plan on getting to the theatre at 10:30 pm to

ensure good seats for the movie that will “forever change our lives,” says Becker. A few Eagan students have already started their preparation for the mid-night show-ing. Senior Tom Rhone says he will reread all the books and watch all of the movies again before the premiere, which he will be see-ing at mid-night at the IMAX Theatre. “I also try to use as many Harry Potter related comments in my daily life,” says Tom, as part of his preparation. Tom commented, “Yes, I will be dressing up as Harry Potter for the midnight showing. It just gets you that much more into the movie.” The movie is expected to continue the tradition of pleasing critics, making a boatload of money, and most importantly, satisfying the series’ enormous amount of

Image courtesy of www.transpyramid.com

fans. Tickets are currently on sale now at Fandango.com. To shorten the waiting gap between the first and sec-ond parts of Harry Potter’s fi-nal chapter on the big screen, Mackenzie Becker will be going to the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, Florida for Spring Break. “It will just be doses of Harry Potter, all year ‘round!” she says, which sounds pretty great to just about any Harry Potter fan.

Fashion

Passion for

tion I immediately signed up to volunteer. I was thrilled that something highly in my interest was finally available to me and other Minnesotans. As soon as the ‘Thank You for Signing Up!’ page ap-peared I raced to check my inbox to see the confirmation email or perhaps a download-able golden ticket with my name on it. I clicked on the email, half expecting to see an introduction email. Instead, a contract popped up. Words like “Age require-ment…No exceptions!” pierced my eyes as I skimmed through the message. And just like that my golden ticket to fashion was yanked out of my hands faster than I can say Gaga. Perhaps out of anger or sheer stupidity I proceeded to write the executive di-rector a lengthy email, declaring my need to volunteer through the program. I was deter-mined to help the “No-Mans Land of Fashion”

become a fashion icon. I had already begun thinking of this program as an opportunity to spread awareness and make myself heard. There was no way that someone was going to take away my golden ticket to fashion. One week later I received a response that could possibly have been addressed to me: ‘Dear Ms. Fierce, Sure why not!’ After moving that email into my ‘Question

Marks and General Sketchi-ness’ folder I decided that perhaps Minnesota does offer some fashion potential in the future. It may not be the fashion capital of the world, but it offers us a more acces-sible version of fashion that is just as fashionable as the more well known labels. So go out and find your own golden ticket! *For more information about MN Fashion please visit: mn-fashion.org

Image courtesy of mnfashion.org

Eagan Independent | Tuesday, November 9, 20106

TWENTY QUESTIONS:FEATURING RACHEL GRAFFBy Grace AblanFeatures Writer

1. If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?-I would travel around the world. I have always wanted to travel.

2. What is the most played artist on your iPod?-Jason Reeves. Nobody knows him, but I love him.

3. If someone made a movie of your life, who would you want to play you and why?-Zooey Deschanel, because she’s trendy and cute and I love every-thing she does.

4. If you could switch places with any celebrity, who would it be?-Miley Cyrus, just because it would be fun. I love me a good Disney Channel show.

5. If you could go to any three places in the world, where would you go?-Greece, Italy, and France.

6. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?-Invisibility.

7. If you were a car, what kind of car would you be?-A forest green Jeep!

8. What is your favourite song to sing karaoke to?-Build Me Up Buttercup.

9. If you could bring one famous person back from the dead, who would it be and why?-Michael Jackson, so he could make a Thriller #2 album!

10. What is your biggest pet peeve?-When people crack their fingers.

11. If you could be any teacher at Eagan High School, which teacher would you be and why?-Ms. Anker, because I would get to lead the infamous Speech Team!

12. If you could have an unlimited supply of any snack food, what would it be?-Puffcorn.

13. If you were forced to give up either your cell phone or the Inter-net, which would you choose and why?-The Internet, because I like to communicate with people.

14. If you had to be handcuffed to someone for the rest of the school year, who would it be and why?-Ashley Younger, because it would never get boring.

15. If you tried out for American Idol, what would Simon say about you?-“That was fierce, but you’re tone deaf.”

16. If you had to invite one Jersey Shore cast member to your house for dinner, who would it be and why?-I have to choose just one? Snooki, because she’d be my girl. She’d have my back.

17. If you had one day to live, what would you do?-Spend all my money and bring my favorite people to Greece be-cause that is the one place I need to see before I die.

18. If you could invent something, what would it be?-A time machine!

19. What is the funniest thing you have ever seen someone doing while driving?-I saw someone playing Tetris over the steering wheel of their car.

20. If your house was on fire and you could only grab one thing, what would it be?-My iPod.

By Pearce OlsonFeatures Writer

Most people can prob-ably remember three years ago when a small budget horror film called “Paranor-mal Activity” burst on to the movie scene. The film was estimated to have a budget of just $11,000 and ended up grossing $107,000,000 world-wide - a large feat, but I recall how unimpressed I was after viewing the film. The relatively short eighty-six minute film felt like several hours because there was so much filler in the movie. The only thing I can compare it to is when you open a bag of potato chips and your hand almost touches the bottom because there are so few chips in such a large bag. In the first “Paranormal Activity,” the actual entertain-ing moments of the film were minimal and the rest of the eighty-six minutes was made up of junk. This horrible com-position of useless footage led me to boredom and eventu-ally caused me to completely check out and almost drift into sleep at one point. It’s usually a pretty good indica-tor that a scary movie is not achieving its purpose when the viewer is relaxed enough to fall asleep. For those read-ers that agree with my views

Paranormal Activity

FlamingoBy Seth LynchFeatures Writer

Flamingo490 N Syndicate Street, Saint Paul(651)-917-9332

Flamingo specializes in Ethiopian and Somalian food. I do not have much of a history with African cuisine and was excited to find out more about it. To be honest, the menus offered me little help with that. Many of the menu options were vague at best (meat and vegetable platter, chicken combo, etc.), I ordered the ‘meat combo,’ which sounded like a safe

&MovieDinner

Image courtesy of techeblog.com

Images courtesy of heavytable.com

on the original “Paranormal Activity,” have no fear. The sequel includes more action, better special effects, and a perfect ending that ties in the first movie very logically. As I grow older I have determined the only two ways for myself to be fright-ened in a scary movie is to either watch the film in my pitch black basement all alone, or tell myself to be venerable and to believe that what is happening on screen is true in real life. “Paranor-mal Activity 2” is a movie that I forced myself to be vener-able, and by not covering my ears or shutting my eyes I got

significantly scared a hand-ful of times. This movie relies on long sequences of buildup followed by a quick action scare - the kind that keeps people on edge with unpre-dictability and suspense. Now this film is not something that everyone should run out and see immediately. This is no “Avatar,” no “Shutter Island,” and surely not a standout film in the horror genre. But this is an enjoyable movie that I think is worth checking out. “Paranormal Activity 2” is a lot of fun and worth the view-ing, but I would wait for the DVD on this one. This sequel receives 2 O’s out of 4.

choice. The rest was up to fate. Luckily fate did not disappoint. Everything that touched my mouth was delicious. I didn’t know what anything on the plate was, so I called my waiter over who attempted to explain what each item was. However, I was not familiar with most of the spic-es mentioned so all I absorbed was “beef... cooked... good.” And it was. Flamingo is located in Saint Paul and is about a fifteen minute car ride if you can avoid traffic. The restau-rant itself looks a little bland and from the outside can be

easily missed, but for those that enjoy or want to try au-thentic Somalian and Ethio-pian cuisine, and don’t mind spending a little more on gas, this is a place to check out.

SpORTSEagan Independent | Tuesday, November 9, 2010

By Taylor McKenzie Sports Writer

The Girl’s Swim and Dive Team just wrapped up their season. They had a final record of 12-2, with their only tie with Eastview 93-93, two heartbreaking losses to Lakeville North 97-77, and Prior Lake 78-103. The girls got off to a great start this season, crushing Bloomington Kennedy with a whopping 15-132 point final score. They kept up that fantastic attitude

Swim and Dive speeds to sections

Section recaps

By Kenzie MarklandSports Writer

The Cross Country seasons is heating up while they head off to state. This season the boys finished with a strong lead, while the girls ended their regular season on a high note. Friday, October 15th was the first time that Eagan got to see the new con-ference and the new competi-tion in the South Suburban conference. The boys placed seventh while Sydney Speir placed 4th overall. At the same meet the girls placed 3rd and sophomore Elizabeth Frick finished 3rd. EHS Cross Country was 5th in state, according to

Runners go to State

Kathryn James, a freshman. When asked about her favor-ite memory, Greta Helmueller a junior doesn’t miss a beat with her answer “Rambo Run.” Meanwhile answering the same question, Kathryn James smiled, “The first meet when I finished and everyone was cheering for me. It was amazing.” With section over and state in the near future John Williams, a junior said, “The wildcats have been working hard all season and are ready to achieve great thing.” Cheer on sophomores Elizabeth Frick, Danielle Anderson, and Sidney Speir in state at St. Olaf College on November 6th.

Photo by Erica MelroeThe girls huddle together to talk strategy. They placed 3rd in the conference run; boys’ cross country placed 5th at Valleywood Golf Course.

beat Burnsville, a team that they had not beat since 2000. The final score was 82-88 for Varsity and 56-110 for JV. The fact that they got to go to North Dakota was really a highlight with the freshman as well. They just wrapped up their regular season meets and are nearing JV Champs, Sections and State. We wish all of the girls the best of luck!

for six more consecutive wins until their tie with Eastview. The team even got the chance to travel to the University of North Dakota for their invite where our girls defeated the five other teams in attendance with a score of 374.5. The girls kept going strong the rest of the season, encountering their only two losses was tough, but the girls fought hard to remain 3rd in the South Suburban Confer-ence. The freshman girl’s highlight was when the team

Photo by Rachel LarsonA swimmer waits to leap off the platform for the next leg of a relay in practice. The girls’ team dominated with a record of 12-2.

The girls’ soccer

team finished their regular season 16-2-4. They beat Hastings, Rosemount, and Apple Valley to win sections and advance to state. The lost to

Mounds View in the first round in state 1-0.

Girls’ Soccer

The boys’ soccer team

started sections off by

beating Henry Sibley 1-0 with a header by Ben Kasper. They continued to dominate the field while playing Park of Cottage Grove.

Eagan beat them 4-0 with relentless defense and ball con-

trol. They lost to Apple Valley in the section final 3-0.

Boys’ Soccer

The football team finished their regular

season with four wins

and four losses. They went on to beat the Sibley War-riors in Hurricane winds 48- 12. The Wildcats beat East

Ridge on October 30th, 38-20. They played Cretin-Der-

ham Hall on November 6th in the section championship.

Football Girls’ tennis finished the

season with 20 wins and 3 losses.

The won sections and continued on to be crowned constellation champions in state. Sophomore Danielle

Donahue made an appearance at state, but lost in the

second round.

Girls’ Tennis

Volleyball finished their regular

season 10-15. They had a vic-tory over Bloom-ington Kennedy with game scores of: 25-17, 25-18

and 27-25. They lost to Lakev-

ille North in the second round of sections.

Volleyball

Eagan Independent | Tuesday, November 9, 20108

By Molly MartinezSports Editor

Senior captain KT Kvas is the perfect poster child for intensity. Off the court she’s laidback and carefree. Her favorite thing about Volley-ball? “Cassie Weinberg. I love her and she makes practice fun.” On the court KT is all business, her eyes could set fire to the ball: they burn with such intensity. The only time KT doesn’t have a grin on her face is when she’s concentrat-ing during a game, then her features transform into a look of pure passion and love for Volleyball. “The hardest thing about being captain is having every-one depend on you. The best thing about it is leading peo-ple that look up to me” I think many people would agree that she is doing a great job with her responsibilities. After suffering a set back when she dislocated her knee in a game against Lakeville South. You could find KT in the weight room. “I hate not being able to help during games,” KT had said while resting after a run, “I hate not being able to practice with my team!” Her passion helped her lead her team to the second round of sections this where they lost to Lakeville North this season.

By Bailey Hennen Sports Writer

The Wildcat Football Team ended their 4-4 regular season with a disappoint-ing 14-35 loss to Rosemount on October 20th. An 8-yard touchdown pass to Matt Hentges and a 2-yard touch-down run by Drew Bauer in the 2nd quarter were not enough during their last regu-lar season game. The Wild-cats started the playoffs with a win against Henry Sibley on a very windy night at Wildcat Stadium on Tuesday, Octo-ber 23rd. The playoffs give new life to the Wildcat team as they start fresh with a 0-0 playoff record that has now been improved to 1-0. The regular season

Athlete of the Month

Giants win World Series

Football takes Sibley by storm

was marred by some injuries, including to quarterback Jameson ‘Jamo’ Parsons and Christian Bergevin. I was able to speak with Bergevin about his take on the season as he was forced to watch from the sidelines. Bergevin feels that injuries affected the team “because people have been sitting out and can’t practice and it makes game plans harder to install”. That being said, Bergevin also feels that injuries “help the team deal with adversity and show that they are not a one-man team and that everybody gets a fair shot”. Coach Dennis Fore-man was asked about high-lights from this year’s regular season. “The Homecoming game, beating Prior Lake who were 4-1 coming in to

the game” was his response. In that game Mack Nelson received a 1st quarter 5-yard pass from Parsons for the first touchdown of the game. A 23-yard run by Bob Rada, also in the 1st quarter, resulted in the second touchdown of the night. The second quarter saw a 23-yard pass to Nelson and a 25-yard run by par-sons. The third quarter had a scoring 58-yard pass by Matt Hentges. In the fourth quar-ter a 10-yard pass to Nelson ended the game with a final score of 41-21. Mr. Foreman has been an important figure on the Wildcat sidelines as a coach for many years. He says that his favorite part of coaching is, “Working with the kids and position groups, seeing the kids outside of school and

Photo by Haley DavisThe football team scrimmages during practice. They won against Henry Sibley and East Ridge to take on 5th ranked Cretin-Durham Hall on Saturday for the section champoinship.

By Matt Tran Sports Writer

The San Francisco Giants made franchise history on the 1st of November, when they won the World Series four games to one, with a 3-1 vic-tory over the Texas Rangers in Game 5. The Giants, playing in their first World Series

since 2002, had not won it since 1954. Freshman Da-vid Goldman reveals why the Giants won, “The Giants have too much pitching. Their starting pitching is just amazing. They’ve got

Tim Lincecum and the Cain Train (Matt Cain)!” No pitcher in the Giant’s rotation is older than 27 and they had the lowest ERA or earned run average, in the majors. For the second year in a row, the Giants pitch-ers struck out more batters than any other rotation in the majors. They made history in

the World Series by pitching 2 World Series shutouts, which was the first time a team had multiple shutouts in 44 years, since the Orioles over the Dodgers in 1966. In the World Series the pitching staff held, 2010 ALCS MVP, Josh Hamilton to a .100 batting average and the Rangers to a .179 batting average (5-for-28) with runners in scoring posi-tion. It took 56 years and 35 lost postseason games be-fore the Giants won their 6th World Series in franchise his-tory, finally they can declare themselves World Champi-ons, once again.

Photo taken from wired.comGiants celebrate their win.

Vikings waive Randy Moss

Photo taken from nflsportsnews.com

By Molly Martinez Sports Editor

Randall Moss was first drafted into the NFL as the 21st pick to the Minnesota Vi-kings in 1998. He was a major contribution to the Vikings becoming the number one rated offense that year. Moss was named the NFL’s offen-sive rookie of the year for his outstanding performance for his first year in the National Football League. He was also named most valuable player for his 9 receptions in his second Pro Bowl. He played in the Pro Bowl five of the seven years he played with the Vikings. When he was 30 years old, Randy because the youngest player in the NFL to record his 120th touchdown. He also holds the record for the most touchdowns in Viking playoff history with 8

touchdowns. In 2005 Randy was traded to the Oakland Raiders. In 2007 Randy was traded to the New England Patriots. In 2010, Moss was traded back home to the Vikings. A great end to this season may have been cut short because just 4 weeks after being traded back to the Minnesota Vikings Moss was waived, or let go from the Vikings, for reasons not completely know.

being outside Friday night under the lights”. With an-other win against East Ridge 38-20 , let’s hope the team keeps up their playoff win streak.