Sports Briefs

The SCA will host it’s an-nual snow ball on January 23 in the HHS gym com-mons from 8:00-11:00 p.m. The dress is semi- formal. All the music will be select-ed by the students. Come by room 444 to pick up or turn in your request forms.Tickets will be available for $5 per person in room 444 or at the door.First semester exams will be held January 13,14 and 15. January 15 also marks the end of the fi rst semes-ter. School will be closed on January 18 and 19 for teacher work days.Report cards for the third six weeks will be distrib-uted during second block on January 22. I-Flurtz will be on sale Monday, February 8 through Friday February 12. Come by room 444 to pick up your I-Flurtz for $2 each.

FeatureNews Photo EssayFoster families provide loving homes

Members of Streaks Serve the ‘Burg help families over the holidays

Newsstreakharrisonburg high school • 1001 garbers church road • harrisonburg, va 22801 • 540.433.2651 • Newsstreak.com •

where every person has a storyVolume XC • Issue 6 • January 8, 2010

The wrestling team will compete in the Northern Invitational today and to-morrow.The gymnastics team will host the Harrisonburg In-vitational on Saturday January 16. The meet will begin at noon.The indoor track team will travel to Liberty Uni-versity tomorrow for the Bulldog Invitational. The girls and boys bas-ketball team will play at Turner Ashby tonight in their fi rst district match-up of the season. Boys play at 6 p.m. and the girls play at 7:30 p.m.The swim and dive team will travel to the Jim Bar-nett Park in Winchester tomorrow morning.

Freeze Frame

Updated class wars scoresDaily lunch menuAdvertisement formsBreaking newsAthletic calender and updated scoresPolls and more

Best foods to get you through the cold winter. Technology predictions for 2010.Winter sports results, schedules and top ath-letes.Creative new ways to have fun on a snow day.Cheap, fun activities for couples and singles to try this Valentines Day.Inside a day at musical practice.Most and least favorite fashion trends through-out the years.

Athletes su� er a variety of knee injuries

Sports

B1A3 B10B6

News Briefs

newsstreak.com

Coming Up:

The

Local restaurants thrive with signature items A8

Style Gymnastics and winter fun!

American Education week focuses on the importance of education in every

childs life. The 88th annual AEW took place on November 16-20 this year. As a part of celebrating education, Friday November 20 was senior take-over day. Senior take-over day was an opportunity for seniors to be their favorite teacher for a day. Students were expected to dress professionally and make a lesson plan for their classes, just as the teacher would.

Seniors Regan Sheets and Alena Lawrence took over for assistant principal Mike Eye. They had several tasks to complete throughout the day such as observing classrooms and teachers, monitoring the hallways and doing paper work. The job, however, was not all about doing work.

“My favorite parts were going on the roof and eating ice cream because you don’t normally get to do those kinds of things during school,” Sheets said.

Senior Doodie Grogg took over for his mom, att endance secretary Cathy Grogg. Cathy Grogg is busy throughout the entire day, calling each classroom for att endance and receiving and making calls home.

“I took over for my mom because I wanted to see what she actually does during the day,” Doodie said. Cathy Grogg has gott en used to doing multiple tasks at once, so Doodie was expected to do the same.

Tricia ComfortEditor-in-Chief

Seniors takeover during American Education week

Ouch! Administrative assistant Marie Post receives the free H1N1 vaccine that was o� ered by the school on December 10. Photo by Kim Antonio.

Every Monday night this fall, a team of twelve students took part in the HHS Academic Team competitions. Every Monday night they walked away

with fi rst place. The team, led by English teacher Verity Caron and science teacher Robert Edmunds, ended their fall 2009 season undefeated. This Academic Team always has done relatively well in the past, but this is the fi rst undefeated season in a long time.

“I think this is the best record we’ve had in quite a while,” Edmunds said.

Academic team tests students on their knowledge in a variety of categories. Because of this, it has been compared to a game show.

“If you’ve never seen a meet, it’s similar to Jeopardy where the students have buzzers and they try to buzz in and get the answers right. There are also times where they do it as a team and it’s like Family Feud,” Edmunds said.

The team members and the coaches have no idea what questions will be asked at the meets or what they questions will be about.

“You have to know things from modern movies to composers to really hard, complicated math questions.

Ama AnsahNews Editor

These past few weeks the school has been crawling with

wheelchairs. The Key Club’s big project this year is to raise money for math teacher Patricia Kelly’s son 25-year-old Michael Moogalian who was in a car accident on February 8, 2009 and is now confi ned to a wheelchair as a result of his accident.

To help student’s understand what Moogalian is going through, the Key Club advisor and fashion marketing teacher Maurizio Antonnicola, rented a multitude of wheelchairs so students could understand the limitations of being in a wheelchair.

Antonnicola doesn’t know where he got the idea for putt ing students in a wheelchair for a day.

“I get the feeling that it’s not original , but the idea just came to me,” Antonnicola said.

The rules for being in a wheelchair are prett y simple.

“Do what you normally do, and do not get up out of the chair,” Antonnicola said. These rules were designed to make the experience more realistic for the students. A person who is really in a wheelchair can not get up out of their chair, so for that day the students couldn’t either.

Junior Jo Donahue thinks that the movement of lett ing students experience a day in a wheelchair is a good idea.

“I think that people learn best by experience in general

Olivia McCartyStyle Editor

Undefeated academic team earns district title

Key Club raises awareness for handicapped

District Champs! Bobby Rotzin, Leo Arango, Xuyi Guo and Tim Galicki practice for the upcoming regional aca-demic team tournament. The HHS A-team is 24-0 this year. Arango, Guo, Galicki and seniors Anthony Todd and Sarah DiNapoli are all members of the A-team. Photo by Phillip Bannister.

“You are very fortunate to be in a district that encourages the arts,” scene artist Jim Steele

said at the beginning of his talk. Steele was invited to deliver a brief lecture on set production to the production class at HHS on December 10 by teacher Stan Swartz.

“[I thought] about inviting Steele aft er talking to Aileen Steere,” Swartz said. Steere is junior band member Jasmine Steele’s mother, and the niece of Jim Steele.

“I had been talking to him [Jim] and thought it would be interesting [for other people] to learn about the things he has accomplished,” Aileen said. “Set production is not all the glam and glory that people

think it is. He has stories of hanging 60 feet in the air to paint tiny litt le dots on a backdrop.”

Aileen felt that the production class would benefi t from interaction with an artist who had been successful pursuing art.

“People have to have a passion for art [to commit to an artistic career],” Aileen said.

Jim Steele loved theater from an early age, which inspired him to pursue a career in the theater world.

“When I was a kid, I made a puppet stage in my backyard

out of an old, gutt ed T.V.,” Steele said. “I charged the neighborhood kids to come watch my plays.”

Steele’s parents were not originally supportive of his decision to make theatrics a career. Steele att ended visual art schools in both New York and Hartford, Connecticut.

“Despite my parents, I said it’s my choice now [to go to art school],” Steere said. “I got a job at a summer theater in Michigan and sent out resumes and worked in St. Louis.”

Though Steere worked in regional theater for several years, he felt the pull to see if he could make it in the “big time” like so many artists eventually do. Steere worked for director Peter Harvey, who produced Boys in the Band.

“Peter didn’t know a whole lot about set production,

“People have to

have a passion for art to pursue it,”

scene artist Jim Steele

Steele shares career highlights with set production class

Tricia ComfortEditor-in-Chief

Surratt wins Gold Circle Award for photo layout

Smooth ride. Junior Marwah Bani-Hani spent the day in a wheelchair to help people better understand the di� culties. Key Club raised $5,000 to help Michael Moogalian. Photo by Olivia McCarty

Emma DiNapoli Editor-in-Chief

see academic, page a3

see seniors, page b5

see wheel, page b5

see steele, page b5

HHS alumni and former Newsstreak E d i t o r - i n - C h i e f Katie Surratt has

won a Gold Circle Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association housed at Ivy League school, Columbia University in New York City.

Surratt ’s award was for a black and white photo layout done during the 2008-09 school year. Surratt was the only student from HHS to receive an award from the association this year.

The Columbia Scholastic Press Association celebrated its 27th year for the Gold Circle Awards program. The program was established in 1984 to recognize students accomplishments in journalism and photography.

Surratt sent in her application for the award at the end of last year.

“I was surprised to get an award because we submitt ed the entry a long time ago,” Surratt said. “But it reminded me how much I miss journalism.”

Surratt was a member of the Newsstreak staff for all four years of high school, and was one of the Editors-in-Chief during her senior year.

Surratt is currently att ending Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, VA.

The NewsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 News A2

NEWS BRIEFSAny seniors interested in doing a senior service project this year should stop by room 526 to pick up a senior service project packet and talk to Sarah-Grefe about possible proj-ect opportunities.Seniors need to stop by guidance and speak to their counselors to make sure they are on pace to get their college applications in. Juniors should be fi g-uring out when they fi rst want to take the SATs this year and should also make an appointment with their counselor to discuss a plan for post-high school.Good luck on your fi nal exams HHS! Any ques-tions regarding second se-mester schedules should be directed to guidance

Every month the literary maga-zine, Imprint holds a contest to help generate submissions for the magazine. It is a way for students

to publish their own art, poetry, and mu-sic lyrics for the entire school to enjoy. Not only can they show family and friends their work, but students also win prizes.

In October, fi rst prize winners from each three categories of art, poetry and music, win a ten dollar money tree. The money tree is a basically a tiny plastic tree with dollars att ached to the branches. Sec-ond prize winners earn supplies to make their own smore’s. Lastly, there is an hon-orable mention for each category. The last contest in October had a “Ghosts and Monsters” theme. November’s theme was “Wilderness”, December was “Mystery” and January is “Elements”.

The rule for each submission is that

they must be original. Students must com-plete a submission form, which they may get at the library, for every piece of work. Each month has a deadline for the contest but the deadline for submitt ing any kind of work is not until the end of the year.

English teacher, Ver-ity Caron is the adviser for the fi rst semester’s literary magazine which gathers submissions and English teacher, Jennifer Rose is the adviser for the second semester, which deals more with putt ing the magazine to-gether. Both teachers went on the journal-ism trip to D.C. last November to fi nd out more on how to develop and publish the magazine. Caron believes that Imprint is a perfect opportunity for students.

“Students get the chance to get their work read in school. You also get prizes and it gives students instant gratifi ca-

tion knowing their work is selected. We also like a lot of bilingual writing,” Caron said.

Judges, who are the students of the lit-erary magazine and creative writing class,

are looking for origi-nality and creativity. Freshman, Brandon El-linger, has judged past contests and knows what he likes and does not like.

“I look for some-thing that captures my att ention. We can only choose a handful from each grade,” Ellinger

said. Any students with the ambition in art,

music, or writing have the opportunity to get their work published for the Imprint magazine. Every month presents a new chance to win prizes and gather new stu-dent work.

Imprint publishes student poets, musicians, writers

40 people in all grades and faculty polled on Dec 11 by

Kavya Beheraj

Do you write or read poetry?

YES NO24 14

WHAT YOU THINK

Christine ChoiStyle Reporter

“...it gives students

instant grati� cation knowing their work is

selected .” English teacher

Verity Caron

Kim AntonioFeature Editor

Before Thanksgiving the In-teract club came up with the idea to make cards and send them to elderly people

in the district who do not have fami-lies to celebrate with.

Interact worked to make as many cards as possible. They accom-plished making more than one hun-dred cards. To help out, fashion and marketing teacher Mallory Cromer off ered the help of her fashion stu-dents to make cards as well. With this help, DECA and Interact made over a hundred cards.

The cards were delivered around the valley by the Interact students on Wednesday, Nov. 25, who then stayed to talk and keep the recipi-ents company. The cards were deliv-ered in person to spread the holiday spirit. The cards said Happy Thanks-giving and had the signatures of all the students in the both classes and

clubs. “It was very nice because they got

to spend time with the students and have company for a small part of the holiday,” Cromer said.

Interact made the cards last year and delivered them to the residents at VMRC who greatly appreciated them. This year, interact decided to make card delivery an annual thing. All the cards were done at least two days before Thanksgiving to ensure that the students had time to deliv-ery all of them.

“It only took about an hour to make all the cards,” junior Lindsey Cockburn said.

The students got very involved in the decorating making each card unique and colorful. Putt ing person-al touches on the cards was what re-ally was special to all the recipients. All cards had pictures, signatures, and designs.

Aft er Thanksgiving was over, an-other card making shop was under way. Interact club distributed sent cards to other elderly people around the county for the holidays.

DECA spreads holiday cheerMadison WilsonNews Reporter

Poet in the Schools is a poetry workshop for a group of twenty selected students organized by English teacher Jennifer Rose.

Hundreds of poems are writt en by students based on a prompt that is cre-ated. But only the twenty strongest po-ems are selected. Those twenty poems are twelve lined, chosen for playfulness and the creativ-ity of the writing.

Rose has been leading this program for the past eight years, but the pro-gram has been in existence for decades. Because of the program, Rose was able to pursue writing at the UVA Young Writers Workshop. Through JMU, she became an English major. Rose worked on the Fugue, the JMU Honors Program Literary Magazine and com-pleted an honors thesis that combined oral history of a small West Virginia town and her poetry and photographs.

The group only meets for a total of eight times on Wednesday evenings in

January and February at HHS. In the past, some meetings have been held at coff ee shops and diners, the JMU Planetarium, the Valley Mall, and the OASIS Art Gallery. English teacher Jim Nipe who has been involved in PITS for 25 years also comes to the meetings and writes with the students and has been att ending the workshops.

One of the highlights of Poet in the Schools is the Poetry and Jazz Night which has been a long tradition. While each poet reads his or her own work,

jazz musicians perform im-provised pieces that match the mood of the poem.

Rose sets goals as the or-ganizer. From being a mem-ber of PITS herself as a mid-dle and high school student, poetry and writing are a big part of her life.

“My goal for PITS is to help students generate poetry and improve their craft . We try to

write as much as we can in our short time together. Not every poem works for every student, but if they leave with at least two or three poems they’re real-ly proud of, I think it’s been a success,” Rose said.

Rose helps young poets with workshop

Come have fun at the winter

SNOWBALL

Saturday, January 23, 20108-11:00 p.m.

$5/personDress: semi-formal, (like homecoming)

turn in playlist suggestions in 444

the newsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 news a3

Jacob: The father of twelve sons, Jacob definitely favors Jo-seph. At times he may appear unfair and shallow, but he is, more importantly, the prophet who recognizes the future and the calling of Joseph, thus saving the House of Israel.

Joseph: Shows a talent for interpreting dreams and telling the future. This gets him into trouble with his brothers when he predicts his future will include ruling over the other elev-en.

Potiphar: Purchases Joseph and puts him to work in his household. When he grows suspicious of his wife and Joseph, however, he grows angry and has Joseph thrown into prison.

Pharaoh: The most powerful man in Egypt, he is considered a god on earth. When Joseph interprets his dreams, he pro-motes him to one of the highest positions in his government.

Narrator: Tells the story through word and song, guiding the audience through the story of Joseph and his brothers.

Joseph’s Eleven Brothers: Although acting usually as a group, they each have their own different personalities, tal-ents, and flaws. As a group they sell Joseph into slavery, but as individuals they deal with the following years and how they can make amends.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat:

Infographic by Emily Knapp

Character Breakdown

Meagan KelleyFun Director

SSB members deliver turkeys to needy families

Auditions for the musical were held on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of Decem-ber. The musical chosen for this year’s production is Joseph and the

Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. This play is based on the Biblical character Joseph from the Book of Genesis. A narrator tells the story, but for our production, several people including Kirsten Ferguson, Nancy Cary Logan, Grace Clough, and Kaiti Crittenden will play the nar-rator’s role.

Stanley Swartz is the director of the musical. Swartz works closely with Bethany Houff, who is in charge of the musical part of the show. Swartz and Houff work together through au-ditions and rehearsals.

“Mrs. Houff is hugely important through-out the whole production. Even though I make the final decisions in the production, I take her input very personally,” Swartz said. The pro-duction takes a lot of work and many people to get ready for opening night. Swartz gets help from many different people to do jobs such as, help with the sets, costumes, choreog-raphy, tickets, make-up, programs, publicity, ushering and food. Alongside Swartz, Houff and an assistant director help throughout the production.

“As always, I chose this show for lots of complicated reasons. I needed a flexible pro-

duction. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a very fun show and I thought with the economic times it would be good to have something up beat,” Swartz said. Al-thought the musical is a lot of work and can be stressful at times, the end result is a good production.

“I enjoy creating the production, I enjoy watching the kids develop and working with people and a sense of community with the whole process,” Swartz said.

Just a freshman, Ferguson is playing the role of one of narrators in the musical. Al-though Ferguson was nervous about trying out, she got a call back and made on of the lead roles. To prepare for auditions, Ferguson prac-ticed her song and monologue with her sister and her mom. Ferguson notices the difference between high school and middle school audi-tions and to her, the high school play is much more serious.

“I was very excited and surprised when I found out my character because I didn’t think I would make it in the musical,” Ferguson said.

The musical itself is expected to be a lot of fun according to actors in the production. Lo-gan, another freshman, is also excited to get a lead role in the play.

“I expected to get a part in the play, but not a main role,” Logan said. The production of Jo-seph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will be performed on February 18 - 20. tt

Molly DenmanAdvertising Manager

Musical practice off and running

Journalists from all over the country, even England and South Korea, attended the JEA/NSPA national convention that was held in November in Washington D.C.

The convention offered sessions with real journalists and different competitions to enter.

HHS alumni Claire Downey was entered into the NSPA news photo competition and won Photo of the Year. She won with her picture of math teacher, Bill Turner riding a tricycle for a Renaissance Rally competition.

“I didn’t even realize that Mrs. Kibler had submitted that photo until she told me I was a finalist, so I never expected to win,” Downey said.

Newsstreak teacher, Valerie Kibler did not expect Claire’s picture to make it as far as it did either.

“I thought there was going to be a lot of pictures like that. I would think they really have to stand out to win,” Kibler said.

Downey loves photography and was one of the Newsstreak photographers last year.

“It feels very satisfying, it puts credit behind my hobby,” Downey said. The picture of Turner was printed on the front page of one of the Newsstreak issues last year for the story on the Renaissance Rally.

“We knew from the time she joined staff that she was a great photographer; she was

right there where the action was,” Kibler said, “I just wish she had been on staff for the other three years.”

“I always look for the most entertaining thing to photograph and at the moment Turner on a tricycle seemed very promising,” Downey said.

The originality of the picture stood out among all the other finalist pictures.

“It’s not cliché, a lot of the other photos entered had been taken a million times before; but mine was more unique and hilarious because of Turner’s facial expression,” Downey said.

“It showed great emotion, it told a story without the caption and who doesn’t love them some Bill Turner?” Kibler said.

Taking a picture is not as easy as it may seem, there’s a lot of editing to be done and angles matter.

“The lighting in the gym is terrible, so I had to fix the coloration, but other than that [the editing] did not take very long,” Downey said.

Downey won a plaque with the picture framed on it and the prestigious Photo of the Year title. The presentation was made at the NSPA awards ceremony on Saturday afternoon at the largest NSPA/JEA scholastic journalism convention to date.

“It helped me realize that I have the potential to make a career out of my love for photography but I still haven’t decided if I’ll actually pursue it as a career,” Downey said. tt

Diana GutierrezStyle Editor

Downey wins first in nationPicture of Turner tops NSPA photography competition

He wins! Math teacher Bill Turner may not have taken first place in the tricycle race during last year’s spring renaissance rally, but this photo of him struggling to the starting line for the race placed first in the National Scholastic Press As-sociation news photo of the year competition for photographer Claire Downey. Downey received the award at this falls NSPA/JEA national journalism conven-tion in Washington, D.C. which was attended by over 6000 people. Photo by Claire Downey.

Turkeys for everyone! Junior Jake Johnson opens boxes of turkeys to hand out to local families. Photo by Jessica Strickler.

On Tuesday November 24th, many members of Harrisonburg High School’s athletic service club, Streaks Serve the ‘Burg (SSB) spent most

of the school day helping pass out turkeys to people who would otherwise not have a Thanksgiving dinner. About 25 members of SSB attended the event to help the less fortunate have a better holiday. Senior Michael Clopper was one of these attendees.

“We loaded turkey dinners into people’s cars for them,” Clopper said. “It felt good to be helping others.”

Sophomore Kiah Silver, who also attended the event, agrees.

“I really liked giving out the bags because I liked helping the people and they were very appreciative.” Silver said.

The student-athletes spent about five hours unloading turkeys for trucks and distributing the turkeys and other supplies including wrapping paper, mashed potatoes, canned vegetables, and brownies to people who came to pick up a dinner. The people took as many dinners as they needed.

“They had cards to tell how many dinners they got.” Silver said. “They had to apply to receive the card.”

“It was funny getting the frozen turkeys out of the truck,” Clopper said. “They were really cold so you couldn’t hold them for very long and people were flipping out.”

Junior Zack Dean also enjoyed being able to help others.

“If we could see a kid in the car, we would also give them a toy,” Dean said.

All of the food and toys were donated by local businesses around Harrisonburg. A total of about 900 turkeys were passed out to hundreds of families.

After the students unpacked the turkeys to prepare them to be handed out, they had stacked the boxes into a large pile. After finishing distributing, the students made use of the boxes by jumping in them.

“People were running and doing front flips into them,” Dean said. “It was a lot of fun.”

SSB has participated in the Lineweaver Turkey Distribution for several years and plans to hand out turkeys again in December for Christmas dinners. Many of the students are looking forward to participating again and lending a helping hand to our neighbors in need. tt

You have a team of four people who compete on those questions,” Caron said.

The team was divided up into three sub teams. The A team, B team and the C team. The A team was the official team while the B and C teams were like the junior varsity team in sports.

“An Academic Team match is three rounds. The first round is a toss up round. It’s fifteen questions and we have buzzers. Anyone can answer. You can’t work together, though, so it’s only each individual on a team can answer,” junior Xuyi Guo said. “The second round is a directed round. Each

team gets 10 questions which only they can answer. You get a question which just goes to your team and if you can’t answer it, the other team has an opportunity to take it. The final round is another toss up.”

Because one has to be prepared for everything, it’s difficult for the team members to prepare on their own.

“I prepare for English, though it doesn’t really help,” junior Leo Arango said. “I have a full list. It’s just literature titles, so I just memorize it.”

The team would have practices three times a week where they were given practice questions. Team members must know a bit of everything if they want to be prepared.

“I work with the math and science part. Fortunately, we have some strong people in history,” Edmunds said.

Caron helps students study English and the Arts.

“They’ve been asking a lot of questions about African authors and composers and you’re supposed to tell what composer by what music they did,” Caron said.

Still, the team persevered. Their team’s season was a perfect 24-0 with the A team winning all their meets and ending 12-0. The team hopes do be given more of a challenge at the regional meet in February.

“There are traditional rivalries with Turner Ashby, but nobody in our district

has given us much of a challenge yet,” Edmunds said. “Robert E. Lee has traditionally been very strong. They gave us a little bit of a push. We’ll be learning a lot as we go on.”

Being part of a team always benefits students. Being part of a winning team is an extra boost for students.

“In a college career, if you can come up with an answer five seconds before someone else, there are not a lot of areas where that really helps. But just the confidence that comes from it, the ability to go ‘I think I’m right’ and buzz in, it takes them a while to learn that. But we’ve got some very strong students,” Edmunds said. tt

Academic team celebrates perfect seasonacademic from a1

Traditionally, teenagers are thought of as selfi sh, lazy, pampered and bratt y individuals.

Here at the Newsstreak, however, we know this is not the case. HHS’s hallways are fi lled with posters trying to get students to participate in our many volunteer clubs. Countless students devote hours to serve others even with already jam-packed schedules.

The athletes of Streaks Serve the ‘Burg manage to volunteer at numerous events throughout our community, from a Salvation Army toy drive to distributing food at Lineweaver Apartments. The mere fact that students manage to fi nd time between sports, Advanced Placement and honors classes, clubs and jobs for volunteering is impressive. But HHS students not only volunteer, they lead entire clubs and organize their own service projects.

Key Club and Interact are solely based on volunteer activities and are led by an executive board of students, not faculty mentors. These clubs help outside our school and also organize projects that involve and motivate our school to care more about our world. Inside HHS, we have students eager to help and trying to motivate their peers.

Some students might ask why should we care? The answer to this question is not as simple or cliché as it might seem. The diversity of HHS is always apparent and is something we all can learn from. Many students here are

incredibly privileged, able to aff ord designer clothes and drive brand new cars. We also have a signifi cant number of students who cannot aff ord their school lunch or who are still learning to speak English. Our peers are working multiple jobs, providing for their infants and even have to stay home from school to take care of younger siblings. Students from all cliques, grades and races have broken homes. When you volunteer, you are not just helping an anonymous child in Asia, you could be improving the life of a friend from your math class. We live in such a wealthy society how can we aff ord not to volunteer? We might think a prom outfi t or upcoming basketball game is the most important thing in our lives, but some students would love to have money for a dress or even shoes.

Yes, college applications and future job applications are major motivations to volunteer, but the benefi ts stretch far beyond that. Not only will you get the warm, fuzzy

feeling from helping others, you will develop community awareness and leadership skills. You might not realize the vastly diff erent lifestyles that exist in Harrisonburg but one day serving soup at Our Community Place can probably change that. Helping others will show you that you can make a diff erence in our community. Volunteering is not just a selfl ess act, it is a way for you bett er yourself.

As we leave the holiday season, talk of generosity will no longer be prevalent. Without the Salvation Army bell ringing will you have an reminder every day to think of others? During December, we try to be giving only to get into the Christmas spirit.

HHS, do not let generosity and selfl essness be only feelings for the winter holidays. As we start a new year, our school can follow the leadership of other dedicated students and give a small portion of our time to improve our whole community, not just ourselves.

The NewsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 OP/ED A4

TheHarrisonburgHigh SchoolNewsstreak

The PolicyThe Newsstreak is pub-

lished by the students of Har-risonburg High School every three weeks. Reproduction of any material from the news-paper is prohibited without the writt en permission from the editors. Advertising rates are available upon request.

It is the policy of the Har-risonburg City Public School Board to comply with all applicable state and federal laws regarding non-discrim-ination in employment and educational programs and services.

The Harrisonburg High School City Public Schools will not discriminate illegally on the basis of sex, race, reli-gion, national origin, disabil-ity or age as to employment or educational programs and activities.

Editorials appearing with-out a byline represent the ma-jority opinion of the staff , but not necessarily the opinion of the adviser, school adminis-tration, or the school system.

Signed editorials are ac-cepted from people on the staff , but are subject to edit-ing according to published guidelines and policies. Edi-torials may be edited for spe-cial reasons.

Lett ers to the editor are en-couraged and must be signed and a telephone number must be given. Names may be with-held if the editorial staff feels there is a just cause.

The Newsstreak reserves the right to edit and may re-fuse to publish ads or lett ers deemed inappropriate, libel-ous, or obscene. Please drop your lett er by room 444 or give them to any staff mem-ber. Lett ers may also be sent to the high school.

The editors and staff :

Editors in Chief:Emma DiNapoli, Tricia Comfort

Managing Editors:Kim Antonio, Claire Sudol

Section Editors:News - David ProctorOpinion - Jessica StricklerStyle - Emily KnappFeature - Alison DomonoskeSports - Claire Sudol

Fun Director: Meagan Kelley

Business/Advertising Man-agers: Lauren Martin, Molly Denman

Photographers: Emily Ja-mieson, Rafi qa Haji, Maria Rose, Paulina Rendon, Olivia McCarty

Cartoonist: Vivian Tejeda

Page Designers: Ama Ansah, Jorge Colin-Estrella, Phillip Bannister, Christine Choi, Diana Gutierrez, Olivia Mc-Carty, Maria Rose, Savanah Cary, Vanessa Ehrenpreis, Jack Burden, Aidan Newcity

Staff Reporters: Kavya Behe-raj, Ethan Blackwell, Emmett Copeland, Mitchell Depoy, Heather Hunter-Nickels, Mi-chael Johnson, Ryan Maphis, Emily Payne, Alex Rendon, Christy Stearn, Will Turner, Conner Whitehouse, Madi-son Wilson

Freshmen Reporters: Emi-lee Burke, Mark Duda, Alex Hickman, Gabe Hoak, Vera Shindyapin, Chris Sokolyuk, Katrina Sokolyuk, Michael Tower, Julia Trotsyuk

Professional Affi liations:

The Newsstreak participates as a member of several jour-nalistic evaluation services including the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA-2009 Gold Evaluation and 2005 Silver Crown Win-ner), Quill&Scroll Journal-ism Honor Society (2009 First Place International Award), National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), the Vir-ginia High School League, Inc. Trophy Class Award, and the Southern Interscholastic Press Association All South-ern Ranking.newsstreak.com opt out no-tice:

If you do NOT want to allow your student’s full name or image to appear on the school newspaper site, please send an email to vkibler@harri-sonburg.k12.va.us stating:

I understand that the school newspaper, newsstreak.com, now has an online ver-sion of the publication. I DO NOT want my son/daughter (place student’s name here) to have his or her name or image published on this on-line venue.

wet h i s bel i e v e

Lauren MartinAd Manager

Staff Editorial

HHS lends a hand, not just during holiday season

I have one passion in my life, and that is photography, but something is gett ing in the way of my passion, and that is school. I, like many students, do not have a special

place in my heart for school. In school, there are too many rules to abide

by, too much stress, and you have to wake up before the sun is even up. You have to have the right answers or you will get a bad grade and you have to listen to the teachers or you will get in trouble. School is not about perspective and being creative, it is all about the grades. School is about the percentage to be able to work your

way up and graduate, instead of showing how well you can do at something that you are

interested in. I have never been the straight ‘A’ student

that everyone strives to be. I used to work my butt off to be that kind of person, but I never did truly succeed. The reason for this is because I learn best when I can compare text with pictures; I need an image to comprehend the material. Sometimes there are no pictures to look at in school. Which is why I do well with photography, it is all images, and not text heavy like text books.

There are no rules for photography, unless you go to college and major in photography, but even then it is just steps to be a bett er photographer, not a whole list of things that you may not do. With photography, you can do whatever you wish, capture whatever you wish, and present the image however you wish. You

do not have to listen to anyone else but yourself, no one is bossing you around and telling you how to take the picture. Photography is how you see things; there is no right or wrong answers like in school.

But I have realized that I can mix school and photography together, which is why I am one of the photographers on the Newsstreak staff . I can take pictures to get a good grade, which is great for me. I also realized if I want to get into Virginia Commonwealth University to major in photography, I have to get out of high school with fl ying colors, so I can spend the rest of my life doing what I love.

I am prett y sure that every person has the same passion for something else just like I have for photography, whether it is sports, art, reading, playing computer games, or fashion, and maybe you do not like school just like me. The thing is, if you want to have a career in what you love, you have to get the good grades and pass school. Make time for what you love to do and school will go much smoother and faster.

Emily JamiesonPhotographer

Photography crucial outlet from school stress, rules

I look around to see faces turned up in smiles, couples embracing, friends hugging and

high-fi ving one another. Overhead, a vast array of colors explodes wildly in celebration. At this one moment, I feel complete happiness. I have no worries or fears, no obligations or disappointment. As I watch the world celebrate surviving another year, something forces me to think about my year; I see the ups and downs, the love and the heartache, the joy and the pain. Upon reliving my life I am swayed to the decision that the New Year is a new beginning, I believe we should embrace this new beginning and all that it brings.

In my short lifetime, I have had my fair share of diff erentiating New Years experiences. Growing up, there was always a party at my house on New Years Eve. I would invite friends over to dance and eat and socialize with the masses of adults packed into various areas of my house. First Night became a priority when I hit middle school, though. There was nothing bett er in the world than walking around in public without anyone telling you what to do. And at the time, I felt I was with the people I most wanted to start my upcoming year with: my friends.

But eventually I came to realize something; friends are not always where it is at. I mean, I always had a good time running amuck. But looking back, I would have loved to fi nd out earlier that surrounding yourself with the people closet to your heart will bring you more joy than you could ever know.

I believe there is something magical about New Years Eve. Something in the air (or maybe in the water) that gives society a wider outlook on the “important things” in life. The fi rst New Years Eve that I was “in love” opened my eyes to this feeling. Granted I saw this person every single day, there was something diff erent about standing beside him, holding his hand as we watched the ball drop and heard fi reworks explode. I guess it was because I knew that I at least had someone who was with me that made me happy going into the newest year of my life.

Since that particular New Years Eve, I have kept a hopeful outlook on beginning a new year no matt er how awful my preceding year may have been. Coming into 2010, if it was not for my positive outlook, I do not think I would have made it. The year 2009 held so many negative moments for my life. I struggled with friendships. I grew in and out of bonds I held with people I had known for so long. I struggled with holding on to love. I shed buckets full of tears over someone I still cannot seem to turn my back on, regardless of how much bett er my life could be. I struggled with staying close to my family and people trying to break me down. I went through switching from living with my mother to living with my father whom I have never lived with. I fought depression and probably insanity; But I made it. And that is what I hold to be most important. Regardless of the people I no longer have or the parts of me that have been lost in the fi re, I am still standing.

I believe that the New Year is a new beginning and should be embraced as one.

Volunteer! Members of Streaks Serve the ‘Burg spend the day handing out Thankgiving turkeys at the Salvation Army.

When do you volunteer?

Only during the holidays

Year-round

Never

124246

100 people in all grades and fac-ulty polled on Dec 15 by Michael Johnson. Infographic by Jessica Strickler.

Cat eyes. Jamieson shares one of her favorite photographs. Photo by Emily Jamieson.

New Years per-fect time for new

beginnings

Cartoon by Vivian Tejeda.

We have all read a few top ten lists in our lives. As this year draws

to a close, though, I think a worst list might be a litt le more realistic. I’ve thought long and hard about my least favorite movies, events and news stories of the year. Aft er much deliberation, I present to you my Worst Nine of ’09 list.

First on my list is Sacha Baron Cohen’s Brüno. I am hard pressed to think of a movie that is as spectacularly not funny, although Epic Movie is a close second (as one critic said, Epic Movie was like “french kissing a chainsaw”), which is a real statement about the quality of Brüno. I’m not quite sure why Cohen thought windmilling on camera is entertaining, but aft er watching Brüno it would not be a stretch to say I wanted to burn my eyes so I wouldn’t be able to watch another movie ever.

Kanye West and Michael Jackson tie for second and third, respectively. Kanye… calling out the world’s favorite country-singing teenager on stage will not ever get you anywhere! West would do well to take a hint from his CD and graduate from the public scene. And what’s with Michael Jackson? Up until the day he died, litt le children and parents alike trembled in fear at the thought of Mikey J, and then he passes away under suspicious circumstances and the world suddenly goes into collective mourning.

Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck are also lucky enough to make it on my worst list. Going Rogue is possibly one of the most annoying memoirs ever published. Sarah, who really cares whether you are a working mother? You still are not smart! Go home to your moose, please. Glenn Beck, I am very sorry that you do not think global warming is real. The fact is, your buddy Palin might be fl ooded over in Alaska if the ocean continues to rise. It makes me so mad

that people listen to Beck and take his word as fact. The fact is, rebel-rousing is not the way to make sure that people do not get healthcare or opportunities, like Beck wants.

Tiger Woods, you are another celebrity who seriously disappointed me this year. When the story broke about Woods gett ing into an accident outside of his house, I thought it was ridiculous that the media was having such a fi eld day, until it was confi rmed that Woods was cheating on his wife. That is not a hole-in-one at all, Woods.

While I am on the subject of the media, we heard several other stories this year that were absurd, yet entertaining. Poor balloon boy, we were all

so worried about you until we found out that you had been hiding in your att ic. What kind of parents would force their kids to stay all day in a stuff y room, just to get on T.V.? Moving on from the balloon hoax, I cannot believe that Charla Nash got her face literally ripped off by a rogue chimpanzee! The 911 tapes from the monkey incident are truly horrifying; I might not be able to sleep for the next week. Both events are notable enough to make my worst list.

Finally, college applications: just leave me alone, please. I won’t describe the process in much detail, but by the end of the application process I don’t think I will even want to go anymore.

This column concludes my miniature venting session from the past year. Of course, 2009 was a very good year for other reasons which I’m sure someone else will mention in this issue. I apologize if you were one of MJ’s mourners, or if you secretly love Tiger Woods. No off ense intended, I promise.

The NewsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 Op/Ed A5

Hot, Not

I think diet soda is a sham. People who are watching their weight spend all of this time counting calories and grams of sugar in servings, when they could

be at the gym working out. If people spent as much time working out or even watching the food they eat, they wouldn’t have to try to cut corners with soda. If soda is the problem, then stop drinking it completely.

I think in reality no one likes diet drinks. I think that people only pretend to like it so that they don’t feel bad knowing that they are missing out on real soda. In the end these big companies are winning. They manage to pull the wool over people’s eyes by changing the color of the can and putt ing some Splenda™ in the can instead of real sugar. I’m telling you, it’s all a practical joke.

I bet right now some big corporate guys are sitt ing in their offi ce out in L.A. laughing at how somebody pitched the idea of a diet soda in passing and the company actually went through with it. The thing is, that joke made them all rich. While everyone in America walks around

like idiots downing diet sodas because of the idea that they think this soda is bett er. When people do drink them, they actually make you even thirstier. Aft er you drink two diet drinks instead of one regular one, you have actually consumed enough that you could have sat down and had that can of Coke™ in the fi rst place.

Every time I go in public and see someone turning up a gray can with the red lett ered Coke™ on the side I always judge them unintentionally. I think, “here is another person who thinks a) they are doing themselves a favor, and b) they think they are cool by drinking this soda [I mean come on, all the cool kids on TV drink Diet Coke, duh]. The last and fi nal assumption that runs through my head is that this person is obviously addicted to caff eine and needs their quick fi x in the fastest way possible.

In my mind, if you are drinking diet soda to lose weight or you are worried about how bad soda is for you, then stop drinking it. What are you gaining from drinking a watered down version? The same things you do not want in a regular soda are still there in your diet one. It is such a scam and the person who pitched this idea is a whole lot richer. To all you diet coke fans, I have a suggestion for you, try some water. In the end diet soda is still

soda, it may have less sugar but it’s still really bad for you. Don’t feed the pockets of some idiot in Hollywood. If you want to be on a diet, you shouldn’t even be looking at soda.

Phillip BannisterFeature Editor

Maria RoseFeature Editor

I love words. And writing and reading them. And understanding them. But when I att ended

an international school in Strasbourg, France, for four months in fi ft h grade (and traveled Europe with my family for another four months), I had a much more diffi cult time with these ‘words’. For example, learning how to multiply fractions when the teacher speaks in a language you do not know at all is considerably more diffi cult.

But the worst part about att ending a French school was reading. I was used to being able to look at a sentence and understand the information being conveyed, but these words were meaningless to me. During classes at school when I had no clue what was going on, the teacher asked me to look at magazines. I rifl ed through brightly colored pages fi lled with pictures and those infuriating words. I remember staring at the sentences and

the jumble of lett ers that made absolutely no sense. It left me feeling weak and helpless. I hated not being able to understand.

So when I found out an Ethiopian family had recently moved to Harrisonburg, I remembered what it was like to not know a language and immediately volunteered to help teach them English. Through some people at my church, I asked around and before I knew it, I was all set up to work with the family. Then I started t h i n k i n g …how much could I, a sixteen-year-old girl, actually help them? It takes people months to understand the basics of a language and years to learn it completely. I doubted I would end up helping them

much at all.The fi rst day I went to teach

them, I was nervous. With Reese’s peanut butt er cups, markers and coloring books in hand, I began playing with the four young and adorable kids. As we stumbled through

shy hellos and introductions, they began to loosen up a bit. I practiced the alphabet with both the kids and the parents and taught simple body parts, like ear, hand and hair. That night, I left with a sense of contentment—the kind of s a t i s f a c t i o n that one feels aft er helping s o m e o n e else. (If you

have never felt this way, help someone pick up their books aft er they have dropped them—it feels great.)

The next time I visited, I was so excited to start teaching

them new things (colors were next on the list) but found that they had not yet remembered the alphabet. I could not grasp the idea that something that came so easily to me and made so much sense was so diffi cult for another person. So we went over…and over…and over the alphabet. I began to feel like I was not making an impression on them at all.

Nothing deterred their spirits though, and I was determined to let nothing discourage mine. They gave me 100 percent eff ort, all the time, and I would give them nothing less in return. They have so much enthusiasm for learning; when I come, the kids open the door, yell my name (“MA-reea, MA-reea!”) and pull me to the table. Regardless of whatever I am teaching them, be it the alphabet or colors or participial phrases, they are eager to learn it and try their hardest. By teaching them, I have learned that every litt le bit one contributes counts, no matt er how small it is.

And that has made all the diff erence.

Diet drinks contribute nothing to healthier lifestyle

Teaching English to Ethiopian family meaningful, rewarding

Emma DiNapoliEditor- in-Chief

8.3 inches of snow

Holiday break

Snowball Dance

Volunteering

Acceptance letters

Class Wars

Sledding at HHS

iPhone released

by AT&T on Jan. 1.

Injured athletes

Troops to Afghani-

stan

Salahis crashing

White House dinner

Taylor Lautner SNL skit

Tiger Woods

Rejection letters

Exams

Icy roads and no delay

South Pole

Low calorie! English o� ce vending machine con-tains diet drinks. Photo by Phillip Bannister.

Palin, college applications, Brüno top worst nine of ‘09 list

What language do you speak?

Spanish:64

Chinese:4

Arabic:16

Kurdish:14

Russian:15

Korean:6

Thai:2

French:2

Tamil:1

122 people in all grades polled on Dec. 14 by Michael Johnson. Infographic by Jesssica Strickler.

This past year was, without a doubt, the most insanely action-packed and wonderfully crazy year of my life. I am a person who is not content

unless I’m busy. Unfortunately as a result my free time is like an endangered species, but picking my best nine of 2009 was easy. 2009 started out with a bang in the form of two awesome musicals. In fi ft h grade, I got to be a King’s Child in Broadway High School’s production of ‘The King and I’. Last year, I was asked to be in Broadway High School’s production of ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’ along with seven other middle schoolers. I also was in Thomas Harrison’s production of ‘Annie Jr.’ I could not have imagined a bett er way to spend

the winter than acting, singing, dancing and hanging out with my friends.

The words ‘leadership conference’ and ‘fun’ do not usually go hand-in-hand. However, when I went to the Junior National Young Leaders Conference in Washington D.C., I got to make friends from all over the country, stay the night in the Maryland Science Center and actually learn something.

Number four on my list was a prett y normal occurrence—going to summer camp. Opequon Quaker Camp is one of my favorite places in the world. Not to sound incredibly cheesy, but I really feel like I can be myself there. Plus, the food is incredibly good.

As a dancer, two really exciting things happened to me this year. One, I got to go en pointe (start using pointe shoes), something I have dreamed of since I was

a litt le kid. Second, I was accepted into the Shenandoah Contemporary Dance Theater, a modern dance company at my studio. Both things have been a blast this past fall. Speaking of fall, this October I turned thirteen, making me offi cially a teenager! That was very exciting for me, and very scary for my parents. My litt le sister is convinced I will turn into a snob, but I have not changed too much yet!

Another fall highlight was being in THMS’s play ‘Sir Nose the Burger Rat.’ The play was entered in a drama competition against other middle schools from all over Virginia. The competition, and play in general, were really fun experiences.

Lastly, I started writing for the Newsstreak! I was am so excited to be the middle school correspondent, and get to do what I love. No one can say I didn’t live 2009 to the fullest!

Mia KarrStaff Reporter

Take time to appreciate high points of past year

“Glenn Beck, I am

very sorry you do not think global

warming is real,” senior Emma

DiNapoli

The popular video game, As-sassins Creed is rumored to be even bett er with the release of Assassins Creed II. The

game is a role-playing game in which you join a group of snipers who go around exterminating bad infl uences on the world. You travel from city to city with your group and the leader of the group instructs the members of who to assassinate.

The game is a one player game and follows a storyline. The object of the game is to stay alive to the end. Basically, if you reach the end of the story, you win. The goal is to stay away from the guards who are trying to kill you while you are att empt-ing to assassinate the target. Junior Lindsey Cockburn is a big fan of the game and has made it to the end sev-eral times.

“My favorite part of the game is the hors-es,” Cockburn said. “You ride from town to town on them and in most games that I’ve played, you have to get off the horse to fi ght but in this game you can stay on the horses.”

Cockburn usually plays the game alone, but occasionally she and her brother take turns seeing who can get the farthest in the game without be-ing killed.

Senior Adam Imeson is also look-ing forward to the release of the game.

“I’m just looking forward to the game being cooler.” Imeson said. “The fi rst version is among one of the best video games I have ever played. It’s like watching a movie and I think

the new one will look even more re-alistic.”

In the game, you have access to sev-eral weapons including long swords, short swords, throwing knives, and a hidden blade. All of them can be used for any purpose but most of the time the hidden blade is used to actually assassinate the target while the oth-er equipment is used to fi ght off the guards.

“My favorite weapon is the short sword,” Cockburn said. “I use it most of the time.”

While the game is centered around assassination, the goal is to stay fo-cused killing the bad guys, not just any person you see. Cockburn believes

that the game is really not that violent com-pared to other games that she has played. Imeson dis-agrees.

“The game is really vio-lent. It’s abso-lutely brutal. The characters break each oth-er’s knees and stuff .”

While he believes that the game is very violent, Imeson says that the Assassins Creed is not as bloody as other games.

“There is an option where you can turn the blood off if you want.” Ime-son said.

The new version is set in during the Italian Renaissance and intro-duces a new assassin, Ezio. The game can be purchased from Wal-Mart for $59.92. Imeson and Cockburn have not yet purchased the game because of the steep price, but both hope to get it in the near future. Imeson and Cockburn, as well as other fans are sure to be pleased with the new ver-sion of the game

The NewsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 Gaming A6

War PeaceWhich side are you?&

Left 4 Dead 2 is the sequel to the popular zombie killing game, Left 4 Dead. The prem-ise of the game centers around

four “survivors” of a virus that turns people into zombies. Despite mixed reviews and considerable controversy, the game has acquired a modest cult following. The following is comprised largely of teenagers and fans of shoot-ing games in general and has made its way into Harrisonburg High School.

Sophomore Brady Cockerham has been playing the game since its incep-tion and bought Left 4 Dead 2 when it was fi rst released on Nov 17.

“The game was boring at fi rst, but it got harder and that made me want to stick with it to beat it,” Cockerham said. “Left 4 Dead is really only fun on expert.”

The game is similar to other vio-lent, M-rated video games in that it features an assorted array of obtrusive weapons and original ways to kill people. The draw of these games is usually based on how creatively people are killed and how creatively one can be killed. Left 4 Dead 2 off ers many of these surprises.

“The game is all right. My fa-vorite part is killing the Boomers. When they catch you off guard, they throw up on you,” junior Sam Oben-shain said. “It’s actually kind of gross when that happens.”

The drawback of monster games is that they may or may not be scary. Fans of Left 4 Dead are adamant about how scary the game can be.

“I remember playing Left 4 Dead

once when it was really dark in my house,” senior Aakash Tandel said. “Then the one witch tried to kill me and it was the worst. I jumped in my seat. Aft er that, it was game over.”

Left 4 Dead 2 has garnered more positive reviews than its p r e d e c e s s o r and has enjoyed m a i n s t r e a m success thanks to (ironically) nega-tive publicity. The makers of the game have been accused of racism and some disgruntled gam-ers have even boycott ed the sequel because it did not stay true to the original. All this has brought Left 4 Dead 2 to the att ention of casual gamers like

s e -

nior Justin Syharath and has boosted the game’s overall popularity.

“I never heard of Left 4 Dead, the fi rst one, but when Left 4 Dead 2 came out, I wanted to start playing it be-cause I was curious as to whether it was going to be a good game. I was surprised, it was prett y good aft er all,” Syharath said.

Molly DenmanAd Manager

Will TurnerStaff Reporter

Alex RendonSports Writer

“ The game is really violent. It’s

absolutly brutal. The characters break

eachothers knees and stu� .”

SeniorAdam Imeson

The newest of the Call of Duty yet arrived Nov 10, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Many stood in lines for the midnight release at their local Game Stops.

“There were two lines up and down the mall of people waiting to get into Game Stop and get the game. There were about 400 people in line,” sopho-more Gustaf Nelson said. “I think people were really hyped up for the new Modern Warfare because since the fi rst one was so good the second one had to be just as good. When I fi rst bought the game that night, I went home and played it for about four hours.”

“Stefan and I were 62 and 63 in the line with about 250 other people in it along with us waiting to get the

new Call of Duty,” senior Matt Sayre said. “All the options in create a class in multiplayer is my favorite part.”

Gamers have been playing non-stop with the moti-vation of being the best of their friends.

“I have a total of over two days of online game-play. You get hooked prett y soon and don’t want to stop,” Nelson said.

Modern Warfare 2 is the sequel to the extremely popular Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which revo-lutionized the Xbox live experience. The newest Mod-ern Warfare has countless ways of customizing your online profi le including titles and badges. Weapons are no exception to the drastic changes and improve-ments to the game, new scopes, att achments, perks and guns amplify your weapon personalization ex-perience. Kill streaks online are when you kill a cer-tain number of enemies without being killed yourself. When you achieve a kill streak, you can get advan-

tages like air strikes and helicopter att acks. In Modern Warfare 2 you can bett er control your kill streaks by controlling the helicopter or missile yourself.

“How you can control the chopper gun and AC-130 gunship is probably my favorite new thing about the game,” sophomore Taylor Bailey said.

A new and diff erent setup of multiplayer for the game is the largest att raction to the gaming commu-nity.

The multiplayer is not the only diff erence to Mod-ern Warfare 2, the campaign theme and sett ing was altered drastically as well. The main sett ing in the newest Call of Duty is the home front, America. In the game, the Russians att ack the capital and you must do your best to defend Washington D.C. while your comrades att ack the enemy on their turf back in the tundra of Russia. The game also takes you into the shoes of the enemies for a level where you participate in a terrorist att ack within a Moscow airport.

A new video game, similar to Guitar Hero came out recent-ly. It uses turntables to make remixes of over 100 diff er-

ent songs. By using diff erent butt ons similar to Guitar Hero and scratching the turntable, the player is able to mix songs. The songs featured on the game are popular singles such as, “Day N’ Night,” “Boom Boom Pow”and“My Name Is.” Also artists such as, Taylor Swift , Jay Z, Eminem, and Kid Cudi have songs available to play on DJ Hero.

Seniors Ryan Slocum, Tanner John-son and teacher Moses Tinsley own this new game. Slocum decided to buy the game aft er seeing a preview for it online.

“DJ Hero is fun, but I don’t have time to play, so buying it was kind of a waste of money,” Slocum said.

“You have to push butt ons on it while you scratch the turntable,” Slocum said.

Tanner Johnson received DJ Hero as a present from his grandma. Tanner and his brother, Jake Johnson both en-joy playing DJ Hero. Tanner likes the game because it does not use a control-ler. Instead, there is the use of a turn-

table, which is unlike any other game. “The only thing that is bad about DJ

Hero is that it is really repetitive and it is just the same thing over and over again,” Tanner said. Despite a few glitches in the game, Johnson still en-joys playing it.

Marketing teacher Moses Tinsley recently purchased DJ Hero. Although he has not had much time to play, he hopes to have a chance to get into the game over Winter Break.

“My favorite part about DJ Hero is, it has a lot of popular music on it,” Tinsley said. According to Tinsley, the theme of DJ Hero is similar to that of Guitar Hero because both games deal with timing and rhythm, especially in DJ Hero because of the Hip/Hop beat.

DJ Hero is available at Wal-Mart, most gaming stores and online. With over 100 songs and 94 mixes, there are many diff erent versions to perform. DJ Hero is made by FreeStyleGames and is available for gaming systems such as, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlaysStation 3 and Xbox 360.

DJ Hero is one of the many new in-teractive games coming out. The new games are designed to get players “into the game” and have the experi-ence of being able to play instruments or be a DJ and mix songs. The new set list in DJ Hero is one of the many at-tractions for buyers.

The Sims 3 was originally released on June 2. The original Sims 3 was an immediate success, selling 1.4 million

copies in the fi rst week it was available to the public. According to EA Sports, it is t h e

most successful selling computer game in history. It has also been rumored that The Sims 3 will become available for other gaming systems, such as Wii, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3.

Freshman Marylouise McMahan is a frequent Sims player and was excited to hear of the new versions being released.

“I’m glad they decided to come out with another version of Sims, because they had a lot they could improve on from The Sims 2,” McMahan said.

Since the time of the original release, Maxis, the creator of the “Sims” games, has released a new expansion pack titled The Sims 3: World Adventures. This new and improved version of The Sims 3 was released on November 17.

Yet another version of The Sims 3 was released on December 4th, titled The Sims 3 Holiday Collector’s Edition.

This version of “Sims” will feature a new Christmas themed introduction song, six Christmas themed in-game items, new Christmas themed wallpaper, and a European styled sports car download.

One feature of the game play in The Sims 3 that diff ers from past versions of “Sims” is the new open world feature.

This feature allows one to take their “Sims” into the open world, away from their own neighborhood. More features available to The Sims 3: World Adventures include treasure hunting, landmark exploration in diff erent countries, new skills, and new traits.

Shane McMahanSports Writer

Meagan KelleyFun Director

Lines form in mall for release of Call of Duty 2

EA Sports, it is t h e they had a lot they could improve on

from The Sims 2,” McMahan said. Since the time of the original release,

Maxis, the creator of the “Sims” games, has released a new expansion pack titled The Sims 3: World Adventures. This new and improved version of The Sims 3 was released on November 17.

Yet another version of The Sims 3 was released on December 4Sims 3 Holiday Collector’s Edition.

This version of “Sims” will feature a new Christmas themed introduction song, six Christmas themed in-game items, new Christmas themed wallpaper, and a European styled sports car download.

One feature of the game play in The Sims 3 that diff ers from past versions of “Sims” is the new open world feature.

This feature allows one to take their “Sims” into the open world, away from their own neighborhood. More features available to The Sims 3: World Adventures include treasure hunting,

A Simulation. The Sims 3 o� ers the complete abil-ity to customize your Sim from your weight to the freckles on your face.

Sims 3 huge success

New DJ hero mixes music

Scratch! Jay Z’s DJ hero renegade addition runs about 199 in stores. Photo by Phillip Bannister

Players � ght with living dead

Cockburn assasinates

eft 4 Dead 2 is the sequel to the popular zombie killing game, Left 4 Dead. The prem-ise of the game centers around

four “survivors” of a virus that turns people into zombies. Despite mixed reviews and considerable controversy, the game has acquired a modest cult following. The following is comprised largely of teenagers and fans of shoot-ing games in general and has made its way into Harrisonburg High School.

Sophomore Brady Cockerham has been playing the game since its incep-tion and bought Left 4 Dead 2 when it was fi rst released on Nov 17.

“The game was boring at fi rst, but it got harder and that made me want to stick with it to beat it,” Cockerham said. “Left 4 Dead is really only fun on

The game is similar to other vio-lent, M-rated video games in that it features an assorted array of obtrusive weapons

are killed and how creatively one can be killed. Left 4 Dead 2

jumped in my seat. Aft er that, it was game over.”

Left 4 Dead 2 has garnered more positive reviews than its p r e d e c e s s o r and has enjoyed m a i n s t r e a m success thanks to (ironically) nega-tive publicity. The makers of the game have been accused of racism and some disgruntled gam-ers have even boycott ed the sequel because it did not stay true to the original. All this has brought Left 4 Dead 2 to the att ention of casual gamers like

s e -

Intense! Sophomore Peter Byrd is one intense war gamer. Photo by Ali Byrd.

The NewsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 TV A7

Jessica StricklerOpinion Editor

Big Bang Theory is a CBS hit comedy that airs on Monday nights at 9:30 p.m. In its

third season, the plot revolves around a group of over-educated, socially inept males and one actress-wannabe blonde. The contrast between geeky, intellectual boys and a socially advanced, common sense-driven waitress creates a humorous rub.

Two of the guys are Cal Tech prodigies; Leonard (Johnny Galecki) is an experimental physicist and Sheldon (Jim Parsons) is a theoretical physicist. They live in an apartment across the hall from

Penny (Kaley Cuoco), who is a waitress at a Cheesecake Factory restaurant and an aspiring actress. Howard (Simon Helberg), a Jewish engineer with a degree from MIT, who lives with his mother and Rajesh (Kunal Nayyar), an Indian immigrant and a particle astrophysicist at Cal Tech are good friends with Leonard and Sheldon and add to the comedic mix.

The producers of the show have surprisingly managed to keep the conversations intelligent, although the average viewer probably would not notice. Playing on all of the stereo-types of nerdy boys, from living with your mother, being Indian, lacking social skills and having extreme cases of OCD, Big Bang has an

appeal that has managed to capture the att ention of nerds and average Joe’s alike.

Various situations that present themselves, force the fi ve individuals to interact with each other. In Rajesh’s case, the interaction is limited, because he is too shy to speak when Penny is around, unless he’s had alcohol. Penny, ever aware of Rajesh’s situation, purposefully speaks to him in att empts to get him to speak. Every time, Rajesh says nothing.

Other times, Sheldon’s OCD dominates the show. He is sits in the same spot on the couch, eats dinner at the same time every night and orders Chinese every Thursday night. While his extreme organization and peculiar habits are not tied to

any sort of paranoia, the humor of in these acts is not lost on the viewers.

Lenny, the most ‘average’ of the nerds, is currently dating Penny. Their relationship is at times awkward, but Lenny’s intelligence and Penny’s common sense have enabled the two to come together as more than friends. The humor lies in the fact that while they are dating, all of the nerds are hanging around Lenny, even if Penny is around. And at the same time, the other nerds are trying to date, rather unsuccessfully, on their own. So the perfections in Lenny and Penny’s relationship only highlight the geekiness and immaturity in the other’s.

In 2009, at the Primetime Emmy Awards, Jim Parsons

received the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and Christine Baranski received the award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.

Produced by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, on September 21, 2009 the show was CBS’s highest-rated show in the adults 18-49 age demographic and had a then-series high of 12.83 million viewers. Lorre is also the producer of Two and a Half Men, the CBS show that airs during the 9 p.m. time slot on Monday nights before Big Bang Theory.

For anyone interested in watching true comedy on a Monday night, Big Bang provides humor to the geeks and non-geeks alike.

Big Bang Theory propels physicists into spotlight, top ratings

Television is not only a mainstream popular form of home entertainment, it is also a way for students to relate to

other people. Characters from the show, whether gut-wrenchingly hilarious, soft ly mellow, unbelievably intelligent or cleverly witt y, allow viewers to take a glimpse of themselves through the characters. Junior Melissa McDuff ee and senior Tina Nguyen are fans of television shows that have characters who express a certain side of their own personalities.

The Big Bang Theory, a sitcom, which premiered on Sept 24, 2007 on CBS, is about the life of two intellectual male physicists and how their world turns upside down once they fi nd out that their new next door neighbor is indeed, a woman. These self proclaimed “geeks”, have to cope with new social situations and fi nd out that they need to learn more about how to get a girlfriend. McDuff ee, has been a fan for years and relates to the main character, Leonard Hofstadter,

“I relate to Leonard because he’s moody and I change my mood all the time. For a few minutes I will be extremely happy but for another second, I will be sad,” McDuff ee said.

McDuff ee recalls a certain memory she had that reminded her of Leonard.

“I was happy for one day, and then I heard my dad was in the hospital, and as you know, I became sad,” McDuff ee said.

Today McDuff ee’s father is not

ill anymore, but watching Big Bang Theory, continues to bring up memories that relates to the characters. McDuff ee’s shelves at home are decorated with all of the DVD episodes, with the exception of the last one.

“I can not wait until I buy the next season,” McDuff ee said.

Another popular television series is Bones, a FOX and USA show that focuses on a smart, extremely focused and charismatic forensic anthropologist and a cocky, arrogant FBI agent. Together they investigate death causes, and on screen create an interesting and dynamic chemistry.

“To unravel a murder, you have to strip it to the bone,” is the tagline, and the line, Nguyen believes in. She relates to the main character of Bones, Dr. Temperance ‘Bones’ Brennan.

“For a while I was interested in forensics science and her character is relatable because her childhood was hard. She always had the desire to be successful and driven in spite of her parents,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen has been a fan for long period of time, but drift s in and out with keeping up on new episodes.

“I started watching it and slowly got into it. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a new show, since I’m busy with school, but it’s one of my favorites,” Nguyen said.

McDuff ee and Nguyen’s relation to these characters are one of the reasons why they’re huge fans. Their daily dose of episodes is not only a form of entertainment, but an alternative to reality, an escape of the colorless monotony to everyday life.

Kim AntonioManaging Editor

McDu� ee, Nguyen identify with stars

The show Glee took TV networks by storm. Boasting 7.32 million viewers on Wednesday nights between the hours of 9 and 10,

this show has America hooked. The sit-com Glee takes place in a Glee club at a high school. The show covers a broad spectrum of issues that high school stu-dents deal with. Some problems are as minimal as not get-ting a date, some as extreme as teen pregnancy. The char-acters of Glee make the show; everyone is so diff erent, giv-ing the audience someone to relate to.

“I like Emma actually, her hair is always per-fect and she is re-ally nice,” senior Kelsey Hyser said.

Emma is the school guidance coun-selor; she has a phobia of germs and has a mild case of obsessive compulsive dis-order. Freaking out when things are not correctly in order, it is only natural that her appearance matches her personality.

Hyser has been a fan of the show since the pilot episode. The up- to-date music is what keeps Hy-ser interested week aft er week.

“My favorite thing about Glee is how they sing new songs in the mash up’s,” Hyser said.

Like Hyser, a big part of the show experience is the mu-sic for senior Adam Imeson.

“My favorite thing about Glee is the

music. It’s insane like an emu on acid, but in a good way,” Imeson said. “My favorite characters are Sue Sylvester and Arty. Arty is much more plausible as a person than most of the others, and Sue just about makes me die of laughter every time she’s on screen.”

Imeson has been an avid fan since the pilot as well.

For Hyser, the main complaint for the show is an actual character in the show.

“I don’t like the wife. Why would you lie about being preg-nant? That’s stupid,” Hyser said.

An ongoing secret in the show is the hysterical pregnancy that Terri Schuester goes through. Af-ter suspecting that her husband Will Schuester (the glee club advisor) was go-ing to leave her for Emma the guidance counselor, she lied about being pregnant to keep him around.

The worst part of the show diff ers for Imeson. His complaint is more of a writt en issue than actual characters.

“The show’s plot lines are sometimes exceedingly outlandish,” Imeson said.

Aft er following the season Hy-ser deems Glee a show for everyone.

“Glee targets all audiences because of all the characters it off ers,” Hyser said.

Unlike Hyser, Imeson fi nds that the show att racts a certain crowd.

“It appeals to music-oriented people, people who watch soap op-eras, and teenagers,” Imeson said.

Aft er a break to make room for Amer-ican Idol, Glee will return to Fox on April 13, airing at a new time on Tues-day nights rather than Wednesday.

Phillip BannisterStyle Editor

“It’s insane like an

emu on acid, but in a good way.”

Senior Adam Imeson

music. It’s insane like an emu on acid, but in a good way,” Imeson said. “My favorite characters are Sue Sylvester and Arty. Arty is much more plausible as a person than most of the others,

Phillip BannisterStyle Editor

g ee

“I’m sort of like Costco. I’m big, I’m not fancy and I dare you to not like me,” said Cameron, a character on the new ABC

show Modern Family. Modern Family is a half hour comedy that comes on every Wednesday at 9 p.m. on ABC. It is a sitcom on three families that are all related to one another. “I love the really dry sarcastic sense of humor,” said junior Jessica May

The head patriarch of all the families is Jay, played by Ed O’Neil, who has just recently married Gloria, a young Columbian woman. Gloria (Sofi a Vergara) also has a child from a previous marriage named Manny (Rico Rodriguez) who is still in elementary school and always

pictures himself to be in love, with various girls he meets.

Jay also has two older grown children, Claire (Julie Bowmen) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) who both have their own families. Claire is married to Phil (Ty Burrell) who acts like a grown child throughout the show. Claire and Phil have three children. Haley (Sarah Hyland) the oldest, who acts just like her mother used to which drives her mother crazy. Alex (Ariel Winter) the middle child who is a genius. Luke (Nolan Gould) is a litt le odd and the only boy in the family.

Mitchell’s family consists of his life partner Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) who is eccentric and very outgoing. Plus they recently got their adopted baby girl Lily.

Modern Family shows moments that could take place in a real

family’s life, like when Luke has a birthday party and it ends with a trip to the hospital. The show also has characters who are in every family, May feels like Phil, the dad is one of those characters you could see in your family.

“He says the most outrageous stuff with a straight face and that makes you crack up because it could happen in really life, too,” May said.

The show is peppered with funny, silly characters, but there are real morals to this show too like the importance of having a strong closeknit family.

Olivia McCartyStyle Editor

Sitcoms modernize, gain popularity

Family Guy is an animated comedy aired on FOX, it contains humor, violence, sex, politics and a lot of other obscenities.

The show is about Peter Griffi n and his wife Lois, daughter Meg, sons Chris and Stewie and their talking dog Brian. Family Guy has 18 million viewers and even earned an Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series.

Each character has a hilarious and extreme personality. Peter and Stewie tend to be the most outspoken and daring; and they do not hesitate to accomplish their ideas.

“Peter and Stewie are the funniest, Stewie is bad and always tries to kill his mom, Lois,” junior Junior Hearn said.

Each episode is random and makes jokes about real life events.

“My favorite episode is when Stewie cloned himself and he made his clone

do everything for him,” freshman Noah Royer said.

Hearn favors Stewie and Peter as well, he enjoys the episodes that are mostly about them. Peter’s friends show up in about every episode and usually have an important role in helping him out with spontaneous ideas.

“I like the episode when Peter opens up a restaurant and messes everything up then Lois leaves him,” Hearn said.

Freshman Robby Ross has seen a few airings of Family Guy himself and fi nds Peter’s friends quite funny.

“Whenever the wheelchair guy comes in, he’s crazy and always tells war stories; he’ll act like he’s still in the war, too,” Ross said.

Family Guy relates very well to everyday life with family issues, personal problems or goals and society’s aff ect on any average person.

“I’d say Family Guy is about making fun of other shows, movies and politics,” junior Max Solomon said.

“It’s a random series of events that make for a hilarious show,” Ross said.

Diana GutierrezStyle Editor

Family Guy enters ninth season

What TV character are you?“Riley from The Boondocks because I’m a G,” - Tyree Syndor

“Spongebob because he goes hard,” - Kevin Lumbi

“Cartman from South Park because he’s funny like me,” - J.R. Haliburton

“Tinkerbell because we both have an att itude,” - Kiah Silver

“Fry from Futurama because he’s rockin’,” - Austin Burgess

“Stewie because we’re both funny,” - Salvador Alonso

“Sandy from Spongebob because she’s adventurous and likes to go out of her element,” - Jemma Hedrick

“Bugs Bunny because I like carrots,” - Ben Marks

“Batman because he’s fresh just like me,” - Eli Kline

“The Incredible Hulk because he’s ripped like I want to be,” - Luke Rodeff er

attracts huge audiences

The NewsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 Restaurants a8

Ham’s restaurant located on 221 University Blvd, is one of only twenty-three locations in the country. Ham’s is known for one of the more famous and well-known dessert, the cookie skillet. Six globs

of cookie dough are halfway cooked on a skillet, topped with two scoops of Bruster’s vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate syrup, all served on a skillet with a long silver spoon.

“They are freakin’ delicious,” freshman Kaylin Warne said.

“I love them so much and I wish I could eat a whole one, but they’re too big. I love every second of it,” senior Jessica Rutledge said.

Senior Claudia Rojas and her friends have started a trend of going to Ham’s as oft en as possible. Rojas wishes she could have a cookie skillet every single day, that’s how

much she loves them.“They are just so indulging and I [crave] them every day,”

Rojas said.The cold ice cream, melting syrup and freshly half cooked

warm and gooey cookies is a perfect combination. The whole dessert only costs $6.99 with enough to fi ll two or three cookie dough lovers. Every day aft er 9:30 p.m., desserts and appetizers are sold at half price.

Sophomore Evan Wetsel has tried to recreate the dessert at home. With much experimentation of diff erent types of cookie dough, she fi nally found the perfect way to make

them. “I make them at home. I use Tollhouse cookie dough, put them in the oven and cover it in ice cream. It’s really easy but doesn’t compare to Ham’s cookie skillets,” Wetsel said.

Although Ham’s has a variety of options, the surrounding of televisions make a perfect spot to watch football games and hang out with friends. The atmosphere of friendly waitresses and great food makes a family friendly atmosphere.

Christine ChoiFeature Editor

Eating seems to be one of America’s favorite pastimes. Whether it’s consuming vast

quantities of food or trying to withstand the heat of some foods, there are always those crazy few who are willing to do [or eat] anything.

The Buff alo Wild Wings Blazin’ challenge gives food adventurers a chance for glory. Contestants must eat twelve chicken wings doused in the restaurants signature ‘blazin’ hot sauce without the aid of any beverage or condiments in six minutes or less. Before starting the challenge a liability form must be signed, so Buff alo Wild Wing’s is not held responsible for any mishaps or injuries. If a contestant completes the challenge they receive a t-shirt and their picture on the blazin’ wall of fame.

Freshman Ben DiNapoli decided to do the Blazin’ challenge because of a sibling

rivalry with his older sister senior Emma DiNapoli.

“I wanted to beat my sister’s time. She said she was bett er than me, and I wanted to prove her wrong,” DiNapoli said.

Going into the challenge DiNapoli was a litt le afraid of what the wings would taste like, but just wanted to see how much heat his mouth could handle.

“I really didn’t want to feel sick during the challenge. I didn’t have a strategy or anything, I just tried to fi nd the best way to eat all the wings,” DiNapoli said. “They were prett y hot. But the heat got you more when you were done. I guess adrenaline keeps you going during the actual challenge.”

DiNapoli thinks that Buff alo Wild Wings Blazin’ sauce concoction is diff erent from most hot foods, but he could still withstand the heat.

“It’s a diff erent type of hot than peppers. I’ve had a lot of peppers, but this was really weird compared to them. The heat keeps building up and up,” DiNapoli said, “At the end of the challenge I went to the bathroom to wash up and my face started to burn.”

DiNapoli did beat his sister’s record by four seconds, with a fi nal time of 3 minutes and 16 seconds.

“I was feeling prett y good. I got my picture on the wall, the free t-shirt, I was just happy to be done,” DiNapoli said.

Mouthwatering signature treats

Cookie skillet, the perfect dessert combination

A few weeks ago I went on a mission in search of the Friendly City’s best bread. As I found out actually eating the

roll would be easy, but gett ing the roll was another story.

Before heading out to Outback Steakhouse, Red Lobster, Ham’s, Texas Roadhouse, and O’Charley’s, the places of our choice, I called the restaurants to make sure they would be willing to hand out a couple of free rolls. My calls to Outback, Texas Roadhouse, and O’Charley’s went without a hitch. However, I cannot say the same for Ham’s and Red Lobster.

First I called Ham’s. Sarah, the employee I was talking to, told me that no, they would not give me any rolls. Her reasoning was that it was dinnertime, and they were simply too busy. I thought this reasoning was a bit ridiculous; could they not spare one minute to run some rolls out to the front desk? But I hung up and moved on.

My next call went to Red Lobster. I asked if I could stop by and pick up

some rolls. They told me yes, I could. However, it was going to cost me two bucks for half a dozen. The price wasn’t bad, but they weren’t as cooperative as other places had been.

Aft er calling all the restaurants, I headed out. I called Ham’s again to make sure they had no spare rolls, and they did not. I stopped at Red Lobster fi rst. I handed over my $2.22 in return for six rolls. Next, I went to Outback, where I was handed two loaves of their bread free of charge. Aft er that I decided to give Ham’s a third, and fi nal, chance.

I walked through the door and up to the front desk. I glanced at the nametag of the woman behind the counter; it was Sarah, the same person I had talked to in my previous two phone calls. I asked if there were any left over rolls I

could have. She stared at me incredulously, as if to say “Why are you here?” Instead, she simply said no there were none.

I then s t o p p e d by Texas R o a d h o u s e a n d O’Charley’s,

and headed home. Now the fun part: the tasting.What I discovered makes a great

roll is butt er. But the roll itself has to be good as well.

1. Texas Roadhouse. This roll was the best. The roll itself was good, but with the accompanying cinnamon butt er, the roll was delicious. It basically tasted like dessert. Just don’t eat too many before you get your food. If you do, you might not have any room for the actual meal.

2. Outback Steakhouse. The loaf, by itself, is probably the healthiest choice. But don’t let the health factor make you think it is not good, though. Without butt er, the bread is very good. When butt er is added, the bread obviously tastes bett er, but not by much. With or without butt er, Outback bread is always good.

3. O’Charley’s. These rolls were good, but boring. They were the stereotypical crunchy, white roll with some butt er on the top. Not bad, just bland.

4. Red Lobster. These rolls are by far the most butt ery. They do not look like a normal roll, but they are good nonetheless. The butt er really compliments the roll itself. However, don’t eat too many. That much butt er can not be good for you.

My decisions on taste were not necessarily aff ected by the restaurant’s service. In my opinion, Texas Roadhouse won for best taste, with Red Lobster coming in a close second.

Finding the best bread in the ‘BurgJack BurdenSports Editor

Chances are that if you have lived in Harrisonburg, you have visited one of the two locations of Jess’ Quick lunch. Jess’ has the original restaurants located downtown

while the newer Jess’ is on route 33 near the Kroger’s shopping center.

At Jess’ you can get about anything that you would like. Some of the items on the menu are burgers, french fries, onion rings, milkshakes and hot dogs.

With Jess’ it’s all about location. The Jess’ in Downtown is the older Jess’. At this location, as you walk in right off to your left you have the kitchen, along with the kitchen you also have a long row of

stools where the custumers can sit. Also, in the room beside the kitchen you have booths for the larger familyies that like to sit down together.

At the new location on Route 33, Jess’ number 2 has much of the same set up. It doesn’t have as many stools at the bar nor the booths, b u t overall it’s the same set up.

At Jess’ their hot dogs are possibly their most prized item on the menu.

“Their hot dogs are amazing,” sophomore Brady Cockerham said. Cockerham makes the trip to Jess’ about once or twice a month.

“When I go there, I get three plain hot dogs and a fry,” Cockerham said. You can also get

many toppings on your hot dogs. You can order Chili, cheese or onions on your dog.

Jess’ also prides itself on the fast delivery. “When I go into Jess’, I expect to be in and out of

there in about 20 minutes,” Cockerham said. With the hot dogs, they put them on the grill about 20 at a time. When they are done, they are taken right

off the grill and put into the bun or they are placed in a warming bin. Also, the chili

is made and placed in a big bowl on a burner at low heat and stirred about every 20-30 minutes to keep it evenly heated.

Jess’ hot dogs are a Harrisonburg institution. They have made their mark as being one of the must-have

lunch items for people that come to Harrisonburg.

Mitch DePoySports Writer

Siblings Blazin’ Challenge times mere seconds apart

Blazin’ Challenge Sophomore Connor Whitehouse, freshman Alex Hunter-Nick-els, and freshman Gabe Hoak show o� their Blazin’ t-shirts after the challenge. Photo by Vanessa Ehrenpreis

Chowing Down. Sophomore Gabe Morey begins eating his twelve blazin’ wings. Photo by Vanessa Ehrenpreis.

Vanessa EhrenpreisSports Editor

many stools at the bar nor the booths,

At Jess’ their hot dogs are

“When I go there, I get three plain hot dogs and a fry,” Cockerham said. You can also get

the hot dogs, they put them on the grill about 20 at a time. When they are done, they are taken right

off the grill and put into the bun or they are placed in a warming bin. Also, the chili

Harrisonburg.

So fresh. Burden chose Texas Road-house rolls and cinnamon butter as his number one choice.

Jess’ hot dogs appeal to many in Harrisonburg

El Charro Mexican restaurant is a popular place to eat in Har-risonburg and draws in a large crowd of high school students

because of the restaurants reasonable prices. While El Charro has many com-petitors around town including Jalisco, Chipotle and Qdoba, students still think that El Charro’s chips and salsa are what separate this restaurant from the others. The main att raction to El Charro is its complimentary chips and salsa. Immediately upon entering and sitt ing down at a table, a server will bring out fresh, warm chips and salsa.

Only a mere three ingredients mixed together make up the salsa; tomato paste, jalapeño peppers, and salt. To make the chips, the chefs cord the torti-lla shells and then fry them.

“Their chips are good and the salsa is not too chunky, it’s nice and smooth,” junior Joe Niland said. “I like my main meal, but the chips defi nitely set the meal off right.” Niland pays a visit once a month to get his chips and salsa and his usual, the shrimp chimichanga. Along with Niland, senior Jesse Deavers agrees that El Charro chips and salsa are his favorite part about eating there.

“I don’t know how they dice up all that stuff to make [the salsa] taste so good,” Deavers said. “The chips and salsa combo are just ridiculous and fan-tastic.”

Jorge Armando Padilla Almanza, a waiter at El Charro restaurant on Route 11 in Harrisonburg notices that tons of people compliment the chips and salsa.

“A lot of people always ask for re-fi lls,” Almanza said. “I can tell they really like them.” If people could not get enough of the complimentary chips and salsa while eating there, then they can choose from four diff erent size bags of chips ranging from $2.50 to $6.95 and purchase a cup of salsa starting at 1.95.

Claire SudolManaging Editor

El Charro’s chips rock

The NewsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 Ads a9

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Mapquest.com

1. Love Story by Taylor Swift - “Love story is my jam,” senior Sarah Price said.

2. Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas

3. Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus

4. Single Ladies by Beyoncé- “That song makes me feel like a sassy black lady,” junior Zach McDonnell said.

5. Just Dance by Lady GaGa- Just Dance has been in the top forty since January.

6. Dead and Gone by T.I. and Justin Timberlake- Dead and Gone reached the Billboard Top 100 before its offi cial release thanks to high online downloads.

7. Down by Jay Sean- “I love that song! because I’m down, down, down,” junior Kalicia Jones said.

8. Use Somebody by Kings of Leon- “I felt really good about that song,” senior Rafi qa Haji said.

9. Firefl ies by Owl City

The NewsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 Fashion A10

Top 9 of 09’

1. Obama becoming the 44th president- Obama became the fi rst black president of the U.S. in 2009.

2. Stimulus Package- When $750,000,000,000 is pumped into

circulation, it causes some conversation.

3. Health Care Plan- Paying more taxes to help the less fortunate was a big deal for some people.

4. Guantanamo shut down- The detention center for terror suspects is in its last days and more than half of the detainees are being released.

5. Swine Flu pandemic- The government did everything they could to help stop the spread of the swine fl u.

6. Sarah Palin resigning as Alaska’s Governor- Palin resigned following her run for the vice presidency with John McCain.

7.John Edwards scandal

8.Troops pulled out of major Iraqi cities- Obama announced the fi nal with-drawal will be in 2013.

9. More troops being sent to Afghanistan

1. Principal Irene Reynolds performance the “Jerk” at the annual Renaissance Rally. “She livens up the spirit of the school and shows that you can have fun while in school,” senior Carrie Brown said.

2. Boys Dance Team- “My fa-vorite part is gett ing dressed up, wearing make-up and looking ridiculous,” senior Michael Clop-per said.

3. Powder puff Football

4. Madison Project- The local a Capella group was a huge success at HHS.

5. Mr Blue Streak Pageant- “Doo-die was funny because he actually looked like a girl,” senior Sam Fla-herty said.

6. “Come Sail Away” Prom- “Aft er prom was really fun because you got to play games and win prizes,” senior Greta Klosinski said.

7. School-Wide Free T-Shirts- Theses shirts helped promote school spirit for all of HHS.

8. The Red Sea- The rowdy student section can be found at all the football games.

9. Fiesta Homecoming- “My favorite part of homecoming was gett ing dressed up,” senior Dot Boisen said.

1. Leggings- The versatility of leg-gings made them popular with all

styles.

2. Uggs

3. North Face jack-ets- These comfy jackets come in a variety of diff erent styles and colors

4. Multi-colored skinny jeans- Skinny jeans took a new turn when they came out with colored varieties.

5. Oversized bags- big bags were not only practical, but stylish in 2009.

6. Animal prints- animal prints added in-stant att ention to any outfi t

7. High w a i s t e d skirts

8. Plaid top

9. Nerd glasses- Nerdy became cool when these glasses made an appearance.

1.Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen- “I’ve watched Transform-ers at least 20 times since I bought it,” senior Adam Imeson said.

2. Harry Pott er and the Half-Blood Prince- “I would recom-mend it, but you should read the book fi rst because there is so much more detail. It really lets your imagination go wild and it’s prett y creative,” freshman Sarah Bell said.

3. Up

4. Star Trek- “That was the best movie I’ve seen in a while, they portray the characters prett y well and the action is really awesome,” senior Grace Byers said.

5. Paranormal Activity- “I nor-mally don’t get scared, but this movie scared me because of the suspense,” junior Priscilla Harri-son said.

6. Watchman

7. The Hangover- “It was ex-tremely funny and was a new idea when it comes to comedy, and it had really good actors,” sophomore Raymond Hyser

said.

8. Where the Wild Things Are

9. District 9- “That movie was worth seeing. It was great, ac-tion packed and will keep you on the edge of your seat,” fresh-man Paul Hariston said.

1. Michael Holmes- He lead the state in rushing yards, he set a new HHS record for rushing yards and in addi-tion he was named off ensive player of the year.

2. 4x100- The boys 4x100 re-lay team qualifi ed for nation-als

3. HHS alumni Alex Owah- He walked away from the state meet with 3 gold medals in out-door track.

4. Varsity Boys Soccer- They made it to the state quarterfi nal game and won their fi rst Massanut-

ten District title.

5. Girls Cross Country- The Lady Streaks claimed the dis-trict title for the second year in a row, and qualifi ed for states for the third year in a row.

6. Drake Cary and Priscilla Harrison- These divers traveled to the state meet last season. Cary earned fi ft h place and Harrison earned seventh.

7. HHS alumni Mandy Kauff man- The star hur-dler won the 55 meter hurdles at the indoor track state meet last year.

8. Keith Thomas- The only boy from HHS to qualify to the state meet this season. He also won the dis-trict meet and earned all-region honors.

9. Powder puff football- The SCA hosted a girls football game this fall. The junior la-dies won the close game.

1. TAJ Yearbook

2. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - “Thanks to Mrs. Thacker, I read the book and was almost immediately riveted by the explo-sive plot and spectacular characters. And as good as it was, much like Empire Strikes Back, the second book is even bett er!” – teacher, David Loughran

3. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

4. The Christopher Killer: a forensic mystery by Alane

F e r g u -son

5. Tyrell by Coe Booth

6. Great monologues for young actors by Craig Slaight and Jack Sharrar

7. Seventeen Magazine

8. The Body of

Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci

9. Breaking Dawn by Steph-anie Meyer- “I’ve read all of the books in the series. My favorite is Eclipse; I don’t know anything special about it, I just like how she writes.” – Junior, Emily Harper

Top 9 of 09’Top 9 of 09’Celebrities

1. Lady GaGa- “She’s prett y unique; she’s like the modern Madonna,” senior Claudia Rojas said.

2.Taylor Swift - “Taylor Swift put out a lot of good songs that were infl uential,” junior Cortez Mosley said.

3. Beyoncé Knowles- “Beyoncé is a tal-ented performer who empow-ers other women,” sophomore Taylor McDonnell said.

4. Barack Obama- “He was elected the fi rst black president of our country,” freshman Makayla Foley said.

5. Angelina Jolie

6. Derek Jeter- “Jeter is the starting short stop and captain for the Yankees, the baseball team that won the World Se-

ries,” freshman Kerri Hofacker said..

7. Miley Cyrus

8.Oprah Winfrey- “She’s been i n f l u e n t i a l this year be-cause she

gives back a lot of money to diff erent charities,” senior Lauren Biller said.

9. Lil’ Wayne

Love Story by Taylor Swift -

Top 9 of 09’Songs

Michael Holmes- He lead

Sports Moments

Transformers: Revenge of the Movies News School Activities

Trends Political Moments BooksThese were the top 9 most frequently checked-out books in the HHS library according to Destiny Quest.

1. Swine Flu- “Swine Flu didn’t scare me because it started in Mexico-not my problem. But people made a huge deal of it,” sophomore Virginia Zelaya said.

2. Death of Michael Jackson- Our custodians also voted Michael Jackson’s death as their most memorable news story of ‘09.

3. Obama’s Inauguration “Obama is the fi rst African American president; there were a whole bunch of celebrities and people who had never been

seen at an inauguration,” Spanish teacher Phillip Yutzy said.

4. Jon and Kate’s Breakup-“It was sad for the litt le kids. I watched the show a lot, and I was upset when they broke up,”

sophomore Emily Donegan said.

5. The Finale of Oprah’s Show

6.Balloon Boy Hoax- “I thought it was prett y much impossible, and everyone

was just overreacting,” junior RJ Good said.

7.“Octomom”“The woman now has fourteen kids; please tell me where it’s going to end?” sophomore Lauren Phillips said.

8. Death of Billy Mays 9.Crush Videos “Girls in high heels stepping on litt le animals as a fetish, it’s cool,” senior Eric King said.

The NewsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 feature B1

Figueroa joins Cummings family

Yurachek adopting former foster child

Almost a year ago, math teacher Angela Yurachek discovered she would finally become a mother. After Yurachek and her husband found out that they could not have

children, the couple spent months going through the foster parent process in hopes of adopting a child. On February 15, 2008, Yurachek learned that she would soon have an adopted son. She and her husband legally renamed him Michael Paul.

The foster parent process is extremely long and extensive. Before becoming a foster mother, Yurachek had to attend parenting classes. The sessions lasted for three hours, twice a week for eight weeks.

“Waiting was one of the worst parts of the whole process. There were so many steps that we had to go through. It was exhausting,” Yurachek said.

Families looking to foster or adopt a child are given three choices. The first option is to be a foster parent only, and not go through the adoption process. The second option is for families who are undecided about fully adopting, b u t

want to foster a child so they can make a decision. The final option, the one Yurachek and her husband eagerly chose, is a definite adoption. Families only get involved with this scenario if there is a 90% chance that their foster child will become their legal son or daughter.

Michael was taken from his birth mother’s custody when he was about seven months old. Because Michael’s father was deported and his mother was put in foster care as a child, Michael did not have the option to be put in his grandparents’ custody and was placed in the hands of social services.

Four years prior to looking into foster care, Yurachek and her husband considered adopting a child, but decided against it because of the high expense. After finding out Michael had been removed from his home by social services, a friend recommended adoption after hearing his story. However, neither Yurachek nor her husband had completed the required classes, so Michael went to another family. The first foster family gave Michael up because they did not have enough time to take care of him. Both parents had

full time jobs and were already parents of other foster children, so they decided to give up custody. Social services notified the Yuracheks that Michael would become their foster son.

“We knew we would have a foster kid, but we did not know it would be Michael,” Yurachek said, “We were shocked.”

On Dec 15, 2008, Michael’s birth mother signed an entrustment that gave away all of her rights to him. Although Michael was put in the hands of the state in November 2007, he would soon become the Yuracheks’ foster son. Yurachek, who was excited about having a son, also understood how difficult it must have been for Michael’s mother.

“It was bittersweet. I knew she loved him enough to give him up, but I can’t imagine doing that as a mother.”

Yurachek and her husband became Michael’s legal guardians on February 15, 2008. Since then, Michael has lived

with them.“The first time we saw his name changed to Michael

on all the paperwork, we knew he was really going to be ours. I was so happy,” Yurachek said.

Even after Michael was taken out of his mother’s custody, she continued to see him. Yurachek took the infant to visit his mother at least once a month; however, the meetings brought mixed emotions.

“I was really angry that she could still have an opportunity to be a part of him. It was frustrating because there would be times when she was supposed to meet us somewhere and she would never even show up,” Yurachek said. “On the other hand, I also feel sorry for her because I know the circumstances. One time, I remember hearing him cry on the other side of the wall because he did not recognize his own mother.”

Even though the Yuracheks have not fully adopted Michael yet, their judge received all of the paperwork on November 24, 2009, and Yurachek was hoping the process would finish over Christmas break. Yurachek and her husband, Steve, are both eager and excited to finally become Michael’s parents. Despite the difficulties they experienced, the Yuracheks now have a son they can call their own.

“Everything that we went through to have Michael was completely worth it,” Yurachek said. tt

Christy StearnStaff Reporter

Angela Yurachek

THIS OR THATwith

Cooking or take-outBabysitter or take kids along

Birthday or Christmas presents

Road trips or flyingReal or microwave food

Prayer or story time before bedtime

Snickers or TwixCrunchy or creamy peanut

butterCountry or classical music

Pizza Hut or Papa John’sShoes or no shoes inside the

houseBaby Einstein or Sesame

StreetShopping in Washington D.C.

or locallyPJ’s or Bathrobe

Heels or flatsChapstick or lipstick

Frozen Yogurt or ice creamTV or computer

Geometry or AlgebraRadio or ipod

Movies or DVD’sWord problems or equationsHigh school or middle school

teacherSummer or winter

infographic by Vera Shindyapin

1. Take a free 8 week class through social services. The class meets twice a week and each class lasts 3-4 hours.

2. Near the end of this class, you will fill out pa-perwork about your fam-ily history, financial situ-ation, employment and other conditions that may affect your application.

3. Social services will then come to inspect your home, check your police record and fingerprint you. Most of these steps are to ensure that you are suitable to care for an ad-opted child.

4. Before the final legal process of adoption can occur, you must have the child for one calendar year. After the first year, you sign a document say-ing that you want to keep the child.

5. After this period, some-one from child services will come to your house once a month for 90 days checking to see if it is a good environment. Af-ter the 90 days, a lawyer submits papers to a judge and the judge will sign off and approve of the adop-tion. Receiving the new birth certificate is the final stage that makes it com-pletely official and legal.

Last year, math teacher Tricia Cummings was junior Alissa Figueroa’s teacher until October when Figueroa had to drop the

class. Then over the summer, Figueroa was staying with THMS Guidance Counselor Susan Rebhun. During this time, Rebhun who is friends with Cummings found out that the Cummings were taking classes in order to become foster parents. Rebhun began to talk to Cummings about possibly taking in Figueroa.

Soon after Rebhun mentioned Figueroa to the Cummings the two families went to the pool together. While Figueroa, Rebuhn’s children, and the Cummings’ children played in the pool, the adults discussed Figueroa possibly living with the Cummings.

“I mainly wanted to see how Alissa was around my kids, and talk to Rebhun about what she was like around the house,” Cummings said. Around this time, the courts found a family in Roanoke who was willing to take Figueroa in, but instead they decided to wait for someone who lived in Harrisonburg. In the mean time, Figueroa was placed with People Places, a supporting agency of Social Services.

“It really felt like it was meant to be [for Figueroa to live with them],” Cummings said. Figueroa then went to the Cummings’ house for a trial visit four days before the court date. The Rebhun family and the Cummings family ate dinner together, and then the kids spent the night at the Cummings house. The next morning, the Rebhun kids went home and Figueroa stayed and went to the pool with just the Cummings family.

“I had asked Susan what Alissa liked to eat the most,” Cummings said. “We had pasta and I was sure not to make carrots.” On Aug 20, the day of the court date, Figueroa came home with the Cummings family. Figueroa’s boyfriend came with her to make the transition easier. They spent the night unpacking and went to Target to get things for Figueroa’s room.

“We had a joke that it was like we were shopping for college,” Cummings said. “It was right around when JMU students were moving in so a lot of college students were there buying the same things that we were.” Figueroa has adjusted well to her new living situation, and enjoys spending time with the Cummings family.

“It happened faster than I thought it would [adjusting to living there] because they were so open to helping me and it made it a lot easier,” Figueroa said. “Everybody is always together. When I come home after school, I’m never alone in my room.”

Before Figueroa moved in with the

Cummings, she had moved frequently. After Figueroa left her mom, she lived with her aunt and uncle for two years. She then lived with a friend for 10 months. However, when that was no longer going well, she moved in with Rebhun over the summer until she was able to move into her foster home. Figueroa had met Cummings before, but she was still nervous to move in with the family.

“Although I had known Tricia on the student level, I was still scared, but I could tell they were trying to make me feel comfortable,” Figueroa said.

“There is so much unity and support with the Cummings family, even more than when I lived with my real parents,” Figueroa said. “Also, we eat dinner together almost every night. I have never had that before I began living with the Cummings.”

Although the Cummings family has adjusted well to having a new family m e m b e r , Cummings has noticed some d i f f e r e n c e s a n d challenges.

“ T h i s is the first experience I have had with parenting a teenager, and I am learning how to deal with that,” C u m m i n g s said. “The only other problem was that my y o u n g e s t daughter Kate had to give up her bedroom, and she didn’t want to.”

Even though they had to make some adjustments, Figueroa, Kate, and the Cumming’s oldest daughter Camille are now very close.

“They are my sisters, not my foster sisters. We watch movies together, sing and dance in the living room, and talk at the dinner table,” Figueroa said. Not only is Figueroa close to her sisters, she and the Cummings have developed a good relationship as well.

“Now that I have warmed up to her, we are really close,” Figueroa said. “I feel comfortable talking to her about almost anything.”

Even though they are close, Figueroa does not yet feel comfortable calling Cummings mom.

“I am not at that point yet [of calling Cummings mom] I refer to her as my mom to my friends, but I do not call her mom,” Figueroa said. Cummings also noticed and appreciates the relationship between her daughters and Figueroa.

“Alissa is very supportive of her sisters. She always goes to their soccer games and school events,” Cummings said. “She is a good role model for Camille especially because she is trying to grow up too fast, and Alissa makes her feel good about who she is.” Figueroa has had no problems with living with the Cummings family, but she does not agree with all of the rules of People Places.

“The rules are ridiculous,” Figueroa said. “The rules don’t really apply to me. I come from a bad background, but I don’t do bad things any more.” Most of the rules are restrictions on who she can ride in a car with and when she can go out. She can still ride in cars with other teen drivers, but there are more limitations. Also, Figueroa has to get permission from People Places when she wants to spend the night at friend’s houses. Both Cummings and Figueroa appreciate what the foster care system provides for kids in bad situations,

but they have also noticed a problem.“I am bent. [On the foster care system]

One good thing is that it takes kids out of bad situations, but there are definitely bad people who are only in it for the money,” Figueroa said. Although there are problems with the system, Figueroa finds that foster care can provide a better home life for kids who were in bad situations.

“Foster care isn’t always what it seems on the surface, it’s more in depth,” Figueroa said. “It’s not always you’re going into a bad situation. There are great people who make you feel like a part of their family.” Although Figueroa has only lived with the Cummings family for a short time, they already consider her a family member.

“There is more laughter and love in the house now that Alissa lives with us,” Cummings said. “We do not consider Alissa our foster child; she is a part of our family.” tt

Savanah CaryFeature Editor

Family Portrait! Junior Alissa Figueroa is a foster child of math teacher Tricia Cum-mings and family. Photo courtesy of Tricia Cummings

The steps to adopting a foster

child

infographic by Will Turner

W e l c o m e Home! Math teacher

Angela Yurachek and her husband, Steve, are adopting Michael Paul who has

been a part of the foster care system. Photo courtesy of Angela Yurachek.

The NewsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 Feature B2

Over 170 classes are provided to HHS by Virtual

High School. Including selections from:

2 (IB) International Baccalaureate Courses:

~IB Economics~IB Information Technology in a

Global Society

7 Foreign Language Courses~AP French Language

~AP Spanish Language/Spanish 5

~Mandarin~Latin 1

~Portuguese 1

7 Life Skills/Health Courses~Career Awareness for the

New Millennium

~Employability Skills~Kindergarten Apprentice

Teacher~Parenting in the Twenty-First

Century

10 Business Options~Business and Personal Law

~Entrepreneurship~International Business

~Introduction to Statistics

11 Art Courses~American Popular Music

~AP Art History~Art and the Internet

~History and Pop Music

13 Technology/Tech Ed. Options

~Advanced Web Design~Animation and Effects

~AP Computer Science A~Blogs, Wikis, and Web Tools

14 Math Options

~Calculus for Business~Geometry and Algebra

Applications~Introduction to Calculus AB

~Introduction to Statistics

17 AP Courses~AP English Literature and

Composition~AP Environmental Science

~AP French Language~AP Government & Politics:

U.S.~AP Physics B

25 Language Arts Options

~Around the World in 80 Days~Basic Essay Writing~Contemporary Irish

Literature~Creative Writing for People

Who Mean It~Pre-AP English

29 Science Courses~Advanced Topics In

Chemistry~Anatomy & Physiology

~Animal Behavior and Zoology

~Bioethics Symposium

35 Social Studies Courses~Arts and Ideas

~Community Service-Learning

~Constitutional Law~Criminology

We are offi cially living in the 21st century. The future is here, complete with fl at screen computers and online learning. HHS is full of shining technology that now allows students to take totally virtual

classes.Here at HHS, 29 students take advantage of online classes

off ered through Virtual Virginia. It has 23 diff erent classes, from Advanced Placement Art History to Chinese. Virtual Virginia is a state-run program that was started in order to provide students with classes that their home school couldn’t off er.

“It was made for schools that didn’t have resources or teachers to give kids AP or other classes,” HHS’s Virtual Virginia mentor Gail Collins said.

Through Virtual Virginia, students do have individual teachers that grade their submissions, lead reviews and communicate with their students virtually. Though Virtual Virginia tries to make online learning as easy as possible, many students still prefer normal classes.

Sophomore Ben Marks is enrolled in Virtual Virginia Spanish 4. Marks previously took Spanish 2 and 3 as regular classes at HHS and said he enjoyed them more.

“I liked them bett er because if you have a question you can just ask the actual teacher instead of sending a message where you sometimes have to wait for days for a response,” Marks said. He also does not enjoy the fact that he can not ask any classmates for help.

“I’m the only one in the school taking this class so there’s no one I can work with,” Marks said. In contrast, senior Amie Sombunwanna thoroughly enjoys her Virtual Virginia AP Psychology class.

“I think I want to major in Psychology and the class is just really interesting,” Sombunwanna says. Sombunwanna is not

struggling with the class work, she does most of the work at home, but recognizes that some people have trouble.

“I have a friend who’s doing really badly in the class but that’s mainly because he doesn’t do any of the work,” Sombunwanna said. In AP Psychology almost all of the work is done out of the book, but this is not a problem for Sombunwanna.

“I like the book and I think it’s easy to learn Psych out of a book. If it was math I’d need a lecture but this is fi ne,” Sombunwanna said. Sombunwanna enjoys taking an AP class that HHS does not teach and says it is easier than any AP she has taken here.

Online classes off er a fl exibility students do not normally have but they still have to report to a teacher.

Collins is the liaison between students and their online classes. When students do not do their work, Collins is the person they answer to here at HHS.

“Students mainly have problems with time management and the maturity that goes along with being an independent learner,” Collins said. Some students do struggle with the independent nature of online classes, but for others a mainly self-taught class is more their learning style.

“Some students need a faster pace for classes and Virtual Virginia lets them take compacted classes. We have a student taking an AP class just in one semester and that person is doing very well,” Collins said.

Virtual Virginia also has other benefi ts.“If you agree to be an Early College Scholar, then the AP Exam

is paid for,” Collins said. Students must agree to apply to colleges and maintain a B average and the State Department pays the exam fee, while the schools only have to provide textbooks.

Collins believes that Virtual Virginia has even more advantages that most people do not recognize.

“One thing people don’t understand is that the instructor is right there to be contacted. Students can talk to the instructor using Elluminate technology and page or email,” Collins said, “They really make it as engaging as possible with interactive programs. Students can choose how much they want to be involved.”

Students at HHS have the ability to take Art History, Portuguese and 101 Ways to Write a Short Story. These classes are off ered online

through Virtual High School. VHS was established in 1996 and serves over 11,000 students around the country and around the globe. It gives students the chance to take and get credit for classes they are interested in that HHS does not off er.

AP and honors classes, as well as regular, are off ered through the accredited program. Junior Kate Arthur is currently taking a World Mythologies class. They

study everything from Greek myths to Celtic lore.

“Teachers normally have a calendar page where they post schedules for the week. Every day they post something else,” Arthur said. “There’s a content section where you can post stuff . You can read bits of content and your lessons.”

Senior Regan Sheets is taking a sociology class through VHS.

“We have class discussions about things that are happening in the news and why they act the way they do,” Sheets said.

Just like students in real live classrooms, VHS students have homework, tests and quizzes. Students can choose to take classes in school or on their own time. Arthur spends second period in a computer lab

completing her class assignments, but oft en logs in at home. The classes utilizes the fact that they are online and learning is asynchronous.

“My teacher fi nds all these really cool websites to draw in,” Arthur said.

Both Sheets and Arthur are enjoying their classes.

“If you don’t keep up with the work, yeah it can pile up. If you keep an eye on your work, it’s really good, but if things are slow and you get into a lull it’s hard to get out,” Arthur said.

Sheets is in class with students from all over the globe.

“I have a friend on there and she’s from Tanzania, all the way from Africa. It’s crazy,” Sheets said.

JMU has partnered with Harrisonburg City Public Schools to allow high school seniors and

students who have reached their junior year to take college-level courses for credit, taught in a classroom with a certifi ed instructor. The Outreach and Engagement Program lets high school students take the classes while still earning their high school diploma. It is a dual enrollment class and can be taken either at the high school or on the JMU campus.

Junior Xuyi Guo uses the program to take Calculus III, a four credit class taught by JMU’s

Professor of Mathematics, Dr. James Sochacky. Guo takes the classes on the JMU campus.

“This semester, I take it third block on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,” Guo said.

He found out about the program through his Calculus BC class. Calculus II is divided into two courses, Calculus AB and Calculus BC. Both are AP classes. Calculus BC includes everything taught in Calculus AB plus some additional, and more diffi cult, topics.

“Aft er I fi nished Calculus BC, Mr. Lintner, who is the math director, set it up for me,” Guo said.

Students can take the courses through the Outreach program. It off ers over 200 diff erent credit classes as of

the 2008-2009 school year, such as College Physics II and Instructional Technology. The classes are especially designed for non-degree seeking students, students who do not want to earn an undergraduate or graduate degree at JMU. While the registration fee for the program only costs $15, the actual courses cost as much as a real college course. A three to four credit class can cost up to $1,400, and a one to three credit class is around $780.

“For non-JMU students, if you are qualifi ed, you can apply to take it,” Guo said.

This semester, Guo decided to take Calculus III, a four credit class, and next semester he wants to take Discrete Mathematics. He is planning to apply to the program and

take some more math classes next year as well.

“[Discrete Mathematics] involves a lot of topics you don’t really talk about much, like number theory,” Guo said.

Guo still isn’t completely certain about what he wants to do in college, but he knows that he does not want to give up on learning math. He wants to take more challenging courses using the program, and ultimately keep moving forward in his math education.

“If I fi nished my math as a sophomore, and didn’t take any in my junior and senior years, I’d be really rusty by college,” Guo said. “[By taking the classes] I’ll earn more credits and save time in the long run.”

Ama AnsahNews Editor

Kavya BeherajNews Editor

Alison DomonoskeFeature Editor

Virtual High School o� ers variety of core classes, electives

School on the Web

Virtual Virginia o� ers other alternatives in online learning

Advanced math students enrolled in JMU courses

Social worker Bevington � nds foster care work rewarding

At the moment, Patt y Bevington has 16 children. She has had, in fact, hundreds, if not thousands, of kids. Not

one of them, however, is biologically hers. Bevington, a social worker at the Harrisonburg-Rockingham county branch of Child Protection Services for fi ve years now, works with children in foster care in fi nding them homes and families.

According to Bevington, the Harrisonburg-Rockingham county region in Virginia has one of the highest rates of foster care in all of Virginia, with close to 200 child care cases annually. While that number may be mainly aff ected by the sheer size of the area, Bevington believes that the current economic state has an eff ect on it as well.

“Overall, cases have gone up and the economy certainly aff ects it,” Bevington

said.Foster care cases usually arise

from people within the community reporting suspicion concerning a family’s conditions or potential abuse. At times, families might ask for assistance, but the majority of children are taken in because other people, usually neighbors, teachers or friends, believe that something might be wrong or potentially harmful for the child.

“It’s human instinct for us,” Bevington said. “Something might not look right and it might not even really be anything, but people just have a feeling.”

To be eligible for foster care, families must att end a two to three month training program and have background checks for security. They must also provide several references and verifi cation sources. The process is not a simple one, to say the least.

“It takes a lot longer than people might realize,” Bevington said.

Of course, working to separate children from their biological families,

even if it is intended for their benefi t, is inherently diffi cult. Communication with various groups of people is essential for Bevington, and things can be easily misconstrued.

“The biggest challenge is that one has to be versatile and change the way you interact with people based on socio-status or culture or religion,” Bevington said. “[Being a social worker is] not for everyone; it’s something that you can or can’t do, and you certainly can’t do it for the money.”

For Bevington, it is diffi cult when she works with families who need assistance solving their personal problems, but are unable to help themselves.

“I struggle with seeing people who have the potential to make a diff erence in their life, change and turn it around, but it doesn’t happen,” Bevington said.

But there are plenty of cases that turn out for the bett er, which she appreciates.

“It’s the good things that keep you going,” Bevington said.

Bevington recently worked with

a case involving two children, one of whom was taken in by Angela Yurachek, math teacher at HHS. However, the process was not easy. The children were separated and had to be taken in by two diff erent families. The agency tries as diligently as possible to keep siblings together, but sometimes, it does not work out.

“We try to keep kids together and work to the children’s needs, but things can be diff erent in these sorts of situations,” Bevington said. “Sometimes, it’s even bett er for them to be apart.”

Despite the challenges that accompany a job as diffi cult as that of a social worker’s, Bevington has no regrets and enjoys the diff erence she makes.

“Words can’t describe knowing that you had a part in someone’s life,” Bevington said. “All kids have a story and all kids want a family.”

Maria RoseFeature Editor

infographic by Ryan Maphis

Art comes to life. Senior Brendon Cummiskey stud-ies hard for his Virtual Virginia AP Art History course. Photo by Maria Rose.

All teenagers eventually get their drivers licenses and are able to drive on their own. The choices they make in their cars are very important to

their safety and the safety of others. According to the Medical College of

Wisconsin, 82 percent of the nation agrees that distracted driving is a serious problem.

Junior Edwin Sosa is also against texting and driving.

“Texting while driving is dangerous and could get someone seriously hurt,” Sosa said.

Sosa has learned from his own experience that texting while driving is dangerous.

“One time when I was texting while driving, I was not looking at the road. I hit the curb and dropped the phone. It was very scary,” Sosa said.

Junior Patrick Turner is also against texting when driving.

“Texting when driving is not smart or safe,” Turner said. “One day, my friend and I were driving to the county. It was at sunset. I was in the passenger seat and my friend was driving. She was texting while she was driving. She accidentally turned the wheel and the car was half way off of the road. She looked up and realized that she was half way off the road. She turned back into the on-coming traffic and then back to our lane,” Turner said.

Sophomore Allen Rivera is also against texting while driving.

“Texting while driving is dumb because if you are looking down, you cannot see the road,” Rivera said.

Rivera has not been in any scary incidents as the driver, but has been in a car when the driver was texting.

“Once I was in the car when the driver was texting. They put the phone on the steering wheel and would look up every once in a while. It is still not safe,” Rivera said.

Guidance counselor David Hoover is very much against texting while driving.

“Texting and driving is not safe at all. You are not even looking at the road,” Hoover said.

Even though it is against the law, many drivers (mostly teenagers) text and drive all the time. This does not mean it is okay to do.

“You are not concentrated on driving a 2,000 pound vehicle with glass and metal surrounding you,” Hoover said. tt

The NewsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 Feature B3

On July 1, 2009, The General Assembly passed a law that banned texting or

emailing while driving a motor vehicle. According to the Department of Motor Vehicles, 28,395 crashes occurred last year that involved a distracted driver. Texting while driving is one of the largest distractions. Despite that large number of accidents and the new law, some people still text while they drive. Junior Adrian Zamora does not text and drive very often because he thinks it is dangerous.

“It’s tempting if you get a text,” Zamora said. He tries to text only when he is at a stop sign or light. Senior Chandler Dang also believes it is dangerous to text and drive.

“It takes your focus off of the road if text while you’re driving,” Dang said. “I don’t want to make people [I’m texting] wait though, so I do it sometimes.”

Unlike Zamora and Dang, senior Stefan Peric texts every time he drives his car.

“I don’t think it’s dangerous,” Peric said. “It’s easy because I’m used to driving with my knees and texting at the same time.” Peric said he did not even know about the new laws that were passed which ban texting.

“My parents tell me not to do it, but I still do,” Peric said. So far, he has not been involved in any wrecks or gotten any tickets due to texting while

driving. However, senior Sally Kardos has not been so lucky.

Kardos was in an accident in November 2009 because of texting while driving. She was sitting at a stop light texting and waiting for the light to turn green. Kardos was in the left turning lane and had a yield on green light. There was a large pickup truck in front of her so her view of oncoming traffic was obstructed. When the light turned green, Kardos assumed the truck in front of her was going to go, so she looked down at her phone and pressed on the gas pedal. Her eyes were only off the road for a spilt second, but when

Kardos looked back up the truck was completely stopped. With little time to react to what was happening, she tried to slam on the brakes, however it was too late. Kardos rear-ended the truck and severely

damaged the front of her car; luckily, no one was hurt during the accident.

“I was in shock, I was like ‘I cannot believe I just did that’,” Kardos said. She has learned her lesson from her accident, but before she would text quite often behind the wheel.

“I used to do it at lights or if I thought I could get in a short text while I had space in between cars,” Kardos said. “I was trying to be safe about texting and driving, but the truth is you can’t be safe about it no matter what you do.” To avoid future accidents or tickets Kardos puts her phone away and out of reach before she starts driving. tt

Tricia ComfortEditor-in-Chief

100 people in all grades and faculty polled on December

10 by Paulina Rendon

Do you text while driving?

YES NO27 73

WHAT YOU THINK

Michael JohnsonStaff Reporter

Your life in the tips of your fingers...

Paul Rath

Q. How do you teach about texting and driving? ”We talk about it in our distractive driving section in drivers’ education.”What rules would you have as a parent about texting and driving?“There is no texting and driving according to the Virginia State law. But if they were texting and driving, they would lose their cell phone and texting privileges, as well as their license for a decided amount of time.”

Chris Grefe

Tell me a story about a student that had an accident because of texting and driving. “Don’t really have any that have been told around school. We know that they happen, but most people that have a crash don’t want to admit that they were in the wrong. “How do you teach about texting and driving?“We talk about it and when we drive, I say over and over not to ever put your attention on something other than the road. I also talk about it to the parents before they sign all the papers.”What would the punishments be if you caught your child texting and driving?“They won’t be driving any of my cars. And taking the cell phone away would also be a highly possible thing.”

Kevin Tysinger

Tell me a story about a student that had an accident because of texting and driving. “I have heard about so many stories when students

are driving, they answer a text and end up ramming the back of the car in front of them. And the students follow so close behind cars anyway that once they take their eyes off the road, they don’t have time to react.”How do you teach about texting and driving?“They have new laws now whether it’s texting or calling a person, no cell phone should be used while driving. So we tell the students that you have to understand that you can’t text and drive no matter what.”What rules would you have as a parent about texting and driving?“It goes along with the law. You don’t need a phone while driving and if you are driving the car’ focus on the road, a message will be there in a few minutes once you are able to stop and reply. If someone calls you don’t answer it, if it’s important enough, they will leave a message.”

Jennifer Thompson

Tell me a story about a student that had an accident because of texting and driving?“A girl I had last year rear ended a person on Market Street because she was texting and didn’t see the person in front of her stop.”How do you teach about texting and driving?“We have videos that show the negative things about texting and driving. We talk about the law and how it’s dangerous. And we put up the public announcements.”What rules would you have as a parent about texting and driving?“Take their phone away, and I would tell them that if they receive a text and have someone else in the car, have the person read it to them tell the person to type the reply if it is that important.”

Madison WilsonStaff Reporter

Drivers education teachers give their take on texting

and driving

Texting and driving has been a rising trend in society, but a dangerous one. The

government is beginning to take action and so are parents. A financial loss or loss of life is not worth the mistake of an easily avoided distraction.

Secretary Kathy Grogg,

Preston “Doodie” Grogg’s mother leads by example. She pulls over if she has to text, or passes it to another passenger.

Sheila Fielding, mother of a 29 and 30-year-old, is against texting or any cell phone use at all while driving. Along with other parents, Fieldings believes the law should have consequences for distracted driving because it is dangerous not only to their children, but others.

“Driving is a privilege and

people do not pay enough attention to it,” Fielding said.

Teacher and mother Jill Hart will not stand for texting while driving. “She[her daughter] will not be driving for months and I would take her cell phone away,” Hart said.

Muhameed Kareem, father of a high schooler, thinks badly of cell phone use while driving. “We need to give our children advice to drive safe,” Kareem said.tt

Heather HunterStaff Reporter

Parents react to texting while driving

Texting while driving against law

Teens tempted to text

• 600.5 billion text messages were sent in 2007, according to CTIA , a wireless asso-ciation • Number of text messages sent by the av-erage American per month: 357• Number of phone calls made by the av-erage American per month: 204• Number of text messages sent by the av-erage teenager per month: 1,742• 80% of crashes, and 65% of near crashes, involve some form of driver inattention within 3 seconds of the event• 57% of American drivers admit to tex-ting behind the wheel• 89% of American adults think text mes-saging while driving is dangerous and should be outlawed• 18-24 year olds send an averege of 790 texts per month.• Texting while driving is the #1 cause of death in automobile crashes from ages 18-27• Teens who admitted to text messaging while driving in 2008: 46%• Teens admitting to text messaging while driving in 2006: 13• 32% of young adults admit to sending text messages while driving• 43 % of young adults read text messages while driving • Someone dies every 13 minutes on a road in America

whocanisue.com

Texting while driving by the numbers

Photo by Phillip Bannister

The NewsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 Ads B4

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Steel from a1 but he gave me the opportunity to teach myself,” Steere said. “I was primarily a scene artist and I worked on television, theater and movies.”

By retirement, Steere worked on over 50 feature fi lms and turned to speaking to keep occupied.

“In my neighborhood in New York I had a neighbor who lectured at the local Jewish center and I went to a couple [lectures] and realized I could come up with something like that,” Steere said. “This [Harrisonburg] is the farthest I have lectured from New York.”

For his part, Jim Steele talked litt le about his personal accomplishments to the set production class, choosing to focus instead on the artistic life of Boris Aronson, who he became interested in

aft er volunteering at the Lincoln Center archives. Aronson was a published writer in Russia, which enabled him to immigrate to the lower East Side, New York City.

“Yiddish theater was a vibrant part of the New York theater scene,” Steere said during his presentation. “Aronson got a job working for a small experimental Yiddish theater, and began designing sets which are still remembered today.”

Aronson’s artistic style evolved over the years, from biodynamics to modern and structurism according to Steele. Set production class members were invited to stay aft er the lecture for a question and answer session which was att ended by several Eastern Mennonite University art students.

The NewsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 Ads B5

wheel from a1and it’s helping children experience something instead of just listening about it, and they can appreciate what handicap people go through even bett er,” Donahue said.

Junior Marwah Bani-Hani a Key Club member and motivational specialist, decided to sign up to be in a wheelchair for a day.

“I wanted to encourage other people to get involved for Michael,” Bani-Hani said.

The day Bani-Hani was in a wheelchair, she felt diff erent.

“People look at you more,” Bani-Hani said.

Even though people looked at her diff erently, the student body of HHS was helpful.

“People got out of the way when I was coming through the halls, and my friends got my lunch for me, too,” Bani-Hani said.

Even with the help from others, Bani-Hani felt the frustration of being in a wheelchair.

“At times when I could have taken the stairs (if she was walking), I now had to take the elevator and loop around the school just to get to my classroom,” Bani-Hani said. “And my hands started to hurt too.”

At the end of the day Bani-Hani had a new appreciation for the use of her legs.

“When I got up I was like ‘thank God I can get up and use my legs’,” Bani-Hani said.

Set production class enjoys lecture

Kids spend days in wheelchair

seniors from a1 “The hardest part was calling all the

teachers for att endance because you had to do more than one thing at a time,” Doodie said.

Some students took over for a certain teacher just for fun, but some students did it to get a feel for that type of profession.

Senior Kirstin Warne took over

for physical education teacher Chris Grefe. Warne hopes to study physical therapy, or something with athletics in the future, so being a PE teacher for the day was good practice.

“Mr. Grefe has a weight training class third block,” Warne said. “It was fun to be in his position for the day and see all the diff erent tasks he has to do.”

Seniors try day as teachers Getpsyched!

theSpring

Renaissance Rally coming in March

will feature

The HHS Boys Dance Team and hypnotist

Tom Deluca

The NewsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 Sports b6

The Anatomy of a Knee

Ever since the Swedish invented skiing over 6,000 years ago, the sport has taken off . Added to the Olympics in 1932, ski-ing has grown exponentially in popu-

larity. Snowboarding, added to the Olympics in 1988, is also popular, albeit younger, especially with the younger crowd.

“I got started skiing when my parents told me it was safer than snowboarding, plus I could do it my entire life,” freshman Ben DiNapoli said. DiNapoli began skiing fi ve years ago, and travels to the local ski resort, Massanutt en, fre-quently during the winter in order to practice and just to have fun.

“I like how I feel like I have a lot of freedom [when I ski],” DiNapoli said.

Sophomore Gustaf Nelson enjoys snow-boarding at Massanutt en. He started snow-boarding three years ago when his grandpa got him into it.

“It looked like fun, so I went for it,” Nelson said.

Now Nelson could be called an “avid” snow-boarder. During the winter, he goes to Massa-nutt en 3-6 times a week with family and friends to have a good time but to also sharpen his abili-ties. Freshman Aaron VanBenschoten and Soph-omore Ben Harris usually accompany Nelson to the slopes.

“Snowboarding is a prett y dangerous sport, and one time Gustaf fell backwards and broke his wrist. Aaron and I took him to the infi rmary

[at Massanutt en] and he got a cast put on,” Har-ris said.

Sophomore Ford Hatfi eld began skiing for one simple reason.

“I started because I wanted to,” Hatfi eld said with a shrug.

He began traveling the half-hour drive to Massanutt en two years ago to take lessons, and since then has gott en much bett er at skiing.

“It’s exhilarating to speed down the hill on the brink of life or death,” Hatfi eld said.

Now he goes to Massanutt en two to three times a week during the season, mostly with Andy Shisler and other family and friends.

For seven years sophomore Peter Byrd has skied at various places, including Massanutt en and Timberline Resort in West Virginia. This year, he and his family will travel to Colorado for their annual ski trip.

“I started just because it seemed like, fun, and it’s sort of a family tradition,” Byrd said. Byrd would be the fi rst to tell you he is good at the sport, although some would describe his technique as somewhat reckless.

“I like skiing because I just fl y straight down the mountain,” Byrd said.

Every winter, ski resorts like Massanutt en fi ll up as eager skiers and snowboarders head for the mountains. DiNapoli, Nelson, Hatfi eld, and Byrd are just three of many who travel to Mas-sanutt en and other resorts during the ski season to let loose and have fun while hurtling down slopes at 20 miles per hour.

“I like snowboarding because it gives me a rush of energy, and it makes me feel cool,” Nel-son said.

Jack BurdenSports Editor

Snow lovers ready to hit slopes

Quadricep muscle

Femur

Articular cartilage

Lateral condile

Anterior cruciate ligamentPosterior cruciate ligament

Lateral collateral ligament

Fibula Tibia

Medial collateral ligament

Patellar tendon (ligament)

Patella (normally in center of knee)

Quadriceps tendon

Meniscus

Infographic by: Vivian Tejeda

“It felt like my knee was on fi re,” junior Kelsey Messerley said. Mes-serley, a HHS varsity

soccer player since she was a freshman, tore her MCL, ACL, and meniscus, which are liga-ments found in the knee. She played soccer all year around, including travel, indoor and the HHS girls varsity team in the spring.

Messerley was playing in-door soccer when she hurt her knee. She lift ed her leg to re-ceive a ball and it popped. At-tempting to stop playing, she sat down, but her team had no substitute, so she continued to play. She knew playing on a hurt knee was not good for her. When she planted her foot, her knee twisted and popped again making her fall to the ground in pain.

“I started screaming and holding my knee,” Messerley said.

Messerley instantly started crying because the pain was unbearable. At fi rst, she did not think that the injury was that bad. She knew she injured herself badly, but not to this standard. Being a serious soc-cer player, Messerley knew if she hurt herself, she would not be able to play.

“My fi rst thought was, if I tore my ACL, I would kill my-self,” Messerley said.

Messerley went in for sur-gery on Wednesday, Dec 2. Before the surgery, Messerley was very apprehensive of the needles. She has never liked the idea of needles.

“I wasn't scared until some-

one pulled out a needle. Luck-ily, I had an IV in my arm and they were able to inject medi-cine into that to make me sleep before they stuck me with the needle,” Messerley said.

Aft er the surgery was when the pain really started to kick in. The surgery did not hurt Messerley because she was un-der anesthesia but the post sur-gery was horrible for her.

“The day aft er my pain medicine didn't work, so my knee killed. But I called the doctors practically 10 times be-cause I couldn't move at all,” Messerley said.

Almost a week aft er her sur-gery, Messerley is doing okay. She is antsy to get out of her house and still trying to put more pressure on it every day. Messerley still cannot sit or stand for long and she has to keep it elevated on the couch or wherever she is sitt ing. She has just started coming back to school, only wearing shorts be-cause of the brace and walking around on crutches. Messerley is taking each day as it comes.

Messerley, a die-hard soc-cer player, has been playing the athletically draining sport all of her life.

“I love the sport. It’s fun and you get exercise doing it,” Messerley said.

Soccer calls for a lot of running around the fi eld for around 90 minutes a game and a knee injury slows a player down. Messerley has had a past record of knee injuries, but has ignored them.

“I've always had bad knees but I always ignored the thought of hurting myself be-cause I didn't want to stop playing the sport,” Messerley said.

Since soccer is a big part in Messerley’s life, it is hard for her to cope with her injury, but she is staying positive.

“It’s probably one of the worst things to happen to me. I'm defi nitely going to miss it, but I will still be part of the team,” Messerley said.

All parents, especially one of an athlete, have the same wor-ries about their child gett ing hurt. Worrying about what it will do to them mentally, emo-tionally, and physically.

“At fi rst, I was worried about Kelsey’s body, mind, and soul because I know how much she loves soccer. Secondly, her injury put our family into mourning,” Messerley’s mom, Mary Messerley said.

All of Messerley’s family are huge soccer fans and they are all worried about her health. All they want is for her to put on a pair of cleats, and kick a ball again.

“We have known Kelsey as a soccer player since she was four. This would be the fi rst season that we would not be able to watch her play. It was an extremely sad moment for the Messerley family,” Mary Messerley said.

On Friday, two days aft er her surgery, Messerley started physical therapy at Rocking-ham Memorial Hospital. She continues to get bett er each day. Messerley knows she can-not play in the upcoming sea-son of soccer, but she is going to do her best to get bett er as quickly as possible.

“I hope to return at the end of the season but that’s the best case scenario. And soccer is prett y important to me, I love everything about it,” Messer-ley said.

Aidan NewcitySports Editor

Messerly sidelined by knee injury

Flashback to February 2009, senior Sarah DiNapoli went skiing at Massanutt en Ski Resort with a group of friends over the weekend.

During one of her runs down the mountain, she nicked the edge of a snowboard and fell.

“There was this weird pop as I fell, but I wasn’t in pain,” DiNapoli said.

From the ski slopes, the ski patrol placed her in one of the orange sleds and took her down to the First Aid center. The workers wrapped her right knee in what DiNapoli describes as “a cardboard box”. DiNapoli waited to see her family physician on Monday, instead of going to the emergency room, because the swelling would have prevented any of the doctors from examining her knee. Come Monday, the physician informed her that she had torn her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

The ACL connects to the front of the shinbone. This injury abruptly ended

her dancing career and for almost a year now, has left her ‘disabled’. DiNapoli was scheduled to have surgery on her knee over the summer, but aft er being selected as the HHS band’s drum major, postponed the surgery until aft er band season ended. Because she postponed the surgery, she was able to att end a nationally recognized camp for drum majors at Illinois State University and lead the HHS band to a winning season.

Now a senior in high school, DiNapoli had knee surgery 10 months aft er she fell on the ski slopes. On Nov 16, DiNapoli and her parents traveled to Richmond to spend the night in a hotel prior to her surgery the following day. At 6:30 a.m. DiNapoli was in the operating wing of

Dr. Zaslov’s state-of-the-art clinic, waiting to fall back asleep.

During her surgery, Zaslov made two incisions, one below the knee and one above the knee. On the operating table, her ACL was replaced with an Achilles tendon from a cadaver. The Achilles tendon was placed in her knee to help the

ACL grow back on its own. Within a few months, DiNapoli’s ACL will have grown back, and the Achilles tendon will remain as a support. By 10:30 a.m., DiNapoli was out of surgery and on her way back to the hotel for the night. The next morning, she returned to Dr. Zaslov’s clinic for a post-operation check-up.

Aft er she returned home, DiNapoli had a bandaged knee and weeks of physical therapy ahead of her. She goes to therapy twice a week at Hess Orthopedic where therapists work on building strength and fl exibility in her knee again. One of the techniques used to re-train her knee muscles involves neuromuscular electric stimulation. Electrodes are placed around the knee, lower thigh and upper calf and then electric impulses are sent through the electrodes and to the muscles. This allows the muscles that connect to her to knee to be retrained and therefore react automatically on an impulse from the brain.

Since her injury, DiNapoli has not been able to get her drivers license or play sports. Once she has healed she will be able to participate in recreational activities again and take behind-the-wheel.

“I will get my license defi nitely by graduation and hopefully sooner,” DiNapoli said.

Jessica StricklerOpinion Editor

DiNapoli undergoes surgery to repair ACL

“I will get my

license de� nitely by graduation and hopefully sooner.”

Senior Sarah DiNapoli

A devastating injury. To the left is Kelsey Messerly’s torn ACL (Anterior crucial ligament), and below is her repaired ACL after her surgery on Dec 2. Messerly tore her ACL, MCL, and meniscus while playing indoor soccer on Nov 11, and will not be able to play during the spring soccer season. Photos provided by Kelsey Messerly

As soon as it happened, junior l i n e b a c k e r /fullback Ryan

Fletcher knew something was wrong.

“It didn’t exactly hurt, but I could tell that something wasn’t right,” Fletcher said.

During the fi rst quarter of the Harrisonburg vs. Turner Ashby regional semifi nal game on November 20, Fletcher went down with a knee injury, not knowing exactly what had happened.

“I was playing linebacker and one of TA’s big off ensive lineman fell on my knee awkwardly,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher estimated that the off ensive lineman was around 6 feet 6 inches tall.

As it turned out, Fletcher left the game with a torn Medial Collateral Ligament, commonly known as the MCL, and a strained Posterior Cruciate Ligament, also known as the PCL. Fletcher will not be able to participate in sports for 4-6 weeks, and in that time will be making frequent visits to the training room.

“I’ve been going to the training room for about an hour aft er school each day trying to get my knee stronger,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher said that as soon as he found out what was actually wrong with his knee, he felt horrible.

“I felt like I let my team down,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher explained that the hardest part of the knee injury to deal with is the fact that he cannot play sports and cannot be active. He also said that he will be starting physical therapy at Advantage, which will be held two times per week. At Advantage, he will be participating in diff erent exercises to get the knee back to normal strength. Some of these exercises include straightening the knee out as straight as possible and bending the knee in diff erent directions.

“I just want to get my knee as strong as possible, as soon as possible.”

Fletcher injures knee during

football playo� game

Shane McMahanSports Writer

Massunutten or SnowshoeBlack diamond or Green

trailDiamond Jim or Paradise

Mid-mountain grill or Lounge

Park or slopesOakley or Dragon

Ice-skating or Sleigh ridingCo� ee or Cocoa

Helmet or No helmetX-games or Olympics

Math or EnglishDouble lifts or Quad lifts

GM or ToyotaCountry or Rap

Subway or Quizno’sTexting or Phone call

Gamestop or Barnes and Nobles

Milky Way or 3 MusketeersTeam Edward or Team

JacobBurton or Extreme expo-

sureModern Warfare 2 or Sims

Wa� es or PancakesJack Browns or 5 Guys

Wood pencil or mechanicalCoke or Pepsi

Redskins or Cowboys

Gustaf Nelson

THIS OR THATwith

By Gabe Hoak

Watching little girls grow up, it seems that every one of them at some point, hits a phase where she wants to be a gymnast; everyone

wants the sparkly leotards, to be muscular, flexible and graceful all at the same time. But most people find out the hard way about how hard they have to work to be good.

Naomi Ornstein is living that dream. She has been doing gymnastics since she was three, and it has always seemed to come naturally to her.

“[My favorite trick] is a full twisting layout. It’s when you’re flipping and your body is straight and you’re also turning. It’s really scary but fun,” Ornstein said.

There are different competitions in a gymnastics meet including floor, bars and balance beam. On the bars you have a set of bars and the gymnast jumps from one bar to the other and does a set of flips.

On the balance beam the gymnast jumps and cartwheels and has to keep their balance all at the same time.

Floor is when the gymnast has a choreographed routine that can be up to ninety seconds long.

Ornstein’s favorite to do is floor. “I like doing floor, because I am the best tumbler on the team. At least that’s what people tell me.”

Naomi is not only a good athlete, but she is also a great team mate. “Naomi is always encouraging everyone, and she makes me want to be as good as her,” Elena Gerome said.

Unfortunately, Ornstein is not planning on continuing with gymnastics in college. “The

colleges I want to go to don’t have sports teams.” But everyone will always remember Naomi Ornstein as the best tumbler and the girl who always loved gymnastics. tt

The 2010 FIFA World Cup being held in South Africa promises to be interesting. With all 32 teams qualified, now the wait is

coming to know the groups and against whom these teams will be playing in the cup. The draw was held Dec 4 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Several students are waiting for the start of the cup which starts on June 11. Junior Adrian Zamora is patiently waiting for the tournament to start.

“I am very excited for this to start and I hope it is a good one,” Zamora said.

The cup starts the first games with the 32 teams going against other teams in their groups. Then from there, the top two teams from each group advance to the next round which consists of 16 teams. These play a single game and the winner moves on to the quarterfinals.

South Africa is hosting the 2010

FIFA World Cup. There are several stadiums being built for the event. Since South Africa was nominated to host the event, there have been some setbacks regarding the construction of the stadiums and how ready they could be when the day comes.

The draw decided who the teams were going against in the first round of the cup. Among some of the teams from this side of the world, the U.S. is in the same group as England. Mexico shares a group with France, Uruguay and South Africa, and Honduras is with Spain, Chile, and Switzerland. Senior Alex Arevalo believes his team (Honduras) can get far this time.

“I think Honduras has a good chance of going to the next round. The group seems tough, but I believe they can do it,” Arevalo said.

Zamora hopes that either Mexico or his other favorite team, Spain can make it to the finals. The groups are set and now the wait is for the cup to start. The official mascot of the cup is named Zakumi. tt

The Newsstreak Sports B7January 8, 2009

The Rendon Report

Alex RendonStaff Reporter

Nevin Heckman, 10th grade“I want Afghanistan to win.”

Evan Shank, 10th grade“Of course I want the U.S. to win, but they have no realistic chance. My sleeper is Austra-lia, though.”

William Imeson, 10th grade“I want the U.S. to win.”

Peter Norment, English teacher“I want South Korea to win. I mean, I always want South Korea to win.”

Who do you want to win the World Cup?

Carlos Quiroz, 10th grade“I want Mexico to win because it’s my country, and they may not go far but they’re still pretty good.”

Chris Johnson, 12th grade“I want the U.S.A. because it’s my country.”

Jordan Lehman, 9th grade“I want the U.S. to win because I love the U.S.”

Pitted against an equal adversary, armed with an unflinching will,

alone in his struggle for dominance; this is man at his most primitive. The carnal need to submit an opponent, consequently establishing power, has pervaded the course of human history for centuries.

In the recent past of organized sport, boxing has been the most popular form of combat in American culture. Currently, the sport has considerably fewer followers thanks to the popularity of mixed martial arts and the diminishing recognition allotted even the most decorated of boxers. Boxing analysts seem to think that this trend is going to be reversed with the help of Manny Pacquiao’s growing popularity and his upcoming mega-battle against Floyd Mayweather. In all likelihood, a surge in popularity for boxing probably won’t happen.

Boxing hasn’t been gaining much popularity among younger audiences for two main reasons: 1. Pay-per-view. 2. Ultimate Fighting. The fact that you have to pay to watch most boxing and MMA fights is a huge turn-off for potential fans that have only a casual interest in either. Strikeforce, which features MMA akin to UFC, recently had a popular bout on CBS which featured arguably the greatest fighter in the world, Fedor Emelianenko. The sport has also benefited from a popular culture boost thanks to its cable television show and other shows such as Bully Beatdown on MTV. MMA attracts more fans because of its diverse nature. A combination of boxing, jiu-jitsu, kickboxing and grappling is all utilized in the sport. In laymen’s terms, it’s less boring for teenage viewers to watch the bigger and bloodier MMA.

Pacquiao/Mayweather is great, but at 147 lb. the fight may fall a few weight classes short of piquing the interest of the American public. It has oft-been repeated that people like their heavyweights (i.e. Ali, Frazier, Tyson, Lewis, Holyfield, Foreman). Unfortunately for Pacquiao and Mayweather, while quickness and skill is appreciated among hardcore fans, devastating knockouts delivered from heavy fists will always be the highlight for the average viewer.

Boxing isn’t doomed but it seems that every year there will be a fight that will “bring boxing back into the mainstream.” This hasn’t happened. De La Hoya/Mayweather didn’t do it, Jones/Silva wouldn’t have done it and Pacquiao/Mayweather won’t do it. No matter how talented the billing, boxing always seems to be an on and off fad. It usually fades after the fight ends with an expected outcome.

The bottom line is that older people are going to stick with boxing while the younger generation remains indifferent. Boxing isn’t going to get any lower than this but it’s also not going to see any substantial gains in popularity anytime soon. It’s not necessarily a bad thing but it makes sense. The new and the flashy usually trumps the old and the usual. Even in a sport as revered as boxing. tt

Boxing becoming a

fading fad

Jorge Colin-EstrellaStaff Reporter

Fans anticipate World Cup Soccer

2006: Italy2002: Brazil1998: France1994: Brazil1990: Germany1986: Argentina

1982: Italy1978: Argentina1974: Germany1970: Brazil1966: England1962: Brazil

Former World Cup Winners

Chicken or BeefChocolate or vanilla

Practice or TournamentNike or Adidas

Ice-cream or popsiclePizza or Lasagna

Shorts or skirtSwimming or Skiing

Soda or WaterChips or Fries

Country or RapParallel or Beams

Leotard or Shorts with t-shirt

Winter or SummerTeddy bear or PillowMcDonalds or Burger

KingiPod or Radio

Cat or DogMath or Science

Laptop or DesktopAway or Home games Cartwheels or Splits

Giant or FlyawayApplebee’s or Outback

Naomi Orenstein

THIS OR THAT with

Infographic by Julia TrotsyukFlyin’ High. Ornstein practicing on the high bar. Photo by Emily Jameison

Emily JamiesonStaff Reporter

Ornstein excelling on gymnastics team

There is no doubt enlarging a district as small as the Massanutten District

will bring much change to each school affected. With the plethora of sports teams that represent the Blue Streak nation, some change is destined to be positive but some may also be negative. Joe Carico, the athletic director at HHS, offered some insight into how changing the district may affect different teams at Harrisonburg High School.

“We’ll be back to the Valley,” Carico said of the upcoming changes to the district.

The VHSL looks at redistricting every two years, which is how the consensus to once again change the district of local teams came about.

“It is to make sure schools of similar sizes are classified together,” Carico said.

The new Valley District will feature the four current Massanutten schools as well as Robert E. Lee, Waynesboro, and Fort Defiance.

“The only schools that won’t be rejoining the district

are Stuarts Draft and Rockbridge.”

HHS has been seen as a dominating force in local athletics in recent years. Carico does not believe enlarging the district will hinder HHS’ ability to succeed.

“I think [the new district] will have very little effect competitively. I still think we’ll be very strong, regardless,” Carico said. “[Each team] will need to prepare for each game to push toward going to the play-offs.”

District match-ups bring in a large majority of proceeds when it comes to sports. With our current district so competitive, there is no doubt in Carico’s mind that enlarging our district will only enhance our fan base at sporting events.

“In the past, even though games such as Lee have not been district play, they still attract lots of fan. Adding those kinds of teams [to our district] will give people an extra incentive to come out,” Carico said.

Carico also believes that a bigger district will also help the sports that are looked at as

“low revenue”.“Teams like baseball,

tennis, and softball will have an opportunity to play longer. They will be playing six [district games] instead of getting eliminated by one loss,” Carico said.

HHS is expected to prevail as it did with nine teams in the past, and now four in the present.

“We’ll have to do some rescheduling but we’re really just going back to how it used to be,” Carico said.

HHS Alum Jeb Sarver, son of the head football coach Tim Sarver, played football for the Blue Streaks when the Valley District was still in play.

“There were nine teams, Harrisonburg, Turner Ashby,

Broadway, Spotswood, Fort Defiance, Stuarts Draft, Waynesboro, Rockbridge and Lee,” Sarver said.

The Valley District was drastically different from the Massanutten District we dwell in now. The Valley District was more than twice the size our teams are used to playing currently, which meant there was more to consider for a football team in training.

“Having a small district means you can afford to

lose more games, you have more time to learn. But [the advantages] of the larger district were it brought the level of competition up, each week you had to prepare harder than the last because it was going to be a district game,” Sarver said. “You could usually expect an upset [within your district].”

Although the new district is not being implemented until the fall of 2011, preparing early is something our sports teams have never had a problem doing and will be a large part of how HHS athletics will remain taking the top spots in district and regional competition. tt

Lauren MartinAdvertising Manager

VHSL redistricting moves HHS back into ValleyValley District Teams

as of 2011HarrisonburgTurner Ashby

BroadwaySpotswood

Robert E. LeeWaynesboro

Fort Defiance

Mel Strother began his basketball career in the sixthgrade, fresh to the world of basketball. From

there he played for his school and the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) travel league, where he helped his team win the championship game in Myrtle Beach by scoring “like 25 points”.

At this point Strother isn’t sure he’ll pursue a college basketball career, and if he does, his eventual goal won’t be the NBA. “I want to play somewhere overseas, like in Europe, they get paid more. Here they take all your money in taxes, over there you get everything.”

Other than basketball Strother’s preferred sport is hockey. “If I lived up north, I’d play hockey. I’d be the guy who gets in fi ghts.”

Strother is not merely referencing the traditional fi ghting in hockey; he’s talking about the “goon” an unoffi cial position on the team, whose sole purpose is to retaliate to violence from the opposing team.

Outside of sports Strother says he

would consider real estate as a career choice. “I’d buy some beachfront property and rent it out, make money every year.”

Money seems to feature prominently in his future plans no matt er what, when asked “Are you going to be rich?” He responded with “I’m trying.”

As for this season at HHS, Strother is going to be one of the lead players for the Blue Streaks, aft er having scored an average of 9.6 points last season, and because of the simple fact that he tries. “I don’t know what’s wrong with Mel, he doesn’t get tired,” said sophomore Salim Charles.

Senior Ian Frazier shares this sentiment, “Mel’s a good guy, he’s a hard worker and great leader, he tries to bring everybody up with him.”

Aft er the opening game against Rockbridge, Strother’s hopes for the season are off to a good start. Against Rockbridge Strother scored 11 points to help the team win 51-48.

So far Coach Kevin Tysinger says that Mel is living up to his pre-season expectations. “So far he’s doing well, I think we’re going to have a good season,” Tysinger said. “We may not be the fl ashiest team this year, but I think we’re going to do ok.”

The Newsstreak Sports B8January 8, 2009

BCSNATIONALCHAMPIONSHIP

THE ORANGE

BOWL

THEFIESTABOWL

THESUGAR BOWL

THEROSE BOWL

THEGATOR BOWL

THECAPITAL

ONE BOWL

THEOUTBACK

BOWL

THECOTTON BOWL

Shane Pouncey

Irina Kukolj

Kim Hook

Landon Turner

Michael Holmes

Tim Sarver

Mark Healy

Virginia Greenlaw

Madeline Culbreth

Got Bowl Fever? Predictions made for outcome of 2009-2010 college football bowl games

Alabama: “They have a better defense and are bigger.”

Texas

Alabama: “I went there for a year.”

Alabama:“Alabama is thugs.”

Alabama: “They have the best runnng back in college football.”

Alabama: “They have had a good season.”

Alabama: “They are on a roll.”

Alabama:“It’s the tide and they are historically good.”

Alabama: “I know that they are good.”

Georgia Tech: “The triple option they run is good.”

Geogia Tech

Georgia Tech: “Gotta go with the ACC.”

Georgia Tech: “Triple Option at-tack is THuggin.”

Georgia Tech: “Just better.”

Georgia Tech:

Georgia Tech: “They are an ACC team.”

Georgia Tech“I have a friend who goes there.”

Georgia Tech: “They seem better.”

TCU: “They are a new team, and the have purple uniforms.”

Boise State

Boise State: “Cause they have a blue � eld.”

TCU: “Texas is a better state for Football, and they look better.”

Boise State: “Best turf ever.”

TCU:

TCU: “Cause I saw them play live, and they look good.”

Boise State

Boise State: “They have a blue � ield.”

Florida: “They are better, and Florida is my favorite team.”

Florida

Florida: “Cincy has no defense.”

Florida: “Florida is gonna be pissed after their loss and won’t lose again.”

Florida:“Way better than Cincy.”

Florida:

Florida: “I would like to see Tebow go out with a win.”

Cincinatti

Florida: “I like Florida and I have friends who like them.”

Oregon: “I don’t like Ohio State.”

Oregon

Ohio State: “The Duck is a stupid mascot.”

Ohio State: “They have a beast team.”

Orgeon: “Their quarterback is real nice.”

Oregon: “They have had some close games but I think they are a bit better.”

Ohio State: “I have friends who are Ohio State fans, so I will go with them.”

Oregon:“I used to live there.”

Ohio State: “Ohio sounds cooler.”

West Virginia: “Speed.”

Florida State

West Virginia: “They are a tougher team.”

West Virginia: “They are a good team.”

Florida State: “Bowden needs a win to go out on.”

Florida State: “They are one of my favorite teams.”

West Virginia: “Coach Carico knows the head coach.”

West Virginia

Florida State: “ I don’t like West Virinia.”

LSU: “Les Miles is a bet-ter coach.”

LSU

LSU: “I’m from Louisiana.”

LSU: “It’s basically a home game for them, and they have crazy fans.”

LSU: “Penn State sucks.”

Penn State: “My other favorite team.”

TPenn State: “I would like to see them win.”

Penn State

LSU: “I know people who go there.”

Auburn: “Auburn starts with an A.”

Northwestern

Auburn: “They are clearly better.”

Aurburn: “Northwestern sucks.”

Auburn: “They are gonna wax them.”

Auburn:

Auburn: “Good instinct.”

Auburn

Auburn: “Most of my family really likes them.”

Oklahoma State: “They are my second favorite team.”

Oklahoma State:

Ole Miss: “I’m sticking with the SEC.”

Oklahoma State: “Ole Miss has not been doing well lately.”

Oklahoma State: “I have never heard of Ole Miss.”

OKlahoma State:

Ole Miss: “No reason, I just think they will win.”

Ole Miss

People say the third time is a charm, but for the Blue Streaks football team it didn’t quite work out that way when they played

the Amherst Lancers. The Lancers had defeated the Streaks two straight years in the play-off s. These two teams were slated to play once again for the right to move on to the quarterfi nals of the regional play-off s.

As the week started, all the papers had Amherst winning the game and winning big. Amherst was a 14 point favorite; however, the Streaks stayed strong and kept on believing.

“We had a good week of practice and came in knowing we had a chance,” junior quarterback Jake Johnson said. But with the score 7-3, Amherst on top and the last few minutes of the fi rst quarter winding down, star running back Michael Holmes went down with an ankle injury.

“I got rolled up under a tackler and I had a high ankle sprain,” Holmes said. Holmes was having a stand-out season, he had appeared in Sports Illustrated, had racked up 40 touchdowns on the season to go along with just under 3,000 yards of rushing. With Holmes down, sophomore Corbin Whitelow came in to take the carries for the Streaks.

The Streaks were in the game for most of the fi rst half, but then the fumbles started and the Streaks were beating themselves. The Streaks ended up with a total of fi ve fumbles and four of them were recovered by the Lancers.

“When you are up against a team like Amherst, you have to come out and play a solid game, you can’t have turnovers,” Johnson said. Luck also just

didn’t appear to be on the Blue Streaks side.

With a few minutes left in the second quarter Amherst quarterback Kirby Anderson rolled outside of the pocket to the left , looking for his receiver Jamal Glover. His pass was high and

Glover tips the ball up into the air. With the Streaks lack of luck Amherst receiver Chris McDaniel comes down with the ball right in his hands in the end zone for another score to make the score 40-3 in favor of the Lancers at half.

Members of the Red Sea also made the two hour drive down to Amherst to support their Streaks. Senior Ian Frazier and Sophomore Ben Harris and many more took on the long drive and went down to cheer the Streaks on. “Amherst has such a nice football fi eld and it’s always

a pleasure to travel down to watch a game,” Frazier said. Sophomore Ben Harris also went down to watch the game.

“When I got there and watched Amherst in warm-ups I couldn’t believe how fast and quick they were,” Harris said.

In the end Amherst ended up winning 47-22. This was a tough lose for the Steaks. It’s now 3 straight years that they have gone to Amherst and have lost all 3 times. Amherst is one of the top teams in the state; they have a lot of athletes.

“They are a very fast and quick team,” Johnson said. When it comes down to a football game you can prepare for a lot of things and practice for a lot of things. But the one thing that you can’t account for is speed. Also, the Streaks are looking forward to next year. With Holmes back, the Streaks will always have a chance to compete with anyone.

Third time is not a charm for HHS football teamMitch Depoy

Straff Reporter

“We had a good

week of practice and came in knowing we

had a chance.” Junior

Jake Johnson

Mel Strother

THIS OR THATwith

College Basketball or N.B.A.Beyonce or Alicia KeysGatorade or Powerade

Gira� e or ElephantNike or Adidas

McDonald’s or Burger KingThree pointer or Two pointer

O� ense or Defense30 points or 15 rebounds

Morning or NightRap music or Rock music

Duke or UNCLeBron or Kobe

Coach K or Bob KnightChicken or Steak

Sweets or Salty foodTwo socks or just one pair

MTV or BETU2 or ColdplayFingers or Toes

Sandals or SneakersCoke or Pepsi

Batman or SupermanCall or Text

All or Nothing

Emmett CopelandStaff Reporter

Strother o� to great start

Ole Miss: “I know people who like them.”

Since he was able to walk, Senior Alazar Haregu has had a basketball in his hand.

“I started playing when I was about four years old,” Haregu said, “Where I

grew up, you either played basketball or you just stayed inside.”

Haregu wants to set an example for the younger kids on the team.

“You got to be at practice every day, and not worry about yourself. Worry about what your impact on the team will be,” Haregu said.

The varsity team is missing a lot of key players from last year but Haregu is still keeping his head up and his eye on the prize.

“We are going to bring home districts this year; I think we are going to do prett y well,” Haregu said.

That will be a challenge for the Streaks. The Streaks district consists of two of the top teams in the state, Broadway and Spotswood. The Gobblers always make a run to the regionals as well as Spotswood, who was knocked out in the state semifi nals last year. With Haregu running the point, the Streaks could go far.

“This will be my fi rst year playing full time point guard,” Haregu said, “When you play point, you’re the focal point of the team, you’re the guy who brings the ball up court and is yelling out the play,” Haregu said.

While Haregu excels on the court, he excels off the court as well. UVA is his fi rst school of choice.

By Daiki Ishikawa

Haregu wants district titleAndrew Morrell

Staff Reporter

The NewsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 ads b9Patrons are members of the Harrisonburg community and others who support the pursuit of excel-lence in the journalistic publications of Harrisonburg High School. Money generated from the patron program is used to offset costs of attending journalism conferences, to print our paper, and to purchase up-to-date technological equipment for our journalism lab. To become a patron, see any member of the Newsstreak Staff or stop by room 444. Patron level is determined by the following scale: HHS Pa-trons, $5; Blue Patrons, $10; Bronze Patrons, $15; Silver Patrons, $25; Gold Patrons, $50; and Newsstreak Super Sponsor, $100+.

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The NewsstreakJanuary 8, 2009 Photo Essay B10

Let it snow! Seniors Emily Knapp, Jes-sica Rutledge, and Kelsey hyser enjoy a snowy Saturday. Photo By Phillip Ban-nister

To the top Senior Jessica Rutledge pulls a sleigh back to the top of the hill after riding down in the new fallen snow. Photo by Phillip Bannister

Oh Christmas Tree! Seniors Stephanie Lee, Ra� qa Haji, Jessica Rutledge, Chel-sea Thurman, Samantha Flaherty, Kelsey Hyser, and Greta Klosinski gather in front of the Christmas tree downtown during the parade. Photo By Phillip Bannister

Streak Pride! Sophomore David Love and Senior Chelsea Thurman hold up a Blue Streaks blanket downtown during the parade to show some Blue Streak pride. Photo by Phillip Bannister

Dukes! The James Madison Dukettes preform downtown after the parade in front of the newly lit Christmas tree and a huge crowd. Photo by Phillip Bannister

Marchin’ in the parade. Junior Si-mona Byler prepares for the Blue Streak Band to march in the down-town parade. Photo by Aidan New-city

Joy ride. Senior Doodie Grogg takes a ride in a bin of turkeys for the Streaks Serve the burg’ turckey distribution day. Photo by Jessica Strickler

Sweet Dreams. Junior Haley Wenos gets excited before the Streaks Serve the Burg’ � oat during the parade. Photo by Aidan Newcity

Head Over Heels! Junior Simona Byler takes her turn performing a handstand dur-ing the gymnastic team practice. Photo by Emily Jamieson

Straight as a Line! Junior Emily Gor-don prepares to do a � ip on the un-even bars while Coach King is ready to spot her. Photo by Emily Jamieson

Chalk up! Senior Naomi Ornestein chalks up be-fore a round on the bars at gymnastics practice. Photo by Phillip Bannister

Getting it Straight! Coach King holds freshman Elena Gerome’s legs to show her how her body should be while doing � ips on the mat. Photo by Phillip Bannister

Flipping for Gymnastics! Senior Naomi Ornstein and Junior Lexi Von-drack do � ips on the balance beam for fun during a break in gymnastics practice. Photos by Emily Jamieson

Hold on! Junior Simona Byler holds on tight during a bar routine at gymnastics practice. Photo by Phillip Bannister

Leap for the Stars! Junior Simona Byler leaps on the high beam during gymnastics practice. Photo by Phillip Bannister

Lead the Way! Freshman Elena Gerome show other team mates what tricks they have to do on the high beam for gymnas-tics practice. Photo by Emily Jamieson

A Helping Hand! Senior Naomi Orn-stein prepares to spot Junior Simona Byler as she does a back � ip on the mat. Photo by Phillip Bannister

Flipping Into 2010

Ta-Da! Simona Byler works on her � oor exer-cise routine. Photo by Phillip Bannister

Stretch it Out! Lexi Vondrack does a stretch on the high beam before prac-tice starts. Photo by Phillip Bannister