Volume 52Issue IVMarch 8, 20126001 Cassia St.Boise, ID 83709borahsenator.com

THE BORAH

SENATOR

“Ignorance is one of the most toxic things in the world.”

Discover Repticon and the various creatures it hosted.

Page 5

Various choir talents were re-vealed during the Variety Show.

Page 19

Read about cover artist junior Sara Rostron and the main

inspiration behind her artwork. Page 15

Page 11

Letters to the Editor2 The Borah Senator March 8, 2012

Kristin Bracewell states in her opinion piece of December 14 that the Occupy Wall Street protestors should have “gratitude” for wealthy people who generate jobs for others and that what really matters is that ev-eryone has the “opportunity to make something of themselves.”

Well, it’s certainly hard to disagree with her that everyone should have the chance to get ahead in our society but I question whether the extreme income inequality we are beginning to see in our country should be rea-son for gratitude among the 99 per-cent not as fortunate. Rather, if you want to talk about gratitude, it is the super wealthy 1 percent who should feel grateful to live in a society that has given them the means to become so rich. Sure, their wealth has a lot to do with working and taking risks. But it also has to do with living in a society that, at least until now, has provided most of its citizens with the tools to get ahead, like quality public education. With more cutbacks in education and

social services looming, however, it is a legitimate question to ask whether students like those now at Borah will have the same access to economic opportunity as previous generations. And that’s why, in my opinion, the Occupy Wall Street protestors have got it right. The 1 percent should have to shoulder a bigger responsibility… and pay more… because they benefit the most in our free market economy. By the way, I also wish to take the is-sue with Kristin’s description of U.S. corporate tax rates. While it is true that at 35 percent, they are the second highest in the world (Japan’s is 39.5 percent), myriad tax breaks and loop-holes in our tax code make it possible for many corporations to pay far less than companies abroad do. Lastly, I wish to applaud both Kristin and Ri-ley Tidmarsh for weighing in on im-portant national issues and showing that Borah students are engaged in this important debate.

Senator StaffEditor in Chief: Kristin BracewellSenior Associate Editor: Justin KirkhamJunior Associate Editor: Savannah HarrelsonArt Editor: Rochelle RathamonePhotographers: Kristin Bracewell, Korey Combs, Madisen Gerber, Emilee RiversText Editors: Kristin Bracewell, Justin Kirkham, Savannah HarrelsonAd Manager: Brittni HanrahanPublic Relations Manager: Ari AnchusteguiPage EditorsFront Cover: Kristin BracewellStaff Page: Aline MeyerArtist Bio: Brittni HanrahanNews: Grace Gibney, Camilla Girardi Opinion: Kristin Bracewell Life: Jamie Jones, Carlee Parsley Spread: Justin KirkhamA&E: Justin Kirkham, Sara Rostron Q&A: Kristin Bracewell assisted by Brittni HanrahanTrends: Ari AnchusteguiSports: Savannah HarrelsonJV Sports: Riley TidmarshPhoto Essay: Korey Combs, Rochelle Rathamone Fun and Games: Jacob HortonIllustrators: Andrew Adams, Rochelle RathamoneWriters: Bradley Burgess, August Mckernan, Jaynee Nielsen, Gustavo Sagrero, Ashley Corbett Web Editor: Grace Gibney assisted by Brittni HanrahanVideographers: Zackery Thomas, Riley TidmarshAdviser: Michelle Harmon

I very much appreciate the diligent work and research that is put into the articles. I appreciate the interviews that are done regarding opinion piec-es. I also recognize that, on occasion, communication can be an obstacle in expressing ideas and thoughts.

This leads to my concern. In the article, “Next year’s seniors must take math class” an opinion – mine – was conveyed incorrectly. Granted, when surprised (in this case with an inter-view that happened only moments after receiving my call slip) I cannot seem to enunciate effectively, or as it appears here, correctly. I’m positive Ms. Jones (the author of the article) can verify this when asked to recall the difficulty I had in thinking clearly. My sole intent of this letter is to clarify my opinion, as I have failed to do so thus far.

First, math is a good thing, and the world needs mathematicians just as much as anything else. However, requiring two math credits during

the senior year is a big mistake. As I understand it, the intent of the law is to graduate more kids with the know-how to become engineers, scientists, mathematicians, etc. But, many stu-dents already know their career goals before graduation. Some don’t, but many do. The future engineers are taking these math classes, these sci-ence classes before they are required to do so, possibly posing the prob-lem of having taken too much math too soon. What about the law? The main problems with the law is that it holds back the accelerated, and it will only become a stolen elective space to those who dream of pursuing the arts, music, or any other field of work and wish to study as much as they can in high school. How does it help them?

In addition, history gives an epit-ome of the problem of requirement. Every student in American public high school (including ninth grade) know the story of the American Revo-lution. It resulted from the power and money struggle between the colonies

in the Americas and the government in England. Yes, the colonies were upset they had to pay taxes, but how mad do your parents get during tax season? The problem then wasn’t the fact that there were taxes, but how they were applied. Members of Par-liament – who had no idea what the colonies were like (and if they did, a very limited one) – gathered together and decided how and when the colo-nies would pay their dues. They taxed specific things, such as molasses, legal documents, and perhaps most infa-mous: tea.

Think now about the math re-quirement or, better yet, all require-ments. Ponder this: here we are in the 21st century. High schools are trying to produce intellectual and contribut-ing citizens (which is part of Borah’s mission statement). This parallels to 18th century Parliament, who tried to generate contributing and success-ful colonies. In the effort to guaran-tee better and smarter students, more requirements are thrust upon us, the

students (parallel: taxes). Fearing this may not achieve the results they de-sire, they tell us when to take these requirements, thereby ensuring their completion (parallel: what was taxed). Instead of letting the students (with the guidance of their counselors and parents) decide when to complete these courses; they do our thinking for us. Again I ask what this compilation of circumstances lead to? The Ameri-can Revolution.

One final note before I finish is this: is there no opposition to this law to be heard? Or was that merely coin-cidental?

In closing I will paraphrase part of the staff editorial article “Americans should be able to trust media, not question” by restating: “Not only is the media fixating only on one side of an issue… their questions do not even make a difference.” I’m not blaming the journalists of the Senator; I just want to help achieve your goal of ac-curate reporting.

Economics teacher disagrees with Wall Street article

Borah Senator,

Thanks, Brendon French, Sophomore

Ralph Bild, Economics teacher

Artist seeks light at the end of tunnelArtist BioThe Borah Senator March 8, 2012 3

By Ari Anchustegui

Ars longa, vita bretis--a Latin saying from the song “Butterfly Boucher” by The Nice--translates to art is long, life is short, a favored line by junior artist Sara Rostron.

Rostron has adopted the motto due to the way it sums up her feelings.“There are so many things in life that are completely negative, but when you produce art, that art is there forever.”

One look at Rostron summarizes her uncanny creative personality; her art is a reflection of herself and her insight.

She has been seizing the world of art since child-hood, though never enrolling in any school drawing courses, she was mentored by a learned artist, and took lessons from her for five years. Other interests of hers include tattooing, horseback riding, news-paper writing, and psychology.

Each seems to contribute to Rostron’s unique aura. “I try to make things more vibrant than they actually are,” she said.

She draws while listening to music, particularly Classic Rock. She explained that she almost con-stantly has music playing, and “the song always

breaking out of the norm. Art is a way for her to learn, she said.

Her greatest inspiration is nature. Her friend of seven years, senior Dona Ochoa, said she admires the movement in Rostron’s work. “I think that really signifies how she’s growing and coming to be as a person.” She said.

Her goals are for viewers to question society. “We always go into a tiny flow.” She explained how important it is for individuals to branch off and fig-ure out what that flow truly is.

“Find out what you really do believe in,” she said. “Find what’s in your heart.”

And for Rostron, that is art. She describes how it allows her to maintain a balance over her emotions, “Art is always my drive, and at the end of the day, it’s my priority,” she said.

What separates Rostron from other artists is her self-motivation. “I try to dig deep into my-self,” she explained. “ A lot of times artists are just so influenced by what other people do that it leads them to forget about themselves.”

She added, “To me, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel, always pull through, find what you love and make that everything.”

changes for the picture.” She added, “It has to match my mood.”

Rostron often draws animals such as owls, par-rots and other birds; her pieces are realistic, al-though she uses surrealism.

“Her art defines her personality; all of her fa-vorite things are incorporated,” said junior Char-lie Dennis, Rostron’s childhood friend. Rostron isn’t focused on making a career out of art, but on

Photo by Korey Combs

News4 The Borah Senator March 8, 2012

Rotary Scholars

Two Lions compete in poetry slamAs a child, poetry was nothing

more than a lulling story read to their children before bed. Now, it has taken the form of easy money.

Poetry Out Loud is a national con-test supported by The National En-dowment for the Arts that encourages youth to memorize and recite poetry. Top-level winners receive a $20,000 scholarship as the national champion and earn money for their schools.

Recently, Borah junior Gustavo Sagrero and senior Chanse Ward both participated the regional level of the contest.

“It was exciting to have a chance of competing at the national level,”

said Sagrero. “It was great to hear other people portray their thoughts through their poems.”

Participants audition at their local schools in front of a panel of judges. If chosen, participants qualify for the regional, then onward to the state competition, and finally, the national arena.

Judges keep an eye out for accurate memorization and fluid tones from the reciter. English teacher Chuck McHenry, organizer of Borah’s po-etry competition, watches for these characteristics when analyzing par-ticipants.

“Kids tend to get caught up in poems that rhyme and they fall into a pattern. They get into sound rather

than meaning,” he said.Reciting a poem is a challenging

experience for these competitors. “It was tense,” said Ward.

“It was really nerve-wrecking to re-cite poetry in front of an auditorium and a panel of judges. But it’s fun. Everyone should get a shot at it,” the senior added

“It was cool,” said Sagrero. “It was a bunch of kids that got together and hung out. It was kind of like the Dead Poets Society, but not really.”

“Poetry is our most important lit-erature,” said McHenry. “It gets peo-ple connected more with themselves and with their world. Poetry is more about shining light rather than having light shined on it.”

By Grace Gibney

By Kristin Bracewell

The Rotary Scholars have once again been picked this year, and though this honor has been around for about six years, it is still relatively unknown around Borah.

In simple terms, as History teacher Jayne Davis said, “it gets (students’) city-wide recognition.”

It is a specific night during which the top 100 graduating seniors from the Boise School District are rec-ognized for their outstanding dedi-cation to academic achievement. The students, accompanied by two guests and one teacher who is iden-tified as the student’s special educa-tor, attend a dinner with over 500 members of the Rotary committee.

How do these Boise Rotary Cen-taury Scholars get picked? Strictly by their GPA.

Senior Thomas Torres has been named a Rotary Scholar this year. He stated it was a way to get “acknowledgment for the hard work I have been doing.”

He said, “GPA does kind of re-flect how good of a student you are but it doesn’t mean everything.” He finishes with stating that he believes that his GPA just shows he is a good student on paper.

These scholars will be awarded with a dinner in their honor April 17 in the Jordan Ballroom at Boise State. Following is a list of the 21 Borah Rotary Scholars.

A conglomeration of ge-netically altered scales, wrig-gling maggots, and pitch-col-ored scorpions, Repticon is a home for reptile enthusiasts and hopeful pet owners. For the first time ever, the Trea-sure Valley hosted a session of the convention Feb. 11 and 12 at the Nampa Civic Center. Attendees came in search of rare pets, reptilian education, and high class worms.

In order to entice students, Repticon offered a $1 discount to attendees with ia student ID.

Repticon travels the nation and runs a convention each weekend at varied locations. “It’s important to find a good location,” explained Rep-ticon owner Billy Healy. “The venue has to be the right size, and local laws have to work for the show.” He con-tinued to stress that in some cases, laws or venues prohibit the conven-tion from having exotic animals.

Consisting of several sellers, armed with live animals, food, and pet supplies, and a few animal exhib-its, the Civic Center was packed with

By Justin Kirkham

staff members and visitors. Children gawked at the turtles, and the easily-frightened cringed at the sight of mas-sive pythons and constrictors. For the most part, worms, lizards and small snakes were kept in cheap, plastic containers that dotted tables, but for larger animals, glass tanks were used.

“There was a huge demand from Boise residents for us to come out,” said Repticon vendor coordinator Dana Barr, who was hired only a month before the event was held. Due to her recent hiring, Barr called sellers to try and fill the convention in a sliver

of the normal time allotment. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s really worth it in the end.”

Feeder Source rep-resentative Nathan Ramats is a regular seller at Repticon. “We’re the top food seller for reptiles,” he explained. “We ship to China and Japan and import stuff from Chile.”

In search of a new cornsnake for his girl-friend, Geoff Bertwell

Event showcases the exotic

Ryan AndersonRebecca BergKristin BracewellVincent DihnDani FilerMegan GehrkeBrian HansonAlexis HepworthShelby HopkinsJustin KirkhamScott Khuu

Bailey MaierLucas MorseTravis PeterTristan StillingsThomas TorresSavannah TjadenAlethea WardChanse WardBrooke WimerJoe Wineke

decided that Repticon was the place to look. “You have to make sure it has the right personality,” he added. Ber-twell explained that Repticon was the ideal convention to find and purchase exotic animals. He and his girlfriend purchased a genetically altered snake. “There’s only two of her in existence,” he beamed.

Overall, Healy hopes that people will come to Repticon not only to pur-chase animals and supplies, but also to become more educated. “Hopefully they will leave knowing a bit more about the animals.”

Photo by Korey CombsLizards are just one of the many exotic species that were shown at the Repticon convention, held in Nampa for the first time.

Top students from district selected

NewsThe Borah Senator March 8, 2012 5

As competitions for DECA edge closer, Borah students are gearing up to take home awards and possibly go onto nationals.

DECA’s 41 students, half of marketing teacher and DECA advisor Mark Bilger’s classes, are getting ready to enter the Idaho DECA competition March 8-10. Students will test their business and marketing savvy against each other and other schools in Idaho as they see who will go to nationals in Salt Lake City.

For some, this is their first time competing, for others, their third. “The first time you get the butterflies because your talking to people in their 40s and 50s who have expectations because of their business background”, said President of Borah’s DECA club and seasoned competitor Mason Bilger. “You get your presentation, and after 15 minutes you have to have it figured it out. You may feel confident when walking to the judges, but then you freeze up. You just got to fight through the butterflies.”

The events are spread across three days and 46 different categories. The competitions begin with a speech to the students followed by the Quiz Bowl later that day, a rapid fire event similar to a game show.

When asked about what he would like students to get out of this, Bilger said, “I think the really biggest thing is the confidence. After they get through this they feel more prepared, they have more skills to be more approachable”.

Although it is hidden in the back of Petsmart on Milwaukee, the En-hanced Adoption Center’s success is not. Through the Idaho Humane So-ciety, more than 67 chihuahuas were rescued from California in the middle of February and over half were ad-opted to new families in just a week.

Petsmart Charities specifically se-lected the Idaho Humane Society to represent them in the adoption process in late October 2011. The organiza-tion was offered a place in Petsmart, and, in addition, does not have to pay for utilities or rent.

“Even when it’s busy, it still isn’t as crazy as the main shelter,” com-mented Vince Cabrera. employed at the center. “It has a personable feeling here, as though you can relate to the animals more.”

Much as the facilities are located inside, the dogs receive more inter-action with other dogs than they would at the shelter. Even the most stressed and behavioral problem type of dogs are placed here after an exten-sive health check. Employees report

By Madisen Gerber

DECA gears up for March competitons

Petsmart rallies with Humane Society

By Gustavo Sagrero

seeing immediate changes in animals over the next few weeks.“The location is very centralized with more foot traffic,” said

Josh Moynihan, also employed in the center. “But, I think it’s much easier for people to come to our location, less overwhelm-ing for the dogs and for the adopters.”

Though employees play a key role in the success of the hu-mane society, it support spreads beyond to the community.

“The volunteers help in many ways, from greet-ing customers and showing them the dogs and cats, to caring for the cats and dogs and supervising them in the playroom. The volunteers assist in the adop-tion process also,” IHS volunteer coordinator, Mel-anie Larson, said.

Photo by Madisen Gerber

Opinion6 The Borah Senator March 8, 2012

Pro: By Savannah Harrelson

Teenagers are often blinded by desire for luxuriously tanned skin, de-spite having knowledge of detrimental health risks, which is exactly why the law that would ban the use of tanning beds for minors is necessary.

Often, teenagers ignore or deny the risks associated with tanning beds, which are staggering.

The World Health Organization states that women under the age of 35 are 75 percent more likely to contract skin cancer when using a tanning bed once every month.

An article in the New York Times

by Anahad O’Connor titled “How Tanning Changes the Brain,” states, “People who frequently use tanning beds experience changes in brain ac-tivity during their tanning sessions that mimic the patterns of drug ad-diction, new research shows.”

It is often overwhelming for young girls to maintain self confidence in a culture where looking good is reward-ed. These incentives, however, do not justify the harmful and devastating re-sults of tanning.

“It’s so easy to get skin cancer from fake tanning,” said junior Dani Duncan, “Girls don’t just do it every so often, they do it all the time. You

may look good now, but in 30 years you’re going to have the skin of a 90 year old.”

Nurse Barb Thomas also supports the law, as a former friend of the sun and tanning bed user, saying that the use of tanning beds “is so danger-ous.” She added, “The more you’re exposed, the more damage is done to the skin.”

The use of tanning beds is ex-tremely dangerous, causing higher chances for skin cancer. This law would ultimately save lives by forc-ing young adults to wait until they are properly mature to decide on issues regarding their health.

Con: By Ari Anchustegui

Are you an unsightly, translucent pale shade? Even through the summer sun? Too bad for you, unless you’re over the age of 18, that is.

Unfortunately, House Bill 486 has been proposed to Idaho’s senate, a new unnecessary law that would make any use of tanning beds for minors a misdemeanor.

Organizations like Aim at Mela-noma, a national dermatology soci-ety with a branch in Idaho, and the American Academy of Dermatology advocate the fading of underage skin and urge he Idaho State Legislature to adopt the bill.

It is “likely” that melanoma can easily be obtained by overexposure to ultraviolet light; however, no one has

yet found a direct link between UV exposure and cancer, according to Thebeautybrains.com.

Minors aren’t being chained inside tanning beds. It is a choice that each Idahoan has had, but not for much longer. The proposed bill states that until their eighteenth birthday, minors may no longer have the right to use commercial tanning salons to look dark and wonderful.

Already, tanning salons must fol-low state regulations, meaning that any minor must have a signature by his/her guardian for tanning services.

“It’s my choice to tan; I’m aware of the risks,” said junior Mallory Cripps, who is highly opposed to the bill. “The government shouldn’t be able to legislate my right to look the way I choose.”

Indoor tanning increases the risk of obtaining skin cancer in the later years of life. That doesn’t mean that a fake ‘n bake every now and then will doom one entirely.

In fact, an article in Thebeau-tybrains.com states that one indoor tan is equivalent to a hundred glasses of milk. Relaxing under the rays helps provide a significant amount of Vita-min D, a powerfully important hor-mone. The heat released inside the beds opens pores, and can help clear acne.

Eventually, everyone is going to get wrinkles, so why not enjoy thier youth-ful skin now while they are able. A nice tan is flattering on anyone, and no one is forcing anybody to use commercial tanning services. It should never be mandatory to be pale.

By Emilee Rivers

We’re halfway through a new elec-tion. A select few remain in the com-petition fighting to gain the title of President. Each has taken a different route to gain the people’s trust and re-spect, while one candidate, Rick Perry quickly buried himself, resulting in his dropping out of the campaign.

Citizens across the U.S. expressed their exasperation toward this can-didate when his campaign aired one commercial with a pretentious mes-sage that we believe took this man out of the running.

“I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian, but you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this coun-try when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly cel-ebrate Christmas or pray in school.”

We see this type of pandering as political suicide; he shot himself out of the running, insulting people across America.

Not only did this irk citizens, but it hit home, right here at Borah. Both students and teachers were awestruck by this man’s nerve; many here hoped it was some sort of cruel joke.

Junior Dani Duncan posted the video to her Facebook, letting Rick Perry’s “Strong” campaign collect the comments of other Borah students.

She said, “He’s a horrible man; I know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can’t get married, but small-minded, intolerant, homo-phobic fear-mongers like Rick Perry can be considered viable presidential candidates.”

With a stern look on her face, Art teacher, Jennifer Compton said, “It’s wrong. They should be able to have all the freedoms they want; rights are a good thing.”

We see this man as a disgrace to so-ciety, to his religion and to the people he was dreaming to rule above.

Rick Perry’s GOP race provides a cautionary tale

Inside tanning beds should be illegal for all minors

Minors should have equal access to tanning beds

Illustration by Andrew Adams

OpinionThe Borah Senator March 8, 2012 7

Staff Editorial

Lion Tracks has been controver-sial since the day the program started. Students and teachers alike question its effectiveness, and wonder if there is any way that it will ever resemble its original intentions to promote college readiness for students.

And honestly, it is a common con-cern that these 20 minutes set aside from regular academics every other week are going to waste on talks about how Facebook affects our futures and whether there are alternatives after high school besides college.

Yes, these are fabulous topics re-lating to our futures, but will they be helpful? Will all students benefit or even listen? Even the best and the brightest do not listen or partake in these little lessons because they have evolved from topics on college preparation to areas that should be considered common sense.

Senior Megan Gehrke agrees em-phatically that Lion Tracks began with a brilliant idea, but quickly grew useless. “I think they started some-thing before they actually thought it through,” Gehrke said. The truth is the first few lessons were somewhat helpful, but the confusion of what this specific activity was intended to do outweigh its effectiveness.

The main question is what to do with combined classes, classes that have multiple class levels enrolled in them (sophomore, junior, or senior level students). For example, it is not at all useful to explain to seniors how to start searching for colleges when se-niors should have applied to colleges by now.

Gehrke said she sees how this could be helpful for “lost individu-als” who are still trying to figure out

the college path. “Ignorance is bliss,” Gehrke stated, referring to her belief that even struggling college seekers probably would not take advantage of this extra help.

This program is helpful for sopho-mores and juniors, in some aspects. Sopomore Haileigh Gregory said she believes Lion Tracks is helpful because it “gets people thinking.”

She said, “I think it’s helpful for sophomores because it gets them thinking,” adding that, through this program, she has now begun to think about what college she wants to at-tend.

Gehrke said Lions Tracks’ initial goal had “good intentions,” adding,

“I really do feel like they bit off more then they can handle.” She said that even teachers seem in the dark about how to guide the activities.

Not only do teachers have to come up with teaching plans for their regu-lar teaching schedules, but also pro-vide leadership in an area potentially outside of their expertise.

The lessons that have been as-signed seem to skip over the informa-tion that is crucial. It would have been extremely useful to have a specific les-son dedicated to Naviance, how to fill out the FAFSA correctly, or scholar-ship searches, for example.

The meaning behind this program has been lost, with no clear purpose or specific lesson plans, and confusion all around. The teachers at Borah are capable of explaining the monthly les-sons but since the meaning has been lost, it is almost pointless, hence the nicknames “Lion Traps” and “Lion Craps.” It is hard to get the full mean-

ing across to exhausted students and actually get them involved with plan-ning their future.

Lion Tracks is spiraling down-ward, and the initial meaning has become lost in a base of confusion and sporadic lesson plans.

“The theory is good,” Govern-ment teacher Ron Freeman ex-plained about the program. “I think in principle it’s fine. A lot of things we could do...that we don’t get to cover in class.”

But he continued to describe how the initial idea has seemed to fallen short. He concentrates on the main, evident problem. “Mixed classes,” he said. “Each different group has

different needs.” It’s too dif-ficult to have mixed class and actually end up help-ing all the students. What would you cover? Scholar-ships? Application process?

Those are the things seniors and juniors should be concentrating on, while sophomores start searching for schools.

Freeman stated “I think it does have some potential” but he said it seemed to be a rushed process where the program started hastily, without a clear vision. If the administration sat down and got a solid idea before jumping eyes closed, the program may have ended up being more helpful then a hassle for all.

Another reason it seems to be disliked, in Freeman’s opinion, is because it shouldn’t have been on Wendesdays. He said that it had al-ready created the image to students that they were “losing something” that was rightfully theirs, though the students haven’t lost anything.

It seems evident that the pro-gram started well, and just fell short. Through some small tweeks, the pro-gram could live up to its porential.

Lion Tracks falls short of expectations, burdening all

Senator shout-outs:

How do you feel about Lion Tracks?

“There is not enough time invested in it to be effec-tive. And there is a serious lack of motivation.”

- Sophomore Eric Garcia

“Lion Tracks to many has not hit its goal. Students getting held on Wednes-day for lunch never has a good outcome.”

-Junior Joe Bu

“I feel like the program has potential, but when it comes to us seniors it’s just too little too late.”

-Senior Brooke Wimer

“I like it, if it is done right and the teachers are pas-sionate about it. If the teacher is negative about it, so can students. -Teacher Jermey Dovel

“I really do feel like they bit off more then they can handle.”

--Senior Megan Gehrke

Life 8 The Borah Senator March 8, 2012

Musical IntentionsAmong the musical talent at Bo-

rah, some aspire to reach professional levels.

Senior Shane Norman-Cox and juniors Marissa Jerome and Sarah Hart plan to use their musical studies to propel their dreams of going pro-fessional.

Jerome first took hold of singing when she was four years old. Sur-rounded by music from her mother and grandmother, who are both pia-nists, she adopted singing into her daily life. Her musical resume lists participation in over 25 musicals, nu-merous published music videos on YouTube, and competition in several singing contests.

The vocalist takes voice lessons and performs at Rockies Diner every Saturday night. She describes this ex-perience as “a nice way to get out and keep performing.”

Jerome plans to keep reaching for her dreams. “I don’t care what any-body else thinks,” she said. “If I’m having fun doing it, them I’m happy.”

As she continues to learn guitar and build connections, she keeps one idea in mind: “I want to be somebody that four-year-olds can look up to and 95-year-olds can listen to.”

Norman-Cox, a trombone and trumpet player, aspires to integrate music into his every day life as an adult. He recently had an audition at the Berkely School of Music, and said the experience was great.

Although hopeful for acceptance,

NA provides counselHigh school is hard enough with-

out the burden of addiction. It’s easy to lose control with drugs and alcohol, unfolding a world of hurt and chaos for everyone involved.

Many teens live this way because of little information in school about addiction and how to deal with it.

Addiction is defined as a disease. According to psychologist Steven Hayes from the University of Nevada, “the problem may be that people think of ‘brain diseases’ as fixed and unchangeable,” while research shows that this isn’t a valid explanation.

According to AddictionsandRe-covery.org, “Addiction is due 50 per-cent to genetic predisposition and 50 percent to poor coping skills…your genes are not your destiny.”

Three years ago, a Narcotics Anonymous group was formed at Bo-rah for teens who have such struggles. Help is offered through confidential adults and support from peers strug-gling with similar experiences.

Assistant Principal Bryce Eng-land said, “We are the ones who deal mainly with substance abuse. In fact, there’s a policy for schools that al-low us by law to search anyone under reasonable suspicion. Basically while you’re here, we’re considered your parent figures. That means we’re al-lowed to search you, your backpack, your locker, etc.”

“If you’re caught with drug pos-session, it’s a five-day suspension, but there’s a suspension-reducing program called the Student Survival

Junior Sarah Hart composses her own music and oten displays her talents any op-porunity she gets, sharing her music with the rest of Borah High School.

Training Intervention and Support,” England said.

Josh Ritchie, transition counselor and facilitator of Narcotics Anony-mous at Borah, said, “This is the group’s third year and it’s getting big-ger and bigger. Space-wise it’s getting tight so you have to go through me to get approved. Kids confront me when they realize that drugs are harming their life and they have a need or de-sire to cut back. Ultimately we would like them to stop using, but cutting back is a start. Typically we spend more time talking about what to use instead of talking about what they did use.”

Becky Woodland, social work-er, explained how teens start using. “Teenagers use drugs as a coping mechanism when they can’t deal with what life has dealt them. It’s an easy way to cope, and it feels good, so why shouldn’t they? It also comes from stress at home… family influence im-pacts decisions greatly. [Ultimately], it’s a quick fix to a long problem.”

“Come talk to me or another counselor. Lots of times these kids don’t know they need help. You can tell a counselor anonymously, leave a note… sometimes a friend will even bring the person down and that’s great because they need an ally. Substance abuse is there,” Woodland said.

“Recognize the signs and be brave. The worst thing you can do is judge or point your finger. These aren’t bad people, they’ve just been dealt a bad hand and coped the best way they knew how.”

if denied he plans to play music on a cruise ship for a year before attending college.

He currently plays in a band called Voice of Reason, and they typically are hired for two to three gigs, or paid musical performances, per week dur-ing the summer. He explained the performances as good opportunities to get around and play, but ultimately, “[the gigs] just put gas in the car.” He also performs with many other bands, including the Entertainers, and even appeared with English teacher Rod Wray.

Norman-Cox aspires to be the head of a small funk band, and add-ed that his acceptance into Berkeley would be “a good outlet on getting a funk band going.” He wishes to leave Boise, saying, “There’s no band here that can make a living just on music.”

Appearing multiple times in this year’s Variety Show, Hart explained that music is a great outlet to share emotion. “I like to do [music],” she said. “I don’t necessarily see it as work.” She described her own style as a singer/songwriter or folk type.

Hart plans to attend a contempo-rary music college and pursue music composition or production. For now, “I study and involve myself in music and learn more about it.”

She has looked at other career as-pirations, but indicated that music is etched into her soul, “Truthfully, I’ve looked at other occupations, but ev-erywhere I look I cannot fall into the same rhythm as with music.”

By Sara Rostron

By Savannah Harrelson

Photos by Korey CombsVice Principal Bryce England, Transition Counselor Josh Richie, and Social Worker Becky Woodland

Photo by Korey Combs

Life The Borah Senator March 8, 2012 9

Borah seniors tackle research papersWell known for its substantial im-

portance and workload, the senior paper is a culmination of hours of forethought, writing, and revision. From topics covering the familiar ar-eas of cell phone use, teen violence, and environmental improvement to the more exotic subject matter of the Japanese Yakuza, the history of gears, and United Nations issues, this paper spans almost every angle possible.

In the Boise School District, Eng-lish 12 students are required to write a senior paper. Seniors select a topic and delve into extensive research be-fore actually piecing together the pa-per, weaving commentary with cita-tions from many sources. “It’s really a lot of drafting,” explained senior Ca-leb Galbraith, who completed his own senior paper during summer school.

In other districts, namely the Me-ridian School District, seniors are re-quired to complete a senior project, which consists of an oral report, a pa-per of its own, and the actual project with hours of work and preparation.

Some seniors are thankful that they are required only to complete a research paper. “It’s a lot less work for the paper,” explained Galbraith. “You can focus more on the writing and editing.”

Spanish and English 101 and 102

teacher, Samantha Mora, said she believes that a senior project is opti-mal, but not always achievable. “The project can be really valuable,” she as-sessed, “but it depends on how it is set up and managed.”

Mora said the senior paper is a better fit for the Boise School District because it would put a hefty amount of work on teachers’ backs. “With our huge class sizes,” she explained, “there is not a way to manage it well.”

“With the project,” shrugged se-nior Lyndon Curtis, “you end up ap-plying yourself more to what you are

New classes added to accomodate studentsA few weeks after the start of sec-

ond semester, schedules have been changed and new classes have been added. The cause: an overflow of students. “The problem was that there were too many students and too little teachers,” said counselor Cary Cada.

Numerous students experienced overcrowded classrooms. The coun-seling office met this demand by

By Justin Kirkham

By Grace Gibney

doing.” He continued, “When you are doing those things, hand to hand, you end up actually doing something worthwhile for the school and the community.”

Mora agreed, and further ex-plained, “The project can be more relevant than just writing the paper.” But she stressed, “It has to be acces-sible and relevant for all students in order for it to be valuable.”

Curtis is an AP Literature student, and like his classmates and students enrolled in English 101 and 102, he is not required to write, specifically, a se-

nior research paper. Instead, he com-pletes various other research papers without the title of “senior paper.”

“If you are in a higher level class,” explained Galbraith, “you have al-ready put forth the effort needed for the paper or even more so.”

Mora stressed that 101 and 102 students are not being let off of writ-ing the paper. “102 is a research based class,” she pointed out. Seniors in this concurrent enrollment course are re-quired to write three research papers, each double the length of a five-page senior paper.

“For those in higher classes, they already have that experience and professionalism required to write the senior paper,” explained Curtis, who instead focuses on other research and writing areas in his AP course to gain further experience for his future in college and on the job.

Galbraith compiled his own se-nior paper while also taking American Government over the summer. His instructor had students select project topics with the same underlying sub-ject matter to ease the process of writ-ing the senior paper for their English 12 classes. Galbraith advised, “Use projects from other classes to build towards your senior paper.” He con-cluded, “When choosing topics along the same lines, you add color and add more pages to your senior paper.”

adding 13 new classes to accommo-date the bustling classrooms. This re-sulted in many students having their schedules switched around. “Students had the option to willingly change schedules,” said Cada. “If not, then we had to change their schedules.”

Along with adding new class peri-ods, additional staff was hired. Jenny Lawrence, who was an intern for the English department first semester, now teaches, sophomore, junior, and senior English classes.

At the start of first semester, the students didn’t know me,” said Law-rence. “You take for granted the rela-tionships you build. Kids learn better when you know who they are and they know who you are.”

At the start of semester, the coun-seling office adapts to the number of students. However, “it’s never 100 per-cent correct,” said Cada. “It’s always a guessing game. We have a projected number of students that we anticipate, but we never really know for sure.”

To avoid scheduling dilemmas, the counseling office recommends making any schedule changes two weeks before the start of second se-mester. This ensures schedules will be ready by the start of the semester and students can avoid the last min-ute rush.

“Figuring out how to create a community in the classroom is tough,” said Lawerence. “Borah is a great school. The staff and the stu-dents are respectful.”

Photo by Madisen Gerber

“The project can be valuable, but it depends on how it is set up and managed,”

-- teacher Samantha Mora

Seniors Rebecca Whipple, Nicole Daun, and Ryan Emry work furiously on drafting and revising their senior papers during Atkins’ fifth hour English 12 class.

8 Volume 48 Issue II NOVEMBER 12, 2007

10 The Borah Senator Volume 52 Issue IV March 8, 2012 11

Athletes sign for full-ride scholarshipsBy Brittni Hanrahan

This is the most athletes in many years that have been given a full ride scholarship to a Division I university of choice.

Senior Cody McKague signed to Weber State University on a full-ride football scholarship. His excitement is evident for his scholarship, because once he graduates from college, he will not have any debt to pay off.

“This has been my goal since I was six, to play college football. It means ev-erything,” commented McKague. “My older brother and coaches have been the biggest influences on me and they have always been there for me through this process.”

Senior Braden Corpus also signed to Weber State. Corpus feels lucky to have gotten this opportunity because it is his

college of choice. Corpus said his main influence is his dad because he has al-ways pushed Corpus to do his very best.

“I didn’t want my parents to pay for college so it made me work harder in school and football to potentially get a

scholarship,” said Corpus.Senior Brittney Owens accepted a

full-ride track scholarship to University of Louisville in Kentucky. Owens was first looking at University of Oregon but made her final decision to Univer-

sity of Louisville. Owens is excited for the full ride because she won’t have to pay for college and she won’t have to deal with the loans after she graduates. Owens trained in long jump and triple jump in club and high school teams.

“College was one of the main in-fluences because I knew if I did well it would lead to scholarships,” said Ow-ens. “My coaches and family were also influences on me.”

Senior Hannah Schleis signed to Division 1, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, for a full-ride volleyball scholarship. Schleis said past coaches along with her parents helped with the decision making.

“If I were to give any advice to a stu-dent, I would tell them to start as early as possible because scholarships go fast and getting them is a long process,” commented Schleis.

Higher Learning

Photos by Kristin Bracewell

(Left) Senior Cody McKague signs for a full-ride football scholarship at Weber State.(Right) Senior Hannah Schleis signs for a full-ride volleyball scholarship at Cal-Poly.

Graphic by Rochelle Rathamone and text by Justin Kirkham

10 The Borah Senator Volume 52 Issue IV March 8, 2012 11

Seniors aim to learn from foreign culturesBy Justin Kirkham

Nestled in their college years, many students hope to spend a good portion of their educational careers in foreign nations, whether they are eyeing the surrounding billboards, plastered with complicated kanji and strings of hi-ragana, or gazing up at the beauty of the Eiffel Tower and absorbing the rich European culture around them. Some students may aim to reside in another country for the entirety of their college education, while others design to spend a year or two studying abroad.

Senior Kristina Chavarria hopes to attend college in Japan at Tokyo Uni-versity. “I’ve always been fascinated with Japan,” she explained.

With an array of countries to choose from, senior Patty Bowen aims to study abroad in multiple nations. From Ko-rea and Japan to Guatemala and Swit-zerland, she wants to spend as much time as possible delving into foreign cultures. In particular, she hopes to study in France. “I just love the French mentality,” she stated. “It’s a city with a heartbeat. There’s art all over, and it’s awake all night.”

Brett Taylor, 2011 Borah Graduate and current exchange student, is study-ing in Suomi, Finland. “There are lots of things to gain and nothing to lose,” she explained. “It’s a good experience to go and see things from a different perspective.”

“In India, they have a completely different mentality,” explained Bowen. “Here, time is a line, but in other coun-tries, time is a circle. You die; you are reborn. There is never a beginning; there is never an end.” Bowen believes that it is essential for students to learn from different perspectives to enrich their own.

With the prospect of studying abroad comes several barriers that hopeful students must overcome. Se-nior Van George stressed that commu-

nication and money are two huge fac-tors in a student’s ability to thrive in a foreign nation. “It’s always going to be difficult to communicate in a different language, and students without funds won’t be able to do anything.”

According to an extensive article on StudyAbroad.com, there are multiple forms of financial assistance available for students interested in studying in another nation, including institutional assistance, governmental aid, and schol-arships from individual organizations.

Bowen is adamant that all students should take the opportunity to at least travel if they are able. “You need to push yourself into that culture, be around that new culture, and not live in ignorance.” She added, “Ignorance is one of the most toxic things in the world.”

“I know the USA is known as the melting pot and has many diverse cul-tures,” said Taylor, “but you can’t really get to know [another lifestyle] until you have actually lived in that culture.”

Photo by Madisen Gerber

Senior Patty Bowen hopes to travel abroad to France and see the Eiffel Tower.

Students scramble to qualify for financial aidBy Sara Rostron

High school is a busy time for all of us; it seems there is rarely any down time. It is important to realize that high school can be a preparation for those wishing to attend college and it is an opportune time to start applying for scholarships.

Senior Chanse Ward believes that applying for scholarships is a smart thing to do. “College is insanely ex-pensive and people don’t realize that until they apply.

“Any money helps,” he continued. “The more work I put into it now, the less there is later.”

Ward’s advice to people interested is to apply as early as possible for the best scholarships and stay organized. “You can get scholarships for any-thing; being left-handed, GPA, talent, or whatever kind of person you are.”

Ward said that even though it is sometimes hard to manage time with other classes, it proves a challenge and remembering what you’re doing it for helps when you get overwhelmed.

If you decide to take advantage of applying for scholarships, it’s impor-tant to follow through with a plan. Ac-cording to debtfreescholar.com, some tips are to “Communicate a strong character of yourself, be involved in extracurricular activities, write an ac-complishments resume, and search for as many scholarships as you can.”

Career Counselor Kathi Lecertua advises to log-on to Naviance. “It al-lows you to see all of the scholarships available.”

She added, “Be sure to check out the Lightfoot scholarship. It’s impor-tant to apply for it earlier in the year, and many students get money through it.”

Higher Learning

Graphic by Justin Kirkham

A&E12 The Borah Senator March 8 , 2012

Choir depends on fundraising for tripBy Carlee Parsley

Every year in April, choir teacher Heather Prinz-ing and her students embark on a tour of opportuni-ties and travel, armed with curiosity and their voices. This year, San Francisco is the destination for the April trip. “While on tour, I try to get the col-leges my students are interested in on the itinerary,” Prinzing said. “We go to the colleges not only for work-shopping the students’ voices, but also to tour the campus and give them time to ask questions just like a normal college visit.”

Four colleges are on the list this year, and, along with visits and workshops, the students will get to spend time in San Francisco, experiencing the bay and Ghirardelli Square. They will also attend a choir concert at the University of California, Berke-ley, as well as see ‘Spamalot’ the Musical.

Prinzing estimates that the trip to San Francisco will cost around $350 for each student, though she is trying to keep the costs down as much as possible with money-savers like driving through the night Saturday, April 14 to save a night spent in a hotel.

“Fundraising is the most frustrating part of the year,” Prinzing said, and claims that work ethic is the main challenge.

Senior Chance Murray has gone on three choir trips in his time at Borah. “I’ve paid for most of the trips out-of-pocket be-cause I suck at fundraising. I just don’t have the time to do it well.”

Prinzing said, “Fundraising starts the first week of school and doesn’t stop, but I still get kids coming in to ask for help when they’ve put nothing into the fundraisers we organize.” She said this year’s Variety Show brought in the most profit, with some students making over $100 toward their fundraising goals in the two nights.

Junior choir student Walter Odedo agreed the Variety Show has made them the most money so far, but right now, he said, “We’re just trying to find ways to make money.” Odedo admitted that so far this year, he’s paid for most of his trip out-of-pocket.

Musicians learn from gigs, hired performances

Talent show hopefuls prepare for occasionBy Aline Meyer

Several students prepared to audition for this year’s Talent Show March 16 in the auditorium.

One of the students who is likely to be seen in the show is junior Paxton Scarburgh who said that he was going to perform a self-written song while playing the guitar.

Another possible act for the show is junior Cristian Castanos a break-dancer from the group KiKZity who won last year. He explained: “We hope for more people to come so we can inspire them to do things them-selves.”

Not only do the acts have the honor of participating in the show, but they also have the chance to win a money prize of $50 to $200.

Different from last year’s show are new directors: Link Leader coor-dinators senior Megan Suitts and junior Brooke Huffman, social worker Becky Woodland and math teacher Bill Donaldson, who replaced coun-selor Dawn Tolan as organizer. Tolan is no longer at Borah.

“There will be... more creative and different acts,” Woodland said.Junior Emmanuella Mazile is excited for auditioning and said: “I hope

it will be good and I wish everybody else good luck who is auditioning.” Judges will be Lucky the DJ from the radio channel KissFM, Tolan, last

year’s counselor and founder of the event at Borah, and Brandon Nickol, also one of the last year’s judges.

Photo by Emilee Rivers Variety show posters advertised the event that took place mid-February, which raised a good sum of funds for the choir.

By Justin Kirkham

Whether it be wedding ensembles or a melody for graduation, Borah’s chamber orchestra is involved in more than the average concert. Chamber performs for a variety of crowds, both paid and unpaid.

“We go out of town,” nodded junior Christie Echols, bassist. Chamber par-ticipates in a tour each year, and is going to Portland to compete this year. “We play harder pieces, and in turn, have more gigs,” Echols explained.

“The rest of the orchestras are not as involved in the community as cham-ber is,” commented junior violist Caitlyn Brilz. Chamber is, according to the junior, supposed to be dedicated enough to participate in various gigs, earning both personal funds and funds for the orchestra and its upcoming purchases and tour.

Seniors Kellina Breakfield and Nick Outhenthapanya, cellist and violist re-spectively, find that such gigs and performances prepare them for their future careers an musical opportunities. “It gives us a general idea of what to expect and how to behave,” assessed Breakfield.

“When we work with weddings, we work with a concert master instead of a conductor,” Outhenthapanya explained. “We have to be more visual.”

Echols hopes to one day be part of a full symphony, and being in Chamber Orchestra teaches her how to work with others in a group, or a “family” as she called it. “It prepares me for my future when I do these rinky-dinky gigs,” she concluded.

A&E The Borah Senator March 8, 2012 13

Romance blossoms in ‘Almost, Maine’By Zackery Thomas

In the little town of Almost, Maine, nine love stories unfold.

Love is the main theme, whether it is an un-known, a newfound love, a romantic spark, or a dy-ing flame, the stories each held their own meaning.

Prior to its debut, Feb. 24 - 25, senior Claire Richardson said, “I think this production is real, and everyone can relate to it.”

The play starts with a couple that confesses their love toward one another. It goes on to tell stories of many couples: some who have moved on with their lives, others who are starting new lives with some-one they love.

“The improvement was immense from the re-hearsals,” said senior Brian Madrid, who directed the lights.

“The intensity was much higher with a crowd,” said senior Sawyer Williams. “Of course the crowd laughed at things that weren’t originally intended to be funny, and didn’t laugh at the parts that were. But that’s how plays work.”

The play was fast paced and characters each had their own story behind them that developed in the vignettes in which they appeared.

Photos by Korey Combs

(Left) Glory, played by junior Alexia Neal, searches for her deceased husband to mend her broken heart.(Right) Ginette and Pete, played by junior Emily Clark and senior Sawyer Williams, rekindle their relationship.

“I feel like the crowd got the emotion from us. They reacted well,” Williams said. The relationships were real on stage and you could see, even when se-nior Stephen Winter made a small improv off stage.

Junior Anna Kennedy said, “It felt pretty good, but it’s hard to judge when I’m acting.”

A big part of this play had to do with chemis-try. Responding to another performer has to come

naturally, especially when romance is involved. “I’m not thinking about the audience,” Kennedy

said. “I’m concentrating on how my character is being impacted by what my partner is saying.”

Drama teacher Heather Pirus’s first solo produc-tion with theatre has come to a conclusion as the actors presented her with a token of thanks in the form of a flower.

Star Wars falls flat with a hint of flair in recent 3D premiereBy Gustavo Sagrero

With the 3D release of Star Wars’ Phantom Menace, old school fans groan as new adopters of the Star Wars universe sit in their seats to watch the show.

The initial Star Wars Trilogy marked a milestone in popular American cinema effects. The initial re-leases and even the more recent releases, with their sense of sci-fi pioneering, have created a following that has become notorious. So what has changed over these years?

The 3D has been implemented somewhat well; it doesn’t make the story any better, but the pod rac-ing scene is a treat for all in the theater. Plot holes aside, the Naboo resistance and Trade Federation space battle that took place above the planet Naboo was also neat.

Like the majority of 3D movies, the nuance of the innovation faded away quickly. I had to take off

my glasses and then put them back on, switching back and forth making sure there was a difference. Sometimes I thought there was some effect, but in reality, not really.

The much anticipated 3D saber duels were a little flat. The battles between Darth Maul and Qui-Gon Jinn were somewhat memorable, but weren’t highlighted by the 3D effect. The only depth that could be easily noticed, or assumed in these duels, was the abyss which the body of Darth Maul fell into after his defeat.

If you’re curious about watching the film in the-aters, having that movie-going experience, then go right ahead.

Although you may have already seen it, there’s still a little movie magic left in the film, but don’t expect too much. Although it may say 3D near the title, it’s still the same movie just with a little more flair; flair that doesn’t seem to last long, but flair nonetheless.

Writer’s Corner:Alysia Henderson

“Everything started because I had this massive crush on a guy

who liked poetry, so I decided to write poetry too.”

-- Sophomore Alysia Henderson

Creative writ-er and blogger, sophomore Alysia Henderson enjoys sharing her opin-ion on various topics in her writ-ing. Read more about Henderson and her passion for fiction and po-etry at borahsena-tor.com.Photo by Emilee Rivers

Q&A 14 The Borah Senator March 8, 2012

What are you planning on doing for Spring Break?

“My father (Mr. Henderson) is get-ting married that week and I’m trying to get as many past students, basketball, softball, and golf kids to come and support him. My father has no idea about me get-ting so many to come. It should be fun!”

~Sophomore Alysia Henderson

Going to Las Vegas for a College show-case for soccer hop-ing for some coaches to come and recog-nize me for scholar-ships then flying to Arizona to tan in the sun and be with my cousins.

- Junior Katie Irusta

“Training for an MMA tournament in Las Vegas.”

- Junior Russell Hipple

“ I am getting my wisdom teeth pulled.” – Sophomore Aidan Miller

“I am hoping to go down and visit my aunt in Sacra-mento, CA, Since I haven’t seen her in ages and she is going to take me to visit some colleges in Cali!

- Senior Wendy Nelson

“ My family and I are going on a road trip through Utah, where we’ll visit Universi-ty of Utah, and end up in Reno, Nevada, where my parents got married and we’ll be visiting University of Nevada at Reno. I’m super excited. I love my family.”

~ Junior Sarah Aalbers

“ I am going to Las Vegas to play in a soccer tournament, to get college coaches

interested in recruiting me for their college.”- Junior Brandi Leatham

Trends The Borah Senator March 8, 2012 15

Don’t let the bass hit you on the way out By Bradley Burgess

Photo found in Flickr Creative Commons. Taken by Kyrck.

Leg wear found as a potential threat Risks are taken

daily by all liv-ing beings; to live is to risk. A c -tivities such as dr i v ing a vehicle, eating unhealth-ily, even stepping outside, are the type of common actions we take for granted, in-cluding what we wear.

Skinny jeans and pants have been trends for decades now, many victims unaware of disadvantages of such a

constricting fashion. The term, “There is a

price for beauty” is common-ly heard, as well as “ Beauty can be painful,” but to what

extent? A condition called

Meralgia Peres-thetica, most com-

monly known as “tingling

thigh syn-drome”

is a re-

sult of wear-ing pants

that are overly tight. It occurs with compression

of the outer thigh nerve (fem-oral cutaneous), a nerve that extends between the knee and the spinal column.

Compression can cause permanent numbness in the thigh if ignored, ac-cording to veindirectory.org

School Nurse, Barb Thomas, was surprised she hadn’t heard of the syn-drome. “You play, you pay,” she said. “Children could come to me saying that they like to go hit their heads on trees--don’t complain to me about something you did to yourself.”

MayoClinic.com listed

symptoms that include: pain on the outer side of thigh and sometimes knee, burning sen-sations, tingling, or numbness, multiple sharp pains in thigh,

pain in groin area, sensitivity to touch, and hypersensitivity to heat.

Conditions have been reported to become much worse when jeans are worn with heels.

Aisha O’Leary, a senior

By Ari Anchustegui

Each year children in North America spend over half a billion dollars on chewing gum.

“Dubstep” has now be-come its own genre of music, and like it or not, it’s taking over.

From school dances to morning announcements, dubstep songs are now un-avoidable at Borah.

“I try to play a different song everyday. If I have a new favorite song, I’ll play it,” said Senior, Sawyer Williams, who controls the music that plays before the announcements.

“I try to play the song with the most energy to wake ev-eryone up in the morning.”

When compared to other electronic bands, dubstep is just plain noise. It’s too loud

and unfocused to be called music.

It sounds like someone is pressing every single button on a DJ turntable.

“You need a lot of skill to put together a dubstep song,” disagreed Williams. “It gets you pumped up and contains lots of energy.”

He said bands like Zedd and Kill The Noise are dark-er than most music and have harder tones.

“It’s a lot louder than nor-mal,” he added.

Some electronic bands, like The Crystal Method or The Prodigy, mix up the pat-terns they play to keep listen-ers on their toes.

Dubstep songs have a very

repetitive and predictable pat-tern.

They are annoying espe-cially when they are played louder than they should be.

Compared to other forms of music, dubstep songs are too over the top.

Though there is a select group that passionately hates dubstep, enough people like it at Borah for it to become a popular trend.

Anyone who isn’t a fan of the genre may avoid dances that play dubstep, and per-haps stuff their fingers in their ears to buffer the music before the announcements.

Whether or not people like it, dubstep is officially apart of Borah.

“Skinny jeans are my life--without

them I am nothing.” --Junior Sam O’Neil

who has obtained her CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) and is working on her phar-maceutical technician license, stated, “There is a health risk

if a size six is trying to fit into a zero. Wear pants that fit you.”

Although recovery re-quires several weeks, or even months, Sam O’ Neil, a junior and a self-con-fessed skinny jeans addict said, “Skinny jeans are my

life--without them I am noth-ing,” he said. “I will never stop my complete obsession with them.”

“I like the fashion, even if it’s risky,” he added. “After all, everything is unhealthy in some way.”

Graphic by Ari Anchustegui

-Brahm Hernick Media

Sports 16 The Borah Senator March 8, 2011

Bball team prevails as SIC, 5A champsWinning 23 games in a

row, the Borah Lions took both the district and state titles, and are now able to call themselves the 5A South-ern Idaho Conference (SIC) champions and the 5A state champions for 2012.

“I still can’t really believe it,” commented senior Ben Tucakovic about their record breaking season. This Borah team was the first in history to have 25 wins.

Their journey began at districts, near the end of Feb-ruary, where the team stood in first place in the 5A SIC with a 19-1 regular season record.

The first district game against Vallivue took place on Valentine’s Day at Rocky Mountain, where the Lions triumphed 53-42.

The Lions then advanced to semifinals against Eagle, a team with a 13-8 record, which proved a tough fight

for the Lions. Eagle held onto the lead until late in the fourth quarter, where Borah secured a lead by only a few points. As the fourth quarter buzzer rang, the score was tied, and the game progressed into overtime. Within the last seconds of the four minute overtime, with the score tied, sophomore Isaiah Wright drove to the basket, missed the layup, and senior Braden Corpus tipped it into the hoop, creating a Borah win within the final second of the game.

In the district champion-ship game Feb. 24, the Lions faced Mountain View, the only team Borah suffered a loss against during the regu-lar season. Borah took charge of the game, holding the lead the entire game. As the fourth quarter ended, the Li-ons won the game 51-44, and each member of the team cut down a piece of the net.

As district champions, the Lions geared up for the state

tournament, with their first game on March 1 against Coeur d’Alene. Down 1-11 in the first quarter, Borah picked up momentum, with the Rowdies help, and over-came this 10 point deficit to win 49-44.

This win advanced the Lions to the semifinals with their match-up against Tim-berline, a team Borah already defeated twice during the reg-ular season. The boys secured a lead throughout the game, and triumphed 58-44.

Now, the Lions faced their largest battle all season: the state title game. Their oppo-nent, Post Falls, a strong team from Northern Idaho, seemed it would be a tough battle for Borah. With two three-point-ers from Tucakovic to start off the game, however, it was clear the Lions would hold on to the momentum. Releasing their powerful defense, Bo-rah held even the strongest Post Falls players to minimal points. Securing a firm lead

by halftime, the Rowdies and crowd kept the atmosphere alive as the Lions rolled over Post Falls, finishing the game with a 49-31 victory.

Junior Cody Spjute said, “It didn’t really hit me that we won the championship.”

Wright, who is starter on the roster, said, “I wouldn’t re-ally want to win [the champi-onship] with any other group of guys.”

By Savannah Harrelson

Borah grad invited to NFL combine Ultimate sport trendy this season

Every year around 300 of college football elite players gather in India-napolis, IN to participate in the NFL Scouting Combine with hopes of proving themselves worthy of getting drafted by an NFL team.

The NFL will be scouting numer-ous stars, but Borah alumni will be watching out for former Borah athlete Caleb McSurdy.

McSurdy started as linebacker at Montana University, racking up near-ly 300 tackles and a Second Team Big Sky conference selection in 2010.

According to nfldraftscout.com, McSurdy is ranked as the 18th best linebacker headed into the NFL draft.

Montana Head Coach Robin Pflu-

If numbers are any indication, Ul-timate Frisbee is popular this year.

Senior Cameron Connor said, “It’s something different from all the other spring sports. Also, it’s fun but still competitive.”

He said he plays because of “all the cool people on the team,” and considers it an intense activity.

Senior Tracie Curl instead really likes how “we don’t have refs, how we can coach ourselves.”

She’s been playing since sopho-more year and it’s just a fun sport to her. According to Curl, last year there were two junior varsity teams and a varsity team, with 14 to 20 people each. But this year, more than 50 stu-

grad is very excited about the pros-pect of his player being drafted into the NFL.

“I am really excited to see him come out and play hard, and again, bring those leadership skills that he does such a great job with,” he said via Facebook interview.

Leadership skills such as these are why he was so well known at Borah, as he was a team captain during both his senior and junior year.

McSurdy was also a track athlete as well, throwing shot put.

McSurdy is very excited about the prospects of playing in the NFL.

“I’m extremely excited. This is something that I could have only dreamed of, and I feel very honored and thankful.”

dents, mostly sophomores, are expect-ed to participate.

Tryouts were 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Feb. 21, 23, 27, and 28 at South Jr. High.

Practices are every Monday and Thursday at South, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Every player provides his/her own transportation.

Science teacher Alex LaChance is the head coach for the entire season, and is aided by other assistant coaches.

Tuesday games will begin March 6 at the Optimus Youth Complex, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 14 athletes will compete in the Hat Tourney Saturday, where players sign up individually and teams are formed by randomly taking the names out of a hat.

State competitions are May 5.

By Riley Tidmarsh By Camilla Girardi

Districts: Feb. 14 vs. Vallivue (Quaterfinal) - Win 53-42Feb. 18 vs. Eagle (Semifinals) - Win 43-41Feb. 24 vs. Mountain View (Championship) - Win 51-44

Tournament wrap-up

The Rowdies, camouflage in tow, helped propel Borah in their victories throughout the district and state tourna-ments. Winning the 2012 Sportsmanship Award, Borah was awarded for their high spirits and fair treatment in aspects of the crowd fairness, cheerleading, and administra-tion.

“I’m happy for Coach Cada,” said Tucakovic.

State: March 1 vs. Couer d’Alene - (Quaterfinal) Win 49-45March 2 vs. Timberline (Semifinals) - Win 58-44March 3 vs. Post Falls (Championship) - Win 49-31

Sports The Borah Senator March 8, 2011 17

New, returning sports arrive for spring Track

The track team is confident about taking one of the top three positions in the state track meet. The girls plan on being successful in field events while the boys plan on specializing with the running events. The future season looks promising for track this season. The tryouts for track are non-traditional. Whether or not an athlete makes varsity is determined by atten-dance at practice, GPA throughout the season, and improvement in the event during meets.

Girls LacrosseThis year the girls lacrosse team

will be playing at the varsity level. Ac-cording to senior Toree Tuck, there is a seemingly impressive turnout of girls this year, but the team could al-ways use more. The girls will be play-ing hard, having fun, and learning the sport. The girls enjoy going out trying their hardest even if they don’t win. “Girls lacrosse is a great way to meet new people and challenge yourself. It rocks,” said junior Esther Roedel.

Disc GolfDisc Golf came to Borah through

two inspired seniors, Zackery Thomas and Kyle Hines.The organizers of the team thought that since Disc Golf is popular in the valley, that it should be brought to high schools. They hope that it will be seen throughout the district and get other schools to make a team as well. Tryouts consist of people coming out and playing. Disc Golf is a slow pace sport that is casual and competitive for anyone with any skill level. As the club grows, there is a plan of a tag system for competition through Borah.

Rugby Rugby is a new sport at Borah and

therefore is virtually unknown. There are no conventional tryouts, but pro-spective players are encouraged to come out to practices. Rugby is often mistaken for football, but it differ-ent from football. In rugby, the play-ers are allowed to be more physical, the games last longer, and to score the players must forcefully place the ball in the tri-zone (known as the end-zone in football), among other things.

SoftballDuring tryouts on Feb. 24-25, 14

girls were accepted onto the varsity softball team. The players hope to have a better record than last year and improve their playing. “I think that we are going to have a lot of poten-tial coming into the season with new coaches,” said,junior Emmery Smith.

Boys Lacrosse Practices started Feb. 24, and are

held near the previous Language Academy building. The team expects enough players for a varsity squad. The Tablerock Tournament takes place in April and features numerous teams from Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Captain and senior Joe Wineke anticipates a great season.

Drag Racing Practices will begin late April.

Teams from Treasure Valley Schools such as Middleton, Eagle, and Borah compete every other Friday at Firebird Raceway in Boise. The team’s season continues throughout the summer until the end of September. Captain Christopher Northup, junior, is seek-ing members. New members must supply their own racing equipment.

BaseballTry-outs took place Feb. 24-25.

Practices are after school at 3:30 p.m. Two to three games a week are sched-uled. The Buck’s Bag Tournament happens during spring break. Team members look forward to a good sea-son. “It’s hard to get worse than last year,” said pitcher and outfield Parker Dial, junior. The team is led by Coach Wes McAllaster. The Summer Classic series for high school teams gears up during the summer months.

TennisFeb. 24 tryouts turned into daily,

after-school practices from 3:30-5 p.m. The Pasco Tournament is sched-uled for the middle of March, while the District and State tournaments will be held in May. Pat Moore, teach-er, along with parents Curtis Eggie, Dave Umberger, and Bruce Gostovich are coaching. Varsity player Reuben Mulhern, junior, said he anticipates a season filled with young players.

Boys GolfPractices are held after school at

3:30 p.m. at Hillcrest Country Club. The State tournament will be in Ida-ho Falls this year. Senior Alec Huskin-son said he hopes that the team “plays well and wins a couple tournaments.” The boys team is led by Coach Ron Freeman.

Girls GolfPractices began on Feb. 24 and will

continue every day after school. The team practices at Hillcrest Country Club and Indian Lakes Golf Course. All events with other teams are on Mondays and Tuesdays after school. The district tournament is May 8 and the state tournament is in Pocatello the following week. The team will have free lessons with professional coaches from Indian Lakes on Thurs-days. Coach Amy Everson is excited “to have a full team filled with young players.” The team is seeking more members that have their own set of clubs.

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JV Sports18 The Borah Senator March 8, 2012

Boys hoops star weighs in on seasonBy Aline Meyer

The Borah JV basketball expe-rienced success during this year’s season with only three losses. For this year’s state varsity tournament, junior Joe Nelson was moved up to help the Varsity team. Nelson, one of the center players on the jv and varsity team, explained why Borah’s jv team had such a memorable and productive year. This interview was conducted before Nelson was moved up to the varisty team for district and state.

What was your favorite memo-ry of the basketball season?

“My favorite part of the season so far – all of it has been so great. Also the bonding with the team and the hard work we’ve put in, in the season.”

Describe your least favorite memory of the regular season basketball play?

“Definitely the three losses. Mostly losing against Centennial in the regu-lar season.”

How did you like the basketball team this year?

“I loved our team this year. A lot of cool guys this year and our coach was awesome.”

What was the most difficult les-son for you to learn during the season?

“For me the hardest was to learn to not let other things affect me like the refs, to just let my game stand for itself and to not get angry about the things I can’t control.”

What was easiest for you during the season?

“The easiest thing about the sea-son was just hanging with my team-mates and having fun with my friends and definitely winning.”

If you are playing next season, what are your hopes/wishes/goals?

“Borah State Champs! My goal is to be a state champion.”

What did you take out of the sea-son?

“Working hard and winning while working hard is fun.”

Is there anything you would like to add for the reader?

“Thanks for the support and I’m looking forward to next year.”

Cheer ends on sour noteBy Riley Tidmarsh

After spending numerous hours working towards them, the junior var-sity cheer team has recently had their competitions cancelled.

“There just weren’t enough teams signed up for them,” said cheer ad-viser Kylie Christensen. “The girls are definitely very disappointed. It was the culminating point for the team, and they worked a lot for them.”

The junior varsity cheer team did get to cheer on the sidelines of the varsity basketball games, but many members were really looking forward to competing.

Junior Haile Hylton said she was disappointed. “I spent a lot of time cheering to not compete.” Hylton also said due to the competitions be-ing cancelled, she felt the season was a waste of time and money, and that the hours of practice spent working towards competition seemed to be pointless.

Sophomore Hannah Jasper said

many of her teammates appeared to be very mad about the missed com-petitions. “We worked all year for this, and I was disappointed that we aren’t going to compete.”

“I’m looking forward to next year,” Christensen said when asked about the upcoming year of cheer. “Stuff happens, and it’s unfortunate that this was out of our control, but next year will offer a fresh start for the team.”

The cheer team is looking forward to next season as well. “We do have camp that starts soon. I’m really ex-cited about that,” Jasper said when asked about what her other plans were for the season.

Hylton also seemed to be moving past the cancelled competitions. “The varsity team still has competitions, and many of us girls will be going to those.”

The cancellation of the cheer com-petitions were a bleak moment in the cheer season. Just like any other sport, competing is the main goal, and this could not be accomplished this year.

Photo by Korey CombsJunior Joe Nelson helped lead his junior varsity basketball team to a 17-3 record and played varsity for the state games.

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The Borah Senator March 8, 2012 Photo EssayChoir struts talent

Photos and text by Korey Combs

The annual Variety Show, sponsored by Ars Nova and Tactus, staged acts ranging from piano solos to dance numbers and showed off the many talents of Borah’s vocal department.

The show itself opened and closed with the number “Hello, Goodbye” by The Beatles and featured songs by other famous artists like Adele, One Direc-tion, and Sara Bareilles. Performers also premiered Ars Nova and Tactus mem-bers’ original songs, such as junior Paxton Scarburgh’s “Sights Unseen” and junior Sarah Hart’s “Chaos.”

The mood was kept light by the Master of Ceremony pair, junior Luke Brandt and senior Sawyer Williams. The theme of the night was “Cannibals”

as Williams and senior Dona Ochoa attempted to escape the grasp of our flesh-hungry performers during Glee’s mash-up of Micheal Jack-son’s “Thriller” and The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Heads Will Roll.”

“It’s very student run. Everything that was seen was done by us.”

-Senior Kelli Chiles

“This year was great; a lot of re-ally good acts...a lot of good talent.”-Junior Jordan Hanks

“Variety Show is the one time for Ars Nova and Tactus where we can go up on stage and just be completely crazy. It’s just really cool

how we can create a show that has a little bit of everything.”-Senior Angelica Pupko

“My first Variety Show was scary because it was my first time performing by myself in

front of a crowd.”-Sophomore Riley Armstrong

19

Fun & Games 20 The Borah Senator March 8, 2012Aries: (March 21-April 20)It may be wise to listen to what words others have to lend you before embarking on impulsive ideas of your own. Rational decisions could seem like the best choice right now, but time spent to make the right selection will be time well worth your while. Taurus: (April 21-May 20) If you don’t for see your current actions affecting your future, think again. Being too careless could ultimately doom your long-term plans. If what you truly desire is in view, you will make ultimate sacrifices to obtain it. Gemini: (May 21-June 21)You have had your fair share of disappointments; if your sour attitude hasn’t rotted entirely, a new happiness is very near in your path. Let the past give you hope for what excitement is ahead of you. Old grievances can now become lessons learned. Cancer: (June 22-July 22)Now is a very good time to try out new things and explore the dusty

areas of your mind. You have little to lose by investigating new cheerfulness. You owe it to yourself. Leo: (July 23-Aug. 22)If what you acquire doesn’t stroll your way automatically, don’t drop your hopes to waste. What you are hoping for will happen all in good time. A positive stance is bound to get you where you anticipate going. Virgo: (Aug. 23- Sept.23)If you genuinely thought that moping around and whining over what is done with is going to bring you success, I am not-so sorry to disappoint you. A pathetic lifestyle simply builds more glum to your

already molding plate. Libra: (Sept. 23- Oct.23)Do you truly believe those you love are going to stay present in your life with the way you’ve been acting? The chances are slim. If you care, it is vital you show just how much. Pride aside. Scorpio: (Oct. 24- Nov. 22)If you have to question whether you’re choosing correctly, choose that which includes no questions. You are overworking your mind, and over-complicating each thought. Let your inner will take the reins for awhile, and ease into a complacent way of living.

Sagittarius: (Nov 23.- Dec. 31)There will always be differences in opinion, no matter the setting. Accepting that is a great challenge for you, a challenge that needs to be overcome. Maintaining an open mind, and tolerating others’ views does not mean you will face losing your own.Capricorn: (Dec. 22- Jan. 20)It’s high time for you to speak your mind. For too long you have been holding inside delicate issues. Emotions need to be expressed for conflicts to be surpassed. Aquarius: (Jan. 21- Feb. 19)Your loyalty and responsibility will be rewarded; don’t forget to maintain the morals for which you are praised. Thoughts of the past may stir change for you. Don’t allow yourself to lose sight of the present. Pisces: (Feb. 20- March 20)You are utterly aware of what you want, but your desires aren’t entirely what you need. Go beyond your greed to feed what is essential to you.

BorahscopesBy Ari Anchustegui

Graphic by Rochelle Rathamone