3.12.2010 haslett high school 5450 marsh road haslett mi 48840 volume 15 issue 6

The school board meets to make a very difficult decision next month. It has been discussing, debating and arguing over this decision since last year. Board members polled over a thousand school district parents to get their opinions over the issue. What-ever they decide will impact every school in the district. Whatever they decide will impact an entire community. The school board meets in a month to cut $1.8-2 million from the district budget.

“I’ve been in the (school system) for 35 years and this is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” superintendant of schools Mike Duda said.

The struggles of the Michigan government and economy haven’t been any secret for the past few years. The government funds schools with the 6 percent sales tax placed on all goods. After the automobile industry went bankrupt, spending took a nose dive across the state. No money was coming into the state, so they state had none to give to the schools. Many schools will not be able to survive this severe decline in funds over the next few years.

“School districts are going to be falling off the cliff. They are going to no longer be able to afford to operate,” Duda said. “The problem is that there is no silver bullet coming. There is no relief coming for this whole recession. That’s the scary part about this. It’s difficult and all districts are in this scenario. It’s the worst for all districts and you will see school districts actually going bankrupt this year.”

Last year the legislature cut $165 per student from district bud-gets; this year it is eliminating another $250 per student which trans-lates to about $2 million for the Haslett school district. A large fac-

by emma CLAUCHERTY

Budget cuts.It’s a subject the school board addresses, teachers worry about

and students as a whole tend not to know much about. What people may not be aware of is the severity of the deficit—$1.8-2 million—and how it may affect all aspects of the high school.

But the people who are aware are concerned.Budget effects on student programs

There have been rumors that student athletes will have to pay more to participate. Some students have also heard that they may be responsible for funding their own sports.

“I haven’t heard (about) sports getting cut, like ‘We’re not going to carry them anymore,’ but I have heard of budget cuts to the point where the sports are on their own to fundraise all the money,” freshman Sam Wegenke said. “Their starting budget will be zero and if they fund raise money and stuff, they can keep their sport. But if not, they’re on their own to try and get money.”

Math teacher and girls golf coach John Moore believes that the budget cuts will force his team to be more active in providing its own funds to play.

“The girls are going to have to pick up some more of their own costs or we’re going to have to do some fundraising or some mix of things in order to get things to go,” Moore said.

One prominent issue the school board has to consider when making cuts is how to deal with massive transportation expenses. Sophomore Tara Mahon feels that some of the parent survey re-sults could be used to incorporate less costly changes in athletic transportation.

“It would cut down a lot of costs if you took only one bus for each sport as opposed to two buses,” Mahon said. “For basketball, freshman and JV are on one bus and varsity is on another bus, so if you just took one bus, it would cut down on fuel costs and you wouldn’t have to pay for two bus drivers.”

Another suggestion for cutting down on transportation includes having athletes find a ride home from away athletic events rather than providing two-way transportation. However, science teacher Dan Kohler is uncertain that this would be the safest option.

“Having people getting their own transportation back from games would concern me,” Kohler said. “Now you’ve got students getting rides with other students late in the evening. That’s a really big concern.”

Tough cuts take tough decisions

Teachers and students reactby elizabeth YOUNG

Opinions page 3Decisions page 3

tor in this huge deficit is the loss

of students in the district. “The graduating

class is probably some-where around 230-235.

The birth rate is lower than it has been in years

in past. The kindergarten groups of the last couple years

have been somewhere around 165 students, now you’re talking about a loss

of nearly 80 students,” Duda said.In addition to a lower birth rate, Michigan communities are

losing families as they move out of state. “What we’re starting to see and all school districts are experiencing it, is (we are) losing families because the parents are being forced to look for employ-ment outside of the state of Michigan,” Duda said. “I don’t know if people recognize the fact we lost nearly 100,000 students in the state just in the last four years. That’s a lot of students.” The loss of families across the state is a main factor in the state-wide school budget crisis.

Eliminating $2 million from the budget will be a difficult task to do seamlessly and unnoticed by a community.

“We take this very, very seriously,” school board member Kristin Beltzer said. “These are not easy times for Haslett Public Schools. It’s not easy times for the state of Michigan. We’re going to have to make some very tough decisions.”

The school board must make these decisions fairly soon. “June thirtieth or July first of this year, all school districts have

to present a balanced budget to the (State) Board of Education,” Duda said.

The magnitude of the situation has been under the radar of the community in some ways. Many parents, students and teachers do not understand the severity of what the district is facing at the moment.

“I don’t think people understood the gravity of the budget prob-lem,” Duda said. “My sense is that most of us when we have these kinds of issues sitting in front of us do not react one way or the other until the actual reductions come about.”

Budget cuts break bank graphic byandrew BEAUMAN

2 March 12, 2010 news

New athletic director to replace Gent for 2010 Promises broken: MME

scholarship gone and missedEvery March, juniors across

the state are required to take the Michigan Merit Exam. One of the incentives to do well on the test has been the Michigan Promise Scholarship. After the last state budget was decided in 2009, students no longer can receive that scholarship.

The Promise Scholarship was signed into law in Decem-ber 2006 by Gov. Jennifer Gra-nholm. The scholarship provid-ed up to $4,000 to students who passed a certain grade level on their MMEs or by completing two years of post-secondary education. The Promise was awarded to approximately 96,000 students statewide.

The scholarship was put to an end in September 2009 by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Edu-cation in an attempt to cut the estimated $1.7 billion state bud-get deficit.

by jenny LITTLE

“I feel really bad for the people who had the scholar-ship and got it taken away,” junior Lizzie Schab said. “They might have needed it to pay for tuition.”

The removal of the Promise Scholarship is giving college students a rough time finan-cially.

“It’s disappointing,” said Central Michigan University ju-nior, Ashley Reisbig, an Ionia High School alum. “It’s making us come up with money that we didn’t have to before. I know a lot of people who can’t come back to Central because they don’t have the money.”

Students are in agreement that the scholarship was neces-sary.

“There’s always someone who needs the money,” senior Anna Schlachter said. “And there’s always someone who will benefit from it.”

The proposed 2011 budget includes a reformed version of the Promise. Under the new budget, students would receive a $4,000 tax credit for getting a degree from a state univer-sity, then working one year in Michigan.

Until then, students have to find other ways to get the money.

“I’ll have to push for more scholarships and I’m getting a job this summer,” Schlachter said.

Reisbig will have to resort to other methods for obtaining money.

“I’ll have to take out other loans or ask my parents for money,” Reisbig said.

Schab maintains hope for other scholarships.

“I’ll try to do as well as I can on the ACT to try and get other scholarships from the colleges I want,” Schab said.

Juniors struggle to scheduleby bailey MCMILLAN and cassie STASZUK

Scheduling can always pose problems and challenges for students. But when a person can’t get into a class he or she wants, or if the school doesn’t offer a more advanced class entirely, scheduling can turn into a full-fledged nightmare. This year, many of the typical “senior” classes are filled with more juniors and even sopho-mores. With all of the different graduation requirements for the class of 2011, the juniors really have to challenge themselves.

Many juniors, including Aaron Dimet, are not being offered the challenging classes they need to fill their schedule or graduation requirements. Di-met, who is currently enrolled in Spanish IV and AP calculus, will not be able to advance to the next level. As many stu-dents are aware, calculus II and Spanish V will not be offered in the 2010-2011 school year.

“Two of the classes I was hoping to take next year sim-ply aren’t being offered by the school, mostly due to lack of eligible students,” Dimet said.

One of the options for stu-dents in this kind of situation is to dual enroll and take classes either at Michigan State Uni-versity or Lansing Community College. Students who attend LCC for dual enrollment will

have their classes paid for by the school. Those who decide to dual enroll at MSU will have to pay for half their tuition.

“The worst part about this whole situation is that I can only get high school credit for calc II because the Michigan Merit curriculum requires (the junior class) to take a math class for high school credit their senior year,” Dimet said. “I think I could get college credit for Spanish V.”

Junior Christie Hamilton, who is in a situation very simi-lar to Dimet’s, began taking Spanish in eighth grade. She believes that the school district wasn’t ready for an inpour of students who wanted to take an advanced Spanish class.

“The district didn’t expect us to go farther than this,” Hamilton said. “It was kind of disappointing because the ww-wdistrict set us up to take more advanced classes, but now they aren’t offering them.”

Dimet believes this problem could have been fixed with some planning.

“It might help if [the school district] determined next year’s schedule as soon as possible so they can let us know exactly what they’ll be able to offer,” Dimet said.

With all the difficulties and frustrations that come with scheduling, some students

feel the counselors are not in-creasing their efforts to match the challenging requirements. Junior Sarah Budde believes that the counselors do not have enough time to help her with her schedule.

“They could work with us more, and help us out so it’s not all on us,” Budde said.

Dimet believes the counsel-ors are struggling to answer some of the student’s schedul-ing questions.

“They didn’t seem to have any definite answers,” Dimet said.

The counselors are stretch-ing themselves thin running between the high school and middle school this year. Be-cause of the budget cuts, the middle school no longer has specific counselors. They are shared throughout the district. That means the high school counselors must help with new, much harder requirements and have less time to spend helping the soon-to-be seniors

“Scheduling is a frustrating time,” Dimet said. “But not offering classes makes it even more so. I’m just really disap-pointed that the merit curricu-lum ends up detracting from my education, credit-wise. It should be helping students get (more) college credit before they graduate, not less.”

Current athletic director Jamie Gent sits in the athletic office that will belong to associate principal Darin Ferguson next year. Gent will step down from full-time duties, but continue to help with event scheduling.

photo by keeton SNOWDEN

by kerry MORRIS and gabe NESTER

As the budget declines, the rumors grow tre-mendously. From teachers and students there have been whispers all over the school of associ-ate principal Darin Ferguson leaving his current position and replacing the athletic director Jamie Gent. Other rumors have Gent and Ferguson splitting the job half and half.

The truth is that at the end of this school year, Gent will retire from his full-time position at the high school. “I will still be scheduling all events and contests while working at home,” Gent said.

Next fall, Gent’s job will be split into three positions. Gent will organize sporting events, dis-trict director of finance Steven Cook will manage financial aspects and Ferguson will take on the majority of Gent’s former duties.

Superintendant Mike Duda came to Ferguson with the idea of him taking over Gent’s job. With the problem of the budget being so small, hiring a new person wasn’t an option.

“Due to the budget issues, we can’t replace his position,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson’s familiarity with directing sports made him a practical candidate for the job. Fer-guson was a head basketball coach for six years and a head football coach for 10 years at the school district he worked for prior to Haslett.

Without hesitation, Ferguson agreed to do the job. “I grew up here,” he said. “I like this com-munity.”

In taking this job, Ferguson has hopes of find-

ing more ways to save money. He respects the way the athletic program is run, but he sees an opportunity to alter a few things and he is look-ing forward to doing so. No major changes will be made, however. He plans to pick right up where Gent left off and continue the job.

Beginning next year with the new title of APAD (associate principal and athletic director,) Ferguson sees that the biggest problem will be balancing time between both jobs and his fam-ily. Although he has the full title, principal Bart Wegenke and fellow associate principal Andrea Rumsey will help out with the task of athletic director. He expects this will make the balance easier.

During the day, students will see him in his normal office and also doing his daily attendance runs through the halls. After school, however, he will move into his new office down in the athletic portion of the cafeteria.

Everyone in the school district is making ad-justments because of the budget restraints, and Ferguson is more than happy to help out. “We have a little more with a little less,” Ferguson said.

Gent knows this is not a job for just anybody. “You can’t do this job and not enjoy it,” Gent said. It includes many after school hours and weekends, as well as dealing with new parents, students, coaches and teachers.

3 March 12, 2010 news

Spring play will be a “tearjerker”

by bailey MCMILLAN

of the story is in the Czech-ghetto, Terezin.”

Ezzo, along with support-ing actors senior Noah Timm and junior Lyndsay Manson, will be starring as the play’s lead role. The angle of the play is very unique.

“It’s a very serious subject matter,” Ezzo said. “It’s a very small, personal show.”

Senior Meghan Anderson, a newcomer to the stage, be-lieves that the small cast’s chemistry will make for a better performance.

“It’s a small cast, which makes it a lot of fun at prac-tices,” Anderson said.

The play, though depressing, is also inspirational.

“Even though it’s sad, it’s up-lifting,” Ezzo said.

Anderson believes that while the subject of the play is de-pressing, it’s a story that needs to be told.

“It’s a really moving play and it’s a very important historical tragedy,” she said, “It will make you cry. But it’s inspiring and it’s a really good story.”

Ezzo, who agrees with Ander-son, believes that the play, run-ning from March 26 through March 27, will be a tearjerker.

“Make sure you bring the tis-sues,” Ezzo said.

Taking place during World War II in the middle of the Holocaust, this year’s spring play, “I Never Saw Another Butterfly,” lacks a convention-al setting.

“The play is a Holocaust story told through the memo-ries of a survivor,” senior Lau-ren Ezzo said. “The majority

Tough Decisions from page 1 Reactions from page 1In order to assist completing this arduous task,

the school board administered a survey to all Haslett parents. The survey included questions asking exactly how the district should reduce the budget, whether that is adding a fee to all after-school activities or reducing transportation. The school board wanted to get a feel for the types of programs that were important to the commu-nity. The main goal of the survey however was to alert parents with the crisis facing the district at the moment.

“Part of the (survey) was to put some of those issues on the table so that people had an under-standing of how difficult some of these issues are going to be,” Duda said. “Hopefully, the com-munity has a better sense for some of the issues that we’re struggling with right now and the chal-lenges.”

Overall, the school board is pleased with the community concern over the budget issue “We had 63 percent of our people complete the survey,” Duda said. “We were hoping for 30-35 percent return on that and the fact that so many people took the time to get involved and express their opinion about some of these things truly says a lot about the community. They’re involved, they want to be involved, they have ownership for this district. They want to make sure the things they have come to enjoy here are continue.”

Diverse opinions and values of the community make the budget reductions more complicated for the school board.

“It’s not that black and white to be able to cut programs,” Beltzter said. “Some things like mu-sic are going to be important to (some) parents, some things like athletics are going to be impor-tant to parents, and some things like technology are going to be important to parents. That’s re-ally very difficult for us sometimes to make those cuts because all those things are important to people.”

The survey addressed the six main areas of district funding; technology, transportation, ath-letics, counseling, library/media and music. Par-ents voted on the areas they believed the district should make their highest priority. Completely eliminating one area of funding is not an option.

“Even if we were to examine each one of those areas in that survey, we still wouldn’t come up with enough dollars to be able to balance our budget,” Duda said. “As we work through this we are going to be seeking other avenues to look at where we can make reductions and having dis-cussions with our employees to find out how we

can make this work.”Solutions to the budget reduction are in the

process right now. The school board is currently examining one of the district’s biggest money vacuums: transportation.

“Transportation costs us well over a million dollars a year. The school district does not have to provide transportation but the fact is we know it is very important to some families,” Duda said. “To say that we’re just going to cut transportation altogether would not be accurate. We know we can’t do that, but we’re going to have to make some modifications in what we’re doing. Some examples of that might be reduce the number of bus stops that we presently have set up for students.”

While the parent survey indicated the commu-nity supported making reductions in transporta-tion, it opposed eliminating it altogether.

Surprisingly, the survey showed large parent support for an increase in athletic fees, as well as a fee put on all after-school programs including music.

“Those are things that we will probably be looking very closely at,” Duda said.

All Michigan school districts are feeling the burn of the recession. Partnering with other dis-tricts to split costs on services is another option being looked at. “There is always going to be talk between districts in order to find some com-mon ground.” Beltzer said. “We did that with the bus maintenance and transportation so may-be there’s some opportunities to do some other things too.”

As decisions about the budget are made, the school board’s main focus is still to do what is best for Haslett students. “I will tell you this: I think we have as a school district by and large done a great job over the years of keeping the cuts away from students. I think school districts in general have done that,” Duda said. “When-ever we have had to make reductions in areas I think we’ve tried to make it as seamless and easy a transition as we possibly can for students”

Elimating $2 million cannot be expected to go unnoticed, but the school board wants it to seem that way for the students at least. “We are always going to put kids first,” Beltzer said. “We want a quality education for kids but when it comes to dollars we have to figure out the best way that we can provide that and sometimes making those decisions is not going to be very easy. Everybody in our district needs to take a look at that and we need to start saying ‘Okay, how are we all going to work together to make this work?’”

The future of the music and art programs is just as uncertain. Sophomore band member Monica Walker be-lieves band and choir have a strong impact on students’ lives and hopes they will not be af-fected too severely.

“Both of the music pro-grams we have are really im-portant because statistics show that more people who are in-volved in music programs go to better colleges and get bet-ter grades,” Walker said. “And they make a lot more friends too because there’s a social as-pect of it.”

Science teacher Michelle Pifer also supports keeping both the music and art pro-grams in school. While Pifer understands that cuts will have to be made, she hopes that en-tire programs won’t be elimi-nated completely.

“That’s the reason a lot of kids stay here…we have such a good music and art program, including photography and the TV station,” Pifer said. “I would hate to see those go. They really produce some amazing results for kids and a lot of kids go on to that in college.”Budget effects on teach-ers and academics

One of the biggest dilem-mas is the future availability of academic classes. Junior Paige Grettenberger worries that she won’t be able to challenge her-self and complete her gradua-tion requirements next year if certain classes are cut.

“I’m kind of upset about the classes ‘cause there are really no options for math,” Grettenberger said. “It’s not like I’m going to take busi-ness accounting when I really want to be getting ahead. And there’s no time to do a col-lege course that’s an hour, two hours long when I’ve got sports and…other classes to study and pay attention to.”

Cutting classes also means cutting teachers. While layoffs are likely to be made before the start of next year, Pifer be-lieves that her position is safe for now.

“I am a newer teacher here so I am certainly concerned if there is going to be any layoffs as far as teachers go,” Pifer said. “However, earth science is a class that is very much needed because it is part of the MME and I am one of the few who can teach (it). So I’m not as worried as some of the oth-ers who are in the same posi-tion as me.”

As teaching positions are

eliminated, class sizes will in-crease as well, which could create problems for teach-ers. Kohler worries that larger chemistry classes could lead to safety issues when conduct-ing labs. Moore, on the other hand, is concerned about how changes in class size will affect students’ learning.

“Classes will be bigger than they are now,” Moore said. “That means less personalized attention and more lecture-for-mat with very little follow-up. It means the availability of teachers will be less because now if you’ve an extra five kids per class, then that means you’ve got an extra 25 kids a day. That’s 25 more quizzes, 25 more tests, 25 whatever you’re doing.”

Moore also feels that the in-creased number of students will take a toll on teachers.

“It does affect individual teachers…how much stress they have during the day,” Moore said. “I think you’re going to have teacher illness go up be-cause they’re just going to be worn out.”

As far as students go, Moore isn’t worried about some of them. He knows that the top students will still suc-ceed because they are “aggres-sive” and active in improving their education and preparing for the future.

But Moore is worried about the average students.

“Your middle students, the ones that need a little bit more, shall we say, prodding, they’re the ones that are going to be affected,” Moore said. “There’s just not going to be the time to get around to those middle-of-the-roaders that, with a little bit of nudging and a little bit of help, would do better.”Opinions on the online survey

While the parent budget survey was considered a suc-cess and will help the school board as they begin making de-cisions, many students feel that they should have a chance to voice their opinions as well.

“I think students should be polled because it affects their lives more than it affects their parents’ lives,” Mahon said. “They’re the ones that will have less classes and that will have teachers cut from their school.”

Wegenke feels that stu-dents, particularly high school students, have a better idea of what they need in their school.

“The parents don’t go here every day. They don’t have to experience the things that we do,” Wegenke said. “Most par-

ents know what’s best for their kids, but most of the kids at this age now know what’s best for them.”

However, polling students could lead to skewed results because people may not be aware of the budget situation. There is also the potential that people would treat a student survey too lightly. But Mahon believes that students could give effective opinions if they were knowledgeable about the issue.

“I think that students would take it seriously if they were more informed, like if we were to have a class meeting about the school budget and about what we have to cut,” Mahon said. “Then they can conduct an opinion based on what they learned and (have) been told.”

Wegenke, on the other hand, feels that surveying stu-dents could have gone one of two ways, the first being less than productive.

“The teachers could have been like, ‘Here’s a survey. Take it. Do the best you can,’ and that way would not have gone by even moderately well,” Wegenke said. “Kids just would have screwed it up just to make fun of it and just be-cause, if they got done with it sooner, they’d have more free time to do what they wanted.”

However, if teachers were to emphasize the gravity of po-tential budget cuts, the results of a student survey could be different.

“If the teacher said, ‘They’re thinking of cutting choir or football or the play and the musical,’ then that would get the kids’ attention,” Wegenke said, “and then they would be like, ‘Well, if I mess up on this survey, (it) might say that I want those things to be cut when in reality, I don’t…be-cause I really love and enjoy those things.’”

The next three-and-a-half months will be filled with long discussions and debates as the school board decides on the fates of the different school programs. It’s not going to be easy and sacrifices will have to be made.

“It’s just going to be a hard decision to find out which things to cut and which not to cut because there’s so many things that are valuable here,” Wegenke said. “If you cut one, it might look like a small thing, but then there’s always the ripple effect…When it’s all said and done, it never goes down like you think it goes down.”

Lauren Ezzo playslead in production about WWII andthe Holocaust

When I was little, I wanted to be a veterinar-ian right up until I realized I would have to euthanize animals. I was mildly heartbroken at the thought, but the dream was quickly re-placed by one of being an actress. I wouldn’t have to put down animals, I could play pre-tend all the time and would, of course, be best friends with Johnny Depp and the Pink Rang-er, Kimberly, from Power Rangers. It couldn’t

get better.Sometime in the near eight years since I developed my starry-

eyed dreams, I realized how improbable my fame would be and started thinking of other possible occupations. As I bounced around from English teacher to forensic scientist to psychologist, I dis- covered just how scary and insane growing up

really is. When I was 10, being older was all I wanted. Now,

I’m almost out of high school and deciding which college to go to. I find myself look-ing fondly back at the days when being grown merely

4 March 12, 2010

Pages and pages filled with all types of schol-arships ranging from $250-$10,000, and I won’t get any of it.

No matter how perfect an essay you write, or how high an ACT score you earn, or how many extracurricular activities you’re involved in, there is always someone who will outdo you.

I feel like I’m playing an unbeatable game, where it’s me versus college. And so far the

ball hasn’t bounced into my court. College is the scariest thing that has ever happened to me.

Not only because it’s a million times academically harder than high school, but because it’s one of the biggest expenses I’ll ever face.

I spend hours applying for all different kinds of scholarships. And the whole time, I sit there thinking about how pointless it is because I won’t receive a dime from any of them. So now I sit here puzzled as to how I’m going to pay for my education. I could go to a smaller school and make it easier for my parents and myself. But I feel like I have worked too hard to not go to the school I’ve been working hard to attend.

To qualify for these scholarships, you either need a tear-jerking sob story to whip out in essay form or an incredibly convincing way with words to win over the judgmental and hard-to-please minds of the people handing out the funds. With both of those notches on my belt, I still find it incredibly dif-ficult to even begin an essay when all I can think about is who I’m competing against. I think about the numerous academically advanced students my own age applying for the same scholar-ship who have a million times greater chance to receive it than me. I’m a white, middle-class female who attends an average high school, with an average grade point average and average achievements. I am in no way an appealing candidate for the money of any type of scholarship.

These gruesome details also entitle me to little money when applying for financial aid. The government is going to look right past my form and move onto the girl who lives in a two-bed-room apartment, whose father died in a tragic car accident. She works two part-time jobs but still manages to volunteer at the animal shelter.

I just can’t win. Even if I received a $500 scholarship, that wouldn’t make a

dent in the hefty tuition price tag. According to FinAid.com, the average cost of tuition is increasing about 8 percent per year. That’s a rate I cannot keep up with.

It’s not only me I’m concerned about. What are my younger brother and sister going to do? I’m going to use up all the money and leave them just enough to attend the local commu-nity college.

Things just aren’t looking up from here.

by ali FOOTE

Scholarship gameis impossible to win

Future holds greater responsibilities

by jenny LITTLE

graphic byandrew BEAUMAN

opinion

• MSU Tuition and Fees (for in-state stu-dents): $11,434• MSU Housing and Meal Plan: $7,444• WMU Tuition: $4,836 per semester• WMU Housing and Meal Plan: $3892• LCC Tuition: $73 per billing hour• Textbooks and supplies: $700-$1,100

Sources: http://admissions.msu.edu/finances/tuition.asp, http://www.nacs.org , http://www.wmich.edu/registrar/tu-ition, http://www.lansing.cc.mi.us/schedule/general_information/tuition_fees.aspx#Billing

College costs add up

meant that all I would have to do is wish for whatever I wanted and I would have it. It turns out growing up means work and responsibility.

Back in sixth grade, everybody always thought that the 10-problem math sheet and the chapter of a novel assigned for homework was ridiculous. We all spent the rest of the day trudg-ing through hallways and grumbling to friends. If only we could see to high school. Nearly everyone I know is in at least one AP class. We all have nightly math homework and essays aren’t un-common. The difference in attitude is also clearly present. Now we know that, while still not always fun, this all matters. Maybe it’s maturing or the fact that the future is within sight, but the knowledge and will to do our work is there. We know it’s impor-tant to our college-bound lives.

Learning balance was another skill I never even considered needing when I was little. I now know that I need to juggle study-ing with relaxation to be even close to successful (or sane).

It didn’t occur to me that I wouldn’t always be so free to do what I want. If I missed a night of homework, I would get a lunch detention. That’s nothing I couldn’t get over. Now if I miss a night of homework, I lose points and run the risk of fall-ing behind.

I miss the days when I could just hang around the house without worrying about getting to places on time or if I have enough money to go out with friends. My parents were my time management. They made sure that I was where I needed to be

at the right time. It only makes sense that it didn’t occur to me that I would have to do that on my own some day. It’s that

sort of balance I am still learning.Now, the future is right before me and it’s an odd

sensation. I know that I can do pretty much anything occupationally as long as I’m willing to do the work. The weirdest part is, while I always wanted to be at

this point, I never saw it happening. I imagined myself getting to about 12 years old and then Peter Pan-

ing my way through the rest of my life.Nevertheless, I’m glad to have made it this far. I’m thrilled at the thought of what my future

will hold, even if I’m figuring it out as I go.

Here are some of the typical tuition and costs for Michigan colleges:

5 March 12, 2010 opinion

STAFF EDITORIAL: Extra credit isn’t like free candy, folks“Is there anything I can do to bring

up my grade?”“Is there any extra credit I can do to

pass this class?”“How many points are you offering

for that extra credit assignment?”These questions may be an example

of some questions students ask during many classes. The issue is extra credit, which may or may not be offered by teachers. There are many teachers who give extra credit away like free candy, while others offer a limited amount (or none at all). There truly seems to be no middle ground in the battle for extra credit.

Much debate goes into the whole “extra credit” system and whether or not it is valuable for students to have this opportunity. Some teachers see ex-tra credit as a last-ditch opportunity to turn some student’s grades (and GPAs) around. Others view extra credit as a useless tool that just raises a student’s grade instead of actually teaching the student. They could argue that students who do easy extra credit assignments and earn a higher grade are being cheated of their education. They are also being taught that it is more essential to earn high grades than to gain academic accomplishment.

What students need to realize and accept is that extra credit is not a “one-size-fits-all” grade. Teachers could argue that offering extra credit points for a com-

The CREWViking longboat staff

The Viking Longboat is a monthly publication of Haslett High School, 5450 Marsh Road, Haslett, MI 48840. It is published by the fifth and sixth hour Journalism and Newspaper Production classes. The Longboat has been established as a student-run public forum circulated within the school and to subscribers in the community and outside the school district. The Longboat is a member of the National Scholastic Press Association, Journalism Education Association, Columbia Scholastic Press Association and Michigan Interscholastic Press Association. The publication is a eight-time Spartan award winner and CSPA gold medalist. Letters to the editor are accepted at the discretion of the editorial board. Forms of speech not protected by the First Amendment will not be published. Letters must be signed by the author and may be edited for grammar, spelling and style. Direct all questions to the Publications Room, Room 411.

STAFFAli AdkinsChris AndresenLiz BakerCourtney BlackMary BrownRyan CyzmanAaron GroveShane HestonLauren HooperKevin JayneJake LampmanJenny LittleChris LounsberyJacob MeierKerry Morris

Gabe Nester Zach ParkerChelsea RidenourLiz RingleinNick RosenberyKat SmithKeeton SnowdenCassie StaszukMaggie TurneyNick WakulskyKevin WilsonShelby Wood

editor-in-chief Emma Clauchertycopy editorElizabeth Youngphoto editor Taylor Parkergraphics editor Andrew Beauman

BC feature editor Ali Footeopinion editor Bailey McMillan sports editorJerry Eastwood & Lexis Guarnacciafeature editorHannah Nowicki ad managerMary Hilkeradviser Julie Price & Jeremy Whiting

illustration by andrew BEAUMAN

It’s 3:00 on a Tuesday afternoon. I’ve got nothing to do. Just a little bit of math home-work. I’ll do it later. There’s “Call of Duty” to be played.

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” was re-leased in November. Since then, millions of students and homework assignments have been affected. The game is the sequel to the wildly popular game “Call of Duty: Modern

Warfare”. This game was a bad influence on my grades, but it was also FREAKING SWEET. To say I anticipated the sequel coming out is a gross understatement.

Back to the present. It is now 8 p.m., and my backpack re-mains unopened. My math homework remains untouched. Unfor-tunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence. Damn you, “Call

of Duty.” Playing “Call of Duty” (CoD) is a labor of

love. While it is incredibly fun and addicting, at the same time, it is insanely frustrating. Any player will tell you that this game makes you a complete jerk at times. It’ll make you say horrible, foul things that one wouldn’t even think of saying outside the realm of Xbox Live. To be frank, the game just straight up pisses people off.

That said, because this game is so frustrat-ing, it forces players (including me) to play more to improve their skill. School work suffers because of this.

Let’s flashback to 2007 for a little while. I don’t have an Xbox 360 yet, and my GPA is sitting at a solid 3.6. Let’s say I don’t get

that Xbox and CoD4 for my birthday. Imagine the possibilities. With all the time I’ve put into that stupid piece of plastic, I could have: cured cancer, learned to fly, solved world hunger, become a professional football player, been granted the Rhodes Scholarship, won The Mas-ters, signed a multi-million dollar record deal, become President and maybe even have main-tained decent grades in math (in that order).

All right, kids. I know CoD is the greatest thing ever. I know how much fun it is to play until the wee hours of the morning. But remem-

ber: play in moderation. Too much CoD is a very bad thing. It detracts from your grades and makes your thumbs sore.

Take my advice to heart, and please, game responsibly.

‘Call of Duty’ eclipses math homework

pleted assignment teaches students that quality doesn’t matter. It does teach that if you do the work then you’ll get the points; it doesn’t matter how much time and ef-fort students put into an assignment, just so long as it is finished.

We believe there should be a school-wide extra credit policy, one that will sta-bilize the handing-out of extra credit. It isn’t fair for some students to gain 50 extra credit points by completing a few easy as-signments while other students are offered five extra credit points, at the most, for writing a four-page paper.

There needs to be some evenness to this school’s extra credit policy. Balance is key to maintaining steady extra credit stan-dards. Furthermore, extra credit should not just be given out all willy-nilly. Extra credit assignments should be challenging and should help students utilize what they have learned throughout the year.

Extra credit is not a stupid device, ei-ther. If students truly care about their grades and GPAs, they would be jumping all over any extra credit assignments they could get.

Everyone deserves a second chance to improve their grades, even if they didn’t give it their all the first time. These students just need to understand that these extra assignments will hopefully be challenging and take some time and effort. After all, they don’t call it extra credit for nothing.

“”

This game was a bad influence on my grades, but it was also freak-ing sweet.

illustration by andrew BEAUMAN

by chris ANDRESEN

START

MARCH2010

FINISH!

APRIL2010

6 March 12, 2010 feature

SCHULER BOOKS& MUSIC

L O C A L & I N D E P E N D E N T

M e r i d i a n M a l l , O k e m o s 5 1 7 - 3 4 9 - 8 8 4 0

w w w . s c h u l e r b o o k s . c o m

Fre e Wi -F i , Author Ev en t s , & More !

March 16Detroit Pistons vs.Cleveland CavaliersThe Palace of Auburn Hills7:30 p.m.

March 19“Repo Man” featuring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker

March 29Spring Sports: Meet the TeamHHS gym7:30 p.m.

March 23“The Wedding Singer” MusicalDow Event CenterSaginaw7:30 p.m.

March 18Honors NightHHS Auditorium7 p.m.

March 15Spring Sports Begin

March 20George LopezFox Theater Detroit8 p.m.

March 22Detroit Red Wings vs.Pittsburgh PenguinsJoe Louis Arena Detroit7 p.m.

March 21 Disney on IceFinding NemoVan Andel ArenaGrand Rapids2 p.m.(Other dates available)

March 14Jay-Z: The BP3 TourThe Palace of Auburn Hills7 p.m.

March 13Musew/ Silversun PickupsThe Palace of Auburn Hills7 p.m.

March 31Cirque Du SoleilBreslin Center7:30 p.m.(Other dates available)

March 12Caravan CircusBreslin Center7 p.m.(Other dates available)

March 27HHS PlayHHS Auditorium7:30 p.m.(Other dates available)

March 30Girls Tennis vs. MasonVarsity @ MasonJV @ home4 p.m.

March 17Bon Jovi

w/ Dashboard ConfessionalThe Palace of Auburn Hills

7:30 p.m.

March 24Boys Lacrosse

vs. BrightonVarsity and JV

@ home4 p.m. (V)

5:30 p.m. (JV)

March 25Michael Bublé

The Palace of Auburn Hills

8 p.m.

March 26Taylor Swift

The Palace of Auburn Hills

7 p.m.(Other dates available)

March 28Sleeping Beauty BalletDetroit Opera House2:30 p.m.(Other dates

available)

7 March 12, 2010 feature

Lewis Carroll’s bizarre masterpiece, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” has been a well-loved children’s tale for over 140 years. It attracts the senses through its mystical plot, eccen-tric characters and the outlandish scenery of the world of Wonder-land.

It starts off with six-year-old Alice sitting with her sister on a river bank on a hot day. While contemplating how to busy her mind, the sight of a hurried-look-ing white rabbit scampers by her. Being a naturally curious girl, Alice chases after the rabbit and goes down a large rabbit hole in pursuit.

Alice falls down the hole for what seems like hours and, when she finally hits the bottom, finds herself in a dark hall with locked doors lining it. Exploring the hall for unlocked doors, Alice comes upon a glass table with a tiny golden key that unlocks a 15-inch tall door leading into a beautiful garden.

Finding herself too tall for the door, Alice goes through three size changes, small to big to small again, an emotional breakdown and two more size changes be-fore she finally makes it through to the garden. Here, she encoun-ters a caterpillar, famously smok-ing a hookah, atop a mushroom. After a few more size changes and meeting the Duchess and the ever-grinning Cheshire Cat, Alice is pointed in the direction of the

Alice Through the Ages

1865: “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” was published by Lewis Carroll.1871: Carroll publishes the sequel “Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There”, which is more successful than its predecessor.1903-1915: Three silent film versions of the movie are made.1951: Disney creates the animated film, “Alice in Wonderland”. Also a part live-action version of the story is created at the same time, with sup-porting characters portrayed as puppets.1966-1999: A series of made-for-TV movies is created by various television stations.2006: “The Looking Glass Wars” is a spin-off of the original and the first of three books written by Frank Beddor.2009: The SyFy channel aired a mini-series called Alice.March 5, 2010: A movie extension of the original novels is released, directed by Tim Burton.

March Hare’s home.

Upon ar-rival, a chaotic and disheveled tea party is commencing and she becomes a guest, along with the Mad Hatter and a sleepy dormouse. Being rather offended and confused by the other guests of the party, Alice leaves the gather-ing and finds herself in the garden of the demanding, implacable Queen of Hearts. The Queen, screaming “Off with his head!” at any unsatisfactory patron, orders Alice to join the croquet game, where the equipment consists of a flamingos for mallets and hedge-hogs as balls.

After meeting a gryphon and hearing the mock-turtle’s tale, Alice is ordered to appear in court to find out who has stolen the Queen’s beloved tarts. Growing once again to a normal size and riling up the court into an uncon-trolled argument, Alice is awoken by her sister and finds herself still on the river bank and, pondering whether or not her adventures that day were real or just a dream, she runs off for dinner back home.

Tim Burton has done it again.

He has added his twisted views to a

classic tale, reinvent-ing it and producing

a modern but dark version of “Alice in Won-derland.” The movie, however,

does not follow the original story plots of either of Lewis Carroll’s books, but is more of a

creative continuation. Alice Kingsley is now 19 years old and faces an engagement to Hamish Ascot, the homely and intolerable son of the man who has taken over Alice’s late father’s company. Not sure about how to answer Hamish’s proposal, Alice runs away and chases a white rabbit, dressed in a blue waistcoat, to a large rabbit hole just off the Ascots’ property. Falling down the hole, Alice finds herself in the world of Underland.

Although Alice does not remem-ber her original visit to Underland, everyone has been awaiting her return. However, she believes that she is just trapped in another dream of her’s that she has had for as long as she can remember. She quickly finds that Iracebeth, the Red Queen, has conquered her sister, Mirana, the White Queen, and now is the tyrannical ruler of Underland. The

Red Queen, however, is not to be confused with the Queen of Hearts. The Red Queen is a chess piece in “Through the Looking-Glass” but she is perceived more as the Queen of Hearts in the movie. Throughout all of Underland, every creature is anxiously waiting for Frabjous Day, the day that Alice kills the Red Queen’s Jabberwocky and ends the Red Queen’s reign.

The movie has subtle hints to the classic tales interwoven throughout it. Whether it’s through direct quotes, strong allusions or characters such as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Burton stays true to the books without losing his vision. He has tweaked every single thing in the film without ruining what the book represents.

The Mad Hatter in Burton’s ver-sion steps up as more of a hero and protector of Alice than someone who spits riddles and is absorbed in his tea-drinking. His relentless and selfless commitment to Alice and her destiny is touching and heart-warming.

With laughs and heart-wrench-ing moments, the movie has a terrific range of emotional demand from its audience. The version that Tim Burton has directed is a mar-velous and bizarre new spin of the equally strange books that have been around for so many lifetimes. Definitely a must-see.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland SYNOPSIS

Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton) REVIEW

Alice Timeline

by liz RINGLEIN

photo illustration by andrew BEAUMAN

8 March 12, 2010 feature

At the age of 13, most girls are afraid of things like creepy crawly spiders and the occasional teenage boy. Though their fears may last for a little while, they are generally able to get over it with age.

For senior Emily Bird, this doesn’t seem to be the case. When Bird was 13, she accidentally bumped her arm on the red hot coils of her oven, and hasn’t been able to put her hands in an oven since. The fear of being burned seems pretty common, but it’s a little different when the phobia is so intense that even giant oven mitts cannot give her the ability to bake.

“I seriously cannot take stuff out of the oven,” Bird said. “I know it sounds weird but I am incapable of baking unless someone else can help me.”

Surprisingly, there actually is a name for the fear of ovens, clibanisophobia. And even if Bird is able to shake off her fear, there is another fear that still plagues her. Selachophobia, the fear of sharks.

After her older brothers made her watch the movie “Jaws” when she was only three years old, Bird can’t be in open water that is over her head. Not only the ocean, but any body of wa-ter. Pools, lakes, anything.

“It doesn’t matter what type of water it is, if I’m completely under and have my eyes shut, it makes no difference,” Bird said. “I still feel like a shark could come up and attack me.”

Though the phobia seems easily avoidable, Bird is even af-fected by it in her sleep. She has the same reoccurring nightmare where she is underwater and opens her eyes, seeing only a giant shark coming straight for her. Bird does have a plan of attack if this nightmare ever comes to life.

“I limit myself to swimming in only bodies of water with a bunch of other people,” Bird said. “That way, when a shark comes it can eat the other people first, giving me the chance to swim away to shore and safety. I know it seems kind of evil, but it will definitely work.”

Having one phobia seems like it’d be enough to shake up a person’s life pretty well, but Bird is able to manage with two.

“It doesn’t really hold me back much now, but when I’m older I could see myself running into some prob-lems,” Bird said. “And I don’t really think I’ll be getting over it anytime soon.”

Peladophobia – fear of bald people Dextrophobia – fear of things on the right side of the bodyGeniophobia – fear of chinsParalipophobia – fear of ne-glecting responsiblyPhagophobia – fear of being eaten

by kat SMITHby kerry MORRIS

Eisoptrophobia – fear of seeing one’s self in a mirrorCacophobia – fear of ugli-nessSciurophobia – fear of squirrelsAnatidaephobia — fear that one is being watched by a duck

Strangest Phobias

Fear of ovensand swimmingin the ocean don’t hold Bird back Ailurophobia

graphic by ANDREW BEAUMAN

Warm salty tears stream down the pink cheeks of her face as she sits and awaits the return of her doctor in the office.

Am I gonna die? the young girl wondered.At four years old, junior Molly Duda had a horrible encoun-

ter that forever ruined her.A longtime friend named Creed lived at Duda’s grand-

ma’s house. She would visit frequently and play hide and seek with him. But one day Creed didn’t want be found. Lit-

tle Duda found him crouching behind a plant with his back turned and decided it would be a good idea to seek him.

When she went to say hello, Creed, unaware and caught-off guard, lunged at her and clawed Duda’s neck and chest

severely. Laying in agony on the floor and scared to move in fear of another attack, Duda suffered and waited until her

grandpa came upon her and took her under his wing. From that point on Duda will deal with Ailurophobia: the fear

of cats. Still to this day, she cannot stand them.“I give them a look of disgust or punt them across the room,”

Duda said.After the incident she was taken to the doctor to get checked

for cat scratch fever. The area attacked was inflamed and she was nauseated. Both are symptoms of the illness that 40 per-cent of cats carry. Luckily, Duda did not end up having the sickness but was still left with the aftermath of the attack. Having bad dreams, and crying every time Creed, or an-

other cat came in contact with her, her grandma decided it was best to give the cat away. In addition to this clash, Duda also had problems with a stray

cat that took refuge underneath the porch at her old house. “It would scratch at the back door constantly,” Duda said

“And then she had kittens and all they did was meow all the time. It was dreadful.”

Whenever Duda is near a cat now, she experiences a shortness of breath out of anxiety of what the cat may or may not do.

“They have ugly faces, and they slink around ev-erywhere,” Duda said. “They smell like tuna and are lazy,”

Duda can’t seem to get away from the horror of cats, her friends play jokes on her about it and wher-ever she goes, someone owns one as a pet. She hopes that with more exposure to them she will overcome her phobia. But for now, cats remain the enemy.

“Their demeanor is that of a patient from ‘Shutter Island’,” Duda said.

9 March 12, 2010 sports

The love and passion for gymnasticsMy feet

pound against the beam after flying through the air. I ar-rive in my own world and nothing else seems to matter.

Sports are a great way to channel thoughts and get through pretty much anything. You are given the ability to block out everything

that matters, and all worries seem to fade. Gymnastics has been my safe haven my whole life, and though at times it causes stress, it somehow man-ages to calm me down at the same time.

I love gymnastics because to do well, you need to put your-self in your own little bubble, and having that ability can help with pretty much anything in life. We learn to block every-thing out and focus on what we need to do to succeed. When-

Haslett names former MSU defensive end Saint-Dic Defensive Line Coach

Wednesdays after school usu-ally are the hardest for players on the defensive line. As they enter the weight room, they anxiously wait for their defen-sive line coach. They know the conditioning and the drills they are about to do are intense and they have to go hard each and every time. The clock hits 2:45 p.m. Jonal Saint-Dic enters the school and prepares them for a long challenging session.

Saint-Dic, a former Michi-gan State University defensive end, has come to the Vikings to teach the defensive line. Saint-Dic decided to work at Haslett after full support from head varsity football coach Charlie Otlewski and the ability to get the job right away.

“Coach O. showed a lot of love for me,” Saint-Dic said. “He didn’t hesitate to give the job to me. He said if I wanted it I could have the job. I wanted it and he gave it to me.”

It will be Saint-Dic’s first time being a coach. He knows that this is a chance to gain valuable experience and knowledge about what it takes to become a coach at the next level. How-ever, the most important thing to Saint-Dic is to teach kids to be better players.

“Coaching at Haslett will help get my feet wet with coach-ing,’’ Saint-Dic said. “I want to come in here and teach these kids about football and life. I love kids and being around them. I want to teach them dis-cipline and pass on what I have learned. I want to make these kids better players and men.”

Saint-Dic has played foot-ball for over 10 years, which includes high school, college

by jerry EASTWOOD

photo by taylor PARKER

MSU alum Jonal Saint-Dic and Coach Charlie Otlewski talk to future varsity football players junior Paul Marvin, sophomore Johnny LaRosa and junior Andrew Heinz.

by kat SMITH

ever something upsets me, I know that I can go to the gym and completely forget about whatever is wrong. Last year, I was so upset after typical high school relationship troubles, I didn’t even want to consider getting out of my house until my older sister, who is currently my coach, threw a leotard at me and forced me into her car. We went to open gym at The Sum-mit where I was able to finally smile again. She pushed me to my limit on each event and

I was surprisingly able to ac-complish a lot that day, and not only gymnastics-wise. I also had time to forget about what had happened and move on. Gymnastics is the best ad-vice I’ve ever been given.

I’ve noticed that this part of gymnastics is the same for each member on my team. After some of the girls have a rough day, I always tell them to use their frustration and put it towards what they are work-ing on. It makes them feel bet-

ter and actually be more pro-ductive at practice.

A friend of mine talked to me about how running proves to do the same for her. When her feet hit the ground and her strides take her wherever she wants to be, she enters her own world. She is able to put every-thing behind and concentrate on what really matters at that moment, running. You can take this to any sport really; it doesn’t matter as long as the

passion is there. Before each beam routine,

Coach Marcie looks at me sternly and says, “Kat, find your bubble.” And from there I know exactly what to do. Block out all that is surrounding me and go big on everything. After practicing the same routine for months, the confidence is there. All that matters is that my feet hit the beam, and the rest of my world slips away.

and even at the professional level in the National Football League. He is knowledgeable about the game and brings the experience that the Vikings need. Saint-Dic is very differ-ent than many coaches. He isn’t the kind of coach to yell at a player if he messes up or makes a bad play. Saint-Dic has his own way of coaching that he feels will bring the best out in his players.

“My coaching technique is simple,” Saint-Dic said. “I work on the little things like your footwork or your technique on the line, working hard and most importantly, going hard every play.”

Saint-Dic also is going to be disciplined with his players. He will treat them with respect but if they don’t try or make a mistake, they have crossed his line.

“I am going to treat them like men and I expect them to act like men,” Saint-Dic said. “If they aren’t going hard or make a mistake, I will bench them like most coaches do and they will probably make up for it with running.”

Wherever Saint-Dic has gone, he has been a winner and his records and awards prove it. When he was a senior at Elizabeth High School in New Jersey, he was second team All State Honors after recording 24.5 sacks. When he attended Hudson Valley Community College, he got the most sacks in a career with 21 and was named Northeast Football Con-ference Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore. In 2007, while Saint-Dic was at MSU, he was named First Team All Big Ten. Saint-Dic also holds the Big Ten Record with most

forced fumble in a career with eight. All of that helped him get a chance to play for the Kansas City Chiefs.

“I enjoyed my time with the Kansas City Chiefs,” Saint-Dic said. “It was a dream come true as many people told me I was too short and not fast enough to play at the next level.”

Saint-Dic knows the difficulty of being a player. The two-a-days, the lifting, the training camp, the off-season condition-ing programs and more are all part of being a football player. But Saint-Dic actually finds it being a coach much more dif-ficult.

“Coaching is a lot tougher than being a player,” Saint-Dic said. “When you are a player, you know your abilities and what you are good at. When you are a coach, each player is like a math problem. You have to break down each player indi-vidually. You have to figure out their strengths, weaknesses, how fast they are and how strong they are.”

While he puts his NFL career on hold, Saint-Dic is focused on coaching the kids and provid-ing his knowledge of the game for the younger generation. Not only will he be teaching them about the game, he will also teach them that there is a life after football as well.

“I want to teach these kids about life,’’ Saint-Dic said. “Foot-ball is something I did. It didn’t define me as a person. Life is more important than football. It helps you figure out what you are going to do and to do that you must come up with a plan and set high goals.”

Even as a coach, Saint-Dic will still be learning. He sees the knowledge that the Viking

coaching staff has and hopes to gain valuable information from Otlewski.

“I hope to learn a lot from Coach O.,” Saint-Dic said. “He has a lot of experience and he knows what he is talking about. Haslett has a great staff and great friendships within

the staff. It is better to learn from someone who knows a lot about the game.”

As Saint-Dic approaches his first season of coaching, he knows he has a long road ahead of him. But Saint-Dic is determined that his intense pas-sion for the game will help him

take his coaching to the next level whether it is as a college coach or an NFL coach.

“The sky is the limit for me.” Saint-Dic said, “I am only 25, so I am a fairly young coach. But in five years I hope to be one of the top defensive coordinators in the country.”

10 March 12, 2010 sportsDeath Sentence

IM Volleyball is a success

Senior Colin Kopke was playing against the DeWitt Panthers when he got slammed into the ground. As soon as he got hit, he knew some-thing was wrong. Kopke’s vision became blurry and he started seeing spots. He got up

and figured he could just shake it off, so he stayed in the game and continued to play. After a couple of plays, Kopke was still seeing fuzziness and spots and decided to take himself out of the game. He told the coaches what he was experiencing and they allowed him to sit. A cou-ple of days later, after taking some tests, Kopke got back the results and learned that he had suffered a concussion.

Concussions have become one of the most serious issues regarding sports because of the long term dangers. In profes-sional sports, concussions have ended the football careers of Troy Aikman and Zach Thom-as and have contributed to Kurt Warner ending his hall of fame career. This also has become a problem with players because they don’t speak up if they have a concussion or a pos-sible concussion-like symptom. According to the Associated Press, after doing a poll of 160 NFL players, nearly 20 percent of players said they have hid-den or downplayed the effects of a concussion. And over 50 percent of the surveyed group said they had a concussion. Even after one concussion, problems may arise.

One of the studies that has proved the problems of concus-sions was of former NFL player Andre Waters. Waters was a safety in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Ea-gles and the Arizona Cardinals. In 2005, Waters committed sui-cide at the age of 44. They did a study on the brain and found the long term effects of Waters’ concussions disturbing. Waters had the brain tissue of an 85-year-old and had shown early signs of Alzheimer’s because of the multiple concussions he sus-tained while playing football.

According to Brainline.org, one concussion can cause mul-tiple problems. Symptoms can range from confusion, head-aches, nausea, mood changes, sensitivity to light and more. Most people say that after one concussion, you are fine but it still can lead to long, everlast-ing effects. This is why as a

player; you have to speak out about any possible concussion symptoms you have. Accord-ing to acsm.org, 85 percent of concussions go undiagnosed, which is an eye-popping num-ber to see.

Along with getting a con-cussion, you have a better chance of getting diagnosed with depression. According to Dr. Kevin M. Guskiewicz, you are three times more likely to be diagnosed with depression if you have had three or more concussions and one-and-a-half more times likely to be diag-nosed with depression if you only had one or two concus-sions.

This is why the NFL has fol-lowed a new concussion guide-line, stating that a player who has shown any signs of a pos-sible concussion cannot come back into a game and if they are diagnosed with a concus-sion, they must sit out the fol-lowing week. And mostly all the players support it because they know that there could be something developing inside their brain and the possible long term damage could poten-tially be life-threatening.

Haslett has followed these guidelines as well. If a player is diagnosed with a concussion, they cannot play in any game until they are approved by a doctor and the trainer. These are the mandatory steps the school needed to take and they have made sure that no player comes back into the field of play until they are fully healed from their concussion

Concussions have become a serious matter in the world and it is up to the coaches and play-ers to help diagnose any possi-ble concussion right away. For the coaches, if a player comes up and says they have dizzi-ness, have blurry vision or say they are seeing spots, you need to sit them out. There is no ex-cuse ever to put a player back into the field of play if they are experiencing any symptoms that could be from a possible concussion. And to the players, don’t be afraid to speak up if you have any concussion-like symptoms. It doesn’t make you a wimp or soft if you need to be pulled out of a game or have to sit out of practice. This is about your life and having the ability to live a long, healthy life for years to come.

The problems with concussions

It’s Thursday, the 2:23 bell rings to let Haslett stu-dents out where many hurry off to the locker room to get changed for basketball prac-tice, cheer practice and band practice. However, there are 42 students along with volley-ball teacher Patty Terres, her intern Bryan Alescio and var-sity volleyball coach Colleen Pringle that head down to the practice gym to participate in the intramural volleyball league that wrapped up Satur-day afternoon.

Terres, who thought of the idea so kids could play volley-ball outside of the actual class and school, was very pleased with the first session that the high school has ever had. Terres started IM volleyball so that students who couldn’t take the class this semester would have the chance to play. And so it could be a little bit more competitive as well. Terres was very pleased with the results of the league.

“I feel that overall it went very well,” Terres said. “We had 45 participants including Mr. Alescio, Mrs. Pringle and myself, and it was competitive

and a good time.”Senior Kyle Levine, who is

one of the IM participants, also thought it was a favorable experience.

“It was probably my favorite part of the day,” Levine said. “It went well and the best part was how competitive it got.”

Many of the participants, including senior Torey Deim-ling, enjoyed the intramural league more than the volley-ball class just because it was competitive alone, and every-one wanted to win.

“It’s better than volleyball class because everyone takes it serious,” Deimling said. “In volleyball class you can run into the net and go over a line, but in IM if you do that it just won’t go over well because the other team will call you on it.”

With competition one can expect some disagreements among some of the athletes, but Levine believes it comes with a territory.

“There were times when people got a little too into it, and there were arguments,” Levine said. “But it’s going to happen because it’s a competi-tive sport and they all pretty much go hand in hand.”

Although everything went relatively smoothly, the only thing that Terres would

photos by taylor PARKERLeft: Senior Eric Ratkiewicz’s height gives his team an advantage. Middle: Junior Tim Stockwell and senior Brian Pless-cher battle for the ball in the air. Right: After winning two out of three games, Ratkiewicz, senior Shelby Deimling and Stockwell receive their first place trophies.

change is the amount of time they got to play.

“Some of the kids would get mad when we had to take the nets down,” Terres said, “because they would be in the middle of a close game and we couldn’t let them play it out because there was a practice coming in right after us.”

With the exception of the time limit, the league was a success in the eyes of the participants. So much so that Terres is trying to get a gym time for a spring league. This, combined with outdoor spring sport practices, could possibly open up longer gym times.

The season wraped up March sixth, in which junior Tim Stockwell and seniors Shelby Deimling and Eric Rat-kiewicz won the tournament.

“I don’t think it could have gone any better,” said Terres. “The kids are competing and having fun, and that’s all you can ask for when running an IM league like this.”

“”

It’s better than vol-leyball class because ev-eryone takes it serious.

-Torey Deimling, senior

by jerry EASTWOOD

by jake LAMPMAN

52The number of wins fresh-man Taylor Grenawalt had in wrestling this season, making him one of Haslett’s most dominant and productive wrestlers this year.

18 The number of points senior Dominic Choma scored against the DeWitt Panthers to help lead the Vikings to a 59-53 victory and winning the season series against the Panthers 2-1.

137.325The score posted by the Haslett/Williamston/Bath gymnastics team at the re-gional finals, earning them a trip to the state finals, a first in Haslett High School history.

4.57The 40-time junior Jake Lamp-man ran at the ESPN Rise Combine, where hundreds of athletes in footballperformed.

1The number of times the competitive cheer team has won the league title. The team outperformed every-one this season and earned Haslett’s first league title.

BREAKING NEWS:

Robert Currier has of-ficially been offered the position as the girls var-sity basketball coach. This was Currier’s first year of coaching varsity, although he was work-ing under the title of in-terim coach.

“He did a good job this year and now will be the permanent replace-ment,” athletic director Jamie Gent said. “This decision was approved by all.”

By the numbers...

11 March 12, 2010 sports

ATHLETES OF THE MONTH

Junior Hayley Kosloski doing a backhand spring during practice.

photos by taylor PARKER

Junior Chris McLauchlan dives in the pool during one of his meets.

by zach PARKER

by liz RINGLEIN

“I remember my dad teach-ing me how to dive. The first time I jumped, I did a belly smacker instead of a dive,” ju-nior Chris McLauchlan said.

Starting at the age of six, McLauchlan found his true love in diving.

“It’s the greatest feeling in the world standing at the edge of the board and knowing you have everyone’s attention,” McLauchlan said.

McLauchlan has had a suc-cessful career at Haslett High School. He is the only person in the school’s history to be named an All-American.

“I was a freshman when I was named All-American and it was the greatest feeling in the world,” McLauchlan said. “Now each year I work hard-

Kosloski is highly dedicated to team

er and harder to regain that title.”

McLauchlan was also named fifth in the state and was on the dream team for the state of Michigan.

No matter how many times she steps onto the mats to per-form, Hayley Kosloski always gets anxious. Even though the junior has been cheering since freshman year, she still gets the jitters.

“I get really nervous before I perform but it goes away once we start,” Kosloski said.

Being on the varsity cheer team that has claimed the first spot in most of the sea-

son’s competitions, Kosloski is proud of the way her team has delivered.

“At the beginning of the sea-son, we were really committed and it’s paying off,” Kosloski said. “We have done really, re-ally well.”

Getting to this point has tak-en a lot of concentration and effort from the team. Warm-ups, stretches and the deter-mination to perfect each move

dominates the team’s practic-es. Because such perfection is demanded, Kosloski reaches out to struggling teammates who need extra guidance through certain manuevers.

“I figure out the counts for most of our moves,” Kosloski said, “so I like to help peo-ple if they’re struggling when learning them.”

Kosloski is a flyer for the team, which is not an easy

McLauchlan also broke the varsity record twice with 334.15 ponts with six dives and 471.50 points with 11 dives.

“He is one of the hardest working athletes I have ever coached in any sport,” boys swimming coach Bob Oliver said.

McLauchlan is getting looked at by multiple colleges throughout the nation, but he is leaning more toward Michi-gan State University. “I’m thinking about going to State because it’s close to home and I have been working with their coach for a while now,” McLauchlan said.

Even though McLauchlan is leaning toward MSU and has big plans in his future, he will never forget who taught him the basics—his dad.

task as many may think. “You really need to work on body control to be a flyer,” Kosloski said, “so I try to work hard at all times.”

Kosloski also has high hopes for next year’s cheer season, and a hidden hope.

“I would love to be a cap-tain next year,” Kosloski said in a humble tone, “but we just have to see how everything plays out.”

“

”

He is one of the hardest working athletes in any sport.- boys swim coach Bob Oliver

Chris McLauchlan’s Records:

• McLauchlan holds the 6-dive record (334.15).

• Holds the 11-dive record, which he broke Tuesday (471.50).

• He also has five pool records around the area.

• Holds the Haslett Invita-tional Meet re-cord.

Talented diver demolishes records everywhere he goes

12 March 12, 2010 photo story

defeating dewitt for

DISTRICTS

photo story by TAYLOR PARKER

Right: Coach Rob Porritt fires up the boys during a time out in the fourth quarter. Below: Junior captain Zach Porritt defends a Panther as the crowd cheers on.

THE STANDS WERE CROWDED. THE PARKING LOT WAS FILLED. THE GYM WAS SMOLDERING HOT. OH, AND WE BEAT DEWITT.

Right: The buzzer announces the end of the game and the Haslett Vikings win dis-tricts. Below Right: Seniors rush the court to celebrate.

Left: Junior Zach Parker goes up against a De-Witt player for the rebound. Middle: Seniors Meghan Gifford, Ben Rathbun, Cammy Hen-ry and Emily Veit paint signs for the game at four corners. Below: Players on the sideline jump up in excitement for their teammates.

Photos by Ryan Cyzman and Taylor Parker