One-Act Play FeaturesShakespeare Flavor

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Volleyball TeamPlays At State

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See What’s Inside............

Deer HuntingNot Just For Men

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By Sarah Pogue

Many things have changed this year at Yutan High School. There is now a no-zero policy, a stricter dress code, fewer steps in the discipline process and students are only allowed to use their cell phones before school, after school and during their lunch hour.

All of these changes are due to a change in the administration.

For the past 15 years, Dr. Dan Schnoes had been Yutan’s high school and junior high principal.

This year, however, Yutan Public Schools have been without him.

During the summer, Schnoes contem-plated the opportunity of going to admin-istrate at Douglas County West schools. It wasn’t until July, however, that Schnoes resigned from Yutan to accept the secondary principal’s job at DC West.

“It was a difficult decision to leave,” Schnoes said. “It was tough to leave the opportunity to work with a lot of good kids, great teachers and supportive parents. Taking on a new school district made me venture out of my comfort zone.”

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION - Senior Morgan Davis and sophomore Sarah Pogue act in the one-act play, Shakespeare’s Inferno. The play consisted of a combination of several Shakespear works. The one-act cast placed eighth at the district competition. Photograph by Shelby Anderson.

Former principal adjusts to changeOne aspect of the DC West job that at-

tracted Schnoes to apply was the fact the school district’s superintendent planned to retire in the near future and the new principal would be considered for the job. Schnoes was named the school’s new superintendent at a school board meeting Nov. 14.

Schnoes said that he misses interacting with the students at Yutan, but that he is excited to make a difference at DC West.

Despite being a leader in the DC West district, Schnoes said that he still carries a Yutan school schedule in his wallet, along

Continued on Page 4

Board looksat options forroof repairsBy gary grinvaldS

During two recent school board meet-ings, representatives have met with the school board to discuss ways to fix a prob-lem that could be easily overlooked by almost anyone in the school. The roofs on the elementary and high school have been in use so long that the repairs are becoming costly and leaks are common.

Superintendent Kevin Johnson said that if you would walk into the elementary gym, you would find a bucket catching water from a leak from above the bleachers.

The school board must now decide which company’s roofing they will purchase.

In its October meeting, a representative from the Garland Company met with the board. He suggested a synthetic polymer modified roof system.

“It is a synthetic roll, asphalt-shingle type of thing,” Johnson said.

That is different from what the school uses now, which is called a ballasted ethyl-ene propylene diene monomer roof.

Continued on Page 12

Administration checks lockersBy lilly Kult

What happens if a student puts lighters, cigarettes or illicit drugs in his or her locker? Can his or her locker be searched? How would a school official find out otherwise?

When it comes to lockers, the school handbook states, “The administration has the authority to search student property when there is reason to believe a student has violated a statute, a policy or rule, or to safeguard and protect the well-being of the

students in the school.”A locker check consists of a school offi-

cial opening a student’s locker and searching for any illicit or inappropriate items. They check book bags, coat pockets, gym bags and anything that might potentially hold

something it shouldn’t.Principal Tim McNamara

said that anything on school property is subjectable to being searched, from lockers to cars, as long as a school official has reasonable suspicion.

Reasonable suspicion con-sists of a tip from teachers, students or even parents. If the student was wrongly accused, McNamara could then go and inform the source so rumors don’t start.

“It’s important for them to hear it from me,” McNamara said.

There have been several locker checks within the last month.

“Locker checks are normal-ly done because there’s some-thing inappropriate at school,” McNamara said. “Sometimes the locker check is done, and you don’t find anything; some-times you do.”

The handbook mentions that random locker searches will happen throughout the year.

“I think the intent of the handbook is to let all the stu-dents know that the school can check their lockers at any time,” McNamara said. “Locker checks are possible at any time when safety rules and school rules are jeopardized.”

Yutan Public School of-ficials have reserved the right to have assistance from law enforcement when searching lockers. This can include lo-cal, county and state police officers and detection dogs. Prosecution is a possible out-come to the students whom this involves.

McNamara said that it’s his job to make sure that the school is safe, and they will do locker checks if necessary.

Yutan school officials have the right to check lockers, but

can it be seen as an invasion of Continued on Page 4

take up to one or two weeks. Sadly, the Red Cross must enforce these

laws put into place by our government. Under the current law, gay males are

banned for life from donating their blood.

This is yet another wrong committed against gay men of this country. Yes, their chance for acquiring the virus may be higher, but heterosexual men and women can acquire the virus just as easily.

Wouldn’t it be frustrating to you if you were asked a question that singled out a spe-cific group with whom you identified? That is exactly what the questionnaire does. The question asked pertains only to gay men.

It’s actually quite ignorant to say that ev-ery single gay male in this country who has ever been sexually active has to be turned

2011-12Chieftain

Times StaffLexie Kelly Kelli FisherGary GrinvaldsTahler RobinsonShelby AndersonLilly KultKatie BuhmanColin WichmanSarah Pogue The Chieftain Times Staff wel-comes letters to the editor and comments on our coverage of the school and concerns you might have. Please submit them to the journalism room. All items must be signed and appropriate. - Adviser Rod Henkel

Student Opinion

By Colin WiChman

The act of donating blood is sometimes called giving the gift of life. Before indi-viduals donate blood, they must take a short questionnaire that will determine whether or not they are eligible to donate their blood.

However, in today’s society it’s appar-ent that some groups are singled out from giving blood, particularly gay men.

This act of injustice denies perfectly healthy gay men from giving the gift of life to others in need. It’s saddening to see this type of discrimination so prevalent in today’s society, and it even occurred at the most recent blood drive hosted at Yutan High School.

In the late 1970s, a law was created by the government to prevent gay men from donating their blood due to the HIV/AIDS scare.

Technology and medicine have come a long way since then. Instead of taking months to process, some tests can come back within one or two days. Others may

down for a risk of HIV/AIDS. It’s horribly wrong to assume this fact;

it’s quite stereotypical, and we all know that stereotypes are wrong. After knowing that they’ve been turned down from giving blood for being gay and sexually active, it can be quite depressing and disheartening for that man.

Some lawmakers have tried to change the law, but others stick firmly to their ground. Their argument is that since the HIV/AIDS test isn’t 100 percent accurate all of the time, the ban should stay.

The Red Cross doesn’t just test for HIV/AIDS. People wishing to donate blood are also tested for other harmful diseases. Like the HIV/AIDS test, the other medical tests are not 100 percent accurate.

In fact, no medical test can ever be 100 percent accurate.

The fact that these lawmakers are trying to use that as a reason to keep the ban in place is infuriating. That one answer on the questionnaire can determine whether or not you are eligible to donate your blood.

But what about people who lie about their well-being on the questionnaire? Aren’t they putting people at risk by do-nating their blood, which may or may not contain a disease or virus?

The simple answer to all of this and to avoid discrimination would be to test every single person who wanted to donate his or her blood. That way, there would be no chance of anyone lying or unknowingly marking incorrect responses to questions asked on the immediate questionnaire.

I firmly believe that no one should have to lie or hide who they are in order to donate their blood. Sure, this solution may take time, but it eliminates the unjust discrimina-tion felt all across this country. Sure, it may take time to change the law.

The pain now felt by many will be avenged when, not if, we as a nation change or repeal this unjust law. Seeing first-hand how fired-up and infuriated people became when they learned of this law gave me hope that this nation’s younger generation has a lot to say and a lot to change.

Gay men stopped from giving bloodGovernment policy needs to be changed

By Colin WiChman

High-end fashion can definitely be something to “ooh and ah” about, but it can also be somewhat intimidating to copy or mimic.

Living in a small Nebraska town, this type of fashion isn’t readily available or even sought after by some people. Incor-porating some of the latest trends into your everyday look can be so easy to do.

Some simple trends are as follows: color, shine, layers, texture, chunky knits, pleats and frills, and coats.

The simplest thing to start off with is color because both men and women can utilize it in their wardrobe. Typically, neutral colors are seen plaguing the runways.

This year is a little different. Colors such as lemon, orange, magenta, grape, burgundy and midnight blue have been popping up on the runways all over the world. Along with color comes shine.

What better way to grab someone’s at-tention than to add some shine to your outfit (and what woman doesn’t want that?). Not only can your outfit pop with an amazing color, but adding some shine to your color will make you the center of attention.

This shine will typically give the look a textured feeling because many of these tops have some sort of sequin element added to it. But how can you use both color and shine? The answer is layering.

Not only can you layer your shine with your color, but you can also layer your color underneath different tops or sweaters. These sweaters should be a bulky, chunky knit, and everyone can wear these types of sweaters.

The knit of the sweater can be a great way to add some texture to your look, which is yet another trend.

Though it might not be considered a texture, pleats and frills can be an elegant and feminine look. If you think that wearing a piece of clothing with pleats or frills is too much for you, try wearing a top with some quality lace detailing.

Even layering a tank with lace detail under a chunky, off-the-shoulder sweater

can give you a warm winter look. With winter comes cold weather, so

you’ll need to prepare yourself with a good coat.

When winter arrives and a winter coat is needed, often times people instantly think of a big, puffy, obnoxiously-colored coat. Try to stay away from these coats and instead, invest in a nice wool coat.

These wool coats can be found pretty much anywhere and can sometimes be relatively cheap, plus these types of coats are made for men and women alike.

So what can we do, as Nebraskans, to incorporate these trends in our everyday lives?

We don’t have to be purchasing high-end clothing just to work these trends into our wardrobe. Sure, we’re Nebraskans, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t have some sense of style.

For men, layer your clothing. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wearing a sweater layered over a brightly-colored shirt with a nice pair of jeans to school every day.

If sweaters aren’t your thing, I’m sure layering a bright thermal under a flannel can keep you warm and looking great. Remem-ber to pick out a pair of dark denim if you’re going to be wearing those bright colors.

And please, invest in a wool coat. Your Carhartt is fine once in a while, but when going out, a neutral wool coat will keep you looking dapper.

For women, the color and shine of your outfit can truly make you stand out. Try out a top with some frills on it to add some fun to your look.

If you’re still not convinced, lace tops paired with dark skinny jeans or jeggings can still add sophistication to your look. And finally, a long bulky sweater layered over a bright colored top paired with those same jeans can be a cool, yet warm, winter look.

Fashion and styling shouldn’t be that scary. With the proper know-how about the latest trends, you can easily be on your way to being one of the best-dressed people in your peer group.

Fashion tips offeredfor small-town folks

By ShelBy anderSon

It is that time of year again when people go shopping for the holidays. Many people try to look for those great deals to save a little money. They look everywhere just to save a dollar or two.

But why would people want to save money during this time of year?

Well, people usually spend more money during the holidays than any other part of the year. It is common that people spend more than what their budget allows them to spend.

People want to spend extra money to please the person they are giving the gift to, but also spend more than what they should.

So, if you are looking for holiday sav-ings, here are some ways to help you save that dollar.

Look for coupons. In your newspapers, magazines or coupon books, you can find coupons in the advertisements that can award you great deals for items that you need to purchase for that special someone. If you have a smart phone, you can purchase apps that can give you the discount coupons and save a little.

Bargain bins. Good deals you can’t find anywhere else.

Clearance Items. They might be last year’s items but they are still new. They are marked-down items that stores want to get rid of.

Sales. If you find the sales, you can save so much. Take advantage of them. If it says buy one get one half off, go for it because they won’t be there for long.

Lay-a-way. Put items in lay-a-way and pay when you can. Paying bits and pieces at a time can help not paying a bunch of money at one time.

Handmade items. Making items by hand is more meaningful and cheaper.

If you do happen to go buy items, here are some things to consider:

Make a list and decide how much to spend on each person.

Set a limit and take only that amount that you need in cash to avoid overspending.

Buy items during the holiday season. You can find ways to find a nice gift while sales are on.

Order online. It is faster and cheaper. Plus it saves you gas and a trip into town.

Look for the credit programs. Most of the time, there are instant savings if you sign up right away. Also you get reward programs to help you save money every time you use it. Be careful about the programs, so you don’t run inito any unexpected fees or problems. But, these programs can help you in the long run.

Now when you go shopping, you have an idea of how to save money. Whether it is coupons or ordering on line, just think of the money you will save because every penny counts.

Save money by usingsimple shopping tips

Sarah Pogue

Imagine this: You are sitting at your kitchen table, reading a text from a friend at school. You are discussing the drama that has been happening lately, and your parents look over your shoulder to read the text.

Seeing that it is long and detailed, they decide to walk away. But when bedtime rolls around and you plug your phone in to charge it, they’re sure to be there reading the

messages they saw earlier.We’ve all been in a situation like this.

There’s only one good way of describing it - invasion of privacy.

In modern days, many parents do not feel as if they need to be so protective over things like this, and some aren’t.

But others seem to be involved in our business far too much.

In order to have a good relationship with your parents, you have to be able to trust them just as they have to be able to trust you.

You should be able to trust that they aren’t going to read every text that is sent to your phone, or creep on your Facebook every 10 minutes.

However, many of us find that our par-ents do these things. Maybe not all the time, but to an extent - that annoys the majority of us.

Many parents, like media center para-professional Michelle Dooley, agree with this concept.

“I think that reading texts is invading privacy to a point,” Dooley said. “I think we [parents] should only check texts if there is a concern as a parent.”

Other parents, such as counselor Becky O’Malley, believe that parents have a suit-able reason to check texts and Facebooks.

“I think I have a right to know what my child is doing,” O’Malley said. “I need to make sure that everything is appropriate.”

Although there are two sides to this is-sue, neither of them is right or wrong. Both sides have a valid point.

One may think that parents reading texts is a huge invasion of privacy because so many texts are sent and received that it’s difficult to control everything that is said.

However, it is important, especially in high school, to watch what you say and do because it can always come back to haunt

you later. Facebook is almost a completely differ-

ent issue from text messages. What you put on Facebook can be seen

by anyone who is your “friend” and anyone else in the world if you do not set your pro-file to “private”.

From pictures to statuses, it can be seen by anyone and everyone, one way or an-other. This is one thing that I believe teens do not realize and think about as much as they should.

Some day, when we are out of college and trying to find a job, our employers are going to be looking through social media sites such as Facebook.

We could easily be fired, or even weeded out from being hired at all by just one questionable post or picture. As we all know, this is a risk that is just not worth taking—which is why many parents watch us so carefully.

Usually, parents are only invading our privacy to protect us, although we [teenag-ers] think of it as more than that sometimes. In the end, they’re doing what they think is best for us.

ConcertReview

Tech N9ne performancedeemed exciting concert

Teens deal with parents “invading their privacy”

Student Opinion

By Kelli FiSher

On a cold Tuesday night, countless fans waited in a never-ending line. The fans screamed with joy when a man by the name of Aaron Dontez Yates was seen walking around the parking lot to his bus.

This man is better known as Tech N9ne, a world-renowned rap artist, performing in Nebraska for his Lost Cities tour. And

among all of the cheering fans, was me. I shivered from the cold and excitement

as my friends and I waited in the horrible line for more than an hour. Luckily, I had remembered to bring a blanket. As I was being patted down upon entering the Sokol Auditorium, I could feel the vibrations from the music inside.

A mix of different rap songs boomed over the speakers and the small area was soon full. Before the actual performers came on stage, I rushed over to the merchandise booth and bought a t-shirt. Little did I know, I would later be using that t-shirt to wipe sweat off my face and arms.

The first artist, Flawless, was referred to as the “new heartthrob.” He pumped up the fans with his aggressive style of rapping. He definitely had the audience captivated. Flawless was the perfect opening act for the show.

Artists Jay Rock, Krizz Kaliko and Kutt Calhoun followed Flawless. They continued to keep the crowd excited and brought a variety of different rap styles.

Although all the artists were great, it was hard to stay pumped up for such a long period of time. Not only was the place ex-tremely crowded but it was also really hot in the auditorium - an auditorium that was about the size of a gym.

Around 10 p.m., Tech was finally being introduced on stage. Multiple artists started rapping before his entrance.

With one giant blur of light and sound, he charged onto the stage covered in face paint. The crowd went wild.

He began the show with some of his more popular songs like “‘Bout ta Bubble”, “Still Ballin”, and “Riot Maker”. He then rapped some of his new music.

Not many fans knew all the words to his new songs, but everyone continued to dance and scream through the entire thing. About an hour and a half into Tech’s performance, Tech slowed it down by doing some free-style rap, or rap with no music.

I was amazed by how fast he could rap and so was the crowd. Everyone was going crazy. Tech is mostly known for his rhyming and speed in his songs, and he definitely did not fail to bring that to the concert. Many of his songs are pump-up songs: very fast paced and loud.

One thing that was a little shocking to me was how extreme the fans were. The guys were constantly trying to start mosh pits and everywhere I looked, girls were swinging shirts in the air.

It was definitely unlike anything I had ever seen before.

Tech ended the concert with some of his hits like “Caribou Lou” and other popular songs. He thanked the fans for coming out and everyone was still going crazy. All of the people slowly started leaving the auditorium, but no one needed a blanket this time.

I was overjoyed to finally be outside and cool off. It was so hot in there; it literally looked like I had just taken a shower.

The show, for me, was great. There was never a dull moment. I think all of the artists really connected with the crowd.

It was definitely wild, and some of the decisions, by the fans, I did not agree with, but it was still an amazing and entertaining show. I would love to see Tech N9ne again and I recommend anyone who likes rap music and dancing to see him.

with the DC West schedule.He also said that he will be trying to

attend as many Yutan events as possible in the coming years.

Although Schnoes is in the Douglas County school district, he says he feels that he does not have to make any changes in what he does or how he interacts.

“My biggest challenge has been to get to know my staff and the kids as fast as I can,” Schnoes said. “The other personal challenge for me is not being around my own kids in the school that I work. I miss that part quite a bit.”

Schnoes is, however, making changes on where the DC West school district focuses its attention.

“We (the teachers and I) are focusing on several things this year,” Schnoes said. “First, we need to improve our preparation of our students for all the state testing re-quirements that we have.

“Secondly, we are working on making our high school more “user friendly” for all of our students. I have shared my vision of some changes that are important, along with surveying the current teachers on how we could improve.”

Schnoes also plans on making recom-

By lexie Kelly

It’s hard to say that anything remains private these days.

With social media websites document-ing our days, school administrators going through our lockers, and the government listening to our phone calls, it’s safe to say that almost nothing is kept in our “private lives.”

But, is this acceptable?

I believe that this so-called invasion of privacy should not be complained about because most of the time, we have created the problem and the blame should be put on us.

Reason One. People, mostly teenagers, aren’t forced to create a Facebook page. I’m not saying it’s wrong to acquire a Facebook, however, it is wrong to put as much informa-tion as possible on there.

If you are putting information on there such as your phone number, where you live and how old you are, you are just asking to be stalked.

I have a Facebook. My profile is set to private, I don’t add people I don’t know, and I don’t post statuses with my phone number telling people to text me.

Not surprisingly, I’m not complaining about this “invasion of privacy.”

Reason Two. We sign a paper saying

we’ve read the handbook every year, and the handbook states that lockers are school property.

Therefore, students shouldn’t complain if their lockers are searched. You shouldn’t bring something to school that would cause trouble for you anyway.

So, if you find yourself in this predica-ment, don’t blame the administration, blame yourself.

Reason Three. The government started listening to our phone calls immediately after Sept. 11, 2001. That was the day that 2,740 Americans lost their lives due to a terrorist attack.

I would say the government had a good enough reason to become suspicious. I don’t think the victims’ families have or ever will complain about the government listening to our phone calls.

The government listens to our phone calls to protect our country more so than just to be “in our business.”

The solution to the so-called problem of “invasion of privacy” is actually pretty simple.

People just need to stop being so para-noid about the government.

Students need to use their brains a little bit before bringing something inappropriate to school.

And everyone needs to watch what they are putting on social media websites. If these things happened, this complaining would not be as annoying because it simply wouldn’t exist.

privacy?“I don’t [think so] because the only

things we’re looking for are inappropri-ate things such as cigarettes, lighters and drugs,” McNamara said. “I have no reason to check your locker if you don’t have any-thing you’re not supposed to.”

Some students don’t see it as an invasion of privacy either.

“You’re in a public school,” sophomore Ezra Effrein said. “They have the right to open lockers whenever they want.”

Often students disagree with this.

mendations to the school board in the near future. Some of his ideas will involve gradu-ation credits, scheduling, projects, dual credit classes and alternative education.

Though Schnoes is making many adjust-ments to his new surroundings, students and faculty have also had to make adjustments to his absence.

Many students, like senior Garrett Robinson, were shocked and upset when they found out that Schnoes had decided to leave.

“I was shocked,” Robinson said, “but I understood why he left.”

Robinson developed a close relationship with Schnoes during his years at Yutan. Schnoes was the track coach for pole vault-ing, which Robinson participated in.

“It’s going to be very different without him in track,” Robinson said. “It’s basically going to be me coaching myself.”

The staff of Yutan High School also had mixed feelings when they heard the news. One of these individuals was English teacher Carrey Starns.

Schnoes was the only principal that Starns had ever worked with until this year.

“He was kind of like my mentor.” Starns said. “When I would get fired up about

Student Opinion

Continued from Page 1 something, he would calm me down. I re-ally miss that.”

In past years, Schnoes had been the leader of the student council. This year, Starns is in charge.

Starns was expecting a year of “training” with Schnoes this year. Instead, she was responsible for student council right away, without knowing everything there was to know about running it.

“Actually, it’s better this way,” Starns said. “I just jumped into it and figured things out. The students and staff were very helpful, too.”

Starns, like Robinson, also had a close relationship with Schnoes. She jokes about being part of his family.

Knowing that Starns would be upset when she heard the news, the Schnoes fam-ily called her before word got out.

“I’m glad they gave me a warning, be-cause I was very upset,” Starns said.

One of the reasons Schnoes’ decision to leave was so shocking was because it hap-pened so quickly.

“It was a challenge to replace an experi-enced administrator so fast,” superintendent Kevin Johnson said. “But Mr. McNamara is very experienced as well, so we got lucky finding someone in time.”

Schnoes makes changes at DC West

“I understand why they do it, to take out the bad stuff,” sophomore Stefanie Eg-gers said, “but I still think it violates our privacy.”

The searching of lockers is understand-able to some students if the situation calls for it. The scrutiny of cars, on the other hand, has some students a little surprised.

“Cars are going a little far,” Effrein said. “A locker isn’t private property, but cars are your private property.”

Messy lockers have been reported.“There may be a future of messy locker

checks,” McNamara said. “Just kidding.”

Schools can search lockersContinued from Page 1

By lilly Kult

November has been quite an exciting time for Twilight fans. The buzz about part four of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, seems to be never-ending.

Released on Nov. 18, Breaking Dawn reached the top of the box office sales with profits of $62 million in less than two weeks, $400 million worldwide.

Twilight fans will definitely not be dis-appointed with the fourth installment of the series. Even newcomers will be surprised of the quality of the latest Twilight movie, directed by Oscar-winning director Bill Condon.

Compared to the previous movies of the Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn was by far the best. The actors have definitely im-proved throughout the series.

The story begins with the answer to the cliff hanger of Eclipse. Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pat-

terson) are getting married. Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) receives an invitation and in response turns into a wolf and runs away in despair.

This doesn’t slow down the wedding

plans. Soon it’s their wedding day, and the scenery is gorgeous along with Bella’s dress. The wedding takes place outside, and you can see the emotions the bride is experienc-ing as she walks down the aisle.

Jacob makes a surprise visit during the wedding reception. All is forgiven and going well until Bella accidentally reveals their honeymoon plans. Jacob tries to warn her of the danger, but the young bride won’t listen.

In the actual book, the honeymoon night is quite descriptive, but the movie keeps it PG-13 by only showing some skin and revealing the part where Edward breaks the frame of the bed before they move on to the next morning.

The morning reveals the secrets of the previous night. Bella wakes up in a broken bed, covered in bruises, which puts a damper on their honeymoon and leads to them find-ing other available recreational activities.

It has only been a couple weeks when Bella is overcome with a life-threatening sickness that causes them to suddenly leave.

This sickness has everyone on the edge.

The Cullen family can’t go against Bella’s wishes so they feel absolutely hopeless since there’s nothing they can do to help. The wolves are out to get Bella for the danger her sickness presents.

This causes the pack to split, with Jacob being the leader of the new pack whose purpose is to protect Bella.

Breaking Dawn may not be completely action-packed during the first half, but it makes up for it towards the end. The special effects are impressive during some of the fights of the wolves and vampires.

What really is unbelievable is Bella’s make-up job during her sickness. It makes me even wonder if they actually had her starve herself because she looks so frail.

Overall, I would recommend seeing this movie if you’re a Twilight fan. Even if you’re not, you won’t be completely disap-pointed with this movie.

Complaints about invasion of privacy need to be stopped

Fourth Twilight moviereviewed as the best yet

LIP SYNCH ASSIGNMENTS IN ACTION - Sophomores Ezra Effrien and Trey Dougherty perform their lip sync assignment in class. Mrs. Eikmeier requires all sophomores to perform these assignments in their speech class. Photograph by Kelli Fisher.

Movie Review

SAFETY FIRST - Senior Nathan Hahn cuts a piece of board for his upcoming auto maintenance project. Hahn plans to go to college for something in the art field, possibly video game design. Photograph by Lexie Kelly.

By Katie Buhman

Senior Nathan Hahn may not initially seem like the type of person to become involved in things, but he has developed many different interests over the course of his high school life. Hahn’s interests range from volunteering at a church to drawing realistic images in pencil.

Hahn joined basketball during his fresh-man year, but decided he no longer wanted to participate after the end of the season. Hahn said he just “got bored with it.”

Since his graduation from confirmation, Hahn volunteers every week for church activities at the Divine Shepherd Lutheran church.

“I really don’t know, I guess I enjoy it,” Hahn said.

But what does Hahn do when he’s not at school or at church? Hahn sometimes enjoys playing video games and watching TV.

“It depends really,” Hahn said. “I might just go and hang if a friend calls.”

If Hahn’s friends are around, he enjoys going airsofting. Airsofting is a tactical game, like paintballing, that mimics military style warfare. Participants use an airsoft gun to shoot small pellets at the opponent. Hahn said he first heard about airsofting during his freshman year and decided to give it a try.

Though Hahn particularly enjoys draw-ing, he likes to think of himself as having flexibility when it comes to finding some-thing to do.

“I have no set hobbies,” Hahn said. “I just do whatever I want or whatever enter-tains me.”

Everyone has a favorite class in high school, and Hahn is no different. Hahn enjoys video production class with teacher Amy Arensberg, but he began enjoying making videos before the class.

“Well, I’ve been making videos for awhile on Youtube, and I enjoy that a lot,” Hahn said. “It (video production) is a good way to get better at it.”

Where did Hahn first acquire his artistic flair? Hahn believes that art is just in his blood. He first began drawing like everyone else does: in coloring books. His interest grew from there and has progressed ever since.

He has even won awards such as the 2010 fall and spring art show honorable mention and a feature at the Saunders County Fair and the conference art exhibit in Lincoln.

Hahn plans to explore his passion for art in college, as well as possibly pursuing something in the medical field at either Colorado Mountain College or UNO.

Art teacher Dustin Nielson sees Hahn as a good candidate for a career in graphic design and video game animation.

“He has a certain style about his artwork with the subjects he draws,” Nielson said.

Nielson said Hahn’s best qualities as an artist are that he challenges himself and works on a project until it’s exactly how he wants it. Hahn often asks questions about the art he does because he is very particular on how the finished product should look.

“Hopefully he continues artwork in the future and looks at it for a career,” Nielson said.

As for the rest of his life: “I don’t try to predict the future,” Hahn

said. “I just go with the flow and carve a path for myself.”

Hahn has had to adjust to several chal-lenges throughout high school as well. Hahn said he was devastated when someone close to him died. He also struggles with putting up with the attitude of people around him.

“I just brush it off,” Hahn said, “but

some people aren’t so bad.”Some students may not know him very

well, but think of Hahn as a unique person. How does he look at himself? Hahn thinks of himself as “the lone wolf.” A psychologist

once told Hahn that his own drawings reflect that he has a lot of defenses up.

“I might be hard to get to know,” Hahn said, “but if you do get to know me, I’m a lot nicer than you think.”

Senior student has many interestsHahn set to pursue art talent after high school

STUDY HALL ACADEMY PROGRAM - Jacy Phillips assists junior Kole Liermann with some math homework in the study hall academy. Phillips provides extra help for students during their normal study hall, thanks to a new program established at Yutan High School. Photograph by Tahler Robinson.

Failing grades mean new study hall

By lilly Kult

Most people have probably spent a few days away from home, but imagine being away from your friends and family for a whole year. This is what is expected for most foreign exchange students.

This year, Yutan High School has a foreign exchange student from the Czech Republic. Junior Jan Uruba happens to be the only foreign exchange student at Yutan this year.

Uruba plans on spending the year in America with science teacher Barb Roth and her family.

“I think it’s perfect,” Uruba said. “They’re nice and like to help me if I need

Yutan takes oneforeign student

Continued on Page 11

By Colin WiChman

Glance at any high school student’s schedule and you may see something in common. Most of the students will have a study hall. Now, however, students at Yutan who are failing classes and have a study hall must attend a new kind of academic study hall.

In addition to attending the typical aca-demic study hall on Wednesdays before or after school, students who are failing a class must give up their study hall hour with their designated study hall teacher and move to a study hall academy led by Jacy Phillips.

The study hall academy program resem-bles a regular study hall with the following exceptions: no access to the library for free time, no cell phones and no iPods. She also said that the kids “get a little more TLC” in her study hall.

Phillips said that it is basically a time for those students to sit, work and finish all late and missing work.

“I like to see progress,” Phillips said. “It’s nice to see that failing list shrink down.”

Once students have worked their way off of the failing list, they no longer have to attend the study hall academy and can return to their original study hall.

“Most kids leave and ask if they can just stay in here,” Phillips said, “and I have to tell them no.”

Phillips reiterated how sad it is to lose those students, yet she said that it was ex-citing to work with a brand new group of

students. According to high school principal Tim

McNamara, these groups of students learn about basic skills such as organization, time management and concentration to help them achieve a positive outcome. McNamara said that he absolutely believes that the extra

TLC Phillips is giving them will benefit them in the long run and earn them a spot on the honor roll.

Prior to being the figurehead of the study hall academy, Phillips worked as a resource teacher and primarily assisted one student throughout the day.

As the new school year progressed, this student’s parents took the student out of Yutan schools for awhile. Phillips did not take the student’s departure easily.

“How can I put this into words,” Phillips said. “Of course it was sad, but the parents have to do what’s best for their family. (The student) did very, very, very well at Yutan.”

After the student’s departure, Phillips was left with barely anything to do for about a day. That is, until McNamara came up with the idea to have Phillips lead the study hall academy program.

“Teachers. They asktoo many questions.”

Freshman Tad Nelson

What invades your privacy the most?

“Teachers. They asktoo many questions.”

Freshman Tad Nelson

By Katie Buhman

About 85 percent of all Americans—age 18 and over—own a cell phone (Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project). The same source also projects that 75 percent of teens—ages 12 through 17—have use of a cell phone. In total, more than 250 million Americans have a mobile phone contract.

With everyone in America constantly calling friends on their mobile phones and texting away, it is not difficult to accidently overhear someone talking about what they are having for dinner or where they are headed that night.

One might think this invasion of priva-cy is to be expected.

In addition to this invasion of privacy, parents have been known to sometimes check calling history and text messages of their children in an effort to regulate their behavior. Even for someone with nothing to hide, this may seem slightly outrageous.

Another factor comes into play that many don’t think about when it comes to cell phones. A tech-nology exists today that allows cell phone conversations to be tapped into.

It may come as a surprise that this disturbing invasion of privacy is fully avail-able and legal for the U. S. government to utilize.

According to the Privacy Act of 1974 in the U.S. Constitu-tion, it is prohibited to release information pertaining to an indi-vidual without that individual’s consent.

Any information being used by the government requires full disclosure on how they use it. However, the U. S. government has found a way to quietly sidestep these regulations on privacy.

An investigation by the U.S. Govern-ment Accountability Office revealed that Departments of Justice, State and Homeland Security spend millions of dollars every year buying databases from phone companies that include phone calls, names and ad-dresses (www.businessweek.com).

The Privacy Act only protects data col-lected by the government, not data from separate phone companies.

Why is there a need for the government to keep such a close eye on its citizens? Since the tragic events of Sep. 11, 2001, the U. S. government has implemented a series of plans to make the country more secure. Among these plans includes monitoring suspicious phone calls that may lead to ter-roristic activity.

Some civil rights groups feel the inten-tional eavesdropping on phone calls, no mat-ter what the cause, is an extreme violation of their rights as citizens.

The American Civil Liberties Union

(ACLU) in California sued the phone com-panies AT&T and Verizon in an effort to stop them from selling phone records to the National Security Agency (NSA).

Despite both of these companies neither confirming nor denying their cooperation with the government, members of Congress have confirmed that AT&T and MCI, a com-pany bought by Verizon, have been provid-ing the government with their customers’ information (www.aclunc.org).

There arises argument, however, that the government is well within its rights to monitor its citizens for the protection of the country.

The defensive branch of the government maintains that any observation of its citizens is solely for the cause of looking for people who have obvious mal-intent to harm the United States in any way, shape or form.

This suggests that any law-abiding citizen has nothing to fear, as the govern-ment is taking these measures to prevent any criminal and terroristic actions from compromising the safety of the citizens of the United States.

By Kelli FiSher

If you’re a student in the hallway and want to use your cell phone or do something else not allowed, you might look over your shoulder and down the hall to see if a teacher

is coming. However, teacher or not, in almost every

area of the school there is someone watching you. That “someone” is a security camera. They watch you all day, but do you notice them?

“Honestly, until security cameras are talked about, I forget they’re there,” senior Jolena Buhr said.

Junior Luke Janecek said that he doesn’t

“Parents. They always want to know what’s going on.”

Sophomore Sam Hart

“I try to keep things to myself, but I would say Facebook.”

Junior Adrienne Miller

“Peers and Facebook.”Senior Talon Vanosdal

really pay attention to the cameras.“It’s a little creepy, though,” Janecek

said.Some students agreed that the teachers

are the ones who are supposed to be moni-toring the school.

However, security cameras are the only thing at the school that monitors 24/7.

“Parents expect that their kids are safe at all times at Yutan, so we monitor their safety,” principal Tim McNamara said.

McNamara also said that the times have changed, making more safety precautions necessary.

“Two to three times a week, we use the security camera to solve problems,” McNamara said.

M c N a m a r a solves problems such as car vandal-ism by rewinding the footage and re-viewing the tape of certain incidents.

“I don’t sit and watch the cameras all day. I only really use the cameras if there is a problem,” McNamara said.

There are 16 se-curity cameras in the school.

“Obviously, we can’t monitor every nook and cranny but definitely the main areas of traffic,” McNamara said.

Although the students don’t no-tice the camera, most agree that they are necessary.

“I think they’re necessary because if anything were to happen, there would be evidence,” senior Heleana Musgrove said.

Musgrove also said the cameras make people think about their actions

and act more appropriately.Buhr agrees.“The cameras make the school safer,”

Buhr said.McNamara and secretary Jan Wort-

man are the only ones with access to the cameras.

“She and I keep the tribe safe,” McNa-mara said.

Government listens to phone conversations

Security cameras monitoring 24/7Cameras act as useful tool tokeep studentssafe at all times.

By lexie Kelly

If one would think about it, it’s ironic when someone tells a person to stay out of their business. What business of theirs is actually private? If you have a Facebook, people can like everything you do. If you have a Twitter, people can follow you.

According to www.fastcompany.com, 93 percent of teenagers have an online account on at least one social media website. The website also shows that nearly 48 percent of all Americans have an account on at least one website.

“I think the most popular websites today are definitely Facebook and Twitter,” said senior Bridgette McGuire, who has accounts on both.

Junior Lydia Wem-mer, sophomore Tori Johnson and freshman Colton Leal all agree that Facebook is the most popular, but Twit-ter is definitely gaining popularity.

Students aren’t the only ones who have ac-counts though. Business teacher Doug Veik has accounts on not only Facebook and Twitter, but also a new network, Google+.

One can still have an account, and not make it a main part of their life, right?

“I check my Twitter probably every hour,” McGuire said.

“I have Facebook on my phone, so I’m checking it constantly,” Johnson said.

Wemmer said she has Facebook on her phone as well, so she’s

By Kelli FiSher

Privacy is something that almost every-one wants. You can change your Facebook settings, build a high fence around your home, and/or just try to keep your personal information to yourself. But most students can’t exactly change how big their school is.

“There is less privacy in a small town school because everyone knows everyone and everything about everyone,” junior Trevor Smith said.

He also said that rumors spread really fast.

“That’s the one thing that is bad. You can’t do anything without everyone talking about it,” sophomore Nate Fisher said.

Senior Raeanne Rider also said that “if word gets out about something, then every-one knows.”

Some of the students believe that at a bigger school, there would be more pri-vacy.

“I think at a big school, I would have more privacy because there’s a lot more going on and people wouldn’t care what I was doing,” Fisher said.

on it “all day, every day.” While the girls seem to be attached at the hip with their

Facebook accounts, the same cannot be said for the boys. Leal checks his Facebook an estimated once a week. “It depends on what I’m doing,” Veik said. “I use mine

mostly to contact people if something important comes up. If I’m not talking to someone, I can go months without checking them.”

With social media sites being so popular, there is bound to be dangers that come along with them.

“I think that if you put too much information on your profile, people could stalk you,” Johnson said. “If you add people you don’t know, you could be adding a pedo-phile. That’s why my mom makes me keep my profiles private.”

Leal worries about viruses and people finding out his personal information. McGuire has her profile set to private, but admits that she adds people she doesn’t know sometimes because “it’s interesting to see other people’s lives.”

“People can find out where you are, where you live, where you work, where you go to school, if you have kids and if you are a kid yourself,” Veik said.

With so many people online, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that younger stu-dents are creating accounts. The question is: should there be an age limit?

“Definitely. My seven-year-old cousin doesn’t need a Facebook,” McGuire said.

Leal and Johnson both agree that the age lim-it should be 13 years or older.

Veik has a different answer.

“Parents should be able to decide when their chil-dren are old enough to be on the internet,” he said.

Even with what some can call “an invasion of privacy,” it’s not likely that the number of people on social media networks will go down. It’s bound to increase or at least stay the same.

“I love my Facebook.” McGuire said.

Social media sees increase in numbers

Senior transfer student Chase Baker said that he was told that everyone knows your business at Yutan.

“I haven’t really exhibited it here, but privacy is something that is very important,” Baker said. “I don’t like people to know things that I don’t tell them or talking about things when I’m not there to talk about it or stop it. That’s how rumors get spread.”

Rider agrees.“Privacy is pretty important,” Rider

said. “People don’t need to know everything about you.”

At a school as small as Yutan, most students have known each other since kin-dergarten.

Junior Kole Liermann is one of these students and said that he knows a lot about most of his classmates.

Rider is also one of these students.“I’ve known my classmates since kin-

dergarten so I have general information about everyone,” Rider said.

Although going to a small school might affect privacy, some students don’t seem to be bothered by it.

“Privacy is not that important to me be-cause I have nothing to hide,” Smith said.

Student opinion differs on small town privacy

By tahler roBinSon

During a typical day, not all students arrive to school at 8:05 a.m. They may have a doctor’s appointment or overslept. At 8:05 a.m., the seven doors at the entrance of Yutan High School are locked for the remainder of the day.

Why are they locked? How do students come into the school after that time?

Yutan High School officials recently updated their security for the school. Yutan installed a buzzer at the front of the school on Oct. 24.

A red sign on the door by the buzzer reads: “All doors will be locked from 8:05 a.m. through 3:15 p.m. If you need to enter the building, you will have to ring the buzz-er. Someone will contact you via intercom; the door will be unlocked by the office if they feel there is no security breach.”

After you push the buzzer, secretary Jan Wortman will ask you over the intercom who you are and why you are entering the school. She will buzz you in and then you will need to check into the office to enter the building.

If Wortman is not in the office, are visi-

tors or students locked out?No. If Wortman walks away to do some-

thing and either principal Tim McNamara or superintendent Kevin Johnson hear the intercom, they will walk over to her desk and buzz them in.

In a couple of weeks, McNamara will have a buzzer in his office that he can buzz people in instead of having to walk over to her desk.

According to schoolsecurity.org, schools are becoming stricter on security policies. Times are changing and schools need to be up to date to secure their buildings.

A couple of years ago, Yutan started using the camera system. The school board and administration found that wasn’t safe enough. They decided to install the buzzer.

“Many schools in our metro area are also using this security mechanism,” Mc-Namara said.

McNamara said that Yutan isn’t lacking security, but the buzzer was the final step in safety for the school.

The administration and the school board

New security guidelines putinto place about front doors

Continued on Page 11

By Sarah Pogue

The state competition is something that all teams strive for at one point or another. This year the Chieftain volleyball girls did just that.

Going into the state tournament, the team felt a lot of mixed emotions.

“We were ready to play,” senior Lexi Egr said. “We worked on defending their plays, and we felt like we had nothing to lose.”

Although the team felt confident, many

By tahler roBinSon

It’s 4 a.m. Hunters are awake, putting on their orange and getting their rifles ready. The hunters load up into the pickups and head to the spot to wait for that trophy buck.

A typical day of hunting begins with either going to a deer stand or walking a tree line for a couple of hours. The deer usually start appearing right as the sun comes up.

The hunter sees a deer out in the pasture standing perfectly broad side (facing to either side with its side to you) from their tree stand.

They line up the scope of the gun with the cross wires just below the front leg, where the heart is. BOOM! The hunter drops the deer. He then gets out of his tree stand and walks over to the deer, first making sure the animal is dead.

Now it is time to gut the deer. Once home, the deer needs to be hung in a cool area for at least a day to keep the meat fresh.

When people think about who hunts, the answers are always men. That is not the an-swer people will always receive in Yutan.

Senior Heleana Musgrove becomes outraged when people say hunting is only a men’s sport.

“I can go pick up a rifle and go shoot a deer as easy as any man could,” Musgrove said. “Women are just as capable as any man would be.”

Media center paraprofessional Michelle Dooley agrees with Musgrove.

“There is no reason it is not a girls sport. It’s more of a skill than a physical ability,” Dooley said.

Many girls at Yutan and surrounding towns hunt deer during the fall. Freshmen Rachel Roll and Brooke Phillips both hunt with their dads.

Musgrove has shot four deer since she started hunting 11 years ago. She has shot two bucks and two does.

Musgrove shot her biggest buck this year.

“He is a 5x5, and I named him Larry,” Musgrove said. “I named him because we are getting him mounted.”

Dooley has shot one buck and one doe. This year she wasn’t able to go hunting because her husband Don didn’t buy her a permit. “I wasn’t very happy,” she said.

Musgrove uses a .30-06, whereas Dooley uses a .270.

Rifles are a huge factor in any kind of hunting. A .30-06 has more power than let’s say a .25-06 or a .243. Inexperienced hunt-ers say any gun lower than a .30-06 travels faster, but in all reality that is not what matters. According to Nebraska Game and Parks, it is the power of the gun not the slight difference in the distance the bullet goes.

Deer permits this year cost $30 for either a white tail or a mule buck or a white tail doe. The only exception to the permit is a mule doe; they preserve the mule doe be-cause their numbers are becoming low.

To buy a deer permit, the hunter has to have a hunter safety license. These permits are available online, at the courthouse, or at any store that sells guns or hunting sup-plies.

Musgrove’s favorite type of hunting is pheasant hunting because the hunter has more of a chance to walk away with something.

TROPHY KILL - Senior Heleana Musgrove poses with the deer she shot during the fall hunting season. Musgrove and several other high school girls claim that deer hunting is not just a man’s sport. Photograph submitted by Heleana Musgrove.

CHIEFTAIN DOUBLE BLOCK - Junior Morgan O’Malley and senior Tahler Robinson put up a double block during the district championship match at Schuyler High School. The Chieftains played in the state tournament for the first time since 1998, losing in the first round. Photograph by Shelby Anderson.

of the players were nervous and jittery be-fore the first set.

“It was a new experience for all of us,” freshman Maddie Egr said. “It was a big deal for everyone. We all kind of had the goose bumps thing going on.”

On Nov. 10, 2011, the Yutan volleyball team walked out onto the Hastings High School volleyball court confident and ready to play.

“We were excited since Yutan hasn’t qualified for state in 13 years, but we were really jittery in the locker room and during warm ups,” senior Katie Thomas said.

The girls were not the only ones an-ticipating the game. Parents, grandparents, siblings, students and faculty stood in the stands waiting for the game to begin.

The Egr sisters and Thomas said that the support from the community was great. Many of the parents and grandparents came to all of their games, which they greatly appreciated.

Those parents and grandparents always go wild when the girls take the floor. It was no different at the state tournament.

The first serve goes up, and the point is awarded to Yutan.

Despite a superior start by the Chieftains, taking a 7-0 lead with the help of five kills by Lexi Egr, the first set was lost 27-25.

“After that first set, our team chemistry fell apart,” Lexi Egr said. “But the coaches were still positive.”

The second set started out almost oppo-site of the first. Twin River had several aces, kills and blocks to make the score 8-0. The Yutan girls could only rally up to 17 points, losing the second set 25-17.

“That’s when we knew we had to step it up,” Thomas said. “If we lost the third set,

it would be the last one we played together. We weren’t ready to end it.”

In the third set, a neck and neck start was never broken by either Twin River or Yutan. But in the end, with the help of seven kills by senior Morgan Davis, Yutan was victorious (25-21).

Although the girls said they felt a boost of confidence and realized Twin River was beatable, the fourth set and key to the next round was won by Twin River in a battle that ended with a score of 25-16.

“Even though we lost, I was really proud of everything that we did,” Maddie Egr said. “We had potential for the second round, but we were glad we made it that far. There were a lot of mixed emotions out there.”

At the end of their season, the girls broke a total of five team records, including total wins for a season (26-6). The seniors said that they were proud to be leaders of the team, and even more proud of the freshmen and juniors for stepping up so much.

“This was our most successful year in volleyball,” Lexi Egr said. “By far.”

Team earns trip to state volleyballThe volleyball team makes its first appearance since 1998

Yutan wins C-2 honorfor sportsmanship

Yutan may not have won a match at the state volleyball tournament in Hastings, but the Chieftains did capture a piece of hardware.

The Nebraska School Activities Asso-ciation, in an effort to promote good sports-manship, critiques participating schools on their sportsmanship, from the team to the fans to the school band.

Yutan was announced as the Class C-2 sportsmanship winner during the playing of the state championship match.

Dooley said she loves deer hunting and it will always be her favorite.

Musgrove and Dooley have the same favorite part about hunting.

They love receiving the actual kill.Both men and women enjoy this unisex

sport.“I could tell you a lot of stories about

hunting, but they may not be school appro-

priate,” Musgrove said.Dooley remembers when she was pretty

far along being pregnant with her daughter that her husband put her up in a tree stand.

“Being pregnant didn’t even stop me from going hunting,” Dooley said.

Roll and Phillips agree that it doesn’t matter what people say, hunting is a wom-en’s sports as well as a men’s sport.

Not just boys participate in hunting

By ShelBy anderSon

With losing eight seniors from last year and returning only one letter winner, the Yutan boys basketball team will be young with not much experience.

This is the second year for head coach Andy Timm. He said that he has learned from last season.

“I have to know when to push kids and when to ease up,” Timm said. “I have to know how to manage the games and prac-tices as well. I have learned from many coaches such as Coach Henkel.”

The numbers have increased from last year. The team will have 23 boys out. Timm said that it will be the biggest team Yutan has had in years.

Junior Jacob Peitzmeier will be the only returning letter winner from last year. Peitzmeier averaged seven points per game in the 2010-2011 season. He also shot 48 percent from the three-point line and 70 percent from the free throw line. Timm said that Peitzmeier has to step up and be more of a vocal leader.

“He will be the focus of a lot of teams we play,” Timm said. “He really needs to work hard to get open and make shots. He also needs to pick up the slack from the guys we lost last year.”

Timm said that Peitzmeier needs to be more of an offensive threat. He is versatile enough that he can play anywhere on the floor. Timm also said that as the team pro-gresses through the season, Peitzmeier will be playing all five positions.

Peitzmeier feels good about being the only one with experience, and he sees more leaders as well.

“I am not going to be the only one. I feel

By tahler roBinSon

Playing for fun or playing for a college recruiter? That’s the real question for a select number of high school athletes during their high school careers.

Many of Yutan’s athletes have to make the decision whether to pursue sports in college.

Some athletes are inspired to play col-lege sports because family members played in college.

RETURNNING LETTERMAN - Junior Jacob Peitzmeier takes the basketball to the basket in a game against Conestoga last year. Peitzmeier is the only returning letterman for this year’s boys team. Photo-graph by Shelby Anderson.

good knowing that Gage and Colin are going to be leaders, too,” Peitzmeier said.

Peitzmeier said that he expects to start and have the team do pretty well by hav-ing at least a .500 record for the season. Peitzmeier will be facing a transition with losing eight seniors.

“Usually the seniors know what they are doing,” Peitzmeier said. “This year, there is not much experience and everybody is going to be learning.”

Along with Peitzmeier, the team has senior Gage Layman, juniors Colin Schnoes and Matthew Swanson, and sophomores Nate Fisher, Nick Josoff, Billy Mayer and Malcolm Bussing, all who played last year.

With a young team, Timm’s expectations will not change.

“I still have high expectations and goals’ such as winning the conference tournament and making it to state,” Timm said. “The main goal is to have each individual reach their potential. Then the team will reach their potential. The wins will take care of themselves.”

Timm recognizes that there will be strengths and weaknesses for the team.

“Our speed, quickness, perimeter shoot-ing and the transition from offense to defense will be our strengths,” Timm said. “Our challenges will be our rebounding due to the size, half-court defense due to lack of physicality and not being as physical as the other team.”

Timm said that the team will have its highs and lows throughout the year.

“We will get better as the year pro-gresses,” Timm said. “We hope to play our best basketball when it is tournament time in February.”

Young boys leadbasketball team

CHIEFTAIN SHOT ATTEMPT - Senior Lexie Kelly attempts a shot in last year’s game against Malcolm. Kelly is one of four seniors out for the girls basketball team, which includes only 13 players. Photograph by Abby Schnoes.

By lilly Kult

This year’s girls basketball team has two returning starters: senior post players Morgan Davis and Lexi Egr.

These girls were part of the 2010-2011 record-breaking team, but the Chieftains lost two guards who had played three and four years, along with their leading scorer each of the past two seasons.

It will take them a while to develop into their roles and find a team identity. The team will rely on some newcomers, both as start-ers and reserve players. Depth may take a while to improve.

The team has the same coaches as last year with math teacher Rod Henkel as the head coach. His assistant coaches are el-ementary teacher Trent Jacobs and Omaha teacher Cory Vasek.

To have a successful season, Henkel said that he thinks the team is going to have to get along and play well together.

Junior Morgan O’Malley, who along with senior Shelby Anderson are also re-turning letterwinners, said that she looks forward to playing as a team.

“In volleyball, we never expected ever to be as good as we were, and we always played together,” O’Malley said. “If we do that in basketball, I think we could surprise ourselves again.”

Since the team is smaller than most with only 13 girls, the Chieftains will play only two quarters of J.V., and they have cancelled most C team games.

Because of small numbers, the returning letterwinners don’t have any experienced players to go against during practice, caus-ing the coaches to split the teams more

evenly during practice.“We try to mix up the teams and have our

best go against our best,” Henkel said.Henkel said that his expectations for

this season are that they will play hard and be competitive.

“We have some players who haven’t played a lot of varsity and those who have,” Henkel said. “We’ll be mixing inexperi-enced with the experienced.”

Some players’ expectations are to have a winning record.

The main concern for this year’s team is that they don’t have returning ball handlers. Henkel said that they are going to have to work to replace that position. Rebounding is also a worry.

O’Malley said that one challenge is get-ting the ball past half court because that’s the toughest for them. Their strength is their posts.

The four seniors of this team have been displaying some leadership to the newcom-ers.

“They have been doing a great job of showing the younger ones how it’s done,” Henkel said. “I hope it continues.”

One of the seniors, Davis, has lettered three years.

“She knows what it takes,” Henkel said.

Freshman Brooke Kelly agrees.“Morgan Davis inspires us all and is a

good leader,” Kelly said.Henkel looks forward to seeing how they

improve over the season.“I’m anxious to see how the young

and inexperienced ones work out,” Henkel said.

Difficulties arise withlow numbers for girls

Athletes seek play in college“My dad and cousin Mahala inspired me

to pursue sports in college,” senior Lexi Egr said. “My dad played basketball at North-east and Mahala currently plays volleyball at Midland.”

To be considered by a college to play a sport, students need a certain GPA and ACT score.

NAIA requires athletes to meet two of these requirements: at least an 18 on the

Continued on Page 12

TRY TO ESCAPE FROM THIS - Junior Matt Callahan has an opponent in a hold during a match last season. Callahan is the only returning state qualifier and one of several returning lettermen on this year’s wrestling team, which is being coached by Jason Arlt for the first time. Photograph by Katie Buhman

By gary grinvaldS

Yutan students taking English I through English IV during their time in high school read four Shakespeare plays: The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tragedy of Macbeth, and The Tragedy

of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. All four of these are referenced in this

year’s one-act play, Shakespeare’s Inferno, along with other Shakespeare plays such as Othello, the Moore of Venice; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; and The Life of King Henry the Fifth.

The one-act this year was directed by Spanish teacher Kristen Day. Last year she helped direct the play along with English teacher Carey Starns. This year the pro-duction is much larger with more than 20 speaking parts and a need for a crew to move around the more varied set.

The cast and crew faced a few challenges when taking this play to competition.

“Doing it on my own as opposed to hav-ing Ms. Starns, who had years of experience, was difficult,” Day said.

Starns attended a few practices to help give some comments to the cast and crew. This was beneficial because she had the experience of co-directing the one-act production that went to state in 2008 with fellow English teacher Ginger Eikmeier. This year, however, the organization and directing responsibilities were left com-pletely to Day.

“The staging, I think, was the hardest part of the play,” Day said. “The script called for a simple set.”

This caused some difficulty, because the set being too simple left an empty stage effect. However, after the judges at confer-ence gave the group some ideas about the staging, it was easier to make it look better, Day explained.

Despite the fact that it was a comedy, there were often jokes that weren’t picked up on by the audience. One judge at districts explained that, because many of the audi-

ence members don’t know much about all the referenced Shakespeare plays, it might seem like the show is dead.

However, that same judge suggested that the cast could simply slow lines down and pause more to make sure that the audience had time to understand the jokes.

Despite these difficulties, Day thought that the play had a few advantages.

“One advantage is that the kids are read-ing Shakespeare,” Day said.

This allows the cast to understand many of the jokes that they make on stage, so they can better develop the characters.

Another advantage was that, because it was a comedy, the cast could improvise with their characters to apply them to the situation better and make it funnier.

It is also good that the cast had a few very strong actors.

“Colin Wichman, Colin Schnoes and Michael Peavler all do a great job of act-ing,” Day said. But these were only a few that she noticed.

At conference, individual acting awards went to Colin Wichman and Morgan Da-vis.

At districts, outstanding performance awards went to Sarah Pogue, Colin Wich-man, Michael Peavler and Gary Grinvalds.

The district judges showed great inter-est in Peavler, when they spoke to the cast after the performance. One major reason for that is the fact that his part, only being able to show his head, was very difficult to play well.

Overall, despite disappointing results with the season as a whole, the production was at least worth it for some people.

“I had a really fun time with the play,” Day said.

Judges offer their suggestions and criticism to one-act cast

New coach brings optimism and changeKatie Buhman

A coach of a three-time state wrestling

runner-up, Jason Arlt, has taken the place of former Yutan teacher Rick Henry as the Yutan wrestling coach.

During the selection process, an ad was placed in the Omaha World-Herald for several weeks. Five or six applicants were interviewed, and Arlt turned out to be the best candidate for the job, according to athletic director Dustin Nielsen.

Arlt, a secondary education graduate from University of Nebraska Lincoln, was a teacher and coach at Gretna for five years. He has been a State Farm agent in Elkhorn for ten years.

The transition from one coach to another may not be so difficult. Arlt worked with Henry in the past when he helped out with youth wrestling.

Nielsen suspects the wrestling season will go smoothly due to the collaboration between the former and new wrestling coach in the past.

“They share the same philosophy of working hard in practice and doing your best,” Nielsen said.

Arlt is no stranger to being a success-ful wrestling coach. Not only did he assist at Lincoln Pius X for two years, he also coached state runners-up three years in a row during his time in Gretna.

Nielsen said there will be a lot of re-turning experience for the wrestling team, including junior Matthew Callahan, a two-time letterman who qualified for state his freshman year. Callahan also tied the school record for victories with a 30-14 record in the 2010-2011season.

Other returning varsity letterwinners include juniors Kolten Root, Luke Janecek, Ryan Phillips, and Trevor Smith and sopho-more Josh Blair. Root held a 20-24 season last year, and Phillips went 20-22.

“They (the wrestlers) made huge strides last year as far as improvements,” Nielsen said.

However, that does not mean being suc-cessful this year will be an easy task for the wrestlers. In addition to following a strict diet regimen, wrestlers are expected to par-ticipate in intense practices every day.

“They will be expected to work hard in practice,” Arlt said, “hopefully realizing that they can work harder than they thought they could.”

Arlt also expects wrestlers to give 100 percent at all times. Giving good effort in practice will translate into improvements of physical and mental toughness.

One thing that worries Arlt is the rela-tively low numbers on the team. In order to overcome this, Arlt expects the team to, “put forth maximum effort and find pride in their hard work.”

Arlt remains optimistic about the team’s good attitude. He looks forward to seeing the wrestlers win matches they may not have

expected to win.Arlt is a newcomer to Class C and D

schedules and knows it will be a challenge. However, Arlt looks forward to supporting other sports teams and hopes there is just as much support in the stands during wrestling matches.

ROMEO LIES DEAD - Romeo, played by Gary Grinvalds, lies dead on the lap of Juliet, played by Sarah Pogue. Tori Johnson and witches Lexi Egr, Katie Thomas and Bridgette McGuire perform with the one-act play. Photograph by Katie Buhman.

do not plan on adding any other security mechanisms unless they feel that they need to.

Some concerns exist about two doors in particular that have been known to be unlocked at times-the doors by the band room and the back kitchen doors.

There have also been situations where students have propped open doors for rea-sons such as to get a breath of fresh air or run out to their car.

McNamara said he is working on re-minding teachers to make sure they lock the door after they enter in the morning and when they leave at night. He is also remind-ing students that they need to ask before leaving the building.

This year, Yutan has also enforced the use of passbooks to go places inside the school building each day. When a student wants to go anywhere, even as simple as his or her locker, they need to have a pass signed by a teacher.

The reasoning behind this is because when students walk into school every day the school is responsible for them. The staff and administration need to have every student accounted for.

“We need to know where all students are and when they are returning,” McNa-mara said.

Students and teachers both feel that Yu-tan is a safe environment to learn in with the drive for the safety that is displayed.

“I feel like Yutan is a safe place for me to learn,” said sophomore Gabe Arlt said.

McNamara believes this as well and hopes everyone feels the same way.

“I think parents and students should feel good about the detail and commitment to having a safe environment for the students to learn in that is provided by the school board and administration,” McNamara said.

By Colin WiChman

Women have them and the occasional man has one too. They come in all shapes, sizes and different colors. What am I talk-ing about? Why, purses of course. As a man, I have absolutely no idea what a purse means to a woman and many questions arose about these bags. I soon realized, however, how important a purse is to a woman.

“It’s like your lifeline to everything,” senior Brianna Remm said. “Anything you could possibly need is in there.”

Remm’s “lifeline” holds a bag of popcorn for work, her sunglass-es, a bottle of lotion, chapstick, a book and a camera. These items are a few things that are necessary for her to carry every day.

Senior Bridgette McGuire car-ries a few of the same things in her bag as Remm. However, a few things differ. She carries a pack of gum, a style book for shop-ping, a nail file and a pair of tweezers. She also agrees with Remm’s philosophy about purses and handbags.

“My purse is my life,” McGuire said. “I carry everything I possibly would need in it.”

How then, do all of these materials accumulate in their purses?

“Usually if I need it, I just throw it in there and I won’t take it out until I switch purses,” McGuire said. She also said that the contents of her purse rarely change. She just adds items to her purse.

Remm does the same thing as McGuire when it comes to adding to her purse. She said that she doesn’t really take things out of her bag.

As a man who doesn’t understand how women can carry such a heavy load in their purse, I began to wonder if they ever had to clean out their purses.

“If it gets really bad,”

Remm said, “I’ll take the receipts out or the loose change.”

McGuire does the same thing. “Mainly I take out the garbage, but ev-

erything else stays in,” McGuire said. She also said that she only takes out what she knows she won’t need anymore, but that doesn’t happen often.

Personally, I don’t own a handbag. But if I did, I think I would get tired of carrying the same bag over and over again. I would need some sort of change in my life in that sense.

Both girls said that they change purses often.

For Remm, she tries to change purs-es with the changing sea-

sons. She said that it doesn’t always happen though. McGuire changes her purse a little more frequently than Remm.

“I change mine once a month , sometimes twice,” McGuire said. A

n e r v o u s g i g g l e showed that McGuire

knew she had a prob-lem. She acknowledged that she had a problem

of buying purses and handbags.

I f a l l women have the same addiction that

McGuire has to her purse, what would hap-

pen if they didn’t have a purse?

“I would have noth-ing,” McGuire said. “I’d

feel naked. I’d feel very unor-ganized and not

complete because I carry everything in my

purse.”Remm kept it short and sim-

ple.“I would cry.” Now that I know

exactly what a purse means to a woman, I realize that I

never want to get one. I would become addicted to buying them, and I would carry every-

thing I could possibly imagine in mine. And if someone took my purse away, I might just cry too.

Woman’s purse: Lifeline to Everything

Continued from Page 7

Students findthemselvesbuzzing in toenter school

it. I think it’s kind of cool to have my host family at school.”

Roth said that having Uruba live with them is going well, and that he fits right in with the rest of the family.

“We really enjoy having him with us for the culture situation,” Roth said. “It’s a win win; we get to learn from him, and he learns from us.”

This is Uruba’s first year abroad. He has been involved with other exchange programs to Germany.

Uruba became involved with the foreign exchange program because of his friends.

“I had a lot of friends that had gone to the United States and all around the world,” Uruba said.

Since coming to Nebraska, Uruba has picked up some new American interests.

“I go fishing almost every weekend,”

Uruba said. “We also do stuff like cy-cling.”

In the spring, Uruba plans on participat-ing in track. He has yet to decide on what event.

“I have no idea,” Uruba said, “but people say that I’m fast.”

Back home in the Czech Republic, Uruba’s favorite hobby was hockey ball.

“It’s like hockey on ice but on grass,” Uruba said.

In the Czech Republic, Uruba left behind many friends along with a brother, Vaclav, and a sister, Mavie. Uruba stays in contact with them by using Facebook, email and Skype.

Uruba said that the biggest difference between America’s school system and the Czech Republic’s is the students here are allowed to choose their subjects for the most part.

“In Czech, you have to do everything every year,” Uruba said.

Uruba takes chemistry, in which Roth is his teacher.

“I think he is good at math so the chemis-try class isn’t too hard for him,” Roth said.

Uruba is fluent in three languages: Czech, English and German

“German is like Spanish here, it’s the next language they offer,” Uruba said.

Even though America is nothing like the Czech Republic, Uruba said that he likes it so it’s easier to adjust.

Exchange student adjusts to new life

Continued from Page 5

“The education system is different,” Uruba said. “The transportation system is different. Everything is different.”

FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENT - Jan Uruba visits with freshman Boston Rew in the hallway. Uruba, a foreign exchange student from the Czech Republic, is staying with science teacher Barb Roth and her family. Photograph by Katie Buhman.

Jan Uruba, a CzechRepublic native, finds himself enjoying new American customs.

By lexie Kelly With more than 2,000 musical talents

trying out, and only 400 being selected for all-state band and choir, one might say that chances of “making the cut” are pretty slim.

Beating the odds and be-ing selected for this honor were three Yutan stu-dents: seniors Gary Grinvalds and Gage Lay-man (choir) and sophomore JT McLaughlin (band).

What exactly does all-state consist of? “All-State is a three day event where

the first two days for the choir are spent rehearsing the music, while the last day is spent putting all of our work together into a concert,” Lay-man said.

“ I n b e -tween rehears-als, there were speakers and concerts that we could watch and listen to.”

How does one try out for an all-state position?

According to McLaugh-lin, in order to be selected for all-state band, s tudents are sent to Elkhorn where they re-cord their piece for the judges and send it in.

“In order to make it into the choir, we have to sing the scales and three excerpts in front of the judges,” Layman said. “If you do well enough, they select you for all-state.”

Grinvalds added that it’s not just Class C schools trying out; it’s every class.

With auditions being one’s only key into making it into all-state, practice is expected. The question, however, is how much prac-tice did these guys put in.

“It depends on the person I think,” Gr-invalds said. “Gage and I didn’t practice as much as some people did. We practiced until we knew our songs well enough.”

McLaughlin said he started practicing a week before the auditions for about one hour a night.

Layman said he learned how quiet his voice can get and also how loud it can get. Grinvalds learned nonspecific musicality things.

“In the band, I learned the four keys to being a good player,” McLaughlin said. “To be in time, in tempo, in tone, and in tune.”

All three students agree that the all-state choir and band concert was a success. Layman and Grinvalds believe that they had their part down and the choir was great overall, while McLaughlin earned third chair in the baritone section.

Being selected for all-state has left a lasting impact on these students:

“If you have the chance to make it to all-state,” Layman said, “it’s an amazing experience that you’ll never forget. I know I won’t.”

This basically means that it is made up of a metal deck covered with insulation board, which then is covered by a rubber membrane.

The membrane is attached to objects in the middle of the roof and the perimeter, but is otherwise loose laid. After that, gravel is put down on top of it to hold it down.

A major problem with this kind of roof is that in the Midwest, there are many repeated freeze-thaw cycles.

This breaks the gravel into shards, which can easily puncture the rubber membrane when maintenance workers walk across it to clear leaves from drains and gutters, explained Chuck Beyer, a representative of the 2001 Roofing Company.

Beyer suggests using a similar material to what the school is currently using, but his company has a system of installation that solves some of the problems that the gravel creates.

“Our membrane will be loose laid, but we don’t need the rock to hold it down,” Beyer said. “We would create an air seal at the edge of the roof and at all other curves and penetrations in the roof.”

Valves would then be placed every 50 lineal feet, which would pull potentially harmful wind vortexes out from underneath the roof so it creates a vacuum that ends up holding the roof down.

This patented system is becoming in-

creasingly popular.“Our system is on 1.2 million square

feet of roof at Iowa State University,” Beyer said.

Beyer presented his suggestions for the roof to the school board at its meeting on Monday, Nov. 14. Earlier that day, he per-sonally inspected the roof to acquire an esti-mate on what it would cost to replace it.

He started by measuring the dimensions of the roof by walking the perimeter with his three-foot stride.

He said that he can walk 100 feet and only be off by about a foot, so his method of measuring the dimensions is fairly reli-able.

While on the roof he also inspected gut-ters and drains.

“Twice a year maintenance workers should clear the drains of leaves,” Beyer said. This means that some foot traffic is necessary for proper maintenance, so the threat of rock shards puncturing the mem-brane is very real.

Insulation is another factor in why the school needs a new roof. A material’s R value is its resistance to heat flow.

The roof currently has an insulation R value of less than eight, while the recom-mended R value is 30 for a roof in this climate.

The 2001 Company roof would give the school’s roof an R value of 27.5, Beyer explained.

Along with insulation, the 2001 Com-pany also guarantees that all excess water will leave the roof within three years.

Because of the special way of install-ing the roof, few companies are certified to install the 2001 Company’s roof, however, the two companies that did the roof for the high school and elementary are both certi-fied to install the roof.

“The contractors I have are good,” Beyer said.

No matter which contractor they choose, the cost of replacing the roof will likely be more than $1 million. The school board plans to pay this off in smaller amounts over the years that the new roof will be in place.

Having seen the presentation, the school board seems to favor the 2001 Company.

“I would say, at this point, the board is leaning toward the 2001 Company,” Johnson said.

Johnson plans to continue researching the company, and then, if there is enough positive feedback for the 2001 Company, the board will likely move into the next stage of the roofing process, by making a plan for the reparations of the two roofs.

They have split each school’s roof into three sections, and they plan to install the roof on one section this summer. Then, within six years, the two schools will have new roofs.

Continued from Page 1

ROOF INSPECTION - Superintendent Kevin Johnson and Chuck Beyer, a representative of the 2001 Roofing Company, inspect the roof at the high school. The Yutan Board of Education is considering bids from two different companies and could spend more than $1 million for the repairs. Photograph by Gary Grinvalds.

Schools set to receive new roofs

Gary Grinvalds

Gage Layman

J.T. McLaughlin

Three attendmusic eventin Lincoln

ACT, GPA of a 2.0 in core classes which exclude choir, band, home economics and other extras, and graduate in the top half of your class.

The NCAA is similar to NAIA with its requirements.

NCAA Division I and Division II both require students to graduate from high school, complete 16 core classes, have at least a 2.0 average in core classes and have a certain score on the ACT.

Most NCAA schools require at least an 18 on the ACT. Some require a higher

score. Egr said that she was stressed about the

requirements to be eligible to play volleyball in college.

Senior Garrett Robinson had the same feelings towards the requirements to pursue track in college.

“I was especially worried about the 18 on the ACT,” he said.

Grades and skills are not the only aspects of students considering collegiate athletes; college recruiters also come to see the play-ers at games.

Most players don’t notice recruiters. “They are pretty good at not being no-

ticed until they talk to athletes after games,” senior Morgan Davis said.

All of the students who are interested in playing college sports agree with Davis and say that the recruiters usually do not distract the players. They said they play like it’s a regular game.

Robinson said that students say that they play for the love of the sport.

“All of the athletes have what it is go-ing to take to playing college, but it is their choice and they need to pursue what will make them happy,” volleyball coach Becky O’Malley said.

Continued from Page 9

Athletes stress about GPA and ACTCollege athlete hopefuls have many requirements