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Facebook: MHS The Student Newspaper December 2010 Volume 73, Issue Three
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
MARION HIGH SCHOOL
Deer Hunting
Page 3
New Music Review
Page 8
Crime Scene Lab
Page 5
New Teachers
Pages 4 and 7
Do you think one test should
determine your future? The
A ACT is a test that deter-
mines your college entrance.
If students don’t score high
enough on the test they could
not be accepted into colleges.
I am against using the ACT for
college entrance.
The test is nearly impossible
to complete in the time given.
The ACT is given to juniors in
select states across the United
States including Illinois. It in-
cludes math, science, English,
and reading. The reading por-
tion of the test is exceptionally
difficult. On this portion of
the ACT there are 40 questions
plus reading passages to be
completed in only 45 minutes.
Students are also required to
write a well developed essay
in only 30 minutes.
Most students take
longer than 30 minutes
to plan out and prepare
for the paper, let alone
doing that and writing
the paper in the time
given. Some people
think the ACT should be
given as a college en-
trance exam, but I be-
lieve it shouldn’t because
many very smart people
cannot finish the test in
time that’s given.
College entrance
should not be primarily
based on the ACT test.
For example, you go to
(Continued on page 4)
Student Editorials: The ACT Mrs. Richart’s English III
class recently studied editorial
writing, and some of the stu-
dents’ best compositions were
given to The Student. Unfortu-
nately, we do not have enough
room to print them all, so we
printed two of our staff favor-
ites.
This first submission ad-
dresses the issue of standardized
testing, particularly the ACT.
This is always a huge issue
around this time of year, and
Jessi Dryden speaks for a lot of
students in the following edito-
rial.
The Student
Marion High School
1501 S. Carbon St.
Marion, IL 62959
(618) 993-8196
Page 2 THE STUDENT- ISSUE TWO, VOLUME 73
Head Editor: Jordan McBride
Editors: Sarah Anderson, Dakota
Evans, Aaron McGee
Sponsor: Mrs. Presley
Contributing Staff: Kristen Fowler, Essence Kimble, Michael McAnelly,
Hannah Nelson, Taylor Pankey, Nicho-
las Rakers
Special Thanks: Jessi Dryden, Justin Maze
The Student is a newspaper that is produced by Marion High School students on a periodic basis.
The Chameleon Generation
MHS Wins at Murray State
MHS The Student newspaper
Sociologists claim that our
generation is “chameleon.” This
means that research has proven
that we do not act in a predict-
able manner. In different situa-
tions, our behav-
iors change.
It is not neces-
sarily our fault
that we are like
this. Our sur-
roundings obvi-
ously influence
us; blame them.
We have become
accustomed to
changing our behaviors to
achieve the greatest success in
multiple situations. In some
sense, this is a really good thing.
However, we do need to be care-
ful that we do not sacrifice our-
selves, or that we don’t forget
who we are in the first place.
It’s not the fact that we are afraid to
be unique; we have extreme differ-
ences in style and individuality. What
is more worrisome is that these ex-
tremes may make us the same. Maybe
we have to
push ourselves
to the extreme,
have the
brightest hair
color, or buy
the most
unique clothes
to prove that
we are differ-
ent.
Our generation is definitely unique,
no question. We should be proud, but
never feel forced to be different. We
already are.
-The Student Staff
third year in a row, the MHS team
took first place.
The competition included a test
created by a Chemistry teacher at
Murray. The teacher commented
that his students thought that the test
was extremely difficult.
Along with a grueling
hour test, the students
were given a free lunch
to sustain their fam-
ished minds.
Congrats to the
Marion Chemistry
Team!
-Sarah Anderson
Instead of spending their Vet-
eran's Day morning sleeping in,
seniors Paige Shevlin, Katie Phil-
lips, Sarah Anderson, and junior
Nick Reim accompanied Mr. Davis
to the 40th Annual Chemistry Com-
petition at Murray
State.
Marion, along
with several other
local high schools,
brought their best
students to com-
pete. Paige Shevlin
took 2nd place in
second year indi-
vidual and, for the
Page 3 THE STUDENT- ISSUE TWO, VOLUME 73
some students believe it is not exactly fair
to ignore the everyday nature lover. To
many, a Friday off of school for
the entire student body would be a
better option. This proposal ac-
commodates for hunters without
making exceptions for them.
Still, both supporters and oppo-
nents appear to be passionate in
their opinions on the topic and the
debate seems unlikely to die down
any time soon.
-Hannah Nelson
Editorial: Deer Hunting
Senior Spotlight: Tre Martin
Looking back on his time at MHS, senior Tre Mar-
tin said, “My favorite high school memory would
have to be Senior homecoming. The float building,
the atmosphere, everything was just great.”
Tre is very much enjoying his senior year thus far,
participating, as he has done in the past, in HOSA
and Jazz Choir.
His time outside of school is spent at his job at Tar-
get.
Tre’s favorite class “would have to be Medical Ca-
reers junior year with Mrs. Mummert. Meeting the
out of town people was great, and the clinicals were
always fun.”
Mrs. Poole is one of Tre’s favorite teachers, al-
though he admits, “we don’t always see eye to eye on
this whole Research Writing thing.” Tre added, “We
still get along.” Another of Tre’s favorite teachers
was former English teacher and sponsor of The Stu-
dent, Mrs. Neal.
-Jordan McBride
It is another beautiful Friday, the leaves are
shining in a glorious multitude
of colors. This is a perfect day
to explore the local wilderness.
Sadly, those who do not own a
hunting permit can only view
the outdoors from behind a
classroom window.
Hunters are allowed a day
away from school to pursue
their much loved hobby, while
the remainder of the school is
confined indoors. Though the
hunting of deer is very impor-
tant for population control,
How do you feel about the school year being halfway
over?
It’s mixed feelings. I feel excited and a twinge of sadness.
Is it crazy to think that your high school career is basi-
cally over?
Yeah, time just flew by. I still think I should be a freshman.
Any New Year’s resolutions you are going to make?
I don’t really have any for the time being.
Were you worried for your first finals as a freshman?
Were they as hard as you expected?
I was a little worried, but they were not as bad as I expected.
What is your best memory from this year so far?
I’d have to say my AP Bio trip to Kentucky Lake or going
to Indianapolis with the FFA.
Do you still get excited for Christmas now that you’re a
senior?
A little bit. I like seeing my family.
-Kristen Fowler
Senior Spotlight: Patrick Johnson
Page 4 THE STUDENT- ISSUE TWO, VOLUME 73
New Teacher: Gulley
Student Editorials: The ACT (cont.)
Mrs. Gulley is among one of the newest teach-
ers at the high school. Her classroom is located
in the trailer disconnected from the school build-
ing, where she teaches health careers during 6th
and 7th hours. This is her first year teaching in
the classroom everyday. Before
this year, she had been a school
nurse for Unit #2 school district
since 1997, during which she
would provide training on vari-
ous topics to faculty and staff, as
well as provide presentations on
various health related issues.
When beginning her schooling,
she acquired an Associate Degree
in Nursing at John A. Logan Col-
lege. Then at SIUE, she received
a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
Finally, she obtained a School
Nurse Certification from the University of Illi-
nois Chicago. Now, she is currently working on
a Masters Degree of Science in Nursing as a
Nurse Educator at the University of Southern
Indiana.
Her favorite part of teaching
high school students is their
creativity and energy. She has
also found that MHS students
are caring, compassionate, and
more than willing to help those
that are in need.
Mrs. Gulley enjoys scrapbook-
ing and reading with her chil-
dren—Braden, who is a fresh-
man this year, Rylah, who is
four years old, and Braylan, who
is one and a half.
-Taylor Pankey
school for 12 years, but almost everything
is based on one test. So basically 12 years
of school doesn’t really count for anything.
Some people can have a high GPA, but
they may not be very good test takers under
a lot of pressure. This also has a bad effect
on the test. Some people say that if you
have a high GPA you should do fine on the
ACT, but these people are wrong because it
is a very difficult test to complete because
of the time that’s given and the pressure
that a student is under.
(Continued from page 1) T Therefore, the ACT is a very hard test
that college entrance should not be based
on. It is nearly impossible to complete in
the requested time. This is why I am
against using the ACT for college entrance.
As members of the college board, it is your
job to outlaw the ACT for college entrance.
-Jessi Dryden
Page 5 THE STUDENT- ISSUE TWO, VOLUME 73
A Murder in the Library?! Lab Science, better known as
Forensics, conducts the annual
“Crime Scene Lab.” For those
who don’t know, the “Crime
Scene Lab” is a teaching aid for
forensic students.
The project allows students to
conduct a full murder investiga-
tion, complete with blood sam-
ples, fingerprints, hair follicles,
and fierce motives.
This year’s scenes are scandal-
ous affairs. In one scene Ben
Moore is executed by his first
girlfriend, leaving the scene cov-
ered with blood and powder. In
the other, Jake was killed by his
best friend Marcus over drugs and
a girl.
The two crime scenes were
located in the library temporar-
ily shutting it down in that sec-
tion.
Christina Stone, a forensics
student, said, “It was a fun and
a great learning experience.”
Ms. Grant (to be Mrs. Robin-
son next summer, Congratula-
tions!) the lab science teacher,
said, “I hope that the students
like it, and have fun with a new
learning experience, and be-
come future crime scene inves-
tigators.”
-Nicholas Rakers
Student Editorials: Lower Taxes When is the last time you
heard someone saying they want
lower taxes? Taxes are what
helps take care of our grandpar-
ents, yet Americans don’t realize
those taxes take care of the eld-
erly and that those taxes pay for
those programs. We as Ameri-
cans expect Medicare patients to
have the best healthcare, but by
lowering taxes we’re giving
them fewer options for their
care. As a community and as
Americans we can do better. The
tax problems for Medicare for
our senior citizens are just one of
the many obvious problems we
are facing in our healthcare sys-
tem. Doctors are actually
“ditching” Medicare patients due
to Medicare cuts. Our obliga-
tions are all wrong. The way we
provide health care to the elderly
empowers us to change the foun-
dation of our lives. The reason
why we passed Medicare cover-
age was to help the less fortu-
nate, and now we’re ready to
pretty much throw it away in one
generation. It is our moral obli-
gation to help people who cannot
help themselves.
Now is the time to fix our tax
system and get rid of the fraud
and waste. History shows us that
we, as Americans, in order to
move forward, have to take care
of all Americans. As of now, if
we make more cuts in Medicare,
Medicare patients will not be able
to afford the medication they need
to survive. Some Americans think
that lowering taxes is a great idea
because they will have more
money in their pockets. But these
same people when they get older
want to have Medicare provided
to them. We need to provide all of
the necessary prescriptions and
care our senior citizens need.
Hospitals all over the U.S. have
made progress in establishing
good health care for Medicare
patients, and have done so within
their budgets. As we know, these
(Continued on page 8)
Page 6 THE STUDENT- ISSUE TWO, VOLUME 73
THE STUDENT
Once again, the Marion High
School football team produced a suc-
cessful season. The Cats finished
with a 9-2 overall record, were the
South Seven Conference champions,
and made it to the second round of
the IHSA state playoffs. They man-
aged to excite crowds at every game
with an explosive offensive front as
well as a defense that continually
stalled even the best of drives.
Senior Captain and offen-
sive lineman, Matt Griffith,
commented on the season,
“This past year had its share
of ups and downs, adversity
and victory, but the greatest
legacy we can leave behind as
a team would be that we never
let adversity control how we
played as brothers.” As we
leave this season behind us,
Football Season Wraps Up
Bowling Season Off to a Great Start
the thoughts of next fall are
already brewing in the minds
of many here in Wildcat Coun-
try. Let’s just hope those Wild-
cat’s coming up never forget
that in order to achieve their
dreams they “gotta be 11.”
-Aaron McGee
The MHS boy’s bowling team
began their season last Tuesday
with a win against Massac
County. They followed up Tues-
day’s win with a victory over
Carbondale last Thursday, mak-
ing the boy’s record a promising
2-0. Jeremy Johnson coaches
both the boy’s and girl’s bowling
teams.
The girl’s team begins their
season this Tuesday with a home
match against Massac County.
All home matches and prac-
tices for both teams take place
at Marion Bowl.
When asked about the up-
coming season, senior Chris-
tina Stone said, “We’re ex-
tremely excited; we’re going
to do great this year! Hope-
fully we’ll either go to state as
a team, or as individuals.”
Stone added, “We had some
people come extremely close
last year.” This season looks to
be an exciting one for both
teams with the boy’s team off
to a great start and the girl’s
team poised to do the same.
Good luck to all of our Bowl-
ing Wildcats!
-Jordan McBride
Page 7 THE STUDENT- ISSUE TWO, VOLUME 73
New Teacher: Damron Mrs. Damron is another one of
the many new teachers on staff
since August 2010. In room F101,
nearly five minutes away from A-
hall, she teaches something she’s
been teaching almost all her life,
sewing. In that category, she is
proud to be teaching Consumer
Economics, Clothing I & II, Fash-
ion Merchandizing, and Life I & II.
Prior to this first year at Marion
High, she attended school at Rend
Lake College where she studied
interior design . Then, after going to
John A. Logan College, she later
transferred to Southern Illinois Uni-
versity where she received her
Bachelor’s Degree in Education.
She taught three years in Herrin
schools. She has also taught college
classes in computer and construc-
tion at John A. Logan. She’s cur-
rently working
towards her Mas-
ter’s degree at
S.I.U.
Damron is a
proud mother of
four. She loves
teaching, and ob-
viously loves her
job, looking for-
ward to each day
with her high
school students.
Her hobbies are
New Teacher: Stearns Education in School Leadership/ Ad-
ministration. After that she returned
to Middle Tennessee State Univer-
sity, and received an Educational
Specialist Degree in Curriculum De-
sign and In-
struction.
Mrs. Stearns
says that her
favorite part of
teaching high
school students
is that they sit
still (most
days), because
she is used to
teaching hyper
middle school
students.
Among several of the new additions
to the English department is Mrs.
Stearns. She moved this year from
Nashville, Tennessee, but she is origi-
nally from Eldorado.
She is teaching English I, English
II, and Individualized Reading for
Marion High School. She has been
teaching for four years. At her last
school in Franklin, Tennessee, she
taught 7th grade Language Arts.
After graduating high school, she
attended SIUC, where she received
an Associates Degree of Science.
Then she transferred to Murray State,
where she received a Bachelor of Sci-
ence. She then moved on to Middle
Tennessee State University, where
she obtained a Masters Degree of
cooking, sewing/crafts, and
hiking. Her husband teaches
welding at John A. Logan.
She’s ultimately in love with
her only grandchild,
two-year-old, Ab-
bygale. I hope you
get a chance to
meet her and have
best wishes for her
first year.
-Essence Kimble
Her favorite hobby at
the moment is decorat-
ing the new house she
bought this summer.
Mrs. Stearns is cur-
rently pregnant
with a boy, who
is due on Febru-
ary 25th of next
year.
-Taylor Pankey
Page 8 THE STUDENT- ISSUE TWO, VOLUME 73
Student Editorials: Lower Taxes (cont.)
Punk Goes Pop: Vol 3 Review Punk Goes Pop Vol. 3,
the third entry in the
Punk Goes Pop series,
features a great variety of
punk bands covering
popular songs. The al-
bum includes a good di-
versity of punk bands
ranging from Asking Al-
exandria to Of Mice And
Men and even The
Ready Set covering hits
by artists such as Lady
Gaga, Akon, and Justin
Timberlake.
Most songs take on a whole
new shape and sound, such as
on Akon’s “Right Now (Na Na
Na)” performed by Asking Al-
exandria and Jamie Foxx’s
“Blame It” covered by Of
Mice And Men.
One of the best renditions on
this album is Cute Is What We
Aim For’s acoustic version of
“Dead And Gone” (originally
penned by T.I.). My Favorite
song on the CD is Woe, Is
Me’s hardcore cover of “Hot N
Cold” by Katy Perry. This is
by far the best album in the
Punk Goes Pop series. I would
recommend it to anyone who
loves punk or pop. I give it a 4
out of 5 stars.
-Nicholas Rakers
programs are popular among
senior citizens, but they are
not popular among the youth.
Right now the Medicare tax
rate is at 6.2%, so the govern-
ment takes 6.2% out of every-
one’s check. Younger Ameri-
cans think that is a big chunk
taken out of their checks.
Then the youth are like, “I do
not need Medicare, I’m
young. So why do I have to
pay for a service I am not
even using?” The answer is
when you get older you will
appreciate that little 6.2% tax
taken out of your check. Then
(Continued from page 5) you will wonder how people
can have the audacity to want
to lower these taxes. It is ab-
surd that people do not care
about this issue. We cannot
lower these taxes and expect
to cover all of these senior
citizens. We also cannot have
the mentality that if you did
not make something of your-
self and if you cannot afford
healthcare as a senior, then
you are out of luck. We need
to step up as Americans and
know that it is our moral obli-
gation to help our seniors and
if it wasn’t for them we would
not be here. Also, if we ex-
pected them to take care of us
as children because we could not
take care of ourselves, then what
makes them any different.
On my behalf and the behalf of
seniors and seniors to come, I am
asking all Americans to not lower
taxes because lowering these taxes
affects more than your pocket book,
it affects people’s lives. There are
consequences for our brazen actions
we take as a nation. It is about
something bigger than yourself.
-Justin Maze