the squall, issue 1, 2010-2011

8
[ the squall ] Dexter High School 2200 N. Parker Road Dexter, MI 48130 October 1, 2010 Volume XVII Issue 1 Welcome class of 2014 ... How do you like your babysitters? ... Um, we mean teachers The last few years have been an almost constant battle between administrators, students and parents when it comes to dances. Principal Kit Moran said he has looked for ways to please the masses, but this has proved difficult. “We have been fighting having dances for two years,” he said, “and tried to make numerous attempts to modify student behavior at the dances.” So this year administrators have decided to host only three dances: homecoming, coming home and prom, and some students are OK with that. “In my opinion, I am fine with only three dances because it makes those dances more important. If someone really enjoys dancing, they can do it somewhere else besides the high school,” said junior Dylan Polley. According to Moran, some parents complained about the way students choose to dance. But when school adminisrators stepped in and made rules regulating behavior at the dances, students ultimately began to boycott them. “Having dances and having no one show up to them has been the main reason we decided to cut back on the number of school dances this year,” Moran said. But Moran said the dances also serve as fundraisers for all of the senior class trips. But when students stopped purchasing dance tickets, the classes made no profit, and in fact lost money, leaving no money to fund these trips or more dances for that matter. “We just have to find a happy medium somewhere,” Moran said, “It’s all a matter of whether or not the kids are willing to work with us to solve this issue.” Moran said if students are willing to accept that there will be some rules at dances, the staff will continue providing them. Debate teacher and student council adviser Debora Marsh, said saving dances may involve changing them. She suggested there be more activities other than dancing going on at them to get students more interested and motivated to come to them. “I’m the kind of person who believes there should be a dance every weekend, just to give kids a safe place to hang out and have fun,” Marsh said. In order to try to make school dances more appealing, Marsh also said the school hired a new DJ who has been highly recommended by other schools. “He’s young and knows what kind of music kids want to listen to,” she said. “I think that will make dances more enjoyable for students. I hope more people go to dances from now on, seeing that there will only be a select few this year.” According to the new DJ, Saxon Majeske, of DJ Crashers, he hopes to increase dance turnout by creating a fun atmosphere for the students. “We are committed to giving the students the time of their lives,” Majeske said. “We love doing school dances, and we do a lot of things to get the students involved.” Both Moran and Marsh said, however, that it is difficult to compete with places such as Crome, a teen club in Whitmore Lake, since these clubs are less restrictive in terms of dress code and dancing rules. Moran said, “We lose money when students don’t come to the dances, and we would much rather have them come to our school functions, rather than students going off without being monitored at all on weekends. I think parents would feel the same way as well.” Only three dances offered this year Illustration by Evan Oxner Emily Pap Staff Writer Five dances we should be having... 1. Monster mash 2. Daddy-daughter 3. Jersey Shore 4. Square dance 5. Snuggie Fall sports update, page 5 Remembering a friend, fam- ily member and teammate, page 3 STUDENT SECTON New start time causes traffic problems, page 2 PAGE 6 Moran gets national Courage in Journalism award Kaitlin Gotcher Staff Writer Photo by Jackie Talley Some things you should know for homecoming ... Don’ts Dos Do Take pictures. You might not thinkit matters now, but you might want to look back at some memories 20 years from now. Do plan something afterwards. The dance might be over but the night doesn’t have to be. Don’t go alone. Even if you don’t have a date, you should have a group to go with. Don’t stand on the side. Get out on the dance floor and shake what your momma gave you. Silly Bands, Page 4 Squall dance rules 1. Show up in a somewhat timely manner. No one wants to be the first group to get there, but someone has to be. 2. Girls, if you want to dance with a guy, ask them. Don’t wait around. 3. Participate in the group dances, no matter how dumb they may make you feel. 4. Do not leave early. Cram in as much danc- ing as you can until the last song. Every year, The Student Press Law Center, an organization which advocates for student First Amendment rights, gives The Courage in Student Journalism Award to an administrator who supports the same freedoms. Principal Kit Moran has been named this year’s winner, based partially on his support for The Squall while it was under anonymous blog attack last year by a group of disgruntled parents. Moran will receive his award at the national high school journalism convention in Kansas City on Nov. 13. Along with the award, Moran will be given $500 in prize money, donated by Kent State University’s Center for Scholastic Media. According to Frank LoMonte, executive director of the SPLC, the Courage in Student Journalism Award recognizes someone who has gone beyond the call of duty to stand up for the importance of a free and independent student press. “We would like to recognize administrators who can appreciate the meaning of real journalism,” LaMonte said. However, an eligible administrator isn’t found every year who recognizes the importance for students to express themselves through a free press. “Most administrators have better things to do than to help out with the newspaper,” said Alex Everard, editor-in-chief of The 2009-2010 Squall. LoMonte said Moran deserves this award because he has constantly been a champion for his school’s independent journalism program. Budget-cutting schools often see journalism class as an annoyance, and it is often one of the first things to go with decreasing funds, LaMonte said. But LoMonte sees student journalism as a good preparation for the real world and applauds administrators such as Moran who fight to keep journalism programs in place. “Journalism trains people to collect facts, verify information and correct mistakes, which are skills everyone needs,” LoMonte said. LoMonte also said administrators at other schools often lack trust in the judgment and maturity of students, due to stereotypes of the average teenager. Many administrators, he said, have fear and misperceptions that students need to be censored to keep them from publishing “harmful” topics. These administrators often think student journalism works best when it is tightly censored. “But history has shown otherwise,” LoMonte said. Without a journalism program, LoMonte said, students who have an interest in journalism could never get a start to a long and successful career. So while many administrators do not think students should be given freedom, and they may have the urge to control everything the school is, especially the newspaper. Moran disagrees. “It’s not my job to do that,” Moran said. “It’s the students’ newspaper, not my newspaper.” He also said he does not need to review The Squall before its distribution to the community because he trusts the judgement of the students and the adviser, Rod Satterthwaite, to create an appropriate newspaper. He said he does not want to control the students and staff but to let them strive to do their best. Last year, Moran won the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association’s Administrator of the year award for his work with The Squall and its staff. “He is not only aware, but involved,” Everard said. “He knows students beyond the student- principal relationship. He is willing to fight for students as long as they fight for what they think is right.” And it’s unusual to find administrators who support student First Amendment rights according to Satterthwaite, which is why he appreciates Moran’s approach to The Squall so much. “He’s always supported what The Squall does,” Satterthwaite said. “He trusts me to be the adviser, trusts the students to do the right thing, and lets them go their own way.” And it’s this approach to working with student journalists that got Moran his award. “We think there are lots of principals like Mr. Moran out there who do value journalism,” LoMonte said, “and we hope they’ll stand up and make their voices heard.”

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Page 1: The Squall, issue 1, 2010-2011

[ t h e s q u a l l ]Dexter High School2200 N. Parker Road

Dexter, MI 48130

October 1, 2010Volume XVII

Issue 1

We l c o m e c l a s s o f 2 0 1 4 . . . H o w d o y o u l i k e y o u r b a b y s i t t e r s ? . . . U m , w e m e a n t e a c h e r s

The last few years have been an almost constant battle between administrators, students and parents when it comes to dances.

Principal Kit Moran said he has looked for ways to please the masses, but this has proved difficult. “We have been fighting having dances for two years,” he said, “and tried to make numerous attempts to modify student behavior at the dances.”

So this year administrators have decided to host only three dances: homecoming, coming home and prom, and some students are OK with that. “In my opinion, I am fine with only three dances because it makes those dances more important. If someone really enjoys dancing, they can do it somewhere else besides the high school,” said junior Dylan Polley.

According to Moran, some parents complained about the way students choose to dance. But when school adminisrators stepped in and made rules regulating behavior at the dances, students ultimately began to boycott them.

“Having dances and having no one show up to them has been the main reason we decided to cut back on the number of school dances this year,” Moran said.

But Moran said the dances also serve as fundraisers for all of the senior class trips. But when students stopped purchasing dance tickets, the classes made no profit, and in fact lost money, leaving no money to fund these trips or more dances for that matter.

“We just have to find a happy medium somewhere,” Moran said, “It’s all a matter of whether or not the kids are willing to work with us to solve this issue.”

Moran said if students are willing to accept that there will be some rules at dances, the

staff will continue providing them.Debate teacher and student council adviser

Debora Marsh, said saving dances may involve changing them. She suggested there be more activities other than dancing going on at them to get students more interested and motivated to come to them.

“I’m the kind of person who believes there should be a dance every weekend, just to give kids a safe place to hang out and have fun,” Marsh said.

In order to try to make school dances more appealing, Marsh also said the school hired a new DJ who has been highly recommended by other schools.

“He’s young and knows what kind of music kids want to listen to,” she said. “I think that will make dances more enjoyable for students. I hope more people go to dances from now on, seeing that there will only be a select few this

year.”According to the new DJ, Saxon Majeske,

of DJ Crashers, he hopes to increase dance turnout by creating a fun atmosphere for the students.

“We are committed to giving the students the time of their lives,” Majeske said. “We love doing school dances, and we do a lot of things to get the students involved.”

Both Moran and Marsh said, however, that it is difficult to compete with places such as Crome, a teen club in Whitmore Lake, since these clubs are less restrictive in terms of dress code and dancing rules.

Moran said, “We lose money when students don’t come to the dances, and we would much rather have them come to our school functions, rather than students going off without being monitored at all on weekends. I think parents would feel the same way as well.”

Only three dances offered this year

Illustration by Evan Oxner

Emily PapStaff Writer

Five dances we should be having...

1. Monster mash2. Daddy-daughter3. Jersey Shore4. Square dance5. Snuggie

Fall sports update, page 5

Rememberinga friend, fam-ily member and teammate, page 3

STUDENT SECTON

New start time causes traffic problems, page 2

PAGE 6

Moran gets national Courage in Journalism awardKaitlin Gotcher

Staff Writer

Photo by Jackie Talley

Some things you should know for homecoming ...Don’tsDos

Do Take pictures. You might not thinkit matters now, but you might want to look back at some memories 20 years from now.

Do plan something afterwards. The dance might be over but the night doesn’t have to be.

Don’t go alone. Even if you don’t have a date, you should have a group to go with.

Don’t stand on the side. Get out on the dance floor and shake what your momma gave you.

Silly Bands,Page 4

Squall dance rules1. Show up in a somewhat timely manner. No one wants to be the first group to get there, but someone has to be.

2. Girls, if you want to dance with a guy, ask them. Don’t wait around.

3. Participate in the group dances, no matter how dumb they may make you feel.

4. Do not leave early. Cram in as much danc-ing as you can until the last song.

Every year, The Student Press Law Center, an organization which advocates for student First Amendment rights, gives The Courage in Student Journalism Award to an administrator who supports the same freedoms.

Principal Kit Moran has been named this year’s winner, based partially on his support for The Squall while it was under anonymous blog attack last year by a group of disgruntled parents.

Moran will receive his award at the national high school journalism convention in Kansas City on Nov. 13. Along with the award, Moran will be given $500 in prize money, donated by Kent State University’s Center for Scholastic Media.

According to Frank LoMonte, executive director of the SPLC, the Courage in Student Journalism Award recognizes someone who has gone beyond the call of duty to stand up for the importance of a free and independent student press. “We would like to recognize administrators who can appreciate the meaning of real journalism,” LaMonte said.

However, an eligible administrator isn’t found every year who recognizes the importance for students to express themselves through a free press.

“Most administrators have better things to do than to help out with the newspaper,” said Alex Everard, editor-in-chief of The 2009-2010 Squall.

LoMonte said Moran deserves this award because he has constantly been a champion for his school’s independent journalism program.

Budget-cutting schools often see journalism class as an annoyance, and it is often one of the first things to go with decreasing funds, LaMonte said.

But LoMonte sees student journalism as a good preparation for the real world and applauds administrators such as Moran who fight to keep journalism programs in place.

“Journalism trains people to collect facts, verify information and correct mistakes, which are skills everyone needs,” LoMonte said.

LoMonte also said administrators at other schools often lack trust in the judgment and maturity of students, due to stereotypes of the average teenager.

Many administrators, he said, have fear and misperceptions that students need to be censored to keep them from publishing “harmful” topics. These administrators often think student journalism works best when it is tightly censored. “But history has shown otherwise,” LoMonte said.

Without a journalism program, LoMonte said, students who have an interest in journalism could never get a start to a long and successful career.

So while many administrators do not think students should be given freedom, and they may have the urge to control everything the school is, especially the newspaper. Moran disagrees.

“It’s not my job to do that,” Moran said. “It’s the students’

newspaper, not my newspaper.” He also said he does not need to review The

Squall before its distribution to the community because he trusts the judgement of the students and the adviser, Rod Satterthwaite, to create an appropriate newspaper.

He said he does not want to control the students and staff but to let them strive to do their best.

Last year, Moran won the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association’s Administrator of the year award for his work with The Squall and its staff.

“He is not only aware, but involved,” Everard said. “He knows students beyond the student-principal relationship. He is willing to fight for students as long as they fight for what they think is right.”

And it’s unusual to find administrators who support student First Amendment rights according to Satterthwaite, which is why he appreciates Moran’s approach to The Squall so much. “He’s always supported what The Squall does,” Satterthwaite said. “He trusts

me to be the adviser, trusts the students to do the right thing, and lets them

go their own way.” And it’s this approach

to working with student journalists that got Moran

his award.“We think there are

lots of principals like Mr. Moran out there who do value journalism,” LoMonte said, “and we hope they’ll stand up and make their voices heard.”

Page 2: The Squall, issue 1, 2010-2011

The early weeks of the 2010-11 school year proved to be particularly troublesome for students and their class schedules. Early in the year, dozens of students waited outside the counseling office for their turn to fill holes in their schedule.

This is due in part to the difficulty of scheduling trimesters and partially because of several staff changes made shortly after the end of the 2009-10 school year, according to counselor Gerry Holmes.

According to Holmes, the process of scheduling students’ classes for next year is relatively short. Students sign up for their preferred classes on PowerSchool in November, and seniors visit counselors before spring break to ensure that they are signed up for all the classes they need to graduate.

In the intervening time until the new school year starts, multiple iterations of possible schedules are considered, and the best one is chosen and implemented. However, this year, scheduling began late due to some unforeseen complications.

“The state encouraged teachers with 30 or more years of experience to retire, which saves money,” Holmes said. “Those teachers get higher salaries, and a more expensive

benefit package. They weren’t required to commit to retire until June 11, so we didn’t know who would retire.”

This proved to be a major setback in scheduling. “We didn’t finish until July 22,” Holmes said.

And Dexter did indeed have multiple teachers retire at the 11th hour. According to Principal Kit Moran, six staff, five of them teachers, retired on June 11.

But some students affected by the setbacks were put into classes they didn’t sign up for. Junior Peter Brundage experienced this problem. “I didn’t have band scheduled for two trimesters, and I didn’t have Trig,” Brundage said. “To fix it, I had to drop UCS Advanced Comp.”

Due to the lopsided ratio of counselors to students, many waited multiple days to get an appointment. Brundage said, “It took a while to get a meeting. I waited after school for a few days. The appointment didn’t take long; the wait was just really annoying.”

Students also had to work hard to catch up on the assignments they missed while fixing their schedules.

“The transition from the UCS that I dropped to Chem was tough,” Brundage said. “I missed two labs and a lecture, which I had to catch up on.”

Administrators say they are now working to clear up the last of the scheduling issues

and prevent them for next year. Holmes said, “We’re working hard, trying to fix this. Right now, our main concern is making sure that every student has a term one schedule.”

Beyond this trimester, though, significant changes may be made to the fundamental scheduling process. Holmes said, “We’re seriously considering semesters. Our goal is to have every student walk out the door in June with a schedule for next year that they’re happy with.”

News 2Friday October 1, 2010

New start time causes congestion Looking for help: Sophomore Lindsey Lloyd, senior Tyler Weng, junior Carley Cash and junior Emily Allen wait on the floor of the counseling office on Sept. 9, hoping to get their schedules fixed. Counselors and administrators say they hope to have every student walk out the door with a complete schedule in June this year.

Photo by David LaMore

Senior Cara Kovall left her house at 7:26 a.m. on Sept. 17 on her way to the high school. Last year, on a normal day, it would take about 15 minutes to get from her house to the school.

Now, with all the schools in the district starting at 8 a.m., Kovall wasn’t able to get to school until 7:52, 26 minutes after leaving her house.

The start time for the high school has moved from 7:40 to 8, and the bell rings at the end of the day now at 2:51 as opposed to 2:31.

This has caused the traffic in Dexter to get much worse, according to many students, and with the changed bus routes, stops, and drop-offs, many students, parents and others are getting stuck behind the buses on the way to school.

“It’s kind of obnoxious having to leave earlier and getting stuck in traffic so often is pretty aggravating,” Kovall said.

Among students who agree with Kovall is senior Nate Kotsones who said he experiences problems reaching the school on time if he doesn’t leave earlier than 7:35, often stuck in traffic at the intersection just outside of the high school, as well as at the light on Dexter-

Ann Arbor Road.Kotsones also said getting to football

practice after school lets out is a big hassle. “We can’t start practice until after 3:30

because of how long it takes to get through the stop signs near the high school,” said the senior football player.

He said this ride takes about 20 minutes or more.

Other athletes, such as golfers, have experienced similar problems.

Principal Kit Moran said he hasn’t really

had much trouble getting to school, but that has to do mainly with him leaving well before 7 a.m. “I leave early enough to avoid the heavy traffic,” he said, “but I’ve heard a good deal about the hazards that have been created.”

Despite these troubles, some students say they will deal with it as they deal with any change.

“It is what it is,” senior Micaela Conter said. “I’ll get used to it, and I enjoy the extra time to sleep, but for now I’m certainly not a fan of having to leave earlier to get to school.”

Photo by Sarah DobraiPhoto illustration by Kelsey Heilman

Jacob Van HoofStaff Writer

Schedules not ready to start year

No end in sight: Seniors Jeremy Horner and Maggie Grundler wait in the hall for an appointment to fix their schedule on Sept. 9. The long line of stu-dents waiting in the counseling office forced some students to wait in the hall.

Photo by David LaMore

Connor ThompsonManaging Editor NEWS

briefs

Biker injured in hit and run accident

On Aug. 28, Dexter resident Jason Lumis was riding his bike down Dexter-Pinckney Road, returning home late from his job at Great Lakes Cycling, when an SUV hit him from behind. This hit and run accident left Lumis wounded and helpless and on the side of the road.

Lumis is still in critical condition with a broken back. He is recovering at UM hospital.

The driver who hit Lumis fled the scene and has yet to be apprehended. Police say they believe the perpetrator’s car is either a Ford Excursion or a Ford F-150.

Lumis is a professional mountain biker who rides for Bell’s Brewery-Quiring Cycles Professional Mountain Bike Team.

Teacher contact ratified with no raise

Over the summer, a new teacher’s contracts were negotiated. This contract sets teacher salaries, class sizes, period length and insurance, among other things.

The contract had three major steps to complete before its implementation. The bargaining between the Dexter Education Association and the Board of Education was finished at the end of May.

The DEA voted and passed the contract on June 11, and the Board of Education voted and passed the contract at the end of August.

One new element of the contract may require the schools and grades to be reorganized due to possible implementation of the IB program. Even though teachers receive no raise in this year’s contract, “Overall, the new contracts are a large improvement on the previous ones,” DEA President Joseph Romeo said.

New food lab ready for use

Since the high school’s construction in 2002, DHS teacher Shirley Bitters has been teaching Health and Nutrition classes in a classroom without any cooking facilities or extra cabinet space for utensils. But no more.

The district was able to put money into two new foods labs in November, 2009, and they are now ready to use.

Two former first floor classrooms have been outfitted with six new cooking stations and new cabinetry.

“The cabinet space is very useful,” Bitters said. The food labs also have larger tables and stools. The larger tables help with group work in class.”

Tech upgrades come to other schools

Using money from the $47.9 million dollar bond passed in 2008, the Dexter school system has been able to drastically upgrade their technology, originally in the high school, and now in the lower schools, as well.

During the summer of 2010, Creekside, Bates, Wylie and Mill Creek all received new technology.

Epson Brightlink whiteboards and projectors were installed in every classroom, as well as Atlas sound systems and document cameras.

Technology Director Matt Maciag said, “These technologies encourage student engagement and encourage the use of technology. Learning about technology is essential for students to succeed in future careers.”

Squall staff up for national awards

Over the summer, two former Squall staff members received awards from the National Scholastic Press Association.

Caitlin Rize is a finalist in the news story category for an article she wrote on the anti-Squall blog controversy from last year.

“Caitlin worked hard on her story. She had to interview a lot of people, some of whom were hostile toward the Squall” newspaper adviser Rodney Satterthwaite said.

Gabe Altomare is a finalist in the cartooning category for his strip ‘The Adventures of Findalimus.’ “Gabe has natural talent as a cartoonist, and he would spend hours on each cartoon,” Satterthwaite said.

Only six students nationwide are finalists in the news story category, and only four students are finalists in the comic strip category. The winners in each category will be announced in Kansas City in November at the national high school journalism convention.

Derek FeadStaff Writer

Page 3: The Squall, issue 1, 2010-2011

Anette JonesBehind the desk featuring a plasma ball,

giant pieces of lead and powerful magnets, sits a teacher passionate about science, running and motorcycles. Meet Anette Jones.

Jones is one of four new teacher faces. In addition to Jones, who teaches Chemistry and Physics, the teacher directory added Geometry and Physics teacher Ryan Fisher, Algebra teacher John Heuser and World Lit. and Comp. teacher Susan Ashman.

Coincidentally these four have much in common and many of their interests are shared within the Dexter community.

Besides riding motorcycles and teaching, Jones runs in triathlon and mountain bikes.

Jones said, “In high school I wasn’t a big athlete or anything ... I do triathlons mostly, and then I just get thrown into other stuff.”

Recently, Jones competed in the Dances with Dirt Run in Hell, Mich. and she plans to bike in the Ice Man, a biking competition that spans 27 miles from Kalakaska to Traverse City.

Jones has lived in Dexter for 10 years and said she loves the community.

She worked as a science teacher at Ypsilanti High School for 20 years, and when she had to chance to work closer to home, where her daughter attends school, Jones said, “I jumped at the chance.”

Principal Kit Moran may not have guessed such a diversified teacher would be joining the staff. However, he did know that Jones, like his other new hires, substantially fit his criterion for new teachers he wanted.

Moran said about hiring new teachers, “Experience we care about; we care about certification; we care very much about your passion for your subject but also your passion for kids.”

Ryan FisherMath teacher Ryan Fisher has been passionate

about a variety of things in his life: math, teaching, kids and football. He student taught under math teacher Brian Baird in 2009 and helped assistant coach the varsity football team.

Moran said, “(Fisher) was always on our radar screen. We thought if it ever came up, we’d love to bring him to the high school.”

Yes, math and football have been long-time interests for Fisher. In fact, his most memorable moment from high school was when his football team won districts.

Fisher said, “There was a picture of me and one of my teammates dumping water on my head coach’s head, and that was the front page in the paper. That was a lot of fun.”

Fisher continued to pursue his football interests after senior year by coaching for his high school the summer before he went to college. There, he recognized that he enjoyed working with other people and helping them learn which lead him to teaching.

“I’ve always loved math, and I’ve always loved working with kids,” Fisher said. “I love the subject of math, and I love doing it all the time, and I like other people doing it, so they kinda work hand in hand.”

Needless to say, Fisher had an easy time declaring his major in college.

John HeuserJohn Heuser, however, took a while longer to

decide he wanted to be a math teacher.After Heuser graduated high school he went

on to receive majors in political science and math from Duke University. Since he attended Duke with the help of an ROTC Navy scholarship, after college Heuser served the country as a Navy Seal who was stationed on-board a ship along the west coast.

After he came back from the Navy, he went to U of M and got a masters in journalism after feeling encouraged to pursue this passion while reading the book “What Color is Your Parachute”. With this degree he went to work for The Ann Arbor News as a sports reporter.

Heuser said, “I had decided to pursue journalism at that point, and it was right on. I loved every minute of being a journalist. It was a great job. It fits my personality. I’m just curious about a lot of things. I love to find out about people.”

As a sports reporter he covered high school sports in Dexter and Chelsea and also football for The University of Michigan. He became familiar with many DHS coaches and the community this way.

After a while, it made Heuser realized that he really felt a calling to work with young people full time.

So in 2009, Heuser pursued his teaching passion at U of M, getting a masters degree in education, as well as getting certification to teach math and political science. When the job at the high school opened, he applied and was chosen from a group of about 120 applicants.

Once Heuser interviewed, Moran said he knew he wanted him to work at DHS.

Adding to his earlier interviewing philosophy Moran said, “You want them to be there if they want to be there.”

Susan AshmanThe most recent addition is English teacher

Susan Ashman. In fact, she started last week.Ashman said, “I was all set to do a long-term

sub at Holt, and I saw the Dexter posting at

midnight one night. It said Dexter High School has an English teaching position ... I applied, and I was super excited to apply. I know this is a really good district that values education. Everyone has been super supportive to me in my transition so I know this is the right place to be, and I’m so excited to be here.”

Ashman has known her passion for teaching and English for a long time.

“I can’t imagine doing anything else that’s not about sharing literature, writing and expression with other people ... all I knew was I wanted to teach English, and I wasn’t interested in teaching anything else ... English was a subject I was always really good at, I was really good at expressing myself through writing, understanding and comprehending literature.”

But Michigan State University also required Ashman to pick a minor. So she ended up choosing journalism.

“I fell into it,” she said. “To me it was the least of all evils. I knew nothing about it, and it was the best decision I made.” At State Ashman learned about design, reporting and journalistic writing, and she gained a hobby.

Ashman said her other hobbies are running, singing karaoke with her friends, bargain hunting and spending time with her family. She also said she hopes to become more involved with The Squall this year because she has heard of how good it is.

Of his new hires, Moran said, “So far, so good.”And Hueser seems to represent the feelings of

these four new educators when he said, ‘’I really like all the people from Dexter that I know, and I thought it would be a good place to work--and it has been. I’m really thrilled to be here and love working with the kids.”

Nicole Fergusonstaff writer

Feature3Friday, October 1, 2010

New teachers already connected to school

Boating accident takes life of sophomoreSophomore to be Nick King was only 15 years old when he was

boating on a lake near Saginaw on Sept. 4 and crashed into a pontoon boat that took his life. However, anyone who knew Nick, and even those who don’t, say they are celebrating his life, rather than mourning his death.

Amid all of the confusion and rumors about the accident, senior Joey King, Nick’s brother, said he wanted to clear up what really happened. “(Nick) was driving a speedboat out on the lake, and a boat was pretty closely tailgating him. Nick did a quick 180 and had no time to stop. He slid up the front of the boat and hit his head.”

Once people caught word that Nick was in the hospital, a candlelight vigil was almost immediately set up. More than 100 residents of Dexter showed up at the Dexter soccer fields to pray for Nick and the entire King family on Sept. 6.

Steven Meisner, Nick’s stepfather, gave a short speech about the appreciation he had for the number of people who showed up. Senior Alex Wallis also briefly spoke. Afterwords, everyone bowed their head and prayed for the family, while mingling and reminiscing.

On the day that Nick died, Sept. 9, a balloon release was held. Once again, about 100 people showed up with balloons. On each of these balloons a brief statement was written, whether it be a worry or a simple word of praise that they wanted to release towards Nick.

People signed a poster in support of the King family, and Nick’s mom, Carla Pizzoli, spoke about Nick’s life. She said that she knew God had great plans for Nick in heaven to take him so early. After, everyone who had attended released their balloons and watched them for about 10 minutes, even when they were well out of sight.

In terms of memories, numerous people remember Nick in tons of different ways.

Sophomore Conner Kearns, a close friend of Nick’s, met him in 7th grade. “He invited me to his birthday party, even though I didn’t know him very well,” Kearns said. “He still invited me because he thought I was cool. We got to know each other better and hung out more. He liked the stuff I liked.”

Kearns wasn’t the only who shared positive memories with Nick, and sophomore Kenneth McDonnheh, who delivered a eulogy at Nick’s funeral, said, “My best memory was floating down the Huron River with a bunch of people. Afterwards at my house we had a bonfire. It was a really good night.”

In his eulogy, McDonnheh shared a story of his own. “I’ll never forget at my house, when we got a little too close to the fire with a spray can,” McDonnheh said. “The fire alarm went off and almost immediately we heard the footsteps coming downstairs.”

At this point, the entire church lapsed into what seemed like uncontrollable laughter.

Another memory came from senior Trevor Kearns, Conner’s brother.

“He’s been over for Conner a lot so I’ve known him for a while,” Trevor said. “I can’t pick just one memory (that made me happiest). Any time I was around him and (Joey), it was the best time of my life.”

Trevor added, “Looking back, one standout memory was the last time I was up north with Joey and his family. The ice cream shop on the final night was such a good time. It’s weird to think that it happened in the same place I had one of the funnest times of my life with him.”

Nick is also remembered by many people as an athlete. “I think his strength was that he never tried to do too much,” said varsity soccer coach Scott Forrester, whom King played for over the summer. “He was always looking to make a pass as opposed to trying to take someone on one on one unnecessarily. Even injured, he still got out onto the field and tried to do his best. In our tournament he got out and played with the injury, and he gave it a 100 percent.

Nick’s playfulness was something carried over from a very young age, according to his brother. Joey said, “I most remember playing

stuffed animals with him. It was fun, and he always wanted to play. We had a lot of animals too. Community support has been awesome. It’s been really helpful for me and my family to try and get through everything that’s happened.”

As for coping, everyone has their own way of doing so. Trevor said, “I’ve tried to be around Joey and his family as much as I can since I know they need help. They help me cope as well.”

Joey added, “I’ve tried to stay with family and friends to get my mind off it. I’ve hung out with friends a lot through all this, and it’s been a huge help.”

In terms of lessons to be taken from Nick’s passing, Trevor said, “People should know not to take your friendships for granted. People can be gone in an instant.”

The Dexter soccer team is also taking strides to remember Nick, along with others the Dexter community has lost recently. “One thing that we’re working on now is the Nick King Foundation,” Forrester said. “We’re looking to give people a place to congregate during and after soccer games. This is also in memory of other people we’ve lost in the past, such as Renden LeMasters and Lyn Yarows, so people can come and watch soccer, baseball or softball games. (The building of the memorial) will be determined after the fundraising and planning are done.”

Nick is remembered in many ways by friends and family, and many say they find it hard to believe they won’t see his piercing blue eyes again. However, as the pastor of his funeral put it in his homily, “One lesson that can be taken from this is that it is never too early to look at someone close to you and tell them that you love them.”

Kevin SkiverNews Editor

Photo by Leah Drinkard

New to DHS: Pamela Hintalla

New position: Nutrition and Food Science Lab TeacherShe like her job because: “It is exciting to see students develop new skills and knowledge. I gets to see them gain confidence in their food preparation abilities.”Interests: Reading, cooking, shop-ping for antiques, traveling and visit-ing with her children.

Back at DHS: Rick KulickNew position: Economics TeacherHe likes his job because: “The students bring a lot of energy to class, and I try to convert that energy into our class activities and learning. It is great to see the students develop an understanding of a concept and then build on it with their own ideas.”Interests: Hockey, vacation time with his family, golf and being with his kids.

New to DHS: Gina StarkNew position: Secretary for the counseling department

What she likes about her job: “I love interacting with the students and staff. This is a great bunch of people to work with.”

Interests: “I enjoy reading and at-tending sporting events. I love most to spend time with my family.”

New to DHS: Jeanine Waldrup

New position: Front office secretary What she likes about her job: “I really enjoy working with students and helping them to be successful.”Interests: Supporting the programs her three kids are involved in as much as possible. She also has a dog that she enjoys walking and playing with. She likes to read, play disc golf and spend time outdoors.

Photo courtesy of Joey King

Fun times: Nick King holds a fishing pole when he was 8 years old. According to soccer coach Scott Forrester, one thing the Dexter athletic community is working on is a Nick King Foundation to honor his memory.

Swimming with the dolphins: Nick King gets a kiss from a porpoise while on a fam-ily vacation. The community held a balloon release in Nick’s honor on Sept. 9.

Photo courtesy of Joey King

Teach the children well: Science teacher Anette Jones helps junior Emily Darrow. Jones is one of four teach-ers at the high school who are new to Dexter schools.

Page 4: The Squall, issue 1, 2010-2011

Entertainment and Trends 4Friday, October 1, 2010

Summer ReviewNicole Minzey

Entertainment /Arts

Jack Johnson was just one of the many great acts who performed at DTE this summer. He was in great company with acts such as Dave Matthews Band and John Mayer.

The concert was flawless and enjoyable from start to finish. ALO and G Love opened and set the mood for a great night. Then came the moment everyone was waiting for.

Johnson took the stage in his signature outfit, a plain cot-ton tee, jeans and sandals. His casual dress is just one of the things that makes him so wonderful. The concert had a very laid back vibe which made the music even more enjoyable.

He just as amazing live as he is recorded, possibly better. The Hawaiian feel of the music sets his music apart from oth-ers in his genre.

There were hits such as “Banana Pancakes” and “Sitting,

Waiting, Wishing,” as well as songs from his new album such as “You and Your Heart”.

He performed some songs with the other acts G Love and the guitar player from ALO. The best song of the night was definitely his cover of “The Joker” by The Steve Miller Band. His rendition was the best I’ve ever heard aside from the orig-inal.

The crowd was a mix of people ranging from families to sloppily drunk college students who couldn’t seem to stay on their feet. This just shows that Jack Johnson is loved by all.

If you weren’t fortunate enough to be able to attend this concert, be sure to catch him on his next tour. It will be well worth it. Seeing Jack Johnson live is an experience you shouldn’t live without.

Millions of Americans anxiously awaited the return of the beloved show “Jersey Shore” this summer. Snooki, The Situ-ation, Vinny, Ronnie, J-Woww, Sammi and Pauly D were all back for another season of binge drinking and bad decisions.

Even Angelina returned this season. She left season one because she was having problems with her boyfriend, who was having problems with his wife.

After reeking havoc on the Jersey Shore last season, the cast packed up their Ed Hardy clothes and bump-its and headed off to Miami.

After last season, no one could possibly predict what events would unfold in season two when the cast was unleashed on the unsuspecting city.

There were also some surprising twists in this season that no one saw coming. Nights of reckless drinking with no con-cern of what consequences would come left one cast member

asking himself the question, “Did I just do the unthinkable, did I b--- Snooki?”

The return of Angelina this season brought a whole new aspect of drama to the house too. Her return to the show was not taken well by the rest of the cast.

“I mean, just because we’re from Staten Island doesn’t mean that we’re gonna get along with each other. I mean, she lacks brains so we don’t get along,” Vinny said.

Angelina wasn’t the only one having problems with people in the house this season either. There was also drama sur-rounding the relationship of Ronnie and Sami and an infa-mous note that brought the fact that Ronnie wasn’t being faithful to Sammi’s attention.

Who would have known? This season is just as entertain-ing as the last. If you want a good laugh, or want to make yourself feel just a little bit classier, Jersey Shore is for you.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get better than “The Dark Knight,” director Christopher Nolan pulls out another masterpiece with “Inception”.

“Inception” has a stellar cast that includes Leonardo Di-Caprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page. DiCaprio stars as Dom Cobb, a thief but not the conventional kind. He spe-cializes in stealing people’s thoughts.

His ability to get inside of people’s minds when they are dreaming makes him a valuable player in the world of cor-porate espionage, but it also costs him a lot. He has one last chance to redeem himself.

However, instead of pulling off the ultimate heist, he is at-tempting something that has never been done before, incep-

tion. His task is to implant a thought into the mind of a cor-porate giant.

The plot is intense and viewers must pay close attention, but the effort iswell worth it. The complexity of both the story line and the characters are what make the movie truly won-derful.

The CG effects are astonishing and some of Paul Franklin’s best work. Franklin’s ability to take major cities and land-marks and morph them for his movie is incredible. He is a special effects genius.

I can safely say that there is nothing else like this movie. It is certainly one-of-a kind and a must-see. You won’t want to miss these 148 minutes of cinematic bliss.

Freshman Cailin McLean can’t get enough of Silly Bandz, the rubber wrist trend that comes in different colors and shapes including animals, ob-jects, foods and letters.

I like them because they come in so many shapes. You could have a bunch, and they’d all be different,” McLean said. “I have lots of differ-ent colors, but I love the purple ones. I have mostly animal ones.”

The original bracelet rubber bands were cre-ated in 2002 by a Japanese design team, BCP im-ports LLC, who wanted to introduce a more envi-ronmentally-friendly product.

Silly Bandz are stronger than regular rubber bands and are made of silicone.

The first Silly Bandz sets were sold online in the US in November 2008.

According to Bill Johnson from the Hallmark store in Dexter, when the bandzn first came out, mothers were bringing all ages of daughters in to buy them.

Johnson said even today Silly Bandz are mostly being bought by girls ages 6-12.

Johnson said at his store the U of M silly bandz have been very popular. A package of 24

runs roughly $4.95 to 5.95 and come in different themes.

Because of the low cost, many students have taken to trading them for shapes they don’t have. “I have traded them for sure,” McLean said. “It’s fun to get new ones.

When these bracelet are put on, they are like a regular piece of jewelry, but then when the rubber bracelet is taken off, it turns into something that has people fascinated.

Although Silly Bandz are popular, there are schools in states such as Florida, Massachussetts, New York, North Carolina and Texas that have banned the bandz.

Teachersin these states have said the Silly Ban-dz distract students and cause fights. Some are even worried about the rubber bands cutting off kids’ arm circulation.

Others are worried that these bracelets could become a choking hazard for young kids and ani-mals.

Regardless, the Silly Bandz bracelets keep in-creasing in popularity.

Johnson sent his grandaughters in Utah the bracelets, and said they had never heard of them. He told them they could start a fad out there.

The original designs have gone from animals to glow in the dark. And manufacturers have said they cant keep up with the demand.

Sarah MolnarStaff Writer

STAFF

PL AY

LIST

ConcertsTV

Movies

Steve Miller“Loose Control”by Johnny Polygon“JP is a great man and he made a good song.”

Tucker Whitley“Escapar(Slipping Away)” by Moby“You’re welcome, Senora Vazquez.”

Lindsey Gagneau“Like a G6”by Far East Movement

Kristie Duve“Don’t Mind If I Do”by Mac Miller

Carl Schimmel“The Trapeze Swinger”by Iron and Wine“The most beauti-ful thing I’ve ever heard.

Photo by Claire Berger

webthrowdown.com/used with permission

blog.compete.com/used with permission

filmofilla.com/used with permission

While the rubber band trend grows, some schools ban these wrist decorations for fear of distractions

Page 5: The Squall, issue 1, 2010-2011

Sports5Friday, October 1, 2010

According to senior offensive lineman Brandon Hart, football has its ups and downs. But for Hart, the up sides have shown more often than not this season. He also said he thinks the team can still pull off a winning season and make a run for the state playoffs

“We have our moments when we are unfocused, but when we lock it down, we practice really well, and when we practice well, it shows in the games,” Hart said. “We already have the two toughest teams out of the way at this

point, so I think we can pull it off.”With senior Sequoyah Burke Combs filling the full back

spot, Jay Lewis in the tailback spot, and junior Michael Miodusziewski commanding the offense at quarterback, Hart said the Dreads feature one of the most feared back fields in the SEC.

Up to this point, the Dreads are 3-2 beating Garden City 37-16 and Lincoln team 35-0.

The season is more than half over now. There are only four games left, and it seemed to go by fast, according to Hart. He said, “It took until this year to really hit me. I never thought I would be in this position.”

Varsity football hopes for wins

These girls would make the argument that no one works harder in the off-season than they do.

And this team has depth, according to junior Emily Pap. “The varsity team changes every week,” Pap said. “We are very competitive.”

Very competitive, yes, and very skilled, yes, but it will take heart to make it to states this year, according to Pap.

“Its going to be very hard this year, because only the top three teams can make it, and were going up against the top 4 in the state,” she said.

Though the team lost a key runner in Kristen Yarows, they return senior Katie Taylor who

has been a varsity runner ever since she was a freshmen.

Though a lot of these girls are self-motivated and enjoy running just for the heck of it, others aren’t.

That’s where 8th grade physical education teacher, head coach and Olympic hopeful Katie Jazwynski comes into play.

Pap said, “She’s a great coach, because not only does she know what shes talking about, but she also leads by example. She runs every day.”

“We love our coach,” Pap said. “Even though she’s strict, she’s great to be around, and she’s just fun in general. I have to admit that she is the main reason we are so succesful.”

Girls cross a self-motivated group

TTucker Whitleysports editor

TTucker Whitley sports editor

Girls Swim and Dive

*Looking to hold the SEC championship for 13th straight year

*Senior Casey Edwards and sophomore Bridget Morgan have already qualified for states

*Swim team practices at least 10 times per week and competes at least once a week

Boys Water Polo

*The team is confident and still search-ing for a spot in the state tournament, according to senior captain Jeff Pittuch

*Junior Ian Wilson was ranked as one of the top goalies in the state accord-ing to Pitutch

*Jac Donevan has an interesting goal celbration, one that Pitutch calls one of the best in the state.

Boys Cross Country

*Main goal is to get into the top 5 in states.

*Top 5 runners are all running under 17 minutes.

*Currently ranked 6th in the state.

*Recently placed first at the Spartan Invitational, beating Pinkney (2nd in the state), Saline, (4th in the state) and Saginaw Heritage, (5th in the state)

Girls Field Hockey

*Head Coach Maureen Klein is a for-mer 8th grade teacher at Dexter

*The sport used to be only club, but now it has converted into a varsity sport

Girls Volleyball

* Though the team lost their varsity coach last year, they picked a new coach just three days before tryouts: Erin Penn. *The team has only three seniors this year: Andrea Montoya, Serena Bidwell and Sydney Spicer

Boys Tennis

*Jake Currie is next on the list for singles state finalist hopeful.

*The season has a 2 and a half weeks left.

fALL SPoRT stats

Cheerleading

*Head coach is-Dorene Reardon

*Kayla Reardon, Emma Korte, Bailey Mayrand and Parmeda Sokansanj are underclassmen on the varsity team

Dance Team

* The team consists of mainly studio- trained dancers.

*Most of the dancers are un-derclassmen

*Coach is Megan Stanley

Equestrian

*There are three meets

*Meets last all day

*Currently has an A and a B team

*Classes include showman-ship, jumping, flag racing and barrel racing

Boys Soccer

*The team is 5-7

*Captains are Sam Justice and Patrick Anderson

*Coach is Scott Forrester

*Head manager is Greg Zenas

Powder Puff

*Last year the seniors won

* Teams practice every Sun-day at 4 until 6.

*Varsity football players help each Sunday before their own practice.

Girls Golf Team

*The varsity team consists of six play-ers who rotate and compete for their spots.

*The JV team has been left coachless

Photo by Nick Byma

Celebrate good times: Junior Hank Dreffs and senior Noah Hiser celebrate after a big play. The Dreads are 3-2 to start the season.

Photos by Emily Pap

Page 6: The Squall, issue 1, 2010-2011

Pink Floyd

Get Involved 6Friday, October 1, 2010

Growing up, multi-instrumentalist Keith Billik never thought he would be playing Pink Floyd songs for a living, but that’s just what he’s doing.

And on Friday, Oct. 15 SPACE (Student Produced Artistic Collaborative Events) is sponsoring a concert in the Center for Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m that will bring Billik and his band, Echoes of Pink Floyd, to the school. Tickets are $10.

Also, as a prize, the top three bands from the Battle of the Bands the week before will be able to share the stage with “Echoes”.

A Pink Floyd tribute band “Echoes”, has been performing since 2003.

They are five musicians from Michigan and according to their website, they are North America’s most authentic Pink Floyd tribute band and have a full laser show.

Billik is one of the original members of the band along with pianist Matt King, lead guitarist Alex

Gonzalez, and the two back-up vocalists Jen Gonzalez and Shannon Carmichael. Lighting Technician Matt Junak and drummer Michael Lang have been in the band since 2008.

American Studies teacher and SPACE adviser Ethan Konett went to college with Billik, and drama teacher and SPACE adviser Matt Martello saw the band in concert and thought that it should play at the high school.

And SPACE wanted to host something other than battle of the bands. “In other words, bigger shows,” Konett said.

All the money from the concert will go to SPACE. “We will use the money we make to produce more shows, provide workshops and training for students, etc.,” Konett said.

Senior Justin Hayes also said part of the money may be used to record a SPACE album. The album, featuring bands that are in SPACE, would allow the bands that participate in the album to spend some

time in a recording studio to get a feel of what it’s like to record.

Over the years Bilik said “Echoes” has overcome a million challenges, including getting people to go to their shows. “Because we play well-known music, we have to be very good because people pay their hard-earned money to see us,” he said.

With the economy being as tough as it is, Billik and said when people pay money to attend their shows, he and the band try to make every show as good as the next.

Billik also attended MSU with Konett. They played in a band named Pangea together while in college. “We played some music together and knew some of the same people.” Konett said .“I gave up on my dreams of becoming a professional musician a long time ago, but he’s still doing it.”

And Billik said he is excited about playing at Dexter High School. “If anyone even remotely likes Pink Floyd music, they will be blown away by the show.”

Photo by Lindsey Gagneau Photo illustration by Kelsey Heilman

It’s a Friday in the fall. School is underway, but what is senior Anthony Chisolm doing throughout the school day instead of focusing on school? Making plans for the Friday night football game.

Throughout the game ,the student section serves as the 12th man for the football team which Chisolm loves.

“I enjoy being able to cheer on my team week after week,” senior Anthony Chisolm said.

Each week is a new theme for the student section. And despite the changing theme, vuvuzelas have made an appearance at every game and are now a necessity in the student section.

“They are somewhat annoying, but they definitely add to the noise coming from our stands,” Chisolm said. “We know the other team can’t stand them, that’s why we do it.”

With the addition of 1,000 new seats at the Dreadnaught’s home, Al Ritt Field, there is even more room for an already-crammed student body.

“Everyone has more room in the

stands,” senior Steve Sobczak said. “Which means there is more room to jump around and get crazy.”

And many football players say the student section is a big boost of momentum for the team, especially at home games. “It keeps the team fired up throughout the game,” junior linebacker Josh Boren said. “Everything they do is cool as hell.”

Quarterback and junior Michael Mioduszewski agrees.

“The student section keeps us going,” Mioduszewski said. “If we are down in the game, they never quit. That gives us a big boost to keep playing our hardest.”

Every Friday, a different theme is chosen by the students for the football game including blackouts, blue-outs and toga night.

“One of the most looked forward to theme is toga night,” senior Dan Kedroske said. “It is a lot of people’s favorite night in the student section because you can have a lot of fun with a toga.”

One of the goals for the student section, according to Chisolm, is to keep the team in the game.

“Our main goal is to give our team the momentum,” he said. “If we can keep our team from getting down, they will play better and have

a better chance at winning.” At Al Ritt Field, the student

section takes up a big portion of the stands, and according to senior Steve Sobczak, the rowdiness never stops, not even at halftime. “We take a little break, but we have to keep doing chants together to keep everyone from getting bored once the band is done performing. We have friends out on the field that we want to encourage and keep energized. Even though some of the games are far, they are fun because you can carpool with a group of friends. Everyone who goes enjoys themselves and has a great time supporting the team.”

The student section also travels well. “Despite the far travel, as many people come as possible to give Dexter the advantage of having a loud, crazy crowd,” Kedroske said. “The closest road game is Chelsea this year, and that game is always fun because it’s a rivalry.”

The newest edition to the student section is a iPod connect-capability boombox.

“The boombox adds a lot of noise, and we can choose the song we want to jam to throughout the game,” Chisolm said. “Wherever they go, we go.”

Friday Night Highlights

How To ...

cheer

1. Dress according to the theme of the night, no matter how outra-

geously crazy you look.

2. Don’t show up fashion-ably late. Sorry all you “cool

cats,” tailgating starts ear-ly, why don’t you try com-ing at some point.

3. For all away games, the GPS is a must. Let’s face it, most of us only pass fields on the way to school, so the

journey may be a bit tricky.

4. Don’t show up alone. Most of us

are broke and don’t exactly have the money to be driving every day, so carpool, people. We can save the world one football game at a time.

5. You may be trying to catch a glimpse of the cheerleader’s spankies, but be sure to cheer with them as they lead the crowd while “peeling the banana.”

6. With the exception of half-time, keep your butt off the bench. If our hard-working football players can do it, we all can.

6. Whatever you do, don’t leave the game early. There’s nothing more disappointing than unfaithful fans.

7. Win or lose, keep that Dreadnaught pride. We’ll get them next time.

Echoes of ...Looking to the sky: Seniors Alex Wallis, Trevor Kearns and Joey King get ready for a football game. The theme of this night’s game was toga night.

Photo by Lindsey Gagneu

Sirah Camerastaff writer

Toliver rogersstaff writer

With vuvuzelas and a boom box, student section spirit helps motivate football team even on the road

By Kelsey Heilman and Kristie Duve

Pink Floyd tribute band to play CPA as a SPACE fundraiser

Photo illustration by Kelsey Heilman

Page 7: The Squall, issue 1, 2010-2011

The next phenomenon in the television world has taken over TV shows, sports and movies.

Three dimensional television, better known as 3-D, has infested the media just like pop-singing sensation Justin Bieber.

It’s not like there are only a few movies released in 3-D. Movie-fone.com has over 250 available 3-D movies on its website. A bit ob-sessive? I think so.

Wherever you look, 3-D TV is taking over. It’s crazy. I’m starting to think that all of this 3-D nonsense is the beginning of the apoca-lypse.

Changing dimensions is going to mess with humans’ heads, giving people headaches for the rest of their lives. With the new 3-D revolu-tion, people will begin to perceive the world in a different way. Still objects will begin to move and people will begin to have hallucina-tions.

Even my favorite TV station, ESPN, has caught the 3-D disease. Football games, X-Games and poker games can all be seen in 3-D now. How exciting. Or not at all.

In a time of economic depression, people do not want to pay $17 to watch a movie that gives them a headache. Not to mention people are sometimes paying an extra $5-10 just to watch the extra “D”.

If I’m going to watch a movie in 3-D, at least give me the extra “D” for free. I’m hurting financially. It’s the least you could do, movie companies.

And those unfashionable 3-D glasses? They’re uncomfortable, big and bulky, not to mention ugly. 3-D movie makers need to start sup-plying their customers glasses with some swag. Movie companies need to partner with designer brands to help make their glasses more stylish.

Having a pair of Louis Vuitton 3-D glasses would at least be better than some cheap, paper 3-D ones. When people go to the movies or watch TV at home, they want to look their best. Give the people what they want.

It is like movie companies have substituted good acting and a meaningful plot for “cool” animations in 3-D. Go back to having good acting in your movie, please. I’d rather watch a movie with great actors such as Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise and Samuel L. Jackson instead of having Seth Rogen fly out at me in “Monsters Vs. Aliens”.

As much as the movie companies may love 3-D movies, they need to go back to making quality flicks so viewers don’t cause the Apoca-lypse. I would rather watch a classic like “Titantic” or “Scarface” in-stead of “Step Up 3D” or “Saw 3D”.

The new 3-D movies have no plot and seem to be basically for giv-ing the people a headache. It does not make sense to me at all. While movies companies make their next movie, they should follow these guidelines.

1. Start off with some sort of a problem. Every movie needs a problem. Whether the cast solves it, that is up to the movie mak-ers.

2. Have some sort of humor, please. No one wants to watch a

movie where everyone is completely serious 100 percent of the time.

3. Let’s see the love. Movies with love and affection always seem to touch my young heart. Definitely a must.

4. Action, action, action. Personally, I need to see some sort of kung-fu fighting or guns in my movies. Nothing is better than watching Bruce Willis shoot down terrorists for over 20 years.

5. Last but not least, no 3-D. That’s the whole reason I’m writing this article.

Please, movie companies, don’t do it for me. Do it for the world.

Skinny jeans rocking, too-tight T-shirt hugging my nonexistent muscles, I saunter down the hallway. I can sense your jealousy. You want to be as cool and in-touch as me, but it’s impossible. No one can copy this swag. Yeah, I’m a total hipster.

I’m a unique butterfly, or that’s what my mommy says anyway. I wear see-through V-neck shirts and acid-washed denim to show my inner angst and individuality. The system tries to keep me down, but my purple hair expresses my freedom from the hassling of so-ciety.

I’m not just a mindless corporate drone, man. I’ll never be just another brick in the wall. I’ll show the world that I’m dif-ferent by sitting in a coffee shop 24/7, reading “Atlas Shrugged” and drinking green tea I bought with my parents’ money. And if you think I’m going to Starbucks, you’ve got another think com-ing.

My favorite band? You’ve probably never heard of them. Ar-cade Fire? No one listens to them anymore. Not since they sold out to The Man, man. I was the first to appreciate the sounds of MGMT and Green Day. When “American Idiot” came out, I was already distancing myself from them as much as possible. Yeah, their last great album was “Dookie”, and that came out before I was born.

First to love ‘em, first to ditch ‘em. Just you wait, in a few years Bloodsucker Deathfreak will be the big thing. By the time you’ve realized their brilliance, I’m already claiming to have their first EP on vinyl.

The second my mom finds out what bands I like, it’s time to leave the posse. That won’t stop me from reminiscing about the good old days when they were visionary and unique, like my use of a a belt sander to make a hole in my jeans.

Even though I don’t get any exercise and my brand new jeggings are over $100 at American Apparel, it looks like I got them out of trash can, which is the “in” thing. Eighty seven degrees out? Let me get my scarf, guys. No matter how hot I am, I’ll always look stylish.

When the popular kids beat me up after school for looking like a 12-year-old girl, I pick myself up and go home. As I listen to Modest Mouse and Spoon, three words go through my head. Haters gonna hate.

Hipsters are not cool

Opinion7Friday, October 1, 2010

Whether it’s switching from semesters to trimesters or putting freshmen in a new “house”, it seems as if every year, students with schedule problems fill the counseling office during the first week of school.

It’s obvious that scheduling problems are common, but are the counselors and administrators handling this problem the best way? Is it possible for everyone’s schedule to be ultimately close to perfec-tion before the first day of school?

We think it is, and we think the scheduling process should have continued as planned before school got out last year rather than waiting to know which teachers were planning to retire.

The counselors usually ask students to submit their schedule requests in late January or early February, figuring that should be enough time to determine approximately 1300 students’ schedules.

By then seniors know what classes they need to take in order to graduate and/or attend a college of their choice. Although, if the counseling office isn’t giving seniors their requested classes, it’s af-fecting more than their senior year curriculum.

The seniors have waited three years to get first pick at their pre-ferred classes, but instead they find themselves sitting in the coun-seling office all day, with many other students, trying to fill an empty space or switch out of a class they didn’t sign up for.

We think it would have been much easier for the counseling staff and administrators to start the scheduling process and then make changes after teachers made their decision to retire.

The counseling office and administrators should have to complete scheduling by the start of the school because students shouldn’t have to miss a class in order to adjust the rest of their schedule. Sitting in the counseling office four hours starts to become a big waste of time for students during the first week of school.

According to counselor Gerry Holmes and Principal Kit Moran, this year has been particularly difficult because of the Freshmen House and retiring teachers, but every school in the state dealt with retirements. How did other schools deal with scheduling problems?

According to Moran many of the other schools on trimesters scheduled students as if there were no teacher retirements and made changes later if there were.

We believe that scheduling as if nothing was differnet would have created a much smoother process for the counseling staff as well as the students.

Switching to trimesters created a scheduling problem because stu-dents have to have three terms of classes rather than two, and add-ing Freshman House locks up four hours of a freshmen’s schedule. Retirements also created a problem this year because many teachers hadn’t made the decision to retire until the end of the school year.

It’s understandable that with in the past three years switching to trimesters, adding Freshmen House and teacher changes have added to the scheduling problems, but none of these things were a surprise and it would have made life better for everyone if the counseling of-fice and administrators could have been proactive instead of reactive.

Scheduling needs to get straight

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:Marne Little

MANAGING EDITOR:

Connor Thompson

EDITORS

DESIGN: Claire BergerNEWS: Kevin SkiverFEATURES: Steve Miller ENTERTAINMENT: Nicole MinzeyOPINIONS: Dave LaMorePHOTO: Kristie DuveSPORTS: Tucker WhitleyTRENDS: Sirah CamarauPAGE: Marshall KellenbergerCOPY: Ray Carpenter

DESIGNERS & PHOTOGRAPHERSLindsey Gagneau, Logan Boostra, Shannon Gronvall, Christine Wolyniak, Joey King, Leah Drinkard, Sarah Dobrei, Rachel Lomax, Jackie Talley

MANAGERSADVERTISEMENT: Kelsey Heilman

STAFF WRITERSEmily Pap, Kaitlyn Gotcher, Jacob Van Hoof, Sarah Molnar, Toliver Rogers, Nicole Ferguson, Taylor Schmidt, Murphy Hansen, Carl Schimmel, Derek Fead,

CARTOONISTDave LaMoreand Evan Oxner

ADVISERRod Satterthwaite

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The Squall is distributed monthly to 1,300 students and is estimated to reach 4,786 people with each issue. The Squall is printed by Owosso Argus Press in Owosso, MI and produced by third hour newspaper class.

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Don’t worry. There’s plenty of time left to schedule.

Page 8: The Squall, issue 1, 2010-2011

Sports 8Friday, October 1, 2010

There’s a new girls sport this fall. The team con-sists of 15 players, with 11 on the field at a time. So how exactly did this one-time club become a sport?

“There were a lot of Dexter players on the Washt-

enaw Whippets team, so we decided to break off and make our own team,” sophomore varsity captain Megan Flocken said.

The other varsity captain is junior Sarah Pri-elipp. There is also a junior varsity team, with 16 girls. Because this is the team’s first year, they are required to start in Division 4,

“We have to work to get in a higher division,”

Flocken said.. The girls practice Monday through Friday when

there is not a game. A usual practice starts with 20 minutes of conditioning, then is followed by field and shooting drills.

Flocken said, “Two-thirds of our players have never played before, and we have all improved so much.”

Photos by Lindsey Gagneau

Huddle up: The team huddles together during a time out. to dicuss how they can improve in the game. In their first game against Forest Hills, Dexter won 4-0 first game and 7-1 in the second game.

Skyline goes down: Junior Megan Flocken carries the ball down the field with a Skyline player close behind her. Megan’s older sister, Carissa, plays on Central Michigan’s field hockey team.

The team warms up before the game by running from sideline to sideline. One of the coaches, Craig Flocken, has also helped with the softball team.

Newbies: Senior Leah Diestel runs for the ball that a Skyline player has taken. Most of the play-ers on the field hockey team are new to the sport.

Brittany Martinieditor-in-chief

Former girls club sport becomes an official school teamField hockey rules and facts:

•There are no offsides•Balls can only be touched or advanced by the stick. No feet, hands or body.•Violations which are commited by the defen-sive team result in a corner play for the offense.•The next home game is against Dearborn on Oct. 7.

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