North Star 2010 September Edition

FHNTODAY.COM - FRANCIS HOWELL NORTH HIGH SCHOOL - 2549 HACKMANN RD. ST. CHARLES, MO

NORTHSTARseptember 29, 2010 volume 25 issue 3

IN-DEPTHThe North Star takes a closer look at the issue of hazing, its new poli-cy within the district, and the effect it has on kids at North.

COVERWhile many people think hazing is done to increase team camaraderie, many experts say that hazing is only done to put others down and feel alienated from the group

they want to be a part of.

NEWS05On Sept. 29, the junior and senior girls will battle it out for the title of victors of Powderpuff.

FEATURES10Recently certified as a scuba diver, sophomore Murphy Riley spends her free time pursuing her under-water passion.

OPINIONS44Chelsey Damalas shares her take on how the cellphone policy at North needs to change to help the student body.

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page by katy toebben

SPORTS35Varsity boys Cross Country has been preparing for GAC competi-tions to be held Oct. 14.

21

A spiring artist are always looking for ways to exhibit their artwork. Even high school art students are proud of their creations and want to share them with the community. Zack Smithey and his AP Art Studio students

realize this and began fund raising early Sept. to open a student-run art gallery. The gallery would be for high school students in the area to showcase their artwork. How-ever, their efforts were shut down by the administration only a week into their fund raising because they didn’t have the required District approval.

“It’s all about being approved by the school District,” Assistant Principal Tony Grippi said. “Everything we do must be approved.”

Despite this setback, Smithey and his art students are not going to give up on the art gallery idea. They have decided to continue working to open art gallery indepen-dent from the school District.

“It’s a way to connect the public to upcoming high school artists,” Smithey said. “It will give students the experience to show art.”

Since the fund raising for the gallery cannot be conducted on school property, Smithey will be financially responsible for purchasing the building. The building he is currently looking at is for sale for $185,000 and Smithey would have to put a 20 percent down payment on it. The rest of the money needed to run the gallery will come from the students who volunteer to be a part of the gallery. These students must meet a fund raising quota to participate in the art shows or to sell items.

“Students who participate will have more experience in selling art and have more experience than many juniors and seniors in college,” Smithey said.

The main objective of opening the gallery is for the students to learn through expe-rience. The students will be fully running the gallery with the guidance of Smithey.

”It is exciting but really expensive, and it’s a lot of hard work,” AP Art student Kayla Busby said. “It’s great that Smithey is doing this. He is giving us a chance for a better artistic future.”

page by chelsey damalas 01 FHNTODAY.COM

emily forst

Plans for art studio proceed despite setbacks

Sydney Du-frenne, Austin

Dale-Derks, and Joyce Moon work

on their AP Art Studio projects.

Art teacher Zack Smithey is plan-

ning on purchas-ing a space for

students art work to be shown. The students work on

20 projects this year that will have

a chance to be featured in the

new studio which will be located on

Main Street.(michelle spencer)

going to become scarce for the 2011-2012 school year. While looking for money-saving options, the district searched for parts of the $176 million budget that could be tightened. In an attempt to avoid touching salaries and benefits- which make up 80 percent of the money the district spends- they turned to the second largest chunk of spend-ing: transportation. Each year the district pays

$10 million for transportation and receives $2.9 million in state aid for their transportation expenditures.

“There is a chance to lose several million dollars in state aid,” Sloan said. “We are facing a revenue short-fall. It is a question of having this or having that.”

The calendar committee has sub-mitted their plan to the Board of Education, which could vote on the proposition as early as October. Board president Mike Sommer, who also

served on the Schuster task force, says that the new proposal reflects the overall goals of the dis-trict, while still saving money.

“The main focus is on academics,” Sommer said. “When we looked at the calendar, we asked: was there any research that said that a year round schedule is better?”

In fact, there was not. The committee sifted through stacks of articles and research papers. Some said that year round schedules were better, others said that traditional was better, and some said that neither worked. After their research, they decided to mash the two schedules into one.

“Does it meet all of the needs of the individ-ual? No,” Sommer said. “But it makes the neces-

District transportation affecting calendarkevin beerman

FHN students board the buses so they can return to their homes. If the calendar is changed the bus drivers could have the same schedule for all schools in the district. The schedule will be changed before the 2011-2012 school year. The district spends $10 million a year in transportation for students. (brandon neer)

page by nick ponche02 NEWS

sary change and saves us money that we can put into our classrooms.”

Besides budgetary relief, the board will also consider the effects on sports, clubs and parents. Sports and clubs at the high school level already deal with a week-long fall break that already dis-rupts practice schedules. But with three more days on the break, it could make practice on the teams even more difficult. The Varsity girls Volleyball team says that it would have trouble perform-ing at their best during games over the extended break, due to the fact that no one will be at school to promote the upcoming matches.

“We won’t have as many fans at the games over break,” ju-nior Nicole Yuede said. “It is no fun to play games at school when we have no one to impress.”

Regardless of what the board decides to do, the pressure is still on the District to find more ways to save money and find them fast. The Board of Education has set the goal to have the budget and calendar for the 2011-2012 school year in place by October 21. With the diminishing aid from the State, Sloan and the rest of the administration is searching for alternatives to save money.

“Changing the calendar won’t be the only so-lution. We need other things,” Sloan said. “How can we re-evaluate? How can we do things more efficiently? The calendar would help, but it isn’t the only way.”

“There is a chance to lose several million dollars... It is a question of having this or having that” - pam sloan

One of the lasting legacies of the late Schuster administration has since devel-oped into the new Sloan administration’s

most controversial proposal. Last Nov., then Su-perintendent Renee Schuster commissioned an exploratory task force to delve into possible mon-ey-saving options for the 2011-2012 school year. The task force, headed by Dr. Steve Griggs, looked into the possibility of amending the cal-endar system- a change that would save nearly $1 million in transporta-tion costs. “I honestly think that we came up with a good compromise,” Sloan said. “But I don’t like how it will disrupt the culture.”

For over 40 years, the elemen-tary schools have operated under a “cycle” calendar which includes a six-week sum-mer break, nine-week school quarters, with three-week cycle breaks between them.

But the secondary schools work around the Standard calendar. A Nine-week-long summer vacation with a week-long spring and fall break, and 11 days for Christmas break. The newly pro-posed calendar would marry the two schedules, making secondary school breaks longer and el-ementary school breaks shorter. “We looked at options that would save us mon-ey and which options would have an impact on academic achievement,” Griggs said.

The new calendar was created in an anticipa-tion that state aid, as well as district funding, was

To view the proposed yearly calendar, as well as a Power Point presentation about its

effects, check out FHNtoday.com

FHNtoday.com

FHN Band Favorites A random survey of 22 members in marching band were asked ques-tions relating to their club and music that they are interested in.

page by nick bussell 03FHNTODAY.COM

by scott jones

HOW YOU SHOW SPIRITQUESTION; What is your favorite thing about spirit week, the homecoming game and the homecoming dance?

Nick Pirrone, 11

“I like going to the homecoming game because it’s one of the games that we ac-

tually do decent in.”

“Spirit week is my favorite because I get with all my friends and we plan out what we’re wearing everyday for the week.”

Jordan Stobart, 10

by chelsey damalas

Kelley Philabaun, 12

“I really like dressing up and getting to buy a new dress for the dance.”

94 proceeds in construction worknick ponche

Construction workers are tearing up old pavement on Highway 94 and replacing it with new pavement for Highway 364. It is being con-structed to expand the highway to lessen traffic and reduce congestion on road. (tori hanke)

On Sept. 21, MoDOT began its two month closure of Jungermann Road for construction begin on a portion of the new outer roads. These roads, which are part of the ongoing Route 364 project, will run parallel on each side of Route 94 from Woodstone Drive to just east of Harvest Drive when completed by Thanksgiving.

“If the weather is good, then hopefully we can open the roads up before that time,” Route 364 project manager Barry Bergman said. “Complet-ing it around Thanksgiving would probably be the worst case scenario.”

Until the construction is completed, drivers will not be able to travel on Jungermann. De-tour signs have been posted, which will increase the traffic in nearby neighborhoods. Former teacher Dave Ridenhower, resident to one of these neighborhoods, believes the road’s future benefits outweigh the problems presented by the construction.

“It’s gonna be good when we get through [the construction]. Waiting for it to be finished is certainly better than the opposite problem in O’Fallon,” Ridenhower said.

Unfortunately, constant traffic buildups on certain O’Fallon highways are taking place. The Route 364 project will convert Route 94 into a limited access highway, creating exit ramps lead-ing to other roads and fewer stoplights. This will reduce traffic significantly when it is complete.

“Route 94 has tons of stops, but 364 will go straight through,” FHN teacher Harold Ritchie said. “It will be great when it’s finished.”

The entire project will extend Route 364 past Central School Road and eventually to Mid Riv-ers Mall Drive. It will cost approximately $44 million (two thirds of which is funded by stimulus plans) and it is expected to be finished by 2012.

“It will do a world of good in relieving traffic on I-70 when it is all done” Bergman said.

What is you favorite thing about marching

band?

What is your favor-ite type of

music?

How often do you practice your instru-

ment outside of school?

13% 4-7 hours

82% 0-3hours

8% 8-11 hours

22% Rap/ Hip 45%

Rock/ Alternative22%

Classical

1% Countryching band?

25% 41% BandTrips

35% playinginstrument

Friends

elizabeth diggs

T his Sat, Oct. 2, FHN’s gym will become a replica of Gotham City, as up to 1,000 students attend the Dark Knight theme

homecoming dance. Homecoming will be held in the big gym from 7 to 10 p.m. as dances in the past have been, but some changes have been made to make this years’ Homecoming memorable.

“I am excited that the decorations will be dif-ferent this year,” StuCo sponsor Jani Wilkens said. “We got rid of the tents.”

Instead of having tents in front of the DJ, there will be fabric hanging from the divider in the ceil-ing, bowing out to the poles. It will be less hot and will make a bigger dance floor for the students.

Another major difference this year was get-ting rid of the fine forms that the students had to fill out before purchasing their ticket. Wilkens believes that without the forms, the attendance rate of the dance will be higher. She believes that about 25 percent of the students have fines and that the other 75 percent were being punished for it. The students are very thankful for not having to fill out the forms this year.

“They were so dumb and way too much of a hassle,” junior Megan Frkovic said.

As usual, the dance attendees will enter the building and walk through the homecoming hallways made by each class. The freshman hall-way will be “Poison Ivy” theme, the sophomore hallway will be “The Joker”, the junior hallway

page by morgan may04 NEWS

will be “Mr. Freeze” and the senior hallway will be “Batman”. High expectations have been set for this years’ Homecoming by the members of StuCo, including President Alyssa Bocci.

“I think it is going to be just amazing,” Bocci said. “Everyone is working really well together. We expect up to 1,000 people. It’s just going to be really good.”

Homecoming expected to be a ‘Dark Knight’ Freshman Catie Blake and Jeremy Warden, sophomores Randy St. John and Samm Worsley, juniors Cat Pherigo and Logan Ponche, and seniors Soo Yang and Jose Pagan were part of the 2009 Homecoming court. During half time of the homecoming Football game on Sept. 25, they stood while waiting to be announced. (file photo)

Students take liking to new options in English classes

Some students took a different approach to English this year. Along with the traditional Eng-lish classes, students are now offered Sports Lit-erature and Mythology.

Along with this class, the standard grade level English course is required. Andrew Little, who teaches Sports Lit. finds the class a generally en-joyable experience.

“Sports Lit is something you need to enjoy,”

chelsea damalas said Little. “ It’s English 4 but deals all about sports.”

Some students don’t find these classes inter-esting as others do. But now students actually get to have options besides their regular English 1, 2,3 and 4 classes.

“Mythology can be seen in a lot of places,” Mythology teacher Theresa Maher said. “You can learn why certain cultures believe in what they believe.”

Senior Zach Johson reads

Friday Night Lights during class

discussion of the book. The class

goes in-depth about different

books pertaining to sports and

how sport books impacts society.

(lydia ness)

YOUR PERFECT DATEThree students were randomly selected and asked what their ideal date or thing to do before homecoming with a date. They were then ranked from one to three with one being the best date.

AWESOME: “I would fly my date to New York City and go to a restau-rant in New York City and fly back before the dance on a private jet,”Austin Do-eren, junior

GOOD:“I would get her a cor-sage and take her to Olive Gar-den in a lamborghini,”Brendan Grayek, senior

COULD IMPROVE:“I would take her to a nice place to eat, just pretty simple,”Cale Laughlin, junior

Go online to see pictures of this years home-coming during the week of fall break.

FHNTODAY.COm

by taylor bartrum

Spirit rises with excitement of game nick bussell

UPCOMING

senior The senior hallway is to

represent Batman. The students plan to have scenes from Gotham City, also hope to incorporate Batman’s cave in the hallway.

junior The juniors will be taking over

their hallway with a Mr. Freeze theme. In the hallway, students will be surrounded with a frozen city to repre-sent the home of Mr. Freeze.

sophomore A

sneak peek into the sophomore hallway is the Joker theme. Here students will be looking out for the joker at the end of the dark alley.

freshman To go along

with the Dark Knight homecoming theme, a sneak peek into the freshman hallway will be Poison Ivy. It will be covered with poison ivy while being surrounded by dark buildings.

EVENTS

It is that time of year again; the time when ev-eryone is getting pumped for Homecoming. One way to do that is by having the annual Powder

-puff game. Powderpuff is a football game be-tween the junior and senior girls. North has been doing Powderpuff for at least 10 years now. This year it will be held on Sept. 29 at 7 p.m.

“I have been waiting for it since freshman year,” junior Ashly Brophy said.

While traditionally the parade is before Pow-derpuff, this year it wil be before the homecoming game. For the parade different clubs in the school will be making floats. All of the players walk with their class during the parade.

“I’m ready to take them down,” senior Alyssa Bocci said.

There are a couple of ways that the girls pre-pared for Powderpuff. For one, there was a whole lot of talking it up. Many people talked about how fun it will be. Next, they had meetings held by Diane Holmes and Lindsey Scheller where they talked about the expectations and rules. Then there was the practices where they worked on their tactics and skills.

“[I prepare] mentally of course,” senior Brit-tany Burke said.

The teams each consist of about 125 people. The large size calls for a good competition. Pow-derpuff bonds junior and senior girls with their classes; the girls have to work with each other to win the game.

“It just brings a lot of fun and spirit,” Holmes said.

Of course the seniors always expect to win, but the juniors have proven it is possible to beat the seniors, like they did in 2005.

“I don’t expect to win, but it would be cool if we did,” Brophy said.

No matter who, wins everyone agrees that the competition will be a good time. Each girl has her own reason for playing. They might be in it for the competition, or maybe just for the fun of it.

“Why wouldn’t I want to battle it out with the juniors?” Burke said.

page by chelsey damalas 05 FHNTODAY.COM

by chelsey damalas

The class delegates share a sneak peak of their part dur-ing the homecoming week.

Seniors Ellyn Yarde, Charlotte Johnston, Jennifer Meyers, Alyssa Jensen and Brittney Kelley get pumped up after their first senior Powderpuff practice. The Seniors hope for the win on Sept. 29. Several practices have been planned for both juniors and seniors in preparation for the big event. (sam hurrell)

Check online to see more pictures of powder puff on Oct. 1.

FHNTODAY.COM

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Murphy Riley holds her scuba mask which she uses during her training sessions. Ri-ley has recently been learning how to scuba dive in pools and in lakes. “I saw some fish native to Missouri and a baby shark in a quarry I dove in once...” (sam hurrell)

page by abbey grone10 FEATURES

n a bright and warm Sunday morning in Mermet Springs, Ill., sophomore Murphy Riley stood next to a quarry, fully dressed in her equipment, anx-ious to begin. Soon she would be diving 42 feet underwater to see a plane from the movie ‘U.S. Marshalls’ that was sitting at the bottom of the quarry. She felt the excitement building in her.

When the time came, Riley dove headfirst into the water and swam towards the plane. She could see perfectly in the algae green wa-ter, spotting small fish up to 25 feet away. As she swam down, the temperature drastically faded from 81 degrees at the surface

to 52 degrees. She could feel her head throb-bing and her lungs compressing from the extreme cold surrounding her. The feeling of shock was tiny compared to her wonder as she gazed at what was in front of her: a plane, the head of which was right below her.

“I’ve always been interest-ed in oceans and water,” Mur-

phy said. “And being the adventurer that I am, I jumped at the chance whenever it was offered to me by my dad.”

It was only natural for Murphy’s dad to get her into diving, as he is certified in recreational diving and in salvages. With Mur-phy certified, it gives the two something they can do together.

“Because we can now share a sport,” Patrick Riley said. “We can’t play baseball together and we can’t play soccer together and I stink at basketball, so scuba diving gives us a chance to be together in a sport.”

Murphy took her first water diver course this past sum-mer. The classes took place on Saturdays and Sundays all day at a shop down on Main Street, and in a pool near Home Depot. Just recently she became a certified scuba diver.

“It feels like I have the world at my feet,” Murphy said. “And I can do anything. I used to think about how difficult ev-erything would be, but now I’m just excited for the experience.”

Murphy has also included her friends in her hob-by. Recently, sophomore Amanda Stallings had the opportunity to join her on a scuba diving trip.

“Scuba diving with Murphy was really cool,” Stall-ings said. “It seems to be something she’s really passion-ate about. It was fun to see why she enjoys it so much.”

When scuba diving, there are several pieces of equip-ment that are worn and used. Murphy is certified to go 60 feet deep using basic equipment such as a air tank, a regula-tor, a pressure gauge, among other items. She also has a log-book with her to record information from all the classes.

In the future Murphy wants to continue this hobby.“I plan on taking a digital photography class,” Murphy

said. “AWARE reef conservation, national geographic div-er, wreck diver, deep diver [classes] so I can go to 130 feet down and [be an] underwater propulsion vehicle specialist.”

Murphy Riley takes a breath from her regulator while she scuba dives. This was for her venturing crew discover diving class which prepares her for future dives. Riley shared this experience with her friends that have never dived before. (photo submitted)

OCheck out FHNtoday.com to find a link to

more information on scuba diving.

FHNTOdAy.cOm

Making a splash

page by abbey grone 11FHNTOdAy.cOm

Murphy Riley

prepares to go scuba diving in Mermet

Springs . Riley has currently been on

four dives before this

specific one. One of

Riley’s fa-vorite parts

of scuba diving is

preparing for the

dive itself. (photo

submitted)

Making a splash

Sophomore M

urphy Riley takes up a scuba diving hobby with her dad.

Riley attaches the octopus to the air tank that she will use in her fourth dive. The tank she is using holds 3000 psi. Riley has dived down to 500 psi in previous dives. Riley likes to dive deep into the water and look up towards the surface of the water. (photo submitted)

page by emily forst 13FHNTODAY.COM

Students call Italy their hometaylor bartram

For one of the Italian students it’s very similar every six months; junior Isabella Lanzara goes back and forth from Italy to the United States after each semester.

“Its really hard making friends here because your schedule changes every year, but you meet a lot of

people,” Isabella said. “It’s different in Italy be-cause you’re pretty much always with the same 60 kids so the relationships are closer there.”

Many of the differences in the cultures of the two countries are in their academic lifestyle. There are 20 different schools in Venice, Italy where Isa-bella lives while she is there. Each school is for a different subject like Math or Science and you can switch schools anytime. Each student in Italy must take a test though to make sure they qualify for the school.

“Going to different types of schools from Italy to the United States has got me more open minded than most people,” Isabella said.

For senior Francesca Silini, every day in America has its barriers. Be-ing from north-ern Italy near Milan, Francesca

has struggles every day in try-ing to adapt to the new lan-guage. She has spoken English since she was 8-years-old, and developing her English was a major factor in her coming to the United States.

“I wanted to come to the United States to improve my English and learn the culture,” Francesca said.

Even though she hasn’t been here long, Francesca has al-ready branched out of her com-fort zone by joining the tennis team.

“It’s been hard to meet new people because I can’t speak the language well, but everyone has been very friendly,” Francesca said. “My house mom and my neighbor have been my big-gest support because they have helped me make friends.”

Isabella Lanzara

Francesca Silini

Senior Francesco Filipucci has also emigrated to America in order to develop his English speaking skills. Francesco is from Rome, Italy. However Fran-cesco has been to America before for a family vaca-tion, which has helped ease his transition.

“I came here two years ago and I practiced my English then and I came back now to learn more,” Francesco said.

Francesco will be here for the first semester of the school year, after which he will return to Rome. To help truly experience Amer-ican culture, he has joined the Cross Country team, but there are many things he still wants to do before he leaves.

“I’ve already went to the countryside with my family and had a lot of fun at their ranch,” Francesco said. “I just want to have a good time before I leave.”

Alessia Ferrari

Francesco Filipucci

Senior Ales-sia Ferrari, is a exchange student, from Parma, Italy. She has made a goal out of expe-riencing as much of American cul-

ture that she can. She wants to do many things like go to prom and travel across America. She also wants to develop her Eng-lish which she has spoken since she was 9-years-old.

“I came to the U.S. because I wanted to learn English and I just love it here in America,” Alessia said.

Unlike the other exchange students, Alessia will be stay-ing here for the full school year. Alessia has already gone canoe-ing on the Missouri River and traveled to Kansas City with her House Family. Her House Fam-ily has helped her meet knew people and helped her adjust to school life.

“It has been hard making new friends but everyone is very friendly, I have just had difficulty with the language,” Alessia said.

This year at North there are four Italian students, 3 of whom are exchange stu-dents. Each of them is from a different part of Italy and did not know each other until they met at North. They have all come to America to learn new cultures and have new experiences. Each one has faced their own difficulties and obstacles while being in America.

In late April 2007, Honors Chemistry and AP chemistry Donna Malkmus purchased her first pair of Crocs. It has been 1,216 days and she is still a dedicated Croc wearer. “The first time I had them on I decided to wear them every day,” Donna said. “I loved them because they were so comfortable.”

In January of 2007 Donna walked into her specialist’s room to talk to him about the stress factor in her heel. While she was there she noticed that her specialist had on Crocs.

“I thought they were just for gardening,” Donna said.When she saw the shoes she asked if she would be a proper

match for her condition. “I was going to start having to wear inserts in my shoes,” Donna

said. “He said that I would be a good candidate so actually it was because of my specialist that I started wearing Crocs.”

Before Donna discovered Crocs, she wore penny loafers, tennis shoes and high heels. She now wears Crocs every day except for special occasions like church and the NHS induc-tion. Currently Donna owns between 30 and 50 pairs of Crocs in a variety of different colors.

“I really like my neon lime green ones, except I didn’t really have anything to wear them with,” Donna said. “But now I have my Powder Puff shirt.”

When Donna started wearing Crocs

every day, she had a feeling that her friends thought she had gone off the deep end.

“People have started giving me little Croc key chains,” Donna said holding up her keys which are now home to a lime green Croc and a blue Croc. “Kyle Schikore’s mom gave me this one, and now I have a little Croc key chain collection.”

Even with the cold months of winter approaching, Donna will continue to wear Crocs, exchanging her summer pairs for winter pairs.

“They make fur lined Crocs and Crocs boots so that’s what I wear,” Donna said.

Donna has been dedicated to Crocs and doesn’t see herself to stop wearing them in the future.

“Probably not just because they are so comfort-able, unless they stop making them” Donna said. “

I would cry and I would have to find some-thing that my inserts could fit into, but

it wouldn’t be the same.”

14 FEATURES page by abbey grone

sidney shelton

Colorful Croc’s complete Malkmus’ closet

BrokenA

s a nation already struggling with poverty, Haiti was not prepared for an earthquake of the magnitude that

struck Port-Au-Prince on Jan. 12. The earth-quake caused the death of an estimated 200,000

Haitians and destroyed the homes of around 2,000,000 people, leaving the country shattered

and broken.One of the many foundations that jumped at the

opportunity to help rebuild Haiti was the American-Haitian Bon Zami (AHBZ), which translates to “The

American-Haitian Friendship” from Creole. The AHBZ is an organization that allows volunteers to go first-hand

into the epicenter of Haitian destruction and help repair the lives of the Haitian people. The co-presidents of the

AHBZ are Carl and Carole Vorst. Theyss currently have 150 volunteers in Haiti. The three branches of outreach in Haiti of the AHBZ are the House of Hope, which is for or-

phaned girls; Patti’s School, which educates the orphans of the House of Hope; and the House of Hope Clinic, which is a

basic medical treatment facility.Partnering with the AHBZ during early August, ten volunteers

from St. Louis, including 2010 FHN graduate Thom Loeffler, were able to stay at the House of Hope. Loeffler, along with the other vol-

unteers, had to sleep on the roof of the orphanage because there was not any room left in the shelter. While staying at the House of Hope, Loeffler

helped with various projects such as pro-viding food and clothing for each of the 27

orphans. He made trips to tent cities that were massive camp like areas of displaced people.

“It was really sad meeting people in the tent cit-ies that had nothing but a hand full of rice to feed their families,” Loeffler said. “I even heard of peo-ple who didn’t have enough food that were forced to eat dirt. It’s sad that they starve while we can

just go whenever we want to a McDonald’s. I learned that we take everything for granted. Here everything is so easy.”

Another person helping repair the damage with AHBZ in Haiti is Paul Clark. Clark, who was once a volunteer and intern for the House of

Hope, has permanently moved to Haiti in order to fill the new position of English and Sports teacher at Patti’s School. Patti’s

School currently holds 90 children, who come from the House of Hope orphanage and the local tent cities.

The AHBZ and its volunteers have done a lot to repair the broken lives of Haitians, but there

are still more struggles to overcome. To help with the effort, Loeffler plans on volunteer-

ing again in January.“It was really sad to leave the

girls,” Loeffler said. “It changed me a lot and I learned a lot about what it means to love and to give.”

A tent city boy begs for food from volunteers. (photo submitted)

After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti the AHBZ work to fill in Haiti’s cracks

Tom Loeffler helps a young boy from local tent city during House of Hope clothing drive. (photo submitted)

LivesSocietyPeople

Children from the House of Hope community, attend Patti’s School under the shade of a tree in Haiti. (photo submitted)

christy maupin

For more information on volunteering for the American Haitian Bon Zami go to

FHNtoday.com and view this story for a link.

FHNToday.com

page by christy maupin 15 FHNToday.com

student fashionFashion styles from the hallways of FHN

Maddy Millikansenior“I wore this because I got voted as District 6 Vce President for DECA and felt like dressing up for it.”Charlotte Russe- $15

Brea Holmesjunior“I wore it because it matched the dress I wore today.”Goodwill- $5

Hali Longsophomore“I wore this because I wanted to dress up today.”T.J. Maxx- $25

Patrick O’loughlinfreshman“I wore it because I felt like it.”American Eagle- $50

16 FEATURES page by nicole thompson

“I once saw a cougar.”Ethan Bohnert, 12

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page by shannon ward 17FEATURES

What are the bands made of? The bands are made from 100 per-cent medical grade silicone. Silicone is also used for things like bakeware and turbocharger hoses. The silicone allows the bands to bounce back into shape.

How does the company advertise their product?

The first silly band ever made was a purple dog. Now there are over a thousand different silly bands Including Disney characters, music items, ani-mals and sports.For the FHNtoday.com Silly Band, you can purchase them from on of the lunch tables and at the KOE store.

Robert Croak created Silly Bandz. Croak uses a blog to talk about his day to day experiences including information about his silly bandz.. www.robertcroak.com

Silly Bandz were brought up in May of 2010. 63,784,837 Silly Bandz have been pro-duced as of June 22, 2010.

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THE REALITY OF

HAZINGHAZINGHAZNGAND ITS EFFECTS ON OUR SCHOOL

Activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group are

defined as hazing. In the past, numerous clubs and sports teams at FHN have participated in

activities that could be considered hazing. This month the North Star takes an in-

depth look at these rituals, and the effects they have on our school. (photo

by lydia ness)

page by kelsey bellIN-DEPTH22

According to the Alfred University Study, half of the high school students involved in clubs or groups report be-ing hazed. 43% of these students are subjected to humiliating activities, and 30% performed poten-tially illegal acts as part of their initiation (lydia ness)

Three senior bas-ketball players from Carmel High School

(IN) are being investigated by state officials after being accused of assaulting two freshmen players on the back of a school bus in January.

Five juniors from Glenbrook North High School (IL) were hospitalized in May 2003 af-ter a traditional hazing ritual where senior pow-derpuff players threw objects at junior players got out of hand.

A sophomore from Trumbull High School (CT) was reportedly tied, slammed into a wall, locked in a gym locker, and sodomized with a plastic knife in February 2000 by up to eight members from the school’s wrestling team.

According to experts, hazing is normally associated with pledges trying get into various fraternities and sororities, a tradition that dates back to the 1800s; but is not normally associated with high school, where it in fact exists heavily throughout the country in various clubs and sports teams. Replace the word ‘pledges’ with the word ‘freshmen’ and the two forms of hazing could be seen as identical. Both can be dangerous, both can be humiliating. Both are growing in numbers.

Most of the hazing that happens in high schools happens out on the field. According to a study pub-lished by Alfred University in August 2000, an estimated 800,672 students involved in athletics are hazed across the country each year, more than the 558,767 students involved in a ‘peer group or gang’ are hazed. Many experts believe that hazing occurs most often in sports because the adults in charge often turn the other cheek, writing specific instances off as team bonding.

“Too many coaches, athletic people, and directors think [hazing] is OK because they went through with it when they were younger,” retired University of Vermont Athletic Director Richard Farnham said. “But students tend to think about it in a different way. [They] feel that it makes a team stronger. Most students will say ‘if I go along with it, I’ll be accepted no problem.”

However, despite what most people surrounding the situation say, experts insist that any form of hazing, even if in-tended to be harmless, is harmful to all of those involved.

“Everyone [involved in hazing] gets hurt,” Professor of Sociology at Morris County Community College and hazing expert Richard Sigal said. “Defendants get hurt, they end up in court, victims get hurt, even coaches or teachers can.”

At the state level, hazing has gained more recognition as a problem, currently there are 44 states with anti-hazing laws in place; however several state’s laws do not include anything related to high school hazing. Missouri’s statues do reference hazing, but

only by first defining a ‘educational institution’ as ‘a public or private college or university’ chapter 578 section 360, leaving high schools completely out of the equation. Where they do address colleges, they state that ‘each educational institution in

this state shall adopt a written policy prohibiting hazing by any organization operating under the sanction of the institution’ chapter 578 section 363. Leaving all of the power on how to handle cases up to specific schools.

“Making a policy statement isn’t enough,” Farnham said. “You have to define what hazing is and how to handle cases, otherwise ‘zero-tolerance’ won’t mean anything.”

“Most students will say, ‘if I go along with it, I’ll be accepted no problem.” - Richard Farnham


logan ponche

HAZING IN

experts address the national issue of hazing in high school and the lack of a clear policy against it

HIGH SCHOOLSHIGH SCHOOLS GH SCHOOLS

The Francis Howell School District introduced a new policy in August prohibiting any type of hazing of all district students. Though no in-cident in particular occurred to cause the addition, the policy was

written to help end the developing atmosphere of hazing in the district.“We want the students to be in a safe and good environment,” Su-

perintendent Pam Sloan said. “It is considered that hazing is a form of harassment, and there is no tolerance for that in school.”

While the Code of Conduct doesn’t specifically site hazing as an offense, individual occurrences will be dealt on a case-by-case ba-sis in accordance with the punishments currently outlined by the District. As one occurrence might merit a mere detention, another could result in as much as a Code of Conduct hearing. In the same way the District prevents harassment and bullying by making them offenses punishable by suspension or expulsion, they hope to prevent students from causing or being victims of threatening and traumatizing situations.

“If a person gets caught participating in any activities such as hazing, it is a very serious matter,” Sloan said. “The pun-ishment would be based on how severe the situation was to see what the outcome would be.”

While the administration is aware that hazing is re-ceived in different ways by different people, they still try to think of the person who doesn’t have a positive experience after being hazed. The goal of the district is to make school a safe and productive environment for all students.

“I think it works both ways; some students like hazing because they either think it’s funny or enter-taining, while on the other hand you have the stu-dents who hate it,” Assistant Principal Jack Ameis said. “Schools should make the students feel safe and accepted, and hazing is the opposite. We don’t want to put the students in any risk.”

However, the practice of hazing is seen, in some eyes, as more of a contemporary bond-ing exercise rather than an activity designed to humiliate and desecrate. According to Cross-Country Coach Brooke Roe, there are acceptable ways to partake in an act of hazing and without alienating new team-mates. Roe feels that the new policy takes the coach’s ability to make the decision for the good of the team away.

“I think that it should be left up to the coaches to decide whether to or not to do hazing,” Roe said. “I’m for haz-ing if it’s used as a positive way for the team to bond, but if it’s used as a nega-tive degrading way, then I’m against it.”


TOLERANCETOLERANCETOLERANCEZEROZEROZERODISTRICT ADOPTS POLICY OF

olivia ong

One fall evening during her freshman year, Katie Ste-panek was sitting, dressed

up, waiting to go out to eat with her parents. Stepanek knew what was coming- her mom had acciden-tally let it slip a few days earlier- but that still did not prepare her for the moment when a group of girls, dressed in black, invaded her home. The girls took Stepanek, pulled her into a car and blindfolded her. This was the night of Stepanek’s Varsity Knightline initiation.

“My initiation was re-ally fun,” Stepanek said. “These girls come to your door unexpectedly. It was shocking.”

After Stepanek was “kidnapped,” she and the other new Knightline members were forced to dress in crazy outfits. The Knight-line seniors then took the new members to various places around St. Charles, such as Steak ’n Shake and a bowling alley, where the girls were forced to walk around in their strange clothes. Afterwards, the girls had a slumber party at one Knightline member’s house.

“This is a way of welcoming newbies to the team,” Stepanek said. “It is a great bonding experi-ence. You get to know everyone.”

But this year, the Knightline members will not be able to bond through their initiation tradition. With the focus on the District’s no hazing policy, several clubs and sports at North are banning any ac-tivity that resembles or is close to

hazing.“I think I’m missing out,” new

Varsity Knightline member Brea Holmes said. “In previous years, when I was on JV, initiation was harmless and looked like fun. Now I am on Varsity and I do not get to partake.”

Had it not been for the hazing ban, Holmes and Stepanek would be anticipating this year’s initia-tion, which traditionally takes place around Homecoming.

“I think it is kind of unfair to the new people,” Stepanek said. “They were excited for the initiation. Now

they feel like they do not really have that bonding experience.”

Before past initia-tions, the Knightline seniors called the parents of the girls they kidnapped. The seniors then only kid-

napped the girls whose parents gave permission. Despite this stipula-tion, Knightline coach Kelly Hewitt had to tell the girls that kidnapping would no longer be allowed.

“I was told through Mr. [Mike] Janes from our new superinten-dent,” Hewitt said. “If the girls get caught hazing, it is out of my hands. There is not much I can do for them.”

Hewitt says that when she told the girls initiation would no longer be allowed, many were upset.

“I do not consider what Knight-line does hazing,” Stepanek said. “As long as you are not harming the new people, I do not consider it wrong. I consider it initiating new members to the team.”


paige yungermann

“If the girls get caught hazing, it’s out of my hands.”

--Kelly Hewitt

BONDINGBONDINGBONDINGTRADITIONS HALTED DUE TO

NEW DISTRICT POLICY

According to the AU study, 92% of high school students will not report a hazing.

Hazing does not happen in just on group of people both male and

female students report high levels of hazing, and every

kind of high school group has initiation activities

that could be defined as hazing. (lydia

ness)

sponsor us, then they shouldn’t be able to con-trol us.”

The District took steps to dispel some of that speculation on Sept. 18 in the first meeting with the three high school programs to discuss the disassociation of the two groups. It was es-tablished during the meeting that the idea of a possible separation was not strictly a reaction to the head shaving, but more of a cautionary mea-sure by the District based on legal advice given. Coaches and parents were in attendance.

“We had the hazing issue with Ice Hockey and Hockey is one of the biggest clubs out there,” Athletic Director Mike Janes said. “And we have so many parameters that go on. We do have a trophy case for them, they do participate in Black and Gold day, I think that was the rea-


For the past 10-15 years, both Francis Howell and Howell North’s Hockey teams have participated in a tradition

surrounding their annual ‘Gold Cup’ game. Each year, the freshmen players entering the program get their heads shaved in a tradition that is used by the players and coaches to pump up their respective teams. However, because of the fact that Hockey is not school sponsored, there has been speculation as to whether or not this tradition will be allowed due to the ‘zero-tolerance’ policy against any form of hazing passed by the District over the summer.

“I really don’t think it’s fair,” junior forward David Hitchcock said. “If they don’t want to

son why [separation talks] were started there.”If the separation were to happen, some of

the possible changes would include the remov-al of Hockey’s trophy case in the gym lobby, not being able to participate in Black and Gold Day and pep-assembly’s, and the omission of Hockey in the morning announcements. Cur-rently, no action is being taken to officially separate the District from Hockey, but more meetings are expected to discuss the matter. As of press time, the dates of those meetings were unknown.

“The hardest thing about it is these are still our students,” Janes said. “We care about these kids and we want them to be successful, but we can’t pick and choose when we are associated with them.”

CAUSES DISTRICT TO TAKE A SECOND LOOK

logan ponche

TRADITIONTRADITIONTRADITIONHAIR-RAISING


It is also likely that the District actions taken with the Hockey program will serve as a basis for all other non-sponsored high school sports in the future such as Roller-Hockey and Bowling.

“It doesn’t bother me that much,” senior Bowler Scott Raver said. “The school doesn’t do that much about Bowling anyway, but I still think Hockey should be [included] because it is a bigger sport.”

Even if the District does decide to separate themselves from Hockey, the team will still con-tinue to play regardless of administration support.

“I think it’s kind of stupid,” junior goalie Trevor Gorsuch. “Even though we’re not a school sanc-tioned sport- we’re a club sport- don’t see why we can’t announce that we have games over the inter-com. We’ll have a hard time getting fans now.”

UNCERTAINTYTEAM BONDING BRINGS

A ‘voluntary’ team bonding experience leaves Doeren unsure and embarrassed by teammates

It was junior Austin Doeren’s freshman year. He had just joined the Swim team and was now in teammate Adam Rapert’s backyard under the scorch-ing heat of the sun. Suddenly, he was forced to the ground while everyone

around him held him down and laughed. The sound of a buzzing razor filled his ears; his hair suddenly blended with the grass.

“That night I came out with a completely shaved head and horrible razor burns on both sides,” Doeren said. “Also, I even had this cut on the top of my head.”

Being a part of the Varsity Swim team brought on a lot of responsibilities and the urge to gain respect from the upperclassman teammates. One normal team bonding meeting after school that consisted of a group dinner and a night at a member’s house left Doeren upset and humiliated.

The embarrassment wasn’t left at the house that night; the feeling was brought into his school life, where Doeren was the butt of laughter, jokes and rude remarks. Doeren didn’t have the choice if he wanted to partake in this tradition or not. In fact, none of the freshman Swim members that year did. . Not only was Doeren upset but he was left with razor burn, cuts on his scalp and a freshly shaved head. The whole event made Doeren and his family furious.

“I just didn’t understand what the point of it was,” Carolyn Doeren, Aus-tin’s mom, said. “To me I thought it was something that was really unneces-sary.”

This tradition has been going on in Swim for nearly 5 years now. Every player has been told that the whole event is completely voluntary, but in some cases, this is not always the case.

“The team bonding night, I got tackled down for the guys to shave my head,” Doeren said. “I don’t think that I really did have a choice in the mat-ter.”

Coach Steve Kelly has always made it clear that this type of bonding was to be voluntary, and to his knowledge, it always was. During this specific event, Kelly was not present. Events and situations like these have been the precedent for the new zero-tolerance policy, which aims to take the coach and player volunteering out of the equation.

“Even though I have been accepting of this type of team bonding, I agree that this new rule should be enforced,” Kelly said. “Because a lot of times people just don’t know the limits. And you have to remember that each per-son has different tolerance levels, so it is just better to say no and follow this new rule.”

It has been more than two years since Doeren’s traumatizing hazing event. In that time, he has been able to look at what happened to him in a new light, and develop a new view of the act of hazing as a team bonding tradition.

“I feel that the new tolerance rule should be decided by the team not by people who actually don’t even play the sport and don’t get to see all of the background information,” Doeren said. “This is something that when you are an underclassman, you just have to endure the embarrassment and move on because eventually your respect will be gained.”

According to InsideHazing with Dr. Susan Lipkins, 67% of students believe that humiliation is a significant part of initiation, and 46% believe that the most important thing is to keep a code of silence about hazing situations. (lydia ness)

chelsey damalas

UNCERTAINTYUNCERTAINTY


According to the National Collaborative Hazing study, eight out of ten students who reported participating in activities defined as hazing, did not consider themselves to have been hazed. In reality, many hazing incidents occur in front of teachers and other adults. (lydia ness)

QQQ AAA&ON HAZING AT FHN

HAVE YOU EVER PARTICIPATED IN HAZING, OR BEEN HAZED YOURSELF?Alexis Christo, Girls Swimming: “I have been hazed myself.”Nathan Compton, Band: “Yes, I have been hazed.”Madison Eifert, Volleyball: “I participated in TP’ing the freshmen, but I also was TP’d myself.”Drew Ortscheid, Hockey: “Freshman year I got my head shaved and I have been shaving freshmen heads since I was a sophomore.”Erica Gittemeier, Cheerleading Coach: “In high school for cheerleading, I was taken out to breakfast, and dressed up wacky.”

HOW DO YOU THINK IT AFFECTS THE STUDENT BEING HAZED?AC: “We had a lot of fun hazing, so it brought us all together as a team.”NC: “If you look at it in an overall sense, it’s all in good fun. For me, I was publicly embarrassed, but I knew it was all in good fun. So it didn’t affect me too much.”ME: “I think they feel included, like they are a part of something.”DO: “I think for some players it’s mixed emotions. Some feel they are being accepted by older players and others think it’s just making you look [stupid].”EG: “It really depends on the person, if it’s someone who understands and doesn’t care what people think, it would be fine. But for people who do care it could be embarrassing.”

AC: “It was fun, it brought people together, and you got to know people who weren’t in your own circle of friends.”NC: “It was a time for us to come together and bond as a group.”ME: ”It bonds a team so they are closer together, and it makes friendships on your team.”DO: “You get accepted into a group you can trust and count on.”EG: “I think that it is fun, and it increases team spirit and morale.”

WHAT ARE SOME POSITIVES OF HAZING?

AC: “Waking up at 3:30 in the morning was awful, and having to clean the silly string off me and my room.”NC: “Negatives would be that it could embarrass the student a little too much.”ME: “You could get in trouble, and if they don’t like what you are doing, they won’t be as happy as you wished they would be.”DO: “You end up looking kind of goofy, and you’re bald.”EG: ”If its not organized and thought out it can get out of hand, and people’s feelings can be hurt.”

WHAT ARE SOME NEGATIVES OF HAZING?

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Correct: PastaBachles answer: Pizza

Correct; Pizza

LeMasters answer: Steak

Answers correct: 3 Correct: 2

Q1 Q1Q2

RYA

N G

AN

NO

N

ZAC

H J

OH

NSO

N

BREN

DEN

HARN

EY

JOSH

LEM

ASTE

R

BE

N H

ES

S

SC

OT

T R

AV

ER

TAY

LOR

BE

LL

Johnson’s answer: Christopher

Harney’s answer: Thomas

Johnson’s answer: AnythingCorrect: Hot wings with ranchHarney’s answer: A nice steak

Bells answer: Michael

Correct:Pizza

Raver’s answer: Taco

Correct: Douglas

Bell’s answer: Any food

Correct: pizza

Raver’s answer: Rocky Mountain oysters

Answers correct: 1

Q1Q2

Johnson’s answer: Jessica Alba

Harney’s answer: Jessica Alba

Johnson’s answer: That 70s Show

Harney’s answer: The Colony

Correct: Man vs. Wild

Answers correct: 6Answers correct: 5

Hess’ answer: Megan Fox

Ben’s answer: Family Guy

Josh’s answer: Megan Fox

Correct; Two and a half Men

LeMasters answer: The OfficeCorrect: Family Guy

FINAL ROUND:

JOHNSON/HARNEY VS. KAMP/DOZIERQ2Q1

CHIP DOZIER

LARR

Y SC

HEL

LER

Each senior on the Varsity boys soccer team was paired into seven teams with a fellow soccer senior. We asked each guy questions about their partner, the pair who got the most correct an-swers moved on to round two. The two winning teams after round two will face-off in a champi-onship round, which will be posted in a video on FHNtoday.com today.

Kamps answer: Michael Flack’s answer: Nancy Ponches answer: The Legend

Kamps answer: Mostcocolli

Grayek’s answer: Thomas

Correct: Filet MignonBachles answer: Pizza

Correct: Gwin

JON K

AMP

Dozier answer: Thomas

Doziers answer: TacosCorrect: Pasta

Correct: Michael

Correct: Sean

Correct: Fettucini Alfredo

Flacks answer: Jacks Pizza

Grayeks answer: Jacks Pizza

Correct:Ramen Noodles

Answers correct: 2 Answers correct: 0 Answers correct: 0

Correct: Matthew

Schellers answer: Matthew

Correct: James

Ponches answer: Spaghetti

Correct: Seafood

Schellers answer: Pasta

LOGA

N PO

NCHE

BREN

DEN

GRA

YEK

Kamps answer: Betty White

Correct: Jessica Alba

Doziers answer: Megan Fox

Kamps answer: Sports Center

JORDAN FLA

CK

CHIP D

OZIER

SHANE BACHLE

Q1Q2

Q1Q2

Q1Q2

Q1Q2Doziers answer: Sports Center

Correct: House

Answers correct: 4

Ponches answer: George Clooney

Correct: Fantasy Factory

Correct: Courtney Cox

Schellers answer: Megan Fox

Correct: Betty White

Ponches answer: Project Runway

Correct: Family guy

Schellers answer: Teen Mom

Answers correct: 0

CHECK OUT FHNTODAY.COM WEDNESDAY NIGHT TO SEE THE VIDEO OF THE FINAL ROUND

TENNIS TACTICSThe Varsity Girl’s Tennis Team talks how they get pumped and prepared for a match.

page by taylor bartram34 SPORTS

“We put on our visors and take a lap to warm up.”

Senior El-lyn Yarde, #2 Varsity Singles

“I talk with my partner and psyche myself up about how good we are”

Sophomore Julia Car-ney, #2 JV Doubles

“I really like to listen to music and just get in the game”

Sophomore Jasmine Wahlbrink, #2 JV Doubles

Senior Taylor Whiteside hands Danny Dilbur balloons before the Teacher Appreciation Game. Whitside chose Dilbur as having an impact on her high school experience. (brandon neer)

Stroke skills help swimmers reach stateamanda cornett

Only eight weeks into the season, and junior Patrick Fountain and senior Nate Weiss have al-ready qualified for State in two of their events. Fountain qualified for the 200 meter Individual Medley- which is two laps of each stroke in order from butterfly, backstroke, breast stroke and free-style. Weiss qualified in the 200 meter freestyle and 100 meter backstroke. After accomplishing these feats, both Weiss and Fountain are excited.

“I was pretty happy especially since it so early in the season,” Fountain said.

For Weiss, the accomplishment came with no shock.

“I wasn’t really too surprised when I got it,” Weiss said. “I was pretty confident.”

Now that the team has two of its members go-ing to State, it is putting focus into getting a relay to state. Right now the team is two seconds away from the State qualifying time and the coaches are

Junior Patrick Fountain swims breaststroke in the meet against CBC on Sept. 9. (lydia ness)

Appreciation: It’s the name of the gamekevin beerman

Last Tue, Sept. 21, the Varsity Softball team hosted a Teacher Appreciation night to honor teachers whom the players have chosen as having a strong impact on their education experience. One such player, Barbi Bateman, sent her letter to English teacher Jani Wilkens

“She is a really cool teacher and she is so good at teaching,” Bateman said. “We wanted a way to show teachers we appreciate them.”

The idea came from Varsity coach Janelle Louis, who thought that there needed to be more of a connection between good students and good athletes.

“Lewis thought that any type of athletic situation has student athletes, and she thought it would be nice for the girls to recognize the teachers that had an impact on the girls lives,” Head Coach Bob Donahue said. “When you tie athletics to education, it is a win-win.”

The teachers were given t-shirts and will receive a program with the letters from the girls in them at the game. For many teachers, the appreciation has vindicated the hard work that they do.

“It was a pleasant surprise,” Wilkens said. “I wish that more groups did it. It made me feel good about what I do.”

confident the team will meet the goal. Team has already accomplished a few of their major goals and the coaches think the team is off to a good start, but they are still working on improving their times and their technique.

“I think it should continue to go well,” Kelly said. “We’ve been working hard but there is still harder work ahead.”

Along with getting the relay to state the team is working on improving their endurance. Since the team is small in numbers the members have to swim more events, there is not much turn around time in between events. This is why it is essential to the team that they improve on their endurance. The coaches feel that the new members have more obstacles to overcome such as adjusting to the team.

“They are having to adjust to all of the work they have to do,” Kelly said,” it is a big difference between recreational swimming and competitive swimming.”

Cheerleading: Meet the Captains

Senior Gus Thies and junior Mack Weaver stretches after a run from North to Laurel Park. The Knights are preparing for GACs and have been working hard to ensure that they do well. The coaches expect a lot out of them and hope for a win. (erin d’amico)

GACs test individualized trainingsam dulaney

With the majority of the season already behind them, boys Cross Country will be heading to GACs Oct. 14. With a smaller Varsity team than past years, the team has been working with more focus toward qualifying an individual runner for the GAC competitions before the exhibition at McNair Park that FHN will be hosting.

“The big goal is always Districts, Sectionals and State,” coach Sean Fowler said. “As we get closer to GACs, District and State, we focus on speed work to lower [the runners’] times.”

The team has been working on endurance, strength, distances, and times to pre-pare the runners for GACs which is the qualifying meet for more prestigious events.

“[Coach Fowler] does more difficult workout and I feel he focuses more on the individual rather than the whole team,” senior Gus Thies said. “The individual focus is better because other sports focus on the whole team winning. In running since it’s more individual, it helps [you] grow to become better with yourself.”

So far, the runners have been doing well due to the more individual training and have plans to do well in the upcoming meets.

“One of my goals is to be under 18 minutes, which is a fairly good for a Varsity boy,” senior runner Craig Preuss said. “We’ve had a lot of hard work and the coach has been helping prepare us.”

page by elizabeth diggs 35FHNTODAY.COM

Dedicated fans encourage Volleyball playerssarah teson

When it comes to the cheering section at the girls Varsity Volleyball games, the fan base never falls below seven. These seven are students who take being a devoted fan to a whole new level.

“We love cheering them on,” junior Luke Kemp said. “It seems like if we cheer louder, they do better.”

Kemp and, along with six other friends, find it more than enjoyable to cheer at the games. They become so involved in the game that their cheers can be seen and heard from across the gym and easily shows their excitement.

“I think us cheering for them brings a new level of motivation to the team,” junior Nick Pir-

rone stated. “It gives them another reason to look forward to the game.”

Many of the girls can’t wait to see their fans at the game. They say they like the feeling they get when they look up to the stands and see people cheering for them. Starter Alex Oppenborn says that their intensity helps justify the hard work.

“When [they] bowed to us, it was literally the best feeling I’ve ever gotten from fans cheering,” Oppenborn said.

Due to the fact that the girls Volleyball team is undefeated in their conference play, these boys have a lot to continue cheering for.

“The Volleyball team is full of glory,” Pirrone said. “Easily the best talent we have here at Fran-cis Howell North.”

The JV and Freshman team, and fellow classmates, cheer on the Varsity Volley-ball team as the Knights play for the game point. The crowd has helped them achieve their game record of 9-2. (erin d’amico)

1. What is your favorite thing about cheerleading?

Alex Little- “The Organizer”

Katie Zettwoch- “The Entertainer”

Alysse Chowning- “The Enforcer”

Cori Bradley- “The Socialite/ Entertainer”

Taylor Crittenden- “The Socialite”

1. “I like the games and the competi-tion.”

1. “I like the games.”

1. “I like stunt-ing and show-ing up the other squads.”

1. “I like performing for crowds. I like the mixture of dancing, tumbling and stunting.”

1. “I like the people on the squad.

What kind of captain were they voted as?

UPCOMING

The fall sports season is in

full swing. Here are a few of

the games coming up.

EVENTS

Senior Ashlee Schneider putts the ball into the 6th hole at

loss of the season by one stroke. The team has one more

Junior Danielle Meyer, sophomore Aurora Blanchard, juniors Hannah Miller and Brianna Schroer cheer for their freshman teammates during the meet at Forest Park. Even though the muddy weather was unexpected, the team still came together to support one another.

sarah teson)

The girls Cross Country

team is experiencing a stronger

team bonding experience than

they ever have. During a race

at Forest Park on Sept. 11, the

Varsity runners surprised the

freshmen by dressing up crazily

and cheering them on.

“It’s strong [team bonding]

probably the strongest it’s ever

been since I’ve been coaching,”

coach Beth Phillips said.

taylor bartram

Team bonding reaches new level

The Lady Knights Golf team started their sea-

son off with a gap in the team fabric after the team

lost a coach and six players during the off season.

However, this fresh start has led to new successes

for the team.

“I feel like we’re a lot closer,” sophomore

Julia Brady said. “The smaller team has a good

impact.”

The “good impact” has led to the Lady Knights

“So far we’ve been playing lights out,” senior

Ashley Trautman said.

able to bond with each other on a personal level.

“Since we’re so small, it’s really easy for us

to bond as a team,” Brady said. “We are all very

jaxon nagel

Small numbers mean tighter teamsupportive of each other,”

The girls have already guaranteed themselves

a 2nd place spot in Districts, and coach Matt Rif-

fee believes it’s because of the cooperative group

of girls.

“They are all pretty team-oriented,” coach

Matthew Riffee said. “They always put their team

While Riffee attributes the team’s success to

the close team, but the Lady Knights attribute

their success to their new coach.

-

need,” Brady said.

The Lady Knights have only three matches

left in their season, and they expect to win them.

page by scott jones36 SPORTS

The Varsity team wanted to

support the freshman while they

were running so that the fresh-

men felt a sense of camaraderie

and knew that their races were

just as important to the Varsity

runners in a Varsity race.

“It makes them feel more

included because they know we

care about their race too,” ju-

nior Danielle Meyer said.

Hannah Miller, Brianna

Schroer, and Meyer started

dressing up last year after Sec-

tionals when Hannah Miller ran

in her tutu. The coaches later

asked her if she would wear her

costumes as a mascot at the rac-

es. Since then, some of the other

girls on the team have joined in

on the costumes.

“It makes me feel like I’m

doing a good job and feel they

care about my race and it makes

me go faster,” freshman Court-

ney Vishney said.

football

JV Football plays Wentz-ville in an away game at 6 p.m.

10/4

boys

soccer

9/30

Varsity boys Soccer will be up against Troy in a home game at 6 p.m.

girls

golf9/30

Varsity girls Golf to play Fort Zumwalt East in a home game at 3:30 p.m.

softball10/1

Varsity Soft-ball takes on Lafayette in a home game at 4:15 p.m.

Senior Clint Toedtmann tackle Seckman player during last year’s homecoming game.

page by sidney shelton37 SPORTS

Past Homecoming

GamesVS.

Northwest

House

Springs

FHN 21

NHS 27

2007-2008

2009-2010

VS.

Seckman

FHN 58

SHS 22

2008-2009

VS.

Troy

FHN 25

Troy 35

With a new year comes new challenges for the Knightline team

olivia ong

As Varsity Knightline starts off their new season, senior captain Beth Hillis has noticed some major issues that the team has to work on before they can start their season full steam ahead. The most prevalent problem, according to Hillis, is synchronization.

“We really need to work on synchronization and learning the steps faster and better,” Hillis said.

One of the other team captains, Nita Stein, admits that though this year does not seem as good as last year, she feels that encourag-ing the girls to step it up and work as a team instead of individuals is the best way to improve.

“I feel like they have a lot to work on,” Stein said. “They need to step it up for Varsity.”

The Varsity Knightline will be working hard as a team to pre-pare themselves for an upcoming competition that will be held later this year in Chicago. Stein feels that the new set of girls will have to step it up to be able to do well in the competition.

“Our team is great this year, and I think that it’s great to have a variety of people in the team, but I feel that the new girls have a lot to work on,” Stein said. “I also think that if we work really hard and not dance as individuals but as a synchronized team, then we will do good in competitions.”

New Homecoming Football tradition is bornsam dulaney & taylor berra

Fans of country singer Kenny Chesney have heard the song be-fore. Boys of Fall, moving music video and documentary dedicated to high school Football players, talks of what it’s like to play high school Football. The roaring crowd, the smell of fresh cut grass, the feel of the uniform and the closeness of the huddle.

When Kelley Hurrell, a football parent this year, heard the song, she felt that she had to share the feeling the video inspired.

“My thought was, ‘How we could bring that feeling around Francis Howell North with all the future, present, and past players coming together at Homecoming?’” Hurrell said.

Hurrell presented it to Football coach, John Brune and Activi-ties Director Mike Janes, both who approved it in the hopes of the tradition catching on.

“I heard it and it irritated me that I wasn’t playing,” senior Dan

Boschen said. “And then I thought about it- If I wasn’t playing, I

lights.”The lyrics were enough to

move Boschen to make the deci-sion to play on the Football team after taking a break from the team last year.

“I think it really brings together the fact that all the boys are com-ing back home to FHN on Home-coming to be under the Friday Night Lights and to run back on

Hurrell said. “Hopefully it brings people together. It’s a celebration of the special bond.”

FHNTODAY.COM

2010-2011 FHN vs. Holt

“I love the time and attention the teachers give me at SCC.”

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Tune in during homeroom (8:45 a.m.) to watch the assembly activities LIVEor watch them at home!

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FHNtoday comyour source for Knightly news

Check out FHNtoday.com this week to see new photo galleries from all of the homecoming activities such as the Spirit days, the Homecoming football game and the pep assembly.

Multimedia

FHNtoday TV

Take a look at the photo gallery from the JV Softball game against Howell by Sam Hurrell in the Multimedia tab.

Check out the podcast this Friday for sports and news coverage.

Stories Other Perks

Blogs

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Calendar

Sports scores

WeatherCheck out our blogs, including Wade Dismuke’s on new technology

Stay familiar with things going on in your school and community by reading stories posted daily.

Sign up online and receive free weekly e-mail newsletters to stay updated on what’s new online.

Instantly see what’s scheduled to go on with clubs, sports, and special events by viewing the calendar.

Missed the game? Check online afterwards to see the scores of our team’s events from the previous night.

Daily weather updates are now available on the home page for easy access.

Photo galleries

page by kelsey bell29 OPINIONS

FHN

ENTERTAINMENT“Easy A”

“Life As We Know It”

On Oct. 8, yet another ro-mantic comedy/drama is coming to theatres. In Life as We Know It, Holly (played by Katherine Heigl) and Eric (played by Josh

date. Both are happy to be rid of each other when the night is over. But when their mutual friends die, Holly and Eric are shocked that their friends made them the mutual guardians of their daughter. The rest is horri-bly predictable. Countless other movies have been made with the same plot: a guy and a girl hate each other, then they are thrown together in unexpected circumstances. It does not take

ending. Overall, Life as We Know It does not seem worth the $10 to see it in theatres.

With YouTube, Twitter and Facebook on the rise, it was only a matter of time before an entire show was dedicated to them and their contents. Enter, comedian Daniel Tosh. He hosts Tosh.0, a show that revolves around commenting on videos of stu-pid things that people do, airing tweets from fans that comment

on his show, and challenging his viewers to partake in activi-ties for him to use on the show. Tosh.0 airs on Comedy Central, with a new episode every Wed night at 9:30.

popular video that features someone doing something par-ticularly funny and gives them their own “Web Redemption”- a chance to give their side of

what is going on in the video and redeem themselves.

The show has an interactive website, allowing fans to submit their videos, view tweets from viewers and read blog posts by Tosh. And with two seasons under his belt, Daniel Tosh has become a staple in the comedic taste of high schoolers. This is a great show for high school and college age people to watch.

sam dulaney

paige yungermann

“Easy A” simply put, eas-ily deserves an A . It contains originality not seen in most romantic comedies. Most ro-mantic comedies have a girl with low self-esteem who’s like ‘I need a guy’ then a guy shows up and sweeps her off her feet. The end. Those types of movies lose their punch af-ter overuse of the same themes, insecure characters, and happy endings. Easy A however had and extremely irresistible tone.

Emma Stone, plays Olive Penderghast, did a fantastic job of portraying a quick-witted high school girl. She makes Olive seem like a real person who anybody could relate to.

Easy A contains large strokes of creativity, original-ity, and light-hearted humor.

giving a chance.

aurora blanchard

Right before you pop a new CD into the stereo, there’s al-ways a few moments of mount-ing excitement. That mystery factor that comes along with listening to a new band. So naturally, before I listened to

“So Obvious,” I was anxious to hear some new material.

Ten seconds into the song, I felt all of that mounting excite-ment crash back down into sad disappointment. I’ve heard this song before. You’ve heard this

song before, and so has anyone who’s ever listened to Boys like Girls, Cartel or virtually any other pop-rock boy band.

Runner Runner’s biography promises that the “SoCal” band members create “One mighty sound”, which sounds more like a montage of the same pop music we’ve been hearing for years. “So Obvious” is your typical I-love-you-and-want-to-sing-it-to-you-over-and-over-again song. It isn’t cover-your-ears horrible music, but it isn’t blast-in-the-car special by any means.

Their bio also claims that Runner Runner possesses “skillful song writing.” I have to disagree with this statement as well, due to the fact that in one song they sing, “loving you only gave me paper cuts”. It’s one of those lines that sounds catchy with the music but once you stop and think about what they’re actually saying, be-comes pretty silly.

The band’s self titled debut album drops Dec. 7, and judg-

isn’t going to be anything worth getting excited about.

kelsey bell

page by lindsey harms 41 FHNTODAY.COM

PG-13

PG-13

(photo courtesy of Moxie)

MUSIC

It always starts with good intentions. However juvenile, it may help to build relationships with-in the team. But it isn’t the only way.

Many clubs around FHN have a form of initia-tion that helps build a bond among players, a form of initiation that helps create a line of respect- dressing new recruits up in obnoxious costumes or shaving their heads. But in the community and across the country, it’s being looked at differently than it used to: less of a harmless activity and more a dangerous form of team bonding.

While here at North the forms of hazing don’t reach the physical extremes that have drawn na-tional attention, things aren’t, in any sense of the word, good. In recent years, the victims of hazing at North have expressed feelings of fear, self-de-privation and temporary animosity towards those whom have hazed them. The team bond that en-sues these events develops out of a general respect that is rooted in fear and remorse. Not necessarily

NORTH STAR TAKE: Hazing, Not a viable option

Freedom of speech isn’t an excuse for ignorant words

While I am one to stress at the very highest degree the right of any person to exercise their freedom of speech, I have to put my fist down when it comes to the use of the word “retarded” at school. It has passed the phase of being a minute nuisance in the back corner of a classroom and become a problem that merits response.

Where it originated, I will never know. Teen-agers (as well as teachers) used to throw the term “gay” around in a derogatory sense (and they still do) but not as much as they do the r-word. And I never will understand that.

Who ever said that it would be appropriate to use a term- that so negatively paints an unknow-

ing person- as an adjective to describe situations that hardly are as much of a problem that students make them out to be? Are there just no more words? Or is it that people are just past that point of laziness where looking up words that they are in obvious need of is a day-long chore? There is absolutely no reason for people to use the word that I am referring to. It makes you sound unedu-cated. Among other things.

When will we see the end of the r-word? It won’t ever disappear from the world, but it can disappear from North. Let this mark the begin-ning of the end for the r-word here. I challenge you: you teachers, you students, you people, I challenge you to wipe the r-word from your vo-cabulary. It is filth. It is rude. Let it also be gone.

kevin beerman

page by abby west42 OPINIONS

the most fruitful of soils.The district’s new zero-tolerance policy has

been created to address the discrepancies about when an activity is hazing and whether that is le-gal in high school, an area that is currently omit-ted from any Missouri statutes regarding hazing at the high school or college level. The new policy dictates that any form of physical or psychological initiation that forces a new team member to do something that they would not or-dinarily do is wrong and will be forbidden in all school sponsored programs. This is a tremendous step forward for the district. If there is one place that a student should be able to feel safe, it is school. The atmosphere created by hazing fosters a general fear that can be, in even small and infantile forms, harmful and distract-ing.

Hazing is harmful, and the type of bond that it

On behalf of the editorial staff

creates is only superficial. Where is it written that only Neanderthalic practices are the way that we can build a bridge of team bondage? Aren’t there more sophisticated and effective ways to create that team closeness that sports so desperately need? Couldn’t teammates try letting time work its course and let the bond develop that way? We

need a less dangerous way to show our brother- and sister-hood. Team social gatherings outside of prac-tice; the whole team pitching in to help put together food packages for

children in Haiti; taking time out of practice to get to know about each other a little more- these are practical options. These are all things that can build sturdier friendships and inseparable teams. If we come up with ways to bond with each other as people that aren’t so dangerous, our relation-ships will grow stronger, as well as our character.

Kevin Beerman stresses that the word "retarded" needs to be eliminated from everyone's vocabulary. (kaitlyn williams)

New construction will pay off in the long run

Religious freedom or common courtesy disputed over mosque

As a resident of St. Peters, I see first hand what the con-struction of highway 364 does to traffic and the time of com-mutes. In the beginning, the overpass of Harvester Road had a large impact on my day to day commute. Since I live off of Harvester Road, I had to find out-of-the-way alternate routes to get around the construc-

page by adam rapert 43 FHNTODAY.COM

taylor berra

amanda cornett

In 2010, plans for a mosque in New York City were proposed. The location- an old Burlington Coat Factory which was destroyed on September 11- is located two blocks away from Ground Zero. The Mosque is not the only building proposed to go up. A Greek Orthodox Church, which was also destroyed in the attacks, is re-questing permission to rebuild. I don’t think we should be focus-ing our finances and efforts on approving plans and building new buildings. We should spend our money on building memorials to commemorate the ones who lost lives in the attack and in the rescue attempt.

New York is a little behind on the rebuilding process on the World Trade Center construction and memorial. They should most definitely not be approving or considering plans for new buildings until the memorial has been completed or is close to completion. Honors for the victims and the heroes should be at the top of their priority list.

There were many people who helped out on that tragic day and the days to follow. We as American citizens need to celebrate the people who faced that struggle; who did whatever they could to try and hold off the attack; who searched for and saved people. We need to unite together and commemorate those people. And a perfect way to do such is by building memorials and statues. That is what we should be spending our money on. Not new buildings that have nothing to do with that day or those people.

tion and reach local business-es. While in the past, I drove around groaning and morning about the inconvenience of my travels, I am now very glad that the construction is taking place. My travel time is already much less and the highway is so well laid out that it is an easy breeze to drive on.

Last Tuesday, MoDot closed a section of Jungermann Road. While it will be closed for 8

weeks, alternate routes will be constructed to move around the construction. The closing is only a small part of the big plans for highway 364. Eventu-ally this highway will become a freeway with no stop lights, extending all the way out to O’Fallon. This means that it will be easier for drivers to travel around the entire county. That also means there will be an easier access to the multitude of

businesses that will (and cur-rently do) line 364.

Yes, it most likely will take an extra 10 minutes to get to your destination today, but in the end, Highway 364 will be-come a 8-lane freeway provid-ing shorter travel times, easier commutes, and an easier access to the variety of businesses along 364. Then, we will all be thankful for the more enjoyable and faster travels project.

Jungermann Road will be closed at Highway 94 starting on Sept. 20 at 5 a.m. Jungermann road is expected to reopen across Highway 94 before Thanksgiving this year. (sarah teson)

LISTEN

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adam rapert

Cell phone policy affects daily life at school

Damalas voices her opinion on our cell phone policy

I-

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chelsey damalas

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Junior Chelsey Damalas discusses the new rule allowing other Howell schools to use their cell phones during lunch and in the hallways. (nicole thompson)

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off the

I paid a l m o s t

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WEARtaylor bartram

page by amanda cornett44 OPINIONS

Hallways are for walking not talking

abby west

Editor-in-Chief:Sam Dulaney

Managing Editors:Logan Ponche

Kelsey Bell

Editors:

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During passing period many people crowd and block the halls by just talking and standing around. People need

to be courteous and stand out of the way for the people to walk by and get to classes on time. (nicole thompson)

Jason Michalski

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Emily Wilkins

Sby

BDebbie Bouquet5 Lewis Court St. Peters, MO 63376 Phone: 636.928.5524

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expires 11-10-10FHNHS

WORLD

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North Star 2010 September Edition

Documents

high school art students

high school students

art gallery idea

ap art studio students

art shows

school district

open art gallery independent

zack smithey