November 2012

War

riorLedger

Photo by JILEA FobAIR

Coffee disappoints, page 10.

Wrestling team wins first two meets, see page 16

Inde

x:

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Attitude of Gratitude

Page 8&9

Code of Silence

Page 14

Undefeated Wrestling Team

Page 16

Jessica TobinNews Editor

With only 37 percent of the U.S. population being eligible to donate blood, services like Red Cross and ARUP turn to schools and other or-ganizations to sponsor blood drives for their needed blood. On Novem-ber 12 Taylorsville High School was one of the places to sponsor a blood drive. Taylorsville’s Key Club held a blood drive in conjunction with ARUP blood services. The students all felt excitement to be able to donate blood for patients who need it. ARUP prides itself on being one of the only places to donate blood to patients at Shriners Hospital for Children, and Primary Childrens Hospital. “We decided to hold a blood drive because we always do, twice a

Fundraising Clubs

Page 17

Justin MorganCopy Editor

With a score of 358 of 600 an-nounced November 30th, Taylors-ville High School—like every other public school in Utah this month—got its review from UCAS, a new state program that branched from February’s Senate Bill. 64, written to replace the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program. This evaluation of the former

top ten academic-achieving high school was based on graduation rates, CRT scores, and student growth between grade levels. Utah schools now face potential penalties including salary cuts and employee terminations under the new legislation. “I welcome the focus on indi-vidual students and their growth,” said Granite School District Super-intendent, Dr. Martin Bates. “This also helps recognize teacher efforts

with students who have grown tremendously but haven’t reached benchmarks and with students who began the year above benchmark but grow because of their teacher’s efforts.” To meet the federal requirement of a school grading system—re-quired for an NCLB waiver—the Utah State Office of Education replaced the Utah Performance Assessment System for Students (U-PASS) with a new program

called the Utah Comprehensive Ac-countability System (UCAS). In Utah, 1032 public schools were evaluated by the new program and given a score. Taylorsville received a score of 358—the fourth highest score in Granite School District—falling behind Hunter High with a score of 362, Olympus at 415, and Skyline High School with a score of 422. The high score in the state of 586, came from Cache School

Edgar EstradaEditor-in-Chief

Obamacare, if implemented, would provide or force every family to get a form of health insurance and would be available to adolescents until the age of 26. Utah’s Congress and Governor Herbert; however, are lenient towards dropping the nation-wide issued Obamacare health plan, leaving a large amount of people within the state without health insur-ance. “I have asthma and medication for asthma can be pretty expensive.” said Bennie Washington (actual name withheld). “Not having health insurance really puts a burden on my shoulders because I know I can’t do a lot of the things I want to do because of my asthma holding me back and knowing that I don’t have the medication to be there for me.” After being given an extension to

Photo by JILEA FobAIR

Kourtney and Crieghton, in-house preschool students are guided by the helping hands of senior, MaCenzie Jones, a student in Early Childhood Education, in a Thanksgiving relay wheelbarrow race.

Jessica Tobin and Emmalee Garrett

News Editors

Students crowd the commons to attempt the pull up bar, climb on top of a full sized tank, and most importantly, to gain information about careers in the military. On November 14, teachers willingly let students miss classes to attend Taylorsville’s Annual Military

Career Day. For seniors especially, the knowledge gained from attend-ing this event can give teenagers another post-high school option. Not only does it give them another career path, but it offers financial aid to those kids who are college bound. While in service, military members can access up to $4,500 a year in tuition assistance. “[Military day] can impact the

seniors. College benefits are a big deal. [The military] pay about anything when it comes to educa-tion,” said Sergeant Layne Nelson, a military representative. “It gets them more interested in joining.” When students think of the army, they think of being on the front line, protecting the country. And while that is a big part of the military, it’s not the only thing it offers. The military offers jobs in

fields like engineering, business administration, and construction. “There might be kids here today that saw the stock car, wanted to work on the engine, and are now considering joining for the auto mechanics,” said Sergeant Hard-castle. Not only can Military Day spark interest in students who

School evaluation lower than state average

Blood drive held by Key Club

Military Career Day gives students possible alternative post-high school option

Students may lose insurance

Utah evaluates Obamacare exemption

only 37% of the U.S.’ population is eligible to donate blood.

Blood DriveTaylorsville High expected to

save up to 189 lives.

See Insurance page 2

See Military Day page 2

See Blood Drive page 2

Photo by SAm bURFIENd

John Anderson, junior, donates blood Nov. 12th.

Thanksgiving Race

INFogRAPhIC by dAvId kEhR

INFogRAPhIC by dAvId kEhR See School page 2

Photo by hUNtER RIChARdS

Local National Guard personnel gather to help students understand different subdivisions in Military Careers.

Uta

h’s

unin

sure

d

14.7% of population

015

030

045

060

0

State Average:

Taylorsville High:

600

300

358

0

398

Volume XXXIV Issue III Taylorsville High School Taylorsville, Utah 84123 November 30, 2012

News News briefsiTunes top tenTop TweetsNew York Times best sellersNovember 30, 201202

Rihanna “Diamonds”

Bruno Mars“Locked Out of Heaven”

PSY“Gangnam Style”

Adele“Skyfall”

Kesha“Die Young”

The Lumineers“Ho Hey”

Maroon 5“One More

Night”

Flo Rida“I Cry”

Phillip Phillips“Home”

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Christina Perri“A Thousand Years Pt. 2”

iTunes Top Ten Songs

News Briefs

Don’t forget to put your name on the note when asking someone

to the dance.

My ACT score was up 1: *FIST PUMP!

#improvement

No Shave November, because you can’t see my facial hair anways.

You’re in the school parking lot and

you’re picking your nose...#why

Tacos are the bread of life.

My children won’t get to experience a Twinkie. That’s some scary stuff.

1

1

3

3

5

5

2

2

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Best SellersNew York Times

Fict

ion

Non

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Granite Youth Symphony

The Granite Sr. Youth Symphony’s Holiday Fun Concert is on December 6th, at Taylorsville High School at 7:00pm. Under the direction of Taylors-ville’s Gary ‘Doc’ Jensen, Cottonwood’s Amber Tuckness, and Bingham’s Dr. Jim Thompson, the orchestra will perform holiday favorites such as the “Polar Express” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Members of the Granite Jr. Youth Symphony will also get a chance to sit side-by-side with the Sr. Youth Symphony and perform “White Christmas.” Admission is free.

Swim

The boy’s swim team won their meet against Olym-pus. Taylorsville swim remains undefeated.

Letters for Soldiers

Sophomore student body officers participated in a service project the week of November 26-30. They wrote and collected ‘thank you’ letters to deployed soldiers that are far from home.

Wrestling

Taylorsville’s undefeated wrestlers will compete at the Stallion Stampede JV Tournament will be on December 21 and 22 at Stansbury High.

Choir & Orchestra Concert

Taylorsville High School choral and instrumental programs join forces to perform its annual holiday concert. The first performance will be at 6:00pm and the second at 8:00pm in the auditorium. The earlier show will feature performing groups such as our Men’s Chorus, Women’s Choir, Junior Choir, Concert Band, and Jazz Band. The later show will feature Graces, Concert Choir, Madrigals, Concert Orchestra, and a large combination of all of Taylors-ville’s instrumental groups and the Concert Choir with alumni.

Boys’ Basketball

The boys’ basketball team will be participating at the Jordan Tournament from December 27-29 and 31st at Jordan High School.

Girls’ Basketball

The girls’ basketball team will be playing home games against Weber High School (Dec. 7,) Ameri-can Fork High School (Dec 11,) and Fremont High School (Dec 18.)

Winter Break

Several warriors may need reminding that Winter Break is from December 21 to January 1st.

Sterling Scholar Winners

Taylorsville High School’s principal, Dr. Garrett Muse, announced the Sterling Scholar Winners on November 26. Winners were as follows: Paul Wissler for the English category, Sierra Brothwell for the Mathematics category, Christy Lusty for the Social Science category, Minh Nguyen for the Sci-ence category, Cecilia Tang for the Foreign Lan-guage category, Andrew Robles for the Trade and Technical Education category, Amber Lundgreen for the Family and Consumer Science category, Andy Ho for the Business and Marketing category, Preston Hughes for the Speech and Drama category, Joshua Diamond for the Visual Arts category, Gabriela Ma-gallanes for the Music category, and Sarah Thornock for the Dance category.

Don’t Drive Stupid

On November 8th, ZERO Fatalities hosted an as-sembly at Taylorsville High School to teach young teens about the responsibility of driving an automo-bile.

They brought in a guest speaker to inspire teens with

Childrens Hospital. “We decided to hold a blood drive because we always do, twice a year.” Said Lucero Jimenez, member of Key Club. The blood donated from schools and other organiza-

tions supply roughly about half of all blood donations across America. Taylorsville has always had a good turnout from the students to donate blood. This year with the age to donate blood now lowered to age sixteen more students were able and willing to donate. The Key Club felt that

the students were more will-ing to donate blood based on the fact that they were able to sign up to miss a class. “Taylorsville had do-nated this year, the last time we checked, 63 pints of blood to ARUP.” Said Jimenez. According to ameri-casblood.org every one pint of blood donated can save up to

three lives. That means the 63 pints of blood Taylorsville’s students donated can save up to 189 lives. The average time to donate blood only takes about 10 minutes, but from the time you get there to the time you leave, takes about an hour to get through. 10 minutes of your time can save three people.

From Blood Drive page 1

Students from DECA, voluteering at the food drive set up by, Mrs. Paulsen, DECA advisor by gathering boxes of food that will be donated to help families in need.

Photo by Mandy brenchely

DECA collects food for local food bank

Emmalee Garrettreporter

While students and their families prepare to deck the halls and dress up their turkeys, there are many who look towards the upcoming holiday meals and see uncer-tainty on their plate. Accord-ing the Utah Food Bank (www.utahfood-bank.org), about 472,000 Utahns run the risk of missing a meal every day. During the month of No-vember, DECA put on a food drive to help keep the Tay-lorsville Food Pantry stocked for the holidays. “This time of year, food banks either increase or

decrease,” said Erin Paulsen, DECA advisor. Food banks provide many low income families with a way to eat when worst comes to worst. But they can only provide while supplies last. “Food drive donations to help,” said Keith Barlow,

Taylorsville food pantry manager. “Luckily, it’s been full this holiday because of large dona-tions coming in.” In 2008, just about 14.6 percent of Americans live in a low food security household.

Food banks help those in need of a little assistance by providing families, that meet the income requirements, with a certain amount of food appropriately proportionate to the size of the family. A fam-

ily may come in up to three times a month to collect their food, while supplies last.

To up the incentive, DECA promised to hold a pizza party for the class who collected the most cans and many teachers

gave extra credit for students who brought in cans. “I went around a couple neighborhoods to collect food for the food drive with a couple friends,” said Shannon Napples, senior. “We got tons

of cans to donate. People will donate if you come to them, usually.” The winning class was Ms. Elkins (CLASS) with over 700 cans collected and Mrs. Paulsen’s 3B class came in

second with about 500 cans. “We were able to donate over 1500 cans,” said, Erin Paulsen, DECA advisor, said. “We did it [the food drive] because people are in a real need for it.”

Over 1,500 cans were donated by students

NewsCanned Food Drive

Volunteer Work NOVEMBER 30, 2012 03

“I went around

a couple

neighborhoods to

collect food for the

food drive with a

couple friends”

-Shannon Napples

high score in the state of 586, came from Cache School District, earned by Summit School. The average score for high schools in Utah is 398.

“The state says, ‘[UCAS] tells us whether you are a good school or a bad school,’ and we definitely want to compete,” said Taylorsville principal, Dr. Garrett Muse. “They’re measuring our schools based on CRT scores. In this school, we need to say ‘how do we increase the scores in those areas so that it better demonstrates the qual-ity of our school’. We need to find a way to improve our scores in the required areas.”

Each school in Utah can earn a maximum of 600 points, 300 of which are determined by student growth (i.e. CRT score improve-ment, etc.) while the other 300 points are earned through student achievement (i.e. CRT passing rates, graduation rates, etc.). There 300 points in each cat-egory are divided into two sub-cat-egories. Under the student growth umbrella, one evalu-ates the growth of the entire student body and the other isolates the growth of students that are below profi-cient. And under the student achievement category, student proficiency and student readi-ness are assessed.

To create a system that would better harmonize with Utah’s education goals, the Utah State Legislature passed Senate Bill 64 with goals of raising the level of ac-countability for all educators,

highlighting the importance of continuous instructional improvement, and requir-ing greater accountability for administrators. The bill ties salary to satisfactory educator and administrator performance, and it advances and clarifies the process for employee termination.

“This bill is not intended to solve every problem within public education,” said Sen-ate sponsor of the bill, Sen. Aaron Osmond, “but to begin the process of improving how we manage our personnel and setting a new expectation for what we will be looking for in the leadership of our district and school administration.”

While there are alternative assessment means offered by UCAS for students with spe-cial needs, the code also states that if fewer than 95% of the school’s students participate in the assessment, the school will receive a failing grade.

“For the growth points there is a statistical conver-sion that takes kids’ CRT

scores and identifies all the students in the state who got identical scores. Of that group, with a his-tory of iden-tical scores, they then look at the next year’s scores and spread them out over a bell curve to see who from that group now scores high, who low, and who av-erage,” said

Bates. “That then rewards schools who are helping [students] ‘grow’ as compared to the others in their group, and doesn’t reward schools whose students slide down the backside of the bell curve.”

The ‘growth’ category of the new system is what makes this system so different from prior evaluation tools.

“I like that [the Utah State Legislature] is including more things in the evaluation,” said AP Psychology Teacher and Granite Education Associa-tion Representative, Shannon Hanks. “As a psychology teacher, I know that you don’t want to evaluate your future employee on just the five-minute interview: you also want to look recommenda-tions from past employers, work experience, etc.”

The ‘readiness’ component is another point of interest in Granite School District. “We want to increase graduation rates, which fall under the ‘readiness’ category,” said Principal Garrett Muse.

While Taylorsville’s score of 120 out of 150 may seem a substantial achievement, school district schools will be required to focus on improv-ing graduation rates according to Muse.

“As a school and as the su-perintendent has asked us, he wants us to put a lot of focus into that readiness category. We want to see our graduation rate at Taylorsville go up by ten percent over the next four years,” said Muse.

While this news is ap-plauded by many who were in opposition to the No Child Left Behind Act, it has also spurred concern in Granite School District. One of these concerns hits close to home. Taylorsville High School, which has long been lauded as one of Utah’s top ten academ-ic-achieving high schools, is now ranked lower than the state average of UCAS scores by 30 points (8%) and below a perfect score by 242 points (60%)

“It will definitely hurt Taylorsville, but we were only third in the district,” said Hanks. “As low as our score is, it’s the third highest score in Granite School District.”

According the director of student assessment for Granite School District, Dr. Darryl Thomas, this will not be the case. “The emphasis in Granite School District is not going to be ‘teach the test’. It is going to be ‘teach the new curriculum.’”

There has also been con-

cern among Granite District educators. “As a practical matter, we hear lots of posi-tive comments from many beginning teachers because we’ve made it so easy for them to know what they are expected to do,” said Bates. “For many of our truly great veteran teachers however, this is really hard because they’ve refined and nearly perfected lesson plans and activities over many years that no longer align with the state expectations.”

“We viewed [the No Child Left Behind Act] as being very punitive because in 2014 it would have been impossible for any school in the United States to pass, virtually,” said Thomas. One of the most notable difference between UCAS and No Child Left Behind is that UCAS does not penalize schools for not reaching their student achievement goal, or An-nual Measurable Objectives (AMOs). “It is strictly a goal. And it will be recalculated every year according to how they have done previously,” said Thomas.

“Since this is the first year for UCAS reports, there isn’t comparative data for previous years,” said the Utah State Office of Education in a re-cent press release. “State edu-cation officials will continue to review the reports to make sure they are a fair reflec-tion of a school’s academic achievement and will make adjustments accordingly.”

The road to creating Utah’s combined and revised edu-cational evaluative tools, in-cluding both UCAS and SB 64, involved cooperative efforts from multiple stake-holders.

“This bill represents historic collaborative efforts within the legislature, parents, the public education commu-nity, and teachers throughout the state,” said the House sponsor of the bill, Rep. Fran-cis Gibson. “This is the first piece of legislation where we look at holding administra-tion—instead of just teach-ers—responsible through performance evaluation.”

When Osmond, made his

initial plan public, several ed-ucators began expressing con-cerns and potential ramifica-tions that could be seen down the road. To address these concerns, the Senator visited several schools, commit-tees, and boards across Utah. After hours of collaboration with teachers, administrators, board mem-bers, and superinten-dents, the bill passed the Sen-ate with a vote of 26 to 2 and the House with a nearly unanimous vote of 73 to 1.

This bill puts more expecta-tions on school and district administra-tion begin-ning with the 2014-15 school year. Administra-tors will be evaluated every year in four cat-egories: (1) student achieve-ment, (2) leadership skills, (3) proficiency in completing yearly evaluations of faculty members, and (4) any other areas local school boards feel are relevant.

Upon evaluation, if an ad-ministrator fails to complete any of these components, up to 15% of the administrator’s extra earnings can be put into an assessment tool. In other

words, if an administrator’s annual salary is $100,000, he will bring home $100,000 at the end of the evaluation; however, if he makes any ex-tra money that year (i.e. pay raise, bonus, etc.) and fails to meet all requirements upon evaluation, that extra money will be put aside until the next

year when the admin-istrator is reevaluated.

Though this new state re-quirement will not be implement-ed until the 2014-15 school year, Granite School District has already began to es-tablish new policies and procedures to respond to the bill. The district is currently developing a system called the Administra-tor Ac-countability

Program and will evaluate and penalize administrators in Granite District according to the state requirements of SB 64.

The UCAS reports are now public on the Utah State Office of Education website. The Utah Comprehensive Accountability System is a branch of a recently passed bill focusing on education employment reform in Utah.

From School page 1 and Spanish Version page 5

“They’re measuring our schools based on CRT scores. In this school, we

need to say ‘how do we increase

the scores in those areas so

that it better demonstrates

the quality of our school’.”

- Principal, Garrett Muse

“This bill is not intended to solve

every problem within public

education, but to begin the process of improving how we manage our personnel and setting a new

expectation for what we will be

looking for in the leadership of our

district and school administration.”-Senator Aaron

Osmond

News Social Media vs. College

Acceptance

FundraisingNovember 30, 201204

Danilynn Ahlstrom Reporter

As if applying for college and getting accepted isn’t hard enough, college admis-sions officials have recently made it even harder. When a prospective student applies to college, it is expected that his or her application will be judged; whether it be on grades, test scores, or a com-bination of factors. Now col-lege admissions officers are using a different method of viewing an applicant’s profile: Facebook. Facebook has become a vital source for admission professionals looking for background information on prospective students. With the world of college admis-sions becoming more and more competitive the small-est factor, such as one point on the ACT, could separate a student from a scholarship or even admittance. Usually this factor comes from a low test score, a bad essay or just a

GPA that isn’t high enough. A new question is coming up more and more: could that small factor be coming from a Facebook profile? According to a recent survey by Kaplan, a test preparation company, the answer could be yes. “I think their decision to use social media is aw-ful. On social networking sites you see the complete opposite of who we are as people and students.” said senior, Steven Fitzgerald. “The pro-fessionalism and level of education they are looking for will not be found there. Those sites are our places for fun.” The students that did not opt to set privacy setting on Facebook, the consequences may have come in the form of college rejection letters. In

the Kaplan Test Prep survey, 12 percent of respondents who reported checking social media sites noted that posts - such as vulgar language in a status update or alcohol consumption in photos - nega-tively impacted a prospective student’s admission chances.

“While ap-plying for col-lege there are so many re-sponsibilities placed upon us. The last thing I want to worry about is what a college could find on my facebook page,” said senior, Sarah

Christiansen. “Not only can you risk admittance to your chosen college, it can ruin so many other job opportuni-ties.” Facebook users who will be applying to college in the near future may want to take advantage of their public pro-

file as means of showcasing strengths and achievements. Posting projects, research, and writing on Facebook for schools to view is a good way to boost your chance in

admissions. However, using Facebook to post pictures of you and your friends par-ticipating in frowned upon activities, will definitely ruin your chances in get admit-

ted to college. Prospective students should be viewed as students who will better that college and make a positive contribution.

Jessica TobinNews Editor

The student watches as the door slams again. Trekking to the next house and the door opens, maybe it will be a miracle and they will want to buy something. Its hot outside and all the student wants to do is raise some money for his school. Many students all over the district and within Taylorsville High school experience this several times a year. Students have been raised since elementary school to fundraise money. Starting in Kindergarten selling cookie dough to their parents, and chocolate bars to their grand-parents. Students know how to sell, and many students sell well, but instead of the toys and prizes they earn for sell-ing in elementary, now years later, kids are still continuing to fundraise for their schools. Taylorsville students do a lot to earn just a little bit of spending money for their sports, clubs, and other orga-nizations. With Utah schools receiving the lowest budgets out of all the states, extra money is highly needed. Each club has its own way of fundraising for their various activities. The par-ticipation and money from fundraising plays a big part in the way clubs and teams can participate in things. “Honestly without fund-raising we couldn’t do half the stuff we do. Even with the membership dues, we wouldn’t be able to go on a business trip at all.” Said Sherri Fullmer, FBLA advi-sor. FBLA has a very unique opportunity to raise a lot of money right at Taylorsville. With the school turning over a small room to sell food out

of for lunches, FBLA takes in a large amount of money to supply more lunch op-tions for the student body. The business Warrior World brings selling food is an easy fundraiser for the students to raise money with little effort.

“With Warrior World they come to us, it’s stuff that [the students] want.” Fullmer said. Fundraising may be a pain for the students and take a lot of time, but for the money it brings into groups it is worth it. “It’s a love and hate relationship with fundrais-ing. Luckily the officers and members are so wonderful. They do it without complain-ing and just go into Warrior World and work.” Fundraising often includes going to neighbors, friends, and relatives. For choir and band each year they partici-pate in a fundraiser both sell-ing happening books and later cookie dough. “We fundraise to go to tour, its hard selling happen-ing books and cookie dough,” Said Caleb Jewkes, senior in jazz band, “Since the people

who usually buy it are close neighbors and family.” Not all fundraising is door to door selling. In fact Superintendent Martin Bates has said the the school district tries to discourage door to door selling.

Funding for athletics is dif-ferent than funding for clubs and organizations. Clubs and

organizations receive a little money from the district at the beginning of the year. Athletics re-ceive money

anyway to coaches think will work, including through fundraisers. “Funding for athletics comes from anyway the school can. Vending ma-chines, fees, games, and per-formances all can go towards athletics.” Said Superinten-dent Martin Bates. Though athletics receive funds from the school in a variety of ways they still participate in a variety of fundraisers. One way that the girls soc-cer team has found is a good fundraiser is working conces-

sions at the University of Utah games. The students leave for the concession stand and it’s like working at a job, they sell the food and then receive a portion of the sales for their own groups. Journalism also participates in concessions. Students say the games are always busy so it seems like the clubs would take in a lot of money. “Concessions was incredible crazy, but it was fun.” Said Andrew Boyce, Senior in journalism. For journalism, money goes to equipment, equipment like printing costs, and comput-ers for designing. The cross country team recently had a fundraiser where people agreed to pay usually around ten or twenty cents per mile the team ran in a day. Accord-ing to most members of the team it was a very suc-cessful fundraiser for their team. While fundraising is somewhat a hassle, most students agree that the time and effort they put into it is worth it when they can af-ford to participate in activi-ties that would otherwise be impossible.

Social media affects college applicants

INfogRaphIc by EdgaR EstRada

Out of 350 Colleges surveyed

check facebook accounts

of the 26% says it negatively a�ects college applications

26%

35%

Students fundraise for their clubs

“On social networking

sites you see the complete opposite of

who we are...” said Steven Fitzgerald

Warrior World is the business department’s main way to fundraise for various activities.photo by JIlEa fobaIR

Not only can Military Day spark interest in students who had not been consider-ing joining, it can also help students who were already interested gain more informa-tion. “You have people who are interested and they can get into contact with recruiters,” said Francisco Gonzalez Ser-geant First Class, in JROTC. “Who knows, the recruiter might help you choose your career.” According to Sergeant Hardcastle, Military Day is put on for the purpose of sharing information, and three people.

December 14 by the federal government to choose whether or not to implement Obamacare, Governor Gary Herbert says it is undecided whether or not Utah will continue to participate in Obamacare because there are too many “uncertainties” and unanswered questions. Ac-cording to cbsnews.com, Her-bert worries how much it will cost the state to participate in the Obamacare health reform. Increased costs with the dis-tribution of health insurance will obviously be deducted through taxes, which upsets many workers and Utah of-ficials. Other questions asked on Obamacare by Herbert are

whether it will be possible for the Utah government to give the consumer options with the health plan and also if policy makers will have any say in its operation.

“I understand some people need health insurance, but I don’t think its fair that people who work have to pay more taxes for the ones who can’t afford it,” said John Smith (actual name withheld).

Obamacare will go into effect early 2014 for those states who decide to accept its terms. This health reform will force everyone to get a form of health insurance depending on personal appeal in the package and price. Obamacare is also to expand Medicaid and Medicare programs and offer assistance to those who cannot afford it. The health insurance being provided by the government would actually be coming out of taxpayers’ income.

Utah currently provides a health exchange plan which is more focused on small businesses but is not heavily regulated. According to pnhp.org, as of 2011, only 0.12 percent of Utah’s residents are covered by the exchange plan provided. Therefore, a large amount of people living within the state that need it will be left uninsured if it is not already provided to them.

“Not having health insur-ance is a stress on me and a constant worry for my health,” said Ricardo Alvarez (actual name withheld).

From Military Day page 1

Fundraising brings in money and is utilized by all clubs

From Insurance page 1

“It’s a love and hate

relationship with fundraising,” -Shari Fullmer

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NoticiasNuevo sistema de clasificación

Utah seguro de salud Novemer 30, 2012 05

Justin Morgan Copy Editor

Con una puntuación de 358 de 600 anunciado el 30 de Noviembre, Taylorsville High School-como cualquier otra escuela pública en Utah este mes - consiguió su revisión de UCAS, un nuevo programa estatal que ramificada el Senado de febrero del Bill. 64, escrito para reemplazar la ley federal Que Ningún Niño Se Quede Atrás (NCLB) del programa. Esta evaluación de la ex top ten logro-académico de secundaria se basó en las tasas de graduación, las puntuaciones de la CRT y el crecimiento de los estudiantes entre los grados. Escuelas de Utah se enfrentan ahora a po-sibles sanciones que incluyen recortes salariales y despidos de empleados bajo la nueva legislación. “Doy la bienvenida al el enfoque en los estudiantes y su crecimiento”, dijo el Su-perintendente del Distrito Es-colar de Granite, el Dr. Martin Bates. “Esto también ayuda a reconocer los esfuerzos de los maestros con los estudiantes que han crecido enorme-mente, pero no han llegado a los puntos de referencia y con los alumnos que comenzaron el año por encima del punto de referencia, pero crecen a causa de los esfuerzos de su maestro.” Para cumplir con el requi-sito federal de un sistema de calificación escolar, necesario para una renuncia, la Ofi-cina Estatal de Utah NCLB de Educación sustituyó al Sistema de Evaluación de Desempeño Utah para Estudi-antes (U-PASS) con un nuevo programa llamado Sistema Integral de Utah Rendición de Cuentas (UCAS). En Utah, 1032 escuelas públicas fueron evaluados por el nuevo programa y le asigna un puntaje. Taylors-ville recibió una puntuación de 358-la quarta más alta puntuación Distrito Granite School-High quedando atrás con una puntuación de 362 y Skyline High School, con una puntuación de 422 Hunter. La puntuación más alta en el es-tado de 586, llegó del Distrito Escolar de caché, ganado por la Escuela de Summit. El pun-taje promedio de las escuelas secundarias en Utah es 398. “El Estado dice:” [UCAS] nos dice que es usted una bue-na escuela o una mala escuela “, y definitivamente queremos

competir”, dijo Taylorsville principal, el Dr. Garrett Muse. “Están midiendo nuestras escuelas basándose en los resultados de CRT. En esta escuela, tenemos que decir que decir ‘¿cómo aumentar los resultados en esas áreas para que mejor demuestra la calidad de nuestra escuela. Tenemos que encontrar una manera de mejorar nuestras puntuaciones en las áreas requeridas. Para crear un sistema que mejor armonice con los obje-tivos de educación de Utah, la Legislatura del Estado de Utah aprobó la medida 64 Bill con los objetivos de elevar el nivel de rendición de cuentas para todos los educadores, destacando la importancia de la mejora continua de instrucción, y que requieren una mayor responsabilidad para los administradores. El proyecto vincula a sueldo educador y el rendimiento sat-isfactorio del administrador, y lo hace avanzar y clarifica el proceso para la terminación de los empleados. “Este proyecto de ley no pretende resolver todos los problemas dentro de la edu-cación pública”, dijo Osmond, “pero para empezar el proceso de me-jorar la forma en que gestionar nuestro personal y el es-tableci-miento de una nueva expecta-tiva para lo que vamos a estar buscan-do en la dirección de nuestro distrito y la administración de la escuela. “Si bien existen medios alternativos de evaluación ofrecidos por UCAS para los estudiantes con necesidades especiales, el código también establece que si menos del 95 por % de los alumnos de la escuela participan en la evalu-ación, la escuela recibirá una calificación reprobatoria. El ‘crecimiento’ categoría del nuevo sistema es lo que hace este sistema tan diferente de las herramientas de evalu-ación anteriores. “Me gusta que [la Legislatura del Estado de Utah] está incluyendo más cosas en la evaluación”, dijo AP Profesor de Psicología y la Asociación de Educación de granito Representante, Shannon Hanks. “Como pro-

fesor de psicología, sé que no quieres para evaluar su futuro empleado únicamente en la entrevista de cinco minu-tos: también quiere ver las recomendaciones de emplead-ores anteriores, experiencia laboral, etc” La “preparación” es otro componente punto de interés en el Distrito Escolar de Granite. “Queremos aumentar las tasas de graduación, que caen bajo la” preparación “categoría”, dijo el director Garrett Muse. Mientras Tay-lorsville puntuación de 120 de los 150 puede parecer un logro sustancial, las escuelas del distrito escolar tendrá que centrarse en mejorar las tasas de graduación de acuerdo con Muse. “Como una escuela y como el superintendente nos ha pedido, quiere que pongamos mucha atención en esa categoría preparación. Queremos que nuestra tasa de graduación en Taylorsville subir un diez por ciento en los próximos cuatro años “. Aunque esta noticia es aplaudido por muchos de los que estaban en contra de la ley No Child Left Behind Act, también ha estimulado la preocupación en el Distrito Escolar de Granite. Una de

estas preo-cupaciones golpea cer-ca de casa. Taylors-ville High School, que ha sido aclamado como uno de los mejores de Utah diez académicos

han alcanzado las escuelas secundarias, ahora se ubica por debajo del promedio estatal de las puntuaciones de UCAS en 30 puntos (8%) y por debajo de una puntuación perfecta de 242 puntos (60% ) “Definitivamente va a doler Taylorsville, pero sólo estábamos tercero en el dis-trito”, dijo Hanks. “A partir de nuestra puntuación es, es la tercera más alta puntuación en el Distrito Escolar de Gran-ite.” Según el director de evaluación de los alumnos para Granite School District, el Dr. Darryl Thomas, este no será el caso. “El énfasis en el Distrito Escolar de Granite no va a ser” enseñar la prueba ‘. Va a ser “enseñar el nuevo plan de estudios.” También ha habido preocu-pación entre los educadores

del distrito de granito. “En la práctica, escuchamos muchos comentarios positivos de los profesores principiantes porque muchos lo hemos hecho fácil para que sepan lo que se espera de ellos”, dijo Bates. “Para muchos de nuestros maestros veteranos verdaderamente grandes, sin embargo, esto es muy difícil porque se han refinado y casi perfeccionado los planes de lecciones y actividades durante muchos años que ya no se alinean con las expecta-tivas del estado”. “Nos vimos [No Child Left Behind Act ] como muy pu-nitiva porque en 2014, habría sido imposible para cualquier escuela en los Estados Unidos a pasar, prácticamente “, dijo Thomas. Una de las diferen-cias más notables entre UCAS y No Child Left Behind es que UCAS no penalice a las escuelas por no alcanzar su objetivo el logro del estudi-ante, o los objetivos mensu-rables anuales (AMO). “Es estrictamente una meta. Y se vuelve a calcular cada año de acuerdo con la forma en que lo han hecho antes “, dijoThomas. “Los funcionarios estatales de educación seguirá revisan-do los informes para asegura-rse de que son un fiel reflejo de los logros académicos de la escuela y hará los ajustes necesarios.” “Este proyecto representa históricos esfuerzos de colab-oración dentro de la legisla-tura, los padres, la comunidad de la educación pública, y los

maestros de todo el estado”, dijo el promotor en la Cámara del proyecto de ley, el diputa-do Francis Gibson. “Esta es la primera pieza de legislación cuando miramos holding administración, en lugar de sólo los maestros-responsable a través de la evaluación del desempeño.” Cuando el patrocinador del proyecto de ley del Senado, el Senador Aaron Osmond, hizo público su plan inicial, comenzó a varios educadores expresando su preocupación y las ramificaciones poten-ciales que se podían ver en el camino. Para hacer frente a estas preocupaciones, el senador visitó varias escuelas, comités y juntas en todo Utah. Después de horas de co-laboración con los maestros, administradores, consejeros, y superintendentes, el proyecto de ley aprobado por el Senado con una votación de 26 a 2 y la Cámara de Representantes con un voto casi unánime de 73 a 1. Este proyecto de ley pone más expectativas sobre la es-cuela y la administración del distrito empezando con el año escolar 2014-15. Los adminis-tradores serán evaluados cada año en cuatro categorías: (1). Rendimiento de los estudi-antes, (2) las habilidades de liderazgo, (3) competencia en la realización de evaluaciones anuales de los miembros de la facultad, y (4) cualquier otra área de las juntas escolares locales considere relevantesLuego de la evaluación , si un administrador no puede

completar cualquiera de estos componentes, hasta 15% de los ingresos adicionales del administrador se puede poner en una herramienta de evaluación. En otras palabras, si el salario anual de un ad-ministrador es de $ 100.000, se llevará a casa $ 100,000 al final de la evaluación, sin embargo, si lo hace cualquier dinero extra que año (aumen-to de sueldo, es decir salario, bonos, etc) y no cumple con todos los requisitos previa evaluación, que el dinero ex-tra se utilice hasta el próximo año cuando el administrador se vuelve a evaluar. Aunque este requisito nue-vo estado no se llevará a cabo hasta el año escolar 2014-15, el Distrito Escolar de Granite ya ha comenzado a establecer nuevas políticas y proced-imientos para responder a la factura. El distrito está desar-rollando un sistema llamado el Programa de Rendición de Cuentas de administrador y evaluará y penalizar a los administradores en el distrito de granito de acuerdo con los requisitos del estado de la SB 64.

Nuevas tarjetas de informe para escuelas

InfoGraphIC hECho por DavID KEhr

Si acceptado, Obamacare estaria en accion empezando 2014

Edgar Estrada Editor in Chief

Obamacare, si aplicado, daría o forzara a todas las familias que consiga una forma de seguro médico que estará a disposición de los

adolescentes hasta la edad de 26 años. Congreso de Utah y Herbert Gobernador; sin embargo, son indulgentes con dejar caer el plan de salud na-cional emitido de Obamacare, dejando una gran cantidad de personas dentro del estado sin

seguro médico. “Tengo asma y la medi-cación para el asma puede ser bastante caro”,dijo Bennie Washington (nombre real retenido). “No tener seguro de salud realmente pone una carga sobre mis hombros, porque sé que no puedo hacer muchas de las cosas que qui-ero hacer debido a mi asma qué me detiene y sabiendo que no tengo el medica-mento ahí para mí.” Después de ser dado una prórroga al 14 de diciembre por el gobierno federal para decidir si Obamacare se aplica o no, el gobernador Gary

Herbert dice que está indeciso si Utah seguirá participando en Obamacare porque hay muchas “incertidumbres” y preguntas sin respuesta. Según a cbsnews.com, Herbert preocupa cuánto le va a costar al estado a participar en la reforma de salud

Obamacare. Aumento de los costos de la distribución de seguros de salud, obviamente, serán deducidos a través de los impuestos,

que trastorna a muchos trabajadores y funcionarios de Utah. Otras cuestiones planteadas en Obamacare por Herbert son si será

posible para el gobierno de Utah de dar opciones hacia los consumidores con el plan de salud y también si los responsables políticos tendrán algo que decir en su funcionamiento. “Entiendo que algunas personas necesitan seguro de salud, pero no creo que es justo que las personas que trabajan tienen que pagar más impuestos para los que no pueden pagarla “, dijo John Smith (nombre real retenido). Obamacare entrará en vigor a principios de 2014 para los Estados que decidan aceptar su términos. Esta reforma de la salud obligará a todos a obtener un seguro de salud en función de atractivo personal en el paquete y el precio. Obamacare también va ampliar los programas de Medicaid y Medicare y

ofrecerá ayuda a aquellos que no pueden pagar. El seguro de salud proporcionados por el gobierno realmente se sale de la renta de los contribuyentes. Utah proporciona actual-mente un plan de intercambio de la salud que se centra más en las pequeñas empresas, pero no está regulado en gran medida. Según pnhp.org, a partir de 2011, sólo el 0.12 por ciento de los residentes de Utah están cubiertos por el plan de cambio previsto. Por lo tanto, una gran cantidad de personas que viven en el estado que lo necesite se que-dará sin seguro médico si no está ya a disposición de ellos. “No tener seguro de salud es una presión sobre mí y una constante preocupación por mi salud”, dijo Ricardo Alva-rez ( nombre real retenido).

InfoGraphIC hECho por braxton thornlEy

“No tener seguro de salud es una presión sobre mí y una constante preocupación por mi salud”

Sube la contabilidad de administradores

Junta salaios con ren-dimiento de escuela

Connecta con evaluacion asea estudiantes

Bill Del Senato 64

“El énfasis en el Distrito Escolar de Granite no va a ser” enseñar la

prueba ‘. Va a ser “enseñar el plan de estudios nuevo ‘”,

dijo Thomas.

14.7% de la poblacion

Sin Seguro

Logro Estudiantil

Crecim

ient

o D

e Estu

diantes

Tasa De Graduacion Com

petenica de sujeto Populac

ion

Tota

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ajo

Competente

200 150

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Escuelas Graduadas

Opinion AdvertisementNovember 30, 201206

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Asst. Editor

As teachers leave their rooms, chaos breaks out. Stu-dents begin talking, texting, throwing papers, and yelling across the room to each other. A student comes in from the hallway to inform everyone that the teacher is coming. The room goes silent and the students continue their work. This is what happens at least once in the normal school year. “I’ve heard of situations where people go out of class and come back in smelling like weed,” said senior Adam Black. “I think that when students don’t want to say anything it is because they don’t want the drama that follows.” Everyone knows about that guy in history who borrows your homework, or that girl in math who’s eyes always seem to stray onto

your test. There is always that person who goes outside of class and returns to bring with them the smell of marijuana or cigarette smoke. No one will tell, however many times he/she may do it. This is con-sidered the code of silence. Seventy three percent of all test takers, including prospec-tive graduate students and teachers agree that most stu-dents do cheat at some point,” according to www.stanford.edu/class/engr110/cheating.html. Eighty six percent of high school students agreed. Students may rationalize that they don’t want to be the reason their friends fail. Oth-ers would say that it doesn’t affect them at all and they have nothing to do with the morally wrong act of cheat-ing. Other factors may include fear or peer pressure to be ‘cool’ and keep the secret. The pressures of getting good grades can affect stu-

dents’

ability to judge what is wrong and right. According to the 1998 poll of Who's Who Among Ameri-can High School Students, 80% of the country's best stu-dents cheated to get to the top of their class. Half the students surveyed said they don't think cheating is a big deal – and most did not get caught. Is it fair that some students excel on false grounds while others around them are not because they do not cheat? Some students find it hard to make excuses for cheating and simply say that every-one is doing it so why not? However, many believe the complete opposite. “How is it fair for some people to get away with plagiarizing the hard work of others for a grade they do not even deserve?” said Kimberly

Gabbitas, senior. “ Espe-

cially when it means that the people who work hard aren’t given the respect and due credit they deserve.” Cheating is not the biggest problem when students are

taking part in illegal substances and actions, knowing that there will likely be no consequences because no one will tell. It may be the teenager mentality of invincibility, but teens are taking part in the illegal

actions, even where adults may see. “Every morning kids in my neighborhood smoke mari-juana,” said senior Randall Ivins. “Parents drive by and kids walk by but they still do nothing and no one says anything.” This can be attributed to the infamous code of silence. Many students will confess to either seeing marijuana in the hands of another student or watching them take part in smoking

the drug. Many students have the at-titude ‘if it does not affect me, then it is none of my busi-ness’ and that is a main reason that the code of silence is so popular amongst them. Dr. Garrett Muse, principal, remembers moments in high school when fellow students took part in illegal actions. “Ever since I was in high school, and probably longer than that, among young kids there has always been a feel-ing of ‘you don’t just go tell people on different things’,” said Muse. The difference now, Muse explains between kids and adults is in the attitude towards the community, and the people who make up the community. “When you’re an adult you have to worry about other people. So that’s what I look at,” said Muse. “When you become an adult, your life is spent worrying about other people like my country, and the people in my community and my family.” So when does it become necessary to tell for students? Muse sees students in his

office

often who will not tell on each other’s actions; however, when the safety of other stu-dents is in jeopardy, students will come in. “Kids will turn in other kids, they’ll say ‘you know what I am not having a kid with a gun or knife at my school,’” said Muse. “ What we rely on in our society is adults. The reason America is stable is because we do turn people in when we see a crime.” When the choice is keep-ping one student’s secret that could harm another student, the choice to stay silent be-comes a choice of ethics and friends. “If someone saw that my car was being stolen and didn’t say anything I would be upset,” said Black. “It’s funny to think that those type of situations occur and the witnesses still remain silent.” Teachers are also the confessors for students need-ing to unburden themselves of a secret too dangerous to keep, “Once I had a student come to talk with me when another student had been talk-ing about potential suicide,” said Mary Seal, U.S. his-tory teacher. “I was so glad

that I had the chance to intervene and call on help for this students before it was too late. That

secret was not one anyone should keep.”

Code of Si ence

Did you hear...

Don’t tell anyoneZI P YO U R L IP S ...

It

doesn’t hurt m

eLoyalty

photo illustrAtion by hAnnAh dAilAmi

CHEATING

Feature 07

Code of Silence

November 30, 2012

photo by EdgAr EstrAdA

See pages 8 and 9 to see what students are thankful for this holiday season.

Smoking

“Parents drive by and kids walk by but they still do nothing and no one says anything.”

-Randall Ivins

Students keep their lips zipped as peers are smoking and cheating

Halo 4 begins new game trilogy

Photo courtesy of halowayPoint.com

Photo courtesy of scott jarvie

Utah Symphony principal pops conductor Jerry Steichen condcting the orchresta.

A Side Note: Rhapsody In Blue

Justin MorganCopy Editor

Earlier last month, the Utah Symphony, under the direction of Utah Symphony Principal Pops Conductor, Jerry Steichen, featured the program “Rhapsody in Blue”: a collection of jazz-influ-enced hits—including the title piece—com-posed by music icon George Gersh-win. Fa-mous for his works in musicals and Hol-lywood produc-tions, the cel-ebrated composer wrote works such as “An American in Paris,” “Shall We Dance,” and “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.” The performance fea-tured Broadway soprano soloist Lisa Vroman, and Utah Symphony’s own principal keyboardist Ja-son Hardink. The evening opened with the “Overture to Girl Crazy,” the musical which has had perfor-mances that have included amazing artists such as Judy Garland, Ethel Merman, Ginger Rog-ers, and Mickey Rooney and immediately had the audience tapping their toes right along with the

music. After the opening piece, Vroman joined the orchestra in her sparkling gown, showcasing her incredible vocal range to fun tunes like ‘“S Wonder-ful and By Strauss.” The first half of the evening concluded with Hardink’s performance of “Rhap-sody in Blue.” Although it was written in 1924, the

music, which was in-spired by a train, is timeless. Hardink is an in-credibly talented pianist, but sadly this was one of the Utah Sym-phony’s flatter perfor-mances.

What may have been absent in the phrasing of the music was certainly made up for by the chem-istry between Steichen and Vroman. They’ve worked together periodically for twenty years, and the two provided an engaging lively performance full of surprises, which included an impromptu dance with Lisa and a guest pianist, and a piano performance and singing by Mr. Steichen himself. The duo actively involved the audience in the music, the rhythms, and the laughter, providing a very enjoy-able show.

Utah Symphony gives a rather flat performance of Gershwin’s classic

343 Industries remasters Halo: Combat Evolved continues Master Chief’s epic saga

Shelby Yeatesnews editor

Halo: Combat Evolved was released on November 15, 2001 now 11 years and 6 games later, Halo 4 has been finished, but not without a great amount of hard work and lots and lots of challenges along the way. Halo is the game that made first person shooters not only popular, but it also drove the whole of xbox( which was almost unheard of before) back into the market mak-ing people want to buy them. When the game first came out it had the best graphics the best game play and one of the best stories to tell with

the core of that story being Master Chief. Master Chief is a super soldier and the only chance for humanity to win the war with the covenant (a group of advanced aliens). That story grew through other games, books, comics and more. Now it is one of the biggest console games ever. Bungie, the original owner of the Halo franchise, sold it to 343 Industries after they finished Halo reach. 343 respectfully took the task of remastering Halo Combat Evolved. They also decided to continue Master Chief’s story.

Halo known for its great story and also its multiplayer with some of the classic game types like slayer, capture the

flag, and king of the hill. That has grown to include many more such as SWAT, Infec-tion (flood), and Griff ball (inspired by the web series red vs. blue). Throughout the games the biggest threat has always been

the flood. 343 has taken it to the next level and introduces us to a new greater threat the Forerunners and Promethe-ans. This gives players new challenges to both discover and overcome. In past games there has also been a firefight mode where you and possibly some friends just fight wave after wave of enemies. That has also grown into something more. In Halo 4 they are introducing Spartan Ops where you and your friends can fight wave after wave of enemies while also completing objectives, and get more of a storyline feel. Halo 4 is the first of 3 games confirmed by 343 however there could be a few spin-off games. With a new gaming studio making the next Halo game, gamers worried that they would change the game they know and loved into some-thing else that they wouldn’t like claiming that it wouldn’t feel like Halo anymore. However 343 was listening to what the people wanted, and this game is made for them.

Photo courtesy of assassinscreed.ubi.com

Assassin’s Creed 3 not as good as expected

Robert McBrideReporter

The British soldiers blew hot lead through the retreating Revolutionists. The redcoats were nearing their victory but a turn of events took place as a figure wearing a hood approaches them on a horse. Assuming that he is a revolu-tionist they all shoot, he slides to the side of his horse and blocks all the musket shots. Before the British can blink, he is murdering everything in his way of the target. They try to stab him or shoot him, but he finds a way to counter any offense and returns it with a tomahawk to the neck. After

about fifteen of the red coats are annihilated, he jumps and shoots his bow-and-arrow at his target while in midair. He approaches his dying target, closes his eyes, and his cur-rent mission is finished. This video game series takes place throughout histo-ry, and it covers the forming of the US almost perfectly. Assassins Creed 3 takes place mostly during the Revolution where half Native American-half Englishman Connor is on the hunt against the Templars who have decided to side with the Red Coats. They have been around since the Crusades and have been searching for pieces of Eden;

mystical artifacts that contain great powers. They point their interest in America during the eighteenth-century because of the new opportunities in “The New World”. The Templars sole purpose is power, and even if they have control in the Colonies their thirst for more order and dominance is becoming more brutal. Connor, knowing that they will murder his people and take their land, is making sure they are stopped. He will not rest until all the Templars are dead. There is a lot in store in this game, yet it did not surprise me. There are so many new features in this game com-pared to the last couple. The assassin moves are a lot more forceful compared the nimble killing styles of Altair from the first Assassin’s Creed and Ezio from Assassin’s Creed 2. The setting is during a histori-cal war so I can imagine the game developers made sure the assassin was a lot more brutal. Although, the counter attacks seem more tactical and use more of the environ-ment.

A signature part of the game is the free running, and it puts you at the edge of your seat when you’re running away from your enemies after you just killed an important leader. In the previous games you could climb and jump across buildings, but the big-gest change in this establish-ment is frontier gameplay. Jumping across trees in a forest is a great escape from society and there are hardly any soldiers walking around telling you to get down. Even though you don’t need to worry about redcoats, there are animals that you can hunt. The problem with that is that there are bears and wolf packs that attack you. But after you’re done fighting off those animals, you can skin them, then sell the skin for a hefty profit. At some points the story-line of the game isn’t enough. Connor doesn’t have as much attention-drawing vamp as Ezio did and isn’t as mysteri-ous as Altair. Yet his determi-nation to protect his people gives a sense of his honorable personality.

War

rior W

ilbur

by Ge

ntry

Feen

ey

RUN JOHNNY! WE MUST SAVE THE MUSESTACHE!

*whistles*

“What may have been absent

in the phrasing of the music was certainly

made up for by the chemistry

between Steichen and

Vroman...”

NO! We can’t let

Muse have an unkept ‘stache!

Warrior Wilbur...What a great statue...

Almost got it...

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Halo Series: First Day Sales

infograPhic by edgar estrada

Halo 2

Halo 3

Halo: Ranch

Halo: 4

$125 million

$170 million

$200 million

$220 million

Opinion Assassin’s Creed 3

Halo 4

A Side NoteNovember 30, 201210

InfographIc by raya Sam

Black Ops 2; not the shooter you’re expecting

Colby Rossreporter

Sounds of gunshots and explo-sions echo through the battlefield. It takes a minute, but you finally realize that the enemy is securing the near-est flag. Your clan leader is furious, if you can’t save the flag they’ll win. You’ll lose. You rush around the corner, gun blazing. You get the kill, saving the flag, and securing the vic-tory for your team. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, taking place in 2025, launched on Novem-ber 13th, 2012. Thousands of copies were sold at the midnight release, at least a million copies were sold after. If you haven’t realized yet, Black Ops 2 was greatly anticipated. If you’ve played the original, you would un-derstand why. A common misconception is that every Call of Duty is the same. This is most definitely not the case with Black Ops 2. Every mode, campaign and multiplayer alike, feel unique. They feel different. When you first start playing the game, you don’t even realize you’re playing Call of Duty. For example, when you start campaign for the first time, other than the extended intro, you’ll notice something new, something differ-ent. You get to choose your loadout. Between missions you get to choose your weapon of choice. Some guns will be locked until you get to a mis-

sion, while others are unlocked by default. In comparison, it is similar to create-a-class in multiplayer. Probably one of the most note-worthy changes made to campaign is the changeable endings. Currently, we know of 4 endings, there may be more, there may not. Just make sure when you are given a choice to do something in the game, you under-stand that it will play a vital part in how your game ends. Don’t worry, I didn’t forget the famous Multiplayer mode. Like the original, you start off at level 1. As you progress throughout the many ranks, you unlock more and more. When you reach the max rank, you are given the option to prestige. Sounds similar right? Although many aspects seem the same, there are also many new features. For example, after you reach the max prestige, which is expected to remain at 10, you become the Prestige Mas-ter. When you become the Prestige Master you unlock everything in create-a-class. You don’t need to spend unlock tokens anymore. Another feature is the Pick 10 create-a-class system. In Pick 10, you are given 10 points to spend on your class loadout. Each slot in create-a-class (ex. primary weapons, secondary weapons, perks, etc.) costs one point. Lets say I wanted to equip a primary, secondary, and three perks, it would cost five out of my ten points. If I wanted to add a suppressor to my primary, it would cost a point. Along with the point system, another feature has been added to create-a-class; wildcards. Wildcards are ways of bending the rules of create-a-class. Some wildcards allow

you to equip two primaries, while others allow you to have 3 attach-ments on any primary. Although they sound good, there is a disad-vantage to equipping them; they cost points. In a way, they cost double the points. For example, if I used a wildcard that allowed me to select 2 primaries, I not only have to spend a point on the wildcard, but also on the second primary. If Campaign and Multiplayer didn’t convince you to buy the game, let’s review Zombies. Zombies has been completely remodeled. Starting off, you are given three map choices. Each map has two game modes on it. On the second and third maps, you are given the option to play Survival

or Grief. Survival is the original zombies mode. You survive for as long as possible in a rather small map. Grief is a new mode, allowing two teams of four to challenge each other. The team who survives the longest wins. The first map, Bus Depot, you are presented with the option to play Survival or TranZit. TranZit is, in a way, the same as Survival. Your main objective is to survive. The map, however, is unbelievably large. You start off in Bus Depot, killing zombies, when a bus arrives. When the bus arrives you are given the op-tion to ride it. The bus will drop you off in a variety of different locations, including the other two zombie

maps. Hidden throughout the map, a variety of easter eggs await. Overall the game is far beyond great. Receiving a 9.3 out of 10.0 from IGN, this game is climbing the charts. What are you waiting for? Go get that game!

Grief mode provides zombies with new flavor

Coffee Connection provides a unique, relaxing area to study and mingle

Hannah Dailamiassistant Editor

Dangling lights and laptops illuminate the quiet coffee shop located on 1588 South State Street. The study ses-sions had begun at Coffee Connection, and students of all ages mingle quietly as not to disturb the other patrons hard at work. This small shop’s ambi-ance has a hip contemporary feel, as people can be seen sit-ting with an open computer or college book and ear buds in. One would never guess that Coffee Connection is located in an area that could deter that faint of heart from going close. However, the baristas must be doing something right as customers shuffle in on late weekdays and tables are hard to find on weekends. Upon entering, the baristas are not afraid to recommend the most popular drinks and make small talk. Customer service in other places does not compare to the Coffee Connection be-cause of the constant friend-liness of the baristas. Even after receiving the beverage, the barista will ask about the drink and hobbies to pass the time. The clean floors and tables add to the charming atmo-sphere. Throughout the three areas of the shop (Lobby, Study, and Lounge) there is organization and cleanliness for those who come to visit Coffee Connection often. “The atmosphere has more of a tranquil feel to it,” said senior Kimberly Winter. “It is a place where you can just hang out and get what you need to do done if that’s homework or work stuff.” The walls are decorated

with unique art pieces that are not distracting, but instead add to the calmness of the room. Along with the wall decorations, each room has been decorated and fur-nished to meet the room’s needs. The Study Area includes booths set up instead of the normal tables and chairs to allow some privacy. Signs are hung up and remind customers to

be courteous of others. The lounge, however, shows contrast as it is filled with couches and room to talk

and spread out. This is the one of the aspects of Coffee Connection that makes it so different from any

regular coffee shop. That and the amount of space, of course. With all the wonderful aspects of Coffee Connection,

the coffee itself fell through. After ordering the recom-mended and most popular, “Dirty Chai” including the ingredients to make a Chai Latte with a shot of espresso, the balance was far from even. Not only was it bitter but after the first taste there was a feeling of utter disgust. For a clean and modern at-mosphere, Coffee Connection is the place to study and meet new people. However if you are looking for something to sip on while the study session drags on, Coffee Connection would not satisfy your needs.

photo by JIlEa fobaIr

“Supervisor, Kendra Jones, prepares a beverage for a customer during study hours at Coffee Connection located at State Street and 1588 south.

Trailer presents a darker vibe for Iron Man 3

photo courtESy of www.marvEl.com

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Call of Duty Sales Statistics*millions of copies sold

Sergio MartinezEntertainment Editor

Taking a sharp turn from the whimsical attitude of the previous two movies, the Iron Man 3 Trailer lets us expect a darker vibe from the newest addition to the saga. It could be that this is director Shane Black’s attempt at taking part in the trend occurring within more recent superhero flicks that’s made up of a more emotionally intense cinematic style. The trailer presents scenes that put a lot of emphasis on the weaknesses of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark. A significant amount of metal is pummeled throughout the preview. And in addition to the capitalization of our hero’s physical weakness, a nice helping of his internal conflict is served to us as well through powerful scenes involving Starks lover, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and a profound voiceover. At the same time, the strengths of the movie’s vil-lain become a main focus. The Mandarin, played by Ben Kingsley, is seen for no more than 2 seconds, but his daunting voiceover is enough

to cause for some impres-sive intimidation. The trailer shows how Stark’s newest enemy will reach further into his personal life than any other he’s had in the past. It’s clear that Black wants us to expect something more along the lines of the tone of previous deep-seated heroic titles like the Dark Knight saga or Spiderman 3, but does this mean that Stark’s famous wittiness will suffer in the process? The facetious de-meanor of the last two movies contributed to a considerable amount of their success. We can only hope that Black didn’t push too much of it to the side seeing that audiences have taken a great liking to Stark’s clever and lovable arrogance. Even so, if this turns out to be the case, the movie’s visu-als won’t fail to attract a good audience. The trailer was careful to show off scenes containing epic special effects and an appealing array of different Iron Man suits. It may be that these factors will cover for the possible detri-ment of an already popular storyline style. Iron Man 3 is expected to be released on May 13, 2013.

“The atmosphere has more of a

tranquil feel to it”-Kimberly Winter

Zombie grief mode

customizable weapons during camplaign mode

pick 10 create-a-class system

New FeaturesAdds flavor to the game

EntertainmentCall of Duty

Iron Man 3

Coffee Connection November 30, 2012 11

Hannah DailamiAsst. Editor

The long awaited silence is broken with Passion Pit leading the beginning of what has grossed in at 141.3 million dollars just from the first weekend, according to movies.com. The commercials depict a surprise in the movie that no one had anticipated, fueling the Twilight mania. Buying the tickets was enough of a struggle due to the filled seating at the mati-nee viewing. Preview after preview built excitement in all the Twilight fans and the beginning was near. Now, fi-nally what everyone had been waiting for. People shuffled impatiently as blood red and contrasting white depicted all the actors and actresses. Now was the moment or at least everyone hoped so. The very long Twilight Saga came to an end on

November 16, 2012. Break-ing Dawn Part Two began exactly where it left off with Stewart’s excruciatingly pain-ful acting. It is commendable however, her ability to have the same face for all emo-tions she is trying to portray. To think she is getting paid millions of dollars for some superb acting skills is hor-rendous. In the books most readers will remem-ber how eloquently Stephanie Meyers depicted the reuniting of Bella and Edward and well, everything else. The be-ginning was a bit too cheesy and nothing changed through-out as the movie progressed. Not only were the scenes far too serious but the humor that

did occur was out of place and made the moments awk-ward to watch. The movie plays along through the scenes quickly but stops on the moments that are obviously more important than the others. Important scenes are skipped over from the book and the awkward-

ness begins again. Probably the most enlighten-ing moment was when the pro-ducer could not help but keep with the Twi-light tradition and throw some glitter on Bella and have her stand in front

of the sun. Another tradition continued was the cheesy run-ning scenes that didn’t look so real after all. To help out the situation the baby was animated in the be-

ginning and threw the whole movie into a spinning spiral of disappointment. The ques-tion remains why the produc-ers couldn’t have just used a real baby. This was indeed a film with REAL people was it not? Perhaps the most surpris-ing scene of the whole movie was at the end. That said, the movie is 135 minutes long and had it’s moment of glory in a 20 minute time frame. What is the rest then? Filler, at its best.

Heads roll during Twilight

Photos courtEsy of twilight.com

“Team Edward because vampires are awesome!” - junior, Nick Sarvello

“Team Jacob, he’s cooler than Edward. He’s more of a man.” - junior, Cody Jacobson

“Team Jacob, because he’s handsome.”- senior, Stephanie Carrillo

“Team Edward, I’m not into werewolves.”-junior, Mathew Peters

Team Jacob, because I’m more like a wolf. - senior, Sam Faalavelave

Black Friday brings bargains

Sheeran’s artistic creativity continues to blossom

Kyle Hoffmanreporter

The Friday that follows Thanksgiving is known for turmoil, amazing deals, and—to say the least—chaos. It could be perceived either as the dark and dismal night that millions venture out to grab deals on all sorts of products from clothes to toys. Antici-pation rises when the store doors open and hundreds of people rush in, searching frantically for the items that they need to kick off their Christmas shopping. Whether it be parents buy-ing toys for their kids, or Boyfriends and Girlfriends nervously shopping for their significant others christmas day gift, everyone can par-ticipate in the rush of Black Friday “door busters.” No matter what the need, Black Friday never seems to disappoint, as it is the world’s largest shopping day, with 816 million dollars spent last year (statspotting.com.) People die every year on Black Friday from the stampedes of crazed shoppers flooding the store at one time.

Despite the danger and risk inolved in Black Friday shop-ping, millions spend hours shuffling and pushing carts all over malls nationwide. The word ‘chaos’ is used fre-quently to describe Black Fri-day, because the state of utter confusion or disorder that can be found in the shoppers prac-tically define the word. Chaos pretty much sums up this

grueling, yet exciting start of the holiday season. Just think, this is only the beginning of the Christmas season, though many would argue it began as soon as Halloween concluded, so tune into your favorite holiday songs, get the cookie sheets and gingerbread houses ready, and prepare for one of the craziest times of the year.

Braxton Thornleyreporter

With an acoustic guitar lilting in the shadows of his lyrics, Ed Sheeran both serenades and proclaims. His lips spit controversies at rapid rates in select songs on his new album “+,” while other tracks gently roll with lethar-gic melodies reminiscent of childhood lullabies. After school he moved to London, picking up gigs wherever they could be found as if he were picking up change from the city streets. The pennies and dimes even-tually added up. He used his piggy bank of experience to produce his most recent and popular album “+” after being discovered through social media outlets. Ed Sheeran’s capability to artistically blend hip-hop flair, meaningful lyrics, and a style that inspires com-parisons to Mat Kearney, Matt Nathanson, and John Mayer while maintaining an edge is blatantly unique. Lyrics stream out of his music to slam into your brain

with potent truthfulness and honesty. “And I don’t get waves of missing you anymoreThey’re more like tsunami tides in my eyesNever getting dry” Ed Sheer-an sings in his track “U.N.I.”He portrays himself as a drunk and substance abuser. He portrays himself as a passionate lover, as egotisti-cal, eccentric, and helplessly honest. Until recently, Sheeran has been identified as a mostly unknown acoustic/pop art-ist. With Taylor Swift’s new album “Red” (in which he is featured on Swift’s track “Everything Has Changed”) and his international hit “The A Team”, however, his popularity is growing out of stuffy pubs onto the stages of mainstream music. The English singer-song-writer is slowly breaking into the American music indus-try and finding his personal niche, with few, if any, com-parable artists in his genre. He rightfully deserves the attention, with his outstanding new album “+.”

twilight made $141,067,634 in just the opening weekend.

total Domestic gross was $237,182,504

The total budget for the film was $170,000,000.

TwilightGrossed $602,643,930

Photos by jEssicA ArchbolD

Crowds wait for Black Friday deals outside of Fashion Place Mall where the line reaches out of sight.

this years black friday outperformed the previous 5 years in stock market performances.

cyber monday was per-haps the busiest ecom-merce day in history.

Black FridayOnline sales explode

Another tradition

continued was the cheesy

running scenes that

didn’t look so real after all.

Crowds swarm for seasonal deals

Q & A“Team Edward or Team Jacob?”

Photo courtEsy of EDshEErAn.com

EntertainmentTwilight Breaking Dawn

Ed Sheeran

Black Friday November 30, 201212

Opinion13

Driving Safely

Turkey vs. Santa

November 30, 2012

illustration by aspen Clawson

Black Friday puts a damper on Thanksgiving celebrations

In Utah alone there have been 180 fatalities this year related to car accidents. Last year 40 of 230 deaths were teen deaths. Zero Fatalities came to give a presentation at Taylorsville to help educate teen drivers; the focus of the pre-sentation was the different causes of driv-ing fatalities.  There are five major causes of driving deaths, one being drowsy driving. Although students might think they are not sleepy, the Zero Fatalities website (http://ut.zerofatalities.com) states that the risk factor triples on fewer than six hours of sleep. Watch out for some of these warning: daydreaming, wandering thoughts, trouble keeping the head upright, or trouble focusing on the road. Drowsy driving goes hand in hand with impaired driving, another major cause of driv-ing fatalities. While sleep is one way to be impaired while on the road, others are caused by alcohol, illegal drugs, and even prescription drugs. If a student is suffering from an impaired driving symptom, pull over. Make sure there is a designated driver if there are plans on

consuming drinks or medi-cines that can negatively affect the body. Also make sure to recognize when other drivers might be impaired; if they are swerving, driving too fast or too slow, ignoring traf-fic signs, or driving too close to the curb, stay far away. Another big danger is

distracted driv-ing. Today’s students live in a techno-logically savvy world, most teens stay-ing on their phone 24/7. Unfortunately, many teens are oblivious to the fact

that texting while driving is not the best time to be on the phone. In fact, according to a study done by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute it has been concluded that texting makes a driver 23 more times likely to crash (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10296992-94.html). Driving is not a time for eating, putting on makeup, or checking a cell phone. In order to reduce dis-tracted driving, make sure to do the following. Adjust things like rearview and side mirrors before hitting the road .Ask passengers to answer the phone, navigate, and change the music instead of doing it yourself. Mainly, focus on the road; it is the most impor-tant object to pay attention to when gliding along at 60

miles per hour in a 4,000 pound vehicle. Aggressive driving is another factor contributing to driving deaths. With all the stresses that affect everyone’s daily life it is not surprising that tempers rise on the road-ways. Students themselves might become an aggressive driver after a long day or when run-ning late. Avoid driving ag-gression by taking a few deep breaths when getting stressed out in the car. Allow for plenty of driving time in order to travel and do not compete with other drivers. Finally, just be a respectful driver by

letting that car in, waiting for the next green light, and go-ing the speed limit. Most importantly, buckle up. If a driver or a passenger fails to put on their seat belt and they get into an accident they are, according to Zero Fatalities 2004 statistic, 31 times more likely to die than those who buckled up. Based on Utah’s 2005 Safety Belt Observational Survey, 13 per-cent of Utah’s driving popula-tion does not wear a seat belt. By taking ten seconds of time before putting the car into drive, the car’s seat belt will help make a difference by saving up lives. In fact, based

on national studies 50 percent more drivers would have sur-vived their car crashes if they had worn a seat belt. Position the seat belt across the hips and shoulder. As the strongest bones in the body they are the only ones capable enough to stand the pressure it takes to keep your body from flying around the cabin of a vehicle that has crashed. Too many people have lost their lives because of irre-sponsible choices; Taylors-ville students can change their lives today if they are willing to put these driving tips into action and make them part of their daily driving routine.

Reckless driving takes its toll on student life

Christmas craze begins too early, overshadowing November

Five major causes of car accidents, five choices that alter teens’ lives forever

America distracted by Santa during only time of year for expressing overall gratitude

illustration by aveni wolfgramm

Car crashes are responsible for the majority teen deaths

students that text while driving are 23 times more likely to get in a car crash

50% of car accident victims vwould have survived if they’d worn a seat belt

every year 1,500 people die as a result of drowsy driving

one-third of all fatalities are speed-related

Dangerous Driving Teenagers behind the wheel

americans who started Christmas shopping in mid-november make up 51.4% of the population

an average of $854 is expected to be spent in Christmas shopping this year

the average amount of turkey consumed by americans is 16 pounds

Holiday PrioritiesFood and shopping

“Driving is not a time for eating, putting on

makeup, or checking a cell phone.”

Kylie Brown guest writer

“Ma’am, I’m calling to let you know that your son has been in a car

accident.”

Leiani Brown opinion editor

“Thanksgiving has slowly been diminished by

the commercial insanity of

Christmas, and it’s only getting

worse.”

Hundreds of cars hit the streets, ready (yet again) for the morning commute. Ears hungry for something, drivers hurry to flip on the radio, and Feliz Navidad booms out of the speakers. Immediately they do a double take as they

realize it’s only November; Christmas won’t be for an-other month. It’s not just radio stations, though, it’s grocery stores, restaurants, billboards, the mall, everywhere. Shelves are lined with Christmas decora-tions and gift ideas. Inflatable Santa clauses dot the streets -and excited voices chatter about the upcoming holiday season. There’s just one

problem: Thanksgiving seems to have been overlooked completely. Primarily a U.S. holiday, Thanksgiving celebrates the famous 1621 feast at Plym-outh, and motivates Ameri-cans to give thanks for all that they own (hence the name). Whether old or young, rich or poor, and whether they are willing to admit it or not, people living in America

have a lot to be grateful for. Thanksgiving offers a time specifically set aside for them to verbally show that they are thankful, yet the majority of society seems to brush it aside like it’s nothing. It’s celebrat-ed, to be sure, but with the right intentions? To many it is not much more than a reason to stuff themselves full of food, watch football, and go to parades. In the eyes of the average American teenager, life is devoid of a lot of things. To them there is always a reason to complain: their house is not a mansion, their car is no Ferrari, they only own an iPhone 4, and they don’t have the money to buy the shoes they want. With today’s society it’s no wonder that Thanksgiving is

a misconstrued holiday. There is such a demand for mate-rialistic items that the lack thereof results in a never end-ing dissatisfaction amongst teens. They may not live in a mansion or own the iPhone 5, but one thing they can always be thankful for is indoor plumbing. Back in the olden days, outhouses were located 50 feet from a person’s front door. Imagine answering the call of nature in the middle of a freezing cold winter night. Imagine the stench. How-ever, indoor plumbing is just one delight American teens can be grateful for. Food, shelter, and warmth, while varying in size and wealth, still exist as opposed to places in which those are rare luxuries, not everyday expectancies. And in addition to physi-cal necessities, Americans are privileged with many freedoms other people would normally deem unthinkable. Freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, petition—this country is constructed for the common people, the me-diocre, the everyday rustic: to

give them the ability and the right to find happiness in any way they see fit. Now how is that not worthy of mention and appreciation? By November, with Christmas just around the corner, many people often get excited, thinking of all the newest gadgets and devices they can’t wait to receive. As their Christmas wishlist gets bigger and bigger, the importance of being thank-ful for what is already before their eyes slowly shrinks out

of existence. Suddenly, Thanksgiv-ing isn’t worth much in compari-son to Christ-mas and the prestige expected to come with it. While both of these national holidays

are important, over the years Thanksgiving has slowly been diminished by the commercial insanity of Christmas, and it’s only getting worse. Americans need to real-ize this fact, and start being more thankful. Of course, that does not mean they shouldn’t be allowed to favor a certain holiday, it just means they should celebrate it at the ap-propriate time.

illustration by gentry feeney

Warrior Ledger Staff 2012-2013Taylorsville High School, 5225 S. Redwood Rd., Salt Lake City, Utah 84123. Telephone: 1-385-646-5455. E-mail: [email protected]

Editors in ChiefEdgar EstradaDavid Kehr

Assistant EditorHannah Dailami

Section EditorsLeiani BrownSam BurfiendEmmalee GarrettKyle HuynhCami MathewsSergio MartinezHaley RoperJessica Tobin

Graphic DesignersKyle Huynh

Raya SamBraxton Thornley

Copy EditorsJustin Morgan Alex Johnson

Photo EditorsJilea FobairHunter Richards

PhotographersCody AdairDaisy Vega

ArtistsAspen ClawsonGentry FeeneySam Sherrill

Jeremy Wolfgramm

Spanish EditorsEdgar Estrada

Social Media DirectorDavid Kehr

ReportersDani AhlstromAndrew BoyceKyle HoffmanRobert McBrideRebecca KileColby RossShelby Yeates

AdviserMary Seal

Policies: The Warrior Ledger is a student-run, public forum publication. It is distributed monthly to the 1,800 students, faculty and staff of Taylorsville High School. The contents and views expressed are produced solely by the student staff and do not represent the views or opinions of Granite School District, Taylorsville High School, the faculty or school administration.

Send letters to the editor and guest articles [email protected] or mail to WarriorLedger, c/o Taylorsville High School, 5225 S.Redwood Rd., Salt Lake City, Utah 84123. Allletters will be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief forpublication approval.

The Warrior Ledger is a member of JEA, NSPA,CSPA, Quill & Scroll, and SPLC.

Twitter#warriorledger

warriorledger.com

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ONLINEUPDATES

Opinion Staff Editorial

Code of SilenceNovember 30, 201214

Staff Editorial:

A day that families look forward to all year. A day that families can be together. A day that families can be thankful one for another. Every year, one day rolls around that there is no stress, no worries, and every reason to be thankful: Thanksgiving Day. Every family has their own traditions. Whether it be getting together at grandma’s house for thanksgiving dinner, watching the Thanksgiving football game on TV, or going to see the latest flick at the cinema: nearly everyone can agree that Thanksgiving is a time to be with loved ones and time to be truly content and grateful. Ironic that this iconic day of Thanksgiving in our national history is followed by a day of greed and blatant disregard for the things that we have. Is Black Friday bleeding too much into Thanksgiving? Sales, sales, sales! Black Friday, the day after Thanks-giving, is a day that many look forward to and make good use of in getting the majority of their Christmas shopping over with. It doesn’t seem too terrible

to be consumed with just one day of greed and shopping—especially after just having spent an entire day of being thankful for the things that you have. At what point does the shopping and spending become too much? “Black Friday” is starting to leak into Thanksgiving. What were traditionally “Black Friday Doorbusters” that began at Midnight on Black Friday are now start-ing to begin as early as ten, even eight o’clock at night on Thanksgiving Day. Capitalism at its best: allowing people two, and in some cases, four extra hours of shopping onto their already seemingly full day of spend-ing and buying. With the Christmas season being so busy for most people, a few extra hours of shopping on the busiest shopping day of the year might seem ideal, but at what cost? Is it truly worth the extra two hours of shop-ping to have soiled what is traditionally a day for giving thanks? For many, the spirit of Thanksgiving leaves their hearts the minute they finish their dinner and say goodbye

to their family members. For many, it’s a relief: being content and thankful is not something that Americans are particularly good at. For

some, however, 24 hours of giving thanks is something precious. A day reserved for giving thanks: 24 whole hours of a year in which there is

no need to ‘want’ but count-less reasons to be grateful is something to look forward to and something even cher-ished.

It doesn’t seem right to be squandering precious time, in which thanks can be given, on the turning of hearts to greed and lust.

IllustratIon by aspen Clawson

Pencils scratch at the paper of the dreaded math test as time painfully oozes by. Having completely forgotten about the test, the eyes of a nearby student glance sur-reptitiously at their neighbor’s paper, briefly catching a glimpse of the answer. The other student notices, but doesn’t say a word: they are halted by the simple real-ization.They can’t break the code of silence. There seems to be some unspoken, common rule between high school students that if you see someone cheating, dealing drugs, skip-ping class or any other form of mischief, the imperative becomes unequivocal: don’t say a word about it and don’t mention it later. However, why should that rule be applicable in some cases, isn’t it unfair to some

students that others are cheat-ing their way through school? In the long run, there can be consequences that could-destroy a student’s future. It might seem like no harm is being done, but in the long run that’s often not the case.Cheating today may seem innocent, but at university it’s grounds for expulsion. When it might harm some-one else, then it should be reported not kept quiet. What good does it do anyone within the realm of silence? None at all, but the consequence on the bad side might catch up to them. Car-rying a weapon within the school is harmful to every single person within the building and can even be a danger to the one carrying it. In 2001 there was a case of a shooting that happened kill-ing two students and wound-ing thirteen. It was discovered that a group of students were aware of a planned shooting that was to take place the coming

Monday, but failed to mention anything to an adult according to American Psychological Association. People died for this choice of silence. This is just one example-that this code of silence that seems honorable can actually cause irrreparable harm. There are some that carry illegal drugs and only tell their closest friend probably knowing they won’t do any-thing to stop them, and their friends might be in on it too. Bullying or cyberbullying are also big issues, recently there has been a change in schools to the point cyberbul-lying will be a required class. If these cases had gone unno-ticed no one would have been able to do something about it and probably make a change for more than just themselves. Think of the circumstance and make the choice whether or not to obey the code of silence, because it can change things for the worse, but it can also do good and change things for the better.

Student code of silence overrides law, safety and common sense

IllustratIon by sam sherrIll

Thanksgiving cheer, family time overwhelmed by greed of Black Friday shopping

Haley Roper reporter

Sports15

Basketball loses opener

Bowling 4-1 overall

Speed skatingNovember 30, 2012

Photo by sam burfiend

Colton Anderson, senior, helps wrestling beat Riverton 40-36.

Kyle Hoffmanreporter

Ice skating for many is just a fun thing to do with friends or a fun date with your significant other, with slipping a constant occur-rence. But for millions around the world ice skating is taken very seriously, speed skating in particular is a worldwide sport, competed at the highest level every four years at the Winter Olympics. Hannah Wright, senior at Taylorsville, has been skating for two and a half years. Her love for the sport continues to grow. She prepares to face the best and enoys every minute of it. “I love progressing in the sport by working hard and being able to see how far I’ve come,” said Wright. “From never having been on skates before to being one of the top five junior female skaters in the nation is exhilirating.” There are two main types of speed skating, long track, which is just commonly referred to as speed skating, and short track. ”Speed skating is very tech-nique oriented and requires a lot of mental focus,” said Wright. The difference between the two is the distance trav-eled, apparent by the naming of them. Short track is more of a sprint, a fast paced, all out push for the finish line; while long track is a strategic, slower paced race. Short track is the newer of the two as well, com-ing about as a trial sport in the 1988 Olympics held in Alberta, Canada. Then in the Olympics of 1992 it was upgraded to a full sport with four events. From then to the 2002 Olympics the short track competitions expanded the events to eight. Long Track started with a mass start or a compilation of competitors at the start-ing line, such as a city run marathon. Olympic race in the 1920’s. Over the years it has evolved into a more struc-tured and competitive race. Even though speed skating is taken very seriously, it is also very much enjoyed by

many. Wright said, “Nothing can compare...to the feeling of being on the ice. Skating lap after lap with the perfect rhythm going and it’s just me against the clock.” Being a speed skater, Han-nah has had the opportunity to travel and compete against a vast amount of skaters. “I love the interesting people you get to meet from all over the world,” said Wright. “They love the sport just as much as I do.” As with any sport, speed skating requires dedication and perserverance. Practice not only includes repitition on the ice but conditioning off the ice as well. “It’s hard to get up ev-eryday when my legs are hurting and go running and skate multiple times a day,” said Wright. “But I have a

wonderful support system that keeps me motivated.” Many athletes, including Han-nah, have inspirations when they play their

sport. Hannah’s inspiration is Derek Parra who won the gold medal in the 1500 meter race in the 2002 Olympics. “He gave up a success-ful carrer in inline skating to switch to ice all to follow his Olympic dream and he did not give up once,” said Wright. “He has dedicated his life to sharing his passion for skating with others and he helps me grow as a skater and never forget why I fell in love with the sport.” Instead of shying away from the ice rink because you are afraid of falling on your butt, you can give the freshly Zambonied ice a try.

Speed skating becomes top-notch competitive sport

Student speed skater

Photo courtesy of jerry search

Senior Hannah Wright competes in speed skating compe-titions, meeting new people from around the world.

there are two types of speed skating: long track and short track.

short track is more of a high-speed sprint to the finish line

Long track is more strategic and a slower paced race.

Speed SkatingA competitive form of ice

skating

Snowfall affects slopes across Utah

Cami Mathewssports editor

Every year Utahns of all ages head to the slopes to ski and snowboard. However, last year’s snowfall was not up to par with the standards held at Utah resorts. This year, though still early in the sea-son, skiers and snowboarders are hoping that the snowfall will be much better than the last. According to the Alta ski resort website, the cumulative snowfall for this year as of November 25 is 77.5 inches. This amount is two more inches than that time last year. However, this year and last year are nothing compared to the 2010-2011 season. On November 24 of that season there was a cumulation of 117.5 inches of snow. “Let’s face it, last year’s

ski season was debatably one of the worst we’ve seen in awhile,” said Ryan Wells, Spanish teacher. “We have yet to see what exactly Mother Nature has in store for us this year, but I am feeling pretty good about it.” Though the numbers have been down, students and fac-ulty of the school have been able to ski and snowboard at their top pick of resorts. “I have been skiing twice so far this season,” said David Witt, senior. “The snow this year is way better than it was last year, especially for how early in the season it is. At

this time there was not as much snow.” Snowboarding from a young age, teacher Ryan Wells has always loved it and continues to practice the sport. “Over the years I have had season passes to almost all of the resorts in Salt Lake City and Park City,” said Wells. “As of late, I prefer Snowbird. Its vast mineral basin provides incredible powder on Utah’s beautiful snowy days.” There may not be as much snow as years past, and the quality may not be up to par with standards, but snow-

boarders and skiers can still be found heading to resorts to feel the thrill of the slopes. “I love skiing and always have,” said Witt. “I enjoy the fact that I am out there on the side of a mountain racing down, hitting startling speeds. I hope it continues to snow a lot this year so everyone can go out ont he slopes.” “There is nothing better than going as fast as you can through feet-deep powder,” said Wells. “Utah is a beauti-ful place and snowboarding has allowed me to reach some of the most beautiful vistas our state has to offer.”

infograPhic by braxton thornLey

Amount of snowfall has declined over the years

Basketball has rough startBoth boys and girls start off the season with a loss

Kyle Hoffmanreporter

Open gyms having come and gone, hopeful basketball players took to the courts to see if their skills are up to the Warrior’s standards in tryouts. As the teams were selected, the season’s are underway, with screaming fans anxious for the season opener’s, the Warrior basketball season has begun. Boys basketball is looking to redeem themselves after last years hardship winning only region games and fall-ing short of the state playoff. With young talent looking to lead the way in Jevin War-ren, Sidney Freeman, and Kia Delacerna, the Warriors plan to be a region champion contender this year. For the girls, they are com-ing off a crushing defeat in the first round of last years playoffs to Bingham. The Lady Warriors lost key play-ers in Siu Loamanu, and the school’s all time leading scor-er, Whitney Mitchell. Along with guard Pela Tapusoa, who moved into Granger’s boundarie, the three combined contributed to 40 points on average, a game. Junior, Karlee Jensen said, “It’s going to be tough to fill their shoes, but we need to come together as a team and play as one.” As they look to rebuild their offense with her as point guard, and shooting guard Abigail Black. The team isn’t looking to one player this year, “everyone has to step up and do their part in making the team successful this year,” said Jensen, after last year’s region 2 championship; which

they plan to defend, the war-riors shoot for a late playoff run this season. The girls started their season against Copper Hills fol-lowed by Pleasant Grove. In both games the sophomore team won, the first one in double over time. However, the varsity team has

lost both games. The girls lost to the Griz-zlies 59-46 and the Vikings

58-50. The boys team started their season off with a big game against the school’s rival, Murray. They lost the game 56-49.

Both teams will need to make adjustments before they continue the season.

The guys and girls have tough pre-season schedules in order to prepare for region play and hopefully state. They will have to face rivals and ranked opponents who will test all aspects of the teams. Their pre-season will set the tone for the rest of the year. The girls team was able to win their third game of the pre-season against Tooele with a final score of 59-39. The guys face off against Olympus tonight in the En-downment game.

Photo by hunter richards

Junior Karlee Jensen drives down the court against Pleasant Grove last Tuesday. The girls were not able to come out with a victory and were defeated 58-50.

“We need to come together as a team and play as one.”

-Karlee Jensen“Speed skating is very

technique oriented and

requires a lot of mental focus.”-Hannah Wright

Sports Swimming undefeated

Bowling 4-1 in play

Wrestling defeats rivalsNovember 30, 201216

Wrestling defeats rivals 40-36

Photo by sam burfiend

Colton Anderson helps Taylorsville win their first meet of the season against Riverton, with their ending score of 40-36.

Victoria Riggan and Sam Burfiend

reporters

The wrestling season has just barely begun and already, the Warriors are making an impression. Under coach Wayne Watts, the team is practicing hard with the assis-tance of fellow teacher Levi Negley, who is a “genius in the weight room”, and recent state placer and Taylorsvilles own, Daniel Pankey. “We did some amazing things last year and were somewhat successful,” said Watts. “I’m not going to be satisfied until every one of my guys wins every match that they wrestle, though.” That being said, when seniors, and region placers, like Johann Rubio, Victor Sa-maniego, and Andy Le return,

the ante is upped even more. “Daniel [Pankey] has come back and has been helping us which is awesome. I’d like to think that we could perform quite a bit better this year than we did last year.” said Coach Watts. The first meet of the season was held at Cyprus high school November 19th. The team was smaller but made a good first impression for the season. “We had a significant portion of our team out of the competition due to having too many encounters on our schedule amidst other things.” said Watts. “We certainly showed a good first impres-sion with several of these other schools realizing that we could still be competitive without our full squad on the mats.” At the meet, the team man-

aged to get a champion out of Victor Samaniego, senior. As well as several third places which were Bryce Gott, sophomore, Kaleb Jorgensen, junior, Andy Le, senior, Hunter Holtkamp, senior, Brayden Nuffer, sophomore, and a 4th placer Josh Baker, junior. “I’d like to think that if we had our full squad in there that we would have won the tournament.” said Coach Watts. “Roy Nash, Colton Anderson, Johann Rubio, and Jon Cox all would have been competitive to win the tourna-ment.” The team defeated Riverton 40-36 just last week and Mur-ray the other night. “They had a large quan-tity of players,” said Johann Rubio, senior. “But we have quality and that wins.”

The wrestling team defeated their last two oppo-nents, Riverton and Murray.

Bowling team 4-1 overallBowling teams face off against competitors

Photo by cody adair

Ashley Mackay, senior, begins her approach in her match against Riverton.

Cami Mathewssports editor

Requiring mental and phys-ical skill, bowling has gained ground in the school. With a record of 4-1 for the first team, and 2-3 for the second team, the bowlers look to bet-ter their record and become a fierce opponent in state. Taylorsville has two teams for bowling. The first team has gone 4-1 in their games while the second team has gone 2-3. The team must face rivals in Murray and other schools in order to earn a better record and become a known opponent throughout the state. Though the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) does not recognize bowling as an official sport, the players still believe that bowling as the potential to one day become a top-notch sport in the state of Utah. “Bowling is all about perfection and focus,” said Natasha Howard, senior. “It requires all of the mental focus of any other sport and the precision necessary to be the best.” The game is as much mathematical as it is athletic. Although the players have to have the correct form, release, and spin on the ball, using mathematics and sci-ence helps give a player that

much more of an edge on the competition. “Bowling is math and science but fun,” said Andy Ho, senior. “By using math and science, bowlers are able to make corrections to their game play and to have the best angle on the ball. The game is more than just throw-ing a ball down a lane and hitting some pins. It requires mental toughness to be the best bowler out there.” Many people are lucky to get a 75 when they bowl on a Friday night. The high school team members get a higher score each time they bowl; which they should, they’re on the bowling team. “My highest game is a 250,” said Natasha Howard, senior. “I am always trying to get a perfect 300 each time that I play.” “Though I have yet to get a perfect 300, my highest

score is a 275,” said Andrew Robles, senior. “It takes time and practice to get that high of a score, but once you focus and commit there is no stop-ping you.” All of the bowing team members agree that bowling is a sport, even if it is not ac-knowledged by the UHSAA. “I don’t know why people don’t think it’s a sport,” said Robles. “It definitely is.”

Swim team undefeated after four meets

Cami Mathewssports editor

Five meets into the season the swim team is coming off of a victory against Granger in their latest meet. Facing challenges and tryingto meet goals, the senior captains prepare to take their team to state. The team has partici-pated in two dual meets, two larger meets, and an alumni meet. Dual meets consist of one-on-one relays with one swimmer from each team going against each other. Larger meet have all of the individual races as long as team relays. The team has prepared for challenges to be faced in meets since the beginning of training. The biggest struggle that comes with swimming is controlling the breathing while competing. “We work on breathing techniques at every practice so that when it comes to races we are breathing as little as possible,” said Cody Adair,

senior captain. “More breath-ing means more pauses and slower times.” Other challenges include the copious amount of strenous practices the team has once the season starts. “The most challenging part of swimming for me are the early morning practices,” said Emilee Pepper, senior

captain. “They take so much out of you. But I still swim every morn-ing because swimming is my life and my passion.” Perserver-ing through practice and meets requires in-spiration for the athletes. “My inspira-

tion is my coaches and other swimmers,” said Pepper. “Everyone pushes each other because they want each other to reach their full potential.” Not only do the play-ers need inspiration but the coaches do as well. Head coach Mary Ward has been the coach at Taylorsville for five years. When she was first hired she knew very little about swimming and could barley swim herself. “When I was hired as

the assistant coach I could barely swim myself, but I had experience coaching other sports,” said Ward. “The head coach hired me becaue I am extremely organized and I could go after the girls when they would hide in the locker room crying.” Once Ward was given the head coaching position she flew to New York City to learn more about the sport and how to coach it. She was taught by Terry Laughlin, a two-time finisher of the Manhattan Island Marathon

Swim and creator of the Total Immersion Swim Program. Once completing the crash course of information Ward headed back to Utah where she was able to become a level 2 ASCA (American Swimming Coaches Associa-tion). “It was a toal crash course in swimming and swim coaching,” said Ward. “I have studied to become a level two ASCA coach, I can’t be a lev-el three until I get ten years, and have also become a much better swimmer myself. In

September I completed my fifth Half Ironman.” Ward’s training and desire to learn more has not only affected herself but the team as well. “Ward leads us through a lot of visualization techniques that get us to relax and focus on what we want to do in our races,” said Adair. “She is always in a good mood and makes practices fun while pushing us. She can help you out with anything at any time.” Each swimmer has a favor-

ite part of the sport; a part that they will never forget and that motivates them every day. “The best part of swim-ming is watching all the new swimmers learn to swim and drop time,” said Austin An-derson, senior captain. “It is a great feeling to be watching them in a meet and see them drop time and become better swimmers.” “My favorite part is look-ing up at the clock and seeing that I have dropped time.” said Adair. “Even if I’m not in first place it is still great.”

Swim wins all meets including two dual meets

Photo by jilea fobair

Senior Trung Pham competes in the 100 fly in their last meet. He also races in the 200 I.M., 50 free, and 100 free style races. Swimmers are able to compete in both individual events and team relays.

“It is a great feeling to be

watching them in a meet

and see them drop time and become better

swimmers.”-Austin

Anderson

a perfect score is 300 and requires ten consecutive strikes.

three strikes in a row are known as a turkey.

the hardest pins to hit are a 7-10 spit.

BowlingThe game was first invented

in 5200 BC by Egyptians.