Hoofbeat Listen. Learn. Speak. The May 2013 Charles D. Owen High School 99 Lake Eden Rd. Black Mountain, NC 28711 Vol. 113 Number 6 WE ARE ALL BOSTON Boston KRT Photography by Allen Holder/Kansas City Star: A View of the North End of the Boston, Massachusetts skyline from the USS Constitution in Charlestown. BOSTON STRONG, OWEN STRONG Editor Sarah Gilmour reveals wider impact of bombing I n times of horrible violence, the world looks as though it is falling apart. We fear for our own safety and the safety of our loved ones. In Boston, the scenes of pure humanity and concern for oth- ers became hope—hope that the world is good, hope that we can work together to overcome the dangers of the world today, hope that love will overcome hate. We thank Boston for this hope. Aſter the bombings and other tragedies, the nation along with the immediate community affected, became smaller. We are all unified in common experience and common grief. We all had stake in what happened, and we all wanted answers, just as the citizens of Boston wanted answers. But these acts can also polarize a nation. People try to solidify and broadcast their beliefs, which creates a sharp division. It is our responsibility as a nation and as a school to use this event to maintain that immediate feeling of unification aſter the bombings and not allow us to slip into extremes that create an us versus them mentality. We must instead maintain the strength Boston showed the nation. Use this time of suffering to focus on coming together and working together. Times like these are simply moments in history until we use them to learn. We must not assume to know the story behind the actions or assume the ramifications of the actions. We can alter the what happens by maintaining our sense of unity and not feeding into the fear. e world is indeed dangerous, but we cannot let our fear paralyze us. Use it to motivate us to make ourselves the world around us better. Aſter the tragedy of the bombing, remember these are not isolated events. Our nation is one. We are ALL Boston. A few days ago, my friend, a fellow Harvard student, and I were watching a Red Sox game on television. e commentators were asking viewers to donate money to victims of the Boston Terrorist Attack of April 15. “Be Boston Strong,” they urged. “ey really need to cut that crap out,” said my friend. When I asked why, he pointed out that there are terrorist attacks that kill many more people than were killed in Boston, and that other countries are ravaged by terrorism far more than the United States. Why, then, are we focusing so much on Boston? What he said, of course, is true. But I was surprised by how students from those countries reacted aſter the attacks. One classmate of mine, originally from Delhi, India, was extremely non- chalant about the bombing. He said his city had been bombed so many times, he and his family had gotten used to this sort of thing. One of my other friends, who grew up in Karachi, Pakistan, echoed his sentiments. If you are driving somewhere and you hear about a bomb on road some- place ahead of you, she told me, you simply turn around and go another way. No big deal. It goes without saying that I had a decidedly different reaction. I think the phrase oſt-used when discussing terrorism, “living in fear,” accurately described my feelings. Growing up mostly as a post-9/11 child, I used to think that was an empty, meaningless media phrase; I did not remem- ber terrorism making me particularly afraid for my safety. During the Boston attacks and the events aſter, bombs went off twenty-five minutes from me, MIT police officer Sean Collier was shot two T-stops away, the Harvard Kennedy School of Gov- ernment, a ten minute walk from my room, was evacuated, and Dzokhar Tsarnaev was hiding out in Watertown, the town next to Cambridge, where I live. e bombers lived in Cambridge, and their former high school, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, is only a couple blocks away. I pass near it to go to lunch almost every day. e Boston Police Department told us that there were possibly more bombs around the city and to stay indoors. I made the cynical calculation that Har- vard, a highly-populated area close and connected to all the events, might be next to be bombed. I was terrified. I was terrorized. I lived in fear. It appears many of us have grown numb to terrorism, whether my friends at Harvard, my childhood self, or even some members of this paper’s staff who did not think the Boston attack was worthy of the front page. So why focus on Boston? Because reflecting on my experience there, many of us are living in fear, but many more are living complacently in that fear. All over the world, terrorists scar us so many times that we oſten stop recognizing their actions as particularly heinous. We become resigned to them, with many pundits detachedly referring to terrorism as “the new normal.” at emotionless acceptance is, to turn another 9/11-era phrase, really how “the terrorists win.” is is not a call to arms. is is a call back to emotion and compassion. So be Boston Strong, be Delhi Strong, be Karachi Strong, be Owen Strong, be strong for every community affected by terrorism. Taylor Morris recounts fear, calls for compassion
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Mar 31, 2016
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HoofbeatListen.Learn.Speak.T
he
May 2013 Charles D. Owen High School 99 Lake Eden Rd. Black Mountain, NC 28711 Vol. 113 Number 6
WE ARE ALL BOSTON
Boston KRT Photography by Allen Holder/Kansas City Star: A View of the North End of the Boston, Massachusetts skyline from the USS Constitution in Charlestown.
BOSTON STRONG, OWEN STRONG
Editor Sarah Gilmour reveals wider impact of bombing
I n times of horrible violence, the world looks as though i t
is falling apart. We fear for our own safety and the safety of our loved ones.
In Boston, the scenes of pure humanity and concern for oth-ers became hope—hope that the world is good, hope that we can work together to overcome the dangers of the world today, hope that love will overcome hate. We thank Boston for this hope.
After the bombings and other tragedies, the nation along with the immediate community affected, became smaller. We are all unified in common experience and common grief. We all had stake in what happened, and we all wanted answers, just as the citizens of Boston wanted answers.
But these acts can also polarize a nation. People try to solidify and broadcast their beliefs, which creates a sharp division. It is our responsibility as a nation and as a school to use this event to maintain that immediate feeling of unification after the bombings and not allow us to slip into extremes that create an us versus them mentality. We must instead maintain the strength Boston showed the nation.
Use this time of suffering to focus on coming together and working together. Times like these are simply moments in history until we use them to learn. We must not assume to know the story behind the actions or assume the ramifications of the actions. We can alter the what happens by maintaining our sense of unity and not feeding into the fear. The world is indeed dangerous, but we cannot let our fear paralyze us. Use it to motivate us to make ourselves the world around us better.
After the tragedy of the bombing, remember these are not isolated events. Our nation is one. We are ALL Boston.
A few days ago, my friend, a fellow Harvard student, and I were watching a Red Sox game on television. The commentators were asking viewers to donate money to
victims of the Boston Terrorist Attack of April 15. “Be Boston Strong,” they urged.“They really need to cut that crap out,” said my friend. When I asked why, he pointed out that
there are terrorist attacks that kill many more people than were killed in Boston, and that other countries are ravaged by terrorism far more than the United States. Why, then, are we focusing so much on Boston?
What he said, of course, is true. But I was surprised by how students from those countries reacted after the attacks. One classmate of mine, originally from Delhi, India, was extremely non-chalant about the bombing. He said his city had been bombed so many times, he and his family had gotten used to this sort of thing. One of my other friends, who grew up in Karachi, Pakistan, echoed his sentiments. If you are driving somewhere and you hear about a bomb on road some-place ahead of you, she told me, you simply turn around and go another way. No big deal.
It goes without saying that I had a decidedly different reaction. I think the phrase oft-used when discussing terrorism, “living in fear,” accurately described my feelings. Growing up mostly as a post-9/11 child, I used to think that was an empty, meaningless media phrase; I did not remem-ber terrorism making me particularly afraid for my safety.
During the Boston attacks and the events after, bombs went off twenty-five minutes from me, MIT police officer Sean Collier was shot two T-stops away, the Harvard Kennedy School of Gov-ernment, a ten minute walk from my room, was evacuated, and Dzokhar Tsarnaev was hiding out in Watertown, the town next to Cambridge, where I live. The bombers lived in Cambridge, and their former high school, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, is only a couple blocks away. I pass near it to go to lunch almost every day. The Boston Police Department told us that there were possibly more bombs around the city and to stay indoors. I made the cynical calculation that Har-vard, a highly-populated area close and connected to all the events, might be next to be bombed.
I was terrified. I was terrorized. I lived in fear.It appears many of us have grown numb to terrorism, whether my friends at Harvard, my
childhood self, or even some members of this paper’s staff who did not think the Boston attack was worthy of the front page. So why focus on Boston? Because reflecting on my experience there, many of us are living in fear, but many more are living complacently in that fear. All over the world, terrorists scar us so many times that we often stop recognizing their actions as particularly heinous. We become resigned to them, with many pundits detachedly referring to terrorism as “the new normal.” That emotionless acceptance is, to turn another 9/11-era phrase, really how “the terrorists win.”
This is not a call to arms. This is a call back to emotion and compassion. So be Boston Strong, be Delhi Strong, be Karachi Strong, be Owen Strong, be strong for every community affected by terrorism.
Taylor Morris recounts fear, calls for compassion
Opinion2 May 2013HoofbeatTh
e
Listen. Learn. Speak.
Should the prison at Guantanamo Bay be closed?
Point/Counterpoint is a means of debating an issue. The opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of the students writing them.
Ferry Alford
By Connor FerryCo Editor-In-Chief
Guantanamo Bay is sick. Human beings are treated in ways that
would be considered cruel to treat animals within this institution. Prisoners are deprived of sleep in manipulated environments where basic amenities like blankets, soap and de-odorant are labeled privileges that can be taken away for disobedience.
Guantanamo Bay is a disgusting reminder of what evils human be-ings are capable of, and it must be shut down completely instead of hovering in the current state of purgatory, with prisoners neither able to transfer in or out of this prison.
According to Alternet, one of the most pro-vocative off ensives occurred when a group of guards stormed an inmate’s cell and threw his Qur’an on the ground. In Muslim culture, the Qur’an is viewed as the word of God and should never be placed on the ground because that act is considered a disgrace in Allah’s eyes.
Th e prisoners’ lack of basic rights has lead to hunger strikes within the prison. Th e Raw Story reports that one striking inmate lost 55 pounds or more than 25 percent of his body weight. Ac-cording to Th e Tribune these strikes were forced to end when prisoners were tied down and fed intravenously. According to Th e Economist, the act of putting in IVs or feeding tubes is aggres-sive and can cause damage to prisoners.
Some men claim that the tubes being put into the prisoners are purposely too big and unsterilized. Th ey also say that the guards are intentionally rough when placing the feeding tubes.
Th e Center For Constitutional Rights reported some of the sickening acts that caused prisoners to go on a hunger strike.
The prison at Guantanamo Bay has been controversial since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan. Closing it was a campaign promise of Barack Obama in the 2008 election. Although Obama signed an order in 2009 to have the prison shut down within a year, the Senate blocked funding for the transfer of prisoners, so it remains open today.
One inmate was forced to carry heavy buck-ets of water, with a shoulder that was re-covering from a bullet wound. He was given a short reprieve from his duties due, but when he could walk again, he was forced to pick
up trash which the guards repeatedly threw back down.
Another inmate was in his cell at 2:00 p.m. when his guards walked in. He was
instructed to get on the ground, and they smashed his head into the fl oor repeatedly. Th en they tossed him into solitary confi nement for two days.
Also according to Raw Story, prisoners
are confi ned to situations where it is almost impossible to continue prayer schedules. Th e humidity in their cells makes the cell walls too damp for prisoners to have their prayer sched-ules hanging up.
Even the land Guantanamo Bay was built on is a source of controversy. Although Cuba only receives $4,000 for the lease for 45 square miles of land from U.S. government, forcing the base to shut down could cause a confl ict they can’t aff ord to have.
According to History News Network, the United States government has been a bad tenant of their leased land. Th e agreement between the two countries specifi ed that the land was “for use as coaling or naval stations only, and for no other purpose.”
Guantanamo Bay is also fi scally irrespon-sible. According to Th e Daily Mail, a Guan-tanamo Bay prisoner costs $903,614 each, as opposed to a federal prisoner, at about $30,000.
Th e real question is not why should we close Guantanamo Bay, but why we haven’t closed it already.
“ The real question is not why should we close Guantanamo Bay, but, why have’t we closed it al-ready."
- Connor Ferry
By Max AlfordStaff writer
Guantanamo Bay is necessary.Information is the key to success when
fi ghting terror, and without a facility like Guantanamo Bay, American forces would be without important information. Not only does information gathered at Guanta-namo Bay support the war on terror, it also disrupts known terrorist organizations by keeping the higher ranking members from contacting their subordinates. Former Vice President Dick Chaney said, in 2008, “Guan-tanamo has been very, very valuable.”
Guantanamo Bay is currently keeping dangerous terrorists from returning to ter-rorism, as well. Ac-cording to the Washington Post, at least 10 of the 202 detainees released from Guanta-namo have been re-captured or killed while fi ghting coalition forces in Afghanistan. If Guantanamo is closed, freed prisoners may go back to fi ghting U.S. forces or committing acts of terrorism.
Even if all the prisoners held in Guanta-namo are transferred to other prisons, their safety and security is not guaranteed. Some high-level terrorist suspects have myste-riously escaped from Yemeni jails, which would be where Yemeni detainees would be sent. A suspect in a bombing at the Ameri-can embassy in Yemen said al-Shrihri, a high-level terrorist, was released through a Saudi rehabilitation program in 2007. Th ese events make eff orts to repatriate and reha-bilitate Guantanamo prisoners increasingly hard to justify.
Not only would closing Guantanamo release dangerous terrorists back into the fi eld, it would also embolden their brethren. Without the threat of deportation to Guan-tanamo, terrorists organizations would be
less hesitant to carry out attacks. Th e act of closing Guanta-namo would also give enemies of the U.S. and Coalition forces a propaganda victory, possibly emboldening terrorist organizations and increasing enroll-
ment rates.A common argument
against the operation of Guantanamo Bay is that the prisoners kept there are treated poorly. However, because the negative re-sponse to pictures and reportsearly on, con-ditions at Guantanamo have improved dra-matically.
According to Air Force Col. Morris Da-vis, chief prosecutor in the Defense De-partment’s Offi ce of Military Commis-sions, prisoners are
receiving three culturally appropriate meals a day, as well as two hours of outdoor rec-reation. Guards are respectfully silent dur-ing each prayer period, and the medical care provided to prisoners is the same level of quality that is given to American service members. Prisoners are housed in state-of-the-art buildings modeled aft er American ci-vilian prisons. In March 2006, aft er an offi cial inspection, a Belgian police offi cial said “at the level of detention facilities, it is a model prison, where people are better treated than in Belgian prisons.”
Not only are prisoners treated well, they are also entitled to Protections under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conven-tion. Allegations of torture have also been rebuked by government offi cials. In 2007, Chaney said on Larry King Live “We’re careful not to torture. We’re not in the busi-ness of torturing people.”
Guantanamo Bay has become an impor-tant game piece in the war on terror, which, if taken away, could compromise the whole game, like a rook captured in a game of chess.
“Guantanamo has been very, very valuable.”
- Dick Chaney
POINT COUNTERPOINT
Opinion2 May 2013HoofbeatTh
e
Listen. Learn. Speak.
Should the prison at Guantanamo Bay be closed?
Point/Counterpoint is a means of debating an issue. The opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of the students writing them.
Ferry Alford
By Connor FerryCo Editor-In-Chief
Guantanamo Bay is sick. Human beings are treated in ways that
would be considered cruel to treat animals within this institution. Prisoners are deprived of sleep in manipulated environments where basic amenities like blankets, soap and de-odorant are labeled privileges that can be taken away for disobedience.
Guantanamo Bay is a disgusting reminder of what evils human be-ings are capable of, and it must be shut down completely instead of hovering in the current state of purgatory, with prisoners neither able to transfer in or out of this prison.
According to Alternet, one of the most pro-vocative off ensives occurred when a group of guards stormed an inmate’s cell and threw his Qur’an on the ground. In Muslim culture, the Qur’an is viewed as the word of God and should never be placed on the ground because that act is considered a disgrace in Allah’s eyes.
Th e prisoners’ lack of basic rights has lead to hunger strikes within the prison. Th e Raw Story reports that one striking inmate lost 55 pounds or more than 25 percent of his body weight. Ac-cording to Th e Tribune these strikes were forced to end when prisoners were tied down and fed intravenously. According to Th e Economist, the act of putting in IVs or feeding tubes is aggres-sive and can cause damage to prisoners.
Some men claim that the tubes being put into the prisoners are purposely too big and unsterilized. Th ey also say that the guards are intentionally rough when placing the feeding tubes.
Th e Center For Constitutional Rights reported some of the sickening acts that caused prisoners to go on a hunger strike.
The prison at Guantanamo Bay has been controversial since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan. Closing it was a campaign promise of Barack Obama in the 2008 election. Although Obama signed an order in 2009 to have the prison shut down within a year, the Senate blocked funding for the transfer of prisoners, so it remains open today.
One inmate was forced to carry heavy buck-ets of water, with a shoulder that was re-covering from a bullet wound. He was given a short reprieve from his duties due, but when he could walk again, he was forced to pick
up trash which the guards repeatedly threw back down.
Another inmate was in his cell at 2:00 p.m. when his guards walked in. He was
instructed to get on the ground, and they smashed his head into the fl oor repeatedly. Th en they tossed him into solitary confi nement for two days.
Also according to Raw Story, prisoners
are confi ned to situations where it is almost impossible to continue prayer schedules. Th e humidity in their cells makes the cell walls too damp for prisoners to have their prayer sched-ules hanging up.
Even the land Guantanamo Bay was built on is a source of controversy. Although Cuba only receives $4,000 for the lease for 45 square miles of land from U.S. government, forcing the base to shut down could cause a confl ict they can’t aff ord to have.
According to History News Network, the United States government has been a bad tenant of their leased land. Th e agreement between the two countries specifi ed that the land was “for use as coaling or naval stations only, and for no other purpose.”
Guantanamo Bay is also fi scally irrespon-sible. According to Th e Daily Mail, a Guan-tanamo Bay prisoner costs $903,614 each, as opposed to a federal prisoner, at about $30,000.
Th e real question is not why should we close Guantanamo Bay, but why we haven’t closed it already.
“ The real question is not why should we close Guantanamo Bay, but, why have’t we closed it al-ready."
- Connor Ferry
By Max AlfordStaff writer
Guantanamo Bay is necessary.Information is the key to success when
fi ghting terror, and without a facility like Guantanamo Bay, American forces would be without important information. Not only does information gathered at Guanta-namo Bay support the war on terror, it also disrupts known terrorist organizations by keeping the higher ranking members from contacting their subordinates. Former Vice President Dick Chaney said, in 2008, “Guan-tanamo has been very, very valuable.”
Guantanamo Bay is currently keeping dangerous terrorists from returning to ter-rorism, as well. Ac-cording to the Washington Post, at least 10 of the 202 detainees released from Guanta-namo have been re-captured or killed while fi ghting coalition forces in Afghanistan. If Guantanamo is closed, freed prisoners may go back to fi ghting U.S. forces or committing acts of terrorism.
Even if all the prisoners held in Guanta-namo are transferred to other prisons, their safety and security is not guaranteed. Some high-level terrorist suspects have myste-riously escaped from Yemeni jails, which would be where Yemeni detainees would be sent. A suspect in a bombing at the Ameri-can embassy in Yemen said al-Shrihri, a high-level terrorist, was released through a Saudi rehabilitation program in 2007. Th ese events make eff orts to repatriate and reha-bilitate Guantanamo prisoners increasingly hard to justify.
Not only would closing Guantanamo release dangerous terrorists back into the fi eld, it would also embolden their brethren. Without the threat of deportation to Guan-tanamo, terrorists organizations would be
less hesitant to carry out attacks. Th e act of closing Guanta-namo would also give enemies of the U.S. and Coalition forces a propaganda victory, possibly emboldening terrorist organizations and increasing enroll-
ment rates.A common argument
against the operation of Guantanamo Bay is that the prisoners kept there are treated poorly. However, because the negative re-sponse to pictures and reportsearly on, con-ditions at Guantanamo have improved dra-matically.
According to Air Force Col. Morris Da-vis, chief prosecutor in the Defense De-partment’s Offi ce of Military Commis-sions, prisoners are
receiving three culturally appropriate meals a day, as well as two hours of outdoor rec-reation. Guards are respectfully silent dur-ing each prayer period, and the medical care provided to prisoners is the same level of quality that is given to American service members. Prisoners are housed in state-of-the-art buildings modeled aft er American ci-vilian prisons. In March 2006, aft er an offi cial inspection, a Belgian police offi cial said “at the level of detention facilities, it is a model prison, where people are better treated than in Belgian prisons.”
Not only are prisoners treated well, they are also entitled to Protections under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conven-tion. Allegations of torture have also been rebuked by government offi cials. In 2007, Chaney said on Larry King Live “We’re careful not to torture. We’re not in the busi-ness of torturing people.”
Guantanamo Bay has become an impor-tant game piece in the war on terror, which, if taken away, could compromise the whole game, like a rook captured in a game of chess.
“Guantanamo has been very, very valuable.”
- Dick Chaney
POINT COUNTERPOINT
Opinion 3May 2013 HoofbeatTh
e
Listen. Learn. Speak.T
heHoofbeat
Listen.Learn.Speak.
Connor Ferry and Sarah Gilmour, Editors-in-ChiefMax Alford and Dalton Nickerson, Online EditorsJessie Woodward, Assistant EditorMax Alford, Photography EditorCaityln Page, Ad Manager Business ManagersGisselle Villegas-Acosta and Chris McHone
Staff writers: Dylan Bougis, Kailanne Burleson, Hannah King, Miles Lally, Tyler Newman, Tivoli Nickerson, Ryan Raines, Devin Sweazey, Ashton Woody
The Hoofbeat is published by the staff at Charles D. Owen High School, 99 Lake Eden Road, Black Mountain, North Carolina 28711. (Telephone 828-669-3852) We welcome letters to the editor, free-lance articles, and suggestions. The paper is printed by The Star, Shelby, North Carolina. Views expressed are not necessar-ily those of the administration or the faculty. Signed columns, except for point/counterpoint, are solely the opinion of the writer. We reserve the right to edit let-ters to the editor for space and content considerations. The Hoofbeat is a public forum for students to express their opinions and is a member of JEA, NSPA, SIPA, and NCSMA. See our online newspaper at the following Web site: www.hoofbeatonline.net
Controversy rages over the e� ects of class size
EDITORIAL CARTOON by Max Alford
STAFF EDITORIAL
At the turn of the last century, schools were buildings, usually converted churches, with a few rooms where they held class. Th e classes were comprised of any children who were not working, and they were not taught from any standard curriculum.
Schools are completely diff erent one hun-dred years later. Architects design buildings with the idea that they will hold students; states have standardized learning and state legislatures have passed laws to optimize the space in classrooms by assigning as many students as possible into classrooms.
Th at is the state of education in North Carolina, and with cuts by the government’s sequester, the situation may get worse.
According to Education Votes, the se-quester will cut 3 billion dollars the of fed-eral education budget. Th is massive cut will lead to less money in schools with growing student populations. Schools can handle the budget cuts by spending less on supplies or by cutting staff and increasing class sizes.
Researchers at Th e Center for Public Ed-ucation found that increasing class sizes is detrimental to the quality of education re-ceived by students. In fact, the study found that classes should be no more than 18 stu-dents per one teacher “to produce the great-est eff orts.”
Leanne Winner, lobbyist for the North Carolina School Boards Association, said to the Raleigh News Observer, “Th e research shows that you really need to get it down to 15 for it to really work, and that’s never hap-pened.”
California, Georgia, Nevada, Ohio, Utah
and Wisconsin have all passed laws dating back to 2009 that increase class sizes. While according to the State Board of Education, North Carolina does passed a law that elimi-nated maximum class sizes for grades four through twelve but was not able to ratify it.
Recently, the North Carolina Senate Education Committee passed a law that will eliminate class size restrictions for kinder-garten through third grade and allow for more than 24 students to be in a classroom.
North Carolina’s lack of state law does not inhibit other laws from being made. Career and Technical Education classes have their own sets of standards on what class sizes are allowed, based on eff ectiveness.
Teachers have strong feelings about class sizes. English teacher Kelly Scruggs has ex-perienced diff erent sizes of classes.
“When we have too many students in a class, it impacts them negatively [and does not allow students] to get more one on one time,” Scruggs said.
A study by Class Size Matters found that class size reduction increased math scores on standardized tests. It also found that parents were more involved in classrooms, students were less disruptive and minority and poor students experienced signifi cant improve-ments in math and reading.
States should not rethink the fi scal invest-ment of having a better education for stu-dents. Every high school in North Carolina’s goal is to prepare students for college. Ac-cording to How To E-D-U, college graduates with bachelor’s degrees earn $23,291 per year more than students who have graduated high school. Th at extra money goes into the econ-omy and helps make states money.
For schools to achieve their goal, they must have teachers in the position to be eff ective.
Teachers in classrooms with low numbers of students have the opportunity to not only teach students, but understand them. Th ey can make connections with students and fi nd
a teaching style that benefi ts them.Teachers in classrooms with low numbers
of students are also more likely to make con-nections and to inspire students.
By Laine EverlyGuest writer
Asheville citizens held their breath while the N.C. state legislature came close to passing bills that would cause multi-ple recreational and public organizations to be terminated.
If passed, bills that were on the floor would have had Asheville scrambling to keep a stable budget. Plans had to be made to allow for the predicted 5.7 million dol-lar gap that would be initiated by legisla-ture.
These plans included the elimination of parks, youth and adult athletics, one fire station, and Saturday bus service in Asheville alone, according to Urban News. The Nature Center, in particular, was on the brink of closure, which would have caused a massive blow to the community,
Opinion4 May 2013HoofbeatTh
e
Listen. Learn. Speak.
Chain businesses do not support local community
By Tivoli K. NickersonStaff writer
Every year, new chain businesses steal consumers from lo-cal businesses, caus-ing many problems in the local economy that are often over-looked.
The big chain busi-nesses off the best pric-ing, quality, and lowest prices in com-parison to the smaller businesses, so, of course, most people would take the better deal. Big businesses created many under-lying problems for the local community.
Chain businesses often lure local of-ficials with promises of tax revenue and jobs, but a vast number of problems come
with those benefits. Some employees of the big box stores do not earn enough to meet basic living expenses and cannot afford the health care and benefits the the chain stores offer. Acording to CSEA Local 436, the employees must rel on Medicaid, food stamps, and puslic assistance programs which result in an annual cost os $12-million for taxpayers.
When a person buys from a chain business, the local community suf-fers. Studies have shown that each new Wal-Mart store results in a lost of 180 jobs in the local community, and for every retail job created by Wal-Mart, 1.5 jobs are lost as local businesses are displaced. Counties who have gained Wal-Marts have an increase in poverty rates.
Seventy percent of the products on
Wal-Mart’s shelves come from factories in China. Some of the factories that produce these products abuse their workers with poor working conditions, long hours, and payment below minimum wage. Big
bu s i n e ss e s fill a large p e r c e n t -age of their shelves with p r o d u c t s from other c o u n t r i e s , which does not help support the
economic growth of our country. Most of the chains business’ products are not made in the United States because other countries’ factories and wholesale stores offer products for really low prices, and big businesses here will invest.
According to the Cape Cod Commis-sion, big stores such as Wal-Mart, only
give back 14 percent of their revenue to the local economy in comparison to the 52 percent that local businesses give back. Independent businesses spend more money on local services, supplies and labor, which creates more jobs and local circulation of money.
Although the big chain stores have a hold on competition, the local Mom and Pop businesses have the lead in terms of supporting economic growth, community character, public spending, and job qual-ity. Many university studies and research from around the country have proven that local businesses triumph over chain businesses when it comes to economic benetits.
With all of this being taken to mind, perhaps the next time you need hardware, you will go to Town Hardware instead of Lowes, or the with books, you will go to Malaprops instead of Barnes and Noble. It’s an easy way to support your commu-nity and yourself.
“ Seventy percent of the products on Wal-Mart’s shelves come from facto-ries in China. "
- Tivoli NickersonNICKERSON
COMMENTARY
Local control endangered by state’s bills, budgetCOMMENTARY
EVERLY
while also saving Asheville an estimated $450,000.
“The community would be missing a great experience,” junior and former vol-unteer Morgan Dale said.
Luckily, Nature Center supporters went to great lengths to keep their program up and running. Their partnership with The Friends, a group representing 4,000 households dedicated to sup-porting the WNC Nature Center, has allowed them to re-main open even with the threat of budget cuts.
“It’s the closest thing we have to a zoo here,” junior Marissa Elmore said. “The kids really love it.”
Bills are consistently being presented in Raleigh that may lead to the shutting down of important local resources, and unlike the Nature Center, those resources may not have the same support system to avoid closure.
Many of the city resources and pro-grams that had been proposed to be closed are integral parts of the community, and while some of the proposals were made to be hypothetical, the programs could just as easily be altered or closed with the final
word from Ra-leigh.
The state is currently strug-gling to keep the budget balanced, and is, therefore, cutting many sal-aries and funds. Education has taken some hits
as well, with teachers’ pay having been frozen for years, and many new account-ability standards being implemented in schools.
The latest struggle for Asheville is for the possession of the Asheville water system. Control of the water system was supposed to be transferred to the Metro-politan Sewage District (MSD) on May 5, as a law was approved in Raleigh legisla-ture. The transfer was put on hold, how-
ever, after the city of Asheville launched a twenty-five page complaint in regards to the loss of their control over the city’s water.
Thanks to Wake County Superior Court Judge Don Stephens, the claims presented that noted the state mandated transfer as ‘unconstitutional’ allowed the Asheville water department to continue management at least until the restraining order placed on the MSD expires.
In the meantime, the city of Asheville is trying to devise a way to permanently keep control of the water supply.
Between city resources such as the WNC Nature center and the water sup-ply, the legislature in Raleigh has had a huge impact locally. As new bills are be-ing passed to stabilize the economy, the possible repercussions are endless.
Even the possibilities that had been speculated about could have caused po-tential dissention in the community, were they to ever be acted upon.
A drop in focus on the importance of recreational opportunities, for example, would mean a terrible loss for children and adults alike.
“ It’s the closest thing we have to a zoo here. The kids really love it."
- Marissa Elmore
Opinion 5May 2012 HoofbeatTh
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Genetically modified foods threaten seed supply
By Ashton WoodyStaff writer
Th e way human-kind creates its food has changed, permanently. Now, people use geneti-cally modifi ed foods, oblivious to their dan-gers. Genetically modi-fi ed (GM) foods are prod-ucts that have been altered on a genetic level, usually to achieve a goal. GM’s are designed to mend a fl aw in the genetic makeup of the organism, such as disease and pest resistance, suitability to its environment, and greater growth rate. Ge-netically modifi ed foods are dangerous.
Multinational corporations promote GM products as solutions to world hunger, sustain-able agriculture, and other global issues. On the contrary, they keep the status quo of scant
regulations on genetically engineered products, calling themselves “Life Science” companies, so that they can continue to maximize profi t with little regard to public safety, and risks to wildlife and the agricultural stability of many nations according to Ronnie Cummins, founder of the Organic Consumers Association.
In the past 30 years many cases of GM substances harming people have surfaced. In 1989, Japanese company Showa Denko’s L-tryptophan, a genetically modifi ed version of a dietary supplement killed 37 U.S. citizens and permanently disabled 5,000 more with a life-threatening illness known as eosinophilia my-algia syndrome.
GM production harms not only humans but animals and their habitats. In 1999, a study by Cornell University revealed that pollen from GM corn was poisonous to Monarch butter-fl ies. Th e dangers here lie in the Pandora’s box that pollen carried on the wind or via insects can spread GM genes to natural plants and cre-ate hybrid off spring.
Th e GM hybrids, possessing their enhanced traits would become the dominant organism in
its habitat; this would complete-ly upset the food chain and have potentially devastating eff ects.
Possibly the most danger-ous aspect of GM products, in this interconnected, interde-pendent commerce, is the “ter-minator” seeds and the compa-nies that seek to propagate the market with them. Th ese seeds can disrupt the largest profes-sion of the past 12,000 years and force farmers to indenture themselves to seed corpora-tions.
Monsanto corporation has devised plants that are infertile, and aft er being harvested their seeds are unusable. Monsanto plans to charge farmers on a yearly basis, along with royalties paid on their harvest profi ts. With the continuing trends in acceptance of GM products and the predictability of their yield, traditional farmers will be forced to ac-cept the modern standards of growing or go
out of business.Th e tide of genetically modifi ed organisms
is rising. With it human and animal health are being put in peril. Without check, the orders and balances of the home of the human spe-cies, and Earth are on the verge of long term destruction.
Biotech KRT photography by John Maier
A farm worker fertilizes a fi eld of experimental soy beans planted with genetically altered seeds in Guaira, Sao Paulo, Brazil July 13, 1999.
Question of the
Month:
What will you be doing this
summer?
“I’m going to hang out with my best friends and read comic books every day.” Nick Marino, freshman
“I’ll be swimming and later at-tempt to gain popularity on you-tube.” Alissa Norton, freshman
“Hang out with friends and work all summer.” Kerrigan Duncan, sophomore
“I’m going hunting coons and mudding all summer long.” Dylan Mascitelli, sophomore
“Heading to China with some friends in an educational group.” Aaron Hamrick, junior
“I’m going to relax by the pool while being fanned and fed grapes.” Samantha Lone, junior
Compiled by Devin SweazeySta� writer
COMMENTARY
WOODY
Opinion6 May 2013HoofbeatTh
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Standardized tests create stress for all involved
In the News
By Dalton NickersonStaff Writer
Standardized tests such as SATs, ACTs, EOCs and Common Exams have troubled and stressed many students for time im-memorial, and now teachers and schools may be the next to fret about these dreaded tests.
Recent propositions for educational re-form in North Carolina have provided for a system of grading and evaluating schools and teachers based in large part on student performance on standardized tests.
North Carolina’s Excellent Public Schools Act and the Education Improvement Act are two such suggestions. While these bills diff er in many respects, both recommend giving schools a letter grade of A to F based primar-ily on student’s test scores.
Many staff consider standardized tests stressful and inaccurate as a measurement of student growth, but inaccuracy shouldn’t matter when assessing a student’s ability to learn or a school’s ability to teach, should it?
Th ere is little room for error with a stan-dardized test; a student will just be expected to show up one day for a single test comprised of multiple choice and possibly some limited written responses that will try to completely and accurately refl ect their entire semester or school year.
Fortunately, these tests are all made to be objective and similar in nature. Th ere is little to no diff erence be-tween any two student’s tests across the state because there is an equal alikeness between any two schools, and any two students, for that matter.
All students are motivated to do well on these tests because they know that every topic on the test is equally applicable and relevant
to their preferred career choice, and they all want to improve their school’s grade and are willing to put in that extra study time. Th ey can’t imagine anything they would rather do with their time.
Th is is a nearly perfect plan, but as there are always some weak points to a plan, this standard-ized method of eval-uating students and schools comes at a price, namely what a teacher should teach.
While these tests may provide a con-crete guide for new, inexperienced teach-
ers to base their lessons off of, oft en the test may become the teacher. If schools and their staff are ranked solely on the standardized tests their students must take, many teachers may fall into more standardized and effi cient methods of teaching the test.
Th ere, teaching becomes less about kin-dling interest in learning and more about fi lling a mind, with temporary and insignifi -
cant details and facts to use on a test. Th ere, teaching becomes less about preparing for the future and more about preparing for the test day.
And then students may leave, either for want of more fulfi lling learning or bet-ter averages in test scores at some private or charter institution. Under the Excellent Education Act, two out of every three North Carolina high schools would receive a D or F, and because this grade is based on com-pletely accurate, infallible ACT scores, there is absolutely no fault in this evaluation and must mean two-thirds of North Carolina’s high schools are failing to prepare students.
And then what will some schools be will-ing to do to raise these failing grades? Will the standardized test of one class take prec-edent over the lessons of another class? Will some desperate schools unintentionally and carelessly overlook certain testing regula-tions?
Th ere are a few weak points in this plan to improve schools, but looking past the proba-ble inaccuracy, potential restrictions on cur-riculum, and all other negative possibilities, this is a pretty good idea.
“All students are motivat-ed to do well on these tests because they know that every topic on the test is equally applicable and rel-evant to their prefered ca-reer choices..."
- Dalton Nickerson
By Caitlyn Page Staff writer
FFA teams win in competitionTh e Owen FFA competed in the Western Regional Rally. Th ey collected over 10,216
meals for the needy at the rally. Th ey now have 24 members qualifi ed for State Competi-tion this June in Raleigh.
Th e FFA teams received fi rst in region for Nursery Landscape, Floriculture, and Ag-riculture Mechanics; second in region for Introduction to Horticulture; fourth in region in Public Speaking; sixth in region in Job Interviewing and tenth in region for Tools and Materials.
Marissa Spillars and Dori Harcharik were installed as 2013-2014 Regional Offi cers.John Nix and Tyler Pasour placed third highest in the state in the Forestry Event. Th ey
were fi rst in the region. Charles D. Owen High School was the highest scoring traditional public high school in North Carolina.
CTE Honor Society inducts new members Sixty-six students were inducted into the CTE Honor Society this year, receiving a
certifi cate and an honor cord. Qualifi cations include being a junior or senior who main-tains an overall unweighted GPA of 3.0 or higher, passing all courses, having no more than fi ve unwaived absences in class of nomination, having no more than one ISS or two
administrative detentions, having no OSS during their junior and senior years, and hav-ing completed Career and Technical Education pathway or cluster.
Students receive substantial scholarshipsAnna Stewart received the SECU People Helping People Scholarship valued at
$10,000. Heather Lytle, Tamara Groce and Sierra Holloman for receiving the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. scholarship for $2,500. Lucas Rumney received the Nathaniel Ellis Can-nady scholarship of $5,000 for four years, totalling $20,000.
Pam Rhoda receives literacy award; students become CNAsScience teacher Pam Rhoda received the Great Smokies Reading Council’s Literacy
Award. Awards for excellence in literacy teaching went out to one teacher in each of the 25 Buncombe County schools and Rhoda was chosen for Owen High. Rhoda was awarded a plaque.
Kayla Dotson, Ashley Devan, and Savannah Henderson are offi cially certifi ed nursing assistants, CNA’s, aft er passing their certifi cation exams.
Art students win awards at Buncombe County Art ShowTwenty-three art students have received awards from the Buncombe County Art Show
at the Asheville Mall.First place awards were given to Michelle Martin (Drawing in Pencil or Pastels, Paint-
ing), Sarah Margaret Christy (Combined Mixed Media), Yasemine Adkuman (Relief Painting), Ethan Robinson (Printmaking), and Audrey Moore (Ink Drawing). Th e judges best pick was given to Gabriel Maese.
HUMOR COLUMN
NICKERSON
Features 7May 2013 HoofbeatTh
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Teacher of the year: Holli� eld elected for 2013-2014 school year
Citizen’s group presses for congressional hearing
By Dalton NickersonStaff writer
Owen staff recognized English and journalism teacher Adrienne Hollifield as Teacher of the Year (TOY) for the 2013-2014 school year.
The TOY has traditionally been cho-sen through a series of open nominations, an initial candidate selection vote from the willing nominees, followed by a final runoff between the top two candidates.
Hollifield had been nominated before, but with this being her first time in the runoff group, she said she was shocked when she was chosen as Owen’s Teacher of the Year.
Many of the teachers and staff fervent-ly supported Hollifield.
Sophomore English teacher Eugene Jensen holds Hollifield in high regard.
“Adrienne is just an inspiration; she’s
always eager to collaborate and help out,” Jensen said.
Generally friendly and noncompetitive in nature, Hollifield was concerned about having to compete at the higher levels for TOY of the Owen District, and pos-sibly even Buncombe County TOY, like her friend and colleague, English teacher Dawn Rookey.
Hollifield expressed similar concerns from the runoff vote when she heard that she would be running against media spe-cialist Samantha Gallman.
“It’s really difficult competing with someone you like,” Hollifield said.
There were no negative feelings be-tween the two despite this competition
Gallman was flattered to be chosen as the runner-up and thankful for the re-flective experience and opportunity to improve teaching.
“Reflecting on teachers and what
makes teaching special often helps us im-prove our own teaching methods,” Gall-man said.
Both Gallman and Hollifield were ec-static to have been selected as primary candidates for Owen’s Teacher of the Year,
By Tivoli K. NickersonStaff writer
Th e residents of the South Asheville com-munity, where history teacher Tate MacQueen lives, continue to face toxic pollutants. Prioritiz-ing the security of their own jobs over the safety of the people of Asheville lead to an issue larger than CTS and EPA expected.
Th e property on Mills Gap Road was once occupied by a factory called CTS in 1959. Th e site was found to be highly polluted with TCE and petroleum compounds.
Th e CTS site of Asheville Inc. was released from the CERCLIS Inventory of Hazardous Sites in 1995. Developers who had purchased 50+ acres of contaminated site then began de-veloping a 44.89 acre, $30,000,000.00 subdivi-sion, the community where MacQeen and his family reside.
For decades residents near Mills Gap Road have been getting the worst of the extremely high levels of contamination left behind by CTS of Asheville Inc., MacQueen said. Th ere have been multiple people living in the area who have been diagnosed with severe health problems such as tumors and cancer, including 50 documented cases of Non-Hodgkins lym-phoma, within one mile of CTS.
On June 26 1990 EPA confi rmed that the Rice’s property was being impacted by migrat-ing contamination. It was a clandestine sam-pling, EPA never told the Rice’s, never obtained permission, and never told the Rice’s of the dangerous levels. Nine years elapsed before the state sampled and the Rice’s water contamination levels were exposed.
A 1999 sample from the Rice family’s water supply was 7,000 times over the state limit for trichloroeth-ylene and 4,200 times the federal limit. Th e Robin-son’s well was 90 times over the state limit before being fi ltered and 34 times over the limit aft er the fi lter.
Th e community group Concerned Citizens for Mills Gap Cleanup, lead by Glen Horeky, has been struggling to get CTS to do the right thing and clean up the pollution. Vice President and a major contributor to the group, Tate MacQueen, has deeply studied the suspicious actions of the USEPA for years.
“We are teaming up with Jerry Ensminger to support the clean up and promote an environ-mentally safe community,” MacQueen said.
Th e documentary Semper Fi: Always Faith-ful was viewed at the Carolina Cinemas on Sat-urday, May 18. Th e documentary follows Jerry Ensminger, who lost his nine-year-old daughter to leukemia, as he struggles to get relief for over a million veterans and families also aff ected by
pollution at Camp LejeuneIn a Friday radio inter-
view on 1350 am Jerry said, “You know, people who have ever lost a child to dis-ease, you can take your pain and sorrow and turn it into something good.”
MacQueen states that the Lejeune case is very similar to the CTS site case, with similar pollutants and carcinogens in each site. Th e
documentary has done much to help publicize the impact of factories that produce this kind of waste and their eff ects on the surrounding com-munities.
USEPA Region 4 allowed CTS to use an in-eff ective Soil Vapor Extraction (SVE) system, which cost $440,000.00-$480,000.00, as a cheap and fast way to clean up the contamination. Th e SVE system went active in 2006. In Janu-ary 2010, at a meeting held by Senator Richard
Burr, the USEPA admitted that the Soil Vapor Extraction system had failed. Later on, the sys-tem was demolished by copper thieves, and a clean up has yet to be seen.
Not only has there yet to be a clean up, but EPA Region 4 offi cials have been trying to con-ceal suspicious activity. EPA offi cials are un-der investigation for criminal misconduct and fraud. Th ey have maintained two CERCLA sites for the same source, one of which was created on the Rice’s property and without their con-sent.
Documents pertaining to their suspicious activities were altered before illegally removed from the public library. Some of the records show that EPA submitted a falsifi ed incident re-port to the U.S. Coast Guard National Response Center to create a new site for the source but was put on the victims property and this vio-lates federal law.
Today the water on the Rice family’s prop-erty is still highly contaminated at 10,000 ppb of TCE, even aft er the water fi lter. Th e community is still trying to get EPA region 4 to do the right thing.
Th e group Concerned Citizens for Mills Gap Cleanup is pushing for congressional hearing of USEPA’s actions. Go to CleanCTS.info to get more information.
expressing considerable appreciation for the staff and faculty’s support.
“I fi nd it really hard to pick a single teacher or staff member amongst so many people who work so hard everyday,” Hol-lifi eld said “We all are teachers of the year.”
Features8 May 2013HoofbeatTh
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Sta� retires after many years of service to communityBy Devin SweazeyStaff writer Mary Ann Osby:
Mary Ann Osby, dance teacher, will also be retiring after 40 years of teaching, 25 of those at Owen. She has plenty of things to do after her retirement.
“I’m going to purchase a ticket to Paris,” she said, and “explore the haunts of Hemmingway, Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein.”
One of her all time favorite moments of teaching, she says, was “when I gave my first scholarship award for a student who passed.”
Senior Tamara Groce said, “I think it’s sad to see such a great teacher go.”
Miguel Verdu:Spanish teacher Miguel Verdu has been teaching for 30 years with 26 of
them at Owen.Upon retirement he “will relax for a little while. I do not have many set
plans.” Aft er a while he might either work part time or run an import/export business.
Verdu loves it when former students come back to see him: “I love to get letters from past students when they tell me how much of an impact I gave them on their life,” he said.
Junior Ian Pomeroy said, “Th e Spanish department is losing a good teacher, and many students will miss out on a teacher who is very passionate about the subject.”
Steve Walston:Woodworking teacher Steve Walson is retiring aft er 30 years of teaching, 12 of them at
Owen. In retirement, Walston says he will have lots to do.“I’ll be painting houses, lots of construction, and ride my Harley,” he said. He is also anxious to spend some time outside. “I miss going out on trails in the woods,” Walston said, so he plans to catch up on his hik-
ing.His favorite teaching moment was when he and his students won Fan Favorite for the
playhouse they built for the spring show of the Asheville Home Builder’s Association on April 20. Carpentry classes from around the county competed in this show, building playhouses that were then raffl ed off , the money going back to Buncombe County Schools.
Junior Michael Neff , a student in Walston’s fourth period construction class said, “Th is school is going to lose a great teacher.”
Anne Blackwell:Earth science and anatomy teacher Anne Blackwell will be retiring
aft er 32 years of teaching, 29 of them at Owen. Blackwell has quite a few plans aft er her retirement.
“I’ll be gardening and visit my grand children,” Blackwell said. “You’ll fi nd me staying up late and watch old movies.”
Blackwell says the teaching moment that is most precious to her is “when you see that light in the students head come on, ...When they fi nally understand the point you’re trying to get across.”
Junior Kristen Gray said, “She is a wonderful teacher who leaves a great impact on students. I will be sad to see her leave.”
ANNE BLACKWELL: 29 years at Owen
MIGUEL VERDU: 26 years at Owen
MARY ANN OSBY: 25 years at Owen
STEVE WA
LSTON
: 12 years at Ow
en
Kristi Neal:Counselor Kristi Neal is retiring aft er 24
years of counseling, nine of them at Owen. Neal’s retirement plan is simple so far.
“[I’ll] take six months off and decide what to do next,” Neal said.
Neal says her favorite part of being a coun-selor is the relationships she built with the fac-ulty and students.
Neal looks forward to spending time with her grandchildren.
KR
ISTI
NEA
L:9
year
s at
Ow
en
Features 9May 2013 HoofbeatTh
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Senior organizes benefit dance concertBy Gisselle VillegasStaff writer
Senior Archer Lee has been preparing for his Graduation Project this semester. He came to the conclusion he wanted to go further in something he already knew about: dance.
He began dancing his freshman year.“He’s really grown as a dancer ever since and
has also had much improvement in technique,” dance teacher Mary Ann Osby said.
Archer’s friends, senior Tamara Groce and senior Heather Lytle, were the ones who ad-vised him to take dance class.
“I think Archer is a phenomenal dancer. He works hard in dance and knows what he wants,” Tamara said.
He didn’t take Intro Arts as freshman regu-larly do, but went straight into Dance 1. He continued to take dance throughout the years and is currently in Dance VI. Not only is he a student in the class but he also helps chore-graph dance rountines.
He manages to make time for dance dur-ing the school day. He can be found him in the auditorrium in the morning, during lunch and
even aft er school.“I actually did not see myself as a dancer
ever. If it wasn’t for Tamara and Heather, I would’ve taken a diff erent class,” Archer said.
Dance teacher Amy Maze at Center Stage
Studio is his mentor and Osby also helped him through the pro-cess.
His project will in-clude a two minute modern dance piece that he will present in front of the judges. He will be dancing to “My Own Hands” by Sara Haze. For the com-munity service part of the project, he held a benefi t concert dur-ing lunch. A dollar was charged at the door.
“Putting the benefi t concert together and meeting with my men-tor was the most diffi -cult thing to do,” Archer
said. Other dancers such as senior Lakia Hinson
and Heather among others contributed to the benefi t concert.
By Tyler NewmanStaff Writer
After spending 25 years teaching chass-es, jazz squares, leaps, and bounds to eager high school students, Mary Ann Osby is saying farewell and is retiring to be with her husband and grandchildren. In her time teaching Osby has put on close to 100 performances.
Her concert count includes recitals at two other schools along with Owen: Reyn-olds High School and Advanced Learning Center. All three demanded she show off her students skills with a performance.
She has also had students participate in shows in parades, step performances, and many festivals including LEAF and Sour-wood, but you can bet she won’t tell Owen High School goodbye without one final dance concert.
Osby has never been one to conform to all the rules, and it is suspected she will pull out all the stops for this concert. Ju-nior Kayla Sartor said “This final perfor-mance will be on a whole new level.”
In fact, Osby is planning to dance at the event.
“When you’re a dancer people are al-ways saying, ‘Dance, dance, will you dance for me?’” Osby said. “My response is ‘Where were you thirty years ago?’ If I don’t have a reason, I won’t dance.”
She also said she might try to bring her old friend Justin Timberlake.
“I guess you’ll just have to come to the concert and find out,” she said.
Not only is Osby dancing herself, and leaking surprise celebrity drop ins, she’s also bringing back former students to per-form.
“If you’ve been in my class, and you’d like to be on stage one final time, just come see me. I’ll find a place to put you,” Osby said.
The graduating seniors who have known her for their whole high school career have bittersweet feelings on her de-parture.
“On one hand we’re losing one of the greatest teachers Owen has ever had,” se-nior Michelle Martin said. “It is sad we se-
niors will not be able to come back and visit her but she’s worked hard her entire time here at Owen and now she’s going to be able to enjoy her life with her family.”
Students who have never set foot on the dance stage will also miss Osby.
“It’s sad to see her leave because she is such a caring person. Even though I never took her class, she still gave me words of encourage-ment when she noticed how de-pressed I seemed one day,” junior Steven Mathis said. “She is such a kind hearted person, and I’ll miss her very much.”
While Owen will miss her, she is not planning on missing Owen. “ Its well known I’ve never been one to sugar coat things.” Osby said.
While she will miss her stu-dents and hold dear to the memo-ries she has made, she is ready to start living life for herself.
Osby goes out with flair in farewell performance
Th ey performed on April 23 to “Runaway Love” a song by Ludacris and Mary J. Blige. Th e song protrays a message about the strug-gles kids face so the listener can understand that kids face problems too not just adults.
Th e storyline to “Runaway Love,” which Archer performs, is about adolescents ranging from 9 to 11 going through tough situations in their lives. Th ese girls are on their own having to take care of themselves because nobody eles does. One girl gets pregnant and tells the baby’s father, who rejects her and the baby. Th e girl be-comes afraid and doesn’t want to go back home knowing her mom will blow up at her. She feels she has no other choice but to runaway from home and leave all her troubles behind.
“While I was watching the performance, I couldn’t believe it. Archer had done such a great job, I was so happy, so proud of him. He used art to imitate life, and he just really grasped on to it. He did it,” Osby said.
Archer wants to attend Penbrook University where they have a really good dance program.
He said, “Overall, I enjoyed the project be-cause it evolved around dance, something I love, and it takes all my stress away.
photo by Max Alford
Trey Sharp and Jesse Kuykendall perform in the benefi t con-cert as part of Archer Lee’s Graduation Project on April 23.
photo Max Alford
Heather Lytle, Jessie Kuykendall and Archer Lee perform in the Archer’s benefi t concert. The three will again be performing in the per-formance for Mary Ann Osby.
Sports10 May 2013HoofbeatTh
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Boys’ tennis dominates court until quarter-� nalsBy Dylan Bougis Staff writer
Loss is a hard pill to swallow; espe-cially when victory is so close you can taste it. Victory is a drug that only lasts so long.
Owen Tennis’ doubles players senior Bobby Decker and senior Eli Hile battled through the individual state competition against top players from Trinity High, Salisbury High, and Shelby High only to be brought down by Newton-Conover players in the final round.
Bobby and Eli’s loss was not the team’s last shot at being state champions.
On May 13, the tennis team faced off against Shelby High in the semifinals of the state team competition.
“It’s frustrating that we’re playing the only team that can stop us so early in the
playoffs,” said Eli a few hours before their match.
Shelby High’s team was a force to be reckoned with in the previous year’s playoffs. When the Owen boys played the team in the semifinals in 2012, Shelby was the victor of the confrontation.
This year was a chance for a rematch.
Members of the tennis team have vary-ing ways to prepare for upcoming match-es; some, are quite standard.
“Practicing the day before the match keeps me confident during the match,” Eli said.
Other preparatory methods are less orthodox.
“[It helps] listening to 60s Rock the night before,” said senior Levi Ban-nerman.
The two teams met each other on the courts for a showdown that would decide which of them would push for-ward to the final
state match.The veteran Owen tennis players want-
ed to win for their coaches, new and old. “We want to make Vijay Director
proud,” said Bobby. Vijay Director was the team’s coach
for the freshman and sophomore years of
Historic season ends in third round of play-offsBy Ryan RainesStaff writer
When the final whistle blew against the Hendersonville Bearcats for the sec-ond time, the girls’ soccer team became champions of the Western Highlands Conference.
But for this team, winning games is not unusual, finishing off the season with 15 wins, 1 loss and 3 ties. The team also finished with 11 wins, 0 losses and 3 ties in conference.
The team has a chemistry that shows on the field. The reason for this, is their long history together.
“We all played together in ABYSA and in middle school, plus most of us were on varsity our freshmen year,” junior for-ward Sarah Gilmour said about the team.
The team had 16 shutouts during the season, 15 of which were in a row. This defensive strength was led by senior goal-keeper Jordan Devan, and the rest of the back line consisting of juniors Rebekah Lehman and Taylor Dale and also senior Carly Owens.
“Having 15 shutouts in a row,” for Tay-lor was the best memory of the season.
Junior forward Megan Powell thinks that the game against Thomas Jefferson
Classical Academy was the best moment. The team was down two goals quickly. They then came back to win 3 to 2 in over-time. Megan contributed with two goals and forward Nessi Pommeranz added another.
The team adapted well after the ACL tear of senior defensive midfielder Ashley Devan. Even though she would have made a big contribution, the All-Con-ference, All-Region and Defen-sive MVP was just happy to still be a part of the team.
“Winning conference and just being able to hang out with the team were two of my best mo-ments of the team,” Ashley said, even though she missed all but one game.
As of May 10, the team has won their first playoff game against Bandys High with a score of 4 to 0. They also won their second game against North Hen-derson with a score of 2 goals to 1.
The team finished off the season los-ing to Newton Conover on May 15th at home for the third round of the playoffs.
photo by Max Alford
Senior defender Carly Owens strikes the ball in the team’s game against Newton Conover on May 15. The team lost 1-0.
Bobby, Eli, Levi, and senior Ben Keefer. The teams began their skirmish
and were neck-in-neck throughout the match.
Before the final ball was hit, the last sneaker squeaked, and the concluding serve was struck, the teams were tied up at 4 matches to 4 matches.
Shelby High moved onto the final round.
It was a hard loss for the boys but they realized how much support they had in the end.
“It was nice to know people expected so much of us,” Levi said.
The players, especially the seniors, ad-mitted that there was much more to the team than winning and losing.
“Joining the tennis team is like being ten pounds of sugar in a five pound sack,” said Eli. “You get more than you bargain for.”
“It’s frustrating that we’re playing the only team that can stop us so early in play-offs."
-Eli Hile
The final score was 1 goal to 0. The team was heartbroken over the
loss. “We all just couldn’t believe that the
season had just ended, especially because we lost to a team that we know we could have beat. The team’s emotions flooded and many tears were shed.” Jordan said.
Sports 11May 2013 HoofbeatTh
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Spring sports teams end season strong
Junior Cade Fox bats for varsity in a home game. Baseball ended their season third in conference , losing to Draughn High in the first round of play-offs. photo by Jessie Woodward
By Kailanne BurlesonStaff writer
Girls’ TrackGirls track placed fi rst at the conference
meet at Polk this year.“I’m really glad we showed our potential
by placing fi rst at conference, and I can’t wait until next season,” sophomore Lauren Nal-ley said.
Six girls went to regionals: freshman Em-ily Price, sophomore Treonna Salters, junior Whitney Montgomery, and seniors Imani Stewart, Heather Lytle, and Tamara Groce.
Out of the six girls that went, Whitney is the only team member who will be going to the state meet to run the 400.
Boys’ TrackSenior Tyler White and sophomores Zee
Johnston, Tyler Hensley, and Chris McHone went to regionals this year.
“Track this season has been a real ride. We’ve only gotten to participate in about fi ve meets compared to about ten or more last year,” sophomore Jager Gardner said.
Zee will be going to the state meet to run hurdles.
So� ballSoft ball came in third in conference.Th ey lost to Bandys High School in the
fi rst round of playoff s, with a score of 3-2 in the eighth inning.
“It will be a lot diff erent without the se-niors,” junior Amy Bogan said. “We’ve been playing together since we were little, but I’m looking forward to next season.”
BaseballBaseball came in third in conference.
Th e team lost to Draughn High School.“We fi nished the season out with a great
conference record. Next year will be diffi cult for varsity, losing seven seniors,” freshman Jarrod Daughtery said.
GolfGolf placed sixth in conference., “Th e future of Owen golf is bright with
all but two players returning next year. Se-niors Dakota Moss and Kyle Wertheim will be missed,” coach John Knight said. “Th e en-tire team learned a lot about the game of golf this season which should prepare them not only for golf, but life. In golf, as in life, it is the follow through that counts.”
Dakota missed the All Conference team by two shots.
Th e team fi nished out the season by plac-ing eighth out of eleven teams at regionals.
Girls’ track, softball, baseball, golf place in conference
photo by Adrienne Holli� eld
Demarcus Harper jumps hurdles at the home track meet on Thursday, April 11.
Class of 2013,
You and I are both graduating in a way. Endings and beginnings, sights set on the horizon, wheels turning. You are leaving the community that has shaped you; I am leaving a place that has truly provided me with a second family for the past fourteen years.
As I refl ect on my time here at Owen, and as I look toward starting over in a new place, the tendency to be sad or self-indulgent is pretty strong. It would be easier for me to just stay - stay where I am comfortable; at ease; known; loved. I could just hole up and never go... never challenge myself... never try new things. Th at would be easy.
But to take the easy way out would be for me to deny life of its opportunity to teach me. Th e one thing I have learned about change is that it is constant... and through that change we have the chance to grow and become something new.. to metamorphose.
Th at said, I’d like to share some experiential advice with you as you too pre-pare to begin a new chapter:
1. Diff erent is not BAD, it’s just DIFFERENT. 2. Be kind. 3. Use your manners - “Please” and “Th ank you” are EXTREMELY powerful
words. 4. Take time to be thankful every day for what you have. 5.HARD WORK
trumps luck. Every. Single. Time. 6.Th e world owes you nothing. What you get you have to earn. 7. Th ere can be good in every situation - sometimes the good doesn’t come
until you’re through it, but it’s there. 8.Oft en our diffi culties are created not by our circumstances, but by our
reaction to them. Be sure your reactions are proportionate to the situation. 9.Th ink before you speak. What you say can have an eternal impact on the
person to whom you are speaking. 10. Go. See. Do. Th e world is huge and has
lots to off er. 11. Don’t forget your hometown, but don’t
be afraid to leave it. 12.Never stop learning. You really don’t
know everything there is to know, and those around you have something to teach you.
I look forward to seeing how you all change the world, and to the chances I will have to say “I knew them when....”. Many blessings to you.
With love,Mrs. Davis
Caleb Stout makes his argument for the superiority of pi in AP Calculus. Each year, the AP Calculus class has a debate to decide which transcendental number is bet-ter: pi or e.
Cody Stough, Hardy Whit-ney and Lucas Rumney pose before their senior class picture.
Above, from left to right, Krystal Bradley, Yasmine Akduman, Shelby Graham, Joy Arrowood, Dawn Becker, Whitley Burleson, Chloe Greene, Haley Morris, Jesse Grose and Jessica Bailey enjoy a spring day as seniors.
Dear Mrs. HarrisMrs. Harris has been an amazing
teacher. Th at is a cliché statement, so let me explain a little more. She has always been on top of things, get-ting the work done that she needs to do in order to educate her students. She puts forth much more time and eff ort into caring about each and ev-ery student she has. She helps show you the correct way of doing things instead of just simply telling you, no matter if you want her to or not. Th is is a good thing because later on down the road, you will remember what she has taught you.
She has given her time to more than just the students in her classroom, as well. She has, for countless years un-til, a few years ago, been doing Relay 4 Life and helping the community through it. On top of that, since long before I started attending four years ago, she has helped coordinate prom. She is a one-of-a-kind teacher, going above and beyond her limits to reach success for others. I congratulate and thank you, Mrs. Harris, for every-thing you have done and shown me.
-Mitchell Karriker
Dear Mr. Minnix,I’ve known Mr. Minnix for four
years and he’s been my band teacher for those four years. Mr. Minnix has become more than a teacher to me; he’s become like a father to me. He always pushes me to do better, he al-ways helps me out whenever I need it, whether it’s music or anything else, and he is just in general awesome.
Mr. Minnix is one of the nicest and most helpful people I know. He helps everyone that he possibly can. For example, during marching band season, he spent up towards 60 plus hours a week making sure the band was going well and that we had everything we needed to play and march.
-Dwayne Mundy
Dear Mrs. Jones,Th anks so much for all of the encour-
agement and help you have provided for my fellow students and me. I feel like I have become a better artist aft er taking your class. I appreciate all the techniques and diff erent mediums you have taught us to learn. It opens up a horizon of opportunities for us.
I have learned so much about my artwork. Now I don’t want to just draw pictures; I want to paint and practice calligraphy. Th anks so much for all you have done.
-Kerri Wells
Simple rules for a ful� lling, happy life:
1. Allow yourself to fall madly, pas-sionately, insanely in love and then don’t cry to much when they don’t share you feelings.
2. Allow someone to fall madly, pas-sionately, insanely in love with you and be kind when you tell them you don’t share those feelings....
3. Find and then fall madly, passion-ately, insanely in love with the right per-son, you’ll know when this happens....test them, trust them, forgive them, and be forgiven, respect them , and demand respect in return...dream great big fan-tastic dreams with them and make sure that the road always leads back to them. To experience true and honest love is to have all of the world’s fame, fortune, and success in arms of the right person...Good Luck!
-Maryann Osby
Dear Class of 2013,
I can hardly believe that it is time for US to graduate. It took me longer than you, but I feel honored to graduate with this class. You are seniors, and I am a senior citizen.
I am going to try to impart some words of wisdom; things that I have found that work in life. I have already done all the things, and made all the mistakes possible. What I have learned, I have learned the hard way.
First, be true to yourself and your faith. People who are unhappy within will not be happy or content in any other situation. You have to accept your fl aws and like yourself.
Th ere is more to life than money and possessions. When you fi nd your calling, you will have joy doing it. Have fun each day and laugh, really laugh, each day.
When you give your word to do something, keep it, whether it is conve-nient or not. Your word is your bond.
Everything you learn makes you a more valuable person. You never know when you will need that information, so pay attention!!
Stay close and love your family. Never leave anyone with harsh words. You might never see them again, or have a chance to apologize. Tell people how you feel about them when you are with them.
Remember anything that sounds too good to be true, probably is. Get out there and have new experiences, learn a lot and be careful.
Please go out into the world and make a diff erence, be kind to others and help people. You never know when you will need help yourself.
I wish you the very best in life. You are a great bunch of young people. You have the potential to do what you want to. Don’t let anything or anyone limit you.
You have touched my heart ,and you will always be there. Please keep in touch.
Love and best wishes to you all.
-Anne Blackwell, alias Ms. B
Left: Austin Setzer and Taylor Tramel pose before their senior cap and gown portraits.
Right: Carly Owens and Joy Arrowood pose for a picture before cap and cown pic-tures.
So long (for now)! Letters from teachers
Letters from students
Class of 2013,
You and I are both graduating in a way. Endings and beginnings, sights set on the horizon, wheels turning. You are leaving the community that has shaped you; I am leaving a place that has truly provided me with a second family for the past fourteen years.
As I refl ect on my time here at Owen, and as I look toward starting over in a new place, the tendency to be sad or self-indulgent is pretty strong. It would be easier for me to just stay - stay where I am comfortable; at ease; known; loved. I could just hole up and never go... never challenge myself... never try new things. Th at would be easy.
But to take the easy way out would be for me to deny life of its opportunity to teach me. Th e one thing I have learned about change is that it is constant... and through that change we have the chance to grow and become something new.. to metamorphose.
Th at said, I’d like to share some experiential advice with you as you too pre-pare to begin a new chapter:
1. Diff erent is not BAD, it’s just DIFFERENT. 2. Be kind. 3. Use your manners - “Please” and “Th ank you” are EXTREMELY powerful
words. 4. Take time to be thankful every day for what you have. 5.HARD WORK
trumps luck. Every. Single. Time. 6.Th e world owes you nothing. What you get you have to earn. 7. Th ere can be good in every situation - sometimes the good doesn’t come
until you’re through it, but it’s there. 8.Oft en our diffi culties are created not by our circumstances, but by our
reaction to them. Be sure your reactions are proportionate to the situation. 9.Th ink before you speak. What you say can have an eternal impact on the
person to whom you are speaking. 10. Go. See. Do. Th e world is huge and has
lots to off er. 11. Don’t forget your hometown, but don’t
be afraid to leave it. 12.Never stop learning. You really don’t
know everything there is to know, and those around you have something to teach you.
I look forward to seeing how you all change the world, and to the chances I will have to say “I knew them when....”. Many blessings to you.
With love,Mrs. Davis
Caleb Stout makes his argument for the superiority of pi in AP Calculus. Each year, the AP Calculus class has a debate to decide which transcendental number is bet-ter: pi or e.
Cody Stough, Hardy Whit-ney and Lucas Rumney pose before their senior class picture.
Above, from left to right, Krystal Bradley, Yasmine Akduman, Shelby Graham, Joy Arrowood, Dawn Becker, Whitley Burleson, Chloe Greene, Haley Morris, Jesse Grose and Jessica Bailey enjoy a spring day as seniors.
Dear Mrs. HarrisMrs. Harris has been an amazing
teacher. Th at is a cliché statement, so let me explain a little more. She has always been on top of things, get-ting the work done that she needs to do in order to educate her students. She puts forth much more time and eff ort into caring about each and ev-ery student she has. She helps show you the correct way of doing things instead of just simply telling you, no matter if you want her to or not. Th is is a good thing because later on down the road, you will remember what she has taught you.
She has given her time to more than just the students in her classroom, as well. She has, for countless years un-til, a few years ago, been doing Relay 4 Life and helping the community through it. On top of that, since long before I started attending four years ago, she has helped coordinate prom. She is a one-of-a-kind teacher, going above and beyond her limits to reach success for others. I congratulate and thank you, Mrs. Harris, for every-thing you have done and shown me.
-Mitchell Karriker
Dear Mr. Minnix,I’ve known Mr. Minnix for four
years and he’s been my band teacher for those four years. Mr. Minnix has become more than a teacher to me; he’s become like a father to me. He always pushes me to do better, he al-ways helps me out whenever I need it, whether it’s music or anything else, and he is just in general awesome.
Mr. Minnix is one of the nicest and most helpful people I know. He helps everyone that he possibly can. For example, during marching band season, he spent up towards 60 plus hours a week making sure the band was going well and that we had everything we needed to play and march.
-Dwayne Mundy
Dear Mrs. Jones,Th anks so much for all of the encour-
agement and help you have provided for my fellow students and me. I feel like I have become a better artist aft er taking your class. I appreciate all the techniques and diff erent mediums you have taught us to learn. It opens up a horizon of opportunities for us.
I have learned so much about my artwork. Now I don’t want to just draw pictures; I want to paint and practice calligraphy. Th anks so much for all you have done.
-Kerri Wells
Simple rules for a ful� lling, happy life:
1. Allow yourself to fall madly, pas-sionately, insanely in love and then don’t cry to much when they don’t share you feelings.
2. Allow someone to fall madly, pas-sionately, insanely in love with you and be kind when you tell them you don’t share those feelings....
3. Find and then fall madly, passion-ately, insanely in love with the right per-son, you’ll know when this happens....test them, trust them, forgive them, and be forgiven, respect them , and demand respect in return...dream great big fan-tastic dreams with them and make sure that the road always leads back to them. To experience true and honest love is to have all of the world’s fame, fortune, and success in arms of the right person...Good Luck!
-Maryann Osby
Dear Class of 2013,
I can hardly believe that it is time for US to graduate. It took me longer than you, but I feel honored to graduate with this class. You are seniors, and I am a senior citizen.
I am going to try to impart some words of wisdom; things that I have found that work in life. I have already done all the things, and made all the mistakes possible. What I have learned, I have learned the hard way.
First, be true to yourself and your faith. People who are unhappy within will not be happy or content in any other situation. You have to accept your fl aws and like yourself.
Th ere is more to life than money and possessions. When you fi nd your calling, you will have joy doing it. Have fun each day and laugh, really laugh, each day.
When you give your word to do something, keep it, whether it is conve-nient or not. Your word is your bond.
Everything you learn makes you a more valuable person. You never know when you will need that information, so pay attention!!
Stay close and love your family. Never leave anyone with harsh words. You might never see them again, or have a chance to apologize. Tell people how you feel about them when you are with them.
Remember anything that sounds too good to be true, probably is. Get out there and have new experiences, learn a lot and be careful.
Please go out into the world and make a diff erence, be kind to others and help people. You never know when you will need help yourself.
I wish you the very best in life. You are a great bunch of young people. You have the potential to do what you want to. Don’t let anything or anyone limit you.
You have touched my heart ,and you will always be there. Please keep in touch.
Love and best wishes to you all.
-Anne Blackwell, alias Ms. B
Left: Austin Setzer and Taylor Tramel pose before their senior cap and gown portraits.
Right: Carly Owens and Joy Arrowood pose for a picture before cap and cown pic-tures.
So long (for now)! Letters from teachers
Letters from students
Arts14 April 2013HoofbeatTh
e
Listen. Learn. Speak.
Books make for pleasant reading over the summerBy Miles LallyStaff writer
On a long hot summer day with noth-ing to do, these four book ideas may be something to keep a reader occupied.
The first book is a fantasy romance novel written by Kristin Cashore called Graceling. Graceling is a book about peo-ple called “gracelings” who have a variety of special powers. The main character Katsa is a graceling with special fight-ing abilities. Katsa disobeys an order from her master and leaves to go on a journey to find the missing king with an-other graceling named Po. As the book progresses Katsa and Po’s love develops into something a little more complicat-ed. Graceling is the first book in a trilogy that includes Fire and Bitterblue.
Science fiction fans might enjoy the book Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Ready Player One is a book about find-ing “Easter eggs” in video games. The main character, Parzival, is on a hunt for three Easter eggs in a massive mul-
tiplayer game that holds the key to the will of the dead creator of the game, Anorak. Parzival is competing against his friends to find the three Easter eggs that are hidden in the game so he can escape his home where he lives as an orphan.
A more serious book is The Kite Runner, a historical fiction book by Khaled Hosseini. The story is split into three parts, each part following a boy by the name of Amir in Afghani-stan. The first part of the story is about Amir and his friend Hassan and the kite running competitions they had. The second part of the story is set five years after the first part. In the second part Amir has to leave Afghanistan and go to Pakistan where Amir eventually gets married to a girl named Soraya. The third part of the story is about Amir going back to Afghanistan where he learns the fate of his old friends and family.
For a more comical book, read Bossy-pants, an autobiography by Tina Fey.
photo illustration by by Miles Lally
Bossypants is the life story of Tina Fey told in a comedic fashion. Some of the main stories she tells are how she got the
role of hosting Saturday Night Live and where she got the ideas to start her show 30 Rock.
Arts14 April 2013HoofbeatTh
e
Listen. Learn. Speak.
Books make for pleasant reading over the summerBy Miles LallyStaff writer
On a long hot summer day with noth-ing to do, these four book ideas may be something to keep a reader occupied.
The first book is a fantasy romance novel written by Kristin Cashore called Graceling. Graceling is a book about peo-ple called “gracelings” who have a variety of special powers. The main character Katsa is a graceling with special fight-ing abilities. Katsa disobeys an order from her master and leaves to go on a journey to find the missing king with an-other graceling named Po. As the book progresses Katsa and Po’s love develops into something a little more complicat-ed. Graceling is the first book in a trilogy that includes Fire and Bitterblue.
Science fiction fans might enjoy the book Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Ready Player One is a book about find-ing “Easter eggs” in video games. The main character, Parzival, is on a hunt for three Easter eggs in a massive mul-
tiplayer game that holds the key to the will of the dead creator of the game, Anorak. Parzival is competing against his friends to find the three Easter eggs that are hidden in the game so he can escape his home where he lives as an orphan.
A more serious book is The Kite Runner, a historical fiction book by Khaled Hosseini. The story is split into three parts, each part following a boy by the name of Amir in Afghani-stan. The first part of the story is about Amir and his friend Hassan and the kite running competitions they had. The second part of the story is set five years after the first part. In the second part Amir has to leave Afghanistan and go to Pakistan where Amir eventually gets married to a girl named Soraya. The third part of the story is about Amir going back to Afghanistan where he learns the fate of his old friends and family.
For a more comical book, read Bossy-pants, an autobiography by Tina Fey.
photo illustration by by Miles Lally
Bossypants is the life story of Tina Fey told in a comedic fashion. Some of the main stories she tells are how she got the
role of hosting Saturday Night Live and where she got the ideas to start her show 30 Rock.
Arts 15May 2013 HoofbeatTh
e
Listen. Learn. Speak.
Theme parks, water parks make for fun vacations By Hannah King Sta� writer
Looking to continue the winning ways of Owen Tennis?Join CRC Director Jean David this summer @ the Cheshire Racquet Club for a high intensity all levels training camp covering court strategy, stroke technique and advanced footwork.
David is a USPTA P1 Head Tennis Professional and N.E.S.T.A./ Etcheberry certifi ed speed & agility specialist with over 17 years of exerience developing young athletes. He has served as primary and secondary coach to over 30+ nationally ranked juniors, 10+ on to D1 college scholarships, and served as lead USTA Competitive Training Center and National Zonal’s
coach. We look forward to seeing you on the court!
Contact: www.cheshireracquetclub.com, [email protected]
Visitors to Dollywood Theme Park ride the Thunderhead, the country’s top-rated wooden roller coaster, June 12, 2006, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. (Tom Uhlen-brock/St. Lou)
DollywoodDollywood is a theme park that is
fun for the whole family. Their rides include many different types of roller coasters, including their brand new one which is called a wing coaster. While normally the coaster is seated on tracks, this roller coaster makes you feel like you’re flying through the sky.
This park also has inside roller coasters, bumper cars, zip lines and all sorts of crafts and activities. The park summer hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m, with fireworks ending the day. This starts June 22 and ends August 4. The price for one day is $56 for reg-ular (ages 12-59), $44 for kids (ages 4-11) and $51 for seniors (ages 60+). You can also buy season passes.
Lake LureLake Lure is a cheap, fun place close to
home. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains and also has a water park with slides and games for younger kids to enjoy. Fees are $8 for adults, $7 for seniors, and children ages 4-12 are only $6 for all day fun. Th e lake closes at 6 p.m. and the water park closes at 5 p.m.
CarowindsAlso known as the thrill capital of the South-
east, Carowinds is an amusement park full of rides for all ages, including the waterpark Boo-merang Bay. Carowinds and Boomerang Bay are both currently open. On weekdays, the park hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m, but on weekends, it stays open until 10 p.m. During July, the park is always open until 10 p.m.
Dollywood Splash Country
Splash Country is a great place to cool down in the summer with your whole family with 23 slides and thrill rides. Splash Country is separate from Dollywood, but you can buy a ticket to both parks for one day. Th e fee is $47 for regular (age 12-59), $42 for seniors (60+), and $42 for kids (ages 4-11).
High School Training Camp
Arts16 May 2013HoofbeatTh
e
Listen. Learn. Speak.
Doodles express creativity, focus mindBy Dylan Bougis Staff writer
You’re in class, the clock’s ticks slow to a crawl, and the teacher’s words slur into a mass of unintelligible garble.
You should be taking notes on that big sheet of smooth, white paper in front of you, but you fi nd yourself scribbling, scratching, and sketching images of aliens, dragons, robots, stick fi gure wars, carica-tures of the teacher—doodling.
A common teacher reaction to doodling usually involves a reprimand along the lines of “Quit being distracted,” or “Stay focused on what we’re doing,” or “Am I bothering you?”
It is a misconception that doodling distracts the doodler. An article by John Cloud in explores the mental process of a doodler.
Half of the 40 people involved in the study, were required to doodle during a “rather dull” informational video while the other 20 people did not.
All the participants were then asked questions about the video. Th ose who doo-dled retained 29 percent more information than those who didn’t.
When people doodle, they are using their brains just enough to prevent them-selves from daydreaming—and daydream-ing, according to the study, a detrimental to concentration.
Doodlers subconsciously retain infor-mation at a better rate than someone day-dreaming about unrelated topics.
In a nutshell, the study shows that though doodling is not as mentally effi cient as pure concentration, it is not ineffi cient.
photos by Dylan Bougis
Junior Madison Robinson (above left) said, [When I drew this] I was thinking about relaxing and putting my mind at ease.” Rush Dittbrender (left) said, “I want my doodles to look cool, abstract, and I want them to mean some-
English Teacher Eugene Jenson (above right) said, “Doodling goes back to cave painting. It’s a very ancestral act.”
Devin Sweazey (top bottom right) said, “I let out feelings with my draw-ings.”
Kristina O’Neal (left) said, “I doodle ‘cause it’s funny. I envi-sion various ve-hicles in banana form.”
Anna Kate Hall (top right) said, “Doo-dling is a good way to let out creativity. It’s caused by a class that’s not engaging.”
Arts16 May 2013HoofbeatTh
e
Listen. Learn. Speak.
Doodles express creativity, focus mindBy Dylan Bougis Staff writer
You’re in class, the clock’s ticks slow to a crawl, and the teacher’s words slur into a mass of unintelligible garble.
You should be taking notes on that big sheet of smooth, white paper in front of you, but you fi nd yourself scribbling, scratching, and sketching images of aliens, dragons, robots, stick fi gure wars, carica-tures of the teacher—doodling.
A common teacher reaction to doodling usually involves a reprimand along the lines of “Quit being distracted,” or “Stay focused on what we’re doing,” or “Am I bothering you?”
It is a misconception that doodling distracts the doodler. An article by John Cloud in explores the mental process of a doodler.
Half of the 40 people involved in the study, were required to doodle during a “rather dull” informational video while the other 20 people did not.
All the participants were then asked questions about the video. Th ose who doo-dled retained 29 percent more information than those who didn’t.
When people doodle, they are using their brains just enough to prevent them-selves from daydreaming—and daydream-ing, according to the study, a detrimental to concentration.
Doodlers subconsciously retain infor-mation at a better rate than someone day-dreaming about unrelated topics.
In a nutshell, the study shows that though doodling is not as mentally effi cient as pure concentration, it is not ineffi cient.
photos by Dylan Bougis
Junior Madison Robinson (above left) said, [When I drew this] I was thinking about relaxing and putting my mind at ease.” Rush Dittbrender (left) said, “I want my doodles to look cool, abstract, and I want them to mean some-
English Teacher Eugene Jenson (above right) said, “Doodling goes back to cave painting. It’s a very ancestral act.”
Devin Sweazey (top bottom right) said, “I let out feelings with my draw-ings.”
Kristina O’Neal (left) said, “I doodle ‘cause it’s funny. I envi-sion various ve-hicles in banana form.”
Anna Kate Hall (top right) said, “Doo-dling is a good way to let out creativity. It’s caused by a class that’s not engaging.”
Seniors 17May 2013 HoofbeatTh
e
Listen. Learn. Speak.
Seniors18 May 2013HoofbeatTh
e
Listen. Learn. Speak.
ABCs help college students prepare for dorm lifeCompiled by Ryan RainesStaff writer
Map of the City
Nail clippers
Olay body wash
Pain Reliever
Quarters
Reusable Water Bottle
Shower Shoes
Tape Measurer
Umbrella
Vaseline
White-Out
Xbox
Year-long supply of Ramen
Zombie Survival Gear
Senior Question of
the Year
What are you most looking
forward to after high school?
“Making new friends and new memories.” -Jordan Devan
“Getting away from my mom and dad; I need some space.” -Alyssa Hensley
“I am excited to play against my best friend Eddy Slye in college football.” -Tyler White
“Doing anything I want before college.” -Gabe Maese
“I am ready to get out on my own.” -Cole Leighton
“Getting a job I am interested in.” -Caleb Chandler
photo illustration by Max Alford
Alarm Clock
Backpack
Cotton Balls
Deodorant
Eating Utensils
Flashlight
Granola Bars
Headphones
I-Pod
Jacket
Kleenex
Laundry Basket
Compiled by Ryan RainesStaff writer
Seniors 19May 2013 HoofbeatTh
e
Listen. Learn. Speak.
Senior Pictures
Seniors dress up for super hero villian day to show their Owen pride.
photo by Levi Bannerman
Stephanie Reese, Chase Hayes, Kota Ray, Taylor Tramel, Jesse Dannenberg, Tatum Gwyn, and Cody McMahan are about to leave lunch.
photo by Jessie Woodward
Bobby Decker, Quinn Ferry, Eli Hile, and Levi Bannerman are all suited up for prom.
photo by Jane Bannerman
Colee Michels, Arica Hall, Brittney Morrow, Archer Lee, Kalah Dotson and Jennifer Lucas wait to take spring pictures.
photo by Bri Kudlacik
The boys get ready to take the group cap and gown picture.photo by Sarah Gilmour
Tyler White, Jose Garcia, Eddy Slye and Cole Leighton stand for the National Anthem.
photo by Chris Maloney
Karlie Fiore, Scarlett Ables, and Tristan Marsh doing the Lady Ga Ga at prom.
photo by Jessie Woodward
The boys during fi rst lunch get together for a group picture.
photo by Jessie Woodward
Caleb Stout, Max Alford and Dalton Nickerson are super excited about graduating.
photo by Sarah Gilmour
photo by Levi Bannerman
Lauren Moore, Sarah Margaret Christy, Audrey Moore, Bobby Decker and Carol Taha are pumped for the Owen game.Jessie Woodward, Bri Kudlacik, Verinique
Hamilton, and Melissa Lees dress up for prom.
photo by Sylia Smith
photo by Sarah Gilmour
photo by Jessie Woodward
Seniors20 May 2013HoofbeatTh
e
Listen. Learn. Speak.As
h ley D
evan
& Ty
ler W
hi te
Easy On The Eyes
Fashion Savy
Levi
Ban
nerm
an &
Jes
sie G
rose
Pearly Whites
Dakot
a Ray
& La
uren M
oore
Cha s
e Ha y
e s &
Tr i s
tan M
a rsh
Senior
“Tyler has mesmerizing eyes. I could stare at them all day long. They are as blue as the deep blue sea.” Eddie Slye, senior.
Luscious Locks
Seniors 21May 2013 HoofbeatTh
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SuperlativesBusy Bees
Ilze Zageris
& Torey T
odd
Hot Rods
Ben
Thom
as &
Han
nah
Silve
rman
FFA Pride
Jessie
Rey
nold
s & M
onta
na B
artle
ttIn it to Win it
Andr
ew B
rown &
She
lby R
obins
on
“Shelby is very passionate about softball and gets very into the games.” Emma Mathews, senior
“Torey is always focusing on the well-being of his aca-demic career.” Cody Stough, senior
Seniors22 April 2013HoofbeatTh
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Staff Top Three
Snapchat:I just love snapchat so much. Whenever I get bored, that’s what I do. People probably get so annoyed with me because I snapchat everyone all the time, but it just makes me happy.
Sparkles:If I could wear sparkles all the time, I probably would. It doesn’t even matter what it is, if it has sparkles on it, I’ll prob-ably like it. On anywhere from nail polish to phone cases,
sparkles are my favorite.
Nutella:Mmmm, nutella. I literally live o� this stu� . It’s better than any-thing, and I love how you never have to eat the same things with it because it’s good on everything. A lot of people used to
eat it because it was new, but I still eat it every single day. The taste never gets old.
Jessie Woodward Hannah KingHarry Potter:Oh, Daniel Radcli� e, I am so in love with him and this series. The movies have been in my childhood since day one. I could not wait until they would start � lming the next movie. When Dobby died, I
just cried and cried. Then when Harry died, I was so shocked and broken it’s sad how upset I was. It just got so intense. It is sad that they are over now. If Daniel Radcli� e is in any other movie, I will only see him as Harry Potter.
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Perfume: I love perfume; I literally have � ve di� erent perfumes in my room and one in my car at
all times. I just love the variety to choose from. I can’t wear the same scent every single day. My favorite scents are de� nitely from Victoria’s Secret. They tend to carry the best fragrances, by far.
2 3 June: June is the month that we get out of school. Summer
is in the palm of our hands. Also I was born on June 8. The most im-portant thing about June is that on my birthday of this year, 2013, I will be graduating from Owen High School.
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Seniors 23May 2013 HoofbeatTh
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Max’s Metal Middles
Dalton's Things
s-s-s-sustenance. yeah.Food is pretty great. It tastes good, and it’s a social thing that I can
do with friends. I enjoy new and different dishes, and going to new restaurants is always enjoyable. If I have a bad experience with food, I
don’t really mind. It really isn’t a big deal. Some people get all bent out of shape when they have a bad experience at a restaurant, and I just don’t understand it. It’s okay; it’s all food to me.
Gimme Shelter. Yeah.I like not being cold or wet. It’s pretty okay. All I really need is heat,
water, wireless Internet, and a comfy place to sit/lie down. I’m just not that into getting a big house and owning a lot of material things. I just
don’t need them. That doesn’t mean I don’t want a big house. I’d be fi ne if I had one, but it’s just not one of my big priorities.
Radical Rest. yeah. Sleeping is pretty cool. I get more energy, and it passes time. But it’s not my life or anything. No need to blow it out of proportion. It’s just something that has to happen. If I were to cut one thing out of my life, it would prob-
ably be the need to rest. I would have more time to do stuff I would really like to do and be productive all 24 hours of a day. On the other hand though, the feeling of a soft bed after a long day is pretty cool. I dunno, sleeping is pretty all right, I guess.
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2
3DreamingWhether I am paralyzed in fear or puzzled in commonplace wonders, my dreams seldom fail to satisfy my uncertainty. They distract
me from the everyday and instead throw a perplexing mess of material inconsistencies before me. This confusion I experience in my dreams often reveals more about myself and what I really want.
Adventure and its absenceEveryday life is simple, safe, and sweet enough, but I would much
rather live an unpredictable, challenging life of risk and mystery. Maybe a life of travel across space and time.
WalkingWhile I have nothing against the effort behind it, I fi nd walking to be too boring and ineffi cient a form of transport. I would much rather fl y,
or at least fl oat and work my way up to fl ight. If I could I’d just ignore gravity and my weight, and let myself fl oat, then waft higher and higher; I’d even try a swoop, fi rst a few careful, gentle ones, and then I’d be up and fl ying past the treetops in no time.
T o p :
Middle:
bottom:
Seniors24 May 2013HoofbeatTh
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By Kailanne BurlesonStaff writer
Senior Tyler White has been athletic since he came to Owen.
He played football and track for all four years of high school, and he has been All Conference in football this year and was All Conference in track each of the four years.
Tyler went to State two years for track as well.
“Tyler runs like a gazelle. He can run the football amazingly,” senior Jose Garcia said.
Tyler plans to attend Guilford College in the fall to play football and run track, and he will major in criminal justice.
“I will miss Owen,” Tyler said.His favorite memory is defeating Drone
High School in the playoff s for football.Tyler’s best friends for life are Eddy Slye
(aka Th e Elephant), Michael Pomeroy (aka Th e Moose), and Adam Lunsford (aka Longneck).
By Kailanne BurlesonStaff writer
Senior Colee Michels loves hang-ing out with friends and having fun.
“She’s a fun-loving person,” junior Summer Gaines said.
Something people may not know about Colee is that she is engaged to her boyfriend Kane Tate who gradu-ated last year.
The first time she went on vacation with Kane and his family to Cherokee is the best memory she has had in her life.
Her second favorite memory was the first time she went to the beach.
“It was so beautiful,” Colee said.Colee plans to attend AB Tech in the
fall to major in cosmetology.She is also a volunteer youth leader at
First Baptist Black Mountain.Colee also has a tattoo on her back of
Seniors of the Issue Tyler White Colee Michels
To his friends he is Th e Turkey,“He’s an all around great person, really
funny, really fast, and his gobble gobbles are the best,” freshman Bricen Fowler said.
Tyler’s favorite saying is “Risk it to get the biscuit.”
her puppy’s paw print. She got the tattoo last semester.
Her Graduation Project is on hair styl-ing and she has decided to make a career out of it.
photo by Kailanne Burlesonphoto by Kailanne Burleson
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