Volume 101, Issue 4

VANGUARDT H E V I K I N G

A L I M I T E D F O R U M F O R S T U D E N T E X P R E S S I O N

V O L U M E 1 0 1 | I S S U E F O U R | D E C E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 2 | P U Y A L L U P H I G H S C H O O L | 1 0 5 7 T H S T . S W P U Y A L L U P W A S H , 9 8 3 7 1

Review on pho restaurants

See page 3

There are many factors to

consider when applying to

college such as size, location

and distance from home. At-

mosphere, housing options,

tuition and available majors

are also important things

to remember when mak-

ing decisions on where you

want to spend your years

after high school. 24VSCollege

College

YEAR

YEAR

A L L I S O N S U L L I V A N | V A N G U A R D

consider when applying to

college such as size, location

and distance from home. At-

mosphere, housing options,

tuition and available majors

are also important things

to remember when mak-

ing decisions on where you

want to spend your years

after high school.

A L L IA L L IA L L IA L L IA L L IA L L I S O N S O N S O N S O N S O N S O N S U L LS U L LS U L LS U L LS U L LS U L L I V A NI V A NI V A NI V A NI V A NI V A N | | | | | | V A N GV A N GV A N GV A N GV A N GV A N G U A R DU A R DU A R DU A R DU A R D

NEWSP A G E T W O | P U Y A L L U P H I G H S C H O O L | I S S U E F O U R | D E C E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 2 | T H E V I K I N G V A N G U A R D

The cost of running a school is a mystery not known to many students at PHS.

According to Laura Marcoe, Director of Accounting and Purchasing at the Puyal-lup School District, salaries take the big-gest chunk of the budget.

“Salaries and benefi ts of teachers make approximately 85 percent of the district expenditures each year,” Marcoe said.

Puyallup School District Accountant Heather Larson agrees with that state-ment.

“At Puyallup High School salaries totaled $3.8 million for the 2011 to 2012 school year, not including specialists, li-brarians, counselors and nurses,” Larson said.

District-wide, the up-grades in technology have added massively to the budget.

“Technology is con-tinuing to get more expensive, with having to constantly upgrade [it],” Principal Jason Smith said.

The increase in technology costs has been felt all around the district according to Puyallup School District I.T. Executive Director Randy Averill.

“Instruction technology including com-puters and projectors in the classroom cost $268,000 per year district- wide, tele-communications under contract obliga-tions total $645,000 per year and the high speed fi ber optic connection for the dis-trict totaled a $6.5 million investment,” Averill said.

Maintenance of buildings and proper-ties along with utilities account for the

next largest expenditure in the budget.

“Utilities cost around $400,000 per year at PHS including electricity, nat-ural gas, water and gar-bage,” Larson said.

The district has a sepa-rate budget in addition to the money spent at PHS.

“Just the replacement of bulbs and batteries costs

$70,000 each year district wide,” Averill said. “Maintenance and operations includ-ing technology supplies add to the budget.

We have a lot of technology that doesn’t hit the schools like business software and stu-dent information system software that to-tals $900,000 district wide.”

Furthermore, ad-ditional mainte-nance at PHS is cov-ered by a building budget.

“We have a build-ing budget of around $100,000 and that is for things like sub-stitutes, profession-al development, fi xing the copying ma-chine. Just our basic needs,” Smith said. “Our largest expenditure is that we bought Smart Boards for as many teachers as we possibly could. We are trying to upgrade technology.”

Additional costs including copying and additional maintenance add up quickly in the total budget.

“Printing costs on our copiers are ac-tually a really big expense,” Larson said. “The upkeep on pools and maintenance of fi elds adds to the budget as well.”

Paper costs and all matters related to

copiers are also a big budget factor at PHS.

“Costs are still huge with paper and fi x-ing the machines. Materials and supplies for the building stack up,” Smith said.

However, the district is al-ways working to cut costs in all schools and administration district-wide.

“We’re always trying to look for ways to reduce costs. We’re getting out of using so much paper, going into scanning everything via email onto the

computer for storage,” Larson said. “[The district] received an energy grant last year where a special project group went out and installed low energy use light bulbs in most schools.”

Energy effi ciency has also been imple-mented in the high school.

“The district has made eco-friendly changes. If the computers are left on, they go into sleep mode and in the newer build-ings they have motion detection lights to save on costs,” Smith said.

“ T E C H N O L O G Y I S C O N T I N U I N G

T O G E T M O R E E X P E N S I V E ,

W I T H H A V I N G T O C O N S T A N T L Y

U P G R A D E I T . ”

J A S O N S M I T HP R I N C I P A L

UNCOVERING SCHOOL COSTS

What do you do after school? Do you go home and sleep or stay after for that club or sport that you are interested in?

According to an online article in the Institute of Education Sciences, 40 percent of seniors in high school participate in athletics, which is a little higher than the 32 percent that participate in other clubs/activities.

Puyallup High School offers 33 extra curricular clubs and 21 sports for students to join.

“Extra-curricular activities are an important part of the admission evaluation process. We like to see students who are engaged in their school and community,” Assistant Dean of Admissions at Gonzaga University Claire Silva said.

Colleges look for students involved in

a variety of different activities. Whether students join leadership, arts or sports colleges want to see what students can bring to their student body and community.

“We are looking for well-rounded students that are academically ready for the rigor of college coursework. Being involved in activities outside of academics is important as well,” Silva said.

Admission offi ces can spot a padded list of extra-curricular activities.

“We can appreciate strong grades over tons of [after school] activities,” Admissions Adviser and Recruiter at the University of Washington Natalie Hart said.

Students should view their academics as the number one

priority. Becoming too overly involved in clubs or sports can start to have a negative affect on grades. Students should fi nd a balance between schoolwork and extracurriculars.

“We would love to see a 3.5 [GPA] and 2-3 activities, even a 3.0 [GPA] would be suffi cient,” Hart said.

Whether it is a starring role on the

basketball team or a starring role in the school play, college admissions boards want to see dedication, loyalty and involvement.

“What’s interesting to one person may not be for another. We just want you to get

the most out of your experience in high school. It helps you to fi nd your interests,” A d m i s s i o n s Counselor at Washington State University Tafona Brar said.

Colleges do not have specifi c clubs or activities that they

recommend that students join. “Don’t feel pressured to please colleges

with certain clubs or sports. You should do what interests you and be fully committed to it,” Brar said.

Whether students have a plan yet or not, they should join a club that interests them. Students shouldn’t join an after-school activity if the only reason they want to join is because they think it looks good on college applications.

“Be involved in things that you are passionate about or that you really enjoy doing,” Silva said.

“ W E W O U L D L O V E T O S E E A 3 . 5

[ G P A ] A N D 2 - 3 A C T I V I T I E S , E V E N

A 3 . 0 [ G P A ] W O U L D B E S U F F I C I E N T . ”

N A T A L I E H A R TA D V I S E R / R E C R U I T E R

B Y T I A L U T H Y

R E P O R T E R

B Y A B B Y D O V R E

R E P O R T E R

S Y D N E Y W E A T H E R B E E | V A N G U A R D

“ P R I N T I N G C O S T S O N O U R C O P I E R S

A R E A C T U A L L Y A R E A L L Y B I G

E X P E N S E . ”

H E A T H E R L A R S O NA C C O U N T A N T

When applying for college, admission counselors explain that academics are more important than the extra-curricular activities students are involved in.

“ D O N ’ T F E E L P R E S S U R E D T O

P L E A S E C O L L E G E S W I T H C E R T A I N

C L U B S O R S P O R T S . . . ”

T A F O N A B R A RA D M I S S I O N S C O U N S E L O R

I never really understood the idiom: “You never know what you have until it is gone.”

But those 10 words began to haunt me when I lost the most taken-for-granted privilege extend-ed to teens.

My driver’s license was suspended. I received two speeding tickets: one for 49 in a

35, another for 68 in a 60.Now before you judge me and classify me as a

punk street racer, I’ll have you know that I take pride in being a safe driver. My father used to work for the WSDOT and the statistics he often brought to the dinner table scared me straight.

I knew the importance of driver safety long be-fore I took driving school.

So how on Earth did I lose my right to drive?I, as an underage driver, was granted a deferral for my

fi rst ticket. That means it got knocked off my record. The terms of the agreement were “Get another ticket and you will lose your license.”

Now I must wait until my eighteenth birthday in May to pay for a new license.

I’ve rationalized it down to bad luck—the terrible mis-fortune of being a teenage male—and the appearance of my car. I’m sure the huge Fox decal on my rear window gave the traffi c offi cers the wrong idea.

My girlfriend has also been pulled over for speeding

twice. I fi nd it to be an outrageous coincidence that she was let off easy both times, when I got ripped off twice.

I did not badmouth the offi cers. On the contrary, I was extremely cordial, admitting and apologetic. I accepted full responsibility for my actions.

Nevertheless here I am, license-less. I ride the fi ve miles to PHS on my moun-

tain bike. I take the bus to my classes at Pierce. And if I’m lucky, some licensed driver will spare me a ride.

Excuse my language here but let me say that living without a license sucks.

It’s like ninth grade all over again; I feel so much less independent.

My car sits in the driveway, rusting away. I now realize that the automobile symbolizes extremely fast travel. When I get my license back, I will better appreciate my driving privilege.

I urge my fellow students not only to appreciate their li-censes but to always drive the speed limit. Do not become mindless and assume that there are no cops out today, be-cause that is exactly the lack of concern that caused me to lose my license.

Appreciate your driving privilege if you have it. You never know, your license could get suspended too.Please drive safely.

OPINIONT H E V I K I N G V A N G U A R D | P U Y A L L U P H I G H S C H O O L | I S S U E F O U R | D E C E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 2 | P A G E T H R E E

E D I T O R - I N - C H I E F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P A U L A B I S I A R

M A N A G I N G E D I T O R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S O N I A X U

O P I N I O N E D I T O R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A M Y C U R T I S

F E A T U R E S E D I T O R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S I E R R A T R Y O N

F O C U S E D I T O R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B R I P E D I C O N E

A & E E D I T O R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Z A C H H A L T E

S P O R T S E D I T O R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N O L A N J O H N S O N

N E W S E D I T O R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S Y D N E Y W E A T H E R B E E

A D M A N A G E R S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S A R A P A R L I M A N

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B R I P E D I C O N E

G R A P H I C S E D I T O R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J E S S E G I L E S

P H O T O E D I T O R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E M M A M I L L E R

G R A P H I C S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A L L I S O N S U L L I V A N

P H O T O G R A P H E R S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K A R I D U T C H E R

V V T V E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R . . . . . . . . . . S A R A P A R L I M A N

R E P O R T E R S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G A B E C A R R O L L

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A B B Y D O V R E

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P A T R I C K F A I R B A N K S

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S E R E N A F I N K

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T I A L U T H Y

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S A M M Y M A G I N

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H A Y L E Y M A S C A R O

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K E N Z I E M I L E S

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A S H L E Y O W E N S

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E L L I O T T T U R N E R

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J O S H W I L L I A M S

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J E S S I C A W Y A N T

A D V I S E R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S A N D R A C O Y E R , M J E

P U B L I C A T I O N S P O L I C I E S :

E D I T O R I A L P O L I C Y :

The Viking Vanguard operates as a limited forum.

The Viking Vanguard’s duty is to expand student perspectives, maintain community relations and act as a student publication advocating voice. Besides providing an opportunity fo the exchange of viewpoints, The Viking Vanguard serves as an academic tool by which students can voice opinions as well as highlight issues facing today’s students.

L E T T E R P O L I C Y :

The Viking Vanguard accepts unsolicited copy from businesses. Only signed and dated letters with addresses and phone numbers from community members, or grade level from students will be accepted. Letters must be limited to 350 words and will be published as space is available. The staff reserves the right to edit any letter without changing it’s content. All letters are the sole opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent the opinion of The Viking Vanguard staff. Letters to the Editor may be submitted by E-Mailing them to [email protected], or mailing them to The Viking Vanguard c/o Puyallup High School

A D V E R T I S I N G P O L I C Y :

The Viking Vanguard publication staff accepts advertisements for most products available to the public. However, the staff reserves the right to reject, edit or cancel any advertisement at anytime. Advertisements shall be free of implications that the staff deems offensive in light of normal public standards (WIAA 18.20.0 and 18.20.1) and will not be accepted. The staff will not accept advertising for products or groups which are racist, sexist or illegal for high school students. Advertisements do not necessarily refl ect the views, endorsements and/or positions of The Viking Vanguard, student body, faculty, administration or school board.

C O R R E C T I O N S :

* S I E R R A T R Y O N S H O U L D H A V E B E E N T I T L E D A S

T H E F E A T U R E S E D I T O R O N P A G E S I X .

The Viking Vanguard staff values accuracy, and wishes to correct mistakes made in previous issues. If you believe we have made an error, please contact us at: [email protected].

Check out additional news and stories in their entirety on our website:

http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/front-page/newspaperid/1534/Default.aspx

VANGUARDT H E V I K I N G

Refl ection on revoked driving

RESERVING JUDGEMENT

Editorial Cartoon

J E S S E G I L E SG R A P H I C S E D I T O R

J E S S E G I L E S | V A N G U A R D

Judgment is an inevitable part of life.

Our fi rst impressions of others are snap judgments we choose to represent the person as a whole.

We do not just judge our peers; we also judge our authority fi gures, our teachers.

We, as students so often forget that teachers have their own lives outside of the school walls. We allow personality confl icts to jus-tify our judgments.

A person should not be defi ned exclusively by their fl aw, nor by their gift.

We so often learn one aspect of a person and judge them, for better or for worse, by the one fragment of who they really are.

Judgment is not restricted to judg-ing people negatively.

While negative judgment is the most frequently recognized, some people are judged positively and are put on a

pedestal. Placing a person on a pedestal is no

better than degrading them. No one can live up to all the expecta-tions of others if they view them as more than they are, more than they can ever be.

We are all only human.

We all make mistakes.

Nobody is perfect. “It was just a joke,” is what is fre-

quently said in defense of hurtful words.

Whether that statement is true or not, it does not take away the injury. We do not think before we speak. We do not think of the consequences of the things we say.

It is not easy to quiet the judgments within our own minds but it is impor-tant that we try. If no attempt is made to hold less judgment we will not im-

prove.Every individual is unique and

has depth. No one should be judged on fragments of their personalities, whether positive or negative.

We should embrace each other for the perfect imperfections that make us who we are.

Embrace the diversity, do not let your fi rst impression defi ne your opinion of a person.

Dig deeper. Strive to reserve judgment. Remem-

ber everyone has gifts and fl aws. In this issue we have endeavored

to go beyond the fi rst impressions of people and fi nd out who they are as whole people.

We have covered Family and Con-sumer Sciences teacher Cassie Muel-ler’s weight loss, teacher Mary Davis’ past to better understand her reputa-tion of being a genius and even a stu-dent whose parent is a “prepper.”

We hope through all of these stories you will have a greater understanding of the people around you every day.

“ E M B R A C E T H E D I V E R S I T Y , D O N O T L E T Y O U R

F I R S T I M P R E S S I O N D E F I N E Y O U R O P I N I O N O F A

P E R S O N . ”

O U R V I E W

We often judge people off of fi rst impressions before we even give them the opportunity to talk. Most often, that assumption is incorrect.

OPINIONP A G E F O U R | P U Y A L L U P H I G H S C H O O L | I S S U E F O U R | D E C E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 2 | T H E V I K I N G V A N G U A R D

Q: What stresses you out about the Holidays?

“ K N O W I N G W H A T T O G E T [ F O R ] P E O P L E . ”

“ E N G L I S H H O M E W O R K . ”

“ P I C K I N G P R E S E N T S T H A T P E O P L E W I L L

L I K E . ”

“ G E T T I N G E V E R Y T H I N G R E A D Y . ”

“ F I N D I N G T H E P E R F E C T G I F T S . ”

C A L E B H A T C H E RS O P H O M O R E

S Y D N E Y G A N Y O NS O P H O M O R E R A C H E L S T R O B L

J U N I O R

I A N S E L FS E N I O R

H E I D I F R A S E RB O O K K E E P E R

YADDA!Y A D D A Y A D D A

L I K E O U R F A C E B O O K P A G E F O R C O N T I N U O U S U P D A T E S O N T H E L A T E S T N E W S A N D S P O R T S S T A T I S T I C S

H A V E A N O P I N I O N ? W R I T E A L E T T E R T O T H E E D I T O R ; S U B M I T L E T T E R S T O R O O M 3 1 3 O R S A N D R A C O Y E R

CHRISTMAS CHANGESWhile the holiday season spans throughout the winter, one student refl ects on the changing nature of Christmas spirituality.

These days it seems that in the winter almost every household is celebrating some sort of holiday.

The most commonly shared holiday appears to be Christmas.

It’s almost as if there is a jolly image of Santa Claus chuckling away or a decorated Christmas tree wherever you turn.

Christmas music is usually pouring through speakers to be heard all around to remind us all of the approaching holiday season.

Christmas is slowly becoming a shared holiday among all beliefs.

Christmas is a Christian holiday, meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Yet why do we go to the mall and see trees and not religious symbols?

The holiday season has strayed away from its original Christian roots to a modern joyous time of year and less of a boring religious holiday.

Christian households do seem to keep the values clear, through religious Christmas songs and religious decorations.

But driving down the street, it is much more regular to see a lit up Santa and reindeer on a lawn as opposed to a nativity scene.

How has such an important religious day become a common media strung holiday?

The holidays are a very fun and family-oriented time of

the year, decorations covering everything and warm loved ones all around.

I know there are many non-Christian households that still set up the tree and their kids wake up to the joy of presents from Santa in the morning.

Christmas seems to no longer be a Christian holiday, although most that celebrate it are Christian.

The core reason for spending the holidays celebrating is merely for the celebration factor.

Even the name is being changed; people are straying away from the term “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays.”

Although the holiday has changed a lot over the years, in my opinion the change is good.

Christmas is a very important time of the year, a time where family meets again, you see people you love whom you haven’t seen for a long time, people become close and troubles seem to melt away.

The holidays have grown apart from their religious roots but a time has been created where everyone can be together and be happy at the end of the year.

“ T H E H O L I D A Y S A R E A V E R Y F U N

A N D F A M I L Y O R I E N T E D T I M E O F T H E Y E A R . . . ”

Z A C H H A L T EA & E E D I T O R

Z A C H H A L T EA & E E D I T O R

Thoughts. They are what give life to everything we do. They are endless. They are liberating. They are relentless.They are invigorating. Thoughts. Fading in and out of our minds; weaving

through an infi nite space of time: conscious and subconscious.

Thoughts defi ne us. We are fl uctuating beings

with hearts of gold; stories in our souls.

The past defi nes us. The present mystifi es the future.

And yet, the future becomes the present and the present becomes the

past. The things we value in the moment don’t quite seem to last. Time comes as it goes.

And now we come back to thoughts. Every moment is a thought.

A memory, a love, a loss, a life. Your life. My life. Everything is derived in thought. Our thoughts. Thoughts. They are what make us genuine. Your thoughts

are your power. Be genuine. Be thoughtful. If you don’t utilize this gift you’ve been

given, the world will take advantage of you. Thoughts.

They are easily manipulated. Who we are and who the world wants us to be are two separate things. Who should you be?

Think for yourself. Think genuinely. Inspiration is different than conformation.

Don’t be like everyone else. Trust me; they are not that cool.

So evaluate yourself. What do your thoughts evoke? Do they call to a cause that others denote?

Or do they express what you truly believe? When your thoughts are from

you, you are what you choose to be. We are not just living for an ending.

Stop contending with such ideas. Stop pretending. When we think for ourselves life has a purpose.

Meaning is clear. The words we hear and the surrender to the

world that we force ourselves to adhere to is gone.When will the day come when we use our thoughts as they should be?

Well the choice is yours on whether or not to be free.

Thoughts provoke insight

P . W H A L E NG U E S T

National candy cane day is

celebrated on Dec. 26. Over

1.76 billion candy canes are made

each year.

There are approximately 25-30

million real Christmas trees sold in the U.S. every year.

In many traditions the Christmas

stocking is to be stuffed by a gift that will stimulate the fi ve senses.

J E S S E G I L E S | V A N G U A R D

I am not a genius,” Pre-Calculus and Geometry teacher, Mary Davis said.

Despite what she says, rumor is that Mary Davis, is in fact, a brainiac.

Students throughout the school seem constantly surprised by what she knows and what she has accomplished.

How could an every day high school teacher be so brilliant?

A c c o r d i n g to Mary Davis, it’s all about thinking fast.

“All genius means is someone is a quick thinker,” Mary Davis said. “There are people who are geniuses who do not have the education behind it.”

Fortunately for Mary Davis, as well as for her students, she does have the education to back up the brains. A graduate of Lorain Catholic High School in Ohio, she found education in the most

unexpected way. “My counselor in high school

told me one day that Notre Dame had begun accepting women and maybe I should apply,” Mary Davis said. “I did get in and I graduated in a class of 2000 where there were only 400 girls.”

From college Mary Davis went on to become the youngest out of 35 girls recruited by Purdue University for the Women in Science Technology Act of 1980.

She graduated from the program with a masters in science. She then moved on to be recruited by the Woman Work Force later to work for the Science A p p l i c a t i o n s

International Corporation. All these positions were

available thanks to the increase in women acceptance in the science industry.

“It was an intimidating atmosphere. Some of my male friends didn’t get in [to Notre Dame] and said it was because

I took their spot,” Mary Davis said.

Some of Mary Davis’ students, though, might agree that she herself is intimidating.

Junior Austin Davis experienced these feelings from day one in her Geometry class sophomore year.

“She seemed intimidating,” Austin Davis said. “But [it] seemed that she knew what she was talking about.”

Even students who fi nd her classes diffi cult or her ways of teaching confusing still admire her education and knowledge. Her brains help them trust her opinion.

“It was nice to have a teacher to go to,” Austin Davis said. “No matter how insane my question was she always had an answer.”

Though many students would say her knowledge is helpful, the debate is still on for whether Mary Davis is a genius.

“I think she’s defi nitely a genius,” junior Bonnie Stutz said. “She knows what she’s talking about.”

Recognizing Mary Davis’ intelligence is apparently a common phenomena students

FEATUREST H E V I K I N G V A N G U A R D | P U Y A L L U P H I G H S C H O O L | I S S U E F O U R | D E C E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 2 | P A G E F I V E

B Y J E S S I C A W Y A N T

R E P O R T E R

DAVIS STUNS WITH ‘GENIUS’ WITS

“ W H A T I W O U L D S A Y T O

S T U D E N T S I S F I N D S O M E T H I N G Y O U

W A N T T O B E A G E N I U S A T . ”

M A R Y D A V I SM A T H T E A C H E R

E M M A M I L L E R A N D J E S S E G I L E S | V A N G U A R D

Although geometry and pre-calculus teacher Mary Davis has earned the reputation ‘genius’ among her students, Davis rejects the term, attributing her intelligence to quick wits and a passion for knowledge.

Eagle Scout ranking has multiple impacts

The Eagle Scout ranking is the highest ranking a Boy Scout can achieve in his scouting career.

For senior Eagle Scouts Zeb Hornbuckle the journey in achieving this ranking has tried their determination and skills. Following this achievement is a lifetime of skills and opportunities.

“The whole Boy Scout spirit is to go out and be prepared to survive,” Turner said. “I’m happy I’ve been exposed to how to do that.”

The Boy Scouts of America is a values-based youth development organization. The BSA, according to their website, provides a program for young people that builds character, citizenship, and develops personal fi tness.

Turner has been scouting since age 12 and along with those associated with becoming an Eagle Scout, he has participated in multiple competitions to testing his skills in areas such as fi rst aid and survival.

According to Turner, a majority of the required merit badges that must be earned in order to obtain your Eagle Scout rank are skills you must learn.

“More than anything, what kept me going was the fact that I knew there was

more that I could accomplish while I was in Boy Scouts,” Turner said. “There were a lot of things that could be done and a lot of things I could learn.”

Turner explained that for many, the high standards Eagle Scouts are held to are too diffi cult to abide.

“I’m really happy that going into my future [since I’m going into the military] I will get a rank advancement automatically because I did my Eagle,” Turner said.

For Hornbuckle, the Eagle Scout ranking served as his greatest motivator to stick with Boy Scouts throughout his adolescent years.

“My dad was in Boy Scouts when he was little and he enjoyed it so he got me into it when I was young,” Hornbuckle said.

Hornbuckle and Turner are among the few with the determination to stick by scouting throughout the years.

”There are not many [high school Boy Scouts],” Hornbuckle said. “People drop out year after year because they don’t want to do it anymore or they get too busy.”

Turner sees scouting as a great

opportunity that should be taken by many.

“I enjoyed my time while I was in and now that I’m out I would suggest to anyone and everyone, get into Boy Scouts and experience it,” Turner said. “It’s worth it.”

Getting an Eagle Scout ranking is a high accomplishment that Hornbuckle believes is admired by many and will benefi t you throughout your life.

“There are certain scholarships out there for people with Eagle Scouts that will help with tuition and qualify me for in-state tuition, just for being an Eagle Scout,” Hornbuckle said.

The Eagle Scout was fi rst awarded in 1912 and over 2 million young men have achieved this rank.

A 2010 study conducted by Baylor University, Merit Beyond the Badges, found that Eagle Scouts are more likely [than men who have never been in Scouting] to have higher levels of planning and preparation skills, be goal-oriented and network with others.

The study also found that Eagle Scouts are

more likely to be in a leadership position at their jobs and in their local communities. The study was conducted from a random sample of 2,512 adult males interviewed over the phone.

B Y A M Y C U R T I S

O P I N I O N E D I T O R

EAGLE SCOUT RANKR E Q U I R E M E N T S

-Progress through all previous ranks -Tende r f ood -Second C l a s s - F i r s t C l a s s -S t a r -L i f e

-Earn 21 merit badges

-Serve six months in a troop leadership position

-Plan, develop, and give leadership to a service project for any religious organization, school, or community

-Take part in a Scoutmaster conference

-Successfully complete an Eagle Scout board of review

“ W H A T K E P T M E G O I N G W A S T H E

F A C T T H A T I K N E W T H E R E W A S M O R E

T H A T I C O U L D A C C O M P L I S H . ”

Z A C H T U R N E R S E N I O R

experience when being around her. The comparison of student smarts to ‘Davis smarts’ seems quite astounding to some people.

“I heard she worked for NASA and the government and is a super genius,” Stutz said.

One question that still stands unanswered though is what should Mary Davis be considered? Is she a genius? Or a nerd?

“All I would say is that I’ve found subjects that I am good at teaching,” Mary Davis said. “And what I would say to [students] is,

“ T H E R E A R E S C H O L A R S H I P S

O U T T H E R E F O R P E O P L E W I T H

E A G L E S C O U T S T H A T W I L L H E L P W I T H T U I T I O N . ”

Z E B H O R N B U C K L ES E N I O R

FOCUSP A G E 6 | T H E V I K I N G V A N G U A R D | P U Y A L L U P H I G H S C H O O L | 1 0 5 7 T H S W . P U Y A L L U P , W A S H . 9 8 3 7 1 | A L I M I T E D F O R U M F O R S T U D E N T E

Media shapes ideologiesB Y A S H L E Y O W E N S A N D S I E R R A T R Y O N

R E P O R T E R A N D F E A T U R E S E D I T O R

B Y A S H L E Y O W E N S A N D S I E R R A T R Y O NB Y A S H L E Y O W E N S A N D S I E R R A T R Y O N

R E P O R T E R A N D F E A T U R E S E D I T O RR E P O R T E R A N D F E A T U R E S E D I T O R

Hollywood has been using the apocalypse as a major plot point in movies and TV shows causing some to think more about the end of the world and others to dismiss it

as fi ction.Richard Tafl inger, a communications professor at the Edward

R. Murrow College of Communications at WSU, sheds new light on the reasons behind beliefs about the apocalypse.

“The end of the world has been a common theme throughout history,” Tafl inger said.

History has revealed many apocalypses within cultural groups.

“Every religion has its own apocalypse,” Tafl inger said. “Chris-tians have Armageddon and Norse legend tells of Ragnarok, of the earth ending in fi re and ice.”

Although most believe it to be just legend, such superstitions have carried on into present day.

“There are reality TV shows out there, like Doomsday Preppers,” Tafl inger said. “They prepare shelters and gather food, water and weapons.”

Tafl inger sees a few sources for apocalyptic misconceptions.“Political differences can lead to statements about the apoca-

lypse,” Tafl inger said. “Some people will say ‘Oh, Obama got re-elected, the world is going to end.’”

Such political play is not new to this day and age.“Politics playing on the world-is-ending fears has gone back

centuries,” Tafl inger said. “People who are trying to get power will play on religious fears. ‘Join me, give me your money and I can help you survive.’”

Tafl inger believes media portrays apocalyptic events in fi ction-al and non-fi ctional ways.

“Fictional shows about zombies and vampires take it serious-ly,” Tafl inger said. “Non-fi ctional shows like Doomsday Preppers show the audience that there are people who think this way. The shows say if you do think this way, you’re dumb.”

Tafl inger explained the reason for producing shows on the non-fi ctional side is to portray the susceptible side of human na-

ture and to highlight incorrect beliefs.“Many of the people on such shows are uneducated and the

shows belittle them because they have these beliefs,” Tafl inger said. “These people are not paying attention to reality because they’re living in their own reality.”

Tafl inger attributes a decrease in hype about the upcoming 2012 apocalypse to the media’s choice of content.

“In the news [media] there is an agenda and what the media says is what people will think about,” Tafl inger said. “Media tells people what to think about but they don’t say what to think about it.”

With all the political events happening this year, it’s easy to see why the 2012 apocalypse has lost attention.

“The apocalypse of 2012 has been crowded out due to events like the election, the upcoming fi scal cliff or the economy,” Tafl inger said.

The lack of media attention in recent times has contributed to the public focusing more on real issues and less on apocalyptic legends.

“The media will pay attention to things that impact audience’s lives,” Tafl inger said. “Old leg-ends with no proof will get less attention. And the people who are still thinking about ‘2012’ are probably obsessed.”

Junior Drew Janker does not believe the world will end Dec. 21.

“I don’t think the 2012 apocalypse is real,” Janker said. “Hollywood is releasing movies after Dec. 21.”

Despite having many friends who share inter-ests in shows such as The Walking Dead, Janker knows no one taking the apocalypse seriously enough to prepare.

Sophomore Tom Nguyen mocked the idea of the looming apocalypse.

“If the world does really end on the Dec. 21 I’ll be sad because that’s the day the new Jordan Bred 11 shoes come out,” Nguyen said.

Many people like Janker and Nguyen do not take the apoca-lypse seriously because there is little science to support the

claims. The apocalypse can be considered a myth because it is not based on scientifi c facts.

Tafl inger relates the reasons we might believe in such myths to reality.

“Society understands itself through the stories we tell,” Tafl ing-er said.

Keeping that in mind, Tafl inger believes that those with a lower level of education are more likely to believe in stories and my-thology.

“Having a lower education makes it harder to understand sci-entifi c reality,” Tafl inger said. “Society has a tendency to rear-range the facts and add new ones to make the story they’re telling more interesting.”

Tafl inger believes supernatural creatures are a part of Ameri-can culture. Throughout history, people have had a need to un-derstand what’s happening around them, so they make up a story to make sense of things.

“In the tropics, people would get bitten or stung by something and therefore were inject-ed with a poison that shuts the body down,” Tafl inger said. “They appear dead, [until] the poison wears off and they sit back up.”

Although this was the work of toxins, many people would have explained the events by saying that the infected person was a zombie. Hollywood takes advantage of this and pro-duces popular shows like The Walking Deadfrom those ideas.

Tafl inger explained that scientifi cally, things frequently happen out of nowhere.

“An asteroid is just a rock, it doesn’t have conscious thoughts,” Tafl inger said. “But in the Armageddon movie, the asteroid has intent of hitting the earth.”

Tafl inger stood by the “the world is a story” metaphor. “People view the world as a story and every story has a prob-

lem followed by a climax,” Tafl inger said. “If you view reality as a story, then everything must have a reason.”

“ S O C I E T Y U N D E R S T A N D S

I T S E L F T H R O U G H T H E S T O R I E S W E

T E L L . ”

R I C H A R D T A F L I N G E RW S U P R O F E S S O R

The Mayan calendar stops on Dec. 21, 2012. Some believe that this date marks the end of the world, the apocalypse. The Viking Vanguard reports on the media, the preparation and the history of Mayan culture.

APOCALYPSE 2012

The Mayan culture, more specifi cally their calendar, is the center for the theory of the im-pending apocalypse. The calendar ends Dec. 21 and some believe that the world will end with it.

A look at the Maya and their culture and his-tory will hopefully give a better image of this civilization that has been reduced to ruins by time.

The Maya were a Meso-american civilization that had essentially disappeared by the time of Europeans reaching the Americas.

“Regarding the Maya of Guatemala, I know that they were the earliest of the four major cultural groupings in this region of the world that existed prior to the arrival of Cristobal Colón,” former Spanish teacher Edward Constantine said. “In fact, the Maya had all but disappeared from

Central America, presumably due to adverse weather conditions, before the Spanish even arrived and their cities were all but covered by the jungle.”

Prior to their disappearance the Maya had established an advanced society, based mainly on agriculture.

“The Maya and these other major ethnic groups were notable for having created agri-cultural societies based on corn and potatoes which allowed for the growth of relatively large

populations. And, as with the others, with a stable food source, the Maya were able to acquire a distinct politi-cal and social architecture which included nobles and a religious hierarchy which had the leisure to develop a theology and to contemplate the earth and the cosmos,” Constantine said. “This in-volved mathematics, astron-omy and astrology to deter-

mine planting and harvesting schedules.” Large and advanced civilizations have dis-

solved throughout history but what is most intriguing about the Maya is the amount of in-formation that is still un-known about them.

Much of the Mayan writing and knowledge was destroyed by the Spanish when they fi rst explored the region, ac-cording to history teacher Brooks Hazen.

“[The calendar] hap-pens to have this date [that some believe is the end of the world] but at the same time there is so much that we don’t know about their culture. We understand that they were mathematically advanced and sci-entifi cally advanced but there has been a lot of that which has been destroyed,” Hazen said.

Scientifi c knowledge and achievements are another way that the Mayan civilization set it-self apart from other Mesoamerican cultures before its collapse.

“[They were] by far the most advanced civi-lization in the Americas. The Mayan language

was probably one of the fi rst written languages in the world,” Hazen said. “We [also] give credit

to the Maya for having the num-ber zero. [They were] the fi rst to come up with the notion.”

The disappearance of the greater Mayan culture has sev-eral explanations but while the culture disappeared the people did not.

“How did this great civilization that had the math, had the sci-ence, which made this calendar, which is very accurate to some degree, disappear?” Hazen said.

“But they didn’t disappear; they just broke up as a large group. They’re still there, just no lon-ger living in there large urban centers.”

And while the larger portion of the culture has disappeared, remnants still exist.

“The culture is still there, it [just] evolved from what it used to be,” Spanish teacher Es-peranza Hanson said.

“ T H E C U L T U R E I S S T I L L T H E R E , I T [ J U S T ] E V O L V E D

F R O M W H A T I T U S E D T O B E . ”

E S P E R A N Z A H A N S O NS P A N I S H T E A C H E R

B Y N O L A N J O H N S O N

A N D J O S H W I L L I A M S

S P O R T S E D I T O R A N D R E P O R T E R

Mayan culture steeped in enigma

“ [ T H E Y W E R E ] B Y F A R T H E

M O S T A D V A N C E D C I V I L Z A T I O N I N T H E A M E R I C A S . ”

B R O O K S H A Z E NH I S T O R Y T E A C H E R

FOCUSP A G E 6 | T H E V I K I N G V A N G U A R D | P U Y A L L U P H I G H S C H O O L | 1 0 5 7 T H S W . P U Y A L L U P , W A S H . 9 8 3 7 1 | A L I M I T E D F O R U M F O R S T U D E N T E X P R E S S I O N | I S S U E F O U R | D E C E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 2 | P A G E 7

Believers prepare

Fire and brimstone raining down upon Earth, a massive fl ood or alien invaders—

however they believe it will happen, numer-ous people believe the world is coming to an end.

As the supposed apocalypse nears, many have taken vastly different opinions on whether it is actually going to happen or how it might occur.

Taking their beliefs seriously, some people have taken the apocalypse to heart and have been preparing for the disaster that they be-lieve may come.

Living emerged in a mass of disbelief, these “preppers” as they are called, stay fi rm in their ways and deem it really is the end times. They believe it is not a joke.

Senior Cassy Johnson’s father has been stocking up for the end of the world for about three years and takes it very seriously.

“When he fi rst started [preparing] he was talking about it and I was like, ‘what do you think is going to happen, a zombie apoca-lypse?’ And he said, ‘no but if something does happen, I’m ready for it,’” Johnson said. “And as it’s gotten closer to [Dec. 21] he’s really ada-mant that some natural disaster is going to happen.”

Many people, such as senior Jordan Man-gus, do not take the apocalypse seriously at all and believe it is not going to happen this year

“Even If I knew for sure there would be an apocalypse, I’d just throw a party [instead of preparing],” Mangus said. “I would call up my buddies and party, go out with a bang.”

Johnson’s dad has been prepping for quite a while and not only for the 2012 apocalypse.

“I’d say it’s been about three years,” Johnson said. “He’s not really into the normal type of situations, when we had the big power outage last year with the ice storm, he was really ready for it; we had power; we had food we could eat that was actually good, we had money to buy food and stuff and chains on all the cars so we could get around. I think that was really help-ful.”

Mangus is skeptical about the apocalypse, however respects people who are preparing.

“I think of it the same way I think about people who are religious, they can choose to believe if they want,” Mangus said. “But for me I have no belief of this apocalypse stuff.”

Johnson herself also doesn’t think the apoc-alypse will happen but compliments her dad’s lifestyle.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen, if it does, whatever; if it doesn’t, whatever. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen,” Johnson said. “There is nothing we can do to stop it and if it does happen, I’ll be glad he has been prepared for it.”

Drama teacher PJ Sirl wishes that if the “preppers” believed it was the end, they would donate possessions to less fortunate individu-als.

“If they are really concerned the world was going to end I wish they would give their worldly possessions to those in need,” Sirl said.

Johnson says that even without doomsday, she is glad the family is prepared for disaster.

“[If the apocalypse doesn’t happen] we will probably be the same, I think he’s really pre-pared for the things that could happen,” John-son said. “If nothing big does happen I don’t think it would affect him negatively.”

Sirl doesn’t believe the end is near but re-spects the opinions of those who do.

“Every year there is some group thinking something is going to happen,” Sirl said. “I think everybody is entitled to live their life the way they want.”

B Y P A T R I C K F A I R B A N K S

A N D Z A C H H A L T E

R E P O R T E R A N D

A & E E D I T O R

claims. The apocalypse can be considered a myth because it is

Tafl inger relates the reasons we might believe in such myths

“Society understands itself through the stories we tell,” Tafl ing-

Keeping that in mind, Tafl inger believes that those with a lower level of education are more likely to believe in stories and my-

“Having a lower education makes it harder to understand sci-entifi c reality,” Tafl inger said. “Society has a tendency to rear-range the facts and add new ones to make the story they’re telling

Tafl inger believes supernatural creatures are a part of Ameri-can culture. Throughout history, people have had a need to un-derstand what’s happening around them, so they make up a story

“In the tropics, people would get bitten or stung by something and therefore were inject-ed with a poison that shuts the body down,” Tafl inger said. “They appear dead, [until] the poison wears off and they sit back up.”

Although this was the work of toxins, many people would have explained the events by saying that the infected person was a zombie. Hollywood takes advantage of this and pro-

The Walking Dead

Tafl inger explained that scientifi cally, things frequently happen out of nowhere.

“An asteroid is just a rock, it doesn’t have conscious thoughts,” Tafl inger said. “But in the Armageddon movie, the asteroid has

Tafl inger stood by the “the world is a story” metaphor. “People view the world as a story and every story has a prob-

lem followed by a climax,” Tafl inger said. “If you view reality as a

The Mayan calendar stops on Dec. 21, 2012. Some believe that this date marks the end of the reports on the media, the preparation and the history

APOCALYPSE 2012

was probably one of the fi rst written languages in the world,” Hazen said. “We [also] give credit

to the Maya for having the num-ber zero. [They were] the fi rst to come up with the notion.”

The disappearance of the greater Mayan culture has sev-eral explanations but while the culture disappeared the people

“How did this great civilization that had the math, had the sci-ence, which made this calendar, which is very accurate to some degree, disappear?” Hazen said.

“But they didn’t disappear; they just broke up as a large group. They’re still there, just no lon-ger living in there large urban centers.”

And while the larger portion of the culture has disappeared, remnants still exist.

“The culture is still there, it [just] evolved from what it used to be,” Spanish teacher Es-

E M M A M I L L E R A N D S A R A P A R L I M A N | V A N G U A R D

:

Throughout their lives, people look back and refl ect.

They see their successes, they see their failures.

They see things they’re proud of and they see things they would have done differently.

Family and consumer science teacher Cassie Mueller is no

exception.Mueller had been uncomfortable with

her appearance from a young age. She

struggled with confi dence and

she struggled in high school because of i n c e s s a n t teasing.

“I was mooed at in the hallway like I was a cow by

these girls that were very mean to

me,” Mueller said. According to a 2006

Gallup poll, 56 percent o f

Americans said they w a n t e d to lose weight.

Mueller was one

of those Americans.

M u e l l e r knew she

wasn’t at a healthy weight and she knew the steps that were

necessary for her to meet goals but she didn’t know where to

start. “I decided that I needed to do

something to make myself feel better. I physically felt bad and I

didn’t have a lot of confi dence but I had never really dieted,” Mueller said.

Even after Mueller joined Weight Watchers, her healthy weight still seemed to be impossible. But after making small goals for herself, she began to lose the weight she had always wanted to.

“To start with, I knew what a healthy weight was but to me it was such a daunting task. I had to see if I could even do this,” Mueller said. “After the fi rst couple pounds I thought maybe I could lose 50 pounds and when I got

there I decided maybe 75.”Shortly after her success, Mueller’s

mother became ill with pancreatic cancer. Mueller completely devoted herself to her mother and her care during this time.“I was distracted [after losing] 110

pounds because that’s when my mom passed away. I gained back 15 pounds,” Mueller said.

Mueller’s mother joined Weight Watchers after her daughter’s success. During her mother’s illness, Mueller tried

not to gain the weight back. Even after trying to stay on track, Mueller gained back 15 pounds.

“I lost sight of my goals. I was so wrapped up in her care and trying to take care of her,” Mueller said.

When Mueller’s mother lost her battle with cancer at the age of 47, Mueller found it hard to grieve and found it especially diffi cult to accept what had happened to her mother.

“I’m an emotional eater and I was actually feeding my emotions versus dealing with them,” Mueller said. “I had never really understood how to deal with grief before. My mom was very young. It was very diffi cult.”

But Mueller knew she still needed to lose weight in order to be healthy. Her father encouraged her to lose the weight because he knew the risks being overweight posed to his daughter’s health.

“Over time and getting help with my grief, I realized that I could do this. I

needed to be at that healthy weight,” Mueller said.

After three years of struggling to come to terms with her grief and the death of her mother and after fi nding support through friends, family and grief support groups, Mueller was back on track to being a healthy weight.

Once again, Mueller made small goals for herself and after the fi rst 50 pounds were lost, being a healthy weight didn’t seem unrealistic anymore.

“I knew I had to be very strict with myself and very active and by June [2012] I had met my goal,” Mueller said.

During her journey to lose weight, Mueller found support in her group leader Marni Murphy.

Murphy joined Weight Watchers in 1990, became a lifetime member in 1991 and began working at meetings in 1993 where she became a Weight Watchers Group Facilitator and solid support system for others.

“I like to think I help members rely on themselves, that I am just there with them along the way,” Murphy said.

As Mueller experienced weight loss and gain, Murphy was there for her.

“When Cassie lost her personal support system, her friends and co-workers [that had come and gone in the meetings] she was able to turn to us at Weight Watchers to support her,” Murphy said.

Murphy believes Mueller struggled the most after the loss of her mother.

“During the emotional time of losing her mom, Cassie struggled the most in her weight loss efforts,” Murphy said. “I would

hope that the support of myself, as well as other

staff and m e m b e r s , helped her

c o n t i n u e through this

time.”M u r p h y

says the reason she was able to connect with Mueller and support her during her struggles was because of the time she spent with her.

“Spending a little one-on-one time gave me better insight into what she was going t h r o u g h , ” Murphy said.Even after

her mother died and Mueller felt it was impossible to reach a healthy weight, Murphy never left her side. Murphy supported Mueller until she fi nally reached her goals.

“Cassie’s greatest accomplishment was she started living a healthy life,” Murphy said.

Murphy urged anyone who wants to be a healthy weight to make changes to your lifestyle that will last forever.

“Make it a lifestyle that you can live with. If it is a miserable experience you won’t want to continue. Enjoy what you are doing,” Murphy said.

After Mueller had maintained a healthy weight, she was introduced to an opportunity within the Weight Watchers community.

An ad contest. The ads would feature Weight Watchers’

members who had successfully reached their goals and wanted to share their story.

Mueller submitted her application that included her personal story of how she struggled after losing her mom but fi nally reached her goal and lost a total of 147 pounds.

“She deserves to be in an ad for Weight Watchers, [she is] a great

representative of all Weight Watchers is,” Murphy said.

While fi lming the commercials in California this past month, Mueller met with the other contest winners. Many of them shared the same struggles Mueller had.

“The best part was meeting people who are in the same boat as me. [People] who had lost a lot of weight and made life changes,” Mueller said.

The Weight Watchers website will launch a video blog Dec. 26 chronicling Mueller’s journey to lose weight and her complete story.

FEATURESP A G E E I G H T | D E C E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 2 | I S S U E F O U R | P U Y A L L U P H I G H S C H O O L | T H E V I K I N G V A N G U A R D

B Y A S H L E Y O W E N S

R E P O R T E R

“ I K N E W I H A D T O B E V E R Y S T R I C T

W I T H M Y S E L F A N D V E R Y A C T I V E A N D

B Y J U N E I H A D M E T M Y G O A L . ”

C A S S I E M U E L L E RC O N S U M E R S C I E N C E

T E A C H E R

“ M A K E I T A L I F E S T Y L E Y O U

C A N L I V E W I T H . I F I T I S A M I S E R A B L E

E X P E R I E N C E Y O U W O N ’ T W A N T T O

C O N T I N U E . ”

M A R N I M U R P H YW E I G H T W A T C H E R S

G R O U P L E A D E R

E M M A M I L L E R | V A N G U A R D

When we fi rst sat down in the the-ater while we were anticipating to see The Hobbit: An Unexpect-

ed Journey, excitement would be an un-derstatement.

A true die-hard fan even dressed up and went to the midnight premiere.

We fi rst sat down and mindlessly munched on some popcorn, talked to

A&ET H E V I K I N G V A N G U A R D | P U Y A L L U P H I G H S C H O O L | I S S U E F O U R | D E C E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 2 | P A G E N I N E

RETURN TO MIDDLE EARTH EXCEPTIONALFollowing the epic “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, this prequel meets its very high standards leaving our two reporter’s humble imaginations reeling and anticipating what else director Peter Jackson can deliver.

B Y P A T R I C K F A I R B A N K S A N D

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R E P O R T E R S

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ish this movie kept my heart beating, rac-ing more like.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey brings you back to that trilogy that many of us grew up loving but it has a quality unique for itself.

Galadriel, Elrond and the ever famous Gandalf the Grey—all characters that we noticed to be the same.

It was almost like seeing an old friend when we saw them.

This fi rst part of Bilbo’s adventure pro-vides us with some desired background for the fi rst three movies based off of J.R.R Tol-kien’s masterfully crafted world, while itself is a beautiful movie.

The songs the dwarves sing and the in-viting Hobbit home at the beginning of the movie seem to draw you into the screen, heralding the awesome movie to come.

The story, the wonderful actors and the beautiful graphics all gave this movie a dis-tinct fl are in the 2012 movie world.

The expectations for the graphics of this movie were high and they exceeded be-yond what any could imagine.

The colors so vivid it felt as if you were venturing to The Lonely Mountain your-self, fi ghting off hordes of Orcs and Goblins or venturing to an Elven city.

The movements of the characters were as fl uid as water.

It was as critics say, “A visual master-

piece,” or “Stunning to hold.” The fl ow from scene to scene was very

subtle; there weren’t any awkward transi-tions.

The words from the book were put into life. The movie followed the book, helping the mind see the novel come to life.

When the ending was reached, it had the audience aching for more.

We believe Jackson has created another classic with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and we cannot wait to see the next part of the movie.

We strongly recommend this movie to anyone that enjoys fantasy, has enjoyed The Lord of the Rings or likes indulging in sliced happiness.

And to those who don’t, take a chance. Open your mind and explore your imagi-

nation.

M O V I E R E V I E W

One Star: Poor, Two Stars: Fair, Three Stars: Good, Four Stars: Excellent

each other, texted or chit-chat with the man in an

elf costume seated in the aisle above.

Of course, be-fore enjoying the

movie we paid for we fi rst suf-fered through the very an-t i - c l i m a c t i c previews for movies that come out in 20 years that we didn’t pay to see.

Then the “turn off your cell

phones” spiel went on the screen and the theater dark-ened, directly

followed by more previews,

another cellphone warning and then

the music. Oh, how we loved the

music.It may simply be that we truly enjoy

movie scores but the nostalgia of this score in particular was unparalleled.

The opening music brings you back to that fi rst time watching Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

If we remember correctly Bilbo says something in the fi rst few scenes of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey that is also said to open The Fellowship of the Ring, “My dear, dear Frodo.”

Between the music and this line we about died at this point but the need to fi n-

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WHICH PHO IS PHO YOU?

Pho Tai — 13103 Meridian E. Puyallup, Wash. 98374

Environment: This restaurant was elegant, yet homey. The menus were amongst the fanci-est we’ve seen, which came as a surprise to us. It wasn’t very busy when we went and the servers were quick to seat us wherever we’d like. Nolan appreciated the Christmas music playing on the radio there. The atmosphere was very calming and made the experience extremely enjoyable.

Service: The service here was fantastic. A nice young man took our order and our pho came in a matter of minutes. They roamed and made sure our meal was enjoyable, with-out annoying us. They were very friendly and professional.

Food: From the fi rst taste, we knew this place was special. The broth was delectable and had a high salt content, which Bri appreciated. The noodles were chewy and easy to eat and a plate of various toppings was given in compliment. The soup had a perfect noodle to broth ratio and had a plethora of high quality, tender meat. This place takes the cake, or noodles in this case, for the best pho restaurant in town.

One large bowl costs about $8.20

Pho the Best – 4301 S. Meridian F3, Puyallup, Wash. 98373

Environment: This was the most elegant restaurant we ate at. The dim lights created a fancy atmosphere; they even put lemon in our water! Everything about this place was high quality, including the pho. The restaurant wasn’t busy and at each table was a silverware container, so you don’t have to be embarrassed for asking for a fork (Bri fails at the art of using chopsticks). Nolan found it to be quite chilly though. Our visit here was a very relaxing experience, especially with the gentle waterfall and soft piano music in the background.

Service: The service here was incredibly fast. We were seated right away and given our water and food almost instantly. The servers seemed very bored while waiting to do their job but they never let it show to the customers.

Food: Simply delicious. The soup itself wasn’t as salty as the other places but that just made it easier to notice all the other spices. It warmed us up on the cold winter night. Offered on our table were the same ingredients as the other places. The only downside was that the meat was a little chewy but still had a wonderful fl avor.

One large bowl costs about $8.70

It’s Pho U — 3707 S. Meridian Puyallup, Wash. 98373

Environment: This restaurant was very comfortable. It was the most heavily-populated place we went to and we can understand why.

Service: The overall service was great. Our order was taken promptly and our food was delivered immediately. We were impressed because the restaurant was quite full when we went but the servers didn’t let this dictate their attitudes. The only confusing thing was payment, we didn’t know if we were supposed to go to the register or wait at our table.

Food: The broth warmed our entire bodies. In Nolan’s very terse words, it was “warm and yummy.” It was the perfect blend of spices, salty but not too salty. The smell of the soup was delicious by itself but the fl avor proved even more so. The meat wasn’t fantastic but the rest of the meal made up for it. Bean sprouts, various sauces and jalapeños were among the ingredients offered on the side.

One large bowl costs about $7.50

Pho Ever — 727 River Road Puyallup, Wash. 98371

Environment: This restaurant was cozy. The fl oor however, was extremely slippery and Bri almost fell multiple times. The news channel was very evident for the volume and really only showed depressing news, therefore not making the experience as “happy” as a pho date should be.

Service: We were not impressed by the service here. The servers didn’t really seem to care until they saw our notepad come out. After that, they were friendlier. It took the longest here to have our orders taken and receive our food, though that still was not very long.

Food: We were disappointed with the pho here. To start, they didn’t have steak and fl ank, so instead we ordered raw beef and fl ank. The broth lacked fl avor, the meat was chewy and dry and the noodles stuck together in a big clump. You had to have patience to eat the soup here.

One large bowl costs about $7.60

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F O C U S E D I T O R A N D S P O R T S E D I T O R

Pho Rating

1 bowl-The worst, 5 bowls-The best

You may think that all pho is the same but you are wrong. Two reporters reviewed four cleverly named pho restaurants, ordering the standard steak and fl ank pho at every place and rated them accordingly.

New coaches, new styles, new at-titudes; who are these coaches? What should Puyallup expect?

“We’ll do our job no matter if we have people in the stands or not,” new girls varsity basketball coach Cherokee Ainslie said.

Along with being the new girls basketball team, coach Ainslie is an AVID and sopho-more English teacher. In the past seven years Ainslie coached the girls junior varsity basketball team at Bellarmine Pre-paratory School (BPS) in Tacoma.

Ainslie graduated from BPS and played volleyball, basketball and fastpitch when she was a student. Her brother and father also coach there.

“There was a family aspect,” Ainslie said. “I was defi nitely anxious and excited [to coach at Puyallup] but it was also hard to leave Bellarmine.”

She has also been the assistant coach of Puyallup’s volleyball, girls basketball and fastpitch teams for the past three years.

“She’s young and enthusiastic and it’s her fi rst head coaching position. She’s excited and that excitement spreads like wildfi re,” Athletic Director Lisa Muiznieks said.

This August Ainslie was offered the po-sition of the girls varsity coach which she accepted enthusiastically.

“The coaches I had [inspired me to be-come a coach]. They were strong women. I knew my days of playing weren’t going to be long but I loved the sport,” Ainslie said. “I loved being around it, getting ex-cited about it, watching good games and I wanted to be able to fuel that fi re in young woman athletes.”

Teaching and coaching are not all that Ainslie participates in. She loves riding her four-wheeler and spending time with her

friends. Since basketball and teaching take up a lot of her time, Ainslie values her free time.

“When I’m able to have time with friends and fam-ily, it’s perfect,” Ainslie said.

Ainslie explained that her expectations are to re-inforce and maybe even reignite the passion for girls basketball again. She loves

the sport and wants that same kind of at-titude; not only for the game but for the knowledge of the game too.

Meanwhile in the upper gym, there’s a new leader in charge of the wrestling team.

Aaron Lee became a part of the coach-ing staff three years ago. The past couple of years he coached the girls team. However, he became in charge of the whole wrestling program this year and is the head coach for the boys team. This is his fi rst year of being the head coach of the whole wrestling pro-gram and he has expectations he’d like to successfully pan out.

“I want [the team] to understand the sport and appreciate all the aspects it brings to your life. The self-discipline, the motivation, hard work, the work ethic: all those characteristics that build a cham-pion,” Lee said.

This is Lee’s fourteenth year of being a wrestling coach. He has coached at Edgemont Junior High for three years as an assistant and Ferrucci Junior High as a head coach.

Lee’s longest coaching was at Cascade Middle School, located in Auburn. He is a Special Education teacher there but hopes to transfer to work here.

In 1995 Lee graduated from PHS. He was a wrestler for the school but due to unfor-tunate injuries, he didn’t fi nish his season the way he wanted to.

“When you want to coach at [your high school] I think that really says a lot about how much you care about the program and the sport that you love.” Muiznieks said.

Lee feels that he’s at a level where he can help kids succeed in the sport.

“When you have a passion and are ex-cited about something, it’s contagious and kids [are attracted] to you. They see my passion; if I’m not doing that then I’m not

doing my job,” Lee said. Lee began coaching when he was 21.

Since that time, he’s coached over 30 teams in fastpitch, soccer, basketball, track, baseball and wrestling. Most were

middle school teams but he also coaches his younger children’s teams.

Dedication and time are the two topics Lee stresses to his players.

“The only thing that’s equal for everybody in every sport is time. Everybody has the same exact time,” Lee

said. “Someone might be bigger, someone might be stronger, smarter, doesn’t mat-ter. We all have the same time, it’s how you choose to use your time that makes the difference.”

When Lee was a kid the stands at wres-tling tournaments used to be full. He wish-es to fi ll the stands and added it would be great to get the whole school excited for wrestling again.

Two faces are new to Puyallup’s gym but they’re coaches with a passion of their sport. Ainslie and Lee hope to leave suc-cessful legacies in Puyallup High School’s history.

“ T H E C O A C H E S I H A D [ I N S P I R E D M E T O B E C O M E

A C O A C H ] . T H E Y W E R E S T R O N G

W O M E N . ”

C H E R O K E E A I N S L E EB A S K E T B A L L C O A C H

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NEW COACHES, NEW LEGACIES

Above: Cherokee Ainslie coaches the varsity girls basketball team during the game against Bethel Dec. 12. The Vikings went on to win 63-47 and are currently undefeated this season.

Above: Coach Lee gives the wrestling team a few pointers during a break at practice. While he has been coaching for three years, this is his fi rst year as the head coach of the wrestling program.

E M M A M I L L E R | V A N G U A R D

“ I W A N T [ T H E T E A M ] T O

U N D E R S T A N D T H E S P O R T A N D

A P P R E C I A T E A L L T H E A S P E C T S I T

B R I N G S T O L I F E . ”

A A R O N L E EW R E S T L I N G C O A C H

P A T R I C K F A I R B A N K S | V A N G U A R D

Strapping a piece of metal and plas-tic to your feet and carving down a mountain is something a lot of

people would call “special” or “unique” but maybe not for quite the same reasons

snowboarders do.One may wonder what exactly it is that makes this sport special. Senior Mi-chael McGee, who has been snow-boarding for nine years, sheds some light.

“ W h e n you have

s o m e -thing

you love to do, all your problems just fade away,” McGee said.

Senior Taylor Brown, who has been snowboarding since he was 11 years old, agrees.

“It’s my time away from everyone else,” Taylor Brown said.

Despite these boarders’ similar inter-ests they all got involved with the sport in different ways.

“My cousin took me up [snowboarding] one time and I’ve been going ever since,” sophomore Jake Brown said.

But some don’t have a snow-savvy cousin.

“There was a ski bus program by where I lived and they offered lessons one year I just decided to do it,” McGee said.

In the case of Taylor Brown, snowboard-ing is a family tradition.

“A lot of [my family] are Swedish, so we’ve been skiing forever and my grandpa and his family are from California so we

all surf too,” Taylor Brown said.Junior Kyle Hendricks has been boarding most of his life.

“I started when I was a kid,” Hendricks said.

According to all of these boarders, there

are many fac-tors that make snowboarding the wonder-ful experience they say it is.

One factor is the uncommon

setting which snowboarding requires: the mountain, covered in snow.

“I think that most people like snow-boarding because you get to be in the snow,” Training Director at Crystal Moun-tain Rick Roberts said.

Roberts’ hypothesis seems to be correct, as Jake Brown shares his sentiments.

“When it doesn’t snow here, it always snows in the mountains,” Jake Brown said.

The mountain’s remote location can become a relaxing en-vironment as well.

“It’s pretty tran-quil up there,” Taylor Brown said.

Hendricks agrees.“It’s peaceful, I like

being by myself,” Hendricks said. “Go-ing up to the moun-tain just because it’s fun. You don’t get to do that every day.”

Of course, snowboarding isn’t always just peaches and cream and sick air. These snowboarders profess that it has its down-sides as well.

“The drive up is sometimes a little long,” Taylor Brown said.

However, Jake Brown said that for him, the cost of snowboarding was perhaps the biggest con.

Although there is much to love about snowboarding, everyone seems to have their own pet peeves.

“[What I like the least about snowboard-ing is] the little kids, they get in my way,” McGee said.

According to these boarders, however, such inconveniences are far outweighed by the sport’s abundant benefi ts.

“When I snowboard I get this serene feeling, just like nothing matters,” McGee said.

Taylor Brown shares this feeling.“I love having the lonely feel going

down. Everything is quiet. All you hear is the sound of your board and then all of a sudden you drop down and there are trees everywhere,” Taylor Brown said.

For some, the experience only improves in the company of friends.

“You can learn new stuff from other people… bringing other people into your group, whether it’s skiing or snowboard-

ing, that starts to make friend-ships,” Taylor Brown said.

Friends can even help one improve.

“You have friends that push you and you always try to show each other up and that’s how you get better,” McGee said.

Yet another fantastical fac-et of snowboarding is its sur-prising variation in boarding

styles, as each of these students reveal.“I like to go fast, I like the adrenaline,”

Hendricks said.Jake Brown has a similar boarding

style.“I go as fast as I can without hurting

myself,” Jake Brown said.Others prefer boarding off the beaten

path, take Taylor Brown for example“I consider myself more of a back-coun-

try boarder,” Taylor Brown said.Many, like McGee, thrive off the exhila-

ration of tricks and jumps.“I like the terrain parks but I like doing

the big jumps into the powder,” McGee said. “When you see people on TV, you look at them and you’re like ‘Wow! That looks so cool,’ and when you’re able to do that you get this accomplished feeling.”

However you like to board, it seems ev-eryone fi nds something special up on the mountain.

“It’s a good time… [I go snowboard-ing] as much as I can,” Hendricks

said.Sometimes the joy is as simple as the unique

climate.Jake Brown said,

with a smile upon his face, “I get

to be in the snow.”

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STUDENT BOARDERS SAVOR SNOW

“ I L O V E H A V I N G T H A T L O N E L Y

F E E L I N G G O I N G D O W N .

E V E R Y T H I N G I S Q U I E T . ”

T A Y L O R B R O W NS E N I O R

B Y G A B E C A R R O L L

R E P O R T E R

snowboardeOne mawhat examakes thspecial. Senchael McGehas been snoboarding for ninyears, shedssome light.

“ W h e n you have

s o m e -thing

ing “A l

we’ve beand his fa

all surf tJuniorboarding

“I sHend

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