February 2010 - Luverne Public Schools

Volume 88 Issue 5
Feburary 2010
Luverne High School
By Whitney Oehlerts
Luverne, Minnesota
Editorial: Start Before College
Applying to colleges and scholarships can be a very stressful time for high school
students. With so many important decisions to make, students can feel overwhelmed and
nervous that they might miss an important step in the process of moving from high school to college.
Scholarships are very important for high school students. It’s no secret that college is very expensive so it’s a good
idea to apply for as many scholarships as possible. Students may miss out on free money simply because they do not
know the steps to take when applying for a scholarship.
The first step is to start years in advance. So freshmen and sophomores, start planning
now. Get involved in many different activities. You want to be as “well-rounded” as possible. Volunteering not only
looks great on scholarship applications, it helps you to become a better person. The next step would be to talking to
the guidance counselor for additional information about scholarships. The counselor may even have some scholarships
that you didn’t know about.
Applying early is also a key step in the process. It will allow you to have plenty of time
to fill out the application without feeling rushed and also give you more time to apply for other scholarships if they
are available. Also, follow the directions on the application carefully. One of the easiest ways to get your application
thrown out is not following the directions. Having someone proofread the application is also a good idea. It helps to
have someone look over your application to ensure there are no typos or other mistakes you may have missed. Keep
your application looking neat. Don’t spill food or drink on it and try to keep the paper as crisp
as possible.
Don’t stress about your application after it was been sent. Do everything you can do and try your best. After it
has been sent, all you can do is wait and relax. Remember, you can still go to college even if you don’t receive a single
scholarship. There are other forms of financial aid such as grants, subsidized loans, and unsubsidized loans. Finding a
job while at college can also help with the costs of education.
Hopefully these steps will help you in the scholarship application process. It’s never too early to start planning
for college.
Page 2
Help for Haiti
Features
The Marvelous
Misadventures of Flapjack
By Ashley Siebenahler
By Spencer Dammann
After a week of change wars in our high school we managed raise
$500 dollars from the freshmen to senior class. Student council matched
the money so we ended up donating $1000 dollars to the Red Cross.
Student Council came up with the idea of change wars after we had raised
a good sum of money doing it in middle school. Kat Dahl our Student
Council president and Stetson Gath a Peer Helping officer presented the
money to the Red Cross representative Peggy Adams. Mr. Lundgren is
the Student Council advisor and Ms. Harms is the Peer Helping advisor.
Mrs. Sahly’s class raised the most money for the fundraiser and won a pizza
party.
The Story Behind the
Winter Olympics
By Ashley Siebenahler
The Nordic games were the first international multi-sport
event held in winter. It originated 1901 and was started in Sweden.
It was held in 1903, 1905, 1923 and every four years after that. General Viktor Gustaf Balck founded the winter games but was also a
good friend to the Olympic Games founder Pierre Coubertin. Balck
tried to add figure skating to the Olympics but did not succeed until
1908.
In 1916 the Winter Olympics were canceled due to WWI.
After that break the winter games featured figure skating and ice
hockey. The 1940 Olympics were also canceled due to WWII and
Japans invasion of China.
In 1967 they began testing for steroids. The first winter
Olympian to get banned from the games was Alois Schloder. He was
a West German hockey player and he had ephedrine in his system.
During the 1970’s testing out of competition was escalated and was
a good deterrent for athletes. In 2006 blood doping became and
increasing trend where blood transfusions were used to improve
oxygen flow.
The United States has hosted the Winter Olympics four
times. The sports that are now included are Alpine Skiing, Biathlon,
Bobsled, Cross-country skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle
Skiing, Ice Hockey, Luge, Nordic Combined, Short Track Speed
Skating, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Snowboarding, and Speed Skating.
This Years best Super
Bowl Commercials
By Ryan Oye
Odds are you didn’t even pay that much attention to the Super Bowl
ads. For once, folks around here were watching the game for, well,
the game.
There were several strong entries, a lot of humor but also a lot of
tired old bits. And this year, the winner was not a beer company. It
was a car company.
During the first commercial break of the third quarter, Volkswagen
ran a spot that proposed a new game: When you spot a VW, punch
your companion in the arm and shout out the color of the car.
There was a montage of people in various situations, yelling, “Green
one!” Punch. “White one!” Punch. There was the obligatory little kid
yelling out a color and punching an old man.
And then a red VW drove by, and Stevie Wonder shouted, “Red
one!” and punched Tracy Morgan in the arm. Morgan, rubbing his
arm, hollered, “How do you do that?” Wonder just smiled.
Page 2
Flapjack is a young boy raised by a talking whale named Bubbie.
He leads a peaceful life until the duo rescue a pirate by the name of Captain K’nuckles, who tells Flapjack of a place called Candied Island, which
is supposedly made completely of candy, and the sea around it is lemonade. Inspired by the adventurous pirate, Flapjack, Captain K’nuckles and
Bubbie get into strange predicaments and “misadventures” in search of
Candied Island and the coveted title of “Adventurer”. The three spend
most of their time in Stormalong Harbor, where they eat candy and get
into mischief.
Flapjack is an excitable, adventure-loving boy who was found
and raised by Bubbie, the talking whale. Flapjack is very naive and oblivious to danger, thus he’s easily caught up in perilous situations. Captain
K’Nuckles a washed-up and childish old sailor who claims to be the
greatest adventurer the world has ever known. Nowadays, he prefers to
nap and drink maple syrup, while telling outrageous tales of past adventures and getting Flapjack wrapped up in his high seas hi-jinks. Bubbie is
a talking whale who acts as a doting mother to Flapjack and gives him a
lot of advice that he rarely follows and she, at times, doesn’t follow either.
She claims that she found Flapjack wrapped in seaweed. She prefers the
“safety” of Stormalong to the dangers of the open seas.
If like me you’re wondering “What kind of crazy person dreams
up this stuff?” Well here’s to you. As a child, show creator Van Orman
spent three years living near a bayou, where he was forbidden to socialize
with a local fisherman. Disobeying his parents, Van Orman would visit
the fisherman, who would tell tales of the sea. When he was 13, his family
moved to Utah, but he was able to convince his parents to allow him to
go back to Panama City Beach, Florida and stay with some family friends.
During this time, Van Orman found a boat and took it out in the middle
of the night. Eventually getting lost, it took him three days to finally return. He was saddened by his apparent failure as an adventurer. But when
he related these stories to his friends, they were more entertained by all
the things that went wrong (the misadventures) than what went right.
The creative influences are almost exactly parallel.
Needless to say if you like “Sponge Bob Square Pants” you’ll
LOVE “The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack”. Twice the mischief
and twice the nautical hi-jinks you’ll really love this show.
Page 3
Opinion Poll
Page 3
*If you could be in any Olympic event,
which one would it be?
By Meghann Stanley
Mason Capistran—
“Men’s gymnastics, because I’m very limber.”
Danny Muller—
“Biathlon, because I get to shoot a sniper rifle.”
Callie Sawtelle—
“Anything but the luge.”
Kelly Staeffler—
“Snowboarding, because Shaun White is the bomb.”
Nic Buss—
“Biking, because you get to go places.”
Ethan Ganun—
“Skiing, because it is fun.”
Dear Lafayette,
Dear Lafayette,
Recently have I have just been slacking in school. I am a senior so I don’t see why I should be trying anymore; I am already accepted to my
college anyways. I would much rather sleep and do other things to have fun besides homework. My grades have been dropping a little and
my parents are upset.
Sincerely,
Slacking Senior
Dear Slacking Senior,
I don’t think you’re the only one experiencing this disease called Senioritis. It strikes for most when the year is halfway over or when the
weather starts getting warmer. You still need to put effort into your work, because if your grades drop too much a college can still change
their decision and not accept you. Try your best in school and you should still be able to balance the homework with other activities! Only
a few more months left!
Your Friend,
-Lafayette
Page 4
Boy’s Basketball
Sports
By Bobbie Cowell
Varsity has had a shaky season this year, but things are
starting to look up as the boy’s prepare for the playoffs. On February 18th the boys came out with their third win of the season by
defeating Edgerton. A week later, the boys went on the road and
got their first road victory of the season against Fairmont.This
leaves them with a record of 4 -17. Mr. Rops said the season hasn’t
turned out quite the way he wanted it to. One of the team goals
this season was to be a .500 team. The boys have been very close
in score with many of the games and they could have reached their
goal if they could have finished off a majority of those games. One
of their biggest achievements this season has been beating Windom. They need to finish more games like they did against Windom.
When asked how the season has gone from a player perspective Senior Michael Graff said, “This season has been tough
on everyone, with a starter out and not being able to get a win on
the road. We have showed we can beat most teams if we all come
together and play.” The cardinals have their first playoff game at
MCW on March 6th. Good luck to the boys on the rest of their
season!
Girl’s Basketball: Hooping it Up!
By Alyssa Reese
This basketball season went very well for girls’ basketball.
There are six seniors this year. From what I heard, they have
influenced the rest of the team very much. The seniors are Liberty Robinson, Alyssa Steganga, Kate DeBoer, Callie Sawtelle,
Chelsey Javner, and Caitlin Miller. The girls are very confident as
people and they are also confident as players. In an interview with
Caitlin, I asked her if they were better than the boys. “Fo sho!”
she replied. Caitlin and the other girls really work well as a team.
They encourage the each other and really motivate everyone to
work hard. Good Job Lady Cards!!
Page 4
Catch the Wave
By Alyssa Stegenga
The gymnastics season has come to an end and all the gymnasts would agree they had a pretty good season minus the injuries.
Their parent’s night was February 4th against Marshall. Josey
Kockelman brought a scare to the meet when she landed on her
neck doing her bar routine and had to be rolled out on a stretcher.
The next night the girls competed in Redwood and barely lost.
Sections were held in Luverne this year and the theme was
“catch the wave”. Luverne ended up getting seventh out of the
eight teams that were there. They beat Windom and were extremely close to beating Redwood. Coach Phoebe Flom commented about the sections overall. “We were happy to compete with
a full team. We had a complete squad for the first time in three
weeks. The seniors finished their careers with great performance.
We are very proud of them and will miss them greatly.”
The biggest obstacle for the team this year was injuries.
Two seniors have missed some meets because of injuries including Jackie Broomfield and Lexy Kindt. Britton Dyer and Jackie
Broomfield both agreed that their meet against Pipestone was the
most successful. Britton even added, “I think it was an upset.” As
for next year Nowatzki says. “We are looking forward to next year.
We have some young talent that will have to fill some big shoes but
with our returning gymnasts leading the way things look good for
Cardinal Gymnastics for 2010-2011.”
Sports
Page 5
On the Way to Sections
Page 5
Will Play Hockey For Food
By Alyssa Reese
By Whitney Oehlerts
This season the boys’ hockey team has played wonderfully. That could be because we have new coaches. Mr. Brown
and Mr. Sandbulte told me that they are very happy with the team
this year. Nick Meyer is the only senior this year. That is just
another reason that the team is really good this year. Nick and the
coaches have been helping the younger members on the team to
reach their full potential. The record this season is 9-12-1. I took
the time to ask Nick about his hockey career. He started playing when he was five years old. I asked him what his favorite part
about hockey was. He said, “Playing in front of the home crowd
and hitting people.” I asked him why he liked hockey and he said,
“Because we win more than basketball and it’s a manlier sport.”
Okay, my guess is that the basketball team isn’t going to like that
one, Nick. The last question I asked Nick was if the practices
were fun and he said, “Yes, the coaches make the practices a lot of
fun.”
I also got the chance to talk to the coaches, Mr. Brown and
Mr. Sandbulte. I asked both of them if they would rather be on
the ice instead of coaching. Mr. Brown said, “Playing hockey professionally somewhere would be awesome but I lack the ability for
that. There is nothing better than getting to coach the sport that
you love.” Mr. Sandbulte said, “That’s a tough question. I enjoy
coaching and helping players develop their skills. However, there’s
nothing like playing hockey. It’s a fast, exciting game and playing is something I never take for granted. Well, there you have
it. A great team and some wicked awesome coaches to top it off.
The boys’ hockey team is off to the sections. Good Job and Good
Luck, Guys!
The girls had an awesome season this year. They made it all
the way to the section championship against New Ulm. With 5-1
as the final score, it was a hard loss for the girls. They were very
close to making it to state. They had a bye the first round of sections and won the second round against Fairmont. They knew the
New Ulm game was going to be a tough one. The seniors this year were Mikki Fitzer, Paige Olson, and
Steph Schultz. When asked about being done with hockey, Mikki
says “I’m definitely going to miss it and I wish we could have made
it to state but I wish the girls next year good luck!” With such
a young team, the girls have high hopes for the upcoming years.
Good job this season and good luck in the years to come!
Wrestling Wrap Up
By Jonathan Kruger
The wrestling team has hit some bumps in the road. With
some injuries and illnesses added to it all. With only 2 wins and 18
team losses, but yet according to the team the season went well
considering that the team usually wins 0.
I asked some of the wrestlers how the season went and this is
what they said. Reed Skattum said “I thought it went pretty good
for the most part. We just need heavier wrestlers. Derek Petersen
said “It went alright, had a couple of downfalls. Two seniors were
hurt and could not compete the rest of the year. We have lack of
numbers, so it is hard to win.”
Some of the teams strengths are conditioning, hard work, and of
course HEART!
The weakness consists of, not having enough heavy wrestlers,
too many injuries. According one of the seniors the weakness is lack
of experience and number of participants
The team had a rough season this year but hopefully next year,
they can come out on top!
Page 6
Variety
My Life is Average
By Sydney Boelman
From the Website:
www.mylifeisaverage.com
Today, I set my Facebook status to “I just got my
braces off!” I got over 40 ‘likes’ and around 20 comments
with people telling me that they can’t way to see my new
smile. I’ve never had braces. MLIA
Today, when my mom came home from work, she
brought me this small container filled with Cotton Candy. The box had a cute snowman on it, with white cotton
candy inside. The Cotton Candy was called “Fun Sweets.”
It had a smile guarantee, meaning that when you taste
their cotton candy, your guaranteed to smile...But then I
noticed a Disclaimer below it. The disclaimer said: DISCLAIMER: The Fun Sweets smile guarantee applies to
a typically pleasant individual. If you are a major grouch
that doesn’t even smile at a puppy or a rainbow, then
even WE can’t help you. I smiled. MLIA
Today, I was reading up on random laws in Georgia. I found one law that states: “It is illegal to keep
a donkey in a bathtub.” After telling my dad this he
promptly gets up and runs out the door. It’s been 2 hours
and I’m still not sure where he is. MLIA
Today, I was reading through my brother’s kindergarten workbook. Under a question that asked describe
a member of your family. He wrote John is very tall and
short. He has dinosaur hair and we eat pie together.
There is no John in our family. But I would like to meet
this John whoever he is...MLIA
Today, I enter my house and hear my mother
exclaim, “Honey, is that you?” to which I reply, “Yes,
mom.” She responds with “Are you home?” MLIA
Today, my phone went off in class for the second
time in several days. As soon as it went off, the entire
class started coughing, sneezing, and talking very loudly.
One person even started explaining very loudly to the
person next to them what the difference between babushka and balaclava is. Mr. Hubac then said, “Okay, either someone’s phone went off, or someone just farted.” I
love my Prob/Stat class. MLIA
Today, I was getting some beef jerky out of the
pantry when I received a text from an unknown number
that said “Mmmmmm jerky”. I was home alone and was
totally freaked out thinking someone was watching me. I
grabbed a knife and walked all around the house making
sure no one was there. I still don’t know who it was or
why they said that. MLIA
Page 6
Schedule Change Affects Many
By Whitney Oehlerts and Brooke Walgrave
As you all know by now our school days have been
lengthened by 45 minutes. This is due to all the snow
days we had this past winter. School now starts at 8:00
and homeroom ends at 3:45. This new schedule is in effect until a week after Easter. We also took out a couple
in services to make up for the snow days. There are many
different opinions on this change. Read the opinion
poll with this article for a couple of these opinions from
around the school.
Page 7
Senior Spotlight
Derek Petersen
Birthday: 1/8/92
Activities
-football, wrestling, track
Favorite Class
-Math
Future Plans
-Go to the U of M and get an engineering degree
If there was a new class taught at LHS
what would it be & who would teach
it?
-Computer Hacking 101 taught by
Sichmeller
Joshua Baker
Birthday: 12/02/91
Activities
-Football, Hunting, Fishing, and
hanging out with friends
What’s your favorite class?
-Ag Mechanics
Future Plans
-Go to Central Lakes College
for small engine repair, get married and have kids.
Jon Ehlers
Birthday: 5/2/92
Activities
-band, football, basketball, baseball
Favorite Class
-graphic arts
Future Plans
-go to Southeast Tech for construction
management, get married, have kids, live
happily ever after.
If there was a new class taught at LHS
what would it be & who would teach it?
-Auto Repair by Dylan Richters
Alyssa Stegenga
Birthday: 10/15/91
Activities
-volleyball, basketball, track, senior
highs
Favorite Class
-Sociology
Future Plans
-Go to college, get a job, make big
bucks
If there was a new class taught
at LHS what would it be & who
would teach it?
-How to be the most indecisive
person by Bobbie Cowell
Liberty Robinson
Birthday: 3/6/92
Activities
-student council, math league, basketball,
track
Favorite Class
-biology
Future Plans
-Go to the U of M, become a doctor,
marry the man of my dreams, have kids
and enjoy life!
If there was a new class taught at LHS
what would it be & who would teach it?
-How to build physics stuff out of popsicle
sticks taught by Mr. Hanson
Ethan Heidemann
Birthday: 3-24-92
Activities
-FFA, 4-H
Favorite Class
-Welding
Future Plans
-go to college, start my own cattle
feeding business/baling business,
marry the woman of my dreams and
live happily ever after. And have some
kids!
If there was a new class taught at
LHS what would it be & who would
teach it? Sleeping 101 by Mr. Levno
Page 7
Kelsey Theesfeld
Birthday: October 19, 1991
Activities
-Softball
What’s your favorite class?
-Foods
Future Plans
-Go to USF, major in psychology, maybe play some softball,
get married and live happily ever
after.
Shane Kramer
Birthday: 5/16/91
Activities
-football, track, FFA, intramural
bowling, National Guards
Favorite Class
-college speech
Future Plans
-Graduate, finish AIT, go to college,
get married, move far away, visit Bill
Murray, live the good life
If there was a new class taught at
LHS what would it be & who would
teach it?
A class about everything by Wyatt
Bits & Pieces
Page 8
Page 8
*Favorite and Least
Favorite School Lunches
LUVERNE AREA CHAMBER
Your source for information on Luverne!
An Explore Minnesota Travel Information Site
Now at the Rock County Courthouse Square
312 East Luverne Street
Mon-Fri 8 am – 5 pm
Sat 10 am – 5 pm
283-4061
[email protected]
Check out our website: www.luvernechamber.com
By Nick Den Herder
Whitney Kruse
Favorite-Italian Dunkers
Least Favorite-Chefs Salad
Peyton Arends
Favorite- Chicken Nuggets
Least Favorite- Hotdogs
Davontae Maine
Favorite-Spaghetti
Least favorite-anything else
Tiffany Schley
Favorite-Potato Burrito
Least Favorite-Goulash
Lyndsey Fodness
Favorite-Italian Dunkers
Least Favorite-Chili/chicken noodle soup
Kayla Evers
Favorite-Italian Dunkers
Least Favorite-Baked Potatoes with topping
Moe Dollaz
Favorite-Cheese Pizza
Least Favorite-Anything with Pork
2
0
1
0
2
0
1
0
Odds & Ends
Page 9
Senior Countdown!
By Meghann Stanley and
Shannon DeBoer
-76 lunches
-644 hours
-38,640 minutes
-2,318,400 seconds
-172 scheduled sport
activities
-20.5 weeks
-7 days off
Page 9
What Will You Do?
By Jacob Thompson and Sundra Xaphakdy
Everybody hates when the power goes out, because we certainly do. But, there’s a lot of ways to
fix that problem when the power does go out. You
can do a lot of things besides the 6 generous things
that we came up with. Some of them you would
probably do if you don’t have anything else to do.
So whenever the power goes out, always have this
list of very helpful things handy, because you’re
going to need it someday.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
MAKE SMORES OVER A CANDLE
PRETEND YOUR WATCHING TV WITH THE BLANK SCREEN ON
JUST SIT IN THE CORNER AND WAIT TILL THE POWER COMES BACK ON
RUN AROUND THE HOUSE YELLING AND
SCREAMING
TELL FAIRY TALE STORIES
PIG OUT BEFORE THE FOOD GOES BAD
Echo/Annual Staff
2009-2010
Echo Co-Editors: Sundra Xaphakdy &
Whitney Oehlerts
Annual Co-Editors: Meghann Stanley
& Shannon DeBoer
Photo Editor: Nick Den Herder
Busniness Manager:
Ashley Siebenahler
Art Director: Brooke Walgrave
Other Staff: Jonathan Kruger, Alyssa
Reese, Bobbie Cowell, Lexy Burmeister,
Tressa Oehlerts, Savanna Bremer, Sydney
Boelman, Ryan Oye, Spencer Damann,
Zach Foresberg, and Jacob Thompson
Adviser: John Sichmeller
Reviews
Page 10
Page 10
Artist You Oughta Know:
Lady Antebellum
Movie: Another Cinderella Story
By Alyssa Reese
By Alyssa Reese
If you are looking for a chick-flick movie to see with your
friends or a cute movie for you and your date to see, I’d say this
is the movie you want. This movie has drama and romance and
competition all in one movie. It stars Wizards of Waverly Place’s
Selena Gomez as Mary Santiago and Drew Seeley as triple-threat
singer/dancer/international superstar Joey Parker. Joey is a superstar and has been in Japan for a year now and he is coming back
home to Beverley Hills. Mary is a superstar’s maid.
The superstar she works for is Dominique Blatt played by
Jane Lynch. She has two daughters named Bree (Katharine Isabelle) and Britt (Emily Perkins). They are friends with the popular
Natalia (Nicole LaPlaca) who had a relationship with Joey and she
never really got over it. Mary’s friend Tami (Jessica Parker Kennedy) and Joey’s manager and friend Dustin aka “The Funk” try to
hook them up, but Natalia, Britt and Bree try to keep Joey away
from Mary. The movie is rated PG. It is an amazing and full of
music and dancing.
Lady Antebellum is a group that kicks butt and
takes names. The band has won several awards for their
albums, songs and as a group. Their number one songs
are “I Run to You” and “Need You Now.” Their newest
hit is called “American Honey.”
The members are Dave Haywood (background vocals, guitar, piano and mandolin), Hillary Scott (lead and
background vocals), and Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals). They originated out of Nashville, Tennessee. They rose to fame in 2006 and have done very
well. They are a country group but they mix some pop
into their songs.
I totally recommend this group to any person
whether they like country or alternative. These guys are
awesome!
(left to right: Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood and
Dave Haywood’s guitar)
By Nick Den Herder
The Hunger Games Trilogy
The Hunger Games were written by Suzanne Collins. The first book was originally published in
hardcover on September 14, 2008 by Scholastic. It introduces sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who
lives in a post-apocalyptic world where a powerful government called the Capitol has risen up after several devastating disasters. In the book, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the ruthless and evil Capitol randomly selects one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts, who are then
pitted against each other in a game of survival and forced to kill until only one remains.
The Hunger Games take place in the future, after the destruction of North America, in a nation
known as Panem. Panem consists of a rich Capitol and twelve surrounding, poorer districts. As punishment for a previous rebellion against the Capitol, every year one boy and one girl, between the ages of
twelve and eighteen, from each district are selected by lottery and forced to participate in The Hunger
Games, a televised event where the participants, or “tributes”, must fight to the death in a dangerous outdoor arena until only one remains. The story follows fatherless 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from
District 12 who volunteers for the 74th Games in place of her younger sister, Prim. Also participating
from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a boy whom Katniss knows from school and who once saved Katniss’s
life by giving her bread when her family was starving.
There are two books out and a third being written that follow Katniss and Peeta through their
struggle with the hunger games and against the Government. During the games, Katniss gets a pin of
a bird called a Mocking Jay (a cross between a Mockingbird and a Jabber Jay, a bird that was created to
repeat peoples words to the Government), which becomes a symbol for rebellion among the 12 districts
of the capital.
The first to books are The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, while the Third book, Mocking Jay, comes
out on August 24, 2010. There is talk about making the first book into a movie, but the release date has
not been released yet.
Page 11
Tech/Reviews
New Tech
By Ryan Oye
Microsoft Surface is a multi-touch product from
Microsoft which is developed as a software and hardware combination technology. It has a 360-degree user
interface, a 30-inch reflective surface with a projector
underneath the surface which projects an image onto its
underside, while four cameras in the machine’s housing
record reflections of infrared light from objects and human fingertips on the surface. The surface is capable of
object recognition, object/finger orientation recognition
and tracking, and is multi-touch and is multi-user. Users
can interact with the machine by touching or dragging
their fingertips and objects such as paintbrushes across
the screen, or by placing and moving placed objects.
Initial customers will be in the hospitality businesses, such as restaurants, hotels, retail, public entertainment venues and the military for tactical overviews. The
preliminary launch was on April 17, 2008, when Surface
became available for customer use in AT&T stores. Partner companies use the Surface in their hotels, restaurants,
and retail stores. The Surface is used to choose meals at
restaurants, plan vacations and spots to visit from the hotel room. In some hotels and casinos, users can do a range
of things, such as watch videos, view maps, order drinks,
play games, and chat and flirt with people between Surface tables.
A commercial Microsoft Surface unit is $12,500
(unit only), whereas a developer Microsoft Surface unit
costs $15,000 and includes a developer unit, five seats and
support. However, Microsoft said it expects prices to
drop enough to make consumer versions feasible in 2010.
Page 11
TV Review: Castle
By Nick Den Herder
The show Castle is about a famous mystery writer, starring
Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle. Richard follows around a young
detective named Kate Beckett, so that he can get ideas for his
books. Kate Beckett is played by Stana Katic. He helps the detective solve the crimes by recreating what happened in his head, this
makes him a great partner.
Richard was initially called in to help the NYPD solve a
copy-cat murder based on his novels. Following his encounter
with Beckett, Castle decides to use her as the model for the main
character of his next book series. He uses his contacts and receives
permission to accompany Beckett while investigating cases. While
technically a drama series, Castle also features comedy and romantic tension.
The show is on its 2nd season, its first season having been
ranked at #35, with 10.32 million viewers.
Heat Wave is the novel the fictional Richard Castle wrote
in the series, it is published by Hyperion. Written under the name
“Richard Castle”, it is based entirely on the show. The first half of
the novel was released on the ABC website in weekly increments,
but it must be purchased to be read completely. Heat Wave was
released on September 29, 2009, and got #26 on the New York
Times Best Seller list. In its 4th week on the list, Heat Wave
broke into the top 10 at #6.
Sherlock Holmes
By Ryan Oye
Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) along with his
trusted and reserved sidekick Dr. Watson (Jude Law) are on a
new case. This one involves Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) who
is a mystical figure in England with a diabolical plan to change
the course of history. Using the art of black magic he has created what would appear to be a supernatural event that has many
puzzled and even more in fear. As always Holmes must use fact
over fiction to get to the root of the issue and show Blackwood
for what he truly is.
It is entertaining watching Holmes work through all of the
clues he comes in contact with. Downey plays him as eccentric
as possible without going over the edge. He still remains brilliant
although a bit ungrounded. I think it is safe to say he does for
Holmes what Depp did for Sparrow. Not an imitation or a fake
reproduction of course. Holmes is uniquely his own. But in the
same respect he takes a character that could be simply enjoyable
and makes him extraordinary.
Creative Corner
~Horoscopes~
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*Fun Facts*
By Brooke Walgrave
Every three minutes someone in the world reports a
UFO.
‘Jedi’ is an official religion in Australia with over 70,000
followers.
Seth McFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, was supposed
to be on one of the planes on 9/11
‘Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia’ is the fear of
long words
Women speak about 7000 words a day. The average man?
2000
The Bible is the number one most shoplifted book of all
time
Sheep can recognize each other through pictures.
In ancient China, people committed suicide by eating a
pound of salt
It’s illegal not to smile publicly in Pocatello, Idaho.
In Kentucky, it’s illegal to carry ice-cream in your back
pocket.
*Jokes Corner*
By Jacob Thompson
What do you call a cow with no legs?
Ground beef.
What did the Dhali Lama say to the hot dog vender?
Make me one with everything.
How do you keep the Detroit Lions out of your yard?
Put in an endzone.
A seal walks into a club...
Man goes to the doctor, with a strawberry growing out of
his head. Doc says “I’ll give you some cream to put on it.”
“You know, somebody actually complimented me on my
driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen. It
said, ‘Parking Fine.’ So that was nice.”
A bear walks into a McDonalds and says: “I’ll have a ... ... ...
... .. ... Big Mac, please.”And the cashier says: “Why the big
pause?” And the bear says “I don’t know, I’ve always had
them.”
By Brooke Walgrave
Aries: Plants may be out to get you now, so look to buying
some kind of weed-killer.
Taurus: Don’t bother saving your money, Inflation will see
to it that this money will be worthless whenever it’s most
needed
Gemini: A Turkish man or woman may delight you today in
some manner.
Cancer: Life is short. Sing in the car and the shower today.
Leo: Don’t be afraid of midgets ddoing wall sits on Main
Street, its normal.
Virgo: Stop taking life so seriously, watch an old favorite
movie, put in a frozen pizza, and drink some red juice.
Libra: Chocolate desserts are your friend today
Scorpio: Your new found love will be lasagna. Eat lots of it.
Sagittarius: A so called friend may make public your closet
love of country music.
Capricorn : Change is in your future soon. Look under
cushions.
Aquarius: Take some time to think about what is reality,
and what isn’t, sometimes things are all in your head.
Pisces: Don’t worry about the future; the future doesn’t
give a hoot about you, so why care
Fading Love
By Jonathan Kruger
In the dark silhouette laid a red rose.
The only part remaining is the thorns.
The circulating, shivering wind blows.
In time, the fading plant will lose its horns.
Nearby, and alone, a man stands and mourns.
Gleaming spark of light in his heart fade,
Remembering his loved one that was scorned.
His mind goes back to the day she was laid,
In the cold ground forever in the shade.
Guarded by the dark covering tombstone,
Unable to get any help or aid.
The melancholy song gives a grim tone.
As the beginning of a new day comes,
It brings a new patch of chrysanthemums.