issue 5 12-13
DESCRIPTION
Issue 5 12-13TRANSCRIPT
Torch
EditorsAlex Agee
Aubrey AndrewsMackenzie ClarkCorena HasselleSarah HasselleKatherine KellerSydney McNeill
Emily TaylorMaria Yousuf
Business ManagersCorena Hasselle
Maria Yousuf
Circulation ManagerAlex Agee
Design EditorElizabeth Butler
Assistant EditorLaurie Williams
Photography EditorSarah Hasselle
ReportersJohni Armstrong
Mary ByarsLindsey Dunn
Jed FinleyEmily Jackson
Kent KirbyHailey McKee
Ravi PatelSydney Robey
Suzanne SchultzStephen Simpson
Eri SugiyamaShehla Yousuf
AdvisorSuzanne Edwards
Trojan TorchDyersburg High School125 Hwy. 51 By-PassDyersburg, TN 38024
table of contentstrojan torch
20Cover photo: The eastern newt, also known as the red eft, is native to Tennessee. The coverphoto was taken by Kent Kirby on a recent trip to the mountains of East Tennessee.
Volume 45Issue 5
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New LibraryWho’s WhoWomen in CombatPistorius ChargesAir PollutionWho’s Who Editorial
Lowering Drinking AgeCollege CostsJunior YearTennessee AnimalsSoftballWarm Bodies Movie Review
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news
trojan torch 3
Maria YousufBusiness Manager
After months of anticipation, McIver’sGrant Public Library reopened tothe public in January and will hold
their Grand Opening at 204 N Mill Avenueon March 29.
The new building is significantly largerthan the old one, and there is a ramp atthe front entrance as well as a notable in-crease in parking spots.
McIver’s Grant now presents a hall pastthe entrance and larger bathrooms forboth sexes, with changing tables in both.They now have a wide space with arm-chairs and a fireplace for reading with thechance to view the news on a televisionabove the fireplace. The library has ac-quired 40 new computers and now offers5 laptops for public use; they also haveplans for more books.
“We are constantly purchasing newbooks,” director Dara Gonzalez said. “Wegenerally order books and materials, likebooks on CD and DVDs, bi-monthly. Wealso take requests and try very hard to fillthem, depending on available funding.”
“We have a growing young adult sec-tion located in the adult section,” libraryassistant Gloria Carmichael said. “We areplanning on getting new books, especiallyfor children.”
The library has a designated ‘Kids Zone’that sports a movie theater theme andholds more tables for work and crafts,more computers and a play area. Theplay area will lead out into a gardenwhich is currently under construction.
There is also a wall dedicated to the dis-play of public art with paintings by Ina B.Ashley on display.
“We have a display and exhibit policythat we follow,” Gonzalez said. “However,we welcome student art and would behappy to discuss this further with inter-ested students.”
Employees are satisfied with the newfacilities.
“I especially like the spaciousness andthe new fireplace,” library assistant DianeMallard said.
“I like that it’s all on one level and thatthe children’s area has windows,” chil-dren’s director Lara Friedhof said.
“We now have defined areas and work-ing spaces,” assistant director SharonSimpson said. “Overall, it’s really nice; ithas lots of potential.”
The premises are expected to be morestudent-friendly as well.
“I think students will like the coffee bar,the fireplace and all the new computers,”Friedhof said.
“The people were really nice and help-ful,” senior Shelby Hubbard said. “It’s big-ger and more organized. It was neededand well done.”
Furthermore, classes are being held forgenealogy, knitting and computer skills.They are free, and anyone can attend,provided he or she signs up. The libraryalso has a community room available forpublic use.
“The community room is available toanyone on a first-come, first-served basis.We do not charge for non-profit groupsto use the room, and the room can hold100 people,” Gonzalez said.
While the library is not currently hiring,they are open to potential volunteers.
“It’s easy to become a volunteer; a per-son would simply have to fill out a formavailable at the library, and we would gofrom there,” Gonzalez said. “Typical vol-unteer duties include shelving books andlight clerical work, like filing and copying.”
The new hours are as follows: 9:00a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Mondays, Wednes-days and Fridays; 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.on Tuesdays and Thursdays; and 9:00a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
There is also now a suggestion boxavailable for patrons.
“We would love any suggestions,” Fried-hof said.
Those at the library encourage the pub-lic to visit the facility and make the mostof what it offers.
“The library is a place for everyone inthe community to feel welcome and freefrom judgment, and that includesteenagers,” Gonzalez said. “Please re-member that this is your facility, and don’thesitate to come by and ask for informa-tion, request materials, and/or suggestprograms.”
McIver’s Grant relocates facilities
Photo by Maria Yousuf
4 trojan torch
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Shehla YousufReporter
Every year, the Who’s Who awards are given to seniors to recognize their achievements in a specificsubject. There are 15 subjects, and up to four students were recognized for each subject this year.The categories students are language arts, exceptional arts, FACS (Family and Consumer Sci-
ences), vocal, foreign language, science, drama, band, math, social studies, agriculture, leadership,marketing, business technology and technology and engineering.
The teachers for each subject choose the student or students they believe are most fit to beawarded Who’s Who recognition.
Twenty talented, dedicated students were recognized with the Who’s Who award. Somestudents were awarded in multiple subjects.
The award for language arts was given to Madelyn Howe, Emily McKee, Ravi Pateland Maria Yousuf. Science was given to Billy Jenkins, Sydney McNeill, Maria Yousuf andRavi Patel.
“As a department, the science department teachers all got emails asking them to rec-ommend students,” said biology teacher Deborah Gatlin. “Mr. Hook and myself looked forstudents who had taken four or five science classes and looked for students who had an ap-titude for science, not just good test scores.”
“I plan to get an M.D. and research prototype medicine,” senior Ravi Patel said. Patel wasawarded a Who’s Who in math, English, social studies, and science.
Luke Yeager was awarded in Exceptional Education; Justice Mance in Family and ConsumerSciences; vocals was given to Catherine Guthrie and Cody Patton; and foreign language was givento Will Clifft and Melisalyn Hurst.
“I’ve only taken one trimester of Spanish in my high school career,” senior WillClifft said. “I would like to give a shout-out to Mackenzie Clark for studying her
foreign language at every available opportunity, and even going so far as topersuade her Chinese teacher to give her private lessons to maintain her ad-vanced mastery of the Chinese language.”
Drama was awarded to Ragan Hinson and Lara Beth Cherry, both of whom areseniors on the production team.
Sam Webb, a percussionist since middle school, won for band. Sydney Mc-Neill, Ravi Patel, and Maria Yousuf won for math. Social Studies was
given to Ravi Patel.“For me, in particular, I was looking for kids with high grades
in my class, higher than the others in their class, kids who hadscored a 5 on the AP (U.S. History) exam, as well as an overallpositive attitude and excitement toward U.S. History,” AP U.S Historyteacher Jeff Golson said.
Agriculture was given to Kaitlyn Crank, Madelyn Howe and Kristen Williams. EmilyMcKee, student body president, won for leadership. Sara Beth Pike and Yvette Leon wereawarded DECA Who’s Who.
“I didn’t really expect it,” seniorYvette Leon said. “I’ve been toDECA regional and state compe-titions and I’ve placed at compe-titions multiple times.”
Business technology and tech-nology and engineering wereboth given to Kevin Danley. For each Who’s Who they
won, the students weregiven passes for desserts --cupcakes -- to reward themfor their perseverance andhard work.
Seniors recognized with Who’s Who awards
Photos by Shehla Yousuf
trojan torch 5trojan torch 5
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6 trojan torch
Sarah HassellePhotography Editor
In the soldier’s creed, there are 4 outof 13 lines that are considerably valu-able for a soldier’s conduct: “I will al-
ways place the mission first / I will neveraccept defeat / I will never quit / I willnever leave a fallen comrade.”
This creed is universal. It applies to allservice men and to all sevice women.
According to recent reports, womenmake up roughly 15 percent of the UnitedStates military. Before January 24, a 1994rule prohibited women from serving incombat positions.
Since the beginning of the war in bothAfghanistan and Iraq, female soldiershave served in a number of combat-sup-porting roles such as piloting warplanesand serving on ships in combat areas.More than 200,000 women served inthese two wars. More than 800 womenhave been wounded; more than 130women have been killed.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s deci-sion to allow women into combat makesthe roles women take part in officially rec-ognized and gives women the correcttraining for combat situations. Accordingto Panetta, this decision also “creates alevel playing field” for the military’s serv-ice members and allows for female ad-vancement.
What may have rushed this decision for
women to be allowed into combat is asuit filed by two female soldiers last Mayagainst the Pentagon. Major Jane Baldwinand Colonel Ellen Haring of the Army Re-serve claimed that the military’s prohibi-tions against women wereunconstitutional and violated equal pro-tection. This decision for women in com-bat is also in-line with President Obama’sreelection campaign prom-ises of equalization in thejob market for women.
Before Panetta’s deci-sion, the defense policystanding prohibitedwomen from being as-signed to any unit smallerthan a brigade, typicallythree to six battalions whose primary pur-pose is direct combat, and women wereprohibited from serving in about ten per-cent of military occupations. This decisionreportedly opened about 14,500 positionsto women, including the SEALS, theArmy’s Delta Force and other exclusivespecial forces groups, although these po-sitions will probably remain strictly male-dominated for some time.
Promotion requires experience. In orderto get some jobs in the military, one mustgo through various schools and get vari-ous certifications. Some jobs require com-bat experience.
“Logically speaking, the right female
could be trained to be a highly-effectivesniper. Females are generally smaller and,as a general rule, have better fine motorcontrol than males, who tend to have bet-ter gross motor control,” DHS alumna andSecond Lieutenant Ashley Lowery of theUnited States Army said.
“There are many people that believethat females in combat situations will not
work because of society’s as-sumptions and expectationsfor women as well as genderroles in our society. I say thisis immaterial. If this weretrue, males would not acceptfemales as authority figuresin basic training. Believe me,males hold the same respect
for female drill sergeants as they domales,” Lowery said.
Opponents to this decision claim thatwomen may not meet the requirements--physical and mental--necessary to excelin combat situations.
“I believe it would be too much of anemotional strain for a lady to endure. Itis well-known that ladies are much moreemotional than their male counterparts,”sophomore Duncan Ing said.
“Mental toughness is no different formen than it is women. We will have hadthe same mental training,” Marine Corpspoolee Martha Harris said.
Women in combat: Branches have until 2016 to argue expectations
“Logically speaking,the right female
could be trained tobe a highly-effective
sniper.”
When the Marine Corps sought womento go through its infantry course last year,two women tried, but they failed to com-plete the course. The transition might berough, but women who feel like they canaccomplish it, may be ableto.
“Marines are all aboutphysical requirements, andwhen compared, males andfemales are on two com-pletely different levels whenthey definitely should notbe,” Navy midshipman ClaraCatherine said.
Currently, the general semi-annual re-quirements for 17 to 26 year-old womenin the Marine Corps are a flexed-arm hangof 15 seconds, 50 crunches and a 31-minute 3-mile run, while for men, 3 pull-ups, 50 crunches and a 28-minute 3-milerun. Other physical tests reflect these sub-tle differences, but most reflect a differ-ence in upper-body strength.
Military representatives claim that stan-dards would not be lowered.
“A platoon, squad or fire team is only asstrong as its weakest member. If we lowerthe standards then overall the military ef-ficiency of our combat units will be low-ered as well as risking the lives of manysoldiers,” said DHS alumnus and PrivateFirst Class Hunter Jordan of the NationalGuard.
Some people questioned privacy andtension within close quarters. This deci-sion may create the need for more estab-lishments of separate showers andbarracks.
“There is no question that having menand women together, for months at atime, away from their families, will causeenormous amounts of tension which willinevitably lead to more problems,” seniorBilly Jenkins said.
“It complicates things from a hygenicstandpoint,” Catherine said. “Women needdifferent things when it comes to showersand feeling reasonably comfortable.”
“From a psychological point of view,male and female interactions have alwayshad a stress-relieving effect on both gen-ders. This was shown in studies that com-pared the amount of stress betweensiblings. This being said, I would have tosay if anything, it might bring a necessarystress and depression relief to soldiers inthe field,” Jordan said.
Another concern is over the argumentthat service men may feel the need toprotect service women over the malesthey are fighting with.
“If a woman and a man were capturedand tortured together, theman would be much morelikely to spill all of the se-crets he could in order tosave her. We are trained tobe brothers and sisters.Your unit is your family. Nobig brother wants to see hislittle sister get harmed,”Catherine said.
“If I were put in such a position, I wouldtell them that I am here to do the samejob as you. You worryabout every-one else onthe samelevel. We areMarines.Nothing else.Leave genderout,” Harrissaid.
Servicemembersalso ques-tioned ifwomenwouldjump atthese newpositions.
Branchesof the mili-tary have
until January 2016 to argue that somepositions should remain closed towomen if justifiable reasons are given.
The decision to allow women to signfor selective service would be made byCongress if presented by the Pentagon.
Out of the classes surveyed, on a 1 to5 scale, with 5 being the highest, 38% ofstudents supported this decision with arating of 4 or 5; 43% of students were in-different of this decision with a rating of3; 19% did not support this decision witha rating of 1 or 2.
“The stress of these jobs is tremen-dous. To add an unnecessary and, ar-guably, counter-productive layer to thethings these men have to deal with is notonly irresponsible and foolish, it is nearlycriminal. When an officer is forced orfeels obligated to alter his decision-mak-ing in combat because of the presenceof women, situations arise that could
lead to the loss of American life,”Jenkins said.
“If a woman is toughenough to endure infantry
training with nocomplications,she is truly wor-thy of wearing auniform in myeyes,” DHSalmuna and Private SecondClass Leighann Mills said.
“But think about how society will reactwhen they read this title in the newspa-per: Mother killed in combat,” DHSalumnus and Private Second Class Ser-gio Chester said. “I just do not think soci-ety is going to accept womens role incombat when bodies start coming back.”
“It is completely justifiable for a womanto pursue something she is led. Thereare many intelligent and strong femaleswho make contributions to society out-side of combat, so who is to say theywould not make a determined fighter?They have every right to fight for whatthey love,” senior Matthew Daniels said.
“When you work in an environmentwhere you depend on everyone aroundyou for survival, it matters less what gen-der you are and more how well you doyour job,” Lowery said.
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“Mental toughnessis no different for
men than it iswomen. We will havehad the same mental
training,”
Some countries that already allow women
in combat:Israel (1973)
Denmark (1988)Canada (1989)
New Zealand (2000)Germany (2001)
Sarah Hasselle
8 trojan torch
Ravi PatelReporter
In 2012, Oscar Pistorius made history by becomingthe first paralympian to compete in the SummerOlympics. Currently, Oscar Pistorius is recognized as
the potential murderer of Reeva Steenkamp, his girlfriendof four months.
Pistorius claims that during the night of February14, he was startled by a noise which he assumedwas an intruder in his South Africa home.Claiming he felt scared and vulnerable in thedark, Pistorius grabbed his 9mm pistol andmoved towards the bathroom, the areawhere he had heard the noise. After yellingat the intruder to get out, he shot throughthe bathroom door four times.
The fact that Pistorius shot four times isone of the only things that defense andprosecution attorneys agree upon. Theprosecution claims that after a heated ar-gument, Reeva Steenkamp lockedherself in the bathroom, potentiallyhoping to alleviate the situation. Al-legedly, Pistorius proceeded to put on hisprosthetic legs, grab his gun and ap-proach the bathroom door. It is not clearwhether the two shared words beforePistorius opened fire, hitting Steenkampthree times.
“I couldn’t believe it. I was shocked,” senior Tiera Cole said.“To think we were rooting for him just a little while ago.
It’s really eye opening,” senior Bailey Austin said.The prosecution is charging Pistorius with premeditated
murder, claiming the time it took to put on his prostheticsand walk to the bathroom make it clear he understood
the severity of his future actions.Oscar Pistorius was officially charged with themurder of Reeva Steenkamp on February 15.
The bail hearing took place on February 19,where it was confirmed by a witness thatsounds of domestic fighting were heard be-fore the shooting. At the bail hearing it was
also determined by the South African Po-lice Service that Pistorius had aimed di-
rectly towards the toilet, where ReevaSteenkamp was allegedly hiding. Ad-ditionally, the prosecution brought outPistorius’ previous arrest in 2009 for
slamming a door on a woman at hishome. He was not charged or con-victed but was still held overnight at a
jail for his 2009 incident.On February 22, Pistorius was formally
charged with premeditated murder and given afixed bail of 1 million rand, equal to roughly$113,000.
Pistorius is set to reappear in court on June4, 2013.
Oscar Pistorius: Historic Olympianto potential murderer
Wikipedia
Eri SugiyamaReporter
China has developed in-credibly for the past fewyears with industries,
despite environmental cost. Asa result, China has becomewealthier, and its GDP is thesecond largest in the world.China has become one of themost powerful countries in theworld.
However, since this develop-ment, China has suffered fromserious air pollution. Thicksmog covers over 30 cities, in-cluding Beijing, the capital ofChina. The smog can even beseen from space. Citizens aresuggested to avoid outdooractivity on “hazard” days. Themain reason that people aretold to avoid the outdoor is thepollutant PM 2.5. PM, a partic-ulate matter that has a diam-eter of 2.5 micrometers that isthinner than human hair. PM2.5 is a secondary pollutantand it is so small it can godeep into human lungs. It has
a risk of causing lung cancer,asthma, heart attacks and anirregular pulse. PM 2.5 is usu-ally from the auto emissions ofdiesel engines.
The main causes of the pol-lution are coal burning and toomany cars. Since China’s fur-ther development, the govern-ment has priority over theeconomy, rather than adjust-ing with the environment.Their goals are accomplished,but they have to deal with an-other problem now.
“China has industrialized in-credibly but they are still usingcheap coals, which are poison-ous. Low-grade coal may be afactor in acid rain that fallsalong the northwest coast ofNorth America. China is hesi-tant to consider the environ-ment because using cheapcoal increases profits. Most ofthe developed countries didnot think about the environ-ment when they industrialized,but today there is more con-cern for the environment
worldwide,” politics teacherMark Stenberg said.
As a result of the pollution,two-thirds of ground water ispolluted and two-fifths ofrivers are tainted. Because thesmog is very thick, peoplecannot see the tops of highbuildings, a few meters ahead.People have to use masks,and the masks frequently goout of stock. In fact, PM 2.5can easily pass through somemasks. This has influencedChinese society. Several planeflights are cancelled or de-layed because of unclearsight, and children are takento hospitals for pollution-re-lated illness. Some people saythat the smog appeared be-cause there is not much windcompared to other years. Onthe other hand, some peopleinsist that the smog coveringthe cities without the wind isalready a problem.
The Chinese governmenthas acknowledged some pol-lution; however, they use mil-
lionaires and national celebri-ties to advertise how clean theair is. The government hasclosed some of highways andordered no cars on some ofthe roads.
The pollution has even af-fected neighboring countries.In this season, the wind blowsto the east. Each spring,Japan receives yellow sandfrom the deserts in China bywind. This year, PM 2.5 cameas well as yellow sand. TheMinistry of Environment inJapan has ordered their citi-zens to avoid going outside adays the amount of PM 2.5 isover 70 micrograms per onecubic meter. Many non-citizensliving in China have moved outof the country to escape frompollution.
So far, there is no solutionthat will solve this problem im-mediately. Today, the Chineseare still suffering from pollu-tion-related problems.
trojan torch 9
Cannot see, cannot breathe
NASATwo pictures are taken from space by satellite on two different days. The brighter area shows clouds, fog or pollution. The left picture wastaken on January 14, when China was covered with thick smog. The right picture was taken on January 3 on normal day. The smog has cov-ered the east side of China so that it cannot be seen clearly from the sky.
10 trojan torch
editorials
Corena HasselleBusiness Manager
For many years, high school teachers have been asked tochoose the Who’s Who award for various categories. Thisyear, the categories consist of language arts, exceptional
education, FACS (Family and Consumer Science), vocal, foreignlanguage, science, drama, band, math, social studies, agricul-ture, leadership, marketing, business technology, and technol-ogy and engineering.
The students who received awards have been hard-workingparticipants in these categories throughout the year and inother classes during their high school career. Although theseawards are well-deserved by the students who received them,many students have talents that do not fit these categories.
Some students do not sing, play instruments, or compete inagriculture or marketing competitions but are talented in otherareas such as sports, art, archery, journalism, yearbook, andphotography.
Every teacher has the opportunity to participate in choosingstudents within their department.
But much of the problem is the scope of the Who’s Whoaward, which is limited to 10 percent of the class. If one cate-gory has several more students chosen in it than other cate-
gories, then the other categories have to distribute in a way tokeep the limit of 10 percent. According to some teachers, a fewdepartments are automatically given a number of students tochoose.
Like previous years, the organization of the “Who’s WhoAward” has been lacking. For example, in the category of For-eign Language, only students who are learning Spanish wererecognized, which is unfair to hard-working students learningChinese.
Different departments (English, math, social studies, etc.)meet to determine their best students in each category bybringing up students’ names and looking at their grades in thecourses. What classes were considered for each topic though?Social studies could include history classes (AP or regular), APHuman Geography, AP U.S. Government and economics classes.
The school should create more options to make Who’s Whoavailable to more students, such as creating a limit of twoawards given to one student or possibly allowing for coaches toparticipate thereby increasing the percent of students who couldwin awards in Who’s Who.
The scope of the award is limited but could have great po-tential to be expanded to have more students included and rec-ognized for the talents and ambitions they have.
Who’s Who falls short in recognizingall student strengths
trojan torch 11
Alex AgeeEditor
At eighteen years old, individuals areconsidered legal adults. They canvote. They can fight for their coun-
try. They can buy cigarettes, serve on ju-ries, go to jail, get married and signcontracts. Because eighteen year-oldshave the ability to make decisions in all ofthese areas, they should also have theability to decide whether or not to con-sume alcohol.
The minimum legal drinking age(MLDA) in all fifty states is twenty-one, al-though there are a few exceptions. Intwenty-nine states, it is legal for someoneunder the age of twenty-one to consumealcohol if it is done on private propertywith parental consent. In twenty-fivestates, it is allowed for religious purposes.In seven states, it can be done for edu-cational purposes. Each state gets to de-cide its own MDLA, but the federalgovernment used the National MinimumDrinking Act of 1984 to urge the states toincrease it to twenty-one or possibly losemillions of dollars in highway funds.
But was raising the legal drinking agefrom eighteen to twenty-one really bene-ficial? Raising the MLDA has not stoppedteen drinking. Many teenagers drink un-
derage, regardless of the law. The Na-tional Center of Addiction and SubstanceAbuse stated that 17.5% of consumerspending for alcohol is by underagedrinkers. In a survey conducted in 2006,it was reported that 72.2% of twelfthgraders claimed to have drunk alcohol atone point in their lives. If anything, in-creasing the MLDA has put teenagers atmore of a risk by pushing them to bingedrink in private, uncontrolled areas.
The majority of eighteen-year-olds stilllive at home. If given the ability to drinkat that age, teenagers would have eithertheir parents or guardians to teach themhow to drink responsibly, insuring thatthey would know what to do when theydrank on their own.
Additionally, many young people drinksimply because they are not allowed to.Imagine a student being told by a teachernot to talk during class or a parent tellinga kid not to eat his or her dessert beforedinner. Like most people, they wouldprobably want to do exactly what theywere told not to do. The same principleapplies to drinking. Breaking the lawgives teenagers a rush. If that could betaken away, drinking alcohol could bechanged from a rebellious activity intoone that is done in moderation.
Many countries that have an MLDA ofeighteen, have better drunk driving sta-tistics than in America. Also, the total traf-fic fatalities in the U.S. has continuallydecreased since 1982. That is two yearsbefore the drinking age was raised to 21,meaning that increasing the MLDA had lit-tle, if anything, to do with the decrease.Increasing the legal age has only shiftedthe risk of catastrophic accidents fromolder teens to young adults.
Many people believe that suicides andcriminal activities by adolescents wouldincrease if the MLDA were lowered toeighteen. However, in a 2002 meta-studyof the legal drinking age, seventy-twopercent of studies showed that statisti-cally there was no correlation betweenthe minimum legal drinking age oftwenty-one and suicide or vandalism.
People under twenty-one who are in-volved in alcohol-related injuries are hes-itant to seek medical attention in fear ofgetting in to trouble. If individuals couldfeel safe in getting the help they need,the number of people seriously hurt bythese injuries would decrease.
Part of becoming an adult is finally hav-ing the ability to make decisions for one-self, and the consumption of alcoholshould not be an exception.
Lowering drinking age to 18 would benefit all
12 trojan torch
Mackenzie ClarkEditor
For some high school students, educa-tion does not end at the walk acrossthe stage. Many students choose to
attend college the fall of their graduatingyear. But with rising costs of college tu-ition, is this collegiate dream out of reachfor students?
First, the facts: the consumer priceindex, a year-by-year collection of theprice of base goods and services, indi-cates that the price of college educationhas surged a rampant 1,120 percent since1978. The final cost for college, or the netprice, is different from the “sticker price,”which is what is often published by thecollege. According to the College Afford-ability and Transparency Center, the aver-age net price of a four-year publicinstitution is $10,471 a year. That is almost $42,000 for four years.
You could buy 12,000 big macs with thator fly around the world 21 times.
That is a lot of money for four years ofextended public schooling, and it is evenmore for students wishing to privatizetheir education. But more often than not,the final cost, or net price, is differentfrom the “sticker price,” which is what ispublished by the college in their pamphletor on their website.The difference between the net price
and sticker price is the sticker price doesnot take into consideration the financialaid and scholarships.
But what about financial aid? Federalaid for students increased while family in-come decreased in the last economicdownturn, with veterans and low or mod-erate-income bracket students are receiv-ing more and more aid. Even so, studentswith lower income are often scared of thebig sticker prices because they do notknow how much aid is available for them.Only about one-third of students end uppaying the full price of college (New YorkTimes).
What about that one-third? Many stu-dents from high-income brackets find theyhave little question in where they go tocollege and how much it is becausemoney might not be a problem for them.But for students who cannot hold thisstate of mind, loans seems to be the onlyoption to pay for a college education.
Does federal aid make going to collegean easier decision? What about employ-ment after college? In a press release bythe Pew Charitable Trusts, only 65% ofcollege graduates with a bachelor’s degreeare employed, as opposed to 69% beforerecession. In comparison, high schoolgraduates only have a 47% employmentrate, as opposed to 55% before the reces-sion. This does not mean a traditional college
education is something everyone needs.The founders of popular blogging websiteTumblr and social networks Twitter andFacebook were college dropouts. Everheard of Apple? Founded by Reed Collegedropout Steve Jobs.
But do not go dropping out of college tomake a million-dollar app for the iPhone.College graduates often have more oppor-tunities to a wider variety of higher payingjobs than those with only high schooldiplomas, such as any career in the med-ical, law or science field. But if there is noappeal in the stethoscope or gavel, haveno fear.
For those who want more wiggle roomand a free reign over what they do, entre-preneurship is a good option. Perhaps themost famous entrepreneur is billionairePeter A. Thiel, who, after co-founding Pay-Pal, began the Thiel Foundation to give$100,000 to college students with a goodidea so they could drop out of college andtake on a career they have wanted to pur-sue.
Trade and vocational schools are alsostellar options for the student who doesnot find a four year school appealing.These schools offer classes for basicand professional skills with gradua-tion in two years or less by cut-ting out general educationclasses. The average price forcompleting a vocational skillcourse runs at $4,700, accordingto the Better Business Bureau.Graduates from these schools arealso seeing employment rates ofnearly 100 percent.
College prices and the problemof student debt is somethingevery high school graduateneeds to take into consideration,but there are more options thantying yourself to a college for
four years. There are vocational schools oreven entrepreneurship for the daring. Alldecisions should be made after a carefulconsideration of a student’s financialneeds and career goals.
Yet even with all of these options, stu-dents might find it hard to get any appli-cation process started. For studentsbeginning the lengthy process in the latesummer, the only resources they have areGoogle and an older sibling, if they evenhave one. What can we do to help edu-cate students about all their post highschool options?
Perhaps there could be a course offeredthat could be “taught” by a counselor toeducate seniors about the myriad of fou-year institutions, trade or vocationalschools or entrepreneurship. The coursecould also include information about writ-ing scholarship essays and filling out ap-plications.
If no course could be offered, perhaps abefore or after school informational meet-ing for students and parents canbe arranged to cover the sametopics.
Whatever the decision, stu-dents need to know that thereis a way to pay for college,and if there is none, thenthere are options avail-
able to them.
College costs wreak havoc
wikipedia
trojan torch 13
Heckethorn Off-Road1400 Morgan Rd.1400 Morgan Rd.Dyersburg, TNDyersburg, TN
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Basmiah HomranReporter
Junior year can be one of the most difficult years in high school. This year is whenstudents make decisions that affect their future. Junior year is about taking stan-dardized tests, planning for college and researching possible future careers.
During junior year, students will be taking standardized tests from the beginningto the end. It is an important year because it’s the last full year of grades, and thegrades students receive that year are important because they can determine what college the students will be attending.
Another key part of junior year is researching future careers. Students can get advice by talking to their family, friends or teach-ers, who can help them choose by telling them more about what they are interested in.
The third thing that is important about junior year is having a college plan and making a decision. ”I wish I had known how important my email would become senior year; I probably should have made myself a second ‘school-
only’ Gmail to keep my personal email from getting so cluttered,” senior Sam Webb said. “Narrow down your choices and look into all of your options before you begin your senior year,” senior Melisalyn Hurst said. “Apply to more than one college because there is not always a 100% chance that you will get into your number one pick,”
senior Jodi Newsome said.Students have to be organized with everything because they will receive emails and have appointments to visit the college
they want to attend. The main thing is not to do too much at once, but just relax and do things step by step which will help themfocus more on what they are doing.
These are some of the reasons junior year can be hard: having to take many standardized tests, taking many difficult courses,planning on where students want to be for college and having to make plans for the future.
14 trojan torch
Seniors give college prep advice to
Adminstration building, University of Tennessee at Martin (UTM) Wikipedia
trojan torch 15
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16 trojan torch
Tennessee hosts unnoticed residentsKent KirbyReporter
Alligators, scorpions, rattlesnakes,pelicans? These animals sound likethey are from out west or even
near the coast. Interestingly enough,they reside within our very own state!That is right; the state of Tennessee ac-tually plays host to many animals thatmost people are not aware of. Some arefound throughout the state, such as rat-tlesnakes and scorpions. Others are onlyin specific areas, such as alligators,wolves and pelicans.
Some of these animals include severalspecies. There are 130 different speciesof freshwater clams in Tennessee. Thereare two species of scorpion: the PlainEastern Stripeless Scorpion (Vaejovis car-olinianus) and the Striped Scorpion (Cen-truroides vittatus). Tennessee also hoststhe timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)as well as the pygmy rattlesnake (Sistru-rus miliarius).
“I always thought that scorpions livedsomewhere hot, but not in Tennessee,”senior Matt Diaz said.
Not all of these animals have alwayslived here. Many of these animals are ex-panding their range due to environmentalchanges. A few years ago, if a personsaid they had seen an armadillo in Ten-nessee, they would have been told thatthey were on the wrong side of the Mis-sissippi River because of their originalrange being out west.
Alligators are capable of surviving infreezing temperatures, which has allowedthem to move into Tennessee. However,historical maps show that they had anoriginal distribution that extended even
f a r -ther north. Cur-rently, they are foundin Shelby County. Oc-casionally, Tennessee has aharsh winter that wipes out thepopulation, which is later replacedby more alligators moving in.
To contrast the conspicuousnessof an alligator, Tennessee has oneanimal residing in its waters that very fewpeople have noticed: the freshwater jel-lyfish (Craspedacusta sowerbii). Found inwaters all over Tennessee, this enigma isabout the size of a quarter. Although theyhave stinging cells, there is no evidencethat they can actually penetrate humanskin.
“That’s neat. I didn’t know that,” soph-omore Alexandria Jones said. Some animals only stop through as they
migrate to other locations. The Americanwhite pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhyn-chos) stops at Reelfoot Lake as it makesits way up the Mississippi river towardsthe lakes of the Northern Great Plainwhere it breeds.
The American black bear (Ursus amer-icanus) is occasionally found in West Ten-nessee as it travels from Arkansas andacross the Mississippi river towards theeastern end of the state in the Ap-palachian Mountains. Here, black bearsare commonly found along with the en-dangered red wolf (Canis lupus rufus).The Appalachian Mountains also holdmore species of salamander than anyother temperate region. This includes thered eft (Notophthalmus viridescens).
The Mississippi river is a huge highwayand barrier for many animals. If a crea-ture can fly or swim, then a river is not aproblem; but for some, it marks the endof their range. The addition of manybridges to the river is one way that new
an i -m a l s
have trav-eled to Ten-
nessee. Low water levelsin recent years have also
made it easier for some creatures to swimacross. As a highway, the river serves asa guide for birds and a passage for fish totravel through.
Because the Mississippi flows to theocean, there are the occasional animalsthat are found far from their originalhomes. In 2006, a manatee was found inthe Mississippi at the Memphis riverfront.Bull sharks are occasionally seen, sometraveling as far north as Illinois. They arecapable of breathing freshwater as wellas salt water.
This allows them to penetrate deep intothe freshwater river systems in search offood and reduces the competition theyhave against other apex predators.
Some animals that once lived here areoccasionally reported, such as panthers(Puma concolor) sighted along the Missis-sippi river bottoms and throughout WestTennessee. The biology department atUnion University maintains a website ofreports for people to record any sightings.
Not all of these animals are dangerousthough. Many animals go unnoticed justbecause they are nocturnal. For instance,the long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata)is a resident of Tennessee as well as thesouthern flying squirrel (Glaucomysvolans).
With so many animals that people arenot aware of living here, perhaps stu-dents will receive the chance to see oneof these unique creatures.
Wikipedia
Photo courtesy of www.larvalbug.com
trojan torch 17
213 Court St.Dyersburg, TN
Open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday
285-5201
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First United MethodistChurch
100 McGaughey St.Dyersburg, TN
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18 trojan torch
sports
Katherine KellerEditor
Last year, the Lady Trojan softballteam won the District Championshipand proceeded to the first round of
the regional tournament. Unfortunately,their season ended in defeat.
This year, the team looks to make it evenfurther. The team’s ultimate goal for this year isto make it to the state tournament in the spring.
“I want to make it to state and have a good at-titude towards everything this year, no matterwhat,” freshman Paige Jones said.
With a roster full of talent and experience,the Lady Trojans look to give their competitorssomething to talk about. Because they share abond on and off the field, they look to challengeevery team they face.
“We won’t be relying on any few playersthis year. We have to play as a team to getto where we want to go. Our seniorsmust step up and be leaders. Thatwill be key!” head coach SteveWilder said.
The team’s biggest rivalsthis season are Coving-ton, Martin Westview and
Obion County according to members of theteam.
The team started conditioning earlier inthe year to make sure they were as pre-pared as possible for the day they step
out on the field. Every afternoon, they ei-ther gathered at the track to run or Wilder’s
room to take part in Insanity workouts. “We spend countless hours of blood, sweat and
tears to prepare for the most vigorous sport we love,” seniorCiara Dycus said.
Now that they are allowed to practice on the field, theteam looks to practice under a more game- like atmos-phere.
The addition of softball as a fifth hour class has alsohelped the team spend more time practicing and run-
ning drills. It gives each individual player moretime to focus on their own strengths and
weaknesses rather than the entire team’s.Sophomore Kali Decker said her favoritepart of softball is simply, “Winning.”
Winning through teamwork is thegirls’ focus as the season begins.
There is much excitement andanticipation in the hearts ofthe players looking for-ward to their season.
Softball: Teamwork makes the dream work
Photos courtesy of Robin AndrewsAbove: Senior Aubrey Andrews times her approach to the pitchers speed as she is ondeck to hit after the current batter in a game last sea-son. Below: Junior Hannah Wright strides to a pitch a strike during a competitive game last season.
trojan torch 19
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Warm Bodies, a PG-13 rated romantic twist on a classic apocalypse scenario, hit theaters in earlyFebruary of 2013. The movie begins by profiling what is thought to be the last human colony inexistence. Among the residents is Julie, an attractive young survivor of the ongoing zombie epi-
demic. While outside of the protective walls of their community, Julie, her boyfriend Perry and some friends
encounter a group of zombies. One of the most troubling goes by R, who is unusually conscious for beingundead. The hoard of zombies kills the majority of Julie’s friends and eats her boyfriend’s brain, but Rmanages to save Julie’s life and takes her back to his “home”: an airplane crowded by miscellaneous clut-ter he gathers around town. After much hesitation and several attempts at escaping, Julie comes toterms with the fact that R is watching out for her best interests and is not just keeping her hostage untilhe is ready for his next meal.
Julie and R become better acquainted and, with every passing day, the two fall more in love and R be-comes more human. As R sheds his zombie characteristics, he sets off a reaction in others like him. Thezombie race begins curing itself of its unconscious, emotionless ways and becomes increasingly humanthanks to the growing love of Julie and R.
Warm Bodies is due to release on DVD in July.
‘Warm Bodies’ attracts young audience
Emily JacksonReporter
wikipedia