[the]imageLafayette High School 17050 Clayton Rd., Wildwood, MO 63011w w w.lafayettepubl icat ions.com

what’sinside

comingsoon

French Teacher Gina Luerding has defeated cancer- twice. Relay For Life allows partici-pants, including cancer survivors, to raise money to fund cancer research. [see p. 6]

Friday, Jan. 25, 2008 [Vol. 39 Issue 5]

[Jan. 26]Jason Struble Shootout 6:30 p.m., Choir/Band/ Orchestra State

[Jan. 30]STAR Meeting 6 p.m.

[Jan. 31]Mr. LHS 7 p.m.

[Feb. 1]STUCO Blood Drive

[Feb. 2]Winter Carnival 10 a.m., Trivia Night 7 p.m.

[Feb. 6]Parent Teacher Conferences 4:30 p.m.

[Feb. 7-9]Musical 7 p.m.

[Feb. 9]ACT Test

[Feb. 13]Parent Teacher Conferences 4:30 p.m.

[Feb. 15]No School

[Feb. 18]No School

[Feb. 23]Turnabout Dance 7:30 p.m.

Always Coca Cola? Maybe not. On June

30, 2004, Congress passed the Child Nutrition and WIC Re-authorization of 2004, which states all local education agen-cies must establish a local school wellness policy.

This policy was established to promote nutrition education, physical activity and student wellness in the United States.

In response, the American Beverage Association (ABA),

along with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, came

out with a school bever-age guideline in 2006 for all schools to follow.

Ever since, the Rock-wood School District (RSD) has worked to follow those guidelines.

Fortunately, Coca-Cola worked with Rock-wood on those guide-lines and has been a valuable partner.

Contract TroubleThe five-year con-

tract between Rock-wood and the Coca-Cola Company, however, will expire at the end of this school year.

A new contract pro-posal will include more stringent guidelines on the types of bever-ages that can be sold in schools and it is unsure whether or not Coca-Cola or any other com-panies will choose to bid on that proposal and how consumers will react to the change in beverage of-ferings.

For the last 10 years, Coca-Cola and Rockwood have been working to-gether, which is why all beverage products sold at school are from the Coca-Cola Company.

Furthermore, Coca-Cola served the students well with their products.

And Coca-Cola has helped Lafayette and other

schools financially. Because of the exclusive agreement between Coca-Cola and Rock-wood, Coca-Cola will have paid

the district over $1,200,000 alone in sponsorship fees by the end of this contract.

This money is paid in equal annual installments of $240,000 each year.

In addition to this, Rock-wood receives rebate and com-missions. Last year, the district received the $240,000 spon-sorship fee for the 2006-2007 school year plus $150,000 from rebates and commission fees.

FundingWhere does all this money

go? A lot of the money goes back into the schools: booster clubs, school activities, the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), sport teams and schol-arships, just to mention a few.

“We may notice decrease in funding in our budget for activi-ties that we relied on in the past with Coca-Cola, Principal John Shaughnessy said.

However, if Coca-Cola de-cides to decline RSD’s request for proposal, funding for such things could suffer.

Rockwood’s Director of Purchasing and Transportation, Bill Sloan said there are pros and cons to the new nutritional guideline.

While the upcoming con-tract will help reinforce the nu-tritional guideline to students, finances could suffer.

“We expect the fees collect-ed by the school could initially be reduced by as much as 50 percent as students adjust to the new products. We also expect the beverage companies’ profit margins to decrease with the reduction of carbonated drink sales and the introduction of healthier products,” Sloan said.

Other OptionsIf funds do get cut, schools

will be asked to think of ways to fund money for their students.

Sloan said, “Examples could be flea market sales, babysitting nights, sport challenges, com-munity donations. It will be a challenge, but it is only limited based upon people’s ability to be creative.”

He continued, “The school’s clubs and PTO’s play a very im-portant role in raising funds. We expect this will be even more

important in the future.”Over 400 different and vari-

ous Coca-Cola products are offered globally, and many of them are beverages other than soda and energy drinks which would meet some of the new guidelines.

“But again, another company could be out there as well, they may turn around and present themselves,” Shaughnessy said. “I don’t think you’ll see much of a reaction because what you start to see now is more Gato-rade, Powerade, juices, Vitamin water and flavored water.”

Reviewing the PastFor example, Coca-Cola

bought Glaceau (maker of Vi-taminWater) last May for $4.1 billion. As a result, Lafayette received new vending machines with new Coca-Cola products that are healthier.

Top beverage companies have already been moving to-ward the health guidelines. By next year, 50 percent of the beverages sold on any Rock-wood campus must be either water, low calorie or no calorie options.

Other drinks offered right now such as milk, flavored milk, juices, Izze’s and Iced Lattes will still be offered if they fol-low the ABA guideline for high schools.

Student ReactionReactions from students to

the new beverage guidelines and offerings seem to be relatively positive. Students have wel-comed the new products sold at Lafayette such as VitaminWater and flavored Dasani waters.

“I think more people would drink less soda if there were other choices available,” sopho-more Aly Brasier said.

All the same, Rockwood of-ficials are confident that by the 2008 school year, a new con-tract will be issued, with a new company or possibly a renewed contract with Coca-Cola.

Since Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other big companies are mem-bers of the ABA, beverage companies and schools every-where are working together to join this national movement of a healthier lifestyle.

minayu[staff reporter]

[Jammin’ It Up]Cramming in some last minute practice, junior Seth Larsen fine tunes his guitar. Coffeehouse, which was held in the Commons on Jan. 17, included musical groups, solo per-formances, musicians, a magician and actors. Fourteen acts performed to a full house. [juliamulhall]

The Individualized Learning Center is set up to ensure that students will graduate. There are currently 26 students from LHS en-rolled in the program. [see p. 10-11]

Head basketball coach Dave Porter is approaching his 600th win. The Image looks back on his success-ful career, how he has gotten where he is and what has kept him go-ing. [see p. 14]

Coffeehouse offersa latte good talent

You can’t beat the real thingNew guidelines spell changes in contract

[two] imageopinions lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008]imagestaff[people & policies]

Ryan Bueckendorfeditorinchief

Brooke Thibodaux

newseditor

Erik Dauster asst.newseditor

Nicholas T. Elwood opinionseditor

Jared Anderson asst.opinionseditor

Nicole CastellanoSydney Miller

featureseditors

Aaron Casias entertainmenteditor

Alex Davis sportseditor

J.P. Bartmess asst.sportseditor

Sarah Calhoun admanager

Daniel Clutter asst.admanager

Ms. Nancy Smith advisermje

Staff: mikebujnak karacampbell calebcavarrettaaustingoodman

bretthamlinadamharris

melaniehinzpetercourtneymcbay

drewstiehld.annevollmayerkathleenwaddell

ninawalters minayu

InformationThe Image is published 10 times a year by

the Newspaper Production Class. Subscrip-tions are $25. Free issues are distributed on

campus. The 2006-2007 Image received a rating of First Class with three marks of

distinction from the National Scholastic Press Association and was named a

national Pacemaker Finalist. It was also named an International First Place winner

from Quill and Scroll, and Gold Medalist by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

PhilosophyThe newspaper’s primary obligation is

to inform its readers about events in the school and community and of issues of

national or international importance which directly or indirectly affect the school

population. The newspaper, while serving as a training ground for future journalists as part of the school curriculum, recognizes all

rights and responsibilities under the First Amendment. Operating as a public forum,

student editors will apply professional standards and ethics for decision making as

they take on the responsibility for content and production of the newspaper. While

the student staff encourages constructive criticism of any part of the newspaper,

authority for content rests in the hands of the student members of the newspaper

staff. Students will not publish mate-rial considered to be legally unprotected

speech, or libel, obscenity, material disrup-tion of the educational process, copyright

infringement, or unwarranted invasion of privacy.

Contact Us We are located in Room 213 at Lafayette

High School, 17050 Clayton Rd., Wildwood, MO 63011. Our phone number is (636) 458-7200 ext. 2338 and our e-mail ad-

dress is smithnancy@rockwood.k12.mo.us Please visit us on the web at www.

lafayettepublications.com

PoliciesOpinions expressed on the editorial page

do not reflect the viewpoints or official policies of the school administration.

All editorials (unsigned) represent a major-ity opinion of the Editorial Board. Members

of the Editorial Board include all staff editors. Signed editorials, columns, edito-rial cartoons and reviews reflect the views of the author and not necessarily those of

the Image Editorial Board. Participation through letters to the editor by students,

faculty and the community is encouraged. Letters must be signed but names will

be withheld upon request and with the concurrence of the Editorial Board. Letters

should be limited to 300 words. The Image reserves the right to reject, edit or shorten letters. Letters may be submitted in writ-

ing to Mrs. Nancy Smith in Room 213, or to any Image staff member, or via e-mail to

smithnancy@rockwood.k12.mo.us.

A new tradition necessary: Ms. LHS

Truth ryanbueckendorf

Truth bueckons

Confounded by the ‘real world’ of politics? Just turn on ESPN

Here I stand, following in the footsteps of luminaries such as Frank Deford, Robert Novak and even the local Mike Bush; all men who make the proverbial shift from the sports world to the real world.

As I have been moved from my old sports col-umn, and have thus stepped out into the political and social arena, a page has been turned.

I was afraid that, much like a newborn infant, this new and strange world would be completely foreign to me. I was afraid that I would find noth-ing of consequence, that I would be completely confounded

Truth be told, I was. Very much so. Then I looked closer. I don’t know if any of you have noticed, but

this whole ‘real world’ everybody is always re-ferring to isn’t all that different from the sports world.

I’m not trying to take anything away from the heartbreaking tragedies of the third world or make light the desperation of poverty or anything like that.

In fact, those subjects might occupy this same space two months from now. The similarities be-

tween the two, however, are striking. What is it, exactly, that makes this ‘real world’

so much more real than the sports world? Is it that this ‘real’ world has an executive loath

to fight the powers that be and who has started a war he can’t finish? We all know who I’m refer-ring to in the ‘real’ world, but sports have one of those too, in the form of baseball’s Bud Selig and basketball’s David Stern.

Is it that the sports world is devoid of real he-roes, the type of heroes we would want our chil-dren raised in front of? Because if you walked into a restaurant in Green Bay, WI and said Brett Favre didn’t qualify, you wouldn’t walk out.

Is it controversy? Turn on C-SPAN and you’ll see embroiled politicians bobbing and weaving

their way around question after question. Flip to ESPN and you’ll see the exact same thing, only instead of politicians you’ll see the athletes who beat the politicians up when they were kids.

Is it lack of devotion to a cause? I won’t try to take anything away from the political activists; I’d just be hesitant to pick them over a town-full of Texas high school football fans in a shouting match.

I would also be willing to bet that, while the political views of a Red Sox fan will change over the next fifty years, his allegiance for his team probably won’t.

And why should it? For him, and for a lot of people, that is the real world.

I am not arguing that sports should divert our attention completely from the things that really matter; obviously these things exist, whether it is family or religion or friendship or even politics. I merely ask you to consider that sports be included among them.

If we let them, the sports we watch can teach us a lot about ourselves and our society—about our ‘real’ world. For, when one examines them both closely, they aren’t that different after all.

imageopinions [three]lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008]

[stars & gripes]

stars to:

gripes to:

studentperspectiveStudent analyzes American lawsuit philosophy

Pop culture, the role of the press

• Primaries and Cau-cuses start. Get ready to see more sobbing speeches.

• The new G.M. fuel-cell car, the Cadillac Provoq. Looks like GM is making a concentrated effort to make cool energy efficient vehicles.

• Mr. LHS competition. Good luck to all the fellas strutting around impressing women; there’s nothing else like it all year.

• Winter Pep Assembly. Everyone loves short-enend class periods, and is there really a better way to spend missed class than (not) displaying school spirit in the gym?

• The annual Jason Struble Shootout. The organization sent out 26,000 videos and shower cards this year in attempts to raise awareness of testicular cancer.

• At least 1,000 Illinois athletes playing in high school sports tourna-ments will be tested for drugs next school year. Hopefully Missouri will soon follow suit.

•Seniors Derek Brinkmeyer and Taylor Buie made it into the Universal Cheerleading Association (UCA). Rah-rah-ree! Kick them in the--well, you know.

• New types of cookies. As if we weren’t already getting robbed enough by the price increases...

• Dr. Phil getting involved with Brittney Spears at all-- even though she won’t ap-pear on the show, it’s still a waste of his time.

• Dasani Water ma-chines don’t even hold regular Dasani water--hope you like Vitamin water. Or at least the flavored water no one ever buys.

• Another tiger goes crazy-- this time at the San Francisco Zoo. Maybe we should just leave these things in the wild.

• More African uprisings. This time Kenya suffers election-time violence as citizens spar over re-election controversy.

• Holiday coke 2007 in the vending machines. There’s nothing like an expired taste of history.

Political awareness crucial in 2008, the election year

staff editorial[ ]The Image

Editorial

Board finds

political apa-

thy in high

schools to

be a harmful

vice. We

believe there

are clear and

immediate

effects of

American

politics on

members of

our student

body.

Dear Editor,

I just wanted to express how much joy it brings me for the fine arts to receive attention in the newspaper.

After constantly being overlooked, we artists are ever so thankful that we could have a section completely dedicated to us.

I absolutely adore Kelly’s drawing and was elated to see it in the last issue. I just wish that

I could have seen the whole drawing or that the resolution of the work was the same quality as the faces of your staff.

Thank you,Hayley Olson

decadancesocial

decadencenicholaselwood

opinionseditor

A new teacher walks the halls this semester, but she is no stranger to Lafayette.

Language arts teacher Megan Salmi has taken the place of former language arts teacher Angela

Koons, who resigned at the end of first semester. Salmi, a former student teacher in the Language Arts Department worked

with language arts teacher Cheryl Hermach.Salmi, a full time teacher, will be teaching most of Koons’ classes, which

includes Freshman English and Advanced Language Arts Research Presen-tation (ALARP), and teacher Tracey Gladden will be teaching the Creative Writing class.

Koons also served as the sponsor for the school literary magazine, Pulp. Pulp is a student-run literary magazine published annually.The literary magazine includes artwork of all kinds, from poems and

short stories to paintings and photography. All of the submissions are created by students and submitted to the mag-

azine’s staff. The Pulp staff described Koons’ resignation as a traumatic experience, or

in the words of senior Gray Stamulis, “The staff got a little more emo.” Her resignation has definitely had an impact on the magazine staff. Some members said her leaving “brought tears to our eyes.” The maga-

zines staff now looks forward as Gladden takes over the advisory position in Koons’ place.

Gladden said some of her goals for the magazine include not only receiv-ing more submissions and meeting their deadlines, but completing every-thing as normal as well.

But she also hopes to at some point hold a fundraiser for the literary magazine.

Gladden, who has never been involved with a literary maga-zine before, says she is happy to be the staff ’s new sponsor.

One staff member said, “It is a little hard-er since Mrs. Koons was so experienced.”

Other students said it was different because they had such a connection with Koons.

Gladden said stu-dents have reacted well to her sponsor-ship and said, “so far, so good.”

She also said they have been very engaging and have shared ideas frequently.

The staff said they are happy that Gladden became the advisor, describ-ing her as “one of the best.”

Pulp is still accepting submissions even though there is a change.The magazine’s last issue had over 400 submissions and some submis-

sions can be seen on the magazine’s website which can be reached through the Lafayette website.

[four] imagenews lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008]newsbriefs

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HuntingMissouri’s deer population is estimated around one million. Therefore, a proposed change to the hunting calendar will allow the antler-less deer hunt to continue in October. This will cause the No-vember hunt to open the weekend before Thanksgiving. Due to the changes, archery hunting will have an additional week added to its season.

Cell PhoneDriving while talking on cell phones is not only dangerous, but it congests traffic as well. According to a study conducted by the University of Utah, 31 percent of cell phone users spent more time following a slow vehicle due to the distraction of a cell phone.

Gardasil Vaccine The vaccine that pre-vents cervical cancer in girls has earned a reputation as the most painful of childhood shots. The number of teen girls fainting after their shots has in-creased. The shot is said to burn and remain uncomfortable for one or two days. However the shot’s reputation has not diminished its demand.

ROSE Nominations Nominations for the 19th Annual ROSE award program opened on Jan. 2. Rockwood patrons and staff are asked to submit nominations for individuals that have made a difference in a child’s life and the Rockwood commu-nity. The ROSE award is given to 15 individuals each year and winners will be notified on March 3.

This new year brought two new teachers to the staff and their appearance caused a surprise for many stu-dents who had classes scheduled with the former teachers.

Former Fine Arts and Language Arts teacher Mr. Gary Fish-gall resigned over Win-ter Break for personal reasons after teaching at Lafayette for just a year and a half.

All of his students and most of the staff were unaware of his resignation and were surprised by the announcement.

Senior Claire Walk and sophomores David Adams and Lucas Klein said they were shocked by the timing of his decision.

“Although I couldn’t see him working here for years and years, I at least thought he would stick around until I graduated,” Adams said.

As the drama teacher, Fishgall also held responsibility for sponsoring the Lafayette Theatre Company and Thespian Society. Many of its members were planning to attend the Missouri Thespian Conference in Branson, MO with him right after break.

He had directed the plays and musicals, but chose not to participate as director of this year’s upcoming musical “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown.”

This led some of the returning Thespians to think he was planning on leaving. “I just remember getting a phone call while driving saying that Fish-gall had resigned,” Klein said.

Due to the quick changes, the students planning to attend the January Thespian Conference were left without a chaperone. Cathy Dantin, language arts teacher, was asked to step in.

She said she has gone before and knew how much fun it was. Dantin didn’t want students to miss out on the experience.

“We would not have been able to go without her. She did a lot for us and we’re thankful for that,” Walk said.

The administration spent Winter Break interviewing people and eventu-ally split the position and hired a part-time Language Arts teacher, Kathryn O’Neal, and a new Fine Arts teacher, Kate Slovinski, to fill Fishgall’s posi-tion.

“All of the [Thespian] officers and members will have to step up and take on new responsibilities because she is still learning,” Walk said.

Principal John Shaughnessy said without Fishgall, Lafayette will try to keep consistency and normalcy. Still, he said Fishgall’s decision was a bit of a shock.

“He was a fantastic director and will surely be missed,” Adams said.

New Kids on the Block

[Acting It Out]New drama teacher Kate Slovinski conferences with Shannon Nicholson. Slovinski is teaching drama classes and new language arts teacher, Kathryn O’Neal, is teaching Senior Composition. The two were hired after Gary Fishgall resigned just before Winter Break. [camibird]

d.annevollmayer[staff reporter]

Drama teacher gets lead role Student teacher returns

[Assuming Assignment]Working at her desk, teacher Megan Salmi focus on her new responsibilities. Salmi was a former student teacher who has returned to LHS as a staff member. [austingoodman]

calebcavarretta[staff reporter]

imagenews [five]lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008]

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Personal FinanceThe Personal Finance class is now a gradu-ation requirement for current freshman and sophomore students. Not only do students have to take the class, they must pass a profi-ciency exam by Jan. 31, 2008. That means that students who com-pleted the course last semester must go back and take the exam. The test date for Group A is Jan. 28 at 3:15-4:15, while Group B tests on Jan. 29 at 3:15-4:15. Both tests will be held in the Writing Center.

Taste of West CountyOver 30 area restau-rants will be catering the 10th annual Taste of West County, the big-gest fundraiser for the Class of 2009. A silent auction will also be a part of the evening. Tickets are tenth each or four for $35 and beverages will be sold separately for $1. Taste of West County will be held Feb. 25 from 5:30-8 p.m.

Trivia NightThe Class of 2010 is sponsoring the annual Trivia Night on Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. The night’s activ-ities include ten rounds of ten trivia questions, a silent auction and basket raffle. Tickets are $10 for students and staff and $16 for adults. Money raised will be used to support many activities for the Sopho-more Class, including Celebration 2010.

CarnivalThe Mid-Winter Car-nival will be held. Feb. 2 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the Commons. This event is sponsored by the Class of 2011 and will include over 35 games, including two blow-up games, a mega maze and a double slide.

newsbriefs

For 25 y e a r s , W i l d -wood ’s

Hidden Valley Ski and Golf Resort has provided skiers and snowboard-ers the opportunity to practice and perfect their sport without the in-convenience of having to travel out of state to resorts. Hidden Valley boasts 10 ski runs, most of them intermediate level, and an 18-hole golf course.

“We’re a unique kind of business because you don’t usually find ski areas in this region of the country,” Bill Brandes, new General Manager of Hidden Valley said. “In fact, Hid-den Valley is one of just two ski re-sorts in Missouri, the other located in Weston above Kansas City.”

Originally Hidden Valley had five ski runs, a lift, buildings for storage and rental equipment and a main lodge building. All of this was de-tailed in a conditional use permit is-sued to Hidden Valley in 1982 by St. Louis County.

Currently, Brandes is in the pro-cess of working with the city of

Wildwood to expand the boundary of their conditional use permit to construct two to three more runs and an additional lift.

A conditional use permit, accord-ing to Wildwood Senior Planner Joanna Browning, cites specifically how the land may be used.

Browning said in order to amend a conditional use permit in the city of Wildwood, the petitioner must submit a letter to the city requesting the amendment to start the process.

A series of meetings with plan-ning and zoning departments fol-lows, and ends with a vote by City Council.

In 2002, Hidden Valley amended their permit from 1982, allowing for three additional ski runs, a quad-chair lift, the relocation of four golf holes, maintenance buildings and space for overflow parking. Their re-quest for the amendment was unani-mously approved by Wildwood City Council.

But, just as with the last approval of their 2002 amendment, this pro-posal is not coming without opposi-tion from residents living in border-

ing subdivisions. A resident of Alt Road Farms,

located directly across Alt Rd. from the entrance to Hidden Valley, said the proposed expansion will likely increase the already heavy traffic during the snow season and prob-lems with litter.

Other complaints from neigh-boring residents included increased noise from the snow guns and light-ing from night-ski sessions, lasting until as late as 3 a.m.

Brandes said Hidden Valley runs their snow guns, which create snow when Mother Nature does not sup-ply it naturally, about 10-15 days throughout the season, and residents in Radcliffe subdivision next to Hid-den Valley have said they have heard the guns running into the night.

However, Brandes said the last expansion, without a doubt, brought more popularity to the ski area. “Ice Man’s Ridge” and “The Outlaw,” the newly developed runs classified as black-diamond expert slopes by Hidden Valley, prove to be more challenging runs for those who have mastered the intermediate ones.

Junior Adam Vinson helps with rental equipment at Hidden Valley. He said adding more expert runs would increase Hidden Valley’s pop-ularity.

“Harder runs will bring more people out to ski. Any increase in difficulty would be beneficial, since Hidden Valley’s runs aren’t as good as runs in Colorado,” Vinson said

Brandes expects a 10-15 percent increase in skier volume once the new expansion is developed and available for use, even though prices will most likely increase to pay for construction and labor costs.

Hidden Valley has been mak-ing adjustments on this upcoming expansion in their proposal for a couple of years now, making sure they comply with all of Wildwood’s requirements. They hope to get through the process soon and start development.

“Our goal is to provide a nice and safe place for people to enjoy the snow sports. I want to work with the city of Wildwood so everybody maintains a reasonable position on getting it done,” Brandes said.

erikdauster[assistant news editor]

[Boarding The Badlands]A snowboarder hits the slopes at one of Hidden Valley’s intermediate runs, “The Badlands.” Hidden Valley is in the process of expanding the boundary of their current conditional use permit to include three more ski runs and an additional lift. [erikdauster]

On the Run Hidden Valley hopes to add runs, lift

2/22/08 2/22/08

Expires 2/22/08

2/22/08

[six] imagenews lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008]clubnews

Her classroom is over-flowing with piles of paper that seem as tall

as mountains. Two guinea pig cages sit on top of file cabinets.

On the surface, French teacher Gina Luerding appears to be a quirky character who loves life. Pictures of her recently-adopted son are posted close to what looks like her desk, covered with more papers.

At first glance, one may also notice the little pink ribbon on the lanyard hung around her neck. Luerding is a survivor of breast cancer, twice.

Luerding has experienced the hardship of the terrible disease several times, with her husband and two dogs having fought and survived cancer as well.

“Cancer itself has really given me a greater perspective into my priorities, what I think is most important and how much time I’ve spent on those priorities. If you look at your life like an onion, cancer starts peeling away all of the things you’ve surrounded yourself with that really aren’t important,” Luerding said.

“Each time I had cancer, a little bit more peeled away until you got to who I am, what I’m really all about? I don’t know if I’m really there yet, but layers have been shed,” Luerding continued.

“Honestly, I’m a happier person because of the cancer. Now I spend my time on what I feel is important and I don’t do a lot of things I use to enjoy, because they weren’t really as important as family and God,” Luerding said.

That’s why she relays. In 1998, Luerding was undergoing treatment for her cancer and heard about Relay For Life through the office manager of her surgeon.

She showed up expecting to stay for 10 min-utes and ended up participating past midnight.

“As a matter of fact, I think I went home and came back just because it was so neat and such a supportive atmosphere for someone going through it. Having all of the survivors there was actually very encouraging and sobering,” Luerd-ing said.

“When you’re standing there going through chemo (therapy) and you suddenly realize that there’s a woman up there announcing she’s been a survivor for 50 years, that makes you feel really good,” she added.

From there on she has participated in seven relays, soon to be eight with the upcoming relay on May 30-31 at Lafayette’s track.

Relay For Life is a national fundraiser by the American Cancer Society in the effort to find a cure for cancer and help with prevention.

The relay runs from 7 p.m.-7 a.m. Those par-ticipating form their own teams with team cap-tains who register.

“If I were to give advice to someone about forming a team, I would think of a

group of people or several groups of people that could get along together that you know would have a good time spending all night long together. Anybody can do it. People who like to have fun and can be a little goofy have the most fun,” Lu-erding said.

Teams set up and decorate tents around the track. A member must be moving on the track at all times.

“One person on the team is supposed to be on the track running or walking from the time it starts to the end. It doesn’t have to be the same person. I’ve heard of teams where only one per-son walks 1-2 a.m., while everybody else sleeps. Sometimes it’s two people who will walk together; sometimes it’s the whole team walks the whole night. It varies from team to team,” she said.

The night starts off with ceremonies that con-tinue all night long to coincide with this year’s theme: celebrate, remember, fight back.

The first ceremony “celebrates” survivors, so team members walk a lap for them.

Another lap is walked for those lost to cancer to “remember” them. And team members “fight back” by walking for a cancer-free future.

During the night, luminaries are lit in the bleachers to spell out “hope” as candles in bags of sand line the track.

“The whole concept parallels your walk through cancer, when you’ve been diagnosed and how it gets darker and darker. If you pay attention to the number of people that stay at the relay, a lot of people will leave in the wee hours of the morning. And you notice that,” Luerding said.

She continued, “When you first get diagnosed

with cancer it’s a big hullabaloo and everyone’s excited, but not happy. Then as you progress through it, people go back to their lives and you’re still plodding through. You’re down to your re-ally good friends, your family, in other words, the people who care about you most. They are there when it’s darkest. Then you start seeing the end of your treatments and the hope for your survival and that’s kind of equivalent to the sun rising and the relay coming to a close,” Luerding said.

“To me that’s the most memorable part. The luminaries around the track represent those who died from cancer, as well those who have survived it; all those names are around the track. That’s re-ally emotional,” she continued.

Anyone interested in forming a group can register at <www.events.cancer.org/rflrockwood.mo>.

It costs $10 to register a team of 15 members or more. Last year Rockwood’s Relay For Life raised $700,000.

Luerding’s most memorable relay was when her father came out.

“My dad was in his 70’s when he came out and walked. Little did we know that a few years later he would die of cancer. So I look back at that and he was there to support me. His baby girl had cancer,” Luerding said.

In between tears she continued, “So that was very special to me. The money that he helped raised is going toward research that will help somewhere down the line, so people won’t die from the same thing he did. I think that’s kind of cool, very emotional, but that is kind of what the relay is.”

Out of the Darkbrookethibodaux[news editor]

[Lit Up]Luminaries are set up to align the entire track during the Relay For Life. Each bag, filled with sand and a candle, has a name of someone who has died from cancer. At dawn the bags are illuminated, casting a glow along the track and lighting the path for walkers. More luminaries are set up on the stands to spell the word hope. Luerding said, “The gist of the whole evening is hope,” for anyone who has experienced cancer. [sherislattery]

Cancer survivors “fight back” with Relay For Life

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FLORISTS

Symphonic OrchestraThe Lafayette

Symphonic Orches-tra, directed by Joe Gutowski, has been selected to pefrorm at the Missouri Music Educators Conference. They will perform at the Tan Tar A Resort at the Lake of the Ozarks on Jan. 25 for Missouri music teachersi.

RenaissanceThere will be a

meeting for Renais-sance Student Steering Committee members in Becky Lawrence’s room on Jan. 28 at 7:30 a.m. They will be discussing Renaissance Tuesdays, Gold Card Parking and the Aca-demic Pep Assembly, which will be held March 11. Renaissance students are encour-aged to participate in Renaissance Tuesdays by nominating their favorite teachers for Staff Member of the Month.

National Honor SocietyUpcoming service

projects for NHS in-clude making valen-tines for nursing home residents after school on Feb. 7 and volun-teering to help with the St. Louis Marathon on April 16. NHS mem-bers are reminded that there will be a meeting Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. in the Large Flex Room and that they need to complete the service project requirement before the end of the year.

ROTCUpcoming events

for Air Force Junior Re-served Officer Training Corps (ROTC) include a competition in Joplin on Feb. 16 and Pasta for Pennies from Feb. 4-22. ROTC is also sponsoring an ongoing book drive, “1001 Lafayette Nights,” with the goal of raising 1,001 books for their sister school Bryan-Hill Elementary.

imagenews [seven]lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008]

kathleenwaddell[staff reporter]

The Rockwood School District has proposed a new bond issue for the April 8 ballot. If approved, Proposition 3 will bring to Rockwood schools an assortment of new technology, security and renovations. The bond focuses on three “P’s” for the district: to protect, provide and prepare. In order to pass, the proposition will need a 57.14 percent majority of the vote. Rockwood imple-

mented a budget that will allow for funding of about $74 million; $6,691,250 goes towards improvements for Lafayette. The chart below shows the cost breakdown for the entire district and improvements Lafayette will receive.

Polls offer another proposition

Safety & Security Issues $6,541,000Intruder Alert System ($9,375)Repair and Renovate the Lafayette Pool Building ($500,000)Replace aged and at capacity Telephone/Voice Mail System ($150,000)Replace aged Network Security and monitoring equipment ($1,562)

Health and ADA Issues $3,150,000Replace Child Nutrition Service System ($6,250)Renovate Existing Locker Rooms ($600,000)

Technology & Infrastructure Systems$7,150,000Replace aged Lab and Classroom computers ($26,000)Provide Wireless Laptop Carts for students areas (supports block schedules) ($37,500)Install projection devices and replaced aged Projection Devices ($18,000)Replace network access equipment ($12,500)Replace aged instructional servers and storage equipment ($6,250)

Install wireless controller and access points to ex-pand existing wireless school building ($2,500)Replace aged Library System ($5,000)Implement Textbook Inventory System ($3,125)Replace aged Finance System with integrated Finance/ HR System ($37,500)

Additions to Expanding Schools $36,229,000Add classrooms to accommodate curriculum changes Add space for Library, Locker Rooms, and Multi- Purpose RoomProvide ADA access Eliminate temporary trailers ($6,691,250)

Major Maintenance & Repairs $10,250,000Replace aged Roofs ($7,968)Replace aged HVAC Systems ($170,312)Replace Carpet/ Flooring ($46,875)

Professional ServicesProgram Management ServicesArchitecture Services Consultant Services Engineering Services ($7,553,500)

District projects will include:

Rockwood plans on more renovations from bond

In His Own Words:

LHS TOY FinalistsSix finalists for Lafayette Teacher of the Year have been announced. Finalists include Mike Berenc, ROTC; Susan Glenn, social stud-ies; Melissa Noel, language arts; Mandy Regina, FACS; Melinda Schjolberg, language arts; and Jeff Tama-roff, foreign language. The faculty will hear nominating speeches and vote on a winner during the February staff development day. The winner will be recognized at the Aca-demic Pep Assembly on March 11.

Mr. LHSThe Junior Class of 2009 is sponsoring Mr. LHS, which will be held on Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. Judges will select five finalists from a pool of candidates represent-ing various clubs and sports. The guys will compete in talent, interview and formal-wear rounds. The event will be held in the Commons this year instead of the Theater due to construction. Tickets are $6 and will be sold Jan. 29-31 dur-ing lunch. No tickets will be sold at the door.

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newsbriefs

Principal John Shaughnessy comments on Proposition 3 and explains why he believes the funds are needed:

“There are three Ps--areas that this bond issue will improve our school.

“We need to protect the investment of this school in the community,” and do this by main-taining and improving the campus, Shaugh-nessy said.

“We need to provide resources to imple-ment the new schedule in order to offer stu-dents incentives and avenues for success.” The new schedule demands new needs and re-quirements that our school needs to fulfill and accomplish.

“We need to roll out a plan that allows this to happen in an effective and timely manner over a couple years,” he said.

In order to complete the plan and “roll out” the other two P areas, Shaughnessy said Lafay-ette needs to organize for the long-term man-ner in which this will be done for the bond to be successful.

[eight] imagefeatures lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008][showinfo]

The show will go on:

Here is a sneak peek at the progress of the renovations to the Auditorium as the completion date of March 15 nears. New aspects of the theatre include (from top to bottom, left to right) stadium seating, new backstage equipment, new state-of-the- art lighting over the seating area, an enlarged stage and new back-stage lighting along with motorized set equipment attached to the ceiling. [nicholaselwood & jaredanderson]

Theatre Progress at a Glance:

•Workers have main-tained that they will meet the projected completion date, March 15, 2008.

•The original construc-tion plans have not been altered.

•The cost has remained roughly $3 million.

Theatre Modifications and Improvements:

•The Pit has been enlarged & modified with a motorized grate as cover.

•The seating has been changed to stadium style with no separa-tion between first and second floor.

•Wheelchair lifts have been implemented.

•The backstage area has been altered to include motorized theatre equipment for faster set changing.

•Architecture includes state-of-the-art theatre acoustics.

•A new sound system was purchased to uti-lize acoustic potential.

-Information compiled from construction fore-man, Tom Bell.

imagefeatures [nine]lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008] valentinesdayIt’s never too early to start thinking about Valentine’s Day. Some students at Lafayette give some examples of things to avoid.

Junior Melissa Emer-son was on a date at Applebee’s when she began choking on a hot wing. “He thought I was kidding,” Emerson said.

Senior Grace Gebauer was riding in a car with her date when she got a bloody nose. Gebauer said they had to stop and get wipes.

Senior Jake Balkenbusch said, “I was supposed to go caroling with friends and I invited this girl Niki. I called her to see how long it was going to take for her to get off work. She said her manager was gone and she couldn’t leave till he came back. Forty five minutes later we went to visit her and her manager said she had left. I called her and she said, “I have to go a bunch of customers just walked in!””

Old School:For seniors college is just up the road, but freshmen have just started their

high school journey. Yet even while they have three

more years ahead of them, some freshman think they have it figured out, while many seniors aren’t sure what college road to take after the spring.

Many students agree making the ‘college decision’ is tough when considering class sizes, learning en-vironments, financial aid and dis-tance from home.

While many seniors are unsure of their future, there are some fresh-men who think they have it figured out, or at least have a school set in mind they wish to attend.

Freshman Ryan Glover has two schools set in mind, and is interest-ed in going to Maryville or Rolla.

“If life offers different opportu-nities that could change,” he said.

Glover is interested in majoring in human psychology and wants to strive for a career in hypnotism.

“I want to make a name for my family and myself,” Glover said.

Glover decided to have a plan early in high school so that he has a plan for life after school.

His advice to indecisive seniors? “Don’t live in your mom’s base-ment. Go out and make a name for yourself.”

Another freshman making the decision early is Khalfani Mar’na who wants to attend Rice Univer-sity.

“I want to go there because they have a good baseball and academic program,” Mar’na said.

Mar’na’s father received 36 schol-arships; 20 of them from Division I schools for football and track.

“My goal is if not to meet, than exceed, his accomplishments com-ing out of high school and eventu-ally play major league baseball,” he said.

Mar’na feels that he needs to plan ahead because his future is “very im-portant and closer than it seems.”

Beth Brasel, college specialist, gave some advice to freshmen.

Brasel said, “They need to start

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thinking about how they learn best in an environment. Start self inven-tory of interests for majors, attend college fairs and talk to parents about what they can afford.”

All the same, quite a few seniors are still in between making a deci-sion or aren’t sure if they have been accepted by a school.

Brasel said “a majority of seniors aren’t sure of where they are going because either they don’t know if

they are accepted until May 1 and because financial aid packages won’t come out until March or April.”

To qualify for financial aid, stu-dents and their parents have to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) after Jan 1 of their senior year.

This form requires tax informa-tion from parents and students, in-dicating whether or not a student qualifies for any financial aid from

federal or state government, or even from a certain institution the student is planning to attend.

Heading out of state and away from home is also something to con-sider when choosing colleges.

For senior friends Robin Ruello and Taylor Buie, Mississippi Univer-sity is their college of choice.

Buie wants to go out of state be-cause of the university’s journalism and cheerleading programs.

“I think the benefits will be head-ing back to the south, and being in a different part of the country to meet new people,” Buie said.

Ruello, on the other hand, is heading south because her sisters attended Mississippi University, and because she grew up in the south.

However, some seniors wish to stay in St. Louis because they feel their future is in the city.

Senior Steve LaCour said his mu-sic career plays a role in making a decision.

Lacour said, “The two bands that I am in are based in St. Louis. Two of the guys are in their 30s and one is 20 and at Fontbonne and almost done with college.”

“I am a big component to the band and I want to keep with it because it is starting to catch on,” LaCour added.

LaCour also takes into consider-ation that if he stays close to home he can balance college and musical ambitions.

LaCour said, “By the time we start hitting the music business I am going to have to make up my mind of where I am going.”

But, senior Cole Donelson has several schools in mind, but the issue is deciding which one to choose.

“I have to make my own decision and there are so many schools and I haven’t even considered half of them, but you have to make a deci-sion sooner or later,” Donelson said.

Donelson has applied to Yale, Washington University and Kansas State and said he is going to apply to Mizzou as well.

Whether time is running out for seniors, or there is still time to con-sider, the college decision is creeping up everyone’s back.

adamharris [staff reporter]

Each issue, language arts teacher David Choate will provide some helpful hints to improve your use of the English language.

When using commas and semicolons, commas are used to separate, and semicolons are used to combine compound sentences without using a coordinating conjuction, and to separate items in a series when the items have commas.

Ex: Mr. Senti is angry with his friends; Mr. Senti’s friends are mean.Ex: Mr. Senti enjoys romantic comedies from different decades such as P.S. I Love You, from the Y2K decade; Sleepless in Seattle, from the 1990’s; and Pretty in Pink, from the 1980’s.

grammargeek

Seniors find search for their dream college is more difficult than they expected

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LHS FACS Department

imagefeatures [eleven]lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008][ten] imagefeatures

Teenagers today are faced with difficult choices. It all boils down to how high school

shapes what they will do for the rest of their lives. The Individualized Learning Center (ILC) is a place

that helps the students who struggle with meeting credits and possibly getting kicked out of high school to receive a diploma.

Many school districts have an alternative school such as ILC (for Rockwood).

Currently there are 26 students from Lafayette en-rolled in the program.

Due to the amount of credits the students had when entering; only 11 students will potentially gradu-ate this year.

“There are two key components here at ILC. Aca-demics being the first, and our citizenship/ character education,” Administrator Michael Hylen said, “We want students to be successful in the classroom by us-ing a non-traditional environment.”

Hylen added that at ILC they put up nine differ-ent character traits that students should reverence. If a student breaks any of the main four (respect, re-sponsibility, self control and integrity), it will result in a write up.

ILC isn’t meant to be a negative program, as some may think. Just because a student enrolls in the alterna-

tive school, for the most part, doesn’t necessarily mean the student had been kicked out.

Other reasons include: lack of credits, underachiev-ers that have potential, personal experiences affecting student’s ability to focus on academics, females who are pregnant and effectively handicapped students with low self-esteem.

The school is set up just like a normal high school with certain exceptions. The day is set up like a half day, every day.

They go to school from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and have three classes. The grading system is set on a pass/fail system, including no ‘home’ work but assignments that must be done in class.

“We require them to work in addition to going to school, so we don’t want to throw that extra weight on them,” Hylen said.

The schedule is technically a four block one, but the students are required to maintain a job for either money or volunteer hours.

The students schedule is determined by the amount of credits they have coming into the program.

There are only six teachers so finding the right classes for the time they have, can be difficult. For example: if there is a teacher teaching geometry then there cannot be an Algebra class that hour.

Each class is capped at 15 students; if a class is

full the student will have to take another class until the class required is open.

The smaller class size helps the students receive more individualized attention. “Once they start expe-riencing success, they believe they can do it,” Hylen said.

Once students come to ILC they want to stay there. This is due to the strong amount of support given by the teachers and Mr. Hylen.

“Overall I have not met a student that hasn’t said ‘I’m glad I came here.’ They mature over time, and most of the time at the home school, they don’t get the support they need to mature.” Hylen said.

Once students graduate from ILC and receive their diploma, the college process is more difficult than hav-ing graduated from, for example, Lafayette.

Most student end up going to a community college like Meramec, where they are familiar with the alterna-tive school program.

For other schools such as Mizzou, it gets complex. ILC has to send numerous letters and explanations of how the pass/ fail system works, and the purpose of the program.

“To say that I wanted them to get more than just a diploma would be trite, but a lot of teachers would think that is fine,” Hylen said, “But I want them to leave here as good citizens.”

nicolecastellano[features editor]

nicolecastellano[features editor]

From troublemaker to the lead-er of the pack, graduate Dallis Johnson began to turn his life

around, partially thanks to ILC. Johnson entered the program due to lack of cred-

its. “I was suspended a number of times for stupid

things like fighting or being disrespectful,” Johnson said.

“I was discouraged at times because I was al-ways behind in school,” he added. Johnson came to ILC the third quarter of his junior year until December 2007, which is when he graduated.

Throughout this whole experience, Johnson’s parents were very supportive though they were disappointed in his work ethics before enroll-ing in ILC.

“I believe that ILC is a great learning ex-perience for students who are and were in my situation,” he said.

“Everybody sees me as a good per-son, which I am. But when I was in trouble all the time, people didn’t see that,” Johnson said.

Johnson loved being at ILC be-cause they saw him for who he was. He was often thought of as a leader, someone to look up to.

“I would sometimes talk to the kids if they weren’t having a good day. I miss ILC,” Johnson said.

Before he graduated, Johnson want-ed to play basketball. Since ILC allows students to participate in extracurricular activities, he got that chance.

Johnson said that he couldn’t have done it without the help of Coach Dave Porter, his grandfather and Dr. Art McCoy, all of whom helped to point him in the right direction.

“Dallis is an incredible young man, that through perseverance and tough times managed to get through all his hardships and make something out of his life,”

Porter said.Porter saw Johnson unleash his frus-tration through basketball and still rise above everything else.

“I was a beast at basketball and I ran track my first year,” Johnson said.

He also helped out at the Matthew Dickey’s Boys and Girls Club on the weekends.

He was eventually rewarded with an outstanding volunteer award.

Currently, Johnson works at McDonald’s near the Chester-field Mall.

“I am so happy I graduated,” Johnson said.

He currently attends Mera-mec Community College for

electrical engineering, but said that could easily change.

“For the kids who are in my situation, the ones who think they

cant do it, you can. You just have to work hard and have faith in yourself,” Johnson said. “I’ve come this far by working hard, so never give up.”

ReachinFormer Lancer Dallis Johnson (Class of 2007) earned his diploma from Rockwood’s alterna-tive school, Individualized Learning Center (ILC).

“For the kids who are in my situation, the ones who think they can’t do it, you can. You just have to work hard and have faith in yourself. I’ve come this far by working hard, so never give up.”

-DallisJohnson

The Individualized Learning Center creates a non- traditional learning environment for students who struggle with meeting the requisite amount of credits needed to graduate.

How long have you been at ILC? Kylee Naugle- I came my second semester of junior year Byron Ward- I have been at ILC for a year

Why did you come to ILC? KN- My credits were down and if I was to stay at LHS, I would have had a year and a half to two years left before I graduated. I also wasn’t going to school and they were going to kick me out, so I had to do something about it. BW-I’m here to ensure that I graduate. I could go back to LHS if I wanted to, but we get out here at 12:30 p.m. (laughs).

How do you think you are doing here as opposed to if you were at Lafayette? KN- I am doing really well here. I am on Honor Roll and have never failed a class. I get early release March 6. BW- I am doing better, because of the limited classes. It is more difficult at LHS because you have to keep up with homework.

Second Chance: nicolecastellano[features editor]

What will you do after you earn your diploma? KN- I am now dual enrolled at Meramec and start classes soon. I will be taking three classes there and at the end of the semester I am leaving for Columbia. I haven’t decided yet between Columbia College and Stephens College. I want to get a pre-law degree. BW- Community college based on my grades. I want to focus on working a lot after I graduate, but I want to become a carpenter or engineer. I will probably end up going to Ranken Technical College or ITT Technical Institute.

What do you like most about ILC? KN- The freedom. We can do what we want at our own pace without being hounded. We don’t have homework or tests, so we can work at a speed that helps us learn things easier. BW- I enjoy the teachers and the early release. I also like the fact you can have a job and still be at school.

Seniors Kylee Naugle and Byron Ward offer personal perspectives on classes at the ILC

[Pride of the Pythons] Seniors Kylee Naugle and Byron Ward at-tend Rockwood’s Individualized Learning Center (ILC) in Eureka. Both will graduate in the spring. [nicolecastellano]

[True Lancer]At the ILC graduation ceremony, Dallis Johnson receives an award from basketball coaches Dave Porter and Matt Landwehr. Johnson’s grandfather also joined him for the memorable occa-sion. [photo courtesy of Dallis Johnson]

[Family Affair]Diploma in hand, Johnson smiles with mother Dana Adams and Dr. Art McCoy, Director of Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corpora-tion (VICC). Johnson credits McCoy for playing a vital role in his success. [photo courtesy of Dallis Johnson]

Picturethis:[photo feature]

1. [Easy as Pi] Students listen as Mr. John Gilbert gives a math lesson. Class sizes at ILC are smaller to help the students receive better individualized attention.[nicolecastellano]

1. 2.

3.

2. [Hall of Fame] Graduates handprints adorn the wall in a tradition started by the ILC graduating class of 2007. Administrator Michael Hylen hopes to cover the wall in the coming years.[nicolecastellano]

3. [Having a Ball] Senior Kylee Naugle participates in a game of football dur-ing Team Sports B. Naugle will have earned early release on March 6.[nicolecastellano]

Shots from ILC

g the finish line

[twelve] imagefeatures lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008]

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Sign of Success:It’s the hectic time of year to make up schedules for the 2008-2009 school year, but a few new

courses may spark interest among Lafayette and ease stress.

Two in particular, which were approved by the school board the Dec. 21, are Freshman Seminar and American Sign Language.

Freshman Seminar was created by language arts teachers Cheryl Hermach, Crystal Maier and Paige Hereford, Talented and Gifted (TAG) teacher.

It is a first semester class made “[for] all of those incidentals that come up that freshmen are afraid to ask about,” Hermach said.

Marybeth Desloge, Guidance Chair, said the class would empha-size the culture and community of Lafayette by discussing topics such as Homecoming, finals and other school events.

Freshman Seminar will deal with building an interest inventory, career counseling and scholarship informa-tion.

Desloge explained the class is built on a pass/fail philosophy, and students will receive a 1/2 elective credit.

When former freshmen heard about this course, Hermach said she heard reactions such as “I wish somebody would have taught me

things about Lafayette they had ex-pected me to know” and “that would have been helpful.”

Rockwood 8th Graders have start-ed scheduling for their first year, and Hermach has heard that Freshman Seminar has excited 8th Grade teach-ers and been a comfort to anxious incoming freshmen.

Another course coming to Lafay-ette is American Sign Language, a two-year foreign language credit.

American Sign Language has

been offered at Eureka High School this school year, taught by Steve Harris, foreign language teacher.

There was so much interest in the class that it could not be offered to freshmen and the class was cut from the original 44 students to 26.

Harris said the class is easy for the “students that practice a lot and actively try to sign on their own and make a sincere attempt to interact with other signers.”

Harris said there are several kinds

of English Sign Language, and throughout the world, there is sign language for every language.

“There is no universal sign lan-guage; every culture is different. There are marked regional and eth-nic differences in our own country, and other forms of sign widely prac-ticed other than formal American Sign Language,” Harris said.

Eureka junior Jake Deforrest said the class was interesting, easy and recommends it to those at Lafayette considering taking the course.

Eureka’s American Sign Lan-guage course, according to Eureka junior Megan Underwood, is “a very relaxed atmosphere.”

Underwood recommends this class to anyone with curiosity about signing.

She added, “Since the deaf pop-ulation in America is growing, it is important to have communicators. It can open new doors for anyone as both a career or being a better com-municator.”

With new course offerings and new teachers and classrooms will be needed to accommodate student schedules.

Desloge said most teachers will not stay in the same room through-out the day since so many new courses are being added.

Both Freshman Seminar and American Sign Language are expect-ed to be popular as students inter-ested in trying something new start to register for classes.

sydneymiller[features editor]

karacampbell[staff reporter]

[Something New] At Curriculum Night in the Commons on Jan. 16, incoming freshman Kelly Meyer and her mother talk with language arts teacher Cheryl Hermach about Fresh-man Seminar. Freshman Seminar is a new course available for the 2008-2009 year which emphasizes high school culture and college preparation. Meyer said she was interested in the class because she “can’t study [or] manage time at all.” [sydneymiller]

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The Image has compiled a list of some other new courses being offered next year with information from the Curriculum Guide.

Forensic ScienceTopics include: hair and fiber analysis, genetics, fingerprinting, trace evidences, ballistics, ac-cident reconstruction and toxicology.

Biochemistry ApplicationsTopics include: cell research, medical sci-ence forensic science, chemistry and environ-mental science.

Dance and Performance MovementThis course emphasizes “artistic thinking, per-formance and chore-ography to beginning dance students.”

Life After High SchoolThis class “has an overall focus to prepare students for indepen-dent living.”

Environmental Science Topics include: the scientific principles, concepts and meth-odologies required to understand the inter-relationships of the natural world.

Sign Language, Freshman Seminar interest students

imagefeatures [thirteen]lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008] registrationinfoA study released by the Representative Democracy in America Project stated only half of Americans are registered to vote, and only half of those registered actually vote. In the 2008 election, it is critical the young voters get out their vote. The Image has provided registration information from www.sos.mo.gov to help make this process easier.

No person shall be entitled to vote:1. While confined under sentence of imprisonment2. While on probation or parole after the con-viction of a felony 3. After conviction of a felony or misdemeanor connected with voting or the right of suffrage

Missourians can register to vote:1. By mail through the post-card voter regis-tration application 2. At the office of the local election authority 3. By using the federal voter registration form 4. At any Department of Motor Vehicles office, or state agency providing a service to the public (WIC, Social Services, etc) 5. NVRA Implementa-tion Guide for Public Assistance Agencies

Decision 2008: mikebujnak [staff reporter]

Many seniors this year will have another task other than gradu-ating; they are now charged

with the task of picking the next president. Students are seeing this critical election as a

chance to share their input. Just as the students are very different, so are the candidates they are following.

Students said their main concerns are foreign policy, taxes and health care.

Senior Tom Verseman said, “I’m a Republican. I want guns because I want to be able to protect myself. I don’t pay taxes right now but I don’t want them going up anyway.”

Most conservative students the Image spoke with were planning on voting for Rudy Giuliani due to his previous role as the mayor of New York.

Senior Adam Aylsworth predicts McCain’s withdrawal from the race and planned to vote for Giuliani because “he handled the attack on the World Trade Center amazingly and he could be a great leader.”

Another conservative candidate draw-ing students’ attention is Mike Huckabee. Al-though senior Danielle Kory said she wasn’t influenced by Huckabee’s high profile actor Chuck Norris, she supports his political views. “He seems to be the only decent one,” Kory said, “He doesn’t want nationalized health care and.he isn’t borderline liberal.”

Senior Mickey Luberda said he would vote for Ron Paul but Paul seems “to be too on the edge” and his policies “aren’t applicable.”

He said, “[Paul] wants to eliminate both the CIA and the Department of Education. We don’t need everything to disappear. Paul is passionate about his ideas but he doesn’t really listen to what the people actually want.”

In the 2004 election between George W. Bush

and John Kerry, Bush won Missouri with a seven percent margin over Kerry. Traditionally, Missouri is expected to vote Republican.

However, most Democrats interviewed at La-fayette are planning to vote for Barrack Obama and stand opposed to Hillary Clinton.

“I’m going for [Obama’s] stance on foreign policy. It’s the most important criteria for this election,” senior Andrew Ruether said.

“I like [Obama’s] stance on civil liberties, gay marriage rights and diplomacy,” senior Kyle John-son said.

Others are swayed to vote based on leadership skills and outward appearances.

“I’m going to vote for Obama because of the overall feeling I get from him. I like him because he’s younger and represents a different voice,” se-nior Nick Gass said.

Luberda said of Obama’s popularity, “I think Obama shows a kind of charisma that most of the other candidates don’t have.”

He added, “Barack also has a more reasonable stance on health care than most other candidates. Hillary wants a more obligatory styled program where everyone will be covered. Obama is going for the cheapest plan so that more people can ac-tually pay for it.”

Also, a majority of ‘new’ voters say they aren’t influenced by their parents, and claim to have done their own research to form their own opin-ion.

Johnson said, “My parents influence me in that I don’t want the same people they voted for in charge.” The driving force in this election is the hope that one of these candidates will be the one to front that change.

[Rudy Giuliani]“He did a great job in New York and could be a valuable leader.”-dustinkaminsky, 12

[Barack Obama]“I agree with his stance on global warming.”-nicolefetter, 12

[Hillary Clinton]“She closely matches all my major issues and I real-ly want a female for office.”-missyclay, 12

[John McCain]“He is a conservative Republican like I am.”-kaitlynkey, 12

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First-time voters voice opinions

It has been said that a good coach does not light a fire behind his players, but builds

a fire within them.For 39 years, Lafayette’s Hall of Fame basket-

ball coach Dave Porter has been building a fire inside his players, his school and his communi-ty. That fire can be seen courtside every game night.

After nearly 40 years of building fires, one has to wonder if the fire in Porter is dwindling.

“I’ve told most people that I’ll coach this year and next year, assuming they want me back next year,” Porter said. “My wife and I had set a target date, and I owe it to her to stop then. We’re still healthy, we can go out and travel,” he added.

Porter was born in Caruthers-ville, MO and played basketball at Southwest Baptist University in Springfield, MO. After four years, he became a Grad Assis-tant.

Before coming to Lafayette in 1985, Porter coached in Seda-lia, MO at Sedalia Smith-Cotton High School, and followed that with eight years at Poplar Bluff High School in Poplar Bluff, MO.

Over Porter’s 25 years at Lafayette, he has had a record under .500 a mere three times. While never having won a State Championship, he has maintained the reputation of Lafayette basket-ball as a powerhouse in St. Louis. Porter has four Final Four appearances, and Lafayette placed second in State in 1998, and third in 2004.

Porter has had District championships in 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. In 2007, Porter was named the Suburban West Conference Coach of the Year.

“My goal in basketball has always been to be the best we can be in February. Basketball is a long season, so we use the start of the season as building a foundation to be the best team in February,” Porter said.

Throughout Porter’s career at La-fayette, he has seen his three chil-dren, Scott, Class of 2005, Ashley, Class of 1998, and Jennifer, class of 1995, graduate from Lafayette. Scott played for his dad, and Jen-nifer played girls basketball. Jenni-fer is now an assistant on the girls varsity basketball team.

“It’s great to work with my dad; both of my parents were teachers so this is what I knew I wanted to go into,” Jennifer Porter said.

“His work ethic is something that he has instilled in me, and I know that his success comes from his work ethic.”

“Someone who immerses themselves in coaching will realize that it has a huge effect on their family. Coaching is an addiction, and my wife has been a saint through my career. She lets me satisfy that addiction,” Porter said.

In 1990, Jason Struble, a player of Porter’s, was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Struble proved to be the most influential and strongest person in Porter’s life.

Struble died 26 months after being diagnosed, and his only wish was to educate young people about the signs of the cancer.

Porter took it into his own hands and created a group and an educational video. That video will be available to every school in the United States free of charge in the next year.

Coach Porter has travelled to various schools and basketball camps to tell Jason’s story. Jason’s story has saved 18 lives, and those are the ones who chose to contact Porter. Porter says that this is one

of the greatest accomplishments of his life.Social studies teacher Scott Allen has been an

assistant for Porter for the last four years. Since day one, Porter had begun to build a fire inside him too.

“[Porter] had a great effect on me as a young coach, just in seeing the preparation that it takes to be successful,” Allen said. “X’s and O’s aside, he had a great effect on me, and the same can be said for his players.”

“Like any coach, he demands perfection in both games and practice. [Porter] is very prepared and focused on the task at hand,” he added.

Over the last 10 seasons, Porter has averaged a staggering 21 wins a season. In July of 2003, Porter was inducted into the Missouri Basketball

Hall of Fame, despite not having 500 wins, the number that frequently

just begins a coaches consider-ation for the Hall of Fame.

Porter is 13 games away from 600 wins, the record of a lifetime.

Coaching aside, Porter’s best triumph has been bal-ancing his life at Lafayette with his life at home. Coach,

husband and father, Porter has been running a triathlon with

his life for the last 40 years, and in the home stretch of his career,

torch in hand, he prepares to cross the finish line with the

same fire he began it with.

[fourteen] imagesports lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008]

Adding Fuel to the Fire:Approaching 40 years and 600 career wins, Coach Dave Porter reflects on his triple life as a husband, father and coach, and how he managed to keep his feet on the court

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“Coaching is an addiction. Anyone who immerses themselves in coaching will realize it has a huge effect on their family.”

DavePorter

insidelook[Bowling]

With the longest season of any sport at Lafayette, this year’s bowling team has dedicated a lot of time and effort toward this club sport.

Even though they might not be the best statistically, they still show up every Sunday afternoon and com-pete against serious bowlers from around the area.

“We are in eighth place out of 12 teams and most of the other teams take bowling pretty seriously,” senior Tim Maness said.

Maness is a part of the senior squad along with seniors John Curly, Nick Elwood, John Ferry and Mickey Luberda.

“These guys are good friends and use bowling as a time to hang out and spend time with one another. They have a lot of fun,” head coach Patti Elwood said.

She enjoys coach-ing the boys and es-pecially likes to watch her son, Nick, excel in a sport which he enjoys to play.

“Nick has a good time and uses bowling as a time to relax and get away from his hectic schedule with music, school and writ-ing,” she said.

Elwood leads the team with the highest handicap (304) and re-cently bowled his best game this year (233).

Along with the senior squad, there is an underclassman squad who has the bare minimum number of players, five, on the squad to compete.

“The underclassman team is in last place, but they also have close matches and compete really hard,” the head coach said.

One of the fresh-man on the team, John Lansdowne, has a 128 average, which is one of the top averages in their division.

The season has been full of short hills and deep valleys, but the team still plans on improving their game and making a run in the playoffs.

“We hope that we improve over the next five weeks and can get there, but still have fun,” Maness said.

j.p.bartmess[asst. sports editor]

imagesports [fifteen]lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008]

Three sport, four year athletes

ninawalters[staff reporter]

Year after year, plaques are given out

to few athletes, not for being the best or most spirited, but for playing three sports in a school year.

There are very few athletes who can say they played in every season, but there are even fewer who can say they did it for their four year tenure at Lafayette.

Student athletes are always busy during their sport’s sea-son and love when they get off time, but playing three sports doesn’t allow for much down time after school.

What it does give is the ability to be in shape all year long.

“Three sports have affected me by making me enjoy the down time I have and organizing me and my time,” Ian Moore said.

Moore participates in foot-ball, basketball and track.

“I will play all three again my senior year. I believe if you start something you should finish it,”

Moore said.As for seniors, Kyle Haber-

berger has done just what Moore plans to do his senior year.

Haberberger is busy playing football, basketball and volley-ball.

“I really enjoy all of them. I like to be active a lot,” he said.

Sami Dunger played three

sports her freshman year, but as for her senior year, she has opted otherwise.

“It was time for me to choose between high school soccer and select basketball. So I stopped playing soccer,” Dunger said.

All three seasons make for a busy schedule, but help indi-viduals improve as an athlete. It has taught teamwork, fitness and work ethic.

“I’m in shape most of the year and it teaches me how to work hard in different areas,”

Moore said.Fitness for

one season has helped transfer over to others,

and has served as an unofficial workout plan.

“Football seems to help with being physical

in basketball. Basketball helps me stay in shape for

football,” Haberberger said.In the end, three-sport ath-

letes have learned the value of down time. This is a rare disci-pline these athletes have been able to learn. It will be a trait that follows with them forever.

LHS wrestling tourney hits 40Every January for the past 40 years, Lafayette has hosted the prestigious Varsity Wrestling Invitational Tournament.

Being the second oldest tournament in the St. Louis area after the Ritenour Tour-nament, it holds its share of history.

In 1968, Coach Fred Ross hosted the first tournament in a two-day format.

However, the format changed to a one-day style, al-lowing wrestlers to relieve the stress two full days of wres-tling brings.

“The goal is to get kids more matches,” Coach Scott Sissom said.

With the one day format, wrestlers can only wrestle a limited number of matches.

So, complying with the one day format, the wrestlers can wrestle a maximum of five matches per day.

The one thing that hasn’t

changed is the amount of work that resource teacher Jeannine Wesley puts into the tourna-ment. She has been helping out with the tournament since the very first one in 1968.

“We run the clock, score-board, or we supervise,” Wesley says. She helped with the hospitality rooms for the cheerleaders too. Now, schools leave the cheerleaders behind, but it seems Lafayette hasn’t stepped up to keep the cheer coming.

“A lot of kids used to come. They just don’t anymore,” Wesley said. “The Booster Club still sells shirts and stuff, but people just don’t seem in-terested.”

Aside from the cheerful spirit being gone, first year Athletic Director Steve Berry feels no new pressure to make this tournament a success.

At his former school, Ha-zelwood Central High School, Berry helped with two yearly wrestling tournaments held by

the school.Berry hopes to be able to

add two more teams to the tournament, but wants to see what it looks like before he makes any major changes.

Another setback of the tournament falls with senior Matt Brewer, who has a hurt back.

“We’re hoping that Brewer will be back for this tourna-ment, but we just don’t know,” Coach Scott Sissom said.

Although the tournament brings trials and changes, Sis-som still planned on seeing a great turnout.

“There are plenty of good wrestlers our guys will run into,” Sissom said.

At the tournament, Lafay-ette beat Warrenton, John Bur-roughs and Parkway Central, and then went on to beat Park-way West 314 to 212 to win the tournament.

Six varsity members won first place for a strong finish to the end of the tournament.

Double Duty

melaniehinzpeter[staff reporter]

Just ask Coach Todd Ga-bel and the girls swim-ming and diving team

about having the pressure that comes with trying to defend the State Title.

“We work hard every practice as if we didn’t win State last season,” Gabel said. “Our work ethic will stay the same and hopefully the girls will be back-to-back State champions.”

Gabel and the sophomore-powered team have entered this season with an unprecedented swag-ger.

Just look at their record: participating in five meets, the girls haven’t been challenged in any way, winning them all demandingly.

One of the more recent meets was the Park-way South Invitational. The event is a precursor to the State tournament, of which the girls have won several of in the past years.

Todd Gabel takes over as Lafayette’s coach after spending three years as an assistant under Coach Jean Chard and four years as the boys’ coach.

Gabel also coaches the Rockwood Swim Club (RSC), the club team that feeds the Lafayette pro-gram.

Many of the girls, including sophomores Ash-leigh Grammar, Jessi Holz, Shannon McCoy, Hannah Witzig and Sam Wright, swim not only for LHS swimming but also for Rockwood.

“Having Coach Gabel as a coach for both teams really helps us to feel more confident; there is just a sense of stability. Coach is very flexible and understands if we have to miss a practice or two. He even coaches us on a more personal level since we see him double the practices,” Wright said.

Being on Lafayette swimming carries a burden in itself, being so competitive and intense.

Without the added practice and meet time that RSC provides, the girls wouldn’t be at the level they are at when the actual season comes around every winter.

“Having only a three month school swimming season, the girls have to come prepared the first day of practice. The only way to be a state caliber swimmer is to swim year round,” Gabel said.

As Gabel enters his 19th season as an RSC coach, he has developed not only athletic rela-tionships, but personal ones, too.

“I have known Gabel since I was five years old. I can talk to him not only about becoming a better swimmer but also a better person,” Wright said.

Setting their eyes on State, preparation over the next couple of weeks will be pivotal in how the girls perform down the stretch.

Gabel’s well balanced and depth filled squad will carry them far during the playoffs.

“Gabel is an awesome coach who definitely has the ability to lead us back to another champi-onship,” Wright said.

The Lady Lancers head to Ladue on Jan. 31, with hopes of preparing well for Conference which ensues the following weekend.

austingoodman[staff reporter]

Many students choose to partake in a sport every season, allowing them eligibility for the Career Athlete Award The Lafayette hockey

team sits with a 9-8-1 record heading into their last two games against the Parkway South Patriots at Queeny Park, and the Marquette Mustangs at Chesterfield.

Despite the sub par record, the team is second in the stand-ings for the Mid State Suburban West Confer-ence, one win behind Marquette.

In the last game, the Lancers jumped out to an early 3-1. The game finished up 6-3 in an exciting high scoring win for the Lancers.

This season, the wins have come as heavily as the losses.

Since Dec. 6, the team has failed to put together a string of wins beyond three games, while most every loss has been fol-lowed by another loss.

Seniors Cameron Chinnery, Elliot Corwin and Dustin Kaminsky have stepped up to become the leading scorers for the Lancers.

Corwin is second in the Conference with an impressive 17 assists.

Senior Tim Acup and sophomore Ryan Wohlers have split time in front of the net. Wohlers has spent the majority however, resulting with a 5-4 record. Neither goalie has a shutout.

Freshman Michael Hunterbrinker has re-ally stepped up for the Lancers, leading the team in goals with 11.

The Lancers faced off against Parkway South yesterday.

Parkway South has scored more points than any team in the league this year.

Out of the top four scorers in the Confer-ence, three of the play-ers are from Parkway South.

The three leading scorers have produced 92 points for the Patriots.

bretthamlin[staff reporter]

insidelook[Hockey]

Coach Todd Gabel leads the Rockwood swim club, which serves as preparation for LHS

Super Bowl XLII

[sixteen] imagesports lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008]

It’s been nothing but a learning experience for Escadrille.

Along with the performances during halftime at the football and basketball games, the squad dances at competitions through-out the year.

Coached by Susan Glenn and Janie White-aker, the team began its season at the Lind-bergh Competition.

“The girls danced very well, but unfor-tunately didn’t place as well as they would have liked to,” White-aker said.

Sophomore Chelsea Nazaruk said, “The Lindbergh competition was more of a learning experience than a setback. Although we didn’t place well, we’re making sure that’s not the case at our next events.”

Senior leadership has played a huge role in how the girls have carried themselves throughout this season.

“Captains Sarah Lum and Alexa Peetz have provided some of the best leadership I have ever seen. They work so well together and fortunately it rubs off on the other mem-bers,” Whiteaker said.

“ I definitely have learned a lot, being a three year varsity dancer had given me an opportunity to use what the past captains have accomplished,” Lum said.

The team finishes out the year with two big events; the St. Charles Competition on Feb. 2 and the State tournament later on in February at Blue Springs High.

“We’re working real-ly hard on perfecting all the dances so we’ll do well at the St. Charles and State competitions. It’s tough but I’m sure the hard work will pay off,” Nazaruk said.

insidelook[Escadrille] Louie The Lancer:

The story behind the mascot, and the explanation for his unexpected hiatus“...A cry for school spirit.”

“People forgot about him...”Who is he? Well, that

“him” would be the mysteri-ous persona of Lafayette’s heralded mascot, Louie the Lancer.

Sans a name to fit the iden-tity, the man behind the mas-cot sure did have a lot to say pertaining to his recent return to form as Louie the Lancer.

He, the student who por-trays Louie and prefers to remain anonymous, said, “It was the fans, or lack there of,” as a reason to why Louie has returned.

Louie, who has recently returned from his two-year hiatus in which basketball games, while still entertain-ing, included a sense of bar-ren desolation and emptiness at the fact that there was no Louie to be found.

Louie’s official return took place on Dec. 14, when the Lancers made the trek down Clayton and Clarkson, and faced off in front of a sold out crowd against Marquette.

Ever since his re-establish-ment as a symbol for school spirit, he has shared a com-mon goal that many other mascots out there have pos-sessed.

“To act ridiculous, and draw students into the game; to add a little school spirit,” Louie said.

He is doing a job well done thus far.

Leading the high rise emo-tions with “mad dashes across the upper shelf,” anonymous said that the fans need to be prepared, because, “Louie has been practicing every day to make an attempt at a half time dunk.”

There happens to be much pride that’s packed behind these colossal attempts to draw the crowd back into the art of school spirit.

“I gain a great sense of self-achievement and pride to be a Lancer,” he said.

There may be some gener-al curiosity as to who exactly portrays the Lancer’s number one fan. You won’t find the answer here.

“I hope that nobody knows

the true identity of Louie, but some of my friends know,” Louie said.

Nonetheless, this ‘fan’ who goes out every home game and makes a fool of himself for the better of school spirit, is here, ev-ery day, walking the halls amongst the rest of us.

And while it may seem that his ridiculous antics are the product of a seemingly ill-prepared presentation, it’s actually quite the contrary.

“Monday, Wednesday and Friday I spend in the weight room doing physical training. There is also proper hydra-tion, consisting of Powerade and water,” he said. “I’d say about eight glasses the day before a game.”

Hopefully, Louie’s men-tality of, “you can never go over the top. [I] Push for something new and exciting every game,” will be enough for LHS fans to get back into the home games.

And, if one word can describe Louie, it would be, “Exhilarating. It really gets my adrenaline pumping.”

alexdavis[sports editor]

[Strutting School Spirit]Since Dec. 14, Louie the Lancer has been back and more pres-ent than ever as he has been leading the cheers and roars from the Lancer crowd. mikekurlowski

austingoodman[staff reporter]

Image sports reporters make picks for the 2008 NFL season’s Super Bowl XLII

NFC AFCG i a nt s VSPatriots

On paper...and in any kind of evidence that you can see, hear or touch, the Patriots are going to wallop the Giants. The Pats average 42.5 points when the temperature is above 70 degrees. The

Giants have been amazing through the year, but the Patriots are flirting with destiny.

alexdavis[sports editor]

j.p.bartmess[asst. sports editor]

bretthamlin[staff reporter]

ninawalters[staff reporter]

melaniehinzpeter[staff reporter]

austingoodman[staff reporter]

The Patriots may be called a dynasty, but the past says that dynasty means nothing when the Na-tional spotlight turns to the Pats. No one has ever gone 19-0. Why would they do it this year? Eli

Manning: Super Bowl MVP. Tom Brady: overrated.

Quite frankly, I’m getting sick of seeing the Patri-ots in the Superbowl. It’s time for an upset. The Giants have shown that they can come out on top in a head to head game, and its time for the un-

derdog to prove them-selves worthy against the Pats.

Just go back to 2001 when the Patriots were a 13 point underdog to the St. Louis Rams, a.k.a. The greatest Show on Turf. The Patriots bring in this years version of the ‘01 Rams and they will

end up the same way, losing by a last second, 48 yard field goal.

The combo of Tom Brady and Randy Moss proved to be phenomenal. Corey Webster and Sam Madison might not be able to put up as good of a fight as Al Harris and Chuck Woodson

would have; regardless, Laurence Maroney gives the Pats an unstop-pable triple threat. 19-0.

Because the Patriots are suppose to win, that puts pressure on them and so does having an unde-feated season on the line. For the Giants, they don’t have the pressure of going 19-0 weighting

down on them, and they played a good game against the Pats in the Meadowlands.

February 3rd • Glendale, Arizona

My Pick

My Pick

My Pick

My Pick

My Pick

My Pick

Patriots

Giants

Patriots

Giants

Giants

Giants

Wrestling1/25 @ Parkway South1/30 @ Marquette1/31 vs. Francis Howell2/8 - Districts2/15-16- State Tourna-ment

Girls Swimming1/31 @ Ladue2/7-8 - Conference Tournament

Boys Basketball1/26 vs. St. Charles1/29 @ Jennings1/30 vs. Washington2/1 vs. Oakville2/5 vs. Howell Central2/8 @ FOX2/12 @ Hazelwood Central2/13 @ Parkway South

Girls Basketball1/25 vs. Parkway South1/29 vs. Fort Zumwalt West2/1 vs. Oakville2/4 @ Parkway North2/5 vs. Parkway Central2/8 @ FOX2/12 @ Hazelwood Central2/15 @ St. Charles West

imagesports [seventeen]lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008]

2007-08 Record: 11-5The Lancers are right where they want to be, controlling the Suburban West, only trailed closely by an unde-feated Parkway South.

The squad had many quality Conference wins including teams like Confer-ence rival Marquette, Pinck-neyville (IL) and Jennings.

The team continues the season with many non conference games. Led by juniors Tyler Griffey (16.6ppg, 8.4rpg) and Will Kirksey (14.8ppg, 7.2rpg) the team focuses on its domi-nance in the paint aided by senior Tony Meier (11.3ppg, 5.7rpg).

Upcoming big games will include Jennings and the Conference finale against currently undefeated Park-way South.

2007-08 Record: 13-3The Lady Lancers are off to an undefeated 4-0 start in Suburban West Conference play.

Their new 1-3-1 defense, along with their man-to-man, has made the Lady Lancers the best defensive team in their Conference, holding teams to 38.7 points per game.

Junior Jessica Steinmetz leads the team in scoring (11.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg).

Senior Sami Dunger leads the team in assists (3 apg) and steals (2 spg).

They are currently ranked number five in the Post-Dispatch large school rankings.

They face number ten ranked Parkway South Patri-ots tonight at Lafayette.

2007-08 Record: 9-0Two weeks away from Con-ference and three weeks away from State, the girl’s team re-mains undefeated so far this season.

Along with winning all meets, they also have won the Parkway South Invitational and the Marquette Relays.

“We are doing good, and still training very hard for the rest of the year,” senior Amanda Grammar said.

As a whole the team is ex-celling, as well as individuals. On the Honor Roll is Aman-da and sophomores Ashleigh Grammar and Shannon Mc-Coy, who have the top three times for the 50 free-style.

Also on the Honor Roll in the top three for 100 back-stroke are sophomores Jessi Holz, McCoy, and Samantha Wright.

2007-08 Record: 6-1With the season coming to a close, the 6-1 varsity wrestling team looks for a strong finish to the end of their regular season.

The team finished third place at the Jefferson City Tournament, losing only to Jefferson City High School by a mere 5 points. Senior Robert Cotton and juniors Zach Hagy and Andrew Ole-jnik all placed second at the tournament.

After a 40 to 33 win against Fox on Jan. 17, the varsity team won the Lafay-ette Invitational Wrestling Tournament on Jan. 19.

Upcoming meets include Parkway South, Marquette and Francis Howell, with Districts starting on February 8 and the State tournament beginning on Feb. 15.

wrestling basketballbasketball swimminggirls boysgirls

Winter AdvisoryWinter sportsat a glance

ondeck[sports calendar]

Q: Who is Ashleigh Grammar?I am a sophomore swimmer

for Lafayette, but I also swim for the Rockwood Swim Club. I started swimming for Rockwood Swim Club when I was eight.

Q: How long has swimming been a part of your life? Why do you like it?

I’ve been swimming forever, and it has always been fun for me. I just love being in the water.

Q: Do you see yourself swimming in the future?I would love to swim in college.Q: How has this year been different from last year, as

many expected Lafayette to decline after losing Coach Jean Chard?

Almost all of us have had Coach [Todd] Gabel as a coach for Rockwood [Swim Club]. We all re-alized that we lost a great senior class and Coach Chard, so we knew we had to step up.

Q: How long have you known Coach Gabel?I’ve known Todd since I was about ten.Q: Has your sister had any effect on your swimming?Amanda has always been there supporting me

and talking to me when I’m not having a good race. She supports me the whole time.

bretthamlin[staff reporter]

Athlete Month:Ashleigh Grammar

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[Going Swimmingly]Sophomore Ashleigh Grammar receives this month’s “Athlete of the Month.” Grammar swims for RSC and LHS under Todd Gabel. [Photo courtesy of Amanda Grammar]

[eighteen] imagesports lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008]

They’re ripped and playing ‘hardball’: Let’s reveal itIt started with the Mesopotamian era. Then the Medieval era. Then the Enlightenment. Then the In-dustrial Revolution and the Cold War and Globalization. But now, we are in the midst of something entirely new and different: the Ste-roids era.

Ever since 2005, steroids and performance-enhancing drugs have become a banned substance for players to take in the MLB. Why?

Players were in their mid 30s and past their prime, but they still man-age to have their best seasons ever.

Playersa like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.

Each has broken Roger Maris’ homerun record over a span of four years, a record that previously stood for over 30 years.

Bonds jumped from 49 homeruns in 2000 to 73 in 2001. McGwire went from 58 in 1997 to 70 in 1998. And Sosa, in the same season as McGwire, went from 36 homeruns in 1997 to 66.

No player over the age of 35 previous to them has ever hit over 60 homeruns in the history of the MLB.

Looks like a red flag to me.Testing players for steroids has

become more stringent and with

the current release of the Mitchell report, even tougher poli-cies seem to be on the ho-rizon.

But is it solely the players’ fault that baseball has become the most maligned sport in the world?

I say no. Look at the MLB.The MLB started to use new

balls in the 1990s and early 2000s that caused a sudden increase in scoring.

This so called “Juiced Ball Theo-ry” caused balls to jump off the bat at a high velocity, causing longer hit balls and more homeruns.

Along with the new ball, the MLB called for all baseball orga-nizations to build more “Hitter Friendly” ballparks to replace them with “Pitcher Friendly” venues.

The fans would then pay more attention to the MLB due to the in-crease of scoring and homeruns.

The Commissioner of the MLB, Bud Selig, put together his own mathematical theorem: increase in homeruns = increase in fans = more money for the MLB.

So not only has the baseball play-

ers and the MLB tainted the sport, but now you can point your finger at the Commissioner.

Why did it take so long to put in a

policy? Did Selig not see what base-ball was coming to and where it was going?

Let’s just say it got to the point where the U.S. government had to take control. It’s about time some-one did.

The Mitchell Report is the worst thing to happen to baseball since the Pete Rose betting on baseball scandal and could be as infamous as the 1919 Chicago Black Sox scan-dal.

It is good to see that the biggest name on the report is seven time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens, a 45 year old pitcher who has retired and un-retired more times than Hillary Clinton has cried on television.

But none the less, this upcoming baseball season could be the most anticipated season ever and most closely watched by the Commis-sioner, MLB, and the U.S. govern-ment.

The question is will the players’ stop?

Unless the apocalypse is com-ing, players will continue injecting themselves with the only reason they made it into the big leagues.

With doctors telling them that there is a steroid that can be unde-tected and invisible whenever they have to pee in a cup, why stop?

But they are missing the point.It is not a matter if it is illegal or

not, it is a matter of life or death.Steroids increase the risk of

heart disease, strokes, and cancer.The players think that the risk is

worth it because the outcome could mean millions for them and their families.

Ask that to Ken Caminiti’s fam-ily.

Did they expect the former Na-tional League MVP back in 1996 to die from a drug that brought him fame and fortune?

Apparently he and all the others believe the game is better off with steroids in it.

But does it matter what they think?

This game is played for the fans. Fans have a say in baseball just like voters do in our democratic pro-cess. How do voters react to situa-tions they don’t agree with?

Take a stand!

Sports today: sit back, relax, and enjoy the scienceSteroids in Baseball.

Professional sports players; a.k.a professional entertainers, doing what is necessary (in their mind) to increase their game, or showing on the field.

By doing this, they impress own-ers, or employers, so the dollar sign on their contract is pushed as far to the left as possible. Sure, they are attaining their success unnaturally. But am I entertained?

That answer is yes.Let’s say for 100 percent fact

that Mark McGwire was using per-formance enhancers back in 1998. Now, as a result of his ‘unnatu-ral’ actions, I remember the game where the Ruth-tying ball soared over the fence; would I remember such an event had he not been in-jecting himself ?

Himself; not me. Himself.By players not using perfor-

mance enhancers, I ask myself, what do I gain?

I don’t know, maybe it’s due to my lukewarm status as a baseball fan. But my regards towards base-ball are still much higher than hock-ey—no offense, I just never have become a hardcore fan—and when

I think about steroid use in hockey, I stand opposed.

At least when a baseball player takes performance enhancers, the adversaries are just affected through an allotment of either decimals and percents, or W’s and L’s.

But, in a sport that is as physical as hockey, one such opponent could possibly suffer through an accumu-lated amount of broken bones, or even paralysis.

At this point, the usage of en-hancers is affecting someone else’s health.

And this is not me ragging on baseball for not being as physical as hockey. I have seen the clips on Sports Center where the runner’s blatant disregard for the catcher re-sults in a mild stampede at home.

However, on ice there is much more frequency in contact such as that. While you cannot stop the checks from being handily distrib-uted, you can regulate the bang be-hind the buck.

You can harm yourself as much as you want, just don’t let it affect those around you, because then you’re infringing on the others’ rights as a human.

And this is not me being a passive aggressive jerk; this is the constitution, plain and simple.

Now, sure, the pressure for baseball players to take steroids is much greater once they see their peer three lockers down get moved up because of his recent ‘medical’ prerogative.

But in the technology age, we as fans deserve the greatest entertain-ers that technology can give us.

So, as you see the way sports has changed over the past twenty years, you have to be aware that competi-tion within baseball will be promi-nent, and that’s also true for any facet of life.

Society’s bounds of competition, be it in school, any white collar job, or even in this case, baseball, have inevitably escalated, and will contin-ue to escalate along with the world around us.

The escalation of competition entails that some will find bigger and better ways to gain the edge over the other person.

Dieticians have calculated eating to an exact science. Weight training not only is freakishly impressive,

but is being calculated on comput-ers and observed scientifically. Fo-cusing on work-out and routines this way has changed the way that we look at fitness.

So, if you see the way that the game is evolving, with all the re-sources that modern medicine has provided for this society, I want to know how fans can: A, be sur-prised that players are using perfor-mance enhancers, and B, want for these performance enhancers to be banned.

Unless it affects the others around them through their health or legal rights, then it should be al-lowed, because I like home runs, and so does everyone else.

And the last time I checked, no baseball player has ever suffered a broken bone as a direct effect of another using this entertainment hormone. For existentialist belief, what they are doing is right.

Opposing Viewpoints: Steroids in Baseball

[ ]Thirdand

Foreveralexdavis

bigleaguesstats, standings

& stories[Cardinals

Rams

Blues

MizzouFootball

MizzouBasketball

After defeating Arkan-sas in the Cotton Bowl, 38-7, juniors Chase Coffman, Chase Daniel, Ziggy Hood, William Moore, and Stryker Sulak announced they will return next year. That means Mizzou will return 16 starters in 2008. They finished this season with a record of 12-2 and number four in the final AP poll.

The team is in a heated race for second place with four teams separated by only two points. Paul Kariya leads the team in points (42) and assists (30). Goalie Manny Legace(SV% .918). will be the lone Blues representative in the NHL All-Stars game.

Chris Carpenter started throwing off a mound after elbow surgery in July. Signed Rick Ankiel to a one-year deal worth $1 million. And they traded third base-man Scott Rolen for Toronto Blue Jays’ third baseman Troy Glaus.

Rams longtime owner, Georgia Frontiere died of breast cancer. She owned the franchise since 1979 and her son Chip looks to take over. Rams get rid of of-fensive coordinator and secondary and running backs coaches.

The Tigers lost to border rival Kansas 76-70 in which the Tigers shot 38 percent from the field. Senior Stefhon Hannah had 23 points and junior DeMarre Carroll had 12 rebounds. This ended the Tigers 13 game home win streak in front of the first sellout crowd at Mizzou Arena this year. The team looks to bounce back as they play at Colo-rado tomorrow.

]

Ellisville United Methodist

Youth Group Sundays: 5:00-5:30pm Dinner 5:30-6:30pm

Adam’s Book Club: Tuesdays 8:00-9:00pm Contact Adam (636)227-3592

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imageentertainment [nineteen]lafayette high school [jan. 25, 2008] facultyrecs

The Studio Salon &

Party CenterWe make little stars shine!

106 Chesterfield Towne CentreChesterfield, MO 63005

Phone: (636)536-7025www.studio-salon.com

Insideout Youth MinistrySundays @ 6pm

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(636)458-2989

courtneymcbay[staff reporter]

For this edition of the Image, we asked faculty members to recommend a few of their favorite things. Here is what they had to say:

Bands/Musical Artists:“I love Pete Yorn.

Pete played every instrument on his first album. If you get a chance to see Pete Yorn (he played live on the Levee and is often at the Pageant) you should totally go because his shows are amazing.”

-Mandy Kotraba, science teacher

Movies:“The thing I’ve been

watching more than anything lately has been episodes of The Office. Of course I’ve had to start watching the DVDs of Seasons One, Two and Three since there aren’t new episodes on right now. That has to be the funniest TV show I’ve ever watched. I also love a good comedy like Wedding Crashers and I usually enjoy any football movie.”

-Patricia Mabie, math teacher

Books:“Catch 22 by Joseph

Heller. [It is] a classic filled with great wit and humor but also an un-dercurrent of tragedy.”

-Steve Klawiter, social studies teacher

Restaurants:“Lemon Grass for

take out Chinese food, King and I for Thai... [and] City Diner for burger and fries and shakes.”

-Dawn Indelicato-Faw, language arts teacher

“Good Grief”

[Peanut Gallery]During rehearsal, Shannon Nicholson and Chip Pavlack lead the chorus in the opening number. The musical will be presented in the Commons on Feb. 7-9. [courtneymcbay]

Lupe Fiasco returns with the follow-up to his 2006 release “Food

and Liquor” with “The Cool.”On his latest, Fiasco utilizes sampled beats all

too usual to hip-hop, but also chooses to incorpo-rate complex instrumental melodies provided by synthesizer, piano and both acoustic and electric guitar riffs.

The result: a diverse ear-catching album with as much pop sensibility as hip-hop flow.

No doubt by now most have heard the album’s hit single “Superstar” with its sing-along worthy chorus and Lupe’s inventive prose. “Superstar “is a smart single, accurately displaying some of Fiasco’s best lyrical and melodic creativity from previous efforts.

This song, however, is only a hint at the com-plexity and downright catchiness that the latest album contains.

The musicianship, though most is truthfully sampled beats, is melodically sound and always worthy of a second listen. Fiasco’s near-masterful control of every beat, loop and melody in each of his 19 songs make this one of the best hip-hop albums to be released in the last several months, if not the last year.

“The Cool” shows a tremendous amount of

growth for Fiasco’ as an artist. Even those with nothing but utter contempt

for the hip-hop industry and the “gangsta rap” craze may find a handful of songs that they will enjoy if only for their excessive melody-driven choruses (for those in this category, suggestions would include the tracks “Hip Hop Saved My Life” and “Intruder Alert”).

One of the most notable aspects of “The Cool” is not its musical styling, but the subjects upon which Lupe chooses to focus in each track.

Fiasco takes great pride in reminding us of what hip-hop is and, more importantly, making a career of it has meant to him and what it can do to for all those involved.

On this album, he reflects heavily on trying to make it in the music scene to support a family and to help those he loves.

Fiasco is certainly a breath of fresh air when compared to other rappers of the now who dwell on sex, drugs and everything in-between.

The album’s one flaw seems to rest with its running time. The album comes in at a lengthy 71 minutes, only five or so of which is background noise or skits.

The long track listing can become extremely overbearing for those looking only for a casual listen.

“‘You’re a Good Man, C h a r l i e

Brown’ is about the day to day life of any average 5-year old,” sophomore Cory Clayman, who plays Schroeder in the upcoming musical, said. “Oh, the horror of preschool!”

The show is based on the comic strip “Peanuts” by Charles Schulz. The stage adaptation was written by Clark Gesner.

“There’s not a plot to ‘Charlie Brown’,” choir director Michele Rodgers, who directs the vocal as-pects of the musical, said. “It’s a compilation of different days Char-lie lives.”

The musical includes some of the themes from the Charlie Brown specials, such as “Be My Valen-tine, Charlie Brown” and “Charlie Brown’s All-Stars.”

The small cast includes lead ac-tors seniors Allison Krebs, Cassan-dra Michel, Shannon Nicholson and Chip Pavlack, and sophomores Cory Clayman and Luke Klein.

“It’s fun to act like a kid again,” Pavlack, who plays Linus, said.

Clayman and Pavlack said the small cast allows the actors to be a close-knit group. “We are a small family,” Pavlack said.

Instead of a traditional plot, sophomore David Adams, who is the assistant stage manager, said the musical is made of up of short

scenes following Charlie’s “everyday kid stuff,” such as baseball, flying kites, crushes and grades.

With one month left in the pro-duction process, Rodgers said the play is coming along well.

“Right now we’re just in the phase of trying to get everything done so we can move ahead.”

Adams said, “The cast seems to be getting along great, and the

musical numbers are looking very good.”

Because the new drama teacher, Kate Slovinski, did not arrive in time to participate in the production, there is no official director for the musical.

However, Rodgers said there are plenty of task-specified directors on the production.

“We do this as a team,” said Rodg-

ers about Pam Senti, choreographer; Brad Balog, orchestra pit director; Catherine Dantin, set constructor; Lori Sanders, costume designer; and Traci Bolton, who handles paper-work for the play.

“We just kind of divide up,” said Rodgers. “There’s a lot of stuff we do together so we don’t miss any-thing.”

Klein, who plays Charlie Brown, and Pavlack said although there is no theatre teacher directing the mu-sical, Rodgers and Senti are still the directors for this show.

“Rodgers and Senti are direc-tors,” Pavlack said. “They are a great team.”

According to Adams, not having a real plot makes not having an of-ficial director okay.

Clayman said because there is not one single director, each individual director can focus on his or her spe-cialties: Rodgers’ vocal expertise and Senti’s choreographic creativity.

“They [Senti and Rodgers] have worked on numerous musicals in the past and are very experienced in their craft,” said Klein. “They are awesome to work with.”

“It’s a funny story with wonder-ful music to accompany it,” Klein said. “Everyone should definitely see it.” “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” opens Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. and continues through Feb. 9 in the Commons.

Fiasco’s newest CD is his “Cool”est CDaaroncasias[entertainment editor]

Those who endure, however, will be well re-warded as the second act is far superior to the first with tracks like “Gold Watch,” “Intruder Alert” and “Hello Goodbye.” Fiasco’s lyrics have never been better than in this final act. His prose and stylish flow are borderline poetic; his messages always meaningful and cleverly crafted.

Certainly hip-hop for a more intelligent crowd, Fiasco’s “The Cool” inspires, entertains and never disappoints.

[“The Cool” Runnings]Lupe Fiasco’s “The Cool” CD heralds a new generation of intelligent hip-hop fans.

Theatre Company relies on teamwork

flagtheseThe Pageant

Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m.Killswitch Engage$24 Advance/$27 Door

Feb. 21 at 6:30 p.m.Brian Reagan$39.50

Creepy Crawl Jan. 28 at 7 p.m.Haste the Dayw/ Scary Kids Scaring Kids$17 Under 21/$15 21+

Feb. 1 at 7 p.m.Cobra Starship$16 Under 21/$14 21+

Feb. 9 at 5 p.m.Highland Circusw/ Mailbox Baseball

$11 Under 21/$8 21+

Pop’sJan. 26 at 7 p.m.Saosin$13.50 Advance/$15 Door

Feb. 6 at 7 p.m.Flogging Molly$22

Off BroadwayFeb. 13 at 8 p.m.Kevin Devine$10

New Releases

The Audition: Cham-pion CD

Jet Lag Gemini: Fire the Cannons CD

Saw IV DVD

The Game Plan DVD

In Theatres

Cloverfield

The Orphanage

27 Dresses

Coming Soon

Jan. 28The Mars Volta: The Bedlam in Goliath CD

Jan. 29Aqua Teen Hugner Force Vol. 5 DVD

Feb. 5Across the Universe DVD

Feb.12Bullet for My Valentine: Scream, Aim, Fire

Feb. 12Gone Baby Gone DVD

Feb. 12Into the Wild DVD

Feb. 19In the Valley of Elah DVD

Feb. 19Michael Clayton DVD

onArt

[info]tainment

Kelly Watts is a senior currently in AP Art Studio II. Watts has been pursuing her interest in art and drawing since the age of five, drawing pictures of Disney characters such as Pocahontas. Watts’ artistic ability has even helped her gain employment. She currently works as a sign artist at Trader Joe’s. In the future, Watts hopes to continue her art career by earning a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and pursuing a career in graphic design. Watts has been accepted to several universities but is still currently undecided. Concerning the inspiration for her work, Watts said, “I really like to paint faces and por-traits of people. I love doing eyes. That’s my favorite part.”

Artist portrays world through many faces

Friday, Jan. 25, 2008 [Vol. 39 Issue 5]

A great obstacle stands in between Lafayette bands

and the venues in which they play.On Jan. 2, the Missouri Depart-

ment of Transportation (MoDOT) closed down a substantial portion of Highway 40 for a major, year-long facelift.

All lanes of the highway will be shut down between Ballas Road and I-170 until New Year’s Eve 2008, at which point the newly paved high-way, with brand new overpasses, off-ramps and exits, will open once again to the public.

West County bands won’t neces-sarily be out of the high water after that date, however.

Once the new portion of the highway is opened, the stretch of highway from I-170 to Kingshigh-way will be shut down in the same fashion as the current portion. But, the loop will be relatively accessible from Highway 40 once the Ballas to I-170 part is reopened.

Until then, local bands and their supporters in the West County area must find new routes to venues such as Pop’s, the Creepy Crawl, Cicero’s and the Pageant.

University City developer Joe Edwards, who runs Blueberry Hill and The Pageant, both located in the Loop, believes the construction shouldn’t “affect touring or local bands at all,” because of a variety of routes.

Edwards, concert coordinator at both clubs, also noted “things have gone smoothly so far. I mean this week went really well; we really lived

up to the test.”Venues closer to downtown may

be affected even less. “The thing is our market is re-

ally not that much of West Coun-ty… and if those kids are going to come to a concert [at Pop’s], they’ll get here whether they take 70 or 44 or 55,” Pop’s Concert Coordinator Ryan Kelley said.

Despite potential delays, and extra time spent on detours, both Kelley and Edwards reported no planned changes in the starting or finishing times of their concerts.

However, the owners may not re-alize the hardships that face the local bands in the coming year.

It is usually the responsibility of the local bands themselves to sell a large number of tickets for their own shows, and the attendance at those shows usually depends upon how many people the bands can convince to buy tickets.

If those people are intimidated by the construction or unaware of alternate routes, they won’t buy the tickets and obvious problems arise.

“[Raising] Attendance for local shows is hard enough as it is. I think less and less people will be coming to local shows,” said senior Evan Cottrell of Highland Circus (for-merly Happy Hour). “I think it will eventually become a serious issue.”

Senior Steven LaCour, of La-fayette band Five Across the Face, agreed, saying “If I could just go straight down 40, I’d be where I need to be in about 20 or 25 min-utes, but I have to take a detour. Re-cently I’ve been getting off at Page

Ave. and just taking Page all the way down to Delmar. It’s cost me about 20 extra minutes depending on traf-fic. It’s just a pain.”

LaCour also reported having to leave 20-30 minutes earlier than usu-al for his four-a-week practices with Lafayette alum Scott Porter, Class of 2005, who is currently living in the Loop.

This has caused a strain on more than just LaCour’s schedule, he said. “I used to fill up after about a week and a couple days. Now I’m filling up in less than a week.”

Even after convincing people to attend a local show, there is the is-sue of informing potential attendees about alternate routes to locations that are close to the Highway 40 construction.

This becomes an issue when di-rections end up being incorrect, as LaCour and the rest of The Scott Porter Band discovered.

“We played [a show] in Sou-lard. The directions we gave people turned out to be wrong completely because there was further construc-tion on the exit you take; Jefferson. What we were trying to do,” LaCour said, “was get people to detour around Highway 40 and get off on Jefferson, but Jefferson is closed due to construction as well.”

LaCour said after recognizing the bands error in directions, they at-tempted to redirect everyone to yet another alternate route.

This, LaCour said, caused a great deal of frustration on the part of both the band and their friends.

Fortunately, there are several

possible alternate routes to get to the Delmar Loop and Washington; the sites of a majority of St. Louis’ concert venues. Clayton Road offers the most practical alternative, as it is actually marginally shorter in dis-tance than the Highway 40 route.

And, bands and concert-goers can also get to the Loop by taking Manchester Road to Skinker, which then directly feeds onto Delmar.

This option offers more lanes, and has a higher speed limit than the Clayton Road route, but is a little longer in distance.

The more adventuresome may even take the Clarkson/Olive route to Skinker, and then Delmar, which is the furthest route and has a rela-tively low speed limit.

The Highway 40 construction doesn’t spell out the end of days for West County bands, though.

Essentially, bands from Lafay-ette, and even their Rockwood and Parkway brethren, will live and die by their ability to draw their own crowds to shows in the coming months and years.

Of course, this was expected of them before the construction, but now it seems to effect, more than ever, whether they can survive in a competitive local music scene. These bands will face difficulties selling tickets to their friends and fans; who will be expected to go out of their way to see them play.

Bands that can’t sell enough tickets won’t get booked for shows. Small local shows- let’s face it- won’t draw large audiences. It’s a vicious cycle.

drewstiehl[staff reporter]

An Inconvenient RouteHighway construction poses problem for high school bands; venues endure