rogue news

October 21, 2009

Vol. IV Issue IIAshland, Oregon

Ashland seniors win national award

It’s no secret that our students are amongst the top in the nation, but it has now been officially confirmed. Last school year, two of our Ashland High School students were nominated by the teachers of our English Depart-ment to participate in a national writing contest. Out of 1800 high school juniors in the country, Jack Dempsey and Marie Keil, were selected in the top 540 of those students as outstanding writers, and only eight were from the state of Oregon. “It feels pretty good to win,” Marie Keil said. “It’s a real testament to the teaching at AHS that two out of the eight total winners in Oregon are from Ashland.” The route to victory began when the English teach-ers nominated Jack and Marie. According to the contest rules, the number of nominees from each school is based on the school’s total enrollment in grades 10 through 12: one nominee for five-hundred students. Each high school selects it’s own nominee or nominees: the English

department agreed two juniors. “The English teachers got together to go through student’s writing portfolios,” English Department Chairperson Leeanne Wallace said. “Those were the two who we felt could best repre-sent our school.” In order to enter the contest, both Jack and Marie had to submit a copy of their choice of a paper that they had already written for school. Once submitted, they then had to at-tend a proctored seventy-five minute session and write a paper on either an expository or narrative prompt. Ashland High School was the only school involved in the contest to have more than one winner from their school. The deadline for the 2010 contest is in February, so if you are a junior this year, you still have a chance to qualify for the NCTE contest.

by Paul Schwarzer

Photo by Grace Riley-AdamsJack Dempsey and Marie Keil, NCTE essay winners

For high school and college students in the United States, there are few things with such traditional significance and rec-ognition as Homecoming. The event dates back to the year 1891 when the University of Missouri invited their alumni to “come home” for a special football game against the school’s rivals from the University of Kansas. The school’s alumni were celebrated with parades and pep rallies much like the Homecomings of today. While the event is no lon-ger centered around the return of former students, Ashland High School’s Homecoming has long been a single week dedicated to student activi-ties, a football game and, of course, a dance. That is, until this year. As everyone is sure to have noticed, this year’s Homecoming has been less than traditional and, of course, the rumor mill has been go-ing at full speed in order to fill the void of a full and complete story. So, the question is, what exactly happened to homecom-ing? Well, it is best we begin at the beginning. At the end of last school year the planning procedures for 2009’s Homecoming began as they normally do. The date was selected and Ashland Leader-ship started working on reserv-ing SOU’s Britt Ballroom, the usual location for the dance. However, a communication breakdown between the high

school and the university caused the space to be reserved for a date other than the planned weekend of October 3. Now, at the end of the sum-mer, Leadership was faced with the task of finding a solution. Junior Class President Dante Toppo hatched the inventive idea of holding the dance in a 60 foot dome provided by a locally owned company. Scrambling against the clock in order to have preparations ready by the earliest

homecoming date in his-tory, Leadership announced that the dance, now affectionately re-ferred to as “Domecoming,” was to be held on the practice foot-ball field. Under the assumption that things would run smoothly from here on out, Leadership waited until a week before the scheduled date to clear the spe-cific logistics of the dance with AHS administration. Much to

their dismay, Ashland School District Maintenance Board vetoed the plan on the grounds that the weight of the crane re-quired for the construction of the dome could cause several thousand dollars in damage to the track that lines the perimeter of the field. Now faced with a week to com-

pletely reconfigure their plans, Leadership managed to move the dance to the baseball field across Mountain Street from

the school but was unable to do it in time. They were then left with no

choice but to postpone the dance to two weeks

from the original date. Meanwhile, homecom-

ing festivities carried on as usual until the eve of the an-

nual Powder-puff competi-tion. An unlucky rain storm

forced the athletic department to postpone the event into the

next week lest the muddy foot-ball field be decimated by the volleyball and football players. Yet another homecoming event was forced out of the actual homecoming week itself. As the new October 17th date of the dance approached Leadership was faced with yet another obstacle: a 40 percent chance of rain showers on the upcoming Saturday. That week Student Body Co-President, Ben Small, via intercom, then delivered a morose address to the school, declaring that homecom-ing would not in fact occur in a dome, but in Britt Ballroom as usual. And finally, as if this per-fect storm couldn’t become any more perfect, Principal Schlect confirmed rumors first thing Fri-day morning that due to a rapid spike in H1N1 cases at AHS, homecoming is to be postponed indefinitely.

There’s no place like homecomingby Lucas Opegenorth

See Homecoming Pg. 6

To read their essays go to roguenews.net

As of late, most of the stu-dent body seems to believe the school will shut down because of the dreaded Swine Flu (or H1N1 virus as Mrs. Wallace would have it). But before you throw down your studying caps and abandon your books, you better keep reading. As a member of the stu-dent body, I was pushed into believing the myth in the hopes of another “va-cation”, as inhumane as that sounds. So I went in search of the answer to the question: does this illusive number exist? Once I had

succumbed to this realiza-tion that you might be feel-ing now, I felt the need to exploit the myth for what it really was; a myth. My first stop was Jeff Schlecht, who was unfortunately unavail-able, but I found the answer with none other than our own Director of Student Services, Samuel Bogdan-ove at the District Office. When I asked whether or not this myth was true, Bogdanove replied: “It’s not true. Basically there is no magic number of sick students required to close the .school.” Bogdanove

went further to tell me that the school reports the numbers of ill students and staff and account for health actions. The district then decides if it is best to close or not. Most likely the case is to stay open. This is due to the fact that the Center of Disease Control (CDC) is advocating to not close down schools based on their own numbers, but the numbers of the district and the county as well Then again, there is a bit of truth in the lies, if you will, that if the sickness is grow-ing at a rapid rate within

the school itself, there would be the question of closing in the air. But this doesn’t mean that all of you Typhoid Mary’s should go and cough on all of you friends. You will still have to come to school. Maybe.

October 21, 2009 Rogue News

Ashland High School’s Key Club is opening a new door of exciting Hal-loween fun for the whole community to share. The Key Club and Ashland School District have teamed up to present the First Annual Ashland Hallow-een Fun Run or “Monster Dash.” It is an opportunity to show-off a creative Halloween costume as well as sprint, jog, or walk in a 5 K course around a beautiful autumn Ashland. Though the Monster Dash has happened before, this year it will reach a new level, by becoming an official and widely publicized fundraiser for Ash-land Public School The 5 K run will start at the Ashland Community Center at 2:00 pm on October 31st, Halloween Day. There will also be an optional 1-mile run/walk route beginning at 2:10 p.m. Ideally completing the race at 3:15, ending up back at the Ashland Com-munity Center, the runners will be able to march in the annual Ashland Hal-loween parade. Following the parade, over 2,000 dollars worth of awards and prizes will be given away to the dashers with the best Halloween costumes and in the top of their race category. So come join this extravaganza! Register now at Rogue Valley Runners (downtown) or visit their website at http://ashlandkiwanismonsterdash.com/.

It’s the Monster Dash by Erin Keoppen

Illustration By Jesse Horrell

by Taylor Patterson

Mark Doty Comes to Ashland

photo by Mark Lacy

Bustin’ the Myth The Chautauqua Poets and Writers are known for bringing esteemed literary art-ists to Ashland High School each year. Last year, Li Young Lee wowed us with his inspiring pres-ence and poetry and even taught a student workshop. This year is guaranteed to be equally amazing. On October 29, the Chautauqua Po-ets and Writers will host Mark Doty, an award- winning poet, at the Mountain Av-enue Theatre. Doty was the first Ameri-can poet to win the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry and his last book Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems won the 2008 National Book Award for poetry. Doors open at 7:00 and the reading begins at 7:30. Tickets are avaliable at Bloomsberry Books, Bookwagon, Nimbus, and Grilla Bites in Ashland.

Admission is $25.00 for patrons, $15.00 for general admission and $12.00 for AHS students with a stu-dent I.D. A workshop taught by Doty himself will be offered the next morning to Ashland High School students.

by Anna Hume

In today’s economy few of us have indulgent amounts of money to give or to spend. At the other end of the wealth spectrum are those in need with nothing to spend at all. It makes for a bad combination for those of us

who are compassionate, but don’t always have a chunk of change to spare. It seems that every time teenagers and adults alike walk by the Starbucks down town, or stroll though the plaza, men and women of a range of ages in need of some extra change embrace us. “Why are they asking kids?” Ju-

nior, Angelica Florio said. It is the age-old generalization that “homeless” people are simply lazy and trying to take advantage of the system. But this is not always the case. The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty estimates between 2.3 and 3.5 million people experience homelessness annually in the United States. These are citizens that come from a va-riety of backgrounds and have a multitude of reasons for being on the streets. Yet for your average Joe, it can get pretty irritating to asked for money by the “needy” every time you turn a corner in the city of Ashland. Angel Garcia, a man who understands the hard life first hand said, “There are no shelters in the Rogue Val-ley, that’s why everyone goes down town… Ashland pro-vides no established stable homeless shelters.” According to Garcia, many of the homeless in Ashland are 30 and under, “[Ashland is] one of the safest home-less communities I’ve ever seen… the really hardcore

druggies you don’t actually see on the street.” Many of these people we categorize as bums or tran-sients have lead very different lives than the majority of Ashland, while having the same needs that the rest of us to. Something to keep in mind is that everyone on the street has a story as to tell as to why they’ve been forced into street life. “It [homelessness] is an increasing issue in Ashland, especially within these past few months. It can also hurt tourism,” Junior Tanner Herbert said on the matter. Though there is a serious lack of venues for the home-less to go in Ashland, there are a few resources that have recently come about. On Mondays from 8:30-10:00 there is a weekly feed at the Congregational Church, on Siskiyou Blvd. On Wednesdays from 2:00 to 5:00 at Pioneer Hall on Winburn Way, there is another weekly feed/hang out. More programs like these could quickly reduce loitering. What Garcia most wants to convey to the public is, “People are not born homeless. Circumstances out of ones control can lead to homelessness,” Garcia said. This is a valid point to consider. At the end of the day with all statistics and opinions in mind the honorable thing to do is to give. The necessities for homeless are the following: some kind of pre-pack-aged or bulk food, a jacket, sleeping bag, or flashlight if your not sure what your spare change is going towards. The best advice is to use sound judgment and hold a bal-anced perspective.


Schwizerdütsch: a native speaker

I should have warned my friend when he left for Switzerland on a semester exchange program at the Music Conservatoire in Bern. The same day he arrived, I received a text message: “Swiss people speak German like sav-ages!” My friend had hoped to improve his German skills, now he will have to be careful not to loose them. Evidently, Swiss-German is not the tame High-German spo-ken in Germany and taught in schools internationally. Schwiz-erdütsch, i.e. Swiss-German, is

an Allemanic dialect, based on the German language. However, in the spoken dialect, the Swiss corrupt the vowels, contort the umlauts -ü,ö,ä,- add or cut out letters, and alter the syntax. With everything thrown together in a large linguistic cooking pot, you end up with a soup that has no recipe—there is no formal writ-ten Swiss German. The Swiss people read, write and watch television mainly in High- German, which they learn and practice in school. That is, in the German speaking part. The little country, which is divided into 26 districts which are called a canton, is centrally located in

the midst of four European pow-er nations; Germany, France, Italy and Austria. The Swiss bor-der regions often had to adapt

to the language of a neighbor, whenever a foreign government occupied these regions. Thus, Switzerland is known for having four state languages; Italian, spoken in the Tessin

which is bordering Italy; French, which is spoken in the Roman-dy; German, spoken in central and northern Switzerland, and Romansch, surviving in a small mountainous part in the canton Graubuenden. Romansh is a language very closely related to Latin, and is a linguistic remind-er of Roman occupation 2000 years ago. Each of the cantons speaking the Allemanic dialect has a dis-tinctive way of spicing the soup, and there is some controversy as to the ‘best tasting’ variation. This summer I met a group of girls from Switzerland visiting California. I was exited to speak

with them the funny language I grew up with. When I told them I am from Basel, I received an immediate response: “Yes, we can hear it.” Basel is only a hun-dred miles from St. Gallen. How can a country of roughly 7 million inhabitants with four different tongues and many vari-ations among them get anything done? Perhaps it is exactly due to the difficult communication process, that we do everything thoroughly, precisely and some-times a bit slowly.

by Ellie Schaer

GermanRomanschItalianFrench

To give, or not to giveby Elizabeth Swarttouw

“[Ashland is] one of the safest home-less communities I’ve ever seen...”

AHS is offering some innovative new clubs looking for enthusiastic new members!

How to create your own club

Sure, the AHS Cycle Club is noDumbledore’sArmy,andcan’treallyteachyouaPatronuscharmbutthey’restillaprettylivelybunch.TheCycleClubradiatesasenseofpride,and a sense of integrity. They encourage allmemberstobiketoschoolatleastthreetimesaweek;thinkaboutit--that’slessthanfive!It’sac-tuallyfuntoo.TheCycleClubgoesonweeklylunchridesandweekendtripsalloverthevalleywhileadvocatingtheuseofhelmets.Meetings(withFREEfood)areheldonFridaysatlunchinroom203(Mr.McKinnon’sclass). Cycle Club is a great way to trim offthose pesky love handles, promote an Earth-friendlywayoflife,andhaveablastwhiledoingso.Getyourdailydoseofexerciseandjointheclub!Bringyourbikebuddiestoroom203dur-inglunchonFridaystolearnmore.Theydon’thavethoseniftylittlegalleonstotellyouaboutmeetingandlocationchangessoremembertolistentotheannouncements!Roadbikesonly!

1. Come up with your club idea.2. Contact Reed Sorenson, head of leadership and club master. 3. Fill out the sheet.4. Ask one of our supportive AHS staff mem-bers to sponsor your club.5. Choose a day and place for your club to meet.6. Turn in your required paper work and start clubbing! Good luck potential clubbers, and re-member, any passion or interest can be turned into a club!

G CC: Global Citizens CorpsAcademic Scavenger HuntTheatre ClubBrain BowlChristian Fellowship ClubDrama ClubKey ClubMath Honor Society (Mu Alpha Theta)Model United NationsNational Honor SocietyPeer JuryInteract ClubKey ClubGSA: Gay Straight Alliance

ClubsatAshlandHighSchoolaren’tjustforextracurricularover-achievers;theycanalsobeanoutlettounwind.TheMeditationClubfoundedbyJunaSmithandCalPoppprovidesaweeklyreleaseforAHSstudents.SmithandPopp’sgoalwhencreatingtheclubwastohaveaplace where stressed out students can take a moment for themselvesandprocessthelittledetailsofourdailylivesatAHS.Meditationisanidealsystemtorelievethemindandbodyofstressesthatwehavecon-sciouslyandevensubconsciously.Meditationcanenableonetorelaxandgainperspective.SotakeabreatherandstopbyeveryWednesdayatlunch.

Cycle Club

Meditation Club

DidyouknowthatJuliaRobertsandBrookeShieldsareavidknitters?EvenactorRussellCrowehasjoinedthelatestknittingcraze.Overthelastfewyearsknittinghasgainedpopularity,appearinginmovies,airplanesandwaitingrooms.Thanksto2009graduate,CaitlinWilliams,whorevivedtheKnitWitsclublastyear,theopportunitytolearnhowtoknitisreadilyavailableatAHS.TheclubmeetseveryThursdayatlunchinTheatreRoom18.KnitWitsistheperfectplacetogainknowledgeofhowtomakeahatortradepatterns andusetheabundanceofsuppliesoffered.Anyoneand everyoneiswelcome,socomeandjoinusthisThursday!

Knit Wits



Meditation Club



Meditation Club


Le Club Francais is rein-vigoratedandkeen toexpand in thecomingyear.It’saplacewhereallFrenchspeakersandenthusiastsarewelcome.Theclubaimstocelebrate French culture andenjoy fabulous French cuisineonaregularbasis.Theyarealsohopingtoputan internationalspinontheclubbyhostingexchangestu-dents and multicultural communitymembers. Upcoming events includemakingGalettes(atraditionalFrenchpie)andwatchingFrenchfilms.TheywillalsotrytoutilizeourFrenchskillsfor our club conversations! Checkthem out on Facebook (Le-ClubFrançais)orjuststopbyameetinginMadameHealey’sroom,H-28.


French Club

Meditation Club

Onanygivenday,wefindourselveswaterboardedinoceanofnoise.Butwhatifsomeofuscouldbreakoutofthisauditoryprison?That’sexactlywhatRaffertySwinkandhisfellowJazzAppreciationClub( JAC)membershavedone.“Ourpurposeissimple.GetJACkeduponallthefunky,bluesy,andpolyrhythmicrhythmslefttousbyourjazzforefathers.Liberateourselvesfromthemonotonousandmundanesoundsoftheeverydayworld.Andlastly,educatetheuninformedmasseswhogo,likesheep,throughlifewithouthearingtheharmonioussoundsofTheloniousMonk,bathinginthefunkedupvibesofJohnColtrane,orwitnessingtheBirthofCool,”saidPresidentandFounderRaffertySwink. JazzAppreciationClubwasfoundedbyavidmusicianRaffertySwinkinSeptember2008.EveryotherFriday,JazzfanaticsgatherinthebandroominLincolntodiscussandlistentoJazzmusic.“IthinkJazzAppreciationClubisanimportantpartofAHS’studentorganiza-tionsbecauseitexploresandraisesawarenessaboutmusicalheritage,”Swinkstated.Theclubhashadaroughtimethisyear,duetobeingunderfunded,howeverSwinkplansonhavingmanynewmembersandincreasedparticipationthisyear.Theclubwillcontinuetohavethemedmonths,suchasFreeJazzFebruaryandJohnColtraneJanuary,andthisyear,itmayevenshowjazzmoviessuchasSpace is the Place.Butoneofthebiggestprioritiesoftheclubisattendingshows.Membersoftheclubenjoyattendingconcertstogether.InNovember2008,someofthememberswereabletoseeexperimentaljazztrioMedeskiMartin&WoodinEugene.Swinksaidthatoneoftheclub’sgoalsistotraveluptothePortlandJazzFestivalinlateFebruary. TheclubhasavastarrayofmusicalinterestsfoundedinjazzrangingfromtraditionalartistssuchasTheloniousMonktomorepro-gressivemusicianslikeRoyHargrove.Lastyear,therewasevenameetingfocusedonJazzHopgroupssuchasTheRootsandATribeCalledQuest.Forenthusiastsinterestedinjoiningthiselitegroup,staytunedtothemorningannouncementstofindoutwhenthenextmeetingwillbe.

Jazz Appreciation Club

Writers:CycleClub-ArthurLawniczak&SmithFreeman;KnitWits-GraceRiley-Adams;FrenchClub-EllaRiley-Adams;MeditationClub-ElleSwarttouw;JazzAppreciationClub-JakeGavin

Photos by Sophie Thurston & Grace Riley-Adams


It’s that time of year again, folks. The trees are beginning to don their fiery autumn colors and our first school dance is nothing but dust in the wind. With the passing of this dance, I hope to witness the passing of a heinous social norm. The con-straints of our long overdue societal traditions should no longer obligate the gentleman to ask the lady to the dance. In the words of Bob Dylan, “the times they are a-changin’.” The female students at Ashland High School need to take some initiative and start asking the guys. During medieval times, when chivalry was in style, women were viewed as helpless and delicate creatures. By refusing to ask guys to dances, you are propagating the im-age of the dependant woman always waiting on man. Feminists have been fighting the good fight for hun-dreds of years and this is how you re-pay them? Just as Susan B. Anthony is about to cast the one true ring of male oppression into the fiery pits of Mount Doom, you sneak up from behind and bite her finger off. In addition to your moral duty of upholding the rights of wom-en, there is the matter of common courtesy. As you sit on your gilded throne of womanly power, you may not realize the plight of the average, date seeking male. It’s not easy ask-

ing one of you out. We are forced to be clever and unique. If a guy simply went up to a prospective date and asked, “Wanna go to the dance with me?” he would just be another un-memorable, mundane guy. It takes a lot of time and effort to put together a scavenger hunt or spell out “prom?” with tennis balls. If you ask me, it’s time for the girls to try thinking of their own clever ideas. Plus, the time that us guys have to spend thinking, is time that could have been used for much more manly activities like eating nails and punching brick walls. Also, it’s not right that guys can get rejected and girls can’t. Ryan Mills, a junior at AHS, offered his opinion on the matter: “Every guys wants to be asked out by a popular girl, but every guy dreams about re-jecting said girl.” I believe most of my male counterparts will agree that being rejected is a humbling experi-ence that needs to be shared amongst the sexes. Finally, I hope that what I’ve said will one day lead to the eventual reversal of the tyrannical laws of chivalry. More importantly, I hope the opinions and knowledge I have shared will help lead you in your quest for honesty and truth. A path which undoubtedly ends thousands of miles away from Wilder.

Chivalry challenge by Wynn Michael

Chivalry: a little word that used to mean something to the American people, used to mean something to the students of Ashland High School. Well let me tell you something about chivalry; it isn’t just some passing trend, it isn’t something that can be cast aside when it becomes too “burdensome.” So, my friends, you can understand why I couldn’t help but chuckle when the idea was in-troduced to me that, in school dance related situations, the female should ask the male. First of all, there’s the matter of tradition. You can’t just overturn hundreds of years of precedent on a passing whim. Picture this, fellows: you’ve always asked girls to dances, ever since you’d been attending dances; you’d been cordially inviting ladies to accompany you. One day, a young lady comes up to you and says, “I say, why not let me take you to Homecoming?” Well I say, why not spit on the Liberty Bell? Now then, we come to the issue of courage, the issue of man-hood itself. It’s considered a rite of passage in many high schools for a young man to ask a young woman to a hoedown, a sort of commence-ment from boyhood to manhood. When asked about the feeling one gets after asking, and subsequently

being accepted by, a girl to a dance, Noah Kass, Ashland High School Mr. Grizz and all around good guy, replied, “It felt like a weight be-ing lifted off my chest, almost like I could fly.” Ahh yes, love lifts us up where we belong. Except when it’s shoved down our throats. And finally, there’s the dis-appointment at not being asked by the right girl. That’s right, I said it. There’s something honorable about the epic (and unseen) competition, which ensues before any school dance amongst the boys in order to ask that perfect girl, for that perfect night. And, inversely, something slightly unmanning about having to watch your friend take your jewel, while you sit on the sidelines having already accepted the hand of some over-eager young dame, and a slight-ly less perfect night. So ladies, back off a little and give us a chance to ask you, it may not be two weeks before the dance, but we’ll get it done. And men, step-up, do your part, don’t make her upset the laws of chivalry, just ask already. We’ll all feel better. And most of all don’t fall prey to the new-fangled and heretical ideas of my co-columnist, change we may be able to believe in, but tradition we can stand on.

by Wilder Schaaf

Homecoming continued from pg. 1

As can be expected, this con-voluted situation has caused AHS Leadership to become the subject of much criticism from the student body. “We are not to blame,” insists Co-President Small. “It may have been a little rocky, but I am confident that we made the best decisions we could have made given the situations we were presented with and the time

constraints we had” So, ultimately, what do the stu-dents and staff members of Ash-land High School think about the unintentional amendments that were made to the traditional homecoming formula? Football Coach Charlie Hall didn’t mind not having to battle the dance for the focus and attention of his players. “Homecoming is a great tradition but it has potential for a lot of distractions.” He said, explaining why he chose to set the homecoming event around a non-conference game.

Other staff members feel as though the dis-jointed nature of this year’s event detracted from the unified feeling that homecom-ing is supposed to have. But what about the fresh-men

who were bubbling with excite-ment for their first experience of Grizzly Pride and their first big formal dance? “I don’t really care” commented Freshman Erin Foley who has so far been mostly unfazed by this year’s homecom-ing ordeal. Sophomore Ari Hunter feels similarly “Homecoming is fun but it will happen eventually. And even if it doesn’t, there are other dances.” Mr. Schlect, on the other hand is a little less indiffer-ent, “We’re all disappointed be-cause we’re used to having every-thing in one week. It’s frustrating but these things just happen.” he lamented. Some, however, were just happy to be along for the ride that this extended comedy of errors provided. Sophomore Cal Popp explains it thusly, “Last year’s Homecoming was more put together but it was kind of bland. This year was much more exciting.” Well said Mr. Popp, well said.

Editorial BoardEditors-in-Chief............Anna Hume, Arthur Lawniczak, Ella Riley-Adams...............................................................................................Jackson SanteeFront Page Editor..............................................................Arthur LawniczakNews Editor..............................................................................AJ BottimoreFeature Editor......................................................................Taylor PattersonIn-Depth Editors...............................................Anna Hume, Hannah SaylesOpinion Editor...................................................................Ella Riley-AdamsFeature 2 Editor........................................................................Sadie SheltonBackpage Editor............................................Mason Costantino, Niki SmallPhotography Editor........................................................Grace Riley-AdamsManaging Editor......................................................................Adam PavlichChief Designer.......................................................................Hannah SaylesProduction Manager....................................................................Jesse SmithBusiness Manager…….…..…..................................................Heather Case

Too old to trick-or-treat?

Mexico:

October 31 is the beginning of a three-day period of celebration, as it is followed by El Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead), a commemoration of the deceased that has roots in both the Roman Catholic tradition and in the mythologies of various indig-enous peoples who once inhabited Mexico, including the Aztecs and Olmecs.

Japan: In Japan, people participate in the Bon festival, which takes

place during the summer. The festival comes from a custom

in Japanese Buddhism. Lanterns are strung up to guide the

spirits of the departed, and at the end of the festival, they are

lit up and floated downstream. An important part of the cel-

ebration is the Bon Odori (Bon dance), a dance used to show

one’s appreciation for his or her ancestors.

England:

Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated every year on November 5.

Guy Fawkes was a member of a radical Catholic group and

opposed the reign of King James; in order to strike at what

he considered the oppression of the English Catholic

minority, Fawkes attempted to blow up Parliament while

the entire English nobility was in session. Today, effigies

of Guy Fawkes are burned all over England to celebrate

the day of his execution.


The modern holiday of Halloween has origins in many different cultures and earlier customs, includ-ing the Catholic holiday of All Saints’ Day and the Celtic festival of Samhain. The former honors the souls of those who have entered heaven, while the latter was a harvest festival that occurred between October 31 and November 1, and was thought to mark a time when the world of the dead came close to that of the living. There are many similar or related events held every year around the globe.

by Jack Dempsey

We all know the routine: traipse out to Qui-et Village in disguise, knock on the door and utter the fateful words, (“trick or treat!”) then expect a handful of candy from an enthusiastic adult. Halloween is an age-old American tradi-tion that children relish every October. Now that we’re growing up, the question begs to be asked: How old is too old when it comes to trick-or-treating? Some will say the old adage applies in this situation: you’re never too old! “It’s candy, and everyone likes candy,” junior Sophie Javna said, “You can be rude about it or you can partici-pate in a positive way.” AHS parent Laura Winters agrees, “As long as teens aren’t pushing the little ones over to get to the door, I think it’s great when older kids trick-or-treat. I draw the line when parents try to get candy.” At the same time, many teenagers are sim-

ply “over” trick-or-treating, and prefer to spend the evening downtown with the crowds of merrymakers. Sometimes, adults who answer the door refuse to “treat” high schoolers who attempt to ask for sweets, especially if they’re without care or costume. “They can get candy from me as long as they’re not dressed up as themselves, freeloading hooligans,” AHS par-ent Michael Hume said. “My mom won’t let me trick-or-treat any-more,” laments junior Laurel Ransom, “She says I’m too old and that people don’t buy can-dy for kids my age.” As long as teens don’t abuse the privilege, our age should not be met with disdain, as if we’ve committed some act of social disgrace by gleefully shouting “TRICK OR TREAT?!” when a grown-up opens their Halloween door. Holidays are for everyone; Halloween is no ex-ception.

by Ella Riley-Adams

Illustration by Hannah Sayles.

The State of Jefferson

Photos taken by Sophie Thurston and Zoe Newland

by Angus Stewart

On Saturday October 18, Ashland once again hosted the annual state of Jefferson run through Lithia Park. JV and Varsity teams from 30 schools competed in the 5000-meter cross-country meet. Despite being crippled by sickness both the Ashland girls and boys varsity teams claimed second in the meet. Senior Wilder Schaaf won the race with a course record setting time of 16:05.29. Camelia Mayfield paced the girls with a fifth place finish covering the course in 20:14.61. With all the effort coach Bob Julian Jr. put into making the meet a success, it was rewarding to see the Grizzly runners produce solid results.

State of Jefferson runners leaping off from the starting line.

Dana Greenblatt, Sarah Britting, Marshall, Alex Kiesling, Camelia Mayfield, Megan Ganim, Hanna Ewing. The Ashland girls celebrating with a group hug.

Jacob Laurence-Thorpe between two Mazama runners.

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