Eagan IndependentVolume 5, Issue 3 Eagan High School | 4185 Braddock Trail | Eagan, MN 55123 DECEMBER 8, 2009

This year, Eagan’s sig-nature musical variety show packs all of its usual flair and splendor into a beautifully-crafted holiday theme. Every-thing from the dancing and singing practices to the band rehearsals ensure that this year’s show will uphold the precedent of high standards for our renowned theater department.

As for the performance, “Winter(E)scape” follows a loosely woven holiday motif marked by six different sets. These sets include the themes of winter, Hanukkah, holiday TV and movie specials, Santa Claus, the Nutcracker Ballet; and lastly, traditional Christ-mas songs. The performance was crafted from precedents set by similar past shows and suggestions of what others would like to see, includ-ing the use of different song versions courtesy of music department staff members Mr. Miska and Mr. Schafer.

As stated by two-time Encore director Mr. Melchior, the holidays are a time of hope and renewal, and this year’s performance is about “[finding] a way to renew oneself.”

According to dancer Ra-chel Graff, junior, “The show is not just about Christmas; it blends all holidays. It’s for different groups and it’s more accessible to all ages.”

Junior Lauren Stopfer, another dancer says, “[The show] is really good for families. It has a really festive theme.”

The production features key holiday numbers encom-

passing ev-erything from “Jingle Bells” to “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” Other pop classics include the theme from “Linus & Lucy” and “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”

Among other musi-cal attractions of “Winter(E)scape” include “Santa Baby”, sung by senior Lauren Draves in her first vocal solo of an Encore performance. As a senior and four-year Encore veteran, Draves sings and dances in the show, stating that she is both “really excited and nervous” for her solo number.

Still other mentionable vocal performers include ju-niors Kelley Lokensgard and Robert Knapp and seniors Javier Ferreira and Ty Trainer as soloists in the final musi-cal number “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”

All of the awe and talent of this theater produc-tion is set amid the surround-ings of winter scenery, built in only ten days courtesy of Encore’s tech crew. According to senior stage manager Laura Vollmuth, the stage scenery is designed to be reminiscent of an ice castle, with Plexiglas lighting in and around the

By Joe StelmanNews Writer

E N C O R E : W i n t e r E s c a p e Effects of Flex Days Unclear;

Students Warm to New Schedule

By Taylor DewallNews Writer

Flex days have been implemented by our school’s administrators to help students who are falling be-hind, and offer enrichment activities to students who excel in their classes. Eagan has only completed two out of a total of six Flex days and people are wondering whether they have been suc-cessful or not.

According to Mr. Kalmi, a science teacher, the success rate of Flex days, “at this point is tough to say.” However, “students have given me feedback that [due to the Flex schedule] they have studied more in order to avoid remediation.”

At first many students were opposed to the Flex schedules, but by the second round people began to warm up to them. According to Julia Wolter, a junior, Flex days were “sort of pointless at first but by the second set of Flex days it seemed to be more helpful and they had better options as far as ac-tivities went.” Students, for the most part, began to see Flex time as beneficial.

While some students spent their “Cat Time” in remediation, most did not. The school offered a large variety of different enrich-ment activities, ranging from yoga to a fruit fiesta. But by

National Program Brings Peers Together; Offers Help, AdviceBy Mayzong LeeNews Writer

Throughout time people have had conflicts with other people and/or themselves; sometimes they can be solved peacefully while some dis-agreements need a helping hand. From time to time we choose to go to a friend to help resolve our problem, but what happens when you want more than one opinion that isn’t biased?

Luckily, Eagan High

Photo by Rita KovtunEncore members practice in the

EHS auditorium.

The GlenbrooksSpeech & Debate compete at an intensivetournament.

3

Mr. FootballZenner nominated for statewide honor

8

Top 20The most loved X-mas films among Eagan students. 5

set for a radi-ant effect. Other features include a holiday-blue backdrop with the use of fake snow. Though often overlooked, the stage crew is responsible for many tasks to keep the pro-duction of the show running smoothly, includ-ing queues for lighting control

and the audio control of microphones throughout the show.

Overall, nothing makes for a more captivating perfor-mance than a hard-working and closely-knit crew. Begin-ning in October, Encore sing-ers and dancers have dedicat-ed upwards of three or more hours each day on rehearsals. Senior dancer Samantha Cu-sak says, “There are so many long hours and it can be really draining.”

However, cast members are just as quick to point out the beneficial experiences and rewards of theater perfor-mances, especially in terms of the bonds and friendships made. Says Lauren Draves, “It’s really fun seeing the new wave of people (freshmen) coming in every year.”

Between the music, dance, vocals and effects, this year’s holiday Encore, “Winter(E)scape”, has all the makings for another unforgettable EHS theater performance. As a reminder to students, tickets go on sale beginning December 1st for six performances from the 11th through the 19th.

School has been offering a nation-wide program for many years known as Peer Mediation. Its main goal is to help students solve their problems and to help them walk away without any negative feelings through the help of other students who attend Eagan High School. In a sense, peer mediation is an alternative to receiving punishment. However, Kayla Lynch, a senior mediator, adds, “You don’t necessarily need to be in trouble for me-

far the most popular activ-ity was the study hall, which had upwards of 300 students. Shae Kelley, a junior who took the study hall thought “it was useful to catch up on my homework, and I would definitely take it again.” For the most part the study hall was a great activity to offer to students to help alleviate the stress of homework.

While some of the activities offered remain constant, other more creative activities will change. When asked, junior Michael Peter-son thought a possible activ-ity to offer during “Cat Time” should be “putting together cars or airplanes and then rac-ing them when [they] are fin-ished.” Mr. Mass, an English teacher “thought about doing a drum circle where students could bring in their own hand drums, or a workshop on writing song lyrics.”

As a result, offering activities that could assuage the stress of students is criti-cal. But it is also important to offer creative or entertaining activities that students would otherwise not have the chance to participate. So no matter what activities are offered next round of Flex days, there will be something for every-one.

diation.” Students can simply come down and talk about their issues; it can be personal or just for advice.

Peer mediators are either chosen by the Eng-lish teacher Mr. Waltman or students that have signed themselves up. Students who are chosen have gone through a personality review and must also receive good grades. They are also known to have great personalities along with good social skills. Peer mediators are simply students

who care about others. Each grade level has at least one mediator; in total there are six mediators.

In order to set up an appointment with peer me-diators, students must either sign up on their own, or be assigned a group by Mr. Jame-son, an assistant principal. When in mediation, students in need of help sit in a closed room with their mediator and solve their problems without the intervention of other stu-dents or teachers. Matt Neu-

mann, another senior media-tor, also states that, “Students are more willing to work with other students. There is less tension.”

On the effectiveness of the program Kayla Lynch says, “I really do [believe in its effectiveness.] I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t believe it was. The students who mediate are realistic.” Matt Neumann also adds, “It definitely does [help] but [it really does] depend on the case.”

Amazon.com

Special Teams

Zach Zenner Zack opened the game with a 92 yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and finished with four kick returns

for a 36 yard average. Zack also returned three punts, with a 22 yarder helping to set up the second

touchdown of the game.

EHS Webpage

EDITORIAlEagan Independent | Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The Staff

Editors in Chief Weronika JanczukLauren Schmitt

NewsKaila Vogt - EditorSeth LynchMayzong LeeTwie SouvannavongJoe StelmanAlanna ThelenTaylor Dewall

FeaturesJouapag Lee - EditorKristine GatesTara HuuskoSarah SwensonPearce OlsonMegan Westlund

SportsRachel Berryman - EditorGrant BosiackiMolly MartinezMatt NovitskiDaniel PetersCameron VanDyke

Photography Rita Kovtun - EditorNeal Kunik Rachel LarsonMichelle Metcalfe

AdviserSara Stensaas

The Eagan Independent is a monthly publication produced by Eagan High School students from all grade levels in a cocurricular setting.

We are committed to provid-ing a limited open forum within the community of Eagan High School - one in which opinions, discussion and input are always wel-comed and encouraged.

Comments, questions, thoughts and ideas may be addressed to:

Eagan Independent4185 Braddock TrailEagan, MN 55123

or e-mailed to:eaganindependent@gmail.com

Letters to the editor must be signed by the author and be 500 words or less. Letters to the editor submitted that are more than 500 words may be edited by the staff. Letters may also require editing if they contain false or libelous statements.

Editorial policies and content decisions are made by the editorial board. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the writer and/or the Eagan In-dependent staff and are not necesssarily the opinons of the adviser, administration, students, faculty or Indepen-dent School District 196.

Editorial Policy

Real housewife Sneaks in to obama’s first state dinner

By Lauren SchmittCo-Editor in Chief

The celebration held on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday, Novem-ber 24th was supposed to commemorate a budding friendship with India. Regal pageantry surrounded the guest of honor, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. However, instead of hear-ing about Obama’s efforts in foreign policy, the news is fo-cusing on something slightly less…refined, although I am sure Michaele and Tareq Salahi would beg to differ.

The D.C. couple were uninvited attendees at the bash— although their pub-licist claims it wasn’t party crashing. The couple was be-ing filmed as possible partici-pants in the new Bravo show “Real Housewives of D.C.,” which is another spin off from the popular “Real House-wives of Orange County.”

This will be the fifth Real Housewives series. While the cast is not yet finalized, the Salahi’s are being “seriously considered.”

On Tuesday night, the couple passed through multiple security screenings and guest checks and some-how made their way into the receiving lines. While they did go through metal detec-tors and such, they finessed their way in without being on the invited list of attendees. Late on Tuesday night, pic-tures appeared on Michaele’s Facebook page showing her shaking hands and fraterniz-ing with political leaders and entertainment heavy hitters in attendance. Later, a picture of the couple with President Obama was released.

The Secret Service insists that the Obamas and their guests were never in danger, but you can’t help but won-der. Sure, the Salahis were harmless in their deluded attempt for attention, but who will try to sneak in next? The spokesperson for the Secret Service shared their “deep embarrassment over the situ-ation.”

The Secret Service has

screened millions of people at innumerable events, but they have to be right 100% of the time. One slip up can easily spiral into a huge disaster. While nothing conspired from this party crashing, this incident does pose some questions for future visit-

ing dignitaries. Is the White House a safe place to visit? It should be.

The security staff should surely take some of the blame here, but I think most of the blame should fall on the shoulders of Michaele and Tareq Salahi who were de-luded enough to risk national security for their shot at the limelight. (Did I mention they are now offering to sell their exclusive story to the highest bidder?)

The Salahis should be held responsible, and they shouldn’t be glorified. Unless there is some reason that has

not been released for their presence Tuesday night, they should be charged for tres-passing, and perhaps for lying to officers about their atten-dance. While they dressed up, ate and danced like the other attendees—how different are they from the nutcase who hops the fence and tries to run in the White House? Well, that nutcase would have been taken out by a sniper has he or she ran across the perfectly manicured grass.

They aren’t the only ones vying for national attention through outrageous stunts. There was balloon boy and the fake chase a few months ago. If I recall correctly, the Heene family has some hefty fines and possible jail time to pay off. If nothing is done about this latest publicity stunt, what example will that be setting?

It is a White House tradi-tion to pardon a turkey on Thanksgiving. Perhaps if the Salahi’s are charged (and then presumably found guilty), President Obama can pardon them right along with the foul next year. Good riddance to that.

Image courtesy of Getty Images

By Weronika JanczukCo-Editor in Chief

On November 20th, ex-pectations were high for the premiere of New Moon, the second installment in film of the now-infamous Twilight Saga. The movie met expecta-tions, bringing in more than $42.5 million in its first week, according to the Associated Press. It’s hard not to say that the series isn’t successful.

Twilight began as an inter-est among preteen/teen fe-male readers and their moms and has become a ridiculously popular phenomenon for all kinds of people nationwide. At the very least, it has in-creased readership, especially among those who wouldn’t typically pick up and vora-ciously read books.

My question is—is it okay when a book sacrifices standard literary qualities and/or an understanding of the audience in exchange for commercial strength?

Looking at the Twilight series objectively—the only fair thing to do—it’s obvious that it’s by no means perfect or Pulitzer-worthy.

Even Twilight readers admit that Stephenie Meyer’s writing style is unimpres-sive. After all, she had never written anything before she dreamt of the vampire that became Edward and wrote the novel near-end-to-begin-ning.

Literary critics alike agree that the writing is generic. The vampires, who carry the novel, can’t go out into the sun because they glitter, an example of the unimpressive plot. Then is Meyer’s ad-diction to adjectives. Bella, for example, says: “I wasn’t interesting. And he was. Inter-esting . . . and brilliant . . . and mysterious . . . and perfect . . . and beautiful . . .”—five dif-ferent but consistently over-used adjectives in a sentence of the novel.

At the same time, though, educators and librarians internationally complain that our modern youth isn’t read-ing enough—so who am I to complain?

The novels offer a glimpse into a different world—a fresh(er) take on some over-done scenarios in teen litera-ture—and they do introduce some characters with a far more relatable and true-to-life persona, among them Charlie and Carlisle.

Unfortunately, after read-ing all four books and seeing Twilight, I think that the series goes overboard in its lack of

literary merit, as well as the numerous misleading refer-ences to abusive relationships, drugs, and sex. I don’t have a problem with books that ad-dress issues straightforwardly and then examine repercus-sions (Speak, for example).

What Meyer does that is most harmful is she lets read-ers believe that Bella’s insecu-rity and Edward’s completely innocent attitude toward her (“I don’t want to hurt you”) are not only possible but con-sistent realities. The vampire aspect doesn’t matter at that point—the relationships have become twisted.

A line must be drawn somewhere. It sure isn’t a problem if publishers like Little, Brown provide books like these to readers—if an overwhelming number of readers’ attentions can be caught, then you have a bestseller, and those are always good. Dangerous are books that shift a piece of the culture, turning an idea into a fad, and disallowing those who participate in it from examining the reason for their obsessions.

Many have attempted to compare Twilight and Harry Potter on this note, but there is a significant distinction that many of those comparing fail to recognize. Nearly all of the readership for Twilight is female and at one point fell into two distinctive age

ranges. The saga is also met with clear disapproval from various sources—professional or not.

The saga will never be-come a permanent part of our mainstream culture because of these disjoints, whereas Harry Potter has in fact be-come a household reference, without ever meeting much criticism (you’ll rarely hear ‘I hate Harry Potter’—it’s more often ‘I’m more of a Lord of the Rings person,’ or ‘I never got around to reading it’).

These types of publica-tions will always pop in and out of our culture, and if they get teens reading, they will continue to satisfy the needs of parents and educators. No one’s out there to stop the publication of Twilight. The criticism draws from the rawness of the issues being dealt with—think how much better the series could have been had the writing been tighter and more advanced and had Meyer taken the time to let us see a reality that isn’t complete and utter fantasy. (There’s a difference between having real scenarios in a vampire world and improb-able scenarios in a vampire world.)

The craze will continue for a while yet, until Eclipse sees the screen. But soon after that, it will be no more—so, read-ers and film viewers alike, enjoy it while you can.

Twilight Saga Obsession Temporary

Eagan Independent | Tuesday, December 8, 2009 3SADD aims to

inspireBy Seth LynchNews Writer

The Eagan High School Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), group just finished their “Respect My Ride Campaign.” This campaign was to raise awareness about the dangers of second-hand smoke while driving.

Student here at Eagan were able to pledge to not allow people to smoke while they were driving. Those who pledged during Cocoa & Cram or during lunches were entered in a raffle. Also any car in the parking lot with a “respect my ride” sticker was entered. Each year 800 Minnesotans die due to secondhand smoke, but with over 4,700 pledges in Dakota County, “Respect My Ride” is hoping to bring that number down.

The next project for SADD is the “Click it and Ticket” event. On the way out of the student parking lots, SADD members will hand out raffle tickets to those who have their seat belts buckled.

Then a raffle will be held and prizes will be given out to the winning tickets.

This spring SADD is planning its biannual mock crash. “The biggest activity is the mock crash,” commented senior Lya Jordan. “The mock crash is put on my SADD every two year for the juniors and seniors. A performance is put on [to show] the dangers of drinking and driving.”

Mehek Masood has taken the role of being captain of the Eagan SADD chapter with the help of the math teacher, Mrs. Hanson. If you are interested in joining SADD, see Mrs. Hanson for more information.

PaperCut: Eliminating Waste

By Joe StelmanNews Writer

A recent feature added to the EHS computers has created both questions and controversy among students. The change stems from the new “PaperCut” software employed by the school’s administration and Technol-ogy Department to monitor printer activity in the library and computer labs.

Already used in many colleges and univer-sities for almost ten years, PaperCut prides itself as a “premium” printer control system, offering enforce-ment of print restrictions, or quotas, and print cost and usage records. As administered at EHS, students must log into their student accounts to print papers, while a small tab keeps record of their cost. So far, the ad-ministration has only utilized PaperCut’s ability to record printing activity, but has not gone so far as to impose quo-tas on printed material.

Technology Network Specialist Ms. Schlak is largely responsible for over-seeing the implementation of the software at Eagan. She states, “Right now, we’re not sure about excessive printing; we’re just trying to gather data to see who’s doing what.”

Technology specialist Mr. Lynch furthers, “It’s not a matter of catching anybody yet.”

The objective of school policy makers thus far is primarily to garner awareness

of the sheer amount of paper used in the school. Principal Dr. Reikowski mentions that part of the goal behind the policy is to adopt “respon-sible eco-friendly behavior” in regards to using paper.

Although full-scale abuse of printing has re-mained minimal for most, the new software is likely to put a limit on this potential abuse

according to librarian Ms. Nagel.

As it stands, the two printers in the library are the busiest in the school, con-suming two toner cartridges and eighteen cases of paper each month. To give a per-spective, there are ten reams in a case of paper and five hundred sheets in one ream. This amounts to upwards of ninety thousand sheets consumed each month in the library alone. Addition-ally, about one million xerox copies are made each year in the copy room. When taking into account the several other computer labs and printers in the school, these numbers can

only get bigger. Most of the money for

the school’s paper comes from a general budget for stu-dent services, while copying fees for teachers are charged to their respective depart-ments. Academic depart-ments also cover a part of the cost for paper and toners. Yet due to the tightening budget here at EHS, there is a need for more conservative habits of paper consumption.

Despite the need to con-serve paper, many students are quick to voice their res-ervations of the new policy, especially those with the need to print large quantities of paper like those on the de-bate team. Freshman debate team member Sophie Callah-an says, “It’s ridiculous. You have to log in every time you print. It’s a good concept, but it’s inconvenient.”

Sophomore Grace Beck also inputs saying, “It feels

like you’re being judged in some way.”

In all, The PaperCut pol-icy has been shown to reduce costs in printing at schools where it is in place. An ex-ample of this is Apple Valley High School, where printing restrictions are imposed at 200 sheets per year for each student, though exceptions are continually made.

While some object to the policy, the PaperCut software is designed with the goal of conservation and environ-mentally friendly practices in mind. And as for actively restricting the ability to print, students need not worry.

Photo by Kaila VogtHaben Ghebregergish prints of a piece of

paper in the Library.

Filling Bowls with Empty Bowls

By Twie SouvannavongNews Writer

On November 19th, The EHS National Arts Honor Society started making ce-ramic bowls for the “Filling Bowls with Empty Bowls” charity event put on by the Eagan Resource Center on Rahn Road.

Approximately 27 students of the NAHS made the ceramic bowls. It was led by Ms. VanDerHorst-Carlson and Ms. Molstre-Kotz, the coordinators of the group. Ms. V commented on the event by saying, “This event is to raise money and buy food for people who need it. You go in, buy a bowl, eat soup with bread, and take the purchased bowl home as a remembrance of helping someone fight hunger. Also, you’ll be reminded that there are empty bowls in our com-munity and we all can help fill them.”

NAHS aims to make 200 bowls while the city is hoping to receive 900.

The event will take place on Monday March 1st at the Eagan Community Center. At this event, there will also be a silent auction on artwork done by both local artists and students. The auc-tion’s proceeds will then be used to buy food for people who need it. The event will run from 11a.m. to 7p.m.

This photo is courtesy ofthe Dakota County web page.

The respect my ride campaign logo.

Photos by Michelle Metcalfe

NAHS members making bowls for the “Filling Bowls with

Empty Bowls” charity.

Ashley Shewchuk, Lindsay Shewchuk, and Gwen Campion

have fun making bowls.

NAHS president Hope Foley and NAHS member Shelby Hostager

make bowls.

Speech & Debate Excelat Glenbrooks

By Mayzong LeeNews Writer

On Friday, November 20th, Eagan High School’s De-bate and Speech team headed to Glenbrooks, near Chicago, to compete in one of Ameri-ca’s largest high school debate and speech tournaments. For over 30 years it has attracted over 8,000 competitors from more than 220 schools. All six national forms of speech and all three national forms of debate are included.

Glenbrooks competi-tion will last approximately two days for both debate and speech. If students make it to finals it is extended to three days. Senior Hilary Campion, who participated in policy de-bate said, “[A competition of this extent] will usually take three days in order to com-plete seven rounds, [however three days are only necessary] if you make it to finals.”

Senior Adam Iverson,

who participated in Humor-ous Interpretation for Speech, also adds, “There are four pre-liminary rounds that take two days [for speech participants], the next day are the quarterfi-nals, semi-finals, and finals.” Both debate and speech were placed in separate buildings for easier transitions and judging.

In order to be prepared for Glenbrooks many debat-ers organized and wrote their arguments weeks in advance. Each debater also had to write a minimum of two cases arguing for and against the resolutions. Those in speech often practice for one to two weeks in advance before re-ceiving their assigned speech category and, once assigned, they continued to practice during the amount of time left till Glenbrooks.

Many Eagan High School debaters and speakers were able to take part in the final

rounds. Adam Inverson says, “As a team we did really well. [Many of us] were able to go to finals.” Haben Ghe-bregergish, who participated in Public Forum Debate, agrees: “All three of the pub-lic forum debate teams were able to break—or make it—to the double-octofinal round.”

Following Glenbrooks, in December there is the upcom-ing Blake Holiday Tourna-ment that takes place in Minnesota. This tournament allows students from states across the nation to compete. Because it is such a large tournament, teams can re-ceive a bid, or a sort of ticket, to attend the Tournament of Champions in early 2010. In January the traveling speech team will also participate in an event taking place in Arizona. Many debaters and speakers have already started to prepare for their events.

FEATURESEagan Independent | Tuesday December 8, 2009

Holiday Traditions

Holiday Food History: Who Knew?

A snowy narrativeBy Pearce OlsonFeatures Writer

By Tara Huusko Features Writer

Food is an important part of family get-togethers especially around the holidays. But why are certain foods syn-onymous with the holidays? Buche de Noel is one of many traditional cakes baked at Christ-mas. For those of you in French, you know that it is of French origin. The name of this recipe literally translates as “Christmas log,” referring to the traditional Yule log burned centuries past. The origin of the candy

cane is an interesting study of food lore and legend. The most popular story is the one about the German choirmas-ter who handed these out to his young singers in 1670 to keep them quiet during a long church service. There is also

controversy as to the origin of the shape. Does it

represent a shepherd’s staff? Or the letter

“J” for Jesus? Bear in mind, most of these stories are

undocumented. The vast majority of

people have heard of sugar-plums, but few have actually eaten them. Sugarplums are essentially plum flavored gumdrops. The best place to buy them is at Macy’s down-

town. Potato Latka’s are a Hanukkah tradition. Latkes are tradition-ally eaten by Ashkenazi Jews during the Jewish Hanukkah festival. The oil for cooking the latkes is reminiscent of the oil from the Hanukkah story that kept the Second Temple of ancient Israel lit with a long-lasting flame that is cel-ebrated as a miracle. There is also a tradition of eating dairy products on Han-nukah that is recorded in rab-binic literature. This custom is

seen as a commemoration of the involvement of Judith and thus women in the events of Hannukah. With all of the amazing food around the holidays, it’s no wonder so many people make their News Year’s resolutions to lose the weight they’ve gained.

Graphic by Michelle Metcalfe

By Megan WestlundFeatures Writer

The holidays would not be the same if there wasn’t snow on the ground. Think about a winter break without snowmen, skiing, sledding, snowball fights and, of course, shoveling. Snow sometimes dares us to go outside with a fresh covering waiting to be marked.

I love snow, mostly because I love to ski. I dis-tinctly remember when I went skiing with my family in Canada, specifically Banff and Lake Louise. My brother brought his friend Dash (yes, his real name). He had never skied before. In order to save some money Dash wanted to borrow a pair of my brother’s skis. Dash was a six foot five football player and could barely stay up on my broth-

er’s old skis. I had passed all of my

ski lessons and was a pretty good skier for a nine year old. I was able to keep up with my brother, who was on the Eagan ski team one year.

My parents were still in line waiting for their rentals at the ski lodge so my brother, Dash, and I decided we would go on a run and help Dash learn how to ski. After both of us unsuccessfully tried to teach Dash, my brother got fed up with me and sent me half way down the hill to wait.

I remember waiting at the halfway point on this beautiful run that overlooked a half pipe. As I waited, I was in awe of the tricks that snow-boarders where pulling off, high leaps in the air, spinning like a top and landing softly on the compacted snow. As I watched, I heard a distant yell, “Pearce, look out.”

As if in slow motion I turned my head to the left to try to see where the yell had come from. I saw Dash ten feet away, both hands in the air, balancing on one ski barreling towards me. I was big for my age but Dash was huge, out of control and had way too much momentum. Dash slammed into me like a wild banshee. He hit me so hard I was thrown into the air much like the snow boarders I was just watching and slid down the hill a good twenty feet.

One of my ski poles was bent while the other ended up ten feet away. My hat and goggles pooped off. It was like I was having a garage

sale on the ski slope. I got the wind knocked out of me and was crying. Of course my brother could not stop laugh-ing and Dash could not stop saying sorry and I could not stop crying.

It was the worst first ski run of my life. Luckily, even with that terrible beginning, I still had a wonderful time on my trip and got a funny story out of it too.

Photo Courtesy of FlickrCC

Christmas is by far the best holiday of the year. This is the conclusion that the girls at my study hall table came to when discussing the holiday. “One of the best parts of Christmas I think,” says Senior Haley Juricko, “are the traditions. It gives you something to look forward to every year, like, I’m going to my grandma’s house this year, just like every other, and I know exactly the types of things we are going to do.” It seems to me that the more traditions a group of people have; the more exciting it is to celebrate the holiday since it gives you something to look forward to. One of the most reoccurring traditions is mak-ing Christmas cookies. Out of all five of the girls who sit at my table, there isn’t one of us who doesn’t bake cookies with their family. Se-nior Makayla Maile believes that, “it (baking cookies) truly gets you in the Christmas spirit.” Fellow senior Meghan Burian agrees with this, “Every year the girls in my family choose a Saturday in December to get together and make cookies while watching White Christmas.” Burian also explains why this tradition means so much to her, “Now that my cousins and I are starting to grow up, it is hard for us to all be in the same room together. We make sure that even the girls who are at college are able to make it to the cookie-making.” Burian’s

favorite cookie to make is the wreath. Senior Lori Crow is different on the other hand. Her favorite cookie to make is peanut butter blossoms, along with senior Abby Baier. Baier comments on the cookies tra-dition saying, “It is like Easter eggs, except cookies.” Setting up a Christmas tree is a popular tradition. Many families choose to have real trees, while others prefer artificial trees. Personally, I like having an artificial tree, but that is probably because that is all my family has ever used. Many families put the tree up together, but in my family, my father wakes up early in the beginning of December to put up the tree so that he can surprise the rest of us when we wake up that morning. We do, however,

Photo courtesy of flickrcc.bluemountains.net

Traditions continued on page 6

Eagan Independent | Tuesday, December 8, 2009 520 Best Christmas

MoviesBy Tara HuuskoFeatures Writer

What is 2012?By Sarah SwensonFeatures Writer

International IdiomsBy Kristine GatesFeatures Writer

noodles from your ears?

Every language is unique, and although often times foreign languages are mistaken for “codes” for English, they are in fact really their own entities. In each language and regions of the world, people have unique ways of expressing things. Idioms from around the world demonstrate this fact. They’re grammatically unusual phrases people use to express thoughts or ideas, usually considered cliché. Through these idioms, it becomes easier to understand the culture these phrases are coming from. Understanding the concept of what someone is trying to say is a l arge part of it. For instance, “I‘m not pulling your leg” would sound absolutely ridiculous from anyone not accustomed to the phrase, just as “I’m not hanging noodles on your ears” is to us. The two phrases have the same meaning in two different parts of the world when translated, yet the Russian phrase seems odd to us. Here is a list of many different and interesting phrases from around the world and what they would mean in English. It’s just one more unique way language has shaped the world.

Language: Italian Phrase: To discover America Meaning: To say something obvious Language: Russian Phrase: Tell this to your grandmother Meaning: I wasn’t born yesterday Language: German Phrase: To shoot at sparrows with cannons Meaning: To overdo something Language: Spanish (in Nicaragua) Phrase: To wind up like a traffic light Meaning: To be stood up, left hanging Language: Chinese Phrase: Cat weeping for the mouse Meaning: Insincere crying Language: Japanese Phrase: Leftover Christmas cake Meaning: An unmarried woman over 25 Language:

German Phrase: To have a hunting license Meaning: To be a certified lunatic Language: Russian Phrase: Cat scratches on the soul Meaning: Something’s bothering you, guilt Language: Japanese Phrase: Vomit the sound of weakness Meaning: To whine Language: Arabic Phrase: Stop climbing on my head Meaning: Stop annoying me Language: German Phrase: Like a maggot in bacon Meaning: To be very happy

Language: Hindi Phrase: To have no time to die Meaning: To be overwhelmed with work

Graphic by Michelle Metcalfe

Over the past year, the idea of an apocalypse hap-pening in 2012 has become a very concerning one for many people. The movie, which came out on November 13, in combination with media at-tention, has helped to spread hysteria among many Ameri-cans who believe that the end of the world will come on December 21, 2012. Authors, experts, and the Maya themselves have opposing ideas about what will hap-pen on this day. The Mayan Long Count calendar, which is the ancient Mayan calendar, is set to end on December 21, 2012. This would mark the end of the 2125 year era, or the end of Bak-tun 13. This calendar has not been in use since Spanish coloniza-tion, and many pres-ent-day Maya don’t even know that there is any significance to this date. The end of an era is a cause for celebration for the Maya, not a cause for destruction or an apocalypse. The movie 2012 featured meteors crash-ing toward Earth, apocalyptic earthquakes, tsunamis, and

disaster all over the world. Many believe that these are just a few of the things that may happen in 2012. Some websites claim that a galac-tic alignment in 2012 that involves the Earth being in the middle of the Milky Way. Others attempt to convince people that there is a nearby, invisible planet called Ni-biru that is currently coming toward Earth and will collide

with it in 2012. According to NASA scientists, the Earth is approx-imately in the center of the Milky Way every year on the winter solstice (which occurs every year on December 21). Another theory causing

panic is the idea that due to magnetic disturbances, the North and South poles could shift, causing the alignment of the globe to move dramati-cally in a few hours or days. This would supposedly cause the Earth to rotate in the op-posite direction it currently is, which is physically impos-sible unless it were to happen over millions of years. The idea that the world will

end on this date has been spread throughout books and the internet for several years. This phe-nomenon has been compared to the Y2K scare of 1999 by many people. Just because someone says that there is reason for panic doesn’t mean that there actually is. And just as the new millennium came without a hitch, many believe that December 12,

2012 will pass in the same, unremarkable fashion. And another key note is that just as our calendars will con-tinue after December 31, the Mayan’s calendar continues after 2012 also. The myth of 2012 is just that- a myth.

1) White Christmas: Because here in Minnesota we never have to dream of a white Christmas.

2) It’s A Wonderful Life: A true testa-ment to everything Christmas.

3) A Christmas Carol: Jim Carrey in a new Christmas classic.

4) Elf: Will Ferrell as an elf. Need I say more.

5) A Christmas Story: Full of frozen tongues and BB guns, nothing says Christ-mas like A Christmas Story.

6) The Santa Clause: Though most students have already seen this movie multiple times, it’s a must-see during the holidays.

7) How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Another Jim Carrey movie, and you may recognize little Cindy Lou Who as Jenny Humphrey from Gossip Girl.

8) Home Alone: An 8 year old tricking two robbers, full of painfully funny mo-ments.

9) The Nightmare Before Christmas: What’s better than a Tim Burton movie? A Tim Burton Christmas movie.

10) The Muppet Christmas Carol: A classic Christmas story with Kermit the Frog and Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge.

11) National Lampoon’s Christmas

Vacation: Vintage Chevy Chase in a Christ-mas comedy. Of course, it’s always easier to understand when it’s not being watched in French.

12) Miracle on 34th Street: This 1947 classic is a must during the holidays. Enjoy the black and white.

13) The Polar Express: A classic Christmas story that (mostly) transfers well to film.

14) The Ultimate Christmas Present: This fun Disney channel original movie is one of senior Rachel Berryman’s favorites.

15) Christmas with the Kranks: Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis in a fun movie.

16) Scrooged: Bill Murray in a spoof on the Christmas Carol.

17) Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas:

A three-part anthology-style Christmas video linked by narration.

18) ‘Twas the Night: Another Disney Channel original movie.

19) Love Actually: Shows hectic lives around Christmas time, something we can all relate to.

20) The Adventures of Mary Kate and

Ashley: The Case of the Christmas Caper: Though most will deny having seen this movie, for our generation it’s a partly pain-ful trip down memory lane.

All posters from Amazon.

Eagan Independent | Tuesday, December 8, 20096

Dinner & a MovieThe New Moon CrazeBy Pearce OlsonFeatures Writer

After hearing plans of ordering tickets for the mid-night screening months in ad-vance, seeing more and more students sporting Twilight T-shirts, and “disrupting” a silent group of girls huddled around a Twilight movie magazine turning the pages like it was a family heirloom, I decided I had to review this movie. Now ladies, before you start planning to egg my house or “ruin” my life, I ask a simple request: I have to review the movie on just the components of the film. Meaning the books have no value in this review. I am re-viewing the movie as it is-- a movie. Director Chris Weitz has enthralled millions of teenage girls with his visual interpre-tation of the book New Moon. Weitz offers plenty of visu-als of Jacob (Taylor Launter) with his cookie cutter tanned body and offers jabs at girls’

hearts with the poetic phrases he speaks. Bella (Kristen Stewart) plays the role of a girl confused with which boy to obsess over. The movie is full of intense scenes between many different characters and has turned vampires and werewolves into sex symbols. Snap out of it! This is reality! When we look at the movie New Moon and go in depth and look at the true indicators of a good film, New Moon fails to deliver on many levels. Let’s get this clear. I have not read the books and do not intend to, so I, as an uneducated Twilight movie-goer, found myself looking for more depth in the plot. The very prominent theme that Bella is caught in the classic love story of which boy to choose, shines through, but other large plots are skimmed over for more close ups of the always shirtless Jacob. The 130 minute film felt stretched out with a lot of pointless encounters between characters and meaning-less extra visuals. When we look at particular characters like Bella for example, she is

unbelievably awkward, she huffs and puffs between every word and makes odd faces during conversations. Jacob is just in the movie for visuals. His dialogue is mostly super cheesy pick-up lines and ridiculous expressions of his feelings. I also found it hilari-ous that every member of the shirtless werewolves’ gang was half as fit as Jacob. When you peel off the thick layer of cheese on this movie you see a very weak structure and bad dialogue.

After many classmates have told me not to bash the movie because the books are so good, I thought of many other great movies based on novels like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. New Moon

delivers for its target market and provides cheap thrills for teenage girls, but for every-one else it’s just not worth the money or time. Sorry ladies, but I rate this movie 1.5 O’s out of 4.

Pearce’s “O’s” Rating Scale

Zero “O’s” = Are You Kid-ding Me?

One “O” = Waste of Time

Two “O’s” = Wait for DVDThree “O’s” = GoFour “O’s” = Must See!

Photo courtesy of drafthouse.com

J’s Family Restaurant and Pizza Parlor

By Sarah SwensonFeatures Writer J’s Restaurant is a little place in a small strip mall on Cliff Road near the border of Burnsville and Eagan. It’s been open for forty years, and I’ve passed it a million times without ever having the slightest inclination to actu-ally go inside. But eating there turned out to be an inter-esting experi-ence. Upon enter-ing the restaurant, I saw Christmas decorations all along the walls and hanging from the ceiling. The back wall was the focal point of the room, with a bar covering half of the wood paneled wall. The other walls were made of textured stucco. On the inside walls, the stucco was painted with random swirls of red at various intervals. The televi-sions in the corners were old fashioned and a bit dusty, and I was surprised that the ancient-looking arcade games still worked. The booths looked weathered and worn, and the majority of people in the restaurant could have been grandparents. Overall, J’s felt like a cute, grandma’s house- it could easily have been decorated in the 1970s and not touched since. At J’s, the food offered included burgers, pizza, sand-wiches, and other entrees. For

the most part, everything on the menu is less than ten dol-lars, and most include French fries, chips, or baked potato along with the main dish. The majority of the things on the menu were things I wouldn’t mind ordering. I got a cheese-burger and fries, which turned out to be tasty. It was

simple and well pre-pared, but it could have been served at many other restau-rants

around Eagan. Everyone else seemed satisfied with their dishes as well. And although the front of the menu adver-tised the restaurant’s motto that quality would not be sac-rificed for speed, our dishes came relatively quickly. Overall, the food at J’s was delicious, and the atmo-sphere was comfortable and homey. The biggest complaint I had about J’s was that the restaurant wasn’t the cleanest that I had ever stepped foot in and the bathrooms were slightly cramped and awk-ward, with toilets that didn’t exactly work. Eating at J’s was in-teresting to say the least. It was adorable and the food was fine, but it was slightly unclean, awkward, and dated. I would consider eating there again, but I wouldn’t strongly recommend it for most people. J’s Family Restaurant earned 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Photos by Sarah Swenson

Traditions cont. from pg 4we wake up that morning. We do, however, put up white lights and other decorations together. Crow also has an artificial tree that her family puts up every year, but unlike my family, they have no other option. She ad-mits, “My family has to have an artificial tree because all five of us are allergic to real ones.” Another popular tradition is watching Christmas movies, whether it is A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christ-mas, or the most recent Elf. This is one of Juricko’s favorite parts of the Christmas season, but it is hard for her to enjoy it like she use to. She says, “It’s sad because we have all these videos of the Christmas classics, but we no longer own a VCR player so we can’t even watch them!” Although indoor activities are some of the best Christmas traditions, there are many outdoor activities worth expe-riencing. For senior Maile, she says, “My family and I go to the Holidazzle every year the week before Christmas. It’s the best because it gives my

family and I a good opportu-nity to spend time together and I like seeing all the crazy floats.” This became a tradi-tion in her family many years

ago all thanks to her uncle, who used to participate in the parade. There are other tradi-tions people have that aren’t very typical. Junior Matt Keller for example has a sports tradition that is unlike most. For the past four years, he spends a couple days during the holiday season in Fargo, North Dakota with his wrestling team in a tourna-ment called Rumble on the Red. Keller says, “I enjoy going because of the time I get to spend with my team-

mates. My favorite memory is celebrating my teammate Bob Rada’s birthday.” Keller is lucky to have such a great tradition around the Christ-

mas season. He says, “I love wrestling almost as much as I love Christmas.” Although there are a lot of Christmas traditions out there, there are also brand new things occurring for many people around the holi-days. Take senior Katie Fad-den for example. Instead of her usual visit-the-grandpar-ents scheme, Fadden’s parents surprised her and her sister with a trip to Hawaii over winter break. “Who knows,” Fadden says, “maybe this will be our new tradition!”

Snow Stats10 Snowiest Winters in

Minnesota1983-984 98.6 in.1981-1982 95.0 in.1950-1951 88.9 in.1916-1917 84.9 in.1991-1992 84.1 in.1961-1962 81.3 in.1951-1952 79.0 in.1966-1967 78.4 in.2000-2001 75.8 in.1982-1983 74.4 in.

Average Number of days with snow depths of:

1 Inch: 100

3 Inches: 79

6 Inches: 54

9 Inches: 34

12 Inches: 24

Top 5 Snow Storms for the Twin Cities1. Oct 31 - Nov 3 1991 28.4 in. 2. Nov 29 - Dec 1 1985 21.2 in. 3. Jan 22 - Jan 23 1982 20.0 in. 4. Jan 20 - Jan 21 1982 17.4 in. 5. Nov 11 - Nov 12 1940 16.8 in.

Compiled by Kristine GatesSource: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mpx/mspSnowfall.php

Photo courtesy of flickrcc.bluemountains.netMinneapolis Holidazzle parade offers fantastic lights and floats.

SPORTSEagan Independent | Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Four Seniors Sign letters of Intent

Last month four Eagan seniors signed National Letters of Intent to continue with their sports at a college level. A National Letter of Intent is used as a binding agreement between a student athlete and a university, and makes the recruiting process more of-ficial. The student knows there will be an athlete scholarship for him or her at that school, and the university knows that the student will be attending that school the next year.

The four students who signed Letters of Intent are softball pitcher Sara Moulton, softball catcher Kelly Wood, softball fielder Bree Blanchette, and diver Sarah McCrady. Moulton, Blanchette and McCrady are attending the University of Minnesota next year, and Wood is attending MSU-Manka-to.

Senior Sarah McCrady is dedicated to swimming and diving. She is a hard-working athlete that has devoted around 25 hours per week to her sport ever since 7th grade. She absolutely loves the thrill of the sport – even if it does result in the occasional belly flop. But a belly flop every now and then doesn’t stop McGrady, because her success in diving has led to her signing a National Letter of Intent for the University of Minnesota.

McCrady was recruited by several other colleges, but decided that the U of M was the best fit. Her club diving coach, who has helped her in much of her suc-cess in this sport, is also the U of M coach. McCrady decided that since she already knows the campus, its diving facility, and the head coach, it was a perfect fit.

McCrady won all-state honors last year and qualified for all-American. An-other highlight of Sarah’s diving career was coming in 6th at AAU Nationals for her club season last year. She also placed third at teh state tournament at the end of the 2009 season. Sarah believes that her previous 13 years of gymnastics before diving has greatly benefited her - she says it has helped with the sense of being in the air.

When she gets to the U of M, McCrady is planning on majoring in either kine-siology or physical therapy. She is looking forward to becoming more independent through her college experience.

Kelly Wood has always loved softball, ever since she first started playing as a six-year old. Her love for the game has been evident to many college scouts at schools such as Iowa State, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Concordia, and St. Thomas, all of whom were recruiting her. In the end, Wood decided to sign a National Letter of Intent with the University of Minnesota-Mankato. She said that after seeing the campus and talking to coaches there, she knew that it was the right place to be.

Wood has always worked hard to become a good catcher. She believes that it is the little things she does as well as the time and effort put into the sport that makes her a successful athlete. Hard work and commitment come easily for her because she loves challenging herself. Her favorite thing about softball is being able to play such a competitive sport and being around people that share her love of the game.

Wood and her team were named champions at state at the end of the 2008 season. She also earned all state and all-conference honors at the end of the 2009 season for her outstanding catching. According to Wood her secret to getting ready to go before a big game is her “Fiesta Playlist” of Mexican songs.

Wood is very anxious to meet her college team, and is excited to play softball at a college level. She is planning to double major in sociology and criminal justice, and also continue on with Spanish. Overall, Wood is looking forward to her college experience at MSU Mankato, both athletically and academically.

Senior pitcher Sara Moulton has signed a letter of intent to play softball with the University of Minnesota Gophers. After playing soft-ball for 12 years, and being featured in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, it’s no surprise that the All-Metro Eagan pitcher has been invited to play at a college level with the Minnesota Gophers in the Big Ten con-ference. “I’m really excited to play softball in the Big Ten and to chal-lenge myself” Moulton says, stating what she is most excited about for playing for the U of M team. As for what she as a player can bring to the team, Moulton says she’ll bring competitiveness, and can also con-tribute with her pitching and hitting.

Family, coaches, and school officials were on hand to support the athletes on their “Signing Day.” Moulton says winning state with her team for her sophomore year was her proudest moment playing soft-ball in her athletic career. She also won the All-Metro Softball Player of the Year Award in 2009, presented by the Star Tribune. She had a very strong season, with an ERA of 0.44 and 22-5 record, and she hopes to continue on with success this season, and during college. Moulton wants to continue to make Eagan High School proud while she com-petes in the Big Ten against other top softball players. However, she will also miss playing as an Eagan Wildcat, most notably Moulton said that she is going to miss “my team and representing Eagan.”

Senior softball player, Bree Blanchette, has signed with the University of Minnesota. She will attend the school next fall and play on the Gophers softball team in the Big Ten conference during the 2011 season. Blanch-ette is a standout center fielder and hitter for the Wildcat team, with a .311 batting average last season and 0 errors in the field. She be-lieves she can bring her positive attitude to the Gophers softball team as a major contri-bution. Blanchette said that she is most look-ing forward to “playing for the Gophers, and playing in the Big Ten” next year when she moves on to college.

Blanchette described the “Signing Day” as “exciting”, and that the supporters at the signing took pictures of her and the other athletes as they each signed their letters of intent for each of their respective colleges. Her proudest moment while playing soft-ball over the years was going to and winning state in high school during her sophomore year (the end of the 2008 season). One thing that Blanchette says she will miss the most about playing softball at Eagan is her team-mates that she has played with for many years and her softball coaches that have helped her achieve success.

Kelly Wood

Sara Moulton

Bree blanchette

Sarah McCrady

By Rachel Berryman, Matt Novitzki, and Cameron VanDykeSports Editor and Sports Writers

Photo courtesy of Sara MoultonSara Moulton and Bree Blancheete sign Letters of

Intent.

Photo courtesy of Sara MoultonSenior pitcher Sara Moulton

Photo courtesy of http://www.eaganfastpitch.com

Photo courtesy of http://www.eagan-fastpitch.com

Catcher Kelly Wood

Photo courtesy of Sarah McCradySarah McCrady signs a Letter of

Intent Photo courtesy of Erica BuckiSarah McCrady performs a dive

Eagan Independent | Tuesday, December 8, 20098Winter Sports Captains Gear Up For SeasonBy Rachel Berryman, Matt Novitski, and Molly MartinezSports Editor and Writers

Alpine Skiing

Allie FredboQ: When did you start

skiing?A: When I was 3. Q: How did you learn?A: My uncle worked at

Highland, and my entire fam-ily skied, so they started me out young.

Q: What are you most excited about this season?

A: The Eagan girls team’s pretty good, and sectionals!

Q: What has been your proudest moment during skiing?

A: Qualifying for state. Q: What has been your

most embarrassing moment while skiing?

A: During fourth grade ski club, I was pulled out of the lesson, and everyone knew I could ski, so they were expecting me to do well, and I ate it off [fell on] a jump.

Q: What is your favorite pump up song?

A: Anything fast paced. Q: What is the worse ski-

ing pet peeve?A: When kids don’t clean

up, or skip practice. Eric SerantoniQ: When did you start

skiing?A: I first started when I

was 3 years old, but I started racing when I was a fresh-man.

Q: How did you learn?A: Just from fellow skiers,

on Buck Hill.Q: What are you most

excited about this season?A: Probably sections. They

were pretty intense and the competition increased.

Q: What has been your proudest moment during skiing?

A: Being elected captain two times.

Q: What has been your most embarrassing moment while skiing?

A: Falling twice in one

race. Q: What is your favorite

pump up song?A: Foo Fighters, anything

by them. Q: What is the worse ski-

ing pet peeve?A: When coaches are late.

* * *

Cheer Team

Kaitlin WeggeQ: What is your favorite

sport to cheer for?A: Football, hands down.Q: What’s your favorite

cheer?A: “What what” or “We

got spirit.” Q: What’s your favorite

gymnastics routine?A: I did gymnastics for

two years. My favorite part about the routine would have to be the end, I’m a flyer, I get flipped in the air.

Q: What is your favorite pump up song?

A. Tik Tok by ke$ha Q: What is your proudest

moment while cheering?

A: Getting our bid to na-tionals.

Q: What has been your most embarrassing moment while cheering?

A: When I was a freshman we had a competition at the Mall of America and I didn’t extend all the way out of my round off back tuck and landed right on my head! The crowd all started to “Ooow-

www,” I was crying. It was so embarrassing.

Sydney ChristenQ: What is your favorite

sport to cheer for?A: Football, definitely. Q: What’s your favorite

cheer?A: Stomp and scream.Q: What’s your favorite

gymnastic routine?A: I don’t do gymnastics,

Kaitlin does.Q: What is your favorite

pump up song?A: Party in the USA by

Miley Cyrus! Q: What has been your

proudest moment while cheering?

A: Getting our bid to nationals, we’re going to Orlando sometime around Valentines Day!

Q: What’s your most embarrassing moment while cheering?

A: Last year I completely blanked on a routine and just stood there for a few seconds.

Zenner competes for Mr. FootballBy Dan PetersSports Writer

Eagan High School’s homecoming king and foot-ball captain Zach Zenner has been nominated as one of the ten finalists for 2009 Min-nesota’s Mr. Football. This prestigious award is given to the best football player in the state, as determined by Minnesota football coaches. Coaches vote on the players, and therefore the award is not always given to the best player on the state champion-ship team. The award is based more on the player’s con-tribution to their own team, which gives the committee a greater variety of choices. This year, the other nine finalists for Mr. Football are: Beau Allen, Minnetonka; Joel Bauman, Kerkohoven-Murdock-Sunberg; Jacob

Brusehaver, Hutchinson; John Crockett, Totino-Grace; Seantrel Hen-derson, Cretin-Derham Hall; Ben Henson, Buffalo; Bran-don Marquart, Champlin Park; Ryan Tri, Eden Valley-Watkins; and Zach Vraa, Rosemount. Zenner said it is exciting to be nomi-nated and a great honor. He believes that he was able to get to this point because he worked hard in the offseason, had great coaches, and good teammates. According to Zenner, his calves (infamous on the football team) only helped with his speed and all

of his other success came from hard work. Although Zenner played numerous positions during this season, one that he believes he would not have been successful at is the offen-sive line. Instead, on offense Zenner prefers to be lined up at running back or in the slot as quarterback. Throughout the sea-

Photo courtesy of Adam CarlZenner takes a snap as Quarterback

Photo courtesy of Sydney ChristenKaitlin Wegge and Sydney

Christen

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son there were many exciting moments, however, Zenner’s favorite game was defeating Lakeville South in thrilling fashion to open up the season. (Eagan won 37-36 in the final minutes.) His least favorite part was “getting smashed by Rosemount.” (The Wildcats lost 28-7) When he found out that he would be playing quarterback for six games this year he was both surprised and excited for the opportuni-ty. He excelled at the position, and therefore could possibly be playing Division 1 football

next year, however Zenner is currently undecided about his plans. He does believe though that he should be the top contender for 2009 Mr. Football of Minnesota because he had to learn a new position during the season and still continued to be successful. The winner of this award was decided on December 6th at the Minnesota Coaches banquet after this issue went to press.

Students combat cancerBy Alanna ThelenNews Writer On November 19th the organization High Schools Against Cancer, held an event at Eagan High School called the Great American Smoke-out. The Smokeout takes place annually on the third Thurs-day of November. Created by the American Cancer Society, the event challenges smokers around the nation to quit for a day, and hopefully encourage them to quit for life. For the Smokeout, stu-dents designed t-shirts in their PAWS classes to promote the benefits of not smoking. The PAWS teachers then wore them on the 19th. At lunches, a slide show played showing the harms of smoking and the health benefits to quit-ting smoking. During this event 350 students pledged not to smoke. Senior Katie

Tubbs, the president of High Schools Against Cancer at Eagan explained, “I think [the Smokeout] will have an im-pact, There are enough facts and statistics and the message is getting out to the whole school.” The American Cancer Society states that lung cancer is caused by tobacco smoke 90% of the time. Smoking is also responsible for 30% of cancer deaths. It also states that people living with smok-ers, because of secondhand smoke, have a 20-30% greater chance of getting lung cancer than people who do not live with smokers. Smokers who have quit for less than ten years have already lowered their risk of getting lung can-cer by one third. HAC is a nationwide organization through the American Cancer Society. It

began its Eagan High School chapter last spring and cur-rently has fifteen members. “The goal of High Schools Against Cancer is to get people involved and spread awareness of cancer. Most people have been affected by cancer and this is a way for them to get involved,” Tubbs stated. Eagan High School, through High Schools Against Cancer and the American Cancer Society, also sponsors Coaches Versus Cancer and Relay for Life. If you are interested in joining HAC you can talk with Ms. Hook, the school nurse. The organization also has a Facebook group called High Schools Against Cancer Eagan Chapter The group meets about once a month in room 133 after school.