St. Louis Park, a city named after a train line, is accustomed to dealing with the inconve-nience of freight trains. With plans to redi-

rect train traffi c, students may soon become some of the most affected.

For more than 15 years, county offi cials have intended to redirect freight traffi c from the Ke-nilworth corridor, south of Highway 7, to the tracks going past the school.

Implementation has been slow but with cur-rent plans for a light rail line to run on the Ke-nilworth corridor, the move is likely.

County organizes announced a study on Feb. 8 to better understand the trains’ impact on the city and the school.

Gail Dorfman, a former Park mayor and cur-rent Hennepin County Commissioner, views the study as a chance to answer questions about prob-lems that the city already has involving train lines.

“If we’re going to shift more train traffi c through St. Louis Park, how are we going to do it right? How are we going to engineer this so it works better?” she said.

Longtime substitute teacher Jami LaPray is one of the community members worried about increased freight traffi c through the heart of Park.

She co-chairs a committee of neighborhood leaders that will give input about residents’ con-cerns.

“We want the county to know that since they’re planning this big change for St. Louis Park, we ex-

pect them to make changes to continue to make it liveable,” she said.

Besides the effects on the community at large, the study intends to determine what effects the trains will have on students.

Currently, an average of two shorter trains pass by the school daily, but with the redirection, that number could double and the trains would likely be longer.

Joy Esboldt teaches Spanish in the B hallway, an area of the school close to the railroad.

“In the fall when I had the windows open it was really loud and I had to stop when they blew their whistle,” she said. “Also the classroom sometimes shakes.”

Some worry that these disruptions could nega-tively affect student learning as the trains become longer, louder and more frequent.

the

www.slpecho.com St. Louis Park High School | 6425 W. 33rd Street, St. Louis Park, MN 55426

Thursday, March 18, 2010 | Volume 81 | Issue 08

Freshman Brianna Knight-Fischer sets two alarms and sleeps through both until her mom yells up the

stairs for her to get ready in the morn-ing. Next year Brianna’s ritual may be less stressful.

The School Board fi -nalized new boundaries and new start times for next year at its meeting March 8. The high school day will go from 8:20 a.m.-3:10 p.m.

In addition to new start times, the School Board fi nalized elemen-tary boundaries. It is esti-mated that of the district’s 87 elementary teachers, 60 will be moving to a new building next year.

Ann Jurewicz, co-president of the St. Louis Park teacher’s union, anticipates the work it will take for teachers to re-adjust but remains excited about the new beginning for the district.

“Change is especially hard for adults who have been doing things for a long time,” Jurewicz said. “It’s like remodel-ing a house. You love it when it’s done, but it’s diffi cult living in the mess.”

The district is using the realignment as an opportunity to create a new environ-ment within each elementary school and is assigning a new principal to each site.

“It’s like building a new school rather than having a teacher come into a school

where the principal there is already in a pattern. It’s a way for everyone to start fresh,” Assistant Superintendant Bob Laney said.

Current principal of Susan Lindgren Cory Maslowski will become principal of Park Spanish Immersion next year. He looks forward to changes a new adminis-tration will bring to each elementary site.

“Administrators and teachers will have the opportunity for next year to work together to craft a new vision for

the (elementary) schools, which is really powerful,” Maslowski said.

In addition to new ad-ministrators, later start times will bring change in the district. With $90,000 saved annually in busing costs, more teachers will be kept in the district.

Principal Robert Metz explains the biggest con-cern he has faced from

parents is that athletes will have to miss their seventh hour for away games.

“We will have to establish a consistent make-up policy for students who have to miss class so that everyone understands what the expectations are. We have to make sure we are really clear on how to handle that,” Metz said.

Sophomore Paige Anderson thinks the extra sleep in the morning will pay off at school.

“I think getting more sleep will benefi t in the long run because then we can get more out of school during the day,” An-derson said.

As the fi nal pieces fall into place for next year’s reconfi guration, many look forward to a fresh start for the district.

Remodeling the house

Main | Concerns

• Noise• Vibrations• Student safety• Impeding tra! c

Final decision made on district sta" , start times and boundaries

Train track recon! guration sparks controversy

Robbie Seltzer-Schultz| Staff Writer

Community members worried about disruptions from increased tra! c

Continued on | 02

Up close, but nothingpersonal, with paintball.

page 03

Art Credit | Nico Johnson

O! cial action will be taken on teacher assignments at the School Board meeting March 22. At this time teacher positions for next year will be made public.

Middle school: 7:40 a.m.-2:25 p.m.High school: 8:20 a.m.-3:10 p.m.PSI: 8:25 a.m.-2:55 p.m.Elementary schools: 9:15 a.m.-3:45 p.m.It’s like remodeling

a house. You love it when it’s done, but it’s di! cult living in the mess.

Ann Jurewicz | Co-president of the St. Louis

Park teacher’s union

School start times for next year

Softball gets swinging with a

new coach.

page 08

Elena Potek | Staff Writer

“I wanted to do something di! erent instead of Theater Arts II. Thanks to the new art policy,

now I can.” -Tess Glassman-Kaufman | 11NewsThursday, March 18, 2010Thursday, March 18, 2010Thursday, March 18, 2010

News | Briefs

The YODA group will be including freshman for the fi rst time.

Additionally, the group is now conducting discussions in three small groups instead of the usual large group method.

Junior and member Nyamuli Tshiteya is glad for the changes.

“With three small groups we get to interact with each other and go around the (discussion) circle multiple times,” Tshiteya said.

YODA will also be a starting a mentorship program, with juniors and seniors providing guidance to sophomores and freshmen.

New policies for YODA for next year

Math Team places ! fth in State as a group, Ford places ! rst

The SLP Math Team placed fi fth in the state competition March 8.

Sophomore Andrew Ford also placed fi rst in the Math Bowl competition. The contest was an exhibition competition between the top 10 people from an intramural competition before the state tournament. Competitors answered eight questions, each with a short time limit. Ford received a perfect score.

“I wasn’t really nervous until there was only one question left and I was winning,” he said.

Ford, along with junior Matan Appelbaum and junior David Kinney, also qualifi ed for an elite team of 30 competitors for the national American League Mathematics Competition to be in June in Washington, D.C.

Junior Sarah Skinner notes that the trains regularly passing dur-ing her fourth hour German class are disruptive even after they pass.

“My teacher gets really annoyed with (the trains) because we stay distracted,” she said.

However, noise and vibrations are only two concerns of both Dorfman and LaPray. They see trains as a threat to student safety.

“It used to be kids at the high school would ride the rails (jump-ing on a train car),” Dorfman said. “Grab a burger at McDonald’s and ride the train for a couple of blocks. It was very dangerous.”

Although train jumping is not currently a problem, LaPray also mentioned the possibility that trains crossing at Lake Street and Da-kota Avenue could delay students arriving at school or cause them to take unnecessary risks crossing the tracks.

“Everyone knows kids run back and forth in front of the trains,” she said.

The study is planned to begin in April and conclude before the end of the year with the actual redirection date still undetermined.

Despite the likelihood of having to teach over more train noise in the future, Esboldt remains largely unconcerned.

“I’ve taken the approach that whatever happens it wouldn’t be ideal, but I’ll learn to deal with it,” she said.

Art options o! er more " exibility

Senior Catherine Tarsney had a big problem.After taking Photo I spring of

her junior year, she had no time in her schedule for Photo II during the fall of her senior year. As Tarsney entered her fi nal semester, she still needed Photo II to graduate. But no room existed for it in her schedule, and she was forced to take the class as an independent study.

By modifying the art standard for graduation, the administration hopes to solve issues such as this. Students used to need two credits of the same art, such as Pottery I and Pottery II. Now, students still need two art credits, but they no longer have to be con-secutive.

“(The new pol-icy) gives students a chance to try different things, but it doesn’t pre-vent them from taking art classes in sequence,” Metz said.

Tarsney knows fi rsthand the scheduling prob-lems that art can cause.

“There were a few weeks at the start of the semester when I didn’t have an art class,” she said. “It was stressful.”

Photo teacher David Becker sees this modifi ed policy as benefi cial for the art program.

“In photo, it actually helps because you get kids who actually want to be there instead of just trying to fulfi ll their art requirement,” he said.

Becker is not worried that fewer students will take advanced art classes. Last year, the art department denied photo to 250 students, partially because many seniors needed the art credit to graduate so they had priority.

The art option will offer fl exibility for students, schedules and art classes.

Charlie Shapiro | Staff Writer

Trains: community requests input

S i l e n c eSubstitute teacher Scott Edgar works as a hall monitor in the B1 hallway March 16 while the no-pass policy is instituted. The policy dictated no passes be given to students, and teachers keep their doors locked except for during passing time.

The hallways are silent. No lockers slam, no music blares, and the chatter of stu-dents is suspiciously absent. Except for

the occasional static of a hall monitors walk-ie-talkie, it’s as if school were closed.

However, school was still in session March 15-16. As a result of a policy imple-mented by Principal Robert Metz, no passes were to be handed out to students, and all classroom doors locked after the bell rang.

Metz recounts the policies are the result of a serious hallway disturbance that oc-curred March 12. However, Metz assures the policies are not intended as a punishment for students, and understands some students may have misunderstood his intents.

“The policy was a good way to make sure people stay in class and regroup for a couple days. We just need to step back, relax, and reset,” Metz said.

However, many students are unclear as to the full purpose of the policy, some main-taining that it’s intended as a punishment, or that it seems like an ineffective way of deal-ing with the problem.

Sophomore Anastasia Murray believes the policy was intended to respond to an in-cident she recalled in the hallway on Friday.

“I know they want to respond to the

fi ght, but in the long run, there’s no way this policy is going to discourage future fi ghts,” she said.

Junior Tre Munson agrees with this as-sessment.

“They just instituted the policy to do something,” Munson said. “It won’t deal with the problem of fi ghts.”

Metz believes overall the policy was very effective.

Metz noted a signifi cant lack of students wandering the hallways and being disrup-tive.

“I think that the results have been good, and some facets of the policy might be kept in the long run. Not the full-out restriction, but asking teachers to only give out passes for more important reasons,” Metz said.

Math teacher Gloria Kruppstadt agrees the problem of hallway noise and distur-bances can be solved with simple solutions.

“I only ever let one student out of my class at a time. I think teachers can be a lot more restrictive with how many passes they give out,” Kruppstadt said.

Overall Metz once more reiterates his connection to students and that the policy is intended only for safety.

“I’m really happy with the cooperation with the policy. Ultimately our top is con-cern is always student safety,” he said.

William Cramer | News Editor

Photo | Madee Weisner

What’s | New

• A second-level art credit is no longer required to graduate

• Students still need two semesters of art, and advanced art classes are still o" ered

Source | Principal Robert Metz

Some students, teachers and community members apprehensive of new train line

Continued from | 01

Current train route

New proposed train route

St. Louis Park City Hall

St. Louis Park High School

Cedar Lake

Lake CalhounBass

Lake

St. Louis Park

Minneapolis

100Hwy

Hwy7

Art Credit | KT Lindemann

Student receives Annual Achievement Award

Senior Julia Westley was awarded a $2,000 cash prize on Feb. 25

as fi rst place winner of the Annual Achievement Award for students involved in Club-Z In-Home Tutoring. Westley competed against students from across the country for the chance to win one of six different scholarship awards. Westley plans to attend a four-year college next year.

DECA participants move on at state competition

At the annual DECA state competition, Park students qualifi ed

for the next tier of competitions. Seniors Mickey Hills, Helen Noble, Jimmy Silbert and Lauren Schoff qualifi ed for the fi nal round of state competition.

Senior Travis Gohman, along with freshmen Danielle Appleman and Anders Conroy have qualifi ed for the national competition.

Athena award winner announced

Senior Megan Duffy won the Athena award March 16. Duffy was chosen

for her achievement and dedication to both academics and athletics. Other nominees included seniors Abbie Baldwin, Colleen Bell, Megan Ostrom and Carley Rosen.

Proposed train route and surrounding areas:

fi ght, but in the long run, there’s no way this

h a l l w a y sh a l l w a y sin the

Freshman Timothy Schweiten darts behind the nearest bunker and takes aim when suddenly he feels a sharp pain in his leg and looks down to see a splatter of red.

No, this isn’t a “Call of Duty” tournament in his basement, this is paintball.

With winter still lingering, paintball, a somewhat over-looked source of entertainment, offers a solution to bore-dom.

The goal of paintball is to eliminate opponents by shoot-ing them with paint pellets, and there is an endless variation of games that can be played.

Jeff Iverson of Northside Sports Paintball thinks the ap-peal of the game comes from peoples’ love of adventure.

“People like shooting at each other, it gets the adrenaline pumping,” he said. “Anybody can shoot at a target. Paint-ball takes it to a whole new level.”

Schweiten, who plays paintball three to four times a

month with Northside Sport’s Clan Bull’s-eye, agrees the sport is enjoyable because of the excitement of battle.

“The best thing about paintball is the fact that you get to shoot other people,” he said. “Paintball is like fl at-out war.”

For many players, the hardest part of the game is obvious, don’t get shot.

Freshman Trent Bellingham, who goes paintballing every once in a while, developed a simple strategy for staying in the game.

“You have to just dive out at people,” he said. “Basically, shoot them before they can shoot you.”

Although for many students, taking down friends with paint bullets seems very appealing, the rumors of pain often keep them away.

“Paintball is very safe ... It’s actually probably safer than hockey, baseball, and many other sports,” Iverson said. “As

far as the pain goes, it’s like snapping a big rub-ber band on the inside of your wrist. ”

Senior Moriah Stephens, who went paint-balling for her 18th birthday, believes that de-spite the pain, the experience was worth it.

“Everybody cried at least once and I had rampant bruises,” she said. “I think it’s some-thing everybody should do though.”

For those interested in taking part in the battle, a few venues in Minnesota exist includ-ing Northside Sports Paintball in Ramsey and

Splatball in Minneapolis.Both locations offer the ability to rent equipment and

either walk-on paintball, where you and a few friends can play with other paintball fans for a few hours, or group paintball for those who want to bring a party.

For those students eagerly anticipating spring weather, but still stuck in their basements playing video games, paint-ball can offer a more active experience.

Student Life Thursday, March 18, 2010 3“After every round, everyone was crying, because they were in so much pain, but then we all decided to go back and do it again.”–Alissa Milosovich l 12

Taylor Delaney | Staff Writer

Made of a shell of gelatin and fi lled with washable vegetable oil, the paintballs sold at Splatball in Minneapolis seem harmless.

Today, seven people are participating in Splatball’s “Open Play,” which allows anyone over the age of 10 to shoot capsules of paint at high speeds at anyone on the fi eld from 3-6 p.m. Sundays.

My team consists of “Young Gun,” a small, mousy boy with glasses, no older than 11 and “Mike,” an avid paintballer.

While “Young Gun” and I sit clad in grungy clothes and rental gear, “Mike” stands decked out in what appears to be legitimate paintball equip-ment, six or seven capsules of paintballs strapped to his leg, and one of the three guns he brought with him to Splatball.

As the veteran, “Mike” wasted no time telling us what to do.

“Basically, you just need to haul ass,” he said. This happened to be the best piece of advice I

received. The rest was a matter of experience.I learned to communicate between teammates,

aim higher than what I needed to hit, and that the fl oor, laden with paint in a way that would make Jackson Pollock proud, becomes quite slippery.

At the end of the two-hour period full of vio-lence, I felt closer to “Young Gun” and “Mike.” There existed a mutual understanding between all of us.

Standing in the shower an hour after leaving Splatball I counted eight welts left by the devilish little balls of dyed vegetable oil and gelatin. Despite my skin’s ugly appearance and tenderness, I realize I’d go through the whole experience again in a heartbeat.

A day in the life of a paintball rookie

Paintball gear: getting your

Paintball essentials:When shooting When being shot Strategy

Protective mask:!Eye protection is the most important piece of paintball equipment you could invest in. The masks or goggles are headgears that completely cover the face.

Marker:!Without this, there is no game to play. The paintball gun is commonly referred to as the “marker” because it “marks” other players.!

Air tank:!A critical part of paintball gear and can be attached to most models of paintball guns several different locations. It propels the paintball forward with compressed air.

Dark/camou! age clothes"!Since the main idea of the game is to hide, it becomes of utmost importance that the clothing is not of bright colors that can be spotted easily. The clothes should blend into their environment.

Paintballs:!A non-toxic, paint-fi lled ball made of gelatin that can be fi red from a paintball marker and usually breaks on contact with other surfaces.

#! For a stable shot, take a deep breath and hold it until you’ve shot.

#! If you’re running, you should be shooting at someone. It serves as self-defense.

#! Firing continually wastes paint and gains nothing. No one walks into a continual storm of paintballs.

1

2

3

4

5

• Always wear a mask. A paintball can permanently blind an eye.

• Rather than position yourself directly behind an object for cover, crouch a few feet behind. This way, your ! eld of vision is larger while still being protected.

#! Wear dark clothes. White stands out too much, making for an easy target.

#! Wear some sort of athletic footwear. Running shoes are good, but veterans say cleats are better.

#! Don’t stay put too long. You contribute more to the team when moving.

Nico Johnson | Staff Writer

What’s the | point?

1Paintballing hurts more than

you’d imagine.

2Just because it hurts doesn’t

mean it’s not fun.

3It results in unexpected

camaraderie.

Anybody can shoot at a target. Paintball takes it to a whole new level.

Jeff Iverson | Northside Sports Paintball

1

5

3

2

4

GAME FACE on

Paintball brings alternative entertainment

Student LifeStudent Life Thursday, March 18, 2010Thursday, March 18, 2010 3333333“After every round, everyone was crying, because they were in so much pain, but then we all decided to go back and do it again.”–Alissa Milosovich l 12

Paintball brings alternative entertainment

Ever since the beginning of time, Hollywood has been making feel-good animal movies to appeal to

the masses. Lassie, Skip and Marley are all examples of loyal, loving dogs whom owners adore. Most pet owners feel the same way about their own dog after see-ing these movies. Not me. My dog, Nanji, is the worst part about my life. Put plainly, she sucks.

Nanji makes me completely doubt the goodness of dogs. I watch “Marley and Me” and wonder why my dog can’t be that loving. Heck, I’d even settle for normal.

I believe that if Nanji was psychoan-alyzed, she would be found to have a serious problem. If she was a hu-man, she would be a serial-killing psychopath.

For start-ers, Nanji has a strange tendency to stare at your feet. She puts her snout right up on your foot and follows it around as you walk. It doesn’t matter how many times

you kick her (and oh, how I kick her), she will continue to stare at your feet.

Nanji will also eat anything. It is hard to love your dog when you have watched a newspaper bag be pulled out her rear because dogs cannot digest plas-tic. She’s eaten shoes, blankets, money and just about any item you leave on the kitchen counter.

Perhaps the strangest aspect of Nan-ji’s behavior is that she compulsively licks off her hair. She’s ugly enough as it is (she resembles a small, fat bear), but the random patches of skin pepper-ing her overgrown, bushy coat really doesn’t help matters much.

Most people would tend to say this is normal dog behavior that she can’t help it because she’s a dog. Pet own-ers put up with strange behaviors from their animals, but usually the love they feel for their companion override the an-noyances.

This is exhibited in the movie “Mar-ley and Me.” Though Marley at fi rst brings his owners much grief, they learn to love him deeply in the end.

I have often wondered why I do not feel the same. I literally have no senti-ment of love or even like for Nanji. It is hard to have a fondness for something that vomits in your closet.

After watching “Marley and Me,” I turned towards Nanji, hoping that by some miracle, she would show me a sign that she was loyal or loving. She bit me.

Though I cannot think of one specifi c reason for hating Nanji, I know that whenever she is in the room, a little part of me dies. I cannot wait until I no lon-ger have to deal with her antics. This is not to say that I’m going to hurt my dog. But, I will be extremely happy when she’s gone.

For now, I guess I will just have to deal with the anger that arises in me whenever I see Nanji. I will continue to watch heart wrenching movies about terrifi c people-dog relationships and muse over how there can me so much discrepancy within a race. Nanji’s hor-rible, and there is no possible way to deny that.

Nanji and me

Kaitlyn Steffenhagen Opinions Editor

What’s the | point?

1I hate Nanji.

2She hardly resembles the

Hollywood dog.

3I would not be upset if she

disappeared.

Support for Divinski blooms

The news hit Barb Divinski’s fi rst hour IB biology class hard. It spread so fast that by sixth hour, the content of the letter was already known. But that did not lessen the blow.

Divinski was diagnosed in February with breast cancer and underwent a lumpectomy. During her surgery, the surgeon discovered a lymph node with cancerous cells. She will undergo chemother-apy starting today and will continue through the summer, followed by radiation and drug therapy with Hereptin, which fi ghts a protein made by tumor cells.

Students were shocked by the news.“When we fi rst got the letter everyone was

really quiet. It is really sad to hear because she is a really good teacher,” junior IB biology stu-dent Nicole Ramtahal said. “I think it is really unfortunate and shows that sometimes bad things happen to good people.”

Moved by her situation, several students rushed to show sup-port for their teacher.

Junior Dylan Gilbertson created a Facebook group titled “Get Better Dr. D,” which currently totals 657 members.

“I know that it helps to know that people support you and I thought if she saw the group she would know her students sup-port her,” he said. “She is a really good person and she cares about her students … I hope with all my heart she gets better.”

Along with the Facebook group, junior IB biology students Sa-mantha Olson, Alex Stitt, Amelia Swartout and Nicole Ramtahal organized a money collection in order to present Divinski with six bouquets of fl owers when she returned to school Feb. 22.

“It has been unbelievable the amount of support she has got-ten. The fi rst night there was a group made for her on Facebook, then when she comes back with the fl owers. It is really thoughtful

and supportive, and I thought it was wonderful and obviously Mrs. Divinski did too, she was bawling,” biology teacher Julie Schilz said.

While students provided immediate support, the science de-partment hopes to continue encouragement for Divinski this sum-mer. Every teacher in the department, including Jan Lane, Dan

Ruzek, Mark Miller, Al Wachutka, Jessica Gust, Emily Binder, Linda Tillou, Jennifer Magdal and Schilz, created an American Cancer Society Re-lay for Life team named “Dr. D’s Darwin Dream Date.”

The relay allows participants to support the fi ght against cancer. The team will participate at Hopkins High School June 25-26. At least one member will walk or run on the track at all times. Because cancer never sleeps, the relay takes place from 7 p.m.-7 a.m.

“I just hope to show support for Mrs. Divinski in any way possible,” Magdal said.

Students can support “Dr. D’s Darwin Dream Date” by donating money. Schilz’s Web site contains a link to the relay Web site where donations can be made. Any science teacher also accepts donations.

“If a student in the school gives a donation ... we can make them luminaries with a dedication on it,” Magdal said.

The luminaries, or paper bags fi lled with sand and a lighted candle, are placed around the track as a sign of hope.

“(Luminaries) are there to get people to really feel the mo-ment,” Magdal said.

If students want to get further involved, Magdal encourages them to form their own relay teams. Teams cost $150 to create and sign-up information can be found on relayforlife.org

Encouragement has come in multiple forms, from blossoms to planned physical activity, but Park has truly taken strides to sup-port Divinski in her relay for life.

Photo illustration | Paris Delaney

Vantage | Point

Mara Olson | Staff Writer

Biology teacher Barbara Divinski

smiles in between classes March 3 next to three bouquets of ! owers she received

from students. Since revealing her diagnosis of breast cancer last month, students and sta"

have teamed up to support her as she

prepares to undergo chemotherapy.

Kaitlyn Steffenhagen

“Why do they call it softball? The ball’s are actually really hard.” –Eric Swabey-Keith| 10FeaturesThursday, March 18, 2010Thursday, March 18, 2010Thursday, March 18, 2010

I thought if she saw the group she would know her students support her ... I hope with all my heart she gets better.

Dylan Gilbertson | 11

Admission Possible opens door to college

Media enthusiast starts his own photo business

It’s late Friday afternoon and while many stu-dents are planning their weekends, senior Ter-rence Chastan-Davis takes notes at his desk. He

isn’t in trouble. He hasn’t fallen behind either. In fact, he’s trying to get ahead.

Chastan-Davis is a member of Admission Pos-sible, an organization that provides promising low-income students with the skills and opportunities necessary to receive a college education.

Admission Possible has been playing an active role in the college application process of students for the past four years at the high school. The pro-gram meets after school and is open to all juniors and seniors looking for help.

With tests, transcripts, essays, scholarships, col-lege visits and countless decisions, it’s easy to see why the college application process can overwhelm many students. Yet Admission Possible junior coach Tom Allen believes the program can alleviate these worries.

“We try to really prepare students for the pro-cess and help them fi nd the college that feels right,” he said.

In Admission Possible, students receive ACT/SAT preparation, resumé writing instruction, and information on scholarships throughout the admis-sion process.

Students are also given the chance to visit sev-eral local colleges and universities.

Chastan-Davis believes the program has helped

guide his own college application process in several ways.

“It’s defi nitely worth the time and commitment. There are lots of volunteering activities and you get the opportunity to meet new people. You are also able to build good relationships with colleges,” Chastan-Davis said.

The program has seen results as 100 percent of program participants in the graduating class of 2009 received college admittance.

For students such as Chastan-Davis, who is cur-rently considering Augsburg College, University of Wisconsin-Stout and University of Minnesota -Morris, the program goes far beyond the admis-sion process.

“It’s a big help. I don’t know where I’d be with-out it. The program gives you a direction and helps you fi gure out where you want to go in life,” he said.

Seniors such as Chastan-Davis are currently reaping the benefi ts as 95 percent of Admission Possible participants have gained admittance to a four-year university.

However, there are also 40 juniors in the pro-gram who are grateful for the services Admission Possible provides.

“It makes the college process so much easier. It makes sure you are prepared for college,” junior Shawn Willis said.

While the overall program appears to guide stu-dents in their quest to achieve academically, Allen made clear where the success of Admission Possible lies.

“The program allows the students to work ex-tremely hard. It’s their responsibility,” he said.

Sophomores who wish to work hard and be a part of Admission Possible must submit their ap-plications by March 26 to room B220.

Sophomore Asher Pink started his own photomontage company, Pink Productions, last November. Since then, he has produced six presentations and continues to receive o! ers under the slogan, “providing the highest quality, eye-popping video presentations for the

lowest cost.”

Why did you start your own company?I’ve always loved the entertainment industry and when I went to a few B’nei Mitzvahs last year and saw their photomontages, I thought, with the equipment I had, I could do them. I then did some research and found out what other places charged and it was ridiculous. I thought they should be cheaper.

For what events do you create photomontages? My main market is Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. But I also do montages for graduations and wed-dings. I’ve also been asked by a few nonprofi t companies like the JCC to do videos for them.

What is your process for creating photomontages?I usually meet with a client and we go over their vision for the production. They give me pho-tos and we try sort them into categories of their choosing. There is a cookie-cutter process I can use, but I generally accommodate to individual customer’s plans.

How do you promote yourself?It’s mostly a word-of-mouth process. A good customer review will lead to more success be-cause they will tell their friends about my business. At the same time, one bad review can set back everything.

What do you love most about your business?I love to help people. I like to do all the technical stuff to create a production that mirrors what my clients have in their minds. At one of my presentations, the Vice President of Warner Brothers, who was the uncle of the Bat Mitzvah I was making a video for, said it was amazing that a 15-year old had made such a great video. It’s experiences like that that are very hum-bling and make me feel good.

Do you have any future goals in the entertainment industry?I’m saving up for a professional camera so that I can move from photomontages to videogra-phy. Looking more long term, I plan to go into fi lm when I grow up. After doing “A Serious Man,” I realized making fi lms, whether behind the camera as a director or in front of it as an actor, is such a fun experience. I loved it so much that I want to create my own experiences.

Photo | Madee Weisner

Photo | Paris Delaney

Scott Foltz | Staff Writer

Eli Robiner | Features Editor

The program allows students to pursue a secondary education

“If I were to create a business, it would be called Max’s Milking, Inc. We’d milk live cows.” –Max Intveld | 11 Features Thursday, March 18, 2010

Students listen to Admission Possible coach Tom Allen during an Admission Possible meeting March 11. Admission Possible works with upperclassmen as they make their way through the college application process.

!Admission is possible: Overall Program StatisticsWorks with

1,540 students in 23 high schools.

20% increase in ACT score of average

student.

98% of students

admitted to college.

74% of students

graduate or stay in school.

Sophomore Asher Pink displays one of his slide shows March 8. Pink makes photomontages for weddings, graduations and other celebrations.

College

Art | Alex OlevitchSource | admissionpossible.org

“One time in sixth grade I was wearing shorts, and I wrote answers on my thigh.”

–Jonah Belfi ori | 9In-DepthThursday, March 18, 2010Thursday, March 18, 2010Thursday, March 18, 2010

All the answersCheating consequences move beyond the report card

“I’d have to conference with them and probably

give them a zero.”

“I would let them know after class that I saw them cheating. They’re getting

a zero.”

“I would call them on it.”

Annamarie Wilfahrt | English teacher

Megan Mathison Wynia | English teacher

Jamie Schnack | math teacher

What would you do if you saw someone cheating?

According to our survey distributed to 285 students during lunch and 20 teachers

after school March 11:

students believe 81 percent of students cheat.

teachers believe 45 percent of students cheat.

Cheaters never prosper. According to a 2008 survey, most students would disagree. In the survey conducted by the

Josephson Institute of Los Angeles, 64 percent of stu-dents admitted to cheating on a test at least once in the past year. This statistic marked a 4 percent increase from the previous year.

Assistant principal Clarence Pollock explained Park has several disciplinary procedures enforced after in-stances of cheating.

“Typically a teacher will report it to me, and we pull students down and talk to them,” Pollock said.

Depending on the scenario, cheating results in ei-ther partial or no credit on an assignment. After mul-tiple offenses, cheating can result in suspension.

Cheating can have consequences that affect student-teacher relationships too. Science teacher and National Honors Society (NHS) adviser Emily Binder believes trust between a student and a teacher is a great honor and privilege for students.

“I start out trusting all my students until they dis-prove me,” Binder said. “When a student cheats it takes a long time to earn a teacher’s trust back. When you compromise your integrity who’s to say it won’t happen again? You can lose trust quickly, but it takes a long time to get it back.”

While teachers attempt to catch all students who cheat, many instances of cheating go unnoticed. An anonymous junior has cheated numerous times in high school and has never been caught. He believes cheating gives him a fair advantage.

“I cheat for everything,” he said. “It makes me feel

Teacher | Perspective:

Technology

F U E L Scheating

“I would call them on it right away and try to link it to

undermining one’s character.”

Mark Miller | history teacher

“I would tell them to stop, take their paper, talk with them after

class and give them a zero. If it were a serious test I would turn

them in to the dean.”Linda Tillou | science teacher

79 percent of students know another person who cheated on a test using a cell phone

Ben Kahn | Staff Writer

Survey | Dana Ferguson Art | Louie Livon-Bemel

Percent of the 285 students who took the technology and cheating survey admitted to cheating. In-Depth Thursday, March 18, 2010

All the answersCheating consequences move beyond the report card

Technology blurs modern de! nition of cheating

Kelsey Reid | Staff Writer

Photo Illustration | Paris Delaney and Louie Livon-Bemel

Cheaters never prosper. According to a 2008 survey, most students would disagree. In the survey conducted by the

Josephson Institute of Los Angeles, 64 percent of stu-dents admitted to cheating on a test at least once in the past year. This statistic marked a 4 percent increase from the previous year.

Assistant principal Clarence Pollock explained Park has several disciplinary procedures enforced after in-stances of cheating.

“Typically a teacher will report it to me, and we pull students down and talk to them,” Pollock said.

Depending on the scenario, cheating results in ei-ther partial or no credit on an assignment. After mul-tiple offenses, cheating can result in suspension.

Cheating can have consequences that affect student-teacher relationships too. Science teacher and National Honors Society (NHS) adviser Emily Binder believes trust between a student and a teacher is a great honor and privilege for students.

“I start out trusting all my students until they dis-prove me,” Binder said. “When a student cheats it takes a long time to earn a teacher’s trust back. When you compromise your integrity who’s to say it won’t happen again? You can lose trust quickly, but it takes a long time to get it back.”

While teachers attempt to catch all students who cheat, many instances of cheating go unnoticed. An anonymous junior has cheated numerous times in high school and has never been caught. He believes cheating gives him a fair advantage.

“I cheat for everything,” he said. “It makes me feel

good inside because I get a better grade. I feel like I care about grades more than any other people because I’m trying harder than everybody else. If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying as hard as me.”

Many cheaters, however, feel remorse for their ac-tions. An anonymous freshman believes cheating is wrong but does it to get better grades.

“I think that I betrayed the other people because they studied for it, and I just copied off of their work,” he said.

Some students believe cheating is unfair to peers be-cause it is an easy way out of working hard.

Freshman Sophia Temkin disapproves of cheat-ing because she has seen classmates cheat off her own work.

“In Spanish class this girl would sit next to me, and I would have my homework out for the teacher to check, and she would copy all the answers off my paper,” Temkin said. “It really is unfair that someone would just cheat their way into a good grade while others are working for it. It also makes them think that they can cheat their way into being successful.”

Many honors student organizations discourage cheating. NHS is an organization that prides itself on student integrity. As NHS adviser, Binder notes the im-portance of morality to a student’s character.

“Your integrity is worth more than a homework assignment or a test,” Binder said. “Integrity can’t be measured by points. As an honors society, these students are expected to be role models. One of the qualities we’re looking for is honesty. We want stu-dents who would rather lose points than blemish their integrity.”

in the palm of your hand

T oday’s teenagers have the world at their fi ngertips. But that comes at a price to educators and students.

The widespread use of cell phones during the school day has caused an increase in cheating with technology, including texting friends for help,

accessing the Internet for answers during a test and copying information from on-line sources. A 2009 survey of more than 1,000 13-to 18-year olds compiled by Common Sense Media, an organization that helps students use technology safely, found 35 percent of students admit to using their cell phones to cheat.

Students also may cheat by texting friends outside of class who have already taken the exam. Freshman Khadeeja Abdurrab observed a student cheating dur-ing a math quiz and believes the student was texting a friend for help.

“He was just sitting there but as soon as he read his texts he was able to fi ll several answers in,” Abdurrab said.

In some instances students in the same classroom may text each other answers. Junior Sarah Henkels saw this during a vocabulary test in her English class.

“I heard them planning it before the test. Then I saw them both texting while they were working,” Henkels said.

Junior Kendra Karwacki believes cheating has become increasingly wide-spread because most students always have their phone in their pocket. Most im-portantly, however, teachers seem less likely to be able to catch students cheating.

“Technology doesn’t necessarily make someone more likely to cheat, they are just more likely to get away with it,” Karwacki said.

Though students’ use of their phones under their desks often makes it dif-fi cult for teachers to catch, cheating using the Internet is even harder to moni-tor. Marisa Connolly, communications manager of Common Sense Media, feels Internet use also makes it hard for students to identify when they are cheating.

“Technology has created gray areas of cheating. It’s hard to distinguish the difference between research and effective sharing of information or cheating,” Connolly said.

This distinction is particularly diffi cult because most students don’t cite the answers they may copy onto a worksheet or the author of an online article they used to help them with an assignment.

“It’s easier for students to separate Internet use from responsibility when they don’t know the author and feel like there’s no way they’ll be caught,” Connolly said.

In the complicated world of online research Connolly suggests students ap-proach online research with the same ethical decisions as other mediums.

“If you wouldn’t do it in the offl ine world, like copying a passage directly from a book, don’t do it in the online world,” she said.

Ben Kahn | Staff Writer

19

When NBA stars score big, they are often take all the credit for their performances.

But for senior Alex Koch, scoring his 1,000th point means more than just a per-sonal achievement.

With a lay up, Koch scored his 1,000th point in a win over Fridley on Feb. 23.

Although this is an individual scoring record, Koch cites his team as a key part of his success.

“It took a lot of selfl essness from my teammates and their willingness to distrib-ute the ball,” he said.

Throughout the season, Koch often capitalized on passes from other Park play-ers to score, usually from behind the three-point arc.

The other varsity players, including ju-nior Aaron Ziman had no problem getting the ball to Koch “while he’s hot.”

“Our team isn’t made of selfi sh play-ers. They’re not looking to get their own points,” he said.

Coach Micah Watkins, new to the pro-gram this year, also sees Koch’s record as both an individual and collective effort.

“The team played a huge part in it,” he said.

But Watkins mentions Koch’s “drive to get better” as a major reason he was able to accomplish something no Park player has in the last decade.

Since entering high school, Koch has relentlessly worked on improving his game the old-fashioned way.

“The only way to get better is to play,”

he said. “For the last four years I’ve played basketball three to 3 1/2 hours a day.”

To build his skills, Koch has traveled with an Amateur Athletics Union team, played against college athletes and, in the summers after freshman and sophomore year, made 1,000 jump shots every day.

Athletic director Andy Ewald has watched Koch progress through the pro-gram and notes how this dedication has paid off.

“He’s a kid who’s put his all into his sport and gotten a huge individual achieve-ment,” he said. “It puts him in an elite group in the history of the school.”

On top of his scoring record, Koch has also succeeded this season in making his game more well-rounded.

“I’m rebounding. I’m distributing the ball a lot better this year and my defense has improved,” he said.

Koch is still undecided on where he will play next year and is weighing offers from various schools Division II schools includ-ing Southwest Minnesota State, Bemidji State and the University of Mary in Bis-marck, North Dakota.

Although he will not make a decision until after the season, Koch is confi dent about his basketball future.

“The last person (who got 1,000 points, Kyle Beste ’01) went on to be an All-Amer-ican in college,” he said.

Regardless of how his promising career turns out, Koch has secured his legacy as one of the best basketball players to come through Park.

Alex Koch’s basketball career point total. Koch became the ninth Park player to score

over 1,000 points in a career.SportsThursday, March 18, 20108

As the months of 2010 start to dwindle away, March holds a special place in my heart: the

NCAA Basketball Tournament, more commonly known as March Mad-ness.

I fi rst started following the tourna-ment in 2005 and since then, March Madness became my favorite sport-ing event of the year. From the ex-citement of the fi rst weekend where Cinderella stories are made to the Final Four, where the best teams in the country battle for the champion-ship, March Madness creates some of sports’ fi nest moments. It is because of this excitement that I prefer college basketball to the NBA.

The NBA features the best bas-ketball players in the world, who get paid millions of dollars to play

their sport. College basket-ball consists of students only a few years older than myself, whose only compensation for playing is tuition.

NBA play-ers are often driven by mon-ey to succeed, while college students are driven by pride for their school and their love of the game.

They won’t have a check for $15 mil-lion waiting for them after the sea-son, and rather than taking a private jet back to their mansion to rest after a big game, they retire to their dorms, just like any other student. The fact that students play for pride rather than paychecks makes me respect the effort they put in a little more.

Also, the environment of a college basketball game is much more excit-ing than an NBA game. I recently went to a Timberwolves game with several friends. The Wolves kept it close against the New Orleans Hornets, and would have won if it weren’t for a last second shot that clinched the game.

Despite the quality of the game, the Target Center crowd rarely be-came energized. The loudest it be-came was when Crunch the mascot slam-dunked off of a trampoline at halftime. The crowd had a lackluster attitude during the game, and never became really involved, even when prompted by the Howl-O-Meter.

Gopher games at Williams Arena are a completely different story. The entire arena’s atmosphere is elec-trifi ed by the student section, who stands throughout the entire game, and cheers for every made basket and defensive stop. Even during a blow-out exhibition game, the student sec-tion stayed involved during the entire game.

Listening to a group of students leading cheers during a game ap-peals to me more than ’90s stadium anthems, like the classic “Whoomp. There it is.” Atmospheres should be created by human beings, not by cheesy music and gimmicks.

Playing for school pride

Harrison McLeanSports Editor

The Extra | Mile

1March Madness is my favorite

time of year.

2NCAA basketball is

better than the NBA.

3A student section adds

atmosphere.

What’s the | point?

Koch reaches scoring milestone

Photo | Alex Kersten

Senior Alex Koch drives past Columbia Heights senior Gerard Baptiste in a game against the Hylanders March 3. Park lost the game 80-75.

Softball strives for greater stability

Josh Crandell | Staff Writer

Turnover seems to be the motto of the girls’ softball team. In the last 10 years, the team has had six different coaches.

Once again, the girls’ softball team enters the new season with a new coach. Many players feel he will offer the team a new outlook on the season.

Departing from what many saw as relaxed and undisciplined practices last year, new coach and science teacher Al Wachutka, promises hard work on the fi eld.

Though the season has not started, Wachutka makes it clear he will hold the girls to a high standard on the fi eld, anticipating 2 1/2 hour practices.

“People who see softball as only a social activity will probably have a lot of confl ict (with me),” Wachutka said. “Sitting around during practice is like playing video games during study hall when you are failing fi ve classes.”

Junior Kaitlyn Palmatier, despite having the utmost respect for her former coach Jim Hanson, acknowledged the lack of disci-pline she saw in last years’ practices.

“Lots of senior girls would talk about who they were asking to prom and what they were wearing during warm up. He (Hanson) did not like it, but he tolerated it,” Palmatier said.

Many players like sophomore Bria Evans are confi dent the lack of discipline on the fi eld last year will not appear this year because of a more serious atmosphere.

“Last year, the team always argued about little things during practice. I think (Wachutka) can enforce that we are a team,” Evans said.

In addition to longer practices, Wachutka hopes to incorporate more skill building exercises like fi elding practices and catching drills into the daily practice routine.

“We are going to work the fundamentals whether you are 8 or 18-years old. Without them, you can’t do anything,” Wachutka said.

While players will work on basic softball abilities, Evans also anticipates practices with more focus on skill building.

“Last year, we did ground balls sometimes all practice. We know how to do ground balls,” Evans said.

Though the prospect of conference champions remains slim due to the talent of other schools in the conference, Wachutka sees the

most important benefi t he brings to the team is a break from the constant coach changes.

Wachutka hopes to provide some positive challenges and sup-port for the team, for the long run.

“Historically, the team has not performed well. Jim (Hanson) left because he felt he was not pleased with the long range talent,” Wachutka said. “I do not think I can make all the difference, but I hope I can add some stability over the next few years.”

Photo | Paris DelaneySenior Katie Danielson ! elds a short-hop throw at practice March 15. The girls’ varsity softball team will play Spring Lake Park for its ! rst home game 4:15 p.m. April 13.

1,052

Robbie Seltzer-Shultz | Staff Writer

Senior Alex Koch surpasses 1,000 point mark

Al Wachutka steps up to the plate as new softball coach

Gun use is now school sanctioned; sort of.

The trap shooting club, with 13 participants, has gained the support of the high school administration and plans to be-gin practice April 5 at the Park Gun Club in Long Lake.

In trap shooting, participants fi re shot-guns in an attempt to destroy clay pigeons thrown up into the air using mechanical sling-shots.

The club began as an idea among a group of sophomore boys who wished to transform their occasional trips to the gun range nto a more organized practice.

“Myself and a couple of other guys were talking about shooting trap. We found out that some other schools have trap shooting teams and we thought it’d be a lot of fun if we could do the same thing,” sophomore Matt Cichoski said.

Five other high schools in Minnesota, including Hopkins High School, have trap shooting clubs. The group of students will compete in three matches during the season against these schools. While winning is im-portant, the group also has other goals.

“Dangerous fi rearms will be used, and I

want to help maintain fi rearm safety among the students. I am hoping to build respon-sibility and maturity in the athletes,” said Sam Fredrickson, trap shooting adviser and IB coordinator of Susan Lindgren Elemen-tary School.

Despite the emphasis Fredrickson places on safety, many students not involved in the club have refused to take the group and trapshooting seriously.

“A lot of people didn’t believe we were actually starting the club until the fl iers came out, or didn’t even know what trap shooting was,” Cichoski said.

The club recognizes many students do not understand the sport or fi rearm use as a whole. While it is too late for other students to join the club, the group hopes to bring respect to trap shooting.

“There are lots of misunderstandings out there about the use of fi rearms. I want the athletes to show that this (trap shoot-ing) is a sport and conduct themselves in a manner to change many of these misunder-standings,” Fredrickson said.

Fredrickson has set the standard of re-sponsibility as participating students must provide their own shotgun and have com-pleted a certifi ed gun-safety course.

The group looks to represent trap shoot-ing positively. However, for Cichoski and others, the club represents something much more.

“This is the closest thing to hunting you can do in the cities, the closest thing to na-ture,” he said.

Jack Burgeson’s time in the 50 yard freestyle race at the state meet fi nals. The time was good for 14th place in the state. Sports Thursday, March 18, 2010 9

Who: Pat Tracy, 12Sport: Track

What is your individual event and why did you choose it?

Shot put all the way. I chose shot put just to try something new and I liked the relaxed feeling I got from it.

What is your favorite memory of track?Either beating Ethan Smith because he always used to beat me or breaking the shot put record in junior high.

What are your individual and team goals for the upcoming season?

I want to get to state and win confer-ence and just to build team chemistry and to help the underclassmen as much as possible. I also want to work hard all the way up to the two big meets because I usually tend to die out toward the end of the season.

What are your future plans for track?I will either throw at Gustavus or St. Olaf next year. They are both Division III schools. I will also play football at one of these schools next year, too.

What is the hardest part about shot put?Probably body control and synchroniz-ing your body for the most power.

M.D.

Name: Maggie Webb, 12Sport: Lacrosse

How many years have you been playing lacrosse?

I’ve been playing since eighth grade. I started because my sister was in lacrosse and all my friends were joining.

What is your proudest moment?When me and (Carly) Strickler split the game ball last year and literally split the ball in two so we could share it.

If you could change something about the game what would it be?

The rules like shooting space where the defender can’t go straight on at a player. I would also like more checking.

What are your goals for the upcoming season?

To make it to state. We have a really good team an if we have good attitudes and work as a team we could do really well. Also just to get everyone excited about the game like the saying, “It’s a glorious day for lacrosse.”

Do you have any pregame rituals?I tie my shoes a ton to make them super tight. I always high-fi ve Strickler and listen to music like “Space Jam” and “Four Minutes.”

What is your favorite part about the game?Just the team and the whole lacrosse spirit and community.

A-LIST | ATHLETES

Trap shooting aims at school approval

Standing up on the block surrounded by swimmers from Edina and Min-netonka, senior Jack Burgeson was

not frightened. Starting the sport only two years ago, Burgeson never dreamed he would be standing on that platform.

He was the fi rst male swimmer from Park to make it to state since swimming switched to 2A three years ago. In the meet Burgeson competed in the 50–yard freestyle event where he placed 14th overall, March 6 at the University of Minnesota.

Burgeson was pleased with his perfor-mance because he was consistent with how he swam throughout the season and felt lucky to be able to participate in state.

“I have only swum for two years so just making it to state was a major accomplish-

ment. It was like icing on the cake,” Burge-son said.

Burgeson also remarked how other teams complimented his success at state.

“It was really cool because I know some of the guys on the Edina team and even they were impressed with me and my per-formance,” Burgeson said.

Coach Amanda Forsberg was also im-pressed with Burgeson’s race and attributed his success to his dedication.

“He worked really hard to get to state and stayed focused throughout the season. I know he had to give up some of the activi-ties he really wanted to do, like I know he is an avid snowboarder,” Forsberg said.

Fellow teammate and senior Cameron Dressen echoed her view.

“He really believed in himself and worked really hard and put everything he had into it. He gave it his all everyday,” Dressen said.

Dressen also admired Burgeson for his support of the team as a whole.

“He was a big talker and big motivator for our team and even though he was a lot

faster than the rest of us we would always try to catch him in practice. He pushed us all to get better,” Dressen said.

Because there were only four days of practice before the state meet, Forsberg tai-lored workouts to specifi cally target Burge-son’s individual needs, and stroke.

“After sections there were only four more days of practice until state so we built up yardage and my endurance for the fi rst part and then tapered. There were also a lot of sprints and rest. At the end of the week we slowed down so I could relax my mus-cles for state,” Burgeson said.

Due to his extra practices, when Burge-son got to state he felt like he had the tools to be successful and Forsberg thought he handled the stress very well especially be-cause the trip to state was his fi rst.

“Just making it to state was a bonus so there was no pressure, and he was more relaxed but very focused and not nervous at all. This is unusual for a fi rst-time state participant,” she said.

Burgeson will swim Division III next year at either DePauw or Illinois Wesleyan.

State ‘icing on the cake’ for senior

Megan Duffy | Copy Editor

Photo | Nomi Kane

Senior Jack Burgeson dives into the pool as the ! nal leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay at the section meet Feb. 25. The relay team moved on to ! nals.

22.24

!by thenumbers

13 number of students in the club

3 number of competitions the club will participate in

12 gauge of a shotgun used in trapshooting

cost, in dollars, per person to join the club200

The new club will teach ! rearm safety and knowledge

Senior, second year swimmer places 14th at state meet

Scott Foltz | Staff Writer

5 number of schools with trapshooting clubs in Minnesota

Information compiled by | Scott Foltz and Harrison McLean

The actions students and staff have taken recently, such as providing funds for custodian Eddy Louise to

see his family after earthquake in Haiti and supporting science teacher Barb Divinski following her cancer diagnosis, refl ect the ability and motivation of students to come together for a important cause.

While students and staff have shown the desire to rally around the crises that feel immediate and involve members of the community, many other local causes still need support and many other problems remain.

For instance, the minimal support in some classes for the food drive is just one such area for improvement. While several classes donated heavily, in other classes donations were slim or, in some cases, nonexistent.

While the lack of food at STEP may not feel like a huge problem to many because it’s not getting national coverage or it has not affected someone directly, the problem of kids going without food still persists in St. Louis Park.

Just because we do not see the problem does not mean it is not there. The student sitting across from you in chemistry or the freshman you just bumped into in the hall may go home to an empty fridge every night.

Also some students have tried to con-vince teachers to give extra credit for

bringing in items for STEP or are moti-vated by other incentives.

It should not take a few extra points or a promise of brownies for students to feel compelled to donate to those who really need it.

While we applaud the students and staff who donated to the Haiti fund and

supported Divinski by signing up for the Relay for Life and purchasing fl owers, we still need to recognize the less obvious is-sues that remain.

As members of this community, we need to continue to contribute to the smaller issues, in addition of coming to-gether for the bigger events.

Rank of Saudi Arabia, in terms of the percentage of a country’s GDP that was

donated to Haiti.OpinionsThursday, March 18, 20101

St. Louis Park Senior High School6425 West 33rd StreetSt. Louis Park, MN 55426

Editor in Chief | Sophie Nethercut

Managing Editor | Emma Foehringer Merchant

Copy Editors | Megan Duffy & Katie Rawls

Design Editors | KT Lindemann & Louie Livon-Bemel

Photo Editor | Nomi Kane

News Editor | William Cramer

Student Life Editors | Alec Lambert & Lily Reed

Features Editor | Eli Robiner

In-Depth Editor | Dana Ferguson

Sports Editor | Harrison McLean

Opinions Editor | Kaitlyn Steffenhagen

Entertainment Editor | Stephanie Ritchie

Web Editor | Adam Sperling

Business Manager | Lizzie Westgard

Sta! | Sendrea Best, Abby Bongaarts, Katie Caron, Josh Crandell, Paris Delaney, Taylor Delaney, Art Elmer, Scott Foltz, Nico Johnson, Ben Kahn, Alex Kersten, Alex Olevitch, Mara Olson, Elena Potek, Kelsey Reid, Eli Robiner, Robbie Selzer-Schultz, Charlie Shapiro, Madee Weisner

Principal | Robert Metz

Printer | American Color

Adviser | Lori Keekley

Publication PoliciesThe Echo is the offi cial student-

produced newspaper of St. Louis Park Senior High School. It is published tri-weekly for the school’s students, staff and community.

The Echo has been established as an open forum for student expression. The Echo will not be reviewed by school administrators prior to distribution, and the adviser will not act as a censor. Content represents views of the student staff and not school offi cials.

The Echo will work to avoid bias and/or favoritism. We will strive to make our coverage and content meaningful and interesting to all our readers.

We will make every effort to avoid printing libel, obscenities, innuendo and material that threatens to disrupt the learning process or is an invasion of privacy. We will avoid electronic manipulation that alters the truth of a photograph.

Staff editorials represent the opinion of the editorial board arrived at by discussion and will not be bylined. Bylined articles are the opinion of the individual writers and do not necessarily refl ect the views of the Echo staff or administration as a whole.

The Echo welcomes reader input. Letters to the editor and suggestions may be e-mailed to slpecho@gmail.com or submitted in room C275. Letters must be signed and should be no longer than 250 words.

E-mailed letters must be verifi ed prior to publication. We will not necessarily publish all letters received and reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.

Anonymous letters wherein the Echo does not know the identity of the writer will not be printed.

Advertisements will be sought from local businesses. We maintain the right to reject any ads we believe to be false, misleading, inappropriate or harmful. The Echo does not necessarily endorse the products or services offered in these advertisements.

NSPA All-American and Hall of Fame member; NSPA 2007 Pacemaker Award Finalist; JEM All-State; CSPA Gold Medal-ist; 2006 Gold Crown Winner. !"#"$%&"'"$%(")"

Our | Perspective:

Lend support for small problems

School crosses line into students’ private lives

It is acceptable for an administration to con-trol students’ activities in school, but once the fi nal bell marks the end of the day, stu-

dents should no longer be under their watchful eye.

With the growing use of technology in schools, administration jurisdiction of stu-dents’ privacy should be questioned seriously.

Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania is currently under investigation for alledgedly infringing on its students’ privacy by activat-ing webcams within students’ homes without their consent.

The school claims activation of the web-cams was strictly to uncover missing laptops. However, when the assistant principal of the school accused a student of selling drugs by showing evidence from webcam pictures taken in his room, the school’s motives were correct-ly called into question.

While technology in a school setting can be helpful as a teaching tool, administrators must understand the grave consequences that can result if this tool is misused. By allegedly step-ping into the privacy of students’ homes, the district went too far.

Students were unaware their computers, supplied to them by the school, could be ac-tivated by the administration when at home. While not all schools may be wealthy enough to provide a laptop for each of their students, this nevertheless draws attention to the unset-tling power an administration can have over its students with the growing use of technology.

The lawsuit uses wiretap laws as well as laws against illegal searches and seizures as support for the unconstitutional behavior of the school.

While the computers were property of the school, the students never signed waivers al-lowing the webcams to be activated in their homes. Therefore, Lower Merion’s conduct was clearly unconstitutional.

What other ways may schools be violat-ing student privacy while going undetected? While our district does not have the funding to supply each student with a personal laptop, the administration does have the authority to oversee computer activity in the Media Center and review history on the computers. Although administrators are allowed the right to do this, they risk overstepping their boundaries.

At the beginning of the year, all students are obligated to sign an Acceptable Use Policy if they wish to use school computers. The policy states users have limited rights to privacy of personal fi les on the network. A search of their account may be conducted if there is reason-able suspicion.

The policy also states all e-mail messages are the property of the school and can be read by the district network administrators. While the administration should be able to control students’ accounts for safety, and may utilize this right, it is unnecessary for administrators to be given the right read private messages.

It is important to distinguish a school’s ju-risdiction over its students.

While on school ground an administration has the right to monitor students’ conduct, it should not overstep this power. However, off of school grounds, the administration should not be able to control students’ activities.

Just as in Lower Merion, schools may begin to abuse their rights by meddling in the private lives of their students. Technology should be used as a tool for student’s learning, not as a way to watch them as they sleep.

Elena Potek | Staff Writer

Art | Alex Olevitch

1

To the Echo video blog. Wait, we have a Web site? slpecho.com

To the new pass policy. I’ve always wanted to live in Stalinist Russia.

To 3-D movies. Stay in your own Wonderland, Alice.

Letters | to the editorOn Oriole Droppings:Dear Editors:

The Oriole Droppings have resorted to attempting to fi nd humor in tasteless double entandres and references to feminine products (Feb. 19). How about we raise the bar an inch or two?

Jan Lane, science teacher

... on the web | slpecho.com

To read additional letters to the editor, visit

http://slpecho.com/opinions

To Auto Tune. Nothing can save Taylor Swift.

Degrees Fahrenheit; this would be the aver-age temperature of the Earth If there was no greenhouse e! ect. Opinions Thursday, March 18, 2010 11

Auto-tune is no substitute for quality music

An old joke used to run that a man in New York asks a stranger on the street how to get to Carnegie Hall. The stranger replies, “Practice, practice, practice.”

However, with the prevalence of the recording and pro-ducing device Auto-tune, the need for practice, or even tal-ent is slowly disappearing.

Auto-tune is a computerized audio processor. When a singer records a song, he or she can run the new recording

through Auto-tune and correct any wrong pitches so every note is perfectly in tune. Music stars such as Tim McGraw, Kanye West and T-Pain have all used Auto-tune, both se-cretly in tracks and performances, as well as overtly to create a mechanical singing voice.

The use of a machine for the creation of music is wrong. Just as we don’t allow athletes to use steroids to improve their performance, neither should professional artists be al-lowed to use a computer program to perfect their singing. The joy of music is not only in just the sound, but in the realization of the talent of the musician, and of the hours of dedication, practice and passion put into their work.

Devices such as Auto-tune cheapen the real value of the music by increasing uniformity. For example, many artists and producers, have noted a suspicious trend in pop music

toward pitch-perfect singing. Take pop music of today; years ago, rap artists did not necessarily hit every musical note, but now artists such as Kanye West are perfectly in tune, and in rhythm. For fame, artists are willing to sacrifi ce the most important principles of music.

Auto-tune is a device that corrupts the basic values of music, but banning it seems to be almost impossible.

Thus, if a ban is not possible, consumers should demand that any song or CD in which Auto-tune is used be clearly labeled so the consumer knows that the artist who made the song has sacrifi ced practice and passion for cheap fame.

With the prevalence of Auto-tune, anybody can be tal-ented. Unless something is done the road to Carnegie Hall will be paved with computer programs and singers desperate for fame.

William Cramer | News Editor

Climate change: pressing problem or huge hoopla?

The climate is changing, and it’s our responsibility to take action

The climate is changing, but we should not have to sweat it

Sophie Nethercut | Editor in Chief Charlie Shapiro | Staff Writer

Point | Counterpoint:

Speaking out against climate change appears to be one of the latest trends in American society. From colleges

boasting about how green they are to teens sporting the latest eco-friendly water bottles, environmentalism seems to be the word of the day.

But despite the recent emphasis placed on environmental sustainability, are we really changing as much as we should be?

No. While teens and world leaders alike have raised their concerns about climate change and the destruction of our natural environment, we have yet to see results.

At the climate conference last December in Copenhagen, President Obama agreed to merely “take note” of the issue of climate change. While the summit had good inten-tions, it failed to set specifi c standards for the reduction of greenhouse gases. Climate change is a serious issue, and while it has garnered serious attention, the world has yet to take serious actions.

After decades of research and thousands of studies, virtually all evidence points to hu-mans as the primary cause of climate change

The United Nations Intergovern-mental Panel on Climate Change even went so far as to proclaim this conclusion is “unequivo-cal.”

According to a 2009 University of Illinois sur-vey of more than 3,000 U.S. climate experts, more than 97 percent of surveyed climatologists agreed humans play a prominent role in climate change.

Despite the overwhelm-ing consensus reached by the scientifi c community, some skeptics remain. Climate change deniers have greed-ily sought to undermine the work of scientists by

claiming the rise in global temperatures is merely a natural part of the Earth’s weather cycle.

However, scientifi c evidence says oth-erwise. While the Earth has historically ex-perienced heating and cooling periods, our current temperatures have reached unnatu-ral extremes. The last 10 years marked the hottest decade in history and this January’s temperatures were the second-warmest ever recorded.

Recently, climate change deniers have gained media attention by claiming the sci-entifi c community has exaggerated the ef-fects of global warming. While it may be true some climate documents have overestimated the damage wreaked by climate change, the vast majority of studies are accurate. A few scientists have made some calculation errors, but like all practices, perfection is nearly im-possible. The many valuable conclusions reached by scientists should not be over-shadowed by a few slight overestimates.

We are responsible for climate change, and we must now do our part to slow it

down.

Thanks to humans, the world is heat-ing up, the ice caps are melting, Flor-ida will soon be underwater, and the

meteorological apocalypse is coming. At least that’s what Al Gore and “The Day After Tomorrow” say.

But according to WCCO meteorologist Mike Fairbourne, global warming extrem-ism such as this is based on “squishy sci-ence.”

Fairbourne is one of more than 31,000 American scientists who have signed the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine’s petition saying the human-caused global warming theory has little scientifi c proof.

Recent research has shown human ac-tivity, such as burning fossil fuels, cannot be the cause of any climate change. Al-though the Earth is experiencing a slight increase in global temperature, it is part of an entirely natural cycle. During the past 3,000 years, Earth’s temperature has var-ied about 3° Celsius from the average. The climate is just now returning to that aver-

age after a relatively cold period.Furthermore, the

climate does n o t

change due to hydrocarbon usage, but rather due to variations in the sun. When solar activity increases Earth’s temperature rises, and vice versa.

This is not the fi rst time people have become obsessed with climate change. In the 1970s, while Earth was experiencing a natural decrease in temperature, the world went into a panic about global cooling. Clearly, time and science disproved that theory.

But now, thanks to politics and a gener-al misunderstanding of the greenhouse ef-fect, climate extremism has been taken to a new level. Part of the Oregon Institute’s petition is to reject the Kyoto Agreement of 1997, where world leaders debated a global treaty to cut back on carbon diox-ide production.

But fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas provide billions of people with energy and are necessary for tech-nological and scientifi c advancement. At-

tempting to limit hydrocarbon use will diminish the energy

source for the majority of people and plunge the

world economy into chaos. Justifying this call to action with the faulty sci-entifi c hypothesis

of human-caused global warming is absurd.This is not an

excuse to recklessly burn fossil fuels. It is still our duty to preserve Earth’s

resources and act wisely in terms of energy. But making the regretful decision to cut back our energy con-sumption is not wise.

Who says you can’t have fun in this economy? Strap on a helmet and come on down to Crazy Dave’s, where paintballin’ is fun AND cheap!

PARK | TRAIL By: KT Lindemann

Following December’s Copenhagen summit, the debate surrounding climate change has attracted worldwide attention. While believers in climate change continue to advocate for more environmental activism, others believe the e! ects of humans on climate change are overexaggerated.

Modern artists need to create real music with their own voice; computers are not a su" cient substitute

2

the reduction of greenhouse gases. Climate change is a serious issue, and while it has garnered serious attention, the world has yet

After decades of research and thousands of studies, virtually all evidence points to hu-mans as the primary cause of climate change

The United Nations Intergovern-mental Panel on Climate Change even went so far as to proclaim this conclusion is “unequivo-

According to a 2009

of surveyed climatologists agreed humans play a prominent

Despite the overwhelm-ing consensus reached by the scientifi c community, some skeptics remain. Climate change deniers have greed-ily sought to undermine the work of scientists by

but like all practices, perfection is nearly im-possible. The many valuable conclusions reached by scientists should not be over-shadowed by a few slight overestimates.

We are responsible for climate change, and we must now do our part to slow it

down.

increase in global temperature, it is part of an entirely natural cycle. During the past 3,000 years, Earth’s temperature has var-ied about 3° Celsius from the average. The climate is just now returning to that aver-

age after a relatively cold period.Furthermore, the

climate does n o t

But fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas provide billions of people with energy and are necessary for tech-nological and scientifi c advancement. At-

tempting to limit hydrocarbon use will diminish the energy

source for the majority of people and plunge the

world economy into chaos. Justifying this call to action with the faulty sci-entifi c hypothesis

excuse to recklessly burn fossil fuels. It is still our duty to preserve Earth’s

resources and act wisely in terms of energy. But making the regretful decision to cut back our energy con-sumption is not wise.

Who needs a fancy paint gun when you can throw cans of paint at your friends?

Or for a few extra bucks, you can use our one-of-a-kind Paint Bucket Flinger and take paint-

based warfare to a whole new level of FUN!

“Johnny Depp looks like he’s going to be really good in ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ It looks

creepy cool.” – Annikka Oelhafen | 9EntertainmentThursday, March 18, 201012

By Stephanie Ritchie

March 19The futuristic ! lm, “Repo Men” starring Jude Law and Liev Schreiber opens in theaters.

March 21“Men on Ice,” the ice ! shing musical has its last show at the Camp Bar in St. Paul. Two Wisconsin men pass the time and sing songs including “Ode to a Snowmobile Suit.” Tickets cost $19.50 through TicketMaster.

March 22The Black Eyed Peas will perform at 7:30 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center. Tickets cost $47.50 through TicketMaster.

March 22Alternative rock band, “Vampire Weekend” will perform at 7 p.m. at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. Tickets cost $26.25 through TicketMaster.

March 26The classic play and movie, “The Wizard of Oz” comes to the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis. Tickets range from $19.50-$63.50 through TicketMaster.

!"#$%&"'(")'*'+'&,-..).

Thinking back to their fi rst 3-D fi lm experience, many teens fondly remember movies like “Spy Kids” or “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl.” But just as teens have grown, 3-D technology has also matured.

Justin Scott, director of corporate communications for AMC Entertainment Inc., noted the shift from fi lm to digital in the movie industry and said theaters are making an effort to meet the

likely increase in output of 3-D fi lms. “We are actively installing 3-D projection systems that will allow more people to see fi lms in 3-D,” he said.

The release of Tim Burton’s 3-D “Alice in Wonderland” has generated buzz about its special ef-fects among fi lm critics and teens alike. The fi lm beat the premiere of “Avatar,” setting the record

for biggest winter opening and taking in $210.3 million worldwide.Cinema teacher Peter Redmond took his class on a fi eld trip March 12 to see the fi lm, and is

now discussing the movie and changes in the story’s interpretation with his class. Redmond enjoyed the movie and thinks 3-D adds to the cinematic experience.

“The technology makes it come alive and adds depth and another layer of interest, fun and entertainment,” he said.

Junior Anni Esco went on the fi eld trip and thought the 3-D fi t well with the movie, but felt other aspects were lacking.

“I wasn’t crazy about the plot or the dialogue, so that took away from the movie overall,” she said.

Senior Ellen Danforth saw “Alice in Wonderland,” which was her fi rst time seeing a 3-D movie. She enjoyed the visual effects and coloring of the fi lm, and thought the animation blended well with

the 3-D aspect.“The effects made the movie really visually interesting,” she said. “It

was really vibrant and had a lot more depth compared to the original pale Disney movie.”

While some teens would see any movie with “3-D” attached to its name, others believe only certain movies should be in 3-D. Junior Cooper Chell enjoys 3-D

movies, but thinks the technology can detract from fi lms of certain genres.“3-D doesn’t work as well with a plot-driven movie,” he said. “Wearing glasses can

feel really gimmicky and silly.”Soon, students will have the option to put on these 3-D glasses in their homes, as 3-D

technology is making a jump into homes on television screens. Best Buy unveiled Panasonic’s fi rst model March 10, which costs $2,500 and an extra $150 for eyewear. Competitors Sony and Sam-sung plan to release 3-D models soon as well.

While some students would be elated to have 3-D television in their homes, others think it is excessive.

Freshman Siedah Eberhardt feels having a 3-D television in her home would be unnecessary. “Watching 3-D all the time would get to be a little too much,” she said.

“It would defi nitely be overwhelming.”

Katie Caron | Staff Writer

By Stephanie Ritchie

“Men on Ice,” the ice ! shing musical has its last show at the Camp Bar in St. Paul. Two Wisconsin men pass the time and sing songs including “Ode to a Snowmobile Suit.” Tickets cost $19.50 through TicketMaster.

Katie Rawls | Copy Editor

Art | Sendrea Best

*'+'&,-..).hinking back to their fi rst 3-D fi lm experience, many teens fondly remember movies like “Spy Kids” or “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl.” But just as teens

Justin Scott, director of corporate communications for AMC Entertainment Inc., noted the shift from fi lm to digital in the movie industry and said theaters are making an effort to meet the

“We are actively installing 3-D projection systems that will allow more people to see fi lms in

The release of Tim Burton’s 3-D “Alice in Wonderland” has generated buzz about its special ef-fects among fi lm critics and teens alike. The fi lm beat the premiere of “Avatar,” setting the record

Cinema teacher Peter Redmond took his class on a fi eld trip March 12 to see the fi lm, and is now discussing the movie and changes in the story’s interpretation with his class. Redmond

“The technology makes it come alive and adds depth and another layer of interest,

Junior Anni Esco went on the fi eld trip and thought the 3-D fi t well with the

“I wasn’t crazy about the plot or the dialogue, so that took away from

“The effects made the movie really visually interesting,” she said. “It was really vibrant and had a lot more depth compared to the original pale

While some teens would see any movie with “3-D” attached to its name, others believe only certain movies should be in 3-D. Junior Cooper Chell enjoys 3-D

“3-D doesn’t work as well with a plot-driven movie,” he said. “Wearing glasses can

Soon, students will have the option to put on these 3-D glasses in their homes, as 3-D technology is making a jump into homes on television screens. Best Buy unveiled Panasonic’s fi rst

model March 10, which costs $2,500 and an extra $150 for eyewear. Competitors Sony and Sam-

While some students would be elated to have 3-D television in their homes, others think it is

Freshman Siedah Eberhardt feels having a 3-D television in her home would be unnecessary. “Watching 3-D all the time would get to be a little too much,” she said.

It felt like I was a part of the movie instead of

just watching it.

Ellen Danforth | 12

Thursday, March 18, 2010Thursday, March 18, 201012

Thinking back to their fi rst 3-D fi lm experience, many teens fondly remember movies like “Spy Kids” or “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl.” But just as teens have grown, 3-D technology has also matured.

Justin Scott, director of corporate communications for AMC Entertainment Inc., noted the shift from fi lm to digital in the movie industry and said theaters are making an effort to meet the

likely increase in output of 3-D fi lms. “We are actively installing 3-D projection systems that will allow more people to see fi lms in 3-D,” he said.

The release of Tim Burton’s 3-D “Alice in Wonderland” has generated buzz about its special ef-fects among fi lm critics and teens alike. The fi lm beat the premiere of “Avatar,” setting the record

for biggest winter opening and taking in $210.3 million worldwide.Cinema teacher Peter Redmond took his class on a fi eld trip March 12 to see the fi lm, and is

now discussing the movie and changes in the story’s interpretation with his class. Redmond enjoyed the movie and thinks 3-D adds to the cinematic experience.

“The technology makes it come alive and adds depth and another layer of interest, fun and entertainment,” he said.

Junior Anni Esco went on the fi eld trip and thought the 3-D fi t well with the movie, but felt other aspects were lacking.

the 3-D aspect.

was really vibrant and had a lot more depth compared to the original pale Disney movie.”

While some teens would see any movie with “3-D” attached to its name,

Katie Caron |

By Stephanie Ritchie

March 19The futuristic ! lm, “Repo Men” starring Jude Law and Liev Schreiber opens in theaters.

The Black Eyed Peas will perform at 7:30 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center. Tickets cost $47.50 through

While some teens would see any movie with “3-D” attached to its name, others believe only certain movies should be in 3-D. Junior Cooper Chell enjoys 3-D

movies, but thinks the technology can detract from fi lms of certain genres.“3-D doesn’t work as well with a plot-driven movie,” he said. “Wearing glasses can

feel really gimmicky and silly.”Soon, students will have the option to put on these 3-D glasses in their homes, as 3-D

technology is making a jump into homes on television screens. Best Buy unveiled Panasonic’s fi rst model March 10, which costs $2,500 and an extra $150 for eyewear. Competitors Sony and Sam-sung plan to release 3-D models soon as well.

While some students would be elated to have 3-D television in their homes, others think it is

Freshman Siedah Eberhardt feels having a 3-D television in her home would be unnecessary. “Watching 3-D all the time would get to be a little too much,” she said.

“It would defi nitely be overwhelming.”

By Stephanie Ritchie

The futuristic ! lm, “Repo Men” starring Jude Law and Liev Schreiber opens in theaters.

March 21“Men on Ice,” the ice ! shing musical has its last show at the Camp Bar in St. Paul. Two Wisconsin men pass the time and sing songs including “Ode to a Snowmobile Suit.” Tickets cost $19.50 through TicketMaster.

March 22The Black Eyed Peas will perform at 7:30 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center. Tickets cost $47.50 through TicketMaster.

While some students would be elated to have 3-D television in their homes, others think it is

Freshman Siedah Eberhardt feels having a 3-D television in her home would be unnecessary.

Copy Editor

Soon, students will have the option to put on these 3-D glasses in their homes, as 3-D technology is making a jump into homes on television screens. Best Buy unveiled Panasonic’s fi rst

model March 10, which costs $2,500 and an extra $150 for eyewear. Competitors Sony and Sam-

Disney movie.”While some teens would see any movie with “3-D” attached to its name,

others believe only certain movies should be in 3-D. Junior Cooper Chell enjoys 3-D movies, but thinks the technology can detract from fi lms of certain genres.

“3-D doesn’t work as well with a plot-driven movie,” he said. “Wearing glasses can feel really gimmicky and silly.”

Soon, students will have the option to put on these 3-D glasses in their homes, as 3-D technology is making a jump into homes on television screens. Best Buy unveiled Panasonic’s fi rst

model March 10, which costs $2,500 and an extra $150 for eyewear. Competitors Sony and Sam-sung plan to release 3-D models soon as well.

While some students would be elated to have 3-D television in their homes, others think it is excessive.

sung plan to release 3-D models soon as well.While some students would be elated to have 3-D television in their homes, others think it is

excessive.Freshman Siedah Eberhardt feels having a 3-D television in her home would be unnecessary.

lthough he’s known for his creative abil-

ity and slight oddness, Tim Burton could

have gone anywhere with his twist on

“Alice in Wonderland.”Instead, audiences see a fi lm made

for little kids as the plot is nothing more

than a fairy tale with few twists, disap-

pointing many Burton fans.In his remake, 19-year old Alice (Mia

Wasikowska) travels back to her dream-

land to save its inhabitants from the Red

Queen by slaying a dragon.Burton also enlists his favorite ac-

tor, Johnny Depp, as the Mad Hatter,

adding to Depp’s infi nite list of fantastic

characters.While the 3D aspect of the fi lm has

some charming scenes, audiences won’t

miss out on much while saving four

bucks to see it in 2D. Burton is known for his unique ideas.

With a plot like this, he could have

produced a fi lm of ages, by adding more

depth to characters and simply more

crazy scenes.Although “ Alice ” is defi nitely a feel-

good movie, it does not blow audiences

away, letting Burton fans down as it is

simply not weird enough.

Review

Alice fails to

wonder