How Night proves that this will be an-other year of senior spirit.

Chiefs steal game 12-8

THE PRAIRIE NEWS KickapooHighSchool 3710S.Jefferson,Springfield,MO khsprairienews.com (417)594-8364

device, none matched that oftexting while driving, which

soaredoffthechartatalmosta

23%increasedriskofbeingin-volvedinacrash.Analystssaya spike in risk this large from one factor alone is a scary fact to face. The panel behind thestudy gave this recommenda-

“Teens shouldn’t text anddrive.” This short statementis one that teenage drivers around thestate have heardfor the past decade.Televisions blare public service an-nouncements, dra-matic videos showgymspackedfullofhighschoolstudentshow the emergency room will look mo-ments after the trag-ic crash, and drivereducation teacherstell stories of how backinthedaytherewere no cell phones to cause all these deadly crashes. Allthat has changedthough, now that Missouri becomesoneof18statesandthe District of Co-lumbia that has en-acted some form ofa ban texting anddriving. Each statehasadifferentvari-ationofthelawandMissouri’s exclu-sively targets driv-ers 21 and under.With more than 110 billion text messag-es sent in the Unit-ed States last year,according to the CTIA (TheWireless Association)this is a big concern to the Missouri motorist. A recent study byVirginia Polytech-nic Institute and StateUniversity with a price tag of just over $600,000 pre-sented some frightening num-bers.While the study did findsignificant risks in behaviors such as talking on the phone and reaching for an electronic

have more texting experience. Kickapoodrivingeducationin-

structor Coach Rippee says this is not the case, “Myopinion is that all driversshould not be allowed totext when they are driv-ing. Several stu-dentshavemadethecom-ment that young driversare “better” texters thanolderdrivers. However,the inexperience factor is what lawmakers were looking at with this law. Junior Eric Bairrie dis-agrees.He said, “ I don’tthink texting and drivingshould be banned, it’s atool I use while drivingsometimesandIthinkit’ssafer than trying to make acall.”Safer thancallingis an argument that many use to provide a positivefor texting while drivingbut Coach Rippee said,”Myadvice toalldrivers,both experienced and in-experienced, would be topull over to a safe place to use your cell phone. That means talking on the phone or texting someone else. Waiting a few moments to answer the cell phone or creatingatextwouldbealot better than waiting for an ambulance at the scene of an accident.” Not all

studentsareopposedtothenewlaw.JuniorLewis(10)said,“Ithink its fair because our age group has more distractionsand less driving experience.” What is the cost for young motorists who do get caughtwith texting thumbs? The vio-lationisconsidereda“primaryoffense”meaningthatyoucanbepulledoverbylawenforce-ment on the suspicion of tex-tingalone.Iffoundguiltydriv-ers face up to a $200 ticket.

tion,“Textingshouldbebannedinmovingvehiclesforalldriv-

ers.Asshowninthetable,thiscell phone task has the potential to create a true crashepidem-ic if texting type tasks

continue to grow in popularity and the generation of frequenttext message senders reachdrivingageinlargenumbers.“ Some say that banning tex-ting anddriving for at the age

range is an unfair restriction arguing that while people over

the age of 21 may have more drivingexperience,thoseunder

© 2009 MCT

Source: Governors HIghway Safety AssociationGraphic: The Kansas City Star

All driversbanned

States with laws banning texting while driving

Bill banning all drivers passed but not yet enacted

Novice driversonly banned

No ban

Bill banning only novice drivers passed but not yet enacted

Teens Ticketed for Texting While Driving in Missouri

“Textingshouldbebannedinmov-ingvechiclesforalldrivers” -VirginiaPolytechnicInstitute

by Chase Snider csnider@khsprairienews.com

2 News September 29, 2009

TheMissouriStateHighSchoolActivitiesAssocia-tionhasmadeanadditionto the rulebook for the 2009-2010schoolyear.

AccordingtoKickapoocoun-selorMrs.AmyMoran,therulestatesthat,“Allathletesmusthave3½creditsbothsemestersandcanonlyhaveoneblockoffforonequarterasemester.”Inotherwords,allathletesmustpass3½creditsworthofclassesasemesterinordertoplay.Athletesmayhaveablockoff,butforonlyonequarterpersemester. AccordingtoCoachJasonHowser,“Ittakeskidswhospendmoretime,andhavetobudgettheirtime,andpunishesthem.It’satravesty.”AnyinquiriesregardingMSHSAAregulationsandrulescanbefoundontheMSHSAAwebsite, www.mshsaa.org.

Inthelawsoftheroad,aredlightmeansstop.However,asofAugust28motorcyclistsandbikeriderscanlegallyrunredlights.The new law states that only lights with vehicle sensorsareaffected,notlightsonatimer.Also,the cyclist must come to a complete stop, must havewaitedan‘unreason-ablylong’amountoftime(whichisleftuptotheindividualtodecide),andnoothervehiclesshouldbeapproaching. The reason for this law is that motorcycles are too lightordon’thaveenoughmetal to trip the sensors underneaththeroadatstoplights. This makes lighttraffichoursdifficultforriderstodrivethrough.Whenaskedwhathethought about the new law RickyWallenburg(11),a

motorcyclist,said,“Itisveryfair.”Healsosaidthat he was now going to be able to get places quickernow that hedoesnot have to rely on a heavier vehicle to change the light for him. Wallen-burg has waited“five- 10 minutes (Whichhedeemedto be an ‘unrea-sonable’amount oftime) because people kept turn-ingandwouldn’thelp

out.”Thecity,however,feelsdiffer-ently. They say it will only

cause bigger problems andmorecrashes.“Itisa

concern that it was even passed,”EarlNewman,theheadofSpringfieldtraffic

engineering. This new law only lets motorcyclists run

redlights;itdoesnotfixthe light sensor problem.Motorcyclistshavebeenrunningredlightsfor

years. Wallenburg has admittedthathehasrunredlightsmultipletimes.Hesaiditisunlikelythatall motorcyclists have runredlights,“butalargeamounthas.” The bigger problem people seem to have with the new law is how much timeisconsidered‘un-reasonable?’Manyareconcernedthatmotorcy-clists will just get impa-tientorwon’tevencometo a complete stop. New-mansaidthatthiscouldcause,“bigproblems,”andleadtolawsuits. Still, the law is in ef-fect,andformotorcyclistsrednolongermeansstopandwait,insteaditmeans

stop, wait less, then go.

OpenBlockRulingCreatesHeadaches

RedMeansGoforSpringfieldMotorcyclistsby Courtney Hamilton

by Alex Brown photo by Chase Snider

RickyWallenburg(11)decideswhethertoproccedthrougharedlightafterbeinggrantedtheabil-itytoastheresultofanewlawallowingmotorcyclisttogoonredphoto by Courtney Hamilton

Pictures from the Cermo-niarlOpeningoftheNew

BuildingAdditions

Visit khsprairienews.com for the latest news, sports, and features.

PLUS Check out photo gallieres from recent KHS events such as HOW Night, and home Friday night football

top left: Former principal Doug BlochandRomaleeWilkerson,widowfirstprincipalCurtisWilkerson cut the ribbon to of-ficiallyopenthebuilding’snewadditions. top right: Jarom Peterson(11)performswiththeOrchestraduringtheopeningfestivites. bottom left: ArandiLopez(11)accompanieswiththeMarchingBat3d.

photos by Chase Snider

3News

Cellphones.Overthepastdecadetheyhavebecomesomething that most people cannot live without. Despite their obvious convenience, some speculate that cell phones may actually be a health risk. For example, recently in France two iPhones havereportedlyex-ploded,causingdamageto the users. The users claim that they were not at fault forthedamagedphone.Onemanevenclaimedthat,while using his phone, his iP-honecrackedandglassshardswerethrown into his eyes. Apple,thecompany that manufactures the iPhone, however, has a differentsidetothestory.ApplesaidinarecentBBCreport,“The iPhones with bro-ken glass that we have ana-lyzedtodateshowthatinall

Sidekick,LGXenon,Mo-torolaKarma,andtheSanyoKantanaII.ThephoneswiththehighestemissionsincludetheBlackberryCurve8330andT-MobilemyTouch3G.TheAppleiPhonewasinthe

middleofthesetwo lists. Currently, manymedicalresearchers are split between two extremes on the topic of cell phone safety.Eventhough many of thestudiesare

labeledasinconclusive,therestill may be a risk to users of cell phones. Until more in-depthstudiesaredoneandfindingsareconsideredcon-clusive,theworldwillhavetowaittofindoutifthisseem-ingly innocent habit is more destructivethanoncethought.

site states, “…cell phones wouldn’tbeexpectedtocausecancerbecausetheydon’temitionizingradiation.” The choice is up to the individual,butifthereisstillconcern about the safety of

cell phones, several things canbedoneto limit your exposure. TheAmericanCancerSocietysuggests using an earpiece, sothattheheadisnotnearthe antenna, which contains electromagneticwaves.Also,EWGcompiledalistofcellphones that have the low-estradiationemissions.Thecell phones on the list are theSamsungImpression,MotorolaRAZRV8,Sam-sungSGH-t229,SamsungRugby, Samsung Propel Pro, SamsungGravity,TMobile

casestheglasscrackeddueto an external force that was appliedtotheiPhone.”ThiswasApple’sofficialstatementabouttheincidents.SeniorAundriaEoff,whoisaniPhoneusersaid,“Ihave

hadproblemswithmyiPhoneoverheating,andthenitwon’tturnbackonafterithappens.”Eventhosewhodon’tusean iPhone may be at risk. AccordingtoEWG,Envi-

ronmentalWorkingGroup,locatedinWashingtonD.C.,peoplewhohaveusedcellphones for 10 years or more are50-90%morelikelytodevelopbraintumors.Theadvocacygroup’svicepresi-

dentofresearch,JaneHouli-han,didsaythattheresultsoftheirstudiesarestilllabeledas“inconclusive”.Ontheflipside,theAmeri-canCancerSociety’sweb-

“IhavehadproblemswithmyiPhoneoverheating”-AundriaEoff(12)

OnAugust25,2009anAmericanpoliticaldynastycametoanendwhenMas-sachusettsSenatorEdwardM.Kennedy,morecom-monlyknownasTed,diedofbraincancer.AlthoughnotallmembersoftheKennedyfamilyaredeceased,Sena-torKennedywasthelastofPresidentJohnF.Kennedy’sbrothers to pass away. Ken-nedy,whodiedatage77,hadservedinthesenatefor50years.Hehadbeenfight-ing brain cancer for a little over a year.SenatorKennedyservedthethirdlongestterminsenatehistory,andduringtimeinoffice,heearnedquiteareputation.Dubbedthe“LionoftheSenate”,

Kennedyplayedaprominentrole in passing bills such astheCivilRightsActof1964andtheAmericanswithDisabilitiesActof1990.Infact,Kennedy’sdevotiontoreformingthenation’shealthcaresystemencouragedPresidentBarackObamatorename his new health care plan after the contributive. TedKennedywastheyoungestsonofJosephandRoseKennedyandtheonlyone of the four bothers to reachlateadulthood.TheKennedyfamilysufferedthetragiclossoftwolovedones,JohnandRobertKennedy,inthe1960’s,bothofwhomwereassassinatedintheirmid-40’s.TheoldestKen-nedybrother,JosephJr.,was

originallyexpectedtocarrythe family name into politics, but his life was tragically cut shortduringWW2.Hisbodywasneverfound. The “curse of the Ken-nedy’s”didnotrestwithRoseandJoseph’ssons.In1999,JohnF.Kennedy,Jr.waskilledinaplanecrashthatalsoclaimedthelivesofhiswifeCarolynandsister-in-lawLaurenBessette. Despite the many trag-ediestheKennedyfamilyhasendured,theyhavealsoheldacertainmystiqueandtherefore have always been a centerofthepubliceye.Be-cause of this great fascina-tionwiththeKennedy’s,TedKennedy’spoliticalcareerwasfollowedveryclosely

bythemedia.Heleftbehindalegacyspanningoverfivedecades;hetackledissuesranging from voting rights to minimum wages.TedKennedy’sac-complishments, as well as the man himself, were rememberedonAugust26atthelatesenator’sfuneral.AmongthoseattendingwerePresidentObamaandGov.ArnoldSchwarzenegger.ThefuneralbeganatOurLadyofPerpetualHopeBasilicainBostonandendedinfrontofthecapitolbuilding.TedKennedywasburiedinAr-lington National Cemetery, ashisbrothersJohnandRobert were before him.

ExplodingiPhonesSparkConcernOverCellSafety

LastKennedySonPasses:ANationMourns

by Katie Battalia

by Jennifer Myers

4 News September 29, 2009

Q: How many patients have you treated with H1N1 ?A:SofarwehaveonlyreceivedreportsoffourlaboratoryconfirmedcasesofH1N1inGreeneCounty.Again,itisimportanttonotethatmanyofthe32casesofthefluthathavebeenreportedsincetheendofMay2009arelikely H1N1 cases, but since they were not subtypedthroughlaboratorytesting,wewillnever know.

Q: A new vaccine is said to arrive in Octo-ber. When will this vaccine be available in the Ozarks?A:Wecan’tsayatthispointwhentheH1N1vaccinewillbeavailablefordistributiontothepublicinGreeneCounty.WeunderstandfromtheCentersforDiseaseControlandPrevention that the H1N1 vaccine may be availableinmidtolateOctober.WedonotknowwhenitwillactuallyarriveinGreeneCounty, or how much we will receive in the initialshipment.Iencouragethepublictocallourpublichealthinformationlineat417-864-1166forupdates,ormonitoracrediblenewssource.Wewillleteveryoneknowwhenandwhere to receive the H1N1 vaccinations as soon as we know more.

Q: Which symptoms should one look for? How are they different from the regular flu?A:ThesymptomsofH1N1aresimilartoseasonalflu.Youmightexperienceacough,sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, fever of 100 degreesorhigher,bodyaches,chills,andtiredness.SomepeoplewhohavehavehadH1N1alsoexperiencenausea,vomiting,anddiarrhea,whicharenottypicallysymptomsofseasonalflu.

Q: What kind of safety precautions does the clinc take in making sure they don’t spread the virus to patients?

Q & A by Makenzie Oliver

with Nurse Jackie Reynolds at the Springfield-Greene Country Health

Department

Log on to khsprairienews.com for up to date information on the H1N1 virus and Spring-field’s preparation plans.

5News

Fiftyfifty.It’stheflipofacoin.MostPresidentsoftheUnitedStateswouldn’twanttheir public opinion to be left on the fence but this is what PresidentObamaisfacing.Amanwhojustmonthsagowascharacterizedashavingoneofthehighestfirsttermapproval ratings in history is now facing one similiar to thefinalyearsoftheBushadministration.Arecentonlinepollshowedonly34%ofAmeri-cans strongly agree with the waythePresidentisleadingthecountry.StephenSand-ers(11)said,“Americansarefinallyrealizinghowradicalandexpen-sive his (Presi-dentObama’s)policy is.”ThePresi-dentalsofacedstrong criticism from parents recently after The White House createdacurricu-lum to go along with a na-tionwidespeechbroadcastedtoallpublicschoolstudents.Inad-dition,RepublicanRepresen-tative Joe Wilson from South CarolinalashedoutatthePresidentduringanaddressto a joint session of congress screaming“YouLie!”whenthePresidentmentionedthathis plan for health care reform wouldnotcoverillegalim-migrants. The topic of health

care is one that has been on everyone’smind.DuringCongress’sAugustrecessmanySenatorsheldtownhall

meetings to let their constitu-ents voice their opinion on the hot button issue. During aSpringfieldrallyMissouriSenatorClaireMcCaskill(D)learnedthePresidentwasn’tthe only one facing criticism asshesaid,“Idon’tthinkI’veeverwalkedintoaroomwith so many people booing me.”Duringherquestionandanswer segment one voter

askedwhattheprocesswastorepealaU.S.Senatorandthecrowdwasontheirfeetwithinseconds.

TheObamaadministrationisnowdoingsomeworktotryandturnthepublicopinionaround.WhiteHouseoffi-cialswerehopingforagoodresponsefromthePresident’snationwidespeechtoschoolchildren,butwhenparentsreactedtoconcernsoveraWhiteHouseinfluencedles-sonplanfearquicklyspreadthat the speech may contain a

Recent debates bring world of politics home to Springfield and into classroomsby Chase Snider

AlexBurckle,10,center,listenstoPresidentBarackObama’sback-to-schoolspeechinhisfifthgradeclassthatGeorgiaNelsonteachesattheHoughStreetSchoolinBarrington,Illinois,onTuesday,September8,2009.(LaneChristiansen/ChicagoTribune/MCT)

po-liticalagenda.Theparentaloutcrycreatedheadachesforschooladministratorsacrossthenationastheystruggledwith the battle on whether to showthePresident’saddress-es.SpringfieldPublicSchoolsoptedtoshowthespeechifteacherscouldlinkittocurrent curriculum, but other districtssuchasNixaandWillarddecideditwasbesttoturnoffthetelevisionsandletfamilies watch it on their own time. AsCongress returns to the nation’scapi-tol this month, the coun-try will be watch-ing to see if the demo-cratsandrepubli-cans will tryandreach across the aisle to pass a bill on health care reform.

SenatorClaireMcCaskillD-MOlistenstoacrowdattheGilliozTheaterindowntownSpringfieldinAugust.Shehostedaseriesoftownhallmeet-ingsaroundMissouritohearvoter’svoicesaboutthegrowingconcernonhealth care reform. photo by Chase Snider