>blogs What do you do when your grandparents or parents decide to buy you these christmas sweaters that they think are awsome. But when you open them and see what they actu-ally are, you have such a secrective sour face on, then when your parents look at your facial expression you gotta act like you love it. It grinds my gears, parents and grandparents need to learn that we arent 4 anymore, we dont want Christmas sweaters. We want elec-tronics, Money, or gift cards to our favorite places.

@katy_shirk

Where Is All The Snow!? It is December 8TH 2011 and this is NO snow on the ground. Why? Because Michigan weather is crazy. We had snow before Halloween and Thanksgiv-ing and I guarantee we will have snow in the spring. But why not now? During December we should ALWAYS have snow. It should be required. I for one love snow and wish it could be around all the time. I may go to Northern Michigan University just because it snows there 6 months out of a year. AWESOME! Cold weather and snow itself is good for you. It make you feel better and you don’t sweat. Win win. Please snow come visit us and don’t leave!

@jacob_hodgson

3 days ago, I was riding my bike for school. And when I turned the corner, fell down. The road was dangerous because of snow.I know it’s dangerous to riding bike on the snow ground. But there are only one way to go school. First there are no bus and taxi. In my country, there are many bus and taxi. Second the school bus time is really fast. It’s 7:05 am! I can’t wake up before 7 o’ clock cause I’m lazy. Well I can fix my waking up time but it will not easy. So I can only take to school with bike. But it’s dangerous. You can fall down easily. Dec 9, there were snow,too. So I had trouble about going school. But I used my bike. Anyway if you want to use bike when it’s snow, be careful.

@kiwon_lee

Cyberbullying varies in dramatically from offline bullying in many ways, by texting, in person,and even sending letters. The effects of cyberbullying can hurt, and hurt quickly. There have been numerous stories in the news of children, teens, and young adults who have been driven to suicide or crimes as a result of being bullied online. While these tend to be the more extreme cases, it can have a serious effect on a victim’s self-esteem, emotional well-being, and sense of personal safety. As a result, this can often lead to any further negative consequences including, depression, destructive behavior, isolation from friends/family,and poor performance in school or work, it also might lead to the usage of al-

@jazmin_aburto

check out what our bloggers have to day @chsmirror.com and “like” us on facebook at facebook.com/chsmirror and remember that blogs are informal, so not all riles apply.

You know what makes a situation really akward? When you are sitting in the same room with a bunch of people and they are all holding conversations over text, WITH THE PEOPLE IN THE ROOM! I mean seriously, what is the point? That is what human interaction is fwor, right? Why even take the time to get this group of people together in the first place, if you are just going to sit there and not talk and text? Not only, do you make the other people mad, because most likely they don’t know what your talking about, because if they did, you would just say it out loud right? Come on now people, don’t say you don’t do it because everyone has done it sometime. So, next time you are with a group of people why doesn’t everyone put away their phones and use their mouths? How neat is that?

@audrey_tappenden

by Connor Dwyer and Mitch Galloway

How long does it take for a change in uniforms? For some teams it takes a year, and others it takes a few years.

So how long is too long of using the same uniforms: 4, 5, maybe 6 years?

Well for the Coldwater High School marching band the answer of how long is too long would have to extend to 26 years!

That’s right, the marching band has had their uniforms for 26 years now and haven’t complained, but now they want a change.

If the football team still had their uni-forms from 26 years ago there would be nothing left of them.

The band has gone for 26 years and now want knew ones, but who can be blame them?

“They are nice uniforms, but after 26 years of wear and tear they are getting be-yond the point of looking their best.” said Mrs. Jewell.

The band is constantly trying to fix the uniforms, but damage still remains.

Although the band looks and sounds very good, it’s time for some new uniforms.

Drum Major Jocelyn Sammons had this to say about their current uniforms, “ I love our uniforms now, but they’re very old. I wish we could have new ones but I’m not complaining about the ones now. They’re sweet!”

We all know new uniforms can boost your confidence, helping people perform better, and band is as hard as any sport is.

Everyone thinks band is so easy and anyone can do it, but that is false.

The band starts preparing for march-ing season in August along with the other sports and doesn’t finish until after the

football team has.Add into the mix that band members

have to learn a 20 minute halftime show that requires them to move around in a perfect formation, while playing an instru-ment and not miss a beat.

It’s a task that not many can do.“The uniforms are 26 years old, so it’s

about time we get new ones-they’re fall-ing apart,” said senior Hannah Ford.

The band isn’t just asking for the uni-forms; they are doing many fundraiser to help their cause, such as the Century Resources Fundraiser that was recently held.

Band members and Band Boosters are currently are asking local businesses, ser-vice organizations and individuals for some money to help.

Century Band and Trust recently donat-ed $1,000 to the cause.

The goal is $50,000.00, so help our band become not only the best sounding, but best looking band in the state as well.

If you find extra change or cash just do-nate it to our wonderful band and become part of the cause. Every cent helps!

Band Uniforms March On for 26th Year-Time For a Change?

by Kylie Dudek and Cristina Fenske

After a long season of fighting to sepa-rate the Commotion Cheer Team into two separate squads, the end may be near for the combined dance and cheer team.

At the end of the fall sports season. Mrs. VandenHout decided to allow cheer-leaders and dancers to go there own ways, but be under one squad.

Vandenhout explained, “Listening to what kids were saying and thinking about what we were trying to accomplish,” helped to the decision easy.

“It was a win-win,” she said.The two separate squads were combined

over the summer in hopes that it would increase spirit without the complications behind the scenes. But unfortunately the complications were there.

When the cheerleaders and dancers combined, it sound like a great idea. Have the cheerleaders dance and the dancers cheer to bring more spirit to Coldwater High School.

It was found that not all cheerleaders wanted to dance and not all dancers want-ed to cheer. Plus, the practice was not getting split equal between the two.

With these complications it made it hard for the team to focus and work on everything they needed too. This made a lot of the girls upset and stressed.

The first basketball game of the sea-son, the separation of the teams under one squad was made official.

Senior dancer, Brea Case said, “I defi-nitely like the teams separated!”

The cheerleaders cheer and the danc-ers dance.

Since both teams are under one squad, they practice at the same time, just in dif-ferent locations of the building. This al-lows both teams to get equal practicing time without any problems.

Senior cheerleader, Geraldine Villanue-va stated, “I like the separation because everyone can focus on the things they love to do.”

Having the separation has been a win-win. Both teams are happy and cardinal spirit is on the rise.

by Audrey Tappenden, editor

With all the paranoia about being clean, safe, and healthy for the fall/winter season you can’t help but notice the endless supply of hand sanitizer, tis-sues, and anti-bacterial hand soap being stocked into stores like a believer in zom-bies hoards food in preparation for the apocalyptic takeover, which, yet again, failed to happen (and I’m just as surprised as you are.)

But what is the deal with the schizophren-ic attitude towards germs?

If anything, we’re hurting ourselves by being so overzealous about germ warfare during the “germ sea-son.”

If I was a parent, with a relatively new-born child, I wouldn’t hide them away from the world like bubble boy; I’d throw them into a grand arena of germs, bacteria, pollens, and everything else sure to freak the frick out of germaphobes these days.

I actually wish my parents would have done the same.

It turns out that all of this resistance to germ-human interaction actually weakens our ability to deal with them, so when the buggers do strike a chord in our bodies we’re singing with despair as opposed go-ing unphased, which would be the case had we not been so overly clean in our days of development.

“When we lump all germs together and try to wipe them out of our lives, we end up with an increase in autoimmune dis-eases, allergies, asthma and other disor-ders,” says Jessica Snyder Sachs, author of Good Germs, Bad Germs: Health and Survival in a Bacterial World.

Unfortunately, that is not how our modern day society views the world, and, I don’t know about you, but I’m not will-ing to give up the glorious game of hide-

and-go-seek, nor TAG; you’re it.

After all, isn’t it childhood games like these that cre-ate well rounded in-dividuals?

Besides, “Find the dirty spot and clean it first!!” doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Instead of quit-ting the senseless fight to let ourselves

contract and deal with pathogens, news reports, health nuts, and others scare us into thinking we have to take a Purell bath each night or face the consequence of eternal sickness.

If this trend continues, we’ll be deal-ing with a population incapable of being within sneezing distance of each other.

Personally, we need to abort mission germ aversion and get back to feeling the germ love.

Be real, population Earth.

Who’s up for a game of “Find the dirty spot and clean it first?”

Commotion Dance/Cheer Team Splits

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by Jesse Johnson

Recently the 2010 graduate, Jillian Crist, was in a fatal car accident, shocking the student body that something so unex-pected could happen to people our age.

I felt sad when I heard the news; it even felt unreal, as if it couldn’t happen.

But, of course, it did happen, and the effects of this event will be with me for the rest of my life. I’m sure the tragic event has done the same to others, too.

One effect: opening my eyes to how valuable life is and how fast it can be tak-en away from us.

I have learned to make as many friends as I possibly can because in the end that’s all that matters; friends and family.

This makes me live my life to the fullest because you never know when its all going to be over.

Have fun with your life, because even-tually we all will pass away. I don’t know about you, but I would rather have fun

with the life that I live.This tragedy has also taught me to

appreciate my parents. Never leave the house without giving them a hug and kiss good bye because it could be the last one you ever give them.

I have learned that it is okay to make mistakes because, believe it or not, every-one does. You just have to learn from the mistakes that you make.

Do what makes you happy with your life, don’t live your life for someone else.

Its your life and no one elses, so live it up!

This event has also made me a much more careful driver. Every time I get be-hind the wheel I think of the possible con-sequences of texting or eating while driv-ing, and just how dangerous it is.

It’s always a tragedy when someone is taken unexpectedly, but we shouldn’t have remorse; we should celebrate the wonderful life that they lived and look to make it better.

Take Nothing for Grantedby Audrey Tappenden, editor

Frustration. Anger. Disagreement. Struggle. All things typically associated with the task of tradition requiring the choosing a Christmas tree.

Though looked upon first with antici-pation and good spirits, the family outing is inevitably disastrous upon reaching the tree farm.

1,000 evergreens, four stubborn opin-ions, and one saw sets the stage for a bat-tlefield of should-be holiday bliss.

Mom wanted a medium sized tree with a suf-ficient point from which to hang the angel; brother wanted a tree three times to large to fit through the door; dad wanted whatev-er is easy, and I was concerned with getting the heck out of the cold.

And so the event began.We trudged out into, no, not the dar-

ling snow we’d hoped for but instead the glorious weather comprised of rain, sleet, and wind.

Bring it on.My dad happened to spot a decent tree

within the first couple rows, but, no mat-ter how grand or suitable it is, my brother was determined to bring home a tree des-tined for the White House and therefore continued the search, blazing down each row yelling out about every tree he feels is a contender, as if we are able to keep up.

In the meantime, I wander about and eventually manage to scavenge three trees suitable for the take-home, and, thankfully, the family agrees they are all of equal eligibility.

Now, after shooting down the mon-

strous evergreen chosen by my brother, it was time to get serious about which tree would be the center attraction of our home’s holiday outfit.

Unfortunately, the trees happened to be rather spread out, forcing us to walk back to them, attaining a mental image of each one in order to compare, but, of course, mom is unsatisfied with just one go-around and insists upon making a sec-ond loop in the still sleety weather.

Grudgingly, we follow for the sole pur-pose of her appeasement.

Upon hashing out all of the de-tails of each speci-men, including quality of top, full-ness, straightness of trunk, height, etc. the two final-ists are acknowl-edged and a coin toss is initiated to extract a final decision otherwise unreachable.

Seriously.This is where

my mother, who has become increasingly deranged and neurotic with her age, de-cides it necessary to make yet ANOTHER lap around the vast farm des arbres.

With icicles encroaching his brow, numbness taking over his feet, and the limit being reached closing on his tem-per, my father took the opportunity of my mother’s departure to throw himself to the ground and begin cutting down the closest chosen tree.

Seriously.Of course, it was the same one that had

been spotted first among our family, and by the time my mother returned the ev-ergreen was completely severed from its ground connections, shook, wrapped, and secured in the truck bed.

End of story? Nope.Now it was time to go home and un-

tangle the lights.

TREE TRAUMATis the season....

by Jazmin ABurto

She’s a senior at CHS, has cried, laughed, fell, hurt, and loved. She has friends, and haters. She has a job. She has 3 sisters and 2 brothers, lives with her parents.

He’s already graduated, works at Walmart Distribu-tion Center. He lives with his mother. Has a sister and a brother, and lost his father 5 years ago.

She’s pretty in a no make-up sort of way. He’s handsome when the lights are off.

They’ve been together since February, its been nine months.

His mom loves her.

Her dad hates him.And that’s what makes her love him

even more.They listen to the same kind of music,

and eat the same kind of food.They went to Chicago to

visit her sister from Cold-water. Its 9:30 and they are sitting in a Mexican Restau-rant. Only paying attention to one another, not caring who stares.

Around them, there’s laughter, little kids running,

adults drinking, the TV’s on . Every one is having a good time.

But in this restaurant, they have some-thing most of them have already lost.

Their First Love.

FIRST LOVE

by Alyssa George, editor

So it’s Sunday night after a long week-end of working on your big project, and it’s finally time to relax while know you got it finally done. Monday morning come and your really proud to get this done, you walk up to turn it into your teacher, just knowing an A is coming your way. Yet then he or she announces that they’re given people an extra day to get it done!!! You have officially worked all weekend just to have it postponed.

Projects and homework are common occurrences for students, and with every project comes a due date. Students either get work done early or at the last second, but, either way, it gets done.

Procrastination is one thing, but not fin-ishing any work at all? Not acceptable.

This is school, not a social watering hole provided to students from the gov-ernment. Students are expected to work and get their work done.

If a student wants to not put forth the effort to pass their classes, that’s their problem. But it becomes my problem when a teacher decides to extend the project due date on the day it’s due.

This has happened to me time and time again. Let’s say it’s a long paper that’s due on Monday. I work hard on Saturday and then even miss watching my favorite foot-ball team on Sunday in order to finish it. I’m feeling really great that I got it done though, and then the next day the teacher announces that it’s due on Wednesday in-stead. GRR!!!!

When a student is responsible and works hard to finish a project, do they deserve to be discouraged by the teacher making exceptions for other irresponsible students? No.

Some would argue that it doesn’t pe-nalize the responsible student to extend

a due date, but what incentive does it give that student to work just as hard next time?

Instead, it leaves the student with the feeling of not being appreciated and de-preciates the value of their work.

The only way for a teacher to make ex-tending deadlines on the original due date acceptable is when extra credit points are offered to responsible students who fin-ished their work.

The purpose of projects and homework partially includes the teaching of respon-sibility. Responsibility includes knowing deadlines and getting work done to ones best ability and on time.

How are students going to learn to do their work when a teacher is always ex-tending deadlines on the day the project is due?

Extending the deadline actually re-wards those who do not complete their work, and sends the message to those that work on deadline that their efforts were for naught.

Hard working students end up with no recognition of their efforts and feeling slighted for actually completing it.

I know that this has happened to me time and time again. I’ll have my project done, no matter how long it takes, and I’ll arrive at class just to find my hard work done for nothing.

Without proper compensation for re-sponsible students it is wrong for teach-ers to change project due dates on the day that the project is due.

Now, there can be a few ways for a teacher to compensate responsible stu-dents when they extend due dates for oth-er students. Why not some extra credit, points deducted for other students, or just recognition for hard work?

But that’s just me…

Teachers Changing Due Dates Is Unfair

by Paul Monks and Giorgia Guantario