A Night of Broken Statues V a Student’S Prank Leaves Expensive Damages and Hurt Pride Alissa Margett Features Editor
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October 7, 2008 [email protected] LSHS alhallaVolume 81, Issue 1 A night of broken statues v A student’s prank leaves expensive damages and hurt pride Alissa Margett Features Editor hough the damage is not clearly visible Tfrom a distance, the school statue located between the 400 building and main of- fice was the target of a recre- ational explosive. On July 4, a group of roughly seven to ten high school students came onto the campus just before mid- night. Armed with a sparkler bomb, the vandals went to work blowing up the school’s statue. This act of vandalism caused about $8,000- $9,000 dollars worth of damage to above are images caught by the security camera on the night of the vandalism photo art by Amelia Dickson the statue. in and saw the recording and nal charges, but he is also fac- the campus and fix his work by administrators, the student Unfortunately for the found out who did it,” Head ing never being able to finish here or remove the statue wrote a typed apology let- students, they were being of Campus Security Janet Al- high school here. [He] could and take it with him to be re- ter addressed to the students watched. bee said. be [expelled], but [the con- paired. Regrettably, the repa- of this school that is almost “We have cameras that After being confronted by sequence] hasn’t been decid- rations will not be done for three pages in length. protect that area. We came administration for his actions, ed yet.” some time. “Some of our kids can’t the student confessed. Though this one student “It is disruptive to every- crank that [three pages] out “His issue is that he has received the majority of the one’s day each time you walk for their Viking Paper. When ruined his life by do- consequences, his fel- by and see it. You don’t feel you write from the heart, it ing this,” Princi- low vandals have proud of our school,” senior is pretty easy to do,” Collins pal Ken Collins been repri- Lindsey Smith said. said. “I think the point that said. “Not m a n d e d , The student involved has the kid would like to make is only is he with pun- taken time since the vandal- that he vandalized his own facing res- ishments ism to reflect on what he did. property. Reflecting, [the stu- t i t u t i o n r anging “He has really felt bad dent] says ‘How stupid is it and crimi- from sus- about his decision and the that here I am going to school p e n s i o n actions that he did make. He here, spending the majority to felony would like people to know of my formative day here and charges. that what you do now is go- I wrecked my own school. It The art- ing to affect you for the rest doesn’t make any sense.’” the statue has been bent and ist of the statue of your life,” Collins said. burned will either come to Without being prompted photo by Emma Derus In this Issue: Check Twilight Boys out your mania tennis new sweeps off to a teachers school better Senior Erin Guy spends and VP pg. 12 start summer volunteering in pg. 8 and 16 pg. 14 Cambodia pg. 12 and 9 volume 81, issue 1 page 1 news LSHS october 7, 2008 valhalla Recycling contributes to economy’s decline Beau Castillo and one for bottles. “I take a separate recycle bin for recycling. You will get to utes to greenhouse gas- [the bottles in the recycle] bottles has been effective; one hundred before you ses and global warming,” S t a f f R e p o r t e r home and put them in my however, one teacher doing get to your next class,” said Elsner. So what can Reflect back on this vote (or one coke bottle) home recycle bin. It isn’t this isn’t enough. “Walk Alderson said. Putting students do in order to in- school year- it usually con- typically does not sway the going to take much room down the hall one day and this into perspective, we troduce a bottle recycling sists primarily on work in final outcome of the elec- up,” Alderson said. Taking count down the bottles and can safely say that some- system to our school? Un- and outside of school. But tion, (the build of landfills the initiative to incorporate cans that could be in the thing needs to be changed. fortunately it isn’t a sim- there is one other thing and such) however, it does Some students have also ple process. “We will talk that that is presumably for- contribute to the results taken the initiative to raise about it at admin. But our gotten; contributing to the in a small way. A handful awareness about bottles janitors don’t have the time rapid decline of our econ- of students and staff here not being recycled. “I to separate and dump recy- omy. You can see our con- have adopted the ideal of know [the school] doesn’t cling. It would have to be tribution by simply open- recycling, and have pro- recycle bottles, so I always a student club and it would ing a garbage can. Next to moted it in various ways. have to take them home,” need some student support the muffin wrapper stained Students who enter Mr. junior Jenny Elsner said. to achieve this,” principal with residue from a cup-o- Dan Alderson’s classroom Recycling is an important Ken Collins said. With this noodle, you see an empty are greeted with humor- ideal that Elsner has in- in mind, students have the Coke bottle. While it may ous posters, and of course, corporated into her life, so opportunity to change our seem that a single bottle Mr. Alderson himself. But the issues pertaining to our schools’ recycling. If you will have little to no impact there is something else schools lack of recycling are interested in creating a on our economy, it does that may be seen out of the are unsettling. “It’s waste- bottle- recycling program contribute to the bigger corner of your eye- two ful to throw [bottles] here, contact ASB with picture. Look at this situ- separate recycle bins, one a casually tossed bottle near the sidewalk away. It builds up, creating your idea in order to get it ation as an election. One for regular paper recycle photo by Nate Lynch landfills, which contrib- approved. Lockdowns keep students safe during emergencies Caleb Schwarzmiller the covering of the windows, saying it’s unneces- sary because school is in session so the crazy would S t a f f R e p o r t e r just figure that there are people in the room anyway. In today’s times of turmoil, drugs, gangs, and These students are mistaken. Common sense would dangerous people, safety has become more and more dictate that you are much safer if the crazy, though important and also harder to achieve. Thousands of knowing you are probably in the room, does not students are packed together into rooms too small know where you are, how many of you there are, or and forced to spend their whole day there. The econ- if you’re waiting just on the other side of the door omy is failing; people are falling into very hard times to club him in the head with a fire extinguisher.) and are starting to become desperate for a way out. The students are to remain silent! This is prob- This creates a tremendous recipe for violence. But ably the hardest rule for students to follow. They are how do we stay safe during all this? The answer is undoubtedly busy speculating about what could pos- a lockdown. sibly have triggered the lockdown, or are busy whin- A lockdown is put in place whenever there is a ing about the papers covering the windows because students huddle in the dark during the lockdown perceived or real threat to the school and student they wish to be specially targeted by a crazy with a photo and photo art by Nate Lynch body. The idea of a lockdown is that no one enters hunting knife. events, Columbine especially, many lives could have and no one leaves. In the event of a lockdown, every With such unfortunate events as Columbine been saved. Since then, lockdowns have been prac- classroom is to be locked and all the students are to and Virginia Tech, the importance and execution of ticed much more and are actually used quite effec- move to a designated “safe” area in the classroom, lockdowns is being realized. They are being prac- tively in events where students are endangered. No away from windows and doors. The windows should ticed and put into effect more and more. Had an ef- one can be sure just how many lives lockdowns save, then all be covered. (Many students complain about fective lockdown been put into place during those but we can be certain that they make us much safer. Music at assemblies: it’s more than just dancing Blaine Bowman the audience. more opinionated part of the genre usually isn’t particular- inappropriate language, sexu- S t a f f R e p o r t e r Nick Johnson, co-captain song and not focusing on the ly explicit, and to steer clear al innuendo, gang slang, weap- of the boy’s tennis team, re- gunshots in the chorus, which of any dance moves that could ons, or discrimination is inap- The fall sports assembly cently had to make this hard could have caused trouble.