1 THE ORIOLEAugusta High School2020 Ohio StreetAugusta KS 67010

February 2012 Volume 79, Issue 6

Inside2 Band Trip4 Are Twinkies a thing of the past?6 Artwork of

the Month 7 Planking and Owling Facts8 Calendar9 Chemistry

Magic12 Reviews14 Great

Debate: Should seniors be

required to have seminar?

Great Balls Of Fire! Rebecca Carr (12) ignites soap bubbles filled with flamable gas during the Chemistry Magic Show. She and the other participants showed their chemistry knowledge for a large gathering of elementary students. They used what they learned during the class to perform “magic.” They even made a styrofoam cup disappear. See other information and full story coverage on page 9. (Photo by Rachel Pangrac)

2 THE ORIOLE

Oriole Augusta High School 2020 Ohio Augusta, KS 67010

Policy Statement The Oriole is published monthly from September-

May and distributed free to the members of the high school community. It is reproduced at the USD 402

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and that you include the whole code in the picture. There will be some instances when the scan will fail.

Don’t worry; just keep scanning. The Oriole is a student-produced newsmagazine published to entertain the community and educate

members of the Newspaper Publications class. Opinions expressed are those of individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of adminis-

tration or the staff. Signed guest articles are encouraged but are subject

to editing for grammar, length, legiblility and taste.(Member of KSPA)

StaffEditor in Chief................................Natalie SykesLayout Editor......................................Ally SpeasePhotographer...............................Rachel PangracReporters: Hailey Base, Mackenzie Cool, Laura Ewertz, Kathryn Hooglugt, Leah Jacobs, Mason Kuether, Nick Reimer, Cassidy WheatleyAdviser.......................................Kathey Gibbs

Coming Next Month...March 6- Band Concert in Auditorium-7p. m. March 9- No Classes (Staff Development)March 13- Choir Concert in Auditorium-7 p. m.March 14- Junior Class Assembly in Auditorium-2 p. m.March 19-23- No Classes (Spring Break)

By Hailey Base Auditions for the Spring Play, “Radio Daze,” were held on Feb. 8, and the cast was announced on Feb. 9. “Radio Daze” takes place in the 1940s during WWII in a radio station located in New York City. It’s based on a radio talk show called “Dreams and Delusions,” which aired right before television became a household item. The basic plot of this comedic play is that the “star” of the radio talk show, Conne Carol, attempts to control nearly everything on the soap opera. Tim Laner, the play’s director, decided to do this play because it is light-hearted compared to some of the plays the Drama Department has done in the past, as well as the fact that it involves an extremely large cast. The main characters in the play are Bradford Hunicutt played by Michael Cox (10), Dash Darling-Austin Harlow (12), Connie Carol-Marissa Spainhower (12), Alice -Mia Davis (9), Betty-Sammi Marler (9),

“I hope everyone really enjoys it, thinks it’s a lot of fun, and that we get a lot of student and staff support at this spring’s play.” -Director Tim Laner

Dorothy-Alex DeHaven (12), Agent Peabody-Jeff Pappan (12), Jack Kelly-Tanner Martindale (11), Eugene Eubanks-Nick Reimer (12), Daisy Airheart-Angie Thompson (11), and Lily Airheart-Ari Chandler (10). Other cast members include freshmen Cheyenne Brunhoeber, Samantha Brown, Morgan Belt, Erin Hooglugt and Davyd Ledgerwood; sophomores Marian George, Valen Pray, Talen Simmons, and Korbin Painter; juniors Alicia Kerstetter, Rebecca Winter, Lacy Schwartz, and Elizabeth Haury; and seniors Shalynne Kerby, Brittany Thompson and Harley Alexander. “Radio Daze” will be held April 13 and 14 at 7 p.m. in the AHS auditorium. Admission for the play will be $7 for students and $10 for everybody else. “I hope everyone really enjoys it, thinks it’s a lot of fun, and that we get a lot of student and staff support at this spring’s play,” said Spring Play Director Tim Laner.

‘Radio Daze’ cast huge

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By Cassidy Wheatley Anticipation was escalading quickly as one by one the candidates for 2012 Winter Homecoming royalty walked down the stairs of Hutter Gymnasium, each secretly hoping to go home with the title of Winter Homecoming King/Queen. There was a drumroll, then the winners were announced… Hailey Base, and Brandt Patterson were crowned Queen and King Feb. 10, before the varsity basketball games against Winfield. Traditionally, they shared a kiss in front of the whole basketball crowd. Other king candidates were seniors Colton

Robinson, Derrek Mapes and Chase Wells. The queen candidates were seniors Christina Downs,

Taylor Williams and Paige Reichard. Escorts were seniors

Brandon Hallmark, Adam Tabor, Aaron Quiring and Cody Smith. The flower girl was Ava Stephenson,

daughter of history teacher David Stephenson and his wife Joy Stephenson. The

crown bearer was Slade Ricker, younger brother of Sierra Ricker (11) and son of Cy and Mellissa Ricker. While girls’ varsity lost their game 41-30, the boys beat the Vikings 73-69. During halftime, the dance team and cheerleaders collaborated for a special performance. After the game, there was a dance in the commons with DJ Steve Walsh. The dance was sponsored by Stuco. Queen Base and King Patterson danced the also traditional royalty dance to “We Found Love” by Rihanna. Compared to previous years, many students attended, mostly freshmen.

By Rachel Pangrac After months of stressing, selling and practicing, the Augusta High School band is on the last stretch until they leave for their final destination. The band will be traveling 1,257 miles to Washington, D.C., where

they will get a good look at our nation’s capital. From playing at the steps of the Lincoln Monument to visiting all of the other monuments, they will see the Holocaust Museum and and visit the eight grand Smithsonian museums. The band will also

share a solemn moment at Arlington cemetery where one member will lay a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Sometime during the trip, they will visit and tour the White House. The group will consist of students and sponsors, including Band Director Todd Hollis, Principal Donna Zarr and a variety of parents. They will leave March 19 and will be gone the whole week. From fireworks stand to old cell phone collection, the band has worked hard at fundraising. By far the favorite and largest of the fundraisers was the Carriage Crossing Pie sales. The band now holds the record

for the most pies sold by any group for Carriage Crossing. Hollis gave the band incentive to sell, promising to allow them to duct tape him to the wall if they reached there goal. Not only did they reach the goal, they soared above it, selling over a thousand pies. The band also sold oranges and grapefruit, along with trash bag fundraisers, a cakewalk, and Dillions cards which put a percent of money spent into the students’ account. There is less then a month before the band leaves, and everyone is excited. All they have left to do is practice the music, pack and leave!

AHS band takes on D.C. for Spring Break

Crowning Moment Queen Hailey Base and King Brandt Patterson share a kiss after they are announced. (Photo by Dustin Blake)

Winter Homecoming King, Queen crowned

Practice Makes Perfect AHS Band members prac-tice in preparation for their trip to the nation’s capital.(Photo by Rachel Pangrac)

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By Ally Spease Every four years, an extra day is added to the calendar. This day is called “Leap Year.” Leap year was not invented just to mess with everyone’s calendar; it was actually started to keep the calendar on track! Although it is said that the Earth trav-els around the sun in 365 days, it really takes about 365 and ¼ days, so every four years an extra day is added to the calendar on Feb. 29, to make up for the

extra time gained. Without Leap Year, the seasons that identify with the months would be thrown com-pletely off because of all the time that went unaccounted for. Wouldn’t it be weird to have snow in Kansas in the middle of July? That extra day lets us still get to have summer in July and snow on Christmas. But having an extra day in the year isn’t the only thing that happens during Leap Year. Every four years, the Summer Olympics

occur, always during Leap Year. Also in Leap Year, the United States presidential elections take place. Need-less to say, Leap Year is the year that requires lots of adjusting. People have to adjust their schedules to be able to have the free time to watch the Summer Olympics, as well as adjust their calendars to remember we have 29 days in Febru-ary. And, as if that weren’t enough, Americans have to adjust to the new leader that they’ve elected to run the

country. Other people who have to adjust because of Leap Year are people who are born Feb. 29 during Leap Year. They get to celebrate their birthdays on their ac-tual date of birth only every four years. So people who are actually 16 right now might only be only 4 years old. If you know anyone who was born Feb. 29…be sure to give them an extra special present this year because they have an extra special birthday!

An occasional ‘leap’ in the February calendar

By Hailey Base Hostess, the maker of Twinkies, Sno Balls, and Ding Dongs, has filed bank-ruptcy for the second time in history. With this news, there has been a scare that the beloved Hostess brand will be going out of busi-ness and that our favorite childhood snacks will no longer be produced. “Someday very soon life’s little Twinkie guage is going to go...empty,” said Tallahassee in the immortal line from “Zombieland.” However, not everyone agrees. “I think Hostess closing would be a good thing for fat America,” said Brittany

Thompson (12). Hostess isn’t necessar-ily closing…but they are in some trouble. By December of 2011, Hostess was on the verge of filing bankruptcy after it suspended payments for union pensions and was struggling to remain current on its $700 million loan. Then when January of this year approached, Hostess filed for Chapter 11 bank-ruptcy for the second time in history. The company was in

debt after the first time they filed bankruptcy, accord-ing to the Huffington Post, because they never fully recovered. After being ques-tioned, Hostess said that they carry over $860 million in debt. What does this statistic mean? The Hostess invento-ry will probably go on sale, factories will most likely close, many workers (aside from key employees) will be fired, and Hostess snacks may close for good…but

that doesn’t mean we won’t have access to their deli-cious Twinkies and Zingers. Hopefully, another mega-company like Bimbo Bakeries or Kraft Foods will buy out Hostess snacks. The fine print on the boxes will then change, and there may be a stall in production, but it will all start up again after a small delay. The eco-nomic state of our country isn’t just affecting small businesses and towns; it’s affecting corporations that are a lot bigger as well. So if you want some Hostess snacks, go out and buy them before they be-come “Bimbo Twinkies” or “Kraft Ding Dongs.”

Hostess Bakery may become ‘toast’

“Someday very soon life’s little Twinkie guage is going to go...empty,” said Tallahassee in the immortal line from “Zombieland.”

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By Laura Ewertz In the past couple of months you’ve probably have seen or heard rumors about the SOPA act possibly becoming law. SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act. SOPA is a bill that was

By Nick Reimer ██ █ ███ ███. ████ █ ██ █, █ █ ███ ██ █- █ ██ ████ ███ █ █ █ ██ ██ █ ██ ██ ██ ███ █ █ ███ ██ ██ ███ ██. █ █ ██ ██ ███ ███ ███. ███ █ ██ ██ █████ █.████ ███ ██ ██ ██.███ ███ ██ ███ ██ ██ ██ █ █████ █████ ██ ██ █ ███ ███ ██ █ ███ ████ ██ ██ ████ ██ ██ ██ █████ ██.████ ██ ███ ██ ███ ███ █ ██ ████ ███ ████████ █.███ █████ ████ ██ █ ██ ████ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███.████ ███ ███ ███ ███ ████.███ ██ ███ ██ ██ █ ██ ██ ██ ████ ██ ████ █ █████ ██ ███ █ ██ ████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ██ █████ ████ █████ █████ ███ █████ ██.██ █ ███ ███ ███ ███ ██ ████ ██ ███ ██.█████ █████ ███ ████ ██████ ███ ██ ██ █ ███ ██ ███ ███.████ ██ ████ ██ ███ ██ ████ ███ ██████ █████.██ ████ ████████ ████ ███ █████ █████ █████ ███ ████ ████ █████ ███ ██ █████ █████ ████ ████ ███ ██ ██.██ ██ ██ █████ ██████ ███ █████ ███ ███ ██.██ ████ ███ ███ █████ ███ █████ █████ ██.███ ██ █ █████████ ███ █████ █████ ███ ████ █████ ████.██ ████ ██ ████ ████ ███ ███ ████.██ ██ ██████ ███ ████ ██ ███ ███ █████ █████ █████ ██.██ ███ ███ ███████ ██ ██.

Reimer’s Review

Do you think the SOPA Act should

be passed?

“Definitely not.” Marian George (10)

“No, I don’t think it’s fair.”

Michael Cox (10)

presented to the House of Representatives in October of 2011. You may be asking yourself, “Why does this concern me?” Well, look at it this way. Let’s say that you love Facebook. If the

“Well, I have no idea what that is!”

Ian Rogers (10)

“Of course not!” Ben Madison (9)

government passes SOPA, then Facebook may be just a figment of your memory. SOPA was a bill that was created by Representative Lamar S. Smith of Texas, who had 12 co-sponsors. The people against this bill say that SOPA would violate the First Amendment and would basically censor the whole internet. The worst part about SOPA is that many com-panies that we know and love are even supporting the passing of this bill, com-panies like Nike, L’Oréal and Ford Motor Company. They all support it for copy-right reasons and for protec-tion of their trademarks. SOPA just might be passed because of all the support it has; however, some companies do not support it at all. To show the disagreement with SOPA, the websites Google, Wiki-pedia and others all recently had a blackout day. Blackout day was on Jan. 18. It made millions of people who never even knew about SOPA stop to think about how their world could be changed if Google and other websites were censored. SOPA will affect our lives if the bill is passed. Many people can’t live without Google and other social interactive websites. Gaming sites would also be affected. The Stop Online Piracy Act shouldn’t become a law.

Battle against SOPA

(This story has been censored in protest of SOPA. If this bill is passed, then… well, the gaming economy will collapse. This entire column would basically be illegal.)

6 THE ORIOLE

By Mackenzie Cool Finally...it’s time for Spring Break! Many people go on family vacations to get their minds off their problems. When taking this break, the only thing they should worry about is the best way to spend their time. “I’m going to Texas for a couple rodeos, and I have a college visit to go to. Other than that, I’m doing a whole lot of NOTHING,” said ReBecka Reust(11).

By Cassidy Wheatley Planking and Owling are trends made popular by crazy kids on the internet. Planking is lying face down in a public place,the stranger place the better, and posting pictures of it on social networking sights such as Twitter and Face-book. Planking has grown in popularity, particularly in

Planking, Owling internet trends

Spring Break more than ‘fun in the sun’

Australia where there has been huge media cover-age. An Australian rugby league player David “Wolf-man” Williams celebrates scoring by planking, while one of the nation’s leading chat show hosts Kerri-Anne Kennerley opened a show recently by planking on the TV sofa. In the same week police served a trespass notice on a man caught

planking on a squad car. There have been rumors of Planking coming from slavery. However, it came from Australia and was originally called “the lying down game.” Owling is a newer trend. To Owl, you go crazy places like when you Plank, but you sit with your knees to your chest, and your arms between your knees. The

birth of Owling came in the form of a photo taken of Allison Smith, 24, a journal-ism major at George Mason University in Washington, D.C. Other trends have been started since Owling and Planking, such as Tebow-ing, Coning, and Blimping, but so far the social medias have favored Owling and Planking, by far!

“I might be going to Canada. My uncle has been wanting to learn about their

way of life,” said Erik Ward (10). Other people just like to sit back at home and take a break from school.

“I am just going to sit at home for most of the break. I’ll try to convince

my mom to take me to my favorite restaurant, Hooters, for some good BBQ,” said David Jeter (9). “I’m planning on going

to Minneapolis and Saint Paul for a mission trip,” said Hannah Albright (9). “We will be working in soup kitchens for the homeless and working at a school. I am also going to Mall of America.” Spring Break is an excit-ing time for many people. It’s the break they need from school– no homework to worry about, just a week of fun. Spring break is defi-nitely just a week to kick back and relax.

“I’m going to Texas for a cou-ple rodeos, and I have a college visit....” ReBecka Reust(11)

Planking! Kaleb MacNicol (12) lies across the trophy case located in the commons to demostrate “Planking.” Plank-ing is one of the many photo trends that have swept the

Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, oh my!

internet. “Planking” and “Owling” are examples of photo challenges that people have been participating in on social media websites. (Photo by Cassidy Wheatley)

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By Nick Reimer “On the first weekend of February, I was relaxing with my nephews, watching documentaries with them about Bigfoot. I figured I’d run out real quick and grab some firewood, so without even putting on my shoes, I ran out to get it. The ground was all mucky and wet as you can imagine after the rain, so it left footprints. The next morning, my nephews woke me up with ‘Bryon! Bryon! Look!

‘Bigfoot’ scares kids

By Leah Jacobs Samantha (Sam) Brown (9) is known for her amazing pencil sketches of people. There are, however, many other things that are amazing about her like the fact that she cuts her own hair, she LOVES cheesecake, and she stays up all night drawing. “I usually get inspired when I stay up late, or people ask me to draw them, and I just can’t say no…” She is also inspired by love. Sam said that she loves to draw portraits, blood, her friends, eyes, demons and severed hearts. Her mom tells her that she was born with a pencil in her hand, but she probably started drawing in third or fourth grade when “I was obsessed with

dragons.” Her favorite piece that she has drawn is a picture of a hand with a heart cut-out into it. “It was REALLY bloody.” Sam won two silver awards in the Scholastics Art competition this year. She also got first place in a two-hour self-portrait drawing contest at Pittsburg University last semester. Sam has taken MANY art classes to advance her love and skill level in drawing. She has taken three Wichita Council for the Arts classes, some art classes in Wichita, Augusta Arts Council class, art classes in middle school, and most recently here at AHS she has taken Intro to Art, Advanced Painting, Drawing, and Art Appreciation.

Bigfoot was in our yard!’ Of course, I knew it as my footprint, but I decided to play along with it. I went out, humored them a bit. We made a cast out of the footprint, and after a while, I told them to put it up against my foot. It was funny to see all that hope turn to annoyance when they said, ‘Bryon…’ and realized that, in fact, I was the Bigfoot in the yard.” (As told by Bryon Sturm.)

Artistic wonderSamantha Brown...

By Hailey Base Collecting both indi-vidual and team awards, the AHS Forensics squad was off to an incredibly success-ful start this semester. Seven students have qualified for State 4A Fo-rensics, which will be held on May 5 in Topeka Wash-burn Rural High School. In addition to these personal successes, the team has also received two sweep-stakes trophies based on the overall average scores of the squad. A second place sweepstakes award was presented to the squad at Wellington High School on Feb. 4. More recently, a third place sweeps trophy was awarded to the squad at Maize South High School on Feb. 18.

Students who have quali-fied for state are Saman-tha Brown (9) in Original Oration speaking, Michael Cox (10) in Duet Acting and Dramatic Interp., Mariah Davis (10) in Original Oration, Valen Pray (10) in Duet Acting, Marissa Spain-hower (12) in Duet Acting, and Angie Thompson (11) in Duet Acting. “We have had the best year in almost five or six years. We have almost half the squad qualified for state and four more tournaments left to go. I feel really proud to be president of this squad and love getting to spend weekends working with everyone. I know we will do fantastic at state.” said Forensics president Brittany Thompson (12).

Adventures of Sturm

Crazy Painting! Sam Brown (9) poses with her latest masterpiece. She has a very distictive style to her artwork and she even does drawings of her own classmates. (Photo by Laura Ewertz)

Squad collects awardson trip to state tourney

8 THE ORIOLE

WHAT’S N E X T?a preview of upcoming community & school events

March 1

March 3 March 4

March 2

March 5 March 6

March 7 March 8 March 9 March10

March 11 March 12 March 13 March 14

DID YOU KNOW?

aSpanish Club worked concessions Feb. 3 to raise money for their club.aTake 2 went to Candle Light Cafe and performed Feb. 12.aChoir had Take 2 auditions for next year Feb. 17.a Dance team tryouts will be held at the beginning of March.a The “GSV” dodgeball team won the tournament held by Skills USA on Feb. 22.aThe Newspaper and Yearbook staffs visited Emporia State Feb. 23 for KSPA journalism competi-tion.aSeniors can pick up upcoming local scholarship applica-tions in the counsel-ors’ office.aStudent Council elections for next year will take place in March.aYou still have time to find your mask to wear to prom!

March 15 March 16 March 17 March18

March 19 March 20 March 21 March 22

Converse Day

Cereal Day International Women’s Day

Cheer tryout practice begins

No School

Dr. Suess Day

Do-Something DayBCC open cheer clinic @ 1 p.m.

Johnny Apple Seed Day!Daylight Savings Time begins

Cheer tryout practice Official cheer tryoutLips appreciation day

BCC open cheer clinic @ 10 a.m.

World Compliment Day!

Cheer tryout practiceChoir Concert @ 7 p.m. Auditorium

Band Concert @ 7 p.m. Auditorium

Cheer tryout practiceJunior Class “Making It Count” Assembly @ 2 p.m. AuditoriumProm meeting @ 7 pm Library

Spring Break!

Spring Break!

Spring Break! Spring Break! Spring Break! Spring Break!

9 THE ORIOLE

Students of the WeekFeb. 6 - Feb. 10

Aerian Winzer (9) nominated by Mrs. WardCourtney Catlett (9) nominated by Mrs. Walker

Feb. 13 - Feb. 17Katie Hollis (11) nominated by Mrs. TimberlakeJessie Mosier (9) nominated by Mr. Thompson

Feb. 20 - Feb. 24Mia Davis (9) nominated by Ms. Barker

Kyler Steinkamp (10) nominated by Mr. BaldwinFeb. 27-March 2

Nate Johnson (11) nominated by Mr. BodykAlexa Bituin (9) nominated by Mr. Bishop

By Mackenzie Cool Kellee Roberts is the teacher of Web Design. Her goal was for the students have a hands-on interaction for the students. The project they are doing this year is creating a web page that will be on Augusta High School’s home page. The webpage shouldn’t be finished until Spring Break at the soonest. There might be a slight delay until the end of the semester. “I believe our students have learned a great deal about working in a team environment. They are responsible for what each group gets done. Their product is going to be shown to hundreds of stu-dents, so they are working hard to make the website awesome,” said Roberts. This project gets the stu-dents ready for criticism and how to deal with what others want.

“They are learning how to work with clients and how to make the needs/wants of the users match the needs/wants of the cli-ent. And of course, along the way they have learned all about website design and the programming it takes to make a website function,” said Roberts. The webpage will be entered in a competition at K-State which will be held on April 4. “We are looking for pictures of our students/teachers/faculty doing all kinds of things here at the high school. They can be classroom pictures, athletic pictures, pictures of friends hanging out at lunch. Anything that depicts our schools environment,” said Roberts. These pictures will help the website do better in the competition, so send in all the works of art that you have.

Crazy chemistry

Web Design creates new site

By Mason Kuether The chemistry show “exploded” with fun Feb. 1 in room 107. The Advanced Chemis-try class performs experi-ments for grade schoolers each year to get them excited about science be-fore going into the middle school. This year Robinson fifth graders came to watch.

“There were mishaps. We always have them!” said science teacher Erika Rich-ardson. But they retry and keep going with confidence. Some of the experiments the advanced chem students conducted would include dragon’s breath and slime. Richardson has been do-ing the chemistry show for five years.

Abracadabra! Top: Cody Smith (12) puts on a show for the 5th graders from Robinson Elementary. This trick was called the “hungry dragon.” Bottom: Becca Carr (12), Mary Allen (12), and Caitlin Henry (12) pose for a picture before passing out goggles to the kids. The students wore the goggles as a safety precau-tion during the show.(Photos by Rachel Pangrac)

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By Mackenzie Cool Power lifting is a sport to see which individual can lift the greatest amount of weight. Aaron Craig is the team’s coach. “ I sometimes demonstrate the lifts, and then I get in on some of the heavier lifts... Makes them mad if an old man can beat them,” said Craig. Motivation is important to every lifter. “If I watch the movie “Never Back Down” or listen to the song “Moment For Life” they get me pumped up for my next lift,” said Jake Poynor (11). In the Basehor-Linwood competition

Jan. 7 there were around 580 competitors. These lifters came from all over Kansas and Missouri. David Jeter (9) won first place overall in the 114 weight class. Phillip Traylor (12) won second place overall in the 181-weight men’s division. The Augusta competition was Jan. 28. Anthony Taddeo (12) won second place in the 140-weight class. He set the meet bench record at 205. Traylor was second place overall men’s again in the 181 weight group. Dustin Owen (11) took third place in the 181 weight class. These three placed out of 283 lifters.

By Natalie Sykes As winter comes to an end, the girls’ basketball team rolled to a close with a 6-15 record. The Lady Orioles played at sub-state Feb. 27. They lost to Mulvane 57-44. Rose Hill came to Augusta Feb. 23. The Lady Orioles lost 60-48. The Orioles hosted the El Dorado Wildcats Feb. 21. They beat the Wildcats by 30 points with the final score of 69-39. Mulvane hosted the Orioles Feb. 17. Augusta lost 53-33. In a Valentine’s Day game, Feb. 14, the Lady Orioles travelled to Buhler

Power lifters motivated to win Girls end season 6-15

By Kathryn Hooglugt Jake Goldenstein, fresh-man, was the only Oriole wrestler to place in the State 4A Wrestling Tournament at Salina Feb. 24-25. Others who qualified for state from Augusta were-Chase Wells (12), Jacob Hill (11), Wright Bosley (10), Colby Willis (11) and Chance Runnion (11). Class 4A reginal took place at Mulvane Feb. 18. It was at this meet that the six Orioles qualified for state. Augusta took 2nd place with a score 128. Remington had a tourna-ment Feb. 11 where Au-gusta took last place.

Goldenstein places at state Augusta won against El Dorado with a score of 39 Feb. 9. Rose Hill had a tourna-ment Feb. 4. Augusta took 13 out of 19 schools. At the Chanute tour-nament Jan. 28, Augusta placed 7th. Augusta faced Mulvane and Rose Hill Jan. 19 at home. The Orioles lost to Mulvane. Augusta then faced Rose Hill and won. The Orioles attened a Tournament hosted by Kapaun Mt. Carmel Jan. 14 where Augusta took 6th. Douglass hosted a tour-nament on Dec. 10. Au-gusta was 10.

where they lost 56-45. Taylor Williams (12) scored 13 of the points for the Orioles. On Homecoming night Feb. 10, the AHS girls lost to the Winfield Vikings. The final score was 41-30. Kalie Robinson (11) scored 10 points. The Lady Orioles travelled to Abilene Feb. 7. They lost 44-23. Breanna Burkett (10) and Williams both scored 6 points. Augusta hosted Wellington Feb. 3. The Lady Orioles lost 40-23. Williams was the leading scorer with 11 points. After the El Dorado Tournament, Augusta played Maize South. The Lady Orioles lost 53-22. In the El Dorado Tournament, the girls played, Circle, El Dorado and Wichita West. The first game was against the Circle Thunderbirds. The girls lost 38-25 to the T-Birds. The second game was against El Dorado. Again the girls’ lost 49-42. In the last game of the tournament, the girls played Wichita West. The Lady Orioles came out on top to beat West 53-22. The Orioles took seventh place. Before the El Dorado Tournament, the Lady Orioles hosted Wichita Collegiate and won 45-41. Williams scored 12 points and was the leading scorer, but Becca Carr (12) scored just two points less.

Congrats, State

Wrestlers!

Goldenstein-2nd-106 lbs.

Wells-160 lbs.Bosley-182

lbs. Willis-195 lbs. Runnion-285

lbs.

11 THE ORIOLE

By Natalie Sykes The speed of sports never seems to slow down, expecially for the boys’ basketball team. The Rockets travelled to Augusta Feb. 23. The Orioles won 60-46. Augusta hosted El Do-rado Feb. 21 and beat the Wildcats 70-58. The Orioles headed into another Wildcat Country Feb. 17 to play Mulvane where they lost 76-70. Buhler hosted the Ori-oles for a Valentine’s Day showdown Feb. 14. The Orioles lost by two points to the Crusaders, 42-40. Previously, the Orioles played the Winfield Vikings for the Homecoming game

Feb. 10. The Orioles beat the Vikings by four points, 73-69. The Orioles travelled to Abilene Feb. 7. Augusta lost this game 82-29. Wellington was in Au-gusta Feb. 3 to play. The Orioles came out on top and beat Wellington, 66-49. Ky-ler Steinkamp (10) scores 20 points, Sean Branden-burg (10) had 17 points and Brandt Patterson (12) had 13 points. Augusta travelled to Maize South Jan. 31. The Orioles lost by five points. The final score was 58-53. Chase Winter (11) scored 13 points in this game, just three points ahead of Patter-son who scored 10 points.

Orioles beat Rockets 60-46

Hustle Kyler Steincamp (10), Alex Clausing (12) and Ian Hall (12) work for a Homecoming victory Feb. 10 against Winfield (Photo by Rachel Pangrac)

Varsity boys, Watson bowl to state tourneyBy Mason Kuether The Augusta Oriole bowling team took home another win against Renwick and Maize South at The Alley Feb. 3. Girls’ varsity ended with a total score of 2265. Bethany Watson (10) had a total of 674, Katy Nordman (10) had a 554 and Heather Spyres (12) had a total of 494. Boys’ varsity ended up with a total of 2494. Adam Tabor (12) had a 682, Kayl Warne (11) had a 660 and Brandon Hallmark (12) had a 583. Girls’ JV bowled a of 1726. Madison Marcotte (10) had a total of 491, Kelcee Sullivan (12) had a 441 and Caroline Phipps (12) had a 398. Boys’ JV had a total score of 2058. Brock Keazer (11) had a 597, Andrew Orocio (10) had a 524 and Logan Allen (10) had a 476. The varsity boys and girls’ varsity both won against Mulvane at Derby Bowl Feb. 9. The girls’ varsity ended up with a total score of 2182, Mulvane ended up with a 2091. Boys’ varsity had a 2444 and Mulvane ended up with a 2291. For varsity, Watson had a series of 579, Nordman had a 563 and Cheyenne Brunhoeber (9) had a 507, Hallmark had a series of 633, Warne had a 610 and Sam Davis (11) had a 607. The Augusta Orioles JV girls’ and boys’ teams took home another win at the AVCTL tournament against Mulvane and El Dorado Feb. 16 at North Rock. The girls’ had a 1892 and the boys’ had a 2160. For the girls’ top ten series, Alyson Blackwell (12) took first with a 506, Mason Kuether (10) took second with a 460, Alie Divine (11) took third with a 455 and Marcotte took fourth with a 445. For the boys’ top ten series, Orocio took first with a 648, Quentin Araiza (9) took fourth with a 514, Keazer took seventh with a 485, Allen took eighth with a 459, and Jake Clark (10) took tenth with a 445. Girls’ and boys’ varsity had the AVCTL Tournament at North Rock against Buhler, El Dorado and Mulvane Feb. 17. Varsity boys took first with a total of 2496 and girls’ varsity came in fourth place with a 2141. The top ten series for varsity boys’ were Warne with first place with a 664, second was Tabor with a 618, third was Hallmark with a 599, and Davis took seventh place with a 585. Watson placed third in the top ten for series with a 587 for girls’ varsity. Congratulations to Watson and all of the varsity boys’ bowlers for qualifying for state. The boys came in second place at regionals with a 2536. The girls came in third place with a score of 2181.

12 THE ORIOLE

Spring into break with a crossword

By Catsidy Wheatley They’re adorable, they’re fluffy, and they can lighten any mood… cats. When you see a cat, don’t you just want to run up to it and squeeze it as tight as you possibly can? I most defi-

nitely do. I don’t know why I’m infatuated with these fluffy creatures, but I am. They just make me happy. I have a cat of my own, a tabby. She isn’t an ordinary house cat though… She’s special. My precious’ name is Gracie, the Warrior Prin-cess, named by yours truly. She eats butter, hides bottle caps, and sleeps ALL day. This fine specimen of a feline is extremely over-weight… Her stomach almost drags on the floor when she walks. “ I have two cats of my own They’re pretty great. They might not get along all the time, but they really do love each other. One of

Across2. The people you usually hang with over break6. It protects you from the sun8. You don’t have to _____ school food over break9. To sit in the sun for hours10. The thing that blinds us when we walk outsideDown1. You go on ______ dur-ing break usually, like to

California3. You have to do this to have your room clean4. The dreadful day when we have to come back to school5. Depending on the teacher, you may have to do this6. You will do a lot of this over break7. The place to go to dur-ing break where you can get sand in your shorts10. The place you don’t have to go to over break

my cats, Tommy, likes to eat Malto-Meal... or basi-cally any human food,” said Hailey Base (12). House cats to some people are pointless to have for various reasons. Some people think they’re annoy-

ing and lazy… which I will admit, they are sometimes. But that’s no reason to HATE them. They don’t do any harm except maybe the mini-hairballs and shedding every once in a while. “ Yeah, I love cats. I love to BEAT cats… The only thing I love about cats is their ability to satisfy my hunger,” said Kaleb MacNi-col (12). “ I hate cats. They’re slith-ery. They slither through your legs. They’re just nasty,” said Sidney Dey (12). Everyone has a different opinion of these adorable, fluffy, cuddly, beautiful, house pets. Mine should be apparent.

A purr-fect animal

MEOWWW! Cassidy Wheatley’s cat, Gracie, poses for the camera. (Photo by Cassidy Wheatley)

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TAMTAM originates from when the AHS Dance Team was over using the

phrase “That Awkward Moment” and needed a short abbreviation for it. You can use the term TAM when something totally awkwad and uncom-

fortable has happened and there is really nothing else to say!

TAM when you get a golf club impaled in your side.

– Lee Baldwin

TAM when you spend the night at

your friend’s house and you clog up her toilet so her

mom has to plunge it out for you.

– Angela Carter

TAM when a student’s mom is ranting about the old coach-ing staff at the barbershop and doesn’t know that you’re the

new coach. – Coach Craig

TAM when you’re laughing at someone who fell out of their chair,

and then you fall out of yours. – Bailey Phillips

TAM when you’re driving home with your mom and the Backstreet Boys

comes on and she knows all the lyrics. – Kelcee Sullivan

TAM when you send a text to

your mom that was meant for your girlfriend. – Nick Mitchell

By Kathryn Hooglugt ABC Family first premiered “Switched at Birth” on June 6, 2011. This show is in its second season. “Switched” is about two baby girls who were switched at birth; the hospi-tal had given the wrong ba-bies to the wrong families. These families are Ken-nish and Vasquez. The char-acters are Kathryn, John, Bay, and Toby Kennish. The Vasquez family consists of Regina, Daphne, and

Regina’s mother. But Bay is actually Regina’s daughter and Daphne is Kathryn’s daughter. Daphne, who is hearing-impaired, goes to a deaf school with her best friend, Emmett Bledsoe, who is fully deaf. After finding out that Daphne and Bay were switched, the Kennish’s had the Vasquez family move into their spare house. To please her father Daphne goes to Bay’s public school. Daphne is an

amazing basketball player. Bay is an artist. She also does illegal street art around the town; only a few people actually know that this artist is Bay. Bay uses one of their family’s garages as a studio, and the other one is used for Toby’s band. Kathryn and John want to sue the hospital for switching their babies and to make sure that it never happens to any other family. They are just getting ready to take on the hospital when

their lawyer tells them that Regina’s ex-husband has a warrant for his arrest in Italy. Regina’s mother ends up calling the police and telling them where Regina’s ex-husband is, and he is arrested. This is an amazing origi-nal show for ABC Family. ABC Family does have a lot of variety for their shows, but this is something they have never done before, they have ended up getting many more viewers.

ABC Family produces awesome new show

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The Great Debate

By Leah Jacobs For as far back as we can remember seniors have been able to get out of school early second semester. Seniors have been able to get out of seminar and come to school late, if their sched-ule allowed it. How-ever, beginning next year seniors might be required to take both seminar and have at least five classes on their schedule. I don’t see why it needs to be changed. It is a privilege for seniors not to have to stay all day and for them to be able to come to school later than usual because they don’t have a first block class. As a senior, I look forward to 1:20 when I get to leave school and not have to stay for fourth

block. As a senior you have more time to do your homework and to study because you have fewer classes, less homework, and more free-time to finish what you do have. Seminar is unnecessary for seniors. This is just one of many reasons why seniors should not have a seminar or even be required to be enrolled in five classes second semester. I think that if the seniors next year are re-quired to have five classes as well as a seminar they will be more likely to skip school because they are tired or fed up with being in school. They will think that seminar is useless and more of a burden than a perk. Someone might think that it is a good idea to require seniors next year to have a full schedule because they think that it will help them to not procrastinate and to get better grades. However, I believe that it gives a good reason for seniors to have an excuse to skip seminar as well as other classes and to procras-tinate MORE instead of less.

Should seniors be required to have seminars?

By Kathryn Hooglugt Starting in 2012/2013, second semester seniors will be required to have seminar and five classes. In my opinion, this is a long over-due change, but then I also think that se-niors should have to take a full schedule. Some seniors simply “goof around” when they don’t have classes. Having seminar would be good to keep them in school, as well as help them to get their home-work done. That way they couldn’t say they didn’t have time to finish their work. This change might even help seniors get ahead in their homework, or get assistance when they need it. Seniors are lucky that this is the only change that will happen. It could always be worse. It might have been re-quired for them to take a full schedule instead. Soon-to-be seniors shouldn’t be upset that they have to take seminar. They are being let off fairly easy. Having semi-nar can be a huge help to any of them, no mat-ter how much they don’t want to take it. Having a bunch of free time while

you have homework normally means that you won’t start it or even fin-ish it if you have started it. So really having semi-nar wouldn’t be bad for any students, unless they don’t have any home-work. Even those with no homework could still get help from their teachers, which would enable them to excell in their tougher courses. Seminar is a great opportunity for any student. Requiring seminar is in no way a bad idea. No matter what anyone says, this is going to keep a lot of students out of trouble both inside of school and outside of school. Semi-nar should be a time for working to study and do-ing homework.

Pro Con

15%

85%

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From hot-blooded conversation to petty gamesBy Nick Reimer For most, being doused in water is a bad thing. However, to me and most men even slightly similar to me, the ability to infuri-ate someone enough to earn such an action is a feat in itself. Whether it be a ran-dom girl or your best friend during a party, more and more people these days are shrugging off the “dire con-sequences” of their actions. In addition to laugh-

ing at over-zealous water-splashers, anymore there seems to be a game of “how mad can I make you?” It’s both true and ridiculous how easy it is: a tiny tic-tac sized comment can make a person absolutely explode. My personal favorites are “You mad?” and “You seem upset.” It’s like social arguments have evolved from hot-blooded, intellectual conver-sations to a petty game of

seeing who can infuriate the other the most and the swift-est. It would also seem that arguments start over any-thing and everything any-more. I seriously got into an argument with someone recently that started with me commenting on somebody having a diet Dr. Pepper instead of a normal one. It ended with me being doused with a cup of water. On a bus. The funniest part of all? I wasn’t even talking to

the person who doused me. She just jumped in on me and started dropping the “F” bomb paired with “you’re a freak.” Thanks. I can’t expect things to change because I know that I won’t, and really I don’t want to. I love ending arguments with such vile notions. Being slapped or doused in water? Feels good. At least I don’t have to take a shower today.

You mad, bro?

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What’s in your: Locker

January Game Answers

Poof is Prom

By Rachel Pangrac Open Mariah Baker’s (9) locker, and things will fall out at you. Baker packs her locker every day with things she needs. With soccer season coming up, she is starting to bring her gear with her as well. Things vary from:• Soccer ball• Boots

• Three text books• Poptart and peanut butter•Two folders and a pen • Mirror and six hair ties• Pictures of friends• A penny• Bracelet and belt•Two notebooks • Clean shirt • Knee brace• Clarinet and sheet music