Issue 1 08-09

RememberRememberMock Election Day Mock Election Day

is is November 4th!November 4th!

Sponsored Sponsored by Student Councilby Student Council

Letters to the editor can be Letters to the editor can be on any topic of any length. Theyon any topic of any length. They

may be edited for length may be edited for length or libelous content.or libelous content.Letters to the editor Letters to the editor

are accepted are accepted in room 220.in room 220.

TABLE OF CONTENTSNEWS3 New teachers4 Olympics5 New practice field,Goodwill store closing

EDITIORIAL7 Dress code8 Time between classes,Governors school9 Is our school too

crowded, ID cards

FEATURE12 Ms. Liu13 College14 Healthy habits15 How to play volleyball16 Party conventions17 Obama18 History of names19 Fashion, Comic books as movies20 iphone, Footballbracelets

SPORTS22 Golf,Volleyball23 Soccer,Cross country

ENTERTAINMENT24 Brett Farve25 Jaymay, Beck26 Mamma Mia!,Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants27 Final Riot! Tour

Editors-in-ChiefAndrew FordWilliam Lay

Kaitlyn TurneyMandy Yates

Assistant/Production EditorsAnna Claire Bradshaw

Will BumpasKristen KerrKatie Taylor

Business EditorHannah Chapman

Business StaffAllyson Agee

Amber DonaldsonElizabeth Finley

Circulation ManagerJaylin Gardner

Circulation StaffPatrick HeckethornSavannah Johnson

Design and Technology EditorDavid Grueser

Electronic ColumnistJames Northcutt

Exchange ManagerMcCord Pagan

Opinion Page ManagerMatt Coker

Photography ManagersAlex Jacobi

Madison Johnson

Sports ManagerEmma Caylor

Staff CartoonistWill Bumpas

Video Yearbook EditorsJames Guttery

Erin Naifeh

Video Yearbook StaffAnna Claire Bradshaw

Emma CaylorMatt Coker

Jeffrey DycusVictoria KirgisAndrew LeganMcCord PaganGinny RoperHunter Todd

AdvisorsSuzanne Edwards

Nancy Speck

Trojan TorchDyersburg High School125 Hwy. 51 By-PassDyersburg, TN 38024

Trojan

New year brings 18 new teachers to DHS

Many teachers have beenadded to this year’s faculty.Out of the eighteen new

teachers added, Grady Andrews andErrol Hook are veterans of DHS.Coach James Counce, Jr., is now teach-ing weightlifting as well as coachingon the field.

Coach Bert Snow has taken coachingopportunities for football and track.He has taught a broad range of sub-jects and is teaching Algebra I thisyear.

Coach Tony Butler is also a new ad-dition to this year’s football coachingstaff. Butler is teaching wellness andhopes for success in the classroom andon the field.

Teaching Algebra II is Teresa Maxell.Prior to DHS, she taught at ChesterCounty High, Trinity Christian Acad-emy and Haywood County High. “Iwish to prepare students for collegeand help them improve ACT mathscores,” Maxwell said.

Returning to her alma mater, KristenBird is teaching accounting and com-puter applications. She enjoys jogging,shopping and going to the lake. “Ihope that all my students enjoy classand want to continue taking businessclasses,” Bird said.

Agriculture teacher Will Bird hashigh hopes to make our FFA the bestin West Tennessee. He enjoys watersports, hunting, construction andspending time with Mrs. Bird.

Sarah Morris has begun her teachingcareer as an English teacher here. Mor-ris did student teaching at DyersburgMiddle School and toured DHS withlast year’s eighth grade class. “I knewit was a place I would like to work,”Morris said.

Teaching history, government andeconomics is Mark Stenberg. Stenberghas taught several other military top-ics. He likes football and woodwork-ing and wants students to understandthe importance of an education.

Laura Wright is a sophomore Englishteacher and is excited to be back in herhome town. She attended college at

Union University and started her ca-reer as a student teacher at LibertyTechnology Magnet High School andWest Middle School in Jackson. Wrightis impressed with DHS. “The facilities,resources, faculty and staff are excel-lent,” Wright said.

Patsy Peckenpaugh is also a newEnglish teacher here at DHS. She hasenjoyed seeing how some of her paststudents from DMS have grown up. “Ihope to play a role, however small itmay be, in helping our young peoplegrow into mature, caring, and hard-working members of society and growto be people who are not scared toreach for success and willing to workhard to obtain that success,” Pecken-paugh said.

Angela Bell is beginning her firstyear of teaching here. She is the nurs-ing education, health science and med-ical therapy teacher. Bell wishes tohelp students begin their journey intothe medical field.

Allison Martinez is teaching land-scaping and turf management. She re-ceived her degree from UT-Martin andcame here because of the friendly at-mosphere.

Coming from Dyersburg Primary isDeAnn McDowell, an Art I, II, III andIV teacher. “I really enjoy teachinghere and working with this age. I havebeen wanting to teach older studentsfor a long time,” said McDowell.

Coach Lance Roy, moving up fromDMS, has taken position as Spanishteacher. Roy is a strong supporter ofthe Trojan soccer team and enjoyssports and outdoor activities.

Liu Yu is teaching a new subject here,Mandarin Chinese. In the past nineyears, Liu has taught at JLEMCC andJilin College of Arts. She obtained herdegree from Northwest Normal Uni-versity in China and plans to have agreat teaching experience here at DHS.

andrew leganginny roper

3TrojanTorch Volume 41 Issue 1News

Photo by Erin Nafieh

Photo by Andrew Legan

Photo by Ginny Roper

A Different Angle: Algebra II teacher TeresaMaxwell shows junior Josh Windle another way towork his algebra.

Outdoor Learning: Art teacher DeAnn McDowellgives some perspective tips to Brennon Kincaid.

Mucho Gracias!: Coach Lance Roy helps sopho-more Austin Evans with his Spanish.

It has been about a month since the2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Nowthe world waits four more years for

the 2012 Olympics in London. The events and stories leading up to the

Beijing Olympics caused much excitementfrom people who were anticipating thegames to those who were angered atChina’s human rights and environmentalpolicies. However, the games ran surpris-ingly smoothly , with few problems. Theair was cleaned up dramatically as a resultof millions of cars that were taken offroads and thousands of factories that wereshut down in and around Beijing. Protest-ing was outlawed during the games eventhough China had previously stated thatit would allow protesting in certain areas.Only a few were detained or deported,primarily those protesting China’s contro-versial ruling in Tibet.

The Olympics were beneficial to China,opening the world up to a country that,while open to the rest of the world forover three decades, was still shrouded ina certain mystery. Many people saw a dif-ferent side of China, a side that to somedegree may have been fabricated for theOlympics, but the event still gave an in-sight into China’s progression.

Mandarin Chinese teacher Liu Yu wasexcited about the Olympics, and as a na-tive of China, she said she felt proud thather country was chosen to hold theOlympics in Beijing.

“Every Chinese person thought it was abig event for China. Everyone was veryexcited. We were so proud to be shown ac-cepted by the international stage,” Liusaid.

China did not fail to impress with itsdazzling opening and closing ceremonies.Featuring over 15,000 performers andcosting over 300 million U.S. dollars, theopening ceremony was one of the mostelaborate in Olympic history. There werean estimated two to three billion viewers,making it also one of the most watchedlive events in television history. The cere-

monies were centered on the rich culturalheritage of China, both ancient and mod-ern.

“In China we realize that we still havemany problems, but we were looking for-ward to show the world the glory ofChina’s past and also its prosperity in thisperiod,” Liu said.

The athletes and the records set werealso impressive. Certainly the star of thegames was Michael Phelps, the record-breaking super swimmer who picked upmore gold medals than anyone in historyfor both a single Olympic games (he waseight for eight) and for an Olympic career(fourteen in all). Phelps also set sevenworld records at Beijing. Phelps becamean idol and many were already proclaim-ing him to be one of the greatest modernathletes before he had even completed allhis races.

“My entire family swims and for uswatching Michael Phelps do his thing wasamazing,” freshman Jackson Lay said.

Other great performances included Ja-maica's Usain Bolt’s record-breaking runin the men’s 100m with a time of 9.69 sec-onds, the U.S. men’s basketball team’swin against Spain for the gold medal trulyliving up to their name, the “RedeemTeam,” and the U.S. women’s beach vol-leyball pair Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor defending their gold medal onceagain in a final match against China.

This year’s Olympics also included BMXracing for the first time as an event, in ad-dition to the many obscure sports thathave been recently added.

“It was fun watching all the sports thatdon’t usually get put on TV, like diving,volleyball and swimming,” senior MarciColeman said.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics were a hugesuccess and many are wondering howLondon will compete with the extrava-gance that China provided. While manyof the plans are already underway, little isknown so far, so the world will just haveto wait another four years to find out.

4 Issue 1 TrojanTorchNewsVolume 41

Looking back on the 2008 Beijing Olympics

patrick heckethorn

Photo courtesy of www.unicu.org

Photo

courtesy of http://en.beijing2008.c

n

Photo

courtesy of http://en.beijing2008.c

n

This summer our soccer, band and footballteams received an early Christmas present,a new practice field over by the West Wing.

The idea of this new field came from John Fordand fellow band boosters around the community.The only thing the school had to pay for was thegrass. The planning, grading and dirt work weretaken care of by Ford.

“The field we have now isn’t good enough topractice for real live action, and it also gives eachteam a field to call their own to practice in,” Prin-cipal Mickey Mayhon said. The new field replacesold practice spots like DMS for the soccer teamand a vacant lot behind the football field for band.It also will provide a place for the football team’soffense and defense to practice separately.

America and the rest of theworld are experiencing anenergy crisis; a crisis that

affects all aspects of our society.This energy crisis is not brought onby our invasion of Iraq or our de-pendence on foreign oil; it is simplybecause the United States, as awhole, is consuming more energythan we can produce. This causes usto tap into our energy reserves andforeign oil, thus the rising prices.

“If you want to know the truthabout gasoline prices, here it is: theexploding demand for oil, espe-cially in places like China, is over-whelming the rate of newdiscoveries by so much that oilprices are almost certain to continueupward over time no matter whatthe oil companies promise,” AlGore said in one of his internet jour-nal entries from www.algore.com.

The energy market drives thetransportation industry, and thetransportation industry dictatesprices for every other industry. Thetrucking industry is hurting fromthis increase, and many smallertrucking companies are forced toclose. www.truckinginfo.com saysthat unemployment is predicted toreach six percent in early 2009.

The housing industry is taking

blows from this decline as well. Twomajor mortgage financiers, FreddieMac and Fannie Mae, are shrinkingand taking the housing market withthem.

“Fewer people are willing to buyproperty, which contributes to a de-cline in housing prices and thatleads to higher losses, which hurtsFannie Mae and Freddie Mac,which pull back by tightening theirmortgage terms, thus continuingthe cycle,” Robert E. Litan, an econ-omist at the Brookings Institution,said. (www.washingtonpost.com)

Some Dyersburg businesses, suchas Ermco, have been forced to let goof employees because of this slumpin the housing business. Ermcomakes transformers, and if peopleare not building houses, then trans-formers are not needed as much.

People want to find apartmentsand already-built houses in town,so they can cut back on transporta-tion costs.

So, the recession all goes back tothe need for transportation and themassive consumption of energythat is taking place.

“One person cannot affect theeconomy; it will take several,” saidmarketing teacher Judy Henry.

5TrojanTorch Volume 41 Issue 1News

New practicefield offers arrayof opportunities

A New Home: School installs a new practicefield that benefits soccer, band and football.

Economic recessionhurts everyone

Out of Business: Recent economic struggleshave caused many local businesses to close.

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“Move out of the way!”

“Hurry up!”“Sorry, can’t talk!”These are phrases that are now com-

monly used in the halls. Not only doesthe new four-minute rule in betweenclasses make students feel rushed andpushed to the limit, but the simpletask of going to class adds stress aswell.

In order to allow for more time atlunch, the time between classes hasbeen cut down from five minutes tofour minutes, but that one minute canmake a drastic difference. With lesstime to go from one class to the next,there are also fewer discipline prob-lems, such as confrontations, fightsand presence of school-banned sub-stances during the class change. But isthe decrease of problems from a mi-nority of students in between classesworth the increase of problems amongall the students?

Most students now feel hurried be-tween classes and are going to suchextremes as sprinting through thehalls just to make it on time, but withso many people on the move, acci-dents and injuries are more likely tohappen, along with increased rude-ness. Stressful situations are now socommon that students become un-happy and irritable, which is not agood learning environment.

There is hardly any time to go toone’s locker, unless it is in the directpath of the next class, which is rarelythe case. Therefore, students have tocarry most of their belongings, whichis certainly not healthy for one’s back.Is the school going to pay for students’chiropractic bills?

Students sometimes need to attendto various academic tasks in betweenclasses, and there is simply no time al-loted for such any more. What if a stu-dent needs to stay after class to talkwith a teacher or go to the office orguidance? Well, he or she will be latefor the next class and will most likelybe carted off to ISS because the nexthour teacher probably will not let himor her in.

The real problem with the new four-minute restriction is the lack of time togo to the bathroom. With so little timeto go to class, there is no time to per-form a necessity of life. Also, sincemost teachers do not allow students togo without some sort of consequence,such as staying extra time after school,there is simply no time during the dayto go to the bathroom, with the excep-tion of lunch, which is now fairly over-crowded with minimal time to getfood and eat.

Along with the change of time be-tween classes, ten minutes have beenadded to first hour for homeroom ac-tivities. To date, after 40 class days ofschool, there has been only one in-stance when homroom has been usedfor an activity that requires time: thedemographics survey. In reality, thereis hardly any homeroom business thattakes much time, so first hour classesget ahead of the others.

Instead of that extra unneeded time,why not take away five of those min-utes and add one minute betweenclasses? This leaves five extra minutesin first hour to account for time for an-nouncements and any homeroombusiness that is needed.

staff editorial

7TrojanTorch Volume 41 Issue 1Editorials

Shorter time between classesstudentsstressesstresses

With the populationof the schoolgrowing, each day

at school has become onewith various obstacles. Amass of people moving to-gether in one building forseven hours each day can bea treacherous process evenafter routine sets in.

When the bell rings andclass is over, the hallwaysflood with people. Thesepeople all have different mo-tives in mind; some socialize,some make bathroom breakssome visit their lockers andsome try to do all of these.

With these different mo-tives comes an interestinghallway experience. One seesall kinds of activities andhears all sorts of conversa-tions that usually hinder oth-ers from just getting to class.The crowds would not be sobad if everyone were in anassembly line, but since stu-dents are all rushing to differ-ent areas and are doingdifferent things, train wreckshappen.

People's motives not onlycause issues, but also impa-tience and disregard for otherpeople. People completely ig-nore others and get in theirway rudely as a daily rou-tine. With such a huge crowdof students, it can be difficultgetting to and from class sixtimes a day.

Having such a large num-ber of people at school canmake simple tasks take much

longer. For example, takelunchtime. At lunch, mostpeople's main goal is to makeit to the front of the line.Some run and get there first,some just break in front ofothers, and others patientlytake a place in the back of theline. With a large group ofstudents, each lunch shift hastoo many people; therefore,just getting food and gettinga seat is an accomplishment.Without enough time orseats, people get feisty andfight for what they want, de-spite the disrespect shown inthe process. If there werefewer people in these shifts,then there would be less con-flict.

Having too many people inone school building can bestressful and distracting.Sometimes I am just trying toget something finished or getsomewhere quickly, and thebig groups of people get inthe way. Patience is a greatthing to have, but there isonly so much for each daybefore tempers are lost. Themore students who aregrouped together, the moredistraction that is caused.Some of the problems causedfrom a large population areunavoidable, but many couldbe improved. Creating aschedule where large groupsof people are separated intosmaller groups can solveproblems.

alex jacobi

Anew school yearhas brought newrules and regula-

tions to Dyersburg. Stu-dents now have a dresscode, less time to get toclass, and now, the schooladministration has installeda new protocol, which re-quires students to beginwearing their student I.D.cards on lanyards aroundtheir necks.

The main purpose of thisrule is to prepare studentsto enter the workforce, tomake it easier for teachersto identify students and tokeep the building more se-cure. Wearing a student I.D.on a lanyard might be un-comfortable for the stu-dents, but it will bebeneficial to the studentbody.

In the modern workforce,keeping up with an I.D. isan essential part of any job.I.D. cards provide co-work-ers and visitors with infor-mation, and can also serveas security clearance cards.Wearing a student I.D. willteach students to keep upwith their identification,something many people en-tering the workforce havedifficulty with. While manystudents carry their I.D.cards in wallets or purses,most employers requireworkers’ identification to bevisible. Wearing an I.D. on alanyard will help preparestudents for life after highschool.

Wearing an I.D. card willalso make it easier for a stu-dent to be identified by fac-ulty. Any given teacher only

comes in regular contactwith perhaps ten percent ofthe student population, andI.D. cards provide an easymeans of communicatingwith the other 90 percent.Having better communica-tion between students andfaculty will lead to a betterlearning environment.

The third reason theschool is implementing thisprogram is safety. Adminis-trators hope that with stu-dent I.D. cards visible on allstudents, then faculty couldmore easily identify any in-truders. While this soundsgood in theory, wearing I.D.cards will likely have no ef-fect on student safety be-cause it is too easy to fake.Anyone can steal an I.D.card, or simply put adriver’s license on a lanyardto avoid suspicion. Despitegood intentions, this pro-gram will not improveschool safety.

Many students, however,are against this new pro-gram. “It’s stupid becauseeveryone knows who weare anyway,” said senior IanAlley. However, there is noreal viable reason not to im-plement this program. Stu-dents need not beconcerned with the way theI.D. cards make them look,because every other studentwill also be wearing one. Inaddition, any discomfort orinconvenience in wearingone will go away once thestudents become accus-tomed to wearing the lan-yard around school.

william lay

8 Issue 1 TrojanTorchEditorialsVolume 41

Fighting the Crowd: Students push through themasses of people to get to class on time.Has

DH

S be

com

e to

o cr

owde

d?New addition todress code preparesstudents for future

Photo by Alex Jacobi

Not too many months ago, itwas announced to nearlyeveryone’s dismay that the

2008-2009 school year would see theintroduction of a much stricter dresscode. Tears were shed, protests werestaged and complaints were broughtforward by many students and groups(including this newspaper) that thenew dress code was unnecessary,poorly planned and impractical, to listonly a few.

But weeks have passed without inci-dent or even much discussion. Morequickly than most would haveguessed, the majority of students haveaccepted the required collar and belt asa fact of life. The question is, was it re-ally worth raising such a noise about?

Not only do most students follow thedress code with hardly a grumble,many, it seems, have even embraced it.I’ve heard several girls comment onhow “everyone looks nicer,” which Icertainly didn’t expect from theschool’s fashion police: last year theywere among the loudest protesters.Even I have to admit that the absenceof some of the more obnoxious stylesis a big improvement in the atmos-phere here.

And that’s not to mention the unani-mous reports of better student behav-ior, both in and out of the classroom.Violations of the new rules are muchless common than might be expected(some last year were even talking of“civil disobedience”) and even themaintenance people have commentedon unusual levels of cleanliness.

Tucking in my shirt every day is aninconvenience, but I’ve gotten used toit already. Is it really such a big price topay?

will bumpus

High school students find lotsof ways to spend their sum-mer vacation. Whether they

work, take trips, or just relax, stu-dents try to make the most of theirshort respite from the rigors of class-work and tests. However, this sum-mer a small group of students fromDHS used their break to do the un-thinkable: go to even more school.Five Dyersburg students, includingmyself, chose to take advantage of atremendous opportunity that the stategovernment offers to all teenagerswho are willing to take on a chal-lenge. This program is called the Ten-nessee Governor’s Schools.

Each year almost five hundred highschool students take part in Gover-nor’s School. During the program,students spend five weeks taking full-credit college courses at a four-yearuniversity in Tennessee. While there,students are fully immersed in theundergraduate experience. They livein college housing and take part in so-cial events, athletics and enrichmentactivities. The program is composedof 12 different schools located on 11college campuses. Each school is sub-ject specific. The schools all have sep-arate application processes, butstudents can apply for more than oneschool. The program offers talentedhigh school students a fast-paced andexciting academic challenge in anarea of their choosing. Governor’sSchool programs include humanities,international studies, arts, sciences,and engineering, to name a few.

Dyersburg High School was wellrepresented this year at three Gover-nor’s School programs. Senior HollyOwens attended the School forProspective Teachers at UT Chat-tanooga, junior Cason Nobles at-tended the School for the Arts atMTSU and seniors Patrick Heck-ethorn, Jake Gulledge and I attendedthe School for the Sciences at UTKnoxville.

I would like to encourage all DHSstudents to consider taking part inGovernor’s School. The program is

open to all rising juniors and seniors.Governor’s School is completely free;the state government pays for all ex-penses, including lodging, food, text-books and tuition. When I firstarrived at UT this summer, I was un-sure of what to expect. I was appre-hensive about the difficulty of thecoursework, as well as the prospect ofspending the next five weeks awayfrom friends and family. However, theprogram exceeded all of my expecta-tions. I could not have been morepleased with its quality. I got to meetand work with truly talented studentsfrom all across the state. The classeswere challenging, but were also inter-esting and enriching. The universityopened all of its facilities and re-sources to us, which allowed more in-depth investigation than a highschool course can offer. All of the staffmembers and professors were veryapproachable and took a personal in-terest in every student’s success. Eventhough the hours were long and theworkload was at times almost over-whelming, I took away a true sense ofaccomplishment. In retrospect, all ofmy effort was well worth it.

Apart from the academic compo-nents of the program, the social andathletic events were also a lot of fun.Everyone in the school took part inintramural sports and team competi-tions. The staff also took us to themovies and to visit sites such as theTennessee Theater in downtownKnoxville. The program was also aneffective way to prepare for college. Iwas able to earn seven hours of col-lege credit through the program. It isa great way to experience life atwhichever college your program is lo-cated.

In conclusion, I would strongly rec-ommend that all students who are in-terested in having an unforgettablesummer experience consider apply-ing to Governor’s School. It was oneof the best decisions I have evermade.

andrew lay

9TrojanTorch Volume 41 Issue 1Editorials

Photo by Will Bumpas

Students embark upon enriching,

unforgettable scholastic experienceNew dresscode: Notso badafter all?

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13TrojanTorch Volume 41 Issue 1Features

Whoa, college! College tends to bethe most feared seven-letter wordthat seniors feel they hear all too

often. Thoughts of stress, applications, majorchoices, and life changes tend to flood sen-iors’ minds this time of year, rightfully so.College can be an important and influentialtime in anyone’s life. Seniors may followthese basic guidelines to ensure confidence inwhichever college they choose.

Step One: Evaluate. What do I enjoy doing?How do I plan to spend the rest of my life?To help guide students to careers related totheir interests, online quizzes and guidancecounselors are available and are good re-sources. You want to love what you do anddo what you love. To find the school that willbe the most beneficial, a student must knowhis interests and what he wants from a col-lege. Finding a possible field of study willhelp a student succeed in finding a schoolthat meets his educational needs.

Step Two: Research. What does this schooloffer? Accumulating college information in

one “college folder” may be helpful in keep-ing information organized and, therefore,useful. College websites are made to be usedas a reference for parents, students, and po-tential students.

Step Three: Visit. Do I belong here? Beingon a college campus is key to realizing if aschool is right for you. Setting up a collegetour lets the college know a student is inter-ested in the school and gives the student afeel for the school’s atmosphere. Your futureschool should just feel right.

Step Four: Compare. Which school suits methe best? By visiting prospective schools, astudent can narrow down his search. Form-ing a list of positives and negatives of col-leges helps put one’s choices into perspective.Students need to take these factors into con-sideration: the size of the student body, loca-tion, academic programs, campus life, cost,diversity and retention and graduation rates.

Step Five: Apply. How do I get in? It is wisefor students to apply to two or more collegesearly during their senior year. By doing so, a

student is keeping his options open and in-creasing his chances of being accepted into aneducational institution. Before applying, astudent should create a resume listing allhonors, academics, clubs and work experi-ence to serve as a reference when one is giv-ing information to a school during theapplication process. Many colleges alloweasy access to applications through the schooland the Internet. When you are applying, in-formation needs to be accurate. Others canproof essays before you send them in. Youwill be relieved when all college applicationsare taken care of.

Useful websites for career and college in-formation include the following: www.col-legeedge.com, www.collegexpress.com,www.collegecruising.com and www.newsdi-rectory.com/college. For testing and scholar-ship information, www.feasfa.ed.gov,www.ACT.org and www.collegeboard.orgare helpful.

kristen kerr

This what a few recentgraduates have to say:

Joseph LeMayJoseph LeMay——“Be aware of what youwant out of a school. Donot let the cost of theschool alter your decision.There are so many ways topay for college includingscholarships and loans.Also, go to the school foryou, not necessarily justwhere all your friends de-cide to go.”Sarah Anne EdwardsSarah Anne Edwards——

“Tour lots of schools,and keep an open mind.Follow the link “coun-selor-o-matic” on prince-tonereview.com for helpfuladvice. Find the schoolthat fits you.”Whitney CarterWhitney Carter——

“Start applying early togive yourself options. Donot put off potentially ben-eficial scholarships. Buildrelationships with yourteachers now so that theywill write you good recom-mendations.”Kayla McCanlessKayla McCanless——

“Pray about finding theright school. Make sureyou do not feel out ofplace when you visit.”

Find thecollegeperfect

Photo by Kristen Kerr

14 Issue 1 TrojanTorchEditorialsVolume 41

Healthy habits... the myths flowthroughout the media, con-tinuously clouding one’s

sense of self-esteem about his or herweight and what foods are acceptableto eat in order to produce a “slim andstylish” figure.

Although there are misconceptions,health is one topic that can be repre-sented both poorly and well in themedia. Teenage girls in particular seethin models and feel they shouldmeasure up to those standards to lookbeautiful. However, many models de-prive themselves of the necessary nu-trients in foods to lose that extra tenpounds. That is one of the manydownsides of a image-obsessed coun-try.

The benefits of a healthy lifestyle arealso reported in media. Throughoutthe past ten years, the United Stateshas become more hooked on televisionand the Internet. The list in our up-to-date society can go on and on. Conse-quently, the level of obesity has risenamong citizens, providing the nationwith a serious problem. As a result, themedia has broadcasted commercialsfor sports, healthy foods and family-

oriented activities in an effort to pave the waytoward a healthier America.

Healthy habits in the form of exercise shouldbe present in every person’s daily routine.Studies prove that regular exercise can helpmaintain a healthy body weight and reducethe risks of high blood pressure, heart diseaseand diabetes. Many people also report thatregular exercise gives a higher level of energyand an overall feeling of well-being. In addi-tion, exercise lessens the chance of depressionand increases psychological health. Simplyput, physical activity makes people happier.

Another frequent misconception is that exer-cise, although good for everyone, is too muchwork and tiring. However, physical activitydoes not always have to be sweat-inducingand strenuous. Exercise can be enjoyable. Onecan take a walk on a pretty day and enjoy na-ture or go biking with a few friends in theneighborhood. Athletes are not the only oneswho can participate in sports. One can grabsome friends and play volleyball or basketballat the park. The possibilities are endless. Thepoint is to become active.

Increasing activity level goes hand-in-handwith healthy habits. Before biting into a Snick-ers ice cream bar at lunch, one should considerwhether the two minutes of chocolaty good-ness are worth the extra fat and sugar being

Healthful habits prove beneficial to lifestyle

Kicking around: Junior Cason Nobles plays soc-cer. Soccer is an excellent form of exercise.

Photo by Katie Taylor

Playing Volleyball 101

mandy yates

Photos by Mandy Yates

There are many aspects that go into being a volleyball player. Over time these different skills are perfected so the player can be successful.The serve is the most important skill in volleyball; without a good server, a team cannot win a game. The over hand serve is the only ac-cepted serve in the high school division.

First, you have to throw the volleyball above the dominate shoulder. Then you swing the dominate arm and hit the ball with the palm of theirhand. Follow through with your arm and snap your wrist. In serving, keep your arm straight because where your arm faces is where the ballwill go.

The pass is also an important part in volleyball; it is the way your team keeps the other team’s serve in play. To make a sufficient pass, youneed to get in the “ready position.” You need to squat down and place your hand out in front of you so you are able to hit the ball. Clasp yourhands together and let the ball hit your arms. The ball does not always come to you, so sometimes you will have to dive for the ball.

The spike is how teams get points quickly. Spiking is a player jumping up near the net and hitting the ball extremely hard at the other team.To achieve a spike, you need an approach. “The key to spiking training is jumping rope and lifting weights,” said junior Anna Claire Bradshaw.

In high school volleyball, there are designated setters on a team; the setter sets the ball up so a hitter can spike it. To set the ball, you let the ballcome down to your hands, and then thrust your hands up. Sets need to be high so the spiker can get under the ball to hit it.


16 Issue 1 TrojanTorchFeatureVolume 41

Every four years on the first Tuesday of No-vember, ordinary people across the UnitedStates decide the future path of our nation,

and with the end of the party conventions, the cam-paign season has officially commenced.

This year, the stakes could not be any higher. Oureconomy is faltering, and we are fighting a waragainst terror and oppression in two countries. TheDemocratic and Republican parties addressed theseissues and many more during their respective con-ventions. Party conventions set the stage for thecampaign season and are important to success onelection day.

The Democratic National Convention featured fa-mous political figures including Hillary Clinton, TedKennedy, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama’s Vice-Presidential pick, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware.Obama and the Democratic party held their conven-tion in Denver, Colorado, from August 25-28.

Obama broke TV viewing records when 42.4 mil-lion people tuned in to hear his acceptance speechat INVESCO Field, in addition to the 70,000 peoplewho watched the speech in person. Obama empha-sized his plan to bring change to the federal govern-ment. Obama proclaimed, “Change happens;change happens because the American people de-mand it.”

Nielsen Media Research reported that the DNC av-eraged 30.2 million TV viewers over the four- nightconvention, and that more DNC viewers watchedCNN than any other news source.

The Republican National Convention experienced

huge obstacles as Hurricane Gustav began to beardown on the Gulf Coast on the opening day of theconvention. Republican candidate John McCain andparty leaders decided to cancel the key-notespeeches on the first day, and instead, they heldfundraisers for relief efforts.

The party had only three days to get their messageacross to the American people. The RNC was heldin St. Paul, Minnesota, from September 1-4. Speak-ers included Mike Huckabee, Rudi Guliani, MittRomney and McCain’s choice for vice president,Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin. The pick of Palinmarks the first time that the Republican party’s vicepresident nominee has been a woman.

Palin electrified the conservative base in a rousingspeech in which she cited her record of reform as ev-idence that she could bring change to Washington.Nielson reported that 76.2 million people tuned into Palin and McCain’s acceptance speeches com-pared to the 62.4 million viewers of Biden andObama’s acceptance speeches.

The conventions proved to make a difference onvoter’s views of the candidates. A post-conventionGallup daily tracking poll taken September 7-9,shows that McCain holds a 48% to 43% advantageover Obama. The poll confirms that conventionshave an effect on voters’ minds. It also shows thatthe Republicans were able to overcome their obsta-cles and have a successful convention.

MATT COKER

Senators Obama,McCain shine atparty conventions

Photo cpurtesy of www.senate.gov

Photo courtesy of www.flickr.comPhoto courtesy of www.senate.gov

Photo courtesy of www.senate.gov

18 Issue 1 TrojanTorchFeaturesVolume 41

So why are our grade levels in high school called what they are called? A few students and teachers had some ideas re-garding this question; can you guess who is right?

Freshman•Freshman Tashara Walker--“Fresh into high school.”•Junior Cory Smith--“Literally ‘fresh man.’”•History teacher Jeff Golson--“It is derived from the Latin term freshmeatacus.”

Sophomore•Sophomore Lauren Lewis--“Second.”•History teacher Jeff Golson--“It derives from the Greek sophosmeaning wise. It isa variation of the word sophist (a man who has achieved wisdom).”•Biology teacher Deborah Gatlin--“I think it is Greek for self or foolish.”

Junior•Freshman Rhonda Terry--“It is the class under the seniors…almost a senior.”•Junior Cory Smith--“From the names of people, like David, Jr., meaning below.”•History teacher Jeff Golson--“Second year students at Cambridge University werecalled junior-sophisters. They were able to handle the more difficult debate issues.”

Senior•Freshman Tashara Walker--“On top.”•Junior Cory Smith--“Like seniority, meaning older.”•Biology teacher Deborah Gatlin--“Oldest, mature, advanced age or experience.”•History teacher Jeff Golson--“Third-year student at Cambridge University, similar to junior.”

Now to the reality of things:Freshmen got their class names at Cambridge University. They were not expected to engage in debate issues like the up-

perclassmen and were therefore called “fresh-man.” This word initially meant being a novice.Sophomore is a contraction of the Greek words sophos, meaning wise, and moros, meaning foolish, meaning that a student

of this class is a “wise fool”.For the junior and senior classes, Golson had exactly the right answer. Both were division names of classes at Cambridge

University in England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. There the second- and third-year classes were assignedpoints to debate that the first-year students, freshmen, could not handle. Later,the sophomores became a class between the freshmen and juniors.

In describing a stereotypical student of each class, the responses were pretty in-teresting. Terry describes freshman as “lost, curious, then brave and knowledge-able.” Golson goes for a different approach with a simple word: “rookie.”

Lewis describes a sophomore as “self-assured,” but Gatlin just calls the sopho-more “silly.”

Smith calls a cliché junior “big, cool, smart and mature” (that was unexpected).Gatlin simply says, “Busy.”

Now to the big, the bad, the seniors. Terry describes the class as “mature, older,tall and probably mean.” Smith labels them as “party animals, intimidating andfun.” Lewis describes them as “confident and easy-going.”

james northcutt

What does your class name mean?

Photo by James Northcutt

Photo by James Northcutt

Biology teacher Deborah Gatlin

Junior Cory Smith


Start the new school yearwith a bang. Do not letthe new dress code

keep you from expressingyourself with great clothes.The dress code is lenientenough for people to show

their true personalities intheir clothing.

The dress code says that allshirts must have a collar, butthat does not mean that youcannot layer shirts. Put a cutetank top on top of a solidpolo or add a printed sweateron top of a collared shirt.Bring more color to yourwardrobe by putting a brightcami under a button-up shirt.

“I read magazines to getcute ideas,” said senior AlliPurvis.

Faux collared shirts are alsoappropriate for school; theycan give you a break fromhaving to wear a polo every-day. Short-sleeved turtlenecks are another kind of topthat is for everyone and ap-propriate for school.

“I like to layer tank tops ontop of my polos to makethem look less like polos,”said senior Shellie Epperson.

Light-washed jeans are amust have this fall. They cangive a boring look a “hippiechic” vibe. Dark jeans arealso always great to have.They hide anything that youdo not like about your legsand give an outfit a classiclook.

“ I wear bright colors and

vests to make the dress codemy own,” said sophomoreKopper Harris.

A cute way to wear dressesis to have a sun dress andlayer a solid polo underneathit. This will keep you fromhaving to buy a lot of polodresses.

Collared jackets are an-other way to work aroundthe dress code. Put one ontop of your favorite shirt thatyou normally would not beable to wear. Preppy blazerscan be a focal point of yourschool wardrobe. They bringa sophisticated elementwhile also giving yourwardrobe an up town look.Add a scarf or a cute necklaceto take this look to the nextlevel.

“I try to wear men’s blousesand ties. This way I comple-ment the rules, but break outof the norm at the sametime,” said junior JaylinGardner.

Accessories will make you

stand out from the crowdeven though everyone iswearing collared shirts.Bright jewelry and headbands can flavor to your out-fit.

“ I accessorize a lot to keepmy outfit from looking likeeveryone else,” said fresh-man Madison Butler.

mandy yates

Recently, more andmore movies havebeen made about

comic books and graphicnovels.

This new movie trendhas generated much in-terest in the original sto-ries and more interest inthe movies. The moviesthemselves usually dowell in the theaters.

Many of the studentbody may not even knowwhat a graphic novel is.A graphic novel as de-fined by Merriam Websteris “a fictional story that ispresented in comic-stripformat and published as abook.” On the other hand, acomic book is “a magazinecontaining sequences ofcomic strips.”

In the past few years,these movies have becomeincreasingly popular. Todate, the most successfulmovie has been The DarkKnight. Following that havebeen Batman Begins, SinCity, V for Vendetta, IronMan, Spider-Man, The In-credible Hulk, Batman, A His-tory of Violence and TheMask. “I think The DarkKnight movie was prettygreat,” junior Tyler Burnssaid.

“I think Spiderman 3 wasthe best,” junior Tre Mosleysaid.

All these new movies havecreated a lot of new interestin the comics themselves.“My favorite comic is ThePunisher,” junior JonathanNewman said. With helpfrom the movies, comics arebecoming less obscure andmore mainstream.

Some of the movies sched-

uled to be released soon areSpider-Man 4, Sin City 2,Punisher War Zone, X-MenOrigins: Wolverine, TheAvengers, Ant-Man, IronMan 2 and Transformers 2.

However, anyone whowas looking forward toZack Snyder’s Watchmenfilm may be disappointed.Fox has recently filed a law-suit saying that WarnerBrothers did not have therights even to make the filmand are demanding that thefilm be scrapped. WarnerBrothers has denied thisclaim and has offered Fox asettlement which wasturned down. Whether ornot this film will even reachtheaters has yet to be de-cided. However, if the caseis thrown out, fans shouldexpect a March 6 release.

In the future, adaptationwill probably change. Thestories will stay closer to theoriginal stories, and the ef-fects will become better. “Ithink in the future themovies will have 3-D,” jun-ior Susan Merryman said.

mccord pagan

Fall

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Photo by McCord PaganPhoto by Mandy Yates

Photo by Mandy Yates

AT&T, along withApple, has comeup with the new

iPhone 3G to solve all ofthe problems the iPhonepredecessor had.

The new iPhone 3G fea-tures a better data servicethat allows the iPhone tocheck email andsearch on theInternet up totwo timesfaster. Thisphone comeswith a faster In-ternet serviceand more mem-ory for a smallerprice than theoriginal iPhone.

Before, aniPhone wasthree hundreddollars for aneight-gigabyte model,while the iPhone 3G isonly two hundred dollarsfor the same amount ofmemory. The iPhone 3G isnow available in the six-teen-gigabyte model thatcosts only three hundreddollars.

While this phone doesnot do everything, it doescontain more features thanany flip phone and manysmart phones.

Apple’s new applicationsection of downloads onits site allows this phoneto do anything from be-coming a remote for one’sMac to working as aglobal positioning system.

This phone is the mostcustomizable phone onthe market and includes

more features thanany two phonescurrently available.Many companiestry to copy some ofthe characteristicsthat the iPhone 3Gmasters. One ofthese phones is theLG Dare, which hasa touch screen andeven looks similarat first glance. TheDare still lacks themulti-touch screen

capabilities and is verylimited in its updates.

Overall, the iPhone 3G isa perfect phone for the cre-ative and adaptive tech-nology person.

It still lacks the ability tosend pictures by pix mes-sage but makes up for thisshortcoming in manyother areas.

james guttery

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20 Issue 1 TrojanTorchFeaturesVolume 41

iPhone 3G featuresnew applications

Photo courtesy of Apple

Photos by Elizabeth Finley

Every team has itsown slogan. Overtime, a slogan be-

comes a part of a team’sidentity. For instance, theTennessee Vols’ footballslogan is “ I will give myall for Tennessee.” Theteam slaps a banner withthe phrase on it beforerunning out for games.

Coach Counce, Jr., cameup with the idea of blackplastic bracelets duringsummer workouts. Thebracelet says “Trojans GetThe Edge.” Thesebracelets have become anew symbol for the Trojanfootball team.

“The football braceletshave brought the playerscloser together as ateam,” Coach JamesCounce, Sr., said.

“We got the bracelets onJuly 11th,” freshman ErikVelazquez said.

“The bracelet stands for

commitment from theplayers to the team. Weare only allowed to takethem off on Friday nightsfor games,” sophomoreJonathan Canada said.

“Our goal in requiringplayers to wear thebracelets is for the playersto get the edge on all ofthe opponents,” CoachCounce, Sr., said.

“The bracelets havehelped to unite the teambecause no one else hasthem,” Bobby Ellis andLevi Estes agreed.

The team has alreadyhad a good start to its sea-son. The bracelets willcontinue to strengthenand encourage the Dyers-burg Trojan football play-ers throughout theseason, serving as a re-minder of the team’sfocus and the importanceof dedication.elizabeth finley

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Where did you go to college? UT MartinWhat experience do you have play-ing volleyball? “I’ve played sinceseventh grade.”What sparked your interest in thesport? “Well, I used to play basket-ball and softball, and there was al-ways that gap in between seasons.Once I entered middle school, volley-ball was offered as a sport, and I de-cided to try it. I found out that I likedit better than the other two.”How is Morris adjusting to theteam? “She is a great coach. She playswith us out on the court, and we havea good time but get the work done,”senior McKenzie Shankle said.

With many returning starters and anew coach to begin the season, theLady Trojan volleyball team pre-

pares for a hopeful year on the court.Since the new school year began, the girls

have persevered through difficult condition-ing to get where they are today.

“Our first practices were pretty intense. Thegirls ran 4-1’s (run four minutes, walk one),and they do the same downs football playersdo,” head coach Sarah Morris said. “We havealso been practicing a few weeks longer thanteams like Humboldt and Dyer County HighSchool.”

“We have done lots of crunches and runlong distances in conditioning. That will helpus if we are playing a tough team and have toplay five games,” sophomore Becca Mooresaid.

Although the team has only been practicingfor a short while, Morris and team membershave already identified the team’s strengths.

“There are some big power hitters on theteam that make us very tough offensively,”Morris said.

“Our main strength this year is how closeall the girls have gotten, and that is helping

us play better on the court. Our weakness ispassing, but we are always improving,” jun-ior Finley White said.

Setting goals is the primary component tothe success of any given team. The coach andplayers already have ideas of the team’s pro-posed accomplishments.

“I want our team to play to its potential eachtime it steps on the court. That means weneed to focus, communicate and make a solidfirst pass,” Morris said.

“Of course, we plan to win but also trusteach other, communicate and be as aggressiveas possible,” freshman Shelby Andrews said.

As the season progresses, a fresh force ofleadership becomes vital to team organiza-tion.

“I’ve got two seniors on my team, McKenzieShankle and Mandy Yates, who are reallystepping up. They encourage and push theentire team to be better,” Morris said.

While good sportsmanship is desired, typi-cal school rivalries pose as threats to almostany team.

“Trinity Christian Academy and Brightonare pretty tough teams,” Moore said.

katie taylor

Joy Norman is a wife, mother, teacher and now the new soccercoach for the girls’ soccer team. Norman is coaching her first highschool soccer team. She began prepping the team for the 2008 sea-

son at the end of July.This is not Norman’s first time to

coach. “I have coached basketball forten years, volleyball for ten years andsoftball for a year. I took the position be-cause I love coaching,” Norman said.

Norman has been prepping the girls’soccer team for the new season by re-quiring a lot of running and drill work.“Practices have been tougher with a lotof running,” sophomore Brooke Hub-bard said.

Norman has high expectations for the2008 girls’ soccer season. Norman said,“I plan on winning the districts!”

Coach Greg Stapleton has been assist-

ing Norman lead the team. Stapleton has coached soccer teams formany years, and Norman feels that she has learned a lot from his ex-perience.

This new position for Norman has af-fected her job as a teacher. Because ofthe afternoon practices, Norman is notable to help students after school and isforced to do much of her work at home.

When not in the classroom or on thefields, Norman enjoys many hobbies. “Ilove anything to do with the outdoorslike camping and hunting,” Normansaid.

The 2008 Trojan girls’ soccer season isnow underway. “The young girls onthe soccer team are the reason I tookthe job,” Norman said.

hunter todd

22 Issue 1 TrojanTorchSportsVolume 41

Volleyball players, coachlook to fare well in season

Norman takes position as soccer coach

Close Coaching: Coach SarahMorris brings the team together fora pre-game peptalk.

Speaking Up: Head coach Joy Norman and assis-tant coach Greg Stapleton explain offensive tech-niques to players Marci Coleman and Alyssa Watkins.

Photo by Elizabeth Finley

Photo by Hunter Todd

About the coach:

Whether swinging theWii remote or teeingoff on the green

grassy fields of Scotland, golf is aworldwide sport that requiresconcentration, persistence anddedication.

The 2008 golf season began thefirst week of school after a dili-gent pre-season conditioning.“Players must come to golf sea-son with an aerobic capacity tobe able to walk ten holes carryingtheir golf bags,” coach RandyCoffman said.

“My instructor instructs me torun once a day and exercisetwice and stretch threetimes a day,” seniorAllyson Agee said.

With heavy condition-ing, the team comes intothe season prepared for agame of golf. After try-outs, the golf team gainedmany new players includ-ing Shelby Andrews, SamShankle, Walt Carter, KylePaschal and Colton Addi-son.

Hosting the 8th annualkickoff classic, the Trojansled a solid victory on thegolf course against 26teams. The guys’ teamscored a total of 318. Onthe girls’ team, AllysonAgee shot a 77, which car-ried her far enough to tiefor third place.

“We’re all were pretty smartwith our hits,” freshman ShelbyAndrews said.

On August 26, the golf teamplayed in Troy. Allyson Ageeshot a 34, and Anne Ashley Lom-bas shot a 49. The boys’ team tiedagainst Humboldt and went intoa 30-minute playoff, which re-sulted in a devastating lost.

According to the coach, districtscan be accomplished by workinghard and coming to practicingdaily. “Our golfers’ work ethicthis season is unparalleled byprevious teams,” Coffman said.

The goals for the girls this year

are to take home a fourth districttitle and a regional title. “Weneed to trust ourselves and notsecond guess ourselves,” An-drews said.

Coffman would like to see theguys’ team win their first districttitle in ten years. “We have beenrunner up eight of the last elevenyears,” Coffman said.

The golf team holds muchstrength. “One of my strengths isputting,” sophomore Matt Mosersaid.

With all the dedication the Tro-jan golfers possess, competitionstill plays a big role in succeed-

ing. “The girls have been districtchamps three years in a row,with Milan being runner-up eachof those years,” Coffman said. “Iam sure they are ready to stopour run.”

“I think our biggest competi-tion is USJ,” Agee said.

The varsity seniors show strongleadership. “They have dis-played a strong work ethic thathas carried over to the otherplayers,” Coffman said. “Seeingthat work ethic result in our firstmajor tournament win will hope-fully give us the spark we needto finish 2008 strong.”

erin naifeh2008

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Putting with Accuracy: JoeyWilder intensely concentrates as hemakes his last swing on the course.

With the leavesturning colorsand the smell

of fall in the breeze, crosscountry season is round-ing the corner.

Coach Amy Beckley isexpecting a great seasonthis year. “The boysshould be really good, andthe girls have lots of possi-bilities,” Beckley said.

Now that the season isup and running, trainingis a priority.

“The team has started offby doing a few summerruns, usually five miles aday, and now we have reg-ular after school practice,”senior Tallon Scott said.

“The team does speedwork every other day, stufflike sprints and improvingour mileage time,” seniorSara Beth Byars said. Thisis all part of the new train-ing program.

“Our goals this year aregoing to state and for theboys to win regionals.They could possibly finish

in the top five at state ifthey keep up the hardwork,” Beckley said.

“My goals are to go tostate and get my 5K undertwenty minutes,” sopho-more Paige Waldron said.

Going to state seems tobe the big team goal thisyear.

“I'd also like to gainsome scholarships alongthe way,” senior GenaroMartinez said.

“The difference (betweenDyersburg and Morris-town) is that a lot morepeople run here than atMorristown East,” juniorLoren Newsom said.

With big rivals and biggoals, this team has a lot tolook forward to this sea-son.

“Dyer County and Jack-son Christian School areour biggest rivals. Eachschool can't stand eachother, so we all go aftereach other for the win,”Waldron said.

emma caylor

23TrojanTorch Volume 41 Issue 1Sports

Sprinting forward:Cross countryhopes to start offon right foot

Finishing Fast: Shannon Turner sprints on thelast stretch of his cross country run.

Photo by Hannah Caylor

Photo by Erin Naifeh

24 Issue 1 TrojanTorchEntertainmentVolume 41

Will Brett Favre come out of retirement? Will he take the money and stay retired?Will the Packers keep him? If not, will anyone want him? These questions areseveral of the many that surrounded the Brett Favre saga.

When Brett Favre, star quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, retired from the NFL atage 38, fans everywhere were glad to see him go out on top after making it all the way tothe NFC Championship. Last year was one of Favre’s best from a statistical standpoint.Favre’s playing days were finally over after seventeen long years.

But wait, was Favre really through? He could not possibly want to play again at his age,could he? Reports of Favre having an “itch” to play again started to pour into news stationsaround the U.S. on July 3rd. This was just the beginning of the wild Favre drama.

The Packers’ quarterback got the itch to return to the league after he talked to his family,and they wanted him to strap up for another season. Originally, Favre said that it was allrumors, and he would stay retired. As time passed though, Favre decided that he reallydid want to suit up for an eighteenth season.

Favre’s coming out of retirement would put the Packersin a huge predicament. They had already madeAaron Rodgers their quarterback, and the or-ganization felt it was time to move on. Favresat down and had discussions with PackersGeneral Manager Ted Thompson, and

from those meetings, Favre got the feeling that he was no longer wanted or welcomed in thePackers organization; therefore, he too decided it was time to move on.

Next for Favre was to fill out and sign his letter of reinstatement, which he did on Saturday,July 26. In a last valiant effort to keep Favre retired, the Packers offered him twenty-five milliondollars to stay away from the league. Favre obviously would not accept the deal. After that, allhe had to do was fax the letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Favre did so on Tuesday,July 29.

Favre’s reinstatement to the NFL meant that the Packers were now left with a decision to make.Should they add him to their active roster, should they cut him or should they trade him? It was clear

that the Packers did not want Favre to playanywhere but Green Bay, but there was no wayaround it. It was just a matter of finding a team to trade him to.

Trade talks with Favre took place with the New York Jets and the Tampa BayBuccaneers. Then it all happened late at night, Wednesday, August 6. Brett Favrehad been traded to the New York Jets for a fourth round draft pick. Could thispossibly be real? How could Favre be playing for a different team and in a differ-ent green?

The first time the quarterback held up the Jets’ green jersey to his body in hispress conference the next day, it all seemed so out of place.

With fans, there come many different opinions. The water cooler talk at workon Thursday was definitely about whether Brett Favre made the right move ornot by returning to the league and how he is now a Jet. Students also expressedopinions about Favre.

“I think he should have stayed retired but with his decision to return, I think hewill be a good addition for the Jets,” senior Austin Crisp said.

With Brett Favre being traded to the Jets, the saga officially came to an end. Favre will feature as the Jets’ starting quarterback right off the bat,and the Jets’ are hoping he can spark a major turnaround and lead them to the playoffs. Only time will tell if Favre truly made the right move.

andrew ford

Brett FavreJets gain starting gun-slinger

Photos courtesy of www.brettfavre.com

25TrojanTorch Volume 41 Issue 1Entertainment

Singer/songwriter Jaymay, born Jamie Seerman, deliv-ers a refreshing debut album with Autumn Fallin’.This little-known folk artist, who is heavily influ-

enced by Bob Dylan, happily surprised me with her inven-tive lyrics and smooth sound. This masterful writer weavesvivid imagery throughout Autumn Fallin’, making some

tracks poetic while others comeacross like beautifully styled

diary entries.This native New Yorker

moved to London, England, in2007; English influencesplainly come out in tracks suchas “Big Ben.” The different

styles of music throughout thealbum are a welcome twist, show-

ing her fearlessness in trying the unknown; from soft folkto scat, Jaymay definitely does not disappoint.

The first track, “Gray or Blue,” captured me and tells thestory of a shy girl admiring her object of affection from afar.Jaymay does not cheapen emotions and details in her de-scriptions: rather, she intricately describes every aspect ofher experience, which draws the listener in, making it as ifone were actually going through it.

“Sea Green, Sea Blue” has a folksy feel and tells a story ofletting a loved one go for his or her benefit. Jaymay sings,“You always put me first/ and somehow that broke myheart/ ‘Cause it’s not my place to choose”; this shows theresponsibility of putting others before yourself, even if itmeans heartbreak on your behalf.

The cheeky track “You’d Rather Run” has some of thebest lyrics on the album but is a bit too long, clocking in atalmost ten minutes. Sentences such as “And it’s not that Ihate you/ I never loved you enough to hate you,” showher in-your-face ap-proach to gettingover bad relation-ships and not beingon good terms withan ex-lover.

“Hard to Say” is agreat turning pointon Autumn Fallin’;it is a throwback tothe big-band eraand will have yousnapping your fingers to this catchy tune. Jaymay evengoes as far as scatting, vocal improvisation with the use ofnonsense words and syllables, on this track.

Every song has its highlights, from the ode to love “You’rethe only One I Love” to the remembrance of a lost friend-ship on title-track “Autumn Fallin’.” Jaymay’s jazzy,smooth vocals highlight this album. If you choose to listento this album, you are definitely in for a treat. I give thisalbum four and a half out of five stars.

kaitlyn turney

Beck wallows inModern Guilt

From “Orphans” to “Volcanoes,” Beck delivers withhis tenth album. His newest project Modern Guiltsupplies the same alternative/indie rock feel that

Beck is known for but with a slightly different twist. Beckcollaborated with Danger Mouse (one half of GnarlsBarkley) to get a unique sound that by some might be con-sidered equivalent to 60’s psychedelic rock while othersmight say it is the sound of the future.

For example, my favorite song, “Gamma Ray,” includespulsating guitars and a peppy drum beat that would havemade it a great go-go-dancing song. In contrast, the song“Youthless” sounds like a funky, techno song.

While Beck creates a wide range of sounds on ModernGuilt, the thing that really grabs listeners about the albumis the deep lyrics. In the song “Chemtrails,” Beck gives offa feeling of dread as he sings, “So many people, where dothey go?” After a bit of close listening, the implied answeris clear: No matter where all the lonely people come from,they all end up in the same place.

“Some days, we’re worse than you can imagine. And howam I supposed to deal with that,” he sings on “Walls.” Afew lines later Beck gives his reason to carry on: “We dothe best with the souls we’re given.”

In the ballad “Modern Guilt,” Beck exhibits his biggestissue on the album: “Don’t know what I’ve done, but I feelashamed.” In this line, Beck is describing his feeling ofknowing that the world is heading in the wrong directionand not knowing how to fix it.

Beck and Danger Mouse take a lot of experiments inModern Guilt that dare to fail big, but they make the albumeven more fresh and interesting to listen to.

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Photo courtesy ofwww.jaymaymusic.jpg

Photo courtesy of www.amazon.com

“Mama Mia,here I goagain!” Yes,

that is right folks, Mama Miais the newest Broadwayspectacular transformedinto a Hollywood hit.

Sophie and her motherDonna live on a Greek is-land where Donna runs ahotel called Villa Donna. AsSophie’s wedding to her fi-ance, Sky, is approaching,she wants her father to“give her away.” The prob-lem is that her father couldbe one of three men: Sam,Harry or Bill.

Sophie invites the men tothe wedding and hidesthem upstairs in theirgoathouse without tellingDonna. Donna’s longtimefriends and fellow membersof “Donna and the Dy-namos,” Rosie and Tanya,have also arrived on the is-land. As Donna sings thefabulous theme to themovie, “Mama Mia,” shefalls through the roof of thegoathouse and is shocked tosee her old flames standingthere.

The high point of the filmtakes place at Sophie’sbachelorette party whenSam, Harry and Bill allclaim to be Sophie’s father.When they all turn toDonna to hear her side ofthe story, she does not evenknow who Sophie’s real fa-ther is. Who is Sophie’sdad? See the movie to findout. New loves will bloomand old ones will be rekin-dled on this lush island ofpossibilities.

The fabulous cast includes

Meryl Streep, AmandaSeyfried, Pierce Brosnan,Colin Firth, Stellan Skars-gard and Christine Baran-ski.

Meryl Streep’s interpreta-tion of Donna is a differentrole from her past experi-ences in acting, but it is herbest one yet. She blew view-ers away with her hiddentalent of singing and danc-ing.

Amanda Seyfried, whoplayed Karen from MeanGirls, plays sweet Sophiewho has a voice like anangel. Her possible dads in-clude Pierce Brosnan,known for his multipleroles as James Bond; ColinFirth, Henry from What aGirl Wants; and StellanSkarsgard, Bootstrap Billfrom the Pirates of theCaribbean trilogy.

Mama Mia is based uponsongs written and pro-duced by the Swedish popband ABBA. This funky 70’sgroup was the heart andsoul of the film with theirupbeat and hip songs.

Even though the film wasreleased the same night asThe Dark Knight, the moviedid very well at the box of-fice, with the largest open-ing weekend of any musicalfilm in the U.S.

I give Mama Mia five stars.If you like movies with funmusic, a great cast andhappy ending, then MamaMia is right for you. MamaMia is coming to DVD inDecember.

anna clairebradshaw

26 Issue 1 TrojanTorchEntertainmentVolume 41

Reunited once again onscreen,Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arca-dia), America Ferrara (Ugly

Betty), Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) andAlexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls) star in Sis-terhood of the Traveling Pants 2, whoseprequel captured America's heartthree years ago and was inspired by aseries of four novels written by AnnBrashares. At the core of each novellies a pair of pants that magically fiteach one of the girls perfectly, despitetheir obvious different shapes andsizes.

Unlike other chick-flicks in pop cul-ture, this movie focuses on other as-pects besides boy-crazy teenage girlsand sappy story lines. With issues liketeen pregnancy andgrief after death, itdeals with real-lifecomplications that areoften covered up byHollywood glamour.

The sequel takes placeduring the summerafter the girls' first yearin college. After goingtheir separate ways, thefriends meet up againin their hometown.Over the previous year,Lena (Bledel) has beenattending Rhode IslandSchool of Design, Brid-get (Lively) has been playing soccer atBrown University, Tibby (Tamblyn)has been studying at New York Uni-versity's film school andCarmen (Ferrara) has been workingbackstage at Yale School of Drama.

Looking forward to spending thesummer with her three best friends,Carmen turns down the opportunityto participate in a prestigious Shake-spearean theater group in Vermont.However, her friends have other plansin mind. Lena has enrolled in a draw-ing class at a design school, and Tibbyis working on her screenplay in Man-hattan. Meanwhile, Bridget is flying toTurkey for an archaeological dig.Needless to say, Carmen reconsidersher summer plans and decides to go toVermont. Being at home is too lonely,

and she begins to feel a sense of dis-placement as her mother and stepfa-ther are caught up in the excitement ofexpecting a baby. Much to her sur-prise, she ends up catching the atten-tion of the lead man in the play, inaddition to acquiring a lead role her-self.

After returning from Greece andfinding out that her ex-boyfriend, Kos-tos, is married and expecting a child,Lena embarks on a new relationshipwith a male model at design school.However, still harboring feelings forKostos, she finds that moving onmight be harder than she expected.Lena faces the decision of holding on

to cherished memo-ries or taking an emo-tional risk she mightnot be ready for.

Turkey proves to bebeneficial to Bridgetas a time of discoveryand recollection. Stilltrying to cope withher mother's death,she travels to hergrandmother's in Ala-bama to do some ex-cavation of her own.Bridget sees an un-known side to hermother and realizes

that she can continue life without herand still treasure her memory.

Back at NYU, Tibby wraps up herscreenplay while working at a localvideo store. Taking her relationshipwith her boyfriend, Brian, to the nextlevel turns out to not be so clever asshe faces a pregnancy scare and trustissues with him.

Overall, Sisterhood of the TravelingPants 2 is a remarkable movie that isfull of laughs as well as tears. It showsthe strong bond between four girlswho are devoted to each other throughanything and everything, no matterhow many miles lie in between them.I highly recommend this movie to any-one questioning the true meaning andvalue of friendship.

madison johnson

Mama Mia! dancesinto theaters

Sisterhood 2 portrays true friendship

Photo courtesy of imdb.com

27TrojanTorch Volume 41 Issue 1Entertainment

The Final Riot tour is a must-see before it is over. The performingbands were Paper Route, Phantom Planet, Jack’s Mannequin andParamore. If you do not get a chance to see the tour, each band is

worth checking out individually, whether on iTunes or in person.The first opening act was Paper Route. An indie band from Nashville,

the band consists of JT Daley, Andy Smith, Chad Howat and Gavin Mc-Donald. This band is unique and could surprise a listener at any moment.Even though the band is laid back, the random instrumental breaks in-cluding the xylophones, an accordion, and the harmonica left the audi-ence refreshed with something new.

Following Paper Route was Phantom Planet. Phantom Planet reallypicked up the tempo and brought the crowd to the their feet. The bandhas an alternative rock feel. They are also known for The O.C’s theme song“California,” which was the crowd favorite at this point in the concert.

The members consist of Alex Greenwald, Sam Farrar, Darren Robinson and Jeff Conrad. The leadsinger closed up the set by leaving the stage during an instrumental break and coming in the middleof the audience away from the stage. It was a classic rockstar moment.

Then Jack’s Mannequin followed, the members being Andrew McMahon, Bobby Anderson, JayMcMillan and Jon Sullivan. The use of the piano contributed to the rock band genre, which is a creativefeel. With the classic jumping off the piano stool and onto the ivory keys, the lead singer AndrewMcMahon complemented the band with his piano skills.

Throughout the concert the set was torn down and rebuilt for the next band. This time, though, theset was rebuilt for the final act, and when the lights went out, the crowdwent crazy.

Paramore started off the concert with one member of the band on stage,lead guitarist, Josh Farro. Then one at a time each member entered thestage and joined in with his part. The intro had started; all that wasneeded was the lead singer, Hayley Williams.

The members of Paramore are Hayley Williams, Josh Farro, JeremyDavis and Zac Farro. The band played songs mostly from their secondalbum Riot and a few from All We Know is Falling. If you are not familiarwith Paramore, they have a power punk, pop punk feel. Not only wasthe quality of the performance good, but the positive influence was aplus. They support the organization Love 146 which is focused on stop-ping sex-slave trade. Paramore has a hoodie sponsored by Hurley thatfans can buy, proceeds helping the benefit.

Whether or not you have heard of any of these bands, you should def-initely check them out. They bring not only a powerful sound, but a powerful spirit that the musicindustry needs.

jaylin gardner

The Final Riot! tour bringspositive sound, influence

Photos by Madison Ricks

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Volleyball at HallsCross Country

at TrinityGirls Soccer at home

Volleyball at Crockett Football at RipleyTalent Show

Cross Countryat Union University

All West at JacksonBand Competition

at DHS

Volleyball at home Girls Soccer at home Volleyball at Halls Cross Country

at home

Columbus Day

Math Competition at Knoxville

Football at home(Crockett County)

Senior Night for Band

Volleyball at RipleyGirls Soccer at homeVolleyball at home

Girls Soccer at Trenton

Cross Country at Union

Football at home(Bolivar)

Girls Soccer at home

National School BusSafety Week

In-service Cross Country Regionals at Jackson

September and OctoberSunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

*Exams*

Fall Break/ Intersession

10th grade HonorsPSAT

ACT at 8 A.M.Football at Dyer County

Report Cards goout

Football at home(Covington)

Halloween

CommSpot

unitylight

Q: How did you get into dentistry?A: When I was seven years old,I thought I might want to be aphysician, but I did not want todeal with death. Q: Sports or music?A: Sports. It was a long time be-fore I could tune a radio.Q: Comedies or tragedies?A:Comedies. I do not want topay someone to make me sad.Q: Favorite thing about your job?A: People. Teeth are the same,but the people they are in are sointeresting.Q: Most outrageous thing youhave ever done?A: Bought 250 bumper stickers.

Q: Who is your favorite historicalfigure?A: Harry Truman went from fail-ing at being a store owner to be-coming vice president and thento becoming president.Q: Favorite quotation?A: “ I am the IRS, and I am hereto help.”Q: A goal for our community thatyou would like to see reached?A: For our community to not beso divisive.Q: Quick advice for high schoolstudents.A: Four words- Do somethingyou like.

Dr. BobbyCook is the

oldest dentistin Dyersburg

and has impacted ourcommunity inmany ways.

Here is a quick Q and A so students can

become familiar withthis leader in

our community.

Photos by Alex and Jaylin

Issue 1 08-09

Documents

Transcript of Issue 1 08-09