Issue #2: Phobias

Volume 16, Issue 2October, 2011

1102 Wildcat Ave.Fruita, CO 81521

Fruita Monument High School

Entering into the Depths of your Greatest Fears

The Catalyst

InsideFinding Bigfoot pg. 6

Extreme Ironing pg. 14

Creative Costumes pg. 18

Editor in Chief and Business: Matt Scofield. Features: Hannah So-derburg. Commentary: Kaitlin Lewis. Sports: Laren Cyphers. News: Tucker Blake. A&E: Jennifer Robinson. Photo: Cicely Kohler. Reporters: Spencer Fair, Rachel Bigum, Chuck Bisbee, Erika Gardner, Courtney Kreidler, Ryan Laase, Amy Lindbo, Brianna Pollock, Alyssa Urban, Madi Wittman, and Taylor ScofieldStaff Adviser: Trent Wuster [email protected]

News Pg. #3

U.S. Debt on the RiseObama raises the debt ceiling along with Americans’ eyebrows

Confederacy Hate or Heritage147 Years later...the Civil War rages on

The Catalyst is a publication of Fruita Monument High School, 1102 Wildcat Avenue, Fruita, Colorado. The Catalyst is published twice per quarter and is distributed free to Fruita Monument High School students and staff. Advertising rates and deadlines are available via e-mail at [email protected]. Content of the student newspaper is an expression of 1st amendment freedom of speech and press rights and do not represent the position or policies of Mesa County School District #51 or of Fruita Monument High School’s adminis-tration or staff. As stated in School Board policy, school-spon-sored publications are a public forum for students as well as

an educational activity through which students can gain experience in reporting, writing, editing and more in the effort to promote responsible journalism. Content of school publications may reflect all areas of student interest, which may include topics about which there may be dissent or controversy. Comments, questions, suggestions, or letters to the editor are welcome. Unsigned editorials will not be printed. Letters may be edited for length and grammar. Some material courtesy of American Society of Newspaper Editors/MCT Campus High School Newspaper Service.

A&E Pg. #5

No Longer Gaga for GagaGaga’s spotlight of talent dims

The Lion King 3D Roaring Into Number 1Simba, in your living room

One Coffee a Day Keeps the Doctor AwayCoffee is the new apple

Features Pg. #6Finding BigfootBigfoot in Mesa County?

Bringing Magic to the MassesThe Wicken religion at FMHS

Commentary Pg. #18

Hell on WheelsTough life for the FMHS handicapped

Facebooking...While FacebookingUpdates that continue to upset FB’s users

Hauntingly Creative CostumesNot your typical witch on a broom

Staff:The

Getting BoardThe satisfaction of a well pressed shirt

Sports Pg. #14

A special thanks to Tiegan Corgatelli for being a part of the cover shoot. “I’m not afraid of anything...except bears,” said Corgatelli as he attempted to give a scared expression for the camera in a Fruita cornfield.

The Harvest moon rises over Colorado as darkness begins to stretch its long shadows over the Grand Valley. This Halloween, a quarter moon is expected.

Many students are getting tired of this type of language in the halls.

Maybe you’re running late to class on your way back from lunch, and just as the late bell rings, you drop an “F-Bomb” in frustra-tion. Maybe your car breaks down on the way home from school, or your friend tells you a lewd joke. Any of these situations could evoke streams of profanity. In a recent poll taken at FMHS, about one hundred students were asked questions involving their opinion on matters of cussing and slander. Phrases such as “that’s so gay” and “you’re retarded” are commonly exchanged throughout the halls. But do people really under-stand the seriousness of their slur? When given the question, “Are you ever offended by racial, gay, or lesbian slurs?” 55% of stu-dents answered no, with 26% voting yes, while the remaining 19% said sometimes. In a PSA starring actress Hillary Duff, she takes a stand against the ever present “that’s so gay” phrase and firmly tells viewers

The city of Grand Junc-tion, Colorado has recently improved one of its most popular attractions, changing its name from Mesa State College to CMU, Colo-rado Mesa University. After becoming a Uni-versity, a lot has been done in and around the campus. New classes and clubs have been formed and dorms continue to be built, one after another. The school’s logo, web-site, email addresses, school supplies, signs, and letterhead will all be changed. When asked what some of the benefits that the name change offered stu-dents, Lorisa Miller, CMU Fresh-man, says, “New shirts and with a new designs that we can wear to games. Other than that, there is re-ally nothing.” Since the name change, which cost the school nearly $400,000, tuition has gone up nearly 5%, but the school continues to increase in population, bringing people in from a variety of places. “I feel like more people come from out of state rather than local. “I’ve met kids from all over the country and none from

here actually. Just on my floor of the dorm there are five people from Hawaii,” said Miller. When a high school student is looking into their future, universities tend to attract more students than state colleges do, with more classes, peers, work and the simple fact of being a university. “I guess you could say it

changed my perspective. Campus is getting big-ger and I have met kids coming from all over the place. CMU just sounds like a more put together and formal school,” said Brandon Malloy, CMU Freshman.

Many opinions have been formed on the new name, if it has been a good improvement or if it was necessary at all. “I love the name. It’s better than Mesa State, that’s for sure,” said Peyton Whalen, Junior at FMHS. Mesa has always brought in people from other places, but according to students and statistics, CMU is the new and improved attraction replacing Mesa State College on Colorado maps, bringing in about $317 million into Grand Junction each year.

3The Catalyst October 2011

News

“Virtually all people will swear, or swear consistently, throughout their life-time.”

GJ’s New AttractionBy Charity Spall, Reporter

Explicitly SpeakingBy Erika Gardner, Reporter

Picture couretsy of MCT Campus

to knock it off. Comments posted on the controversial commercial’s Youtube channel have sparked heated debates, with statements by viewers that read: “When you run your mouth off in public and risk offending someone for absolutely

no reason, that's idiotic,” and even “i h8 gays, so therefore when i say thats so gay i want to offend gay people!!!!!” Even though some foul terms can be taken as offensive, 57 % of teens agree that they use them as what they see as harmless jokes among friends. And although it may be a joke, 40% thought it was just

sometimes okay to cuss at and/or with peers, while 26% voted yes. However, a mere 15% found it ac-ceptable to cuss at and/or with their parents. Being in high school, not only students bear the brunt of vulgarity. Teachers are frequently bombarded with profanity. Even our librarian, Mrs. Carlson, knows the difference between hall language

“ It’s better than Mesa State, that’s for sure.”

and classroom language. “Luckily I don’t hear a lot of it in here, but I notice a huge dif-ference in the hallway. I think most students know it’s not appropriate.” But what hap-pens when you’re not face to face with peers or adults, and your foul language explodes over a text message or leaks onto Facebook and other social networking sites? Only 13% confessed to using slan-derous fighting words over the internet, while 20% admitted doing this sometimes. “It’s so pathetic seeing that stuff on Facebook,” said Jordan VanderMay, junior. “I think that if you have a problem with someone or something, do it in person. Face-book doesn’t solve anything!” That being said, using pro-fanity to fit in was obviously not the case, as 58% of students responded. Cussing can bring you more than just a laugh or cause a fight. It can also hurt feelings. Over 50% of the students surveyed

marked that they had been upset by an offensive name or slur at some point in time, whether it had been meant as a joke or meant as a derogatory. So why is it that we still choose to swear? In a recent psychological study by Timothy Jay, Ph.D., he explains that “swearing is like using the horn on your car, which can be used to signify a number of emo-tions like anger, frustration, joy, surprise.” “When I cuss, it’s pretty

much just to enhance what I’m trying to say,” said Louis Morales, senior. “It gets the emotion across better.” Jay’s studies have also shown that virtually all people will swear, or swear consistently, throughout their lifetime. Ap-proximately 1.5% of our day to day speech may contain swear words. Profanity is a prevalent in high school, and whether you cuss or not, you’re bound to end up hear-ing it somehow.

Video Guidelines Change

Recently, the District 51 Board of Education has decided to review the digital media and video use policy in a classroom environ-ment. The relevance, age appropri-ateness, and parental permission are all part of the topics that are being evaluated. Various debates have come up in the past few weeks concerning the guidelines’ new changes, one of them involving the 13-15 year old age group. In the edited policy, it is stated that PG-13 movies will never be shown to this age group, even with a parental permission form. Multiple groups of people find this to be contradictory towards general video rules even outside of school. “When I first heard about this change I felt really confused on why we can’t watch PG-13 in school anymore,” said Bram Heberle, sophomore. “If we can go out to the theaters by ourselves and watch it, why not in a classroom?” Jan Keirns, Principal of Fruita High School, also had input on the subject. According to Keirns, the Board has realized this conflict-ing content and is currently taking it to be under review, hoping to clear any other areas of confusion. With the new guidelines, depending on the grade level and rating of the video being shown, teachers may or may not have to send out permission slips to parents in order to let the child watch the clip. Even if a parental form is not required, it is enforced that teachers, at the very least, contact parents by e-mail, Sharepoint, or Parentbridge, notifying them about the showing of a video. Vanessa Hayward, teacher at FMHS, has feedback on the subject as well. Although she is a literacy teacher, the new PG-13 rule does cut out a few movies that she has shown in the past and was part of her course. “Personally, I think that guidelines are needed so teachers are not simply showing movies to show movies,” Hayward said, “but there are certain films that I have shown in the past and find to be valuable to my curriculum that I will no longer be able to show.” Heberle still believes that the change is unnecessary and not specifically beneficial towards a student’s education in class. He described how he felt that the Board is almost trying to “shelter students” from the outside world by limiting them to such minimal viewings. “It seems to show how over the top the school district can be,” Heberle said, “I feel like other districts in Colorado wouldn’t have this strict of video guidelines.” As stated by Keirns, the District 51 Board of Education should have a final version of the edited guidelines by the end of October and officially be in use by November.

US Debt On the Rise

Once optimistic, consumers are now panicked and pessimistic about the plummeting economy and the problem of debt. Consumers are afraid of another re-cession and do not trust lawmakers ability to prevent one. The consum-er confidence dropped dramatically when the debt ceiling was raised. The majority of The House of Representatives believed the benefit of raising the amount of money the US can borrow outweighed the cost which is essentially poor credit and said consumer dismay. Coinci-dentally, after the debt had reached its cap, the deci-sion was made to raise the debt ceiling from $14.3 trillion to $16.4 trillion. Surveys by the New York Times show that consumer con-fidence is now consistent with “recession-era lows,” and therefore people are less likely to spend their money, making the situation worse. The economy is stagnant. The national debt has continued to increase an atrocious 3.96 trillion dollars every day since September 28 of 2007, according

to the National Debt Clock. We fall deeper and deeper into an abyss of debt. This issue effects the pub-lic in a negative way as “the major-ity of taxes are used to pay off our debt rather than more proactive items,” said AP Economics teacher, Anne McCorkle. However, she also believes that while a government with no debt seems ideal, it unfor-tunately cannot function in this

manner. Like the nation, and most of its citizens, McCorkle has experienced debt herself. While she has paid off her student loans she does own a house and car. These pur-chases cause most debt to Americans. “It’s stressful knowing you have to pay that stuff off,” admitted McCorkle.

Jacob Bishop, Fruita Monument senior, illustrates a story of a bet he lost and the subsequent debt he owed. “I had to pay my friend five bucks. I could have spent it on lunch money,” said Bishop. Bishop also says the emo-tions that this looming responsi-bility evoked were “sadness and disappointment.” Whether it be 14.6 trillion dollars or five dollars, the United States of America is fully encased

in debt. According to the Na-tional Debt Clock the estimated population of the United States in 311,265,379. After some simple calculations the clock estimates that each citizen’s share of the debt is $47, 237.23. This agreement to push the ceiling prevented our govern-ment from defaulting, or going

bankrupt. It also includes cutting the federal budget deficit by $2.5 trillion over the next decade, but does not, however, include raising taxes. Even with this budget cut it is estimated that the addition of $2.1 trillion should suffice until just 2013.

Many Americans are worried about how much longer we can hold the debt.

Confederacy: Hate Or Heritage?

Some say it’s a sup-portive symbol of heritage, and others say it’s a hurtful badge of hate. In 1863, the “stars and bars” flag was made the offi-cial flag of confederacy. At this time, it represented the South’s resistance to Northern political dominance. Almost 100 years later, during the Civil Rights Movement, the flag became a racially-charged symbol. The south fighting against desegrega-tion became the focal point of the resistance between the two regions and the idea of support-ing racism stuck with the flag. But the flag isn’t just a piece of history; it’s a regular social meme that is often associ-ated with a character or person who is intended to be a stereo-typical southerner. “It’s not right that people give southerners a stereo-type just because of a flag that is associated with racism,” said Lindsey Roseberry, sophomore No one deserves to be unwillingly placed into a ste-

reotypical group because of where their family roots originate. Now in the 21st century, people are putting their rights to use and making the confederate flag fly, whether it is at their homes or in the bed of their trucks. High schools and col-leges around the United States

have banned the flag from their grounds. But since Fruita is still able to show the flag, some students are joining in on

supporting the confederacy. Periodically, while walk-ing through the Fruita High student parking lot, you can spot a few Confederate flags. Some students hang them in car windows, set them up truck beds, or place bumper stickers on their vehicle. “I have a confederate flag at home in my room, and I have it on a hat,” Said Cierra Henzen, Senior at Fruita Monument High School.

Those who prefer to blend into the cluster of clichéd corruption of the Confed-eracy are welcome to receive all the remarks from those who don’t appreciate what they stand for. Henzen mentioned that she wears the hat around school, but no one has any comments about it. She loves the flag and says that she wears it to represent the South’s heritage and to support the separa-tion that they fought for during the Civil War. “It has nothing to do with racism,” said Henzen. “I think that some people don’t understand that by supporting the south, they’re still supporting the segregation. I’m from the south, and I still don’t like the idea of a Confederate flag,” Roseberry said. “It’s just disrespectful.” Roseberry is right; the rac-ism that is tied into the flag is just hurtful to some people. For some, like Henzen, the flag is just a reminder of the soldiers who fought in the Civil War. “I can understand that they want to remember the soldiers, but

it still doesn’t look like a good reflection on the person,” said Roseberry. “If you have a confed-erate flag that you like to sport around, you need to get over it – get over yourself. The people who are against segregation will always think your flag shows that you’re racist. And the people who are into stereotyping others will always think that you’re from the south… and racist. Either way, people think you’re a racist. Take the flag down, have some respect, and get on with your life. The North won, and that’s that,” says an FMHS senior who prefers to stay anonymous. The Confederate flag is by no means a divine symbol and by associating any certain person with it, is not righteous or moral. This worldly symbol is not one that should be stuck unto any person who disagrees with what it stands for because of their heritage or loca-tion of homeland.

“It has nothing

to do with racism.”

“ It’s stressfull knowing you have to pay that stuff off.”

The Catalyst 4News

October 2011

By Alyssa Urban, Reporter

By Laren Cyphers, Reporter

By Jennifer Robinson, Reporter

Cartoon by Danielle Riggs

Picture by Jennifer Robinson

It’s easy to grab a cup of coffee as you’re walking out the door or make a quick stop at Star-bucks before school, but what most people don’t know is that coffee may give you more than just an en-ergy boost. Researchers are finding that caffeine may decrease the risk of depression in women. “I don’t believe that coffee can cure depression because it’s a mental illness. It can only give you energy” said Liz Tomaschko, senior and avid coffee drinker. It’s no ques-tion that more people in the halls of Fruita are caring around their own cup of joe. With over ten shops selling coffee within a two mile radius of the school, it’s almost habit to drop a couple dollars for a few hours of energy. The Harvard School of Public Health conducted an experi-ment following over 50,000 women that had been diagnosed and put on medication for depression. Findings showed that drinking two or three cups of coffee per day over a ten year time period cut the risk of depression by 20%. Out of the

50,739 studied from 1996-2006, only 2,607 were diagnosed as hav-ing depression at the end of the study. “I wouldn’t doubt that coffee could decrease the risk of depression. Some of the ingredients probably trigger parts that can make us happier,” said Jessi Bowman, junior. It’s not a solid fact that

caffeine reduces depres-sion, but other studies have shown a connec-tion between coffee and a reduction in suicide risk. Coffee isn’t the only life saver though. It was reported that other caffeine sources like tea and sodas contain-ing caffeine help as

well. They have yet to look into the effects of decaffeinated coffee to see whether other ingredients in the coffee itself would help. All of the participants in the study were women with an average age of 63 and working as nurses. Researchers say that because of both their age and professions it may be hard to generalize their find-ings and state that caffeine lowers depression rates in all women. Also, their studies did not take into ac-

“I wouldn’t doubt that cof-

fee could de-crease the risk

of depression.”

Story and Photo By Madison Wittman, Reporter

One Coffee A Day Keeps the Doctor Away

count other factors that often times are a cause of depression such as family, friends and money. Next time you reach for

Starbucks Coffee is one of the many coffee shops who could be preventing a mental illness.

By Charity Spall, Reporter

No Longer Gaga For Gaga

Gaga, she is seen every-where: billboards, television, radio, magazine covers, etc. She has become one of the top artists and fashion icons of today’s generation. Some may view her as a positive figure symbolizing a free spirit and individuality. “She shows that you can be yourself no matter how wild and out there you may be,” said Kristen Dennison, mother of two teens. Others though, view Gaga in a negative way when they think about her half naked performances and videos implying inappropriate things. Although Gaga is hitting fame hard here in America because of her self-confidence, other coun-tries, such as China have actually banned her. “She can be just so crucial and provocative at times,” 37 year old, Stacy Johnson said. “Her vid-

eos are inappropriate and symbolize sex and even gay rights. It just isn’t okay.” Wanting to find out more about the opinion of teens on Lady Gaga, a survey was taken here at FMHS asking if people thought if she has had a positive or nega-tive impact on teen society. After the data was collected, 55% of 30 students said that Gaga has a nega-tive impact; leaving 45% thinking Gaga has a positive impact. Although Gaga portrays the image of having high self-esteem and to not care of other’s opinions,a small majority of people believe that Lady Gaga has a negative impact on teen society because of her sexual image and provocative videos/music/photos. “If she gets any worse, I think it will be more than China banning her,” said Katie Stanfield, sophomore.

Lady Gaga per-forms at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday, January 31, 2010.

Although Gaga is hitting fame hard here in America because of her self-confidence, other countries, such as China have actually banned her.

that cup of coffee, remember you’re not only helping yourself perk up but possibly preventing a mental illness. When I first received the

order to review the rerelease of The Lion King in 3D, I was very worried and thought it would be the greatest challenge of my life. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a huge Disney fan, and this is why I was hesitant. As many of you know, The Lion King is one of the most popular animated Disney musicals; having its own Broadway show and several unofficial sequels on the in-ternet. The fandom of Disney lions has reached hundreds of people on websites like FanFiction.net and de-viantART.com, a website for artists around the world to post their work. This fact also had me anxious. Though the Box Office had the show as a good show, based on the number of sales, I was skeptical as I walked in the theatre. Several questions filled my mind. Was the 3D going to be worth the extra three dollars a ticket? Did the 3D and HD effects make the movie better or worse? Was the rerelease for the 15th anniversary going to make the movie feel more ‘special?’ I braced myself for impact and did my best to keep an open mind. Within the first five sec-onds of the movie, I had to force back tears. It was beautiful, the sharper colors, the 3D effects, the fact that I could actually see the col-ors of the African plains. I felt like I was there, watching Simba and Nala and Scar in real life; even if they are all animated. I was not expecting actual 3D, but the 3D they say is 3D but actually isn’t any different from the 2D version. But the effects were genuine and amazing. Every indi-vidual whisker on Mufasa, every single blade of grass in the fore-ground, every star in the sky was visible in shaper quality than ever before. Seeing every layer of the scenes made the 2D drawings feel real. The rerelease made the classic movie feel more important. It said “Hey! Look at this: I’m in 3D. I’m on the big screen. Come watch me.” And that is what hun-dreds of parents, children, and other people did. Even though my theater had a few children who cried through the whole movie, I got the best seat in the house, and the extra three dollars and goofy glasses were worth it. I give The Lion King 3D an A+ for great effects, a good rerelease, and the most fun I’ve had going to a Disney movie in the theatre in a long time.

The Lion King 3D: Roaring Into Number OnePhoto and Story By Danielle Riggs, Reporter


Arts & Entertainment

generations, they are said to be extremely holy and revered. Higgs’ follows a Wiccan Rede which is basically a broad moral code that states never harm yourself or harm others, and always ensure the safety of nature. These simple

commandments are not much different than those of other reli-gions who speak of being kind to others and refer to our world as “Mother Earth.” Still, some Wiccan practices may be outside that of a regular Baptist or Catholic believer. Ritual Wiccan magic is largely influenced by the ceremonial practices of earlier centuries. Members use the natural energies of the elements of the earth that surround them to meditate and cast spells. The power to cast a spell is one of the most important skills a Wiccan can perform. As of now, Higgs has never spoken his own spell in fear of sending out negative energy or curses. Eeven though Higgs hasn’t “casted” yet, he knows the proper methods. “A spell is pretty likea

Beginning in England in the 20th century, Pagan Witch-craft, more commonly referred to as Wicca, includes whimsical practices like spell casting and curses. Many of us however, may not realize that there is a Wiccan population among us. Patrick Higgs, a senior here at FMHS, confi-dently admits that he has been a Wiccan for a year this October. “Most people hear about us and auto-matically think Satanist,” said Higgs. “But that’s just not true.” Popularized in the 1950s and 60s by Wiccan High Priest Gerald Gardner, Wicca was quickly named a ‘witch cult’ by most. Higgs says he has to keep his religion of choice somewhat secretive, even from his parents, just because of the assumptions that come with the nametag. Higgs became interested in Wicca when he found himself struggling with the Methodist re-ligion he grew up with. A friend brought Wicca to his attention and soon he was learning all he could about Wiccan practices. Although Higgs’ religious af-filiation may not be the most popular, he has decided to stick with it, possibly for the rest of his life. Wiccans worship a god, the Sun, and goddesses, the Moon and Earth. Unlike many other religions, women hold more power than men with high callings like Priestess or Coven leader. Because women have the gift of bringing life into the world and raising future

well-put recipe,” said Higgs, who explained that to cast a spell, you need an altar which is surrounded by the elements of the earth. Other herbs and spices may be added to cauldron or pot that is placed upon the altar. A circle

is drawn as a sign of protection, and candles may be lit. Spells can range from wishes for love, good health, or even luck. Only until you have meditated upon the spell and what you wish to happen are you prepared to read from a spell book. After the spell has been chanted, the caster may wear a symbol as a personal representation to ensure the spell con-tinues to work. Higgs’

symbol is called the “Triple Goddess.”Wiccan may not be the most traditional or even well known of all religions, but it is still based upon beliefs and morals like any other. Patrick Higgs’ choice in Wicca has brought him peace of mind and a freedom that can come with any form of worship, whether it’s a preacher’s ser-mon every Sunday or personal meditation a couple nights every week. For Higgs, he only has great things to say about his new religion. “I consider Wicca one of the best, most peace-ful things you could ever do for yourself. If it interests you, just research it a little. If you want a peaceful mind through simple energy, choose Wicca.”

Bringing Magic to the Masses

Looking in the mirror, it’s easy to pick out flaws; flaws that aren’t even noticeable to anyone but yourself. The shape of your nose, the slant of your eyes and the size of your lips are out of your control. That is unless you turn to the pricey and risky alternative: plastic surgery. Last year, 13,117,063 cosmetic plastic surgeries were performed. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, that adds up to over 10 billion dollars spent on optional surgery alone. The five most performed procedures were breast enhancements, nose reshaping, eyelid surgery, liposuction and tummy tucks. “I don’t think that plastic surgery should even be an op-tion. We are made the way we are for a reason” said Jennah Daniels, junior. Plastic surgery is used for more than just correcting superficial “flaws”. Correcting birth defects, removing tumors and repairing other injuries are all done by plastic surgeons. Often times though, plastic surgery is performed by choice. With doctor prices topping out at over 7,000 dollars, not in-cluding anesthesia and hospital fees, costs add up fast.“If I ever got surgery, I’d look for the most experienced doc-tor; even if they were more expensive,” said Daniels. Every surgery comes with its own set of risks. Numbness or loss of feeling is by far the most common. Cutting into the tissues may cause nerve damage, poten-tially permanent. Along with loss of feeling, additional risks include: fluid build-up, pneu-monia, blood clots, excessive bleeding, constant pain and occasionally death. Rapper, Kanye West’s

mother died from complica-tions the day after she received several plastic surgery op-erations. In a 2007 Huffington Post interview West stated his regrets saying if they hadn’t moved to Los Angeles, his mother wouldn’t have felt the pressure to change and would still be living. There is horror story after horror story about plastic surgeries going wrong. Wheth-er it’s a huge nose or an uneven facelift, there are countless ways an operation could end. “I wouldn’t be too worried; if something went wrong I would just get more plastic surgery to make it look better,” said Keenan Duran, sophomore. As the years go on, surgeries aren’t only being performed on adults. The age at which people go under the knife is decreasing. Roughly 218,000 13-19 year olds under-went cosmetic procedures in 2010. That is the equivalent to each student at Fruita Monu-ment receiving 168 optional procedures in one year. Nose jobs, breast reduction in men, ear surgery, breast enhance-ments and liposuction were among the most received surgi-cal procedures. “I think plastic surgery can be a good thing, it gives people the confidence boost they need to be more outgo-ing,” said Nick Prince, sopho-more. Plastic surgery is becoming more and more popular. Total surgeries per-formed increased two percent from 2009. As plastic becomes the new normal, it’s hard to know what’s real and what’s not but there is no question in the reality of the pain and risk involved.

Plastic Isn’t PerfectBarbie burns because her nose job went wrong.

The Catalyst6Features

October 2011

Photo and Story by Erika Gardner, Reporter

Photo and Story by Madison Wittman, Reporter

Myths, Legends and tall tales have been around since the beginning of time. They’re part of a history that is passed on from generation to generation; sometimes these stories are true, most times they are not. Most people think that myths are only the stories that date back thousands of years to either the Greeks or the Romans. However, there are many modern legends that exist now. We see them in movies, books and on television. Perhaps the most famous

urban legend of them all is Bigfoot. If you went up to any random per-son on the street and asked them if they had heard of Bigfoot, chances are their reply would be a yes. There are entire websites, books and even television series devoted to this colossal creature. The public in general rejects the existence of Big-foot or any creatures that resemble the beast, but despite that, there have still been thousands of “offi-cial sightings” in the United States, and over one hundred in Colorado

alone. With so many sightings and stories of encounters with Bigfoot I decided to find out whether or not I could find this creature myself. I knew that, in order to find my Bigfoot, I couldn’t just grab a pair of binoculars and run out to my backyard and start searching, I would have to do some research before I began. After an hour or so of searching around Google for information on Bigfoot, I finally found a sight that sounded legit: The Bigfoot Field Researchers

Organization or the BFRO. This organization has an entire website devoted to the research of Bigfoot and categorizes all of the sightings by state and county. After I clicked on the Colorado button, I discovered that there have 109 sightings of Bigfoot in the state, but only two of those have been from Mesa County. One of those talked about a sighting on Land’s End road on the Mesa, so I decided to use this as a start point for my search.

I made the drive up to the top of the Grand Mesa and waited until dusk to start my hunt for this legendary beast. While I awaited the sun to go down, I prepared all of the gear necessary to locate, track and document my sighting. In my research, I discovered that I would need a recording device to log any strange noises, a camera, a flash-light and some sort of animal call to attract the attention of Bigfoot. I also added a large net to that list, just in case I actually found Bigfoot, I would be prepared to capture him. Dusk finally came and I began my quest to find this mystical creature. I started by making animal calls and banging pieces of wood on tree trunks. I had learned from the T.V. show “Finding Bigfoot” that this was an extremely effective way of drawing the beast in. I continued this for around an hour, moving from place to place but there was still no signs of Bigfoot. As I gave up hope and started heading back to my car, the most terrifying yell I ever heard rang throughout the air. I stood motionless, frozen with shock as I tried to process where the noise came from and at the same time

tried to figure out a plan to catch this beast. The best idea I could think of was to follow the source of the sound with my voice recorder and camera ready, so I carefully trudged through the dense forest, keeping my ears and eyes out for any signs of Bigfoot. About a mile later, I came to an opening in the thick trees and found the source of the spine tingling howl. Standing there, laughing uncontrollably was my older brother who had accompanied me on the trip. I let out a sigh of relief that it was only him and not an 8 foot tall bear-like creature who had let out the yell, but at the same time I felt a sense of disappointment that after all my efforts I was still unable to locate Bigfoot. On the trip home, I thought a lot about my experience and about Bigfoot in general. Even though I had not been able to find him I realized that the legend of Big-foot is just that, a legend. At some point, someone probably made up the story and over time the story changed and now it’s become a part of our tradition. Is Bigfoot real? The Decision is yours to make.

The last light of an October day falls on the haunted house where reporter Taylor Scofield faced the scariest night of his life.

Ghost Hunters: Grand JunctionPhoto and Story by Taylor Scofield, Reporter


Features

I, myself, am a skeptic but have always been interested in the paranormal. A couple of weeks ago, my friends and I went on a journey into the unknown to investigate the validity of ghosts and hauntings. This is our story……. There are supposedly three types of hauntings: intelligent, residual and inhuman. Intelligent hauntings occur when the ghost or entity seems to possess human-like qualities. They try to interact and provoke the humans around them. Residual hauntings are like a movie: constantly rewinding and playing the same scene over and over again. They are thought to be caused by a tragic event, like a death. The final type of haunting is inhuman. These are usually very angry spirits and are extremely bad news. I looked with apprehension at the darkening sky. My friends Luke Goodrich and Keenan Duran had arrived and I was nervous for the night ahead. We gathered together our supplies: sleeping bags,

flashlights and cameras, and headed out. Our plan was simple: to investigate the claims of paranormal activity at my neighbor’s house. It had been a couple years since my neighbor had died tragically, and we hoped that he wasn’t still there in spirit. No one lived there now and as far as we knew no one had been in there for a while. The back porch creaked as I put the key in the back door. It opened to darkness and none of us wanted to go in first. I eventu-ally moved through the doorway slowly with my eyes closed and my flashlight well in front of me. The darkness wrapped around us, and we stumbled into the living room while brushing spider-webs off of us. There was nothing. In fact, it was strangely peaceful. Relieved, we hurried to the living room and set up our beds. There were spiders everywhere. We could feel them crawling on us when we turned out the lights, but

we stubbornly continued our inves-tigation. We toured the house, tak-ing pictures of every square inch. I focused most of them around the bedroom; if a spirit was still there, it would probably be spending its time in the same place it did when it was alive. When we entered the kitchen, we found a machete lying on the table. We didn’t stay long in there. After we finished walk-ing around the house, we got ready for bed. With my flashlight in one hand and my camera in the other, I slowly drifted off to sleep. I woke up suddenly in the

night. There was a sound coming from the bedroom. It was a sound I was used to hearing while I was trying to go to sleep; someone was snoring. But there was no one in the bedroom. I curled up in my sleeping bag and closed my eyes tightly. I tried to drift off to sleep, I couldn’t help thinking this was exactly like a nightmare; but it was real. We woke up at 8:00 and quickly left the residence. Back at my house we each shared our personal experiences. I told them about the snoring I heard, and Keenan told us what he had seen. He heard the refrigerator door open, and then saw a short, dark figure

(about 3 feet tall) dash across the doorway. Luke had fallen to sleep too quickly to see or hear anything.Shaking, I began to scroll through the pictures we had taken. In almost every picture we had there was a white orb, especially in the pictures of the bedroom. In one pic-ture there was even an orange-red orb that looks like a face. Despite our numerous per-sonal experiences and photographic evidence, for now I remain a skep-tic. There was no solid evidence that all of us saw that proves there was a paranormal presence. Then again, I couldn’t be paid enough money to spend another night in that house.

Tracks like this one are found through-out the forests of the West and Mid-west.

In Search of Bigfootwith Chuck Bisbee

Photo and Story by Chuck Bisbee, Reporter

Herping- Ty Burtard As a teenager that spends time playing and training for baseball after school, Ty Burtard, junior, takes up another activity known as herping. Most days after school, Burtard takes time to hike around Fruita, Grand Junction, and has even been to parts of New Mexico in search of snakes. Burtardfirstbecameinvolved in the herping world when he met Harlin Wall, owner of Wall 2 Wall Reptiles, when he was 14 years old. He knew and had heard of herping before, butWallwasthefirsttoactuallytake Burtard out for a trip. After receivinghisfirstsnakeforhis 14th birthday, Burtard was hooked. “I was always attracted to the unusual things that most people wouldn’t be interested in,” said Burtard. Thatfirstsnake,aboaconstrictor,wouldbethefirstofmany that Burtard would end up handling. According to Burtard, the primary time for herping is between the months of May to September. The weather is the most important factor that deter-mines a good herping day from a bad one. During those summer and early fall months, Burtard will try going at least twice a

week. Depending on what he is tryingtofind,therearespecificareas Burtard will visit. He has even taken a herping trip to Mills Canyon in New Mexico for four days with some friends. “I caught my biggest snake while I was there which was a fivefootfourincheslongWest-ern Coachwhip,” said Burtard. When Burtard does findasnake,hephotographsitin multiple areas and posts the photos on herping forums that he is involved with. These forums allow Burtard to connect with other herpers nationwide on the internet. He knows people from Denver, New Mexico, and mul-tiple other areas. Many people question Burtard and his desire to catch snakes. He described the interest he has always had in the “creepy crawlies” and states that oth-ers usually do not recognize the complexity in herping. “Snakes are misunder-stood,” Burtard said, “They have such a unique way of surviving andIfindthatmotivatingtolearn more about their lifestyle.”

Parkour- Beau Cook Parkour: a combination ofrunning,jumping,andflip-ping. Many Fruita Monument students may have witnessed the parkour team’s performance at the homecoming pep assembly. Being the only attendant in the group from Fruita Monument High School, Beau Cook, sopho-more, is relatively new to the extreme sport. First introduced to it by his friends Keegan Heifner and Carter Hough, Cook has been training for about four months now. This has become a regular, everyday activity for Cook and his friends to “go out and jump around” as he describes it. “We generally stay on Main Street downtown because there are solid areas for us to practice on,” Cook said, “but we can go pretty much anywhere.”When practicing, Cook will get together with friends who are involved and practice their parkour together. These friends either go to school with Cook, or are part of the parkour team that he performed that is made up of students that are now out of high school. “The parkour commu-nityisfilledwithalotofcoolpeople,” said Cook. Along with practicingtheactualflips,Cook will go on frequent runs and lift weights to stay in shape for competi-tions that he may be in-volved in. There are many competitions in Denver and the surrounding area.

As Cook competes, he is also part of different parkour groups. Cook is involved with a group called “Team Tide” andisaffiliatedwiththeWFPF,World Free Running and Park-our Foundation. One of Cook’s inspirations and good friends, Justin Oakes, is also part of thesespecificgroups. Cooksacrificeshissafety as he performs his stunts and has been injured before. In the past, Cook has broken two ribs and has torn a muscle in his back. With this talent, Cook strives to improve his stunts and hopes to continue the adrenaline rushing activity. He tries to en-courage and teach others the art of parkour, but only the fearless will be up for the challenge.

UniqueHOBBIES

Beau Cook is caught preforming some intense parkour skills.

Ty Burtard shows off his slithering friends.

The Catalyst 8Features

October 2011


Photos by Ty Burtard and Beau Cook

As young kids, most everyone has been scared of the dark at one point in their life. The fear of darkness is known by multiple terms, including Scotophobia, My-ctophobia, and Lygophobia. The most commonly used are Achluophobia and Nycto-phobia which have different circumstances. When people say they are afraid of the dark, they are most commonly not afraid of the lack of light, but more so of what may come in the dark-ness. Usually associated with children, Nyctophobia is the expres-sion used for kids that fear something catastrophic will happen or simply a fren-zied fear of the dark.

Daemonphobia or demonphobia is just like it sounds; it’s a fear of demons. The word “demon” originated from the Greek term which meant a wise, guardian spirit. Demons have existed for many years, they are spirits that have legends written about them, and every reli-gion has their own version of them. There is good in this world, therefore evil has to exist as well. The word has evolved into meaning entities, which appear to have malicious in-tent, and are possibly of non-human origin. So do demons really exist or are they just an imaginary idea people came up with to reason for their unanswered thoughts? “Demons have to draw energy

out of the living to manifest in this plane. They are unable to exist without inhabiting a person, house, or area,” states NIta Hickok. “This phobia is caused

Fear ofdemons

by people watching too many scary horror movies,” said Tyler. “This fear can be caused by the mind over-protecting us from something

that it believes at some level may be a genuine danger to us, believing that demons

present an actual threat,” ac-cording to avonhypnotherapy. To go more in depth, some people believe that this fear of demons/the devil has to do with the way you live your life. “What causes this fear I think, is the way you live your life, if you believe in god, or go down the wrong path you have something to fear,” said senior, Devin Dance. Depending on your belief, this fear could either be real or not. It can be seen as just “ghosts” in your house, or something out to get you. Either way, be sure to lock your doors this Hallow-een and look out for things “watching over you.”

“I have always been afraid of the pitch dark,” Wes-ley Padgett, a sophomore, said, “Just the thought of the un-known is what scares me.” When a person is in the dark, the mind is capable of exaggerating

the con-di-tion

which can lead to thoughts of terror lurking in the darkness. Some

people may also have Nycto-phobia resulting from a past

experience. When Kolt Black, a

sophomore, was four years old, he was accidentally locked out of the house when he snuck outside to play in his sandbox at night. Because

Fear of darkness

PhobiasBy Brianna Pollock, Reporter


of this misfortune, Black has suffered from the fear of what

lingers in the darkness. “I was really little, and I thought coyotes were go-ing to come after me,” Black said, “Now I always have that

feeling that something bad is going to happen when I’m alone in the dark.” Achluophobia, on the other hand, is associated with adults. The condition is still the fear of the dark, but can actually be a life degrading terror. There are multiple symptoms that can determine if a person has Achluopho-bia. If in the dark, a person has panic attacks, becomes nauseous, has a loss of com-fort, begins to shake, or has a rapid increase of heart rate they may qualify as having Achluophobia. Nyctophobia is some-thing that children usually get over by the time they are out of elementary school, but Achluophobia has longer ef-fects on the human body and can be cured with multiple types of anxiety therapies.

Photos by Laren Cyphers, Sports Editor

“I was really lit-tle, and I thought coyotes were go-ing to come after

me.”


Phobias

Headstones and grave markers are abundant at the Municipal Cemetary

near Orchard Mesa.

The moon waves hello from behind a tree.

Every minute, approximately 2 people die from drowning. That’s about 1.2 million people every year. Drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional death worldwide, and the second leading cause of death in the United States of children 12 and under. But how do you die of drowning? It starts with a struggle. As you begin to panic, great amounts of energy are used to escape the overpowering water around you, consuming precious oxygen supply. Because you are trapped under water, your body begins to store up dangerous amounts of carbon dioxide which stimulates you to breathe. At some point, instinct takes over and you suck in large amounts of water. As the water contacts your airways, your throat spasms and contracts which causes asphyxiation. Although this is your body’s main defense, it is actually suffocation that leads to cerebral hypoxia or death by oxygen deprivation. All in all, it is approximately 2-3 minutes until unconsciousness, and another 5-10 until death. Ms. Reiber, the swim teacher here at FMHS, has had plenty of experience with students around the pool. “Usually every quarter there is some sort of issue,” she says. “I’ve seen bloody noses, had to do the Heimlich, and also back-boarded several kids out.” Mishaps at the FMHS pool are usually accidents and Reiber never can tell when something will go wrong. Injuries in the water can be quite serious depending on the situation and it’s never a good idea to be messing around, which is why she maintains strict rules in the pool room. “The thing to remember is you cannot supervise stupid.” Says Reiber, who’s been lifeguarding since she was 16. The best way to prevent drowning is to follow the instruction and be prepared, because accidents will happen. The fear of drowning is closely related to the general fear of water, or Aquaphobia. This can make it nearly impossible to enjoy swimming or water sports as a participant or just as a spectator. Some people may even have difficulty looking at a clear glass pitcher of water. Phobias such as this are usually linked to a previous unpleasant experience related to swimming, or not knowing how to swim. Hearing a story of someone drowning can plant seeds of fear that transform into phobias. However, there are ways to overcome a fear of drowning and/or water. If you are struggling with a phobia, work with someone you trust to help you begin recovery, being sure to take your time and get comfortable with your surroundings before you try anything drastic. If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.

Whether is in showers, drinks or pools, water is all around us. In America, almost 350,000 gallons of water is used on a daily bases. Even rivers like the Colora-do running right through our town are used every day and are much needed, and yet very dangerous. “I don’t constant-ly worry about drowning; it’s not really something I think about. It is kind of scary though,” said Dakota Detwiler, sophomore. Studies show that O-5 year olds, 20-25 year olds and those 60 years and older are most at risk of drowning. Infants lack of swimming skills hinder them from being able to survive most and type of situation where they are immersed in water. Unlike children, the majority of 20-25 year olds can swim, but they are typically more avid risk takers and end up drowning as a result. Studies also show that older people often times lose some strength and therefore swimming ability. Within the most at risk age groups, males were pegged as more likely than girls to be a victim of drowning. Nearly 80% of all drowning victims are male.

What is it we fear about animals of the deep? Is it their sharp teeth, their strange appearance or just the fact we cannot see them? With all these factors it’s not hard to see why we are so scared of sharks, octopuses and deep sea creatures. Sharks are easily the most feared creature in the ocean. With over four hundred different species of shark, it’s rather easy for them to occupy all reaches of the ocean. The great white shark is among the most dangerous species of shark. Responsible for the majority of shark attacks, and proven to be one of the most aggressive sharks, Great Whites are highly dangerous. Octopuses are another fear in the water. Octopuses play a double fear, as they have eight arms striking fear into octophobes and those who are afraid of water and aquatic ani-mals. Octopuses aren’t very deadly, other than a few species; however they can squeeze into any small crevasse. What scares people the most are probably those fish they can’t see. Deep in the bowels of the ocean lay angler fish, gulper eels. and vari-ous unappealing fish. We don’t know a lot about these fish other than they bite and are extremely ugly, making them a fear for all. It seems there are many rea-sons we fear creatures of the deep. Most of them bare some feature we humans find undesirable. Whatever it is we don’t like those creatures we can see.

To Drown, or Not to Drown?

Correlations between education level and the risk of death in water related accidents are strong as well. The higher the level of education, the less likely one is to becoming a casualty to water. “When people who are in the water and at risk of drowning, we are usually able to rescue them

in time. In accidental drowning

situations it’s hard to save the victim, most of the time it happens too fast,” said Jacob McDanile, a member of the Colorado Search and Rescue team. Accidental drowning isn’t always due to Mother Nature though. 20% of drowning deaths occur at private homes. As summer comes to a close, we can only hope that drown-ing rates will too. In a town estab-lished by the Colorado River, it’s important to always be careful and wary of the danger water involves.

A hand reaches out of the FMHS pool for help.

“ Nearly 80% of all drowning victims are male.”

A flood of facts

Creatures ofthe

aquatic realm

“Deep in the bowels of the ocean lay angler fish, gulper eels, and various unappealing fish..”

By Erika Gardner, Reporter

By Ryan Laase, Reporter

By Madison Wittman, Reporter

Picture by Tucker Blake

Picture by Tucker Blake

This ceramic

tentacle by room 503 is

completely harmless.

The Catalyst10Phobias

October 2011

com stated that an estimated 20-30% of all people have a fear of clowns. “Clowns are super creepy,” said Mac Cunningham, junior. Many people say the reason for their phobia of clowns is that their face is hidden by thick makeup, like a mask. In a survey taken among students of FMHS, most agree that the concealed face and “scary” costume add to their fear of clowns. The fear of albino people is called albinophobina. Most who are scared of these types of people aren’t necessarily terrified of them; they say they just creep them out. “They don’t really scare me; I just wonder how they are like that, it’s just different,” said Lindsey Burenheide, sophomore. The albino skin type comes from a body’s lack of pigments, due to transferred genetics or an alteration in those persons’ genes. The easiest way to tell is their pale skin, very white hair color and typically pink eye color. Birchophobia is the fear of midgets. To be a dwarf you must be below 4 feet 10 inches. Achon-droplasia is a bone-growth disorder and accounts for 70% of dwarfism cases.


Phobias

The tenseness in your shoulders and discomfort you feel when your grandma’s hairless cat enters the room could just be uneas-iness…or it could be ailurophobia. Animals are evolutionarily feared because our ancestors once had to fend themselves against some pretty terrifying beasts. Today, we may not have to face dinosaurs or mam-moths trampling our campsites, but the fear remains. Past experiences with animals can also help explain an irrational fear. A bad experience with the neighbor’s dog or being greeted by a family of spiders in the sandbox can contribute to the development of later, intense fears. It’s important to keep in mind that a fear does not classify as a phobia; phobias are mental disorders that interfere with daily life. They are oftentimes unexplain-able and misunderstood, but for those who have these extreme fears, they are burdensome and terrifying. Just because you get the shivers when you see a moth does not mean that you have a phobia of all bugs. However, if you experience dizzi-ness, shaking, obsessive thoughts or anxiety about the spider on your wall, you may have a phobia. Arachnophobia is the com-

monly known fear of spiders. This phobia can affect where a person decides to live, and also what kind of activities they involve themselves in. Entomophobia is the fear of insects, whereas apiphobia is the fear of bees specifically. The phobia of ants is myremecophobia. The theory that these phobias stem from early, traumatic encounters is more prevalent for bug fears. Ophidiophobia is the fear of snakes. Over time, it can over-whelm a person and become life-limiting. Batrachophobia includes the fear of amphibious animals, such as frogs, salamanders and toads. Not all fears have to do with things that slither and crawl; many phobias fall under the human category. Clowns, dwarves and albinos are some top human-based fears. Reasons for this phobia vary; it can be a natural fear, something you were born with, a fear that was developed after being exposed to them via movies, etc., or TV shows portraying a person or thing as bad or scary. It can also be a learned behavior from parents passed down to children. The fear of clowns is known as coulrophobia. Wisegeek.

FUZZY, EIGHT LEGGED AND FRIGHTENING

Story and photos by Spencer Fair, Amy Lindbo, Chuck Bisbee and Kaitlin Lewis

Silly the clown, official Catalyst mascot, licks his candycane sinisterly.

Photo courtesty MCT Campus

this primitive phobia origi-nate? “Most phobias are learned,” explains Anderson. “Chanc-es are

that if

you looked

into that per-son’s past, there’s something that happened so that they as-sociate the experience with the phobia. One girl I read about had the fear of cockroaches, because when she was little she got one caught in her hair. They tried and tried to get it out but they couldn’t. They had to eventually cut it out.” But those with severe

aerophobia have more to worry about than cockroaches crawling around their scalp, according to a 2010 ABC

News.com article, the air can

be more dan-ger-ous than many be-lieve.

“A new

strain of a deadly air-

borne fungus in Oregon is

set to spread to California,”

begins the article. It goes on to explain the

airborne poison and how it is absorbed into the human body, eventually leading to death if the body is not in a healthy state. “The novel and unpre-dictable nature of the threats can prove difficult to ignore,” ends the article, leaving a grim message to not only North-western United States citizens but to all who breathe earthly gases. Although this event occurred over a year ago, this, along with diseases like tuberculosis and diphtheria leave thousands of worldwide aerophobes in a constant state of paranoia.

Anderson also com-mented on how diseases play a role in the mind of a person infected with a phobia. She asserted that the phobia of things in the air is not irrational, especially to those with severe aerophobia. “Even diseases like Can-cer or Aids that we know aren’t airborne, but that doesn’t matter because [those with the phobia] aren’t very rational about it.” And when asked if, in her opinion, aerophobia was a foolish phobia, she answered simply, no. “A lot may seem foolish, but outsiders don’t know about past experiences,” clarified An-derson, implying that in a sense, foolishness is in the eye of the beholder. Unfortunately, there has been no medicine yet discovered to cure this gripping phobia. While no medicine has been discovered, there is long lasting treatment in the form of expo-sure and “Systematic Desensi-tization” (baby steps), but even these only work in some cases. Yet then again, according to experts such as scientists and medical professionals, those with aerophobia may not be irrational at all in their extreme paranoia of the zillions of par-ticles floating invisibly through the natural universe.

AEROPHOBIAJUST STOP BREATHING.

ne single cough and the entire oxygen-breathing universe is

potentially infected with pneumo-nia. One sneeze and another hu-man is stricken with tuberculosis, smallpox, diphtheria, measles, or hundreds of other airborne diseases. According to the Medi-cal Dictionary, the fear of such diseases and other terrors found in the oxygen humans breathe in is known as aerophobia. “Aerophobia is the fear of flying. It can also mean an irrational fear of fresh air or drafts of air,” detailed the Medical Diction-ary. This fear, in its severest form, can lead to the wear-ing of masks such as gas masks in public. But according to Fruita Monument psychology teacher Leslie Anderson, fear is only one stepping stone on the path to phobia in the human mind. “Some of the best examples are the social phobias because not many people like speaking in public,” stated An-derson. “But those who have the social phobia will not even go to places with other people.” Those with true aeropho-bia will avoid swallowing air that even has a slight chance of being contaminated. But where does

O

Females are more likely to have pho-bias comp ared to males.

Phobia Facts

Approximately 1 in 23 people suffer from any number of pho-bias

Webster Defini-tion: an exag-gerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation

Females are more likely to have phobias compared to males.

Almost 6.2 mil-lion citizens of the U.S. have a specific phobia

" AnxiAnxiety Disorder

and Different Types of

Phobias." <http://www.

phobias-help.com/>.

By Matt Scofield, Reporter

The Catalyst 12Phobias

October 2011

Lucky Number Superstitions 7

1. Friday the 13th One of the most common superstitions around is Friday the 13th. As common belief states, Judas was the 13th guest at the Last Supper and Christ was crucified on the following Friday, hence why Friday the 13th is bad luck. Some people go to extremes with this supersti-tion such as not putting a 13th level in a building or and 13th row on an airplane.

2. Breaking a Mirror Another very common superstition is breaking a mirror; if a mir-ror is broken, that means seven years of bad luck to whoever broke it. The origin of this superstition is that a mirror is thought to be a reflection of the soul and breaking a mirror can be damaging to the soul, not to mention the glass shards can be dangerous .

3. A Black Cat Crossing your Path During the Middle Ages, black cats were most commonly found with witches and anyone who had a black cat would be killed and the animal drowned. Black cats were viewed as part demon and part sorcery and thought to have supernatural powers. A black cat who crosses your path means that not only bad luck is to come your way but your fate has been altered.

4. Walking Under a Ladder Everyone knows that its common sense not to walk under a lad-der because objects can fall off the ladder and cause an injury, plus its considered bad luck. The shape of the ladder is a triangle and to some, this symbolizes life. As legend would have it, the three points of the triangle represents the Holy Trinity; the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost. When walking through a ladder, you are tempting fate and it’s considered bad luck to break the Holy Trinity.

5. Knock on Wood This refers to the tradition of literally touching/knocking on wood, or merely stating that you are, in order to avoid tempting fate after making a favorable observation, a boast, or speaking of one’s own death. It is usually used in the hope that a good thing will con-tinue to occur after it has been acknowledged. Knocking on wood awakens the magical spirits that lay inside so that your good luck

continues and the bad luck is halted.

6. Throwing Spilled Salt It is considered bad luck to spill salt, but the superstition most associated with this activity is not the act of spilling the salt, but what comes next. In order to prevent the bad luck from settling on the salt spiller, the person who did the spilling is must throw the spilled salt over his/her left shoulder. Why is this bad luck? In ancient times, salt was an expensive commodity and was frowned upon if the salt was wasted.

7. The number 666 This is a sign of the devil to most or the mark of the beast. In modern popular culture, 666 has become one of the most widely recognized symbols for the Antichrist or, alternatively, the Devil.

# 1

# 2

# 3

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# 5

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Features

Photo essay by Cicely Kohler, Photo Editor

. . . which has just become popular in the last 14 years. As the motto of the sport states, “Extreme Ironing is the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt.” Locations many com-petitors have documented include cliff faces, underwater, on bicycles, while skydiving, in Alaska, in rivers, on go-carts, in Iraq, on cows, on trains, and in hot air balloons. The object of this sport is to document the “successful press” in an extreme or remote location. The odd part is that there is really no winner, just a memorable picture and an im-proved wardrobe. In fact, many people consider the sport to be completely tongue-in- cheek and mainly practiced for the humor. The sport was born in Leicester, England, when a man named Phil Shaw came home to a mountain of laundry. He

decided he would rather be out-doors so he simply attached his hot iron to an extension cord and marched off to his garden. Soon after this, Shaw merged his love of ironing and his love of rock climbing together and created a new sport. In September 2002, the first Extreme Ironing champi-onships were held in a small village near Munich, Germany. Teams were challenged with several extreme locations and various fabrics. The German team brought home the gold and left the English empty-handed and wrinkled. The Extreme Ironing Bureau (lightheartedly called the Extreme Ironing Board) sponsored a competition in which prizes were awarded for the most creative picture. The winner featured a man who was bungee jumping while ironing. However, there were many close seconds including base jumpers, divers and hang gliders.

‘’Our aim is to have the level of recog-nition that it becomes an Olym-pic sport,’’ stated Phil Shaw to the New York Times, ‘’If you can have syn-chronized swimming and curl-ing, I think extreme ironing has as much to offer.’’ Although Phil Shaw seems to be certain that the sport is destined for the Olympics, many remain skeptics. For now it is a humorous pastime that is nothing short of eccentric. Then again, if you ever feel dismayed by the boring task of ironing, try taking it outside. Maybe you will be in the Olym-pics one day.

Extreme Ironing,or “EI,” is a new thrill sport. . .

GETTING BOARD?

Go fasten yourself a makeshift ironing board holster, throw it on

your back and get to

steppin’. The reward will be this

incred- ible view

of The Monument

and a precarious

ironing platform.

Snow on the Horizon Winter is slowly creeping up on Fruita, CO., and the skiers and snowboarders at FMHS are starting to come out of their hibernation period. With recent storms and cold temperatures, three Colorado ski resorts have opened the slopes for those willing to brave the lines and the cold to get the shred. Wolf Creek, in Pagosa Springs, CO, was the first to start the chairlifts this year, with an opening day on the 8th of October. As of now, the resort is only open for the weekends. Arapahoe Basin, or A-basin, was the second ski resort in Colorado to open. On the 13th of October, it opened a few runs for the die-hard skiers and snowboarders that wanted the one of the first rides of the season. A-basin is remaining open and the runs will be open all week. The third resort to welcome the 2011-2012 snow season was Loveland. It opened on October 14th.

Fruita skiers and snowboarders are among those standing in the lift lines this October with dreams of fresh powder and new lines. “I can’t wait to get up into a park this season,” said Erik Spatafora, a FMHS senior, “The park at Powderhorn should be a lot better this year, especially with the new half pipe.” The pipe is planned to have 13’ walls and a 16 or 17 percent grade. Powderhorn, the closest ski resort to Fruita, is scheduled to open on December 16th. Local skiers and snowboarders are expecting a lot from the new owner, Andy Daly, who was the previous

president of Vail Resorts Inc. He is expected to bring

a new look and a lot of experience

to the small ski resort.

Kenny

Cordova, junior and the Hoobla team are ready for the upcoming snow season. Hoobla, a clothing company started by Cordova, is releasing new products this winter season, including a new tie dye designed shirt. “We are going to make a movie this year, and a lot of people have asked to be in it,” Cordova said. Extreme winter athletes that can’t stand waiting in lines or going down “groomers” are looking

for bigger thrills in the expansive Colorado backcountry. While

the right terrain may be hard to find, the reward is great, with unridden lines, and seemingly bottomless

powder. “This year

I’m going to focus on

shredding the backcountry,”

said Spencer Link, senior, “I’ll be looking for cliffs, pillars, powder, and huge drops on the Mesa.” Link wouldn’t share specific places in hopes that he can keep some of the best for himself and a few friends. Backcountry skiing or snowboarding can be very dangerous, and many people are killed every year. “I never go out in the backcountry without my avalanche beacon,” said Link. An avalanche beacon is a must for backcountry thrill seekers, just in case you are buried in a huge avalanche, you can be located and dug out. Students and adults are looking to the skies for any sign

of the snowstorm that could take them to the lifts. “We need the snow, and we need the snowdays,” said Spatafora.

So cross your fingers and show off your best snow dances, and before you know it, the snow will be here to stay.

Photos and Story by Taylor Scofield, Reporter

Photo and story by Tucker Blake, News Editor

Casey Ras, junior, lookes to the skies in search of snow.

The Catalyst 14Sports

October 2011

Planking

The creator of planking is unknown, and so was the sport until early 2011. Planking, also known as the “lying down game,” has recently blossomed into a new craze among all ages. Similar games include owling, teapot-ting, horsemaning, and batmaning . Ob-viosly, owling involves a person squatting like an owl and teapotting involves a person bending into the shape of a teapot. Not so self-explanatory are horsemaning and batmaning. Horsemaning, the name coming from the Sleepy Hollow’s headless horse-man, requires two people posing as one body with a detached head. Batmaning does not involve a person extending their arms in flight, but hanging upside down my

one’s feet. The game of planking is simple. Find a place you believe is uncommon or unique in some way and basically lay down on it. Key things to remember when planking are to keep your eyes pointed to the ground, head down and arms at your sides with palms up. In other words, be one with your inner wooden plank, matey. Wooden planks found on ships and all “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies are the in-spiration for this new fad which mimics this wooden board. Another, less savory theory compares this game to the way Africans were stored on slave ships. Despite these criticisms, planking has continued to grow and its players are finding more and more unique places like, underwater, on cop cars, and over toilet bowls. Still, one place people have failed to conquer is atop rust metal objects. Fear not my planking pals, this travesty has been vanquished.

Photos and story by Laren Cyphers, Sports Editor

Sam Cyphers, freshmen, demonstrates the correct planking pose on several rusty ob-jects found at one of the many farms of

Fruita.


Sports

Monumental Being residents of Western Colorado, most Fruita Monument students are pretty accustomed to the outdoor lifestyle Colorado has to of-fer. Whether you night hike, moun-tain bike, trail run or just go on casual hikes with your friends, chances are you’ve had some sort of experience with the local trails in the area. What some people don’t realize, however, is just how many high quality trails there are on the Western Slope. A 30 minute drive is all it takes to get to some of the most beautiful trails in the United States and even the world. Whether you’re into canyons, forests or desert scenery, there’s a trail out there for everyone and these trails are the best of the best.

Lower Monument Canyon When it comes to view-ing some of the most amazing rock formations in the Colorado National Monument, this trail is hard to beat. The trail starts about a mile and half below the base of Independence Mon-ument, a popular attraction for rock climbers, and features some of the most famous rock pillars in the Mon-ument along the way, like Wedding and Mushroom Rock. The trail may scare away some hikers because of the uphill climb for the first mile and a half of the hike, but once you pull through that first stretch it’s smooth sailing for the rest of the trip. The tall canyon walls provide a much ap-preciated shade during the afternoon and are home to some sweet caves if you look hard enough. There’s also

a lot of wildlife to view on the track, including some Bighorn Sheep, but watch your feet because snakes tend to lay out on the trail when it starts to get cooler in the day. Unfortu-nately for mountain bikers, there aren’t any bikes allowed on this trail but that shouldn’t discourage you from taking the short drive up to the Redlands and giving this one a try.Devils Canyon This trail is part of a larger system of trails inside the McInnis Canyon National Conservation Area which is accessed by turning west on Kingsview Road and following it until you hit the dirt road about a half mile later. The parking for this trail-head will be the first lot you come to on your left and the trail starts right off of the lot. The trail itself is a loop about 7-8 miles long if you choose to hike the whole thing, but this is not required. The hike is relatively easy with a few hilly spots, but provides beautiful views of the tall canyon walls and remarkable side canyons. For those hikers who are new to the trail, once you make it deeper into the main canyon the red sandstone that covers the trail makes it obvi-ous why the word “devil” is added to the path’s name. If you’re looking to take a break along the way, keep your eyes peeled for a small cabin where the trail turns around. The small little shack offers a nice place where you can go inside and get out of the sun for a while. Make sure your cool about it and leave the cabin the way you found it. This trail pro-vides some neat scenery if your legs

can hold up to hiking the whole trail and is a must-see for those who have about two and half to three hours to spare. Unfortunately, once again, no bikes are permitted on this trail.Mary’s Loop This trail is one of the most popular in the region among moun-tain bikers and for good reason. The 8.7 mile loop is part of the world renowned Kokopelli’s Trail that starts just outside of the Colorado/ Utah port of entry, south of Loma. The trail provides spectacular views of the Colorado River and its sur-rounding landscape from overhead as you ride along the winding sin-gle-track the trail provides. There are a few technical sections in the trail that beginners might want to keep an eye out for, but other than that it’s fast and exciting. The trail itself has a few challenging hills to-wards the beginning, but once you ascend them, the trail flattens out noticeably. Due to the fact that this trail is relatively long, make sure you pack enough water as the trail tends to heat up considerably in the afternoon hours. Also keep in mind that the trail is open for hiking and running as well as biking so keep an eye out for riders while on the track. Lunch Loop Part of the extensive Tabe-guache Trailhead, the Lunch Loop provides miles upon miles of trails and several different options as far as difficulty and length. This trail-head is located along Monument road in the Redlands and is easily accessible. The Lunch Loop con-

tains dozens of trails ranging from single-track, to old roads, all of which criss-cross each other to make a very confusing yet exciting system of trails. The difficulty and length of your hike, run or biking, depends on the trail you take and whether you decide to partake in multiple trails or just one. If you’re looking for an easier trail to hike or run you may consider trying out Holy Cross or Miramonte, as both provide rela-tively flat terrain along with beauti-ful desert scenery. Mountain Biking in this area is a little more difficult just because most of the trails in the Lunch Loop are either black or dou-ble black diamonds. There are few shorter trails that would suit a begin-ning rider so make sure to check the difficulty of the trail before you set off on a ride. Wildlife on these trails is scarce but seeing a snake would not be uncommon as the landscape provides a perfect habitat for them. The Lunch Loop provides a fun experience for a range of activities and experience; just make sure you keep a trail map handy as the trail can get confusing in some areas! The Western Slope pro-vides such a wide variety of trails that it may be hard to decide which one is the best for what you want to do. Any trail you choose will pro-vide the breathtaking views and en-joyable experiences that make the Western Slope of Colorado so pop-ular. So go out there and enjoy the fresh air and try out some new trails!

A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE BEST TRAILS FRUITA HAS TO OFFER

On an overcast day, this Lower Mountain Canyon trailhead provides and exciting start to a picturesque stroll.

The great migra-tion: NBA players assemble in Turkey

After 127 days of the Na-tional Football League lockout, the National Basketball Association is taking their shot at a lockout. The Players Association, led by Derek Fisher, L.A. Lakers point guard, wants to split the profit 50/50 with the owners. The owners want more money for themselves. Just like the NFL, the NBA is in a lockout due to the expiration of the collective bar-gaining agreement. When the labor deal ended and the coaches and players didn’t make a new con-tract, the 2011 NBA lockout began. According to ESPN.com with two weeks of the season already cancelled, owners and players “remain very, very far apart on virtually all issues. We just have a gulf that separates us,” said NBA commissioner David Stern. “Despite extensive efforts, we have not been able to reach a new agreement with the players’ union that allows all 30 teams to be able to compete for a champi-onship while fairly compensating our players,” said Adam Silver, the league’s deputy commissioner, according to ESPN.com. Meeting after meeting, the NBA lockout continues to go nowhere. “People need to get in a room and understand what really needs to be done so can continue to grow with the game. That’s where we’ve got to come to an agreement,” said Dwyane Wade, shooting guard for Miami Heat, according to ESPN.com. While the lockout is still at a standstill, many of the players are not. Over 60 NBA players have already signed with countries such as Turkey, Russia, Spain, China, Italy and even Israel. Our own Denver Nuggets starters like JR Smith, Kenyon Martin, Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson are four of those 60+ players. This could mean trouble for the Nuggets if the lock out is undone. Lawson’s contract with Lithuania will allow him to return to the Nuggets when the lockout is over; the same applies to Gal-linari’s contract with Italy. Martin, however, did not get so lucky. On Wednesday, September 21, when Martin signed his contract with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of China, the contract stated that Martin cannot leave China until the season ends in March. “I don’t think that there will be a NBA season this year…. They’re just not getting anything done. I feel like players should just play for free,” said FMHS senior, start-ing center, Drew Bridges. “Either way, the lockout won’t change me as a basketball player because they’re just a lil’ bit better than me so I’ll just keep doing my thing,” said Bridges.

Photo and story by Chuck Bisbee, Reporter

By Courtney Kreidler, Reporter

The Catalyst16Sports

October 2011

There are many new ways to relieve stress. One old way that started in India is still popular to this day: Yoga. “Ithinkit’sdefinitelygoodfor athletics and in relaxing your body and mind,” said senior, Drew Bridges . Jayne Reiber, swim and gym teacher, started practicing Yoga around 12 years ago. It wasn’t until 2003 that her love of this hobby grewintoacertificationto be a yoga instructor.This came just in time as one year later a group of around 40 students requested there be a Yoga class established at Fruita Monument High School. “Yoga is nour-ishing to the body, mind, and spirit, and this fast paced world can use some down time,” said Reiber. Yogahasmanybenefits,includingincreasingflexibilityandcalming down the mind and body. Reiber’s favorite part is “getting

As the cold weather rolls in, girls’ basketball is warming up in prepara-tionforthe2011-2012season.OfficialopengymstartedonTuesday,September22.

“We’ve just been ballin’ it up e’ry Tuesday and Thursday after school. Opengymisn’treallyanofficialpractice,justachanceforustogetbackintothe swing of b-ball and warm up for try outs,” said senior starting wing, Allison Burenhide. The lady Wildcats lost starting posts Taylor Johnson and Kala Utu as both graduated from Fruita at the end of the 2010 season.“Taylor was a stud at basketball and she contributed a lot to our team. I still think will be just as good this year. We have a lot of freshman,” said Burenhide. According to maxpreps.com the Lady Cats ended the 2010-2011 season with a record of 8 and 3. Fruita’s boys’ basketball team ended their 2010-2011 season undefeated in league for the sec-ond year in a row, making their league record 22-0.The boys’ basketball team was the SWL champions once again and made it as far as the sweet 16 last year. “The school and students don’t even recognize our wins nearly as much as they do for the boys; it’s really frustrating,” said Burenhide. Despite playing under the boys’ shadow, Burenhide and the Lady Wildcats still have their stan-dards set high for the upcoming season. “OurgoalsaretowinSWLandbeatJunction.I’mprettyconfidentwe will be able to make both of those goals happen. Open gym has been going really well. All the girls are great players, and we all are ready to step it up this year and kick some butt!” said Burenhide.

Open gym: Open for business

A bendy way to beat the blues

students out of a competitive mind-set.” Although there are many different types of poses, Livestrong.com announced their top three yogaposes.ThefirstistheCorpse,which consists of laying on one’s back with legs shoulder width apart and arms away from body so air can pass through. Child’s pose is

performed by kneel-ingonthefloorwithyour shins and feet on the ground and leaning over so that your chest is against your knees and your forehead is on the floor.Finally,theEasy Pose involves sittingonfloorwithwidened, crossing legs and feet below, a lengthening of

one’s neck and lightly tucking in your chin. Manyhealthbenefitscomefrom this hobby. Yoga can reduce stress by drawing focus elsewhere. Itcanalsoincreasefitnessbyadd-ingnewflexibilitysosportsand

activities become easier. It can help manage chronic health conditions such as pain, depression and anxi-ety. Weight loss can also occur be-cause of wanting to make healthier choices and wanting to gain control of eating habits. There are 5 main leaders: President Drew Bridges, Vice Presi-dentMattScofield,HistorianLizTomaschko, Treasurer Holli Heath and Secretary Cade Chapin. Along with other members of the group, they meet every Thursday for about an hour and every Saturday for around 1 ½ hours. Every 4th Thurs-day of each month, they practice on the deck during lunch. All other Thursday’s, the club practices in the Court Yard during lunch, no matter the weather. Whether you want to join this club to further your Yoga expe-rience or do it just for the fun and relaxation that it brings, anyone is welcome to join. “Anyone can do yoga, you just have to try it,” said, sophomore, Megan Volkmann.

“Yoga is nour-ishing to the

body, mind, and spirit, and this

fast paced world can use some down time.”

“We’ve just been bal-

lin’ it up e’ry Tuesday and

Thursday after school”

Photo and story by Courtney Kreidler, Reporter

Photo and story by Amy Lindbo, Reporter

Allison Burenheide, senior, lounges on the FMHS gym floor where open gyms are held.

Sutter Davies, sophmore, meditates to relax her mind before performing some yoga in

the court yard.


Sports

Drifting through the halls, skidding on each and every turn was my experience in a wheelchair for the first few weeks of school. Even though being handicapped had its ups; it also had its downs. Being in a wheelchair, you can get out of class early, you can get closer park-ing and you can even go through the halls and get help from your fellow high schoolers. But it’s not always like that. Sometimes no one is there to help open the door, and you can’t always get R&R parking. The bad news about our ac-cessibility for handicapped people at our school is a very long list; com-pared to the good things you’d think we’d need remodeling. One of the things that bothered me the most is how we have handicapped buttons on doors, but they don’t usually work. Every time I go through doors with the button on the side, I have a budding hope that it might actually open. But when it doesn’t budge, it makes me think the door is mocking me, “Ha, try to get that open!” In the end I learned to open a door by my-self. Another thing that I found out is that we have only two handi-cap ac-cessible bathrooms, and one is in the nurse’s office. How are we supposed to get to class and have a bathroom break without there being a line like a drive through? Some of the other prob-lems with the wheelchairs are their

incapabilities to fit in certain areas. An example is how much space takers these things are in Mrs. Van-house’s office. My chair can barely fit through the door to my Spanish classroom door; I almost scrape off my hands . Sometimes I laugh at myself for my biggest obstacle, and that would be uneven asphalt and concrete. The concrete sidewalk out-side of Mrs. Herman’s classroom is the hardest to bypass, because of its slope towards middle of the path; my wheelchair wants to act like a snow-board in a half pipe . Based on my experience, I hope that no one else has to go through what I did. It hurts to sit down for 8 hours per day. Why people think it’s cool to be in a wheelchair all day, I do not know. From experience it’s like waking up on the wrong side of the bed; your arms hurt after one day, you have skid marks on yours hands. Sooner or later you’re waiting to kill the wheelchair. Improving our school in a way that everyone is able to use it is an idea that I would suggest for FMHS. Some of these improve-ments will be costly, but what is a school without students? And what is a school without accessibility for its students? It’s better to be prepared before the disaster than after it.

Hell on wheels

Handicapped access at Fruita is investigated, with some crippling findings

When I think of Hallow-een costumes, my mind fills with Tinker bells, Spider men, witches, ghouls, and when you’re older, maybe the occasional “Snookie” Or “Octomom”. Now is it just me, or are our Halloween costumes getting more and more unusual as time goes on? Even in my own family, the costumes have become more elaborate. My sister made her own Mr. Potato head costume out of felt and Velcro. Last year, I even witnessed an inflatable sumo wrestler. This is just the beginning. Let’s take a closer look into the student body here at Fruita Monu-ment to hear of your own unusual experiences. “The weirdest costume I’ve ever worn was a stripper. I even wore my mom’s high heels,” said Skyler Confer, senior. The weirdest costume Confer had ever seen was a “grown man dressed as a baby. He looked like he was in his 40’s.” Confer’s plans for this Halloween are to “dress like a gladiator or Spartan.” This isn’t the end of the odd costumes students have wit-nessed, or worn. Dakota Detwiler, Evan Zeck, and Dylan Daggers, sophomores, dressed as dice last year for Halloween. “I saw a guy dressed up as a girl,” he claimed. “It was scary because it looked real! He was probably about 18,” said Austin Dolan, senior. Dolan plans to be Squirt from Finding Nemo this year for Halloween. The weirdest costume Ryan Marshall, sophomore, has worn is a lion. The weirdest costume Marshall had ever seen is a giant Teletubbie.

“Chance Hanson, Terick Wilkerson, and Cody Sanford all dressed up as Teletubbies last year for Hallow-een,” said Marshall. I had a hunch that there was a story behind these boys’ costume choice, so I interviewed Hanson himself. The first question that popped into my brain was why Teletubbies? “I really have a true connection with the Teletubbies. They’re the best,” said Hanson. Somehow I get the feel-ing he didn’t mind dressing as this unusual child character. “Of course I would wear it again,

it really fits my personality,” said Hanson. After hearing this interest-ing information, I think I’d better get started on my Halloween ideas this year, and I suggest you do the same! There’s some hefty competi-tion for most original, so get the creative juices flowing. And don’t forget to keep an eye out for random men dressed as babies, or strippers wearing their mom’s heels… ap-parently they’re everywhere on the 31st.

Hauntingly

creative costumes

Javen Naranjo ,senior, shows off his “creative” costume

Story and photo by Lauren Dawson, Reporter

Story and photo by Rachel Bigum, Reporter

The Catalyst 18Commentary

October 2011

Medical marijuana dispen-saries have become a burning issue throughout Colorado. The next target of this wave of ignorance: Palisade. There is a single dis-pensary located in all of Palisade and Clifton: Colorado Alternative Health, owned by Jesse and Desa Loughman. They have around 300 clients and have had to refuse walk-ins. Their establishment has been in the community for two years, and according to Jesse Loughman, they’ve had few complaints from townspeople. However, their busi-ness is at risk of being forcibly shut down. Referred Measures 2A and 2B have landed themselves on Palisade’s November ballot. 2A, if passed, requires a five dollar tax on any purchase from the dispensary. With 2B, voters will determine if the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries is unlawful or not. This doesn’t just ensure the termination of Colorado Alternative Health, but it also means that the hundreds of Palisade and Clifton residents that have a medical reliance on the shop will go without their treatments. Diane Cox, along with

the group Safe and Healthy Mesa County are the motivating force behind 2A and 2B. They began their crusade against pot shops with a petition, which progressed to a con-troversial voter issue. Their concern is that dispensaries like Alternative Health encourage drug use in the community and increase circula-tion of drugs. Apprehensions about dispensaries putting crime rate on the rise have also been voiced. To put this in the most tasteful way possible, this is lu-dicrous. People are going to find a way to seek marijuana even if Alternative Health is shut down, and this will probably mean doing so in illegal ways. Take a look at how Prohibition and anti-abortion laws worked out. The public will find a way to get what they need; history supports this point. Making cannabis even more unattainable is only going to blow up the issue more, and perhaps even heighten the crime rate. Being against the shut-down of dispensaries is not the equivalent of snubbing regulation of marijuana distribution. Of course the selling of medical cannabis should be regulated, and obviously

the number of pot shops located in an area shouldn’t exceed a certain amount. Marijuana is still a drug, no matter the use, and there are as many dangers accompanying it. That being said, cigarettes, alcohol, sex, fried chicken and television are addictive and all have negative consequences. Are we going to close down KFC or maul down Marlboro next? Marijuana dispensaries are an easy target for extremists, and misinformation has tainted many Coloradans. The stereotype of walk-in druggies getting their fix is preposterous and misleading. Colorado Alternative Health does appointment only transactions with specified patients, and oftentimes clients are in a state of health that requires the use of medical mari-juana. Yet, Palisade may rob itself of this valuable establishment.Though Measure 2A could poten-tially boost Palisade’s economy, as the benefits from the tax would go directly to the town, an altogether closure of the dispensary would be unprofitable and wrong. Misin-formation on the issue is clouding Colorado, and Palisade livelihoods now hang in the balance.

2B OR NOT 2B: pot-roversy hits November ballot

The fate of Colorado Alternative Health is up to Palisade voters.

Story and photo by Kaitlin Lewis, Commentary Editor

Dear Orange and Black,

A letter from the Editors

Classy: Of high class, rank or grade; stylish; admirably smart; elegant. The above definition sums up class, my good friends at the Orange and Black, something that has obviously been… misinter-preted. The Editors at The Catalyst and some FMHS students read the editorial entitled, “Everyone wants to be a Tiger.” There are just a few discrepancies to be voiced. First of all, everyone does not want to be a part of GJHS. Due to school of choice, many of us could have been a Tiger if there was a desire to, but instead the much more tasteful route of being a Wildcat was chosen. We eat tiger meat…for a reason. Concerning the Fruita students who dressed up as less than refined Junction students: that may not have been the classiest of things to do, but since when can Junction not take a joke? Students from Junc-tion High reported the Facebook pictures of the Fruita girls dressed up to the FMHS and the GJHS ad-ministration. This has resulted in the girls not being able to play in their sports and not being allowed to go near Grand Junction High School. They have been disallowed from school dances as well. The exces-sive pride of Junction has in turn hurt others and enforced unneces-sary punishment. If recalled correctly, Junction has pulled similar stunts. Awhile back, a few girls dressed up as pregnant FMHS Poms girls. It seems to us that pregnant stu-dents are a far more serious issue to

joke about. In recent history, your student body doused elk urine on our side of the bleachers during the rivalry game via water balloons. That’s about one of the LEAST classy things someone could do. We at FMHS have found it increasingly hard to keep our cool demeanor when Junction puts, “Kill Fruita” at the top of the, “Top Ten things on a Tiger’s mind,” in the paper. It may as well be called a hit list. One could argue that it’s just extreme school spirit being expressed, but Fruita Monument seems to be better at finding an appropriate balance between spirit and class. We find that we don’t have to shove our dedication in other schools’ faces, nor do we have to print violent messages. We have Fruita pride and we don’t have to destroy others to exemplify it. The Catalyst tries to run the best paper possible, report-ing both truth and opinion, but we never allow defamation to ruin the pages of our student run newspaper. If it isn’t too much to ask, please edit your paper in such a way that it doesn’t put down other schools through disparagement. As far as age is concerned, we are all high school students, and it is about time we start acting the part; cease the disrespect. So, the next time it is decided to bring Fruita down by claiming that Junction so much “classier” than us, take a minute to think about your own history.

XOXO,The Editors of The Catalyst

The editors of The Catalyst express their love for GJHS.


Commentary

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The Catalyst 20Commentary

October 2011

Drama Club

Be There! See Ms. Johnson for details.

Commentary20

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Issue #2: Phobias

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