APRIL 1, 2011 VOLUME IV ISSUE 7 DEXTER HIGH SCHOOL 2200 N. PARKER ROAD DEXTER, MI 48130

theRostrum

Spring Break: Getting Healthy and Staying Safe

In the spread

Vegetarianism can be a healthy option

Spring Break safety

Spring break is a time to get away from

school and have a good time with friends. But safety is extremely

important on spring break and you can have a fun and safe spring

break if you remember these handy tips. •If you’re going to a tropical location,

it’s important to beware of the sun. Make sure to use plenty of sun screen that has an

SPF of at least 15 and stay hydrated. Sunscreen only lasts for around two hours so reapply

accordingly. It’s also very important to protect eyes.

•When buying sunglasses, make sure they block 100 percent of UV rays.

•Water safety is also very important on spring break. Whether it’s swimming in the pool or boating in the ocean, there are important things to remember to be safe. When boating, it is imperative to wear a life jacket. According to the Center for Disease Control, 90 percent of people who die from boating related incidents were not wearing a life jacket at the time.

•When swimming in the pool, never swim alone if there is no life guard on duty. It’s also important to stay away from alcohol this spring break.

•Drinking puts a person more at risk for injuries, dehydration, sun poisoning, sexually transmitted diseases and drowning. In addition, women are more likely than

m e n to be s e x u a l l y assaulted so if you are a female, you need to be extra careful.

•If you’re going out of the country it’s important to check and see if you need any special vaccines before you go.

If you want to know any more safety tips or want to know more about any of these you can find this information at www.cdc.gov.

Because eating animals seemed cruel to her, junior Carly Cash has

decided to become a vegetarian.And since she also wanted to help

spread the gospel of her diet to others, she helped form the VVOW Club.

The VVOW Club (Vegetarians, Vegans, Or Whatever) exists to inform people that meat

isn’t the only option available to students, Cash said.

“Would you eat your dog?” Cash asked to illustrate the point that

she thinks people don’t respect farm animals because they’re

not pets.But the catalyst for

her change was PETA, Cash said. Short for People for the Ethical

Treatment of Animals, PETA is a group, which among other things, encourages people to realize that eating meat isn’t a requirement for good nutrition.

Director of Food and Nutrition Services Sara Simmerman doesn’t necessarily agree.

“I don’t agree with PETA on many levels, especially when their methods are the opposite of what they are advocating for animals,” she said. “What about places where there is a short or almost non-existent growing season? What would people who exist in those areas eat during the very long winter months? Saving animals should not be about starving people.”

But in some ways vegetarianism can add safety to a person’s diet according to Food Service Manager Lorraine Bienko. Bienko said there are fewer pesticides involved in a vegetarian lifestyle, since a lot of the food is organic. This also means that the food is generally grown in healthier soil.

“As with any diet, eating the same foods every day will cause health problems, but if people have a varied diet there won’t be any serious problems,” Bienko said.

And Simmerman agrees, adding since many environmentalists believe large-scale meat/poultry

production is environmentally unsustainable, people have switched to a lifestyle without meat.

The amount of land required to raise and feed livestock could be much more efficiently used to grow fruits and vegetables, Simmerman said. And the fact that vegetarianism can be a less expensive lifestyle choice appeals to Cash.

Since foods such as rice and beans are staples of a vegetarian diet, overall cost can go down. Organic foods are typically more expensive than average, so it raises the budget back up again, but not enough to equal the lack of meat, Cash said.

So when it comes to cafeteria choices, what should a vegetarian student do? According to Cash, the cafeteria serves sunflower butter sandwiches, along with other meat-free foods like pizza and salads, all of which are healthy choices. “I actually feel a lot better being on a vegan diet,” Cash said. “It’s almost impossible for me to get fat.”

Bienko says she invites all vegetarians to drop by the cafeteria and give the staff feedback on the vegetarian options and bring in recipes. She said, “We like to listen to listen to all students. All students have a voice. All students have value.”

Staying healthy entails a lot of different actions from people according to PE teacher Angie Scott. “Nutrition and exercise are the two that are most important to a lot of people,” Scott said.

And while eating right and working out frequently are widely regarded as the best ways to stay healthy, this can be a lot harder to do these things than most people imagine.

Eating right may sound simple enough, but executing this is a lot more difficult. “Diets aren’t enough,” Scott said. “A lot of people commit themselves to diets, and they cheat. There are a lot of ways to remedy this, and one of the most important ways is preparation. Pre-slicing vegetables and making snacks before you leave can be very helpful.”

This difficulty in staying healthy is partly due to the convenience of unhealthy food. It’s easy to stop at McDonald’s and buy a McDouble and a McChicken for $2.

However, within these two small sandwiches alone there are 750 calories (390 in the McDouble and 360 in the McChicken) according to the McDonald’s menu.

Instead, it’s just as easy to stop at Subway, which just surpassed

McDonald’s as the largest food chain in the world. At Subway the pricing is competitive. It is $5 for a footlong sub or about $3 for a six inch sub.

Among these healthier-than-burger subs are the Black Forest Ham, which has 219 calories, an Oven Roasted Chicken or a Roast Beef, which both have 233 calories, all according to Subway’s menu.

Exercise is another essential way to keep in shape. Every year on Jan. 2, fitness clubs are flooded with new members.

According to About.com, one of the most common New Year’s Resolutions is to lose weight and be more active.

However, one doesn’t need to spend hundreds of dollars for a membership at the gym to work out and lose weight.

“There’s so much you can do at your home,” Scott said. “Push-ups, crunches, jumping jacks, these are all great workouts that cost nothing. It’s also not difficult to get out and run. I don’t believe in distance when

i t comes to running, I believe in time,” Scott said. “To someone who’s still out of shape and trying to get into running, I would say run out and back about five minutes, 10 minutes total. Then, after this is done four or five times, start increasing time by a minute at a time. Ideally I would say you could get to 10 minutes out and 10 minutes back. That’s why we do the 20-minute jog here in physical education, because fitness is so important in this country.”

2 the spreadFriday, April 1, 2010 3the spread

Friday, April 1, 2010

Ray CarpenterCopy Editor

Kevin Skiver

News Editor

Nicole MinzeyEntertainment Editor

Focus on health and

safety

Photos by Bethany Martini, Merve Oztoprak and Claire Berger

Food and fitness: it's easy to stay healthy

4 uPageFriday, April 1, 2011

Q- Hey, Senora. What’s up?A- No Comprendo. Repite, por favor.

Q-What?A-No comprendo. Repite, por favor.

Q- Uh, no? ... So what do you think of Zorro?A- Do you mean cousin Antonio? He was a handful growing up. Grandma got so fed up with him ruining the walls and curtains with all those silly Zs.

Q- Hmm. Indeed. So is it true you used to be a famous singer/dancer back in Spain, then did something unforgiveable, and that’s why you now teach at Dexter High School?A- Ahhh! What a life that was! But then it just got too crazy with the paparazzi hounding me constantly.

Q- So what actually brought you to Dexter?A- Well ... I knew they would never find me here. You are not selling this interview, are you?

Q- If Dexter were to start a war with Spain right now, what would you do and where would you go?A- Let me think. The Dreadnaughts against the Spanish Armada. That’s just preposterous, young man.

Q- How is life different in Dexter than it was in Spain?A- If I told you the truth, the mystique of Spain would be lost forever, which is the only reason the students are willing to put up with the subjunctive mood. Well, the other reason is “Destinos” on Friday.

Q-How much do you make fun of your students at home for their poor accents?A- Why wait until I get home? Please, repeat after me, “Tres tristes tigres comen trigo en un trigal.” and ... let the fun begin.

Q-I hear you are a professional bracketologist. Who do you think will win March Madness and why?A-Your sources, for once, are mistaken. My forte is actually April Insanity, the world-famous Canadian Collegiate Curling Competitions.

Q- OK, let’s sum this up. Fergie or Shaq? Go.A- Are you suggesting Puercoespín, my all-time favorite source of entertainment has competitors now? I’m devastated.

&QATucker Whitley

sports editor

Tucker WhitleySports Editor

5X5I’m not really sure.

Hail yeah. Oh yeah. Momma Mabry is hella foine.

Sure ... OK fine yes.

Hail nah. This is all me.

Sidewalk?

She hasn’t told anybody that she is actually a man.

I would tell you. But then I would have to kill you.

I don’t know what to say to this.

Did It hurt when you fell from heaven?

Are you busy tonight at 3 a.m.?

A hillbilly at Wal-Mart once said, “Cheer-leaders are always purty like yourself.”

Do you know how much a polar bear weighs? Enough to break the ice. Hi, I’m Megan.

Reggie Bush once said, “Hi, I’m Reggie Bush.”

My boyfriend, Cameron Winston.

An English teacher

Jake Gross ... Anthony Mai-sano.

Reggie Bush.

Two. I’m gonna go with blue because I like pancakes.

What? You can’t just ask me that with no warn-ing.

I don’t know, but you’ll need two scales for my sister, Khloe.

Did you, in fact, get it from your momma?

What secret does Victoria actually have?

What is the best pick-up line you have ever heard?

Who was your last text message to?

On a scale of one to seven, what is your favorite color in the alphabet?

Mik

ayla

Sm

ith

(9)

Oliv

iaD

usac

k (1

0)

Mel

issa

Mab

ry (1

1)

Meg

an

Rade

mak

er (1

2)

Kim

Kar

dash

ian

I don’t know. It’s a secret.

Entering high school, there was one piece of advice I received consistently from almost every upperclassman I talked to: get on Connie’s good side.

As an upcoming freshman, Paraprofessional Connie Agostini was painted in my mind as a ruthless dictator who wouldn’t think twice before executing the entire cast of Bambi. Looking back now, I never actually saw Connie perform such a ruthless act, but I can see where the dictator comparisons were coming from.

After hours of research, and multiple sleepless nights, I have compiled a list of similarities between USSR Dictator Joseph Sta-lin and our very own Connie.

Joseph Stalin was one of the worst dictators in the world’s his-tory, responsible for bringing terror upon the people of the USSR under his communist regime and taking responsibility for over 20 million deaths over the time of his rule.

As you can already see, there are some obvious similarities be-

tween the two. Throughout his rule, Stalin vastly increased the scope and power of his state police and intelligence agencies.

With the installation of hundreds of new security cameras, Connie is not being very discreet about this blatant increase in intelligence agencies. This allows her to keep the entire school under a microscope, ready to punish any unruly child.

The Great Purge was a giant campaign orchestrated by Stalin 1936-1938. During this time anyone considered undesirable to the government in power began disappearing or being assassi-nated.

With that being said, anyone who has ever lived through a pe-riod of detention with Connie knows that this is comparable to a modern day labor camp. The pain and agony one goes through during detention many would consider worse than being assas-sinated.

The famine in the Soviet Union was responsible for some-where between 5 to 10 million deaths during Stalin’s rule.

Connie has contributed to the famine of tasty, nourishing fast food by enforcing the closed campus rule. By subjecting students to eating nothing but cafeteria food, Connie is responsible for the growing trend of the malnourished kids, who have eaten noth-ing but cafeteria spicy chicken sandwiches daily for the last four years.

In conclusion, Connie Agostini is obviously just a reincarna-tion of Joseph Stalin.

As a journalist, I feel it is my job to bring this to attention to the administration. Learn from the past. Do something before it’s too late.

Marshall KellenbergeruPage editor

with Senora Vazquez-Brieva