The Viking Press - February 2012

Kinston may not

be known by

many people in

the United States, yet

Ashlee Altise brought

the small-town city in

Lenoir County plenty

of national attention

on Jan. 18.

Altise took many

in town by surprise

when she appeared on

the season première of

the popular television

show American Idol.

Altise auditioned

ago but was contractu-

ally bound to keep her

fate a secret until the

show aired, which was

no easy task.

“The auditions start-

ed in the summertime,

but a privacy contract

prevented me from

telling anyone I had

made it,” Altise said.

Accompanied by

a childhood friend,

Altise traveled to

Charleston, S.C., to try

-

stop on the road to the

actual audition that

appeared on TV be-

fore the American Idol

judges.

This was not Altise’s

it to Hollywood. Altise

auditioned in 2004 and

again in 2007, but this

has made it to the ce-

lebrity judges.

“I was really shocked

that I had made it that

far,” Altise said. “I had

previously tried out

and I didn’t get past the

Altise had been into

music since she was 5

years old and actually

got her start in danc-

ing, not singing.

“I started out dancing

but I found my voice

by the age of 8 when

my father bought me

-

chine,” she said.

Altise’s dancing skills

came in handy at her

American Idol audi-

tion, however, as she

introduced Kinston

and the rest of the

world to a new dance

now known as the

“joy-hop.”

“It started out as me

house,” Altise said,

“and now it is bigger

than I ever imagined.”

Altise said she was

shocked when she saw

how many people had

uploaded their own at-

tempts at the joy-hop

onto YouTube.

Altise is one of 42

contestants who will

continue on to Hol-

lywood with their

“golden tickets,” but

the world will have

to wait to see how far

she makes it when

the show returns this

spring.

“I am just excited and

happy that everything

is going the way it

is,” Altise said, “about

everyone loving the

dance and about bring-

ing joy into people’s

homes.”

www.thevikingpress.com

Kinston High’s student newspaper2601 N. Queen St., Kinston, N.C.

Volume 4, Issue 5 February 2012

Kinston native appears on American Idol

(Charles Buchanan // Courtesy of The Free Press)

Kinston’s Ashlee Altise poses at home for a picture during her Free Press interview.

By RESITA COXEditor-in-Chief

Kinston Idol

Students and teachers at Kin-

ston High School are looking to

Pride: pride in the school, the

community and the environ-

ment.

Starting this month, class-

rooms will have a designated

area for unwanted paper. In-

stead of tossing handouts and

scrap paper in the trash, stu-

dents and teachers will be asked

to recycle this paper. The goal

of the project is to reduce waste

and make a positive impact on

the environment.

These operations will be run

by Kinston High’s Environmen-

tal Awareness club, also known

-

dents and teachers will volun-

teer their time each week to

By ANNA HILLBusiness Manager

Project invokes Green Pride

See “Project Green Pride” pg. 4

This new semester, like always, calls for new

classes and teachers to get used to for students.

Now, there is also a new bell schedule.

According to Principal Angela Bryant, the re-

mediation bell schedule was not working out in

the theory it was implemented. Both teacher and

-

With all that is needed to be learned in class, it

within that short period of time. Teachers needed

that regular time back during the day. The change

added to every class period.

Although the previous remediation schedule

did not work out, administrators and teachers

will work together to determine how best to im-

plement remediation during the school day, Bry-

ant said.

Another change to the school day is that cred-

it recovery is now being offered during school

hours. Credit recovery is still after school on

Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursday as usual but is

now also an actual class period during the day.

Credit recovery during the day, according to

missing more than one credit and need to make

up credit in more than one class.

There were a number of seniors who would not

have met the requirements in time to graduate if

not for credit recovery being offered during regu-

lar school hours in addition to after school, she

said.

Spacing was also an issue, as too many students

were enrolled, and the school would have had

problems accomodating everyone after school.

Remediation scrapped for new bell scheduleBy KHADIJAH THORNEStaff Writer

KHS students participate in National Signing Day

See story on pg. 12

(Staff photo // The Viking Press)

Seniors Angelo Keyes, CJ Bradshaw and Sha-heed Swinson (left to right) pose shortly after signing to play college football.

Editorial2 - The Viking Press - February 2012 www.thevikingpress.com

Black History should get the attention it deserves all year, not just in February

OUR TAKE

The Viking Press, for the purpose of allowing the voices of all students to be heard, be-lieves in complete, unbiased reporting and strives for hon-est, open dialogue in the KHS community.

Mission Statement

Editor-in-ChiefResita CoxCo-EditorTommy TsaoNews EditorHayley VermillionSports EditorKyle BrownFeature EditorKenneth GeorgeEntertainment EditorMalasya GrajalesOpinion Editor

Business ManagerAnna HillCopy EditorsMegan ToweryAnniken WilliamsReportersAkyra AllenTim HargettDaquante JonesAngelo Keyes

AdviserMichael Moon

Viking Press Staff

The Viking Press2601 N. Queen St. / Kinston N.C. 28501

The Viking Press is the award-winning student publi-cation of Kinston High School and is published entirely by KHS students as a public fo-rum.Opinions expressed in The

Viking Press are solely those of the writer whose byline ap-pears above each story.Unsigned editorials represent

the majority opinion of The Vi-king Press staff as a whole and

views or opinions of any Lenoir County Schools employees.Some material courtesy of

American Society of Newspa-per Editors/MCT Campus High School Newspaper Service.

Letters welcomeThe Viking Press welcomes

letters to the editor. Submis-sions must be 300 words or less and must be signed by the au-thor. The Viking Press reserves the

right to edit letters for content and length.

On the WebFind us online at theviking-

press.com or follow us on Fa-cebook and Twitter at twitter.com/thevikingpress.

(Illustration by senior Kris Williams) Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and staff cartoonist Kris Williams wanted to call attention to the love birds

around campus.

February is full of love songs and love letters, yet it seems as though other events within the month may have taken focus off of what the month of February is as a whole: Black History Month.Back in our elementary

school days we would spend this month learning about

culture and perhaps partici-pate in a play about Mar-tin Luther King Jr. or Rosa Parks. Yet it seems in our high school days we barely acknowledge the month at all. As we mature and our focus begins to shift toward other things, it leads us to question if Black History Month is losing its relevance.The topic can be viewed

as a very controversial issue.

Should schools be held re-sponsible for educating kids on their culture?With Kinston High hav-

ing a predominantly black student population, it seems as though the month would be more heavily celebrated here, but that is not the case.With focus taken away

from it within our school, it can be easily said that the month simply does not mean what it used to.Perhaps it is our genera-

tion. Older people who ac-tually lived through some of the history that is celebrated may take the month more seriously. But as teenagers who are more concerned with the latest trending top-ics on Twitter or the new-est updates on Faceboook, it

within the month.It’s not a pretty concept,

and it may not be true for all of us, but as a majority, Black History Month was played out the moment we complet-ed elementary school and turned in our crayons.It seems African-American

culture does not have as big of a presence in our school as it should have, especially with the “water-fountain prank” that was pulled at the beginning of the school year when a student wrote “White” above one drink-ing fountain and “Colored” above another.With things like that still

happening, it shows that we all need to take some time and realize where we came

from. That message isn’t exclu-

sively for black students. All races at Kinston High need to realize that there was a time when we were not all allowed in the same build-ing. History has brought us a long way, but we can’t forget the lessons those who came before us learned.This Black History Month

should be marked as the start of us teenagers changing our focus and recognizing where we came from.We fail to realize that

Twitter and Facebook will soon fade just as Myspace and Tagged did long ago, but the one thing that will always be the same is our rich history. This is where our primary

interest should lie.

Opinionwww.thevikingpress.com 3 - The Viking Press - February 2012

Need for 24/7 news leads to mistakes

Last year, it was plank-

ing. Now we have the cin-

namon challenge.

Recently teens have been

uploading videos of them-

selves on Facebook and

Youtube attempting to do

this challenge. Mostly the

videos are of people failing

this challenge and making

others want to attempt it.

One of the reasons why

this trend might be spread-

ing so fast is because it gives

a nice laugh to the viewers.

The cinnamon challenge

is when someone takes a

teaspoon of cinnamon and

attempts to swallow it.

Thinking of the dryness

of cinnamon should make

anyone want to turn down

this challenge, but that’s

why it’s a challenge. The

strong smell of pure cinna-

mon would also be a deter-

rent to anyone attempting

to try it.

I was one of those view-

ers who saw other people

doing the cinnamon chal-

lenge and thought to my-

self, “It can’t be that hard.”

I attempted this chal-

lenge thinking that I would

be one of the few that

would beat it.

I was wrong.

The strong smell of cin-

namon made me think

twice about going through

with the challenge. I ner-

vously continued, try-

ing not to think too much

about it.

I put the teaspoon of cin-

namon in my mouth and

felt all of the saliva dry up.

When I attempted to swal-

low it, the cinnamon was

too dry and it made me

cough.

I failed along with all the

others who have tried this

challenge.

I would say try at your

own risk because cinna-

mon is extremely dry.

The world is now a place of

want their media, and they

want it now.

With the Internet being

the in the palms of peoples’

hands, the media has had to

adapt to accommodate the

high speeds of modern infor-

mation exchange.

It is so easy to update the

masses through websites and

mobile applications, such as

Twitter or Facebook. The

ability to spread information

so instantly has caused dead-

lines for news organizations

to shrink from ‘that night’ to

‘right now.’

Media sites are now less

in competition for a better

story, but rather in competi-

tion for getting the story out

there the fastest.

Late last month, former

was in the midst of a scandal

when he passed, but that is

not the focus here.

through Twitter and Face-

the night before.

Many people took this as

had been a reputable source

in the past, but in this case,

-

ed his death prematurely.

-

student newspaper, as an un-

attributed source. Onward

-

ports, later retracted their

story.

-

ing shortly after the false re-

ports.

-

nalism class at school that

great accountability. We do

not report things without

can attribute in our articles

and columns.

made a simple mistake and

this one incident should not

take away too much of their

standing reputation. They

apologized for their errone-

ous report and that should be

enough, right?

It is always going to be a

competitive world, and right

for media outlets means be-

The general public looks to

these big news corporations,

-

es that that they can always

believe.

There needs to be a change

in how things run in the me-

dia right now, and that needs

to be substance over timeli-

ness.

Tidbits with

Tommy Tsao

By TIM HARGETTSta! Writer

Students take on cinnamon

challenge

What is love?

Love is something that

everyone wants but is

too often saved for spe-

cial occasions.

When I talk about

showing love, I’m not

referring to the tacky

“Showing Love” post

on a friend’s Facebook

wall. That takes no effort

whatsoever.

When you really love

someone it’s nice to go

out on a limb and show

some appreciation.

But that seems to hap-

pen only on Valentine’s

Day, birthday’s, Christ-

mas, Mother’s Day and

other special times of

year.

Here, we’ll talk

about four ways

you can show

different kinds

of love all year,

regardless of

the occasion.

Why not give them a break?

Show how much you

appreciate them with

a hand-made

card this

Feb. 14.

A spontaneous

“Just because it’s

Wednesday” card will

really make your

his or her

day.

Relationship

Parental LoveKind Words

with

Khadijah

Thorne

“I show my friends love

by always being there

for them when

they need me.”

“Whenever my sister is

hungry I would buy or

cook her some food

because she is

pregnant and I

know she

must eat.”

Being supportive in

their decisions, and be-

ing their shoulder to lean

on during controversy.

Junior Briana Murrell

Friend Love When you see a friend

down offer a good

laugh or just your com-

pany.

Kinston leaders plan citywide revitalization project

Kinston needs some addi-tion through subtraction, ac-cording to Kinston City Man-ager Tony Sears. Many citizens, along with

the city of Kinston, are plan-ning to accomplish just that later this year.There are many uninhab-

itable, abandoned houses in the city that are simply wasting space. This isn’t the only problem that arises from these buildings. The average value of a home in Kinston is nearly $50,000 less than the state’s average value. This is due in large part to the dilapi-dated structures in our area, and negatively affects Kin-ston’s housing market, Sears said.Some feel less safe because

these abandoned homes are easy accessed for illegal activ-ities. And the unsightliness makes many citizens feel less proud of their city as a whole.By working together, the

city and its citizens want to change this. The most notice-able plan is redevelopment. After deciding on an area of

Project Green Pridefrom Page One

collect all the recyclables and take them to a dump site to be reused.“We just all have to par-

ticipate in this to make it work,” teacher adviser Jodi Maxey said. “These kids are donating their time and hard work, and if we all work together then there will be less of a burden and everyone will get much more out of this.”Students involved in this

club aren’t the only ones trying to make our campus somewhere to be proud of. The Environmental

Awareness Club plans to team up with the teacher

and SGA (Student Gov-ernment Association) on a courtyard project later this year. By pulling their resources

and working together, the coalition hopes to make our grounds somewhere people will enjoy spending time and will represent our school well.

By ANNA HILLBusiness Manager

News4 - The Viking Press - February 2012 www.thevikingpress.com

BUY TWO

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Kinston, it will be mapped out and with the input of citi-

a plan to better the area.“The redevelopment pro-

cess is all about people in the area,” Community Develop-ment Planner Adam Short said. “It’s not what the city staff thinks is best, but the public aspect that makes proj-ects like this a success.”Though community mem-

bers need to be involved for the process to truly work, the city says they need to rework some of their own policies to be more appropriate for the

problems we face today.“We’re looking at updat-

ing several codes,” Short said. “For example, our abandoned residences code only applies to commercial establishments so right now if people had a problem with an abandoned residence it would be a lot

something about it.”No decisions will be made

for a few months, but when they are, Kinston and many of its people are looking for-ward to seeing the changes.

(Megan Towery // The Viking Press)

This house on Vernon Avenue near Olympian was severely damaged during Hurricane Irene. City leaders would like to see such properties repaired as part of a Kinston revitalization project.

Newswww.thevikingpress.com 5 - The Viking Press - February 2012

Copy Editor

In a rigorous competition

for a full scholarship to one

of the most highly acclaimed

universities in North Caroli-

na, one Kinston High School

student is a step away from

receiving this exceptional

honor.

Tommy Tsao, a senior at

the Morehead-Cain Scholar-

ship which is the most im-

pressive scholarship the Uni-

versity of North Carolina at

Chapel-Hill has to offer.

round, approximately 7 per-

cent of the contenders are

Two interview sessions are

conducted in order to prop-

erly slim down the number

of students who will emerge

successful and move on to

The pool of 125 student

roughly 55, and these can-

didates who are chosen will

receive the scholarship.

Tsao brought the unique-

ness and passion that he en-

compassed outside of school

to the interview and the

judges seemed to appreciate

that.

“The interviewers wanted

to get to know me as an in-

dividual candidate, not a stu-

dent,” Tsao said.

As for his future plans,

Tsao wants to pursue his

dream of working in an area

of media, but not necessarily

journalism. He said he would

love to go into the entertain-

ment area of media -- more

-

duction.

Having such an undeniable

vision of what he wants to do

later in life helped him out in

the interviewing process.

“The interviewers were

from the school of journalism

so they seemed very inter-

ested in my application and

my passion for media,” said

Tsao, co-editor of Kinston

High School’s student news-

paper, The Viking Press.

Now that Tsao has made it

must reside at UNC from Feb.

25-28. During this time, he

will learn more about what

is included in the scholarship

while getting to know the

have to undergo another set

of interviews while at UNC.

“If they go as well as the

said.

In this day and age, it is

important for the candidates

to be themselves and it is

also vital that they present

what exceptional qualities

they possess as often as pos-

sible while in an interview

for such a prestigious schol-

arship.

Tsao stated his plan for the

“I am going to bring my pas-

sion again so that they can

see that I can bring a lot for

this program.”

The 25-year-old N.C.

Teaching Fellows program

was cut a year ago, and along

with it a $26,000 yearly schol-

arship for aspiring teachers.

Luckily for senior Liesel Nix,

Meredith College has its own

Teaching Fellows Program.

Nix will interview dur-

ing the Scholars weekend in

February at the college. The

program at Meredith offers

the award to excellent stu-

dents with the desire to enter

a teaching profession.

“She’s a really hard worker

and she doesn’t mind helping

other people if they don’t un-

derstand,” said Liesel’s Eng-

lish teacher, Treva Romig.

“She manages to balance a lot

of activities which would be

important as a teacher.”

The program awards each

Teaching Fellows recipient

$6,500 per year to assist in

funding of tuition and room

and board. The students are

also able to gain experience

by working in Wake County

Public Schools and will have

the opportunity to learn on a

personal level with an 11-to-

1 student-to-teacher ratio.

“Take advantage of every

opportunity they provide,”

advised Audrey Harrell about

the program.

Harrell received the Teach-

ing Fellows award when she

attended Meredith College.

She encouraged Nix to build

relationships with the teach-

ing faculty while at the school.

“I was excited,” said Nix

when she discovered she was

teaching program the best

but it’s expensive.”

Nix has been inspired to

become a teacher and pur-

sue a career working with

elementary children. Being

a babysitter throughout her

high school years and work-

ing at a camp during the

summer has made her realize

how much she enjoys work-

ing with kids.

“She doesn’t mind taking

on leadership both inside and

outside of the classroom,”

Romig said.

(Khadijah Thorne/The Viking Press)

(Contributed Photo)

Copy Editor

Penn State coaching leg-end Joe Paterno died Jan. 22 at age 85. He left behind a legacy

-

coached at Penn State for 46 years.Paterno had been a mem-

ber of the Penn State football program for 61 years. Initial-

one of the assistant coaches. He occupied that position for 15 years until he assumed his place as head coach. Throughout his 46 years

as head coach for the Li-

rimmed glasses and Penn

become a legend at the uni---

among almost all of the col-lege football programs in the nation.Paterno had recently been

ongoing controversy stem-ming from alleged child abuse by one of his long-time assistants. Many of his adoring fans

gathered at Penn State a couple of days after his death

had dedicated most of his life to the university.

Nationwww.thevikingpress.com 6 - The Viking Press - February 2012

Penn State legend dies at 85 amidst controversy

Privacy acts still causing controversy

‘Soul Train’ founder dead at age 75

Susan G. Komen Foundation makes apology

If you have been on the In-

you have probably heard of the Stop Online Piracy Act.There are still many ques-

tions surrounding SOPA and

the House of Representatives

“The committee remains -

tion to the problem of online piracy that protects American

Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said.The Preventing Real Online

and Theft of Intellectual Prop-

version of SOPA but the vote

on Jan. 18.More recently opponents to

SOPA after its postponement have turned their focus to

-ing Trade Agreement. Rather

international treaty that has al-ready been signed by the Unit-

-natory country the authority to

-

could potentially introduce more bills similar to SOPA.Not all countries are in favor

-

-net group strongly opposed to

-ty rights of companies.

By ANNIKEN WILLIAMSCopy Editor

By RESITA COXEditor-in-Chief

Former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno died Sunday, Jan. 22. He was 85. (Nabil K. Mark/Centre Daily Times/MCT)

By TOMMY TSAOCo- Editor

Perhaps one of the most

found dead in his Los Ange-les home at the age of 75 on Feb. 1.

Soul Train introduced the

longest running syndicated --

dance.Many popular artists found

-

-

-

-dergone a stressful divorce that investigators speculate may have played a role in his

-lius had faced several misde-

--

ing a police report.

The Susan G. Komen for -

gized to the American public about their recent decision to

Planned Parenthood.

nation’s largest abortion pro-

family clinics and aids un-

After Komen reversed -

enthood lashed out through the media and internet in an attempt to degrade them and

-

foundation denied this accu-sation.

right to cancel contracts for organizations that came un-der investigation for poten-

"We don't base our fund-ing decisions on emotions or

Press.-

appointed in the decision

-berg even planned to give

--

letter trying to persuade Ko-men to reconsider its choice. After debate and investi-

for their decision regarded Planned Parenthood and de-cided to continue its partner-

The foundation said in a -

ogize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving

By MEGAN TOWERYCopy Editor

26

19

12

5

2120

1413

76 8

23

16

24

17

9 10

25

18

FAFSA Day

11

2 3 4

22

15

Seniors: Check your Senior Guide for schol-arships and their due dates.

27 28

Newswww.thevikingpress.com 7 - The Viking Press - February 2012

First semester exams show mixed results

BY HAYLEY VERMILLIONNews Editor

1

29

Varsity, JV Boys,

Varsity Girls

@ Greene

Central

Conference Tournament

Varsity, JV Boys,

Varsity, JV Girls

vs. North Pitt

SENIOR NIGHT

Make-up day

for Hurricane

Irene; regular

school day

Progress Reports

go home

I am so excited about the progress our school made in the fall.”

- Assist. Principal Harrell “

Curriculum

Fair 5:30-7:30

Basketball Sectionals

Basketball regionals in Fayetteville

Valentine’s

Day!

Early Dismissal

for Studnts

District-Wide

Parent

Get-Together

6:15-8:15 @ SLHS

Feature8 - The Viking Press - February 2012 www.thevikingpress.com

Senior Daniel Irvin reads a magazine on current events to stay sharp for the upcoming Quiz Bowl.

Quiz Bowl captain hopes to defend title

Balancing school, extracur-ricular activities and a social life is one of the most chal-lenging adjustments for high school students. Senior Daniel Irvin’s sched-

ule is set up for success. Every spring the Quiz Bowl

teams from the local high schools compete against each other in a Jeopardy-style triv-ia contest. Kinston High was the

champion of last year’s com-petition and Irvin, as team captain, helped lead the Vi-kings to victory. He earned the position as

captain of the Quiz Bowl team based on his vast knowledge and experience from partici-pating in previous competi-tions with the KHS team. As captain he keeps a close

eye on members who miss any practices and he offers motivation and encouraging words to his teammates. Quiz Bowl adviser Clay

Stilley said Irvin is a great as-set to the team and contrib-

Cheating is institutional problem at every school

For some students, the way they pass their class is by being at-

tentive to the lesson that was

their assignments and study-ing for the test that they might have the next day. For other students, there

is another way to pass their classes: cheating. Cheating can include

many forms, such as sharing another person’s work, pur-chasing a term paper or test questions in advance or pay-ing another person to do the work for you.“I think that grades drive

them to cheat,” teacher Clay Stilley said. “They are more concerned with their grades than knowledge.“Peer pressure from par-

ents and friends would make a student push to have the best grades because they fear that they would be seen

as inferior.” There are some ways that

students can improve their grades.“I think that studying each

day and not waiting until the last minute would help,” Stilley said. Students are not the only

ones that cheat. On July 6, a story was released about Atlanta Public Schools and cheating. The report said

the staff and the principal would allegedly erase and correct mistakes on the stu-dents’ answer sheets for state tests. The investigative report

named 178 teachers as par-ticipants in cheating and more than 80 confessed. The investigators said that

that the district had set un-realistic testing goals.

BY JULIA GRIFFIN

utes a lot as a captain. “Hopefully, the example

Dan has set as captain for the past two years will push the team to strive to be the very best in the years to come,”

Stilley said. To prepare for Feb. 25

county competition at the Neuse Regional Library in Kinston, the Quiz Bowl team answers many practice ques-

tions during weekly after-school meetings. As the competition gets

closer, the team cracks open the books, and they scan magazines and other materi-als for recent news and cur-rent events. This will be the last compe-

tition Irvin is able to compete in at Kinston High, and he hopes to have another victo-rious year at the upcoming competition. “I am really going to miss

participating in Quiz Bowl

want to make sure we win since it is my senior year,” Ir-vin said. Quiz Bowl is not the only

thing Irvin is known for.He is currently ranked No.

1 in the senior class and hopes to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill or Columbia University in the fall. He has also played on the

varsity soccer team and won the “Unsung Hero” award the past two years at the team’s end-of-year banquet. Outside of school he also

the community by participat-ing in Boy Scouts, tutoring

BY AKYRA ALLEN

and his church youth group. Finding time for all of these

activities and still excelling academically might sound a little overwhelming, but Ir-vin said he wouldn’t trade the experiences he has had over his high school career for anything. His accomplishments

should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with his competitive side. “I am competitive so I don’t

like messing up at things,” he said. “I just kind of try to think about what will happen if I don’t do everything I am expected or supposed to.”Staying focused and on

task isn’t always as easy as he makes it sound. Irvin said that planning ahead and budget-ing your time is crucial. He uses many tricks to keep him-self from getting distracted like unplugging the Internet when he is on the computer typing a paper. Everything he has been in-

volved in throughout high school has helped him grow and mature as a person. He feels like he has grown up a lot and is now ready to take the next step to a new stage of his life.

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What’s New?

Melanie Fiona“The MF Life”

Release Date: 2.7.2012

Kid Cudi & Dot Da Genius“WZRD”


The Fray“Scars & Stories”


Estelle“All of Me”


will.i.am“#WillPower”


To all country hat-

ers who are quick to

down the southern

twang most country music

offers, I have an album that

changed my view on the

genre.

Singer and songwriter

Kathleen Edwards just re-

leased her newest album,

titled “Voyageur” and it is

a big surprise. This is the

fourth album from the Ca-

nadian artist, along with her

three “extended plays.”

“Voyageur” is very soul-

ful and will really bring out

your feelings about what

you think of when you hear

the phrase “country music.”

Smooth songs such as “Pink

Champagne” doesn’t even

give off a country sound but

more of a deep sincere voice

of soul that is almost remi-

niscent of Adele.

I would advise any fan of

good music to pick up this

album.

It is not limited to its

genre, and is by all means of

great quality and taste.

If I used star meters and

number scales to rate al-

bums, “Voyageur” would be

at the top of both.

Kathleen Edwards was at

the top of her game with her

latest effort, and this album

really proved it.

You can follow Kenneth

on Twitter at

@NikeTookMySoles

Country Meets Soul with Kathleen Edwards

With almost 10 different

retro Air Jordans dropping

this year and multiple color

schemes on most of those

shoes, it’s hard to keep mon-

ey in your pocket if you are a

fan of sneakers.

Between the Air Jordan

Concord XI’s that dropped

on the 23rd of December

and the Chicago X’s, a lot of

sneakerheads’ wallets have

been hit hard since Christ-

mas.

On Feb. 4, the new Nike

Foamposite Ones hit store

shelves.

A very bright release, this

pair of foams give a candy

painted tint that looks fresh-

ly done. They are accented

by a white swoosh on the

front that adds a nice touch,

in my opinion. Like a lot of

foamposites, these have a

clear icey sole but are accom-

panied with a red underlay

and the 1-cent symbol.

Although the shoes have

been out for only a day as of

our deadline, customers have

already given the shoe a per-

fect 5-star review on the of-

The only catch is the price

tag.

This shoe comes with $220

retail tag, but if it’s in your

price range then I encourage

you to pick them up. With

spring approaching, the Me-

tallic Red’s will be a great

look in sunny weather.

You can follow Kenneth

on Twitter at

@NikeTookMySoles

Foamposite Ones: Worth the hype if you can justify the price

Entertainmentwww.thevikingpress.com 9 - The Viking Press - February 2012

BY KENNETH GEORGEFeature Editor

BY KENNETH GEORGEFeature Editor

(Fair Use)The new Nike Foamposite One comes with a hefty price tag but is well worth the hype.

Entertainment10 - The Viking Press - February 2012 www.thevikingpress.com

ChronicleRated PG-13

Adventure/FantasyRelease Date: 2.3.2012

Safe HouseRated R

Thriller/ActionRelease Date: 2.10.2012

The VowRated PG-13

Romance/DramaRelease Date: 2.10.2012

Ghost RiderRated PG-13

ActionRelease Date: 2.17.2012

Good DeedsRated PG-13

Drama/RomanceRelease Date: 2.24.2012

Red Tails was released on Jan. 20, just in time for the start of

Black History month.This story starts off in the

middle of World War II, and with the number of bombers dropping on an almost daily basis, the Pentagon decided to give The Tuskegee Air-man a chance to prove them-selves. This movie showed how

African-Americans had to prove that they were respon-

sible and able to be good air-men in the U.S. Air Force. The cast was led by Ter-

rence Howard (Iron Man, Idlewild), who played a col-onel in the Air Force.While action packed and

lacked a lot of information on Black History. Red Tails received bad reviews because of its lack of information of African-American struggles in the Air Force. Most critics said the movie

was not serious enough and did not give the Tuskegee Airman, an actual all-Afri-

can American squadron dur-ing WWII, enough credit for what they did in the war. The director seemed more concerned with packing ac-

sort of history lesson.Even though the movie

received bad reviews, it still managed to bring in $19 mil-

-aters. If you are interested in a

movie with action rather than historical content then this is the movie for you.

Red Tails: A failed Black History lesson?BY TIM HARGETT

Staff Writer

Love is in the air this Valentine’s seasonIt’s that time of the year

again - the month of love. All around school, you can see the love among many of the stu-dents. Even though all of the couples are not shown, here are some that you may see to-gether around school.

Thorne2. Shikeem Ham and Kiaira Herring3. Keith Haynie and Yolaina Brown4. Dillon Perry and Sarah Walker5. Andrew Lopez and Shondrea Dunn6. Brandon Ingram and Shikeya Ham7. Ricky Clark and Ciara Myers8. Xzayvyayrr Outlaw and Iyiannah Collier9. DaQuante Jones and Malasya Grajales

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

BY MALASYA GRAJALES

Entertainment Editor

Sportswww.thevikingpress.com 11 - The Viking Press - February 2012

By KYLE BROWNSports Editor

The junior varsity girls’ basketball team ended its season with a win against Tarboro at home.

season with a second-place record in the Eastern Plains

2A Conference.While the girls played sev-eral fewer games than their varsity counterparts, coach-es and players alike said the season was a success as the Vikings ended the year with more wins than losses.

By THE VIKING PRESS

JV girls earn 2nd in EP2A

JV boys bounce back from setback

(Daquante Jones // The Viking Press) Sophomore Hannah Vermillion (middle) beats two Tar-

boro defenders with a jump shot. The Vikings won to clinch second place in the Eastern Plains Conference standings.

The junior varsity boys’

basketball team managed to

bounce back quickly after

taking a loss at North Pitt.

Despite the loss, the team

has established a 13-3 over-

all record for the season and

a 7-2 mark in the Eastern

Plains 2A, led by coach Dar-

nell Matthews.

With only a few games re-

maining, the boys suffered

through an unexpected loss

at North Pitt before reeling

off three straight wins against

Farmville Central, Tarboro

and Greene Central last week.

Damian Williams is a junior

and one of the top scorers on

the team, averaging nearly 15

points per game.

“It was a successful season

for us,” Williams said. “We

are on the way to winning

the conference champion-

ship. We lost games that we

should have won, but overall

everyone shows effort and

wants to win.”

Vikings win EP2A regular season

(Staff Photo/The Viking Press) Senior Tisha Dixon (middle) elevates over two Farmville

Central defenders for a bucket in the lane.

The girls’ basketball team

wrapped up the regular sea-

son conference title last

week with a dominating 63-

13 win at Greene Central.

The Vikings (18-3, 11-0

the regular season on senior

night against North Pitt, but

the Panthers can’t catch Kin-

ston at this point.

“We’ve made a commit-

ment to continue getting

better each day,” coach Hu-

bert Quinerly said.

The Vikings are led by se-

nior forward Tisha Dixon,

who leads the team with

points and rebounds, averag-

ing a double-double with 12

points and 10 rebounds per

game.

The Vikings have faced a

little adversity in the season,

losing starting guard Brit-

tany Drumgoole to an ankle

injury for two weeks. She

missed a total of three games.

She was a big contributor

to the offense, but with her

absence the Vikings did not

miss a beat.

“We stepped up on defense

and jelled as a group com-

ing back from our Christmas

tournament,” Quinerly said,

“and with Brittany’s absence

it just made the girls go even

harder.”

(Daquante Jones // The Viking Press) Sophomore Taishu McLawhorn (middle) shoots over a

trio of Tarboro defenders in a recent win for the junior var-sity boys. The team handily defeated Tarboro, one of three straight wins for the Vikings, who beat Farmville Central, Tarboro and Greene Central in consecutive games follow-ing an upset loss at North Pitt the week before.

By DAQUANTE JONESStaff Writer

‘Successful season for us’

Facing one of the top teams

in the state and one of the

top teams in the country has

helped prepare the varsity

basketball team for another

late-season playoff run.

The Vikings thumped

Greene Central last week 85-

42 to improve to 17-4 overall

and 10-1 in the EP2A.

The Vikings have played

against top teams like Whit-

ney Young from Chicago and

Wheeler from Marietta, Ga.

The team’s four losses are

to 4A powerhouse Garner,

Word of God Christian Acad-

emy, Whitney Young and an

upset loss to conference rival

North Pitt that knocked the

Vikings out of their No. 1

ranking in the 2A state polls.

Since that loss, the Vikings

have won three straight

against Farmville Central,

Tarboro and Greene Central.

Kinston will get a rematch

against North Pitt on senior

night next week.

Coach Wells Gulledge said

the team’s main goal remains

winning the team’s sixth

straight conference title and

third state championship in

By KYLE BROWNSports Editor

Boys hoops on top of EP2A

(Staff Photo // The Viking Press) Freshman Brandon Ingram passes around a pair of Farm-

ville Central defenders.

Too many people for-get the whole concept of sporting events and get carried away with win-ning and losing. Fans for-get about the main values such as sportsmanship and respect for the players.We all have know com-

petition brings out the best and the worst in us at times. But there is no reason to harass players and coaches due to a bad call or blown play in a game. At the end of the day it’s just a game, but people forget that.A few weeks back, 49ers

wide receiver Kyle Wil-liams fumbled two punts that contributed to his team losing the NFC Champion-ship to the Giants. Fans were outraged at

how he played and actually sent death threats through Twitter. Social media gives us a whole new way of contacting celebrities, but we have to step back from being a die hard fan and re-alize these athletes are hu-man just like us.Baltimore Ravens kicker

Billy Cundiff went through the same scrutiny when he missed a kick that would have sent his team into overtime, which made the fans of Baltimore immedi-ately turn on him.These and other athletes

shouldn’t be judged by how well they can catch a ball or how well they can kick one. Athletes at all levels are going to make mistakes but never in a million years do they want the fans that were once on their sides wishing death upon them. I can say that as an athlete who has made many mistakes.Try putting yourself in the

athletes’ shoes and imagine the of pain they have to be going through because rude fans harass them. The world has lost its tra-

ditional values. We need to open our eyes and respect all of the athletes and show sportsmanship.

Turner is conference champ in 1, 2 mile

12 - The Viking Press - February 2012 www.thevikingpress.com

By KYLE BROWN

Sports Editor

Three Kinston High School seniors signed letters of intent to

play collegiate football today.CJ Bradshaw, Angelo Keyes

and Shaheed Swinson for-mally committed to Old Do-minion, North Carolina A&T State and North Carolina Central, respectively, on Na-

day high school seniors are allowed to sign binding let-ters of intent.Coach Nick Anderson con-

gratulated each of the players on their big day and encour-aged them to continue work-ing hard once they are on campus.“It’s a moment I will never

forget,” said Keyes, a 6-foot-

1, 240-pound middle line-backer who led the Vikings with 180 tackles as a senior. “I felt like all of my dreams

Bradshaw’s expectations for ODU are very high. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound dual-threat quarterback will be playing running back in col-lege. He threw for more than 2,475 yards and ran for more than 800 yards as a senior. “I’m excited to get to ODU,”

he said. “It’s all that I’ve ever wanted out of a school.” Swinson, a 5-foot-9, 170

pound running back, led the Vikings with 932 rushing yards. He, too, was excited

to the school of his choice.“I feel like Central is meant

for me and I’m ready to get started there,” he said.

Three Vikings ink to play football

on National Signing Day

(Kyle Brown/The Viking Press)

Left to right: Seniors Shaheed Swinson, Angelo Keyes and

CJ Bradshaw signed national letters of intent to play col-

lege football at their respective schools on Feb. 1. Swinson

will play at N.C. Central next year, while Keyes will play at

N.C. A&T State University and Bradshaw at Old Dominion

University.

By KYLE BROWN

Sports Editor

Keep sports

in the proper

perspective

Keepin’ it cool with Kyle Brown

Drive past Kinston High School most afternoons, and you’re likely to see a tall, slender kid running his heart out on the outskirts of the campus

by the highway.That kid is freshman Colton Turner, an all-around athlete who plays foot-

ball and soccer and run tracks for the Vikings. Though a kicker for the junior varsity football team and a budding track

-fensive specialist.

-tance runner for the indoor track team -- one of only a few at the school -- and as a freshman has already broken the 10-minute barrier in the two mile. His speed vaulted him to the top of the Eastern Plains 2A

in both the one- and two-mile, missing out on a state qualifying time by mere seconds. “Colton is a great kid who works his heart out and he

will make our team much better in indoor and outdoor track,” coach Corey Bryant said.Turner said he doesn’t really think much about his run-ning technique, however. “I try not to think too hard about what I’m doing when I

take me as far as I can.”The idea to run track actually started with his soccer coach.

“Coach (Joseph) Romig was the reason why I start-ed to run track,” Turner said. “He told me it would keep me in shape for soccer and with my potential I could eventually make a run for a state title.”

(Angelo Keyes/The Viking Press)Freshman Colton Turner has found success both on the soccer

One

fast frosh

The Viking Press - February 2012

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