The Bison – November 21, 1990

Helping those less fortunate, NHS is responsible for many school service projects, such as: the Food Drive, the Blood Drive, Coats for Kids, and Pictures with Santa. The group keeps its projects within the school. "We do not go out into the community with the services we do. We think that we have enough participation in the school, and anything larger than that may be too much for us to handle," Leff said. This year’s Food Drive was held November 7-14. The number of food items donated is expected to increase from last year’s 3,500. "Even though that is the best we have ever done, we would like more," says Leff. The group also received $90.47 in cash. The members of NHS do a lot of work for the project. "The students get everything organized for the Food Drive. They go to first hours and gather the food items, they encourage students to participate in the drive, they choose prizes and buy prizes," said Leff. NHS will sponsor the fourth annual Blood Drive, in conjunction with American Red Cross, this coming spring. During the first year of the project, the group collected 106 pints of blood; the second year 123 pints; and last year they totaled 157 pints. As with the Food Drive, Leff hopes these figures will continue to rise. The Coats for Kids drive is a project in which the NHS collects warm coats, hats, mittens, scarves, and other winter things for needy children in Wright County. The group also has plans pending for caroling during the holidays, but has not made a definite decision yet. If NHS approve the idea they would carol at places such as: the Retirement Center, the hospital, Tower Hills, and Ebenezer. In December, NHS will be sponsoring pictures with Santa, and in January, the group will be sponsoring an end-of-the-semester dance. The money raised will be donated to state projects, such as children’s hospitals and the homeless.

College is first mentioned to BHS students in the tenth grade. There is a booklet called the "Senior Guidance Bulletin," given to students. From there, there are a lot of decisions that need to be made: where to go, how, when, why, and for what price. It’s recommended that students apply to at least three colleges. Counselors "tips for college" are to apply early, and fill out the college applications correctly and neatly. "It’s very important to get involved both academically and extra curricularly. You have to maintain a balance that allows you to do well in both areas," counselor, Mary Lynn Leff. The most attended four year colleges in Minnesota are St. Cloud state, North Hennepin community college. Another choice is enrolling in the Military if students lack funds or are just interested. Academically and physically, their standards are high. According to the National Association of College Admissions Counselors, if you are interested in a four-year college or university students need to take: four years of English, three years of social science, two to four years of science and mathematics, at least two years in the same foreign language and in computer science, and optional courses in music and art. The additional advanced classes in areas related to your possible career choice. Grades aren’t all that colleges look at when accepting students. How a person does on standardized tests such as the ACT and SAT, and how a student involves themself in other extra-curricular activites are also major factors. A personal profile is also included in the decision. Cost is another issue for Minnesota state universities that cost around $3,200-3,800. Cost for technical colleges is 1,000 to 1,500, excluding expenses such as: books, travel expenses, recreation, and other personal expenses. For more information, students are recommended to visit their counselors. The surrounding communities award various scholarships to students in both areas of academics and athletics. This amount is usually about $25,000.

Recent events have raised questions among BHS students and staff alike: “What is happening with Students Against Driv-ing Drunk (SADD)?” SADD is a non-extracurricular activity group whose purpose is to make BHS students aware of the dangers of driving drunk. SADD’s philosophy is that some people will drink, no matter what anyone tells them, but when they do, they should not be allowed to drive. John Haack was the advisor of SADD until the end of the ’89-’90 school year, when he resigned, leaving the program. A SADD chapter was active in BHS for five years prior to Haack’s resignation. Petitions have been hung in the hallways for students to express their desire to bring back SADD, and the response has been positive. The general feelings among the students of all grades and staff is that, while most everyone would support SADD, not everyone would actually join. “SADD is a great program,” said counselor Mary Lynn Leff, “it reminds people not to drink and drive.” Yvonne Johnson, President of Mothers Against Driving Drunk (MADD) in Wright County, has stepped forward and volunteered to advise SADD. The next major step is to spark student interest. “Although most seniors would support SADD, the main participants would be underclassmen,” said senior Tammy McCoy, former Vice-President of SADD. Junior Emily Gervasio looked forward to the possibility of reorganizing the group. Gervasio said, “It would be good to get SADD back in Buffalo, because last year they did a lot of great things.”

The Buffalo Future Farmers of America are headed for another year of financial success, according to club members. One of the goals of this year-round activity is to raise money for charities and non-profit groups. Earlier this month the FFA held its annual corn drive, in which members raised more than $1400 to be donated to Camp Courage. “The corn drive would have been more successful if it wouldn’t have rained,” said FFA Vice-President Ned Akin. FFA is now organizing fruit and sausage sales. All members will be selling the fruit and sausage and the money raised will be used to help send kids to summer camp and to state conventions in the spring. Fund-raisers such as these help to dispel the notion that FFA is only about farming and agriculture. According to Akin, other benefits included meeting new people, developing leadership skills, and having the opportunity to participate in a high school activity. The FFA’s 35 members meet on the average of once a month to discuss upcoming events. They would like to see more people join. “It is a growing field and I wish that more people would realize that,” said Akin.

Participation in the International Club, which has been in operation for ten years is at an all-time high. Although membership is open to all BHS students, the reason for the sudden increase in membership is not completely clear. One of the possible causes could be an increased interest in international affairs, according to the club’s advisers. “There are more foreign exchange students and foreign language classes have increased,” explained French instructor Beth Orlowsky. “What’s going on in Europe, with the reunification of Germany, could be a reason,” said adviser and German instructor Maija Zaeska. The main function of International Club, according to Orlowsky, is “exposing foreign exchange students to BHS students.” The club plans to offer a number of activities that will promote contact between exchange students and Buffalo students. Some of those activities include discussion groups after school and during mods. International Club will also sponsor Mardi Gras, but the time has not yet been determined. An “Around the World Christmas Party” is also being planned for December, and the club is planning Nationality Evenings in which they will feature a different nationality each time.

What is Tri-M? According to Michael Walsh, the advisor for Tri-M, the group is “similar to National Honor Society except it’s directed toward music.” Tri-M stands for Modern Music Masters, a program of the Music Educators National Conference which has more than 2000 chapters internationally. To get into Tri-M, one does not have to be an extremely accomplished musician, but must have a keen interest in music. A student has to maintain a B average, be enrolled in a music class, and be involved in music outside of class, such as singing in a chorus in a play or in a church choir. The 27 members of Tri-M plan to see the musical “Cats” at Northrup Auditorium later this month. Non-members are also invited to attend. During the Christmas season, members will sing Christmas carols during lunch. Throughout the year, the group will hold ensemble nights. Interested students should speak with Walsh or President Eric Deutsch about becoming a member.

A thirty to forty minute video yearbook covering everything from a student interview to prom, will be on sale January 7-11, during lunch mods. There will be a presentation to the student body about the video yearbook and then the tapes will go on sale. The tape is expected to cost about $35 and "will be a very good investment," said senior Shelly Lafave. Students are able to put a down payment of $15 on the tape and by doing so they are guaranteed a spot on the video. If sales exceed 300 copies, students will receive an extra-long version. "Tapes will be sent to each person who has purchased one, through the mail," said junior Tina Tabbut. Students should receive the tape during July or August. Cameramen started taping before Homecoming and taping will continue until the graduation ceremony. The object is to include bits of every event and as many faces as possible. Students are encouraged to inform a student council member if there is an event that should be covered. "Otherwise, if you're at the right place at the right time, you'll be on it," said Tabbut. There will be a variety of background music, selected by the students. The choices are made by a national survey of students' favorite songs. Then the top favorites will be chosen for the tape. The company polls students periodically throughout the year to include new releases. Student Council decided to have a video yearbook because "it's something different," and "we thought it would be a fun addition," commented Lafave and Tabbut, respectively.

If you want information about community services in Central Minnesota, call FIRST CALL FOR HELP at 252-3474 or 1-800-828-5709, 24 hours a day. Free information about hundreds of human services including support groups, jobs and training, health care, transportation or counseling. If you need help or have a question, call FIRST CALL FOR HELP.

The Buffalo Senior High School would like to announce that Jennifer Riebling and David Jepsen have been named as commended scholars by the National Merit Scholarship Program. Both Jennifer and David qualified for commended scholar status by scoring at or above the 90th percent on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT). 19,344 Minnesota students took the PSAT.

On Tuesday, November 11 at 8:00 p.m., the BHS music department will present its annual Choral Concert in the mall.

The District #877 School Board will be meeting on Monday, November 26, and Monday, December 17, in the Junior High Library, at 7:00 p.m. Both are open to the public.

The graphs above represent the percentage of each class that made it on the "A" and "B" Honor Roll, respectively.

As we sit down at the food and each others company? Thanksgiving family table this year, really think about what you are thankful for, and think about other people who don't have a Thanksgiving.

The Bison is certain that this unpleasant thought won't ruin your appetite.

Do people really feel thankful on Thanksgiving anymore? Since we start decorating for Christmas a week before Halloween, does Thanksgiving get lost in the mess?

How do people feel about Thanksgiving? Is it a time to be with your family, and enjoy good food and each others company? Or do people just stuff themselves full of mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and cranberries, sit down to watch the football game with a beer in one hand, a fresh turkey sandwich in the other, and cuss as the quarterbacks fumbles. Or do they sit down at the dinner table and gossip about neighbors? Then after the football game (or during halftime) pass out snoring on the couch?

Why do people celebrate Thanksgiving? Obviously, we have nothing to be thankful for, because people nowadays are so perfect we don't need to be happy, we just arrogantly sit on our high horses and gloat over all of the good things that happen to us?

This brings us to the question of the National Honor Society food drive. The Bison encourages hearty contributions to this worthy cause. To give freely to those less fortunate than us who have no worries where our next meal comes from.

But, lurking behind these food contributions is that juice and doughnuts calling us to give so much that our first hour will win the big prize and then gorge themselves on County Market doughnuts and orange juice. This is parallel to corporations giving huge gifts of money to charities, but then on April 15 it all comes back to them in a tax refund.

Why are we giving to the NHS food drive, for doughnuts and juice, or the good feeling we get when we help out someone altruistically? The NHS is service organization, and a service organization should serve to people that need it unselfishly. The NHS is doing that, but the donations should be given from the heart, not the pocketbook, and not for the prospect of getting something.

Lately, The Bison has been hearing complaints from the student body about our four page issues. Comments like "Where is the middle of it," and "Is that all" are not new to us. We, as a staff, would like to attempt to explain our reasons for our four page issues, and maybe offer a little insight on how this paper runs.

First of all, editors must have a meeting and decide what to do the paper on, and then decide how the issues are involved in the school, and try to think of sufficient stories to write.

Next the stories are assigned to our staff of writers, who are given a little over a week to write the stories.

Third, the stories are turned in, and edited by the editors.

Fourth, they are loaded on disk and laid out on the Macintosh. This step of the process is the longest and most tedious of the paper, having to count picas and making sure everything is lined up and perfect.

Then the almost finished copy is handed to the proofer, to look for typographical and grammatical errors. If there are mistakes, they are brought back to the Mac and fixed.

After the errors are fixed, it is paste down time, where we clip and paste the copy down on lay out sheets. Then the rough copy is sent off to The Wright County Journal Press for printing. After the printing is done, our adviser picks the bundles up and brings it to the school for distribution.

This whole process takes about a month. Around layout time, we have what we call in The Bison room Hell Week. There is no explanation needed of that. Around layout time, editors live, eat, breathe, and sleep the paper. Many Saturdays are eaten up by layout sessions, and some nights editors are here till ten PM. Not what you would call fun.

There it is, guys, the birth of a newspaper. As you can see, a lot of problems can crop up, such as there is not enough information to do the story, or a writer doesn't get it down on time, or not at all. Sometimes the editors don't get there story assignments out on time. Once in a while the editors won't do their pages when they should, and their lagging behind holds up production of the whole paper. Very rarely we run into computer problems. Lately, our problem has been that the paper is not getting printed and given to us the day we said. Along with any efficient machine, there is always friction slowing it down.

Now for the reason for our small issues. This last issue was called The Bison Extra. Extra. That means that is an extra issue, along with our regular sized issues. An extra costs us more money, so we published that for the benefit of our readers, not for our thrills.

So there it is, folks. We hope you understand more about how a newspaper works, and be a little more receptive of our issues.

Available for a short time only, we are offering you an opportunity to receive some marketable skills and useful computer training while having "fun" and socializing. The Bison wants YOU! A variety of positions are yours for the taking, including a Feature Editor position. Come be a part of an off-the-wall, crazy bunch of people.

1300 Highway 25 North • Buffalo, Minnesota 55313 • 682-6800

International Quill and Scroll
NSPA 4-Star All-American 1989
MHSPA Runner Up 1989
MHSPA Honorable Mention 1990

Editor in Chief:
Amy J. Oberdeck

News Editor:
Jason Chalupnik

Editorials Editor:
Susan A. Hundt

Sports Editors:
Sarah Jatko
Beth Miller

Proof Editor:
Kerry Lynn Koch

Advertising Supervisor:
Sarah Schiebe

Sales Representative:
Teresa Nelson

Photographers:
Michael Kearn
Rob Kruck
Mark Ludwig

Staff Writers:
Angelina Baudler
Dawn Chesley

Prudence Ernesti
Heather Hanson
Shawn Hjelmeland
Lesli Jahnke
Nicole LaBat
David Malerich
Jeff Mauk
Kaelyn McCarty
Sarah Miller
Melissa Ramthun
Kathy Reynolds
Heather Sniegel
Tess Sumption
Dan Zimmerman

Adviser:
Vicki Cary

Assistant Adviser:
James Wilcox

Principal:
Nick Miller

The Bison is published eight times a year by the Wright County Journal Press, and is distributed free of charge to the student body, teachers, and administration.

I've been getting this strange feeling lately. Frankly, I think I'm turning invisible--don't laugh it's true. In the last month I've probably been to the principals' office four times. Mysteriously, I've been getting marked absent several times in various classes. There can't be any other explanation for it; I must be disappearing. Maybe it's all that Diet Mountain Dew or the hole in the ozone layer but I still don't understand it. I didn't think I was losing that much weight.

Don't get me wrong, I like the principals, they're really nice guys. It's just the events that lead to the trip down, that terrorizes me.

Here's how it happened: I'm sitting in third hour minding my own business when I get this note saying: “come to the office, immediately,” in bold writing. You have to admit that's pretty intimidating.

Thoughts race through my head, what did I do? I thought my Dad was kidding when he said he was suing me for slander.

Not being able to figure it out, I start the long journey down the hallway. Passersby see that little white note in my hand, they know, I know they know. They just smile and say “good luck Bak.” I lower my head and walk into the office.

This being my first time, I ask the secretaries where I go, they tell me to sit in “the waiting room”. I go back and sit alone. This is not a waiting room; this is a closet! Six chairs, six feet square. A claustrophobic person's nightmare.

No kidding.

I'm sitting there trying to calm myself down and someone walks in. “Hey, Bak' what ya in for?” Oh, I'm in for manslaughter, what do ya think, I thought silently. But I only shrugged my shoulders to my fellow inmate. This guy, who shall remain nameless because I have no idea who he is, starts telling me his life story and his criminal record.

“Ya, this is the third time I've been down here today, just when I thought me and my bud got our story's straight.” Bummer, I reply. Suddenly the door flings open and "Bud" comes in. “Heyman I thought you said we should say we were at a wedding.” My first cell-mate replies “Not for Madonna you doorknob!”

Guys like this are common in the office. Now that I am an expert and all, I've been thinking that people who have detention on a regular basis should letter in detention. A big purple “D”.

If you think about it, it makes sense they put in time just like athletes and activities. They took getting in trouble and made it an art form. Whoknows, maybe you could put it on a college application.

Oh well, getting back to the waiting room/closet. I sat in there for what seemed to last forever and finally my name was called. As I left my fellow inmates they asked me to put a good word in for them. As I walked into the office and sat down we screamed my name once again...I told you I'm turning invisible.

Maybe I should start tanning, who knows I'll try anything once.

The snow should start flying pretty soon I hope we get some Sno-Daze (hint).

But that's another story.

No kidding.

If you think that teachers are the only ones to hear several thousand excuses a day concerning tardies, absences, and disappearing homework; you are sadly mistaken.

I don't want to sound like a whining puppy-dog, but I must air some laundry. As Editor-in-Chief, I must admit that I now know every possible plea for more time, more information, and more understanding. I am also privileged to know about everyone's “personal” problems, family crisis, and sob stories.

I hear things like: “Oh, Amy, I can't be here the next two years because I have to drive my ex-grandmother twice removed on my father's side, to the airport. But first I have to take an extensive six-month driver's training course, since I had my license revoked. And following that, I have to work two jobs to be able to buy a hot-car, since my step-mother died and all of our money is going to her memorial. And, of course, if Grandma doesn't make her plane, since she is perpetually late, I will just have to drive her to Jamaica--no matter that there is a body of water in between, with my hot-car we'll just fly over the Caribbean! So, you see, I am SOOOOOO busy! But, Amy, I feel so bad, I didn't want to disappoint you but, you understand, my life is just a whirl-wind, mountain-top experience, and I just don't have time!” (And they didn't even take a breath!)

Yes, I have heard them all. I think that just maybe when I'm my parents' age I'll write a book, Ten thousand and One Far-out Excuses.

To most people, progress is a step in the right direction, the leaving behind of the old and moving onward and upward to the new and improved, leaving us thinking that all along that we were using the old and the inferior.

Progress is a personal insult to me. Let me go into some detail. I have lived in the country all of my life, and curtail the snide remarks about “country bumpkin,” “hick” and “living in the boonies,” please. As I said, all my life I have lived in the country, and a major portion of that on a farm. Thirteen years ago there were eight houses in my neighborhood. When you live in the country, someone living a mile away is your neighbor. Between these eight houses there was at least an acre of land, a lake, or a woods separating the properties. Today, there are five more houses less than 10 years old, and one house just being built. Most of my new neighbors are from the 'burbs.

Call me a moron, but I always thought the country kids went to the city to escape the drudgery of life on the farm.

Needless to say, I am not head of the welcoming committee in my neighborhood.

Along with this population explosion in my neighborhood, there is a housing development going up along the stretch of highway 35, the Saint Michael road, as we hicks call it.

I have thought of many ways to keep people from moving in to my neighborhood. Here's Susie's top five list to keep people from moving into her neighborhood:

5. Plant land mines in peoples yards.

4. Try to uncover some shady land deal made by the railroads in the 1800's, and forge the document saying all of the land belonged to my great-great-great-great-grandfather, and as the only female descendant with red hair and blue eyes, now all the land belongs to me.

3. Lie down in front of the bulldozers and refuse to move. (Then I will get arrested and thrown in jail and that will end my political career.)

2. Say that mysteriously, every ten years, on a full moon in March, there is a mad disease that runs through the cattle, causing them to foam at the mouth and kill people.

1. Send out a letter saying that the Monticello Nuclear Power Plant used this area in the 1950's to test for radioactivity. Just ask my blue haired, blonde eyed sister.

I know, I haven't a prayer of pulling these off, but I can still do one, if I set my mind to it.

I would make a whole pile of money writing columns like this one, and come back to my neighborhood so filled with houses that you can't trip over a crack in the sidewalk without hitting somebody's house or poodle, and I would wave all of this cash under their noses, giving them an offer they can't refuse. I would buy all of the land back, and build my feudal castle by the lake, owning the whole township, and I would sit, queen of Buffalo township, the supreme owner of the richest farmland in Minnesota. And I would never let anyone even come close to my baby.

Gee, maybe I am a hick.

Oh, yes, the capitalistic way will solve all of my problems.

Not!

I'm just kidding, guys. You are perfectly welcome to visit, but don't plan on staying too long.

As we sit down at the Thanksgiving family table this year, really think about what you are thankful for, and think about other people who don't have a Thanksgiving.

The Bison is certain that this unpleasant thought won't ruin your appetite.

Do people really feel thankful on Thanksgiving anymore? Since we start decorating for Christmas a week before Halloween, does Thanksgiving get lost in the mess?

How do people feel about Thanksgiving? Is it a time to be with your family, and enjoy good food and each others company? Or do people just stuff themselves full of mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and cranberries, sit down to watch the football game with a beer in one hand, a fresh turkey sandwich in the other, and cuss as the quarterbacks fumbles. Or do they sit down at the dinner table and gossip about neighbors? Then after the football game (or during halftime) pass out snoring on the couch?

Why do people celebrate Thanksgiving? Obviously, we have nothing to be thankful for, because people nowadays are so perfect we don't need to be happy, we just arrogantly sit on our high horses and gloat over all of the good things that happen to us?

This brings us to the question of the National Honor Society food drive. The Bison encourages hearty contributions to this worthy cause. To give freely to those less fortunate than us who have no worries where our next meal comes from.

But, lurking behind these food contributions is that juice and doughnuts calling us to give so much that our first hour will win the big prize and then gorge themselves on County Market doughnuts and orange juice. This is parallel to corporations giving huge gifts of money to charities, but then on April 15 it all comes back to them in a tax refund.

Why are we giving to the NHS food drive, for doughnuts and juice, or the good feeling we get when we help out someone altruistically? The NHS is service organization, and a service organization should serve to people that need it unselfishly. The NHS is doing that, but the donations should be given from the heart, not the pocketbook, and not for the prospect of getting something.

Lately, The Bison has been hearing complaints from the student body about our four page issues. Comments like “Where is the middle of it,” and “Is that all” are not new to us. We, as a staff, would like to attempt to explain our reasons for our four page issues, and maybe offer a little insight on how this paper runs.

First of all, editors must have a meeting and decide what to do the paper on, and then decide how the issues are involved in the school, and try to think of sufficient stories to write.

Next the stories are assigned to our staff of writers, who are given a little over a week to write the stories.

Third, the stories are turned in, and edited by the editors.

Fourth, they are loaded on disk and laid out on the Macintosh. This step of the process is the longest and most tedious of the paper, having to count picas and making sure everything is lined up and perfect.

Then the almost finished copy is handed to the proofer, to look for typographical and grammatical errors. If there are mistakes, they are brought back to the Mac and fixed.

After the errors are fixed, it is paste down time, where we clip and paste the copy down on lay out sheets. Then the rough copy is sent off to The Wright County Journal Press for printing. After the printing is done, our adviser picks the bundles up and brings it to the school for distribution.

This whole process takes about a month. Around layout time, we have what we call in The Bison room Hell Week. There is no explanation needed of that. Around layout time, editors live, eat, breathe, and sleep the paper. Many Saturdays are eaten up by layout sessions, and some nights editors are here till ten PM. Not what you would call fun.

There it is, guys, the birth of a newspaper. As you can see, a lot of problems can crop up, such as there is not enough information to do the story, or a writer doesn't get it down on time, or not at all. Sometimes the editors don't get the story assignments out on time. Once in a while the editors won't do their pages when they should, and their lagging behind holds up production of the whole paper. Very rarely we run into computer problems. Lately, our problem has been that the paper is not getting printed and given to us the day we said. Along with any efficient machine, there is always friction slowing it down.

Now for the reason for our small issues. This last issue was called The Bison Extra. Extra. That means that is an extra issue, along with our regular sized issues. An extra costs us more money, so we published that for the benefit of our readers, not for our thrills.

So there it is, folks. We hope you understand more about how a newspaper works, and be a little more receptive of our issues.

Outcome Based Education (OBE) is the new system for education which will be implemented by all Minnesota school districts in the next few years. An individual learning plan, more individual attention, and different graduation standards, are a few highlighted plans of OBE.

“If we change the focus from isolated facts to more strategies, it will actually make the schoolwork more interesting therefore easier,” said Barsness.

The reasoning behind OBE was that the present system’s focus of education has been content and attendance. With OBE, graduation would not be based on the number of hours spent in the classroom. Rather, each student would have an individual learning plan which would outline their goals for graduation and their career outlook.

School District #877 presently hasn’t adopted a plan for OBE, although Hanover Elementary School is working under the program as a “guinea pig” school.

“The plan right now is to become as educated as possible about it,” said English teacher Sharon Barsness.

The class of ’96, this year’s seventh graders, will be the first class to graduate with the full OBE experience in high school. These students must complete a test at the end of their senior year aimed at accessing their understanding of basic principles and skills needed in today’s world. If the students pass, then they can graduate with their class, if not they must stay back the recommended number of years and complete classes directed at the lacking skills. A student can not graduate without passing the exam, thus giving weight and prestige to the high school diploma.

Another aspect of OBE is the willingness to accelerate gifted students. If a student displays the capabilities to comprehend a higher than average level of knowledge, OBE allows for accelerated classes and early graduation. If a student can pass the assessment test in fifth grade, they will be allowed to graduate, even at that young age.

“I think OBE would be great, so that smarter people can move on ahead,” said freshman Dan Custer.

Although OBE is expected to increase skills and knowledge of the future labor force of the U.S., thus allowing the U.S. to compete in the steadily more competitive world market, the dropout rate is expected to increase dramatically, and an increase in suicides is predicted.

One of the main questions concerning parents and taxpayers of District #877 is the cost of OBE. Once implemented, it shouldn’t cost much more than the present system being used.

OBE is something so new that, among all of the predictions, there is only one that will definitely happen...change.

Nana’s back and “she’s better than ever.”

Returning after only three months in home Japan, foreign exchange student Nana Hanayama, came back to Buffalo on October 24.

“I missed everyone in Buffalo so much. I got an American flag from Florence Deutsch as a farewell gift in August. I keep it on my wall. When I look at it I think of friends and memories that I have here. I kept saying to mom, I really miss Buffalo, so please, let me go back,” said Hanayama.

“I’m going to stay for three or four months and may visit friends in Europe before I go back to Japan--if I still have enough time and enough money. It’s cheaper to go from America than Japan,” said Hanayama.

It took her 13 hours by plane from Osaka, Japan to Los Angeles and then from Los Angeles to Minneapolis.

She is staying with senior Ellen Frump and foreign exchange student Bridget Henderson from South Africa. She lives in Kobe, Japan. There are between 1.5 and 1.7 million people living there. Kobe is located southwest of Tokyo. “It takes about three hours to get from one to the other by bullet train. I live near downtown,” said Hanayama. In Japan Hanayama attended Yamete Girls High School.

In Japan school starts in April and they have three terms.

While she is here she would like to accomplish speaking English well and pronunciation of some English words. “I am sometimes discouraged because of my poor English. Japanese and English are totally different, so I sometimes wish I was born somewhere in Europe because it seems easier to learn English there. I feel it easier to learn Spanish from English because of having something much more in common,” said Hanayama.

Her classes here are: Spanish II, American Literature, International Cuisine, Independent Study, English as a Second Language, and French I. She likes all her classes. “Especially American Literature, the foreign languages because they are good for me. I never used to read English or any books, so it will be really good practice and Mr. Squadroni is so nice. Everybody is so nice,” said Hanayama.

Before she left Japan Hanayama was concerned about trying to go to an entrance university which is in Tokyo. She had to take the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test, and the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), as complicated culture course exams. She could take these both in Japan and America, so she decided to come back. “It didn’t matter where I had to prepare for entering college so it’ll be good for me to stay in Buffalo. Some of my good friends are still here. Along with my host families--Bob and Thea Adams, Chuck and Liz Klassen, and Glen and Florence Deutsch,” said Hanayama.

“I thought I should be in America and take some classes because it will be good for me and I didn’t want to waste time without school (classes) in Japan,” said Hanayama. Even though she could study on her own in Japan, she’s glad she came here. She just likes being in Buffalo. “I’m kind of on vacation now. I was going to some classes at the University of Minnesota, but I’ve decided to stay here because I had a hard time getting down there so often,” said Hanayama.

She hopes she can get into the college in Tokyo next April. “I’m really not sure if I can make it to be admitted to a university, which is what I want to do because it is very hard to get in at a national level and I didn’t study that much when I was a junior or a senior,” said Hanayama.

She was also going to go to Australia as an exchange student for Rotary, so she didn’t take any exams for college entrance. Even though it was possible to take some exams, she didn’t want to take them because she could take only some, which were low level college. “I didn’t think I was prepared enough at that time because I quit studying when I was a junior,” said Hanayama.

Because of graduating from high school the year before, the Australians wouldn’t accept her. The Australian side didn’t want anybody who would have only been a graduate for one year.

While in Japan she works in her uncle’s coffee house three or four days a week and helped in her mother’s restaurant. She would like to be a teacher and teach Japanese in foreign countries, otherwise she would like to be a stewardess. “It is a very good job but is hard to be in Japan,” said Hanayama.

“I think I’ve changed a lot since I have gotten to America. I will always appreciate my hometown teacher because he gave me a wonderful opportunity which seemed impossible for me to get because of I think I’m kind of lazy and not such a good student,” said Hanayama. Ever since she came to America and went back to Japan, she says she has changed physically and mentally. “I had a wonderful experience in America last year. I got to meet a lot of nice people from all around the world. I learned a lot. One more good thing is that I felt closer to my family, especially with my mom when I got home. Now I miss my family so much, but I’m fine because I know that my family will never leave me,” said Hanayama.

Boys basketball season is starting again and is welcoming a new head coach, Neil Fletcher. His past includes experience at North Dakota State University, as a coach and head coach at Columbia Heights High School. Fletcher expects excitement at games, motivation to be successful, and a championship attitude from the basketball players. “We want fans to come to games, pound on the bleachers, and scream their lungs out,” said Fletcher. Kevin Schmeling, the boys' B-team coach, said that the past teams have lacked mostly in skill development and that he is going to try to help them. The coaches are expecting about 60 students interested in basketball. Coaches aren’t the only ones enthusiastic about the new season. Freshman Jon Bergelaborates, “It’s really an exciting game and it’s really fun shooting a ball into a hoop.” Berg’s goals are to have a winning season and improve his skills. The freshman players are anticipating the new year. Freshman Troy Duerr said, “I like the aggression and the competitiveness and I like slamming the ball.” Fletcher adds, “It’s going to be a great getting Buffalo excited

Those leaders of pep and fun enthusiasm, are back and cheering up a win-storm. Winter cheerleaders have been practicing for the upcoming season. A team of 20 girls, five squads of four, for the different sports: hockey, girls' and boys' basketball, and wrestling; started Monday practices recently. “I think it will be fun and a good experience,” said freshman Jennifer Meister. This season is being advised by Lori Fildes, Special Education teacher. With most groups, there are some problems. “Any time you’re working with a group of 20 people in one shot, you’re going to end up with a few conflicts here and there, but I would prefer mostly positive and optimistic spirits,” said Fildes. Cheering on teams is only part of a cheerleaders job. Tuesday, November 13, they performed at the band concert, doing a routine, while the band played (Amarillo). They’re hoping to get both Varsity and Junior Varsity squads into some clinics this year. In the past, there have been mostly fall cheerleaders who attend the clinics. Hockey, varsity and junior varsity cheerleading squads, are planning to go to a clinic at the University of Minnesota. One of the seasons objectives, is for the cheerleaders to get to know the coaches better, so they’ll feel more a part of the team. “I’m looking forward to it, I wasn’t a [unclear] cheerleader last year, but I think it will be a lot of fun,” said junior Amy Kramer.

Gym class, it’s a controversial issue. Athletic students can get an easy grade while non-athletic students put in a lot of effort, to no avail, at least not much. Actually, I don’t feel it’s very controversial at all; it benefits both athletic and non-athletic students. It’s an emotional release from the stresses of sitting in a class for hours. It provides exercise, and teaches teamwork and coordination. It’s not a mental break for non-athletic students, because they’re under the constant stress of feeling foolish. Teamwork could be done in a classroom environment by making students do projects together. For some students, who like being alone, they could exercise by themselves. Embarrassment is a part of life. People have to be taught that they can’t perfect at everything, and for me, a basically non-athletic person, I find gym entertaining. It gives me a good laugh. Plus, exercise is good for everyone. Constant embarrassment could give a non-athletic person a low self image. Yet, for people who do poorly academically, and feel embarrassed in normal classes, gym could actually give them more confidence and raise their self-esteem. Students, who do poorly academically, have separate classes from the more academically advanced students, so why can’t gym classes be arranged accordingly? Don’t you think that being separated is embarrassing, too? Also, only math is a forced separation of different levels. Well, I do believe in other classes being separated, too. Aren’t you getting off the subject? One thing we may agree on is that skill tests should not be the majority of the grade. Effort, attitude, and basic understanding of the sport should make up most of the grade. I agree. But I also feel that skill tests should be based on how much a person has improved. Aren’t academic classes graded on how much they learn, not how much they knew from the beginning? But this is just our opinions. Shows how much we know. And in the words of the infamous Heather Bakke “but that, my friends, is another story.”

Nana’s back and “she’s better than ever.” Returning after only three months in home Japan, foreign exchange student Nana Hanayama, came back to Buffalo on October 24. “I missed everyone in Buffalo so much. I got an American flag from Florence Deutsch as a farewell gift in August. I keep it on my wall. When I look at it I think of friends and memories that I have here. I kept saying to my mom, I really miss Buffalo, so please, let me go back,” said Hanayama. “I’m going to stay for three or four months and may visit friends in Europe before I go back to Japan--if I still have enough time and enough money. It’s cheaper to go from America than Japan,” said Hanayama. It took her 13 hours by plane from Osaka, Japan to Los Angeles and then from Los Angeles to Minneapolis. She is staying with senior Ellen Frump and foreign exchange student Bridget Henderson from South Africa. She lives in Kobe, Japan. There are between 1.5 and 1.7 million people living there. Kobe is located southwest of Tokyo. “It takes about three hours to get from one to the other by bullet train. I live near downtown,” said Hanayama. In Japan Hanayama attended Yamete Girls High School. In Japan school starts in April and they have three terms. While she is here she would like to accomplish speaking English well and pronunciation of some English words. “I am sometimes discouraged because of my poor English. Japanese and English are totally different, so I sometimes wish I was born somewhere in Europe because it seems easier to learn English there. I feel it easier to learn Spanish from English because of having something much more in common,” said Hanayama. Her classes here are: Spanish II, American Literature, International Cuisine, Independent Study, English as a Second Language, and French I. She likes all her classes. “Especially American Literature, the foreign languages because they are good for me. I never used to read English or any books, so it will be really good practice and Mr. Squadroni is so nice. Everybody is so nice,” said Hanayama. Before she left Japan Hanayama was concerned about trying to go to an entrance university which is in Tokyo. She had to take the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test, and the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), as complicated culture course exams. She could take these both in Japan and America, so she decided to come back. “It didn’t matter where I had to prepare for entering college so it’ll be good for me to stay in Buffalo. Some of my good friends are still here. Along with my host families--Bob and Teresa Adams, Chuck and Liz Klasssen, and Glen and Florence Deutsch,” said Hanayama. “I thought I should be in America and take some classes because it will be good for me and I didn’t want to waste time without school (classes) in Japan,” said Hanayama. Even though she could study on her own in Japan, she’s glad she came here. She just likes being in Buffalo. “I’m kind of on vacation now. I was going to some classes at the University of Minnesota, but I’ve decided to stay here because I had a hard time getting down there so often,” said Hanayama. She hopes she can get into the college in Tokyo next April. “I’m really not sure if I can make it to be admitted to a university, which is what I want to do because it is very hard to get in at a national level and I didn’t study that much when I was a junior or a senior,” said Hanayama. She was also going to go to Australia as an exchange student for Rotary, so she didn’t take any exams for college entrance. Even though it was possible to take some exams, she didn’t want to take them because she could take only some, which were low level college. “I didn’t think I was prepared enough at that time because I quit studying when I was a junior,” said Hanayama. Because of graduating from high school the year before, the Australians wouldn’t accept her. The Australian side didn’t want anybody who would have only been a graduate for one year. While in Japan she works in her uncle’s coffee house three or four days a week and helped in her mother’s restaurant. She would like to be a teacher and teach Japanese in foreign countries, otherwise she would like to be a stewardess. “It is a very good job but it is hard to be in Japan,” said Hanayama. “I think I’ve changed a lot since I have gotten to America. I will always appreciate my home-room teacher because he gave me a wonderful opportunity which seemed impossible for me to get because of I think I’m kind of lazy and not such a good student,” said Hanayama. Ever since she came to America and went back to Japan, she says she has changed physically and mentally. “I had a wonderful experience in America last year. I got to meet a lot of nice people from all around the world. I learned a lot. One more good thing is that I felt closer to my family, especially my mom when I got home. Now I miss my family so much, but I’m fine because I know that my family will never leave me,” said Hanayama.

Ich habe hunger! Food. German students sing about it, friends hold conversations about it, and the human race depends on it.

Picture this: Your sitting in class emersed in a deep theological discussion when somebody turns to their neighbor and says in a remarkably loud voice, “what’s for lunch today?”

Or how about: Your digging deep into the depths of your locker when a “friend” shouts across the locker island, “have any food?”

Or, does this sound familiar? Your sitting enjoying your Mr. Rib on a bun when another “friend” leans over your tray begging, “gonna eat those fries?”

Or what about this: You bring in a load of canned goods for the food drive when an NHS member exclaims, “if I give ya fifty-cents can I buy that from ya?”

Yes, our lives revolve around food. Americans even have a holiday dedicated to food, Thanksgiving.

Is Thanksgiving really any different than any other day of the year? Don’t we all pig out the other 364 days of the year?

The only difference is that Uncle Fred is at your house and football is on the tube on Thursday afternoon.

So go ahead and chew on that drumstick but remember to save room for the candy, the pizza, school lunch, and the Nachos at the concession stand.