The Hoofprint – February 28, 2008

If students pass in front of gym on Thursday from 6:00pm- 9:00pm and on Saturday from 9:45am-4:15pm, they can hear the rhythmic drum beats of the 38 drum line students practicing in the gym.

Drumline is a line of students playing a variety of different drums and other percussion instruments such as snare, tenor, bass , cymbals, and the front ensemble. Erectric basses, guitars, xylophones, and shakers required no movement. Drumline of ’06-’07 took second place at fi nals. Becker took fi rst by 0.3 points. However, after the event it turned out that the Buffalo actually took fi rst place. Since the fi rst place trophy was already given to Becker, Buffalo could not receive it. However their goal is persist to have fun. This is most important thing for them.

“I like shows very much. I like to see other school’s shows. I will be extremely nervous, but I will also be excited,” said Junior Faith Sandberg.

Junior Benjamin Stephens explained about his fi rst show. “I don’t forget my fi rst show. It was good feeling, like pride.”

They usually practice for seven hour on Saturday, and winter drumline meets for three to seven hours of rehearsal during ever week. They spend long time for practice.

“I got patience.” Stephens said. “I stand up all the time during drumline. And I got strong back. I usually lazy, but when I play the drum, I could be hard worker.”

“I don’t feel big responsibility,” drum line captain Sophomore Mitchell Carlstorm.

“I have good section and good people. They respect me and I respect them. Drumline is my everything. I can’t imagine my life without drumline. When I play the drum, I can be my self.”

On Saturday, the wrestling team competed in the individual sectional tournament in Moorhead. Seniors Danny Maghrak and Matt Jeska and Junior David Baker advanced to state. Each wrestler was guaranteed three rounds, while others went on to wrestle four or fi ve.

Placed second, Jeska, advanced to state after pinning his third placed competitor in a true second match in the 171 lbs weight class. Maghrak at 140 and Baker at 112 took fi rst in their weight class.

State for individuals will take place at the Xcel Energy Center Wednesday evening, February 27th, and continue on through Saturday.

After a season of cutting and maintaining weight, diffi cult and long hours of practice, these wrestlers’ hard work have paid off.

“I’m excited to be a part of it all,” said Baker, “and knowing my team’s going to be there this weekend to cheer us on while we compete both as a team and individually.”

Senior privileges started up this week, releasing seniors from class everyday Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 2:00.

Passes are required in order to leave the building; there are no exceptions or excuses for not having one in possession.

Every year, seniors look forward to spring, awaiting the privileges they’ve earned after four years.

“I’m really looking forward to spring, when it’s warmer and I can do more,” said Senior Laura Nystrom. “For now, I’ll probably just go home and get started on homework.”

With 42 presidents, and 56 presidential elections in U.S. history, the upcoming presidential election is said to be the largest ever. On November 4, 2008 for the fi rst time ever, people will have the opportunity to vote for a woman, an African American, a Baptist Pastor, and an unconventional Republican. The turnout could make history. “I think America is overdue for a person of a different color, gender, or religion to become president,” said Social Studies teacher Devin Davidson, “Until we can judge a candidate on their character and opinions, not based on those qualities, we have a long way to go.” On the Democratic side, the main candidates are Barack Obama and Hillary Clin- ton. Obama is a half Black African, half Caucasian senator from Illinois. The focus of his campaign is change in America. Clinton is the second woman to run for president, and is a U.S. Senator representing New York. Some of her main issues are health care and human rights, referred by HillaryClinton.com. Like most Democrats, Obama and Clinton believe in middle class tax cuts, providing affordable and available health care to all, giving ho- mosexual citizens the same rights as heterosexual citizens, and ending the war in Iraq. “The war in Iraq is on my mind,” said Senior Jessica Landowski, “ I believe we should pull the troops out.” The front runners for Republicans are John McCain and Mike Huckabee. Mc- Cain is an Arizona Senator, and has also served in the U.S. House of Representatives. Ac- cording to JohnMcCain.com, McCain believes in lowering taxes for all, and maintaining or bringing more troops into Iraq to strengthen our military forces. Huckabee is a former Arkansas Governor that is out to show people that the American dream is still alive. He believes in securing the American borders to avoid illegal immigrants, and eliminating all federal income taxes, stated MikeHuckabee.com. McCain and Huckabee do not believe in universal health care or middle class tax breaks, but do believe in rights for Veterans, and passing a constitutional amendment against abortion, like other Republicans. “I think tax cuts should be made for either everyone, or no one at all,” said So- phomore Ashley Michalko, “The lower and higher classes should get the same advan- tages.” With such a large election coming up, the primary elections were very infl uential this year. The primary elections, or caucuses, will determine which candidates will get the Democratic, or Republican nominations for president. To get the nomination the candi- date must get 2,025 delegates for Democrats, and 1191 delegates for Republicans, by win- ning states. Obama and Romney were the winners in the Minnesota Caucus on February 5, 2008. According to Rockthevote.com, some believe their wins were largely credited to the large voter turn out. Primarily, to the large voter turn out in young people. In the Ten- nessee primary election alone, voter turnout in young people quadrupled since 2000. “I feel it is important to vote, because it is the great equalizer; everyone is equal. It’s a way to participate in a democracy,” said Social Studies teacher Cynthia Kahlil. Although 82% of Seniors said they were interested and concerned about politics, only 51% said they were going to vote in the MN Caucus, and 15% said they were un- decided. Historically, older voters have voted in much higher proportions than younger voters. The outcome of this historical presidential election will very likely depend on whether younger voters show up and vote in high numbers. For more information about how and why to vote, visit www.RockTheVote.com.

Everyday after school, the boys’ swim team heads to the middle school. Once they arrive, the smell of chlorine hits them, and they jump in the water.

“I’ve tried a lot of sports,” said Senior Brendan Brophy, “and swimming has to be one of the hardest.”

They work every part of their body in swimming. They use a kick board to mainly work the legs. They use a pull-buoy to make them use arm muscles only. Eventually, it takes a toll.

”When you’re actually swimming, you don’t the burn,” said Freshman Anthony Mack. “But when you relax you can feel it.”

In an average practice, swimmers might cover up to 7500 yards, or 300 lengths of the pool.

“I feel tired and stressed,” said Freshman Spencer Maiden. “but not physical pain.”

Having a tired and stressed out body is not the only thing that the boys have to deal with. Like many sports, swimmers have to watch what they eat.

“We are not supposed to drink pop or eat fatty foods,” said Junior Owen Tierney. “After every weekend you feel slow and fat otherwise.”

Being a swimmer means going to practice five days a week. Practices take up most of the day after school, anywhere from two to three and a half hours.

“It makes it much harder to do other stuff,” said Tierney. “It’s hard to hear others say that they can go screw around and I can’t, we basically give up our whole week.”

With demands like homework, jobs, family, and friends, there is little extra down time.

”You don’t have a social life during the season,” said Brophy. “Go to school, practice, and then home to do homework and to bed.”

From the week after Thanksgiving until sections on February 22, the Bison swimmers did the same routine every weekday.

“You do nothing but swim,” said Mack. “It takes a lot of discipline, but it is worth it.”

With the season over, the swimmers will be able to take a break from the water until the season next year. But they won’t stay away from the pool for long.

A 31-28 win over the Alexandria Cardinals and a Section 8AAA championship trophy were both unexpected to Buffalo Wrestling Coach Paul Arens.

“We knew we were better than the second seed so beating them wasn’t a surprise,” said Coach Paul Arens. “But I did not expect to beat Alexandria because they beat us earlier in the season.”

13 years have elapsed since the last Buffalo showing at the Wrestling State Tournament. But after three wins on Saturday February 16th in Sauk Rapids, the Bison headed to the Xcel Energy Center this past Wednesday to make their 8th appearance at the state level.

“So many people stepped up to make winning possible. Junior David Baker and Senior Captain Danny Maghrak are two people who had really big wins for the team in the fi nal round,” said Arens.

The Bison faced Alexandria earlier in the season and lost badly with a 52-15 score, Alexandria was the No. 1-seeded team heading into the tournament in contrast to Buffalo’s No. 3-seed.

“We beat Alexandria because we wrestled well and Alexandria was over confi dent,” said Arens. “We turned a lot of matches around from the fi rst time we wrestled them.”

Bemidji lost to the Bison in the fi rst round of the Section Tournament with a 31-24 score and then the Bison advanced to claim a 37-30 victory over Brainerd.

Buffalo needed a 112-pound victory from Baker to beat Alexandria, and he came away with a 9-4 decision. Then, Maghrak won the 140-pound match against Alexandria’s Jake Patnode with a 4-2 decision in the third overtime.

“We came through and did what we needed to do by wrestling hard,” said Maghrak. “Everyone did their job and we had faith that we could win.”

Sophomore Timmy Ruter (140 pounds) and Senior Captain Matt Jeska (171 pounds) both earned technical falls, rewarding extra points to push the Bison ahead. Finally, Junior James Neddermeyer (215 pounds) won by second-period pin to give the Bison a six-point lead heading into the fi nal match of the night.

“After Neddermeyer won by fall we knew that we had the dual won,” said Arens. “Alexandria could have tied the match but we would have won by criteria because we had more falls during the dual then them.”

The Bison are now 19-12 in their dual meets this season.

“We will have the ability to win some matches at state, we jut need to show up and wrestle hard,” said Arens. “Everything has been a whole team effort, teammates are picking up teammates.”

Achieving the state honors means high expectations and strenuous practices for the upcoming seasons of Buffalo Wrestling.

“After 13 years we have shown that Buffalo has a strong wrestling program once again,” said Arens. “I hope that we can continue to wrestle hard.”

The entire team stepped up and played their part in the success this past week at the Section 8AAA meet. Wins from Junior James Neddermeyer and Sophomore Timmy Ruter helped to seal the win off of the Alexandria Cardinals.

“The team didn’t make it to state off of its seniors,” said Senior Captain Danny Maghrak. “We worked together as a team and our young wrestlers stepped up and played their part, this will help to motivate everyone for the upcoming seasons.”

The team will lose four seniors and all three captains to graduation including Maghrak, Captain Matt Jeska, Brandon Ordorff, and Captain Carter Vogt, leaving their mark on the sport to the young teammates.

“The state appearance will help us stay motivated for the next year,” said Sophomore Brady Maus. “I think it will create high expectations and goals for us.”

Burton Twin 58 Snowboard with Burton Soft Bindings: $465. Airwalk Freeride Snowboard Boots: $220. Gore-Tex snow pants: $240. Landing a 720? Well, for Junior Sam Nelson, that’s priceless.

“A 720 is this jump when you spin in the air, and I was so pumped when I landed that just because it was so unexpected,” said Nelson. “I thought that I was going to fall down like every other time. It was awesome, and memories like that make all the money spent worth it.”

Nelson has been snowboarding since the age of ten, when a few of his friends started to get into it.

“I started to teach myself once everyone else began to get into it.” said Nelson. “I wanted to see what the big deal was, and once I got started it just kind of stuck.”

Sophomore Shelby Quady, who has been snowboarding since the age of 13, also began by teaching herself when some of her friends picked up the sport. Quady knows how fast the prices add up, but maintains it does not have to be as expensive as some people claim it to be.

“It can be so frustrating, what with how expensive things can get, but it’s worth it. You don’t have to have a brand name snowboard to love snowboarding.” said Quady. “I got an okay deal on all of my equipment; my board, binding, and boots were all just over $300.”

Considering that the more expensive snowboards go for over $600 alone, most snowboarders would fi nd that $300 is a pretty good price. Why are people paying hundreds of dollars to snowboard?

“Because I love it. It’s such a good feeling when you land a jump, or do some diffi cult move. It’s awesome being able to look back and say, ‘Wow, I really did just do that.’ And that makes everything worth it.” said Quady. “You forget about how much your ankle hurts, or how sore you are, or how cold you are.”

Snowboarding is not only a costly sport, but also a relatively dangerous one. Sophomore Lowell Engle knows fi rsthand how risky this sport is and has luckily avoided major damage so far. This is quite an achievement, considering that according to Jeffrey Hadley, Ph.D, each year there are over 150,000 injuries directly related to snowboarding. The most common injury is fractured wrists, followed by elbow contusions and dislocations, rotator cuff injuries in the shoulder, broken collarbones, and concussions. The danger isn’t keeping Engle away though, and he still makes time to snowboard every day.

These three students are just a small example of the ever growing population of snowboarders here at BHS. They know the risks and the costs of the sport, but they also know that it’s all worth it and that at the end of they day it is not about how many times you fell, but how many times you got back up.

“Unchained Melody” -Jessica Herdklotz

“Welcome Home” -‘T e Herd’ Winter Drumline

“Pigeons in the Park” -Logan Walsh

“Separation” -Sam Bergstrom, Max Lundeen, & Matt O’Leary

“Dance Fabulous” -Kayla Asplund

“So Small” -Kayla Asplund

Emcees Emily Carlson & Logan Walsh

“Still Hurting” -Rachel Smude

“Never Expected So Much” -Hannah Birkeland & Sarah Ramsey

“Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” -Brandon Aldrich, Chris Lundquist, Tom Polzine, Filup Rossin, & Taylor Budde

“Sunburst” -Tom Polzine

“Concerto in G Minor” -Amanda Burgdorf & Dr. Andrew Burgdorf

“Cannonball” -Brandon Aldrich

At 6:30 a.m. all the cast and crew members of Buffalo High School’s One-Act Play, Blues, are outside in sub-zero weather, loading their set, props, and costumes into a frosty trailer. It becomes a game of Tetris stacking the boxes in so they still have room for more.

As the bus pulls up to the site of their competition, cast and crew are greeted by the host school. Each school is given a ten by ten foot square in which they must fit their entire set, as well as costumes and props, and is allowed 10 minutes to get their set ready on stage, 35 minutes to perform their play, and five minutes to tear down their set.

“[When we set up,] we have to check our blocking to make sure it will work with the stage,” said Senior Griffin Trevino. “And check the acoustics to make sure we can be heard.”

In order to achieve the desired outcome, One-Act practices every day after school.

“It’s very time consuming,” said Senior Rachel Smude. “I love it, but between this and work one-act is basically my life”.

Even with the time put into the show, actors find that the tension can make even the most experienced actors feel hectic.

“Just the competition, the rush, and the play aspects,” said Junior Brandon Aldrich. “H-D [Director Tracy Hagstrom-Durant] tells us that when everyone about you is losing their head, to keep yours.”

The tension of the competition came into play after the performance as well as during it.

“The nerves,” said Senior Emily Carlson, “just waiting to hear what the judges’ decision is”

The decision came and this year at subsections the cast jumped up and down with a first place finish. Buffalo placed second at sections; Dassel-Cokato placed first with a one point lead.

As the winter sports begin wrapping up and winter comes to an end, students have one thing to look forward to: Snow Daze week. Snow Daze took place last week. It was fi lled with a variety of different events during and after school, all involving competition between staff and students.

Snow Daze is designed to boost morale and school spirit through student vs. staff competition. All events are designed by National Honor Society students with the students and staff in mind.

“We try to think of what students want in general,” said Senior and executive council member Kayla Christoffersen. “It’s about keeping students happy and providing fun for them.”

A lot of hard work went into the planning of Snow Daze, in hopes that it would be perfect. There were early morning, AAA and after school meetings that NHS members had to attend. Snowfl akes to be cut out, decorations to be hung, and all work needed to be done outside of school and other activities.

“It’s a big job in general said Christoffersen. “There are so many responsibilities. We need to make sure everything is covered which means every one has to cover all the jobs.”

Time was an issue that they had to take into consideration when planning Snow Daze. Everyone is involved in other activities that they need to be able to work around in order to plan each event.

“We started planning about six weeks ahead of time we wanted to make sure we had enough time for everything,” said NHS leader Sara Varner.

“Generally speaking, a lot of NHS members are involved in many activities. Finding time for the committees to meet is the biggest challenge,” said Varner.

Although Varner and Brigitta Rettmann are considered the NHS leaders the decisions are made by the students.

“Students are the leaders so the decisions are ultimately theirs. The end product is a result of their hard work and effort,” said Rettmann.

With Snow Daze over and winter coming to an end. The members of NHS are now looking forward to their next project, the blood drive that is going to take place March 7.

Bigger classes, sports more expensive, teachers leaving, parking fees and maybe more.

T ese are the results of the referendum failing. Whether for or against it, change is upon us.

“I felt like nobody cared about what happened to our school. Before the referendum took place, I was pretty confi dent that it would pass,” said Freshmen Brooke Gagnon. “I was very disappointed when the results were revealed.”

Whether happiness or depression, many feelings drained out of everyone. What is truly best for our school should be the only motive.

“It’s like a parent coming home and saying I lost my full time job,” said Principal Rick Toso. “T ere is absolutely nothing to benefit from this.”

Of 112 students, 90 percent would have voted yes to question number one (to maintain current programs, services and class sizes), 56 percent would have voted yes to question number two (to replace and upgrade technology), and 57 percent would have voted yes to question number three (reduce class sizes and add K-8 programs of choice).

T e actual voting results for Buffalo was 54 percent voted yes for question one, 48 percent voted yes for question two, and 46 percent voted yes for question three.

“A slight tax increase would be okay in order to maintain all services, or at least most,” said Freshman Michael Nelson.

T ere will be a lot of budget reduction in 2008-09 including: student parking permit fees ($60,000), high school participant fees 25 percent increase ($40,000), activity admission annual passes 20 percent increase ($5,200), and cutting winter intramural activities ($4,000). Saving $105,600 for the school district budget. T e total preliminary budget reductions for 2008-09 would be at least $1,825,600. 5.25 teachers will be cut, some coming through retirement, causing class sizes to grow.

“It will aff ect a lot of the students coming up. It won’t aff ect me, mainly because I’m going post secondary next year,” said Junior Amber Bergslien. “I think we will have more people considering post secondary now because of the levy failing.”

Because of the post secondary opportunities that many seniors have, it is possible that more students who weren’t considering it for next year might take in account for this chance to go to college early. Students’ lack of interest in school may have a larger impact than most people think.

“Stronger schools make stronger communities,” said Social Studies Teacher Scott Palmer.

T e impact of the levy goes past the school walls and into the public as well.

Not all people that were 18 or older voted and maybe if they all did vote, the results of the referendum might have passed. In the spring of 2008, the school board has brought up the possibility of a re-vote.

T ough options may not be reinstated, a passing referendum means much more to the school and its future.

College visits, community service, and bonding activities. All of these activities are part of one elective class. Not many people know about the class: Jobs for Minnesota Graduates, (JMNG).

JMNG became an elective in 2001, and is funded by Northwest Suburban Integra-tion School District (NWSISD). NWSISD partners with seven other school districts to provide this class and many different pro-grams for the community.

JMNG offers two classes. A 9-11th grade semester-long class and a 12th grade year-long class. Both classes focus on pre-paring students for life after high school. The students also choose guest speakers to hear in their career interest. Students also go on college visits.

“It helped me fi gure out what I want to do after high school, and it’s helped me decided what college I want to go to,” said Senior Katye Schillinger. “It’s brought me on college tours; it helped me deal with dif-ferent people, and how to react to them.”

All students in JMNG are a part of the student led organization called the Career Association; where students take on leader-ship roles to plan activities for the class.

“At the end of the second term, we went to Elm Creek to go snow tubing, [The Mul-ti-Year Class] and we all had a blast,” said Gannon. “It was an end of year celebration for us doing so well.”

“I think its pathetic people say it’s a “special” class,” said Sophomore Brittany Gannon. “Some seniors are straight A stu-dents and they’re in it. It helps anyone with their future. I don’t think people should judge a class if they’ve never taken it be-fore.”

The class also offers homework sup-port. Wednesday is Homework Help Day, where the students can spend class time working on homework, projects or study for tests from any of your classes.

“It helped me get better grades because of Homework Help Day,” said Junior Zach Thurston.

There are no requirements to enroll in JMNG. If a student either needs extra sup-port to achieve their goals in life or if they need guidance for what to do after high school.

“JMNG is a safe place to be yourself and not worry about what other people think. It’s a great support system,” said JMNG Teach-er Clare Cole. “Students are comfortable to be themselves. It’s a non-traditional, unique class, where students get the opportunity to explore their lives and future.”

As teenagers living in rural Minnesota, the majority of us have always had a roof above our heads, food on our table, clothes on our backs, and an education. We’ve never wanted for our daily necessities, and many of us have never wanted for anything else either, whether it be television, computers, or cell phones. Because these things have always been at our disposal, it’s easy to take them for granted. But at what point does it end? As American students, we should be grateful. Our country’s shaky economy suggests that we may sit on the edge of losing it all.

Eighty-eight years ago began the decade that eventually engulfed the entire planet in depression. The 1920s saw a number of events that sent America on a downward spiral, including statistics comparably similar to those of the 2000s. Granted, the stock market crash of 1929 was the ultimate reason for the Great Depression, but with other facts aligning, it’s hard to know what we have in store for us.

In the 1920s, the richest one percent of the population owned 40% of the nation’s wealth. Today, that fi gure varies by only two percent, the richest one percent owning 38% of the nation’s wealth. The middle class, however, comprised only 20% of Americans in the 1920s. Although most of us now consider ourselves middle class, a study done in 2006 by the New York Times fi nds only 30% of Americans fall between the $25,000-$70,000 a year income level that makes up the working class in today’s infl ated society.

Another similarity between the decades is the notable end of a construction boom. In 1928, construction profits plummeted $2 billion from 1926. Last year, house construction hit a 12-year low, and the plunge in existing homes rose to the steepest it’s been since 1989.

These signs, and more, are all around us. Our stock market continues to hold its dignity, but no one expected it to crash in 1929. As a country, we need to understand that anything can happen to cause the luxuries we’ve always entertained to vanish on the spot. By showing appreciation now, we enable ourselves to look back on this privileged era with the knowledge that we had it

From the fall of 1995 to the Spring of 1998 I was a substitute teacher here in Buffalo. I remember walking by the room where the Bison Stampede (now The Hoofprint) had their offi ces. I popped my head in to chat with the students and I noticed that they were throwing out a mountain of old newspapers. I asked them why they were throwing the papers away and they said that they were old and they didn’t need them anymore.

Immediately my heart sank because inside those papers were many stories and columns that I had written when I was in high school. I thought back to when I was on the paper (then called the Bison) and I would sit for hours looking through the fi le cabinets of all the old editions of the paper. It was fun seeing how the school, teachers and students had changed over the years. It seemed sad that all that work was heading out to the recycling bin.

I felt the same heart sinking feeling today when I read the article “15 years of domination.” There is no doubt that the One-Act play has had great success these last 15 years. But your article marginalizes the fact that there was great success in the past. Clark Swenson was a great director, and as one of the students who worked with him I feel he shouldn’t be forgotten.

Thank you, Heather Bakke

By less than two hundred votes, the levy that aimed to maintain services and programs at our nationally-accomplished high school failed.

Our school probably won’t lose the block schedule yet, but valuable teachers and interesting classes have already been put on the chopping block. Retirement somewhat forced, full-time positions are forced to be split in half, and the future of certain classes lay in the hands of students as they register for classes earlier than ever before.

Now, though the damage could never be completely undone, another option has been presented for District 877 - a possibility to vote on the levy in the Spring. Although passing a levy in the spring wouldn’t prevent next year’s cuts from occurring, The Hoofprint strongly believes that it has a greater chance of passing in the Spring than during the National Election in the Fall.

In the voting booths back in November, an elderly woman’s words about the importance of the levy stood out. ‘Young people pay taxes to help us old people out,’ she said with a wink. ‘It is our job now to respect their education and continue keeping our future bright. If we pass this, it will keep our community strong and in turn will look more appealing for those moving to our town. Our town will grow and continue to produce a good future for everyone.’

With such a narrow margin of defeat and both young and old voters working together, the district has a high potential of passing a question that asks for the basic services the school offers to be restored and maintained. Voters have a clear picture of the damage the failed referendum has done and knowledge of what an additional failure could do.

The school board is currently debating whether or not to hold a levy this Spring. Deciding to do so would cost the district around $35,000, so the decision makers are being very careful.

There are numerous reasons why this decision makes sense to the school. If the district waits until the Fall, the referendum will be a part of one of the most popular and controversial ballots in recent history. With a former comedian, a minority candidate from the Democratic party, and a polarizing figure on the Republican ticket, voters will turn out in record numbers, and very few of those will have given the local referendum much, if any, thought.

In the Spring, the needs of the school will take center stage and voters will be more likely to care about the question at hand. With more students able to vote and more vocal community members, this is our best chance at ensuring that there is a brighter future ahead instead of the mounting sea of storm clouds we’ve been seeing.

Out of all the trophy cases around Buffalo High School, it’s the case outside the band room doors that has the widest variety of trophies, so many in fact that the shelves have started to warp.

The trophies reflect years of brilliance and many accomplishments: State championships in marching band, drum line awards, All State Honor Band students. The band program is very well known all around Minnesota. There are many things standing in the way of the music departments continued success, the smaller number of freshmen students starting band in high school and the referendum that recently failed.

The middle school has lost so much funding in these past years, from the referendum six to seven years ago, that middle school students are losing time in band class and they do not practice every day.

“Those students aren’t having private lessons with their band directors, so there is discomfort in band, which I believe is discouraging students to continue in high school,” said Freshman and Varsity Band Director Scott Rabehl.

There are many things that the high school is trying to do to keep the students coming over from the middle involved, such as: Marching band, a joint concert in December (with the eighth grade band and the High School concert band), jazz bands, and days where Concert Band Director Lee Kjesbo and Rabehl go to the middle school, and direct the younger students.

“It’s very hard when there are just too many choices and pressures for students to do CIS classes, and sports,” Said Kjesbo. “Many kids are feeling the pressures to get into good colleges and that is slowly becoming a problem for the band, especially when we can’t fi ll the seats [in band].”

Yet with these classes many students do fi nd time to balance music and prepare for their future Ben Stephens is one of the many that does manage to do both.

“I’m involved in many of the schools activities such as: NHS, SSU, Class Cabinet, Student council, CIS classes, and Soccer,” said Junior Ben Stephens. “It can be a lot at times, but I really enjoy all of it.”

Some students may become concerned or even scared. If Buffalo High School feels that it can become defeated then there is fear that it will be defeated. Music is everywhere and to some it’s everything, this referendum may hurt the way Buffalo High School looks at things but it defi nitely shouldn’t stop the way our bands perform.

The National Honor Society announced Monday that approximately $1,057.81 and 512 lbs of food was raised during the annual food drive. The food drive was held over Snow Daze, and members of NHS collected items and money from each class every morning.

“The drive was tough to organize,” said Senior Kayla Christoffersen, an executive member of NHS. “It was only a four day week, and there wasn’t much publicity in the beginning. By Friday, though, we had raised a lot of money and items for the drive.”

In order to encourage people to raise more, a competition was held between classes. The winning class was Publications Writing, led by English Teacher Ryan McCallum. The class raised $549.15, over half of the total money raised, and 135 items.

“On Friday the class was going psycho, running around collecting money and food from teachers and other students,” said Senior Chelsey Trogstad. “It feels really great to know that all our work is going to help save someone’s life. The food we collect means a lot to those people, so we really put it on ourselves to raise as much as we could.”

The National Honor Society donated all the money and items raised to the Buffalo Food Drive.

For most, Saturday mornings are a chance to catch up on sleep. For others, it is a chance to put their $2,000 robot in a fight to destroy their opponent before they are destroyed. On February 9, the Buffalo Robotics Team woke up at 4 am to head to the Mall of America. There, they competed with their robot, Humdinger 2 and walked away First place overall.

It was a hard fought win. Buffalo had two matches against former teammate Adam Carlson and his robot, Chucker. Their fights thrilled the crowds as the two went weapon to weapon on multiple hits, sending both robots flying. One hit sent Humdinger 2 into the roof of the arena, taking down a ceiling panel. Damage to Chucker included some scratches and a cracked beater, making the weapon useless.

“I was surprised that his beater cracked,” said Senior Team Captain Matt Gallagher. “Our’s is harder then his.”

Humdinger 2 also sustained some damage including a cut belt and a smashed pulley.

Intramurals became very popular over the last couple years, and with students spending more time being active and having a good time doing it, it truly met its purpose.

However, because of the referendum and the new budget cuts, intramurals will be one of the many things being cut.

“Intramurals were a great way to get students involved and staying out of bad things,” said Administrative Assistant Bob Driver. “Even if they are only one day a week.”

Faculty has tried time after time to keep students active and participating through clubs, different teams, and for the past couple years, intramurals. Having the intramurals cut is going to take a toll on students not involved in regular sports. They give students who are not active in school sports the opportunity to be on a team.

“It sucks that they are going be cut,” said Senior Ryan Bares. “I think that they are a good thing to have because it gives students a chance to hang out with their friends in a fun but yet a competitive environment.”

Bares, part of the winning state basketball team last year, quit this year and joined intramurals.

“I decided to join intramurals because basketball wasn’t going how I thought it would go for my senior year,” said Bares. “I never really got to play so it was a waste of time for me to practice about 12 hours a week, when I could be training for track where I know I will get looked at by college scouts.”

Besides keeping students active and involved, intramurals gives them a chance to be with their friends; they enjoy having fun without being pressured to be working harder or go to practice for hours before playing.

“Intramurals have a chance to come back if another referendum passes,” said Driver. “But with the budget cuts, we need to save the money from running the gym for learning.”

Cutting intramurals will save the school almost $4,000. The extra money for the school will help buy more necessities like books for classrooms.

“If we had to pay more money for them I totally would,” said Senior John Ulfers. “I love playing volleyball with everyone, plus my parents pay for it anyways.”

Although taking away intramurals will take away people’s time from being with a team, it will help the school with the new budget cuts.

“Intramurals were just a time for students to be able to just hang out with there friends and have a good time,” said Senior Derek Hanson. “Without them, its going to be very hard for students to stay involved.”

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