The Hoofprint – January 24, 2013

As the most powerful source of information, the internet enhances our social lives and tells us anything we want to know. Students use the internet to access sites that hold infinite possibilities for imagination and creation. The restraining filtering system at BHS blocks thousands of sites such as Tumblr and Facebook because of their potential to harm.

Former Pyhsics teacher Ed Cox is now the Director of Technology. Cox now hopes to change the way district filters. “When you look at research, people who get themselves in trouble online are people who tend to get themselves into trouble in the real world,” said Cox. “We have two levels of filtering. Right now the way we filter for a twelfth grader is the same way we filter for a kindergartener.”

The district’s trouble is finding a balance between safety and learning. Opening the internet to high schoolers has its dangers. Some fear that new internet rights would be abused. Still others think that the time has come for a change. “It kind of goes both ways,” Cox said. “We’re probably doing some over-filtering at the high school and some under-filtering at the elementary school.”

With new leadership and ideas, the future of Buffalo High School may look very different. “We have laid out what we can do, and that might include looking at a tiered filtering system,” Cox said. “You would have different levels of filtering at the elementary level than you would at the middle, than you would at the high school.”

With such a big decision impending, our district must decide whether we are ready for the responsibility.

After a lot of planning and hard business decisions, Buffalo’s construction team is finally putting the finishing touches on a park, located in downtown Buffalo near Buffalo Books. The cost for this open area park is estimated at 1.5 million dollars upon completion, with the cost also contributing to better roads in the area and to better the flow of traffic.

Primarily chosen because it was not being utilized, its central Buffalo location and proximity to the lake made the project worthwhile. The planning began in late 2011, construction starting in the spring of 2012.

“First off, there is the construction planning, which is cost and schedule oriented. We must consider the direct and indirect costs, along with the specific timeline that will work with the seasonal weather and machinery usage,” City Planner Judie Rose said.

It was difficult to navigate through town because of all the detours, but they have completed the new road, and the flow of traffic has drastically improved. The city road improvements have extended past Sturgis Park, and the Library.

“Because of the centralized location, this will offer a medium between Sturgis, going to the library, and other businesses downtown. It will be especially convenient for Buffalo Days,” Rose stated.

This park is non-recreational; it is going to brighten up the city and provide a majestic view for local businesses. This open area will include trees, flowers, benches, grass, and a walkway.

The construction is expected to be completed in late 2012, with minor landscaping going into 2013.

“We are constantly making improvements to our community, but nothing is set in stone for after this project is done,” Rose said.

1 Never go on the ice alone

2 Do not wear your seat belt if you are traveling in an enclosed vehicle

3 Carry ice picks at all times

4 Carry a rope about 10 feet long with you

5 If on an ATV or snowmobile, go slow enough to stop in low visible weather

6 Figure out a plan to get back onto the ice incase you fall through

7 Never walk or drive on cloudy ice. Only go on clear, thick ice.

8 Always check the thickness of the ice before going on it

9 Snow acts like a insulator it makes the ice warmer and weaker

10 Extreme cold snaps will weaken the ice

Shorter and shorter, inch by inch, skirts in the school are getting shorter. Fifteen out of 15 teachers surveyed agreed skirts are getting shorter. The question is how short is too short?

“I think you should be able to walk up the stairs without me seeing your underwear,” said English Teacher Tracy Hagstrom Durant.

Some choose to go with the more respectful route and prefer longer skirts. Taking a secondary approach to the typical high school boy stereotype.

“Six inches above the knee is a good length,” said Freshman Adam Treptau.

Others may agree to disagree.

“I like when my girlfriend wears them,” said Senior JP Newman.

Opinions may vary depending on who the person the short skirt or short shorts are on. Protective brothers and sister or even parents may completely reject the idea of a short skirt or short.

“My sisters skirt will have to be past the knees,” said Newman.

Whatever angle you take the battle of the inches will continue to wage on at Buffalo High School.

Stories are the driving force in today’s entertainment. A movie is only good when backed up by a solid plot. The story of a book is by far the most important aspect. In games, stories serve to create emotional ties between the player and the characters they play as. Never before have I seen a game that does this as perfectly as The Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead: Season One, by Telltale game, is categorized as a point- and-click adventure, but that doesn’t really hit the mark. It’s more of a visual novel, where you are the main character. As the game progresses, you make action and dialogue choices which in turn affect the story. Whether different characters live or die is entirely up to the choices you make. This makes the game unpredictable, as well as adding replay value. Gameplay is relegated to single button pushes, pointing, clicking, and basic movement. This adds to the beautiful simplicity of the whole experience.

The story is where this game truly excels. Every scene is something straight out of a well done horror film. The dialogue is well-written and executed to perfection. The voice actors portray their given characters magnificently, with nary a hiccup in sight. The story drives you to care for the characters- every single one. Lee, the protagonist, is the one you’ll relate to the most. His feelings will become yours. You will feel every emotion that crosses his face. You will even begin to care for Clementine like a daughter, just like he does. Clementine is a first grader who is met very early on in the game. Lee quickly becomes attached, and you follow suit. This is caused in part by the fact that you are controlling everything about Lee,from his movements, to his words, even his reactions at time. If you don’t react quick enough to certain events, you can -and will- die.

The Walking Dead is five episodes long, averaging about 3 to 4 hours each. Each episode is done just as well as the last, with no weak links in the season. The endings of each episode are like endings to an episode: They cap off the episodes, while giving the viewer some reason to be excited for the next installment. The ending of the fifth episode is absolutely hart-wrenching. If there was ever a time to cry in a video game, this would be it.

There are a few flaws, but they don’t add up to much. A few technical glitches can bog down the experience, and the whole visual novel genre won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Occasional technical glitches aside, The Walking Dead is story-telling perfection, and one of the best games of 2012. If you have a PC, PS3, or a 360, you owe it to yourself to play this game.

-Reviewed on PC

Are these yours?

Just another day of volunteering her time for the benefits of everyone else. That is nothing new to Wise Penny Thrift Shoppe volunteer Lanita Farstad.

“I really like seeing all the people that come in and walk out with smiles on their faces, it happens every day,” said Farstad.

The 26-year old store attracts a typical crowd you might expect to see in any secondhand store.

“I do see a lot of elderly people come into the store and a lot of them regularly,” explained Farstad. “But I do not see them on a set schedule for example every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.”

Because there are only two paid positions, the non-profit store can spread the love to many organizations.

“We support multiple charities with the money that we get including Epilepsy foundation, Cerebral Palsy Foundation, and many more,” Farstad said. “The group that we support the most is the West Lutheran High School in Plymouth.”

As anyone might expect there would be a lot of happy moments coming from a thrift store. With a lot of families that either don’t have a lot of money, or ones who just think it is absurd to pay high prices for the same product flock to thrift stores.

Most people expect great things coming from second hand stores. Farstad’s favorite moment coming from working at Wise Penny involved an eight-year old boy.

“[He] came in with his mom and was so happy because he got a Nintendo 64,” explains Farstad. “He said how he likes that and he doesn’t have to go and spend hundreds on an Xbox when what he is buying is just as much fun. Then I realized that this kid is thankful for what he has.”

Not all that long ago, Wise Penny was the lone thrift store in Buffalo; that all changed about a year ago when “Thrift Store” opened up in downtown Buffalo. Even with the new store across town, Wise Penny has not changed the way it presents items to the general public.

“If all of us that run the store present a fair price to customers, while trying not to put too low of a price on, that is what I think makes us successful.”

With a new competitor just a couple miles away, people might think that would have to affect the store’s profit in some type of way because Buffalo really isn’t all that big of a town.

“I actually get that a lot from people who know I work here,” said Farstad. “Believe it or not we have not noticed our profits changing at all. We have just as many customers coming in and out daily,” she says. “And we also have just as many donations coming in as we did before the new store came into town.

All stores have strengths and a weaknesses, but Farstad is confident that her store has more strengths.

“When I look around the store, I realize that we do in fact have it all when it comes to necessities,” says Farstad. “We sell anywhere from babies clothes to sporting goods, to home furniture, we also have heavy duty winter wear,” explains Farstad. “I truly believe that we have it all.”

A majority of Senior Brennan Gilyard’s closet consists of clothing from various thrift stores including Wise Penny.

“I would have to say about half of my closet consists of thrift store apparel,” Gilyard explained. “You might not be able to tell because a lot of stuff I find from thrift stores are really nice and are worth a lot.”

From a quick survey conducted around BHS, out of the 20 kids surveyed, 18 of them have been to a thrift store. Out of those 18 kids, 16 of them have been to Wise Penny and 12 of the 16 kids prefer Wise Penny over the other thrift stores they’ve been to.

“I’m a huge thrift store guy and Wise Penny exceeds my [thrift store] expectations, whenever I need a school outfit I scrub it out from their great selection,” tells Senior Daniel Kruse.

That just shows you that in fact; Thrifting is a Habit.

No television. No music. No dancing. In our generation, it might seem like it would be hard to live without those things. But in reality, it’s not that difficult. A whole religion actually lives by that and more: the Laestadian Lutheran faith.

“It might seem that we have a strict religion, but really we don’t. I’ve grown up with these beliefs and feel that it is right to follow them,” church attendee Kelsey Halonen said.

Their Bible even explains why they [Laestadian Lutherans] don’t do things that others do. Bible verse 1 John 2:15 says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:16 says, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” And 1 John 2:17 says, “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

“This means that everyone is tempted by the matters of this world, riches, fame and glory. God doesn’t want us to pursue after that, but after His will, which is humbleness and fear of God,” explained Pastor Jouko Haapsaari. This is an important belief to the Laestadian Lutherans.

Like most religions, Laestadian Lutheran didn’t just start up one day; it took years. Two men with the same beliefs, living 300 years apart from each other, started the idea for this religion.

“Martin Luther was a Catholic, but he came into conflict with his church. So he left, but it was hard, and eventually people followed his teachings,” explained Haapsaari. “Lars Levi Laestadius was Swedish, and when he was 44 years old he repented—or had a change of his heart and his mind. Lars taught a different way than the State church, and at first, people were mad about what he said.”

Followers of the State church were mad at Lars because what he taught conflicted with their beliefs about things like alcohol, brawls, and stealing reindeer. After awhile they felt his teachings were right, so they started to follow him. It took some time, but people started to realize that what Luther and Laestadius believed were the same. They came together and called themselves Laestadian Lutherans.

Even after all these years, they still believe the exact same things as Luther and Laestadius.

“We believe that Jesus is our Savior and that the Holy Spirit continues God’s word still today,” said Pastor Randy Herrala. Jesus strengthens the Laestadian Lutheran faith and their faith is a gift from God. The core of Laestadian Lutheran faith is the forgiveness of their sins.

In the bible, Luke 17:3 says, “Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.” And in Luke 17:4 it says, “And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day and seven times a day turn again thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.” All that is saying that God and everyone will always forgive you for your sins, all you have to do is ask for forgiveness, and you shall get it. Teachings like this are important to the Laestadian Lutheran religion.

Some people find it refreshing that their sins will be forgiven. But some people don’t understand their faith, and they might not know how to react to it. “I was training to be a teacher in Finland, and my teacher liked me, but he did not know about my religious beliefs,” said Haapsaari. “After I graduated we met up later, and he asked me what I was doing. I told him I serve for the SRK (it’s the central Finnish Laestadian Lutheran church). He got quiet, and all he said was ‘oh okay bye’.” Not everyone reacts badly to their religion, though. To some people, it is interesting to learn about. “I find the faith [Laestadian Lutheran] interesting because it is one of my friend’s religions, and learning about religions is pretty nifty,” said Senior Ruani Tafoya-Perez. “Also it broadens my horizons about what other religions are out there.” What some find even more interesting are the families. Their families are large; some can have as many as 18 kids. “Psalm 127:3 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward,” Haapsaari said. With so many kids and big families, a Laestadian Lutheran church may not be the typical experience that people expect. Some would expect church to be quiet and calm, but at the Rockford Laestadian Lutheran Church that is not the case. There are kids everywhere and people chatting before church even starts. When it does begin, people go sit down and sing the preservice song. A service director then announces who will be preaching, and the opening song is sung. Once everyone knows who will be preaching, the sermon [based on Bible text] begins. To end it, there is a prayer and another song. The service director once more announces the church schedule for that week, and one last hymn is sung. There is never a quiet moment. Babies and kids are still making noise even when church is over. Afterward, people mingle, enjoying each other’s company and making plans for the day. Even with listening to sermons that are never still, and not being able to dance, watch T.V. or listen to music, being of the Laestadian Lutheran faith is very rewarding. “We do feel what we believe and do is right,” explained Haapsaari. “So it makes it worthwhile.”

1 in 5 teens say their friends are in a unhealthy relationship with either a family member or someone close to them.

In Minnesota by the age of 12 most girls know a family member or friend who have been physical or sexually abused.

1 in 4 women will deal with domestic violence in her lifetime.

Some signs of an unhealthy relationship: -discourages or forbids you to spend time with family or friends -blames you for everything that goes wrong -controls finances or withholds necessities -humiliates you or minimizes your feelings

*Information from Laurel Thompson from Rivers Of Hope

With tear-filled eyes, a girl sits down in the desk. The boy she thought she loved turned out to be cheating on her with her so-called best friend and her actual soul mate was sending mixed signals to her. Also, her hair that she worked so hard on this morning was starting to straighten out. How was she supposed to look good enough in her presentation today? She needed to look good to boost her confidence to help her ace this project. If she didn’t get a good grade then how would she get that scholarship to that really expensive university? If she didn’t go to the really expensive then she wouldn’t get a decent job. When people don’t get decent jobs, they turn out homeless. She didn’t want to be a hobo.

Maybe the last situation was a bit more exaggerated than most people’s situations, but a lot of people can attest to having a soap opera moment in their life. It can come in many forms, from bad break-ups to stressful essays in English. This is drama.

Unless they were raised under a rock, most people will be exposed to some kind of a dramatic situation in their life. Not the kind where some hot-shot actors are reading pre-written lines, but the kind where there is someone blowing up and exaggerating a situation. It sometimes seems like they’re living in their own soap opera!

If asked, most people will say girls have more drama in their lives. “Girls are just naturally dramatic creatures – they’re born catty,” says Senior Taylor Strege. “They care more about appearance, opinions of their friends, boys and their social status.” Besides, it’s not every day that a guy is seen freaking out because they saw someone else wearing the same tie at a dance.

Finding the cause of drama is a puzzle all on its own. Some people create drama as a cover. They might even just be looking for attention. “People create drama because of the need to gossip or lack of self-esteem,” says school Counselor Mark Jones, “It’s always easier to focus on another person’s problems than face your own.”

Drama can be found in many different places – especially in schools. It all depends on where someone is looking. “I’ve seen it in the hallways,” says Health Teacher Mary Bremmer, “With girls in the locker room too.” But drama doesn’t just exist in actual life; it’s online too.

Some people will go as far as arguing over Facebook and even

Although many people’s opinions on drama tend to be negative, it isn’t always as bad as people think it is. No one can argue about drama’s ability to stir things up. “It makes life more interesting,” says Senior Mark Bjork. In addition to that, it can help with life’s hassling demands. “I kind of think it has to happen,” says sophomore, Jordan Gist, “It’s good stress relief.

One thing is for sure though; drama isn’t the best way to deal with life’s many problems. “Drama can mostly cause anxiety or stress,” says Jones, “and can stifle someone from actually being able to control the most important person in their lives, themselves.” There are better ways to deal with stressful situations such as talking it out with a school counselor or exercising.

In the end, a little drama goes a long way. Most people believe drama is unhealthy, but there are a few people who feel that it has to happen. It definitely has both negative and positive consequences. Nevertheless, it certainly won’t be going away anytime soon.

Walking past the band room during AAA, a saxophone solo plays loud and proud, the stern voice of Band Teacher Scott Rabehl echos. Fellow Band Teacher Mike Knutson gives helpful hints, and hopeful feedback. That would be the wonderful sound of jazz band, rehearsing songs made to have everyone tapping their toes or snapping their fingers. Jazz brings a smile to a face, and a spark inside the soul.

In Buffalo High School, the world of jazz has three ensembles, Jazz 1, Jazz 2 and Jazz 3. Ensembles have people from various grades, and abilities. Everyone is dedicated to making sounds that other people will enjoy. Some musicians are in multiple groups while others are in just one. Ultimately, jazz students get to be around wonderful people, play tons of music and perform their talent to an audience that loves music just as much as they do. Like any group, or team, a successful performance relies on practice, and tons of such. “My favorite part of Jazz is improving my musicianship day by day,” Sophomore Vince Froberg said. He is in two of the three ensembles, Jazz 2 and Jazz 3.

Each band practices once a week, and strives for perfection with the help of recordings, and even Rabehl playing along with them at points. When practicing with the same people every week students start feeling more comfortable with mistakes, leaving room to grow.

Jazz students practice either every or every other day in band class. They also practice on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays, depending on which Jazz group they’re apart of. They also have the pressure of practicing their own part; there aren’t as many people of their instrument as they’re used to. They have to play loud and proud, which is exactly what they manage to do.

“I actually have three jobs,” said Junior Presley Rumsey, “I work at the Buffalo Cinema, a dog boarding place called Bed and Bone Too, and I deliver newspapers on the weekends for the EMC Deliverers.”

Teens now days have responsibilities, which means students might have to give up some of their favorite activities, so they get jobs to help pay for what they want and need.

“It is quite stressful sometimes, because I am also taking a CIS course,” said Rumsey, “I have a hard time managing time and getting homework done, because I am a procrastinator, so it is very difficult because I know I only have a specific time to do my homework, and I can’t procrastinate if I want to sleep.”

According to The Condition of Education in 2010, approximately 16 percent of students over 16 years of age had jobs. Out of 50 randomly-selected students surveyed at Buffalo High School, 62% of them had jobs.

“I am a cook at Culvers, I work 25-30 hours a week, but I love my job, I really do,” said Junior Jake Willmert, “but usually I get really tired and crabby by the end of work, and I just want to go home and sleep, except when I get home I know I have to do homework, but by the end of two weeks I get a huge paycheck.”

Not all students are like Willmert and Rumsey, some actually don’t like their jobs.

“I don’t really like my job,” said Junior Laura Lambert, “once, I was standing washing freshly picked cucumbers, and my back was starting to hurt, because we stand on concrete for nine hours per day, so I sat down, still washing cucumbers, and my boss came in and yelled at me to stand up, and I just thought it was ridiculous.”

Most students say that the main factor of deciding whether to get a job or not, is being able to keep up in school.

“I do want a job, but then I kind of don’t, because school work is one thing, and school already kills my social life,” said Junior Lily Lund, “and adding a job to that mix, oh my goodness, I wouldn’t even have a life.”

“Having a job actually helps me keep up in school and manage my time,” said Junior Zach Mohler, “I have 2 hours after school before I have to work, so I end up at the library doing homework everyday after school.”

“I have a job so I can pay my friend back what I owe her,” said Rumsey, “and also because the economy is really down, so I am trying to take some of the weight off my mom’s shoulders, but having a job means I have like no social life, and no time to do homework, and I feel like it is done to a lesser quality too.”

Students at Buffalo High School have many opinions on the job issue.

“Students with jobs impress me,” said Lund, “they juggle school, good grades, a social life, and a job, thats pretty awesome.”

In 1989, John and Darla Radford moved from the Twin Cities to Buffalo, MN to buy a restaurant. They bought two brand new snowmobiles in 1990. They didn’t know anybody to go snowmobiling with, so they wanted to join a club, but noticed there weren’t any in Buffalo. Radford put up some posters at their restaurant to invite people to a club they’d started: the Buffalo SnowRiders.

As soon as word got out, interest was shown by 45 new members. They began holding monthly meetings.

“We had to do some volunteer work for the community. The club was in charge of posting trail signs, grooming trails, and getting permission from landowners,” said Radford.

As well as putting up signs, they needed to hold fund raisers, which lead to hosting a radar run on Buffalo Lake.

“A radar run is an event where a snowmobiler can take his snowmobile down a quarter mile ice track and see how fast it will go by using a radar gun,” explained Radford.

The radar run was hosted the first Saturday after New Year’s Eve. The first year they hosted a radar run, an ice track plowed and saw a good turnout. The second year, the club decided to have two tracks parallel to each other to make more money.

“One run down the track cost three dollars, but our club would give out a deal: four runs, for ten dollars. We made up to $4,500 in just one day,” said Radford.

There haven’t been any radar runs in the past couple of years because of the condition of the ice. The ice is too rough or isn’t frozen by the time a radar run is supposed to take place. An advantage to joining a snowmobile club includes meeting new people.

John and Darla still have friends that they met from the club.

The club isn’t just for the guys; the ladies also attended the events.

“I never went to the meetings, but I did enjoy going to different towns with couples riding. My job was to sell the tickets at the radar runs. I liked doing that because then I got to meet people from different states,” said Darla.

The SnowRiders club was mostly all fun and games, and when something didn’t turn out the way it was supposed to, they made the best of it.

“During one trip, we drove four hours to get to where we were going. We show up and there was no snow. At all. So, instead, we decided to skip open water in front of the hotel on our sleds. Luckily I was one that never sank,” said Radford.

“But at least it wasn’t as bad as the time we drove up north. We got to the hotel and it had just snowed a foot of fresh snow. Sadly for us, we didn’t know that there was only that fresh foot of snow on the ground. Like normal, we unloaded the sleds and went on our way. During the riding, we hit a lot of rocks, tree stumps, and anything else you could find. We were having too much fun to stop, so that night all you heard was hammers hitting things, because we were trying to put our snowmobiles back to gather,” said Radford.

The boys always did things a little more daring than the women. Most of the time, the women would end up lost. The men would always ride a lot faster and the group would split. But they eventually found their way.

“On another trip, ten of us guys were going down a railroad bed going ninety plus into solid snow dust. We could only see the helmet in front of us. There were trees surrounding us and all of a sudden I felt myself flying in the air,” said Radford.

Out of the many sports out there, every sport has its stereotypes for its players. Whether it’s fighting with one another or being the kids that everyone thinks that do drugs. Stereotypes change the way spectators think.

With hockey there are many stereotypes for hockey players. Goalies have the stereotype of being the weird ones with different habits and are the ones that are most likely to flip out easy. Defense men are usually the drunks and always want to fight. Forwards are always trying to one up everyone else and be mister cool guy. Sidney Crosby for example is always trying to be the cool one but has the biggest rep of being a whiner and a baby. He always is getting hurt and has the rep of always getting hurt.

Football players have the stereotype of being mister macho and always acting tough. Not always being the smartest one of the bunch, and just being the complete tool of everyone. There always walking around like they’re the best people around.

Skateboarding has the stereotype of being the kids who are always getting into trouble and never try at anything. But from Cole Ehresman and Christians Gruye both Juniors, There prospective is people get those stereotypes from a small group of skaters. “ People need to look past the small group and look at the kids that try at everything and are good kids.”

Even though stereotypes have their true reasons and there false reputations. It changes the way we see the players in our eyes, changing how react to upsets, losses, wins, and fights.

Boys Swimmer Jackson Elliott has been training since the summer for the 100 Butterfly.

Boys Hockey player Jack Patnode cleans his bubble mask before every game and tapes his stick before announcements.

Boys Basketball player Ethan Freer won his state basketball game in 6th grade.

Girls Hockey Player Katherine Rooney re-ties her skates after warm ups, before the first period.

It smells kind of like the stuff you clean with, along with a scent of flowers. -Sophomore Madison Jewell GIRLS HOCKEY

It just smells like hockey. I don’t know, there’s no way to explain the smell. -Senior Joseph Hayes BOYS HOCKEY

Our locker rooms smell like rotten eggs and old sandwiches that have been there for months. Like sniffing your sweaty gym socks after they’ve been used for weeks without washing them. -Sophomore Anna Cassady GIRLS BASKETBALL

It smells like sweaty gross bodies laying all over and raunchy old shoes. -Senior Jason Senger BOYS BASKETBALL

Smells like an industrial chlorine plant with a faint smell of a men’s public bathroom at a gas station. -Senior Connor Mann BOYS SWIMMING

It smells like a mixture of hair spray and perfume. -Senior Amanda Letsinger GIRLS GYMNASTICS

Maile Texeira freshman 5

Rachel Koch junior 30

Hunter Fonkert junior 17

Tyler Bruder sophomore 15

Ben Walker freshman 35

Christian Gruye junior 12

Social controversy is common and generally unavoidable, thanks to opposing viewpoints and morals. While the definition of “too far” is subjective, it seems to be similar across our segment of society. However, there is a group of people who seems to remain unaffected by so-called “offensive” content. Nobody is there to “draw the line” that people so often seem to cross, but its position is still tentative among society.

“There are some people that are seemingly offended by nothing, and some by everything,” said Senior Emma Pearson. “To me, calling something offensive means that you believe it’s a serious issue that shouldn’t be joked about, something that should always be taken seriously or respected.”

Still, people aren’t always in agreement as to what is considered taboo and to what extent it’s acceptable to discuss.

“Topics like rape, suicide, homosexuality, religion, and violence [can be controversial]. Some strongly believe that certain things need to be taken seriously or respected. Others may not agree,” said Pearson. “As someone that has been touched by suicide, I get a bit offended when I hear people joking about it, but I’ve heard many people that may not have been affected the same way make remarks like, ‘If I have to sit through another class I might as well shoot myself.’”

In addition to disputable subjects, miscommunications and misinterpretations are often the cause of heated debates. A lot of these affronts are pointless and unnecessary.

“Language is an interesting thing, as the meaning of words change all the time,” said Pearson. “To be offended [by a word] is a waste of emotion.”

It’s not difficult to see why certain people are sensitive to certain subjects.

“You don’t want to hear people mocking what’s important to you,” she remarked. “If you think that a topic is very serious or have been touched by it, the topic may be something you want everyone to take seriously.”

People take things seriously to different degrees. Two groups are apparent in society: the first includes those who respond negatively to “offensive” content only because that’s how they believe they are supposed to react. They are easily manipulated by even one individual voicing their opinion; these are the people that have gradually changed the definition of “offensive” and increased the amount of censorship and emphasize the importance of being politically correct--especially in the media.

The second group works in an opposite fashion, introducing “offensive” content more and more into society to desensitize people. Radical extremists on both ends of this spectrum fail to realize that differences in background, character, and customs make it impossible for anything to be universally offensive.

Getting offended does absolutely no good for a situation--why should anyone care if their words upset someone else? People shouldn’t have to apologize for feeling a certain way about a topic. While relationships can be shaky when there isn’t mutual respect, solid friendships should include enough understanding for this to be less of an issue. If people have conflicting opinions of what is acceptable, the rest of the world should just buck up and deal.

If a person were to type “How many laws are there in the United States?” into Google all of the results would come to the same conclusion: it’s incalculable. Most of the laws in place are long, tedious, and often hard to understand, this makes it near impossible to determine an exact amount to represent the number of restrictions in place in the United States.

While some of the laws in place keep people from murder, assault, and burglary, they also, when distorted by the justice system, lock innocent people behind bars for “crimes” they never committed or for standing up for their beliefs.

Many men and women have been put behind bars for peacefully protesting against something that conflicts with their beliefs; Martin Luther King Jr. is one of these people.

King, a prominent African-American civil rights leader, was imprisoned (for the 13th time) as he campaigned against racial segregation in Birmingham.

While under arrest, King wrote his now-famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. In this letter, not only did he respond to criticism calling his actions “unwise and untimely”, he also expressed his disappointment in the southern states and how they handled the civil rights situation.

“I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers declare: ‘Follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is your brother,’” said King in his letter.

Most people waited to “comply” with the desegregation decree only after it became law, not before, when morals ruled their decisions. These people used the law as an excuse to continue participating in something morally wrong, instead of standing up against the injustice.

King is not the only man locked up for unjust reasons, men like Cesar Chavez protesting for better working conditions and Henry David Thoreau protesting war have also been imprisoned for peacefully standing by their beliefs.

“I heartily accept the motto that, ‘The government is best which governs least,’” said Thoreau in his essay, Civil Disobedience.

Thoreau wrote this essay in reaction to his imprisonment for his refusal to pay a tax that would fund the Mexican-American war; he criticized not only the government, but also the people who blindly and silently followed it.

“The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war,the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for, in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure,” said Thoreau.

These men did not harm anyone; if anything they helped make the United States a better, more equitable place to be. They realized that just conforming to the law isn’t always the right thing to do. Now, this isn’t to say rebelling just for the sake of rebellion is right; rebellion with good intentions and purpose is what changes things for the better. We must stay true to our hearts, not let the law get in the way of doing what is morally right. As Ralph Waldo Emerson says, “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness.”

At Buffalo High School, students have the opportunity to partake in a Post-Secondary Education Option (PSEO) program. Junior Joe Shoulak was quick to jump at the opportunity to study his love, math, through this program. “I’ve never really understood society, there were these things that just never made sense and I never really fit in, but in math everything makes sense; there’s always an answer, and it can always be found. I take comfort in that... I embrace that,” said Shoulak.

Shoulak, a self-proclaimed nerd, had heard about a math grid called the Fibonacci Sequence and decided to begin studying it.

“[The Fibonacci Sequence] is a grid of 60 numbers in a five-by-twelve grid and there are these patterns and rules that aren’t necessary; the patterns are wonderful and beautiful, but they don’t need to be there.”

With his interest sparked, Shoulak wrote the sequence down, put it in his wallet and began studying it whenever the opportunity arose.

“I read a book that says the rightmost digits repeat every 60 and I decided I was going to memorize them, because I’m a nerd. After writing the grid down I just saw all of these patterns, so while working at Party City, I’d go over and write the grid on the blackboard in Caribou Coffee. I’d find the patterns, write them on a napkin, and shove them in my back pocket. Eventually I found seven and a half pages of patterns.”

After deciding his paper was worthy of submitting to mathematical journals, Shoulak sent his essay to the Fibonacci Quarterly, among other magazines and journals. While Fibonacci Quarterly editor Kurtis Cooper rejected the paper, he also gave Shoulak the name of another undergraduate journal: The Pentagon. This journal accepted Shoulak’s essay.

“I’m going to be published. There’s going to be a journal with articles by people two to six years older than I am, and somewhere in there is going to be a paper by a 16-year-old.”

Shoulak’s essay will be published in either the December or May issue of The Pentagon.

Michelle walked up to the crowded picnic table, her bare feet brushing over the tops of the bright green grass. Smells of grilled hotdogs, sweet lemonade, and freshly picked strawberries filled her nostrils. By the time she reached the picnic table she already knew who would be there to greet her. Their voices had dug through her brain and grabbed hold of the memories she had once shared with them. Sitting around the picnic table was every single person she had ever met in her life. As Michelle looked over all the smiling faces, her eyes stopped on her grandmother. Her eyes were full of warmth and it felt as if she had always been in her life. As if she had never died eight years ago.

Junior Michelle Lee dreams in color even though she is blind. Her dreams are clear and vivid; a reminder of the way she could see when she was younger.

“When I dream it’s like I can feel everything in the dream. If someone touches my arm it’s like I can feel it outside of the dream. I also dream in color,” said Lee. “My picnic dream felt so real. Now when I try to remember it as vividly as I could before, I can’t. I try to remember people and faces but when I think back to the dream everything is foggy like how I see in real life right now.”

Lee isn’t the only BHS student who has vivid dreams. According to Robert J. Hoss, from DreamScience.Org, we experience dreams every night. In fact, adults spend 25% of the time they sleep at night dreaming. We can only remember our dreams if we wake up during them.

“I remember my dreams all the time,” said Freshman Lauren Holt. “Most of my dreams I remember so well that they’ll stay with me for days and I can’t stop thinking about them. I always wonder why I’ve had some my dreams.”

There is no proven theory as to why people dream. Sigmund Freud, a famous psychologist, believed that dreams are messages from our unconscious. He thought that if people carefully analyzed their dreams they would be able to solve problems in their life. Another famous theory in the world of psychology comes from the minds of J.Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley. They believed dreams were products of the human brain trying to make sense of all the emotions and feelings being felt while a person sleeps.

“Sometimes I think that the dreams I have are pretty cool and once in awhile I have the same dream more than once,” said Senior Charlie Weros. “I have dreams where I go from snowboarding, to dirtbiking, and then wakeboarding. Dreams like that are the ones that I hate to wake up during.”

Some experts say that we are the directors of our own dreams. They believe that we choose how these little movies play out in our head. Others believe this to be a myth. Either way, we all have dreams every night. There’s no proven way to tell why we have the dreams that we have or why we dream at all.

“Some of my dreams I will never be able to forget. Especially the ones that I seem to have over and over,” said Holt. “Eventually, they become apart of you.”

[famous] psychologist, believed that dreams are messages from our unconscious. He thought that if people carefully analyzed their dreams they would be able to solve problems in their life. Another famous theory in the world of psychology comes from the minds of J.Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley. They believed dreams were products of the human brain trying to make sense of all the emotions and feelings being felt while a person sleeps.