1. What Is The Purpose Of a Political Party?

Most of us could say that we are Republican, Democratic, Independent, or another political party, but what does that mean? Well each political party has its own beliefs and their goals are to influence our government to conform to those policies. People join these parties to be among people who share their opinions and to help influence local, state, and government politics towards their side.
What We Actually understand: “My party is right! Obviously you’re misinformed! Let me yell at you until your understand!”

2. What does the president actually do?

Ok so we all know the president is the guy “in charge” and supposedly the leader of the free world, but what does that mean? The president is the commander-in-chief of the US armed forces and he’s responsible for military strategy. However, that is about as far as it goes with congress controlling military spending and regulation.
The president also is in charge of foreign policy, which means that he is responsible for the protection of foreigners in our country and us in foreign countries. He also negotiates treaties with other nations (that must be approved by 2/3 senate).
In the legislative aspect the president must pass any bill Congress has presented before it becomes a law, however congress can veto this by an overriding vote of 2/3. Judicially the president is allowed to nominate federal judges, but these require senate confirmation.
Ultimately the president does have the power to grant pardons and is allowed to withhold state secrets from legal proceedings if they were to harm national security.
What We Actually Know: “Everything wrong with this country happened in the last presidential term and it’s all his fault!” (Repeat phrase every election year).

3. What does the vice president do?

Ok, so the president does have some pretty cool powers. Those must extend to the vice president too right? Wrong. The vice president has many ceremonial roles but other than that he mostly just wanders around the White House looking for stuff to do. Ok so that’s not true, but his only constitutionally prescribed rule other than becoming president should the current one keel over is as president of the senate. I know you’re saying “What the heck that’s a big deal!” Well it is, but he’s only allowed to vote if there’s a tie. Other than that he can preside over daily activities in the senate, but usually selects a president pro tempore who does it for him. In fact the vice president is not assigned to the executive, legislative, or judicial branch. But, hey he can preside over impeachment trials of federal officer (except the president).
What We Actually Know: “Who the heck is the vice president, darn it, I knew his name like ten minutes ago too.”

4. What’s the Electoral College (and how do I apply)?

It’s the 538 people who officially elect the president. The president cannot win the presidency if he doesn’t have the majority vote for the Electoral College. Each state is assigned representatives based on population and they vote for their state.
What we actually know:
“I don’t like that electoral college thing-y, it’s really hard to get into, I can’t even find where to apply.”

5. Why do they have the Democratic National Convention?

Technically the DNC is to officially nominate the party’s choice for presidential candidate. This happens, but overall much of the convention is to unify the party and promote their stance on issues. Historically there have also been mid-term conventions during the middle of a presidential term to rally the party and keep them faithful when support waned.
What We Actually Know:
“I’m pretty sure the president went to that right? He’s a democrat from what I’m told.”

6. Why do they have the republican national convention?

For the same reasons the democrats have theirs, except there have not been mid-term conventions. The RNC also serves to adopt the party platform and rules for the current election cycle. There have also been protests at the RNC (as well as the DNC) in which protestors of the opposing party were regulated to “free speech zones” and were not accessible to delegates.
What we actually know:
“Clint Eastwood totally talked to an empty chair at that thing, I know because I saw the meme.”

7. What does voting “no” or “yes” on the marriage amendment mean?

The marriage amendment in Minnesota is NOT going to make same-sex marriage legal in Minnesota no matter the outcome. The amendment in question, if approved, will put an amendment in Minnesota’s constitution not allowing same-sex couples to ever marry in the state if it were to be proposed as a law or if it became a national law. Voting yes means that you support not allowing same-sex marriage in the future. Voting no on the amendment means that you either support same-sex marriage now or support it becoming a possibility in the future.
What we actually know:
“Vote yes: Marriage is one man, one woman. Vote no: don’t limit the freedom to marry. Repeat this, but scream them in your head for full effect.

8. Why do we have presidential debates?

Presidential debates are meant to make a candidate’s stance on issues more clear and to create hype for the election and the sponsors of the debate. The debate’s rules are that candidates have 2 minutes to answer a question and the other candidate will be allowed a one minute rebuttal. The moderator is allowed to add 30 seconds to either at their discretion. There are 3 debates between the presidential candidates and 1 debate between the vice presidential candidates. The debates are important to the campaign of the candidate in shaping the image they want to present come election time, especially the image of the vice president and president as a team. They are also a vehicle for the media to drive traffic to their websites or shows.
What we actually know: “Remember when Tina Fey ran as vice president and they aired the debate on SNL, man was she stupid, I mean it’s like she was acting. Oh, wait, that was just the SNL version?”

9. What are red states and blue states?

Red and Blue states were only introduced in 2000 and are merely a way for the country to see which states generally vote for which party. Red states have a history of voting republican or conservative, blue states have a history of voting democratic or liberally. Purple states are called “swing states” and have strong support for both parties.
What we actually know: “I keep seeing these colored maps of the country. I think it means which states have warm and cool weather.”

10. Where do the political parties stand on some of the main issues?

The Republican Party does not support same-sex marriage and believes that taxes for interest, dividends, and capital gains should be eliminated for lower and middle class taxpayers. As for healthcare the republican party has this to say on their official website; “We likewise support the right of parents to consent to medical treatment for their children, including mental health treatment, drug treatment, and treatment involving pregnancy, contraceptives and abortion.” The Democratic Party supports repealing the defense of marriage act and supports equal rights for LGBT couples. The Democratic Party also supports reproductive rights for women and providing tax cuts to small businesses.
What we actually know:
“I have no idea what the official stance is, but your party is WRONG!”

I know what you’re all thinking; “Wow, really, tell me something I didn’t know.” I know that you know cars are expensive, but until you have your own, you have no idea. Sure, we all know how much gas costs, but c’mon, it’s not that bad right? Check back with me when you’ve filled up your car for the first time and tell me you didn’t feel like going out and drilling for your own gas to cut costs. Gas itself isn’t the only thing though, that would be somewhat manageable it’s also other expenses you had no idea you’d be paying. A month after I got my car I looked at my tire and realized it was losing air. Alright, worst case scenario, I thought, was replacing a tire. I got my car back a week later with two new wheel bearings and a bill for $600. I was right about that tire though, that was $25.

What Driver’s Ed Taught Us: “Insurance will be expensive, your parents will probably be stuck paying for it, but you should totally help with that and stuff, back to watching car crash videos.”

2. Any close call you have will be presumed your fault

Recently I was driving in the Albertville mall parking lot on the small road that connects the lots. As the car in the lane next to me turned right, I continued down the road past the small lot. A woman who apparently was late to remedial driving lessons pulled straight out from said parking lot and almost crashed into me. This particular incident would not have been my fault had she hit me, but when I told people I got a certain look. The look that says “Uh huh, a sixty year old lady almost hit you, I bet you’re also an Olympic gymnast.” Well I’ll have you know that both of those are true*, but there is a stigma to teen drivers that says we’re all texting and driving so naturally it’s our fault. Sometimes it is your fault. I’m not going to say I’ve never made mistakes, but after waiting longer than a lot of my peers to get my license I would like to think that the extra time made me an even more competent driver, or at the very least more aware of my surroundings.
*Rachel is not an Olympic gymnast; she just likes to think she could be.

What Driver’s Ed Taught Us: “If you get in a car crash it’s probably your fault, that’s why I’m here to show you gory videos of them.”

3. You will feel liberated (and a bit scared)

The day you get your license you will, without a doubt, tell your parents to hit the ground running as you speed away. After you make sure your parents don’t have road rash and are out of sight, you will panic a little. I almost guarantee it. I didn’t outwardly panic, but in my head I felt like I was breaking the law. This has nothing to do with your skill as a driver, everybody feels nervous the first time they drive alone.

What Driver’s Ed Taught Us:” Once you’re ready, you’ll be a great driver, but don’t get in a car crash, because trust me, they’re scary, and gory, let me demonstrate.”

4. Be Prepared to do all of the shopping, all of the time

This pretty much needs no explanation, once your parents realize they don’t have to change out of their bathrobe to go to the store you will be going for them.

What Driver’s Ed Taught Us: “Don’t get into a car crash on the home from the store, it will be gory and there will be wasted groceries everywhere!”

5. You will think everyone but you is a terrible driver

We’ve all seen people do stupid things while they were driving, the other day I saw a woman holding her dog out the window while turning a corner, but when you start driving by yourself you will notice this more than ever. In the short time that I’ve been driving 90% of days when I come home I have a “You won’t believe what this idiot did” story. At first I just thought that all terrible drivers started driving when I was on the roads (it’s a conspiracy I tell you!) then I realized that sounded a wee bit crazy. Then as the road rage lessened and clear headed-ness prevailed I realized that I just never noticed this when other people driving, at least not as much. But trust me, you will think the same thing.

What Driver’s Ed Taught Us: “Terrible drivers cause car crashes, don’t be one!”

6. There are distractions other than texting

We’ve all been told not to text because as teenagers we obviously have to get our LOLs to our friends, even if we’re driving. There are other things out there that are going to distract you though. By the time you get really comfortable driving and it doesn’t feel like you need to pay as much attention (you DO) the multitasking part of your brain kicks in. This is what mine says when I’m driving (I have not done these things, just thought about it); “Hey, this CD is boring, you should change it, now. Oh there’s a spot on your glasses, you should get that. Oh! McDonald’s, eat it. Now.” Don’t listen to this part of your brain while you drive, no matter how good of a driver you are, multitasking and driving don’t mix.

What Driver’s Ed Taught Us: “Don’t text and drive or you’ll cause a crash and probably lose your arm!”

7. You will suddenly become concerned with gas mileage and things you never knew existed

We’re all aware of gas mileage before we start driving, but when you start by yourself you may or may not develop a slight obsession with checking yours. Each tank of gas you get will make you want to calculate the mileage, and you will be frustrated if it’s not great. You will also become concerned with your wheel bearings, oil changes, and other things you didn’t have to think much about before driving. I didn’t even know I had wheel bearings before I needed them replaced. Welcome to adulthood.

What Driver’s Ed Taught Us: “You better be on top of this stuff or you’ll get in a car crash, I’m sure there’s a way gas mileage contributes to accidents, let me find an obscure statistic for you!”

8. You will develop embarrassing habits in the comfort of your car

This is something you only realize when someone else is in your car. I didn’t realize how much I comment on other drivers sarcastically or how badly I sing until someone else was in the car with me, and then I realized how weird I truly am. You will have awkward moments when giving someone a ride when you realize that you are singing very loudly to an embarrassing pop song that you don’t even like. Be prepared, it will happen.

What Driver’s Ed Taught Us: “If you give someone a ride, you’ll get distracted and crash. You should probably wait until you’re thirty to drive with passengers.”

9. Being a passenger will become weird

The more you drive yourself the more you get used to your own driving and habits (hopefully good ones.) This can make you a horrible back seat driver when you go places with your parents driving or your friends. You will start to notice other people’s bad habits and want to be critical, but remember, they could probably say some things about your driving too.

What Driver’s Ed Taught Us: “Too many teenagers in a car is a just a car crash recipe. You should all sit quietly and never speak to the driver or else you will end up like crash test dummies.”

10. You will start to think of driving as a daily task, not as something serious

What I mean by this is that once you are comfortable driving alone it becomes one of those things you “just do,” like brushing your teeth. You will start to feel like you’re paying less attention to the minute things you noticed before. You have to start thinking of it more seriously than that, the consequences if you don’t pay as much attention as you should are much worse than getting toothpaste on your shirt. Think of each driving experience as a fresh start, not just the 3rd time you’ve gone out today. Remember that there will always be kids on bikes and people who tailgate and you need to pay as much attention to them as you did when you first got your license.

What Driver’s Ed Taught Us: “Brushing your teeth while driving is definitely a car crash waiting to happen. Can you imagine explaining that in your insurance statement? Don’t do it or you will have a very awkward police report, and higher insurance.”

1. The real world is expensive

This summer I got my driver’s license (finally) which many of you already have, but there are indirect consequences to going places alone. Before I start this, I want you to know that I’m not talking about paying for gas, we all know how expensive that is. I’m not talking about car expenses either, as shocking as they can be, we all know that cars cost money. I’m talking about that first day that your parents send you to the store to pick things up for them and you come home feeling the need to apologize for eating so much $5 a carton ice cream as a kid. I have always tried to be aware of how much things cost to try to somewhat prepare myself for when I move out, but a Target receipt for $80 is one thing when your mom pays it. When you pay it, even with the money your parents sent you with, it becomes a wake up call. Suddenly instead of thinking about how much you wanted those cupcakes your mom said no to you’re thinking “I swear I only bought like 3 things, and 2 of them were toilet paper! The math here has to be wrong!”

2. People will judge you no matter what

Again, this is going to sound pretty obvious, but sometimes judgment from other people can come when you least expect it. Another somewhat unexpected downside to becoming a new teenage driver is that we have a reputation of being unsafe. Everyone knows it, everyone talks about it, and no matter how good (or bad) of a driver you are, you will be presumed as some semblance of reckless behind the wheel. Now I’m not saying I’m a perfect driver, or that I’m a better driver than other teenagers or experienced drivers, but when I was almost t-boned on a small road by an older woman coming out of a parking lot who didn’t look, I got a lot of looks when I told the story. And by looks I mean the “Yea, I’m sure a sixty year old woman would pull out into traffic and almost hit a seventeen year old,” look. The one that says I had to be doing something wrong too, it couldn’t have been entirely an experienced driver’s fault had she hit me.

3. Sometimes your “Time Away” is less relaxing than your life

A lot of people think of vacation as this mystical relaxing retreat like the commercials on tv that show smiling people frolicking on the beach forgetting that they have bills to pay. That’s great, but the truth is, vacations take as much work as day to day life. I love going new places just as much as the next person, but that also requires some *gasp* homework. When you go on vacation you all have to decide what you want to see and where you want to go and a schedule that works for everyone, and if you’re going with friends this can get stressful. Pretty soon you end up coming home from a great vacation that you planned on spending tanning on a beach needing another one. What I’m trying to say is that, sometimes the best vacation is taking a few days off at home if what you’re going for is relaxation.

4. Busy is better (sometimes)

I know a lot of you were looking forward to sitting home all day and playing video games or whatnot when summer came around, and I was too, believe me. We’d all had enough of deadlines and “the man” telling us what to do and it was finally our time to spend how we pleased. Summer, at the end of the school year, means being sedentary for three months until you are dragged out of bed by your mother on the first day of school, shocked and unprepared. Except sometimes being sedentary for three months isn’t the best idea. This summer I found myself busier than any other summer yet, and while I didn’t expect it, I’m glad that I had something to do with myself. I love sitting at home on the computer just as much as your next tech addicted seventeen year old, but it felt good to get out of the house and be busy, even with things that were fun. Scheduling times to be with friends and go places made it much easier for me to enjoy my time and feel like I wasn’t wasting three months of my life. Plus, I still took days off to watch tv and eat junk food (because, really, would it be summer without that?)

5. Family  includes friends too

As an angsty teenager I would like to take a moment to speak on behalf of all the other angsty teenagers and say that “Parents are so not fair!” Ok, actually I think my parents are pretty fair, and I’m lucky to have them as my family, but sometimes family isn’t what you’d expect. We all have different families that we are related to by blood, but this summer I learned that the people who are related by blood doesn’t make them automatically someone you consider family. For me family means people that love you for your flaws and your strengths and will put your needs above theirs when need be. That is absolutely something blood relatives do, but sometimes your friends do it too. I learned that family doesn’t have to mean the people who you were stuck with at birth, I learned that you have the power to choose (some) of your family as well.

6. You will turn into your parents (and it’s not always bad)

The other day I came home from work, got the groceries, and got the mail on my way in the house. My mom opened the door and said “Look, you’re turning into me!” I promptly screamed, ran away, and then tried to figure out how not to be my mother. Then I thought about it and realized that as much as I didn’t want to be my mother, it wasn’t a bad thing. By being like my mother it meant I was being responsible and helping my family. As corny as that sounds, I promise, becoming like your parents (the good habits), you’re doing a good thing.

7. Sometimes you don’t even realize your life has changed

Ok, so by writing this, obviously I am acknowledging that my life has changed, but what I mean here is that sometimes there are things in our lives that change gradually or aren’t a big deal at the time, but end up changing us. This summer when I left school I thought it would be just like any other summer, hang out with friends, work a little, watch TV. For the most part this was true, but now that I look back, I realize how much my life changed in a few months. I got my driver’s license, started working part time, and started preparing to go to community college as a PSEO student. Last summer at this time I was getting ready to be an upper classmen and take a college course. Now I am a college/high school student going to school, working, and participating in activities I didn’t even know about until last year and I still couldn’t tell you when it all changed, it just sort of happened.

8. You’re more in control of your life than you think you are

So as teenagers we are supposed to think that our parents hate us and just “don’t get it,” like every generation before us. We assume that they are out to ruin our social lives and want us to stay home and not be independent. Well, that’s not completely true. Think about it, if you drive, have a car, have a job, a relationship, friends, you’re pretty independent. Now, we still have to financially rely on our parents, and yes, we live with them, but if you’re lucky enough to have the things I just mentioned, you’re more independent than you think you are.

9. We need school more than we think

The second school gets out at the end of the year we all run away and hope by some miracle we never have to come back. By the end of August though, things start to get less crazy and more boring. We start running out of things to do, or time to do them; sitting around all day is boring. If you have a job then you may be sick of the daily grind or working more than usual. Truth be told, being in school is really good for us. I’m not saying that we should love everything about it, but being out of the house and doing something is so much better for you than sitting on the couch watching that one episode of Friends, again.

10. You really don’t need the quadratic formula to survive

Ok, so right after I get done telling you how we need to be in school I’m going to say that you don’t need everything you learn in school. I know, it sounds like a contradiction, but it’s not. Being in school teaches you much more than history, math, and English. We learn social skills, how to interact with people in positions above us, and what we’re interested in. That being said, to have a productive life and get a decent job you don’t have to have the quadratic formula memorized. You’re going to need your people skills and the skills you used learning that quadratic formula much more. But for now, remember it for your math teacher.

“I didn’t like it,” said Junior Kirsten Fenton. “There was way too much rap, and you can’t dance to rap. You can’t even jump up and down to rap, so I just got some good old H2O during the rap songs. There was also not enough older music. It was all mainstream pop, which is ok, but I would have liked the DJ to mix it up more.”

Agreeing with Fenton was Senior Ellie Bischoff.

“I felt like it was too top 40-ish,” said Bischoff.

Other than the music itself, prom-goers were also disappointed by technical difficulties and the DJ himself overall. At the beginning of the dance a chant of “Turn it up,” echoed through the ballroom. Once the students seemed happy with the volume, what they heard was a lot rap and country and often when a song students seemed to like started to get played, it was sometimes abruptly changed several seconds in.

“It was super quiet, I could have a conversation with someone while right by the dj and you couldn’t pick out what song was playing when you were sitting at the tables until everyone had to scream at him to turn it up,” said Junior Hayley Johnston. 

Once the chant to turn up the music was over and students starting dancing, things got better, but there were other complaints.

“The DJ this year didn’t listen to requests as much as he should have. There were problems with the volume and a lot of songs were difficult to dance to. The music was disappointing,” said Senior Beth Macnab.

Junior Levi Walls agreed with his classmates, also noting that the music didn’t seem to really be “dancing” music in the traditional sense.

“It was still too quiet, there was too much ‘grinding’ music, and it all sounded the same,” said Walls.

Student DJ Tim Kunze also had something to say, and not just from a student’s perspective.

“I work for Flamingo Enterprises DJ and photo booth services and have for the past three years. My professional opinion is that as a DJ the music was not even close to the quality required for even homecoming, much less prom. I even talked to Mr.[Evan] Ronken about hiring us to do these class gigs and was told that he has a ‘deal’ with Music In Motion. What he didn’t do was ask the students what they thought, and since teachers aren’t the ones on the dance floor I think they should seriously give a listen to the dance goers,” said Kunze.

Mr. Ronken, who is head of student council, is not actually in charge of the music, the Junior Class Cabinet and their advisors Mrs. Hulley and Mrs. Eiynck were in charge of the music.

“We have used different companies for a DJ.  I think that this year we used the same company as Student Council did for Homecoming.  We do not have an ongoing contract with any particular DJ,” said Junior Class Cabinet Advisor Nancy Eiynck.

Banner Image By Emma Rodelius

Thumbnail Image By Ben Lepinski

1. America Isn’t The Only Country In The World

Of course I knew this already, but it’s hard to really grasp how much of the world there is until you start focusing on a different part of it. I’m not talking about world studies where you study demographic information either, I’m talking about speaking their language and learning about their culture. After taking enough Spanish to learn more about the Spanish speaking countries, I realized how much I didn’t know about the world, despite taking so many history classes. Without a foreign language I would have had no idea about the problems facing Spanish speaking countries.

2. Everything Is Funnier In a Foreign Language

While foreign languages are hard, once you reach a certain point and can understand an entire 80 minutes of a teacher speaking in Spanish, things get so much more interesting. At the beginning of the semester I would have never said I would be able to hold a decent conversation with another student in Spanish. Now that I can do that, I can listen to stories told in Spanish by other students or Sr. Boeckers. What makes this great is that I laugh the most in Spanish than any other class I have. I’m not sure if the stories or jokes are necessarily more funny, but something about understanding a joke in a foreign language just makes it that much funnier.

3. It’s Okay to Fail

Everyone fails in life sometimes, it’s not always a big failure, but everyone does it. What I’ve realized though through taking a foreign language is that sometimes it’s ok to fail. What I mean is that sometimes you can work your hardest on something and not get a good grade, but you should still be proud that you tried. While I usually earn good grades in Spanish, there have definitely been tests that I would have liked to do better on. What I realize now though is that I will learn that material eventually, I just wasn’t ready for it yet. Which leads me to number 4.

4. It’s Ok Not To Understand Everything

I would be lying if I said that I understood every single word my Spanish teacher says. I would also be lying if I said I was perfect at grammar, spelling, accents, or speaking. I still have a long way to go with Spanish, but what I learned from experience taking language here at BHS is that it is completely ok not to understand everything. In a lot of our classes if we don’t understand all of something it means we understand none of it. I learned something much different in Spanish. Everyone goes at their own pace, and there is no way to force someone to get better at another language. You first have to accept your pace and then do your best to keep it going, even if that means not knowing every single vocab word.

5. You Don’t Have To Know Every Word

While in Spanish 1 through 3 we had vocab tests, what I’ve now realized is that it’s not important to know every single one of those words. Yes, you do need to know a lot of them, but what’s more important is to be able to use those words. They do you no good if you can only translate them to their English meaning.

6. Translating isn’t always the best way

In the first few Spanish classes everything you do is translated, if not on paper, in your brain. You think about the sentences, words, and books in English, then translate your answer into Spanish. What I’ve learned now that I’m doing bigger projects is that I learn more not doing that. At first you have to, there’s no way around it, but the less you do it, the easier it is, because you are now not just a human translator, but you’re thinking in that language.

7. The more you take of a language the easier it gets

This may sound strange, you would think that the more classes you would take in a subject the harder it would get, which is true. The work itself gets harder, but the learning becomes easier. Now that I understand the most important basic things about the language, I’m free to work on my other skills. This makes speaking, writing, and reading so much easier. A few years ago I would have had to write out a sentence to see if it was right, but now that I understand the structures, I can just say it.

8.Sometimes just saying it is the best way to learn

What I mean here is that sometimes you just have to go out of your comfort zone. No one likes presenting in front of class, but the more we do it the easier it gets. This is what it’s like with speaking a foreign language. I’m not saying that I’m fluent, or even good at speaking in Spanish, but once I got over the initial fear of speaking Spanish out loud, I got infinitely better. Going into Spanish 4 I thought I would be the quietest kid in the room, but we all learned together.

9. You’re not the only one

I was scared of starting a college level foreign language class. I had made up in my mind that it would be ten times harder than a high school class. When I talked to other people, they said the same thing and had the same worries. I started to realize that not just in Spanish, but in other classes, if you’re afraid of something new in a class, or even in life, most likely everyone around you is too.

10.Your teachers know you’re scared too

No one walks into a language class and says to themselves “Yep, this will be a refresher course, I know all this stuff.” Your fears of oral exams, tests, vocab, and grammar are shared. While you may know this, it’s also important to know that your teachers do too. They don’t design their class to fail you, they design it to teach you, and they’re completely aware of how nervous you are to not understand. I realized this when in Spanish 4 Sr. Boeckers really prepared us for everything we did, he understood our anxiety. He got it. I’m sure if you ask your teachers, they will get it too.

Images by Michael Raitor

1. “My mom is always willing to drive me to different rodeos and willing to support me in whatever I’m doing. Whenever I have a horse that’s acting up she’s always willing to help me figure out what’s going on,” said Junior Katelyn Jerde.

2.”My mom shoots a shotgun better than anyone I know. She’s in the top 9 women’s trapshooters nationally,” said Senior Beth Macnab.

3. “I really admire my mom as a spiritual role model,” said Junior Avonlea Hubbard.

4.”She calls me every day after school and asks if I’ve eaten,” said Junior Keven Zheng.

5.”She’s always happy, and she makes really good cake,” said Junior Markus Lee.

6.”She’s genuinely curious as to how my day went every day,” said Junior Tyler Maxson.

7.”My mom is the best. She is not only my mom, but my best friend. I remember in 7th grade when people would get mad because I told her everything,  but I love that I can do that, and now I know that that’ s ok. She’s so funny and carefree and I know no matter what she’ll always smile. She’s always like ‘Relax, life is good, no worries, let’s watch Gilmore Girls.’ She’s a weirdy just like me,” said Junior Olivia Laskey

8.”She’s a hardworker, she does everything around the house; she cooks, cleans, does the laundry, and she doesn’t really get mad,” said Sophomore Levi Bean.

9.”My grandmother is the sweetest lady. She takes care of me and she makes me the most succulent dinners ever. She’s making me fat, but I still love her,” said Junior Devon Bainey.

10. Last but not least I saved this spot for my own mom. She has always been there for me, even when it was stupid teenage drama, and she never lets me down. Whenever I’m sick or I need someone, I can always count on her. So thanks mom for doing what you do. And to all the moms out there, Happy Mother’s Day.

1. The theme this year is World’s Collide, which will feature opposites such as fire and ice themed decorations.

2. Everyone going to prom must sign up in advance tickets are $25, if you don’t sign up in advance you can’t go, or you will have to pay $30 on Friday.

3. The high school doors open at 2:30 to check in for grand march, everyone participating in grand march will receive an index card for their order, you will write your name on it and hold on to it to give it to the people who will announce your names.

4. From 2:30 to 4:30 Lunderby’s will be taking pictures, with several different package options and two backdrop options.

5. For those participating in Grand March, participants will line up in the PAC at 3:50, during grand march couples will walk through the arch while their names are announced.

6. Grand March will take place in the main gym from 4-5, there will be seats for parents set up in the gym.

7. After grand march, everyone will go to dinner on their own. If you haven’t made reservations, there are restaurants in Buffalo and St.Cloud that will take walk ins, as well as restaurants in Maple Grove such as Buca that may still have openings.

8. The dance will start at 9 and go until midnight. You must arrive by 9:30, which is when the doors will be shut and no one else will be let in.

9. The dance will be held in St. Cloud at the Terry Hawes Ballroom which is located at the River’s Edge Convention Center.

10. There are no official after parties, afterwards is on your own, so be safe!

As a teenager in this generation, I have a Facebook account, I have a Flickr account for my photography, and I have a pinterest account to plan my fake wedding to Joe Mauer. By this point, I have established an online identity, whether I like it or not.

Personally, I am more conservative than many of my peers with what I allow to be seen publicly, but sometimes it doesn’t matter.It’s still on the internet. That word, to a lot of us, means a vast space of information, pictures, and useless websites, but your stuff is still out there, for anyone to find. Ok, maybe that was a little creepy, it’s true not everyone can see everything, but there are some things you should know.

1. Not Everyone Can See Everything, but…

Recently there have been cases in the news of people going to job interviews only to be asked for their Facebook login information. While this is not something you should do, it is something you should be aware of. You may have your privacy settings to ‘friends only’ on Facebook, but what would you do if there was a glitch in the system and suddenly everything became public? If you would panic, then you should reconsider what you post, while it is semi-private, it is still in a public forum.

2. Speaking of public forum…

Do you know every single person on your friends list? How well do you know them? If you wouldn’t want an acquaintance or mutual friend to see something you probably shouldn’t post it. I think it’s safe to say that anybody with over 20 friends on Facebook couldn’t name all of them. So if you don’t know who’s seeing it, be careful it’s not something you would regret them seeing.

3. Speaking of regret…

Whatever you do, DO NOT post pictures of you drinking, doing drugs, or even legal things you wouldn’t want an aquintance to see, on social media sites. I know it sounds obvious, but we want to share things in our life with the people we’re connected with on these sites, and if drinking is part of your life, you do not want to share it.

4.Speaking of sharing…

You know that share button on Facebook? Yeah, everyone can share everything. You can write a status, your friend could share it, and then all of their friends could see it. Hopefully it was something nice.

5. Speaking of nice…

I know I’m starting to sound like your grandma here, but if you want to write something bad about someone on Facebook, I can’t stop you. Whatever you do though, don’t tag them. This could become an issue outside of Facebook and in real life if you say something that is illegal or could get someone in trouble otherwise.

6. Speaking of your grandma…

If you wouldn’t want your grandma to see it, don’t post it.

7. Speaking of posting…

If you wrote that status or tweet about your friend that I told you not to and now you’re regretting it (like I said you would) so you delete it, know that Twitter and Facebook’s database still has it, and other people still saw it…

8. Speaking of Other People…

So if you’re still on these sites after all the things I just told you (who am I kidding, of course you are) then you should know that sometimes people get together in real life and not in chat rooms. You know what people do in real life, they online stalk together. So even if you’re not friends with someone, your other friend could be, and they could be showing people all the stuff you post even if it’s only shared with your “friends.”

9. Speaking of your friends…

Do you know who your Facebook friends are? I mean, do you really know. Not just their names and relationship statuses, but have you ever had a conversation with them? If you’ve never had a conversations with them, and if you couldn’t tell anyone anything about them that you didn’t learn on Facebook, maybe you don’t really want them to see your personal information.

10. Speaking of personal information…

This is going to sound obvious, but the more you put on social networking sites, the easier it is for you to be hacked. Hackers don’t need much anymore, but it’s not always them you need to be worried about. It’s your colleagues, your family, and your friends. The more personal information you post, the more your boss or your colleagues know about you, and the higher your chances of being fired (fairly or not, but that’s another issue). Even if you’re not friends with your boss or your parents, they have ways of finding out, sometimes they don’t end well.

Yeah, I don’t know either.

Ok, how about this, name a Kardashian.

Did you come up with one? Me too.

If you asked a random person from any high school across the country to name a Kardashian, it would be almost guaranteed that they could tell you, whether they actually cared about the Kardashians or not. If you asked a high schooler something about the Iraq/Iran/Afghanistan wars, they would most likely look at you dumbfounded.

I’m not saying that we need to know everything, we don’t. We’re not bad for knowing all these trivial things, it’s human nature, we’re just a different generation. We grew up with 9/11, and although we didn’t know much about it at the time, we experienced it and the subsequent wars. But we never learned much about them, most of us couldn’t even tell you who we are still at war with or why we went to war in the first place.

1. Al Qaeda committed the attacks on 9/11 because they thought U.S. foreign policy was harming Muslims
“Al-Qaeda’s leader (Osama Bin Laden) was motivated by a belief that U.S foreign policy has oppressed, killed, or otherwise harmed Muslims in the Middle East, condensed in the phrase “They hate us for what we do, not who we are,” says former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer in Imperial Hubris. While we all know that attacking civilians is never right, and that 9/11 was a horribly tragic event that can’t be made up to the families of victims, most of us probably couldn’t tell you why it happened. Although it had nothing to do with the people working in the towers it was for a purpose to Al Qaeda.

What we know instead: That Taylor Swift was broken up with by Joe Jonas in a 27 second phone call, then she made a YouTube video about it. Also, Kanye was ‘Mean,’ but she says he’s still an ‘Innocent.’

2. Even though we are no longer in Iraq we are still in the War On Terrorism
The war on terrorism began on October 7, 2001 and still going today. It has been ten years and some odd days. The War on Terrorism is actually in several countries and the United Kingdom is also in it with the U.S., along with 14 other countries.

What We Know Instead:
Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees totally took steroids, he admitted it. Also, steroid abuse commercials play at games when he comes to town, coincidence? I think not.

3. 9/11 wasn’t the only reason for the war
President Bush has a list of defined objectives for the war on terror, which you can see here. Among these are to identify and destroy terrorists all over the world, with Osama being the main focus, but also other organizations that did not participate in the attacks on 9/11.

What We Know Instead:
There’s an app for that! Most of us have played Angry Birds, or Words with Friends, Apple currently has 500,000 apps.

4. Operation Enduring Freedom
While most of us know that while we took down terrorist organizations, we also tried to help the people of Iraq and Iran. Well, we also have Operations of Enduring Freedom in the Philippines and the Horn of Africa. In Africa we went to combat piracy and terrorism, and in the Philippines we are assisting the armed forces in their fight on terrorism.

What We Know Instead:
Kim Kardashian’s marriage lasted 72 days, creating the most interesting list of things longer than a marriage ever produced.

5. We didn’t technically go to war with Iraq until 2003, but we did go to war with Afghanistan in 2001.
The war in Iraq began on March 20, 2003, the first CIA invasion into Iraq was July 2002. In 2006 the UN nations described Iraq as a ‘civil war like situation.’ Their first parliamentary election was in 2005, which killed at least 44 people.

What We Know Instead: Lady Gaga showed up to the Grammys in an egg.

6. Osama Bin Laden Didn’t Fully Confess to the 9/11 Attacks Until 2004
Shortly before the presidential election in 2004 Osama Bin Laden released another video tape publicly acknowledging Al-Qaedas involvement. He stated that “We are free … and want to regain freedom for our nation. As you undermine our security we undermine yours.”

What We Know Instead: Justin Bieber was accused of fathering a baby at 17.

7. Out of the 19 hijackers from 9/11, 15 were from Saudi Arabia
Two hijackers were from the United Arab Emirates, one was from Egypt, and one was from Lebanon. Many of their possible residences were in the United States, meaning it wasn’t all foreigners who attacked, nor was it the countries we went to war with, it was also people taking up residence here.

What We Know Instead: Whitney Houston’s funeral cost in police officers alone was $187,000. The flags in New Jersey were also lowered to half mast for her funeral.

8. There was a terrorist cell in operation years before 9/11 that was working against the U.S
In this document of the indictments from 9/11 there are several mentions of members of Al-Qaeda being advised to take actions against ‘non believers’ as far back as 1989. In 1998 Muslims were encouraged to kill Americans anywhere they found them, according to the Al-Quds al-`Arabi which was an Osama Bin Laden supported movement.

What We Know Instead:
Every detail of Prince William and Kate’s marriage, even though they don’t  live in the U.S.

9. There was a World Trade Center Bombing in 1993 by Middle Eastern Terrorism
On February 26, 1993 a group of terrorists a bomb went off in the world trade center that killed 6 people, it left a “100 foot crater several stories deep and several more high,” according to the FBI article. One of the terrorists even confessed afterwards that he wanted to topple one tower and have it fall down on the other to crush it.

What We Know Instead: Brad Pitt and Angelina 

10. We are the future of the world.
No, this is not really a fact about the world or an event, but it’s almost more important. Our generation will soon vote (if they aren’t already) and hold jobs, become taxpayers, and eventually a select few will become politicians. Just like all our parents and grandparents did before us, we will soon have the spotlight and be making the decisions about the issues. What we need to know first though is what those issues are and the facts that go with them.

What We Know Instead: All of our peers relationship statuses

I’m not saying that this our generation is bad, or stupid, or anything like that, I’m just saying that the things we don’t know about the world around is something we need to change.
P.S: The U.S. Secretary of Defense is named Leon Panetta.

Story continues after the video

It’s a question as old as time, always coming into play after a breakup and between friends. This is a question with no simple answer, but of extreme importance, especially at a high school, not to mention around prom. It has ruined relationships, created new ones, and sometimes done nothing at all. Can boys and girls be just friends?

When Buffalo High Schools students answered this question, there were some very absolute answers and some who weren’t sure, but everyone had an opinion.

Some people were absolutely firm in their belief that men and women could never hold a purely platonic relationship without it turning into something more, even if for only one person.

“The only way a man and a woman can be friends is if the man doesn’t find the woman attractive,” said Junior Devon Bainey. “If they’re both attractive and they have a steady relationship then the guy will develop feelings for her first, then eventually if that continues then the woman will develop feelings after that.”

This view is supported in an article by Psychology Today, which states that, “Within the boundaries of gender generalizations, the vast majority of heterosexual men will invariably have a ‘reflex’ [of] sexual desirability upon seeing a female. In general, then, one can say that men are very sexually ‘reflexive’ while women are more sexually ‘reflective.'”

This means that men’s first reactions and interactions with women are often that of a romantic nature, but women are more biologically apt to see men as only friends, which plays into what is often a gray area of misread signals, or one person feeling something the other doesn’t, and a simple friendly relationship becomes more complicated. Lending a point to this side of the argument, Psychology Today says, “Men often misread women’s friendly signals as invitation for sex and why so many women are shocked when a male ‘friend’ comes on to them sexually.”

“I think men and women can be friends, but for me personally, even though I know that we’re just friends, I’ll sometimes question the relationship,” said Junior Hope Mueller. “Sometimes something will happen where I think, ‘If I liked this person would our relationship be different?’ I feel like if you’re already questioning your relationship as just friends, then somewhere down the road one will start to feel something more.”

This also begs the question, can a friendship recover after one person has more than friendly feelings?

“Personally, I think it depends on the two, if you weren’t that close to begin with you don’t have much to fall back on, but if you were closer to begin with and it’s worth something to both people then you can recover it if you both try,” said Mueller.

The world seems to think men and women can have platonic friendships, but not if they’re “close” friends of the same age. When googling platonic male/female friendships very few articles come up with the idea that it works, and they seem to contradict themselves. So what’s the deal? Are we over dramatizing this whole thing or is it reality? Some students think we’re all being a bit too dramatic about this and it’s completely possible and are firmly on the other side.

“I think they can because just because you’re close with someone of the opposite gender doesn’t mean you want to date them or have feelings for them,” said Junior Carlie O’Malley.

Agreeing with O’Malley was Junior Tyler Maxson, who also addressed the issue of how the public views this type of relationship.

“I’m just friends with a lot of girls. If you don’t care what other people think, and you shouldn’t. Then it’s a lot easier,” said Maxson.

Many relationship experts according to another article highlighting this side of the argument say that at one point in time we were not able to be platonic, but that we have moved past that and today’s culture better lends itself to platonic friendships.

“The belief that men and women can’t be friends comes from another era in which women were at home and men were in the workplace and the only way they could get together was for romance,” said Psychologist Linda Sapadin.

Some students seem to agree with this too, acknowledging that our culture has a lot to do with how we view friendships between men and women and that time has changed that.

“In the last fifty years guys and girls can be friends, but before they couldn’t  because the guy was courting the girl and then they would get married,” said Maxson.