Several cross country members were caught on camera trespassing on private property when they left the North Country Trail on Tues-day, September 30. The incident hap-pened during one of the cross country team’s practices just outside of Brule. While the stu-dents were supposed to be running on the straight path, several runners decided to to take the chance to ex-plore.
The exploratory course that they were on, however, also took them through privately owned property. They are free
from prosecution this time, but if they do something of this nature again, they could be charged with trespass-ing.
While on their diver-sion, they happened to
pass one of Mr. Windt’s motion-sensing cameras (near his deer stand), triggering it.
Finding out that someone in your family has some form of cancer is some-thing that no family should have to go through. But sadly, it still happens.
October is National Breast Cancer Aware-ness Month, so
in support of those who have been affected by breast cancer, please wear pink to the game tonight.
Here are a couple of facts about the disease: 1. In 2013, an
estimat-ed 232,340 new cas-es of invasive breast cancer were ex-pected to be
diag-nosed among U.S. women, as well as an estimated 64,640 additional cases of situational breast cancer.
2. That year, approxi-mately 39,620 U.S. women were ex-pected to die from breast cancer. Only
lung cancer ac-counts for more deaths from can-cer in women. 3. Breast can-cer incidence rates are highest in non-Hispanic white women, followed by Af-rican AmeAf-rican women, and are lowest among Asian/Pacific Islander women. In contrast, breast cancer death rates are highest for Afri-can AmeriAfri-can wom-en, followed by non-Hispanic white women. Breast can-cer death rates are lowest for Asian/
Online@ www.nw-tigers.org/the-octagon
Volume 66, Issue 5 October 17, 2014
By Luke Rutten Today:
Football: Var-sity @ NHS vs. Barron
Wednesday: Drama:
Dis-trict Competi-tion @ NHS
The London Beer Flood, in which 387,600 gallons
of beer were spilled, hap-pened 200 years ago today. 8 peo-ple were killed,
and the court ruled the acci-dent an “Act of
God.”
Pg. 2 Photo ID Law
Pg.3 Senior Prof’s
Pg. 6 School Lunch
‘Cross’ Continued
Pg. 4
By Ricky Schiff
‘Pink’ Continued
Pg. 4
Breaking news! The Wisconsin photo identifi-cation laws that were re-cently implemented have
been revoked!
Late on October 9th the Supreme Court ruled to block the law. The judges have not given an official explanation as to why they revoked the law. Even though it was-n’t in effect long, it was still challenged many times by groups such as the American Civil Lib-erties Union of Wiscon-sin.
One argument ques-tioned whether there was enough time to properly educate the voting popu-lace about the new rules and for those without id’s to obtain them. Another area of con-cern centered on the ab-sentee ballots because some absentee ballots had been sent out prior to
the photo ID law being implemented. Those who were voting in this fashion may have had to return their ballots along with copies of their id’s, and if they did not, their votes may have been dis-regarded. Basically, it came down to making sure that the voting laws were not changed in the middle of the progress. Some people also say that the voter id law dis-criminates against minor-ity voters, despite the fact that 90% of regis-tered voters already have a proper ID.
There is a possibility that this law will come into effect later. For now though all you need to vote is to be a registered voter and to bring with
you a proof of residence such as a piece of mail.
Today
Skylar Hermanson Tiia Sznaider
10/20
Ciara Johnson Madison Peterson
10/21
Drew Stribley
10/22
Kaleb Scharp
10/23
Noah Antilla
Happy
Birthday!
Senior Editor/ For-matter:
Nik Sauer
Text Editor
Brooklyn Smith
Staff Members: Katie Johnson
Emily Gaare J. Gaare Lilli Kovaleski
Molly Niven Kaleb Scharp Richard Schiff Luke Rutten Philomena Lindquist
Advisor:
Mrs. Thompson Welcome to the future,
ladies and gentlemen; this is the age of technol-ogy and the wonderful world of the internet! New tech has been making its way into our beloved school. It all started with the mon-strosities of computers we had in elementary schools, then the won-derful and “sleek” new lab computers we had in middle school, and final-ly the slim rectangles called Chromebooks we now have in high school. By now we are all fa-miliar with the all en-compassing world Google has created which includes every-one’s favorite applica-tion: Google Drive. Many teachers have re-quired us to use that tool quite frequently in our school work, but now
some of them are taking it to the next level of vir-tual schooling by using the Google Classroom. Mr. McGrath, Mr. Pol-zin, and Mr. Crail, all regularly use Google
Classroom as part of their classroom routine. They explained it was going well for the most part and appreciated that it reduced the amount of late work students were submitting since Google Classroom allows stu-dents to check for work
online. Mr. Crail likes that it gives him another way to communicate with students as well as organize classroom ma-terial.
Mr. McGrath said that it was also helping stu-dents adjust to the fact that every-thing was going online.
He also
spoke of how Google Classroom was great for writing and editing essays with stu-dents. The teachers said that setting up Google Classroom wasn’t hard and only took them a few minutes since Google was very intuitive. Once everything was set up they could create tests and assignments at their
leisure.
However, they have encountered some prob-lems with login IDs for new students and stu-dents who don’t always have internet access. They are working on these problems though and to quote Mr. Polzin, they will “keep on truck-ing.”
They also say that the student feedback has been mainly positive so far.
Junior Katie Moen is-n’t a fan; she likes paper more, and the program also doesn’t always work on her home computer. Foreign exchange stu-dent Sarah Stoehr likes that she doesn’t have to write as much. Senior Hailea Weiss also appre-ciates the ability for her to look online for assign-ment information. By Molly Niven
By Molly Niven
Who is your favorite person in the entire world and why?
Prof and Tupac because
they’re themselves. What’s in your closet?
Skeletons. What is your dream job?
DJ for Rhymesayers En-tertainment.
What are your plans
after graduating? Doing whatever I want to.
How has high school been for you?
Terrible, I can’t wait to leave.
By Kaleb Scharp
Dylan
Yrjanainen
Brandon
Erickson
Top points for Pro Choice:
Not “for abortion,” just for “making the right choices.”
Unplanned Pregancy
Rape cases
Top Points for Pro Life:
Life begins at conception
Adoption is a better option
Life is more important that choices
Topic: Pro Life vs. Pro Choice
Decision: Pro Choice
This week’s topic was our first really serious issue, but everyone remained respectful. Forty-two people
showed up, which was a considerable improvement from last week’s 29. Keep in mind, everyone is free to
join.
There will be no meeting next week due to a student council meeting, so it will be held the next Thursday (October 30) instead. The topic has not been chosen yet, so if you have any ideas for a topic, please email
Mr. Crail.
Who is your favorite person in the entire world and why?
Marissa Halvor-son. I have a lot of fun with her. What’s in your closet?
Clothes, junk, and old board games. What is your dream job? Professional golf-er.
What are your plans after grad-uating?
Going to college somewhere close to home.
How has high school been for you?
Very long but en-joyable.
Who is your favorite person in the entire world and why?
Nick Learn. Be-cause he’s Nick Learn.
What’s in your closet?
I don’t know… I haven’t entered it since the acci-dent...
What is your dream job?
To own a huge farm with lots of cows.
What are your plans after graduating?
I plan to go to college for agricultural business at
Platteville or River Falls. How has high school been for you?
High school has been a pretty good experience, but joining FFA makes it better.
Dustin
Soyring
The WHO ramped up it’s Ebola fighting efforts this week.
By Nik Sauer
women. Breast can-cer incidence and death rates also vary by state.
Lately, the Play for Pink game has been an intramural volleyball game between the vol-leyball team and the teachers, but this year it will be held as the last football game. Senior and student council member Brittany Copp suggested to Mr. Crail that it might be good idea to adopt for the last football game. The pro-ceeds from the t-shirt sales will go to the American Cancer Socie-ty.
“Students have respond-ed well, and we are hop-ing to make a sizeable donation,” says Mr. Crail.
Not only are we as a football team playing for pink, but we are also playing for a spot in playoffs: if we win, we’re in. “We need to
Last week the Tigers came away with a tough victory over Ladysmith, and need to get another victory tonight in the match against the Barron Bears.
Some seniors comment-ed on what it would mean to make the playoffs: “I would be more excited than I ever have been in my life. It has been a goal ever since freshman year; it would mean all our hard work has finally paid off,” Dakota Woerle said excitedly. “It would be an awesome team achievement,” said Brandon Copp. “It would mean all the hard work has finally paid off and everyone gave 100 percent of 100 percent” added Rodney Olaf and Dakota Wiese. Tonight is also parents’ night. Seniors, go out there and make your parents proud and get into the playoffs. Fans, be proud to wear pink!
Coach McGrath found out about their excursion the next day when Mr. Windt called to tell him what his cameras had caught. At first, Mr. McGrath thought it was funny that the group de-cided to leave the path at the exact spot where Mr. Windt’s camera was, as opposed to at any other point on the four-mile trail.
His second thought, however, was out of con-cern for his athletes. “We need to turn this into a teachable mo-ment.” Leaving the trail, especially during hunting season, can be very dan-gerous. Not everybody is a responsible hunter and over 1,000 people are shot each year in hunting accidents.
Apart from people aiming down their sights, there are still many dan-gers to somebody in the
and the wildlife. These hazards, although still present, are much less common on heavily-traveled paths.
There are other threats in the wilderness apart from physical ones. Al-lergies, or other medical emergencies, can flare up as well, and if you aren’t where you’re sup-posed to be, the chances of something bad hap-pening increase and the chances of someone finding you in time de-crease drastically.
Mr. McGrath says that extracurricular activities should be fun, but that it’s difficult to partici-pate if you are injured, hence the rules. “Coaches, whatever sport you’re in, have cer-tain rules for safety.” He wants this to be a lesson for the team, and for everyone else, teach-ing that regulations are in place to keep us safe and in the game.
Pg. 1
Apple unveils the world’s thinnest
tab-let, the iPad Air 2, at 6.1 mm. Russia stops financial support for Chernobyl containment.
Putin accuses the U.S. of blackmailing and meddling
in his nation’s affairs.
Saturn’s “Death Star moon” is “either
won-ky or watery.”
Global share prices con-tinue to fall, in part due to the rising uncertainty
regarding Ebola.
Florida Governor Rick Scott stopped a debate this week be-cause his opponent was (illegally)
So now we’re all set-tling into the routine of classes, lockers, early mornings and late nights, and, of course, the lovely homemade meals we re-ceive at our school. Oh! And don’t forget the breakfast that we actually have time to eat now, thanks to our new (and if you ask me, improved) schedule. It’s called Tiger Time, which is ap-parently hijacked from Superior’s “Spartan Time” that they have had for far longer. Despite the lack of originality in the title, the ultimate opinion of Tiger Time has been rather positive, and I, personally, am all for it.
There are varying opinions on our new di-vision of time. Ricky Schiff stated, “It’s a stress reliever. It takes
pressure off so that I can go to sleep earlier and have time to do my homework later.”
Emily Gaare also had positive feelings toward Tiger Time, saying, “It’s helpful. I like being able to just eat breakfast, fin-ish homework, and so-cialize. I like how Tiger Time lets us start our day later. We don’t have to use our brain power right away.”
A few teachers’ takes on the new schedule were supportive. Mr. Hessel was happy to see students using their time and resources, including the library and comput-ers, wisely and more fre-quently. “Everyone is a little more awake and ready to go for the first class of the day. In prior years, it seemed like it took a while to become productive in the first block, regardless of what
class it was,” he said, and mentioned that work eth-ic in fourth block was also improved.
Mrs. Lawler agrees, as long as the students use their time efficiently. She commented that she is providing time for her students to earn volun-teer hours by getting in-volved in the Peer Helper Program to tutor fellow students in biology. However, there are also critiques. J. Gaare began with positivity, then went on to say, “. . .
I’m still upset that we don’t have the after-school support center. That was really helpful for having a place to fo-cus after school.”
Journey Brown also commented, remarking, “If you don’t have a club that day, it’s a long time to just sit there. Also, I’ve heard that athletes dislike not having the
homeroom time at the end of the day before they go to their practic-es.”
Otherwise, there are always complaints of those who see people just procrastinating their time away saying, “Oh, it’s fine. I’ll do it in Tiger Time,” and then don’t, and this is a plausible irritation.
However, I am always busy during these morn-ings. There’s always something interesting going on somewhere, it seems, and if nothing else, I can go and study, practice my violin piece, or simply read. If other people (like Molly Niv-en: “More time for me to sit around and be half-asleep.”) don’t want to use that time, that’s their decision, and that’s okay with me.
By Philomena Lindquist
Same-sex marriage moved forward this past Monday when the Su-preme Court denied the cases of Wisconsin, Vir-ginia, Utah, Oklahoma and Indiana. These states sought to overrule the lifting of the same-sex marriage ban; the Su-preme Court’s refusal to hear the states allows such unions as same-sex marriage to be consid-ered legal.
Since Monday, states have been awash in li-cences being filled out or being denied. Circuit courts are either disal-lowing or granting the pressing issue. In Idaho and Nevada, same-sex marriage is being put on
hold as the Court decides. It’s possible that the Su-preme Court’s decision was the spark that ignited the long-awaited fire. Every state that does not allow same -sex marriage has some form of lawsuit or case that is pending. There
are quite a few states that are right on the verge, but it appears that most are resigning to equality. Perhaps in a few years, this issue will be as irrel-evant and as commonly accepted as inter-racial
marriage. To not accept a marriage as legal because one party’s skin tone is darker than the other’s seems just as incongru-ous to me as to not ac-cept a marriage because you don’t agree with a
small aspect of their per-sonal lives. Try to follow this simple rule; if you don’t like it, don’t do it. But just because you hate one thing doesn’t mean it won’t be loved by the next.
With our change from cookies to yogurt, our loss of things like pickles and lemon-poppy seed muffins, and the taste in practically everything else, everyone who eats our school lunches has noticed a major change. Speaking of breakfast, a few people, including Emily Gaare and Michaela Ruhman, miss our lemon poppy seed muffins, which have been absent from the breakfast line this year. Are lemons and poppy seeds unhealthy? Or are they simply too expen-sive?
These next two para-graphs will be a factual laying out of the actual
school menu
rules. Please feel free to skip them if you don’t
care.
Entrees, snacks, and sides have to meet one of four guidelines. They must be a “whole grain-rich food”, have a fruit, vegetable, dairy product or protein food as the first ingredient, be a
combination food (defined as a food that represents more than one of the major food groups) with at least a quarter cup of fruit or vegetables, or contain 10% of the Daily Value of certain important stuff like calcium or vitamin D.
That first requirement has options. For the nu-trient standards,
howev-er, there are no options. All main dishes must be 350 calories or fewer, have 35% or fewer of those calories from fat and 10% from saturated fat, fewer than 480 mg of sodium, and 35% or less of its weight from
sug-ar. Is that even how one measures sugar con-tent? In weight?
To decrease the sodium or calories in our food, isn’t there another way other than by reducing the portion size? Our breakfast bagels and English muffins have shrunk to the point that they’re hardly a meal at all.
Maybe we could start
with something bigger like the actual lunches, which are made of ques-tionable vegetables and maybe-meat. Give us healthy, tasty food in-stead of salt-free food. Will taking away the tiny pickle slices solve a sodium problem in our school? I don’t think so. Our potatoes-from-a-bag have no flavor be-cause there is no salt. Our soups are lacking flavor because their sodi-um content is so low. Though the salt shakers have disappeared, there are some who claim they’ve caught sight of Mrs. Dash hiding behind the register if you want some flavor in your food.
Thanks, Michelle Obama, we love the new taste of freedom.
By Lilli Kovaleski
Are you planning on going to the library dur-ing our “Tiger Time?” Before this year (sorry freshmen, you will never know the glory) you could do your home-work, goof off on the computers, or just hang out with your friends in a venue where you could actually hear yourself think.
This year, however, you have to do the un-thinkable: sign in to your sanctuary. In years past you could just meander into the library at your convenience and your only commitment was greeting Mrs. Scherz as you walked by her desk. Now though, the sec-ond you walk in you are
bombarded with all of the teachers congregated around the non-fiction section urging you to sign in. Go ahead, ask them why you have to
sign in; I have been told, “I don’t know” or “I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.” So what would be the possi-ble reason for making me sign into the sanctuary? When I asked Mrs. Scherz about the the change in why we must now sign in, she respond-ed by saying that it’s to see how many people are actually using the time
they were given in the mornings.
It is possibly more of a validation for them than anything else that we would actually use our
time wisely. That’s what “Tiger Time” is sup-posed to be: work time for people in the morning so that they don’t have to stay after school, which is why we had a “Student Support Center” last year.
I also asked Mrs. Thompson for more in-formation about this situ-ation. She informed me that if you are having
trouble in a class, need to take a test, or finish homework, your teachers may add your name to a shared document that tracks which students needs to work on what and why; consequently, this is a list of who should be reporting to the library during Tiger Time. If you were added to this list, you would be notified by either your teacher and/or by Mr. Scherz.
So next time you find yourself running into the library in a hustle to fin-ish your homework, make sure you give your-self enough time to sign in before running off and doing your long past-due homework.
By Katie Johnson
