Online@ www.nw-tigers.org/the-octagon
Volume 67, Issue 27 April 29, 2016
Today:
1:00 PM: Boys
JV & V Golf @ Bloomer
4:00 PM:
Varsi-ty Track @ Spooner
Saturday:
6:30 PM: Prom
Monday:
4:00 PM: Boys JV & V Golf @ NHS
Tuesday:
ACT Aspire Testing
9:00 AM: Boys JV Golf @ Amery Golf Club
5:00 PM: JV &
V Baseball @ Chetek
Thursday:
4:00 PM:
Varsi-ty Softball Double-Header @ Brule
4:30 PM:
Varsi-ty Track Quad @ Cumberland
5:00 PM: JV &
V Baseball @ Spooner
The Octagon is always taking pet pictures for
publi-cation. Send in the name, age, breed, and
favor-ite activities to
Pg. 4 Tanning Pg. 3 Senior Prof’s
Pg. 6 Honored Sr.’s
Many teens experience drugs at one point or an-other, alcohol included as a drug. All kinds of teens for all kinds of rea-sons.
Some users say it is to escape, to fit in and be cool, to experience something new out of pure curiosity, or be-cause their family, friends, or parents do it. A small percentage of users say it is a tool to help better understand themselves. There are many different reasons as to why a teenager would want to (or does) experiment with illicit drugs.
Did you know that one
in four teens who have used alcohol had their very first drink before age 12 or younger? Did you know that everyday more than 4,000 teens try an illicit drug for the first time?
Some say children who learn about the risks of substance abuse at home are less likely to abuse substances.
Some of the most common substances be-ing used and abused by teens on the streets, at parties, and even in their own homes are heroin, methamphetamines, ox-ycodone as well as other various muscle relax-ants, pills, alcohol,
mari-juana, and a lesser syn-thetic form of LSD known as 25i or 25i NBOMe.
A student at one of our area schools who shall remain anonymous, has experienced many forms of drugs. Some experi-ences were good and some absolutely terrify-ing.
The student says “What was even more terrifying than the expe-riences on drugs was developing the will pow-er to give up substances of all kinds. After going through so much anxiety
‘Addiction’
Contin-ued Pg. 4
Article submitted by former octagon member Cora JarmanA “Bird Poop” is a State Forensics Festival partic-ipation pin. They were awarded after school last Monday (April 18th) to all participants at the an-nual Ceremony of the Awarding of Bird Poops in Mrs. Luostari’s class-room.
In addition to Bird Poops, everyone receives ice cream and an oppor-tunity to compare scores and stories.
These scores were earned on Saturday, April 16th in Madison, but that’s not all that happened. Students were
allowed to wander the capital for a few hours each day of their Friday-Saturday overnight trip. State Street was within walking distance of the hotel and had many
‘Forensics’
Contin-ued Pg. 2
Northwestern High School’s Forensics team with a visiting stranger.
shoppers from North-western.
Veronica Line reports that there were a lot of dogs on State Street. “I got to pet the cutest little beagle puppy!” She also convinced (or rather trapped) Mr. Goodlet to buy her some celebratory birthday icecream.
Other competitors en-joyed ice cream in the warm weather. “It was really hot out, really nice,” said Amanda Lumberg. But the bus ride back, though also hot, was “not as bad as [she] thought it would be.”
The bus rides them-selves may not have been bad, but Katie Taylor said “There was some singing going on . . . some fairly bad singing.” “Everyone went a little zany on the way back.” During Saturday’s bus ride Tyler Davis tried on several pairs of sunglass-es and couldn’t seem to
decide which ones were best. Other competitors played Catchphrase at the top of their lungs while others managed to sleep.
The hotel had a pool where many played Marco Polo and a diving game. To play everyone would climb out of the pool and turn around so one person could throw a quarter into it. Then they would look for the coin and try to retrieve it be-fore anyone else.
But regardless of the fun Forensics
competi-Festival seri-ously.
Grace Ed-wards said this was the most stressful year of Forensics for her. She ex-plained that was because the Play-Acting piece she per-formed with Luke Rutten, Bailey Evans, and Britta Lind was actually written by the group so she was more emotionally invest-ed in how other people reacted to their work. On top of that, it was her first year in the Play-Acting category. They ended up doing very well with a score of 24/25. While performing it’s pretty rare when some-one isn’t experiencing butterflies in the stomach or jitters in the hand be-fore. Katie Taylor said she was nervous at first but “I got going and then I was like ‘This is
Amanda Lumberg feel less pressure was know-ing that she didn’t have to worry about moving on to the next level of competition. This is be-cause Wisconsin is not affiliated with the Na-tional Forensics Associa-tion and therefore the national competition is unavailable to Wiscon-sinites.
If Wisconsin was affil-iated with the national organization then the two groups and two individu-als with perfect scores would move on. Veroni-ca Line and Kelby Wer-ner, a Play-Acting duo, earned that perfect score of 25/25 at State. Veroni-ca believes it was their best performance yet, as they had practiced quite a bit and she was confi-dent that if one of them messed up the other would be able to cover for them.
So next year, “Join Forensics! It’s fun . . . good stuff,” said Aman-da Lumberg, nodding.
Today:
Robert Anderson
4/30
Nicholas Jatzo Dylan Nelson
5/01
Geena Noonan Felicia Stribley
5/02
Abby Lindahl Brecken Paulus Nathan Pearson
5/03
Sami Learn Selena Perez
5/05
Morgan Brown
Sharlayna Cimermancic Riley Scott
Lydia Spees
Happy
Birthday!
Last week Emma Nelson signed a letter of intent to attend South Dakota State University where she will run both cross country and track. Emma plans to major in animal science. Emma is pictured with her parents, Wendy and Erik
Nelson.
From left to right: Emma Nelson, Leo Mack, and Mallory Swanson.
Q: Who are you voting for for the next presiden-tial election?
A: Kanye 2020.
Q: How much do you like puns?
A: I only like them if they are from Steve Markon.
Q: What’s the most em-barrassing thing you’ve done in high school? A: Left the door of a port-a-potty open and had peo-ple walk in on me.
Q: What’s your favorite meme?
A: Kanye kissing Kanye, Kanye never smiles, tooth-less Drake.
Q: Write a small thank you to someone who has helped you in these past four years.
A: Thank you, Beyoncé, for telling me I’m flawless. Thank you, Taylor Swift, who showed me you can still be a superstar and like cats. Thank you, Jenny Forsythe, for showing me that the spirit of Leslie Knope lives inside you.
Q: What is one piece of advice of next year’s sen-ior?
A: Always close the port-a -party door.
Q:If everything went
perfectly after high
school what would you be doing?
A: I would probably be starting a hippo refuge in South Africa and design-ing clothes for Kanye’s fashion line.
Emma
Nelson
Q: Who are youvot-ing for in the next presidential election? Why?
A: Bernie Sanders. #MakeTrumpDumpf Again
Q: If you could have a conversation with an-yone, dead, alive, or fictional, who would it be?
A: George Bush, to ask him what really hap-pened on 9/11.
Q: What did you im-prove on most during high school?
A: Procrastination. Why do you think I have one of the last senior profiles?
Q: What’s your
favor-ite meme? A: Pepe the frog.
Q: Write a small thank you to someone who has helped you in these past four years. A: Even if I didn’t find out your political pref-erences, I found a great teacher and role model. Thanks for all the great discussions, Mr. Crail.
Q: What is one piece of advice for next year’s seniors?
A: Convert to the cult of Dan Cowley.
Q: If everything went perfectly after high school, what would you be doing?
A: I would own all of the cars.
Leo Mack
Q: What’s your biggest
regret from high
school?
A: Not trying harder in English.
Q: What did you im-prove on most during high school?
A: Talking to new peo-ple and being more open.
Q: What is your least favorite movie and why?
A: Rubber. It’s about a rolling tire.
Q: If you could only have one ice cream
fla-vor for the rest of your life, what would it be? A: Mint chocolate chip.
Q: What did you strug-gle with most as a freshman?
A: Public speaking. . . . still do.
Q: What is one piece of advice for next year’s seniors?
A: Don’t give up - you have one more year and you are done.
Q: If everything went perfectly after high school, what would you be doing?
A: I would have graduat-ed from Colorado State Fort Collins and from vet school.
Tanning beds, spray tan, sunbathing. The quest to be tan is a priori-ty for some. Some people want to be tan for sum-mer, others from prom, some just for the heck of it. But I wonder if people really think about just how damaging it is. Here are a few reasons you may want to give up tan-ning and just be pale. Sunbathing and tan-ning beds have -harmful UV radiation- which af-fect the deep and top lay-ers of the skin.
What is UV radiation and why should you care? UV radiation is electromagnetic radia-tion. The effects it has on your body, inside and out are pretty dangerous. There's an abundance of harmful effects for your body.
Tanning can cause wrinkling, at a much younger age than if you didn't go tanning. Tan-ning beds have three times as many UV rays as sun bathing outside. Also, some tanning beds that aren't sufficiently cleaned can spread dis-eases such as staph infec-tions and some STDS. The UV rays can also cause a -skin cancer- called Melanoma. It also can really harm your im-mune system, causing you to get sick more of-ten / be sick for longer
because your immune system can not fight off the sickness as quickly as you would like. Indoor tanning causes around 400,000 cases of skin cancer in the U.S. every year. Many of these can-cer cases could be avoid-ed if people latheravoid-ed up with some sunscreen when at the beach, or if they had not spent their time and money on a ses-sion at a tanning bed. So what about spray tan or tanning lotion? Because it's such a new product and not as much
research has been done, it doesn't appear as harm-ful as sunbathing or go-ing to a tanngo-ing bed. You just need to watch out for certain chemicals like Dihydroxyacetone (don't ask me to say it) which can cause skin rashes like dermatitis. Also be careful not to inhale any of it, especially if you have asthma; if so, you should just avoid spray tanning all together. I'm not saying that go-ing outside is bad, or that the sun is evil. I'm just suggesting that if you're going outside, wear sun-block or cover your skin to shield it from the sun's harmful effects. Be care-ful, protect yourself; you'll be grateful in the future. But if you do de-cide to try spray tanning, try to avoid the Trump or Oompa Loompa look. By Maddy Gross
and somehow managing to pull myself from the hole in which I had dug myself, one thing had not changed. The teachers at my school, the adults in my community, and my peers still considered me a ‘druggie.’ There were times, even months after I’d given up drugs, where the dirty looks, negative comments and rumors almost pushed me right back into my hole.
I had to escape from the very people in whom I was trying to find posi-tivity.
Certain people say me differently and helped me simply by being
posi-tive and being there for me.”
Teachers preach about keeping students safe and away from drugs. Adults in the community talk about how wonderful it would be if drugs were off the streets and out of kids’ hands.
But when someone tries so hard to change, not only in lifestyle but in attitude as well, and recieves no recognition for the efforts, even more so is beaten down by words and dirty looks, it hurts.
Everyone makes mis-takes, it’s human nature--for how else would we learn? Can someone not change? Adults should know the answer to that better than the younger generation. I’m sure
adults have undergone many transi-tions and changes.
The student continues to say “All I ask is to be treated as a person who has made mistakes but turned themselves around and changed.” Mrs. Luostari states “The only difference between me and students using drugs is that my addic-tions to coffee and choc-olate are more socially accepted than theirs.” Think about your own addictions: Laziness, sex, television, video games, shopping, sports, work-ing, candy, soda, coffee, cake, chocolate, the list goes on.
Next time you see someone struggling with
an addiction, treat them like a person whether their addiction is socially accepted or not. They may not want to accept it, but deep down they are looking for someone or for help. Ask them how you can help, if eve-rything is okay. The may not respond to it at first but they will be grateful. They will remember you. All it takes is one person to be positive and care. Maybe you can change a life. What do you have to lose?
“Don’t shove them back down, show under-standing and lift them up.”-Taylor Rose.
‘Addictions’
Continued
“Don’t shove them back down, show
Prom, as you know, is tomorrow and therefore I have compiled a list of do’s and don'ts.
DON’T:
Do something you might regret.
Spike the punch.
Grind on each other.
Focus so much on pictures or texting; try to take time and enjoy it.
Freak out.
Pull a Carrie (the movie.)
Tug at your dress during Grand March.
Form a mosh pit... Spread out.
Bathe in perfume or cologne, especially in a crowded area. Some people are allergic to this, but even so, it’s rude to make your peers choke on AXE.
Apply spray tan the day before or of... Don't pull an Oompa Loompa... It's not cute.
Choose a messy meal for dinner.
Use a new product if you’re re-dyeing your hair. You don’t know if it’s going to turn out wacky and you don’t have enough time to fix it if it does.
DO:
Wear deodorant, and bring it with you.
Have fun but not too much fun.
Spend time with friends, not just your date.
Bring an extra pair of shoes, your feet will thank you.
Tell your parents what your plans are.
Make sure you have a ride home.
Put a napkin on your lap at dinner, or even wear a it as a bib, you don’t want to stain your outfit.
Bring extra (comfy) clothes if you’re planning, or even considering, to stay over at someone’s house.
Bring any daily medication along if the above sentence applies to you.
Bring your device’s charger.
Get the cell numbers of those in your group.
Stay safe at any after-prom parties, you don’t want to be caught intoxicated, and much less get pulled over or in an accident for DUI.
By Maddy Gross We’ve all heard the
Earth Day environment spiel. Save the earth, use less aerosol, ride your bikes instead of driving a car, plant trees. . . . But we haven’t heard about the most rapidly defor-ested country in the world, Cambodia, and their government is part of that reason.
Though there are anti-deforestation laws in Cambodia they are weak laws or laws that are ig-nored by all so there is a huge industry for illegal logging.
Many of the tycoons who spearhead these log-ging outfits actually use the government to ship
the lumber out of Cam-bodia as exports to other countries including America.
Even when the hauls are caught and shut down by uncorrupted portions of the government, the corrupted portions of the government still sell the illegal lumber as exports to other countries for a
profit.
This practice only fur-thers the deforestation and, unfortunately, there’s no end in sight. That is, there would not be an end, if it were not for one Cambodian activ-ist.
Prey Lang recently re-ceived this year’s Gold-man Environmental
Prize, which provides $175,000 to Mr. Lang to support his efforts to take down illegal deforesta-tion from the inside. That’s right, he’s an un-dercover agent.
Lang said, in a draft of his acceptance speech, “My job involves grave risk and much danger. I imagine that I could be killed or imprisoned be-cause of the threats made against me for many years…
I hope I am a good role model for the young peo-ple who want to fight for positive change and pro-tect the small amount of remaining forest in Cam-bodia.”
Deforestation in Cambodia.
School District of Maple congratulates the honored seniors listed below.
