Knitting club resumes, finds organization to team with
September 11, 2009
Knitting Club is back in action, meeting on Thursdays at 3:00 p.m. in room 450.
“Anyone can come,” sponsor Jill Chittum said. “Knitters and crocheters, experienced or anyone who wants to learn.”
Yarn and needles are helpful, but not necessary for each meeting.
“If you don’t have knitting supplies I would still encourage them to come to the meeting,” Chittum said.
She also said the club is looking to participate in the Orphan Foundation of America’s Red Scarf Project (http://orphan.org/index.php?id=40). Students would knit scarves out of any red yarn and donate them to be sent to college-aged foster kids.
“I thought that’d be a good thing for Knitting Club to do because it would give us a mission and a purpose,” Chittum said. “Knitting is just so easy so anyone could do it. I just want them to get involved.”
By Katie Louis
My voice: Kanye's VMA outburst disappoints one-time fan
September 14, 2009
Look, here’s the deal.
I’m usually not one for awards shows. Most of the music that I listen to is never on MTV, so it usually never makes sense to me to watch the VMA’s.
I was watching football before “Entourage” came on at 9:30, when I decided to get on Facebook and Twitter. Upon arrival, I was greeted with countless status updates and tweets, typically consisting of an expletive, followed by Kanye West.
So I figured I’d watch the repeat of the VMA’s later on.
Taylor Swift, no matter what music you listen to, is an absolutely fantastic musician.
I don’t like country music, but she’s one of the only legitimately talented artists out there. She writes and performs from the heart, which deserves much credit.
She won the first award of the night. Her video for “You Belong With Me” trumped videos by Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Kelly Clarkson.
When her name was read, the look on her face told the story. She obviously had no idea she even had a chance at winning, and approached the stage with no signs of any swagger or cockiness.
She gracefully began to shout out to the country music world and elaborate on her childhood dreams of winning a moon-man.
And then Kanye West came onto the stage.
He grabbed the mic, irrelevantly apologized to Swift for his interruption, and blurted out a jerk-ish opinion of how Beyoncé
rightfully deserved the award.
A girl, nearly the same age as all of us, just won a monumental award for her music and was blindsided by the attention-seeking West.
You’ve got to be freaking kidding me.
Kanye, in his own right, is a talented musician. Personally, I think his recent auto-tuned endeavors on his last record were pitiful, but he’s been on top of the mountain.
I own every CD the man has put out, and listen to each every now and then.
But for someone that high in the pop-music hierarchy to cut down a young girl in front of millions of viewers makes me embarassed to ever say I was one of his fans.
The worst part was the few seconds that followed it.
Rightfully, he was booed off the stage. Shakira and the other guy that no one cared about (Twilight’s Taylor Lautner) stood expressionless behind a mortified Swift.
The directors attempted to cue into the next segment, but the damage had been done.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Kanye’s career plummets after this.
If you think about it, he was already on his way down. Each record before “808’s and Heartbreak” boasted at least three singles, when “808’s” only had two. “Heartless” was a hit, but “Amazing” only made it onto NBA commercials and pump-up CD’s for the nation’s youth athletes.
His performances were boring. He didn’t have the energy and smash-mouth attitude he had before. He wasn’t rapping, he was singing.
Auto-tune, when used correctly, can correct some voices, but it did little for his singing attempts.
That, doubled with this incident, could very well spell the end for one of the decade’s best rappers and producers.
Of course, West owes Swift a massive public apology. Even with that, he still won’t be forgiven by the majority of America.
He made himself look like the biggest jerk in the country in front of millions of viewers.
It’s going to be a long climb back up the mountain for him, and it’s going to be difficult for him to find much support on the way back up.
If he doesn’t apologize, I’m not going to buy another one of his CD’s. And I’d like to believe I’m not alone when I say that.
By AJ Barbosa
Kansas driving law altered, new age for unrestricted license determined
September 14, 2009
A new Kansas driving law will go into effect in 2010.
According to the Kansas Department of Revenue, the new law says that teens must be 17 to get their unrestricted license and they must be 15 to get their restricted permit.
The restricted permit allows the teenager to drive to work, school and home alone.
When students turn 16 the restricted permit allows them to drive anywhere from 5 a.m.-9 p.m. without a parent or guardian.
Any students found driving past this curfew will be ticketed by law enforcement officials.
If students have their instructional permit before December 2009, the new law will not apply to them.
Sophomore Sydney Lenz is not concerned about the change in driving age, though.
“I really don’t care, and I wont ask my friends for rides either,” she said.
The same laws still apply when getting a license.
Teens can take a driver’s education class or take the state driving test at a Kansas Department of Motor Vehicles location.
Sophomore Thamara Subramanian took driver’s education to avoid taking the state test.
“You don’t have to take the test you just walk in with your golden ticket and they give you your license,” she said.
More information about state driving laws can be found at www.ksrevenue.org/vehicle.htm.
By Carlee Ray
Seven BV students announced as National Merit Scholarship semifinalists
September 16, 2009
On Wednesday, the 2010 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists were announced.
Out of a total of 1,600 semifinalists, seven of them are from Blue Valley High School.
Students selected in the annual program have the opportunity to continue in the competition for more than eight scholarships worth more than $36 million.
The BVHS semifinalists are seniors Ben Cooper, Bailey Kennedy, Hunter Kennon, Emily Li, Grant Meyer, Angela Niebergall and Caitlin Wilson.
by Jordan McEntee
Newspaper staff honored as Pacemaker finalist
September 18, 2009
The Tiger Print was named a finalist for the Pacemaker Award. The Pacemaker is a national award honoring newspaper staffs for excellence in high school journalism.
The staff was selected as a finalist on Sept. 10, along with 53 other high school newspapers.
Newspaper adviser Jill Chittum is thrilled with the results and has high hopes for the future.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Chittum said. “I’m not going to lie.”
The Pacemaker Award is referred to as the ‘Pulitzer Prize’ of high school journalism, she said.
Senior Stephanie Roche, co-editor-in-chief of the Tiger Print was excited to hear that the staff had received the recognition for its work.
“We put in a lot of time and effort,” Roche said.
Chittum and Roche both look forward to newspaper this year.
“We are hoping to out-do our success from last year,” Roche said.
The winner out of the finalists will receive a plaque for their efforts and will be highly esteemed throughout the high school journalism community.
However, it’s not all about winning.
“Our job is really to inform the student body,” Chittum said. by Jacob Pruitt
