Reviews

Popular Books Draw Millions to the Big Screen

0 Comments 31 January 2012

By Afton Johnson and Jessica Brandt

Trojan Tribune Staff

Photo Courtesy of Kasma Magazine

Many movies nowadays have been based on popular books. The Hunger Games, which comes out in March, seems to be anticipated by people all over. Previous hits were Harry Potter, Twilight and The Help. Many people have their own opinions on which is better, the book versus the movie. “The books, definitely the books. They are way more in-depth. You can use your imagination to play out the book,” stated junior Brennan Ensz.

Compared to the movies, the Harry Potter book series received numerous awards, including, but not limited to, Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1998, The Booksellers Association, The Bookseller Author of the Year 1998, Newsweek Best Book of the Year 2007. The movies received just as much accreditation as the books. They received the Teen Choice Award–Choice Summer Movie: Action Adventure and numerous others.

The Twilight book series gained recognitions on a national level, but never received an actual award for the publications. However, the movie series won an MTV Movie Award, People’s Choice Award and a Teen Choice Award. The Help was on the New York Times bestseller list and won the Indies Choice Book Award. The movie was nominated for an Oscar, Won a Golden Globe, and was nominated for a People’s choice award. As for The Hunger Games, the book was on the New York Times bestseller list, the USA Today’s bestseller list, New York Times Notable Children’s Book of 2008 and many other accreditations.

About 64 percent of the people interviewed said they liked the book better than the movie. “The book leaves so much up to your imagination and you can picture the characters how you want to,” stated Heather Craig. Another 27 percent disagreed. “I like the movies better because I don’t have to read,” said senior Adam Hentges. The remaining nine percent said they were very excited to go see The Hunger Games when it comes to theaters. “I am extremely excited to see the movie; my whole family has read every book,” stated Pam Titus.

Columns

Balancing a Teenage Life

0 Comments 31 January 2012

By Jacey Jira and Jessica Sandahl

Trojan Tribune Staff

Photo Courtesy of Green Earth Bamboo

As teenagers go through high school, there are many factors in their lives that lead to stress and lack of sleep. This prevents students from performing at their best in the classroom and extracurricular activities. While the average teenager needs eight to nine hours of sleep a night, most students sleep only around six or seven hours. Students are forced to juggle school, sports and jobs–all while attempting to get an efficient amount of sleep.

Did you know oversleeping is the primary cause of missing school or being tardy? A lack of sleep causes students to become less focused in the classroom, and it is harder to concentrate on daily work and tests. Sleep recharges your internal battery and helps you to be successful and focus in school. Electronic devices and televisions can be a major distraction while trying to fall asleep. Putting phones and iPods away and turning the TV off 20 minutes before bedtime will help teens fall asleep faster and get more sleep. Over 30 percent of teenagers have two or more caffeinated drinks a day; caffeine causes both teens and adults to have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. A lack of sleep affects concentration, memory, reaction time, and can even lead to depression.

As students mature and become more independent, they start wanting to make money and have extra cash to spend. Many teenagers work at fast food restaurants, clothing stores and daycares. It helps them to manage their money and learn how to spend it wisely. Some teenagers put their paycheck in a savings account, college fund, or use it for spending money. Although it is hard for students to balance a job with so many other factors in their life, having a job teaches teenagers lessons and puts some extra money in their pocket.

Along with trying to get a good amount of sleep, going to school and working, many teenagers are in after-school sports and activities. Sports usually take up anywhere from an hour to three hours of a student’s day. Along with time, many students have to wake up a few extra hours early to make it to practice, or they get home very late at night from a practice or game. This gives them less time to do homework, sleep and live their teenage life. Sports and other extracurricular activities are a great way to interact with friends and learn many life lessons, but they also take up a lot of time and often cause teenagers to lose sleep.

Although it is quite a challenge to manage all of the factors of a teenage life, many students learn to cope with the daily tasks and trials that come along. Teachers, coaches and bosses tend to be somewhat lenient because they know teenagers have a lot on their plate in high school. When it seems as though you want to give up at times, keep pushing; the more involved you are, the more it will reward you in the future!

Features, Sports

Great Leaders Equals Great Season

0 Comments 30 January 2012

By Aubrie Odegaard and Krista Jacobsen

Trojan Tribune Staff

Photo courtesy of Matshots.com

Snow may not be in the air much this winter season, but there sure is success for the West Central girls basketball team. The Lady Trojans have a 10-2 record so far despite temporarily losing junior starter Hunter Matheiu and junior Brennan Ensz. Luckily, with all the other talent, the girls have been able to keep up with their opponents. Part of the success is coming from star players on the team, but a large portion can also be attributed to the leaders. Seniors Shelby Sieverding and Allie Macdonald take their role as seniors very well.

Sieverding is happy that she is finally a senior on the team. She believes that her role as a senior is to be a leader and keep the team free of drama. Sieverding shares, “I hope we keep improving and work hard every day in practice because we can always get better.” Once she leaves the team, she will miss the people in basketball and making new memories each day. Sieverding, for now, is planning to focus on school rather than let college track distract her.

Macdonald says, “It feels good to finally be the ‘top dogs’ of the team.” She has always felt like a leader but is glad that she’s finally at the top level. Macdonald expresses, “I believe the harder I work, the harder my teammates will work. I try to lead my team in a positive manner at all times. Also, I continue to encourage them even when everything isn’t going exactly right.” Her goal for the team is to make it to state this year. When the season comes to an end, she will miss the relationships she has made with the coaches, opponents and teammates. Once graduated, Macdonald is planning to play soccer at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

As the season comes and goes, the memories and friendships will always be there for these two senior basketball players, and their leadership might just bring the Lady Trojans further than ever expected.

Editorials, News

Trojan Tribune endorses Governor’s education proposal

0 Comments 30 January 2012

By Editorial Staff

Trojan Tribune Staff

Photo courtesy of the Rapid City Journal

In his January 10 State of the State presentation to the people of South Dakota, Governor Dennis Daugaard outlined his vision for the future of pubic education. In it, he spoke of his belief in targeting resources to reward students and teachers who show dedication to academic improvement.

“My plan provides bonuses for the best, while continuing support to all teachers’ regular salaries, to provide rewards for inspiring success in our students,” Daugaard stated during his speech. His plan will provide salary bonuses for the top 20 percent of teachers, as well as bonuses for math and science educators. The plan comes with a 2.3 percent increase in state aid to education after cuts were made to the program in last year’s budget.

To support his plan, Daugaard cited state spending statistics that reach back 40 years. Since 1971, South Dakota student enrollment has fallen 28.5 percent, yet the number of teachers in the state has increased by 10 percent. Per pupil spending has also steadily increased by 2.3 percent since that time, but South Dakota students, who used to be among the top students in the nation, are falling behind their neighbors. In 2003 South Dakota’s fourth grade reading scores were surpassed by only four other states, and today, 20 states are ahead of us.

These numbers constitute a time-tested truth about the relationship between money and education; higher per pupil spending does not necessarily lead to a higher quality education. Nonetheless, the Sioux Falls School district has come out against the governor’s proposal, with Board Vice President Doug Morrison saying, “We’re defending ourselves against something we shouldn’t have to defend ourselves against, and that’s a little disappointing.”

In a January 30 meeting of the senior editorial members of the Tribune staff, the board decided that the values of the Sioux Falls School district do not reflect our own, and we are proud to endorse the governor’s education proposal. It will be a policy of fiscal soundness, responsibility and incentive, and we appreciate the state’s plan to reward teachers who demonstrate academic improvement. The decision to endorse was not entirely unanimous due to one dissenting vote, but the board overwhelmingly agreed with the governor’s goals and concurred with his historical evidence.

A spirit of competition can only lead to an improvement in our teaching system, and with that spirit, we will once again reclaim our position as a state with a leading educational institution.

Fine Arts, News

Band Impresses Classmates

0 Comments 30 January 2012

By Joe Schartz and Alex Qualm

Trojan Tribune Staff

Photo by Dustin Ortman

On Monday, January 30, the band wowed a captivated audience in the auditorium with a concert that displayed the versatile talent of the young musicians. The free show brought in friends and family from the community who thoroughly enjoyed the show, especially a piece called “The Great Locomotive Chase.”

“The one that sounded like a train was the best–it really made me see a train,” said senior fan Dusty Kleba. Sophomore Libby Goertel also gave the performance praise, saying, “It made me happy to see my boyfriend playing the guitar. He’s really good at it.” Kleba agreed with her wholeheartedly.

Director Danny Eye was pleased with his students and says he’s keeping his eyes on the future. “Wow, the mic system was really ghetto. I thought it was a really great concert with a lot of different styles of music, and now we’re looking forward to starting new music for contest and spring concert.”

The Augie Jazz Festival will be held March 6, and All-State Band members will gather in Brookings on March 23 and 24.

Sports

Boys Basketball Season Review

0 Comments 30 January 2012

By Mitchell Brockhaus and Noah Matson

Trojan Tribune Staff

Photo by Brennan Ensz

This season has been a rocky one for the Trojan boys, with just two wins this season against Vermillion and Lennox. Even though they have only two wins, the Trojans have been in some really close games under new head coach Levi Tvedt. The boys have been losing by an average of only five points per game.

Last year, the Trojans’ only two wins were against Harrisburg. This year the Trojans have beat two good teams in Lennox and Vermillion. The Trojans pulled out a close one against Lennox by just one point for their first win of the season. Surprisingly, that was the first win against Lennox in three years. After getting beat by five earlier in the season, the Trojans went down to Vermillion to pull out a another win, this time beating Vermillion by eight points.

The Trojans have been very competitive this season by losing to some very good teams by just a couple baskets. The Trojans played at Sioux Falls Christian and lost by three points to a 10-3 Sioux Falls Christian team. They also played Madison, who is a 9-3 team, down to the wire, losing by five with some last second free throws. Then the Trojans went up to Milbank and played an 11-3 Bulldog team whom they also played down to the wire and lost by just 1 point. Milbank, in the end, made two free throws to take a one point lead with three seconds left. West Central came close, though. At the end of the game, the Trojans threw up a last second three-pointer from half-court and almost had it tipped in. The season so far hasn’t gone the Trojans’ way, but their competitive games have made the season nothing to hang their heads on.