It all started way back in the summer of ’03, and I had just moved into town. I had moved from San Antonio, Texas, and was new to the place. I went to Trinity Lutheran over on Butler Market Rd. and soon had a reputation. I loved sports, as you can tell.  My favorites are tennis, soccer, and of course, basketball. I started doing the COBO clinics where Coach Reid would head the clinic for younger kids in middle school, and elementary.  I started developing a sportsmanship reputation, and the coach soon called me Escalade. As time grew on, I became older, and still got involved with my school’s sports, and in the summer I would do the basketball camps. In the winter I would watch the Cougars play, and dominate the other team. That was the Abe Lodwick era. I actually knew him as a kid growing up, and we became close friends.

“Ryan has been an integral part of the Cougar basketball program for the past three years.  He is a daily inspiration to his teammates and the staff, as he leads his life in a positive way on a daily basis, despite the physical challenges that have been presented to him.  As his senior year winds down, “Q” has provided many lasting memories, that I will cherish for a long time”. Said Coach Reid

When I was a freshman in ‘06, I tried out, and didn’t make the cut sadly. I had a chance to be the frosh manager, but wanted to play. So I did parks and recreation basketball.  In the summer, I tried out for the summer league team, but wound up quitting because I had asthma and I was pushing too much.  I told the coach, and asked if there was a way I can be apart of the program. He answered by saying that if I did a rain check on the tryouts, I would be the varsity manager. I was like “Wow, what a responsibility to have. “

When the basketball season came around, I was nervous, and hoping to do well on my rookie season as a manager. I got my feet wet, and was learning how to manage. We ended up going to McArthur Court in Eugene for the state tournament.

I was pumped for my junior season because the coaches, and the players were expecting me to pull through. I was hoping that I would do a lot better than the previous season/year.  I knew how to work the system, and I knew how to manage. That was a complete success and we almost made it to the state tournament.

Now senior year was around the corner, and I couldn’t how much times have changed.  It was my last year, and I was hoping to go out with a bang. We were one of the favorites to win the state championship, and I was hoping to be a big part to the program. Sure I had a few “misshaps”, but that doesn’t compare to the bonding I had with the players. We were like brothers. We looked out for one another. We ended up 2^nd in state, and I got some minutes to play on the last home game of the season. Looking back, I’m leaving the program without any regret. I have left my mark on Cougar history, and it will be a lifelong memory for me as I move on in life.

What makes a good teacher?

What makes a good teacher? Well, there are some teachers that I like that make class time a lot of fun, and makes students look forward to.  Yes, there are some teachers who don’t make it fun, and give us a ton of homework. I’m not naming people, or pointing the finger, I’m just comparing between a good or bad teacher.

The qualities of a teacher depend on how they teach that particular class. They would need to keep the class fun, and energetic. If there are students just being rude, and mouthing off in class, then the teacher should show that there shouldn’t be any messing around in the classroom, and that the teacher won’t tolerate bad behavior. They need to have compassion for students, discipline, confidence, dedication, support for the students, and willingness to help.

A few years back I had Mr. Wilberger, he was my history teacher. He was probably one of the best teachers I have had. He would have us take notes, and talk about a certain subject, and before the test, he would have us play a jeopardy game to help us study.

Then there is Mr. Amman, the literature teacher. He may be new at teaching, but he has a unique style of teaching. He tries to keep at a fun level of teaching to the students. He keeps it straightforward, but tries to add a little fun at the same time.

“A good teacher is a teacher who cares about the all around welfare of each individual student that steps into class.” Said Amman

Then there are some qualities of a teacher that is not all that good. A bad teacher can be a negative person. They aren’t friendly, and can be very strict. They don’t speak loud enough, and can make the class boring. Some don’t have the right experience, and the discipline to run a class right.  Sometimes if it was worth the time to take the class.

There have been many good teachers that I have had in my life in school. I’m sure there are teachers who have excellent qualities in this school. They help us with the problems that we are facing in school. Whether it’s homework, studying, projects, or just advice.  Good teachers can be good role models, and can be creative for the class that they teach.  It is how they are defined as a person.

The movie The Fourth Kind started something in everyone’s mind and it’s spreading like wildfire. Leaving everyone questioning whether or not aliens are real.

The Fourth Kind is a “some what” true based alien abduction film. The story,  set in Nome, Alaska is loosely based on the mysterious and unsolved disappearances of 24 people in the town between the 1960’s and 2004. The FBI was brought in to investigate in 2006 and concluded that most of the victims were native villagers and that “excessive alcohol consumption and the harsh winter climate” were to blame, and that was the end of it. Even though nine bodies were never found. Before the FBI investigation it was believed that this was the work of a local serial killer.

This movie is based on the theory that the missing-person cases were actually alien abductions. The Fourth Kind hit theaters November 6^th 2009 with actual “archival footage” of the “ most disturbing evidence of alien abduction ever documented.” The “footage” is that of hypnotherapy sessions between a “Dr. Abigail Tyler” played by Milla Jovovich, and patients who claim they were abducted by aliens who, in the movie, speak the long lost Sumerian language. Sumerians are the oldest known civilians in the world. They lived in what is now the land south of Iraq in 5000 to 6000 b.c. this language is not related to any other language used on earth today. The Sumerians were highly intelligent and are believed to have developed the first written language, tools, the wheel, sailboats and a system of mathematics.

There was not much information on Dr. Abigail Tyler. But this does not rule out that Dr. Tyler could have been based on a real Dr. and according to many websites, Dr. Tyler in the “actual footage” is played by British actress Charlotte Milchard, and when compared these two do look quite similar.

The film does rely very heavily on its tagline, “what do you believe?” letting viewers decide for themselves what is real and what is Hollywood.  In the beginning of the movie Jovovich informs the audience right up front that she “plays the role of Dr. Abigail Tyler” and that the images they are about to see are extremely disturbing. Giving the movie more authenticity.  As for the title of the movie, it is derived from a “scale of measurement” that was developed in 1972 to categorize alien encounters. Best known through its use in Steven Spielberg’s ‘Close encounters of the third kind.’ On the scale the first kind of encounter is defined as a UFO sighting, the second is collected evidence of extraterrestrials, the third kind is contact and the fourth is abduction. There is no honest proof that this is actually a scale of measurement used in more than just science fiction movies.

According to CNN.com, mayor of Nome, Denise Michaels said that all the stories of the cause of the missing people being alien abductions is just Hollywood.

“People need to realize that this is a science fiction thriller.” She said that town residents have been getting a lot of phone calls lately, and frankly, they’re a bit tired of talking about it. “Some of the calls I am just ignoring,” said Michaels, “because the issue we had to deal with in real life was very sensitive.”

Aliens have been talked about for years; the amount of sightings reported throughout history is too large of a number to be calculated.  Over 500 UFO sightings are reported per year and those are just the ones that are reported, there are probably thousands a year that are not reported simply because people don’t believe or don’t want to seem crazy. People who have had experience with UFO sightings say they are something they will never forget and people who haven’t seen one sometimes wish they might one day or they simply don’t believe. So whether you believe in UFO’s or not, keep your eyes open for anything odd in the sky because you never know when you might see something spectacular.

So now you are left with one question, what do you believe?

It was midnight on August first of the year 1981 when MTV was first aired to viewers. MTV was a gateway for musical artists to be broadcasted throughout the nation.  The original purpose of MTV was to play various music videos (hence the name Music Television). On-air hosts called VJs introduced these videos. Although MTV was originally designated for playing music, nowadays, the channel plays primarily mindless, tasteless, and boring reality shows.

MTV has changed musical history for many around the world. In 1983 Michael Jackson’s video to the song Thriller came out which made a huge impact on MTV as everyone knew it. Thriller was considered to be the groundbreaking video for MTV.  MTV helped the rise of Madonna’s stardom in 1983. In 1984, MTV produced it’s first MTV Music Video Awards, which may be some of the only glimpses of music we get to see on the channel today.

The start of the ridiculously dramatic reality shows on MTV began in 1992 when the still famous show, The Real World first came into our living rooms. From then on, MTV gave up on being the channel that was solely devoted to playing a block of 24-hour music videos. Today we see shows such as The Hills, a semi-reality series based on a group of young, wealthy, and extremely dramatic individuals. The show is as big of a hit now as it was when it made it’s premier on MTV in 2006. The Hills mainly appeals to teenage girls, why? Because they want to live the glamorous lives of Heidi, Lauren, Stephanie and Audrina. These teen girls find the lives, the drama, and the relationships featured on the Hills to be way more entertaining than their own lives. The only problem is this: although the characters featured on The Hills are real people, their jobs, lives and even relationships are often scripted. In reality, the lives of The Hills stars are not as glamorous as we perceive them to be.

MTV is just one of the many channels that features reality television shows, channels like Bravo, CBS, VH1 and TLC also feature a great deal of reality TV. Reality television has been on the rise recently due to many aspects, some of which include, not enough money to pay hired actors and the increased ratings of reality television. Reality TV is on the rise because people can often times compare themselves to real people, rather than hired actors who are just reading off of a script.

The problem with reality television is that people are often so consumed with everyone else’s lives. They thrive on watching other’s failures and accomplishments on national television. These reality shows give the nation false perceptions of reality, and lead by horrible examples. For instance, the semi-hit/controversial reality show Jersey Shore which was filmed in August of 2009. Jersey Shore is like a spin-off of The Real World, which includes eight young, wild, and obscene housemates. Jersey Shore became mainly notorious due to the characters “The Situation” and Snooki. The cast members glorify things that aren’t necessarily socially acceptable like excessive partying and unfaithful relationships.

Although Jersey Shore became a huge hit for MTV, the channel that was once devoted to playing music constantly is now known for being the home of scripted and distasteful reality shows. MTV: slowly demoralizing our generation.

DECA is an international association of high school and college students studying marketing, management, and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality and marketing sales and service. DECA used to be an acronym for Distributive Educational Clubs of America, but now the term DECA is just associated with students in marketing. DECA is a club/program that offers a place where one can take a further look into career choices. In DECA, you choose a career that you are interested in and you get a skit to role play for that particular career. Usually you work with at least two or three other DECA members. Each person gets a different role to act out. For instance, say you chose clothes merchandizing, you would receive a skit to play out with other DECA members, and it would teach you how to react in that scenario. You learn what to do if you came into contact with an upset customer or with any type of customer for that matter. If you wanted a career in auto mechanics, you would be given a scenario where you would pretend that you were actually an auto mechanic and you would have to decide how you would handle that situation.

“DECA puts me in situations which I have to use business skills, so it prepares me for real life business situations,” said Dominique Relei

DECA meets every Wednesday after school in B4. Mr. Davis is the DECA advisor. Senior,  Jackie  Ngyuen is the President of the DECA club and Dominique Relei is the Vice resident of DECA this year.  Very many people at MVHS even know what DECA is, but they should if they wish to partake in a program that can give them the tools for a certain career. The DECA program helps students develop skills for successful business careers, build self-esteem, experience leadership and practice community service.

This year the DECA program is striving to go to competition. In order to go to competition you need to take a one hundred question test on the topic you have been studying and preparing for. If you are one of the top three contesters you get to go to regionals, and then state. If at State you place in the top three, then you move on to nationals. At competition you go in front of one or more judges, the judge gives you a scenario to act out and gives you fifteen minutes to prepare. For instance, you’re given a situation where you work at a hotel, and you have to work with a displeased customer. After you prepare for your skit you go in front of the judge and role play.  You pretend that you actually were treating a displeased customer and you would have to be helpful and be able to contain yourself in order to satisfy your customer. If you act the situation out in a respectful, desirable manner, you may have a chance to go to nationals.

“My goal this year is to go to state. My main goal for DECA is to have it more known here at Mountain View,” said Ngyuen.

DECA teaches you the people skills necessary for the future and gives you beneficial tools to succeed in the real world. Plus, DECA looks great on college applications, which helps any high school student planning on going to college.