Knock-knock!

Who’s there?

Someone who is too short to reach the doorbell.

What did the gangster say to his house when it fell on him?

Get off me homes!

What did the ocean say to the beach? Nothing. It just waves.

What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.

What is the fastest way to see God?

Stick a fork in an electric socket.

Ding-dong!

Who’s there?

A hipster who thinks knocking is mainstream.

Why does the milking stool have only three legs? Because the cow has the utter.

How do you get holy water? You boil the hell out of it.

What is green and has wheels? Grass, I lied about the wheels.

What does a blonde owl say? What? What? What?

Boy bands consist of all male singers, and at least three members. Most don’t play any instruments, and are commonly choreographed dancers along with singing.

Many bands are brought together through competitions, music producers, or family/ friends. Their fan bases are generally teenagers and pre-teens, most being female, but not to say that males do not love a good boy band. Boy bands have recently faded again, after the Jonas Brothers, but are now back and creating huge amounts of chaos. One of the first boy bands formed were the Monkees and Jackson 5. Both Jackson 5 and the Monkees were formed in the mid 60’s and had some of the biggest hits around. Some of the more recent boy bands, from many of our childhoods, are NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys. The Backstreet Boys are arguably the biggest boy band of all time. Starting in 1993, they hit the charts between 1997 through 2001. Many of the students here at Mountain View remember the boy band the Jonas Brothers, with their high voices, pop music, and tight pants. The Jonas Brothers became huge in around 2005. They were three brothers coming together making their dreams come true and fans go wild. The big boy bands now include The Wanted and One Direction. Big Time Rush is an American based boy band, yet their success has not gone too far. They have their own Nickelodeon T.V show but have not made any record-breaking songs or albums. The Wanted is a British-Irish based band started in around 2009. The members of the band include: Tom Parker, Max George, Nathan Sykes, Jay McGuiness and Siva Kaneswaran. Their album “All Time Low” hit number one in the United Kingdom for one week in 2010. The band also hit number one with their second hit “Glad You Came” in the UK for two weeks. One Direction is also a British-Irish based band and formed in 2010. They are by far the biggest boy band around the world at the moment. They formed on Simon Cowell’s the X-Factor, trying out as solo acts. When all of the boys got kicked off at the same time Simon decided to make their dreams continue by keeping them and putting them together as a band. The members include Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Harry Styles. They had major success in the UK but when America found out about them, the boy band phase was back. One Direction’s first debut album was “Up All Night”, which sprang to number one on the Billboard 200 in 2012. This made One Direction the very first United Kingdom group in history to debut at number one on their first album. On February 21, 2012, One Direction won the Best British Single at the 2012 Brit Awards. One Direction went on an Up All Night tour around the UK in December 2011 and January 2012; they later went on a North American tour as an opening act with the boy band Big Time Rush. They have made appearances in 2012 on The Today Show, performing at Rockefeller Center, The 2012 Kids Choice Awards, Saturday Night Live as a musical guest with Sofia Vergara, and on iCarly. The boys are in Australia until mid April, then to New Zealand for only one concert, then back north for their North American tour in May 2012. They will come back once again on December 3, 2012 to play at Madison Square Garden. Soon after they will go back to the UK on tour, and they have recently announced their North American 2013 summer tour. Boy bands have come a long way, now with crazy fandoms, constant reports of their every move, and major success. Boy bands come and go, in phases, these bands now will fade, and later another will come to replace them. They will go on comeback tours, go single or completely disappear off the face of the earth, but for now, fans are living in the moment and enjoying the time that the bands have.

No matter what others may say, it is a rare sight to see an attentive student, focused on learning. However, it might be a more common sight to see a student solely focused on getting a passing grade. The difference is subtle, but it can also affect a student’s comprehension level and overall academic performance.  Schools today seem more centered on solely getting through the curriculum required than actually reinforcing the knowledge for the sake of the students.

More and more, as time becomes increasingly difficult to grasp and flies by all the quicker, when it comes to academics, the school systems focuses on the vast amount of subjects to be taught instead of student’s comprehension of the topics.

“The school system is set up to please teachers- not knowledge,” English teacher Mrs. Layne laments. “Students play the system game to the detriment of their learning.”

This is not how it used to be. Grades are meant to be used as a guide of how each student understands the topics, and to mark degrees of comprehension. But in the new age, somewhere along the way, grades have become symbols for prestige and success in students’ lives.

However, teachers cannot fully control the situation. In order for a deeper understanding of the topics in class, there has to be time to teach it. Teachers feel the stress to stay standardized and keep up with school board requirements. There’s controversy on whether or not this pressing issue is exacerbated by the new schedule.

“Teachers are learning to give depth in their lessons in the time they have; however, learning itself can’t be rushed,” Layne explains.

Though there is diversity. A standard class’ students have seemingly separate goals than those of the honor class’ students. These are the students that don’t necessarily shoot for an A- they only shoot to pass.

“[Most] don’t see that they need to learn,” says Ms. Strutz. “They do enough to skate by. Only some understand that they need to understand.”

Which is true. Either way, the vast majority of students only aim for the grade; be it the sole passing grade, or the symbol for prestige one could theoretically happily present to the college of their choice, without even remembering what subjects were covered. This is a growing problem, but a quandary. For now, all we can hope is that students take initiative with their education and decide to gain crucial knowledge that is being taught, rather than focusing on the symbolic grade alone.

Mountain View has two new coffee shops in operation, serving up caffeinated beverages to students each day. One coffee shop is located in the concession stand by the main gym while the other is located in the staff lounge.

With a price range from 1 to 2 dollars, the coffee stand is located in the concession stand near the gym, and will broaden the options for students before and after school. It is open weekdays only, and is ready for business from 7:15 am to 7:40 am and after school from 2:45 pm to 3:15 pm.

The idea for the coffee shop in the concession stand came from Mountain View High School school president Brandon Umbarger. Originally, he promised the school a coffee shop in his campaign. He also thought it would be an excellent way to raise money to fund the News Staff class, mainly for printing purposes.

“I wanted to do this, because all other schools have one and it was a necessity for our school. Also, why not?” said Umbarger, who now runs the coffee shop alongside other News Staff students.

“The coffee shop will give students valuable work experience for their future,” said Mr. Fox, who teaches journalism and advises the students who run the coffee shop.

Having a coffee shop will not only help students of Mountain View, but it will also help local businesses. The coffee is supplied from Lone Pine Coffee, a local coffee shop. Lone Pine employees have helped train students to run the shop and let them use some of their equipment.

The menu includes lattes, mochas, and Americanos. Hot chocolate, steamers, and tea are also available for anyone who wants a decaffeinated beverage. There is also a chai tea latte, a dirty chai, and the choice to add extra shots of flavor to any drink for just 50 cents. Also, anyone who prefers an alternative milk, there is almond milk available for request.

“The business experience of working at the coffee shop is huge and gives me great options for when I try to get a job in the future,” said Avery Van Duzer, a student who often works in the coffee shop. Van Duzer, along with a slew of other news staff students, works the stand before and after school. Training is simple, but perfecting the shot of espresso is a difficult task.

The Life Skills class is also running a coffee shop out of the teachers lounge in the cafeteria, serving mochas, espressos, hot chocolates and other delicious coffee drinks. Students are learning how to use basic skills such as business, money management, people interaction, shopping with budgets, etc. Their coffee shop is also using Lone Pine coffee and serves students and staff before school.

The coffee shop in the concession stands donates its profits to the News Staff, and the coffee shop in the teachers lounge donates their profits back to the Life Skills class and its needs.

In short, these coffee shops are here to serve the students of Mountain View and help put money into the school system for programs that need it.

School functions tend to prohibit the use of guns; however, once a year, high school Nordic ski teams across the state participate in an event that requires shooting at targets.

This biathlon took place at Walt Haring Sno-Park in Chemult, Oregon on February 11^th.

While this may seem to be a bad idea for a high school event, there is no need to fear. Instead of lethal weapons, the arms used are merely paintball guns. In this biathlon, racers ski a short distance to the targets, where they aim and shoot at five different objectives. For each target hit, the racer gets 10 seconds deducted from their time.

After their first round of shooting, the racers ski a short one-kilometer loop, after which they shoot at the targets again. This is repeated once more, so at the end the racers have skied a little over two kilometers and shot three different times.

This format is a lot different than the professional biathlon, in which racers have to ski a penalty lap for each target missed. In these races, the skiers also have to carry their guns around the entire course.

Despite these differences, most Mountain View skiers seem to enjoy the way that the biathlon is run. There is a lot less pressure than on the relay, and the main goal is just to have fun.

“The biathlon is a lot more low-key than other races, which makes it more enjoyable,” says sophomore Imran Wolfenden.

Most of the pressure that is placed on the biathlon race is just to have fun and get to know the other teams. Even the spectators have a good time watching the race.

“This year’s biathlon had a lot more cheering and up-beat volunteers than previous years. Everyone had a lot more spirit, which was a lot of fun,” says junior Aspen Hassell.

Spirit is what makes up the majority of the biathlon. Everyone is just there to have a good time. Most of the competition between the different teams decreases, and racers from different schools have been known to ski the entire course together. However, as with any race, there is still a drive to win.

A Mountain View Skier, Sam King, took first place for the boy’s relay this year, and Hayati Wolfenden was the top ranking Mountain View girl racer at the biathlon with fourth place.

However, the biathlon also provides an opportunity for slower skiers to have a chance in the limelight if they are good at shooting, says Hassell.

Skiers have the chance to deduct almost three minutes from their time if they hit all of the targets. That is enough to move a racer up almost 20 places in the ranking. However, after further conversation with the competitors, that is a very unlikely event.

“I learned that I am really bad at shooting paintball guns,” says senior Ida Kolodziejczyk.

Luckily, all teams have two paintball guns that they keep all year long to practice with. Although Mt. View did not have a chance to practice much this year, there is a possibility that they may have targets to practice with next year. As everyone knows, practice makes perfect, and with the new opportunities with the guns, Mt. View is sure to do well at the biathlon next year.

Some students out there, boys in particular may be wondering: “Hey. Something’s wrong here. There are no bathroom stall doors in the boys bathroom.” That is the driving force behind this investigation and what this reporter strives to discover.

On a personal note, I’ve grown fond of these door-less stalls. They have accommodated both my group bathroom breaks and my solo visits, and they have yet to let me down. Given that personal privacy is a luxury that we not only take for granted, but also demand, it is this reporter’s opinion to unhinge the doors that separate the male student body.

Let’s be frank: these are public bathrooms. It is my opinion that there is no doubt that this was a group decision. I interviewed Mr. Corrigan, the Vice Principal, whereupon he gave me all the information he knew on the subject: “I’m not sure. I think it was a safety issue.”

This is a common opinion among the people of Mountain View High School. After all, no clandestine illegal activity can take place in a stall without a door. What is truly vexing though, is the fact that there is a stall door for the larger stall in each boy’s bathroom, the handicapped stall. Corrigan pointed me to Mr. Rick Hickmann, the Mountain View Custodian, for more information.

“The general contractor was the man who made the decision. He decided that the boys’ bathrooms only needed one stall door,” says Hickmann, “We asked him why he thought more doors weren’t necessary but he just kept saying we didn’t need them.” The general contractor who made this decision has since retired.

It looks as if we may never know exactly why this strange plan went through, not to mention that my entire story had basically run its course. I needed to find a new reason to write about these troublesome doors.

“Well, I don’t mind that the stalls have no doors,” says Junior John Carroll, “In fact, I like it.” Who would’ve expected an opinion like that? After some experimentation, I found that Carroll’s opinion is not just an anomaly. There are plenty of students, now including myself, who enjoy the easy accessibility and social aspect of open stalls. Senior Sam Peters agrees and adds that the stalls aren’t so bad and that he got used to them quickly.

As for the opposite sex, well, they have stall doors in their bathrooms. Tash Anderson, a senior, says she didn’t know that the boys didn’t have stall doors, but admitted that since it doesn’t affect her, she doesn’t much care. This is consistent with Senior McKayla Madison’s views. She simply states: “girls need more privacy, it’s not like guys really need to keep to themselves when they’re doing their business.”

One female exchange student says, “I really couldn’t imagine guys’ bathrooms having stall doors.” She admits to using the men’s room sometimes, when the women’s bathroom is very crowded. Though she does make sure to only use the handicapped bathrooms with stall doors.

What is particularly disturbing to some is now a kind of social cult, one that has a growing number of followers in the populous upper half of the male student body. What will come out of these visits? Is there a goal, a point to them? Upon a recent visit, myself and two other bathroom colleagues began a chant.  There was no purpose, but a certain feeling of comfort was alive among the cold plastic toilet seats and grey doors. The tiles glistened with the artificial light, in its glorious fluorescent shine. It appears that what once seemed trivial inside the cold reality of school we all must face every day, is now a lighthouse for the young men looking for fellowship in the bathrooms of Mountain View.

New clubs at Mountain View High School are always welcomed, including the new club, European Handball. Our own Mountain View German exchange student, Linda Stier, started it.

Germany is very different than the US in that Basketball and Football are a lot less popular,  “It’s very popular in Germany, it’s like basketball here”, said Mountain View exchange student Linda.

The club is only made up of about ten or so students and the Advisor, Ms. Pfeifer. European handball is “like soccer with your hands” said Mountain View Sophomore Josh Harris.

The rules are simple, dive, jump, and do anything to prevent the other team from making a goal in your net, and only using your hands.

Josh Harris was describing the physicality of the sport, “It’s really intense and hard, but it’s fun in school to try a new sport from a different country”.

European Handball is played either at an indoor soccer court or on a beach. It is commonly known to be played at the Summer Olympics. It originated in Northern Europe and has been played since the 1920’s.

The sport is highly unknown at Mountain View, and much of the nation, there is no huge event, like the super bowl, in America but it is very popular in Europe.

Linda is the starter of this club, and has played for about eight years. She started this, wanting to bring a new club to Oregon, bringing her culture to ours.

Linda thinks that the sport will probably not continue at Mountain View for the fact that not very many people showed up at the practices. The club was supposed to take place during the winter but the lack of gym space made European Handball a spring sport.

This is the first time that European Handball has been played at Mountain View and it has been pretty hard to spread the word of the new club. Starting a new sport from a different country is definitely not easy, getting people involved in something that most haven’t heard of. Linda had to find the time and space, recruit members, and teach them the rules of the game.

European Handball is played in many of the European countries as a major sport. The one time most United States citizens watch European Handball is in the Summer Olympics, every four years.

Germany is crazy about European Handball; they sell thousands of tickets at one show, selling out many games. The German Bundesliga is known to be the best European Handball team in the world. Germany treats this new sport to many, as the United States treat football.                          Linda had dedicated herself to get her sport known to Mountain View students, wanting to bring new culture and experiences to the United States. Josh Harris said that he would like to continue playing next year if someone starts is up again, but he is more dedicated to other sports.

Handball is a very active sport, running around, jumping, blocking, and passing. In soccer, you are required to pass and run the ball into the other teams goal, well handball is very similar, do all that but with your hands. The Mountain View team play indoor, in a gym, but it is also common to play in sand courts for beach volleyball.

The club is still unknown to continue next year because Linda is going back to Germany. Exchange students bringing their culture to America is a great opportunity to get to know about other countries and get to meet people from different countries. European Handball is just one of many sports that other countries love to play.

Nordic skiing is one of the most popular sports at Mountain View, more than fifty students participate each winter.

Nordic Skiing has been a part of Mountain View athletics since 1999-2000. It is a popular sport in our town, considering, we usually have a decent amount of snow during the winter. Despite the fact that many students don’t know or understand what Nordic skiing is it remains very popular.

Melanie Nachtmann, freshman, says that many people do not know about Nordic skiing, or care to know, because people assume it’s hard work and don’t want to motivate themselves to do so.

Many people might not participate in Nordic skiing because they’re not educated on what the sport is and what would be expected of them to succeed.

Nordic skiing is the form of skiing in which the participants race each other by propelling themselves across the snow-covered terrain using their skis and poles. Compared to the Alpine skiing, which is completely downhill, Nordic seems a bit more difficult. You do not have the momentum of going downhill; instead you have to launch yourself across the landscape. It takes more work to succeed at this sport, but it is well worth it.

This sport takes muscle over coordination to do well. Practices mainly focus on muscle endurance, muscle strength. The practices consist of just a normal warm up, a mild run around the commons, Japanese speed skate drills, weight room drills, running on the track, and stadium stairs.

Which may seem like a lot of work for a sports practice, could give you the impression that the sport is difficult, but it›s not.

Any one could do well, it was my first time doing Nordic and I was very happy with my placing in state» said freshman, Hannah Davis.

Davis, along with many other Mountain View students, started Nordic skiing for the first time ever, this season.

Some of things that made this sport so appealing to these students are what makes any sport appealing. It would be the people you participate with, your personal ability to succeed, and the challenges you would have to overcome.

Nordic skiing practices are not as time consuming as most of the other sports offered at Mountain View. Practices are only three times a week with an optional practice over the weekends along with the races on most weekends. For all those ‘mountain junkies’ being invited up to the mountain each Wednesday to ski is a reason to participate in Nordic all in it’s own. While Wednesday practices are at the mountain, Tuesdays and Thursdays were on campus.

To participate in Nordic skiing, you must supply yourself with your own equipment, such as; skies that fit you, warm, layering winter clothes, ski poles that fit you, and ski wax. Equipment like this could get pretty expensive if you’re not purchasing it at the right place. Some ski stores in town might give you a discount for being a student. Others may not.

Good, durable equipment will cost you more as they start to ring up, but it will last a whole lot longer in the long run than cheap stuff that you will have to replace each year.

Nordic skiing overall is a fun way to work out and get in shape with friends, meet new friends, and make great new memories.

By Kaytin Landon

This year, South Seas dance raised a lot of controversy and non-approving reactions from parents. On March 12, Mrs. Legace, our principal, held a meeting open to parents and students discussing the South Seas dance and plans on what to do with it next year. She said it was great to have all the different opinions and perspectives from everyone.

The Bend Bulletin wrote an article about the dance just days after it took place, talking about an earlier meeting that was held where parents attended giving their opinions. A mother of three young kids, who will eventually attend Mountain View, said that she saw pictures of the South Seas dance on Facebook and was in shock. She said that she would like every dance in the district to be “age appropriate”. Another mom said that after hearing the reputation of the dance and seeing pictures she would not allow her kids to go even if they wanted to.  A third mom said that when her daughter was freshmen, she allowed her to go even though she was hesitant and continued to allow her to go the following years. She said she knows her daughter wears fewer clothes than usual, but in the end trusts her because of her character.

The South Seas dance has been around since the early 1980’s. It started as a beach themed dance, but as the years have gone by the dance has turned into a costume dance the beach theme has really gone out the window. Another issue that was brought up was the freak dancing.

In the Bend Bulletin, Jade Marken made a statement where she said “when you dress inappropriately you almost have it in your mind to act inappropriately.” The new wristband thing we have is a great idea it keeps it in control for the most part. The school also hired a new DJ this year that plays different types of songs.

“We will continue to work on the dirty dancing issue,” Mrs. Legace.

Another thing the school is starting to notice is the attendance of our school dances are going down because of all the other community dances, or “tri-school” dances. At those dances, students really have no boundaries and they can get away with a lot more things then at a school dance. They also occur more often and students are not breathalyzed like they are at school.

Next year, the school will tighten up the dress code for the dances. We are still working on a plan for the South Seas Dance in the future; it may turn in to a winter formal, it may stay the same, but an end of semester dance will still take place.

Nomophobia: heard of it?

No, we’re not talking about your everyday garden gnomes. This is something much more serious.

“No-mobile-phone phobia” is a disorder in which the affected are afraid to be detached from their cell phones. As strange as this may sound, this is a real phobia.

Nomophobia is especially  prevalent in high-schools. Almost everyone knows a nomophobe, and if you don’t, chances are you might be one.

You’re not a nomophobe, you say?

Well, studies show that 60% of the population are active nomophobes, and the number is slowly rising. Of course, this shouldn’t be of any surprise, especially if you pay attention in the hallways during passing periods. What kind of world is this, where we can’t take two minutes to focus on walking instead of texting?

Even more noticeable is the strategies in play during in-class phone use.

Upon entering the classroom of a questioning nomophobe for an interview, she was seen as studiously paying attention to the class lesson. However, upon closer inspection, her phone was found hiding behind her strategically-placed textbook.

“I just freak out without my phone, I don’t like it. It really stresses me out and I feel insecure without it,” says Elizabeth Cobb, sophomore. “I can rely on it.”

Cobb, unlike many, has admitted to being a nomophobe.

She almost always has her phone with her, and admits to being on her phone for a sum of five hours a day. On Cobb’s schedule, considering school lasts six hours, sleep constitutes 8 hours, and she works out for two hours a day, this only leaves her three hours of phone-free time in her 24-hour-day. And this isn’t including other technology involved.

Of course, who says that she’s not one her phone during school hours?

Our other interviewee, Maddie Hatch, decided to take her phone out with her and proceed to continue to text while we conducted the interview.

“I use my phone a lot,” Hatch tells us. “I get panicky without it- I don’t like not having it [with me].”

Strangely enough, she exhibits all the symptoms of nomophobia that Cobb described, but denies being one herself.

Both girls claim that they have rarely been caught using their phones in class. This is not surprising, seeing as many teachers don’t notice, or just don’t care, when students use their phones. Excluding Shultz and Ballantyne, that is. Both girls happen to agree that these teachers in particular enforce their no-tech policies better than most.

Even with a lack of enforcement, there are still around five cell phones brought to the office every day. According to records, the amount of cell phones collected daily has risen over the years. So has the anger of students that have come to collect their “precious” mobile devices.

While some of the people who come to pick up their phones are peaceful and understanding, many can be angry and disrespectful to the people in the attendance office, or even cuss at them. If you get your phone taken away three times, you are then assigned to turn in your phone every morning to the office, and pick it up every day after school. Some people don’t take this lightly and could become unusually upset or offended.

Whether this rise in hostility is an effect of an increase in nomophobes, or if it is just due to the bad attitudes of teenagers, the usage of cellphones is increasing dramatically in highschools and affecting the learning population.