Two of Mad River’s main attractions are its terrain parks: Capital Park and Momentum Park which both include a variety of jumps and rails. Both parks regularly hold events and trick competitions for snowboarders and skiers.

UAHS skiers and snowboarders enjoy winter season by taking trips to nearby ski resort

By Emma Klebe, ‘13

The metal edges of senior Tom Raphael’s snowboard dig into the takeoff of Capital Park’s Big Air Ramp at Mad River Mountain. As he soars through the air he grabs his board and lands a five forty spin. Raphael is one of many students who will visit this winter oasis throughout the season.

Although Ohio’s mountainless terrain and flat farmlands aren’t known for skiing or snowboarding, students take advantage of one of the few ski resorts: Mad River Mountain. Located only 45 minutes northwest from Columbus in Bellefountaine, Ohio, Mad River offers a different hangout for students.

According to the Mad River website, the 24 slopes and two terrain parks span 144 acres, making Mad River the largest ski resort in Ohio. Along with a range of slopes, the resort also offers tubing, ski/snowboard lessons, equipment rental, and lodging which includes restaurants.

Freshman ski and snowboarder Anna Murphy said the often pricey tickets are worth the expense. She compared Mad River to other resorts in the U.S. Murphy said that because of Ohio’s flat terrain, the mountains here don’t measure up to Rocky Mountain resorts out west, but are still enjoyable.

“Compared to ski resorts out west, Mad River isn’t as good, but for Ohio it is the best place to go,” she explained.

One of the main attractions at Mad River is the terrain area, Capital Park. According to Madriver’s website, OnTheSnow.com chose Capital Park as “the best in the Midwest Terrain Park category in the 2011 Visitors Choice Awards” because of its ever-changing features.

Freshman trick-skiers Liam Campbell is one of many students who take advantage of the award-winning park. Campbell has been skiing since he was 7-years old and has experienced a variety of ski resorts.

“Mad River is a great resort as far as the Midwest goes,” he said. “They have an awesome terrain park with a really good setup and maintained features.”

During the winter, Campbell goes to Mad River three to four times a week and competes regularly in trick competitions.

Raphael also enjoys snowboarding and practicing tricks at Capital Park. He has been snowboarding for nine years and goes to Mad River four to five times a week. Such dedication is time-consuming, but Raphael said that skiing or snowboarding are great activities that get him out of the house.

“Mad River is a great place to go in the winter because you will always have a good time,” he said. “It’s better than sitting at home.”

Although Campbell, Murphy and Raphael aren’t involved in the high school ski club, the Ski and Snowboard Club at UAHS organizes trips up to Mad River several times during the season.

The club offers four organized night trips throughout the winter. Since January 11 (the club’s first trip), the group has left for Mad River after school on Wendesday by charter buses and returned to the high school at 10 p.m.

Whether it’s through Ski and Snowboard Club or with friends, Mad River mountain includes a variety of events and activities for high school students.

Renee Ogaki

Current Job: Showroom Coordinator, Giorgio Armani

College: New York University

Resides: New York City, NY

Arlingtonian Position: Editor-in-chief ‘06-’07

Renee Ogaki is currently working as the Showroom Coordinator at Giorgio Armani in New York City, which is the staging area for the products and merchandise at one of the leading luxury fashion retailers in America.

“[My experience at Arlingtonian gave] me technical skills like how to use Photoshop. It taught me to pay attention to small details, developed my writing and communication skills, showed me the importance of hard work and long hours and helped me learn how to work as part of a team,” Ogaki said.

Another part of Ogaki’s job is her fashion blog, styluste.com, which she runs with colleague and friend Rebecca Lay.

Ogaki credits Arlingtonian for the creation of her website.

“My experience at Arlingtonian helped inspire me to write a fashion blog called STYLUSTE,” Ogaki said. “I’m making layouts and writing stories on a daily basis and I learned how to do both things at Arlingtonian.”

At Giorgi Armani, she helps arrange new products in an aesthetically pleasing way for the buyers, the press and stylists that attend the events. Ogaki finds great pleasure in her work and its outcome.

“I love seeing my work come to life.… It’s very satisfying to be able to see how your work made something successful,” she said.

Andie Diemer

Current Job: Photo Assistant at Self Magazine

College: Elon University, NC

Resides: New York City, NY

Arlingtonian Position: News editor ‘05-’06

Andie Diemer began her career in journalism and media immediately following high school.

“I worked for The Pendulum, Elon’s student newspaper,” Diemer said. “The paper was in pretty rough shape then, but I was confident in the skill sets that I had developed during high school.”

Diemer attributes much of her success to her experience on Arlingtonian. She enjoys the rigor of the journalism and media world and is happy with her career choice.

“When I was contemplating what I wanted to do in college/career/life, I knew that I wanted to wake up and look forward to going to my job everyday,” Diemer said. “To me, having a job I really enjoy and am passionate about is way more important to me than how much my salary is worth… Though it’s a tough time, I love what I do [and] I have a job a million girls would kill for.”

Currently Diemer is involved in the details necessary for creating a successful photo shoot at the well-known magazine Self, but one day her hope is to lead in the photo shoot productions. She has helped to assemble photos such as on the magazines selection shown below.

During her two years of journalism coursework at UAHS, Diemer acquired knowledge she feels benefitted her greatly in the long run.

“Working for Arlingtonian made me want to be a journalist,” Diemer said. “It taught me how to get to know your audience, pitch story ideas, collaborate and work with other editors, clearly communicate and build an idea with the art team,” Diemer said. “[It helped me to] learn how to interview all different types of personalities and transcribe lengthy conversations, balance multiple stories and projects at once, in addition to learning AP [writing] style and InDesign [page design software].”

Diemer enjoys the writing process and the skills she gained from her time at Arlingtonian. One of her favorite things is when a project is finally complete

“I love the different aspects that are needed to pull a publication together and the final, concrete product you can hold in your hands that you know you created through determination and teamwork.”

By Victoria Slater, ‘12

Cold and flus are as rampant as the wind and rain in early spring. Yet, for psychology teacher and girls’ basketball coach Chris Savage, a persistent sore throat lasting weeks hinted at something more serious than a common springtime virus.

“My voice last year was coming and going a lot. I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know what,” Savage said.

After visiting an Ear Nose and Throat specialist at Riverside Hospital, Savage’s concern proved true.

“I saw an ENT that took CAT scans and X-rays,” Savage said. “I saw a big white mass on the first CAT scan. After more CAT scans and MRIs, the doctors finally determined that it was a tumor.”

After further tests were conducted, Savage’s doctors discerned the exact location of the tumor: the vagus nerve. According to the Mayo Clinic, the vagus nerve controls various tongue movements, such as the ones involved in the ability to speak.

“The tumor had grown onto the vagus nerve, which … controls speaking and swallowing,” Savage said. “The tumor had grown to the point that it had killed the nerve completely. And it also had stretched out the nerves to my tongue and my left shoulder.”

Doctors determined that, with surgery, Savage’s prognosis was good. The tumor was benign, or noncancerous. However, since the vagus nerve had been compromised due to the tumor, Savage would have to adapt to restricted use of his vocal chords and tongue, among other limitations.

“When the doctor went in to get the tumor, they made an incision from my ear to below my chin,” Savage said. “Now I have limited use of my left shoulder and my tongue, and I still struggle with speaking and swallowing properly.”

Savage’s initial surgery left his voice hoarse and virtually impossible to hear, a problem that was marginally improved by a second procedure. Yet even six months after both operations, Savage is still adjusting to the repercussions of his severed vagus nerve.

“I wasn’t able to talk really for about a month after the first surgery. Then I had a second surgery, to put in a cortex implant into my vocal chords so people would be able to hear me,” Savage said. “I really think about what I say now. Should I talk now or just keep my mouth shut?”

Savage admits the surgery has had an impact on his professional life. Teaching and coaching require a steady, audible voice. A passion for education, support from both the faculty and student body and the purchase of microphones to amplify his voice have aided Savage’s adaptation to teaching without a voice.

“I really love teaching and coaching. It was never a question whether or not I teach,” Savage said. “I love it and I don’t know what I’d do without it.”

Senior Emily Prebihalo, who has enjoyed IB Psychology with Savage for over a year, was glad to see his return to the classroom.said that students should look to Savage as a source of inspiration.

“I think Mr. Savage’s situation shows us that we really can do anything,” she said. “He’s really inspiring students by persevering in the face of adversity and teaching us that it is possible to do what we love no matter what.”

As a result of this life-changing experience, Savage remains humbled and thankful each day for his health. What little voice he has to left to use, he cherishes. What others take for granted, Savage greatly appreciates.

“I really value my family and my life a lot more,” he said. “ I realize I may have taken the ability to talk and be heard for granted. So now I value speaking much more than I ever had before.”

Q: What are your thoughts on gay marriage? Do you believe it should be legalized?

A: No, I do not think that gay marriage should be legalized. I will allude to the ultimate reason why gays should not be given the right to marry, later down the page.

Q: What influenced your opinion on this?

A: Of course, for every individual’s conception of a matter, albeit the articulated issue is extremely controversial and rather political, one’s outlook to said issue is shaped initially from the environment from which he or she came, the culture in which the individual was raised. That being said, each sector of the culture can have an ideology that is arbitrary, within the context of the larger state, but as an aggregate, an opinion is shaped by the large-scale views of that culture. Estimates of anywhere from 70% to 90% (admin says statistics are from fox news lol: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,99945,00.html) of Americans claim to believe in God, today, which means that, even in a secular society, religion indirectly shapes our views on issues – even if we are not religious. It is the very reason many of our laws coincide with the Ten Commandments and biblical teachings.

Q: Do you believe gay couples should be allowed to adopt children?

A: No, I do not believe that gays should be allowed to adopt children. To me, this is one of the biggest concerns with the uprisings and manifestations of gay-activism. It is, without a doubt, the government’s main role, in the lives of the American people, to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

“The proper role of government is to prevent other people from harming an individual.” – Milton Friedman

It is nature, history, and science that have decided that natural kin is one man and one woman – I did not. I do disagree with allowing a child to live in an abusive family, so I am not arguing that it is better to subject a child to abuse than to a non-traditional family; however, statistically, there is a highly unmet demand for children, in the United States. Hence, I call into question: would we rather forcefully subject a homunculus to a life with an unnatural family than furnish the life of that child with a life as traditional and normal as possible.

Q: Is your entire family conservative?

A: Yes, but out of my entire family, I am probably the most conservative.

Q: How has your family environment affected your opinions on these topics?

A: While one may try to moot my assertion that choosing to become gay is, in fact, a choice, I present the notion of uncertainty as a consequence of ignorance. At this moment in time, we simply cannot classify gay as a mutation or as genetic, or as an anatomic difference, because we have no proof of such. A little anecdote: To say that being gay is not a choice is like saying there is a sixty-fifth dimension inside the eardrum of the person to your left; we have no evidence to suggest it is correct. I reserve the conviction that science may one day provide the answer to the issue of homosexuality, but, at this moment, there is no evidence, of which I have a ken, to suggest that gays are different from everyone else, genetically or anatomically. Too, I argue strongly that I firmly believe there are only two ways which one can believe a human came to be: religion (the grace of God) and evolution (the skeptic scientists). Now, axiomatically, being gay does not work with the religion point-of-view, but it seems not to work with evolution either. The “gay gene” would have died-off many years ago. I instead think that the individual is choosing to become gay – though, perhaps subconsciously (which is indeterminable). Whichever one chooses to believe, there is no evidence to suggest that choosing to become gay is predetermined, and, thus, I suggest that we pay less attention to the testimony of the opposition, until there is legitimate evidence to suggest otherwise.

In a followup interview …

Q: Do you think teens (or people in general) who are against gay rights ever feel resentment from others? Why or why not? Do you think this is due to unfair stereotypes from people on both sides of the debate on gay rights?

A: In response to the first question: yes, I do, but it extends much beyond just gay rights. Gay marriage is illegal in most states, so, by definition, it is progressive to support gay marriage. The simulacrum (Not a 9^th grade word) I am trying to create is that liberals, by their very nature, are progressive; so, gay activists tend to vote liberal. On the contrary, conservatives tend to vote and express interest towards less-progressive, more traditional, familial values. To juxtapose the two ideologies, I will admit, taints the image of conservatives – liberals appear helping, caring, giving. Conservatives, on the other hand, appear materialistic, greedy and egotistic, because the typical conservative ideals hinder advancement of more contemporary concerns. I like to call liberals do-gooders, because, at least in my experience, liberals really think they’re helping. Again, this extends much beyond gay rights and gay activism. In comparison, conservatives are often the scapegoat, when there is objection to definition of human right, as they appear less compassionate towards individuals than liberals do, for previously mentioned reasons (traditional familial views, in this case).

Q: Off of this, do you think that resentment and aggression should be avoided from people on both sides of the debate?

A: Ideally, yes – it’s impossible to avoid, though. Political ideology is sort-of the root from which a person makes decisions. It’s shaped by everything from the person’s parents, to his school and religion, to his country and region of the world.

Q: What is your opinion on gay marriage? Should it be legalized or allowed in churches?

A: I am against all legalization of gay marriage; and, I support an amendment to the constitution that defines marriage as one man and one woman.

Q: Can you expand on your opinion on gay adoption? How would a child being raised by a gay couple suffer as compared to a child being raised by a heterosexual couple?

A: Essentially, my view is that the government should regulate adoption, with a law, or something of similar nature, so that in order to adopt a child, a family must be, in fact, a family – one man, woman. I question why we feel the need to allow gays living together the right to adopt children. As I said in my previous quote, I am against child abuse and think the government should stop abuse from occurring. So, in theory, I would think that a child with an unnatural upbringing (two dads, moms) is less affected, in the grand scheme of things, than an abused child. As an answer to the unasked question: yes, I would be pro gay adoption, if there were no traditional families to accept the government-taken, abused, children. But there is unassailable evidence that shows that, in the United States, there is a higher demand to adopt children than there are children to be adopted.

Q: How do you think the recent rise in the media of gay teens and couples on shows such as Glee, 90210, and Modern Family, affected people’s opinions of gay people? Has it affected your opinion at all? Do you think shows such as these are influential in shaping people’s outlook on gay rights? How so?

A: Yes, it has affected the opinion of people, by painting a stereotype of gays and giving air to the plight of gays. I find the media to be generally too left leaning. I watch Fox News, which has come to have negative connotations; I used to watch shows like Modern Family, but I don’t have too much time to watch them, right now; and, I have avoided Glee, since the show has, in my opinion, morphed into a documentary of the struggle through which gays must go. I think the show portrays gays as stereotypes, which is inaccurate. Not all gays manifest in such a flamboyant way – I would think that would upset the gay community. The fact that, often times, in shows like Glee or Modern Family, the “gay” is actually straight, only bolsters stereotypes. I don’t want to be painted as somebody with his head in the ground, though: I have been to Boystown in Chicago, I know and associate with gays and I disagree with gay violence.

By Mattie Stevens, ‘13

Top 5 Holiday Tunes

1. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree: 38.9%

2. Jingle Bells: 32%

3. White Christmas: 23%

4. Jingle Bell Rock: 4%

5. The Christmas Song: 2%

Top 5 Holiday Activities

1. Sledding/Tubing: 32%

2. Spending time with family: 24%

3. Presents: 23%

4. Decorating the tree: 13%

5. Skiing/Snowboarding: 8%

Top 5 Holiday Treats

1. Hot Cocoa: 58%

2. Santa’s cookies: 24%

3. Candy Canes: 14%

4. Peanut brittle: 4%

5. Peppermint bark: 1%

Ugly Christmas Sweaters

ABOVE: Junior Gabrielle Whitcomb is not afraid to share her Christmas cheer with others by sporting a holiday-themed wardrobe.

ABOVE: Junior Chandler Cole enjoys expressing his holiday merriment through a collection of holiday sweaters, including the one pictured above.

By Mattie Stevens, ‘13

As the year comes to an close, students are shocked that there is but one month left in 2011. As soon as children returned to their homes to count how many pieces of candy they had received on Beggar’s Night, people were already brainstorming what they wanted for Christmas and couldn’t wait to watch their favorite holiday movies. With the holiday season fast approaching, people are also faced with another event: the New Year. Just as presents and turkey come with Christmas and Thanksgiving, New Year’s Resolutions come with the New Year.

Many students find the idea of forming unique and realistic resolutions to be a challenge. They must ask, “What is the most pressing issue in my life right now, and how can I fix it?”

Like many, junior Hunter Bloecher found it difficult to conjure up more than one or two resolutions.

“I’ll try to run during the off seasons for cross country and track, to give me that edge against other runners,” he said. “Other than that I’ll probably just try to keep my grades up and work hard in school.”

Freshman Rachel Williams can attest to the difficulties of coming up with original New Year’s resolutions.

“I would like to be more flexible in dance and eat healthier,” she said. “I can’t really think of anything else to resolve.”

Once they decide what they want to improve, they must figure out how to go about completing the action. This is where a New Year’s resolution can go wrong.

BBC News argues that New Year’s Resolutions don’t always improve life style. If people are always contemplating what they can improve in themselves, they’re likely to look for all the aspects of them that are “bad” or “wrong.” This can turn into negative self image and lead to extreme courses of action. They recommend that people resolve to go green, learn something new, give back to the community, or be active to increase endorphins which leads to a sense of power or control.

Bloecher sees both the good and the bad in New Year’s resolutions.

“I think that New Year’s resolutions are a way of bettering oneself, but I also understand that some people could take it to an extreme level, like becoming anorexic or something,” he said.

Meanwhile, Williams continues to look at New Year’s resolutions as a positive aspect of life, simply a way to help a person strive to be the best they can be.

“I think New Year’s resolutions have a positive effect if people go through with them and really try to pursue their goals,” she said. “Otherwise, they have no effect if someone just gives up early.”

Williams brings up another important aspect of New Year’s resolutions: following through. It’s one thing for someone to think of a resolution, but it’s a whole other challenge to stay true to a commitment.

Proactive Change, a website that offers psychotherapy, life coaching, and marriage counseling given by Serge Prengel, an expert in personal growth and healing, states that of 40 to 45 percent of Americans make at least one New Year’s resolution. After one week, the number of people who were still following their resolution had already dropped 75 percent. After two weeks, the number dropped slightly to 71 percent, after one month it dropped further to 64 percent, and after six months the percent of people still staying true to their resolution plummeted to 46 percent.

New Year’s resolutions are a helpful way for people to keep improving upon themselves, because there’s always room for improvement. But it’s also important that people balance what it is they wish to improve, and make sure that they look at these aspects from a positive point of view.