Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2007)
mm — "Bang, Bang You're Dead" highlights tragedy of school shootings. — UJ 1 > < 2 May Court finalists interviewed. - page 4 Boys hit home run in Three Rivers League. z £ DC UJ - page 8-9 - page 10 UJ Official Student Publication of West Linn High School Published Since 1921 God of War II reviewed: Does it live up to the hype? - page 16 April 2007 - Volume 95, Issue 6 Mock Trial wins bid to compete in Nationals R oya E lizeh co-Editor-in-Chief For the first time in West Linn's history, the Mock Trial team, composed of 11 students, will be competing in Nationals against 50 teams from all 50 states. Led by Matt Kellogg, social studies teacher, the team will compete May 10-12. Composed of eight mock attorneys and three mock witnesses, the team includes seniors Eric Nesbit, Lauren Currey, Hannah Cochran, Natalie Douglas, Nina Dalgaard, William Fambach, Amy Brumbagh, Marta Hanson, Karen Vance and Maggie Goldstein. Senior Seth Wheeler acted as the bailiff clerk. The lone junior on the team is Charlie Steele. Hand-picked by Kellogg, t /lock Trial team has been practicing since October for the case Martha Johnson v T. Brewster, Michael Miller, WASP. The case for the State competition this year was about Brewster, a racist who The State champion Mock Trial Team attends one of many practices held at the high school. Members include Matt Kellog, adviser, Charlie Steele, junior, seniors Maggie Goldstein, Marta Hanson, Hannah Cochran, Karen Vance, William Fambach, Lauren Currey, Eric Nesbit and Nina Dalgaard. Not pictured are seniors Seth Wheeler, Amy Bmmbagh and Natalie Douglas. Photo by Nathan Fisher kills a black man and is now being sued by the victim's mother Martha Johnson. According to the rules of Mock Trial, each team should have an argument for the plaintiff and the defense. "This team this year has had a good work ethic and has a good team chemistry," "Bang, Bang" recounts school shootings HlLLI ClAVARELLO Page Editor W ith the recen t school sh oo tin g s in G resh am at S p r in g w a te r T ra il H ig h S c h o o l an d th e h o r r ific carn ag e at V irginia Tech, the recent play "Bang, Bang You're D ead" held in the auditorium A pril 7 and 8, w ith a special school per form ance on A pril 11 during fourth period, is especially relevant. T h is y ea r's A ctin g / D i- recting Seminar, taught by Jessica Murray, perform ed their class p ro ject w ith a little o v er fou r w eeks of reh earsal tim e, in clu d in g Spring Break. "We w ere able to person alize it, and be very abstract and m ulti-dim ensional w ith b o th ou r a ctin g and ou r directing, w hile at the sam e tim e, perform a piece that w as appropriate for all au dience m em bers, and could speak to everyone in our school, and our com m unity as a w hole," A li M cD onald, Junior, said. The play, w ritten by Wil liam M astrosim one, is about the horror of school shoot ings from the perspective of the killer's m ind w hich is haunted by five dead class m ates. The students of the A cting/D irecting Sem inar research ed , d irected , and acted in the play. "We w anted our show to open the eyes of our com m u nity m em bers to a very real and surprisingly com m on occurrence. We w anted to spark discussion, and allow people a chance to share their feelings and their thoughts about w hat w e had present ed," M cD onald said. The idea o f "Theatre for C h a n g e" w a s also a b ig influence in the m aking of the play. A ll students un derstood that they could use the arts to portray im portant inform ation. "It felt good using our love of acting for som ething more than ju st applause," W illiam Fam bach, senior, said. Bang SaBg ¥gj*rg Betd m continued on page 7 ■ K H H R in H H H H Kellogg said. "This group has come together from the start." Kellogg has advised Mock Trial for nine years. The team won each of its four rounds in the State competition to go onto Nationals. They competed against teams from St. Mary's, Summit, West Salem and Wilson. For the National competition, the team will be traveling to Dallas, Texas to compete. The best a team from Oregon has done in the National Mock Trial competition was a ninth place by Lake Oswego in 1997. This year's team is expecting to do well next month in Texas. "Our Mock Trial team doesn't have any weak links in the chain," Nesbit said. Vance, Douglas, and Steele will not be participating in the National competition due to the amount of participants allowed to compete on the team. To prepare for the Mock Trial Team, a student is encouraged to take Honors Law A and must be willing to commit significant amount of time to the team. "This has been a huge commitment. At the beginning, we had practice two nights a week, but as we got closer to a competition, it would turn into four nights of practice," Vance said. "At the beach retreat we took, we practiced every day, sometimes past midnight." As they prepare for the national competition, the team must learn a new case for the three rounds over which they will preside. The new case is Estrella Shipping Lines v Ewing Shipping Lines which is about two boats that crash into each other. The Ewing boat was on fire before the crash and exploded during the collision killing everyone on board. The Estrella boat sunk and both companies are suing one another. All 50 mock trial teams received this case for Nationals. Students score big at ISEF competitions m S achie H opkins Staff Reporter WLHS students have a strong history competing in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair competitions and its affiliates, and once again this year, they didn't disappoint. They took home a total of five prizes, including a first place, second place and three honorable mentions at the Northwest Science Expo at Portland State University on March 16. Avi Levy, sophomore, and Michael Bemert, junior, moved onto the International Fair, which will be held in Albuquerque, N.M. in May. Levy took home multiple prizes including first place in mathematics, with his project on Results in Geometric Inequalities. "I'm very excited and pleased that Avi's work has been recognized at this level. His project was very interesting and in depth, and it'll be great to see him present it at the international event," Amy Schauer, ISEF Program Coordinator, said. Levy also earned a scholarship for up to $20,000 each year to the University of Oregon, if he chooses to attend. He also took home the Mu Alpha Theta Award for Excellence in Mathematics. Bemert continued a project he has been working on for several years involving plant sciences on In-vitro Cultivation of Japanese Maples. His dedication paid off, with a second place finish in Plant Sciences and the U.S. Army Exceptional Project Award. Both students will receive $7,00(J-$12,000 from Willamette University or $4,000-$10,000 from Lewis & Clark College if they choose to attend those schools. At the International Fair, Bemert and Levy will compete against students from 31 countries for three million dollars in cash and scholarships. "We did amazing; the best we have ever done. We destroyed the powerhouses, Jesuit and Catlin Gabel, and we had the best showing of public high schools in the state," Bernert said. Kelsey Guerins and Nicole Panichello, freshmen, received an honorable mention for their project in the Biochemistry category with their project on protein levels in wild salmon versus farm-raised salmon. They Will be going to the International Fair as observers. Others honored at the affiliated compeitions were Laura Huck, junior, who received an honorable mention in Earth Science; Lisa Kirkemo and Katie Carnahan, freshmen, who received an honorable mention in Medicine and Health Sciences. "I think ISEF was a really good experience. I met a lot of interesting people, and I am definitely going to do it again next year," Kirkemo said.
