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"Bang, Bang You're
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May Court finalists
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Boys hit home run in Three
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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.