My Trapping Season

So far my trapping season has a fair one but not a great one. I have been trying to trap coyote , raccoon, and fox. During the season I have had only twelve traps out because of the football practices and games. I have to take my traps out soon, if it gets too late the traps freeze or you cannot get to them because there is too much snow on the ground.

The average price per hide is pretty good this year. Raccoon and coyotes are in good demand especially. Raccoon in the $20’s for heavies (which is a large raccoon)– coyotes up to $50 to $60 for the pale "white". Red fox, beaver, fisher, bobcats and badger will be about the same price as last year which is about $20-$40 . Muskrats are cheaper with a $3 to $ 5 average. Mink up to $20.00. Deer antler–brown, up to $10.00 per pound. Most of your deer do not have one pound antlers unless you shot a mosnter buck but if you have shot several in the past years the antlers can add up if you have quite a few of them.

What I have trapped so far this season are six feral cats, two possum, five skunk, seven raccoon, two fox, and one coyote. The only thing that we kept and skinned were the seven raccoon the two fox. We would have liked to skin the coyote, but it had mange. Mange is a skin disease of mammals caused by a tissue-burrowing arthropod, the mange mite. So after we caught the coyote we shot it, took it with a log and threw it into the plowed field and poured some gas on it and burned it. We did this to help the environment so no other animals will get it. Besides the one coyote every thing else that we caught did not have mange so we skinned them and we approximately made about $200 this year and we still have some raccoons from last year that we had caught. We did not skin the five skunk or the two possum because they were not worth skinning... plus we don't want to smell like skunk for weeks.

From an Odd Shaped Ball to the Round Ball

We move right from a state Championship in football and head right in to basketball this late fall. This year's basketball season, like our football season, should be a good one. The Wildcats return three starters from a team that went to the sub- section semi-finals a year ago. They are expected to start four seniors and a junior. The junior will be the big man in the middle Dan McNamara, who averaged about 10 points a game last year. Kelby Buck and Brett Watson are the other two returning starters who are expected to carry much of the load. Seniors Sean Thomforde and Travis Braband are expected to fill in the other two starting spots. Blayne Erie and Bryce Dankers will also wee playing time. Cameron Peterson and DJ Buck are also going out for the sport. With the section down this year, it will come down to how much Dan can get the ball and how far the defense will take them in the playoffs.

The Cats start practice this Tuesday and travel to Triton for a scrimmage with Triton and Blooming Prairie. Only to open up a tough regular season schedule with Red Wing and Faribault. With Goodhue moving to the HVL there is a lot to prove for the seniors and the whole Goodhue Basketball program. “With our weak section this year we have a good chance at going to state,” said Thomforde. With Southland going out of the section and moving up to 2A the section is more wide open then ever. “We should be battle tested by playoffs,” said head coach Tony Poncelet entering his sixth year. He stressed that experience will be a key for us this year. With five players back with a lot of varsity experience Goodhue should be a team to watch in March.

STATE CHAMPS BABY

In a battle dictated by the running game, Adrian failed to stop the onslaught leading to a new Prep Bowl record of 26 first downs by Goodhue who was victorious in a decisive victory, 28 to 7. 23 of the 26 were by rush, also a new record. In the second half alone, Goodhue controlled the clock for 21:24 minutes, while Adrian’s time of possession was 2:36. Goodhue improves their record under head coach Clair Austin’s supervision to 51 and 7.
On the game’s opening drive Adrian moved the chains a couple times yet turned the ball over due to an interception thrown by quarterback Brett Nowotny to defensiveback Micah Huneke.
Moving down the field on rushing plays, Goodhue's Huneke was tackled in the end zone on a 12 yard run play. Point after by Watson was good.
Goodhue went up 7 to 0 in the first couple minutes of the game. With less than 2 minutes left in the 1st quarter, on a successful 77 yard drive, Ryan ran in it for a 3 yard touchdown and with a failed 2 point conversion attempt the score stood at 13 to 0 for Goodhue, heading into the second quarter.
With 9 minutes left in the 2nd quarter, Adrian scored their first touchdown and with a successful point after attempt the score stood 13 to 7. The drive took 4:24 minutes off the clock and was concluded by a touchdown pass from quarterback Brett Nowotny to running back Adam Diekmann who dove into the end zone for the score.
Answering with a score of their own, Goodhue lengthened their lead by a touchdown , Brett Watson converted for 2 resulting in Goodhue’s lead, 21 to 7.
With 2:38 on the clock in the bottom of the second half, Goodhue’s wide receiver Brett Watson intercepted the ball deep in their own territory taking it a couple yards to the 7 yard line. The following drive resulted in a punt to Adrian. With the ball on their opponents 47 with 35 seconds left in the half, Adrian moved down the field on a 17 yard pass play from Nowotny to Diekmann. Nowotny threw his 3rd interception in the game to a defensive back who made it 3 yards to the six yard line with six seconds left in the half.
With a touch back, Goodhue began the opening drive of the second half 1st and 10 from the 20. Grinding time off the clock, Goodhue utilized dual running backs Eric Ryan and Huneke in a 17 play drive which ended on the opposing 22 yard line. The drive took 7:11 minutes, on 17 plays. Plagued with 2 devastating penalties, Adrian punted away on the tail end of their drive.
After a re-kick due to a penalty on Goodhue for too many players on the field, Goodhue started the final drive in the 3rd quarter on the 20 yard line with 18 seconds left on the clock. With three quarters of play gone, Goodhue controlled the clock with a possession time of 23:33 to Adrian’s 12:27.
Goodhue’s quarterback Kelby Buck completed a 32 yard pass to Ryan. He was 5-5 all to Eric following the play. A personal foul against Adrian resulted in half the distance to the goal line placing Goodhue 1st and goal inside the five yard line. On a 3 yard run play, Ryan punched it in for a touchdown. With the extra point good, Goodhue lengthened their lead, 28 to 7. The drive took 5:23 off the clock.
On a drive bringing Adrian down inside the five, they failed to convert for the first by 1 yard, turning the ball over on downs with just over 2 minutes left in the game. Running down the clock (literally), Goodhue ended the game with a 21 point lead over Adrian. The game lasted for 2:18 hours.

Flying For Breakfast

Every Sunday since 1985, Art Chard has flown to the Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Eau Claire Wisconsin to have Breakfast at the small diner in the terminal of the airport. On Sunday November 25, I had the opportunity to fly with him in his home built airplane .

April 4th, 1986. That is the the date Art stated building his Glasair. Art Retired in 1985 and moved to Hastings with his wife. He spent long hours and devoted any free time he had to the construction of his plane. He finally finished his plane June 6th, 2002.

On Saturday I asked Art if it was ok if I went along with him to breakfast. "Yes," said Art with happiness in his voice. So I showed up at the Red Wing Airport at 7:30a.m. to help Art pull his plane out and pre-flight it before take off. at 7:50a.m. We crawled in to his 2 seat plane and started the engine. As we taxied out on to the runway a huge smile came across my face. It is such an amazing feeling to be looking down a 5,000 foot runway and start rolling faster and faster toward the end of it.we take off runway 9, we climbed to 3,000 feet and then leveled out at 3,500 feet. As we were flying there we had a 40 mph tail-wind. We were flying at a cruising speed of 228 mph.


As we got closer to the Chippewa Valley Airport, I radioed to the tower our position and asked what runway to land on. We got cleared to land on runway 22R and we entered the pattern. As we entered the pattered we slowed our speed to 120 mph and lowered the flaps. As we turned for our final decent we got one last clearance from the tower to land. We landed at 74 mph on the middle of the runway and then taxied off the runway over to the tarmac in front of the diner.


We shut the plane down and climbed out. We walked in the terminal and into the diner. We sat down at a table and waited briefly for one other plane with two other guys who we were eating with. When they arrived we ordered and talked about aviation's and old stories. We ate quickly and then headed back out to the planes.

We hopped back into the plane and started it and taxied to the end of runway 22L. Art radioed to the tower and got clearance to take off. We rolled on to the runway and took off. We climbed to 1,300 feet and were going 125 mph. Now that 40 mph tail-wind turned in to a 50 mph head-wind. We finally climbed and leveled off at 3,800 feet and we were going 138 mph.


As we flew along, I looked around at all the scenery below us. Before I knew it we were 10 miles out from Red Wing and Art radioed and let other planes know we were landing at Red Wing. We entered the pattern and landed on runway 27. We taxied back to the hangar and got out and put the plane back in the hanger. As We standing there talking about the flight i asked Art "How does it feel to build your own plane and finally fly it?" After a few seconds of thinking Art said "It is an amazing feeling. You are finally seeing the finished product in action."


We walked of the hanger and drove back to the terminal and started work. it was an experience I will never for get. I hope my story has inspired you to try flying. I know you will love it just as much as I do.

Created By: Dave Safe

what are some new things at welch

Some of the new things that are going to be at Welch Village this year. There new snow makers, the back bowl, and some new runs.

The first thing I’m going to go talk about is going to be the new snow makers. Welch still has their old one that they had last year, but they also got some new ones. And with them and there old ones they will be able to make enough to cover the whole mountain in just four to five days, which is pretty sweet.

The other thing I’m going to let you know about is there back bowl. They will have it all ready for next year. But they will have a total of like ten new runs to add on and they have almost everything done for it, they just have to get two more chair lifts.

Welch started making snow on Wednesday so maybe by this Friday in the afternoon they might be open, but they will only have a few runs open at first.

Trapping and Baiting Animals

If you've tried repelling, excluding, and scaring away a pest animal and it's still causing problems, you can trap and release it, or use a lethal trap. Trapping is an effective way to remove a specific pest animal, but isn't useful against a large local population over the long run. In the latter case, trapping should be done in conjunction with exclusion, fencing, or altering the habitat.

Trap and Release
Live trapping and releasing animals has become popular. It seems no one really wants to hurt those fuzzy, furry, cuddly creatures. But in some cases live trapping can be more cruel than killing the animal. From animal to coat several sectors of the fur industry are involved. The breeder or the trapper kills and skins the animals. Wild animals are mostly caught with traps and snares. The skins or furrs from the animal are used for coats, hats, gloves, and other clothing. The furrs can be sold for money to. People make a living off by trapping animals.

Snare Trap

Leg hold Trap
The animal is intended to step on the trigger of this trap, after which two metal jaws bang forcefully shut around its leg. Often the jammed leg is immediately seriously injured. A strong spring ensures that the animal cannot escape. In its fear and anxiety it tries to disengage itself forcibly causing more injury and pain. Animals in traps are often found to have broken their teeth after biting on the metal of the trap in an effort to escape. It also often happens that they pull, twist and gnaw at their leg until it gets torn off. While one leg remains in the trap, the animal flees on three legs to a likely, slow and painful death by infection.

Leg Hold Trap

DOUBLE DOOR TRAPPING TIPS
Trap placement is very important when it comes to trapping animals with double door traps. Place the trap over the pilot hole dug by the animal, after the hole has been covered. One of the best trapping methods to use, is the Funnel or Drift Method.

Double Door Trap

You can get rid of all your pests by putting one of these traps out to catch it or them.

Senior Superlatives

This year I Passed out and tallied the results for the 2008 senior superlatives. I am here to tell you the results of the superlatives and how next years seniors should carry out the task of senior superlatives. First because I know you all are waiting I will list the results:

Best Butt-Brittney and Brett
Best Dressed- Summer and Caleb
Best Hair- Abbey and Kelby
Biggest Spaz- Kelsey H and Sean
Most athletic- Olivia and Eric
Most Likely to succeed- Laura P and Brett
Looniest Laugh- Alyssa and Quin
Best Smile- Brittney and Chad M
Teachers Pet-Kelsey M, Micayla and Kelby
Most unique- Krista and Dan
Most likely to skip class-Anna P and Ryan
Best Car-summer and Caleb
Most Creative-Krista and Dan
Most likely to end up in jail-Kelsey H and Ryan
Most likely to never leave Goodhue-Merrisa and Micah
First to get Married-Micayla and Eric
Frequently flirty-Alyssa and Tyler
Friendliest-Carissa and Tyler
Biggest Partiers- Anna P and Alex
Biggest Preps-Brittney and Kelby
Quietest- Amber and Jordan
Class Clowns-Olivia and Quin
GHS couple of the year- Eric and Micayla
Cutest would be couple-Eric and Olivia
Spunkiest Spirit- Alyssa and Tyler
Best all around personality-Olivia and Brett
Macho Moocher-Andrea and Aaron
Tardy King-Ashley and Chad M
Dangerous driver-Anna P and Caleb
Most forgetful-Carissa and Lucas
Best Body-Brittney and Brett
Best Eyes- Cassie and Quin
Best musician- Anna R and Taylor
Biggest gossiper-Courtney and Caleb
Most paranoid- Kelsey H and Lucas
Biggest Story teller-Brittney and Dan
Most Random-Carissa and Trevor
Most Obnoxious- Kelsey H and Quin
First to have Kids- Brittney and Eric
Most likely to never be seen after High School- Kelsey H and Jordan
People you’d want to take home to you parents-Olivia and Tyler
Worst Car-Andrea and Aaron
Worst Senioritis- Abbey and Micah
Most outgoing- Olivia and Dan
Most gullible-Summer and Kelby
Most Photogenic-Anna P and Chad M
Most Unforgettable-Olivia and Quin
Most likely to never be single-Alyssa and Kelby
Ditziest- Brittney and Quin
Most Changed since 7th Grade-Merrisa and David
Best Nicknames-Alyssa (Big Red) and Eric(MEAT)
Most Easygoing- Alicia and Micah
Most likely to become President- Laura P and Brett
Most opinioned-Kelsey H and Ryan
Dirtiest mind-Anna R and Tony
Biggest Ego-Abbey and Kelby

Now as far as the senior that will be doing this project next year… If you don’t have the time DON’T DO IT. This project took me 6 hours or more. You are going to want some people to help you. I had Brett and Sean Helping me. They were both very helpful. The first thing we did was research all the possible superlatives we could come up with. We looked on the internet where we found most of them; we also looked in past year books. Next we decided which ones we would like to use. Then we typed them up in 3 columns, first column the superlative, next a girl column and a boy column. We made a copy of the superlatives and a class list for each senior and put them in each locker. We also hung signs up listing what was in their locker, when they were due, and who to give them to when they were done. I took them every day and tallied them on computer which is much easier than hand writing them. Once the due date was up I stopped collecting and typed up the final results. It helps to keep up so you don’t have to do all the tallying at once. Now that I have the final results I will be posting them like I just did and also will write them out and hang them up in the senior hallway like every other year.
I also will be putting the results in the yearbook. Brett and I will write all the results and then take a few pictures of the winners doing what they do best. For example if a person wins best butt we would take a picture of their butt and then post it in the yearbook next to where it says they received best butt. We will also decorate the page so that you can tell it’s the superlatives page by putting a title on it and adding other decorations. The senior superlative pages will be right after the senior class picture pages so that all the senior stuff is in the same area of the yearbook. I hope that you all will purchase a yearbook to see how great it looks and so you can keep the memories forever.

By:Merrisa

Prep Bowl 26

The Goodhue Wildcats are on there way to there 3rd Prep Bowl in the last 5 years on Friday November 24th at 1 p.m. after a thrashing of the KMS Fighting Saints last thursday. The Wildcats will face a decent Adrian team whos record is 10-2 and is flying high as a kite after a 21-0 victory over Cook County in the semifinals. A lot of people think that Goodhue will simply dominate the game from start to finsh and end up winning the game by about 4 or 5 touchdowns but a few other people are saying Adrian is a lot better than people think and that they will show Goodhue whats up.

Is T.V. as we know it comming to an end?

The 2007 Writers Guild of America strike is a strike by both the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) that started on November 5, 2007. The WGAE and WGAW are two labor unions that represent film, television, and radio writers working in the United States. The strike is against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a trade organization that represents the interests of American film and television producers. The strike affects over 12,000 writers. The last strike of this kind was the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike; it lasted 22 weeks, costing the American entertainment industry an estimated 500 million dollars. Every three year, the Writers Guilds negotiate a new basic contract with the AMPTP by which its members are employed. This is the contract by which its members are employed and is called the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA).

As a result of the strike, there will be fewer episodes to air for each of the shows affected by it. How will the strike affect viewers? It depends on the type of show. Some of televisions most popular shows have already been affected, with many more to soon feel the blow. The good news for fans of scripted T.V.: Because of the already long lead for most sitcoms and television dramas — and particularly because of planned stockpiling in the months leading up to the strike — many shows have a number of episodes already in the can or, at the very least, already scripted. The bad news: Even with a considerable number of shows ready to go, a bank of around 10 episodes will only take a program into late December or, at best, early January or February, depending on each individual shows airing schedule. What will likely happen in the next few months will be the effect of shows having to resort to airing reruns. They are faced with the choice of either airing reruns or going off the air until the strike is resolved. We can only hope that a settlement will be reached before the stockpile of scripts run out.

How will the strike affect the different types of shows? Talk shows are especially affected. The absence of monologues and skits is forcing CBS to run repeats. Soap operas will start disappearing in several weeks, since that is how much in advance they work, and because they rarely run repeats; advertisers don't like soap reruns. Scripted television series will run out of new episodes sometime around the beginning of 2008, since they are put together some six weeks in advance. After that, the networks will probably run repeats, or replace these series with reality shows or news programs. Reality shows will not be affected by the strike, and indeed may replace some of the scripted series. News and "magazine" shows are not affected by the strike since news writers have a different contract. Since game shows are largely unscripted, they will not be much affected. Since animated series take a long time to produce, they are ready as much as a year in advance.

By now you are probably wondering which of your favorite shows will be affected by this strike? To see a chart a complete listing of shows affected please go to http://www.latimes.com/business/la-striketvgrid-html,0,7606966.htmlstory?coll=la-home-center .

"I'm disappointed. I thought the writers were better than this. They are not only affecting the actors and actresses, they are also affecting the entertainment that people have at home," said Amy Mann, who is a strong follower of the T.V. shows Prison Break and 24. Brett Watson said, "I don't care, I watch Antique Roadshow on Channel 2, those writers don't strike." We can only hope that a settlement will be reached before the stockpile of scripts run out and were left with only reality T.V. shows and the news for entertainment.

Goodhue Vs. KMS

Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg puts its 12-0 record on the line against the Wildcats in the Class A state semifinals . The Goodhue offense is simply too good. The Wildcats (12-1) used their power up front and speed to the outside to dominate Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 44-12 to earn a spot in next week's Prep Bowl.

Goodhue's offense was unstoppable as the Wildcats scored on their first six possession of the game, including all five in the first half. The team has now scored 40 or more points in 10 straight games.

Brett Watson came into the game as a receiving threat. He responded by catching a pair of touchdown passes from Kelby Buck. But Watson also rushed four times for 153 yards. His 80-yard run was his second touchdown of the second quarter and gave Goodhue control at 31-6.Watson also caught three passes for 92 yards. His first two catches were scores of 19 and 26 yards from Buck.Goodhue finished with 333 yards rushing and 139 passing for a total of 472. Reserves played nearly the entire fourth quarter for the Wildcats on offense.

Running back Joel Bauman had 164 yards rushing, including a 49-yard TD run for the Fighting Saints (12-1). But Goodhue stopped the Fighting Saints twice on fourth down when the game was still in doubt in the first half. The Wildcats did not allow a point in the second half.

Goodhue will now be taking on the Adrian Dragons they have lost two games. Their first loss was to Tracy-Milroy-Balaton, the Dragons were blown out 41-7. They lost their next game to Dawson-Boyd 21-7. Dawson-Boyd lost to KMS in their section finals.

One o f the key players for the Dragons is number 73, 225 pound senior Glen Kruger the running back/ middle line backer. He seems to be their best player, but he tires out fast with that 225 pound frame and playing both ways. He has 12 touchdowns on the season and 730 yards. The other person being number 17, Jesse Brake, who has 1001 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns, but Goodhue will counter them with their studs Eric Ryan, Micah Huneke, Brett Watson, and Kelby Buck to name just a few.

2007 State Football Tournament

The kick return team celebrating after Watson's 83-yard return for a TD against Royalton.



Goodhue football since 2003: five section titles, ‘03 state champions, ’05 state runner-up, and year ’04 & ’06 state entrants. 2007 has already rolled through and were already in the state championship games for the fall season. The Goodhue Wildcats are the only team returning from the 2006 field in Class A.



November 8th our team was up playing in Mounds View at their high school. This was the first year that the MSHSL decided that all the first round state games would be played at neutral site and on artificial turf. This happened mostly because of the late season and unplayable field conditions. If you all remember last year our team played New Ulm at home here after a big snow storm. The field was swept off pretty good but it felt like the field was concrete.



So the Class A state quarterfinal game was against the Royals of Royalton. They came into the contest with a 9-2 overall record. Royalton put the first six points on the board in the opening quarter but on the ensuing kickoff, Brett Watson sprinted up the middle for an 87-yard strike-up-the-band score. Eric Ryan later scored on a 6-yard to put the wildcats up 13-6 early in the second. Watson added another impressive catch and score which came from 41-yards and quarterback Kelby Buck. Chad Meyer even found the end zone in the first half by using his hands of greatness on a kick off where a Royalton player was stripped of the ball; Meyer scooped it up and took it to the house for a 25-yard scamper. Goodhue was ahead 25-14 at the break. In second half action, Micah Huneke added two short touchdown runs that put the game away. Our defense stepped up and played a lot better in the second half. We rolled with a 40-14 win over Royalton in the quarterfinals. Next stop was the dome.



November 15th we were at the Metrodome in downtown Murderapolis. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (12-0) was our match up for the Class A state semifinal game. We scored on our first six possessions in the contest. Brett Watson scored the first score on a scramble pass of 19 yards from Buck. Also in the first half were touchdowns runs of 80-yards from Watson and a nine yard run from Huneke. Buck threw 2 more touchdown passes too; one of 26-yards to Brett and another for 15-yards to Micah. We jumped out to an impressive 38-12 lead going into the locker room at half. Eric Ryan added the final blow early in the third with a 17 yard rumble into the end zone. I thought our defense played pretty good in the win but we can play better. Goodhue finished with 472 total yards of offense with KMS putting up 293. Watson finished with a combined total of 245 yards and three TD’s. Buck finished with 135 yards through the air and three TD’s. Next of the 2007 Prep Bowl. I asked player Brett Watson how they beat a good team like this so easily and he replyed with; "We just played an outstanding game, our offense could not be stopped and we put the ball in the end zone when we needed to."


This Friday at 1 p.m. we will be playing for a 2007 Class A state championship. We will be taking on the Adrian Dragons. They beat Cook County Central 21-0 in the semifinals. Adrian has an overall record of 11-2. Should be a great game and I hope everyone can come and watch.








Brett Watson breaking away for his 80-yard TD run Thursday.


By: Sean Thomforde

New Noise

Ever had a song that was ripped on to your computer strange and caused it to have a few skips in it? Or have you ever needed to edit some spots out of a voice recording? Well here's your chance.

I found a free version of a sound editing program called WavePad. There are two versions of the program; WavePad and WavePad Master's Edition. Master's is the one that costs money, but they "make WavePad free in the hope you will like it so much you will be tempted to upgrade to WavePad Master's Edition." As it states on their website, Master's Edition offers even more features than you already get from the free version.

The features include basic options like cutting, deleting, and copying pieces of an audio clip. You can also use the program to change the pitch and speed of either the whole audio clip or just little sections of it. You can also use some of the more advanced options that they offer in the free version. One of the ones that I thought was the most important was the noise reduction option, which is used to reduce background noise like skips and static sounds.

Some of the effects that are offered include amplify, normalize, equaliser, envelope, reverb, echo, reverse, etc. This can be very entertaining to play around with and can help add sound effects to your own voice clips. WavePad can also be used to convert cassette tapes or vinyl to a digital format. Most people probably don't even have a cassette let alone a vinyl record anymore, but if you do you could convert them to a more up-to-date format. This program mainly focuses around wav and mp3 files, but it can work with other formats like "vox, gsm, real audio, au, aif, flac, ogg and many more," as it lists on the website features section.

Not So Happy Cows?

I’m sure a lot of you have been watching your favorite TV show and you came across a “Happy Cows in California” commercial. If you watched closely, you’d realize they’re actually saying our own Midwestern cows produce bad milk products and suffer in the cold. They show the California Cows on a grassy hillside with lots of trees all warm and cozy singing and discussing the great pleasures in California. Then they show a Midwest cow in the snow freezing to an icicle heading for California to be so called “Happy.” This leads you to believe that all the cows in California are really happy and warm and we torture cows in the Midwest in the cold and they produce bad milk. Well this is in fact very untrue.
I looked some information up on the internet about these so called “Happy Cows.” Right away I had about 10 hits against the California cow’s campaign. The California Milk Advisory is in fact lying to consumers about the way cows are treated on dairy farms in California. California’s dairy cows are crammed into huge lots, where they live covered in mud and their own feces and urine almost their whole miserable lives. They are also pumped full of drugs to keep them producing unnatural amounts of milk. Their udders often become swollen and infected. One third of California’s cows suffer from udder infections and more than half suffer from other painful illnesses and infections. More than a fourth of California’s cows are slaughtered each year because they have become crippled from foot infections or calcium depletion.
I also found an interesting article that was published in the USA Today. PETA is planning on suing the California Milk Advisory Board over its award winning campaign. PETA believes the idyllic conditions portrayed in the ads amount to false advertising. PETA believes the treatment is inhumane. Jim Reynolds the professor of veterinary science at the University of California disagrees with PETA. He claims the cow’s lives are in fact not horrible, and forty-fifty percent of California dairy cows are raised in dairies built in the past two to three years, in which cows are well cared for so they can produce more milk. Everybody obviously has a different opinion in the situation. I asked DJ what he thought. “My parents went to California and they are all brown, ugly, packed in tighter than heck cows.” “I don’t feel bad but they shouldn’t make ads saying how great they are.”

Cole Black POW in Vietnam

November 10,2007

Cole Black of Escondido California, who by his own count spent 2,428 hours and 35 minutes as a Prisoner Of War in Vietnam, died Friday in a plane crash near Delano California in the Central Valley. Cole was flying in a Piper Aerostar twin-engine plane from Oregon to McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad. He had visited Roseburg, Ore., to speak to students about his experience as a prisoner of war. He would of have turned 75 on November. 28. The plane crashed before noon in an orange grove after experiencing mechanical problems, said Karen Black, his second wife, from their home in Escondido.

Black, a former Navy Caption, spent seven years as a POW. He was flying an F-8 Crusader on a mission over North Vietnam in June 1966 when a MiG fighter downed his plane. He was 33 years old, had a wife and two children and was one week away from going home. He was ejected from the plan and tried to hide in some tall grass. "I was captured almost instantly." he told The San Diego Union Tribune in a 2003 interview.

He was held in four prisons,including the famous "Hanoi Hilton."

"It's a feeling no one really knows," Black said in the interview. "Nobody knows what it is like to totally lose your freedom and be reduced to nothing. you're thousands of miles from home and haven't got one friend."

Black said he spent part of his time in a 7-by-9 foot cage, with a concrete slab for a bed. Twice a day, the guards served him meals-a dish of rice and boiled greens that grew in swampy, septic water.

He endured through his stoicism, his wife said Friday night. He didn't get rattled. He also had "an honest belief that the country wouldn't let him down," and he would be freed, she said. His strength carried him through times. she said that shortly after he was captured, interrogators told him, "We will reduce you to a dog." His captors bound his arms so tightly that he still carried scars.

One of his worst moments occurred a month after his capture. He and other prisoners were forced to walk through the streets of Hanoi in a propaganda spectacle that became known as the Hanoi March. People began throwing rocks and hitting the POWs who barely avoided being killed. But it was during the march that Black learned of the code POWs used to communicate with one another.

Despite the misery, Cole found a positive aspect to his imprisonment. "Not one among us would wish to get shot down again, but I think it changed my life for the better. I came back with a real zest to live. I wanted to do some things," he said in a 2005 interview with the Union-Tribune.

Cole and other POWs were released in February 1973.

Although Black was able to withstand his captivity, his marriage to his first wife could not. It fell apart within a month of his return. The emotional toll of coming home to a broken marriage was almost more difficult to deal with than his suffering in Vietnam.

Many POWs experienced the same pain, which led Karen Black to write a novel based on the ruined marriages. She self-published the book "Code of Conduct" in 2002. Karen Black has done her homework and research on the POW experience and it shows. Reading her book, "Code of Conduct," leaves you feeling that you just got a realistic view of American POW's life in captivity during the Vietnam War. She has spent years listening to former POWS and her husband, talk and express themselves about their personal experiences: it is obvious that she was listening. She not only heard the small details of their life experiences but she listened to their feelings and emotions. She used all of that emotional and psychological energy to create a historical novel about the Vietnam War.

Cole Black was born November.28,1932. He was raised on a farm in Lake City, Minnesota. He joined the Navy as an enlisted man at age 17 so he could see the world. He rose to petty officer first class in less than four years, and the Navy selected him to attend Officer Candidate School. He graduated in 1955 and earned his wings two years later. Black returned to Vietnam for a visit in 1994 after Karen bought tickets for a cruise. " It was the best vacation we ever had," she said. The arrived at the "Hanio Hilton" the day workers were tearing it down. The couple collected pieces of brick as mementos. Black served for four years as president of NAM-POWs, the national fraternal association of repatriated Vietnam prisoners of war.

The reason this story means so much to me because Cole is my third or fourth cousin and when I was at a family get together I was listening to his stories and right then and there I thought of Cole as my hero.

It's About Time

Winter is just around the corner and I am just jacked up. Winter is a time to just relax in a nice heated house with your Susie and sip on a cup of hot chocolate. Winter is also a time to bundle up and go out and have fun in the snow.

Snowmobiling is one of the most popular things to do in the winter. If you have never had a chance to go snowmobiling get out there and try it, its a blast. We have had a few bad years of snow and don't get enough snow till late in the winter. To be able to go snowmobiling you must have at least 6 inches to go, otherwise it will be really rough and will not be fun to ride the trails. Every year we get at least two blizzards and that's when you got to go snowmobiling. Most snowmobiles fit one person comfortably but they have snowmobiles that can fit two people comfortably. I have a Polaris XC 500 you can fit one person on it and its a blast because I can go out and bust some drifts, go trail riding and if someone is in the ditch I can go and help them.

In the winter you can also have fun in your cars. Find an empty parking lot and have at it, you will be able to do as many 360's as you wish. But I recommend do not ride with girls in the winter, you will end up in the ditch like Ash and having someone pull you out of the snow.

Something else you can do in the winter is have snowball fights. Snow ball fights are awesome because you get to throw frozen snowballs at your friends and enjoy it.

The winter is also awesome to have pop party's, because you will never have to worry about having ice to keep your pop cold just shove it outside for a while. Its a huge life saver.

Those are some of my favorite things to do in the winter.


By:Quin Kehren

Why cell phones should be banned while driving

Cell phone users should not be able to use their cell phones while driving. The most common cause of an accident is from cell phone use. Cell phone users are a proven danger on our highways.

Using a cell phone is like driving drunk. This is based on a study that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine which concluded that cell phone use while driving increased a driver’s risk of a collision by four. Talking on the cell phone while driving is just like driving drunk, driving with a blood alcohol level at the legal limit is also associated with a relative risk of 4.

First, drivers must take their eyes off the road while dialing. Second, people can become so absorbed in their conversations that their ability to concentrate on the act of driving is severely impaired, jeopardizing the safety of vehicle occupants and pedestrians, “I think it is very dangerous an we don’t want people hurt,” said Sean.

I have experienced being a victim because of cell phone users. I stopped at a four way stop sign looked both ways and started to go when this guy flew by me. I caught up to him and what do you know he was on a cell phone. “Cell phones distract me when I drive,” said Brett.

I think that cell phone users should not be able to use them while driving. This causes way too many accidents. All you have to do is pull over, make the phone call, get going again, and its better then causing a death or someone else’s.

IS COLLEGE RIGHT FOR EVERYONE?

That is what a lot of seniors are thinking about, and a lot of college freshman. They are wondering if they are right for college.
I think that if you know what you want to do with your life and if you don’t have to go to college you might as will not go. Because you will save money and you will be able to start out with what you want to do with your life. You will also have the extra cash to use on what you want you need for your job.

But in my opinion I think that you should go to college because if your first job falls through you will have a degree in something and that you can fall back on. My Dad Eric Pearson did go to college for farm management. He really liked it and he thought that it was worth the time that he spent there. You will have to go to school longer in the long run and spend a lot of money on it but after you finish and get your degree you will be making a lot more money than you would be without a college degree. So I think that you really should go to college and at least have a degree so that if you ever would want to go in to the field that you with to college for you will have your degree and if you doing what you want to do with your life after college you can always go back to school to get a degree in something else that your more interested in.
Kendra Roper is going to attend Robert Morris College for a degree in Culinary Arts. She is

REALLY EXCITED to be attending that school. It was the school that she had her heart set on going to. She cant wait to start her college this fall.

McHurt Bringing the Pain?

As you all should know tonight the Awesome Blossoms of Blooming Prairie are coming to the large town of Goodhue to face off in what is suppose to be known as one of the best Section Championship games in history.

Ever since last week when Blooming Prairie beat Rushford Peterson they have been talking trash about how they are going to come here and beat the heck out of us. When asked about how he felt about the game tonight Brett Watson responded, "I think it is going to be a hard fought battle but we will come out on top in the end." Brett is a wide receiver for the Goodhue Wildcats who have one of the best offenses in the state.

The Awesome Blossoms come into this game at 10-0 but haven't played anyone good yet so we will have to see how it goes. They have a middle linebacker named Brendan McCabe but they call him McHurt and say that we have seen no one as good as him this year. I asked Sean Thomforde what he thought of everyone saying that we haven't seen anyone as good as him this year and he said, "That's not true at all I believe Eric Ryan and the rest of the team will take care of him like they have week in and week out this year."
If the Wildcats win this game tonight they will advance to the state tournament for the 5th straight year in a row. Going into this game the wildcats head coach Claire Austin is very confident in his well oiled machine in keeping the streak alive.
So after hearing about the awesome blossoms coming to town tonight I hope that you decide to come watch the game tonight.

Bye Bye Blue Cow

Now is time for the random ‘rants’ and "raves" section of the blog.
Rant #1 98 percent fat free milk is too fattening. According to our school it is. The school is taking away the blue cartons of milk since we are going to get to fat and they are trying to teach us better eating habits. “We aren’t trying to starve kids just give them healthy eating habits,” said Robert Bangston superintendent.

Which is nice, but in milk? Seriously its 98% fat free. “We are making an effort to promote healthy eating and healthy lifestyles.” With the blue milk there is less then 4 grams of fat. And it won’t be called 2 percent for long. The name will be getting changed to low fat milk. Yes you heard me right low fat milk. I’m sorry but I do not understand why we need to get rid of it.

Another thing that is catching on rapidly is raw milk. This means that it is not pasteurized it is straight from the cow. A lot of people find that raw milk helps them lower weight and blood pressure. One patient went from 325 lbs. to 284 lbs. in two weeks on two qts. of raw milk a day and her blood pressure was reduced from 220 to 170. With raw milk all of the vitamins and minerals stay in the milk. So don’t tell me that milk is too fattening.

Watch TV for a day you see all of these people loosing weight drinking milk and exercising. Milk of what we eat is not the problem its what you do after you eat. Your calories go as you go so if you don’t go anywhere, you will gain weight it’s a fact of life. So don’t tell me that less food or fat free food is the answer its what you do after you eat that food is what matters.

Have something to complain about? Contact DJ Buck so I can complain for you.

Goodhue vs. Lewiston-Altura

The top-seeded Wildcats won against the No. 4 Lewiston-Altura on Saturday in the second round of the Section 1A and with the score to be a 49-7 victory for the Wildcats.
Goodhue’s offense had a total of 496 yards, which included 340 rushing. The Wildcats have to go up against undefeated Blooming Prairie for the section title. The Wildcats are looking to reach the state tournament for the fifth straight year.
Eric Ryan rushed for 154 yards and four touchdowns and Micah Huneke had 84 yards on the ground with 15 carries. Goodhue junior Ethan Tutewohl closed out the scoring with a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Goodhue’s quarterback Kelby Buck hooked up with Brett Watson three times for 145 yards, including touchdowns of 49 and 86 yards. Buck finished 4 of 6 for 156 yards and two touchdowns.
The Wildcats improve to 9-1 heading into Friday’s game with the undefeated Blooming Prairie.

The College Life

You walk down the hallway of someplace new. You no longer know everyone who goes to your school or lives in your town, it's all up to you to meet new people. It's so different, nothing at all seems familar and it scares you. Where are you? You are at college.

For some people the college life comes easy, for others it can be the opposite. If you thought that peer pressure was hard in high school, wait until you get into college. "It's all anybody ever talks about: drinking, drugs, drinking, and more drugs," Leah*, a freshman says of her college experience. No parents are around to scold you for drinking, so everyone drinks at their own free will. All you have to worry about is buying the alcohol. So it shouldn't surprise you that the pressure to drink to fit in is much greater than it was in high school. 'Thirsty Thursday' is a common celebration at a lot of Universities. "Thursday nights are the worst. My roommate will come in the room drunk and beg me to come drink with her. It makes it very hard to study and keep up will class work," Leah explained. Alcohol isn't the only thing that is being pushed upon fellow students though, sex is also highly pressured. It's a totally new scene once you reach college, so start preparing yourself now.

Remember that when you go away to college Mom and Dad aren't there to tell you what is good and what is bad. For instance, you've all heard of the 'Freshman 15' where students gain 15 pounds in the first few months of college. This is when you wish you had your parents their nagging on you telling you what is good to eat and what is not. "Sometimes food is your only safety zone so you just keep eating. It's not like healthy foods either, it's things like candy, pop, and lots of pizza," Shellie* another college freshman also commented. You also start to miss the parents a lot when it comes to doing your laundry. Not only does it take money to do your laundry now, it also takes up a lot of your time. "I often get to lazy and overloaded with work that I skip doing my laundry for two weeks. That's when I wish my mom was here at college with me the most," Shellie added, "I never thought I needed my parents that much until they weren't their by my side".

With a new surrounding comes new germs. So it also shouldn't surprise you that students get sick a lot in college. You often times are so closely contacted with people that once one person gets sick, the rest of the floor, or even house, will get sick too. It doesn't just leave you with contagious sickness either though, a lot of college students feel so stressed out and pressured that they often become very depressed or anxious. It takes awhile to get used to it all, you just have to learn how to hang on.

Lastly, remember how easy it is in high school to earn those A's and B's? Well that could have something to do with the fact that the teachers care about you, they want you to pass. In college it is a totally different story where they don't really care at all. You have to study extra, extra hard and just learn to memorize things in order to pass your tests. No sucking up to the professor, it just won't work anymore.

The college life is different than the high school life that I am living right now. I will take what I have learned and put it to my future college life. There is still a lot to learn about what the college experience will be like, so keep you mind open to new ideas.

An Artistic Type of "Blender"

By: Peter Gruetzmacher

"Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License," as it states right on the website, http://www.blender.org/. Blender works very much like any of the other big animation programs that you actually have to pay for.

It has many features including a fairly easy to use interface that keeps mostly all the commands out in front where you can see and get to them easily. It also has a setup for people who want to use it for character modeling, it comes with some preset shapes built into the program, for example, you can place a sphere, cube, and other basic shapes to cut out a lot of the time it would take to create them from scratch. Another feature that I think is very useful is the rigging system or in other words it allows you to place 'bones' into the characters or things that you model to make it easier for you to animate them. Instead of moving all the points on, let's say, an arm, you could just move and rotate the 'bone' and all the points will move with it. There are also animation and rendering features. Rendering basically creates a picture of a view of your model that you want, which you can add lighting and color to right in the program. The animation part is basically a bunch of renders played back to back to create movement, but there are also the options to create your animation in a video format. There are also some much more complicated features like particle systems and a Realtime/3d Game Creator built in to the program. The particle systems can be used in creating hair, fire, snow, and other small random things. The built-in game creator isn't the greatest, but it looks like it can make some pretty decent looking stuff.
You can view some of the models people have created too by clicking HERE.

(A Picture of a game in progress that i found right on (www.blender.org)

Blender is available for pretty much any operating system:
Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP or Vista
Mac OS X 10.2 and later
Linux 2.2.5 i386
Linux 2.3.2 PPC
FreeBSD 6.2 i386
Irix 6.5 mips3
Solaris 2.8 sparc

It does have a few minimum requirements and they are:
300 MHz CPU
128 MB Ram
20 MB free hard disk Space
1024 x 768 px Display with 16 bit color
3 Button Mouse
Open GL Graphics Card with 16 MB Ram

There are a few things that can be irratating with this program.
First it can be difficult to start out because there are many different commands to it.
It also doesn't come with any form of a tutorial, but now that it has been out for awhile some people have created their own tutorials. Click here for one of the better tutorials.

For those of you who may be interested . . .
Here are some of my own examples, this shows you what you can do (And these are only simple works)

Bowling

Bowling is a great sport that you may have overlooked. You can be play it in many ways. You can bowl by yourself, with friends, have a bowling party, moon-light bowling, go to practice or bowl on league.

When you go bowling by yourself you can just have fun. You can bowl as many games as you can pay for. Bowling is three dollars a game or fifteen dollars per hour. If you are by yourself it is cheaper because you can bowl five games for fifteen dollars and bowl for more than an hour.

You could have a bowling party. You can invite tons of friends to come and bowl. Also you can have your birthday at the bowling alley too.

Moon light bowling has become a real big hit at bowling alley around the nation. Moon light bowling is bowling but the lights are turned off and there is flashing lights, black lights and strobe lights on. The cost is the $20 and is only done on Saturday night.

If you are in a league or just want to get better at bowling you can go to the bowling alley and just practice. You can figure out a new way to throw your ball or just tweak the way you bowl.

Finally you can join a league. You can join just for fun or for real competition. There are bowling league every night of the week except Wednesdays.



By: Dave Safe

Up In Smoke

There are about 49 million smokers in the U.S. That seems like a massive amount, but compared to the over 250 million non-smokers, they are a definite minority. Last time I checked, the United States was a democracy, a place where the majority’s decision mattered. Why then should our country’s non-smoking bar patrons have to put up with the toxic fumes filling our nation’s bars. A nationwide smoking ban in all bars and nightclubs would be beneficial to over 80 percent of Americans and should be instated.

Many states, including Minnesota, already have bans in place and they seem to be very successful. Why then shouldn’t every state follow the same type of rules. Each side seems to have plenty of arguments why the ban should/should not be instated.
Most people just seem to hate the smell of smoke that lingers in the bar and restaurants days after a cigarette is lit.

“I hate it when people smoke around me! That stuff reeks,” said Richard Bigelow. Many others dislike the potential health risks associated with the smoke.

“People should just smoke outside, I don’t want cancer,” said Goodhue native Sean Thomforde.
The loss of revenue in the nightlife area is one such concern. When people go out to drink and have a good time, they often have a cigarette. Opponents of a ban say that bars will lose revenue when the smokers no longer come to their establishment to drink. However, this doesn’t seem to be correct. People go to bar to drink, not to have a cigarette. Without cigarette smoke, more people will feel like going out to drink. The bar owners should not lose any profit. In fact, in some states where a ban is already in place, bars actually saw an increased profit.

Others argue that a ban would not be effective because there is no one to enforce the law. They say bar owners will be reluctant to tell any smoking bar patron to put the smoke out. There is a simple way to get around this problem. Regular checks of the air quality inside the bar would tell if smoking was going on inside. If it was, the bar could get a warning. Too many warnings, and the bar could be shut down.

It doesn’t make sense that only certain states have a smoking ban in bars. Do some states value the lives of its citizens more than others? That sure seems to be the case right now. If our nation cared about all 300 million of its inhabitants, the federal government would follow Minnesota’s lead and enact a nationwide ban of smoking in bars.

There are so many reasons that a federal ban of smoking in all bars would be beneficial to all 300 million Americans. The bars would actually see an increase in revenue, it would be easy to enforce, and it would show the government truly cares about the people.

Technology and the future

Technology seems to be an important factor in our everyday lives. It is almost impossible to avoid. Almost every person owns a cell phone and a computer and uses them almost constantly. Technology has certainly evolved. The evolution of technology has brought me to wonder where is it going and where will it end. With all the advances in technology, I decided to search for new products that will be coming out soon.

Cell phones were originally designed to simply make phone calls without tying callers to one location. But today's cell phones can do so much more, from snapping digital photos to sending text messages to playing video. Well now, you can add a sobriety test to the list. South Korean manufacturer LG will introduce the LP4100 to the U.S. market sometime in the near future -- though no date is set. The phone features a built-in Breathalyzer. The company placed several models on the market in that country last year has already sold more than 200,000 units. The phone works by allowing users to blow into a small spot on the phone, and if they've had too much to drink the phone issues a warning and shows a weaving car hitting traffic cones. The company also sells plug-in Breathalyzer adapters for some phones. None of the models tell you exactly how much you may be over or under the legal limit, but it can keep you from making other alcohol-related mistakes. The LP4100 also lets users to set up the phone so on certain nights and after a certain time they cannot call certain people in their phone book. With this feature, think ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend. If you have a blood alcohol level over .08, the phone will not let you dial that person. I feel that this is quite an invention that will help a lot of people and prevent those awkward nights.

MP3 players certainly have evolved also. From just playing music to storing pictures and video, there certainly are many choices out there. One of my favorite finds is the Archos 605 WiFi. The Archos 605 WiFi is available in many different sizes. This MP3 player, just like many others is fairly small in size. It's specs are just 4.8 in. x 0.8 in. x 3.2 in. Consumers can by it in 4GB, 30GB, 80GB, and 160GB. It's price ranges with size, the 4GB can be found for as cheep as around $200 and the 160GB for around $380. The Archos 605 offers a hi-resolution touchscreen (800 x 400) that can be used with either your finger or stylus. The Archos 605 allows you connect to a WiFi connection to wirelessly download content directly onto your player. You can also stream movies, TV shows, and music that are stored on your computer. The device is also Internet ready with an optional web brower plug-in, you can surf the web on sites such as youtube.com. With the Archos 605, you can store up to 40 videos and play them in MPEG-4, WMV, protected WMV, MPEG-2*, VOB*, H.264* (*with optional plug-ins) formats. It can also store up to 300,000 photos, record TV in most video sources such as satellite/cable box, VCR, DVD player in MPEG-4 format, and store up to 15,000 songs. The Archos 605 is my choice for most versitle MP3 player on the market.

Digital cameras are also very popular items today. They come in a variety of styles with range of prices. Most people find ultra-slim cameras to be thier desire. I found the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T2 appealing to the eye. The new Cyber-Shot by Sony truly does offer the best in the camera world. The ultra compact Cyber-shot DSC-T2 is equipped with a 2.7-inch, 230,000-dot touchscreen LCD and an f/3.5-4.3, and a 38-114mm 3x zoom lens. The T2's numerous photo-sharing features include the ability to display images in chronological order, in a calendar view, and by event. Photos can also be saved as favorites and then sorted into categories within the favorites folder for quick retrieval, and in-camera slide shows can include selectable transitions and music. The T2 can also output images to an HDTV with an optional HD component cable or HD cradle, and it's loaded with Sony PMB Portable software, which allows it to publish photos and videos directly to online image sharing sites such as Flickr and YouTube. The Cyber-Shot is designed for automatic snap-shot photography with few manual adjustments. However, the touchscreen can be used for spot focusing and metering. The T2 offers Sony's recently introduced Smile Shutter mode, which automatically snaps a picture when someone in front of the camera smiles. It allows the photographer to track a specific person in a group by selecting the person's face on the touchscreen, then releases the shutter when the subject smiles. Non-Smile-Shutter face detection is available as well. The T2 will retail for about $350 starting in December and will be sold with blue, green, pink, white, and black sliding lens covers. This camera may seem to be a little on the pricey side, but I think that it well makes up for it's price in advancements and features.

"Technology is very important and beneficial to our everyday life, it makes our life easier than it has been in other generations," said Anthony Lance about technology.

When I asked my mother, Kandi Duffing, what she thinks about technology, she said, "When things look cool along with being technologically advanced, it's a win-win situation."

With the advancements in just these 3 items, I can only wonder what the next year will bring.


I found my information on multiple sites each found through yahoo.com.

Cards in study hall

Editorial
By: Laura Lodermeier

It’s just another ordinary day at school. You go to your fourth hour study hall, but have no homework to work on. You see once you get there that there are a lot of other students who also have no homework. The teacher won’t let you talk, since it’s a STUDY hall. After a few minutes of sitting there bored, you start to doze off. All of a sudden you feel a tap on your shoulder; you look up to see a tall, mean teacher glaring at you. “NO SLEEPING IN MY STUDY HALL,” he says. “Well what am I supposed to do? I have no homework to do,” you ask. “Find something!” he replies. You’re probably wishing you could find something fun, yet quiet, to do in study hall. Students should be allowed to play cards in their study halls.

Those opposed to letting us play cards in study hall may say we would be gambling, and that’s illegal since we’re not 18. But we wouldn’t actually be gambling, we’d be playing simple games, not betting any money- just keeping ourselves busy when we have no homework. Teachers could supervise us or check up on us now and then to make sure we’re not doing anything we shouldn’t be.

Another opposition may be that the volume level in study halls would go up. But there would have to be rules for us to follow in order for us to play. It would be a privilege, not a right. If we got too loud, our cards would be taken away for a certain period of time.
There are many reasons that students should be allowed to play cards in study hall. First, when we have no homework to work on, we always turn to friends to keep us entertained…but then get steps for talking too much. If we were able to play cards, and stay quiet, we’d be doing something fun and possibly educational for people who have trouble with numbers, and not be getting into trouble.

Another is that it would keep us awake. When we’re just sitting there in a desk quietly, with absolutely nothing to do, we tend to find ourselves asleep with our head down on the desk. If we were allowed to play cards, we would easily stay awake, then not be sleepy in our next class.
Overall, students playing cards in study hall is a good idea. If the school would just look at all of the benefits, they would see what I mean. Students would be happy, less steps would be handed out, and teachers would stop having to yell at students to quiet down.