A very important traditional Chinese holiday, the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, is falling on the same day as our traditional Valentine’s Day on February 14.

         HOwever, unlike Valentine’s Day, the Chinese New Year lasts for about 15 days.

        Chinese New Year is celebrated by Chinese communities worldwide, and not just in China. The festival’s celebration events include Dragon Dances/Lion Dances, fireworks, family gathering, family meals, visiting friends and relatives, giving red envelopes with money to young teens and children, and decorating with dullian.

Dullians are two lines of poetry that are on the sides of doors leading to peoples’ homes. 

According to Wikipedia, the most common dullian seen within the New Year is a type of dullian called chunlian, which expresses happy and hopeful thoughts for the coming year.

The beginning of Chinese New Year, according to tales and legends, started with a fight against a mythical creature called a Nian. The legend was the start of the Lion Dance.

The Lion Dance began when a Nian attacked a village. After the attack, the villagers came up with a plan where drums, plates and empty bows were hit and firecrackers were thrown to scare the Nian away. Lion Dances usually portray the Nian.

Nian were also afraid of the color red and sensitive to loud noises. When Chinese New Year starts, red becomes a very popular color and firecrackers are lit by the hundreds.

The days before the New Year celebration, Chinese families give their home a very thorough cleaning which is believed to sweep away bad luck. Brooms and dust pans are put away on the first day so the luck cannot be swept away.

Homes are often decorated with cutouts of auspicious phrases and couplets while new clothes are purchased and hair cuts received to symbolize a fresh start.

Within families, red envelopes aren’t the only thing exchanged. Small gifts are often exchanged that usually contain food or sweets that are exchanged between friends or relatives of different households.

Brent MacKenzie 10, and Alex Ahlgren 11, dominated SWWMEA Instrumental Solo Ensemble contest Saturday February 6^th at Kelso high school.

Ahlgren played a piece called “Transfiguration” on snare drum, and placed second in the region, becoming first alternate for state.

Ahlgren doesn’t know exactly why he only placed second for his near perfect performance

“The only other thing I could have done is play a little bit more in the middle of the drum,” Ahlgren said.

Ahlgren’s piece “Transfiguration” is rated as a level 5 piece of music, basically an advanced piece of music.

Surprisingly it did not take Ahlgren that long to learn the piece.

“It took me about three weeks to perfect it,” Ahlgren said.

It is unlikely Ahlgren will go to state because of how small the division we are in is, opposed to a much larger area like Seattle. The way it works is the region with the most performers gets the alternate position.

This was Ahlgren’s second time performing at the regional contest and plans on going next year as well.

While this was MacKenzie’s first time at the competition, nerves did not impact his ability to place first, and qualify to compete at the state competition. MacKenzie played a piece on Alto Saxophone called “Improvisation Et Caprice.”

“It is a pretty difficult piece, the most difficult I have ever played, but it is really worth all the work it took,” MacKenzie said.

 “Improvisation Et Caprice” was originally written in 1952 by Eugène Bozza. It is one of the most difficult pieces played at the competition, and most musicians do not play it until they are at a college level.

In the past years, appearances for RAL band students have been scarce. The last time a band student qualified for state, was in 2005, and even then they did not place.

The state competition takes place in Ellensburg on the last Thursday and Friday of April, MacKenzie plans on playing a perfected version of “Improvisation Et Caprice”.

Girls on the Run has been offered to many young girls twice a year in the spring and fall season in elementary and middle schools nationwide.

The program is designed to increase student activity, fitness level and self-esteem. It also teaches life skills that will benefit the girls’ adolescent years.

“I believe this is a good program for young girls, and it’s good for the girls’ image, self esteem, health and fitness,” RAL’s secretary  Carolyn Kochis said.

 The program needs volunteers to orchestrate it, and to help guide them to the right direction of healthy living. At the end of a twelve-week program, the girls run or walk a 5k race. A 5k race is a little over three miles long, and the girls run it around Lake Sacagawea led by their two coaches and volunteers.

During the two hour practice at Olympic Elementary School the girls will walk or run the track with the coaches and volunteers. They receive many different snacks while they learn lessons about healthy living before they go to the track.

The founder of Girls on the Run is Molly Barker, who created the program in 1996.

She started her running at the age of fifteen when she found herself stuck in the “Girl Box.” The “Girl Box” is when a young girl starts to transform into who she is but becomes a totally different image.

Since she has been running the program, Molly has authored two books ‘Girls on track: A parents guide to inspiring our daughters to achieve a lifetime of self-esteem and respect’, and ‘Girls Lit From Within’.

The head coach of the Olympic elementary school program is Patti Smith. The volunteer coaches are RAL’s  Malinda Peine, Carolyn Kochis, Macy Jones, and Jossie Ingram.

All the girls that are participating get a free pair of new balance running shoes from Bobs Sporting Goods, a free t-shirt, water bottle, pink shoelaces, deodorant, and hair ties. The training starts on Feb. 23^rd and the final run will be open to anyone on May 15^th. The more people, the more fun it is.

“I’m excited about getting to know future Lumberjills. I’d like to teach them about healthy ways and how it affects their life,” Malinda Peine said.

“I always text or talk on the phone and drive; I can totally pay attention, it’s not like I’m gonna crash,” said an RAL senior who chose to remain anonymous. What this Lumberjack doesn’t know is that talking on the phone while driving can slow your reaction time to that of a 70 year old person.

Cell phone use and driving is becoming the new drinking and driving, in terms of level of distraction and number of casualties. However, concern centers around how to enforce anti-texting and anti-calling laws.

“Police are hard pressed to enforce seat belts [laws] already. They’re [policemen] also concerned about taking those resources away from preventing and solving other serious crimes,” Ed Smith said, a senior analyst with the Delray Beach Police Department in Florida.

While Florida is still trying to pass an bill on this issue, Washington recently instated a law preventing cell phone use and driving. There is also a federal law that bans texting and driving across state lines.

However, Washington’s law, unlike that of Oregon, says that texting and driving is not a primary offense, and therefore can only be punished if the driver is pulled over for breaking another law.

“It’s confusing, I can’t really tell if it’s illegal or not. I mean, no one I know has ever gotten fined for texting and driving, so I just do it anyway. How’re the police even going to tell?” an unnamed junior Lumberjill said.

Washington State Senator Tracey Eide is now trying to pass a bill through the Senate that would move cell phones and driving up to a primary offense, and has been working on harsher laws regarding cell phone use in cars for ten years now.

“”We passed the bill out of transportation [committee] yesterday [Jan 25],” Eide said, “I did have three senators vote against it. They think they have a right to talk while driving. I’m looking at this from a safety issue. It took me seven years to get it to a secondary offense. Now we have studies coming back and experts saying [distracted driving] is worse then they thought it was. It’s time for people to hang up and drive.”

Teenagers of the world, buckle up and put down the phone; it’s better to kick the habit now than to pay for it later, either with your money or with your life.

Longview drivers will be happy to know that their days of having to navigate one of the world’s most confusing roundabout intersections are soon to be over. The City has proposed a change of traffic flow around the Civic Circle intersection.

Right now, Longview has one of the world’s only roundabouts where people on the inside of the roundabout have to yield to incoming traffic as opposed to yielding to get into the roundabout.

This causes sudden halts, quick lane changes, and confusion to many drivers.

Changing the Civic Circle intersection will be an attempt to reduce these dangers.

“If the changes are well thought out, then the intersection is going to be better than the gauntlet that it is now. It’s pretty crazy,” Alison Kolberg 10 said.

The Civic Circle has been around for quite some time. It’s a place that has a lot of history.

“Once, my friends and I drove around the circle over and over again, in a row,”  Mr. Woodrum, an RAL teacher, said.

Different opinions of the change are spreading throughout Longview. Some may think change is a good thing, while others may feel the historical value of the circle will be degraded if change occurs.

Jan Shaw, a Longview town’s member, would like the Civic Circle to stay the same.

“Just improve the crosswalk by the library, like with lights or signs,” Shaw said.

However, Matt Sheehy 10 doesn’t feel the change would affect him.

“I really wouldn’t mind the change that much,” Sheehy said.

Some RAL students have come up with some unique ways that the park in the middle of the Civic Circle could be improved.

“I think it could be really cool to have the area more open, so people could play games like Ultimate Frisbee,” Garrett Wittrock 11 said.

Other ideas have come also.

“There should be more park benches added for [people that don’t have a place to stay] to sleep on,” Sheehy  said.

Kolberg and some other students feel that  it should be improve so it’s not so creepy, and more useful to Longview.

Changing the flow of traffic and the park inside the Circle will have a great impact on the city of Longview. Final decisions have not been made.

As most of RAL has noticed, the cafeteria has undergone some recent improvements with the installation of new speakers, which were installed and blasting music early in the second semester.

The Booster Club has been responsible for many past projects that have been beneficial to RAL in recent years, and they have done it again with the installation the new speakers.

“The Booster Club has done so much for RAL, it’s really impressive how much they are able to fundraise and give back to us,” said Alex Pickett 10.

The Booster Club’s objective is to impact as many students as possible.. On the outside looking in it may appear as the speakers only affect those who eat lunch at RAL, but taking a closer look, they can now be used for dances, sports awards banquets, and even community meetings.

“The speakers can be used for so many things. I think the entire community of Longview could be impacted if they are used effectively,” Ron Bursaw 11 said.

The speakers themselves have not been a catalyst for controversy, although there has been much debate over the choice of music.

Shawn Heitz 11 believes that the speakers could have a positive role on RAL lunches.

“The speakers would be great if students selected the music themselves and played a variety of different genres,” Heitz said.

Many students would agree with Heitz’s statement, as it seems no one is in agreement with the current music selection.

Although regardless as to what is being played, there is no genre that will always please all students. That is one of the best parts about RAL; its diversity is surpassed only by its ability to accept those diversities.

The speakers were intended to encourage students to stay in the cafeteria during lunches by offering a place to hang out and talk with friends.

Along with the speakers’ recent upgrades to the cafeteria include the installation of a foosball table and soon an air hockey table, all courtesy of the Booster Club.

This year RA Long High School has been introduced to a new school authority, Officer Ty Mauck.

Mauck came to RAL in the fall of 2009 when he took over the job from Officer Tilton, who encountered some unexpected health issues that forced him to take a leave of absence.

According to Officer Mauck, you must be physically healthy to work this job. Any injury could potentially give you a disadvantage if some sort of physical confrontation comes up.

“You can’t work in the field if even a finger is broken,” Mauck says.

After graduating WSU with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and political science, Officer Mauck went through the State Police Academy for training.

Following the academy, he signed on with the Longview Police Department to begin his 14 year long career.

As part of the force, Officer Mauck has been involved in many different branches of the Police Department. He has been on patrol, worked detective cases, homicide cases, and has even been a part of the County SWAT Team since it began in 1998.

In addition to working on the RAL grounds, Officer Mauck is in charge of Defensive Tactics at the Police Department. He leads in teaching officers different combat techniques and how to use equipment.

“There are new encounters each day, it’s never the same routine,” Officer Mauck said about his work routine.

Despite all the action, there is still a rather dull side of his job. Mauck comments that “every case must be carefully and accurately documented.” Although it may be tedious, it is necessary in case of any confusion later in court.

Officer Mauck is responsible for regulating the RAL and Monticello campuses, and taking care of any illegal activity that may be occurring.

Dealing with drug and alcohol possession, theft, and fighting are a few of the basic problems that Mauck’s job entails.

He makes sure to be out during  before school, lunch, and passing times, when problems are most likely to take place.

“A lot of it is letting the students know that I’m here, Mauck reports. “They’re less likely to start problems knowing an officer is in the area.”

RAL and Mark Morris’ combined FFA team, Wake Robin, attended a job interview competition in Vancouver Tuesday, January 26. Three members placed in the top six and one will be competing at state in May.

Rylie Norris 11 placed first, Jane Forman 11 took third, and Kianna Gonzales 12, fourth out of the 25 interviewees at the contest. Norris will compete in a tougher job interview competition at state conference in May and Forman has the possibility of competing as well if the second place winner steps down for any reason.

“I honestly had no idea I would get first, it’s really exciting,” Norris said. “I hope to do as well in May and bring Wake Robin a state victory.”

Attending the competition was Castle Rock, Toutle, Mountain View, Heritage, Battleground and Prairie. The competition did not only consist of job interviews but also an event called rituals which only freshmen competed in.

The contest started with each competitor filling out a job application based on a job description that they created themselves through a resume and cover letter they had made weeks before. Then, each participant had an individual interview with a panel of three interviewers. The 25 contestants were narrowed down to the final six based on their interviewing skills and appeal to the judges.

“I felt like my interview went very well. I was a little nervous going in but I relaxed and was able to answer each question clearly,” Gonzales said.

 Those final six each had one more in-depth interview to determine the winners. The interviewees were asked questions that they were not prepared for and were forced to think on the spot.

Wake Robin also had a forestry contest recently at Green River Community College in Auburn where they placed first out of 12 teams. The winning team consisted of Kianna Gonzales 12, Evan Seidl 11, and Jane Forman 11. They competed in tool, tree, shrub, and salmon identification, determining tree height, compass and pacing, and answering environmental issue questions in front of a panel of judges.

Wake Robin’s next contest will be February 27.

Over the past few years, RAL’s crowd at sporting events has been said to be less than vivacious. But this year, three seniors have taken on the challenge of putting spirit back into the stands of the Lumberdome.

Seniors Teran Amnotte, Taylor Froberg, and Nick Bartolus, otherwise known as RAL’s “Jack Fathers” were chosen by Mr. Castro, the founder of the idea, to take on the jobs as RAL’s spirit leaders. They have already made a large impact on the crowd with cheers they introduced such as “The Popcorn, “The Rollercoaster”, and “The Jack-in-a-Box.”

“Our job is to influence the crowd to be louder and more spirited by leading them,” Amnotte said. “When we cheer and get loud, it pumps up the team and they play better.”

The Jack Fathers have many plans for this year, such as their big surprises for the Monarchs at the last civil war game, witty signs, and clever shirts. They have also decided to establish a few new rules for this season, such as wearing all black for every game and dedicating the first two rows to upperclassmen only.

“I think that establishing rules and giving privileges to upperclassmen will be successful because it gives underclassmen something to look forward to and upperclassmen something to appreciate,” Froberg said.

But, Teran, Nick, and Taylor will have to move on at one point and new Jack Fathers will need to be chosen. The boys have already begun scouting for potential leaders and are looking for boys and girls alike who meet their qualifications.

“To be a Jack Father, you need to be able to take control, be creative, and most important, be loud,” Froberg said.

Many duties come along with being a Jack Father. You must come up with creative cheers that follow WIAA rules, be able to inspire the crowd, and brainstorm clever ideas for shirts, posters, and other ideas for games.

“Having more spirit and a louder student section for all sports games will not only pump up the players, but it will also give RAL a better reputation and intimidate other teams,” Bartolus said.

The Jack Fathers hope to begin a long-lasting tradition that will put the pride back in “Pride in a Rich Tradition.”

Many students in our school do not believe that Josiah Raglin 10 actually gets into the octagon with the big boys to compete in MMA fights.

But in fact, he does, and he has been in a few fights recently at Kessler’s Sport Bar and Grill. His most recent fight was on Jan 15, 2010.

Many students at RAL have nicknamed him Hancock because he looks like the famous television actor Will Smith, who plays a disillusioned superhero in the movie Hancock.

But hey, he is Hancock after all, so he could do some damage, right?

“Hancock (Raglin) fights? Man, he is really skinny and probably can’t even take a punch. I would break him in half,” Thomas McCall 12 said.

Despite the disbelief expressed by some of our fellow students, there have been those who have actually witnessed Raglin in action.

“Yeah, I watched him fight. I went twice and both times he unfortunately lost. He is confident, but has not yet been successful,” James Fletcher 11 said.

This great year of 2010 Josiah “Hancock” Raglin has maybe found what he is best at. Perhaps fighting in the octagon with grown men for a living is his dream job. He goes into the octagon with men and stands his ground; he has got to have some guts for that.

“I think Raglin is a brave kid, he goes into a cage and fights. The kid has guts,” Trevor Crape 10 said.

Although he is not surrounded by crowds of screaming fans, Raglin has managed to warm the hearts of some of our school faculty with his personal charm.

 “Josiah is a unique young man, he is always happy and has a smile on his face,” Mrs. Enders in the library said.

Unlike the real Hancock Josiah has found little success to inflict pain on his arch rivals in the ring. This fact reinforces the notion that even though one may look, talk, and walk like the hero; he may still just be an ordinary high school student.

Josiah Raglin is no longer enrolled in our school.