TAKE A NUMBER by Hugo Gonzalez

EMMERT
Images by Cody Calhoon

Fluorescent lights illuminate the nervous crowd seated below them; the constant beep, beep, beep, from the computers is anything but soothing. Everyone stiffly keeps turned to the front of the room.

They murmur in different languages between themselves: Russian, Spanish, different Asian dialects. All of them clutch large stacks of papers, over-prepared, just in case. The immigration office is not a place you want things to go wrong.

“27,” a curly brown-haired woman from the front desk screams, her bark strangely feminine. An older woman stands up; a younger lady helps her walk to the front. No one smiles, few people whisper among themselves the rest just listen.

“28.” Everyone checks their number. Another gets up to disappear to the front of the room.

A TV softly plays against the wall; a wrinkled piece of paper stuck to it reads “DO NOT TOUCH.” Read more →

FIVE OH ONE by Jeremy Hess

EMMERT
Images by Cody Calhoon

Mr. Emmert sent me to detention—my first time ever.
The thought of that stain on my permanent record follows me all the way there.

I don’t know what to expect. Spitballs and chaos. The rioting “bad kids.”

The 2:15 bell rings and I walk into 501, right on time.
One kid sits quietly with his head down. He surfaces sometimes to look out the window.

5 minutes later, another kid comes in. Read more →

POTTERY, UNCHAINED by Julia Garcia & Amber Poer

EMMERT

200 students submitted to the SW Washington art show; only twelve went to the state competition. Leila Stutesman was among them. She has two pottery pieces; required by the show she puts them up for sale, Taking pride in them she comments that “she’s greedy about her pots” because she would rather keep them than sell them.

Leila started pottery her sophomore year and couldn’t get enough and has taken six other pottery classes since. She plans to continue at Clark next year; although, making a career out of pottery is not Leila’s idea of a future job. She does it for fun and her enjoyment of the beautiful pieces she creates. “It makes me feel like I can express myself fully through pottery.”

Not only is she passionate about pottery but also bowling and softball thanks to her father; Ron Stutesman, who has been her mentor and coach ever since she was 7 years old playing T-ball for Evergreen Little League. Read more →

ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC by Jeremy Hess and Amber Poer

EMMERT

String the beats together. Buildup. Drop the bass.

And there you have: dubstep.

The popularity of dubstep has exploded in recent years, and some have taking to making their own beats at home.

Andrew Dietz, a student at Heritage High specializes in electronic dance music and some of the many forms of dubstep.

He used to be really into heavy metal and rock music, until his cousin showed him some dubstep. And then he was hooked.
He started mixing about two and half years ago.

“It puts me in that feeling that, you know, nobody can bother me, my worries are gone,” Dietz says. “Music really is my passion because I have been interested in music basically my whole life and it’s just something I hope I’ll go forward with.” Read more →

I, CHEETO by Nadya Simakov

EMMERT
Images by Amber Poer

Beware of the Cheetos®! You probably can’t even pronounce the stuff on the ingredients list: Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Thiamin Monoitrate, Riboflavin, Frolic Acid, Disodium Phosphate, et al.

30 different kinds of ingredients go into making Cheetos, which end up being 4.8% protein, 35.9% carbs, and 59.3% fat. Cheetos are “one of the most marvelously constructed foods on the planet, in terms of pure pleasure,” says food scientist Read more →

WE SHOULD KNOW THIS by Cody Calhoon

EMMERT

“Welcome to the World Forestry Center,” the man at the front counter says, greeting our class. “Are you looking for a group discount?”
The class of financially-strapped scholars answers in unison with a resounding “Yes!”
We get a whopping $1.40 off.

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The forestry guide leads our class to a theater room for a presentation on the importance of trees. Everyone picked at their brains for the answers to environmental questions that we knew we should recall after countless lectures.
“Can anyone name the types of forests?” Our teacher turns around and gives everyone that look. We should know this. Read more →