Getting An Early Start in Politics
By Cassi Clark


Usually, turning 18 means legal gambling, body modification, and freedom from the reign of your parents. While I had all of this in my mind, including finally getting a serious piercing, I was also thinking of my ability to vote in the next presidential election. The thought of my opinion helping to choose the next leader of our country gave me a small sense of power; I don’t understand why someone would choose not to vote.
So my ballot came in the mail, I voted, and sent it in, only to find out the next day that, since I voted as a Democrat, my vote didn’t count. Instead, I had to attend our town’s Democrat Party caucus to vote. I was reluctant at first, anticipating a strict, stern process which you had to follow precisely or else face Uncle Sam beating you down. I found, however, that the experience was very much worth my time. The atmosphere was welcoming and we were all there for the same reason: to make our voices heard.
The entire process lasted a total of two hours. We were broken up in our small precinct groups which were determined by where we live in Chelan. Based on the number of people in our precinct and what percentage of our precinct voted for each candidate, we found how many delegates--people who represent a large group of people voting for the same candidate--we needed to assign. Our precinct had 3 Obama delegates and 1 Clinton delegate. Our next goal was to assign the roles of the delegates. Lo and behold, I ended up becoming one. I am Cassi Clark, third Democratic delegate for Senator Barack Obama for the City of Chelan, precinct 11. I know... it sounds lame and technical, but it’s actually a pretty cool thing. On April 5th, I will attend a second caucus for the county at the high school, where I could be chosen to continue on to the state caucus and eventually on to the national caucus.
I know most people will think of this as something weird and geeky to do, but I view it as a great experience and a great way to have my opinion count in a country with so much opportunity.

Senioritis —A Dangerous Disease
By Kacie Rahm

Senioritis: an affliction characterized by avid tardiness, absence, procrastination and the ability to miraculously graduate despite producing the most minimal amount of work possible. I self-diagnosed Senioritss this weekend as I began writing a 2,000 word research paper for Bov midday Sunday, a feat that should have started Friday after school. When I looked further into my disease, I realized that there was really no reason to put this assignment off for so long; the remainder of my schedule consists of Annual, Independent Study, Mentorship and Senior Release. In the past three years I have managed to juggle a math, science, English and social studies requirement along with FFA, ASB and cheerleading among other various responsibilities. What happened?
In my opinion, seniors are losing their motivation. The larger portion of seniors have passed the WASL, fulfilled most of their credit requirements, applied to college (or chosen another post-secondary plan) and feel there is no more reason to excel. My first acceptance letter came in the mail a while back and as I read it, most of my stress involved with graduating disappeared. I was in, I was accepted, and I was going to college. However, a certain amount of stress is necessary, in order to complete the year with a decent GPA and a diploma. Don’t let those acceptance letters fool you, any school can deny you admission if by the end of the year, your grades have slipped dramatically. Senioritis is a dangerous ailment; it can leave people scrambling in May to do 40 hours of community service (which is what I fear for myself), or worse: unable to graduate as planned for not fulfilling all of the requirements.
I have personally been taking major steps to eradicate my Senioritis. I have started doing my homework right after school rather than in the late evening, I keep a planner, and I stopped myself from spreading myself to thin by focusing on just a few school clubs rather than all of them. I know that my method won’t work for everyone (sometimes it doesn’t even work for me), but I encourage all seniors to actively work towards finishing the year with the same enthusiasm and quality of work as they started freshman year. Naturally, there will always be those who lack motivation regardless of their graduation year. Slacking does not apply to only seniors; however, we’re the only ones who have the excuse. Attention Juniors: Just like Senior parking and Senior Skip Day, YOU HAVE TO BE A SENIOR TO HAVE SENIORITIS, otherwise you’re not sick, you’re just lazy.