In this April, more than 90 exchange students, from all over the world, got together in the paradise islands of Hawaii!  During April 2-9 all of us had the opportunity to experience different activities and cultures, but not only Hawaiian ones.  We, all the exchange students, were from at least 20 different countries and even if it was only for a week, we got to know each other really well and we made friends that will be never forgotten!

To start the week, on April 3rd, we had surf lessons in Waikiki beach, a Catamaran Ride and a very fun dinner at Hard Rock Café.  In the following day, April 4^th, we had a city tour around the island, where we went to the famous Dole Plantation, Haleiwa town, North Shore and Sunset Beach; where the most famous surfing competitions were held.  For the final stop of the day we visited the Polynesian Cultural Center, where we were able to experience different cultures from the Polynesian islands, like Samoa and Tonga.

On April 5^th, we had an amazing kayaking adventure were we headed to Mokulua, a bird sanctuary island made of volcanic rocks.  There we had lunch, we swam on the beautiful turquoise water and we went back to the beach Lanikai (Heavenly Waters) and after all of that we went back to the hotel.  In the next day, we spent the whole time in Hanauma Bay snorkeling, it was an awesome activity.  We saw common types of fish like the humunukuapua and all kinds of different ones.

April 7^th was my favorite day because we visited the Pearl Harbor.  First we went to the USS Missouri, the battleship, where we volunteered our time by doing a social project.  We helped them to clean, and after that we had a fantastic tour where we were able to see the command center, and a lot of cool areas of the ship.  After that we finally got to go to the memorial, where we learned a little bit more about that tragedy.  In our last day, we enjoyed our last day and we said goodbye to all the good friends we made. Hopefully I will get a chance to met them all again !

Pity the poor person who has only heard the rhythm of a tango through their ipod. There is nothing quite like being transported straight to the streets of Buenos Aires through the golden strings of Extasis Tango Quartet. Tango lovers often go as far as Argentina to feel the melodic spirit of this latin dance, but on January 26, the sensual music of the  tango came to Steamboat live.

While a  serious quartet on stage, their  interview was commical off  stage, and just as entertaining  as their previous performance.

Claude Simons,   a  professional  violinst , is also  a member of the Colorado Symphony as well  as  Susan Cahill on bass.

Other Extasis members,  include evan orman on his bandoneon  and Mike Tilley on piano.

The lights are focused on the quartet, so bright that they are vividly lit for the audience, but too bright for them to see the audience they play for.  Tango is not their only music love, they also play classical music.

Their original bass player died and Susan Cahill began to play for them.

They all began playing their instruments when they were younger. Claude plays various instruments including piano and violin.  Mike Sims travels around with different singers and performers.  While the players miss being away from home, they like being on the road (no house chores they teased).

Their favorite part about playing is the physical sensation of music rythm, tone, and the emotions it builds upon.

Their worst performance was on Mexican TV when the speakers and amps went bad.  It was embarrassing because no one clapped.

Not watching  this performance on YouTube (although you can find it there) but in person was invigorating.

Check out Extasis on their new CD.

All newspapers have their faults, being spelling errors, grammar or even the writer.  Yet in some instances the paper may not be at fault but those who are reading it might be.

Please don’t stop reading; by no means is this article to offend you but yet to get a better grasp on what public respects, acknowledges and despises.

Sometimes what makes writing an article fun is to write about something arguable, but this  writer by no means tries to oppose the reader but make them think on a different level in which other articles have not  yet made them twist and turn.

This article is both an apology and statement to the readers of the “Cowboy Round Up”. By means of apology on my behalf and the entire journalism staff we apologize for any offensive material that was  posted recently.

On the other hand however being a journalist doesn’t mean sugar coat the truth but report the facts and what happened–not a candyland fairytale.  You the reader are what keeps the paper alive  and we greatly appreciate that more then you know. All journalists of the “Cowboy Round Up” would like to thank you for making this paper  a joy to right.

The Internet: what a wonderful resource for everyone, but there are some people who misuse it.  The first thing you must know is, that millions of people use the internet, so do not post anything that could cause you trouble.  You must be careful what you post on the Internet.

When you meet someone on the Internet, you should never give them any personal information.  They could use the information you tell them to find out where you live.  They could also use it to hurt you socially on sites like Facebook and Myspace.  Never give out any personal information.

If you follow these simple rules you can protect yourself on the Internet.  If you choose not to follow these rules you can probably get in trouble later.  If you just follow these simple rules, you will not get into trouble.

The interview with the Freshmen Class President, Aly Ridings, went well, but was very mysterious. The interview started with the question: What were you thinking when you were nominated? She answered by saying ” Don’t lose when nominated so we can have a good group.” Ms. Ridings must have been worried about the student council and who was in it. Next was the question:  Why do you think you were nominated? She answered after asking Mrs. Urenda the question saying that she had good leadership skills. This is where it gets weird, she was asked the question  How do you plan to run this school year? She answered “Very carefully. ” Then she quickly turned and walked away. Did she have other plans for the school year that she could not share with the press? What were these plans? Aly is been claimed by many people that she would be a good president. Even people who are not in the freshmen class think that she will be a good president. But what is she hiding?

Ever been curious about zombies? Well, if your a student at the University of Baltimore, wonder no more as they now offer a class solely about zombies. The class will be taught by Arnold Blumberg, author of Zombiemania: 80 Movies To Die For, which takes a look at one of the most popular horror movie subcultures of all time, zombies. According to the Baltimore Sun, the students in English 333 will watch 16 different zombie movies, and read zombie comic books. Also, as an alternative to taking their final, students can write a script or draw storyboards for a would-be zombie film. However, the University of Baltimore isn’t the first school to have a course on zombies, schools such as Columbia College in Chicago, and Simpson College in Iowa have also offered classes about the undead. It may seem like a joke, but the class, while learning about zombies, will also learn how literature and mass media work. So, if you need info about the undead, there is a place for you!

More and more extreme sports are bec0ming as big as the NFL and other mainstream sports. Here is an example of some of the things that professional bikers can do. (This is why we watch them!)

Those are some of the most extreme things that can be done on a bicycle, and that’s not even close to the things that you can see while watching these guys on your television or computer! So remember, the next time you need some entertainment turn to extreme biking!

Monday January 18^th, 2010

On Monday, while in Denver, Colorado for the 2010 National Western Stock show, our very own Meeker FFA Chapter toured four agricultural related forms of business. One of those businesses included Shamrock Foods, which is one of the largest distribution companies in the western United States. Shamrock Foods is made up of four smaller corporations that help to distribute their products. On average, approximately 13,000 different varieties of products run through the distribution plant in Commerce City, Colorado daily. Approximately, three months ago, Shamrock Foods added on to their distribution plant a meat packing plant. There are many different types of meat that runs through this distribution plant. Beef is the most common but they also store poultry, pork, and seafood as well. There are 13 different types of seafood that runs through this plant including a live lobster tank. On average, between two and three thousand pounds of seafood daily. At this distribution plant, they have the privilege of keeping a USDA certified person onsite six days per week to inspect their meat before it is sent out to the consumer. The consumers also get the chance to go in and show the meat packing plant employees how they want their meat cut if they are not pleased with the product that they received in the past. Shamrock Foods is a company that is very dedicated to the happiness of its customers. They are so dedicated that if the customers need fresh products the next day, all the customer has to do is place their orders by 5:00 PM. Shamrock foods is very dedicated to keeping the statement that their products are fresh when they are distributed. To keep their products remaining fresh, Shamrock foods make sure that their entire inventory has not been there for longer than twenty-eight days.

- By: Kelsie Gross

Sunday January 17^th, 2010

Our second day at the Denver, Colorado National Western Stock show, I had the privilege of watching the 2010 Junior Market Lamb Show. As opposed to last year, this year’s market lambs were very nice this year that made for an excellent competition. This year’s judge was much more thorough this year compared last year. He took his time in making his selection and when he had the top five lambs selected, he gave very easy to follow and thorough reasons for his selection. The overall show was very intriguing. The sheep showmen all worked very hard at attempting to get their lambs to look their absolute bests and excelled dramatically. We had two students from Meeker, Colorado that represented our town at stock show this year and they did an excellent job.

- By: Kelsie Gross

Yesterday, January 12, 2010, Mr. Klark Kindler was announced Meeker High School’s Teacher of the Year! He was recognized at a school-wide assembly for outstanding accomplishment in teaching by the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW). He was given two plaques, one to take home, and one to be hung up in the hallways of Meeker High School. The awards were given to him by members of the VFW including Joe Dungan, Tom Kilduff and Mrs. Crawford. A statement about Mr. Kindler, written by Ashley Purkey, was read.

Mr. Kindler wasn’t the only person who received a reward; so did three Meeker High School students. There was a scholarship contest entered by 17 students, and the winners were announced. In 3rd place was Charley Adams, who received a $50 Savings Bond; in 2nd place was Cameron Glasscock, who received a $50 Savings Bond and $20 of Meeker Chamber Bucks; and finally, in 1st place was Kelsie Gross, who received a $100 Savings Bond, and a plaque of recognition.

Meeker High School’s Staff and Student Body are very proud of these winners.

Starting out feeling like a normal cold, the H1N1 flu virus will strike a person with deadly force. I know what this feels like.

On the morning of October 13, I woke up telling my mom that I didn’t feel good. I told her to just let me stay home today and sleep, and that I would get my work on the next day. So, she saw that I was really not feeling good, and told me to go back to bed. My mom, (Tammy Jordan) came home from work at the elementary school on that same day, and I told her that I felt like I was going to puke.

She told me to lay on the bed, but be ready to jump up if I needed. So, I laid in the bed for about 20 minutes after that, and here it came. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom and, after puking for about a constant 5 minutes, I drank some water and laid down, falling asleep immediately.

I woke up about 6 hours later, at about 3:00 in the morning, and I was freezing cold. I already had an electric blanket, along with my comforter and two other blankets, and I wanted more. I called my mom into my room, and she gave me two more blankets before I finally started to warm up. I fell back asleep, after I was warmed up.

On the morning of October 14, my mom woke me up and told me that I had a doctor’s appointment in 30 minutes. She had called the clinic as soon as they opened. I got up and brushed my teeth, so that I could go to the doctor.

When I got there, they made me put a mask over my face to keep the germs contained. When they took me back into the examining room, the nurse asked my mom what my symptoms were, and how long I had been having these symptoms. After the nurse was done asking questions, she left and the doctor came in about 5 minutes later.

The doctor looked at what the nurse had written on my chart, and after the doctor had asked a few more questions, I was diagnosed with the H1N1 flu virus. I was given a shot for the nausea, and given a bottle of Tamaflu to take twice daily.

The doctor told us if I had and problems breathing, or if it began to get any worse than it was, to come back immediately. So we returned home and I took one of the pills that she had given me, and tried to sleep. I didn’t even get the chance, as soon as I got downstairs, I began throwing up again.

Afterwards, I again went immediately to bed and awoke about 3 hours later, only to puke again. I had to drink something, though, to avoid dehydration. So, I drank a cup of 7up and went to sleep. I threw up about 3 more times that day, and slept a lot.

On October 15, i repeated the same symptoms as the day before, only it was worse. I had awoke many times the night before, being either extremely cold, or extremely hot.

I had maintained a constant fever the day before, and it was still with me. My whole body ached, and I could do nothing more than lay in the bed for the entire day.

One of the symptoms of the H1N1 virus is that you will sleep a lot. So, most of the day, when I wasn’t puking or trying to drink 7up, I was sleeping. This day passed, with me puking multiple times, and trying to keep down some crackers. I kept telling my mom that I was hungry, but I knew and she knew that I couldn’t keep anything down. All I could eat was some saltine crackers, and drink a little bit of 7up. By Friday, I could feel that the medicine given to me by the doctor was starting to help.

I was really feeling the effects of the medicine by Sunday. I felt much better than I did on the past Tuesday. I was so weak from lying in bed all week. I needed to get my strength back before returning to school. I was finally able to eat some chicken noodle soup, supplied by my mom.

I began to try and walk around the basement to try and get some strength back. I immediately felt my legs tremble and after taking only a few steps I became light-headed and needed to sit back down. However, I kept on trying and slowly started gaining my strength back.

By Tuesday, October 20, I was feeling much better and was ready to return to school on the next day. I made sure I got plenty of rest on Tuesday night and got up bright and early to attend school on Wednesday. I am glad that I am better now and hope I did not get anyone else sick in the process.

by ERICA ROYBAL

It has nearly been a century since Theodore Roosevelt first called for health care reform. Nearly every president since then has attempted to meet Teddy’s challenge by some means. In 1943, Mr. John Dingell introduced the first bill for comprehensive health care reform. Sixty-five years later Mr. Dingell’s son continues to introduce that bill at the beginning of every session. Nonetheless, every attempt by every single president and every single set of Congress representation has failed in the sense that American citizens remain left with health care hardships. According to various studies conducted across the country, more than 30 million American citizens cannot obtain coverage. One in every three American citizens goes without health coverage at one point or another. Everyday 14,000 Americans lose their coverage. A serious problem plagues the US health care system and this problem does not just curse the uninsured. America remains the only advanced democracy on Earth, the only wealthy nation that allows health care hardships for millions of its citizens. In America, party affiliation on Capitol Hill should not matter. The large bickering debate between killing health care reform and creating it should not continue. Greed should not exist. Nevertheless, the unfortunate truth remains greed does indeed exist, the bickering debate will continue, party affiliation on Capitol Hill does matter and Americans remain stuck with the most inefficient health system among several other countries. The 70,000 Americans that do have coverage remain living with a health care hardship because compared to several other rich countries the United States health care system consistently underperforms. In “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: An International Update on the Comparative Performance of American Health Care,” the study focused on interviews with physicians and patients in Australia, Britain, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Both physicians and patients spoke about their experiences and perceptions on their health systems. The second study explored the reasons why health costs in the US remain higher compared to eight other countries: Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand. According to these two studies, the US health care system ranks last among other major rich countries in the areas that include efficiency, quality and access.

One of several significant components compared the health care systems: efficiency and healthier lives of the people inhabiting each country. The studies show that the US performs poorly on measures of national health expenditures, administrative costs, the usage of information technology and multidisciplinary teams or the usage of the team approach. The usage of information technology and the team approach work extremely well in the other countries to manage chronic conditions and coordinate care. The Director of The Common Wealth Fund, Karen Davis, commented to the Agence France Presse, “We pride ourselves on being advanced on so many areas of technology but it’s not the case on health information technology, other countries have just moved ahead.” Information technology and systems in countries like Germany, New Zealand and the U.K. enhance the ability of physicians to monitor patients with chronic conditions. These systems make it easy for physicians to print out medication lists even medications from other physicians and history reports. In this study, the U.K. and New Zealand ranked first and second as far as efficiency. In terms of healthier lives, the US ranks last. The study, “Multinational Comparisons of Health Systems Data,” found that even though the US spends the most on both ‘publicly and privately financed health insurance; its citizens had the most potential years of life lost because of circulatory and respiratory diseases’ and diabetes. Compared to the other countries, the US has significant higher death rates. Compared to Canada the death rates in the US continue to stay 25 to 50 percent higher. The study included that ill citizens of New Zealand remain less likely to acquire illness for a condition treatable by a doctor. Australia ranked first in terms of its citizens living healthier lives.

The observation of quality included five sub-components: effective care, safe care, coordinated care and patient-centered care. The US won the contest of poor performance in the categories of chronic care management and safe, coordinated and patient-centered care. The study concluded that Americans go without needed health care because of cost if they do not possess coverage. An additional component observed in the studies was equity. The US ranked a clear last. The Common Wealth Fund study summed up the fact that Americans with below-average incomes remain more likely to report ‘not visiting a doctor, not getting a recommended test, not attending treatment or follow up care, not filling a prescription and not seeing a dentist’. “The US spends twice what the average industrialized country spends on health care but we are clearly not getting value for the money,” stated Karen Davis.

Astonishing hardships remain placed upon the uninsured Americans who live day-to-day just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy. Uninsured translates to no affordable medical help and it means when an uninsured American’s health is at risk they are facing potential financial crises. These uninsured Americans do not mainly consist of people on welfare; they consist of primarily middle-class Americans. Some middle-class Americans cannot get insurance through their employer. Self-employed middle-class Americans cannot afford coverage since buying insurance independently costs three times more than the coverage one would receive from their employer. Several Americans willing and capable of paying for coverage remain uninsured and denied of coverage due to a previous illness or health conditions that insurance companies do not want to deal with because of the risk. Most obviously, due to the fact that America does not provide its citizens with universal health care accessibility remains at a low. From another perspective the US and Canada rank lowest on the component of prompt accessibility of appointments with physicians, while Germany ranks first.

The US ranks last of six nations overall. The US ranked last in most areas, including access to health care, patient safety, timeliness of care, efficiency and equity. Americans ranked last, in terms of whether they had a regular physician. “This study blows a lot of myths about the US health system,” stated Davis, “We spend three times what the average country spends on a day of hospital care and we also spend twice what the average country spends on prescription medication.” These rankings summarize evidence on measures based upon national mortality data and the perceptions and experiences of patients and doctors. America needs to remove financial barriers to care and improve the delivery of care for its citizens. New Zealand, Australia and the U.K. continue to demonstrate superior performance with Germany joining their superiority. “Our failure to ensure health insurance for all and encourage stable, long-term ties between physicians and patients shows in our poor performance on measures of quality, access, efficiency, equity, and health outcomes,” said Karen Davis. America differs from the other countries by the fact that Americans have no universal health insurance coverage. Maybe money holds a greater value in America than any class- notably the poor or the injured that cannot obtain coverage- of people. The United States continues to stay far behind in adopting modern health information technology, which translates into spiraling upward costs and poor care. Britain received the top score in overall ranking among the countries in the study, followed by Germany, New Zealand and Australia tied for third followed by Canada and the United States. These other rich countries have no financial burden and their citizens carry no health hardships however, they have long waiting lists for specialized services.

I talked to an armory expert for the Colorado State Patrol to see what he thought about Six Days In Fallujah and, about how the State Patrol uses video games to train their officers. He talked with me about the Patrol and notified me that they do indeed use a game for training.

However, it is more of a simulation than a game. The simulation is of various issues that the officer may run into while out on the job. The officers are given modified guns that are designed to shoot laser beams instead of bullets. They will go through a dangerous situation just as if it was real life.

They will pull someone over, and do a drug search. If they find drugs in the car, (which they will) they will ask the person to step out of the vehicle. If they do all of the follow up procedures correctly, the situation will not escalate. However, if they make even one mistake, the situation can become extremely “dangerous” really quickly.

The simulation is run by superior officers from a computer in an office near the room. So, they can monitor what the officers are doing, and how they handle the situation. They will control whether or not the person will become hostile or will follow the officer’s orders.

This training is very close to some of the games you can buy today. It has the same basic concept, but doesn’t last nearly as long; and is operated differently. The outcome is controlled by the people in the office for the training simulation, but in games like Killzone 2 and Call of Duty: World at War, the outcomes are already programmed into the game. There are many different outcomes in the games, but they will not change because someone sitting in the next room hits a button.

I also asked Mr. Sims what he thought about Six Days In Fallujah. He told me that he had indeed heard about this game, and although he didn’t know a lot about it, he had an opinion on it. He told me that the game, in his opinion, should not be released to the public for teenagers to get their hands on. However, if an adult who wanted to know what the situation was like wanted to pick up a copy of the game and play it, that would be okay. He also thought that it would be a great thing for them to use for training.

Is that a civilian or an enemy? Those are the decisions that will have to be made. Six Days In Fallujah is a third-person shooter game made by Atomic Games releasing in 2010 for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and Mac. It will be a realistic representation of Operation Phantom Fury, the second battle of Fallujah.

The Battle of Fallujah was the largest urban battle of the Iraq War. Thirty-eight U.S. soldiers died in the battle, and more than 1,000 insurgents were killed. There are many families who lost loved ones in the battle that are expressing their true feelings about this game.

Atomic Games has received letters, e-mails, and telephone calls expressing dislike of the game. However, they have also received many letters, e-mails, and telephone calls from people who really want this game to happen.

There are about 40-50 Marines working with Atomic who were actually in the battle. They have photographs, maps, and video of things that they experienced through the battle. The soldiers are working on every step of the game with Atomic, and are making sure that every detail is just how it would be in real life. Any building will come to the ground, just as it would in reality; any structure will react realistically to being shot and hit with explosives.

The Marines will tell the programmers just how much damage each weapon will deal to the enemies and the environment. They will tell them how the soldiers would really react to the things going on around them. The game uses realistic military tactics during play.

The players will have to make moral decisions throughout the game, as well. If there is a woman running at them, they tell her to stop, and she doesn’t stop; what do you do? Do you shoot the woman and mistakenly kill a scared civilian? Do you let her keep running at you, and possibly get your whole squad killed from an IED that was attached to the woman’s back? Those are the kinds of decisions that will be placed upon players of the game.

The purpose of Atomic Games was to make a documentary-styled game, that would show players the horrors of being in the Iraq War. They wanted to show people that didn’t know anything about the Marines and how the Marines operate in war, what it was really like to be in the Battle of Fallujah.

The game would make you actually care about the people you were fighting beside. You would care about their safety, and you would react to their deaths, as if it was a real person. This is what they are wanting people to experience, this is what they were hoping for. A realistic representation of the horrors of war.

Game Picture

 Loading ...