The True Revolutionist Newspaper

.The True Revolutionist Newspaper.

(ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ALL STAFF MEMBERS: STAFF MEETING AT ABBY'S SATURDAY THE 17TH 4-7PM)

Hello adoring fans. Get ready for number 4!

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THIS WEEK IN THE REVOLUTIONIST

Editorial and Response-Y'all told us what you thought of the last issue.

Are we too American?- Cheryl ponders the subject of Americanism

No such thing-Love at first sight?

Novastream-An article about a band in Scotland

DEATH-Liz talks all about death, not as depressing as you'd think

Censoring the Internet-Cool or not?

A day in the Life- A social experiment brought to you by Abby

Every Issue-Word and Poll of the Issue

NOTICE-We need you!

Confessionals of a Random Teen-Abby interviews two kids about how they feel about stuff

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EDITORIAL AND RESPONSE

First of all let me say what a great idea the True Revolutionist is. NO adults telling you what to say or do. It's just ALL you. Excellent! With that said, I'd like to make just a few comments on your article by Cheryl about her week of veggie living. I think it's great that Cheryl was open to trying something different, and with her spirit of adventure, I foresee many exciting experiences for her in the future. It would have been interesting to know what her diet is normally so that one could compare what she was accustomed to eating to what she ate during that week. An example would be...if not wheat toast for breakfast, then what. Also, I hope that if she attempts to eat vegetarian again, she'll remember that a salad CAN have dressing and still be considered vegetarian. It would be a bit tastier as well. As a vegetarian myself, I would like to emphasize that eating vegetarian is not the limited and deprived diet that many believe that it is. There is lots of info out there one can access to help one get the full benefits from such a lifestyle choice. One can also be a vegetarian without being the type of person that attempts to convert everyone you see as that can put some people off on the whole idea. Again, keep up the great work. The ability to express oneself in a clear and articulate manner is a skill worth developing. It will be a valuable asset to each of you for the rest of you lives. Sincerely and Respectfully, Margaret E. Morris

I am so glad you guys wrote the article on the war and I know where you guys are coming from. I am totally against it. It just seems like there are other things the president could have tried to do to prevent a war. OK, yeah the US has asked Hussein to disarm tons of times, but if that didn't work, why couldn't we have tried something else. But no, instead we just bombed innocent people. We aren't even sure if he has weapons of mass destruction. When I was talking about how scared I was because of the war today in school, people told me that Iraq wasn't going to go bomb TMI. The fact of the matter is, I am not scared for myself, but for all the innocent men, women, and children of Iraq and all the US and Canadian troops. You know how teachers and grownups are always telling kids that violence is not the answer, well Bush isn't setting a good example. The part of the article that really hit home was the part about not wanting her brother to get drafted. Well, I have three brothers and I know what you mean Cheryl. My family was even planning to go to a peace walk, but I guess it is a little late for that. In this time of war I pray and ask God to keep everyone save and I just want to let everyone know that if anything ever happens that I love you guys!

Longer than I expected, but i feel very strongly about stuff like this.-Jocelyn

HELLO! OVER HERE! Liz here. It feels like every issue the number of editorials depletes Please, write us. We enjoy your responses! [email protected]

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Are we too American?

America, land of the free and the home of the brave. At least that's how our National Anthem puts it. With a fast food restaurant on every street corner and cell phones hooked to our ears we live in what so many call the greatest country in the world. But why is that? There are lots of other countries just like America that are free and democratic. France and Germany, England and Holland. All free, but what makes America any better than those countries?

Only 500 years ago, our good pal Christopher Columbus hopped on his boat and said the world was round. He reached the Americans in October of 1492. Soon after, more Europeans kept coming, hundreds, thousands. The natives that had been living here before the Europeans came were murdered and beaten. Their heads cut off, and their bodies thrown in pits. And it slowly continued until there were hardly any natives left. America, the free and democratic. Then came the great revolution. A bunch of farmers wanted to break away from Great Britain. Great Britain with its taxes on tea. In the end, Yankees had formed their own country. It was a rough start, but we made it through after constitutions had been written and rewritten. Finally on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence had been signed in Philadelphia, and America was officially born. Everything was fine except for a few minor battles here and there. Until the 1850s. People in the North began to realize America wasn't so free if there were more than four million slaves in the South. America the free. Slaves, they were sold to other people, they were property, they had no rights, they had nothing, only because of the color of their skin. America fell in two pieces, north versus south, Yankee versus Rebel,American versus American. A civil war had begun. 600,000 soldiers had been killed in the end. They had been killed for something they believed in. 600,000 people, and the slaves were free. And through world wars, through economic depressions, through hardships, America survived and grew stronger.

What is America now? What has it since become through so much struggle and victories? A huge country with crowds of people every where. And we wonder what it means to be an American. On September 11, 2001, this question was asked by a lot of people. An airplane in a field in western Pennsylvania, an airplane in the side of the Pentagon, and the twin towers a pile of rubble. We saw it all, the horrific pictures. But we only grew stronger. It was the only thing on our mind, but we survived. Just as we survived wars, economic depressions and hardships.

There really can't be anyone who is an "American" We are all from somewhere else, we say of our ancestors being from various countries around the world. Not even if you are a Native American are you "American" because after all, you did cross the land bridge from Alaska thousands of years ago. Being an "American" is nothing more than a state of mind. We are all from somewhere else, we just happen to live here, so we win the title "American" but there's no way to be an American. Sure, we can have as much pride and patriotism as we want, but we really aren't Americans.

My father's parents made their way across the Atlantic Ocean only 80 years ago from a small country in Europe called Hungary. You still can't say I am Hungarian anymore. I don't know a word of the Hungarian language or anything about the people of Hungary or their culture. And I'm not an American when I am technically half Hungarian. I am an American only by a state of mind. The only thing that is Hungarian about me is funny last name. So have I become an American?

America. The super bowl. Setting off fireworks on the Fourth of July. Red, white, and blue and 50 stars on a flag. Bad drivers, pollution, over-commercialization, a fast paced society constantly on the go. Obesity, bad health, drug dealers, smokers, gamblers, prostitutes, this is the home of the free and the land of the brave.

As an American (by state of mind), I have noticed one huge problem. Despite the fact of our extremely diverse ethnicities, we have problems with prejudice and hate. We are close minded to other cultures, other ideas, other countries; we think America is the greatest country ever. That we are always right, and that all the other countries just aren't as good as us. Too American? I'd say so.

Take France for example. Let's see. They are peaceful and intelligent people. They thought the war with Iraq was a bad idea, but American thought it was a good idea. So, us Americans threw a fit because we have it in our heads that we are always right, and that what we are doing is never wrong. We refused to look at it from someone else's point of view. Suddenly French people are our new enemies simply because they disagreed with us. Its no longer French fries (which are actually Belgium in the first place) but freedom fries. There was no such thing as French toast and well...as for the French poodle, it became something like the... Liberty poodle. But because someone disagreed with us, we think it is a crime, so we made up our petty little ways to show our disapproval. Too American? I'd say so.

Some of us have even become arrogant of the idea that we are American. We have become so proud of ourselves for accomplishing so much. Everyone telling us our country is so great, when it does nothing but boast an ego. Sure, we let just about anyone into the country; you have rights like freedom of speech, freedom to a trial by jury, and even a freedom to a public education. But so do a lot of other countries. Our pollution of 265 million people and 50 states doesn't make us any better than anyone else. We may live in the land of the free and the home of the brave, but the question remains, are we too American?-Cheryl Hatalla

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There is No Such Thing

There is no such thing as the world being flat, just as there is no such thing as love at first sight. I have heard many people say that it was love at first sight, that the moment they laid eyes on each other, they knew that they loved each other, and after that, everything was perfect. The truth is that this isn't possible. You can't look at someone you have never met and fall in love with them. If you think its "love", then you are wrong. The idea of love at first sight is actually based on one thing called lust, which is the physical attraction you have to that person, meaning you like the way that person looks. When you are looking at someone you don't know anything, the only thing you gather about them is the way they look. You don't know their interests; you don't know who they are on the inside. Knowing who a person is on the inside is something much more important than the way that person looks. Someone's appearance is just the outer shell to your soul, and many times the way they look on the outside doesn't reflect the way their soul looks. So basically, if you say it was love at first sight, you are saying two things. First, that you didn't bother to find out who they really were, the way they looked was enough to you. And secondly, it's just a coincidence that things worked out after you got to know that person and found out you had common views. -Cheryl Hatalla

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Novastream

Music is part of us. The type of music we listen to says who we are, and often times, shows how we feel. It can affect the way we dress, the way we act, or even the way we talk. If music makes this big of a difference to us, I realized that we should have a music column. The music column can be about anything music related- a particular music group, a particular instrument, or even a particular feeling you get from listening to music. For this first edition of the music column, I figured Novastream would be the perfect topic to write about. Not only is this band very talented, but they are also very original and write all their own songs.

Just ten miles outside Edinburgh, Scotland in a small town called Ormiston. Owen Whitelaw, Stuart Addison and Keyleigh Waugh are practicing and writing songs. The band first started out about two years earlier when Owen decided to learn to play the guitar.

"Well it all started when I begun to play guitar, basically so I could get girls. But I soon found that I actually really enjoyed playing the guitar. One drunken night, I managed to convince Stu to learn bass" Owen recalled. Afterwards, Kayleigh was soon recruited to play drums.

Novastream isn't your average band. With the ever so talented Owen Whitelaw as the main song writer and Stu and Kayleigh then adding in their own parts, the band has written song after song, each with a lot of noticeable dynamics, which adds to the emotion and meaning behind the songs.

"I just write songs that reflect the way I am feeling at that particular point in time. The songs are always pretty personal, usually about something that has happened recently. 'Who's laughing now' is quite an embittered song reflecting quite a bitter period of my life. But I'm also pleased with the lyrics for 'Storm Report' as they mean a lot to me and I spent a long time writing them. We've got a lot more songs written, 'when the messenger (you understand)', 'without you're soul', 'Flowers from The North' and 'if you're alone tonight'. We've just really been spending the last few months writing and practicing." Owen stated.

The songs can often times give reassurance to those who aren't doing so well. Things may seem horrible, but after hearing Novastream, the songs let you know things could be worse, and that in the end, things will somehow be OK.

"I think that our songs should mean whatever people want them to. We can't really control how people interpret them so really the main thing for me is that people enjoy them and feel they can connect to them" Kayleigh said.

So far, Novastream is progressing into an even better band than what they already are. They are gaining popularity, and even have quite a few shows planned at some local clubs in Edinburgh, plus they have started work on a demo and hope to send it out to some venues and labels. As for the future of the Novastream...

"We definitely want to make a career out of this, that's the dream. But right now we want to finish our education, so world domination won't be happening quite yet. Just now all we want to do is play gigs and get some fans, then one day we'll be ready. It may be hard, but then, that's the dream" Stu said. So you might want to be watching out for them on MTV, but for now, please check out Novastream at: http://www.angelfire.com/indie/novastream/. You'll be glad you did. Thanks.-Cheryl Hatalla

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DEATH

Death, its something we must live with. We're so scared of having our loved ones dying and even ourselves. If can be slow and painful, or quick and painless. And it can happen anytime, even before you are aware of it. Why write about death? Why not just some other stimulating issue? Because Death is the ultimatum for us all.

I know how I feel with death. Its sad. I'm not scared of it. Its just something that happens. Most of the people in my Tech Ed class agree its sad and that they are sad. Some are completely unsure. Some were joking about it. Mr. Rogers, the Tech Ed teacher, put it well when he said "Well, its the fear of the unknown"

Unknown. That sums up death in one word. Where do we go after we die? Some people believe in heaven and hell. The idea is that you die and if you have been good all your life you go to heaven, a place of clouds and angels. If you are bad you'll go to hell to be eternally tortured by the devil and his minions. This idea has scared peasants to become monks in medieval times. People were so scared of going to hell they traveled miles to listen three hour services, in Latin, in the freezing churches. Since they didn't understand Latin, it became more of a hardship. The concept of heaven and hell has made it into almost every TV show, movie, and book. Movies have been made completely surrounding the subject, like "Bedazzled," "Angels in the outfield," and the sequels that followed it, and the upcoming "Bruce Almighty."

There are, of coarse other thoughts on what happens after death. Some believe in the reincarnation, the belief that one is reborn in another's body after death. One could be a tree flower, a bird, a dog, or a human. In this life, the people who believe in reincarnation say you've already had a number of past lives. The religeons that belive in reincarnation are Buddhists and Hindus.

The Islamic religion believes that when one dies they stay in their grave. An angel with big eyes comes over and asks you if you were good or bad. The good Muslims will say there were good and sleep peacefully, but the bad ones will be too scared to say anything and will have nightmares. On Judgment Day, all the Muslims won't recognize each other and Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad would split up the people Sweat from the nervous waiters would make a pond. All the Muslims would be decided on as good or bad. Hopefully, Muhammad would use his wish (all the prophets got a wish) that all the Muslims would go to heaven.

For many, they don't have a need for what happens after you die except for a consolation to one that has died. What they need is how to deal with death. This is the grieving time. For some it may take months, others years, for some it may never end, and for others still it is nonexistent. Some people become extremely temperamental, while others cry all the time. Some bury themselves in work and other ignore it, suppressing any feeling they have. Some take a positive outlook and try to help a cause that was associated with the deceased, like the American Cancer Society or Mother's Against Drunk Driving foundations.

There are many different ways to die. Some people die simply of old age. Doctors aren't sure why this happens. In theory, the cells should be able to continue multiplying and replace themselves (with proper nutrition) indefinitely. Old age however, many times is coupled with disease.

Disease is probably the number one cause of death. Whether it is shingles, a form of chicken pox, cancer in some form, or disease from smoking or alcohol, disease is a horrible way to die. Many times it is an expensive and painfully slow experience. Disease will, many times slowly eat away at your life. "Normal," becomes hospital stays and long waits then when the infected dies the family is left with not only overwhelming grief, but debt piled upon debt for paying the hospital for drugs and hospital procedures.

Speaking of drugs, that is another way to die. Not only can you die from diseases caused by the drugs like emphysema and liver cirrhosis as I formally noted in the article, but you can die from immediate complications of the drugs. Overdosing is a common way to die. Also drugs that give on a high or drunken feel could make you do something stupid like: jumping off a building or sitting on a fire. This will definitely kill you.

Kill. Its a word that implies a completely different meaning that die. It implies fault. If you were killed, someone did it. There are many ways to be killed. Someone could shoot you. Simple as that. Take a gun, and bang you are dead. If you are the one with the gun, you'll probably get a case against you. Suffocation is another way to be killed. Your air supply is cut off, and after minutes you faint. Whether you are smothered or hung, it will kill you.

The last way to die way to die that I have decided to discuss is suicide. This is the probably the hardest for family and friends to deal with. When someone takes their own life, it can be crippling to those left behind. They ask, "Was it my fault?" or "Could I have prevented it?" This is probably one of the worse ways to die.

In conclusion, death is bad, good, sad, happy, and quite confusing. I hope this article has given you insight on the perplexities of death.-Elizabeth Morris.

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Censoring the Internet.

The Internet is the biggest hunk of information anywhere. I can use it to find anything and it's all at my fingertips. Soon however, it may not. As always, the American adult population is trying to censor out explicite material and as always, people feel their speech being violated and parents are afraid of their beloved children seeing pornographic material.

These filters, don't work. You will almost always still be able to see pornography, it will slip through the filters. But these filters to block things that are important. Yes, as embarrassing as it may be for some, the safe sex information are all need and love could be blocked as well. This is one for the biggest arguments of non-censored supporters. Someone searching for their sexual identity or trying to decide if they should have sex using the resources at their public library may be left making the wrong decision, or hurting themselves, because they can't get the information they need.

My opinion on the issue? Educate children not to explore porn, once they get to junior high, take of censorship's because they may block information that is totally acceptable. We no longer worry about mosquito bites just ignore them and put anti-itch cream. Why can't we treat the evils of non-censors the way?

-Liz Morris

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A Day in a Life

Between being accused of flirting too much, being called a skater, too much science class, and little brothers Jamie Linden* has her work cut out for her to stay normal in jr. high.

Monday

"Basically like any other day. I got into homeroom and talked to everybody. Well not EVERYONE, not people who dress like total prostitutes and some other annoying kids in my class. I sat by Curt and Jaden they are SO funny. I've been told I flirt with Curt so I guess I flirted some more this morning. I could care less what people think of me. The only reason they criticize me is because they think so much about what other people think of them. Math came next then, I sit in the middle of the room so I pretty much talked to everybody. As usual my friends and I talked, passed notes, and basically goofed off the whole time. Somehow I have an A in that class. English was the next "interesting class" and if Will and Matthew don't stop bugging us about stuff I'm gonna FREAK. Science was fun but Mr. Ringer is sometimes kind off�..ew. Lunch came and Ally suddenly decided to sit with us, doesn't she know no one likes her? Sorry but if someone went around spreading rumors about you I don't think you'd like her too much either. And people are always trying to get me to eat. If I'm not hungry, why are they trying to force me to eat? I'm not anorexic! Ew, and I don't like Mr. Miller. I would think he's gay but he has a wife and kids, personally I'd get a divorce. He's always singing screwed songs, and it's like hello, shut up, no one likes you!! And home EC. Major ew. Last year they taught us about nutrition. Yeah well, they're fat! And then when I get home I always go to my room with my music. There is only one way to listen, LOUD. Real loud, with surround sound and the bass turned on so you can feel it vibrate. My sister calls me a skater because of my tons of weird jewelry and my music. Who cares what she calls me? I know who I am and I can't be described by her."

Tuesday

"OK. When I said I don't care what my sister thinks of me, it wasn't totally true. I honestly don't care what people think of me at school but my family is different. My sister called me a skater again. That's fine, skaters are cool but when she got mad she called me fat and ugly. I know I'm not the thinnest and I'm not the prettiest but this is coming from my family. Is she telling the truth? Or is it just because she's mad? Oh well, I'm over it.

It was so funny this morning, Lise brought in this pamphlet on this drug or something and how it's bad, but it had where you could get it! Hello, you don't tell people where they could buy drugs if you don't want then to use it. I mean, duh."

Wednesday

"I was so bummed. I only made select choir. Lise said she didn't even want to be in it, but she's in both. I'm really mad though, because I was in honors last year. It's like I'm suddenly getting cut in everything. And I know I'm just as good or better than half the people on the list. And sitting next to Will isn't half as bad as I thought because I can always talk to Anne or Curt, especially Anne because Curt is no fun when he starts paying attention (which I never do, but he always does). Besides, I can turn around and talk to Jaden. He's weird sometimes, but in a good way and every once in awhile Will is actually nice to me. But that doesn't happen very often."

Thursday

"I had to help out at this after school thing at my old elementary school. Only because I have to do community service (ew). I thought it was gonna be really boring but the lady I signed up to help brought her son to help too. He's this chippe that goes to my school. I already kind of new him, Dylan's cool, so we kind of hung out the whole time. But, really, we helped so no one can yell at us. My little brother went to the science booth. (I still don't get why he didn't do the soccer one�.) Anyway, the teacher was Mr. Wilcox, and he had them make SLIME. And it smells bad. I told my brother if he got that stuff in my room he's DEAD."

*Names were modified from original copy.

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Every Issue

Poll of the Issue: Do you agree with the "Are we too American" article? Send your responces to [email protected]!

Word of the Issue: copious-

1 a : yielding something abundantly b : plentiful in number

2 a : full of thought, information, or matter b : profuse or exuberant in words, _expression, or style

*3 : present in large quantity : taking place on a large scale : lavish, abundant

Use it copiously!

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NOTICE

We need people to sign up for a day in the life and confessionals (see below). If you're willing to do so e-mail [email protected]. Its confiential!

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Confessionals

-Of Random Teen

Everybody feels different especially in the "teenage years", whether it's because of your views or opinions or how you handle yourself. So how do you feel about it? Do you consider yourself different? Here's what two of our subscribers unvailed�

Jocelyn Himes describes herself as nice and funny to some people and relatively a good person. When asked if she had many pressures in her life she said, "Not really, the typical I guess; school and parents. I guess I also pressure myself because I a perfectionist and I'm not really pressured by my peers because I don't care what they think." Although she did say she wears make-up because most people do she stated that it was more for herself than anyone else. I also asked if it was easier to be a girl or guy since in this day pressures are different for the different genders. "Its really easier being a girl," says Jocelyn, "I don't think I would like asking girls out if I was a guy� but I think a lot of girls are pressured into looking right by magazines and peers." (Side note from Liz, "Magazines are sending mixed messages - telling us to look good but be ourselves.") And the music scene? "It's too graphic right now." So instead of listening to what's on your typical 99.3 KISS FM or HOT 92 she listens to the emo band All American Rejects. When asked why more people don't listen to it she said that they weren't big yet and people like big bands. To end they interview I asked what event in your life changed you the most and without thinking about it she replied, "9-11 really taught me to be thankful for what you have and tell people everything because there may never be another day to do that."

I also recruited Kyle Murphy to answer some of these same questions. He describes himself as likeable, humorous, intelligent, clumsy at times, and fun guy to hang around which are all important qualities to have or so he says. When asked about his pressures in his life that teenagers (and himself) are pressured by their peers to look good and fit in "Which are all hard to maintain sometimes." he admitted. "It's defiantly easier to be a guy," Kyle says when asked about the gender differences, "Labor is not cool and....other stuff. I don't really feel pressure to ask girls out and stuff because then I know it wasn't meant to be." "The thing that changed me the most, other than religion has to be hockey. It taught me discipline, humility, team work, be tolerant, and to always give 110%." Believe it or not, church also taught him to try hard - and it's not hard to live up to what they expect of you. "You do your best."

-Abby Wheeler

Interested in being the next teen to be interviewed? Let me know at [email protected].

Staff

Cheryl Hatalla

Abby Wheeler

Elizabeth Morris

Jordan Himes

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