Jason Volkmann is one of the many who disagree with the recent boundary changes because,” more of my friends will be going to North instead of Liberty.” Trystan Brown agrees with Jason by adding, “No, it didn’t affect me in any way, but I don’t agree with the new boundaries because I think they have changed them way too many times, and they could make the bound changes so much easier than they are now.”

It’s out of our hands when it comes to which school we go to and staying in contact with those friends can get tough.

On the bright side, however, by next school year when the freshman leave the Jr. High and are separated, most of them will be able to drive soon. This will come in handy when wanting to say in touch with one another. Also just text and make plans often which is another great way to stay close.

The boundaries have changed before and sooner or later they will change again. It’s sometimes unpredictable and out of our control. But you just gotta live with what you have, even if you lose friends, I can guarantee you will just make that many more.

Next year will be the start of four of the most important years of  the 8th graders lives. All through their school careers people have told them that grades don’t count until 9th grade, so they’re not important. Whether you listened to them or not, the time is now. Grades really do count, so you need to make sure to apply yourself as much as possible and crunch down on things that need to be done.

Freshman Maddie Kern says, “It never really hit me that what I do now affects my future. If I get bad grades in high school, I may not get into the college I want in the future.”

Freshman Jason Volkmann adds in, “I knew if I wanted to keep playing baseball I had to keep my grades up, so that motivated me to study a lot and work hard.”

Whether it’s sports that motivate you, or the idea of getting into a good college, work as hard as you can and stay on top of things.

Unlike most other schools, in Liberty the freshmen attend one of the two Jr. Highs. Next year, the current freshmen, will start their first year at Liberty Senior High School, or Liberty North High School. Whether you will be an Eagle or a Blue Jay, the change will be huge. At the high schools you will have more freedom, but with freedom comes responsibility.

Erin Kiely, a sophomore at LHS says, “The biggest change is definitely the amount of freedom you have. At the Jr. High you couldn’t really do anything since no one drove, but at the high school, sometimes you are able to go places since most people have cars.”

Senior sister Delaney Kiely adds in, “The other main difference is the school work starts to be all on you. In Middle School and Jr. High, the teachers would nag you until you got assignments turned in, but at the High School you have to be responsible for that.”

John C. Maxwell once said, “Change is inevitable – failure is optional.” This upcoming year can make or break the 8th graders and freshmen. Don’t let it break you. Work hard and you will do great.

Sadly, unlike the movies with complex plots, and extensive planning, life seems to be more of a blob of events. We must endure the boring moments, like sitting in a math class for ninety minutes, or sitting in a car for a twenty-four hour drive to “vacation”. Surviving these extremely boring scenes becomes the norm. We allow our minds to wander and before we know it we’ve missed it, the perfect opportunity to make the boring moments light up, and nothing is worse.

Due to a series of unfortunate events, my life’s movie was shifted from a comedy to a drama, and my family was on their way to a funeral.  Funerals alone are a terrible thing to deal with, but cleaning your way through a hoarder’s mass collection was another adventure to be dealt with. Previous to this weekend, movies painted the picture of funerals followed by multi-million dollar inheritances, but this was fundamentally different in every aspect.  There was no great fortune to be had, unless you have a business selling items anywhere from Carhart jackets, foot powder, and thousands of various pocket knives.  However, my uncle said a very factual phrase, “It is what it is”. That made the situation bearable, and even almost enjoyable.

Life is what it is. It may be fun to imagine it as a movie, but nothing could be more senseless, because life doesn’t have a set plot line; it’s random. So next time you’re stuck in math class, or  taking a long test remember, “life is what it is” and not like a movie. Besides, who would want their life to be only an hour and a half?

Renaissance usually goes to Worlds of Fun on the last week of school, but not this year. Of course bowling and icecream are fun too! To be gold, you had to have 3.175 or above to get a gold star. Which means you can get 3 B’s and still maintain a gold. While bowling, pizza will be available; make sure you come hungry! Make sure you do your best and listen in class, because there will be rewards! Besides LJH, we know everything has a consequence.

Next year be sure to try to maintain gold or work up to it. Because gold will always be getting more and may be more hardwork, but it has more rewards too! Work hard and it will pay off; try your best, and you’ll be rewarded. As long as you put your heart into it, you should be satisfied. Keep up the hard work and be sure to strive for gold and get ready to celebrate LJHS!

One of the earlier Google doodles, made in 1998, featured a turkey and Google’s original logo. Google did not have daily logo changes back then as they do now. The logo was simple and delicate, and got the point across. We admire that, even after only two years, Google was branching out on their logo. Look at what it has led to today.

Another favorite was the Les Paul birthday special from 2011. The doodle was an interactive guitar with which you could play songs like “Hey Jude” from the Beatles, “Paparazzi” by Lady Gaga, and “Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson. The guitar was a huge hit and Google announced on their Twitter that they would leave it up for an additional day in the United States.

Do you remember that zipper logo I mentioned earlier? It is also in our top ten. The doodle consisted of a zipper running down the middle of the Google logo. Sounds simple enough, right? Click the mouse and the zipper would unzip to reveal the search page on the birthday boy, Gideon Sundback. Other LJHS students were fascinated with this doodle also, and zipped and unzipped the zipper as much as teachers could tolerate.

Speaking of teachers, another of our favorites was a logo from 2005, celebrating teachers’ day. The doodle was first used for teachers’ day in China on September 10, 2005, and used again for teachers day in America on May 2, 2005. Google’s doodles were becoming more elaborate as the years went on. The teachers’ day logo was one of the richer of the year, and also thanked people who truly deserved it. This is why this doodle was chosen in our top ten.

The first day of school is always a little stressful. Meeting new teachers and finding your classes can be a pain. In 2011, Google posted a doodle created solely from (Graphically designed) pencil shavings, spelling out Google. Extra points go to Google for their creativity. Originally the idea was to use real pencil shavings and photograph them. After realizing the difficulty the doodle was then graphically designed to perfection.

Another beloved Google icons, was the Wallace and Gromit themed logo from 2009. This icon featured the two well known stop-animation characters, and promoted their up and coming movie. The actual logo was a photo taken, displaying Wallace and Gromit hard at work inventing some sort of contraption. If you study the picture long enough, you will notice the faint outline of the Google letters.

Many people know the classic tale of “The Wizard of Oz.” Children everywhere listened to the beloved tale of Dorothy and her friend’s adventure into the woods, and their journey to find the great and powerful Wizard. The Wizard of Oz Google logo celebrates the 71st anniversary of the classic 1939 film that starred Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale. It was displayed back in 2010, and was a favorite among many Google users.

The Buckyball is a favorite office desktop toy for many. Named after Buckminster Fuller, this compact, durable, and overall nerdy device was meant to entertain, and to inspire. It has fuelled physics engineers to study more on the overall aspect of the design. In 2010, this fun toy made its way spinning and turning, onto the Google homepage.

Next up, was the Particle’s icon from 2010. This  logo was animated, and reacted to the pointer of your mouse: move it closer to the logo, and the particles will dodge the mouse pointer . Unlike some other Google doodles, this one did not have a specific reasoning behind it. It could be Google’s birthday which falls on either September 4, September 7, or September 27. The reasoning is still unsure, but this was still definitely one of our favorites.

And last but most certainly not least, was the interactive Pacman logo. Not only did it celebrate the joy and entertainment of the well-known arcade game, but it also let you play it. Many hours were wasted in cubicle, classroom, and home computers that day in 2011. This Google icon was so popular, that it stayed up for an extra day, and it is still available on the web.

All in all, Google’s creativity and design has showed through many years of logos and fun icons. From the earliest of years, to the up and coming, Google will never cease to surprise us, and we are looking forward to just what Google might do next.

Edda (Audrey) Kathleen van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston was born in Brussels, Belgium on May 4^th, 1929 to her Dutch mother, Baroness Ella van Heemstra, and British father, Joseph Hepburn-Ruston. They divorced early on in Audrey’s childhood and sent her away to a boarding school in London, England. Then, World War II began, and while taking refuge in Arnhem, Holland with her mother, Audrey started dance lessons and attended Arnhem school of Music (“Audrey Hepburn Biography”). “Especially after the war, women came to the conclusion that there had to be more to life than looking after children and the house,” says one source (“Decade”).  From then, she began modeling and continuing a career in dance in Amsterdam and London. Her first film was in a short, Dutch picture, Nederlands in Zeven Lesson (“Audrey Hepburn Biography”). One source says, “The 1950’s saw Audrey emerge as a major Hollywood movie star” (“Audrey Hepburn Biography”). Her fame only grew from then on and she, not only shortened her name, but made a name for herself in Hollywood too.

Her beauty only took her so far, and then it was pure gift and talent that took her to the full climax of her success. One source says, “She is one of the few people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony award” (“Audrey Hepburn Biography”).  Just in her first year as a star she won the Theatre World Award: “Promising Personalities” for 1951-1952, Best Debut Performance by an actress for Gigi, and The Billboard Annual Donaldson Award for an Outstanding Achievement in theatre. One source says, “Over 100 awards and recognitions have been bestowed on Audrey Hepburn.” Some of her biggest successes were in Roman Holiday (1953), Sabrina (1954), My Fair Lady (1964), and, arguably her most famous and still frequently watched movies, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) (“Audrey Hepburn Biography”). Her fame and fashion were highly recognizable and highly unforgettable.

“In 1988, Audrey accepted what she considered her greatest role as a UNICEF International Goodwill Ambassador,” says one source (“UNICEF”). For five years, Audrey devoted her life to her travel to 20 countries watching children struggle for survival. The Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund continues to raise money to finish Audrey’s work and give hope to children around the world. Rex Reed, critic, once said, “In a cruel and imperfect world, she is living proof that God could still create perfection.”  At the age of 63, Audrey Hepburn died on January 20^th, 1993, in her home in Tolochenez, Switzerland, after a long battle against colon cancer.

Audrey Hepburn once said, “Success is like reaching an important birthday and realizing you’re exactly the same.” No matter what events occurred in her life that she assumed would make her a new woman; she was just the same one she always had been, just with bigger opportunities. It’s with those opportunities that she gave confidence and hope to average women, changed the vision and expectations of fame and fashion icons, and hit the ground running with stopping hunger in Africa. It’s with those opportunities that Audrey Hepburn proved herself a woman.

The Missouri law for people under the age of 18 is that they “cannot marry without the consent of the custodial parent or guardian.” Another law of Missouri is “A person under age 15 cannot marry without approval of a judge in the county where the marriage license is sought. The statute states that the judge should grant approval only upon a showing of “good cause” and that unusual conditions make the marriage “advisable.” Persons lacking mental capacity to consent to marriage cannot marry without court approval.” (Missouri.usmarriagelaws.com)

Some teenagers tie the knot due to unplanned pregnancy, and statistics showing that those marriages do not last as long because it was not intentional. Despite pregnancy, some teens just get married because they want to. 33% of teen marriages end up in divorce at age 25.  It’s been noticed that some teens end up in poverty. Teen marriage is 4.5% of marriages in America.

On the flip side, some find that it brings them closer in their relationship. Along with pregnancy, “marriage can often provide great benefits for teens who are marrying their partner, who may have a job with insurance benefits. That way, the mom and the baby can receive health insurance through their husband” (pregnantteenhelp.org). Also, the song “Love Like Crazy,” by Lee Brice tells the story how young love works out and how they were happy then and still are.

In reply to the topic, Rafael Hernandez says, “I think they’re too young to make that decision.”

Maddie Dye says, ” Yes. I personally think that it is arrogant because as a teenager you don’t know what you want to do with your life. You still have to make your own mistakes and learn from them. Plus, you have no idea how your actions can affect your significant other. Basically, I think it’s a bad idea.”

Overall, I don’t see much advantage to getting married so young; if you truly love each other that much you can wait, so you know you’re 100% sure. I think people do change, and marriage can change everything, especially at a young age.

Unit 731 had such a large impact on history because it conducted a lot of research on biological warfare. Japan needed to do this research secretively so their laboratory was deliberately located in Pingfang, a district on the outskirts of Harbin, China (Harris). Japanese government officials knew of the abuse happening behind the walls of these buildings and did nothing to stop it until what was really happening was leaked to the public. They then tried to destroy the buildings where so many had lost their lives. The facility was opened in 1938 by General Shiro Ishi. The unit made huge advancements like the defoliation bacilli bomb and the flea bomb that featured a ceramic shell designed by Shiro Ishi.  Both were used to spread the Bubonic plague (Riedel). The Japanese scientists would use entire towns as test subjects for their bombs. They would fly planes over towns and drop cotton, wheat, or rice full of fleas infected with diseases such as bubonic plague, typhoid, cholera, anthrax and other deathly illnesses. Chen Zhifa, 71, saw her older brother and father die in agony after a plague struck their home in Eastern Zhejiang a few weeks after a low flying plane mysteriously flew over their town and dropped cotton.  “Biological weapons aren’t like ordinary bombs. The impact grows and so does the suffering long after the first attack”–Chen Zhifa (Watts).  Not only did the scientists indirectly kill many innocent people, but if you were sent to the laboratory as a patient you would not come out with your life.

There were countless Japanese scientists who performed inhumane tasks for their government. They would purposefully infect patients, which they referred to as “logs,” with horrible diseases. The patients got the nick-name of logs because the operators of Unit 731 claimed the massive structure to be a lumber mill (Harris).  Mr. Shinozuka, a Japanese scientist, described how he participated in the vivisection of five Chinese patients and in the mass production of deadly pathogens. His role was to hose down and scrub the patients with a brush before the operations. Once the patient was clean, army surgeons would check that the captives’ hearts were still beating and cut them open with a scalpel (Watts). The surgeon cut this person open while they were still alive, most likely with very little or no anesthesia. The people they were cutting open were mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and sons and daughters but the scientist did countless procedures without a second thought (McCurry).

The patients were not thought of as humans and suffered a very harsh death. Some patients would be told they were getting a vaccine but were injected with pathogens and mixed with other patients who did not get an injection of the pathogen. The first patients to get sick were dissected alive to see how the disease had affected their body. This included men, women, and young children (McCurry). Lethal experiments were thought of spontaneously and were executed without morphine.  They conducted experiments that tested war weapons. The patients would be tied to a pole and put in different positions and hit with grenades, bombs, and flamethrowers. This helped the Japanese advance its military but caused many innocent deaths. The Japanese did other experiments on how long humans could last in extreme situations. Some patients were hung upside down, buried alive, put in pressure chambers, denied food and water, spun until death, or burned alive (Sheldon H Harris.) Needless to say the patients were spared no mercy.

Medical experiments from Unit 731 affected many towns’ people and scientists in Harbin, China. The patients sent to Unit 731 were treated immorally and killed, all for the advancement of biological warfare. This is just one of the many injustices the world has seen, but the terrifying technology of biological warfare hasn’t improved anything, it has only hurt many people.

This airport seems to be getting a lot of attention for one conspiracy theory involving aliens, another gas chambers, and so on. This “terrifying” airport has just been attacked without any facts, or photos of the “underground gas chamber”. When searched, the images of gas chambers of this airport are nonexistent, instead murals are shown inside the airport. Murals can be depicted in a million ways which is why the murals are most likely innocent. The engineers of the building seem to not be interviewed; they’re outcasted and admonished by the conspiracy theory writers.

This is just an airport that has around $5 billion invested in it, and was obviously not used for gas chambers. While they may have “extra fuel” an accusation an article claimed it’s probably all within good reason. This airport is probably well stocked, and one of the safest in the world. Don’t depend on your imagination to see a slight resemblance of a swastika, or that the picture of the photo shopped horse is evil.

The articles written will go on tangents about unrelated topics, and take words out of context. They will make ridiculous accusations and blame the government. Look for the facts, look for images of the gas chambers, and you won’t find anything. This airport has been a joke; people are having fun creating outlandish theories.

Don’t believe everything you read and hear LJHS! Make sure your references are reliable!

Preparing for the worst, many residents in Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska hid away in basements and closed in areas to wait out the storm. Residents were pleasantly surprised when only mild storms came their way. But not everyone was so lucky.

Iowa was hit the hardest, with widespread damage and the most deaths and injuries.  People on the streets had to find shelter in nearby garages, sewage tunnels, and local grocery stores. About a third of the way through the storm, the tornado siren systems stopped working. Widespread panic went across most of the neighborhoods. And soon after, all the power went out.  Luckily, not many lives were lost, and people recruited to safety in time.

Despite the damage and lives lost, the storm helped neighbors and communities to become closer, and unite in the face of uncertainty.