Columnist

Europe’s New Threat: The Ukrainian Crisis

By Cullen Knowles With the highly unstable climate that much of our world exists in today, Russia’s aggression over the past few months has strained an already tenuous relationship between the United States and its Eastern counterpart. After thwarting the U.S. in situations such as the Edward Snowden fiasco and the Syrian Civil War, Russia strained relations with the West to an even greater extent … Continue reading Europe’s New Threat: The Ukrainian Crisis

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Lifestyle

The Plague of Fast Food

By Taylor O’Brien About twenty-five years ago, a farm activist named Jim Hightower warned of “the McDonaldization of America” (qtd. in Schlosser). He pictured the emerging fast-food trade as a threat to independent business, as a step toward the economy of food being dominated by giant corporations and a homogenizing influence on American life. A lot of what he warned us of has come to … Continue reading The Plague of Fast Food

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Lifestyle

The Old College Try and the New College Trial

By Cullen Knowles This spring, hundreds of thousands of high school seniors will make one of the most important decisions of their lives: where they will go to college, and what they will study at their new school. Unfortunately, the process leading up to this paramount decision is excessively long, frustrating, and arduous for most high school seniors, and the majority of these seniors are … Continue reading The Old College Try and the New College Trial

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Columnist

An Ode to Procrastination

By Aaron Thies I am a chronic Procrastinator. It is a recurring affliction that does more harm than good; it’s something I could learn to control, but in all fairness I don’t want to stop procrastinating.  Procrastination injects drama and tension to otherwise boring tasks such as chores, homework, and anything else that can be put off until the last minute. To procrastinate, in essence, … Continue reading An Ode to Procrastination

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Commentary

In Praise of Yin and All Things Negative

By Bailey Morgan There is this song I love to think about in the moments of inner stillness I sometimes get, when there’s  three seconds of peace to be found and you snatch it up quickly before it fades back into the speed and chaos that’s so prevalent today. Think Indiana Jones in the beginning of The Lost Ark, that fleeting moment of relief that … Continue reading In Praise of Yin and All Things Negative

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Entertainment, Opinion

What Makes Monty Python Funny?

By Adam Grigg America has always had an on-again, off-again relationship with those crazy Brits. Our Nation’s history began with a few harsh feelings between us, but in the time since, we’ve gotten closer, if not friendlier. The British are strange, foreign and yet very familiar; they’re like a funhouse mirror, reflecting ourselves but oddly distorted. For example, they call French fries “chips” and chips … Continue reading What Makes Monty Python Funny?

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Sports

Senior Aaron Beaird Meets the Demands of Wrestling

By Avery Freed Most of the students and faculty at Central High School know who Aaron Beaird is. Even if you aren’t familiar with the name, you would certainly recognize him you saw him. At 6’2″ and 285 pounds, he’s hard to miss. However, that same stature that causes him to stand out in the halls is perfect for his current position as Central High’s … Continue reading Senior Aaron Beaird Meets the Demands of Wrestling

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Columnist, Lifestyle

The Not-so Magical Aspects of Movies

By Cullen Knowles During the holidays, members of every age group participate in an activity that seems to be an innate duty of every American: going to the movies. Hollywood is an extremely crucial part of American culture, and the thousands of motion pictures that have been produced over the last century have represented and depicted every idea, symbol, and characteristic of our country. However, … Continue reading The Not-so Magical Aspects of Movies

Unknown's avatarMr. Sheehy
Entertainment

The New Narrative of Video Games: Text Adventures

By Aaron Thies When a person reads a book or watches a movie or the television, that person is whisked away to the world the creator invents with their words or imagery. The person observes as the story unfolds and experiences the emotions, the adventures, and the hardships the main character encounters; and, if the story is good enough, the observer grows attached to the … Continue reading The New Narrative of Video Games: Text Adventures

Unknown's avatarMr. Sheehy
Columnist, Opinion

Should South Dakota allow uranium mining in the Black Hills?

By Cullen Knowles As our nation struggles to obtain its energy independence, we must examine a variety of resources that have the potential to fuel our way of life. However, some of these resources could easily wreak havoc upon our environment and endanger the lives of millions. As a result of this, we must thoroughly evaluate the benefits and detriments of an energy source before … Continue reading Should South Dakota allow uranium mining in the Black Hills?

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Lifestyle

The Pressure of the Common App

This year more than a million students will complete the Common Application, a standardized application used by more than 500 colleges and universities. In a special for The Pine Needle, Madeleine Price has shared one possible response to the Common Application’s essay question. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn? Failure is … Continue reading The Pressure of the Common App

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News, Odds and Ends

Cobbler Round Up: Concerts, Clean Up, and Playoffs

On Thursday afternoon students lent a hand to custodians attempting to clean up the grounds following the blizzard. Mr. Seales called for some assistance and in no time, an unofficial grounds crew had bagged up the largest batches of leaves and dragged into a pile the large branches that had fallen in the courtyard outside the commons. Mr. Seales happily reported that “The bigger work … Continue reading Cobbler Round Up: Concerts, Clean Up, and Playoffs

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Movies

Movies: Rubber Defies Reason and Entertains

By Aaron Thies Trying to explain the movie Rubber is like trying to lead a pep assembly full of teenagers in a cheer: it’s going to be messy, so bear with me. The central point Rubber revolves around is the cinematic element of “no reason,” which is basically writer/director Quentin Dupieux’s way of saying, “I don’t get it either.” This movie would be extremely hard … Continue reading Movies: Rubber Defies Reason and Entertains

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