The Beaver Voice - Editorials

How many people do you know that have anger problems? I know I do. This editorial will help you cope and deal with this issue. First the proper definition of anger is a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure or hostility. Anger is a completely normal, healthy emotion. It becomes unhealthy when it gets out of hand and becomes destructive. You feel as if you are at the mercy of an uncontrollable, unpredictable powerful emotion. Anger can cause both external and internal outcomes. The most natural way to respond to anger is to act aggressively. It makes you lash out and anything and anybody because you think it will make you feel better. The three main approaches to control it is expressing, where you express your anger in a controlled manner, suppressing, instead of holding in all the anger just think of something positive and calming, where you can do something soothing by controlling your outward behavior and your internal responses. Take steps to lower your heart rate, calm down and let the feeling collapse. Sometimes too much anger can be a sign of something else underlying it, such as Bipolar disorder. This is a disorder where you have a hard time controlling your emotions. Anger can also be a sign of a physiological problem. Sometimes anger can be a lot of different emotions being held in because of a tragedy or event that changed your life. Sadness can sometimes build up and then blow up like anger. Anger is a very unpredictable emotion but can be controlled.

Beats
Article by Carlie Sizemore
Posted 2/25/13

Beats by Dre are the new headphone craze! Everywhere you look you see someone with a pair of beats either on their head or around their neck. Beats are super expensive; they go up to somewhere around $700. In my opinion that is absolutely outrageous and a total waste of money. I don’t have a pair myself but my sister does, and she says they play music really loud and it’s really good quality. I also think that they are more of a fashion statement than anything. I don’t think they are cute AT ALL. I would much rather have a pair of the Beats ear buds, but still the cheapest I have found them is $ 75. THAT IS CRAZY!!! Most critics have nothing negative to say about beats and Dr. Dre and the beats company is making loads of cash off this product do more power to them I guess.

State of the Union Address
Article by Carlie Sizemore
Posted 2/25/13

During the state of the union address, President Obama touched on some of the following topics: education, Afghanistan, minimum wage, gun laws, and personal responsibilities. When Obama spoke about education he said that he wants to “modernize” schools and make them “worthy” for our children. I agree completely with what Obama says he plans to do for our schools. Obama also spoke about the war in Afghanistan; he says by next year the war will be over. I really hope and pray that this is true. Our troops need to come home. When Obama addressed the topic of minimum wage, he said that people who work full time and take care of a family should be paid $ 9 an hour instead of $ 7.25 and hour. I think that people who can prove that they have a family to take care of should be able to make at least $ 9 an hour, but people who are living alone and who are capable of making a living on $ 7.25 an hour should make that.
Obama also talked about gun laws. Now, my opinion is that as long as a doctor can prove that a person is sane and able to control themselves they should be able to own guns. If people don’t have guns how are they supposed to protect themselves from actual criminals? Another thing that Obama spoke about is personal responsibilities. He said that boys need to realize that it takes only a boy to make a baby, but a man to raise it. I totally agree, however…I think that he kind of talks in circles when it comes to babies and birth. He wants to promote responsible parenting…that is great; nothing wrong with that, he wants pro choice…what?!?! That’s not promoting birth that’s KILLING BABIES!!!! He wants to prevent teen pregnancy…I agree that this needs to be done. I know that most people my age are NOT ready to raise a child; they can’t even take care of themselves much less someone else, but he wants churches to give out birth control even though for some places it is completely against their religion…I don’t think that is right at all.

Valentine's Day
Article by Carlie Sizemore
Posted 2/25/13

What did I do for Valentine’s Day? Well, since my boyfriend and I live two hours away from each other I didn’t get to see him on the actual day, but we got to see each other on the weekend. (: On Friday we gave each other our gifts. I got a HUGE teddy bear chocolates and a GIANT card!! SO SWEET!! He got a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt that says “This Guy Loves His Girlfriend” (cute I know (; ), a new license plate for his truck, and I MADE him a blanket! I am the SWEETEST girlfriend ever...I know (; On Saturday we went out to eat and to a movie. We ate at Texas Steak House…YUMMY. And then we went to see Side Effects…GREAT movie by the way. On our way home there was almost a wreck and we got stuck in traffic for three hours!! The extra time just to ourselves was really nice. (: Being in a long term relationship is hard at times, but it’s the days like this past weekend when everything is perfect that makes it all worth while. <3

Super Bowl XLVII Preview
Article by Chris Lawless
Posted 2/7/13

Super Bowl 47 will be held on Sunday February 3, 2013 at 6:30. The game will be between the NFC champs the San Francisco 49ers and the AFC champs the Baltimore Ravens. The San Francisco 49ers are a 4 ½ point favorite to win in the game. This year’s Super Bowl has a little twist; the head coaches for the two teams are also brothers. John Harbaugh coaches for the Ravens and Jim Harbaugh coaches for the 49ers. The game is getting lots of nicknames because of this, like the Harbaugh Bowl, the Harbowl, the SuperBaugh, and the Super Browl. The Super Bowl will be held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The game will be held on CBS. The National Anthem will be sung by Alicia Keys, and the Halftime show will be done by Beyonce. A fun fact about this Super Bowl is that one 30 second commercial will cost 3.8 million dollars.
The Ravens made their way to the Super Bowl with a 10-6 record in the regular season led by quarterback Joe Flacco. The Ravens had a tough road through the playoffs. They first defeated Indianapolis 24-9 in the AFC wildcard game. Then they had to travel to Denver to win 38-35 in double overtime. In the AFC Championship Baltimore defeated New England 28-13. The 49ers finished the season with an 11-4-1 record led by second year quarterback Colin Kaepernick. San Francisco beat Green Bay 45-31, and beat Atlanta 28-24 in the NFC Championship. San Francisco has won 5 Super Bowls all time, as Baltimore has only won 1.
Both teams are very talented on both sides of the ball. This matchup promises to be a physical hard fought battle. If I have to choose a team to win, I would have to go with the San Francisco 49ers.

Cynbel and Zothia Book Review
Article by Carlie Sizemore
Posted 2/7/13

Mrs. Woart’s brother, Roland Rodene, wrote an amazing book called Cynbel and Zothia. This book is extremely interesting. It shows a great deal of Haitian culture. It is really an inspiration to me, seeing all the trials that this young couple had to go through and they still were happy and in love. This story makes me want to have a better outlook on life, and not take everything so negative. I really like this book and I would most definitely recommend Cynbel and Zothia to anyone who wants to learn about the Haitian culture. The only thing I would change about this book is that there are some language difficulties. Other than that everything about this book is really good. (: I would rate this book with 4 stars!!

Africa Mission Trip
Article by Rachel Looney
Posted 1/11/13

This January my parents are going to Africa on a mission trip for two weeks. They will be flying out of Washington, DC to Gulu, Uganda. The plane ride is fourteen hours long nonstop. When my dad went when I was in the fifth grade, he flew from Greensboro, NC to Washington, DC then to London and finally to Uganda where he spent two weeks fitting locals with prosthetics and giving them life changing medical help. This will be the first year my mom will be going to Africa. She has been to Jamaica twice. This is the first time both of my parents will be out of the country at once. They will encounter a lot of obstacles but with God they can get through it. While they are gone my aunt will be coming in from Charleston to stay with my brother and me. I was going to stay alone, but my parents would rather me not in case it snows.

Post Africa Mission Trip
Article by Rachel Looney
Posted 3/7/13

My parents recently returned from Africa where they helped American dentists put fluoride on kids’ teeth and helped a local doctor make house visits. They were there for almost 2 weeks. They took many pictures of the places they saw, the people they met and even the weird animals they encountered. Ill tell you about their trip from the beginning. They left Bluefield at about 7:00am on a Sunday morning and traveled to Washington, DC. They got on a plane and traveled to Amsterdam where they later boarded another plane and made the rest of their trip to Uganda, Africa. They were able to text me and let me know how they were and what was going on. They were on a completely different time zone. When they were asleep I was awake and vice versa. They went to church one morning and 7 different couples got married in an entire church service. My mom said she had the opportunity of watching a real live birth but she didn’t. In Uganda, you go home the day after you have your baby. They don’t get pain meds or anything to help. The little toddlers got teeth pulled and didn’t make a sound. These children and adults have been through so much that pain is the least of their worries. My parents encountered a lot of difficulties on their trip. My parents even debated on adopting a little baby, but the requirements were they had to live in Africa for 3 years. Below are some pictures of their trip. Enjoy!