The current issues and events has advanced to the state meet in Austin at the University of Texas.

As a team they placed first with a score of 85 points. Individually senior Jacob Sanchez placed first, and freshman Chris Crenshaw placed fourth. Other team members are seniors Vincent Parras, Angela Marshall, and Shayla Ruebush. Technology teacher Lynne Beeles is their coach.

They will compete May 21.

Around this time every year millions of seniors around the country are preparing to go to college or some sort of higher education, but regardless of where these students are going, there is one thing they are not— “snobs.” That remark came from former presidential hopeful Rick Santorum.

Santorum was speaking at an event in Michigan when the so-called issue of President Obama wanting everyone to go to college came up.

This is what Santorum said: “President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob.” This is uncalled for; it should be the goal of any politician to have every American get a good education. A better educated workforce means a better economy.

There is no way in this world a person looking for a job can get a high salary without some sort of higher education. College does not mean a four-year institution, it is just a general term for “higher education.” Everyone needs to be more educated.
Santorum considers the president a snob for wanting everyone to go to college, so he is also calling the 94 percent of parents who expect their child to attend college snobs. This is not the way to win the hearts of voters.

Every single American should go to college regardless if they are 18 or 70 years old— there is always more to learn. The entire modern world is based on education; remove it, and watch the human race go backwards.

The United States ranks 12th in the world for the number of people with a college degree, with about 40.4 percent of the population having one. Once again, numerous people are saying those five words again—”that used to be us.” The U.S. used to dominate in this area. Calling everyone a snob will not put the country back at the top.

Even though Santorum believes the president and anyone else who wants to go to college is a snob, he has three different degrees. If anyone should be considered a snob, it is Santorum. He would be a prime example.

There is only one solution to this problem, and that is to accomplish President Obama’s goal of every single student attending some form of higher education, regardless of whether he wins reelection or not.

Obama is the only candidate that has demonstrated he cares about students, and if any of the Republican candidates are elected president then the dream of going to college may be shattered for many who otherwise can’t afford to attend. Knowledge is a necessity to life, not a political ploy.

So far, I have gone over three key skills needed to be a successful athlete while learning lifelong lessons: understanding commitment, defining success and overcoming obstacles. This column, I will discuss how to set and achieve goals.
Some people confuse wishes with goals, but, in fact, there is a huge difference.

A goal is defined as an achievement toward which effort is directed, whereas a wish takes no effort.
For example, when a person wishes for something such as playing a certain position on their team, they would LIKE for it to happen.

When a person sets a goal, they WANT it to happen.

When working towards success, a person must set goals. Notice I said goals…plural.

When an overall goal is broken down into smaller, simpler goals, it is much easier to achieve.

First, a person needs to define the goals. What is it that you want? Then, outline the steps needed in order to achieve those goals.

Make each step an individual goal and work to achieve each one with deadlines.

“Aim for the top. There is plenty of room there. There are so few at the top, it is almost lonely there.” Samuel Insull

The current issues and events team has just won the district title and will be advancing to the regional meet at Texas Tech University. Tech teacher Lynne Beeles is the coach.

The team placed first with senior Jacob Sanchez placing first, freshman Chris Crenshaw second, and senior Vincent Parras thrid. Senior Angela Marshall is a team member.

Sophomore Quentin Perez placed first in new writing. Also joining Perez in journalism is junior Addie Kirk who placed second in feature writing. In editorial writing, Sanchez was third. The journalism team is coached by newspaper adviser Roy Waggoner.

In spelling, sophomore Alexis Chavez placed third. She is coached by history teacher Julien Cirricione.

All UIL events are coordinated by math head Roy Alvarado.

They will be competing on April 20.

Principal Darrel Adkison has some fun during this year's Sadies dance.

This morning the school board accepted the resignation of principal Darrel Adkison, who wrote in an afternoon e-mail to staff that he will not return to high school after spring break.

“It has been my pleasure to serve the students of FSHS.  I wish all of you the best,” Adkison said in the e-mail.

Adkison said assistant principal Omar Sanchez will step in to fill the role as campus leader in his absence. Marlane Burns, district curriculum director, will spend more time on campus to also assist teachers as they head toward a testing-heavy schedule immediately following break all through April.

Drawn by Vincent Parras

A couple of years ago, I went through a phase on my travelling softball team where I could not seem to put a bat on the ball. Game after game I’d end up striking out and sitting the bench. I had let this get to me and had no confidence when I stepped into that batter’s box.

At the time, I saw this as a huge barrier and negative thoughts flooded my brain. This setback made me even stronger mentally and allowed me to work harder physically as well. With practive and good coaching, this past summer, I was clean-up batter with the highest batting average on the team.

I have learned, that with these obstacles, an athlete can see exactly what needs to be achieved to be the best that they can be. Success is not measured by the outcome of the game, but rather the satisfaction of the mind. If you did all that could have been done, then your goal was achieved and you know exactly what you have to work for.

“Success isn’t a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire,” Arnold Glasow.

Photo by Jacob Sanchez

This year’s yearbook will have a more relevant design than the past, instead of a collage of scrapbook pages.

“The design this year is modern, yet allows for some traditional yearbook elements as well,” yearbook adviser Roy Waggoner said. “We could use improvement is some areas like more areas of writing. Overall we are heading in the right direction.”

This year’s Panther baseball team has high hopes for the season they are about to begin.

“This upcoming season is going to be great!” senior Mason Daggett said.

With determination, effort, and teamwork, nothing is going to hold these boys back from anything.

“My goals for this season is to play to the best of my abilities,” Daggett said.

Every player on the team has a goal they would like to achieve as well as their coaches.

“Goals: 1. District Championship. 2. Success in the playoffs,” coach Scotty Bruington said. “We plan on achieving these goals by working hard and striving to reach our full potential each day in practice.”

With some tough competition ahead of them, hard work and practice will get them ready for what’s to come.

“My outlook for the season is that we will compete for the district 4-3A championship,” Bruington said.

The baseball team knows what they want out of the season, and plan to make the best out of it no matter hard they have to work.

“I feel that life always moves forward, so you need to make the best of what’s in front of you now,” Daggett said.

When people think of schools that send a large portion of their students to college, Fort Stockton is not usually one of the places they think of. Counselor Cathy Havins is looking to change that.

There are more students in the school that are going on to college than many people in the town assume.

Showing how many students truly do go on will perhaps fill other students with pride in themselves, their friends, and possibly some aduts.

“I want to show the students here, as well as the community that more students than they think are attending college,” Havins said. “I don’t think people realize how many of our students are actually going on, to college or to the service.”

The purpose of the signs are to show how many people go on to college. These signs will display the student themselves and the school or other path of life the student decides.

“I got the idea from a school in Lufkin,” she adds “I went by and saw their signs. Hopefully with this other students will see that there are students from our school going away and might want to do the same themselves.”