Table of Contents
Ukraine
Student Life: Science Olympiad Regionals, Sherlock Holmes
Lifestyle: The Chef
Reviews: Books, Water Fountains
Featured Fun: Historical Holiday, Jokes, Featured Poem
Tension in Europe
Tensions between Ukraine and Russia have been steadily growing over the past months. With Russia holding more than 100,000 troops on Ukraine's borders the U.S. believes Russia will invade very soon.
In December NATO was told to stop all military activity in eastern Europe and Ukraine and to never accept Ukraine into the NATO alliance. In January there was talk about diplomatically ending the conflict but neither party could agree to the terms. This stalemate continued even into late January when U.S. troops were put on alert along with troops in Ukraine. NATO and Russia could not come to an agreement even when China backed Russia´s concerns about Moscow’s “legitimate security concerns” that should be “taken seriously”. Biden believed there would be an invasion in February because of the rising tensions and build-up of troops. The Ukrainian President was worried about his economy and any fallout that could happen while the United States was worried about global security that could be threatened by Russia´s invasion. Russia´s Putin denies planning an invasion in early February but keeps building up troops on the border. A few weeks later, the Pentagon ordered an additional 3,000 US troops to be sent to Poland to reassure allies while other countries were pulling their citizens out of Ukraine. Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy aide, said that while tensions have been escalating for months, in recent days “the situation has simply been brought to the point of absurdity”. On February 23, the Ukrainian government was warned that Russia will most likely be invading in the next few days based on U.S. intelligence. On February 24, Russia officially invaded Ukraine from three sides and has been assaulting the country ever since. There have been explosions in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa, Zaporizhzhia and more. Zelensky has issued martial law in the country which means the military commander of an area or country has unlimited authority to make and enforce laws. The U.S. has announced new sanctions against Russia in an attempt to send a message to Putin to make sure he doesn’t become emboldened. The good news is that Russia’s economy is taking serious blows because of the war and more and more countries are joining in on the sanctions. Even Switzerland, a notoriously neutral country, has imposed the same sanctions as the European Union. The U.N. General Assembly voted Wednesday to demand that Russia stop its offensive in Ukraine and withdraw all troops but it was vetoed by Russia, one of the 5 permanent members of the council. President Putin has also put nuclear forces on alert, signaling this might turn into a nuclear war.
Taylor Stumbaugh
Editor's Note: As time goes on, information in this article may be changed, all information from this article can be found below at the end of The Chief with citations.
Science Olympiad Regional Competition
On Saturday February 26th, a handful of Shawnee students traveled to BGSU to compete at Science Olympiad. It was a morning filled with many different events, including building, lab, and tested events. Many students placed very well in their events. Shawnee placed in the top six in 12 of the events students participated in. Those events include Codebusters (4th), Detector Building (6th), Disease Detectives(4th), Gravity Vehicle (4th), It Is About Time (2nd), Ornithology (5th), Ping Pong Parachute (5th), Rocks and Minerals (5th), Trajectory (2nd), WiFi Lab (2nd), Wright Stuff (1st), and Write It Do It (6th). In the event Wright Stuff, the Shawnee team was able to get first place! After a full day of competing and many high placing, the Shawnee Science Olympiad placed 4th overall and has advanced onto state, which will take place April 9th. Wish our Science Olympiad team good luck at state!
Addi Kirchenbauer
Sherlock Holmes: The Baker Street Irregulars
After its hit fall production of the Disney musical "Beauty and the Beast", the Shawnee Drama Department is back in gear with its spring play, "Sherlock Holmes: The Baker Street Irregulars".
Adapted by Eric Coble from the graphic novels by Tony Lee and Dan Boultwood, "Sherlock Holmes: The Baker Street Irregulars" is a mystery adventure that tells the story of the Baker Street Irregulars, a gang of six street kids who aid Sherlock Holmes in solving mysteries. However, Sherlock Holmes is missing, and it’s up to these children to solve the many intertwined mysteries facing London.
Performances for "Sherlock Holmes: The Bakers Street Irregulars" are on Friday, April 8th and Saturday, April 9th at 7:00 PM at Hugh Downs Auditorium. The doors open at 6:30 PM for tickets, which will be sold at the door. Tickets cost $8 for adults and $5 for students.
Perri Webb
The Chef: M&M Cookie Recipe
(Almost) everyone loves a good chocolate chip cookie. These are a little different because they are m&m’s instead but you can replace with chocolate chips if you really want to. These have been in my family for forever and have been a fan favorite for many years. Discretion: bake with caution because if you make them once it is an automatic addiction.
Recipe for M&M cookies:
½ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1 ½ cup soft shortening→make sure butter is soft/ room temperature
1 ½ tsp baking soda
3 eggs
3 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups + 6 tbsp flour
Add in as many m&m’s as you want after you’ve mixed all of the main ingredients together. I recommend around ½ a bag
Bake 10 minutes @ 350 degrees→or until brown around the edges and won’t indent if you lightly touch the top
Terms and Conditions
My first mistake was reading “Terms and Conditions” by Lauren Asher as a standalone. It was in fact the second book in a series. My second mistake was reading it at all. Reading it before the first one did not hinder the experience for me because it follows three different brothers and is not a continuous plot, which was convenient. I only realized my mishap when I went onto TikTok to get different opinions on it and saw that “Fine Print” is the first book.
This novel follows Declan and Iris. Declan is working to become the CEO of his family’s company but to do so he has to fulfill his grandfather's dying wish to get his inheritance. Declan needs to get married and have an heir. The problem with this is that he is mean and unapproachable and has scared away every suitor. That is until Iris, his assistant of three years, volunteered to marry him. They created a contract full of rules, fake dates, and lies but as they spend more time together the more that fake love turns real.
The book had many qualities that I delighted in like dual point of view between the two main characters and basic tropes that include: marriage of convenience, grumpy x sunshine, forced proximity, and the boy falls first. I enjoyed the protagonist because she was given character traits I rarely read about which include dyslexia, asthma, and the main character is a POC. As the story deepens we learn more about her dyslexia and how it has hindered her in her personal life and the workplace which gives her depth and more problems beyond the love interest being mean to her. However, I disliked how overbearing, controlling, and emotionless the love interest was. He has severe issues with communicating and I never saw him really “redeem” himself until the end of the book which I would count as a stretch. It’s underwhelming and frustrating at times reading this because of how easily he gets off for being a terrible person just because she likes him. Apparently, her love justifies him being terrible to everyone else, including family members. I will not be reading the first book nor the third one not released yet.
I rate this book 2.5/5 stars. 5 being your favorite book and 0 being Mein Kampf.
Taylor Stumbaugh
It Ends With Us
After constantly seeing videos on TikTok about "It Ends With Us" by Colleen Hoover, I was immediately interested in getting my hands on the novel as soon as possible. Before reading, I thought this novel was just a cute love story about a girl who fell in love with one guy when her first love all of a sudden reappears in her life. However, this book is far from just that. This book discusses domestic abuse in a way that doesn’t romanticize it but helps outsiders understand why a victim doesn’t leave their abuser right away. This book has flashbacks written throughout where the main character doesn’t understand why her mom is still with her dad even though he abuses her. It isn’t until the main character is in the same situation as her mom is when she, and the readers, understand why her mom didn’t leave. Hoover’s writing in this novel was so amazing that even as I was reading, I fell in love with the character that ended up being abusive and could therefore understand, to an extent, why the main character didn’t leave until later on. Overall, "It Ends With Us" is one of my favorite books and I highly recommend it to everyone to understand domestic abuse better.
Grace Paton
Rated Water Fountains in the School
Listed is a description and location of all water fountains with a rating based on taste and temperature… in order from the west end of school to the east
- West Cafeteria 5/10
- Off the corner of the west cafeteria by the girl's restroom(right/taller fountain) 7/10
- Off the corner of the west cafeteria by the girl's restroom(left/shorter fountain) 6/10
- Outside room 151 5/10
- By boy’s restroom in the science hallway 5.5/10
- By girl's restroom in the science hallway 9/10, cold, flavored perfectly, not too much but enough
- East Cafeteria 4/10 warm and awkward spot
- Band Hallway (across from East Cafeteria) 6/10 starts warm but gets cold
- Band Hallway (near the wrestling room)7.5/10 cold but not enough flavor
- Outside Mr. Gibson's room 3/10
- Outside Mr. Higgin's room 8.5/10 cold but not enough flavor
- Inside Gym(home side by away time locker room) 5/10 very mid
- Inside Gym(entrance for games by storage closet) 3.5/10 very low and sensor didn't work
- Girls locker room 5/10
- Boys locker room 3.5/10 "pool water"
- Concession stand 6/10 cold but not enough flavor
- Hall of fame hallway, band lockers 9/10 cold, flavored perfectly, not too much but enough
- Upstairs by boys restroom 7.5/10 low stream of water
- Upstairs by girls restroom 4.5/10 low and took a while to get warm
- By Reed's room 8.5/10 cold, but not enough flavor
- Not Included: weight room and away team locker room (both locked)
Samantha Smith
Historical Holidays
Every year on February 2, the US celebrates one of its oddest traditions, Groundhog Day. Groundhog Day´s roots go all the way back to the ancient Christian tradition of Candlemas. On the ancient day of Candlemas, clergies would disperse candles in aid for winter. If that day was nice outside, then more winter was expected and vice versa. February 2 is also known as the day the Virgin Mary went to the Temple to be purified, the presentation of Jesus to the temple, and Jesus´s first entry into the temple. Christmas decorations are said to be left up until this day as well. However, the Germans were the group to introduce an animal into this, originally a hedgehog that would predict the future weather based off of its shadow. German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania brought the tradition with them. They did have to switch from hedgehog to groundhog due to availability at their new home. On February 2, 1887, the US celebrated its first Groundhog Day. Today, Candlemas is still observed in France (which accompanies it with crȇpes), Belgium, Liechtenstein, and by some Christians. There are about 15,000 people who show up live every year. Punxsutawney Phil is the most famous groundhog. Buckeye Chuck has been Ohio's official groundhog since 1979, although the Ohio groundhog is said to often be wrong.
Zoe Smith
Jokes
Why are eggs bad at telling jokes?
They always crack each other up.
What do you call a pony with a sore throat?
A little hoarse.
Why can’t you trust an atom?
Because they make up everything.
Why can’t you hear a pterodactyl in the bathroom?
Because it has a silent pee.
What did one light bulb say to the other?
Watt’s up?
Why is the obtuse angle sad?
Because it’s never right.
What rock group has four members that can’t sing or play instruments?
Mt. Rushmore
What kind of music do balloons hate?
Pop
Featured Poem
Her Garden: By Donald Hall
I let her garden go.
let it go, let it go
How can I watch the hummingbird
Hover to sip
With its beak's tip
The purple bee balm—whirring as we heard
It years ago?
The weeds rise rank and thick
let it go, let it go
Where annuals grew and burdock grows,
Where standing she
At once could see
The peony, the lily, and the rose
Rise over brick
She'd laid in patterns. Moss
let it go, let it go
Turns the bricks green, softening them
By the gray rocks
Where hollyhocks
That lofted while she lived, stem by tall stem,
Blossom with loss.
The Chief: Core Staff and Contributors
Advisor:
Mrs. Stacey Kuhlman
Editor-in-"Chief":
Emma Schumann
Addi Kirchen-Bauer Roney
Contributing Writers:
Zoe Smith
Perri Webb
Taylor Stumbaugh
Samantha Smith
Grace Paton
Citations from Ukraine Article
Al Jazeera. “Timeline: How the Ukraine-Russia Crisis Reached the Brink of War.” Russia-Ukraine Crisis News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 15 Feb. 2022, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/13/timeline-how-the-ukraine-russia-crisis-reached-the-brink-of-war.
Macaya, Melissa, et al. “February 24, 2022 Russia-Ukraine News.” CNN, Cable News Network, 25 Feb. 2022, https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-24-22-intl/index.html?tab=Catch+Up.
Naveed Jamali, Tom O'Connor and David Brennan On 2/23/22 at 9:35 AM EST, et al. “Exclusive: U.S. Warns Ukraine of Full-Scale Russian Invasion within 48 Hours.” Newsweek, 23 Feb. 2022, https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-us-warns-ukraine-full-scale-russian-invasion-within-48-hours-1681798.
Pamela, Pamela. “U.N. General Assembly Emergency Session Hears Overwhelming Global Support for Ukraine.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 28 Feb. 2022, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/united-nations-general-assembly-ukraine-russia-emergency-session/.
“Russia Blocks Security Council Action on Ukraine | | UN News.” United Nations, United Nations,
https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/02/1112802.