The Rampage

Brett Blakemore Sports Editor For the majority of the semester, students in Bob Knipp's class 'History of the 60s 70s and 80s' or what most students know as "Hippie History", go on a very in-depth investigation of the JFK assassination. In 1986, a mock trial for Lee Harvey Oswald took place, giving him the trial he never had. Students take vigorous notes, as well as prepare to teach the case to freshman history classes. "I was fascinated at a young age about it," Knipp said. "There's always fresh perspectives on it every year, whether it be books or films, it's always new." The teaching includes a complete walk through of the event. Students are selected to play certain roles and take part in the presentation. The demonstration lasts from Kennedy driving by to Oswald being arrested.  It's a very popular unit, earning live coverage from Knipp's twitter account (@knipphip) where students from present and past chime in...

Brett Blakemore Sports Editor The standard of education has been an issue in the US for many years now, and the state of Iowa believe they have the thing to raise just that. As of today, Governor Branstad signed a bill making scoring a 25 on the ACT test a requirement to graduate high school. This now goes along with the standing requirements of completing guideways at ihaveaplaniowa.org and giving a senior presentation. “This will force Iowa students to study and become the elite of students in their age group,” legislator Seth Rollins said. “It’s about time we become a trailblazer in education, even if it leads to some studying and test taking from students.” This is the first time a bill like this has successfully passed and made it to law after multiple attempts in 2012. The bill will go into effect for the school year of 2015-2016 and will have no exceptions to the requirements. “It was important to me to force kids to start studying and build test taking skills,” R...

Brett Blakemore Sports Editor                 The girls’ basketball team defeated Linn-Mar 56-45 last night and punched their ticket to the state tournament. This is the fifth year in a row that the team made it to Wells Fargo Arena, after winning it all, just two years ago. The Rams take on Iowa City West in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 4 at 3:15.                   A lot has changed and a lot is the same about the team since the title run in early 2013.  The cast of leaders that season was studded with players like seniors: Caitlin Ingle, Jessica Gardner, and Megan Bianchi. While that same team had its young talent, such as then freshman Abby Penquite, and then sophomore Jacey Huinker.                 Now as the girls begin to close again on another state run, the ...

Brett Blakemore Sports Editor Going to state tournaments has almost become an annual tradition for many students here. Almost every year, there is talk about 'why isn't this ram-planned?”, and most students miss school anyway. There are many students that truly care about the tournament and the games or matches, but are there some students that just use it to get out of school? It's one thing to have school spirit and want to be there, and even when people don't know what's going on, the student section can be reason alone to attend. However with any system, there will be people trying to cheat it. This past weekend many students attended the state wrestling tournament, where the Rams won another pair of State Championships. "You could tell a lot of people cared about it," senior Grant Morse said. "Both the students and the fans were really into it the whole way." But the question still is do people abuse this event for themselves? Do ...

Brett Blakemore Sports Editor Students often have trouble balancing sports and classes.  However, these athletes find that being busy helps them measure  their time more effectively. Photo courtesy of Josi Bambrook  and Brett Blakemore. The battle of being a student athlete, while known to many, is also an incredible challenge to balance. School itself, keeping grades up, and ultimately graduating is a feat enough for some students. Throwing in daily practices, weekends not being home, and having virtually no time for school work cannot be easy. Senior hockey player Tyler Kruse knows this all too well. Playing for the Iowa Wild AAA U18 team, it is a rarity to be home for more than five days at a time. He plays tournaments frequently in cities all over the country, including Ann Arbor, MI, Boston, MA, and most recently Denver, CO. “Most of the bus trips are five to six hours,” Kruse said. “We have done one ten hour and one 12 hour trip as...