By Adam Blakemore

Since the establishment of the Catholic Church, Lent, the five weeks before Easter, is one of the most religious and revered parts of the year. Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, is the ceremony of the consecration of ashes made by burning the blessed palms from Palm Sunday. The ashes are then drawn in the shape of the cross over members of the Catholic Church, which is seen as one of the most full blessings received throughout the year.

The day before Ash Wednesday is one of the biggest parties of the year, called Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras translates as Fat Tuesday, and for good reason. It is the day that Catholic families use all of the foods in their pantry that are not allowed to be eaten during Lent, such as sugar, flour, and meat. In many places, the main one Marbeing New Orleans in Louisiana, this has evolved into a raging party, complete with massive parades and seas of screaming tourists.

One of the main symbols recognized, the Mardi Gras beads, are tossed by the handful from the floats, sometimes with less then wonderful results. Due to the frequency of incidents, there are laws in place prohibiting any charges against the parade crew, caused by injuries from the flying beads.

Another common symbol are the masquerade masks, made popular when the French were the primary inhabitants in the area, as masked dances were very popular in Europe at the time. There are also rumors that the masks are worn to disguise themselves during this period of wild debauchery. Also this has no basis in religion like the rest of the holiday.

Mardi Gras is recognized as an official holiday now, and is celebrated frequently by non-Catholics. But the basis in fasting and purifying one’s body before Easter, and the coming of Christ is less known.

The Military Ball was held on Feb. 18th at the Moose Lodge. Photos by Unique Larry

On Feb. 20, school was canceled due to the snow that fell through the night on Feb 19. Students enjoyed the day off by playing in the snow. The images are of students playing in the snow on Fort Lee. Photos by Unique Larry

Imagine on Valentine’s Day walking around and seeing nothing different about any one’s mood and no gifts or PDA. That would be awkward and unexpected because Valentine’s Day is one of the only days that it would be expected to create happy feelings and moods.

Valentine’s Day usually stirs up feelings of love and romance but it also brings up questions of its importance. With commercials advertising Valentine’s Day, people begin to think Valentine’s Day is becoming too commercialized. But according to aboutflowers.com, flowers help to lower your stress when received. When people receive flowers on Valentine’s Day, what they do not realize is that they are immediately impacting their mood by increasing their happiness.

I believe Valentine’s Day is important because even if you have a significant other or not, there are other ways to spend Valentine’s Day, whether it is to go out shopping for the sales on candy, hanging out with friends or family, or even going out to dinner with someone.

Seventy-eight students responded to a survey about Valentine’s Day with 25 saying that they did not celebrate Valentine’s Day because they were single. Out of the 45 students who do, 38 of the students said they celebrated Valentine’s Day for the quality time while only 12 said they celebrated Valentine’s Day for the gifts.

Valentine’s Day is not only for students and young couples but also a day that long time relationships have to be able to spend time together. Some couples even chose Valentine’s Day as the day they believe to be most suitable for proposing or getting married. According to biblestudy.org, doves symbolize loyalty and love which is why it is common for doves to be released at weddings. Also, often when someone gives out flowers or any other type of gift, they are usually pink and red because red symbolizes strong feelings.

I enjoy spending time with my family on Valentine’s Day because of all of the food. I also love spending time with my friends on Valentine’s Day because no matter what your relationship status is, they always will be there for you and bring such a positive mood throughout the day. To me, being single on Valentine’s Day with your friends is like going to dances with your friends as dates because no matter what the situation, you know you will always have fun when you are around the people you love.

Feb. 14 has transformed into a day to celebrate love and spend time with loved ones. But some of the meanings of why we celebrate Valentine’s Day changed drastically over time. This day of love has become very commercial and no longer about love, but about how much people can buy for someone.

This day has become awkward for everyone who is not in love or does not have a girlfriend or boyfriend. According to listverse.com, 75 percent of suicide rates are due to relationship problems. All the stress and hurt feelings near Valentine’s Day could add on to old relationship problems or loneliness.

Only since the 14th century, Valentine’s Day has become about love. Before this, Feb. 14 was used to for a celebration of Christianity and their Patron Saint. During the Middle Ages, Saint Valentine had become one of the most important Saints that were celebrated on this day, and scholar Henry Ansgar Kelly was said to be the first person to tie St. Valentine’s day to romance. Today it has been taken from this content and put into this world of commercialism.

This celebration just makes people that are not in love feel out of the loop or awkward. It is depressing for people who are single. Also, why on Feb. 14 do we have to celebrate love? If you are in a relationship you should celebrate love all year long not just on the one day.

We should not have a specific day to make up for mistakes that have been made all year long. Many single people around this time of the year have come to blog and post about this month being, “single awareness month”. This is more evidence to prove that many people this time of the year just feel uncomfortable. More and more people are becoming more hateful towards the holiday because of what it has become. The people have taken what was a celebration of love and turned it into a multi-million dollar business. The reasons for the “holiday” being celebrated need to change, or Valentine’s Day just needs to not be celebrated.

Spice usage creates a sense of calmness and increased creativity but nausea and amnesia are common after effects. Due to legislation, the drug is now illegal in the United States. Photo by Alison Brown

By Jake McQuiggan

Artificial marijuana, or spice, a new drug that has become popular in colleges and high schools is now deemed illegal in the U.S. due to the Drug Enforcement Administration regulations. According to heraldextra.com, the drug originally posed as a medicinal drug for illnesses such as glaucoma and cancer, but recent studies have shown that it has the same artificial chemicals found in weed.

Legalhighreviews.com reported that spice is rumored to give users a heightened sense of sound and color, increase creativity, provide a calm sensation, and have no feelings of paranoia. This would give users a high like traditional weed without the negative side effects such as chronic bronchitis, anxiety, increased heart rate,

“I have had experience on someone who has used spice and the drug decreases so much oxygen to the brain that it puts the person in a zombie like state and makes then feel terrible afterward,” RN April Paulson said.

Users actually suffer from severe nausea, unresponsiveness, and amnesia after inhaling the substance.

“The girl I worked on showed signs like she wanted to communicate but was unable to speak for over two hours. Then after coming back to reality, she was only able to remember seeing flashing strobe lights the whole time,” Paulson said.

HU-210 is a chemical that is similar to an active ingredient in marijuana that has been reported in spice. This chemical is responsible for the psychoactive effects of spice, which gives users hallucinations and extreme paranoia.

“The person can be a danger to themselves or others if equipment is involved,” Paulson said.

Another rumor that attracts drug users switching from marijuana to spice is that spice can not be detected in a drug test.

“Every substance can be detected in urine test, it just depends on the amount of time. Spice can be detected in a test within 72 hours of inhaling it,” Paulson said.

While spice has emerged onto the scene as a great alternative drug with no negative effects from consumption, in truth it is a artificial substance with deadly short term effects and unknown long term consequences.

By Kristen Schwalm, Staff Writer

Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States. On Mon., Feb. 6th and Tues., Feb. 7th he came to visit Prince George High School.

Roosevelt (portrayed by actor Joe Wiegand) has a mission to educate and inform history students about his life and tasks he accomplished as president. Students enjoyed his visit because it helped them realize the hardships and challenges of being the president.

“Students that have an appreciation for history definitely got a lot out of his visit,” history teacher Nelson Britt said.

Roosevelt spoke for an hour and fifteen minutes. He spoke to the audience initially about the state of the union during his years as president, and at the end of his speech he took time for students to ask questions, while still in character.

“When Teddy answered my question, he did a good job answering it in a way that made it easy to understand,” junior Kris Harrison said.

His dialogue contained personal stories, stories about his presidency, and stories about his children. Students appreciated learning history in this manner, instead of the standard class lecture.

“I learned that Teddy Roosevelt was probably one of the most laid back presidents we had,” senior Nathan Kemp said.

In addition to Wiegland’s knowledge of the life of President Theodore Roosevelt, many were impressed by his theatrical talents.

“I really enjoyed the visit, because it was really interesting and he was a great actor,” sophomore Gwen Dunn said.

Wiegand has been to all fifty states playing the role of Theodore Roosevelt. He continues to portray himself as the 26th President of the United States.

For more information go to his website at: http://www.teddyrooseveltshow.com/