pesh prints issue 4

THEPanther

Prints

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Ball So Hard ................................................ 18Colby England: Man With Three Faces.......... 20Dream Come True ........................................ 20Oscars: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close .. 21Laughing at Love ......................................... 22The Hunger Games ...................................... 22Young Masters ............................................ 23Commercial Love ......................................... 23

Our Mission at the Panther Prints is to serve as a connection to the Plano East student body and the surrounding community. Through inspiration and high-quality content, the Panther Prints offers di-verse coverage, passionate writing, relatable stories, and a unique point of view. Our credible sources allow in-depth experience that appeals to both the public and the individual. Our publication guar-antees an informative yet distinctive outlook on current interests.

All questions, comments and concerns can be directed to the journalism department in room B1-243 or mail to:

PESH Journalism Department3000 Los Rios Blvd.

Plano, Tx [email protected]

Members of the National Scholastic Press Association and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association

News FeaturesRepublican Rat Race ................................. 3Changes Within ........................................ 5No Child Left Behind: 10 Years Later ......... 5

Days of Change ....................................... 6Valentines Day Pressure .......................... 6Perfect Gift .............................................. 6Freedom of the Park ................................ 8Student Spotlight: KC Nwora ................... 9

EntertainmentThoraxe’s Guide to Valentine’s Day ...........14Left Behind: Staff Editorial ......................15Zombie for Your Thoughts .......................16Clueless ...................................................17All Talk, No Action ...................................17Awards & Honors/ Letters to the Editor ...11The Question Corner ................................10

Talk To Me Baby! ...................................................................................... 12-13Center Spread

F e b r u a r y 1 3 , 2 0 1 2

The StaffEditor-In-Chief: Emma MooreEditor-In-Chief: Prakriti BhardwajGraphic Designer: Lauren NashCopy Editor: Jason DannPhotography Editor: Rian Allen

Jorge Carrillo Lydianna Cirilo

Rene Garcia Sadhiya Moolji

Cameron PulcherAli Sawani

Austin SheaJessica Studer

Danielle SwernofskyMariana Trujillo

Mitchell Willetts

Advisor: Abby Cole

Circulation: 2000Distribution Process: Staff members distribute the paper before school and

during lunches. Copies are sent to all advertisers as well.

Commentary

Correction: We apologize for any misunderstanding about district policy in the “Different Religion, Same Holiday” article of the December issue. There

is no official policy that restricts teachers from saying the words “Merry Christmas.” Rather, there are several policies that encourage employees to not discriminate against any religion or promote one religion over another.

All headlines created by Emma Moore. Brush credits for index background to Wegraphics, TextureMate and Fudge Graphics. Photo Credits to Yearbook Staff.

Cover Credit to Rian Allen, Mariela Noyola and Lauren Nash.

3 .:Issue IV:.

News - Features - Commentary - Center Spread - Entertainment The Panther Prints

February 13, 2012

“I think he’s just another close minded Texas hick who is blinded by reli-gion,” senior Alejandro Scaliprinti said. “He thinks prayer in school is a good

thing and doesn’t believe in the separation of church and state.”

Ron Paul has been one of the top three candidates in the Republican presidential race, polls show. He does not believe in raising taxes or creating new taxes and his stated that Congress has no power to impose a direct income tax. He wants to eliminate the IRS, and instead suggests replacing it with virtu-ally nothing, or a national sales tax. He believes that same-sex legislation should be left up to the states, and supports the rights of those couples to marry as long as they do not impose their relationship on anyone else.

“I like Ron Paul because he has good foreign policy ideas,” senior Kevin Garcia said. “By staying away from the problems of other countries,

it’ll help our country’s economy.”

“He’s an indecisive flip flopper and is full of contradictions,” senior Teddy Jamison said.

Mitt Romney has been the front runner of the Republican presidential race, polls show. He believes that abortion is wrong, and believes in a constitutional amendment that would

define marriage between a man and a woman. He does not believe in rais-ing taxes, having signed an anti-tax pledge in 2007. He does not believe in a government mandated healthcare plan, and has criticized President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He opposes illegal immigration, and believes that illegal aliens should be able to register with the government,

pay taxes, and apply for citizenship. He also opposes the DREAM Act.

“Mitt Romney is the guy who should be president,” senior Omar Roushdi said. “He has experience in business and that’s what we need for the

economy to get better.”

“He spends too much time attacking Romney and not enough time concentrating about the real issues,” senior Raisa Chowdhury said. “If he

actually got nominated as the Republican candidate, Obama would easily win.”

Newt Gingrich has also been one of the top three candidates in many polls. He has been a crit-ic of the Health Care Reform bill passed by Congress in 2009. He believes that increasing taxes would be a bad thing, and instead thinks that lowering

taxes on businesses could help spur job growth. Gingrich has expressed support for increased border security. He has made past statements about wanting to ban abortions, and he is an opponent of same-sex marriage and

same-sex adoption.

“I like conservative Republicans because they stay true to how the country is supposed to be run,” senior Trent High said. “They don’t try and

change the meanings of the constitution like all the liberals do.”

The 2012 Republican Presidential race has had some candidates come and go, but the polls show that Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich are con-

sistently at the top. They will go through numerous primaries and caucuses to determine who the eventual nominee will be.

Other: 6%Poll out of 324 students.Photos from ibabuzz.com and lewrockwell.com

4 .:Issue IV:.

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February 13, 2012

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No Child Left Behind, to help heighten test scores and set higher standards for education levels, recently marked it’s 10 year anniversary. The act requires all state schools to issue state-wide standardized tests each year to every student, all under the same conditions. It was put into place to help and scout out the schools where help was needed to improve the level of education that the students were receiving. The act also requires that each year, the students perform better than the previous year, and so on and so forth. The schools, in which test scores are not as high as expected, then receive federal funding to help develop the school’s environment and teaching habits. The act once increased the quality of education, instruction and promoted early literacy

and emphasized the understanding and learning of the “core subjects.” “I think that the act was put into place

with good intentions,” Sociology teacher Mr. Joseph Russell said. “But it ended up causing more difficulties than any-thing.” Though the act was once considered one of the highlights of the Bush presidency, it is now considered with some flaws and unseen circum-stances. “No Child Left Behind made students do slightly better on a standardized test, but did nothing to raise education beyond a prettier score,” Senior Robert Caldwell said. “Putting teaching empha-sis on a standardized test

gives the illusion of students appearing smarter but was only a façade beyond that.”

5 .:Issue IV:.

News - Features - Commentary - Center Spread - Entertainment The Panther Prints

February 13, 2012

It’s common knowledge that the once-carpeted hallways in building two, three and four have now been replaced with

tile. The district facilities department came in last semester and handled the renovations to get rid of a carpet that was stained, messy, and in the case of building four, getting old. Principal Mrs. Karen McDonald was the one who requested the funds to have it done, and Mr. Tom Kimborough, who is with the district facilities department, gave the okay. “We wanted to do it as quick as we could because it was a sanitary issue at that point,” Associate Principal of Student Activi-ties Kevin Welborn said. “Once we actually started, we decided to go ahead and remove the lockers.” The lockers were not a part of the original plans for the renovation. Only six of the lockers had been assigned and the district facilities department, along with Mr. Welborn and Ms. McDonald, de-cided to make the entire reformation of the hallway a one-time deal. “As soon as we took the lockers out, we had the walls painted and removed all of that and cleaned it up a little bit,” Mr. Welborn said. The issue with the food-stained carpet above the cafeteria started this year, when the cafeteria became so full that almost all the

seats were being used. In the past, the faculty had tried to keep all the students confined to eating just in the cafeteria. “Because we’re so large, and because so many students don’t leave campus, they started to spill out to other areas,” Mr. Welborn said. “As they did, we decided to make the decision to allow them to go up there. We actually, at the beginning of the school year, moved some tables up there for them to sit.” However necessary the carpet replacement was doesn’t change the fact that students are complaining about it. “Honestly, I liked the carpet better than the tiles,” Gustavo Ferretiz said. “I just don’t like the way the tiles look.” Students claim that the tile is slippery, creates a greater risk of falling, and that it doesn’t look very nice, even though the tile matches the floor in both the cafeteria and building five, which were done two years ago. “What we really did was try to match that as close as we could, without making the pattern too busy,” Mr. Welborn said. “So they simply came down and took what was the basic design of the cafeteria and moved it up there.” According to Director of Facilities Services Juan Ramos, the total cost of the renovations was $25,357.90.

Photo By: Rian Allen

Brush Credits: Deviantales at Deviantart

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February 13, 2012

News - Feature - Commentary - Center Spread - Entertainment

Feb. 14 is right

around the corner, and romance (plus

the smell of flowers and chocolate) is in the air. Of

course, along with the feeling of joy (and sometimes resent-ment) that this holiday brings, there’s also the looming obligation to find the absolute perfect present for that spe-cial someone. The remaining question is what the perfect Valentine’s gift is. “I would say a box of chocolates and some roses,” Senior Alex Salm-eron said.

Several flower shops and chocolate

stores have pre-pared themselves

for the inevi-table rush of

shoppers, with

each

and every one of

the shoppers look-ing for a gift that’s up

to par with the expected level of romance. Studies

show that the most common gift on this day is the traditional bouquet of flowers and package of sweets. “I like cheesy stuff,” junior Danielle Franco said. “The big teddy bears and the boxes of chocolate and jewelry.” The answer to the question of what the perfect Valentine’s Day gift is there is no answer. To quote a famous saying, “to each their own.”

Perfect GiftBy: Danielle Swernofsky

Valentine’sDay,loveitorhateit,tendstostiremotionsinmostpeople.It’sadaywherelovebirdsaresupposedtolookintoeachother’seyesandmelt,butinsteadlovebirdsawkwardlyholdeachother’ssweatyhandsandsinglesfeeltheurgetopost“foreveralone”-esqueFacebookstatusesofdoom.Whetherit’spressuretopleasureyourboyfriend/girlfriendorpressuretofindonetopleasureinthefirstplace,there’snoholidaylikethisonewherepres-sureissodominant.Itusuallyfallsintoadiscussionofsexismastraditionsaysthatmales,exclusively,aretheexpectedday-plannersandgift-givers.Althoughmanypeopleright-

fullydisagree,Men’sHealthandWomen’sHealthmaga-zinesconductedajointsurveyin2009where55.7percentofanequalnumberofsurveyedmalesandwomenagreedonlymalesshouldpayforValentine’sDay.Andnomatterwhoendsuppay-ingorifthecouplesplitsthecosts,there’spressureinspending;theaverageAmerican’sspendingcostsonFebruary14increasearound7to11percenteachyear.Addthattothepressureoffindingthe“perfectgift”–andValentine’sDaynotonlygetsareputationforbeingtoocommercial-izedandtacky,butforbeingadayofnervesratherthanlove…HappyValentine’sDay!

Pressure Point of Love

Font Credit: Character

Valentine’s Day is celebrated in many different ways throughout history as the one day to to give that

special someone a token of appreciation. Each festivity has transformed from one year to the next. Whether giving chocolates and flowers or asking out that special someone, it’s a significant time of the year. However, some people see it in different ways, whether it’s a bad day of being single or just another ordinary day. Junior Jensen McMillan isn’t too keen on the holiday but still ap-preciates a nostalgic aspect of it. “Honestly I think it’s just another pagan holiday that is kind of pointless and a waste of money for some people,” Jensen said. “But I like the idea of when we were in kindergarten when everyone would get a Valen-tine’s Day present. Like getting the little cards and candy but now it’s sort of pointless.” Although, there are certain parts of the holiday that can seem odd or funny to see because people tend to go with the feeling of the season, even if they don’t initially intend to. “I think my favorite part of V-Day is when people go all googly eyed over each other because it reminds me of cartoons,” junior Mario Chavez said.

Over the years, getting presents for that special someone or even a friend have been a bit tougher because of how much a person changes. People will also go all out just to be a bit flashy for their loved one in showing their sentiments. “When I was younger all we did was send Valentine’s Day cards to our crushes,” Mario said. “Now we go to drastic measures to display our affection for the people we love.” Even in history, what Valentine’s Day was and is now are two dif-ferent things entirely. It has evolved into what people now refer to as a “Hallmark Holiday” and has taken a life of its own. “I don’t necessarily think it is a Hallmark Holiday,” Jensen said. “But people do spend a lot of money on cards. So I can see how people would think that.” But sometimes it just feels a bit better to have that special some-one on the day dedicated to show how much you care for him or her. “It’s still fun as long as you have a special sweetheart,” Jensen said.

Brush Credits: Coydreamer at Brusheezy, Crucibelle at Deviantart

Valentine’sDay,loveitorhateit,tendstostiremotionsinmostpeople.It’sadaywherelovebirdsaresupposedtolookintoeachother’seyesandmelt,butinsteadlovebirdsawkwardlyholdeachother’ssweatyhandsandsinglesfeeltheurgetopost“foreveralone”-esqueFacebookstatusesofdoom.Whetherit’spressuretopleasureyourboyfriend/girlfriendorpressuretofindonetopleasureinthefirstplace,there’snoholidaylikethisonewherepres-sureissodominant.Itusuallyfallsintoadiscussionofsexismastraditionsaysthatmales,exclusively,aretheexpectedday-plannersandgift-givers.Althoughmanypeopleright-

fullydisagree,Men’sHealthandWomen’sHealthmaga-zinesconductedajointsurveyin2009where55.7percentofanequalnumberofsurveyedmalesandwomenagreedonlymalesshouldpayforValentine’sDay.Andnomatterwhoendsuppay-ingorifthecouplesplitsthecosts,there’spressureinspending;theaverageAmerican’sspendingcostsonFebruary14increasearound7to11percenteachyear.Addthattothepressureoffindingthe“perfectgift”–andValentine’sDaynotonlygetsareputationforbeingtoocommercial-izedandtacky,butforbeingadayofnervesratherthanlove…HappyValentine’sDay!

7 .:Issue IV:.

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February 13, 2012

8 .:Issue IV:.

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February 13, 2012


Getting on YouTube to procras-tinate and

finding that YouTube has been taken down permanently due to copyright infringement is a difficult event for anyone to comprehend, but if the recent Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) legislation was to go through then that hypothetical event might have just become a reality. SOPA was a companion legislation in the House Of Representatives to the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), which is now in Senate. People that are proponents of PIPA and SOPA are mostly entertain-ment companies, pharmaceutical corporations and publishers, because they see foreign websites as a large hazard to the American economy. Rep. Lamar Smith R-TX, who has been largely spearing SOPA, stated that due to foreign websites distributing copy-righted materials, the economy is losing around $100 billion. While those who are in opposition to the bill, mainly websites such as Google, Wikipedia and Mozilla, contend that bills such as SOPA and PIPA could possibly mar or stop online entrepreneurship and possibly become a precursor to censorship of websites, who link to copyrighted material without proper appropriation. “I think that students should be aware of SOPA because it will impact our generation who is very technologically driven,” junior Ariel McBee said. Both SOPA and PIPA are bipartisan bills, which have seen support from both parts of the isle, so it

could very well be that the division amongst those bills lies in how one values the importance of auton-omy on the Internet. Even though the MPAA is head-ing the bill, other multimedia industries hope SOPA and PIPA will stop the piracy of other content such as books, video games and music. “People who are dedicated to a band do buy the album and will download the album because they enjoy that band,” McBee said. “That band could possibly get bigger and/or you could find another one and possibly let that band profit.” Those who support the bills contend that piracy is bad, but legislation like SOPA and PIPA try to force regulation upon consumers, instead of giv-ing them alternatives, and allowing them to consume media in a legal and feasible way. The United States economy is so powerful mostly because consumers have choices for one single item and if companies are safeguarded against piracy, the question is what the incentive is for those companies to try and get those people to buy their products legally. “It’s absolutely a generational thing; you have a generation of legislators and industry execu-tives who are a full generation older than the aver-age American. The average age of an American is 42 and the average age of a legislator is 62,” Sociology and U.S. history teacher Joseph Russell said. “It’s an attempt from legislators to regulate something they don’t fully understand.” Most people of 17 through 18 have grown up around the Internet throughout their life, and for

that are dependent on it for our news, social interac-tions and entertainment. Our daily use of the inter-net largely blinds us to the fact of how much freedom is given when it comes to internet use. on the other hand it’s understandable if some who don’t use the web as often, are crippling the ability of the internet to grow even if they have good intentions, in trying to save jobs and generate more revenue for the U.S’ struggling economy. “It would be cheaper to the consumers and taxpayer and make more sense for our legislature to team with big Internet companies and find a solu-tion with those who actually understand how one can adapt to the Internet,” Mr. Russell said. On Jan. 18 many large websites went black in protest to both legislations, and that certainly had a large impact on the bills’ life, as both Sen. Orin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla), a co-sponsor of the PIPA legislation both withdrew their support. A day later Rep. Lamar Smith withdrew SOPA from the House floor. Just earlier the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) announced that DNS (Domain Name System) blocking, a provi-sion that would require Internet service providers to redirect the website in question, but many still see the bill as harmful, even without it. Consumers still need to be on alert for PIPA and ACTA, the latter being an international trade act that does not need to be approved by congress, but would still give the government (along with other countries) the right to regulate piracy on the internet.

“A lot of things would be jeopardized if the government trys to stop piracy with legislation like SOPA and PIPA”

Senior Dan Lubis

“SOPA would be a violation of peoples’ first

amendment rights and would hurt the development of

our society.”

Junior Elizabeth Sawey

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February 13, 2012


Senior Christle Nwora, better known by her nickname KC, certainly has her hands full. She’s involved with Girl Scouts, the Junior World Affairs Council, and the

National Honor Society. She also holds the title of Execu-tive Director for the Economics Club and – to top it all off – she’s the president of both Student Senate and the debate team, all while juggling IB classes. “I do feel overwhelmed at times but it’s manage-able because I have a good schedule,” KC said. “I keep orga-nized with my planner and I always know what’s going on. Also, my friends and family are very reliable so I think my good schedule and a good support group are what keeps me going.” KC, who turned 18 on Jan. 26, has such a suc-cessful schedule most likely because of how it caters to her interests. Her everyday school life surrounds her with the political world but KC’s cheery attitude and readiness to speak suggests she doesn’t mind at all. At the exact moment voting is mentioned, her eyebrows go up. “I can’t wait to vote,” KC said. “It’s very impor-tant. If kids, including Plano East students, only opened their eyes, they could easily get interested in politics. I think that in these times, kids get the idea that politics are automati-cally boring… but it’s not. It’s totally fun and exciting.” A love of politics has stemmed since she started debate in sixth grade. “I don’t have a problem with speaking in front of large audiences, and I think it helped me develop people skills,” KC said. “Then, around sophomore year, I was really challenging myself intellectually and I learned so much.” Her hard work is paying off – with those leader responsibilities, her fellow classmates clearly respect her and although she has not decided on a college yet (so far, she has been accepted to Baylor and UT), her future plans are no doubt ambitious. “In college, I want to major in International Rela-tions,” KC said. “I feel it’ll be a good avenue to go help out in the real world and I would love to work for the United Nations, in improving global health policy, but my absolute dream job is to be a medical correspondent and be-come sort of like the next Sanjay Gupta.” Her friends are not in the dark of her plans. “I know she wants to be the fe-male version of [Sanjay Gupta], and I can totally see that happening!” junior Myra Ali said. Actually, KC’s well on her way. As a first-generation Ni-gerian-American, KC has already had experience seeing the medical situations of other countries.

“When my grandpa passed away, my mom discov-ered he owned a lot of outdated medical books that she used in her first year of nursing school,” KC said. “We were surprised and I think it’s ridiculous that the U.S. has all this money and modern technology but still uses methods from the 70s in the medical world and to help people in general. I would say my background story does inspire me, but it’s not really where you’re from that matters. I want to change the way people get informed and in that way, I want to change people not only in Nigeria but in the whole world.”

Photo Illustration by: Rian Allen

10 .:Issue IV:.

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QuestionCornerThe

Q: What is your favorite part of Valentine’s Day?

The Sweetarts!!!

The

Cheesiness!!!

The Music!

The Joyful Feeling in the air!

The Candy!

Those little cards from elementary school!

The Girls

Giving Away Left over Candy Canes!

I hate Valentines Day!

The

Sweetart

Candy

hearts!

Remembering

I’m Forever

Alone!

Getting Candy

Hearts!

Making fun

of the

Cute Couples!

The overall

happiness!

The

Candy!!!

Appreciating

the

Single Life!

#

My name’s Amber Robinson and I am the Business Man-ager of Plano Senior High School’s The Wildcat Tales. I was extremely impressed with the feature article “Crime Catching Moses” by Prakriti Bhardwaj. At a first glance, I didn’t realize that the article was about one of the assistant principles. The headline and photograph were very professional. The article itself was well written and interesting. Bhardwaj truly captured the different professions of Moses. The one problem that I noticed with the article was the title and how it corresponded to the actual story. The majority of the story talks about Moses’s career as a beautician and salon manager, and lightly touches on her career as a law enforce-ment teacher. Other than that one problem, the rest of the story fit together perfectly. Keep up the great work. I can’t wait to see what your next issue covers.

Sincerely,Amber Robinson

Business ManagerThe Wildcat Tales

De a r Ed i t o rs,

I like how the BCS article showed how messed up the BCS really is. I liked how it showed how messed up the National Championship game is. The only thing that I

would say was inaccurate about the article was that it said just computers decided who played in the BCS National

Championship game, when really a lot more factors come into play. Other than that I thought it was a good game.

I thought the “Marching Home” article was really good because not only did it show the side of families

being able to be reunited again, it showed the effects of it politically for the United States and Iraq.

Junior Ryan Kravik

De a r Ed i t o r,

The article on bringing the troops home was a really good one considering how big the topic of the war has been. The quotes were very good in capturing the thoughts and feelings about the troops coming home. I also liked the article on Mrs. Moses. It was cool to learn that the assistant principal had a lot of jobs in law enforcement. It was also interesting to know she owns her own salon suite. When you think of assis-tant principals, you always see them in a role of power. You never think of the other interests they have. The article on New Year’s Resolutions was good but I think that many people do try and keep their resolutions. At the same time it can be hard to work towards their goal. The article on the BCS system was very good. That is a very big topic in college football. I for one don’t have a problem with it considering my favorite team (Alabama) is play-ing in the national title game. I think the two best teams should be playing for the title, which in my opinion is LSU and Alabama.

Senior Chrissy Mcleod

De a r Ed i t o rs,

Letters to the Editor

1.

1. Artwork of the Week- Toyosi ChairBy: Omotoyosi Williams

2. The Men’s soccer team finished off the Garland tournament with two wins. We defeated North Garland

3-2. We then played Sasche and defeated them 4-0.

3. Congratulations to the 2010-2011 staff of Plano East Literary Magazine, Synecdoche of Scrawls. The magazine was rated EXCELLENT in the 2011 NCTE Program to Recognize

Excellence in Student Literary Magazines.

5. The Academic Decathalon team placed 2nd in the Super Quiz Relay, 3rd in Super Quiz total, and 4th in Region X. The Plano East team earned a spot at the State Academic Decathlon

Meet! Team members are: Austin Chen

Matthew Connelly Ali Rashid

Adrienne Lamb

Nelson Frech Jared LawTori Proctor

Caitlin Goodland Markayzia Dennis

6. Plano East had 7 members selected to the All State Band (the most of any school!) and they will travel to San Antonio in February to attend and participate at the TMEA Convention.

Those students selected as All State members are:

Sarah Hise, Flute Trey Stricklin, Oboe

Amanda Hurst, Clarinet

Will Reagan, TrumpetMaya Basdeo, Trombone

Will McEowen, PercussionSpiro Nicholas, Baritone Saxophone

4. Lee Thomasian and Victoria Flores have been selected to the Texas All State Choir. They have worked extremely hard

and we are so proud of them for their hard work.

9. Plano East students and staff made a visit to Dr. Otto’s office to thank him for his 17 years

of service to PISD. In addition to a small Panther Appreciation statue, the group presented him with

a Proclamation proclaiming Jan. 31 - his last day as our superintendent - as “Douglas Otto Day” at

Plano East Senior High School. Photo submitted.

8. Women’s soccer finished preseason undefeated with a 9-0-2 record. Also, the women’s soccer team received the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Team Academic Award again for

the 5th year in a row.

Be the voice of Plano East and join yearbook or newspaper! Applications due March 9.

See Mrs. Cole in B1-243 for details.

7. Student Senate would like to congratulate Ms. Dusty Vincer from our Science Department as February Teacher of the Month. Our students appreciate all that you do.

11 .:Issue IV:.

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12


February 13, 2012

Imagine a normal student in high school. This stu-dent is early to class, doesn’t talk during

lessons or in the hallways, or for a matter of fact, nobody hears this student speak at all. The student has friends that don’t share any classes, so this person only chats during general conversa-tion or when asking a question. Other classmates are very un-likely to speak to this person, so the student just browses the web or plays Temple Run. But more likely than not, this student who would rather stay silent than speak to strangers represents many of the students at school today. “We have cell phones, and rather than going up to someone to say hi, instead you could just play on your phone and be by yourself,” junior Diana Valdes said. Students are voluntarily distancing each other from themselves by being alone. Every student ends up being a “Cast Away” Tom Hanks at one point of the day, and Wilson ends up being a cell phone. “If you go into any public place you will see many peo-ple walking about with their eyes on the screen of their phone although they may be with a group of other people,” profession-al counselor Benjamin Brockman said. “Technology offers many advantages but can lead us to isolate and disconnect ourselves

from others. And although we feel connected to the person on the other end, an electronic message cannot replace the inter-change of communication with another human being in the here and now.” By avoiding this interaction and replacing it with their own devices, students put up a barrier around themselves that may actually harm their communication abilities. As time pro-gresses, they won’t be able to interact efficiently with peers and coworkers if one doesn’t know how to make trustworthy rela-tionships. “One of the greatest barriers to authentic communica-tion has to do with our willingness to be vulnerable with one another,” professional therapist Marie Krebs said. “Being vulner-able means we open ourselves up to being judged by others. In order to be vulnerable and honest with others we need to feel that it’s a safe relationship. It takes time to develop trusting relationships with others in which we can feel free to honestly express ourselves.” Not everyone can claim to be able and willing to create new relationships with new people. But matter-of-factly, by hid-ing behind a screen, students aren’t exposed to any interaction with others. The indirect conversation won’t properly portray the message, and emotions or feelings can be lost in the airwaves.

Brush Credit: obsidian_dawn, Alan Prescott Photo Credit: Yearbook staff

12 .:Issue IV:.

News - Feature - Commentary - Center Spread - Entertainment The Panther Prints

13

“There are so many variables as to why students have problems communicating,” marketing teacher Mr. Jason Duncan said. “We’ve all seen a shift of people who desire to communicate with technology. These people like to use social media, but most of their non-verbal communication is lost within a text message.” With the traditional communication skills that technol-ogy is slowly erasing, students and the generations after will face a big metaphorical roadblock. Like Spiderman losing his powers, students are losing their voices to phones and computers. “I would say the number one thing is that people are really afraid of thinking that they are weird for talking to ran-dom people,” senior Jared Law said. “Personally I think the world would be a better place if we all talked to people randomly.” Senior Courtney Carter also agrees that students don’t speak out enough and interact with others. “We have this society that doesn’t want to individually stand out, and rather stay within our personal bubble than reach out to other people that we aren’t sure about,” Courtney said. Aside from at-tempting to know every-one, many students today do not develop certain skills such as memoriza-tion, research skills involv-ing non-electronic media, or grammar/penmanship of written language. For example, very few students mail letters and use fax ma-chines today as they could use email to do both. “Technology has changed the needs of the world and many of these skills are not as necessary as they once were,” Brockman said. “For example, today’s world does not require the manual research of library archives and memoriza-tion skills like it once did. Today’s students can look up any question/fact by a simple Google search.” Most high school students today inter-act and communicate through social media and instant/text messaging services, communicating with relative ease and less-than-perfect grammar and punctuation. Brockman believes that this can affect the way in which students write and learn. “In the past, students were asked to demonstrate their understanding of information by writing a research paper with sources cited by searches by hand at a local library,” Brockman said. “Now it is common for students to be asked to dem-onstrate their understanding by presenting the in-formation through other forms of media [e.g pow-er-point presentation]. Our reliance on the written

word is decreasing as so much information is available at our finger tips.” Although Courtney sees the communication problems that media makes for students, she agrees with the fact that tech-nology makes life for a student much simpler. Think about what Courtney would have to do to contact her classmates for a group project if she couldn’t rely on Facebook or their phone numbers. “Technology makes it a lot easier to share the load with your peers, and it makes group work a lot easier,” Courtney said. “I think it’ll help communication between the students, because the teachers can just send out reminders and cut down some barriers between teachers to students and peers, which will gen-erally help everyone with their schoolwork.” In some ways, technology has opened up many easier routes for people but at the cost of traditional communication. The problem is that not everyone around will have transitioned

at the same rate as others have already. As long as people are still willing to make pals, the introverts of the world will defi-nitely still have plenty of chances to create mean-ingful relationships. But for those who still have the problem of shying away from every possible human soul, Mr. Duncan has his own per-sonal advice to give. “You should always try to talk to people, they will definitely surprise you,” Mr. Duncan said.

“You never know how someone will respond, so it’s always good to try. And don’t forget, regardless of speech, a smile means the

same thing in every language and generation.”

Photo Credit: Yearbook staff

Photo Credit: Lindsey Spillman

14 .:Issue IV:.


February 13, 2012

High School romance: much like the

common cold, it’s in the air, and the contagion is spreading to ev-eryone. The infectious love bug bites many around this season,

working at maximum efficiency during the day of Hallmark, romantic gestures and old clichés: Valentine’s Day. Oh blissful reader, allow me to teach you how to harness the power of the contagious love bug, and focus its sharp fangs on that special somebody in your life. With my expertise and your dashingly good looks, that lucky somebody won’t know how to stop swooning over all the romantic gestures you’ll be throwing in their face this Valentine’s Day. Before we get underway with the romantic gestures, I’d like to start off by addressing the double standard of Val-entine’s Day. All of the ladies out there really lucked out; some might even say I’m writing this sarcastic guide out of spite for the double standard of romantic gestures. Whoever says that is reading way too much into this though, I recommend a large dose of sunshine, puppies and kisses for those kinds of readers. A quick disclaimer before I begin: I’ve conquered many things in my time, but not the heart of a beloved one. Maybe I lack the credentials for this kind of guide, or most likely I can share a fresh and edgy outsider perspective on how to romance right. Romantic gestures; because noth-ing says, “You’re a unique snowflake that I love,” more than the tired cliché of flowers and chocolates. Gentlemen, it’s no longer the golden age of the 1960s, your woman is no longer confined to the walls of your kitchen, so should your creativity be uncon-fined when expressing your sentiments to that special someone. Yes, some girls cher-ish sweet chocolates and roses, but did you know ALL girls love excitement more than the Twilight saga? It’s true, (to some extent) and it just so happens I’m willing to help you out. Exciting your loved one isn’t terri-bly difficult. Excitement has always boiled down to two simple emotions: surprise and fear. As long as you incorporate these two emotions into your romantic gestures with a

hint of passion, you’ll get the girl of your dreams. A solid way to get the girl of your dreams is to have her be-lieve at first that you’re a man of her nightmares. By play-ing off of her greatest fears, you’re capturing the two vital emotions of excitement, now all you have to do is plan for the most exciting moment to terrify her, add in that pinch of romance, and soon she’ll be hysterical with love for you. For example, if she fears the dark, stealth-ily grab her in the pitch black of night and whisper a love poem to her, if she’s afraid of spiders, tape a love note to a tarantula and place it in her purse, be creative. As long as the element of surprise and fear are on your side, I can guarantee love or a restraining order. Although my useless guide only mocks the tradi-tional cheesiness of Valentine’s Day, I hope you can still take away something from these sarcastic ramblings: romance can’t really be equated to some generic formula, why then should you follow the same old, tired tradition of flowers and chocolates to let that special someone know you care? I’m even inclined to say that setting aside one specific day each year to show someone you care for them is absurd, but more impor-tantly, I hope you have a very special Valentine’s Day this year. -xoxoxoxoxoxo,

Thoraxe

Font Credit: Jellyka Nerevan, Brush Credit: Obsidian Dawn, Photo Credit: Rian Allen

15 .:Issue IV:.


February 13, 2012

The once famous, now infamous, No Child Left Behind act put forward during the Bush presidency, has

seen many positive reactions and after the act was put into play, many schools and districts saw drastic im-provements in their students’ performance. Though the act has been in action for around 10 years now, it now seems as if the there were more downfalls to No Child Left Behind, than previously expected. This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the act. Though NCLB was once considered one of the highlights of the Bush admin-istration, it is now being considered with some flaws and unseen future implications. To start off, NCLB was meant to specifically help low-income families, and as statistics showed, the Hispanic and African American communities saw the greatest increase in test scores. Though that is a positive impact, some wonder how NCLB helped other types of students. Other ethic groups such as Caucasian, Indi-ans, and Asians did not see much improvement. It set a standard for what the government thought should be the “success rate” at which students below are considered in need of extra help, and those above are considered suc-cessful and bright. The success standard is different for many people, however. Some may consider a 50 percent on an exam to be successful, while others would not think below a 75 as achieving. It was seen to have set unrealistic goals for some students, along with teachers beginning to “teach to the test,” or teach material to help students pass the stan-

dardized tests rather than teaching with a holistic view that can help students apply what they have learned. It has been brought up that math and science, along with other core subjects, were seen as more important, rather than electives and various classes. This prevents a student from becoming a well-rounded individual if only attention is paid to certain subjects. NCLB not only offered monetary incentives to the teachers who’s stu-dents did well, but also gave them adequate funding and resources to have the push in the right direction to ease their way into higher test scores. Because there is so much pressure put on the school administration and teachers to make sure that their students perform up to par, that the students simply turn into numbers. They are seen as statistics that with increasing positive direction, money will be awarded to the school. If the students still fail to meet the standard, the blame is put on the staff, and, more restrictions and rules are brought upon them. The gov-ernment during the Bush administration failed to realize that a sense of accomplishment is different for everyone since students do not all learn the same way and with the same methods. One bar cannot be set for all stu-dents. Some things that can be done to positively help the No Child Left Behind act is to make provisions and changes to the act that enable the act to help not only the lower-income groups, but also the average to higher-income families, as well. The act can also set new standards for success and develop new ways of teaching.

Morrow’s Performing Arts Center *Ballet *Pointe *Contemporary

*Stretch & Strengthening *Tap *Jazz *Hip Hop

*Turns & Progression *Musical Theatre Productions *Voice

Dance classes for age 3 yrs and up.

972-516-1653 www.mpacplano.com

4101 E. Park #121 (next to Napoli’s)

Brush Credit: deviantales at Deviantart

16 .:Issue IV:.


February 13, 2012

Zombie for your ThoughtsLet’s face it; it’s very much impossible to escape

the slew of disaster-related media being thrown every which way these days. Before

the days of fancy special effects, people had to turn to their local book store to satisfy their craving for Armageddon fiction. Now, however, it seems that production companies have not only taken advantage of the ability to senselessly destroy major cities, but have exhausted almost every source of disaster there is. Whether it be global warming taking its toll on civilization (“The Day After Tomor-row”) or giant alien robots coming to try and destroy all human life and take the planet for themselves (watch the last hour of the latest “Transformers” movie for that one), it’s very much safe to say that they’re running out of ideas. This could possibly explain the large influx of post-apocalyptic related media coming out in recent years—that is, fiction taking place after a catastrophic disaster. In a way it makes sense. It doesn’t cost nearly as much money to go build some ruins of a city in a desert or film in a vacant area as it does to spend two hours actually showing the event that made it that way. Stories taking place in decimated worlds are also great ways for writers to make numerous statements, whether it is human nature, politics or the simplicity of right and wrong being outlined. The genre even dates all the way back to the early 1800s with “the Last Man,” a novel written by Mary Shelly (the author of “Frankenstein.”) Her story tells of a Europe ravished by plague. Though it was criticized in her day, she set the stage for many writ-ers today. These days, however, there is one element that, above all others, seems to dominate the post-apocalyptic fiction genre. Yeah, I’m going there. In the past five years or so, the idea of a “zombie apoca-lypse” has risen from having a cult following to a much more

mainstream place in culture. The idea doesn’t stem

very far from what Shelly envisioned back in 1826. Instead of the population being killed off by a pathogen, however, said population becomes reanimated by a virus that turns them into bloodthirsty monsters. At this point, I can practically feel the enthusiasm this idea will bring some people. Zombies were first brought into film in the 1960s with “Night of the Living Dead.” The film succeeded in freaking people out and gained a huge cult following for not only the subgenre it created, but the horror genre in general. It wasn’t until much later that zombies truly made their way into the hearts of all Americans. In 2007, the third film adaptation of Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel “I Am Legend” was released, this time starring Will Smith. The film tells the story of a doctor living with the regret of turning almost every human being into a zombie with his supposed “cure to cancer.” The 2007 flick resembles a “Resident Evil” game more than the original work, as Matheson’s creatures were more vampiric than undead. Despite this discontinuity (and the film’s generally lack-luster reception), “I Am Legend” (2007) spawned something new and different in popular culture. More and more movies and video games take place in a zombie-ridden world (HINT: If the word “dead” is in the title, it’s probably a zombie game). The comic book “The Walking Dead” was turned into a popular television series that premiered in 2010. Honestly, the whole idea is kind of preposterous. Most of the theories of “zombification” make no sense and there really is no root explanation as to why it’s so popular. I can only attribute the idea prevalence in culture to the fact that out of all the end-of-the-world scenarios, it is the most interesting. I am more than willing to bet that on the night of Dec. 21, 2012, there will be at least one person readying themselves for a possible zombie takeover.

-Senior Samantha Selvage

-Senior Rene Mejias

By: Emma Moore

17 .:Issue IV:.


February 13, 2012

In many ways the year 2011 was a year of revelation. It wasn’t just because Osama Bin Laden’s hiding place was revealed, college sports scandals occurred, or the advent

of Wikileaks, but because different issues of the world finally became known to all. Most of these issues were revealed as a result of the numerous revolutions that took place in middle-eastern countries last year. Things like widespread corruption, high unemployment, inflation, electoral fraud, police brutality and many other different forms of abuse were all causes of protests. Here in the United States, these things are very rarely seen, if at all, and are definitely not as rampant as they were revealed to be in these countries. Countless news stories and even videos surfaced which told horrifying tales of human aggression, selfishness and greed and caused everyone to feel sympathy for the victims and hatred for the evildoers at the same time. Given the circumstances, one has to wonder how long such atrocities were in fact going on as they just came into the light last year. The Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi ruled for over 30 years before being overthrown and eventually brutally killed in 2011. The buildup for the revolution that took place under his regime must have taken a while. Just a couple months of abuse and corruption

would not have led to as widespread anger and hatred against him as there was. The seeds of the revolution must have been planted at least a couple of years ago, if not more. Had the people not stood up for themselves and simply been patient, waiting for things to change on their own, the world would not have been enlightened of their sufferings. We would still be oblivious to these issues just as we had been from 2010 and before. It is possible that this complete lack of recognition of basic human rights could have continued for many more years without our knowledge. What we have seen and heard taking place is nowhere near representative of what is actually going on in not only these countries but others as well. There are still some countries out there where the peoples’ rights are still being infringed upon but they either cannot or will not do anything about it. However, these things are not known to many outside those who know people living under such conditions or have lived as such themselves. Those that have left are lucky but not everyone, especially in countries such as these, is fortunate enough to have the means to just pack up and leave. Revolting is not a possibility, just like escape is not. The source of terror is either too powerful to be harmed in the slightest bit by any small and unorganized revolt or the people are too afraid to mount one in the first place.

Plano is heavy duty on keeping the city green. Schools are pushed to keep the trash with the trash and the recyclables with the

recyclables. However, our school seems to not be getting the message. Despite talk about recycling flowing through the school, we don’t do it as well as we should. Our school should probably promote recycling a lot better than they’re doing it currently, because well, no one is doing it. A school should be kept clean and all that good stuff, but it needs its students to be responsible for that, otherwise we will be a just-throw-it-in-the-trash kind of school. But then again, it’s up to people to decide, and I’m pretty sure a handful of students recycle, not that it’s an enough amount to classify the school as a school that “recycles.” Recycling will make the school have a good image, which in today’s world, is probably the best thing ever. We all know it’s good for the environ-ment and what not, but it in the end, if people do it, great, if not then, oh well. Most schools in Plano recycle and can prove they do. Senior Christopher Huggins from Plano Senior had mentioned his school’s environmental AP class, would be given a grade if they talked about recycling. Plus they have recycle

bins in most rooms, whether they properly use them or not, is unknown, and kudos to them for helping the world. But anyone can claim they’re helping the world. It seems most students don’t really care, they just see the trash can and throw away the food without putting the recyclables in the designated place. Of course, they have other more important stuff to worry about, but it’s just something to think about when they go dispose of the trash.

Some people don ‘t feel anything when and if they re-cycle. It’s under--stand-able, “So I recycled---now what?” some would think. They do well if they recycle, even if it’s cheesy to think, talk or write about it. You can have morals and do a

bunch of good in the world, even recycle. So, our school doesn’t recycle as much as it should, or as much as other schools do. But students have a choice to recycle or not, even if they do it at home already, it doesn’t hurt to do it at school too. There are some recycle bins around the school, just throw away what needs to be recycled there, and the trash in the trash. It will make the school live up to what it’s been promot-ing all this time.

All athletes expect that mundane inspirational speech from their coaches and parents to

boost their self-esteem, but that’s exactly what contributed to junior Sawyer Kipp’s star athlete level on the Varsity basketball team. Sawyer’s journey began at a young age, like many professionals. He soared

above all the other children with his gifted height and love for

basketball. “My dad put me in basketball when I

was in third grade,” Sawyer said. “It never felt forced. I

liked it ever since I started.”

As the years pro-

gressed, Sawyer

went on, spend-

ing end-less

hours practicing

his fundamentals and techniques

to get the flow of the game.

“If I ever have a bad game or just need some extra help,” Sawyer

said. “My dad will go shoot with me until like two o’clock in the morning.”

His dedication and drive shined through the court and

into the eyes of his coach and teammates.

“He contributes a lot of leadership and is really a team player,” Junior Varsity basketball Coach Matthew Mitchell said. “He tries to motivate the other kids, so he knows he has

a lot of talent, but at the same time, knows he has to motivate the rest of the team to play well.”

His dribble to basketball fame was put on hold as he encountered a tragic ac-

cident that served as a setback in his athletic

capabilities. “It was in sixth grade,” said Sawyer. “I was riding my bike and I was about to turn around [because I didn’t that see the road stopped] and I fell off the top of the wall. I broke my hip and got a piece of metal stuck in my elbow. I was out for four months.” The fall of over 15 feet left Sawyer on crutches. As he struggled to recover, more obstacles were thrown his way. “I had two knee surgeries in sev-enth and eighth grade so that put me back on my playing ability,” Sawyer said. “I had to do a lot of physical therapy, for two years straight. It was just a lot of work to get back in shape once you’re on crutches for like three years in a row.” The pain was Sawyer’s motivation. Though his life had led a rocky road, he remained optimistic. “He’s very talented and with the way that he motivates himself and carries himself with his work ethic,” Coach Mitch-ell said. With past injuries set aside, Sawyer’s mindset remains in it to win it. He never lets the pressure allow him to fall short to his potential. “Do whatever to get the team to win,” Sawyer said. “I really don’t look at the score that much. I know that if you don’t look at the score there’s no pressure to score. So if you just play the game, every-thing will just fall in place for you. You just have to block it out.” Many young players wonder the secret to being a successful basketball player. To reach Sawyer’s level of talent, the formula is simple. “Just practice,” Sawyer said. “Prac-tice as much as you can and hard.” With Sawyer’s passion and devo-tion to basketball, his future looks bright. His talents can take him far, but it’s up to him which direction. “I want to go to college for bas-ketball.” Sawyer said. “A few schools are looking into me like Yale, Iowa, Houston, and Georgetown.” Wherever this star-studded athlete decides to take his talents, will be boundless with his mastery. “The sky’s the limit for Sawyer.” Coach Mitchell said.

18 .:Issue IV:.

News - Feature - Commentary - CenterSpread - Entertainment The Panther Prints

February 13, 2012

Photo

cred

it: Mari

a Pina

Font Credit: Levi Szekeres

19 .:Issue IV:.

The Panther Prints

February 13, 2012

A scholarship can be something very difficult to achieve, espe-cially if it’s to a school that’s

known across the country or state. Some students have the patience and make the time to keep up with long hours of hard work and an extremely demanding schedule. Rachel Scott is one of them and has spent much time athletic and academically preparing for the college of her choice. Though keeping her options open, she visited some other schools as well. “I was so excited to get into UT, “ Rachel said. “But I wanted to make sure that that was the right fit for me. So I went to Florida State and Stanford and I liked it there but it was too far away.” Even with an Ivy League school like Harvard, Senior Madison Hansen had kept her options open at the beginning while being shown all the schools that she would be able to go to. “The school was definitely a top choice because it is Harvard,” Madi-son said. “I was also looking at Stanford, so that was a big decision because they’re so different but they’re both so great. But once I went there [Harvard], I knew it was the place for me.” Some students who get an athletic scholarship already know what school they want to go to and have been waiting for the end of their senior year

since sophomore year. Senior Holly Kern also spent many hours practicing and dedicating time to get the scholarship to UT, the college that had always been her first choice. “I’ve always wanted to go to Texas [UT],” Holly said. “My family all went to Texas Tech but I had always liked Texas.” One of the major pressures that can be added when getting an ath-letic scholarship is the one of coaches and sponsors. They add pressure to reach certain goals but also help a lot with the process and are support. The realization that reaching a dream is achievable. “It was really stressful just de-ciding and a lot of them [sponsors] want you to sign really quick so they know they have you,” Madison said. “They put a lot of pressure on you to decide early. It’s kind of hard to decide and when I should decide and just seeing which school is the best for you,” Madison said. After everything they have worked for, all three students are finish-ing up the rest of senior year and excited to be starting fresh at each of their ac-cepted colleges. “I’m really excited because it was a pretty hard process going through,” Kern said. “It’s been a long two years so I’m ready to go to college.”

20 .:Issue IV:.


February 13, 2012

When senior Colby England isn’t busy captain-

ing the varsity soccer team to victory, one could probably find him launching cheerleaders through the air, and he’s even been known to hide in a panther suit, rally-ing the school and team at football games. If anything, you could consider Colby to be a man of three faces, each accomplished in their separate sports fields. Although Colby has played soccer most of his life, only last year did he dawn the panther suit for fun. “I was the J.V. Mascot last year,” Colby said. “It kind of fell in my lap, in tenth grade I had a friend who was going to be a cheerleader as a junior here and they needed a mascot, no one tried out, so they were holding tryouts after the deadline. My friend mentioned something in class, and I thought ‘why not?’” Disguised as the mighty panther, Colby spent his junior year enjoying the

anonymity of that sweaty suit. “The suit is hot--extremely hot,” Colby said. “But it was always really fun because if people take pictures you can make whatever face you want, and you can do basically whatever you want and they had no idea what I was doing. I also enjoyed going to the games and going up in the stands without anyone knowing who I really was.” Colby secretly had alternatives for his time in the panther suit though; it wasn’t just for the thrill of a masked iden-tity. “I’ve always kind of thought I wanted to be in East Guard,” Colby said. “When I was a little kid I tumbled and did gymnastics, so it was something I wanted to do and I thought being a mascot would be a stepping stone up to that.” So Colby’s third identity was born: an East guard cheerleader. Colby provides the extra muscle and safety for his

fellow cheerleaders. “The guys, being gener-ally the stronger of the team, are involved in the stunts where the girls want to go higher and we have to catch people out of stunts and make sure they stay up,” Colby said. “We always talk about protecting our flyer and making sure they don’t hit the ground, so if someone is falling I catch them, you could consider me a professional lifesaver if you think about it.” Part lifesaver, part soc-cer captain, part panther, all man; Colby England strives for success in a multitude of ways, a real role model for the kids. “Do your work, don’t slack off, don’t be lazy,” Colby said. “I need to take my own advice sometimes as well.”

Phot

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21 .:Issue IV:.


February 13, 2012

Best Picture: “The Artist”

Best Actor: George Clooney

Best Actress: Michelle Williams

Best Picture: “The Descendants”


Best Actress: Rooney Mara

Best Picture: “Warhorse”

Best Actor: Gary Oldman

Best Actress: Meryl Streep

Best Picture: “The Artist”


Best Actress: Meryl Streep

The 84th Academy awards are going to premiere Feb. 26, which leaves many cinema fans wondering which of their favorite actors and mov-ies will bring home Oscar gold. It may help ease the tension to know a little bit more about the Academy’s top picks. Gary Oldman is up for best actor for his role in “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” as a stoic and calculating MI6 spy hunting down a Russian mole within his own ranks. Demian Bicher got his hands dirty to play an undocu-mented Hispanic gardener doing what-ever he can to create a life for himself and his son in “A Better Life.” George Clooney and his buddy Brad Pitt are both nominated for Oscars. Pitt for his role as the general manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team which adopts an unconventional recruiting system to bring new talent to the strug-gling franchise in “Moneyball.” Tragedy strikes Matt King, Clooney’s character in “The Descendants” when a boating accident leaves his wife in a coma. As King struggles to bring his family to-gether he discovers his wife had been cheating on him (a first for Clooney) and together the family tries to cope. Lastly, the French actor Jean Dujar-din has risen quietly to the top for his role in the black and white silent film

throwback to the early days of cinema in “The Artist.” Glenn Close has received a nom for “Albert Nobbs” where she plays the role for which the movie is named. She is secretly a woman but fools every-one by looking like a man (not a first for Close). Viola Davis has her first Oscar nomination for her powerful portrayal of an African-American maid named Aibileen Clark in “The Help.” Rooney Mara gives a chilling performance as the queen of all hackers, Lisbeth Sa-lander, who brings more pain to Swed-ish badguys than Bruce Willis in “Die Hard.” Oscar magnet Meryl Streep is back for “The Iron Lady” (no relation to Iron Man). She plays the first female prime minister of England Margaret Thatcher. Michelle Williams is a carbon copy of the original blonde-bombshell that was the deeply troubled Marilyn Monroe in “My Week With Marilyn.” Tune in to ABC in to sup-port your favorite actors and 84 years of movies. According to this year’s host, Billy Crystal, it may even save the economy. “Well, the way things are go-ing, aside from wheat and auto parts, America’s biggest export is now the Oscar’s,” Crystal said.

Best Actor

Best Actress

Demian Bichir

“A Better Life”

George Clooney

“The Descendants”

Jean Dujardin

“The Artist”

Gary Oldman

“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

Brad Pitt

“Moneyball”

Glenn Close

“Albert Nobbs”

Viola Davis

“The Help”

Rooney Mara

“The Girl with the Dragon

Tatoo”

Meryl Streep

“The Iron Lady”

Michelle Williams

“My Week with Marilyn”

Best PictureThe Artist

The Descendants

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

The Help

The Tree of Life

Hugo

Midnight in Paris

Warhorse

Moneyball

Th

e O

scar

Go

es T

o...

Clooney- movit.com; Pitt- celebritywonder.com; Bichir- 2dailyprogress.com; Dujardin- washingtonexaminer.com; Oldman/Williams- ibtimes.com; Close- thiapolis.

com; Davis- collider.com; Mara- hereandnow.wbur.org; Streep- bleedingcool.com;Font Credit to Graham Meade Fonts, Chokingonstatic.deviantart.com

22 .:Issue IV:.


February 13, 2012

Anyone who’s been dragged into watching a current romantic comedy knows that most of them are riddled with bad clichés and unreason-able moments of coincidence that end up with the two main characters

living happily ever after. While the genre itself has some bad characteristics, there are the occasional films that break the mold and do something innovative along the way. “The Philadelphia Story” is one of the greatest examples of film-making in the 1940s. The movie itself has an unbelievable star-studded cast.

Coming off of Broadway success Katherine Hepburn bought the rights to the play. The rest of the cast was filled out by the always-smooth Cary Grant and lovable James Stewart. The strong point of this movie is the chemistry that all three of them have when they are on screen. They manage to make every scene light and watchable.

Romantic comedies nowadays are considered un-intelligent and pedantic, but “Annie Hall” easily proves those critics other-wise. It is by far Woody Allen’s most critically acclaimed movie, and for good reasons. While it isn’t his most entertaining (see: “Manhat-

tan,” “Play it again Sam”) it is his best overall film. “Annie Hall” has both great humor and commentary on making and maintaining relationships in modern

times. This movie is perfect to watch with your hipster friends, mostly because it makes fun of them and their attitude throughout the movie.

While it’s not critically acclaimed like the last suggestions, “Bridget Jones’s Diary” is a great modern romantic comedy. Once we got to the millennium every romantic comedy seemed superficial and unrealistic. “Bridget Jones” proved that romantic comedies can have real characters and still have an entertaining film. If nothing else it’s the characters’ flaws that make them seem endearing and real. While these three films are by no means the end all be all of ro-mantic comedies.

They are exemplary films that are entertaining, and make you appreciate romantic comedies when they are executed correctly, and don’t have a girl who doesn’t believe and/or have time for love. So regardless of your relationship status on Valentine’s Day, these movies can be enjoyed without making you feel like relation-ships were created by the devil and Hallmark.

In the futuristic country of Panem, the capitol selects a boy and a girl tribute from each of the twelve

districts to fight to death on live television. Katniss Everdeen must volunteer to take her younger sister’s place as tribute know-ing that she might not make it out alive. In theaters March 23, “The Hunger Games” is considered to be one of the most anticipated movies of 2012 and for good reason. Based on The New York Times Bestselling book series by Suzanne Collins, the movie will certainly have some big hopes to live up to. “The Hunger Games” has shown to be relatable to a wide audience of readers ranging from tweens to adults. Every reader seems to take some-thing different from the books, making the task of the movie even more of a challenge to the team creating the adaption. With the cast and an official trailer released, anticipa-tion for the movie is at an all time high and fans are becoming more excited to see the record-breaking book on the big screen. With that excitement there also seems to be an undercurrent of wariness. Fans have

seen successful book to movie adaptions in series like “Harry Potter”, but there have also been series like “Twilight” that have fallen short of readers’ expectations. Lionsgate, the production company behind “The Hunger Games,” has done their best to keep fans of the books interested in the upcoming release by strategically releasing stills from the movie along with songs that are said to be on the soundtrack. Right when buzz over a certain still or track has ended another teaser is released that adds to the already grow-ing franchise that “The Hunger Games” is becoming. Fan sites are being flooded with comments (both good and bad) concerning details as small as whether or not Katniss’ highlights are to blonde or if the male lead, Peeta (played by Josh Hutcherson), was cast suitably for the role considering the characters sensitivity in the novel. Regard-less of what a fan of the books thinks of a particular direction the movie is taking, everyone is eagerly anticipating the release of the movie.

Illustration by: Lauren Nash Book cover credit to suzannecollinsbooks.com and photo credit to viviano.de

Chokingonstatic.deviantart.com, font credit: Lauren Thompson

Bridget Jones: Impdb.org; The Phiadelphia Story: Imdb.com; Annie Hall: Imdb.com

23 .:Issue IV:.


February 13, 2012

From Feb. 5 - April 8, 2012 the Concourse Gallery at the Dallas Museum of Art will hold the win-ning pieces of the Young Masters art competition.

Artists have been given the freedom to put their hearts and inspirations into visual representation and get hon-ored for it ever since the program began. If a student happens to win one of the spots in this competition they get to have their pieces displayed for all to see at the DMA. The competition consists of three sections; an essay in response to a permanent collection at the DMA, winners to be announced at a reception, a four-minute music composition, and two or three dimen-sional art work. There will also be a reception for the students, their families and their teachers held on Tues-day, Feb. 28 in the Atrium Café. During the reception, the winning students will be introduced for an awards ceremony held in Horchow Auditorium. Out of 158 essays entered from across the region, five students made it to the second round of only 24: seniors Adeyemi Adewuyi and Nathan Ryck-man and juniors Amy Jenkins, Adeleye Omotosh and Bailee Wallis. The winning essays will be displayed next to the piece that their essay is about. Seniors Krista Alba and Karolina Ruan-Lei and junior Conner Kanso are three students chosen out of 475 pieces for the di-mensional art work. The reasons for entering the competition varied in some aspects but mainly it was because this is a prestigious award to win and is an amazing opportu-nity for a student to have on display at the DMA.

“There’s kind of a feeling of importance and pride in being displayed somewhere as widely reputed as The Dallas Museum of Art,” Alba said. “If you are permitted to show your work there then it opens a lot of doors to future experiences and I think it’s impor-tant.” The inspiration for Alba was making a visu-al representation of music as well as other artists’ work that also got her brain running through ideas. Some have said Kansos’ inspiration for his sculpture made of all toast was hunger but he disagrees. “My inspiration was the toast itself and how the material was able to represent different values,” Kanso said. “I wanted to show that the structure of my piece looked like it was strong although the toast was very brittle and fragile.” The studio and art history classes are hon-ored to have gotten this far into the competition. Since 1995, when it began, this competition has been con-sidered a very prestigious award. The art classes are very glad to represent the school in such a wonderful way. “I’m just really honored; I didn’t think it would reach that level of importance,” Alba said.

TiVo and the DVR crippled televi-sion advertising. What used to be the strongest way to market products and services has almost completely lost its luster. With the ability to record favorite television shows and skip through commercials, live events have never been more important in the businesses of advertising and marketing. Professional sports events are one of those live television events that have now started to command top dollar for their commercial breaks. Of those, the Super Bowl is the insurmountable king. The Super Bowl needs no introduc-tions. The championship game between the two NFL teams that have survived the playoffs is the most-watched sporting event every year. A U.S. record 111.3 million viewers tuned into this year’s game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. With such an enormous audience tuning into the same program at the same time, it is easy to understand why businesses and companies are willing to pay so much for advertising. Advertising during the Super Bowl is not just about marketing towards the foot-ball fan anymore, it has evolved into aiming to influence anyone and everyone. According to Stephen Master, Vice President of Nielsen

Sports Media Research, close to 50% of viewers tune in to the Super Bowl to actually watch the commercials more than they watch the game. This has led to a drastic increase in the value of the Super Bowl commercials as viewers do not skip through these commer-cials but they also tune in specifically to watch them. The quality of the commercials seemed to be at an all-time low this year. While there were the occasional 30 seconds of brilliance, there were far more unimpressive ones than usual. The most successful commer-cials were almost always the most funny ones while the duds were those that either failed to inspire laughter, failed to keep interest, or even failed to get the message across com-pletely. M&Ms struck gold with their “Just My Shell” commercial while usual heavyweights such as Doritos and Snickers were either absent or not as good as usual. However, the game itself was able to divert attention from the lackluster commercials, according to the standards, as it was close and interesting throughout and went down to the last play. The Giants came out victorious in the end, 21-17.

1. Senior Krista Alba, 2. Senior Karolina Ruan-Lei 3. Junior Conner Kanso

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Documents

panther prints

different religion

jason dannphotography

lauren nashcopy editor

valentines day pressure

plano east student body

staff members

student spotlight