Prom will be held on April 25 at the Re-naissance Worthing-ton Hotel in Fort Worth. The theme is Cirque Du Soleil. Prom money was raised from Bronco Bazaar tickets and is also coming from future events such as the senior celebration dinner, student vs.

staff Dodge-ball match, and other fundraisers. “For un-decided se-niors, prom is one of the nights that are dedi-

cated entirely to you,” Mrs. Schimming said. “It is the last social event that they can come together with their friends to make lasting memories. When you are an adult, you will still remember when you got all dressed up in the latest styles and partied like adults with your trendy mu-sic and fancy food,” Mrs. Schimming said.

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The RiderThe Student Newspaper of Legacy High School: Covering Bronco Nation

Mansfield Legacy High School 1263 North Main Street Mansfield, TX 76063 817-299-1100December 19, 2008 Vol. 2 Issue 3

NEWS FEATURE

PAGE 4 PAGE 10-11 PAGE 7

Casi Moss wins TCU art competition

Swim team makes a splash in districtCar accident changes

student’s perspective of driving safety

News BriefsNews Briefs

Take NoteTake Note

Crash Course Diving In

AcaDec at the Museum

BY COLE CHRISTENSEN Staff Writer

Health Occupations Students of America encourages students to find interest in the medical profession. The Mansfield chapter meets once a month at the Ben Barber library. HOSA brings profes-sionals in the medical field to give lectures to student in hopes of interesting them in various fields of medi-cine. It also acts as a social get together for students interested in medicine. “Anybody that’s a professional anything is usually a part of a professional organiza-tion,” health science teacher Bill Kaschub said. “It gives you op-portunities for educa-

HOSA contributes to future medical field

Anatomy specimens accidentally thrown away

tion and networking with other people with similar interests.” Health science teach-er Tracy Starr worked at Arlington Memorial Hospital for five years before teaching at Ben Barber. Teaching stu-dents about the medi-cal profession gives him another way to contribute. “You’re the first one to spark their inter-est in medical profes-sions,” Mr. Starr said. “It fills a void. All of us could be healthcare professionals with a better financial status.” According to Mr. Kaschub, HOSA gives more to students than just healthcare knowl-edge. “It’s all about profes

BY COLE CHRISTENSENStaff Writer

Alex Veale doesn’t understand the stock market, but he does know that the current economic worries will affect his college atten-dance. Families with poor credit or low income will not receive loans from struggling banks to pay for college. Col-lege tuition rises while

the money becomes scarce. “I don’t know how I’m going to pay for college,” senior Alex Veale said. “It wouldn’t be very realistic, but I used to consider join-ing the army to pay for college.” Federal grants from the government are less likely with the falling economy and tuition costs continue to rise.

Cats Out of The Bag

Academic Decath-lon visited the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth to explore Latin American art and culture. The Oct. 16 trip exposed the stu-dents to paintings and sculptures they will study for their compe-tition. “We learned a lot about a different cul-ture and had fun at the presentation,” se-nior Ryan Timmons said. “It was a cool experience. I hope the AcaDec does some-thing like this in the future.”

Senior Prom

SPORTS

Economic decline causes college loan hardships

see “College” page 3

see “HOSA” page 3

Guitar Club Guitar players of all skill levels are welcome to meetings after school in Mrs. Whiting’s room AJ115.

BY KYLE SIPE News Editor

After a couple hundred dollars and an expedited shipment of new cats from New York, Grant Kee had to rename his new cat to Coolcat.com, after the previous cats which were going to be used for dissection in his anatomy class disappeared. The class later learned the cats were mis-taken for trash and hauled off to the dump-ster over the weekend. “It happened right after Halloween, so I thought maybe someone took it as a joke and used the dead cats as props for their yard,” Grant Kee, anatomy student said. The newer cats, which cost $59 a piece, had to be shipped from New York, the only place that had cats available to be dissected

at the time. The new ones were triple inject-ed with red, blue and yellow dyes to show the different systems of the body, and had no fur or skin. “The new cats are sup-posed to be organic but they smelled horrible,” Kee said. “I liked the old cats better.” Anatomy teacher, Mrs. Fagan believed one of the other science teachers had taken and hidden the cats initially. “The science department has a tradition of playing jokes on each other,” Mrs. Fagan said. “I thought probably one of the other teachers had relocated them for me as a

see “Cats” page 3

“I thought maybe someone took it as a joke and used the dead cats as props for their yard.” -Grant Kee

Luck of The Draw

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DISSECTING IN ANATOMY- Grant Kee dissects the group’s cat as they progress through the systems of the body. The newer cats are injected with red, yellow and blue dyes to show the veins and arteries.

The Rider Page 2 December 19, 2008 The Rider The Rider News

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By No Means a Dead LanguageLatin classes spark interest and may have positive effect on SAT scores

BY GREGORY URIBE Editor In Chief During lunch periods, APs will lock the cafeteria doors preventing students from en-tering and disturbing classes in the academic hallways. “The students haven’t re-sponded positive,” Assistant Principal Mr. Contreras said. “but they’re very accepting.” According to Mr. Contre-ras, the new policy is meant to encourage students to re-

main in the cafeteria during their lunch periods. Before lunch rotations, the APs take turns unlocking and locking doors. “I think [the new poli-cy] works perfectly fine,” Mr. Contreras said. “The kids responded very well in knowing to remem-ber where to remain.” Although the policy is meant to deter students from leaving, there are some who have acceptable reasons

for leaving. After straining the liga-ments in his leg by jumping off a wall, Corbin Winkle was required to wear a cast and use crutches until his recovery. This hindrance made it necessary for Win-kle to exit classes earlier to avoid being tardy for his next class or trampled in the hall. “It was stressful and I had never been on crutches be-fore, so it was awkward,” Winkle said, “There are

LOCKED IN APs lock cafeteria doors to prevent students from disturbing academic classesdefinitely other courses they could take.” The requirements for leav-ing the cafeteria and the process that ensues were considered by Winkle to be unnecessary and time con-suming. “I know they don’t want people roaming the halls,” Winkle said, “but it’s imped-ing everything else.” Despite complaints APs are more than willing to as-sist those who need to leave

BY JAMILA OBIEDStaff Writer

After receiving requests for a library store from stu-dents and teachers, librar-ian Pam Pinkerton decided to open on. With ap-proval from principal Da-vid Wright, she used the library’s mon-ey to buy sup-plies such as spirals, glue sticks, con-struction paper and even USB flash drives to get the library school store going, and plans to keep it for the

following years. “It’s kind of a service to the students,” Pinkerton said. According to Pinkerton, the supplies are set at a reasonable price and make

it easy for s t u d e n t s to get what they need quickly. “We’re not making a profit off of it. We’re selling it pretty much

what we buy it for,” she said, “It’s more of a convenience thing.” The library store gets

about four to five students a day requesting poster boards and pencils. But it’s not just students buying supplies; it’s the teachers as well. “Teachers will come to me and say ‘Hey I need three binders,’ because where else are they going to find a binder for such a cheap price,” Pinkerton said. English teacher, Sherri Chambers, feels the library store will benefit the stu-dents and give them fast ac-cess to supplies. “I’m so glad they have it [library store], because when students forget their supplies, it’s right down the stairs,” Mrs. Chambers said.

Supply Store in Library OpensAfter requests, library offers basic supplies for cost

“We had a Go-Fish tournament where we spoke only in Latin”-Mrs. Hayes

“Teachers will come to me and say ‘Hey I need three binders,’ because where else are they going to find a binder for such a cheap price”-Mrs. Pinkerton

Library Supplies

for academic purposes. “It’s not like they’re boxed in the same room all the time,” Mr. Con-treras said. “If they need to go some-where, they know they can come to us.”

LOCKING THE DOOR - Assistant Principal Mr. Trammell locks the door during lunch to prevent students from disturbing academic classrooms outside the cafeteria. The APs take turns before and after lunch to lock and unlock the doors.

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CD ($.60)Flash Drive 1 GB ($8.00)Spiral ($1.00)Folder ($.75)Binder ($1.00) Dividers ($.50)Notebook paper ($.01)Printed paper- white ($.01)Printed paper- color ($.05)Construction paper- 9x12 ($.15)Construction paper-12x18 ($.20)Poster board-white ($.50)Poster board-color ($.75)Pencil ($.10)Pen ($.25)High lighter ($.50)Index Card 3x5 ($.01)Index Card 4x6 ($.02)Battery AA or AAA ($.50)Glue stick ($.75)Ruler ($.25)B

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BUYING A HIGHLIGHTER FOR CLASS-The student store offers supplies for cost making it convenient to both students and teachers.

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STUDYING DURING LATIN -Junior Mia Peyton studies her vocabulary. Ninety percent of English words with more than three syllables have a Latin root .

Anything But Ordinary PhotographyYour Senior Portrait Experts

- On location shoots- Formal and informal poses- Creative formats

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BY AARON SAKOWSKIStaff Writer

More Latin classes are projected for next year fol-lowing the unexpected p o p u l a r i t y of the newly introduced Latin I class. Administra-tors were ea-ger to see the class added to the list of foreign languages offered in MISD because of the positive effect it can have on SAT scores and grades in medical and Eng-lish classes. Latin I, taught at Ben Barber, has an enrollment of over 150 students in its first year. More than any of the Chinese, German or Russian classes. An exten-sion to Latin IV is planned for the next few years.

“I did expect it to be well attended,” Mr. Wright said, “but I didn’t expect it to do as well as it’s doing.” Mrs. Hayes, the teacher,

studied Latin in college and taught it for a year. “I think it’s easy because Latin is so logical,” Mrs. Hayes said. “I love it, so I think it’s

easy to teach.” According to Mr. Wright and Mrs. Hayes, learning Latin can help with SAT scores. Ninety percent of English words with three or more syllables have a Latin root, so difficult vo-cabulary on the SAT usu-ally has a basis in Latin. “There’s so many Latin root words in our English words,” Mrs. Hayes said, “so if you have a background in Latin, your English vocab-

ulary will increase.” Mr. Wright and the health occupation teachers at Ben Barber also believed a knowledge of Latin could help students who plan on entering the medical field. Medical terminol-ogy, which is based around combining various root words, is based on Latin roots. “They teach so much of this in the terminology,” Mr. Wright said. “It would help our students who are going through any kind of medical field to have this background.” Although the class in-cludes students from all high school grade levels, the majority of the stu-dents are freshman. Fresh-man Kristi Kamesch chose Latin over other languages and plans to take it for all her language credits.

“It’s the basis for all the ro-mance languages and Eng-lish, so I figured it would be easier to learn than all the other languages,” Ka-mesch said. “I’m really into the whole literature thing.” Students who stay with the course to Latin IV will have the opportunity of

reading literature by Ro-man authors. Students seeking to challenge their Latin skills before then can join the Latin Club at Ben Barber. “We do a lot of fun things. We had a Go-Fish tourna-ment where we spoke only in Latin,” Mrs. Hayes said.

Latin’s success in its first year has given it a strong foundation for its future. It may be ancient, but it is by no means a dead language. “I love it,” Mrs. Hayes said. “I’m so happy to be teaching it, and I hope more students continue to sign up.”

The Rider Page 3The Rider December 19, 2008

News Briefs

Random Info

•Local DECA branch grows- DECA, an organiza-tion of both high school and college students who study business relations and marketing tech-niques, have grown to 81 members at the local branch located at Ben Barber. This is 41 more members than last year. “We have already ac-complished one major goal of exceeding our membership numbers from last year,” E-Com-merce II Teacher Melanie Stillings said. “Another goal is to compete at the National Level in Holly-wood, CA.”

What's New

Noteworthy

•Infinite campus- Infinite Campus now emails parents about a failing grade teachers have entered into the grade book.

News

College tuition increased 5.6% between July 2007 and July 2008 according to BusinessWeek. The trends over the last five years pre-dict the 2009 tuition fees to increase as well. Fami-lies have not prepared for the future. “As a nation we don’t save enough,” economics teach-er Amy Deatherage said. “We don’t have a stash for rainy days.” As college draws near-er, Veale realizes the pre-dicament for his future. A strong SAT score and the small savings his family saved will mean little in his pursuit for a career in crim-inology. Financial Advisor Maga-zine says that only 13% of high school senior fami-lies saved the estimated $100,000 required to pay for college. “My step-mom thinks

the money I have now is enough for college,” Veale said, “but it definitely is not. We get into arguments about how I’m going to pay for it.” The hardships of going to college force Veale to lower his standards in his college selection. The affordability of pres-tigious colleges exceeds Veale’s price range and weakens his chance for success. “So unless I either join the army or sell my body for experimentation,” Veale said, “there’s no way I can pay for college and not be in debt.” The average debt of col-lege graduates mark at $20,000. The average salary of col-lege graduates is $46,000. According to FinAid.org, a professional degree along with undergraduate college averages out at $93,134.

Veale feels bothered by the means a student must pay for college. “I don’t want to owe money to people that gave me an education,” Veale said. “It’s just not right. Knowledge shouldn’t have a price tag on it. Mrs. Deatherage believes they key to succeeding in these turbulent financial times lies in enjoying the sought after career. “Finding something you love and making it market-able will lead you to suc-cess,” Mrs. Deatherage said. “Being passionate about your work is important.” Despite the awareness of the increase in college tuition, Veale knows that hardship is inevitable. “I have to deal with it,” Veale said, “nothing is go-ing to change. I’ll just have to tighten the belt and go through with it. I’m going to college no matter what.”

BY IAN COOKStaff Writer

Years of dreaming. Months of planning. Weeks of collaboration. Days of contemplation. Countless hours of search-ing for the right price. Minutes of emailing. Sec-

onds of doubt: all for a chance to stand out. Legacy Journalism re-ceived a grant on Nov. 19 of nearly $10,000 for a podcasting lab to improve the upcoming online newspaper. “[MISD] announced Timberview’s [grant] the

week before, so I was wor-ried we weren’t going to get it,” journalism adviser Leland Mallett said. The convergent me-dia class, which will be launched next year, will combine print, broadcast, and Internet to deliver news to students. “I just think we under-utilize [visual] technology in education,” Photojour-nalism and future Broad-cast teacher Jim Cockrell said. “This gives us a great opportunity in the way that people learn in the 21st century.” Nine journalism stu-dents are currently en-rolled in E-commerce II to learn how to code and start the future news site, theriderlive.com.

“Coding is like when someone’s telling you about a project and it sounds easy, but you go and look at it and it’s the hardest thing ever,” future online editor Will Ritchie said. “Coding is that proj-ect that you get from the teacher that hates you.” The equipment bought by this grant will be avail-able to other classes as well. “I think that when teach-ers see the power of this technology you will see a lot of them gravitating to-ward [teaching with tech-nology],” Mr. Cockrell said. Professional journalism heavily incorporating the use of technology was the

reason for this grant in the first place. “I personally would like to see this model adopted for the district and for this to become a career path-way for students,” E-com-merce teacher Melanie Stillings said. Timberview launched their website, thsoutlook.com, on Nov. 21 and Sum-mit has plans in the works to launch one of their own. Ritchie hopes students from all over the district will visit theriderlive.com “I want the website to be where students from all of the Mansfield schools can find out what’s going on, and things that matter by reading stories and watch-ing videos,” Ritchie said.

Journalism receives $10,000 grant for podcasting lab, online newspaper

College loans unavailable

HOSA offers medical experience

•NHS visits Mission Arlington- Mrs. Michelle Hurst sponsors the National Honor Society. The class did community service hours for the Mission Ar-lington on Dec. 13, and plans to continue doing service hours when the opportunities arise.

Cats replaced after throw away mishap

GRANT MONEY- Journalism adviser Leland Mallett receives a grant for nearly $10,000 to fund The Rider’s new podcasting lab for the upcoming online paper.

TAKING A PULSE-Students practice taking pulses and blood pressure in health science courses. HOSA allows these students to gain experience and the opportunity to network with professionals in the field.

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Video News•Teen leadership takes a trip to New York- Mrs. Schimming along with 32 or more students from her Teen II class,

and seniors from Teen I will take

a trip to New York this Feb-ruary to help The Union

Gospel Mission with feed-

ing the homeless.

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joke, but they swore they had no knowledge of it.” The cats were kept in sep-arate clear plastic bags filled with formaldehyde to keep them from decomposing. Each bag was labeled with the cat’s name and placed inside of large trash can in the back of the classroom. “[The cats] weighed close to 60 or more pounds,” Mrs. Fagan said. Now they keep the felines locked inside the back prep room, labeled with a pink neon sign in Spanish and

English and scotch taped to the trash can to avoid being thrown away. Anatomy student Greg Green thinks these precau-tions will prevent any future problems. He had previous-ly heard about the anatomy class just the year before he took it, but despite dissect-ing cats as being part of the curriculum, he decided to take it to further his knowl-edge in the medical field. He believes working with the cats will give him expe-rience he needs to work as an anesthesiologist.

“What drew me to the class is that we got to learn about the systems and the body itself,” Green said. The cats will be used until the beginning of May, and the class will continue to dissect each system of the body. Although the class has replacements for each cat now, they still agree that they will miss their previ-ous set. “We bonded with it a little,” Kee said. “We got to take it out of its juice bag and hold it for the first time.”

•Student composes piece- The symphonic band will perform, Hark How the Bells, a revised edition of Carol of the Bells com-posed sophomore Jorge Morales. This is the third piece written by Morales preceded by Carol of the Bell and Noble of the Sea. After hearing Mo-rales’ Carol of the Bell being performed by the Worley Middle School band, Band Director Glen Fugett requested Morales make a piece for Legacy, resulting in Hark How the Bells “I’m pretty proud of myself and feel I’ve ac-complished something,” Morales said. “Sometimes I feel I’m bragging, but then I think about it and realize not many people can do this.”

sionalism,” Mr. Kaschub said, “not just teaching them skills but work ethics. That professionalism will help ev-ery part of their life, not just healthcare” Professionals of the medical field give lectures about their practice. Senior Patrick Huggins felt out of place at the first meeting. “I didn’t know what to expect,” Huggins said “but it’s a nice way of not having to go to a hospital to learn about the medical field.” Mr. Kaschub hopes his presence has influenced stu-dents to participate in HOSA. “He’s an interesting guy,” Huggins said, “even though people who wouldn’t be interested in the medical field, but because he’s so worldly, he can find something in the field to interest people.” According to Mr. Starr, there is a lack of healthcare professionals today, and he hopes HOSA will curb this problem. HOSA answers questions Huggins might about the medical career. “I know I want to major in medicine,” Huggins said, “but I hope HOSA will help me find out which practice of medicine.”

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Luck of the Draw

Academic Decathlon Team ChosenBY BRETT WALKERStaff Writer

Filing off the bus, Tyler sees familiar faces. Some of them intimidate him, and some boost his confidence. This practice tournament will show him what he needs to do to prepare for spring. Senior Tyler Williams scored a 2020, the highest cu-mulative grade of Legacy’s Academic Decathlon team at the Dec. 5 practice meet at Timberview. “I actually didn’t expect that. I thought I would have been struggling to make the team, not the top of the team,” Williams said. “That makes me feel pretty good about myself.” Ten of Legacy’s students went to the practice meet, participating in honors, scholastic, and varsity catego-ries. The school won ten individual awards in seven dif-ferent exams. “The kids did really well,” sponsor and teacher Bran-don Austin said. “We learned a bunch about the differ-ent tests you take.” Now that the official team has been selected, AcaDec must prepare themselves for the real deal next semes-ter. “We need to study the material more; we went in there

pretty cold,” Williams said. Only eight students could be allowed on the team, three for honor and varsity levels, along with two alter-nates. “All of us needed to be on the team,” Williams said. “It’s just unlucky for some.”

BY JACOB MOORE Staff Writer

Casi Moss’ ink drawing Poker face was selected as the grand prize winner in Texas Christian Universi-ty’s recent “That’s So Cool” competition. The contest consisted entirely of works by AP art students across Tarrant County. Students submit-ted their pieces to their teachers and each teacher selected one piece. Mr. Mason chose senior Moss’ piece to represent Legacy. “When Mr. Mason told me it was being chosen, I

was really excited,” Moss said. “I’m just grateful to have been chosen.” The winner of the compe-tition was declared on Nov. 14. “I was really surprised to have won,” Moss said. “There were a lot of really good paintings and sculp-tures.” Among Casi’s competitors were thirty-seven pieces representative of over forty schools. Media included paintings, sculptures, pho-tography, and a few others. “It surprised me that there actually weren’t that many different media there,”

Moss said. “Winning was a big honor. I’d never won first in an art competition before.” Casi’s piece stood out from the others, largely be-cause she chose to create the piece with an ink pen on a canvas of forty-five playing cards. “I just saw the cards and decided to use them re-ally,” Moss said. “I guess the judges liked it because it was a little different.” Casi depicted her friend Molly Browder with a blank gaze, vintage glasses and a bit of drool hanging from her bottom lip.

“At first I was going to use a different picture, but Molly showed me that one of herself and I knew I had to use it,” Moss said. The piece took a week to complete, working on it off and on. Casi uses her art to express herself, but hopes for people to interpret her art on a piece-by-piece basis. “I want people to get some humor out of Poker face,” Moss said. Casi’s mother was a pho-tographer as a teenager, so Casi and her twin sister Kenzie grew up around it. Casi picked up her first

camera and paintbrush as a sophomore. “I’ve always been intrigued by art,” Moss said. Kenzie helps inspire her; the two bounce ideas off of one another.

“We exchange ideas,” Ken-zie Moss said, “but Casi ex-cels more in art than I do.” After high school the two plan to attend college to-gether and possibly major in the same field.

Team prepares for larger competition next semester

Moss’ drawing wins TCU art contest

POKER FACE-The drawing done by Casi Moss features her friend Molly Browder. Moss’ drawing was selected as the grand prize winner for TCU’s “That’s So Cool” competition.

BY COLE CHRISTENSENStaff Writer

Microphones and their counterpart speakers will be tested by the science and math department teachers in hopes of im-proving the productivity of students. The Mansfield school district will use Legacy High School as a test pilot for the REDCAT audio system from Lightspeed Technologies. The use of the system hopes to improve a teach-er’s lesson by ensuring all students hear the lecture. Physics teacher John Davis believes the system has helped students hear his lectures better. “I think so far it’s good,” Mr. Davis said. “It’s easier

for someone to hear over the ambient classroom noises.” Some students receive less information from teachers because of seat-ing location. “The jury is still out,” biology teacher Michelle Fagan said, “but I think it will help out the kids in the back of the room.” Reactions varies with the implication of the sys-tem. “Some like it some don’t,” Mr. Davis said. “Some are wierded out because they hear me in stereo now.” Despite the echo, the system can act as an am-plifier for DVD’s and computers, allowing for teachers to avoid purchas-ing additional speakers for

visual presentations. Mr. Davis also uses the speaker to improve spirits in the classroom by attach-ing it to a talking Christ-mas tree that moves and blinks when he talks. “In all honesty I put up the Christmas tree just for fun,” Mr. Davis said. “I have to turn it off during class in order to avoid a guest lecturer.” Math and science teach-ers hope the use of the REDCAT audio system will improve the way stu-dents learn and increase the overall attention span of classes. “For teachers who nor-mally talk pretty loud, you won’t see much of a differ-ence,” Mrs. Fagan said. “I think the fact that we can use it for video will help.”

Can You Hear Me NowMath and science department receive mic grant, pilot new technology

LECTURING LOUDER-Mr. Davis lectures his class using the newly provided mics to enhance his audio output. Only the Math and Science departments recieved the microphones and speakers to test them out.

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The Rider Page 5The Rider December 19, 2008 News

BY AMBER STEINLEStaff Writer

Crowds began to gather in Summit’s cafeteria on Oct. 18, as the second round of area competition laid ahead. Everyone tried to spare their voices until the very last minute was upon them. Nerves were running on high while stressed out singers waited patiently to get checked in. Kyle Page, one of seven qualifiers from Legacy, awaited the announcement telling all competitors to register. “I was so proud and excited to see how far they would go.” Choir teacher Mrs. Owens said. After the tables were set up and everyone gathered, the word was called to begin lines to sign in. “The process was long enough,” Page said. “The lines were just un-necessary.” Once all the schools were checked in, they were moved into the same room for their first and final practice before the solos came. “It stressed me out,” Page said. “I just wanted to go first after warm up and get it over with.” Immediately following the warm up, no one was allowed to sing, hum or even listen to music. This was so there would be no unfair advantage by getting any pitches to help anyone get a tune. “Receiving the clips I was to sing was the worst part of it all,” Page said. “It seemed like they had just handed you your life on paper.” With no electronics allowed, all the competitors were

able to do was read over their parts or talk with other competitors. The singers were called back by groups and left waiting in the hall out side the judging room. “This was the worst because you could hear the one be-fore you in the room and if they were good it made you feel bad.” Page said, “but if they were bad, you had your boost of confidence.” Entering the room, the only thing visible was a white

sheet hiding the judges and a single lady in the corner awaiting the okay to start the music. “The lady was really nice,” Page said. “She smiled and made me feel a little better.” Once the music had begun that was it. If a mess up occurred, the attempt to keep going and pray no one heard was all the hope the singers had. “I had tons of fun despite all the stress; and I can’t wait to see how it turns out,” Page said.

“It seemed like they had just handed you your life on paper.”-Kyle Page

Sing the stress away

EDD, not ADD

iBistro replaces Athenaas library softwareBY BRETT WALKERStaff Writer

Library circulation soft-ware in MISD will do much more than tell students where books are located. Sirsi, the developers of the district’s new software, iBistro, have plans to inte-grate their online catalog with the library check-out system itself. Students will have the option to check their status with the library from their computers at home, as well as at school. “It’s going to be a really good system—good for students once completely functional,” Library Media

Specialist Pamela Pinker-ton said. “Their library will be available to them even when school is closed.” This new technology cost the district over $90,000. Mansfield schools will pay an additional upkeep cost every year, but this situa-tion is no different from the previous arrangement. “We don’t have all the features yet. It’s better than what we had,” Mrs. Pinker-ton said. When searching iBistro’s catalog, it lists all schools using the software. This list allows students from Lega-cy to search all the libraries in the district for the book

he/she is looking for. “It might encourage people to read, because it’s easier to find books,” soph-omore Donovan Jensen said. Legacy’s library doesn’t have as many books as the other libraries in MISD, but as it grows, the perks of iBistro will become more prominent. “It’s a way to stretch money and resources. It saves them [students] time, they know what they want when they come in,” Mrs. Pinkerton said. Besides the lengthy web address, there is one dis-traction with the system:

BY PATRICK GRIFFINStaff Writer

Michael Caho stares at the drafting program on his computer, pondering what he wants to make. The new class he is taking at Ben Barber enables him to create a product to solve a problem of his choice. “I’ve wanted to be an engineer since I was younger, and now I can try it out,” Caho says. “I rather find out how I like it now, then when I get out of college.” Engineering Design and Development is a new class geared toward teaching students the design process. The students in the class will work individually with an engineering mentor to develop a solution to an existing problem. At the completion of the course, students will

present the product to a board of engineers. “Most projects in high school come to a pre-deter-mined conclusion,” EDD teacher Susan Patterson said. “The process in here is open ended; it’s open to all pos-sibilities”. The class offers students the same thing as a college level research and development course. Several Engi-neers from Lockheed Martin, civil firms around the area and college professors from UT Arlington, Tarleton State University, and possibly the University of North Texas will all aid the students in their process in devel-oping the product.

“The class allows students to use their creativity to develop solutions to problems they encounter in their everyday life,” Patterson says. EDD is part of a national program called PLTW. The program, developed in 1998, attempts to help develop skills vital to a successful career in engineering. In an EDD class in Sarasota, Florida a student developed a way to start her car with a phone call from her cell phone. The technology developed is now used by Gen-eral Motors in their factory remote start option. “I hope I can make something that makes everyday things easier,” Caho says. “And can help my golf game.”

its vulnerability to crash-ing. The system is server- based, and therefore flexi-ble, but it can stop working at any time because of a glitch or a simple discon-nection.

“We had some problems, but [it’s] becoming more stable,” Mrs. Pinkerton said. The publishers of Ath-ena, MISD’s old program, ceased supporting their

software. So, the dis-trict needed a new one. “We had to make the decision to go to a new system,” Mrs. Pinkerton said. “More and more are going online.”

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Engineers in training design with mentors to develop product and submit to board of engineers

IBISTRO- with the new library software, students will be able to browse over the entire selection of books within all the district’s schools.

Choir participates in area competition

GIVING IT THEIR BEST- Seven choir students participated in the area competion during October. Students were required to sing a solo piece to a panel of judges sitting behind a white sheet.

The Rider Page 6 December 19, 2008 The Rider The Rider Sports

BY PATRICK MADIGANSports Editor

During his time in school, senior Smith patrols the sidelines as a member of Bronco Brigade, provides the spirit in the pep rallies, just like any other student. Although seemingly normal, Smith has another side to him few at the school ever get to see. Standing 6’3 , Smith is hailed as the top ranked men’s volleyball prospect in the state, and is considered to be among the top 32 in the nation. The ranking was a surprise to Smith. “I saw it in a volleyball magazine,” Smith said. “I was really shocked be-cause I didn’t know where they found me.” Volleyball has been a constant fixa-tion all of Smith’s life, taking his abili-ties to the club level years ago with Panther City. This year, as a member of the Tejas 18’s North Texas High School Men’s Volleyball Club, opportunities and scholarships await, along with fel-low Legacy students junior Trevor Cal-larman and senior Colton Feazell. The Tejas Club will play tournaments nation wide including one in Puerto Rico. Although Smith’s talents prove among the nation’s best, he craves the experi-ence girls’ high school teams receive, even though according to Sean, the men play at a more competitive level. “One of my main goals would be to

play in front of a big crowd like the girls do, but I never get the opportunity,” Smith says. “Girls play on a lower net, they move a lot slower, and they’re game is in slow motion compared to guys.” Callarman, a middle and also the step brother of Smith, joins Smith as a vet-eran of men’s volleyball. “I love playing with Sean,” Callarman said. “I like that not many people play it. It’s a sport you can really excel in.” Callarman and Smith have also, on top of playing club, played for Green Hill private school in tournaments, a team considered one of the top teams in state by volleyball players and coaches. Although a scholarship opportunity looms for Callarman, Smith’s opportu-nities are opening up this season. “I’m being heavily recruited by Hawaii for men’s volleyball. I have a campus visit in January,” Smith said. Playing just men’s club sometimes proves insufficient for these two, so on top of Tejas, Smith and Callarman also practice with area high school teams such as Mansfield, Summit and Martin. So whether its playing, coaching or practicing Smith and Callarman qui-etly put on dominant performances in a sport that few know exist, but they are making very sure more people will come to know it shortly. “I hope to get a scholarship and make a good degree out of it,” Smith said.

BY PATRICK MADIGAN Sports Editor The Legacy Broncos Vol-leyball team’s season was ended in the third round of the Texas state playoffs by Aledo after an undefeated season in district. The in-dividual accolades began pouring in Nov. 25 for the team that had so much suc-cess during the season. For the first time in school his-tory, a Bronco athlete was named to an all-star team, in setter Bekah Dorsey. Dorsey had 109 kills lead-ing the team with 1041 as-sists and 57 aces, and was third on the team with 256 digs. “I feel really honored because I'm the first one. I feel really privileged to know I have people back-ing me up,” Dorsey said. “I wouldn’t have gotten any-

where this season without the team and the coaches.” Paige Tabor was named district defensive player of the year, and Leslie Jackson along with Caitlyn Hud-son were named to 8-4A first team all district. Me-gan Murray was named to second team and Hannah Wellskopf and Maria Turner

were honorable mention. “It’s something that they all deserve. It was some-thing that was selected by the district coaches and the all state committee,” coach Jennifer Chandler said. “Definitely all of those players that have earned any kind of accolade, they have deserved.”

At the Top of the ListVolleyball dominates all-district list

NET SETTERLegacy’s Sean Smith proves volleyball not just girls’ sport

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SET APART-Bekah Dorsey, all state award winner, looks to serve to start the match.

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STANDING ALONE-Sean Smith (right) is joined in the hall by Tejas teammate Colton Feazel (left). They both play in competitive club volleyball.

1. We Represent All of MISD. We’ve always been composed of players from all four schools. A lot of them are Legacy kids (7) and Mansfield has the most (11).

2. We Compete Against Everyone. We compete against most of the high schools in the metroplex. We can travel as far as Frisco or as close as Martin. During winter break we’re going to Minnesota to compete in a holiday tournament for the second year in a row.

3. We’re Young. We set a school record for wins last year when I was the backup goalie. We gradu-ated about half of the team. This year we only have three seniors. Zach Nuss, Patrick Madigan, and Cameron Varley.

4. We’re Good. Even though we’re really young, we keep winning games. We’re tied for second in the state in the standings right now at 9-3. We beat Al-len, the number one high school team in the state in a shoot out 4-3, thanks in large part to myself. Just kidding, but really...

5. We Have To Pay For Everything. Usually one season is about 3,000 dollars, not including our equipment, sticks, or travel. We fund-raise a lot to save some extra cash.

6. We Work Hard. We hate Mondays. Usually we do conditioning for an hour and then a physical practice. Mondays usually aren’t the best of times. Wednesdays are tough too. We play on Thursdays so a lot of our game preparation happens here.

7. We Like To Mix it Up a Bit. I lit the leading scorer on our team on fire by mistake in the locker room. Putting tape over the blade of people’s skates is also a personal favorite. They come out of the locker room to take the ice, get a running start, then fall on their face.

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The Rider Page 7The Rider December 19, 2008

Sports Briefs

•Putting the ‘Fun’ in Dys-functional

•BASKETBALL vs WAXAHACHIEDecember 19 8 p.m. Waxahachie HSWaxahachie, TX

•BASKETBALL @ SUMMITDecember 237:30 p.m.Summit HSArlington, Texas

Upcoming

•Title Games Set The final week of Texas High school football is set as Allen will take on FB Hightower in the division 1 5A champion-ship game. Division 2 will see Katy take on Wylie. De-fending state champion Katy will have a chance to repeat but defending cochampion Trinity will not, as they were defeated by Allen in the state semi-final. Class 4A will see Longview take on Lake Tra-vis in Waco.

Sports

In new programs, there’s growth, and then there’s Legacy’s swim team. A second place finish in

Making a SplashThe swim team dives into season with high expectations

PATRICK MADIGANSports Editor

the district swim meet and swimmer earning a colle-giate scholarship might be enough to satisfy Coach Briscoe, but there are even loftier goals for this year, and with good reason. “You never can predict exactly what can happen,” Briscoe said. “I would hope that the girls would win district. The boys should be in the top three.” After Dawn Richerson and diver Brandon Durrett graduated, a new leader had to emerge to lead the team. Senior Alex Alsteatter ex-pects to lead the Broncos this year and should be the fastest swimmer among the group. I just go out there and swim my best,” Alsteatter said. “It’s like a new era.

Even though Dawn loved Legacy, she still swam three years for Mansfield. Last year there was a big separation between people who had been there and people who haven’t been there before. This year [the team] is more cohesive.” Alsteatter, who expects to swim in college, has Junior J.D. Canclini to accompany her at the top of the team. Canclini began swimming club five years ago but never swam for Legacy be-cause of other sports. “It’s hard waking up ear-ly for practice,” Canclini said. “Once you’re done with practice, it sets the mood for the day. It feels good being back in the water.” The Broncos also intro-

duced a number of talented freshman into the program that are immediately ready to compete, as Danika Dunn, Morgan Ingle, and Clarke Blenton all enter the program this year. Much of the credit for the readiness of the team for the upcom-ing season can be givento the off season program the Broncos and Coach Bris-coe implemented after the swimming season last year, which begins in October and ends with the state meet. “There are things you have to learn when you start out in swimming,” Briscoe said. “It allowed them to learn that before competitive season. We came in ready to compete from day one, whereas last

BY PATRICK MADIGANSports Editor

At the Top of the List

BY AMBER STEINLEStaff Writer The whistle blows and the ball is tossed in the air like a piece of meat for two dogs to fight over. Junior Eddie Leal was beat out by the starting guard for Irving, by losing the ball on tip off. The Broncos responded by using a turn over to score the first basket of their first pre-district game, Tuesday Nov. 18 against Irving. “I’m not worried about losing my starting spot,” Leal said. “All I want to do is set and be a good exam-ple for the freshmen and sophomores that just came up.” The newcomers to the varsity team not only had

to beat out their compe-tition during tryouts but also had to fight for playing time from the veterans. “I figured that if I wanted to play I’d have to play my game,” junior Kevin Ba-rona said. Barona, and junior Nick Fitzer another new varsity player, did not get much playing time, but during practices he fought for the spotlight and accom-plished his goal of playing more than the last 30 sec-onds of a game. “I was really nervous at first,” Fitzer said, “but the adrenaline made me play better.” Now their teamwork and determination has landed the team a winning record and a third place finish

in their first tournament sponsored by The Fantasy of Lights. “Our team is close like a family,” junior Kevin Ba-rona said, “and it feels great to be apart of a family.” Once the team became closer and more comfort-able with each other and

how plays would run, the points began to add up in their favor. Putting their chemistry to the test, the Broncos hung tough with the na-tional number one team, Duncanville, on December 15, loosing 68-46. The Broncos hope to ex-

tend their winning streak tonight while playing at Timberview, which is ranked tenth in the state, starting at 6:30 P.M. and continue winning during district play, which starts Jan. 3, and against Ever-man ranked twenty-third in the state.

Pushing ForwardBasketball looks to build on impressive first season

Quick StatsUpcoming MeetsCarroll ( Jan. 3) Carroll ISD Aquatic Center

Keller Invite ( Jan. 16-17)Keller ISD Nat.

District 8-4A Meet(Feb. 3) Mansfield ISD Nat.

year it took us a couple months to get ready.” The swim team had its first meet of the season at the Colony high school on Oct. 7. The boys team, which finished seventh in district last year, tied for first, matching the Colony with 113 points. The girls took the meet with a final overall score 121 to 100. “Team spirit is important because when your team is rooting for you, you do a lot better,” Alsteatter said. “It’s good to know you have people behind you.” One win will not satisfy the Bronco coaches or players this year however, as the expectations are on the rise with a team of new talent and a new attitude.

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LOOKING TO DISH- Senior Justin Walker hopes to push the ball up court against Irving Nov. 18.

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The Roller coaster season continued for the Dallas Cowboys, as the defeated the division leading New York Giants Sunday at Texas Stadium, 20-8. The win capped off what was undoubtedly the most dramatic of the season for the ‘boys. Despite denying the rumors, receiver Terrell was un-happy about his lack of touches in the previous loss on the road at the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now the count down is one for the remaining games at Texas Stadium, when the Cowboys take on the Ra-vens for what will be last regular season game ever at Texas Stadium.

•Stars say “so long” to SeanAfter finishing up his six game suspension handed down by the league, the Stars announced Sean Avery will not be rejoin-ing the team, citing that he has too much to sort out in his personal life. Avery was suspended for making inappropri-ate comments about a member of the Calgary Flames’s girlfriend.

GOING FOR A SWIM-Coach Briscoe hopes that strong individual performances will lead the team to a district title in ‘09

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The Rider Page 8 December 19, 2008 The Rider The Rider Sports

Legacy’s athletic program has proven their might. There are no sports that have not excelled in, so one might ask themselves, what can we possibly do to make Legacy better? Set up a basketball scrim-mage with the Harlem Globetrotters? No. Have J.D. Canclini race Michael

Phelps mono y mono? No, but closer. Then the an-swer dawned on me. Lega-cy is so great, let us not be so satisfied just showing our might in the area. Be not satisfied in sharing the force of the Bronco gallop with the state or the coun-try, but the world! Yes! Let those from around the world come to experience the domination in Bronco Nation. This

summer, dreams of global Bronco expansion were achieved with the migra-tion of Johannes Gloeckler from Deutschland, or Ger-many as it is more com-monly known here in the U.S of A. Upon getting off the plane, our own little sym-bol of global athletic domi-nation noticed the one thing that most everyone is bound to notice, we have

a lot of trucks, especially coming from the land of the tiny Volkswagen. Immediately, Gloeckler became a part of American life, joining the football team, and no I mean foot-ball, not futbol, maybe a more expected choice for a German. Two-a-days and summer workouts followed. This was a great prospect, a German on the football team. This speaks

volumes of the system at Bronco nation also, saying that we can take anybody in the world, plug them into our system, and win ball games, even though Gloeckler was merely a kicker. Although that was the case until Gloeckler split the tacklers and took it to the house for six late in the season, to which the coaches realized, “this guy

A little culture never hurt: Germany’s Gloeckler plays US sports BY PATRICK MADIGANSports Editor

BY AMBER STEINLE Staff Writer

The girls’ basketball team struggled in their first year to say the least. Now, in their second year, the team looks to rebound-literally. One of the improvements of the team is the new found swagger when they take the court. “I just learned to walk on the court like I own it,” captain Ashley Watson said, “and then I really do.” Changes in attitude and strategies have been the main component in the turn around from last season. Now the girls are off to a winning start and a second place finish in their first tournament sponsored by Dia-mond Jarvis. Contributions came from all the girls to build their sta-tus. “We began playing like a team,” Terrica Franklin said, “and I can jump.” With all Franklin’s rebounds and Watson averaging 15 points a game, the team was able to have more attempts to win games. “I just try to push the team while encouraging them,” Watson said. “I try to give them the desire to go get it and win.” All efforts combined have helped alter the girls’ atti-tudes toward each other and how they view the way they play as a team. Leading by example is how Watson hopes to lead her team to a district win and an offer to attend Nebraska State College on a full ride basketball scholarship.

is pretty fast.” It is that quickness that will take Johannes to an-other Bronco sport, soccer. As a member of the soccer class, Johannes hopes to be seen on the roster when the season begins in January. So with this added Ger-man flavor peppering him-self amongst the rosters of the great in Bronco nation, worldwide domination is on the horizon. Maybe.

SPORTS OPINION

KICKIN’ IT upEdwards’ team wins kickball tournamentBY AMBER STEINLEStaff Writer

Kickoff began at 9 a.m. Sat. Dec. 6. Teams com-peted for one goal, to beat out all other 31 teams and win the T-shirt along with bragging rights. The number one goal for both teams was to re-cruit more teams to play so that more money could be raised for the softball and baseball programs. “We had a much bet-ter turn out this year than last,” varsity softball coach Michelle Mayfield said. Each team had to move their way up the bracket without a loss to reach the first place win. Senior and team captain Jake Edwards chose to gather Team Awe-

some, the team he won with last year and hoped to win again this year. Collec-tively team members chose to call themselves TAKS, Team Awesome Kickball Style. “We wanted to keep the tradition going with team awesome,” Edwards said. This decision, consider-ing the five game winning streak to become tourna-ment champions, was a creditable by using the kickball veterans. “I’m a beast at kickball,” senior and team player Patrick Griffin said, “so I didn’t think it would be hard to win.” Netted funds totaled $2,900 for the softball girls, which consisted of team costs and concessions.

Raised money will go to help the girls’ program purchase a video camera, playback equipment, bats and field supplies. The baseball team net-ted funds equaling a little bit under $8,000. The boys

raised more money be-cause they had more teams enter than the softball girls did and they held a silent auction as well. They plan to spend the money to pur-chase turf for the batting cages, team jackets and a

radar gun. Because the tournament is a fund raiser, team play-ers will be able to recruit peers and people from the community, who are will-ing to pay their fair share of twenty dollars, to help out

Players and coaches look on from the sidelines during the kickball tournament December 6. The event is held as a fund raiser for softball and baseball teams.

SCRAPING FOR A LOOSE BALL-Sophomore Kyaris Johnson dives for a loose ball. The team looks to add hustle to their game and more Ws in the stats.

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Stronger start for girls’ b-ball

the softball and baseball programs. “I will be back to play again next year even though I’ll be graduated,” Griffin said, “because we have to defend our cham-pionship.”

The Rider Page 9The Rider December 19, 2008 Sports

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Tonie Contreras wakes up at 3:30 in the morning to prepare breakfast and lunch for her husband. After her husband leaves to work at about 4:30, Tonie goes back to bed for 30 minutes. She then gets back up, walks over to Kelsey’s room, and knocks on her door. “Time to get up!” Kelsey gets out of bed to take a shower and then she goes to wake her brother. Once they’re all ready, the Contreras family gath-er in their car, start arguing whether to get breakfast or not, and then go off to do their own thing once they arrive at Legacy. This is the average morn-ing for the Contreras fam-ily. Tonie Contreras is the counselors’ secretary. Her son, Patrick Contreras, is an attendance clerk, and her daughter, Kelsey, is a

senior. Mrs. Contreras has been working at the same school that Patrick and Kelsey have attended ever since their first day of school. “We started together in Pre-K and we’ve been to-gether up until this day,” Mrs. Contreras said. The Contreras’ don’t think going to Legacy together is as strange as everyone else makes it out to be. “A lot of people would think it’s weird [being to-gether at the same school], but it’s actually not, be-cause we’re such a close knit family,” Kelsey said. Being at the same school doesn’t really have an effect on the Contreras family. “I don’t see them much unless they come around,” Mrs. Contreras said, “but it’s been great because we all ride together.” Patrick started working here in the summer just helping out and then he found out he could be get-ting paid for what he was

doing. “I was volunteering and I found out Mrs. Tarin got relocated, so I took her po-sition,” he said. Patrick was an athletic trainer all four years when

FAMILY TIME Contreras trio lives, works, schools together for last 12 years

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AT HOME AND AT WORK- The Contreras have been working/attending the same school since Patrick was in Pre-k.

he was in high school and now Kelsey has followed in his steps. Kelsey would see her brother as an athletic trainer in high school. She picked it up her freshman year and now she’s going to

pursue training in college. “I kind of saw everything from his point of view, but I wanted to experience it first hand,” Kelsey said. Kelsey will be the first one to move out of the Contre-

ras household once she goes off to college. It’s going to be hard on everyone. “I know she wants to be somebody and I know she’s ready for it, but I’m not,” Mrs. Contreras said.

The Rider Page 10 December 19, 2008 The Rider The Rider

car crash car crash

chaos

In-Depth

A Crash Course in LifeLeslie Walden’s near death experience changes her perspective on driving safe

360 and Broad after football games- • A mix of young drivers, a heavy cop presence and a mass exodus from MISD Stadium lead to a dangerous driving spot for even the highly

skilled high school driver.

Ben Barber after classes• - A real life version of Frogger. Too many high school drivers navigating a parking lot while trying to cross the street makes it difficult to escape school

without a minor fender bender at the home campus of the Fighting Pickles.

Debbie Lane and 287 during rush hour- • Too many drivers and not enough lanes. A long traffic light promotes the impatience of many drivers while plenty of cars try to squeeze in

and cut across in front of you.

1187 Bus. 287 after Mary Jo Sheppard Elementary and Donna Shepard Intermediate get out• - Two lanes merge to one, a high speed limit and constant flow of traffic provide for a some-what dangerous situation. Throw in two schools, some neighborhoods and a set of railroad tracks and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. But hey, there are plenty of collision shops along 1187. Maybe it’s fate.

South Cooper CalendarToo many cars stop-ping too quickly makes Cooper feel like playing bumper cars. The mall and holiday shopping make the situation even worse.

The tiny, rundown road full of sharp twists and turns, for some reason, a favorite spot for speeding.

Most Dangerous IntersectionsMost Dangerous Intersections

Leslie Walden never got a chance to change out of her softball uniform. Her clothes lay in the back seat, un-touched. And they would remain untouched. While riding to a friend’s house after her softball game senior Leslie Walden was in a major car accident involv-ing another vehicle and a Racetrack eighteen wheeler. The I-20 crash not only affected Leslie’s day, it changed her entire life. “A completely normal day can change into the worst day of your life,” Leslie said. “And we have no control over it, things happen, I guess for a reason.” The day started off with a softball game in Burleson. A Tiger victory. To celebrate the win, Leslie and her team-mate Marie Brown went out to eat and hung out around Arlington before they began their journey to Crowley, where Leslie planned to spend the night. On the way to Marie’s house, Leslie took her seatbelt off to get something out of the back. When she got back up to the front, she told Marie she wasn’t going to put her seat belt back on since they were so close to her house. “No, just put your seat belt back on,” Marie told her. Les-lie took her friend’s advice. The next moment, an eighteen wheeler slammed into

their car. It sent them flying into a brick wall on the side of the highway. The gas-carrying truck had crashed into a stalled car, causing it to jackknife. The other car was completely de-molished. Saved by her seat belt, Leslie ran across the highway to see if there was anyone she could help. “Seat belts will save your life, I’m serious,” Leslie said. “If you fly out the window you aren’t going to live, there is no way.” When Leslie got to the other car, all feeling went away. There was nothing going through her mind. Shock. The shadows of the sky and the lightless highway engulfed her. The mist of the rain made no dif-ference, except to darken the mood. A woman grabbed her arm, “Help me. Help me,” she said. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if he’s alive.” Leslie had no idea what she was talking about. Then the woman pointed to the ground. Lying before her was a man. Dead. His head had split open, showing Leslie

something she had never seen before in her life. “I’ve gotten better, it’s just hard,” Leslie said. “Having someone die in your arms with their brain hanging out of their head, it’s just not something you see every day.” The ambulance arrived in about 25 minutes. To Leslie,

it felt like longer. When the ambulance got there, the paramedics put Leslie on a stretcher. A banged up head and glass stuck inside her skin appeared to be the worst of her prob-lems, but there was more. They put a neck brace on her and the sirens whistled toward the hospital. With minor injuries, Leslie was only in the hospital for a couple of hours. Prior to the accident, Leslie had recovered from a recent knee surgery. After the crash, the doctor told Leslie if she damaged her knee again

she would be crippled. “The recovery process was terrible,” Leslie said, “but the hardest thing about the accident was sleeping at night.” After the accident, Leslie turned away from her faith and God. After losing so many people and seeing so much bad she couldn’t understand why all of it was happening. “At that period in time I couldn’t understand why He would do something like that to innocent people that

BY MICHELLE HEATHFeatures Editor

A completely normal day can turn into the worst day of your life.-Leslie Walden

acos

hacos

h

The Rider Page 11The Rider December 19, 2008

car crash

chaos

In-Depth

Leslie Walden’s near death experience changes her perspective on driving safe

360 and Broad after football games- • A mix of young drivers, a heavy cop presence and a mass exodus from MISD Stadium lead to a dangerous driving spot for even the highly

skilled high school driver.

Ben Barber after classes• - A real life version of Frogger. Too many high school drivers navigating a parking lot while trying to cross the street makes it difficult to escape school

without a minor fender bender at the home campus of the Fighting Pickles.

Debbie Lane and 287 during rush hour- • Too many drivers and not enough lanes. A long traffic light promotes the impatience of many drivers while plenty of cars try to squeeze in

and cut across in front of you.

1187 Bus. 287 after Mary Jo Sheppard Elementary and Donna Shepard Intermediate get out• - Two lanes merge to one, a high speed limit and constant flow of traffic provide for a some-what dangerous situation. Throw in two schools, some neighborhoods and a set of railroad tracks and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. But hey, there are plenty of collision shops along 1187. Maybe it’s fate.

I-20Everyone wants to get home, and quick. Multiple lanes to transverse your way across merging traffic may delay the trek home.

Seth Collis wakes up from his usual af-ternoon nap and attempts to fix his di-

sheveled hair. As he heads out the door to his now ,

multicolored Silverado, he grabs his keys off the carabineer on his belt loop. He puts the keys in the ignition and listens to the worn out starter trying to con-vince the engine to turn over. The beast under the hood sings back up to Bring Me the Horizon blaring through-out the cab. The ritual will be repeated during the rest of the night, but for money. “I would like to think of myself as the Transporter,” Collis says. Collis delivers pizza, subs and other Italian food staples for Nizza Pizza. Before his job as a delivery driver Collis had been in multiple wrecks. “I didn’t even know he had been in any wrecks,” boss

Hysen Lusshaj said. “But I guess it’s worked out for the best.” With the tires squealing, Col-lis steered his Silverado out of his friends’ neighborhood heading to-ward the Legacy Improv show. Hit-ting forty a few seconds later, he glanced between the glowing screen of his vibrating phone and the stop-light ahead. Seeing a green light, he answered the phone with one hand and navigated the turn with the oth-er- into a new Silverado. “I’ve never been that scared,” Col-lis says. “All I thought about was how my dad was going to kill me.” Both drivers stepped out of their trucks to examine the damage, while an onlooker called the cops. Adding to his fear, Collis still had to confront the victim of his reckless driving. “He was Mr. Universe,” Collis says. “He was swoll. I thought he was go-ing to break me in half. But he ended up being the nicest guy I ever ran into.” The victim didn’t yell. He wasn’t upset. He just asked if Collis was al-right and got all of the insurance in-formation. It was Collis’ first wreck, and he didn’t know what to do. It was his fault and his rates did go up. Despite his driving foul ups, Collis decided to apply for a job as a driver after talking to his friend Tyler Ter-hall, who was a delivery boy at the time. The two were sitting in court for a ticket they each had received and Tyler asked him if he had the money to pay the ticket. Since he didn’t, Tyler got him a job as a pizza

BY PATRICK GRIFFINStaff Writer

didn’t do anything,” Leslie said. “Then I realized that He has a plan for everybody, and I guess that’s just what His plan was. Leslie lies awake in bed; she can’t shake the image from her mind. It will never leave her. She was never able to fully get over what she saw; what happened to her. She can’t remember exactly when it happened or how old she was. She just re-members that it happened and it helps her grow. “It’s made me a stronger person,” Leslie said. “It made me appreciate everyone in my life because they could be gone in just one second.” After her life being saved by one strap of leather, Leslie’s perspective on reality changed to one of caution. When she’s driving with her friends in the car, she makes sure they have on their seat belts. When it rains, she makes sure she doesn’t speed. “It’s not like a movie, it’s real, and it’s real life,” Leslie said. “In real life when you see someone die, you’re like okay maybe stuff like that really can hap-pen. It’s crazy.”

Driving SurveyDriving Surveybased on an online poll from legacyjournalism.org

65.3% speed while driving

42.9 % go at least ten miles over the speed limit 85.7% always wear their seat belt

85.7% have received a driving citation

64.6% send text messages while driving

79.2% talk on the phone while driving

89.6% talk to friends in the car

68.8% eat while they drive

31.3% put on makeup when they drive

18.8% style their hair while driving

67.3% have experienced road rage

MIC

HEL

LE H

EATH

PH

OTO

delivery driver at Nizza Pizza. “I didn’t really want to work there because I didn’t think I should have been driving,” Collis said. “Plus I didn’t like some of the people there and getting off at ten.” Collis had just been in an accident the week before the court date, but has remained accident free since his acquisi-tion of his delivery job. “It’s not about me, it’s about the pizza,” Collis says. “People don’t care why it’s late, even if its because of a crash.” Collis became a more careful and technical driver in order to make sure all the pizzas arrived unscathed. “Really, I just don’t want Hysen to kill me,” Collis says. “If I had an accident and splattered pizzas, I’d probably get a hit out for me.”

SOMEONE NEEDS A PIZZA- Seth Collis, Nizza Pizza delivery boy, walks to his truck to deliver the first pizza of the night. Collis says his driving has improved since working

Pizza delivers safe outlook on driving

acos

hacos

h

The Rider Page 12 December 19, 2008 The Rider The Rider FeatureFeature

Fash ionspotlight

FallStyle

Victoria’s Secret Perfume- They smell delicious, they’re cheap, and girls love them. It’s a safe choice all around. The only hard part is decid-ing which scrumptious sent fits the person you’re buying it for.

Godiva Chocolate- All girls love chocolate. It makes them feel like they’re in love. So boy-friends, chocolates usually are the best bet, especially Godiva Chocolate.

Juicy Couture Monopoly- Obviously a Monopoly box won’t fit in a stocking, but it’s worth it. Monopoly usually comes in Lord of the Rings or Star Wars versions, but now it’s ready for the girls.

1920’s Bracelets- They can go with anything, they can be worn year round, and they’re bring-ing back the roaring twenties.

Stocking Stuffers

For Her

BY NADLEY DOERGEStaff Writer

The array of colors pops out from Olivia Herbert’s closet when deciding what to wear in the morning. From the really old Hollister clothes way back in the closet, to a variety of classy chic clothing in the front, her closet has been through a lot in the last few years. “My style is an expression of who I am,” sopho-more Olivia Hebert said, “So if I change, my style changes.” Hebert’s fashion changes like Texas weather. Some days she loves a specific jacket or shirt and then she

will never wear it again. “After wearing an article of clothing,” Hebert said, “And I don’t get a good feel from it, I won’t wear it again.”

Even though she loves some things at one point, everything has its departure from her collection of clothes. But something that will never leave her closet is her favorite pair of jeans that were passed down to her from a friend, Kat Elvrom. “A good pair of jeans just makes me feel right,” Hebert said. “I am so fortunate that Kat gave them to me.” When having a casual day she’ll put on her jeans. But on a day when she wants to look more Native American she busts out her Indian boots with tas-sels and her flowery brown dress. To complete the look, she’ll slip on her leather headband with feath-ers and she is ready to go. “I love my boots,” Hebert said. “I feel very indie and cool when I wear them.” Although Hebert’s closet is bursting with clothes, there are always more and more outfit possibilities. While her assortments of clothes will forever grow, there is still a whole universe of clothes she has yet to obtain. “I just want to travel the world and collect all of the unique styles from every country,” Hebert said.

Hobo Gloves- It’s getting cold. Even though it’s Tex-as, its still gets cold. They’re easy to get a hold of and very useful in the cold roar-ing wind.

Different styles provide outlet for self-expression

Olivia Hebert

Get her look at Forever 21:Off-white bow tie high heels-$26.00

White Damaris sweater tunic-$22.80

Beaded leaf necklace-$6.80

Coiled Pearl Hoop Earrings-$4.80

Worst gift ideasThe Top Five

1820

The Classical Era style primarily consisted of short-waisted gowns and white flowing skirts.

1920

The Roaring 20’s was known for short flowy dresses and long pearl necklaces.

1960

The dresses in the 60’s all focused on excentuating the waist and making an egg shaped silhouette

1990

Known as the “anti-fashion” decade, the 1990’s was full of miniskirts and the newly popu-lar body piercings.

2008

The 2000’s have been full of different fashions, but lately a wave of classy clothing or old stlyes has come full circle.

fashion: From Victorian to Vivacious

Gift Cards for stores you never Go to- Oh great, I have fifty dollars to spend at TJ Max. Just what I wanted…eh.

ConCert tiCkets that are set on a day where you already have plans- Pop Quiz hotshot; Death Cab for Cutie tickets. Mom’s Birthday. What do you do? What do you do?

a “surprise pet”- Haven’t you always wanted a chinchilla? You haven’t? Uh-oh…

a diet Book- What are you trying to say? I know its the holidays. C’mon!

a human Child- Hooray, a life to care and pay for! Geez.

5. 4.

3. 2.1.

The Rider Page 13The Rider December 19, 2008 Feature

1 Keep grades up

Take classes for your college major 2

A+

3 Get involved

clubswith

Dual Credit Classes 4

SAT prep classes5

College

6Night

TakeAP

classes

7

8Job

shadowing 9Take SAT

and/or ACT 10Summer

job

Research financial aid

11

“Students chose close colleges so they can stay at home,” Mr. Willams said.

“Apply early, get applica-tions in earlier for scholar-ships because it’s first come first serve,” Ms. Gregory said.

“Research the college you want to attend,”Ms. Railsbacksaid. 12College

visits

13Collegeclasses

in thesummer

14 Askquestions

early

15Contact

admission’s office

PREPCOLLEGE

BY ALLEX OHLERStaff Writer

After taking the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) Brittney Ross wasn’t com-pletely pleased with her score. Ross is going to take the ACT (American Col-lege Test) to see a better outcome. “I chose the SAT because it was the most common test, and I heard the ACT was harder,” Ross said. The test consists of vo-cabulary, math, english, reading and writing. The SAT is designed to test critical thinking and prob-lem solving. The test also includes fill in the blank answers. “If you aren’t good at writing and reading then the SAT is confusing, but the SAT is great for peo-ple who have these skills,” Ross said. Guessing penalties are a part of the SAT. If you skip a question you do not get points deducted, but if you guess and get it wrong then

you get a forth off. Some people like this method of grading while others find it confusing. “Its better to not answer a question you don’t know then to guess and get it wrong,” Ross said. Preparing for testing can help students refresh on what they have learned all year. “I took an SAT course during the summer and I learned you can’t study for the test,” Ross said, “You can learn tricks and tips.” The amount of time re-quired to take the test is thr. “I ran out of time and I didn’t even finish most of the sections,” Ross said,” Time runs very quickly when you’re testing.” Ross decided to take the ACT because she wants to be an architect. The ACT contains a science reason-ing portion, english, gram-mar and a math with trigo-nometry. ACT doesn’t have a guessing penalty. “I know the ACT will

better prepare me for my future,” Ross said. “I tried SAT and now I want to try ACT.” Ross wants to attend Texas Tech. She has three guidelines to prepare for all testing. “Stay optimistic, always try, and do what is best for you.” Ross said, “Each test is made for each different individual. Senior Brandon Zubriski has a different outlook on the college entry exams. He plans to take the SAT but hasn’t signed up for it. “I’m planning to sign up, but my brain doesn’t tell me to,” Zubriski said. “I’m just too lazy.” Zubriski doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life, but he does have a plan to help him figure it out. “I’m planning to go to Tarrant County College to get my basics and figure out what to major in and then transfer to a univer-sity,” Zubriski said. Thinking of the future is something Zubriski doesn’t like to do. He is not ready for what is ahead. “It’s so stressful when you think about the future, you freak out and ask yourself if you’re ready,” Zubriski said. “When people men-tion graduation I get really scared.” Zubriski learned a les-son for waiting too long and not taking action soon enough. “I would go back in time and start planning what I want to do my junior year and take my SAT,” Zubriski said.

Money is said to be the number one thing that holds back students from going to college. However this is not true. There are many sources to support higher education goals. Students will either say they do not have the mon-ey at the time and will at-tend later when they do have enough or that they will never be able to come up with enough money to attend. In response to these ex-cuses Counselor Mendy Gregory came up with a solution. After the decision is made to attend college and the SAT or ACT is completed, applying for funding is the next step needing to be taken. Her new website is filled with many applications for college money in the form of scholarships. “It’s really easy all you have to do is fill it out and hope you will get it,” Shaquanna Hargrow said. Mrs. Gregory updates this website every two weeks to keep up with all the differ-ent grants. “I put so much effort into this so that students can

make attempts at as many opportunities as they can,” Mrs. Gregory said. As the pamphlets come in e-mail, mail or even in fliers, Mrs. Gregory places them in the link. These applications reach out to mainly seniors. However few get passed around for grades 9 through 11 that get placed onto the link as well. “It is so easy,” Hargrow said. “You don’t have to spend hours searching. All you have to do is check the site and fill out what you apply for. It quick and easy.”

BY AMBER STEINLEStaff Writer

Micro FridgeSheets/Linens

Planner

Rolls of Quarters for Laundry

Posters/Decor from homeJob

Extension Cords

Emergency kit

Planner/Calendar

Laptop

Testing for the FutureBuilding blocks for getting into the college you want, even in economic hard times

thingsneeded

for COLLEGE12

Storage binsHeadphones

ASK THE COUNSELOR

IVY LEAGUE COLLEGEAcceptance RatesBrown 13.3%Columbia 10%Cornell 20.4%Darmouth 13.2%Harvard 7.1%Penn 16.4%Princeton 9.3 %Yale 8.3%source: www.admissionsconsultants.com

STEP BY STEP

The Rider Page 14 December 19, 2008 The Rider The Rider Entertainment

Props to Bronco Theater

•Concrete Interlocking Pavers •Brick Pavers •Modular Retaining walls

817-477-4777Lucy’s DonutLucy’s DonutCoffee, Donuts, Sausage Rolls, Ham & Cheese640 West Debbie Lane #120 Mansfield

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RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIALMILLWORK FABRICATION • INTERIOR TRIMWORK • TURNKEY AND LABOR ONLY • STORE FRONTS • FIXTURES • OFFICES

James CawleyOffice 817-47-1583

The Toys, The Reindeer and More

BY NICK JIMENEZ Entertainment Coordinator

Chinese Democracy, the new record by hard rock legends Guns N’ Roses, has been scheduled for release since 1993, making it one of the most long-awaited pieces of music in history. Here are some of the milestones that have been reached in the time it’s taken Chinese Democracy to hits stores on Nov. 23. Black President- Barrack Obama was elected on Nov. 4, 2008.

Lord of the Rings Movies- J.R.R. Tol-kien’s fantasy books had long been said to be un-filmable, despite numerous at-tempts over the decades. But while Chi-

Toy Manufacturing- Santa has completed con-struction of his workshop (estimated cost, $200 mil-lion).Okay, let’s assume the elves are slaves and they are paid with free soup and haystack beds. That cuts employment costs down exponentially but leaves strange and costly factors that would be necessary in order to run such a mas-sive operation. For one, al-most all toys requested by children in the past three decades have been action figures, dolls, sports equip-ment or electronic equip-ment made by companies and manufacturers. Unless Santa wants to pay Sony, Mattel and Barbie millions of dollars for per-mission to purchase their products for delivering to children, Santa would have to resort having his slave elves recreate the toys and gifts they children request, reducing him to more whimsical version of the guy on the sidewalk- hawk-ing radios and insisting that they have “Sony guts.” The Reindeer- Some-how, it seems unlikely that

Santa Claus is arguably the most recognizable and well-known character in Modern Civilization. For most of the twentieth cen-tury, children around the world have been captivated by the Santa mythos of elf-made toy delivery. But just how would one be able to execute some-thing like that? What would it cost? How long would it take? Would it be possible? Setting up Shop- We all know that Santa’s work-shop is in the North Pole, but somewhere that bar-

ren and secluded would be a very difficult place to set up a long term busi-ness. For one, the North Pole is a shifting land mass and that would no doubt complicate construction of a giant factory. And just how would Santa pay for the construction of a toy workshop? For the sake of brev-ity, we will assume that Santa is a Jay Gatsby type who has lucked into a vast amount of inheritance. But to go back to home base, while no country has sov-ereignty over the North

Pole. (Although Canada has frequently called the diplomatic equivalent of “dibs”.) It can be assumed Santa would have to have some sort of clearance with the U.N. in order to get legal permission to construct large buildings and work sites on an entire continent. Unless of course, Santa de-cides to cut through all the legal and economical tape and just create a workshop on his own dime. This would be thoroughly punk rock.

PETA would be big fans of Santa making eight tiny reindeer pull his sleigh filled with millions of toys all around the world. They would likely be very weary of just how Santa was able to make these creatures fly. Perhaps genetic experi-mentation and enhance-ment? If so, this would no doubt put Santa’s whole operation under much scrutiny and controversy. Toy Delivery- It’s here where things get really loopy. Just how is Santa able to fly around the world, in a single night no less, de-livering toys to girls and boys? Taking different time zones into account, it be-comes practically impos-sible without the use of a warp drive and perhaps a flux capacitor. But assum-ing, it somehow was possi-ble to fly around the world in a single night, there are all sorts of geographical and political complica-

tions. Let us say, for example, the United States declares land war on Russia. Both countries have thousands of children expecting toys from Santa. Would the gov-ernments of either country resent the fact that Santa is delivering gifts to the children of their enemy? Would they pressure San-ta into siding with them?

Santa would likely decide to remain neutral, but perhaps Mrs. Claus has been quoted by a mag-azine saying she sympathizes with Russia. What would this do for business? Would Santa suffer a cul-tural backlash in America? Final Analy-

sis- Santa Claus is magic, thereby nullifying any ar-guments.However, pheraps it’s the complete irrationality of Santa Claus that makes him such a beloved figure in our society. What fun would it be if it made sense?

What A Real Santa Would Have to Do: A Special Report by Nick Jimenez and Cole Christensen

It’s unlikely that PETA would be big fans of Santa making eight tiny reindeer pull his sleigh filled with mllions of toys all around the world.

Santa would have to have some sort of clearance with the U.N. in order to get legal permission to construct large buildings and work sites on an entire continent.

nese Democracy continued its crawl to com-pletion, we’ve gotten three of them, each one an Oscar-winning blockbuster.

The Red Sox Won the World Series- The baseball team from Boston languished for nearly a century thanks to the Curse of the Bambino, but finally won the World Series in 2004. Heck, they even managed to win a second time before Axel Rose’s opus finally hit the masses.

Apple Revolution-In the time it took for Chinese Democracy to be released, Apple has revolutionized the music and technology industry with the iPod, iPod Mini, Nano, Touch and the iPhone. In fact, when Guns N’ Roses first started recording Chinese De-mocracy, MP3’s were in their infancy and the MP3 player hadn’t even been invented yet.

Things that happened before G&R’s Chinese Democracy

The Rider Page 15The Rider December 19, 2008

LIKE TO MAKE VIDEOS?

Entertainment

Texas Ready Cash

What’s the Big Deal?

Nick’s NicheHe’s strange. He’s awkward. And he’s funny. So we gave him a column.

Twilight vs. Potter

Harry Potter Series

Book 1-120 million books sold worldwide

Book 2- 77 million books sold worldwide

Book 3- 61 million books sold worldwide

Book 4- 66 million books

Book 5- 55 million books

Book 6- 65 million books

Book 7- 44 million books

Twilight

Entire series- 17 million books sold.

It has recently come to my attention that a nine-year-old boy named Alec Greven published a best-selling relationship advice book called “How to Talk to Girls.” For an aspiring writer, this makes me feel thoroughly worthless, even more so than when I learned Greven first started selling the book at his cafeteria for five dollars. Well, if a nine-year-old, spiky-headed white kid could do it, then why not a 17-year-old overweight Hispanic kid? Here are my tips on how to talk to a girl that you may have your eye on.

Stare at Her- A good starting point is to incessantly stare or gander at your female of choice until they are forced to make some sort of vocal mention of or toward you. Possible examples of this could be “Stop looking at me” or “What?” Whatever she says, this is the perfect entry into what could be the first of many conversations.

Hug Her- Whether or not they have requested a hug or even if the hug is not appropriate at the time, you should take every opportunity to embrace your female, so as to make your intentions known. If they try to squirm out of the hug, embrace them more tightly.

Make Mix CDs for Her- Be sure to include a collection of vaguely romantic songs by artists your female probably has never heard of. This will create the illusion that you are hip and cultured. When the CD is complete, slip it into her locker or binder when she isn’t looking. Be sure the CD doesn’t have your name on it and cannot be traced back to you in any way.

Throw rocks at her window- When you see her bedroom light turn on, run and hide behind a nearby bush. Then watch her as she looks out her window, wondering what that strange tapping sound was.

If she is in a relationship, sabotage it- This could be anything from spreading rumors that he’s seeing another girl or making fake love notes from another girl and leaving them lying on the floor of a class that all three of you share. Be sure to stalk them for while, so when the relationship finally ends, you’ll be first one there to sweep her up in her time of emotional distress.

It’s a teenage girl’s fantasy. It gives them hope.-Ashley Williams

“The characters were all really dull.-Angelique Foster

twilighttwilight

How to Talk to GirlsLIKE TO MAKE VIDEOS?Legacy Journalism is looking for you! Journalism is expanding! We need students with knowlege of video and video editing soft-ware. Next year Legacy will open a Broadcast Journalism class to make videos for our soon-to-launch website. If you have knowledge of video or web design, come visit with Mr. Mal-lett or Mr. Cockrell about being a part of the award winning, cutting edge journalism team.

5 Mystic CTMansfield, TX 76063

817-225-2274texasreadycash@charterinternet.com

For every person in love with the Twilight series, there is someone else who is just as adamant about their dislike for the series.

BY NICK JIMENEZEntertainment Coordinator

How can something be a pop culture phenomenon when half the population knows nothing about it? How can a movie sell out its advance-sale tickets faster than a U2 concert without capturing the all important male 13-35 de-mographic? How can a book series be “The next Harry Potter” when the combined sales of all four installments don’t amount to even the worst selling Potter book? The answer is romance and vampires. The Twilight book se-ries is a four part love story about a teenage girl named Bella and her “passion-ate” love for the vampire Edward. When the book

was published in October of 2005, it received mild reviews whose main com-plaint was that Bella’s over-dependence on Edward was simplistic and anti-feminist. Ironically, the book and its three sequels New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn attracted a rabid, fervent and mostly female audience. “It’s a teenage girl’s fanta-sy,” said junior Ashley Wil-liams. “They want so see a girl get the perfect guy be-cause it gives them hope.” “[The book’s] written really well” junior Bekah Dorsey said. “It’s a love sto-ry but with a lot of action and it’s really funny. It’s just a bunch of things jumbled together.” When a movie adapta-tion of Twilight was an-nounced in late 2007, fan anticipation and criticism

was high. Every casting de-cision was met with close and meticulous evaluation as to whether or not the ac-tor met the readers’ men-tal image of their beloved characters. “When I saw who they had cast for Edward, I was greatly angered,” Williams said. “It was very differ-ent than the mental im-age I had of him. [In my mind] he was older look-ing. He doesn’t look strong enough.” For every person in love with the Twilight series, there is someone else who is just as adamant about their dislike for the series. “I usually like vampires” junior Bradley Walker, said. “but after reading a couple of chapters, it just didn’t hold my interest.” “The characters were all really dull,” said junior An-

gelique Foster. “There was no contrast.” What’s inter-esting about the Twilight phenomenon is how it has at-tracted people who nor-mally would never pick up a book, let alone one that’s over five hundred pages. And to teachers, that’s something to be pleased about, even if the quality of the book is questionable. “Anything that gets teen-age girls to willingly pick up a book and read should be considered a good thing,” said AP English III teacher Stephanie Bonneau. Regardless of your opin-ion of the series, there’s no denying that Twilight has become a nearly unstop-pable commercial force. The soundtrack for the

film opened at number one on the Billboard charts and in its first week of re-lease was the top selling album on iTunes, besting

the soundtrack for High School Musical 3, which arguably shares the same core audience of Twilight. The film adaptation made a killing in advance ticket sales, and won the top spot at the weekend box of-fice with $70 million. The quality of the film itself was questionable; even to the series’ most die hard fans. But with a film adaptation of New Moon already in production now that Twi-light’s blockbuster status is secured, perhaps this fran-chise has moved beyond something as small as fan satisfaction.

The Rider Page 16 December 19, 2008 The Rider The Rider TheRider

Editor-in-ChiefGregory uribe

Managing EditorWill Ritchie

News EditorKyle Sipe

Features EditorMichelle Heath

Entertainment CoordinatorNicholas Jimenez

Sports Editorpatrick Madigan

Photo EditorJasmine McMasters

Business ManagerHeather Bailey

Staff WritersAshley Canterbury

Cole ChristensenIan Cook

Nadley Doergepatrick Griffin

Alex GustafsonRussell Kirby

Megan LuceroMireya Martinez

Jacob MooreJamila Obied

Allex OhlerHannah Overstreet

Aaron SakowskiLacie Snider

Rachel StanleyAmber SteinleRosanne Trinh

Brett Walker

AdviserLeland Mallett

PrincipalDavid Wright

The Rider is the student pub-lication of the Mansfield Legacy Journalism Department and is free to all students. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the administration of the Mansfield Independent School District. The Rider is a member of the Interscholastic League Press Conference (ILPC) and governed by all UIL guidelines. The Rider is also a member of TAJE, NSPA, CSPA and Quill & Scroll. Any complaints, comments or letters to the editor may be submitted to the below address. Ads are sold for $20 per column inch and are under the direction of the business manager. For advertising infor-mation, see our web page: www. legacyjournalism.org The Rider is printed by the production staff of the Greater Dallas Press in Garland, Texas.

Letters to the EditorWe welcome your comments, suggestions, praises or concerns about our publication and/or Legacy High School. In order to print your letter to the editor, e-mail a copy to editor@legacyjournalism.org. The Rider reserves the right to alter the letter for space purposes and grammar issues.

Legacy High SchoolJournalism Dept.

1263 North Main StreetMansfield, TX 76063

817-299-1229legacyjournalism.org

Memories last forever: Buy a Yearbook

Fact or FictionFACT: The engineering class at Ben Barber does not count as a technology credit.

FICTION: LHS yearbook is the largest in MISD. MHS added pages recently. LHS= 336 pagesMHS= 376pages

Nay. Yay! Nay.Yay! Nay!Locked Doors: We understand that the cafeteria is meant as a place for eating, but why are you locking the doors? Some people need to relieve themselves at the closest bathroom.

Yearbook Pages: More transportable school spirit in the form of a book. New yearbook includes more coverage, more pictures and more memories than ever. Buy one today in the journalism room.

Holiday Season: Thanksgiving, New Years and Generic Winter Holiday all in only two months. The economy may put a damper on celebrations, but it’s the thought that counts, right?

Bad Grade Emails:Parents can already check our grades if they choose. Just fix Infinite Campus’ user interface issues and make it easier. The e-mails just encourage everyone to use it even less.

Alvin’s Pledge: Alvin and the Chipmunks’ patriotism is questionable after their rendition of the pledge. We think they should stick to Christmas songs.

What do you think

CallieSlavik, 11

HayleyMumaw, 10

“Because I want to be able to look back and reflect upon my experiences.”

BillySang, 9

“To remember the good times and the bad times. Except not the bad times.”

about buying yearbooks?

“So I could remember my sophomore year and compare it to my fresh-man.”

AubreeGallego, 12

“Because I have my senior page and everyone knows year-books equal memories.”

FACT: The Christmas tree originated from German customs, and spread around the world in the early 19th century.

FACT: Yearbook orders are due Today. Mr. Mallett submits final book count the first week of Jan.

OUR OPINION

Editorial

Memories. School pride comes from memories. The yearbook celebrates memories. Seniors buy the yearbook for the memo-ries, but more than just se-niors contribute to school memories. Freshmen, sophomores and juniors should pur-chase yearbooks because they also contribute to the school body. The district winning tennis and cross country teams were not composed only of seniors. Sophomores and juniors won the spirit stick at the pep-rally as well. Thirty years from now, a student is going to relive their youth because of the memories from the yearbook. A year-book acts as a conduit to remember the good days of high school. Those against buying a yearbook argue that it is too pricey or “that memories are lame.” Sixty-five dollars is a small price to pay for a year’s worth of memories. Simply saving a dollar or two over the past few weeks would have easily paid for the book and taught a valuable lesson about sav-ing money. A student will pay $250 for an iPod and get three years of use out of it before it expires. A student will pay $100 for

a single pair of shoes. The yearbook will last longer at a cheaper value, mak-ing it a better investment. Others feel less inclined to purchase a yearbook based on size. The new yearbook delivers with 94 more pag-es, now the second largest MISD yearbook this year. More student profiles will show up as well (there’s a whole checklist of students needed to be covered in

the journalism room). There are around 400 seniors. The other 1900 students surely made an impact on the school some-where this year. If only seniors went to lunch, the cafeteria would be differ-ent. Underclassmen make an impact. Not buying a yearbook says otherwise. With a bigger yearbook staff and last year’s book under their belt, the new

book will reach new lev-els of excellence because of past experience. A bet-ter yearbook means better memories. There isn’t a yearbook for your wedding. Nor your first born. Plainly, year-books will not always be around for momentous oc-casions. High school only happens once. Memories last longer with a yearbook. Buy it.

WillRitchie, 11

BY WILL RITCHIEManaging Editor

As the door opens it becomes apparent parts of the ceiling are missing, broken utili-ties abound, things are scrawled or carved onto the walls and there is a dis-tinct smell of old food and urine. No, the scene comes not from a recent horror movie but a men’s rest-room on the second floor.

I recall reading in The Rider last year an editorial pointing out these same problems, but nothing has changed since its publication. In fact it seems to have

gotten worse. Where we had un-flushed toilets we now have an overwhelm-ing stench of urine, and the trash in the bathrooms now seems like someone had a temper tantrum involving

fruit and milk. At the beginning of last month, I walked into a bathroom to find someone lost a fight with the mir-ror using an applesauce cup. Someone apparently threw the cup with such force that the applesauce was splattered all across the mirror. If this sounds like fun, maybe you should get out more or try play-ing videogames because according to Jack Thomp-son that’s where all of our violence comes from any-way so you might as well

express it there. But the trashiness and garbage in the bathrooms are not the only problem. Students have found how to pop off the lids of the sinks and disconnect the motion sensors. I would have assumed bad wiring caused the malfunction in the equipment had I not walked into a restroom and found the tops of the sinks popped off and the wires disconnected from the sensor. That’s just great, not only do we have to deal with

trash and food but now we have unsanitary conditions because we can’t wash our hands. Think about that the next time someone tries to give you a high-five or shake your hand. I understand if they’re mad or think it’s funny. But if a thirst for destruc-tion needs to be quenched, destroy something that belongs to you. While the ‘cool’ thing might involve trashing the bathrooms, we all have to live with what-ever it looks and smells like.

One year later restrooms still disgusting

The Rider Page 17The Rider December 19, 2008

SNAP THOUGHTS Children’s Theater: Bringing happiness to a child is something

we applaud the theater department for. Their well executed use of puppets to entertain elementary students is something we hope they will continue to do in the following years. However, we question their need to have Hunter Canedy dress the part of a woman for their show. If you thought A Midsummer Night’s Dream was the first time he wore a dress, you were mistaken. It was the puppet show. But then again, maybe we’re mistaken.

Editorial

BY COLE CHRISTENSENStaff Writer

Pretty talk. Petty talk. A universal health care system sounds like a magic cure-all but the facts leave a wound on the American people. If 300 million people suddenly received full health care coverage, I can’t help but ask, who will pay for it? The taxpayer or the doc-tor? In a decaying economy, taxpayers should not pay for other people’s health

BY AARON SAKOWSKIStaff Writer ID tags. They now hang from the neck or shirt-sleeve of every student. The old ID policy only re-quired that you carry your ID with you at all times. Now it must be show-ing above the waist and between the shoulders. Legacy attempts to set the standard for to-the-letter rule enforcement in MISD, but I don’t believe the new policy has achieved its in-tended goal. Re-introduced to cut down on students travel-ing off-campus or between campuses and to make the campus a safer place over-all, the policy is a hassle for students and teachers alike. From my experience the policy does nothing to

care along with a $700 billion bailout for the housing in-dustry. Tack on $2.6 tril-lion cost from health care

and $500 billion from the Iraq War, the end result is a moth fluttering out of an empty wallet. The projected average cost of health care coverage by major companies for 2008 is $8,676 per employee. If small businesses must pay this coverage or face hefty fines, the business owner

will fire employees in order to stay afloat. Simply put, the govern-ment and economy cannot support the costly system. So the doctors and hospi-tals must carry the burden. After four years of basic college and up to four years of medical school, along with the costs of college, malpractice insurance and other basic funds, besides

stop someone from trav-eling off-campus. First block every A-day I travel to Mansfield High School for biology. With my Leg-acy High School ID hang-ing from my Legacy High School lanyard in front of my Legacy High School shirt, I would think that my presence in Mansfield High School would gar-ner at least some suspicion. At least a second-look by the APs, or a stop in the hallway to explain why a student from another school is there. But no, after over twelve weeks of walk-ing by at least one MHS AP every A-day, I have not once been pulled-over and questioned. At Legacy I have had my ID checked almost every day.

As for the safety concerns, there is little a small piece of plastic bearing your name could do to prevent vandalism, theft, fighting, or being where you’re not supposed to be. Anyone

c a u g h t d o i n g t h o s e things on c a m p u s will be identified by the police or by their peers, de-f e a t i n g

the purpose for having to wear the IDs in the first place. Teachers must also take more time out of class dur-ing attendance to check each student for IDs. A

process already lengthened by the woes of Infinite Campus. It is understandable that Legacy and other MISD schools would want all of their students easily iden-tifiable for after-school or off-campus activities, but for day-to-day use during class there is little differ-ence in effectiveness be-tween wearing the ID on a lanyard and keeping it in your wallet. The school board needs to revert the policy to that of last year. Until then, we’ll just have to live with the things hanging from our necks, getting caught in doors, and gaining us a D-hall every now and then.

ID Policy effectiveness varies from school to school and teacher to teacher

Some Consistency Please

ColeChristensen, 12 the years of internship, the

waking up at three in the morning to assist a patient, and the burdens of working to the level of general prac-titioner, a doctor must now give their hard work and time to people that made poor decisions in balanc-ing their checkbook. Or we could do away with the idea of universal health care.

Making the Unhealthy DecisionUniversal health care planplaces strain on hospitals

There is little difference in effectiveness between wearing the I.D. on a lanyard and keeping it in your wallet.-Aaron Sakowski

National Health Care Spending• In 2007, health care spending in the United States reached $2.3 trillion, and was projected to reach $3 trillion in 2011. Health care spending is projected to reach $4.2 trillion by 2016.

• Health care spending is 4.3 times the amount spent on na-tional defense.

• Although nearly 47 million Americans are uninsured, the United States spends more on health care than other indus-trialized nations, and those countries provide health insur-ance to all their citizens.

BY BRETT WALKER Staff Writer

From ancient Egyptian wall carvings, to the Roswell incident, to recent sightings over the northern hemi-sphere. People have reported seeing extra-terrestrials all over the world, all throughout history. Oh, they were just exaggerations of the god-like pharaohs. Oh, that was just a weather balloon and confused witnesses. Oh, those were just odd refrac-tions of light. I mean, aliens could not possibly exist, or the gen-eral public would be aware of them by now, right? Those were all just coincidences, right? No one could really know if aliens exist, right? If they did, all that would be top-secret, covered-up-by-the-government, ‘only the crazies believe it’ kind of information. It just could not be real. Over 70 years ago Robert Wilson a London doc-tor, put a toy submarine in a lake, snapped a blurry and underexposed photo, and called it Loch Ness Monster. Fifty years ago, George Stock of New Jersey, threw a hat into the air, snapped a blurry and under-exposed photo, and called it a UFO. On his deathbed, Robert Wilson, admitted to hav-ing faked his photo, but George Stock never made such a claim—publicly at least. When a self-acclaimed ‘research’ team goes to look for evidence proving the existence of such beings, what do we find? In the case of the Loch Ness Mon-ster, some of this evidence is quite daunting; how-ever, what evidence we find when studying aliens, is questionable at best, or maybe ‘insufficient for mak-ing a conclusion.’ Only last May, footage of what is supposedly an extra-terrestrial peeping through a window was shown at a press conference in Denver. The film’s creator, Stan Romanek, says that it was recorded five years earlier in Nebraska. You might ask, “How did he know to film that spot, that night?” You might say: “It’s a fake; it was planned.” I’d ask in turn, “How were bystanders able to film two planes crashing into the twin towers?” That wasn’t faked, that wasn’t planned. I’m not saying the footage had to be real. I’m saying it could have been. They say our eyes see what we want them to see. But do everyone else’s?

I Want to Believe

BY RUSSELL KIRBYStaff Writer

Until recently, when students needed change for their dol-lars they would have head to Ms. Sherry Knutson’s window, the bookeeper. Now their requests are being denied, giv-ing them few other options. Students and teachers need an alternative method of obtaining change. It is not that our book-keeper is too busy or in-convenienced by students visiting her during lunch, it now has become a district

policy. Put into effect af-ter money from Mansfield High School went miss-

ing. The new policy states that a school cannot have “petty change” on its prem-ises. One alternative, as Ms. Knutson offers, is to buy something from one of the caf-

eteria lines in hopes that the change you receive is what’s desired. This solution is a weak one and barely resolves any-thing. With hit and miss al-ternatives , students need a more reliable choice. One of the most practical fixes

to this problem is a change machine. Although a change ma-chine is relatively costly, the profits made by the seemingly nominal fee plus the money taken from vending machine will add up to pay back its expenses very quickly. Just take a look at how fast the snack machines sell out. Students have an ad-diction to convenience and a percent of them buy their lunches from them daily. All in all, having the convenience of receiving change for our big bills would be beneficial to both students and teachers. The

RussellKirby, 10

overall affect would not only be positive, but also a benefit to the students mood. Being punished for errors made at Mansfield High School is uncalled for. Administrators either need to revise policy and give the benefit of the doubt to other schools or provide the funding for an alternative method of get-ting change.

Change We Don’t Believe InBookkeeper no longer allowed to offer change

JASM

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The Rider Page 18 December 19, 2008 The Rider The Back Page

School of RockSchool of Rock

BY GREGORY URIBEEditor-in-Chief

Dave Mason is ready to rock as he listens to the murmur from the crowd. He waits to begin. The lights flash on. As a member of The Rob-ert Donahue Band, Mr. Mason plays the drums alongside lead singer Rob-ert Donahue, who also works for a printing com-pany that makes shirts for Legacy, bass player Chris Carlile, the Special Educa-tion Department Head at Timberview, and sales rep-resentative Wyatt Norman on the guitar. Performing together for a year and a half has allowed the band to earn recongnition and win competitions such as the Mansfield Pecan Festi-

val’s Battle of the Bands in 2007. “It was something to do for fun,” Mr. Mason said. “It’s not fun to just have the instruments and have no one to play with.” According to Mason, working with friends re-duces the conflict which may arise during the pro-duction of an album or during a performance in front of a live audience. “We’re like brothers. We get along, but we get on each others nerves,” Mr. Mason said. “Then 20 min-utes later we’re the best of friends.” Mr. Mason says the popularity of RDB spread by word of mouth and al-lowed them to open shows for famous country artists such as Jack Ingram and

the Randy Rogers Band. The pressure of playing in bigger shows did not affect the overall performance of the band. “We want to look good, so they look good,” Mr. Mason said. “Once you get going it’s like playing for 50 people.” With rising reputation came the privileges of a well renowned band. “It was cool because we were fixing to play a show and we heard our song on the radio,” Mr. Mason said. Before a performance, the members of RDB were pre-paring for the show when they heard their song, Live Till I Die on the radio sta-tion 106.9 The Ranch. The delight Mr. Mason felt was apparent to his wife whom he immediately called

upon hearing the song. The excitement showed by Mr. Mason and RDB is also generated by their au-dience. Senior Brittany Ross ex-perienced a RDB perfor-mance at the Game Day she worked at. “They played amazing,” Ross said. “They get re-ally into it and it makes me laugh.” Being able to connect with their audience pushes the members to continue doing what they love to do.

“It makes you feel like a rock star when they sing your song back to you,” Mr. Mason said. “Ex-cept I’m not making millions of dollars.” Despite the joy from making music with his friends, Mr. Mason con-siders himself the realist in the band. He does not see himself progressing with the band onto something bigger. “If you can guarantee me my salary with benefits, I’d think about keeping on do-

ing this,” Mr. Mason said. “If not, I’m happy with teaching.”

Mr. Mason performs country/rock live in The Robert Donahue Band

(top left) Mr. Mason plays the drums in front of a live audience.(top right) Chris Carlile playing bass.(center left) The Robert Donahue Band pump-ing up the crowd.(center right) Robert Donahue leading the band as main singer. (bottom) One of the large audiences RDB has performed in front of.( far bottom right) The album cover of Songs of the Texas Highway.