Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
NorsemaN
Bryan High School February 2009 Volume 38, Number 4
Sadie Hawkins
Feature - Page 2
air races and they looked pretty amazing. As a soccer and tennis player back home, Matthias was eager to experience American sports, both as a spectator and a participant. I like your football and baseball, I also play tennis and like to watch it as well, Matthias said. Throughout his stay in America Matthias has begun to adjust to the culture shock and even found a fellow German, Ingo Stoessel, though he still misses his friends and family along with his former vacation schedule. I like German holidays better, because we have 3 weeks at Christmas, 3 weeks at Easter and only 6 weeks in the summer, Matthias said, I dont like it that you have 8 weeks in a row for summer. Traditionally, Americans celebrate Christmas on the 25th, leading to mass celebrations and little notice given to the day before, but not in Germany. We celebrate on the 24th, so we open all our presents earlier than you, and we eat turkey on the 24th, Matthias said. Though the Christmas holiday traditions vary in Germany and the United States, Valentines Day is much the same. I dont know how its celebrated here, Matthias said, in school we can buy flowers for our people, is pretty much the same. Though Germany and the United States are almost polar opposites to most people, for Matthias, both have their high and low points. Theres nothing really different, Matthias said, I like the people here, and the way people live. Matthias has so far enjoyed his experience in the United States, and eagerly awaits more experiences.
Dont forget to order you senior pictures from Photo Texas to make sure you have enough time to include them in you graduation announcements. You can order online at www.phototexas. com or come by room 6160.
On Saturday, January 17 the UIL Academic team competed in the Willis tournament. Winners included: Clint Lanham with a 1st place finish in computer science and a 2nd place finish in computer applications; Justin Luther with
Academic team competed in the A&M Consolidated invitational. Winners included: Logan Kickham with a 1st place finish in feature writing, a 2nd place finish in news writing and a 5th place finish in headline writing; John Fuller with a 2nd place finish in headline writing and a 4th place finish in feature writing; Brian Cune with a 6th place finish in accounting; Clint Lanham with a 5th place finish in computer applications and a 6th place finish in UIL Consol Invitational computer science; and Nico Milanes On Saturday, February 7 the UIL finished 2nd in computer science.
a 3rd place finish in computer science; James Moncivais with a 1st place finish in computer applications and two 2nd place finishes in computer science and spelling and vocabulary; Reed Williams with a 1st place finish in current issues and events. The science team and the computer applications team both finished in 1st place. Both the science and computer applications teams consisted of Lanham, Luther and Moncivais.
Three academic teams earned 2nd place each: the computer science team, consisting of Nico Milanes, Clint Lanham and Jacob German; the accounting team consisting of Brian Cune, Chris Scarmardo and Tyler Green; and the journalism team consisting of Logan Kickham and John Fuller.
Dont forget to order your 2009 yearbook. Books are currently $65 and will go up to $75 after the books come in. You can go to www.smart-pay.com or pick up an order form in room 6160.
In-Depth - Page 3
this policy in order to encourage students to strive for success with TAKS, but past freshmen classes have presented a problem in the years past. We need to get the ninth grade to start taking it seriously in advance rather than waiting until the 11th grade, Willett said. In previous years administrators havent been able to get an accurate idea of students TAKS potential. We are trying to get people motivated to take TAKS; try and take it seriously because we dont know whether or not the students really know the material needed to pass, because they dont try or put effort into TAKS the years before, Willett said. Adminstrators are still pushing for kids to realize that comply with the standard exam exemption requirements could result in even fewer days of school. Were trying to stress for seniors, the 14th can really be [their] last day, Willett said. Providing incentives to the kids for performing well academically is something many of the schools already support with their final exemption policies. The district is hoping that this program will be a catalyst for future improvement. Parents and students must continue to watch for postings that involve the revision of OFYP as the end of the year draws closer.
Because of the shorte n e d schedule the exams are not the only thing having to be revamped. For students who qualify, the school year will be seven days shorter, if not then students will have a revised schedule that could require them to stay three extra days past the original school calendar. Willett says a perfect attendance reward policy is being attempted for the OFYP days. If students attend the first seven days and have no discipline problems they wouldnt have to come
7 Days Early
Pass your core classes No more than 8 days of absences whether excused or unexcused in core classes Pass TAKS
Page 4 - Opinions
As Valentines Day approaches, stores are beginning to put out candy and flowers, and guys are beginning to prepare the perfect Valentines Day for their girlfriends. To me, Valentines Day is just another day. I personally think that if you truly care about someone you should show them everyday, not just on February 14th. The holiday has become more commercialized, as stores everywhere have candy, jewelry, flowers, etc. displayed right when you walk in. Magazines have Valentines Day issues out. All over Radio and T.V. are commercials for businesses saying that their product is the perfect gift. All of these factors lure people into spending money on people they love, because they feel, that they have to. Love should not be measured by the gifts you give or receive. It should be about being with the one you love. I know girls always say, I dont want anything, but the truth is, we do. But I do not want guys to go out and spend a lot of money. Money does not buy love. I
Jamie Berthold
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mean, for me, I would rather get a more thoughtful gift than a gift that costs a lot of money. After all, it is the thought that counts. People have become so wrapped up in making the perfect Valentines Day that they forget what the holiday is really about. Most people do not even know why we celebrate Valentines Day, and it doesnt really seem to matter anymore. All that matters nowadays is the presents. When you are so caught up in getting everything right, you forget to focus on what truly matters. You lose sight of the fact that the day is about spending time with the people you love and showing them how you feel. If you truly love someone you should be spending time with them and showing them how you feel, making Valentines Day pointless Valentines Day gifts should be less about making everything perfect and more about making the day perfect for the one you love. The day would be perfect by just being with the person who, you love. Honestly, if you worry less about buying the perfect gift you will not be stressed out and you will still have money. Think about it, if you dont waste your money on Valentines Day, you will still have money to take the person youre with out again later. Basically, this time of year should not be as much about money as it should be about being in love. But, dont get me wrong, Its still nice to be thought of on Valentines.
Stress. Everyone experiences it at one point or another, and its becoming more and more common in high school students. Most teens are getting stressed over taking on too many things while at school, such as clubs, sports, and just plain studying. They think they have to be the smartest academically, the coolest socially, and the star athletically. If your palms are already sweating, take a deep breath and read on, because this article is especially for you. High school students are pressured to take on too many tasks by todays set of standards. Stress is usually self-created because of the pressure to be perfect. No one is perfect, not even the person expecting you to make all As, catch every pass, or be voted most popular. Im not saying you shouldnt try to achieve any of these goals, but if you
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do make a B and it was the best you could do, then accept that and move on. If you spend less time lingering on the past and focusing your future and whats ahead, thats less stress for the present. If you want advice for handling stress, we suggest to first stop cramming your schedule full of activities all the time. Everyone deserves a break every now and then, so dont be afraid to take one. I also advise you to have some fun. Whether its hanging out with friends, playing video games, or shopping, do something that makes you happy. Also, get a good nights sleep. No one can function their best on less than seven hours every night. Stress should be something that happens periodically, or better yet, when youre 40. High school is an experience to remember, not one to look back on and remember how panicked you were throughout half of it. So enjoy being a teenager while you can. Even though one test or game may seem like the end of the world if it doesnt turn out exactly how you imagined it, its not. Just remember to relax sometimes because life will go on
Courtney YBarbo
Yes, its true, Im back! And I am so glad to be back in the halls of B-High. Just to catch yall up to speed about me and my life and where Ive been lately, I moved with my parents to Hewitt which is right next to Waco in October, all because of my dads job. I recently moved back to B-town and Im living with Logan Kickham, my BFF and her father, K-Dawg, and every other weekend with Logans mom and step-dad, busy busy busy. Now let me tell ya, I hated it in Hewitt, I went to Midway High, a 4-A School, where I was a Midway Panther. Lame, huh? I like being a Viking so much better. Midway students were real weird. Between each class, they would go to their lockers, yes, they actually used their lockers! The school looked like a mall and was overly clean, not worn in like Bry-
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an High. The hallways were deathly quiet, kind of creepy, no loud screams or pushing people, no one singing Lil Wayne songs, nothing. Another thing that bugged me was that the majority of the students were white upper middle class; it wasnt as culturally diverse as B-High and that felt a little boring. The rules were crazy strict there too. Even though you didnt have to have a hall pass, you werent allowed to have cell phones! Like at all, not even on campus and there were no iPods either! You also couldnt have jeans with holes whatsoever. If they saw you with holey pants they would make you change into I Love Midway sweatpants. yeah, not cool. The school had a funny smell too, it kind of smelled like a dentist office. Sick. They also didnt have a water polo team! Lame. The students there werent mean, I made friends, but only a few during the little time I was there. So to answer your question if I was a lonely freak with no friends and sat alone at lunch, no I wasnt, I had friends, thank goodness! But now, Im back for good.
Everyone watches movies. Some may even say that watching movies has become an electronic pastime of todays society. The movie industry has a major influence on our economy. There were approximately 286 movies made in 2008. That is almost 6 movies a week. The theaters are packed on every night of the weekend, and Im just wondering why. All the movies that come out in theaters these days have the same theme within their individual genre. Take action movies for example, someone is always trying to kill someone else. Two people meet, fall in love, and the bad guy dies, the end. Its quite pitiful that with all of the writers and producers that are creating works of art they all have the same plot line. Another downfall to todays entertainment is the vulgarity that is required to amuse peoples deplorable sense of humor. Even some cartoons have sexual innuendos which are saying that its ok to let such so called humor be broadcasted to our children. Although I understand that parents dont want to have to be completely bored while trying to entertain their children, if you say its ok to expose them to such things at a young age what right do you have to say they cannot watch similar movies when they actually understand the meaning of such humor. When movies are not filled with crude humor they are full of stupid. The classic cartoon of Looney Toons where Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner are in a never ending battle is funny because no matter how hard the coyote tries he never catches the roadrunner and he always gets hurt in the end. Well current movies have taken that idea of getting hurt from a cartoon and put it in a movie with real people and when they get hurt its just sad and not funny at all. Although I am not going to say that all movies are trash and everyone should be ashamed of themselves or anything like that I am just saying the quality of the movie business is ina steady downward spiral. I dont know what qualifies a movie to be rated R, but they should honestly reconsider the eligibility of some of the content that producers allow in the movie, because I know some stuff is really not necessary. Besides the fact that the content is not only unacceptable; close to half of the newly released movies are rated R for strong language, violence, or sexual content. Remakes of old movies seem to be becoming more and more frequent and also more and more disastrous. When you take a classic and try to make it modern it loses its distinction. Yes, modern-day technology is more advanced than it was but the originality of the film is ruined when you change it.
Opinions - Page 5
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With all the chaos that engulfs students throughout their four years of high school some outlets can be fun and quite possibly a necessity to make it out of here alive. Electives, especially sports, provide kids with the break they truly need. While many colleges expect to see extracurriculars along with competitive grades on an application, no one seems to realize that this is an extremly difficult task to achieve. The problem lies within the grade-weighting process. Students are required to participate in at least a year and a half of physical education classes so it is understandable that an athletic class would not be weighted for a students freshman and sophomore years. Once at a varsity level though, athletes are generally putting in countless hours of practice a day for a season or in some sports as much as an entire year and dont seem to be getting the credit they deserve. Students that are struggling to perform well academically as well as in the sports arena are inevitably being punished with respect to their GPA. The kids taking predominatly pre-AP, honors, and AP classes are having their GPA brought down by participating in school activities. One would think that administrators and board members would encourage participation by rewarding students and not punishing them. The system does, however, recognize and reward students who participate in extracirriculars such as band, choir, or Shy-Annes by offering positively weighted GPAs, multiple credits for only one activity or even both. Its funny how the system can discourage students from helping themselves and their school in a certain activities, but show positive incentives in those they deem to be more important such as the all time favorite - texas football. ---The Norseman Staff
The
NOrsemaN
Bryan High School October 2008 Volume 38, Number 4
The opinions expressed are those of the writers and are not reflective of the administrators, faculty or staff of Bryan Independent School District. Submissions to the editor are welcomed, but must be signed and should not exceed 300 words. The editor reserves the right to edit submissions in the interest of clarity and length or to not print a letter at all. Letters containing obscene or libelous material will not be considered. Bryan Independent School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex or handicap in providing education services.
Adviser Rebecca Dominy Editor Logan Kickham Assistant Editor Chelsea Downey
Staff writers Jamie Berthold Ruthie Dearman Jessica Harlin Caitlin Quinn Christina Romero Rex Urquhart Seth Wells Courtney YBarbo
Page 6 - Sports
Christina Romero Catlin Quinn Staff writer As of February 9 the Viking boys basketball team is currently in first place in district. They are currently 11-0 in district and 25-2 overall. The Vikings are competing well this year with their eyes focused on their goal - make it to state. Head basketball coach, John Reese, believes he has a strong group of boys playing on the court. We have good kids and they play real hard they do real well, Coach Reese said, The key to success is good players. Not only do the kids seem to excel as individuals, but when they step on to the court they seem to bond as a cohesive unit. All the kids get along together and they play extremely hard on the court, Coach Reese said. Working close together, as athletic teams must ensures that the players learn to both lean on each other and take responsibility for their actions. We are real big on accountability, Coach Reese said, they have each others back on everything. With the loss of last years seniors, new leaders Terrance Wilbert and other seniors were ready to take on the responsibility of leading the Above: Senior Dacorian Burleson team. makes a jump shot inside the lane. Its a role I had to pick up after the seniors left last year Wilbert said Its a responsibility watching over these little kids. Left: J- Mychal Reese trys to score The varsity team is made up of mostly juniors and seniors, but ocon the Grey wolves. casionally this line can change, for instance J-Mychal Reese joined the team as a freshman. [I have been playing] since I was four years old, Reese said. Reese has been playing for many years but when he came to high school he discovered that the sport he knew and loved had evolved to a more demanding pastime with his transition to the big campus. Its way more physical coming from middle school, Reese said, but its fun. Though Reese is young, he is a huge asset to the team. At the Crosstown showdown he helped lead the Vikings to victory by scoring 24 of Bryans 94 points. In an intense game against Shoemaker, Reese scored half of the Vikings points, but Reese was not the only one who helped the Vikings bring home the victory. Wilbert had four of six shots in the last few minutes of the overtime game. In the end the Vikings defeated the Grey Wolves with a score of 67 -64. The teams next game is Friday February 13th at Harker Heights.
Medley Relay consisting of teammates Cody Smith, David Godinez, Ivann Alejandro and Cullen Tolmsoff. In the Mens 200 yard Individual Medley David Godinez earned 6th place with a time of 2:10.38 seconds. For the Mens 50 yard Freestyle Cullen Tolmsoff placed 3rd with a time of 23.16 seconds. In the Mens 100 yard Butterfly David Godinez placed 5th with a time of 56.61. In the 200 yard Freestyle Relay, Tyler Williamson, Josh Luna, Joseph Arellano and Dorian Galindo, placed 6th. In the Mens 400 yard freestyle relay, Godinez, Smith, Alejandro, and Tolmsoff, placed 2nd. Cody Smith tore up the pool with a first place finish in the 100 backstroke in just 57.82 seconds. The regional competition will be held this weekend in Freshman Melissa Williams swims during the 400 yard freestyle relay at the district Mansfield. swim meet at Texas A&M University.
Entertainment - Page 7
down the hall. Luckily, Amy has Ben to help her. He is a sweet romantic guy, who takes care of her and loves her, and would do anything to be with her. Ben is played by, Ken Baumann. Ken does an excellent job capturing his role, in my opinion. He showed me that there are good guys out there who are willing to be with girls through thick and thin. Amy is played by Shailene Woodley. I give her props for taking on the role of Amy. I think she does an amazing job capturing the emotional trauma a pregnant teen goes through. I like that at the end of every episode the show ends with Shailene talking to the viewers encouraging abstinence. She took a role of a girl who is struggling and turned it into a show that teenage girls who are watching can listen to her and be convinced to stay abstinent. ABC family hit the jackpot with this show. It captures drama, discrimination, and real life situations while providing a lesson for teens in a way that is worth watching. It shows us that life isnt always easy, and sometimes we make mistakes, but we have to live with the consequences of our actions. Altogether, the show has viewers craving for more and applauding ABC family, for its outstanding achievement with this hit show.
the shoulders of Christensens vocal embellishments. His voice carries angelic hope for resolution and the belief that even talking to yourself will help you through the day. A redemptive, Christian song, God managed to effectively combine a solid rock beat, pop-influenced catchy lyrics and a wholesome and tender soul. As a whole, Poison Kiss holds up very well by rock or pop standards, yet not all the songs are perfect. Personally I felt that One Trust, Good Love, and In Your Arms did not quite complete the meld of soulful lyrics meets catchy rock-pop beat. Whereas the other titles showed the bands talents as mainstream rock stars effortlessly infusing their heartfelt lyrics with enough smooth pop influences to render them easily likeable and remembered songs. The band recently completed an Australian tour but it is unknown whether they will return to touring the United States or head back to the recording studio to create another work of musical fun.
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Love Jokes
What did the paper clip say to the magnet? I find you very attractive. Knock, Knock! Whos there? Olive. Olive who? Olive you! What did one light bulb say to the other? I love you a whole watt!