Volume 35 Number 5

8/6/2019 Volume 35 Number 5

1/8

April 2006

Volume 35 No. 5

Bryan High students participated in

the Special Olympics hosted in Hearneon March 24.

Alex Mosqueda received 2nd place

for softball throw and 4th in the 50

yard dash.

Sonia Flores earned 2nd place in the

softball throw and 3rd place in the 100

yard dash.

Chris Rodriquez earned 4th place

in both the softball throw and the 100

yard dash.

Pedro Tirado received 1st in boththe 100 yard dash and the long jump

events.

Students will be participating in

a second Special Olympics meet at

A&M Consolidated April 7 and 8.

The student body is encouraged to

come out and support these athletes.

Congratulations and good luck this

weekend!

Hilary Francis

Jennifer Haynie

Co-editors

Five students advanced to the Aca-

demic UIL Regionals after competingat District on March 25.

Matt Moss placed 2nd in Computer

Science, Hilary Francis placed 2nd in

Feature Writing and 2nd in News Writ-

ing, Charles Herrmann placed 1st in

Ready Writing, Chelsea Smith placed

2nd in Lincoln Douglas Debate, and

Susan Bauer placed literary criticism.

These students will travel to Baylor

and participate in their events on April

21 and 22.Literary criticism is a tough events,

but my hard work has paid off. I hope

to do as well at the regional meet as

I did at district, junior Susan Bauer

said.

Fifty-three students participated,

with 22 receiving a medal for rst

through sixth place.

UIL has really started to make a

comeback with our students and I am

excited about our prospects for re-gion, Mrs. Rebecca Dominy, UIL co-

ordinator said. We have a strong team

with a lot of returning participants for

next year.

If the students place 1st or 2nd at the

Regional Meet, they will advance to

the State competition in Austin.

It would be awesome to advance to

State my senior year in UIL, Hilary

Francis said. Ive advanced to region-

als the past three years, but have neveradvanced to state.

At the state level there are numerous

scholarships and awards given to win-

ning students and the honors of being-

ing named the best in the state.

UIL Event Student Place

Computer Science Matt Moss* 2nd

Charles Herrmann 5th

Steven Brelsford 6th

Editorial Writing Elisa Santana 6th

Feature Writing Hilary Francis* 2nd

Ready Writing Charles Herrmann* 1st

Social Studies Walter Bauer 5th

Spelling and Vocabulary Edith Ramirez 5th

LD Debate Chelsea Smith* 2nd

Literary Criticism Susan Bauer* 2nd

Liz Titus 5th

News Writing Hilary Francis* 2nd

Poetry Interpretation Aaron Victory 4th

*students advancing to the regional meet in Waco

Computer Science Team Matt Moss 2nd

Charles Herrmann

Steven Brelsford

William Moore

Science Team George Stasny 2nd

Elisa Ramirez

Emily Luza

Charless Herrmann

Justin Maggs

Social Studies Walter Bauer 2nd

Addie Crawley

Jonathan Lys

Joshua Stevens

Literary Criticism Susan Bauer 2nd

Liz Titus

Steven Dunning

Sam Woodn

Bryan Students Shine at District UIL Competition

Special Olympic Champs

U

I

L

135A

U

I

L

135A

Sophomores Elisa

and Elizabeth Ramirez

shop at the AVIDbookfair during their

English class.


2/8

2 Feature

April7,

2006

Editors Note: Story contrib-

uted by Darrell Jones. Guns

are not toys and should be

handled with respect.

Friday,Homecomingweek-endof2003,Iwasrestingin

bed around nine oclock at

night.

MybrotherAaron,mycous-

inLittleRonnie,mydad,andI

werespendingtheweekendat

ourdeerleasenearthetownof

Livingston.

My dad and Little Ron-

niewent toWal-Martto buy

T-bone steaks for Saturdaynight.

Whiletheyweregone,Igot

upfrom bed togetsometea

fromtheicechest.

Aaron was getting ready

toleave the trailer and walk

around. Hewent outside to

check on the campre and I

wasleftbymyselfinthetrail-

er.

Ipickedupa357pistolandstartedlookingatit.

Ihadneverseenasilverpis-

tolupcloseandwascuriousto

seehowheavyitwas.

It was just sitting there,

shininglikeasilverdollar.

Istartedwalkingaroundthe

trailerwiththepistol.

It was dark, because there

were no lights in the trailer

andmybrotherhadtakenthe

lanternoutsidewithhim.

Theonly lightwas coming

faintly from the moon out-

side.

Istartedwalkingtowardthe

door andtrippedover some-

thing on the oor.

AsIstartedtofall,Itriedto

putthegunonthetable,butI

droppeditinstead.

Whenthepistolhitthetable,itwentoffandshotme.

The bullet went into my

left arm, ricocheted off my

shoulderblade,andwentout

the top of my

left shoulder,

through my

neck, hitting

my spine,

and exited

my back be-low my right

shoulder.

Ifell to the

oor.

Aaron,hear-

ingthegungo

off, ran in to

see what had

happened.He

picked me up

and tried toget me into

the chair, but

couldnt,sohe

laid me back

on the oor.

Aaron then tried to stop

thebleeding onmyshoulder

by wedging a lighter-uid

containerwrappedinapaper

towelunderme.

Thisworked,andthebleed-

ingstopped.

My brotherthenran to the

houseoftheladywhoowned

theproperty, sohe could get

help.

Whenhegottherehecalled

911 andborrowed theladys

truckto comebackto check

onme.

Once he checkedonmeI

toldhimtogobackforhelp. Whentheambulancecame,

the paramedics put meon a

stretcher,andloadedmeinto

the ambulance, saying, We

need totakeyouto anopen

space where the helicopter

canlandtopickyouup.

The ambulance driver ar-

ranged for the helicopter to

meet us ina church parking

lot.

The helicopter took me to

Hermann Hospital in Hous-

ton.

Welandedontopofthehos-

pital,wheretheyputmeona

hospital bed and tookmeto

surgery.

Iwokeupthe

next day still

thinkingitwas

the night of

theaccident.

WhenIwoke

up, I knew

I was in the

hospital, and

I remembered

why.

My shoul-

derand neck hurt badly, and

thenursegavememorepain

medicationsoIcouldgoback

tosleep.

Thedoctorscameinandoutthe next day, and asked me

howIwasdoing.

Itried toanswerthem,but

IhadtubesinmymouthsoI

couldnt talk very

well.

My dad was

withmethewhole

time in the Inten-

sive Care Unit

(ICU), and heworked thetelevi-

sion remote con-

trol for me while

we watched foot-

ball.

I was taking

quiteabitof pain

medication and

was asleep when

they took out all

thetubes. I had had a

feeding tube in

my stomach, so I

didnteatanyfood

untilTuesday.

For my rst meal that Tues-

day,mydadbroughtapizza-

avored hot-pocket from my

cousinshouse.

The hot pocket tasted like

thebestmealIhadevereat-

en.

IwasinICUforthreeweeks

before thehospitaltherapists

cameintostartworkingwith

me.

Mostlytheyjusthadmesit

inachair.

I was dizzy at rst, but then

Igotusedtosittingup.

The therapistsalsoworked

withmetomovemyarmsand

legs.

Ididexercisesformylegs

topreventbloodclotswhileI

wasinthehospital.

Twiceaweekthetherapists

workedwithmewhileI was

inICU.

Anambulance cameto the

hospitaltomovemefromICU

toTIRR (Texas Institute for

ResearchandRehabilitation),

which is the building next

doortoHerman. Iwas putin aroom with

three other boys who were

also16.

Oneofmy roommateshad

jumped off a building while

hewastakingspeed.

Anotherwasknockedoffa

bridgebyadrunkendriver.

Thethirdhadafour-wheeler

accidentandwasparalyzed.

The thing my roommatesandIallhadincommonwas

that we couldnt move our

legs.

IwasinTIRRforamonth,

untilDecember12,2003.

All through Christmas

break,allIcouldthinkabout

was getting tocome backto

BryanHigh.

I really like school and I

wantedtogetbacksoIcouldgraduate.

Now that I am back at

school, I would have to say

thatlifeisjusthard.

Ihavetokeepupwithmy

medicines, my school work,

class work, physical therapy,

occupational therapy, and

doctorsappointments.

Iamalsotryingtogetstron-

ger, andhopefullyone dayI

willgetoutofmywheelchair

andstartdoingthingsformy-

self.

Ialsostillwanttogetmar-

ried and have kids, just like

beforemyaccident.

My goal is to walk across

thestagebymyselfatgradu-

ation.

Ihavetheopportunityallthe

timetotalktopeopleaboutthe

dangerofhavinggunsaround

thehouse.

Itellpeopletomakesure

theirgunsarelockedup,and

when the guns are out, the

adults need to supervise the

weaponsatalltimes.

StudentTellsofGunDangers,PersonalExperience


3/8

3April7,2006

Feature

Hilary FrancisJennifer Haynie

Co-editor

Irolleda sevenIstoleyoursheep!NowallI

needisabricktocompletemysettlement.

ThisscenariosetsupapopulargameoftheGame

Club,SettlersofCatan.Settlerscombinesstrategic

andanalyticalskillsasthestudentsattempttobuild

roads, settlements andcitiesto achievea winning

scoreoftenpoints.

Iusemathematicalandstrategictacticsinorder

todefeatmyopponents,juniorJustinMaggssaid.Well...mostlyIjustgetlucky.

Studentsrstbeganplayingboardgamestogether

afterschoolinMr.JasonCordesroomin2004and

becamearecognizedBHSclubthisyear.

The club consists of nearly thirty students un-

derthesupervisionofCordes,aComputerScience

teacherforTechnologyAcademy.

Istartedthisclubinordertoteachstudentsgood

socializationskills.Heretheylearntoplayfairand

getalong,Cordessaid. Withapassionforgaming,Cordeshascollected

over1,300games,mostly fromEurope,whichhe

allowsthestudentstoplay.

Thegamesgivestudentsachanceto experience

othercultures.Afewgamesevenrequirethestu-

dentstotranslateforeignlanguagestoEnglishjust

togureouttheinstructionsandsetup.

Itsagreatthingtobeexposedtoothercultures.

Ienjoyplayinggamesmadeinothercountries,espe-

ciallyGermany,juniorStevenCooleysaid.

Cordesalsogiveshistorylessonsdealingwiththegamesthegroupiscurrentlyplaying.

These lessons allow the students to learn his-

toricalfactsaboutbattleswhilehavingfun,Cordes

said.

Thisweeklyclubgivesstudentsafunandsafeen-

vironmenttodowhattheylikebestplaygames.

Thegameclubkeepsmeoutoftrouble,junior

KoehlTitussaid.Itsafunplacetohangout.

SeniorAliciaPatout, Ed,acts aspresidentfor

theclub.Herroleistomanagetheclubsweeklymeetings.

Ikeep themembersin lineandtellthemwhat

todo,Patoutsaid.Ialsoenforcetheonlyruleof

GameClub:AbsolutelyNOCHEATING!

Memberssaythereareoftenfallaciesofcharacter

thatcomewithbeinggamers.

Weresometimescallednerdsorgeeks,junior

SeanMcCartysaid.Butthisdoesntreallyaffect

us---werehavingfunwithourfriends.

Avarietyof studentsattendandparticipatewith

theclub.Freshmantoseniors,guysandgirls,theresnostipulationsforattending.

Anyoneinterestedinjoiningiswelcomeandcan

comebyRoom5148formoreinformation.

Graduatingseniorshopetheyhaveleftaclubthat

willlastforyearstocome.

ThosewhohelpedstarttheGameClubhopeit

continues for the underclassmen after we leave,

Harrissaid.Thatwaytheywillalsobeabletoen-

joyboardandstrategygames.

StudentSpeaksinaSoundlessWorldHilary Francis

Co-editor

Not being able to speak hasnt

stoppedJordannaWilliamsfromsay-

ingwhats really onher mind. This

BHS junior, who is profoundly deaf

inboth ears,haslearnedto adaptto

participateinsomethingnormallyre-

servedforthosewiththeabilitytohear

andspeak.Williamsjoinedthespeech

anddebateteamthissemester.

Iwascuriousaboutwhatitwasso

I went ahead and joined,Williams

said.MyfriendAaron,whowasalso

inspeech,encouragedmetojoin.

Within the speech and debate pro-

gram,Williams participates in prose

events.Withthehelpofaninterpreter,

shesignsherprosepiecestoapanelof

judges.

Judges sometimes look surprised

when they see me sign, Williams

said.ButIfeelproudandgood

aboutmyabilities.

Ms. Laurielea McDaniel,

Williams teacher, has had

toadapttohavingadeafstu-

dentinherclass.Teaching

herself to learn American

Sign Language, McDaniel

has bridgeda gap thatwas

seeminglyunattainable.

CommunicationwithJor-

danna can be frustrating at

times and requiresa lot of

patience.Ivelearnedalot

from these experiences,

McDanielsaid.

Interactingwiththeteamis

sometimesdifcultaswell.

Iteachthestudentssigns

so that we can understand

eachotherduringclassand

ontrips,Williamssaid.

Studentsdotheirbestto

communicate with Wil-

liams.

Being deaf doesnt alter

her ability to communicate

with us. junior Elisa Santana said.

She still understands whats going

onin thegroupandcan easily sense

peoplesemotions.

Sherecentlyplaced3rdand5thfor

herprose pieces at theTexas Foren-

sicsAssociation at Colleyville High

School.

As her rst appearance, Williams

didexceptionally well; however,she

knows winning comes with certain

costs.

Ihave tomemorizemysigns,fo-

cusandpracticealot,Williamssaid.

Getting infront ofpeople and per-

forminghastakensomegettingused

to.

Williams has matured and grown

from participating in the speech and

debateprogram.

She has gained so much con-

dence, McDaniel said. I believe

participating iswhat trulymakes her

happy.

Throughherpersistenceanddedica-

tiontotheprogram,Williamsisgiving

otherstudentsan exampleofdefying

theodds.

Jordannaisarolemodel,McDan-

ielsaid. Sheshowspeopletheycan

dowhatevertheywantandnottogive

upbecauseofadisability.

GameClubFocusesonStrategyandSkill

Jason Galindo

Staff writer

There is an art to ghting, and fresh-

man Chris Gonzales has mastered thatart along with his brothersMatt Gonza-

les, an 05 Graduate,

and James Gonzales

a junior currently en-

rolled at Bryan High.

Gonzalessayshistwo

brothersarebetterthan

heis,buthemanagesto

give them a challenge

whenghtingthem.

Gonzalesisanactivemember of the Bryan

Boxing Gym which

was located attheold

re station downtown,

butwasmovedinFebruary.

Gonzales participated in the National

Gold Gloves Championship this year,

coachedbyJoeMartinez,andtrainedbya

fellowboxer.

Golden Gloves is a tournament where

boxers from different gyms can competetotesttheirskills,locatedthisyearatthe

International Ballroom in

Houston.

Gonzalesfoughttwoghts,

eachwiththreeone-minute

rounds.

Inhissecondghthebroke

his opponents nose in the

third round towin Golden

Glovesoverall.

Gonzaleswill participatein the Junior Olympics in

afewmonthsandplanson

goingpro.

If he is unable to go pro

Gonzalesplanstoandtakeoverhisdads

constructionbusiness,PumaConstruction.

GoldenGlovesChampion


4/8

The Norseman isa publicationproduced bytheAdvanced Journalism

NewspaperProductionclassatBryanHighSchool.Theopinionsexpressed

arethoseoftheauthoranddonotrepresenttheopinionofthefaculty,staffor

administrationofBryanHighSchool.Letterstotheeditorarewelcomeand

may be delivered to Rm. 6160 or the Blue Campus Ofce.

BryanIndependentSchoolDistrictdoesnotdiscriminateonthebasisof

race,religion,color,nationalorigin,sexorhandicapinprovidingeducation

services.

Member-UILInterscholasticLeaguePressConference(ILPC)

Winner of the ILPC Award of Distinguished Merit 1998-99, 1999-2000,

2001-02, 2002-03; Silver Star, 2001-02.

BryanHighSchool

3450CampusDrive,Bryan,TX77802

Volume 35, No. 5Co-editors

HilaryFrancisandJenniferHaynie

Staff

EricaCaroll,TiffanyDrozd,

JasonGalindo,JPMcGowanElisaSantana,

BlairWhitley,TravisWhitley

Adviser

RebeccaDominy

4 Opinions

April7,

2006

As humans we spend our

entirelifewaitingforthenext

bestthing.

When we were in elemen-

tary it was being in middle

school.

When we

werea pre-teenwe longed the

days of high

school, yet as

we nd our-

selves in high

school we are

stilllongingfor

the next best

thing to come

ourway.

But heed mywarning, the

grass is not al-

waysgreeneron

theotherside.

Speaking from experience,

senior year is the rst time in

mostofourlivesthatwebe-

gintomakechoicesthatwill

affecttherestofourlives.

As graduation time draws

nearer the responsibility be-

gins to compound as we ll

outscholarships,makeroom-

ing arrangements, and begin

to prepare foralifestyleun-

likeanywehave

everknown. The com-

forts of a life

we have been

so accustomed

to will soon be

goneandwewill

be expected to

juggleallof the

curve balls life

will throwat us

withthematurityand wisdom of

anadult.

Ibelievethat

many ofus cant even begin

toimaginetheweightofcom-

pletely supporting ourselves

andallthatentails.

Ipersonallycouldnotwait

for the momentwhen senior

yearwouldarriveandthefun

wouldstart.

Little did I know that this

yearwouldbeoneofthemost

challengingtimesinmylife.

Notonlyareyoufacedwith

therealizationthatthepeople

youseeeverydaywillsoonbegone,butthatalloftheluxu-

riesofhomewillsoonbegone

aswell.

As seniors we have to gure

out what we are doing after

graduation and how wewill

supportourselves,whetherwe

are working full time or at-

tendingschool.

Allofthesedecisionsfactor

intoourperformanceinschoolandthedailyobstaclesteenag-

ersdealwith.

Soeventhoughsenioryear

is lled with fun memories of

hangingoutwithyourfriends,

realizethatitwillalsobeone

themostchallengingtimesof

yourlifeaswell,sodonttake

yourdescisionslightly.

AthoughHurricaneKatrina

happened6monthsagothere

arepoliticalissueswithinthis

tragedythatIfeelneedtobebroughtbackintothelight.

After the devastation of

Hurricane Katrina, Kanye

West took part in a telethon

with fellow superstar Mike

Myerstoraisemoneyforthe

victimsofthestorm.

During a segment of the

telethon in which each host

wasexpressingtheirviewson

thetragedy,KanyeWestmadethe statement, GeorgeBush

doesnotcareaboutblackpeo-

ple.

With that one statement

West raised questions that

Americawasnotreadytoan-

swerandforcedindividualsto

takeacloserlookathowthe

Bush administration handled

the fallout from Hurricane

Katrina.

In the wake of the storm

many newschannels showed

images of individuals steal-

ing from stores. The fact ofthematteristhatthesepeople

were not stealing, but were

doingnothingmorethantry-

ingtosurvivetheslowrelief

efforts.

Although, there are

some individuals tak-

ingthingsthatwereof

nousetothem,people

mostly took weapons

to protect themselvesfrom criminals be-

cause government en-

forcementwasabsent.

Theytookclothesand

shoes because they

werewetandcold,and

theytookfoodsothat

they would not starve

to deathwaiting on govern-

mentaidthatneverseemedto

come.

Anotherfallacyoccuredbe-

forethe storm hitduringthe

evacuationprocess.

The city of New Orleanshadhundredsofpublicschool

buses that they could have

used to evacuate their less

fortunatecitizens,butinstead

city ofcials elected to leave

thebusestobewashedaway

by the storm along with the

lessfortunate.

Iamproud ofKanyeWest

for speaking out for many

people who do not have avoice, themajorityofwhich

were effected by Hurricane

Katrina.

Too long have we let the

current adminis-

trationneglectthe

impoverishedand

theminorities.

The sad part

aboutit isthat it

took a nationaltragedy and the

lossof thousands

of lives for this

fact to become

public.

For those

who say this is

not a race thing,

ne, but you must admit it is

aneconomicthing.

Forthosewhodidnothave

money or the resources to

leave or get help were left

alonetodieorsurvivethebest

waypossible. In my opinion the televi-

sion stationsand newspapers

needtodoamuchbetterjob

inrepresentingalltheaffected

peopleinthesameway.

They should take a closer

lookatthelanguagetheyuse

when talking about the vic-

tims.

Theyalsoneedtoshowthe

manydifferent racialpopula-tions that were effected by

Katrina rather than repeat-

edlyshowingclipsofAfrican

Americans screaming and

shouting.

I challenge people to stop

criticizing Kanye West who

iswillingtohelpandcriticize

thepeoplewhohadthepower

tostopthesuffering.

Blair Whitley

WhereAreYouGoingSoFast?

KayneWestVerusGeorgeBush:PoliticalShowdown

JP McGowan


5/8

5April7,2006

Opinions

I was having a bad day one Friday,

so I went to a restaurant to forget about

worries and just enjoy myself.

My mood changed from bad to

worse whenever it took more than anhour to get my food.

I made a scene (of course) and left

with an empty stomach and wondered

where a girl could get good service

around town?

Im tired of restaurants who either

forget about you or are too fast-paced

and are only concerned with getting

the next guy in and out.

Arent you exhausted of the generic

and insincere How is your food to-night? or Have a nice day?

Or how about whenever I pay $7.25

to see a movie and there are no seats

left in the theatre. When I nally do

nd a seat there is an annoying ash-

ing green line thoughout the entirelm and we are told that nothing can

be done about it.

Places of business not only offer a

product, they offer a standard of prod-

uct, and they distribute their products

with a certain level of service. If a

sales associate is rude and mistreats

me, then why would I ever want to go

back to their business?

How can a business make their cus-

tomers happy?Just know how to relateto the consumer. For starters if there

are only two tickets left to a movie, just

tell me that the theatres packed and ad-

vise me to see a different movie.

If you are

working ata restaurant,

treat me like

Im family,

and serve

me with the

authenticity

of your per-

sonality.

As for a store, treat me like Im your

best friend.

Tell me if the jeans look good or badon me or if I should really get the war-

ranty for the big screen television.

Lastly, I would like to commend

some businesses in the community for

superior service (take notes other

businesses).Fazolis is awesome because

not only is the food decent and

cheap, but there is the always

a friendly breadstick man who

comes to your table with a unlim-

ited supply of the golden treats.

IHOP is also great because

you can get your favorite breakfast

with a smile at three in the morning.

If other businesses pay attention then

maybe they can improve their businessand my satisfaction too.

The Myspace.com trend is blowing up all over the

world (the website gets more hits than Google), and

with 50 million users, it really is a place

for friends.

With Myspace, users are able to create

a prole and communicate with other

users around the world. With minimal

computer knowledge, a Myspace page

can be completely customized from

background to prole song accordingto the users personality.

Users can share photos, write blogs,

join groups, nd and listen to music,

and send e-mails and comments.

The possibilities are endless; all you need is free

time.

However, the popularity comes with a price.

Myspace can be dangerous to those who dont pro-

tect themselves. Horror stories of predators spring

up frequently in the news.

Revealing personal information on their sites

leaves users vulner-

able to attack.

Many teens and

young adults go so

far as to claim it is

ruining their life

due to the time spent

MySpacing whenthey should be doing

something else.

Countless parents

believe MySpace is just too much of a risk for their

children and should be shut down.

I would know, because my parents agree with

them.

Ive had MySpace since Fall 2004, and have let it

become a xture of daily life.

I, like most teens, would be lost socially if I just

stopped using MySpace.

I understand that it can be very unsafe, but practic-

ing caution on the site can prevent bad things from

happening.

A few tips to remember to keep safe from the weir-

dos, as well as keep your parents off your back:

Set your prole to private (users can only view it if

they are on your friends list)

Dont leave your address, last name or any personal information viewable on your page

If you absolutely insist on meeting someone, make

sure you know someone who knows them, and even

then, meet them in a very public place with a friend

Never respond to messages that seem too good to

be true (for example: the lady in Nigeria whose hus-

band died and she wants to give you some of the

money)

When in doubt, just dont do it!

Will this iPod craze ever end?

Yes, this line of mp3 players by

Apple is pretty impressive, however it

almost seems that we have taken it too

far.

Are iPod compatible jeans really

necessary?Thats right, Levi has come out with

a new line of jeans that can hook up

to your iPod and be controlled from a

joystick in the watch pocket.

Burton followed suit with their new

line of ski jackets that are iPod com-

patible.

You can plug your iPod into the

pocket of the jacket and then change

songs from a control panel on the jack-

et sleeve.

On top of these advances, multiple

car companies are coming out with

newer model cars that have USB ports

so the owner can plug their iPod right

into the dashboard.Also for those who dont want the

inconvenience of carrying a cell phone

and an mp3 player, Cingular and

iTunes teamed up to create the rock-

er which is the rst phone equipped

with iTunes.

Or, if you want to go to the beach

or pool without leaving your music

behind, a company has developed an

ice chests that can plug into your iPod

and play your music through built in

speakers.

Now whats the purpose of all these

products you might ask?

To be honest its suckering people out

of more of their hard-earned dollars bycharging way more money for prod-

ucts than they are worth simply be-

cause they are associated with iPod.

People know this, however, they buy

the products anyway which is why we

have an iPod cult on our hands.

The only way for this fad to end is

if another company comes out with

another bigger and better product that

will make iPod owners question their

purchase.

Until then we are stuck on the iPod

bandwagon.

Tiffany Drozd

Whos Space? What Space? My Space...

Elisa Santana

Travis Whitley

iPod: Over Accessorising, Over Endulgence, Over Kill

Just Wondering, Can I Really Have a Nice Day?


6/8

6 In-Depth

Apr

il7,

2006

Ancient cultures, including those as varied as the

Romans and the Hindus, celebrated New Years Day

on April 1st.

In 1582 France adopted the reformed calendar and

shifted New Years Day to January 1st. However,

many people either refused to accept the new date,

or did not learn about it, and continued to celebrate

on April 1st.

People began to make fun of these traditionalists,

sending them on fools errands, or trying to trick

them into believing something false.

French children sometimes would tape a picture of

a sh on the back of their schoolmates crying Pois-

son dAvril!, which means April Fish!

The idea eventually began to catch on in other

countries, and April 1st became a day of tricks and

pranks.

*In 1996 the Taco Bell Corporation an-

nounced that it had bought the Liberty Bell

from the federal government and was re-

naming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds

of outraged citizens called the National His-

toric Park in Philadelphia where the bell is

housed. They were only calmed when Taco

Bell revealed that it was all a practical joke.

In good humor the White House secretary

responded that the Lincoln Memorial had

also been sold, and would now be called the

Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.

*In 1998 Burger King published a full page

advertisement in the USA Today announc-

ing the introduction of a new item to their

menu: a Left-Handed Whopper special-

ly designed for the 32 million left-handed

Americans. For the benet of their left-hand-

ed customers, all condiments would now

be rotated 180 degrees. The following day

Burger King issued a follow up release that

although the Left-Handed Whopper was a

hoax, thousands of customers requested the

new sandwich Simultaneously Many others

requested their own right-handed version.

*In 1993 Westdeutsche Rundfunk, a German

radio station, announced that ofcials in Co-

logne had just passed an unusual new city

regulation. Joggers going through the park

would be required to pace themselves to go

no faster than six mph. Any faster, it was

felt, would unnecessarily disturb the squir-

rels who were in the middle of their mating

season.

*In 1962 there was only one TV channel in

Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white.

The stations technical expert, Kjell Stens-

son, appeared on the news to announce that

thanks to a newly developed technology, all

viewers could now quickly and easily con-

vert their existing sets to display color. All

you had to do was pull a nylon stocking

over the TV screen! Reportedly, hundreds

of thousands of people were taken in. Actual

color TV transmission only commenced in

Sweden on April 1, 1970.

Editors note: April Fools joke contributed by

senior Josh Atkins.

It was the perfect idea, perfectly plotted out

and planned. Everything was in place; the inch

layer of baby powder lay evenly on each ceilingfan blade waiting patiently for its victim.

This will be an April fools Brady Atkins, the

unsuspecting victim, will never forget, Josh At-

kins thought.

This is going to be so funny, Josh said. I

cant wait until Brady gets home.

Senior Josh Atkins and his younger brother,

sophomore Brady Atkins, know this prank all

too well.

Last year Josh decided to initiate an all out bat-

tle between brothers with the prank of the cen-

tury.

All it took was a $.99 cent bottle of Baby Pow-

der and a gullible brother to ip the switch. For-

tunately for Josh it was a hot, Friday afternoonand he knew his brother would come home, go

to his room, and immediately turn on the fan, re-

sulting in a major white-out.

I didnt notice until I was covered in white,

and my room was covered in white, Brady

said.

Im still thinking of something good to get

him back, all I know is my prank will be big-

ger and better, Brady said. So you better watch

your back, Josh!

Best Historical

Pranks Ever!

Someone poured

exlax in my milk at

lunch.

Christopher Arden, 12

My brothers

friends told me they

were going to wait

in the car when I

ran into Wal-Mart

but they left me for

an hour.

Lauren DAgostino,

12

I woke up with a

shaved head and

my brother had

done it!

Mario Ocampo, 11

My dad told me

I was grounded

for 3 weeks for

something I didnt

really do.

Don Williams, 11 I was super glued to

my toilet seat by my

younger brother.

Sabrina Reyes, 10

What was the Best Prank

Ever Pulled on You?

Watch Out Its April Fools Baby!!!!!

April Fools Facts

Theres

nothing like a

good prank!


7/8

7April7,2006

Sports


8/8

8 Entertainment

Apr

il7,

2006

Erica Carroll

Staff writer

Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material, domestic violence,

sex and drug reference

Starring: Tyler Perry, Blair Underwood, Lynn Whiteld, Boris Kodjoe, Maya Ange-

lou, Cicely Tyson, Rochelle Aytes and a host of other stars.

Synopsis: The unstoppable Madea is at it once again, but she may have taken on

more than she can handle. She has just been court ordered to be in charge of Nikki,

a rebellious runaway teenager while her nieces Lisa and Vanessa are suffering re-

lationship problems and through it all she has to organize a family reunion. As the

reunion becomes nearer secrets are revealed and drama begins to rise. Now Madea

must use all the skills she knows to keep the peace at the same time keep her family

together.

Review: Madeas Family Reunion turned out to be way better than Tyler Perrys

rst movie debut with a Diary of a Mad Black Woman.

This time he delivers comedy

and drama from beginning to

end. The movie is based on fam-ily and relationship problems that

many people can relate to.

Madea represents everyone

who has a grandmother that

speaks her mind often and refus-

es to back down.

Unlike the other movie, Madea

was not thrown in to be a comic

relief every now and then, but

played an important supporting

character role who delivers in-depth wisdom.

I love how this movie deliv-

ers lessons to learn, how to love,

what not to put up.

It also exposes many things

that are going on in a lot of fami-

lies today that we try to keep hid-

den.

Travis Whitley

Staff writer

Firewall is the story of Jack Staneld

(Harrison Ford), a family-oriented

banking security specialist whose fam-ily is kidnapped by Bill Cox (Paul Bet-

tany).

Cox and his team planned this kid-

napping for almost a year by studying

Staneld and his family using video

and audio surveillance.

They knew every detail of their lives,

even using Stanelds sons allergy to

peanuts as part of their plan!

Cox refuses to return Stanelds

family to him unless he is able to break

into the bank security system that he

designed to be full-proof and steal 100

million dollars.

Staneld cooperates and makes anhonest attempt to break into the bank

from his home computer, using com-

mon household items such as his

daughters MP3 player.

With the time limit fast approaching

Staneld is able to break into the sys-

tem and steal the money.

However when he nds out that Cox

still will not return his family, Staneld

withdraws the money and uses it as a

bargaining tool to get his family back.

Without giving away the ending, the

movie basically comes down to Stan-

elds computer know-how in direct

combat with Coxs greed.Movie critics Siskel and Ebert call

this movie a smart thriller, and I

agree.

It kept me constantly guessing what

would happen next.

I give the movie a 9 out of 10 be-

cause, well, I dont give tens.

This suspense-lled thriller is guar-

anteed to keep you on the edge of your

seat.

JP McGowan

Staff writer

He is the secret behind some of your favorite artists success such as Ma -

rio, B2K, Chris Brown, LL Cool J, Beyonce, and Ciara. He is the behind the

scenes sensation that has written chart topping songs for all of these artists

and his name is Ne-Yo.

The Las Vegas native has been writing songs for years with his most fa-

mous hit being Marios Let Me Love You, but with a successful song writ -

ing career intact, Ne-Yo was determined to be a successful artist. With his rst

record deal experience failing two years ago with Columbia records it left

him ready to quit, but he quickly realized music is not what I do; it is what I

am.

Thanks to a fortuitous meeting Ne-Yo got a second chance at a record deal.

While in New York he stopped by the ofces of Def Jam records to say hello

to a friend; while there, executive Tina Davis was so impressed by his vocal

exploits she immediately signed him to a deal.

Ne-Yo said that his approach to music is different from that of most of [his]

contemporaries, whose songs tend to be heavily inuenced by rap trends. I

prefer to rely on well-structured lyrics and expressive vocals to get my point

across.With his music career really taking off, Ne-Yo is being considered for an

opening act slot on Mary J. Bliges nationwide tour this spring.

With Ne-Yo touring on several dates with eight time Grammy nominee

John Legend this past fall he feels that he is more than ready to go on a tour

this size and with someone of that magnitude.

Ne-Yo says that the experience has left him craving more and that he is

undaunted by the large crowds: he states Im more at home on stage than

otherwise.

Outside of music Ne-Yos ambitions include acting, writing and producing

movies, and selling real estate under his Compound Entertainment banner.

With the Febuary 28th release of his debut album In My Own Words hewill be hard at work touring and promoting his album.

Humbleness is what keeps him on top of his game.

He said that knowing that theres some 11 year old at home right now in

his mirror dancing and practicing, coming for my spot, he says. Ill never,

ever let it go to my head.

This is why he has adopted the slogan if you stay ready, you dont have to

get ready.

With this attitude you can expect great things from Ne-Yo for many years

to come.

A Reunion to Remember

The Hottest Movie This Year: Firewall

Stepping Into the Light

Documents

Volume 35 Number 5