bannerbannerbannerbannerbannerthe volume 48, issue 3

IS THE

WORLDREALLY

ENDING?IN CASE OF DESTRUCTION, READ ON

2 banner2012//@BobcatBanner

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Want more Banner?Head to bobcatbanner.com for the latest news, Banner-sponsored events, and stories not featured in this edition.

Editors-in-ChiefVictoria Karatza

Emily Higham

News EditorsJulie Nichols

Brianna Buzzell

Sports EditorsTyler Fee

Griffin HowellKirsten Holz

Feature EditorSara Diesel

Opinion EditorAashima Sarin

Entertainment EditorPedro Marin

Design EditorAnna Konieczny

Photography EditorOlivia Mitchinson

Media EditorRylie Daniels

Staff Listing

The Bobcat Banner is produced by Nick Popadich’s fourth hour class.

West Campus EditorKayla Robinson

Copy EditorsJake Young

Sarah StricklandStephanie Marceau

Morale ChairWhitney Whitehead

ColumnistsKyle Goldstein

Daniel NorthrupMarta Werbanowska

PhotographersMegan Buck

Morgan HerzogDahjuanna JonesKelsey Rodriguez

Staff WritersAusten Boillat-ClineChristine Pittenger

Amanda Thompson

12500 S. Holly RoadGrand Blanc, MI 48439

Have an opinion?Send comments, sug-gestions, or letters to the editor to npopadic@grandblancschools.org

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pg 6 - No ShaveNovember Recap

pg 14 - Wrapping Joy in Paper

pg 17 - Favorite Festive Flicks of the Season

the

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&

notes from the editors

Dear Students and Staff,

Here in Banner, we are specialists in hanging lights and singing holiday music. To anyone that comes into our room, they know we are the definition of Santa’s elves. But, instead of creating toys for the wonderful students of Grand Blanc High School, we’re creating the installment of the Bobcat Banner that you hold in your hands. Though we have fun, we bring you the excitement of the holiday’s world news, an end to many seasons, a start to basketball, a “War on Christmas,” and our wishlist. The weather outside is less than frightful and the fire may not seem so delightful, yet we can remember and hope for the beauty of winter. As we build up to the not-so-wintery break, we hope that you can still experience the happiest time of the year, as well as good tidings in the next. Enjoy the holiday, whichever you celebrate, and the much-needed 11-day vacation. Much love,

Victoria Karatza & Emily HighamPhot

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Dear editors,This recent issue of the Banner was great, but I’m gettingdisappointed with Conservative Lunacy. Daniel Northrup is a goodcolumnist but he shouldn’t be quick to generalize conservatives. Myfamily is very Republican and I think its insane that he classifiesconservatives/Republicans as greedy people who don’t care about theenvironment, favor the rich, get religion involved with government andhate gay love. I’m telling you that in not only this issue but theprevious issue that Northrup misreads his facts and makes it seem likeliberals are the only sane people in this country. There should reallybe a Liberal Lunacy column so there is a balance between conservativeand liberal views. Northrup claims that Republicans want to ban gaymarriage. Okay, maybe some do, but there are Republicans like Ron Paulthat want to allow states to decide if gay marriage is legal. Beingfor something and doing nothing about are two different things. Sincesome Republicans really don’t support nor oppose gay marriage, somepeople think that they are against it for some reason. These columnsare littered with mistakes and I hope next time that they will besupported with well-researched facts.Sincerely,Connor Moore

A letter to the editors...Connor Moore speaks out on ‘Conservative Lunacy’

As editors we would also like to address the re-cent emails we have recieved regarding our opin-ion columnist, Daniel and his column “Conser-vative Lunacy.” We understand that his tone can be harsh towards those that may not agree with his opinion. Like many naturally-known colum-nists, he uses facts to support his strongly-held convictions. We stand behind the facts presented in his columns. Many of our staff members and editors review his work. We would also like to remind Republicans and Conservatives that our door is always open for letters to the editors or even guest writing. Even though one of our staff members voices a liberal opinion, he does not speak for the Bobcat Banner as a whole. Thank you for those that have written to us with your concerns, we encourage you to do so throughout the school year.

banner2012//@BobcatBanner 5

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NEW

S Over the past month, there has been a noticeable increase of facial hair spotted around the school. This is because of a movement called “No Shave November” which was started to raise money for cancer research foundations. The Official Movem-ber website registered men and raised $7.4 million in 2010, con-tributing this money to cancer research foundations. The idea behind No Shave November is

that men don’t shave for the entire month of November, then they donate the money that they would have spent on shaving supplies to a cancer foundation. These many differ-ent beards also act as a way to raise awareness for the arising issue of the different types of male cancer affecting men everywhere. According to the American Cancer So-ciety, Prostate Cancer is the most common type of cancer. One in six men are diagnosed

with it at least once in their lifetime. Over 240,000 new cases and over 28,000 deaths from Prostate Cancer are expected in the United States alone this year. On a local level, Grand Blanc High School has been col-lecting money in the fourth hour classes to donate to the FISH foundation. Participating teach-ers, Jason Youngs, Erik Pendergrass, Xavier Whitacre, Al Green, Mike Shuster, Nick

Popadich, and Justin Blake stopped shav-ing their facial hair for the entire month of November. Since the school reached it’s goal of $1,000 raised, each teacher shaved their beards into crazy designs before shaving their face completely. After school efforts, many people are more aware of important issues facing those in the community and around the world.

NO SHAVE NOVEMBER

GBHS TEACHERS SHOW OFF THEIR CHARITY BEARDS

Erik Pendergrass Nick Popadich Al Green

Justin Blake Mike Shuster Jason Youngs

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Anna Konieczny | Design Editor

Students raise money for Fish Families

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PROBLEMS IN PALESTINE:Israel and Palestine continue fighting over Jerusalem

June 1967 Israel seizes Gaza Strip.

July 6, 1989 Hamas suicide at-tack on a bus kills 16 civilians.

June 2003 Israel closes off all hu-manitarian aid to Gaza Strip from U.N.

June 2007 Hamas takes over Pales-tinian moderate party group, Fatah, thus has control over Gaza.

June 2008 Hamas and Israel agree on a truce to end cross-border rocket attacks.

November 2008 Palestine resumes launching rockets after Israeli inva-sion.

January 15, 2009 Hamas leader, Said Seyam, killed in an air strike.

April 27, 2011 Hamas and Fatah sign a recon-ciliation and unite under the goal to oppose Israeli oc-cupation.

March 12, 2012 Israel launches rockets into Gaza killing 20 Palestin-ians. The Pales-tinians retaliate with 120 rockets and wound four Israelis.

November 14, 2012 Ahmed al-Jaabari, head of Hamas military, killed in a targeted Israeli rocket fir-ing.

Palestine Timeline

With over 150 deaths in Palestine alone, the violence in the Gaza Strip is still steadily increas-ing into the holiday season. Israel and Palestine are still fighting over the Promised Land. The Israelis are afraid to go down-town because of the threats that there could be a Muslim suicide bomber,

and the Palestinians are not allowed to learn, work or even enter Israeli terri-tory without proper paperwork. The Israeli gov-ernment has forced most of the Pales-tinians into refugee camps around the Gaza Strip, which is where most of the violence is occur-ring. The govern-ment is equipped with weaponry of the highest caliber, which includes protective gear, guns, and missiles.

The Palestinians are forced to fight back with anything they can come up with, like stones--used by children during the most previous intifada-- to the now more prominent RPGs and rockets. Senior Anthony Earll finds that Pal-estine is instigating more violence. “The Palestinian army is

Hamas, which is a terrorist group, and Hamas does more civilian killings than Israel does, but Israel does kind of antagonize it,” said Earll, who remains relatively neutral on the subject. GBHS students with family from the Middle East have much to say about the conflict in Gaza. “Do I have an opinion on what happened? Yeah, I do have an opinion,” senior Kenan Alkiek said on the struggles of Palestine. “They

make it seem like Israel is acting out of defense, but in reality, there’s a ten to one ratio of Palestinians dying to Israelis.” The Jewish major-ity of Israelis treat this land as home after all of the dis-placements they suf-fered from escaping Egypt with Moses, to the Holocaust. The state of Israel became

the new home for Jews in 1948, and thus, the Promised Land. However, the Muslim Palestinians are fighting back. “[My family] sup-ports it, they support that Israel doesn’t oppress [the Pales-tinians],” said senior Bassem Farah when asked if his family living in Israel is a part of the conflict in the Gaza Strip. “[My family] is Chris-tian, and a lot of them get into fights with the Muslims, on top of that they are discriminated

against by the Jewish Israelis.” The fighting in the Middle East right now not only affects those involved, but also many other people around the area who are facing difficulties because of the fighting hap-pening around them. “I mean, yeah, I’m angry! This war has been going on for 75 years that no

one knows about, and it’s sad because it’s a big war,” junior Noor Abdulhay said. “I have no more family in Palestine now, my dad’s side of the family lost a lot of family members trying to get out, and my mom’s side can’t get back in, and they lost everything.” Whoever’s land it may be, violence and fear show little signs of stopping unless solutions can be agreed upon.

Marta Werbanowska | Columnist

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SPORTSUofM AND MSU

Football: A season in reviewA look at our favorites in their most competitive sports

Basketball: A season tips off

As the FBS college football season comes to a close, both of the hometown Big Ten teams are bowl bound. This isn’t much of a difference of past years but what shocked the Midwest and the nation alike is the fact that Michigan State’s entire season would come down to the last week of regulation play. Going into their last game of the season, the Spartans had posted a 5-6 record including a loss against the rival Wolverines a couple of weeks earlier. With only one game remaining against the Min-nesota Golden Gophers, Sparty had to pull out one last victory. That they did. With a 26-10 win over unranked

Minnesota, MSU finished with a “W” to extend the season and earn another bowl berth. Following this roll-ercoaster of a season, MSU will be featured in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl against TCU on Dec. 29 in Tempe, AZ. If nothing else had went right this year for Michigan, the victory over “little brother” MSU would have been

satisfactory for many fans of the Wolverines. But the season had much more in store for fans than that. Michigan finished with a final record of 8-4. Three of these losses came against teams ranked in the top 15 nationally. The fourth was against their bitter-rival Ohio State who would, if not for NCAA sanctions, be playing in the national title game. Overall how-

ever, the success level of this season was not far behind last year when Michigan pulled out a victory in the Sugar Bowl over Virginia Tech ending with a win-ning field goal kick in overtime by Brendan Gibbons. Michigan will not have it easy in the post-season this year either. They were selected by the Outback Bowl committee along with

South Carolina. The Gamecocks posted a 10-3 record with their losses coming to LSU, Florida, and national championship con-tender Alabama. Success has been achieved throughout the top universities in Michigan. As far as football goes any-ways, the season has been extended for the senior players as well as the fans.

The college basket-ball season has officially kicked off, and in the midst of some bad foot-ball seasons in the state of Michigan, fans could not be happier. With Michigan State currently ranked 13 in the country and Michigan ranked three, the future looks very bright. MSU came out of the gates slow, losing at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany to Con-necticut, led by new

head coach Kevin Ollie, 66-62. The Spartans bounced back however in the Champions Clas-sic as they knocked off the Kansas Jayhawks 67-64 led by 19 points from Keith Appling and 18 from Gary Harris. The Spartans have had some close calls against Boise State and Louisiana Lafayette. MSU played at Miami but couldn’t come out with the win, falling to “The U” 67-59. The team in Ann Ar-

bor has jumped out to a hot start. Michigan took out easy opponents in Slippery Rock, IUPUI, and Cleveland State, beating these teams by an average of 35 points. After defeating IUPUI and Cleveland State in the Regional Round of the NIT Season Tip Off, the team had the opportunity to travel to Madison Square Garden in New York City to take on Pittsburgh and Kan-sas State. Michigan was

victorious in each of its two match-ups by scores of 67-62 and 71-57, re-spectively. The Wolver-ines defeated the North Carolina State Wolfpack at home 79-72 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. With quality bas-ketball being played in November with plenty of upsets, it’s safe to say that college basketball fans are in for a fun four remaining months of basketball.

Michigan Stadium begins to fill up before kickoff. Michigan went on to an 8-4 season and a berth in the Outback Bowl.

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Tyler Fee | Sports Editor

Austen Bolliat-Cline | Staff Writer

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FRESHMAN HEADED TO FLORIDAZach Burau, Varsity Tennis MVP, receives invite to tennis camp

In the world of high school sports, there are three goals that every player dreams of meeting: to be the best player on the team, a captain, and to be given the MVP award. For most, this takes years of training while they are in high school, in addition to whatever they’ve had previously, to get even one of these accolades. And usually, it takes them until their final year of eligibility to even have a shot at consid-ering the notion of winning one of these honors. None of that applies to freshman Zach Burau, however. After only a single season, he played #1 singles for Varsity tennis, was named an MVP, and was named one of three captains for next year’s team. Despite already achieving enough that most players would gladly call a career on, Burau is deter-mined to become even better, and for him, this begins by leaving Grand Blanc.

After the first semester ends, Burau will be leav-ing for the Celsius Tennis Academy in Sarasota, Fla. Although Grand Blanc has several professional tennis players that work at Genesys Athletic Club, Burau wants to go to Celsius because “there are more kids to train with and most of the bigger tournaments are in Florida.” All this may seem like an incredibly absurd amount of dedication, but for his coaches and teammates, this is all just part of his regular M.O. Burau began playing tennis at the age of 4, thanks to encouragement from his brother and father, who also coaches for the Bob-cats, and his regular sparring partner, fellow captain, and cousin Adam Burau. He has kept up an almost daily hit-ting routine ever since. “The amount of work he does is absurd,” said senior Michael Ng. “He really takes it to a whole other extreme.”

But what really impressed Burau’s coaches was how he handled being #1. “It was really amazing how mature he was for his age,” said head coach Don Leavy. Juxtaposed with the cliché stereotype of the arrogant athlete and it isn’t hard to see why he was named a captain.

The biggest reason Burau is going to such lengths is sim-ply to continue the winning tradition of Grand Blanc Tennis. “My goal is for our team to win a regional title next year, and to help lead one of the best teams in the state of Michigan.”

Q: How long have you been playing basketball and who introduced you to the sport?A: I have been playing since the third grade and no specific person introduced me to it. I just always had an interest in basket-ball.Q: How does the team get along and do you have any special things you do to bond?A: We all get along pretty well. We have our moments of drama, like girls do, but we usually have been rather close. As for bonding, we have team dinners and we sometimes have sleepovers. This year we want to do more fun things outside of practice and games because we have seven seniors on the team and we want to remembered not just for being successful on the court, but for also creating and strengthening bonds with each other.Q: What is your favorite thing about your coach?A: My favorite thing about the coach is how she pushes us. Even though we don’t always like it or agree with it, the drills she makes us do help us come game time.Q: What is your favorite thing about basketball?A: I really like the competitiveness of it. I’m a pretty competitive person and winning is always nice. I like working together with my teammates and getting good outcomes because of it. Nothing is more satisfying than sinking the game-winning shot or knowing that you helped someone score their first points of the whole season.

BASKETBALL PLAYER WEIGHS INQ & A with senior Kendra Freund, Girls’ Varsity Point Guard

Zach Burau glides through one of his many matches. The freshman recently received an invite to play tennis in Florida for second semester.

Photos: Banner/GoldsteinKyle Goldstein | Columnist

Kirsten Holz | Sports Editor

FEATURESara Diesel | Feature Editor

Photo: Banner/K onieczny

with Sara DieselTHE 810 CRAFTY

Nothing says “Happy Holidays” like smashing an egg over your best friend’s head. That is, an egg filled with confetti. Think about it, New Years is the perfect opportunity to grace your friends with the weirdly contrasting sensations of glitter falling about you, and...the not so glamorous sensation of egg on the head. In the midst of big holiday spending, the last thing you want to be worrying about is that extra $5 for party favors and game ideas. When the ball drops this New Year’s Eve, while your friends are puckering up, you’ll be armed with bombs o’ happy.

Poke a pin through the tops of your eggs.

Break open a circular hole at the opposite end of your eggs.

Coerce the yolk and white out of the eggs shells. Try blowing through the pin hole at the top of the egg...they bend to persuasion.

Optional, but highly recommended: rinse out egg shell so as to remove any rotten egg smell.

Dye the eggs with a solution of vinegar and food coloring.

Fill eggs with sparkly, glittery happiness.

Place small, cut circle of tissue paper over shell opening and glue closed.

All that’s left to do is smash. (Caution if at an unsuspecting friend’s house.)

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People always say “It’s that time of the year” or “Tis’ the season,” but what does that really stand for? Of course it’s the holi-days, but that means a little something different for all of

us here at GBHS. The students here are all very different, that goes for their traditions too. Many celebrate Christmas, a time that everyone loves and waits all year for, but we can’t

forget about all of the other impotant holidays. The kids that celebrate Hanukkah, Diwali, or Kwan-zaa love this season too. Whether you’re open-ing presents on Christmas

morning, lighting a candle on your menorah, gathering with your family for a feast, or lighting oil lamps around your house, it’s a great time for everyone to come to-gether and simply be happy.

MERRY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY CHRISTMAS Taking a look at the diverse traditions

and expectations we hold in our school

WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING ON DOING OVER YOUR HOLIDAY BREAK?

Sledding

Ice Skating

Skiing

Snowboarding

Traveling

Going to the movies

Building Snowmen

27%20%

16%9%

4%

9%

15%

Rylie Daniels | Media Editor

Olivia Mitchinson | Photography Editor

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Q: What does Eid celebrate and why is it important to you? A: There are two Eids, but the one we recently celebrated was the Eid after Ramadan. Ramadan is a month of fasting. It is important to me because it helps me realize how lucky I am to be fortunate and it makes me feel closer to God.

Q: What are the common traditions that take place on Eid? A:There is a celebration and service on Eid that all of our family and friends go to. We all pray and have lots of food.

Q: What are your family’s traditions for Eid? A: Each family has special Eid prayer that they do in the mosque.

Q: What is your favorite part? A: My favorite part is spending time with my family and friends and showing my appreciation to God.

Q: What time of the year does Eid take place? A: Eid follows the lunar calendar so it occurs at different times each year.

Q: How do you celebrate over Holiday Break? A: Since part of my family celebrates Christmas and the other half celebrates Hanukkah I still open pres ents on Christmas Day because the holidays are so close together.

Q: Do you have any special traditions you celebrate? A: On Christmas Day every year my family goes to a Chinese restaurant.

Q: Do you ever feel left out when people are focused on Christmas in the Holiday celebrations? A: It bothers me that we don’t have to go to school for days like Christmas and Easter but for Jewish holidays if I misses school it counts toward my ten absences.

Q: What would you want to change about that? A: I also would rather people called Christmas Break Holiday Break to recognize the other holidays people celebrate.

Sidra Kader, senior

Matt Collins, sophomore

A SEASON OF MANY HOLIDAYS

Eid is the Muslim holiday celebrated two times a year. Eid Al-Fitr marks the end of Rama-dan, which is a month of fasting from sunrise to sunset. Eid Al-Adha celebrates the Hajj pilgrim-age, which is the journey to Mecca performed at least once in an individual’s life.

Hanukkah, or The Festival of Lights, is a Jewish holi-day that takes place over a span of eight days. It celebrates the rededication to the Holy Temple in Jeru-salem following the Maccabean Revolt. Hanukkah is celebrat-ed with the lighting of the meorah, a nine branched candelabra, that is lit one candle at a time over the eight celebrated nights.

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A look into the diverse traditions and cultures of WinterMorgan Herzog | Photographer

Whitney Whitehead | Morale Chair

OPIN

ION Ask Angie

Dear Angie, How do I tell my friends that they excruciatingly bore me at lunch? -Anonymous

Anonymous, First of all, that’s a real pity. Friends are for fun, not for feeling forlorn. Honestly, you can’t just tell them. Especially if they’re girls, because girls have the tendency to flip out even if you just warn them that they have a hair out of place. Steer clear of that. What you want to do is be the initiator of good times and laughter. This gets easier over time, at first you may seem and feel foolish, but make fun of yourself a little, stick straws up your nose. You will have to be the first one to unbore yourself. Of course, if you have friends that are re-ally mature, and will just look at you funny, and then sit at a different table the next day, leaving you all to yourself, then don’t do what I just told you to do. If the latter case applies to you, then I recommend find-ing some other friends to sit with, honestly. Lunch is the one time of the day--our oasis in the middle of our bleak, stress-ful, six-hour school day--our 32 minute break to relax, to laugh, to eat, or to nap. You can’t spend it with people that bore you! If you can not find other friends to sit with, then just try to strike up a conversation with the people that you do sit by, talk to them about stuff, and if you can’t do that either, then just catch up on homework or listen to music.

Angie

WRAPPING

The struggle to gather the latest gadgets and gizmosAashima Sarin | Opinion Editor

If we examine the lifestyles of people during the mid-1900s, we can see that they focused on family and religion over materialistic concerns. Due to the impact of me-dia and technology, today’s generation has undergone significant changes, focusing more on secular and image-related ideas. Let’s consider the holiday season about 50 years or so ago, where the idea of giv-ing back outweighed the idea

of receiving. Holidays were celebrated in order to relish their original significance, but nowadays, we, modern day human beings, have trans-formed the holiday season into a reasonable excuse to splurge on materialistic goods. So, if we ask our peers why they celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, or even Easter, the answer is not to show gratitude for what we have or to commemorate the birth of Jesus, but to buy new things the following day and receive expensive gifts early Christ-

mas morning. The amount of hustle and bustle that is involved in ac-quiring the gifts is ridiculous; standing in lines for extreme sales and pushing and shov-ing other people to get the latest goodies is far from the way holiday season was de-signed to be celebrated. Only in America do we race to find the best deals only the day after Thanksgiving, where we are supposed to be thankful for everything that we already

have. I am not against gift giving, but I am against the way we have transformed the holiday season into an occasion fo-cused on receiving expensive gifts. In all honesty, holiday season is coming together with friends and family, and not getting the latest gadgets. Regardless of your inten-tions behind celebrating holi-days, remember to treasure your precious time with your family and have a wonderful holiday season!

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Many businesses depened on the holiday season and shoppers, even Staples gets in the spirit of sales.

JOY IN PAPER

15banner2012//@BobcatBanner

As Christmas draws near, the hot topic on conservative television shows and radio stations like Fox News and WDTK, is the so called “War on Christmas,” an imagi-nary attack on the holiday perpetrated by liberals and atheists in order to remove Christmas, and therefore Christianity, from American culture. I find multiple things wrong with the idea of a War on Christmas. First off, when conservatives talk about the “War on Christmas,” they are really talking about what they believe to be a war on Christianity, because Christ-mas, of course, is a Christian holiday. But they fail to realize that, over the years, Christmas has become more and more secular, as people of different faiths celebrate its secular traditions, such as the idea of Santa Claus and the Christmas tree. Many Christmas tradi-

tions today actually have roots in pagan worship. The holiday was originally pagan, celebrating the winter solstice and the increasing amount of sunlight during the day. Even the main sym-bols associated with Christmas, the Christmas tree and Santa Claus, are not of Christian ori-gin. The tree, comes from pagan nature worship, and Santa Claus comes from Saint Nicholas but also the Dutch figure Sinterklaas, who is borrowed from Norse mythology. The reason both Christ-mas and the Roman pagan sun holiday Sol Invictus are on the same day, is because when Emperor Constan-

tine made Christianity the official religion of Rome, he mixed various pagan tradi-tions into Christianity. Most of the religious traditions in the world aren’t original, so Christians can’t make a sole claim to Christmas.

The second thing wrong with the “War on

Christmas” is the idea that people

try to separate the holiday season from faith-based traditions. One of the main

“battlegrounds” conservatives like to talk about is at school. But, they are wrong.

At schools, students can believe however they want. Students can express their religious beliefs at school, as long as the teachers don’t actively endorse one belief over another. There is no

law banning students from expressing their religion. If there was, I’d be the first to protest it. Third, I find the idea that the “War on Christmas” is perpetrated by liberals and atheists to be an attack by the Christian Right because those two groups don’t fol-low their agenda. I’m a liber-al who celebrates Christmas, and I know atheists who celebrate Christmas. There is no evidence of a widespread War on Christ-mas. It is a myth perpetrated by Conservative Christians. If there were incidents like these against Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, I doubt the conservative media outlets would make any sort of fuss about it. Christianity is one of the largest religions in the world and in the U.S. It’s in no danger whatsoever. Face it, there is no “War on Christmas”. End of story.

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CONSERVATIVE LUNACYA take on the ‘War on Christmas’

Daniel Northrup | Columnist

Daniel Northrup | Columnist

A LITTLE MORE SNOW, A LITTLE LESS SCHOOLGBHS begging for snow daysJake Young | Copy Editor

Question: If you knew that school days could be added onto the end of the year, would you still like to have more snow days? 94% Yes

6% No

d

f

d

Seniors, knowing that their year does not get extend-ed, unanimously voted to have more snow days 34 to 0. However, underclass-men voted similarly, voting 31 to 4 in favor of having more snow days regard-less of the additional days added to the school year.

94%

ENTE

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NMEN

T THE GBHS WISH LIST

Each seasons bring new must-haves. Once a year, people gather their desired presents for the holiday season and they make a wish list. For girls at GBHS, Uggs, Miss-Me Jeans, North Face, and Victorias Secret PINK were the top clothing brands on their list. As for the boys, brands did not mat-ter, money or anything sports related were on the top of their list. Apple products, such as the iPhone 5 and the MacBook Pro, were the most popular items on both lists. Though the opinions of the gen-ders are very different, they both are highly anticipating the wonderful gifts they will receive.

What we are looking for during the holidays

Movies Gift Cards Jeans Sweatshirts Selena Gomez Sports Equipment Sports Wear HatThree KittensGirlfriendHunting gear

iPodiPad 2iPhone 5MacBook MacPeaceJust Dance 4Car MoneyCell phoneClothes

Snuggie Channing TatumBedazzler CameraRyan GoslingRyan Reynolds JewleryMagic MikePuppy Boyfriend Justin Bieber

Boys Both GirlsKey:

Pedro Marin | Entertainment EditorChristine Pittenger | Staff Writer

17banner2012//@BobcatBanner

Festive movies are playing on TV and everyone is getting into the holiday spirit. When students were asked what movies were their favorites to watch during the holiday season, they were quick to respond. The top choices among them were “Elf,” “A Christmas Story,” and “Home Alone.” If you have not seen these mov-ies, you are missing out on a good laugh. “Elf,” starring Will Ferrell, is about an elf named Buddy who learns that he is actually a human

and has a father out in the world. Buddy then goes to New York City to meet his father, while at the same time spreading Christmas cheer in a world that he is not accustomed to. “A Christmas Story,” starring Peter Billingsley, is about a young boy who only wants a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas, instead of the usual race car toy that a typical boy would usually want.However, all of the adults around him was very unsupport-ive of this gift option.

“Home Alone,” starring Macaulay Culkin, is about an-other young boy who gets left behind at home on accident by his family, while they go on a vacation for Christmas in Paris. While being alone, he has to deal with two robbers who keep intruding in his home. These three movies are indeed a classics. The season is just about here; pop some popcorn and take some time to watch these movies. It is guaranteed that you will not be disap-pointed!

FAVORITE FESTIVE FLICKS OF THE SEASONA look at the top holiday movies

“THE HUNGER GAMES”

1. Pull all hair onto one side. 2. Take a group of hair from the opposite side and divide it into three sections.

3. Start French braiding (add-ing hair to the top and bottom sections) down and around the head.

4. This is the finished product!

Photos: Banner/Strickland

Katniss hair braid tutorial

One of this year’s biggest blockbuster hits, “The Hunger Games” brought not only an intense film packed with action, but also a hairstyle that spread like wildfire. Katniss Ever-deen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, wore her hair in a way that obviously caught the eye of girls everywhere; a French braid with a twist. A French braid is not only easy to do, but it is not time consuming. This braid wraps from one side of the head to the other and can take very little time with some practice.

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Kayla Robinson | West Campus Editor

Sarah Strickland | Copy Editor

18 banner2012//@BobcatBanner

BANNER REVIEWBAND REVIEW:

KILLER IDEASFive common theories of how the world will end

Band name: GalapagosMembers: Patrick Mun-ley on guitar and vocals, Jenna Noelle on guitar and vocals, Vertigo (Josh Clark) on vocals, and most of the time Dan Gerics on drums

Start date: June 28, 2012Hometown: Flint, Mich.Genre: Hio-Hop Check out their music at: www.galapagosflint.bandcamp.comStay up-to-date with performances at: www.facebook.com/galapagos-flintContact: galapagosband-mi@gmail.com

Being the antisocial teenager that I am, I spend countless hours alone listening to music. It’s a huge part of my life, and I’m not sure how mentally stable I’d be without it. Is that just me? Most of the time I try to be fairly open-minded when it comes to the different musical genres. This unique band I’ve recently discovered, named Galapagos, has labeled itself as ‘Hio-hop’. They use this name to describe their hip-hop/ folk/ acoustic sound. Some may ask, what does that sound like? Well, check them out and see for yourself! It may seem a little

strange, yes, but once you really listen it’s quite beautiful. Personally, I love all of their music, but I think my favorite is, “Dark World”. It was the first song I’d ever heard from them and I still love listening to it.My favorite part of any song are the lyrics. From “Dark World” “we are living in a dark world /but each of us possesses a light /and even though it /might seem like the world is ending /we’ll make it right, we will fight, /it’s time for us to stop pretending and start defending tonight”. I can think of only one word that describes how those lyrics make me feel: powerful.

Tidal Waves/Global Warming: Regardless if global warming is caused by natural earth phenomena or man-made destruction, many people believe it will be the end of our world. As the polar ice caps melt, the sea will rise and cause high tidal waves which will cause flooding and chaos. Its also hypothesized that as global warming continues, our atmosphere will be-come unstable, storms will become more volatile and temperatures will rise to the point humanity will likely die. That’s hot. Literally. Aliens: For hundreds of

years people have contem-plated the existence of other life in the universe. Will they invade, attack, and/or slaughter humanity for self-ish needs? For every kind reason the aliens could con-tact us, there are another five bad ones. Hopefully they kill us nicely. Solar Flares/storms/sun’s death: Ever since we found out that stars die, the concern for our sun has expounded. Theories involving giant solar flares, storms, and obviously the death of the sun itself. All these events would be catastrophic to the earth,

burning up life. Burn, baby, burn. But not too much. World War 3/ Nuclear Holocaust: The Cuban Mis-sile crisis terrified Ameri-cans and a nuclear holo-caust or WWIII have been feared ever since. The war will tear apart our world by nuclear weapons, bio-weap-ons, or the ramifications of the wars. Bombs away is not the phrase to live by, folks. Genetically Engineered humans/Computer take-over: Our world is highly based on computers and technology. The idea of sentient technology rising against humanity is a ris-

ing ponderance. We never know what our actions may lead to. Your computer may be plotting your death. Right now. Zombies: Now to everyone’s favorite lately: zombies. The brain-eating undead are an apocalypse quite explored; wasting the land and infecting the dead, spreading violence and blood. Though zombies are beloved, what would people do when their favorite monsters were nibbling on their flesh?

This year Dec. 21, 2012 is coming, the day the Mayan calendar ends. When this fact became highly publicized, people gained paranoia about what would happen. The anticipated date is just around the corner, so we thought it would be a good idea to inform everyone of six of the most commonly theorized, oh-so pleasant ways they might die when Dec. 21 rolls around.

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Members of Galapagos pose for a photo with a friend.

GALAPAGOS Dahjuanna Jones | Photographer

Pedro Marin | Entertainment EditorStephanie Marceau | Copy Editor

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