Volume 8, Issue 3

January 17, 2014

Cougar Paw PrintCougar Paw Print

The North Star Rifle Team kicked

off their season on Friday, Decem-

ber 13. They were competing

against their opponent,

Conemaugh Township. The top five

varsity shooters were Joe Fischer

with a 285, Emilee Miller with a

277, Colt Diehl with a personal best

of 242, Elijah Henry with a 239, and

Jacob Zehner with a 227. North Star

lost with a score of 1,270 - 1,323.

On Monday, December 16, the

Cougars hosted a double header

facing both Meyersdale and Du-

Bois. North Star brought in their

first win against Meyersdale con-

cluding a tallied score of 1,264 -

1,255. Unfortunately, North Star was

defeated by DuBois ending with a

score of 1,264 - 1,361.

The North Star Rifle Team traveled

to Shanksville’s shooting range on

Wednesday, December 18.

The outcome was in favor of

the Cougars. The final score

was 1,289-1,237.

The match scheduled for

Tuesday, January 7, was can-

celed due to weather condi-

tions. The North Star/Everett

match will be moved to Mon-

day, January 27.

On Friday, January 10, the

Cougars versed Northern

Cambria at home. The Cou-

gars annihilated the visiting

team with a score of 1,294 -

1,087.

Monday, January 13, the rifle

team battled Turkeyfoot. The

top five varsity shooters were

Joe Fischer with a 278, Emilee Mil-

ler with a 277, Eli-

Rifle Team By Abigail Charlton

The Boys’ Basketball Team is work-

ing very hard this year. The team

is coached by Matthew Fox, Steve

Battaglia, Jon Ledyard, and Bryan

Zborovancik. The team’s seniors

are Adam Rucosky and Jake Little.

Adam and Jake have been leading

the team well. The team has im-

proved since last year and will

keep on getting better. The boys

beat Meyersdale and Blacklick this

season but there is still more to

come! We all hope to see some

more wins from the guys. Best of

luck on the rest of the season!

Boys Basketball By Kristen Thompson

The Boys’ Basketball Team in their huddle.

Photo courtesy of Kristen Thompson.

The North Star Rifle Team

Photos courtesy of Barb Moyer.

Con!nued on p. 4.

Page 2 Page 2

Our school’s website has great

things to say about Cougar wres-

tling this season: “This year's team

is led by a group of experienced

seniors who will help lead the way

for the tremendously hard-working

group of underclassmen. The atti-

tudes of the wrestlers in the

workout room this season have

been outstanding and the Cougars

are looking for big things to hap-

pen.”

So far, the team is off to a good

start. In the Conemaugh Township

Holiday Tournament on December

7th, North Star claimed team victory

from a pool of eight local teams.

Thirteen wrestlers finished in the

top 4, including Corey Fritch, Dil-

lion Charlton, and Hunter Connor,

who each won their weight catego-

ry.

The team’s first head-to-head meet

ended in a narrow loss of 32-34.

They squared off against Bedford,

at home, on December 10.

Their next meet, against Ligonier

Valley, fell in North Star’s favor.

The score showed a dramatic Cou-

gar edge of 46-18.

Two days later, on December 19,

the team sustained a hard blow at

Chestnut Ridge, losing by 25

points.

Out of the six teams in the WestPac

Championship on December 21,

North Star finished third. Dillion

Charlton and Hunter Connor

placed first in their respective

weight classes.

The Southmoreland Tournament,

taking place over the two days of,

December 27 and 28, went well for

the Cougars. They finished fifth

out of thirty-two teams. Gus Stra-

siser won in his category.

The most recent matches of the sea-

son have been blowouts. The first,

home against Township on January

7, went 57-18 in North Star’s favor.

Two days later, the Cougars suf-

fered an 18-49 loss, at Berlin.

With another half of a season to go,

things are looking bright for the

North Star Varsity Wrestling team.

When asked how he thought the

rest of the season would go, senior

Colton Gennett answered, “I think

we’ll do pretty well.” There is cer-

tainly a little room for improve-

ment, and extra support from our

wrestlers’ fellow students could

push the team to the top in District

5. So go out and cheer them on.

Keep up the good work, wrestlers!

Varsity Wrestling By Patrick Stahl

The girls’ basketball season is back

in session! The record for the girls

so far is 6-5. On the team there are

three seniors: Sam Carmean,

Karlee Moyer, and Hannah Novak.

The captains are Sam Carmean and

Hannah Novak. There are fifteen

players on the whole team. The

North Star High School Girls’ Varsi-

ty basketball coach is Randy

Schrock.

I asked Hannah Novak how she

thought the season was going. She

answered by saying, “Our sea-

son is going well. We have a lot

of fun.” Then I asked what their

strengths are as a team. She

said, “Our team works very

well together. We have fun to-

gether on and off the court and

we work hard every day.”

Good luck to the girls’ basket-

ball team on the rest of their

season!

Girls Basketball Season By Alyssa Thomas

North Star Girls’ Varsity Basketball Team.

I had an opportunity to interview

my brother Ryan over winter

break, and asked him a few ques-

tions before he would go away

again to college. Ryan graduated

last year from North Star and has

now enrolled in Indiana University

of Pennsylvania (IUP). He is cur-

rently studying music education

and plans to be a music teacher

once he graduates. To get an in-

sight on his opinions and thoughts,

I asked Ryan a few questions about

his experiences both at North Star

High School and at IUP.

What do you feel is the main dif-

ference between high school and

college?

The amount of responsibility and

maturity that is required for college

is considerably more than high

school.

What do you miss most about

North Star High School?

I miss the music events that I partic-

ipated in where I got to meet new

people and make new friends.

What are some new challenges

that you have to face?

Taking responsibility for my life

and my classes without parents to

guide me.

Is interacting with other people

at the university different from

high school?

Yes, everyone in college is there

for a reason, unlike high school

where it’s mandatory for everyone

to go. It seems that college students

have a more pleasant, social, ma-

ture attitude.

Do you feel your personality and

outlook has changed since

you’ve enrolled in IUP?

I feel that it has changed drastically

– I am more confident with myself

and my future.

Now that you have more free-

dom, how do you like to spend

your free time at college?

Hanging out with friends as much

as possible and just having a good

time.

How would you describe the feel-

ings you got when you

started a new life at college?

I was in awe of the changes, but I

quickly adjusted and immediately

felt confident and happy.

What activities do you participate

in at IUP?

I participate in the IUP marching

band, multiple indoor music en-

sembles and some dorm housing

events that occur occasionally.

What are your feelings on the ac-

tivities you’re involved in?

I am content with all of them and

intend to stick with the activities as

long as possible.

Is there a message you would

like to give to anyone at the high

school?

To all the students at North Star

High School, don’t waste your life

with a bad attitude thinking that

high school is where it ends; keep a

positive outlook on life and your

future. I had some good times in

high school, but they don’t even

come close to matching the feelings

I have for college life.

Graduate Corner By Evan Gerney

Page 3

Page 4

There are many things that the mu-

sic program does. One of those

things is going to different festivals

for music students. During the end

of November and the beginning of

December, the best musicians from

Grades 7-12 went to county festi-

vals.

There are two different festivals

that happen around this time. One

is Somerset County Band, which is

a two-day festival for the instru-

mental musicians in the county and

occurs after Thanksgiving break

every year. This year it was held

on December 5 and 6 at Berlin High

School, with the concert on Decem-

ber 6. There were two bands at

this festival, one composed of

Grade 7-9 and another with Grades

10-12. The senior high band

played more difficult songs com-

pared to the junior high band.

Some of those songs included “El

Camino” and “Americans We.”

The other festival is the county cho-

rus. Somerset County Chorus is

also a two-day festival for musi-

cians but for this festival, they sing.

It occurs before Thanksgiving

break every year. This year, it was

November 25 and 26 at Somerset

High School. There were two cho-

ruses, a junior high chorus, fol-

lowed by a senior high chorus. The

senior high had more of a chal-

lenge compared to the junior high.

Some of the songs they sang were,

“Africa” and “Alice’s Theme.”

Their concert was cancelled due to

bad weather on November 26. “I

feel the cancellation wasn’t fair to

us. We worked really hard to be

ready to perform. It was a good

experience though,” said Chantelle

Harvey.

The music department is involved

in more than just preparing for their

own concerts. They also have vari-

ous festivals. The music depart-

ment is very excited and proud of

those representing North Star in the

festivals.

County Festivals By Ashley Kelly

jah Henry with a personal best of

262, Robert Yourich with a 234, and

Francesco Caianiello with a 232.

North Star brought in their fourth

win. The score has yet to be an-

nounced.

The North Star Rifle Team’s mem-

bers are Francesco Caianiello, Joe

Fischer, Emilee Miller, Logan

Schech, Alexis Weber, Colt Diehl,

Elijah Henry, Jacob Zehner, Haven

Brehm, Nathan Coddington, Dakota

Faidley, Sierra Mafield, Brent

McGunigale, Jessica Moyer, Caleb

Ogline, Nina Pollock, Melanie

Washabaugh, Robert Yourich, Re-

bekah Garrett, Martin Mowry, Jill

Mullen, and Hunter Wright.

We’d like to wish the rifle team the

best of luck in their upcoming

matches!

Rifle Team Continued from p. 1

Berlin Brothersvalley High School’s Band Director, directing

Somerset County Band.

As you all know, Mr. Ott is a Biolo-

gy and Anatomy teacher. He loves

teaching these classes because he

loves being able to help his stu-

dents become life-long learners.

He says that if the students don’t

jump on the train, they will be left

at the station scratching their

heads.

Let’s start with his main subject of

teacher, Biology. Biology is the

study of life, so we look at living

things to see how they function and

interact. Human Anatomy is when

you take a look at the different

structures and functions of human

body parts to see how they work

together to allow an amazing crea-

tion, the human body, to live and

function.

What made him start HAM radio

club is when his father-in-law got

his license in the late 1990’s. As he

watched him work the radio and

how he heard him do it, he devel-

oped an interest in it. His favorite

thing about HAM radio is having his

students learn a new form of com-

munication and watch them make

communications with people

around the world! He is also having

a fundraiser for the HAM radio club

this spring of 2014. The details are

not finalized just yet.

The most fun fact about Mr. Ott is

that he is slowly learning to play

the guitar! He has always wanted to

learn so his wife got him a guitar

for Christmas. He says, “What a

great gift!” He loves all of Christ-

mas! He loves the food, spending

time with his family, watching foot-

ball, and opening presents at

Christmas time. The Christmas tra-

dition that he does on Christmas

Eve is go to his parents’ house with

his family and on Christmas Day is

go to his wife’s family. The coolest

tradition that he had was when his

daughters were little, he sang

Christmas carols to them to put

them to sleep. It took at least a half

hour or more till they were done.

His favorite thing to do out of school

is to spend time with his wife and

family. Whether it was talking, trav-

eling, playing board games, Rock

Band, geocaching, or just being in

the same room as they read or use

their smart devices. He loves being

with them.

Mr. Ott’s favorite quote is, “So do

not fear, for I am with you; do not be

dismayed, for I am your God. I will

strengthen you and help you; I will

uphold you with my righteous right

hand.” – Isaiah 41:10. To him, it

means that life can be pretty crazy

and that he is not alone on this jour-

ney.

A very Ott-standing man! By Austin Hutchinson

FCA stands for the Fellowship of

Christian Athletes. This group is

for athletes that are Christians that

want to worship God. The meetings

that are held are usually in the

morning in Mrs. Blucas’ room. In

the meetings they have some

breakfast, and they also have a Bi-

ble study.

If you would like to attend a meet-

ing, listen for the announcement in

the morning to know when the next

meeting is. The club is open to an-

yone. If you don’t hear an an-

nouncement just go down to the

office, and ask when the next meet-

ing is.

Stephanie Walker said, “I enjoyed

the food and the Bible study; I had

a great time going.”

FCA By Autumn Spory

Page 5

Gru and his minions are back with

an all new adventure. Gru is re-

cruited by an Anti-Villain League to

help save the world against evil

purple monsters.

A secret laboratory in Alaska gets

stolen and the Anti-Villain League

(AVL) calls Gru, who is now a re-

tired villain and devoted father of

Margo, Edith and Agnes, to help

find the evil villain behind it. The

lab in Alaska was creating a power-

ful mutagen known as the PX-41

which can make powerful and inde-

structible creatures out of any liv-

ing organism. At first Gru turns

down the offer but then his long-

time friend and partner Dr. Nefario

tells him he missed being evil and

that he has found employment else-

where. After Dr. Nefario leaves,

Gru accepts the offer from AVL.

Gru and his new partner Lucy

Wilde learn they have traced the

PX-41 to a local mall and told them

to open up a shop to keep an eye

out for any possible villains. Gru

and Lucy open a cupcake bakery

known as “Bake My Day” to use as

their headquarters. Gru suspects

local Mexican shop owner Eduardo

Perez of being a super villain “El

Macho”, who supposedly died sky-

diving a shark strapped with dyna-

mite into a volcano. Gru and Lucy

break into Eduardo's restaurant at

night, but only find a jar of secret-

recipe salsa and nothing to prove

that Eduardo is the culprit. Mean-

while, Agnes expresses her wish of

having a mother someday and sus-

pects that Gru will fall in love with

Lucy. Gru tells her that his relation-

ship with Lucy is strictly profession-

al. Gru and Lucy investigate wig

merchant Floyd Eagle-san, but Gru

is still suspicious of Eduardo. After

the investigation, Gru is set up on a

horrible dinner date with a woman

named Shannon, who notices Gru's

wig and threatens to humiliate him.

Luckily, Lucy bumps into them and

rescues him from the date by

shooting Shannon with a tranquiliz-

er dart. They take Shannon home,

and after they say good night, Gru

realizes that Agnes was right: he

has fallen in love with Lucy.

The next day, the AVL arrests Floyd

Eagle-san (who claims that he was

framed) because an almost-empty

mutagen jar was found in his shop.

The investigation is closed, and

Lucy is reassigned to Australia. Be-

fore leaving, Lucy gives Gru her

lipstick taser to remind him of her.

This leaves Gru heartbroken be-

cause he loves her, but he cannot

find the courage to ask her out on a

date. Instead he brings the girls to

Eduardo's Cinco de Mayo party

and finds proof that the Mexican

restaurateur is in fact the super-

villain El Macho. Gru discovers that

he (and his helper, who turns out to

be Dr. Nefario) have captured and

mutated a large number of Gru's

minions using the PX-41, turning

them into insane, savage purple-

furred monsters. El Macho plans to

send rockets full of mutated Min-

ions to major cities and achieve

world domination. El Macho em-

phasizes that he and Gru could

team up and they would become

evil again followed by ruling the

city, but Gru avoids answering and

leaves with his daughter Margo,

who in the meantime has broken up

with Eduardo's two-timing son, An-

tonio, who had left Margo for anoth-

er girl.

On her flight to Australia, Lucy real-

izes she has feelings for Gru, so she

jumps out of the plane and hang-

glides down to the party. She is

captured by El Macho, who finds

out she is an AVL agent after Pollito,

his pet chicken, retrieves her AVL

ID badge from her purse. Fortu-

nately, Dr. Nefario lets Gru know

what is happening. In order to res-

cue Lucy, Gru visits El Macho along

with two minions covered in purple

paint, pretending he was captured

by two of the mutant creatures.

Fighting alongside his daughters

and Dr. Nefario, Gru and his team

spray all of the mutated minions

with jelly containing a powerful an-

tidote that Dr. Nefario made,

whereupon they revert to their

friendly yellow state. El Macho then

takes the mutagen himself, but Gru

and Dr. Nefario overcome. Lucy is,

however, already strapped to a TNT

-loaded shark rocket. Gru starts to

untie her, but the rocket-launch re-

mote button is pressed by Pollito.

The rocket flies towards the same

lava-spewing volcano where El

Macho had previously faked his

death. Lucy accepts Gru's invitation

for a date, and the pair dives into

the safety of the ocean seconds be-

fore the rocket enters the volcano.

One-hundred forty-seven dates lat-

er, Gru and Lucy are married and

Margo, Edith and Agnes finally

have a mother.

Despicable Me 2 Movie Review By Hannah Borischak

Page 6

Did you know that the traffic acci-

dent rates for sixteen to nineteen

year olds are higher than those for

any other age group? We recently

had an officer come in to our school

and present an assembly called

Survival 101. It showed us the risks

of teen driving.

Although some of the pictures

shown at the assembly were in fact

very gory, they certainly got their

point across. Only sixty five per-

cent of teens constantly wear their

seat belts as both a passenger and

driver. Without a seat belt you

could die instantly at the impact of

a crash. The officer told us about

how he had to break the news to a

teen’s parent that their teen had

died that night, due to not wearing

a seat belt. Imagine all that you

would leave behind just because

you didn’t take ten seconds to put

your seat belt on.

In their first year on the road teens

are almost ten times more likely to

be in a crash. We need to lower the

statistics for crashes amongst teens!

We should take more precautions

when we are driving on the road.

Something as much as shutting

your phone off when driving or fo-

cusing on the road could help low-

er these statistics by twenty per-

cent!

Would you want to be the person

that has to tell your parents that you

killed your friend in car crash? Or

have a police officer and investiga-

tors identify your body to tell your

parents they are sorry, but you’re

gone? I know I wouldn’t. So let’s

make a

change!

Shut your

cell phone

off, pay at-

tention to

the road,

don’t drive

under the

influence,

and take

precautions

when driv-

ing!

The effects of teen driving By Alexis Whipkey

The Student Council held winter

formal on December 14 in the high

school gym from seven till ten

o’clock. Senior members of our

student council (Heather Berkebile,

Karlee Moyer, and Sam Carmean)

were in charge of the decorations

for formal.

These seniors decorated the gym

with many homemade decorations.

The candles lighting the pathway to

the gym were ice blocks with a

candle in the top. The ice was fro-

zen in cutoff gallon jugs. The blue-

sparkly light up boxes were Mr.

Evans’ empty boxes from the sun-

flower seeds. These boxes were

then painted and covered with glit-

ter. Snowflakes were then cut out of

the boxes so the light strands could

light up the tables.

The homemade decorations trans-

formed the gym but also kept with-

in the student council’s budget.

Student council kept within their

budget by using their own DJ

equipment. The student council

used speakers donated for the for-

mal, Matt Ash’s sound board and

Kristen Thompson’s computer. Gus

Strasiser , Riley Hemminger and

Devin Keiser were in charge of the

songs for the formal and running all

the equipment.

Winter formal was fun for those

who attended. The gym trans-

formed into a winter wonderland

equipped with a winter storm out-

side. The student council pulled

formal off successfully with help

from donations. Mr. Deluca and the

members of the student council

would like to thank everyone for

their donations and help with the

winter formal. “The help and dona-

tions made winter formal easier to

hold,” stated Mr. Deluca.

Winter Formal By Tiffany Forney

Page 7

Amaranth took in a shuddering

breath. She wobbled on a stool

hewn of ebony dark as night. Her

fingers jutted out at odd angles, the

knuckles swelled in some places

and almost indiscernible in others.

They wrapped around a bone-

white needle. The trailing crimson

thread painted the side of one

hand.

A dozen tiny murmurs seemed to

resonate from the quilt Amaranth

held. She shook it. Her chuckling

drowned out faint shrieking.

No square looked more elegant

than the next. In fact, none of them

looked very elegant at all. The

white backing of each held just two

red, smeared words. Names.

Amaranth set down her needle.

The world pulsed in her eyes, a

cloudy, distorted visage of stone,

aged wood, and general clutter.

Amid the greyness only one thing

stood out—the black figure of a cat.

“Hither, my Tiber,” Amaranth

forced from her lips. The words

shook, fragmented and stale. Tiber

stepped toward his master.

Amaranth ran her hands through

Tiber’s fur. It felt cold and greasy,

quite like an amphibian hide. “I

hath a surprise for ye.”

The quilt moaned as Tiber slit the

fabric with jagged claws. Ama-

ranth’s skin prickled as if suddenly

chilled. A dark cloud rose from the

patchwork. It streamed, audibly,

forcing its way upward until the last

shred of cloth broke into powder.

Amaranth smiled large enough to

show her empty gums. The room

fell silent.

Quilt of Souls By Patrick Stahl

The sound of paper ripping and

idle chit chat filled the halls the last

full week of school. The question

that filled everyone’s mind was

who was going to win the door dec-

orating contest.

The winner of the whole door deco-

rating contest was Mrs. Blucas’

room. They decorated their door

according to the famous Christmas

classic, The Christmas Story. They

had the leg lamp on the door. It

even had an actual light in it. They

also had Ralphie drawn on the door

saying various known lines from

the movie.

The second place winner, who I

thought would be first place, was

Mr. Slade’s room. He had an actual

moving train. It had a Christmas

tree inside the train tracks with

milk and cookies underneath the

tree. I, personally, feel his was

very creative and amazing. His was

personally my favorite.

The third place winner was Mrs.

Shannon’s room. It had a

wreath and a fireplace on

the door. It was very neat-

ly done and I congratulate

them on a job well done.

I’d like to give a shout out

to the Life Skills room.

Their door was created so

cute. The snowflakes, the

snowman, the sled and

the quote really were

amazing. Even the cotton ball

snow was a very lovely touch.

I also want to give a shout out

though to the hallway Mrs. Con-

rad, Mrs. Lohr and Mr. Gerney

decorated. It was super creative

and it was very cool. The whole

Santa workshop theme was very

cool. The fact you incorporated the

entire hallway was very resourceful

and creative.

Deck the Doors By Chantelle Harvey

Page 8

Page 9

This article is for seniors mainly,

but if you want to get some infor-

mation for yourself for college,

then read on! For many, including

myself, college is something that I

want to achieve, but paying for it

seems almost out of reach. Fortu-

nately, for people like you and me,

the government created something

called the FAFSA. It stands for: Free

Application for Federal Student

Aid. What this means is that the

government put aside money for

those who want to attend college

but can’t immediately afford the

payments.

Now some of you are probably

wondering “How can I get in on

this?” Well, you are just in luck! On

February 19 at 5:30 p.m. the school

will hold a meeting that you and

your parents can attend to make

sure that you don’t miss out on this

federal funding. So, be sure to

keep your ears and eyes open for

information about the FAFSA, and if

you are looking to find out more

information on what the FAFSA is

exactly, you can go on to their main

website.

FAFSA By Kaitlyn Miller

Many people spend their holiday

break doing a variety of activities.

We handed out a survey to forty

people. The options to choose

from included spending time with

family/friends, shopping, staying at

home, working, and traveling .

Christmas Break Survey By Hannah Gross

There are many new students at

North Star this year. Three of the

new students are Elijah Knupp,

Monica Neri and Alec Coslow.

Elijah Knupp is a junior coming into

North Star from cyber school. North

Star is very different from cyber

school. When asked what he likes

most about North Star he said

“Justin Holcomb and the sports.”

He enjoys hunting and playing

sports. Elijah plays football and

basketball. When he is older he

wants to be a business owner. His

favorite class at North Star is Chem-

istry.

Monica Neri is a junior from the

state of Missouri her last school was

named Bailey. She says her old

school “was smaller and friendli-

er.” She doesn’t know if she likes it

here or not yet. Monica enjoys art

and she is thinking about being a

nurse when she is older. Her favor-

ite teacher at North Star is Mrs.

Lohr.

Alec Coslow is a freshman from

Somerset High School. He says

Somerset is a lot bigger than North

Star. The fact that North Star is

smaller is what he likes about the

school. Alec enjoys music and gym.

He doesn’t know what he wants to

be when he’s older.

Welcome to North Star and have a

great second semester!

New Cougars 2013 By Abigail Snyder

Founded in 1776, this big rock we

inhabit called America has some

interesting facts and statistics I bet

you did not know.

12% of Americans have tasted their

own urine.

Why would anybody do this?

Only 4% of Americans didn’t eat

McDonalds or Burger King in 2013.

Impressive, there are some people

who eat there three to four times a

week.

Maine is the only state with one sylla-

ble..

Wow that’s amaz-a-zing.

Thomas Edison, the light bulb inventor,

was afraid of the dark.

That explains so much.

All fifty states are printed across the

Lincoln Memorial on the American five

dollar bill.

That must be microscopic print.

Pittsburgh is the only city where all of

the major league sports teams share

the same colors: black and gold.

And the Steelers are the only NFL

team with six Super Bowl rings.

In 1848, Niagara Falls stopped flowing

for thirty hours due to ice blockage.

Niagara Falls runs through New

York from Canada.

The only state capital without a McDon-

alds is Montpelier, Vermont. It also has

the lowest population at fewer than nine

thousand people.

Not many people and places can be

in ten square miles.

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uselessfacts/american.php

Useless Information America Edition By Morgan Lehman

Page 10

For this edition of the newspaper, I

would like to review three albums

that have been released fairly re-

cently and have created a com-

mercial impact.

The first album I’ve chosen is ti-

tled “I. Love. You.” by The Neigh-

bourhood. It is a very broad al-

bum that encompasses many mu-

sical genres such as R&B, electro-

pop, and indie rock. This is why

the album has been given the la-

bel, “alternative,” since there is

no real genre that it can identify

with. The album has its ups and

downs, especially with vocal

strength. Even in studio, the lesser

-known tracks such as “Let it Go,”

and “Afraid” seem to lack a full

professional vocal realm and don’t

seem to be truly on key. This

could be a result of a want for an

underground sound as well, but in

general, the album is Sweater

Weather (Hit Song/100% of Sales),

and then the rest of the album.

The second album I’ve chosen is

titled “Bad Blood,” by Bastille. It is

a true modern rock album with

many experimental sounds that

would lead many to believe that

the band was not from London,

England. Bastille was formed in

2010 and released their debut al-

bum on a major label in 2013. The

main single that everyone is at-

tracted to is “Pompeii,” which is

the first song on the album and

sets it off with a modern African-

style feel. It relates the actual trag-

edy of Pompeii in Italy to modern

social problems. In the bridge,

they sing, “Oh where do we

begin/The rubble or our sins?”

This symbolizes how it can be

hard to choose between real is-

sues to start fixing, and that many

disasters can happen at once. But,

they also sing, “But if you close

your eyes/Does it almost feel like

nothing changed at all?” I believe

this what written to symbolize how

things can keep happening over

and over again until something

truly meaningful is put into effect.

Overall, I feel that the album was

written with a lot of feeling and

that they thought deeply about

their lyrics, unlike many other art-

ists who are criticized today.

The third album I’ve chosen is ti-

tled “Wake Me Up – EP,” by Aloe

Blacc. It is a blend of R&B and Hip-

Hop with Gospel influence. Aloe

Blacc is a speaker of the people

and his songs are written to de-

scribe a working class lifestyle.

On a previous album, his song “I

Need a Dollar” encompassed the

true meaning of life on the street

after a recent layoff. The first song

on the album is titled “The Man,”

and was actually featured on a

Beats by Dre commercial with

Colin Kaepernick. In the commer-

cial, Kaepernick is arriving to Se-

attle for a game and the Seahawks’

relentless fans are hurling various

items at him. But, he has Aloe

Blacc to tell him that he’s the man

through $299.99 noise canceling

headphones.

Many people believe that Avicii

was the original writer of the mod-

ern dance song “Wake Me Up,”

but it was actually co-written by

Aloe Blacc. An acoustic version of

this song can be found on this EP,

but Aloe Blacc isn’t credited in the

title of Avicii’s single. The other

recordings on this 5-song release

display relations with real world

problems. These songs include

“Love is the Answer,” and

“Ticking Bomb.” So, as a whole,

this shorter release blends well

with itself and never gets boring.

Music Review By Max Volk

Page 11

The word addiction often brings

with it gruesome images of emaci-

ated figures, needles and poverty,

but a new addiction is forming in

the youth of the world. In fact, it is

in almost every classroom, home,

purse and pocket. That’s right, the

internet. The endless stream of in-

formation and stimuli constantly at

the tips of the fingers of today’s

youth.

Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD)

was originally proposed as a disor-

der in a satirical hoax by Ivan Gold-

berg, M.D. in 1995. However, re-

searchers began to take his pro-

posal more and more seriously as

IAD began being covered by the

press. Internet addiction is a subset

of a broader “technology addic-

tion,” which began with the radio in

the 1930s and with television in the

1960s, but has recently exploded

during the current digital age.

IAD has the basic indicators of any

other addiction; a person will expe-

rience preoccupation with the in-

ternet, entertaining themselves,

and experience withdrawal-like

symptoms when it is no longer

available to the person. They will

also experience an increased toler-

ance for the internet, needing to

spend more and more time to

achieve the same feeling, a loss of

other interests, unsuccessful at-

tempts to quit, and the use of inter-

net to escape certain moods or situ-

ations. Research shows that scans

of the brains of people with internet

addiction are similar to the scans of

the brains of cocaine and heroin

addicts. Dopamine, the chemical

that causes feelings of happiness, is

also released less frequently in the

brains of internet addicts.

While researchers learn more

about internet addiction and its

treatments, it leaves an eerie ques-

tion to be answered. The internet is

used by teachers to log grades, by

students to communicate with the

outside world and even to write this

paper. How can you treat a poten-

tially dangerous addiction to some-

thing used more and more every

day?

Click OK to proceed to addiction By Lindsay Walker

Christmas is the time of the year

where people all over the world

celebrate Santa Clause bringing

gifts. For other people, they cele-

brate the birth of Jesus. But since

that fateful night in Bethlehem, peo-

ple have added the gifts, decorat-

ing, and food to the tradition. It’s

become too commercialized with

all the Black Friday ads. Here are

some interesting Christmas facts

you probably didn’t know:

~25-30 million people buy real trees.

~8-12 million people buy artificial trees.

~194,672 is the recorded number of lights on a Christmas tree in Bel-

gium in 2010.

~1.76 billion candy canes are pro-duced each year.

~Real Christmas trees are grown

fifteen years before they are sold.

~All the gifts in “Twelve Days of Christmas” would equal 364 gifts.

~Christmas wasn’t an official holi-day until June 26, 1870.

~A woman who went under mistle-toe and wasn’t kissed would not

marry the next year.

~The tallest Christmas tree ever cut was a 221-foot Douglas fir in 1950 in

Washington.

~Rudolph’s red nose is probably caused of a parasitic infection of his

respiratory system.

Ho Ho Ho By Cassandra Hillegass

Page 12

You all know we have a blood drive

every once in a while. The next

Blood Drive is on Wednesday, Jan-

uary 22. But, why do we have

them? How do they help? Why

donate blood? You can only know

this if you know the history behind

it.

The American Red Cross was

founded on May 21, 1881, by Clara

Barton. She created the American

Red Cross because of the Swiss-

inspired global Red Cross. Clara

Barton ran the American Red Cross

for 23 years before she retired.

The American Red Cross deals with

people affected by disasters in

America, blood collection, blood

processing, blood distribution,

health and safety, education and

training, and international relief

and development. They also sup-

port members of the military and

their families.

How much do you know about the

blood you donate? Did you know

that one pint of blood can save

three lives? But not everyone can

donate. There are certain require-

ments to donate.

You must be at least 17 years old.

In some states, you can be 16 years

old with parental consent. Also,

you must weigh at least 110 lbs.

This is just to donate blood.

What if you want to be a double red

cell donor? For that, there are dif-

ferent requirements for men and

women.

Men must be 17 (16 in some states)

years old. They also must be at

least 5’1” and weigh at least 130

lbs. Women must be the same age

but at least 5’5” and 150 lbs.

How often can you donate? It de-

pends on what you donate. Blood

(Whole Blood) can be donated eve-

ry 56 days. Platelets can be donat-

ed every 7 days. Plasma can be

donated every 28 days. Double red

cells can be donated every 112

days.

Donating blood is very important.

Clara Barton would be proud of

how far the American Red Cross

has come. Remember, every time

you donate, you are saving lives.

The Red Cross blood drive By Ashley Kelly

The Legend of Hercules falls short

on every level. Kellan Lutz stars as

Hercules and is the only actor with-

in the movie that I even recog-

nized. Now, no name actors and

actresses sometimes are better in

movies than big name celebri-

ties. It wasn’t the acting that both-

ered me, it was everything

else. First off, the movie tells the

story of Queen Alcmene conceiv-

ing the child of Zeus to take down

King Amphitryon. The movie skips

to when Hercules is twenty years

old and is in love with Hebe, a prin-

cess from another kingdom. Hebe

ends up becoming Hercules’ broth-

er’s betrothed. Hercules and Hebe

try to run away, but they end up

getting caught. Hercules is then

sent to Egypt with a group of sol-

diers. They end up getting am-

bushed, and Hercules is presumed

dead. He’s not and gets sold into

slavery. He ends up fighting is way

back to Greece. The ending I’ll

leave up to you to find out if you

choose to see this movie.

The special effects lacked on so

many levels. None of the scenes

actually looked like they went to a

forest or desert to film. Everything

looked like they were standing in

front of a green screen and filmed

it. The background looked flat. It

didn’t even look like they tried to

make the buildings look real. The

very first scene looked like it came

from a video game. Another detail

that bothered me was the fact that

they would slice someone’s neck or

stab someone and there would be

no blood on their weapons. It

would come away clean. I kept

thinking about that throughout the

movie. The movie, also, kept hav-

ing slow motion fight scenes. It

would slow down in the middle of

fighting and then speed back

up. That’s been used so many

times that it’s gotten old. I couldn’t

follow the time, because it would

skip around. I’d just lose track of

time during the movie.

Overall, I wasn’t impressed. If you

were expecting The Legend of Her-

cules to be like the myth, you’ll be

highly disappointed. I’d actually

prefer to watch the Disney version

over this one. If you do go see this

movie, it is PG-13. There is vio-

lence and sexual themes in the

movie. The Legend of Hercules def-

initely isn’t worth the money to go

see.

The Legend of Hercules movie review By Emily Lambert

Page 13

The Sacrifice by Charlie Higson is

the fourth installment in The Enemy

Series. This book is a continuation

of the lives of the characters in the

other three books. It’s gory and

action packed. My heart was rac-

ing from suspense and heartbreak.

In this book, a lot of stuff happens.

The book follows Sam and The Kid,

Mad Matt reappears, Ed and Shad-

owman (aka Dylan). The reader

learns a lot more about how Saint

George’s army works, and there

are some creepy parts involving

them. Shadowman is following the

army and is kind of acting like one

of them as well. Shadowman is a

very interesting character. He

doesn’t have a set group and is

kind of irrational at times. He also

gets thrown around a lot as well. I

felt bad for him during certain parts

of the book. I just wanted to yell at

him for doing something or not do-

ing something I wanted him to do.

The same goes for The Kid. He just

had a bad few days or weeks dur-

ing this book. I say either days or

weeks, because you lose track of

time during this book. Those two

had a really rough time during the

story.

Once again, this book was filled

with gore. Charlie Higson does not

disappoint. He will describe every

little detail of every little rotten

piece of flesh or any bloody,

ripped open wound. Those are the

parts that I love about this book.

He doesn’t hold back in the gore

department. Another part of this

series I love is the fact that you get

different points of view from many

different people. When I read the

second book and realized it was

from the points of view of com-

pletely different people, I was an-

gry. I wanted to know what hap-

pened to the first group. You still

really don’t know, during this

book, what happens to them after

Buckingham Palace. They hint at it,

but you don’t actually know for

sure.

Do I dislike anything about this

book? Probably. Do I remember

at this moment? No. I will bet as I

was reading this book I would com-

ment in my head what I didn’t like.

As I look back after reading this, I

can’t remember anything I didn’t

like. If I had to say, I would say that

it was the characters doing the

complete opposite of what I wanted

them to do. That’s my own person-

al problem though.

Once again, if you love gore and

“zombies”, then this is the book for

you. This whole series is for you. If

you can’t stomach those kinds of

details, then don’t read this book.

If you like action and suspense,

then this book is for you as well.

Now, like I do at the end of every

book review, here is a quote from

the book: “He knew one thing for

sure, though. Whatever happened,

Matt would have some handy ex-

cuse. He'd make up some story or

change an old one, find some dumb

quote to explain it all.”

The Sacrifice By Emily Lambert

Page 14

Page 15

Newspaper Staff

Editor: Emily Lambert

Co-editors: Rebecca Flick and Abigail Charlton

Designers: Chantelle Harvey and Austin Hutchinson

Hannah Borischak

Kaitlyn Miller

Abigail Snyder

Kristen Thompson

Max Volk

Tiffany Forney

Hannah Gross

Patrick Stahl

Lindsay Walker

Alexis Whipkey

Evan Gerney

Ashley Kelly

Morgan Lehman

Cassandra Hillegass

Autumn Spory

Alyssa Thomas

Kassandra Henry

Anne By Kassandra Henry

Cordate faces

Golden laces

Render fellows

Utterly daunted

Levee of the recusant

The maiden who never

sleeps

Such divining speech

Of just how far she'll reach

A pernicious smirk

A chimerical word

A cognizance

One could only envy

Yet her emotional ramparts

Are ever weakening

Her supposed insidiousness

Spurned and expiring

Her intangible beauty

Her undulating tendrils

Her sombrous, solemn eyes

Act as coal-hods to the fire

Anne to Henry

Queen to King

Youth to Age

Persephone to Ulysses

The beguiling girl

Who finds

Such solace

In her kin

A coven of sin

Internecine twins

'We must

Eradicate them!'

Death by the blade

An ironic fate

To the maiden

Once loved

To the man

Of mistakes

Maze, Haze, Glaze By Kassandra Henry

'Live and let love'

is what some humans say

so easy to state

so raffish, flamboyant, and

gay

It sure must be grand

cordate hearts in their grip

sweaty palms, swaying hips

an amatory, coquettish

glance

Feverish in our quest

to be sought for

and desired so dearly

Staunching such odium

that has irrepressibly

become the almighty

norm

Irked and perturbed

we persevere onward

for the irenic fantasies

so pungently present

and daringly darling

a star-speckled sky

a freckle-dabbled shoulder

her metier titled 'tease'

his disposition ever discern-

ing

The pendulum of love

The scale of affection

From cordial to cold

From frenzied to frigid

Logan’s Price by Kassandra Henry

I don't want to become an encumbrance But, I must say I truly see the semblance Between this and the great, loud hubris Glaring down at us from the smirking lips "Achtung, achtung!" you shout at us Like charges in the rush and hustle-bust Like empty shards as fine as dust Your pupils twitch and become robust As searing as a blade from Hell Resounds the beating, screaming spell With malignance and corruption, well With hatred as pungent as a smell With grotesquely hedonistic despotism You break our wills with piercing sadism Under the guise of convivial vindication Our bodies are reproached through incindiation