Volume 44 Number 1

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NORSEMANVolume 44, Number 1 October 2014

T h e B r y a n H i g h S c h o o l

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STAAR scores shine bright for school, district

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Jesse BaxterCo-editor Scores on the STAAR exam for the2013-2014 school year are some of thehighest scores Bryan High and the dis-trict have ever achieved, with ve out ofsix distinctions awarded for academicperformance. The ve distinctions are really hugefor BHS, Superintendent Thomas Wal-lis said. After being an improvement re-quired school last year with zero distinc-tions, to coming off the improvementrequired list to earning ve distinctionsis a great accomplishment.

Earning ve out of six distinctionsplaces Bryan High in the top 11% ofschools in Texas, in comparison, 48%

of schools in Texas earned zero distinc-tions. When I saw our results I knew we metstandard; I knew that we were going to

be ne, Principle Lane Buban said. Butthe distinctions were the one thing that

blew my mind.Administration cites the high quality

of education for, helping students per-form at maximum efciency and for theoverall scores. I feel the quality of teachers we have

on campus is very high and, for the mostpart, we do an excellent job of educatingstudents, Buban said. Another factor for the schools anddistricts high scores are how teachersinteract with the students, making surethey completely grasp what they need toknow for the tests. We are always looking for differentinterventions for kids, things that maybeare a little more creative than what they

do in their classes everyday to see if thatwould help them do better on the test,Associate principal Megan Jones said.We try to be creative about what wecan do to help, if what is going on in the

classroom isnt quite enough. In order to prepare for the STAARexam, several programs were put intoplace to help achieve success campus

wide. [Teachers] are actually looking at howstudents do on the district and unit teststhat they take to see where they need tofocus, Buban said. Because within eachsubject area there are student objectivesand if a student is low in a certain ob-

jective, theyare able tom o n i t o rthat by eachs t u d e n t ,and go backto pinpoint

where thosedeficienciesexist. Thenteachers cantarget theirinstructionor go backand reteachcertain stu-dents forthat certainset of objec-

tives. Another safeguard, Zeroes Arent Per-missible (ZAP), while not initially putinto place for the STAAR test, indirectlyhelps students prepare for the test. If I have a student that is missing anassignment or didnt do an assignment,I can catch them and make them do thatassignment which better prepares themfor the STAAR test, Buban said. Itkeeps them from falling behind.

With the transition from Texas As-sessment of Knowledge and Skills(TAKS) to STAAR teachers had tochange the nuances of what they wereteaching students to better prepare

them for the new test. I think a lot of focus was put on pre-paring students for writing, because theSTAAR writing portion for end of cours-es is a lot different than it was for TAKS,Jones said. Teachers had to transitionto teaching students how to write exposi-tory, literary, and persuasive from howto write the personal essay, which wasrequired by TAKS.

However, administrators emphasizedthat standardizedtests werent as im-portant as the day-to-day educationstudents receivefrom attendingschool.

We need toremember that aschool, teacher, orstudent should not

be considered a suc-cess or failure basedon one test, on oneday, Wallis said.BISD has alwaysdone great thingsand put childrenrst, I wish law-

makers would realize all students do notcome from the same backgrounds anddont have the same experiences, there-fore relying on a test to determine suc-cess is not children rst. Wallis believes there are greater issuesthan solving multiple choice standard-ized test questions. School districts need to ensure thatgraduates are problem solvers, Wal-lis said. That they are people who can

research and work collaboratively withothers to solve problems and to graduateas 21st century learners. If schools willfocus on these initiatives, scores will takecare of themselves.


2/15

Madison HinesStaff writer The Somewhat True Tale ofRobin Hood is everything a highschool play should be: funny, en-tertaining, clean-humored, andhilariously weird. And the quirky,lovable Viking cast brought thecharacters to life - onstage, andoff.

Its the classic tale of RobinHood, who takes from the richand gives to the poor, but with amajor twist.

Robin Hood has a slight egoproblem and is constantly bat-tling to be the center of attention

with the wonderfully sarcasticTownsie, who constantly breaksthe fourth wall to ask things of thestage manager and the audiencealike. The rest of the cast even

gets off the stage to run throughthe castle (theatre), comment-ing on how badly designed it isand asking things of the people inthe audience.

The story is bizarre in places,with a bowling match instead ofan archery competition to win thehand of the fair maiden, Marian.But then, when no winner can benamed, they move on to archeryanyways.

At one point, our hero Robingets thrown into the Dungeon ofDespair (cue ominous music) and

is forced to listen to Justin Beiberuntil his brain turns to mush.The cast members played their

parts beautifully, adding a specialair to the already witty, incred-ibly slapstick humor.

No two shows were alike, asmany of the scenes were impro-

vised as they saw t.It required quick-thinking, and

a sharp sense of humor, but theypulled it off magnicently. I cant

wait to see the next Viking theatreproduction - The Best Christmas

Pageant Ever, to begin on De-cember 7.

News & events at Bryan High School

Choir members placeat all-region event On Saturday, Septem-

ber 27, 26 choir memberscompeted in the Region8 All-Region Choir audi-tions. Thirteen studentsearned a place in the choirand 9 advance to the nextround in November.

-Lilly Chilek Soprano 1 - 25th chair -Kailey Farris

Soprano 2 - 16th chair -Addie Henry Alto 1 (Pre-Area) 3rd chair -Avery Potts Alto 1 - 17th chair -Rebecah Flores Alto 2 (Pre-Area)

4th chair -Lauren Bernal Alto 2 (Pre-Area) 9th chair -Grayson McGee Tenor 2 (Pre-Area) 5th chair -Robert Badgett Tenor 2 (Pre-Area) 7th chair -Andrew Ballard Tenor 2 (Pre-Area)

13th chair

-Mark Reyes Bass 1 (2nd alternate) -Douglas Edge Bass 2 (Pre-Area) 2nd chair -Aaron Wunneburger

Bass 2 (Pre-Area) 5th chair

-Christopher Magby Bass 2 (Pre-Area) 11th chair

Band earns honors atUSBands competition The Viking Band placed4th at USBands CollegeStation Showcase. They also earned theBest Percussion cap-tion, Best Color Guardcaption, and Best Visual

caption.

Orchestra student ad-vances to region Freshman KimberlyLamb made the Region 8orchestra on her violin.

Around CampusPage 2 - Around Campus/Theatre

Theatre program huge hit

after rst performance

Spirit Days

The Somewhat True Tale ofRobin Hoodpictures by Madison Hines


3/15

Robert MorganCo-editor This is not just a program, this isnot something temporary. It is going to

have to be a total mindset starting withthe 9th grade.Assistant principals Chantel Hluchan

and Justin Smith, along with counsel-ors Tiffany Giffen and Sondra Junek,are the core administrative staff for theFreshman Success Academy a newprogram placed at both Bryan Highand Rudder to promote academic anddisciplinary success within the fresh-man class. [Freshman Academy is] the back-

bone of our freshman center, Giffensaid. Its comprised of team teaching we have teachers that are teamedinto small groups so that they eachhave, mostly, the same students and

we have two principals and two coun-selors that are dedicated to just fresh-man. The teaching teams consist of fourcore teachers that have the same 100-150 freshman that they teach through-out the day. Having teams creates anavenue for communication and buildsunity among the students and teach-ers. These teachers all have a teamingperiod, so they meet and have theiragenda and they are able to communi-cate about their group of kids, Juneksaid. The teachers are able to talkabout the kids, what their needs are,

whats going on, and how can we helpthem be successful thats the power-ful thing about being on a team. Freshman English teacher and fresh-

man class council sponsor AnnetteKirk has rst hand experience with thisteaming experience and can alreadysee the benets of having the Academyin place. [The Academy] has been a posi-tive experience because the teachersare able to work together to help stu-dents, Kirk said. Before, I felt like I

was working by myself and there weretoo many students and other teachersto partner with. But now, with the stu-

dents having the same team of teach-ers, its much easier to partner withtheir teachers to work for the good ofthe student. Another change the freshman areencountering is in the diploma re-quirements to graduate. Now, stu-dents graduating under the changes inHouse Bill 5 (class of 2018 and beyond)need to not only meet core English,history, math, and science credits requirements but, now, need to meetan endorsement requirement. Theendorsements are a pathway for stu-dents to take advanced classes in eitherSTEM (science, technology, engineer-ing, and math), Business & Industry,

Arts & Humanities, Public Service, orMultidisciplinary areas. The key with an endorsement is thatstudents have to have advanced classes

in one area, Giffen said. In the past,students would take hospitality andphotography and they would dabbleinto a lot of different things. Now, we

want them to pick an area that they re-ally like and get a little deeper into it.Going into advanced classes makes itdifferent than just getting an overview,

we want them to get more specic. Transitioning from middle school tohigh school is a rough change academi-cally due to the increase in student re-sponsibility and expectations. Junek,a former SFA middle school teacher,knows how hard this transition can befor students and believes this Academy

will facilitate with the change. Getting a foundation in 9th grade iscrucial because its that hard transition a lot of [students] fail out and stopcoming to school, Junek said. Get-ting that transition down and havinga solid foundation where they feel suc-cessful and where they can continueimproving is a major component of the

Academy. Another aspect of the Academy isgiving the freshman a stronger senseof accountability with their teachers.Hluchan says that this will give the stu-dents an emphasis on why this extrapush is important to succeed in highschool. We are holding them accountable we are all held accountable in life and were going about it a different

way, Hluchan said. [Students saying]

Im not gonna do my work is not anoption. They are held to the re andthey are responsible for their work,assignments, and behavior. Weve al-

ready had team meetings where wevepulled in students and discussed theirbehavior and it makes an impression.It shows them that we do really talkabout them and care for them and how

what happens in one class translates toanother. While acquiring new knowledge inhigh school, freshman are also gettingto experience a more serious educa-tional environment. Freshman ChaseTaylor says he looks forward to his

years in high school and wants them tobe a memorable learning experience. Im excited to try something new,Taylor said. Im excited that its moreserious than middle school [and] I likethat I can actually learn somethingthats in-depth. Although the Academy started this

year, and the administrative teamagrees that there are kinks that needto be worked out. Because of this, theyare looking at the success rate of othercampuses comparative to Bryan Highand what they expect to come out ofthis Academy. Were collecting data now to seehow this teaming and Academy is af-fecting the students and what kind ofresults were going to see, Junek said.Our goals are to see that theyre suc-ceeding.

Freshmen Academy creates success, unity within schoolFreshmen - Page 3

Freshmen 5th Quarter

Viking freshman attend 5th quarter after the home footballgame to play games, dance, and just have a good time.


4/15

Andy RamirezAssociate editor Eleven years isnt a long time

when looking at the world,but some of the most beau-tiful things in the world arealso some of the most eeting.Shooting stars last but a mo-ment, rainbows fade quickly,and sunsets always end. So

does life. This was the case forErin Channing Buenger, whopassed away in April of 2009at the age of eleven, after los-ing her battle with neuroblas-toma cancer. She was brave,kind, loving, and always had aerce tenacity for life that wasunmatched, even towards theend. Erin was the kind of per-son who never gave up, and

once she started something,she would see it through to theend. Thats why Erin and herfamily started Erins DreamLanyards in 2009, a smallgroup of friends, family, andsupporters that would meetand make beaded lanyards tosell for cancer research. Sinceher passing ve years ago, thegroup has continued the workshe started.

Erins Dream Lanyardsis a long-term project that

brings volunteers togetherto make beautiful and some-times whimsical lanyardsand other beaded jewelry,Erins mother, Vicki Buengersaid. One hundred percentof the funds raised by ErinsDream Lanyards goes to theChildrens NeuroblastomaCancer Foundation to fundresearch in childrens cancer.

We have volunteers and do-nors who make that possible,so that everyones efforts goes

straight to helping nd a curefor childhood cancer. While the project and Erinsdream of nding a cure forchildhood cancer are growingstronger every day, they hadhumble beginnings. Some friends introducedErin to the concept of mak-ing lanyards with jewelry wire

and glass beads during a long,boring chemo session lateone late day during her sixthgrade year, Buenger said.Erin paired that idea with theidea that her teachers might

want to make a donation tothe Childrens Neuroblasto-ma Cancer Foundation in ex-change for having a cool and

beautiful lanyard. Soon Erins

l a n y a r d sb e c a m esuch a bighit thatshe neededhelp fromfriends toll all of theorders. From the small word-of-mouth beginnings, ErinsDream Lanyards has grown to

touch lives across the globe. Erin died in April 2009, amonth short of nishing sixthgrade at Jane Long MiddleSchool. Buenger said Dur-ing those few months sheraised over $2000. Since then

volunteers have raised over$80,000. Lanyards live onsix continents, in 13 differ-ent countries, and in everyUS state. Two lanyards livein the White House, as Maliaand Sasha received lanyardsas gifts when their dad visitedCollege Station in 2009.

While the orga-nization has spreadto an internationallevel, the founda-tion will always belocal, and membersof the community,as well as students,are always welcometo help contribute to

the group by buying, making,or helping sell lanyards. Since her death, lanyardmaking has continued to

bring our friends togetherand has helped us make newfriends, Buenger said. Use

your imagination. If you havean idea, lets gure out how tomake it happen On campus, Key Club has

partnered with Mrs. Buengerto bring the project to stu-dents and staff who are inter-

ested in helping nd a cure forchildhood cancer.

One of our members actu-ally brought it to my attentionand asked about schedulinga club meeting to make lan-

yards, Key Club sponsor Me-linda Mack said, we did andstudents loved doing it. As a community service or-ganization, Key Club took onthe project, seeing it as reec-tive of their ideals and objec-tives as a club. It is a completely selessproject, Mack said. Once the

lanyards are made, studentswork during lunches to sellthem and all the money is thendonated to cancer research, inmemory of Erin Buenger. Mack said that studentsinterested in being involvedand contributing to this inthe future should contact her,listen to the announcements,or attend a Key Club meeting

Monday after

school in room1200. Because Erin

was a Bryan ISDstudent, it dis-tinguishes thelanyard proj-ect from other

service activities. Erin wouldhave graduated this year, andmany of those who participate

still have a personal connec-tion. The main difference thatmakes the project unique isthat Erin herself came up withthe project senior Jesse Bax-ter, a friend of Erins, said. Ithas an emotional connectionto a plethora of people whichfurther contributes to theprojects success. Although Erin may not be

here to physically see the lega-cy she left behind, her friendsand family believe the projectstill reects her personalityand values.

Erin would have been ec-static to see how much theproject has grown over thepast few years, Baxter said.She was the original sourceof the idea for the project,so I think she would be veryproud to see how much it ac-complishes and how it hasgrown. Through Erins legacy, herfriends are still able to join

together with a common goaland try to leave a touch ofErin on every lanyard, as wellas on the world. Having a personal connec-tion makes it special to me ina way that other organizationssimply dont, Baxter said.Every lanyard has a green

bead which was Erins favor-ite color; she is still in every-

ones heart. Erins mom appreciatesthat so many people have giv-en their continued support toher work, and while the orga-nization continues changing,so too does those who are in-

volved in it. When we bead, we sharetime, space, and conversa-tion, Buenger said. As a

bonus, Erin s friends have

learned that you dont haveto be rich, powerful, or evengrown up to make a differ-ence.

Service organization works with

local charity in memory of student

Page 4 - Clubs & Organizations

Dream Big

Erin was creative, energetic, andloved by her friends. She also lovedto help others.

--Vicki Buenger, Erins mother

Key Club members make and sell laynards to beneft Erins DreamLaynards. Students wanted to be a part of a good cause, but the per-sonal connection made an even bigger impact.


5/15

Clubs & Organizations - Page 5

Robert MorganCo-editor Bryan ISD and Blinn College have worked togetherfor many years to bring college credit to high schoolstudents. In the spring, Bryan High and Blinn will be-gin a partnership that offers more of these courses tostudents and allows Blinn to use classrooms on Bryan

Highs campus. We are partnering with Blinn to have easier accessto dual credit courses for Bryan ISD students, prin-cipal Lane Buban said. Blinn will be on our campus,have ofce space on our campus, and have classroomsthat are located on our campus. Beyond that, partof the partnership involves Blinn utilizing our shopspace. With that comes the availability of new ma-chinery, new equipment, and new tools not only forthem, but for us. As Blinn has grown over the years, they have beenseeking ways to obtain classroom and lab space for

their licensing and technical classes without buildingadditional rooms on their campus. Through this part-nership, Blinn gains access to the lab space that theyneed and the extra benets that come with partnering

with Bryan High.

We will have full use of the registration desk on theBlue Campus and four ofces directly off of it, whichour Workforce Education Director, Healthcare Pro-grams Manager, and Student Success Program Man-ager will all be located at, Blinns Dean of WorkforceEducation Megan Costanza said. This will allow us toserve both Bryan ISD and open enrollment students

on site at the Blue Campus. Within Hammond Oliver,we will bring our supplies and equipment to outtthree labs into: Certied Nurse Aide (C.N.A.), Phle-

botomy labs, and Pharmacy Technician labs. Ham-mond Oliver already has a C.N.A. lab, but we will con-tribute additional equipment and supplies. With both institutions beneting from the newlearning space and equipment, the students enrolledin these classes will have more access to resourcesthan prior to the partnership. Our students will have easier access to Blinn and topost-secondary education, Buban said. More certi-

cation and licensing classes will be offered to a widerrange of our kids. More students will be impacted bythis partnership because it goes beyond the scope ofthe classroom it goes into technical elds and to pro-

viding school-to-work type relationships where they

can earn a license and go straight into the workforce. This partnership also allows for a variety of classesto be introduced, since singularly maintaining andstafng these classes is difcult for both campuses.By working together, Bryan High and Blinn are ableto expand student education while being able to sharethe costs that come with these courses.

There are more possibilities as far as classes go,but to be able to teach those courses you have to haveteachers, Buban said. It is tough to hire and spendmoney for those teachers. However, with this part-nership, Blinn can step in and put their professors inthese classrooms and offer these different classes. Through working together, both campuses are ableto fulll their missions and provide students neces-sary skills after completing their education. We already have a shared mission to serve lo-cal students, and now we are partnering to share fa-cilities, faculty, and resources towards that mission,

Costanza said. I expect we will expand in sharingmost workforce or technical labs and build new onestogether to help train Bryan ISD students and thecommunity to work in high-skill and high-demand lo-cal jobs.

Blinn, BHS benet from partnership, develop post-secondary readiness

Jesse BaxterCo-editor

The student group Vikings KickingOut Tobacco (VKOT) formed during thespring semester of the 2013-2014 school

year through the leadership efforts of ju-nior Cecil Banks.The club has continuedto grow this year as six more students

were chosen for the state tobacco aware-ness campaign. Cecil got involved with tobacco pre-

vention [during the summer of 2013]and attended a state conference wherehe later applied to be a teen ambas-sador, VKOT sponsor Patricia Bailey-Jones said. The students who attended the con-ference learned about tobacco preven-tion and how to spread information tothe general community. We go to a lot of summits and they

basically teach us techniques to takeout to the community and use, juniorKayla Thane said. Like how to promotetobacco prevention and how to get the

word out to people in ways that they willunderstand it.

While the summer conference helpstrain ambassadors, VKOT enables the

application of those practices and theopportunity of spreading informationto the public. VKOT started off small,

but is growing into a larger organizationfocused on preventing tobacco use withmany members joining since its concep-tion. When we rst formally organized, westarted out with about 14 members and

we nished the year at 39, Bailey-Jonessaid. We are now over 60, close to the70 mark. The organization is not the only thingthat has grown, as of this year six of thefteen members that were accepted theTeen Ambassadors for the Texas To-

bacco Prevention Initiative came fromBryan High. These members includeKaylee Gough, Kassie Gough, KaylaThane, Chassidy Rusk, Caleb Duane,and Catherine Anding. Applicants had to participate in anextensive application process, which

included the initial form and recom-mendation letters and a video where

they answered questions about tobaccoprevention. During the second round,

applicants then had to participate in aSkype interview to complete the pro-cess. It was stressful and lengthy, Thanesaid. But understandable becausethose chosen represent the state. Even though Thane experiencedstress from the process the opportunitymade it worthwhile because of her per-sonal experience with the effects of to-

bacco. Seeing what tobacco does and howmuch it bothers me and the other peo-ple in my family just makes me not wantto use it, Thane said. I dont want to-

bacco to affect my family, friends, kidsin the future, or my life. Thane takes her role in VKOT serious-ly and believes it is important to get themessage about the dangers of tobacco tostudents. Students are at this stage in their life

when they think nothing can happen to

them, Thane said. But students dontrealize their bodies can become ad-

dicted to tobacco and realize they werewrong, and by then its too late.

With membership growth of VKOT,the amount of involvement also hasgrown with more events dedicated totobacco prevention and an increasedpresence in the community. We are going to promote Red Rib-

bon Week and participate in the GreatAmerican Smoke Out (GASO) and thenwe have a lot of tobacco awarenessthings we are going to do throughoutthe school year, Thane said. A bunchof activities students can get involved inand the community and events through-out the year.

VKOT helps students gain experiencein leadership and collaboration, help-ing to prepare them for life after highschool. My goal is for VKOT to become oneof the leading organizations on cam-pus, not only in tobacco prevention, butin student leadership overall, Bailey-Jones said. I want kids to understand

that they are leaders at Bryan High, thatthey represent the student body.

Vikings raise awareness about dangers of tobaccothrough organization, state leadership group


6/15

Jennyfer TuckerStaff writer The crack of the helmets. Thesmell of the freshly cut grass. Theroaring crowd. The feeling of ex-hilaration as the ball crosses thegoal line. Its another Friday nightin Texas and the lights are shining

brightly on the eld as senior Ke-andre Johnson runs through themiddle, pounding out yards for arst down. Johnson started playing whenhe was the age of six years old,switching from Brazos Valley toPop Warner, while developing a

love for the game.I like to hit people, Johnson

said. I like the excitement of foot-ball [and] the contact. Johnson is the player known topump up morale and the team ral-lies around him. Hes made some unbelievableplays that excite the team, run-ning backs coach Enrique Lunasaid. He res them up to go out

there and play. Transitioning from playing as afreshman to playing on the Varsityteam can pose some difculties formany athletes.

[Watching] him as a sopho-more all [Keandre] knew was togo full steam ahead, Luna said.[He] didnt worry about anythingelse, but now he understands thetechnical stuff. He understandsthe things we ask of him.

Being an athlete comes with re-sponsibility and the challenge of

balancing school, social life, andsports takes composure and en-

durance.[Keandre] is here everyday, on

time, ready to go, and has to betold to get out of practice, offen-sive coordinator Matthew Faldynsaid.

With that mindset, Johnson is agreat leader for the team and dem-onstrates how to deal with ups anddowns. If we lose, I just bounce back

next week and get better, John-son said. Johnson is the type of player

who affects the attitude of otherson the eld by the way he plays ev-ery game. Hes inuenced our team by the

big time plays he makes, Faldynsaid. Hes a strong, powerful run-ning back thats extremely hard to

bring down. He has a great workethic and a great work ethic is in-fectious. Coaches Faldyn and Luna saythey have enjoyed watching Ke-andre mature into the young man

he is and they enjoy watching himplay the game he loves. He is very unselsh, he could

block all day long for someone andmaybe carry the ball two or threetimes in a game and he wouldnthave any problems with it, Faldynsaid. That would never happenthough, hes going to [carry] the

ball a lot every game.

Running back carries team by example on feldPage 6 - Sports

KeeKee Johnsonsstats so far this season

OPPONENT

MONTGOMERY 15 150 2

CONROE 28 152 4

LIVINGSTON 12 127 2

HUNTSVILLE 26 254 5

AMC 36 350 6

WILLIS 27 178 2

TOTALS: 144 1211 21

VARSITY FOOTBALL RECORD

5-1

VARSITY FOOTBALL DISTRICT

4-0

TOTAL

CARRIES

RUSHING

YARDS

TOUCH

DOWNS

Vikings Beat Consol

pictures by Bridget Craig


7/15

Sports - Page 7

Lucy RaleighStaff writer

After winning the rst match in two straight sets,the varsity volleyball team fell to Tarkington forcinga third match. With each team taking one set andrunning neck-and-neck in the winner-take-all -nal set, the score volleyed back and forth. Tensions

were high as the scored pushed passed 25, and thenwith a nal kill, Coach Caroline Simpson earned her500th win. However, Coach Simpson wasnt focused on thenumber of wins, and she was surprised by the big500. I didnt really think it was that big a deal, but

when I nally got to the 500th win I had so manypeople congratulating me and telling me what kindof accomplishment [it] was, Simpson said. I real-ized that it was a bigger deal than I had originallythought. Earning that 500th win was not only an amazingaccomplishment for Coach Simpson, but also for theplayers. We all wanted it so bad, and we wanted it for[Coach Simpson], senior Rachel Ullmann said.We played a really tough team, and we all cametogether to beat them. I felt like we had won thechampionship because we were in the smallest gymin [Tarkington] High School and it was so loud. Weall jumped around. The entire team rallied around Simpson to cel-

ebrate the win as a family. [The win] was great, junior Halle

Banks said. It was one of my rsttournaments on varsity, and being apart of it, seeing all the love everyonehad for each other, was really great. The varsity volleyball team

wouldnt be where they are now if itwerent for Coach Simpson and herlove of coaching and her way withthe players. She is such a great coach, Bankssaid. She always has faith in us.[Coach Simpson] always pushes us

to be our best. Ullmann agrees with Banks onSimpsons positive philosophy as acoach. She really works so that we know what were do-ing, and so that were on the right track, Ullmannsaid. She always makes [volleyball] enjoyable insome way, and somehow shell make sure that weregiving it our all. There are plenty of challenges along the way to

becoming a great coach. Starting from her humblebeginnings at Caldwell to her stellar team at BryanHigh, Simpson has faced her share of troubles. When I rst came to Bryan, it was a pretty bigchallenge, building this program from the bottom to

where we are now. Its had its challenges, but its

been very rewarding and I wouldnt want to be anyother place right now. Even though the 500th win was an amazing ac-complishment, Simpson still cares more about thechildren. I think most of all, as a coach, we need to teachkids not just about the wins and losses, but aboutthe lessons they can learn and the journey they canmake throughout their years. Simpson said. Werenot just teaching them how to win, were teachingthem how to win in life and how relationships they

build with their teammates are more important thanwins and losses.

500th win marks milestone for volleyball coach

The varsity volleyball team gathers around Coach Caroline Simp-

son after winning their game and earning their coach her 500thwin of her career.

Valaria Arriaga

Staff writer The pressures of school, cross country practices,and being senior class president, are only the be-ginning of senior Seanna Rodriguezs neverendingagenda. While she struggles for the time to committo cross country, she manages to be the light for theteam and an inuence amongst the younger mem-

bers. Being the only senior on the team makes her theleader, cross-country coach Jeanette Muncie said.She is helping the other kids, encouraging them,and showing them what its like to be a part of theteam. They denitely see her dedication and devo-tion to what were doing. Seannas positive attitude and hard work encour-age the rest of the team to give their best. She is cutting minutes off of her time during the

whole season, Muncie said. She always keeps it

lighthearted and shes improving a lot, and it rubsoff onto the rest of the team. Being the upperclassmen on the team, Seanna in-uences other members by setting the bar high andshowing endurance. Seanna is one of the older kids, freshman CrossCountry member Lauren Yancy said. She is alwaystrying in practice and she never gives up and neverstops. Through the hard work Seanna puts in on thecourse, she has seen the value in leadership skills. Ive had to set an example and be a good rolemodel for the underclassmen, Seanna said. I wantmore responsibility so I can be a leader to other stu-dents. Ive had to put in more work and learn timemanagement skills through the process of being in-

volved in cross-country and student council.

Seanna is also a leader off the course as senior

class president. Seanna is involved in numerous student activi-ties around campus and is a well rounded student

who knows how to balance her time, administra-tive assistant and senior class sponsor Maria Fieldsaid. Seniors are quite busy during their last yearand not only have school demands, but outside de-mands. Even if it is a 10 or 20 minute conversation,she listens and gets the task done and brings otherseniors with her. Her leadership skills have beenearned by being the example to others. Overall, Seanna contributes to the teams relation-ships and provides them with the courage to give ittheir all. She helps everybody laugh and shares so muchabout herself, Muncie said. She provides our team

with strength.

Student leads in sport, organization on campusRacing for time


8/15

Andy RamirezAssociate editor

He woke up on a cold December morning, notunlike any other. He shufe out of bed, wentthrough his normal routine, and got ready for

work. He drove his car through early morning traf-c as he did every day. As he pulled into the park-ing lot at the food bank, he noticed another car in

the lot, but dismissed it as a volunteer worker wait-ing for the coordinator to arrive. Halfway throughopening the food center, he heard a knock on thedoor. A little girl, of about seven, and her mother

were standing in the doorway, dressed in pajamas,in the cold. They explained that they were in need

of food. Their car was their home, the park bath-rooms their showers. The mother then explained

about the loss of her husband, and how it left her awidowed stay-at-home mom with a young daugh-ter to take care of. It was one of those momentsthat changes a persons life forever, at least it did

for food warehouse distributor Jason Galindo, aformer Bryan High student.

Hunger is a feeling everyone has experienced;the growling stomach, the fatigue, the exhaustion,

but for most, a quick meal puts an end to these un-comfortable and distracting feelings. Some, how-

ever, dont have that luxury as they are forced tolive with the reality of not knowing where theirnext meal may come from. Hunger is real, and itisnt just a foreign struggle, but a problem foundacross America. District wide, 75% or 11,842 of BISD students

qualify for free and reduced-price meals, head nu-tritional coordinator Sunday Fryrear said, Sixty-seven percent or 1,362 students at BHS qualify forfree and reduced-price meals. These numbers represent more than statistics,they are real students experiencing real hardships.

However, many high school students are too afraid

to ask, or simply do not k now about the assistancethat is available, as there is a 10% drop in the num-

ber of students who receive aid at the high schoollevel.

Students are afraid of a stigma that may be as-sociated with being on free and reduced-pricemeals, Fryrear said, However, with improvedtechnology such as online applications and the factthat all students scan their IDs to get a meal, it isextremely difcult to determine which students are

receiving free and reduced-price meals. We workvery hard to maintain condentiality on our part. The federal government provides around $7 mil-lion to fund these aid programs for students dur-ing the school day, but hunger doesnt end at theschool bell.

Some schools provide snacks for students intutoring or after school educational programs,

Fryrear said. The district also participates in theBackpack Program which is a Food Bank program.On Fridays, certain students receive a backpacklled with food that they take home for the week-

end. Such programs are also available during holidaysand times when school is not in session. These pro-grams do not receive funding from the federal gov-ernment and are completely funded by grants andprivate donors.

The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)was created to ensure that children could contin-ue to receive nutritious meals during the summer

break, Fryrear said. Anyone between the agesof 1-18 may receive a free meal at any of our opensites. We do not ask for proof of income or proof of

age. While schools and the district take an active rolein providing for students, food banks play a largepart in caring for those in the community who en-dure hunger and food insecurity.

Last year, we distributed 6.5 million pounds [of

food] within Brazos, Robertson, Grimes, Washing-

ton, Madison, and Burleson counties, Galindosaid, According to Feeding Americas 2014 Hun-

ger Study, our network of 200 food banks serve46.5 million people a year, which translates to 1 in

7 people. While that number is staggering, there are manyprograms in place to help those who are struggling. Most of the agencies within our local food banknetwork cater to anyone that is hungry, with onlya few requiring proof of residence, Galindo said.

Anyone in need can also call 411 and ask for foodassistance and the operator will direct the caller tosomeone that can help. For those not directly affected by hunger, thereare ways they can help and give back. Not everyone has the income to donate to the

cause, but most people probably have a few hoursof their time to volunteer at some point during

their week, Galindo said. Anyone that is lookingto get involved can call any of the agencies and askfor volunteer opportunities, or come by the Brazos

Valley Food Bank and lend a helping hand.

Dont let social stigmas deter you from eithergiving or receiving aid, because hunger is real, andit doesnt care about age, gender, race, or income. If someone shows up on a bicycle carrying allof their belongings, they will receive aid, Galindosaid, If someone shows up in a brand new BMW

claiming they are hungry, they will receive aid. Galindo said society sees those driving aroundin a Mercedes and thinks they must have a lot ofmoney, but the reality is, a lot can go wrong at anypoint in time. For examples, a lawyer, making 6 g -ures a year, driving in a Benz, with a half million

dollar house could discover he has cancer, lose hisjob, can no longer afford health insurance, and isforced to nd a way to pay his bills and take care ofhis family.

There are those that are abusing the system, butI wholeheartedly believe that is a very small per-

centage compared to those that truly need the as-

sistance, Galindo said.

Food bank, school programs provide food for familiesPage 8 - Fight Hunger Fight Hunger - Page 9

Statistics and graphics from the 2014 Feeding America Hunger Study

General Food Items:Canned Fish and Meats: Tuna,Sardines, Wild SalmonWhole Grains: Rice (Brown,Wild), Steel-cut or Rolled Oats,Whole Grain Dry Cereals, WholeGrain PastasDried Fruits: Blueberries, Prunes,Cranberries, Mangos, ApplesCanned Soups, Beans, andLegumes: Black Beans, KidneyBeans, Garbanzo Beans, LentilsWhole Unsalted Nuts and Seeds:Pumpkin Seeds, Sunower Seeds,

Almonds, Walnuts, PistachiosMisc Products: Peanut Butter,Olive Oil, Green and White Tea,Dark Chocolate, Honey, 100%Fruit Juice

Other Needs:Kid Needs: Fruit Cups, JuiceBoxes, Granola Bars, Crackers,Popcorn, Sugar-Free PuddingCupsInfant Needs: Formula, InfantCereal, Diapers, Wipes

*posted on BV Food Bank web page

Most needed non-perishable items

Brazos Church Pantry304 W. 26th StreetBryan, TX979-822-2660Monday 1:00-2:30 pmTuesday 9:3011:00 amWednesday 1:00-2:30 pmThursday 9:30-11:00 amFriday 9:30-11:00 amSaturday 10:00-11:30 am

The Bridge Ministries1002 East 29th StreetBryan, TX 77803Thursday 6-7:30 pm

First Baptist Church ofCollege Station2300 WelshCollege Station, TX979-696-7000Every Tuesday10:00 am - 11:30 am

Twin City MissionCommunity Cafe410 RandolphBryan, TX979-822-1492Monday - FridayLunch: 12:15 -12:45 pmDinner: 5:15 pm - 5:45 pm

Lee ChapelUnited Methodist Church903 N WashingtonBryan, Texas(979) 703-8816Open 4th Sat. of every month10:00 am 12:00 noon

Salvation Army2506 CavittBryan, TX979-361-0618Monday, Wednesday,Thursday & Friday9:00 am 11:30 am

Brazos Valley Food Bank1514 Shiloh Ave.Bryan, TX 77803979-779-3663

Food Donations Small-scale donations of food (a few bagsor boxes, as opposed to a van or pick-up truckfull of food), can be dropped off at the BrazosValley Food Bank any time fr om 9:00 am - 3:00pm Monday-Friday. Bins are ready to receivedonations. If you wish to donate to the Brazos ValleyFood Bank, do not require a receipt for yourdonation and are interested in fnding a drop-off location closer to you, the following storeshave Brazos Valley Food Bank bins in their

establishment:

Kroger Boonville RoadKroger LongmireKroger Southwest Parkway/Texas Ave. S.

VolunteerVisit the Brazos Valley Food Bank we b page:www.bvfb.org and contact their Food AssemblyCoordinator.

Other ProgramsBackpacks: 1 month (4 backpacks) $28Family Boxes: 1 month (4 boxes) $24Senior Bags: 1 month (4 bags) $24

Other options are available on their web site ifyou would like to donate diffe rent amounts to

the above programs.

Donations

How to get help

How to help


9/15

Danica MendesStaff writer

If you have watched the Hunger Games, andyoure seeking another thrilling young adult movie,Divergent might be the choice for you. Trilogieshave become increasingly popular over the last de-cade, butDivergentis a cut above other series suchas Twilight. As the screen faded to black, I just satthere, wondering if I would be able to wait for thesecond installment. I didnt know about the Divergent series until Isaw the movie and I was completely blown away. It

was one of the best movies Id seen in a long time.The lm focuses around an enigmatic factional so-ciety. The ve factions are: Amity the peaceful, Can-dor the honest, Dauntless the brave, Abnegation theseless, and Erudite the intelligent. Each factionlives in its own society, without being able to contactfamily or friends in other factions. The movie is based in a dystopian society in fu-turistic Chicago after the world falls apart. Teenag-ers have to decide if they want to stay in their cur-rent faction, or switch into a different faction that

suits them for the rest of their lives. The new factionmembers then have to go through an initiation pro-

cess to live out the choice theyve made. Which in-cludes physical and mental tests that prepare themfor the faction. If one does not t into the factionthat they chose, it could lead to death or to becom-ing factionless. Factionless are people who didntsurvive initiation, which means that they may havechose the wrong faction to be in. In the movie, Beatrice Prior is the main charac-ter, played by Shailene Woodley. Most people knowShailene as the actress that played in Secret Life ofthe American Teenager, but in this movie she playsa strong female lead. I loved the way she playedBeatrice because she added emotion and feelingsthroughout the movie, which I think is important foractors and actresses to achieve. The way the movie was lmed was outstanding.During one particular scene, Beatrice is zip-liningthrough Chicago and the recreation of the skylineis amazing. The fact that its based on a dystopiansociety catches a persons attention. Its not like ev-ery other movie that has a happy feel to it. It has

romance, action, suspense, and heartbreak, whichmakes it entertaining to watch, but they left a lot

of important things out from the book that mademe unhappy. Theo James, the actor who portrayedFour, was an ideal choice for the role because he isa likable character and his actions and line deliveryseemed to match the storyline. I didnt know, until I read the book, that things

were missing from the movie. I was disappointedat rst because I wasnt expecting certain things to

be left out, but in the end Ive come to the conclu-sion that I liked both the movie and the book, but indifferent ways. And unlike many people who cantseem to separate the two, I appreciate each of themon their own merits. If you havent seenDivergentalready, I stronglyrecommend doing so. The book is also really well

written and allows the reader to grasp how Beatricethinks more than simply watching the movie. Since

Insurgentwill not be released until the Fall of 2015,Ill probably reread the trilogy again and rentDiver-gentfrom Redbox a few more times.

Big screen success for book trilogyFans await release of second Divergent movie

Val ArriagaStaff writer The dark, underground coffee shops. A stool upona stage. A mic and a speaker with a paper in hand, re-citing poems that paint vivid images and pluck at theheartstrings of the listeners. This experience is beingrecreated into easily accessible spoken word albumsthat mimic, yet dont replicate, watching and seeingpoets perform live. Shane Koyczans RemembranceYearis a collection of poems written from deep with-in his memories and the poems are backed with theinstrumental talents of Short Story Long. The albumis aimed at attacking abuse, both self-inicted andfrom outside factors, with inspirational and coura-geous words. The opening track Remember How We Forgotsignies the opposite of its title. Koyczans infamouschorus we wont forget announces every momentof sadness or happiness in his life. I agree with Koy-czan that memories shouldnt be forgotten and theymake us who we are. In the second track, Pulse,Koyczan uses sensuous words and vivid imagery to

interpret the importance of embracing our bodies.This track sweeps away the negative aspects of bodiesand makes listeners feel that imperfections are really

what make up perfections. Pulse has the ability to

change opinions on bodies and highlight a recurringproblem of women not embracing their bodies. The third track, To This Day, pushes away child-hood bullying and self-loathing. The line that struckme the most was our lives will con-tinue to be a balancing act that hasless to do with pain and more to do

with beauty. In other words, life isntmeant to be spent pondering all ourmisfortunes. My thoughts are thatthere will be negativity coming in atus from anyone or anything, but theeffort should be concentrated in stay-ing positive. The next few tracks, Insider, To-matoes, and Weather Reports, arelled with confessions, mostly to do with his past ro-mances. The lines in each of these songs are packed

with phrases that are hard to grasp because eachword adds more, and just when it seems that noth-ing else can be said, Koyczan still manages to pushon. These songs are songs that could sweep people off

their feet due to the incredible romance thats packedinto the poem. Although seems humorous at rst, Visiting Hours,communicates an important message as Koyczan at-

tempts to answer a question everyone faces at somepoint: What is my place in this world? This motiva-tional track is meant to explain that life gets hard, butobstacles are meant to be overcome. Many of his lines

in this poem have deep signicance,but as he says them, they are verylighthearted, which is how the songshould be interpreted. The nal track, My Darling Sara,is a sad ending to an encouragingalbum. Koyczan tells a story of twolovers looking for consolation for alltheir wrongs and their aws. Every-one at some point experiences feel-ing like an outsiders and in ndingsomeone they feel welcomed and be-

longing with, there isnt anything we wouldnt do tokeep them. The background music adds to the atmo-sphere, with arpeggiated piano, cello, and violin. Remembrance Yearis a work of art. Although thealbum is deeply intimate to Koyczans experiences,the songs appeal to anyone because the messages are

direct and reach out to the youth. Although ShaneKoyczan isnt well-known, his work is well worth lis-tening to or reading. The album is written with emo-tion, without giving emotion a bad name.

Shane Koyczan attacks abuse withRemembrance Year

Page 10 - Entertainment


10/15

Entertainment - Page 11

Mariah GuerreroStaff writer

The neon leg warmers, baggy sweat-shirts, and wild poofy hair will remainsafely tucked away deep in closetsacross America because, even thoughthe 80s are making a comeback, itsthankfully not with fashion.

Instead its with wildly fun and en-tertaining movies, television shows,and cartoons. Personally, this changein movies and TV shows is a relief tome because Ive had enough of point-less current television shows (though

Doctor Who is just fantastic, but anargument can be made that it toolived through the 80s). Yes, I am aware that most of thepeople reading this were not born inthe 70s and raised in the 80s, butmany have at least heard their par-ents talk about a few nostalgic classiccartoons or television shows, or havehopefully even watched a few reruns. In 1984, a colorful cartoon entitled

Rainbow Britewas created for younggirls. A girl named Wisp, whose namelater changes toRainbow Britedue toplot progression, restores color to theland by defeating the King of Shad-ows.

Rainbow Briteis making its cartoonrenewal to our lovely modern screenssoon with Emily Osment as the voiceof Wisp/Rainbow Brite. ButRainbow

Brite isnt the only small screen hitgetting a make-over.

Remember Full House? With itsoriginal stellar cast, the plan is to re-

boot the show. Awesome right? JohnStamos, who played Uncle Jesse,is fully supporting the reboot and

hopes to be joined by the same origi-nal cast. Full details havent been re-

leased but who knows, maybe Kimmywill end up being a Fashion Designerlike she dreamed. Now, on to the big screen; MollyRingwald should not be rebooted and,lets face it, Molly is in most of themovies from the 80s.

Seriously, what worthwhile moviefrom the 80s is there that Molly Ring-

wald wasnt in? Okay, besides The Ka-rate Kid movies and The Outsiders

which both have Ralph Macchio.

Nonetheless, I am in favor of not re-making The Breakfast Club,Back ToThe Future, Pretty In Pink, SixteenCandles, Ghostbusters, and Grem-lins.

These classic tales of friends andtheir fantastic adventures in Satur-day detention; a time traveling schoolstudent and his old friend; a poor girlmaking her own clothes and gettingthe guy; a trio of men defeating ghoststhat are taking over their city; a six-teen year old with her dream guy; anda fur ball who should notbe fed aftermidnight, should not be renewed be-cause of how timeless they are andhow poorly it might end up.

Its too late for Footloose, The Ka-rate Kid, and The Goonies. Footloose was revived a couple of

years ago with the same plot, and ac-curate casting was decent as far as re-makes go.

The Karate Kidas some of you mayremember also got its reboot in 2010,though everything about it was differ-ent from the original The Karate Kid

in 1984. Character names and set-ting are completely different, leaving

only the title to make it seem like the2010 Karate Kidmovie was like the1984 version, making it just a bit lesstolerable. Though rumour has it thatThe Goonieswill never say die! StevenSpielberg is coming up with ideas forthe new plot that will include previouscast members.

Im not worried about this movieand how the actors arent 14 anymore

but, Im worried about whether SeanAstin is in it or not! Some may know

him as the young boy Mikey from TheGoonies, though in the next Gooniesmovie he may just end up being agrown man with a few kids and a wife.Perhaps Data, Mouth, Mikey, Chump,

Andy, Brand, and Stefs kids will endup fnding their parents map and goon their own adventure. In my opin-ion, that would be a great movie to

watch! Although you may not be so inter-ested in the 80s and its reboots, what

would you think about reboots of yourfavorite TV shows, movies, and car-toons in 20 to 30 years from now?

Maybe you will have your own chil-dren by then, and perhaps the themesong of The Powerpuff Girlswill startto play in the living room, or pos-sibly Fosters Home for Imaginary

Friends.Wouldnt you want your kids to ex-

perience those memorable parts of

your childhood? Wouldnt you wantto bring back some of your favoriteold tv shows, movies, and cartoons?

80s make comeback on big, small screenBack to the Future Whats your

favorite movieor cartoon

remake?

Star Trekbecause its

more modern.

Amber Mosqueda, 12

How The Grinch Stole

Christmas because its a

Christmas movie.Meghan Wilkinson and

Martha Vilas, 12

The Great Gatsby

because its hip.

Rachel Ullmann, 12


11/15

Page 12 - Opinions

Pecyouliar trends: Oxfords walk into spotlight Shoes have

become justabout as ir-relevant asthe splat-tered mos-quitoes thatget wiped

and smeared off to the sides of windshields, andthat is unacceptable. Shoes are why we can climb mountains withoutstabbing our feet against sharp rocks causing deep,

bloody gashes that will leave disgusting scars. Theyare an object of complete joy, and they cover feet

which is very important because feet make me un-comfortable A shoe can say a lot about a personspersonality depending on the way they wear themor by adding personality and revealing their inner

Picasso. Shoes arent just protection for your feet,shoes are love, shoes are life. Shoes come in all sizes, colors, and styles, butthe best kind of shoes are Oxfords. Oxford shoesare stylish, pretty comfortable after the rst heel

blister heals over with a good callus , and add someheight to otherwise shorter people. My collectionof Oxford shoes is ourishing since I buy themanywhere, especially at thrift shops (shout out toMacklemore). I can wear Oxfords whenever I want

because they can be formal and casual at the sametime. They can even be adapted for working out-doors, like when putting together a killer treehouse(in the sense that it will be awesome, not literally

killer), so toes wont be broken. Plenty of people compliment my shoes, but Ithink theyre just inuenced by the recurring fash-ion trend that is hipster. Ox shoes, as I like to

call them, come in every style imaginable. Theressome with silver or gold toes, pointy or roundedtoe, innite prints and materials, and the choices ofhaving a high heel, no heel or even platforms. Thepossibilities are endless! Furthermore, these shoesarent only for women, theyre for men too! Noweveryone can look fresher than fresh and the wordratchet might nally die. It should be a requirement to own at least onepair of Oxfords, because wearing tennis shoes withdress pants is a no-no and you wouldnt want todrop a hammer on your foot or step on a rusty nail.Everyone should buy Oxfords because theyre su-per cool and everyone will be jealous of you. But if

everyone has them, no one can be jealous and therewill be peace in the world. Therefore, according tomy analysis, Oxford shoes are the answer to worldpeace.

Theres always new music, youre just cranky

Music, a seemingly innocent topic ofconversation can bring me a great dealof pain when headed down the wrongdirection. We ended up talking about

what we like, what we dont like, whatwere excited about, and what came tobe disappointing, but no matter wherewe are, it always comes back to that

one person who always gives the restof us the classic excuse, Theres justnothing new thats good.

This is typically the fan of anythingup to the late 70s, a huge proprietorof The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, maybePink Floyd, and is a devout combatantto modern pop stars like Lady Gaga,Justin something, and perhaps Lordeif hes really spiteful. This person ac-cepts what he is familiar with and de-tests whatever he catches snippets of

halfway through switching radio sta-tions that sounds remotely recent. If

you are this person, you have a lot tolearn about music, and even more tolearn about how to nd it. The reason why pop music is pop

is because the majority of listenersmatch their tastes to the broadest gen-eralization of sound designed to latchonto as many people as possible.

Pop music is engineered speci-

cally to be heard on radios, exposingspecic higher frequencies to as many

bystanders as possible, making themusic much easier to hear from a dis-tance or from a car radio speaker.

The business of engineering popmusic serves to extend itself, not theartist or even the listener. Hypotheti-cally, if the general public decided oneday that all of a sudden they happento like black metal, then the music in-

dustry will produce a broad, general-ized reimagination of black metal andpromote the bejesus out of it.

They do this mainly to remain rel-evant and nancially viable, prayingthat people will hopefully pay moneyto their outdated business model, hop-ing to scrape the remaining curd outof a customer who could easily pay ab-solutely nothing through downloadingfor basically the same product, if not

better. The music industry does not

encompass 100% of the music listen-ing community, merely the majorityof casual listeners. If someone is trulyinterested in nding new and interest-ing music, they must look further than

what can be heard accidentally and

spend their time nding what can onlybe found intentionally. It should be known that popu-lar does not equal bad. If you thinksomething is terrible because it is well

known, then please stop. You are ruin-ing music. If anything, popular musicis what sorts out the garbage from thelistenable garbage, because I guaran-tee you a large percentage of all mu-sic that has ever been made is obscureand most likely untting to the tastesof a single person.

Pop music typically serves to pro-duce simplistic backing to the workingday of the average listener, and theres

absolutely nothing wrong with that.There have been pop music groupsthat only function by making musicto that standard and succeed very wellat doing it, and theres nothing wrong

with liking that kind of music.If it appeals to you, then theres very

little basis to argue against your per-sonal tastes. However, there have also

been popular music groups who ini-tially set out to produce pop-standardtunes who later went on to expand into

more interesting elds and record en-tirely new, more challenging forms ofmusic. Some of them even abandonedtheir well-garnered acclamations forthe sake of maintaining the inherentconviction to making music for the

love of music itself. Talk Talk, a synth pop group fromthe mid 1980s, produced a few inter-esting hits, some of which were oc-casionally weighed down by a couple

throwaways. But in 1988, they left outthe dated synth ushes and quick-paced dance rhythms and out of no-

where, recorded the single greatestalbum of the decade, Spirit of Eden.Containing four songs (one of whichlasting a little over 20 minutes), thealbum has absolutely no ller whatso-ever.

Every piece of sound is given true in-tention with the correct spatial place-

ment between one another, the properinection of every pluck, breath, hit,and strum needed to elicit the appro-priate reaction from the listener, thetasteful layering of instruments andswells upon each other so as not tounnecessarily bloat the compositionpast its space of comprehension yetto maintain the mystery of a discover-able sound every new listen, and not asingle second of wasted time.

Everything comes in when it needs

to, drops out when it has exhausted itscontribution, and never wears out onthe listeners ears. This album is a sub-

ject to the discography of the suddenlyawkward continuation of a late 1980s

...continued on page 14

Andrew Buck,Staff writer

Valeria Arriaga,

Staff writer


12/15

Opinion - Page 13

Hanging with friends should focus on relationships,not blurred by substances, poor decisions

In high school there are many spe-cial occasions to look forward to likeschool dances and birthday bashes.

You make plans with friends, rent li-mos, and buy dresses, but really, whatare you thinking about when it comes

to these events? How are you planningon showing up? Sober? Drunk? High? Unfortunately, many Americanteens make their most memorableevents the most dangerous times ofthe year due to teens making stu-pid and unnecessary choices, such assmoking and drinking. Why do some adults think beinghigh or drunk with teens and children

around is okay? Adults should serveas positive examples to younger peo-

ple, not as poor inuences, becauseyounger children and teens look up tothem. When making plans to go out toa party, you shouldnt feel the need tohave to drink, do drugs, or participatein any other illegal activities. Adultsmust know right from wrong aroundother people. When Im out with my friends or at a

big event, I know I will see at least vepeople under the inuence. The kindof people that have to be drunk or highto have fun, are absurd to me, becauseits ridiculous to want it all the time.Its like theyre addicted to somethingthat does not make it any fun, if any-thing it ruins the fun, because of howdangerous and harmful it can be. Drinking under age is a big deal inthe U.S. The legal drinking age is 21,so why are 13 and 14 year olds drink-ing alcohol? Some people might say,Well in other countries they can

drink at a young age, as an excuse,but they dont drink to get drunk, they

drink to compliment their meal, justlike drinking wine with their dinner.Military soldiers might also say If Ican die for my country I should be ableto drink, but with drinking comes re-sponsibility. I dont see whats so wrong aboutgoing to a party sober. It would benice to know what Im doing and beable to walk straight and rememberthe events that took place. There are fun and sober activitiesto do everywhere, but it seems like anincreasing number of young peoplechoose to ignore that, because theyretoo hung up on getting high anddrunk. Some use it has an excuse toescape. Saying it makes their life andproblems better and helps them feelhappier, but in reality their issue of

being sad or angry is still there. Beinghigh is a temporary feeling, and reallyits just making your problems worse,

not really helping. Every time I ask someone why they

keep smoking or whats so good aboutit, their response is It makes me feelgood.

It may bring a temporary escape toreality, thats great, but it causes poorchoices and lowers your reaction time.I just dont get how smelling like mari-

juana and alcohol is pleasant to peo-ple, especially at special occasions. Ittakes the focus away from the peopleand events and places it on the sub-stance. In all honesty, people shouldnot have to do things that alter theirconscious state, like getting drunk orgetting high just to enjoy themselves. Its time to take a stand, have fun,and get to know people by playinggames, being in clubs, or even just go-ing to the movies, instead of stayingstuck in the past, sticking with badhabits and going to jail. Now tell me

would that still be fun?

Cats: purrfect pet for universal domination

Cats are, without a doubt,the most amazing creaturesin the whole entire universe.

Not only are they great,easy-to-handle pets, but arealso the epitome of the inter-net today. GIF after cat GIF,cats never cease to make uslaugh until we cry, and feelall warm and fuzzy inside. Cats also each have theirown personalities and idio-

syncrasies.Some cats may sleep all

day and be totally mellow,while others can be com-

pletely insane andconstantly bouncingoff the walls. Thesecrazy cats will usuallygrow out of the hyperphase once they be-come adults.

Cats also have atendency to be very sarcasticand sometimes evil, but welove them anyway. A cat can be good for prettymuch any type of householdthats missing a pet.

If youre away a lot, catshave a great way of keepingthemselves company, by ei-ther trashing the house orsleeping all day.

Since they sleep most of

the time, you never reallyhave to worry about cats get-ting lonely.

Cats are also excellent for

a family with younger chil-dren, especially the hyperones (cats, and children).They provide a great playbuddy and an even betterfriend. If the last thing yourhouse needs is a catgetting hair everywhereand messing things up,then maybe an outdoorcat is the pet for you.

Some cats do betterin the great outdoorsand enjoy being ableto roam free for a whilerather than being con-tained in a home allday. And though theyarent too pleasing to the eye,

hairless cats are also an op-tion. Even though cats are prettyawesome, they also have ob-

vious issues. For instance,you cant really train a cat.

The closest thing there isto training for a cat is puttingthe litter box in an accessibleplace and cleaning it out ev-

ery once in a while because,

lets be honest here, you cantmake a cat do anything itdoesnt want to do.

Cats can also be pretty

evil. Its never fun to replacethe curtains after your kit-ten has ripped them up orto have a permanent urinestain on your great-grand-mothers rug.

Now if you have com-pletely lost your mindand are ready to bringthe devils animal intoyour home (no seri-ously), the best way ofnding out which catis best for you is to goto your local animalshelter or somethingsimilar, and hang outwith the cats for awhile and make a new

best friend.

Odds are theres a catsomewhere out there waitingfor a home, and maybe yourethe best t for one another.

Jennyfer Tucker

Staff writer

Lucy Raleigh

Staff writer


13/15

Page 14 - Opinion

Fighting again wages in the MiddleEast as members from a multination-al coalition led by the United States

battle against extremist militantghters of the Islamic State terroristgroup, often referred to as ISIS, ISIL,

or simply IS. Much of the heavy ght-ing is taking place in Iraq and Syria,

where Kurdish ground forces, backedby US led airstrikes, are battling toreclaim lost territory. On October 6,ISIS captured a key Turkish bordertown, which heightened regional ten-sions as the world looks to the US ledcoalition for a response against thisgrowing threat. For decades, the United States has

been war weary from years of ghtingin the Middle East against terroristgroups. Thousands of American liveshave been lost to these radical ter-rorists, ranging from combat groundtroops, to international journalists

being brutally beheaded in massivelypublicized videos. For the rst timein a number of years, policy makersin Washington agree that Americashould be involved in ghting theseextremists, but some are torn about

the extent to which the American mil-itary and government should be in-

volved. Public opinion is split betweena limited military role, with economicand political leadership being the pri-mary involvement, to America takinga large military role.

While nobody desires warfare anddeath, there are some instances in

which there is simply no other effec-tive alternative. ISIS is determined todestroy all ethnic and religious groupsthat do not conform to their beliefs,and are willing to rape, murder, or de-

stroy anyone that opposes them. Thisincludes not only soldiers, but alsoinnocent women and children. Thistype of radical extremism is a stainupon the human race, and warrantsthe full extent of international law to

bring these brutal criminals to justice.This difcult task will require leader-ship on behalf of the United States, as

well as other major world powers, incoordinating political, economic, and

military measures to destroy the ter-rorists and restore order to the em-battled people of Iraq and Syria thatlive in constant fear of death. Leader-ship is one of the key deciding factorsthat will ultimately cause this war onterror to succeed or to fail. However, leadership alone doesnt

win wars. That task falls to the ght-ing men and women of the worldsmilitaries. In order to effectivelymake use of global American leader-

ship, the Army, Air Force, and Navyshould join our overseas allies and

ght alongside them to contain, con-trol, and crush ISIS before it spreads.Currently, our military involvementserves primarily as a supporting rolein airstrikes. However, this may proveto be insufcient, as evidenced by thefact that coalition and anti-terroristforces are losing ground battles to theextremists. This is due to the loose or-ganization and lack of experience ofmany of those ghting on the ground,

but if American military advisers and

ground soldiers had more of a pres-ence, ISIS would be unable to claimnearly as many victories as they have.For this reason, politicians shouldconsider not only taking more of aleadership role, but also approvingmore of a ground, air, and sea pres-ence in the region to promote stabil-ity. Many may be reading this with wea-ry eyes, and think that it isnt worth

it to ght yet another war against yetanother terrorist group. It all seemsso distant, as if it isnt our ght, andthe problem belongs to someone elsein some distant land. Memories of theIraq war, Al-Qaeda, and the Talibanare brought up, and how many inno-cent lives it took in those campaigns.Some may argue that every soldier isa life; everyone has family, friends,a wife, or kids, and that another warisnt worth a single life more. In many

ways, that is absolutely true. How-ever, is that not true for the innocent

victims of terrorist aggression in for-eign nations? As a country, we mustask ourselves how we will respondto evil in our time. Will we bow out,surrender, and give up? Will we for-get and turn a blind eye to the criesand suffering of our fellow humans?Or will we, as Americans and humans,rise to the challenge, and pay the dif-cult price to ensure that every man,

woman, and child can sleep a littlemore soundly at night, and wake up

with the promise of a better future,devoid of terrorism and hatred? If werefuse to ght evil, we admit failureand open the door for other evils topropagate and prey upon the weak.Every American and coalition sol-dier who has died ghting terrorism

would have been lost in vain if we giveup on the goals they paid the ultimatesacrice to achieve. This would be atragedy in and of itself, compounded

by the further loss of innocent life thatwould occur under the heavy hand ofISIS.

Someone has to be the voice for thebroken, the defender of the weak. Ifnot us, then who? If not now, when?The time has come for America toface the threats of the world with re-solve and determination, staying for-ever true to the ideals of freedom andequal opportunity for all humanity.

America called to armsTerrorist group pushes international community

Andy Ramirez

Associate

editor

...continued from page 12synth-pop trio, only given the praise of professional criticism, not massive commercial ap-peal.

It could never have been promoted through the radio, in a commercial, or in a lm. It hadto have been found to be heard. And through this nding came one of the very few albumsI could almost consider completely perfect. So if something is worth hearing, it may notalways be handed to you. But if its truly remarkable, than the search will always pay off. Remember that there is no true connection between the popularity of a song or album andits quality, and there will always be something undiscovered that can change your entireconception of music. For everyone, the perfect album is waiting somewhere to be heard, itsonly through your own determination that you will hear it. If you want to discover new music, go to rateyourmusic.com. The site produces customcharts based on date, genre, and type of release. It is very easy to use and extremely helpful.

Search for new music Should America getinvolved with thefght against ISIS?Student Survey

134 students surveyed


14/15

Many people pride themselves on be-

ing socially conscious, but as a whole

social consciouness seems to be eeting

based on observing past examples.

It seems like the majority of the na-

tion will get behind a common cause,

but the cause can be lost in the absur-

dity of the trend.

Look at KONY 2012. It exploded

across social media and even benetted

from monetary donations, only to fallat within less than a month.

More recently, the ALS Icebucket

Challenge swept through the B/CS

community as facebook timelines and

twitter feeds were ooded with person

after person being doused with ice and

water.

Everyone, from the superintendant

to the principal to even our own staff

members, participated in this challenge

as did countless others in our commu-nity, but then it was over as quickly as

it began.

The combination of social media, a

fun challenge, and a good cause were

the perfect recipe to go viral, but what

happens when its over?

The ALS challenge gained national

attention across television networks

and increased funding for ALS from

$1.9 million in a month period of time

to $31.5 million. The ofcial ALS web

page has even added the Ice Bucket

Challenge information to their home

page, so it seems to have worked.

With all the good that came out of thechallenge, the questions that come up

include: Are people now aware of what

ALS is? Will the interest and money

continue to grow now that the frenzy

has died down? and What will be the

next thing to go viral?

Social media is no longer considered

new but new ways of using it are con-

tinuing to expand.

With that being said, participate in

trends and have fun, but take the timeto research what the cause is and help

out in other ways than just posting vid-

eos to social media.

- The Norseman Staff

Trends melt as need remains

Adviser

Rebecca Dominy

Co-editor

Jesse Baxter

Robert Morgan

Associate Editor

Andy Ramirez

The opinions expressed are those of the writers and are not reective of the

administrators, faculty or staff of Bryan Independent School District.

Submissions to the editor are welcomed, but must be signed and should not

exceed 300 words. The editor reserves the right to edit submissions in the

interest of clarity and length or to not print a letter at all. Letters containing

obscene or libelous material will not be considered.Bryan Independent School District does not discriminate on the basis of race,

religion, color, national origin, sex or handicap in providing education services.

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bryanhighnorseman.com

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BryanISDBryanHigh-

Norseman

Staff writers

Val Arriaga

Andrew Buck

Mariah Guerrero

Madison Hines

Danica MendesLucy Raleigh

Jennyfer Tucker

Opinions - Page 15

NORSEMAN

Stereotypes: this girls not a fanAs I sit herein myDoctorWho t-shirt,

with my

Harry Pot-ter backpacks p r a w l e dopen at myfeet, and

BBCs Sherlock playing in the background, I canthelp but wonder about the stereotypes surroundingthe term fangirl. How did it start? Who penned thename? And where, oh where did the rumor of fangirlsrefusing to bathe in nothing but their own tears comefrom? (Disclaimer: I do, in fact, shower daily). Jokes aside, the word fangirl does carry a cer-tain obsessive ring to it. If a bespectacled, pigtailed,screaming, fanction-writing twelve-year-old practi-cally foaming at the mouth came to mind, then theresa good chance youve fallen prey to the rumors. And

while I can consent that, yes, these rabid creatures doexist, I must insist that they do so only to make therest of us normal fans look bad.

I, for one, do not wear glasses (anymore), haveneverworn pigtails (voluntarily), and try to keep myfandom t-shirts limited to one day a week (though I

am still working on that one). In years before the social media bubble explodedover the face of the internet, thus tainting it forever

with endless feeds of pointless Facebook statuses

(yes, thank you, we know its raining), the act of par-ticipating in fandom was condemned to the base-ment. Maybe your mothers garage, but thats only if

you were lucky. People only learned about things byway of mouth, and outlets such as the news and radiostations.

A new product or idea could only spread if enoughpeople talked about it; however, after things likeTwitter, Tumblr, and, unfortunately, Facebooktouched down, it became a lot easier for mass hyste-ria to spread. Someone in Australia can write about anew band or TV show that they like, and a person inCalifornia can read about it seconds later.

Fandom now has the ability to spread like theplague, and odds are that everyone is probably ob-sessed with something. Because fandom life and, inturn, fangirls are so wide spread across media, it has

become more socially acceptable to engage in the actsof fandom that were previously conned to the dark. Of course, with the obscure becoming mainstream,there are the rare few who are actually angry thattheir nerdom sanctuary has been inltrated. They

dont enjoy having their favorite TV show or book se-ries become a fad that people only partake in to seemcool. Take Doctor Who for example. The show has

been around for over fty years now. It has a steady

fanbase that has only multiplied in recent years,which has been great for merchandise production.More fans equals more fun stuff. Which should be agood thingand is, for the most part. But when youhave a person who has seen one episode and thenclaims to be an expert, because, Look! I have a t-shirtto prove it! I can see why some of the longer-stand-ing fans would be put out with the shows new-foundpopularity. Honestly, the fangirls that Im used to are incred-ibly intelligent, thoughtful, well-spoken people who

just happen to be completely in love with ctionalcharacters, and worry constantly over their general

well-being and longevity in the show/book/whatevertheyre in. Were not all freaks. So could we please killthe idea of representing fangirls as weirdos, dorks,and losers? Can we please stop being made the buttof cruel jokes and the stars of offensive comics andsketches? Get some new material, please. Now, if youdont mind, Ive got the latest episode ofDoctor Whoto catch up on.

Madison Hines

Staff writer


15/15

Page 16 - Teacher/Student Spotlights

Danica MendesStaff writer While some students are struggling to nd waysto pay for the climbing cost of college tuition, the

military is providing another option. Seniors KaitlynHarris and Matthew Greer both received $83,000checks to be used for college through the AmericanGI bill for committing to the military for at leastthree years post high school graduation. The army wants students to enlist and serve theirtime, Greer said. The bill started during World

War II to get more people to join the military. Theygive enlistees money for college and once their termis complete they can go to school and get skills forthe workplace. Many students devote their high school years toplaying sports, participating band or singing in thechoir, but students who devote their life to the mili-tary frequently go unnoticed. I knew that the army had a lot of benets for me

instead of doing sports, Harris said. I dont thinkI wouldve kept playing sports [after high school].I like the military and its something that I plan tostick with.

When making a big decision like this, studentslook to others in their lives to help them with theprocess. My recruiter inspired me the most, Harris said.He never really pressured me into going into thearmy. Everyone was telling me that Ishouldnt go into the military becauseof the risk involved, but he helped mesee the military in a different way. Under the supervision of MajorJames Boydston, Greer has been ableto improve his military skills throughJROTC, which has shaped and trainedhim to be the person he is today. [Greer] has a very unique insightinto the things we instruct in leadership, Boydston

said. And a very unique application of that insightand his interpretation of what we teach Harris is proud of herself for receiving the check

because she is able to live up to her expectations by

going to college and joining the military. I was happy whenever I received the check, Har-ris said. It means that I am able to have a futureafter the military [by attending college].

Students enlist in military, gain means to attend college

Andrew BuckStaff writer

Renee Richards, art and IB lmteacher, assists students in developingtheir artistic skills through her uniqueapproach to teaching. The desire toeducate is not a learned skill for Rich-ards, as she says shes felt the desire toteach for a very long time.

I have two little sisters, Tina andAnnette. We were stair-stepped oneyear apart and whatever homework Ihad at night, they would do it as soonas I nished, so teaching them was al-

ways fun, Richards said. Learning isjust something thats enjoyable, andwhat good is something if you cantpass it on to someone else? Richards sums up her guiding phi-losophy as an educator in one word -actualization. My educational philosophy is fo-cused on whats important to students,

whats going to light up their futurewhether its something they do on the

side for enjoyment or something thatthey make - its actualization, Rich-ards said. When students can realize

what they can do, its powerful. Her principles of education tran-

scend the practice of art, serving as aguideline for all students who wish to

know what they can become.Whether a student is an antagonist

or a protagonist they question every-thing and thats kind of a fun thing tosee students feel; nding who they areand what they want to be, Richardssaid. Once a student begins to learn theprocess of creating art, Richards steps

back and allows them the creativespace to think on their own.

I can have input and Ican make suggestions, butits theirs; they own it bythat point, Richards said.Theyve learned their tech-nique, they have an emerg-ing style, and hopefully

by their senior year, theirstyle is there and its not my

work anymore.Senior Shirley Horton said the most

important thing she learned in class is

maintaining self discipline, both in artand in other areas of life.

I learned how to pace myself with-out being told by others what to do,Horton said. Pacing is important in a

work environment to meet deadlinesand learning that in art has helped me

move that skill to other areas.Richards provides a exible envi-

ronment for her studentsto expand, which is a veryimportant quality for an artteacher.

Despite the fact thatmany students have a negative viewof how difcult it may be to create

art, Richards ultimately believes its agood thing to struggle.

I know it sounds funny, but frus-tration is a wonderful thing in art,Richards said. When students get

frustrated they have to come up withbetter solutions, so thats what I

want, Richards said. Students aredoing stuff thats exceeding second

year and third year college. Sometimes students alsostruggle with the basic prin-ciples and elements of art inmind.

Students may hate mewhen Im teaching themtechnique because its te-dious and its time consum-ing, Richards said. Itsgetting it right, but whatthey do is after they learn it,thats the exciting part. Withart its the elements and

principles that can make what youreimagining possible. For Mrs. Richards, teaching is a skillacquired through understanding herstudents and the subject of art itself.For her, its the students that keep hercoming back.

Its not just teaching day-to-day,its seeing students run with it, seeingthem do more than expected, Rich-ards said. Thats the best thing.

Teacher aids students in utilizing creative processArtistic expression

Seniors Kaitlyn Harris and MatthewGreer accept their checks from theAmerican GI Act.

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