Countryside High School Paw Print Newspaper Volume 31 Issue 3

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Friday, December 18, 2009 - VOLUME 31, Issue 3 www.cnmcountryside.com

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Great deals for under $15.

-Page 2 Cliques. Does it cause seperation within the school?

-Page 12 Holiday give back.

-Page 13

THE COUNTRYSIDE HIGH SCHOOL

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IN THIS ISSUE...

Clearwater, FL 33761

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Features

Stocking stuffers under $15 for the whole family DevilzMoon

Elf Lip Gloss 5 piece, 5.00.

Vidal Sassoon Beard and Mustache Trimmer, $9.99.

heatherEBERT

features editor

With the current economic situation, the great Christmas tree in the center of the living room may not hover over as many decoratively wrapped presents as in past years.

Having that in mind, the traditional use of stockings might come in handy this year. There are plenty of items at your local shopping center such as Walmart or Target that you can buy at a price for less than 15 dollars. Here are some options for the whole family.

Topping the stocking off with a traditional candy cane is necessary, $1.00.

Body Lotion, $11.99.

Axe Essence Twins W/Added Bom Chicka Wah Wah Deodorant Bodyspray, $8.47.

BlackBerry Rubber Skin Case For Curve 8900 Black/Blue, $9.88.

A gift card for someone from a number of places like Best Buy, Starbucks or McDonalds.

Photo Scott Beck

Curve Crush 4.2oz Mist, $8.00.

JVC Gumy Stereo Headphones, $8.00 .

Photo Credits Walmart.com and Target.com

DevilzMoon

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Features

With holidays, it’s all or none justineLESSARD

staff writer

Due to the idea of separation of church and state holidays should definitely not be celebrated in schools. It does not make sense to hold religious events over people’s own belief because there are many religious holidays and you will be forced to be selective. There are way too many celebrations and way too many faiths to give proper recognition to them all. You are also bound to offend someone by being seemingly selective. Anyways, if you even did allow the celebration of multiple holidays such as Christmas and Kwanzaa, some people might object to having to celebrate it. Schools have no place to make people celebrate something that they do not agree with.

One might say that just because the school celebrates these holidays that students do not have to participate.

I don’t think this matters because exposing people and surrounding them with things concerning the particular celebration can still make them feel uncomfortable. It

is wrong to subject people to something and then assum that it will not affect them. On the contrary they have no choice but to be affected. Rather than trying to suppress the rights of those who wish to partake in festivities this is an attempt to defend those who would be forced to when they don’t wish to.

In all fairness the schools have no reason to be celebrating this anyways. It would make much more sense to leave these things out of the school environment because they might prove to be an overall distraction from things that students need to focus on. It is nice to get people in a good mood but holidays are better spent with family and friends instead of in a school, especially high school. It isn’t that I have anything against the holidays, I just respect the beliefs and faiths of those around me.

I think people should be more concerned about people’s individual rights and keep-

ing the school a healthy learning environment over the want to commemorate.

Make your Christmas colors “read” and green kattherineWILLIAMS

It’s an amazing read and will keep you hooked.

staff writer

One of the best things to do, bored or otherwise, is reading. When teacher’s have comments such as, “Books take you on an adventure” or “It’s good for your scholastic mind,” the students follow with a chorus of deep sighs and eye rolling. In truth, your teachers are not lying to you.

A truly good book can have you immersed in its content, while you are living in its imaginary world. If anything, when you are having a bad day and you just want to get away, one good book can take your mind off your troubles.

Most students write off reading because of its one flaw: not every book fits every person. Like every person is different and has different habits, they also have different tastes in books. Below is a list of books for every student. Don’t be shy and look through this list. What is the worst thing that can happen?

5. “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins To be honest, I haven’t actually read this book. But I can tell you that I get enough from my friends and librarian about how crazy I am to have not picked it up. It is an amazing tale about a young girl that keeps you hooked.

The first book definitely leaves you hanging. If you are planning on reading the first, or you get it and you are enjoying it, I would go out and buy the second....you will need it.

Drama: 1. All books by Ellen Hopkins Ellen Hopkins visited our school last year and just from listening to her, we all learned that she was not afraid to speak her mind and she is extremely honest. Her personality is shown through her books. I would recommend starting with “Crank”. “Crank” is loosely based on her daughter and her addiction to crystal meth. If you are a person that is turned off by books that look big, then I can reassure you, this book is very short. It is written in verse which has a poetry feel and is only a few sentences a page.

Sports: 1. Tim Greene Books (“Baseball Great” and “Football Champ”) Tim Greene books are definitely for the teen that likes sports. His books are not your average sports novels, but they involve high school dilemmas and stories that may hit closer to home than you think.

2. “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher This was one of the most popular books at Countryside High School last year. It also won the Florida Teen Reads Award last year. The story is an emotional roller coaster ride, and keeps you guessing at every turn. Real teenagers and their issues fill the pages of the books. It is one of the best books I read last year and I highly recommend it.

Fantasy: 1. “The Wicked Lovely” series by Melissa Marr Faeries; That word can be a huge turnoff to some readers and yet, this is one of the best books I have ever read.

The characters are just like students you see walking the Countryside hallways everyday. They are not perfect. Actually most are definitely flawed in one way or another, but are extremely easy to relate to. There is a good mixture of romance, humor, suspense and action in every book. Yes, their are moments when you just want to scream at the characters, but that is what makes them so normal. It is the same reaction you may have with a friend.

3. “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” by Ned Vizzini If you want to read a book that you could relate to personally, then this is for you. Your average immature 15-yearold boy challenges himself and goes to the IB program equivalent of his world. But when he just isn’t working at the same standards as the other kids, stress and depression take over. The story follows the boy through his battle with depression and his relationships during that time. I highly recommend this book and it’s great for high school youth.

2. “Mortal Instrument” series by Cassandra Clare The best part about these books is it’s unconventional type of characters. Sure, there are a few vampires and a werewolf or two, but the main characters are far from the average, almost cliche characters in modern books. The books have a twist and the plot will not be what you expect. It will keep you hanging. It is one of those under the blanket with a flashlight at night books.

Miscellaneous: 1. “Post Secret” by Frank Warren It started off as an experiment. Frank Warren had an idea. He wanted to start a project that involves the whole community. He started handing out postcards to random people asking them to anonymously write down their deep dark secret that they’ve never told anyone. The response to his idea was extraordinary. Handmade postcards were being sent in. The were provocative, funny, and sad. He has these secrets posted online and has written two books full of these secrets. They are very addicting stories and you can’t help but turning the page. To read some of the secrets, go on their website postsecret.com

3. “Evermore” by Alyson Noel This book was really interesting. It makes you frustrated, mad, and even confused, but in a way that makes you keep wanting more. The book’s characters are realistic, but different enough to make you want to live their lives and help them in their troubles. It was not my favorite, but it isdefinitely one to put on your reading list.

4. “Peter and the Starcatchers” series by Dave Barry and Ridely Pearson These books are for those moments when you just want to be a kid. The story is the prequel to the magical story of Peter Pan. It answers all of the questions you may have ever had about the book: Where did Peter come from? What’s with Tinkerbell? Why is Captain Hook so angry at Peter?

photo credit Scott Beck and FantasticFiction.co.uk

These are definitely good reads and I hope you find that one of them catches your eye. If none of these are books for you, but you still want a good read, come talk to me or Mrs. Rothfeld in the library and we will find something just for you. Happy Reading!

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News

The attack of senioritis

nicoleHARRIS

Senioritis can hit without warning at any given time, but it usually starts at the end of the first semester. It seeps “Senioritis” - skipping class, missing tests, plummeting into your backpack, and into your folders. It wants you to grades, lack of ambition and far off gazes - every senior be imperfect and to fail. Senioritis takes over, and will not has it, sometimes even juniors show symptoms. Some selet you work hard or improve. Do not let it do that. There niors show it more than others, but no one is are things you can do to avoid it from hitting safe from its deadly wake. Easy to catch and you too. difficult to get rid of, senioritis can be more For example, staying active. If you do sports dangerous than seniors realize to their plans or are involved in extracurriculars like clubs, for the future. yearbook or newspaper, you will have a better Every year a new batch of seniors hit high chance of not getting bored with high school school thinking they can just lay back, relax, right away. You should also have a challengand enjoy their last year of sitting behind uning academic course load. If you take classes comfortable desks, listening to inane lessons, that keep your mind working, it will make and dealing with boring seven period days. the time go by a lot faster. Harder classes will They have worked hard for the past three also keep you focused on where you want to years, taking tests, studying, missing parties go in life. Furthermore, you could try out to get tutoring, and volunteering for that college early. Consider taking a class at a loscholarship on the weekends. So, it is their cal college in a subject you are interested in turn to do what every class before them has pursuing as a career. done and just enjoy the ride of their last year.

“It gets tiring feeling like you’re doing the same thing over and over again. It’s going by Right? a lot slower now that there are seven periods.

Wrong. Of course seniors are tired of working and want a break, but doing so could have It feels like its taking forever to graduate!” dire consequences. Students do not realize said exhausted senior Katy Ann Brosseau. that colleges can decline your acceptance.

Senioritis may not be 100 percent preColleges now are double checking back into ventable, but it can be avoided if you take the enior Paul Kittle’s senioritis attacked his focus and left him sleeping through his students profiles for final grades, and drops right precautions.

You do not want to end ue Tuesday Physics class. photo credit Scott Beck in grade point averages. The admissions delast year of high school. Have fun and enjoy partments are also now checking into absenteeism. As well been here for 4 years, I’M DONE!” tired senior Blaine your senior year, but do not lose your chance at an amazing as, to see if you have dropped any of your AP (Advanced Levine said. college experience. staff writer

Placement) classes that you said you were taking in your applications. If they think you are slacking they could easily change their minds and choose not to have you at that particular college.

“I definitely have senioritis! I’m just sick of school, I’ve

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“Angel in the Shadows” kaleyNEMETH

staff writer

Who would have ever thought a story would be written about our cougar town school? Lisa Grace chose Countryside High because, she’s a Countryside alumni and loves the Clearwater area. Grace began writing the book Angel in the Shadows on April 1st, 2009 and finished on May 10th. She spent six weeks editing and rewriting it, taking about four rewrites to get it all in order.

“I had a wonderful high school experience,” Lisa Grace said.

Some memories she had were with Mr. Shaver, Countryside’s former drama teacher, it was her favorite class. He now teaches at East Lake High School. Another memory of hers was of Mr. Straub teaching Microbiology one and two.

Grace sent the book to twenty agents around June 10th, and was accepted by Strategic Publishing out of New York, New York. After being published, the book is now distributed by ingrambook.com, sold at Barnes and Noble and on Amazon.com for the price of $22.95.

Angel in the Shadows falls into the Twilight ‘genre’,

but instead of using vampires and werewolves, the book has biblical angels and demons in it. Lisa picked this genre because she has worked with teenagers, through the good and conflicted, teaching musical theater and as a volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center. She wants to write fun thrilling books where teens prevail.

“I wanted the human heroes and heroines to be strong role models, realizing they have everything they need within them to deal with all the real problems teens face including gossip, popularity, peer pressure, drugs, sex, etc...”

Grace said.

It’s a teen fiction book about a 15-year-old girl named Megan, who develops the ability, or what seems to be a curse, to see angels and demons. She attends Countryside High School with her supernatural friend Johnny, a good angel, and her human friends Mandy, Carrie, and Vania.

Scenes in the book take place all throughout the Clearwater area at Frenchy’s Cafe, Busch Gardens, and more.

There is an evil angel Judas, who is also enrolled as a student, hell-bent on destroying everyone she loves. During the hunt to find her, Megan’s classmates get killed and her destiny is to keep the rest of them safe. He refers to Megan as Mouse because, in the text he says “sift

you mouse” which, in the Bible, Satan told Jesus that he wanted to sift Peter.

With the help of Johnny and a team of friends along Megan’s side, they will face the fight of their lives as they battle Judas. She feels that God hasn’t given her any “special” powers to defeat him, but as she confronts Judas and his over whelming powers she realizes she has everything she needs.

For the series, which is to be called the Angel series, she is going to have a total of nine books. The second book is going to be called Angel in the Storm. Another series she has coming around the corner is called Society of the D.E.A.D and in this story, there is a mid-20 year old heroine dealing again with the supernatural, but with a twist you will not discover until the end of the first book.

If you would like to participate in the National Novel writing month in November, you can write a 50,000 word novel (or the first 50,000 words of a novel). They give you a couple of months to edit, they also print a copy of your book for free, and then once you do that you will win. For more information you can look at these websites www. nanowrimo.org and www.createspace.com.

Tis’ the season to be Jobby ericCURKAN

staff writer

Every year many adults and teens search for jobs during the Holiday season because it is the time where stores need the most help.

Most stores that are hiring during the holidays are retail and department stores.

Gro thes cer y sto e cash stores res need iers, and b shel aggers, ers d f stoc kuri holi ng the days .

Wa Targ et/ l m a cas hie rt/Km r po art d ma epartm sitions nag , en ing ers, st t she ocklves .

es stor c i n tro ame Elec Buy, G es, m Best Eb Ga , , g p g sto HGre y , Pla H k c a iosh Rad n’ Tradeent ‘ r tm a Dep tores cy a S s, M lard enny to s l i D Cp ay J alw and a few, e in e pl nam ed peo er vices e s n mer sale as o t s cu need s. and sociate

Hotels and Winter Resorts always need help during the holiday season.

AMC Theaters Many see movies in the next few months and they need people working concessions, box office and maintenance.

Toys R Us cashier positions, department managers, stocking shelves.

Costume positions / Santa tr y applyin g to shoppin g malls to b ecome San ta.

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News

Getting back to the basics Don’t let budget cuts rain on your parade ericCURKAN

staff writer

“Dude, no one showed up to the movies”, “Did you get my facebook message?” “Next time check my status.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come to your game, Didn’t you get my text? “Yeah, 3 hours later.” Does the way we communicate with one another seem correct or dysfunctional? There is an ongoing issue in the way we communicate with others.

Today’s society relies too much on communication technologies. By relying on this technology we forget the basics of communication and become impersonal with each other. Some problems with impersonal technology are the tone in someone’s voice (smiley texts give little emotion), the ability to receive urgent news, planning social events with friends, etc. If we stop using personal communication then we forget how to do it. Sending text and cyberspace messages can often indicate laziness, be misunderstood and is not professional in the business world. We also “4get” proper grammar and spelling in our writing. Unless you are glued to your computer screen or have a Blackberry in your pocket, it may be hard to have a “cyber life” and can cause frustration in communicating with people. Sophomore, David Luke said, “I use my phone instead of myspace and facebook to directly communicate with people. Even though communication technologies can be convenient, they are not always practical. Sophomore, Kara Peck said, “I think cyber technologies can be annoying and are not the best way of communicating.” The graph below shows 60 random CHS students main form of communication.

It is interesting to note how little personal communication is used.

The results indicate we rely heavily on impersonal communication. It’s time to get back to the basics of personal communication.

* Talk to people face to face or on the phone. * Look people in the eyes when either you or the other person is talking. * Seem interested in what they are saying. * Make sure your tone is positive. * Be aware of body language. * Engage in conversation. * Ignore a text or call when talking to someone. *Be social, talk to old friends. *Do not avoid eye contact with people you know. *Only give out your phone number in hopes of later hanging out with that person.

So next time you communicate with someone, use a personal form of communication. By getting back to the basics of communication we can all improve our social skills.

katWILLIAMS

to an afternoon parade. The parade drew less of the night crowd, but it wasn’t the same: Seeing the lights on the The holidays are suppose to be full of jolly times and floats and the cool night air was missed. The people that cheerful moments. The one thing, however, that could break the parades were geared towards, Florida’s youth, and their the holiday spirit is money. The winter vacation is great for parents stopped coming. Last year, the parade was canceled spending time with family for many students. They want all together and this year, Clearwater just didn’t have pato spend their break out of doors, instead of being cooped rade money in it’s budget. Though it seems as if the econup inside. Holiday parades are events for the whole family omy is only affecting situations involving jobs and political to enjoy and because of the Florida climate, the weather issues, it also is affecting our holiday cheer. County and is always beautiful. These parades are sought after mo- City money needs to go towards more important things, so ments during the break the fun events need to take for many people but the a back burner. holiday cheer will have Do not let our state to be muted. Many of problems keep you down this years holiday pathough. There are still parades are going to be rades that will be up and canceled due to county running. Venders walk up budget cuts. and down the streets selling Two of our most locotton candy, snow cones cal parades have been and balloons. Groups of canceled this year due doing martial arts, gymto these budget cuts: nastics and dance parade Clearwater Holiday down the street along with Parade and the Largo the girl and boy scouts. The Holiday Parade. The ever fun clowns walk down Largo Parade was a the street and beads and growing event, drawing candy are thrown to the more and more people onlookers from the holiday Costco float roams the streets for the Clearwater Holiday Pa each year with the addifloats.

At the end, Old Saint rade, throwing candy and beads to little boys and girls. tion of new floats. The Photo credit sandbarstosunsets.com Nick is on his own special Clearwater Parade is a float, spreading the remaindifferent story. Clearwater always was a night parade, so der of the holiday cheer. with it came the nightlife. Partying pirates on ships and If you’re looking for something local to do during break, drunken adults filled the streets of what was suppose to be check out the Safety Harbor, Palm Harbor and Tarpon pa“family fun.” To fix the problem, in 2008 it was changed rades. You’ll be sure to have a great time. staff writer

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Sports

Spring sports: which one is right for you? meganMASON

news editor

If Soccer nor Swimming is your cup of tea, then you’re in luck; you missed the deadline. But what if you’re still looking for a team to become a part of? The school year has yet to hit the half mark and opportunities for fresh (however sweaty) faces in the school’s sports communities are rising.

Eric Russell/ Baseball

1. Year’s Participating in Sport: 12 2. What Got You Started: “My dad wanted me to get into baseball..”

3. Ever Played Before H.S.?: “I played little league.”

4. Favorite Thing About It: “[Baseball] really brings a team together, and it’s fun to hang out with them.”

5. Least Fav. Thing About It: “Conditioning!”

6. Encouraging Words To Join: “It’s a lot of fun!”

For those of you who have little time to investigate your options, or just have no motivation to do so, you are in luck -- again.

We’ve roped together some veteran athletes here to tell you the good, the bad, and the scoop on their spring sport.

Amanda Barber/ Track and Field

1. Year’s Participating in Sport: 1 2. What Got You Started: “A friend talked me into it.”

3. Ever Played Before H.S.?: “No.” 4. Favorite Thing About It: The Comradady between the [team], it’s just awesome.”

5. Least Fav. Thing About It: “In the beginning its freezing cold!”

6. Encouraging Words To Join: “We have such supportive teammates!”

Jake Jarczynski/Tennis

1. Year’s Participating in Sport: 1 2. What Got You Started: “My friends.”

3. Ever Played Before H.S.?: “No.” 4. Favorite Thing About It: “It’s both a mental and physical [sport] 5. Least Fav. Thing About It: “Conditioning.”

6. Encouraging Words To Join: “Practice a lot!”

Danielle Johnson/Flag Football

1. Year’s Participating in Sport: 2 2. What Got You Started: 3. Ever Played Before H.S.?: “No, just in High School.”

4. Favorite Thing About It: “Pulling the flags -- it makes you feel triumphant!”

5. Least Fav. Thing About It: “[Definitely] poor sportsmanship.”

6. Encouraging Words To Join: “[You’ll have so much fun if you’re] ready to work, and put forth your best effort!”

Tory Bradley/Softball

1. Year’s Participating in Sport: 4 2. What Got You Started: “My friends.”

3. Ever Played Before H.S.?: “Yeah, in little league and travel ball.”

4. Favorite Thing About It: “[Everything] really, the game is just great.”

5. Least Fav. Thing About It: “Don’t really have one!”

6. Encouraging Words To Join: “It’s hard, but stay focused, and push through your bad [times].”

6 The SEC cracks down on 10.5.4 saraMINEO

news editor

This college football season, The SEC (South Eastern Conference) has strengthened it’s rule book. All violations of Bylaw 10.5.4 will be strictly punished with heavy fines and even suspensions. The law states that all head coaches, assistant coaches, players and all other staff associated with the SEC may not publicly criticize the officials. All obstructions of the law by assistant coaches and players are heavily charged against the head coach.

Unfortunately, this law was enforced due to the insulting comments towards the referees by Lane Kiffin, the head coach for the Tennessee Volunteers, Mississippi States’ head coach Dan Mullen, and the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks Bobby Pentrino.

Alongside these miscreants is the Florida Gator’s head coach, Urban Meyer. Meyer was fined $30,000 for inappropriate comments made about an official’s call during the rivalry game against Georgia. Meyer stated that there was a late hit on Tim Tebow, the Gator’s quarterback and that it “obviously should have been (a penalty).”

He went on declaring that “You’ve got to protect quarterbacks. That’s the whole purpose. It’s right in front of the referee.”

All and all the SEC is really cracking down on misconduct this season. Conference employees should watch their backs from now on... or in this case, their mouths, to avoid being seriously punished. Hopefully, other coaches will learn from Urban Meyer’s example: If you mess with the bull, you get the horns... and a painful fine of thirtygrand.

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Sports

Football is not just for boys nicoleHARRIS

staff writer

their pockets. The sport became so popular that the first flag football organization was created in Baltimore, Maryland in 1956. It was a only a men’s league, but the women that came to watch the games became interested in the sport as well.

The first flag football tournament was sponsored by the USFFA (United States FlagFootball Association). There were four women teams from Cleveland and Akron, Ohio.

To create the team he went to www.sunbiz.org and filed for a Florida nonprofit buisness organization, and it all started going up from there.

The Sugar Gliders, as he named them, have made flag football a sport that girls can really be proud of.

“I wanted to give the girls that didn’t make the school flag football team a chance to play, and to train and support them.” said Brunson about why he decided to make his own club team.

Flag football is for everyone! It is a great sport to be apart of. It is not a sport based on gender, like many of the other sports here in the U.S. 80 years of flag ugar Gliders, Girls Flag Football, basic training at football has spread the sport their home field at Countryside High School. The around the United States. girls go through weeks of training before their first Football isn’t just a boy sport game. (left, and above.) photo credit Pierce Brunson anymore.

The whistle blows, it is time to line up, seven on offense, seven on defense. “Down, set, hike!” the quarterback says, takes three steps back then flings the ball. The ball soars into the receivers arms and the crowd roars: they got a first down. If you think this is the husky, masculine tackle football that we all know and love, you would be incorrect. It is girls flag football. Girls flag football has embraced the country and now it has become a phenomenon in high schools all around the U.S. Football isn’t just for boys anymore.

Flag football or “Touch and Tail football” as it was called in the 1930’s, has been around for almost 80 years. It was not until the early 40’s that this sport starting taking off as an athletic sport. Fort Meade, a military base, was the first to have a recorded history of any flag football. During World War 2, this was a recreational sport that all military staff could partake in.

Back in 1943, a physical As women noticed education teacher named that other women Porter Wilson had his stuwere playing a dents play tackle football, so called “boy but it was getting too rough sport” they between them. At first, Wiliffany Cole doing a foot work exercise known as a started to son used handkerchiefs for side lateral over ladders. photo credit Pierce Brunson understand defensive players to grab, but that it was he soon developed a belt-flag an opportunity for them to show what system. Players wore belts with flags attached which could they could do.

After that the game we all be pulled off with a certain amount of pressure. This took know and love today was born.

Girls Flag away much of the unnecessary roughness, but kept the stuFootball. dents from losing interest or fun.

Pierce Brunson, a sociology/history teachIn 1956, another man by the name of John Carrigan was er here at Countryside High School, actually having a hard time with his troops because they were playstarted his own girls flag football team about four ing too rough and getting hurt. So, to decrease injuries, he years ago in hopes of growing flag football as a sport. had the men use handkerchiefs and had them hang from

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What’s in a name? joseeHAWK

staff writer

Everyone loves baseball. It is America’s favorite pastime.

What about Europe’s favorite pastime in the 17th century?

While the European colonization of America was taking place, a new sport was invented: the methodical hunting and killing of Native Americans. Rewards were posted for the heads of American Indian’s and everyone was having a grand time. Sports and American history? They do not relate.

On second thought, do they? A “Redskin” is a slang term loosely given to this beheaded race. The heads of Native Americans were scalped, and taken along for a trophy and reward to the general. As blood ran down their faces, the skin soaked it in and as a result turned a reddish-brown.

With teams such as the Washington Redskins, the Florida State Seminoles, and the Cleveland Indians, American history has been taken to the highest disrespect.

Mascots are almost a comical sight. At Florida State, once you hear the familiar beat of the drums, everyone’s heads turn toward the field to look for a hostilely portrayed Seminole. To use the name of a once mighty tribe is quite insensitive. These are traditions of people we do not care to understand but should at least try before we mimic. As a country, we have taken a beautiful history and turned it around to meet the needs of our entertainment.

You might not think of it as being racist, but you can check Native American on your information sheets for school testing because it is a race.

Cases have been taken to court about such an issue, but the names of the teams have not changed. “Native Americans should be honored to have a sports team named after their race”, that is a pathetic excuse.

Why have we picked this race to “honor” ?

What about the rest? Why have we left them out? Other teams pick more “race sensitive” names such as; the Florida Marlin’s, the Florida Rays, and the Texas Rangers. Some go with the traditional animals and some even go as far to single out inanimate objects. Everyone should take offense to this topic.

photo credit Scott Beck

Football frenzy

krystalCASEY

editor-in-chief

As the week comes to an end, many students fill the stadiums of many schools around the area, including our own cougar gridiron. The cougars finished off the season with an unbelievable record and were crowned district champions. They finished off the regular season with a 26 to 7 win over the Largo Packers, one of the top teams in Pinellas County. But the celebration didn’t stop there, as the cougars moved through to three rounds of the playoffs.

Having been state playoff contenders before, Countryside welcomed the Patriot from Freedom High in Tampa, to the cougar stadium long enough to send the Patriots marching back to Freedom. The Cougars and the Patriots spent all of the first half putting on a fight for the ball, but it was the Cougars who came out on top during the second quarter with a 40-yard field goal kicked

by William Griswold.

This put the Cougars in a 3-0 leads for the first half. randon SummerHowever, something hapville number 78, pened to the Patriots in and senior at Countrythose 15 minutes during side is preparing to tackle halftime. They came out down the oppenent during stronger, but only strong round three of the 2009 playenough to get on the offs. photo credit Scott Beck scoreboard for third quarter. This put the Patriots in the lead 7-3, but our cougar defense played their hearts out that night, and Countryside was able to make a come back with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The final score was 17-7.

While the win over Freedom, may have been an easy fight for the Cougars, nothing could have compared to the win at Tampa Bay Tech. On the coldest night of the season, with temperatures in the 40s, it was Cougars versus the Titans, in a fight for a spot in the regional finals. Coun-

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tryside was first to appear on the scoreboard with a touchdown by Tyler Walker. The Titans tried to maintain hold of the ball, but it was Countryside who came out on top of the first quarter with a 35-yard touchdown by Alton Taylor. The Cougars continued to dominate throughout the second quarter as Jimbo Chmelik ran 16-yards for a touchdown. The Titians, determined to win, made their presence with a touchdown, however, there was a two-point conversion pass fail. Again, the Titians tried and succeed, but with another pass fail. The third quarter kicked off with a touchdown made by Todd Shorter, however, the Cougars had a two-point conversion run failed. Yet the Cougars were quick to recover the ball as Taylor socred his second touchdown of the night.

The third quarter ended with the Cougars in the the lead 40-8, after scoring a 47-yard touchdown by Chmelik.

This brought the Cougars home to play in the regional finals against the Plant Panthers.

With much anticipation about the regional finals, the school borrowed two extra sets of bleachers from the city of Clearwater and had ‘special’ invites sent out to the mayors of Clearwater and Safety Harbor. However, the weather was one who did not recieve a ‘special’ invite. Though that did not stop all the true Cougar addicts(?) from coming out to support the boys. Many fans came well prepared with jacket, blankets, ponchos, and/or umbrellas. Just as kick off was set to begin, the rain cleared up, and drizzled on and off for most of the night. Unfortuently, the Cougar stadium was slopped up with mud and made traction tough.

8

Foc

The history of Thanksgiving ericCURKAN

staff writer

How it got started Thanksgiving is celebrated every year on the 4th Thursday of November and has been a tradition for many generations during autumn in the United States. When the first European settlers in America gathered their crops, they celebrated and thanked their God for the success of the harvest. Tradition says that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 by Pilgrim settlers from England. There is evidence that settlers in other parts of America held earlier Thanksgiving celebrations, but the Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving story is the most popular.

The Pilgrims were religious people who fled oppression in England. They first traveled to the Netherlands but decided to leave to establish a colony in North America. The Pilgrims landed in 1620 in what later became known as Plymouth, Massachusetts. Their voyage across the Atlantic Ocean was difficult. Their first months in America were difficult too. About 100 Pilgrims landed just as autumn began to turn into winter. During the cold months that followed, about half of the settlers died.

When spring came, the Pilgrims began planting crops.

A Native American chief named Squanto helped them.

When summer ended, the Pilgrims had a good harvest of corn and barley, which lasted for their first winter. The Pilgrims decided to hold a celebration to give thanks for their harvest. Writings from that time indicate Pilgrim leader William Bradford set a date late in the year. He invited members of a nearby Native American tribe to take part. That Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days. The Pilgrims did not plan to establish a yearly Thanksgiving holiday. But as the American colonies grew, Thanksgiving or harvest celebrations were held in many towns and settlements. Finally, in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared the 4th Thursday in November as a national holiday of Thanksgiving. At that time, the United States was

fighting a civil war. President Lincoln liked the idea of a Thanksgiving holiday that would also celebrate national unity. Since then, the United States has always celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday.

Today Over the years, some new traditions were added to America’s Thanksgiving celebration. For example, a number of professional and university football games are played on Thanksgiving Day. Several Thanksgiving day parades are broadcast on television.These parades are organized by big corporations in several American cities. The parade organized by the department store, Macy’s, in New York is the most popular. Giant balloons 200 meters high float above the street. The balloons are in the shape of characters from popular cartoons and television programs.

Thanksgiving is also a time when Americans share what they have with those who are less fortunate. Churches and charity groups provide free meals for the homeless and the poor. Many Americans give turkeys or other food to these groups. Some spend part of the day helping to prepare and serve the meals. Traditional Thanksgiving meals consist of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables, cornbread and cranberry sauce.

Religious ceremonies are an important part of Thanksgiving day for many Americans, some people join in prayers and songs of Thanksgiving. One of the most famous songs is called “Prayer of Thanksgiving.” The words and music tell of the traditional meaning of Thanksgiving: We gather with our family. We share what we have. And we give thanks for the good things of the past year.

Today thanksgiving is giving thanks to all that we have; our family and friends. It is a time to gather with your family and share some laughs. “Thanksgiving gives me a time to be with my family and to be grateful for everything I have”, said Senior, Evan Miller. Thanksgiving is one of America’s favorite holidays and will be celebrated for years to come.

9

cus

History of

..

Saint Nick Hanukkah Christmas

kaleyNEMETH

sports editor

But who is the real Santa Claus and how did he come around? The legend can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. He is believed to have been born around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. St. Nick became the subject of many legends, one to be told is that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick.

The American version of St. Nicks figure received its inspiration and its name from the Dutch legend of Sinter Klaas.

When 1773 came around the name appeared in the American press as “St. A Claus”. This arrived in New York in the 17th century. One American legend about Santa Claus was that he was born in the United States, thanks to a myriad of artists, writers, legends, and the evolving nature of our country at the time.

Norman Rockwell created a very intricate vision of Santa for the Saturday Evening Post. Rockwell’s Santa was large, plump, and jolly. Norman produced eight oil painting Santa covers for other Post, between 1916-1946. All in that time, he created 320 covers for the Post including his annual Christmas collection. In many of his artistry, St. Nick had halos. Norman also created the Pepsi Santa in 1965.

Saint Nick became an important person at Christmas.

Once, the novelist Washington Irving put him in a novel that he wrote in 1809. He did fly around in a wagon without reindeer, but he did not have his red suit or live at the North Pole, he also delivered presents to children every year. He was given the name Santa Claus in 1863. In many of his artistry, St. Nick had halos.

Many U.S. states provide different images and celebrations towards Christmas and Santa Claus. In Hawaii, residents say he arrives by boat and dinner is eaten outdoors.

Once in California, he hops off the boat and takes a leap onto a surf board. Across the waters into Germany they knew the white bearded, big belly, jolly man, as Weinachtsman. England called him the Father of Christmas.

Thomas Nast created the modern image of Santa Claus.

He elaborated on Mr. Claus during the 1860s-1880s by explaining that he put much detail into his shop, the North Pole, and the list of good and bad children around the world. Nast was born in Landau, Germany, on September 26, 1840. He studied art with Theodore Kaufmann in 1854, when his father sent his family to New York. The year after Nast worked at the Thomas Jefferson Bryant Gallery of “Christian art,” where he also copied the historical paintings in Bryant’s collection.

Children all over naturally wanted to know where he came from. Where he lived, when not delivering presents?

Questions such as these gave rise to the legend that Santa lived at the North Pole, where his work-shop was also located. There are many legends to read about on our good old St. Nick/ Santa Claus.

nicoleBOLTON

opinion/grub editor

In Hebrew, the word Hanukkah means “dedication,” and this year beginning on December 11th, students, staff and people across the globe will be dedicated for eight days and eight nights celebrating their beliefs and religious preferences.

In 165 B.C.E. the Jews’ celebrated their victory over the Hellenist Syrians and the holiday is commemoration of the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem after this victory. This confrontation began when Antiochus, the Greek King of Syria, outlawed Jewish rituals and ordered all people of Jewish belief to warship Greek gods.

The Jews holy Temple was seized in 168 B.C.E. and dedicated to the worship of Zeus. Some Jews were afraid of the Greek soldiers and obeyed the, however most were outraged and decided to fight back. The fighting began in a village not far from Jerusalem named Modi’in. A Greek officer and soldiers assembled the villagers, asking them to bow to an idol and eat the flesh of a pig, activities forbidden to Jews. The officer asked Mattathias, a Jewish High Priest, to take part in the ceremony. He refused, and another villager stepped forward and offered to do it instead.

Mattathias became outraged, took out his sword and killed the man, then killed the officer. His five sons and the other villagers then attacked and killed the soldiers. Mattathias’ family went into hiding in the nearby mountains, where many other Jews who wanted to fight the Greeks joined them. They attacked the Greek soldiers whenever possible.

Judah Maccabee and his soldiers went to the Holy Temple, and were saddened that many things were missing or broken, including the golden menorah. They cleaned and repaired the Temple, and when they were finished,

they decided to have a big dedication ceremony. For the celebration, the Maccabees wanted to light the menorah. They looked everywhere for oil, and found a small flask that contained only enough oil to light the menorah for one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days. This gave them enough time to obtain new oil to keep the menorah lit. Today Jews celebrate Hanukkah for eight days by lighting candles in a menorah every night, thus commemorating the eightday miracle.

nicoleBOLTON

opinion/grub editor

Christmas is celebrated differently across the globe, and ‘ol St. Nick goes by a variance of names in just about each country. One thing that remains constant across the board with this jolly day is the history, and how it all started.

It wasn’t until the 19th century that Americans caught on to the Christmas spirit and began celebrating. Americans re-invented Christmas, and changed it from a carnival holiday into a family-focused day of peace and celebration.

In the 1800’s however there was an interest in the holiday among Americans.

The early 19th century was a time period full of turmoil and class conflict. The unemployment was high and gang rioting due to conflict among social classes became more prominent during the Christmas season. In 1828, the New York city council instituted the city’s first police force as a result of a Christmas riot. This catalyzed certain members of the upper class to change the way Christmas was celebrated in America.

Best-selling author Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, in 1819, a series of stories about the celebration of Christmas in an English manor house.

Irving’s stories features a squire who invited peasants into his home for the holiday. This contrasted to the way the two groups associated with one another in America. Irving believe that Christmas should be a time of peace and warm-hearted holiday fun with family and friends, bringing groups together across lines of wealth or social status.

Before the Civil War the North and South were divided on the issues of Christmas, as well as slavery. Most, but not all Northerners saw sin in celebrating the holiday. They believe Thanksgiving was a proper holiday to celebrate and did not see a point in celebrating Christmas. However, in the South, Christmas was an important part of the social season. Not surprisingly, the first three states to make Christmas a legal holiday were in the South: Alabama in 1836, Louisiana and Arkansas in 1838.

After the Civil War, Christmas traditions spread across the country like wildfires. Children’s books, Sunday school classes played an important roll in encouraging the celebration of Christmas, especially the tradition of trimmed trees and gifts delivered by Santa Clause. Women’s magazines were also very important, they portrayed suggestions of ways to decorate for the holidays, as well as how to make these decorations.

By the last quarter of the ninteenth century Americans eagerly embraced in the Christmas festivities. Many baked cookies, decorated their houses, trimmed their trees with twinkling lights, and spent numerous hours shopping for friends and family. The materialism, mass media, advertising and marketing has made Christmas what it is today.

The traditions that we enjoy at Christmas today were invented by blending together customs from many different countries into what is considered by many to be our national holiday, with Christmas Eve on December 24th and Christmas Day on the 25th.

10

Entertainment

Jay’s blueprint for success pans out heatherEBERT

features editor

Hip hop icon and entrepreneur, Jay-Z, released his 11th studio album, “The Blueprint 3”, on September 8th, 2009.

This album, like his other 10, hit platinum status within an incredibly short amount of time. Jay-Z has been in the music game for a little over 13 years and has achieved a level of success that only compares to legends like the Beatles or Elvis Presley. With this album, Jay surpassed Elvis’ Billboard record for a solo acts’ most number one albums in the country. He holds the second place position right behind the Beatles for most number one albums from any act(solo or group). Jay knows this. In “Reminder,” one of the tracks off the “Blueprint 3”, he brags, “Ten number one albums in a row, who’s better than me? Only the Beatles nobody ahead of me, I crushed Elvis in his blue suede shoes...”. Jay-Z is now venturing off on many different business ideas, including music and fashion and sports with his partnership with the New Jersey Jets. It seems he has been very successful in all of his ventures but you always have to remember where you started, and for Jay it was in Brooklyn.

Liebe ist für alle da ist für alle ryanDUCHANE

editor

Rammstein, one of the top-selling foreign language bands of all time, finally returns after a 3-year break with their latest album, Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da (Love Is There For Everyone). The German heavy metal band gained their first taste of US fame when two of their songs were featured in David Lynch’s film Lost Highway in 1996. This opened up the band to a much larger audience, and when their second album, Sensucht (Longing/Desire/Hunger), was released, it was met with critical praise and became the only album entirely in German to be certified platinum in the US. Since then, Rammstein has released 3 more albums, each of which was met with more and more enthusiasm from English-speaking listeners. Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da is their best-selling album to date, going Platinum in Finland (based only on pre-orders) and reaching #13 on the US billboards. The album is sung entirely in German, with the exception of an English phrase thrown in here or there, and so much is lost in translation. The thing that makes Rammstein so successful is that you don’t have to understand them to enjoy them. Even if you don’t know what is being sung about, you can always enjoy the music. It just goes to show that great metal is great metal no matter what language you’re speaking.

In this case, it’s probably for the best that the lyrics aren’t in english, as the band’s lyrics concern topics from violence and sex tourism to hunting and sharks. In fact, the album has been partially banned in its home country and can only be purchased by adults. (Admittedly, Germany is much more strict when it comes to violence and sex in media, and a lot of films that Americans would now consider tame have been banned as well.) While this is not much of a change in subject matter from their previous albums, it is the first to receive such a high level of controversy.

However, this controversy is not enough to diminish how great the album is.

The AJ Awards

There are 15 tracks on the album. Most of the songs were produced by Kayne West, making him the executive producer of the album. Timbaland, Swiss Beatz and Pharrell contributed to the production on a couple of songs like Off That, On to the Next One, and Forever Young.

The beats on the album are definitely hot, though I see a change from Jay’s previous albums, which isn’t necessarily a good thing. One thing that is still exceptional as ever is his lyrics and his swagger. There are a few songs in which Hova brags and expresses the success he’s obtained. But I know that if I had done what he has done, I would be bragging too. Reminder is all about reminding the people of how far he has come and that he is the best.

“A Star is Born” is one of my favorite songs. In this song he acknowledges many other rap artists and gives them props for what they have accomplished. He even states to Lil Wayne; “Wayne’s scorching I’ll applaud him, if he keeps going I’ll pass the torch to him...” Jay-Z’s first single off the album was “D.O.A (Death of Auto-Tune)” where he shared his personal dislike for the par ticular recording t o o l while

Electric & Hot saraMINEO

Highlights of the CD include Ich Tu Dir Weh (I Hurt You), Haifisch (Shark), and Frühling in Paris (Springtime In Paris), but every song is great in its own right. (One song in particular stands out in particular as one of the best Rammstein songs, but its title makes it inappropriate for the newspaper.) The only regrettable aspect of the album is that it only contains 11 tracks, but this can be easily remedied by picking up the deluxe edition of the album which includes a bonus disk with 5 more great songs. While in most cases, bonus tracks may be sub-par when compared to the album, Rammstein provides true fans with a great selection of additional tunes.

In the end, Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da definitely measures up to the past works of Rammstein. They definitely deserve their reputation as one of the best foreign language bands, and only prove it again with their latest album. Each track stand out as an individual, and at no point during the album will the listener become bored. As long as you don’t have some aversion to the German language, the album is definitely one that should be checked out. All in all, the heavy riffs and growling vocals of Rammstein will be a gift for any metal fan, a highlight of the year for fans of the band, and an interesting new listen for even those who aren’t fans of metal.

Worst Holiday Spirit

Ebenezer Scrooge

once again stating his great abilities. Recently signed to Young Money, artist Drake was featured on the song Off That, which I definitely noted as a different style of Jay but he and Drake both killed. Personally my favorite song is “Empire State of Mind”, featuring Alicia Keys. It is an ode to New York, of which Jay and Alicia are natives. The beat is Hova to the fullest and you can feel the love, passion and reality through the song. It has an amazing composition and even if you are not from New York, have just visited, or have never even been there you can still feel the emotion passing through the speakers.

“The Blueprint 3” is undoubtedly one of Jay-Z’s most commercial rap albums and it seems many of the songs have been made for the sole purpose of topping the charts, but the Jay that many know from back in the day is a humble-do-it-for-the-love-of-music kind of guy and I believe that is the one thing that the album lacks. Lyrically the album gives 110 percent. Even though it has made platinum status and is the tie breaker between Jay’s and Elvis’ record, The Blueprint 3 is not one of Hova’s best works and will not be labeled a classic.

The Grinch

You all know the classic Stories of these everyday holiday villians turned good. A cheapskate that ignored christmas and the grinch who stole it but who was worse before the change?

Go on www.Cnmcountryside.com/Entertainment and vote now Polls Close January 22, 2010 to be announced on UPC

news editor

Hot Chelle Rae’s debut album Lovesick Electric is a feel-good record full of catchy beats and energetic lyrics. Defined by its dance floor anthems, the album has an overall upbeat attitude. There are a few low-key songs such as “Bleed” and “The Distance” that really emanate the more mature and emotional side of the band. The last song on the album Last One Standing pulls at your heart-strings and makes you craving more. Overall, “Lovesick Electric” is thoughtful and charismatic, and was written with the fans in mind.

Hot Chelle Rae is named after one of their most enthusiastic and devoted fans and is based out of Nashville, Tennessee. HCR is composed of 4 fresh-faced misfits: front man Ryan Keith Follese, guitarist Nash Overstreet, bassist Ian Keaggy and drummer Jamie Follese, who happens to be Ryan’s younger brother. The band is a promising pop-rock group that is flying past all the other mainstream bands in their genre. The merge between electric and rock creates an addictive sound that attributes to the bands success. HCR’s most popular song “I Like To Dance” became instantly famed concluding to the music video that has recently been released.

Overall, I would give “Lovesick Electric” 3 and a half stars out of 5. While the album’s lighthearted mood is pleasing to the ears it is still missing that personal factor that the listeners can really connect and relate with.

11

Entertainment

Gear up for a great game parkerANDERSEN

multiple kills at once, knife kills and many more. The third main adjustment is the third person option in certain game modes. This way of playing is similar to the way you play Available for the following systemsin the Gears of War series, allowing you to see your char-- XBOX 360, PS3, and PC acter and more around you. The main problem with this is that aiming and shooting is much more difficulty and Gameplay--- Modern Warfare 2 is your accuracy is lowered by quite a large margin. The the sequel to Activision’s Call of last major adjustment of the online gameplay Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The is the party chat. In about one half of the story mode/campaign is set in game types do not allow party chat. This many different parts of the is because people can communicate world. Including Ruswith their friends on the other sia, South America and team and help them find the USA. You play as out where their teamJoseph Allen, James mates are. In other Ramirez, and Gary words, they are trying “Roach” Sanderson. to make the game just a As you go about the story little bit fairer for those of mode/campaign you change to us who just want to play the different characters based on the game. mission; you even play alongside your Online there are many new old Call of Duty 4 character “Soap”. There maps, some of which may actually are many different perks, kill streak rewards and, photo cre dit have been re-made from previous of course, guns and weapons. joy sti games or brought back from any other In multiplayer, you start out with many options for ckd ivi sio Call of Duty.

Most of these maps are weapons. You can have an assault rifle, sniper rifle, subman.c om very large and are not recommended for chine gun, light machine gun and now a riot shield. For team games. There are also a few very small secondary weapons you can have a handgun, machine pis- smal l maps that more than eight people in at a time would be tol, shotgun, or a launcher.

Online there are several adjustments in the gameplay. way too chaotic.

When you are playing online, it takes certain weapons For one, in Hardcore Search and Destroy, there is a no team killing policy yet there is friendly fire, instead the and skills to do well on different maps with different game person team killing is killed and the other person goes on types. For example, if you are playing on a medium sized, unharmed. The second adjustment is that you get points for open map, playing Team Deathmatch, then you will probalmost anything; kills up close, kills far away, head shots, ably want to have an assault rifle and one of the grenades staff writer

“Twilight”sets,“NewMoon” rises

meganMASON

news editor

It itself is not epic. Epic is the beauty that the male role of ‘Jacob’ has portrayed. No longer do I ‘run with the bloodsuckers’ (not just because “You can’t really”, according to Bella Swan) but because “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” has opened my eyes to something beyond glittering skin and cool, pale bodies. I, officially, have joined -- with beautiful, strong, open arms-- Team Jacob.

Overlooking the love affair a third of the crowd is experiencing with Taylor Lautner; “New Moon is an enthralling, graphically-wondrous shot at Stephanie Meyer’s second Twilight book.

If you have read the book, than you know that the book “New Moon” is an incredible, however depressing memoir over the loss of Edward Cullen in Bella Swan’s life. The chapters in which Bella amplifies the horrors of losing him in the form of nightmares, seems to span most of the book. Often while reading it, I put it down in languish and asked, “When, by god, is this madness going to end?”

Someone, somewhere, in the process of converting the “New Moon” book into a movie, spared us all -- well, those of us who like not to be immersed in sadness. While Bella’s dark nightmares and miserable days passed slowly in the book, months flew by like seconds in the movie. All in all, the grieve factor was a prominent subject in the movie; however did not dominate the scenes for longer than a total of 15 minutes. This is little: considering the movie is two hours and ten minutes long.

Opposite of the continually dismal chapters in the book, Bella saw some [more] light in the movie. Enter Jacob Black, the much sought after rock in Bella’s life. While filling the gap in which Edward has left, Jacob not only finds himself (if that is what you want to call it) but finds love in the slow-recuperating Bella Swan.

Amid the cute, what I would consider ‘fluff ’ scenes, the directors did an excellent job in bringing humor into the matter. Characters such as Mike Newton and Jessica Stanley lighten what seems the dark, enigmatic mood that is created. Friends Stanley and Newton provide two contradictory characters: Stanley finds Bella below her -- a mere classmate whom has strolled down ‘crazy street’ a little too long -- while Newton looks at Bella as a potential love interest.

Taking a step away from the plot, and delving into the graphical, overall vision of the movie: “New Moon” was astounding. Despite a few snickers, and “OMG, that looks so fah-ke” from the audience, I thought that the graphic animators deserved a standing ovation. The fight scenes, the ‘wolves’ and the vampire’s fluidity and actions were just incredible. Besides the actual ‘animation graphics’ per say, the scenes were all put together like craft-work: just beautiful.

In conclusion, “New Moon” was what I believe to be an enchanting dose of reality (wait for the contradiction) in a world full of mystery and make-believe. The makers of “New Moon” deserve a big round of applause for bringing together romance, myths, and a hope for Twifans everywhere that they too can be fought over by a pack of ferocious, however gorgeous, werewolves -- if only!

instead of the stealthier silenced weapons, sniper rifles, or claymores. This game, due to the new ability to completely personalize your five classes more so than in previous games, you will need to be more strategic even before playing a game. Make sure you customize your classes before entering a new type of game or you will probably not do very well.

Graphics--- The graphics in Call of Duty 4 and in Call of Duty 5 were not very different from each other, if any different at all. In Modern Warfare 2 the graphics have been made better by refining details and making the players look a little more realistic even before and after they die. The game developers made this game more realistic by making the different surfaces, walls, and other types of barriers penetrable to certain weapons based on their power instead of in some previous games where the barrier was either penetrable or not. In Modern Warfare 2, the guns are also different, visibly, to other players instead of looking just like the standard gun with no attachments or camouflage. This does not affect gameplay, but it is a nice feature.

Buy/Rent/Pass--- BUY This is undoubtedly the best game I have played in a very long time. The story mode is not just shooting and moving on to another area, it actually has an ongoing storyline from Call of Duty 4 and it is not something to pass up on. You can play single player, co-op, and online play multiple times and not get bored or have a feeling of repetitiveness. This is why it is a must BUY. You’ll like this game if... you enjoy First Person Shooter games.

A Christmas let down

a.jQUENELL

entertainment editor

Charles Dickens’ classic book, “A Christmas Carol”, has been made over and over throughout the years, with over 20 different film adaptations since 1901. On November 4th, Disney released the latest version of the movie starring Jim Carrey as the grouchy Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas past, present and yet to come.

The film follows the same film making process as movies like “The Polar Express”, “Beowulf ” and “300”. Personally I don’t like the graphics in movies that are motion captured like these ones. The way that this movie tells the well-known story is rather boring. Over time this will become one of Jim Carrey’s forgotten movies joining what were they called?... oh yeah “23” and...well the others aren’t worth mentioning. He needs to come back with hits such as “The Mask”, “Dumb and Dumber”, “Liar Liar”, and “Ace Ventura”.

This is also what I would consider one of my least favorite versions of A Christmas Carol I have ever seen. I even saw it in I-MAX and 3-D which was a huge waste of money because this movie doesn’t seem to be made to fit either of those in the production process. In its defense, Woodlands AMC 20’s I-MAX theater is a joke -- just a wannabe I-Max theater.

Just a few weeks ago while channel surfing I ran into a photo credit Moviegoods.com 2004 made for T.V. musical version of the movie, starring Kelsey Grammer as Scrooge. That was a whole lot better than the one in theaters now. The best part of the film was Gary Oldman as Jacob Marley, Bob Cratchit, and Tiny Tim. He gave a fantastic performance.

Overall, this movie will not really win any awards, unless they go out for just some of the acting. This movie will probably not be one I’ll watch again, nor buy the DVD.

12

Opinion

Cliques, great or hate ajCABERTO

guest writer

According to the Webster’s Dictionary a clique is a narrow exclusive circle or group of people. In other words, they are a group with common interests. Many students think that cliques may be a bad idea; they actually prefer a different variety of friends. I would not blame them; you would not want to eat the same food everyday, would you?

The main reason why students think that cliques are a bad idea is that they causes separation.

“No, it is not a great idea because there are lots of drama and others cliques don’t get along with other cliques,” said junior Casey LePlance. LePlance explained how cliques may dislike a certain personality. Not everyone in the clique may think that, but at least one person often does. That is fine. Our personal choices are what make us human.

Drama

photo credit Scott Beck

* This is a small representation if the cliques.

Bout It Boys

Athletes Freshys

photo credit DevilzMoon

reacted more like freshmen

Sen10rs...

Loner

DevilzMoon’s

Vibe Crew

Country Folk

Asians & Hispanics

Emo

Band

One student I asked supported his quote.

“Yes, it’s a great idea because it promotes socializing, but it’s also a bad idea because they can be very stereotypical,” said senior Marvin Masi. Masi had the same thought as me. His statement proves why cliques do not get along with other cliques. They can be very judgmental.

To battle student’s separation, the school hosted a program called “Challenge Day”. Its mission was to make sure that students feel like they belong. The school wants everyone to be united and make sure no one is left out. I am not saying that the school is against cliques, but Challenge Day was their way of saying that everyone is free to be friends with anyone, not just people who have the same traits or personalities as they do.

We all know that there is always that one kid who feels like he does not belong anywhere on the social scale.

Sometimes cliques make that one kid ask himself/herself, “Why am I not part of that group?” and then they feel depressed or maybe get pressured into doing something inappropriate.

This kind of scenario is brought up in many movies such as “Mean Girls” or “BRATZ”. They show the negative sides of cliques and what a typical clique is like; how they let you choose to have no outside friends or not to be in their group. Movies or real life, the same typical cliques are shown.

Is this something you would want to happen to anyone: your siblings, cousins or friends? Think about it.

Opinions are made; students who dislike cliques say that they hurt everyone whether it is an individual or a group. Now think about everything you’ve read. You have all seen the division in the mall area. We have our “Drama Clique” by the auditorium and the “Football Players” by the tables. Would you want to be singled out for either being in a selected group, or not being part of the popular crowd? Or walk through them all?

nicoleBOLTON

opinion/grub editor

Every year a few students from the senior class come up with a design for a class t-shirt.

The class of 2007 got creative and used the new James Bond movie to their advantage and came up with “007”, in 2008 we saw “Miller High Life, .08 don’t blow it”, and last year the class of 2009 were floating on “cloud 09.”

This year, like in past years, Herff Jones has supplied the schools in the area with a generic senior t-shirt that reads “Don’t you wish you were a...10 its not easy being perfect.” Two seniors, who will remain nameless, took it upon themselves to create their own shirt. Their design featured writing on the front that reads “sexy ladies, pimping men, we’re the class of 2010,” it also said “SEN10RS” on the lower left side and “X” on the back representing the roman numeral for the number ten. For this shirt the price was $15, and if you wanted to put a nickname on the back the shirt cost you $20. Many seniors bought the shirt from them and when they wore them to school on Friday November 6th, they were bombarded at the doors by the administration. They were told they need to either change

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their shirts completely or flip the shirt inside out for the day.

The students were furious and outraged. They couldn’t understand why the administration were doing what they were doing. Did they find the words offensive? Or was there another issue the students didn’t see?

“All clothing, jewelry, or tattoos shall be free of the following: profanity; violent images, wording or suggestion; sexually suggestive phrases or images; gang related symbols; alcohol, tobacco, drugs or advertisements for such products,” reads page 6, section 4.01, article D of the Code of Student Conduct.

In the dictionary the word sexy means “excitingly appealing and glamorous”, while the word pimping means “petty, insignificant and trivial.” In this case the choice of words was not the only problem. Yes, the previous classes shirts could be mistaken for having multiple meanings behind them, however each shirt was drawn up by a student, submitted to the senior class officers, who then gave it to Mr. Straub, the senior class adviser, for approval, and then submitted to Mr. Schlereth for final approval. This year that did not happen, and the administration did what they had to do to uphold the Code of Conduct.

eft is senior Tabi Piatt wearing the senior shirt she purchased. She was seen wearing it at TBSA in Oldsmar on Saturday November 7th, 2009. photo credit Nicole Bolton

13

Grub

Volunteering for the holidays rachelLUBITZ

editor

The Winter holidays are always about giving and this year is no different. With the economy the way that it is, communities and schools like ours have reached out to people who might not be having the white Christmas they were hoping for.

This year’s senior project was a d r i ve for the troops. They wanted food, games,

magazines, journals, lipbalm, and everything in between. All first period classes were to bring in as much as possible so NHS could send the packages in time for the holidays. The winning class received a bagel breakfast, compliments of NHS. Each current member of the honor society held shifts collecting the goods and also held the responsibility of bringing in at least ten dollars in supplies or in cash.

“I think it’s amazing that we’re doing this for the troops even though the sacrifices they have to endure is beyond anything we could ever appreciate,” senior NHS vice president Joanna Boruk said.

With the help of and you can find numerous othCountryside students, ers just like them such as Tampa men and women overBay Harvest. seas will have a little Tampa Bay Harvest is a food sweeter holiday season transportation service in the than last year. “This is Tampa Bay area that is made up just one little way of entirely of volunteers. They take showing our appreciafood and supplies from people tion,” Boruk said. who have donated and take it An extremely simple directly to people who cannot way of donating during afford it. Volunteers are needed the holidays is through all the time and can organize a food bank. The RCS food or even transport it to the food bank collects home themselves. The organization has gotten press in the thousands of items in Clearwater just off of St. Petersburg Times and many Druid Road. Their fapeople have started to work for them. cilities are clean and Many parents and families organized and won’t alike are pressuring students to feel intimitating to the volunteer around the holidays receiver of that food. and that is no mistake. Now RCS makes it easy to give with clear rules and more than ever, families are in regulations which basineed and it can only take one cally state that all new person to make someone’s day. lthough the holidays are associated with gifts for yourfood and good food, no At Countryside, we have the self, it is important to give to others. Many students have old food needed. RCS committed themselves to volunteer work for the holidays. photo Interact Club that volunteers heavily in the Pinellas area with has 1200 annual volun- credit DevilzMoon free dinners and blood drives. teers that are dedicated to their cause. The organization holds food drives around There is so much that one person can do in the Pinellas the holidays and sometimes free dinners to people and fa- community to help out someone in need and all it takes is mililies in need. They have made it easy to help their cause a loving heart and helpful hands.

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Forget the turkey and ham, go vegan for the holidays kaleyNEMETH

sports editor

During the holidays the vegans don’t eat any type of animal products. For Turkey Day otherwise known as Thanksgiving, the main hearty food items are either, a turkey or ham. For the non meat eaters out there, the vegans they do it a little differently. Items they may indulge in are tofu turkey’s a.k.a “Tofurky”, common veggies such as squash, potatoes, and beans. Also desserts like pies, cookies, and breads. Vegans often find chesses unappealing and therefor omit them from their feast.

When this holiday comes around in the U.S. nearly 300 million turkeys are killed, and packaged away in storage to be put out on shelves the next day to be eaten. However, they have back up plans if there is no time to cook. There are many vegetarian clubs and restaurants which organize special veggie dinners for the holidays.

The vegans substitute original whole milk and creamer, with rice or soy milk. For butter they use vegan margarine.

These substitutions will take care of almost all differences to the traditional cooking.

Products they watch out for are gelatin-based desserts, since most gelatin is derived from animal products.

Marshmallows are put away during this holiday unless they are special vegan brands.

A leading food company known as Turtle Island Foods, has been committed to producing tasty meat alternatives for vegans and vegetarians. There Tofurky Roast is a top selling product alternative in the United States.

Some of the health conditions non-animal friendly foods include are heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic health problems, that kill 1.3 million Americans annually. Another interesting fact is, turkey flesh is contaminated with deadly pathogens and antibiotics.

Next year, when holiday time comes around, ask yourself. “Is it worth the harm of animals, or is it time to give the Vegan lifestyle a try?”

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ofurky is a delicious alternative for traditional turkey dinner. Tofurky is common amongst many vegans and vegetarians. photo credit Scott Beck

Continued...

14

The Holidays don’t stop us

The Puzzler

15

So You Think You’ve...

16

Got a New Year’s resolution?

“I think m I decide y resolution is d it wo p uld be t retty cool. I h parents a o work to have until I h d been thinkin to enough g ave eno this yea help me pay fo ugh mo about what I r r,” junio r e ney for r Saman it. I’ve been sa my own ally wanted to vin tha Phil do and truck. I lips said g or a while a don’t w nd I kn .. ant my ow I ca n do it if I work

l ool. I’l D sch ’s t a a n e Th r th nt. highe etter stude e d i s y tr ab Coun e me make nd to mak o t y r ra dt up an r yside bette tetas said. rades t pa g n a u r y a o m get ake C n Arthur K kyleKOEHLER o t m t p n l staff writer hma to he lly wa “I rea hing I can ution,” f res As we all know, New Years is right around the corner.

It l t o y s n Re do a Years w e is the time for new ideas, predictions and goals.

New Years N my

also gives many the opportunity to reflect on the past year, see how things have gone and look at what they hope for the future. Lastly, it is a great time to party until you cannot party anymore and go out of the old year with a bang.

With New Years resolutions and midnight kisses, there are many different ways that people can celebrate the bringing in of the new year. One of the first and most common ways to celebrate is of course, having a party. Complete with noisemakers, party poppers, hats and those plastic red cups filled with who knows what, having a party has become a traditional way to say Happy New Year! “I don’t think New Years would be the same without having a party. Every year we have a party at my house and it’s always really fun. It’s the only way to really celebrate New Years,” junior Franca Ulrich said. Also, when asked what the best time she’s had at one of her parties, she replied, “The funnest time I had was when three of my best friends came to my party last year. We watched the ball drop and had a really great time dancing and joking around until like six in the morning. It was the best New Years party yet.”

Not everyone is in to having parties and staying up until the crack of dawn the next day, however. If you are one of those people, there is no need to worry. There are always many other alternatives to partying the night away.

For some, it’s a time to hang out with a couple of friends and wait until midnight. Some, like junior Trystan Wil“Mine is that I do not want to work at Firehouse anymore for the liams, finds it much more relaxing to have that time spent rest of my life. I can’t stand it there,” senior Sam Schmidt said. with his friends on New Years. “Parties are cool and all, but sometimes things can get very out of hand way too quickly.

“That, and to get far away from my parents in college.”

Especially on New Years Eve. So I just hang out with my friends and watch the ball drop. It’s not anything really exciting, but we all still have a good time. Without all the maddness,” Williams said.

So whether you want to take it easy this New Years or party like a rock star, make sure that whatever pick is the funnest choice for you. Remember to stay safe, be responsible, and have as much fun as possible. With all of those things combined, your New Years is sure to be great.

Happy 2010!

can ation, I cky situ ti ble s u a o tr to I’m in r get in e le v p e f o I e p r, if the o. O I that oken by them let me g uage so p g s n e e p g la a o w u h a ne the make e lang to learn ays play learn th ion skills and I lw a f I n . a “I want it . c s f aid aking, I e persua elf out o Torres s get mys se my awesom ge that I’m spe ore Ray m h p o u a s u l d,” with, I’l speak the lang at ’s goo n’t Yeah , th . .. d r a c they do ner st foreig lessly lo

“My resolution is to not drop out during my first year of college. That’s the biggest thing for now,” senior Kyle Parry said.

“I fig h to be t a lot w ith m n said. icer to both y parent s, him and especial ly my m om,” my step d f resh man ad. So I w Alish a a Pea nt rce