2019 February HiLife

Dangers of journalists

Cinderella

Superbowl recap

pg 3

pg 8

pg 18

Government shutdown affects 800K workers

By Morgan Severson Assistant Editor

In the wake of a partial government shutdown, President Donald Trump had members of the government at a standstill over the decision of the five-billion-dollar border wall he promised during his campaign. About 25 percent of the federal government was shut down and it affected over 30 departments such as The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), National Parks and Museums, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and more.

Over 800,000 employees in the shutdown departments have missed at least two paychecks. However, The House of Representatives passed a bill (with a vote of 411 to seven) on January 11, that guarantees payback to the federal employees that have been furloughed.

The shutdown started on December 21, 2018 and ended January 25, 2019 (35 days) making it the longest government shutdown in American history. Trump’s shutdown has surpassed former President Bill Clinton’s 21-day shutdown from December 16, 1995 to January 5, 1996.

On the last day of the shutdown, Trump agreed to reopen the government, temporarily, without a deal for building his infamous border wall. The bill that reopened the government included opening the government for three weeks (until February 15) so that federal workers could get paid and created a bipartisan committee that has been tasked with making an agreement on border security for a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spending bill.

Trump claimed that if a negotiation is not reached by the end of the three weeks, he will either shut down the government again or declare a National Emergency and redirect money for other uses to build the wall.

“Let me be very clear, we really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier. If we don’t get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down…or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the Constitution of the United States to address this emergency,” President Trump, in his speech ending the shutdown, said.

On Thursday, January 10, President Trump traveled to the Texas-Mexico border in McAllen, Texas where he met with border patrol agents to discuss border security. The White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said that last year around 4,000 terrorists attempted to cross the US-Mexico border as a reason to validate building a border wall. However, according to a CNN fact check, the 4,000 terrorists number was a statistic from 2017 and the White House briefing was referring to stops made around the globe, mainly at airports by the DHS. “The [DHS’] press secretary released that same 3,755 figure, ignoring where those suspected terrorists were actually

stopped. This claim does not stand up to the facts and repeating it does not make it anymore true,” Jim Sciutto, a CNN reporter on the white house’s misleading claim, said.

In fact, approximately 300 terrorists attempted to travel across the border while nearly 3,000 terrorists entered the US on airplanes with approved visas to enter the country. The President threatened to declare a National Emergency, calling the state of US border security a “crisis.” Congress was at an impasse on a decision on what to do for security at the southern border. Both Democrats and Republicans want tighter border security, but Trump refuses to sign a bill that does not include a wall. Both parties seem

Harvey. This idea has proved to be was an unpopular idea among Democrats and Republicans alike. Additionally, Trump was questioning whether he had the authority to withhold FEMA funds in the first place.

“So, the President is now talking to his lawyers about whether he would have the authority to issue a national emergency and reprogram money that’s been allocated for other purposes, but I will tell you that I will oppose any reprogramming of Harvey disaster funds. We worked very hard to make sure that the victims of Hurricane Harvey — their concerns are addressed, and Texas is able to rebuild. And I think we are all together on that,” John Cornyn, Republican Senator

Photo courtesy of Unsplash to be firmly against from Texas, said. the other and neThe shutdown gotiations between the parties were at a effected Americans in numerous ways from standstill. During the weekend of Jan- transportation to where the next meal is comuary 11, no meetings or appearanc- ing from. The TSA was one of the biggest es were scheduled by the White House. departments effected by the shutdown and is “How does it end? It has to end with the an essential part of Homeland Security. So government running and functioning. It has many TSA members called off work, several to end with us setting back up the government airports around the country closed terminals — it will not with a wall. It will not end with or closed completely. In Houston, Terminal a wall,” Kamala Harris, Democratic Senator B at George Bush Intercontinental Airport for California and candidate for the 2020 Pres- was closed until further notice due to a staff idential election, said about the shutdown. shortage. Without a sufficient amount of On January 9, President Trump met with staff at airports, traveling by airplane could House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Mi- be a long and dangerous process. A passennority Leader Chuck Schumer but walked ger flying on Delta Airlines in Atlanta, Georout after they told him that their negotiations gia was able to get through security with a did not contain plans for a wall. Trump con- gun in their carryon bag. According to the firmed this in a tweet, saying that after Pelosi TSA, it was not due to understaffing but due said “NO” to the wall, he said “bye-bye.” Ac- to proper procedures not being followed cording to CNBC, when Schumer asked the by employees. Most TSA employees eipresident to reopen the government so federal ther called in sick or were working 40-hour workers can get paid, Trump replied “no, be- weeks without pay. The airports also asked cause then you won’t give me what I want.” its customers to come earlier for their flights As reported by Fortune, the wall is un- than normal to make up for staff shortages. popular among 69 percent of Americans. If The FDA had over 40 percent of its the government shutdown is mainly over the employees furloughed meaning that it suswall, the President has caused thousands of pended all of its routine food inspections. employees to go unpaid to please his base, This is concerning because foods like Roa small percentage of Americans. Trump maine lettuce were not being check for E. proposed withholding funds from Federal Coli. The shutdown also effected recipEmergency Management Agency (FEMA) ients of food stamps. The USDA asked and use that money to build the wall. This that citizens that use food stamps request would include stopping funds to help victims their February food stamps before Januof the California wildfires and Hurricane ary 20, to ensure that they get them be-

fore funds run out. The top three states that rely on food stamps are California, Texas and Florida, while approximately one out of ten families rely on food stamps in America.

Since the Coast Guard is a part of homeland security, its members had stopped getting paid as of December 31, 2018. About 42,000 Coast Guard members were working without pay and according to the Former Coast Guard Commandant, Thad Allen, the Coast Guard is still continuing their operations from searches and rescues to stopping drug smugglers.

“I think it’s pretty bad. I think when you have people providing emergency services to this country without pay, I think we ought to take a serious look at how we’re governed,” Allen said.

Locally, the government shutdown effected the Houston area by making thousands of NASA employees furloughed. Not only did the shutdown put a halt to the employees’ paychecks, but to their research as well. Observatories shut down and the Hubble Space Telescope needed repairs that can only be made by furloughed employees. Additionally, many NASA employees were unable to present or attend the 233 meeting of the American Astronomical Society, also known as the “Super Bowl of Astronomy.” According to Space.com, the AAS is the largest gathering of astronomers and astrophysicists and NASA employees had to have their partners not employed by NASA to present in their absence.

Additionally, around 3,000 NASA employees in the CCISD area were working without pay or were not working at all.

CCISD, as well as other school districts around the country made accommodations in order to be considerate of the students whose parents or guardians were not being paid.

On January 15, a small protest took place in front of the Johnson Space Center Houston as furloughed employees rallied to show their disapproval of the shutdown. Some of the signs at the protests read “I have my dream job…please let me do it,” or “will science 4 food.” The government shutdown caused economic struggles for NASA and many other unpaid employees, as many Americans live “paycheck to paycheck.” An anonymous NASA engineer started a GoFundMe to help federal workers pay their bills and it raised around 3,500 dollars. Additionally, JSC Federal Credit Union offered loans with no interest for workers affected by the shutdown. Local restaurants, like D’Amico’s Italian Market Cafe, Bistro Provence, Ouisie’s Table and the Rainbow Lodge served free meals to struggling employees. The Republican senate representative from Sugarland, Pete Olson, filed a bill in on January 15 that lets unpaid federal workers take from their retirement without penalization. However, the bill has not been approved by Congress yet.

The protesters outside of NASA received many different responses from the public, some passersby honked or cheered in support while others yelled, “get a job” or “secure the border.” It is clear that America is just as divided about the decision of the border wall as the government is.

2

Opinion What is your ideal valentine’s day and why?

“My ideal Vale ntine’s Day is to sprea d love to all, so ever yone gets the joy o f love on Valentine’ s Day.” -Lauren Vinin g (10th) to , it’s e my m “For ut with n g o my mai han as love mom , who I s .” focu he most n t aso M n o -Ori 12th) (

“My ideal vale ntine’s day is spendin g time with the per son I love because, to me, time is more valuable than an y gift.”

-Samantha Tye r (9th)

day is the “Valentine’s we show day where se we love to tho owing love should be sh ” to everyday.

-Ms. Saucier

“My ideal vale ntines day is sitting at h ome eating chocolate I bought for myself and r ewatching ‘friends’ for the 5th time on netflix.”

-Eron Stephen son (11th)

e’s alentin e v l a e d tim “My i ending p s s i I y da erson p e h t with for, d care n a e ies v lo memor g n i k a and m hem.” with t ceda to Sau r e b o R (9th) e “Honestly, it would be lik lenany other day, because va to tine’s day was contrived s. sell chocolates and card te ra If I need a day to celeb the ones that I love then job I’m not doing very good the rest of the year,” -Mr. Fincher

ne’s “My ideal valenti me day is spending ti d, eswith my girlfrien don’t pecially since we me spend as much ti ke.” together as I’d li 0th) -Chaz Cheramie (1

“watching movies and eating candy because i’m a strong independent woman.”

-Shayia Skeleton (9th)

on he day t g n i y “Spend with m y h c a e b ve m the use I lo a c e b y, dog han an t e r o dog m e.” one els 2th) 1 rvine ( -Will I “My id eal va lentin day is e’s spent aroun b e i n g d eating my friends and a bunc food h o f ju to sym bolize nk our lo -Carli nliness.”

Fonta ine (11 th)

“Watc h stupid ing ‘crazy, , love’ be I love ryan g cause o sling.”

-Anna Alves (11th)

2018-2019

HiLife Staff

Principal: Jamey Majewski

Advisor: Wynette Jameson

Editors-in-Chief: Maddie Moore Sierra Dickey Assistant Editor: Morgan Severson

Managing Editor: Brittney Melanson

News Editor: Leah Burnam

Online Editor: Lilo Shelley

Features Editor: Arrington Linder

Entertainment Editor: Shelby Donnow

Sports Editor: Anabella Cooper Around Creek Editor: Kadee Loyd

Advertising Manager: Brittney Melanson

Photo-Editor: Danielle Dunavant

Assistant Photo-Editor: Riley Healy Reporters:

Kadyn Chatman Nicole Alvarenga Jose Rodriguez Grant Coburn Kaila Alvarenga Cameron Heise Mariyah Thomas Alexis Gerardo

Photographers:

Bella- Jace Moreno Chloe Tankink Carson Faulkner Sammantha Torch Cece Huff Erik Soto

Published at Mirror Publishers in Texas City Visit us at: www.creekhilife.com or http://clearcreekhs.ccisd.net For ad rates call: (281)-284-1889

Editorial

3

Sierra Shares: Without the press, we are oppressed

By Sierra Dickey Editor- in- Chief Unlike the authoritarian countries such as Turkey, Afghanistan, Russia or North Korea, where knowledge of political actions is hidden from the public, the United States is an established democracy because of the press and the available resources that help spread political activity within the nation.

Without the press, the Watergate Scandal would never have been exposed and Nixon would have been in office three more years, covering up his incriminating acts. Without the press, the release of the 7,000-page Pentagon Papers would not have revealed the direct involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War, something the people of the nation were completely against. And without the press, this country would be subjected to biased propagated information fed from the direct hands of the government.

Because of this, the need for journalists is dire, and their protection is of importance in order to keep this nation as a democracy.

Over the past few decades, starting with President Nixon in 1969 to President Trump in 2016, the relationship between the press and the president has degraded to an unhealthy extreme. With the exposé of Nixon’s attempt to hide the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War, the trust from the public towards the government and president disintegrated, leaving the people dependent upon the press for trustworthy news. Within the next three years, Nixon had another scandal to his name, the Watergate Scandal, that eventually led to his resignation. Following Nixon was his vice president, Gerald Ford. Ford, in response to Nixon’s accusations and resignation, pardoned Nixon, leaving the public suspicious towards Ford and the rest of his presidency.

The intervention of the press in government affairs did not stop at Ford. Ronald Reagan was exposed with the association of the Iran-Contra Affair, which was a secret trade of US missiles for hostages.

Reagan then proceeded to use half the money received to fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua against the Cuba-back government, which was against a law barring the US from helping the rebel group.

Bill Clinton, another memorable president for being impeached, was revealed to have had an affair with a White House intern, which Clinton denied. Other women who shared same experiences with Clinton spoke up as well. Due to his lies, Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice. Obama, although seemingly avoided any scandals within his terms, recently has

been questioned by the media for illegally sabotaging and spying on Trump’s campaign of 2016. Although he has denied any knowledge, there are suspicious records that suggest he may have been involved in the crimes.

Without the press, the small piece of a larger amount of presidential scandals stated above, would never have been revealed, leaving the public blindly following their government and trusting it. Without the press, any and all scandals would be unknown, out of sight and out of mind. Without the press, the government and especially the president do not have a check on power and privileges. Without the press, there would be no democracy.

Recently, the degradation of the relationship between the president and the media has come to an all-time low, with Trump dehumanizing the press and attempting to manipulate the minds of the people by stating the media as “the enemy of the people” and “the lowest forms of life.” Along with the verbal abuse of the press at meetings and conferences, Trump has also tweeted multiple “gifs” of his administration running over the news as a cartoon, which were later deleted.

Because of President Trump’s vocal abuse towards the media, the endangerment of journalists is at a high in the last three years.

omy of our country” by severing ties from the oil rich Saudi Arabian lands for one journalist. According to CNN politics, the lack of action from Trump went against his intelligence agencies and showed him siding with a regime that admitted to torturing and murdering a member of the press.

The pardon that Trump has given to the Saudi Arabian prince and officials has given an example to other countries. Many countries already do not protect journalists as much as they should be. Now the idea of being pardoned by Trump if the country benefits the United States’ economy has granted them an excuse to torture, imprison or murder more journalists. Countries like Egypt, where we get cotton, India, where we get valuable spices or Afghanistan, where we get poppy seeds to create opiates, who’s to say they will not start harassing more journalists just because President Trump would pardon them due to the fact that they benefit the United States economy.

Although Trump is in his second half of his first term, 714 days left till his term ends, that is enough time to see hundreds of journalists imprisoned and killed. This needs to end. The non-action for economical gain needs to end. The half- enforced

Politicians and leaders around the world are witnessing what Trump has to say towards his OWN people, specifically United States journalists. With the idea that Trump hates journalists and has no respect for them, countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia have had major increases in journalist’s imprisonment, mutilation and deaths, according to The Committee to Protect Journalists statistics.

With an estimate of 185 journalists killed, 782 imprisoned and millions of threats to countless news organizations within the last three years, the safety of the press, along with their rights and privileges, is deteriorating fast.

Due to the inside mistreatment of journalists from Trump, others outside the nation are starting to notice the harassment of journalists will go unpunished while under Trump’s administration. In the most recent and wellknown case involving the neglect of justice, Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi was brutally tortured and murdered in a Saudi consulate by a Saudi hit team. Turkey denied any involvement for two weeks and then eventually described it as a “rogue” operation, the Turkish officials are still questioning the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body and the reason for the killing. While on the other side of the world, Trump has remained silent over the Khashoggi murder, leaving many Americans, not just journalists, furious due to the lack of intervention or punishment towards those that committed the murder. Trump later said that he will “not destroy the econ-

protection of journalists needs to end. Along with Trump influencing the outside countries, he has created a greater threat to journalists within the United States, a place they call home. Trump followers have taken under his idea of the press being “the enemy of the people,” creating a rise in threats to newsrooms within the country. Thousands of journalists have read and seen threats made to them by countless harassers, some even taken action against the newsrooms.

On June 28, 2018 there was a mass shooting of the Capital Gazette newsroom.

The shooter, Jarrod Ramos, had killed five employees and two were injured trying to escape. The newsroom had claimed that Ramos has had a long-standing conflict with the press. Following the threats was a harassment article about Ramos involving a woman, to which he did not enjoy and filed a lawsuit against the Capital Gazette in 2012.

However, the judge repealed the lawsuit due to Ramos not having the qualities necessarily for a defamation case. Ever since then Ramos has had a grudge for the Capital Gazette. According to the investigators, Ramos has retweets from Trump and direct tweets that lead to the conclusion that Ramos was indeed a part of the Republican party, or had Republican ideals. Although Ramos has made countless threats to the press in past years, the spur of violence towards the media from President Trump has risen suspicion as to if Ramos was inspired by Trump to

“The press is not the enemy of the people but the best defense against tyranny. We need to vigorously defend the freedom of the press. It’s essential for our democracy.”

- Beto O’Rouke

take action against the newsroom. Although there is uncertainty of Ramos directly being affected by Trump’s hate for the press, it has influenced many others to target journalists and become more hostile towards them, and for the first time in history, the United States is no longer a safe haven for journalists.

In order to counteract Trump’s hate influence the need for more journalist laws and protections needs to be set, with strict punishments if those laws are broken, no pardons. The press had to already try and survive in a world that somewhat thought of them as of importance, but now that Trump is changing the minds of millions towards journalists, their survival has gotten harder. In recent years the Committee to Protect Journalists have promoted the idea of changing the laws for journalist protections.

The Journalist Protection Act, a bill that would make it a federal crime to intentionally cause “bodily harm” to reporters in the United States, is on the right track. However, the idea of mutilating, killing or imprisoning a journalist without proof or probable cause within outside countries is unacceptable. A global action needs to be taken, whether that means allowing journalists with some sort of defense mechanisms or putting more laws to enforce their freedom.

Many people that hate the press believe it is either fake or that the article made them look bad or it doesn’t agree with someone’s ideals. Well, that is not what journalism is about, to try and appease the audience listening or to make the bad look good, or to hide the truth. The press has no responsibility to do such things, we spread what needs to be heard to the public to keep the people of the world in the loop of things, to sustain the democracy. Trump hates the press because it shows the mistakes he makes, the things that make him look bad in front of the people.

He says the press as those who cannot be trusted, yet he tries to hide his involvement in the illegal acts of his 2016 campaign.

Recently, the press has uncovered that Donald Trump had told his ex-attorney Micheal Cohen to lie in front of Congress about the Russian involvement in Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. Cohen first told congress that the Russian and Trump interaction involving the Moscow project in September 2015 to January 2016 and his personal conversations with Trump over the topic was slim. However, Cohen had later admitted to lying to Congress about the end date, now being June of 2016, and his communications with Trump over the project had been extensive, not slim. Cohen also stated he did this out of loyalty to President Trump. If there is proof that Russia was involved in Trump’s presidential campaign, then Trump would be considered for impeachment.

Now, imagine a life without journalists one more time. Anything Trump has done would not be shared, most importantly involving the Wall since only 31 percent of citizens actually want it. The government shutdown would have been more under wraps more than what is now.

So much truth is exposed by the press, about politicians, celebrities, history, murders, fires. Everything. Why hate the people that risk death to spread the truth?

People demand the truth. Journalists write the truth. And politicians are scared of the truth. So, let us not harm the ones that give us that truth and instead further protect them. The press has uncovered many truths that have made the people less trusting towards the government. So why start trusting them more now when a rich businessman decides to take up Presidency?

4

By Madeleine Moore Editor-in-Chief Lately biopics have become extremely popular in the film industry, however, the problem is telling the story of a real person’s life is difficult to get right. Most of the time, biopics attempt to cover too large of a time period rather than focusing on a significant event in an important person’s life. Not only is it nearly impossible to recreate the lifetime of a real person in two hours, but casting typically leaves much left to be desired. We are all unique human beings, and no matter how talented of an actor someone is, they will never be able to completely recreate the essence of another real person.

While watching the Oscar nominated film Bohemian Rhapsody, it felt as if by the end we had not learned any information about Freddie Mercury and his band, Queen, that we did not already know. The film was essentially an overview of Mercury’s life-

By Arrington Linder Features Editor From smoothies to soda, plastic straws are used in our everyday lives and have been a staple to many consumers since the 1960’s. In less than a century, plastic straws have become a hot topic and have negatively impacted the environment. Straws do more harm than good when it comes to marine life and their home.

Many people might think that because of the small size of straws, they cannot do much damage to the environment. Although they are not the number one cause of ocean pollution, plastic debris, including straws, kills over one million marine animals each year. By 2050, it is estimated that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish and many people are turning to a “zero waste” lifestyle to help reduce the waste they produce. Making little to no waste can be hard for many people but cutting straws out of your daily routine is one small step towards

Editorial

Maddie’s Messages: Inaccurate biopics and did not explore any new information about him or his band. This was extremely disappointing, as Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor, who knew Mercury the best during the time period in which the film takes place, were involved in the production of the movie.

Although I enjoyed Rami Malek’s performance as Mercury, I feel as if biopics should be used to explore a side of history that audiences have not seen before.

A film that successfully did this was Academy Award Winner I, Tonya, which received an 89 percent from film critics on Rotten Tomatoes. I, Tonya portrayed the life of figure skater Tonya Harding, who was banned from the Figure Skating Association and all competitive skating competitions after an attack on her competitor, Nancy Kerrigan. When Kerrigan’s leg nearly broke after being attacked with a met-

al baton during a practice for the U.S. Fig- es hear a different side of the infamous story.

A biopic can also warp history by falsely ure Skating Championships in Detroit, news outlets immediately concluded that it was the portraying a person and their actions. In late fault of rival skater Tonya Harding. I, Tonya, 2017, The Greatest Showman, a film about P.T. Barnum and the creation of his circus, was slammed for romanticizing Barnum’s life. In his biopic, Barnum was portrayed as a generous man who took ‘freaks’ under his wing and allowed them to perform in his show. However, this did not reflect the way Barnum acted in real life. In reality, Barnum was known for being not only an extreme racist, but also abusive towards his circus animals. One of Barnum’s first acts was a slave named Joice Heth, who he claimed was the oldest person alive. Although slavery had been outlawed in New York at the time, he was able to purchase the rights to rent Heth due to a loophole in the system. He displayed her as one of his main acts and once Heth passed, he continued to exploit her by creating an exhibit to display her body. The Greatest Showman not only disregards Barnum’s actions, but poorly portrays opera singer Jenny Lind, who was also one of Barnum’s main acts.

The filmmakers use Lind as an incentive for the downfall of Barnum’s career as well as his marriage, when in actuality Barnum and Lind’s relationship was nothing but professional.

With the upcoming release of several serial killer biopics, such as Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, I Am the Night and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, I feel it is important that we remember those who suffered to which Harding was a part of the making of, give us these stories. People portrayed in these allowed her to tell her story the way she was films are, or once were, alive. Biopics that are unable to tell it 24 years ago. Although the released have an incredible influence on the film is extremely biased and makes Kerri- way audiences will remember these people, and gan look obnoxious, it reveals information when screenwriters use lies to tell their stories, about the incident that was not available they are damaging the names of real people. when it initially occurred, and let audienc-

“I really think the biopic thing so rarely works, because peoples lives dont have a dramatic shape that can be satisfying.”

-Bill Condon

Arrington’s Advice: Straws suck

decreasing ocean pollution. If everyone in the United States stopped using disposable, plastic straws, over 500 million straws could be cut out of our daily lives each day.

Banning plastic straws does not mean that you will never be able to use a straw ever again, there are many alternatives available for use.

Non-disposable straws, such as metal, reusable plastic and glass, have recently become more popular.

However, restaurants and coffee shops continue to serve their customers with single-use plastic straws and only a few restaurants serve paper straws as an alternative. The downside to paper straws is that they can easily dissolve in drinks if not used fast enough and the easier, cheaper alternative is to not use a straw at all. BIOFASE, a company in Mexico, has found a way to create biodegradable straws out of avocado pits.

To my knowledge, there are fewer cons than pros to banning straws. If straws were to be banned all over the country, disabled people would not have easy access to straws. However, there are alternatives, though they may not work as well for them as plastic straws do. Alternatives are also more expensive to produce than plastic, which is cheap and durable.

But what is so bad about plastic straws?

Why is there controversy surrounding such a small, seemingly harmless object? As stated before, straws are not the number one cause of ocean pollution, but it takes one small step

to cut out straws from your daily life. Straws break down into microplastics, plastic that is less than five millimeters, and marine animals mistake the micro pieces for food and ingest them. Plastic containers, bottles and cardboard can all be recycled, so why can’t straws? Although you are

invented in 1870 and were cheaper to produce. Plastic straws are more durable than paper ones, which is why the industry chose to switch. Unfortunately, manufacturers did not realize the negative impact plastic has on our environment until it was too late.

Many major companies, such as Starbucks, Disney and American Airlines, have decided to take steps to lower their use of plastic in their establishments.

Starbucks plans to ban straws by 2020 and replace them with eco-friendly ones. In the U.S. and Canada, some stores use new lids that are made specifically to be used without a straw. By mid-2019, Disney will eliminate plastic stirrers and straws from all of their parks except for Tokyo Disney. American Airlines will replace their current straws and stirrers with biodegradable ones.

Not only have companies made changes, but so have countries and cities. The United Kingdom has banned not only straws, but also microbeads and cotton buds along with placing taxes on things such as disposable coffee cups and plastic bags. Both Seattle and Malibu have banned straws, with Seattle also banning single-use utensils Many people do not think about the environmental effects a small item such as a straw would have. The hard truth is that everything disposable, even if it is miniscule, will affect the environment.

Earth is the only planet we live on and we need to do everything we can to prevent it from deteriorating even more.

“The environment is where we all meet; where all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share.”

-Lady Bird Johnson able to put straws in the recycling bin, it does not mean you should. Straws are too lightweight to be recycled properly and often end up in the ocean instead of the recycling plant. In the UK, an estimated 8.5 billion straws are used per year.

In 1888, Marvin Stone filed a patent for the drinking straw. Straws were made out of paper until the 1960s when plastic straws became mass produced. The first plastic products were

Core Values Responsibility is the ability to act independently and make decisions without being told by authority and completing the task. Audio Visual student, Bethany Howard, shows responsibility in the classroom by doing her work and being more than happy to do extra work if it benefits her classmates and the production of videos. Howard, junior, says that when it comes to Wildcat Entertainment, she makes sure everything is set correctly and if there are missing or incorrect shots she will re-shoot them.

Trustworthiness is the ability to be honest and truthful.

Senior theatre student, Molly Akin, is trustworthy by always being reliable in the theatre department and making sure work gets done. According to her teacher, Mr. Hewlett, she is often a leader, and runs the class as if the teacher was not present.

Akin says she had to be responsible to earn her parents’ trust.

She utilizes trustworthiness in theatre so that her teacher will trust her with opportunities and roles.

BETHANY HOWARD Respect is using good manners, practicing tolerance, being considerate of the feelings of others and not hurting anyone.

Senior Choir student, Carly Allard, shows respect by being kind to others and accepting them for who they are. According to her Choir directors, Mr. Park and Mr. Sultz, “She has respect for learning, enjoys learning and helps others achieve their goal in Choir.” Allard said that her parents taught her their morals of respect and uses respect in Choir by following directions of directors and teachers.

CARLY ALLARD Fairness is the act of justly treating or behaving towards someone without discrimination or favoritism. Softball player, Danielle Dunavant, shows fairness by always going to extra mile whether it be putting away all the equipment to being the first to show up at practice, and the last to leave.

According to Dunavant, she always tells the truth when an umpire asks about a play. Her parents taught her to always treat people the way they want to be treated and do more than what is expected of her.

DANIELLE DUNAVANT

5

MOLLY AKIN

Responsibility Respect Fairness Trustworthiness Citizenship Caring

Citizenship is the characteristic of an individual who chooses to be a member of society that gives back. Junior Cheerleader, Taylor Trobaugh, shows citizenship by being fully committed to the cheer program. According to her coach, Ms. Mosley, “She is never late, always dependable and positive, never complains and can be counted on to lead her fellow teammates.”

Trobaugh said that citizenship comes naturally to her when she is helping out her teammates.

TAYLOR TROBAUGH Caring is the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. Senior AP art student, Krystal Zemarron is caring by always standing out and helping her fellow students according to her art teacher, Mr. Garner.

Zemarron said that her mom taught her to judge character rather than appearance since she was little. She utilizes caring in art by interacting with her peers and lifting them up when they are down, she says.

KRYSTAL ZEMARRON

6

News

US and China trade war causes economic tension

of tariffs are to make Chinese goods more Preeti Varathan, a reporter for Quartz, said. expensive than American produced goods.

In retaliation, China placed 60 bilBy implementing tariffs, Trump has start- lion dollars’ worth of tariffs on American ed what economists are calling a trade war. goods. Trump then threatened to raise tarSince being elected President of the “On Thursday (March 1), the US pres- iffs, which would hit the Chinese econoUnited States in 2016, Donald Trump ident announced tariffs of 25 percent on my another 200 billion dollars, on Janhas promised to reduce the trade defi- imported steel and 10 percent on imported uary first, but agreed to respect a 90-day cit between the United States and China.

Trump argues that because America’s economy is reliant on imports from China, America’s economy is unable to grow, motivating Trump to start a trade war.

During his campaign and his presidency, Trump has claimed that outsourcing manufacturing jobs to foreign nations, like China and Mexico, has taken jobs away from the middle and lower classes. Trump promised to rework the trade agreement between Canada, Mexico and the United States to bring jobs back to America, and in 2018 Trump helped form the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The outcome of this new treaty is still to be determined, however, reworking the former agreement only accomplishes one of President Trump’s campaign promPhoto courtesy to Unsplash ises, as China still remains a major threat aluminum. The move truce between the to United States manufacturing and labor. is aimed at recouptwo nations to disTrump is faced with the problem of ing the billions of dollars ‘lost’ each year cuss a new trade deal. These trade talks balancing the interests of American com- to other countries as the US imports more have had, thus far, mixed results, yet panies profiting off Chinese labor and the than it exports from countries like China Trump has assured the American people growing trade deficit between America and and Mexico. Coming on the heels of tariffs that progress has been made. However, China. So far, Trump has increased tariffs, on washing machines and solar panels, the neither America nor China has released a tax on products from a foreign nation, new trade barriers may be just the start of any information on a potential deal in the on imported goods from China. The goal a bigger effort to overhaul global trade,” works. Trump’s trade war has led to a de-

By Grant Coburn Reporter

cline in Chinese exports, up to 221 billion dollars worth, although China’s aluminum industry continued to increase exports by nearly 20 percent in the month of December.

Trump’s main objective is strong-arming the Chinese into purchasing US products, especially beef and cars. Economists fear, however, that China will simply look elsewhere for their needs. By failing to concede to American demands, China is losing a major trade partner and is threatening their relationship with the major European powers and other nations in NATO who would likely side with America rather than risking losing their traditional Western allies.

“Global economic growth is now expected to reach three-point-seven percent in 2018 and 2019, down from the IMF’s previous prediction of three-point-nine percent in July…The IMF warned that the world faced a permanent hit to growth if the US followed through on a threat to impose a 25 percent on all imported cars, and global tariffs hit business confidence, investment and borrowing costs,” David Lawder, a reporter for Reuters, said.

Overall, the global economy is suffering as a result of the trade disagreements between the two countries. China and the United States have until the first week of March to come up with an agreement. If the two nations are unable to come to an agreement, tariffs will increase, which may threaten the global economic growth.

Magnetic pole migration causes rapid changes

By Kaila Alvarenga Reporter

The Earth’s magnetic pole is moving, and fast. Its pole has been moving away from Canada and towards Siberia. Because of how much and how quickly the pole is moving, geologists are updating the model they use to predict where it will go next year. Over the last 30 years, the rate that the magnetic North Pole moves per year has sped up to around 15–55 kilometers per year. There is a theory that the influence by the movements of iron-rich fluids deep below the Earth’s crust keeps the North magnetic pole in a constant flux.

“The most recent version of the model came out in 2015 and was supposed to last until 2020, but the magnetic field is changing so rapidly that researchers have to fix the model now. The error is increasing all the time,” Arnaud Chulliat, a Geomagnetist at the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said.

The problem, geologists say, lies partly within the moving pole and something churning deep within the planet. Liquid located in the Earths core generates most of the magnetic field, this varies over time as the deep flows change. In the Northern parts of South America and the Eastern Pacific part of the magnetic field accelerated under it in 2016. Satellites tracked the shift in the magnetic field. By 2018, the World Magnetic Model was in trouble. Researchers from the NOAA and the British Geological Survey had been doing their regular check of how well the model was capturing the Earth’s magnetic field. But then they realized that it was so inaccurate that it was about to exceed the acceptable limit for navigational errors.

The wandering pole is affecting ships, planes and submarines in the Arctic. An

update about the model of the magnetic field was released on January 30, since it was originally delayed from January 15 due to the US government shutdown.

The new shifts in the North magnetic pole would be unnoticeable by most people outside the Arctic, like most people that use smartphones in New York, Beijing or London. The navigation systems in cars or phones depend on radio waves from satellites in space to locate their point on the ground. In some places though, the compass could be pointing fractionally wrong.

Once it’s made public, the new model will inform a wide array of navigation, including the ability to direct airplanes and ships to people using smartphones.

Earths wandering poles could have caused the Ice Age that began three-pointtwo million years ago. This period was caused by the expansion of ice sheets out of Antarctica and Greenland and the melting of the Laurentian ice sheet. The glaciers are responsible for the creation of millions of standing bodies of water across North America. Although the causes of Ice Ages have been described as astronomical cycles, atmospheric conditions, ocean currents and plate tectonics, a complete explanation has yet to be discovered. According to a team of Rice University geophysicists, they discovered new research findings.

Earths Ice Age may have been caused by a shift in the Earths relativity to its axis, which then caused the poles to wander.

This study was conducted by Daniel Woodworth, a graduate student and the W.M. Keck Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Science at Rice University, and Richard Gordon, a chemist and NASA astronaut. Their study was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Woodworth and Gordon analyzed geophysical evidence from the Pacific Ocean. It included fossil bones

from deep ocean sediments, the magnetic structure of the oceanic crust and the position of the mantle hot spot that created the Hawaiian Islands. The two then deduced that within the past 12 million years, the Earth experienced “True Polar Wander” (TPW).

When TPW takes place, the North and South Poles location changes, or wanders.

“The Hawaiian hot spot was fixed. Relative to the spin axis, from about 48 million years ago to about 12 million years ago. By comparing the Hawaiian hot spot to the rest of the Earth, we can see that the shift in location was reflected in the rest of the Earth and is superimposed on the motion of tectonic plates.

That tells us that the entire Earth moved, relative to the spin axis, which we interpret to be the true polar wander,” Gordon said.

A team of geophysicists from the US and Canada have developed a theory that explains why the poles are wandering. It is called TPW, it can be described as the movement between the surface of the Earth and its rotational axis. Researchers believe that over the past one billion years, the Earth’s surface has “tipped over” and then returned to the original location six times along the same axis. They figured it out by studying magnetism in rocks, known as “paleomagnetism”. It explains that if a rock cools in a magnetic field, it records the magnetic properties of the field, which could be decoded in a lab millions of years later. By measuring changes in the movement of the Earths magnetic field in the rocks, the scientists can see the effects of TPW. Jerry Mitrovica, a geophysicist of the Earth and Planetary Science Department at Harvard University explains that these extreme and drastic shifts change and can be linked to global changes in all large-scale Earth systems like the carbon cycle, climate and even evolution.

“Someone sitting on the Earth would have seen the pole shift up to 50 degrees and then turn around and return close to its origi-

nal location, all in tens of millions of years.

But an astronaut floating in space would clearly see the rotational axis stay somewhat vertical and the Earth’s surface tip over and back again. If it happened today, a shift of 50 degrees one way might put Boston, Massachusetts near the north pole, while a shift in the opposite direction would bring Boston near the equator,” Mitrovica said.

What has fascinated researchers is a theory that clearly explains why and how the pole returns to its original location, called the “oscillatory true polar wander”.

A graduate student of the Earth and Planetary Science Department at Harvard, Jessica Creveling provided an explanation.

The researchers used computer simulations and modelling to show that a combination of two mechanisms brings the “wandering” pole back to its original location.

The first mechanism refers to the Earth’s equatorial bulge. The Earth is not a perfect sphere, but it is an oblate spheroid, which is flattened at the poles and bulges at the equator. The causing for the Earth to bulge out at the equator is due to the rotation of the axis. So therefore, if the Earth tips over, it prefers to right itself again. The second mechanism refers to the strength of the tectonic plates. If the Earth’s surface tips over relative to the rotational axis, the 12 larger tectonic plates would all get deformed and the plates would then want to go back to their original size. This could cause the oscillatory return of the pole, and a hint that might prove that this caused it is that past polar oscillation events seem to have happened when the Earth’s continent were all together into one supercontinent called Pangea. Mitrovica pointed out that while Creveling was running her simulation, none of the mechanisms alone could cause the pole to return – it was only the combination of both effects that did it.

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Around Creek

Creek’s choir and theater put on an enchanting show

By Kadee Loyd Reporter

Creek’s Theater and Choir departments have been working diligently for months to put together this year’s musical, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, and they were finally able to share it with the community.

The shows on January 25 and 26 reeled in over 400 people per night, and the audience was captivated by the impressive singing and acting of the students. Applause boomed through the entire room as the cast took their final bows, and many marveled at the production and the talented leads. After the show, children and adults alike had the opportunity to take a picture with Cinderella and Prince Topher in front of a magical backdrop.

Since October 29, students participating in the musical have been attending after school practices to work on vocals, dances and acting. With rehearsals nearly every day after school, including on final exam days, over winter break and on a handful of Saturdays, the musical has been a considerable time commitment, but the excitement of seeing the show finally come together makes the process worth it.

“Personally, the musical process has been extremely intense, but extremely rewarding.

I’ve loved getting closer with my friends, and making new ones, as well. There has been a lot of obstacles, but we always manage to pull through, and for that I am tremendously thankful,” Sammi Leard, junior cast member, said.

Along with the cast, Theater Director Bradley Hewlett and Choir Directors James Park and Sean Stultz have been managing rehearsals and advertising.

Theater members have been working behind the scenes to put costumes together and ensure the lights and sound systems function properly. Senior Maddy Vansco, stage manager, has held everything together,

taking care of attendance and keeping rehearsals organized. Both theater and choir booster clubs have been working hard to get sponsors, show shirts and concessions. The musical process has been a large group effort, with every person contributing to its success.

“It requires a lot of cooperation. I think throughout the process of Cinderella,

kind of thing that’s the side benefit of the process, but the biggest thing is learning from each other,” Mr. Hewlett said.

Performers in the musical are divided by principle characters and the chorus.

The principle characters, or leads of the show, have been working especially hard to memorize their lines and musical numbers.

The lead role, Cinderella, is played by

Picture courtesy of Clear Creek Theater

the choir directors and the theater directors work really well together; we have for years on it, and it’s been really fun watching a lot of the choir students get to know theater students and vice versa.

I’ve seen a lot of new friendships and people getting to know each other and that

Sutton Anderson, a senior in theater and choir, who has been involved in performing for many years.

“Musical theater combines everything I love from theater and music. The songs add to the emotion of the story and add greater effect and hopefully each audience

member can take away something specific and special to their life that has been told through the story,” Anderson said.

The other lead characters are Prince Topher (played by senior Brandon Falknor), Marie/Fairy God Mother (played by junior Riana Vermillion), Madame (played by junior Luci Melcher), Charlotte (played by senior Skyla Sonnenburg), Gabrielle (played by senior Tej’a Lane), Lord Pinkleton (played by senior Travis Falknor), Sebastian (played by sophomore Aidan Vermillion) and Jean-Michel (played by junior Brady Raboin). These students have been very active in choir and theater throughout their high school careers, and they have almost all previously performed in musicals.

Chorus members fill the remaining spots of the show, acting as villagers and aristocrats at the ball. Some even play as the animals that Marie magically transforms with her magic. The chorus members supported the leads with back-up vocals, short speaking lines and a few numbers of their own.

The scenes vary in seriousness, from a regal waltz to a haphazard chase of a raccoon and fox turned human. There are three acts and many scenes that include well-known songs such as Me, Who Am I?, In My Own Little Corner, It’s Possible, A Lovely Night, Ten Minutes Ago, Stepsister’s Lament and other popular tracks from the musical.

The final shows were on February first and February second at seven pm. There was also a two-o-clock show on February second. Additionally, there was the Royal Reception, a special event at 11:00 am on February second, that gave little princesses and princes the chance to meet the cast and ride in the golden carriage backstage.

Days for Girls provides reusable feminine products

By Grant Coburn Reporter

quality sustainable feminine hygiene commonly taught anymore such as being for others,” Guidestar, a cache of able to work with a sewing machine, data from nonprofit companies, said. serging, cutting, twilling, and ironing. All By attending sewathons, students not of these skills are applicable in the real All around the world, women who are unable to access feminine hygiene only receive a sense of accomplishment world and help to build an overall sense products, like pads or tampons, miss three and satisfaction, but they also gain a new of self-sufficiency. You can also learn months of school each year, inhibiting that woman’s ability to receive a quality education and improve their life. However, on Saturday January 19, the Creek Days for Girls Club met at St. John’s Episcopal Church for a sewathon, an event centered around making reusable pads for use by women who lose education from a lack of feminine hygiene products.

Creek’s Days for Girls was founded by Maria Buendia, junior, and Victoria Lorreant, junior, after having participated in the Days for Girls program at Victory Lakes Intermediate. While formed during the 2017 to 2018 school year, the club only first began having meetings and sewathons during the 2018 to 2019 school year. Currently, over 60 students participate in the club, with over half of them consistently showing up at the sewathons. During the last sewathon, over 60 liners were made along with 25 bags, allowing 75 months, or over six years of schooling, to be reclaimed by girls who otherwise would be forced to stay home during their cycle.

“Through Days for Girls programs, a lot of what it’s women and girls discover their potential skill. Supervisors, Photo courtesy of Lia Wilkison like to work as and self-value, are equal participants people who have team to achieve a and agents of social change and are been practicing given opportunities to thrive, grow that skill for a significant time, help instruct common goal. It’s overall an opportunity and contribute to their community’s students new to that particular skill. to complete a great service that will “You learn things that aren’t help girls around the world gain more betterment while ensuring access to

access to education,” Buendia said.

With people in over 120 countries served, including the United States, the Days for Girls program is making a huge splash in the world. And while the Creek Days for Girls program may be small, it is surely influencing the lives of many young girls.

“Days for Girls helps young women across the globe by giving them access to clean, reusable, sustainable, feminine hygiene products. By receiving these products, these woman are able to feel comfortable in their own bodies and get an education they could otherwise miss out on. Days for Girls is creating a world with dignity, health, education, and opportunity for every girl. So far, more than one million girls have been reached, creating a better world for each and everyone one of them. We plan to continue helping as many young woman as we can until we can finally say we have reached Every Girl. Everywhere. Period,” Lorreant said.

Overall, the Days for Girls program at Creek is a wonderful way to spread joy through the world. Thousands of people from many countries, cultures and religions benefit from Days for Girls. The club is also a great volunteer opportunity for service hours needed for Honor Societies and for college applications. Students, regardless of their need for service hours, should participate in Days for Girls, as it is a wonderful opportunity to learn and help the world. The next sewathon takes place on February 23 at Good Shepard Episcopal Church and the next Days for Girls club meeting takes place on February 20 in the auxiliary cafeteria after school.

Around Creek 9 Cavaliers successfully kick off competition season

By Shelby Donnow Entertainment Editor

The new year means many different things to many different people, but for the Cavaliers, it marks the beginning of their competition season. Falling between football season and their Spring Show season, the Cavaliers recognize competition season as the most stressful of them all.

They tirelessly work to perfect their dances in hopes of earning the first-place award.

With their first competition, January Jubilee at Friendswood High School on January 19, the team’s Jazz Company kicked off the season before the entire team took the floor. The whole team competed on February second at Oakridge High School where they won a plethora of awards. The Creek Cavaliers took 1st place for their Jazz Company, officer choreography award for officer jazz, lyrical and novelty, team choreography award for jazz, kick and pom, #1 team jazz winner overall, #1 team kick winner overall, #1 team pom winner overall, Officer best in class, Officer top team, top team overall, officer super sweepstakes and team super sweepstakes. The team will continue to compete on February 9 at Dawson High School and February 16 at Cypress Woods High School. Between all of these competitions, the officers, Jazz Company and team will take turns performing at boys’ basketball games in Carlisle Fieldhouse.

The Cavaliers stay after school to practice every single day for two to three hours and give up some of their Saturdays to practice in the gym. The officers, Sophie Bivens (Captain), Olivia Translavina (Se-

nior Lieutenant), Shelby Donnow (Junior Lieutenant) and Chloe Martin (Junior Lieutenant), along with their director, Marka Wood and their assistant director, Megan Tallo, watch and clean the dances and give as many pointers as they can in hopes of making their routines perfect and precise.

The team has three dances that everyone has a chance to be in including pom, kick and jazz. The team also has a Jazz Com-

ater and lyrical. They work nonstop to improve their skills and perfect their dances.

“I am excited about our upcoming competition season! My favorite part about competing is being able to dance with all my best friends,” Ashley Leistad, junior and Social Committee Secretary, said.

Although the day is packed with fun, these are the longest days of the year for the team. Every competition morning, the

Photo courtesy of Cavaliers dance team pany dance which Cavaliers must be consists of the more in the dance room advanced dancers on the team. The last of at around five AM ready to leave for the their dances are the officer dances. The offi- competition. After their long day of danccers are the leaders on the team who are dis- ing, cheering on their teammates and havtinguished by the white uniforms they wear ing fun with each other, the team does not during football season. They have three return back to League City until around one dances of their own, a jazz, musical the- AM. Their competition season is filled with

chugging coffee and energy drinks, taking naps whenever they can find the time to and learning how to function on little to no sleep.

Though the team has won amazing awards like best team in the state, their most beloved award that they have earned two years in a row is the “Most Admired” award.

Every team at the competition votes for the team they believe has the most kind, spirited and encouraging girls and the Cavaliers’ ownership of this award means the most to them.

“I enjoy working hard and I look forward to getting most admired team for the third year in a row, hopefully,” Olivia Translavina, First Senior Lieutenant, said.

Competition for the Cavaliers may be intense and tiring, but the team bonds during this season more than any other.

They get to spend lots of time with each other and their talented director and assistant director, Wood and Tallo, and make memories that will last a lifetime. The Cavaliers cannot wait to see what is to come during this year’s competition season.

“My favorite part about competition season is waiting behind the door before the dancers perform getting excited and lifting each other up,” said director, Marka Wood.

While it may seem as though it is just another month on their calendars, the Cavalier competition season is an intense, important and fun part of their year. The Cavaliers get their chance to show their skills to other schools around the Houston area and earn awards that seem to pay off their hard work.

While they enjoy winning awards, what is most important to the team is having fun, cheering on their friends and making memories that will last a lifetime. The Cavaliers are working very hard to have a great season and they are excited to see what is to come.

Chad Lindberg visits UT as a potential student

By Shelby Donnow Entertainment Editor

heard speeches from the UT Head Coach ways a treat for the whole Lindberg family.

Tom Herman, the UT starting quarterback “It was a good experience. My favorSam Ehlinger, the UT starting safety Ca- ite part of the weekend has to be meeting Time and time again the community den Sterns and famous American actor and Matthew McConaughey,” Lindberg said.

Head coach, Tom Herman, and the Unihears about Clear Creek’s own junior class producer, who is also a UT alumni, Matthew McConaughey.

Along with college versity of Texas recruits are set on getting football star, Chad Lindberg making his mark in the nation with his football skills. Since the end of football season, Lindberg has been dedicating his time to visiting his colleges of interest. On January 19, The University of Texas College Football Team invited Lindberg and only eleven others to attend their annual in-state underclassmen recruit weekend.

With only one person in the junior class ahead of him with D1 offers, Lindberg is extremely sought after between colleges.

The University of Texas is giving their all to get Lindberg to choose their school and football program.

Throughout his weekend in Austin, Lindberg attended a UT basketball game, which they won. He also met other recruits he could be playing with in the future, like a class of 2020 UT commit, Hudson Card and got to explore the unique city of Austin.

He was invited to participate in a photoshoot with the other top five players in the country in the Photo courtesy of Chad Lindberg Lindberg’s Chad to fall in love UT uniform. While visiting the UT facili- visits, older brother, Scott with their program. ties, Lindberg says that they are the nicest Lindberg, is expeThough Lindhe has seen in the country; and he has seen riencing his freshman year at the Uniberg has been to Austin and the UT campus quite a few of them. He was also invited to attend a Texas Football meeting and versity of Texas, so visiting Austin is al- many times, this visit was one of his most

memorable yet. Throughout the many different experiences he got to participate in, Lindberg has gotten a better idea of what his life would be like in Austin.

Though he really enjoys the UT experience, Lindberg is still unsure of where he will be attending college. His goal is to be a professional NFL player, however his education is also very important to him. Lindberg shows through his schoolwork and outstanding grades that not only is he a talented football player, he is also a very intelligent student.

This detail about Lindberg sets him above others and makes him even more desirable to schools since his competitor’s grades may not be as outstanding as his.

Many people see Lindberg as a prime example of the perfect student athlete. Most colleges in the nation are hoping Lindberg will choose their school as his home. Though the University of Texas is one of his top choices, he has not stopped exploring his options. With all of the considerations that go into choosing a college, like the skill and training of the football team, the education and many other details, Lindberg is in for a tough decision when the time comes to narrow down his top colleges to one.

The Clear Creek community cannot wait to see whether Chad will choose UT or one of his other prestigious options.

Journalism 1 & Photojournalism Journalism 1 (1701) OR Photojournalism (1771) teaches the basics of photography and writing, and will prepare you for a position on the staff. *If you are experienced in writing or photography and are interested in joining Newspaper, you may not need to take Journalism 1 or Photojournalism. Speak to Mrs. Jameson in Room D136 for more information.

Why you should join 1. Earn a letterman jacket 2. Connections (Christopher Nolan and jon Turtletaub) 3. Free access to local events , concerts and plays

4. Three Newspaper credits replaces English IV

5. WE use macs and professional cameras

6. WE are entirely student run

7. Learn how to use photoshop

8. Get your stories and photographs published 9. Independent study newspaper on a 6.0 scale * 10. Celebrations after each publication Courses : Journalism I (1701), Photojournalism (1771), Advanced Newspaper (1711), Newspaper Ind. Study (1899)

12 Around Creek Debate dominates and moves on to State UIL

By Kadee Loyd Around Creek Editor

Debate has been busy all year with tournaments nearly every weekend. The most recent successes in these competitions were in UIL, and four Creek students, freshman Nathaniel Overby and seniors Jack Callahan, Sanjana Shah and Sunny Wang, have all qualified for State.

The four students participated in pairs; Overby and Callahan made up one duo, while Shah and Wang made up the other. The two teams competed in a branch of debate called Cross Examination (CX), which looks into current political events. The topics discussed are specific policies that change annually and affect the population of America and of the world.

The topic this year asked whether or not the United States should substantially increase restriction on immigration. Both of the teams have similar view points about the topic. They believe that immigration, specifically the asylum process, should be expanded to include women, children and men fleeing domestic violence. Most countries that these immigrants come from do not have laws around domestic violence, and the extreme patriarchal systems that are also common give women little voice to speak out. The Creek teams used these points in their arguments on the issue.

The path to the state competition has been long, with five rounds expanding from the district to state. Each round puts two teams against each other, and

the duration of the debates are usually an hour and a half at least. The preparation for each one of these rounds is extensive, but the two Creek teams have obviously produced a quality argument. They all agree that the process has been worth it,

pretation. Students are able to participate in Lincoln-Douglas (LD) debates, which are one-on-one arguments based heavily on logic and ethics. They can also choose Humorous Interpretation and Dramatic Interpretation. Those who wish to compete

and they are very excited Photo courtesy to Creek Debate team in speech can choose an for the state competition. informative, persuasive or “By far, the most rewarding aspect of more impromptu argument. Then, there are the UIL process this year was beating the top- the duo events: Acting and Interpretation. ranked Clear Springs teams,” Callahan said.

“My favorite debate event is probAnother big debate path is the Texas ably Lincoln-Douglas. I like it beForensic Association (TFA), which en- cause I get to develop a moral argument compasses the weekly tournaments. With- about important issues,” Hayden Rinein this organization, there are different hart, sophomore debate student, said. competitions in debate, speech and interAt each tournament the students attend,

they work to rack up enough points for the TFA state competition. They need 12 points to move on. As of now, senior Rachel Boyd is qualified for LD debate, and juniors Jordan Pruitt and Aahil Virani are qualified for Duet Acting. Sophomore Meghan Lindquist has eight of her points in Humorous Interpretation, and sophomore Emma Tyler has six in LD. Lindquist will also be participating at state, as each team is allowed to bring one unqualified individual.

Debate students are allowed to pick which events they want to participate in and what tournaments they attend, but they must participate in a set number of tournaments to receive a grade in the course.

After choosing their category, they spend their class time getting sources and writing speeches, arguments or interpretations of stories.

“The amount of preparation depends on the events. Some events take no preparation and are impromptu, while others may take a week of off and on preparation,” Tyler said.

Creek Debate’s performance has been impressive this year, with four students going to state for both Cross Examination UIL and the TFA competition. The date for State UIL Debate is set for May second through fourth, and the speech events will be held on May 29 and 30. The TFA State Tournament will be held on March 14 through 16 at Alief Taylor High School in Houston. The Creek students moving on to state are working hard to prepare themselves for the difficult competitions.

Varsity swim team drowns the competition

By Alexis Gerardo Reporter

The Clear Creek swim team has created a phenomenal track record when it comes to their encounters with victory. Just this time last year, participants in a boys 400m freestyle relay race came only a second shy of breaking a long-held school record. This year, however, the swimmers at Creek would not let victory slip through their fingers.

At the start of the new semester, the swim team has made a remarkable win: District.

“The swim team winning the district championship makes me feel like all of the hard work the kids and coaches do throughout the summer and fall semester is worth it. Having 95% of the athletes on the varsity roster place top eight in the district in at least one event makes us feel like something we are doing here is working,” Coach Ty Halford, head swim coach, said.

Now that the team has come together as a whole to win district, their next goal is to win the regional championship. This year, Creek had a larger regional team than they have had in past years. Training this year was also more intense for the swimmers, as Coach Halford placed more of an emphasis on them lifting weights in the weight room and becoming stronger.

“Many people think the weight room is only for football players, but being stronger helps at any sport,” Coach Halford said.

At regionals, the swim team had yet another record-breaking year. Clear Creek had 10 different swimmers break a Clear Creek High School record. Currently, six individual events are advancing to state as well as two relay teams, which is almost as many as the

rest of the Clear Creek school district combined. Creek also had four events qualify as All American at regionals. Some of these events include the girls 200m medley relay, swam by Izzy Glasgow, Mallory Hull, McKenna Malone and Cory Shanks, which created a new record, now set at 1:48:16. The

The group of boys finished 2nd at regionals in the 200m freestyle relay and set a new school record at 1:25:67 and also finished 2nd place at regionals in the 400m freestyle relay. Bulseco broke a record set in 1975 for the 200m freestyle with a time of 1:41:57. He also finished 2nd at regionals

group of girls received Photo courtesy to Creek Swim team in the 200m freestyle and 4th place for their ath2nd in the 100m freestyle letic performance. Glasgow finished in 4th with a time of 46:00. Holt broke the school place in the 100m backstroke. Hull finished record in the 50m freestyle with a time of 7th in the 100m breaststroke. Shanks broke 20:57 and the record for the 100m freestyle her own record on the 100m freestyle with relay with a time of 45:64. At the conclua time of 51:08 and also broke a 50m free- sion of regionals, Holt won 1st place at style school record with a time of 23:61. At the regionals in the 50m freestyle and 3rd regionals, Shanks won 1st place in the 200m in the 100m freestyle with a time of 46:08. freestyle and 1st place in the 100m freeIn recap of the overall performance, style, setting a new school record of 50:33. the Clear Creek Swim finished 3rd at reThe 200m freestyle boys relay was gionals - 3rd for the boys’ group and 3rd also broken at 1:25:88 by Jacob Bulseco, for the girls’ group - which makes them Marc Jardin, Peter Horton, and Tim Holt. officially state bound. Everyone, espe-

cially the swim coaches, is very proud of the swim team’s efforts and performance.

“It was extremely exciting to watch my teammates qualify for state and I can’t wait to see how they swim next week! A couple of us are making a trip to Austin to go support all of our swimmers. We have an outstanding swim team and I’m happy to spend my last year in high school with them,” Julia Meyers, Senior, said.

Although the swim team has advanced this far, Halford’s expectations of the state meet have not lowered. Because of Halford, the swimmers are prepared to compete against some of the best swimmers in the state and face great intensity without hesitation.

“There will be several swimmers in the pool that will eventually swim on an Olympic team. It is always jaw dropping, some of the times we see at this meet, and knowing that our Creek swimmers are competing right there with them,” Coach Halford said.

The state championship meet is to be held at the University of Texas at Austin at The Joe and Jamail Swimming Center on February 15th and 16th. With the competition just around the corner, Coach Halford’s number one goal is to present CCHS the best he can as a program, and also have at least one of the events reach the medal stand and have the others advance to the finals round. Undeniably, he is swelled with pride for his hardworking swimmers.

“I would like to say thank you to all of the seniors for all of their hard work and believing in a new system to help C.C.H.S. become one of the top swim programs in the area and hopefully soon in the state. We could not have accomplished all of these goals without you,” Coach Halford said.

Around Creek

13

1-45 ramp closure exacerbates downtown traffic

By Morgan Severson Assistant Editor

in a matter of seconds to exit on to 288, caus- normal and make sure that my gas tank is ing dangerous situations. However, when full. With the traffic and other incidents, the I-45 ramp closed, drivers were not able preparing for the unexpected is key. Also, For the next six months, Houstonians to exit from I-45 to 59 or 288. TxDOT rec- I make sure I have an audiobook, food who commute to downtown will have a ommends for drivers to stay on I-45 north, and water on hand because you just never considerable detour. On Friday, January getting on to 1-10 and then exiting to 59, know. In the end, I’m sure [the construc25 at nine pm, the I-45 Gulf Freeway ramp connected to I-59/288 southbound closed for at least six months or until further notice. KHOU 11 News anticipates that the closure will affect drivers coming from all directions, having a “ripple effect” on all traffic near Downtown Houston.

“I either have to take a major detour or suffer through the pain of traffic that’s caused by the mass on the highway and the tight area formed by construction,” Grant Carnell, senior at Clear Horizons, said.

The I-45 ramp is partially built, and construction will finish the bridge making it go over the highway instead of being off to the left of the highway.

Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) reports that the project will cost $30.45 million. basically making a cirtion] will be worth it,” Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons “The goal of this project is actually to cle around Downtown Audra Williams, comreduce some of the congestion and reduce Houston. This means drivers that normally muter to the Houston Medical Center, said. some of the weaving in the area. There were stay on I-45 north are going to deal with twice Additional work being made on I-45 is several accidents in that area, congestion in the amount of traffic, KHOU predicted. widening the highway from six to eight lanes that area, it would just come to a standstill, Some additional ways to get around all the way to Galveston. This construction especially during rush hour and sometimes the ramp closure is to exit into east Down- project will flip the I-45 and FM 646 highnot during rush hour,” Deidrea George, town and get on I-69/288 via Midtown ways, making I-45 go over FM 646 opposed TxDOT Public Information Officer, said. and use 610 or to avoid the area entirely. to FM 646 going over I-45 as it is now.

According to KHOU, drivers in “The closure is a major headache. I Starting on March first, construction the past to pass over several lanes of traffic have to leave at least an hour earlier than on I-45 and FM 646 will begin in two

phases. Phase one entails destroying the FM 646 overpass, building the mainlanes of the I-45 overpass, then constructing the FM 646 intersection and its frontage roads. Phase two will consist of reopening the FM 646 intersection and building the access roads on the I-45 overpass.

“I-45 traffic will be disrupted periodically for main lane traffic shifts, however, on a day-to-day basis, the I-45 main lanes will maintain [their] current serviceability and capacity,” Danny Perez, TxDOT Public Information Officer, said.

The project is going to take approximately six months and is expected to finish in the fall of 2019. According to the League City Official website, the construction crew signed a contract with TxDOT stating that said they will finish in no later than six months, and if not they will receive disincentives. However, TxDOT agreed to give them incentives if they finish early.

“The I-45 corridor is a hurricane evacuation route. In order to ensure that high-profile vehicles, emergency vehicles, rescue vehicles and emergency supplies are able to pass through the corridor without obstruction, overpasses over I-45 are being eliminated, and I-45 is being reconfigured to pass over these intersections,” Perez said.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the project will cost an estimated $232 million. If all goes well, Houston’s time and effort put into improving the highways will benefit commuters for ages to come.

14

Featured

Paul McCartney and Emma Stone Come Together

By Leah Burnam News Editor

Paul McCartney recently released his third single and corresponding music video, Who Cares, from his album Egypt Station. The music video and song were released back in late December, with the video featuring Emma Stone as the lead.

The short film made headlines for taking an aim at bullying and kicking off the social media campaign #WhoCaresIDo. The video opens with Stone going to Dr. Lorenz, who appears to be a hypnotherapist, played by McCartney. McCartney proceeds to hypnotize her, which lands both of them in the spellbound mind of Stone. The rest of the short film continues to show bright scenes of Stone and memelike characters, with McCartney and Stone dancing to the anti-bullying related music.

McCartney continues to say that people should not care about their bullies because everyone is worth so much more than that.

“My hope is that if there are kids being bullied – and there are…maybe by listening to this song and watching this video, they might just think it’s not as bad. [They might think] that it’s the kind of thing you can just stand up to and laugh off and get through,” McCartney, in an interview with Rolling Stone, said.

When the dancing comes to an end and Stone comes back to her senses, alert of her surroundings, she is seen sitting in an empty room alone, the same room in which McCartney’s hypnotherapy office was held. It appeared that McCartney had taken all of his belongings, leaving only a note that said, “DON’T FORGET

YOUR UMBRELLA,” for Stone. This then cuts off the rest of the video with only the credits coming after. In one of the credits it mentions the videos production association being with Creative Visions, which is a non-profit organization.

By working with the Creative Visions Foundation, McCartney is promot-

with Enso, Artemis Rising Foundation, the Blue Chip Foundation and Facebook.

“Millions of people around the world feel silenced, subjected – bullied – and believe that no one cares. Our intention with this campaign is to put the power of the song to work and inspire us to show up and care – and let others know that we

ing the #WhoCaresIDo Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons do care,” Kathy Eldon, campaign. The goal of the founder of the Crethe campaign is to give people the tools ative Visions Foundation, said. they need to learn how to treat others The video was directed by Brantley with empathy and compassion. The cam- Gutierrez, a longtime tour photographer paign was also created in partnership for McCartney. In recent interviews Guti-

errez has talked about how he originally wanted to work on a different song from Egypt Station, but because McCartney was backing the Creative Visions campaign, he chose to film Who Cares. Choreography was done by Ryan Heffington, a two-time Grammy Award nominee for his work on We Exist by Arcade Fire and Chandelier by Sia. The video also received a lot of praise during a Q&A for the rest of their production team including, Linus Sandgren, a cinematographer, who had worked with Stone on La La Land.

“Once I got Paul and Emma on board with my initial idea, another person that I wanted to bring into the fold was Ryan Heffington, who is another friend of all of ours. Because there is so much movement involved in my initial vision for this, I wanted to see if Ryan [would] co-direct with me because he is such a brilliant artist and he brings so much to the table. And so we set out to try to put together something that was collaborative…and I think we are doing it,” Gutierrez, in the Who Cares behind the scenes interview, said.

Who Cares has racked up over one and a half million views on YouTube and many fans are hoping this is not McCartney’s last studio album. However, McCartney still seems to be passionate, so much so that he recently talked about how Taylor Swift’s “sisterly” bond with her fans inspired him. Who Cares surely brought smiles and inspiration to those listening. Its overall message was intended to “support and lift people up,” along with showing others that there are people who care and that want to take care of others.

Hundreds of thousands fight for women’s rights

By Leah Burnam News Editor

The Women’s March took place recently across the country, flooding the streets with thousands of men and women protesting against President Donald Trump and fighting for rights. The annual march has a mission to “harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change,” provide education on a “diverse range of issues” and the people helping run Women’s March Inc. are committed to getting rid of unjust treatment.

The Houston Women’s March began at the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern and allowed many people the chance to meet local representatives and organizations who are working to fight for “justice,” which is the intended theme of this year’s march. The rally began at city hall and lasted multiple hours, with many people giving speeches and others displaying their hand-written signs in response to a number of political issues.

“In 2017 and 2018, we worked together to bring an unprecedented wave of voters and candidates to the midterm elections. In 2019, we’re doubling down on the call for justice in our world,” Robin Paoli, one of the Houston march organizers, said.

Other marches around the US, such as in Washington D.C. and New York, also gave empowering speeches that discussed the intersectionality of the march. Angela Davis, a political activist, gave a speech at the Washington Women’s March about freedom, representation of the people and how “histo-

ry cannot be deleted like web pages.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a US representative and the youngest women ever elected into Congress, representing New York’s 14 congressional district, addressed what justice really means at her local Women’s March.

“Justice is not a concept we read about in a book, justice is about the water

do is shake the table,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

In previous years the marches seemed to be larger than that of this year’s, however, The Washington Post recently published an article estimating that 665,324 to 735,978 people participated in this year’s march across the country. The article also featured a graph displaying

we drink. Justice is about Photo courtesy to Wikimedia Commons multiple marches that the air we breathe. Justice took place in 2017 and is about how easy it is to vote. Justice is 2018 and the thousands of people that atabout how much ladies get paid. Justice is tended, such as, the Pride parade, March about making sure that being polite is not for Our Lives, #EnoughWalkouts March the same thing as being quiet. In fact, of- and the March for Science. It’s safe to ten times, the most righteous thing you can say that the Women’s March, especially

the first one, had an immense impact on the people and surrounding communities.

Despite the fact that the march has only occurred a total of three times, they have already brought together hundreds of thousands of people from around the world marching for similar causes. After the first march took place back in 2017, the Women’s March Inc. official website released an annual report detailing their expenses and assets by the end of the march. Their total expenses fell close to $3,000,000 and their net assets at almost $900,000. This may seem like a big difference in the amount they are gaining and losing, however, they were still able to do a lot of work such as investing in dozens of rapid response actions and flagship programs, one of them being the Women’s Convention, which is a skill-building network-building conference.

“The 2017 Women’s March on Washington was the largest single-day protest in US history. There were a total of 653 marches in the United States alone, with approximately 800,000[one point two] million participants in DC, and approximately [three] million total marchers in the nation. Marches took place in every U.S. state and on all seven continents,” the Women’s March 2017 annual report said.

Although the day of the event has come to a close, the march is still continuing for many as they make their voices heard for generations to come. Next year’s march is sure to be one for the books, it will be a monumental moment for women in history, and another triumphant win for their rights.

Entertainment 15 Spiderverse spins itself to the top of the web

By Morgan Severson Assistant Editor

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse swung into theaters recently and has proved to be a popular rendition of the Spider-Man storyline Marvel fans know and love. The movie received a 97 percent from Rotten Tomatoes, some critics calling it the “best Spider-Man film ever made.”

With a production budget of $90 million, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse raked in $35 million its opening weekend and $338 million in the world-wide box office. “[It is] the latest entry in a fully saturated genre that somehow, through sheer creative gumption, does something new,” David Sims, staff writer with The Atlantic, said.

The movie follows the spunky biracial teenager, Miles Morales (played by Shameik Moore) who was just accepted in to an elite school through a lottery. Miles is conflicted with wanting to please his parents by doing well at his new school and going back to his old school where he was popular, and classes were a breeze. Miles confides in his trendy, cool uncle Aaron (played by Mahershala Ali) which his police officer dad disapproves in. The two sneak out one night to graffiti the subways of New York, where Miles is bitten by a radioactive spider and finds himself with super powers.

When searching for the spider that bit him, Miles meets Peter Parker, also known as Spider-Man (played by Chris Pine) who is killed by Wilson Fisk, a mobster, while trying to stop him from setting off a particle accelerator. Spider-Man’s dying wish is for Miles to take a USB drive and shutdown the particle accelerator, which would give Wilson access to multiple dimensions and potentially hurt civilians.

At Spider-Man’s grave, Miles meets Peter B. Parker (played by Jake Johnson) a middle aged, out of shaped, depressed Spider-Man that is there from another dimension due to the particle accelerator.

Because Miles broke the USB, he seeks the help of Peter B. Parker to break into Wilson’s lab and make a new USB to defeat him. In return, Miles would help Peter B. Parker get back to his dimension.

Along the way, Peter B. Parker and Miles

tion for. With all the characters introduced in the film, Sony has many opportunities to make spin-offs and sequels. Potential up-coming movies or shows, not officially confirmed by Sony yet, based off Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, include a movie continuing Miles’ story, a movie about Spider-Gwen and other Spider-Women and TV shorts staring Spider-Ham. “I love the animation, I thought it was unique and it was breath taking. I

Photo courtesy of Flickr meet more “Spider-Men” also like John Mulaney or “Spider-People” from as Peter Porker. So far, other dimensions as well: Spider-Woman it’s my favorite Marvel movie so I would (played by Hailee Steinfeld) Spider-Man give it a nine-point-six out of ten,” Anna Noir (played by Nicolas Cage) Penni Alves, junior and Marvel super-fan, said.

Parker (played by Kimiko Glenn) and After watching Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Ham (played by John Mulaney.) Spider-Verse, I would give it nine out of The Spider-People decided to combine all ten stars. I especially enjoyed the movtheir unique traits to defeat Wilson Fisk ie’s animation style and the elaborate stoand get back to their own dimensions. ry line. The movie was comical and defiIn the end, the movie hints at a se- nitely had unexpected plot twists. Some quel that Sony has already started produc- parts of the movie I thought were childish,

but the movie is rated PG and I assume the producers were trying to cater to allage groups, making it “family-friendly.”

“There is no bad language and minimal romantic content, but the PG rating will be due to the emotional weight of character deaths and the pressure of family. However, ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ balances all these elements so well along with the gloriously cool visual spectacle that it is the perfect movie for children. However, due to a couple of scary and sad parts we would recommend caution for viewers aged six and under,” Mike Record, blogger from isthismoviesuitable.com, said.

It was also exciting to see the main character of a Marvel movie be biracial, since the last African-American superhero to hit the screen was Black Panther.

The movie consisted of many actors and artists of all different races, once again keeping the trend of diversity like recent popular movies such as Crazy Rich Asians.

“Miles Morales — the main character in the new movie ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ — not only is a pop culture representation of my youth, but the type of hero that before his creation in 2011 existed only in my imagination,” David Betancourt, a biracial, Spider-Man fanatic with The Washington Post, said.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, received several awards such as Best Animated Feature and Best Animated Feature Film from The African American Film Critics Association and The Alliance of Women Film Journalists, respectively. It also won a Golden Globe for “Best Motion Picture – Animated.”

The film has won over 12 more awards and is nominated for 22 other awards.

Viewers disturbed yet intrigued over Netflix show You

By Shelby Donnow Entertainment Editor People everywhere are intrigued by the Lifetime series that has recently been bought by Netflix, You. Although the show was not very popular while playing on the Lifetime Network, once Netflix bought the rights and began streaming the show, You became a hit. Becoming available on Netflix on December 26, 2018, the show has become all the rave and many people have put it at the top of their list for shows to watch. The show’s main question being “What would you do for love?” keeps the viewers’ minds racing while watching.

Spoiler alert ahead! Set in New York City, the main character, Joe Goldberg, played by Gossip Girl’s Penn Badgley, does not let anything get in the way of his newfound love for Guinevere Beck, a graduate student who is an aspiring writer in the

big city, played by Elizabeth Lail. The two meet when Beck purchases a book from Joe’s bookshop and he describes it as love at first sight. He hopes she will eventually feel the same way about him, so he knows he must do something to get her attention.

Joe, a bookshop clerk, may seem like a pretty boring character at first, but there are many things that viewers will learn about him that could never be guessed.

Joe’s love for Beck is not the usual love story watchers would assume. His innocent crush quickly turns into an extreme obsession. He begins to stalk Beck and track her every move, even though they only had one quick interaction. Joe finds every detail about Beck through social media and the internet, such as her extremely wealthy and wild best friends and that she is seeing Benjamin Ashby III played by Lou Taylor Pucci. Joe is angered by anything that could possibly come between him and Beck. He will stop at nothing to

rid the world of his issues and setbacks that would get between him and Beck.

After going through very extreme measures, Joe and Beck finally end up going on their first date. Beck thinks she has found the most perfect man, though her heiress best friend, Peach Salinger, played by Shay Mitchell, thinks the exact opposite. She is extremely determined to prove to Beck that Joe has too many fatal flaws to consider keeping around. Peach can tell that Joe is up to no good, and does not hide that fact to anyone that she does not want Beck to be involved with him. Of course, Joe knows about her opinion due to the fact that he makes sure he always knows everything about Beck, therefore he knows he must do something about the issue if he wants to keep Beck. When Joe feels threatened about someone or something, he never fails to do something to “take care” of his issues.

Throughout the entirety of the show, viewers will constantly find themselves

cheering for the bad guy. The characters are very convincing, determined and passionate about everything they do, leaving viewers wanting them to succeed at mostly everything they do, good or bad.

“I find it interesting that some viewers sympathize with Joe and some are afraid of him,” Marka Wood, Cavalier director, said.

This show takes its viewers through a whirlwind of exciting, frightening and surprising events. Those who watch get to take a glimpse at the thought process of a psychopath. Though the date of the premiere of the second season is not out, Netflix has already confirmed that they are renewing the show. Though it will seem creepy at times, this show is worth the watch; those who watch will not even be able to move away from the screen in fear of missing something. After completely watching the series, the only thing viewers will be left to question is: What would you do for love?

16 Entertainment Obama featured in #Hamildrop: One Last Time

By Arrington Linder Features Editor

The final song in the Hamildrop series has been released, this time with a former U.S. president in the mix. The 44 Remix version of the song One Last Time, was released on December 20, a little over a year after the release of the first Hamildrop. The Hamildrop includes Christopher Jackson, Barack Obama and Bebe Winans.

One Last Time is a song originally sung in the second act by George Washington (played by Christopher Jackson), and Alexander Hamilton (played by Lin-Manuel Miranda). During the original song, Washington recites part of the Farewell Address but in the Hamildrop, Obama recites the Farewell Address instead. One Last Time (44 Remix) entered the charts at the 22 position. The term “44 Remix” comes from the fact that Obama is the 44 president of the United States.

The song consists of Jackson singing the Washington parts and Obama speaking the Farewell Address. Miranda partnered with Winans, an American gospel singer, making the new version have a gospel-like sound to it.

Choir singers can be heard in the background, backing up Jackson and Obama.

Jackson sings most of the 44 Remix, just like in the musical, and Obama speaking one part during the song. In Hamilton, One Last Time is sung by Hamilton and Washington once Washington decides to pass down his presidency to someone else.

Compared to the remix, the original song is similar but they have noticeable differences, the biggest one being the gospel tone of the

remix. The original song is 40 seconds longer than the remix, namely because the beginning of the remix does not include the speaking part between Washington and Hamilton, just in the middle.

Miranda is reprising his role as Alexander Hamilton for 24 performances in

A total of 15 million dollars are expected to be raised during these performances.

“Today Puerto Rico gave me more energy than ever in my life in that moment. I’ve never felt anything like that,” Miranda said.

In 2009, Miranda performed the first draft of the opening song of Hamilton at

Photo courtesy to Wikipedia the production the White House of Hamilton in Poetry Jam for Puerto Rico. Many of the tickets were sold Obama and his wife, Michelle. Miranda for 5,000 dollars in order to raise money and the cast of Hamilton returned in 2016 for the Flamboyn Arts Fund, a charity ded- to perform numerous hits for the Obama’s icated to helping the arts in Puerto Rico. once again. Because Miranda performed

the first draft of Hamilton at the White House, it seems as if he has come full circle inviting Obama on the last Hamildrop.

“So imagine, I’m reading this book.

And then I read that [the last line of Ron Chernow’s Hamilton biography: Eliza established the first school in Washington Heights] in the closing chapter.

It was a confirmation: I was supposed to do this,” Miranda said.

Throughout 2018 and the end of 2017, Hamildrops have been released. Some of the bigger Hamildrops to be released are Found/Tonight, a song featuring Ben Platt in honor of the March For Our Lives, First Burn features all of the current Elizabeth Schuyler’s in all of the Hamilton productions and Theodosia Reprise, a new take on an unreleased Hamilton song.

“A year ago, this month we released The Hamilton Mixtape…I know I promised you a Hamilton Mixtape Vol. 2, but nothing’s gonna match those songs in that order, beautifully sequenced by @jperiodBK, at that moment in December 2016… So today, we begin the Hamildrops. We’re gonna drop some new Hamilton content, every month, December now through December 2018. Something new, every month. Let’s begin!” Miranda tweeted.

A stage recording of Hamilton has been filmed with the original Broadway cast and is rumored to be released no earlier than 2020. Although all of the Hamildrops have been released, it is possible more Hamilton content will be released this year. With the end of this series comes new possibilities.

Entertainment17 Outstanding actors snag a SAG Award for preformances

By Arrington Linder Features Editor

Every year, actors and actresses get recognized for their achievements in film and TV at award shows such as the Golden Globes, Oscars and the SAG Awards. The 25 annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, or the SAG Awards, occurred on January 27 at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles, California and was hosted by Megan Mullally. The awards honor outstanding performances in film as well as television.

Black Panther broke many records, as it became the highest-grossing solo superhero film and had the largest opening weekend for a predominantly black cast. It won Outstanding Performance by Cast in a Motion Picture and Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture. Most people expected A Star is Born or Bohemian Rhapsody to win Outstanding Performance by Cast in a Motion Picture due to both films being released more recently than Black Panther.

“To be young, gifted and black, we all know what it is like to be told that there is not a place for you to be featured.

Yet, you are young, gifted and black.

We know what it is like to be told to say there is not a screen for you to be featured on, a stage for you to be featured on. We know what it is like to be a tail and not the head. We know what it is like to be beneath and not above…So we love you, and we celebrate,” Chadwick Boseman, who played the lead in Black Panther, said.

Rami Malek stars as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, a biographical movie following the band Queen. Malek won the category of Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.

“I thank Queen and Freddie Mercury. I get some power from him that is about stepping up and living your best life, being exactly who you to be and accomplishing everything you so desire. And I feel that, and he allows us all to feel that. So this is, again, for him. Thank you very much,” Malek said.

Glenn Close won Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Lead-

sinski. Mahershala Ali portrayed a famous American composer, Don Shirley, in Green Book, to which he won Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.

Moving onto television awards, This Is Us, a TV show that follows three families and how their lives intertwine, won Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. This Is Us is on its

ing Role for her third season Photo courtesy to Vimeo character, Joan with the NaCastleman, in tional Broadcasting Company, or NBC. The Wife. Most viewers expected Lady Sandra Oh, most known for her role Gaga to win this award for her role in A as Cristina Yang in Grey’s Anatomy, won Star is Born, just like at the Golden Globes Outstanding Performance by a Female Acwhen Close won against Gaga again. tor in a Drama Series for her part in KillEmily Blunt won Outstanding Perfor- ing Eve. Oh was the first Asian woman mance by a Female Actor in a Supporting to win Best Actress in a TV Drama at the Role for her role in A Quiet Place, written Golden Globes in almost 40 years. Jason and directed by her husband, John Kra- Bateman won Outstanding Performance by

a Male Actor in a Drama Series for Ozark.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, an Amazon Prime original series, won the three awards they were nominated for. As a cast, they won Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Rachel Brosnahan, who stars as Miriam Maisel, won Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series. Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series went to Tony Shalhoub.

“I just want to start by saying that the greatest honor of my life is to be nominated in the same category with Alan Arkin, who has long been an idol of mine, and I am happy to say that a friend, but I think he was the reason that I wanted to become an actor in the first place,” Shalhoub said.

Patricia Arquette won Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a TV movie or Limited Series for her role in Escape at Dannemora. Darren Criss, known for his role in Glee, won Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a TV movie or Limited Series.

Criss starred as Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace. He was the first Filipino-American to win a SAG award.

“I find it appropriate that this statuette is sort of choosing between which masks to use and the character that played Andrew Cunanan and unfortunately used masks to destroy things. And so as an actor, my goal was to hopefully create something positive change,” Criss said.

Despite being nominated for three awards, the Netflix original, Glow, only took home one award. Glow won Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series.

The SAG Awards shed light on many amazing films and television shows.

Fans cannot wait until next year to find out which films and shows make history.

Bird Box causes debate and is unsightly to critics

By Leah Burnam News Editor

The internet has been going crazy over the latest film adaptation of the post-apocalyptic novel, Bird Box, a thriller where those that see “it,” an unknown, seemingly invisible creature, commit suicide and those that do not must continue to keep their eyes closed. Bird Box was released December 13 and stars actress Sandra Bullock as the lead character. It also features many other well-known actors and actresses such as Trevante Rhodes, Machine Gun Kelly, Sarah Paulson, John Malkovich, Danielle Macdonald and Tom Hollander. Surprisingly, the movie only got 64 percent on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, with many saying it is an all too familiar post-apocalyptic movie and that Bullock’s performance lacked emotions.

The film follows a young woman named Malorie Hayes, played by Bullock, whose mission is to get her and her children to safety when they come face to face with these demon-like creatures. However, because they cannot directly look at them, they must find safe shelter all while being blindfolded.

In the opening of Bird Box, Hayes is seen explaining to her two kids, called Boy and Girl, that they must get on a boat and head to safety. Throughout much of the movie, there are a series of flashbacks on Hayes’ life, with some scenes showing when she was pregnant, wondering if she would be able to form a connection with

her baby. The director of Bird Box, Susanne Bier, went on to tell Variety about how creating the movie allowed her to create a new portrayal of motherhood.

“When I read the script I felt there was the potential to portray a different picture of motherhood than that which is usually portrayed. I’ve always felt that motherhood is mainly defined by men and for many hundreds of years is automatically thought of as being soft, caring, naturally nurturing, [and] calm. There are a lot of things that are part of our idealized vision of motherhood, but I always thought it was much more complex, much more ferocious…I think that’s what Sandra gives it,” Bier said.

Although Bird Box has been doing well, it has already received major backlash over the fact that they used real footage of a train wreck in Quebec that occurred back in 2013. People were up-

set that Netflix was using the footage as “decoration,” when many people were killed in the tragedy. Netflix had licensed the footage from a stock image vendor, Pond5, and has no intention on remov-

Photo courtesy of Flikr

ing the scene. Pond5 released a statement saying how the footage “was taken out of context” and that they sincerely apologize.

In addition to the controversial train scene, many fans and even some of the

actors in Bird Box, have began discussing the theories surrounding the creatures in the film. Some believe they could be aliens, while others suspect the characters are in a state of psychosomatic hysteria. Bird Box was written by Josh Malerman, a writer and singer. When asked by Eric Heisserer, the screenplay writer for Bird Box, about the specific features of the species represented in the film, Malerman explained he honestly had no idea.

“I did like the idea that these were entities from either another part of the galaxy or another dimension, some creatures that are not from here. And their means of communication are entirely visual and they are looking for something that can understand them, but the problem is it breaks our brains,” Heisserer, in an interview with Thrillist, said.

Bird Box is not expected to be up for an Oscar or any other awards due to other Netflix originals such as Roma, having made more headlines regarding nominations. However, the news continues to circulate about the deeper, hidden meanings and the suspenseful mystery that is Bird Box.

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Sports Superbowl 53 lacks enthusiasm as score is lowest in history from the city itself. A video also surfaced of a referee telling other referees not to throw a flag, however, throwing a flag The idea of winning the Super Bowl does not automatically invoke a penalty, and earning glory on the gridiron has cap- rather, it puts the potential penalty untured the hearts of Americans for over 53 der review. Saints wide receiver Michael years. For Tom Brady, the feeling has Thomas even pointed out a clause in the been captured six times through nine Su- NFL rulebook that would allow the NFL per Bowl appearances, but his most recent commissioner, in cases of extreme controring came from his Super Bowl LIII (53) versy and clear bias, to either reverse the victory over the Las Angeles Rams 13 to outcome of a game or to allow a rematch three. Super Bowl LIII, however, did not from the point of controversy onward.

Like the Rams, the Patriots were also live up to the expectations of fans, as the Tom Brady led new England Patriots and the subject of much controversy. The the Jared Goff led Rams combined for the AFC Championship, like the NFC Chamlowest scoring Super Bowl in history, while pionship went into overtime after mulsporting the lowest ratings in ten years. tiple controversial calls. On one play, a The two weeks leading up to the Super controversial roughing the passer penalty Bowl were full of controversy, as both the on a Chiefs’ defensive player on a third NFC and AFC championship games end- down gave the Patriots a first down in a ed in extremely controversial fashion. The tense fourth quarter. Later in the fourth NFC Championship between the Rams and quarter, a muffed punt by the Patriots, the New Orleans Saints ended in overtime in which led to a Chiefs touchdown, was after a controversial pass interference no call overruled. However, many fans have hurt the Saints and potentially cost them the claimed that the officials had inconclugame. Fans and analysts accused the NFL sive evidence to overturn the touchdown. of intentionally throwing the game in favor A Tom Brady interception with one-minof the Rams. The evidence supporting the ute left in the fourth quarter was also fan’s claims include many of the referees overturned after the referees threw anothofficiating the game having ties to Los An- er controversial flag after a Chief’s defengeles, including many of the referees being sive player lined up in the neutral zone.

By Grant Coburn Reporter

While the Chiefs were also bailed out by a few penalties, the patriots overwhelmingly benefitted from the lopsided and controversial refereeing that took place.

Regardless of whether or not there was collusion by the NFL to get the Rams into the Super Bowl, the Rams did not appear as though they belonged in the big game. The Rams, whose high-powered offense carried them through the regular season was nowhere to be seen. The Rams only scored three points on a third quarter field goal. Todd Gurley, the Rams pro Bowl Running Back, also failed to live up to expectations, hardly playing at all in both the Super Bowl and the NFC Championship game. Due to his lack luster playoff performance, Gurley is the subject of many rumors, ranging from a potential injury he may have to him being trade bait.

The Patriots also failed to live up to expectations. With only one touchdown scored, the Patriots typical productive offense failed to perform up to par. The Rams defense, who was in the bottom half of the league in defensive rating, shut down Brady. The six-time Super Bowl champion threw zero touchdowns and one interception. While the Patriots passing game may have been disappointing, the rushing game saw some

light from rookie running back Sony Michel. Michel ran for 94 yards and the only touchdown in the game. Despite the strong performance by Michel, the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award went to Patriots’ wide receiver Julian Edelman who caught 10 passes for 141 yards.

The controversies surrounding both teams have led to boycotts of the NFL around the nation. Instead of watching the game, citizens of New Orleans took to the streets to form a second line, a form of parade led by a brass band. Many celebrities also boycotted the NFL in support of Colin Kaepernick, the ex-NFL quarterback, who many claim lost his position not after poor play but after his protest of the National Anthem. The boycotts have even been recognized by President Donald Trump and many other politicians.

Going into the 2019 to 2020 season, the NFL is facing many criticisms, ranging from their concussion to crisis to possible racism at the executive level. The commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, has also been heavily criticized for his silence on the issues. The NFL has seen an overall decrease in viewership since 2015.

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