September/October 2018

Elephant paoching pg. 6

Sophia Sereni sings opening of Astros game pg. 9

Serena Williams pg. 18

Junior Chad Lindberg makes League City proud By: Shelby Donnow Reporter

Chad Lindberg, a junior at Clear Creek, is considered one of the most prestigious athletes the school has ever known. Between his height and athletic abilities, number 78 cannot be overlooked. Lindberg began receiving offers at the beginning of his sophomore year and they are continuously rolling in. From coast to coast, colleges everywhere want this six and a half feet tall, 306lbs, offensive tackle, football star to attend their school.

Not only is Lindberg practically famous in the League City community, he is well known to football enthusiasts all over the nation. He is ranked the eighth offensive tackle in the nation for the class of 2020, 81 top football recruit in the nation for the class of 2020 and tenth top football recruit in Texas for the class of 2020. He has gotten offers from 35 schools including LSU, Texas A&M, UT, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and Stanford.

All of these accomplishments did not come easily, hard work and dedication was seen within Lindberg’s success. Lindberg has a daily routine that keeps him in shape for his football career. Every morning, he drinks two glasses of milk, eats three eggs, bacon and sausage. He continues his day by lifting weights, practicing drills and spending as much time possible on the football field. He knows it is important to drink as much water as he can throughout the day to keep him hydrated. During off season, he is a member of the school’s track and field team where he is nationally ranked for shotput. Even after

all of his accomplishments, he believes tutors many students in all classes spanning Lindberg, along with many other he should never become complacent with from English to Chemistry. Most teachers organizations, is very involved in his his abilities and never stops working would say that Chad is the definition church, Bay Harbour United Methodist Church. He is active in the youth program and never says no to helping out with anything they ask of him. He annually attends UMARMY, a local mission trip that puts all their efforts into helping repair or rebuild houses of those who cannot afford to do so themselves. He is also a part of an organization in the church where a group of volunteers create homes out of shipping containers for people in our community who cannot afford regular homes.

“Witnessing Chad’s desire to grow in his faith in Jesus is what empowers him to be a leader both on and off the field. He not only helps lead in the church and serve those around him, but also applies that same kind of servant-leadership in every aspect of life including with his teammates and classmates,” Ashley Pendergrass, Lindberg’s youth minister, said.

Lindberg is the complete package for colleges with all his athletic abilities, intelligence and volunteer work. Even though he has what seems like an unlimited amount of offers, Lindberg has not chosen a college and will not share which ones he to achieve his dreams. of a “star student.” is most considering. He is waiting until he Photo by Erik Soto “I work to be the best “Chad is always is positive on the correct choice in colleges I can be at everything I do,” Lindberg said. the first person to offer help when to share any thoughts. The anticipation Not only is Lindberg talented at someone needs it. He will always take will continue until he makes his decision. his sport, he maintains straight A’s in time out of his day to help me with my Lindberg is an honorable athlete, scholar challenging classes including AP Biology, classes. He has been someone who’s and a friend to all. Clear Creek High PreAP Pre-Calculus, AP English III, AP helped me since freshman year,” Gaby School is proud to call him their student.

U.S. History and AP Capstone. He weekly Umaña, junior at Clear Creek, said.

Former Creek student becomes a Helen Hall librarian By: Morgan Severson Assistant editor

Former Creek student, Sheldon Freeman, is now a Teen Service Librarian at Helen Hall Library. Freeman has been working at Helen Hall since she was a senior at Creek. She started off with a parttime job as a page, someone who shelves materials. She originally planned to be a magazine editor, but changed her entire career path when she discovered her love and devotion to helping the community.

“I originally wanted to be a magazine editor! I was the Assistant Copy Editor and Copy Editor of the Den during my junior and senior year, respectively. I loved editing so much that I wanted to do that for my career.

I only started working at Helen Hall Library because I needed a part-time job during my senior year. Who knew that one job could make such an impact?” Freeman said.

Freeman said that being the yearbook’s former Copy Editor taught her management skills that helps her in her job every day. She also said that Creek’s former yearbook advisor, Mrs. Janet O’Neil, guided her on how to oversee others. The yearbook helped Freeman with her creativity skills like coming up with catchy headlines for the library’s flyers and social media posts to catch teens’ attention.

She has credited some of her teachers and experiences from Creek for helping her become a librarian. One of Freeman’s favorite parts about Creek were the events and activities. All of her fun experiences in high school inspired her when she is planning events for connect to teens at the library.

“Sheldon amazed me with her creativity and attention to detail, a key skill in being a librarian. I only expected her to be successful in any career she became passionate about. I admire her for changing her career path to become a librarian in her hometown, that’s heartwarming! Aside from life-long cooking skills, I believe I encouraged her to be who she wants to be and not worry about what other people think or say,” Mrs. Dana Backe, Freeman’s former Food-Science teacher, said.

During high school, Freeman was also a manager for the volleyball team,which taught her responsibility. For example, Coach Scott Simonds, Creek’s volleyball coach, had Freeman input and manage track statistics.

The skills of being a manager helps her with tracking the library’s statistics of attendance, volunteer hours, material usage and more.

“Sheldon was a great student. She was a smart kid and a great asset to our volleyball program. She helped us with taking statistics during the games and a lot of other things. She was always very

positive and helped out any way she could.

I hope I helped teach Sheldon the value of a strong work ethic, discipline and being a part of a team,” Coach Simonds said.

When Freeman changed her career path, she went to college for a master’s degree in Library Sciences. She says that librarians do so much more than help you find a book and send you on your way.

According to Freeman, librarians help “build people skills, create community connections between people and help them overall throughout life from pre-school to 100 years old.” She became so passionate about being librarian because she wanted to give other people the same experience she had at Helen Hall when she was a kid.

“There are a number of reasons why I chose to be a librarian. I was always naturally interested in knowledge, organization and event planning. I also loved visiting Helen Hall Library while growing up, and the librarians always inspired me. However, I never considered being a librarian until I started working here as a page,” Freeman said.

Freeman recalled that she would have never imagined being a librarian, and she does not know why she did not consider it in the past. Freeman grew up in the League City area as has actively been going to Helen Hall since she was two years old.

Every year, Freeman would participate in the library’s summer reading program and she still has all the certificates she has earned. She said that since she was little she would play library with her brother and even charge him late fees.

“I specifically wanted to be a Teen Services Librarian because I like working with teens and the age group is so different from any other.

Teens want to chill out and express themselves, and I really enjoy giving them different outlets so they can do that. My favorite part of being a Teen Services Librarian is designing and running teen programs. They’re tons of fun and knowing that I made a difference in a teen’s day makes it all worthwhile,” Freeman said.

Some events that Freeman planned for teens at the library on Monday nights are Game On, where sixth to twelfth graders can play games like Jenga, Apples to Apples, the Nintendo Switch and Snark Tank, where teens can write snarky reviews on movies. On Fridays, there is Teen Late Night when teens play Sardines in the library and on Saturdays there is Star Wars Read Day. Freeman has events planned for teens of all ages for every night of the week.

Some books that Freeman would recommend is the whole Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling and Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. Freeman hopes that as a librarian, that she can continue to impact the community the same way Helen Hall impacted her.

2

Opinion What is your favorite part about freshman year and why? “my favorite part is the library be cause i like reading and spending tim e with my friends.”

-jose tuvino (9th)

“I Really like the school spirit at sporting events, it gets you pumped” -David Dry (9th)

What i really like about freshman year is the variety of people and the learning environment.”

- Chase leighton (9th) “my favorite part is going home at 2:30 so i can sleep.”

- Valorie Grahmann (9th)

“MY FAVORITE PART IS BEING ABLE TO WALK ACROSS THE COURTYARD AND EAT THERE BECASUE I AM ABLE TO ENJOY THE OUTSIDE WEATHER MORE.” -MADELINE CHILDRESS (9TH)

“There are a lot more peo d an ple to associate with e be friends with. Also ther uare so many more opport nites and actvities available.”

-MIa Moran (9th)

is “My Favorite part o making new mem le ries with new peop ing because i enjoy be around others.”

- Alex Soliz (9th)

AND EDOM E R F E “TH SO LAID S I T I HOW ER FEEL V E N I O BACK, S TED TO DO C RESTRI HING.” SOMET ER (9TH) REED -JACOB

“I WOULD SAY MARCHING BAND BECAUSE WE ARE LIKE A BIG FAMILY.” -HANNAH STRICKLAND (9TH)

“MY FAVORITE PART IS THAT EVERYONE IS MINDFUL THAT I AM A FRESHMAN SO EVERYONE IS HELPFUL.” -JADYN MAYS (9TH)

“highs chool more freedo just has ent sp m orts, m , differore ac tes an tivid it’s bet more peopl e so ter schoo than midd l l in al - Ahme l ways e d Mes .” elhy (9 th)

I LIKE READIN WRITING AN D G BEC AUSE W HAVE “ FREE-R E EAD NOT AS MANY A ” AND SSIGNE D BOOKS .”

-MIA V AZQUE Z (9TH )

part is “my favorite because it lunch time hance to be gives me a c s h my friend outside wit enjoy myand i get to self.” t (9th) -Julian Scot

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: Briana Harris

Advertising Manager: Brittney Melanson

Photo-editor: Danielle Dunavant Reporters:

Kadyn Chatman Nicole Alvarenga Jose Rodriguez Grant Coburn Anabella Cooper Caleb Rathbone Kaila Alvarenga Dillon Gathright Cameron Heise Kadee Loyd Mariyah Thomas

Photographers:

Fabiola Figueroa Bella- Jace Moreno Ryan Castillo Riley Healy Chloe Tankink Abby Wells 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: The underground cities

By: Sierra Dickey Editor-in-Chief The world we see above ground level is not the whole truth, beneath the surface is the unseen world of the dead.

Over the course of the last few centuries, spreading across all continents, millions of burials involving thick cement walls, toxic chemicals and nonbiodegradable caskets have been buried, slowly turning the underground into catacombs for the whole world. Underneath you, as of right now, considering how slowly concrete walls, metal caskets with finish and embalmment chemicals decompose, there could be 15 or more deceased bodies. Not only is the idea of being directly above numerous deceased individuals appalling, but the effects of the burial process has on the Earth as well.

The idea of having your dead relatives placed in a cushioned, decadent and nondisposable casket with toxic finishes on the wood, placed within a reinforced concrete vault is selfish. The idea of hindering the decomposition of a person by decades, only for them to inevitably have them still decompose, is a wasted one. Not only do we slow the natural ways of materials perishing, including our bodies, but the space taken to bury a person with all these accessories wastes valuable underground land that could potentially be beneficial to our society. Every year, according to Talk Death, a website that gives insight to environmental problems and the causes, such burials put “six billion tons of concrete, 800,000 gallons of Formaldehyde, 112 tons of casket steel and enough wood to build 4.6 million single family homes” into the ground. All that, in just one year. In ten years that is 60 billion tons of concrete, eight million gallons of Formaldehyde, 1,120 tons of steel and so much wood that it could build 276 million single family homes. That’s just in ten years… Can you imagine centuries? Even though we, as living humans, have buried millions of bodies this way in the past, does not mean we must stay true to tradition.

With the changes involving same sex marriage, gun regulations and education, why can’t we urge the change to better our environment and the world that has provided for us from the first man to the last one?

The tradition of cement vaults and decorated caskets needs to be razed and replaced with an ecofriendly burial. One of the two options is to simply stop the creation of concrete vaults, decorated caskets and the embalmed bodies.

Instead, we should alter our tradition to put them in a casket made from wood only, no finishing, and no embalmment process. Not only would this be healthier for the Earth but economically as well.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, a cement vault alone can cost from 900 to 2,000 dollars. Similar to that price, and potentially exceeding it, are the caskets themselves. Depending upon how decorated the casket is, with some being limitedly jeweled, costing around 1,000 dollars to the average quality of caskets with decorations costing up to 2,000 dollars, to some being beyond decadent and submerged in steel and gold gems and jewels costing up to 10,000 dollars.

Then after the casket and the cement vault, there is still the ceremony for the deceased. This includes the embalmment process, transportation of the deceased,

walking through a forest of dead relatives seems a bit creepy, it is a sacrifice that must be made to avoid the Earth from dying.

Due to the traditions, upheld by the older generations, changed by the Millennials and later generations, green burial grounds have been increasing in popularity. Because this generation is more environmentally aware, sooner or later the alter of traditional burials to green burials is almost inevitable. So why destroy the environment more when instead we can grow accustom to these changes and make the world a more ecofriendly environment sooner? Otherwise in the next 50 years, according to Environmental Infographic, mass- scale climate chaos will become the norm with huge weather variations causing significant drought, floods, heat waves and seasonal fluctuation will occur.

However, green burials are not the only option for safe, environmentally beneficial burials. The more extreme alternative is called Capsula Mundi, a burial process for the future. Capula Mundi is the idea of “an egg-shaped pod, an ancient and perfect form, made of biodegradable material,

the service and the burial, ranging from 7,000 to 10,000 dollars. In total, with the minimum amount, you would be spending around 9,000 dollars…. Minimum. 9,000 dollars that could be used for gas, food, shelter and any other accessories for a human’s health. Whereas, with green burial grounds, a safe and legal practice that uses biodegradable containers and avoids embalming fluids and vaults, you’d only be spending from 1,000-4,000 dollars in total. Now doesn’t that sound like a much better number? That means you are saving anywhere from 5,000 dollars or more.

As well as economically beneficial to the world, green burials are more aesthetically pleasing to the eyes than traditional graveyards and cemeteries.

Green burials give a more natural feel with either trees or stones placed above the deceased body as a marker with trails to follow. Rather than the bleak, dark, grey world of cemeteries that constantly remind us of the death of a loved one, green burials are used to celebrate one. Even though

where our departed ones are placed for burials.” The small pods will hold the ashes of the deceased while the larger pods will hold the whole body of the deceased “laid down in a fetal position.” The concept of the pods is to create a “seed” for the trees and to give the nutrients from the pod and our bodies after it has decomposed. The tree, placed on top of the pod will “serve as a memorial for the departed and as a legacy for posterity and the future of our planet.” Another tempting thought to the process of Capula Mundi is that the deceased, before they have died, gets to choose the tree that gets buried on top of them. After the pod and tree have been unified as one in the group, the family will then care for the tree as it grows, allowing for the family to still have a connection and memory to the departed through the tree. Through the trees, “life is forever.”

Recently Capsula Mundi has completed the small, ash filled, pod and is now currently trying to create the larger pods, which would hold the entire body.

Even though the idea of putting your loved one in a pod, under a tree, may not be so appealing, the idea of the burials is specifically to support the world on which we live on. Not only can we stop damaging the world, but we can also repair it. Although this is the more extreme and unadaptable idea for this society, I do believe it has the most influence and is the most effective of the two options.

Yes, green burials are more common today than the Capsula Mundi process, however, they are actually very similar.

Both involve using biodegradable materials without toxic chemicals being added, along with having a tree placed above you. The only actual difference is the introduction of pods with the Capsula Mundi, instead of just a wooden casket used in green burials.

Now, many would say that instead of changing the burial traditions why not just do more cremations? Statically speaking, yes, according to Time magazine, cremations have gone from ten percent of the population doing cremation to just under 75 percent of the population in just the past two decades. Because of this, around ten percent of the cemeteries in certain areas have gone out of business.

Now I would say that that is a great outcome due to the decrease of traditional burials involving the concrete vaults, embalmed bodies and the non-biodegradable caskets.

However, cremation takes about 2-4 hours on 1,400 to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit, because of this the amount of fossil fuels used to cremate one body is roughly equivalent to driving 4,800 miles, according to Desmog, a website that promotes clearing air pollution. In Texas alone, over 70,000 people have gone through the cremation process in the past two decades, according to Time magazine.

Just in Texas, in the past two decades, 336 million miles worth of fossil fuels have been burned due to cremation. With that many miles, you could almost travel to the sun and back twice. For this reason alone, cremation can be considered worse than traditional burials, causing more effect in a shorter period of time. Because of this, green burials and the Capsula Mundi idea are two of the most suggested solutions to alter the way we bury our loved ones after passing.

Many people overlook the idea of altering burial traditions for environmental benefits, however, doing so would gradually improve the conditions of the Earth. Many of the solutions to the destruction of the Earth requires mass amount of effort, but this only takes one decision, to not to or to bury a loved one ecofriendly. The Earth gives so much to us, from the day we are conceived in our mother’s wombs till the day we draw our last breath, it is always providing for us. For this reason, the least we could do is promote the welfare of it and give back to Earth when we perish.

“The environment is in us, not outside of us. The trees are our lungs, the rivers our bloodstream. We are all interconnected, and what you do to the environment ultimately you do to yourself.”

-Ian Somerhalder

4 By: Madeleine Moore Editor- in- Chief Nearly ten years ago, Kathryn Bigelow became the first female in the male-dominated industry to win an Academy Award for Best Director.

Bigelow’s film, The Hurt Locker, won her Best Director, and five additional awards at the 2010 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Original screenplay.

Though this was seen as a huge step forward toward gender equality in the film industry, today it is still a huge deal when a woman is even nominated for an Oscar outside of a category created specifically for women. I believe that had Bigelow directed a movie that was not focused on specifically men, like The Hurt Locker was, she never would have won an Oscar. The Hurt Locker’s cast, with the exception of Evangeline Lilly, is made up of specifically

Editorial

Maddie’s Messages: film diversity

men. It was essentially created by men, for men. It’s not relatable to women, and that is exactly why Bigelow was chosen for the award. Had she directed a film with a strong female lead, and a storyline dominated by women, we would not have a first woman director to win an Oscar for Best Director.

Women working behind the scenes would have even less representation than they already do now.

We need to give new people; specifically women and people of color, a chance to tell their stories.

Producers refuse to hire younger, less experienced filmmakers, or pursue new ideas because they do not want to risk failure.

As of 2018, there have only been four other women nominees for the Best Director award in the 90 years the Academy Awards have been running.

In 1977, at the 49 Annual Academy Awards, Lisa Wertmüller became the first woman to ever be nominated for Best Director for her film, Seven Beauties. The four other nominees include Jane Campion for The Piano, Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation and most recently Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird.

The internet argues that women simply are not creating interesting films, but in actuality, women directors are almost never given opportunities to create big budget movies.

“Studies have shown that when people in the industry think about a director, they picture a white male with greying hair – basically Steven Spielberg. That’s the default because that is what people have

seen,” Melissa Silverstein, founder and publisher of Women and Hollywood, said.

Prior to the 1980’s, women typically did not have the opportunity to direct large scale films, let alone direct films at all. The idea of a woman leading a cast and crew of hundreds, even thousands of people

sexual harassment [that] was founded on January 1, 2018, by Hollywood celebrities in response to the Weinstein effect and [the] #MeToo [movement]”.

According to Forbes, Wahlberg and Emma Stone were the highest paid actor and actress of 2017. Despite both ranking number one on Forbes’ highest paid actors and actresses list, the difference between their paychecks is startling. Stone was paid 26 million dollars last year for her films La La Land and Battle of the Sexes, as well as her appearances on the show Maya & Marty, while Wahlberg was paid 68 million for Deepwater Horizon, Patriots Day, and Transformers: The Last Knight.

Despite only appearing in one more movie than Stone that year, his paycheck was more than double hers.

As someone who plans on pursuing a career in the film industry, despite its sexist reputation, I feel we need to make a change. Films can be used for so much more than just a way to earn a large profit. We need to bring a group of new, diverse people into the field and give them a chance to tell stories others are too afraid to tell. We are not making films for the right reasons anymore. There are no risks being taken on the big screen. Although we cannot immediately change the way Hollywood thinks, we can continue to support the Times Up and #MeToo movements and push the film industry to give women and people from different backgrounds a chance to tell their stories.

“If there’s a specific resistance to women making movies, I just choose to ignore that as an obstacle for two reasons: I can’t change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies.”

-Kathryn Bigelow was unthinkable almost 40 years ago.

Though we have come a long way, women in the film industry are still not receiving the recognition they deserve. Not only that, but there is also a prominent wage gap.

In 2017, during reshoots for All the Money in the World, Mark Wahlberg was paid $1.5 million, while his co-star Michelle Williams was paid less than $1,000. In response, the internet pushed Wahlberg to donate his earnings to the Times Up movement, “a movement against

Leah’s Lessons: Environmental burger

By: Leah Burnam News Editor What if we could make meat better?

This is the question many scientists continue to ask themselves. It may seem like a trivial thing seeing as how the multi-billion-dollar meat industry is currently in a mediocre state of success. Yet, what many do not know is that animal agriculture occupies nearly half the land on earth, consumes our fresh water resources and destroys our ecosystems. By continuing this way of consumption, it will undoubtedly lead to the inevitable decline of our animals and the environment. Of course, that is, unless we decide to do something about it.

A company called Impossible Foods is doing just that. They have created a new way of eating meat, one that lets people consume as much as they want without hurting our planet. This new-found enlightenment is called The Impossible Burger. It is a burger that delivers all the same flavors, aromas and beefiness of real meat, but as Impossible Foods likes to say,

“it’s just plants doing the Impossible.”

The CEO and founder of Impossible Foods, Pat Brown, began the company in 2011 with one simple goal in mind; “to drastically reduce humanity’s destructive impact on the global environment by completely replacing the use of animals as a food production technology.”

The Impossible Burger is not intended specifically for vegetarians and vegans, rather it is designed to convert meat eaters. Impossible Foods has developed an extraordinary alternative to meat that satisfies the global demand of meat lovers, while simultaneously protecting the planet we live on. “ To d a y ’s Impossible Burger requires approximately 75 percent less water and 95 percent less land, and generates about 87 percent lower greenhouse gas emissions than a conventional burger from cows. And while it has the iron and protein, the Impossible Burger is produced without hormones or antibiotics and contains no cholesterol,” Brown, said.

The private research facility, located in Redwood City, California, has over the span of six years researched and developed, in turn, creating The Impossible Burger. It all started with one question. What makes a burger a burger? Impossible Foods

believes that the answer lies within the heme of meat. Heme is an enzyme that in a protein called hemoglobin, which is an essential part of every cell in a human and animal,

the chewiness and nutrition of The Impossible Burger. Coconut oil and soy bring the fattiness and binders such as, konjac, an Asian plant that has an edible corm (swollen plant stem) and xanthan, a gum/polysaccharide, bring everything together.

Although many others have attempted to create plant-based foods as a replacement for meat, almost none of them have taken a serious share of the meat market.

Impossible Foods is creating foods “that not only match but categorically outperform meat from animals in taste, nutrition and value.” Brown quit his job as a biochemistry professor at Stanford University School in order to found Impossible Foods and help improve the way we consume and treat meat.

“Impossible Foods started in California’s Silicon Valley, but our home is Earth, and our mission is global. Our impact will depend on developing local supply chains and production facilities and enabling local entrepreneurs and farmers to build their own businesses using the tools we’re developing. We intend to focus heavily on leveraging the inherently greater efficiency of plant-based foods to create mainstream, mass-market foods that address the critical nutritional gives your blood the ability to transport and food-security challenges in the world’s oxygen to the rest of your body. Now, some poorest communities,” Brown, said. may be thinking ‘wait, this is supposed to By making this change to a sustainably be a veggie burger, it can’t contain heme.’ better economy and environment we can However, scientists have discovered that help the confinement, misery and slaughter by using the plant alternative of heme, of billions of animals per year. We say we leghemoglobin, you can create and deliver love Earth’s animals, yet we hurt them and the same juicy flavoring of regular meat. our ecosystem. I say Impossible Foods Along with the main ingredient, heme, was created to help preserve our “home,” wheat protein and potato protein deliver something we should all try and do.

“The destructive impact of animal agriculture on our environment far exceeds that of any other technology on Earth…

It is the world’s most urgent problem when it comes to the environment.” -The U.N.

News Responsibility is the ability to act independently and make decisions without authorization and completing the task given.

AP studio design student, Isabel Hu, shows responsibility by always being on time and staying on task. Wu says her parents taught her to have good manners, and to treat others the way you want to be treated.

The CCISD Core Values

ISABEL HU

Fairness is the act to justly treat or behave towards someone without discrimination or favoritism. Band President, Elias Avila, shows fairness by going out of his way to make sure every student is not only doing what they’re supposed to do, but also ensuring they have the materials they need.

According to his band teacher, Tate Fincher, “He’s always takes great care of all the kids.” Avila always does his best to be nice to everyone, even people he does not know.

ELIAS AVILA

Citizenship is the characteristic of an individual who chooses to be a member of society. Debate President, Jack Callahan best fits the core value of citizenship.

According to Debate teacher, Brian Darby, “[Callahan] is genuinely a nice guy. He’s done a lot to help the special Olympics, and he’s also in best buddies,”. He’s heavily influenced by his family and various people in his community, who have inspired him to follow in their footsteps.

JACK CALLAHAN

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

Orchestra student, Alison Fernandez shows respect by putting her classmate’s needs before her own. According to her orchestra teacher, Aaron Daniel, “She is kind, considerate, and frames her comments and questions in a positive light.”

Fernandez says that her family showed her at a young age that respect can go a long way.

ALISON FERNANDEZ

Responsibility Respect Fairness Trustworthiness Citizenship Caring

Trustworthiness is the ability for others to rely on someone to be honest and truthful.

According to his choir teacher, Travis Faulkner shows this trait through honesty. “I want people close to me to trust me because trust is an important quality to have in any relationship that you have, especially with the people who are important to you.” Faulkner says his parents emphasize trust and honesty a lot, and that he is who he is today because of his family.

TRAVIS FAULKNER Caring is the quality of being a friendly, generous, and considerate. Improv and Production actress, Sutton Anderson, is caring by always trying to make students feel welcomed to the class, according to her theater teacher, Brad Hewlett. “[I aspire to be caring] by giving everyone the opportunity to be themselves, I want them to feel at home. My mom is the most kind and genuine person and she inspires to [be caring] for others,” Anderson said.

SUTTON ANDERSON

6

Ice on the Moon By: Arrington Linder Features editor

Researchers recently discovered water ice on the surface of the moon.

Water ice is a slush-like substance, more commonly known as Italian ice.

“This idea [of water on the moon] has been around for a while. But this study says, ‘yeah, there really does seem to be water ice at the surface of the moon,” Leslie Gertsch, an engineer at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, said.

The water ice was discovered by a group of scientists from the University of Hawaii, Brown University and Richard Elphic with NASA’s Ames Research Center.

This group used research from NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper, or M3. Three chemical signatures were shown in the data that proved the appearance of water ice.

“We utilize indirect lighting in regions of permanent shadow to report the detection of diagnostic near-infrared absorption features of water ice in reflectance spectra acquired by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper,” researchers wrote.

In 2009, NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, also known as LCROSS, shot water into space, leading scientists to believe that water is on the moon, they just were not sure where.

“Given that the Moon is our nearest planetary neighbor, understanding the processes which led to water ice on the Moon provides clues to understand the origin of water on Earth and throughout the solar system. A future Moon mission is needed to examine the whole lunar PSRs [permanently shaded regions] to map out all water ices and understand the processes which led to water on the Moon.

This work provides a roadmap for future exploration of the Moon, particularly the potential of water ice as a resource,” Shuai Li, lead study author and postdoctoral researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, said.

From 2008-2009, M3 flew with the Indian Space Research Organization’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft to study the moon from orbit. The main goal of this mission was to acquire more knowledge about the moon and to upgrade India’s technological efficiency. Chandrayaan-1 provided remote sensing of the moon to prepare a three-dimensional atlas for a mapping of the entire surface of the moon.

The M3 also formed the first mineralogical map of the moon’s surface. The group of scientists from Hawaii analyzed this data to determine the chemical signature shown in water ice. For future space missions, the water ice is a good resource to have as fresh water for astronauts.

News

Elephant poaching reaches new high By: Dillon Gathright Reporter

Outside the Okavango Delta Wildlife Sanctuary in Botswana, the remains of roughly 87 elephants were discovered with their tusks removed. Even though the number of elephants killed by poachers has slightly decreased in the past few years, this event is still alarming, especially since it happened so close to a sanctuary. At the moment, it is unknown how the creatures died due to conflicting reports from media sites and the Botswana government. The current conclusion is that the elephants were killed by poachers, which is not unheard of in this region since most of the elephants in Zambia and Angola were mostly wiped out.

However, the local government state that they all died from natural causes and retaliatory strikes due to conflicts with humans and other animals.

“The poachers are now turning their guns to Botswana. We have the world’s largest elephant population and it is open season for poachers,” Doctor Mike Chase, from Elephants Without Borders, said.

It is believed by many that the movement of poachers from Zambia and Angola are due to the fact that the Botswana government disarmed most of their anti-poaching units. This leaves almost no resistance for the poachers, allowing them to kill as many elephants as they can come across. Elephants Without Borders is a group that has been trying to bring the creatures into many wildlife sanctuaries to ensure their safety. At the moment, Botswana is noted as having roughly 130,000

elephants, one of the largest numbers found in any countries. If no precautions are taken to prevent further deaths, poachers will quickly decimate their population.

“We have always noticed that poaching moves. It's like an amoeba. You know, it changes directions. And it goes to where the stimulus is. And in this case, it is Bo-

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

tswana, which has the elephants.” Eyder Peralta, reporter with NPR news, stated.

Many people throughout the world have been questioning the inaction showed by the Botswana government. Very little has been done in general to help prevent the deaths of elephants. The Botswana government has also fought every detail that has come out regarding the death of the 87 elephants outside the wildlife sanctuary. Currently, the government seeks to refrain from using force when enforcing poaching policies. This is apparent with their repeal of the “shoot to kill” poaching law. The government also revoked military grade weapons from anti-poacher

units along the border of the country. Another famous animal protection group that is fighting for more laws and enforcement of anti-poaching rules is PETA. The group claimed that the removal of the old law will result in a huge loss of wildlife and tourism.

At the moment, the Botswana government is waiting before changing and rules or policy to help protect the elephants.

They hope to determine whether this was just an isolated incident or the start of poachers moving into the country.

Almost every group, other than the Botswana officials, believe that the elephants in the country are just waiting to be poached. Since the authorities are no longer equipped or legally permitted to fight back against poachers, there is little resistance leaving to push back against the incoming slaughter.

“Continent-wide elephant numbers dropped by 30 percent between 2007 and 2014, according to the Great Elephant Census, an 18-country comprehensive aerial elephant count conducted by Elephants Without Borders that was completed in 2016,” Rachael Bale, reporter with National Geographic, said.

If the grim news regarding the plight of elephants throughout most of Africa continues, groups such as Elephants Without Borders will start to create more wildlife reserves to help in the absence of the Botswana and other African governments. With the current trends, in the not-so-distant future we will most likely see an increase in poacher movement throughout Botswana and a significant decrease in the remaining elephants throughout Africa. It is up to the government whether or not the 130,000 elephants in Botswana will continue to live free from the threat of black market ivory poachers.

Senate race pits Cruz vs O’Rourke By: Grant Coburn Reporter

In the upcoming midterm elections, millions of people from around the nation will gather at voting booths to cast their ballot in an effort to elect their desired representatives. In Texas, the hotly contested senate seat has been the center of attention. Robert “Beto” O’Rourke, a Democrat from El Paso, has challenged Republican Ted Cruz, who has previously been elected to the Senate three times. O’Rourke’s success has come to the surprise of many, seeing as Texas has not sent a Democrat to the senate in 30 years. As of August 28, according to varying polls listed on RealClearPolitics, O’Rourke trails Cruz by as little as one point and by as much as ten.

O’Rourke runs on a strict anti-PAC platform, meaning that he refuses to accept money from corporations. Instead, O’Rourke has elected to fund his campaign

solely on the generosity of Texas voters. In fact, Open Secrets reports that $23,522,655 out of the $23,577,609 he has raised for his campaign has come from individual donors. Meaning .023% of O’Rourke’s funds have come from PACS. O’Rourke also has supported gun reform, calling for increased background checks and increased regulation on guns and their accessories sold to consumers, all while defending the second Amendment as a constitutional right.

Healthcare reform is another major issue O’Rourke defends. He has supported the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, two programs that put healthcare in the hands of impoverished Americans. The end goal of O’Rourke’s healthcare platform is to “[achieve] universal healthcare coverage” for all Americans and that “it is a moral question that transcends politics.” Finally, O’Rourke has called for more lax immigration laws, which would reform the visa system, allowing immigrant workers to fill vacant jobs. Overall, O’Rourke is taking a left leaning view on many of the issues our country faces today.

Cruz, on the other hand, has much more conservative policies. While Cruz does support increased background checks on guns, he does not support the regulation of firearm accessories. Cruz has also been adamant against the idea of universal healthcare, particularly the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. In 2014, Cruz filibustered the ACA by speaking on the floor for 21 hours in an attempt to deny the passage of the bill. His position against the ACA has

been one of the main focuses of his campaign for multiple terms. Cruz is also known for his strict interpretation and defense of the constitution. On multiple occasions, he has defended individual American rights over the powers of the government. These occasions include, Cruz’s position as a special prosecutor in an investigation against the IRS for targeting American citizens’ political activity, his defense of Christian pastors against the City of Houston who attempted to censor sermons and his position against the UN arms treaty, which would limit American civilian’s rights to arm firearms.

Unlike O’Rourke, Cruz has argued for the building of a border wall between the United States and Mexico. He has fought against the protection of illegal immigrants in the country by proposing multiple amendments on the Gang of Eight Bill, a bipartisan bill which sought to update American immigration that failed to pass through the house, which would prevent illegal immigrants access to local, state or federal benefits. He has also commented on legal immigration, saying that “[America needs] to remain a nation that doesn’t just welcome but that celebrates legal immigrants who come here seeking to pursue the American Dream.”

In order to vote for your candidate, you must have completed a voter registration card application. To do so, you must be 17 years and 10 months old on the date of application and 18 years old on election day. Registration can occur either in person or by mail. It cannot be done electronically. Voter registration is due on October 7. On November 6, voting booths will be open across Galveston County.

News

7

Global Climate Action Summit signed in San Fran.

By: Briana Harris Around Creek editor

The annual Global Climate Action Summit was held this year and it brought together leaders, politicians, celebrities and activists from all around the world.

It sought ways to prevent climate change from reaching dangerous conditions and recognize the memorable Paris Climate Change Agreement. The event establishes plans for a deeper worldwide commitment for the elimination of emission from global economy.

The worldwide event was held in the San Francisco Bay Area during the week of September tenth through fourteenth. Over hundreds of affiliated events, exhibits and workshops took place to explore climate challenges and solve solutions that can benefit not just the United States, but the entire world.

The main idea of the event was to shift the world towards equitable clean energy, making the world more resilient, while getting rid of greenhouse gas emission.

California’s Governor, Jerry Brown, issued an executive order that announced his goal to eliminate carbon emissions in California within 27 years. This comes after news surfaced that California’s cities holds eight out of the ten spots for having the most polluted cities in America. Brown also signed the Senate Bill 100, which states that California will only operate on 100 percent of renewable energy by 2045, cutting greenhouse emissions

without the federal government’s relief.

“California is committed to doing whatever is necessary to meet the existential threat of climate change. And yes, it is an existential threat. No matter what the naysayers may say, it is a real, present danger to California and to the people of the world. In California, facts and science still matter. These findings are profoundly serious and will continue to guide us as we confront the apocalyptic threat of irreversible climate change,” Brown said.

The summit was crucial, since California’s wildfires has been causing complete destruction of neighborhoods, buildings and forests, leaving them in scorched patches. A study was conducted revealing between the years 1984 and 2015, acreage burned has double in the United States due to climate change caused by man-made productions singlehandedly. Up to 77 percent more of California’s land is expected to burn by the end of the century.

The wildfires are not just the concerned, the Ocean-Climate Agenda debuted at the event. The ocean absorbs greenhouse emissions and assist to the world’s political and cultural systems and economic indentures. The plan is to secure global health prosperity and block the pollution occurring daily. The plan includes finance to communities on the ocean frontlines, reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from ocean based industries causing damage to the ocean inhabitants and etc. With products worth up to two-point-

Biden supports LGBTQ By: Nicole Alvarenga Reporter

In the past few years, the LGBTQ youth group has grown in numbers, along with their hardships. With friends and family being unsupportive regarding who they like or who they want to be, many are in a difficult situation. Most find it difficult to ‘come out’ because they are afraid they will not be accepted for who they are. Former Vice president, Joe Biden, issued a campaign called ‘As you Are’ supporting the LGBTQ youth community on August 15, 2018.

“We will use the resources we have to highlight the effects of family rejection and bring up research and personal stories to show how important family acceptance is,” Biden, during the video campaign, said.

During the days of the Obama Administration, Biden was one of the most prominent political figures who endorse the samesex marriage. Biden stated that the Federal Government was going to continue to fight for the rights of the LGBTQ community.

Since President Trump’s administration banned transgender military service members’ right to serve, Biden has lent his full support to the community.

Biden stated that the transgender advocates and Human Rights campaign was that transgender equality was the civil rights of our time now. The campaign is now issuing out a call to all those in the LGBTQ+ community to send in stories about growing up in the community.

“The campaign will collect stories from the community’s families, siblings, friends, etc. to help educate the public about how important it is to accept our LGBTQ young people. By sharing your stories, we can all work together to change culture and make a greater future for the LGBTQ com-

munity all across America,” Biden said.

The foundation has noted that the LGBTQ community has made leaps from the past decade, and particularly, people under the age of 25 in the community still tend to face rejection of their families and throughout their everyday lives. The LGBTQ youth are continuing to be the most at risk population in all of America, today they are still facing bullying, discrimination and harassment in school classrooms, neighborhoods, and even in the homes they live in. The LGBTQ youth are more likely to become homeless, interact with dangerous people and suffer from depression and suicide.

“LGBTQ young people should never go through with facing rejection from those who love and care about them, family acceptance is important because each and every one of us deserve to be safe and loved,” Biden, in a tweet, said.

Recent studies showed that transgender youth faces a higher suicide risk than gay, lesbian, bisexual or questioning teenagers. 40 percent of the LGBTQ community, are homeless because they are disowned by their families and are not accepted for who they are. Peers of the LGBTQ community have a hard time contributing to everyday things because their scared of being judged by others and are even afraid to talk about it to other people.

Biden has always been a long-term champion of LGBTQ rights and insuring that LGBTQ people are treated with the same rights as others because no one should go through anything like what members of the LGBTQ community go through.Because of this, the younger generation, along with the LGBTQ community, support Biden as a politician and agree with his views. With the growing LGBTQ society, Biden is predicted to grow in popularity.

five trillion dollars, the ocean propels and supports the global economy through ocean and coast associated activities, services and industries. The Ocean Climate Agenda was the forefront of the summit and plans to change the way we adapt and mitigate by enabling climate change within the ocean.

During the closing of the summit, the event released a call for action to promote climate safety for a superior future. Asking government leaders to step up and secure a healthier environment. Diseases, famine, refugee crises, health, storms, droughts and wildfires are some of the topics that has brought a disadvantage. The summit wanted leaders around the world to accelerate climate action by 2020, by acting on the Paris Agreement ensuring economic, technological and social change.

“The whole world has to do more.

Building on this positive wave of climate action, there are critical milestones for

stepping up ambition by 2020... By working together, we can do more to transform our politics, our thinking, our values, and our way of life. It is up to all of us to roll back the forces of carbonization,” summit delegates said.

Most of the summit speakers took aim at United States President, Donald Trump, for his unwillingness to set regulations preventing climate change, also withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate agreement, that was sign by every nation in the world. It has been proven scientific evidence that humans are the main enabler causing increasing atmospheric temperatures, warming oceans, shrinking ice sheets, glacial retreat, sea level rise and ocean acidification.

Leaders at the event want to handle the situation through profits. By redirecting the capitalism’s concentration of increasing the economy to a climate conscious direction, it can aid the world as well as prevent further destruction due to man-made productions.

8

Around Creek

Football season brings forth Creek school spirit By: Morgan Severson Assistant Editor

The highly anticipated first Varsity football game of the season happened on August 31 and Creek student groups have been working attentively to prepare for it.

Football, Band, Color Guard, Cavaliers and Cheer have been prepping for football season since this past summer. It takes the collaboration of all these groups and more to make football season a success for Creek.

Creek’s Varsity football team won their first game by a land slide with a score of 48 to 28 against Baytown Sterling. Varsity was led by senior quarterback by Hunter Smith and Andrew Dry, junior. The team’s primary ball carriers were seniors, Alex Robles and Bryce Borer. Matthew Etzel, junior, Pete Miller, senior and Doss Plunket, senior, were the team’s targets at receiver. Chad Lindberg, junior, and David Miranda, senior, were responsible for a young offensive line. On defense was Dylan Gafigan, senior, who had the middle linebacker position.

On the defensive line were seniors, Joey Hardcastle, Darrell Jamerson, Tyler Johnson and Clay Morrison.

Lastly, Tyler Armstrong, junior, was responsible for a young secondary from his free safety position.

“My favorite part is preparing for games because you get to see everyone come together and see everything work out how you practiced it. We practice every day, fixing what we need to fix and hopefully coming out strong on Friday night. We were a pretty young team but we all grew and we started trusting each other a lot more and that developed into something better. I’m the new center so I got better at snapping the ball and helping the team get better,” Miranda, senior, said.

On August 30, Creek’s JV and Freshman teams competed. The JV teams combined to play against the Baytown Sterling JV team and defeated them with a whopping score of 37 to zero. The Freshman A team also had a huge victory against Baytown Sterling and beat them with a score of 35 to zero. The Freshman B team tied with Deer Park with a score of 17 to 17.

“My favorite part of football season is] the games. The community around the games and everyone being out there to support us. In football season, we’re working our hardest every day, sacrificing our weekends just putting in work. Since the beginning we weren’t very together, we were all over the place. But I think we’ve come together pretty well and the coaches really stepped up and showed us how to be a team,” Hardcastle, senior, said.

The football teams began to practice two hours daily to prepare for the season.

As specified by Coach Tony Wooldridge, the teams began practice by working on fundamental skills and skills specific to a players’ position. Currently the teams are working on their offensive and defensive concepts as well as special teams.

“My favorite part of the football season is when district play begins. It means that we are in a routine, the weather has cooled off somewhat, and the games are meaningful and intense,” Coach Wooldridge, assistant coach, said.

The Wildcat Band started daily rehearsals on July 30 for at least eight hours a day, under the direction of Creek’s new band director, Mr. Tate Fincher. During the school year, rehearsals for football season

are about three hours and take place on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and Band and Color Guard do a run through of their performances on Fridays before the game.

“I think [band] will be really successful this year in the competition season as well as during half-time. I’ve seen us become tighter and more close-knit as a group and

bers have greatly contributed to building and improving the color guard program.

Mrs. Wargo said that some of the most improved color guard students from last year to this year are juniors Megan Bader, Color Guard’s Social Officer and feature performer, as well as Maddie Evans, co-captain of Color Guard and also a fea-

Photo by Ryan Castillo I see procedures and practure performer. This past tice flowing better. I get a summer Evans went on a sense of pride showing the school and the tour around the nation with a professional audience what we’ve been working on for competitive marching band. She performed weeks and hours,” Elias Avila, senior, said. with some of the most talented and presAccording to Mr. Fincher, he expects tigious band and color guard performers the band to do “extraordinarily well.” from around the world in the World-Class Band measures their success by looking Semi-Finals for Drum Corps International. “[My favorite part of football seafor improvements from the last time they practiced. Creek band is working on their son] in general is watching the team grow visual program, aiming to be more lively from where we start fall season to the end and vibrant than before. While practicing, and also the experiences we have throughMr. Fincher already noticed that the Wild- out fall season. Because those are really cat Band plays with enthusiasm and impact. the moments when the color guard bonds.

“Being able to go to the games, not Our practices are a lot of cleaning, learnonly watching the games but showing ing and solidifying choreography to have school spirit, even if [Creek] doesn’t nec- the best possible show every night. It was essarily win the game. We’re able to show really inspiring to see our freshmen comour school spirit and really represent who ing in not knowing what a flag was, not we are. It’s really fun to be in the stands knowing any technique but being where doing dances, singing songs and show- they are now and the skills that they have ing our support,” Joshua Oh, senior, said. learned is really inspiring,” Evans said.

The Clear Creek Color Guard is a The Clear Creek Cavaliers started crucial part of football season as they per- practice the last week of June in preparaform with the band at half-time. The color tion for football season. They practice evguard team has been working since late ery day after school for two hours to put July to improve and perfect their technique, together performances for the half time at learn choreography and build team spirit. football games as well as for pep rallies, “We prepare very intensely, we have parades and community performances. practice almost every day after school and “My favorite part about football season it’s going very well. This year we’ve had is dancing in the half-time show and getting a lot of newbies coming in and it’s nice to be with all my teammates. I have imto see them from where they start, not knowing anything, to seeing that they are now able to toss things. There’s a lot of growth for everyone since last year, there were people who couldn’t dance at all and they dance beautifully now. Some people started at rock bottom and they have just grown from there,” Tatiana Portillo, senior and co-captain of the Color Guard, said.

Color Guard rehearses every day in third period as well as at the same time as band rehearsals after school. Under the direction of Mrs. Heather Hide Wargo, the color guard program at Creek has been transformed. Last year, with Mrs. Wargo as the director, the color guard qualified for state and the returning color guard mem-

proved at my leadership skills because last season I was Captain and now I’m President and I have to lead the team more. I chose to be a cav because I liked the uniforms and I’m still a cav because it’s really fun and I’ve met a lot of my best friends,” Kit Matthews, senior and Cavalier President, said.

The director of the Cavaliers, Ms. Marka Wood, said the Cavaliers have been working hard and she expects them to have a successful season.

This year the Cavaliers are composed of 48 members in which five of those members are officers, and five managers. The Cavalier officers are Matthews, President, Sophie Bivens, Captain, Olivia Traslavina, Senior Lieutenant and Shelby Donnow and Chloe Martin as Junior Lieutenants.

“Definitely preforming with the band, I love listening to the band music because it gets me hyped. Last season I was just a regular team member and now I’m an officer so that’s a huge improvement and I can help the team now. The officers help clean the dances and it kind of helps being excited about it because it gets us ready,” Martin, Junior Lieutenant, said.

The cheerleaders are imperative to Creek’s football season. They use their spirited attitudes and strong voices to motivate the football players and rally up support from the crowds with their routines and cheers.

“My favorite part of football season is getting to be on the sideline for all the action. I love the energy that the band, cheerleaders and Cavaliers all bring to the in-game experience,” Coach Shawn Mosley, cheer coach, said.

The cheer team practices on Mondays and Wednesdays in their off-campus gym from seventh period until 4:15 and on Tuesdays and Thursdays on campus in seventh period and after tutorials until 4:30. Last February, the cheer team won the National Cheerleader Association High School Championship in the Freshman and JV Novice division. Coach Mosley hopes that the cheer team is able to keep their success going and win Nationals again this year.

“My favorite part about football season is cheering on the boys and the homecoming game. We practice after school and we are coming up with new chants and cheers for the games. Since we’ve won Nationals last year we are a lot more hardworking and we’re going into practice knowing that we can win and we’re ready to win again this season.

I’ve done cheer as a competitive sport so school cheering just seemed like the thing I should do,” Hannah Rivera, junior, said.

Creek’s football season brings together the community and the student body.

Based on the words of Mr. Fincher, each week is an opportunity to see Creek’s hard work pay off and you can tell by the faces of the students who walk off the field, there is nothing quite like football season.

Around Creek 9 Sereni performs National Anthem at Astros game housing, and food for the kids and and each phase was different. For the first medical staff. Sereni has gone to other 50 days, she had to go twice a week for Sunshine events, including a ski trip to chemo in the clinic. When her blood counts Sophia Sereni had the pleasure of Colorado, a Justin Beiber concert and were low, she had to get blood transfusions singing the National Anthem at the Houston throwing the first pitch for an Astros game. or else she would get very sick. She was Astros game against Seattle Mariners. Standing on home plate, she sang her heart out.

Sereni got to spend nearly the entire day on Monday September 17, 2018 at Minute Maid Park hanging out with the Astros players at their batting practice and doing interviews with different news stations.

“Interviews are very scary, and I am bad at talking under pressure and interviews in general. I’m just glad that they edit it,” Sereni said.

She even got to meet and take pictures with Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa and Craig Biggio.

“It was very exciting because they are all amazing and humble people, plus they are super cute.

I first met Craig Biggio when I was seven so it was cool seeing him again as a survivor of cancer and a sunshine kid,” Sereni said.

Sereni got the opportunity to sing Photo by Anabella Cooper allergic to the blood so she Sereni was diagnosed the National Anthem through a non-profit with had to be premeditated T-cell Acute organization called Sunshine Kids. The Lymphoblastic Leukemia in April of 2015, before each transfusion. Her blood Sunshine Kids dedicate their time by just before her 13 birthday. She battled transfusions were rough on her body providing exciting and positive group chemotherapy at Texas Children’s Hospital and affected her for the rest of the activities that the kids can participate in for a month, and then began remission, day. Sereni’s journey through battling to make their lives a bit easier and more but her journey was not over yet. She did cancer was tough on her and her family. fun. They have monthly events all across chemotherapy for two and a half years to “Cancer was a roller coaster ride. the nation for kids to go to, and all of make sure the cancer stayed out of her You had days where you were on an allthose events have free transportation, body. There were phases of her chemo, time high and you felt good, but then there

By: Anabella Cooper Reporter

were days where you felt down and like you had nothing left in you.” Sereni said.

On July 24, 2017, Sereni had her last chemo treatment. She was so exhilarated and “blessed” that she had completed all of her treatments.

“With all of the support that my friends, family and my faith in God showed me, I’m here this day and I am forever thankful,” Sereni with a smile on her face, said.

At Texas Children’s Hospital, there is a tradition that cancer survivors get to do when they finish their last treatments. There is a bell ceremony that close family and friends get to attend where the cancer patient gets to ring a bell that symbolizes the end of their cancer treatment journey.

Sereni, and many of her family and friends, went to Texas Children’s Hospital on August 11, 2017 where Sereni rang the bell. Refreshments were served and the celebration began.

“I felt so accomplished when I rang the bell because of the hard work I went through. It was a symbol that hard work pays off and a reminder that I would not be here today if it wasn’t for the people, nurses and staff who supported me,” Sereni said.

Today, Sereni continues to go to Texas Children’s Hospital for monthly check ups.

She is very happy, healthy and thankful for all of the opportunities and support she has had over her cancer journey.

(281) 332-4195

402 W. Main St League City, TX 77573

www.estebanscafe.com

12 Around Creek Chess Club

Best Buddies

Clear Creek chess club is all about having a great time and challenging fellow chess club members to expand their prior knowledge of chess so they may hone their skill.

“We are excited to expand our club and create a small society that chess players may find conferrable,” Yasein ShamsUl-Hooda, President of the chess club, said.

There are multiple reasons to join chess club, as they are an extremely active club that has a strong chess culture. The club itself is just meant on a surface level to come in and play chess, but it is not just that for the club President. Shams-UlHooda’s goal is to develop everyone’s skills and tactics, open people’s perspectives when it comes to chess and enhance overall game knowledge.

When it comes to the diversity of the club, the grade levels are pretty even as they have almost an equal amount of people in each grade level.

One of the best things about the club is they want and desire to grow to become a better organization. Chess club’s biggest mission is working on establishing a CCISD wide chess club organization to make it available in every high school.

The club is persistent on expanding the club and making it available to chess loving students.

There are no requirements or prerequisites to joining chess club and there are no required hours needed per semester, as they just want a carefree, fun and relaxed natural experience. They have weekly meetings and none of them are required.

If interested in joining chess club talk to Mrs. Christiansen in E130.

Best Buddies International is an organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), called buddies.

At Creek Best Buddies focuses on establishing friendships to promote inclusiveness in school. Club members get to meet fun new people, go to monthly parties and weekly field trips. Also, the club can give someone a new outlook on society, as it changes one’s perspective on life.

According to Jack Callahan, Senior and President of Best Buddies, there are different forms of buddies students can apply for, peer buddy and associate members. Peer buddies are matched to a student with a disability to help create a lasting friendship.

They are expected to interact at least twice a month and make weekly contact with their buddy. Associate members take part in “Buddy Families,” where they essentially hangout with a peer buddy and buddy without it being required, it is the less involved aspect.

“I definitely recommend becoming a peer buddy because of the great connections people will make with their buddies. If not able to, being an associate member goes a long way as we can use all the buddies we can get,” Callahan, said.

According to Shelbi Woodard, Senior and Historian of Best Buddies, when it comes to the number of hours someone needs to put in for Best Buddies, it is very flexible. Best Buddies holds a meeting every other week, with one general meeting and a party each month.

In total, if someone is to attend the meetings, parties and fundraisers it adds up to about three hours monthly.

Overall Best Buddies is a great organization that is a great experience and does outstanding things for fellow Creek students. If a student is interested in joining Best Buddies, they can sign up on bestbuddies.com.

Club Stories by Jose Rodriguez

Yoga Club

The clear creek yoga club is a great organization that incorporates a unique spin to the usual yoga. According to Anna the president of yoga club stated that the club does involve mostly yoga but it also incorporates meditation. The yoga clubs home room is in Mrs. Fields room, but the club avidly ventures to multiple places throughout the outer parts of the campus.

“We love taking multiple trips outside of the school and seeing sceneries of nature throughout the courtyard as I embrace meditating outside and grasping nature through meditation,” stated Anna.

The yoga club has sessions weekly, but if one of the fellow yoga club member wants to establish another day outside of the weekly meetings Anna will schedule an appointment to create another session. The club is attempting to create a society where people can have a group of friends to participate in yoga and meditation.

There is multiple reason in which to join yoga club, but the biggest reason benefit is the health and emotional stability. Yoga is one of the best cardiovascular activities an individual can do. Yoga prevents a lot of health issues which lead to a lot of medical treatment, and pain.

Yoga removes lactic acid, weight reduction, and overall essential stretches to prevent back pain in the future.

The clear creek yoga club has a huge admiration to expand their club and show no sign of wanting to stop.

“I want to develop the yoga club as much as I can so I could eventually take field trips to multiple parks and even do a group session with a professional instructor,” said Anna.

Overall the Clear creek yoga club is a fantastic club that is looking forward to expanding and incorporating people in the club.

To join speak to Mrs. Fields in the B-200’s.

Features

13

Days for Girls comes to Clear Creek Catastrophe Comeback By: Anabella Cooper Reporter

The Days for Girls Club has joined the Clear Creek High School campus.

Victoria Loreant and Maria Buendia, who are both juniors, created the club at the Creek campus at the end of the 2017-2018 school year, and had Dr. Helen Becker as the teacher sponsor.

Loreant was first introduced to the organization through her church and was inspired to join by the nice, welcoming people.

“It’s a great opportunity for community service hours, its surrounded by so many people who will be constantly supporting you no matter what and everyone is really friendly and nice. And also, you’re actually making a difference in the world,” Loreant, promoting the club, said.

Loreant and Buendia, along with the other Days for Girls executive officers; Carli Fontaine, Melanie Gatica, Angela Jardina, Melissa Lemon and Zohaib Rajan, juniors, have branched out the club and have gathered more than 60 people to join since the start of the 2018-2019 school year.

Days for Girls is an organization, started in 2008, aimed to help girls gain access to menstrual care and education.

This organization has devoted their time to create reusable sanitary kits that are sent to females that struggle with taking care of their menstrual health due to low income or other conditions. People all around the world have joined this mission and have helped more than one million females spreading throughout 124 countries as of 2018.

The organization was created by CEO Celeste Mergens. While Mergens

was visiting Kenya working on a family foundation, Mergens assisted an orphanage that had increased in size by 1,000 girls.

She laid awake at night contemplating all of the “devastating” situations that the girls go through throughout their lives.

One particular situation that stood out to her was feminine hygiene. She conducted research about the topic and asked the Assistant Director of the orphanage what was being done to help the girls. Mergens was appalled by his response, “nothing.”

She later, “learned that girls were sitting on cardboard for several days each month, often going without food unless someone would bring it to them.” Mergens worked her ideas out and discovered that she needed to find a way to make a washable long-lasting pad. The feedback that new members are giving is improving the club and will eventually perfect its ideas.

“It makes me feel pretty good because I know living here in League City and the suburbs of Texas, I am very fortunate and I have a lot of things going for me, so being able to spend my time and help people and women who aren’t as fortunate and need a bit of a helping hand makes me feel good.

I enjoy helping them out,” Tony Dudley, junior, when asked how being in a club that inspires women made him feel, said.

Buendia, co-creator of the club at Creek, encourages people who are “willing to work,” to join the club because “you get to learn so much about the world around us.”

In Days for Girls, you will learn how to sew and serge to make menstrual kits for girls in third world countries. These kits include one drawstring bag to hold all components, eight absorbent liners, two

Ziploc bags for washing and storage, one washcloth, two pairs of underwear, one bar of soap, two waterproof shields, and one care and use sheet. The members create the drawstring bags, the absorbent liners and the waterproof shields from scratch and collect all of the other items to put into the bags.

“The students on our campus are passionate about education opportunities for girls in third world countries. Girls who wouldn’t have education without what we are doing for Days for Girls and because I believe in the mission myself,” Becker said.

Boys may be hesitant to join a club that is focused around women and their menstrual cycles, however Dudley and Rajan were not hesitant whatsoever. Both boys were ecstatic they decided to join the club and help girls out of the community.

“Just across the board boys, they again, are a lot more fortunate you know, especially in Africa or places in Central America where the boys get all of the attention and women are left behind. I feel like by doing my part here in the Days for Girls club, I can help shrink that gap a little bit and help empower women and so it’s not just the one side of society for boys, but it’s one with equal opportunity for everyone,” Dudley, junior, said.

“This club is perfect for today’s society because people will learn things that aren’t really taught anymore,” Buendia said.

In the club, they have stations for new sewers to learn and practice how to sew and surge. Even people who cannot sew can contribute to the cause. Other jobs such as packing the kits together, pinning fabric, cutting and ironing the fabric make an impact on the production of the kits.

A big contribution to the Days for Girls organization is the leaders at the local chapters. The closest chapter we have in Houston is the Friendswood chapter.

One of the leaders, Fran Lantz, spoke about her times with the organizations and how it changed her life. “The thrill for me is seeing a young person grow to the place where they are strutting their stuff, that is what charges me to work in this organization. To see the freedom first that comes for a woman with a solution to menstrual management, is huge to understand how powerful that opportunity is because no longer is she missing up to eight months of school in a three-year period, she can get to school.

And when you change that, that is one of the most powerful things,” Lantz said.

Loreant and Buendia, along with other members of the Friendswood chapter and the Clear Creek club hope to grow the number of members that join Days for Girls.

“I hope that it’s going to show people that talking about problems in the world, especially for women in other countries, it’s something that is shielded.

We need to be open about it, and the club does a really good job of doing that and does a good job of helping people and showing people that we need to accept that this is a problem and we need to be discouraged anymore,” Loreant said.

Days for Girls not only spreads awareness of less fortunate females not being able to go about their daily lives for a week every month, but it also is trying to solve the problem. Because of this, Days for Girls is a very great organization to become apart of , helping less fortunate females receive supplies so that they may go about their daily lives and continue to learn in school. If interested in joining, talk to Mrs.Becker located in room E210.

By: Shelby Donnow Reporter After a year of rebuilding, countless sleepless nights, budgeting paycheck to paycheck and what sometimes felt like unanswered prayers, the League City community suffered great losses from the devastating catastrophe of Hurricane Harvey.

From watching their belongings swim away, to rebuilding their lives back into place, League City has bounced back from the tragic event that occurred one year ago. A year of repair and relief efforts has gone by in the blink of an eye and now the community can reflect and realize what has come out of this storm.

Although the residential area has grown stronger than ever, the people who lived through this storm cannot help but feel a sense of fear and anxiety every time it rains.

Little children beg their parents and school teachers to make the rain go away. Puddles on the street bring flashbacks of oceans of rainwater running through houses. Claps of thunder are reminders of the sounds that played for a week straight. This fear is something that is challenging for some to shake, but the love and kindness of others provides comfort to those in need.

Though many people lost huge pieces of their lives, thousands came together in result of the storm to help those in need.

While shelters were overflowing with evacuees, there were also an abundance of volunteers who, so kindly, gave their time throughout that terrifying week to help those who needed it. The League City community has grown like never before by showing love and compassion to those in a time of need. The bonds that were made during and after the tragic event are ones that could never be replaced. Over the past year, the League City community has become more understanding and sympathetic towards those who have suffered losses, big or small.

“The flood completely destroyed the bottom story of my house and the long process of coming back from that would not have been possible without the support of our family and friends,” Daisy Huerta, Social Committee Photographer of the Clear Creek Cavaliers, said.

A year ago, it would have been hard to believe that League City would bounce back as efficiently as it has. Homes and businesses have been refurbished, lost jobs have been found and displaced families have made homes out of rebuilt houses.

“Watching the water rise in your own home is very devastating. I would not wish that on anyone,” Sophie Bivens, Captain of the Clear Creek Cavaliers, said.

The world had been turned upside down for most people, but they knew there was nothing to do but make the best out of a difficult situation.

After a very challenging year, League City has grown to be an even stronger community than it was before. League City would not have been able to get through the dreadful storm without one another. The kindness and compassion of others could never be forgotten. A year after Harvey and League City, along with other areas hit by the storm, are now more than what they were before. Harvey left destrcution in its wake, however, it also allowed the community to start over. Clear Creek High School is very proud to be a part of such a great community.

14Entertainment September Controversy on Americans Got Talent #Hamildrops By: Arrington Linder Features editor Hamilton: An American Musical has become a worldwide phenomenon since its debut performance in 2015. In December of 2017, Lin- Manuel Miranda, the creator of Hamilton, announced new, monthly Hamilton content. In the month of July, no #Hamildrops were released and in order to make up for it, Miranda released three #Hamildrops over the span of one week.

The first #Hamildrop to be released was the music video to Boom Goes The Cannon, the June #Hamildrop. “Boom goes the cannon” is a phrase sung in the song Right Hand Man on the original cast recording of Hamilton. Multiple lyrics from Right Hand Man are sung in Boom Goes The Cannon. The video includes some of the lyrics on the screen, mainly the chorus, and scenes of Mobb Deep singing along to the song. Unlike the other #Hamildrops released this month, Boom Goes The Cannon is more of a hip hop song.

After Boom Goes The Cannon was released, a video to accompany the version of Burn, sung by Andra Day, on the Hamilton Mixtape came out. The video starred Raúl Castillo, Kelsey Scott and Karimah Westbrook. The video switches back and forth between clips of Andra Day singing and Scott and Castillo portraying the moment Eliza Hamilton finds out about her husband’s affair. In the musical, Burn is more of a gentle song but this #Hamildrop has more of an aggressive tone to it. A previous #Hamildrop was released with the five current Eliza’s in Hamilton productions around the country.

The last #Hamildrop to be released was Rise Up Wise Up Eyes Up, sung by Ibeyi.

The phrase “rise up” is constant throughout the entire musical. The song starts with the lyric “I imagine death so much it feels like a memory, like a memory.” This phrase is also repeated a few times during the musical. This song includes many lyrics from the musical but in a different adaptation. The song starts with slow piano, then increases tempo as the song progresses. In the video, Ibeyi can be seen recording the song in a studio.

In First Burn, the #Hamildrop for April, the video was also recorded in the studio.

Although three #Hamildrops were released for the month of August, one #Hamildrop is usually released per month.

Once this year ends, no more #Hamildrops will be released and fans will be left wondering if more Hamilton content is to come. Previous #Hamildrops include First Burn, The Regrettes version of Helpless and Found/Tonight, a mashup of a Hamilton song and a Dear Evan Hansen song, performed

by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt.

By: Arrington Linder Features editor

America’s Got Talent recently wrapped their 13th season, crowning magician, Shin Lim, as the winner. The first-place prize is one million dollars and a headlined Las Vegas show. Previous winners have gone on to tour the world and release albums.

During his performance for the finals, Lim played the piano and stated that he used to love music but chose magic instead.

In the end, magic was the right choice. This performance was his biggest performance he had ever done and although he took a risk doing it, he won A m e r i c a ’s got Talent.

Lim will be headlining his own Las Vegas show November s e c o n d through f o u r t h .

“This had been a crazy experience and I’m so happy I did A m e r i c a ’s got Talent, I really, really am. I do not regret a single moment and I just want to thank everyone for supporting me…To be able to perform at the live shows in the Dolby [Theatre], it’s kind of a dream come true for every artist. But for a close up magician with just a deck of cards, it’s probably the most intense and fulfilling experience that anyone could ask for,” Lim said.

Although Lim won, this finale was one of the closet races ever seen on American’s got Talent. Acrobatic group, Zurcaroh, was named the runner up and electric violinist, Brian King Joseph, placed third. After Joseph’s final performance, Cowell believed Joseph could win the show. A stand-up comedian with Tourette syndrome, Samuel J. Comroe, came in fourth and Michael Ketterer finished in fifth. Courtney Hadwin, named the new Janis Joplin, placed sixth which was a big surprise to the viewers. Opera singer, Daniel Emmet, was close to being eliminated

three times during the season but ended up placing seventh in the competition. Trapeze couple, Duo Transcend, placed eighth after a fall in the second round. Singer, Glennis Grace, was awarded ninth and Vicki Barbolak, comedian, finished tenth.

During the finale, most of the finalists had the chance to perform with a performer who matched their act. Lim performed close-up magic for the hosts of American Ninja Warrior, Zurcaroh rehearsed another one of their dance routines and Joseph

Photo courtesy to Wikimedia Commons

played with famous violinist, Lindsay Sterling, while Duo Transcend did their trapeze act in the background. Comroe did not perform, but he did introduce judge Mel B to perform her own comedy act. In a previous episode, Cowell asked Garth Brooks to write a song for Ketterer. This song ended up being what Ketterer sang in the last episode. Hadwin sang with rock band, The Struts, Emmet sang a duet with Placido Domingo, Grace sang with Bebe Rexha and Barbolak did an act with David Spade. Not only did the finalists perform, but some famous musicians did as well.

KISS opened the finale and Rexha sang her new song and Grace later joined her. At the beginning of the last semifinals episode, global sensation BTS took the stage.

Hadwin has previously competed on The Voice Kids UK, as she is originally from England, and some viewers are

complaining that she should not have been able to perform and she has an unfair advantage against other competitors. In the official American’s got Talent rules, nowhere does it say that acts are unable to audition if they have competed or performed elsewhere. Other viewers are wondering if Hadwin is too young to be on America’s got Talent, however, last year’s winner and season 11’s winner were both 12 years old when they auditioned. America’s got Talent does not have an age restriction on contestants so talent with any age is allowed to audition.

“I don’t understand w h y [performing on The Voice Kids UK is] an advantage.

And it’s like, you know, you don’t have to be from America to be on A m e r i c a ’s Got Talent.

You can have a career and you could’ve been on the other Got Talent shows…

Regardless of whether Courtney wins or not, I think that the world now knows Courtney Hadwin like they never did before. And I feel blessed to be a small part in witnessing the making of a superstar,” Howie Mandel, America’s Got Talent judge, said.

Each judge gets one golden buzzer per season to award to an act. Once used, the act goes straight through to the live shows, automatically skipping the audition and the judge cuts. Simon Cowell awarded his buzzer to Michael Ketterer, Heidi Kulm gave hers to Makayla Phillips, who was eliminated during the semifinals, along with Mel B’s golden buzzer, Amanda Mena. Mandel’s golden buzzer was Hadwin, who placed sixth overall and Tyra Banks’ golden buzzer, Zurcaroh.

Auditions for next season are now open and coming to cities such as New York, San Antonio and Detroit. In order to audition, you must go to America’s got Talent official website to register.

Entertainment15

Crazy Rich Asians brings ethnic diversity to screen By: Leah Burnam News editor

time in years, making cinematic history. Yang, author and CNN contributor, said.

“Certainly, for Asian-American In a recent July study, USC audiences, this is a signal moment for Annenberg [School for Communication Crazy Rich Asians hit theaters in us. It really is the first time that we’ve and Journalism] determined that only August starring many well-known seen in a contemporary setting an all- 4.8 percent of the top 100 films of 2017 actors and actresses such as, Constance Wu, from Fresh Off the Boat, Michelle Yeoh, from numerous acclaimed MalaysianChinese screen-writes, Awkwafina from Ocean’s 8 and comedian Ken Jeong. The $30 million budgeted film was released to the public on August 15, reaching number one at the box office within days and making close to $25 million.

The movie is based on the best-selling novel by Kevin Kwan with the same name and was filmed on location in Singapore, Malaysia, where the book is set. Crazy Rich Asians was published back in 2013, with two more books, China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems, published soon after in 2015 and 2017. Asian cast with an Asian- Press photo courtesy to CrazyRichA- featured a speaking role sians.com When news hit that the novel would American protagonist for a character of Asian be turned into a movie, Kwan recalled light up the screen. And descent. The Joy Luck a producer came to him saying “I will the storyline itself, I’ve likened it as the Club was the first major motion picture option this movie if you are willing to first real Asian-American Disney princess to present Asian-American contemporary change Rachel to a white girl.” However, story. At its core, this is a story about life on the big screen and was released in Kwan quickly declined, as he wanted an immigrant Asian-American woman 1993, earning $32.9 million at the box the representation of Asian culture in the who finds herself essentially in a fantasy office and $57 million over the course of its book to be depicted in the film. The movie land from which she couldn’t possibly entire run. Crazy Rich Asians has already features an all Asian cast for the first have imagined coming herself,” Jeff surpassed this number with a total of $111

million, along with earning a 93 percent “fresh” rating from Rotten Tomatoes’ critics.

The film follows a young woman, Rachel Chu, played by Wu, and her boyfriend Nick Young, played by Henry Golding, a TV show host and first-time actor from The Travel Show, who happens to come from an extremely wealthy family based in Singapore. The two decide to travel to visit Young’s family for a wedding, however, when Chu arrives she is not welcomed by the community. Now having to deal with jealousy, socialites and Young’s family, Chu must navigate her way through what could be her future.

“I feel so lucky and so grateful, I mean this really began for me like five years ago when my television show Fresh Off the Boat was the first network TV show in over 20 years to feature an all Asian-American story and to be doing it on a larger scale and meeting more people and hearing stories about why it’s important to them to see their stories reflected on screen…it’s been a really meaningful process for me,” Wu, during an interview with The Today Show, said.

With the film being beautifully portrayed and receiving great recognition, many hope that the adaptation of the remaining two books will be produced. Rumors have traveled the internet saying the two new movies could potentially come much sooner than audiences think. Warner Bros. is planning to move forward with the films by casting the original actors and actresses, as well as bringing back the original screenwriters from Crazy Rich Asians, Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim. Excitement is at an all-time high for Crazy Rich Asians lovers and fanatics expecting the supposed trilogy.

16entertainment

American Horror Story: Apocalypse debut a success

Each of these people have their own back her somewhere safe during the apocalypse. story, which will hopefully be explained When Campbell finds out he has been acmore throughout the rest of the season. cepted into his dream school, he suddenly Warning: spoilers ahead. The first gets a knock at the door. Two people walk American Horror Story (AHS) recently premiered their eighth season earlier this episode opens by showing the rich back- in telling him he is the “chosen one” bemonth. The first episode titled The End, ground of St. Pierre Vanderbilt, along cause it is in his DNA and that he needs aired on September 12 bringing back the usual cast members such as, Sarah Paulson, Jessica Lange, Evan Peters and Kathy Bates. The anthological horror TV show encompasses demonic creatures, asylums, witches/witchcraft, freak shows, creepy hotels, more paranormal activity and even presidential elections. The eighth season is one of the most anticipated of the seven creepy and chilling AHS stories.

The new season centers around a group of “elites” who were chosen or rich enough to be one of the last few people on Earth after an apocalypse wipes out the rest of humanity. The “elites” includes Evan Peters as Mr. Gallant, a hairdresser, Leslie Grossman as Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt, a rich heiress, Billie Lourd as Mallory, St. Pierre Vanderbilt’s assistant, Adina Porter as Dinah with Mr. Gallant and Mal- Photo courtesy of Wikimedia to come with them, which his parents do not agree with but Stevens, a former actress and talk show lory, the background of a Commons ultimately let him go because host, Kyle Allen as Timothy Campbell, a soon-to be UCLA student, college student, Ash Santos as Emily and Campbell and the unknown background they want him to be safe during the apocaCody Fern as Michael Langdon. The two of Emily. St. Pierre Vanderbilt is at the lypse. When Campbell arrives at the fallout “heads” of the household are played by, hair salon with Mr. Gallant and Mallory shelter he is met with Emily, a young girl Sarah Paulson as Ms. Wilhemina Venable when her father frantically calls saying who was told almost nothing before the and Kathy Bates as Ms. Miriam Mead. there is a car coming to get her and take two-people kidnapped her. All five end up

By: Leah Burnam News editor

in the shelter together and although it is set in modern times, the clothing and shelter, is that of a renaissance or Middle Age setting.

The shelter is only intended to have enough food to survive for 18 months. So, when they start running out of supplies a young man, Langdon, shows up explaining to them that he is from another shelter in the area that has enough supplies to last them almost a decade. He explains that he is coming to “inspect” who is worthy of coming with him to the new shelter, and that the “boss” says he can bring as many or as few people as he wants. The people who are not chosen to come with him will inevitably be poisoned by the toxins outside.

“I pitched it to [FX boss] John Landgraf today right after his TCA panel, and he loved it, but he’s asked me not to say what it is. I told him and he fell out of his chair with joy. I think people will like it, it’s different from what we’ve done before, but I always try and do the opposite of what I’ve done on that show. All I’ll say is that I want to go to the future [in season eight] – still topical, but the future, which I’ve never done,” Ryan Murphy, American Horror Story creator and executive producer, said.

Murphy has also teased that there will be an AHS: Murder House and Coven crossover in the already confirmed ninth season.

With the supposed time travel and never before seen plotlines by AHS, the eighth season is making fans, along with the producers and cast, very excited for what is to come.

sports

17

Houston Astros continues with record season By: Kaydee Loyd Reporter

The Houston Astros have had a very successful baseball season so far this year. With 94 wins and 56 losses out of 150 games, their winning percentage is higher than it was at this point last year, which was a total of 92 wins and 58 losses.

“According to FanGraphs, Houston has a 26 percent chance to win the 2018 World Series… and with room to improve, those projections might be a bit low,” Neil Greenberg, sports writer for The Washington Post, said.

The Astros have a four-point lead in the American League (AL) West Division, with the Oakland Athletics in second. The Boston Red Sox, a team in the AL East Division, hold the lead over the whole American League, with a total of 103 wins and 47 losses. The Cleveland Indians hold the lead for the AL Central Division, with 83 wins and 66 losses.

The Major League Baseball regular season began on March 29 and ends on September 30. The Astros played three games against the Boston Red Sox from May 31 to June third. They won the first two games, and lost the second two. The two teams came head-to-head again from September seventh to ninth, and the Astros came out with two wins. The Astros also played seven games of the other top AL team, the Cleveland Indians, and came out with four wins and three losses.

The Astros have won 12 of 19 games against the second leading AL West team,

the Oakland Athletics. The three most recent games the Astros have played have been against the Seattle Mariners, who are placed third in the AL West, at their home field, Minute Maid Park. The Astros won the game on September 18, but lost the others.

The Astros are scheduled to play the LA Angels, fourth in the AL West Division, the

second. As of present standings, the Oakland A’s and the New York Yankees will be the AL Wild Card teams, and the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals will be the NL Wild Card teams.

Following the Wild Card games is the Division Series, current standings suggesting the Boston Red Sox, Cleveland

Toronto Blue Jays, fourth in AL Indians and Houston Astros Photo courtesy to Flickr East, and the Baltimore Orioles, will be the AL teams, and fifth in AL East, for the rest of the season. the Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs and LA After the last regular season games on Dodgers will be the NL teams, each along September 30, the post season begins. If with the winners of the NL and AL Wild necessary, tie-breaker games will be held on Card games. As of now, the Astros are October first. The Wild Card games, between scheduled to play the Cleveland Indians the top fourth and fifth teams in each league, in their first Division Series game. The will then be played on October second to top two teams from each league will then third, with the AL game on October third move on to the League Championship and the National League (NL) on October Series, and the winners of these will go on

to the play the 114 annual World Series.

The most outstanding Astros players this year have been José Altuve, Alex Bregman, Justin Verlander and Carlos Correa. Most of these players, specifically Altuve, saw incredible success last season.

Altuve had a slow start in the season, barely living up to his scores in 2017. As the season progressed, however, Altuve began to perform at last year’s level, and he and Correa have been a strong match this year.

“Altuve and Carlos Correa, despite not quite reaching their highs of 2017, are still the most formidable doubleplay combination in the majors,” Zach Kram, writer for The Ringer, said.

Verlander has had a successful pitching season, with an Earned Run Average (ERA) of just one-point-six. The ERA for the entire team is at 72, while the average ERA is 100. This is the lowest of any team in over a century. Bregman’s batting has continued to improve, and has hit 30 home runs just this season. He currently holds the lead in home runs, runs batted in (RBI), on base percentage (OBP) and hits for the team, with Altuve taking the lead in batting average. The whole team has shown incredible skill this season.

The Astros will have to put everything they’ve got into these last games of the regular season to keep their lead on the Oakland A’s and finish first for the AL West Division. If they stay ahead until the end of the season, they will move on to the Division Series and will be on track to advance on to the World Series once again.

National Football League promotes safer helmets

By: Cameron Heise Reporter

Seeing a fast-paced sport being played never fails to get fans excited. Fans look forward to those Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays when NLF games are played before a national crowd. But, with the high speed and high contact, it is not a surprise to see players become injured. Over the past century or so, player safety has become a huge concern throughout the league.

30 years ago, the NFL played a much different game. Headshots were common, and low blows occurred every other play.

All of the deceased veterans who played in these time periods have been researched highly and almost all of the individuals had some form of brain damage or dysfunction. As studies became public and research results were released, professionals and researchers have become majorly concerned about players’ health, not only during the present but for their futures as well. Many steps of action have been taken for improvement in the safety of the NFL. Dr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist, researched the brains of 202 deceased football players. Brains that were examined for this study were those of players who died as young as 23 and as old as 89.

Their positions consisted of every single one on the field, from quarterbacks, to linemen, to even a kicker and punter. 111 of the subjects were NFL veterans, and of them, 110 of them were found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, also commonly known as CTE. This degenerative brain disease causes myriad symptoms, including memory loss, confusion, depression and dementia. According to The New York Times, the problems arose years

after the blows to the head had stopped. flexible while still being resistant. It flexes was designed to “reduce the severity of “It is no longer debatable whether or on impact and then bounces back immediate- head impacts,” and better protect athletes not there is a problem in football, there is ly. According to the developers, the helmet against a range of head and brain injuries.

The helmet was designed and produced

by Seattle start-up VICIS, which was established in 2013, a huge year for football players’ safety. The goal of the company has been to help the NFL and NCAA tackle football’s ongoing concussion problem.

This year, VICIS beat out 32 other helmets in a safety lab test conducted by the NFL. The helmets will be in use by teams like the San Francisco 49ers, the Seattle Seahawks, the Greenbay Packers and the New York Jets. Players like the Seahawks’ quarterback Russell Wilson, Alex Smith from the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans’ own linebacker, Jadeveon Clowney, are strapping up in the equipment from VICIS. After the successful development of a much safer helmet, the VICIS start up is currently working on making a version for kids in the near future. With these steps and contributions, a breakthrough in new safety technology is just that much closer.

Photo courtesy to Pixabay

a problem,” Dr. McKee said.

Though some still do not believe there is a correlation between football and CTE, steps have been taken to overall improve players’ safety. In the past, a large number of new helmets have been developed to keep players safe, but a small startup company may have just introduced the safest and most effective one yet.

As of the third week of September, the NFL released a new helmet called the Zero1, which increases players’ head safety by absorbing the contact more efficiently with a soft outer shell, acting like a car bumper, according to developers of the helmet. The helmet is designed to be more

18

sports

Serena Williams versus referee: Who is right?

By: Morgan Severson Assistant editor

The outcome of the 2018 Women’s U.S. Open for tennis has evoked controversy and debate about sexism and double standards in tennis. Instead of celebrating Naomi Osaka’s victory, the world is focused on Serena Williams’ loss due to point penalties.

On September 9, Williams’ chance at having her 24 Grand Slam title slipped out of her hands and was taken by Osaka, playing for Japan, resulting in her first Grand Slam title. Osaka beat Williams with a score of six to two in the first set and six to four in the second set within one hour and 19 minutes. Williams’ loss was due to the chair umpire, Carlos Ramos, who gave her three point penalties that totaled a fine of $17 thousand by the U.S. Tennis Association after the game.

The fine was composed of 10 thousand dollars for verbal abuse, four thousand dollars for a coaching violation and three thousand dollars for breaking her racket.

All of Williams’ point penalties occurred in the second set. The first point penalty allotted to Williams for a coaching violation because her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, gave her a thumbs up from the crowd. However, Williams denied that she was being coached and it was just a harmless thumbs up. Ramos said that it was clear Mouratoglou was giving Williams a signal and instead of giving her a warning, he immediately gave her a point penalty.

“I didn’t get coaching. I didn’t get coaching. I didn’t get coaching. You need to make an announcement that I didn’t get coaching. I don’t cheat, I didn’t get coaching.

How can you say that?” Williams, to Ramos after getting her first point penalty, said.

Williams’ second point penalty occurred after she broke her racket, enraged that she lost her fifth serve in set two. Players who execute any racket abuse get no warning, so Williams

automatically got a point penalty again.

What Williams said to Ramos next is what ultimately lead to her loss of the game.

“I never got coaching. I explained that to you and for you to attack my character then something is wrong. You’re attacking my character. Yes, you are. You owe me an apology. You will never, ever, ever be

most heated debates in tennis right now is whether all tennis umpires abide by the same rules, fairly. Tennis players, fans and observers have all noted that men in the tennis industry have been able to get away with verbal abuse without costing them their game. Williams mentioned this when she was arguing with Ramos, saying that

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

on another court of mine the game was taken from her Commons as long as you live. You are because she was a woman. the liar. When are you going to give me “There are a lot of men out my apology? You owe me an apology. here that have said a lot of things and Say it, say you’re sorry. Then don’t talk because they are a man it doesn’t matter… to me, don’t talk to me. How dare you because I’m a woman you’re going to insinuate I was cheating? You stole a point take this away from me. That is not right. from me. You’re a thief too,” Williams, to I get the rules but I’m just saying it’s not Ramos after her second point penalty, said. right. It happens to me at this tournament After calling Ramos a thief, Williams every single year and it’s not fair. received her third and final point penalty That’s all I have to say,” Williams said. for verbal abuse, which cost her the game.

When Osaka and Williams were This started controversy over sexism and given their trophies from the match, unfairness within tennis. Ramos is known the crowd was roaring with boos from for being a strict umpire, but one of the the injustice Williams had dealt with.

Williams did not want to take the spotlight away from Osaka’s win so she started to wave her hands and promote the crowd to cheer and support Osaka.

The tournament was held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, named after the iconic Billie Jean King, a tennis player that fought for women’s equality in tennis in the 1960s to the 1980s.

It was ironic that sexism took place at the stadium named after the woman who fought against it. King talked about the double standards in tennis in a two-part tweet that addressed William’s incident.

“Several things went very wrong during the @usopen Women’s Finals today. Coaching on every point should be allowed in tennis. It isn’t, and as a result, a player was penalized for the actions of her coach. This should not happen. When a woman is emotional, she’s ‘hysterical’ and she’s penalized for it. When a man does the same, he’s ‘outspoken’ and there are no repercussions. Thank you, @ serenawilliams, for calling out this double standard. More voices are needed to do the same,” King, in her two-part tweet, said.

The Women’s Tennis Association, founded by King, is still reviewing the incident between Williams and Ramos.

The WTA acknowledged that Williams was correct about men getting away with verbal abuse when women cannot. A prime example of men getting away with verbal abuse was John McEnroe, who got away with it several times since he played tennis from the 1970s and retired in the 1990s. McEnroe supported Williams by pointing out that he has said worse to umpires and has gone unpunished.

Williams used her voice to call out the injustices she and many other female tennis players have faced throughout their careers. Tennis players and fanatics are hoping that in the future, all tennis players, men or women, are held to the same standards and equality during games.

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