Issue 2

EA Eagle Angle Newspaper

Number of senior directed plays higher than ever pg. 7

Book into movie appears as more than a wall flower pg. 13

New coaches hope to transform basketball program pg. 17

photo by Saher Aqeel

photo from teaser-trailer.com

photo by Saher Aqeel

Allen High School // Allen, Texas, 75002 // Volume 30, Issue 2 // November 26, 2012

Living without walls ‘Fate loves the fearless’

photo by Madyson Russell

Homelessness rate rises 44 percent in Collin County staff writer

A

story by Breanne McCallop & Kailey Warren // business manager & online editor

story by Laura Hallas // fter months of struggling, it is the high school senior’s first night in the shelter. Settling down on a bare cot in the building of strangers, the sadness takes over and for a moment, she simply cries. Her name is Taylor, and she is homeless.

“It was really sad, I think that first night in the [homeless] program, I cried,” Taylor said. “It’s just something I took for granted, everyone does, just to have a home.”

Taylor is not alone. Homelessness is on the rise in Collin County with a 44 percent increase in the last year alone from 368 to 531 individuals.

Out of the 531, 40 percent are youth.

Within the Allen school district alone, 37 students were identified as homeless last year, which includes situations such as living in a car, motel or home of another family member.

Taylor said that for her and her mom, money was always a struggle.

She has moved from trailer to house to shelter and was homeless from July to September 2011. She currently lives in her aunt’s home.

“Getting off from school and having somewhere to go, I appreciate that every single day,” Taylor said.

“Every day, my life was just in limbo,

Junior continues to fight chronic pain disorder

so just getting to go home [to my aunt’s house] and to know I could take a nap if I want to, to have that freedom, to be in your own personal space, I appreciate that so much more now.”

Taylor and her mother were accepted into the Collin County branch of Family Promise after they lost their house. Family Promise, a national program, originated in New Jersey, and opened their Collin County location in 2011 exclusively for homeless children and their families when the needs of the population were not being met.

“What we are seeing [in Collin County] is your neighbor, it’s your family [becoming homeless],” director Jacqueline Cook said. “Something just fell apart, and it just started this snowball effect and there was just no stopping it.”

Family Promise uses existing resources and programs in the community to help get families back on their feet with a 77 percent success rate. Housing locations rotate weekly among the group’s network of 14 churches. However, the program can only support 14 people at once.

“I am turning away six to seven

people a day,” Cook said. “I am getting that many calls of people seeking assistance. And I have to refer them back to the Samaritan Inn, which I know is usually full, or to the Dallas area. [We] are doing everything [we] can, hoping that by some miracle they’re going to get in [to another program].”

According to the city of Allen website, the median household income in Allen is $94,630, which is $40,000 more than last year’s national average of $50,502. Collin County also had only a 7.0 percent unemployment rate compared to a national average of 8.9 percent last year. However, unemployment rates and household income measurements do not account for those who have jobs but do not earn wages high enough to keep up with the cost of living. The cost of living in Allen is 33.60 percent higher than the national average.

“What I am seeing is families living on the edge,” Cook said. “Just barely making it because of the cost of living versus the livable wage they are making. And then something falls apart: their car breaks down, someone // continued on page 3

H

er ankle hurts again.

It hurts just like when she tore her Achilles tendon, but this time she didn’t injure it.

Junior Ally Zinsmeister, an eighth grader at the time, pulls her phone out in the hallway of Curtis Middle School and texts her mother, “Mom, I don’t think I can walk home today because I can’t even walk to my next class.”

She had no idea this pain was a symptom of her impending relapse into a chronic pain disease.

November marks National Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) Awareness Month. On Dec. 18, 2009, Zinsmeister was diagnosed with RSD, now known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). Per the McGill Pain Index RSD is the most painful form of chronic pain, ranked above childbirth and amputation.

“Growing up, I’ve always been sick all the time, like strep throat or ear infection, so I was used to having a doctor tell me, ‘Okay, this is what’s wrong, take 10 days of an antibiotic and you’ll be better,’” Zinsmeister said. “So at first when the doctor told me, ‘You have RSD,’ I said, ‘Great, what do I do to get rid of it?’ I thought

it was just another quick fix. When I began to understand what it was, and I realized it was a lifelong thing, then it was more difficult.”

Although Zinsmeister has been in remission since January 2011, there is currently no cure for RSD, and the outcome for each diagnosed person varies. Zinsmeister said some common symptoms she experienced were burning pain, skin sensitivity, muscle contractures, changes in skin color, an internal temperature of 60 degrees and a one-time occurrence of bleeding ulcers.

“I couldn’t be in the hallway during passing period, I couldn’t eat lunch in the cafeteria,” Zinsmeister said. “My life was centered around when I had to take my medication, when I had to be at the hospital and when I had to go to therapy. It was really hard.”

Dr. Ajay Harpavat, who has been treating this disease since 2004 and practices at PainMedics at the Texas Health Resources of Allen, said RSD typically develops after an injury or a surgery. Zinsmeister’s originated from a tear of her Achilles tendon while on the Curtis volleyball team in 2008. The pain began in her ankle, // continued on page 8

Inside news 2-3 // feature 7-9 // center 10-11 // opinions 12-14 // sports 15-19 // photo essay 20

2 Superstorm Sandy hits East Coast, affects students story by McKenzi Morris // operations manager

he house shakes. The wind howls in the background.

Sophomore Joei Velten’s best friend since she was 4 years old describes the scene to her over the phone.

Suddenly, the line goes dead.

The storm has hit.

“I wasn’t able to talk to her for like two days, so I was so nervous,” Velten said. “It’s like, you’re in the middle of a conversation and [the call] just like cuts out. It was scary.”

Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast at around 7 p.m. on Oct. 29, approximately six hours before it was expected to reach land. Before Sandy reached land, it was originally a Category 1 hurricane but then went down to a post-tropical cyclone in the evening of Oct. 29. Some of the hardest hit areas include New York, Long Island, Staten Island and New Jersey, where 16 people were killed during the first day. Before Sandy made land on the East Coast, it initially landed in the Caribbean where it killed 69 people. As of Nov. 13, the total death toll from Sandy was at 113 lives.

Velten moved from Staten Island last year with her mother but still has close family living in New York who were there when the storm landed.

As Sandy began to fully hit New York,

she was on the phone with a friend who kept Velten updated as she taped up her windows to prevent them from caving in. Velten said the people there are used to being hit by storms and tried to anticipate what was coming.

“When you live in New York you expect [storms] because hurricanes, they happen,” Velten said. “I don’t think anyone was expecting it to be this bad though. They tried to prepare for [it] so they wouldn’t be so surprised.”

In Allen, the culinary and hospitality department were planning a trip to New York during spring break to tour the Culinary Institute of America and view a nutrition demonstration, but the trip was canceled a few days after Sandy hit land because not enough people were able to go.

“We were a little bit concerned [before the storm hit],” culinary senior Ava Yazdani said. “We were hoping it wasn’t going to be too bad because it was a low category at first, but then it became bigger so we were hoping it was going to ride off as a storm. I think as it got worse and worse, we figured [the trip] isn’t going to happen this year.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, a week after the superstorm

Torn away After hitting land on Oct. 29, superstorm Sandy caused $50 billion in damage, including this home in Union Beach, N.J. photo by Patsy Lynch/FEMA

Out of place A house in Breezy Point, N.Y. lies in ruin as the result of superstorm Sandy. Sandy hit the East Coast on Oct. 29. photo by Andrea Booher/FEMA

hit about 5.2 million people were without power or electricity. Because Yazdani also has family in New York, she said the effects of the storm are personal to her.

“I can’t imagine going without clothes or electricity,” Yazdani said. “I try to put myself in that situation, and I hope to God I’m never in a natural disaster.”

More than 14,200 flights were canceled as of Nov. 5 according to FlightAware.com. Junior Gabrielle Miller and her family were supposed to be on one of those flights back from Boston but drove to Cleveland to avoid getting caught in the storm.

While in Cleveland, she saw uprooted trees and said she was glad she was not in the middle of the superstorm. “[The destruction] would be worse if we were in Boston,” Miller said. “We probably would have had to go to a shelter, and that would be even worse [than evacuating]. That would be really scary.”

Knowing that experts were predicting a lot of flooding and that

her family and friends were in the direct path of the storm, Velten said she had mixed reactions of relief and worry that she was not in New York when it hit.

“I’m so happy I wasn’t there because there is so much devastation everywhere,” Velten said. “At the same time, it’s almost like, I would have rather been in [the storm] than far away because you don’t know what’s happening during it, so at least when you’re there you know, where as when you’re far away you’re just left guessing.”

State of emergencies were declared by state governors from North Carolina to Connecticut as soon as the storm hit the areas on Oct 29. Miller said seeing a small amount of the storm’s effect in Cleveland heightened the significance of the storm for her. “[Being near the storm] makes it seem more serious because on TV, it is serious on TV, but when you’re actually in it you’re like ‘oh wow’,” Miller said. “They are serious. Don’t

take them lightly.”

Velten said it is hard to see images and videos on the news and hear of the destruction on Staten Island and the surrounding areas from her family and friends living there because they were places she knew personally.

“It’s upsetting because there’s so many pictures of ripped up roads and stuff and that’s where I’m from and where I grew up and that’s my home,” Velten said. “To see all of that just ruined, […] because that’s your childhood right there and to see that completely destroyed, it’s sad.”

Yazdani said she would like to start a service project for her family and those who have lost their homes and possessions due to the hurricane because she knows they need a lot of help to recover.

“Seeing the devastation from the storm has made me more humble to what I have and grateful to the things and people I have around me,”Yazdani said. “Its made me realize that at any moment, it could all be taken away.”

the news angle ta ff ss ne w

Nov. 30

This year’s Love Week recipient is 32-year-old Nick Hale who has leukemia.

An informational meeting will be held on Dec. 6 for anyone who is interested in fundraising for Love Week that will take place from Feb. 11 to Feb. 15.

Moment.

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Dec. 6

led

Nov. 12

On Nov. 30, the school will be performing a lip dub, a video with music and a group of people lip-syncing and dancing.

It will start at 8:30 a.m. and end at 11:00 a.m. There are over 45 clubs participating in the lip dub.

pi

The PTA reflection essay entry deadline was Nov. 6. The contest’s purpose was to show artistic talent through photography, visual arts, literature, dance, filmography or composing music. The contest was open to anyone and the theme was The Magic of a

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gl

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Nov. 6

The high school sponsored the Thanksgiving community food drive for families who cannot afford to have a Thanksgiving dinner. The last day to commit was Monday, Nov. 12. All nonperishable items were accepted in the main office, CTE office and the band hall.

co m

Allen High School // Issue 2 // November 26, 2012

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PALs fundraise in Tulane University student’s name 3 to support spinal injury research story by Maggie Rians // staff writer

I

‘‘

to come to Chick-Fil-A and Rita’s Italian Ice, Selph said that they used Instagram and other social networking websites to spread the word about the fundraiser.

“It’s always good to have that feeling that you’re actually making a difference,” Selph said. “Instead of saying, ‘That is so sad,’ people should actually do something. [By fundraising], you’re actually getting involved and raising money.”

The National Spinal Cord Injury Association reports that an estimated 11,000 spinal cord injuries occur in the United States every year and the severity of an injury depends on the part of the spinal cord that is affected.

The Allen football team has not experienced any spinal cord or neck injuries.

“We are very blessed that we have not had a neck injury,” Walker, also an assistant football coach, said.

“I’ve actually been coaching for 23 years and have never experienced either a player or anybody we’ve played against in any game that has broken their neck.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), traumatic spinal cord injury can impair any body system controlled by the affected nerves. Spinal cord injuries may include psychological side effects, such as depression and anxiety.

Instead of saying, ‘That is so sad,’ people should actually do something.

[By fundraising], you’re actually getting involved and raising money. senior PAL II Lauren Selph

”

Back-up team After Tulane University football player Devon Walker injured his spinal cord during a game against Tulsa University, the PALs decided to raise money for spinal cord injury research in his name. They created shirts with his jersey number and the university’s name on the front and his last name on the back. Juniors Zack Wulf and Brianna Beacham and seniors Randy Zoeller and Sarah Segner particpated in the Chick-fil-A fundraiser where the PALs wore their shirts to support the fundraiser. photo by Saher Aqeel

In order to show support, the PALs wore matching shirts to Chickfil-A and Rita’s Italian Ice. The shirts have Devon Walker’s football number 18, and “Tulane” on the front and his last name on the back.

“We are wearing shirts at the

different fundraising events just to show that we are all one unit and that we are working together,” Selph said.

Junior PAL I Monika Pitka, who participated in the fundraiser at Chick-fil-A, said that this fundraiser has left a positive influence on her

because it showed her that a group of people can all come together to help one person.

“You never know when something can happen to you,” Pitka said. “[This fundraiser] will help progress spinal cord research.”

Senior receives help from Family Promise // continued from front page

gets sick and can’t work. It’s like they are just teetering on the edge, just barely making it, barely keeping their heads above water and one thing falls apart, and it all just goes.”

Taylor said her mother worked as a nurse and was underemployed.

For three months, Taylor’s mother took out loans before eventually having to leave the house for Family Promise after falling about $800 behind on rent. “[My mom] was having a really hard time and didn’t tell anybody,” Taylor said. “I knew that we were cutting back, but I was working so much that I was never really home, and I didn’t realize [how much] we were cutting back on.”

At Family Promise, students leave for school by 7:00 a.m. and come back by 5:00 p.m. All of the families and volunteers associated with the program eat dinner together.

At night, guests sleep in cots in the church facilities. While staying at Family Promise, Taylor said she often remembered the one thing that she missed the most, her bed.

“I don’t know how to explain

because it was never something I had thought of before,” Taylor said. “Just being able to sit on your own bed that’s just yours, that nobody else has slept on, that’s big and comfortable, with your pillows, your blankets, your stuffed animals, or whatever you have on it. That’s something that I took for granted because everyone has a bed. You don’t think about not having a bed.”

In Collin County, over half of homeless minors are elementary school age or younger, with the majority (36 percent) 4 to 6 years old. According to Cook, Family Promise operates exclusively to serve homeless families with children, so Taylor saw parents with several different mentalities.

“There were some [parents in Family Promise] that came into it and looked at the situation, and had so much courage,” Taylor said.

“They were like, ‘even though we are in this program, even though this is happening, I’m going to get a great job and we are going to have a home,’ and they were brave for their kids. [...] That was amazing for me

to watch, to see people that were so strong and fierce for their kids.”

After experiencing homelessness with her mother, Taylor said that she became stronger as her mom leaned on her to be her backbone.

“Now our relationship has changed so much,” Taylor said.

“Before, I felt like I needed her, I needed her to be there for me emotionally and in all the ways you need your mom. Now, I just don’t. I love her, and I like being around her, but I don’t need her in the same way.

I grew up, because I had to.”

Once a student of any age is living in a shelter and classified as homeless, school officials work to provide services for the student as outlined by the McKinney-Vento Act, which protects the rights of homeless children and is the only major federal legislative response to homelessness.

Allen offers services to its homeless students including bus transportation, modified assignments, waived SAT/ ACT fees, free or reduced lunch and school supplies.

“For some students, [school] creates some level of normalcy for

them,” Allen ISD support counselor Jennifer Atencio said. “To know that they have a place to be for six to eight hours a day [...creates] the normalcy and consistency.”

Taylor said that the school offered her a lot of help and supplies to make the situation easier. She is working and plans to get a second job when she graduates early in February before going to Collin College for two years. “[Now that I have been through Family Promise] I think more about what I can do in college that, when I leave, there will be a job waiting for me,” Taylor said. “It’s less of what I want to do and more of what I have to do. I have that mentality now, where I don’t have the freedom to just go to college for four years and not really care what I’m doing. I have to know.

I have to have a plan. And it has to make a lot of money, whether I like it or not.”

Organizations like Family Promise are nonprofit and rely on donations to take care of the homeless. Local food banks such as Allen Community Outreach

and drives by community service organizations, such as Key Club, provide donations that Cook said are always needed.

“I know that there are some areas of Allen that are getting hit pretty hard with [homelessness],” Key Club Sergeant at Arms Kyle Walden said.

“ACO is doing a lot to help out with that along with the North Texas Food Bank by giving food to food banks in Allen to help out those families who don’t have enough money to provide for their kids all the time.”

Taylor said that there are ways for teens to help and while the donor may not get to see how donations impact families, the donations can make a difference in someone’s life.

“I knew a little girl who got this unicorn, and she cried,” Taylor said. “Because her mom didn’t have anything for her, she just played with other little kids’ toys in the program.

And then it was all hers, it was nobody elses’ unicorn, it was all hers.

And that was the most amazing thing to watch. last name of source withheld to protect privacy

Allen High School // Issue2 // November 26, 2012

n order to raise money for spinal cord research, Peer Assistance Leadership Service (PALs) students raised a total of $767 at the Chick-fil-A on Stacy Road on Oct. 30. The PALs donated the money in Tulane University football player Devon Walker’s name to support research at John Hopkins University.

While making a tackle during the Tulsa University vs. Tulane University football game on Sept. 8, Devon Walker injured his spinal cord. Due to his injury, Walker has had surgery and been moved to a comprehensive in-patient rehabilitation center.

“I think [Devon Walker’s injury] is incredibly sad, but I think it’s really cool that we are raising money for spinal cord research,” senior PAL II Lauren Selph said. “It’s [also] cool because it’s something we’ve never had the opportunity to do before.”

The PALs host two major fundraisers each year. PALs coordinator JD Walker said that he thought this would be a good opportunity for the PALs to get involved with the community.

“We are a football crazy town and [I thought about] how we could show support,” Walker said. “What better way for a football fanatical town to show support for a boy who was injured in football, but [also] do some good for spinal injury research?”

In order to encourage people

4

oted 2012 Nov. 7, 11:14 EST, Barack Obama re-elected as President of The United States of America

Who did you want to win?

“I didn’t really like either one. I just think for Obama’s case, I didn’t really like the values and the whole abortion and same sex marriage, and for Romney, I guess I just didn’t know that much about him.” junior Isaiah McDaniels

By the numbers Obama/Biden

“[For] most people, middle classes’ taxes are going to go up, and [Obama’s] not going to do anything. The past four years he hasn’t done anything. He made the same promises over again that he made last year, and he didn’t fulfill them these past four years so he’s not going to fill them the next four years.” sophomore Margaret Campbell

Romney/Ryan

43 votes

“Negative, because I don’t believe in universal health care and taking that right away from you.”

senior Kayley Brandon

How do you feel about the results?

“I feel that Obama is very beneficial to the society of America. I feel like our future will only go up from here. [It will have] positive effects on the future of America, because of the Dream Act.” sophomore Cameron Polonet

Who would you have voted for?

“I probably would have voted for [Romney] if I was old enough. So I was a little unhappy but it’s alright.” senior Zoe Albert

Electoral votes

Do you expect the election to have a positive or negative effect on America?

compiled by Alexis Mane // poll compiled by Student Council // information from The Huffington Post & The Guardian

Obama/Biden

332 votes

Romney/Ryan

206 votes

EA

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How do you think the election will affect Americans’ futures?

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Allen High School // Issue 2 // November 26, 2012

the opinions angle

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Allen High School // Issue2 // November 26, 2012

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Allen High School // Issue 2 // November 26, 2012

6

Change in direction

7

Number of senior directed plays hits record high

Acting out Senior Bishop Wash and junior Kirby Lorig act

as a divorced couple in the senior directed play “The Dinner Party” about divorced couples who have gathered to attend dinner party supposedly held by the man who handles their divorces. photo by Saher Aqeel

story by Callie Anderson //

T

he class of 2013’s chance has finally arrived. As the lights dim, the seniors, rather than performing on the stage, sit in the audience ready to watch the play they produced.

The senior directed plays, which are fully produced by seniors in the theatre department, ran Nov. 8-10.

In the past, four to six senior directed plays are performed plays per year, but this year there were nine.

“It feels like the department’s growing,” theatre teacher Leigh-Ann Unkenholz said. “But this just shows

everything we’ve already seen with our class numbers growing, more people showing up for auditions and things like that. So it’s really exciting to have so many. Of course that presents challenges in itself, but we’re excited.”

There are a total of 14 senior directors, who create their own play or base it off of a previous play, story or movie. Seniors Katie Hofmann and Courtney Leasure directed “The Dinner Party,” a play originally written in 1985 and published in 1994 by Pier Vittorio Tondelli.

Happily divorced Acting as two divorced women, senior Lauren Ekwall and junior Kirby Lorig meet Gabrielle Buonocelli portrayed by junior Shelby Gyger in the production of “The Dinner Party.” photo by Saher Aqeel

Hit the lights In the black box’s tech booth junior Taylor McTague controls the lightboard on Nov.10 for the Senior Directed Plays. photo by Saher Aqeel

Round of applause The cast of “Kisses Like a Redneck,” directed by senior Madeline Sosnowski, acknowledges the tech crew’s hard work during the senior directed plays on Nov. 10. photo by Saher Aqeel

Star bound

Sophomore acts in independent film ‘Space Warriors’ story by Lucy Boys // staff writer

A

competition to get to space. Training on astronaut equipment. Teams from around the world. All caught on camera as sophomore Sahana Srinivasan acts in the independent film “Space Warriors.”

“It was probably better than I expected because I expected to be super, super nervous the whole time,” Sahana said. “[But during] the first scene that we filmed, I was pretty nervous because of the cameras, and people watching you and everything, but then once you start filming and start getting to the scene, it’s literally like the cameras aren’t even there. It’s like you’re in this real life situation and you feel the emotions truly, and I probably learned a lot from that experience.”

“Space Warriors,” set to come out in 2013, was directed by Sean Mcnamara, who cowrote it with Jeff Phillips. The movie features Boo-Boo Stewart, who plays Seth Clearwater in the “Twilight” films and Thomas Horn, best known for his role as Oskar Schell in “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” Major stars include Josh Lucas, Dermot Mulroney and Mira Sorvino. “Space Warriors” is Sahana’s first movie in her acting career as she plays Chandra.

Sahana first heard of the film

from her agent at Innovative Agency who told her there was an independent film taking auditions. After the initial audition, she flew back home to Allen to wait to see if she was being considered for a role in the movie. When she received the call saying she made callbacks, she said she made sure to emphasize her Indian heritage.

“This role was for an Indian role, so I was very excited to show my culture,” Sahana said. “So [at the callback], I was wearing an Indian dot on my forehead. I had two braids, and I had a yellow [outfit].”

After she returned to Texas, Sahana flew to India to visit family, where she got the call to return to LA for a mix and match. A mix and match is when actors read lines back and forth to test if they are compatible. Unable to fly back, Sahana, through modern technology, was able to do her mix and match via Skype. Sahana had to wake up at 4 a.m. to compensate for the time difference between California and India.

During the wait for what would be the call announcing her casting in the movie, Sahana flew back from India, and after two weeks, her agent called to tell her that she got the role.

“My dad handed me the cell phone, and I was talking to my agent,”

Sahana said. “She said, ‘oh yeah, you booked “Space Warriors”’ and I was like, ‘oh OK, that’s pretty cool.’ It didn’t really sink in, and so after the call ended, I just ran outside and was like, ‘woohoo.’ It took awhile to sink in, but I was really happy.”

Sahana’s mother, Krithiga Srinivasan, said she was very happy for Sahana.

“I was really amazed by her talent and her passion towards [this movie],” Mrs. Srinivasan said.

The filming took place at a space camp in Huntsville, Ala. The set included a training machine called the arerotrim, which was designed to demonstrate how it feels when a ship goes out of control or in situations where there is no clear up or down.

Sahana said she felt conflicted with her character from this scene in the movie.

“It was crazy because I was so scared because I saw other people do it, and it goes really fast and really slow and it makes your head spin,” Sahana said. “I’m supposed to be on the team that is tough, and so I was acting all tough, when I was thinking in my head, ‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die.’ But on the outside, I had to be like ‘man I can do this,’ and it was just really cool. I really loved filming that

because it was something I had never done before.”

From filming and acting, Sahana said that she learned lessons from her fellow actors, directors and her experiences.

“The main thing is to just have fun and be in the moment, and make a lot of friends and you know, work hard,” Sahana said. “I learned to focus better and really, just be myself and have fun and if you can do that, then you’ll do really good on a movie set.”

Mrs. Srinivasan said she agrees that Sahana improved a lot during filming.

“The first time that [Sahana] was on the set,” Mrs. Srinivasan said. “She had to learn how to behave in front of other people and how to hold other people in communication and the social environment of getting the context and everything.”

Sahana said her favorite scenes were her rides in the aerotrim and another scene with Stewart. She said this scene was her favorite because of the intensity created as Stewart and Sahana talked to another character.

“Just everything felt so real,” Sahana said. “And it’s just those small moments that they put in that you want to make best, so I felt like that small moment was so cool.”

Star in the making Sophomore Sahana Srinivasan holds out her name tag and bracelet from her acting experience in the movie “Space Warriors.” It set it come out in 2013, and was filmed in Huntsville Ala. “The main thing is to just have

fun and be in the moment, and make a lot of friends and you know, work hard,” Sahana said. “I learned to focus better and really, just be myself and have fun and if you can do that, then you’ll do really good on a movie set.” photo by Saher Aqeel

Allen High School // Issue2 // November 26, 2012

staff writer

“My cast has been on top of everything,” Hofmann said. “From first rehearsal, they have been using character voices and staying on task, and it’s a really fun experience when they’re actually wanting to work with you.”

“The Dinner Party” is about three once happy but now divorced couples, who are unknowingly invited to dinner by their former spouses.

Throughout the process of directing the play, Leasure and Hofmann said they had to make mutual decisions and agreements, including what play they wanted to produce, who they wanted to act in their play, when they wanted to rehearse and what costumes to wear.

“Having two people [directing] definitely makes it easier on the cast because everything seems to flow better, and you get the right ideas,” Leasure said.

Out of the nine shows, four wre directed by one directs and the other five were codirected. Each play’s directors and cast rehearsed at least four days a week for two hours and then weekends if needed.These shows are different than main stage shows because all responsibilities of the show are put on the senior directors instead of the theatre teacher.

“It feels kind of like we are doing our own things,” Hofmann said. “It’s nice to not have someone breathing down your neck all the time saying, ‘No, you’re doing it wrong,’ because you get to be the one who has the creative license over everything.”

Allen High School // Issue 2 // November 26, 2012

8 CRPS National Awareness Month recognizes rare disease // continued from front page but spread from her toes to her hip. At the Homecoming dance freshman year, she hit her hand on the door, causing it to spread to her left arm as well.

“Let’s say you are not doing anything, without any particular reason you start having foot pain,” Harpavat said. “In the X-rays, CT scans [and] MRI everything comes out [as] nothing is abnormal there. Leg wasn’t sprained, no broken bones, no muscle tear [and] no rupture and the pain just does not go away, then you would say that those patients can have complex regional pain syndrome.”

While she was ill with RSD, Zinsmeister said she had to use either crutches or a wheelchair the majority of the time to help her get around.

“I was in eighth grade and the fire alarm went off,” Zinsmeister said. “My teacher was like, ‘Drop everything and go,’ and she wouldn’t let me take my crutches. So I limped my way outside, and one of the kids saw me without my crutches and was like, ‘See? I told you the entire time you’ve been making it up.’”

Despite being diagnosed at the end of 2009, her initial injury occurred in September of 2008, and she said she was technically in remission from January to September of 2009.

“I went to seven doctors before I was diagnosed,” Zinsmeister said.

“Most of those doctors had either told me that they didn’t know what was wrong with and me and they said there was nothing they could do for me, [or] some of them said I was

making it up. It was really frustrating.”

Immediately after her diagnosis she began taking several medications, including the narcotic painkillers Methadone and Hydrocodone. The first treatment Zinsmeister received was sympathetic nerve blocks, which are injections of different medications directly into the spinal cord. She had a series of four nerve blocks in January 2010. “[During] the first two, they put me to sleep like they usually do, and I woke up having seizures. They found I was allergic to anesthesia, so I had two more awake,” Zinsmeister said.

“They would give me relief for about a day, and then they would just wear off, which isn’t good.”

Zinsmeister said when the doctor gave up on her and stopped treating her, she had found a new doctor and began being treated at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas.

The doctors their put her straight into physical therapy, which she began doing for six to seven hours a week.

“For a while it was just [about] maintaining functionality, not really focused getting me 100 percent better, but just [getting] me through it every day,” Zinsmeister said.

Dr. David Sherry, director of clinical rheumatology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, created a program that involves admittance to the hospital for multiple weeks and includes hours of physical therapy a day. Zinsmeister’s doctors at Children’s decided to try the program with her.

“That was really the first time I

50,000 words in 30 days Students exercise creativity for National Writing Month

was in the hospital,” Zinsmeister said.

“It was scary at first, going to bed at night knowing my family’s an hour away, and I’m in pain and I’m trying to get through this.”

Harpavat said physical therapy is the most important thing needed to recover. He said that two main goals for physical therapy are to reduce swelling and to increase range of motion.

“Patients need to be aggressive with their own treatment,” Harpavat said. “If someone has CRPS they need to do physical therapy.”

While Zinsmeister received treatment, her best friend junior Chloe Brannon, said the two kept in contact via Facebook. Brannon said she felt it was her obligation to help support Zinsmeister through her treatment.

“I felt a little bit honored that she was telling me something like this because it was one of her personal things,” Brannon said. “I was like if she’s telling me something like this then I need to make sure that I’m there for her and I need to boost her up. I just felt like it was my thing, to make sure that she was OK and to make sure that she had someone there with her.”

After participating in the program for two weeks, Zinsmeister said she was discharged and felt better, beginning her period of remission.

“I’m really fortunate,” Zinsmeister said. “I’m really lucky, and I owe it all to my doctors because not everyone gets this relief.”

Zinsmeister said she is a part of

understand we’re tired of doctors telling us we’re making it up or it’s not as bad as we make it sound,” Zinsmeister said. “That’s really the hardest part. Going to school and having to deal with people who don’t understand, it’s just insane.”

Now that she’s in remission, Zinsmeister’s symptoms are limited to only occasional pain, such as when the weather changes or she has insect bites.

Zinsmeister said Brannon is her emotional support.

“I [broke] down a lot, especially freshman year,” Zinsmeister said.

“Whenever we’re having one of those moments, the one thing [Brannon] always says is ‘fate loves the fearless,’ and so we pretty much live by that.

I can’t be afraid of RSD. I can’t let it control my life, and I don’t.”

online support groups for people, including teenagers, who have RSD. Online they talk about their problems and how hard things are for them.

“The hardest part for me is hearing them every day talk about how hard things are right now, and I’m sitting here in remission,” Zinsmeister said. “I wish everyone had that, because not everyone gets to go into remission, it’s rare. I’m one of the lucky ones, and so I realize that every day, and it’s hard for me to continue to watch people suffer.”

Zinsmeister said the worst part of her illness is that no one really understands anything about it. She said she appreciates RSD Awareness Month because she hopes it gives some insight on what the disease actually entails.

“We just want people to

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story by Kendall Hays // n junior Colleen Durnin’s future, the world is in shambles, brought about by people’s reliance on technology, and a war begins between those who have superpowers and those who don’t. This new world takes shape in Durnin’s mind as she pours her thoughts on to paper for her novel for National Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November.

“Thinking about the world today, I feel like all the new technology that we’re getting, it’s already starting to destroy the world because of how our generation is,” said Durnin. ”We just don’t really care about a whole lot of stuff because of all of the technology.

I am going to base [the story] off of all of that, but set it in the future.”

NaNoWriMo was founded by Chris Baty and 20 other writers in 1999. In the starting year, there were

reading an essay together that Zinsmeister wrote about the influence Brannon had on her life. photo by Victoria Erb

Nov 8.

staff writer

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Loving embrace Juniors Chloe Brannon and Ally Zinsmeister hug after

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21 participants and 6 winners, but in 2011, 256,618 people participated with 36,843 winners.

From Nov. 1 to Nov. 30, participants are required to write a 50,000 word novel that is created entirely within the month.

“Writing is such a high cognitive level ability that I think that’s where a lot of our creativity lies,” English II phoenix teacher Shannon Green said.

“The fact that kids around the country are taking their own personal time to create, to edit and to go through the process of creating a story that’s uniquely their own is amazing.”

Junior Karen Billings’ story for NaNoWriMo begins with a girl drowning at 3 a.m., and nobody realizes she’s gone except for the lifeguard that comes to her rescue.

“I guess I was just sitting there

graphic by Garrett Holcombe

thinking,” Billings said. “And I thought it would be interesting to start [the story] out with somebody drowning, and it just went from there.”

Billings said that she plans to write about 2,000 words a day just like she did when she participated in NaNoWriMo her freshman and sophomore years. Last year she wrote about a world called Candyland.

“I just started [the characters] out at a school, and I kind of wanted to put them into a board game,” Billings said.

Billings and Durnin said that some of their favorite authors, such as JK Rowling, have had a big impact on their writing and that they spend a lot of time reading.

“I love reading, I’m pretty much

reading 24-7,” Durnin said. “ I read sci-fi, fantasy and just a lot of different books.”

A report from Writing Forward said that in order to write well, it is necessary to read.

“Research shows time and time again that the more a student reads the better they write,” Green said. “So as a teacher who loves to teach writing, I know the more that kids write, the better they get, but it takes lots of practice, seeing mentor pieces, seeing what good writers do and imitating that. That’s how we build future good writers.”

Durnin said she faces writer’s block when trying to complete her novel in a month.

“Sometimes I have massive writ-

er’s block, and I can’t think of anything,” Durnin said. “Other times I’ll be like ‘OK, I think this will happen, and then this will happen,’ and it just goes from there.”

Billings said that she sometimes experiences writer’s block as well.

“Getting to the halfway point when you have the beginning, but you don’t know where to go from there is the hardest part,” Billings said.

Despite the difficulties, Billings said that she would love to have a career involving writing in the future, and possibly even become an English teacher.

“I really like writing all the time,” Billings said. “So [NaNoWriMo] just gives me that excuse to write a lot.”

Star spangled (ban)ner

9

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he administrators banned the shouting of “stars” during the national anthem when it is played at pep rallies because they found the shouting to be disrespectful to America and veterans who have served in the military. compiled by Madeline Martin // staff writer graphic by Madyson Russell

to shout

“I think its patriotism. You know, it’s for your country, I mean it’s your anthem; you should be able to do whatever you want with it.” junior AJ James “I don’t have a problem with [shouting “stars”’] ‘cause I think they’re showing enthusiasm.” senior Anna Jung

not to shout “When people shout ‘stars’ during the national anthem I feel like it is completely disrespectful and just plain wrong and rude to everybody there, especially the singer. [Because] I feel like if I had to sing in front of the entire student body, I wouldn’t want people screaming during my performance.” senior Shelby Haveman

“I think the students struggle with the importance of [the pledges], just because they’ve been doing it for so long, but I do think we all stand together and [say] the same thing in one day, there is some kind of unity toward the whole thing.” AP government teacher Kieth Sullivan

Allen High School // Issue2 // November 26, 2012

“I don’t care because it’s something fun to do and we’re, you know, it’s us. Its something if we want to do, we can do it, but I do not feel like it’s disrespecting those who have served, ‘cause we’re still supportive by just saying the national anthem.” senior Cole Yarbrough

or

10

College prep: what you Build college resume with internship or career course story by Megan Lucas // assistant editor

Allen High School // Issue 2 // November 26, 2012

N

ovember rain drops pound on her head, her Judge Payton campaign sign and her clothes.

But it’s worth it. Because the first time the sophomore meets the Judge, he offers her the goal she hoped to achieve – an internship position at his courthouse.

Now a senior, Jacqui Jacoby still interns Thursday nights and Saturdays for Judge John Payton, Collin County’s Justice of the Peace.

“I’ve always been interested in law, so I figured this would be a good internship to have,” Jacoby said. “It would look good for college and give me some good leadership experience.”

Internships, including Jacoby’s, create valuable connections that aid in job acquisition and create standout college applications, according to fastweb.com. But according to Texas Christian University admissions officer Heath Einstein, taking a career oriented class in high school can be just as fulfilling an experience as an internship. “[A] student who is interested in business might have taken AP Economics at his or her high school, and that would be great,” Einstein said. “We’re looking for some consistency in student interest and performance.”

In August 2011, the Career and Technology Education center opened, improving the facilities of classes that prepare students for their career goals. The programs include the Eagle Edge student run retail store, new mac labs, classrooms for medical and veterinary education and the culinary courses, where students learn to cook and serve food, eventually working in Blú, the student run restaurant in the Performing Arts Center.

“Working in this restaurant, we learn through a chef what to do and what not to do,” culinary junior

A

ccording to the University of Wash preparing in high school by select 100 counselor Brenda Boysselle said t ration for college. “We need a holistic for someone who is socially, mentally,

in this restaurant [is] ‘‘ Working already preparing me for what

I’m planning to do for the rest of my life. junior Monika Pitka

”

Monika Pitka said. “It’s already preparing me for what I’m planning to do for the rest of my life.”

Pitka said she would like to major in culinary science in college and eventually open and manage a restaurant with her sister.

“I think it will help me get into college because if I already have experience, then it will look better on my résumé to get into college,” Pitka said. “Otherwise, if I didn’t take this class it’d be like I’m just starting out new, but this way I already know what I’m going to be looking forward to.”

Einstein also said that internships are a valuable asset to a student’s résumé.

“It puts them into a professional setting, so it helps them understand exactly what they’d be going into after they get out of college, and that’s really important to know,” Einstein said. “It also suggests that they might be a little more serious about what they’re studying because they’ve had that experience, and they’re still intending to go into it.”

From her internship experience, Jacoby said she learned a lot about herself and her career goals. ”It’s a good experience to have under my belt to know what I want to do with the rest of my life, “ Jacoby said. “To not have to figure it out in college, but in high school where it doesn’t really matter.”

As a former Allen Americans and Dallas Morning News intern, University of North Texas student and 2011 graduate Josh Friemel said his internships gained him valuable

connections that have advanced his journalism career.

“It’s just about knowing certain people, […] like building a web of people that you know get you,” Friemel said. “Having those connections, you can have people write recommendation letters and stuff like that will probably help in the future.”

As an EMT student who has gone through the full clinicals program, including an internship at a local private practice, rotating thorough different jobs at a hospital and earning a Certified Nursing Assistant certification, senior Alik List said that he has learned a lot from the career program.

“All the way since freshman year we’ve been in this clinicals class, and in every single one of those classes you’re learning something the whole time,” List said. “We rotated through the hospitals, which was honestly one of the most interesting and educating parts of it. You learn a lot of stuff in there.”

List, who said he wants to go into emergency medicine and become an ER doctor, said he agrees that the clinicals program will help him get into college.

“It shows that you’re willing to put the hours in, willing to put the effort in,” List said. “So with all these classes under your belt they’re just going to look at your transcript over someone who just decided that they want to go to med school. They’re going to be like ‘he’s so much more certified.’ It’s just a huge stepping stone.

“I think that maintaining balance between I do is vital. In the long run, I can better h situation where I’m going to be off on my it easier over time for me to be independ senior Demi Gnerlich

10 things colleges look for:

1 2 3 4 5

Strong Scores on Standardized Tests.

High Grade Point Average.

Challenging College-Prep Courses.

Top Percentage of Class Standing.

Leadership Positions in a Few Organizations.

11

u need to know

hington, students planning to attend college should begin ting appropriate classes and earning good grades. House that extracurricular activities will also be a beneficial prepac view of a student and that is why universities are looking academically fit,” Boysselle said.

n all the stuff that handle a college y own and it’ll make dent.”

“Even the things [that] aren’t academically related, it still takes up time to do those things well. So practicing to juggle with all the things that I want to do, I think that’s a skill you need to [be able to] do well in college because there will be a lot of different things you need to be able to juggle.”

story by Katy Smith // staff writer

The SuperMatch college search is a tool where students enter in all of the criteria they have for the college they are looking for, such as what they want to major in and the location of the college. SuperMatch then helps narrow down the choices.

Naviance allows students to send supplemental documents to their college applications online, then assists students in knowing that their college applications are completed in a timely manner.

The College and Career Center posts all of the college representatives who are going to visit the school. They also update scholarship opportunities for students and encourage students to check their Naviance account weekly.

Naviance provides a list of scholarships for students that may be personally relevant to them. This shows students all the scholarship opportunities they have in an organized manner.

There is a Naviance tool which allows students to explore different careers if they are uncertain about their future career. There are 16 different categories filled with many jobs relating to one another. Also, there is an overview and description of each career. If the student wants to know more detail about the job, Naviance lists the knowledge and skills needed for that career, the tasks and activities associated with the job and the earned wages.

Naviance also has an “about me” section where students can keep track of goals they wish to achieve, favorite colleges and more to assist students in organization.

junior Florian Melzer compiled by Victoria Erb // assistant editor photos by Grace Lee, Saher Aqeel & Victoria Erb graphic by Madyson Russell information from http://www.quintcareers.com/college a_pplication_items.html

6 7 8 9 10

Active Involvement in Community Service.

Insightful and Well-Written Essay

Quality Recommendations from Teachers and Guidance Counselor.

Relevant Recommendations from Professionals and Others.

Work and Entrepreneurial Experiences.

Allen High School // Issue2 // November 26, 2012

“I just learn how to relax because I don’t want everything stressing me out, but otherwise, it balances pretty well. Just giving some time here and giving some time there.” sophomore Raymond Caña

Discover Naviance

12 Are e-readers or books better for reading?

E-OK

photo by Saher Aqeel

story by Carter Adams //

staff writer

he human race is always trying to innovate for the future, and moving from books to e-readers is the natural path for people to take.They allow readers to purchase books from anywhere and view them within minutes of being downloaded. With a massive internal database, e-readers can hold thousands of both illustrated and non-illustrated books, accessible whenever you want them.

E-readers accommodate many different people in all situations of life. For example, they assist blind users by allowing them to listen to their favorite books. Even people with partially impaired vision can adjust the letter size to better fit their needs. E-readers also translate books to different languages and are simple enough to use that small children can even operate them without too much difficulty.

E-readers are more portable and storable than books. E-readers weigh the same as one book. And although they are also more fragile, this is easily fixed with a case that not only protects the e-reader, but can also be a stylish accessory.

Shopping in an online store for a digital copy of a book can be much easier than shopping in a real bookstore. Unlike real books, e-books

Allen High School // Issue 2 // November 26, 2012

Paperback please story by Jessica Alaniz //

staff writer

T

photo by Saher Aqeel

never go out of stock because there is no stock for digital books. Every time a person travels to the store there is a gamble over whether the book they want will be available or not. With an e-reader this is not a problem.

Online stores even carry digital copies of newspapers that readers can subscribe to on a daily basis, and receiving magazines and newspapers on an e-reader is more timely than receiving them through the mail.

The e-readers themselves can be expensive, but many of the most popular ones have free apps that allow you to sync with an Amazon or Barnes and Noble online store account. Buying these apps for any “smart device” is much cheaper than buying an actual e-reader. E-books, on average, cost less than actual books when bought through a digital store. Real books can be extremely expensive, depending on who wrote them and how sought after they are. Although the e-readers themselves cost a large sum, the price reduction on books, magazines and even simple word games, makes it worth the price.

E-readers provide many services that are not limited to just reading books. Our mode of reading should keep up with these technology dependent times and e-readers are the best way to do so.

O

nce upon a time there were these things called books. They came from different places called publishing companies, but today they are being pushed to the side because of e-readers like the Nook and Kindle.

I recently bought an e-reader myself, but I think the only good use for it is traveling, so that you don’t have to carry a lot of paper books.

That’s it. I like the feeling of actually having a book in hand and turning the pages. No matter how “real” an e-reader page may look, it isn’t.

With an e-reader you don’t experience the physical characteristics that you do with a real book. Every time I get a new book, I feel like a little kid on Christmas. There’s nothing like the smell of a book when it’s brand new and I open it for the first time. But it would probably be a little weird to sniff a Kindle.

Hearing the crackle of the spine and smelling that new book smell is probably one of the best parts of reading. I also like showing off the thickness of books I read. I’m a proud reader, and I like to flaunt it. I’m not saying the thickness of the book determines the intelligence of a person.

I’m saying that it’s nice to show off that you like reading. An e-reader tells the percent of the book that is being

Harrison is in a relationship with: story by Harrison Geosits // staff writer

O

ne of Earth’s greatest mysteries is my lack of a girlfriend. People always ask me who I like, who I want to date, if I think “Jane” is cute or not. No one takes into account that I may not want to date. The big problem in high school is the ridiculously obvious pressure to date. It is enforced by the media and our own peers. In the last column I wrote, I mentioned the “forever alone” population of our school.

What wasn’t mentioned is that I am part of that population. Students are so focused on changing their relationship statuses on Facebook that they are blind to the fact that the pressure to date someone is just plain stupid.

Public displays of affection have become a virus, with a rabid outbreak

in schools. Couples lurk in every corner, crevice and practice room.

Hands are held left and right. A kid can’t walk down the hall without hearing pet names being thrown around. It’s madness. Seeing these things adds to the growing pressure to date. It starts when one girl gets a boyfriend, then it spreads like wild fire. Suddenly, the new best accessory is a good piece of arm candy. Seeing so many couples fighting, laughing and kissing when they shouldn’t be creates a subconscious stream of thought in our minds screaming, “You need to date someone! Quick! Before everyone’s already taken!”

To quote Paul McCartney, “Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs.” The problem with that is the way it influences our young, impressionable minds. Songs

by Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and shows like “90210” and “Saved by the Bell” are all forms of media that

push high school relationships heavily.

People can have nearly 300 songs on their iPhones, all of which pertain to young love. Almost every show set in school features a happy couple. If we spend nearly an hour every night watching couples, love triangles and love dodecagons, it is bound to rub off on us. Make the connection: the media we pay attention to influences the way we think and act.

Sometimes, it’s not that we don’t want to date, but rather the fact that no one has time to have a nice piece of arm candy, a changed relationship status or a cute pet name. Between homework, chores and extracurricular activities, if a person finds time to date someone, then good for them. But most of us don’t. And the last thing we need is to be pressured. Relationships take an emotional investment that some of us can’t afford. We don’t have time to meet a nice person, flirt for

read. Who knows what 37 percent of a 435-page book is? I like to know how much I have left of a book so if I recommend it to a friend, I can tell them where in the book it gets good.

Technology is growing crazy fast and we need to slow it down in some areas. Our younger siblings are growing up with technology all around.

They have a lot of fun learning gadgets, and it’s cool to have electronic books that help kids learn to read, but what kid is going to actually sit there and read? Most of them just keep on pushing the same word over and over until they start pulling out their hair.

We are always looking for a short cut, like ordering things online and avoiding leaving the house. The first place people go to get their news is television or the Internet. Newspapers are slowly disappearing because people want things fast, and we are lazy. We are too lazy to go to the store and buy a book. Instead, we get on our computers and order it online.

Don’t get me wrong, technology is great, but we need to come back to reality.

Basically, I would rather have a book over an e-book any day because they are better in every way. Others should realize how special it is to have a book in hand. If they did, then books could live happily ever after. The end.

chores homework friends family theatre graphic by Madyson Russell

the appropriate amount of time and fall desperately in love. In the midst of school life, home life and friends, we can’t find time to date. In fact, we can barely find time to come up for air. At the end of the day, the pressure to date someone is all too real, and frankly, no one has time for that.

13

‘Wallflower’ blossoms into touching movie story by Rebecca Barney // assistant online editor

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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1659337/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ ThePerksofBeingaWallflower

novel, especially in Charlie’s family.

Charlie’s relationship with his two siblings feels downplayed because several scenes in the novel are not included in the movie like his siblings’ constant bickering. Charlie’s family is not the focus of the film; instead it is his relationship with his new friends Sam and Patrick.

His family plays a more prominent role in the book with the strained relationship between his brother and sister making the happier moments in his family more meaningful.

The fantastic acting reflected the personalities of the characters in the book. Charlie, played by Logan Lerman, is shy, anxious and socially awkward in both the movie and the book. Lerman succeeds in making Charlie endearing through his optimistic attitude despite his hardships. I was eager to see Emma Watson play a character that was not Hermione. Watson was able to successfully portray Sam’s rebellious attitude yet compassionate side.

Overall, the movie contained the key aspects of the book and does a solid job conveying the emotional feelings that the book caused. This is definitely a movie I would recommend for fans of the book or anyone who has not read it.

For more reviews or for a chance to comment with your own opinion, visit

theeagleangle.com

photo by Saher Aqeel

Apple impresses again with new iPhone 5 story by Danny Ortiz // staff writer

A

pple never ceases to amaze its buyers when coming up with bigger, better and more advanced technology and designs year after year. The iPhone 5 was definitely no exception. The new iPhone 5 was released on Sept. 21 with many new features that will be very beneficial to the buyer. The new mobile device has a slimmer, longer and much lighter feel to it, which is more comfortable and very handy.

The technology advances on this phone are beyond mind blowing.

For example, the new iOS 6 map update physically shows the user their location. You can also zoom in and out of the picture to see other areas that aren’t so close to where you are currently. But while this may all sound great and helpful, many of the iPhone 5 buyers are frustrated with the update. They say that it gives wrong directions to their destination and claim it takes much longer to get to their destination due to these problems. It is cool

to see physically where the user is currently, but it would be much more useful to actually get to the preferred destination on time.

The picture quality on the iPhone 5 is brilliant, thanks to its 4-inch retina display compared to the 3.5-inch retina display from past iPhones. It makes pictures look more vibrant and show up much more clear, almost as if you had a phone with HD features. The screen is also longer in length, which makes it very spacious for pictures and videos. This update was made to the iPad and iPhone which is very impressive because usually changes this drastic wouldn’t be made to such small devices.

The ultra fast wireless improvement will certainly sit well with the buyer because the speed on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S is a bit slow. I have an iPhone 4S, and to me, the amount of time it takes to load a webpage or the time it takes to send a text message is very frustrating. I think it was a very

smart move by Apple to increase the wireless speed. That was a much needed improvement, and I am sure it will satisfy many customers. Just the fact that Apple took that idea into consideration shows the commitment they have to their customers.

Another attractive feature is the new A6 chip which doubles the speed of graphic and CPU performances.

This chip also gives the iPhone 5 amazing battery life with up to 8 hours of talk time and 10 hours of video playback time. This feature will separate itself from previous models.

Along with the new phone Apple also changed the charger. The new charger is something everybody will have to get used to now that the shape has changed into a smaller and more circular shape almost like the headphone connection. Although this phone isn’t the best for directions and charger prices are a bit more expensive, I would still buy the iPhone 5 because Apple has once again amazed me.

the eagle angle Editor-in-chief Lydia Gardner

Online Assistant Editor Rebecca Barney

Managing Editor Grace Lee

Operations Manager McKenzi Morris

Assistant Editors Megan Lucas Victoria Erb

Photo Editor Saher Aqeel

Business Manager Breanne McCallop Online Editor Kailey Warren

Allen High School

Layout Editor Madyson Russell Sports Editor Akshay Mirchandani

Staff Writers Alexis Mane Ashley Acosta Callie Anderson Carter Adams Collin Thompson Danny Ortiz David Dodson Harrison Geosits Jarret Rogers Jessica Alaniz Katelyn Moody Katy Smith Kendall Hays

300 Rivercrest Blvd. Allen, Texas 75002

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Allen High School // Issue2 // November 26, 2012

hen I went to see “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” I didn’t expect it to meet my expectations, but it did. The book the movie is based off of follows the life of Charlie as he starts his freshman year of high school. The book unfolds through a series of letters that Charlie writes to an anonymous recipient describing his life.

Reading the book feels like an emotional rollercoaster as the reader experiences the difficulties and triumphs Charlie experiences, like falling in love and dealing with bullies.

Charlie begins high school feeling isolated after his best friend Michael killed himself the year before, and faces new challenges when he meets stepsiblings Sam and Patrick. Sam and Patrick introduce him to their group of friends, which offers Charlie a different lifestyle of wild parties, but also helps him learn about himself.

Although the book seems like an easy read, it is very mature because it contains adult content. The movie follows the general storyline of the book and incorporates Charlie’s letters into the plot by using them to change scenes. Details, like his family bonding over a football game, that are left out do not interfere with the plot development, although character relationships are weaker than in the

14

Student attention to homelessness should increase story by The Eagle Angle staff

I

n Collin County, one of the richest counties in Texas, the homelessness rate has increased by 44 percent since 2011. Even the Samaritan Inn, the county’s only homeless shelter, found that there are more inhabitants than the inn has ever had. In order to raise homeless awareness, Homeless Awareness Week was held Nov. 10-18.

Teens should no longer be ignorant of the homeless rate. We, as the youth generation of America, should be working to solve the problem of homelessness instead of focusing solely on our busy lives.

The increased unemployment

rate has led to more and more families losing their homes according to the National Coalition of the Homeless.

Forced out into the streets or into a homeless shelter with little to nothing, these families struggle with basic survival needs, such as finding food or shelter. Some homeless people begin to develop mental illnesses and resort to crime or suicide due to these hardships. It is our duty as humans to help others in need. No one can just walk past someone struggling to have motivation to live and just ignore him or her. Teens campaign everyday for suicide and mental illness awareness.

Although these are important,

awareness for the homeless should be equally important. Obviously, if someone wanted to commit suicide, the average human being wouldn’t ignore the situation, but go and help this person, whether they’re homeless or just another teen.

The homeless aren’t just old men and single mothers. In America, there are approximately 1.35 million homeless teens. These teens are living in trees, their cars and other dangerous places. In Collin County alone, there are 92 minors living in a homeless shelter or who are “couchsurfing,” which is when someone stays on someone’s couch for the

night. With so many of our peers left homeless, we can’t just sit by and watch them fight for survival.

If help was given to the homeless, the crime rate would also go down because the homeless commit a fifth of all crimes. Yes, it is true that not all homeless people commit crimes.

But if more youth knew about the homelessness rate, we could aid the homeless and, ultimately, civilians could also be protected.

We claim to not be aware of the homeless’ struggle due to a busy schedule. But that is no excuse because there are still a lot clubs that many teens are involved in that

By what percentage do you think homelessness has increased in Collin County?

3%

% 44% Allen High School // Issue 2 // November 26, 2012

have charities for the homeless. Even if you’re not in a club, there is no excuse. You could always go out on your own to help those in need.

To raise homeless awareness, students should make time for activities, such as volunteering at a local homeless shelter, donating money to support the homeless or pretending to be homeless for a day, an activity invented by National Homeless, a homeless awareness charity. By taking these measures, teens can open their eyes to the world around them and see that homelessness is a serious issue in Collin County.

3% 10%

5%

1%

-senior Taylor Scandrett

8%

-senior Kenny Fox

-junior Mitchell Stevenson

2%

5%

- senior Will Butcher

-senior Connor Anderson

15%

-junior Alisha McLorren

-senior Lanya Abdulkarem

10%

-junior Ashley Hudson

0%

39% -sophomore Jalen Ethridge

25% 10%

-senior Tiffany Varughese

-junior Miranda Murphey

-junior Pareena Patel

-sophomore Mason Dennis

-senior Anitha Varghese

30%

-junior Farah Keyes

10%

8% 10%

30%

-senior Cameron Epps -sophomore Emily Stocker

-sophomore Aashka Patel

30% 10%

7%

5%

-sophomore Sarine Thomas

-sophomore Hannah Varghese

-junior Steven Kim

-junior Mimoza Goff

-senior Jacob Dobbs

.2%

-junior Ben Porter

Hockey team looks to recover from loss of players 15 story by Akshay Mirchandani & McKenzi Morris // sports editor & operations manager

contributions by Laura Pitts // staff writer

A

Cover it up During a Nov. 8 game against Plano East, junior Ryan Aylor protects the puck as he waits for the referee to stop play. photo by Kailey Warren Dance out of danger In the McKinney Stars Center on Nov. 8, the referee dodges the puck as senior Austin Aylor clears it down the ice. photo by Kailey Warren

According to Fry, the difference between this season and last season is the experience of his players.

“We had guys that have been on the team for two [or] three years and were three year lettermen that had experience [playing] at higher levels [that] understand and can compete at that high level,” Fry said.

With the loss of so many players, senior defenseman Ryan Doss said the team is having to push themselves more. “[The team is] definitely hard working this year, since we are not as talented as we were last year,” Doss said.

As players start to return and play with the team, Baldwin said things

should start to pick back up. As the Eagle Angle went to press, the team was ranked last in the varsity east division.

“We’ve been getting people back [these last few weeks] so it should all be fine now,” Baldwin said.

Despite losing their first six games, Fry said he thinks that the team is improving from game to game and becoming more competitive.

“You know, I think we’re coming to practice every week wanting to learn and wanting to get better,” Fry said. “And I think each game our effort level on the ice has gotten better from game to game, and I think if that continues to improve we’ll see some results.”

Allen High School // Issue2 // November 26, 2012

fter the loss of nine seniors from last year and with only four or five returners, the hockey team has players starting new positions and entering their first year on varsity. After going 1013 last season, when the Eagle Angle went to press the hockey team was currently 1-8 with 13 games left to go in the regular season “I think between [losing] the guys that we graduated last year, and then we have several guys that go to our school that are unable to play because of travel programs that they play for,” head coach Dave Fry said. “So losing both sets of players definitely hurts the program.”

Senior captain and forward Adam Koath said that the team is rebuilding this year because of all the seniors from last year that are no longer on the team.

“We’ve had a bit of a rough start ‘cause we had some people suspended and injured, but starting November we should be doing a lot better,” Koath said.

Senior captain and defenseman Zo Baldwin said that it has been different playing this year with new teammates.

“I’ve been playing with all those guys ever since my freshman year and now that they’re gone, I have basically a new set of people to play with, and it is completely different,” Baldwin said.

Slapshot Helping the team to win their first game of the season 4-2, junior Huy Do races towards Plano East’s goal. photo by Kailey Warren

Students participate in off campus sports for PE credit story by Zane Dean // staff writer Balancing act To earn his PE credit, junior Mark Krejci catches waves at Hydrous Wake Park. “There’s not really a certain thing that I really like about it,” Krejci said. “It pushes you to your limits.” photo by Saher Aqeel

Krejci, who is in Catagory I started wakeboarding on the waters of Lake Lavon before he went to Hydrous and said his interest in wakeboarding comes from his fondness of extreme sports. .

“There’s not really a certain thing that I really like about it,” Krejci said. “It pushes you to your limits.”

During practice, after signing in and putting on their gear, Krejci and the five other students who wakeboard for off campus PE either start riding or have one on one time with the coaches. Krejci practices for three hours a day Monday through

Friday.

“It’s awesome,” Krejci said.

“Whether you’re really good at wakeboarding or you’re not good at all or you’ve never done it before, it’s a great place to learn. You are there every day so you’re improving so fast.”

Total, he spends 20 hours a week doing wakeboarding activities.

Krejci said he plans to continue wakeboarding because it keeps him in shape and he likes doing it.

“It feels like you’re free,” Krejci said. “Everything from the day, all that studying and boring homework and all that stuff goes away and you are in your zone.”

ice skating

Off campus PE. wakeboarding

gymnastics lacrosse

soccer

Ekdom said. “I didn’t actually have any friends who did it at the time, but my parents surprised me with it, and I was super exited and I took one lesson and I loved it.”

For her credit, Ekdom goes to a stable in Van Alstyne to work with her horse, Charmer. After grooming, saddling and warming up Charmer, they train in western discipline, which is a slow trotting kind of show style, known as horsemanship in competitions. The training prepares Ekdom and Charmer for the seven competitions they participate in monthly from March to October in Sulfur Springs.

“You have to make [your show] look good,” Ekdom said. “The other people are really good too, and [the competitions] are usually stressful because they are only once a month, and so that’s what you prepare for the entire month and then if you don’t do good it’s really disappointing.”

Ekdom said she plans to join a college riding team and hopes to become a vet. “[Riding] is the thing that I’m pretty sure I’m going to end up doing my entire life,” Ekdom said. “I like animals a lot and I work at a vet’s office right now so I like dogs, horses, cats all of it and it’s just awesome to be able to do a sport with an animal.”

tennis

campus PE allows students involved in sports to have extra time to practice and train. Some of the options include dance, equestrian, gymnastics, hockey, ice-skating, lacrosse, martial arts, cycling, bowling and wakeboarding. Students who wish to have their sports approved need to apply to take that sport. “[I take off campus PE] mostly to get my PE credit, but also it gives me a lot more time to prepare better for all the competitions,” Ekdom said.

The program is split into Category I and Category II. Category I students are training on an Olympic/ National level with professional trainers. According to the off campus PE website, the class requirement for participation in Category I is a minimum of 15 hours per week of highly intensive and supervised training. Category II students are in physical activities certified as high quality and are trained by properly qualified instructors.

Ekdom, who is in Category II, has been horseback riding since she was 9 years old. After trying out many sports, she said she thought basketball was the only sport she liked until she began horseback riding lessons for Christmas.

“You know every little girl is into horseback riding or into horses,”

dance

hile other students play volleyball or basketball in a PE class, junior Mark Krejci goes to Hydrous, hops on his wakeboard and rides out on the water for three hours every day after school.

“Most of the PE classes honestly looked kind of boring to me,” Krejci said. “So I signed up for [wakeboarding] and I have something to look forward to every day, after school, just going out there and riding.”

As opposed to taking a regular PE class or a school sponsored sport, Krejci earns a PE credit for taking wakeboarding at Hydrous as an off campus PE class.

Students take off campus PE to participate in a sport of their choosing. Krejci and senior Bethany Ekdom, who does horseback riding, are just two of the 22 students enrolled in this program, along with 22 at the freshman center. The statewide program allows students to meet their PE credit by taking a sport that the school approves for them. “[Off campus PE] is getting kids doing things that they are already interested in and gives them an opportunity to get a credit,” off campus PE coordinator Debbie Evans said.

Evans said the option of off

cylcing

W

bowling

ice hockey

16

On top of the world T

he wrestling team enters this season as defending champions for the fourth consecutive year. They also have three wrestlers ranked in the top 20 nationally according to flowrestling.org.

Seniors Oliver Pierce and Nick Cobb are ranked one and 18th respectively while junior Bo Nickal is ranked fifth.

“It feels pretty good, you know,” Cobb said. “It’s really good because a lot of the work we put in with this program, it’s been since like second or third grade for a lot of us, and Coach Best has been working with the youth program and all that hands on stuff has gotten us to this point where we’re all a lot of high caliber athletes.”

The team’s first home match will be on Dec. 11 at the Lowery Freshman Center against Rockwall, but until then, the team will have five tournaments in Oklahoma that they will travel to.

Allen High School // Issue 2 // November 26, 2012

compiled by Akshay Mirchandani graphic by Madyson Russell

18 1 5 “Definitely a lot of determination and it’s not just working at it, it’s the mentality that you have to be be able to handle it because there’s a lot of time you just want to lay down and give up, but you gotta keep going.”

Senior Nick Cobb

“It took a lot of hard work, you know. I started wrestling when I was about 6 years old and now I’m 18 and wrestling almost year-round so it’s kinda just doing more than what the normal person would do.”

Senior Oliver Pierce

“There’s definitely a target on my back right now, whenever I’m going to all those tournaments that we go to, people are definitely going to put their best match, save it for me.”

Junior Bo Nickal

School creates shooting club, plans for future competitions story by Collin Thompson // staff writer

T

his year, Allen, Argyle, Grapevine and Southlake Carroll have joined Marcus as high schools with a shooting club. The Allen Shooting Club is a shotgun shooting club that practices and will compete at Elm Fork Range in Irving.

It is Olympic-style, which means it involves trap, skeet and sporting clays. The first school in the area to have a shooting team was Flower Mound Marcus, which promptly campaigned to try to create more competition and recruit other schools.

“Southlake had no interest until they found out Allen was going to put a club together,” head coach Jason Anderson said. “We’re looking at having five teams in the Dallas-Fort Worth area this year to compete against, so it’s gonna be fun.”

The club will align its rules with the Texas Youth Target Foundation, a non-profit group that is essentially the UIL of high school shooting teams and was created to develop rules and competitions to get youth involved with shooting sports.

Even if a student has no experience with firearms, he or she can join the shooting club and become proficient through practice.

“We had about 30 of our students go out [to Elm Fork Range],” Anderson said. “A lot of them never having shot a gun, they just wanted to go try it out and

see if they’d like it, and they shot 25 rounds at targets and loved it.”

Shooting club offers a new way to start a lifelong hobby or to continue a previous interest of shooting.

“I had very minimal experience,” senior Kevin Shaw said. “I kinda just started it with my dad, and then we found out that the high school was doing it, and that definitely sparked an interest.”

Because of the dangers surrounding firearms and school environments, Anderson said the club is taking precautions to ensure the safety of all students, parents and faculty.

“We never shoot any guns on campus,” Anderson said. “We never bring any guns on campus.

Now we will have practices here on campus, but it will be [in] a classroom setting, going over rules and stuff like that, but no guns here.”

Shaw said that the benefits of being around dangerous weapons outweigh any viable cons.

“It’s a sport that gives you focus,” Shaw said. “You have to be aware of your surroundings because one wrong thing with a gun and bad things can happen. I think this is a good thing that teaches you [...] how to have that focus.”

Shaw said shooting club offers opportunities for students who are not involved in organized

UIL activities,but still want to compete for the school.

“I think it’s a great thing for students who aren’t as athletic,” Shaw said. “It’s a great way to get into a team with people and make friends. This is a sport that is all over the world and there’s so many different things about it, that you can’t get bored with [it].”

Shaw said he thinks that shooting guns is a great way to have fun doing a hobby, but also helps the shooter unwind.

“I enjoy shooting guns because I find it relaxing,” Shaw said. “I’m able to get my mind on the gun, and it will do things that I ask it to.”

The shooting club offers opportunities for students to be noticed by universities, which can lead to financial benefits.

“I wanted to join because of the skill of shooting guns and just to improve,” freshman Jarod Warren said. “And it would give me a better chance to get scholarships for college.”

Last year, Texas A&M had six unused full ride scholarships for their shotgun team because there were not enough students around the state to take them.

“We’ve got all these scholarships out here that these colleges want to give students,” Anderson said.

“We need more kids to give these scholarships to. And I thought, any opportunity for the kids, we’re

gonna present it and put it out there.”

Despite it only being the first year, Anderson said he already has high expectations for the club and the students in it.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for our kids,” Anderson said.

“Knowing that they’re not only learning a lot about [American] heritage and safety and college scholarships, but it’s just another great avenue to compete and win a state championship, maybe even a national c h a m p i o n s h i p.”

Shaw said that being in such a large school, and being one of the first high Clear Target During a clinic hosted by the schools in Texas to have Youth Target Foundation held at Elm Fork Range, a shooting club, the club sophomore Griffin Halladay aims carefully to hit his has potential to win mark. photo submitted by Sue Linke for Allen in the future.

“We get to get everything Warren said he sees a new started up,” Shaw said. “Set an club sport at Allen as something example for everyone else, and get that can only benefit the school. everyone younger than us excited to “It gives us an advantage,”Warren join the sport and eventually turn said. “It gives us another chance for the this sport into a pretty big thing.” school to show that we’re the best.”

Boys and girls swim team look to win districts again 17 story by Alexis Mane // staff writer

S

tanding next to a known excellent swimmer makes for a frightening competition at Ranger Relays for senior Nathan Pantalion. In his first meet of the year, he readies himself to hit the water and win this competition for his team.

In August the swim team competed in the Ranger Relays and placed 2nd in both the girls and boys combined scores. The girls varsity swim team has not lost a competition in the past two and a half years and have continued that streak this season, beating Plano West by over 100 points which has left their current record at 4-0 and the boys at 2-2.

“The girls are pretty much dominating for lack of a better word,” swim team senior captain Julia

Gessner said. “We’ve worked really hard to get where we are, and we’re doing extremely well. Our coach said he’s never dreamed of a team beating a team by that much, so last year we won districts, and this year we’re projected to win districts and regionals if everything goes well.”

Coach Brent Mitchell said he predicts the girls team to score very high at state. Last year, with the upperclassmen, the teams also scored high. Both teams were senior dominated last year with 16 seniors on the team, and Mitchell said the loss of those members has been noticed through speed and distance.

“This year is more of a focus on developing and getting faster and doing all you can to get [to state],”

One more practice As the varsity swim team prepares for their match against Plano West and McKinney on Oct. 8, senior Ethan Ho warms up by practicing the butterfly stroke. photo by Ashley Acosta

don’t want to be the first year to go down and start trading downwards.”

Every morning, Monday through Friday, the swim team trains from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. in preparation for upcoming meets at the Don Rodenbaugh Natatorium.

They are currently training with Mitchell in preparation for their next competition on Dec. 4 against Plano and Flower Mound.

“It’s really hard to get up in the morning and jump in a pool,” Pantalion said. “I just [have] to be encouraging and let people know that 100 percent is all anyone’s asking for.”

The swimmers are trained by their coach and helped by their captains. The swim captains make sure their fellow swimmers know what to do and how to do it. Gessner said the swim team captains are given a large amount of responsibility and pressure to participate in helping their team win.

“I like the fact that we’re winning and we’re winning big,” Mitchell said.

“And I want them to keep doing that.

If we’re going to be an accomplished team we’ve got to look outside the area, and see what other teams have to compete at that level.”

Dive right In Swimmer dives in ready to go against Plano West and McKinney on Oct. 8. photo by Ashley Acosta

Varsity boys basketball aims for state with new head coach, assistants story by Akshay Mirchandani // sports editor

O

ver the past five seasons, the boys basketball team has made the playoffs just twice and were bounced out in the first round during the years they did make it.

But new head basketball coach Jeff McCullough wants to turn around the boys basketball program.

“I came here because I felt like we had a chance to win it and win it all,” McCullough said. “I think Allen’s that type of place and they’ve done it in just about every sport, except for basketball.”

Before coming to Allen, McCullough was the head coach at Norman High School in Oklahoma and Sherman High School before that. This will be McCullough’s 16th year of coaching and 12th year as a head coach.

The basketball season ended last year with a 41-43 overtime loss to the Coppell Cowboys in the first round of the playoffs. After four years of coaching at Allen, head coach Steve Specht decided to retire, prompting the Eagles to hire McCullough as their new head coach. During his nine years at Sherman, McCullough took the team to the playoffs seven times and won five district championships.

After Specht retired, his assistant Jeremy Josey took a head coaching job at Sulphur Springs. This caused McCullough to hire his brother, Joe McCullough, as the new assistant coach.

“I’ve always been intrigued by

this job,” McCullough said. “I think Allen has a lot of things to offer. I’ve always felt it was an attractive job and actually looked into it four years ago when Coach Specht got the job, and it wasn’t the right time. And it came open again and things worked out this go round, so we’re excited.”

Senior guard Cameron Epps, who has been on the team for two years, said that the team is going to get people in the gym this season and wants to prove their doubters wrong.

“It’s going to be amazing,” Epps said. “People are doubting us right now, but we’re going to change their minds this year.”

McCullough said that Specht had the program going in the right direction and wants to continue what he started, but also make deep playoff runs. “[Specht] lost a tough one last year in the playoffs,” McCullough said. “But I think we’re ready to take that next step. Not only to get in the playoffs, but start winning some playoff games.”

Senior guard and team captain Danny Gordon said that last season the Eagles ran a slow offense, and according SportsdayHS of the Dallas Morning News, the team averaged 55.9 points per game last season.

McCullough said he wants to do the exact opposite this year by running a face paced and up tempo offensive system, and said that his team at Sherman was one of the highest

Different look Assistant coach Joe McCullouch, new head coach Jeff McCullough’s brother, works on a drill with senior Cameron Epps. Joe McCullough said that the team wants to implement a new offensive system this year. photo by Saher Aqeel scoring offenses in the metroplex.

Gordon said that the team is going to have to run a lot more with this offense and play faster.

“Last year, we were slow, like we’d walk the ball up the court,” Gordon said. “Now [McCullough] wants to score 80 points a game. We have to run.”

McCullough said that the team may struggle early in the season adjusting to the new system, but

junior guard and team captain Myron Fisher said that the team is getting used to it.

“Now we’re kind of picking it up, understanding what [McCullough] wants us to do,” Fisher said. “We’re working the kinks out now, so by the time the regular season starts, I think we’ll be ready to go.”

McCullough said he is ready for his first season as head coach of the Eagles and said the future for the

program is bright.

“This is a town and this is a place where I think you don’t just talk about winning, you talk about winning at a high level and at a state level, and I think that’s ultimately a goal here,” McCullough said. “I’m excited about the future. You know, there’s just an endless amount of possibilities here in Allen with what you might be able to do.”

Allen High School // Issue2 // November 26, 2012

swim team captain Pantalion said.

“Last year was more of a winning period and this year, [it’s] more of a focus on what [competitions] will be at the end of the season rather than not worrying about it.”

With two swimmers out due to injuries, Mitchell said the underclassmen have had to step up and brought some talent to the team that will help the swim team win competitions.

“We’ve got a much younger team, and we’re going to have to develop those teams,” Mitchell said. “We’ve lost some very good swimmers, but we’ve gotten some very good swimmers with the freshmen [and] have actually gotten stronger with the inclusion of the freshman.”

The competition this season includes Jesuit, Flower Mound and Plano West, who the team the boys varsity team lost to at the first meet of the year, 108-102. Mitchell said as former back-to-back districts champions, the boys want to improve their swimming techniques and speed to hold that title.

“It’s such a disappointment [losing] after three years of improving,” Pantalion said. “We’ve just gotten so much better than we were when we were freshmen. I

18 Senior punter selected to

play in All-American game story by Jarret Rogers//

NBA action against flopping improves game

staff writer

Allen High School // Issue 2 // November 26, 2012

A

jersey presentation was held for senior Shane Tripucka in the Performing Arts Center on Nov. 1 for his selection to play in the Under Armour All-American game in Tampa Bay, Fl. on Jan. 4.

“It’s a really big honor Practices makes perfect During the Oct. because you get to play against 19 game against Plano West, senior punter some of the best players in the Shane Tripucka practices on the sidelines. photo by Madyson Russell country,” Tripucka said.

Tripucka is one of three kickers “It’s a whole lot of hard work at selected across the nation to play in the position he is going at. As punter the game. He said he is unsure of how there is a lot of hard work outside of the kicking and punting will be split practice,” Westerberg said. “I think he up. can get a whole lot better.”

“I think it will be a little different Many colleges in Texas as well as because the players will be the best in a few out state are looking at Tripucthe country,” Tripucka said. “It wont ka including Texas A&M and Rutgers. just be a good player here and there, He said he believes the game will do every player will be bigger, faster and nothing but help his recruiting. stronger.”

“Colleges can see that you are an Tripucka is the first Allen player All-American and want you on their selected, and head coach Tom Wester- team more than they did before,” Triberg said he is ready to see Tripucka pucka said. perform.

Westerberg said it’s a great “Whenever one of your players achievement for Tripucka and he gets selected you feel proud for them should enjoy the time ahead of him. and anxious to see them at that level,” “It’s a great accomplishment Westerberg said. for Shane,” Westerberg said. “He has Tripucka kicks on the weekends, worked hard to get where he is at and takes private lessons and practices he should have fun through the playduring the spring and summer off- offs and playing in that game.” season.

story by Jarret Rogers // staff writer

C

hris Paul. Manu Ginobili.

LeBron James. These are a few of the many NBA players that are known for an excessive amount of flopping. But flopping, which is defined by the NBA as an act that is intended to cause the referees to call a foul, is now against the rules.

On Oct. 3 the NBA passed a new rule that said it will fine any flopper. The first violation is a warning, but a repeat offender will start to see their bank account shrink. The second offense will cost them $5,000, and by the fifth offense the player will see $30,000 slip away.

While no player would admit it, flopping is present at all levels of basketball. Everyone wants that one extra foul that could help decide the game. Every player is guilty at some point of dramatically falling when little contact is made.

Fans of the game should be more than happy to finally see this rule in place. Flopping has no place in any level of basketball. It is not only an-

noying for the players that get called for a foul that never occurred, but no one watches basketball to see who can draw the most fouls over the course of a game.

For this rule to be respected by all players across the league the NBA cannot show favor. Everyone knows the league gives their superstars the call on most questionable foul calls that an average player may not get.

When it comes to the anti-flopping rule, this cannot happen. Some of the league’s biggest stars are also their biggest floppers and need to be treated just like everyone else when it comes to this rule.

The players seem to like the rule for the most part, with players such as Kobe Bryant and James Harden, who is a notorious flopper, both saying the rule will help the game. Even Anderson Varejao, a well known flopper, said that he wouldn’t be flopping anymore.

Why wouldn’t they like this rule? As a player, flopping is one of the worst things that can happen in the course of a game. It is another personal foul, team foul and more frustration to the player. A team can be on a great run, about to take the lead, and then a flop that on first

glance looks like a great charge taken by the other player ruins everything.

Momentum is gone along with the game.

And that’s exactly why the rule is needed. Flopping is an unfair advantage that could change the game.

That foul could take out a team’s best player in a situation where they needed him to get the job done. Flopping is done in bad taste and a rule like this would be beneficial in all forms of highly competitive basketball.

Obviously high school and college players won’t be fined money because they have flopped, but some form of consequence would do nothing but help the game. A technical foul on a play where the referee believes there was flopping would be the easiest solution at the high school and college level.

The only way to get this rule to work will be from strong enforcement on the NBA’s side, as well as high school and college referees if a rule is ever put in at these levels. The impact may not be immediate, but as these fines begin to come and more players get frustrated with losing money, fans will begin to see less and less of players flopping and a better product on the court.

Point counter point Should student-athletes be held accountable for social media usage? story by Katelyn Moody //

story by Klayton Carpenter //

staff writer

staff writer

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hink of all the forms of social media in use now.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. People always say be careful what you say on the Internet because once it’s there, it can’t be taken back. No matter what, everyone is always going to be responsible for something that is said under their name.

Think of an athlete people look up to. Imagine if they said something offensive on a social networking site.

What if they bashed another team or called someone out? Should they be held accountable for what they say? I say yes, they should be responsible for their comments.

Athletes should be especially cautious when using social media.

They are recognized by many and have a large number of followers, so once it’s said, everyone will see it.

If they make the decision to put out hateful comments that are offensive or could be taken the wrong way, then they should be responsible for what they say just like everybody else.

They could easily offend someone just like anyone else could. Consequences for athletes could be more drastic depending on what was said, where it was said and who it was said to.

Earlier this year during the offseason, former Texas Rangers pitcher CJ Wilson pulled an uncalled for “prank” on his former teammate Mike Napoli. Wilson sent a tweet to Napoli from his Twitter account with over 100,000 followers. The tweet

simply told Napoli to give him a call on his new number. Wilson claimed the number was his, but followers quickly learned the number actually belonged to Napoli. When asked about the incident, Napoli made it clear that they didn’t have the kind of relationship that made it alright to joke around with each other like that.

Even as a fan of the Texas Rangers, I can say that I’ve lost a lot of respect for Wilson. Many other fans on Twitter expressed that they felt the same way about the current Los Angeles Angels pitcher when the incident happened back in March.

When athletes say anything that can be taken offensively for everyone to see, fans aren’t the only ones who could change their views on them.

Their teammates could lose respect for them because it could reflect all of them in a bad way. Also, owners and managers won’t want someone who would carry negativity with them to be an athlete to represent their team.

Lots of people wonder why athletes can’t use social media to express themselves just like everyone else.

It’s because they’re expected to speak professionally. Nobody wants to risk a bad reputation with their fans. After people say one thing, whether it’s on social media or not, it can be forgiven, but never forgotten. It’s important for an athlete who’s looked up to by many to be respectful, keep it professional and represent their team in a positive way.

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thletes should not be held accountable for what they put on social networks. It is their right to privacy and their own opinion.

The First Amendment of the Constitution states that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech.” The key words: “freedom of speech.”

Athletes may be paid millions of dollars and seen on TV, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t voice their views and personal opinions like everyone else. They are still protected by the Constitution. I guess the NBA thinks otherwise since some players have been fined up to $50,000 for tweets that were blown out of proportion and read the wrong way.

New York Knicks’ star forward Amare Stoudemire was fined that amount when a fan tweeted, “You better come back stronger and quicker to make up for last season,” and he replied with a tweet that was interpreted as a gay slur. This is absurd. Athletes are still people and they can say whatever they want.

Twitter and other social networks are great ways of marketing for your team and school. No player should be banned from social networks as they can bring many people to games. Mike Leach, head football coach at Washington State University, has created an absurd rule. After

some players were reported to have tweeted racial slurs, Leach banned all players from using Twitter. Any violation would result in immediate suspension. This rule is an overreaction that will hurt the team in the long run. Tweets can be beneficial to the school and their image. Just because a few players make a dumb mistake doesn’t mean that the whole team should suffer for it.

The rights of the players should be displayed whenever possible, and social networking should be used to help your team rather than hurt it.

The best way I have seen this done is at the University of Southern California. They post a link to the player’s Twitter timeline on the rosters from their website. As a player, I would love for people to see what I am doing, but not to be able to get in trouble for it.

That defeats the purpose of freedom.

My main problem with the rules that punish players for their tweets is that they get suspended for voicing their own opinion, and that is absurd.

As a college athlete, they are over 18 and that means they are adults; they can say anything they want as long as it doesn’t affect their security or the security of anyone else.

With technology changing, many people interact over the Internet more than they do in person.They have more followers than friends in real life. When any American tweets, it is their protected right to say what they want. Even if they’re an athlete.

Rate your reactions:

19

On a scale of 1-10, how much do you use social media to talk about your sport?

Allen High School // Issue2 // November 26, 2012

9

Tammara Turner

Basketball

7

Alexis Borman

Bowling

6

“A lot on Facebook, especially after a match or a tournament I’ll always make sure to tag my teammates and my coaches and stuff in my posts and say that we did really good.”

“Because I guess to get people to come out, you know, and support, and it kind of looks good for like college scouts.”

4

Erick Magallanes

Soccer “It’s just nice to know what my friends are doing and when we’re going to get together and play soccer or something.”

2

Cole Bradley

Hockey “I don’t really use social media a lot to talk about my sport actually. So on a scale of 1-10 probably a four.”

Brad North

Football “ I’m not big into like the whole social media. I use Instagram and like Twitter every now and then.”

graphic by Akshay Mirchandani

Nov. 16

i

4-6.

The boys and girls cross country teams raced in the district meet at Meyers Park in McKinney on Oct. 25. The girls placed first and moved on to the regional meet on Nov. 3 at Vandegriff Park in Arlington. They placed sixth at regionals ending their season. The boys placed fifth in the district meet and did not make the regional meet.

The football team ended the regular season with a 10-1 overall record and a 5-0 district record after they beat Richardson 63-14 on Friday Nov. 16 in UIL bi-district round of the playoffs. As Eagle Angle goes to press they will play Mesquite in the UIL Area round of the playoffs on Nov. 23.

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Nov. 23-24

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Oct. 30

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Cross Country

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Oct. 25

The volleyball team’s season ended after they lost to Richardson Pearce 1-3 in the UIL bi-district round of the playoffs on Oct. 30. They ended the season with a 19-18 overall record and a district record of

The boys basketball team opened their season with a 71-78 overtime loss to Garland Lakeview Centennial on Nov. 13. They lost to West Mesquite 52-60 Nov. 19 on, and as Eagle Angle goes to press they will play Richardson Berkner on Nov. 23.

The girls basketball is at 7-2 overall. As Eagle Angle goes to press they will play Richardson Pearce on Nov. 24.

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Volleyball

Basketball

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the sports angle

Friday Night Frights T

he Eagles barely secured yet another district championship against Plano Senior High with a close score of 35-34 on Nov. 9. This game not only secured the district championship, but also was Senior Night and Boo Bowl. Before kick-off, all escadrille and football seniors were recognized, and the band and color guard were dressed up in Halloween costumes. story by Carter Adams // staff writer

Frightening fight (left) Dressed as

characters from The Avengers, junior drum majors Alyssa Harrott and Alden Zuck perform a battle sequence at the halftime show on Nov. 9. photo by Saher

Aqeel

Eye on the prize (lower right) At the Nov.9 football game, Senior Oliver Pierce sprints to score. The Eagles beat Plano Senior High 35-34, moving them into the playoffs. photo by Saher Aqeel Phony pyramid (bottom far left) Dressed as cheerleaders for the Boo Bowl, seniors Grayson Gardner, Andrew Halphen, Adam Nesbit, Aaron Dupre, Matt Bohls and sophomore Chase Buesing make a pyramid during the halftime show at the Nov.9 football game. photo by Saher Aqeel Dazzling dance (bottom middle) Tallenette senior captain Emily Diehl holds a pose during their performance of ‘Come Fly With Me’ by Frank Sinatra. photo by Saher Aqeel

Leap of joy (top left) Senior tallenette Karli Wheeler performs a split when her named is called at the Boo Bowl Senior Night football game on Nov.9. photo by Saher Aqeel

Meddling kids (top right) Dressed as Fred from Scooby Doo senior Brain Spann rolls down the field in his own mystery machine when his name is called. photo by Saher Aqeel

Avengers assemble At the Boo Bowl senior night football game, drum majors senior Cade Snowden and juniors Alden Zuck and Alyssa Harrott sound the start of the halftime performance. Photo by Saher Aqeel