Issue 6 by Eagle Angle

EA Eagle Angle Newspaper

Speech and debate students place at state compition

Girls soccer propels to third round in playoffs

Band released first album after three and a half years

pg. 9

pg. 16

pg. 15

photo by Saher Aqeel

http://www.paramore.net

Allen High School // Allen, Texas, 75002 // Volume 30, Issue 6 // April 25, 2013

Hope in chaos

Students’ family, friends survive Boston Marathon bombing story by Victoria Erb & Megan Lucas // assistant editors

fter two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15, three people were left dead and more than 130 were injured. One suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was captured on April 19, is in a Boston area hospital recovering from gunshot wounds and was charged on April 22 for using a weapon of mass destruction to kill. The other suspect, his older brother, died in a firefight with police on the 19th. The first blast went off at about 3 p.m., followed by a second blast 10 seconds later. The explosions caused windows as high as three stories up to shatter, and people in attendance were knocked off their feet. “I knew my mom had a lot of friends who were running it, and I saw something about a bombing on

“

her Facebook page, and I didn’t think much of it because I didn’t know what it meant,” sophomore Erin Young

that she knows is unharmed. Young’s mother was initially planning on running in the marathon, but ended up not going. “[My m o m ] qualified for Boston three days after it filled up, so it was really lucky that she wasn’t able to go because otherwise her time, her pace would have been sophomore Erin Young the pace r i g h t when the said. “So then I looked at it more, and bombs went off,” Young said. “It was I was like, ‘Oh.’” really lucky that she didn’t end up going.” At the race When the bombs exploded, oung knows six or seven sophomore Noah Colvin’s aunt, Sarah people who were in Boston when the bombs went off. Everyone // continued on pg 3

I feel like after a

tragedy,

everyone should come

together

and support each other. It’s just the

to do.

humane

” Y

Fertilizer plant explosion rocks West community story by Megan Lucas // assistant editor

thing

ast week’s fertilizer plant Junior Collin Thompson, whose explosion in West, Texas, great uncle owns the West fertilizer a community of about 2,800 plant, travels to West every Memorial residents, killed 14 and left more Day weekend for a family reunion. He than 200 people injured, destroying said his family is safe. surrounding houses, schools and a “A lot of them lost their houses nearby nursing home. and that’s been something sad that A fire broke out inside the we have been trying to help them West Fertilizer plant at 7:30 p.m. on with,” Thompson said. “They are April 17 and burned strongly despite okay, but they are kind of struggling firefighter’s efforts, until the plant now because of losing most of their exploded around 7:53 p.m. Officials possessions.” and volunteers evacuated 133 people His family still plans to spend from the nearby nursing home, and Memorial Day in West. Thompson residents of about half the town were said the explosion will change the asked to evacuate. Authorities began mood of the reunion, but he’s glad his to let residents back into their homes family is all fine. late in the day on April 20, but the “I think it will be on everyone’s cause of the fire is still unknown. mind,” Thompson said. “Everyone Authorities declined to release the will still be recovering from that for location of the fire outbreak in the years to come.” plant. // read a detailed account of this story online at theeagleangle.com

Heroism After chaos erupted at the 117th Boston Marathon, volunteers help several injured people into wheelchairs. Many were taken to Massachusetts General Hospital near Boston. photo by MCT Campus

Environmental Awareness Team hosts recycling stand at Earthfest story by Laura Hallas //

Off the charts

staff writer

Seniors Caitlin Ellis and Diana Elkassih explain their recycling poster on April 6 to Earthfest attendees, describing how Allen needs to raise its recycling rate from 27 to 31 percent. photo by

onnemara Meadow is quiet, untouched and not usually open to the public.The area is a nature preserve, usually empty, but on April 6, it hosted thousands of people as Allen citizens learn about the planet. The event is called Earthfest, and it invited families outside for a day of environmental awareness.

Saher Aqeel

Hands-on learning

arthfest, in its fifth year, featured booths from local organic growers, wildlife centers and environmentally friendly stores. The free family event had activities at each booth to engage younger children as they learned more about local environmental services and causes. “There are all of these different people who exist [in the environmental education field], but

people have no idea who does what,” Earthfest founder Kirk Evans said. “So we thought, let’s bring them all together.” Students from the Environmental Awareness Team (EAT), 4-H club and the Art Society all contributed to the event, teaching

the public about the importance of conservation with information given from their booths alongside other attractions like kayaking and live animal exhibits. “It was really interesting and

// continued on pg 4

Inside news 2-4 // feature 8-9 // center 10-11 // opinions 12-15 // sports 16-19 // photo essay 20

2 3 students, 1 team going to nationals in computer science story by Grace Lee // managing editor

fter placing at the BPA State Convention in Houston from Feb. 27 to March 2, one team and three individuals competing in computer science will advance to nationals on May 7 to May 12 which will be held from in Orlando. The Software Engineering Team is progressing to nationals and will be competing for a top 10 spot in Game Design. For team competitions, all groups automatically compete for nationals rather than going through district or state competitions. As individuals, three seniors made it to nationals. Seniors Austin Graham and Jonathan King placed 3rd and 6th, respectively, in the C# competition, and senior PJ Chapates placed 2nd in the Visual Basic competition. “Individually, I think they were well prepared. They work hard at

it,” computer science teacher Bryan Baker said. “As far as the team goes, they put a good product together. There’s a rubric so there’s a fair amount of material that you have to make sure you do and check, and they must have done a good job on it.” Team leader of the Software Engineering Team senior Chris Dumrique said that he was told about the game in September, but they did not start preparing until around December. The deadline for all the teams to turn in their work was the beginning of February. “The idea was to take this main character go on to this exotic alien planet,” Dumrique said. “And [the character] would build up a team, and he would gather this team and improve them and improve their skills. They’d all have these unique

Last year, five teams and two abilities, and you would get them individuals made it to nationals powerful enough to defeat a villain.” Individuals, however, compete opposed to one team making it this by going into a room for one hour, year. Baker said that he thinks one of programming and solving the the problems this year was that the teams did not have enough time to problem given. “I didn’t prepare,” Graham said. finish their products. He also said that the judges are “There’s not required really no It’s just so satisfying to provide way you feedback on can. You knowing that you made their projects. k n ow this. That this was out “We had how C# of your brain. Now, a lot more works, success with how the it’s sending you to a the teams last language national competition. year,” Baker works senior Chris Dumrique said. “I don’t a n d things that are available for you to use know why yet. That’s a bitter debate that the computer can do with that that we’re having amongst ourselves. language but preparation, I didn’t They have a get-together about what was going on and all of that at the really do much.”

“

”

conference at nationals, and we’re going to try and find out what we did right and what we did wrong there.” Dumrique said that they are preparing to give a presentation of their game to the judges in Orlando. He said that they are going to create models of their characters, give notebooks to each judge with software explanations, make a PowerPoint with video tapes and have their artist work on a trailer to promote their game. “Probably the creative aspect [was my favorite part],” Dumrique said. “You’re taking an idea and from nothing, you’re making this awesome entertaining piece of software, and it’s just so satisfying knowing that you made this. That this was out of your brain. Now, it’s sending you to a national competition.”

Roller coaster animation launches team to nationals staff writer

slideshow to a panel of judges to narrow down the large number of animation entries from around the country. The animations that pass this round will go on to face another panel of judges who decide the winners of the competition. “The roller coaster is basically a giant hill, a loop-de-loop and then about four hills going up and down and then they come back into the station,” Tovar said. Ewing serves as co-leader of the team along with Tovar. Luedecke and Evans were in charge of building the storyboard and animating several pieces of the rollercoaster, while Tovar and Ewing handled the waiting

lines and used After Affects, a design software, to put finishing touches on the animation. The entire team said they owe this experience to BPA because it helped them find and afford the competition, in addition to providing the technology needed to carry out their design. “[BPA] is almost like a student outreach program f o r students who want to do more with what they have, like if you’re in a

computer science class or you’re in an animation class, you go to BPA, and they have competitions for you,” Ewing said. The team said it has been a challenging process because they have to add more detail to the animation as they advance toward nationals. The team will find out the results from the national competition at the end of the year.

Ready for launch (far left) The team’s space themed roller coater design features spherical cars and several loops and turns. photo submitted by Nick Ewing

Florida bound (left) Juniors Collin Luedecke, Ana Tovar, Nick Ewing and senior Jennifer Evans will compete in a national animation competition in Orlando, Florida on May 7. photo by Saher Aqeel

the news angle Medication disposal

The “Up All Night” tennis marathon will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 26 and end Saturday, April 27 at 5 a.m. to benefit the tennis team. Donations are used to fund grants and special programs in Allen schools through the Foundation For Allen Schools.

Early voting for the Allen ISD Board of Trustees will begin April 29 and end May 7 at the Allen Municipal Court Facility and the Collin County Election Office in McKinney. Elections are set for May 11 and will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Ea th

May 4

Early voting

April 27

pi le

Tennis-a-thon

sta

April 29-May 7

The annual Tallenette Junior Clinic will take place Saturday, May 4 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for girls in grades K - 8. Registration is $35 until April 6 and $45 after. le

Sponsored by Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Allen, a Medication Disposal Day will take place at Lowery and City Hall on Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Tallenette Clinic

gl e

April 26-27

“We thought we’d make it to at least third place, but we didn’t expect to actually make it to nationals,” Evans said. The four team members all said they want to go into animation as a career. “I think, personally, I’ve always wanted to work in animation,” Ewing said, “It’s been like, my life. I don’t know how else to describe it.”

An g

n September, four students banded together to take on a challenge: design and build a roller coaster. However, senior Jennifer Evans and juniors Collin Luedecke, Nick Ewing and Ana Tovar didn’t need hard hats and hammers. Instead, they used computers and software. Through Business Professionals of America, these four students will travel to Orlando on May 17 to compete in a nationwide animation competition. “We went through many ideas. From gumball machines to time travel,” Luedecke said. “Eventually we came to the idea of space.” Between regionals and state the team had to make changes to improve their roller coaster animation. The team’s roller coaster design will go up against other teams from around the country in a qualification round where they have 10 minutes to present their animation and

Allen High School // Issue 6 // April 25, 2013

story by Harrison Geosits //

New JROTC course opens for 265 students next fall after long wait 3 story by Madeline Martin // staff writer

out of it what you put into it. If program will help with dedication you’re on a team, you’re expected and discipline. to maybe stay after and practice. “They said they’re going to teach There are competitions. We’ll have how to study properly, because I’ve competitions with other schools and never taken any classes outside of things like that.” school that helps with studying, but I Though the program is only think from someone in the military it accepting 265 students for the first would be cool to see how [the Marine year, Coleman, who also acts as Instructors] actually coped with all the Blue and Gold Officer for AHS of that,” Baker said. “Because they go students through who are Some students are going so much interested in in boot to get in there and be like, camp and the United States Naval ‘This is not what I signed a c t u a l l y A c a d e m y, up for,’ and a lot are going aso f f i c eanr, said that to be like ‘This is exactly t h a t ’ s there are a lot more such a what I signed up for.’ students high role sophomore Ryan Baker who have in the shown interest in the course, and military that they get handed down since schedules aren’t official yet, the so many tasks and just to see how he amount of students who have shown handled that, it’d be pretty cool.” interest in the program isn’t a set This course will count as a P.E. number. credit or an elective credit. It does Sophomore Ryan Baker said that not cost anything for a student to he is involved in the Civil Air Patrol start the program, and the uniforms program outside of school and hopes are paid for by the military. But to get into the United States Air Force if their uniform is lost, stolen or Academy for college and that this damaged, the students will have

“

”

to pay for another one themselves. Students will be required to wear their uniforms at least once a week and they will also have to maintain a certain appearance while they’re in uniform, this goes as far as their hair and no piercings or tattoos visible while they’re in uniform. “There is a certain level of all around commitment that these kids have to be committed to,” Coleman said. “But it’s going to set a great precedence in the school just having them here on the campus.” Retired Marine instructors will be teaching the course, which will have both physical and academic aspects, including military history. Discipline, leadership, structure, citizenship, teamwork and selfconfidence, as well as learning study habits will all be incorporated into the program through the Senior Marine Instructor and the Marine Instructor. Junior Vanessa Najera participated in a JROTC program in 6th and 7th grade at her school in Dallas. She said she wants to see what she can gain from this program even though she doesn’t plan to continue with the military after high school.

“If you get stranded somewhere, they teach you how to work with your teammates [and] how you’re going to save yourself,” Najera said. “They teach you discipline most of all. You’ve got to respect your peers and teachers. It does help, it helps a lot, and you just don’t realize the things you learn can help you.” Girls are allowed to join ROTC, although currently less girls than guys are signed up. “I think it’s just as great for [girls] as for guys,” Baker said. “Anyone can join. It’s like saying in band all leadership roles are for the guys, it’s not going to work like that [or] like saying in the government, it’s just for the guys, like there [are] women in the government, there can be women in the military, too.” Baker said he expects to see a change in the school because of the discipline it will bring to the students. “Some students are going to get in there and be like, this is not what I signed up for, and a lot are going to be like this is exactly what I signed up for,” Baker said. “That’s going to be me. I like stuff like that.”

Luke’s Locker holds run in honor of Boston bombing // continued from cover Smith, was a quarter of a mile away from the finish line. Smith, who had begun walking because she was tired, was 45 seconds away from qualifying for next year’s race. “It kind of made me angry at first [that she was there] and then also scared and also really nervous that something like that could happen,” Colvin said. “If it was her that was one of the people that was hurt, then I would have been really mad at the people who did it.” Both Colvin and Young’s friends and family members have since returned safely home from Boston. Colvin said that he thinks there should be more security at large events like the Boston marathon. “Usually with all these marathons you can just walk up and [watch],” Colvin said. “I think if they increased the security for [the spectators] it could avoid some of the violence.”

Community reactions

Corrections

o support those affected by the Boston bombing, Luke’s Locker in Watters Creek held a run at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17. It was the last in a series of runs held by Luke’s Locker around the state. Wylie resident Jesse Hartman said he ran three miles at the run or walk event, just to feel part of the recovery. “I did a mile to reflect and think about it, a mile to remorse and a mile to recover and be resilient,” Hartman said. Luke’s Locker will also donate $1 for every pair of shoes they sell until the end of April to provide direct relief to those that suffered from the marathon bombing. Young said she’s glad the community is rallying behind the cause. “I feel like after a tragedy, everyone should come together and support each other,” Young said. “It’s just the humane thing to do.”

Student voices

brief in the last issue of the Eagle Angle reported last year’s results about the science fair. There were 17 students who participated in the Dallas Regional Science Fair held on Feb 23rd, 2013. Six of them won awards including Muhammad Nabeel Akram who placed 2nd in Mathematical Sciences. Their teacher, Ms. Sandy Kulkarni was presented with a special Cisco Teacher Award for inspiring students to learn science. Getting started (top) After the runners take a group photo they go to

How do you feel about the Boston Massacre?

the starting line in Watters Creek and take off on Wednesday April 17 at 7 p.m. photo by Ashley Acosta

I think it’s almost unreal that things like that happen and I wouldn’t even know what to do if it happened here. senior Amanda Petersen

Let’s remember As the last of the runners arrive the gather up close

How do you feel like the Boston massacre has affected us as a nation? It’s really shaken our entire nation to the core for being attacked by people living in America. sophomore Blake Rowe

to the starting line to take a group photo. photo by Ashley Acosta

How do you feel about the run? It’s really shaken our entire nation to the core for being attacked by people living in America. senior Emily Blackburn

n a story about members of the culinary management team, it was reported that the members were proposing a wine barbeque restaurant. They actually proposed a Hawaiian barbeque restaurant.

Allen High School // Issue 6 // April 26, 2013

arine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Core will be offered as a new course option in 2013-2014 after being on a wait list for several years. The course has not been available for students in the past, but the school’s name came up, making the class a possibility for students. “We were kind of wait listed because it does cost money and it does depend on the student interest,” House 400 counselor Shamia Coleman said. “We just kind of put it out there this year to see if students would sign up for it, so we put it as a course selection, [and] a lot of students are interested in it now.” The class will be taken during the school day, but if a student does decide to participate on a team within the class like color guard or drill team, they will be expected to stay after school for practices and competitions. The program follows the “no pass, no play” rule, so passing grades are expected to participate on teams. “[JROTC] is kind of like any other athletic team or extracurricular activity,” Coleman said. “You get

4 Environmental Awareness Team hosts stand at Earthfest // continued from cover kind of inspiring to think that maybe I can help other people,” EAT vice president and senior Caitlin Ellis said. “It is a good feeling.” The club’s booth featured a game for kids where they had to sort a bucket of trash into recyclable and non-recyclable bins. Most plastic containers have a number one through seven labeled on the bottom, with six being the only type that is never able to be recycled. Ellis said that she enjoyed educating the kids, who seemed to be having a lot of fun while they learned. “I feel really good that I can give people more of an understanding [about recycling],” Ellis said. “When I learned the things that I was doing wrong, things that I thought were good for the planet, they were the wrong things.”

Changing Landscapes

Allen High School // Issue 6 // April 25, 2013

ll of the stations focused on conservation of the black land prairie, the local ecosystem running from northeast of Dallas all the way to San Antonio. The Native Prairies Association of Texas revealed that less than one percent of Texas’ tallgrass prairies have survived the suburban sprawl and unsustainable agricultural

practices. In fact, the tallgrass prairie, including the blackland prairie, is the most endangered large ecosystem in America. “[The ecosystem] was here first,” EAT sponsor Heidi Reese said. “As human beings we like to take over and we take over very well, and it’s sad how much we have destroyed [...] so as we progress and we see the scientific advancements and the problems that arise as they come back, it is a good feeling.” Evans, also a fifth-grade science teacher at Olson Elementary, has worked in environmental education since college. He said he became interested in the field because of his rural Lucas upbringing and familiarity with local ecosystems. “That was not environmental education, that was not conservation, that was the way that we grew up,” Evans said. “But then when I went to college, and I started working in outdoor education and the adventure education field, and I realized there are so many people who just never played outside.”

Taking action

eese teaches environmental science to juniors and seniors. The Environmental

Awareness Team was created last year to take advantage of a $10,000 grant offered for an environmental project, which included attending Earthfest. “Some of [the students] are very passionate about it, [and] it gives them a way to outlet that and do some community service,” Reese said. “And then, of course, to reach anybody in the community is always a good thing.” The students wanted to raise Allen’s recycling rates after discovering that the city recycles four percent less that the overall American average of 31 percent. “Immediately we were like, ‘We have to do something about this,’” Reese said. “The thing is just education, how to [recycle] right.”

Not just hippies

hrough the club, Ellis is grateful has been able to visit wetlands, the Perot Museum and simply share her own interests in the environment with other students at events like Earthfest. “I think that most [students] think ‘oh, that’s hippie stuff,’ but I don’t think of myself like that,” Ellis said. “I just think of myself as more conscious without it being the overbearing organic, green message.”

The message of conservation spreads as students like Ellis and others in the school district reach out to kids about the environment. “I think my sole goal is for [the students] to see the connection between the classroom and the textbook and the relationship between reading it and looking at the pictures and watching it on screen and then going outside and really looking at it,” Evans said. “I think that is the key to make it work, how you make this connection that lasts a lifetime.”

Outside the box While explaining how pizza boxes are not recyclable due to food contamination, EAT vice president Caitlin Ellis educated the public at Earthfest. photo by Saher Aqeel

Stamp of approval Ellis stamps a child’s hand during the game where kids determined if a pile of trash was recyclable. photo by Saher Aqeel

Allen scores higher than area peers in STAAR testing story by Victoria Erb // assistant editor

fter Texas adopted the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness testing system last year to replace the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, campus testing coordinator Angela Garwood said the Allen class of 2015 scored better than those classes in Plano, McKinney and Frisco ISDs. Third through eighth grades in Allen earned the highest scores in the state. “[I feel] very good [about the scores],” Garwood said. “I mean, who doesn’t like to do well? That just shows how much time, effort our staff and our students take in learning. That’s always a great feeling.” Freshmen took the English I, biology, Algebra I and world geography STAAR tests last year. Garwood said she thinks the village mentality in the community is what made Allen score high compared to other schools in the area. “Everybody is willing to put in the best effort to make learning accessible to all students, all the time,” Garwood said. “I mean, it truly is not just teachers, but it’s the support staff, it’s principals, it’s everybody that does their part to make sure that the environment, the educational environment, runs well and supports students and is always possible. There’s no chance that they cannot be successful if they try.” Sophomore Zoe Johnson moved here from Tennessee this year. Students in Tennessee take the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program test, which tests students on reading/language

arts, mathematics, science and social studies. Johnson said the TCAP is much easier compared to the STAAR, and she felt better prepared for the STAAR. Johnson said she likes being part of a school that is recognized for its academic achievement. “It’s kind of nice,” Johnson said. “You know, knowing that even if you feel like you’re not doing well, you know that you are because you know the teachers are doing their jobs.” In order to prepare his students for the chemistry STAAR test, preAP chemistry teacher Chris Koder said he does STAAR reviews and makes sure everyone understands the material the first time around. “My kids need the information [for the STAAR] that they need in chemistry, and my goal is to provide that information as clearly as possible and as best as I can,” Koder said. “I just want to make sure my kids know chemistry.” Garwood said that she expects the students to score as well on the STAAR this year as they did last year. “Once you’ve had experience with [the test], the next time is not nearly as difficult,” Garwood said. “The second time around the students always do better simply because they’ve had experience with the test. And with it being a timed test, it can help give them more experience with that timing. A timed test for a lot of people can be very distracting or very nerve-wracking. It always helps people do better when they’re more comfortable with the test.”

gourmet burgers hand-dipped shakes diner specialties

20% discount when you present your school ID! The Village of Fairview 148 Fountain Court Northeast Corner of Stacy Rd. and 75 972-549-4133

Valid for students, parents and faculty. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Dine in or carry out.

visit theeagleangleonline.com

like The Eagle Angle Newspaper

tweet @theeagleangle

Allen High School // Issue 6 // April 25, 2013

GET IN THE DRIVERS SEAT

All With DriversEd.com Easy Driving School LLC. TEA #C2548 DPS LIC. #108

ALL-ONLINE DRIVERS ED

IN-CAR DRIVING LESSONS

Study all online anytime, anyplace

Start behind-the-wheel lessons with us while you finish our online course

Get videos, 3-D animations, and case studies to help you learn

Train in a brand-new MINI Countryman Learn to drive from professional instructors

Earn an insurance discount of up to 10%—check with your agent for details

Get convenient pickup and dropoff for your lesson—free!

Fully approved TEA course

SCAN ME

or go to Driversed.com/TXHS to sign up! Get 25% off * using discount code TXHS6

ROVE

TEA OURSE

LIC #C2548

ROVE

Call 1 .972.707.5007

DPS OURSE

LIC #108

Allen High School // Issue 6 // April 25, 2013

Going the distance

Seniors plan to attend colleges miles away

Out of state saint A

By the Numbers:

s the school year comes to an end, most seniors plan to leave for college. But some take on the additional challenge of attending out of state, far away from their family and friends. In the fall, senior Jack Skaggs will attend Saint John’s University in New York. One of America’s leading Catholic universities, it has an acceptance rate of 49.1 percent with a $35,520 tuition fee per year. “I realized I wanted to live [in New York] the first time I went there [when I was younger],” Skaggs said. “I liked how it was different than other places I had lived and been.” Skaggs received an academic

Tuition: $35,520 per year not including room and board

Acceptance rate: 49.1%

Percentage of students from out of state:

Allen High School // Issue 6 // April 25, 2013

29%

A full ride North T

he University of Pennsylvania is a private university with an acceptance rate of 12.4 percent with a $43,738 tuition fee. Senior Feimei Zeng decided to attend the school after receiving a full ride scholarship through the QuestBridge program, which assists low-income students with tuition fees. “[University of Pennsylvania] is pretty selective because of its reputation,” Zeng said. “I was super worried [about getting in]. All the colleges I applied to were very selective.” Zeng applied to 13 universities in all, and had her admission fees waved for all the colleges she applied to through the QuestBridge program. She was accepted into a college in Singapore but chose not to go because of the high cost of plane tickets due to the location. “People shouldn’t be afraid to apply where they think they’ll fit in,” Zeng

said. “Don’t apply just because you think Texas in-state schools are cheaper. A lot of times the out of state private schools, as a number their tuition might seem like a lot, but they offer a lot of financial aid in scholarships.” The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where Zeng will attend, is the largest business school and one of the most published business school faculties according to U.S news education. Zeng is majoring in business and might get a dual degree in philosophy, international affairs or economics. “I’ve always wanted to travel, and see the world,” Zeng said. “I know that I’m going to miss my family for sure because I’ve traveled before by myself, and it’s been tough. I know that no matter where I am I’ll be able to contact my family through technology.”

scholarship from the college for $1000. He plans to major in television and film and said he hopes to make comedies or independent movies in the future. “I want to do something with acting or directing, like movie making,” Skaggs said. “I want to make movies and be a part of that.” Skaggs said that he isn’t worried about being away from home because he has family in New Jersey who will be close by. “I’m really excited to be on my own,” Skaggs said. “I’m still going to have family there, but I’m going to miss my brothers and sisters. I’ll see them over breaks and stuff. It won’t be too bad.”

By the Numbers: Tuition: $43,738 per year not including room and board

Acceptance rate: 12.4%

Percentage of students from out of state:

81%

By the Numbers: Tuition: $35,570 per year not including room and board

Acceptance rate: 25.5%

Percentage of students from out of state:

The science of leaving home

enior Jaclyn Allen will attend the University of California in Los Angeles, which has an acceptance rate of 22 percent and a tuition fee of $55,000 a year for out of state students. Allen decided to go because the university has a medical school and hospital on campus. “I was actually pretty shocked that I got in,” Allen said. “Honestly [I felt] ecstatic. I was excited because I wasn’t expecting it at all. It didn’t hit me until later on that I had gotten accepted.” Allen plans to major in biology and is considering a double major in Literature. She received a $16,000 scholarship from the college.

“I knew that I was interested in the medical field so biology just came as a natural course,” Allen said. “I enjoy my biology class. I’m not sure exactly what field of biology I’m going to do.” UT Austin and SMU were Allen’s other choices, but she chose UCLA because of the scholarship she received and its location. Allen said her parents preferred her to go to a college closer to home, but that they are supportive of her decision. “I want to be on my own,” Allen said. “[Being away from my family] worries me a little bit. When you’ve been accepted to these colleges out of state, you realize it’s a reality.”

story by Rebecca Barney // assistant online edphotos by Saher Aqeel // photo editor layout by Madyson Russell // layout editor

A thing or two about twins

story by Megan Lucas // assistant editor

pril 2013 is the fifth annual Multiple Births Awareness month, which have risen more than 70 percent from 1980, according to a 2009 study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. We sat down with three sets of twins and asked them a few questions about twin life.

Abby & Emma Smith sophomores Did your mom ever dress you alike?

Abby: Until we were like 3 I think we were in like identical outfits, just different colors. Emma: Like matching sweat suits and stuff. Abby: They would dress us exactly the same. And then it made me hate dressing like her, so I always tried to dress differently. Emma: I actually tried to match her in elementary school with shirts and stuff, and she wouldn’t do it because she thought it was too dorky.

Emma: The questions that we’re asked aren’t really strange, but we’re asked a lot of questions about whether we fight or how well we get along. Abby: [Questions like] can you read each other’s minds,

What do you like most about your twin?

Emma: I like her sense of humor, because if I’m ever down she’ll just like completely joke around and make me laugh. Abby: I like how she likes my sense of humor. Emma: So you don’t like anything about me, you just like that I like you? Abby: No… Emma: I thought you were actually going to answers that question seriously. Abby: No she’s really nice, like whenever you’re down you just always have a friend there, which is really cool.

juniors Is there something you both do that freaks people out?

Brooke: What freaks me out is when we play Rock, Paper, Scissors. We always play the same thing at the same time. So we can’t play that game.

Do y’all like any of the same things?

Bradley: Band. Brooke: He plays trombone, and I play oboe. I think we’re pretty much opposites, actually. I’m more extroverted. And he’s introverted.

Do you think it’s because you’re boy/girl twins?

Brooke: Yeah, because I think if we were identical, we

Do you think being a twin makes you more independent? Or closer?

What do you guys each like most about your twin?

Evan: I don’t think of it as like having a twin, it’s more just like a normal sibling. Ryan: I have a sibling that I can ask school work about, that we have classes in common, I think that’s one thing, that’s a difference.

Evan: People ask if we read each other’s minds, a lot.

Did your mom dress you alike?

Ryan: Oh yeah, the same outfits, just he would be blue

and I would be red. Evan: Until we were in kindergarten, I think.

Did you ever try to switch places when you were little?

Evan: We talked about it once, when we were in kindergarten, because we had different kindergarten teachers so we wanted to switch classes for a day, but it didn’t work. Ryan: Later, as we progressed and could start thinking about it, we started to look different. So in the age when we were babies maybe that could work, but we were Double threat At the First United Methodist Church of Allen, Evan and Ryan babies. Kizer practice with their ASA basketball team on April 18. photo by Saher Aqeel

Room for debate

Did you know:

Speech and debate members place first, third at state story by Mckenzi Morris // operations manager

e waits in a conference room and surveys the older students. He is just a freshman, and his nerves are at a high. Some of the best speakers in the state at the Novice Level National Qualifier, a beginner round for the varsity level, surround him, and he does not know what he is supposed to do. “You can have an idea of how it’s going to work, but until you actually sit in a room with people from around the state who probably know the subject better than you do, it changes you,” Blake Seaman, now a sophomore, said. This year, the speech and debate club has won several meets, including a top 10 finish by junior club president Hunter Stevens in Congressional Debate. The club attended the state meet on April 20 in Waco for Congressional Debate. Junior Kristal Borjas placed third in poetry reading. With the national competition coming up soon, Seaman said he was not nervous because he usually places in the event. “Winning first place state champion your [freshman year], it gives you a little bit of a confidence

boost,” Seaman said. Students get to pick their category, which ranges from speaking to debates to even acting. Stevens said he has tried several, but found most success with Congressional Debate and Extraneous Speaking. In Congressional Debate the speaker sits in a room with 30 students who try to discuss different topics, while Extemporaneous Speaking requires the competitor to pick a topic from an envelope and write a speech about it in 30 minutes. “You have to do a lot of different things to realize what your strengths are,” Stevens said. “But I think that’s the best thing about this club.” Speech and debate club was one of the first clubs to open at Allen and has been around since the high school was first established in 1959. It is taught by Kathryn Sawyer who teaches speech at Lowery Freshman Center. Members of the club are not required to have taken speech before nor are they required to compete. With around 40 members total but only six actively competing, Stevens said everyone is very close. “Since we compete so often, we

Brooke: I would say for me at least I’m more dependent beside we’ve always like been together. I feel like because we’ve always been together I don’t rely in him necessarily, but I know he’s always there.

seniors

What’s the strangest question you’ve ever been asked about being a twin?

story by Saher Aqeel

would like a lot of the same stuff. I guess he agrees with me.

Evan & Ryan Kizer

Working pair Emma and Abby Smith both sport their Kids Clubs shirts. Abby works at Green and Emma at Cheatham.

Banding together Both playing instruments in Wind Ensemble, Brooke plays oboe and Bradley plays trombone. photo by Saher Aqeel

get really tight-knit,” Stevens said. Stevens said that as president of the club, he is supposed to keep everyone on track and help them get ready for tournaments, as well as help new members get settled. He also said that he remembers his first debate his freshman year when no one told him what to expect. “I had no idea what I was doing,” Stevens said. “You kind of just have to go in there and figure out what you’re doing in tournaments. Obviously you’re nervous, and I had a few people helping me out, but mostly you just figure it out on your own.” The amount of preparation time needed changes with the event.

Events such as Congressional Debate, Policy Debate and Interpretive Acting require research and memorization of a scene before the competition. An event like Extemporaneous Debate gives one little to prepare for because the debater is given a topic in the room and has a very short amount of time before the timer begins. “Debate is something a lot of people don’t really understand,” Seaman said. “You join basketball, well you play basketball. You join football, you play football. You join the speech and debate team, there is a whole series of competitions you can do and depending on which one [varies] how you prepare.”

• They work under the National Forensic League (NFL) and Texas Forensics Association, not UIL. • 99 percent of participants go to college and 90 percent graduate college • When competiting in districts, they face the same schools sports teams do. • The NFL gives away more than $200,000 in college scholarships every year. • There are more than just speaking competitons. There is acting as well. • The events include Humorous Interpretive, Dramatic Interpretive, Duo Interpretive, Original Oratory, Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Public Forum, U.S. and International Extemporaneous Speaking, Policy Debate, Congress House and Congress Senate Practice makes perfect Working through his debate for state, junior Hunter Stevens speaks to other club members. photo by Saher Aqeel

Allen High School // Issue 6 // April 25, 2013

What’s the strangest question you’ve ever been asked?

can you feel each other’s pain, stuff like that. I guess we know each other well enough that we can communicate without communicating, but ‘cause were always like together, but that’s about it.

Brooke & Bradley Tompkins

No cell phone zone Calculus teacher takes up phones to improve averages

quiz grades have jumped by 8 to 15 percent. “You know, if it was 2 or 3 percent, I wouldn’t think it was that big of a deal,” Smith said. “But I knew the cell phones were distracting the students, and I’ve had a couple of them go, ‘You know, I don’t like it, but I’m actually doing my work.’” Senior C.J. Kimberlin said that he has noticed an increase in his homework productivity as well because he doesn’t have his phone to distract him. “Usually, when I do my homework, I only do a few questions, and then I go on my phone, and I do my homework at home, but now I have to legitimately do my homework,” Kimberlin said. “I know before if I didn’t feel like doing the homework, I probably wouldn’t have turned it in. But now I’m finishing it in class right away.”

Allen High School // Issue 6 // April 25, 2013

he bings, flashes and buzzing of cell phones no longer interrupt lecture time in calculus teacher Tim Smith’s classroom. Because of Smith’s new class cell phone policy enacted March 18, his students are now required to place their cell phones in the calculator holder each day when entering class. “I had a couple people from prior years who were like, ‘I need to put my cell phone up there because if it rattles or bings or flashes, I’m gonna text,’” Smith said. “You can’t stay off it. So I thought, you know, maybe I should try it for a whole class and see what happens.” Students are not allowed to access their phones until their homework is completed or the class period ends. Since he started the no phone policy, homework grades have gone up by 15 to 30 percent and

Since the policy started, senior Asra Khan said she has hated it because she thinks that taking her phone away makes her focus on when she can get it back, instead of the lecture and homework. “I understand that a lot of people are texting in his class and aren’t paying attention, but at the same time, I feel that it’s my property,” Khan said. “I kinda rush through [the homework]. I’ll check over it, but my main goal is to get my phone back because I just feel weird without it.” Once more students in his classes start passing the quizzes and tests, Smith said he will consider loosening the stricter policy on a class-by-class basis and see how the students respond. “I was thinking about waiting at least a month and then saying ‘OK guys, [let’s loosen the policy], let’s try it and see what happens,’” Smith said.

“If [homework grades] drop by 10 or 15 percent again, I’ll know we need to ratchet it back up again.” Because he already did his homework and took notes during the lectures, Kimberlin said he wasn’t optimistic about the policy at first. “It made me kind of mad because I felt like he was saying that all of us teenagers were obsessed with our phones, so when I got my phone back I tried not to let him know I was using it because I didn’t want to fall into the whole, ‘Yeah, I’m using my phone all the time,’” Kimberlin said. “[The policy made] me think about how often I use my phone.” According to a survey from the Pew Research Center, 78 percent of teens have a cell phone and little less than half (47 percent) own a smart phone. Khan said she uses her phone as a distraction when she’s bored during class.

“I feel like it’s harder to pay attention when you have your phone there, but at the same time, if it’s not interesting, I’m not going to be paying attention either way,” Khn said. “I feel like in the real world your phone is going to be a distraction, and you should teach yourself now how to handle it, and someone just taking it away from you isn’t teaching you anything.” Smith’s house office asked him to keep track of data on the results of the quizzes taken after the cell phone policy, and Smith said he’s interested to see how the policy pans out. “It’s not me trying to be malicious and trying to control their lives,” Smith said. “I’m just trying to focus on the curriculum and see if that helps. And if it does, then that’s a good thing.”

“I think it’s a great policy, and I’m considering enforcing it next year. I want to look and see if the data supports that the policy is effective.”

AP Calculus AB and AP Statistics teacher Dustin Thomas

“I don’t care. And for me, I always did my homework anyways, so I never really changed anything for me. It just made me laugh at the people who are screwed.”

senior Robert Rzewuski “I hate it so much, oh my goodness. He first started it, and I was kind of cool with it, and then after about a week or so, my grade actually went down to 26. I’m slowly trying to get it back up. I was more focused in class when I had my phone with me during homework, and I had a 70 to 80, and now I don’t.”

senior Chelsea Rasmussen

“Honestly I don’t use my phone very much in class, but I have noticed a difference in the class. They are actually paying attention.”

senior Elizabeth Spangler

11 Locked up During Mr. Smithâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 7th period class, students had to replace their calculators with their personal cell phones as part of Smithâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no cell phone policy. photo by Saher Aqeel

Allen High School // Issue 6 // April 25, 2013

47% of teens own a

smart phone

78%

15-30%

Increase in homework grade

of teens own cell phones

8-15%

Increase in quiz grades

12 Are the university booths in front of the cafeteria a nuisance or a help? story by Laura Pitts// staff writer

ay in and day out the area around the cafeteria is swarming with representatives from different colleges posted at their respective booths. Their goal is to persuade students to apply and, in turn, increase the number of students attending their universities. While advertising and allowing students to get a glimpse of what their future can become is wonderful, universities are going about it the wrong way.

Using the booths to get students’ attention is a good idea, but the colleges aren’t following it up with anything else. For example, if the universities offered a free seminar that explains more about what their campuses can offer, they would be much more successful in their attempts to gain followers. At some booths students have the opportunity to sign up for and attend visitations. However, all the expenses of traveling can make

them not want to visit a school that they aren’t sure they’ll be attending. Institutes need to schedule more localized speeches and meetings to expand on the information given out at their stands. As of now the booths are nothing more than a distraction on the way to lunch and, without a more available follow-up, talking to the representatives is not worth the time or effort.

camps they had. Take the time before, after or during lunch to get more in-depth and personal information that they might not provide on a website. By talking to live representatives, someone could learn that their dream college that they have wanted to go to since they were a kid might not offer what they are looking to do as a career. The one-on-one time that each college representative gives can aid

someone to understand different factors they need to know and in a short amount of time. No trying to decode something online when there are people from the school that are willing to help for only two minutes of a your time. So before sticking your nose up to them, go to the university booths and learn so much more about the different opportunities that it could bring to your future.

story by Carter Adams // staff writer

Allen High School // Issue 6 // April 25, 2013

he university booths can help someone figure out what they want to do for their future, if they don’t already know where they plan to go in life. I found out so much information when I went to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising booth. The representative explained to me the different majors they offered, how much it would cost, the different locations I could choose from and what different three-day summer

Bandwagon bashing story by Madyson Russell // layout editor

round two in the afternoon on Wednesday, April 17 my Twitter and Facebook feed exploded. I wouldn’t have known about the Boston bombing as early as I did without my Twitter feed and

while initially the posts all expressed support and empathy for those affected, by that evening they took a darker turn. They turned toward condemnation. Not condemnation of the evil in the world but of those who were offering their support. I came across several tweets and Facebook posts that said something along the lines of “I haven’t heard any support for ____ today. People die every day, everywhere. And no one speaks up for them. People only speak up when an event is publicized.” These posts are an inappropriate

reaction. While I will agree that there is a lot of fake support and encouragement geared toward highly publicized disasters, I also believe that people should not be bashed for supporting those who need it. Yes, it breaks my heart that some social media campaigns for Boston or West relief are falsified and have the sole intention of taking advantage of the country’s vulnerability through fake donation sites. But there is a lot of real support. There are real people out there who, in this media-driven

nation, only know how to express themselves through the Internet. Of course there are going to be an abundance of tweets, posts and other social media campaigns supporting victims of high caliber catastrophes like the bombing and the West fertilizer plant explosion because they are some of the most influential calamities our generation has faced. Would you rather have the world’s population hide behind their media uninformed and unsympathetic to the pain and suffering around them? Indifferent to it?

Prom? Not worth my time story by Akshay Mirchandani // hysteria is spreading among Allen High School seniors. The prom panic is in full s w i n g. G u y s are trying to figure out what in the world a corsage is, while girls are blowing up my Instagram feed with the cute ways they were asked. Gag. See, there are two kinds of seniors in this world, those who have dates to prom and those who don’t. I fall under the second category, and I can’t understand why, but that’s a story for another day. No matter what category you’re in, try and understand this: prom is and always will be just an overrated dance. Let’s start with the cost of this whole thing. It’s not just the $40

1. Watching grass grow 2. Eating at a Waffle House 3. Buying socks

sports editor

No. Then the nation would get attacked for its lack of support and patriotism. I find the judgmental tendencies of the world today appalling. What has the world come to where anyone who shows an emotional supportive response to a national disaster simply gets labeled as jumping on the “bandwagon.” Your posts bashing them for caring come across more insensitive than their “bandwagon” support.

ticket that you’re paying for, which is ridiculous all on its own. For all you lucky guys that have dates, you’ll also have to buy a ticket for your lady, so make that $80. Then most likely you will have to spend tons of money on a new tux while the girls are going to buy a new dress. The average cost of a dress is $231, while the average cost to rent a tux is $127. With that kind of money, I could have a blast at a Mavs or Rangers game that night instead of wasting my time dancing, which I have no clue how to do. The wallets only get lighter from here. One can’t forget about dinner, transportation and After Prom. I just can’t understand the concept of paying so much money for a dance that means nothing in the long run. Another thing I fail to understand is why people want to put themselves through so much unnecessary stress. Seniors have enough to worry about going into the final part of the year. Why waste so much energy on prom? The ladies are going nuts about who may potentially ask them. The guys are worrying about who to ask and how to ask them, and if they are

like me, they are also freaking out whether they’ll say yes or not, but that’s beside the point. This is a dance, not a wedding. It’s going to come and go and will have no affect on your life after it is over. My friends keep asking me if I’m going to be at prom, and my answer is the same every time: I’m not going to go unless I have a date.Yes ladies, I am shockingly still on the market. Even if I do go, I’m not even sure it’s worth it. I don’t want to put in all that time, effort and money on a night that’ll basically be for myself when I could be doing something else. But I mean, if there is someone out there that wants to go with me I can’t blame them. I’m pretty funny and relatively cute, so I’m told. Plus we all know I’ll look like a model wearing my Armani suit. So if you’re a girl who’s dateless and would like to be graced by my presence during your prom night, then maybe I’ll be willing to pay the money. Otherwise, prom is just a dance that’s not worth my time.

4. Chewing glass 5. Taking AP exams 6. Watching NASCAR 7. Listening to Taylor Swift on repeat 8. Getting a tetanus shot 9. Losing 12 basketball games in a row 10. Watching the Dallas Mavericks lose

Things “better than” Prom

No homework, no problem story by Zane Dean // staff writer

ou can’t tell me you haven’t been in this situation before: your teacher gives you some pesky assignment for homework, and with your busy schedule of watching TV and sleeping, there is no time to do it. Still, teachers demand for it to be turned in. But, we have a goto defense weapon to this situation, something known as an excuse. These useful things are quick stories to try to get your teacher to understand you. Just look at the list,

there are plenty of them out there. They can help you do all kinds of useful things, like bothering your teacher, wasting eight seconds of class time or if you are lucky enough, you might even have disciplinary action taken on you. It doesn’t end there. If you use these you can even pick what grade you get. If you are aiming for zero, this can get you there, every time. Just simply make sure you don’t do the work. Excuses also save you all the time that homework and studying take up. It’s great to have all that time you would have spent learning the curriculum to do more important things, like playing video games or listening to music. It also helps you develop creativity, as not only will you have to make up an excuse every

time, but you’ll also have to make up information to put on quizzes and tests. It’s a wonder why teachers don’t just pass us when we use excuses. I could spend hours crafting a masterpiece excuse (using my homework time, of course) but my teacher won’t give me any points. Teachers really don’t care about excuses; all they focus on is “learning” and “work.” There are a couple saving grace gems of excuses out there that teachers will actually accept. This is when the excuse is actually the truth. Usually they will be able to help you out if your excuse is true. I don’t understand why the teachers would discourage constructive creativity, but I digress.

Without learning anything during your time at high school, you wont have to deal with boring, dull jobs, like a doctor or being the CEO of a large company.You might even be lucky enough to not have a job at all, giving you all the free time you need, not having to worry about working or making an income. It is simply more efficient and practical to use excuses instead of doing homework; if you use them excessively, you may even get the privilege of taking another full year of whatever course you didn’t do your work for. There really is no backlash (besides failing classes, looking lazy to your peers, and getting in trouble from your parents), so why don’t you just give them a try?

story by Maggie Rians //

story by Lucy Boys // staff writer

he hard truth hit me last year as a freshman when my best friend started looking up information on the Air Force Academy. The truth I just wanted to ignore? That soon, I would have to say goodbye. Not just to my best friend, but to the seniors who will graduate this year and the people who are moving away. Harder than giant AP tests, last-minute studying or working up the courage to say hi, is saying goodbye and knowing you may never see that person again. Don’t get me wrong, I am so proud of those willing to protect our country and save lives, but a piece of me is lost when I hear you talk about academies and “Semper Fi.” Beyond the initial goodbye is the hope that they will return home safe. Also, those that will graduate this year will be missed. Many have grown used to the senior’s leadership as us sophomores have entered into the “big house.” From survival skills in life and school, to class recommendations for our junior year, their knowledge has proven invaluable. Even worse, I’ve heard classmates talk about leaving behind this town, and occasionally this state, as soon as they can. I must admit: I am one of those who wish to flee this city. Yet my fear is what may be left when we all leave. Will there be generations that we have never met? Despite the constricting borders, a piece of all of us will be buried in this town. So how do you say goodbye to those who will be leaving? The brave approach of trying not to cry is fruitless; one always ends up at least a bit wet-eyed. I usually go for a hug and the extraction of a promise to try to stay in contact. The end of this year will bring many tears, yearbook signings, entering of phone numbers, and the reality that in two years, we will be the seniors leaving. Then it will be our turn to teach others how to say goodbye.

staff writer

emember the good ol’ days? The days when we became ridiculously excited over Hannah Montana’s double life. The days when we would obsess over Lizzie McGuire’s potential relationship with her best friend, Gordo.The days when we could adventure through Drake and Josh’s hilarious experiences. Let’s face it. Those days were the prime of children’s television. And now they are over. Those memorable, classic Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows aired in the early to mid 2000s. It’s now 2013, and we unfortunately have shows about a dog with a blog, a failed comedy about tweens in high school and a dance-related show in which the characters dress in the most horrific outfits. Clearly, these plots do not even compare to my childhood’s golden days of television because they’re annoyingly predictable and definitely lack creativity. I can’t lie: I watched every single “Hannah

Montana” episode because personally, I thought that the plot line of a normal teenage girl living a double life as a famous pop star was genius. Back in the glory days, I remember the countless cases of the hiccups I got from the hilarious material in most Disney Channel and Nickelodeon shows. Nickelodeon’s hit show “Drake and Josh” especially contained this overlooked comedy gold. The pranks Drake and Josh’s little sister pulled on them never failed to make me crack up. Instead of tears of laughter, Disney Channel’s “A.N.T. Farm,” a show about naturally talented tweens, makes me want to cry tears of pain due to a combination of over-dramatic acting and corny jokes. Back in the day, the shows were funnier and the jokes were definitely more appealing because they weren’t already used a billion times. The lessons in these shows taught me how to solve my typical third grade problems. Raven Baxter

from Disney’s “That’s So Raven” taught me it was okay to be different. Nickelodeon’s “Avatar: The Last Airbender” taught me that sometimes we have to conquer obstacles to fulfill our destinies. What have I learned from Disney Channel’s newer show “Austin and Ally?” Nothing. In one of the first episodes, Austin steals a song from Ally after accidentally overhearing it. The two have a predictable argument, and then Ally agrees to write Austin’s songs. The moral of the episode is that someone can steal another person’s property and easily get away with it. No thank you, “Austin and Ally.” I think I might just have to pass on that one. Hannah Montana showed that the top priorities in life aren’t materialistic but come from the love of family and friends. At the end of 2012, Nickelodeon’s “iCarly” finally went off the air. The main characters in this Nick show mostly depended on the success of the webshow for

happiness, and everything in their lives practically revolved around it. Shouldn’t the shows focus on more important aspects in life? If anything, shouldn’t they encourage children to respect and put family and other priorities first in their lives? I guess not. Although these children’s television channels have downgraded,

the magic hasn’t completely faded. Maybe if these new shows take a trip down memory lane, then these failed attempts can possibly recover. But until that happens, I will flop on my couch and relive the pure bliss as I watch reruns of “Drake and Josh” from my glorious childhood days.

Allen High School // Issue 6 // April 25, 2013

Disney needs trip down memory lane

How to say 13 goodbye

14 Should previously released movies return to theaters? Theater adds to experience Re-released movies

story by Collin Thompson // staff writer

2012:

Allen High School // Issue 6 // April 25, 2013

he rising sun over the plain. The loud harmonic African song. A cold wave of nostalgia. The “Lion King,” a movie I remember from my childhood, unfortunately, was released in theaters before I was born, and I was never able to experience it on the big screen as my older siblings had. Until now. Disney, among other companies like Universal and Twentieth Century Fox, has begun re-releasing older films in theaters in both 2D and 3D, and personally I think it’s great. The release of multiple classic Disney films, along with Universal’s rerelease of one of my favorite films of all-time, “Jurassic Park,” creates a true pleasure for audiences because of the memories that these movies have created over a lifetime and the nostalgia and happiness they bring. Watching a movie on the big screen that was so special to me on a TV only makes my love of the movie increase and create more memories for the future. For years, I’ve watched old movies at home and thought, “I wish I could watch this on a movie theater screen,” and now that has become a possibility. Films are made to be shown on a massive, high-quality screen, and while in-home televisions are large and high definition, they simply can’t do to a movie what a real movie theater screen can do. Last year, the 1997 cinematic juggernaut “Titanic” was shown again in theaters, and it looked better than it ever would on a TV. Special effects were designed for movie theaters, and it shows. I’ve heard a lot of criticism from teens and adults alike on their disapproval of re-releasing films in theaters. Whether it’s them thinking that companies are just trying to make more money off their old movies or the 3D aspect ruins a movie that they cherish from their life, I think that showing these films again only creates more fans, unites generations in the adoration of a specific movie and gives a company more money to make more good movies in the future. Yes, these companies might just be looking for a cheap way to make more money, but it’s worth every dollar to be able to experience a film the way it was made to be seen.

Beauty and the Beast, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Titanic, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc. 2013: Top Gun, Jurassic Park

Movie studios already made their millions story by Alexis Mane // staff writer hen I was younger, I would put a tape into the VCR player to watch some of my favorite movies like “The Lion King” or “Jurassic Park.” I had the luxury and comfort of watching them in my home and relaxing with my family for free. Those were the good times. But now studios have started re-releasing old movies in theaters, something that shouldn’t happen. Most people don’t enjoy having to spend their money when they don’t have to, and this is a case where they shouldn’t. Didn’t the movie make enough millions when it came out? As movies get older, people

get most of the movies they like on DVD, and they are able to watch comfortably at home as often as they want. The idea that we have to pay again to see movies in theaters, most of which were already released in the ’90s, is ridiculous. People already paid to see it when it came out, studios shouldn’t make them pay again. The studios would argue that there are enhancements in the movie or now that it’s in 3D, but let’s be honest: the enhancements are not that noticeable. As long as the movie is in color and OK quality, it usually doesn’t bother viewers. Plus, these

days people are tired of 3D because the constant images popping out create quite a headache. It’s cool to see objects in the screen come at you for a few minutes but not for an hour and a half. What is meant to create a more fun, exciting experience in actuality distracts from the movie because the viewers are focusing on how the objects come out. As a result, it makes old movies less desirable to watch. Besides the headaches and the extra spending, putting old movies back in theaters also degrades the significance they gained through age. People tie sentiments and memories

to movies, and the older they are, the more classic and important they have become. When the movies come out again, they have the same value as a new movie. It’s a bad decision to reintroduce movies in theaters because it takes away from the comfort of home watching and the movie’s classic status, a characteristic only received through time. It makes us spend more money, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who resents having to spend my money. Movies should stay where they are and not be brought back.

Leaving family, friends causes panic

Want to share your opinon?

story by the Eagle Angle staff

visit

ost students say we want to move as far as we can when we graduate, but do we really mean it? I think it’s just the senioritis is us talking. Some students, like me, are totally dependent on their families, and the thought of going to another state for college gives us butterflies. You’re probably thinking what a wimp I am, but it’s the truth. Now that graduation is getting closer, I’m starting to realize that I have to grow up fast, and it’s scary. First off, it’s more expensive to go to an out-of-state college. If you really wanted to get away from home,

why not move to the other side of the state? Save the money for something more important. Also, I’m not going to know anyone or know my way around. Getting lost is not fun, especially when you can’t call up your best friend and ask them where to go. Making friends seems like the answer to that problem, but I’m a shy person, so talking to random people is awkward for me. Eventually I’ll make friends and learn the shortcuts around campus, but I’d rather be awkwardly searching for my next class with my friends in tow.

I’m scared of not having anyone to be there in an emergency. I know the answer is making friends so they can help you, but what if something happens, like you get a flat, when you haven’t made any close friends you can call? If I were going to move out of state for college I would definitely move somewhere where I have family, even if we aren’t that close. I know I can always trust them. I know they will help me if I get a flat or point me in the right direction on the map. I’d miss my family back home, but it’s always nice to see a familiar face.

Maybe I’m just looking at everything in a negative way. I’m sure there are some pluses to going out-ofstate, but I just can’t see them. Ask me again in a year and I’ll probably give you some good reasons to move out. I don’t know everyone’s story and why they want to move out of state, but I give them props for having enough courage. I know that I want to leave, but I can’t just pack up everything and leave everyone and everything behind. Life is full of what ifs and every move we make is a chance. I know that one day we all have to learn to fly like the eagles we are.

theeagleangleonline .com

like The Eagle Angle Newspaper

tweet @theeagleangle

“Paramore”

aramore released their first album since 2009, “Paramore,” on April 9. The album consists of 17 new songs that are all more raw and emotional than their previous ones. This is my favorite thing about the album because the band truly shows meaning in their music, and it really connects with the person listening. Track seven, titled “Part II,”

is all about survival and trying to forget the past to move on. The lines “fighting on my own in a war that’s already been won, I’ll be lost until you come and find me here, oh glory,” have a very strong meaning that I love. Hayley Williams, the lead singer, is saying that she is still stuck in the past and can’t let go of that memory. The only way to be able to let go is if someone comes to help her keep

fighting forward. Paramore’s songs in this album have a very different tone than their past albums, which takes awhile to get used to, but once you do and listen to the lyrics, you won’t be able to stop listening. I was very impressed with how much Paramore has grown since 2009 and the beauty of their music. This is definitely an album worth listening to.

“abilities,” but cannot control them. She then breaks out of camp and meets up with other camp escapees to find the Slip Kid, a leader who offers a hideout for young people in danger. I was impressed because the story is original and interesting. The way Bracken describes the Thurmond camp makes you feel sympathy for the children and the way they are forced to live. The way the author

writes the story draws the reader in from the beginning and fills your head with questions. This story is packed with so much sorrow, humor and suspense that you’ll never find a dull page. The first book in a highly anticipated trilogy, “The Darkest Minds” is definitely a great way to start the series and is worth reading.

Prince.” Tessa, the protagonist, and her shadowhunter friends are wondering if they have escaped the wrath of the mysterious and elusive man known as the Magister or if they are still in danger of being destroyed by his automan army. Meanwhile, Jem, Tessa’s fiancé, grows more ill every day as the drug that keeps him alive begins to run out. Tessa has to face the issue of her heart being torn between the two shadowhunters she has come to love, her fiancé Jem and his best friend Will, whom she can’t help but fall for as well. My two favorite things about “Clockwork Princess” are how well the characters and their relationships are developed and how many

surprising twists and turns the book has. Usually when there is a love story involved, the relationships between other characters in the book lack depth. In “Clockwork Princess,” the bond between Will and his best friend Jem was so believable that I found myself almost in tears reading about the heartbreaking events and issues they faced together and how they stuck by each other’s sides in difficult situations. Along with the well developed and believable relationships, the book had plenty of action and revelations that left me shocked. While reading “Clockwork Princess,” I would almost be positive I knew what would happen next, and

then a character would surprise me and make completely unexpected decisions. Clare continues to surprise readers with twists just like in her Mortal Instruments series in which the first book, “The City of Bones,” is expected to be made into a movie coming out this August. “Clockwork Princess” is an amazing end to the Infernal Devices series because it answers all of the reader’s questions and has a surprising end that I never saw coming. It is definitely worth the money; however, before reading it, be aware that it is highly addictive and likely to take anyone who reads it on an emotional rollercoaster.

Melanie doesn’t fade away like the other humans and is left feeling conflicted when she can see Melanie’s memories and feel what she feels. When I first learned “The Host” was going to be made into a movie, I was more than a little skeptical. Although I loved the book, I didn’t see the movie being very interesting because many of the conversations are between the main character and the soul possessing her body. Despite my doubts, director Andrew Niccol did a great job of building the relationship between Melanie and Wanderer, nicknamed Wanda, without sacrificing the action, suspense or development of the relationships with the other

characters. The world Meyer creates in “The Host” is well developed, and it is easy to believe that the planet has just been taken over by aliens without the story seeming cheesy. The romance in “The Host” was not like a stereotypical love triangle that is so common in many young adult books and movies and Meyer’s previous novels. After Melanie convinces Wanda to find the resistance group where Jared and her brother Jamie are, Wanda becomes confused when she begins to develop feelings for a human named Ian but can still feel Melanie’s emotions toward Jared. The movie does an excellent job in developing these two relationships separately by showing each character’s

emotions and making them distinct. I came to think of Wanda and Melanie as two separate people even though they are stuck in the same body. Wanda is visibly torn between her own race and the humans she has come to care for as the Seekers hunt for her and her new friends, and Melanie is torn between wanting her body back and losing Wanda. Overall, the movie sticks to the book as best as it can. Some scenes are left out, but seeing as cramming 619 pages into a two-hour time frame is virtually impossible, Nicool did a great job of creating a movie that definitely wasn’t a disappointment in comparison to the book.

the ending. The entire story twists up. I can see how Chu thought the surprises would work, but it left many peoples’ heads spinning. The brother versus brother clash between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow carried over to the second film. This was a great twist as they became friends and discovered the truth behind their master’s death. All

this conflict led up to the final battle between the Joes and the Cobras. Overall, the movie did not live up to the expectations set by the first movie. With a new director and many new cast members, the story changed significantly, but Chu still produced a great movie with outstanding effects that left the audience in awe.

“The Darkest Minds”

uby woke up to a strange surprise on her 10th birthday. First, her parents locked her in their garage claiming they don’t know her. Second, a group of soldiers came to take her to a “rehabilitation camp” with thousands of other kids. “The Darkest Minds,” written by Alexandra Bracken, is about Ruby, a girl who is able to alter peoples’ mind and memories, known as her

efore reading “Clockwork Princess” by Cassandra Clare, I had extremely high expectations because the previous books were so incredible in their

abilities to surprise me. I was slightly worried because the third book in trilogies often have a reputation for being the worst book in the series because they hastily wrap up the plot and don’t have much action. After powering through “Clockwork Princess” in two days, I found it to be the best book in the series because it had no loose ends and just the right amount of everything. The only complaint I have is that every book I have tried to read recently hasn’t been able to keep my attention after reading the literary masterpiece that is “Clockwork Princess.” The story begins a couple of months after the end of the second book in the series, “Clockwork

“Host”

fter reading “The Host” by Stephenie Meyer, I was impressed with the depth of the book and the unique storyline about alien “souls” that inhabit the bodies of humans and take over the human

race. Contrary to popular belief, “The Host” is very different from the Twilight series, also written by Meyer. “The Host” has dynamic characters that are developed throughout the book as well as an engaging plot that is far more complex than just a normal teenage love story. At the beginning of the book, the main character, Melanie Stryder, is one of the few humans left that hasn’t been inserted with a soul. While on the run, Melanie runs into another human named Jared with whom she eventually falls in love. Melanie is eventually caught by Seekers who are searching for the remaining humans and insert a soul named Wanderer into her. Wanderer is dismayed when

“G.I. Joe”

he much awaited release of “G.I. Joe Retaliation” was amazing. The story was amplified by the special effects and amazing battle scenes. The first movie blew this one out of the water. The new director, Jon M. Chu, could not really continue the story line from the first one. The biggest part of the movie was

compiled by Kendall Hays, Rebecca Cernadas, Damian Sroka // staff writers

Allen High School // Issue 6 // April 25, 2013

“Clockwork Princess”

16 Football champions, seniors helps baseball reach playoffs story by Akshay Mirchandani // sports editor

fter a win against Plano West on April 16, the baseball team clinched a playoff spot for the first time in five years. The team is 18-7-2 on the season with two games left and is still in contention for the district 10-5A title. “Since I’ve been in the program we haven’t made the playoffs,” senior pitcher Chase Jolley said. “So

through all of our hard work, this senior class really put a team that was not even playoff contenders to a team that’s back in the playoffs.” A unique aspect of this team is that there are four players sophomore Kyler Murray, junior Cole Carter, senior Camden Cooper and junior Ryan Hoogerwerf who won a state championship with the football team in December. Jolley

team made the playoffs. On that 2009 baseball team there were five players who were on that football state championship team. “You’re gonna have ups and downs throughout the year in every sport you play,” head coach Paul Coe said. “It’s how you deal with those ups, how you deal with those downs, those failures, those successes and that’s what happened in football: the successes, the failures, how they dealt with it and it’s the same thing in baseball.” This year’s team has 14 seniors, which Coe said is a larger number than past years when there were six to seven seniors. “What helps out with having that many seniors is that all of them have bought into, you know, it’s a team aspect because all of them can’t play,” Coe said. “And they’ve all bought into the team aspect and they all understand that this is the last part of their high school careers. They want to end it on a good note.”

Jolley said the seniors the team are close because of how long they’ve played together and that trickles down to the rest of the team. “For example, Pierce Edwards, Tyler Tarbox, Brett Moody and I, we’ve played for the Allen Wranglers for the past couple of summers,” Jolley said. “So it’s not only playing with the school team, but as a club team as well. And at every given week you could probably go out and see most of the baseball team hanging out together.” The Eagles would still like to win district and Cooper said they have the team to make a deep playoff run. “I think that we have the talent to go as far as we want to, and no team has the talent to beat us, but I think that we do have the capability to beat ourselves,” Cooper said. “So it’s basically if we can just live up to it.” on

Girls soccer makes playoffs for first time in four years story by Collin Thompson // staff writer competition,” Cherry said. “Last year, if we did really well in the season, then there wasn’t really anything to look forward to at the end. Now there’s an incentive for doing good and making the playoffs is just really exciting.” Jensen said that this year’s girls soccer team did better against Plano West than in previous years. “We’ve played against Plano West a lot better now than in the past,” Jensen said. “We’ve actually had scoring opportunities this season, whereas last year, and in the past season, we haven’t really had a chance against them. So it was a lot nicer to be able to play against them and not feel like we were getting pounded.” Jensen said that this year’s playoffs experiences will give the current juniors and sophomores more motivation in their upcoming seasons. “I think that now that they know that we can make it, that we did make it, that they’ll be able to have confidence for next season,” Jensen said. The team didn’t win the championship, but they didn’t quit, and don’t have any regrets. “There was definitely some tears shed,” Jensen said. “But we definitely did try our best and we really did put our hearts into that game and worked hard.”

March 28

The boys and girls track teams competed in their district meet on April 10 and both placed second. The team’s also competed in the Area meet on April 18. The girls placed first while the boys placed second.

Boys soccer The boys soccer team finished the season with a first round, 2-1 loss against Jesuit in the UIL playoffs on March 28. The team had a final record of 9-7-5.

April 17

photo by Saher Aqeel

Golf Girls golf competed at regionals on April 17 and 18 and placed third. They will move on to state which they won state last year. The boys golf team competed on April 15 and 16 at regionals and placed eighth.

Softball April 18 April 9-10 The softball team finished the season on April 17 with a 0-17 loss against Plano. The team was 5-25 overall with a 1-9 district record.

Track

Uphill battle Playing against Rockwall, junior Chloe Fowler fights for the ball. Girls won 5-0 advancing them on to the second round of playoffs.

the sports angle

Fast break (top) After winning the ball, junior Chantal Kinsey dribbles away from pressure. Playing Rockwall was the girls’ first playoff game in four years. photo by Saher Aqeel

Assistant coach Betsy Paxton said that the team’s success this season is all due to the players and their determination. “I think, the seniors wanted to go out with being in the playoffs, so that helped,” Paxton said. “We have just a lot of good kids, who just care about each other and they care about the program and they just wanna succeed.” Paxton said that the team started off the season well, which caused them to have more confidence for a playoff-bound season. “Once district started, we realized that we could finish second or third in district, so that became our goal,” Paxton said. “We didn’t wanna just get into playoffs, we don’t wanna finish fourth, we wanted to be higher than that.” Sophomore midfielder Emmy Niece said that changes in players’ mindsets is a cause of this season’s success and playoff berth. “We’re more motivated,” Niece said. “We put more challenges on better teams. We’ve challenged the teams that are first and second place in our districts to compete more.” Sophomore forward Morgan Cherry, along with Niece, made this year’s varsity team as sophomores and said that the competition is different than JV competition was last season. “This year there’s a lot more

by A Ja ksh rre a tR yM og irc er ha s nd

ith Plano High School’s loss to Plano West, and a goal in the first 14 seconds by Chloe Fowler in a 1-0 Allen win over McKinney High School, the girls varsity soccer team was going to the playoffs. The playoff berth was their first since 2010, and the first under current head coach Kevin Albury. To end the regular season on Senior Night, the team won 3-2 against Plano, and finished third in district with a district record of 4-4-2 and an overall record of 12-7-3. The team’s playoff run ended on April 9 against Plano West in the regional quarterfinals in an 2-0 loss at Clark Stadium. Senior midfielder Hailey Jensen said that despite the loss to West, simply going to playoffs made the season worthwhile. “It was awesome because I had never had the playoffs experience before,” Jensen said. “It was awesome. It felt like we were finally finishing strong and we got to keep going and I was excited for that.” The Plano West Lady Wolves won the 5-A UIL State Girls Soccer Championships, along with this year’s district championship. “I expected it to be tough,” Jensen said. “I expected it to be difficult, but we still had hope and we still were gonna try hard. We hadn’t given up before the game. We were ready to play but West is a really strong team.”

pi led

co m

Allen High School // Issue 6 // April 25, 2013

Most valuable player Star football quarterback Kyler Murray, short stop, steps up to the plate to bat against McKinney High School. photo by Madyson Russell

said these players have brought leadership to the team. “If you look back to the last time Allen won state, the year would’ve been 2009 for baseball that was really the last year that Allen baseball really made a push deep into the playoffs,” Jolley said. “I think that their leadership and their ability to have really seen what happens in playoffs and really go deep and obviously win state, really helps us especially going into the playoffs.” Cooper said he and the other players who are on baseball try to apply what they learned in football to the baseball diamond. “Basically we just bring the competitive nature from the football team to the baseball field, we just take the same mindset,” Cooper said. “Even though you’re not hitting anybody in baseball or anything, if you’re a competitor, you wanna win no matter what you play.” The last time football won state was also the last time the baseball

Sport support system

Cheerleaders support sports outside of football story by Nini Truong // staff writer

slower-paced, but they’re on offense and defense longer, so you’re able to call offense cheers when you’re on offense and defense cheers when you’re on defense.” According to senior cheerleader Ellie Witt, wrestling was a different experience compared to the other sports. The varsity cheerleaders sat on the floor and slapped the floors, hardly ever using their pompoms. Cheering for wrestling, however, is not a common thing compared to other states. “This was our first year to cheer for wrestling and it was actually really fun,” Witt said. “Whenever the wrestling team travels to tournaments in other states, they have ‘mat girls.’ We don’t have that here in Allen. We kind of took on that role.” Since it was West’s first year teaching and coaching in Allen, she said she made plans to bring more support to the other sports. “The other sports in Allen don’t gain as much community support as football does,” West said. “So, at a football game, we’ve got a large crowd so our cheerleaders have a lot of crowd involvement. But at a basketball game or a volleyball game, there’s not quite as much crowd interaction because they don’t have the numbers in the community to show up. This year, I know the basketball teams have gained more

support than they have had in previous years for crowd involvement. So, hopefully that will continue to build.” Witt says that cheerleaders symbolize support, whether it is for sports or the community. They are crucial in building up the energy in a crowd and making sure the players know that they are loved. “We are leading cheer,” Witt said. “We want to be leaders in our school and our community.” West said that the cheerleaders are often seen as role models in the community. She also said that even the younger cheerleaders admire the older ones and aspire to be like them. “I go out to the middle school cheerleading practices and help them,” West said. “They’ll even come up to tell me that they’re following some of our current cheerleaders on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram. They know who they are. That speaks volumes of our programs. There are so many young kids that notice our cheerleaders and look up to them.” The cheerleading teams are very close to each other and consider themselves to a family, according to Witt. “We have a very close bond between the seniors and the juniors and everybody,” Witt said. “We always have each other’s back. We always have a lot of fun together, not just in school. It’s like a little family.”

Mavericks: The Mavericks will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2001 with a record of 41-41. The team will be in the NBA Draft Lottery and is expected to land a pick between 11 and 14. Rangers: The Rangers have started their season with a record of 13-7 and are currently first in the AL West. Yu Darvish leads the team with 3 wins and 38 strikeouts. Ian Kinsler leads the team in homeruns with five.

Stars: The Stars have a record of 22-104 and currently sit at 10th place in the Western Conference. The team made a lot of moves before the trade deadline including trading Jaromir Jagr, Derek Roy and Brenden Morrow.

graphic by Madyson Russell // layout editor

Bouncing back

Athletes share experience of returning to play after injury story by Callie Anderson // staff writer

t first, senior starting running back Jeff Harris didn’t want to believe it, but he knew deep down that he had an anterior cruciate ligament tear when he went down on the field in the first quarter. When the team played Coppell on Sep. 28, 2012, he tore his left ACL, starting his seven-month long break from football. “The [coaches and teammates] just encouraged me and told me that I could come back better,”Harris said. ACL tears can cause an athlete to be benched from anywhere between 7 to 9 months. Harris said his injury made his chances of getting a good scholarship slimmer. During his rehab he rode a bike for six minutes before every session with his physical therapist and did many workouts to strengthen his abdominal area. Harris will be released to play by his doctor on April 25, but he

said he is ready to go out on the field and play right now. “[The main thing that keeps me going is] my teammates telling me keep on recovering, and I [am] doing good,” Harris said. “They just [want] to see me back on the field.” Since Harris plays a collision sport, head athletic trainer Mike Harrison said there is a higher risk to get hurt than in a contact sport like soccer or basketball. Certain injuries, such as concussions, can have more of a long-term impact than others. A study published in the January 2009 issue of the Medical Journal “Brain” said athletes who receive concussions are more likely to see a decline in physical and mental performance 30 years later. Besides physicians, athletes a r e supposed

to consult the high school’s trainers, Harrison and Mary Lynn Miller. “We don’t like our athletes to be hurt, but that’s our job,” Harrison said. “It’s one of the reasons why we are here.” On average, Harrison and Miller see five to six athletes a day. During football season they see five or six players in one practice. Harrison said that injuries aren’t avoidable, but if an athlete comes out and plays timidly, then they are more than likely to get hurt. Harrison said they have dealt with injuries varying from a sprained finger to a fully dislocated knee. The most common injury for Harrison to handle is an ankle sprain. Sprains and strains are the most common injuries, and near one-third of these are sports-related injuries. Sophomore softball player Cait Morgan’s physical therapist said the muscle in

between her shoulder blade and chest is worse than a strain but not as bad as a tear. “I don’t really do a lot because softball takes up the majority of my time because I’m in select and school,” Morgan said. “I do [softball] every weekend. It’s something that I do and not doing it, it was weird.” Morgan was out for about 3 to 4 weeks from softball and is playing again, but with restrictions at the moment. “[I miss] playing, being able to be with my team and actually do stuff as a whole instead of just sitting on the side,” Morgan said. She said throwing mainly during practices is what injured her shoulder. Morgan still attended all practices and games when she was hurt and sat on the bench before her physician released her to begin working on

normal softball skills.As an outfielder, she has a long throw into the infield after she catches the ball. As of right now, she is working on catching high balls without completing the long distance throw. “I notice how much I actually enjoy playing and would miss it if I didn’t,” Morgan said. Morgan still has two more years to find a college she wants to commit to. She said her injury should not affect her future in softball if she keeps doing the arm strengthening exercises with the thera-band that her physical therapist gave her. “Injuries aren’t avoidable,” Harrison said. “There is always, no matter what, whether it is bumps or bruises, there is always going to be an injury [or soreness] coming after the game.”

All Smiles Playing shortstop during after school practice on April 15, sophomore Cait Morgan walks back to her position after making a play. photo

Foul Ball During an intersquad scrimmage on April 15, sophomore Cait Morgan looks to get on base. photo by Saher Aqeel

by Saher Aqeel

Allen High School // Issue 6 // April 25, 2013

hey tumble, they flip and they whirl.The cheerleaders practice their routines to make sure they can be the top supporters of the sports in our community. Whether it is football, basketball, wrestling or another sport, their goal is to motivate the crowds and bring excitement into the atmosphere. “Our cheerleaders really enjoy supporting their peers,” coach Mallory West said. “They love going to sporting events and knowing who’s playing on those teams and being able to support them.” Cheerleaders are traditionally known for cheering for football, but they also cheer for other events such as basketball, wrestling and volleyball and from the stands at baseball, softball and soccer games. “It’s really cool to learn about the different sports and to be able to meet the people that participate in different sports and make friends with them also,” sophomore cheerleader Kaleigh Srader said. When cheering for basketball games, Srader said stunts aren’t as complex as the ones used for football due to the compact location and the concentration of people in one area. “It’s so fast-paced,” Srader said. “You can’t really do offense-defense cheers, you just have to keep it really generic like ‘Go team’ or ‘Go Allen.’ In football, I don’t want to say it’s

Point Counter Point

Should student athletes receive publicity?

Talent deserves recognition despite age, publicity helps prepare for future

story by Danny Ortiz //

story by Katelyn Moody //

staff writer

Allen High School // Issue 2 // April 25, 2013

Students need to stay humble, too much fame harms career

o matter what level of ability someone is, an accomplishment should never go unrecognized. If athletes are exceptionally good at what they do, then publicity is a positive part of their career. When a high school athlete is signed by a college, media attention is deserved. Sure, they may not be as skilled as professionals, but they deserve the positive attention if they are good enough that colleges are pursuing them. It shows they have exceptional skills and could be a really useful part of their team. High school students are the future stars of the sports they play. Any athlete might possibly make it to the professional level. Getting the attention and making people aware of their skills is just part of the process of becoming a well-known athlete. Julius Randle, the No. 3 overall recruit for the class of 2013 from Prestonwood Christian Academy in Dallas, made a commitment on March 20 to the University of Kentucky for basketball, turning down Florida, Kansas and Texas. Randle was talked about on ESPN for being a top recruit for basketball and received much media attention from his decision to sign with the University of Kentucky. The moment Randle made his decision was televised for many viewers to

see.

The exposure Randle received as a top recruit, showed colleges his skills and everything he was capable of as an athlete. The publicity made it easier for colleges to notice him and offer scholarships to their university. Those in favor of high school athletes not receiving as much media attention as professionals may think it boosts the player’s ego too much. In some cases, it could possibly make them think there’s no way they could fail. However, having a confidence boost is a good thing for upcoming athletes because it eases the nervous feeling they may have. It makes them feel more capable of handling bigger situations such as media exposure and everything they have to face ahead of them. When it comes to an athlete approaching a higher level, exposure is deserved no matter what. It prepares them for attention they could receive in the future and makes them more confident in their athletic skills. All of the attention could help them become a better person and a stronger athlete.

oo much fame isn’t ideal for student athletes. The attention tends to takeover their life and change the way they act. I understand that students are great at the sport they play, but that doesn’t mean they should receive media attention. Students aren’t yet mature enough to deal with all the publicity that comes with their talent. Jabari Parker, for example is the No.2 basketball prospect in the country from Simeon High School in Chicago, has received plenty of publicity. He has appeared on the cover of magazines such as “Sports Illustrated”, calling him “the best high school basketball player since LeBron James” and “SLAM Magazine”, calling him “the game’s next superstar.” I think what these students should be worrying about right now is making good grades, not their pose for a magazine cover. Even though they’re great basketball players, it only takes one small tweak of the foot or a bad landing from getting a rebound to cause a career ending injury, that’s why they should focus in school and get an education because if they do make it in the NBA but are a bust they have the education to fall back on. These students should instead receive publicity and fame when they make the

jump from college basketball to the pros. When they are battling it out with real men and aren’t the best in their sport anymore. Then they deserve the attention because they finally arrived on the big stage. If students use the fame for the wrong ideas like getting out of trouble, they could end up in very deep trouble and might not be able to use their fame to get out of such a bad situation, they might ruin their careers before they enter college or before they enter the pros or they can also fall back in to these types of situations during their pro career and hurt their career. The student athletes need to stay humble through this career process because there might be several times where they will get sucked into doing the wrong things but will need to take responsibility for themselves and their career and stay away from those types of people because they’ll make several mistakes on their own, let alone all the mistakes they’ll make while hanging with the wrong crowd. The athlete is the one in control of their future, and only they know how serious they are about making it to the pros. Only time will tell, and we are going to have to wait and see how these student athletes welcome the fame.

Proud (not) to be a Dallas Cowboys fan story by McKenzi Morris // operations manager

am a Green Bay Packers fan. And an Atlanta Braves fan. Yet, I have lived in Texas all of my life. I have never been to Green Bay or Atlanta, unfortunately. And I hate the Cowboys with a passion. But this really is not my fault. I grew up being told these were the only teams I was allowed to love. My first Halloween my dad had me dressed up as a Packers cheerleader. My second, I was Brett Favre. Even I wonder sometimes how this happened. People question me about it all the time and I never have a solid answer. All I know is, I’m proud to hate the Cowboys. The comment from Texas sports fans I get most often is that I am a bandwagoner, which even though

it is understandable, still hurts. The Packers have been on a roll since their Super Bowl victory in 2011 and continue to make promising moves for the future, but think about 2008. Quarterback and future Hall of Famer Brett Favre began his string of retirements and I was in a panic. We, the true Cheeseheads, knew nothing about our backup because Favre was our superstar, our rock. Aaron Rodgers had yet to be a household name and we had no hope for the future. I remember sitting in the living room with my dad, digging through rosters and free agents and praying we could find a quarterback available that would save us. That is how I know I am not one of those people that hopped on the Packers train when the team looked promising. I have been through it all. I could name coaches, player stats and even random team facts that would blow your mind. They are my team. My one true love that I will never desert, even during the rocky years.

While they may not have always been great, the Braves have always been my team. When Chipper Jones walked off the field and down to the clubhouse for the last time, I cried like a schoolgirl. Even though he will end up in the MLB Hall of Fame, not seeing him on the field every game pains me. Greg Maddux, too. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Rangers. I booed Josh last season and when he returned with everyone else. But Atlanta will always hold a special place in my heart. They are the only baseball team that can make me cry and scream and jump off of the couch during a preseason game. Only that team, those colors, those players, can make my heart fill whole. I rallied together with the fans when Chipper announced his retirement. I stuck with my boys through the craziness that was the blown call against St. Louis last season. And I am riding this fantastic beginning to the 2013 year with the Upton brothers. Nothing gives me more pride than saying I am

an Atlanta Braves fan, through and through. It’s easy to assume I’m a Packers fan because they are great and so much better than the Cowboys and I wanted to be different; not fit the Dallas norm. But let’s face it. In 2012 Romo threw 19 interceptions. Nineteen. Rodgers only threw eight. He’s got a World Championship when Romo doesn’t even have two playoff wins. My love runs deeper than that. I talk about the players on a first name basis. I have two Packers pillow pets, a beagle named Favre and three jerseys (so far). I watch them and yell at the TV like nobody’s business. And the number one thing on my bucket list is to sit in the Frozen Tundra, when it is 15 below zero, and see my boys play in person. People who simply don’t want to fall into the stereotype of loving the Cowboys cannot say that. I love my boys. I would not trade them for anything. And I do not see myself ditching the Packers for the

Cowboys. Ever. Because let’s face it, Romo and Jerry Jones are a poison to that team. The Braves are a little out there, but I love them. I take a lot of trash talk for living in Dallas and not loving Dallas teams. But I am perfectly okay with it because I know my teams are good. And even when they aren’t, they are still my teams. I can’t just abandon them during dark days. I’m not a Dallas fan, and I’m proud.

Cowboys vs. Packers: Number of Superbowls: Cowboys: five, Packers: five

Record last year: Cowboys: 8-8, Packers: 11-5

Hall of Famers: Cowboys: 13. Packers: 22

Number of Pro Bowlers last year: Cowboys: two, Packers: seven

Rate Your Reaction

On a scale from 1 to 10 how important is your pregame routine?

Kelly Richards Softball “We have a certain routine for stretching and we have a certain yards we have to do and after every throw we have to get into like a pre-throw.”

Cory Scheibner

Christian Sam

Football “I feel that your pregame routine needs to be the same every week. I’m a superstitious guy.”

Baseball “We as a team, we have a bunch of rituals just for fun and it’s just to keep the guys relaxed and just having fun.”

Allen High School // Issue 6 // April 25, 2013

Camden DeBonis Golf

Anna Horowitz

“You’ve gotta be ready for the tournament and as prepared as you can be to make sure you can win the tournament.”

Basketball “I mean you just gotta do the same thing over and over or else it really can throw you off. That’s how I see it, I think it’s all mental but like still it affects me.”

graphic by Akshay Mirchandani and Carter Adams// sports editor and staff writer

Stars enter rebuild mode, short season holds promise for future story by KaileyWarren // online editor

t was difficult to recognize the Dallas Stars when they took the ice against the Anaheim Ducks on April 3, just hours after the 2013 season’s trade deadline. Go back exactly a year ago to a 5-2 loss against the San Jose Sharks. Former Stars Adam Burish, Sheldon Souray, Mark Fistric, Mike Ribeiro and Steve Ott all skated in that game. None of these players would start this season with Dallas. Oh, nostalgia. You don’t even have to look back a year back to see major change. Less than two weeks before this year’s April 3 Ducks game, on March 23, Dallas beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-2. Thirteen-year Stars veteran and captain Brenden Morrow would be traded to Pittsburgh the very next day. Post-season additions Jaromir Jagr and Derek Roy’, who each tallied a

goal and an assist in that game, would be traded away on April 2. The April 3 game, a game I bitterly avoided until a couple days later, was supposed to present fans with the team’s “new look.” Despite including the NHL debut of Texas Stars winger Alex Chiasson and former Bruin Lane MacDermid’s first NHL goal, the Stars played a jumbled, dispassionate game. They didn’t even get on the board until the third period while the Ducks’ already established 3-0 lead had sealed their win. The Stars fell in another 5-2 decision, making the playoffs seem like an even further reach than before. Bottom line? The Dallas Stars are officially in rebuild mode, and it is zero fun. The rebuild is evident from the way GM Joe Nieuwendyk has made collecting draft picks and prospects his top priority. The team now has nine picks in this year’s NHL Draft, and the most recent trades included the acquisitions of MacDermid, Joe Morrow, Kevin Connauton and Cody

Payne. In a letter to the fans that was released following the controversial Roy and Jagr trades, Stars President James R. Lites said the front office is “turning our franchise over to the next generation of players.” While that’s great and all, it honestly didn’t make me feel any better about the moves at the time.The loss of Brenden Morrow had me in tears, and when the Jagr news broke, I was furious. I can’t begin to understand how these transactions made sense to Nieuwendyk. I get that their contracts would be up after this year, but why would you trade such assets? That’s when I realized, with the help of Lites, that this is all part of the master plan. The team is preparing and developing a group competitively deep in all positions for the coming years, which is something fans should look forward to. I know I am looking forward to getting to know an exciting group of young players as the future faces of the Stars. But what about the rest of this season?

While defenseman Brenden Dillon assured fans via Twitter that the attitude in the locker room was still focused on a “playoff push,” Nieuwendyk’s moves suggest otherwise. Brenden Morrow, a gritty, all-around player that any team could use in the postseason, is gone. Jagr, who was Dallas’ top scorer with 14 goals, is gone. The return for these assets, not-yet-NHL-ready prospects and intangible future picks, won’t do any good toward making the playoffs, which hasn’t happened for the past four seasons. Could Dallas reach the postseason? There’s always a chance. However, I think we all know the team better than that. They’re playing these last games out of pride. This short season, especially these last few games, contains hopeful hints of what is to come, and the draft this June will reveal even more. New Stars Dillon, Cody Eakin and Antoine Roussel have excited fans with surprising, breakout perfomances. Yes, this season is over. No, the team is not.

Who was traded: Derek Roy: traded to the Vancouver Canucks. Roy was in his first season with the Stars.

Jaromir Jagr: traded to the Boston Bruins. Jagr was in his first year with the Stars.

Brenden Morrow: traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Morrow was in his 13th season with the Stars.

Who was brought

in:

Lane MacDermid: previously played for the Boston Bruins. He had two goals in two games with the Stars after trade.

Draft picks: the team traded for three draft picks

Werx in Progress L

owery and AHS dance classes show off their skills at their annual showcase on April 9 in the Lowery Freshman Center auditorium. Their performance, “Celebration of Dance” presented a series of “work-in-progress” pieces the students had been working on for two months prior to the performance.

story & photos by Saher Aqeel // photo editor

1. Ally Dove performs “Sleeping Beauty Variation” 2. Lynnae Hodges performs “Gun Metal” 3. Megan Sinclair performs “Because of You” 4. Isabella Panko performs “Hurt” 5. Lucy Cole, Rachael DeDominicis, Ally Dove, Jaylene Franqui, Lynnae Hodges, Katherine Lambert, Isabella Panko, Arnella Salimova and Nicole Schulze perform “In This Shirt” 6. Catherine Aziz, Mi’Shael Brown, Terry Dang, Chelsey Gentry, Victoria Lambo, Aliscia Littlejohn and Andrea Smith perform “Walking on Air” 7. Adrianna Myers performs “Hollywood” 8. Channing Baker performs “Paris Is Burning” 9. LFC Hip Hop Club performs “Hip Hop Mix”