Meet the do-gooders

featherduster

Meet the do-gooders.

the

Westlake High School

Volume 44

Issue 3

March 18, 2013 4100 Westbank Drive Austin, Texas 78746

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{contents} brains + brawn

12

Kicking it up a notch Girls soccer blows away District

people + places

16

March 2013

Material boy Artist uses strange objects in creations

trends + traditions

44

rants + raves

54

Across the pond

British television gains popularity Editors-in-Chief Hailey Cunningham Monica Tan

Brains + Brawn Marco Scarasso Asst. Peyton Richardson Asst. Sara Phillips Andy Brown Asst. Emily Martin Asst. Jacob Prothro

People + Places Selah Maya Zighelboim Asst. Caitlyn Kerbow Asst. Rachel Cooper

Trends + Traditions Jessica Stenglein Laura Doolittle Asst. Josh Willis Asst. Monica Rao

Rants + Raves Ben Wallace Catherine Mear

Biting the bullet

Students weigh in on gun control debate

Asst. Michael Deisher

Web Master Nikki Roop Asst. Erin Armstrong

Business Manager Josh Willis

Art Editor: Michaela Moss Ariana Gomez Reyes

Phographers Editor: Ryan Stankard Cade Ritter Carley McNicholas Julie Moskow Mackenzie Franklin Shelby Westbrook Taylor Meister Tim Whaling Zoë Nathan

Reporters Alexis Huynh Brendon McGrath Cierra Smith Colleen Pletcher

David Tulkoff Elizabeth Emery Emily Martinez Emma Pennell Erica Schwartz Georgina Kuhlmann Hannah Turner Jack Speer Jack Stenglein Katelyn Connolly Katherine Spencer Kathryn Revelle Katie Mitchell Laura Jessich Liam Gerrity Madeline Dupre Margaret Norman Martin Celusniak Michelle Fairorth Nikki Humble Olivia Kight Sabrina Knap ZZ Lundburg

Adviser Deanne Brown

The Featherduster, the newsmagazine of Westlake High School, attempts to inform and entertain in a broad, fair and accurate manner on subjects which concern the readers. The publication also seeks to provide a forum of ideas and opinions between the staff of the newsmagazine, the faculty, the student body and the local community about issues presented.

All material produced and published by The Featherduster staff is copyrighted and cannot be reproduced without the writer’s consent or that of the editors. Content decisions rest in the hands of the staff, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier. Opinions expressed in the columns that appear in The Featherduster do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the entire staff, the school administration or the adviser.

The staff encourages letters to the editor as an avenue for expressing the opinions of the readers. All letters must be signed to be considered for publication. Due to space limitations, not all letters will be published, and the editorial board reserves the right to edit them for purposes of placement. No material will be printed that is libelous, advocates an illegal activity or which the editorial board deems is in poor taste. The restriction includes letters to the staff, advertising and anything else the board feels presents an inappropriate message. cover photos by Cade Ritter and Ryan Stankard cover photo manipulation by Cade Ritter, Jack Stenglein, Monica Tan and Ryan Stankard table of contents photo by Tim Whaling During a 2-1 win over Westwood Feb. 14, senior Lauren McLeod winds up and delivers. The Lady Chaps will host District rival Lake Travis at 7 p.m. March 22.

Battle

photos by Mackenzie Franklin and Ryan Stankard

1 3

2

1. Sen ior Da lton J ackso

n of T he Fro nts

2. Jun ior W ill

David son o fT

he Lo ose W heels

3. Senior Emma Bleker of Splendeur

4 5

4. Senior Hunter Peterson of Midnight to Noon

5. Senior Colton Monts of Midnight to Noon

Individual Winners: Emma Bleker — best vocals Will Davidson — best guitar Hayley Gimbel — best bass guitar 4

brains + brawn westlakefeatherduster.com

Colton Monts — best drummer Ben Pederson — best brass Duncan Waldrop — best keyboardist

6

of

the

1st Place — The Fronts 2nd Place —The Loose Wheels 3rd Place — Midnight to Noon People’s Choice — The Loose Wheels

bands 7

6. Senior D ylan Hill of Th

e Fronts

8

7. Juniors Adam Wilson and Ben

Pederson of Chromatic Funk

Six bands battled each other in a competition of musicianship Feb. 23 to win Austin City Limits Festival tickets as well as other prizes. Splendeur, Chromatic Funk, Midnight to Noon, DogBoy, The Loose Wheels and The Fronts rocked the 18th annual Battle of the Bands, with the big awards going to The Fronts for winning overall best band and The Loose Wheels for winning the People’s Choice award.

The crowd got to text in its vote for its favorite performance. The Loose Wheels won four 2013 three-day ACL passes, donated by retailmenot.com.

“It was awesome knowing that the audience loved our performance,” Wheels’ drummer freshman Pierce Waldrop said. “I felt like we had a great set.”

Their set included “Give it to Get it” by Steve Gaines, “Mountain Music” by Alabama and “Get Down Tonight” by KC and The Sunshine Band.

The Fronts won an ACL Live performance package. Second place overall went to The Loose Wheels and third went to Midnight to Noon.

“It feels great [to win Battle of the Bands],” The Fronts’ did Westlake’s BOB when I was in eighth grade. I’ve placed

awesome to go out my senior year with that.”

Their set included “I’m Never Safe,” an original by Dalton, “Red Morning Light” by Kings of Leon, “Something About You,” an original by The Fronts’ guitarist senior Dylan Hill and “I Got Mine” by the Black Keys with a solo verse from “I Don’t Need No Doctor” by John Mayer.

“My favorite part of the band is simply getting to work with Dylan,” Dalton said. “He’s a smart and talented musician, so getting to mix our ideas and creativity always makes a better product than had we worked on something alone.”

The judges for the competition were Westlake graduate and founder of Westlake’s BOB Bryan Brown, 2008 BOB best guitarist Aaron Altounian and music director of One Chapel church Marty Urwin.

Senior Spencer Flynn served as master of ceremonies for the event. He, seniors David Oliver and Charlie views of each of the bands, all of which were well recieved by the audience.

“Creating the 20-some-odd minutes of content that we did was the craziest, most ambitious deadline Spencer and I have ever worked on, with only four days to do 8. Senior Hayley Gimbel of DogBoy so,” David said. “Our goal creatively was to capture the attention of the audience and try to provide some insight to the bands that were about to perform. Though our grades and sleep took a hit, I believe it was worth it, and I’m quite happy with the results.”

—Sabrina Knap

Model United Nations kicks off semester Model United Nations is a club where members act as diplomats to solve real-world problems. MUN members represent different countries’ points of view and debate over issues.

“In MUN you come up with solutions to real-world problems,” Secretary General junior Jaemin Baek said. “Problems ranging from poverty to the Syrian revolution — these problems exist in the world today. I also think that MUN is a leadership-building experience rather than just debating politics. We have got to come together to bring this solution to the table so that we can solve this problem. That’s what MUN is: not saying ‘I’m right and you’re wrong,’ but rather ‘This is my problem, this is the proposed solution and let’s come together and come to a consensus and get something done.’”

On Jan. 30, club members traveled to Trinity University in San Antonio to attend a three-day conference. The conference was hosted by the International School of Americas. Twenty schools attended the event, consisting of 1,300-1,500 kids. Jaemin and senior Devin Burn won best delegate honors; junior Dan Perry won outstanding delegate and junior Arjun Bajaj, senior Rachel Furnish and senior Katherine Magee received honorable mentions.

“The feeling coming in was anxiety,”

range of topics can be discussed, including current world events and ongoing issues and problems. The most popular topics in a conference are crises, where new problems constantly occur.

“Topics are discussed such as disarmament in terms of nuclear weapons, small arms on women,” Arjun said. “Topics such as growth in the economy, sustainable development, global piracy, protection of patent laws, the topic of border security and human slew of topics.”

Preparation of the topics for MUN is a strenuous process involving gathering the necessary documents and information and rehearsing and practicing the topics in MUN sessions.

“To prepare [topics], a lot of times what we do is to look at the actual documents that previous organizations have written,” Jaemin said. “We would actually read the United Nations charter, or we would read the resolution written by the United Nations to see exactly where our country stands on this certain topic

problem. A lot of research goes into MUN, and I think that’s the best way to prepare. We also practice debates during our club meetings, and that really helps the kids prepare.”

MUN offers the challenge of speaking for attending a conference this big, and we didn’t other countries’ views — views that someone really know what to expect. For many of the personally may not agree with.

“The biggest challenge for me in MUN is that put a lot of pressure on them being new going to a new conference and sitting down and the fact that in a room full of this is the biggest strangers,” KatherMUN conference ine said. “It takes “That’s what MUN is: not in the state of guts to stand up Texas. Afterwards, to speak and start saying ‘I’m right and you’re there were a lot arguing. Once wrong,’ but rather ‘This is my of good feelings. you conquer that, problem, this is the proposed you’re able to do people who won anything. Speaking solution and let’s come toawards, but also for from a different gether and come to a consenthose who didn’t, country’s point of because they came view is interestsus and get something done.’” up with a good ing, even if you’re —junior Jaemin Baek learning experience speaking from a and they learned view that’s different exactly what they from your own. It’s did wrong and could improve upon. Overall I always better to understand the other side.” think it was a good feeling going out.”

Another pressing challenge that faces the In MUN, each school is assigned certain club as a whole — obscurity. There are many countries to represent. Clubs have the abilmisconceptions and misunderstandings ity to request countries, but sometimes are surrounding MUN for those who have heard given alternate countries. Then club members about it. choose a country and committee that argues “The biggest challenge for me is getting the represented countries’ point of view on people interested in joining MUN,” Jaemin the assigned topics. Westlake represented said. “Anyone can join and do it. It doesn’t Sweden, Hungary, Israel and Singapore at the require any sort of special skill set, but people conference. All countries are members of the don’t know about it or have this misconcepUnited Nations, and in a conference, a large tion that it’s just another debate team. I think

“

”

6

Tim Whaling

Senior Travis Schrader applauds a good idea pitched at a Model United Nations meeting. The MUN students acted as North Korean government officials, trying to gain leverage with their new leader Kim Jong-un.

debate team, and we are not something that doesn’t exist either.”

In MUN, there are skills to be learned as well as improved upon. Since MUN is based on the real UN, a person who joined would get the real experience.

“MUN has greatly improved my speaking ability and also [my ability] to think globally, as opposed to just issues that affect me personally,” Katherine said. “It’s also shown me how to make compromises and reach for solutions. For example, in a room with a delegate representing the U.S. and one representing North Korea, it’s hard to reach a solution that everyone agrees upon. Inside the delegate rooms, it gets really heated in debate, but you always have to remember to stay calm. Once you learn how to compromise, it’s a skill that will help you throughout your life.”

In MUN, alliances are a crucial part to getting the legislation passed at a conference.

In order to win a majority vote, it is necessary to make a compromise with another group to win their votes.

“That’s the thing with MUN: you have to make alliances,” Jaemin said. “In MUN, you write up these things called resolutions, which are basically courses of actions that people take. You have to have a majority vote in order for that resolution to become a piece of legislation. So it means you are forced to make alliances with different people to go ahead so that they will vote for you.”

This year’s MUN competition was both successful and fun for the team. The team has grown and changed over the past year, and looks forward to performing even better at the next conference.

“Our MUN team has improved greatly since last year, we have a whole new leadership and a new program to improve our preparation and it has done wonders,” Katherine said. “We are really proud of what we have done and how far we have come.”

—David Tulkoff

Latin Club members look forward to future competition Latin may be a “dead language,” but don't bother telling that to the Latin Club. For this organization, the 2012-13 semesters have been nothing if not lively.

On Jan. 18-19, Latin Club went to the Texas State Junior Classical League Area F Latin convention at St. Andrews Middle School and scored 990 sweepstakes points overall.

“We had our record-breaking success at Area F in late January,” Latin teacher and president of the Armadillo Classical Society Natalie

Tim Whaling

During a chemistry lab, sophomore Jared Patterson detonates a vial of dry ice in the process of viewing the triple point of the substance on Jan. 24. “I enjoy chemistry because learning it gives me a better understanding of the world around me,” Jared said. “Every time I see applications of chemistry in my life I enjoy understanding the things I learned.”

Following the heartbreaking Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in Connecticut countless schools around the nation took another look at their own safety policies, and Westlake is no exception. Ideas ranging from arming teachers to providing students with special ID badges have all been suggested to prevent further tragedies like the one last December. To read more on this safety debate and how it will affect the Westlake student body, scan this QR code.

all of our worthy public and private school rivals.”

The next stop for Latin Club is the TSJCL State Convention on April 12-13 at Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Texas, where it will compete against schools from all around the state in a variety of Latinrelated contests.

“You stay overnight and it is much more diverse [than area],” freshman Latin Club member Saarila Kenkare said. “There are more non-academic competitions, such as mosaics, drawings and even Latin Scrabble.” option of playing on Certamen teams. Last semester, the Certamen place. Latin Club has high hopes for State in April and, beyond that, the National Convention in Las Vegas this July. amazing students in our Latin Club,” said Cannon. “The best thing ing students. Every year is similar in this way, but every student, every day and every year are different and exciting.”

—Georgina Kuhlmann

Robotics selected for video to help promote new LEGO EV3 kit LEGO — our generation has grown up stacking up the little colored blocks into elaborate castles and towers. Every child has a box to say that LEGO is a household name. Not only is LEGO successful with its commercial entertainment, it is legendary for its continuous innovations in the robot community, constantly one step ahead, making improvements to its products to better the community and to keep technology looking forward. The success of LEGO is unparalleled, Junior Lynnea Hernandez focuses on programming her robot. Robotics members can program robots to perform multiple tasks, ranging from retrieving an object from across the room to navigating through an obstacle course.

courtesy photo

To see the LEGO promotional video that Robotics was featured in, scan this.

ment in schools.

“The students each had to sign nondisclosure agreements,” robotics teacher and LEGO discussion panelist Norman Morgan said. “We had a professional video crew in from Kansas along with representatives from LEGO Education in Kansas as well as two people from LEGO in Denmark.”

Students selected to participate got to experience the new technology before anyone else had laid eyes on the new program. to see all the new unreleased advances LEGO has made,” junior Philip Katterjohn said.

LEGO created a new LEGO kit called EV3 to replace LEGO Mind“This LEGO kit will be used in the First LEGO League contest in the future as well as replace the LEGO NXT kits,” Morgan said.

The video features multiple Westlake students and will be used by LEGO in the future for marketing purposes. The project was created helping them to learn math and science in a more active and hands-on environment.

“Our team was very fortunate to get to participate in this opportunity,” Morgan said. “This is the second time in three years that LEGO had used our team and students in marketing videos. They will release another video soon of WHS students and myself using the EV3 product.”

—Olivia Kight

Pinner forms club devoted to creating crafts on Pinterest Millions of internet users and website called Pinterest. Pinterest is a “pinboard”-style photo-sharing website that allows users to create picture collections about events, interests, hobbies, foods and crafts. Users can browse other “pinboards” for inspiration and “re-pin” images to their own collections.

Junior Jenna Sieling wanted a place to get together with friends and create some of the do-it-yourself crafts she saw on Pinterest, so she decided to make a club.

“My friends and I really liked Pinterest, but we never got the time to actually do the projects,” Jenna said. “So one day I said ‘Hey, let's make a club so we can do it together.’ We have tons of fun.”

With a total of about 20 girls, the group meets once a month to create a project. They share their ideas and then choose together which project to do. book and we all vote on the top three and then plan a day each month to get together and do it,” Jenna said.

The club, sponsored by Pat Betzner, meets in the child development room and has been creating projects every

month since October. They started out by making giant Rice Krispie treats in the shape of candy corns in the spirit of Halloween.

“It’s really nice because we have the kitchen next door, so it's easy when we make food,” Jenna said.

In November they decorated white

Wearing her personalized white scarf, junior Jenna Sieling displays the decorated Mason jar she made in order to usher in the new year.

in December they made ornaments to decorate a tree on Highway 360. At their January meeting they decorated Mason jars for the new year.

“Throughout the year you write down good things that happen to you and put them in the jar so at the end of the year you can take them out and read all the good stuff that has happened to you,” Jenna said.

The girls had lots of fun decorating their jars while they hung out.

“It really is a great club where people who share a love of Pinterest can meet and do arts and crafts,” junior Aparna Chandrashekar said.

They meet once a month on Thursdays at 4:10 in room 365.

“There are so many different projects we could do,” Aparna said. “There’s bound to be something for everyone.”

—Laura Jessich

Carley McNicholas

Countless students have struggled with balancing extracurricular courses with AP classes in order to be wellrounded on college applications. Some students believe that their GPA suffers because they participate in sports, the arts and the myraid of other programs offered here.

A student town hall meeting was held to gather ideas on how to address this issue. To read more, scan this.

Second period Teen Teachers educate peers, younger students about dangers of substance, alcohol abuse Every 19 minutes, someone in the United States dies from a drug overdose. Every day more than 2,000 kids use a prescription period Teen Teaching class decided to get involved with Project Purple.

Project Purple is a movement initiated by The Herren Project, a foundation started by former NBA basketball player Chris Herren. Its purpose is to raise awareness about substance abuse and assist individuals struggling with addiction.

“We found out about this project through an Eanes committee who asked us to lend a hand,” senior Tiffany Nguyen said. “We became involved with the hopes of spreading Project Purple's message throughout the community.”

As the students have been working on the project, they have learned why it is such an important cause.

“It is important to inform students about alcohol and drugs because so many students are making unhealthy choices and think that nothing bad can ever happen to them,” Teen Teaching teacher Mitch Lasseter said. “They don't understand that they can overdose.”

The Teen Teachers taught the elementary and middle schoolers about substance abuse through posters, various skits, pep talks and music videos. their sleeping and eating habits, friends, exercise and safety,” Tiffany said. “If we start advocating the message of staying healthy at an early

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age, kids will hopefully make more educated decisions about more difIn addition to the elementary and middle schools, Teen Teachers encouraged Project Purple at Westlake by hanging purple pages with letters around the school and promoting it at basketball games. However, Project Purple was not as successful with the high school students as it was with the younger kids, according to Lasseter.

“There was a great deal of parent and staff buy-in and involvement at the lower levels,” Lasseter said. “Unfortunately, that did not happen at the high school level. We need more student awareness as to what could happen as a result of using or abusing drugs and alcohol as well as making other unhealthy lifestyle choices. We know the facts, but students getting hurt or caught.”

Purple, but will not be the last.

“I think next year it will hopefully have more emphasis at the high school along with the middle and elementary schools,” Lasseter said.

“As a school we need to realize that we can play a big part in changing the direction of students if we just take the time to step back and look at what the underlying causes of many unhealthy behaviors are. If we are causing factors, what can we as a school and staff do differently?

Academics are important, but healthy students are more important.”

—Jack Stenglein

700 Lavaca Suite 1300 Austin, TX 78701

DuBois, Bryant & Campbell, L.L.P. is an Austin, Texas, law firm formed in March 2002. The goal was to create a collegial, family-oriented law firm that provides the business community and Texas residents with first quality legal services at highly competitive rates. DBC has been able to maintain competitive rates by efficiently managing its business operations and leveraging technology. Almost all DBC attorneys have large national law firm training and experience.

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Battle of the Bands.

Special thanks to Spencer Flynn for serving as MC, RetailMeNot and Austin City Limits for providing prize packages.

Thanks to the Tech department for the light and sound production.

Thanks to everyone who showed up to this year’s

18th annual Battle of the Bands.

You rock!

The Misadventures of ZZ and Alexis

The Huynh Family supports WHS

Shooting for perfection

Girls soccer team powers through District play The girls soccer team last made it to the State Championship game in 1996. At that time, most of the girls on the 2013 team were barely a year old. Some hadn’t even been born yet. But this year it seems that it is in as good a position as ever to cross that threshold once again. As of March 8, the team is undefeated this season and ranked the number one high school team in the country by elitesoccerreport.com.

“The talent and passion of our team is incomparable,” captain and defender senior Hannah Meyer said. “We’ve played well early this season and hope to continue our streak until the State game.”

Most of the girls have played on the varsity team for a couple of years, so they’re all very aware of how they function as a unit.

“I think it’s a big advantage for us to have some of our strongest players being multiple year returning starters,” captain and defender senior Alex Laguarta said. “Christy [Goldberg], Hannah [Meyer] and I have been on the team since our freshman year, which I hope has made us a bit wiser over the past four years.” taste of the upper level play. The girls consider this the perfect situarecord, they pose a threat to other teams’ hopes of triumph both in and out of District.

“We have been training a ton this year, and it seems to be paying

Mackenzie Franklin

Sophomore Zayne Matulis heads the ball at the game against Anderson Feb 5. Zayne suffered a concussion earlier in the fall.

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brains + brawn westlakefeatherduster.com

off so far this season,” captain and forward senior Christy Goldberg said. “Our team works really well together and that helps improve our game.”

So far the team has dominated in nearly all its games, shutting the team shut out Lake Travis, Bowie, Anderson, Austin High, Del Valle and crushed Akins, establishing the Chaps as the prevailing team. With a total of only two goals being scored against them so far this year, the girls are only looking to add to their already impressive resume.

The girls also won both of the tournaments they played in with Christy attaining consecutive tournament Most Valuable Player awards, as well as senior Julia Thurston receiving the second MVP award at the Katy tournament Jan. 18-19.

“As the current number one team in the nation I think we have earned any intimidation factor we give other teams,” Christy said.

“We have practiced hard and I fully believe we deserve our ranking and trust me when I say this, we will do everything in our power to keep our spot in the rankings.”

22.

—Emily Martinez

Mackenzie Franklin

Looking for a win, sophomore Kendall Ritchie hunts down the ball.

The Chaps beat Anderson 3-0 at the Feb. 5 game.

Mackenzie Franklin

Four-year varisty defender captain senior Alex Laguarta kicks the ball down the field, helping the Chaps beat Anderson.

Tim Whaling

Senior Julia Thurston has committed to play at Texas Christian University in the fall. “When I committed to TCU to play soccer, I achieved a dream 14 years in the making,” Julia said. “I am so excited to get to play soccer at the next level and I am very thankful for the support I have had from my family, teammates and coaches. I can’t wait to see how far Westlake soccer can go this year.” So far in District Julia has nine goals and one assist.

Taylor Meister

Senior Hannah Meyer will be playing at Emory University in the fall.

“Committing to Emory after four years of playing for the Chaps was awesome and really special,” Hannah said. “I actually got the call from my college coach while in Chem II with [teacher Denise DeMartino] DeMo that told me I was going to get to become an Emory Eagle. coach [Rennie] Rebe was really the one who got me interested in playing in college. Without her influence and the way she always pushes us to give our best, I would not be prepared for college soccer.” Hannah has helped lead the back line to 20 shutouts this season.

Taylor Meister

Senior Megan McGrath has committed to play at Southwestern University next year. “I’m really excited to play college soccer,” Megan said. “I hope to go in and make an impact on the team and can’t wait to be a Pirate. Westlake soccer has been a blast this year. I strongly believe we will be going to State this year and hopefully, will be coming out with a win.”

Taylor Meister

Getting the ball rolling Boys soccer team tries to live up to last year’s performance The boys varsity soccer team did not meet its early-season standards, going 2-5 in pre-District. However, things began looking up at the start of District. After beating Bowie 4-1, Akins 3-1 and Anderson 7-6, the team is beginning to look similar to previous teams.

“We are a young team, and our lack of experience hurt us a little bit early on,” defenseman senior Keyur Mehta said. “We have grown up a lot. But we have come together really well and we are building on a foundation every game.”

After losing 14 of last year’s seniors and only having three starters from last year’s team, this season has been chock full of momentum swings.

“We’ve had our ups and downs thus far, the team come together are what make it all worthwhile,” varsity coach John Campbell said. “This year’s squad is young but very talented, and it’s very fun to see them grow each

game and realize what it takes to succeed at this level.”

The current team follows in big footsteps.

State Tournament.

“It’s tough to improve on a State Tournament, but I think this team has the talent to return and compete for a title again,” Campbell said.

Even though early struggles held the team back, its performance has heated-up as the season progressed and as the players became more comfortable working as a team. “[The team’s struggles] have been tough, but helpful and meaningful,” Keyur said.

“We’ve taken something from every game, win or loss. Some have been hard to learn —Jack Speer Junior Jake McClendon fights for the ball against a Bowie defender during a Friday night game Feb. 22. The Chaps tied the Bulldogs 2-2.

Shelby Westbrook

Cade Ritter

Mackenzie Franklin

Ryan Stankard

Head in the

game Cade Ritter

14

Pitcher sophomore Lindsey McLeod pitches against Westwood Feb. 14. The Chaparral women, coached by head coach Haley Gaddis, won 2-1. Their record on the season is 17-3 as of March 8. The Chaps play Lake Travis at 7 p.m. March 22 at home.

At the tri-meet against Vista Ridge and Bastrop, junior Rebecca Little, sophomore Caroline Otto, freshman Haley Arnette, senior Corrine Smith and sophomore Riley Klubnik run against opponents from Vista Ridge. The meet, held Feb. 13, was a practice to kick off the track season. The first official meet was the Chap Relays Feb. 23. Varstiy boys, varsity girls, JV boys, JV girls and freshman boys all won their divisions.

Junior Bonner Garrison sprints through the finish in his 800 meter race at the tri-meet at Westlake on Feb. 13. Although the meet was merely a practice to kick off the track season, many Westlake athletes placed in the top three.

Taking fifth at the Region IV Championship, sophomore Hugo Giordano moved on to State as an alternate. Accompanying him were sophomore Alex Pankhurst in first at 145 pounds, junior Ryan Elswick in fourth at 126 pounds and freshman Hunter Roberts at 113 pounds.

Mackenzie Franklin

Although she placed first in the A Team Mixed Doubles competition Feb. 16 with partner senior Clayton Niess, senior Casey Sutton suffered another injury to her foot. “It’s really unfortunate that I injured myself again just two days after being released from physical therapy, but I still believe that [Clayton] and I can go all the way this season,” Casey said.

“He and I have really great chemistry together on the court.

As for the foot, I’ve played through injuries before, and I’ll do it again. It just makes me want to work even harder and prove to people that nothing’s going to get me down.”

The view from the top Cheer squad takes first at national competition in Orlando

Shelby Westbrook

Tim Whaling

—Elizabeth Emery

During practice Feb. 14, boys Division I varsity lacrosse team members sophomore John Azar, senior Hayden Byrd, junior Christopher Roussos and sophomore Craig Kemper work on drills. “Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport on two feet,” Division I player senior Mac Breedlove said. “I like playing lacrosse because it’s a fast game and size doesn’t matter either.” Because the number of players has increased, Westlake also has a Division II varsity and a junior varsity team.

Sophomore Christian Boudreaux throws a pitch during an after school junior varsity practice. “We’re really looking forward to winning District,” Christian said. JV’s next home game is at 7:30 p.m. March 19 against Del Valle in a District matchup. Varsity’s next game is 7 p.m. March 22 against Cedar Park.

Taylor Meister

The Red Team earned first place in the Super Varsity Division 1 category at the National High School Cheerleading Championship Feb. 8-9 in Orlando, Florida.

Multifaceted Left: Uncle Sam made from lettuce, relish, hotdogs, beans, corn and barbecue sauce Above: Ryan’s self portrait made out of tomatos, pine nuts, pasta and pesto sauce Right: Mount Rushmore made out of creamy peanut butter, grape jelly and bread

ur past presidents, iconic

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Artist creates masterpieces with kooky materials

Above: Mona Lisa created with colored pencil shavings and art paraphernalia Right: George Washington made of ketchup, mustard, pickles, onions and fries

ter most pieces, which take approximately 3-4 hours to complete, Ryan usually experiences periods of disgust towards the food that eat the food I make pieces out of because I’m or mustard for months after I made George get really sick of the smell because it increases the

“

thing unexpected and probably kind of

”

“My favorite is the Uncle Sam piece,” Ryan this one piece of lettuce? I just like all of the

would just be taken aback by it because it uses materials that aren’t really considered art materials, and I feel like it’s just a style of art that isn’t that prevalent

I’m not necessarily reducing the person to materials, but using materials to embody his or her personality.

—senior Ryan Carlisle

food portrait, and I wanted to see if I could keep it for more than a day so I kept it in the fridge and it made the

photos by Ryan Carlisle

style verges away from classical ideas of using When people see Ryan’s work, they’re often curious about one “The question I

In the future, Ryan wants to move on to

“I’m planning on doing my friend out of also think that a cool one could be one out of

and he wants to encourage the same with his “Personally, I gravitate more towards art that surprises me because I want to learn

The hard work and pungent smells have

Many don’t believe that his pieces are com-

want people to take away new ideas and new complete his collection and get credit for his

“I think that in the art world, it’s some-

—Monica Tan

Highest honor Yearbook adviser receives national recognition

W

hen yearbook adviser Cindy Todd walked into the Chap Court on Jan. 7, she expected a meeting on the Activity Fair. Instead, she learned that she had been named Journalism Education Association’s National Yearbook Adviser of the Year.

“About two minutes after I walk in, [principal] Dr. [John] Carter gets up there and says, ‘Thanks for coming. We’ve got some things to celebrate. We have some guests who have come to help us honor some people,’” Todd said. “Then he introduced [JEA’s Yearbook Adviser of the Year Committee chair] H.L. Hall, and that’s when I knew.”

After she was encouraged by others to apply, she created a portfolio that highlighted her years of teaching. A committee made up of three national high school press associations viewed it and decided that she deserved the honor. Hall and JEA’s executive director Kelly Furnas presented the award.

“I couldn’t believe it was actually happening.

I was thrilled, obviously. I know that sounds like a cliché, but it was the truth. I turned to [newspaper adviser] Mrs. [Deanne] Brown who was standing right beside me and said, ‘Is this really happening?’”

In addition to advising yearbook, Todd advises jChaps, teaches journalism workshops over the summer and is an active participant in the Texas Association of Journalism Educators. In 2008, she was also named Texas High School Journalism Teacher of the Year. Although she feels that teaching has always been her calling, for 10 years she was a farmer’s wife, and she spent her days harvesting wheat and driving a tractor.

“I feel like I’ve had two separate lives almost,” she said. “It was a very tiny town.

I cooked three meals a day and did a lot of volunteer work. I had two small children, too.

My life was a lot calmer then, and it wasn’t as challenging as it is now. I didn’t have the deadlines that I do now, but also I didn’t get to work with the people that I work with. I didn’t work with the kids, and I didn’t get the satisfaction out of it.”

When she and her ex-husband divorced in 1988, she decided to return to school and get with teenagers.

“There were challenges, getting back in the habit of studying again,” Todd said. “That was

18

tough, but I’ve always been a good student, and I liked school, so it was fun. It was a fun time in my life, but it was challenging. Being a single mom was hard too, but working on the college newspaper was good.”

She has been interested in journalism ever since she was elected editor of her high school’s newspaper her freshman year after The newspaper staff ran the newspapers off on a mimeograph machine and handed them out every other week.

“I always loved journalism, and it has al-

“It had a good reputation when I came here,” Todd said. “It was a good, well-established program, and I was lucky to walk into it.”

She likes teaching yearbook because it is a creative outlet and a challenge, but the most important part for her is the students.

“I get to form real relationships with the kids,” she said. “I get to make a difference in their lives. I don’t make a difference in all my kids’ lives, but the kids who I’ve worked with come back years and years later and tell me ‘The skills I’ve learned in yearbook I’ve used more than from any other class.’”

Todd has taught journalism for 22 years — 14 at Westlake. During this time, she has gone to countless conferences and El Paisano has won numerous awards, but her favorite moments are the days the yearbooks come out.

“It’s wonderful every single year,” Todd said. “The yearbooks come in, and they crack what they’ve done. It always makes me a little bit emotional. It makes me emotional now just thinking about it, but it’s such a thrill

Yearbook adviser Cindy Todd hugs Journalism Education Association’s H.L. Hall at a Jan. 7 faculty gathering after he presented her with the award for National Yearbook Adviser of the Year.

David Oliver

ways been something I’m interested in,” Todd said. “It’s really all I want to teach.”

She found a job at a high school in Amarillo, where she taught English and advised the newspaper staff. Soon into her career, though, the woman who advised the yearbook staff decided not to do it anymore, and Todd took on that responsibility as well.

“It was hard,” she said. “I went from a newspaper deadline and start a yearbook deadline.”

She taught there for the next eight years and then, in 1999, took a position advising Westlake’s yearbook, El Paisano.

that it’s their work and that other people are going to see it, and it’s never going to go away.

Yearbooks last forever.”

The students agree that yearbook is a posiuct makes all the hours put into it worth it.

“Being in yearbook is like being a part of a big, happy family, with Mrs. Todd as our mom,” co-editor-in-chief senior Annie Wheat said. “We all work hard together, but it is worth it in the end to see such an amazing special to be able to say that I am a part of our yearbook staff.”

Despite all of the time and passion Todd has put into yearbook, she feels she would never have won National Yearbook Adviser of the Year if not for one essential thing.

“There’s no way I would have gotten this award or be getting this recognition if I didn’t have the students I have,” Todd said. “They’re the ones who do the publications; they’re the ones who put out the award-winning yearbooks over the years. They’re the ones who come in and are willing to give up their lunch hours and work. This is not about me, it’s about the program. It’s about the program and the tradition we’ve set in place here.”

—Selah Maya Zighelboim

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They are often hidden to the people who receive their generosity, but recognition is not their motivation. When they build a school for an impoverished community, deliver food to the hungry or donate blood, the reward is knowing

they have made a difference. pg. 23

pg. 26 pg. 28

pg. 29 pg. 23

pg. 23

pg. 24 pg. 30

photos by Cade Ritter and Ryan Stankard photo manipulation by Cade Ritter, Jack Stenglein, Ryan Stankard, Taylor Meister and Tim Whaling

to be

So you

want a volunteer

?

There are many ways to get involved in your community. The challenging task is deciding —Marco Scarasso

If you love the great outdoors ...

Volunteer in the nature found all around Austin. This form of volunteer work is crucial to preserving the ecosystem in the Austin area. Great places to volunteer are the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Austin Nature and Science Center. At the ANSC, there are jobs such as being a docent and helping with school programs. Other jobs that can be found with similar organizations are assisting with maintenance of trails, cleaning up local lakes and rivers, tree planting and educating the public. There are many organizations at which to volunteer such as the ANSC, Tree Folks and the Austin Parks Foundation. Visit austintexas.gov/department/austin-naturescience-center, austinparks.org or treefolks.org for more information.

If you have an affinity for animals ...

You should volunteer at a pet shelter or a veterinary clinic.

Possible tasks that you could receive at a pet shelter include walking, feeding, cleaning, training and, of course, playing with the animals.

Volunteering at a pet shelter allows you to interact with the animals.

Jobs at a veterinary clinic include clerical jobs, such as interacting with clients, answering phones and other desk jobs. In addition you may sterilize instruments, monitor post-operation patients and carry out other assorted jobs. Some possible locations to volunteer include the Austin Humane Society and Animal Trustees of Austin. Visit austinhumanesociety.org or animaltrustees.org for more information.

If you want to help the homeless and hungry ...

Volunteer at one of the many foundations that aid the less fortunate. There are many people down on their luck here in Austin who need the assistance of volunteers. There are lots of ways and organizations in which you can volunteer to help such people. Examples of organizations are Habitat for Humanity, where you build homes; the Salvation Army, where you do many task to help others; the Austin Foundation of the Homeless, which serves breakfast and performs other services for the homeless and Mobile Loaves & Fishes, where you deliver food to the homeless. Visit mlf.org, foundationhomeless.org, salvationarmyaustin.org or austinhabitat.org for more information.

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If you want to be surrounded by books ...

You should volunteer at the library. This is a great environment for those seeking a quieter workplace and a great way to support a Westlake community treasure. Tasks in a library may include shelving and straightening, mending and processing, checking in and out books and assisting with library events. Possible locations to volunteer are the Westbank Community Library, the Laura Bush Community Library and the Bee Cave Public Library. Visit westbanklibrary.com or pl.beecavetexas.com for more information.

Make a wish

TEC sends 4-year-old to Disney World For the past two years, the Technical Entertainment Crew has been working with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening conditions. TEC has been working to give kids opportunities that they would not have without to donate $5,000 to Make-A-Wish.

This year TEC sponsored Chloe, a 4-year-old girl with Leigh’s syndrome, a severe neurological disorder that causes a slow loss of muscle movement.

“Though she faces numerous struggles due to Leigh’s Syndrome daily, she is clearly an optimistic child and is full of life,” TEC president senior Jesse Anderson said.

A $5,000 check is presented to the Make-A-Wish Foundation by seniors Jesse Anderson and Derek Taets.

The money was earned from The Nutcraker Spectacular performances.

Mackenzie Franklin

Chloe’s wish was to go to Disney World. With money that TEC earned from their production of The Nutcracker Spectacular, her trip has been scheduled for this spring.

“We were fortunate that Chloe was able to attend a show of our Nutcracker Spectacular last December,” Jesse said. “This was her music, performed by the Westlake Symphony Orchestra.”

TEC decided to sponsor Chloe after learning about her condition through Make-A-Wish.

“We chose Chloe because we understood that Leigh’s Disease was age,” Jesse said. “We certainly appreciate the ability to send a child to Disney World. They are a huge innovator in the entertainment technology world, and it is exciting to allow a child to experience the magic that entertainment technology can create.”

After the show, some of the TEC members were able to meet Chloe.

“We were lucky to get to meet Chloe and her family because we thought that she wouldn’t be able to come out due to her health,” TEC member senior Kara Fox said. “It made it a lot more real and rewarding.”

TEC members plan to continue working with Make-A-Wish.

“Everyone appreciates the ability we have to make a positive impact in the Austin community,” Jesse said. “I hope to see the legacy of this project continued for many years by TEC.” —Emily Martin

Read into this

Club creates books for children in India In room 368 on a Wednesday afternoon, a table of girls sits planning to illustrate and write original picture books. One book at a time, the members of the club The Young Kiplings are making a better childhood for the children in New Delhi, India. Passionate authors, sophomores Sara Phillips and Ananya Zachariah created the club to make sure that the patients of a children’s hospital in New Delhi don’t live through a bookless childhood.

“Stories were the best part of my childhood, and there are so many children in India that don’t get the privilege of reading books,” Ananya said. “We wanted to enable them to have that same privilege [that we had]. We really wanted to do something that would help the world, and since practically all my family lives in India, we decided to take advantage of that.”

The 11 members of the club each write and illustrate their own picture books. Sara and Ananya’s inspiration for the club came from an eighth grade English project where they both had to write a children’s story. Every other Wednesday, the girls get together to set deadlines, check their progress and brainstorm story ideas. Everyone comes up with

Young Kiplings founders sophomores Sara Phillips and Ananya Zachariah hold books to be sent to India.

Carley McNicholas

her own ideas, and they plan on sharing their ized. The story lines of these books include dancing hippos. The girls also help each other out with illustrating the books to ensure that the books look as nice as possible.

With the $180 raised from bake sales, they will have the books bound at Kinkos. The books will be sent to Ananya’s grandmother who lives in India and donated to a local chil-

dren’s hospital.

“It’s a really rewarding experience,” Sara said. “I can’t imagine not having books. They were a huge part of my childhood. They encourage imagination and learning, plus they can keep you entertained for a long time. So if we can give these kids something to read, that’s the best thing of all.”

With such a small staff, they are working their hardest to write and illustrate as many books as possible.

“We know we are not donating a huge number of books right now because the club is small, but we are planning to get the word out and expand the club,” Sara said.

Kipling, author of the children’s classic, The Jungle Book. The girls plan on continuing The Young Kiplings through their senior year.

They are hoping to expand to Mexico in the future.

“Through the club, we have learned the importance of hard work in order to help others,” Ananya said. “It is so rewarding knowchildren.”

—Margaret Norman

Four times a year, the Student Council teams up with The Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas to help gather blood for patients in need. They have collected 180 donations during the first three drives alone. There will be one more blood drive this school year, on April 3. To donate blood, you must be 17 years old, weigh at least 123 pounds, have not gotten any tattoos in the last six months, not have traveled to certain countries in a certain time frame and have a parent permission form.

September blood drive Donations collected: 47 Potential lives saved: 100 December blood drive Donations collected: 82 Potential lives saved: 174 February blood drive Donations collected: 37 Potential lives saved: 78

Blood Facts

One pint of blood can save two lives, but in some cases much more is needed.

You can’t catch infectious diseases from donating blood.

Someone needs blood every two seconds.

—Martin Celusniak

24

Heart Student Council sponsor and English teacher Melissa Dupre donates blood at a school-wide blood drive Feb. 6. She started donating blood after her mother’s struggle with lung cancer.

and soul

photos by Mackenzie Franklin

English teacher gives blood in memory of mother Forty-three thousand pints of blood are donated each day in the U.S. and Canada. Unfortunately, more than 44,000 pints are needed. For most people who donate, it’s just another way to help their community. For English teacher Melissa Dupre, it is a little more personal. Six years ago, her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer and needed multiple blood transfusions. “[My mom] lived in Georgia, and I was here [in Austin],” Dupre said. “I was frustrated because I couldn’t be there as much as I wanted to be. When I realized how much blood she was needing, it just kind of hit me one day: this is something I must do. I am certainly happy to help anybody, but it made me feel like I was doing something to directly help her.”

Sadly, her mother’s cancer was discovered in a late stage, and she passed away around nine months later.

“Once my mother passed away, I realized how great the need actually was,” Dupre said. “Even though my idea of indirectly helping her had come to an end, it was replaced by this awareness that this was my responsibility as a human being if I was capable of doing it.”

Dupre’s experience laid the foundation for her to continue donating blood, and she has done so ever since.

“I never gave blood for most of my life,” Dupre said. “It never even crossed

people + places westlakefeatherduster.com

Dupre gets her blood pressure taken before donating blood. More than 44,000 blood donations are needed every day in the U.S. and Canada.

blood, and they would stand up and faint. Once I did for the past six years. While she tries to convince others to donate as well, she recognizes that giving blood is not easy.

“I know that [giving blood] isn’t for everybody,” Dupre said. “Even as I’m trying to talk my students about the importance of it, I know that. In Student Council, we do a lot of things. Some of them are silly and some of them important. But there’s no doubt that the blood drive is the most important thing.

People come in, we do it automatically, and we think that it’s no big deal, but it only takes one car accident to wipe out the Austin blood supply, so we do make a difference.”

The next blood drive is April 4. Dupre encourages everyone who meets the requirements to take the time and donate.

“It is something that we are all going to need at some point and it’s something that we all have now,” Dupre said. “I know this is cheesy, but in a way, you pay it forward. You make a deposit into an account that I hope you never have to withdraw from, but you’ve got to build up those deposits anyway.”

—Peyton Richardson

Keep Mackenzie Franklin

Juniors Zoe Luechauer and Lindsey Horton and sophomore Carolyn Nolan volunteer at Mobile Loaves and Fishes, an organization founded by Alan Graham. Mobile Loaves and Fishes trucks feed homeless families in seven cities within six states.

on

truckin’

Charity founder creates community of giving through food The 6 o’clock sun begins to set as the food trucks pull around into the park to greet the dozens of homeless families awaiting their Sunday dinner. They begin to form a line behind the catering truck to receive, what for many, will be the only meal of their day. With eager hearts for giving, the volunteers of Mobile Loaves and Fishes shower the people with generosity in the simple act of providing a meal.

“We have a vision empowering communities into a lifestyle of service with the homeless,” founder and CEO of Mobile Loaves and Fishes Alan Graham said. “So our purpose is actually to connect human to human, heart to heart, and we do that in a number of ways. One of those ways is we use food, just like you use food in friendship. We have food around them because it brings people together.”

Graham founded Mobile Loaves and Fishes in 1997 around the is to provide nourishment and kindness to people regardless of their age, race and situation. The organization grew rapidly from humble beginnings, and now sends out more than 11 truck runs a day, 80-90 per week, each stocked with 125 meals consisting of fruit, chips, sandwiches, socks and other necessities.

“Everything stems from a spiritual retreat that I went on in 1996 “Even though intellectually I thought I knew it all, you can never rationalize without faith, so when the Holy Spirit hit me, I began to think, ‘What can I do to better His kingdom? What can I do to be better?’ And for a reason that I can only attribute to providence, God put into my brain a catering truck.”

The workplace at MLF is centered around the values of family and generosity, as witnessed by senior Christopher Bybee, who shadowed Graham for mentorship this fall semester.

“During my internship, I was exposed to a work environment [where people] put their love for helping others above money,” Christopher said. “Although money was important, serving the people in need on the streets of Austin trumped the importance of money. I thought that was a unique thing that I was very blessed to be a part of.”

Before MLF, Graham was involved in real estate, but when this desire to serve hit him, he gave up his career to pursue charitable ventures.

“When the idea got into my brain, I didn’t share it [initially],” Graham said. “But because I’d wake up every morning with the same idea, then go to bed, [the] next thing I knew I had it planted in every church

shared it with my wife. I had in mind a distribution vehicle from those of us who have abundance to those that lack abundance, so it’s really that simple.”

In the past 10 years, thousands of Austinites have been given the opportunity to serve on these MLF truck runs or food distributions.

MLF commissary to load up the trucks and step out of their comfort zones for a few extra service hours and a different perspective on the homeless community.

“My favorite part is taking people out there and watching the transformation that occurs,” Graham said. “And for a lot of people it might begin with just raw fear like, ‘Oh my God we’re gonna stop here on this street corner or this park or alleyway and serve these people.’ But blowing through that spiritual wall of stereotyping people, and having them come out the other side and being like ‘Oh my God this is awesome. I want to do that again.’ I love that part of it.”

While meals are MLF’s main focus, they dig deeper, offering counseling services, and now small businesses, like woodshops and waterless carwashes to help employ people and get them back on their feet. MLF claims that the number one cause of homelessness is loss of a family member, followed by addiction and crime.

“Some of the juvenile delinquents come over to the commissary to work and I always ask them what they did, and it’s always ‘Minor in possession, you know, I stole something,’” Graham said. “I love taking them out on the street and saying, ‘These guys, the ones with no teeth and the leathery skin, worn out, sad, they were 16 once and they looked awesome.’”

The reality check that comes with truck runs is priceless, and never ceases to amaze Westlake students. Mobile Loaves is one of the most unteers to lower their walls in a judgment-free environment, but it also introduces them to a community of people who are passionate about helping others and giving back.

“We get so caught up in our own problems that we forget the right way to act and the right way to treat people,” regular volunteer junior Madi Goll said. “Meeting the homeless, listening to their stories, talking to them and learning about their lives and who they are as people makes you step back and realize that you’re a part of a society. Our problems won’t matter in 10 years and these people don’t talk about what they’ve lost, but what they have.”

—Elizabeth Emery

Senior helps raise money to open school, has life-changing experience

Charity in Cambodia Interested in doing your own mission work or cultural exploration? Here are some organizations students have used to get you started: Adventures Cross-Country Offering multiple trips across six continents, ARCC focuses on community service and cultural immersion. Primary locations include Costa Rica, Spain, Africa and Asia.

Austin Smiles This home-based foundation embarks on a handful of one-week trips that help restore palates and cleft lips in various Latin American locations.

Putney Student Travel Whether you’re looking for mission work, language learning or just a cultural experiece, Putney matches you with the right trip.

Rustic Pathways Explore, live and donate your time in places ranging from Australia and Burma to Peru and everywhere in between.

Since kindergarten, senior Sarah Guthrie has been a part of a charity group she helped found in 2000 called Sweet Charity Girls. The girls formed the group with a simple purpose: to help others.

Over the years, they’ve done service projects such as making and selling scarves and baked goods, raising money for Hurricane Katrina evacuees and the 2004 tsunami relief and helping the Red Cross. She never imagined this charity group would take her all the way to Cambodia to witness the opening of a school for which she helped raise funds.

During their sophomore year, the girls started to think about doing something big for their senior project.

“One of the team member’s moms had said there is a lot of illiteracy in Cambodia and that they’re always looking for people to donate,” Sarah said. “We found an organization called American Assistance for Cambodia where you raise the money, and they do the building.”

The American Assistance for Cambodia has built more than 470 schools across villages in Cambodia since 1999.

“It has taken about every day since we started three years ago to raise the money, which was $13,000 total.” Sarah said.

The school was completed last summer. Sarah, along with fellow group member St. Stephens senior Danielle Strasburger, received the opportunity to

travel to Cambodia and see what their hard work had accomplished. opener,” Sarah said. “It wasn’t like going to some places where they have really nice tourist areas. It is all poverty when you get there. There are some nice hotels, but every street has people begging for money. Kids are running around naked, skinny and selling whatever they can. It’s culture shock. There’s completely different food, money, language and you have to adjust. The trip wasn’t as much of a vacation as an educational experience.”

Sarah was in a small village outside of Phnom Penh, the capital and largest city of Cambodia. cause I was expecting the touristy things like the nice hotels and different people,” Sarah said. “But after a couple of days, I got used to it. We had a tour guide, so we went to all the good restaurants. We also went to temples — a lot of temples.”

After being introduced to the area, the two girls surprised,” Sarah said. “There was a really big setup. on the driveway. There were big purple and orange awnings, and they had microphones for us. There was also a blanket they had laid out that we knelt on friend and I were wearing yoga pants and t-shirts and really regretted not wearing something nicer.”

Sarah and Danielle passed out school supplies and Texas pins as gifts to the children as a representation of where the money for their school was raised. The Sweet Charity Girls named the school met.

“The school was a lot smaller compared to our high school,” Sarah said. “It was primary up to high

courtesy photo

Sweet Charity Girl senior Sarah Guthrie prepares to cut the opening ribbon for the Blue Jay School in a village outside of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Sweet Charity Girls raised $13,000 for The American Assistance for Cambodia to construct the school.

26

interested in talking to us, but only a couple of kids spoke a little bit of English. When we talked about music, they would say a celebrity like Selena Gomez and just start singing, but they wouldn’t know what the words meant or be able to say anything else.”

After the trip, Sarah came back with a new viewpoint on life.

“Once you go through a culture experience like that, you see that the kids don’t have practically anything compared to us,” Sarah said. “We all have our phones and cameras and stuff, and they only have simple school supplies just because someone donated them. If I’ve learned one thing, it’s to not take for granted what you have.”

—Rachel Cooper

courtesy photos

Left: Preparing to assist in the surgical removal of an umbilical hernia in a local hospital, junior Brooke Newsom (right) and another volunteer dress in scrubs.

Center: Children in Kapchorwa, a village near Kampala, excitedly smile and crowd around the camera when the volunteers arrive. “Seeing the looks on the little kids’ faces in the villages was amazing,” Brooke said.

Right: Brooke and her father, Gary Newsom, made the trip together to Uganda. He is planning to return this summer to continue his projects there.

On a mission Summer charity work in Uganda opens volunteer’s eyes 8,531 miles: the distance between Texas and Uganda.

For most of us, this journey is unfathomable. For junior Brooke Newsom, it was reality.

For two weeks this past summer, Brooke and her father volunteered their time in Kampala and Entebbe, Uganda. Along with the help of Patrick Mutono, a family friend who runs a hospital in Uganda, the group spent its time running free clinics in the cities and neighboring villages, as well as playing with the children in the area.

“The goal was really just to help people and make sure that everyone could get treated,” Brooke said. “That’s one of the reasons I wanted to go. I heard about this from my dad, who had been there two years ago. He’s the one who really encouraged me. I knew I was lucky to have this opportunity. I just wanted to go and live this experience.”

The group of volunteers was comprised of 12 members and headed

by Mutono. A typical day for them began at 7:30 a.m., followed by breakfast and a bumpy, 30-minute drive along unpaved roads from their hotel in Kampala to the nearby hospital. On a slow day, the work was mainly routine pill counting for the clinics. However, Brooke was also given the chance to assist with the surgical removal of an umbilical hernia from a 4-year-old boy.

“My job during the surgery was just handing over supplies,” Brooke said. “Surprisingly, it was really interesting to watch. I’d never seen

clinic and play with the kids until 6:30 p.m. before heading back home.

“I actually experienced my favorite moment in the villages,” Brooke said. “We had carried Dum-Dum lollipops with us, and the kids just got super excited. They were pretty much attacking me. There was even one little girl who just kept following me around. The whole thing was extremely cute.”

Kampala and Entebbe are the two largest cities in Uganda. In fact, oughs. Contrary to popular belief, the city is actually becoming quite modern. Old, dilapidated buildings are slowly being renovated, and new buildings are springing up. However, though the city is making improvements, poverty is still prominent in the nearby slums.

“The situation in Uganda is not as bad as people think,” Brooke

decided to help out with something different because the sight of blood was making my stomach queasy.”

After lunch, the group journeyed to the villages to continue its work. There was a pastor traveling among them, and they usually began with a sermon before opening the clinic. They would work in the

ing the looks on the little kids’ faces in the villages was amazing. You see these people who have nothing but are still so happy. It has made me thankful for what I have.”

—Monica Rao

see that there are many people living in poverty. But the people there work hard to keep things going. I think sometimes Americans stereotype the conditions there.” father to continue the same mission work. Her father and uncle have recently invested in a water bottle company, through which they hope to bring clean drinking water to Uganda.

“This trip was just extremely rewarding,” Brooke said. “It was an

Senior Rachel Nauert interacts with the children of a village in Haiti during spring break 2012.

“I first heard about [Haiti] from [my] camp,” Rachel said.

“It seemed like a good opportunity for me to help people in another country.”

Hiatus in Haiti

courtesy photos

Volunteer travels with a mission group to Haiti, changes her view on life Dozens of children run up as strangers approach the camp. They stop playing the soccer game that previously occupied them and jump with joy, preparing to receive the unusual people with the fascinating, foreign gifts they carried.

This is Haiti.

Laity Lodge Youth Camp, a Christian summer youth camp in Leakey, Texas and the camp that senior Rachel Nauert has attended for the past seven consecutive summers, offers a mission trip to Haiti for sophomore, junior and senior camp-goers. The team spent a week in Haiti last spring break from March 11 - 17. Because of her positive experiences, Rachel returned to Haiti this past spring break. center of the village and we were greeted by everyone there,” Rachel said. “The kids would run up to you and grab your hand. They just wanted you to play with them. They had unconditional love towards you, and you didn’t even know them. They just wanted to get to know you, to climb on you or [for you] to take a picture with them. Most of them have never they look like from [my] camera was really cool. They just loved to be near you. They are really kind, open and just really caring.”

In spite of their high spirits, the people of Haiti, and especially the children, were lacking certain necessities such as enough food to eat and clothes to wear every day. With the $1,000 each person going to Haiti had to raise prior to coming on the trip, the Haitians were able to receive one hot meal per day to help improve their nutrition. Normally, the only food available to them is a meal of rice, beans and plantains.

“It was nice to see them actually getting a

28

meal because a lot of the kids don’t get a meal or food every day and a lot of them don’t have the right clothing,” Rachel said. “A bunch of the little boys didn’t have any pants on, they just ran around naked. That was a common sight.”

In addition to the already apparent poverty in Haiti, the people of Haiti are still recovering from a natural disaster that happened three years ago. On Jan. 12, 2010, a 7-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti near Port-au-Prince.

It is estimated that 316,000 people were killed and over 300,000 people were injured as a result.

“When we got there, I was totally taken aback by the conditions that they lived in,” Rachel said. “I knew about it because there was an earthquake in Haiti, but nothing could prepare you for that. It was really eye-opening.”

Rachel was able to experience the simpler way of life that is commonplace to the people in the village. The team stayed in concrete contained bunk beds but no air-conditioning. “[The villagers] had really run-down houses,” Rachel said. “They were pretty much rock houses with mats [inside]; there was no electricity or running water and no air-conditioning. They really didn’t have a lot.”

The group did a number of day-to-day activities during their stay. Some of the choices were to work with the medical team, to run activities with the kids such as games or arts and crafts or to work on construction projects in the village.

“One of the main things we did was dig a trench to run an electrical conduit down a mountain, to run [power] to the village generator so they could have electricity,” Rachel said. “It was a bunch of digging and it was re-

ally hard so we had to hire some Haitian men to help us.”

With mainly manual labor during the day, the group usually took a break from the work at night, enjoying spending time with the villagers and teaching them about the Christian religion.

“We helped run church every night,” Rachel said. “We did skits from the Bible, and we incorporated the Haitian kids and they got to dress up as shepherds; they really enjoyed that. We sang songs, and they sang in Creole, so we just clapped. I thought that was fun because we got to experience church with new people in a different way than we normally do.”

Despite the language barrier, Rachel made a connection with all the children she met in the camp and wanted to help them as much as she could.

“When I was in the village, playing with the kids, I didn’t know any French so they would try to talk to me and I would just stare at them and they would laugh at me,” she said. “They would always say ‘Give me’ because they would want everything. If I had bracelets, a necklace or a water bottle, watch or headband, they just wanted it all. We did bring presents for them, small things. I wanted to give them everything.”

Her trip to Haiti made Rachel realize that although they could only do so much, they were making a difference. Rachel hopes to help alleviate the situation in Haiti and spend as much time with the children as she can when she returns.

“I wanted to go back [again this spring life,” Rachel said. “I just wanted to keep helping out and keep doing what I could for these kids and villagers.”

—Catherine Mear

The best

medicine

Aspiring surgeon assists medical procedures in Guatemala

T

The anticipation and fear were settling in. As the distance to the gate grew continually shorter, the image of her mom traveled farther and farther away. Senior Gillian Wright was leaving behind her family, her friends and all the other comforts of home in the United States to spend eight days with 104 strangers.

Gillian was invited to go on a medical mission trip to Guatemala last spring by the doctor who delivered her 17 years ago, Dr. Ted Fogwell. In Guatemala, Gillian would receive the chance to observe surgeries performed on patients who couldn’t have afforded it otherwise.

“I was scared that I would spend the whole week alone,” Gillian said. “I didn’t really know anyone.”

started cutting, and it wasn’t scary. I didn’t get nauseous; I didn’t throw up. I stood there for an hour and a half, and I just watched everything and afterwards everyone said ‘I can’t believe you just stood through that. You must really have a knack for this.’” attend more. In the middle of another hernia surgery one night, the power in the clinic went out. A rebellion had broken out in the main power sector of Guatemala due to high prices.

“We had already cut the woman open, and we were putting the mesh in,” Gillian said. “We couldn’t stop at that point. We couldn’t reverse it.”

To keep the surgery going, the team in the clinic had to resort to

would be staying in was that sanitation wasn’t a high priority. condition of the patient with the hernia and the two other patients in “There were dirty rivers running down the side of the mountain, the middle of their operations. and [the Guatemalans] would just use scrap metal for shelters,” Gillian “That was a little bit frightening, but then it turned into something said. “So it was a little bit frightening comical because we were holding up because that’s something I have just never been exposed to.” so the surgeons could work,” she said. “It Although the atmosphere of Guahad already been a long day, and we had temala wasn’t a familiar setting, the already missed dinner. It was just crazy.” persona of the locals reminded her of In addition to that mishap, Gillian got home in Texas. to experience another surgical anomaly “Even though we live in the South, [I during the removal of a cancerous tuthought that] everyone [in Guatemala] mor. Because the tumor and the patient’s was so nice and welcoming,” Gillian facial muscles intertwined, the surgery said. “There, everyone I met gave me a ended up lasting nine hours. Gillian hug and told me ‘Thank you,’ everyone learned about the unpredictability of the was so grateful that we were there.”

The day-to-day schedule was tight, “You can’t know until you cut in,” with pediatric work lasting about four to she said. “It takes a lot of stamina when Senior Gillian Wright watches a surgery in Guatemala during a blackout. She spent eight you’re expecting to do a two-hour surdays there observing surgeries and assisting the medical team during spring break 2012. gery, and you’re forced to do a nine-hour courtesy photo surgery. It was something extreme, but I six hours at a time.

“Sometimes in the night I would have to get up and help with the also felt like that’s what part of being a surgeon is all about. There are patients even though I’m not a trained professional because the night some things you just can’t know. Even with all this technology nowanurses there have even less medical experience than I did,” she said. days like MRIs and CAT scans, there are just some things you don’t know until you physically cut in and see what’s there, see what you’re patients staying overnight so you really have to have people who know dealing with.” what they’re doing.”

Gillian thought that she experienced something in Guatemala that The medical availability in Guatemala is poor with, on average, one she wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do here in the United States. hospital bed per 2000 people. The overall health of the country is also “Doing [a mentorship program] here in the United States is differsuffering, indicated with a high percentage of infant mortality due to ent from doing it there because they take what they can get,” she said. malnutrition.

“I took people’s blood pressure, blood sugar and prepped them for the “The biggest thing I saw in kids was probably measles, chicken pox doctor. That’s not something that you get to do in the U.S. I don’t think and tonsillitis,” she said. “Another big thing was diabetes type 2, adult they really want 16-year-olds handling sterile gauze. I was there, so on-set. That’s probably because of their diet — they would have corn they used me.” tortillas, a cup of coffee and black beans for breakfast and then have The hands-on experience helped make Gillian’s career path clearer. the exact same thing for lunch. I think that was a big issue.”

“I didn’t always know that I wanted to be a doctor,” Gillian said. “I was about 14 when I decided that it was something that really interested me, but I was always sort of apprehensive because before I went on ies.

“I was nervous going in because everyone there was telling me ‘If go on this trip and actually meeting doctors and talking to them about you feel faint, light-headed, nauseous, you need air or anything, tell what they do every day really made me more passionate about it.” us because we don’t want you to feel uncomfortable,’’’ she said. “They —Catherine Mear

Hope springs eternal

T

The community of Mahiga, which is located north of Nairobi, heard about it. Malnourishment was a major problem, many children did not go to high school and the schools that the children did go to -

really sweet. And then I also donated The Golden Compass, which is an with building the school, was by building a basketball court that has rainwater collectors and solar panels attached.

“The solar panels are on the rainwater court,” said Christy Pipkin,

active Westlake community members Turk and Christy Pipkin, who

-

-

in Kenya to develop their libraries. They exceeded their goal and collected enough

“

Because they live in rural Kenya, you’d expect things to be very different and there would be a big culture divide, but it’s just really easy to get along with them.

—senior Lily Pipkin

asked to bring a book that was special to them and write a note inside

”

have power to the school now. And when we realistic when we compared the price on just having the power brought in by the Kenyan power company.”

“When we built the new kitchen, we put Pipkin said. “It used to be they just cooked on -

ings.” vegetables in the school lunches come.

Frankenstein,” agency about putting in a greenhouse, and greenhouse gardening is a revenue-maker, so the school could make some money. Right now book that was important to her.

The Story of Ferdinand

courtesy photo

Above: Boys from Mahiga Hope High School compete against each other on the rainwater court. Basketball games provide a sense of community and often serve as a location for people selling their wares.

Right: On the rainwater court, the Mahiga Hope dance team performs. The clothing and face paint the dancers wear is part of a traditional celebratory welcoming dance called kikuyu.

30

courtesy photo

Westlake students, Nobelity Project help Kenyan school libraries with book drive life in the October 2010 Featherduster story about Mahiga Hope High School, has had a lot happen in his life since his previous story ran. He contracted and overcame malaria, went to Uganda to visit his mother, made it onto a university’s basketball team and is waiting to class to graduate from Mahiga Hope High School at the end of their subject SATs,” Pipkin said, “but it takes quite a while to grade them. your scores, if you pass. And then in February or March, they get their scores back from these tests, and it will determine what [college or what we think of as vocational school] they can go on to. A lot of kids in Kenya repeat senior year. It’s not uncommon, even if they pass.

If they don’t score well enough to get into the school of their choice, they’ll repeat and try and improve their grades.”

It is easy for Westlake to think that there would be huge differences she noticed that this wasn’t the case. there would be a big culture divide, but it’s just really easy to get along with them. They do really similar schoolwork. They take chemistry, physics and algebra. You can talk about the same things we do here.

Or, all the boys at the school play basketball. And they all make fun of me because I’m bad at basketball. It’s no different.” fund and advance construction of Mahiga Hope High School itself and the rainwater court. This basketball court has brought much more than clean water to this community, though.

“That area is very rural, and there’s no real town center, but since the basketball court’s been built, the local schools have all started playing in a tournament [there],” Pipkin said. “The whole area sort of convenes there. People sell vegetables now, and there’s a little com merce that’s come along with that.”

Even though it is easy to get caught up in the cheerful success sto ries, Mahiga is not a perfect community.

“I was visiting the preschool,” Pipkin said. “They’re 3 and 4 years old. One of the girls from the high school came over and was play ing with one of the kids. I said, ‘Oh, is this your little brother?’ And

Christy Pipkin

Top: A farmer from the Mahiga area shows off a carrot from the garden Nobelity Project helped to create.

Bottom: Head librarian Carolyn Foote and Nobelity Project representative Bailey McEachern present the books collected in the 1000 Books for Hope drive.

I went, ‘Oh, OK, help me remember the reality here.’ This is some of what these girls need — to be able to go to school and stay out of teen pregnancy and early marriage.”

Mahiga may not be ideal, but their community has changed very children are attending high school because they can walk to it, the quality of school is better and the garden at Mahiga Hope provides vegetables for school lunches. The citizens of this community are very their stories are serious.

“We came back [one] year, and to celebrate us coming, they did a all of the subjects. One boy named Timothy decided that he was going to dissect a rabbit. And he did, right there.”

—Madeline Dupre

courtesy photo

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It starts with an idea. pg. 41 The idea is interpreted, captured and transformed. pg. 48

The transformation is revealed to an audience.

pg. 52

pg. 51

And the audience is you. pg. 50

pg. 34 photos and photo manipulations by Laura Doolittle, Carley McNicholas, ZoĂŤ Nathan, Monica Tan and Rachel Williams

Quite

Spencer Flynn di

pho ĂŤN

y Zo on b

ulati

anip

to m n

atha

E 34

ven though the byline at the end of this story says otherwise, senior Spencer Flynn wrote this story all on his own. I interviewed him, typed up what I recorded and put it in an order that seemed to make sense. Interviewing him was an interesting experience; he was all over the place, interrupting himself.

He was fully aware of how interviewing for print works and spoke directly to you, the reader.

trends + traditions westlakefeatherduster.com

e the character

ishes out life lessons, gives insight into film aspirations “Please include every self-deprecating thing I say in here,” Spencer said. “I want to look like an idiot — I am the biggest idiot. I’m probably the least verbose person that I know. I’m sorry if you’re reading this and it doesn’t make one ounce of sense. I’m sorry if I say ‘like’ 11 times in one sentence. If you’re reading this, stop now.

Your IQ will only go down.”

Over the past 10 years, Spencer has been working towards his goal of becoming an enterwas young. The atmosphere movies create for He began to explain to me how movies have shaped his life and future.

“Movies are my favorite thing,” he said. “I have always wanted to make movies. I literally do not care about anything else. It’s disgusting how I like movies more than I like anyone I know — I should probably have more emotions.

Movies are my favorite thing because there’s kind of a universal attitude that you have as a that you’ve never talked to and that you don’t have anything in common with other than the fact that you’re watching the same movie. Your emotions are kind of gauged with the rest of the audience’s emotions. Not only do they bring people together, but also they’re a great storytelling device.” duction since he was young, starting out with hired an agent.

“It was not at all my parents’ decision,” he said. “My mom didn’t want me to do it. I was just a really hammy kid. I wanted my parents’ attention desperately. I was that loud kid in class; I [still] am that loud kid in class. It’s not that I think that what I have to say is any better than what other people have to say, it’s that I’m really good at yelling. That’s the only reason [becoming an entertainer] might work out.”

Spencer confessed that when he was young, he began auditioning for children’s television with minimal success.

“I admit,” he said, “I am a failed child actor.

I wanted to be on Disney Channel more than anything. I wasn’t good enough at being bad enough at acting. There’s that certain quality of acting on Disney Channel that’s a little too happy-go-lucky.”

After a few years of auditioning for various roles and being cast with smaller parts, Spencer was given a lead role in a movie called The Retelling.

and it was horrible,” he said. “We shot it for two dead on the ground for just days on end. That kind of sucked.”

After his experience with The Retelling, Spencer started to expand his horizons into other parts of entertainment. He was looking for “I started to do commercials,” he said. “I did a commercial for H-E-B recently that aired during the Super Bowl. Commercials pay really well, but they’re not as fun to do. I like telling stories, and characters belong as a part of stories. The thing I don’t like about television is that the characters are the center point of the story. I mean, there’s nothing like a good ol’ archetype, but I would never want to live in TV. I wouldn’t

“

that’s more of a subplot. It’s about this boy who thinks that chairs that sing is a great idea. He’s pitching it to all of his friends and they tell him that his idea sucks.”

Spencer hopes to continue in movie production.

Exit The Zone, tells the story of a lonely teenager.

“I lived in the friend zone until this year,” he said. “After stewing in the broth that was the friend zone, I realized how bad it sucked. So, I starting writing about it. It’s about this kid who has a literal friend zone in his head. It has all of this girl’s past rejects.

They all convene and try to help him, for lack of better words, exit the zone. They try to help him on his date.

It was a fun challenge.

I learned a lot about directing.”

Spencer created

Physically, I want to be George Clooney. That’d be a cool thing to morph into.

That’s not gonna happen, but a boy can dream, can’t he? A boy can dream until he dies at a gas station.

—senior Spencer Flynn

with just a good TV show. Movies stand for themselves a lot better. They have higher replay value, and most importantly they know when to end.”

With few options for roles, Spencer sought a solution. He wasn’t auditioning as often because

”

“As a bitter, young, angsty teenage ‘girl,’ I began to write parts for myself,” he said. “I know how self-indulgent that is, but no one was writing parts for me. If I could write my own parts, I could do exactly what I wanted to and no one could tell me otherwise. So, I did. It’s go-

from now and I’m working at Denny’s, disregard this.”

After writing his own parts, Spencer found a love for writing and directing. When entering Westlake as a freshman, he signed up to take a “I’ve never taken drama at Westlake,” he dium, theater has sort of reached its peak. There have never been done before. The next movie I want to make is a musical. It’s going to be the dumbest thing ever. I want it to be so stupid that people look at the cover and say, ‘Let’s lose at least eight or nine IQ points because this looks horrible.’ I want it to be called ‘Musical Chairs.’

It’s about a bunch of chairs that sing. Well,

purpose of sending it to possible future colleges.

Spencer wants to study college, something he learned about in depth while working on the

“[Exit the Zone] turned out well,” he said. “It was nice to have the support from such a talented cast and crew, particularly Hunter Rainard and Jack Gage who are beautiful human beings. If you see them in the hallway, give them a hug. I could never have done it without them. I’m proud of what we made because, if nothing else, it’s better than what most other high schoolers are making. But is there an audience for it? I think most high schoolers probably don’t want to watch another wouldn’t.”

After half an hour of interviewing, I was running out of questions to ask Spencer. He had said more than enough for a great story to be created. He kept rambling on about everything from movies to Cheetos to how great it would be to have detachable hands. Already laughing, I asked him what his plans were for the future and where he honestly saw himself years from now.

“I’m going to make movies and I’m going to die in a little cottage off the coast of Ireland,” he said. “That’s not true: I’m probably going to myself dead at a gas station in Minnesota. My

family resents me, and they are going to be horrifat and the years have not been kind to me. There is a bottle of soda shattered on the ground — maybe a Mr Pibb, not even a Dr Pepper, but some off-

HIS

pair of hands, and they are currently on my body.

PICKS

1

see myself.”

The entertainment business is hard to get into, term meatheads — some kids have the mentallike to be on Saturday Night Live. to go into being a cast member but starting there

WALL-E

“Seriously, my favorite opening 20 minutes of any movie I’ve ever seen. Bridges the generational gap with ease; it’s hard to keep a 5-year-old’s attention without dialogue.”

2

(500) Days of Summer SNL

available.”

There are multiple sides of entertainment in

those skills to be a better actor and director and entertainer.”

Looking back over his four years at Westlake, lescent truths.

multiple occasions.

peaking in high school is by no means a cool thing The Music Man the role of Professor Harold Hill, a misunderstood

The Music Man is pretty much the end of my theater their coupons and continue.”

With high expectations and a bit of comedic to take. Hopefully, his talents in entertainment

“Ferris Bueller, you’re my hero.

This is the movie I watch when I’m sick. Or bored. Or sad. Or happy. It’s perfect for any and all occasions.”

“Literally drenched in style.

Tarantino is the master of cool, from the nonlinear narrative to the funky soundtrack. This movie made me want to be a screenwriter.”

4

5

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

fate he dreams of. felt as a middle schooler. The social norm of playing sports made him stand out. Until getting place in certain social circles. they have to become repulsively pornographic, -

36

3

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Pulp Fiction

A Year with Frog and Toad

-

“I think this will someday be considered one of the classic romantic comedies — the antithesis to the chick flick, and the ultimate breakup movie.”

—Caitlyn Kerbow

“Stop what you’re doing and watch this. It’s so good it makes me angry.”

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Movie It’s Saturday night, and you’re in the mood for a good movie. Problem is, you don’t know

—Sara Phillips

Funny films Clerks

Date movies Silver Linings Playbook After being released from an institution,

Silver Linings Playbook is heartfelt and humorous, with danc ing, football and lots of comedy.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

his girlfriend and deals with a slew of Clerks and full of crazy characters.

Clueless

She’s the Man ies, an athletic girl disguises herself as her

ous antics ensue. It’s hard not to laugh at the ridiculous ‘90s clothes, materialistic of laughs to go around in this hilarious tale

“Ugh, as if!”

(500) Days of Summer Little Miss Sunshine

As his memories are erased, he realizes he

Chick flicks

country to get their daughter to a beauty

When a beautiful and cynical woman breaks the heart of a greeting card writer, stars the quirky Zooey Deschanel and the beatable duo with great chemistry.

27 Dresses

It Happened One Night

A woman who has been a bridesmaid in 27 different weddings must face the fact that her little sister is engaged to the man she romantic, and it’s interesting to watch act

full of romance and bridesmaid dresses so them.

38

art by Ariana Gomez Reyes and Michaela Moss

mania Must-see movies

Coming-of-age films

Pulp Fiction The stories of two hit men, a pair of crooks, a gangster’s wife and a boxer intertwine in this cult classic. If you don’t mind the

Moonrise Kingdom On a New England island in the 1960s, two together. This sends every inhabitant on kids before a huge storm hits. Moonrise Kingdom is a charming, clever movie that anyone who remembers that awkward stage in life will enjoy.

An Education When a 16-year-old girl who dreams of attending Oxford falls in love with an older and making choices that could alter her life completely. Any girl in high school can re-

Creepy flicks Black Swan An innocent ballerina is cast as the lead role in Swan Lake. As she tries to embody the evil black swan, her mental health quickly begins to deteriorate. The dancer’s hallucinations become more frequent and frightening as the movie progresses, and by the end you won’t know what was real and what was in her head.

love sitting back and enjoying the wild ride of this movie. It’s well acted, well written and well made by one of the most original directors of our time.

The Princess Bride When pirates kill her true love, the world’s most beautiful woman agrees to marry a conniving prince. A giant, a fencer and a genius Sicilian kidnap her shortly after her engagement, and she discovers that there may be hope after all for her lost love. The Princess Bride is a witty and action-packed love story that people of all ages can enjoy.

that the main character has to make.

The Perks of Being Two seniors befriend a shy freshman and transform his life in this uplifting movie.

Perks is a reminder that the people we love should never be taken for granted and true friends can get you through anything.

The Silence of the Lambs An FBI agent must catch a deranged murderer who skins his victims, but she can’t do it without the help of incarcerated killer Hannibal Lecter. The Silence of the Lambs is creepy yet fascinating, something that should never be watched alone in the dark.

The Exorcist pea soup vomit. The Exorcist combines all of these in a story of a young girl possessed by a demon. This is the perfect Halloween movie.

The Shawshank Redemption An intelligent man is sent to jail for a murder he did not commit. He forges a deep friendship with one of the inmates and a better place. The Shawshank Redemption is a fascinating tale of corruption and friendship, and the fact that Morgan Freeman narrates it makes it that much better.

The set of Arroyo High School from The Lying Game, when unused, is a place to store uneeded scenery.

Behind the silver screen photos by Alexis Huynh

Curious students search for answers at local film studio Have you ever wondered what it’s like on the other side of the big screen? We ventured out to The Lying Game and Parkland

—Alexis Huynh and ZZ Lundburg The Featherduster: How do you make sure all the small things are placed where they were scene after scene?

Community education manager Katy Dial: There’s a person hired on set for continuity. This person holds a script and stands by FD: side the building that they are supposedly walking into?

KD:

FD: How does the green screen actually work?

Film editor Chris Westerman: that footage into editing and apply an effect which allows you to select

-

a high school. On the the side of the set, there would only be a row of lighting is different.

FD: What behind-the-scenes effects or tricks are used that the audience would have never noticed?

CW: is real when none of it is. First, everything that is shot is usually color

FD: KD: easy shot. new signs, paint out cables or unwanted objects in the shot, stabilize FD: Do actors get to mold their character or is there already a character background that they have to follow?

KD: are portrayed. Also, when auditioning, the actors audition with what

were not actually there. In editing, it can go as far as piecing together captured if done well. The audience won’t notice if you do it right.

FD:

FD: What are the relationships between the director, producer and scriptwriter?

KD: -

years ago?

CW: Ten years ago, it was very hard to distribute corporate video or origi-

the words into scenes. video has been big. The resolutions that video can achieve are far largFD: Do actors actually do their own stunts or do they always have a stunt double?

KD:

to be shot on video today because it is less expensive. The costs of

On the scene

Film student finds niche

HIS PICKS

1

Interview With a Vampire

2

How to Train Your Dragon

3

Django Unchained

photo by Zoë Nathan photo manipulation by Laura Doolittle

Going to the movie theater is a captivating experience. Stories are displayed through a projector onto a big screen for people to enjoy and be entertained with the characters and

-

want to write where all the characters are the with dialogue is that it needs to sound natural

but actually knowing what hard work and is another. Senior Charlie Schwan has had

practically all of his life. career. inspiration is one of the biggest challenges in

a great scene that would go with the song

is relying on his passion to reach his goal of

disappointed because it was supposed to be

-

people relying on you like producers to follow

Deceptive -

Ambush

said. “They were so stupid and had no point.

Django Unchained —Kathryn Revelle

Art life imitating

Actor reflects on the effects of performing

He didn’t feel the lights on him. He wasn’t thinking about his lines or direction. He felt like a phantom watching himself acting.

He felt the raw pain of being seen as who he was onstage. Senior John Austin felt the most beautiful he ever had in that moment. He saw that humanity is made up of so many ugly and painful and incredible things. Acting let John see who he really was.

John has been acting since the fourth grade when his mother put him and his brother in an improv acting camp called Rags to Riches.

“We had this skit where we would pretend to be old men,” John said. “We would do all these different things that you wouldn’t believe old people doing, like playing baseball. One of us would be the pitcher, and one of us would be the batter. There were problems like we couldn’t hold up the bat or couldn’t throw the ball. It was awesome to share the experience of laughing with everyone.”

It only took one summer for John to connect with acting. Since then, he has taken to the art, participating in prestigious acting camps all over the country.

“The coolest one I’ve done was New York Film Academy,” John said. “A group of actors from around the nation went to Los Angeles.

We were there for three weeks without our parents, and we had eighthour days of classes — everything from improv to technical acting for auditioning. It was like college for acting. We actually got to go out and in class and try it out.”

Through the camps and classes, John has fallen in love with everything about acting. He feels most connected to the rest of the world while he is onstage. “[The best part of acting is] the sharing. It’s so incredible and so freeing,” John said. “It’s a sense of involvement that you have with the actors onstage and with your character and with the audience. It all goes back to sharing and connecting with people. With acting, you’re

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Having performed in many programs and productions since childhood, senior John Austin has a storied acting career. photo by Ryan Stankard photo manipulation by Zoë Nathan

getting so much sensory input. Being onstage is one of the rare places where you can go and connect to so many different things at one time.

I love being plugged in to what makes people, people. I love sharing stories; I love digging into stories. Onstage, it all comes together and is electricity.”

Before any show is released, John thoroughly prepares for his roles.

Not only does he memorize direction and lines, but he also tries to understand the character that he will portray.

“Taking grains from the script and seeing where you plug in emo-

said. “Can I do this character justice? Can I tell a story that will connect? Will I be able to share an experience?”

Exploring characters has made John think critically about humanity as well.

“I’m far from knowing what it means to be human,” John said. “I ured it out, what’s the point of living anymore? Gandhi said, ‘Learn as if you were going to live forever, live as if you were going to die tomorrow.’ It’s a process of continual exploration. On the same note, getting into characters and exploring the sense of what it is to be human and the human condition in different facets and in different lives develops a sense of empathy. I want that feeling of connection. I want to strive for that in people-to-people conversation offstage. It’s given me a sense of urgency with connecting to people that I wouldn’t have found in any other area.”

John plans to go to college to study acting and perform on stages and screens for the rest of his life. He says that he does not have a dream show that he wants to be cast in.

“It’s more a dream to be immersed in enlivening art,” John said.

“Art that captures a person and won’t let go.”

—Hannah Turner

Chariots of Fire 3 1Good WillDHunting ead Poets Society

2

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On the

The British are coming

As our world globalizes, everything from politics to culture, environment to economy becomes increasingly interconnected between people and countries. Television is no exception. In recent years, K-dramas from South Korea and telenovelas from Mexico have been offered up to the American pub-

—Katelyn Connolly

The Modern Classic:

Sherlock

What It’s About: The plotlines of Sherlock episodes are based on the famous stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but each scenario is transported to the modern day. Holmes and his loyal companion, John Watson, gallivant through the streets of 21st century London solving complex crimes and exposing dark conspiracies, all the while aided by every modern convenience. This technology-age take on the classic character provides a fresh, intellectually challenging perspective on the detective, playing up his dark wit and sociopathic tendencies. Benedict Cumberbatch soars in the title role, which seems Public Opinion: “I’ve always loved Sherlock Holmes, so I was interested in BBC’s version before I even watched it. As soon as I saw the reinterpretation of the classic series. It has all the marks of great teleStar Power: Ever since Sherlock broke onto the global scene, its stars have hardly gotten a break. Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch, already established actors, gained mega-star status with this show and the many new projects they’ve been offered since, including The Hobbit.

How You Can Watch: The third series of Sherlock just began

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The Original:

The Office UK

What It’s About: Company in Slough, England was the precursor to Steve Carell’s The . In fact, the early episodes of the American version have many of the exact same plotlines as the Slough story, and most of the British characters have doppelgangers in the U.S. However, Ricky Gervais’ David Brent is, if you can imagine it, even more awkward than Michael Scott and his offensiveness is even more outrageous.

Public Opinion: “The reason why I started watching [ UK Martin Freeman is in it, and then I saw that it was awesome so I kept watching. I think it’s funnier than more Nely Ramirez Twinsies: and Michael from The are called Dawn, Tim, Gareth and David in , respectively. The names may be different, but the personalities of these beloved paper salesmen are shockingly recognizable despite an oceanic barrier.

How You Can Watch: This show originally ran from 2001 to

The Throwback:

Fawlty Towers What It’s About: tered and irritated owner of the Fawlty Towers hotel, and this show chronicles his various misadventures concerning pesky guests, screeching wife Sybil and confused waiter Miguel. Some scenarios may seem bizarre, but the hotel thrives on mishaps and the comical misery which they produce. All Fawlty wants is for his hotel to be recognized among the elite, but his perennial failure in achieving that goal results in his sanity slipping hilariously away.

Public Opinion: “My dad showed me Fawlty Towers —junior Sarah Anderson Comedic Royalty: John Cleese is best

The Cult Phenomenon:

known as a member of the legendary Monthe world that his comedic genius reached ment when he created, wrote and starred in Fawlty Towers. The show was named the best British television series of all time by the British Film Institute in 2002.

How You Can Watch: Because it originally ran back in the 1970s Fawlty Towers however the Westbank Library has a DVD Amazon as DVDs or instant streams, as well as iTunes.

The Period Piece:

Doctor Who What It’s About: The Doctor is a Time Lord from the destroyed planet of Gallifrey, travelling through time and the universe(s) in a blue police box called the TARDIS. Sound confusing? The show’s backstory isn’t nearly as mind-boggling as the complicated and often various companions amassed an impressive fanbase in Britain during the show’s original run from 1963-1989, and a whole new generation of viewers in a wider range of countries have been captivated by their world-saving adventures through time since the series returned from a 16-year hiatus in 2005.

Public Opinion: “ Doctor Who was when I stayed up late one night and my father was watching it. I thought Doctor vs. Doctor: Every few seasons the Doctor dies and is reborn, played by a totally different actor, looking unrecognizable, but with the same memories and essence (this happens through a process called Regeneration). Fans can never agree on who the best incarnation of the Doctor was, with the two most popular being the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker (1974-1981) and the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant (20082010).

How You Can Watch: The 2005 reboot series, along with many classic episodes, are on Netshow is also on DVD, although classic episodes are more dif— try Best Buy and Waterloo Records.

BBC America plays episodes every day for hours, and the latest season returns on March 30, every Saturday night.

Downton Abbey What It’s About: Who knew that the social elite of the early 20th century English countryside could lead lives so fraught with scandal and intrigue? With a colorful cast of characters ranging from the family matriarch and the Dowager Countess to loyal servants like Anna, the various plot twists playing out at Downton Abbey — involving and missing shirts — will have viewers on the edge of their seats from aristocratic 1912 into the Roaring ‘20s.

Public Opinion: “Downton Abbey is absolutely amazing.

The costumes, the set and script transport you and keep you on your toes.

Every week I look forward to Sunday evening for the next episode of Downton Abbey more Riana Syed Award Winning: Downton Abbey won four Emmy Awards was nominated for, including “Outstanding Miniseries art by Michaela Moss

Awards and a Golden Globe for Maggie Smith’s supporting role as the Dowager Countess. Series Three, which aired in the U.S. last month, is sure to rack up more statues.

How You Can Watch: U.S. All three seasons are available on iTunes and DVD, but only sea-

5/15/13

The comeback kids DVD

release. erage moviegoer. The characters of these movies are often controversial, yet contagious. With their eccentric culture of today.

—Taylor Meister

Anchorman - 2004 The Big Lebowski - 1998 Classic case of mistaken identity, but taken to the extreme.

Jeff Lebowski, portrayed by Jeff Bridges, otherwise known as “The Dude,” is a washed up bowler who becomes confused with a millionaire of the very same name. When the millionaire’s wife, Maude, ends up missing, Mr. Lebowski demands that “The Dude” deliver ransom to the kidnappers in order to get her back. John Goodman plays Walter Sobchak, Jeff’s best friend, who accompanies him to make the switch.

When Walter decides that the money would be worth more in his pocket than the safe return of Maude, the whole plan starts to unravel.

of television news in the ‘70s it is a dog-eat-dog world, or better said, man-eat-man. Woman reporters are unheard of and never considered to be the face of a local news channel, until Veronica Corningstone, played by Christina Applegate, has something to say about it. She is absolutely determined to get an anchor spot on San Diego’s Channel Ferrell, he fell head over heels for Veronica the second he saw her. He of Anchorman — or Anchorwoman.

art by Michaela Moss

Edward Scissorhands - 1990 Napoleon Dynamite - 2004 Jon Heder led the way as the face of Napoleon Dynamite who is now condidered a cultural icon of the 21st century. It was originally shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2003 until Paramount, Fox and MTV discovered this diamond in the rough. This is the ultimate story of the awkward high school teenager who lives at home with his grandma, his 32-year-old brother Kip and their llama Tina. Napoleon doesn’t have many friends until he meets Pedro and Deb. They accompany Dynamite as he attempts to get the perfect prom date, get Pedro elected as Class President and prove to his classmates that being an

The name says it all. Edward is a real boy in every way, except his hands are scissors. This obscure character was one of the early roles that jumpstarted Johnny Depp’s career. His one-of-a-kind has been by himself since his father died, until Peg Boggs stumbles across him alone in his home. His scissorhands don’t scare her away, but instead intrigue her. She wants to know more about him, so she takes him into her home and brings him into her life. Being around people was something brand new for Edward, and all he wants to do is deal with people in the world that just can’t handle something out of the norm.

the

Music

Above: The Music Man featured a quartet of singing school board members played by juniors Robert Slack and G.R. Chiappe and seniors Dylan Hill and Cole Hildebrand. “The most difficult thing [about being in the quartet] was learning all of the music and the individual parts,” G.R. said. “No one else was singing the same part as me.”

Right: Juniors Josh Latham, Matthew Shadrach and Connor Stephens sing the opening number, “Rock Island.” “The mucisal is always really fun,” Matthew said. “The most rewarding part of [the musical] is finally getting to put on the show after weeks of preparation.”

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trends + traditions westlakefeatherduster.com

Above: Senior Spencer Flynn plays the lead male role. “Harold Hill was ridiculously fun,” Spencer said. “Meredith Willson, the guy who wrote the show, is a genius. In every interaction Harold has with another character, we get to see him slowly work his way into the hearts of the townspeople and hopefully the audience.

Finding the fine line between being unlikable and charming was pretty nerve-wracking at first.”

Right: Cast as Marian the librarian, senior Sarah Nichols said she is most appreciative of the camaraderie. “The most rewarding part about The Music Man was all of the friendships I made,” Sarah said. “I got close to so many people, and then we got to go out on stage and have a good time just being together and performing.”

Man Above: Singing “Iowa Stubborn,” seniors Sarah Wampler and Soraya Tanar play mother and daughter.

Right: Seniors Andy Germann and Spencer Flynn create a diversion leading into “76 Trombones.” “Westlake Choir offers so many opportunities, and I feel so fortunate to have been given this chance,” Spencer said. “As cheesy as it sounds, it really is one giant, talented, supportive family. High school would’ve been so rough without it. If you’re not in choir, then leave whatever class you’re in immediately and request a schedule change. You’ll never regret it.” photos by Carley McNicholas and Rachel Williams

Above: Senior Blaise Compton plays the role of Mayor Shinn in the choir’s production of The Music Man in the scene “76 Trombones.”

“Being Mayor Shinn made me realize how much of a grumpy old man I am in real life,” Blaise said. “It wasn’t very hard to play a character I already was.”

Scan this QR code below for more information and details about the Feb. 7-9 choir and Tech department production of The Music Man.

Center stage

photos by Carley McNicholas photo manipulation by Laura Doolittle

Young performer shines under the spotlight Freshman Zach Freeman is backstage with the other cast members of Willy Wonka. They are warming up before the show. This includes tongue twisters, voice work and a game called Razzle Dazzle.

In Razzle Dazzle, people get in a circle and clap their hands and cheer house lights dim and the performance begins.

Zach started acting in second grade when his mother’s friend, elementary school drama teacher Laura Holle, urged him to enter an oral reading competition.

“He was really animated and had good diction,” Holle said. “I really pushed his parents to get him to do a story telling competition, where the judges told the children a long, uncomplicated story and had them recite it back to them. He completely bombed it because he was the last child to repeat the story and had forgotten it by his turn.”

Because of his failure at the story competition, Zach avoided acting for the next few years. Still, Holle pushed him to try again in sixth grade. This time, he recited a Roald Dahl poem, Jack and the Beanstalk.

“He could do all these over-the-top voices,” you match the kid to the part really well, then they’re offering their strengths, and after awhile they get a larger range of parts. He had the talent there all along — it was just a matter of putting him in an area where he could be recognized.”

Though he was uneasy about taking drama

and is currently acting with him in Picnic, also believes that his talent largely has to do with his ability to really become the character.

“Zach gets along with everyone,” Lauren said. “When we did Willy Wonka this past fall, many of the upperclassmen were impressed with his talent. He gave the character its own unique personality and really performed on stage, which can be really hard to do. Zach has been able to show a large variety of characters and do them well.”

The upperclassmen have gone through the rehearsals before — the warm-ups, tongue twisters and vocal work — but for Zach it was new. ups before we started,” Zach said. “It sounds normal, but trying to know the warm ups. It was interesting to say the least.”

Through working on the plays, Zach has mastered the warm-ups and grown closer to the other theater kids while doing so.

“During the Willy Wonka play, I had the opportunity to become friends with some of the upperclassmen,” Zach said. “Once you do a play with other people you would be surprised how close you become with them.”

The upperclassmen, recognizing his talents, have high expectations for him when it comes to performing. “[Zach] is one of the nicest people I have ever met and the kind of person everyone wants to be

HIS PICKS 1 2 3

Forrest Gump

Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows

is he a wonderful person, but he’s a natural actor and performer. In theater, there are a lot of things that come to people through experience, but Zach Lord of the Rings: Return of already has a good amount of those qualities. It’s He participated in a summer drama camp and he the King was one of two freshmen to get a major part in amazing.”

Willy Wonka. Also, he is one of two freshman to Because of these natural abilities, Zach was cast get a part in the one-act play, Picnic, and he is one in senior Mark Gorthey’s student-directed play. of three freshmen to be cast in the senior—directed plays.

“Many underclassmen have a hard time grasping certain concepts “In the one-act, I play a character called Bomber,” Zach said. “He is in theater,” Mark said. “Thinking, walking and listening are surpriscertainly unique. To summarize, he’s a jerk. He taunts people or eggs ingly hard things to make seem natural on stage. Zach has a really them on if he feels he can deal with them.” strong natural understanding of how people behave.”

When acting, Zach likes to focus on the life and background of his These successes have encouraged Zach to pursue performing arts character; that way he can do his best at portraying that person. as a career.

“Acting is a fun way to become someone completely different,” Zach “My favorite part of being in a play is the friendships that are cresaid. “With every new role is another opportunity to transform into a one of my many dreams. Basically anything that has to do with being out their personality. I really gravitate toward protagonist roles.”

Theater teacher Rachael Gomez pinpoints Zach’s talent to his abilZach’s plans for the future aren’t unrealistic. Many people believe ity to play many different characters’ personalities. that he has a rare talent and can succeed as an actor.

“He has a wonderful writer and director-type imagination,” Gomez “I’ve seen many actors come and go through Westlake theater, and said. “I think he sees the role played out in his mind before he perZach is undoubtedly going to be one of our strongest assets in years to forms it on stage.” come,” Mark said.

Freshman Lauren Gomez, who worked with Zach in Willy Wonka —Katie Mitchell

Drama queen Actress travels country for oral interpretation

s

tanding in front of the classroom, senior Emma Bleker begins to melt into character. She shifts, moving her neck and arms just slightly, and looks around. Then, she poses like a model and begins to speak.

African accent and chuckles. “You’d think that they’d all get organized Oral interpretation is competitive acting, where students perform a piece taken from a play or book in front of a group of six to eight students and one to three judges. Participants perform a six to 10 minute memorized monologue while dressed in formal professional attire.

Emma has been involved in interp since she was a freshman and has spent almost every weekend this year participating in these competitions. She participates in Prose, Poetry and Duo events, but her favorite is Dramatic Interpretation.

“A lot of people just see [interp] as an after—school event, but I see someone else’s experiences to get across a point that is important to Her DI piece this year is from Jodie’s Body, a one-act play about a white South African woman during Apartheid who moves to America and experiences discrimination because of her heavy stature.

“It connects discrimination in every facet, like racial discrimination and body type discrimination — just any kind of discrimination based character] is a live art model, which basically means that she poses naked for art classes. I just think that it’s a gorgeous script, and it’s one Last year, she won second place in DI at State with a piece called Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivans, a play about the real life Texan reporter.

“I try to pick pieces that I can not only relate to, but that I can take out in everything that she talked about and everything that she said

portraying such a beautiful woman who knows and understands herself so well, that there is more to life and people than just the physical Emma has had tremendous success in interp competitions. Last year, she participated at Nationals in Indianapolis. In order to qualify for State, a person needs to collect enough points through competitions, and so far this year, Emma has three times as many points as she needs for DI and twice as many for Duo. “Once I started being consistently successful in the local circuit, I Harvard. I’d been to national tournaments in Dallas and in San Antonio before, but I’d never been to a big tournament, a huge national tournament outside of Texas, until Harvard last year. I can’t emphasize how amazing it was. Because Harvard is the only national tournament Every year, the Westlake interp team travels to Boston for the Harvard National Forensics Tournament, but unlike other members of the team, Emma has started attending national competitions on her own in Virginia, Indiana and Illinois. As per the rules of the competitions, she always brings someone, usually a family member such as her mom or aunt, to work as a judge. Emma also attends a speech and debate camp every summer in Virginia for three and a half weeks to hone her skills. This past summer, she used the opportunity to audition for “They emailed me about a week after camp ended with ‘Congratula-

participate on its speech and debate team. She feels that interp has changed her life, not just in her future, but in how it has pushed her as a person. that it has forced me to become a lot more outgoing outside of school, which I will treasure for the rest of my life. I think that is part of the adventure of it, just stepping out of your shell and your comfort zone,

be stronger and more assertive than I am. With Jodie, it’s completely different. Obviously, everyone strives for body acceptance and selfacceptance. I like thinking that I’m OK on that level, but I think, [by]

—Selah Maya Zighelboim

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HER PICKS

Rushmore Heathers

photo by Carley McNicholas photo manipulation by Laura Doolittle

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3 5 The Circus Animals Amélie

Reel winners

Finding alternatives to the typical movie outing Walking into a movie theater, it hits you right away — the buttery smell of overpriced popcorn,

—Hailey Cunningham, Laura Doolittle and Jessica Stenglein

The prosciutto pizza at Violet Crown is always a favorite. It’s topped with basil pesto sauce, prosciutto, roasted red peppers and crimini mushrooms. Violet Crown offers six varieties of pizza and many other options.

photos by Carley McNicholas

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Alamo Drafthouse: My stomach growls, interrupting the quiet of the movie theater Alamo Drafthouse, located at 2700 W. Anderson Lane, just before a quote-a-long showing of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I stretch out towards the meal laid on the counter in front of me.

“Oops,” I mutter to myself as I accidently brush my hand on my friend’s pizza and quickly retract it. After removing the excess tomato from my hand, I try again. But this time, I knock the side of my plate, my friend (or possibly the stranger to my left), fumbling around, I manage to sample the food. The salad? Perfectly dressed. The hamburger? Perfectly grilled. The popcorn? Perfectly salted. (And I am not one to take my seasonings lightly). The wait and pain of endeavoring to move the food from the plate to my mouth was well worth it — almost.

Halfway through the movie, there is a parade scene. And in the

One of the famous sites located on Sixth Street is the Ritz Carlton Alamo Drafthouse. This is one of several Alamo Drafthouse locations throughout Austin. The theaters are known for their juicy hamburgers and delicious milkshakes.

got a little carried away. Parched, I haphazardly reached for my water, only to whack the side of the salad bowl, sending it whizzing by.

I couldn’t look.

And neither could my neighbor, who was now covered in tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette.

But the real allure of Alamo isn’t the food — it’s the experience.

Nowhere else could I have shouted “They bought it” at the screen.

And nowhere else would the waiters simply smile, as if soaring salads weren’t as abnormal as an innocent bystander might hope.

While all of the food is pretty good (really, fantastic for a movie theater), be wary of what you order (I recommend a burger or the potato skins — something that does not require a fork and won’t fall into your lap mid-movie.) No one — not you, not your friend, not the cute boy in middle of Ferris Bueller.

Food brought from home: Movie theater popcorn can contain anywhere from 400 to 1,200 calories and up to 1,200 milligrams of sodium. On top of that, movie theater goers can ingest between one and three days worth of saturated fat. I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds horribly unpleasant, and that’s not even including the soda or candy which most people tend to buy at the concession stand.

My family, encouraged by my dad who began taking a bigger concern in his eating habits last year, has begun the habit of making our own popcorn at home and bringing it to the theater with us.

Walking into the Cinemark at Hill Country Galleria or Barton Creek’s AMC with an American Eagle bag — we make sure to match the bag with a store at the mall since movie theaters don’t allow you have at home and a small individually sized bag of popcorn for each down and pulling out my homemade popcorn, it was as if I could feel judgmental stares from the others in the theater. As if my homemade popcorn was somehow not as good as their greasy, salty and butterwas embarrassing. In fact, it still kind of is.

Although the Orville Redenbacher’s Smart Pop! Butter popcorn we eat might not be as buttery or salty as movie theater popcorn, it’s still over-salted handful of movie theater popcorn into my mouth. Accompanied by some candy bars and a water bottle, it makes for an enjoy-

Bringing food from home is not only a cheaper alternative, but a healthier one as well. A simple bag of microwave popcorn and your favorite candy bar will save you money, without sacrificing taste. able movie-watching experience.

On top of that, the popcorn only has 30 calories, four grams of fat and 480 milligrams of sodium per serving. I also save a lot of money going to the movies. Instead of paying for an overpriced ticket and overpriced snacks, you’ll only be paying for the ticket. All of that adds up.

I feel a lot better after eating this than I do movie theater popcorn.

Next time you head to the movies, try bringing your own snacks. Both your body and your wallet will thank you.

V

Violence. A word that is shaping the future of the United States. Our generation is growing up in a very different world than that of our grandparents, even our parents, in part because of this one simple word.

Violence is everywhere in our modern culture: it’s in the TV shows we watch, the music we listen to, the books we read, the video games we play. And, of course, violence is in our real world, too.

On April 20, 1999, two seniors walked into Columbine High School with guns. They killed 13 people and injured 21 more. Four armed parking lot robberies took place on Jan. 12, 2012, in North Austin. An armed man killed 27 students and teachers on Dec. 14, 2012, at Sandy Hook El-

last few years, and they are happening in every corner of our country, from Fort Hood, to Aurora, to Tuscon. Hearing about murders, break-ins, armed robberies, shootings, muggings, beatings and suicides has become routine. However, the recent school shooting in Connecticut has raised many questions about what we, as a country, can do to stop these horrifying events.

Many people have pointed to gun control as a possible solution. But the country is still somewhat divided. Should we have more gun control? Or less? On one hand, guns can help protect the innocent from armed persons with bad intentions. On the other, if there was more gun control, citizens wouldn’t need guns to protect themselves. There is a saying that goes: “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.” That is true, but guns are the tools that people use to kill or hurt others.

If we made guns harder to access, or at least required background checks, the amount of violence might drop.

But changing how we deal with guns isn’t going to completely solve the issue. Some of the problem comes from inside our society, particularly in respect to our teens. Young adults are on both sides of violence — they commit it, but they are also victims. In 2000, 1, 561 teens under the age of 18 were arrested for homicide, according to teenhelp.com issues and date rape are also prevalent problems. It is easy to forget that outside of our safe Westto both students and teachers. Teenagers can keep themselves safe by learning to defend themNot all violence directed at teens happens at school. Every year, according to safehorizon.org, more than 3 million children witness domestic violence. These children and teens are more likely to have health problems and to perform worse in school. Without help, girls who are exposed to domestic violence when they are young are more likely to be abused as adults. Boys who witness domestic abuse and do not get psychological help are more likely to become abusers of their children and partners as adults. Most domestic violence incidents are never reported. People can change this by speaking out and getting help if they see domestic violence. This can help stop abuse and help children and teens have brighter futures.

Bullying can cause teens, and even adults, to lash out in harmful ways. With 30 percent of teens involved in bullying according to keepschoolsafe.org, many schools have begun taking stands against bullying. But these policies are not as effective as they expected. Teenagers are so ashamed of being bullied that they don’t go to teachers or principals for help. It is also harder for schools to get involved when cyberbullying is committed, even when the bullying happens outside of the classroom.

Our country is torn apart about what we, as a people, need to do. It is up to our generation to our future. It has to.

—Colleen Pletcher

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In the crossfire

Tim Whaling

Pro: gun rights

M

A gun is deadly can prevent c

Melinda Herman hid in a spare bathroom in a house outside of Atlanta, Ga., with her two kids at her side, scared. An intruder armed 2004. Feinstein has made herself an opponent of pro-gun measures with a crowbar stood outside the bathroom door where Herman and in the Senate dating back to 1993 when she and former Mass. Senator her kids were hiding. In one hand, Herman held her phone to her ear, Ted Kennedy lead an attack on the Second Amendment that eventually frantically talking to her husband. Her other turned into the aforementioned 1994 Assault hand clutched the grip of a .38 revolver, the metallic gray object that held the power to Feinstein, given her political stances on gun According to a 1982 study ... kill a man with one well-placed shot, or in control that often border on unconstitutional, this case, to protect Herman and her children would not own a gun, yet she has admitted to which polled male felons in 11 from a madman wielding a crowbar. carrying a handgun in the 1970s as she ran state prisons, 40 percent had Herman heard the intruder start to open for mayor of San Francisco. How is that for decided not to commit a crime the door to the bathroom where she and her hypocrisy? children were hiding and readied herself.

While advocates of gun control such as because they had reason to beThe time had come to shoot or be shot.

Feinstein may have the right intentions in lieve their victim was carrying As soon as she saw the intruder’s face, she mind as they propose measures ranging from a gun, another 34 percent had better background checks to a full-on prohibiemptying the revolver in the process. Five of been shot at or scared off by an the bullets hit their mark and sent the badlyarmed citizen while committing wounded intruder out of the house and into a rest of the mass media have been vilifying guns a crime. nearby wood, where he was apprehended.

If guns were illegal, that day would have In fact, Florida State professor Dr. Gary Kleck played out much differently. Instead of taking a man to trial, authorities would have Survey, that “between 800,000 and 2,500,000 been taking the bodies of Herman and her children to the morgue. A crimes are stopped by guns each year.” gun is deadly, but in the right hands, it can prevent crime and save But with all of the time the media spends covering shootings and lives. arms abuses, one would think that these crimes are at an all time high.

In the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, many people, including However, gun crimes have actually dropped since the early 1990s as U.S. President Barack Obama and California Senator Dianne Feinhave incidences of mass shootings. The deadliest year in terms of gunstein, have called for stricter laws on the sale of guns, with Feinstein related homicides was 1993, with 17,075 incidents, compared to 9,146

“

”

Pro: gun control

H

Have you ever wondered how easy it is to get a gun? For Eric Harris it wasn’t very hard; he wrote in his journal about the plans he had for getting one of these weapons: “If we can save up about $200 real quick … private dealer and buy ourselves some badass AB-10 machine pistols.” Harris’ plans led to the shooting the world came to know as the Columbine massacre.

Did you know that all that is necessary to acquire a gun at a federally licensed dealership arms, such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, Academy and McBride’s, told me this. And did you also know that for a legal private sale there is no criminal background check?

Are you starting to see a pattern? It has become much too easy to purchase a gun in America. It’s time to consider amending the Second Amendment.

Some radical gun control advocates have already decided we need to cut off all sales and

if we curtail the purchase of weapons completely, we risk underground arms sales which could lead to more violence. Plus, although I hate to admit it, we have the Constitutional right to bear arms.

But I believe that the Founding Fathers would be very disappointed if they could see the way our said, “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right to bear arms, shall not be infringed,” I don’t think they thought our “militias” would be gunslinging murderers unsheathing their anger on innocent people with military-grade assualt weapons. Their idea of a militia was a small group of musket-weilding voulnteers trying to protect the people from a tyrannical government.

Since 1998, there have been more than 156

businessinsider.com and who knows how many more were sold privately.

This number is too big.

Meaning, there is no way to track down gun own-

It’s time to the Secon

ers in the event of a crime. While a registry may cial than anything for the police and other law enforcement agencies.

People also seem to be pinning the blame on games and movies young people play and watch.

Honestly, these things are made for entertainment, and if children are taking them as ways of plain that movies and games are not their reality. understand the desire to have something to safeguard one’s family, but I was taught that in the event of a home invasion, it is actually safer to use a knife for a close range attack, because if the assailant lives, the police can handle it and you won’t have the guilt of killing someone on your hands. Also, you have a better chance of hitting the intended target. And this came from my father, the man who keeps a cabinet full of shotguns by his bed.

But there is an issue with self-defense weapons; they can be turned back on you when you

but in the right hands, it rime and save lives in 2011 according to Federal Bureau of Investigation’s statistics. Nowadays, the media has more reach with online publications and 24-hour news channels and that’s why one hears about these crimes more.

As for the Second Amendment, I believe that James Madison wrote it as a check and balance, thinking that if the government were to become too oppressive against its people, the citizens could rise up and overthrow the government and install a new one. It also takes homeland defense into account, as regular citizens who possessed guns of life. With a gun ban, invading forces would be less contested and in this modern world, citizens need to have the ability to defend their homeland against forces hell-bent on destruction.

Chicago was recently in the news for surpassing 500 murders in 2012 — good for the highest murder total in the U.S. and nearly double that of its largest city, New York. Pretty surprising considering Chicago doesn’t allow handguns within city limits. The Chicago handgun ban was instituted in 1981, and since then, the average annual murder total by handguns in Chicago has increased, even as nationwide murder totals by handgun decreased.

How does this happen? How does a city with some of the strictest gun control laws in the country have the most murders? Well, it’s pretty simple. Have you ever heard the old adage about guns? The one that says that if you outlaw guns only criminals will have them? Well that’s exactly why Chicago has a high crime rate, as only the criminals have guns. They won’t follow any of the gun control laws because criminals don’t obey laws. So now, you have a city in which only the criminals and police have guns. Because the police are a reactionary force, there is no threat of some citizen pulling a .380 on an outlaw as they attempt to rob a law-abiding citizen.

If a criminal knows that somebody in his or her vicinity is packi heat, they are less likely to commit a crime there. According to a 19 study, Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Guns, which polled male felons in 11 state prisons, 40 percen had decided not to commit a crime because they had reason to beli their victim was carrying a gun and another 34 percent had been sh at or scared off by an armed citizen while committing a crime. With threat of an armed citizen, criminals can have their way with the he less inhabitants of the city.

Within the past two decades, states like Florida and Texas have instituted Right to Carry Laws which allow citizens who obtain per to carry concealed weapons in public. So far, they have worked. Flo instituted Right to Carry laws in 1987, and according to justfacts.co the murder rate in Florida has dropped 36 percent since then, whil only decreased 15 percent across the rest of the nation. In Texas, ri to carry laws were established in 1996, and like Florida, murder rat have dropped dramatically for a decrease of 30 percent statewide, which is 2 percent more than the nationwide decrease. Due to the s cess of Right to Carry Laws, it is my opinion that they should becom the standard gun law across the nation.

when in the right hands, stop crime. Guns when in the right hands, protect otherwise helpless individuals and guns, when in the right hands, help keep the streets safe. They protect our freedom, both a individuals and as a country. People need to be informed about the reality of a gun prohibition. So while you imagine a gun-free Ameri I am going to clean my 12-gauge. You never know if you will have t the next Melinda Herman.

—Jacob Pro

o consider amending d Amendment let your guard down. A better solution for self defense is a long-range TASER or pepper spray because they aren’t lethal to you or your assailant, but they will leave a mark.

A solution that works in parts of Europe is a rigorous psychoanalysis test given to gun the wrong hands. If America gave this a try we would be working towards a brighter future with the people until there is a way to stop illegal arms deals.

A more controversial topic is the proposed ban of assault weapons. People are stuck in the idea that the enemies of America are posing a threat of sending troops into the land of the free; but in our lifetime, the threat is slim.

President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have made several suggestions on how to approach the gun issue: stricter punishment for checks on all gun transactions including private sales. Whatever your views of the president, I do have to respect his hopes of keeping America

safer. It feels like the NRA and other such orgato reduce this violence, if there’s even one life nizations have been playing this out as “Obama’s can be saved, then we’ve got an obligation to going to take the Second Amendment away,” but it.” from what I can tell, it seems more like President I think the most effective solution is issuin Obama is trying to be logical because he doesn’t a written test to those hoping to get a gun. Th want to have another questions would be ludicrous massacre. followed by an appo Maybe there are ment for psychoana People are stuck in the idea senators and other (as opposed to exclu sively a written test) that the enemies of America are jumping to the because, in person, are posing a threat of senddecision to ban guns. easier to accurately ing troops into the land of the However, President assess potential buy Obama knows this This operation can’t free; but in our lifetime, the will cause more as controlled as I wo threat is slim. damage than good like it to be because and has made it clear sheer number of peo what his beliefs are. in America makes The President said complete regulation this at a White House press conference on Jan. unlikely.

16: “While there is no law or set of laws that can prevent every senseless act of violence completea country, need to act as one and take a stand ly, no piece of legislation that will prevent every against this epidemic of violence. tragedy, every act of evil; if there’s even one thing —Nikki Hum

“

”

Out of luck

Michaela Moss

Cursed sophomore blames black cats for previous bad experiences

W

Georgina Kuhlmann

ithin the past year and a half, I’ve been having an awful bout of bad luck. It all started when I got my driver’s permit. Little did I know that this joyful achievement of freedom would lead to my entrapment by an assortment of critters. Virtually every time I am driving my car, various animals pop out in front of me from seemingly nowhere.

All within the span of a year, I’ve had multiple dogs, squirrels, herds of deer, snakes, raccoons and even armadillos appear out of thin air in front of my car. Needless to say, there have been many cases of sudden braking and swerving to save these poor creatures. Surprisingly enough, I haven’t gotten in a wreck yet.

And then there are the cats. Not just any cats. Black cats — the bad luck kind. Now, I wouldn’t consider myself a superstitious person, but when all the black cats in Austin are ganging up on me on a constant basis, I can’t help but be scared for my life. I’ve seen more black cats lately than I can count, but they all seem to stare into my soul and convey the same message of bad things approaching. Was it a coincidence that one scampered across the road during my license test? Absolutely not.

was the cats. Recently, my spring break plans to travel to Puerto Rico were called off. I can only blame the sneaky black cat I saw lurking in some bushes only a day earlier. Did I mention that I pet-sit for a black cat that lives down the street? The things I do for a dollar ...

“Why me?” is the only phrase that comes to mind as the encounters continuously occur. When I tell my friends and family of these cursed omens, they all laugh it off, pat my head and diagnose me with paranoia. Of course, no one is ever around when the cats bombard me. I means. One day.

—Rachel Cooper

Lighting up the future Are e-books better than print books?

Almost everyone has downloaded an e-book at some point.

From last-minute required reading for English to getting something from Overdrive, the high school’s online library system, the Westlake community and the world have been warming up to the idea of reading on electronics. With all of the new platforms to read on, a literary war has been forming over which side is better.

Each side has a strong argument. E-book lovers say they are saving paper, while pro-paper people retort that without the smell of paper, it is impossible to enjoy a book in every way possible. To me, e-books are the way to go. Yes, the smell of a book can be pretty important, but the pros of e-books far outweigh the cons. First, is the paper. What if you had a Harry Potter book on an iPad? If it’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the weight of 759 pages just disappeared into your iPad. What about all of the necessary reading for English? Those thousands of pages of paper now don’t affect the weight of your backpack at all.

Another dispute between the two camps is the effect on eyesight. In the paper camp, they say that serious, long-term reading on something with a screen will hurt your eyes. The original Kindle and the Kindle Paperwhite (not the Fire) have swatted this down with their screens that have minimal to no backlighting and a screen that mimics paper, avoided by adjusting your brightness.

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I blame the cats for the bad things in my life — they bring bad test grades, sleepless nights, rainy days and broken nails among the small things. They also bring terrible events. The day I got back from my glamorous trip to Argentina over Thanksgiving break, I was driving home from the airport when not one, but two, of my furry friends appeared. I tried to pretend I didn’t see them, but the curse had already been set. The following week I was sick with probably the worst food poisoning known to man and was even hospitalized for one of those

The largest pro of e-books is the ability to check them out from Overdrive. Just wrap your mind around that. Free books, no late fees and no remembering to turn books back in. A virtual, weightless library that you can take with you anywhere you have Wi-Fi. If you want to check out a book without moving from your chair, all you have to do is connect to Wi-Fi. Why do people dislike the spreading of reading to all different platforms? That is what people who frequent the library and our parents want: for us to read. The online library opens up even high school online library is the small selection. A way to get around this is to use the Central Texas Digital Library on Overdrive. If you are a member of Westbank Community Library, you just need to enter your library card number to get a much larger selection.

Both the pro-paper and pro-e-book camps agree on one thing: everyone should be reading. Neither is against it, but they disagree on the format. Paper books are probably going to be here for a long time, so why not expand places where I can read? Why not read more? According to a Library Journal article, academic libraries offered 65,208 e-books on average in 2011 and public libraries offered, on average, 4,350 e-books. These thousands of books offer more opportunities to read. Both platforms are good, but in this modern day and age, e-books win every time.

—Madeline Dupre

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Bikes, service, apparel and accessories

I’m talking to you, Oprah Internet-enabled socialite creates new friendships behind a screen Dear stereotypical talk show host, I just hung up a FaceTime call with my friend in Arizona. I’ve never seen her other than through the screen of my iPad. A lot of what I know about her is what I’ve gathered from her tweets and what we text back and forth. I call her one of my best friends, along with several other girls who live all over the world.

I’ve talked to girls my age in countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America and France.

I’ve also made friends all over America, West to East Coast.

Since I was in elementary school, my mother has drilled into my head how to “stay safe” online. She’s recorded programs like yours and asked me to watch what could happen if I make bad choices. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad she taught me that there are freaks out there. But there are mostly just regular people, like myself — harmless.

Social interaction has changed since your teenage years, and I’m sure you’re aware of that. You didn’t have Twitter. You didn’t have Tumblr. You weren’t constantly logged into something like I am. Now, you’re being plugged in as an adult having to learn from younger generations. But the internet isn’t as scary as you think it is. Don’t be stubborn. I like to think that I’m not an incompetent idiot, so I don’t second guess myself when I make the choice to message someone I don’t know. I don’t give out my address, I don’t give out my phone number before snooping a bit, and I don’t keep up a friendship with people whose faces I haven’t seen.

How do I “meet” people online, exactly? I log into Twitter or Tumblr and check my recent followers. If isn’t following me and decide to follow them. Either way, a friendship might blossom. The best analogy I can think of is making friends at school. First we just talk through Twitter, replying to each other’s tweets, like talking in a classroom. Then after chatting for a bit, we start communicating through texting. With some of my online friends, we FaceTime over the weekend or even help with each other’s homework. I talk on the phone with my closest American friends (it costs extra to text or call people who don’t live in the U.S.). Without communication mediums like iMessage and FaceTime, I wouldn’t be able to call anyone outside of America.

I’m tired of being typecast into a category of “dumb teenage internet addicts.” Yes, the internet is a big part of my life. But no, I am not dumb. I can tell when someone is being creepy. I would never try to start any kind of relationship (friendly or otherwise) without FaceTime or Skyping. I can make friends online. Other teenage girls aren’t going to try to kill me because we had a friendly conversation about music, family, school or boys.

Being online is like being thrown into a school campus and being told you have the choice to make friends or keep to yourself. I chose to make friends, and I haven’t been the victim of anything you’ve preached to me about. Your advice went right through me and didn’t change my opinions at all. The internet isn’t a bad place: you just need to be smart and have common sense about who you talk to. You shouldn’t have a fear of anyone who talks to you; they probably aren’t looking for trouble.

I’ve met a few “Twitter friends” in person, and I’m still alive. I think that maybe, just maybe, you should talk about the kids like me who are smart about who they talk to but aren’t internet introverts. Do a special on the good side of social networking, not the bad.

I just want to say that you shouldn’t hold to your stereotype about me and my fellow teenage internet users. Yeah, there have been a few kids who have gotten into sticky situations. They don’t represent all of us. How else could I have a best friend in New Zealand? Is it really so bad that I text people in other states? Is it weird that I talk on the phone for hours with a girl I’ve never met in person? I’m happy, healthy and learning about how life is outside of my little bubble. I’m expanding my horizons, not looking for trouble.

Sincerely,

Caitlyn J. Kerbow

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We Austinites are all too familiar with the feeling of confusion that often comes with dressing for the bipolar spring weather of Texas. But have no fear, to help you cope with breezy March days, rainy April showers and scorching hot May Saturdays, we’ve rounded up the most sensible and fashionable looks off the runway from Westlake’s own Beehive Boutique in Westbank Market. Located at the heart of Westlake, Beehive attracts shopaholics with its unique collection of fashion forward pieces accessible to you this pending spring season. So be inspired by these pieces and expect to see them appear throughout the hallways this semester.

—Elizabeth Emery

Your spring style checklist 1

2

Collective Concepts teal top Audrey 3+1 skirt

Oliveaceous tube top

Pastel + peplum

Gray + bright nails

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4

Yellow + bangles

Emerald + gold accents

L. Maddine top

Fada earrings

photos by Carley McNicholas

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6

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Fada sunglasses

Dawn to Dusk top

Vintage shorts

Shades + bold print

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Oversized ring + statement clutch

Denim cutoffs + tribal jewelry

Sharp-dressed man Fashion for the basketball-shorts inclined

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It’s 8:22 a.m. You’re just now waking up, and you know that you’ve really got to kick it in gear if you want to get to school on time. You shower, brush your teeth and hop over to your closet. It’s now 8:26 a.m. Time is running out, and without thought, you grab your wadded up, ratty, black basketball shorts and an unassuming T-shirt and sprint out the door.

Who cares if it’s kind of chilly this morning? It’s always shorts and T-shirt weather.

Occasionally when it gets colder, it might even be jeans and T-shirt weather, but nothing more. Protecting yourself from the cool air shows weakness and, even worse, shows that you took time to dress yourself.

But contrary to what you might believe, being negligent in your wardrobe selection does stand out.

Nobody in his or her right mind will harshly judge you for it, but very few people will use your name and the word “classy” in the same sentence. “But it’s not all about looks,” you say.

“Clothing is a

“

through my junior year of high school. But then I had a revelation.

I was looking through old photos on the family computer when it hit me; I was wearing the same thing in all of them. The only thing that varied was the words on the clothing. And these weren’t all recent photos. tall in half of them. Here I was, years and years later, wearing exactly what I had worn as a snot-nosed, whiny elementary schooler. Was I doomed to be one of them forever? Sweat beads formed on my neck.

I told myself, “I need to break away from that. I’m not in fourth grade anymore.”

I went on a closet master cleanse.

All the old stuff was thrown out and replaced with the few nice shirts I did own as well as holiday gifts, and the end results of shopping trips with my mom, who seemed to be very excited that I’d seen the light.

So, gentlemen, I’m here to tell you that you can all see the light, too.

It’ll feel strange

Here I was, years and years later, wearing exactly what I had worn as a snot-nosed, whiny elementary schooler. Was I doomed to be one of them forever?

”

of classifying somebody, especially in the case of teenage guys.” And you’re right, but at the same time, if you have the opportunity to look

here) like you don’t live under a bridge, why wouldn’t you take it?

Guys, I’ve been there. I know that sometimes it can be so tempting to tell yourself that you don’t care what you look like, and neither does anybody else. I know that you’ve all got that one pair of basketball shorts you don’t wash every week because you’re too busy wearing them. I know how comfortable it is to seventh grade. But I also know that most of us will cross the threshold of adulthood before we we should dress the part.

I was one of you. I didn’t care what I wore. Pretty much everything was functional enough for me. It was always the same shorts and the same cycle of shirts day after day, of kindergarten and lasting until midway

debut your new fashion choices, but after a few “Nice shirt” remarks put a spring in your step, you’ll feel older, wiser and more prepared to take on anything. You think I’m kidding, but look out at your peers wasting away in nasty T-shirt land. How imposing do they look? Now look in the mirror. What vibe do you want to give off? Have I forgotten to ing much more appealing than what you’re probably wearing?

Go ahead, wear that knit sweater grandma gave you for Christmas. Step out of those sweaty mesh shorts, and step into a pair of khakis. Putting care into what you wear isn’t feminine, it’s mature. So be bold, my comrades.

You’re not dressing a boy anymore.

You’re dressing the man.

—Andy Brown Ariana Gomez Reyes

Switching it up Student calls for change in final exam exemption policy

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inal exemptions, we high school students are constantly reminded, are a privilege, not a right. It only makes sense that seniors, who have suffered through endless dull classes for longer than anybody else, should be the glad recipients of the most privilege, right? Maybe not. At Westlake,

exams does not sway me in my views. Although APs in the spring se-

move up through the grades, with seniors able to exempt them all. Last year there was some talk

continued practice instead of shirking all exam duties.

Finally, in defense of the freshman class, these poor children come out of middle school with young, innocent hearts, only to be crushed

get out of the most exams. This caused mild outrage within the student ranks, but ended up not being implemented anyway. Now, whenever I mention that I agreed with the proposed changes to the policy, I am

taking one could give an automatic exemption in the spring semester more, those not taking AP courses should have to take some form of exam in order to keep hold of necessary skills. Already, there are no

melodrama, the issue comes down to this: few freshmen have taken career, and certainly not using the procedure the high school imple-

something a senior didn’t get? But while my opinion may not be the popular one, I’m not just trying to play devil’s advocate here. There are actually quite a few logical arguments that support the idea of changing the exemption code, and they deserve to be heard. lake prides itself on preparing students for college, yet this approach

when they have only been subjected to one at a time in the past. A far more logical, not to mention kinder, approach would be allowing them four exemptions rather than one. This would at least serve as an attempt to help freshmen better handle the transition to high school.

I know people won’t like me voicing these opinions. I doubt if anybody agrees with me (except freshmen). But eventually I think

universities, so students should be preparing for the inevitable testseen as an easy year will not help most people in the long run. Some will point to the fact that exemptions are only for people with a B+ or higher average, kids that have already proven they can handle tough schoolwork. That does nothing to change my opinion. Even kids with great grades will eventually have to learn skills for taking long, cumulative tests if they are to succeed academically.

Similarly, the fact that juniors and seniors take other forms of

I have made here would turn out to be far more comprehensive than that which we currently use. Although it may seem a lot stricter and suited to a very rigorous academic climate, we go to Westlake. Do we not pride ourselves in academic success? Because a policy such as this would better ease freshmen into high school, and seniors into college, —Katelyn Connolly

Ariana Gomez Reyes

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rants + raves westlakefeatherduster.com

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Jason’s Deli ice cream

Ben Hur

is practically unbearable. If you think you’ll get in shape from this mini-cardio workout after a while, you’re dead wrong.

Not to mention the guaranteed 10 minute or more wait to get out of the death cage in the afternoons. So keep waving to the kind souls who allow you to turn left and keep counting down

Turkey Vultures If everything evil and horrible about nature could be harnessed and compressed into one single creature, it would look a lot like the turkey vulture. Ever since these winged scavengers of death escaped from the steaming pits of hell, they have struck fear and disgust into all those unfortunate enough to see them gnaw away on the rotting carcass of some poor, dead little critter. But for all their gross

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if you’re riding the Master Blaster. Driving in the lot is one

cream into, how much will you restrict yourself to and of course … chocolate, vanilla or swirl?

ch a ela Moss

It’s time we say something about how inconveniently intolerable parking is if you’re not a senior. First off, the Ben Hur is one colossal, monstrous hill (one might even dub it a mountain). Daily, we watch jacked-up trucks slam on their breaks as they come across this lovely feature of Westlake’s

Let’s be honest, the only reason you would ever consider Jason’s Deli as a viable option for your lunch is the beautifully unlimited and free ice cream. Walking into the restaurant won’t exactly get your taste buds jumping for joy, but as soon as you gaze upon the glorious frozen custard machine across the room, your salivary glands will go into overdrive. You might even skip out on the meal and enjoy your creamy, delicious ice cream in a scrumptious cone without the hassle of ordering a mediocre meal that you didn’t even

science on their side. Sure they make hideous hissing and grunting noises (they don’t have voice boxes), sure they have bald little red heads (feathers would trap all the nasty bacteria encountered while eating carrion near their beaks) and sure they often vomit when confronted by humans (either a defense mechanism or a means of unloading, pardon the pun, dead weight) but it isn’t their fault. It’s biology’s.

your shoulders. Even worse, if you’re an early-licensed sophomore, this is your fate for not one, but two whole years. Your purgatory will be over someday in the distant, distant future.

Michael aM

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Ripstiks Ripstiks – the unmistakable, two-wheeled, hourglass-shaped skateboard that is triggered to move by willpower and Shakira hips. when we used to trade Ripstik colors like Pokémon cards? For a whopgroup of Ripstik owners who are still trying to convince themselves that constantly rotating their hips will burn off belly fat. And although many of us amateur Ripstik owners have actually encountered painful incidents trying to recreate the ads where kids were grinding these things on metal railings, we were always too cool to admit that we had no clue what we were doing. And let’s be honest here – unless you’re Michaela Moss

yourself up and down your driveway.