March 2011

the

laureate

inside

March 2011

news the legality of...

smoke

.

Lassiter High School volume XXVIII: issue five Hats Off! What’s Happening? Prom Expenses

a student publication of

Senior Shannon O’Malley qualified for the Olympic Trials in the 100 meter breast stroke.

The top two advance to the Olympic Games.

3/15 SPLOST III Forum 3/17 St. Patrick’s Day 3/26 Prom @ The Foundry 3/28 Boys Golf Tournament 3/31 Soccer Senior Night

What’s in our s ho p s

a&e your

neighborhood celebrities

sports Standout freshmen

features author

Ned Vizzini to visit

2-5 6-9 10-12 14-15 jff 16-17 sports 18-19 features 20-22 in the wry 24-27

news editorials a&e centerspread

annabel edwards news editor

According to the United Nations, 2.6 billion people consume unsafe or polluted water each day. The students of Lassiter are lucky to have access to over twenty water fountains that provide clean water.

Yet the question remains: just how clean is the water in the fountains? Water fountains have an unfortunate reputation for being unsanitary.

“I never drink out of them,” explained Marin Abousaud, 11.

According to cobbwater.org, the water provided for Cobb County schools is only adequately hygienic.

The water comes from two sources: Lake Allattoona and the Chattahoochee River. Before it begins its journey through Cobb County pipes, the water undergoes a series of disinfecting treatments.

Although this may sound sufficient, a 2010 water quality report revealed that the quality of the water

Girls: How much money did you spend on your dress?

less than $100 24% from $100 to $200 30% from $200 to $300 20% from $300 to $400 22% more than $400 4%

is not as high as one might hope. First of all, a significant amount of chlorine is present in the water. It often reacts with naturally occurring elements to form toxins called trihalomethanes, causing health problems such as heart disease and bladder cancer. According to the quality report, THMs are present in small amounts in the water. Haloacetic acids are also byproducts of disinfectant that are linked to cancer. These, annebel edwards too, are present in low levels in the water. Fifty Risky? Students may be taking chances by drinking contaminated water sites were tested and Students are certainly less three had levels high enough to qualify as a violation. Of one of the problems, than satisfied with the water quality excessive consumption of lead has at school. “It’s warm, low quality, and been found which is linked to kidney germy,” stated Emily Happ, “I’ll just stick to my bottled water.” problems and high blood pressure.

United States water scares

Heavy Washington rains covered Interstate-5 with 30-inches of water in 2009, shutting down commerce beween Oregon and Seattle.

A Salmonella epidemic in the southern Colorado city of Alamosa in 2008 left nearly 400 of the 10,000 residents ill.

compiled by cory shaw/editor-in-chief

Residents in Illinois who received tainted well water were granted $500,000 in a settlement against their local government

The Johnstown Flood of 1889 resulted after a dam failure unleashed 20 million tons of water, killing 2,200 people.

Located under sea level, the city of New Orleans underwent massive floods from Category 5 Hurricane Katrina.

The Tri-State Water Wars among Alabama, Georgia, and Florida concern the use of Lake Lanier and the Buford Dam for purposes other than their creation.

lhs news

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A decline in effort

The downfalls of Generation Z start to present themselves. laura brink staff writer

In the past few years, high schools nationwide have felt the impact of Generation Z and the lack of effort applied to learning. The attitudes of the group as whole have had an unsettling effect on test scores.

Generation Z (the generation of LHS students)was born directly into the age of technology depending on things like the internet, texting, and other nonverbal forms of communication.

This has led to a mass drop of the verbal skills of those who will soon become world leaders.

At Lassiter, this drop is most apparent in behavior. The attitude in classVacant rooms is slipping into an epidemic of laziness, selfishness, and the overwhelming lack of caring about grades.

While this most definitely does not apply to all students, the number is increasing. This curse of the netgeneration is not apparent, however, in test scores. In the past three years

News briefs Adam Young, the lead singer from Owl City, recently posted a message on his blog about how he thinks Taylor Swift’s song “Enchanted” is about him. When he spelled out the uppercase letters in Swift’s lyrics on her album, he found that they spelled out “ADAM”. Says Young: “…I was lost for words and utterly smitten. I couldn’t stop smiling.”

the only drop in Georgia High School Graduation Test Scores have been a 3% drop in social studies scores from 2008 to 2010 and a 1% drop for math scores from 2008 to 2010. Clearly, our testing minds are still in their prime with no percentages under 96% (percentage of students exceeding) in the

mined that the biggest problems with high schoolers today is the inability to learn without internet access. These issues, as well as the “we do not need to work for what we want” attitude commonly associated with Generation Z, are the reason so many educators and researchers are concerned with the classroom abilities of high schoolers.

Educational and physiological expert Mark McCrindle has declared in his research that the netgeneration “tends to lack resilience and a work ethic.”

The lack of effort in school today could annabel edwards be blamed Most students would rather text their friends than pay on the curse attention in class. of being a member of GHSGT taken by the junior class each Generation Z. The best option is to year. continue to be a school of remarkable

Teachers have witnessed the test scores and create a staff and curdrop in behavior and the importance riculum that can truly reach the newof passing down pre-web skills to Gen- est generation and inspire students to eration Z. Researchers with the Red strive to learn in a productive way.

Orbit Knowledge Network have deter-

The girls swim team won state for the fourth consecutive year this past February. Seniors on the team have won a championship in each of their for years of high school.

Lassiter was just named a 2010 Georgia School of Excellence. This award was based on 2010 Graduation Test scores, which were in the top ten percent of Georgia schools.

Good job, seniors!

23 year-old Carlina White was reunited with her birth family recently after being kidnapped from a New York City hospital in 1987. White had been searching for her parents since she age 16, when her “mother” revealed that White was not her true child.

2

vince gonzalez staff writer

The 2010-2011 school year marked the beginning of a new club at Lassiter High School. Founded by Lassiter juniors Marshara Fross and Molly Zimmerman, Pay It Forward was started with the goal of helping the community. “We try to give back to the surrounding area in any way that we can,” remarked Marshara Fross.

So far, the club has worked two carni-

Pay it orward vals and a Thanksgiving marathon for charity. In addition to these major activities, club members tutor elementary school children after school three times a week. “The best part is seeing how happy the kids get when they see us,” commented Caroline Hardison, 11. Bennet Eldredge added, “I’ve been involved in many clubs here at Lassiter but Pay It Forward has certainly been the most fun and rewarding.”

With close to twenty five members, Pay It Forward has become more successful than the girls would have ever thought. “We are definitely surprised at the amount of members we have. It helps make our volunteering efforts even easier. We hope to recruit more members and make the club stronger,” expressed the two presidents. If anyone is interested in joining Pay It Forward, they can talk to a current club member.

Jose Martinez, a quadriplegic man, is suing Disneyland for leaving him on the “It’s a Small World” ride when it stalled and the staff evacuated other passengers. After being left on the ride for 40 minutes, Martinez is also suing for negligence, emotional distress, and liability.

The Dalai Lama’s nephew was killed A new study recently came out that Monday, February 14 in Florida after revealed that men who regularly use being hit by a car while walking along marijuana are in danger of developing a highway. sexual dysfunctions.

compiled by mary ann staak centerspread editor

Did

You Know?

The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp (marijuana) paper. page

Questionable legality of skye rubel editor-in-chief

Georgia is one of the strictest states when it comes to selling, buying, using, or growing marijuana.

Penalties range from a misdemeanor for possessing less than an ounce to a significant fine and jail time for selling certain amounts. Though Georgia is known for severe punishment on marijuana users, head shops are considered perfectly legal. Many people question how stores that promote illegal activity can remain thriving businesses.

Though marijuana is illegal, companies like Smoke 911 sell drugrelated paraphernalia to people above the age of 18. These head shops are not deemed as unlawful because they claim to sell merchandise for tobacco, “legal marijuana” called spice (which will soon become illegal), and incense.

Displayed throughout many smoke

shops, like one in downtown Atlanta, are signs that read “These items are intended for use of tobacco, herbal smoking mixtures, or snuff. Illegal usage will result in refusal of service.”

The store attendants refer to the products in ways that do not encourage illegal usage. For example, bongs are called “water pipes.” Any other name is not acceptable to use in the store.

Smoke shops often take great measures to say their products are only intended for legal activity, yet the decorations usually say otherwise.

Plastered on the walls are posters of marijuana leaves, Bob Marley quotes, and mushrooms. Next to the cashier stand, head shop patrons can find issues of the magazine, “High Times” and recipe books for meals with marijuana cooked into them. The endless displays of colorful pipes sit right next to the detoxification kits and shampoos.

One student who wishes to remain anonymous commented, “Smoke 911

wouldn’t sell bowls shaped like mushrooms if they didn’t think they would be used for weed.”

Head shops like these are able to stay in business because of the high demand for their products. Marijuana is the most commonly abused drug in the United States, often by teenagers.

When asked about the true purpose of their products, one store attendant at Junkman’s Daughter in Little Five Points refused to answer and hung up the phone.

shops

3

annebel edwards

Illegal?

Marijuana, the most abused drug by teens, is promoted in head shops.

lhs news

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4

Debate over new schedule A disregarded vote leaves students and parents in uproar.

jeff ciesielski staff writer

Mad

This year, the Cobb County School Board implemented a new calendar. The year started earlier than any in recent memory but included a fall break in September and a winter/spring break in February. While the new calendar has generally received positive feedback, Cobb County put a survey on their website that included three versions of potential calendars for the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years.

The first calendar is similar to the one that is currently in effect. The start date is August 1st and there is a week-long Students started a petition for break in February and September. the old schedule.

The second calendar starts on Au-

gust 15th but it does not include those week-long breaks. The third calendar starts on August 17th and, in addition to not having the week long breaks, features a three day break for Thanksgiving.

The results of the survey were 77.2% for the first calendar, 14.7% for the second calendar, and 8.0% for the third calendar. The first calendar was the most liked option by all the groups (teachers, students, parents, district employees, and Cobb County residents) receiving 82% approval rating from the teachers.

Though the majority of voters wished to keep the same schedule as this year, the calendar was still changed. After a 4-3 Cobb County School Board vote, the new schedule is set for next year. Many teachers, students, and parents feel that their votes for the old calendar were ignored. One outraged parent stated,

“By showing a blatant disregard for the opinions of the people, the School Board has lost the trust of many Cobb County residents.”

There has been some speculation that the survey was misused.

While the poll was only supposed to be open to Cobb County residents and faculty, there was nothing stopping people from other areas voting.

Also, there was a limit of one vote per person which was poorly enforced by limiting each computer to one vote.

However, many people voted multiple times because because of access to many computers. As one teacher noted “I used every computer possible to vote. I wanted to be sure my voice was heard.” The survey is thought to have been flawed yet many people claim it still represents their views on the new schedule.

Did

You Know?

Caffeine is a naturally occurring compound found in the beans, leaves, and fruit of over 60 plants where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants. page

5

A drink comparison Many students depend on caffeine to stay awake, but it could be harmful. austin hayes staff writer

and loads of sugar. Most of the energy drinks have a higher amount of caffeine than the FDA approves for soda. Instead of calling these horrible beverages energy drinks, we should call them Caffeine-in-a-Can. One of the worst energy drinks out there is Rockstar which has 160 milligrams of caffeine, 62 grams of sugar, and 280 calories.

Because of constant late night studying and extreme amounts of homework, many students come to depend on caffeine to wake them up in the morning. Though caffeine usage is accepted and encouraged for tired students, it can actually be quite harmful to the body.

When a person consumes caffeine, it gets absorbed by the body and starts moving through the blood stream. Caffeine stimulates the nervous and cardiovascular systems for hours. If someone consumes too much caffeine per day they become nervous, sweat, feel tense, and experience anxiety. The most important long-term effect of caffeine is how it affects sleep patterns. The effects of caffeine last approximately six hours.

Even after a person eventually falls asleep after consuming caffeine, the body will not receive the deep sleep needed to feel relaxed. Brody Judd, 10, states, “I don’t think coffee is a good thing for high school students to drink because it usually involves stress.”

A recent poll went around the school to see how many people drink caffeine related products. Of the 96 people polled, 65 said they do drink coffee, tea, or energy drinks.

That’s around 68% of students.

Another major problem with caffeine and students in high school is energy drinks. These annabel edwards headaches in a bottle Becca Arndt,11, expereinces a crash from contain significant Fatigue consuming too much caffeinated soda. amounts of caffeine

“

I don’t think coffee is a good thing for high school students to drink because it usually involves stress.

”

Starbucks Cafe Mocha Coca Cola 175 mg 35 mg

Dunkin Donuts Coffee Monster 143 mg 80 mg

McDonald’s Rockstar Coffee Lipton Tea Energy Drink 145 mg 50 mg 160 mg

Red Bull 80 mg

lhs editorials

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6

Things I wish I knew freshman year… katie

hayes As I prepare to head off to college and out into the real world on my own, I have been looking back on my years here at Lassiter. Everyone has things that they wish they had done differently when it comes to high school, whether it deals with classes, grades, clubs, or the social aspects. Here are a few things I wish I had done differently.

Of all the things I have done over the past four years, the one thing I wish hadn’t happened to me was Facebook. I blame this website for every bad grade I have ever received, and youngsters take my advice while you can… Facebook is not important. It is probably one of the most distracting

websites known to man. Since socialization is a huge part of high school, of course this website is very popular among students.

Being a high-schooler, I am constantly lacking in the sleep department. The next thing I would change about my high school years would be to GO TO BED. Throughout middle and elementary school, your parents decided when you went to bed, but come high school you are entitled to this newfound freedom. Of course I took advantage of it, staying up to all hours of the night most of the time.

Upon reaching senior year I feel as if all the sleep I opted out on has caught up to me. Tired. All. The. Time. So take my advice, sleep will give you better grades and more energy to do your work.

Every day I walk down the art hallway and wish I had taken art instead of the useless business classes I took freshman year. Art would have been a fun, creative opportunity for me. Maybe I would have found a passion or

revealed a hidden talent. Art is a way to express yourself and get out all the frustrations of school. Don’t be afraid to take classes you are interested in.

Despite the things I wish I had done differently, high school still turned out pretty well for me. Even if given the opportunity to change it, I think I would keep it the same, because I learned so much from the things I did do. But really, stay away from Facebook. It’s bad news.

Sleep at night to avoid sleeping in class!

#1 Facebook stalkers Should college admission offices be allowed to creep on our profiles?

Did you get into Harvard?

natalie

kieta No, they said they weren’t looking for someone with “too much of a social life.”

What does that mean?

I guess my Facebook profile speaks for itself.

Regardless of whether or not you think twice about what you post on Facebook, colleges are watching. It has been reported that Facebook profiles are now part of 80% of colleges’ admissions check. Because of this, students should really consider filtering what they choose to display on this social networking site. The option of untagging yourself from a photo may become useful not only for pictures that you consider to be “unflattering,” but also for pictures that may be suggestive of an activity that is frowned upon.

What you do on your Friday nights is your business, but if its on Fa-

cebook, it automatically becomes the business of any college recruiters that may be frequenting your Facebook page. Though I do caution you to be selective as to what you post on this site, that is essentially your decision.

My purpose is not to help you differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate material for Facbeook, but rather to address another question: should colleges have the right to reference social networking websites in their recruiting outreach? Personally, I believe the answer is no. Though I don’t see why you would want to display yourself in a negative light on the internet, choosing to do so is your own decision. If you can maintain a 4.3 GPA, actively participate in numerous clubs and extra curricular activities, and make time for a social life (please teach me your ways), then more power to you! I believe that colleges should look at the concrete facts: your GPA, your SAT or ACT scores, the school related clubs and such that you

have participated in, as well as any sort of instrument or sport you play. If you can succeed in all those areas, by all means you should absolutely go party on a Friday night. So what if pictures are taken and end up on Facebook?

Colleges should be able to discern the difference between someone with excellent time management skills who has a life and between someone who doesn’t do their work so they can party. If you can get the grades, then your social life is absolutely no business of those in charge of college admissions.

Though I do believe that colleges gaining access to Facebook unncessarily diverts attention away from what really matters, I also believe that since it is a known fact that social networking pages are referenced nowadays, students should be careful not to jeapordize their hard work all for an inappropriate status with a witty innuendo. Be sure you think before you upload or post, because Big Brother’s eye is always watching.

Did

You Know?

By their 19th birthday, 7 in 10 teens of both sexes have had intercourse. page

The Laureate Staff 2010-2011

Not your grandmother’s back-up plan How many of us Trojans are buying Trojans?

Editors-in-Chief Skye Rubel Cory Shaw

laura

brink

News Editor Annabel Edwards

Editorials Editor Natalie Kieta

A&E Editor Katie Hayes

JFF Editor Julia Regeski

Centerspread Editor Mary Ann Staak

Features Editor Lindsay Hopkins

Comedy Editor Tyler Molinaro

Sports Editor Jack Herman

Staff Writers

Laura Brink Jeff Ciesielski Vince Gonzalez Austin Hayes Will Morris Colleen Purdy Renee Puvvada Samantha Weissert

Advisor Mr. Todd Henry The Laureate is a student publication of Lassiter High School; a member of the Georgia Scholastic Press Association. Editorials reflect the opinions of individual writers and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Lassiter High School, Cobb County Schools, or their administrators. Financial support for The Laureate is obtained through advertising and subscription sales, and generous patron contributions.

Lassiter High School 2601 Shallowford Road Marietta, Georgia 30066 (678) 494-7863 lhspress@gmail.com issuu.com/lhspress

7

It was just an average, every day I-can’t-sit-in-this-class-for-onemore-minute trip to the bathroom. I walked into the girls’ room and my eye was caught by a green box on the sink.

It was a Plan B emergency contraceptive box, also known as the “morning after” pill. This is a true story. There it was. I beheld it with my own eyes and my eyes were shocked. Nationwide, 98% of teens 15-19 have admitted to participating in some type of sexually active. But is that real here at our school? How can it be? Call me naïve, call me a prude, but that seems completely unrealistic to me. This pill is for crazy college kids and twentysomething’s with questionable social lives and cheating spouses and victims of assault... or so I thought.

To the owner of this box, I apologize because I understand you had a very hard choice to make in that

bathroom with your pill. But maybe you should not have even been put in the position to have to consider it. We are all high schoolers, aka teenagers, aka children. We like to believe we’re old of enough for sex but we’re not.

We like to believe we are adults ready to take on the world and be in serious relationships. We like to believe in boys who tell us they love us as they lift off our shirts. We like

to do these things.

Why don’t we like to believe in ourselves and our morals and the greatness we can achieve without sacrificing our bodies? Yes, I know that we all have our own minds and we are free to make chioces however we like Whoever the owner of this box is will

laugh at the overly guidance-counselor-like speech I’m so sadly typing out.

I am truly sorry to preach and that was not my intention as I started this article. My intention here is to ask how many of us Trojans are secretly buying Trojans at CVS pharmacy and hoping no one from our mother’s book club will see. Is that really what you want your first time to be? Buying condoms and birth control with a hoodie covering your face and then waiting for a night that your parents go out to dinner so you can have sex on your polka dot Pottery Barn Teen comforter? That’s not exactly a page from a Nicholas Sparks fairytale romance.

You have every right to make your own decisions about your intimacy and your uses of preventative tools, so do not think I’m pointing a finger at anyone. All the pointing I’m doing is pointing out this fact; your life is your own and you are an independent person so do whatever you like, but do it for you and not for someone who won’t love you in the morning.

Decline of the blue tickets sam

darby Guest writer

It’s easy to agree that most towns in the United States have household-name businesses: a Wal-Mart, two McDonalds, and seven Starbucks.

But in the not-too-distant past, there was another company that we would include in this list (Before you read the following sentences, look away from the newspaper and think about the mystery company for ten seconds.)

Last week, I went to Blockbuster to rent the Disney movie, Fantasia 2000.

(Don’t know it? Go rent it. :)) When my dad and I pulled into the parking lot, I thought the movie rental monster was closed... even though the place and the signs were lit up. The front doors were unlocked so I scurried in to find Fantasia 2000. I’ll be frank with you, there were only three people in the building: two employees and me. Granted I rented the movie Wednesday night,

but driving past it the following Friday night showed little change.

In 2007, how many people knew that Blockbuster would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy three years later?

My guess is very few. Movie renting has been an industry that kept America addicted for years and years, from videocassettes to Blu-Ray. The reason for the downfall of this famous company is sewn in the fabric of our generation – instant gratification. We want things bigger, better, now. And maybe a few people have noticed that the resulting rise of Netflix, Comcast, TiVo, and iTunes are causing a further breakdown of society, beginning in our very own living rooms. Better were the days when the family drove together into town, argued over which movie to rent (only

to lose when Dad asks if you have got the money) than to rent by pressing a button on your channel changer... well, at least that is what this student believes.

Don’t get me wrong. Occasionally my family will go On Demand to rent a movie and watch it together on a crammed couch. But any chance of socializing with friends that may have been at Blockbuster at the same time we would have been would be gone; you don’t even get the chance to have small-talk with an employee and make his/her day. It’s something a text or Facebook can’t replace.

I never thought that Blockbuster would falter, that it would fall off its high horse. Blockbuster was purely an obsession- we all want to see movies… but we don’t want to spend twenty dollars buying it. It was the “Coke of Entertainment.”

You want to know why I believe that the end of Blockbuster is upon us? Its last store for miles on Shallowford Road had to resort to a neon “Open” sign to ensure people know they are still in business.

lhs editorials

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The 2011-2012 calendar changes purdy

As my last February break winds down, I can’t help but get really angry at the newly-elected Cobb County School Board. I’m starting to wonder if they even take us students into consideration when they sit in their little conference room contemplating White Water and Sixflags’ yearly revenue. Really? Because now I’m just tempted to not go to either over the summer just because they are the apparent reason for my lack of a break every six weeks. I voted.

I voted to not change OUR calendar.

But you see so did 72% of students, parents, teachers, and residents. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure our parents and teachers had a vote in who got the privilege to be on the school board. And I thought that this whole democratic system was so that we, our parents and our teachers, could vote for representatives to executewhat the people want. Even though 86,057 people voted in the poll that we thought our school board would use when considering changing the calendar, they still went for one of the two rejected options.

Why were we even considering a new calendar? Everyone I know was “A-OKAY” with the August 1st start date. Students and teachers NEED a break. Not sure if you know this, but I, like most of the high school population, tend to spend more time

mdjonline.com

Debate

Residents showed up to the board meeting in large numbers

There seems to be a clear consensus among students, teachers, and parents.

cobbk12.org

colleen

at school than sleeping. Is that not unhealthy? And am I wrong when I say that students perform better when we are well rested? There is no way you can expect us to perform if we don’t sleep. You could pull the “For the last ten years of your Cobb County public schooling you haven’t had a break every six weeks” routine, but you can’t expect us to go back. Just like once you start driving, you can’t just “Boom” go back to depending on your parents to tote you around everywhere. It just doesn’t work that way.

Let’s just throw this example out there: you and your family, like the rest of Cobb County, were under the impression that our August 1st calendar would continue into the 20112012 school year. So you plan to take a cruise to the Caribbean over Fall Break. Prices are cheaper, the crowd is minimal, and your parents can take time off work because it’s not the busy season. You buy your tickets, you plan excursions, you even get your best friend to tag along. Then on February 17, 2011, exactly eight months prior to your voyage, you log onto Facebook and see that the Cobb County School Board has decided for no apparent reason to shake up the calendar. There goes that trip you were awaiting.

I’m just not clear on exactly why the board has changed to the August 15th start date. They didn’t even have the common courtesy to give reason for their lack of following the democratic system. This is not one of those “Because I said so” moments.

Our test scores will lower, our desire to learn will drop, we will all be cranky students. As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Let’s try taking this advice.

8

Did

You Know?

The fiscal 2012 Cobb County School deficit is estimated at $20 to $30 million. page

9

Who’s to blame for the lack of effort? anonymous

parent

“You kids have it so easy!

When I was young, I had to walk to school uphill, both ways, in the snow.”

Each generation believes that they had it harder than their successors. But do the proverbial snow boots stop here?

Growing up as an overachiever, I put my studies high on my list of priorities. Never would I wait for the night before to study for an exam.

Never would I be satisfied with a B. My goal was to be the valedictorian, and number two was not an option.

(As it turned out, I graduated number three, but that’s another story.) You may think I was a book worm, but not so. I was involved in a select number of activities, but school came first.

Kids nowadays have different priorities, and competitive sports seem to hold more importance than homework. They spend more time practicing their sport than practicing conjugating their French verbs. Parents seem content to drive their children around from tumbling to cheerleading to piano. The next day, kids give teachers the excuse of not having enough time to do their homework.

Parents write notes sounding something like, “Our family was very busy

last night, please allow him extra time to complete the assignment.”

I speak from the perspective of both a Lassiter High School parent and an elementary teacher when I ask; do we blame the parents for enabling their children, or the kids themselves for not accepting responsibility? I think the blame starts with the parents. As parents, we have an obligation to teach our children to be responsible. Education must become a higher priority if we are to prepare children to solve the future problems facing our world. Let’s start by having dinner together with our kids. My generation would sit down together most nights and discuss the events of the day. This generation is too busy texting their friends grammatically incorrect one-liners, to hold face-toface conversations. Parents need to stop over-committing their children so that they have time for school work and dinner conversations where they can practice problem solving skills.

In defense of parents, it is a societal problem when kids can be drafted into professional sports without even completing college.

But enough of the blame game. Parents, teachers, and students must work together if we want schools to succeed in turning out young adults who are prepared for the world that lies ahead. Hats off to those students who are graduating with grades high enough to get the HOPE scholarship and to parents and teachers who are supporting their educational efforts.

renee

puvvada

Let’s face it: we’ve all come home one day after school and faced an overwhelming feeling of apathy one time or another. Homework lies forgotten and forlorn as activities like laughing at Michael Scott or attacking that new box of Thin Mints (thanks, Girl Scout down the street) overrides the desire to read Peter Stearns for an hour.

Excuses aside, school is just plain exhausting. A large reason for the lack of effort from students stems from the deluge of schoolwork that pummels teenagers day in and day out.

If we were robotically programmed to be 100% productive 100% of the time, an entertainment industry wouldn’t exist and doctors wouldn’t complain about our sleeping habits.

Stereotypically, American kids in the 1950s could be seen toting huge books in their arms and submitting to the large amount of schoolwork that accompanied the scamper for better education after the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik. Education in the States came at a premium then, but for succeeding years after that brief era of extreme education, it seems we’ve become more and more lax

about school as we enter 2011. However, I wouldn’t be the first to point the finger at the students.

Though it can’t be said that the importance of education has dwindled (since the college and career arena has become more competitive than ever), the reasons that we face to get into good universities and acquire well-paying jobs in our present world have been slowly transformed into anemic and translucent clones of their former selves. Remember when your parents, on your first day of kindergarten, held with old-fashioned hope, told you to work hard to become the best you could be? To be sincere, I don’t frantically cram for a oh-no-i-forgotwe-had-this test in my sophomore year in high school because I want to “become the best I can be” anymore.

The effort that used to be fed by aspirations of flying as a cosmonaut or smiling in Hollywood flashbulbs in my elementary school days has faded to become effort fed by the empty shell of acquiring credentials. I don’t know about you, but credentials have none of the fuel I need to do my work with 12-year old enthusiasm.

Because of that, I would much rather befit my time doing the things that inspire me, like Facebook (seriously) or watching TV, because the inspiration from trying to get just the A shows its true colors as impotent and bland. A revitalization of why humans wanted to actually have “knowledge” in the first place is just what this generation needs.

lhs a&e

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Celebrities who rep the ATL

Websites that will crack you up austin hayes staff writer

failblog.org Have you ever seen someone try to do something and completely… fail? Failblog.org is one of the most humorous web sites out right now.

People upload videos of their friends and family onto the site to let people comment and specifically laugh at this disgraceful moment of the person’s life. Ryan Borgerding, 10, says, “Failblog makes my day when they post videos like fat people falling off Porta Potties, kids running into walls, or dogs attacking couches!”

dearblankplease blank.com

Local Fame

WWE Wrestler Cody Rhodes (center), graduated from Lassiter. Jason Aldean, B.o.B., and Dakota Fanning are also from Georgia.

samantha weissert staff writer

Have you ever turned on the TV and wondered about how celebrities seem to live in such a different world? Well, you may have more in common with them than you think.

Georgia natives are seen all over the entertainment industry and in sports they are known not only nationwide, but worldwide. Cody Rhodes, WWE wrestler, actually graduated from Lassiter and was on the wrestling team. With its booming entertainment production industry, Georgia is quickly gaining a reputation for producing some impressive talent.

Georgia natives dominate the music scene across the board. What comes as no surprise to country music fans is the long list of country stars who are native to Georgia. Artists such as Jason Aldean from Macon and Zac Brown from Atlanta are known to reference their home state in their songs. As for the rap and hip-hop enthusiasts, you may be surprised at just how many of these artists come from the south. Georgia is home to B.O.B,. who was born in Decatur, and Lil Jon, who was born and raised in Atlanta.

This state is also well-represented on the big and small screens.

Award-winning actress Julia Roberts can trace her roots back to Smyrna

“Sometimes Missy Elliott runs past my house!”- Christine Scherer, 12.

and graduated from Georgia State University. Child star Dakota Fanning lived in Conyers before she was discovered.

Also, TV personality Ryan Seacrest was born in Dunwoody.

Many celebrities have flocked to Georgia in response to its growing prominence in the entertainment industry. Tyler Perry, famous writer/director/producer, came to Atlanta and built Tyler Perry Studios. Ask any preteen girl and they will be able to tell you that pop sensation Justin Bieber relocated from Canada and now lives in Buckhead. For the Food Network fans, Alton Brown lives in Alpharetta and some may recognize the grocery store he often visits on his show.

The list of celebrities based or born in Georgia goes on and on. With the staggering number of growing opportunities in Georgia, the next Georgia celebrity may even be you!

Ever wanted to ask an inanimate object a question? Here is your chance. People use this site to vent about how something or someone has does something wrong or funny.

To look at some homemade versions of this hilarious theme, check the In the Wry section. Matt Hull, 10, states, “Whenever I am down in the dumps, Dearblankpleaseblank always knows how to make me laugh.”

theonion.com The Onion is becoming one of the most popular websites on the internet. It appears to be a regular news site, but if you take a closer look, you will soon find out that all the articles are made up about celebrities and other hot news. They write fake articles and make very legitimate news videos. One in particular has become so viral that it now has a slot on Comedy Central on Tuesdays at 10:30PM.

Did

You Know?

Ty Pennington, the host of Extreme Makeover Home Edition, went to Sprayberry High School.

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Jersey Shore goes across the globe

katie hayes a&e editor

Many Lassiter students have made this hit television series a part of their Thursday night ritual since the beginning of it’s reign. We thrive on the drama and mischief of the Jersey Shore cast and their endeavours. Even though Jersey Shore may be thought of as mind-numbing to many older generations, Jersey Shore has a captive audience here at Lassiter and all over America. “Jersey Shore is really funny and I love Pauly D, oh yeah.” says Emma Marshall, 10.

Jersey Shore has brought the culture of “guidos” and “guidettes” down south, which is, of course, a big help in broadening students horizons and giving them the chance to experience a culture many of us didn’t even know existed. Seriously, what would we do without the terms “grenade” and “GTL”? Being a juicehead is a way of life and, thanks to Jersey Shore, we southerners have the chance to experience and learn more about it.

The crew has been in Miami once and New Jersey twcie thus far, losing roommates and gaining new mtv.com ones along the way. But the directors have something huge in store for sea-

son four.

Since the cast of Jersey Shore is based on Italian-American culture, they will be taking a trip overseas to experience their “true culture” (or so they think) in none other than Italy itself. The homeland of Leonardo da Vinci, Julius Caesar, and Federico Fellini. Many Italian- American based shows travel to the homeland, Italy, at some point, such as Everybody loves Raymond and The Sopranos. Even though only about half of them are actually Italian, being in their home land is bound to cause the Shore cast to have a great season. They are currently looking for the perfect location for the show to be filmed this summer! One source connected with the show says that they have already lined up dinner plans with some of Vinny’s italian relatives to host the cast.

Can’t you just imagine these high-society, classy people trying to communicate with people who don’t even speak the same language as them? For many, getting the Shore cast out of America is a big step for the future of humanity. The upcoming season is either bound for disaster or will contain even more hilarious adventures for the crew.

lhs a&e

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Justin Bieber: Never

mary ann staak centerspread editor

He’s sensational. He’s adorable. And he’s only sixteen. Yes, he’s the one, the only, Justin Bieber. His new movie Justin Bieber: Never Say Never captures the insanely famous sixteen year-old in all his hair flipping glory—and it is offered in 3D. Can you say “Bieber Fever”?

I will be totally honest; he never really impressed me like he seemed to impress every other girl under the age of fifteen. He seemed more like a Miley Cyrus wannabe with a little bit of Michael Jackson thrown in there. I will give him that his songs are catchy and upbeat, but I was just not buying this little boy who comes out of nowhere and steals the hearts of millions of tween girls. On top of this, he makes a movie and writes a book. I was thinking the same thing you are:

You’ve GOT to be kidding me. This is the mindset I had as I walked into the theater to see his new movie. If it’s possible to change your mind 180 degrees, I witnessed it to its full potential.

Justin Bieber is, in a word, unbelievable. Set in his sold out show in Madison Square Garden, Never Say Never tells the story of Justin’s life in Stratford, Ontario, Canada to his fairy tale ending (or should I say beginning?) on his world tour. It shows his entire show (and behind the scenes) in New York with special guest appearances by other stars. But most of all, the movie spotlights Justin’s crazed and love-stricken fans.

I will be the first to admit that I’ve caught the Bieber Fever but some people are out of their minds in love with Justin Bieber. Their whole worlds revolve around Justin: his tweets, his facebook statuses, and his

chartmovieinfo.com

Say Never

concerts. The girls that they showed in his movie were weeping for joy as he tore up the stage. The decibels that their screams reached could only be heard by dogs. Bieber has forever changed the face of pop music. By the end of the movie when Justin asks his audience, “Who wants to be my baby?”, I found myself screaming “ME!” I highly recommend this movie, even if you aren’t a Bieber lover. By the end you will be laughing, cheering, and crying.

You will even agree with one Bieber fan who says to Justin, “You’re the one!”

samantha weissert/ staff writer

A+ bookreader

On November 19, 2007, Amazon released it’s first Kindle and within five and a half hours, it was sold out. Furthermore, it remained out of stock until five months later in April 2008. Alex Fortanbary, 11, received the Kindle as a Christmas present a year ago, “The Kindle is great. It is so much easier than carrying around books.”

The Kindle has easily become Amazon’s best-seller, crushing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It is estimated that Amazon sold 8 million Kindles at the end of last year. Also, in July 2010 after its quarterly report, Amazon announced that they had sold about 145 Kindle books for every 100 hard cover books. This comes to about 22 million Kindle books.

The large amount of consumers can be attributed to the numerous benefits of owning a kindle. People who travel find the small, personal library much easier to tote than a bulky stack of books. As played up by the commercials, the E pearl ink display gives it a clear, sharp resolution even under the glare of the sun. Also, if the Wi-fi is turned off, the battery power can last up to a month. What avid readers find most impressive about the Kindle is that it can hold up to 3,500 books. “The best thing about the Kindle is that everything is in one place,” claims Fortanbary.

However, much of the Kindle’s success can be attributed to its work in conjunction with Amazon. There are over 800,000 ebooks available to the Kindle from Amazon and that number is growing every day.

The famous online book store has also become a central point for consumers to not only buy a Kindle, but also read reviews. This mash-up has proven most beneficial both to the creators of the Kindle and Amazon.

amazon.com

courtesy of adam golden

Teen raves

skye rubel editor-in-chief

For teenagers, going to the movie theater on a Friday night is so last year! Recently, the new craze is teen raves. Students ages 15 to 20 from all around the metro Atlanta area are flocking into Downtown to party with upand-coming DJ’s. Flashing lights, techno music, and tons of people make for an awesome time dancing the night away.

One of the most popular of these raves is the series of “Rounds.” Though most of Adam Golden’s events have been very successful, Round 5 was full of problems. There was a huge line of angry people who could not get in and the music was shut off early. The venue, at the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot, was not even close to its four thousand

people capacity. Aside from these issues, those who danced before it was shut down had a great time.

Though raves are a relatively new fad, clubbing has always been a major part of the teen social life. Opera Night Club is ordinarily only open to people ages 21 and up. Luckily for older teens, every Wednesday is “College Night” which is open to 18 to 20 year olds. This lively club is open from 10 PM to 4 AM for College Night.

One Noiz is another club specifically for people under the age of 21. Their last party, “Black and Yellow” was a huge success and sold out quickly.

Raves give teenagers the chance to dance, listen to great music, and meet other students.

Look out for event invitations on Facebook for future parties. You will not regret going to the newest form of entertainment.

How to:

SPRING F

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d e n r A t r Ga

1.

2.

Create a theme: Find out what type of flowers you want to see every day. What colors make you smile and what scents make you happy?

Draw out a layout: Take your handy dandy crayola pencils and sketch out a design plan. Gardeningknowhow.com recommends the Better Homes and Gardens “Plan-a-Garden.”

Get planting: There are two ways to fill your garden with floral beauty.

You can either buy pre-grown flowers or go for the 100% do it yourself route and plant seeds before spring hits its high note.

All you need is some fertilizer, water, and sunlight.

Enjoy! Your garden is ready to go for spring with a little care and attention.

Happy spring all you green thumbs!

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Prom is we upperclassmen are at The Foundry at Atlanta. Prom is makes some great m Don’t forget about t ademic Pep Rally! Bo for the entire stu Morgan if you’re in the Acad

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ell underway and the excited! Prom will be held t Puritan Mill in downtown s always a lot of fun and memories, so don’t miss out! the Spring Fling or the Acoth will be held in late April udent body. Talk to Mrs. nterested in being a part of demic Pep Rally!

sit e

out our biggest track—have pring season. Both the are expected to go to state ring home a trophy. Our to go to state and our p shape.

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Spring is the perfect time to hit the stores at the Avenue. It has the ideal weather conditions to go for a round of putt-putt with your pals. East Cobb has so many spring time activities. Watch a lax game and cheer for Luke Trevino. Go to a baseball game. Find something you like to do, grab some friends, and Spring into action! The world is an open door, walk through it!

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Are you smarter than an What has your time at Lassiter taught you about common sense?

1)

2)

8

Define abysmal.

Who bombed Pearl Harbor?

“Is it like a type of food?” Tony Huber, 9

“Germany” Jon Williams, 9

4)

5)

What does it mean to be vegan?

What is Bill Gates famous for?

“Allergic to vegetables” Spencer Roush, 11

“Did he invent the computer?” Diana Gambone, 10

spring grass showers easter lassiter flowers sunshine

rain birds green rainboots umbrella trojans

Find these spring words!

Contest Rules

Hidden somewhere within this paper is the logo of Lewis Electrical Contractors (shown below). If you are the first one to email laureate@leciga.com with the page number in which it is located, you win $50! Participants must also include their name and address to receive the check. One entry per person per year.

+ read

= find

money

Lewis Electrical Contractors ...is a proud sponsor of The Laureate

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page

th grader? cory shaw/ editor-in-chief

3)

What is the sum of all the angles in a triangle?

“360?... Oh wait, 90?”

Catherine Schmidt, 12

Correct Answers 1) Japan 2) Very great or limitless 3) 180 degrees 4) A person who eats no animal products 5) Co-founder of the Microsoft Corporation, 1975

Did

You Know?

Thirty-six million United States residents claim Irish ancestry.

17 Top ten things page

Fun facts lindsay hopkins/ features

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words.

Ants stretch when they wake up.

better than a pot

Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.

of gold

More people are killed by donkeys annually than are killed in plane crashes.

Most elephants weigh less than the tongue of the blue whale.

Cat’s urine glows under a black light.

The average ear of corn has eight hundred kernels arranged in sixteen rows.

Almonds are members of the peach family.

The housefly hums in the middle octave key of F. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

There are 22 stars surrounding the mountain on the Paramount Pictures logo.

1.

2.

3.

4.

A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.

Grapes explode when you put them in the microwave.

A fully ripened cranberry can be dribbled like a basketball.

Sudoku

Cash. What a massive nuisance it would be to have to exchange gold for cash and then go on with your purchasing needs? What a waste of time! Cut out the middle man, and go straight for the dough.

5.

A genie in a bottle. Still mythical, still intriguing but instead of just gold you get precisely what you ask for. If you actually want the gold, make that wish one and then you get two bonus wishes!

David Beckham. Enough said.

laura brink/ staff writer

In honor of the scarcely celebrated St. Patrick’s Day tradition of glorifying the elusive leprechaun’s pot of gold, here is a list to help you uncover the finer gifts of this holiday.

Mary Poppins’ endless bag. If you are not familiar with the iconic film, the main character, Mary Poppins, has a carpetbag out which she can pull anything. Feel like some cantaloupe? Reach in the bag.

Maybe a puppy? Just reach in and scoop the little cutie pie into your arms.

And on that note, a box of puppies. Everyone loves puppies. They are snuggly and adorable and awesome. I really doubt anyone would be irked by a box of precious puppies.

6.

A pot of Platinum. It is worth more, it is more fun to say, it is less cliché. Who has ever seen a pot of platinum at the end of a rainbow? No one!

7.

An endless supply of nachos. THEY ARE NACHOS PEOPLE! NACHOS!

8.

9.

10.

A magic mirror. It would be rather useful. You look in the mirror and get truthful answers every time. A little blunt maybe, but incredibly helpful when trying to become the fairest in the land.

A half comedian/personal assistant. Always at your beck and call whenever you need entertainment or your shoes polished. You can truly lounge about like royalty and leave it all up to your fabulous assistant.

Friends. You can talk together about anything and laugh together about everything. When it comes down to it, they are all you really need.

lhs sports

cory shaw editor-in-chief

With teams in order and practices giving way to games and tournaments, spring sports are in full swing.

As returning players look to advance farther than they did last year, those elite athletes entering from the junior levels of middle school show off their strut. As always, a select few freshmen made the final cuts and will enter the most competitive sporting arena at the high school level in varsity competition.

There should be no shock as to why the dominating forces on many teams are those in ninth-grade. Jude Collins, a member of Boys Lacrosse, has been playing competitively since he was eight-years-old. Many join summer teams to supplement the Lassiter feeder teams offered at either Simpson or Mabry Middle School. Lucy Mills, an instrumental part of the Girls Lacrosse team comments, “I’ve been playing for the Trojan Youth Lacrosse program since 6th grade and Hotlanta, my summer team, for a year now.”

For some on the tennis team, like Zack Littke-Smith and Natalie Eldredge, the sport is something they’ve always known.

With so much young talent, hopes are higher this year than ever.

According to the Girls Tennis coach, Lisa Chase, “Last year’s varsity team did not have any starting freshmen, so Natalie Eldredge and Rachel Sumner are a welcoming addition.” Girls Lacrosse coach Faith Harmeyer is equally optimistic: “We also have a very young team so we can expect to win several titles this year and in the years to come.”

The transition isn’t always so smooth. Lucy comments “Being the youngest is actually really intimidating, especially when I have to go up against girls that are a lot bigger than me!” Jude uses his youth as inspiration: “I don’t really feel much different being the youngest out there it just means I have to work a little harder.”

The intricate balancing act between team and school work can also pose problems. As Jude comments, “It’s extremely difficult to do well on and off the field because I have little time to do school work so a lot of late night studying is needed.” That opinion seems to be fact school-wide. Time is precious to members of varsity sports teams.

To ease this stress, players often develop pre-game rituals. For lacrosse

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Freshmen join the upperclassmen

This year’s freshman class provides a spark of youthful energy.

cory shaw

Skilled

Natalie Eldredge is a great asset to the varsity tennis team. She is one of the many ninth grade students who made the varsity team at such a young age.

player Alex Fusco, that means a quick prayer. Often though, it’s all about a state of mind. Price Donaldson, a member of Boys Soccer, states “You can achieve anything you set your mind to and with any success comes hard work.”

It is often difficult for coaches to decide whether young athletes should face a building year at the varsity level, or be able to play on a continual basis on junior varsity. Coach

Chase comments “In tennis specifically, if a freshmen can step right in and be a legitimate starter, they should be playing varsity. Otherwise, freshmen should get as much competition time as possible by playing the JV schedule.” According to Alex, the experience of being on a varsity team can’t be overlooked. She says “Working with the older girls on the field really helps out because they can sometimes explain things to my understanding bet-

ter than a coach.”

Coach Chase finishes, “The five seniors on the team really embrace the “team” concept of tennis.” In four long years, when these freshmen are old with experience, we could be looking at a very similar situation. As Coach Wallace of the boys lacrosse team commented, “The freshmen class is full of really amazing athletes. Varsity teams are lucky to have them.”

Did

You Know?

Though many sports feature freshmen on the varsity team, baseball has none.

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A fairweather flee Fans show little loyalty if they don’t support their team, through both the good and the bad. laura brink staff writer

With the recent conclusion of the Super Bowl, a terrible epidemic has come even more into the bright stadium lights. It is the epidemic of fair-weather fans. May I just say, “YOU SUCK.” Your team is your team.

Period, end of story. I understand how tragic it is that your beloved (insert your team here) did not make it to the Super Bowl.

However, out of respect for that previously-mentioned beloved team, you should consider this fun new thing called LOYALTY.

If you choose to be a fairweather fan, please know that your

The real man’s sport julia

regeski jff editor

The Trojans Rugby Football Club may not exactly be school sanctioned, but that doesn’t mean this group of athletes has any less drive.

This club practices diligently twice a week at Noonday Park. Led by Randy Joseph, also known as Coach RJ, the team works hard to maintain their great record.

This season, the Trojans have played one game against Kennesaw Mountain and beat them 24-8. Last season went well, but proved the current season would make or break them, as many of the star players graduated.

For those who are unsure of the logistics of this sport, the field is set up like a longer and wider football field. The field goal is placed at the front. When you score in the end zone it’s called a “Try.” To score, you must place the ball down in the try zone. Rugby only stops for penalties.

There are 15 players on the field at once and they all play defense and offense. When a player is tackled, he must release the ball so that it is playable. Opposing players try and rake the ball back with their feet so

that another player can then grab the ball. When the ball is fought for over a tackled player it is called a ruck. There is no blocking in rugby, no passing forward, and no high tackling. For serious penalties, yellow or red cards are given like in soccer but for yellow cards players are sent off the field for a certain amount of time. Trys are worth 5 points, the kick after a try is worth 2 points, and penalties kicks and dropkicks through the uprights are worth 3 points. The 15 players are split up into two groups; forwards and backs. The forwards, jersey numbers 1-8 (jersey number is specific to position), are more power based and usually do the dirty work like running into rucks and trying to push the other team off the ball. The backs, jersey numbers 9-15, are the quick and agile ones so they are the ones trying to break through the line of offense by juking or outrunning the defense in front of them.

Rugby uses all sorts of players, like those that are short and stumpy or those that are tall and lanky.2

Since rugby is not a school team, students from Kell, Sprayberry, some Atlanta schools, and homeschoolers can help out. As one player commented, “Rugby is a real man’s sport!”

abandonment of your team will only be rewarded with a life of winner chasing. Winner chasing is the tactical following of winning teams so you will always be a fan of the “cool” team of the moment. “My family has always supported the Steelers,” said Julie Gardiner, 11, “That support won’t stop because of one Super Bowl.” Though many people feel the same way as Julie, there is that gaggle of people who exclusively support the “cool” team of the moment.

Fair-weather fans store in their closets jerseys belonging to Tom Brady, Lebron James, and Drew Brees because they are the hippest players of the moment. Now if you own these jerseys because these players are talented and you genuinely support their

team, then props to you. You are what a fan should be. Fair-weather fans are the people who ask, “Hey what’s the quarterback’s name again?” Or maybe they will say, “Peyton Manning plays for the Cowboys right?”

So fair-weather fans let this be a lesson to you. Do not abandon your team because of a few losses; think about the Red Sox in 2004! Please, please do not be one of those people who pretends to love a team or a sport because it is the trendy thing to do.

End the fair-weather fan epidemic.

Love your team or stop annoying the real fans with your flip-flopping.

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Author of book to discuss depression renee puuvada staff writer

This book is no joking matter.

However, it’s going to be really hard not to laugh. By the flip of the first page, there’s a spellbinding realization that the main character of It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Craig, speaks to you in a refreshingly relatable and untimely hilarious voice that reminds you of your own undying search for happiness.

The stresses of society pin Craig down so that he feels an obligation to get into a good high school, then a good college, and finally to have a good Job with a nice car and a sweet family. Caught in a torrential whirlwind of just trying to please everyone, he succumbed to depression. That’s when he finds himself in a mental hospital, surrounded by a motley assortment of patients that, after he gets over his initial qualms about them, turn out to be some of the best friends Craig’s ever had. Over a five-day period, Craig narrates a super-intimate account about healing, friendship, love, and the unexpected wonders about a life he was glad he decided to keep. By the end, you’ll be celebrating with Craig as he decides to

finally take a breath and just live.

Inspired by his own stay at a psychiatric hospital in 2004, author Ned Vizzini, like Craig, dealt with depression that seemed to compress him from all sides. Today, depression is a serious and prevalent condition that affects ten to fifteen percent of teenagers in the United States. It can be caused by many things, such as abuse, loss of friends, or a long-term illness or disability. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) conducted a study of the most effective treatment for teenagers who are depressed; results revealed that drugs that are designed to treat depression, such as Prozac, coupled with a behavioral counselor, could be the most effective method. Counselors at Lassiter are readily available to provide help and support for any situations that may be troubling students.

Mr. Vizzini currently speaks at high schools, libraries, and organizations all over the country about mental health and writing. One of his programs is titled “How Not to Go Crazy in High School,” which he will be presenting at the Cobb Rec Center on the 21st of March from 4-6.

Common Causes of Depression Situations - Loss -Conflict -Stress

Actions

- Social withdrawal -Reduced activity

Physical State - Fatigue -Agitation -Altered sleep

dadsbigplan.com

Movie

The book that dealt with teen depression is now a major motion picture starring Kier Gilchrist and Zach Galifianakis.

By the numbers lindsay hopkins/features editor

Thoughts - Self Criticism -Negative Habits

Emotions - Sadness -Anger -Anxiety

20% 70% 8 30%

of teenagers will experience depression before adulthood.

of teenagers with depression will experience multiple episodes before reaching adulthood.

average length, in months, of an episode or fewer teenagers that are suffering from depression will seek medical help teendepression.org

mrkhealth.com

Did

You Know?

Thirty-six percent of homeless people are responsible for the care of at least one child. page

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The classroom seating arrangement How where you tend to gravitate in the classroom tells a lot about who you are.

a.

The Sprinters You live by the motto “quick in and quick out.” The warning bell is both your best friend and your worst enemy, as you are seemingly always in an anxious state.

d. The Teachers Pet a.

d.

e. The Unsure

e.

b.

b.

The Leaners You like to use those desks against the wall to both better hide the cell phone you’re using and to make the best of a fairly hard head rest.

You ask questions you already know the answer to and laugh at the teachers’ jokes.

You’re smart and do you’re work but don’t want to be chosen all the time.

f.

f. The Look Busy

c. floorplanner.com

You’re an expert at looking like you’re paying attention. In reality, you’re probably doodling or daydreaming.

c. The Apathetic Not only are you not interested in teacher lectures, but you don’t pretend to be either.

You also don’t hide your love for texting well.

Opening their doors The homeless find refuge in local church colleen purdy staff writer

I recently had the opportunity to accompany 7 Bridges Ministry and Mt. Bethel UMC as they went under the bridges of Atlanta. It amazed me to see how a mere twenty minutes or so outside our sheltered home of East Cobb there are hundreds, thousands of people living on the streets. These people sleep under over passes, the same over passes we pass on our way to Falcon’s games on Friday nights.

Their homes are concrete slabs and raggedy blankets. Their diets consist of whatever they can find. These are

people just like you and me. People who made mistakes, just like you and me. The only difference is when we fall, when we make mistakes, we have the luxury of our family, friends, and finances to catch us. These people’s families have abandoned them. They take getting laid off to the next level.

Can you imagine no clean shower, no hot meal, no comfy bed?

Can you imagine your worst fear being whether you wake up the next morning, or not knowing when your next meal may be? In the midst of all that can you imagine being happy? I met one of the happiest men I’d seen in a while under those bridges. Mark

has spent the last couple of years surviving out on the streets. His daughter is in law school. He has a job. He had a new pair of shoes on his feet.

He glowed. He had the biggest blue eyes. You could tell he hadn’t had the ideal “American Dream” life he may have planned for, but he had joy. You could tell in how he talked. He was so proud to be buying himself a new pickup truck next week. All he wanted in life was to be treated like all of us.

He wanted to be comforted, loved, cared for. And what amazed me most about Mark was as we prayed for him, for his prosperity and pursuit of happiness, he prayed for us. He prayed for US. This guy had more worries than I could imagine having in a lifetime, and he was taking the time to pray for me.

There is just something about a man with nothing giving you all he can that just messes with you.

cory shaw/editor-in-chief

Mt. Bethel’s mission is “Compassion into action through the power and presence of Jesus Christ.” On December 12, 2010 Mt. Bethel “Opened its doors” to the homeless, starting the new Homeless Ministry “Opening Our Doors.” When Atlanta reaches extreme weather conditions the Mt. Bethel buses start their engines, gather up the overflowing number of volunteers, and hit the streets of Atlanta. They welcome the homeless men, women, and children to clean showers, a warm place to sleep, and a hot meal. The whole community and church get together to inflate air mattresses, create sleeping spaces, arrange showers with supplies, and transform the kitchen into donation heaven. Upon arrival, they come first to the Fellowship Hall.

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Loud and Proud

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Subtleties

katie hayes/a&e editor

LSC forms a new committee Emma Protis, 10, heads the Community Service Committee. lindsay hopkins features Emma Protis, sophomore, is redefining community service. After becoming a volunteer with the Coolgirls program at age 9, Emma saw the impact students can have in their community. She began researching other local service projects and contacted several organizations about finding new ways to help. Since then, she has volunteered with Vacation Bible School, Hunger Walk, and the Brain Tumor Foundation. She recently got a volunteer job with VITAS to visit and spend time with the patients, “It makes me feel good to brighten their days, especially since they are some of their last.”

This year, she decided to bring her bright ideas to Lassiter. As a member of LSC, Emma Kate met with club sponsors Señorita Allen and Mrs. Webb to talk about some of the projects she was interested in. Impressed with her enthusiasm, they named Emma the head of the new LSC Community Service Committee. Members of her new committee include Natalie Bishop, Emily Higginbottom, Abby Lutzenkirchen, Avery Sechrest, Akahne Philpot, Elizabeth Tallman, Kate Cushman, Mackenzie White, Michelle Doval, Britney Colburn, Meghan Harris, and Taylor Bradley. The committee plans to do at least one project a month, and Emma has been in touch with a few of the organizations of upcoming events for the committee to volunteer at. “I am so excited about this! I can’t wait to start working on the projects and find new ones, too!” said Emma.

One of the upcoming projects is the Spring Classic on April 26. This event is a UGA-GT baseball game at Turner Field for the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Committee members will be handing out t-shirts and spending time with some of the patients.

Another prospective project is with the Humane Society. The committee would take puppies to the hospital to visit the patients. “The only obstacle is that it requires some training. After that, though, we’ll be able to volunteer any time for the next four months!”

While some of the projects are not yet entirely nailed down, LSC is expecting great things to come from Emma’s new Community Service Committee.

Emma comments, “The people I get to work with are in some of the most horrible conditions and they have some of the biggest hearts of anyone I have ever met.”

lhs in the wry Top

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complaints vince gonzalez/staff writer

After you’ve heard “top o’ the mornin’” a few thousand times, a simple “hello” would do.

Every time they wash their outfits, the entire load of laundry turns green.

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, Dear blank, please blank Dear Reader, Please read.

Sincerely, Author

Dear TOMS wearers, We appreciate your contribution to the poor children in Africa with no shoes.

We really do. What we don’t appreciate is their signature smell. Keep them on your feet.

Sincerely, Wow, I Can Smell That From Across The Class

Dear Seniors, You sure talk a lot about Juniors not having enough school spirit. And maybe it’s true our Pep Rally cheering could use some work. But I’d show up to an away basketball game for once before you start throwing stones.

Sincerely, The “I Believe That We Will Win” Cheer is Much More Effective with More Than Two People

Dear Teachers,

Pots of gold aren’t worth all that much after taxes.

Three posters of animals having forgotten their homework are plenty for one room.

Sincerely, I Like Personification as Much as the Next Guy but…

Dear Coach Day, Thanks for reppin’ me 24/7. Love it.

Sincerely, Lassiter Wrestling

Dear Boy Whose Phone Just Went Off In Class,

They find a certain cereal to be neither magical nor delicious.

It’d be a lot less obvious that it was your phone if you didn’t make that “deer in the headlights” look and frantically slap your pocket.

Sincerely, Nice Try with the Coughs Though

Dear New Bathroom Hand Dryers, Thanks to you, I now know if someone washed their hands or not. All without leaving my classroom!

Sincerely, TMI

Dear Kid in Cookie Line,

You try being whimsical all the time!

I get it. This is an important decision and must be carefully investigated. Why don’t you pick up every cookie in the rack and handle it to see which is the softest? That should solve your problem.

Sincerely, That’s Sarcasm. Just Take a Cookie, Man

will morris/staff writer

Did

You Know?

Prom drama has been going on since the late 1800s. page

25

Potentially prom-blematic

A night of planning and perfect expectations can only mean one thing: problems. natalie kieta editorials editor

Prom mishaps are unavoidable, especially for us juniors. While the seniors have been there and done that, we’re like overexcited bees just buzzing with excitement with no sense of direction. Prom is at the end of March, yet girls get asked at the beginning of January. It’s the topic of the entire semester leading up to the event. And believe me when I tell you that mishaps do happen, some more traditional and some more... unique.

And it’s nothing to be ashamed of, for it happens even to the best of us. One of Lassiter’s most adored couples, that of Trevor Beverly and Sarah Mayer, was predestined to go to prom even before the whole “asking” hubbub began. While hanging out one night, Trevor suggested they go to a Chinese

restaurant for dinner.

Sarah retorted, “You just want to go to a Chinese restaurant so you can ask me to prom with a fortune cookie!” ... And that’s how Trevor’s initial plan was shot down.

Sarah, distraught that she had unintentionally and unknowingly called Trevor out on his plan, persistently began asking him to prom for the next couple of weeks. Trevor, however, rejected her invitations just as persistently. She grasped at every opportunity to ask him in a creative

way but he continued to say no. (This was all later resolved as Trevor came up with another adorable way to ask Sarah, who said yes.)

Most typical prom problems arise with saying no. There really is no diplomatic way of saying no, especially if it is simply because you don’t want to go with that person.

You can’t say that you “have plans” or say yes and then at the last minute say “something came up.” You can’t lie and

say you already have a date because what if you don’t get one? And what if you’re in a relationship with someone and then you break up prior to prom?

Not only might you be faced with the challenge of finding a new date, but you also might have very little time to do so! By the time prom actually rolls around, couples might have girls wearing turquoise dresses and boys wearing red vests because of all the different exchanges of dates that have been made. Unfortunately for some, their dates do not have a receipt for return when you realized they just looked better on the hanger. Others might have a great time with their date, until they stomp on your feet while dancing. Prom mishaps are a dime a dozen, from the start of January until maybe even the following year when no one will go with you because you broke your date’s toes last year while trying to do the cha cha slide.

lhs in the wry S

LN:

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Remember that status you shouldn’t have put up last night? We do.

“Why is a newspaper ten times more interesting when somebody across the table is reading it?”

Ouuuccchhhhh. F-

“My mom is walking around the house singing ‘Black and Yellow.’ Oh Gosh.”

I feel your pain. Ever heard ‘This is Why I’m Hot’? Situation: D- Satus: B+

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“Spent the last 10 minutes scraping the r off the ‘stop timer’ button on my oven. Hehehehe just goes to show I’ll do anything for entertainment.”

Dude. What would you do for a Klondike Bar? A-

“Got out of jury duty by prefacing every answer with ‘according to the prophecy.’”

You are my hero. A+

Did

You Know?

Well...did you? page

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True life: I’m dating a Halo addict Those boys would be angels if not for their Halos. will morris staff writer

Wrath. Grifball. Armor Lock.

These terms and many more are everyday lingo to Halo fanatics, but for the brave souls who date them, they are nothing but gibberish. The most popular games of the Xbox franchise, the Halo series has been consuming the free time of boys and girls alike for almost ten years. To some, Halo is nothing more than a game. But to others, Halo is a lifestyle. It’s a hobby that requires a high level of accuracy, technique, a steady hand, and endless patience. Halo players can be found all over the world, and luckily that includes Lassiter High School.

To hide the couples’ shame, I have been asked not to use their real names. Instead, I will replace the names of those involved with the names of well-known celebrities, for your entertainment.

Larry King and

Danica Patrick are two sophomores at our school and have been dating for over 7 months now. Larry has all the Halo games ever released and spends an estimated 3 hours every day on his Xbox, living in a virtual world. When asked how this addiction of sorts affects their relationship, Danica stated, “It’s not as bad as it could be I guess.

He does take a while to text me back sometimes. And even when he does, he’s usually just asking me questions like whether he should switch to the needle rifle or not. Like I know what that means.”

Somehow, Larry and Danica make

their relationship work around Larry’s obsession. More power to them.

While some couples seem to work well around the addictive game, others have trouble finding the right balance of love and technological violence. Seth Rogen and Betty White, both freshmen, met 5 months ago in their Team Sports class and have been officially dating for just two. Already, an interviewer like myself can see issues with their relationship, and Halo is the clear culprit. Betty vents, “Sometimes I have to call him 5 times before he picks

VS

up the phone and when he finally does all he can talk about is his K/D ratio. What is that!?” Wanting to get the male perspective, I ask Seth how he thinks his Halo playing effects his girlfriend. “She’s cool with it I guess. I mean, sometimes she gets mad when I don’t-HEADSHOT! Did you see that man? That’s like my 3rd killing spree today! Sorry, what was the question again?” As you can tell, Seth only agreed to be interviewed if it could take place in his room. While he played Halo.

Like it or not, these types of video games are only getting more popular with teenage boys across the world. Girlfriends will have their work cut out for them to compete against these high-tech first-person shooters for their partner’s attention. The only advice I have for all the struggling girls out there is remember: there is always the power cord.

Caption the moment: common expressions 1.

3.

2. “mmm mm mmm...”

Haha

Answers: Good Luck.

Are YOU ready for Spring Break?

SBXI is only a month away. Prepare now for an unbelievable break! forget!

Do

n’t

toothbrush

sunscreen

camera

Last minute trips

medication

passport

Top 5 vacation spots

Ideas for the procrastinator...

-4 day Carnival cruise departing from Miami (April 4-7) - Build homes for Habitat for Humanity in Mobile, Alabama through their Alternative Spring Break Program (April 5-9) -5 day Royal Caribbean cruise to Western Caribbean departing from Tampa, FL (April 2-6)

1. Panama City Beach, Florida 2. Cancun, Mexico 3. Daytona, Florida 4. Montego Bay, Jamaica 5. Tybee Island, Georgia

Beach “bod” in thirty days

Sean Flanagan, personal trainer at Gold’s Gym of Woodstock, helps LHS students reach their ultimate fitness goals. Do these exercises every day until Spring Break and you’ll be ready to strut your stuff at the beach.

One Leg Squats 1. Stand on one leg, slightly bending knee (Do not let knee go past foot) 2. Push butt out 3. Push straight up 4. Repeat for 30 reps and then alternate legs

Side to Side Jumps

Weighted Lunges

1. Stand on your right leg, slightly bending knee 2. Jump to other side, landing on left foot 3. Repeat jump, alternating legs for 30 seconds to 2 minutes

1. Standing, bring weights to shoulders 2. Go into lunge position, bringing weights down 3. Return to original stance 3. Alternate legs for 10-30 reps

Ground Leg Lifts 1. Lay on back 2. Put feet straight in the air 3. Using arms to stabilize, push feet and lower back up 4. Do 10-30 reps cory shaw