MHS Panther Press January 2013

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The Panther Press

After Christmas at The Children's Place: Returns and Exchanges Nightmare!

Ashley Reed, 12th grade

After the presents are unwrapped and the paper is thrown away comes every retailer's worst nightmare: customers rushing into the store to return or exchange items. The few days after Christmas are the worst, busiest time for returns at The Children's Place.

It may be the time for bringing items back, but it's also the time when customers aren't so friendly or patient. Cut us sales Dear RealTalk, I tend to dress on the conservative side of the dress code-- long skirts, little make up, et cetera. But some other girls make fun of me for not 'pushing boundaries' and dressing more… uh… you !

associates a break!

We're just following the store policy. Just be patient-- even with so many people returning or exchanging items, the store isn't very busy.

The days start to go slower with so few shoppers and so many returns. Although The Children's Place will start to pick up again once spring approaches, until then it's just time to deal with the mad rush of returns and exchanges.

Movies At-A-Glance: Skyfall

Skyfall, directed by Academy Award winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) is one of the best Bond films to date.

Sure, it may sound like I am succumbing to modern films and ignoring the classics, but that is not the case. Daniel Craig, after proving himself the best Bond in 2005’s Casino Royale, takes a step forward in his role as he submerges himself into a sea of emotion and commitment. Academy Award winner Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men) is phenomenal in an over the top yet non-campy Bond villain that sizzles with every word spoken. From the opening title sequence (which is the best opening title sequence in a film all year, featuring a beautiful song by Adele) to the final credits, Skyfall is spectacular, whether it be the amazing action or the well written dialogue.

This is surely one of the best films, if not the best film, of 2012.

(A+) - Guest Contributor Ben Lane, 12th grade

know. Does it make me a wimp or a prude for not being able to tell them that I don't feel comfortable dressing like other girls? Or am I a better person for not sinking to their level?

Sincerely, Overdressed?

Dear Overdressed, Good for you for standing up for yourself! Or thinking about it, anyway.

Wearing modest clothes (or not) is entirely your decision, and it's up to you whether or PAGE 1

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not you want to dress like everyone else. It's your body, and only you can decide how you want to cover it up (or not… but I recommend sticking to the dress code while at school!)

Unfortunately your otherwise great sense of

JANUARY 14, 2013 morality is a little misguided.

What you choose to wear might be your choice, but what the other girls choose to wear is-- yup, you guessed it-- their choice, too. Nobody is a better or worse person just because of what they choose to wear (or

not wear)-- as long as their choice only applies to them.

New Year's Resolutions: Why They Succeed... or Fail Codi Trout, 11th grade With the New Year just beginning, many people want to make life changes. They want to kick habits, take up new hobbies, and start more pleasant or healthy lifestyle. But will they really stick to it?

The most popular resolutions that I’ve heard involve getting healthier, working harder, becoming more family oriented, and even changing attitudes over all. Personally, I hope people can stick to their resolutions. It’s nice to have a goal: it keeps you on task and makes life easier. Your resolution might not be big of life-changing, but even sticking to something small can make you feel better about yourself.

The reason I feel people don’t stick to their resolutions is because they actually enjoy the bad habits they’ve picked up. Even though some complain about unhealthy food, they still continue to eat it. Why? Because it tastes good and they can’t imagine going

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without it. This goes for anything else. People find reasons not to change, not to try for something new-- such as not having time for family because they’re too busy, or not finding time to study because they have to work and take care of the family. But there is always a little extra time to work on these things. We shouldn’t wait to change only on the New Year, but also the rest of the year.

This is a new year and it should be an extraordinary one! Let’s show everyone that 2013 can be a year of change. Let’s carry out our goals throughout the year and even onto the next. Every person I know has some sort of a goal, but it’s a special person who can stick to it.

Excuse Our Lateness... Due to the bomb scare on Tuesday morning, this issue was pushed back a few days while we were busy finishing publication and submitting the issue to administrators for approval. Thank you for your continued support!

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What Has It Got in Its Pocketses, Eh, Precious?: Peter Jackson's The Hobbit Mikaela Hamilton, 10th grade Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is exactly what the title implies. The first of a trilogy, The Hobbit was a mystery to many when it was first announced, but certainly not to fans of original author J. R. R. Tolkien's other Lord of the Rings novels. When the trailer was officially released, it had LotR fans and fans of the original Hobbit book buzzing.

Set 60 years before Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit tells the tale of a young Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins and his first adventure with Gandalf the Grey and a band of dwarves. After much consideration Bilbo hesitantly accepts the invitation to join the dwarves a mission to reclaim their kingdom from a fearsome dragon, Smaug.

With a run time of a staggering 2 hours and 45 minutes, there’s plenty of time to appreciate some of the fantastic qualities of this film.

...And I Feel Fine Amy Smith, 12th grade Codi Trout, 11th grade

Well, I guess the zombies didn’t get us! The the world was supposed to end on December 21st, 2012.

Some were sure it wasn’t going to end but others believed it would.

(Boy, were they wrong!) Amy !

The fantasy creatures-- such as dwarves, dragons, and elves-- are portrayed very nicely.

They look just as realistic as the actors. In the last 30 minutes of the film, LotR fans might recognize a familiar face from the older films. Bilbo crosses paths with Gollum (also known as Sméagol) and the two add some humor to the movie. Gollum is also beautifully animated. This is the scene I most enjoy; Gollum is such a likable character.

There is no arguing that the quality of the costumes, make up, sets, and over all hard work gone into The Hobbit is spectacular. If you haven’t seen The Lord of the Rings, but you think you may want to indulge in The Hobbit, I recommend it. The story line is very easy to follow, even without prior knowledge of the famous LotR film series. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and am anxiously awaiting the release of the next two Hobbit films. (A+)

went to an end of the world party and Codi, unconvinced of the looming danger, just stayed home and relaxed.

Attendants of the end of the world party went all out. There were balloons and cups with the year 2012 plastered on them. Not only that but there was a cake that stated “2012 Lives On".

With it being the last day and all, you had to go all out, right? So why not dress like the dead and PAGE 3

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be a zombie? Amy dressed up and decided to take it to the max and posted zombie related messages to her Facebook friends. But despite the imminent threat of death around every corner, her news feed was littered with messages informing everyone that they were in no real danger. But to celebrate her miraculous survival, Amy went outside and yelled "I’m melting, I’m melting... just kidding, still here!" To have an amazing last day, they treated it like, well, their last day. Amy had her favorite meal, spaghetti, for her “last” supper. To end the night, she ran outside while it snowed, banging pots and pans to celebrate that she was still living. All the while, the zombie apocalypse never occurred.

Those staying home didn’t really care either way, or they just wanted to spend time with their families. For Codi’s last day, which never ended up being the last, she spent time with her family and boyfriend after work. Her day was as normal as ever-- and the thing was, she didn’t mind. There was no point in going out with a bang, especially if you never believed it was going to happen in the first place. Regardless of Codi's disbelief, Amy sure did want to convince her she was going to die with messages on Facebook!

December 21st, 2012 ended up being a huge joke. It was no big deal, and really some people had a sigh of relief when it was over. There were no zombies, no asteroids accelerating towards the earth, or the earth freezing over. It was just people partying, messing around, and spending their possible last moments with their loved ones.

OGT Prep: On Track for a Good Year Natalie Paugh & Erin Hastings, 10th grade During the week of March 11-15, sophomores across the state of Ohio will be taking the Ohio Graduation Test. The stakes are high for students from 10th through 12th grade to pass all five parts of the test.

Sophomores have been in preparation throughout the school year to take the OGT. Some teachers have been interviewed so students could see their input on the test.

Teachers and sophomores have been spending three days a week learning the core material on the test. According to sophomore

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teachers, about 25% of all classwork is directly related to the OGT. Sometimes sophomores become aggravated and overwhelmed with the great amounts of material that the teachers are required to teach. All the teachers interviewed agreed that they push the information because they care about their students' futures and want them to do well on the OGT. We interviewed high school principal Mr. Bunting and he tells us that Maysville’s ultimate goal is for sophomores to pass all PAGE 4

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five parts of the OGT. He thinks this year's OGY scores will be consistent with the previous classes, which he says is a positive thing. Mr. Bunting also believes the students are well prepared to take the test. He intends to hold a class meeting to discuss incentives for those who score well on the OGT. Students who fail a section of the OGT will have another opportunity the following year to retake that section until the end of their twelfth grade year. If students fail that section their twelfth grade year but have all their credits, they can come in during the summer and retake that section and get their diploma then.

Eight sophomores were interviewed about their opinions in the test. Each student

Geek Guru: Assassin's Creed 3 The Geek Guru Upon playing the game Assassins Creed 3, I have come to a realistic list of its problems and advantages.

Let’s start with the advantages. This game looks beautiful and the game play is mostly realistic. For those of you that have never heard of Assassin Creed 3, it is an RPG (Role Playing Game.) In this installation, you play as Conner Kenway (or his Native American name, Conner Ratohnhake:ton, pronounced ra-doon-ha-kaydoon.) You start out as Conner at a young age, as is the new custom for the Assassins Creed franchise.

While playing hide and seek in the woods with your friends, you find some English men who !

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had a main goal of simply passing the test, but seven out of the eight also wanted to try for accelerated scores. No one was nervous for the test and everyone felt prepared.

Maybe this is thanks to the rigorous OGT preparation sophomores have been taking this year.

attempt to burn down your village. Even though your people survive, your mother does not. The plot for the rest of the game revolves around you exacting your revenge on the people who did this to you, all the while sticking to the Rules of the Creed.

The storyline takes place in the 18th century, just before the American Revolution. The new programing system, Anvil, allows the use of over 1000 NPS (Computer Bots) on one screen at one time. This advancement is an amazing step forward, but obviously with the new systems there will be a few bugs. You run into a few walls while running the game, literally. While you are running you can hit some invisible barriers, or the shadows on the ground flicker unnaturally, as intended. Also, dead bodies have a tendency to jump and lag around the map. Yet, even with all of these problems, the game has a solid foundation and took a great risk with the new game engine.

I give this game 4.5 out of 5 (A-), because the good points of this game outweigh the bad points. I have high hopes for this game in the future and I will look to Ubisoft for more ground breaking games.

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Special Report: Taking Away the 50 Floor Alis Compton, 11th grade Erin Hastings, 10th grade Several years ago, Maysville High School introduced the 50 Floor policy as part of standards based grading program. In the second nine weeks of the 2012-2013 school year, it was finally taken away.

Under this policy, any grade lower than a 50 was automatically entered into the grade book as a 50%. Removing this policy means students actually have to try to pass rather than not turning an assignment in and getting a 50. The 50 floor was enacted to try to encourage students to do better because it encouraged more “freedom.” Students took advantage of this policy and started to neglect their grades because deliberate failure was basically impossible. The Panther Press took a survey to see how many students in the high school that are really being affected by the removal of the 50 Floor, and how those affected are dealing with the loss.

It was surprising when we looked at the freshman surveys. Most freshmen are very mature about the removal of the 50 Floor, choosing to focus on improving their grades and trying harder academically. Many freshmen think that teachers and administrators could have offered more communication about the policy change.

Sophomores were also accepting of the new policy, although more sophomores than freshman wanted to keep the 50 Floor. Some sophomores admitted they hadn't tried very hard on summative assignments because of the existence of the 50 Floor policy.

Juniors and seniors had similar opinion on the grade system: they thought the 50 Floor was useless and were glad to see it go. Many juniors and seniors taking college classes with postsecondary options and these polices do not affect them. On the other hand, many non-post secondary students admit that they aren’t trying any harder their tests or to improve their grades.

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Concert Band Gearing Up for Large Group Competition Markie Dunn, 12th grade The Maysville High School Concert Band is gearing up for various winter activities. In addition to providing entertainment at numerous basketball games, the band will be participating at OMEA Large Group Competition. For those of you who aren't music geeks, Large Group is a place for competing concert bands in Ohio to show off their talent as a group in hopes of earning a coveted spot at OMEA state finals. The Maysville High School Concert Band has earned this honor for a number of years.

This year’s selection is described by Band Director Patrick Murphy as the most difficult that Maysville has ever attempted in his thirteen years as head of the band. Though the selection may be a challenge, Murphy has confidence that this year’s group will follow in the successful footsteps of its processors.

In addition to the challenge presented

by Large Group Contest, several band students are taking on a challenge of their own at Marietta College’s Annual Solo and Ensemble Competition. This competition is for individuals performing a solo arrangement as well as groups of students playing a piece together (an ensemble). They will be judged on a scale of one to five, one being the best and five being "You should have stayed home" as Murphy would put it. Judges rarely "award" a rating of five, but even knowing this, Maysville band students go above and beyond in their solo and ensemble preparation.

Maysville’s own Panther Press would like to wish Patrick Murphy and the Maysville High School Concert band the best of luck in their upcoming winter activities and

Indoor Track & Field Brett Potts, 12th grade

will have a competing varsity indoor track team.

Every year around the end of December, athletes make plans to train in the winter months for their spring sports.

This year, track athletes have arranged an indoor track team. Although indoor track is more of a club event than a team, athletes hope that one day, Maysville

The team was formed by the members of the Polar Panther Winter Running Club and a few other track and cross country athletes. Members will compete in indoor track meets that will be chosen by the outdoor track and cross country coaches. The runners can compete in the events that the coaches will suggest, or they can choose

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events to run in on their own. Athletes are able to looking for a feel-good film with creepy choose which meets that they would like to attend. undertones, why not Laika's ParaNorman?

Practices are technically not mandatory, but are attendance is highly recommended. Athletes who play a winter sport but also participate in outdoor track season are free to make up their own schedules. Coaches will work with them on skills that they would like to improve on. If athletes would like to try something new (for example, if a runner who runs the 3200 meter race would like to try the 110 meter Hurdles) they are free to try the new event during indoor track.

With the outdoor track season right around the corner, winter training will benefit any athlete who is planning to join the team during outdoor season or to keep them in shape for another spring sport. The runners are looking forward to running some indoor races this winter. The indoor track season started in January and will continue until the start of the outdoor season.

ParaNorman: The Supernatural Kids' Movie You Didn't Know You Wanted a.g.w.

The final film of the Twilight saga came out late in 2012 and continues to enjoy massive popularity among teens and adults alike who enjoy films with a spooky twist. But if paranormal romance isn't your cup of tea and you're just

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ParaNorman is a stop-motion animated film that follows a few days in the life of Norman Babcock, an outcast eleven-year-old who can see and speak to ghosts. Throughout the film, Norman learns that acceptance doesn't always come easily, but it's worth it to keep trying and never give up.

Norman becomes friends with a rich cast of characters in ParaNorman, including Neil, the eccentric and witty younger brother of the local high school's quarterback, Mitch; Mitch himself; and Alvin, a bully. Norman's older sister Courtney develops a crush on Mitch, but he turns her down at the end of the film in one of its most memorable moments.

ParaNorman is excellently written and animated. Laika also animated the film Coraline, similar to ParaNorman with its paranormal themes and stop-motion style.

ParaNorman is a clever affectionate parody of common "zombie movie" tropes; in fact, in the film's opening, Norman can be seen watching a B-grade sci-fi movie with his grandmother.

The film's dialogue is witty and appeals to adults as well as children. There are a few mild swear words and references to profanity despite the film's PG rating, so ParaNorman might not be the best for very young children.

Even though there are zombies, there is little violence outside of general cartoon slapstick and a few of the living dead getting thrown around a bit-- but no blood. Some of the humor can be little childish at times-- keep in mind that Norman and most of his friends are 11 and 12 years old-- but it's worth it to cringe and go along with it, because ParaNorman is just too good to pass up.

ParaNorman is an excellent film for kids of all ages (and even kids at heart.) It's smart, cute, and clever. A refreshing break from the romance-dominated supernatural young adult market. Five out of five stars (A+), no doubt.

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