[t h e canine ] mount baker middle school, auburn, washington
december 2017
volume VIII, issue 2
inside this issue: Robotics Team Flourishes
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Making New Year’s Resolutions
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How to Make an Ornament
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Facing Holiday Depression
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MBMS Family Holiday Traditions
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SPOTLIGHT: Net Neutrality Ends
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Sports Season Switch
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20 Essential Star Wars Facts
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140-Character Reviews
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Culture Poll
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Diary of a Snowman
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OPINION: What Grinds My Gears
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FRONT COVER PHOTO: On Dec. 14, the FCC ended net neutrality, allowing internet providers to now determine what their customers see. This could slow down internet speeds for customers this holiday season and forward. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY I. GALLARDO BACK COVER PHOTO: Students and staff shared their weirdest gifts received in the holidays. All were chosen randomly. PHOTOS BY X. MANUEL & C. FLETCHER
DEAR BULLDOGS, Happy holidays to our fellow MBMS students and staff members! We might not be on break yet, but everyone at MBMS needs something to look forward to as we push through the final days. Our duty as the staff of The Canine Chronicle is to tell your stories and voice your beliefs. We report what we observe on social media, the internet, and from you. We listen and take note of what you say about in classrooms and in the hallways. Each and every person at this school contributes to this newspaper and we acknowledge your participation to help! While amplifying all of your thoughts, we do not interrupt the methodical guide of this school and guarantee it is assisted consistently at all times. Over 500 students participated in a survey that is featured in numerous article. The Canine Chronicle touches over all of the appropriate occasions that influence both students and staff, such as the top news stories of 2017 and holiday traditions at MBMS. This newspaper articulates concepts on the results of net neutrality, movie reviews, and sports seasons changing. Along with this, we have amusing articles, such as the horoscope and the “What Grinds My Gears.” With such an extensive diversity of topics, The Canine Chronicle has you covered! Sincerely,
The Canine Chronicle
STAFF PHOTO BY L. SAIN
mission: The MBMS Journalism 8 class produced this limited-voice EDITORS
REPORTERS
REPORTERS
REPORTERS
Isabella Gallardo Mikaela Rabago Rikki Rhodes-Huwe
Gavin Bonham Hailey Carlson Sarah Cayeros Sophie Elwell Isabell Flores Ciara Fletcher Lucas Fletcher
Lavrielle Gueriba Alicia Guetle Aysiah Hwande Xialeemar Manuel Helena Moutzouris Janine Park Madeleine Ramos
Luci Sain Lottie Scheschy Annie Sihalathavong Alexa Wate Jayden Woodie
ADVISER
Peter Warring
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newspaper with intent to ethically report events accurately, without bias. As a public forum for students, all decisions made on content are made under the guidance of the adviser, with intent to uphold students’ First Amendment rights. The opinions presented in articles are provided to represent the views and perspectives of students and individuals in our diverse student population, not necessarily the whole of the adviser, faculty, and administrators. Any material that would cause a disruption to the educational process like libel, invasion of privacy, or copyright infringement will not be published. The Canine Chronicle is produced using Microsoft Publisher. Photographs not taken by students have been utilized through a Creative Commons and Microsoft license. School portraits are licensed through Dorian Photography.
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LAVRIELLE GUERIBA & LUCI SAIN During the month of December, people often like to decorate for the holidays. Whether it's for Christmas or not when garnishes light up your house, it seems to bring up the mood for everyone. Something students definitely need. So why not celebrate this tradition at school too? At MBMS there is a special tradition that is based around this idea called the door decorating contest. Decorating traditions started about 10-12 years ago at MBMS and has been going to this day. With this, students have to work together figuring out what they want to have their door look like and how to execute it so it looks how they want it to. The top doors from each grade that win receive a cash prize and bragging rights. “I love having a holiday door for people to enjoy,” robotics teacher Mr. Cowan said. Students that decorate doors think of creative ideas and the past few doors that Cowan’s students have decorated are a wonderful
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Although Cowan isn’t doing the contest with his students this year, he decided he still wanted to decorate his door. He wanted his students to be involved and go on their own in decorating the door. Door decorating can show the students decorations even if they celebrate different holidays. “We try to have different categories as far as themes,” woodshop teacher Mr. Jacobs said. The door decorating competition idea has started with Mr. Jacobs coming up with the idea a few years back at MBMS. He had an inspiration about the idea. “Just something different,” Mr. Jacobs said. “To get everyone in the building to do something as far as competition.” The door decorating competition have always been very competitive and each year it gets more and more competitive. Mr. Jacobs explained that he wanted the competition to get everyone involved and that they don’t have to join a club to do so. Holiday door decorating is a fun competition for students to participate.
Mr. Cowan’s decorated his door this year. It will play Christmas songs in tiny speakers. PHOTO BY L. SAIN
example of that imaginativeness. Mr. Cowan explained that his favorite door he decorated was when he took a picture of the students that worked on the door and put their faces in place of
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elves heads on top of cutouts of handmade paper elves. He explained that each elf was doing something different and he was the Santa Claus the stood above the elves.
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HELENA MOUTZOURIS
TYLER HOLDEN MBMS Math Team representatives, or Mathletes, competed in a regional, All City Competition at Thomas Jefferson High School on Dec. 9. Mathletes coach Mr. Carter praised his team for their success! “The team performed well for the first competition of the school year,” Carter said. “Top 10 individual finishes were earned by eighth graders Sephora Zoro and Jake Woodey.” A mixed team of sixth and seventh graders consisting Jenna Moon-Earl, Kelly Oh, Sarah Anderson, and Asher Maier each earned Top 10 individual recognition. “A second place team finish is positive for the future potential of our Baker Math Team,” Carter said. MBMS Mathletes host the “Math Is Cool” competition Feb. 9 at Auburn HS and then turn around the next day at MBMS for the “Math Counts” regional competition on Feb. 10. “Jake Woodey and Sephora Zoro have become front runners for our eighth grade team heading into the regional Math is Cool and Math Counts competitions coming up in February,” Carter said.
PHOTO COURTESY OF J. CARTER
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MBMS’ robotics team is taking their game to the next level. With yet again another strong showing at the FLL Robotics competition, the team plans on continuing their success. “This is the fourth year MBMS has competed in FIRST Robotics. In that time we have competed in FIRST LEGO League (FLL) with five teams,” advisor of the robotics team Mr. Cowan said. “Four of the five FLL teams moved on to the semi -finals. The school has earned three trophies for robot design, programming, and teamwork. This is the first year we are running a FIRST TECH Challenge (FTC) team. FLL is limited to Lego manufactured parts and programming while FTC is not. The FTC team can use a wide variety of parts including 3D designed and printed pieces.” Robotics at MBMS is rigorous yet rewarding program that builds community and core values. Not to mention a stronger understanding of computer sciences and engineering. But how does this all work? “One of the big core values in FIRST Robotics is teamwork. I have seen our students grow immensely in this area. Our team can accomplish much more together than as individuals,” Cowan
said. “We certainly love our achievements with wins but we try to focus on learning and improvement over wins/losses. The wins mean more opportunity to demonstrate everything we learn.” How do the students participating in this program feel? “It’s fun but its ten hours a week and it takes up my free time,“ eighth grade robotics team member Noah Mayer said. “It’s really relieving at the end though,” Cowan said he enjoys winning, but there are other rewards. “We are always trying to improve from the last. We are always working out issues we had last time and we improve. It’s not about winning all the time,” Cowan said. Eghth grader Madison Van Alstine explained the challenges of competition. “People get intimidated at first because it involves a lot of math, but its really not all that scary,” Van Alstine said. The MBMS robotics team is planning on continuing with their impressive legacy by competing on Dec. 16. Results were not available before publication.
The FLL and FTC Robotics team at MBMS have won multiple awards including a spot in the Washington Semi-Finals. PHOTO BY L. SAIN
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The Locker Lottery is a way of getting student’s opinions on various topics. The staff selected students from each grade for this Q & A. The sixth graders asked were Darius Drake, Micah McIntyre, and Viktoryia Kalyuga. The seventh grader was Olivia Loffer. The eighth graders were Noah Maier and Helen Safsten.
ISABELLA G ALLARDO & LOTTIE SCHESCHY
DO YOU THINK WE SHOULD HAVE NET NEUTRALITY? D.D...: I don’t know, I guess. M.M...: Yes. V.K...: Yes. O.L.: No. N.M.: I’m not to sure, I don’t know enough about it. H.S.: No.
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2018? D.D.: The new iPhone. M.M.: Getting out of school. V.K.: No drama. O.L.: Being 13. N.M.: I don’t know. H.S.: I guess summer.
WHAT HOLIDAY SONG HAVE YOU HEARD THE MOST THIS HOLIDAY SEASON? D.D.: Songs by Mariah Carey. M.M.: “Holly Jolly Christmas.” V.K.: “Jingle Bells.” O.L.: “All I Want for Christmas.” N.M.: “Jingle Bells.” H.S.: “White Christmas.”
DOES YOUR FAMILY HAVE ANY HOLIDAY TRADITIONS? D.D.: We go see Christmas lights. M.M.: We celebrate every holiday. V.K.: We go to another family’s house. O.L.: We make coffee. N.M.: We set up Christmas villages and decorations.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY A. JACOBS & A. LANG VIA PHO.TO
H.S.: We’re Swedish, so we have a Swedish thanksgiving on Christmas. HOW MANY HOURS DO YOU PER DAY? D.D.: Probably 45 minutes. M.M.: 1 hour a day. V.K.: About 4 hours. O.L.: Like 3 hours. N.M.: Pretty much none. H.S.: Maybe 1-2 hours. HAVE
SPEND ON THE INTERNET
YOU ACCPOMPLISHED A RESOLUTION YOU MADE
THIS YEAR FROM LAST YEAR?
D.D.: I’m playing less video games. M.M.: I joined the football team. V.K.: No. O.L.: I’ve gotten better grades. N.M.: No. H.S.: I don’t remember. HAVE YOU WATCHED STAR WARS BEFORE, IF SO WHICH ONE(S)? D.D.: Yes, the Force Awakens. M.M.: Yes, all of them. V.K.: No, I haven’t. O.L.: Yes, the Force Awakens. N.M.: Yes, I’ve watched all. H.S.: Yes, the Force Awakens. WHAT WAS THE BEST GIFT YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED? D.D.: An Xbox 1. M.M.: Xbox 360. V.K.: iPhone 5. O.L.: Trampoline. N.M.: Xbox 1. H.S.: My dog, Bella.
PHOTO ILLISTRATION BY L. SCHESCHY VIA PHO.TO
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MBMS Students Resolve for a More Successful 2018
SOPHIE ELWELL MBMS students and people all across the country are racking their brains for ways to improve their character for the coming year. New Year’s resolutions are extremely popular across the U.S. and around the world. Numerous MBMS students from have resolutions of their own. In a survey taken by 435 students, the resolutions of 20.7 percent of participants have to do with playing more sports or getting healthier, 20.9 percent are resolving to spend more time with family, 31.5 percent want to perform better in school, and 5.5 percent would like to be more
influential role models. However, 21.4 percent of survey participants have other common resolutions that are present in our culture. Seventh grader Natalie Tye shared her resolution. “My New Year's resolution is to relax a little more,” Tye said. “Grades are important to me, so I usually try to get everything done in one night. Next year, I'm going to focus on evening my work so that I still have time to relax and spend time with my family.” Getting healthier has been an extremely popular New Year’s resolution across the U.S for years. This also affects students at MBMS
such as seventh grader Quinn Donermeyer. “My New Year’s resolution is to eat better and start to work out more to lose weight,” Donermeyer said. “I intend to keep it by making a healthy dinner plan with my parents for just about every night of the week, and to start going on walks and jogs with my family often.” In addition to these ideas, some students would just like to continue their own good habits. One of these students is eighth grader Diana Prieto. “My New Year's Resolution is to be active in sports, spend more time with family, and be active in both family and school communities,”
Prieto said. “I can intend to do these because these are thing I already do, I just want to improve so can achieve my goal.” One of the most difficult parts of having a New Year’s resolution is finding a way to keep it. Seventh grader Makai Dolfo shared advice on this subject. “I intend to keep my New Year’s resolution by not revisiting past failures, but focus on new resolutions instead,” Dolfo said. “Think about your resolutions in advance, and spend some time to reflect on them, and focus on what you really want don’t just go with what’s trendy.”
GRAPHIC BY S. ELWELL
MBMS students, 435 to be exact, shared their resolutions in an online survey.
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ISABELL FLORES & JANINE P ARK The holidays are just around the corner people are starting to put up all of their decorations. And with Christmas less than a week away, you might want to make your house a little more full of the holiday spirit. This easy holiday ornament will make your tree stand out from all the others.
STEP 1
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You will need twine, glue, ribbon, bells, and balloons. Gather all the materials into an open space.
Now blow up the balloon. Try to blow it up as big as your fist.
After you have your balloon blown up you will need the glue, twine and a bowl. Pour the glue into a bowl and start rubbing it evenly on the twine.
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Then grab more twine the size of your forearm, attach three bells, and slip them on the twine.
Start making the bow while the balloon is drying. Get six inches of ribbon and tie it like a shoelace.
Once all your glue is on the twine, start wrapping it around the balloon. Make sure there isn’t a lot of glue on the balloon or else it will stick on the balloon. Let the balloon dry for two hours.
STEP 7
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Then get your bow and bells and tie them to each other.
Pop the balloon and remove it. Then tie the bow and bells on the ornament.
Finally, use more twine to make a knot at the end and enjoy.
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LUCI S AIN With the holidays drawing near, happiness begins to spread, but not everyone is joyful during the month of December. Some students can feel sad because of reasons like family issues, unrealistic expectations, financial problems, and bullying. But being sad has a completely different meaning if someone is mentally depressed from one or more of these issues. Depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain that causes uncontrolled thoughts which can cause seclusion, suicidal intentions, and selfharm. However, depression has a deeper meaning for many aside from a scientific reasoning. The rates of this mental health disorder have gone up an alarming rate in the past few years and people desperately want to know how to stop spiraling into this abyss. “I define depression as a thought that clogs your mind. It's intoxicating. It makes you feel worthless, pathetic, broken, and sad all the time.” a sixth grader said on the TCC December survey. People are often aware of the fact of depression and how affects people but many are uneducated as to why it's so important to talk about these matters with others. Many people shouldn’t feel scared to confide in loved ones that they are suffering from this serious case. Especially if there is a family you are going to for the holidays, you would want to be welcomed with open arms. Holidays can affect people with unwanted thoughts. Family life is a complicated subject for people and it is a leading reason students can be depressed. Students can be affected by not feeling loved, families being split up, being scared to enter their home, addiction, and financial problems. There are other reason but that are some of the biggest reasons that affect teenagers at this age. And being stuck in a house with family can stress students out and give them bad anxiety. The response to the canine chronicle survey when students were asked if they thought that depression affects the student of MBMS, 207 people said yes out of 501 of the students. That’s roughly 41 percent out of half our school that
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believes that students struggle with depression. Also, only 12 percent answered no to the same question. And on the Educational Effectiveness Survey from 2016 students only 50 percent strongly agreed when asked if students could keep in check with how they feel and other questions about how they self-manage themselves. “If kids are really depressed I then guide them to a therapeutic counselor.” seventh grade counselor Mrs. Brubaker said. Brubaker explained that “talking is one of the best ways to make yourself feel good because
interaction with others is what makes us sane.” Expressing your emotions of sadness is something that if done in a pleasurable manner makes both sides of the conversation happy. If you don't have anyone to talk to then a psychiatrist is always free to hear you out on what you have to say. If you feel severely depressed someday you can call The National Suicide Hotline, 1-800-2738255, that are free to talk to you whenever, especially around the holidays.
GRAPHIC BY LUCI SAIN
On the December survey, students were asked what they thought caused students their age caused to be depressed. Many people said family issues.
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Over 500 MBMS students expressed their opinions in an anonymous online survey in late December. Notable responses were documented below on holiday traditions.
“ Well for us, a lot of our celebration happens on Christmas Eve more than Christmas itself, but we always open one gift the night before, though I can already tell you what's going to be in this one this year, pajamas.”
“We eat cinnamon rolls.”
“Spending time with my family, opening presents, & decorating gingerbread houses.”
“So a tradition my family and I have is every Christmas we all make tamales and the tamales are so good.”
“On Christmas Eve, we make a Danish dessert with an almond hidden. If you get the almond, you get to open the first present.“ “ My favorite holiday tradition is when my family and I get to go to see my grandparents on my dad’ s side on Christmas Eve and have a big meal
with my dad’ s side of the family.” “My favorite holiday tradition is when my family gets together around the couch, and watch TV while opening presents.”
PLEASE NOTE: Reponses were edited for length and clarity. Responses also were part of an anonymous student survey.
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The Truth About…
Causes & Effects on Your Internet Access MADELEINE RAMOS veryone has a different opinion of the worldwidespread on net neutrality. Some people support it, others don’t. Net neutrality is a very controversial subject that effects our world immensely. On Nov. 21, FCC Chairman Pai revealed plans to repeal the act of net neutrality in the United States. With this many people are at a crossroads wondering whether to support the act of repealing net neutrality or to support the act of
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net neutrality. A vote was held on Dec. 14 on whether providers can control the content they see on the internet. The FCC voted to end net neutrality.
CAUSE “Last year the FCC took an important step by expanding the Ronald Reagan-era Lifeline phone subsidy program to include broadband internet. Broadband access is essential to help citizens move out of poverty, find a job, and obtain health care, social services, an education. Access to broadband also supports a well-informed
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e l e c t o r a t e , a r e s p o n s i ve government, and enhanced civic engagement,” CommonCause.org said. This represents why many people were concerned with the current use of internet. With this many people are fed up and want change with the current internet status. Smaller companies are currently struggling with the internet. While wealthier companies are thriving. “Advocates for net neutrality won an important battle last year when over four million citizen comments pushed the FCC to vote to establish strong safeguards for free expression on the internet“
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Commoncause.org said. This further explains the reason why people don’t support the cause of net neutrality. In preference, the best answer will show up Instead of the highest paying companies showing up first whenever you search something up.
EFFECT “Internet providers are suing to have the rules overturned. Industry officials predict the court case will go to oral arguments in December or January. If they win, then the FCC is back at square one. If they lose, the rules will stand,” the
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to dismantle rules regulating the businesses that connect consumers to the internet, granting broadband companies the power to potentially reshape Americans’ online experiences.
Net neutrality is dead — at least for now. In a 32 vote on Dec. 14, the FCC approved a measure to remove the tough net neutrality rules it put in place just two years ago. Congress must still approve their vote however.
In 2017, “net neutrality” was mentioned over 5 million, compared to 3.7 million in 2014.
How does the destruction of Net Neutrality affect us? With the repeal of Net Neutrality rules possibly approach eradication. Citizens should define what this entails . GRAPHIC BY J. WOODIE
Washingtons Post said. Internet providers want net neutrality to get overturned. For the reason being they would lose money from multiple companies paying tons of money. From this, the companies want the rules to stay how they are originally. For Google would get the money instead of other companies. “On May 15, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler released flawed internet rules that would have let ISPs charge content companies for priority treatment—relegating all other content to a slower tier
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Americans have generally supported net neutrality at 60 percent, while 17 percent oppose it and 23 percent don’t understand it.
of service. Wheeler’s plan would have allowed telecom giants like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon to pick winners and losers online and discriminate against online content and applications. And it would have destroyed the open internet” States,“ Savetheinternet.com said. Destroying net neutrality would make us pay for the internet as well as make the internet slower. Many citizens can’t afford to use the internet if net neutrality is taken away. For this many people are distraught with the fact of
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Internet provider AT&T spent the most, over $28 million, on political lobbying and contributing to politicians’ campaigns. Comcast, Verizon, and NCTA all spent at least $13 million for political influence.
While 58.8 percent of students did not know what net neutrality is, 40 percent of MBMS supported it. Over 35 percent were undecided.
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Internet Sites Blocked, Slowed by Providers
Debate Leaves Questions About Service
LAVRIELLE GUERIBA new debate occurred about net neutrality and is affecting people and the internet. A vote was held on Dec. 14 on whether providers can control the content they see on the internet. The FCC voted to end net neutrality. Net neutrality is your service providers allowing you to look at any content you want. For example, when you go on the
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internet you have certain things you want to look at. When you type in the certain things you want to look at, websites pop up as usual. This is what net neutrality is. There has always been net neutrality on the internet. Now, there has been a debate over net neutrality and if they should remove net neutrality. If net neutrality was taken away your service providers would choose what you see on the internet. Fellow eighth grader Reece Fields supports net neutrality.
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“I support net neutrality because I like how the internet is free,” Fields said. Furthermore, seventh grader Kayla Contreras also agrees with this statement. “I support net neutrality, I don’t want to pay for anything for the internet,” Contreras said. As a result, majority of students at MBMS also agree with keeping net neutrality and it shouldn’t be taken away. In addition, some people think it should be taken away as well and is causing a problem.
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“I don’t believe it’s a problem,” Fields said. Having net neutrality being taken away would have your service providers pick what you see, meaning it’s all up to the service providers to choose certain things for you to see, so they can block any website they wanted to. Therefore, net neutrality could have a possibility of being take away and the internet would be in control of service providers. Net neutrality is very important for other companies as well.
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“If customers are paying for their internet providers, I feel like we shouldn’t be paying for the internet too.”
“No, I wouldn’t be able to afford to pay more than I already do for [internet].”
When net neutrality is taken away, your service providers can block any website they don’t like. This can demonstrate what it may look like with net neutrality taken away. PHOTO ILLUSTARTION BY L. GUERIBA AND VIA CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE
Without net neutrality they wouldn’t be able to advertise their things to other people, especially if they are a small company they wouldn’t get that much recognition. Therefore, net neutrality can affect people and their businesses. Fu r t h e r m or e , n et neutrality rules could be taken away from the debate and people would just have to live with not being able to go on certain
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“Yeah, if I’m doing a report, I could make sure I’m getting the correct information.”
videos or websites their service providers had blocked. On the results of the debate, net neutrality has been repealed and you now have to pay for certain websites your ISP chooses. Even thought the FCC voted. net neutrality is still not decided as it yet still has to go through Congress.
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“Yes, I think it should be paid for because ads are annoying.”
COMPILED BY HAILEY CARLSON
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Snowman HELENA MOUTZOURIS
MIKAELA RABAGO
Choose a word for each part of speech specified below. (Use the Literacy Handbook, page 43, for assistance). Read the story on page 22 out loud, filling your words in the blanks. Enjoy the story you have created and laugh out loud with your friends! Happy holidays!
1. Adjective:
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2. Noun:
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3. Noun:
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4. Plural noun
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5. Adjective:
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6. Adjective:
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7. Adjective:
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8. Adjective:
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9. Adjective:
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10. Verb:
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11. Number:
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12. Verb:
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MBMS exchanged girls and boys soccer seasons this year. When they first presented soccer, they were always intending on having it be a trial for the 2-3 years. Mrs. Rogers, the science team leader and athletic director, implied why this modification was made. “We switched boys and girls soccer seasons because when we introduced soccer as a sport in the Auburn School District three years ago it was a trial that we were going to do,” Rogers said. “The boys second season and the girls third season for the first couple of years and then switch. It was always going to be a trial as to which season soccer would be in.” Madelyn Brown, an eighth grader at MBMS, has been debating over two sports for the past two years and is pleased to have girls soccer and boys soccer season switched. “I agree with this change because I can do both soccer and basketball,” Brown said. Mrs. Rogers described why sports, such as gymnastics, have decreased since this
change. “Girls numbers are down this year in girls gymnastics, but the girls that turned out for soccer that would have done gymnastics,” Rogers said. “If gymnastics was the only sport offered aren’t really your typical gymnasts, they would just have done it to do gymnastics.” Mr. King, a PE teacher at MBMS, did not like the new change that has been made. Wrestling, is the sport that King coaches and inferred it would be negatively affected. “I don't like the change. Wrestling is the greatest sport ever invented and I hate to see athletes have to choose between it and soccer. A good wrestling team's survival is on its ability to fill weight classes. This will be more of a challenge with athletes leaving to go play soccer,” King said, “Our soccer program has been dominant these past few ye a rs with c ons ecutive le a gue championships. Same goose for wrestling. Why mess with two programs that are a big great success and involving a large number of athletes during two different seasons?”
MBMS girls soccer have seen an increase in participation for the 2017-2018 season, fielding three teams. In the previous year, the program only had two teams. The team above was a team from the 2016-2017 season. COURTESY OF P. LEWIS
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GIRLS SOCCER Varsity Eighth Grade #2 Seventh Grade
BOYS BASKETBALL 2-1-1 0-5 5-0
Varsity Seventh Grade Vatne Seventh Grade Muse
3-1 1-2 2-1
GYMNASTICS Varsity
2-0 ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF FREEICONSPNG.COMVIA CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF DORIAN PHOTOGRAPHY
SARAH CAYEROS
“Going to practice and learning new skills. Learning new tricks and doing them in meets. It’s okay if you can’t do everything because we’re all at different levels.”
“Making new friends and teammates and the hard work. Everyone was really good.”
“Teammates, they cool. They’re funny, I guess, and they help out. We do need to get more serious and stop messing around.”
“The kids are improving and getting better as teammates. Great sportsmanship.”
MCKENNA MITCHELL
MAX ERICKSON
CARLOS GUERRERO
MR. VATNE
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Both Teams ‘Bowl-Bound’
The Huskies and Cougars competed in their annual football “bowl” the Apple Cup. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY A. GUETLE
University of Washington Crowned Victor of Apple Cup ALICIA GUETLE & CIARA FLETCHER The University of Washington Huskies were crowned victor of the Apple Cup after beating the Cougars of Washington State University by 27 points. The two rival colleges of Washington faced off at the Apple Cup on Nov. 24. This event started 117 years ago in the year 1900 since 2011 the date of the Apple Cup was on the Friday after Thanksgiving. This football game between the two main colleges of Washington State, known as the Apple Cup,
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awards the winners a shiny trophy and bragging rights. The Huskies scored the first touchdown barely ten minutes into the game and pers isted throughout the game scoring more and more points. The Cougars were very slow to score any points until the fourth quarter where they only scored two touchdowns sinking the hearts of WSU fans. It wasn’t a shock when the Huskies took the win by scoring 42 points, beating the Cougars who only scored 14 points. Needless to say, this game left Husky fans
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rejoicing and Cougar fans very disappointed. "It was a terrible loss for the Cougars," WSU graduate Mrs. Carnahan said. "We did not play our best game". Still, Mrs. Carnahan remained proud of the season that the Cougars had, but math teacher Mr. Carter disagreed. “The better school prevailed,” said Mr. Carter, referencing the Huskies win. Winning the Apple Cup and several other games means that the Huskies will now face Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 30 in Glendale, Arizona.
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The Fiesta Bowl has been going on for about 47 years starting in 1970 and has always taken place in the state of Arizona. Carter predicted the Huskies would “take the win against the Penn State Nittany Lions.“ The WSU Cougars will go on to play the Michigan State Spartans at the holiday bowl that will take place on Dec. 28. The Holiday Bowl has been played each year around the holiday season since 1978 in San Diego. TCC staff wishes the Huskies and Cougars good luck and that they represent Washington by playing their best game.
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GAVIN BONHAM & LUCAS FLETCHER Movie critics have had mixed reviews on films that have come out recently. Presented to you is a compilation of many different reviews from both critics and MBMS students.
COCO
JUSTICE LEAGUE
THOR: RAGNAROK
WONDER
Metacritic Rating: 81/100 TCC Rating: 97/100
Metacritic Rating: 45/100 TCC Rating: 65/100
Metacritic Rating: 73/100 TCC Rating: 84/100
Metacritic Rating: 66/100 TCC Rating: 90/100
PLOT: Stopped by his family's baffling ban of music, aspiring musician Miguel travels to the land of the dead to find his great great grandfather, a legendary musician.
PLOT: Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.
PLOT: Imprisoned, the almighty Thor finds himself in a lethal gladiatorial contest against the Hulk, his former ally. Thor must fight for survival and race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela from destroying both his home and the Asgardian civilization.
PLOT: ‘Wonder’ is a heartwarming story, adapted from a book, where August Pullman, a boy with facial differences, attends a public school for the first time.
CRITIC: “Dazzling visuals along with intricately structured and deeply moving storytelling are the hallmarks of the best of [Pixar’s] animated movies. ‘Coco’ has those in spades, which puts it right up there with ‘Up’ and the ‘Toy Story’ trilogy in the topmost ranks of Pixar pictures,” Seattle Times reporter Soren Anderson said. STUDENT: “I liked all the movies especially ‘Coco’ that movie had a very powerful message. Like, it felt very emotional because it felt like Mexicans belonged in America,” seventh grader Arian Ocon said.
CRITIC: “There's no shortage of interesting characters with intriguing powers on display here, but there's frustratingly little space to tell their individual stories and, biggest problem of all, they lack a worthy opponent,” The Globe and Mail reporter Kate Taylor said. STUDENT: “’Justice League’ wasn't like the ones before, and it wasn't as exciting as I had hoped,” seventh grader Ralizsa Rosales said.
CRITIC: “This is a close-but-no-cigar movie, but so enjoyable for the most part, and so modest in its aims, that its disappointments aren’t devastating. I’d watch the first 90 minutes again anytime,” RogertEber.com reporter Matt Zoller said.
CRITIC: “Giving the film credit where it’s due, ‘Wonder’ never cheats in its pursuit of emotion.” TheWrap reporter Alonso Duralde said. “It’s almost never mawkish or manipulative, and its characters are so well-established both in the writing and in the performances that the movie ultimately does the hard work of earning those damp Kleenexes.”
STUDENT: “’Thor: Ragnarok’ was a movie filled with comedy and actions. It show the development and the continuing of phase three in the MCU timeline,” seventh grader Dat Ho said.
STUDENT: “I really liked ‘Wonder’ because it had my kind of humor. And it showed an emotional story about a boy accepting the way he looks and making great friends,” seventh grader Allie Smith said.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS (COCO), ATLAS ENTERTAINMENT (JUSTICE LEAGUE), MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT (THOR: RAGNAROK), AND LIONSGATE (WONDER).
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ALEXA WATE
fan. Although not as many students have watched Star Wars, it still very popular films. Star Wars is also based on a galaxy that has supernatural animals and people, such as droids, Wookies, Ewoks, Gungans, stormtroopers, “people”, and weird alien-type creatures. All of these creatures make up what we know to be Star Wars. Not to mention that the people that fight in the movies wield swords of light known as light sabers. They are swords that are made with light, plasma, and some
Star Wars is a collection of multiple movies based around futuristic characters and items that are on many planets “in a galaxy far far away.” According to Wikipedia, Star Wars is an, “American epic space opera media franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas. It was followed by the successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983); these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy”. With this information, you can infer that Star Wars was very popular in its time as well as now and it was a film series that goes on to this day. The Star Wars franchise has earned a revenue of over $7.5 billion. With the more recent Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as well as the other films, Star Wars has been ranked the third highest grossing film series. Star Wars also received the Guinness World Record for the “most successful film merchandising franchise” From MBMS, about 39.7 percent of the students will watch the next movie, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. As with that information, about 34.5 percent of students also consider themselves a Star Wars
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crystals. There are people that choose to be on the “Dark Side” and those who choose to be on the other side. The “Dark Side” is meant for people that have hatred and aggression towards something but as well as that, they also are, most of the time, powerful with the force and always want to destroy the other side. The “Dark Side” also has someone called a Sith that in some way, leads the dark side as well as controls what everyone in the “Dark Side” does. The Sith is also known as one of
the strongest people on the dark side with both power and hatred making him their leader. The other side is basically known as the Force, or the people that use the force for a good reason and not for aggression. The other side is typically the normal place in which people with the Force have, but it they show anger or aggression, then they are known to turn to the “Dark Side.” Both sides of the Force have can wield light sabers and those people are known as Jedi.
This is a Star Wars background with star ships from all of the movies, and there is a battle in space just like how there always is a battle in the movies. The Dark Side and good side of the Force fight each other throughout all of the movies. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY A. WATE.
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COMPILED BY RIKKI RHODES-HUWE Journalism staff have submitted reviews on movies, songs, holidays, and shows in the form of tweets using a generator on PrankMeNot.com. These tweets weren't posted to Twitter, but created for humor.
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AYSIAH HWANDE
What do you do during winter break?
Do you like hot cocoa or hot apple cider?
Do you like to bake?
Do you like to go sledding or skiing?
What’s your favorite part of Christmas?
“Jingle Bells” You must like competition to get this exciting, playful song! This joyful carol is all about children battling gleefully to get the fastest sleigh or horse around, then racing to the bottom of the rolling, snowy hills, leaving the unfortunate kids with the sluggish sleighs in the dust. Go get ‘em, tiger!
“Frosty the Snowman” You are a very humorous and lively person! People love to be around your high-spirited personality and witty words. Your uplifted actions attract the people around you and you often find yourself surrounded by many friends, new and old!
Is winter your favorite season?
“Silent Night”
“Let it Snow”
You have a much laid back, calm and collected personality. You were never one for violence and when the people around you seemed to get heated up. You are always there to bring peace back into place. You like your alone time, but when the time comes, you love to be around you family and friends. And even as quiet and timid as you appear, people are attracted to you and your organized tranquil atmosphere, leaving you with a pleasing group of friends.
Your favorite season is winter and the thought of Christmas morning alone makes you beam! Your love and passion for the cold time of year is beyond comprehension and you love all of the activities that come with it. You don’t have a single thing to complain about when December rounds the corner. Well, only when it ends and spring comes around!
ANNIE SIHALATHAVONG Aries (March 21- April 19): Spend the holidays with your one true love. Or if you don’t have one… then celebrate with your annoying cousins!
ANNIE SIHALATHAVONG
SUPPORT HANUKKAH, KWANZAA AS SUPPORTING CHRISTMAS
AND OTHER
WINTER HOLIDAYS AS MUCH
The time of the holidays have come into play. Lots of people celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and other winter holidays. Most of the time in the month of December, people tend to think about Christmas and Santa, etc. What about the other holidays? Should we support Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and other winter holidays as much as we support Christmas?
PERPPERMINT BEING IN EVERYTHING LIKE PUMPKIN SPICE The time has come for the holiday season. That means peppermint candy canes, Santa's, reindeers, candles, colorful lights and etc. In fall, there was pumpkins, dry crunchy leaves, lattes, colorful leaves and etc. Peppermint is being used to flavor many drinks, such as tea and coffee and so was pumpkin spice. Should peppermint be in everything like how pumpkin spice flavoring?
DEPRESSION AFFECTING STUDENTS There has been a real issue congregating the issue of depression. In middle school it can be hard for others. The studies show that depression can be caused by screen time, and of course, other important reasons. Depression can lead to unfocused work and lead students to not want to participate in activities or discussions. Do you think depression affects students in school and their learning and participation in class?
BEST HOLIDAY MOVIE: ELF
There has been many famous holiday movies over centuries. Movies such as Elf, Nightmare
Before Christmas, Home Alone, Die Hard, Polar Express, Scrooged , How the Grinch Stole Christmas and etc. Many families binge watch these movies as a holiday tradition. Lots of people argued over what is the best holiday movie. A lot of people said Elf is, so do you think Elf is the best holiday movie of all time?
NET NEUTRALITY There has been an uproar of the topic of net neutrality. Net neutrality is the principle of internet providers treating the data from the internet and not discriminate or charge differently by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication. For instance, under these principles, internet service providers are unable to intentionally block, slow down or charge money for specific websites and online content according to Wikipedia. Do you think that net neutrality is affecting technology around us?
HOLIDAY SONGS Believe it or not, holiday songs have been around since 1426, John Audelay, a Shropshire priest and poet, who listed the first 25 “ Carolers of Christmas.” The most popular holiday songs, according to Google, are “Santa is Coming to Town” and “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.” People go door to door to sing to the people in the neighborhoods to spread more joy. Now, you hear holiday songs in the stores, radios, in the car, on TV, at home and even at school. Should holiday songs be played everywhere, like at stores, in neighborhoods, on radio, etc.?
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pop culture
Taurus (April 20- May 20): Get ready to go Christmas shopping! Money is coming your way. Spend all that moola and buy some presents. Everyone will love you. Gemini (May 21- June 20): This will be your sweetest Christmas! Wrap up in a blanket, eat some candy canes, and watch some Netflix, you deserve it. Cancer (June 21- July 22): Don’t get too caught up in buying presents and decorating this holiday. Take your time and take care of yourself. Leo (July 23- Aug. 22): Get creative! This is your time to shine. Be the leader in the house. Go wrap some presents! Virgo (Aug. 23- Sept. 22): Cook something delicious this holiday and share with your loved ones… or if you’re greedy with food, don’t. Libra (Sept. 23- Oct. 22): Go to a festive holiday party with your friends and family. Don’t forget your ugly sweaters! Don’t be a Grinch and steal others’ presents! Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 21): You might feel lonely this holiday… but don’t worry, you will receive lots of presents. Don’t expect anything expensive though. Sagittarius (Nov. 22- Dec. 21): This holiday, people will find you irresistible and charming to others. Find someone to spend with this holiday. Don’t be a loner, and go have fun! Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 19): You should take care of others when they are sick or cold and make sure to work on something that has been hanging over your shoulder. Then celebrate the holiday joy! Aquarius (Jan. 20- February 18): Don’t get too worked up on busy days. Go celebrate with some friends and go make yourself a gingerbread cookie. Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20): Yeah, sure. You might not want to be out on the holidays, but go and have fun. Your friends and family will enjoy the holidays with you.
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HELENA MOUTZOURIS
DIRECTIONS: Fill in the blanks from page 11 to compete and decipher the pleas of snowman holiday message.
Oh gosh, how [1. adjective] ___________________ it is to be a snowman!?! Just look at how I'm treated! [2. noun] ___________________ shoved into my face as eyeballs, [3. noun] ___________________ for a nose, and even [4. plural noun] ___________________ are used for my mouth! And don't even get me started on when I melt in the [5. adjective] ___________________ sun! The feeling starts in my face, as I can feel a warm and [6. adjective] ___________________ sensation all throughout my body. Water begins to drip down and then my arms start drooping. The cold, crisp, and [7. adjective] ___________________ air does nothing to save my poor and [8. adjective] ___________________ soul. My arms fall off into the [9. adjective] ___________________ snow. I watch children [10. verb] ___________________ snowballs at each other and the sun beating down on me. I have only lived [11. number] ___________________ days! I have no purpose in this life. I just [12. verb] ___________________ here all day watching children run and [13. verb] ___________________ through the [14. adjective] ___________________ snow. And what do I get? I GET TO [15. verb] ___________________ IN THE BURNING AND [16. adjective] ___________________ SUN! HOW DO I FEEL? NOBODY CARES! Every year children build me to just melt and burn away into the world, to just be built again. And again! AND AGAIN! I am getting so [17. verb] ___________________ with this injustice! Another day gone, though I heard the weatherman say that there was going to be a blizzard in 4 days. Oh great....
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IMAGE COURTESY OF PIXABAY.COM VIA CREATIVE COMMONS
12/21/07 Dear diary,
What
Disagree? The segment ‘What Grinds My Gears’ is presented as opinion and does not express the views of all MBMS students or The Canine Chronicle. If you would like to express your opinion, write us a letter, and you may be published in our next edition.
My
SOPHIE ELWELL, GAVIN BONHAM, AYSIAH HWANDE , ISABELLA GALLARDO
SINGING CHRISTMAS TREES You know what grinds my gears? Singing Christmas trees. Every year, I go to my grandma’s house for Christmas. And every year, there’s the same little tree with unblinking eyes that stab into your soul, and has one of the worst singing voices of all time. He’s always wearing the same Santa hat—like he’s worthy of that!!! You know the worst part? It’ll start singing just when you walk by! So say you walk into the room to tell everyone that it’s time for dinner. You begin to walk past the tree, and then all of a sudden…….”UP ON THE HOUSETOP…” Does he not have any respect for our peace and quiet? Like, who is he to interrupt our perfectly joyful Christmas with his vicious tunes? When I was younger, I would run away from that tree like he was a demon sprinkled with pine needles. I would imagine him blasting everything with those obnoxious, fiendish cries, and taking over Christmas with all his monstrous buddies. But I know better now. He’s just this idiot who apparently still can’t figure out why we won’t set him out with the decorations anymore. Even though my family can get rid of our little maniac, I know there are more out there. Just be on the lookout for those beastly sprouts. And that’s what grinds my gears! —SOPHIE ELWELL ___________________________________
HOT CHOCOLATE MIX You know what grinds my gears? Hot chocolate mix. It all starts when you come inside from a very cold venture outside during the winter, and you want to make yourself some hot chocolate. You grab a packet of hot chocolate mix, stir it up in
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a mug with some hot milk, and take a long sip of your newly made concoction. Then you feel a lump of something in your mouth during your last rewarding sip of hot chocolate, and you find out that NOT ALL OF THE PACKET WAS DISSOLVED! Yes, the tiny clumps of powder that linger at the bottom of your mug, just waiting to give you a bland, disgusting taste in your mouth. IT’S RIDICULOUS! It wouldn’t hurt to actually manufacture these things so they at least dissolve quicker right? RIGHT? But wait. It gets worse. There’s also bitter tasting, and revolting sludge as well! It might be even worse since there’s most likely more of it just clinging to the bottom of your cup. All people want to do is just make a warm sugary beverage to pleasure themselves, but no. THE MIX MAKES IT SO MUCH HARDER! And that’s what grinds my gears. —GAVIN BONHAM ____________________________________
BEING SHORT IN DECEMBER You know what grinds my gears? Being short. Especially on the holidays! Do you know how infuriating it is not being tall enough to put the star on top of the Christmas tree? Not being able to help with Thanksgiving dinner? And it's not just on the holidays. It's simple everyday life things, like not being able to reach the plates on the top shelf in the cupboard. It makes my head spin! Don't even get me started with the tall people... with their, "How's the weather down there?" and "What's up, Shorty?" Words that are just an obnoxious fly buzzing in my ear that won't go away no matter how much I swat. Sometimes I want to look one of those tall people in the eyes (while standing on my toes) and tell them to get there heads out of the clouds. Literally!
mbms barks
I think short people have had enough of this mocking that makes our blood boil! Other people find this struggle more troubling than others, but we all have been through this angering time more than once in a lifetime. I just hope people find a way to live with it... And that's what grinds my gears! —AYSIAH HWANDE ____________________________________
SNOW You know what grinds my gears? Snow…. Yeah, you probably didn’t expect that, huh. Don’t get me wrong I like snow just as much as the next guy, but it seems so indecisive. Like, “Will, snow finally come?! When will it snow? Will it stick? When will I have have a snow day to skip ou- I mean rest at home doing homework… hehe.” It builds so many questions! It KEEPS playing with my icy heart. SHHH… It’s okay feelings, there, there. It seems cold enough for snow to come already and it’s basically December (I mean by the time you read this it will be), but it HASN'T! It comes out as RAIN! I get it, I get it, it’s WASH-ington, so I should know this by now. It was named after George Washington, the first president, you know. People must’ve really liked him. I mean there's two places named after the guy. I mean, *ahem*, it rains a lot. Here on the weather channel, it has only sprinkled a little snow and didn’t stick enough to the ground to build a reasonably sized snowman. Back to you Jeff. Thanks Larry, with the L-to-the-A-to-the-R-R-Y. And that children is what grinds my gears and deprives me of hot cocoa. —ISABELLA GALLARDO
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