Volume VII Issue 4 February 2012

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2 [February]Located in the College Park

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What’s Inside3

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Top 10 Chick Flicks

and

Happy Valentine’s Day! <3

Cavs Crazies!an

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Cannabis: A Chronic Debate College of the Month

Sounds of Silence: Cochlear Implants

and Basketball!

WrestlingBook Review

Teen Book FestivalSuperBowl Recap

SOCCERNFL: National Forensic League

College Dropout Rate IncreasesS.O.P.AAmerican IdolLaptops Make School Life Easier

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Top Ten Chick Flicks 1. The Notebook

2. Titanic

7. PS I Love You

3. Princess Bride

8. A Walk to Remember

4. Sweet Home Alabama

9. Moulin Rouge

5. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

10.The Wedding Planner

6. Sleepless in Seattle

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5Future # 1. The Vow(In theaters Feb 10)

Guilt-Free Guide to Valentine’s DaySam MorrowShelby Gregory

Eat This, Not That

Edible Arrangements: these sweet fruits are tasty and healthy. Although some of the fruits are dipped in chocolate, they are nutrient dense. They have less empty calories than milk choco-late.

Gayle’s Miracle Chocolate Truffles: with 30 calories and only one gram of fat in each truffle, these chocolates are a perfect gift.

Sweetheart Conversation Hearts:“Cutie Pie” and “Be Mine” are just a few adorable sayings for your sweetheart. The best part? They are only three calories each.

Ghirardelli Milk and Caramel Squares: these delicious, yet deadly-to-the-waistline candies are 73 calories per square. They are utterly deli-cious, but the weight they will help put on is not worth it.

Lindt-Lindor Dark Chocolate Truffles: in only three truffles there are 220 calories. Consumers might want to think twice.

Regular M&M’s: although 34 calories for 10 M&M’s does not sound bad, walking a whole football field just to burn one off does not sound so pleasing....

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Money cannot buy love, but it can buy affection. Every year on Feb. 14, couples fork out the cash for meaningful gifts whose only glow lasts for a week. Also, every year more and more Valentine’s Day celebrators are marking the occasion by sending their love in a wide range of gifts to a wide circle of friends and family members. The average U.S. Valentine celebrator is expected to spend $116.21 on gifts, meals and entertainment; which is about 13 percent more than last year. One Valentine’s Day statistics remains constant year after year: men on average spend at least twice as much on the holiday than women. The average man is expected to spend $158, while the typical women will part with only $75. But not everyone needs money to express their love. “I have friends whose relationship with me will probably last longer [than a relationship],” Sophomore Nia Robert said. “I just always want to remind them how much they mean to me and that they don’t need to feel alone if they don’t have anyone to spend Valentine’s Day with.” “My favorite Valentine’s Day gift would just be to spend my day being with the one I love,” Valentine’s Day celebrator Irene Hale said. Money cannot create happiness; people can. Of all the classic gifts on Valentine’s Day, chocolate is a sta-

ple on this day dedicated to love. However, chocolate’s role in this holiday is fairly recent, starting in the 1800’s when a man named Richard Cadbury of the Cadbury Brothers packaged these treats in a heart-shaped box. However, the relationship between romance and chocolate goes much farther back. It began about 2,000 years ago in Latin America, the place of its discovery. Chocolate was a lux-ury in Aztec and Mayan societies, and the wealthy would mix it with chili powder to create rich drinks. The Aztec king Mon-tezuma was convinced that chocolate was an aphrodisiac, or a drug that creates romantic feelings. He was not far off, as chocolate has a chemical called phenylethylamine that does exactly that. The common people of Aztec society were not so lucky. They used it as currency, and when the time called for it, as an expensive gift. Columbus brought the glorified cocoa bean to Europe, and it spread quickly among the rich and power-ful. The Europeans put their own spin on it and mixed it with sugar and vanilla to make it sweet instead. Chocolate gained an even more mystical role and was used by a French doctor to heal “broken hearts”. Every year people spend $1,000,000 on Valentine’s Day in the United States. Brands like Godiva and Ghiradelli craft rich desserts just for this day and Hershey’s makes inexpensive options. The foreign luxury brand, Cadbury, is still in business today. This rich candy has kept its hold on this holiday, as it will for years to come.

Cost of V-Day Rises

Not just for Valentines,Chocolate Uses Vary

The Cadbury Brothers were the first chocolate-makers to package chocolate in a heart shaped box. They are famous for their milk chocolate.

Rachael Wasaff

Alexis Ruble

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cavs crazies! Vype magazine dubbed Cavalier fans with their new name

Black-out, white-out, yellow-out and even a camo-out, the Cavs are going all out this sea-son. The yellow-out was inspired by the team’s freshly-bleached locks at the Oak Ridge game. The Cavalier basketball team won districts and plans to keep their undefeated record strong through playoffs.

8 [February]

As of late, I have been reading articles all over the place concerning cannabis. I have heard many different opinions about why it should be legal, and why it should not be legal. As of now, cannabis use is illegal. Only recently, in a few select states, has it been permitted for medicinal use and re-search. As time goes on, I have heard more and more people speaking out for legalization of cannabis. People are slowly realizing that this issue is much much bigger than just a bunch of kids getting high. This editorial is being written for the sole purpose of informing people, young and old, about the posi-tive aspects, and the negative aspects of drug prohibition in our country today. The decriminalization of cannabis is an issue that stirs up a lot of controversy. There are more people in our country’s jails and prisons for drug-related offenses than for any other crime. As America’s poorly-waged war on drugs continues (and just south of the border Mexico’s drug cartels continue to wreak havoc and slaughter thousands of people) the need for effective drug laws in this country has never been greater. Supporters are organizing, and more rallies are being carried out across the nation. They cite what they believe are logical reasons for the change. “Since the declaration of the ‘war on drugs’ 40 years ago, we have arrested tens of millions of people in an effort to reduce drug use. The fact that cops had to spend time arresting an-other 1.6 million of our fellow citizens last year shows that it simply hasn’t worked” a representative from the LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) said.

The Pros That is why people are starting to think about an alternative solution to a problem that seems to have no solution. People like LEAP are trying to change the way our country looks at the drug problem. LEAP represents police, prosecutors, judges, FBI/DEA agents and others who want to legalize and regulate drugs after fighting on the front lines of the “war on drugs” and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. Instead of treating drug addicts like criminals, they say we should be treating them like sick pa-tients. For example, in the country of Portugal, the drug laws are drastically different from the laws we have here. Portugal has actually decriminalized street drugs like cannabis, cocain, heroin and others. As a result, their economy has gotten bet-ter, the rate of drug related deaths has decreased by almost half, and the rate of aids-related deaths has gone down dras-tically as well. Instead of jailing these people, they help them on the road to recovery. In our country, we are only looking at cannabis decriminalization, which could bring on an eco-nomic boom in more than one way. Decriminalization of can-nabis could save money in our prison system, and stop taking small time offenders to jail, turning them into real criminals. Since 1992, there have been approximately 6,000,000 Amer-icans incarcerated on cannabis charges and that number is rising. Taking these people out of the equation would save a lot of money and save police a lot of time, allowing them to focus on criminals who actually pose a threat to our society. It could take unprecedented power from the drug cartels who are fueling our nations drug habit and help the Mexican gov-ernment to end their reign of terror.

Cannabis: A Chronic DebateBy Dylan Lopenzina

Protestors rally against government marijuana polices. Supporters believe the changing the laws holds greater benefits for Americans.

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Lastly, if our country could tax and regulate cannabis it would bring ridiculous amounts of money into the economy over time. If the government would give it a chance, cannabis could become a major cash crop.

The Cons On the opposite end of the spectrum, the legalization of cannabis could have negative consequences. Government of-ficials have cautioned that we have to think about what other drugs people will be pushing to legalize next. With one drug legalized, it could open the door for a whole new argument about other drugs, like cocaine, heroin or meth. These drugs are extremely dangerous and even though some countries have started to ease their iron grip concerning their drug laws, it does not necessarily mean ours should. Our country is crazy enough with all the other drugs that are illegal, so that issue is best placed on the back burner. Another legitimate concern people have about legalizing cannabis for recreation-al use is the rising cancer rates in our country. Cigarettes by themselves cause enough cancer as it is, so why would we want to go and legalize yet another smokable plant that can be regulated by the government? Many people forget that tobacco was once nothing more than a plant like cannabis. The Native Americans used to grow and cultivate it, using it for spiritual practices and ceremonies. Quite similarly, an-cient civilizations used to use the cannabis plant for similar occasions because they believed it had some spiritual value. But once the cigarette companies started mass producing tobacco as cigarettes and putting additional chemicals into each one, the whole art of smoking tobacco changed and it is now much more harmful than it may have once been. There is a risk that a similar thing may happen in the production of cannabis if it is legalized. Then the act of smoking cannabis would be no different than smoking cigarettes, being just as harmful. As of now that is not the case. A massive study of California HMO members funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that cannabis use caused no significant increase in mortality, whereas tobacco use was associated with increased risk of death. If the same chemi-cals, or ones similar to them, were eventually put into can-nabis, there would be no difference between the two as they would both be causing cancer. Currently, cannabis itself is actually classified as a non-cancer causing substance (unless it is smoked) according to a study conducted by the federal government. Federal researchers implanted several types of cancer, including leukemia and lung cancers, into mice, then treated them with cannabinoids (unique, active components found in cannabis). What they found when the study was completed was that THC and other cannabinoids shrank tu-mors and increased the mice’s life spans.

Medicinal Use The results of the study bring me to my next topic: the legiti-macy of cannabis as used for medicinal purposes. This issue is a hard one to combat because there are mixed opinions. Some doctors claim that cannabis is a valid medicinal asset to people suffering from aids or various types of cancers. They say it helps patients cope with the pain, and the hopeless-ness they feel as most of these patients have been stricken with diseases that will soon claim their lives. Patients who have diseases such as glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, HIV/Aids, mental disorders, insomnia, certain types of cancers, ALS, or Alzheimer’s, just to name a few, have reported that cannabis use as prescribed by a doctor has greatly improved their lives and made it easier for them to cope with their afflictions. The doctors who say that cannabis is not in any way medically helpful are adamant in their beliefs. The major criticism is the method of smoking as a means of consumption. Some doc-tors say there is no way that smoking anything can hold any medicinal-healing value because smoke itself is harmful to the lungs. This made a lot of sense to the fine folks residing at the Institute of Medicine, so they conducted a study and concluded that smoked cannabis is not recommended for the treatment of any disease condition. However, it did conclude that appetite loss, anxiety, pain, and nausea can all be miti-gated by cannabis.

The Solution The ups and downs of cannabis legalization/decriminaliza-tion are many, and come from many different points of view. The apparent benefits that cannabis has as a medicine for people suffering from chronic diseases cannot be ignored. But now attention seems to be turning towards decriminalization for recreational use, and here is where the debate grinds to a stand-still. It is now up to the government to decide whether they want to listen to the people who make up our country on an issue that continues to poke fun at them. The war on drugs in our country has failed and there is no doubt that a change does indeed need to come. Will we continue to run blindly forward as we keep heading in the same direction we have been going, making more arrests, putting more and more people away, hoping that people will just stop using drugs because big brother tells us to; or will we turn down a different path, attempting to look at our problem in a whole new light? Only time will tell how this debate will conclude.

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Cochlear Implants Improve Qualityof Life for Profoundly Deaf People People tend to think of conditions like deafness as irrevoca-ble and that someone who is deaf has little hope in a hearing world. But they are wrong. There is a device, called a cochlear implant, that can alter those affected with deafness lives for the better. Cochlear implants give a profoundly or severely deaf child many opportunities in a mostly hearing world. Re-ceiving cochlear implants can and should change the lives of deaf children. Still, many are opposed to cochlear implants and believe that sign language – without access to any sound – is the best way to teach a deaf child to communicate. Of all people, I know how beneficial cochlear implants are. I’m profoundly deaf, but I received cochlear implants, and with a lot of work, I learned to listen, to speak and to read. I am deaf, but I chatter just as much as the next teenager. I lis-ten and take notes in class; and I consider the library a home away from home. I don’t even know any sign language. This is all because I hear, not with my natural ears like you, but with cochlear implants. According to the National Institute of Health, two to three out of every 1000 children born in the United States are born deaf or hard-of-hearing. Without hearing aids or cochlear im-plants, these children will never learn to listen and speak. In-stead, they would have no choice but to rely on sign language. But, again according to the National Institute of Health, nine out of every 10 children are born to parents who can hear. How many of you know someone is hearing impaired who is proficient in sign language? The answer is probably very few. Deafness not only means silence, it also means loneliness. Cochlear implants borrow some aspects of how they work from a regular ear, but in a slightly different fashion. Instead of getting sound to the brain by way of the cochlea, the im-plants carry sound through a series of electrodes, which are surgically implanted into the cochlea. The cochlear implants convert sound waves into electrical signals that are carried along the electrodes to the auditory nerve and then the brain, where it is deciphered. The cochlear implant is an im-pressive technological feat. Trust me; it works. Cochlear implants provide vast opportunities for the deaf in comparison to the limitations of sign language. “Sign language has done much to help profoundly deaf people live in a hearing world, but the disability remains,” Graeme Clark, the inventor of the cochlear implant said. “As a result, it is harder for them to compete and to obtain jobs in a community which is essentially geared towards those who

can hear and speak the language of the country.” In many cases, a sensory deficiency such as deafness is a detriment when applying for a job, a college, or even certain classes in school. However, cochlear implants allow for such opportunities to remain open. One of the ideas that came to represent America over the years is the ability to do anything, and be anything. So why not implant? There are those that say cochlear implants are not making a change, but this is absolutely not true. According to an article in the January 2010 issue of National Geographic magazine, nearly 200,000 people worldwide have been implanted with cochlear implants over the past 30 years. In fact, cochlear implants have made more of a change in 30 years than sign language, which has been around for more than 200 years. Dan Ling, a pioneer in the field of teaching children to listen and speak, summed it up best when he said, “Sign language teaches deaf people to be deaf.” Cochlear implants allow a deaf child to hear bird song, music, the speech of family and friends – all the things they would miss if their world was blanketed by silence. The benefits of cochlear implants speak for themselves. With cochlear im-plants, we can conjure sounds from silence.

Anna Rech

Cochlear implants allow people who are profoundly deaf to hear clearly, ne-gating using sign language. It allows them lead to full and productive lives.

Blondes really do Have More Fun!Cavs Clinch District Championship The Cav’s basketball team is hav-ing a season to remember. With the end of district approaching, the Cav’s are firing on all cylinders. They are currently undefeated in district at 10-0. With only two games left, the Cavs have a chance to make school history. This team has been one of the most successful teams to ever come through CP. Last year at this time, the team was fighting for a play-off spot, but were unable to earn one. This season is dif-ferent because they are leading the district with the best record and are undefeated. When the season started, the Cav’s where overlooked and not expected to experience much success; they were not even ranked in state. Considering they are a team made up of six’ guards and no big men, the team is one of the shortest in district, but are easily the fastest. Led by a squad of primarily veter-an guards, players such as Seniors Evan Cooper (averaging 19.4 ppg, 5.3 apg, 4.6 reb., 3.2 spg), Zach Wright (averaging 14.6 ppg, 1.7 asp, 6.2 rpg, 2.3spg) and Layton Zinsmister (averaging 9.5 ppg, 4.0 apg, 2.8rpg, 2.2spg) are some of the key components to the team. They help in pushing the ball ahead, driving to the lane, as well as pressuring the ball and forcing turnovers. The game against The Wood-lands seemed to be what lit the torch for the team. Going into the game, CP had consistently lost to the Highlanders for the past two years, but were on a four-game winning streak. At the time of the game, The Woodlands was ranked in state as one of the better teams and College Park was not ranked.

That game catapulted the Cav’s to the next level. The student body was there and stronger, crazier and louder than ever before. After the nail-biting win, the Cavs’ student body rushed the court and because of this win, the Cav’s ranked 19th in state. They kept the rhythm roll-ing and had a little boost from their new team persona, the “Cav’s Crazies.” They kept winning and the crowd kept growing into the mass it is today. After making some noise, the Cavs have started to be noticed. Local magazine, Vype, regarded the “Cav’s Crazies” as one of, if not the best student body, in Texas. With a designated color at every game, the “Cav’s Crazies” paint the bleachers that color with an ocean of fans and yell chants end-lessly. They even have “Cav’s Cra-zies” game day T-shirts and orga-nized fan buses for away games. To top it all off, the Cavs, with all the buzz around them in the com-munity have taken it to the next level with the entire team bleach-ing their hair blonde. The Cav’s seem to be feeding off all the hype and attention. “We love it, the fans and their excitement,” Wright said. “It re-ally feels great having a student body and community supporting us like this. We have the best fans in Texas.” Wright was awarded Max Prep’s Player of the week for the week of Jan. 29. Tonight the Cav’s face the Highlanders again at 7 pm. Now matter what ending is store for the Cavs, they are now ranked 19th, two games away from be-ing undefeated and have sealed a spot in the playoffs.

Paul Wallin

Shooting guard Bryon Makel goes for the layup off a fast break. The Cavs claimed bragging rights after they won district Tues-day night against Atascocita.

Driving to the lane, Guard Layton Zinsmister gets into position for a layoup. The Cavs play rival The Woodlands tonight.

12 [February]

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ith the season al-most wrapped up, the Lady Cav’s have high expectations to finish strong. The girls have traveled a great dis-tance to play tournaments, district games and face The Woodlands. They stand strong with a 13-11 overall season record and 7-3 in dis-trict, right behind Atascocita and The Woodlands. This team is ready for play-offs and to keep moving forward. “My expectations for the rest of the season are to continue working hard, to not to lose any more games, to move forward in the play-offs, and to win state,” Forward Leah Breakfield said. “Yes, my ex-pectations are high for the Lady Cavs.” As most upperclassmen know, College Park team seasons almost always end in second place. However, there is a difference be-tween this year and previous years. Head coach Michelle Richardson believes “great chemistry and genuine care for others” separates this year’s team from the rest. Also, with only three return-ing seniors, this team has to be doing something right to be so successful with a young team. Richardson credits their success to “hard work... and never quitting.” It is no surprise that every-one on the Lady Cav’s wants to win district and advance to the play-offs. Breakfield be-lieves, “the training I do cur-

rently for my success is drib-bling drills, shooting, staying in shape, practicing outside of school, staying healthy and praying before every game,” to help the team stay in the win column. “In addition to the training in school daily, I try to shoot around during weekends where I can focus on the fun-damental skills and perfect my shot,” Junior Uma Raja-gopalan said. This team works great to-gether. Forward Alexia Sand-ers keeps the team in the hunt by scoring 18 points per game on average. They follow their motto, “Person-al Accountability Changes Teams (PACT).” With the official season al-most done, there is much in store for the future of the-Lady Cav’s and many more challenges they can conquer.

Ladies Meet Ambitous Expectations:

Background: Senior Leah Breakfield rushes down the court at the Lufkin game. The Cav’s beat the Panthers 46-40. Above: Coach Richardson, the freshman team, JV and Varsity girls bond at the Homecoming Parade.

W Timmy Fitzgerald

Team Unification Vital Part of this Year’s Success

14 [February]

The wrestling team finished with individual wins in several-weight categories and 3-2 in duals against other teams. Sophomore Jake Weingrad and Freshman Chance Robin-son,182 and 152 weight classes respectively, earned fourth place at the district meet while Sophomore Kyle Roberts, 132 weight class, finished sixth. After starting the season undefeated in duals, they needed a win against Bel-laire. Unfortunately, the Bellaire dual was canceled. The past duel at Katy Taylor was not the greatest showing from the Cavaliers as both Katy Taylor and St. Johns were challenges for the wrestlers. The intensity in the wrestling room rose each day in preparation for the district tournament. “The room is full of a dozen or so guys that are working very hard so that they could get better and be ready for dis-

trict,” Junior William Moore said. Off season is where wrestlers enhance their skills and tal-ent for next year. There might be few changes in the varsity lineup because in off season wrestlers either come back with weight gain or weight loss. Whoever is going to be the captain next year will play a decisive role. The captain leads the team

and motivates them. It is not only a great honor to be captain, but it also means the person is responsible for leading the team to victory. With only one senior this year, the Cavaliers should have most, if not all, of the team back next year. If they keep up the good work during off-season, next year promises to be an excellent year for the wrestlers. “This year we have won more duels,” Moore said. “We also have more people and the number of forfeits has decreased.”

Larger numbers, Less ForfeitsResponsible for Winning Season

Junior Kyle Nunez wins his duel against his oppo-nent at the Conroe tournament.

Kyle Roberts

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Falling in love was not part of Nora Grey’s plan. But when meeting Patch, the ultimate bad boy that knows more about her than her best friend, falling in love was never so easy. Nora is a good student, a good friend, and a good daughter with a shadowy connection to the supernatural. Patch has that bad boy persona and mysterious allure that has girls swooning… Forced to sit next to Patch in biology, Nora gradu-ally falls for him against her better judgment. Becca Fitzpat-rick spins an enjoyable mix of suspense and romance in Hush, Hush from Simon & Schuster. When first reading this book, without a doubt it is Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, but with angels. But because of Patch Cipriano, Edward and Jacob have lost their charm. Sappy romance with some darkness thrown in is farthest from the truth. Fitzpatrick developed both characters in such a way that their strengths fill in each others’ weaknesses and their personalities contrast beautifully. Add in their relation-ship and the rest of the story line and it was enough to get

me hooked. The ending leaves the reader gasping for more. Lucky for me I did not have to wait to gobble up the next book in this delicious fallen angel series. News for Sci-fi fans: if you enjoyed The Hunger Games Tril-ogy by Suzanne Collins you are going love Matched by Ally Condie. In the society they decide where you work, who you love, when you die. The world is so neat and orderly that their citizens are guaranteed long, healthy, reasonable lives without any hardships, but of course, it is not without its flaws. For Cassia Reyes it was the only life she had known. So when she is matched to her best friend Xander, Cassia is certain that the Society has chosen her ideal mate....until a glitch in the system shows her Ky Markhams’ face before it fades to black. This book is brilliant. Condie created a world so neat and interesting I was tempted to live in it. It is the kind of world that has you doubting what is right from what is wrong. It is gripping right to the last page.

Fans of Hunger Games, Twilight Rave over Two Suspenseful Books

Kimberly Royer

16 [February]

I had this epiphany at the Montgomery County Teen Book Festival: authors are normal people. Along with other students, I volunteered for and assisted the bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima, author of the Heir Chronicles and Seven Realms novels. I think I expected Ms. Chima (and, indeed, the other authors attending the Teen Book Festival) to be these magical and powerful beings who just happened to have the ability to cap-ture the imaginations of us dull or-dinary folk. It was for this reason that I felt ridiculously jumpy and overawed by actually talking with a New York Times bestselling au-thor. So, for the first ten minutes of the volunteers-and-authors-only lunch, I kept quiet, nodding in agreement when needed and half-hoping conversation would not turn my way. Finally, being the chatty teen-ager that I am, I could stand the anxious silence no longer. At the next opportunity, I chimed in on the current subject, which was writing. We talked about writ-ing, writer’s block and focusing on just one project (many of my fellow volunteers, like me, were hobbyist fiction writers and so sympathized). Ms. Chima and I commiserated on how often peo-ple mispronounce our last names. For a while, discussion revolved around the intricate world of social networks like Twitter. Ms. Chima told an anecdote about the time she was told she had an account on Twitter – and yet she had no memory of signing up. (It turned out, after ages of confusion and wrangling with Twitter, that her agent had reserved it for her.) The...enthusiasm...of fans was another subject; Ms. Chima told tales of displeased readers. For instance, one particularly memorable email from a disgruntled fan said of her book, The Dragon Heir, “Epic fail, Chima.” While lunch was certainly entertaining, much else went on. There was a discussion panel after lunch, which consisted of all the authors, in the auditorium. The authors answered

questions about their inspirations, families and lives as au-thors in general. At the beginning of that session, some tech-nical difficulties with the mic led to much amusement from the audience and authors alike. After the discussion panel, Kristin Cast , co-author of the House of Night books with her mom, PC Cast, gave a keynote speech about her life surrounded by books and her experi-ence as an author. Apparently, writing is one of those pro-

fessions that runs in her family. It was not unusual for Ms. Cast to be watching TV as a child and to hear her mom holler for some advice on her latest project. According to Ms. Cast, one of the funnier parts of writ-ing is when she writes a character based on someone she knows and they read the book and go “Oh my goodness this character is awful!” Insert awkward silence. Later in the afternoon, I attended Ms. Chima’s session in the LGI in which she spoke briefly about her life, gave extensive advice on how to write and demystified the writ-ing process. She talked about her troubles with finding somebody to publish her debut novel, The Warrior Heir. (It took her five years before

Disney Hyperion finally published it in 2006). The development of the cover art of her books was widely “oohed”and “ahhed” over by the

audience (in fact, the popular opinion on the cover of The Wizard Heir was that the second suggestion was preferable to the final cover). Finally, Ms. Chima gave us an exclusive (and pretty impressive) sneak peek at the cover of her long-anticipated upcoming novel, The Crimson Crown, which is slated for publication in August. Behind the scenes of such an amazing event as this is a truly magical experience. I got to rub shoulders with some of my favorite authors, speak to them, and best of all, help further the joy of reading. The next Teen Book Festival will be around the same time next year, and I highly encourage joining in and helping, or in the very least attending.

Montgomery County Teen Book Fesitival Mesmerizes Aspiring Young Writers

Anna Rech

Discussing the publishing business and the art of writing books, Author Cinda Williams Chima holds the audience spellbound with her insights.

17

Mario Maningham makes a perfect catch from Eli manning that changed the game entirely.

Brady’s wife, gisele bundchen was overheard blaming the Receiver’s for the Patriot’s loss.

Patriot fans across the country held their breath as Tom Brady heaved a pass from midfield that determined the fate of Super Bowl XLVI in the last minute.

Super Bowl XLVIMadonna promoted her new album during the relatively well-received half-time show.

manninvg celebrates his second Super Bowl win.

heering erupts from the crowd as lists are unraveled over the sides of the railing, determining the im-mediate future of the hopeful competi-tors below. Driven by the hammering of her heart, a girl maneuvers her way through the mob, nervousness weigh-ing down her stride. She tilts her head upwards, anticipation overpowering the anxiety, notices her name on a list – and shrieks. While the NFL is renowned for its ex-hilarating football games, it is not the only association with that acronym out there. In 1925, merely five years after NFL’s establishment, the National Fo-rensics League (NFL) was founded, and targeted ambitious high school stu-dents to develop the confidence and character needed to prosper in a dem-ocratic society.

Influence of NFL Although the NFL is rarely recognized above its sister group, it is no grain of sand. According to nflonline.org, as the oldest and largest interscholastic foren-sic society, it sports more than 112,000 high school and middle school (junior league) students, from approximately 100 middle schools and 2800 high schools. “College Park has been a member of NFL since the school opened in 2005, but it was only this school year that this chapter was recognized with the highest degree of distinction a school can earn, based on an increase in ac-tive participants,” Speech and Debate Coach Kathleen Lyons said. With this level of excellence, members can expect for it to be accompanied by certain advantages and disadvantages. “The club teaches you how to grow in-tellectually and socially through debate and individual events (speech); teach-ing you how to think rationally, express yourself fluently and persuade and ex-amine personal beliefs logically,” Coach Lyons said. “It’s also a lot of fun andbuilds life-long relationships.”

“Being multilingual, speech and de-bate has helped me monstrously – as-suming the monster is the monster of success,” Freshman Dylan Jiang said. “It has made me friends, gained me knowl-edge, but most importantly taught me how to communicate with the world.” However, forensic skills cannot be at-tained overnight. Hard work, determi-nation and perpetual perseverance are required to become successful, bring-ing drawbacks to joining. “Tournaments are long; you miss Fri-days (6 and 7 period) and Saturdays,” Director of Administration Aanchal Mi-tra said. “It’s a time problem – but you want to give the time. Instead of watch-ing movies with your friends, you might as well make new friends at a debate tournament.” “You prepare in terms of how much you want to get out of it, from half an hour to two hours a day,” Director of Competition and Tournament Jahnavi Muppaneni said. “If it’s less than that – well, natural talent only goes to an extent. If you want to succeed it takes effort.” If any club is competitive, that award goes to speech and debate. There is a difference between taking the class and participating in tournaments, which College Park aims to attend at least twice a month. Annually, the school attends a nationally recognized invitational event; while Stanford was selected this year, the team can expect travels to Harvard and Dartmouth in near future. “Going to competitions gives you a real incentive to be competitive and excited by the energy from students of different schools,” Coach Lyons said. “When they do their best, it encourag-es students to do their personal best.”

Benefits of NFL Besides the personal gain, entering tournaments is the first way to gain NFL points, and 25 are needed for ad-mission into the league. From thereon, they are used to determine the degree

of the merit of the individual. The num-ber of points achieved is influenced by the student’s rank in the events of choice; these ranging from Lincoln-Douglas debate to theatrical events. “For earning a letter in speech and de-bate, students are required to have 250 NFL points,” Coach Lyons said. “With 300 NFL points, students graduate with honors and a degree seal for their Col-lege Park diploma.” It is not a secret that universities smile upon distinguished students – another reason for joining the club. “Anybody can do it,” Director of De-velopment and Sophomore Anastasia Beketskaia said. “You don’t have to be super smart or the best actress – you can be the average Joe. Just come with an open mind.” By staying receptive, students might discover hidden talents and an un-tapped pool of potential friends. “You can find your niche that you don’t find in high school,” Mitra said. “If you don’t fit in, you end up in debate. Here, you find all sorts of people who work hard, and in turn, motivate you into working hard.” While the coach assists teammates and they encourage each other, the club does not support itself. As an al-ready under-budgeted association, car washes will not make the fund-raising quota – but the use of them will. Saturday, April 21, from 11 to 3 p.m., the Ford Motor Company is bringing out several of their newest models to test drive. They will pay the speech and debate club $20 for each participant (anyone over 18) who completes a test run and $30 for those that steer the Ford Focus. If interested in attending a meeting which is hosted on the first and third Thursday of the month, simply curious, or blatantly disinclined, try to keep this in mind. “Just try it,” Coach Lyons said. “It will be intimidating at first, but if you give it a try, you gain a level of confidence that surpasses all explanation.”

NFL Takes on Different Meaning: “F” for Forensics;Fun, Hard Work Hallmark of Club Membership

Julienna LawC

18 [February]

This year’s 2012 soccer season is just beginning and there are already a few surprises. Athletes have come to play from other sports, such as first year Se-nior Johnny Orozco, and have fit right into the team as a crucial to the team's success. “It’s pretty rare for [a player] to jump to the starting lineup and contribute as much as Johnny has,” Coach Owens said. “The good surprises are the addi-tions in personnel that we are getting.” On another positive note, the team played a great first game against New Caney and though they did not win, they met their expectations. “Overall, our effort and our energy were very good for that game,” Owens said. Despite being only a few weeks into the season, several plays stand-out. One that comes to mind was executed by Goalie Bryant Botello who has made multiple “world-class saves” during recent games. His twin brother, offen-

sive-player Joel Botello, brings posi-tive energy to the team and also made memorable play by out-running a field of defenders and scoring an unbeliev-able goal. “They’ve made plays that are not just good for our team; they’ve made plays that are good for anybody’s team,” Ow-ens said. The team’s recent three-day-long tournament at Klein became more of a learning experience for the young team. Although they came away with two losses and a tie, they “played three teams that are all play-off teams,” Ow-ens said. Both Owens and his players also aim to be a play-off team this year. “We are trying to compare ourselves against as many district champions as we can,” said Owens. By playing some of the toughest op-ponents in the district, the team will be better prepared for play-offs, which makes for a promising season.

“With Coach Owens, I mean he in-spires us, so I’m pretty sure we can do well,” Bryant Botello said. “I’m just ready to show ‘em what we got,” Joel Botello said. Owens and his team are eager to dig into district play. “We are getting better every day,” Ow-ens said. “At this point here, I’m looking forward to our district schedule.” “I love pressure; I love when games count, and nothing counts more than district.” And without forgetting the legendary rivalry between The Woodlands, every-one is pumped up and ready to take them on, this time on their home turf. “They think they’re going to dominate us, but I’m pretty sure we can do some-thing about that,” Bryant Botello said. “We really want to get after it,” Owens said. “I’m pretty optimistic as far as, if we come with lots of good energy and play together, we are going to do well.”

This year’s soccer season is anticipat-ed to be one of the highest scoring sea-sons in CP girl’s varsity soccer history. They have already started off the year with a victory, and will no doubt contin-ue this trend as the season progresses. Though they have a solid history, the girls should have a completely different experience than before, considering the team is full of new faces. Of the 18 varsity members, eight are sopho-mores, three are freshmen, three are juniors, and four are seniors. Many wonder how this will affect their sea-son. “We have a young team who are ea-ger to play,” Varsity player Rachel Stein-bauer said. Because soccer is generally low scor-ing, some people say every minute

counts, but others say this realistically is not true. “The first and last 10 minutes are the most important,” Steinbauer said. “That’s where most goals are scored, and the last 10 minutes set the mood.” When every goal is so vital, it does not matter when the goal is an “ugly” goal or a “pretty” goal. “Ugly” goals can even be considered better because they are usually the result of a team working together to score, whereas “pretty goals” are usually obtained from an individual. “There is definitely such a thing as an ugly goal”, Head Soccer Coach Owens said. “But it doesn’t matter because they all count the same. I talk to my players all the time about scoring those ugly goals.”

The Lady Cavaliers have a great deal of adversity to face in the future and will have to prepare new teammates to go toe-to-toe with The Woodlands, Kingwood and Atascocita. The team forges ahead with traditional values and principles. “Preparation is the most important factor in a game,” Head Soccer Coach Owens said. “It leads with having a good off season and physically prepar-ing so we can impose our will on the opposing team.” Despite all the changes, the girls are excited for the future, and are ready to give it their all when going against their opponents. “We’re different from other teams be-cause of our energy,” Steinbauer said.

New Additions Strengthen Boy’s Soccer

Girl’s Soccer Know Value of “Ugly” Goals

Emma Lahvis

Will Moessinger

19

y the year 2020, 60 percent of jobs in American will require some kind of college degree. Though opportunities are becoming fewer for non-college graduates, the number of students graduating college is also decreasing. This is due to a number of unfor-tunate reasons. “The biggest prob-lem I have seen is that there are a lot less ‘traditional stu-dents’”, Dr. William J. Campion, president of Ranger College of Eastland Texas said. “These students have jobs, and therefore, have to go part-time. Some are parents that go once they’re in their 20’s.”According to recent studies, 75 percent of students are “non-traditional” students who balance fami-lies, jobs, and school. There are many fac-tors that go into the probability of graduating. Statistics favor students that go full-time, even though they have to take more credits. College graduation rates are fairly low to begin with, but abysmal for students who go part-time. In Texas 56 percent of full-time students seeking a four-year degree receive it within six years. On the other hand, only 30 percent of students going part-time get a 4-year of degree within six years. It also hurts a student’s chances if they wait to continue their education for more than a year after finishing high school. In Texas, 57 percent of students fresh out of high school get a four-year degree within six years. However, only 30 percent of college students over the age of 25 get a four-year degree within six years. Another cause contributing to a low college graduation rate is weak remediation courses. If a student demonstrates lack of understanding in a course, they are assigned to remedia-tion. However, many of these remediation programs are

flawed. At two-year colleges in Texas, 51 percent of college freshmen are required to take remediation, but only 30 per-cent of those students pass. Luckily, steps are being taken to improve these programs.

“We’ve been focus-ing a lot on reme-diation classes”, Dr. Mike Dreith, Presi-dent of Western Tex-as College said. “If you can’t pass those initial development classes, you won’t do well in college. About three out of four freshmen have to go to remediation.”One of the things WTC does is focus more on each individ-ual student. Instead of making everyone take a 16-week class in the same amount of time, WTC lets a student move on to college level courses if they demonstrate they understand the material in six weeks. Many other colleges are adopt-

ing this method to make courses more flexible and personal for each individual student. These kinds of methods save students time, which is a valu-able resource when it comes to college.“I have no time for a job”, says Eric Martin, 2011 senior and freshmen at California Institute of Technology. “All of my in-come has come from money I’ve earned the past two sum-mers.”In order to close the skills gap in America, changes will need to be made, both from students and college administrations. To see more detailed statistics visit completecollege.org.

Admist Difficult Economic times, Fewer Students Graduate College

Will Moessinger

20

Above: CP students throw their caps at the 2011 graduation ceremony. High school gradation is al-ways a celebratory occasion, but just a high school diploma limits job opportunities in the work force.

B

Someone Stop SOPA The Internet is a worldwide system that can be ac-cessed from almost anywhere by anyone with the means to do so. It is so unimaginably big that the notion of trying to control it seems pretty farfetched. Unfortunately, for the free peoples of the web, that is exactly what the U.S. government is trying to do. The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a bill that was intro-duced in the U.S. House of Representatives Oct. 26 by House Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Lamar S. Smith (R-TX). This bill was introduced in an attempt to control online piracy and the online trafficking of copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. If this law was passed it would enable the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copy-right holders to seek out court orders against web sites guilty of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement.

Pros and Cons of SOPA People who support this bill claim that SOPA is necessary to protect the intellectual property market and correspond-ing industry, jobs and revenue and is necessary to protect copyright laws. The Internet, after all, does enable a lot of illegal activities, but laws that combat these illegal activities might not be the worst idea. Opponents of this bill argue that SOPA would not even stop these pirate sites. The censorship regulations written into this bill would only cause these pirate sites to change their addresses and continue to operate il-legally, while law abiding companies would be suffering high penalties for breaches they could not possibly control. One of the leaders in the opposition of this bill is a web site we all know and love, Google. People at Google are saying that

Congress is doing the right thing going after pirates and coun-terfeiters, but SOPA is the wrong way to do it. The passage of this law would create a new era of uncertainty for Ameri-can businesses. That is why AOL, EBay, Facebook, Google, Linkedln, Mozilla, Twitter, Yahoo and Zynga wrote a letter to Congress stating these bills “pose a serious risk to our indus-tries continued track record of innovation and job creation.” On top of that, 55 of Americas most successful venture capi-talists spoke out against the SOPA bill, claiming that the law would “stifle investment in Internet services, throttle inno-vation and hurt American competitiveness.” And on top of that, 204 entrepreneurs told Congress that SOPA would “hurt economic growth and chill innovation.” And on top of that, almost every citizen in the country is against this law being passed. If that is not enough of a reason not to pass it, then I am not sure what is.

Alternative Solutions Exist The fact is that an attempt to censor the Internet would almost be a contradiction to what we value most about it. The Internet is so great because it allows for people to freely share ideas and communicate with each other. The fact that nowadays we use it for advertising and business just as much as we use it for communication and entertainment shows us just how good the internet is. Censoring the Internet would greatly diminish its value. There are other ways to go after Internet pirates and other illegal activities without shutting down the entire freedom of the web. Congress should look into some of those ideas for a change. They do not have to shut down the whole thing just to stop a few crooks, not only will it not work, it will only make things worse for our country.

By Dylan Lopenzina

21

22 [February]

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Big FarGo and The hit show, American Idol, premiered Jan. 18 which means someone’s dream of fulfilling their long time hope of becoming a celebrity is about to become a reality. Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson are back once again to select America’s next idol. The host, Ryan Seacrest, returns for his 11th year. Last year, American Idol broke records with the number of people voting for their favorite. The show was also ranked as the number one television show. Week after week audiences were sur-prised by whom was staying and whom was being sent home. In the end, Scotty McCreery was America’s Idol. Fans had not chosen a country singer as their idol since season four with Carrie Underwood. The show kicked off with auditions in Savannah, Georgia. Many touching stories were shared, whether it was Lauren Mink who works with adults with disabilities and brings mu-sic to them in her job; or Amy Brumfield who lives in a tent with her husband because of financial problems. She made it through the auditions with her sweet, raspy voice and her high spirits of accepting how she lives. “I’d rather be happy and live in a tent than be unhappy liv-ing in a house,” Brumfield said. Tyler pushed many girls through not only for their voice, but looks too. The NBA cheerleader had both Jackson and Tyler’s mouths dropping. Mouths were definitely dropped when Tyler admitted to Joe Magrane, retired St. Louis Cardi-nals pitcher, that his daughter was hot after commenting on the weather of Beantown. “Hot, humid and happening, just like your daughter,” Tyler said. Phillip Phillips ended the auditions in Savannah and amazed the judges with his voice that combined many past Idol’s. The talent continued on to San Diego where Ashley Robles sang, “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston and showed off her many octaves. Actor Jim Carrey’s daugh-ter, Jane, showed up to achieve her dream on her own. Ja-son “Wolf” Hamlin auditioned with a unique blend between Johnny Cash and Elvis. The fifth city of auditions was in Galveston. Although many fans said that the auditions American Idol decided to show were an embarrassment to Texas, others said they were

hilarious and the best so far. This episode gave the audi-ence five perfect singers and seven bad singers. The oth-er auditions rated more good singers and only a few bad

singers. The judges who rarely disagreed with each other, dis-agreed about seven times. A disagreement over Cheyenne James from Conroe had Lopez wanting more, but Jackson and Tyler taking the opposite view. The last singer of the night came with a depressing story, but a heart to pull him through. Ramiro Garcia of Houston, born with no ear lobes, but

at the age of four doctors found an ear drum. With partial hearing restored, he was able to hear, and through a mira-cle, he sang “Amazing Grace.” The judges took a chance and pushed him through to Hollywood. The auditions keep going and the contestants roll in each unique and each closer to becoming an American Idol.

Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez return for their second year as judges and Randy Jackson stays on for his 11th season.

The age of reading textbooks is coming to an end. Flipping page after page with books that are torn apart and broken is becoming more of a burden then a necessity. With the world turning into a technological race, turning to laptops in school seems like the perfect way to get ahead and stay ahead.

Text Books Cumberson to Use Everybody has in their classes the student that never has their homework with them. They always make an excuse like they lost it or they pretend that they never got it but they really just wanted to play video games instead of working. Teachers get upset; students get annoyed; and it becomes a gigantic mess that no one wants to deal with. Certain schools in the country and have switched from expensive textbooks with out-dated information to an investment that would make learning more fun and productive.

Laptops Provide Educational Advantage Thierry Karsenti heads the Canada Research Chair in Infor-mation and Communication Technology in Education his re-cent study with over 2,000 students and 200 teachers made the point that students who use the laptops have increased concentration, a reinforced motivation, and an aid to both the development and independence of the students.

Positive Effects Greater with Laptops “Students with laptops write more than the average student and seeing as the computer isn’t introduced before grade three, they still know how to use a good old-fashioned pen-cil,” Karsenti said. Not only is the use of a laptop fun for teachers, it could also be a financial help to teachers and administration. Textbooks are getting more and more expensive each year. The amount of books students receive in their high school career is the same amount as a laptop. Another advantage to this route is that these personal computers provide new and fresh infor-mation and never go out of date. Plus, there is plenty of free educational material online.

“I think the use of laptops in school would be a great con-venience to students,” Sophomore Tristan Britt said. “Person-ally, I think better when I am typing and I go a lot faster than handwriting all of my assignments.” Students also end up carrying 100-pound backpacks filled with textbooks that they have to carry in their bags because some do not have to time to go to their lockers. Laptops are light and less of a hassle to carry around than textbooks. “For generations, school meant books -- lots of books, but not anymore. Around the country, from high school to grad school, textbooks are getting harder to find. Technology has made the library something that can fit into the palm of your hand,” Karsenti said. In a technology driven world, students need to be as pre-pared as possible. This means letting go of the past nostalgia of books and switching to modern technology. Schools such as The Woodlands Christian Academy have already traded their books for laptops. “The time will come that everyone will have and use a lap-top,” Technology consultant Milton Kelly said. “It is the next logical step.”

Laptops: Edit, cut textbooksSam Morrow

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Textbooks may someday be a thing of the past as laptops gain popularity. After toting his assignment to class, Senior Cory Sessum finishes his work.

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