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Vol. XVIIIFrIday, March 29, 2012 No. 6KerronicleT

he

alIeF Kerr hIgh School 8150 howell-SugarlaNd rd.

INSIde the ISSue

opINIoN, page 2, KoNy 2012

NewS, page 4, college VISItS

IN FocuS, page 7, health craze

eNtertaINMeNt, page 13, the loraX

Feature, page 9, IN death wIth MadSeN

etc, page 14, photoboMINg

2 OPINION

Staff Editorial:

Through social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, we keep ourselves up to date with the newest Internet memes and culture. From those Internet memes, we incorporate certain slang and terminology we view on the Internet into our dialect -- troll faces, rage faces, iPhone Auto-Correct Fails, etc. Often it takes only a few Internet addicts to catch on until the whole school integrates these memes.

How fast do we jump onto these trends as a school in general? Even though most of us are Internet-oriented, we still haven’t gotten to the level where we create Internet trends ourselves. Nevertheless, we are still able to adapt quickly, and that helps us to communicate our ideas and opinions effectively. For example, if someone who lived on the other side of the world were to create a meme, the majority of us would adapt to that particular meme within about two or three days and would incorporate the meme when we talk with others. Most of us generally accommodate to popular memes like the term “troll,” but what about memes that are not so popular? They die out before we grow accustomed to them.

Internet memes aside, other trends such as fandoms (or fan bases) also reach us through the World Wide Web. Tumblr has become a well-known site to host fandoms for popular television shows, movies, music, and other entertainment. Anyone can create his or her own such blog and have people follow and re-blog postings. As this process is continuously repeated, these blog posts and fandoms become a trend. Soon, almost everyone is “fangirling” over their favorite characters or celebrities and the “shipping wars” (arguments over the fate of certain characters’ relationships) begin. A growing number of students use Tumblr as a source to follow these fandoms, and as a result, we also quickly adapt to these trends. International media is also spread and becomes trendy; a prime example is the British television series Doctor Who which owes much of its popularity and success to its Internet fan base.

By being able to hop onto Internet trends and fads promptly, we’re able not only to connect as a school, but but as members of a larger community. Those who don’t adopt these trends as fast have a harder time relating with others, especially in social media. But most trends eventually become a part of our wider pop culture and their purpose is to make communication with the people around us much easier.

KErroniclEfrIday, MarCH 30, 2012

VOl. XVIII NO. 6

Kerr High School8150 Howell-Sugar Land Rd. Houston, TX 77083

(281) 983-8484 ext. 267

Staff:

Editor-in-ChiEfJoanna Arias

Story EditorPhil Pham

BuSinESS ManagErPhat Pham

Photo EditorAja Bryant

Staff rEPortErSAlyssa Andaverde

Kelli ChowJesus EscobarTuong-Phi Le

Tracey LeKrista Lutrick

Hadiqa Memon Durand NguyenJason NguyenKevin Nguyen

Nadia Zulfa

The Kerronicle is published six times a year by the student newspaper staff of Kerr High School and serves as a medium of communication for its readers. It ex-ists to inform its readers about school and community, school policies and their changes, entertainment, and to serve as a forum for student expression.

Advertisers interested in placing an ad in the Kerronicle should contact the staff at (281) 983-8484 ext. 267 or 8150 Howell Sugar Land, Houston, TX 77083.

Letters to the editor are welcomed and encouraged. Letters should be delivered to room 302 or e-mailed to laura.negri@aliefisd.net. All letters must be signed.

Questionable charity: By: Tracey LeSTaff reporTer

In a small, crowded space with about 100 children covered in rags sitting on the floor, a small boy talks about trying to escape from Joseph Kony during the “Kony 2012” video.

“I’d rather die,” says Jacob, a Ugandan child who hid from the rebel’s torment. Wiping his tears as he attempts to explain his situation, he captures the hearts of thousands of viewers of the online video.

Invisible Children, the charity devoted to helping former child soldiers like Jacob, uploaded a short movie to YouTube at the beginning of March featuring co-founder activist Jason Russell discussing with his young son, Gavin, about the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) and its leader, Joseph Kony. Filled with powerful evidence, the video shows how the man behind the sufferings of the Ugandan citizens uses children cruelly. Invisible Children’s purpose was to make Kony so infamous, that the international community would demand he be caught.

“Kony 2012” became famous virtually overnight with over 82 million views on YouTube in 2 weeks. So many people posted about it on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, but few knew anything more about the problem. Their knowledge was merely from that 30-minute video.

However, as the campaign continued, some people started digging deeper

into the situation, questioning the validity of “Kony 2012”; they found multiple accusations to prove that movement is a swindle. First, Invisible Children’s own financial report showed that only about 30 percent of donations directly go to charity funding.

Secondly, in recent news, Jason Russell was reportedly arrested after being found naked on a public street while screaming and banging his fists on the sidewalk and performing other inappropriate activity.

Thirdly, a picture was found of the three men who are the main faces of Invisible Children, standing with Ugandan soldiers holding destructible guns. This photo defies Invisible Children’s mission of the use of film, creativity, and social action to end the use of child soldiers; it seems to show the group advocates the use of violence. Ironically, the Uganda Army that Invisible Children is affiliated with, supporting their efforts against Kony, also uses child soldiers.

As a result, Invisible Children and the “Kony 2012” movement seems a little sketchy.

The Kony campaign is a fad. It lasted for about two weeks, just like every other new trend. By the third week, the topic faded into the background of our internet world. Perhaps some people didn’t even care about the problem; all they wanted to do was to be a part of the hype.

If people actually cared for the Ugandan children, they wouldn’t just tweet and blog on Tumblr. People can help by sponsoring a Ugandan child with SavetheChildren.org. A little

money transforms a child’s life with education, clothing, food, health care, and a home. In addition, rather than donating money, people can donate clothes, food, medical supplies like band aids, and school supplies through UAPO (Ugandan American Partnership organization).

Like “Kony 2012”, news of the disasters in Japan and Haiti spread across the internet with people passing it on from post to post. Similarly, the awareness dwindled so quickly when the media moved on to the next new craze. Japan’s earthquake and tsunami victims are still suffering, but most people are focused on the latest “in” thing. Why should we only focus on the issues that are popular on Facebook?

People should be already aware that trending issues die away within a few weeks. As the issue comes to a stop, most people stop helping. As a result, the victims continue to suffer although the topic isn’t trending any more.

Don’t wait until a trending issue emerges to start doing good deeds; it should be done constantly. The Red Cross is a trustworthy organization to turn to. It has been the nation’s premier emergency response organization for many years aiding victims of natural disasters non-stop.

Seeing young children endure harsh conditions is one of the most heartbreaking scenes that no one could bear. However, these emotions can lead people into doing hasty actions that may lead into a disaster towards the end. Do research before taking a stand.

By: Nadia ZuLfaSTaff reporTer

tHe uPs aNd dOwNs Of kONy 2012

sPaNNINg tHe lIVes Of treNds sHOws quICk adaPtION

3OPINION recent politics show disturbing trends against women’s rights

One of my favorite cartoon characters of all time has always been Lucy van Pelt. Ever since the first time I flipped open the Sunday comics and read a Peanuts strip of her pulling a football away from Charlie Brown (again), I’ve adored her character.

Oh yes, she bosses people around and has a weird obsession with Schroeder the pianist, but she’s also one of the snarkiest, funniest and most memorable characters. She was especially memorable for me as a girl: I can still remember being told by schoolmates, teachers, and even my parents that girls like pink, girls play with dolls and toy cooking sets, girls don’t like bugs and dirt. Lucy was one of the first to shatter that: she wore blue, played baseball with all the guys and wasn’t afraid to get dirty, fighting or otherwise.

For me, Lucy represents the idea she introduced to my 8-year-old brain: the idea that gender roles are silly, that boys and girls are really just people and neither gender is superior or inferior to the other. It’s a belief that has stuck with me to this day. So when I hear about what

has now become a disturbing trend of attacks on women’s rights, the 8-year-old part of me is simply asking: Why? Are they afraid of being overrun by Lucy van Pelts?

Last October, the Mississippi legislature tried to pass a bill that would define “personhood” as beginning at fertilization, which would make abortion completely illegal. The Virginia legislature has passed a law requiring women to have a sonogram—at that stage, a procedure that involves their bodies being forcibly probed—before the abortion, regardless of whether or not the woman agrees to the procedure. According to Virginia’s own definition, that procedure constitutes rape. Virginia is threatening to violate a woman’s body without her consent if she wants an abortion—and justifying it by saying that the woman agreed to it when she got pregnant.

And it’s not just abortion. The Republican presidential candidates have shown themselves to be casual about rape: Rick Santorum has been quoted saying that a woman pregnant because of rape should just “make the best of a bad situation.”

As someone raised in a family that prides itself on “conservative values,” I can

understand where these guys are coming from. I do agree with them that all life is precious, and that having or aborting a child are both serious decisions not to be taken at all lightly. These are, however, personal decisions, choices that should be made by the mother, who will have to bear most of the consequences. Different women have vastly different beliefs; many probably do not agree with me, and they are entitled to that. Some women are too young or too fragile to have babies, and abortion may save their lives.

Surely even those who oppose abortion can see that it is neither logical nor right to try to impose your own beliefs on others, especially not by creating laws like these. The people backing these legislations claim to uphold American values: maybe, then, they should consider upholding the American right to freely exercise personal beliefs in the making of personal decisions.

What’s even more disturbing about these events is that they all essentially say that women aren’t smart or ethical enough to make their own decisions about their body—so the government is going to make it for them. Ironic, since many of the people behind these bills

are Republicans, who normally support small government that doesn’t intrude on people’s lives.

Nope. Evidently that hands-off policy doesn’t apply to women, not until we’re back where we were during the 1950s: tied up in apron strings at home, sliding spatulas under cookies, living once again in a society that insists on treating us as nothing more than baby-making machines.

Once, perhaps, a system dominated by men may have worked. But it’s not practical anymore, not in this day and age where women are fully contributing members of society. Women need to speak up and defend their rights—especially the basic right to make choices about their own bodies. We need to speak up now, while we have voices—if we don’t, our daughters may find that they have no voices with which to speak.

And as for the people pushing the legislations, it is honestly time to stop trying to go back to the past. The days in the boys-only tree house may seem like the glory days, but no one can sulk in the tree house forever. There comes a time when a guy has to climb back to earth and grow up.

A punny linfestation: Only five seconds left on the clock with the

crowd on the edge of their seats. The score is 87 to 87 between the New York Knicks and the Toronto Raptors. With sweat trickling down his face, the Knicks’ point guard, Jeremy Lin, analyzes the tight defense of his defender Jose Calderon. Unable to drive to the basket due to gap between him and Calderon, the former Harvard player makes a smart choice and shoots a pull-up three-pointer. The ball swished through the net with only half a second remaining.

This end-of-the-game performance has proven to me that Lin is an All-Star player. I’m going out on a limb here and saying Lin will be the Most Valuable Player this year. He has proven game after game that what he produces every match is not luck, but effort.

When Lin graduated from Harvard, he opted for the 2010 NBA Draft. However, he fell through the cracks and went undrafted. After spending some time in the free agency, Lin was signed into his favorite team, the Golden State Warriors.

After the season ended, Lin was spent most of his time thrown around from various teams. The Houston Rockets picked him up and decided to waive this Linvaluble player. After being signed and waved countless times, the Knicks finally picked him up and set him on the bench.

On February 4, the Knicks desperately needed a leader on the court, someone who could direct the floor’s movement. Since the Knicks’ starter, Carmelo Anthony, was missing most of his field goals, the team was in a slump. Their coach, Mike D’Antoni, decided to substitute Jeremy Lin in as their point guard. Although he was only a bench warmer, his clever ball handling techniques and his ability to drive to the basket cleared up the ten point deficit, and the Knicks scored at least 24 points each quarter. Lin stepped onto the court as an unknown bench warmer but stepped off a super star with the crowd ecstatically chanting his name. Thus began this Lincredible Linderella story.

On the next matchup against the Utah Jazz, Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire were sidelined due to an injury and family issues respectively. Due to the team’s absence of two starters, Coach D’Antoni had Lin become a starter for the first time in his career. His plays created and widened the gap between the two teams. The game ended with Lin scoring 28 points and dishing out 8 assists. His potential is shown to be Linexhaustible for someone who is only playing their second year in the NBA.

Lin maintained his run and has been on fire against All-Star players like Deron Williams, former Rookies of the Year, John Wall and Tyreke Evans. Lin even managed to outscore Kobe Bryant, the five-time NBA Champion,

with 38 points. The young floor general was even a great contribution in the match against the defending NBA champion, the Dallas Mavericks. Lin scored 28 points, gave out a career-high 14 assists, and even stole the ball from the opposition 5 times. After the game, the Mavericks’ veterans, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry complimented Lin’s style of play. The Mavericks six-game winning streak could not stack up against Linsanity.

Many people are saying that Jeremy’s performance is overrated and that his successes will fade away soon. However, I believe that Lin is very talented and will keep contributing to the Knicks’ successes. His performances are Lindescribable. He has outscored guys who average about 30 points per game. He’s flexible and can score in numerous ways while being a team player that gets all his teammates involved. Since starting, he has hit many game winning shots and led his team on a 10 out of 13 Linning streak. He even broke the NBA record for most points scored in his first five NBA starting games. Best of all, his name is very punny.

Sure he has a few kinks to work out such as his number of turnovers, mistakes, and other performance flaws. But keep in mind that he is adjusting to his new life. Jumping straight off the bench to play alongside All-Star players and possibly future Hall of Famers, he has to prepare himself both mentally and physically.

Not to mention that he is receiving a lot of attention from the media, so he has to manage all the publicity. Although he is young and inexperienced, you have to note that he is only 23 years old, meaning he has a lot of time to learn. If he is already producing these numbers now, think about what he can do five years from now. Jeremy is a Linteresting player with so much potential, I think he will continue to be successful and become an amazing basketball player.

Linsanity is definitely real, and it will last as long as Lin chooses for it to last.

By: TouNg-phi LeSTaff reporTer

By: KeviN NguyeNSTaff reporTer

are jereMy lIN’s suCCesses eXaggerated?

On March 21, the usual stream of par-ents, administrators, teachers, and students who check in at the main office included one architect. Frank Kelly, an architect and plan-ner for the educational architecture firm SHW Group, visited Kerr because he had heard about the school’s unusual setup.

“We [SHW Group] don’t do anything but design schools, and I have a particular passion for high schools,” he said. He is especially in-terested in schools that are not designed from the “cookie-cutter” mode, and cites J. Lloyd Trump’s 1977 book A School for Everyone as the reason for his interest in Kerr.

Trump, an author, educator, and former official of the National Association of Sec-ondary School Principals, is responsible for putting forward many of the ideas that Kerr is built upon--ideas such as centers, independent learning and seminars. Kelly visited a school based on Trump’s ideas in Vancouver, Cana-da, but only recently became aware of Kerr.

“This is the first time I’ve seen this sort of school here and I’m very, very impressed,”

he said. “It’s great to see kids working like this, talking to each other and not lined up in classrooms listening to the teacher talk.”

Kelly is the co-author of the book Teaching the Digital Generation: No More Cookie-Cutter High Schools with Ted D.E. McCain and Ian Jukes.

Nineteen musicians have qualified for state solo and ensemble competition after earning top marks at district competition.

Advancing to state will be: a clarinet quintet with senior Naomi McMurray, sophomore Aaron Montgomery, junior Sandra Holder, senior Raymond Nguyen, and senior Ryan Vasquez, an oboe solo by senior Jessica Turcios, a saxophone quartet with junior Jordan Eddings, sophomore Carlos Iniguez, junior Andres Valencia, and sophomore Andre Pham, a flute trio with sophomore Keryn Tat, junior Theresa Decker, and senior Jennifer Huynh, and french horn solo by Edgar Contreras, and a percussion ensemble with

senior Carlos Cruz, sophomore Kimberly Hooks, senior Bao Trinh, senior Jimmy Pham, and freshman Angela Tran.

State solo and ensemble will be held on

May 26-28 at the University of Texas at Aus-tin.

There will be a Financial Aid Night to help seniors compare award letters on Tuesday, April 3 at 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria. Secre-tary Diane Barret thinks it’s important for the seniors to attend because the Financial Aid Night will help them in making their final de-cision on which college to go to.

“It will talk about award letters to students who are going to get [them] from colleges they applied to,” she said. “It will help them know how much aid they can get.”

Christopher Goldsberry, the coordinator of Financial Aid Outreach at the University of Texas at San Antonio will also be a guest speaker.

“ He will...navigate [the students] to

help them with their award letters and help them to figure out financially which college

they will go to,” Barret said. “[The Financial Aid Night] will be short, but well-worth the time.”

Kerr journalism teacher Laura Negri and Hastings journalism teacher Andrea Negri have been chosen to receive a $9,372 grant from the Fund for Teachers.

The pair will attend the 10-day European Exposure teachers’ photography workshop, where they will explore digital photography and teaching techniques in Vienna, Hungary and Barcelona.

In addition to the workshop, the grant will also purchase new lenses for school cameras. The teachers plan to revise their photography curriculum for their journalism classes after attending the workshop.

“I screamed when I opened the envelope, because I thought it was a rejection because it was thin,” Laura Negri said. “I’ve never been

Junior Valeria Tristan, amazed, follows the college tour guide through the door to a new-found knowledge of the college life.

“It was such a big atmosphere with ev-eryone doing their own thing; it was a bit scary,” she said of her visit to the University of Texas at Austin in March.

“I like how we were able to see the school campus during the day where all the students were walking around like their usual day.”

This inside look at college was made pos-sible by interventionist Tommy Miller’s ef-fort to arrange college campus visits for all juniors and seniors. In the past, students were encouraged to visit colleges on their own; se-niors could excuse two days’ absences, one in the fall and one in the spring, for college visits; but this year, Miller organized trips to Sam Houston State University, Texas A&M at College Station, Texas State University, Lamar University, Texas A&M at Galveston,

the University of Texas at Austin, and U of H-Victoria. He had made it an extension of his responsibility to ensure that every student will succeed in school.

Miller feels that students will get a better education about the colleges they are consid-ering and more information if they are able to get a hands-on experience.

“Are you going to learn more about France reading about it on the internet or going to France?” Miller said. “You’re going to learn more about it if you go there.”

Miller applied this belief to organizing the college visits.

“Going to the cam-pus will let you know how close a drive to it is, what living on cam-

pus is really like, what the food is like, what the buildings [are] like, how classes are con-ducted, how registration works, and where financial aid is,” he said.

While the students are on the college cam-puses, they are assigned to a tour guide who takes them around the campus to observe the different aspects of the college life. They are also provided an opportunity to have their college-related questions answered. When

the tour ends, the students will be given the chance to shop at the college book store.

The trips give student an eye-opening experience of how a regular college campus operates on a daily basis while having an en-joyable time.

“I enjoyed the people that were helping

us look around the campus. They were really nice, friendly, and informative,” senior Nadia Oulahna said, “and most of all, they were stu-dents so we could ask them personal questions that we could relate to ourselves.”

For Tristan, the trip reinforced her deci-sions about college.

Musicians advance to state

Education architect visits

By: Kevin nguyenStaff RepoRteR

Financial Aid Night April 3

Junior Janique Alcantara attends a meeting at the college visit at the Uni-versity of Texas. Photo courtesy Jenny Phan.

Teachers win grant for photo workshop

Juniors and seniors get a new outlook on universitiesCollege campus visits:

“Going to the campus will let you know...what living on campus is really like...”

—Tommy Miller

News Briefs

1

Next year brings a new district calendar

Alief ISD has approved a new calendar for the 2012-2013 school year that will still have the same number of days, but with an imbal-ance in the number of days in the fall and spring semesters.

The first term of the new school year will have 38 days, the second term will have 40 days, the third term will have 42 days, and the fourth term will now have 57 days.

In a let-ter sent to all the teachers in Alief, Su-perintendent H.D. Chambers said, “One of the main considerations in approving Calendar 1 was the fact that testing and most school activi-ties (such as UIL competitions and field trips) primarily occur during the spring semester.”

The first semester will end on December 21, before Winter Break. The third semester will end March 15, 2013, before Spring Break.

Students and staff will still have a full week of vacation for Thanksgiving. The school year will end in the second week of June 2013.

The new calendar is not very popular with some teachers because the changes it brings, with less time to go over the material they are required to teach.

“I have to cover 20 chapters in Accounting,” business teacher Doris Curry said. In the fall

semester, “how am I going to do that now that you’ve taken all of these days away?”

She feels that although it is nice for students to have a holiday without the stress of new classes, ending the fall semester before Winter Break is unfair to students who use Winter Break to study for their finals or finish their work.

“It’s kind of nice to be able to come back with a clean slate,” she said, “but it’s also nice to give the kids the opportunity to catch up on their work that they’re behind on during the winter break.”

Sophomore Jason Nguyen, however, feels relieved at the time off from homework during winter vacation.

“I’m up for anything, but it’s really nice to have the feeling that teachers won’t be able to shove work down our throats during break.”

By: JeSuS eScoBaRStaff RepoRteR

“It’s kind of nice to be able to come back with a clean slate, but it’s also nice to give the kids the opportunity to catch up on their work that they’re behind on during the winter break.”

—teacher Doris Curry

The 2012-2013 calendar is available online

Awards and honors

Accounting: first place Anh Phan, fourth place Emily Tran, first place team

Current Issues: third place Mohit Agarwal, fifth place Shimei Nelapati, first place team

Computer Applications: second place Sergio Oquendo, third place Bao Trinh

Computer Science: second place Tin Van, third place (tie) Joe Do, first place team

Editorial Writing: third place Tuong Phi LeFeature Writing: second place Krista Lu-

trick, fifth place Joanna AriasHeadline Writing: first place Joanna Arias,

fourth place Tuong Phi LeInformative Speaking: sixth place Denitza

DramkinLiterary Criticism: first place Tuong Phi Le,

fourth place Jenelle Estrada, second place team

Mathematics: fourth place Muskan AgarwalNews Writing: fourth place Aja BryantSecond place journalism team (no wild card

possible L)Persuasive Speaking: sixth place Cameron

ClarkPoetry Interpretation: sixth place Jamarcus

LacyReady Writing: first place Tuong Phi Le,

second place Tina NazarianScience: fourth place David Vien, fifth place

Helen Tang (who also earned the top Biology score), second place team

Spelling: fifth place Shimei Nelapati

First place in Battle of the Chapters: Anh Phan, Aalock Tripathi, Jessie Ho and Bao Trinh.

First place in Health Care Management: Mohit Agarwal; third place Jimmy Pham (na-

tional qualifiers).First place in Help Desk: Nam Nguyen (na-

tional qualifier).First place in Networking Concepts: Bao

Trinh (national qualifier).Second place in Business Procedures: Aalok

Tripathi (national qualifier).Second place in Computer Gaming & Simu-

lation: Michelle Thai and Jay Meza (national qualifiers).

Second place in Introduction to Technology Concepts: Jeff Chien (national qualifier).

Third place in Accounting I: Emily Tran (na-tional qualifier)

Third place in Business Presentation: Helen Tang, Cameron Clark and Dennis Chau.

Third place in Technology Concepts: Sumayia Asif (national qualifier).

Third place in Hospitality Management: Lu-pita Villanueva (national qualifier).

Third place in Local Chapter Annual Busi-ness Report: Bao Trinh.

Fourth place in Introduction to Business: Je-sus Escobar.

Fourth place in Intro to Business Communi-

cation: Janelle Estrada.Fourth place in Personal Finance: David

Vien; fifth place Sergio Oquendo.Fifth place in Accounting II: Anh Phan Fifth place in FBLA Principles and Proce-

dures: Jim Luu.

UIL teams earn 26 individual, 6 team awards

FBLA brings home awards from state Future Business Leaders of America chapter

members recently brought home 19 state awards and earned 10 spots in this summer’s national competition. Thirty-three students competed at the State Leadership Conference held in Houston on March 8-10. Photo courtesy Doris Curry.

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LAST DAY OF INSTRUCTIONJune 6, 2013

EARLY RELEASE DATESseptember 18, 2003november 5, 2003February 4, 2004May 5, 2004

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GRADING PERIODSAugust 27 – October 19 38 daysOctober 22 – December 21 40 daysJanuary 8 – March 8 42 daysMarch 18 – June 6 57 days

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2news

6 in focusin focus

From old shows to new shows, certain television programs are definitely popular, or in other words, they have a big role in pop culture. Just like anything else, shows tend to fall in and out of fads. For sophomore Anh Lu, shows become a popular and stay popular because of humor and mystery, and she makes sure to get her daily dose of both by watching How I Met Your Mother.

“ [I love] the characters [in How I Met Your Mother],” she said. “I love the flashbacks because they show more of the characters and it’s really funny. And the show is really surprising and keeps the mystery going...You want the show to be good and dramatic, but you want a good ending.”

How I Met Your Mother first aired back in 2005 and is in its seventh season, having gained an immense fan base through social media sites such as Facebook and Tumblr. The same can be said for the paranormal drama Supernatural. These shows are popular in society (having high ratings consistently) because of their originality

and ability to draw an audience. Shows like Revenge and Once Upon a Time, which began airing more recently are also gaining the same recognition. But extremely well-known shows like Glee and House suddenly lose their quality and begin incorporate u n r e a l i s t i c situations, or “jump the shark.”

“I think a show falls because it doesn’t stand up to the expectations of the audience,” Lu said. “After you write an awesome pilot, you need to keep up the hype and write a better plot each time.”

For junior Anh Dinh, a show falls out of popularity because of the excessive number of breaks.

“[A show falls] when they take a big break,” she said. “Pretty Little Liars took a big break [and] I kind of lost interest.”

It seems that when a show is on the brink

of taking a break or is suddenly losing its popularity, television producers rush to make a last attempt to hold the audience’s attention and boost their viewer ratings. An example would be a recent episode of Glee, near the

midseason finale: the possibility of the sudden death of one of the main cast members resulted in a storm of Facebook messages and Tumblr blog posts, and for “Gleek” (someone who

is a fan of Glee) sophomore Wallace Wilson, parting away from his favorite show inevitabley brought sadness.

“I love Glee, I’m a huge fan of Glee, and I almost cried when the [mid]season finale was [on February 12],” he said.

Dinh thinks these cliffhangers definitely do work to keep the audience’s interest.

“It definitely works; if I caught up with

Pretty Little Liars [it would] keep me interested in it...you want something that keeps you on the edge of your seat,” she said. “Cliffhangers are good...it keeps you guessing and it’s frustrating because you want to know more.”

Along with adding twists, when a show generally gets good ratings and becomes extremely popular, television producers use that success to build a spin-off of a show, such as for Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice. According to Pretty Little Liars watcher senior Dennis Chau spin-offs almost never work.

“The original is the original,” he said. “Everything else is a knock-off.”

Watching and involving oneself in a popular television show can relieve stress and form a common ground among people, according to Lu.

“[Television is] a good way to relieve your inner subconscious needs,” she said. “It connects people... it gives people things in common to talk about because well, a lot of people watch TV, so there’s always chances of them knowing the same shows.”

TV shows fall in and out of fadBy: Nadia ZulfaStaff RepoRteR

General Question“If it looks good or sounds

good like Facebook and Jordans.”

- Richard Nguyen, 10

“Public figures or celebrities arethe ones that start a trend. Since people

see them as successful people, people will think that being or dressing like them will

make them successful also.”

-Amy Haokip, 9

“When more people startwearing or using it, like skinny jeans

and Converse. An old trend, Silly Bandz, got popular because people would trade

them with each other.”

- Katty Chang, 12

“If a popular person likessomething, it catches on with other

people. Trends are made by how many people like something.”

- Olabanji Amubieya, 11

What makes something trendy?

Just like anything else, shows tend to fall in

and out of fads.

— Compiled by Tracey Le

in focus 7in focus

Hitting the gym and going on diets are trending in today’s society in an attempt to live a healthier lifestyle. Everyone seems to be hopping on the health bandwagon and for good reasons too.

More than one-third of Americans are obese, a staggering number that doubled since the 1970s, according to Center for Disease Control and Prevention. As a result, lately pop culture has been focusing on being healthier rather than simply being skinny. Television shows such as The Biggest Loser, a reality television show that features obese people competing for prizes by losing weight, has helped impacted the public’s attitude toward their own health.

Junior Tiffany Thai faced the exact same issue with her weight and health. While genetics played a role in her high blood pressure, being medically diagnosed as obese last spring was also a huge factor. Eventually Thai decided to take charge of her life and head in a new direction.

“I decided to lose weight because at that time there were a lot of issues in my life that I couldn’t control, but I was in full control of my health and body so I took advantage of that,”

Thai said. “It just felt nice knowing I had the power to make a big change in my life.”

After committing to exercising and eating healthier, Thai has lost over 40 pounds and her blood pressure has stabilized. Thai continues her new direction to keep up the success that she has accomplished.

“I work out every day at the gym and home workouts, but I run outside during the weekends and every day on breaks,” Thai said.

However, not everyone seems to be doing it for the health benefits. Freshman Jennie Nguyen believes for a number of people, it’s not about being healthy; it’s about fitting the cookie cutter that society has deemed perfect.

“I think the media has influence on teens’ self esteems and obsession for being ‘skinny.’ Some people want to become healthier, but the media doesn’t encourage healthy, just skinny,” Nguyen said.

Despite the fact that health issues have always been an issue, due to a generation consumed by technology, more people than ever are becoming overweight. Instead of walking down the street, people drive their cars. Teenagers hold in their hand a game console rather a tennis racquet. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10 percent of preschool children and 15 percent of 6 to 19 year olds, can

be considered o v e r w e i g h t . It has become a problem that society has started to recognize as a major h i n d r a n c e towards one’s health and lifestyle.

“With the way society is now, [weight issue] is a bigger problem now with all the fast food r e s t a u r a n t s and lack of e x e r c i s e , ” s o p h o m o r e Marc Parra said.

Hopefully the health trend will continue staying mainstream for another millennium or two.

“I think it’s a good thing that people are starting to eat more healthy and exercise.

Hopefully it won’t become a trend anymore, but rather something permanent,” junior Kaci Taylor said.

At the beginning of each Torah service at the synagogue of Beth Yeshua Hamashiach, a ram’s horn is blown. In the days of the ancient kings, the horn, or shofer in the traditional Hebrew, was blown to call the people of Israel to worship and to war. At Beth Yeshua, it is blown to commence the gatherings of a group of people in search of the ultimate peace—religious understanding.

History teacher Michael McGuckin can be found in this gathering every Saturday morning during the Jewish Sabbath. He also keeps other Jewish traditions: studying the Torah, reciting the Sh’ma prayer every morning, wearing the traditional kippah skullcap and the tallit prayer shawl during prayers. But McGuckin was not born to this; he did not always follow Judaism.

“I grew up Christian,” the history teacher said. “Attending church, learning Bible stories, but finding that Christianity did not satisfy me.”

As a result of his academic approach to religion, McGuckin decided to try exploring Judaism.

“I find following things back to their source are interesting. If I am to follow Yeshua [Jesus] I need to know who he was…He calls us back to worship as he worshipped. Therefore I feel

obligated to find out how he worshipped.”McGuckin is only one of many who are

exploring religions they were not born to. And at a place such as Kerr with a diverse mix of religious groups, such sampling is common.

“I like to try new things,” senior Marie Tangu said. During her junior year, she went to a celebration of Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colors, with her friend Aarohi Parikh.

“Overall it was very liberating,” she said. “I just got to release so much stress.”

Despite not being familiar with Hindu tradition, Tangu says she did not feel unwelcome.

“I think they’re very accepting people,” she said. “Yeah, at first it’s awkward that there are no other African-American people. But that’s just something you need to get used to.”

Another group that welcomes outsiders is the Muslim Student Association, which meets every Friday afternoon and encourages members to bring friends. This was how senior Collins Mensah started attending meetings.

“I had a friend, a really cool friend…and he invited me to come and I liked it,” he said. “I actually don’t believe in that religion but I do like to see other cultures and experience them.”

In some cases, exploration of religions can lead to conversion. Spanish teacher Eileen Caetta is one such case.

“I guess I first got interested [in Islam] back when I was married to my second husband because he was from Palestine and he was

Muslim,” she said. “I got to learn more about it.”

Raised a Catholic, Caetta converted to Islam last spring. She cites the ability of Islam to answer her questions as one of the reasons she was drawn to it.

“I know as a Catholic, when you asked questions they would just say, ‘Oh, it’s the mystery of the Catholic Church,’” she said. “While with Islam there was a logical reason for whatever the question was about. Also there are a lot of things in the Quran that they’ve recently found out are scientifically true, but they’ve

been in there for hundreds of years, long before any human being could have known it was true. In fact some of the scientists converted after finding that out.”

In other cases, family obligations and beliefs can limit exploration. For five years, sophomore Nhu Pham attended the Vietnamese language school at St. Justin’s Martyr Parish, but she never participated in the church ceremonies.

“My family [members] are devout Buddhists, so it would be kind of weird,” she said. However, Pham allows that she would like to try participating in a service, given the time and chance.

McGuckin, who worships at Beth Yeshua with his family and a community of others “on the same kind of journey,” expresses no regrets about his choice.

“It’s been a journey,” he said. “I like journeys. What I do is I ask questions. I ask lots of questions. I ask lots of questions. I’m not satisfied with simple or easy answers.”

Tangue shares that interest.“I think at this point of time we’re trying

to find out who we are,” Tangu said, “and sometimes we can’t find what we’re looking for in the religion we’re born into. So we go and explore other religions to see if these fit our styles and our personalities.”

By: phi-phi leStoRy editoR

By: Kelli ChowStaff RepoRteR

Being healthy:

“I find following things back to their source are

interesting.”-Michael McGuckin

Sophomore Hanson Le works out during PE in an attempt to lose weight and improve his stamina.

LiVinG HABiTs Go MAinsTREAM

Sampling religions in search of the perfect fit is newest way to find niche

8 feature

Anyone who had World History should know Rick Madsen. At first Madsen seems like another history teacher, but when he establishes a connection with students they become a target of Madsen’s shenanigans.

“I like to tease them in a humorous way,” Madsen said. Some of his pranks are making jokes that is a personal reference to certain a student, getting an entire class in on a prank, or joking with students about their grades.

“Sometimes a little humor lights a fire under the kids; you don’t want to use too much

sarcasm though,” Madsen said.One prank instigated by Madsen involved

disrupting a seminar on World War I y another teacher. Social studies teacher Steven Levine walked into the seminar room and told students that there was a German solider in the building and that there was a leak of mustard gas and Levine had the only gas mask in the school. Levine showed the students how to cover their mouths with their hands. Madsen then came in throwing bottles of regular mustard labeled mustard gas.

“The pranks are to renforce points that were already learned in the seminar to make it more memorable,” Levine said.

One of the advantages of Kerr is that Madsen

can interact with his students.“You have the leisure time and the ability to

talk to kids. you don’t even know when or how there going to approach you” Madsen said.

One of the reasonns Madsen likes Kerr is because of his role as sponsor for table tennis. Madsen started teaching at Kerr in 2006, transferring from Holub Middle School. Former Holub students already knew Madsen. It was a comfortable transfer for Madsen

“[Kerr graduates] Timothy Wang and Chung Wang approached me my first year,” Madsen said. “I don’t know if they knew that I liked table tennis or ping-pong, and they asked me to sponsor it and it was right up my ally, so I was thrilled to do it,” Since then, the club has grown

and Madsen has met more and more students.As a child growing up in Indiana, Madsen

started playing table tennis at a very young age. He played a lot though the cold winter months, though high school and even after.

“I was very athletic as a kid, it was one of dozens of sports that I’ve played,” Madsen said. Other sports include basketball, baseball, tennis, football, bowling, and running in 5K races. He played for the fun of the sport since in Madsen didn’t enter in a lot of tournaments or had a primary team where he played his sport.

He still enjoys a game of table tennis and can frequently be found in the gym after school, teasing and challenging students.

“It is one of my favorite sports and some of

Joking with Madsenteacher enjoys PranKInG hIs studentsBy: Phat Pham

Story Editor

Moving on: testInG clerK adaPts to career chanGe

The cool air and northern winters in New York are very different from the hot and humid weather associated with Houston, Texas. Most people would not dream of transferring between the two states frequently over an extended period of time; but for Ebony Murphy, changing states was just a part of her childhood. Murphy is originally from Harlem, a neighborhood located in New York City, but she spent her childhood traveling from Harlem to Houston

“I would stay in Houston for a couple of years, and then go back to New York,” Murphy said.

Moving around so much enabled Murphy to adapt to whatever life threw at her.

“It helped me to adjust to different situations and places,” she said. “I can adjust to pretty much any situation now because I’m used to it.”

Murphy had to adapt once more as she left both states to attend Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. She graduated with a degree in business and marketing in 2006.

“When I was younger, I always wanted to own my own business. [My major] was just a way of helping me learn my ins and outs of what to do,” she said.

After she graduated, Murphy worked at different jobs. She first managed a Party City for about three years before

starting at Power Doc. Marketing Firm as the marketing and advertising director in 2009. After three years, she realized that the business world wasn’t for her. She then began to pursue a job in the field of education.

“[Education] was always something I’ve wanted to do. Growing up, I always wanted to teach students and make a difference,” Murphy said. “It’s a stable career field, and I’ve always enjoyed working with kids.”

As a child, Murphy tutored others, and so has already had experience with working with students.

“I did [tutoring in] literature, English, and biology. I started when I was thirteen. When anybody needed help, from then up to college, I would help tutor.”

Murphy dreams of one day becoming a teacher of English since she herself has a passion to write.

“I write poetry and short stories,” she said. “Everything [inspires me to write]: nature, people’s personalities...pretty much everything around me. I can look at the lockers or at [students] and something creative will pop in my head.”

But for now, she holds the position of counter clerk for the testing center, waiting to pursue her dream of teaching.

“I just want to learn about how education works,” she said. “[I chose Kerr] because I wanted a change in career field, and I love it. It’s the path I want to take now. I intend to get my accreditation this summer [as wells as] my Master in Speech Therapy.”

Her adjustment in careers has made Murphy happy. She greatly enjoys working at Kerr.

“It was different, very different, from what I expected, different from other high schools I went to, different from my own high school,” she said. “I love it. You guys are so nice and respectful.”

When not at school, Murphy balances her time between her four-year-old daughter, writing and school.

“It’s difficult and time consuming [to balance everything.] You have to have everything organized to get everything done,” Murphy said.

But she has learned she can handle any situation she comes against. Right now, her main priority is her daughter.

“[I want] to make sure she has a better life than I had.”

By: KriSta LutricK

Staff rEPortEr

CHASING A DREAM. Murphy draws closer to her ambition of teaching as she works managing the testing center. Above, she helps senior Jennifer Nguyen turn in her English III test. “She’s a lot of help considering we only have one person in here,” Nguyen said.

9feature

10 lifestyle

Hitting up the hypebeasts: students find their identity through style

The Vintage

Hipster

He was in eighth grade when Vince Jared Allanigue, now a junior, first heard the word hy-pebeast, a word that would eventually come to cause some sort of turmoil in his self-identifica-tion. Even though he didn’t find out its meaning until high school, Vince has adopted a mentality that has changed his whole view of living.

Although the origins of the word are unclear, it is used to describe someone who purchases articles of clothing, accessories, and other mate-rial things because of the hype associated with the item.

Items are hyped when “either it’s trendy or it’s highly sought after at the moment,” Alla-nigue said. “People go after it just for the credit or the recognition from their peers saying ‘Oh he has that; it means he’s cool’.”

Oftentimes, things that are hyped have been celebrity-endorsed or advocated in all sorts of media: hype can be created through lyrics in a song (rapper Kanye West mentions several brands in songs on his collaboration album with rapper Jay-Z) or even more simple methods such as a celebrity wearing an outfit.

“Everything in this world, when it’s backed up by a famous name, has more of a following on the youth,” Allanigue said. “Kanye West and [rapper] Pharrell, those are my influences when it comes to fashion. I really admire the way they dress and the way they bring the ‘street’ look to the classy and sharp look together.”

In fact, the hype that celebrities create for brands yields so much influence that hypebeasts sometimes resurrect some brands that have fall-en out of the fashion scene, such as the brand Givenchy which Kanye cleverly integrates into the song “Looking for Trouble.” Other times, celebrities will start a trend, rather than promot-ing a brand.

For example, after Kanye West wore skinny

jeans, hypebeasts made the transition over to this new trend, sacrificing comfort for aesthet-ics.

“The next day, you saw tons of people wear-ing skinny jeans, tight as their leg and couldn’t breathe,” Junior Dimitri Koufakis said. “But then they’ll say ‘eh, anything to look good’.”

Although Koufakis does not label himself as a hypebeast, he too admits to doing hypebeast-like things, including buying things for the hype and wearing some of the typical hypebeast ap-parel, such as “snapback [hats], Timberland boots, skinny jeans, usually khaki, some kind of graphic shirt or a solid v-neck, and a watch.”

Other hypebeasts commonly wear things such as sneakers (Air Jordan, Nike SB, etc.), Nike Elite Socks, and coin purses – all things that Allanigue wears on a daily basis. He said he is often labeled as a hypebeast and although a good portion of his outfits do incorporate hyped elements, his clothing is chosen for more complex reasons.

“Personally, it’s a word that holds a nega-tive connotation because I find it insulting in the way that, you don’t even know why I bought or wear this, it may not be because of the hype,” Allanigue said. “Maybe it holds some sentimen-tal value to me or I actually like it for what it is and not because of the hype surrounding it.”

Koufakis also views being labeled as a hy-pebeast a negative thing, just in a different way.

“No one wants to be labeled as that person who follows the trends,” he said. “[You’d rather be labeled as the person] that starts the trend.”

This creates a lot of controversy over being called a hypebeast -- you are one if you follow trends, but hypebeasts see that practice in a negative light and naturally seek to start trends.

Allanigue used to feel irritated at someone even jokingly calling him a hypebeast but has now come to terms with it.

“I’ve come to embrace it – not in the way that I’m accepting what they’re saying and that

I agree and concur with them – but because everybody is their own hypebeast,” he said. “People don’t see that because some hype is a lot more common and accepted than others. Ev-erybody sees clothes from the mall every day so it’s not really considered hype because ev-erybody has it. But the fact that everybody has it and is wearing something similar to it, that means it’s trendy, which means it is hype.”

Koufakis also thinks that everyone is their own hypebeast to some degree, just at different times.

“I’ll be walking around the store and I’ll see something that other people have been wear-ing a lot and normally I’d think ‘wow, that’s so stupid, why would anyone want to spend 20 or more dollars on that’ but then I’d be like ‘every-one’s wearing it, let’s do it’,” he said. “There’ll be [other] times when I’m walking in the store and I’ll see something I legitimately like that’s like a brand that people don’t usually wear or an off-brand and I’ll think ‘that’s nice, I think I’ll buy that’. Sometimes you buy what you like and sometimes you buy what everyone else is wearing.”

The fact that hypebeasts wear clothing only because of hype and not because they like it, it transforms the identification of a hypebeast into more than just a label that’s based off looks.

“People are really doing it for the wrong reasons, they just want recognition from their peers, not because they actually like what they’re wearing and that’s what makes hype-beast more than a thing,” Allanigue said. “[It’s] almost like a lifestyle because they’re doing it for the wrong reasons, they’re living it not be-cause they want to, but because they want the recognition that comes with it.”

Koufakis adds that the word “hypebeast” can be used in two ways: as a label or as a term.

“The label ‘hypebeast’ is really about you physically, it’s an aesthetic word,” he said. “But the term ‘hypebeast’ really encompasses

what you do, how you act as a person -- it’s two different distinctions. There’s a difference be-tween the label hypebeast and how you live out as a hypebeast.”

Allanigue believes there are three types of hypebeasts: The general hypebeast which seek the newest things, such as the brand Obey, Su-preme, Crooks and Castles, Diamond Supply, etc.; the “High-End” hypebeasts who go after things because of celebrity endorsements, and as the name implies, it’s usually expensive stuff, such as Louis Vuitton coin purses or their belts which range in the $300-$500 amount; and the “Hipster” who seeks individuality and doing something before “it is cool”— they go for something before it becomes widespread and hyped. Hipsters often abandon something when someone else picks it up and/or when it becomes mainstream.

“[This makes them] a hypebeast because you did something for recognition but then you stopped because people started doing it,” he said. “That means you didn’t do it because you actually liked it or enjoyed doing that thing, you did it for the wrong reason. That’s why I think they’re a hypebeast.”

The idea of hypebeasts and hipsters are es-sentially labels and though they can both be taken positively, neutrally, or negatively, the general misconception is that the labels are de-rived from appearance. Though appearance has a lot to do with it, these two ideas are thought-processes which manifest boldly into the per-son’s outfit.

“Your body is the canvas for the paint,” Al-lanigue said. “It’s just another way for me to express who I am; it’s like an extension of my being. It’s self expression at the end of the day; it shows people who you are and what you stand for.”

The Classic Hipster

The General Hypebeast

Junior Jason Pham likes to show off his personal style, sporting Levi skinny khaki jeans, a Hor-nets Snapback, and a G-Shock.

Sophomore Eileen Wu likes to wear vintage clothing

and borrow from her mother --

she’s wearing her mother’s blouse

-- and mismatching socks.

Sophomore Roddrinskee Johnson likes to shop from thrift stores for an inexpensive outfit, add-ing his own touch to them: he rolls up his jeans and rocks an olive green beanie to match his V-neck.

By: Jason nguyenstaff RepoRteR

11lifestyle

Vince Jared AllanigueThe Hybrid Hypebeast

Jacket from Macy’s - $35

Shambala Braclet from Exclusive Taste - $60Wooden Beaded Bracelet fromProfound Aesthetics - $25Casio G-Shock from Macy’s - $120

Louis Vuitton Belt from Louis Vuitton Galleria - $350

Nike Elite Socks from Champs - $14

Air Jordan Royal Blue 1s from SoleReal - $430

Levi 511 Khaki Skinny Jeans from Macy’s

- $30

Louis Vuitton Coin Pouch from Louis Vuitton Galleria - $175

Apple iPhone 4 from Craigslist Seller - $275

Obey Wallet from Urban Outfitters - $30

Prada Glasses from Texas State Optical - $350

Rockets Lanyard from Academy - $10

Buttons from friends - Total $80

12 entertainment

Coming Soon......to theatres

...to iTunes

...to book stores

...Little Broken HeartsNorah Jones

5/1

Wrath of the Titans3/30

Warner B

ros. PicturesMirror, Mirror

3/30

Relativity M

edia

The Lucky One4/20

Warner B

ros. Pictures

Pink Friday: Roman ReloadedNicki Minaj

4/3

Young Money Entertainm

ent

Strange CloudsB.o.B

5/1

Atlantic R

ecords

Blue N

ote Records

Harper C

ollins

The Fame GameLauren Conrad

4/3

Knopf D

oubleday Publishing Group

Calico JoeJohn Grisham

4/10

Simon and Schuester

City of Lost SoulsCassandra Clare

5/8

The Cabin in the Woods4/13

Lions Gate Entertainm

ent

Picture ShowNeon Trees

4/17

Island Records

13entertainment

21 Jumpstreet:

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax:

By: Joanna ariasEditor-in-ChiEf

By: JEsus EsCoBarstaff rEportEr

2012 has been filled with box office break-ers so far and 21 Jump Street is no exception. This movie is loosely based off of the 80’s tele-vision show that jump-started Johnny Depp’s entertainment career. The one major difference is that this movie is a comedy, not a drama like the TV show. The trailer for the film gave me high hopes for an amusing comedy and I was not disappointed in the slightest.

This R-rated comedy is a raunchy look at high school through the eyes of two less-than-perfect cops, played by the lovable duo of Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. After complet-ing their police officer training they have high hopes of car chases, drug busts, and bringing justice to hardened criminals. Instead, they end up patrolling a park on bicycles.

After an unprofessional arrest they are sent to a former chapel on 21 Jump Street, now the headquarters for an undercover program with baby-faced cops infiltrating local high schools to bring down crime rings within the schools. The socially awkward Schmidt (Hill) redeems himself when he ties in with the popular crowd, while former jock Jenko (Tatum) feels inexpe-

rienced with the modern teenager. Instead, he’s forced to shake hands with the scrawny science nerds.

Their program is headed up by Captain Dickson, played by the always entertaining Ice Cube. In fact, many familiar faces filled the halls in this film. You may recognize Dave Franco from Scrubs or Fright Night but his high-main-tenance character was front and center during the film. Nick Offerman and Ellie Kemper, both currently starring in NBC comedies, lend a hand in giving the film peculiar characters. Jake M. Johnson, from Fox’s New Girl, gives a con-vincing performance as a young, concerned but blunt principal. Furthermore, characters from the original TV shows make brief appearances, including Johnny Depp, Holly Robinson Peete, and Peter DeLuise. I felt like this cast, who all has backgrounds with comedic work, enhanced the film with their experience and timing.

It was not only consistently entertaining but nearly every scene had the entire theatre laugh-ing out loud. The language is ripe, but nothing less should be expected from an R-rated movie geared towards the younger crowd. This movie was truly entertaining through and through. It is filled with tongue-in-cheek stereotypes but the characters make references to these themselves. Tatum’s dramatic acting may be questionable

but he truly excels in comedy, proved further by his older films like She’s the Man and The Di-lemma. Jonah Hill got his start in comedy (Su-perbad anyone?) but has recently established his talent in more serious work as well. The acting overall was solid and not a moment was cheesy. The script was supreme and accurately portrayed the language of a high schooler. The criticisms of opinionated movie-watchers are clearly confronted in the actual script. Think Hill and Tatum are too old to play high school-ers? Well they make a joke about that. Thinking about racial stereotypes or the unoriginality of-Hollywood? Well, there’s a joke in there about those too.

This movie is a hilarious whirl of two for-mer high schoolers working to prove their com-petency but what’s best is that the characters are developed enough for the audience to care for them. It may seem like this movie might be a miss – another teen high school comedy – but it exceeded my expectations.

Imagine a place where people ride in fancy modern cars, bushes are inflatable, trees run on batteries, and air is delivered to people’s homes. That would be Thneedville, a place that seems to be perfect aside from one detail: it’s completely artificial. There is no grass, trees, animals or any kind of nature or natural things. Air has to be delivered to homes because the regular air is too filled with smog and taking a dip in the lake could make you glow with toxic waste!

The Lorax is similar to the original book by Dr. Seuss in its message of taking care of the en-vironment, but it also contains an original story and several humorous moments. The characters represent many different points of views, rang-ing from cruel business owners unconcerned with the consequences of their actions to people and animals who are concerned for the environ-ment.

The story presents The Once-Ler (voiced by Ed Helms) as a young man who made wrong decisions even after the Lorax (voiced by Danny DeVito) warned him not to destroy the forest. As in the original book, the Lorax tells him, “I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.”

In contrast to the storybook, the Lorax and the Once-Ler are friendlier to each other in the movie, and the Once-Ler is kind and generous to

all of the Lorax’s friends in the beginning. The Lorax also attempts to give the Once-Ler advice as he says, “A tree falls the way it leans. Be care-ful which way you lean.”

One of the most emotional moments in the movie is the scene in which the Lorax shows the Once-Ler how bad his actions truly were and how he has completely destroyed his for-est. What makes this scene so gripping is the fact that the Once-Ler never realized that his ambitions had turned into greed and destruction, leaving him feeling completely devastated.

As a twist to the original storyline, the movie also presents Ted (voiced by Zac Efron), a young boy who visits the now old Once-Ler to find a real tree and win the love of Audrey (voiced by Taylor Swift). These changes actu-ally help the plot of the story as they present how mistakes can be repaired if someone cares enough to change them.

Overall, The Lorax is a great movie filled with fun for audiences of all ages. Its cast of characters works well together to bring the mov-ie to life and it delivers the powerful message of needing to take care of our environment, or be forced to live in a world without nature.

As Dr. Seuss wrote in his original story of the Lorax: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax is rated PG.

a thneed to see performance

4.5/5

4.8/5

comedic remake proves its loyalty to original

14 Etc.

1.Sophomore Cindy Lopez laughs as she places two fingers behind freshmen Eghosa Obazuaye and Nnenna Igbokwe’s head. “Honestly, I don’t care for [photobombing],” Igbokwe said. “I think it’s funny.”

2.Sophomores Elohor Okene and Alyssa Martinez make funny faces behind senior Erika Lemus and sophomores Sandra Ville-gas and Jackeline Reyes. “I think photobombing is funny in gen-eral,” Okene said. “People are taking serious pictures and then in the background, it’s all funny.”

3.Junior Keiren Velez interrupts a photo as she stands behind junior Eghosasere Okundaye. “[Photobombing] makes the other person mad and you get to see a really funny, irritated look on their face,” Velez said.

4.Junior Janique Alcantara photobombs the photo as she stands behind sophomore Janaea’ Brown, David Villarreal. and sopho-more Annabelle Cantrell. “I don’t usually [photobomb], but I just happened to be there at that time,” Alcantara said. “Durand was taking the picture, so I wanted to ruin his picture.”

5.Freshman Eghosa Obazuaye and Nnenna Igbokwe look through pictures that have been recently photobombed. “I’m not that per-son to jump into people’s photos, but I think it’s funny when I see it on Facebook,” Igbokwe said.

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You are with your friends, taking a picture. Finally, it’s the perfect photo...until you see someone in the background, making some random face, ruining the picture. It is some-thing we have all seen around, whether it’s on Facebook, Tumblr or maybe even in your of your own photos.

“Photoboming is a pretty pointless but a funny thing to do between friends,” junior Travis Guillory said. “When someone sees a picture, it should immediately stand out and make them want to laugh.”

Photobombing is when someone intentionally (or accidentally) ruins your picture by doing something randomly distracting in the background.

“I think it’s rude but I do it myself so I can’t really say anything,” freshman Isra Tarve-ev said. “More than six years [ago] was the first [time] I photobombed. It’s not like I knew the term photobombing but it was just fun to interrupt.”

This trend isn’t well-liked among people. There are those who sees photobombing as disrespectful, but most realize it’s all in good fun.

“If it happens to me, I’ll be like ‘Ugh!’ and then a minute later, I’ll be laughing,” sophomore Elohor Okene said.

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