Here - St. Agnes Academy

THE
St. Agnes Academy
December 2011-January 2012
olumns
9000 Bellaire Boulevard Houston, TX 77036
What’s Inside
Trouble
with Travis
Charla Nash, the woman
who was attacked by her
friend’s pet chimpanzee
finds a new identity.
See page 3.
Bieber Baby
Find out the latest on Justin
Bieber’s current baby mama
drama.
See page 9.
Stole-n
Hearts
National Honors Society
students are outraged over
the changes that concern
their graduation stoles.
See page 9.
Dear Santa
This year, SAA stands for
Santa At the Academy as he
visits the Columns staff to
collect the letters you sent
him!
See page 12.
To advertise with
The Columns, contact the
Public Relations Manager
Alex Lumsden through the
e-mail address:
[email protected]
Index
Page 2.......................Editorial
Page 3.............................News
Page 4-5....................Features
Page 6-7...........Centerspread
Page 8-9..................Opinions
Page 10-11.........On Campus
Page 12...................Tiger Tail
Volume 61 Issue 4
SAA’s Christmas fundraising efforts
lend hope to children in Kisumu
Christy Luspo
Media Manager
D
uring the Christmas
season, many St. Agnes
Academy students and
faculty members will choose a
charity to donate their time, money and services to make someone’s Christmas season a little
merrier. Whether it is donating to
the Salvation Army or Goodwill,
the Christmas season is always a
good time to give a lot for little
in return. Donating to a charity
during the holiday season allows
one to help those who do not have
the luxuries available to everyone
today. It is not just about getting,
but about giving. However, this
year, students do not have to look
far to find a charity that will make
their contributions count.
This school year, St. Agnes
Academy is raising money to
build a water well for children at
the school of Our Lady of Grace
in Kisumu, Kenya. This project,
called Water For Life, will help
students in Kenya gain access to
clean drinking water. By working
with Living Waters International,
St. Agnes hopes to give kids in Kenya a brighter future. Living Waters International is a non-profit
organization dedicated to helping communities acquire healthy
drinking water all around the
world. Their mission statement is
“to demonstrate the love of God
by providing desperately needed
clean water and medical attention, along with the ‘living water’ of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
the importance of clean, healthy
drinking water during the Christmas season. Although clean water is often taken for granted, it
is important to remember those
called Water For Life, in which
St. Agnes, Living Waters International and Dominican high
schools all over the country will
be working to provide students at
shares, “The Water for Life project
is giving more than a well of water
to nourish the children; it gives
them hope, an education, and
the knowledge that they are loved
GUEST PHOTOGRAPHER/SISTER MARY BRENDA
The community grows closer: The students at Our Lady of Grace in Kisumu, Kenya participate in a prayer service.
the school of Our Lady of Grace
in Kisumu, Kenya with a healthy,
clean drinking water source. Sister
Mary Brenda, O.P., and Sister Jane
Meyer, O.P., spent months working with children at Our Lady of
Grace, building relationships and
making memories that would last
a lifetime. Although the project
was instigated during the holiday
season, St. Agnes hopes to continue the project through the end of
the school year. Through different
fundraisers and events, St. Agnes
will be the change that Our Lady
of Grace desperately needs. At
the Thanksgiving prayer service,
the project was introduced to the
student body by the Dominican
Preaching Team
and
Shannon
Strossner, a representative from
Living Waters
International.
Together,
the
St. Agnes community hopes
to build a water
well that will
provide fresh,
clean water to
Our Lady of
Grace.
Water
For Life is a
year-round fundraising campaign that will
GUEST PHOTOGRAPHER/SISTER MARY BRENDA help young men
and womOne big family: Sister Jane and students from Our Lady of Grace pose in Kenyan attire in Kisumu, Kenya.
en at the
which alone satisfies the deepest make a difference in their lives.
school of Our Lady of Grace for
thirst.” In partnership with Living
The St. Agnes Dominican years to come.
Waters International, St. Agnes Preaching Team started the holiAndrea Batarse, a member of
hopes to raise awareness about day charity fundraising project, the Dominican Preaching Team,
that are forced to drink polluted,
contaminated water. The global
water crisis affects billions of the
world’s poorest individuals who
lack the natural resources to obtain healthy water. It is hard to
imagine life without clean water,
but it is the reality of the young
men and women in these third
world regions, including Kisumu,
Kenya. Tinged with dirt, bacteria and germs, drinking polluted
water is not only unhygienic, but
dangerous as well. This crisis is
experienced by the underprivileged students of the school of
Our Lady of Grace in Kisumu, Africa, and this Christmas season,
St. Agnes has the opportunity to
1
by many communities. There is
nothing better than being given
the opportunity to help give a
child hope and happiness with my
friends and entire community.”
By the end of the 2011-2012
school year, St. Agnes hopes to
have raised $50,000 in collaboration with Dominican high schools
across the country. This water
well will quench the thirst of the
hundreds of underprivileged students at the school of Our Lady
of Grace. During the Christmas
season, St. Agnes hopes to reach
a goal of $10,000. Students were
promised a pajama day at school
if they were to meet this quota. During the Advent season,
change jars will be placed in every homeroom to give students
an opportunity to donate to the
good cause. Especially during this
Christmas season, it is important
for the St. Agnes community to be
conscious of just how important
water is in everyday lives.
Briana Acosta, member of the
Dominican Preaching Team,
shares, “I think building a water
well for the students at Our Lady
of Grace will drastically improve
their lives. Right now, their lack
of access to clean water hinders
their ability to learn and to live
healthy lives as normal children.
It’s ironic how the very substance
that is supposed to give them life
is actually harming them since it
contains disease-causing parasites. Just thinking about how
many times a day I use water and
how my life would be affected if
I didn’t have it makes me take a
long pause.”
December 2011-January 2012
Editorial
The Columns
ST. AGNES ACADEMY
9000 Bellaire Boulevard
Houston, Texas 77036
713.219.5400
Advisor.........................................................................................Ms. Felicia Miller
Editor-in-Chief.................................................................................Erica Moriarty
Editor-in-Chief..................................................................................Nathalie Phan
Center Spread Editor.........................................................................Diana Nadira
Features Editor..............................................................................Bailie Moorhead
On Campus Editor......................................................................Maggie Overbeck
Opinions Editor.....................................................................................Kate Meyer
News Editor.........................................................................................Rachel Yeung
Tiger Tail Editor.............................................................................Courtney Adair
Media Manager..................................................................................Christy Luspo
Media Manager............................................................................Micaela Williams
Public Relations Manager................................................................Alex Lumsden
Creative Fiction Columnist...............................................................Gaby Barrios
Entertainment Columnist.........................................................Lauren Buchanan
Food and Dining Columnist..........................................................Camille Young
Sports Columnist................................................................................Diana Walsh
The Columns is the student newspaper of St. Agnes Academy. Its content,
which is the responsibility of The Columns staff, is not subject to direct
administrative approval. Unsigned editorials represent the opinions of the
newspaper, while Opinions columns represent the writer’s perspective. Advertisements do not represent the newspaper’s viewpoint. The Columns, an
open forum, welcomes signed letters on pertinent issues from the SAA community. The editors reserve the right to edit and decline to print letters. All
writing may be submitted to Ms. Felicia Miller in room 103 or through
[email protected].
Please
recycle
our newspaper
ADVERTISING POLICY
The Columns accepts advertising that does not
promote illegal services or immoral products to its
readers. The moderator reserves the right to accept
or deny advertising with her discretion. Contact
Alex Lumsden at [email protected] for
advertising rates and information. Upon approval
of the advertisement, The Columns promises to follow through on all contracts. If advertisements are
not approved, The Columns promises to refund the
fee in full.
Masthead designed by Nathalie Phan. Image found
at ONEDAYIDEALIST.BLOGSPOT.COM.
Tapioca House
9104 Bellaire Blvd
(713) 272 - 6468
Traditional Taiwanese
meals and snacks with
a huge selection of tea,
fruit drinks and
smoothies!
the columns
Vol 61 Issue 4
A new year, a new attitude:
Caging our judgments
Nathalie Phan
Editor-in-Chief
O
n the eve of Thanksgiving, I found myself in a
strange situation involving a couple of my friends and a
duck pond. We drove all over the
city finding ourselves ditching
Rich’s Teen Night to lie on a giant
hill at Discovery Green under the
stars, accidentally stumbling into
a preview of the Thanksgiving
day parade, ordering secret menu
items at Starbucks, and skipping
over stone steps that ran across
a hotel’s man-made pond where
we met a man who went by the
name of Amir. He enlightened
us for hours, sitting on the edge
of a duck pond, and feeding the
fowl with torn pieces of bread.
Not too long ago, he was the
age of a high school senior. Amir
found himself getting involved
with drugs and thugs, and eventually committed a terrible, bloodfilled crime which had consequences so horrific that he fled
the city for Austin, Texas. He was
homeless for a good two years before he decided to come back to
Houston and get a job at a popular
Italian restaurant to pay his rent
— and obtain the bread he was
feeding his feathered friends with.
He described capturing one
of these winged beasts one night
and bringing it home with him.
After it laid eggs in his bathtub,
he set it loose in the Galleria.
I immediately saw the irony of
the situation; there was an obvious contrast in the “types” of
people we were. My friends and
I were college prep students who
attended schools that probably
cost more than this man made
in an entire year. We were not
the sort of people who seemed
capable of committing murder
or pulling large-scale pranks
on private property. He was.
Yet, there we were, hanging
out with some guy we met just
seconds ago, some seemingly
homeless drunk who threw bread
at us as we walked past him. A
total stranger. A potentially dangerous stranger. Nevertheless, I
realized one important thing: In
the end, no matter what “type”
of person you are, you are still
just a person. We are all just
people — amazing, passionate
human beings, and our differences are what pull us together.
As 2012 inches nearer, thoughts
of graduation tease the seniors
of the Academy. We seniors are
forced to begin thinking about the
changes coming our way: mov-
ing out of the
house
and
living it up in
college. But
along
with
these changes, come expectations
imposed
upon us, expectations of
maturity and
carrying on
a good Academy attitude.
Part
of
what helps us
gain personal
progress and
meeting up
to these expectations is
letting go of
all judgments
we pass upon
the
people
around
us.
The
more
tolerance you
harbor, the
wider your
arms stretch
open toward
people, the
more you accept and open
your
mind
to new possibilities and
new
ideas,
the brighter
your outlook
on life and
the
better
your attitude
toward others will be —
this was the
lesson Amir
taught
me.
“It’s funny
how
even
in
nature,
ducks segregate themselves.
The
white ones
separate from
the spotted
ones,” he said
as we observed two ducks of different exterior patterns wag their
tail feathers aggressively at one
another over a piece of bread.
Friends, do not be ducks. Do
not segregate yourselves from one
another based upon your differences. We are not domesticated
animals who do not possess the
ability to fly. Free your mind of
all prejudices and self-doubt, and
as you go off to college and leave
that duck pond, spread your capable wings and fly. We are free
individuals. Embrace the possi-
StAgAc student tweets
bilities of life; anything is possible
with hope and tolerance. Most
importantly, learn to forgive one
another; as we enter into a new
year, start with a clean slate. We
need to cease blaming others and
start holding ourselves responsible as well as accept one another and respect our differences.
Despite the trials and tribulations he had experienced in his
life, Amir said, “When you begin
blaming others for your mistakes,
you’ll never be able to be happy.
Me, I’m too old to be bitter.”
REMEMBER: Donate your change to
Water for Life today! Donations go to our
brothers and sisters in Kisumu!
2
News
December 2011-January 2012
Vol 61 Issue 4
the columns
Charla Nash finds a new identity Manhattan’s ‘Lone
Diana Nadira
Centerspread Editor
E
ver since the brutal attack
that forever changed her
life, 55-year-old Charla
Nash has experienced a roller
coaster of media attention, medical procedures and overall support from the public. It all started
when Charla Nash responded
to a cry for help from her friend
Sandra Herold. On Feb. 16, 2009,
Herold allegedly called Nash
when her pet chimpanzee, Tra-
injuries were tended to. Unfortunately, Nash’s hands and face
— along with her vision — were
completely destroyed. After just
a simple act of kindness, Nash’s
life would never be the same.
During the 72 hours that followed the attack, Charla Nash
underwent several procedures
performed by four teams of surgeons that lasted more than seven
hours. Although doctors were
able to save her life and successfully reattach her jaw, Charla
Nash remained severely disfigured. So much so that everyone
who aided Nash in the hospi-
INQUISITR.COM
Finding a new face: Charla Nash reveals her face to the world.
vis, began to get rowdy and uncontrollable. When Nash rushed
over to help, the chimpanzee
started to physically attack Nash
while her friend frantically called
for help. After help arrived, the
monkey was put down and Nash’s
tal — including her doctors and
nurses — were all provided with
counseling due to the severity
and grotesqueness of her injuries.
Charla Nash’s most recent surgery was the second face transplant procedure ever performed
OSU mourns loss
in the United States. During the
operation, doctors gave Nash two
hands and a new face from a donor. Undergoing a tedious 20 hour
procedure six months ago, Charla
hopes to put the attack behind
her. Along with restoring her features, the face transplant allowed
her to perform tasks she was
never able to complete after the
attack. Eating solid foods, smelling and even smiling are simple
gestures that Nash can complete
now thanks to the operation.
Unfortunately, the victim developed pneumonia after her procedure, and doctors removed her
hands due to the complications.
Although she was left permanently blind, and cannot see her
new face, Nash notes the difference in how she is treated when
she is out on the streets. In an
interview with The Today’s Show’s
Meredith Vieira, Charla Nash revealed that while out shopping,
a young girl ran into her — and
greeted her: “The little girl was
saying hi to me. I looked like I’ve
got eyes and everything . . . I’m not
scaring anybody,” she told Vieira.
Addressing the family and the
person who donated her new
face, Charla Nash stated, “Words
can’t even say enough, but that
donation, you know, as hard as
it was for them, was a wonderful gift for us, me and my family,
because it really gave me a life
back. It’s such a wonderful thing.
I could not thank them enough.”
mercial pilot and passed his medical examination. Further investigation as to the cause of the crash
sociate head coach Jim Little will is underway, but the National
Transportation Safety Board conMaggie Overbeck serve as interim head coach until a
permanent replacement is found. cluded that weather had no effect.
On Campus Editor
School officials are now reexFormer state senator Olin
Branstetter was flying the plane amining the school’s travel policy
when it crashed. Branstetter was in light of the plane crash. Ten
any Oklahoma State also an alumnus of OSU and years earlier, two men’s basketUniversity
students, sponsored many scholarships to ball players died in a plane crash
professors and alum- OSU. According to the Federal in Colorado. After that incident,
two pilots have
nae gathered over
been required to
the past weeks to
be on all aircrafts
mourn the loss of the
transporting OSU
school’s women’s basathletes, and each
ketball coach Kurt
aircraft must conBudke and Assistant
tain two or more
Basketball
Coach
turbine engines.
Miranda
Serna.
However,
these
Budke and Serrules did not apna were traveling
ply to recruiting
on a single-engine
trips or coaches,
plane on a recruitwho were allowed
ing trip when the
to travel at their
plane crashed into
own
discretion.
a wooded ArkanIn response to
sas
mountainside.
the recent crash,
Budke, age 50, was
coaches and sports
known for his fiery
players all around
personality and 465the country will
130 win-loss record
be much more
during his coaching
careful and aware
career. Serna, age
while travelling.
36, was Budke’s reOSU
students,
cruiting coordinator.
athletes and faculAccording to many
ty will forever reof the players, Serna
ARTICLES.SFGATE.COM
member their lost
was “like a big sister.”
This event occurred Two coaches at their best: Kurt Budke and Miranda Serna watch their girls play coaches, and the
women’s
basketon the morning of from the sidelines.
ball team will conThursday, Nov. 17 approximately 45 miles west of Little Aviation Administration (FAA), tinue to fight and make this
Rock, AR. In the meantime, As- Branstetter was a certified com- season one of their best yet.
M
3
Wolf ’ bomber
recently arrested
Diana Walsh
Sports Columnist
E
ver since the September
11 terrorist attacks, the
United States government
has taken extreme action in making sure that each and every one
of our country’s citizens feels
safe and secure from harm by
terrorism. However, what some
citizens do not realize is that
potential terrorists could be living right next door as neighbors
and citizens of the United States.
This theory was proven on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011 when the
alleged New York City bomber,
Jose Pimentel, was arrested.
Jose Pimentel, a Dominicanborn Manhattan resident, was
arrested for his plot to bomb
line behavior. His website,
TRUEISLAM1.COM, is filled
with posts by Pimentel that express his Islamic beliefs, extremist
views and support for Al-Qaeda’s
violent efforts. Moreover, he is said
to have been radicalized through
the online influence of content
published by the recently deceased Anwar al-Awlaki, an influential member of Al-Qaeda, along
with other radical texts. Pimentel
also posted on and took ideas
from numerous extremist group
websites such as Revolution Muslim and the Islamic Thinkers Society. Jose Pimentel drew ideas from
these contents and formulated his
own posts arguing the validity of
his terrorist-inspired viewpoints.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this incident is that
Jose Pimentel never showed any
real evidence of actually belong-
PHOTOBLOG.MSNBC.MSN.COM
Justice is served: Jose Pimentel, right, and his attorney Joseph Zablocki at Manhattan
criminal court.
government establishments and
police vehicles in New York City.
The attack was supposed to serve
as an effort to kill American servicemen and women who had
returned from stations in Iraq
and Afghanistan to demonstrate
his hatred toward the American
society and military. A die-hard
Islamic extremist and terrorism
supporter, Pimentel is said to have
crafted his own pipe bombs on his
mother’s couch with the instruction from an article in Inspire,
an English language magazine
published by the Al-Qaeda organization. Upon Pimentel’s arrest,
officials have said that he had in
possession the materials necessary for building his homemade
bombs. At his arraignment on
Nov. 20, 2011, Jose Pimentel was
charged for criminal possession
of a weapon and conspiracy in the
fourth degree as a crime of terrorism and was ordered held without bail. However, this incident
was not the first time police officials had heard Pimentel’s name.
Pimentel had been under
police surveillance for over a
year due to his suspicious on-
ing to a terrorist group much
like the ones he interacted with
online. Instead, he acted alone
and documented his process each
step of the way through writing
and video posts on his websites.
This act of providing tangible accounts of an individually planned
terrorist attack is something that
American officials have stated
to have never been seen before. Because of Pimentel’s plan
to carry out a terrorist mission
alone, he has been dubbed
the nickname the “Lone Wolf.”
To comment on the matter, New
York state senator Adriano Espaillat told the Huffington Post,
“Clearly this is something we
didn’t expect coming from someone in our neighborhood, which
means that any young person
could be open to being indoctrinated or led in that direction.” The
message taken from this quote is
that citizens of this country need
take into account the importance
of instilling moral views in today’s
young generation, not overlooking members in our own societies
as threats and keeping an eye out
for the “lone wolves” out there.
Features
December 2011-January 2012
ENTERTAINMENT
L! News
Movie Etiquette 101
Lauren Buchanan
Entertainment Columnist
he movie theater is a place
where people can collectively go to have a good
laugh, a good cry, or just get away
from their worries for two and a
half hours. But for every sane person looking to have a good experience at the theater, there are 60
more that go there to achieve the
opposite. With all of the great
movies coming out over Christmas
break (such as Sherlock Holmes:
A Game of Shadows and The Girl
with the Dragon Tattoo), there are
going to be more of these movie
trouble-makers than ever. Here are
some ground rules for the movies:
1. Put your phones away: I
admit that sometimes, I will take
out my phone to check the time
or to send a quick text to my
mom about when I will be coming
home, but that is as far as I will go.
It is very annoying when people
have their phones out the entire
movie. Besides the phone being super bright and annoying, it
leads me to believe that you are either so bored that you have to talk
to someone else the entire movie
(Why come here then?) or filming
the movie, which is even more offensive (and illegal). If you don’t
want to see the movie, don’t come!
Stay at home, save your money,
and wait for the DVD to come out.
The rest of us are trying to watch.
2. Keep your kids at home: I
cannot stress this enough. If the
movie is not intended for small
children, do not bring them to go
see it! I believe that if adults need
to show their driver’s licenses to
get into an R-rated movie, then
kids should at least have to show
their middle school I.D.’s to get
into PG-13 movies. Nothing is
worse than seeing a film that
handles a serious subject matter and hearing a little kid whisper, “What happened mommy?”
Unless your 7-year-old child or
little brother or sister is incredibly mature for his or her age, he
or she has no business being there.
3. Don’t be a snob: I have
no problems with laughing and
making funny remarks during
comedies and awesomely bad
movies like Twilight, but when
it is a serious movie and you
have to point out every historical inaccuracy and over-laugh
at intellectual jokes, it is annoying. We know that there will be
some history mistakes because
it’s a movie. You have to suspend
your disbelief for a few hours.
Those are my main pet peeves.
If you recognize any of those
traits in yourself or people you
know, please correct them. Have a
Merry, and film-filled, Christmas!
T
Homemade
Vol 61 Issue 4
the columns
Christmas
Gifts
Gift-giving season sends many in a panic
W
Micaela Williams
Media Manager
inter is a time for
freezing temperatures and warm
memories. Remember waiting
in line with a bunch of floralscented body lotions? Remember carefully wrapping up a
huge box of plain crew-cut socks
with red and black stripes? Remember the genuine looks of
excitement on the faces of the
receivers those oh-so-thoughtful
presents? Or maybe the point at
which your gift recipients opened
your presents was the moment
you realized a last-minute storebought gift pales in comparison
to a gift with meaning behind
it. Ready to finally change your
life around? You are not alone
on this journey, so do not worry.
If the subject has indicated a
dire need of a particular thing
that can only be found in a de-
needs more hand-written heartfelt documents. Do your part: Inside jokes, generic expressions of
gratitude and sincere declarations
are like textual mugs of hot choco-
items that you can revamp. See
your environment with sequin
eyes and feel your surroundings
with macaroni tube fingers. With
luck, a spark of creative ingenu-
ity will lead to a perfect present project. Fallen fake flowers
from that dusty vase in your living room and twine from your
garage may become a headband.
Used deodorant containers (fully
cleaned out) and plastic wrap may
become mini bongos. Old socks,
permanent markers and balled
up tissue paper, and hello there:
a new stuffed animal. Some ideas
may be better than others, but you
would be surprised at how many
people would appreciate a lop-sided, poorly constructed teddysock.
Are you worrying about the
quality of your gift? Stop. My final suggestion is to stand up and
straighten your hunched shoulders, for that is a sign of weakness. Christmas is a holiday for
the courageous, so snap out
of that passive mentality. Announce to the universe that you
will indeed come up with a fantastic gift. You just need to trust
in your own abilities. If all else
fails, hit up the gift card racks.
of 30 years on Feb. 11. Leading up
to his demise, Cairo, Egypt was full
of violent protests; fire was ablaze
around the city and chaos ensued.
Three months later on May 1 of
this year, Osama Bin Laden, a terrorist as well as the founder of AlQaeda, was caught and killed. He
was the man responsible for the
9/11 attacks on the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon that
claimed many lives in 2001. Americans were either rejoicing over
his death or were displeased by
the ultimate punishment. Nonetheless, this was a big accomplishment for President Barack Obama
since the hunt for Bin Laden
has been going on for 10 years.
On a happier note, on that
very same day, our late pope
John Paul II was beatified and
was given the title, “Blessed.”
In addition to events that sur-
rounded political and religious
leaders, people around the world
faced natural disasters. On March
11, a tsunami and earthquake
swept through Japan. Many people lost their homes. However,
people from all around the world
came together to support and aide
their Japanese brothers and sisters.
The United States came to have
its own share of natural disasters.
Wildfires and a rough drought hit
Texas all throughout the month
of September. Tornados flew
through the mid-west and caused
a horrifying amount of damage.
On the other side of the world,
a royal wedding took place in the
United Kingdom. Prince William married Kate Middleton at
Westminister Abbey on April 29.
Looking back over to the
United States, a protest started
at Wall Street. This recent event
would be written down in the history books as Occupy Wall Street.
October 5 marked the death
of Apple CEO Steve Jobs who
died of cancer. His work lives on
through the new CEO, Tim Cook.
Though the year seems to
contain more negative happenings compared to positive, what
was apparent this year was that
in times of hardship, people all
come together to support one
another. It has been a tough year,
but seeing how people have made
it this far inspires others to fight
through whatever life throws at
them. December is here, which
means Christmas and holiday
spirit, as well as midterms, are
around the corner. It is the perfect time to thank God for being
fortunate. Best of luck on your
exams. Have a lovely Christmas and a happy New Year.
partment store, it is alright to go
out and buy that object. However,
depending on your relationship
to this person, you may consider
making the present. In fact, in
any situation, you can never go
wrong with handmade presents.
Start with a card. The world
late. Use those half-full glitter glue
tubes and miscellaneous dry food
items to decorate them. Elementary school introduced cursive
and creative resourcefulness, so
we might as well use one of them.
Take it a step further and look
around your house for common
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER/MICAELA WILLIAMS
Holiday options: Don’t get caught at the last minute searching for a decent gift.
Make one yourself and spread the true Christmas joy.
Looking back on the year
A
Rachel Yeung
News Editor
s the year 2011 is beginning to come to an end,
it is time to start to reflect on what events happened
as well as what we have all accomplished throughout the year.
It was quite the bittersweet year
— including events to rejoice
about and those to mourn about.
Many key events have occurred this year. On Jan. 8, a mere
eight days into the new year, a
man by the name of Jared Loughner was arrested after the shooting of several innocent bystanders including Congresswoman
Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, AZ.
A month later, former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak
stepped down from his position
POPCRUNCH.COM
ANTENNAMAG.COM
MYSPACE.COM
2011: Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (left) reveals her image after the Tuscon shooting. TIME Magazine displays Osama Bin Laden on the front cover (middle). Kate Middleton
(right) weds Prince Harry, Duke of Cambridge.
4
December 2011-January 2012
Features
the columns
It’s time to ring in the new year:
time
on new
square
Year’s Eve
Vol 61 Issue 4
CREATIVE FICTION
Naomi
Lights up
Maggie Overbeck
On Campus Editor
E
very year thousands of
men and women, young
and old gather in Times
Square, New York to ring in the
New Year and watch the famous
New Year’s Eve Ball make its descent. Whether they are there to
watch their favorite performers,
watch the ball light up at the end
of the night or make a special
marriage proposal, everyone is
enchanted by the magical feel of
Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
The first celebration in Times
Square occurred in 1904 when
the owners of One Times Square
held rooftop celebrations on New
Year’s Eve. 1904 was a remarkable year not only because of
the first New Year’s Eve celebration but also because it marked
the opening of the very first
subways. People flocked to New
York City and Times Square in
droves. Not much later, the first
ball drop happened in 1907 and
quickly became a universal symbol of the New Year. The first
New Year’s Eve ball was made
of iron and wood and held only
a hundred light bulbs. This ball
was only five feet in diameter and
weighed 700 pounds. Some of the
first performers in Times Square
So far, only a little bit of information has been released, but Lady
Gaga, One Republic and Justin
Bieber have all confirmed their
performances at the New Year’s
berg, mayor of New York, will
push the Waterford crystal button
that will begin the descent of the
New Year’s Eve Ball. The ball is
twelve feet in diameter and weighs
11,875 pounds. 2,688 Waterford crystal triangles cover
the ball and is lit up by 32,356
LED lights, which all contribute to the impressive wait.
The pieces of confetti that
fall to the ground when the
clock strikes twelve are not
just mere scraps of paper. Every year, people can visit the
Times Square Visitor Center
and write their New Year’s
wish on an official piece of
confetti. Even if one cannot
make it to Times Square,
one can submit a wish online
at WWW.ZOOMERANG.
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER/CHRISTY LUSPO
COM/SURVEY/WEB22BCatch a falling wish: All the wishes posted on the wishing wall fly to the ground at midnight. PUKBWBUY. These wishes
include personal goals, future
on New Year’s Eve included Guy celebration. In the minutes lead- dreams and wondrous hopes and
Lombardo, The Pointer Sisters, ing up to midnight, a secret per- become part of the one ton of
Billy Preston and Tower of Power. former will give a special live confetti that flies to the ground in
107 years later, this year’s cel- performance of the song “Imag- the first seconds of the New Year.
ebration will be no different from ine,” and in the minute before the
Whether you are visiting
all the others. There will be more New Year, people all around the Times Square on New Year’s
musical performances, hourly United States will join in the last Eve or watching from the
countdowns, festive hats and a sixty seconds of the countdown. comfort of your home, New
plethora of balloons handed out.
At midnight, Michael Bloom- Year’s Eve is sure to be special.
Crunching and lunching at Café La Tea
Alex Lumsden
Public Relations
Officer
any students know of
our friendly Bellaire
neighbors at Café La
Tea, but there is more than just
tea available. Sitting at a comfortable table in the warmly lit café,
I was surrounded by happy, talking, and laughing customers; I
listened to the hum of their voices
mixing with the jazzy, upbeat
mixed music selection. The remodeling of the restaurant from
an old Chinese-styled interior
to a modern, homey decorated
restaurant provided a positive
change along with the restaurant’s improved menu of food
provided by Chef William Lee. I
was given the opportunity to interview the chef, who left college
to pursue his passion of cooking at culinary school. He has
the magic hands that create the
menu items and, as I interviewed
Lee, I learned he was happy to
have this job after his mixed array of previous occupations.
Of the restaurant having a total
of 82 menu items, Lee said, “I
guess the wide variety of region-
M
al foods we have sets us apart. received a complimentary milk decoration. The restaurant’s milk
We have desserts, Chinese food, tea and a beautiful plate of chick- tea helps you taste the difference.
Italian food, Japanese food, all en fettuccine Alfredo. Lee handed Lee uses loose leaves and boils the
different kinds of food and this me the steamy plate with a hope- tea for two hours. Then, the chef
Champion goods store. Other ful look on his face as the delight- adds the natural sugar and milk
places only specialize in one ful aroma hit me. I took the first unlike other competing restauthing. We cover many bases. I’ve bite and the savory sauce melted rants that use the powder to make
worked in many places: a Chi- in my mouth. The creamy noo- their tea. All in all, Café La Tea is a
nese restaurant, a Japanese res- dles tickled my taste buds, and wonderful place to eat, drink, and
taurant, a Greek restaurant, and the tender chicken breast kept me hang out as well as a great place to
I’m trained at the classic French shoveling mouthful after mouth- order from if you are in a hurry.
technique so I can pretty much do ful. The Parmesan and herb Visit their website CAFELATEA.
anything. If you bring me some- shavings on the decadent pile of COM for more information or
thing, I can do it, and I can do it noodles served as an appetizing call (713) 988-3188 for inquiries.
well. I’ve got a lot of different cuisines under my belt.
I guess that’s a good thing.”
Café La Tea has the same
menu items for all parts of the
day. It is easy for the average
St. Agnes Academy senior to
call in orders and have them
ready to pick up for lunch.
According to Kathy Lee, the
restaurant manager, sesame
chicken and crab puffs are
St. Agnes’s favorites. Some
of the best things about the
café are the speedy service,
friendly staff and affordable
menu prices. I was given the
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER/MICAELA WILLIAMS
chance to experience them
Mouth-watering masterpieces: Cafe La Tea’s Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo steams with deliwhen I interviewed Lee and cious delight.
5
Unpleasant
Surprise
Gaby Barrios
Creative Fiction
climbed the cold steel stairs
quickly heading towards my
father’s office, or what used to
be his office. Ever since Tom had
told me about my father’s message, my heart had been beating
out an unsteady rhythm and my
palms had been colder than the
clanging steel stairs under my
feet. I finally reached the door that
led to my dad’s office and stood
still, remembering my father, remembering the man I thought
was gone. I didn’t know whether
to hope or to pay attention to the
extremely loud voice in my head
that told me this was all a scam.
My clammy hands closed
loosely around the doorknob. It
was dark and the small hallway
was coated in shadows. I felt as
if I was breathing the dark in
with each labored breath. Finally,
the pressure was too much and,
with a simple flick of the wrist,
the door swung open. The office
was dark and my hopes fell as
fast as my stomach. Of course,
this was all some big misunderstanding, some cruel, cruel
joke. But why? The tears were
already constricting my throat
even though I knew they would
not fall. I never cried. Never.
Suddenly, I saw a shift in the
shadows. My body tensed, one
muscle at a time. “Who’s there?”
my voice squeaked and slid
across the room, no louder than
a whisper. The solid figure moved
again and I could see that the
person was male. Could it be? My
feet carried me forward across
the stubby carpet that I knew
was green, around the stained
and slumped couch that I could
sense was still in its spot. My
hands grasped and gripped air
as I stumbled forward in my desperation. “Daddy?” I breathed.
Light burst into the shadowy room making me momentarily blind. I quickly looked
up in anticipation, wanting to
see the living dead man. “Who
are you?” I asked the guy standing behind my father’s desk.
He
smirked,
seemingly
amused. “Not your dad. Obviously.” I was in control, I swear.
Right until he tried to touch
me. What this guy did not know
was that my father had always
taught me how to take care of
myself. This had included many
hours of work outs and martial
arts. This intruder was about
to find out just how long I had
spent refining my right hook.
To be continued...
I
have a merry
Columns C
Twas the Night before Midterms
(adapted from “Twas the Night before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore)
Twas the night before midterms, when all through St. Agnes
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
“Now Granito! now, Rodriguez! now, Aguilar &
The #2 pencils were all packed with care,
On, Lewis! On, Calais! on Stinson and Lus
In hopes that beaming A’s soon would be there.
To the top of the porch! to the top of the
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away a
The girls were not nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of equations and Dante danced in their heads. She spoke not a word, but went straight to he
And mom in her pajamas, and dad in his cap,
And came up to me, on her face was a sm
Had just settled their brains for a long winter’s nap.
And seeing my desk all filled with my no
She began to give me advice, and so I will q
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my desk to see what was the matter.
“I know you are stressed, but you should r
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
You are cramming your brain with information
Threw back my books and lifted the sash.
For tomorrow will be a very big day
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my tired eyes should appear,
But Ms. Eichelberger guiding eight St. Agnes teachers!
With a flick of her wrist, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it wasn’t St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles her coursers they came,
And she whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!
And try to get some rest—not the St. Agnes
She sprang to her sleigh, to her team gave a
And away they all flew like the down of a t
But I heard her exclaim, ‘ere she drove out o
“Happy studying to all, and to all a restful
effe
The Holiday Unscrambler
Using the given hints, unscramble the following Christmas terms. Then, gather all of the letters which land on a green or red line, and use them to find the answer to the question below.
iskr nkleigr
knesfanreinc
a name used in the US, to refer to
Santa Claus
a gum used for incense, one of the gifts
that the three wise men gave to Jesus
optina
euhtctnss
dielutye
you roast them on an
open fire
adjective that describes the
Christmas season
red flower us
during C
pmhputopsaio
etlisomte
a parasitic plant with white berries,
traditionally hung on doorways
“I want a ......... for Christmas”
rnfto ethte
“All I want for Christmas is
my two .......”
What do you call som
I
I
I
I
I
6
Christmas!!
From Diana Nadira
Santa Sudoku
& Turney!
sby!
wall!
all!”
6
4
relax,
and facts.
1
2
8
s way.”
whistle,
thistle.
of sight,
night!”
2
9
ectivemusicministry.com
3 5
5 1
1
4
8
2 9
3 9
3
7
9
5
8
2
3
6 7 4
4
6
5
Fill the blank squares with the correct numbers using the
following rules:
•Every row of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through
9 in any order
•Every column of 9 numbers must include all digits
1 through 9 in any order
•Every 3 by 3 subsection of the 9 by 9
square must include all digits 1 through 9
er work,
mirk.
otes,
quote:
5 7 2
bazaardesigns.com
1
8
ma
rco
ezinltb
Santa’s eighth reindeer
pa
pe
r.c
o
m
ryhmr
a gum used for perfume or incense, one of
the gifts that the three wise men gave to Jesus
reeeenbz gosecor
astei
fictional grumpy character
in Charles Dickens novel
sed to decorate
Christmas
sieltn
a decoration consisting of thin strips
of shiny metal foil
at yv n i t i
the birth of Jesus
meone who is afraid of Santa Claus?
cnhgir
green monster who stole Christmas
agrnme
where Jesus was placed
as a newborn
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
answer: Claustrophobic
7
Opinions
December 2011-January 2012
the columns
Vol 61 Issue 4
Microwaved Sparks fly at Taylor Swift concert
Thoughts
FOOD AND DINING
Alex Lumsden
Public Relations
Officer
I
Leftovers take
revenge
Camille Young
Food and Dining Columnist
O
n Black Friday, most
people either set out to
battle for good deals,
cram leftovers into their mouths
or sleep until noon to recover
from the previous day’s weight
gain. I hoped to crowd surf in
Wal-Mart to celebrate the holiday after chugging down bowls of
my mom’s sweet potato casserole.
In preparation for Black Friday, I
downloaded an app on my iPhone
to wake me up to the sounds of a
terrifying screamo band, just to
ensure myself that I would wake
up on time for once. Rather than
awaking to ear-shattering gargles
of gibberish, I woke up before my
alarm clock for the first time since
freshmen year. My shock subsided quickly when my stomach informed me that the turkey, casseroles and pies that I chowed down
on for Thanksgiving plotted to
take revenge on me through food
poisoning. Apparently, I am one
of the 400,000 lucky Americans
that suffered post-Thanksgiving
leftover food poisoning this year.
As you cook for relatives during the holiday season, make sure
you do not give them the gift of
food poisoning if you wish to
avoid family feuds. Keep in mind
that one out of seven turkeys
contains enough salmonella to
land your cousin in the hospital.
Rather than rushing to please
family, cook meat up to the recommended temperature, check
all expiration dates, and clean
utensils with antibacterial soap.
Also, if you cook up a decadent
stuffed turkey (my favorite) make
sure the stuffing reaches at least
165 degrees. When dealing with
leftovers, throw out anything left
out at room temperature for two
hours or food that was left in a
room 90 degrees or higher for
more than a hour.
As a survivor of post-Thanksgiving food poisoning, I do not
care how tasty your green bean
casserole was before you left it
lying on the counter. Now, it is
nothing but a winter wonderland
of bacteria. During the holiday
season, remember that your family prefers to view you as the Grinch who stole Christmas, rather
than that weird cousin who sent
Auntie to the emergency room.
walked into the sea of dresses,
boots and sequins and knew I
could only be at a Taylor Swift
concert. Scoping the interior of
Minute Maid Park, I noticed a
pair of fans dressed as Christmas
trees pacing the floor and glow
sticks that lit up the upper levels. The energy surrounding me
was electric the moment Swift hit
the stage. She shimmered in her
gold dress as she rocked her way
through her opener “Sparks Fly.”
As she regained her breath, she
looked around taking in 42,000
screaming, stomping, jumping
fans and uttered her disbelief: “I
wish I could take a picture of not
only what I see, but how I feel.”
The entire audience under her
spell, all eyes were locked on her
every move. The massive stage
was adorned with stairways, red
curtains and a life-sized bird cage,
but Swift managed to keep everyone hanging on her every word
and singing along to every lyric.
Swift serenaded us with her
heartfelt songs while dancers, actors and acrobats dazzled with the
eye-popping set pieces. From the
flying balcony, she rode during
“Love Story,” to the giant AC/DC-
like bell she rung during “Haunted,” to the faux-hoedown that
shows up for “Mean,” her theatrical performance transformed
with every personalized set
change. The 21-year-old singer-songwriter has been making
records about innocent teenage
love and heartbreak since her
freshman year in high school.
Her sweet voice, lyrics about
not always fitting in, and fromthe-bleachers adoration of
boys make the vocalist an easy
icon for a young and devoted
fan base. An intense lyrical
connection kept the crowd rapt
for more than two hours. (And,
yes, the vocals were consistently solid.) I have seen every one
of her Houston shows and, in
my opinion, this was her sharpest, most effective show to date,
and several vignettes had the
polish of a Broadway musical.
She exuded real grace during
her plaintive ballad “Back to
December,” which was cleverly
mashed up with One Republic's
“Apologize” and her own “You're
Not Sorry.” Swift nailed the acidic
punch of “Better Than Revenge,”
an attack against the other woman. The '60s girl groove of “Speak
Now” played out onstage like a
romantic comedy, complete with
a wedding party. An hour into
her immensely entertaining set,
she jumped offstage. Moments
BLOGSPOT.COM
Fabulous: Taylor Swift shines in her gold dress during her sold-out concert at Minute
Maid Park.
later, she was strumming a ukulele while sitting against a giant,
glowing, revolving tree near the
back of the arena, thousands of
voices singing along to “Fearless,”
“Last Kiss” and her bittersweet
lullaby “Never Grow Up.” It was
huge and intimate all at once.
Swift had a great, big smile on her
face when she surprised her fans
with a guest appearance from rapper Nelly for an energetic duet of
his 2010 hit, “Just a Dream.” The
sentimental trifecta that closed
the show — “Ours,” “Fifteen,” and
“Love Story” — seemed to have
everyone from the tweens, bored
fathers, security guards and impatient children, swaying from side
to side.
Coldplay’s album sounds like ‘Paradise’
mid-1970s, was put together with
some help from noteworthy proDiana Walsh ducer, Brian Eno. Mylo Xyloto is
Sports Columnist a true indication that Coldplay’s
versatility and professional musicality has become more and more
pronounced as the years go by.
n Oct. 24, the iconic
The album kicks off with a meBritish quartet, Cold- lodic 43-second introductory
play, released their fifth track, “Mylo Xyloto,” to set a fustudio album, Mylo Xyloto (pro- turistic tone as well as introduce
nounced MY-lo zy-LO-toe). The some of the unique instruments
band, composed of Chris Mar- (think xylophone and wind
tin (vocals, guitar and piano), chimes) that are featured in the
Guy Berryman (bassist), Jonny rest of the album. The opening
Buckland (lead guitar) and Will track seamlessly transitions into
Champion (percussion), takes on the first full song of the album,
a more pop-inspired sound this “Hurts like Heaven.” The upbeat,
time around. The album, which synth-like song delivers audiences
is said to have drawn influence with a first taste of Coldplay’s new
from Bruce Springsteen circa pop-inspired sound. However,
the track
still shows
how
the
band remains true
to
their
formulaic
song writing method
of implementing
brooding
lyrics such
as
“You
used your
heart as a
weapon,
and it hurts
like heavTECHNODISCO.NET
en,” along
Graffiti galore: Mylo Xyloto’s album artwork was inspired by 1970’s New with inYork graffiti.
fectious,
O
8
mid-tempo beats that still keep
listeners’ toes tapping.
The following song, “Paradise,”
is notably one of the most well
crafted tracks on the album. With
its hauntingly beautiful violin
intro to its powerhouse-bass explosion before the first verse, the
song receives a thumbs-up from
St. Agnes Academy senior, Shadeh Mehrinfar.
“I love how the lyrics paint such
a clear picture in my head,” said
Mehrinfar about the song’s imagery-based first verse, crooned
by Chris Martin. “Oh, and the
bass makes me want to party,” she
adds.
The album later follows with
Mylo Xyloto’s first single: the high
energy, pop track, “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall.” Lead singer
Chris Martin previously shared
in a magazine interview that this
song gives him the imagery of a
revolution powered by dancing
kids. With an electrifying opening of Martin belting, “I turn the
music up. I got my records on. I
shut the world outside, until the
lights come on,” the song shows
potential for becoming one of
Coldplay’s many stadium anthems.
To add dimension to the album’s
track list, the band implements
the four heartfelt ballads: “U.F.O.,”
“Up in Flames,” “Up Against the
World” and “Up with the Birds.”
The track “Up in Flames” starts
off with a simply groovy drum
beat that gradually incorporates
a contagious melody along with
painfully sincere lyrics about the
harsh reality of the end of a relationship. Coldplay fans are given
a brief flashback to the band’s
2000 album, Parachutes, with the
acoustic slow jam, “Up Against
the World.” That classic Coldplay sound is resurfaced with the
organic plucking of Buckland’s
acoustic guitar and Martin’s crystal clear vocals.
The album concludes with the
overly-synthesized Rihanna collaboration, “Princess of China.”
SAA senior Erin Gready comments, “Rihanna irks me in ways
that I cannot articulate, but this
song is truly a jam.” A “jam” it
is indeed, Erin. The song begins
with what almost sounds like a
synth-fuzz tribal chant but later
hooks listeners with a truly “sick”
beat. The unlikely collaboration
between the alternative rock gods
and the hip hop princess surprisingly works and allows Coldplay
to dabble into a new genre.
To put simply, Mylo Xyloto is
nothing short of awesome. St.
Agnes senior Sophie Vennix definitely agrees, stating the comment, “[The album] is colorful
from the album artwork to the
songs.” Coldplay has shown the
music world once again their
professional musicality and versatility along with their ability to
make a powerful record. In an industry where Rebecca Black and
Disney actors turned singers are
considered musicians, Coldplay
reassures rock fans that hope in
this generation’s music is not lost.
December 2011-January 2012
Opinions
Bieber baby allegations spark war between
believers and ‘Beliebers’
Nathalie Phan
Editor-in-Chief
“
Baby, baby, baby, OH!” Some
people may suggest that these
words of a particular catchy
hit song foreshadow the filing
of teen pop icon Justin Bieber’s
recent paternity suit, which has
now been dropped, and was filed
by one of his
supposed fans
who
claims
that
Bieber
fathered
her
baby backstage
after his October concert
last year in Los
Angeles. These
allegations imply that the pop
star also cheated on his current girlfriend,
Selena Gomez.
The
accuser,
20-year-old
Mariah Yeater,
alleged in early
November that
her seemingly
illegal “encounter” with Bieber
produced
a
baby who she
gave birth to
three months
prior to her allegations. Yeater
has since been plagued with death
threats and hate mail from Bieber
fanatics, known as the “Beliebers.”
In my opinion, all Hollywood
souls are magnets that attract
these sorts of inevitable allegations. While some may be true,
others may be the fabrications
produced by attention-seekers,
but I shamefully admit that I was
one of the few who were actu-
ally convinced that Justin Bieber
produced a love child with this
woman Yeater.
However, there were a few problems with the accusations that she
produced against Bieber. For one,
if these allegations proved to be
true, because Bieber was underage at the time of these accusations, Yeater could have very well
instigated her own statutory rape
investigation. I originally argued
that this only reinforced her story,
because I thought that she had
wisely weighed her options and
decided to seek monetary support for her baby. However, I now
have come to the conclusion that
this woman merely did not think
her scheme through enough. In
the days following her allegations,
more details arose and dented her
credibility. It was revealed that
even bribery to try to convince
him, she says, “I’ll kick you when
we get paid.” Another evidencing text from Yeater to her friend
about the actual father, an exboyfriend named Robbie, reads,
“Would you please stress to Robbie how important it is for him to
be in his son’s life?”
There are additional rumors
flying through the Internet that
suggest that Yeater is an escort for
hire. However, my gullibility stops
here, and I truly believe that
the advertisement found online is a slandering fabrication.
90% of the St. Agnes
Mariah Yeater, while adAcademy student body mirable in her ambitious atdid not believe Mariah
tempts to try to earn money
Yeater’s slanderous
to raise her unfortunate baby,
claim.
has failed in trying to extort
money from the teen pop
icon and in using her scheme
to sell the story to the gossipeating media. She has pulled
her case, but Bieber seeks to
punish her for her dishonesty. Bieber may file a defamation and slander lawsuit
against Yeater and her lawyers for her malicious claim.
“We intend to still hold
them accountable,” says
Bieber’s publicist, Matthew
Hiltzik. Bieber and his team
wish to set an example that
people who file baseless
claims against celebrities do
so at their own peril, and
MSN.COM
they are liable for their slander.
While some rumor-believers
enough to convince the most
stubborn of believers, Bieber’s le- may still be bellowing the words
gal team shared with the media of Bieber’s hit song, “Never say
texts from Mariah Yeater begging never,” it is evident that Mariher friend to erase incriminating ah Yeater’s claims are deceitful.
texts from her mother that proved Bieber has recently submitted
her allegations against Bieber to a DNA test, one that he was not
legally required to take, to put an
be fictitious.
Yeater pleaded to her anony- end to the baby-daddy drama.
mous friend in a text: “Erase all People might lie, but DNA does
messages from my mom.” Using not. she had previously accused her
ex-boyfriend, John Terranova, of
being the father.
“She just wants money. It’s a
scam,” Terranova tells the New
York Post. He claims that an angry
Yeater threw a brick through a
window of his Honda and slapped
him after he failed to believe thenpregnant Yeater when she told
him that he was blessed with fatherhood.
While all of this may not be
Administration shocks NHS members with decision
Gaby Barios
Creative Fiction
Columnist
S
itting at a desk, walking the
overly air-conditioned halls
of the school, and flipping
the pages of a textbook during a
quiet open lab — these are a few of
the activities that the hapless seniors at St. Agnes Academy were
doing when the news reached
them: Students will not receive
National Honor Society stoles for
graduation. Girls cried out in dismay as they realized that the sky
blue bands were to be abolished in
favor of a more sedate tassel.
At the recent National Honors Society meeting, Katie Fritsch, one of the NHS advisors,
announced the reason for this
change. The teachers opposed the
large number of cords and stoles
that some girls had sported at
Vol 61 Issue 4
the columns
last year’s graduation. The variety of colors had clashed, and the
multitude of awards and cords
had slipped and slid down the
girls’ shoulders as they made the
important walk across the stage
to receive their diplomas. One
teacher reportedly said that it
“looked like Mardi Gras.”
Due to these conflicts, the administration decided to abolish
all cords, stoles and other colorful distractions at graduation. Instead, the National Honor Society
members will sport blue and gold
tassels and the students who graduate with honors will wear elegant
medals. The general effect is predicted to look much more streamlined and put together than last
year’s appearance.
Even so, the members of the
NHS still worry, feeling that their
efforts are not being duly recognized. Some girls suggest the blue
stoles as the only authorized accessory; others are now resigned
ST-AGNES.ORG
Old Tradition: Seniors from the class of 2011 stand at graduation with their
stoles and cords.
to the administration’s decision
albeit grudgingly. This remains,
even after much discussion and
rationalization, a controversial
topic that, although decided, excites argument and heated feelings.
The administration says that
even without the stoles, the members’ work is recognized. Their
9
names are called during graduation as well as stated in the program with a note recognizing
the members as belonging to
the NHS. The question remains,
though, is it alright to overthrow
tradition? It seems that this tradition has been changed in the
name of progress but not without
much dissent.
SPORTS
Sporty
Spice
NBA ends
149-day-long
lockout
Diana Walsh
Sports Columnist
O
n July 1, 2011, the world
of professional basketball
came to a sudden halt
with an abrupt labor stoppage. At
12:01 a.m., the NBA locked out
its players due to an expired collective bargaining agreement, beginning a lockout that lasted 149
days. Thankfully for basketball
fans, throughout a 15-hour session between the NBA and player
representatives, a conclusion was
finally met. At 3:00 a.m. on Nov.
26, 2011, the NBA finally reached
a deal on a new labor agreement
between the owners and players.
The agreement, which is set
to last for the next ten years, is
said to benefit the team owners
more than the players. This year,
players will be receiving 51.5
percent of all basketball-related
income instead of the 57 percent that they received in years
past. Players are also expected
to lose about 20 percent of their
salaries alone due to the games
missed during the course of the
lockout. However, the athletes
do win some benefits in this new
deal. The teams’ greatest advantage is their increased minimum
salaries. The salaries are said to
have increased to 85 percent of
the salary cap for the next two
years and it is planned for them
to increase up to 90 percent for
the remaining years of the deal.
The newly formulated labor deal
calls for a 66-game season for the
NBA in 2011-2012 that will begin
on Dec. 25, 2011. This small gap
of time between the first games
calls for players to dust off their
basketball shoes and start preparing for this upcoming season. While the makeup and final
rosters of the teams along with a
concrete season schedule is still
yet to be seen, basketball fans can
certainly expect an exciting NBA
season this year.
December 2011-January 2012
SAA
Christmas
Break
On Campus
the columns
46%
are traveling
1%
somewhere else in
North America
Excursions
Kate Meyer
Opinions Editor
Vol 61 Issue 4
1%
2%
50% are staying in Texas for the holidays
SAA Tiger Girls present The Nutcracker “Sweeter”
T
Lauren Buchanan
Entertainment
Columnist
his year’s Tiger Girls
Christmas show was
above and beyond all expectations. The Tiger Girls presented The Nutcracker “Sweeter,”
a play on words of The Nutcracker Suite. It was a modern take
on the classic holiday ballet, The
Nutcracker.
The show went through the
basic story of the ballet. The
curtain parted to show an elegant ballroom, complete with a
beautiful Christmas tree, where
Clara, played by St. Agnes Academy senior Emma Morris, was
having a Christmas masquerade
ball. Soon, members of the Tiger
Girls Varsity filed on stage, acting likes guest at the party. They
performed a lovely ballet dance Other acts in the program in- senior Ryan Lord, high-kicking
before breaking out and shak- cluded: a hip hop mice army toy soldiers, with their nutcracking it to “Party Rock Anthem” by led by the rat king, Strake Jesuit er prince, Strake Jesuit senior
L M FA O .
Mark StoIt was an
rey, feisty
exhilaratd a n c ing start
ers from
to the proSpain, tribgram. Latal
dancer, Clara
ers from
received a
Africa, fan
nutcracker
dancers
from her
from Asia,
mysteriand graceous uncle,
ful flowers
enjoyed
and snowa
dance
flakes. The
number by
show endsome sassy
ed with a
pre s e nt s ,
Tiger Girls
and drifted
tradition:
off to sleep
GUEST PHOTOGRAPHER / MACKENZIE MERCURIO d a n c i n g
where her
to “All I
Dancing Queens: Senior members Josephine Okon (left), Erica Moriarty (middle), Alexis Cardenas
d r e a m s (right) deliver some serious high kicks during this year’s Christmas show.
Want for
took over.
Christmas
Is You” by Mariah Carey.
The most remarkable thing
about the show, apart from the
set and dancing, was that students on the Varsity team choreographed all of the dances. The
show was a part the Tiger Girls’
choreography project. The project gave members of the varsity
team an opportunity to let their
creativity shine. It was a true
pleasure to witness the entertaining and creative dances that the
students came up with. The girls
did a truly amazing job at choreographing this show. The Nutcracker “Sweeter” was the best
Christmas show produced by the
team this year so far, and possibly the best one that the Tiger
Girls have ever had. We should
all be extremely proud of St. Agnes Academy’s Tiger Girls dance
team. The show will remain to be
a St. Agnes tradition.
1) Identify: Before starting the
studying spree, you must know
what you need to study. Count up
the number of midterms you must
take and write down each subject
on a piece of paper. Under each
subject, list each chapter, homework assignment, and review
guide you must study to ace the
midterm. Also, list any unfinished
work you must complete during
your cramming period under the
appropriate subject.
2) Plot: Using Microsoft Word,
put together a midterm studying
chart. Make a column for each
day you will study or will take a
midterm and make a row for each
midterm you must endure. For
each day, write down what you
plan to study for each midterm in
the box designated for each test.
Keep in mind that you will need
breaks, naps and time for mental breakdowns as you plan your
nightly work load. Every time you
fects of a bombed midterm, good.
That college does not deserve
your presence. Rather than stressing out over midterms, put a reasonable, humane amount of effort
forth to ace them and remember
that better days are approaching.
Last minute midterm cram guide
D
Camille Young
Food & Dining
Columnist
espite popular belief, the
month-long,
nonstop
Christmas music on the
radio does not signify the approaching holiday season. Rather, the Christmas carols serve as
a warning of midterm season’s
arrival for procrastinating high
school and college students. Unfortunately, many students spend
their time shopping for presents and baking sweets during
December instead of studying.
Suddenly, the midterm monster
swamps upon procrastinating
students’ pre-Christmas celebrations as they settle down to form
a studying strategy. I now present
these students with a perfectly
crafted cram guide.
complete a task, reward yourself
by crossing out what you accomplished on your study chart. Also,
cross out each midterm after battling the test to symbolize your
success and approaching freedom.
3) Attack: Before stepping onto
the midterm battle field, you must
take care of yourself. Although
these lengthy tests seem to demand students to transform into
super beings, transcending our
human needs due to midterms
remains impossible. As a result,
you must sleep during the midterm tsunami. Also, you need to
eat breakfast and snacks before
each midterm to prevent your
brain from breaking down into
clueless mush. Hopefully, with
the combination of sleep, food
and studying tactics you will stay
awake throughout your midterms
and pass each one.
As you acknowledge the exis-
10
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER / CAMILLE YOUNG
Let the studying begin: Senior Diana Walsh cringes at the thought of studying for
her United States government mid-term.
tence of midterms, keep in mind
these tests will not determine the
rest of your life. Sure, they may
lower your grades, but once you
graduate nobody will bring them
up again, ever. If an Ivy League
college denies you due to the ef-
December 2011-January 2012
On Campus
the columns
Vol 61 Issue 4
It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas
Bailie Moorhead
Features Editor
B
and and orchestra are two
instrumental
programs
hosted at Strake Jesuit
which allow both St. Agnes Academy girls and Strake Jesuit boys
to collaborate and create music.
These select members are given
a “chance to express themselves
and develop their talents to the
fullest.” The terms “orchestra”
and “band” are commonly used
interchangeably in the St. Agnes
Academy community. However,
there is a very distinct difference.
The Symphonic Band performs at
all home football and basketball
games and is one of the biggest
organizations on campus. The
band consists of three sections
of musical instruments; these are
woodwind, brass and percussion.
Unlike the band, the Chamber
and Symphony Orchestras play
the music of master composers of
the Baroque, Classic and Romantic periods. The orchestra consists
of strings, woodwind, brass and
percussion.
Violinist Gaby Barrios states
that her favorite part of orchestra
is “playing with everyone especially when we get it just right so
that the music sounds perfect, like
one voice.”
As many anxious listeners
stepped into the Parsley Center on
Dec. 3, they were not prepared for
the magnificent noises and jingles
that were about to fill their ears.
This glorious blend of sounds by
each band and orchestra member
was not as easy to accomplish as
one might perceive. Like any other task, there were struggles and
obstacles to overcome to achieve
this precision.
Joanna Jia gives The Columns
the inside story: “The biggest
struggle would definitely be trying to stay together. Since an
orchestra has quite a number of
people, it’s hard to stay with the
beat and more importantly, together.”
In order to prepare for the concert, the band and orchestra practiced every morning and had been
playing Christmas music since
October. Even though attending
practice is a crucial aspect of being an active member of band,
what is more important is the
work that they put forth outside
of practice. Joanna Jia says that
she went through her scales and
had been practicing her breathing
exercises, while others like Katie
Taylor state that catching up on
sleep was an important factor in
order to be rested for the concert.
Despite the struggles and obstacles that the Music Department
faced in order to prepare for the
concert, they most definitely put
on an exquisite show. All of the
instruments came together as a
union to produce beautiful music which ignited Christmas spirit
into all listeners.
If you were not
able to attend,
then you surely
missed out on an
amazing
show
and should keep
tabs on the Music
Department in
order to catch the
next event. However, if you have
been inspired and
have a dying urge
to showcase your
secret talent of
playing an instru-
ment, then check out the Music
Department page on the Strake
Jesuit website for more information. Unfortunately, one cannot
just join orchestra or band (an audition is required) however, they
will welcome all new members
with open arms.
RETROCLIPART.COM
SAA and SJ Mixed Chorus makes a joyful noise
Courtney Adair
Tiger Tail Editor
O
n Friday, Dec. 9, the St.
Agnes Academy and
Strake Jesuit Mixed
Chorus debuted their annual
performance of George Frideric
Handel’s Messiah in the Strake
Jesuit Parsley Center. The tradi-
tion of singing Messiah began
about 25 years ago. To this day,
it is an established tradition that
many people look forward to because it is a beautiful performance
that brings the Christmas spirit
around once again.
The annual performance of
Messiah is a two-hour-long production broken up into two different acts. In the first act, the
choir sings traditional Christmas
carols along with their unique
performance of The Twelve Days
ST-AGNES.ORG
Sing the night away: The St. Agnes/Strake Jesuit Mixed Chorus sings Handel’s Messiah on
Friday, Dec. 8, 2011.
11
of Christmas. The rendition of
this song is special because each
of the twelve days is inspired by
the sounds of a different country and time period. The medley
comes together to create a musical tour of the world, ending with
the United States of America. In
addition, the St. Agnes and Strake
Jesuit Double Triple Trios and the
Performance Workshop perform
their array of Christmas songs
for the audience to enjoy. Triple
Trio’s performance consists of a
variety of seasonal songs as well
as entertaining choreography.
The second act of the choir’s
performance is the Christmas
section of Handel’s Messiah. The
Christmas section is made up
of several pieces that the chorus
sings, as well as separate solos.
The choir is accompanied by Jeremy Wood on piano, as well as an
orchestra complete with violins,
basses and horns. The St. Agnes
choir hires out union orchestra
players for the nights of Messiah
to come perform with the talented choir. Some of the orchestra
members have been performing in the St. Agnes/Strake Jesuit
Mixed Chorus production of Messiah since the tradition was started many years ago. One of the
favorite songs of the performance
is the ending piece, “The Hallelujah Chorus.” Traditionally, when
the song first begins, the crowd
remains standing through the end
of the song. This originated from
the first time that King George II
first heard the beautiful piece performed from Messiah. He was so
moved by the music that he stood
up in the middle of the song. It
was custom that when the king
stood, everyone stood so the tradition of standing up when the
“Hallelujah Chorus” begins was
eventually adapted by people all
over the world. The choir, under
the direction of Arthur Buckley
and Kimberly Mendoza put on
a tremendous performance this
year of The Messiah.
Tiger Tail
December 2011-January 2012
the columns
Dear Santa:
Kate Meyer
Opinions Editor
Dear Santa, I’ve been a REALLY,
REALLY good girl this year, so I
am asking for: a boyfriend and
a unicorn and a dinosaur and
a pony and a 64 pack of Crayola
crayons. I hope your elves can
make all this come true for me!
Thank you! PS: give my brother
coal! Love, Caroline Matlock
Dear Santa, I really
really really really re-
Vol 61 Issue 4
christmasgifts.com
Dear Santa, I would like
a new fur Abercrombie
jacket. Also, a new pair
of Crocs would be nice,
even though my mom says
I look like a duck when
I wear them. Thanks! You
da best.
Love, Gabbi Feldman
Dear Santa, I really want
St. Agnes to get the money
to finish our water project
and we can start drilling
the well in Africa.
Love, Kerry Berry
Dear Santa, I am asking for one
clker.com
Dear Santa, I desire a llama
as to represent the continents of the Americas with
the one tamable creature in
the western hemisphere.
Love, Kate Nguyen
thing this year: a special someone to kiss under the mistletoe.
I would prefer him to be no taller
than 5'9", he must be caring,
sweet, and have dimples.
Love, Holly the Elf
ally would like all of my
college acceptance letters.
I won’t ask for anything
else! I PROMISEEEEE!!!!
Love, Lesley
caketopperdesigns.co.uk
Dear Santa, I want a new bike,
play station, a train, some G.I. Joes,
a dog, a drum kit, a pony and a
tuba. Oh, and I also would like the
digitally re-mastered edition of
Sailor Moon.
Love, Hadley
christmasclipart.com
New Year’s Resolution perspective takes a turn
Micaela Williams
Media Manager
January is the beginning of a new year. This day is also the unmarked national
holiday for making soon-forgotten promises. We wait around for this day every year
so we can refresh our drive to reach our goals. The following is a New Year’s time line
that summarizes an individual’s internal struggle against some common resolutions,
from the perspective of a brain.
End of first week:
Exercise more: “Yeah, your muscles are
aching right now, but by next week, your
success in arm wrestling matches will prove
how hard work pays off. Embrace the burn.”
Be more considerate: “Mouth, work with
me here. Do not snap back at your sister.
True, she stole your hairbrush. Yes, she
spilled your nail polish. Fight the urges.
Fight them.”
Cut down on unnecessary actions: “Yeah,
the object of your affections may have
posted a new album on Facebook, but right
now homework is your main priority. Close
the tab. I know it hurts. That was easy-no, no,
close it again.”
End of first month:
Exercise more: “Hey, chin up. You expected
instant muscles, but you are going to have
to work a bit harder for them. Do not give
up. You feel great, right? Stop crying… stop
crying… you are better than this.”
Be more considerate:“You have been being
significantly less mean to your sister but
she still maintains her annoying habits. I
know you are tired of letting her run over
you. In fact, I am getting tired of letting her
run over you. But you are the bigger person.
Restraint is crucial.
Cut down on unnecessary actions: “So
your entire body and I have come to terms
with the fact that you absolutely positively
cannot survive without spending an hour
on that one website. We get it. You gave in
to temptation. I am going to blast you with
guilty feelings from now on, for once again
tossing away this resolution.”
12
End of winter:
Exercise more: “Still hanging in there. Kind
of. Earlier you tried to rationalize your lack of
jogging by saying that you get sufficient exercise by climbing down the single step into your
driveway everyday. I forgive you for that. Above
all, I applaud you for making it this far. “
Be more considerate: “Your sister pushed the
wrong button, and you snapped. I understand.
I apologize for not helping you out earlier. I realize you may have wanted to yell out a long list
of hurtful remarks, but I jumbled everything.
I am sure she felt the passion in your garbled
wails.“
Cut down on unnecessary actions: ”Guilt.
Guilt. Guilt. Guilt. I shall let you open that Facebook tab, but I hope you are able to comprehend
the depths of my negative emotions right now.”
New Years resolutions are an invitation to challenge an
individuals comfort zone. We take them on because we
know that developing new habits and breaking others
will help us out in the long run. Hopefully this year will
be more successful than the past attempts at self-development. Here is to a new year, along with a renewed mind
set on achieving whatever goals our minds invent.