Sports Varsity girls basketball crushes competition Turn to page 23 for details

Review The Hobbit stretches into three movies Turn to page 18 for details

Warrior Perpectives Fashion Corner Ten Ways Lazy Boy Comics He Said She Said The Health Expo Flash Forward Warrior of the Month Level Up! Just Eat It Maya’s Library What’s the T? Fact or Fiction Artist Spotlight

December 2012Volume XXVIII, Issue 4

A 37-year traditionTHECHANT

North Cobb High School3400 Highway 293 North/ Kennesaw, GA 30144/ 770-975-6685 Ext. 1610

Regular Features & Columns

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The award-winning ensemble performs some of their songs at a Veteran’s Day ceremony.

by Sabrina Kerns

Inside These Walls Clubs raise awareness for those in need Turn to page 6 for details

Arts & Entertainment Event exposes attendees to sculpting Turn to page 14 for details

Outside These Walls Typhoon terrorizes Philippines Turn to page 12 for details

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Chorus gains honors throughout year Three choirs travel to All-State and obtain accolades

Three NC choirs, led by Dr. Foster, received high-ranking honors such as joining the Geor-gia Music Education Associa-tion’s (GMEA) annual In-Service Conference for their hard, dedi-cated work.

“It is a real honor for chorus to get into GMEA, and not to be in it last year—it is just amazing,” sophomore Cain Henderson said.

The intermediate-mixed choir contains mostly freshmen who work on vocal techniques and breathing. The second choir, called Bella Voce, contains the advanced woman singers. The North Cobb Singers, Dr. Foster’s top choir, re-ceives the most recognition.

GMEA recently selected the North Cobb Singers to perform at the their In-Service Conference on January 23. Only three or four high schools in the state perform in the conference, making it a prestigious honor to receive.

“Participating in the GMEA Conference is the type of activity that belongs on résumés and col-lege applications,” Dr. Foster, cho-rus director, said.

The Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra (ASYO)’s music director, Jere Flint, invited the North Cobb Singers as well as the Kennesaw Mountain High School chorus to sing in their Broadway-style mini-musical, Second Chance Christmas. This performance provides chorus with yet another fantastic honor, improving the reputation of NC’s performing arts department.

Not only do their perfor-mances enhance chorus, but also their fall retreats to Woodland Christian Camp. Every year, they go on these retreats to work on

communication and leadership skills as well as team building. Dr. Foster thinks that the more one knows and trusts the people in their choir, the more beautifully they sing together.

Many chorus students also auditioned for the All-State Cho-

rus, and six students received a spot in the ensembles. Several stu-dents also auditioned for the All-State sight-reading chorus. GMEA only selects 100 students in all of Georgia, but they chose senior Shelby Trotta to join the choir.

“I am very excited to be in the

All-State sight-reading chorus. I have never been in it before, and I’m also excited for all the music,” Trotta said.

Drama, chorus, and art merged to create a spectacular performance of Once Upon a Mat-tress, which they will perform in

April 2013. Dr. Foster remains extremely

proud of her students’ success and hopes to expand their pros-perity. The chorus hopes to keep achieving all of their goals this school year as they end this se-mester with greatness.

Opinion Opinion

2/September 2012/The Chant

2/December 2012/The Chant The Chant/December 2012/3

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFMaddie SwabCOPY EDITORLeah TongcoPHOTO EDITORLeah TongcoAD MANAGERSAmelia Carchia Jawann LawsonPUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGEREmily Jones

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERJordan GrubbFRONT PAGE EDITORMaddie SwabOPINION PAGE EDITORMaddie SwabREVIEW PAGE EDITORMaya McKenzieARTS & ENTERTAINMENT PAGE EDITORMaya McKenzie

OUTSIDE THESE WALLS PAGE EDITORSMaddie SwabMaya McKenzieSPORTS PAGE EDITORDomonique GoodsINSIDE THESE WALLS PAGE EDITOREmily JonesSTAFF AND SPORTS WRITERSBreckyn BibbAlicia Bush

Amelia CarchiaHannah GleasonBrittany NelsonTaylor TurpinPHOTO SPECIALISTSJordan GrubbSabrina KernsCarli TroutmanARTISTSJordan Grubb Jawann Lawson

Front page art by Jordan Grubb The Chant

Soggy, dull school food needs a makeover Cafeterias should use restaurants’ tricks for serving food

Regular Feature

How do students view this Mayan apocalypse?by Carli Troutman

Warrior Perspectives

Maddie SwabEditor in Chief

The Chant is a student organized and published paper, which serves the North Cobb area and surrounding communities. The Chant makes its readers a first priority. Student comments, editorials, letters to the editor, and any suggestions are encouraged. These may be placed in Ms. Kovel’s mailbox in the staff mailroom, taken to Room 611, or emailed to chantcomments@gmail.com. Editorials are not the opinion of the entire staff or the adviser. An editorial is only the opinion of the writer who has written it. The Chant reserves all rights for making corrections whether grammatical, content, or that of “good taste for the community.” For advertising information, write The Chant c/o North Cobb High School, 3400 Highway 293 North/Kennesaw, GA/30144, call (770)975-6685 ext. 1610, or email northcobbchant@gmail.com.

School stats Number of students: 2628 Magnet school:International Studies Program (ISP) Number of ISP students: 437 Number of faculty members: 235

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Emily JonesPage Editor

Soggy sweet potato fries and wilted greens—it is no wonder that students choose cake, cookies, and frozen treats instead of healthier options. If schools offered healthy food that also tastes delicious, then students would be more apt to enjoy all of the food groups.

Schools can provide tasty food that students en-joy with minimal cost and increased effort. One way to do this is for school cafete-rias to choose their suppliers carefully. Companies that offer lush salads and grade A meats make healthier op-tions for students and staff. Of course this warrants a bit more effort, but the health of students calls for it.

Students tend to eat sweets and fried foods over healthier options, but this does not mean that schools should offer these fatty foods. Dessert options and foods such as French fries have healthy alternatives. Frying potatoes in peanut oil and of-fering sugar free options for puddings and ice cream can replace the unhealthy op-tions. These versions of un-healthy foods still taste deli-cious and also instill healthy habits in students’ minds.

Many resources are of-fered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help schools of-

fer healthy lunches. The USDA suggests “[using] low-fat milk, cheese, and yogurt; [jazzing] up menus with fruits; [varying] veg-etables; [serving] more dry beans and peas; [serving] more whole grains; [limit-ing] saturated fat; [trim-ming] trans fat; and [cut-ting] back on sodium” on its website www.teamnutri-tion.usda.gov and informa-tion provided to schools.

Cafeterias can cut costs and increase the nutrition each student gets by buying local. The locavore move-ment has gained many fol-lowers because of its health benefits and low costs. Many cities have weekly farmers’ markets and some cities have added local food events. Our hometown, Kennesaw, for example, of-fers a market basket event where people can purchase a basket of mixed fruits and vegetables for a set price. Taking advantage of local produce and buying in bulk provides healthy choices

for students at a moderate cost.

If a school has the avail-able funds, organic foods of-fer even more health benefits to students and further instill healthy eating habits. Accord-ing to the Mayo Clinic, organ-ic food-farmers apply natu-ral fertilizers to feed soil and plants, instead of chemical fertilizers; spray pesticides from natural sources and use beneficial insects and birds, mating disruption, or traps to reduce pests and disease, instead of spraying synthetic insecticides; use environmen-tally-generated plant-killing compounds and rotate crops, till, hand weed, or mulch to manage weeds, instead of us-ing synthetic herbicides; and give animals organic feed, allow them access to the out-doors, and use preventative measures such as rotational grazing and a balanced diet to help minimize disease, in-stead of giving animals an-tibiotics, growth hormones, and medications.

Organic food also

tastes better, enticing stu-dents with its freshness and higher-quality appearance and taste.

When in doubt, do like the restaurants do—buy seasonally. Fresh produce bought in-season tastes bet-ter and costs less. Serving students a fruit salad made with blackberries, blue-berries, and apples during September instead of serv-ing one made with canned, gelatinous fruits encour-ages students to indulge in healthy foods.

People eat at restau-rants because of their con-venience and quality. Stu-dents hate eating at school cafeterias because of their quality, despite conve-nience. Restaurants’ tech-niques for satisfying cus-tomers, such as the ones listed, are easily adaptable to school environments. Healthy food can please palates and schools’ bud-gets, leading to students establishing healthy habits that can last a lifetime.

Companies spread tidings of joy—and consumerism Holidays now revolve around buying and receiving

Breckyn BibbStaff Writer

Resolutions often end up forgotten New Year’s offers nothing but broken promises and false hopes

Christmas cheer lacks the family and religious orientation now that com-mercialism and revenue govern the season.

From Black Friday to New Year ’s Eve, businesses use sales and holiday “spe-cials” to advocate their goods. This, while creating revenue for the businesses, goes against gift-giving. When families eager to sat-isfy their relatives linger on a fiscal cliff, the sales manipulate buyers who hardly save anything.

Door-busters on Black Friday ignored the finan-cial crisis. According to the National Retail Founda-tion, shoppers in America spent a total of $59.1 bil-

lion. The average shopper spent $542 over the week-end. This study shows how consumerism depreciates Christmas’s real purpose.

Religion, not money and extravagant gifts, shaped Christmas, as well as Hanuk-kah and Kwanzaa. I see peo-ple rush to find pricey gifts that friends or family long for. Although presents with a high-price tag demonstrate generosity, they hold no sig-nificant meaning from giver to receiver. These holidays bring families together and generate a loving and chari-table aroma in the cool air. On figurative ornaments, I never see dollar signs or “50 percent off.” I see crosses, nativity scenes, and “Baby’s

First Christmas.”Consumerism benefits

the country financially, but should a holiday season revolve around money? People should offer gifts from their love and affec-tion towards someone and use their money based on meaningful intentions.

Gifts create laughter and happiness but when so much money is spent on presents, the giver trembles as the wrapper exposes the money gone. This demon-strates obvious doubt in the present and the amount a person deserved or did not deserve. People need to buy presents according to their relationship with a person, not for the 10 per-

cent off sticker. Planned and perceived

inefficiency contribute to the excessive consumerism in America today. Com-panies design products so people must or want to throw them out soon af-ter purchase. This factor applies to many Christ-mas decorations and the top-rated electronics. MP3 players and cameras usu-ally last short time periods because of the low dura-bility. Unfortunately, this makes the holiday consum-erism continue.

Holiday spirit fills shoppers’ hearts but com-panies intend to see dollar signs when the Christmas trees rise up in windows.

With a new year ap-proaching, many people con-sider how to improve their

lifestyles for next year and will probably even make a standard, useless New Year’s resolution or two.

They will try to fix old habits and create superi-or ones: stop biting nails, spend more time with family, eat healthier, lose weight, and so many more unreachable goals that will probably be forgotten be-fore January ends.

For any real change to occur, create a long-term commitment. Writing down a wish list can motivate people for a few days or hours, but anyone can eas-ily do that. It takes maybe 20 minutes of solid think-ing to come up with a list of goals and priorities for the next year. It takes a lot

longer to execute them, es-pecially when changing a lifelong habit.

Why make a resolution with no intention to actual-ly improve? The new year only serves a purpose for ignorant people to remake their last year ’s resolution and ‘promise’ to keep it this year.

“About 67 percent of peo-ple make three or more reso-lutions each year. About one in five people (20 percent) are able to stick to their resolution. Three in five people (60 percent) drop their resolution within six months,” the Network for Ex-ceptional Heath said.

Keeping a New Year ’s resolution requires hard work and actual movement. People think that just be-

cause they made a resolu-tion to lose 40 pounds, the weight will just evaporate off them while they contin-ue to lounge on the couch and eat the day away. In-stead, people should go straight to the gym and pay for a membership. People tend to actually use what they have to pay for.

People that can not com-mit to things, or already partake in a busy sched-ule, should shy away from making resolutions. Five months after New Year ’s, one’s friends will notice that nothing has changed. Avoid the embarrassment and become realistic.

The people that actu-ally keep their resolutions and dedicate time to fix

themselves stay consis-tent throughout the year and continue well after the year ends. Changing one-self may seem impossible, but other people manage to achieve their resolutions. People should reflect back and figure out what needs to change to compete their goal. Make more time to fo-cus and make this year count. If people are truly com-mitted to achieving their New Year’s resolution they will forget about calling it a New Year’s resolution! People must commit to ac-complishing a life resolution. This living resolution will not crash after January ends, and people will not feel dis-appointed and lame for not achieving their goal.

“I do not necessarily believe in it because the Mayan calendar actually says the world will just start over and not end. The calendar is just a cycle, and the world will never end.”

— Senior Alexa Grzech

“I believe it will not happen because all the facts are wrong and invalid.”

— Junior Will O’Rourke

“I think the thought of it is stupid, and I do not believe in it at all. Though if it does, then maybe the way it happens will be different.” —Sophomore Jessica Luna

“I think it will happen. Everyone is going to die, and everything will end.” — Freshman Austin Stanoriage

Opinion Opinion4/December 2012/The Chant The Chant/December 2012/5

Amelia CarchiaStaff Writer

Alicia BushStaff Writer

Dance craze travels to America

Jawann LawsonArtist

“Gangnam Style” catches peoples’ attention and infects nation with its beats

...to make December stress-free10 Ways...Regular Column

by Brittany Nelson

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Song and dance disgrace music industry“Gangnam Style”? More like “Blech Style”

Companies freak out over nothingCEOs overreact to little events

Papa John’s and Star-bucks represent the grow-ing number of businesses sneakily avoiding govern-ment regulation and tax-es by cutting employees’ hours and benefits.

Since Obama’s reelec-tion, businesses and ma-jor stock holders have thrown child-like tan-trums, upset that the Bush tax cuts might decrease or angry that Obamacare will continue. Other such trends occurred in Britain when the government de-manded pay for past cor-poration tax evasion. In retaliation, Starbucks cut workers’ benefits.

While businesses take hits from the recession, the constant undermin-ing of employees gets tir-

ing, especially when Papa John’s CEO, John Schnat-ter, lives in “The Castle,” his nickname for his man-sion. Ironically, if Schnat-ter had not said anything about cutting workers’ hours or threatened to raise pizza prices by 10 cents, the public would not have gotten angry and caused Papa John’s stock to drop 5.8 percent.

Naturally, business will constrict during harsh eco-nomic times, but it unrea-sonably constricts when the government regulates. Ger-man businesses for example, worried about the new envi-ronmental regulation and fil-ter requirement that they be-lieved would cause them to lose profit. The new demand for filters, however, increased

production, thus increasing GDP per capita and better-ing these businesses because people bought more. While businesses worried that they would lose profits, the boom-ing economy proved their worries needless.

Companies ideally should want healthy workers because that generally means more productive workers, so Obam-acare could help in some cases by creating productivity.

“I think there’s a very clear message here to the states that it’s time to quit hemming and hawing and proceed with im-plementing the statute, unless they want the federal govern-ment to implement it in their states,” Professor Tim Jost, Washington and Lee law pro-fessor, said in an All Things Considered podcast.

First, states fought Obam-acare, but now businesses fight this regulation through cutting their employees’ hours, caus-ing another ridiculous scene.

Whether one agrees or disagrees with regulations and how businesses react, an annoying trend occurs when CEOs complain and blame citizens for their hardships, which many implied when they said they would have to cut benefits and hours because Obama won re-election. As if to blame those who voted for Obama, busi-nesses act like the voters forced them to cut workers’ hours and benefits.

If a business cuts ben-efits out of their own choice, no one wants to hear them cry over their “forced decisions.”

On July 15 the world welcomed 2012’s most gimmicky, horrendously catchy “song,” “Gangnam Style” by Korean Pop star PSY.

“As of this writing, “Gangnam Style” has 806.3 million views, approximately 2.4 million more than the Canadian singer’s 2010 hit [“Baby” by Justin Bieber],” a writer for the Huffington Pos tsaid.

806.3 million people watched this how many times? One question: Why and how did “Gangnam Style” receive global recognition? The only answer is YouTube. The most used video viewer in the world, YouTube connects billions of people with others across the globe everyday. Through a process of diffusion, Gangnam gained popularity. It probably started with some ditz cruising the internet for funny music videos. He or she inevitably found the video hilarious and the song catchy, and so it started: the Gangnam Style movement. Since then, countless parodies appeared, instantly turning PSY into an idol.

Is it not weird that PSY

produced six albums and “Gangnam Style” solely provided him worldwide popularity? “Gangnam Style” contains three traits which make the song desirable to the world’s silliest people.

The stupidly mesmerizing dance encompasses the first trait. The “Gangnam Style” dance mimics something like a limp horse galloping, or at least trying to. It sort of puts people in the mind of 2006’s “Crank Dat Soulja Boy,” a dance that similarly

swept the world, but quickly turned into a distant memory. Think about it: does anyone still crank dat? No, they do not.

The song also revolves around a funny fat man, dancing around in a random setting. PSY must take his work seriously, but we laugh at his goofy antics. Who knows? Maybe he aimed for our laughter, or he despises it. Since the release of the song he has gained “relevance” and will probably try to recreate the sensation through a different song, but just like Soulja Boy he will fail.

While certain listeners express their hatred for the K-pop single “Gangnam

Style,” one cannot deny the blissful vibes the song brings to various audiences.

Every year, a creative human being graces the en-tertainment world with a new revolution. Park Jae-Sang (PSY), the South Ko-rean entertainer, claimed the title of “King of YouTube” after receiving almost a bil-lion views on his official video, surpassing the views on Justin Bieber’s video for “Baby.” The song may not exist in any of my playlists on iTunes, but I admit that the song possesses a catchy, techno flow. One who de-cides to remain in his or her seat while listening along must not possess any humor.

Particular audiences complain about the party rock anthem being written in a foreign language. In

1994, Los del Rio, a Spanish Latin Pop duo, produced an international phenomenon, better known as the “Ma-carena.” Did the Spanish lyrics of that popular dance song limit the global sensa-tion’s popularity? I think not. “Gangnam Style” has appeared for 251 weeks on 19 different charts, such as Australia Singles Top 50, Finland Singles Top 40, and World Singles Top 40.

Because PSY created the “horse trot” for local Korean citizens, he never expected the video would result to a universal revolution; how-ever, YG Entertainment, the South Korean record label who represented PSY, de-cided that an extension into the US market would ben-efit the K-pop star. Though he participated in the music

industry for several years, the single serves as his “big break.” Renowned manag-er to Justin Bieber, Scooter Braun, signed PSY to his record label, Schoolboy Records, with pronounced intentions. The recognition PSY has earned amazes him everyday he awakens, and people who question or criticize his stardom should take a nap. Give the man some credit!

Although the song may constantly play on radio stations and almost every-one mocks the tune, the hit single gives listeners an op-portunity to display their silly sides. Several parodies and imitations emerged on Internet websites, such as YouTube and College Hu-mor. One particular parody, titled “Mitt Romney Style,”

creatively copied the set of the original video and amused viewers. With aims of ridiculing presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s lifestyle, the video actively impersonated Romney with a suit, red tie, and the infa-mous comb-over.

Ideas and entertainment placed on the Internet will eventually spread. I honestly cannot understand why peo-ple expect the sensation to stay local. If the tune’s wittiness should not have broadened, Justin Bieber would still pos-sess ownership of the crown.

Therefore, those com-municating their disgust for the song should probably stop watching the video, stop inviting themselves to parties that blast the song, or simply play their own music excessively loud.

These ten easy steps will help students and staff make December a stress-free month.

Step one: Students, this marks the end! With finals rounding the corner, stay on task and study. Do not become overwhelmed with excitement of new classes and a break from school; make the best of the end of the semester and strive for a 4.0.

Step two: Seasonal treats for Christmas! December brings many specialties to one’s taste buds, with items that only come around once a year. Eggnog, gingerbread cookies, fruit cake, and pumpkin pie name only a few tantalizing treats.

Step three: Help give someone a meaningful Christmas! One may not realize that some families are not as fortunate around the holiday. Donating goods and small items here and there will make the difference for families in need.

Step four: Budgeting for the holiday! Budgeting makes shopping easier and stress- free. It may sound cheap, but setting an equal price for everyone’s gifts will help one stay organized and self-assured with the perfect gifts.

Step five: Brag about Christmas decorations!

Decorating makes the holiday really come to life. Decorating may seem tedious at times; trying to make a circuit for a cool light scheme is difficult. All that effort will pull off when, one’s house looks beautifully bright and stands out in the entire neighborhood with a little hard work.

Step six: Stay healthy for the holidays! Christmas comes loaded with sugary sweets and seasonal treats not normally offered. Stay cautious of daily intake, especially since spring arrives soon.

Step seven: Ew, family time! Not everyone’s relationship with his or her family is a Hallmark movie, but this does not serve an excuse to totally ignore them on Christmas. Humor the family by showing up. Who knows? One may even score a gift for his or her effort.

Step eight: Homemade goodies make people smile! Making homemade goods around the holidays saves money and makes one look crafty! Homemade ornaments, gifts, and food please the crowd.

Step nine: Stay away, sickos! Being sick sucks, and no one wants the plague on

The three words “Ay, sexy lady” embody the final trait to how it reached popularity. Most Americans only understood those words throughout the whole song. —no offense to foreign languages, because the song initially targeted a Korean market. Unless viewers speak Korean, they do not know what this man sings about. The message of the song illustrates that every person has so called “Gangnam style,” as people in Gangnam represent the rich who

oppress or at least bully the poor, but this message gets lost in the unrelated words and overzealous dance moves.

In due time, PSY will not exist as a household name, at least not outside South Korea. He should probably call up Soulja Boy so they can both think of a new career or collaborate on some new trash. What happened to music? As a whole, we need to return to the old times where lyrics truly meant something.

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Inside These Walls Inside These Walls6/December 2012 /The Chant December 2012/ TheChant/7

Holiday drives help unite community Toys, shoes, and coins offer charitable opportunities

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Student’s pain inspires Rally Foundation grows at NC by Amelia Carchia

by Alicia Bush Music inspires career Saxophone player earns first chair placementby Emily Jones

As the Christmas season quickly approaches, NC’s or-ganizations host several chari-table events to spread a spirit of generosity.

“NC has such a great en-vironment around Christmas time. We try to make sure that we give all we can because you never know when you’re going to be in need of something,” senior Alexis Bradley said.

The Interact Club pre-sented the student popula-tion with a toy drive. The toy drive, which links with Cobb Christmas, allows students and faculty members to give freely. Though the Interact Club par-ticipated for the first time this year, the students consider the toy drive a successful venture. The organizations attended the NC vs. Harrison basketball game to collect gifts and dona-tions people were willing to supply. Those who participated in giving were awarded tokens for free chicken biscuits and NC rally towels.

“It’s for a good cause, and we’re doing a good thing. It shows just how great the NC students are because we got so many toys. It’s all just really cool,” sophomore Bintou Sillah, Interact Club member, said.

UGA HERO, an organiza-tion working to help children both affected by and infected with HIV/AIDS, offered a coin drive. The proceeds earned from the coin drive benefit the club and provide students with the chance to sponsor a child with one thousand dollars.

“I’m glad the organiza-tion and I are able to give back to the community through fundraising. We’re working really hard to meet our goal because we know that someone will benefit from the hard work we’ve put in. It’s such a great feeling,” freshman Riley Swab said.

As the Save Club works to improve safety in recess and creativity in recycling, the students hosted a shoe drive in order to use the rubber soles for playground floors.

“The shoe drive is such a creative project. It’s making re-cycling fun and everyone has a chance to chip in,” sophomore Chalon Phillips said.

Offering service to the fun-draising projects helps the stu-dents to reach their set goals. Dedicated students in the organizations extend their ap-preciation for those who chose to participate.

Sophomore Megan McMil-lan introduced fundraising for the Rally Foundations to help finance children’s cancer re-search this year.

“I hope it [the Rally Foun-dation] will become an annual [fundraising] collection at NC and that we can be one of the top raisers in the state. I also hope it will continue even when I leave,” McMillan said.

McMillan’s devotion for the Rally Foundation began in middle school with two pivotal moments: the introduction of Rally Foundation at her middle school and the death of her close friend Alexa in the sixth grade. Afterwards, she priori-tized helping the Rally Founda-tion at her middle school and continued it at NC.

“Megan McMillan made Rally happen at NC by setting a goal, preserving, and seeing it through. She turned her passion for preventing childhood cancer into reality,” Dr. Roach, econom-ics teacher, said.

The Rally Foundation wants individuals to raise awareness and money for children’s cancer research. Its campaign has helped millions of children through the sup-port of countless schools and businesses in fundraising. Rally also provides ideas and oppor-tunities to fundraise that many schools participate in.

“Working with the Rally Foundation was a great experi-ence. I got to help people and had a great time learning about the foundation while meeting new people,” sophomore co-founder Kristina Ledna said.

McMillan began her fund-raising at NC by sending collec-tion buckets out in the crowds during football games, earning her a total of $250. She hopes the school will allow her to con-tinue raising money at basket-ball and baseball games.

Following her passion to fund cancer research, McMil-lan represents the NC spirit to help others.

For senior Michael Opitz, a first chair saxo-phone placement in the All-State Jazz Band ensures a career in his favorite me-dium: music.

“Music is all I have ever wanted to do. I can’t wait to meet other kids in-terested in music as much as I am,” Opitz said.

In August, Optiz ner-vously awaited his recogni-tion after his $18 audition fee for the Jazz Ensemble. He went to Walton High School for the initial try-outs and played scales and sight-read an unknown piece. If players score well enough, they auditioned at the state level. Once Opitz mastered the first round, he played two etudes, impro-vised his own small song, and sight-read a piece for

the state audition.“Michael provides

so much to the NC band. He, as an extraordinary player, deserves this op-portunity. He works very hard and completes every task to the best of his abil-ity. Michael’s talents will expand further now that he is playing in the All-State Jazz Ensemble,” Mr. Pan-nell, assistant band direc-tor, said.

Opitz, excited to meet other musically inclined individuals, placed first chair in the All-State Jazz Ensemble. From January 24 through 26, the All-State Jazz Ensemble will prac-tice six hours a day in the Pulaski Room at the Hilton Savannah DeSoto Hotel.

Famous musicians cri-tique and train the high

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Opitz plays in the Wind Symphony.

Sophomore Kristina Ledna, McMillan, and Niki Patel and Mr. Brown smile for the fight.

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Flash ForwardRegular Feature

Senior Renée Cope-land practices diligence and consistency while she awaits a career in phar-maceutical healthcare.

“I had the percep-tion that pharmacy involved a person in a drug store counting pills all day, but on eighth grade career day a pharmacist came in and showed me sides of pharmacy that I never knew existed; that’s when I knew that was what I wanted to do,” Copeland said.

Copeland’s educa-tional success proves her worthy of the white coat. She extends her knowledge outside of school by attending the pharmacy camp at Mer-cer University. Excel-ling in her honors and AP classes assures her admission into the competi-tive schools.

“Renee’s such a great person: student, teammate, friend. Someone with such determination and passion can never fail. I know she’ll succeed,” sophomore Shani Jefferson said.

Throughout her entire high school career, Cope-land participated in Habi-tat for Humanity, Relay for Life, National Honors Society, Link Crew, soccer,

and the math team. Though managing various clubs, sports, and rigorous classes leave her with limited free time, she enjoys watching movies with her family when the time allows.

“I think she’ll be excel-lent in the field. She’s great with at adding details, she’s great with people, and I’d feel absolutely safe if I needed to take medicine from her,” Mrs. Tummins, social studies teacher, said.

by Alicia Bush Motivating medicine

Hoping to attend Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), she intends to major in bio-chemistry or chemical engineering. After com-pleting the undergradu-ate program, she will expand her education at a pharmacy school. Co-peland’s parents inspire her to reach her maximum potential. Supportive

parents serve as the bases for her academic and lead-ership triumph. The senior plans to go abroad to help people in countries with less developed healthcare sys-tems. Though simplicity lies beyond her goals, triumph and tunnel vision enthuses her continuation.

“My parents have been very successful in their lives and have pushed me to be the best that I can,” Cope-land said.

Copeland inspects vitamins’ ingredients and affects on people.

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school students at rehearsals. On Saturday morn-ing at the Trade & Convention Center, the Jazz Ensemble will perform their pre-pared concert.

“Michael is a leader and his tal-ents have grown over his high school career,” junior Kris-ta Graham said.

As a marching band drum ma-jor and a skilled saxophone player for seven years, Opitz plans to major in jazz per-formance. Jazz, old or new, leads Opitz to strive for the highest title.

Inside These Walls Inside These Walls8/December 2012 /The Chant December 2012/ TheChant/9

Warrior Elite Dance Team, NC’s own compe-tition dance group, im-pressed judges by winning a dance and cheer compe-tition this October.

“The competition was really interesting because it was a community ser-vice competition for char-ity,” Coach Render said.

Inferno Dance and Cheer

Dance team competes for medals Proud members anticipate performing

by Hannah Gleason

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He Said/She SaidRegular Column

What do students want for the holidays? Girls:

e “I want money, shoes, a fifth generation iPod Touch, and I want to visit London.” — Freshman Julianna Joseph

e “I really want a Nissan Maximum for Christmas.” — Sophomore Alexis May

e “I would love Ray Ban sunglasses.” — Junior Molly Mead

e “I only want money so I can buy gifts that I actu-ally would use and like.” — Senior Sydnee Mata

Boys:

e “I would love money and Vans.” — Freshman Justin Lawrence

e “I want to spend time with my family and hang out with them all break.” — Sophomore Thaddius Macon

e “I want a new stereo system for my bedroom.” — Junior Dillan Duplantis

e “I want a blue Chevy truck.” — Senior Andrew Bassett

al, state, and local levels.“I always enjoy this

night to recognize those who have ex-

ceeded the stan-dards and who focus on their future,” Mr. Reagan, law and justice teacher

and Ex-plorers

coordina-tor, said.

The expo-sition served as

a “parent night” to display the stu-

dents’ talents. Explorers received awards for their accomplishments through-out the year. Students also revealed a presentation on drug arrests and their felony skills.

“I like being with oth-er people who have the same interest as me. I also

Explorers hosted an exposition to showcase successful years at the Acworth Police Depart-ment on Novem-ber 27.

“I used to think cops just car-ry guns and walk around, but now I have a different perceptive about them. It keeps me out of trouble. I’m also looking forward to talking to upcoming freshman about getting into the program,” senior explorer Sabastian Maldo-nado said.

A student who joins the Explorers learns about the law and police skills from law enforce-ment officers at the feder-

by Domonique Goods Students present work at police departmentExplorers inspire local servitude

Sophomore chorus student Brit-tany Yancy enjoys the soulful energy of singing for both NC and her local church.

“When I sing, I feel free. Like it is just my own world where I can be anything I want,” Yancy said.

At age five, Yancy watched her mother sing for her church and through-out the house. Yancy acquired her love for music from her mother and started singing with her church choir.

Yancy sings for the school in her third period class. Bella Voce, the all women chorus class, allows girls to show their school spirit in vocal expression.

“Brittany is such a nice person and her personality shines throughout her music. She is always talking about chorus and how much she loves it,”

Artist SpotlightRegular Feature

by Breckyn BibbChoral student aims for success

hosted the competition and seven judges critiqued the dance teams. To broaden breast cancer awareness, the group participated in many of the competitions available and won first place in the Jazz division.

“This was my first com-petition. The competition was really eye opening, and I was really proud of everyone for showing their

talents,” senior Moneiphae Wilson said.

Despite this being the first competition for many of the members, the team performed flawlessly in their division. Even under pressure, the team pulled together to en-sure a top-notch performance.

“I’ve always been fine in front of people on stage. I still felt nervous though, and other girls’ nerves rode too. It was

really fun in the long haul,” freshman Kala Welcher said.

Continuing with prac-tices and shows, the group plans to perform during NC basketball games when the season starts. With the first game at home against the McEachern Indians on November 27, the group remains enthusiastic about supporting and dancing for the school.

sophomore Taylor Mar-tinez said.

Music solos allow her to flaunt her talent to everyone listening and focus solely on her talent. Group singing has let Yancy bond and create lasting friend-ships, sharing the same passion for music with others and moving her even closer to her church and school.

“Brittany is one of my most expressive students. When she sings, you can hear her true passion for music. I love to watch her sing. She is extremely dedicated to her mu-sic,” Dr. Foster, Chorus teacher, said.

All music genres appeal to Yancy but her deep spiritual love al-ways brings her to her favorite genre: gospel. When singing gospel, she feels a strong con-nection with God and finds emotional energy.

“I could have a bad day and start singing a song and automatically feel better,” Yancy said.

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by Taylor Turpin Holiday aspirations

Yancy sings at a chorus concert.

like the hands-on activi-ties we do. In addition, I am excited for my parents to see that being in the

Explorers is what I love to do,” sophomore explorer Natalie Prado said.

Promoting liberty and

justice throughout the na-tion, the Explores hope that people acknowledge officers’ hard work.

Outside These Walls Outside These Walls10/December 2012/The Chant The Chant/ December 2012 /11

Mars rover discovers carbonPossible life force found

Regular Column

Fact or FictionMiddle Eastern conflict intensifies

Israel and Palestine continue dispute

Indian children freed from sweatshopOrnaments produced through exploitation

by Sabrina Kerns

by Emily JonesGlobal March Against

Child Labor, a human rights group, raided a Delhi, India sweatshop to rescue fourteen children forced to produce orna-ments for western consumers in late November.

“Knowing the world is doing things like this makes me so sad,” sophomore Charli Dunlap said.

Housed in a 6 feet x 6 feet room, unpaid eight to ten year old boys worked up to nineteen hours a day. Unsanitary condi-tions jeopardized the childrens’ lives and without sunlight in rooms, the desolate children could only befriend their fellow laborers. During the holiday season, U.S. consumers might buy ornaments or decorations made by these distraught and mistreated children.

Global March informs newscasts with documentaries about the thousands of children sold into slavery. Gang-masters

manipulate parents by saying their children will receive an ed-ucation and multiple opportu-nities not found in their towns. The gang masters say the chil-dren will earn money to send back to families. Global March’s raid on the sweatshop signifies their intention to end child labor and these unfair practices.

Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who now serves as the United Na-tions special envoy for global education, aids Global March. Brown urges the Indian Parlia-ment to immediately pass the Child and Adolescent Labour Abolition Bill, which would ban all forms of child labor for children younger than 14 years old in India.

“There is no parent in the world who would ever want their child to be subjected to conditions that you see in these films of children in din-gy basements,” Brown said to

Yahoo.com.In 2009, the United Nations

estimated that five million chil-dren aged five to 14 were cur-rently employed in India. How-ever, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) puts the number at about 28 million children.

“I feel like child labor is wrong in ev-ery way because it is practically modern day slavery,” junior Jada DuClair said.

This December, a Child Rights and Anti-Human traffick-ing non-governmental organization in In-dia, Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), and Global March orga-nized a month-long campaign against child labor and traf-ficking in Assam, a northeastern Indian

state. Participants in the “March Against Child Labour and Traf-ficking” walk 300 kilometers (nearly 190 miles), ending three days later in Dhubri, India.

After released from the sweatshop, the children re-

Palestinian protestors shout at Israeli soldiers.

by Alicia BushAs of November 2012,

several attacks on Israel have occurred due to the ongoing conflict concern-ing territories between the Israelites and the Palestin-ians, causing uproar and passionate disagreements in the Middle East.

“It is a situation where both sides will have to compromise. Eventually, they will have to recognize each other and get along,” Dr. Farmer, social studies teacher, said.

The continuing battle relates back to the late 19th century when the Jewish population demanded to settle on their ancestral homeland. After the mass persecution of Jews during the Holocaust, they trav-eled to other countries for safety due to anti-Semi-tism in Russia and Europe; reestablishment of the Jew-

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Cats evicted from ancestral homeShelter ordered to close

by Maya McKenzie

A cat lounges among the ruins of Torre Argentina.

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Among the ruins of four temples, an ancient theater and the location where Bru-tus supposedly stabbed Julius Caesar in Rome, Italy, an un-derground cat shelter and its feline occupants have thrived, but now face eviction due to archaeological concerns.

“While we love the cats almost as much as the an-cient monuments, the sanc-tuary is an illegal construc-tion,” Mariarosaria Barbera, Rome’s archaeological su-perintendent, said.

After the excavation of Largo di Torre Argentina, the square where the ruins are lo-cated, the stray cats of Rome began to take shelter in the areas below street level. Fed by locals, the cats survived

relatively on their own, un-til a retired Shakespearean actor, Antonio Crast, devel-oped a makeshift cat shelter next to the ruins in the 1950s. In the 1960s, the shelter also acquired another supporter in the famous Italian actress Anna Magnani. New found-ers improved the facilities in 1994 when Lia Dequel and Silvia Viviani, a retired opera singer, took over. The shelter now cares for the almost 200 cats largely through volun-teer assistance.

“If I leave these cats here, who sterilizes them? They wouldn’t go to the doctor and say, ‘Hi, doctor, sterilize me,’ or ‘vaccinate me,’” De-quel said.

After contacting the An-

glo-Italian Society for the Pro-tection of Animals (AISPA) in 1995, the new founders, Dequel and Viviani, received much-needed assistance and support. By connecting with tourists and increasing aware-ness, the shelter began to re-ceive finances with which to improve the cats’ lives.

Nowadays, the sanctuary can supply more than food and shelter and now provides medical aid to the cats, includ-ing vaccinations and neuter-ing. Throughout its many years amid the ruins, the shel-ter has become a popular tour-ist location and the Roman City Council even declared in 2001 the cats as part of the city’s “bio-cultural heritage.”

Though the shelter has existed for decades, local ar-chaeologists believe the shel-ter contributes negatively to the site’s preservation. This discontent amounted to an eviction notice recently issued, claiming the shelter as an ille-gal building. Despite this, the shelter workers plan to fight this eviction.

A petition posted on the Culture Ministry’s website has already received over 65,000 signatures. Despite support from many Roman officials, such as Umberto Broccoli, Rome’s superintendent for culture, the shelter’s future re-mains uncertain.

“If they want war, we’ll give them war. The cats need us,” Viviani said.

ish homeland became an active revolution in 1897.

The United Nations de-cided to intervene in the conflict and divide Israel for the sake of both ethnic-ities. Zionism, the belief of a deserved Jewish nation state in the land of Israel, and Arab nationalism still serve as a major reason for the intentions of violence between the groups. In both past and recent situ-ations, a two state solution seems to resolve the issue.

“The United States be-lieves that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestin-ian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and Permanent Israelite bor-ders with Palestine. The borders of Israel and Pal-estine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutu-ally agreed swaps, so that

secure and recognized borders are established for both states,” President Barack Obama said.

In recent events, Gaza City rockets, fire, and explosive bombs cause sleepless nights for many civilians. Several lives have been taken due to the excessive violence and war occurring. Palestin-ian missiles land in areas around Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and air-raid warn-ings sound in both cities. The Hamas, an Arab mili-tary group, desire a Pales-tinian victory. The military group aims for an Islamic fundamentalist Palestin-ian state.

“The Palestinian peo-ple were living in peace and security, then the Is-raelis occupied the land,” Khaled Meshaal, the politi-cal leader of Hamas, said.

by Hannah Gleason

Curiosity, the Mars rover, recently uncovered particles that may signify a monumental finding in the scientific community on Au-gust 6.

“It is a really interesting discovery. I think it is re-ally interesting to think that Mars had things living on it at one point,” sophomore Noah Schindler said.

The recent discovery of carbon, a nonmetallic chemi-cal element, on Mars may prove that living organisms once occupied the planet. When examining samples of Martian soil, Curiosity found that a compound in it reacted with carbon and that this reaction allowed for or-ganic material to form. Many people all over the world, especially NASA, remain hopeful about this discovery.

“We used almost every part of our science payload examining this drift. The synergies of the instruments and richness of the data sets give us great promise for using them at the mission’s main science destination on

Mount Sharp,” Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotz-inger said.

Equipped with cameras, such as the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), and vari-ous other tools, the Curios-ity rover dug up this soil and NASA equipment analyzed the findings to further inves-tigate the found carbon. This process may seem overly complex, but it remains cru-cial for the accurate results just in case Curiosity itself accidentally brought the car-bon with it from Earth.

“We have no defini-tive detection of Martian organics at this point, but we will keep looking in the diverse environments of Gale Crater,” investiga-tor Paul Mahaffy said in a NASA press release.

Of course, scientists must practice reasonable skepticism and test their findings extensively, but the finding still creates excite-ment and hope. Who knows? Maybe one day the martians of the movies will stand as more than just myth.

united with their families from Global March’s help. This event creates questions in western countries on who and under what circumstances makes the decorations cover-ing homes.

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Authorities rescue a child.

1. Kwanzaa means “the new year.”

2. The first candy cane dates back to 1670 in Germany.

3. Christmas stands as the most important Christian holiday.

4. Charles Dickens’s novel A Christmas Carol popular-ized Christmas as a fam-ily event.

5. An average of 5,800 people end up in the emergency room after suffering inju-ries from hanging holiday decorations.

6. A poet wrote Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’s story in 1939.

7. In Hebrew, Hanukkah means “dedication.”

8. All the gifts in the Christmas song 12 Days of Christmas add up to 364 gifts, one for each day of the year.

9. Hanukkah lasts for 10 days.10. Kwanzaa comes from the

year-end harvest festi-vals that have taken place throughout Africa for thousands of years.

1. F: Kw

anzaa actually means “first fruits of the

harvest”. 2. T 3. F: Christm

as stands as the fourth m

ost important C

hristian holiday after Easter, Pentecost, and Epiphany. 4. T 5. T 6. F: In 1939, an advertising em

ployee at a department store w

rote the story of Rudolph the Red-N

osed Reindeer for a store prom

otion. 7. T 8. T 9. F: Hanukkah actually

lasts eight days. 10. T

NASA scientists work on Curiosity.

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Outside These Walls Outside These Walls12/October 2012/The Chant The Chant/ December 2012/ 13

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4835 North Main Street Acworth, GA 30101 770-966-1515

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It’s time for Henry’s Louisiana Grill.

WHERE EVERYDAY IS MARDI GRASby Leah Tongco

Citizens try to clear the road after an uprooted tree blocked the way.

Community recovers from devastationTyphoon ravages Philippines

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Football team heals from player’s suicideKansas Chiefs’s star kills self and girlfriend

by Jawann LawsonAmerica wept with the

Kansas City Chiefs as star linebacker Javon Belcher shot and killed longtime girlfriend Kasandra M. Perkins before killing him-self in front of the Chiefs’ general manager and coach on December 1.

“I did it. I killed her. I got to go. I can’t be here. I have to do this ,” Jovan Belcher said before com-mitting suicide.

After spending the night partying, Belcher returned home and en-gaged in a heated argu-ment with Perkins. He left the argument only to return later with his gun, shooting his girlfr iend seven t imes, which re-sulted in her death.

“I feel that it is a trag-edy that he killed himself and his girlfriend. What is going happen to their child, having to live with-out its parents for the rest of its life?” sophomore Meagan Mwandua said.

Belcher drove to the Kansas City training facil-ity with police in pursuit. He proceeded to speak to coach Romeo Crenell and general manager Scott Pioli. Belcher sincerely thanked Crenell and Pioli for their help through the years.

“I feel the NFL should definitely test their players for psychological problems so that things like this can be avoided all together,” junior Destiny Bandy said.

The murder-suicide raised questions such as if the NFL should screen players for psychological problems on a quarterly

basis. Some feel that if the NFL tested the mental state of players, incidents like this would not happen.

“Never until four hours ago did I think Ja-von was anything but a model citizen. He came to my youth clin-ics in the off-season and worked with kids. He

was a gracious, unselfish, hard-working, dedicated kid — very, very caring of some of the under-privileged kids who came to the clinics. I saw him in a real positive way,” Belcher ’s agent Joe Linta said in an interview with Boston Globe .

The Kansas City Chiefs

felt surprised by what transpired but went on to win their game against the Carolina Panthers after a long losing streak. Sev-eral players stated that he motivated them to play a good game. Kansas play-ers and fans will always remember him as a friend and leader.

Decimating entire com-munities and neighborhoods, Typhoon Pablo (international code name: Bopha) ravaged the southern Philippines on December 4, and casualty and missing individual numbers continue to rise every day.

“I have seen total devas-tation of villages. Neighbor-hoods are completely flat-tened and houses reduced to debris. Entire communities, including pregnant women and children, have no shel-ter,” Luiza Carvalho, coun-try officer for the United Na-tions Office for the Coordina-tion of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said.

The typhoon cyclone slammed into the Visayas and Mindanao, two of the Philip-pines’s three principal geo-graphical divisions. Damage

has concentrated in eastern Mindanao’s Davao Region, devastating the Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental provinces. Flash floods and landslides engulfing whole neighborhoods and 130 miles per hour winds tearing apart fragile houses have displaced hundreds of thousands of people. The storm has also ru-ined farms, signaling a slow and troublesome recovery due to the agricultural sector’s im-portance to the economy. The destruction caused President Aquino to call for a state of national calamity, authorizing a price freeze on basic com-modities and the use of local governments’ calamity funds on December 8.

Almost exactly a year be-fore, Severe Tropical Storm Washi (locally known as Sen-

dong) struck Mindanao, kill-ing 1,268 and causing $48.4 million in damage. Although government authorities claim to have been more prepared, Typhoon Pablo as of Decem-ber 14 has cost $348 million in damage and resulted in 902 fatalities and 934 missing in-dividuals, proving likely to exceed Tropical Storm Washi as the deadliest natural disas-ter since Tropical Storm Thel-ma, which killed more than five thousand in 1991. Hur-ricane Sandy, in comparison, killed 253 persons and cost $65.6 billion.

“I heard nothing, abso-lutely nothing of this, yet I was ambushed with news about Hurricane Sandy. I re-alize it’s our country, but it’s scary to think that something so drastic could be ignored,”

senior Allison Stratton said. With only 136 people res-

cued, rescue numbers appear dismal in light of fatalities and missing individuals. None-theless, relief efforts continue as the government and non-government organizations (NGOs) have supplied victims with $1.85 million worth of re-lief items. Scenes in affected areas, however, illustrate vic-tims’ need and desperation. While many reside in evacua-tion centers, groups of people live in shelters made of debris and beg alongside roads as re-lief trucks drive in.

International aid has also poured in to support relief ef-forts. OCHA made a global appeal to raise $65 million for the Action Plan for Recovery, a six-month process of UN agencies and NGOs meeting

survivors’ needs on Decem-ber 10. The U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disas-ter Assistance (USAID) also plans to provide the Philip-pines $4.5 million. Ameri-can troops in the 3rd Ma-rine Expeditionary Brigade, who were working with the Armed Forces of the Philip-pines in Manila, have also as-sisted relief efforts.

“The Plan will deliver urgently needed food, wa-ter, and emergency shelter, and other urgent assistance to 480,000 seriously af-fected people in the worst hit areas. In the weeks and months to come, support will be provided to assist emotional as well as physi-cal recovery, with particular attention to the needs of the most vulnerable,” OCHA said in a press release.

Social media has also proved its usefulness as the Filipino community contin-ues to send updates both within and outside the coun-try. Twitter has created a page allowing users to follow up-dates, news, and even person-al tweets concerning Typhoon Pablo, hashtagged #PabloPH.

“I am profoundly moved by the Filipino people and their determination to help each other during this time. We pledge to work alongside them and the government for as long as it takes to get every-one back on their feet,” Carv-alho said.

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The team kneels in prayer after a game.

Arts & Entertainment Arts & Entertainment14/December 2012/The Chant The Chant/December 2012/15

Sparks fly for artistic creations Liquid metal twists into personal masterpieces

The workers pour iron in the molds, creating art for the attendees.by Amelia Carchia

Iron Pour 2012 at Georgia State University (GSU) pro-vided the public an opportu-nity to create sculptures, view local art, and watch the old trade of metal working for the 41st consecutive year on De-cember 8.

“The Georgia State Iron Pour is an annual tradition started by the renowned sculp-tor and foundry man George Beasley. This event provides an opportunity for colleges, universities, and individual artists to come together and create unique iron cast sculp-ture. It also provides an op-portunity for the public to see and participate in what we do first hand,” Keith Smith, Iron Pour enthusiast, said.

Attendees began by scratching their designs into molds. Workers then sprayed resin on the molds and poured in molten iron. The iron would harden, and within half an hour, people could take their artwork home.

“This year was my year to organize. It is basically like organizing a party for 300 people and trying to include

Regular Column

What’s the T?by Domonique Goods

Fans once knew Lindsay Lo-han as the sweet, innocent, ginger girl from The Parent Trap, but now her fans know her as “LiLo the hot mess.”

Lohan appeared in her first movie, The Parent Trap, in 1998. She later appeared in the hit movies Freaky Friday, Confessions of a Teen-age Drama Queen, Mean Girls, and Herbie Fully Loaded. With all of her success, it seemed as though Lohan could do no wrong —until 2010.

In November 2010 for a mov-ie role in Cannes, Lohan missed a mandatory DUI progress hearing. The problem led police to issue a bench warrant for her arrest and later ordered her to attend alcohol education classes, wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet, and undergo random drug tests to remain free on bail. Later in July 2010, a judge

LiLo leaves trail of destruction

Marietta museums bring art to the massesGalleries present new artistic outlets

Marietta-Cobb’s Museum of Art, founded by visionary art pa-trons, holds the largest visual arts center and the only Metropolitan-Atlanta fine arts museum focused on American art in historic Mari-etta Square.

“Our goal is to bring the community together through art,” Emily Ryals, membership coordinator, said.

Their museum continues to collect artwork for its ever grow-ing collections. While showcasing different exhibitions throughout the year, people can also visit fea-tured artists on certain days. Tours, lectures, classes, and art camps regularly offer visitors educational, social, and cultural opportunities.

The visual arts center displays a collection of the finest Ameri-can art of the 21st century, such as paintings, sculptures, and other artistic pieces. It also offers tours, lectures, and workshops.

High school students with an interest in art can attend a class that will focus on techniques and creat-ing complex artworks to include in a professional portfolio. Stu-dents can use studio time, receive constructive critiques, and learn how to prepare their artwork for

by Breckyn Bibb

presentation. By taking this class, students gain an advantage at cre-ating a portfolio for college entry and scholarships to art schools.

“The museum is beautiful and even just seeing the outside of the building you know right away that the art inside will blow you away,” Jadan Oles, Marietta resident, said.

In 1989, the Cobb County-Marietta Public Library left the Post Office building on Atlanta Street to move into a new building on Ro-swell Street. During this same time in September, the Marietta-Cobb Fine Arts Center changed its name to the museum. On April 5, 1990 the Marietta-Cobb Museum of Art officially opened in the former post office building chosen by the Cobb County Commission.

Dedication to fulfilling its slo-gan “building community through art” shows throughout the muse-um’s range of events and activities. The staff greets viewers as soon as they walk in.

The museum creates an ev-erlasting experience for both cur-rent and future artists. Whether visiting the museum alone, or with family and friends, viewers will remember the museum and the unique art.

as much fun/dangerous stuff as possible. The most dreaded and most necessary task is breaking apart the iron that we put in the furnaces to melt down. All you have is a sledge-hammer and a pile of old ra-diators, which you then have to break down into pieces no larger than a Dorito. After all the preparatory work is done, then the actual day of the pour is a breeze,” Jessica Miller, Iron Pour 2012 planner, said.

Coal (char) fueled a colos-sal furnace in the back of the blocked work area. Occasion-ally, a worker would climb the stairs to the furnace top where a fire raged and add more coal, thrilling the crowd.

“I thought Iron Pour was an interesting event to attend since people do not get to see that art form anymore and it was different from other art shows you can see in Atlanta,” Paige Pruett, Iron Pour attend-ee, said.

Sporadically, the workers poured molten iron from the furnace bottom into a smaller bucket to use for the molds. At times the alcohol resin did not

fully evaporate causing sparks to fly and fire would erupt. The smell of burning coal per-meated the entire area.

When workers broke molds to gather the metal art, fire broke out, caus-ing excitement in the crowd. The heat from each mold seeped towards the crowd, warming everyone

on an already balmy day.I ron Pour uses pro f -

i t s fo r the Edgewood Sculpture Forum for d i f f e rent pro jec t s . Las t year, the money went to a ga l l e ry on the s tudio grounds . Th i s year, how-ever, the money funds a t r ip to the Armory Show in New York .

Each worker an -swered questions and dealt with concerns, which created a welcom-ing environment. Iron Pour 2012 successfully provided an opportunity to view an often-unseen craft . I t also connected the community through art and experience.

declared that Lohan violated her probation by missing classes and sentenced her to 90 days in jail fol-lowed by 90 days of rehabilitation treatment. Lohan only served 14 days due to overcrowding.

After stealing from a jewelry store in January, in February 2011, Lohan received a sentence of 120 days in prison and 480 hours of community service, but again, due to over-crowding, served her sentence by house arrest.

Then, on November 20, vid-eos showed Lohan handcuffed and being led into a cop car. Reportedly Lohan flirted with Max George, lead singer of The Wanted in a club. As they flirted, Lohan became ex-tremely intoxicated, pushing George into fortune-teller, Tiffany Mitchell’s arms. Once she noticed George with another woman, Lohan punched

the female in the face. Lohan claims that the accusations of hitting Mitch-ell were false and that she only called her a “gypsy.” Later, hauled off by police, Lohan faced charges of mis-demeanor assault. She will appear in court on January 7.

In addition to police trouble, Lohan also has money troubles as well. Reports say that Lohan owes $200,000 in taxes and that failed ac-tor, Charlie Sheen, gave Lohan $ 100, 000 to help her out. Unfortunately, Lohan still lacks funds to pay the rest of her bill. It seems as though if Lohan receives money from some-one who clearly needs help himself, then that must mean that she has of-ficially hit rock bottom.

Although society continuous-ly offers Lohan chances, it seems that someone should tell her when to quit and send her to rehab.

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Arts & Entertainment Arts & Entertainment16/ December 2012/ The Chant The Chant/ December 2012/17

Holiday events expand Christmas spirits Greater Atlanta area provides seasonal character by Domonique Goods

Rather than waiting for Christ-mas, one can try to participate in various holiday activities to put themselves into the holiday spirit.

In school, try “secret santa” with a group of friends. This gift exchange serves not only to receive and gift presents early, but a won-derful excuse to take a break from school. With the stress and strain of finals, the holidays can put any teen into a funk. So winding down the semester with “secret santa” be-tween classmates will push them to interact with each other and will definitely prepare them for the Christmas break and put them in a better mood for the holidays.

Outside of school, one could partake in the various activities held in Atlanta such as the Garden Lights at the Botanical Gardens, Cirque du Soleil’s TOTEM, Christ-mas and Snow Mountain at Stone Mountain, Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcrack-er, and Christmas at Callanwolde. The Garden Lights, Holiday Nights glimmer with over one million lights while the show blankets the Garden’s 30 acres in shimmering color. Cirque de Soleil will also per-form at the Big Top at Atlantic with their new show, TOTEM. In addi-tion, Atlanta’s Ballet’s Nutcracker returns to the Fabulous Fox Theatre. With these activities, one should at-tend with their family because the basis of Christmas means coming together as one and enjoying the times spent together.

If one cannot venture too far, try decorating home. Baking holiday cookies and cakes ensures beneficial not only for eating tasty treats, but also to bond with family. In addition, one could decorate their house by decorating a Christmas tree with various ornaments or reefs and other tapestry. Also, one could decorate the outside of the house with Christmas lights or an inflat-able Santa. A person who sees the lights outside of the home will feel the Christmas spirit inside.

So, if tired of the ordinary, one should delve into holiday activities and create new memories this year.

Regular Column

Fashion Cornerby Jordan Grubb

Style tips for spicing up holiday outfits

Regular Column

Just Eat It

by Maddie Swab

Unique restaurants bust boredom

With winter break and the many holidays that fill it approaching quickly, visiting funky restaurants and trying new dishes spice up what could otherwise be a dull break.

Flip Burger Boutique$$Flip has been around for

only a few years, but the menu constantly changes. Celebrity chef and owner Richard Blais mixes the classic items and ingenious original items like Flip’s liquid nitrogen milk-shakes. The Farmer beef burg-er, turkey Flip burger, and lam-burger Flip burger all include surprise culinary elements, yet are tame enough for the fearful eater. Patrons love the pomegranate ketchup on the turkey Flip burger. For sides, the house-made French fries, vodka battered onion rings, and sweet potato tots all start the meal off right. Plus, each comes with its own condiment: smoked mayo/ketchup for the French fries, beer mustard for the onion rings, and coffee barbeque and blue cheese foam sauces for the tots. The milk-shakes make the meal, though. All are delectable and exciting to witness when they arrive decked out in a liquid nitrogen haze, but the most notewor-thy shake flavors include the Nutella and burnt marshmal-low and the different seasonal shakes on the menu.

Flip Burger Boutique is located in Atlanta, one in west Midtown and one in Buckhead. Head to www.flipburgerboutique.com for a complete menu and more in-formation.

Taqueria Tsunami$

Family parties likely call for formal attire. Today’s holi-day dress trends contain spar-kles and/or embellishments, and this year’s newest darling trend, cutouts.

These characteristics add a wow factor to a ho-hum dress. Sparkles and embellish-ments can make aspiring fash-ionistas look glamorous and more unique than someone in a generic holiday dress.

Mostly perceived as a summer trend, cutouts still

appear in stores everywhere; they can add edge to a dress without looking atrocious. With these guidelines, one can find a perfect dress for those holiday parties.

Statement jewelry: for the girl who loves bling. State-ment jewelry pieces can in-clude a bold necklace, sparkly earrings, or bulky rings and a cuff. These paired with a plain blouse and pants, skirt, or dress will look sophisticated. Jewelry spices up anything

from plain to stylish. Friends’ parties require

less formality. Pick the most comfortable jeans and visit the nearest thrift store for a holi-day themed sweater, and voi-la! The thrift store offers every sweater imaginable. Vintage, tacky sweaters have appeared all over blogs and in stores. These trends become fashion forward by rewinding trends to the mid 80’s. One will ap-pear unique and comfortable throughout the night!

This gem in Marietta Square arrived in the summer and serves delectable Asian/Latin fusion food. The queso and warm tortillas instantly reveal that this taco joint con-tains much more than stan-dard beef tacos and cheese enchiladas. Salads, tacos, tsu-nami bowls, and quesadillas compose the main course side of the menu, with desserts and starters beckoning taste buds. When visiting Taqueria Tsunami for the first time, the restaurant recommends order-ing two tacos and a side to get the full fusion experience. The taco stunners include the asa-da zing taco, shrimp tempura taco, rich man’s taco, Thai chicken taco, gringo taco, and rising sun taco.

Taqueria Tsunami is open at Marietta Square and has an-other location at The Shoppes of Atlanta in Woodstock opening soon. Visit www.taqueriatsu-nami.com for more fusion fun.

TAP$$If looking for more adven-

ture and innovation, the gas-tropub TAP suits those needs. Mainly known for its impres-sive number of beers served on tap, TAP also offers classier version of pub food. Lunch-time is truly the time to visit for light food and a beautiful view of Peachtree Street. The chips and charred tomato salsa start the meal off on the right gastropub track. The chefs el-evate the salsa through a slight culinary twist on the ordinary. The burgers and sandwiches also stand out, but the tacos taste delish. The buttermilk fried chicken and shrimp a la diabla tacos are perfectly sea-

soned and take the classic taco and shove it out the door. Of course, no meal seems com-plete without dessert, and TAP’s dessert stuns. The milk chocolate crème brulee is un-usual, mouthwatering, and makes the lucky eater crave it for months after.

TAP has one location in Atlanta. Tap into www.tapat1180.com for a complete menu and more information.

Sublime Doughnuts$One need only look at the

title to know how much fla-vor these balls of fried dough possess. Sublime Doughnuts serves doughnuts, of course, but also offers ice cream burg-ers (one scoop of ice cream sandwiched between two halves of a doughnut) and hip sodas. Ice cream burgers—enough said. Their best work, however, can be found in their classic doughnuts. Standouts include the fresh strawberry ‘n’ cream, Reese’s peanut but-ter cup, chocolate banana frit-ter, chocolate wild berry frit-ter, Nutella, sweet potato cake, orange dream star, s’mores, caramel apple fritter, and Atlanta’s namesake A-town cream doughnuts.

Sublime is located in At-lanta near Georgia Tech and in Bangkok, Thailand. This writer doubts that anyone will fly to Bangkok for a doughnut, but if any doughnuts deserve that special trip, Sublime’s do. If not in the mood for a long trip, jet over to www.sublim-edoughnuts.com for some sweet dough.

$=Really cheap$$=Moderately priced

Flip’s rBQ burger and the restaurant’s French fries cause mouths to water and belt buckles to burst.

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Regular Column

Lazy Boy Comicsby Jawann Lawson

Review Review18/December 2012/The Chant The Chant/December 2012/19

Marina & the Diamonds shines at concert

by Maddie Swab

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Atlanta learns “how to be a heartbreaker”

Del Rey leaves music scene with a fizzleSlow CD disappoints fans

Small beginning stretches outThe Hobbit takes its time

PPPPPWelsh popstar Marina &

the Diamonds, accompanied by Swedish DJ and synthpop duo Icona Pop, brought her high-energy songs and relat-able lyrics to Atlanta on De-cember 12.

Icona Pop began the night by mixing songs from their first album Icona Pop and en-couraging dancing and sing-ing. The duo, composed of Aino Jawo and Caroline Hjelt, started out with “Manners” and continued to pump up the audience with their songs, stage presence, and interaction with the audience. After they

finished performing, Iawo and Hjelt told the audience to meet them after the concert at the merchandise stand and pro-ceeded to jump down from the stage and into the crowd.

After Icona Pop left the stage, the crew began setting up for Marina & the Diamonds. Marina brought a giant teddy bear, many props, and a giant marquee sign flashing “Elec-tra Heart.” The crowd roared as Marina came on stage wearing a veil and holding a bouquet, perfectly outfitted for her opening song “Home-wrecker.” Her vocals sounded perfect and her dance moves

seemed girly and quirky, re-flecting the general feel of her album Electra Heart. After her first song, Marina asked the excited crowd “Are you ready for a costume change, At-lanta?” and proceeded to don a sheer nightgown over her clothes. She switched between performing songs from Electra Heart with those from her first album The Family Jewels.

Marina changed into mul-tiple costumes throughout the night, coordinating her accessories with her songs. For “Hollywood,” she shook around a pompom and car-ried a tray with an oversized burger and soda replica, and she wore a light-up heart belt for “Radioactive.” Marina also delighted the crowd by throw-ing her bouquet and confetti in to the crowd, and one ador-ing fan even threw a stuffed poodle up to Marina.

Instead of just singing her songs, Marina also interacted with the crowd, even going to the extent of inviting a fan who felt like she could not breathe out of excitement up to the stage. She also introduced the audience to her toy dog Mari-lyn, whose imaginary stint in a rehab center “inspired” Ma-rina’s song “Primadonna.”

One of the strongest mo-ments of the night was when Marina performed her most personal song, “Obsessed,” on the keyboard. This provided a more heartfelt feeling to the song and made the audience connect with her more.

The venue, Center Stage, seemed smaller than expected, lending an intimate feeling to the concert. The vocals of the performers, the props, and the interaction with the crowd made the Lonely Hearts Club Tour a success and let Ma-rina’s talent shine even more.

by Maya McKenzie

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PPPDespite this first install-

ment’s splendid acting and fantastical setting, Peter Jack-son’s The Hobbit: An Unexpect-ed Journey, prelude to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, obviously struggles to stretch a small book into three lengthy films.

For those unacquainted with J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth and its inhabitants, The Hobbit begins in the Shire, a quaint, bucolic landscape. Like most Hobbits (small, human-like beings with large hairy feet and a stout bearing) Bilbo Baggins leads an unre-markable, yet cozy life—un-til a company of 12 dwarves and a wizard employ him as a burglar on a quest to recap-ture their ancestral home.

Adapted from Tolkien’s book, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, The Hobbit: An Un-expected Journey sets the stage for a film trilogy. Though the book consists of a mere 310 pages, the movies (at about 3 hours each) will ultimately end as a trilogy. Many Tolkien fans have expressed outrage at this blatantly profit-seeking venture, and reasonably so.

The film’s beginning drags on and takes an out-rageous amount of time to leave the Shire. Events that should have received a small amount of screen time were exploited to their full potential, and the story seems to have been painfully stretched almost to its break-ing point. At the most, two movies would have best suit-ed this adaptation. As this first film shows, three mov-ies seem certainly excessive.

In spite of this major set-back, the marvelous acting, engaging plot, and gorgeous New Zealand scenery certain-ly compensate for the movie’s slow takeoff. Martin Free-man’s performance as Bilbo proves especially commend-able, as he transforms from a flustered “Halfling” to an ad-venturous burglar.

As the beginning of the trilogy, The Hobbit expect-edly seems slow, but as the journey continues, the ex-citement grew. Now that the journey has begun, au-diences can likely expect the next two films to prove far more intriguing.

by Jordan GrubbPPPPLana Del Rey’s new al-

bum Born to Die: Paradise Edition pushes her style from elegantly troubled to sad and provocative.

At first listen, a Del Rey fan will immediate-ly recognize her voice. This album showcases her strengths, including her vast vocal range from smoky to silky to sassy. Born to Die displays her strengths too, but Paradise just extends that display.

The music, however, drags and indeed seems quite lethargic. Her more pop-like songs on this al-bum surprisingly sound quite slow. For example, in the track “Body Electric,” the chorus sounds less up-beat compared to “National Anthem”’s on Born to Die.

Overall, the album sounds melodramatic. The first track, “Ride” basi-cally claims that no way to improve life exists, so

one should just “ride.” Then in “Gods and Mon-sters” she states, “If I get a little prettier, can I be your baby?” This seems to dis-play some insecurity and desire for love. Ironically enough, Paradise displays more of her rough, emo-tional experiences, despite some explicit material. If one listens to this whole album it seems to tell a story. The album elabo-rates on her life, perhaps more than Born to Die.

In her song “Body Electric” the first lyric says “Elvis is my daddy, Marilyn’s my mother, Je-sus is my bestest friend.” Could Del Rey be this gen-eration’s Marilyn Monroe? They definitely share simi-lar vocals, both possess-ing a smooth silky voice. They also both came from a tough background.

Born to Die appeared much happier and more like party music. This musical

shift may confuse fans. She plans to retire, from the mu-sic industry. Maybe Del Rey remained more focused on her directorial responsibili-

ties than this album. A few songs from this album did inspire her to make a short film that she now looks for-ward to writing. The musi-

cal community will sorely miss her, although she could always produce mu-sic for her films. Fans must wait and see.

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Top 10 Movies of 2012

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Last installment proves anticlimacticTwilight: Breaking Dawn tortures audiences

Breaking Dawn defies boredom with tantalizing twistFleshing out a fantasy world

by Carli Troutman

by Domonique Goods

PPTwilight’s last installment

of the awfully directed saga not only includes terrible acting but also poorly executed computer-generated imagery (CGI) effects, and overall proved extremely lackluster and cheesy.

The awful editing and hor-rendous special effects make the movie extremely tasteless. If the

people responsible for the spe-cial effects had worked harder to make everything realistic and not corny, the movie would not have ended up as unbearably cheesy and boring. The effects the mov-iemakers used on the miraculous baby made it. The producers should have just used a real baby; not everything in Twilight need appear far-fetched.

PPPPWhen Summit Entertain-

ment informed fans that Twi-light: Breaking Dawn would split into two parts, “Twi-hards” felt betrayed, but af-ter two excruciating years, it proved worth the wait.

When people read, they try to imagine what the writer tries to convey through their words, so when a book turns into a movie, the reader wants to feel that dream become a reality. The director, Bill Con-don, portrays that dream by bringing Renesmee to life. In the book it describes little “Nessie” vaguely, so audi-ences enjoyed seeing Macken-zie Foy represent this angelic child their favorite characters, Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kristen Stewart).

The movie also provided fans with visual representa-tions of different vampire covens such as those from Denali, India, Ireland, and

even the Amazon. Condon presented fans with an ex-cellent example of what the different covens look like as well. Down to the fake con-tacts, the costumes, and the different personalities, it appeared as though book-worms watched a scene they frequently re-read thirstily. Although interesting to see, the movie’s only problem lay in some of the vampires not speaking enough. Although a director cannot put a 600-page book into a 90-minute movie, the covens appeared as part of the display, not as vital to the story.

Although it represented everything fans wanted from this film, the best part con-sists of Bella’s transforma-tion from vampire to human. Fans always viewed Bella as a damsel in distress, but once she becomes a vampire, she starts become a strong, independent heroine.

Once again, the poor actors from the last movie made an ap-pearance again, which just added to the terrible special effects by making the whole movie cruel to viewers’ hearts. Kristen Stewart, who plays Isabella Swan, has not improved her acting skills since the first movie because she still shows no emotion and looks life-less. Robert Pattinson looks as if he suffers and despises acting. Throughout the entire movie, the two actors look so awkward to-gether and do not seem to show any connection at all. The direc-tor’s guidance in acting is nonex-istent and displeasing to viewers.

Contributing to the movie’s setbacks, the terrible twist ending confuses the audience by chang-ing the entire ending of the book. Producers included the twist end-ing to distract from the terrible and uncomfortable beginning. The ending may slightly improve the film but that short scene defi-nitely cannot compensate for five movies worth of poorly directed scenes. The ending simply an-gered viewers. People truly be-lieved they would actually com-plete all of these changes to the books ending, even though they already ruined all the other books.

Generally the entire movies stayed uncomfortable and just made everyone in the audience cringe and want to leave the the-ater. This movie stands nowhere near what it could have achieved; all of the Twilight movies are just an awful production of wonder-ful books.

Stephenie Meyer, the creator of the franchise, said that Breaking Dawns meta-phorically resembles Bella’s progression throughout the entire saga. She began as the weakest player on the board, the pawn, and metamorpho-ses into the strongest on the board, the queen. Condon cleanly emphasizes this in the movie when he shows Bella hunting or whenever she de-fends her family.

This movie represents the book perfectly. To end a franchise as monumental as this one, a director must attempt the unthinkable. In the book, for example, it did not include a lot of ac-tion, but Condon provides fans with a brilliant and unexpected twist that left the Twilight series in awe.

Although the franchise has indeed come to an end, Twilight will remain in fans’ hearts forever.

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Review Review20/December 2012/The Chant The Chant/December 2012/21

Regular Column

Horrific games for Halloween

by Leah Tongco

Level Up!Rihanna returns racy, yet dullUnapologetic produces sorry sounds

Girl on Fire lacks focus and qualityKeys’s experimentation loses fans

Fairy tales find modern voicesPhilip Pullman retells traditional stories

Tiger’s tale entrances audiencesLife of Pi creates emotional adventure

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by Amelia CarchiaPPPPDistinguished author Phil-

lip Pullman retells the Broth-ers Grimm fairy tales through a modern, personal lens that remains true to the original works while developing Pull-man’s voice in Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New Eng-lish Version.

“These stories in Grimm are a snapshot of something in movement. They are freezing something that was in motion, so I thought I was entitled. I was justified in my wish to al-ter them again to tell them as I would if I were telling them orally,” Pullman said in the Weekend Edition podcast.

Pullman chose 50 of his fa-vorite earliest Grimm stories to retell. The Brothers Grimm often edited and re-edited the narratives to evolve with the times, so when Pullman used the original plots, the stories shock new readers who did not

know the gruesome endings. At the end of each book, Pullman offers historical background and explanation for each story, enlightening people to the dis-crepancies in the popular versus original versions.

In “Rapunzel,” the witch discovers Rapunzel’s secret meetings with the prince when she gets pregnant. Not as the edited version states of Rapunzel asking the witch why pulling the prince up the tower proved easier than her. The tightening clothes sig-naled Rapunzel’s pregnancy to the witch, something edited out to fit in more conservative times. Pullman however re-veals these stories with mod-ern language by changing archaic words and structure, such as ”then he wandered quite blind about the forest” to “blinded in body and broken in spirit.” This makes the two-hundred-year-old stories like

Rapunzel feel fresh and new.Another example, “The

Frog King,” also takes a dif-ferent course from the known “Princess and the Frog.” In this rendition, the frog does not turn into a prince from a kiss but from the princess throwing him against the wall.

While these stories shock readers who may not know about the often gory, grim, and grotesque fairy tale endings, they provide key insight into the morals of Germans two hun-dred years ago. This, in many ways, makes Pullman’s rendi-tion more realistic and interest-ing than joyful Disney versions.

The ambitious goal to retell Grimm from Pullman’s per-spective demonstrated success in wonderfully crafted stories, so that old favorites supply readers with a new experience. Pullman upheld these stories’ traditions, profiting with a satis-factory book.

by Sabrina KernsPPPPThe Life of Pi, film directed

by Ang Lee, and book written by Yann Martel, both amaze readers and viewers with the incredible story of a teenage boy trapped on a lifeboat in the vast Pacific Ocean with a Ben-gal tiger as his only companion.

Both the book and movie move the audience with Pi’s ter-rifying story. The story begins with him living on his family’s zoo in Pondicherry, India. His family encounters financial issues and decides to move to Canada and sell their animals in North America. Everything collapses, however, when their ship sinks and Pi (played by debuting actor Suraj Sharma) must survive on a lifeboat with a ferocious tiger named Richard Parker.

Pi struggles to survive with little drinking water and, with no food in sight, the tiger sees Pi as the only meal. He stays alive by keeping himself busy with writ-ing his thoughts in the lifeboat

manual and never losing hope.Aside from a few details, the

book seems almost identical to the movie. Pi talks much more about the animals in his zoo and his interest in religion in the book, and the details make it slightly more emotional than the movie. Other than that, they seem ex-tremely similar.

Yann Martel wrote the novel beautifully, and the book contains nothing that might confuse the reader. The only possibly confus-ing chapters, written entirely in italics, add mystery to the novel. Martel adds to this intrigue by including an unknown narrator that readers meet towards the end of the book.

The remarkable story creates teary eyes in the audience, leav-ing no questions unanswered. It ends with a twist that tears the audience from their seats and into an uproar. The adventurous story leaves viewers satisfied, but the emotional story planted in their minds grows into a life lesson.

Mythical guardians rise to impressFamily film fosters fun

Do not let the impend-ing apocalypse ruin the holidays; instead, cozy up and revisit games’ post-apocalyptic worlds as chaos ensues outside.

While some might ar-gue that titles such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and the Fallout series amount to little more than shooters with a scenery change, the post-apocalypse genre de-serves merit for success-fully creating a creepy, barely alive world.

The Fallout series offers not only a wasteland to ex-plore but also a retrofuturis-tic society taking cues from America’s post-war 1950s. Housewives in A-line skirts accompanied by robot help-

ers appear in pub-lic announcements advertising ways to deal with a nuclear explosion. This also manifests in game-play, as players scavenge through houses and build-ings reminiscent of the time.

Although the series initially be-gan as turn-based RPGs on PC, it has since taken a new face with open-world shooters also available on con-sole. While mocked as “Oblivion with guns,” the deviat-ing mechanics in Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas present a chance to immerse oneself with the first-person per-spective and fast-paced gameplay.

Nonetheless, the first two deserve a revisit, especially for their quirky humor. Just beware the super mutants.

For those desiring a more horrific world, the open world first-person shooter S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series amps up the creepiness in a world ravaged by nuclear disaster. Players explore the Zone of Exclusion, created by a nucle-ar accident and, after a second explosion, infested by homi-cidal mutants. Granting play-ers few resources and handi-capping them in a world that wants them dead, the games overflow with nightmare fuel.

As the holidays arrive, post-apocalyptic games can cheer up anyone for the world’s demise.

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Regular Column

Bizarre books to perplex readers

by Maya McKenzie

Maya’s Library

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by Jawann LawsonPPAfter the release of Alicia

Keys’s album Girl on Fire, fans riled in erringly familiar bal-lads and haphazard upbeat party songs.

Keys returned after a three year hiatus from music with the idea to reinvent her musi-cal representation. According to Keys, she learned from her experiences, which inspired her to create Girl On Fire. The album embodies changes in her life from marriage, co-managing, and producing, to birthing her child Egypt.

Her hit single and her title song, provides the only instance of an expert attempt at crafting a quality pop song. Unlike Keys’s usual songs, this song provides a mid-tempo with a catchy chorus. The disc version includes the Inferno

remix featuring Nicki Minaj, which adds an extra flare to Alicia Keys’s own. Their con-trasting lyrical styles presents something new to Keys’s fans.

Her second single “Brand New Me” reunites Keys’s lyri-cal ability and initiates a em-pathetic feeling all around. “Brand New Me” tells the sto-ry of a woman in an overbear-ing relationship who comes into her own artist. “New Day” encompasses a party anthem executed with a nice rhythmic touch. Keys collabo-rated with her husband Kas-seem Dean, also known as Swizz Beatz, and Dr. Dre to create this party song. “Tears Always Win” compares to one of her past singles, “Teenage Love Affair,” as they both use old school soulful styles to convey their message.

Unfortunately, while some of the songs represent masterpieces, others fail to do so. “When It’s All Over” awk-wardly usurps an awkward beat mixed with lackluster vo-cals in a failed attempt to cre-ate music.

The CD supposedly in-spired by change surprisingly stayed the same. Yes, Keys experimented with different genres, not all sound good, and most of her slower bal-lads sound oddly familiar. While she wrote in the name of change and reinvention, the themes remained the same as always: self-motivation and perseverance. How many times should audiences hear it before they understand it?

Everything appears rushed in the album. Although some songs appealed to the ears, others seemed as if an 11-year-old could write it bet-ter. “Limitedness” especially fails to emphatically emulate the reggae genre.

Furthermore, the album includes a couple forgettable songs. Keys struggles to find a particular identity with her music throughout the whole production. Girl On Fire defi-nitely disappoints when com-pared to her past albums such as As I Am and The Diary of Alicia Keys. Whether she wants to remain a soulful singer or transition to a reggae artist, pop singer, or whatever, she needs to decide. Luckily, Ali-cia remains youthful and can always make up for her mis-takes in the next production. Better luck next time.

PPPDisplaying particularly ruth-

less behavior, Rihanna presented the music world with Unapolo-getic, her seventh album of risky, albeit satisfactory music.

The Barbadian princess’s leading single, “Diamonds,” topped the charts of the Billboard Top 100, making it her twelfth number one single. This particular song strays away from her current lyrical style. Though fans have adapted to Rihanna’s profane lan-guage and lovesick lyrics, the full-throated vocals and inspirational words of the hit single appeals to many audiences.

“Loveeeee Song (ft. Future)” may aggravate listeners who de-

by Alicia Bushspise auto-tune, but the song’s sensual beat compensates for Fu-ture’s amateur singing. Because the song mentions the need for love and affection in relationships, one can expect this song to spark every teenage girl’s interest—per-haps because teenagers possess extreme experience in this area.

“Nobody’s Business (ft. Chris Brown)” makes paparaz-zi and fans even more curious about the reckless relationship between the famous couple. The song states, “You’ll always be mine/ sing it to the world/ always be my boy/ always be your girl,” which confirms the two’s restored liaison. Though Brown’s feature in the duet per-

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by Hannah Gleason PPPP

Incorporating a medley of iconic holiday figures and myths, Rise of the Guardians pro-vides family-friendly winter en-tertainment this holiday season.

Jack Frost (voiced by Chris Pine), enthralled audiences from the moment previews for the film rolled out, and after watch-ing the film it remains easy to see why he and the movie garner such affection.

William Joyce’s stories, which the movie originates from, receive a charming and whimsi-cal adaptation from writer Da-vid Lindsay-Abaire. Beloved actors such as Alec Baldwin and Jude Law lend their voices to roles such as North (the Santa Claus figure) and Pitch (the nightmarish villain) respectively, and viewers quickly become at-tached to the cast of characters

and well-known actors.Gorgeous animation adds

to the wonder, with many in-tricate details weaving an extra layer of amazement to the char-acters. Jack Frost already gains attention with his shock of white hair and icy blue eyes, but if one looks closer they notice surpris-ing details such as the snowflake patterns in Jack’s irises added as an extra reference to Jack’s Win-ter Spirit status.

Additional care and detail-ing shows in the villain charac-ter, Pitch. As the embodiment of childhood fear and nightmares, Pitch’s design mesmerizes with his well-done and frightening depiction of all that scares chil-dren. Animators created a truly scary villain in him that suc-ceeds in frightening the younger crowd, but may not impress older viewers.

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plexes the audience, the pair created a cute anthem for those in questionable relationships.

While she has portrayed the “sweetheart gone sharp” image since the incident between her and Brown, Rihanna seems to have mellowed. Songs portrayed on the new album release discuss her new calm, yet racy image.

Consistently dropping al-bums each year, Rihanna can expect a well-sold album. She considers her fans the “Ri-hanna Navy,” simply because they fight to protect Rihanna’s image. As she anticipates the statistics of her new album, she will see how faithful the navy prevails.

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When ordinary fiction loses its luster, when sensible writing fails to allure, one can always ven-ture into the uncertain, exciting realm of experimental writing. Two authors, Mark Danielewski and Italo Calvino, provide simple and engaging introductions to avant-garde literature.

Danielewski’s debut novel House of Leaves consists of two inter-twined narratives, both attempt-ing to understand the disturbing transformation of a Virginia house. The novel opens with the story of Johnny Truant, a tattoo parlor em-ployee and an unreliable narrator. While exploring Zampanò’s, a re-cently deceased man’s apartment, he discovers a scholarly study of The Navidson Record, a fictional film. The Navidson Record, a docu-mentary supposedly made by a famous photojournalist, chronicles the slow distortion of his family’s home. What begins as only a slight difference between the size of the house indoors and the size out-doors suddenly morphs into a ter-rifying labyrinth as a lengthy, dark

corridor suddenly appears. As Truant reads through Zampanò’s manuscript, he adds footnotes and adds his own story to the story of The Navidson Record.

The text’s arrangement cre-ates an unusual, winding reading experience. At times, only one or two words may appear on a page or text will face the opposite direction. Not only might the text befuddle the reader, but the copi-ous amount of footnotes, which reference both other footnotes and fictional sources, can also contrib-ute to the overwhelming effect the book creates. Though trying to de-cipher the novel’s format can ex-haust a reader, the story certainly deserves a read.

Calvino’s novel, If on a winter’s night a traveler, also provides an in-novative and unusual story struc-ture. It begins as a second person narrative— a reader sits down to begin Italo Calvino’s new novel If on a winter’s night a traveler— but once the reader reaches a crucial point in the plot, the book stops. The story continues in this manner, seamlessly alternating between the second person narrative and a portion of a completely differ-ent novel. Calvino’s unusual take on writing manages to present a cohesive story through the second person narrative while constantly being interrupted by the equally engaging other novel portions.

Both these novels disre-gard conventional storytell-ing, and instead opt for an ex-citing and original interpreta-tion of literature.

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The Chant/December 2012/23

Sports22/December 2012/The Chant

Sports

by Emily Jones

Regular Column

Warrior of the Month

The Health ExpoWarriors win third place

To complete his senior year on the highest note, Jerry McQuade strives for excellence by achieving faster swim times, playing football, and earning superior grades.

“I swim because I really enjoy the sport, the team, and the coaches,” McQuade said.

Last year, McQuade earned an average 2:06.89 on the boys 200 yard medley relay race, which earned him a top 20 spot in the Gwinnett Division Four Challenge. Mc-Quade hopes to make it to the State Championships.

“Jerry has been a leader and contribution to out team all four years. He is one of two people who have been captain for more than one year,” Coach Almy said.

For McQuade’s football team, he practices and works

hard to help his team win the State Championship. Moving closer to accomplishing se-nior year, McQuade finished his Magnet senior research project. Mercer University recently accepted McQuade, where he anticipates to con-tinue his flourishing football career.

“He has been a captain [for swim team] for the last 2 years and he had done a good job by encouraging the team to do better and set-ting a good example of work ethic,” sophomore swim team member and brother Ernie McQuade said.

McQuade, along with possessing exceptional swim-ming and football skills, tries his best to earn fabulous grades in his Capstone bun-dle classes: AP Macroeconom-

Continu-ing her work on NC’s swim and dive team, sophomore Isabelle Mar-tinez helps to keep up a sense of strength and camaraderie amongst the junior var-sity team.

“She al-ways works very hard. She cheers on her team-mates and wants every-one on the team to work together. She

adds a lot of heart to the team,” Ms. Rankenburg, assistant coach, said.

Teammates and coaches alike appreciate Martinez’s hard work and welcom-ing attitude. Martinez’s strengths include mak-ing all members feel like a valued part of the team. People remain thankful for her warm personality.

“I love Isabelle. She’s got a very bubbly per-sonality and has a really good attitude towards everything. She’s that per-son that everyone wants to be,” sophomore Emma Collins said.

Martinez brings her shinig personality and a skilled fundamental un-derstanding of swimming to the team. Amongst her

McQuade swims the butterfly.

Jerry McQuade Isabelle Martinez

Martinez swims to victory.

Warriors squash Hawks’ eggsWarriors win close game with 52-49

With an excruciatingly in-tense game, the Lady Warriors basketball team dominated against the Hillgrove Hawks with a score of 52-49 on De-cember 4.

Although the Warriors held the lead by nine points, the Lady Hawks grew extreme-ly relentless when trying to earn points. In the beginning of the fourth quarter, sophomore guard Kyrie’ Chandler passed the ball to senior guard Am-ber Reeves. As she attempted a layup, a rather tall player from Hillgrove blocked and jumped on top of Reeves, earn-ing Reeves a free throw. Later in the quarter, the Warriors seemed irritated when they continuously let the Hawks score. These issues clearly showed when the Warriors left the court wide open and let the Hawks receive two points. The quarter ended with Reeves

earning a free throw and receiving two points for the team.

At the top of the third quarter, the Warriors re-peatedly earned points, confusing the Hawks. Ir-ritated by their confusion, the Hillgrove coach called a 30 second time-out for the team. Soon after, the War-riors continued to dominate with a pass from senior for-ward Sierra Barrino to senior guard Jordan Gray to senior forward Briah Woods, who then threw a three-pointer. The Warriors continued their streak with a pass from Bar-rino to Reeves to Woods who then shot a three-pointer. Unfortunately, the streak soon ended when they failed to block correctly, causing Hillgrove to earn four points after two consecutive layups. Later, the Warriors came

back when Woods passed the ball to freshman forward Alexis Luster who then shot a three-pointer. The quarter ended with a score of 46-37.

Towards the middle of the second quarter, Reeves passed the ball to Chandler who then passed the ball to Woods, making her shot a three-pointer. Woods con-tinued to shine when she blocked Hillgrove from earn-ing a point when they at-tempted a layup. Afterwards, because of the lack of defense and conviction, the Hawks easily let the Warriors earn two points with a layup. The quarter ended with Luster shooting a three-pointer with a score of 30-28.

The highlight of the game occurred when Bar-rino passed the ball to Chandler who then made a an astounding layup.

Sugary carbonated drinks satisfy taste-buds, but rumble the stomach and in-tensify weight gain.

Trying to pronounce the ingredients on a soda confuses even AP students sometimes. If one cannot pronounce the ingredient, do not drink the beverage. Un-natural chemicals make up all sodas. Sodium citrate, known to cause muscle spasms, el-evates sodium and metabolic alkalosis. Sodium benzoate relates to headaches, nausea, vomiting, dry mouth, appetite loss, mood changes, confu-sion, muscle pains, fatigue, difficulty moving, shortness of breath, and seizures. Phos-phoric acid associates with low bone density, dental ero-sion, increased risk of kidney disease, difficulty swallowing or breathing, and gastrointes-tinal problems.

Coca Cola’s pH level is 2.53, indicating a strong acid capable of dissolving a penny and cleaning a toilet. When a product commonly consumed can destroy a metal, it makes sense that it also destroys the stomach lining. When drink-

ing three to five cans a day, the artificial acids in soda cause stomach ulcers in stomach walls. Because drinking a soda ruins a stomach’s functions, fizzy drinks should not appeal to or satisfy any appetite.

Soda’s acidic and sug-ary content corrodes sig-nificant tooth enamel and the caffeine creates rapid hyper-activity. Along with cavities and dead roots, a tooth loses strength from the strong ac-ids in sodas.

Soda does not provide any nutrition for consumers and slows down the body’s metabolism. Soda ultimately generates a municipal stereo-type of chubby young adults striving to lose weight but claim to be too “addicted” to soda to change their lifestyle.

If one cuts soda in-take, he or she would see results in a week. An in-dividual feels more alert and less bloated without fizzy sodas filling them with unsatisfying calo-ries. Healthy alternatives to satisfy a fizzy craving include low-sugar juices and beneficial teas.

Swim team glides to victory

North Cobb Christian invited North Cobb, Lassiter, Kell, and Newnan to a swim meet at the Mountain View Aquatic Center in Marietta where NC took third place with a total of 670 points on December 8.

NC started out tremen-dously in the first half of the meet. The team won first in the 200-yard medley relays, the boys 200 yard individual medley, and the boys 100-yard freestyle. Unfortunately, after the eighth event, Lassiter took the lead and ended the

meet in first with 713 points.The swim and dive team

works extremely hard to stay in the top three. The dedi-cated team practices Monday through Thursday for an hour so that they can ensure a fan-tastic season.

The parents and students motivate the team by cheer-ing them on in the stands. Athletes live off of their au-dience’s cheers; it creates a stronger team, and the deaf-ening cheers at the meet en-courage the team. One could hear people roaring for the

Warriors all the way down the street.

The parents love to help out with the swim team, and they support the team all they can. They always meet at the swim competitions and help the coaches and students with whatever they need while also cheering on the team. They stand by the team all they can so that they can take part in the team’s success. The team raised money by selling tickets, programs, and food made by their parents to the visitors.

Sodas: no drink, all chemicals

Junior scores two-pointer with thirty seconds on the clock

Warriors weed whack the Hoyas into puny shrubs

Strong Warrior varsity boys basketball team demol-ished the Harrison Hoyas 67 to 60 on December 11.

“We had a close game, but the team fought a good fight against the Hoyas,” ju-nior guard Noah Cotton said.

In the fourth quarter, sophomore forward Trey Wil-liams scored twice, uppinh the Warrior score. The Hoyas called three full time-outs within the fourth quarter, attempting to regain their composure and amplify their score. Although this tactic made the final score close, ju-nior forward Jordan Aflolabi scored a two-pointer with thirty seconds on the clock.

“We played well for the

first three quarters but we did not close the game well,” Coach Gorsuch said.

The Warriors ended the third quarter 52 to 36. Strong center senior Jordan Neff achieved a slam dunk and helped the team fight the Hoyas. Multiple passes occurred during this quarter as well.

During the second quarter, Neff blocked the Hoyas and made a score. Junior guard Micah Wood-ard received a foul when the second quarter started. To revive his stance, Woodard slammed the ball into the hoop. Neff also made another slam dunk, intimidating the Hoyas. Williams received

two fouls near the period’s end but when senior guard Saxon Steele chucked the ball to senior forward Lee Moore, the fans cheered for the score of 36 to 22.

Each team ran back and forth across the court in the first quarter. Senior wing Jon Beausejour and Neff both made groundbreaking scores throughout the entire period. Because both teams anticipated a victory, they ended the quarter with an 18 to 12 score.

Defeating the rival Hoyas lifted the Warriors’ spirits. Their fierce and unpredict-able season fills the courts with fans ready to hear the squeaky shoes.

Warrior tries for a point.

by Emily Jones

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Warriors swim in relay race.

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by Sabrina Kurns

by Amelia Carchia by Hannah GleasonCongratulations to the

Varsity Warrior Football team for

making it to the final four. You’ve made

history

Freshman forward Alexis Luster runs with ball.

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by Domonique Goods

Regular Feature

ics and AP Comparative Government.

“Jerry was an excellent student. He brought fun to the classroom, and I thor-oughly enjoyed teaching him,” Mrs. Reedy, U.S. history teacher, said

By dis-playing wonder-ful grades and athletic skills, Mc-Quade em-bodies the N C s p i r i t w i t h e x -c e l l e n c e .

many strengths, Marti-nez excels at the freestyle stroke. Her skill has earned her third out of 10 places in many recent swim meets. Planning to improve even further, Martinez focuses on the next meet on De-cember 8.

Martinez’s determina-tion in sports carries over to school as a member of the Magnet program. Keep-ing up with her grades paired with extracurricu-lars such as Fantasy Foot-ball Club and Relay for Life makes Martinez a well-rounded student.

“I’m interested in zo-ology and I would like to work with animals and travel to different coun-tries to study them,” Mar-tinez said.

THE CHANT24/December 2012/The Chant

Seniors celebrate in style

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