BuzZThe

April 2013Volume 11, Issue 6

“From the Stinger to...”

Denison High School1901 S. Mirick Ave. Denison, Tx 75020

Insi

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EVENTSCOMINGFrom

the Edi tor

Pages 4-5 Page 2 Page 7 Page 8

2012-2013

How To Ask Your Crush To Prom!

Harlem Shak ing : Old Hat or Cute?

Beware the Ide s of March

Baseba l l Pants are In Se a son

Baseball

April 5thWylie East

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April 6th@Sherman

Softball April 5th @Sherman

April 6thRoyse City

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Tennis/GolfDistrict Tournament

April 8/9

Letters for Grades

Kayla RobinsonEditor-in-chief

Every spring, bright students at DHS prepare for Academic Testing hoping to “letter” in academics. The highest scor-ing boy and girl from each test receive a letterman jacket, or if they’ve already earned one in other extra-curricu-lars, a second “D” to stitch onto their jacket. While the Saturday tests generally have a small turnout, those de-voted students have a better chance to win and many take as many tests as is allowed. “The test was complete-ly different as compared to what we learn in [AP] World History. Based on my track record, I got the letter for World Geography last year, it was easy to predict I would get the letter. [My friends and I] basically all took the same

four tests since we can only take four so it was easy to see who would get each one based on what each of us are good at,” World History winner sopho-more Matthew Bernier said. The tests themselves are multiple choice and should cover only that class’s level of information. Because of this, there are separate tests for each grade level, such as Eng-lish I, English II and English III. Many seniors opt out of academic testing since their letter jackets generally become unused relics of high school within three months of win-ning, giving the underclassmen in classes with mixed grade lev-els such as AP Biology a much better chance at lettering. “I took AP Bio, Algebra 2, and Chemistry. The chem-

istry one was harder than I expected…that was the test I was most worried about. My best subjects are science and math,” Chemistry winner sophomore Jacob Maresh said. For some, it wasn’t just the test that was taxing. The tests are held on a Saturday morning in late winter, a time when most students would rather be sleeping at home than taking a voluntary exam. “It was so hard getting up on a Saturday. The test was worth the English letter that I got. It wasn’t difficult but it was a test of will to get up on a Saturday to take a test I knew I was going to win. I’m planning on taking them next year so I can have four years of winning,” English III winner junior Daniel Lecheler said.

The best and brightest of DHS “lettered” in academic areas.

April is my favorite month. The nursery rhyme rain and the new sunlight appeals to the writer in me. It’s beauti-ful and life-granting. April showers are indeed what bring May flowers, along with June bugs and August calves. April showers give life to the sharp grey grass wilting in front yards and sprinkle new creatures with their first taste of rainwa-ter. Our two new calves, Samwise and Eve, positively glow with happiness in the rain. The cows experience April differently than we do. They live through the perfectly imbalanced over-cast skies and bright sunny days without the hindrance of white walls and roofs to distract them from the beauty of the new season. Enjoy the spring with the captivated innocence of a new calf, or gosling, or a kid. The world’s more beau-tiful than a room of wires.

Photo by: Kaylee Sanders

Kayla RobinsonEditor-in-chief

2 School LIFE

April 2013 The Buzz

The Buzz newspaper is a student-generated publication that is produced, edited, and maintained by the DHS jour-nalism staff of room 105. The Buzz encourages student ex-pression and is designed to be a forum for open discussion.

As part of its mission to serve as a medium for debate, The Buzz supports and accepts letters to the editor. All sub-missions must be signed by the author and delivered to Room 105. The staff reserves the right to edit any material.

Editorials appearing in The Buzz represent the sole views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the administration or those of the DHS Journalism Department.

Edi tor i a l Pol ic y

Commentary

Frantic gyrating and seizure-esque movements were all the rage on Youtube last month in the newest viral video, “The Harlem Shake.” Although the dance’s name is originally from the 80’s, the original vloggers’ jerky pelvic thrusts in Power Ranger’s costumes struck the hearts of millions, who then spun off their own versions of the dance. Even DHS is in on the Harlem Shake trend. The annual Mr. and Ms. Wonder-ful theatre fundraiser featured contestants in their own mini-Harlem Shake numbers and a giant group dance during the judges’ deliberations. Al-

though there were several hon-orable mentions, such as Farron Whitefield in a trash can, Kaila Powell doing the worm, and Nick Dusek shaking his booty for the crowd, my favorite and the winner of the best Harlem Shake was Holden Webster. Holden’s skin-tight Batman cos-tume (with cape) and extreme flailing had me in stitches with tears rolling down my face. Although some people might be getting tired of the Harlem Shake craze, over 40,000 ama-teur videographers have stuck with the trend. Many popular spinoffs of the original video have attempted The Harlem Shake with a bit of their own flavor, in-

cluding versions by the Army, a retirement home, a kindergarten class, and countless professional sports teams. All of these groups, however, follow the same ba-sic formula for the dance. Each dance opens with one mem-ber of the group dancing while wearing a helmet or a mask. When the beat drops, everyone else in the room goes crazy and is suddenly in crazy costumes with outlandish props, dancing erratically until the slow-motion scene at the end. This dance has brought thousands of corporate offices, college kids and sports teams closer together with the international language of dance. I say keep shakin’ DHS!

Harlem Shakin’ Kayla Robinson

Editor-in-chief

Following the death of Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI became pope on April 19, 2005. After an eight year long papacy, he announced his res-ignation on February 11 and formally resigned February 28 at 8 P.M. Italian t i m e , b e c o m i n g the first pope to retire in 600 years. “After hav- i n g repea ted ly e x -amined my c o n -science be- f o r e God, I have come to the c e r t a i n t y that my strengths, due to an ad-vanced age, are no longer s u i t e d to an ad- equate ex-

ercise of the Petrine ministry,” Benedict said in his public an-nouncement. The day of the resignation, the soon-to-be-former pope made a speech in front of car-dinals at the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace be-f o r e leaving the

Vatican for the

l a s t t i m e .

H e

was then carried away via he-licopter to his temporary resi-dence. At 8 P.M this time, the Swiss guards left the Vatican gates and many took to so-cial media to thank the former pope, now Pope Emeritus, for his service.

“Thank you so m u c h P o p e Bene- d i c t X V I for your a m a z - ing lead-e r s h i p in our

Church,” Twitter user Jes-

sica Satriano said in a tweet.

A New Pope is ChosenCallie Keese

Copy Editor

The Kellogg Company announced the recall of three package sizes for its

Special K Red Berries cereal.

The recall notice mentions “the possi-ble presence of glass fragments,” cov-ers 11.2-ounce, 22.4-ounce twin pack

and 37-ounce boxes.

NBC Southern California reports that one of the ingredients had been con-taminated and that the recall is pre-

cautionary.

Special K Glass Scandal

OpiniOn 3

The Buzz April 2013

A Devastating Disease Grips Students: Senioritis

Solo and Ensemble State in May Twenty-six DHS students have advanced and prepare to compete.

Callie Keese Copy Editor

Mandi Elrod Managing Editor

Over the past few months, more and more se-niors have begun to catch the effects of a disease known as Senioritis. This disease causes seniors to become less fo-cused on their work at hand, and more focused on gradu-ation. The effects of this dis-ease vary from anxiety, to just plain boredom on their part. “Senioritis is a cold-blooded killer. It’s hitting me hardest in AP classes. I still try my best in school, but the lack of desire to do so is killing me. It’s even harder to get out of bed in the morn-ings. I just hope that my con-science pulls through for me until the end of the year,” se-

nior Farron Whitefield said. One of the biggest effects of senioritis is a rapid drop in grade point aver-ages. Those who started the year making A’s and high B’s, slowly move to C’s and high D’s, barely passing enough to get through the year. Stu-dents complain continu-ously about the amount of work given to them, and the difficulty understanding it. “I have Senioritis, and my English grade is showing it bad. My attendance at school has been terrible, and by the end of the year, I hope

to have good enough grades to graduate and move to Cal-ifornia at the end of June,” senior Jennifer Painter said.

Once this disease

On February 23, mem-bers of the Denison High School band competed at Plano East H i g h School for the annual Solo and Ensemble com-petition. Out of the 60 that competed, 26 advanced to the State competition in May. “[Solo and Ensem-ble] is a music competi-tion where students can perform either a solo on their instrument or an ensemble, or group, with

either the same instru-ments or different ones,” senior Maria Hayes said. Before the competi-tion date, the students who chose to perform must de-cide on a piece, and prac-tice diligently. For those choosing to perform in an

ensemble, they must at-tend early rehearsals and practice both togeth-er and on their own. “For the en-semble I was

in we practiced at least 2 hours a week

together and about 2 or 3 individually and for my solo I practiced about 3 hours a week for like 3 months,” senior Rahat Aziz said. In order to qualify for State, those competing must perform a “class one” piece, the hardest class, and it must be memorized. As if this wasn’t

enough for the young musicians,

they also must score a one.

takes over the average senior, it’s said to be difficult to get rid of. In the past, students have stated that Senioritis lasted up until the actual

day of graduation, and then slowly faded away, bringing light of future plans. Some students

have found refuge in relax-ation, exercises, or by tak-ing time away from study-ing to focus on themselves. “Senioritis is both a physical and mental block for seniors. The closer you

get to graduation, the harder classes get. Not because

the work is harder, but because the pres-

sure increases. I’ve found the only way to clear my mind is to take breaks from school work, relax, and stay calm. When in doubt con-sole your friends. Senioritis can be curable if you know what you’re doing,” se-nior Robert Gardner said. Some say that Se-nioritis is not a real disease, it was just made up by se-niors to get away with do-ing less work at the end of the year. Some say it’s real, and even go as far as call-ing it a mental breakdown. Not everybody gets Seniori-tis, but those who do suffer for months on end, hoping for a break in the process.

If and when these stan-dards are met, a solo or en-semble group can advance “I think the

most re-warding part was

after my ensemble per-formed, our judge looked at us and said ‘Very very well done ladies. I am very impressed’ and we were just ecstatic because we had worked so hard together and it was just very reward-ing to have that validation of our efforts,” Hayes said.

Traveling with the band, are two of Denison’s choir members who will compete the choir State Solo and Ensemble competition that will be held at the same time. “I am extremely excited to go to state,” sophomore choir mem-

ber Martha Hayes said. “My hard work paid off and I’m ready to show it off for the judges at State lev-

el. I’m proud to r e p r e s e n t

DHS at State!”

It may be the biggest night of your high school career, but don't worry, no pressure!

We’re here to help with some fool-proof ways to ask your crush to prom if you’re still procrastinating in fear!

Sweet talking and eating If your date has a sweet tooth, the way to their

heart is through homemade treats. Figure out their

favorite cookie or cupcake, and in icing, spell out

“Prom?”. Hand deliver them to make it extra special.

Build-a-date

If you’re willing to spend some money, this idea will

surely make some hearts melt, but only if you’re

manly enough to go through with it. Go down to the

closest Build-A-Bear. Pick one out, then record a

message asking your date to prom. Once you’re fin-

ished, dress it in a tuxedo. Once the day you’re ask-

ing comes, put the bear somewhere your date will

see it. Leave a note on the paw that tells them to

squeeze to hear the message, then sign your name.

Ballin’ date

If your date is the sporty type, buy the ball to their fa-

vorite sport. In Sharpie, write their name, “Prom?”,

and then sign your name. Find a way for you to

get the ball to them, and wait for their answer.

is Almost Here!

Sing Your Heart out

Senior Joseph Elliot got creative in his asking. He recorded himself

singing and playing guitar (two things he claims he is not very good at)

and gave it to his girlfriend, senior Karina Kinghorn. After the record-

ing, Karina was told to walk outside, where Joseph had set up small

candles that spelled out “Prom?”. Needless to say, he got a “Yes.”

Prom

PuPPY loveThis idea is courtesy of senior Kaila Powell. If

you know your date’s favorite animal, find a pic-

ture of it. If not, any puppy or kitten that seems cute

will do. From there, write out “Will you go to prom

with me?” somewhere they will be able to read it.

PHoto Puzzle Take a picture of yourself holding a sign saying

“Would you go to prom with me?” then print the pic-

ture, and cut into pieces. Put the pieces into a plastic

bag, zip it up, then put it somewhere they will find it.

in CHalk writing If your object of affection has a long driveway, this

will work beautifully. Simply buy a good amount of

chalk, which really depends on the size of the writ-

ing, and early one morning, go to their house, write

out your message in their driveway, and be sure to

sign your name. Before going through with the idea,

make sure someone in the house is aware of your plan.

Collage Is your date the photography type? Well, here’s the solu-

tion for you. Take pictures of their favorite locations/ac-

tivities/things with a note in each picture that will eventu-

ally say “Will you go to prom with me?” when the pictures

are put together. If you want to add some fun, print the pic-

tures and put them places your hopeful date will find them.

MeSSage in a Bottle For any one that loves a rustic idea, write out your

wish and stick it in a bottle. If you really want to

go that extra mile, make the paper resemble very old

parchment by soaking it in coffee then blow drying

it on high heat. Tear and slightly burn the edges, then

tie it up and put it in the oldest looking bottle you

can find. Make sure the bottle is able to be opened!

wear Your naMe on

tHeir Sleeve

Go out a buy a plain white t-shirt. In washable

marker, write as many names that you can think of

on it, then in Sharpie, write “Prom?” on the front

and your name somewhere with the rest of the

names. Get one of your date’s friends to deliver

the shirt to them and wash it to reveal the name.

6 Commun i t y

April 2013 The Buzz

French Hamster Leaves Vacancy in Students’ Hearts

Devan HolleyStaff Writer

With the death of Jacque, the French room’s hamster, Room 228 is in the need of a new class pet. The subject is open for debate and DHS students give their opinion. The most popular vote was for a lizard to take Jacque’s place. They are relatively quiet, and most are relatively easy to

The Apple Incorporation, despite its success, has been known for its various failures. The company has begun to fall from its place as a well-re-spected technology company. “The ‘iPhone 5S’ prob-lem is the idea that Apple has become predictable coupled with the perception that the next big thing might just come from somewhere else,” Rene Ritchie said on iMore.com. Apple Inc. has a rivalry with Google that has been getting more and more in the way of their success. In the recent iPhone 5, Apple decided to use their own navigation app and

Devan HolleyStaff Writer

do away with Google Maps, forcing consumers to use Apple Maps. The company later apol-ogized after many complaints and Australian police’s warning issued after many cases of people stranded in the wilderness after fol-lowing the app’s directions. “While we’re improv-ing Maps, you can try al-ternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.” Tom Cook,

current CEO of Apple said on the official Apple website. Apple has been the sub-ject several cases of plagiarism.

With the release of iOS 6 the design of the new clock seemed

Apple Facing Charges for Copyright Infringement

to look almost exactly like the iconic clock of the Swiss Na-tional Railway. Apple paid up a fee of $21 million as a con-

sequence. In the year 2000 the Brazilian company Gra-diente trademarked the name IPhone, six years before Ap-ple. With Apple’s release of the iPhone5 in Latin America the company is threatening to sue for copyright infringement. “To our surprise, Apple never looked us up. They didn’t look for us. They didn’t treat this issue with the re-spect it deserves.” President

of Grandiente Eugênio Staub told The Wall Street Journal.

Apple is all about money. The original iPhone was origi-nally priced at $600, but af-ter a flurry of complaints the price was dropped to $200. The iPhone5’s price ranges from $150 to $723 depend-ing on where it’s bought, and the charger for the iPhone5 is rather thin and breaks easily. This equals more money be-ing made for Apple as costum-ers buy loads of new chargers to replace the broken ones. “I think that they should have spent more time on one product instead of rushing through one product just trying to remodel,” sophomore Nicole Gouge said.

take care of; however, the pur-chase of food for the lizard as well as feeding it may not be the most enjoyable thing. The second most popular vote, a mouse, was suggested as a more humorous option. The French word for mouse, souris, is also a way of saying “smile”. Mice are more high

maintenance than lizards, and sleep for about 12 hours a day. Guinea Pigs prefer to live in groups, making them more ex-pensive to take care of, but their cuteness makes up for their flaws. Unlike most rodents, guinea pigs are not nocturnal. With some-thing like a guinea pig for class pet, things will never be boring.

Pi Day at DHS

The NHS fundraiser brought over $300 to the program, minus the cost of four whipped cream pies that met happy ends with Mr. Timmerman, Mrs. Ivers, Mrs. Boettger and Dr. Boettger’s faces.

Candidates for a new room pet include a guinea pig, mouse, and a lizard.

Se a sona l 7

The Buzz April 2013

to the position of Consul, the highest elected political office. Under his new title he added all of modern France and Bel-gium to the Roman Empire. When he finally returned to Italy, he ignored the author-ity of the Senate and crossed the Rubicon River, starting a civil war against Pompey, who ended up fleeing to Egypt where he was assassinated. With Pompey dead, Caesar became the Consul and Dicta-tor of Rome. Although the ti-tle of “Dictator” was originally meant to only be a temporary title, Caesar decided to take it

Devan Holley Staff Writer

1. Visit the Harber Wildlife Museum a. The biggies like Six Flags and the Smithsonian can be out of many people’s price ranges. Instead, make a day trip out of the Harber Wildlife Museum and enjoy exhibits of exotic taxidermy. 2. Try to find the bottom of your closet a. You used to think Spring Cleaning was over-rated…until you lost your favorite Furby and now his plaintive cries for atten-tion are slowly gouging out

Spring Break Plans That Won’t Break Next Year’s Bank

Kayla Robinson Editor-in-chief

On March 15th, Julius Caesar, 44 B.C.E, the newly declared life-long dictator of Rome was stabbed to death in the Senate. March 15th, known as the Ides of March on the Roman calendar, has been considered a day of ill luck since Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, based off of the event. Caesar was born into a prestigious clan, and quickly climbed the political ladder. When he was 39 he became the governor of the Roman region of Spain. Two years later, with the help of Pom-pey and Crassus, he advanced

for life. Sixty members of the senate, led by Caius Cassius and Marcus Junius Brutus, opposed Caesar’s new reign and devised a plan to kill him. With Caesar leaving Rome on a military campaign on the 18th of March, the conspira-tors needed to act quickly. They hid their daggers underneath their togas and stabbed Caesar as he entered the Senate, with a grand total of 35 stab wounds. Besides its title of the “Ides of March”, March 15th is also referred to as “Send Everything You Think is Wrong Day” in which people are encouraged

to complain to others thorough messages, and “Brutus Day” in order to celebrate the well-loved conspirator who stabbed the man who spared his life and then pro-ceeded to pass out coins celebrating the assassination. In truth, the luck the Ides of March holds for a person depends on which side they are on.

Beware the Ides of March

your eardrums. Spend the week sifting through the notes you passed in seventh grade. Try not to get dis-tracted by your past love life.3. Garden a. Get dirt permanent-ly stuck under your fingernails while trying to plant flowers that will soon betray you when the weather decides to freeze on the last day of March. 4. Go Camping a. In the freezing rain and sweltering sunshine that will inevitably brawl through-out the week, try to find a

time that you can enjoy the outdoors without wanting to slowly crawl back into your sleeping bag and weather-proof your body and mind.5. Go on a trip a. If you can’t afford to travel to another state, or even across Texas, take a trip to downtown Sherman! It’s chock full of small businesses such as Lupe’s Tamales, the DMV, and plenty of places to go an-tiquing that Denisonians have probably never seen before. It’ll be like a mini vacation!

It’s that time again, as players from all over DHS step up to the plate again, and raise their bats to another season of Yellowjacket Baseball. Even though the time has finally come, the players know there’s still a lot to be done to make the year a fantastic one.

“We are 3-8 for the season and 0-1 in district so far, so we are not doing so well. We have a long way to go before I would consider us a good team. We are getting better and the players are working hard. I have high expectations of our team, especially our varsity players, varsity baseball coach Charles Bollinger said.

Baseball has always been a popular sport in the United States, and sports in general are a big deal to the town of Denison. On all sports game days, and average 80% of the town shows support for the teams in some way, shape or form, whether they paint signs on the windows throughout town, or wish the players good luck.

“I’ve always supported the school sports teams, especially since I love playing them myself. When I first moved here I real-ized fast just how supported the team members are, and loved the school’s pride immediately. Game days are always my favorite days, no matter what sports they are,” team supporter senior Kelly Hughes said. Sports will always be a big deal in the halls of DHS, no mat-ter the location, or the costs. The principals, and staff await the up-coming season with enthusiasm and hope.

April 2013 The Buzz

Mandi ElrodManaging Editor

HitsBaseball Jacket

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