Golden Globes recognize Hollywood’s biggest stars

On Sunday, January 15, the stars of the movie and television businesses dressed up in expensive designer la-bels and walked down the famous red carpet to attend the annual Gold-en Globe Awards, one of the first major awards shows of the season. Hosted by Ricky Gervais for the second year in a row, the ceremony was full of tasteless jokes and awk-ward moments, but the most deserv-ing actors and actresses were award-ed for their work throughout 2011.

“The Hollywood Foreign Press have warned me that if I in-sult any of you, or any of them, or offend any viewers or cause controversy whatsoever...they’ll definitely invite me back again next year as well,” joked Gervais.

The Descendants, a movie about a father reconnecting with his daughters after his wife suffers a boating accident, won the award for “Best Motion Picture- Drama,” and George Clooney won “Best Performance by an Actor in a Mo-tion Picture- Drama” for his starring role in the movie. Not surprisingly, Meryl Streep won “Best Performance by an Ac-tress in a Motion Picture- Drama” for her role as Margaret Thatcher in Iron Lady. Michelle Williams won “Best Perfor-mance by an Actress in a Motion Picture- Comedy or Musical” for her role as Mari-lyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn.

By Ellen GaudetEditor-in-Chief

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January 2011Volume 88, Issue 3

Director Woody Allen won “Best Screenplay- Motion Picture” for Midnight in Paris, starring Owen Wilson, about a man who travels back in time to visit fa-

mous artists and writers. The night featured big wins for animated films as well. Martin Scorsese won “Best Director- Motion Picture” for Hugo, and The Adventures of Tintin won “Best Animated Feature Film.”

The Artist, a film about the dwindling

relevance of silent films in 1927, went into the running with numerous nominations and scooped up many awards throughout the night, including “Best Motion Pic-

ture- Comedy or Musi-cal,” “Best Performance by an Actor in a Mo-tion Picture- Comedy or Musical” for actor Jean

Dujardin, and “Best Original Score.” ABC’s hit comedy, Modern Family,

won the Golden Globe for “Best Televi-

sion Series- Comedy or Musical” for the second year in a row, beating FOX’s fan favorites New Girl, starring Zooey De-schanel, and Glee. In a big surprise, Matt

LeBlanc won “Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series- Comedy or Musical” for his role in Showtime’s Episodes, winning over Californication’s David Duchovny, 30 Rock’s Alec Baldwin, and The Big Bang Theory’s Johnny Galecki.

Other movies recognized dur-ing the ceremony were The Help, Beginners, and A Separation. Tele-vision shows Game of Thrones, American Horror Story, Luther, Mildred Pierce, Downtown Ab-bey, Enlightened, Boss, and Homeland also won awards, de-spite seemingly small audiences.

Aside from the awards ceremo-ny, the fashion of the Golden Globes was also a highlight of the night. Among Vogue Magazine’s “Best Dressed List” were Emma Stone, star of The Help, who looked glamorous in a deep plum Lanvin tulle gown, Charlize Theron, in a light pink Christian Dior dress, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’s Rooney Mara, in a black Nina Ricci gown.

The Golden Globe Awards recognized Hollywood’s best, including giving sur-prise awards to relatively unknown televi-sion shows or mini-series, but also prepared audiences for the Emmy Awards and the Academy Awards to come later in the year.

2305 East Main StreetLeague City, TX 77573

The cast of "Modern Family" with their award backstage at the 69th Annual

Golden Globe Awards show at the Bev-erly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on Sunday, January 15, 2012. (Al Seib/

Los Angeles Times/MCT)

2 OpinionWhat are your New Year’s resolutions?

2011 -2012

Principal: Scott Bockart Advisor: Wynette Jameson Executive Editor: Jan O’Neil Editors-in-Chief: Ashley Farmer Ellen Gaudet Jacob Mancini Around Creek Editor: Hannah Brinsko Features Editor: Madison Williams Get Involved Editor: Valerie Hellinghausen News Editor: Stephanie Johnson Sports Editor: Jacob Arredondo Teen Interest Editor: Madison Borowitz Advertising Manager: Clarissa Melendez Photo Editors: Jacob Arredondo Kara Loewenthal Madison Williams Staff:

Published at Mirror Publishers in Texas CityEmail us at: creekhilife@gmail.com

Visit us at: http://clearcreekhighschool.ihigh.comFor ad rates call: (281)284-1889 Fax: (281)332-9079

HiLife Staff

Arlen AddisonGreg Brotzman

Lucia CastroDane Chronister Bailey Clelland

Rachel Duncavage

Dylan HillSierra Kemper

Kristina KoonceKara Loewenthal Clarissa Melendez

Madeline MoreauChristal Scarborough

Halle ScottLeticia SuarezTedy WarrenRegina Wiley

FRESHMEN SENIORS

SOPHOMORES

“To ride a llama.” -Jenn Hen

“I will not eat food from fast food restaurants.” -Olivia Todd

“To pass the AP exam and do well on the SAT.” -Anna Hamilton

“To eat healthier. I don’t really want to, but those are my doctor’s orders.”

-Kelsey McMahon

“I think you should be a good person year round.” -Shawn Archeleto

“My new year’s resolution is to stop eating processed food and red meat, because

they are really bad for you.” -Sam Creech

“To be more grateful!” -Casey Dervay

“To be more decisive... wait, no.” -Jennifer Siller

“Spread joy and cheer to those who are less fortunate.” -Samee Hameed

“To get into Harvard or Oxford. They’re my #1 and #2.” -Bryce Graham

“Grow a full majestic beard.” -Zane Bora

“To give it all I’ve got so the soccer team will win district.”

-Courtney Hassmann

“To stay on top of things and have initiative.” -Rachel Ayinbode

“To not slack off since it’s the 2nd semester of Senior year.” -Kyndall Hadley

“I would like to be a better person, stop stressing out, and stop overreacting to

small things.” -Taylor Sieling

“I want to be the most positive person in the galaxy!” -Linh Dao

“Grow a full majestic mustache. And smile more.” -Jared Castillo

“I will be less stubborn about silly things. And I’ll draw more.” -Sarah Kaplan

“I will prove the Mayans wrong!” -Chris Walker

“Take anger management for the 4th time.” -Cameron Erskin

“Not to be late for the bus stop.” -Mary Siegfried

“I want to start my own business.” -Ethan Broussard

“I want to stop biting my nails.” -Nicole Alvarez

“I want to do better in school and be nicer to people.” -Madison Eaton

“I want to get better grades.” - Kortny Barba

“Work out at least once a week. Run 5Ks and such.” -Ann Seelbach

“To not beat up my brother so much!” -Kayla Kerr

“To get more muscle!” -Colton Adkins

“To get an A in Coach Cherry’s class.” -Katelyn Gatica

JUNIORS

3Editorial

This last winter break my fam-ily and I traveled to Chile to celebrate the New Year with our family there. But sorely missed loved ones and im-pressive fireworks were not the only things waiting for us across the equa-tor. Little did I know that I was not just crossing a hemisphere, but a cul-tural boundary quite unlike anything I had ever experienced before.

One of the first culture shocks that hit me when we landed in San-tiago was that our family spoke only Spanish. As I hugged their necks, I realized that I wanted to catch up with these people, my dear friends. I wanted to ask them about how the last year has been since we had been together last. I wanted to ask them if we could grab a bite to eat. But as I passed one embrace to the next, there was coldness to our long-anticipated reunion. Do I really know the people I call my family?

Afterwards we did grab a bite to eat, and evidence of the wildly different culture of Chile was sitting on every plate. I’m not sure of what I expected, but everything about this place we were in was more color-ful, more diverse, and certainly more surprising. Home-baked bread, beef empanadas, bean soups, corn tama-les, and sea vegetables that I had never seen were among the thrills of the South American cuisine that was served us. After a mouthful of some-thing that I actually thoroughly en-joyed, I would turn to my family with a speechless expression of satisfac-tion. In fact, most of our vacation’s communication resembled a game of charades and fragments of Spanglish. But there was something about the way our Chilean family watched us, how they were so concerned with get-ting smiles from us when our words made no sense to them. They cared. From the morsels on our plates to the day trips we took, their priority was our happiness. And then I opened my eyes and saw every hole-in-the-wall

restaurant, every street vender, every countenance of every face different-ly. The culture of Chile was centered entirely on friendship. Everything re-volved around the relational aspects of everyday. And how refreshing a cultural attitude it was once I had seen what was there the whole time. In the United States people tend to be rigidly task-oriented, but here every-body was people-oriented first, and everything else kind of fell into place after that.

Being in such close proxim-ity to people and still not having the chance to talk to them taught me a lesson. On day one of the trip, I felt what I thought was the chilling shal-lowness of my relationship with my own family. On day fourteen, howev-er, I realized that I had been mistak-ing a lack of conversation for a two-dimensional relationship. In a very unique sense, the language barrier between my Chilean family and me actually gave our friendship a much deeper tone of simple genuineness. I truly knew these people who I could barely communicate with. I knew that they cared about me, what they liked, what they laughed at, I knew that they were very different from people I was used to, and I liked it.

The zippers were even tighter on our souvenir-stuffed bags when we arrived at the airport to leave Chile. That vacation, or rather, the people on that vacation inspired me to rethink how I think about my rela-tionships. Chileans are not always on time. They tend to burn through their cell phone minutes in single conver-sations. They care about people more than what they do or where they are from. What would it cost us to walk a mile in the shoes of a culture like that? What if you talked to a loner at the lunch table? What if you make a point to make somebody smile today? I watched my cousins, younger than myself, exhibit some of the deepest values of friendship I have ever seen. I miss that trip, and I love trying to relive the best parts right here.

By Jacob ManciniEditor-in-Chief

By Clarissa MelendezReporter

This is my senior year in high school; I have made it through the newness of freshman year, the forget-table sophomore year, the stressful junior year, and now the mixed emo-tions of senior year. Looking back on all that has happened in the hallways of Creek and just in my personal life, I know I could not have made it without some kind of faith.

The summer before sophomore year, my church was going on a mis-sion trip to an orphanage in Guatema-la, Casa Angelina. I had a few months to come up with $1,300. There were fundraising opportunities, but when the call came to confirm that I was going because they were buying the plane tickets I was still $900 short. Fortunately, I had faith, and said to put my name on the list. I only had 3 weeks to come up with $900. We had a car wash that weekend, where I was getting donations ranging from the spare change in a man’s pocket to $20. It was not enough. Then towards the end of the day, a man came buy with a muddy truck for us to wash. He even helped us clean it. Instead of giving us cash he handed my dad a check. My dad started to get emotional when he saw it. When I saw the check, I un-derstood why my normally “macho” dad was tearing up. The check was for $1000.

I am a strong believer in He-brews 11:1, which says, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we cannot see.” I knew I was going to Guatemala, but as for how I was going to come up with the funds to get there, well I had faith.

Guatemala changed my life. I was able to help build a school for the children in the orphanage and I saw how faith changed their lives. They came from the absolute worst back-grounds but they held on to the little faith they had and now are loved by people that are taking care of them. They do not have to worry that some-one is going to hurt them; they are pro-tected.

I have seen faith prevail at Creek

in large amounts when a momentous event takes place. Students often lean towards the hope that something better has to happen. I have seen faith bring people close together and I have seen the disastrous affects of lack of faith. I have seen friends break down because they let go of the faith they had. I am even guilty of losing faith at one point. The good thing about faith, however is that it is always there, trying to help us get through the day.

I believe that “faith” is the belief in something that you cannot see, and faith without effort is dead. For ex-ample, if you have a test in 1st period and you did not study the night before, having faith that you will get an A will probably not get you one. Yes, you had faith in yourself, but you did not study, so it is dead.

In today’s world I do not see how anyone can live without faith. Faith does not always have to be associat-ed with religion, it just helps to have something good to believe in. Faith is not false hope, but it pushes people to see the brighter side in a situation. It can provide something to look forward to in life. Faith is something we can cling to when there is nothing else to cling to. We have all had tough expe-riences, like lost friends aand broken hearts, and that is when faith comes in. It lets us see the brighter side, and it makes things possible.

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase,” said Martin Luther King, Jr.

If we let go of all the faith we had then what would we have to look forward to? Seniors are one step away getting out of here and into college, and we have faith that college is going to beyond amazing. Without our faith in the college experience, why would we go? Freshmen have faith that soph-omore year has to be better. If not, why try to pass? I believe faith gives us the push to keep going and to try harder to achieve our goals. Whether it is trying to raise enough money to go to a cer-tain place, leaving home to go to col-lege, or just getting through the day, faith allows us to stay strong in life.

“Faith is what makes life bearable,

with all its tragedies and ambiguities

and sudden, startling joys.”

-Madeleine L’Engle

“Everybody experiences far more than he understands. Yet it is experience,

rather than understanding, that

influences behavior.”

-Marshall McLuhan

Jacob’s Jumbles Clarissa’s Corner

News4Cargo ship Rena releases oil into Astrolabe ReefBy Arlen AddisonReporter

On October 5, 2011 the Liberian-flagged cargo ship Rena ran aground on the Astrolabe reef off the coast of Northwest New Zealand and began leaking oil on the New Zealand Coast.

At 2:20 a.m. on October 5, in a well-charted reef, the ship ran aground, with no official explanation given. The ship was carrying 1,368 containers, at least 8 of which containing hazardous material. It was also carrying 1,700 tons of heavy fuel and 200 tons of marine diesels.

The ship’s crew was able to make it safely of the ship, but, shortly after arriving on shore, the Captain and first mate were arrested. The ship stayed grounded on the reef, but by October 13, the ship had a 20-degree lean, and 88 of her containers had fallen overboard. The next day, a large crack appeared on both sides of the ship, and it was reported that the ship had split in two, only held together by the internal structure and the reef itself.

The Captain and first mate were charged under New Zealand Maritime law with “operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk” a charge that bears a maximum penalty of 10,000 New Zealand Dollars and 12 months in jail. The Captain made his first court appearance on October 11, and the first mate two days later. They were later charged in a second hearing with “discharge of harmful substances” from a ship that carries a penalty of 300,000 New Zealand Dollars and two years in jail.

The event has been declared the

worst environmental disaster ever in New Zealand. By October 9th, a 5 km stretch of oil covered the pristine white beaches of the Bay of Plenty after the ship shifted on the reef in bad weather causing an additional 130-350 tones of oil to be leaked. Over

4000 volunteers have helped to clean Tauranga’s beaches; most using liter box scoops to pick up the pancake-sized oil blobs. 900 tons of oil waste have been removed from the beaches along with 2,000 dead birds. The Oiled Wildlife Treatment Facility has managed to save a few hundred oiled birds and clean them, which are now in their care and who will soon be released to make room for more oiled animals coming in.

The Oil Tanker Awanuia was called in to pump the remaining oil from the ship, but by October 9, salvage crew were forced to evacuate due to rough weather. More rough weather throughout October prevented much oil from being removed.

By November 9, a string of good weather allowed crews to continually pump oil off the

ship at a rate of four tons per hour using a method called “hot tapping” where the oil tank is filled with seawater to help remove the remaining oil and prevent any form leaking into the ocean. By November 14, most of the remaining oil and engine lubricant had been removed.

More oil is still washing ashore, though

it will slowly stop now that the ship has had most of its oil removed.

“I was down there this morning,” said Steve Jones, spokesman for Maritime New Zealand “It was just black coming in, just black, black, black.”

With most oil removed, salvage crews are now focusing on the containers, 150 of which have fallen overboard. It has been determined some contain material after one of the adrift containers was spotted with smoke coming out of it, indicating a chemical reaction was taking place. Of the 150 overboard about 50 are uncounted for, sonar teams are scanning the local reef bottom in search of the missing containers. A barge with a crane was called in to remove the remaining 1,280 containers still onboard.

With good weather crews were able remove three containers a day until January 7th, when the stern section of the cracked ship completely separated from the bow. The stern began to slide off the reef the next day and sink into the sea, while the bow remained

firmly wedged in the reef. When the ship split, several tons of

debris washed ashore, including hundreds of bags of powered milk, which authorities warned might be hazardous.

Crews hope to continue to remove the 800 containers still on board when the ship split and collect those containers, which washed overboard, and the 30 of which have washed ashore, along with the several tons of debris and oil.

Just days after the new year, a Texas City resident passed by the Whiskerville Animal Sanctuary and saw dead cats through the window. After tipping off the authorities, the police department, lead by Brian Goechius, was given a civil order to enter the building and attain the live animals so that they could be given care.

Inside, 168 cats were found hungry and living in their waste. 27 cats were found dead due to starvation, and illness caused by poor living conditions.

Dr. Scott Johnson took in 11 of the cats at his clinic, Scott Veterinary Clinic.

“The amount of weight loss that they have, I would, in my professional opinion, say that its been longer than a week”, Johnson stated.

Wydell Dixon, owner of the no-kill shelter, with a goal to “work towards

eliminating the needless suffering of stray domestic animals,” according to the shelter web site, took a vacation over the holidays and left work in charge of her employee, Kim Paskert. Paskert had worked for Dixon for several years and had gained her trust.

“I thought that everything was fine. I believed in her, I trusted her, I loved her,” Dixon stated on the Whiskerville site.

Not being at the shelter for 3-4 weeks, Dixon assumed that the animals were in good condition, as she was in contact with her employee up to 6 times a day.

Durring the week that the animals were left without care, a volunteer that Paskert claims to have hired was responsible for feeding and caring for the animals.

“She told me the week before christmas that she didn`t have a job and needed the money” Paskert claims.

However, the name of the volunteer given by paskert is unidentifiable by the Daily News, and well as Dixon herself,

who oversees all volunteers. Currently the Texas City Police Department are searching for the volunteer Paskert identifies as well.

“I`m more mad than anything because I`d like to find the girl who was supposed to be doing it,” Paskert told the Daily News.

The Texas City Police Department has search for the “volunteer” Paskert identifies, and has not found any matches.

What`s more, though Paskert contended that the cats were only left for a week, volunteers, and veterinarians at the Galveston Island Humane Society, where many cats were sent, feel that the cats could not have been left only for a week.

“Many of the Whiskerville cats are yearning for attention, while others seem feral. These guys are emotionally starved... desperate for human attention” Caroline Dorsett, executive director at the Galveston Shelter observed.

After the cats were removed from the 1700 square foot room that they were

prowling freely in, half were taken to the Galveston Humane Society, while the other half were sent to the Houston Humane Society. Felines at the county shelter cannot be adopted until the court decides rather to give them back do Dixon, or not. In the mean time, animals that occupied the shelters where the cats were sent have been moved to other areas to make space for the recovering kitties.

“My goal has always been that we do not euthenize any animal because we bring another one in,” stated Kim Schoolcraft, animal services manager in response to critics.

Fortunately, the shelters have received tremendous feedback from volunteers and donators who felt they should reach out. With loads of food, and cat supplies, and volunteer crews from other areas offering service, the cats from Whiskerville have not gone unnoticed.

Whiskerville Animal Sanctuary endangers 168 catsMadi BorowitzTeen Interest Editor

Photo courtesy of MSNBC

5NewsThe SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act)

and PIPA (Protect I P Act) are two new controversial acts that are meant to stop online piracy, but many fear it would limit freedom on the Internet. The goal of SOPA is to stop forged websites that sell mis-branded or counterfeit drugs. It also hopes to protect online American publications from theft.

In a statement U.S. Rep. Goodlatte said, “Intellectual property is one of America’s chief job creators and competitive advantages in the global market, yet American inventors, authors, and entrepreneurs have been forced to stand by and watch as their works are stolen by foreign infringers beyond the reach of current U.S. laws. This legislation will update the laws to ensure that the economic incentives our Framers enshrined in the Constitution over 220 years ago.”

While online piracy is a problem, many Internet users fear that SOPA could undermine freedom of speech

on the Internet, making it a clear violation of the First Amendment.

Laurence H. Tribe, Harvard University professor of constitutional law said in a open letter that SOPA would “undermine the openness and free exchange of information at the heart of the Internet… It would violate the First Amendment.”

Comparable to SOPA, the second bill, PIPA, is trying to stop distribution of illegal copies, counterfeit goods, and anti-digital rights technology. Similarly, PIPA has generated much controversy and opposition. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden cited concerns over possible damage of freedom of speech, innovation, and Internet integrity. The act has many concerned that it would negatively affect user-generated sites and online communities, such as YouTube.

Journalist Rebecca MacKinnon argued, “The intention is not the same as China’s Great Firewall, a nationwide system of Web censorship, but the practical effect could be similar.”

Policy Analysts for New America Foundation warn that this legislation would

enable law enforcement to shut down an entire domain because of something on a blog.

Several major companies and organizations have opposed the two acts.

Facebook, Mozilla Corporation, Yahoo, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Minecraft, American Express, eBay, reddit, Google, Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, English Wikipedia, and many others have opposed the acts.

The English Wikipedia, along with several other sites, blacked out in protest of the bills. Wikipedia’s home page said for over a decade it has provided information but that these two bills now threaten it. Wikipedia provided a link to what the bills are and how they would affect the Internet, urging people to contact their U.S. Representative. In their informative page during the blackout, they explained all points of interest for these bills and addressed all rumors. The webpage explained that while all its information is neutral, its existence is not, and these bills are a serious threat.

The day following the blackout, Wikipedia revealed the extent to which the

blackout was successful. More than 162 million people saw the Wikipedia blackout page, more than 12,000 people commented on their page (most in favor of the blackout), more than 8 million people looked up their Representative’s contact information with the link provided, and Anti-SOPA and Anti-PIPA topics began trending globally.

President Obama’s administration issued a public response to the protests, saying, “While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cyber security risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.”

Senator Patrick Leathy, who proposed PIPA, and Representative Lamar S. Smith, who along with 12 other co-sponsors proposed SOPA, have pushed for the bills to be voted on January 24.

SOPA and PIPA bills seek to obstruct online piracyBy Arlen AddisonReporter

President Obama requests reorganization of powerBy Arlen AddisonReporter

President Barack Obama, approached Congress January 13 to ask for new reorganization power and consolidation authority in order to allow him to reorganize and combine government agencies to simplify the Federal Government.

This authority, last held by President Ronald Reagan, would allow Obama to make the federal government leaner and more cost efficient by combining similar government trade agencies and removing unnecessary ones.

With this authority, Congress will still have the final vote, but it allows the President to directly propose to Congress suggestions that combine or remove certain government agencies. Congress must approve or reject these proposals within 90 days, drastically reducing the amount of time it would take Congress to vote on the proposal.

The aim of the authority is to give American businesses a point to deal with imports and exports rather than several offices and agencies, making American trade easier, faster, and more cost efficient.

“With this authority, we’d help businesses grow, and save businesses time and taxpayer dollars,” said the President.

If Congress grants President Obama the consolidation authority, his first proposal will be to merge six government trade and commerce agencies, and cut the Commerce Department.

The act, if approved by Congress, will save the federal government an estimated $3 billion.

“Eliminating duplicative programs and making the federal government more simple, streamline, and business friendly is always an idea worth exploring,” said Spokesman for House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner.

In a presentation, President Obama illustrated the complexity, which he hopes to correct. He showed a slide with a bubble diagram that showed a jumbled array of customer service centers, websites, and toll-free numbers available for small businesses looking for loan advice and how to export goods.

The President hopes that the reorganization will boost U.S. trade alliances with Asia. He set a goal of doubling U.S. exports in five years from $1.57 trillion in the end of 2009 to $3.14 trillion in the beginning of 2015. With U.S. unemployment still high, and the economy still slow, consolidation authority has the potential to create more jobs and stimulate economic growth.

While President Obama’s hope of a consolidation authority has generally been met by approval, Republican Presidential Candidates were surprised by Obama’s

desire to cut back the federal government.Spokeswomen for Mitt Romney, front-

runner in the Republican presidential nomination, said that Romney would make it his top priority to reduce the scale of the government and that “it’s ironic that President Obama, who has grown beyond belief for the past three years, is calling for consolidation of government.”

Some Republicans are viewing Obama’s action as an election stunt, though simplifying the federal government is something the White House has been sitting on for several months. Congress is optimistic but cautious of President Obama’s idea.

“We’ll be sure to give it a careful review once the White House provides us with details of what he wants to do,” said spokesman for Senator Mitch McMonnell.

While the proposal will save the federal government an estimated $3 billion, it will lead an estimated loss of 1,000 to 2,000 jobs.

Costa Concordia sinks after a sandbar collisionBy Arlen AddisonReporter

The Costa Concordia, a Carnival owned cruise ship, ran around and partially sank on January 13, 2012 after coming too close to the small island of Giglio and hitting a sandbar.

The grounding has killed a reported 16 people with 15 still missing as Italian Scuba divers search the partially flooded ship for signs of life.

What caused the ship to stray so dangerously close to the island and untimely hit the sandbar is still under investigation, but officials say its was likely officer and captain carelessness. Company Policy says cruise ships should be no closer to the coast than 500 meters; the Costa Concordia was about 150 meters from the coast when it struck the sandbar.

When the Ship hit the sandbar there was little to no communication between officers and passengers. In a newly surfaced audiotape the captain is heard talking to port officials 30 minutes after hitting the sandbar and telling them there’s nothing to worry about, that

they’ve only experienced a blackout. When it became clear the ship

was sinking, Captain Schettino left the ship, while several thousand passengers were still onboard.

When the captain reached land, he was ordered back on then ship to oversee evacuation operations and report back how many people were onboard and what they needed, but never actually returned. The remaining 4,200 passengers struggled to get off the ship. Passengers say the crew insisted that the ship was only experiencing an electric problem for 45 minutes after the ship hit. The crew reportedly refused to launch lifeboats until the ship leaned too much for most to be launched.

“We had to scream at the controllers to release the boats from the side,” said South African Mike van Dijk. “We were standing in the corridors and they weren’t allowing us to get onto the boats.”

None of the passengers had been through an evacuation drill yet, as it was scheduled for the day after the ship hit the sandbar.

“It was so unorganized, our evacuation drill was scheduled for 5 p.m. We joked, ‘what if something had happened today?’”

said 28 year old Melissa Goduti, who boarded the ship hours before the incident.

About 300 passengers didn’t wait for crews to launch the lifeboats and jumped over board and swam 200 feet to shore in cold, dark waters. The ship began leaning heavily to the starboard side, making it extremely difficult for passengers to escape. Passengers crawled on their hands and knees up the tilted floor and through dark hallways to get to safety.

“We were crawling up a hallway in the dark, the only light coming from the life vest strobe flashing,” said 61-year-old Georgia Ananias. “We could hear plates and dishes crashing, people slamming against walls.”

Passengers Alan and Laurie Willits scrambled on the ship when the initial lurch occurred. A 160-foot gas line was cut in the hull and the ship began leaning. When they reached their lifeboat station, crewmembers ordered passengers to the fifth floor deck from the forth floor deck.

Alan Willits refused. “I said ‘No this isn’t right’ And I came out and argued ‘When you get this boat stabilized, I’ll go up to the fifth floor then. ‘”

The remaining passengers were rescued

by local boats or airlifted off the doomed ship, while divers and rescue crews continue searching the ship for the survivors and the bodies of the 15 people still missing.

The passengers and the crew out number the island’s 1,500 population, so the mayor has ordered “Anyone with a roof” to shelter those evacuated from the ship. Buses are currently being organized to take the survivors back to their homes.

Captain Schettino was arrested Saturday, January 14, and placed under house arrest while he awaits trial for manslaughter and abandoning ship. The captain admitted to making a mistake and, at the time of the collision, was navigating by sight rather than instruments. Schettino says he has “intent to change his life” and will no longer work on ships.

With the ship grounded and heavily leaning, the owners of the ship are unclear whether the ship can be saved or should be scraped. A Dutch salvage team arrived to assess the damage and options, while the 28-day task of pumping the ship of 2,380 tons of oil is just beginning.

Around Creek6

Schwab to start new career at libraryBy Clarissa MelendezReporter

Ms. Nancy Schwab, teacher for 19 years, has spent 6 of those years teaching at Creek. She is leaving at the end of January to pursue her new career as a librarian at Dobie High School.

Schwab teaches Pre-AP English II for sophomores and also AP English IV, and she has taught the grades in high school except for freshman. For all 3 years, she has had some of the same students from the class of 2012 because she taught Pre-AP English II as they were Sophomores, AP English III when they were Juniors and now AP English IV as they are about to graduate.

Schwab has great memories at Creek. One of her favorites was the day she was able to move out of the portables and into a classroom in the main building. Another favorite memory of hers was when she was named “The Most Sarcastic Teacher in the School.”

Schwab’s goal as a teacher is to “have the student not only learn English, but also about life, to treat others with respect and to

have a positive attitude on life.” She chose to teach English because she loves reading and sharing it with others, which has driven her desire to become a librarian.

“When I first got into teaching, my passion has always been about reading and literature and getting people to enjoy it,” said Schwab. She “enjoys helping students find and appreciate reading.”

In Pre-AP English II, Julius Caesar, Slaughterhouse Five, The Things They C a r r i e d , Antigone, and

Oedipus Rex are taught in depth, but the favorite of

Schwab is Dante’s Inferno. A collection of poems, the beginning of the divine comedy, the novel of Dante’s Inferno has been read since the 1400’s and is analyzed in Schwab’s classroom. She says she loves to teach it. “It is just so rich and deep and just something kids wouldn’t read unless I

English language learners at Creek

Walking down the hallways at Creek, different groups catch up during the passing period speaking English, German, Chinese, and Spanish. Many students in the diverse League City area grow up bilingual, learning English as a second language. However for some, the task of learning English is still a work in progress.

Classes for English Language Learners, or ELL, are offered in CCISD for students that need help learning due to a language barrier. Some students in these classes have moved here recently from all over the world, while others have grown up in America but did not grow up speaking English.

Reynaldo Zapeda has moved around his whole life. He was born in New Orleans, and then moved to Puerto Cortes, Honduras, a port city on the Caribbean with a population of about 165,000 people.

“I liked it there. There were so many things to do; beach, rivers, swimming,” said Zapeda. While in Honduras, the school days were shorter for Zepeda, because his school held two sessions: one during the day, and the other at night

While in the third grade, Zepeda’s father made the decision to relocate the family to Baton Rouge.

“My dad wanted us to speak Spanish still, then learn English later.”

Last may Zepeda moved again, this time from Baton Rouge to League City. He was placed in ELL classes to help improve his English. He also

takes Spanish 3 with Mrs. Wharton.“Its weird learning Spanish in a

classroom, but fun too. I like to help the other kids, when they are saying bad stuff but don’t know it. I like the longer school days, too. Its boring to just sit at home. This gives me something to do.”

Zepeda wants to continue to live in the United States and be the first in his family t o go to college,

where he hopes to become and engineer.“I want to live here, but vacation there.

I’m glad I came here. There are bad people all over the world, in America and Honduras, but I feel safer here because there are more police officers and they act quicker.”

Asra Shaik has a different story. She grew up in India, until her father decided to move to America in 2009 to be with his family, where she began as a student at Victory Lakes Intermediate School.

“I was so scared. It was a new school,

a new country, and a new language. Sometimes I had no idea what my teacher was saying. It was really overwhelming. I had taken some English classes in India, but they taught me with a different accent so it was hard to understand American English. After one month I was put in ELL classes,” explained Asra, with only a slight accent and near perfect grammar. “Now the classes seem easy. The kids are really lazy, and a lot of the teachers just don’t

care. In India, everyone cared. They had to. School was a lot more competitive. Here everyone is just apathetic.”

In India, Asra and her siblings attended a private school from 8:00 am- 4:00

pm Monday through Saturday, where they were required to

wear uniforms until grade ten. “Schools were more

centered on learning. If you wanted to play sports or play

an instrument that was fine, but you did it outside of school.

Here at Creek, less time is spent on academics and instead

people can take football class,” said Asra. “Oh and one more thing, students say bad words in school here, all the time. That would never happen back home.”

Reynaldo Zepeda and Asra Shaik represent only two of Creek’s many English Language Learners that spend every day not only trying to learn math and history, but how to speak the language and adapt to a new culture.

shared it with them.”Known to many of her students as

“Schwabby,” she is the teacher that takes time to make sure her students are putting their very best into their work. She is willing to help when a student is having trouble with an assignment and offers healthy criticism. She is there even after tutorials are over, just talking to students about issues they have whether it may just be a bad day or guidance on which college to go to.

As a teacher for 19 years, Miss Schwab learns something new from her students everyday.

“It’s a give and take process, and that’s what I like about it,” said Schwab.

Schwab says the one thing she will miss the most at Creek is the students by far. She is coming back to visit for graduation where most of her students will be walking the stage.

High School is infamous for drama, rumors, and hurtful gossip. This problem is growing worse through cyberbullying over texting or Facebook. However a few individuals from Creek, Brook, and Lake, have begun to reverse this trend creating Facebook pages where students can submit compliments about their peers.

“Throughout the year, our school is filled with gossip, rumors, drama, and bullying. I think can speak for everyone when I say that people are tired of the drama. Instead of hate, this page is for everyone to inbox compliments about the people around you. Everyone deserves a compliment every once and a while,” reads the description of the page “CCHS Compliments.”

This phenomenon was started by Clear Lake High School, and was followed by Brook, with a total of over 1,700 friends submitting and receiving kind words and encouragement from their peers. The students that run the pages have opted to stay anonymous as well.

One student decided to start a page for Creek at the start of winter break. The page got off to a slow start, but began receiving twenty or more friend requests a day. Recently the page has published between five and then compliments a day, with some days even higher than that. The students have embraced the page, and nobody has yet to abuse it by submitting a hateful remark.

“I’ve received multiple messages and wall posts telling me what a great thing I’m doing. My reply to them is that I really haven’t done a great thing at all. The student body is the real owners of this page, and without their participation this page would be nothing. All I do is copy and paste. Any success that results from this page comes from the students of CCHS, not me. And I hope this page continues to be used well into the future,” said the student running the page, who wishes to remain anonymous.

“I could continue to run the page myself, but I feel like it would be more enjoyable for others if I passed the page down to a younger student,” said the student over keeping the page sustainable.

CCHS Compliments and its counterparts throughout the district are helping to spread some positive energy in the midst of a very superficial time in most people’s lives.

CCHS pageencouragesBy Hannah BrinskoAround Creek Editor

By Hannah BrinskoAround Creek Editor

Photos by Christal Scarbrough

Photo by Sierra Kemper

7Around CreekDistrictwide singing contest a huge success

On Saturday, January 15, 2012 CCISD hosted the second-annual So You Think You Can Sing? Contest. Students from 17 elementary schools, 7 intermediate schools, and 4 high schools competed in the competition on Saturday. Each school was represented by one singer to compete in their designated categories.

“Really applaud and support every single one of them, this is very nerve wracking and they are spectacular…when I think back to how old I was and what I was like in elementary school, I cannot believe these kids have the guts to really get up here and do what they do,” said Dean Muths, contest host and CCISD Fine Arts director.

After participating in a campus-wide competition by submitting videos of them singing songs of their choice, one representative is then chosen to represent their school in the competition. Contestants compete in 3 separate age divisions: elementary, intermediate, and high school. On the night of the contest, each representative then sings a clip of their chosen song for a live audience both in front of the stage and in front of computer screens on an online broadcast of the competition. Audience members, either

there in person or watching online, are then asked to cast their vote by texting in their favorite pick to the contest judges.

Contestants sing in a random set list order within each of their specific divisions. After incredible performances from the elementary division, the CCISD

Elementary Honor choir performed for the audience. The CCISD Men’s Varsity choir also gave a performance after all of the soloists in the intermediate and high school divisions. The competition gives each of the soloists a chance to show off their talent

before a large audience and gain some experience on stage. Every contestant in each category showed incredible courage and talent despite their nerves and age.

After all the individual and guest choir performances, the contestants took the stage one more time all together to sing

and dance to KiKi Dee’s “I’ve Got the Music in Me” before the awards ceremony. Music teachers or directors from the students’ schools then awarded each of the soloists for their participation as their campus-wide representative then awarded

By Valerie HellinghausenGet Involved Editor

soloists medals. Last year’s winners were then called up to the stage to give each winner from the 3 divisions their awards. Ward Elementary’s representative Victoria Vourganas was awarded as the top soloist in the Elementary division for her country performance of “I Wanna Be a Cowboy

Sweetheart.” Bethany Warner, a student at Space Center Intermediate, was named the winner for the Intermediate division for her rendition of Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain.” In the High School division, Ruvinda Gunawardena from Clear Brook High School won the award for top soloist in the High School division for his exemplary performance of Michael Bublé’s “I Just Haven’t Met You Yet.”

“Keep on encouraging your children to sing, and we’ll see you back here next year,” said Mr. Muths to close out the show.

Contests from this year and last year can still be viewed online on UStream for any of those who were not able to watch the performances live.

CCISD Choral Music Department certainly showed off some of its most talented student in this year’s competition, and looks forward to hosting the competition again next year.

Photo courtesy of CCISD

Features8A major problem for border patrol is

the issue of smuggling illegal drugs across Mexico’s and the United States’ country lines. Now a new issue has risen- drug cartels are using high school and middle school students to transport the drugs and weapons, become scouts, and serve as lookouts, since they are not usually seen as suspects. Operation Detour is now serving the bordering cities’ students to help them stay away from drug cartels.

Operation Detour was created due to Del Rio High School’s 3 star athletes being ar-rested on the charge of drug smuggling and being put in federal prison. Now, Opera-tion Detour is trying to alert students be-fore the drug cartels take them to an illegal road.

Border Patrol comes into classrooms to bring awareness of the dangers that drug smuggling has to offer. They present videos of real life situations that are tied with smug-gling drugs; the border patrol does not hold back the truth, because that is what really impacts high school and middle school students. Operation Detour has even asked parents to talk to their kids

about the dangers of the drug cartels. The cities affected are not just those that border with Mexico- but sites such as San Antonio are seeing cartel’s targeting the students as well.

According to NYDailyNews.com, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety said that 25

children have already been arrested along the Texas border this year.

“Cartels would pay kids $50 just for

and cars to drive, it is easier to bring them into the business. According to Big Bend Now, an online article that bring news to West Texas, the Texas Department of Pub-lic Safety (DPS) apprehended a 12-year-old boy in a border county driving a sto-len pickup truck containing more than 800 pounds of marijuana. Also in the article, in

September two Texas teenagers were lured to Mexico where they were kidnapped, beaten, ransomed and released in a remote area along the Rio Grande. The drug car-tels are getting chil-dren and teens that do not live in Mexico, and instead are af-ter American chil-dren to help smuggle marijuana and illegal immigrants into the U.S.

With all the new flashy items that students want these days, they are seen as easy targets. Punish-ment behind bars is not the only conse-quence participants could face- they also have to worry about violence and murder by the drug cartels. Operation Detour mission is to help stu-dents realize all the real-life dangers of being connected with

the drug cartels, that way studnets’ lives will not be spent in prison.

them to move a vehicle from one position to another position, which allows the cartel to keep it under surveillance to see if law enforcement has it under surveillance,” said McCraw.

To drug cartels, a teenager is just seen as “expendable,” nothing more than a body to do risky work, and the reason so many

children are so will-ing to participate

with them is to earn the money offered. Since teenagers want name brand clothes

Operation Detour is put into effect at US border

DON WRIGHT editorial cartoon

Abundant Life Christian Center thrives

Abundant Life Chris-tian Center, a 3000 person congregation, is located on 601 Delany Road in LaMa-rque lead by Pastors Walter and Cindy Hallam and As-sistant Pastor Joshua Ru-dolph and Executive Pastor Catherine Rudolph. ALCC also has a youth ministry, The Chosen, for teenagers ranging from the ages of 12-18. At the youth build-ing there is a skate park, a basketball court, a movie theatre, and a café. They have a children’s minis-try for children aged 5-11 called Joy Zone and Joy Zone Jr. is for toddlers’ 6 months to 4 years.

The ALCC website says, “Our history is rooted in the education of children and this commitment continues in our nursery school, children’s classes and mission outreach. Ours is a welcom-ing congregation and a diverse witness to God’s love through Jesus Christ. We are passionate about spiritual growth, service and learning from each other.”

Every October, “Heartbreak Hotel and Hotel Hallelujah” comes to life for a

performance where members from the church become top selling recording artists and present a powerful message. Also in October, the Chosen put on Tour of Hell, a glimpse of what Hell has in store.

In November, “ C a m p m e e t i n g ” takes place at the church where pas-tors like Jesse Du-plantis, Perry Stone, Tim Story, and Ivan Tait come for 4 days to preach. During the month of De-cember the church holds a candlelight

ceremony.Abundant Life Christian Center, the

place of love and healing, holds services on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., and again on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Chosen youth church begins at 6:02 on Sunday evenings and 7:02 Wednesday evenings.

deserved find themselves in a place full of unconditional love, indescribable peace,

and absolute joy,” the website stated.

Throughout the year many events hap-pen on the Abundant Life campus such as, the Easter production “The Road to Em-maus,” where the inside of the church be-comes an Israel setting when Jesus walked the streets.

Casa Angelina, an orphanage in Gua-temala, was founded in honor of Angela

Hallam, Pastor Hallam’s daughter. By the end of construction, it will house 300 children in a family style setting, and10 children will be with house parents to give more indi-vidual care.

“Children that have been through un-believable torment and pain that they never

By Clarissa MelendezReporter

By Clarissa MelendezReporter

Photo by Clarissa Melendez

Features 9For public colleges and universities,

the recession has hit them hard financially. The federal stimulus money that sustained colleges for several years is just about gone. College enrollment keeps climbing, but the demand for financial aid remains high, with the average annual tuition in-crease heading towards double digits.

Kiplinger.com recently listed the best public universities for the money. The col-leges were evaluated on the ability to keep students engaged and on track for gradua-tion, their academic value, and their ability to offer financial aid.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill tops the rankings for best val-ues in public colleges and universities for the 11th consecutive time, and this year is the best value for out of state tuition as well. UNC-Chapel Hill has been a lead-er for academic excellence, low cost and generous financial aide. Nearly two-thirds of North Carolina students graduate debt-free. North Carolina extends the same level of financial aid to out-of-state students that it does to in-state students. Shirley Ort, associate provost and direc-tor for scholarships and student aid says, “Our feeling is that if we’ve granted them admission, we need to remove the financial barriers.”

The University of North Carolina has been able to keep costs low by hiring con-sultants Bain & Co. to help with budget cuts. The resulting cuts saved the univer-

sity $50 million a year while keeping class-room operations intact.

College administrators around the country are facing similar budget cuts by eliminating or consolidating programs, in-creasing teaching loads, hiring more part-

time faculty, and increasing class sizes.Daniel Hurley of the American Asso-

ciation of State Colleges and Universities said, “public colleges can expect a very long and slow climb back in terms of re-gaining state funding.”

Other value leaders include the Univer-sity of Florida, the University of Virginia, and the College of William & Mary. The University of Florida and New College of Florida not only post prices that are less than half the average for private schools ($38,589) but also beat the average for public schools ($17,131).

“New College walks, talks and acts like a really elite private school, but it’s got public college prices,” says Donald Asher, author of “Cool Colleges: For the Hyper-Intelligent, Self-Directed, Late-Blooming and Just Plain Different.”

At New College, students design their own curriculum and receive faculty evalu-ations of their work instead of grades. Stu-dents who choose to attend New College also graduate with very little debt. For this upcoming year, in-state students will pay $6,032 for tuition and fees. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that 100 percent of New College entering fresh-men will receive financial aid.

For students wanting to go to an af-fordable school in New York, New York, Hunter College offers a solid education at a naturally low price. At Hunter College, in-state students pay $5,229 per year in tuition and fees and non-New York residents pay less than $11,000.

If you are looking for a good value it is best to go for smaller institutions. These schools tend to provide students with great-er one-on-one professor attention. College can be affordable as long as you apply for the right scholarships and pick schools that cater to your financial needs.

300 dpi Robert West color illustration of small hands holding pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters toward piggy bank in center.

The Philadelphia Inquirer 2007

By Madison WilliamsFeatures Editor

Help finding the best colleges for your money

Cheer places second at national competition

For the first time in many years, the Creek cheer team fielded a competitive team.

In November, a handful of cheerlead-ers were chosen to be a part of a team that would lead them to a very close victory. The cheerleaders selected were Lindsay Baltazar, Danni Cantu (12th), Carly Coker (11th), Tierney Conley, Tylar Cotton (9th), Taylor Curran, Jenna Dyer (12th), Emily Huynh (12th), Claudia Kelly (11th), Lau-ren McMahan (12th), Jade Merritt, Abbey Prangle (9th), Gracie Roush (12th), Rachel Rowland (11th), Renee Sadler (11th), Shel-by Walding and Johnna Williams.

Right after the team was chosen for NCA this event, the cheerleaders went straight into practicing. The girls selected for this event had 6 weeks to prepare, learn, and memorize a 2 and 1/2 minute routine. The routine had to incorporate tumbling, stunting, dancing, and a cheer. After about of month of hard work and time spent into practicing and learning their routine for this competition, it was time to show off their work.

The weekend of January 5th through January 7th, cheerleaders across the coun-try headed off to Dallas, Texas. The select-ed group of girls from Clear Creek were one of the many cheer teams who went up to Dallas to perform what they had been practicing for the past six weeks in the 32nd NCA Senior and Junior High School National Championship.

The team competed in the Medium In-termediate Varsity Division for two days, Saturday and Sunday, for the finals. They

showed off their Wildcat pride and proved that they were meant to be at the competition.

In the end, all of the girls hard work paid off. The Creek cheer team came in second out of 23 that competed for the na-tionwide title, even beat-ing some of the cheer teams in their school dis-trict. The team was exact-ly .9 of a point away from ending up in first place.

The team was not only judged for their routine, but they were also judged for their showmanship. The girls brought home two awards from the fi-nals. The judges awarded them the Overall Showmanship award, along with the award for coming in second in the finals.

Even though the Creek cheer team has not been to an NCA competition in years, their coach, Gwendolyn Cash, says “We look forward to competing again next year.”

The coach also liked the outcome of what the girls had learned in the past month.

“We are very pleased with our perfor-mance,” said Coach Cash.

By Kristina KoonceReporter

Photo by Edna Meeks

Top Regional Events

Texans make

the Playoffs!Closing of

Borders

book store

Yao Ming retires

froM rockets

Construction on

Louisiana Street

Drought hits Texas

Bastrop

wildfires

Clear Lake seniors

caught cheating

on midterm

Top Creek Events

Football team

goes to Playoffs

Pulsera bracelets sold by

Spanish Club

Top Global Events

Libya, Tunisia & Egypt

free from dictatorships

World

population

hits

7 billion

people

Charlie Sheen’s

downward spiral

Discovery

of new

planet,

Kepler-22b

Earthquake and

Tsunami in Japan

10th Anniversary of

September 11th attacks

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ/8th) was the victim of a shooting in Tuscon, Arizona, on Saturday, January 8, 2011. (MCT) With water sources drying up, life is miserable for rancher Ralph Miller and his cattle. He’s having to cull his herd for the first time in 40 years. Here, Miller, 79, checks on one of many “stock tanks” of water that is receding because of a severe drought in Fluvanna, Texas, May 4, 2011. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/MCT) Bryant Johnson (89) of the Houston Texans celebrates with

Ben Tate (44) after Johnson scored the potential game-winning touchdown but the Texas missed the two-point conversion in the second half of the Titan’s 23-22 victory on Sunday, January 1, 2012, in Houston, Texas. (George Bridges/MCT) Houston Rockets center Yao Ming (11) warms up prior to the start of their game against the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, November 10, 2010. (Harry E. Walker/MCT) The “Fallen But Not Forgotten” 9/11 Monument in

Lexington, South Carolina, is adorned with flowers Monday, May 2, 2011, after news spread that Osama bin Laden had been killed. (Gerry Melendez/The State/MCT) Prince William and Kate Middleton wave to the crowd from a balcony at Buckingham Palace after their wedding in London, England, on April 29, 2011. (Abaca Press/MCT) Rey Ramirez, a Temple student with Occupy Philadelphia, lets his feeling be known as he and his fellow protesters rally at City Hall before marching to the Market Street

Bridge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Thursday, November 17, 2011. (Michael Bryant/Philadelphia Inquirer/MCT) A mother and son observe a moment of silence in the rain in Minami-Sanrikucho, Miyagi Prefecture, at 2:46 p.m. on Monday, April 11, 2011--one month after a massive earthquake hit the prefecture, followed by tsunami. (Yomiuri Shumbun/MCT) Actor Charlie Sheen laughs as he is roasted during Comedy Central’s Roast of Charlie Sheen at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California,

Saturday, September 10, 2011. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/MCT) A young protester with an Egyptian flag on his face and the Libyan rebel flag in his hands joins protesters in Cairo, Egypt, on Saturday, March 12, 2011. Hundreds of Egyptian, Yemeni and Libyan protesters rallied Saturday in front of the Arab League headquarters in Cairo to urge international and regional support for protest movements in Libya, Yemen and other Arab countries. (Mohannad Sabry/MCT) Republican presidential can-

didate Rick Perry speaks at the Faith & Freedom Coalition Prayer Breakfast in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Sunday, January 15, 2012. (Janet Blackmon Morgan/The Sun News/MCT) NASA workers gather in front Space shuttles Discovery, left, and Endeavour as they are parked nose to nose Thursday, August 11, 2011 before Endeavour is moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building, background, and Discovery being towed to a Orbitor Processing Facility. (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/MCT) Firefighters

take up defensive positions at Sportsman’s World, a residential community in Palo Pinto County, Texas on Thursday, September 1, 2011. North Texas fire officials were hopeful Thursday that cool weather and calm winds forecast over the weekend will help firefighters quell the largest of the state’s several wildfires, a blaze that has destroyed at least 39 homes this week. (Paul Moseley/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT)

Bastrop

wildfires

Clear Lake seniors

caught cheating

on midterm

Rick Perry starts

Presidential campaign

Senator Gabrielle

Giffords’ shooting

led to resignation

Top Creek Events

Football team

goes to Playoffs

Homecoming!

Creek Crumbs

campaign

First dance concert,

Kaleidoscope, presented in fall

Pulsera bracelets sold by

Spanish Club

Creek attracts

media attention...

“Don’t Ask,

Don’t Tell”

policy repealed

10th Anniversary of

September 11th attacks

Prince William marries

Kate Middleton

Assassination of

Osama Bin Laden“Occupy Wall Street”

movement

TAKS test changed

to STAAR

End of NASA’s

Space Shuttle

programRep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ/8th) was the victim of a shooting in Tuscon, Arizona, on Saturday, January 8, 2011. (MCT) With water sources drying up, life is miserable for rancher Ralph Miller and his cattle. He’s having to cull his herd for the first time in 40 years. Here, Miller, 79, checks on one of many “stock tanks” of water that is receding because of a severe drought in Fluvanna, Texas, May 4, 2011. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/MCT) Bryant Johnson (89) of the Houston Texans celebrates with

Ben Tate (44) after Johnson scored the potential game-winning touchdown but the Texas missed the two-point conversion in the second half of the Titan’s 23-22 victory on Sunday, January 1, 2012, in Houston, Texas. (George Bridges/MCT) Houston Rockets center Yao Ming (11) warms up prior to the start of their game against the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, November 10, 2010. (Harry E. Walker/MCT) The “Fallen But Not Forgotten” 9/11 Monument in

Lexington, South Carolina, is adorned with flowers Monday, May 2, 2011, after news spread that Osama bin Laden had been killed. (Gerry Melendez/The State/MCT) Prince William and Kate Middleton wave to the crowd from a balcony at Buckingham Palace after their wedding in London, England, on April 29, 2011. (Abaca Press/MCT) Rey Ramirez, a Temple student with Occupy Philadelphia, lets his feeling be known as he and his fellow protesters rally at City Hall before marching to the Market Street

Bridge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Thursday, November 17, 2011. (Michael Bryant/Philadelphia Inquirer/MCT) A mother and son observe a moment of silence in the rain in Minami-Sanrikucho, Miyagi Prefecture, at 2:46 p.m. on Monday, April 11, 2011--one month after a massive earthquake hit the prefecture, followed by tsunami. (Yomiuri Shumbun/MCT) Actor Charlie Sheen laughs as he is roasted during Comedy Central’s Roast of Charlie Sheen at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California,

Saturday, September 10, 2011. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/MCT) A young protester with an Egyptian flag on his face and the Libyan rebel flag in his hands joins protesters in Cairo, Egypt, on Saturday, March 12, 2011. Hundreds of Egyptian, Yemeni and Libyan protesters rallied Saturday in front of the Arab League headquarters in Cairo to urge international and regional support for protest movements in Libya, Yemen and other Arab countries. (Mohannad Sabry/MCT) Republican presidential can-

didate Rick Perry speaks at the Faith & Freedom Coalition Prayer Breakfast in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Sunday, January 15, 2012. (Janet Blackmon Morgan/The Sun News/MCT) NASA workers gather in front Space shuttles Discovery, left, and Endeavour as they are parked nose to nose Thursday, August 11, 2011 before Endeavour is moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building, background, and Discovery being towed to a Orbitor Processing Facility. (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/MCT) Firefighters

take up defensive positions at Sportsman’s World, a residential community in Palo Pinto County, Texas on Thursday, September 1, 2011. North Texas fire officials were hopeful Thursday that cool weather and calm winds forecast over the weekend will help firefighters quell the largest of the state’s several wildfires, a blaze that has destroyed at least 39 homes this week. (Paul Moseley/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT)

These stories and countlessothers made 2011 memorable...What will 2012 bring?

Get Involved12 Get Involved

By Valerie HellinghausenGet Involved Editor

By Halle ScottReporter

On January 1, 2012, New Senate Bill 1107 went into effect, requiring both dual credit and college students under the age of 30 to receive the bacterial meningitis vaccination. While spending a few hours in a doctorís office was not the most enjoyable way for students to spend their winter break, for some it was required by the state.

After the death of college students Jamie Schanbaum and Nicolis Williams due to bacterial meningitis, the state has become more involved with this issue. According to the Centers for Disease Control, bacterial meningitis can be easily spread person to person by coughing, kissing, and sneezing. Meningitis infects spinal cord fluid surrounding the brain, which can lead to various symptoms such as headaches, stiffness in the neck, and nausea. Symptoms can develop rather rapidly within several days or even just a few hours. Because of the infectionís contagious and fast-acting nature, legislators rewrote the bill in early 2011 so that all students who plan on attending classes on site at any public, private, or independent Texas college campus are required to receive the vaccination for bacterial meningitis.

“No one wants to lose a child when they know there is a possibility that death

could have been prevented,” said Nicolis Williams’ father, Greg Williams, in an interview with KHOU 11 News.

Health professionals at the Centers

for Disease Control have also found that children and teens ages 2 through 18 are susceptible to the most dangerous form

of the disease. Also, an increased risk of becoming infected has been found in teens ages 15 through 19 and especially in college freshmen living in dormitories.

Desp i t e t h e s e f i n d i n g s ,

some still argue that the state may be interfering with students and parentsí personal medical choices and may be overlooking financial concerns.

“My biggest concern is cost...our civil liberties are important too and I feel that the state shouldn’t be involved with that,” said Mark Harmon, a San Jacinto Community

College student, in an interview with KHOU.

The bacterial meningitis shot can cost anywhere from $100 to $150, but prices could be expected to rise with the growing demand for the vaccination now that it is required for college students. Fortunately for students, the vaccination is readily available through college and local health clinics as well as private physicians. However, for those who decline the meningitis vaccine for medical safety, religious or other reasons, exemptions may be approved.

Although concerns regarding the new bill are still apparent, the consequences for not receiving the shot are not being overlooked either. By not receiving the shot 10 days prior to the start of the spring semester, some schools are freezing student records and not allowing them to register for classes without proof of vaccination. Students enrolled in dual credit classes were sent an e-mail notification regarding the new Senate bill and are instructed

to fax, mail, or submit a copy of their vaccination records to the College of the Mainland Registrar’s Office. Students who were unable to receive the vaccine for justifiable reasons may be given up to a 10-day extension after the first day of semester.

New Senate bill requires meningitis vaccination

As the new year rolls around, some people feel like it has come earlier than usual and dread it, while others are focused on their New Years Resolution list. For many people, the New Year is a celebration, a period to join with family and friends to say goodbye to the problems of history and welcome the future.

When the clock strikes midnight, it is common for people to kiss loved ones and make plenty of noise to celebrate the start of a brand new year. Some people simply do this without thinking about it, but there is a superstitious reason behind this. According to John Wayne’s New Year’s Resolution Article, people kissed each other to make sure that the connection lasted throughout the year and made a lot of noise to scare evil spirits away.

It was not until 153BC that January 1 was declared as the start of the New Year by the Romans. The month was named after Janus, the mythical God of beginnings. The

calendar year became much more like our present day in 46BC when Julius Caesar established the Julian Calendar. After consulting with an astronomer he matched 12 months with the movement of the sun and

marked January 1 as the start of what we call the “New Year.”

There are a number of superstitious traditions that began many years ago and have lost their meaning in current day. In the

United States one of the most famous traditions is New Year’s parades. The

History of New Year’s Resolutions: then and nowparades go back to 1886 when members of the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages with flowers. Football games are well known although the Rose Bowl football game was first played as part of the Tournament of Roses in 1902. In 1916, the football game returned as the sports centerpiece of the festival. A majority of American men watch the football game on TV on New Year’s day, and there are even “Rose Bowl” parties.

Typically, these traditions were enacted to influence the luck one would have within the coming year. There are great examples like the Brand New Year’s Eve parties that people all know and love, which began due to the belief that what one did on the first day of the year may effect their luck. This is why the parties involve plenty of family and friends.

Today people make New Years Resolutions to try to improve some things about themselves throughout the year. Popular resolutions include quitting smoking, losing weight and paying off debts. However, many break their resolutions prior to the year’s end. In fact, a recent study discovered by Wayne showed that 22 percent of people give up on their resolution within the first week, and by the end of March over 50 percent of New Year’s resolutions have been broken. Fireworks light up the night over the Philadelphia Museum

of Art during the Fourth of July celebration in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 4, 2009. (Laurence Kesterson/

Philadelphia Inquirer/MCT)

KRT US NEWS STORY SLUGGED: MED-MENINGITIS KRT PHOTO BY PHIL VELASQUEZ/CHICAGO TRIBUNE (August 31) Bukuroshe Hasani, 14, gets a vaccination for meningitis from nurse Rosita Chan in Chicago,

Illinois, on August 25, 2005. (gsb) 2005 (Diversity)

Get Involved Get Involved 13By Dane ChronisterReporter

College is extremely expensive even with grants and scholarships. Some students are planning to pay for college themselves and are even in a tougher dilemma because they must pay for all four years, and possibly even five or six, if the student makes the decision to pursue a Master’s or Doctor’s Degree.

Throughout the past few years, the price of private and state colleges has increased incredibly, and it doesn’t show any sign of slowing it’s inflating expenses. According to a study done in September by the College Board, Mark Kantrowitz, and Fastweb.com, the debt from student loans has quadrupled from 2000 to 2011. It also shows that the average student loan debt from 2000 until 2009, ranged from $16,000 to $25,500 at private universities and $4,000 to $6,000 at public colleges.

For many students, a college education is essential. Many jobs and occupations now require a college degree and a certain set of educational principles. Across the nation today, there are many high school teachers and school counselors that are encouraging students to go to the elite colleges. However, these colleges and universities with this “outstanding” status also tend to have the most “outstanding” prices. Many students are scrambling to find ways to pay for this education and

later find themselves taking out loans that will take a number of years to pay back.

One way to avoid an increasing loan

debt is to attend a college that “is more affordable.” Most college students would like to experience the fun events and socials as well as receive a particular amount of

College students struggle with debts

Region Orchestra Results

HS Full Orchestra:Stephanie Ding (Violin)HS Chamber Orchestra:Emily Thomas (Harp)

All-State Choir Results

Anna Rigby (12th)Thomas McCulloch ( 11th)Kaila Thomas (11th)Damon Ducket (10th)Jesse Pilgrim (10th)Michael Skarke (10th)

prestige from the university they attend. A more affordable institution could be the best answer. It may be not the one ranking prestigiously above all the others, but it will alleviate personal college debt.

For most students who are college bound with the intent on attending the highest echelon universities in the nation, this is a rather devastating enlightenment. Many private universities are now charging between $40,000 and $50,000 for one year, which means students can pay between $20,000 and $25,000 for just one semester. As a result, it is very difficult to afford the expenses that it takes to attend these universities.

Andrew Kunka charged $4,000 to his credit card several years ago to help pay tuition at Loyola

Marymount. Now a first-year law student at Rutgers University’s Newark, New Jersey campus, Kunka,

struggles to make the minimum payment on the card - which is nearly maxed out. “I feel like credit card companies target us because we really have no financial awareness,” said Kunka, 22. (Christopher

Barth/MCT)

Region Band Results

District:Kelsey McMahon (Clarinet)Will Shivers (Trumpet)Danny Gunn (Trumpet)Cody Perry (Trumpet)Hudson Hill (Trumpet)Trey McMahon (Percussion)

Region:Valerie Hellinghausen (Clarinet)Jacqueline Koonce (Clarinet)Julie Chase (Clarinet)Lauren Figge (Clarinet)Grant Rossi (Alto Sax)Zach Sasiene (Bass Clarinet)Alyssa Cannon (Trumpet)Ethan McMahon (Euphonium)Joel Mancini (Trombone)Steven Martinez (Trombone)Jared Castillo (Tuba)Michael Sulkis (Percussion)

Area:Vincent Conder (Clarinet)Shelby Adams (Oboe)Dylan Way (Trumpet)Brad Shaw (Percussion)

State:Will Henry (Bass Trombone)Alex Wahl (French Horn)

14 Teen interestTeen Interest

17-year-old Scotty McCreery has not left his singing career behind on the American Idol stage after becoming Season 10’s American Idol winner. His newly released album, Clear as Day, includes debut singles “I Love You This Big” and “The Trouble With Girls” that have become country music chart-toppers and jumpstarted his musical career outside of the American Idol studio. While his accomplishments are astonishing for someone so young, his contemporary twist to classic country is unoriginal and his messages are those which his audience has already heard a dozen times over.

Scotty McCreery opens the album with one of his top hits, “Out of Summertime” which tells a humdrum story about a failed summer fling. The song offers a fun walking-tempo beat and some clever lyrics, but fails to wow the audience from the start.

His closing song on the American Idol stage and biggest hit on the charts, “I Love You This Big” redeems this opener with

a tribute that could warm the hearts of a family member, friend, or girlfriend. This versatile track helps make Scotty relatable

to a larger portion of his audience members. Both of his hits are a mediocre start to his career and are easy to listen to, but are also easily forgettable.

On the other hand, McCreery being

a younger artist does not seem to be addressing audience members of his age. Songs like “The Trouble With Girls,” “You

Make That Look Good,” and “Clear as Day” are all to slow for younger members.

While it’s very predictable for an artist to write a high tempo love song everyone can dance to, at least audience

Scotty McCreery produces cliche country albummembers enjoy it. Scotty writes about how easily he can fall in love with a girl in “The Trouble With Girls,” but without the lyrics it sounds more like a heartbroken ballad. In order to appeal to contemporary audiences, Scotty needs to pick up the pace in his future albums so that his audiences will not be sung to sleep at a concert and perhaps resent him for his age. Despite all this, Clear as Day is later redeemed by tracks like “Write My Number on Your Hand” and “Dirty Dishes.” “Write My Number on Your Hand” is a flirtatious song that is unlike what audiences heard by every other artist on the market. “Dirty Dishes” gives greater insight to Scotty’s deeper side and lets his audience get to know him behind the titles and accomplishments. If the rest of the debut album were to include songs of this nature, I think this album could have sold very well. At this point Scotty is still figuring out who he is as an artist, and he will have to include more songs that are truly his own and not just older country songs with a newer McCreery twist. If Scotty fails to vary his repertoire,

show off his supposed amazing range, and give the audience fresh material, then he may end up being the washed up singer at a southern wedding instead of the top-hit country artist he has the potential to be.

Photo of Scotty McCreery Courtesy of gomoxie.org

By Valerie HellinghausenDo Something Editor

Houston has new super hero- the Scarlet SpiderBy Jacob ArredondoSports Editor

Houston is known for being the 4th biggest city in the United States and is almost as famous for its crime. But there is a new superhero who is swinging into town to try and clean up the streets if he feels like it.

With the comic release on January 11th, Marvel Comic debuted their brand new series Scarlet Spider, with the title being primarily set it the Bayou City. The comic is written by Christopher Yost, a writer of many Marvel comic books with story arcs in X-Men and Spider-Man and the head writer of X-Force and Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Providing the art in Scarlet Spider’s new adventure is Ryan Stegman, who has worked on issues of World War Hulk and She-Hulk. Stegman is known for his beautiful penciling with great layouts through out issues.

The story of the Scarlet Spider is a long and complicated one. It has its origins in the 90’s Clone Saga, a story arc with Spider-Man that has been very controversial with fans since day one. This new story of the Scarlet Spider is about the life of Kaine, a clone of Peter Parker, also known as Spider-Man.

Kaine was originally a villain in the world of Marvel later known as the Tarantula. He was a failed clone created by the Jackal, one of Spider-Man’s enemies who was a genius in the field biochemistry, genetics, and cloning prior to his transformation. Kaine was raised with hate in his heart as well as awful scars all over his body and was deemed imperfect not only physically but also mentally. Kaine still has the spider like abilities that the original Spider-Man possesses as well as an increased superhuman strength that allows him the do such things like ripping chunks of bricks of buildings and stopping cars that get in his way.

After the events of Spider-Island, a comic event that gave most of the inhabitants of Manhattan Island powers that

of Spider-Man (superheroes and villains included), Kaine was cured of his awful

curse and he started to regain a mental stability and normal physical features.

The long road of redemption will go t h r o u g h H o u s t o n as Kaine tries to find himself in this world. In the p r e v i o u s years he has been a villain and even an assassin w i t h m u l t i p l e v i c t i m s , so the transition to b e c o m i n g a superhero will be a hard one. It is also the theme of the first issue in the series.

T h e first issue of Scarlet Spider was a whopping one. Kaine is coming to grip with his powers and

responsibilities as a man with his whole future ahead of him. He even considers

killing a group of thugs before changing his mind and steals money that was part of a deal that was in the port of Houston instead.

He is still not quite a superhero yet and Yost is making each page a subtle change in Kaine’s personality as he tries to become something that he has never been before- a good guy.

While Kaine has flashes of heroics, he still has much to learn about his powers and himself. Despite being new in town, Kaine already has made friends, like the bartender in The Four Seasons Hotel, where he is staying. He also makes a few enemies, like the mysterious new super villain, the Salamander, who is a large Central-American man with tattoos and piercings that has the power to conjure and manipulate fire at will.

With the title set in Houston, many fans in the area were excited with the news of a super hero in their hometown. A local comic book store, Bedrock City Comic Company, sold out of the comic within 6 hours on the day it was released.

In the comic we see Houston becoming slowly integrated into Kaine’s life. Being from New York, he still is not used to the heat and humidity that Houstonians endure. Kaine says in a panel, “How can it be so hot? And humid. It’s like my sweat is sweating.”

The art by Stegman is amazing, with detail in everything from the webs shooting out of Kaine’s wrist to the sweat dripping off of Kaine as he explores Houston in the morning. He brings to life characters in the background with distinct facial features and body sizes that give a fresh look to each setting, and makes it fun and exciting hunt to spot the details in each panel.

Marvel has announced that there will be a second printing of Scarlet Spider available in February a week after Scarlet Spider #2 hits the shelves on February 8th.

Teen interest 15THIS YEAR, 9TH GRADERS

ARE NO LONGER ELIGIBLE FOR EXAM EXEMPTIONS. THEY WILL BE REQUIRED

TO TAKE THE FINAL SPRING EXAMS IN ALL CLASSES.

HERE’S THE SCOOP CREEK FRESHMEN:

I once was a twilight fan. Over Christmas Break of my eighth grade year I read the entire series in a week. I sat in my room all day, reading about a perfect man- who was handsome, witty, charming, polite, and his top priority was his girlfriend. I even went to the midnight release of New Moon. Then one day, I was rereading Breaking Dawn and thought to myself- this is all wrong. The entire appeal behind the twilight saga stems from the fact that any girl aged 10 to 17 (and occasionally their sad mothers), can relate to Bellaís character which is essentially nonexistent and therefore left to the imagination of the reader. The novels are written in first person, which makes it easier for a reader to project themselves into the story as Bella. After reading the four books I can conclude that she is average at school, has brown hair, is not very coordinated, and has slight self esteem problems. That same description (with the exception of hair color in some cases) fits the majority of teenage girls.

The next step in the twilight temptation game is to make the reader fall in love with Edward Cullen, who is described as the perfect man. Edward and Bellaís relationship develops and before long the reader can pretend she has the perfect

boyfriend who is smart, handsome, polite, and is respectful. If this manipulation wasnít morally questionable already, things take a turn for the ìnot-at-all-okayî. Bella begins to lie to her father. She sneaks out and isolates herself from her friends all to better her relationship with Edward. Then, after a few short months of bliss, Eddy decides he wants out, and he leaves her. At this point I lose all remaining respect for Bella. Weíve all been through tough breakups, but Bella acts as if her life is over because her sparkly vampire boyfriend of a few months dumped her. She completely stops spending time with her friends, talking with her father, functioning like a normal human being. But rather than learning from the breakup that no man should be the center of her universe, she flies across the ocean to take him back.

As much as it pains me to admit it, the director did a decent job with the film. The range of emotions shown by the various vampires, werewolves, and mortals was much more diverse than in the previous movies where each character stayed static throughout the film. Taylor Laughtner, playing the man-candy werewolf Jacob, took his shirt off only once, compared to the last film where it was almost comedic how often he was missing his clothing. The soundtrack was impeccable; the wedding scene was beautifully executed with details

such as elaborate decoration and costuming.The song played during the wedding

scene should be familiar to twilight fans, as it was the same song played during the prom scene in the original movie. Although it was a nice echo to the first film, it made it seem as if the saga is coming to a close now, though there is one more movie to be released. Another repeated song ìBellaís Lullabyî along with a montage scene from all the previous films added to the tone that the series was closing. This would be fine if this was truly the end to the series, but with Breaking Part 2 to be released this February it all felt rather premature in my opinion.

If this film was all there was to the series, I would not hate it as passionately as I do now. I might watch it at sleepovers,

Confessions of an ex-Twilight book and movie fanBy Hannah BrinskoAround Creek Editor and laugh with my friends after about how

we all hope to marry men as charming as Edward. However, the blissful wedding and honeymoon that take center stage in the latest movie is preceded by a series which I find revolting.

The lesson the Bella is teaching girls today can be summed up as this: It is okay to abandon your friends and family, destroy your life, and degrade your self-respect for a nice guy. Bella essentially threw away her college education to get married to a high school boyfriend and have his children. The love story is cliché and deceitful and the main character represents the epitome of sensationalism resulting in destructive habits while remaining the idol and envy of millions.

Ad Diversions16

Diversions 17■ One-minute commercials dur-

ing Super Bowl I cost $75,000 onNBC and $85,000 on CBS. (Bothnetworks broadcast the game.) One30-second commercial during thelast Super Bowl cost around $3million (that’s $100,000 a second).

■ The average 30-second com-mercial price reached $1 million forthe first time in 1995. The $2 mil-lion mark was first topped in 2000,and commercial costs reached $3million for the first time in 2009.

■ Commercial slots during thefirst quarter typically are the mostexpensive, with slots in the fourthquarter the least expensive.

■ Fifty-one percent of peoplesurveyed by The NielsenCompany in January 2010 saidthey watch the Super Bowl for thecommercials. Also, commercialsviewed during the first quartertended to be the most remem-bered and the most liked.

■ The second-half kickoff ofSuper Bowl I had to be replayedbecause NBC was airing aWinston cigarettes commercialwhen the kickoff took place.

■ Researchers at theUniversity of Buffalo tracked 529Super Bowl commercials from1989-2005 and found that compa-nies with the 10 most-liked adseach year saw their stock pricesincrease a quarter of a percent onthe Monday after the Super Bowl.With companies that advertiseduring the Super Bowl having anaverage market value of about$30 billion, that quarter-percentgain represented about an $80million increase in one day.

■ Farrah Fawcett and JoeNamath promoted Noxzema inthe first high-profile Super Bowlad, aired in 1973 during SuperBowl VII. The commercial fea-tured Fawcett playfully spreadingNoxzema shaving cream acrossNamath’s face.

■ Budweiser’s Clydesdalesfirst appeared during Super BowlXX in 1986 and have been in morethan a dozen Super Bowl ads.

■ Seventeen “dot-com” com-panies advertised during SuperBowl XXXIV in 2000, making upalmost half of the advertisers. Butthat number dropped to three thefollowing year because of the dot-com bust. One of the three sur-vivors was E*Trade, which fea-tured a monkey riding a horsepast failed dot-com companies.

■ AOL was the sponsor of theinfamous “wardrobe malfunction”halftime show with Janet Jacksonand Justin Timberlake (SuperBowl XXXVIII, 2004).

■ In the year after Go Daddyadvertised in Super Bowl XXXIX(2005) for the first time, the domainname registrar saw its active sitesincrease by 136 percent. Thatboosted Go Daddy to become theworld’s largest Web hosting firm.

■ One of the worst-received Super Bowl com-mercials was Just for Feet’s“Kenya Mission” spot dur-ing Super Bowl XXXIII

(1999). In the commercial, fourwhite mercenaries in a Humveechased a Kenyan runner, gave hima drug-laced drink that knockedhim unconscious, then put run-ning shoes on him under themotto of “To serve and protectfeet.” Just for Feet sued its adver-tising agency — the suit later wasdropped — and filed for bank-ruptcy later that year.

■ Apple’s groundbreaking,George Orwell-inspired “1984”commercial during Super BowlXVIII (1984) introduced con-sumers to the Macintosh personalcomputer. It also ushered in a newera of Super Bowl commercialsand is widely considered the mostimpacting Super Bowl ad ever.

■ The original plan called forthe Apple commercial to run Jan.1 during college bowl games, butthe commercial was pushed backto the Super Bowl becauseMacintosh’s launch date wasscheduled for late January.

■ Apple bought 90 seconds ofcommercial time for Super BowlXVIII. But when Apple’s board ofdirectors strongly disliked the“1984” commercial, Apple sold30 seconds of its slot and, eventu-ally, decided to run the commer-cial anyway. The commercial costalmost $1 million to produce andran only one other time on televi-sion — early morning on a smallIdaho television station so that thecommercial would be eligiblefor advertising awards.

■ Apple sold 72,000Macintosh computers duringthe first 100 days the prod-uct was available afterSuper Bowl XVIII — 44percent above projections.

■ The followingyear, during SuperBowl XIX, Apple fol-lowed up its super“1984” effort withone of the worst adsin Super Bowl his-tory. Sales droppedafter the“Lemmings”commercial,Apple sufferedthrough finan-cial difficulties,and the com-pany didn’t

advertise in another Super Bowlfor more than a decade.

■ New York Giants quarterbackPhil Simms (Super Bowl XXI,1987) was the first player to befilmed on the field after a SuperBowl for an “I’m going to DisneyWorld” commercial.

■ The “Where’s the beef?”line from the Wendy’s commer-cial during Super Bowl XVIII in1984 worked its way into theworld of politics later that year.Walter Mondale helped gain theDemocratic nomination for presi-dent by asking, “Where’s thebeef?” when criticizing GaryHart’s campaign platform.

■ Burger King’s Herb the Nerdcampaign during Super Bowl XXin 1986 is considered one of thebiggest flops in Super Bowl adver-tising history. Consumers showedlittle interest in following the cam-paign’s theme of finding Herb,who had never eaten at BurgerKing, and the multimillion dollarcampaign is still remembered forthe wrong reasons.

■ Master Lock is consideredone of Super Bowl advertising’sgreatest success stories. The smallcompany paid $107,000 for a 30-second spot during Super BowlVIII in 1974, and the gamble paidoff big-time. In that commercial,a sharpshooter shot a bullet froma high-powered rifle into a MasterLock padlock, but the padlockremained locked. Public trust inits products enabled the smallcompany to become the world’slargest manufacturer of padlocks.Although Super Bowl commer-cials used up most of MasterLock’s annual advertising budget,the company aired commercials in21 Super Bowls before announc-ing in 1997 it no longer wouldadvertise during the game.

■ Spuds MacKenzie, BudLight’s official party dog,

made his Super

Bowl debut in 1987 during SuperBowl XXI. Although a male incommercials, Spuds actually wasa female bull terrier named HoneyTree Evil Eye.

■ The Coca-Cola commercialfeaturing “Mean Joe” Greenesharing a Coke and a smile with akid consistently rates as one of thefavorite Super Bowl commercials.However, the commercial did notdebut during a Super Bowl. Thead first aired during the 1979 reg-ular season, then aired in the fol-lowing Super Bowl (XIV).

■ The Mean Joe Coke com-mercial led to a 1981 made-for-TV movie titled “The Steeler andthe Pittsburgh Kid,” in whichGreene played himself.

■ The first Bud Bowl was heldin 1989, during Super BowlXXIII. Using stop-action to playout the game, producers neededabout 10 hours to shoot two sec-onds of commercial action.

■ “Wassup” became a part ofthe American vocabulary becauseof an Anheuser-Busch commercialthat first aired on Monday NightFootball, but hit it big during SuperBowl XXXIV (2000).

■ Coca-Cola’s peace-promot-ing commercial featuring young

people from aroundthe world singing“I’d like to teachthe world

to sing” made its Super Bowldebut in 1972 in Super Bowl VI.The commercial, titled “Hilltop,”aired for six years. The commer-cial was recreated for Super BowlXXIV in 1990 and included someof the original commercial’sactors and their children.

■ Louie, one of Budweiser’slizards that first appeared at SuperBowl XXXII in 1998, made it ontothe paint scheme of the car drivenby NASCAR’s Ricky Craven.

■ For Super Bowl XXVI,broadcast on CBS in 1992, Frito-Lay sponsored Fox’s “In LivingColor Super Halftime Party” thattempted viewers to switch over tothe rival network during halftime ofthe game. The next year, Frito-Laybecame the first national sponsor ofthe Super Bowl’s halftime show,which featured Michael Jackson.

■ MillerCoors aired a one-sec-ond commercial for its MillerHigh Life brand during SuperBowl XLIII in 2009. The ad didnot run in all parts of the country.MillerCoors had to purchase thespot through local NBC outletsbecause Anheuser-Busch heldexclusive national alcohol adver-tising rights for the Super Bowl.

■ McDonald’s reported a salesincrease of 22 percent after adver-tising in Super Bowl III.

■ The Journal of AdvertisingResearch reported in 2004 thatmovies promoted during a SuperBowl earned twice as much at thebox office during their debutweek than movies not promotedduring a Super Bowl.

■ Publisher’s Clearing Housebegan announcing its winner on livetelevision during Super Bowl broad-casts in 1995, for Super BowlXXIX. Nervous that the winnerwould not be home, a member ofthe PCH prize patrol posed as aSuper Bowl commercial surveyorand called the winner the weekendof the big game to learn whether thewinner would be watching at home.

■ At Super Bowl XXVIII(1994), Reebok aired a commer-cial near the end of the game thatwas filmed and edited during thegame. To promote its InstaPumpshoes, Reebok purchased the lastspot of the game. The commercialwas supposed to be delivered toNBC with five minutes to spare,but instead was turned in a little

less than three minutes beforeair time.

■ TNS MediaIntelligence research dis-covered that from 1990-

2009, Anheuser-Buschspent $311.8 million on

Super Bowl advertisements. Therest of the top five biggest

spenders: PepsiCo($254.2 mil-lion), General

Motors ($80.5million), Walt

Disney ($71.6)and Time Warner

($64.8).

■ During that20-year period,

according to TNS,the Super Bowl gener-

ated $2.17 billion ofnetwork sales, with 210

advertisers and morethan 1,400 commercials.

F O L I O L I N E M c C l a t c h y - T r i b u n eF O L I O L I N E

SUPER BOWL ADSMCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE

BY DAVID THOMAS/MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

The teams on the field aren’t the only ones with Super Bowl gameplans. The companies that will push their products and servicesfrom the stage of the world’s largest single-day sporting event havebeen planning since the final seconds of last year’s game.

Companies have thrived and nose-dived based on Super Bowl view-ers’ opinions of their brand — all based on television commercials.

With the countdown clock ticking for advertisers, here are somethings to know about Super Bowl commercials:

The Super Bowl is a make-or-break night for advertisers

1973: Farrah Fawcett and JoeNamath promoting Noxzema.

1984: Apple’s George Orwell-inspired commercial.

Budweiser verses Bud Lightin the battle of the Bud Bowl.

MCTILLUSTRATION

Sports18Wildcat aquatics continues to dominate district

The Clear Creek High School swim team has achieved in multiple ways since they first started out. Several of their swimmers have the best times for High Schools, and a few of their swim-mers even have the Life Time best times. At the current moment, the Clear Creek Swim team is working hard so they will be prepared for the district swim meet.

The CCHS swim team does more than just competitive swimming. They have Water polo team, The Creek swim depare-ment also does diving. There is currently only two divers at the moment but one of the is injured. One of the divers Sa-mantha Lera, who is a senior, was able to score a signed full scholarship for diving.

The entire swim team is filled with talented swimmers who are already great at what they do and hoping to get better. A few of the top girl swimmers for Clear Creek are Oliva Todd, Emma Womersley, and Haley Walker. As for the guys, their top swimmers are Stephen Binion and Chris-topher Sickler. Overall the top swimmer is said to be freshman, Micaela Roemer.

Micaela Roemer was one of the many swimmers that representeClear Creek for

the TISCA, Texas Interscholastic Swim-ming Coaches Association, swim meet in Corpus Christi back in late November. The TISCA swim meet is a statewide con-

test and requires the swimmer to meet the qualifying times set up by the TISCA staff. Eighteen swimmers from Clear Creek meet these times and were able to partici-pate in the meet. “I am very proud that our

swimmers have worked hard and earned the right to compete at the TISCA meet.” Says Anna Woolweaver, head coach of the Clear Creek swim team. Roemer qualified

for seven events even though, for the meet, swimmers are only allowed to participate in two individual events. Roemer won a sliver medal at the TISCA meet. The other swimmers who swam at the TISCA swim

meet were seniors Forrest Austin in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, and 100 butterfly; Stephen Binion in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, and 200 freestyle; Gusti Escal-ante in the 50 freestyle, and Connor Davis in the 50 freestyle. Representing for the Ju-niors were Scott Lyle who earned qualify-ing times in the 50 freestyle and 100 back-stroke, Carter Harvey, Olivia Todd, and Megan Todd. The sophomores who swam in this meet were Emma Womersley, Haley Walker, Chris Sickler, Gabe Garcia, Max Pfotenhauer, and Nick Casey. For the fresh-man Nicole Herrick in the 100 backstroke, and Ashton Duke in the 100 backstroke.

As the final months for swim meets are quickly approaching, the swimmers still have a lot to work for. The seniors on the team, the ending may be a bitter-sweet moment for them but the seniors have two different swim meets dedicated to them. In late February, the swim team will be heading out to Austin, Texas. In Austin they will be competing in the State Fini-als at The University of Texas at Austin, which will be their final meet of the season

The junior varsity will also com-pete in a season ending tournament at Clear Brook on January 24th. This will be the district tournament and will fea-ture all of the teams in the district.

By Kristina KoonceReporter

After all the drama, and after all the controversy, we finally have a national champion in College Football. In a game that had been hyped up since their 9-6 loss in Tuscaloosa, the Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the LSU Tigers 21-0 in The Mer-cedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans Louisiana.

This game certainly did not come with any shortage of conflicting opinions. Many critics believed that Alabama should not have even been in this game and that, due to the Tide’s loss in their own conference. Some thought Oklahoma State should

have played instead, because the Tide had not even won their own conference, much less the division they were in. Both of these titles were won by LSU, respectively.

The Tide also faced the tough task of defeating LSU in New Orleans, which was a mere 81 miles from their home campus in Baton Rouge.

None of these things seemed to come into effect once the game began. From the first snap, it was evident that the Tide’s de-fense had done their film work against an LSU team that used a switch of QB’s in the first match-up to spark their offense in the first game.

Jordan Jefferson, who replaced Jarrett

Lee in the first game as the quarterback, was held completely in check throughout the night, throwing for a mere 53 yards and running an abysmal 15 yards. The Ala-bama defense was so dominating that the LSU offense did not even cross midfield until there were only 8 minutes left in the game.

Alabama’s first big play in the game came after the Tide had forced LSU to punt on their second possession. LSU’s punter, Brad Wing, punted the ball high and long and tried to corner Alabama’s return man, Marquis Maze, near the sideline. Maze, however, caught the punt and found a seam in the LSU coverage returning the punt 49 yards all the way to the LSU 26 yardline before running out of bounds, due to a hamstring injury he suffered during the play.

On the first play following the return Alabama quarterback, A.J. McCarron threw a 16 yard pass to bring the Tide down to the LSU 10 yardline, where the Tigers defense would hold strong and force a field goal.

After 3 more stops by the Alabama defense, and three Alabama drives that ended with two punts and a blocked field goal, the Tide put together a drive that lasted almost seven minutes and covered 58 yards to get down to the 21 yard line, only to be stopped again and gain another field goal. When LSU failed to capitalize on a good return and was forced to punt again, Alabama was able to put together another drive that ended in a field goal as time in the second quarter expired.

The halftime score had many fans whining for a touchdown by either team, as the game earlier in the year had ended without a touchdown as well. The third quarter seemed to follow the first two as Alabama would stop LSU’s offense, only to drive and be stopped for field goals. Many Tide fans were more than happy with the score at the end of the 3rd quarter as Alabama had a 15-0 lead.

The first touchdown in either game finally occurred when Trent Richardson broke free for a 34 yard touchdown with a little over five minutes left in the game. The touchdown brought the score to 21-0 and virtually ended any hopes of LSU making a comeback. When the Alabama defense forced another LSU punt the Tide ran out the clock and stormed the field, cel-ebrating their 2nd national championship in the last three years.

After a season in which LSU had beat-en five ranked teams by considerable mar-gins, the Tigers were completely dominat-ed. They were outgained in yards 384-92.

When asked after the game about the opposing defense, LSU coach Les Miles said, “They did a great job…We couldn’t sustain any consistency.”

Alabama linebacker Courtney Up-shaw said, “The whole defense is the MVP. The whole defense. Roll Tide baby. Roll Tide!”

This game will go down in history since LSU was the first team to be shut out in a national championship since the current BCS system was instituted in 1998. In a time period where offenses seem to be tak-ing over the game, Alabama proved once again that defense wins championships.

Photo by Aimee Sierra

BCS Football Title goes to Alabama Crimson TideBy Greg BrotzmanReporter

Logo for the NCAA BCS NationalChampionship. MCT 2011

Sports 19Athletes of the month

Girls basketball off to fantastic start

The Lady Wildcat Basketball season rolled on in the month of December as the Wild-cats gathered a combined 4-7 record for the month. The team added to their season total of 9 victories with wins over St. Agnes, Sterling, Dickinson, and Akins. The Wildcats also participated in the A&M Consolidated Tournament, the All-Star Invitational Tournament, and the Peg-gy White Classic in the month of December, go-ing 1-2 in these tournaments.

In the biggest game of the month, the “Battle of 518” rivalry game against Clear Springs, the Lady Wildcats entered Butler Gym and faced defending District champs and Region semi-finalists. The la-dies showed no fear as they matched the Chargers step for step in the first half. They fell behind early only to battle back mul-tiple times and cut the lead down to one point, 30-29, as the teams entered halftime.

The Lady Wildcats continued to fight strong against the Chargers until a ques-tionable call made on Britney Branch that resulted in her 4th foul and sent her to the bench. After this, the Chargers closed the quarter on a 9-2 run to open up the lead to

double digits. Although the Lady Wildcats attempted to make a late run and did end up outscoring Clear Springs in the 4th quarter 17-14, they were not able to recover from

the deficit they had entering the quarter and unfortunately lost the game 65-55.

“We got ourselves in a little hole, but I was proud of how the girls were able to fight,” said Coach Jana Williams.

Even though many who witnessed the game could point to the controversial call in the 3rd quarter as the turning point in the game Coach Williams said, “We can’t worry about the officials…we can only worry about the things we can control.”

With a match against Clear Lake looming the Lady Wildcats were forced to quickly recuperate In a game that closely resembled the battle with Clear Springs, the

Lady Wildcats took a tough loss of 68-52.The Lady Wildcats then faced the chal-

lenge of trying to bounce back in time to play against an effective Dickinson Ga-

tors team. The game ended with a close win by the score of 46-42.

Next came games against 2 formidable opponents; Rockwell and Akins in the Texas A&M Consolidated Tournament. The first game against Rock-well was one to forget as the Lady Wildcats fell behind early, and stayed down lead-ing to a hard loss 59-

37. The Lady Wildcats again responded to a loss with a win though, taking a very early lead against Akins and never looking back, winning the game 71-50.

The Lady Wildcats have shown that they have many players that can compete at a high level. The team started the month of January with two very important wins against Clear Brook (62-46) and Brazos-wood (73-29). Their efforts to try to gain a playoff spot continues. If the Lady Wild-cats can win 3 of their last 4 games, they can ensure themselves a spot in the State playoffs, but this will be no easy task as the Lady Wildcats face a rematch against Clear Springs, and games against 4th place Clear Brook, Dickinson and Pearland.

Stephen Binion

Micaela Roemer

Clear Creek wrestling fights to pinBy Jacob ArredondoSports Editor

By Jacob ArredondoSports Editor

By Jacob ArredondoSports Editor

By Greg BrotzmanReporter

Stephen Binion is a senior swimmer with the Wildcats and has had a wonderful season so far. Binion has been swimming for four years at Creek, where he specializ-es in the 100 freestyle and the 50 freestyle, as well as being a member of the relay team by doing the 200 freestyle and the 400 free-style. Binion is looking forward to the up-coming district and regional swim meets where he hopes to qualify for a spot.

He is excited for the upcoming water polo season as well. With swimming be-ing the only way to play water polo, Bin-ion relished the opportunity to showcase his skills in the water. He has led the way for the swimming team to continue on the dominance that the Wildcats have enjoyed through out the season.

Only a freshman, Michaela Roemer has been fantastic in the water for the Wildcats. Roemer has been swimming since the first grade and has taken the district by storm with her first place finishes throughout the year.

She swam with numerous teams be-fore her high school career but she consid-ers Clear Creek as her first real team. She thanks two upperclassmen, Maddie Rober-son (12h) and Olivia Todd (11th), for tak-ing her under their wing and helping her get adjusted to the world of high school swimming.

Roemer swims the 100 fly, 100 free, 100 free relay, and the 200 melody where she swims the butterfly section. She hopes to advance to the regional and state meets to continue her swim season. At the Friend-swood meet, Roemer broke two pool re-cords with a time of 1:58:05 on the 200 yard freestyle and 59:83 in the 100 yard butterfly.

On the mat, wrestlers are taught to adapt to each and every single opponent that they come across when they toe the line. For the Clear Creek wrestlers, they had to adapt off the mat as well with the third change of the head coach in three years.

Brian Palazzi is the new head coach for the Clear Creek wrestling team and has re-vived the wrestling team with his high-energy demeanor.

Since November, the team has been to multiple tourna-ments in and around Houston. They even went to Rockwall, Texas, near Dallas, to partici-pate in a tournament. Many of the wrestlers have been success-ful in many of the tournaments, like senior team captain John Batterson, who has received medals and top placed finishes in multiple tournaments. Bat-terson, along with seniors Austin Mata and Thaddeus Odenweller, and sophomores Glenn Rufila and Landon Abbot, have carried the team to continue a winning tradition that has been forged since the very beginning of the wrestling program.

For the first two years in the programs history, Clear Creek boys and girls were the district champions. While they also took home a girls district championship in 2009, the boys have not won since. Both boys and girls have sent wrestlers to both the district and regional, along with two girls who went to the state tournament last season. The district title is wide-open

this season with many teams losing their top wrestlers to graduation or just choos-ing not to wrestle this season. This puts the Wildcats in a prime position to capture there first district championship in years.

On January 19, the Wildcats hosted their second home meet of the season and had a

“Senior Night” to honor all of the seniors who wrestled this season. After the ceremo-ny the team wrestled the Cy-Fair Bobcats.

Six boys went out to wrestle and each gave it their all. Odenweller stared the meet for the Wildcats but lost, and Ru-fila went out and lost as well. Batterson and Mata snapped the losing streak and gave the Wildcats back to back pins and brought the team back into the match.

Abbot lost in the first round via pin and senior Jordan Young won his match via a pin as well. Clear Creek lost the overall match though because of forfeiting more than half the weights in the match.

After a small break, the Wildcats took on cross town rivals Clear Springs. Even though it is on the wrestling mat and not on the basketball court or football field, the rivalry is still intense with each school still wanting the win or even a pin while on the mat.

Odenweller started off for Creek again, this time the ten-sion was high with both wres-tlers going back to forth try-ing to get the advantage while on the mat. The match went all six minutes with Odenweller losing in the last seconds.

Batterson went out again and bet his opponent with a pin that made his opponent look like a pretzel. Mata was pinned after being caught by the his op-ponent. Abott won his match by pin in the first round and Young finished the night with a first round pin for the Wildcats.

The Wildcats then traveled to Brazoswood to compete in the

Woodshed Duels. Clear Creek was pitted against many teams, including the up start Clear Falls team. All of the tournaments and duels are there to help Creek prepare for the upcoming district tournament that is on February 4 at Clear Brook High School.

The team is hungry for a champion-ship and will go through anyone to achieve their goal of a district championship.

Photo by Jacob Arredondo

Photos by Jacob Arredondo

Photo by Sierra Kemper