Issue 3 The Buzz 2011-2012

Mandi ElrodStaff Writer

BuzZDECEMBER 2011

VOLUME 10, ISSUE 3 Denison High School1901 S. Mirick Ave.Denison, Tx 75020“From the Stinger to...”

The Holidays | 5 Sports | 10

The

“It’s like your children talking about holidays, you find they have a quite different memory of it from you. Perhaps everything is

not how it is, but how it’s remembered.” -Denis NordenBasketball and Soccer

The season kicks off for these two Yellowjacket teams

From The Editor

Jamie BranscumEditor-in-Chief

December

Yellow JacketBirthdaYs

PAGE 11Fun Page

PAGE 9Bieber not the

father

PAGES 6-7Holiday from

the Heart

PAGE 4Cookie Recipes

PAGE 2Breaking Dawn

Inside

ChristmasDecember 25

New Year’s DayJanuary 1

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

January 16

End of SemesterJanuary 19 (“A” Day)

EVENTSCOMING

Love has been, and always will be the universal language. For thousands of years it’s been celebrated through many different cultures and shown in different ways. Whether it’s floating lazily along the Riv-iera or watching movies late into the night, love circulates through the ages and sticks around like a shadow on a sunny day. There is no exact definition for the meaning of love, and everyone has their own way of describing it, no matter how wacky or different it may be. “Being in love feels like rid-ing a unicorn down a moonlit path, holding a flask full of the laughter of children,” se-nior Jeremy Stout said. During the holidays, af-fection is said to be stronger because miracles happen, es-pecially during Christmas, where lust and infatuation show strongly in colors of bright green and red. In mov-ies if one is to receive a soft kiss under the mistletoe, the sparks begin to fly in every direction, as snow falls heav-ily in the background. There’s romance in all the lights and decorations, hidden in every nook and cranny, and seen in every gift that is given and

received. Spending the holi-days with that special someone makes it all the more beautiful in the end. “Being with someone makes the holidays more special be-cause you get to spend that magical day with someone that makes you feel like you’re the most important person in the world,” junior Jordan Brown

is in the AirTwo DHS students know the beauty of being with that special someone around the holidays

5- Shelby Woodall (16)14- Dakkota Foster (19)16- Natasha Jones (17)

20- Brooklynn Allen (18)20- Jordan Ross (16)

21- Kourtney Colson (16)22- Rachelle Salado (15)

25- Rosa Cruz (16)30- Dasia Dunlap (16)30- Stasia Dunlap (16)

In the book StrengthsFinder 2.0, sequel to Now, Discover Your Strengths, Tom Rath, working alongside a team of Gallup scientists led by the late Father of Strengths Psychol-ogy, Donald O. Clifton, brings about a new idea and reasoning to finding one’s inner strengths,

Jessie JohnsonStaff Writer

said. In the days of the renais-sance, love was showed duti-fully through courtship and marriage. As time went on, it evolved into something great-er; love has been taken to new heights and shown in ways that cannot be described in words; only given and shared with everyone.

the importance of them and the actions to go about developing them. At the beginning of the book, Tom gives the readers the outlook on society’s cur-rent way of focusing on im-provement that he and his team had thought of back in 1998 when first studying this topic. “We were tired of living in

LoveLove

Couple Jeremy Stout and Jordan Brown.Photos by Brooklynn Allen

Strength Finder 2.0a world that revolved around fixing our weaknesses. Soci-ety’s relentless focus on peo-ple’s shortcomings had turned into a global obsession. What’s more, we had discovered that people have several times more potential growth when they in-vest energy in developing their strengths instead of correcting their deficiencies,” Tom Rath states.CONTINUED ON P5

So today, writing this editorial, I find myself fum-bling through brainyquote to find the perfect saying for the holiday time to put in The Buzz. Here I am, at 8:22 on a Sunday morning trying to finish these pages before church. You see, working on this issue has been, well… an is-sue. So little time, so much to accomplish before we go to Christmas break. Ever feel rushed? Overwhelmed? Doubtful you will finish something before a dead-line? We understand. Any-ways, I am looking for the perfect quote. And I find one. Denis Norden wrote, “It’s like your children talk-ing about holidays, you find they have a quite different memory of it from you. Per-haps everything is not how it is, but how it’s remem-bered.” I know some students of Denison High School have some unbearable memo-ries. This Christmas, make a good memory. Purpose to enjoy it, even grow from it. Learn about why we cel-ebrate Christmas, Thanks-giving, and even Easter. School will be over soon, and we need to enjoy it. Re-lax, sit back, make someone else feel special. And see you after the break!

Merry Christmas DHS!Merry Christmas DHS!

COMMENTARY As much as I hate to admit this on a school wide newspaper, but when “Twilight” was first re-leased I was a fan. I read all the books, watched all the movies, I even wanted to go to a midnight premiere. Thankfully, that stage ended by my freshman year, but from hearing all of the hubbub within the past year, I decided that I should probably go see it. Now, I have to admit, the thing I was really excited for was the wedding scene, especially the dress. The decorations were ab-solutely outstanding, and I did like how the focus of the scene was on Bella and Edward, but there were two things that irked me. Number one: the dress. It was beautiful in the front, but the back had this strange cut out. And by “strange cut out,” I mean it showed her shoulders and curved down her entire back to the point that I thought there was going to be a fashion faux pas. Number two: she shows no emotion walking down the aisle. Zip. Zero. Nada. Every single bride I’ve watched walk down the aisle has had some emotion showing. But no, not Kristen

Opinion2

December 2011 The Buzz

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

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

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

Callie KeeseStaff Writer

Photography Staff

Editor: Brooklynn Allen

Co-Editor: Emilee Bizzle

Advisor: Brian EavesEditor-in-Chief: Jamie BranscumManaging Editor: Kayla Robinson

Staff Writers:Mandi ElrodMikayla RossMelody JarvisCallie KeeseStormy Anderson

The Buzz Staff

Stewart. Of course, I expected were-wolves, but this being the only book where we really get to wit-ness Jacob’s thoughts and ac-tions from his point of view, I was really anxious to see how it would look. The second that the wolves started talking mentally to each other, I became grateful that I hadn’t heard them before. They sounded like demon and robot crossbreeds, and now that I think about it, maybe it was a messed up symbol for the baby. Even my boy-friend leaned over and asked “Is that James Earl Jones,” when the leader started talking. That scene made me want to find the sound designer and whack him upside the head. I under-stand they were communicating by thoughts, but come on! Peo-ple’s mental thoughts should not sound like robots. Then was the scene that most fans were most excited to see: the birthing scene. That scene can only be described in one word: EEEWWW! While they tried to

get the baby out by cutting open Bella’s stomach, there were so many squishing sounds. I’m not talking about the sound that Sil-ly Putty makes when you squeeze it. It was much, much more dis-

gusting. And when they took the baby out and held her up for Bella to see, the amount of goo on her made me want to never have a baby, which brought on a “They could have at least cleaned her off,” from my boyfriend. With any “Twilight” movie, you automatically assume there’ll be horrible acting. I will admit

that it got pretty bad at times, but I think the prize for “Worst Line Spoken” goes to Robert Pat-tinson. In the middle of a full out vampire/wolf fight, Jacob comes running out of the house tell-

ing his former pack mates that they can’t kill the baby as they once planned because they would essential-ly kill him (for those of you that have never read the series, he falls in love with the newborn baby. Yes, you can freak out at that). Edward then, calmly, al-most in a mono-tone, explains to his family that it is against wolf

code to kill or hurt the imprint-ee of another wolf, and because Jacob is in love with Renesmee, she is safe. Edward is surprisingly calm about a 17 year old were-wolf being in love with his new-born daughter. OK, I think I’ve ripped this movie up enough. I’ll admit this did have some highlights. The

toast scene during the wedding was standard “Twilight” awk-ward, but I did enjoy it. The honeymoon location was beau-tiful and exactly how I pictured everything from the book. It makes me want to go and find an island off the coast of Bra-zil. The imprinting scene was fabulous. Jacob, in a full on rage, walked up behind Rosalie to kill the baby, made eye contact with said baby, and literally dropped to his knees. I think he captured the moment very well. And fi-nally, the transformation scene was AWESOME. Despite there being more squishy noises, it was represented fabulously. Between the emotion (GASP! ACTU-ALLY EMOTION!) of Edward and Jacob, watching the venom spread to Bella’s blood and heart, and watching her body’s men-tal reaction, it had to be the best scene in the entire movie. For those of you that have read the books, I suggest you go see it. Why not finish the series? But for those of you that haven’t, save your time and money. Out of ten stars, I’d say this movie is about 7, but that’s only because the transformation scene was so cool and Taylor Lautner really displayed the emotion of his im-printation scene so well.

Breaking Dawn... Disappointment or Expectation?

Staff: Lauren Hancock Courtney Clapp

Taylor ReedyKatelyn Montgomery

Chris OgbornCelsey Walker

Facebook is a popular social networking site, readily avail-able to internet users and most data mobile phones. Facebook is working to create an exclu-sive phone designed around the social network, which is said to be released between a year and a year and a half from now. The project’s code-name is “Buffy”, named after “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” A phone solely dedicated to social networks is not an origi-

nal idea. The Kin 1 and Kin 2 were created by Microsoft, and one of the first phones dedi-cated to social networking that include Zune multimedia. While the phone offered a unique social network-ing experience, CNET online labels the phone as lacking basic features. Some critics wonder if the Facebook phone is even wanted in society, with Facebook already on the iPhone and other popu-lar devices. Another con-cern has been raised by

Pete Cashmore, founder and CEO of the blog “Mashable.” “Facebook already has

enough information about us, some people fear, and buy-ing a Facebook phone would surely provide the social-networking giant with even more control over our per-sonal data,” Cashmore said. Consumers will have to decide if the good out-weighs the bad with the Facebook phone. Facebook has partnered with HTC so that they won’t have to cre-ate entirely new software for the phone, and the phone will have Android software. “Codenamed ‘Buffy’ af-

Facebook Grows with the Futureter the vampire slayer of the same name, the phone will run a modified version of Google’s Android, but Facebook is re-ported to be tweaking the system ‘heavily,’” Mashable reporter Peter Pachal wrote. There are vastly different opinions about project “Buffy”, ranging from excitement for the new phone to predict-ing utter failure for it. Either way, it is up to the consum-ers to decide if it is worth it to buy this phone in the future, or just stick to regular smart phones with Facebook apps.


School Life 3

December 2011The Buzz

Mandi ElrodStaff Writer

COMMENTARY The word fear hangs low in the air like a dark cloud on a rainy day. Just like it hangs in the hearts of one in every three children in the United States today who are bullied by someone. The definition of a bully is someone who is habitually cruel or overbearing, especially to smaller or weaker people. Confused and scared children who are crying out for help in the only way they know how, to be mean and angry towards someone of a smaller virtue. According to kidshealth.org, every day, thousands of teens are too afraid to go to school just because they

Bullyingknow there’s going to be someone there who makes their life simply unlivable. Bullying has become a real problem in this day and age with this society. More and more children are acting out uncontrollably because they’re scared, and don’t understand how to deal with it. With the lack of support and interest in kids, parents have become a huge example of bad decisions. A number is available for children who seek help when bullied and abused. It’s a 24/7 hotline that anyone can get ahold of at 1-800-668-6868, where counselors are available to take calls at any time.

It seems the entire school knows weeks in advance as to when the next theatre production will be what with the announcements, flyers hanging in obvious places, and the Facebook posts from the cast and crew. What most students might be unaware of is the annual trip the theatre department takes in December to attend the Texas Thespian State Festival. “It’s a state competition where individual events go and perform to try to get a bid to Nationals in the summer, along with tech challenge where they try to do the same. There are also workshops where we further our knowledge in acting/tech that help us out in our theatre performances,” sophomore Bryce Dansby said. This year, 28 members of the troupe left for Houston Texas on November 30th for four days of shows, workshops, and competitions for a bid to Nationals which

will be held in Lincoln, Nebraska during the summer. “Mrs. Jordan chooses who goes based on what she has seen from us students in the past. She chooses events for us that she believe we are particularly strong at,” sophomore Caley McCraw said. The 28 kids that are going will be dived up into five competing categories and a flying show that consists of thirteen performers, flyers, and fly crew. “We have tech challenge, we have group musical which is doing really well, we have solo musical, and we have acting and pantomime,” junior Joseph Trinkle said. While the acting and singing competitions are straightforward as to what happens, tech challenge is a bit different in the aspects of both

competing and the judging. “Tech challenge is an event that has a series of events that a

technician or a group of technicians have to do around the theatre. We have them do events, and as we do them, we time them. The schools with the

fastest time for events get a bid to nationals to compete there,” sophomore Bryce Dansby said. At Nationals, every school that advanced will compete in their category against schools from all over the country, and possibly from overseas. Along with competing, the students will also participate in workshops and be able to watch shows much like the state festival. This year Nationals will be held June 25-30 in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Callie KeeseStaff Writer

Thespian Festival Fun

A question people may hear often in class, “when am I going to use this in real life?” What is the real importance of education today? How far can most get in life without an education? Find out here what education means at Denison High school. First, what is education? Education is the process that society de l iberate ly t r a n s m i t s its gathered knowledge, skills, customs and values from one generation to another. A decent example might be a teacher and a student. The student doesn’t know how to do a math problem and the teacher does their job and teaches him or her how to work the problem. The teacher has passed this information down to the student. Education, it can be a beautiful thing. But how will anything being taught in school, have anything to do with ones’ life later? Simply put, it has everything to do with life.

Here is why. “School is practice for life, and practice makes perfect. Nobody’s perfect, so why practice? It’s probably because nobody’s perfect in the first place that makes striving for perfection such a fun race. You never know who may become per fec t ,

and to get there, you must be able to build upon what other people have learned in the past, and what can be possible in the future,” according to www.theimportanceof education.com. There is always someone who believes that school is a waste of time, but without it you wouldn’t know as much by any means. “Less than one hundredth

of a percent have a college degree. However, over half of the world’s people are literate and know how to read and do basic math (e.g., addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, etc.). Also, about a third live on less than $1 USD a day. A person who makes over $40,000 (somewhat

average for a typical c o l l e g e graduate in the United States) is a m o n g

the 1% w e a l t h i e s t

peop le in the world,” an informer from answer.com said. On a non- philosophical

stand point, to make in this world today education is a

must, even if it isn’t great. “Educated people make more money, people respect people with educations more than those who don’t, having an education allows you to work in a field that you enjoy, have more stimulating conversations,” These are just a few benefits of having an education given by Ryan McKenzie, writer on streetdirectory.com.

Education at Its BestMelody Jarvis

Staff Writer

SAT and ACTTest Dates

SAT testingJanuary 28th, 2012

(registration deadline: Dec. 30)March 10th, 2012

(registration deadline: February 10)May 5th, 2012

(registration deadline: April 6)June 7th, 2012

(registration deadline: May 8)

ACT testingFebruary 11th, 2012

(registration deadline: January 13)April 14th, 2012

(registration deadline: March 9)June 9th, 2012

(registration deadline: May 4)

Family Tree:“Don’t limit your tree-trim-ming traditions to your ever-green. Transform dad into a decorated Christmas tree in this hilarious after-dinner activity. Supply your kids with a green

and red crepe paper, aluminum foil, and masking tape. When they’re done, gather ‘round the tree and take a photo to add to your family album or send as next year’s holiday card.”

Fun Holiday Games To Play

With The Family

Food and Games4


Cute Holiday Cookies

vanilla in the bowl of a food processor (or in a mixing bowl with a mixer). Add flour and salt. Pulse until dough forms. Shape the dough into walnut-sized balls. Place the dough balls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake un-til set about 9 minutes. Do not brown. Roll the warm cookies in powdered sugar.Store in an airtight con-tainer. To freeze, layer the cookies between sheets of parchment or waxed paper.

Chocolate Mint Kiss Cookies

Ingredients:1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup cocoa 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 cup sugar 6 T. brown sugar 2 eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 1/4 tsp. peppermint extract Hershey chocolate mint kisses, wrappers removed powdered sugar for rolling 1. Combine flour, baking powder, cocoa, and salt; set aside. 2. Beat butter with a mixer on medium speed for 30 sec-onds. 3. Beat in sugars until com-bined. 4. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and mint flavoring. Stir in flour mixture 5. Preheat oven to 350*F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and roll balls in powdered sug-ar. Place balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. 6. Press kiss candies into the center of each cookie ball. 7. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until tops are crackled. Cool 2 min-utes on cookie sheet. Transfer to wire racks. Smooth the tops of the chocolate kisses with an offset spatula. Cool. Makes 42. Place in layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Peppermint Bark Chocolate Cookies Ingredients:1 cup of butter3/4 cup of brown sugar3/4 cup of white granulated sugar1 large egg1 tsp. of vanilla extract1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder1/2 teaspoon of baking soda1/2 teaspoon of baking powderPinch of salt1 cup of peppermint bark, broken into little chip size pieces Method 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 2. Cream the butter and sugars together for about two minutes at medium speed or until well incorporated and light in color. 3. Add the egg and the vanilla extract until well in-corporated, about a min-ute. Be sure to scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl halfway through. 4. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Add to the butter mixture slowly, and beating at medium speed, stopping once all of it is in-corporated (do not overmix). 5.Fold in the pep-permint bark chips. 6. Take small spoonfuls of the dough and roll into one inch sized balls and place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for -12 minutes. Let cool on the pan for a few minutes, then trans-fer to a wire rack to cool com-pletely. Yield: Makes approxi-mately 3 dozen cookies.

Snowball CookiesIngredients:1 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 1/4 cups unbleached flour 1/4 teaspoon salt powdered sugar Preheat the oven to 400°. Combine butter, sugar and

Staff Writer Callie Keese shares some cute holiday cookie recipes from goodcheapeats.com, surely to impress.

COMMENTARY I’ve heard a rumor that ev-eryone’s excited for the holi-days, but I know what all of the health Nazis are thinking. As if Thanksgiving wasn’t enough to torture your “two size smaller than you were last January” jeans… now there’s another hol-iday you’re supposed to overin-dulge for? How much weight is the world expecting you to gain this holiday?! Well, don’t fret the extra weight; there are al-ways creative ways to stay active! Option number one: Take advantage of that dang snow! We all know it’s coming. After last year’s series of city-crippling blizzards that Texans haven’t a clue how to handle (because we know if we were in Colo-rado they still would’ve been in school,) there’s no way we’re

Staying Fit During the Holidays

going snow free this Christ-mas break. So whenever it gets here, use it to your advantage! There’s so many creative ways to stay active during the snow days. You could go generic and build a snowman, make snow angels, or have a snowball fight. However, if you wanted to get really creative you could break out the photography skills, play some “snowball” (instead of baseball), or make snow ice cream! You can find differ-ent recipes all over the web for snow ice cream, and let’s face it, how many calories can you re-ally take in eating frozen water? Option number two: Spread the Christmas cheer! I know you’ve been dying to… so how about caroling? What’s better than spending time with some of your favorite people,

singing Christmas songs? It doesn’t get better than that! But how about this time you travel around the neighborhoods on foot? You’ll be having such a blast you’ll hardly notice how active you’re being! And there’s nothing wrong with spread-ing a little joy in the process. Option number three: Get cozy! It doesn’t get any simpler than that. Get cozy, comfort-able, and keep your mind off the holiday food! Winter is the perfect “old lady” season, so how about learning to crochet? I’m sure Pinterest.com can teach you to do it, and it’ll hardly cost a thing. You could even read a book, adopt a kitten, or watch Disney movies until you’ve watched them all! Pretty much, if it falls into the little kid or old lady category, it’s a bingo.

“This game requires a bit of prep but is well worth the effort. Put a small prize (such as $10) in a small box, tape it well, and gift wrap it. Put the box in a bigger box, wrap that box and put it in another, and so on, wrapping it as many times as you have the boxes and the patience for. With everyone sitting in a circle, the youngest chooses a number from 1 through 6 and rolls a die, then passes the die to the next player. The first person to roll the chosen number puts on

Jessie JohnsonStaff Writer

http://familyfun.go.com/christmas/ AND

http://familyfun.go.com/christmas/christmas-games-pg-958686/

two oven mitts and tears into the present. The other players continue rolling the die. The next player who rolls the cho-

sen number grabs the mitts and takes over the unwrapping. The person who unwraps the actual box with the prize gets to keep it.”

Present Scramble:

presents being given or received makes for a happier season and Christmas helps students do that this year. “It means time with family and time to reflect what matters most. It’s bringing joy to others… helps us put in perspective what really matters, which is Jesus. It’s a good way to start of the New Year,”

sophomore Jessica Simmons said. Even though the end of the year is near, the student body is able to contemplate on the meaning of Christmas. Evaluating what it’s really all about, where it came from and getting excited about New Year’s all play a part in the anticipation of the celebrations to come.

Holidays 5


No matter who it is, most people love gifts. On birthdays and other holidays, no matter the occasion as long as that little wrapped box has something inside. In the beginning gifts, were scarce. People got one thing on their birthday and holidays, and usually it was a piece of candy or an apple, and it was the best thing in the world to them. Today everyone expects so much from their gifts, spending hundreds to thousands of dollars on a few gifts for their loved ones. If it’s not wanted then it’s not appreciated, which can show our generation getting lost. “I don’t think anybody appreciates the gifts they receive. It’s all about material things, not who gives those things to them,” junior Charice Hamilton said. Holidays were meant to be a special time that everybody could get together, eat, and spend quality time with one another, until newer things started coming in, objects such as cell phones, computers, and iPods the size of a quarter, then everyone started to want them. Not getting them seemed not as important, and when they’re actually given, they’re not appreciated even more because

Gifts, Gifts, Gifts!

they get broken and left behind. Some say that family has turned into nothing but a word. “My family means the world to me, and for holidays we come together and we all have a good time just being with one another,” senior Maggie Maddux said.

Taking advantage of a cherished tradition makes it become somewhat useless. A lot of people are getting scared that holidays will be lost, just like birthdays are forgotten as people get older. There are those few that will spend all year preparing for families that will come and spend days with them, and then there seems to be those few who could care less and spend their holidays alone.

Mandi Elrod Staff Writer

Personal Perspective on ChristmasJessie Johnson

Staff Writer

Christmas time means something different to everyone. Some people have traditions that their families hold fast to; others are spontaneous during the holidays. However, no matter the plans, it rings true that Christmas time has a significant meaning to most of the students here at DHS.

“It’s a time of happiness and joy; the gathering of family to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Christ. Oh, and don’t forget, it’s the best time of the year to waste all of your money on the ones you love,” senior Alex Shock

said. As the students hear about Christmas Angels, go through the chaos of getting the perfect gift for loved ones, anticipate the snow, or sing Christmas songs down the hall, they seem to all be on the same page around here. The joy of the season can’t be denied. “Christmas to me is all about the spirit. The lights, the singing, being with family and the tradition that makes the wonderful mood,” senior Heather O’Roark said. While some students of DHS are ecstatic about the festive season almost around the corner, some peers have a different perspective due to the origin of the celebration itself. To perhaps some amazement it started out as a pagan holiday. Julius Caesar declared December 25 a celebration in honor of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) for ancient Rome in 46 BC. In 350 AD, Pope Julius I declared that the birth of Jesus Christ would be celebrated on December 25, since no one technically knew,

and still doesn’t know, his actual birth date. Some believe the date was chosen in attempt to make it easier for pagan Romans to convert to Christianity knowing their feasts weren’t being taken away. That being said, that took a play in one of the senior’s comments on what Christmas meant to them. “Christmas is, contrary to popular belief, a holiday bred of tragedy. It is not the birthday of Christ, but an old Pagan holiday of questionable festivities. However, this holiday has overcome its dark history and has since become my favorite holiday as a symbol of unconditional love, peace, and harmony. It is the time of the year when I am most jolly, and most contented. In short, it’s the most wonderful time of the year,” senior Beth Hanson said. Just as it’s important to know history, it’s important to keep things in perspective. Often times it’s easier to get caught up in tasks rather than the meaning behind what we’re doing. Keeping reminded that it’s more about the joy than the

Finding Your Strengths This Holiday SeasonCONTINUED FROM P1

As many can agree with Rath’s thinking, and are able to identify with it, he brings about a statistic gathered pre-publishing of StrengthsFinder 2.0.

“... Our studies indicate that people who do have the opportunity to focus on their strengths every day are six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life in general,” the author says.

Rath’s text suggests that an ‘excellent quality of life’ is to be achieved by focusing on strengths. One may assume that their strengths are automatically classified as “passions,” but it’s safe to say that not all subjects that individuals are “passionate” about

are necessarily “strengths.” Strengths are qualities already instilled in us, that have room to develop on a day-to-day basis. Passions are the things in life that make us feel exuberant. The point of success is the process of overlapping your passions with your strengths.

With that said, StrengthsFinder 2.0 is designed to help readers discover their strengths, understand them, and propose strategies of application.

The first step is quite relaxed. They introduce the readers to the entire idea of authentically knowing their strengths and then they take an online test. The test takes approximately 30 minutes, and guides them into questions simply answered based on their ‘core personality traits.’

“... The key to human development is building on

who you already are,” Rath says.

After taking the test, it’ll give them five primary themes, out of the thirty-four they have to pull from that best suit the test taker. Then it’s their job to continue reading the StrengthsFinder book to discover what those strengths look like, ways to apply them, and how to go about developing them.

The actions readers will be able to take, after being more aware of their strengths will start to change the world around them.

“Every human being has talents that are just waiting to be uncovered,” Rath says.

There’s potential of a stronger community, society, and school to be made when people can develop and expand themselves as individuals.

You can buy a “Heart to Heart” message to appear

in the next issue of The Buzz, written to one of your

friends, the one you love or one who you secretly admire. Pick up a form in

Room 105.

Complete the form by including a short mes-

sage, your name, and his/her name. Each “Heart to

Heart” message must be 25 words or less.

When the February issue of The Buzz arrives, your spe-cial someone can hunt for a special message from you in the paper. Maybe someone

will write one to you.

The hearts are free, and the DEADLINE is

January 20.

Want to give a Romantic

Valentine to someone special?

Students Enjoyed NHS’s 3rd Annual

Holiday from the Heart

Adults and children alike wrote letters to the troops.

Thursday, December 1st, Denison High School’s Nation-al Honor Society students gath-ered at the gazebo during the annual downtown Christmas parade. They gave away free hot chocolate and hosted entertain-ment after the parade in “Holi-day from the Heart.” “Serving the hot chocolate was very fulfilling. We had a big turn-out and I think the people who came to the parade were very appreciative,” NHS mem-ber Jaycee Parker said. This is not the first year NHS has chosen to host Holiday from the Heart. It is a tradition that started with the NHS members of the Class of 2010.

“This was the 3rd annual Holiday from the Heart and was a great success. NHS plans on continuing the tradition and making this event even bigger and more community wide,” NHS president Mary Claire Carlson said. Besides handing out hot chocolate, NHS is sending “thank you” cards to American soldiers that were made at Holi-day from the Heart. “Working at the ‘Letters for the Soldiers’ booth was a heart-warming experience. Many families would come up and start writing lovely letters and some kids would draw a pret-ty picture for them to look at


and enjoy. There was anywhere from ‘Thank You’, ‘Please come home’, and even biblical verses. It was great and fantastic to see all the support and love,” NHS member Ethan Huff said. Another outreach at Holi-day from the Heart is the coat/blanket drive. The coats and blankets were given to a local organization who gave the coats and blankets to people in the community to stay warm and comfortable this winter. NHS would like to thank Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, Den-ison’s Fire Department, and Presco for donating lights, food, and other items to help with Holiday from the Heart.

NHS proudly poses after their successful 3rd annual Holiday From the Heart event.

Holiday from the Heart

Adults and children alike wrote letters to the troops.

Several students performed Christmas songs.

Free Hot Chocolate!

Photos by Victoria Brown

Current Events8


Despite hopes of getting better, the world’s economy once again finds itself on the edge of chaos. Only this time around, the prob-lem isn’t with Congressional in-action, but rather Greece’s failing economy. With Greece already having received two bailouts in m o d e r n history, a third bail-out (or a lack there of ) could have ef-fects on the pock-etbooks of billions of people worldwide. In October, lenders agreed to accept a loss of 50% of money lent to Greece. Greek’s debt prob-lem stands at 341 billion euros (approx. 469,518,307,025.54 dollars in American currency) as of November eleventh and continues to grow each day. If Greece cannot repay its debt to loaners France and Germany, it could possibly cause their econo-mies to collapse. That’s not con-sidering the fact that this would cause a panic with in the Euro-pean Union, and cause a domino effect with Portugal, Spain, Ire-land, Belgium, and specifically Italy to fail as well. While the Eu-ropean Union does have enough money to bail out Greece, Italy’s

debt is far greater and thus the European economy would be overloaded meaning a massive banking crisis worldwide. However, public outcry in Greece against a bailout has pro-testers starting violent riots in and around Athens. With the

p a s s i n g of a bail-out, se-vere cuts to public s e r v i c e s in Greece a n d h i g h e r taxes have m a n y

Greeks upset. Enough so, in fact that former Greece Prime Min-ister George Papandreou called a referendum on the bailout package. Angry over this change of events, France and Germany declared that Athens would not receive emergency aid until the referendum had passed, and many other angry leaders con-sidered removing Greece’s status of a member of the European Union. The referendum was redrawn and Papandreou has since re-signed his post after citizens de-manded his departure, but the European Economic Crisis is just reaching its high note and the grand finale looks nothing but grim.

Euro Crisis ContinuesStormy Anderson

Staff Writer

On November 5, 2011 a 4.7 earthquake occurred approximately 50km east of Oklahoma City, Okla-homa. Shortly thereafter, a 5.8 earthquake followed, with aftershocks being felt as far away as rural areas of Denison. While many consider an earthquake in Oklahoma unusual, this is surprisingly not true. Actually, there has been dramatic increase of earthquakes in Oklahoma within the past year, but many where so small few could actually say they felt it. “On average there are about 50 measurable earth-quakes each year in Okla-homa with only a few of

Stormy AndersonStaff Writer

Shake-y, Shake-y!

I’m Bacillus safensis. The man in a lab coat jammed me into this tube and then he went away. I wish he didn’t go away. It’s very quiet in my tube. I wonder where I’m going. It’s cold. Where’s everyone else? Hey, wait, why did it get dark? I want my mother spore! I…I’m getting sleepy… Bacillus safensis is just one of the 30 microbes sent aboard the Phobos Sample Return Mission as the Planetary Soci-ety’s LIFE project. This mis-sion is nicknamed “Phobos-Grunt,” and was created to collect “moon dust” and rocks for Russia’s analysis. The LIFE project hitched a ride with Phobos-Grunt for what was supposed to be 34 months, at which time the hockey-puck sized capsule should have come hurtling back to Earth with microbes, hopefully, intact.

The overall purpose of the LIFE project was to “test the ability of life to survive the interplanetary voyage by fly-ing organisms for several years through interplanetary space in a simulated meteoroid,” as stated by the Planetary Society. The environment in which the microbes were housed is that of a space rock, simulating the conditions of a meteorite from Mars to Earth. Each microbe lived, dor-mant, in its own carefully sealed and sterilized tube 26 mm deep and 3 mm wide. These 30 microbes embodied 10 species representing the three kingdoms of life: Bacte-ria, Archaea, and Eukaryotea. The Planetary Society chose Phobos-Grunt as the transmit-ter for the LIFE project due to the rare opportunity to send the microbes to deep space for

Kayla RobinsonManagaing Editor

these having shaking strong enough to be felt,” says the Oklahoma Geological Sur-vey. However, despite this sta-tistic, many still fear that the unexpected magnitude of the November quakes may cause an even larger, more hazardous quake to occur. Luckily, despite the unusual number of earthquakes felt, geologist say the possibility of a major earthquake is slim. “There is no reason to be alarmed. Small earth-quakes such as these can oc-cur anywhere in the world. Earthquake swarms like this can go on for many months, and usually do not lead up to a major earthquake.” The OGS said.

Phobos-Grunt LIFE Experiment

multiple years at a time. Other experiments have been done before to test microbes’ dura-bility, but remained in Earth’s magnetosphere, where space-craft or life traveling onboard would be protected from the galactic cosmic radiation and solar particle events. The Phobos Sample Return Mission was set to return the Phobos sample container, onto which the LIFE project is at-tached, to Earth sometime in 2014. Phobos-Grunt was launched November 8th, but, unfortunately, the mission failed a month later when the spacecraft did not make it out of Earth’s orbit. For more in-formation regarding the Pho-bos Sample Return Mission, or to follow the progress of its potential rescue, visit http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/life.

“...the grand finale looks nothing but

grim.”

Current Events 9


Recently; on October 26, 2011, a bill was introduced to congress with the intentions to cripple the internet. The SOPA Bill, or known as the Stop Online Piracy Act, is a bill that sounds like it would help the internet in a positive way. However, it has serious potential to negatively affect the internet and make to where no one would be able to visit their favorite sites such as Facebook or Twitter. The way this can happen is it puts power in the hands of the entertainment industry to censor sites that allegedly “engage in, enable, or facilitate”

copyright infringement. “Fundamentally, this is about jobs,” said Michael O’Leary, who represented the Motion Picture Association of America. At first thought this bill sounds reasonable; it came about to try and stop piracy and illegal downloading from the web by blocking c e r t a i n websites that are capable of, or seems to encourage copyright infringement. SOPA makes it possible for companies to block the domain names of web sites but everything will still work if one were to know

Mikayla RossStaff Writer

Sopa Bill: Stop Online Piracy Act

Walk up and down the school’s campus and the trash will be noticeable. It has become a large problem, but what does it matter and what can be done. What effect does trash have on the façade of the school? Why should anyone be concerned? Read more to find out. For one littering in Texas can is a $500 fine, it is a Class C Misdemeanor (If what was littered was less than 5 pounds). Littering over 5 pounds is a Class B Misdemeanor which carries a fine of up to $2,000. Texas motto “Don’t Mess with Texas.” http://wiki.answers.com said. Alexis Dawson, senior at DHS, during her senior release picked up throughout

the front of the school with a friend. Candy wrappers, gum, cigarette butts, taco bell bags, gym socks, sonic cups, are just a few things found and

thrown away. Dawson did it so that the right to stand in front of the auditorium would not be revoked due to littering. As of December 2nd, that’s exactly what’s happened. Here are some of her thoughts on the matter. “I noticed one day the area

Melody JarvisStaff Writer

Denison’s Tumbleweeds

the numeric IP address; that is one thing the SOPA cannot block. Basically, the SOPA is no good for stopping piracy because of the IP address. Currently, Yahoo, Facebook,

Twitter, Tumblr, Google, Mozilla,

YouTube and many other

sites have s p o k e n a g a i n s t the SOPA b i l l ,

oppos ing i t s

i n t e n t i o n s . “Think about

places like businesses, not just Facebook or Tumblr, but companies like say Wal-Mart or even schools too, that use the internet. If

they censor it, everything will come crashing down,” said an un-named source from the internet. Supporting the bill is a powerful group of lobbies interested in protecting intellectual property, including the Motion Picture Association of America, pharmaceuticals makers, media firms and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The SOPA Bill is still underway and hasn’t been passed yet, to save a website from being blocked the website can send out an appeal so they can refrain from being blocked. It saves more money than taking the bill to court. Although, this bill has yet to be taken into action it is helpful to know.

in front of the auditorium was a mess. So I took time out of my day to clean it up, so it wouldn’t get taken away from us and it got taken away.

I stand there because I don’t like going inside, there is not enough room. With more people inside I think that there will be more problems worse than not cleaning up, when people who actually care like me are willing to clean up after others,” Dawson said.

A solution to the problem is given to the public every day; trash cans are set out in front of the entrances. If for no other reason than to keep the free space provided in front of the school, rather than in the commons, should be motivation enough to walk a few feet to the trash can. Littering is not a joke it is a serious matter and should be taken seriously. Denison High school’s very own Mr. Warren made the analogy that DHS is our town and should be treated with respect. Mr. Parker, Dr. Boettger, Mrs. Stanberry, Mr. Warren all say that a big part of the lack to keep up with the trash is a lack of pride and respect. The lack of pride and respect for the school, the land, what is given and what can be taken away.

Trash becomes a real problem for Denison High School

The proposed bill could save jobs, but have a devasting effect on Facebook

Stay in Tune With Current Events:www.cnn.com, www.yahoo.com, The Herald Democrat, and many more

“As citizens, we all have an obligation to intervene and become involved - it’s the citizen who changes things.” -Jose Saramago

The rumors of Justin Bieber, teen pop star, being the father to 20 year old Mariah Yeater’s child, have been reported false. Incriminating text messages have been found that prove evidence that Bieber is not the father and that suggested another man might be the boy’s dad. “Pleeease ERASE ALL MESSAGES from my mom where she says [the baby] Tristyn is Robbies Son Ill kick u when we get paid i’m trusting you pleeease,” read the text message obtained by TMZ from a friend who asked to remain anonymous. So, to finalize the rumors and put them to an end, Justin Bieber is NOT the father.


Answer to the Justin Bieber Rumor

Sports10


Boys Basketball

Boys BasketballTuesday Dec.20Against Sulfur Springs

Home

Tuesday-ThursdayDec. 27-29

Tournament @ Sherman

Friday, Jan. 6 Against Royse City

Home

Girls Basketball

Girls Basketball

Tuesday, Jan. 3Against Texarkana

Home

Friday, Jan. 13Against Sherman

Home

Friday, Jan. 20Against Mr. Pleasant

Home

SwimSwimSaturday, Jan. 14

@ McKinney

Tuesday, Jan. 17@ Sherman

GAMESCOMING


Varsity player, sophomore Jalell Dade, playing in the game against Byron Nelson November 21st. Photo by Lauren Hancock

Boys Soccer

Boys Soccer

Thursay- SaturdayJan. 12-14

Home

GirlsSoccer

GirlsSoccer

Thursay- SaturdayJan. 19-21@ North Lamar

The boys soccer team for 2011-2012 was decid-ed on November 28th with 58 total players divided into Varsity, Junior Var-sity #1 and Junior Varsity #2 squads. Last year, the boys finished with an 8-8-2 record just shy of play-offs. Thirteen of last year’s players have returned this year for what seems to be a positive season. “[The returning play-ers] bring experience and leadership to this year’s team and matched with the addition of some tal-ented underclassmen we look to improve not only

Kayla RobinsonManaging Editor

Christmas is near with holiday cheer and the NBA season is finally here. The opening for the NBA is to be on Christmas Day. Ac-cording to multiple reports, a tentative agreement has been put in place that will al-low 66 games for the 2011-2012 season. The players are said to have given back a reduction of $300 mil-lion in salaries per year. It was millionaires vs. billionaires, who suffered mostly by the voiceless little people who want an unbro-ken basketball season. One thing is certain: Higher tick-et prices are on their way. It’s the surest way to raise the money they sought with the lockout. Even the “Nose Bleed” section is at least $300 a seat. Imagine the price for

Kick Off to Soccer Begins

in Januarycourtside. Although many suffered from this suspension, the real victims were the ground crews, the parking atten-dants, security folks, ticket-takers, vendors, carpenters, electricians: basically the whole support structure. Even though they didn’t have a word to say about the standoff, no one paid any at-tention to them at all. If they didn’t need the money, they could just as soon knock out the players and owners of the retribution. As many backfires as there are to this lock out, this is the time of year to en-joy the season. Holiday and NBA, and just rejoice in the thought that while opening up Christmas presents a bas-ketball game will be playing.

Let the NBA Games Begin

our record but to make the playoffs as well,” Head Coach Scotty Voight said. The first games of the season begin in January and District starts Febru-ary 3rd with a home game against Sherman. Soc-cer games cost $2.00 for students and $3.00 for adults. “This group of young men has been working hard and is improving from a day to day basis. They are excited for the opportunity to play the game and represent Deni-son High School on the soccer pitch,” Voight said.

NBA Trivia

Support the Yellow Jacket Basketball Teams!

1. Which NBA team has the most NBA Championships?

2. What team was the first to win 70 or more games in

the regular season?

3. When did the Dallas Mavericks join the NBA?

Answers: 1. The Boston Celtics, at 17, 2. The Chicago Bulls, 3. In the 1980-81 season

Varsity player, junior Josh Henry, about to shoot a free throw.Photo by Courtney Clapp

Photo by Courtney Clapp

Feliz Navidad!(Spanish)

Joyeux Noel!(French)

Frohliche Weinachten!(German)

Fun Page


Elizabeth Baker , Jennifer Painter, Brianna O’Quinn, Juanita Wilks, and Julie Newsome

THE FLOWER: Finale

Happy Holidays!

Grayson?

!

Here

?

You’re Welcome

HUG

If you have any thoughts, comics, poems, stories, or anything else, submit it to Room 105 and it may be featured in the next issue

of The Buzz!

11

H M E S K R S I D Q S X L B R A B Y C P Y M E Z U Y Y Q I AN G L I F C N A S U D H C E

K J Q F M H C R W I N T E R WU Z I B E E O L M W G E G O Y

K O T B T A Y R N O U U I I EA S E A T S U L O A J Z R U NH R E N C H R I S T M A S G SM R A B A A Z N A W K E T H DW S V R A U D S A X U G N D PV W L E D L O C Q M N W N T IT H U A X T C M A L W F C K SL U Z K R I I O Q T J O S I IX L K E Q Q R U N G H R N V MJ Q E M Z U X M Y B S N S S J

Holiday Fun!

BREAK CHRISTMAS COLD DECEMBER GIFTS HANUKKAH ICE

KWANZAA NEW YEAR ORNAMENTS SANTA CLAUS SNOWMAN TREE WINTER WREATH

Merry Christmas!

Spotlight


12

Modern traditions are emerging all

over the nation as fun, new takes on

the old, such as this upside-down Christmas tree.

Some Stuff Stockings, and Some Stock Stuffing(for Christmas dinner, that is)

nior Sydney Muldrew said. However, not all stocking stuffers are just trinkets from Santa Claus. Some families include a child’s main present in their stocking. “Normally there’s one of their special gifts that’s a small gift that’ll be in the bottom of their stock-ing. So there’s kind of like

small fun stuff [in their stock-ing] but they always look for-ward to one particu-lar thing,” teacher Staci Schneider said. Other families are far more elabo-rate with their Santa Claus stories. Many

leave “reindeer food” and car-rots for Santa’s reindeer and track soot from the fireplace across the room as evidence of Santa’s trek through the house. “We make reindeer food, like the oats and glitter, and sprinkle that out on the lawn,”

librarian Lori White said. Long-standing Santa Claus traditions in some families can also be used to instill values and

morals in children, such as intertwining religious beliefs with commercialist actions. “My girls can ask for three things from Santa, just like the Baby Jesus got three gifts,” White said. While many families use stocking stuffers as a chance to surprise their children with little trinkets, stockings

can also engineer clever ways to personalize each child’s gift. “My parents usually put or-anges or nuts, Hershey Kisses, or gift cards, just different little stuff that we need [in our stock-ings]. “Santa” wraps all of our presents. Zach, Will and I each get a different wrapping paper and [a piece of ] the wrapping paper is in our stockings, so all of the presents with the same wrapping paper are mine,” junior Katie Burkhead said.

Mistletoe is thought to be named after

bird droppings on a branch

The holidays are an ideal time for many families to express their family traditions, instilling them in the younger genera-tions for the future. Some fami-lies spin detailed and elaborate Santa stories, while others sim-ply hang stockings on Christmas Eve. Regardless of the colossal collection of Christmas tradi-tions in America, almost every fam-ily employs the use of stocking stuffers. “My stocking is pretty much al-ways stuffed on Christmas; my dad likes stocking stuffers. I actually get more excited for my stockings than I do for my gifts, because you don’t know what’s going to be in there. You don’t ask for stocking stuffers, you ask for your presents,” ju-

Candy Canes were sweet treats for

children who behaved during long Christmas

church services

Kayla RobinsonManaging Editor

ChristmasTraditions in Denison

Documents

Issue 3 The Buzz 2011-2012