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January 2013 LV-3An open forum for student opinion and expression TRICOLORTIMES.COM

Granger’s alumni help build new schoolBy Seida SeverianoSOME GRANGER graduates are now working on the new Granger High building. It’s pretty impres-sive to see them work, and they have the privilege to see how big it is, and how it’s coming along with their help. Juan Cerrato (‘07) has been working on the new Granger High School. “At first it was re-ally hard because they wouldn’t tell me what to do or to expect. But now they’ve trained me step-by-step on what to do in my tasks for the day,” Cerrato said. Cerrato also said that chal-lenges include the weather and the attitudes of others when they are having a bad day at times. “The work isn’t that difficult, but we have to use common sense. I sometimes wish I could go to this new Granger because it will have better opportunities for the future, and I’m pretty sure at the new Granger there will be more hands-on training, so I wish I

could go back for those reasons,” he said. Zachary Hinckley (‘95) said one of the most emotional things in working on the new Granger was tearing down the football and baseball fields. “I graduated from Granger in 1995. That year was the year we fundraised for and installed the lights on the football field.” “A lot of blood, sweat and tears were shed to make Granger what it is. Though it didn’t look like much to some, it’s easily a part of my personal foundation of suc-cess,” Hinckley said. Building Granger was harder than he thought it would be. There were a lot of unforeseen challenges that affected the out-come of the project in a good way, Hinckley explained. “This will be a top-of-the-line and state-of-the-art school. In terms of today’s standards and communication, the old school was just outdated. This school has everything needed for

the success of future Lancers who come for a top-quality educa-tion,” he said. “At times, I wish I could go to the new Granger, especially for the new baseball and foot-ball fields,” he said. “Huskie’s Landscaping, Inc., the company I founded in 2002, built the base-ball field into the best playing sur-face in the state. It has everything the best college and professional fields have, minus the striping lawn mower, but I’m sure one day it will have that, too. Along with the baseball field, the overall aspects of this facility are top-of-the-line.” Hinckley also said that the weather is always the biggest challenge for landscapers. “Ear-ly in the process of building the football and baseball fields, it rained for what seemed to be three months straight. We can’t work in mud so we fell behind schedule; but as the rain stopped, we implemented productive ways

to get tasks done. We hired the right people with the know-how to do those tasks, and we soon were right back on schedule and finished on time,” he said. As much as he loves the sports fields, Hinckley also appreciates the general landscape designed for Granger High’s campus. “One of the coolest things at the new Granger is the landscape. EA Lyman Landscape Architects have designed a beautiful land-scape that we are privileged to install for all future Lancers to enjoy. This landscape is full of water-wise and drought-tolerant plants and trees that love our climate and soil. The landscape is what ties the whole property together and will provide beauty and comfort to all who come to the New Granger High,” Hinkley said. The final project is exactly what the students of Granger de-serve. It’s the best. “Go, Granger Lancers!” he said.

Detective Randall earns grateful farewellBy Victor MartinezOFFICER Jerry Randall served more than a dozen years as Grang-er’s primary law enforcement of-ficer, and students and teachers alike will miss him. In addition to his law enforce-ment duties, Randall filled every desk in a popular law enforcement class and taught students about the law. That class was a favor-ite, and sometimes it was the one everyone told people to choose when signing up for classes. When Ms. Lago’s house was on fire a few years ago, Randall went straight over on a school day to help her out and check that ev-erything was OK. “I will always remember that small act of kind-ness shown by Officer Randall,” she said. Randall truly is a great detec-tive. He always worked hard to

help every student at Granger High. He did not rest until he helped resolve issues. He always keeps the school safe and friend-ly. From lost items to just helping with problems, Randall was al-ways there for us. “He keeps me out of trouble,” Briana Martinez (11) said. When her iPod was stolen, she went to Randall who worked very hard to find it for her. Briana is very thankful for all of his help. “He always goes the extra mile to help and encourage our stu-dents,” Ms. Biggar said. Randall has always been there for every student at Granger High, and he never said ‘No’ when asked to help students or teachers. He was always there in a hurry. Randall lent a helping hand to all, but one thing he made sure every student knew: “Be good,

and we will get along just fine.” He treated everybody with the re-spect they deserved, and he was friends with many at Granger High. “If someone was out of line, they only did it once,” Dr. Miller said. She appreciated the speed with which he responded to her calls for assistance. “I know that detective Randall has stood by my side through many things. I will never for-get him,” Ms. Carson said. She recalled a time when she was teaching a night class and had a disturbance with some students. When she called the night school program coordinators for help, they called officer Randall at his home. Within 10 minutes, he as-sured Ms. Carson that she would be just fine. The next day Randall caught the two individuals and ar-

rested them. “He is the nicest person ever,” Shelia Phouthavong (12) said. When her car was hit, Randall got to work to find out who hit it, and he did. Randall always arrived early enough to open the door in the mornings to let the drill team into the gym for practice. “As I began my career, my wife would slip me a note on a regular basis as I left for work. I’ve tried to build my career and life around that message: Be careful, be safe, be prayerful, have faith,” Randall said. Detective Randall was always there when Lancers needed him. Whether it was a problem, advice or just to talk -- he was there. Granger High School will miss Detective Randall, but his hard work has earned him a pleasant retirement.

Officer Randall said his final farewell as he put his belongings into his vehicle and gets ready to leave Granger one last time.

January 2013, page 2

By Matias CaceresSTUDENTS are both thrilled and enraged by the upcoming release of the new Pokémon X and Poké-mon Y versions for the 3DS. The new games are sought after by loyal Pokémon fans, and people that just want to buy it to critique it. The new 3D platform will en-hance game play, but sadly this means that all the new Pokémon games won’t have the original 2D pixelated format we all know and love. The good news is; there are new Pokémon to discover and raise, new places to explore, new mysteries to uncover, and a whole new adventure. But there are a few down sides to it being new. If students wanted to play the game they would need a 3DS. This leaves students here at Granger with a few options. They can either buy one if they have the money, get a job to save up for one, or play it on the one they own if they’re lucky. Chardonnay Barlow (11) has watched the trailer for the new games and thought there really weren’t many changes, and the new Pokémon aren’t different. “I think they could have come up with better names for the new Pokémon, and if I had to pick out of the three starters I would pick Fennekin,” Barlow said. She thinks you should be able to create a bond with your Pokémon and get really attached to them while playing the game. “My most recently played Pokémon game was Pokémon Pearl version. I like the story of the game, and I especially like raising my Poké-mon and making a connection with them. It just doesn’t seem like the new game gives you the

opportunity to build a bond with your Pokémon,” Barlow said. According to some, Game Freak and Nintendo have dragged out the Pokémon saga long enough. Perhaps they’ve finally run out of ideas for new Pokémon, and they should just stick with the origi-nals. Yet it’s unclear as to what the original Pokémon actually are to most students. Originals aside, players should instead concentrate on the region in which they wish to play. There are five regions to pick from: Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova. Students are very optimis-tic about wanting Nintendo and Game Freak to remake the old Pokémon games and keep Poké-mon the way it’s always been. But what does that even mean? Jessie Cisneros (11) thinks they should stick to Pokémon from Kanto, and just remake Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue versions. “I think the new starter Pokémon for X and Y looks [ridiculous]! But the story seems interesting, and the new graphics do look

pretty cool,” said Cisneros. He thinks that the new graphics still won’t be enough to match up to the other Pokémon games be-fore it. “My most recently played Pokémon game was Pokémon Black version. Out of the three new starters I would pick Fen-nekin. But I think the new game doesn’t necessarily have to be for the 3DS, it should be for the same system the way it’s always been,” says Cisneros. The new gameplay graphics please Marcqui Buckley (12). “I think the surroundings and set up is the same, but the new Pokémon are drawn cuter, more innocent looking, and more col-orful which makes them look dull, stupid and not as cool as the originals. The new Pokémon look more girly, and the new anima-tions give them less of a Pokémon vibe,” she said. The new game has made people express complaints and compli-ments, but it will always be Poké-mon. To see the trailer for the new game, go here: http://goo.gl/CUJcI.

A walk through art history

By Marisa FooteCERAMICS students recently went on a field trip to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, established on May 6, 1951 by University of Utah President A. Ray Olpin. The UMFA collects, exhibits, in-terprets, and preserves thousands of original art pieces from around the world. “I think it’s pretty cool how the tour guides are volun-teers,” Chris Ortiz (12) said. There are many different types of art at the museum including: Paintings, works on paper, pho-tography, sculptures, and mixed media objects. “My favorite work of art was a ceramic piece, named Breathless. It’s a blue self-sculpture of the artist holding his breath,” Kayla Newberry (12) said. Robert Car-ston Arneson created Breathless in 1976. It is made of Earthen-ware and glazed with a low-fire glaze. “I really enjoyed the museum,” said Newberry “It had all kinds of art work that I’ve never seen before. It showed me that you can make art work out of almost any-thing.” The art Museum has all kinds of arts pieces -- many which are quite unusual -- some for the shape, but also for strange materials such as the favorite of Ortiz. “It was a sculpture made up of old tires and trash. Some of the tires were bent or twisted, and others cut up.

I thought it was pretty awesome most people wouldn’t even think we could use trash and turn it into an art piece,” he said. Not all were unusual just for the materials; some were amazing in their size. “I was really amazed by a huge ceramic sculpture they had,” Ortiz said. What do most people expect in an art museum? Rooms full of paintings. That’s what Ortiz ex-pected, and he was partially right. He also discovered that it had so much more than that. Going on the field trip to the art museum taught them a lot of things, such as the different pos-sibilities to create artworks are endless. Both Newberry and Or-tiz agreed that they would recom-mend the museum to anyone. “I really enjoyed it,” said Ortiz. “Not only did I get out of school for the day, but I also learned some interesting things about art. I would like to take my family and friends. I think they would really enjoy it as much as I did, or maybe even more.” Many of the people who go say they would go back and visit again, and plenty of them do. The museum is a bit of an awe-inspiring sight. All the different types of art are amazing. Espe-cially considering how old some of them are. But the possibilities are endless, and there’s no telling what can be found.

By Alexander PageTHE NEW year for Granger brings many improvements in-cluding the long-awaited comple-tion of the Lancers’ new home. Within a few months, all prepa-rations to move will be finalized, and the Lancers will be given the keys to a new place for learning. It will provide a new atmosphere for academic opportunities, and new tools to excel in all types of education. Mr. Haslam discussed the gen-eral improvements, such as meet-ing all safety requirements of a high school building (earthquake-resistant, asbestos-free, etc.). He then proudly claimed, “Granger will be the last school built with wires.” He said that all teachers would be getting all the tools they need to teach their classes, with Eng-lish teachers getting certain equipment and math teachers get-ting other equipment. He explained that the school would have climate-controlled heating and A/C generators. He said that the school will be packed with Wi-Fi and the band-width will be increased, but he has no say over how much it will be increased. He promised, how-ever, that “as soon as possible, all computers will be operating wire-lessly in the school district, and

Granger will be following that path immediately.” He spoke with great pride about the special-needs program as well. The Lancers’ new home will be equipped with two elevators for emergency and special-needs purposes, coupled with a program called the “wrap-around” pro-gram. “All students who require aid and who are ready for the cur-riculum will be accepted and con-joined to Granger,” he said. He then told of the general improvements, such as an audi-torium that seats 1600 students and a gymnasium that seats 1700. He described the new enclosed courtyard that will be open to stu-dents during lunchtime and also the walk-through window where students can pick up lunch from within the courtyard. The new school will be more organized around specific cur-riculum in “academic wings”, which will be separate from other content areas. These wings will be devoid of any lockers and monitored to keep them a quiet, learning atmosphere appropriate for academic classes. In addition, the performance arts will include a ‘black box’-style theatre for acting classes and a specially made choir room with sound-enhancing solo practice rooms. Haslam also confirmed

that there would be 25% more elective opportunities in multi-media, visual arts and all concur-rent classes. Ms. Asay confirmed the new improvements and opportunities provided for students such as 11 computer labs and three Mac labs that will feature the newest mod-els. She also said that the new school would have an improved media center with a separate com-puter lab, and there will be a text-book storage room with its own checkout station. “There will be a search station within the library, where students can borrow iPads to research certain curriculum,” Asay said. “There will also be a conference room where students or clubs can have meetings,” she said. She also planned more power outlets around the library for students to plug in devices freely. Ms. Heidinger and Ms. Chal-mers both expect great improve-ments to their art classes. But the biggest change for Ms. Chalm-ers and Ms. Heidinger will be the smaller spaces in which they teach. Ms. Chalmers said that her graphics class would get new vi-nyl cutting machines and Apple computers. Ms. Chalmers also said that her old Apple computers would go to Mr. Carlisle for his

commercial photography classes. She also ordered a new machine that will be able to make banners for hallways in the school. Ms. Heidinger said that her stu-dents would be able to produce metallic finishes on their sculp-tures, a drastic improvement over the usual shimmer glazes. They would also work with a new kiln. She also described a new glass kiln in which students would be able to sculpt glass. “There will be an outside workspace, so the classroom doesn’t have to be so messy,” she said. Drains and hoses for cleaning both the out-side workspace and the inside workspace will keep the ceramics workspace cleaner. This new technology excites the Lancers who hear about it. “I’m really jealous,” Siesia Tonga (12) said. She envies how lucky the students in lower grades will be with the new school. She believes that more resources mean more opportunities. “It sounds more hands-on,” she said. She has hope that the students will take positive advantage of the new school. “I think it’s what we need. I like that the special needs program will be more effective here,” she said. On the other hand, Correna Leatherwood (11) claimed that some students might bring the

negative behaviors they formed in the old school with them to the new school. She said that “al-though the new school will have great things in it, the original, non-technological way of teach-ing is better.” She appreciates that “students won’t be chained down” with bringing their own devices such as laptops or iPods like they do now, but students will take advan-tage of the school’s technology-heightened improvements to find more opportunities to get away from doing their work. Chardonnay Barlow (11) agrees fully with the hopes of the new school and the tech it brings. “It gives us more opportunities to not only do what we want to do, but to do it better,” she said. Her hopes are high, but she has concerns about how well the new school will be treated. “Some people are definitely going to take advantage of the multimedia classes,” she said. With all the knowledge of the resources being placed into the new Granger, Mr. Haslam says, “Despite all the things the new school will contain, it will depend on the students if they want to use them.” He hopes that with all the things being provided, students will take advantage of this to kick start their careers.

Modern technology will enhance Granger High

Pokémon: more choices than ever

The University of Utah has art from around the world in the UMFA;

Granger High students took a look.

Jessie Cisneros enjoys stand-alone gaming devices.

VOL. LV Issue 3

January 2013, page 3 VOL. LV Issue 3

Tri-Color Times Staff

Granger High 3690 South 3600 West West Valley, UT 84119 385 646-5320

The Tri-Color Times serves as a student forum for student opinion and student expression. The views expressed herein reflect neither the opin-ions of Adviser John Carlisle and Granger High School, nor those of Granite School District. The Tri-Color Times invites and publishes letters to its editorial board; all letters will be edited for taste, length and legality.

Journalists JournalistsCeleste Anguiano

Briana BauerSandra Bounthisane

Matias CaceresTania CamachoSandy Carrillo

Tatyana CarrilloKarla Cordova

Daisy CristalinasRosie Dinh

Marisa FooteKeaolani GauiTariah HathaleDaven Hintgen

Chauntel LeeKatie Lee

Miranda LopezTyler MitchellMikaila MorrillAlexander PageTaylor Rambo

Josseline RendonKelly SanmiguelJazmine SaucedoSeida Severiano

Diego SilvaSemaje TillmanEnrique Torres

EditorTaylor Bailey

Online EditorVanessa QuilesCopy Editor

Naomi Newton

Photo EditorCasey OwensPrint Editor

Alyssa HendrySocial Media Editor

Valeria Chavez

Snow storms bring oppor-tunities for winter activities

By Vanessa QuilesTHINKING when will winter end? Well winter doesn’t mean you have to stay indoors all day and not have the fun you have during the summer. You can al-ways enjoy the winter weather and still enjoy yourself. There is much to do from ice skating to sledding, snowboard-ing, making a snow man, going on a date and looking at the lights they show downtown these are just some examples you can try out during this winter. I went to see the lights this year downtown on New Year’s Day where they looked very nice. I personally enjoyed going, but one thing for sure -- it was totally freezing. There were tons of peo-ple taking pictures and enjoying the amazing lights downtown. Somewhere, waiting for it to be New Year’s, everything hap-pening downtown was very cool, and it was my first year going, so I had a lot of fun. “I enjoy sleeping during the winter, but I really like staying indoors with my girlfriend, drink-ing hot cocoa and watching mov-ies. We also like going sledding together,” Jonathon Mejia (11) said. “I like going downtown to see the lights. It looks super nice. I’m mostly with my girlfriend doing all these things, because I would rather spend time with her, and when we go outside, we wear our big coats to stay warm,” he said. Staying warm is a big challenge this year, because it always seems

to be just plain freezing! “I like sitting in the front of the fireplace to stay warm and cuddle with my dog,” Gabriela Hernan-dez (12) said. Sometimes traveling is the best option. “I went to California for a change of weather over the win-ter break. We went to the beach, which was nice, and we also went shopping,” Rachel Taliulu (10) said. “I like to go sledding, snowboarding, and I like to sleep during the winter. It’s so cold, I double up on clothes and drink hot cocoa to keep warm.” A beach vacation sounds like a great way to deal with winter in Utah, but it’s not always an op-tion. “What I most like to do in the winter has to be sleeping, but my favorite thing to do is to stay in-side and watch how the snow falls

while I stay nice and warm. I like to go Ogie’s and other restau-rants or go to my cousin’s house. Something else would have to be snowboarding, eating and watch-ing movies,” Adriana Romero (11) said. Even though it is super cold outside her favorite drink in the winter is Sangria soda “Yes, it’s not warm, but I really like drink-ing it during the winter -- it’s so good,” she said. “What I do the most during the winter is staying inside and being warm while I watch as the snow falls, while I’m drinking hot chocolate,” Morgan Hankcock (11) said. Yes, it is freezing out there, but there is so much to do These Lancers found their own ways to enjoy the snow and the crazy weather, which is good because this year we have tons of it.

Jonathon Mejia enjoys sledding and other winter activities.

By Seida Severiano SWIM TEAM members agree -- “WE WANT THE POOL IN GRANGER!” they said. Obviously there is not a pool in Granger High right now because new school’s gyms and parking lot stand where there used to be a pool. Currently the swim team has to wake up extra early to practice in Hunter’s pool. Practicing with their rivals must be pretty awk-ward. Swim team members get dirty looks and stares and hear many other things. In response, Granger High’s swim team mem-bers are nice enough to ignore them preventing any problems “I like being on the Granger swim team because it’s a lot of fun and it’s also a great opportu-nity for everyone to join. It sucks that I have to wake up at 5:00 in the morning to be ready at 6:00. It’s pretty tiring, but I like swim-ming because it’s not as hard as I thought it would be,” Denise Perez (10) said. There are challenges, too. “It’s also a big hassle for everyone, and we have to bring everything with us. Sometimes it sucks if we forget something or things don’t go as planned. I knew it would be stressing,” she added. “For the new Granger, I hope it’s big, nice and has lockers to actually fit everything we have,

because gym lockers are pretty small, and not all things fit in there. I hope next year is better because I’m excited,” Perez said. “Being on Granger’s swim team is really fun and makes me really tired. I hate the fact that I have to wake up really early just to be in the building. Also I sometimes miss practice because I’m really tired or wake up late because my alarm didn’t go off,” Carley Bel-ka (12) said. Even though Belka won’t be here next year, she hopes it’ll bet-

ter than the last few years. She knows the team is excited for the opportunity to swim in the new pool. “I like being on the swim team because it makes me ba part of something, but I really don’t like going to a different school for practice, especially when the boys there hit on you. It’s just weird,” Courtney Thompson (12) said. The swim team looks forward to having a home ‘court’ advantage again after the pool opens this summer.

Winter assembly reveals many Lancers’ talents

By Daven HintgenGRANGER High’s outstanding holiday assembly included per-formances from Glee1, Glee2, Madrigals, concert choir and orchestra. Then all the singing groups joined together to sing “Ogoni Fun Olowa”. In addition, a few people played djembes and other African instruments during the assembly. “One of my favorite songs to play is ‘Mad Russians Christ-mas’,” Demi Smith (11) said. Smith performed with two other groups in the performance. Smith has a hard time switching from one activity to the other. “Having to be in concert choir and orchestra is really fun, but the schedule is really hard to deal with. Orchestra performs right after concert choir, but orchestra starts setting up when concert choir is singing,” she said. It’s a challenge, but Smith has a smart plan. “I will have my stand partner Carlo carry my violin on the stage and I’ll make sure it’s tuned before the performance,” she said. Smith is an outstand-ing Lancer and did a great job in her performances as she switched from one to the other.Glee1 one tried hard, but their

voices did not carry. The stage even had microphone stands set up and still it was hard to hear in the 3rd row of the auditorium. Beyond the 3rd row and up, it just sounded like a bunch of people humming. It takes a lot of guts to get up on stage and sing, but they just were not loud enough. Other than that, they did a good job in that performance. Glee2 did well because they are more used to performing than Glee1. Glee2 was loud enough to hear and they had more complex choreography. That’s to be ex-pected, because they are the ad-vanced level of Glee. One of the top performances was the Christmas song, “Fruit Cake”, performed by the Madrigals. Fruit Cake is sung with about five or six different groups, and each group sings a different part. It gets crazy when the bass boys try to sing the soprano girls’ parts. The orchestra doesn’t involve singing; they play their instru-ments well, like professionals. Smith is right when she says that “Mad Russians Christmas” is a great song. It was the last song that orchestra played, and they played it perfectly -- just out-standing.

The Madrigals had a lot of fun performing in the Christmas assembly.

Lancers swim with Wolverines

We apologize to Payton Jensen (11) for referring to her as ‘he’ last month.

Swimmers dive into Hunter’s pool. Soon Lancers will have a pool of their own.

January 2013, page 4 VOL. LV Issue 3

Lancer leaders learn at summitBy Enrique TorresGRANGER High FBLA Stu-dents -- future business leaders of America attended the Entre-preneurial Summit field trip at Hunter High. Granger students went to Hunter to learn about great successful business CEOs. They will be talking to some of the most successful business lead-ers to learn how they got started and how they had to work hard to achieve their goals. Students from many schools will be going including: Taylors-ville, Kearns, Skyline, East and Cyprus. Of course, Hunter and Granger themselves were there, too. Like any field trip, it was a great way to get out of the usual classes and learn something from suc-cessful CEO’s. To make the trip better, they were giving out free lunch and also giving away prizes including: a free iPod Touch or a Nano iPod with different varieties

of prizes at the end of the tour for the students who got through all the different classes with these successful CEO leaders. “The field trip was a great expe-rience. It was a lot of fun to meet new people from different back-grounds and different schools,’’ Jacquelin Guardado (12) said. All participants had the same common goals: to be successful in life and maybe one day own a business. Other students who went on the field trip had favorite parts, too. Perla Escobedo (12) said the teachers were a lot of fun, and they were really cool and funny while giving a good point on how to be successful. She learned a lot about how much it takes to be successful in today’s growing economy, and she had a lot of fun meeting new people from all different schools. She thinks that Kearns, out of the schools invited, was the school

mostly interacting with Granger students. “I learned how to be a business person in the different sessions, how to get a great start on a small business and meet people from different backgrounds and dif-ferent schools like Kearns, Cy-prus and Taylorsville,” Brenda Flores (12) said. She had a lot of fun, meeting new people and the variety of different schools in the district. She learned some busi-ness skills. “I thought it was a lot of fun learning about people’s jobs. I want to work and do something that I love to become successful,” Alexandria Johnson (12) said. She met new people from Copper Hills, Hunter and Kearns. She said it was a nice experi-ence, although Hunter was “talk-ing a lot of smack” on Granger, friends from Kearns backed them up against Hunter and they kept things under control.Alexandria enjoyed the opportunity to meet a variety of students from all over.

Books and binders in backpacksBy Karla Cordova EVERY YEAR backpacks are number one item on back-to-school lists. Backpacks are an im-portant part of school. Everyone has one to carry around so they don’t always have to run back and forth to their lockers. The “I forgot my book in my locker” excuse is overrated. If Lancers carry around backpacks, They’ll always have their stuff right there, Besides, if carrying it around all the time, it’s less of a hassle than a locker or carrying heavy books all day. Vicente Martinez (12) carries his backpack all day. He pur-chased his own backpack. He likes that his backpack is simple -- just one color. “My backpack weighs around 5 pounds,” Marti-nez said. He carries his backpack

around because he has his binder and he needs it for school. “But my backpack doesn’t keep me or-ganized. I just shove everything in there,” he said. Almost everyone at Granger High has a backpack because the binders are big and heavy, but not everyone has the same taste in backpacks. Mariana Rivera (11) has a backpack with taggings all over it. She lets her friends tag on her backpack. It’s very personal-ized, so she has a backpack that is different from everyone else’s. “My backpack is is pretty big, but it’s not heavy it just depends on what I put in it that makes it feel like it weighs a lot,” Rivera said. She said she just uses her back-pack to keep her binder and pa-pers organized. Almost everyone has a back-

pack at Granger High, and there are a lot of different kinds. Lanc-ers buy plain bags and they cus-tomize their own packs, and they also find brands with Marvel or DC Comics characters. Kimber-ly Velazquez (10) loves her back-pack. “It’s all about Spiderman,” Velazquez said. She always has her backpack with her and it’s not heavy -- it might be around 3 pounds. She carries her backpack so she won’t have to carry her stuff in her hands. “My backpack was about ten dollars,” she said. There are a lot of styles to choose from every year, so look for new backpacks whether they’re small or big. New backpacks come in to stores all the time, and many different colors and designs are available, too.

Parents ‘bulldog’ kids through schoolBy Diego SilvaMANY TEENS struggle in high school to pass their classes. They stop caring about their grades and the future they can have if they study. They get influenced by their friends to sluff class or to do other bad things that af-fect their education. Parents work hard so their kids can have what they want, and all parents want to see in return is a high school diploma. Most students have dreams of going to college or having a lot of money in life, but the only way to get all that is by staying in school and graduating. “My parents bulldog me about school,” Abel Ortiz (11) said. “If I’m failing a class, they get really disappointed in me.” Parents just want their kids to do well in school, graduate and have a good life. No parent wants to see their children suffer in life. “My parents pressure me to go to my classes,” Ortiz said. Stay-ing in class seems hard for many kids in high school, but they have to do it if they really want to grad-uate and make their dreams come true. “Sometimes my parents pres-sure me about school,” Jerry Bernardino (12) said. Some par-

ents might not need to bulldog their kids about school as much as others, but students who fall be-hind need an extra push to reach graduation. His parents give him lots of advice. “I need to be on time to school in the morning,” he said. “My parents also tell me to be-have in my classes,” Bernardino said. Some Lancers have prob-lems paying attention, but it hurts their grades when they don’t. For some students, it’s hard to be on time to school, but they should always do their best to make it on time so they won’t miss out on something important that happens in first period. “My parents want me to do well in school,” Vicente Martinez (12) said. Most parents want the same for their kids so they won’t be struggling as hard to find a good job after high school. Most jobs now require at least a high school diploma, and applicants who don’t have diplomas don’t get the jobs. “They make me stay after school for help on my homework or missing work,” Martinez said. Lancers who need help should stay after school and ask for help from teachers or counselors.

Abel believes that his parents are bulldogging him about his classes.

New ELT schedule put on holdBy Kelly SanmiguelA FEW MONTHS after this school year began, the adminis-trators proposed a new schedule in which all Tue-Fri classes would be reduced to 76 minutes. This new schedule would have added two 20-minute blocks of flexible teaching time each day in which students would have been able to work on special projects or missing assignments. “It would have been great, and it would have provided remediation time,” Mr. West-man said. Failing Lancers would have had an oppor-tunity to make up missing work, and teachers would have had time to reteach difficult material. Teachers without classes could have offered workshops or spe-cial projects. With that in mind, why didn’t the sched-ule make the cut? “In order to make sure students had a place to go in which mean-ingful activities would take place, we first have to get all the logis-

tics right,” he said. Part of getting the logistics right included having enough su-pervision for the 1,000+ students at Granger who might not need to be kept in class during this flex-ible instructional time.

“We saw no ‘cons’, just con-cerns that might be expected with unsupervised time.” Westman said. It’s the realism of the mat-

ter to foresee the possibilities -- whether it’s outbreaks of violence or an easy chance to leave school -- nothing is impossible. Consider the fact that Mur-ray High School currently uses a similar schedule with which

they’re doing wonder-fully. Granger could do just as well, but the one big difference between the Lancers and the Spartans is the building in which they dwell. “Extended learning time is just not possible in this building,” West-man said. A commons area would be the ideal place for students to go if they earned free time, but the current building doesn’t have enough space for students to gather. So will this ELT schedule be revived

once Lancers begin using the new building? There certainly is a big possibility that it will be looked at again in the next few years.

Mr. Wessman responded to criticism of ELT by postponing it.

January 2013, page 5 VOL. LV Issue 3

Going Bovine by Libba BrayReview by Tatyana CarrilloGOING Bovine by Libba Braay is about an average teenage boy named Cameron who learns he is dying of mad cow disease. He is visited in the hospital by a rock angel named Dulcie. She informs him about a mission to find Dr. X and close the wormhole so he can get cured and save the universe. Cameron is skeptical and suffering from hallucinations, but joins his new dwarf friend Gonzo and a talking yard gnome named Balder to set out on a crazy adventure leav-ing everything behind. Dulcie comes around every once in a while to check in and give them information. They travel to New Orleans and meet Junior Webster. They stay at the church of Everlast-ing Satisfaction, and bring some college guys to Daytona Beach where they go to the Party House and appear on live television. Cameron also experiences time travel when they stop at the Calabi Yau and meet some impor-tant scientists. Cameron and his buds must reach Dr. X before the meter on his E-ticket runs out. All through-out their mission, they are being chased by fire giants, the Wizard of Reckoning, the United Snow

Globe Wholesalers, and basically the rest of America because they are on the news as wanted terror-ists. Cameron is told to be aware of “signs, random coincidences, and trust” as he makes his way across America to Disneyland. “Connec-

tions. Dulcie said everything was connected” (Bray 325). Cameron follows the signs to make connec-tions and find out the true power that destiny has. He uses the music of the Copen-hagen Interpretation and follows the coyote and the roadrunner. Things take a twisted turn and

Cameron needs to figure out how to save the universe, Dulcie, and himself. This book is no doubt one of the best books I’ve ever read. It is pretty long and little bit hard to understand, but it was still really good. It was funny and also re-

ally twisted. The book was about the changing of destinies and how even if you don’t know how things are going to turn out to just keep going. I thought it was just a really interesting book to read because of all the adventure and crazy things that happen. Once I would start to read it, I always got really into it because it was so descriptive. When it would explain some-thing that was happening or one of Cameron’s hallucina-tions, I could picture it so well in my mind because of how it was written. I would rate this book a 5/5 because it really was just so good and a little weird. Also

I could relate to some parts that made it more enjoyable. The genre is kind of like a strange twist on an adventure book. It has to do with the undiscovered sort of mysterious side of science. I would recommend this book to any student because it is a little confusing and somewhat crude.

Shhhhhhh!By Josseline RendonEVER TRIED getting away with something sneaky? If not, this in-formation might be quite surpris-ing. Granger Lancers share a few of their genius schemes. “I’ve used one for coming home at around four or maybe five in the morning. I said I was helping people out, and my dad believed me,” Lyna Phan (12) said. “I took the car out and came back home really late, I would say maybe at around one in the morning? I said I had a dance class and I didn’t get in trouble for it,” Lyndsey Xa (11) said. “I told my parents I was sleep-ing over at someone’s house; I was actually going to a party,” Daniel Nguyen (12) said. “I drove my dad’s truck a couple of times. I never got caught be-cause my friend helped me park. Eventually the keys disappeared!” Tamika Shipman (10) said. “I snuck out to a party. My par-ents heard some noise and asked if I heard anything the next morn-ing, but I told them it was prob-ably just a cat,” Alondra Padron (10) said. “I got caught sneaking out at one in the morning. I said I was just going for a walk,” said Tif-fany Hoy (12) said.

“So I sluffed school to go to my boyfriend’s, and I had work later that day. We both didn’t have a car so I was about half an hour late to work. When I got there they asked me why I was late, and I said that since I didn’t have a car, my boyfriend’s friend was picking me up. I said his friend got into a huge car wreck, I went on about it and they believed me,” Shaelee Mok (12) said. Don’t forget this classic: “I didn’t have time to do my home-work,” Jeffrey Fulton (12) said.

Jeff Fulton sneaks into room 215.

By Taylor Bailey IF YOU walk down the halls of Granger High you can usually find some Lancers in their favor-ite spots: a place they go to relax, a place they enjoy. Such a sanctuary can be any-where, even in a bathroom. The bathroom by room 201 is Hailey Merill’s (12) favorite place. “No one’s ever in there,” she said. “I can just chill, do my hair, or go pee without someone up in my grill.” Most of Merill’s classes are on the top floor, so she started using that bathroom and after a couple times, she real-ized it was almost always empty. She thought that was pretty cool and adopted that bathroom as her own. Merill will miss ‘her’ bathroom when the school is torn down. She’ll miss her privacy, but most-ly, she’s going to miss the school as a whole. “Other people should stop tagging up my bathroom,” she said. Bradon Coleman’s (11) favor-ite spot is by the Lancer statue. “One day, one of our friends got thrown into the glass and since then, we’ve all hung out there,” Coleman said. “Stuff goes down there. It’s where all our friends meet up.” Although this is where Coleman likes to hang out, he won’t miss it. He’s very excited for the new school. Annaliese Delange’s (11) favor-ite places to hang out are also by Lancer, as well as the art hall. “It’s just usually where my friends are and where we meet up,” Delange said. She will miss these places when the school is torn down.

Some people even find the hall-way relaxing: Emerald Green (12), for instance. Green enjoys the science hallway because there are fewer people there, and her locker has been there since soph-omore year. “It’s where we all just meet in the morning,” Green said. Green will miss this hallway and the school, but she can’t wait to see the new building and to take her little brother there and show him around. Although she feels it’s un-fortunate that she won’t get to attend the new school. Tyler Fors-gren (10) also likes the hall-ways. Specifi-cally he enjoys the dance hall. Forsgren likes the dance hall because usu-ally there is no one in it. He won’t miss it. He’s too ex-cited for the new school. “It will be cooler,” Forsgren said. Other people enjoy places like the gym. Habiba Osman (11) loves the gym. She likes to play basketball and other sports. “It’s fun to play with my friends,” she said. “Granger is a great school. When I first came here, I didn’t like it, but I learned to like it be-cause it has opportunities middle school does not.” Apollo Millor (10) likes the gym because there is always stuff to do. “It’s a good hangout spot,”

Millor said. He will miss it when the school is torn down. Other Lancers find their sanc-tuaries within the classrooms. Alex Le (10) likes the weight room. “The coach motivates me to do my work and not slack off,” Le said. He’s been in the class at 3:30 p.m. almost every day since he started football, but he won’t miss it because they’re getting a new one. For William (Bobby) Moore (12), it’s both the classroom and

the people. Ms. Green’s room is Moore’s favorite place. To him it’s where Accolade started and where he first actually discovered he was brilliant at writing. Moore feels being in this class and learn-ing to write and express his ideas will affect him for the rest of his life. “I met some of my best friends in Accolade, and even after the class was over, we still kept in touch,” Moore said. The class in general is really im-portant to Moore, in fact he had to describe it twice for a scenery

assignment. “I will miss it, I don’t know if the same vibe we had in that room can be captured in the new room,” Moore said. Alumni have favorite places within Granger, too. Braiden Meikels (‘12) and Pedro Mo-rales (‘12) loved the baseball field. “The field was peaceful, I felt like I got a lot better every time I was on it,” Meikels said. He felt like the baseball field was the one place he could be that no one else could go unless they were on

the baseball team. He was there for hours anywhere from two to three times a week. “I will miss it really bad,” Meikels said. Djenita Balic (‘11) on the other hand liked to hang out in the main hall. “It was a fun area and usu-ally had all differ-ent kinds of cliques,” Balic said. “Every-one was ‘one’, fooled around, made jokes; it was fun.” School al-ways seemed to be so

crowded, but to Balic it wasn’t. She doesn’t miss it, she’s glad to be out of high school. The cafeteria usually has a ton of people in it and that was Nedim Cakarevic’s (‘12) favorite place. “It’s a place to hang out and not think about class,” he said. “I was there more than my own house haha, just kidding, I was just there at lunch time.” Cakarevic does miss it because he had so many good memories there. Granger actually has a few teachers who used to be Lancers:

Ms. Green (‘99), Ms. Robinson, Mr. Clawsen (‘83), Ms. Funk (‘07), and Ms. Yorgason (‘06). Ms. Green’s favorite place was the stage; it is where most of her memories are. Ms. Green was in theatre, dance, drill, and SBO’s, so she was on the stage almost every assembly. She loved that she’d work so hard then finally get to perform. She felt she did the very best when filled with adrenaline in front of an audience. Ms. Green even remembers thinking while she was in high school that the stage was her fa-vorite place. “But I won’t miss it. If we hold onto old things, we cannot progress,” she said. She’s excited for the new school and feels like the kids need something to look forward to and be proud of. Ms. Robinson feels the same way. Her favorite places when she went to school here were the sci-ence hall and down by the lunch-room. “It was where everyone would get together and hangout,” Ms. Robinson said. She was there all the time, it was where she met up with her friends. “I won’t miss these places, I am too excited for the new school,” she said. “I will miss Granger and its uniqueness. I won’t miss all the broken stuff, although the imperfections are what make it ‘homey’.” Lancers are at Granger eight hours of their day and sometimes more. The building has become somewhat of a second home to students and faculty. Each indi-vidual has a comfortable spot to hang out.

Students and alumni claim favorite places at GrangerSometimes, the best place to go to get away from all the drama and all your worries is to your own little place inside Granger.

Bradon Coleman relaxes by the Lancer -- his favorite spot.

Lancers share their best excuses.

January 2013, page 6 VOL. LV Issue 3

Accolade students update classic filmBy Jasmine Saucedo TEACHERS here at Granger work hard for their students, yet many have at least once consid-ered quitting. With the help of her Accolade class, Ms. Green made the film “It’s a Wonderful Lancer Life” for the faculty holi-day party. Her film is based on the Christ-mas classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life”. “I wanted to make a video that reminded teachers just how much this school needs them and to thank them for giving so much totheir students,” Ms. Green said. “It’s a Wonderful Lancer Life” shows just how much of a dif-ference it would be not to have specific teachers at Granger. Ms. Green and her Accolade class sent the message of how much teachers are really appreciated. They had help from Ms. Robin-son, Mr. Moon, Ms. House, Ms. Berrett and Ms. Heidinger and the help of the SBO’s. In this film, viewers see what would happen if Ms. House didn’t teach early childhood edu-cation. “If we didn’t have these teachers, we wouldn’t know what we know now,” Jennifer Perez (12) said. Perez plays the role of a preg-nant girl who, because Mrs. House wasn’t there to teach her

proper child care, throws her baby away in the dumpster. “The film showed me doing something I wouldn’t ever do,” she said. We see what a student would do if there weren’t a teacher to help in her struggles with school work. “I was really excit-ed to play my part,” Jessica Hepworth (12) said. She plays the role of a student who gets help after school from Ms. Robinson. “In the video Ms. Robinson sees me dropout because no one was there to help me with my school work,” she said. What our future awaits if an archi-tect didn’t have a teacher to teach math. “I play a kid who enjoys math, but without Mr. Moon, I don’t know how to build the Great Salt Bridge, and it ends up collapsing and killing 300 people.” Nicholas Holt (12) said. “It was all over iPad news.” Viewers see what it would look like if there weren’t a teacher to

explain how to be fit and help kids stay fit. “I was the fat kid who didn’t take gym because Ms. Berrett wasn’t there to teach it,” Ava Bullock (11) said. “Ms. Green did a great job making this

film.” Without Ms. Heidinger, students would end up in jail for express-ing their art in the wrong place or wrong way. “I was one of the kids that got arrested for paint-ing graffiti on the lockers because

without Ms. Heidinger, there was nowhere to express our art,” Demitirio Nuez (12) said. “When I got arrested, I thought, ‘I’m nev-er doing this again, and I hope my mom doesn’t see this.’”

In another scene, viewers see what happens in the life of a student when a teacher isn’t there to teach morality. “I play the girl who is caught smoking because Ms. Green wasn’t there to teach me morality,” Me-gan Gabbrad (12) said. English language learners wouldn’t speak as well if they didn’t have good English teachers. “I play the kid who, because Ms. Green wasn’t there to help me learn English, couldn’t speak it well,” Jason Nugy-en (12) said.

There is a teacher in every class-room and in every hallway with whom students can connect. They are the people who students trust to help with school work and sometimes their life’s struggles. Every student at Granger should

have a teacher to go when they need some guidance. Sometimes students forget to show how thankful they are. This film shows just how much stu-dents need the teachers at Grang-er High. “I really liked it. I think it’s one of the best things done here at Granger,” William (Bobby) Moore (12) said. “It’s true that teachers are underappreciated, but this film shows just how much we really need them.” “The video really hit home,” Nguyen said. “I had a lot of fun and I want to take Ms. Green’s class again!” Bullock said. “I think it turned out really well, and it was fun. I hope the teachers and everyone who sees it enjoys it,” Holt said. “It was fun, and it shows a great message for everyone,” Perez said. “This film was a great idea and so much fun to do,” Gabbard said. “The kids I worked with are great actors. I’m impressed by them,” Ms. Green said “It’s a Wonderful Lancer Life” is a funny film with a true mes-sage. It is cut in two parts and stars Granger’s own Lancers and teach-ers. Find it on YouTube or on Ms. Green’s Accolade page.

Ms. Green is very proud of the film she made with her class.

Raves have good vibes, loud musicBy Kelly SanmiguelLIGHTS, lasers, smoke, col-ors, and good vibes describe the rave scene. Sadly it can also be described in many bad ways, so what truly makes a raver a raver? “Someone who is able to use their surroundings and take ad-vantage, identify good music, not care what others think and live freely and happily,” Chris Fran-co (11) said. Not everyone describes them the same way though. “[A raver] is someone who does a lot of drugs,” Eric Delgado (11) said. Considering the variety of mind-

sets people have, not everyone agrees on what a raver is. Some-times it’s even the case that one doesn’t have an actual definition. Trance, hardstyle, dubstep, and house are all types of music that can be heard at raves, and everybody has a preference. “I like Datsik,” Brian Saldana (11) said. There are many artists involved in the rave scene. “Felguk, Dada Life, Hardwell, Laidback Luke, and Benny Bennasi are my fa-vorite producers,” Cristian Diaz (11) said. Yet one thing most people who

The rave scene has been associated with loud music, bright colors, and drugs. It has had both posi-tive and negative feedback, but is there a right way to describe it?

Style expectations can affect confidenceBy Celeste AnguianoHUMANS tend to judge what they see. But how much can style say about someone’s personal life? In the United States, people take the way they look very se-riously. Looks are important no matter what race, gender, or so-cial class. People might say that if someone’s hair isn’t brushed or clothes aren’t clean, they earn the reputation of a being a messy person. “Confidence affects everything. If you’re confident, you do bet-ter in school,” counseling center secretary Julie Shorts said. How does confidence affect a student? When a girl sees a confident guy, she tends to show interest. Every-one likes to be around confident

people; it can be relaxing to feel protected. Devan Kinnear (11) said he wouldn’t talk to a girl if she didn’t look nice. “Girls take pride when they know they look good. Also when a girl’s hair looks good, it gives her confidence,” he said. Yet being confident is hard, and it’s not something everyone is born with, especially in the teen-age years when peer pressure makes teens act thoughtless in some scenarios. “I think peer pressure affects everyone. Even when people say, ‘I’m a leader not a follower.’ We all follow someone, whether it’s a celebrity or a friend,” Gabriela Hernandez (12) said. Sometimes students just want to be comfortable and wear sweats

and a hoodie. But can students be confident and comfortable at the same time? “Yes, you can be both at the same time, because if you’re confident, you can be comfortable with yourself,” Fer-nando Herrera (12) said. While some students think it’s very important to make a first good impression when they meet someone, others believe that it’s not a priority at all. “I don’t think it’s important how people look, because if you loved him, you wouldn’t mind how he looked. It’s more about how he treats you.” Odalys Leyva (11) said. These two sides are very differ-ent, but they have both have good points. “I would prefer to be comfort-able instead of having to wake

up super early to do my hair, we come to school for educational purposes, not to please anybody,” Maria Rangel (11) said. Many believe that there is no right answer to this argument, and it’s just different perspec-tives. No matter if you like look-ing great with expensive jeans or you like being comfortable with sweats, we are all humans and we deserve to be respected and feel welcome. So next time before you start to talk and say something rude about someone, think twice be-cause it can change someone’s life. No matter what the expec-tations from each individual are; everyone must respect everyone for who they are, because at the end of the day we are all humans. Maria Rangel expresses her style with

confidence.

have attended raves for some time now have in common is they all agree there has been drastic change. “Back in my day, it was about the PLUR life [Peace, Love, Uni-ty, Respect], now it’s basically one of those things that every-body’s doing,” Diaz said. “It’s changed drastically and dramatically, everyone used to be very friendly, and it used to be mainly for the older crowd,” said Delgado who has attended many raves including a couple underground ones. “It’s kind of depressing when you think about

it afterward because there are a bunch of underage little girls drugged up. Although it’s not sad when you’re actually there in the moment.” “[There’s] too many little kids now,” Saldana said, which may be the reason for stricter law en-forcement at these events. Delgado is both for and against the rules, “It is unfair because re-sponsible people have to pay for other’s stupidity,” he said. Despite these concerns about raves, it seems the love for the music overshadows all those problems. Uniqueness is seen at

these events like no other. “Ev-ery rave is different and unique, depending on the various people who go,” Diaz said. The performer also has a lot to do with the atmosphere and the price of admission. In reality there is no actual defi-nition of a ‘raver’, and no single way the rave scene can be de-scribed. It can be seen as a couple hours in a different reality. In the end, it’s all about one’s mindset, ear for music and ability to agree with Peace, Love, Unity, Respect; the PLUR life.

January 2013, page 7 VOL. LV Issue 3

What’s your favorite romantic movie?

Emina Mehmedovic (11): “The Notebook”/”The Vow”: “In “The Vow”, the guy has to recreate the love and the past for his wife. “The Notebook” – it’s practically the same story, except he’s telling it to his wife with old timers in his journal.”

Kaila Morrill (10): “Pride and Prejudice”: “She judges him at first and finally falls in love, and he’s been in love with her the whole time.”

Cornea Leatherwood (11): “The Vow”: “Shows how the guy loves his wife and doesn’t want to for-get their times together, because it’s what’s inside that counts to him.”

Stockton Mackay (11): “The Notebook”: “It’s sad, and she’s hot when she’s young.”

Ciearra Everill (10): “The Notebook”: “It’s cute and makes me feel kind of lonely.”

Misty Garlick (11): “The Notebook”/“The Vow”: “Both movies are cute and both couples are adorable together, and the men never give up.”

Casey Owens (12): “Letters to Juliet”: “It’s very sad and cute.”

By Tariah HathaleGRANGER High School’s drill team had a competition on Janu-ary 12 at Murray High School. The Excaliburs got second place in their competition a while back. All of the girls were quite excited for the competition and nervous all around. They’ve practiced so hard for this very moment – strived to do their best. “You don’t really get nervous,” Claudia Torres (11) said. This competition was one of the big-gest, so there definitely were more schools going to be there. “I’m constantly shaking, but I have to focus,” Brooke Rolfe (12) said. She felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness at the same time. “I’m excited, I think we’re going to do well,” Shelly Ngo (11) said. Every one of the Excaliburs got hyped-up for this competition. Imagine what practices are like before big events. “Dance well. Do your best the first time so you don’t have to do it again,” Torres said. The hard practices and tiring performances show that the drill team works to be their best. “We go hard and kick our butts. We al-ways act like we’re at the compe-tition,” Ngo said. Dedication is a key factor for the drill team. “Practices are hard. We have to condition and con-stantly clean the dances,” Madi-son Pitcher (11) said. Getting their dance just right means a lot when there is a com-petition around the corner. “Prac-tices are really hard, you want to die after them, but it’s all worth it in the end,” Cheyenne Riley (11) said. At times you have to give up on some things for what you want. Riley and Rolfe both had to leave their dance studio to be on the drill team. “I gave up singing. I used to be in choir, but I can’t

anymore,” Pitcher said. The Excaliburs definitely give all they have to dancing, and it has a big impact on their lives. Ngo stopped breakdancing along with soccer to be an Excalibur for Granger. “I like being on drill, it’s fun, and you can kind of connect with the team,” Torres said. She and the team held a white elephant gift exchange at their Christmas party, and one of the girls brought a rotten banana. Crazy fun! “I love dance, it’s my life, it’s all I can think about,” Rolfe said. Of course getting cute uniforms is fun, but the drill team is also like her second family. Ngo definitely feels more in-volved with the school as an Ex-calibur with this being her fifth year dancing. “I feel motivated and happy. I think it really pushes me,” Pitcher said. She has been dancing for eleven years. “I love the team. They’re all a bunch of sisters, we’re not even a team,” Riley said. The drill team has a team night before every competition. Before the compe-tition a while ago, they bought snacks and went to the drill presi-dent’s house to watch old videos of the dances last year and a few this year. There was another time where they tied their ankles to every-body else’s and tried to find clues throughout the school. “There were a lot of ankle burns,” Torres said. “My favorite thing is how we are all close and how we can be goofy with each other and we work hard together,” Ngo said. “I feel motivated and happy. I think it really pushes me,” Pitcher said. She has been dancing for eleven years. “I think the girls are very hard workers, they’re super sweet, and I love them,” Pitcher said. There can be many reasons

to love about the team that you work hard with. Pitcher, Riley, and Rolfe all love to perform at assemblies for the school. “It’s a great feeling to get out there and dance,” Rolfe said. Their hard work sure does pay off for these girls in their perfor-mances. This is Riley’s first year on drill and she loves it and was really ex-cited for the competition. “I like everyone knowing that I work hard for what I do – it’s fun,” she said. She has been dancing since she was five years old. Torres has danced since she was in seventh grade. Every girl has some experience, whether a lot or a little in styles ranging from hip-hop to ballet. The Excalibur’s always perform three times at their competitions. They perform Military, Dance, and Kick. They go out at different times depending on what genres the other schools have. The order of it all is pretty complicated. “I was kind of nervous but re-ally excited because we all go hard,” Pitcher said. There are twenty three members on the drill team and they prac-tice every A day with night prac-tices on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These girls put a lot of effort into their work towards everything they’ve done. There were other schools that got put into the same category as the Excaliburs in the dances. Other schools placed in the com-petition’s rankings leaving The Excalibur’s without a win. Our wonderful drill team did the best they could at their competi-tion and took home a trophy for participating in the competition. Not getting placed in a competi-tion doesn’t mean that they didn’t dance their hardest; but know that no matter where the drill team goes, they’ll always be satisfied being together as teammates.

because Granger doesn’t have someone fill them anymore. “Now that we fill them, all the money just goes back to the students. It pays for all the free games and school events that are happening all the time. Before only 17% of the royalties came to us, but now over 43% of the roy-alties go to the school,” Dr. Gatti said. Have you noticed that they don’t put sugared sodas in the machines? Well it’s because of a ‘healthy school’ law that requires schools that offer free or reduced lunch to prohibit full-sugar so-das in the school’s vending ma-chines. And that’s also why we don’t have any sort of gummy candies or hard candies in the machines either. Too much sugar. “Since the school fills the vend-ing machines now, it makes it much cheaper for the students and a win for the administration.” And the school has much more control over what does or doesn’t go into

each machine. “I had asked Dr. Gatti about putting banana nut muffins in the machines before the winter break, and as soon as I got back from the break, we had banana nut muffins in the machines. I was so happy!” Daven Hintgen (11) said. And if you would also like to request anything to be in the ma-chines, also let him know, and he will try to put them in the ma-chines. “I also have been getting a lot of feedback from many of the Hispanic students who want to see takis or spicy chips in the ma-chines. I have been trying to con-tact a company that makes them, but they still haven’t gotten back to me,” said Gatti In some schools, there is a natu-ral foods machine, but Granger doesn’t have one. Dr. Gatti ex-plained that a lot of the healthy items spoil faster than any of the packaged stuff in Granger’s ma-chines. No one would want to buy a brown banana, for example, so

the school would lose more mon-ey than it made. “Please do not bang or shake the machines, because if it breaks, then we lose money that could have been spent on events at

school,” Gatti said. “If something is stuck or it just doesn’t give you your food, then come find a tracker or one of the principals who will be happy to help you out with anything you need.”

School administrators put vend money into school activitiesBy Brianna BauerWELL FOR many students, the vending machines are the only thing they rely on until the lunch bell rings, but would they rather have vending machine food or lunch room food? Many students can’t afford to buy school lunch, so they are very dependent on eating chips or cookies. “I never have money in my actual lunch account, so most of my food usually comes from the vending machines or, if I’m lucky, my friends will bring me food,” Cheyenne Gehlen (10) said. She usually isn’t one to get money every day, but if she did have money in her lunch account, it would really make a difference for her. This year Lancers have noticed that the trackers have been filling the vending machines and they are probably wondering why. Well for one, it’s part of their job. Now it’s because it has be-come the school’s job to fill them, Dr. Gatti rearranges the chips in a vending machine.

Drill team is thrilled and nervous in their second competition

Look for the Excaliburs to perform at the 5A State competition on Friday, February 1. A busload of Lancer fans will head to Utah Valley University to fill the stands with cheering fans.

January 2013, page 8 VOL. LV Issue 3

Lancers with tattoos, regrets optionalBy Tariah Hathale A lot of people out there want to get tattoos. There are so many va-rieties of tattoos -- from a single red rose to a name that has mean-ing behind it. A few of the stu-dents attending Granger already have tattoos of their own. There’s not a certain type of person who gets tattoos. All it takes is some cash and a parent’s permission (depending on age). And an idea for the art -- no one should get a tattoo without carefully planning the design first. One Granger student has had his tattoo for a year. “I just felt like getting it, and I like what it is,” Angel Rivera (12) said. What his tattoo means to him is “if you like something you have to keep try-ing with no giving up on getting it,” he said. Since this was his second tattoo it didn’t hurt at all, so he didn’t feel any pain. Another Granger student shared Rivera’s pain-free experience. “My dad was getting a tattoo,

and I was down for one too,” Pe-ichanda Ros (12) said. She has a koi fish tattooed on the back of her left shoul-der that she says means ‘luck’. She has had this tattoo for almost two years now. She fell asleep during the pro-cess of getting the tattoo. At first her parents were a little wor-ried she couldn’t take the pain, but she pulled through with no sweat. Ros liked her experience be-cause there were no problems with getting the tattoo along with having no harm done. Neither Rivera nor Ros

have any regrets about their tat-toos today.

Yet not everybody lives with-out regret for a tattoo; some feel

unsure. “For the first couple of months I regretted it, but I just got

over it as time went on,” Sa-mantha Mota (12) said. She has two tattoos behind her ears that represent the past, and she’s had them for a year. She also has tattoos on her wrists that express her indepen-dence. She’s had those for three months now. At the time her cousin was going to get one it, and it influenced her to get hers

as well. Her dad was quite upset she got them, but luckily her mom was OK with her

keeping them. Later on, Rivera plans on get-ting a half-sleeve tattoo. On Ros’s birthday in February, she is planning on getting a piece done on her right shoulder to honor her parents. In time, she would also like to get a dream catcher on her left side. Mota knows she wants her feet done, but isn’t sure of what she wants. She definitely wants to do her arms, but not until later on in life. “You have to feel it to know what it feels like,” Rivera said. Mota agrees that there is no way to explain the feeling of getting a tattoo on your skin. “I can’t ex-plain it, you would have to ex-perience it to know what it feels like,” she said. “And a word of advice, don’t get a lovers name or an odd image that you’ll probably end up feel-ing disappointed about. A tattoo can be anything you want, just be sure you really want it.”

Sam shows us that she either has to go big or go home, “No Guts, No Glory.”

Students tweet in the world that is Twitter

By Brianna BauerATTENTION tweeters and tweetettes! From being followed to unfollowed and favorited to retweeted, the world of Twitter is constantly shifting. Everyday, Lancers tweet about how they don’t want to be at school or how they don’t want to get out of bed, but no one really complains too much. But did Lancers know they could follow Granger on Twitter? The account is: @GrangerHS, so follow Mr. Wessman -- he is the man behind the computer, updat-ing followers on upcoming games and other big events happening at school. But sometimes tweets go bad. “The administration does deal with any type of abuse toward a student or any staff member,” said Wessman, who is not just on Twitter to tweet about sport-ing events and dances. He is also there to help you if you think there is a threat or you are being harassed. “I have gotten a few DMs (di-rect messages) from students just needing someone to talk to, and I try to do my best to help them, but I don’t think I have had to block a student, because I can usually tell if they are a student at Granger. If they are one of the spam pages, I just end up marking them as spam.” To many students, Twitter is a way to express their personalities. “I tend to just say whatever I want on Twitter, and it usually makes me feel better if I’m getting out anger or just in an upset mood. It’s like my own personal blog site,” Ashley Heath (12) said. Heath said she spends about half her day on Twitter just looking at everyone else’s tweets or even tweeting herself about her day.

Wessman doesn’t read every tweet on his feed, but he scans through them and sees if any he likes any, then he tends to retweet. If he sees something that looks like it would cause an issue, he tries to talk to that student and see what’s wrong. “If I see any type of law being broken, from threats to gun issues to any sort of fighting that could cause big issues with the school, we involve [the school’s law en-forcement officer].” So pretty much if anything bad is happening, Wessman will know, so don’t tweet anything in-appropriate. “I think you should just person-ally watch what you’re putting on Twitter or Facebook, because ev-eryone can see it as soon as you post it. Future employers, parents and family members can see what you’re up to, including some of those things students shouldn’t be posting at all,” he said. For some students, they feel as if, now that a principal is on Twitter, it means that they can’t tweet about what they would have tweeted about before he was there. “I try to tweet about every up-coming dance or game because those usually are pretty big deals. I even tweet about our assemblies because this way we have more students participating in extracur-ricular events that keep them busy with friends and out of trouble.” Also there was a rumor going around about how there is a file cabinet full of tweets that he has printed out. That rumor is very much false. “The only reason any admin-istration would have to print any out would be because of issues going on in the school, so that is of course only a rumor,” he said.

Take a look at Twitter through Lancers’ eyes, and see what the administration has to say about it.

Many wrestlers start in ninth grade and continue to compete for years

By Vanessa Quiles “I LOVE having everyone cheer-ing you on, when you have the guy on the mat and his shoulder blades are almost down and the referee is going to blow the whis-tle, it’s an amazing feeling know-ing all your sweat and blood in the wrestling room has paid off,” Gage Winters (10) said. Family and friends drew Win-ters to wrestling. “My friend, Eduardo, got me interested in it, and my stepdad was involved in coaching, so I joined in junior high. This will be my second year wrestling now,” he said. Winters has big dreams for the wrestling team. “I think we are building as a team, we have put a lot of heart in it, and that we’re doing good. I want there to be as many fans at our tournaments as there are at the football games. There’s noth-ing better than the feeling you get when you’re being supported,” he said. “Coach Clapler along with the others are great, the team is won-derful to work with. They all make you a better wrestler men-tally and physically. I just don’t like to lose. I hate losing. Win-ning is always good, and pinning is such an awesome feeling,” he said. “I’m hoping that next year we have an even bigger team than this year. I’m excited for the next year’s wrestling room it’s some-thing to look forward to,” Winters said. He isn’t the only wrestler drawn to the team by his family. “My brother got me into wres-tling; it was a sport he really liked to do, and I decided to join,” Jor-dan Mortensen (10) said. “I was on the team but I just didn’t want to do it anymore because wres-tling from junior high to high school is really different,” he said. “It helped me built my char-acter -- who I am. I like that it’s a team sport and an individual sport

at the same time.” Many wrestlers start in junior high and continue through their senior years. “I’ve been wrestling for 3 years now I got started in 9th grade it sounded like a good idea. I asked my friends, and they also wanted to join, so we all got on the team,” Ricky Stinnett (12) said. “I like that it’s really hard and keeps me in shape.” Stinnett thinks that this year’s team is a lot better than last year’s. He likes being part of the team and meeting new people, and he draws confidence from his experiences on the team. Wrestling made it so “everything seems easier next to other things, and it helps [him] not want to quit things.” Cedric Bristow is also on the team. “I like to wrestle because it’s physical; it’s the best sport in high school. The best is wining and that I’ve only lost 5 times this year so far,” Cedric Bristow (11) said. “I like my team, the coaches, going to tournaments and hanging out with the other teams. This year’s team is better than last year’s be-

cause we have a better coaching system,” he said. It sounds like Bristow is having fun this year. When building for the future, sophomores become very im-portant. Their attitude guides the team toward continued success or failure. “I joined wrestling because I wanted to get in shape, but ju-nior high wrestling is easy. High school is harder,” Moises Men-doza (10) said. “You get a good feeling inside when you win.” Dalton Mortensen (10) is an-other devoted sophomore. “I decided to do wrestling in 7th grade. I wanted to try some-thing new, and I like the chal-lenge. Winning champions in 8th grade was good,” he said. “The team was kind of like a family.” He agrees with Stinnett that the current team is a whole lot better than the last year’s. Everyone likes knowing their school is supporting them at their games, come out to see how great the wrestlers have become. Cheer as they pin their opponents. The games are free when you bring your school ID.

Moises Mendoza is excited about being on the wrestling team this year.