October 18

Volume 41, Issue 3

Friday October 18, 2013

14555 Fern Drive, Houston TX 77079

Photo by

T H ESTRATFORD R A C L E

New UpdatePg. 13

Legally BlondePg. 2

,. shsoracle.com @spartanoracle @stratfordoracle

Photo by Christi Gregory

Photo by Kinsey Meek

Halloween ThrowbacksPg. 8

Photo by Rebecca Williamson

OA Shattered Nightmare The time has come. It has been exactly two years since the last Shattered Dreams experience, which means the deadline to begin the process is fast approaching. At the beginning of this year, building principal Mr. Chris Juntti announced that Shat-tered Dreams would be no more, due to several factors permitting its existence. To go through the extensive process of planning this sce-nario, many organizations are involved including, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commis-sion (TABC), HCH, Hous-ton Police Department (HPD), Houston Fire Department (HFD), and the SBISD police department. “It is an incredible process to plan,” Junt-ti said. Juntti has to meet with all of these orga-nizations at one time to have a discussion and plan the future event. “I haven’t had anyone come to the table and I haven’t heard anything from the hos-pital district,” Juntti said. It is not an out of pocket expense, and it would be pos-sible to fund, but there is a

$6,000 grant that funds this event every other year. There are certain permits that are vital to Shattered Dreams, which include par-tially closing the street on Fern and receiving autho-rization to conduct such an activity. Another reason why Mr. Juntti considered not do-ing Shattered D r e a m s is the m e s -sage.

“I am 100% against teen-agers drinking and teenagers drinking and driving. But the number of teens involved in distracted driving deaths has shot up and surpassed al-cohol related deaths,” Juntti said. The focus of this year has

changed to campaigning against texting and driving. In the past, the first

time that Shat-tered Dreams

took place, there was

a life-

flight, a n d recruit-ing volunteers to play the stu-dents was tough. “We had to really work to get participants the first time. We

ask the parents to write the obituaries and most refused,” Juntti said. After

the hype from the 2009

performance, there was an increase in eager partici-pants. “I had kids coming up to me and saying ‘I want to

be in it’.” Juntti said. Without the life flight for the second time, there was a decrease in the realistic feel

of the

s c e n ar i o. “We debrief after

every time we do it, and after the second time we thought it was okay, but it was not as hyped up as the last time,” Juntti said. The hospital district actu-ally recognized the video of Shattered Dreams in 2011 for

it’s lasting impact. “Having it on the street adds realism,” Mr. Juntti said. Shattered Dreams has only been in existence for four

years and many students believe that this

t r a d i t i o n

should continue. Recently, Mr. Juntti has made the decision that Shat-tered Dreams will be back this year, and the juniors and seniors will be able to see it from an up close view. “It’s tough to do it before homecoming and the earliest it would happen would be before Spring Break in Janu-ary or February,” Juntti said.

Shattered Dreams is back in the process of productionLayla Shahhosseini

Fan FrenzyPg. 9

Photo by Katherine Kennedy

Graphic by Sarah Davisedy

The OracleNEWS2 Friday October 18, 2013

OMG, You Guys“Legally Blonde” cast and crew hard at work The fine arts hallway is overrun with pink. Glitter is everywhere. Loud pop music can be heard blar-ing from the theater until late in the evening. The scene can only be described as organized chaos. Whether they are performing on the stage or working tirelessly behind the scenes, the cast and crew of “Legally Blonde” are getting excited for the show. One of the hardest numbers in the show, “Whipped Into Shape,” requires the ensemble, plus senior Alli Klasing, who plays the work-out guru and accused murderer Brooke Windham, to perform com-plicated jump rope choreog-raphy while belting the up-beat song. Since early September, stu-dents in the Playhouse have been getting whipped into shape to perform challenging numbers like this one. “It’s really rough, but it’s a

good time. We get to do cool tricks with the jump ropes

that are all in sync. It’s going to look really awesome. We work out to train for it every-day and we do 500 jumps be-fore rehearsals,” Klasing said. If the jump roping alone sounds like a lot, imagine do-ing it while singing. “The jump roping alone you

can just kind of do, but when you have to focus on singing

and sound-ing good is when it gets d i f f i c u l t ,” Klasing add-ed. It has all been a bit hectic for sophomore Anna Lan-glois, who plays Ser-ena, one of the leaders of the Greek Chorus. This is her first

time in the cast of a Play-house pro-duction. “It goes crazy

fast, but I’m having a blast. Even though it’s whipping my butt, it’s really fun,” Langlois said. It’s been butt-whipping for juniors Emily Lindsey and Ashley Karolys as well. The role of Elle Woods has been double cast this year due to

the enormous strain the chal-lenging role would put on just one actress. It is rare for there to be a moment of the show when Elle is not on stage. The perky blonde sorority girl will be portrayed by both Lindsey and Karolys, each performing four shows. Lindsey is loving the oppor-tunity to portray such a large role. “Playing Elle Woods is so fun because she’s such an in-teresting character. She has so may deep personality traits that go beyond the surface. She’s blonde, but she’s also re-ally smart and determined,” Lindsey said. Although Lindsey has been involved with Playhouse shows before, this is the hard-est she’s ever worked on a part.“It’s a lot of time and a lot of singing and dancing, and just to be as likable as she is a chal-lenge,” she said. “I’m basically called to every rehearsal.” Co-dance captain Collins Rush, a sophomore, is enthu-siastic about the progress the cast has made so far.

“We rehearse everyday af-ter school except for Fridays from 3:30 to about 6:15 and most Sundays too,” Rush said. The countless hours of re-hearsals seem to be paying off . “I think it’s going really well. We have a lot of the dances down and we’re doing vocals and just learning new stuff everyday,” Rush said. Behind the scenes, the crew has been very busy. Legally Blonde is a very difficult show for the crew, and the whole department is determined to do it well. They’ve been work-ing long hours to finish sets, install and program lights, fit costumes, and gather props. “As the stage manager, it’s my job to make sure the crew does everything on time and that the show goes well,” se-nior Emily Wissel said. “This show is really challenging technically, and the sets are going to be one of the hard-est parts. It’s all worth it in the end, though.” Participating in crew is often a thankless job, but the cast members of Legally Blonde

are certain that the people backstage are doing a great job. “(The crew) has a really hard job and I respect them so much for being able to do that, because I probably couldn’t,” Rush admitted. It all sounds like a lot of work, but for those involved, it is completely worth all time spent on the production. Put-ting on a memorable show means putting in the work, and the finished product speaks volumes to the dedi-cation and the passion of the students in the Playhouse. “It’s so much fun, and it’s totally worth it. Once we get it all together and everything is done it’s going to be amaz-ing,” Langlois said. Lindsey shares the senti-ment. “It’s 100 percent worth it. I’m having the time of my life. I can’t wait for people to see the show,” she said.

Legally Blonde is showing Oct. 24 - 27 and Nov. 1-2. Tickets and more information can be found at shsplayhouse.org.

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GETTING SERIOUS • Juniors Tucker May and Ashley Karolys, in character as Emmett Forrest and Elle Woods, rehearse for “Legally Blonde.” Photo by Natalie Broussard.

Emily Fishman


Here I am, an eighteen year old senior ready as ever to go to college. Come to think of it, this time next year I will be a freshman in col-lege, hopefully at UT, begin-ning the rest of my forever. However, it seems that my parents are dwelling over the fact that it’s my last year in their household. I get it. I mean, I am their one and only child, and their lives since I’ve been alive have revolved around me and my activities. I know that sounds a little pretentious, but it’s true. My mother has begun to cry, often muttering, “this is your last first day of team camp”, “this is your last first day of school”, or “this is your last first day of season games.” I began to get annoyed with the constant crying, but two weeks ago, I was reminded of someone I would miss way more than both of my parents combined. Sept. 17 marked my dog Tinkerbelle’s ninth birthday. Since she is getting older, I decided to spend my hard earned cash on stairs for her so she is able to get up on my bed. While I was ordering them online, my mother told me to order two. Of course, I asked her why, and she re-plied saying “Well Elyse’, this time next year, Tinkerbelle will be sleeping with me.” That one sentence was the undoing of me. As I looked into my dog’s big brown eyes thinking of how much I would miss her when I leave next year, I bawled my eyes out. No more barks when I arrive home. No more licks on the face. No more cud-dling in bed or on the sofa. Life as I know it will be no more. So I say to you, my fellow seniors who are taking your last year at home for granted, don’t forget your loving furry friends that you will be leav-ing behind in college.

Li l’ Leesy

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He felt safe at school. Safe, because he felt like a regular kid. But his life was anything but regular. Christopher Juntti’s mother was an alcoholic, and he suf-fered from both verbal and physical abuse throughout his child-hood and adolescence. He lacked a motherly figure, and when his par-ents divorced during his senior year in high school, he truly felt motherless . Young Juntti was forced to find a moth-erly figure to fill the void. A family friend eventu-ally became Juntti’s stand-in mom.

At school, his teachers knew of his strife at home, and helped him cope with his mother’s problem. Juntti’s teachers led him to the field of education, which appealed to him because he could make an impact on kids’ lives just as his teachers impacted his.

At this year’s Home c om -ing dance, multiple stu-dents were c a u g h t d r i n k i n g . Having lived with an al-coholic fam-ily member in his past, Juntti took the issue very seriously, and spent the night dealing

with the stu-dents, rather than getting to enjoy the Homecoming fes-tivities.

In order for students to fully comprehend the magnitude of alcoholism, it is important that authority figures share their experiences and keep track of students’ unhealthy habits or choices on school campus. Drinking and driving is a leading cause of teen deaths, and no matter how many vid-eos are played during Spartan time or Shattered Dreams is acted out, some students will still choose to put their own life and the lives of drivers around them in danger. As an administrator, Juntti has been able to relate to students facing problems or situations similar the ones he encountered as a youth. “It was at another school,” Juntti said. “It was a young man whose mother was also struggling with substance abuse, so we connected.” After the student graduated, he joined the military, got married, and later came to visit Mr. Juntti along with his

first child. Juntti is not the only Strat-ford administrator that has dealt with an alcoholic fam-ily member in their past. Associate principal Dan-ny Gex was only in sixth grade when his father passed away as a re-sult of his alco-hol addiction. Gex was con-stantly verbally abused by his father. Curse words were of-fered as readily as greetings. Gex doesn’t have very many memories of his dad, other than the times he would be unconscious on the couch or drunkenly angry. When Gex was only 11, his father was taken away by “the people in white”. They put Gex’s father in re-hab for his third time before

he passed away at Memorial Hermann Hospital due to an alcohol related seizure.

Gex, had a difficult childhood, having to grow up at a very young age. At eight years old, he was t h r o w i n g newspapers on peoples’ lawns, and at sixteen was busing tables at a

restaurant. Much like Juntti, Gex was left to fill the hole left by his alcoholic father. Juntti and Gex grew up in different homes with differ-ent people, but the presence of alcohol abuse led to simi-larities in their passion to prevent students from mak-ing deadly substance-related mistakes.

Jordyn Waterson Santiago Rombado

Principals open up about their past with alcoholic parentsBreaking the Cycle

All Photos by Gil Sanchez


SPARTANS ‘SCOUT’ OUT SUCCESS

Eagle Builds Dog Park Sophomore Goes Gold Sophomore Mariam Khal-doon has earned her Gold

A w a r d , t h e h i g he s t a w a r d one can in Girl S c o u t -ing. But the p r e s t i -g i o u s

award was not earned with-out Khaldoon’s hard work. Khaldoon completed a proj-ect that established an Eng-lish tutoring program for 20 Spanish speaking 4th graders at Berry Elementary. The students in the program

had difficulty transitioning from Spanish to English due to their all-Spanish educa-tion in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades. The project improved the students’ reading and writing lev-els, and provided them with ev-eryday strate-gies to use in their classes. It also helped to pro-vide support to students for STAAR test-ing. Khaldoon led a team of 6 to tutor the students in small groups. The project totaled over 80 hours, and gave

Khaldoon leadership skills that will benefit her for years to come. The program was not just

a one-time project. The tutoring program

has been placed on the St. John High School

c o m mu n i t y s e r v i c e

w e b s i t e and will be

sustained be-yond Mariam’s

involvement. Khaldoon will be at-

tending a statewide ceremo-ny in Austin, Tx. in June, where she will be presented with her Gold Award.

Junior David Humphrey completed his Eagle Project this August, after over 180 hours of planning and labor.

For his E a g l e project, H u m -p h r e y b u i l t a dog p a r k for the B u c k -

ingham Senior Living com-munity. Humphrey chose the proj-ect because it would provide Buckingham residents a close-by, convenient place to take their furry friends. It was an extensive process

to get from beginning to end. Meetings, design plans, and resident approval were just a few of the steps David had to take before he could start the project. Following ap-provals, Hum-phrey had to raise funds for the materials needed to con-struct the dog park. After several donations from friends and family, David was almost ready to get down to work. On a hot, sunny August morning, Humphrey and a team of friends and fellow

troop members began the project. The project took two days to complete, and his hard work

paid off. The residents im-mediately fell in love

with the dog park,. Humphrey is a member of Troop 642, and has been involved in Scouting since Cub Scouts. Throughout his

years in Scout-ing, he has gained

invaluable skills and leadership experience

that will benefit him lifelong. Humphrey will receive his Eagle award at an upcoming Eagle Court of Honor.

In less than 24 hours, thou-sands of workers across the country went from receiving steady paychecks to absolute-ly nothing as a result of the United States Government shutting down after a pro-longed standstill between the two sides of Congress. The Republican House and the Democratic Senate failed to enact an economic plan for the 2014 fiscal year, including the funding of The Affordable Care Act commonly referred to as Obama Care, though the act did take effect on Oct. 1. The ACA is a public option for citizens to enroll them-selves and their families in a government-run healthcare plan. The Act reduces health-care prices over time, allows children to remain under their parents’ plan for an in-creased year count from 21 to 26 years old before having to be removed from the plan, and it prohibits healthcare providers from withholding services from patients based

on religion, gender, or sexual orientation. But while ACA has been a relief to some citizens, the shutdown has been a major concern for all, and especially for federal workers. All across the country, federal workers have been furloughed, or laid off temporarily, as a result of the shutdown. Not only have work forces decreased but funding has either been cut in half or completely. NASA has seen its workforce cut down by 75%, leaving only a skeleton crew to oversee all operations. A more tragic effect of the shutdown occurred when the families of four soldiers killed in Afghanistan learned that because of the shutdown they would be unable to receive “death gratuity” or payment for the services of their sol-dier relatives. However, as of Oct. 9, the House of Repre-sentatives has voted unani-mously to restore the military death benefits to the families. The negative effects of the

shutdown are felt across the country as Museums and National Parks have closed completely, not allowing any admission whatsoever. While this may seem like a small matter, it could have drastic consequences for tourism and income rates. To combat this, some state governments have reopened the parks and museums, paying for the cost themselves so that the attrac-tions will be available to the public. After several weeks, the shutdown could start to affect the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product), meaning that our national income, and consequently, our economy, would begin to get worse. If this continues to happen, the government won’t be able to pay off the massive debt and will enter a state of in-solvency, meaning the debtor won’t be able to pay off their debts. The key people in-volved in the shutdown are President Obama (D), Senate majority leader Harry Reid

(D), and Speaker of the House John Boehner (R). Ultimately, the impact of the shutdown will be decided by whether or not these men will be able to come to an agreement. Given the intense partisan nature of the government as of late, a compromise seems less and less likely. Two weeks after the shut-down went into effect, Con-gress finally passed a bill that averted this crisis for at least a couple of months. This was done in the final hours of Oct. 16 and will at least keep the government doors open until the first of next year. Whatever the outcome of the shutdown is, there won’t be a clean-cut solution for some time and the members of Congress will still receive pay despite the thousands of fed-eral workers who are unsure of how to earn income. Those workers are now scheduled to receive their back pay; how-ever, it is not clear if the con-tract workers will receive the same compensation.

Khaldoon Humphrey

Students Exemplify Theme of ‘Working Towards Our Future’

News In 90 SecondsCostumes permitted on HalloweenStudents who bring a canned good on Oct. 31 will be allowed to wear Halloween costumes to school. Costumes must follow dress code. Canned goods will stay here and benefit this community.

Orchestra students make Regionals

Eight orchestra students earned spots in Regionals. Congratulations to Jamie Song, Sean Winata, Yuna Kim, Wilson Hui, Nasr Sheikh, Kevin Han, Annie Ye, and David Mogilevsky.

ACT and SAT DatesJuniors: now is the time to take the SAT and ACT. This year’s dates are listed below. Register at collegeboard.org and actstudent.orgSAT: Nov. 2, Dec., 7, Jan. 25, March 8, May 3, June 3ACT: Dec. 14, Feb. 8, April 12, June 14

Photo by Natalie Broussard

Government Let DownCongress makes one of their most embarrassing mistakes yetConnor Jones

The OracleADS5 Friday October 18, 2013

Brenda Venable Reality Serving the Houston are for more than 20

years!Offering sales, leasing and managgment:Cell: 832-419-2513 Home: 713-465-3175

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Every Halloween students get excited for haunted house exhibits that open up around the Houston area. Popular houses include Phobia, Screamworld, and Nightmare on the Bayou which are all open during most regular week hours Wed. through Thurs. and late night hours Fri. and Sat. A lot of students con-sider Screamworld to be the scariest haunted house in Houston, because the majority of the actors and actresses are adults. Phobia, on the other hand, is popular because they hire teenagers to work for them, so many visit to see friends on the job. “Phobia is awesome and I am going to try, and get a job there next year,” soph-omore Megyn Schrey said. To work at Phobia, you must be at least 16 years of age and you need to get

your parents to give you signed permission. Scaring people may seem like an easy job, however the hours are quite de-manding; as an employee you have to work Fridays, Saturdays, and on Hallow-een night. Quite a few people are terrified of haunted hous-es. But if you think about it, all of the twisted and morbid scenarios are really just composed of actors. The actors actually cannot legally touch any visitors, making their presence a lot less up close and invasive. The Nightmare on the Bayou house, unlike any other Houston haunted house, prides itself on being the only Houston haunted house that is tor-mented by real ghosts. Of course such statements cannot be verified by any-one other than paranormal witnesses at the Party Boy location, but the idea of real ghosts present is quite

spooky. While haunted houses can be quite fun and enter-taining, they are extremely expensive for the duration of each visit. Many cost between $35-$50 for only 30 to 45 min-utes. Some houses like Phobia charge less for individual “haunts” (they have eight separate exhibits) but each $13 house lasts for not near as long as the more expen-sive ones — roughly 15 to 20 minutes. If you want to visit a haunted house regard-less of the expenses, it is a good idea to go with a large group of friends rather than alone or with one or two people. Many haunted houses offer a number of dis-counted ticket prices for large groups in attendance and more friends means that when things get scary you’ll have plenty of hands to hold on to.

The OracleMUSE6 Friday October 18, 2013

Graphic by Molly

MUSE

Tweets of the Week

Cameron Barnett@BAM_itsCAM

So proud of our boys tonight! Such a great game

#spartanpride

Christi Gregory@christi_creme22

Couldn’t be happier. Best homecoming queen ever :)

@katherine_ford

Haley Wilson @hwil20

Best club ever! Love the young life family @stratfordyl

Ashley Wood@ash_w00d

Got Andrew Luck’s economics book #nbd

Nikki Economides @NikkiE639

Walking down the hallway after school and some kid yells

“oh my gosh it’s Nikki Economides!!! Hiiiii” uhhh hello?

#CelebStatus

Tweets compiled by Alex Milstead and graphic by Victoria Shin

Countdown

Ashleigh Garrett

Houston Hauntings

From Page to Screen

Many readers dream of seeing their favorite books come to life in the movies. However, some book-to-movie adaptations of today’s popular titles have not done well at the box office, drawing criticism from reviewers and readers alike. The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, books adored by readers all over the world, was adapt-ed into a movie released this sum-mer. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones movie was a huge let-down for fans of the series and did not im-press film critics, leaving the fate for

next year’s sequel movie up in the air. “It was disappointing for peo-ple who had read the book and were expecting a better interpre-tation,” said junior Anna Powell. Likewise, fans of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson book series were let down by the second movie in the saga, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. Although better than the first movie, fans were still upset over the changed story lines and interpretation of the characters. “The new Percy Jackson movie was awful,” junior Kylen Chen-Troester said. “My friends and I made fun of the inaccuracies.” There are many movies set to pre-

miere this year that are based on popular books for teenagers. How-ever, not all promise to aggravate die-hard fanatics of the original story. “I’m excited about the next Hun-ger Games movie, Catching Fire. The first one was really good, and I think they stayed true to the books,” said junior Keeley Flynn. The movie premieres on November 22, and is sure to draw huge crowds. There are many opinions on how to adapt an popular novel into a movie, but the general consen-sus is to involve the authors more. “The authors should have more say. It’s their book after all,” said Powell.

Emily Fishman

Students venture to haunted houses around the city


T h e a t r e Thespian President,

Senior Hannah Lindsey1. Won a third of all the “Tommy Tune” Awards ever given.2. In total, Stratford Thes-pians have raised a total of $43,242 for the Black Bucket Drive since 2008.3. The cast for the winter musical starts rehearsing in the summer.4. Hires a B r o a d w a y c h o r e o g r a -pher to cho-reograph for the shows.5. Won “Best in State” at Thes-pian Convention.6. Before every show, the cast sits in a circle while each person wishes ev-eryone to Break-a-leg.

S w i m m i n gTeam Member, Junior

Tommy Rohleder7. There is no varsity un-til the very end of the year.8. Have a dry land practice before actu-ally getting in the pool.9. “Happy Fun Week!” Is the hard-est week of the year.10. Have Winter and Summer break practices.11. After Halloween, no one is allowed to shave until competition. C h e e r Captain,Senior Nikki

Economides12. “Spirit Sisters” give their assigned “sis-

ter” gifts all year round.13. Go off cam-pus for practice.14. Actually hard work; run a lot.15. Practice every-day for over 2 hours.16. Have to set up in the same place every game.17. Next year, Var-sity isn’t seniors only.

F o o t b a l lTeam Member, Junior

Jack Whitaker18. Have specific shirts for Thursdays.19. Has prac-tice 6 days a week.20. Practice on t h a n k s g i v i n g .21. On game days, the members of the team don’t get to leave school.22. Best feeling is walk-ing on the field/run-ning through the sign.

SpartanairesColonel, Senior Jae

Barroga23. Only seniors can dress up on for pep-rallies.24. Before Spring Show, the seniors give speech-es saying goodbye.25. Pull pranks on each other.26. The girls dress up on Wednesdays.

27. Stay at school until midnight for Spring Show.28. They have squads ev-ery year with a different theme. This year, Royalty.

T e a c h e r s Principal Juntti

29. Teachers have a spe-cific dress code as well.30. They’re given a jean

pass to w e a r jeans on o t h e r d a y s .3 1 . M o s t t e a c h -ers are coaches or spon-sors for c l u b s .3 2 . Teach-ers stay

working until 6 work-ing on lesson plans.33. Almost no teacher has the whole summer off.

N e w s p a p e r34. There are dead-lines every Friday un-til the paper comes out.35. Students work on ar-ticles during the summer.36. Some students go off campus to sell ads or take pictures.37. The Staff is required to wear their desig-nated shirts on the day the paper comes out.38. The staff brainstorm their own ideas for articles.39. There are rules as to what can and cannot be written in the paper.40. There is a great diversity of the stu-dents on staff, such as Cheerleaders, Thespi-ans and football players.

40 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT STRATFORDAshley KarolysMolly Richter

Stratford’s top organizations share their secrets

Graphic by Molly Richter

Strange ScholarshipsAshleigh GarrettScholarships so different it will blow your mind Everyone has been told that there are varieties of abundant scholarships out there and students just need to search for them. There are also unique scholar-ships out there that defy the standards of what a scholarship “should” be. There is a scholarship for making greeting cards for students, according to schol-arship.com, and students in high school may enter in the contest by designing a front cover for a greeting card cov-ering anything from Christ-mas to get well soon cards. The grand prize winner wins a 10,000 dollar grand prize. This interesting scholarship has an incredible opportu-nity for students to actually enjoy scholarships instead of writing a ton of essays. “I would have never thought there would be a scholarship for greeting cards out of all things.” Said junior Amanda Hinaosa Among others there is a scholarship for making stu-dent’s whole prom attire out

of duct tape. Yes, duct tape. This contest, though unique, has its benefits - anyone may enter and all you need is one color photo-graph (professional or ama-teur) of the couple together in prom attire. Each indi-vidual’s full name, address, telephone number, e-mail address (if applicable), age/grade level, and the name of the city that student lives in are required to enter. They also need to sign a release form signed by each individual and, if a contes-tant is a minor, that indi-vidual’s parent or guardian will be able to sign it. The name, address, and tele-phone number of the high school, or home school as-sociation, which is hosting the prom, and the date the prom was held must also be supplied. For more informa-tion go to duckbrand.com. Yet another compelling scholarship is The American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) Scholarship Con-test, which is open to any high school seniors in the United

States. If the senior wishes to further their education at a college or a university or certified trade school in the United States. Also, home-schooled students may ap-ply as long as your course of study is equivalent to that of a senior in high school. Unlike many traditional scholarship essay con-tests, the students will read an a essay not write one. To apply for this scholar-ship, students must go online and read a short essay about sprinklers and fire safety. After finishing the essay, they complete a 10-question quiz on what they just read. Each correct answer gives the student a chance at winning one of 10 $2,000 scholarships, and there are 10 chances per en-trant. You can’t go wrong with this scholarship! This is an easy way for seniors to get a scholar-ship, and they can never have too many of those. Check Junnti’s tweets reg-ularly for more scholarship information and updates.

Sudoku


PRINCESS MARY KATE• (1) Senior Mary Kate Goss recreates her glory days as a princess with a beautiful cone hat. Photos courtesy of Mary Kate Goss. CLOWNING AROUND• (2) Senior Zach Miller clowns around for old times sake. Photos courtesy of Cynthia Miller. LADY AND THE LAMP• (3) Senior Eila Motley lights up once again in her very original lamp costume. Photos courtesy of Eila Motley.

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HALLOWEEN THROWBACK

Graphics by Daviana Wylie3

The OracleSPORTS9 Friday October 18, 2013

Q: What sport/position do you coach and how long have you been coaching it?A: In football, I coach the defensive line (3 years) and the punters/kickers (7 years). I am also the assistant coach in baseball.Q: What is your background in football?A: I played at Kingwood High, earning 1st Team All District (offense) and 2nd Team All District (defense) my senior year. I went on to play defensive back and run-ning back at Rhodes College, where I earned 1st Team All Conference honors for two years. I then coached Safeties and Running Backs for two years at La Grange College, where I was part of building the program, and went on to break NCAA DIII history for greatest turn-around, going from 0-20 for the first two years to 9-2 in the third. Q: What goals have you set for your team, and how do you push them to reach their potential?A: Get better everyday indi-vidually, but mostly as a team to win a district title and make it deep into playoffs. I make them believe and take ownership. The guy next to you is depending on you to do your job to the best of your ability.Q: What has been your best memory while being a Stratford Spartan?A: The Pearland Dawson playoff game last year at Reli-ant. Our players gave it their all and left it on the field.Story by Elyse’ Stieber

Ashley Fritcher

Photos by Gil Sanchez Graphic by Scott KennedyStory by Elyse’ Stieber

Football:10/18 vs. Northbrook @ Tully 7:00 p.m.10/25 vs. Willowridge @ Tully 7:00 p.m.

11/1 @ Tomball 7:00 p.m.11/8 vs. Ridge Point @ Tully 7:00 p.m.

Volleyball:10/18 vs. Northbrook @ SHS 6:00 p.m.

10/22 @ Willowridge 6:00 p.m.10/25 vs. Tomball @ SHS 6:00 p.m.

10/29 @ Ridge Point 6:30 p.m.

Cross Country:10/22 District @ Spring Creek Park 9:00 a.m.

11/2 Regionals @ Atascocita HS 8:00 a.m.11/9 State @ Round Rock 8:00 a.m.

Tennis:10/18 Bi-District @ SHS 3:00 p.m.

10/22 Area @ SHS 3:00 p.m.10/25 Regional Quarterfinals @ SLHS 8:00 a.m.

10/26 Regional Finals @ Katy HS 8:00 a.m.11/1-2 State @ UT Austin 8:00 a.m.

T H E S C H E DU L E

Position: Right-Side hitterGrade: 11thPet Names: TexBest Game:KingwoodIdol: Haley EckermanFavorite Restaurant: Zoe’s Kitchen/Harvest GrillMemorable Quote: Joshua 1:9

Grade: 12thFavorite Olympic

Runner: Leo ManzanoFavorite Run Song: “All I Do is Win” -DJ KhaledMain Event:

1600 MeterFavorite Snack: Ice CreamBest Time (mile): 4:28Memorable Quote: “Mental Toughness!” -Coach Brillon

Brian Quinlan

Fan Frenzy Overload

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DOMINATING THE STANDS • (1) Mascot Abigail White (12) greets future Spartans in the Tully stands.(2) Terrance Peters’ fan club shows off their custom-made T-shirts. (3) McGregor Dalton (12), Mat-thew Quintana (11), and Brad-ley Bates (12) cheer on the foot-ball team after an exciting play. (4) Seniors line the front of the stands at Tully each home game. “Games are more fun as a se-nior because you know more people on the team and you get more into the game. It re-ally brings people together,” se-nior Makayla Lara said. Photos 1-3 by Rebecca Williamson. Photo 4 by Katherine Kennedy

Coach Faver

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Layla Shahhosseini

Crossing the Finish Line

Already two months into the cross country season, the boys are making a statement with their remarkable train-ing and performance. Coach Tony Brillon believes that his team will advance to the state meet. “Assum-ing we don’t have any-thing ma-jor happen, [the boys] should be heading up to Austin for the state meet—that’s to compete in, not to watch,” Brillon said. The top seven fastest runners on the team will compete on varsity for the district, regional, and state meet, but al-ternates will have to be chosen. “We’ll have a time trial at the end of the year to see who the alternates will be,” Bril-lon said. “In high school you work a lot, but in mid-dle school you do 74 seconds per lap at one time,” freshman Sam Evetts said. Prime qualifying times must be under 16 min-utes to make an appear-ance as one of the top ten runners at state, and a couple of upperclass-men are in that range. “I think we could even have two guys in the top ten or top five at state,” Brillon said.

The JV and freshmen teams are making im-provements as the sea-son continues on.“I think JV and fresh-men have a pretty good chance in district. Junior varsity should be a little bit more competitive. The guys are still learn-ing how to race and I

would like to see them a little more aggressive,” Brillon said. Freshman Devin Fa-hey is new to the Spring Branch district and is not accustomed to the intensity of training that high school cross coun-try entails. “It’s not easy way of training, but its probably the best way since we’re one of the top teams in state and it is all due to Coach Brillon,” Fahey said. One of the things that they’re doing differently is watching their times more closely. “We’re increasing the intensity, if they’re putting in the time we’re going to be better. We’ve decided the finish line would be at state,” Brillon said. The practices through-out the week consist of a track workout alter-

nating with a fast-paced aerobic run. “I think we have a good chance of winning regionals and will prob-ably be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd at the state meet,” soph-omore Igor Berranger said. Meets are usually on Saturday mornings with

the occa-sional Fri-day meet and one overnight meet per season. For ex-a m p l e , having a meet on a S at u r d ay

would make the week look quite demanding:Mon: Aerobic RunTues: Track WorkoutWed: Aerobic Run Thurs : Track WorkoutFri: Aerobic RunSat: MeetSun: Long Run “I think all the train-ing we’ve put in is defi-nitely paying off,” junior Douglas Baker said. The diet of a runner is also very essential to the training of a runner. Carbo loads are a huge part of the cross coun-try season and impor-tant to provide energy to the boys. Two days before every meet, one boy hosts a dinner at his house that is com-prised of an assortment of pasta dishes. It also provides team bonding, and what Coach Brillon calls, “mental tough-ness.”

Long post-season expected for men’s cross country team

“Some have never run before. Some are doing what they should be do-ing. And some of them are just try-

ing to survive”-Coach Brillon

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157015:43

25

Minutes: time spent by football coaches driving to and from away games at all levels, which amounts to 26 hours and 10 minutes

The fastest cross-country 5K, or 3.12 mile, time in minutes this year by Stratford

runner Austin Richard

Years: the varsity tennis team has qualified for the fall season playoffs since 1986, which

is over three-fourths of Stratford’s history

Miles per hour: The fastest tennis serve re-corded at Stratford, by Jibran Mohammadi

in 2005- the world record is 144 mph

STRATFORD HIGH SCHOOL

Changing smiles. Changing faces. Changing lives.

Dr. Everett RengerO R T H O D O N T I C S

9099 Katy Freeway, Suite 175Houston, Texas 77024

713.461.5910www.smilesbyrenger.com

Contact our office to schedule your FREE consultation.

Congratulations to the Varsity Tennis team for being undefeated in district for the second year in a row! They have been ranked #11 in Texas by the Texas Tennis Coaches Association. This district win marks their 25th time to go to playoffs since 1986, placing either first or second each time in district.

Go Spartans!Picture by Rachel Allen

9TH, 10TH & 11TH graders

SeniorsGet your senior yearbook ads now before time runs out! Pictures message, form & payment are due by Nov. 25 in room 228!

Didn’t get your school pic-ture taken earlier this year or need a retake? Retakes will be Mon. Oct. 21 in the library during lunches only!

T h e S p o r t s o f F a l l(1) Varsity volleyball lines up for introductions at the start of every game. At home games, they throw stress balls into the crowds to pump up the fans. (2) Juniors Ashley Fritcher and Charlotte Stevens block a hit against Ridgepoint as senior Meredith Burch prepares for the dig. The Spartans came back and won in five games. (3) Varsity huddles before a game with senior Jennifer Swanson leading in prayer. (4) Senior Jack Brice (81) carries the ball while senior Zach Miller (24) watches out for oncoming defenders. (5) Seniors Shawn Taylor and Caroline Baerg and junior Ashley Fritcher celebrate after a point scored against Ridgepoint. (6) Junior Riley Green (53) loses his helmet in a nine-person dog pile in the game against Marshall. (7) The Stratford defensive line faces off against Spring Woods’ offense in a shut-out, where the Spartans won 42-0. (8) The varsity football team breaks through the Tri Theta run-through sign before beating Marshall 24-6. Photos contributed by Alex Milstead, Scott Kennedy, Gil Sanchez, Rebecca Williamson and Maggie Vickers.4

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The Oracle12 Friday October 18, 2013

When I was little, I didn’t want to be the usual mermaid, princess, or a fairy when I grew up. I wanted to be an astronaut entomologist. That would be someone who studied bugs in space. Not only does that job not exist, but now bugs and space both freak me out. I think it’s kind of weird that people ask little kids what they want to be when they grow up. I guess it’s just to get a laugh out of their answers, but obviously kindergartners have no idea what they’re talking about. Now as I fill out college applications, I’m starting to be asked what I want to do with my life all over again. But this time I can’t say that I want to be a Barbie or a Power Ranger or even an astronaut entomologist. Sometimes it feels like I’m confined to petroleum engi-neering or accounting. But the truth is, I’m not. There’s nothing wrong with these fields, but a lot of my peers seem to be heading toward those careers with the sole intention of making money. I get why parents warn against going into the less-lucrative fields like creative writing or anthropology. I understand that if I want to be a museum curator, it’s unlikely I’ll be living next door to Oprah. But over the past few months, I have finally come to understand that I wouldn’t be satisfied doing something I hate for the rest of my life, even if I was making millions. That doesn’t mean I’m de-termined to be living in a shack doing some obscure job, but I think it’s impor-tant that kids realize that you don’t want a life that’s money-centered. If you love something, do it. Work hard and you’ll be successful.

ELAINE EXPLAINED The smell of stale cheese balls fills the air. The hot August sun beats down on sweaty faces. Anticipa-tion. The room is abuzz as a group of teenagers play pretend. But this isn’t just some kid’s imagination kind of pretend, this is fan-tasy. Fantasy football. Even as school started, football fans were ready for the NFL season to begin, but not neces-sarily just to watch their favorite teams. With the start of the professional football season comes the start of a much less professional season played by fans of all ages: fantasy football. And now, in October, fantasy is in full swing. As popular as the interactive football game is, many peo-ple still don’t com-pletely understand it. While there are many variations of the game, and leagues can get quite complex, fantasy football is generally pretty simple. Basically, fantasy foot-ball is a continuation of the child-like imagination inherent in people, except instead of toddlers with imaginary friends, kids and adults of all ages play

with imaginary football teams. These teams are made up of real profes-sional football players in the NFL, except with fan-tasy, people aren’t restrict-ed to “playing” with only players of one team- they can pick and choose play-ers from any team to create their own “dream team.” Like the real NFL, fantasy

leagues, which can include up to 16 teams (though usually in-clude around eight to ten), conduct a preseason draft. In the draft, the “general managers” of each team take turns picking a quar-terback, running backs, wide receivers, a tight end, a kicker, and an entire de-

fensive squad. Most prefer a live draft, where players are manually drafted, but some teams are drafted by “auto-draft” which bases picks off of statistics. Once the teams are picked, the “games” begin. Most people play in head-to-head leagues, where one team is matched up against another, and league rank-

i n g s

are determined by teams’ win-loss ratios. Teams gain points in games when their play-ers perform well. For ex-ample, generally 25 pass-ing yards by a quarterback gains a team one point, and a touchdown earns six points. Individual leagues

can set their point system up however they like it, and there are also many different types of leagues available to join for alter-nate experiences. Teams can also negotiate trades, drop and pick up players, and continue to mold their team throughout the sea-son. Fantasy football has grown tremendously in

the past decade, espe-cially with the expansion of the internet and the recent ability to man-age teams and leagues from a mobile device. Some fantasy leagues have high stakes, where each person puts a certain amount

of money into the “pot,” which goes to the win-

ner. Other leagues have some intense drafts, with team managers doing research and others going by su-perstitions. From the way peo-ple play, to the witty names they give

their teams, fantasy foot-ball can differ greatly from league to league. The game of fantasy football is gen-erally pretty simple, how-ever; it’s a way for fans and friends to pit themselves against each other and get a taste a managing their own NFL team.

BIG NAMES HIGH STAKES

While “managers” create teams that are a thing of fantasy, the consequences of wins and losses can be quite real. This may be more true for sophomore Holton Hockaday than for anyone else. Hockaday, nephew of CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz, plays in a league with some of the nation’s lead broadcasters. Not only is Nantz in the league, but Hockaday says, “there are other people in CBS, like Phil Simms (retired Giants quarterback and current sportscaster), and the pro-ducer for the NFL is in the league, too.” As far as the money goes,

“It costs about $200-$250 to get into the league, and the winner can get around $2,000.” Hockaday has been playing in the league for about four years, and won a few seasons back. While it’s difficult playing against people who know and understand so well the current football trends, Hockaday says, “It’s really fun because I learn a lot from their decisions, and they give me advice and all the updates for the players and injuries and every-thing.” While $200 or more as a “buy-in” is pretty uncom-mon, many leagues require members to put anywhere from $10-$50 in a pool that goes to the winner.

Talking Trash Although they themselves have little influence on their players’ performances, sometimes man-agers resort to smack talk. While some play it classy, others enjoy the rivalry. “There’s a lot of smack talk,” se-nior Louis Birdsong said of his league. “We have an entire group chat dedicated to smack talk.” Others, like those in sophomore Jonas Yun’s league, also enjoy the trash talking aspect of the game. “We’re all friends and we all talk smack about it, and we really like to beat each other,” Yun said. Ironically, a little smack talk here and there can actually unite people. In Birdsong’s league, this happens through a common en-emy. “There’s a lot of rivalries, mainly against Casey Gex and his team.”

Draft Days Since managers have little con-trol over their players, the draft is the main opportunity to get an edge on the competition. Some have detailed, well-researched strategies, while others just wing it. Many players, like Hockaday, use some sort of draft cheat to help them find the best players available, and some, like senior Louis Birdsong, take risks. “I like picking players who I feel are very hit or miss, not necessarily good.” For Birdsong, it didn’t turn out too well, “My team’s not very good, I’m not gonna win. I’m an upset team. I like to ruin seasons.” Some take a different approach; “I pick the best looking players, because if you look good, you feel good, and if you feel good, you play good, that’s my motto,” sophomore Clay Schnake said. Some leagues have a long draft, while others’ drafts are more ca-sual. Birdsong’s draft was three hours long, on a Tuesday night. Sophomore Grant Lee’s draft was more surreptitious; “It was at like 10:00 at night, so my parents thought I was doing homework pretty late that night, but I was d r a f t -ing.”

Graphic byScott Kennedy

Unique Leagues

When people think about fantasy football, they often think of it as a game for teenage guys. But that’s not always the case. Many adult men also play popular game. SHS Football coach Nathan Mesler has played in the same league with some of his friends for 10 years. While a profession in coaching real football might be expected to give him some sort of advantage, he says that in fantasy, “There are no similarities to coach-ing at Stratford.” Mesler, who checks his

roster twice weekly, had a strategy while draft-ing. “It is all about draft order. I got the first pick in the draft so I chose Adrian Peterson, and I decided to go with two Running Backs with my first two picks.” Mesler’s league also is unique in that not only is there a fee to enter the league, there is a fee for every time a player is added, dropped, or traded. Many men use fan-tasy football as a way to stay in touch with old friends. But not just men play it , there are some “girls only” leagues at Stratford, too.

“I pick

the best

looking players.”

-Clay Schnake

Graphic by Victoria Shin

Scott KennedySPORTS

Around 12 p.m. on Sept. 20, the school’s wifi experienced a serious lag due to a sudden increase in activity from stu-dents downloading Apple’s newly released iOS7. This highly anticipated up-date had mil-lions of Apple users counting down to the release date of the new inter-face system that had been ru-mored to have undergone a complete trans-formation. The iOS7 was expected to have old issues improved upon, but instead many Apple users were dis-appointed when they realized that all they got were more colors, smaller fonts, and a few new ringtone options. If anything, the changes Apple did make were entirely inconvenient and unneces-sary. The highly anticipated

update left people feeling

annoyed and dejected. Rather than focusing on im-proving system bugs from the previous update, the software developers focused primar-ily on the visual aspect that didn’t really need changing. The basic utility icons that

were fine as is have been completely redesigned. Many criticize the new design, comparing them to childish flashcards and even Android’s inter-face because of the bright cartoon-like appearance. Not only did the icons undergo a major redesign, but the fonts and key-board also received

a makeover. Apple changed their stan-

dard font to something much thinner and much smaller in size. Although it is visually appealing in a futuristic min-imalist way, it is incredibly inconvenient and unrealistic for daily use. The font size wasn’t the only thing to get smaller. The space

bar on the keyboard was cut nearly in half to make room for some rarely used symbols that could be easily accessed with the former keyboard. Perhaps the strangest most concerning complaint the new update has received is that it has been making people sick, and not because of the amateur de-signs. The new interface system has report-edly been giving us-ers motion sickness caused by a new fea-ture formally know as the “parallax ef-fect.” On the other hand, the update did bring new changes to the operating system itself, but with these new changes came new problems. A recently added feature is the automatic application re-fresher that reloads your ac-tive applications periodically. This change is virtually un-detectable with the major-ity of Apple users completely unaware of it.

What they did notice, was the significantly short-ened battery life, something that was already under heavy criticism. Along with these issues came a number of other new small operating bugs on top of the

previous up-date’s problems that have yet to be weaved out. On the bright side of things, iOS7 does have its redeeming qualities. Popular changes in-clude the ad-dition of the Itunes radio, the flashlight utility and the

ability to close not all of your apps at once, but multiple ones at once. If you’re one of the lucky ones who haven’t updated their Iphones yet, it is probably a good idea to pass on the iOS7 update and continue using your user friendly interface that majority of people prefer to the new one.


OTHE RACLE Editors-in-Chief Kali Venable Elaine Parizot Associate Editors Layla Shahhosseini Elyse Stieber News Editor Justin Todes Muse Editor Ashley Karolys Ashleigh Garrett Sports Editors Scott Kennedy Kelly Hewitt Opinions Editors Claire Galbraith Maxine Tran Photo Editors Gil Sanchez Rebecca Williamson Katherine Kennedy Photographers Rebecca Meek Will Klussmann Cassidy Menard Michael Martin Philip Chen Maggie Vickers Alex Milstead Managing Editor Aldo Martinez Graphics Editor Victoria Shin Reporters Courtney James Emily Adams Emily Fishman

Natalie Raley Staff Artists Molly Richter Claire PenaAds Editors Katherine Mavergeorge Emily Copeland Allison Rice Sarah Sturgis Ads Staff Harper Jones Emily Brown Lindsey Jenkins Meredith Burch Erin Higginbotham Paige Barber Kendall Marbach Jacob Pennington Phoebe Lamay Copy Editors Amanda Sturm Natasha Eades Philip Chen Online Editors Janelle Blackwood Ben Fairchild Samantha Stazo Online Staff Jack Lin Jackie Velarde Bronwyn Wismer Rachel Torres Daviana Wylie Building Principal Christopher Juntti Advisor Janice Cummons

Don’t Fix What Isn’t BrokenApple developers introduce a complete redesign of their interface systemMaxine Tran

Out with the old...• The previous iOS6 interface

..In with the new• The updated iOS7 interface

High School ExpensesChoosing between essentials and experiences Between homecoming, prom, the SAT, and college applica-tions, the amount of money invested in these basic high school necessities seems to be extremely high. The sum of these costs are far beyond what the average student can afford. Most students don’t really think about the cost of events like homecoming. Being at the event with friends while having fun seems to make the night worth it, but is the night really worth a $20 ticket? Mums and garters are expen-sive but are fun to make and give to one’s friends and date. This festive tradition is a great way to show school spirit and make people feel special. How-ever, when some cost over a

hundred dollars you can’t help but find the whole expense a little ridiculous. Many girls spend hundreds of dollars on their dress. As for dinner, meals usually run $70 for two. Assuming attends every dance of your high school career, you can be looking at thousands of dollars spent on dances, not even including prom. Clubs are another common expense for many students that add up quickly through-out the years. Many clubs charge dues to join. If these dues aren’t paid, then one’s eli-gibility to be part of the club is revoked. While the usual school costs can pile on for underclassmen, senior year is by far the most expensive year of high school.

As soon as applications open in August, seniors are expected to balance their time between college essays, school work, and their social life. Not only are the applica-tions extremely time consum-ing, each one can cost up to $70. For students applying to nine or ten schools, the costs of getting a university to even consider your acceptance can near $1000. Seniors also get slammed by the $50 SAT and ACT fees. Then on top of the costs re-quired by colleges, many se-niors pay the Balfour company hundreds of dollars for gradu-ation-related items. There’s no doubt that school related costs can become mind-boggling, but it’s up to the individual to make their experiences worth the money.

Aldo Martinez

HALLOWEENfrom the Oracle Staff

HAPPY

OPINIONS


A Horrifying FlopA decline in quality horror filmsNatasha Eades As the temperature be-gins to drop, most peo-ple enjoy retreating to their couches and pop-ping in a scary movie to suit the haunting atmo-sphere of October. There are, of course, the natural scary movie preferences: slasher, zombie, paranormal, action-thriller, and per-haps the occasional spoof movie, which is bound to provoke a laugh or two. However, with technology advanc-ing ceaselessly, are pro-ducers and writers of the film industry heading in the right direction, or are horror movies losing their scare factor? How do scary movies from — say, the 80’s — compare to the horror films of the 21st cen-tury? Looking at official movie ratings, there is a pattern in the majority of 80’s movies receiving approximately seven to

eight stars. Some notable films of the decade being The Shining (8.5/10), The Thing (8.2/10), and A Nightmare on Elm Street (7.5/10). What’s even more in-teresting is that the pro-ducers of the 80‘s weren’t equipped with all the technology we have to-day — Walkmans, CGI, personal computers, and cable television were just being introduced to the world during this time. With the high-tech appliances and flashy graphics we have at hand, you’d think hor-ror films would have the best ratings yet, surpris-ingly this is not the case. There is a serious lack of a stable plot in re-cent movies and it is re-flected in their ratings. Mama, released in 2013, only received 6.3 out of 10 stars; The Purge (2013), a meager 5.5/10, and Chernobyl Diaries (2012), a sorry 5.0/10. What’s with the low rat-

ings, Hollywood? Have movie producers of the 21st century be-come too dependent on the skills of the graphics team, neglecting to actu-ally manage a scream-worthy film? Are special effects and high-defini-tion gore the new crutch of the film industry? When people go out to see a scary movie, they expect to be biting their nails and clinging to the edge of their seats, not bored out of their mind. It’s is that even some of Hollywood’s most noteworthy producers can’t even create a qual-ity horror film without drowning it in special effects. Unfortunately, with the recent influx of medio-cre horror films, veteran scary movie fans might have to turn to roman-tic comedies, action and science fiction films as their new source of weekend film entertain-ment.

Lately I feel like everything I create is stolen from someone else or like nothing I do will ever be seen as truly original. With a language that’s cen-turies old, how can I possibly find a new way to structure words or to get my point across when thousands of people with the same goal came before me? Each sentence feels like a test I know I will fail no mat-ter how hard I study, each metaphor is cliche and the diction reads like a piece of tinfoil that leftovers have been wrapped up in one too many times. I know I’m not the only one who feels compelled to make myself stand out, given that the Internet has made being unique a necessary skill for success. But every time I sit down at the key board I have a pressure weighing on my shoulders to make my work innovative or revolutionary. My writing comes from a va-riety of influences — authors, photos, art, and movies — how can I not be taken by so much beauty? Recently I tried to read less and notice less work in hopes that when I go to write there will be no mimicking or no source you can trace back to something else. In turn, such isolation from the work of others just seems to make feel unhappy and unfulfilled. I am beginning to realize that our work will always be influenced by other things we felt something through, no matter how talented and one of a kind we may be. It is the combination of influences and experiences that make our recollection unique. I don’t want to rid myself of everything I see in others work, because it is their in-sight that inspires me to share my own.

Kali VenableDEAL HOW

TO

Subhead

Do you have something to say?

Do you want to state your opinion

on something?

We need your letters to the Editor

Submit to:[email protected]

orRoom 120

orMrs. Janice Cummons’

Mailbox in the main office

*All letters must be signed and may be edited for space

Big name clothing stores caught stealing designs from artists Claire Galbraith

Urban Outfitters and For-ever 21 are extremely popu-lar stores amongst teens and young adults, and are the per-fect place to get highly fash-ionable clothes for relatively good prices. However, would these stores be as popular if people knew they were steal-ing art? Yes, it is true that these fashion titans are taking de-signs from other companies, artists, and designers with-out their knowledge, but the worst part is that the robbed artists can’t even fight back. Recently, Forever 21 caught a bit of bad light because they put a design on a shirt that was taken off a young artist’s Tumblr page. The art work displayed a man on a moun-tain with the caption, “You can conquer anything.” Usually, having one’s art put on a T-shirt would seem like an accomplishment for any artist, but that is not the case when it is used without con-sent.

These artists find out they have been ripped-off when their designs are already be-ing sold. A feeling of hurt and betrayal hits them as they re-alize that they’ve been robbed of their hard work and a huge pay check. For these artists, it has be-come impossible to defend themselves against these enormous companies who can afford top notch lawyers. Plus, any form of defense that the artists can use is usually paid out of pocket, which is almost al-ways too much for them to afford. At the end of the scuf-fle, these artists are left with either less money than they had originally had, or an insignifi-cant amount of com-pensation for their art. There is a fleeting sense of injustice in these court rooms when the in-nocent are punished and the guilty walk away scot free. Forever 21 has been sued more than 50 times for alleg-

edly stealing the work of oth-er designers and passing it off as their own. The chain has never lost one of these cases in court and at worst

receives a minor

slap on t h e wrist. If

any com-pany takes a design

from another designer and uses it as there own, it is called fashion piracy. Fashion piracy also includes taking images off the internet, and tweaking the work of others

slightly then calling it their own. Some cases do however have a decent ending. Urban Outfitters was caught in the act not too long ago for selling necklaces that read “I Heart Destination” which

were actually designed by Stevie Koerner.

Koerner pro-duced her own line of pendants reading “A World Of Love” two years prior to this incident. After extensive arguing, Urban

was forced to take the necklaces off the

shelf. Yet, they still de-nied stealing in the first place because their design was slightly different. This “copycat” designing is easier to get away with be-cause of the little adjustment that these companies do to prove that the designs are not completely the same. Both Urban Outfitters and For-ever 21 are notorious for this. They will take another de-

signer’s outfit, make it look slightly different, then sell it in their store and claim that it is an “original” design. This is entirely cheating the system, because it is just an easy way to rip off other people’s work without getting into a major lawsuit. Outraged customers are beginning to protest against these stores. By not buying anymore of the companies products, these customers are hoping their message will be heard loud and clear. This doesn’t mean that peo-ple shouldn’t shop at their favorite stores, instead, they should be more cautious of what they’re buying and where it might of come from. Hope is not lost for the vic-tims of art theft. By making the public aware and tak-ing action through boycotts or protests, people can put a stop to these companies that forge the artwork oth-ers make. Eventually, with everyone’s participation, the safety of these artists’ master pieces will be restored.

Gra

phic

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OPINIONSFashion Copycats: Caught in the Act

We often hear about the pressures women face in to-day’s mass-media society. However, it seems that the pressures the media puts on men has gone unacknowl-edged or in some cases flat out ignored for quite some-time. From an early age men are taught to pursue “masculine” interests. These interests of-ten appear in the form of ath-letic pursuits such as football, baseball or basketball. Hollywood has made the “typical guy” out to be this athletic and violent man, when in reality the majority of guys don’t fit such a narrow stereotype. Ever seen a movie where the kid who was on the de-bate team, collected comics or involved himself in the newspaper was anything but a loser? Didn’t t h i n k so. These p r e d e t e r -mined as-s u m p t i o n s h a v e

shunned those with interests other than what is expected and in turn made their self-esteem plummet. Not only are men raised on the idea that “masculine” activities are the only ones worth engaging in, but they are also brought up with the understanding that men don’t show emotions. This hold-it-all-in philoso-phy can be extremely dan-gerous given that bottling up feelings has negative effects

on both physical and mental health. Many years ago, the medical psychology field discovered that the mind and the body are not separate. Therefore, when one keeps negative feel-ings stacked up in their mind, it can have negative impacts on their body. You think that it would be easy to let go, defy the ste-reotypes and be your own person who’s real, raw and unreserved. But with the claustrophobic box that me-dia places men in, such a notion hardly ever becomes reality. In recent years, the ideal man has begin to evolve into a being that is more closely related to the men we observe in everyday life. Yet, this im-age is almost worse than the

previous because it mocks

those who c h o o s e to pur-s u e the in-

t e r e s t s that were

shunned in earli-er days by idolzing cli-che ideals

of them.

F o r instance, in the past de-cade or so, the entertain-

ment industry has made male nerds into mass sex symbols. Shows like “The Big Bang Theory,” and “Glee,” feature main characters in plaid clothes, thick framed glasses and piles of textbooks then

manipulate the scripts to turn them into every female viewer’s dream crush. Perhaps these superficial characters aren’t created ex-actly in such a manner, but the point is all the same. Just because someone dresses a certain way or par-ticipates in certain activities doesn’t mean they fit into any judgemental box that we as a globe have created. To be quite honest, all of these cookie-cutter ideals can’t be applied to real-life beings because everyone defies ste-reotypes through individual existence. In that sense, idolizing false male stereotypes rather than discriminating against them is just as bad. Doing so puts people who “appear” to fit those stereo types in awk-ward positions that make them question the authentic-ity of their own personality or lifestyle. For instance, guys who dress a certain way or act a certain way can suddenly be found appealing by people who don’t like them for their true self, but rather for the stereo-

type the media has created and dropped them into

according to clichés such as clothing or hobbies. The really ironic thing, is

that gender discrimina-tion comes down

to the same prin-ciple in both

men and

women. If gen-der stereo-

types continue to be broad-cast and idolized through the media and in turn rule the streets, than people might never be able to feel truly free. Allowing both genders to find their true self will help all of us in the end.

The OracleOPINIONS15 Friday October 18, 2013

Verbal weapons are just as dangerousGil Sanchez

Kali Venable

All Hail the Masculine Men

When we were children, we all heard the saying “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. We would say it to makes us feel better, but deep inside we all knew that words could hurt just as badly as any physical pain. Today as we r o a m the halls we hear our peers being called ‘fags’, ‘sluts’, ‘skanks’, and much more. The people receiving the hate are often left alone to defend themselves. It’s almost as if the person delivering the hate isn’t punished at all. We all hear it, but we choose not to do anything about it. It’s like we’ve given up on the delinquents, allowed them to bully the innocent. Slurs are often openly said in gaming networks like the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live, as people are in an open environ-

ment with little to no mod-erators, making it a breeding ground for slurs of all kind. Today if you were to break the gaming social norm and defend someone who was re-ceiving slurs, instead of sup-port for your efforts, you and the stranger would receive all kinds a insulting language. But don’t think its only the delinquents and the gaming community- It’s everyone.

We have come to the point where we are not think-

ing about what we say, and what

the conse-quenc-

e s a r e . W h e n we openly call someone retarded, we don’t know if they might actually have some type of medical conditions, or if they have a family mem-ber that has a condition There was a case in South Carolina where a student

received gay slurs from his own math teacher. The teacher would openly call him “Gay” or “Gay Boy” in class, and would tell his classmates that he had a ho-mosexual relationship. The student then became so ps-chologically and emotion-ally overwhelmed that he at-tempted suicide by hanging himself. This whole situation could have been avoided. Just think about what you’re going to say people, if it’s not nice, don’t say it at all. Don’t use excuses like ‘Oh, they’re my friend, so they know that I’m joking’. But both your friend and you know that you weren’t jok-

ing at all. If we all vow to stop profiling, to stop

labeling, and to stop bashing people with

slurs. Then we can put a stop to all the feelings that get hurt, all the friendships that get ruined, and all of the suicides caused by hate. Graphic by Molly Richter.

Stabbing With Words

It keeps coming earlier and earlierChristmas in the FallMaxine Tran The air is crisp, pumpkins are scattered about, and all around crimson leaves fall to the ground. So why is it that the first things you see when walking into nearly any de-partment store, are Christ-mas lights and Santa Claus? A recent marketing trend has stores of every kind put-ting Christmas paraphen-lia on display in the fall. Over the years store marketers have begun their Christmas campei-gns increasingly earlier. Christmas has always been the most lucrative holiday for the retail industry. It is the hopes of theses stores that by preematively begin-ning their Christmas sea-sons that they will maximize their already large profit. Although this has be-come a common occurence , recently it has worsened to the point that Christ-mas treees are more read-ily available than pumkins , even in the dead of October. Not only is this ridu-

clous but it is also haz-ardous to societal values. Even though Chrit-stmas does emphasize countless great attributes, they are often overlooked. Commercially, Christmas is a holiday that is concen-trated on material gain, and in a society that is already under heavy criticism for being too materialistic, a strong focus on Christmas may not be the best idea. This obsession over the holi-day only perpetuates soci-ety’s earthly mindedness . On the other hand holi-day’s like Thanksgiving cel-ebrate the characteristics of humility and thanks and would be much more ben-eficial to societal values. Other than being utter-ly ridiculous , this wide-spread issue is actually fi-nancially harmful to the stores that practice it. By focusing both their ef-forts and their finances cen-terally on Christmas, stores are glancing through true fall holidays such as Thanks-

giving and Halloween. In doing this, they are los-ing an exponential amount of potential profit that could be gained if they al-low each respective fall holiday its own time. Not only does this un-dermine the importance of fall holidays but it also makes Christmas some-thing less anticipated. In past years people have looked forward to Christ-mas and all that it brings for months and months, but with stores beginning the Christ-mas season months before, Christmas has lost that special feeling. This preemative jump on Christmas cheapens it and makes it that less special. Stores beg for this atten-tion when it’s supposed to be about other current holi-days, causing their time and money to eventually be lost. What they don’t know is that they will benefit if they take this into consideration and slow down to enjoy and cel-ebrate each and every holi-day with their customers.

Women are not the only gender facing social pressures

Sorry some of wording is weird I’m panicking

The OracleBACKPAGE16 Friday October 18, 2013 The OracleADS16 Friday, April 19, 2013

October 18

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