www.westsidehowler.com

Everyone wants to know what you’re hid-ing, it’s a fact of life. There is not a person on this Earth that would say no to a bit of gossip. Throughout history some have made it a bit more of a priority to expose these secrets than others and when that ultimately fails, they cre-ate their own stories. I am one of those people. Don’t judge me, I’m a journalist. It’s my job, I even have a shirt that says so. You can’t argue with a shirt.

Without further ado, Westside Howler presents: Kate’s Perception of Recent Events*My Chemical Romance Breakup It began as a few sparse Facebook posts. “Heavy sigh --- we’ll miss you” accompanied by a picture of the band among other passively upset alternative fans. We read Gerald Way’s explanation, nuclear bomb metaphor and all, but what if it wasn’t a metaphor? Perhaps they are robots, all coming together to detonate,

thus obliterating the haters.

Why Defense of Marriage Act is Just Now Being Disputed It’s a conspira-cy. People have been marrying the same sex for centuries, but the government is trying to con-vince the public

that it is not happening and is, in fact, immoral. We are, however becoming self aware and are now trying to get out of this utopian facade. How will we ever escape the matrix? Spoiler alert: a whole lot of rainbows.

Why Ryan Lochte is Getting a Reality TV Show Lochte made quite the splash at the past summer Olympics. Now, we are not only capti-vated by his forearms, but are endlessly fasci-nated by his love life. You read that right, start-ing April 21st, America is privy to the romantic endeavors of a mildly famous athlete courtesy of E! Television. There’s a reason for this. Lochte is re-entering the spotlight. It’s the grill. There’s no other reason, it’s all in the grill. That grill just makes the ladies, and most men for that matter, weak in the knees. That’s a fact.

*I solemnly swear that there is not a sincere word in these conspiracies. Please do not claim them as actual events unless you enjoy being mocked relentlessly for the remainder of your high school life.

By Kate Grobowsky Staff Writer

Westside’s underground black market has been an idea since the dawn of our school. Our stories range from students

born in faraway places to underground music to West-side confessions. Read more

inside!

By Kate Grobowsky Staff Writer

April 12, 2013

Fasten on your thinking caps and dust off that time machine, it’s time to revisit the fifth grade. The horror, I know, just bear with me. You’re

sitting on the playground, your face burning red. The children around you are taunting their sacrificial chant. “Secrets, secrets are no fun. Secrets

are for everyone!” You fall off the monkey bars and

bruise your knee. Oh wait, maybe that’s just me. Most everyone has a deeply personal

secret that they just couldn’t bear to reveal to anyone, not even their best friends. Naturally, you are all intrigued as to what the person next to you is hiding. Did they relapse last night? Is their middle name Gertrude? Are they a pineapple under the sea? The pos-sibilities are endless, the imagination boundless.Originally, my assignment for this article was

to write about people’s innermost secrets, but for some reason running up to perfect strang-ers and demanding to know they’re darkest secrets frightens them away. I’m getting a reputation for demanding per-

sonal information, I’m sure. “What’s your deep-

est secret?” “How was your first kiss?” “”Why are you addicted to the internet?” It’s come to the point where people see me and turn the other

way. So, mysteri-ous es-capees,

this one’s for you. Checkmate.How to Force Personal Information Out of

People:1. Confront ThemPeople love when you grab their shirt collar,

throw them against a wall, and hold them at gunpoint, demanding juicy gossip. Pro tip: Do

not do this in public/in front of a police officer.2. Be Really PushyDo not relent. Do not stop requesting infor-

mation. Ask in multiple, highly irritating voices. Develop several personalities and tell them to ask. The most effective way to employ this strategy is to attach yourself to their hip (if you’re truly serious about this, I suggest taking that literally). 3. CryThis is self-explanatory. It’s best used with

method two.4. Pretend By pretending that you already know the

truth, you can fool them into discussing it. Devious? Yes. Ineffective? No.5. Belittle ThemMake your friend feel like their problems

and secrets are no big deal. When they in-evitably become a quivering ball of insecu-rity, information will start flying the minute

they believe that you have any interest in them. If you do this then congratulations, you are the world’s biggest jerk. However, you got what you wanted, good job.

Best of luck attempting to fruitlessly extract secrets from your friends and others.

Want to read more secrets? Check out this blog that posts some emotionally exhausting ones.

Never heard of a Charleston Chew? You

have now.

Secrets Are No Fun Unless Forcibly Obtained

Giving upIt has come to this. Finally everyone has begun their downward spiral into not caring. A fine thing, not caring. Not for your GPA, but your school supplies must be singing your praises for the break. Just

remember, you have two months left. Two more measly months to crank out those last few papers and projects. Try not to blow it all off. Although that TV does look tempt-ing...

To This Day Shane Koyczan spent his life watching and expe-riencing the traumatic effects of bullying. His experiences inspired him to write and narrate a spoken word poem. It was animated and put on the internet, gath-

ering a huge reaction. People far and wide began watching it and relating their hardships. It has helped count-lesspeople feel better and recover from the sadness brought upon them by a bully.

Ryan Lochte’s GrillHey ladies, this one’s for you. Ryan Lochte brings all the girls (and let’s face it, boys too) to the yard with his American flag grill. It was made by local rap-per Paul Wall and Johnny Dang and cost $25,000. Well worth it, surely. The grill that became famous when Lochte was told not to wear it to the Olympic podium is making a reap-pearance on Lochte’s new TV show. Be still, the beat-ing hearts of the American public.

Harlem Shake by BaauerIt’s done, people! It’s over! It’s time to find another hill to fight and die on. The war for best Harlem Shake video has been considered a draw, so if you would please all

go find another internet dance phenomenon to obsess over that would be awesome. Well, less irritating than beating this dead horse, anyways.

April 12, 2013

By Ashley Cleburn Staff Writer

Kids can agree that seeing a teacher outside of school is pretty rare, but when it does happen, it’s a strange experience. Just like students, teachers and staff have lives. Although they may keep to themselves and stay quiet about their personal lives, they still have hobbies that they enjoy doing outside of work. Many have interesting things about them that students may not know. With focus on school, work, and making it through high school, there is never enough time to take to learn about one another. “I come from a family of educa-tors,” dean Ms. Griggs explained, “My grandfather was a famous economist, my father taught eco-nomics, and even my two sisters were teachers.” Devoted to her job here at Westside, Mrs. Griggs takes pride

in spending her life with a family full of people who enjoy what she does, teaching. She started out as an English teacher, has worked her way up and is now East 1’s dean. Also, she enjoys yoga and sentence diagramming. She even spends some of her weekends outdoors on the water. “I have a little sailboat in Michi-gan and I know how to sail as well,” said Griggs, “my dad built it for me for my 14th birthday. He built sailboats in the backyard as a hobby, so I grew up sailing.” Westside’s Ms. Griggs dedicates a lot of her time making sure her students are on track, but they also have lives outside of their job and some are very interesting at that. This is something to think about when giving them attitude or keeping them after class for your late work!

The Secret Life of Deans

Feel the desire to readsome undiscovered

books? Here are some good ones!

Craving some great po-etry? Here’s a collection

from a young writer.

With every mask your soul createsThe outside world will lie in waitYour heart will flutter and your ears will popBut once let out you’ll never stopLike a marauder in shacklesThe crazy’s revealed like a howling jackalOr maybe it’s tears that just need to flowAs your heartstrings are played with a musical bowThe notes on your person that need to be seenBy the passers-by and the go-betweenYour struggles will break you from the inside and outAs the memories that haunt you scream and shoutOr possibly you just need to let people knowThat you don’t want all the things the old world can bestowYou don’t need to advance in engineer-ing or medicineThose haters will plague you – “you know it’s a sin”But no matter the profession or financial pursuitYou’ll be tempted to fall down the laun-dry chuteFor these aren’t your desires or your wants or your claimsWhatever you’re good at will put them to shameYour internal struggles will be never-moreIf you become what you want and leave them on the shore

By Emiliana Rico-Toro Staff Writer

Concealment

Deep in the hearts of all people lie their roots. Whether a thousand miles away or down the block next to the grocery store, the roots of life, the home they all come from, is part of their soul. It defines culture, personality, and even academic standing. In a school full of students of varying back-grounds, a plethora of knowl-edge awaits; of a life before this one. “I’ve lived in 4 countries so far, I was born in Venezuela and lived there for 2 years, then the U.S. for 2 years; England for 6 years, Norway for 3 years, and then the U.S. again for 3 years.” Rodriguez said. Many, people believe that it becomes easier to get along with and feel at home around people that they’ve met when surrounded by a new environ-ment. “Norway was my favorite country to live in,” Rodriguez said, “because it was so safe, it was really beau-tiful and everyone is really nice.” With culture comes new ways of inter-acting and speak-ing. For Rodriguez, she is no stranger to the misun-derstanding of her own ways, the ways she brought with her from the life she once lived in the many countries she’s had the pleasure of visiting.

”I like my voice and I love my accent.” Rodriguez states. “I don’t like when people try to imitate me [because] I feel like it’s disrespectful to me.” Seeing the world in all its majesty expands the mind. It opens up new opportunities for an open understanding of the people we live every day with. Rodriguez said, “the places I’ve lived in have definitely changed me. I feel like [it has made me become more intel-ligent] and more accepting to other peoples’ views, ideas, and cultures because I’ve been around a lot of different types of people.” This newfound experience comes to light within our school, and the society built within. People from all walks of life can interact with her, only to find that she is from her own walk of life herself. The very es-sence of the past, our roots, lies in all our faces. Understand-ing the culture of the people

around you is the key to a highly

enlightened life.

By Molly Wu Staff Writer

By Molly Wu Staff Writer

April 12, 2013

Roots Groundedin Our Culture

The facebook pages West-side Compliments and Westside Confessions that seemed to pop up and become one of the top viewed pages among Westside students in a matter of days have had everyone buzzing in the class-rooms. “I saw every school had one and I waited a few days, and when none popped up I decided to make one.” the creator said. “At first I wanted the page to stay

[completely] anonymous, but when I heard someone was try-ing to take credit for the page my pride kicked in and I posted my first name.” The posts have become so popular and common that the

creator of the pages has had to

pick a friend to help choose what to and what not to post. “For the first month it was just me, and then I got a partner to help me out because I needed help with posting so I could focus more on school. I chose her be-cause I knew she was very bright and would have good judgement [on what to post.]” The page has created a sense of school spirit and belonging within the school, letting people share their inner thoughts anony-mously for fellow students to feel that they aren’t alone, that other people are have similar problems as they do and to feel like they have a school to fall back on when things start to fall apart. “I was really surprised when people started to send in re-

ally [personal confessions] like thoughts of suicide, and the other students [most of the time] were really supportive and helpful.” The majority of people are sup-portive while there are the few students that take advantage of the page to post harsh comments. “I’ve had some problems with people lashing out, and I do my best to delete them quickly. I don’t want the comments to directly be mean to someone because the last thing Westside needs is a site for cyber bullying.” The secrets and compliments have varied positions, and al-though some of them, if offensive, never get posted, the ones that do can range from poop stories, contemplating suicide, and other out-there posts.

“I’ve gotten so many, and I high-light the compliments and confes-sions that I love, but there was this one about a toaster that I thought was [particularly] hysterical.” the creator of the pages said. “I like when compliments are made and they aren’t about a Mr. Popular or Ms. Popular because I think they should be important and noticed. I think it really makes their day.” The mastermind behind the pages, and all components that make this page what it is, has helped pinpoint people and char-acteristics within the school that assist in making Westside what it is; most of all Westside Confes-sions is helping the school be-come more like a community and less like strangers.

The Mastermind Behind Westside Confessions

As April showers come rolling in, the roots of the trees un-derground are soaked with lovely rain. We take this nostal-gic moment to clean out the closets for spring. We remember past things and our culture that make us who we are. Here’s just one of the many stories within our walls.

It’s not too late to catch up on the all-new National Po-

etry Writing Month. A poem a day keeps the poet in your heart at

bay.

Check out more band/

artist reviews at sputnikmusic.

com

By Madison Hawkins Staff Writer

By Kimberly Velazquez Staff Writer

April 12, 2013

Looking for a place to buy Tigers Jaw band

merchandise?Find your under-

ground band shirts here!

The official website of the Hobbit Cafe,

where it’s always time to

eat

Listening to the same music over and over again can get a little boring, no matter how good the song, album, or artist is. The thing some people don’t realize is that there is so much more music than what’s being played on the radio. Personally I don’t like lis-tening to radio music because the same songs are being played repeatedly. If you are one of those people that like to listen and experience new music, this could help you enter a world of music you’ve never experienced before. And if by some miracle you’ve already come across these artists, you have a gold star in my book. Tigers Jaw is a five piece indie rock band from Scranton, Pennsylvania, and they have four albums: a self-titled album (2010), Two Worlds (2010), Spirit Desire (2009) and Belongs To The Dead (2006). My personal favorite is their self-titled album, and there is not a single song that you will not like. They are a perfect band to listen to when you want to feel calm and relaxed. Sadly, on March 21st they announced that three of their members left the band and that they will be doing a farewell tour. Title Fight is a four piece band from Kingston, Pennsylvania, that was formed in 2003. They combine the ele-ments of punk, melodic hardocre, and pop punk. They have three albums, The Last Thing You Forget (2009), Shed (2011) and their most recent album Floral Green (2012). All of their albums

are great, and worth listening to. Title Fight will be on their first headlining cross-country tour this summer starting in May 19th. Seahaven is a four piece punk/indie band formed in 2009. They are signed to Run for Cover Record and have two albums. Their EP Ghost, was released in 2010, and Winter Forever was released in 2011. Alternative Press named them one of the “100 Bands You Need to Know in 2012”. They are currently on tour with Transit. Transit is a five piece American pop-punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. They have three full-length albums, This Will Not Define Us (2008), Keep This To Yourself (2010), and Listen and Forgive (2011). They also have three EP’s, a record release, a four song self-titled demo and a split 7” with Man Over-board. They are currently headlining a US tour based on their new album coming out this year. City and Colour is an acoustic solo project of Dallas Green, which was best known as the singer/guitarist of the band Alexisonfire.He plays melodic acoustic and folk music. His first debut Sometimes was released in 2005, which was later re-released in 2009; Bring Me Your Love was released in 2008; Little Hell was released in 2011. Two of his al-bums reached the Billboard charts and went #1 on the Canadian charts. If you ever want to feel, in ways you normally wouldn’t, then you shouldn’t hesitate to check out these amazing musicians.

Looking for some new places to hang out or shop? Well, I’ve got some here for you that you probably haven’t heard of before. The first is a place called Better World Books. It’s a great book-store with an awesome idea: to create jobs, fund libraries and literacy programs in the US, and provide cheap new and used books to readers. Their main store is lo-cated in Indiana, but they have an online shop from which you can purchase cheap books and pay no shipping! You can also sell your used textbooks and buy others’ used textbooks on the site. It’s

pretty much like a Half Price Books for people who don’t have the time to go out to a store, plus it funds a few great causes. If you’re a senior this year and plan on go-ing to college in the fall, then you may want to invest in this business for your textbooks instead of buying new ones. The next place is a restaurant called The Hobbit Cafe. It’s been in business since 1972, which is pretty impres-sive. It’s also impressive that a large portion of the menu comes from the original menu cre-ated in 1972, and a large portion is also vegetarian. Senior Denis Patino com-

mented that The Hobbit Cafe has “above average food, a nice environment, and the best chocolate mousse cake [he’s] ever had.” Another senior, Jon-athan Bustamante, said that he’s been to the Cafe several times, and “the food is good and [he] re-ally likes the atmosphere of the place.” If you’ve been looking for a new place to hang out with friends and have some good food, this might be the place for you! Whether you’re look-ing for a nice place to have “second breakfast”, or you lack the time to go out and buy books, there’s so much this world has to offer.

Hobbit Holes for the Average Human

The facebook pages West-side Compliments and Westside Confessions that seemed to pop up and become one of the top viewed pages among Westside students in a matter of days have had everyone buzzing in the class-rooms. “I saw every school had one and I waited a few days, and when none popped up I decided to make one.” the creator said. “At first I wanted the page to stay

[completely] anonymous, but when I heard someone was try-ing to take credit for the page my pride kicked in and I posted my first name.” The posts have become so popular and common that the

creator of the pages has had to

pick a friend to help choose what to and what not to post. “For the first month it was just me, and then I got a partner to help me out because I needed help with posting so I could focus more on school. I chose her be-cause I knew she was very bright and would have good judgement [on what to post.]” The page has created a sense of school spirit and belonging within the school, letting people share their inner thoughts anony-mously for fellow students to feel that they aren’t alone, that other people are have similar problems as they do and to feel like they have a school to fall back on when things start to fall apart. “I was really surprised when people started to send in re-

ally [personal confessions] like thoughts of suicide, and the other students [most of the time] were really supportive and helpful.” The majority of people are sup-portive while there are the few students that take advantage of the page to post harsh comments. “I’ve had some problems with people lashing out, and I do my best to delete them quickly. I don’t want the comments to directly be mean to someone because the last thing Westside needs is a site for cyber bullying.” The secrets and compliments have varied positions, and al-though some of them, if offensive, never get posted, the ones that do can range from poop stories, contemplating suicide, and other out-there posts.

“I’ve gotten so many, and I high-light the compliments and confes-sions that I love, but there was this one about a toaster that I thought was [particularly] hysterical.” the creator of the pages said. “I like when compliments are made and they aren’t about a Mr. Popular or Ms. Popular because I think they should be important and noticed. I think it really makes their day.” The mastermind behind the pages, and all components that make this page what it is, has helped pinpoint people and char-acteristics within the school that assist in making Westside what it is; most of all Westside Confes-sions is helping the school be-come more like a community and less like strangers.

The Mastermind Behind Westside Confessions

April 12, 2013

By Nicholas Marshi Staff Writer

It seems like yesterday that Ubisoft released Assassin’s Creed 3. While the game was fun and enter-taining to play, it felt like a rehash of previous Assassin’s Creed games and it feels like the series is going downhill. A couple months ago, Ubisoft released a trailer of their new game Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag which looks promising, So what is going to be different in Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag? For starters the new character, Edward Kenway, father of Haytham

Kenway and grandfather of Connor from Assassin’s Creed 3. Instead of the main character roaming the streets of Rome or one of the original American colo-nies; he is a pirate and a “privateer” that roams around and travels to different islands. Assassin’s Creed series creative director Alex Hutchinson has expressed interest in continuing Connor’s story, main character from Assassin’s Creed 3. Other characters that are con-firmed for Assassin’s Creed 4 are historical figures like Blackbeard,

Benjamin Hornigold, Calico Jack, Charles Vane, and Anne Bonny. The location is set in the Caribbean on multiple islands such as Kingston, Havana, and Nassau. You will be able to explore the islands with Edward’s ship, Jack-daw. Smaller islands and locations can be visited and now underwa-ter locations can now be explored for the first time in the Assassin’s Creed series. Yes, there will be naval combat like in Assassin’s Creed 3 and Ubi-soft promises to make the combat

better by adding new weapons, enemies, challenges, and new pro-gression system. The modern day setting will no longer focus on Desmond Miles but rather Abstergo Industries/En-tertainment and the research ana-lysts who work to explore Kenway’s memories. Lastly, the hidden blade once again comes back from the se-ries while Flintlock Pistols can be equipped that allow Kenway to fire four shots successfully by strap-ping four weapons front and back.

Assassin’s Creed New Version UpdatesBy Molly Wu Staff Writer

Get Assassin’s Creed! How Do Rumors

Get Started?

Rumors are a common thing to spread throughout schools, whether they last only a few days or during the whole duration of the school year, rumors are the words that can easily con-fuse many students. Mul-tiple rumors swim through our school, some obvi-ously lies, others harder to decipher between what is not real and what is real-ity. These rumors branch

off, braking into more lies and swimming through our school from ear to ear like a parasite infecting peoples thoughts. When some-thing happens, people are quick to make rumors whether or not the rumor is true or false. There have been many rumors circling around Westside during the 2013 school year. For example, why ex-principal Michael Mcdonagh left Westside and went to

Bellaire, if principal Peggy Stewart’s was actually plan-ning to punish seniors if the skipped on senior skip day. Some of the rumors are true, some are not, and some branch from com-plete misunderstanding or a miscommunication. Ru-mors will be spread among the school and students are free to believe what they want to believe.

By Ashley Bosarge Staff Writer

By Brittany Gilpin Staff Writer

April 12, 2013

Westside high school’s base-ball team accepted Sophomore Ryan France on the varsity team and he is enjoying this year very much with his fellow teammates.

France says, “I’ve been playing baseball since as long as I can remember.” France participated in t-ball at a young age and contin-ued to play even up to this day. France is currently a pitcher for the Westside wolves this year and out of batting, fielding, or pitching he expresses that he needs to work more on his pitching.

France says, “You [can] always use more room for practice and improvement.” France says that some people have their own little pre game rituals, but he just goes into the game, sometimes nervous, with a good attitude.

France says, “The things that make me nervous in a game are

my coaches. I feel the pressure from them to do the best I can, but it does push me to try my hardest.” Along with sports, France also has to juggle school work and his so-

cial life. He rated their importance at school work being on the top of the list, baseball not far after, and socializing last. France has his pri-orities in line and is doing the best he can to be successful.

France says, “My biggest role model isn’t a famous baseball player or anything, it’s my mom because she is always there for me and supports me with everything

that I do.” With a huge support system from his mom and pushing to be success-ful from his coaches, France has the posi-tive energy he needs

around him to be focused on his goal of getting into college and going on to play baseball.

France says, “Yes, I plan on going to college and I’m not sure what I want to study yet, but I know I want to continue baseball.” France says he prefers to go to Texas State University while continuing base-ball with a team outside of college. Wish France good luck with his last two years of baseball here at West-side and his future of it outside of high school.

It’s common for people to get softball and Baseball confused. Its also a misconception whether softball is a real sport. Based off of Westsides Junior softball player, Sydney Mannen, she definitely disagrees and claims softball is a real sport.

Mannen has been playing softball since she was 6 years old, she has become an expert of the game. Here at Westside, Mannen is the pitcher and has been a pitcher since she was 9 years old. She has had a spot on the var-sity throughout her high school career. Her dedication to her team has resulted in a close to undefeated season.

“We train a lot during off season,” Mannen says. “it does pay off during season.”

Mannen explains that the team has a bright future for the rest of the season.

“We’ve only lost one game so far, “ Mannen explains. “Hopefully when we face the Bel-laire cardinals again we will be able to defeat them.”

Softball season starts around the same time school gets to be more challenging.

“I wouldn’t change anything about the sport I play, but it does get really hard jug-gling school and softball.”

Mannen says how she also has a job she has to keep up with as well. Not only does she have to keep up with the struggles dur-

ing school, but also the struggle with finding time for practice and a job.

Mannen says, “Its not easy playing the sport I love, I’ve been playing for so long I wouldn’t quit now. If I could, I would play in college but I’m undecided.”

Mannen puts in an abundant amount of

time into the sport she loves. Everyone keep on eye on this star athlete, she’s doing big things.

Westside Athletic

Booster Club

Westside Baseball Schedule

Baseball for Beginners

The Haven Chronicles is a blog that periodically posts short stories about varied subjects by a underground writer, Joseph Brown

Prologue The castle servant darted down the hall-ways, picking up speed with every thump of his beating heart. To the left he went, then to the right, barely feel-ing the walls and many doorways rush past him. The King’s Seat lie ahead, the epicen-ter of the entire city, sealed by two mono-lithic double doors. The servant pushed towards it, pushing with all his might to open it only partially. The King sat in the light of the candle-lit chandelier, perplexed as the servant bolted through the door, almost stumbling onto the marble floor. “Sire!” the servant cried, running across the colossal cham-ber that served as the King’s Seat. King Cross rose sharply, and drew his sword. Its strong steel gleamed against the

light. “Halt there, good sir! What news do you bring?” The King roared. The servant fell to his knees at the center of the room, gasping for air. He began to babble incoherently. Suddenly the King’s guards were upon him, raising him from the cold floor. “He’s back, your maj-esty! He’s back! I saw him with my own eyes. No one believes me but I did, I swear I did!” The two guards struggled to keep the servant on his feet as he tried to speak.Cross’ own heart began to thump now.“I will give you one chance to be truthful here. If I find you false I will strike your head from your shoulders. Who is back? And be clear,” the King gave the general’s glare. A look he had not used himself since battle.your majesty.

To read more...