Hi, my name is Kate, and I am an internet addict. Let me just say that, okay? I know most of you people will run kicking and scream-ing out of the room when I say you’re addicted to the internet, but you are too. Yes, even you, kid who denies having a Tumblr. I know your secrets. Kate knows every-thing.

Boom. Power of the internet.I believe many of you are aware

of October 18, 2012: the day tum-blr was down for 15 minutes. A tragic day that, in the famous words of Tyler Oakley, professional fangirl, was “OUR GENERATION’S GREAT DEPRESSION.”

Accurate.

By Kate Grobowsky Staff Writer This October, Westside Students viewed a pop culture event on television, the BET (Black Entertain-ment Television) Hip Hop Awards.

“I like to watch the show so I can keep up on what’s hot,” Sophomore Justin Ndamati said. “I’m really bad at that.”

The award show definitely dis-played a recurring theme this year: backstage alterca-tions. Focus was put on conflict between artists Gunplay and 50 Cent, as well as

Rick Ross and Young Jeezy.

By the time the awards were broadcasted on October 9th the ‘dirty laundry’ from the show’s taping on Sep-tember 29 had al-ready been aired.

After being reached out to for insight, 50 cent was not heard back from, but in a radio interview on the morning of October 3, rap-per Mike Knox said that, “[Gun-play] was in the wrong place at the wrong time and he was acting a

certain kinda way that he shouldn’t have been actin’... So, he got dealt with...”.

For the beef with Ricky, although Jeezy sticks with the story that he was never touched, it has been said that there was shoving between the two backstage at the BET Awards.

“These little feuds between artists are really entertaining,” Ju-nior Diandra Var-gas said. ”It added to the awards that night too.”More on page 3

More on page 3

www.westsidehowler.com

By Ashley Cleburn Staff Writer

HexaflexagonsThey’re hexagons. They flex. They will complete your life. Made with a piece of paper and a mission, the hexaf-lexagon is a little contraption with no further purpose than to entertain

you for several minutes. In honor of flexagon month (which was last month, but...what-ever) explore these little apparatuses and maybe even learn the math-ematical concepts behind it. Or not.

The Regular ShowYay-uhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the sound of students catching on to the Regular Show termi-nology, that has now sprinkled many of our lives. The cartoon, with some of the protago-nists being a racoon, a blue jay, a gum ball

machine, and a float-ing hand, take on the characteristics of humans that undergo serious ups and downs in each imaginative and colorful episode. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!! The Regular Show, it’s anything but.

Social Media in PoliticsDid you know Romney has binders full of women? That lucky man. After his not so carefully worded answer to a woman’s question during the last debate, he proclaimed his possession of “bind-

ers full of women” to be on his cabinet. The good ‘ole people of Tumblr and beyond mercilessly at-tacked the comment. The next day the internet was full of pictures of noth-ing less than binders full of women. Hark! A meme

was born.

Singing in the shower, singing intensely to the car radio, humming the songs that are both catchy and repetitive as people walk down the sidewalks. Listening to music and singing is some-thing that has flooded most peoples lives as long as they can remember. Salim Maksoud, an 11th grader, leader of chamber in the bass section of choir, helps to create some of the music that is per-formed at Westside. “I was in sixth grade the first time I joined choir. [and although I left in seventh grade because of a class I had to take] I rejoined in eighth grade and have never looked back.” Before he joined choir he listened to mu-sic and his mom would always tell him to sing from the diaphragm, but he never fully understood the terminology until joining choir. “I joined choir because I love to sing and I wanted to learn more about how music

works rather than just sing along to my fa-vorite songs in the shower.” Maksoud said. His practice and commitment to choir has definitely paid off.

He’s won multiple awards with his voice, including best male sophomore, superior ratings on his solo in both the solo and ensemble contests. The choir teacher has played a large impact on Maksoud’s life, the way that he’s

learned to work with music, and taught him life lessons he will carry with him in the future. “Oh Carson... Carson has taught me life lessons, not just how to sing,” Maksoud said. “He taught me to never leave my ipad on the piano, [then took it away] to make me feel like I got punked. I never put it on the piano again. He also basically taught me how to sight read. My middle school teacher taught me the basics but Carson helped build off of the basics, and help me become the singer I am today.” Choir is helpful not only because it teach-es students how to listen to their sound and perfect how they sing it, but also because it enhances critical reading skills as they move up in choir by teaching students how to sight read. The lessons and the skills that are taught while in choir are helpful and last a lifetime.“Choir isn’t just my influence [anymore]” Maksoud said. “It has become my life.”

Superb Singing Salim Rocks Stage, Chamber Choir

Don’t Hug Me I’m ScaredYou thought it was a cute animated video. Oh look at the millions of views it got! This is going to be so great! You press play and all is well. The song is adorable and the characters are just too great. Beware. As the video marches on you may or may not become a ball of emotional ter-ror. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

By Molly Wu Staff Writer

Salim Maksoud, junior

Aside from the negativity between celebs that night, plenty of positive energy was in the air for many award winners. Kanye West who start-ed out with fourteen nominations and ended up receiving the most awards with three and he did not even attend Tuesday night’s show. Some of his winnings included, CD of the Year with The Throne, Producer of the Year, and the Made You Look Award which awarded Kanye for the best hip-hop style. 2 Chainz followed, having received four awards total, like Rookie of the Year and Best Featured Verse in the song Mercy. Other winners included Meek Mill for Best Mixtape with Dreamchasers 2, Drake for Best Hip Hop Video with HYFR and even DJ Khaled won DJ of the Year, even though none of us re-ally know what it is he does to contribute to the music industry other than shout out his name in other artists’ songs.

“Kanye West was on fire when it came to awards,” said Ndamati. “Too bad he wasn’t there to perform, but Kendrick Lamar was pretty awe-some with his Swimming Pools performance.”

Many fans were pleased with the perfor-mances that night, musicians did not disappoint during the broadcast. Artists who performed include, Future and Kendrick Lamar, as well as music teams MMG and G.O.O.D. It was also very centered on what BET calls The Cypher. This in-volves periodic breaks in announcing awards, in which a similar group of artists, like West Coast (Snoop Dogg, e-40, etc.) or Grand Hustler’s (T.I., Iggy Azalea, etc.) freestyle in a circle to the same beat. An all-star performance ended the night beautifully with a tribute to fallen music mogul Chris Lighty from A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, Fat Joe, Missy Elliott and 50 Cent.

Q: When did you apply to Baylor? A: Applied to Baylor around Octo-ber 13th (definitely on a Saturday)Q:Why did you apply early? A: I think it gives the colleges, that I’m applying to early, a feel that I’m very interested in their school and I that have prioritized their applica-tion from others.Q:Why did you choose to apply to Baylor early? A:Why baylor? Well I’m pursuing a career in the health field and baylor has a well known medical school. I’ve been to orientations where representatives from baylor come to Houston and I’ve personally talked to the admissions counselor for baylor and like the programs there.Q: How did you apply, and what type of decision? A: I received this application called Baylor Select Application. It is a free application that Baylor sends to select students and it’s as if I’m applying early action, but it is non-binding.Q:Did you have to do something special to get this application or was it given to you based on something? A: Nothing special actually, but I was invited to meet the admissions counselor personally when he was here in Houston. I had the chance to talk about my goals and career I would like to pursue with him.Q:Was it a lot like a normal ap-plication, or were there a lot of things left out? A:There were a lot of things left out. I only had to put my personal information and information about the courses I’m taking now as a se-nior. I have to send in my transcript along with SAT scores and optional choices such as letters of recom-mendation, short responses, and or resume.Q: So I guess the process wasn’t very stressful? A: This application wasn’t, but I’ve been working on others that require a lot more.Q: Are you applying to any more schools? A: Rice, UT, UT San Antonio, U of H, and HBU

Senior Reflects on College Application

Experience

In these catastrophic minutes when Tumblr was down I had a revelation, “Perhaps there is a world outside of the internet.” I then quickly dismissed this idea. “Impossible,” I thought. Then it happened, the doorbell rang. The pizza was here, Tumblr was back, and the world was right. And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.

Many GIFs later the thought still lingered in my mind. Could it really be true? Is there a life away from my computer? I looked outside and gasped. I staggered to sit. I couldn’t believe it. SUNLIGHT! THE HORRORS! GET IT AWAY!

Since that day I have been planning, much like a zombie apocalypse survival plan, an Internet-Is-Not-Currently-Available plan. Good day, and the event that this is necessary, good luck.

Step 1: Locate fellow human beings. Remember those

friends that you had? You may try speaking to them. Do not be alarmed if their faces are not exactly the same, for people tend to do that.

Step 2:Groom yourself. Please try to not drown in the

shower or stab yourself with the brush. Do not shower if driving. Luckily you have probably kept your nails and hair properly, as it is difficult to type with talons and read with a mane.

Steps 3: Exercise. I know your fingers are plenty buff from

the aforementioned typing, but you do have other muscles. Well, probably, assuming you have moved at all since 2008.

Continued from page 1

By Kate Grobowsky Staff Writer

By Ashley Cleburn Staff WriterContinued from page 1

By Madison Hawkins Staff Writer

Burned Out?

November Celebrates World “Hello” Day Among Others

There’s always that one friend with all the crazy facts.

“Did you know that a giraffe can go longer without water than a camel?”

Right now you might be thinking “cool story bro,” but wouldn’t it be great if newspapers had more of these interesting items?

Viola! The Howler staff

brings you the crazy November days you would otherwise have no reason to know about.

November 15th - Clean Your Refrigera-tor Day

You know it’s a mess. Your parents buy food every week even though there’s still stuff left over. That yogurt sitting in the back of the top shelf has slowly become watery with tears of re-jection. Be a good child

and tell your parents you need to throw away the rubbish in the refrig-erator. Help them do it. If anything, the rotten smell of unused and un-wanted food items might go away.

November 21st - World Hello Day

The goal of this day is to promote peace.

Greet ten people on this day and spread the love. Someone could be having the worst day imaginable; no one was nice, all they see in the indifference of others or hostility. Your hello, your wave, your smile, could brighten their day. It could be a chain movement. The world could achieve some sub-stantial amount of peace just by saying “hello.”

November 23rd - Buy Nothing Day

Doesn’t that give you the greatest sense of

irony? Buy Nothing Day also happens to be “Black Friday,” the day Americans all across the country push and shove each other through Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Target.

Some even meet their deaths in this epic battle of natural selection. The weak fall and the strong prevail with bountiful Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Christmas pres-ents to be had for those “early birds” out there.

This year, do the world a favor - buy nothing on this day. Everyone knows you were sup-posed to buy your gifts for this winter last De-cember 26th, anyway.

This November, don’t just celebreate the obvi-ous. There are other frivolous tradtitions out there. Go forth and celebrate something that really matters.

November is the the month where society goes hairy. There is no shaving, it’s just beards. Beards and mus-taches and (to the alarm of many males) hairy legs. November is the month where we go au naturale.

Reporting by Kate Grobowsky Staff Writer

By Emiliana Rico-Toro Staff Writer

Students React to Itchy Yearly Tradition

By Molly Wu Staff WriterROTC Teacher Kalman Proud to be a Veteran

Those that decide to fight for our county have a story that doesn’t always get to be heard. Not many have the courage, the am-bition, or the dedication to consider going into the army.

Keith Kalman, the ROTC teacher here at Westside, is one of the few who did.

He was was comissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1973 at the age of 23 and re-tired in 2000, which is the same year West-side opened.

He has traveled to locations around the world during his time served, including:

McConnel Air Force Base, Wichita, Kansas• Bolling Air Force Base, Washington D.C.• Korea.• Turkey.• Japan.• Panama.•

“While I was still in high school,my father died. My mother only had an eighth grade education,” Kalman said. “I wanted to go to school but had no money. I applied for and received an Army ROTC scholarship that paid for everything.”

“My obligation to the Army was only 4 years. I stayed for 27,” he added.

His committment helped him earn the position of colonel.

“This is a rank that must be confirmed by

Congress,” Kalman said. “To illustrate where I fall within the rank structure, colonels out-rank 95 percent of the soldiers in the Army and it is one rank below General.”

Only five percent of those in the special intelligence branch, the branch that Kalman was in, in the year he had enlisted were selected out of those eligible. Those five

percent selected were chosen because of their outstanding report cards, and success-fully completing difficult tasks.

He was supposed to be stationed at the Defence Intelligence Agency for three years

before going onto a command assignment, but after his third year he was asked by the Agency Commanding Officer to stay for another two years, and he would see what he could do about a promotion.

“He did what he said he would do,” Kal-man said. “I got promoted to Colonel a year early and within 45 days of being promoted I was a Brigade Commander. Commanding the Army’s 1st Cyberwarfare Brigade.”

He spent much of his life with teenagers.Being a scout leader.A youth minister. A Big Brother while in college.An activity director for YMCA.“I just thought that my military experience

was a good fit to be an ROTC instructor.” Kalman said. “Westside came about [ just as I was getting] ready to retire, that’s where the job was.”

This is his 13th year of teaching ROTC. Kalman has strived to be the best

throughout his life, and through the ups and downs he’s definitely succeeded at per-forming to the best of his abilities.

“I could not have done it if it were not for my lovely wife, Donna, of 32 years,” Kal-man said. “If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t even hesitate.”

Westside ROTC Col. Keith Kalman

Family, joy, praise, har-mony, bonding, giving worship and remembrance. These are all the things we like to think of as we go into the holiday season, but are these the only values we tend to practice dur-ing this time of year?

What about greed, stress, theft, and, most of all, profit.

Isn’t most of the time before the holidays spent with stress and empty pockets?

Rushing in malls, standing in lines of angry people and wait-ing in huge parking lots full of road rage and fighting. This is what the holidays are really all about.

But what is it that makes us all go through these hellish and barbaric “holiday celebra-tions?” It’s all for someone else’s joy - right? To see a kid beg for candy in that year’s trendy costume, to see them unwrap the toy he’s been wanting for the entire year - that is worth the hassle. Isn’t it?

On second thought, wasn’t that toy $20 cheaper over the summer? The bag of candy will be 70 percent off the week af-ter Halloween. If all this is sup-posed to be “the joy of giving,” why don’t people feel better

about the whole thing? Shouldn’t “the joy of giving”

make people feel, well, joyous?On the commercials, they

said it’s a low price. On the commercials, they said it would make the kids happy. On the commercials, they showed a

happy family laughing togeth-er at Thanksgiving dinner.

This holiday thing is easy, ac-cording to the commercials. All I have to do to make my family happy is spend money.

Ok, sold. Where do I sign the bill?

Strange that life doesn’t work out the way it does on the commercial. Since when did Christmas, Halloween, and Thanksgiving become defined

by material pricy objects?People have lost the way to

celebrate the holidays. It’s time to stop worry-

ing about if you can afford that expensive gift. Sit down with your family and join into the traditions of what these holidays used to mean. Being around love ones, picking on the family geek, pigging out on “home cooking” and taking extra holiday naps with the TV on.

Save your money and maybe buy the gift when it’s cheaper later. The whole point of the holidays is to be a joyous occa-sion spent with the people you love.

Don’t buy into the ridiculous corporate notion that you have to spend money to show your affection. At the end of the day the people who sell that overpriced toy are not trying to make sure you have the best holiday ever.

They’re merchants there goal is profit.

So before you decide to buy something for the holidays, think about the reason you are doing it.

It should be because you can afford it, not because you are trying to say “I love you this many dollars worth.”

Retailers Commercialize the Holidays for Profit

Disney Puts Characters on a Diet for Fashion Show

According to Ragen Chastain, who works with kids who have eating disorders, “Studies warn again and again of the dangers of promoting an unrealistic body image. [A recent study shows] 81 percent of 10-year-old girls say they’re afraid of being fat, and 47 percent of girls in fifth through twelfth grade say they want to be thinner because of the pictures they see in magazines.”

Eating disorders are very real problems for young girls, and ones that shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s because of this that it’s so appalling that Disney would team up with Barneys to create skinny versions of various Disney characters just for a holiday cam-

paign. What low

standards has Disney stooped to when they’re willing to take Minnie Mouse, who’s been the same loveable curvy size since 1928, the date of her birth,

and distort her proportions just so that she can fit into a designer

dress? Bar-neys wants to turn Minnie Mouse into a size 0, 5’11” crea-ture that is

totally unrecognizable as Minnie Mouse (see the image with this article. But she

isn’t the only one. Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Snow White, Cruella DeV-ille, and Daisy

Duck have also been made into super-skinny designer versions of themselves.

The creators of this campaign don’t seem to think this is a big deal, and

Barneys and Disney defended their position in the New York Daily News. Their

defense was that the promotional

video is only three minutes long, “featuring traditional Minnie Mouse in a dream-like sequence set in Paris where she briefly walks the runway as a model and then happily awakens as her normal self wearing the very same designer dress from the fashion show.”

Even though Minnie Mouse wakes up happy to be herself again, the fact that she was dreaming of being so skinny and tall really sends the message that it’s how she would rather look, and that she isn’t completely happy

with herself. Ragen Chastain started a petition asking Barneys to cancel this win-dow display, which you can sign online anonymously or publicly using the QR code at the top of this page.

By Bryce Byars Staff Writer

By Madison Hawkins Staff Writer

Petition to Stop Skinny Disney

Vulgarity

Quick Poll: What do you want to get this holiday season?

A Boy’s Racket Makes Some Noise on the Court

Sophomore tennis player, Shyon Parsa, is having a blast on the Westside tennis team!

He started playing when he was 10 years old. He loves the complexity of the sport. He said the team has been working hard all season and is hoping to win more games in the future.

“We could improve togeth-er as a team,” Parsa said. ”We have a good group of kids.”

He explains that Bellaire and Lamar are their team rivals in the district.

“Our goal is to work hard, and winning!”

As a sophomore there are older kids on the team that he looks up to.

“Chance Neal is my inspi-ration.” Parsa said. He also looks up to his coach, Ms. Hollingsworth.

He described his coach as

a hard worker and she does whatever is necessary for the team.

For the future he plans on going to college but is unde-cided. If he had the opportu-nity to play professionally he would.

“I would want to play John McEnroe if I had the chance.” Parsa said. “He is one of my favorite players.”

He is a part of many clubs here at westside including HOSA, debate, and sopho-more student council.

“Its not hard being a stu-dent athlete if you do what your supposed to do.” Parsa said.

This tennis player is very well rounded and will con-tinue to do more outstand-ing things in the future. Everyone better watch out for Shyon Parsa.

By Brittany Gilpin Staff Writer

For a moment, he only stared at the smoking gun within the stranger’s hands, bewildered at the sight. He’s signalling for me. The shack did not leave much room to ma-neuver for the Outcast and his strange guest. The marksman sat on an old cot that lay up against the wall, consisting of the only fur-nishings in the entire shack. The black haired stranger stood, eyeing his host, his arms crossed at his chest. “You...are very hard to find,” the stranger said. The Outcast did not respond. His eyes were cast down at the boards beneath their feet; his rifle laying across his lap. The stranger slipped open his coat and removed a crumpled sheet of paper, eyeing it very quickly, then slipping it back inside. “The caravaners talked of you passing through Black-stone, and when I turned the city upside down...and you weren’t there...” Now, the marksman’s eyes connected with the stranger’s. The stranger spoke again. “The West is a hard land. Its nothing at all like home...” As the words flew out of the stranger’s mouth, the Outcast snapped the gun off his lap and shouldered it, pointing the hard muzzle at the stranger. “I know you,” the Outcast muttered. In the face of the rifle, the man relaxed, only glaring at the barrel with agitation. “Thats very unlikely that you--” “No, I remember your voice. You’re the one who brought me here,” suddenly the stranger tensed up, seeing the fury in the gaze of the

Outcast. For a moment, the stranger prepared to take a bullet in the chest, sure that nothing would stop him from doing so. But the barrel lowered, along with the strang-er’s heart. “Why are you here?” pressed the Outcast. “I could ask you the same question.”

“Are you here to torment me?” “I would gain nothing from that.” “What do you gain now?” The Outcast slammed his rifle to the floor, regarding the stranger with a look of desperate anger. “Donovan... I’m here to...” “DON’T CALL ME BY THAT NAME!” the Out-cast screamed, in a burning rage, “You have no right. This place has stripped me of any life or name I once had,” Donovan began to breathe deeply, running his hands through his own grimed white hair. Mason sighed, “All right, Outcast. All right.” The stranger lowered himself to the ground

and sat against the wall. “My name is Mason. Yes, you might remember me, but how you came to be in this... world... in the West... and here in the Crags... is not what’s important right now. You’ve only been here a short time and...” “Short?” Donovan yelled again, “its been an eternity!” “Its only been three years. Most of which you have spent in hiding.” “You don’t understand at all! We had to go into hiding...they would have killed us all.” Mason nodded. “”I’m sure thats true, my friend. But I need to know where the other Out-casts have gone.” Donovan brought his hands to his head, ex-haling very deeply. “Why?” “Chaos is spreading. If we don’t find them all, I assure you, there will be no stopping it.” Donovan considered it for a moment. “Why should I help you? My soul would be at ease after killing you. If you had been dead before this, I wouldn’t be on this God forsaken--” “I can give you answers,” Mason interrupted, “I can give you your old life back,” hereached into his duster, pulling out a dusty photograph. He held it out, waiting for the older man to take it. Donovan only eyed it at first. “Trust me, you want to see this.” In a blink, Mason’s hands were empty,. Don-van clenched the photograph tightly as he sunk back down into the old cot. “How...”

For the concluding moments to The Out-casts, and other JB works, visit The Haven

Chronicles on www.westsidehowler.com

By Joseph Brown Staff Writer