volume 32 number 4

8/6/2019 Volume 32 Number 4

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D I~C~MBER16, 2002

INSIDENewsFeaturesSportsIn-DepthEditorialsEntertainment

Page 2Pages 3-4Page 5Pages 6-7Page 8-10Pages 11-12

BRY \i'\J HJGl.1 SCiIOOL 3401 E. 2~hJl BRYi\N, TX 77802TAKS test to replace TAAS

to pass the exit-level TAKS.The TAKS will have a higher level of

difficulty than the previous Texas A.. css-rncnt ofAcademic Skills(fAAS) te t. Fresh-men wil l be required Lolake the Readingand Mathematics tests, while the sopho-mores must take the English Language Arts,Mathematics, Sial Studies, and ciencelest.

Previously for the TAAS, the exit leveltest was given at thelOlh grade level, butwith the TAKS. jun-iors must lake the En-glish Language Arts,Matbemati cs, Soc isItudies and Scienceporti ns of the TAKtest.Darce foresees some po-tent ial problem areas for

TAKS lest-takers."It i frightful that the Socia] tudies

te t count for graduation," Darce aid. re-ferr ing to past diff icul tie with ocial stud-ies components of the eighth grade TAAS.

It is to be made clear, however, thatwhat ver program a student is f llowing,TAAS or TAKS, will be what the tudentmu t pass in order to graduate.

"If a s tudent took TAAS their sopho-more year and fai led then they will not switch10 TAKS," said Darce "That tudent mustcontinually take the TAAS until he passesit with the required number of quest ionsanswered correctly."

The. tandard for passing TAKS dur-ing the phase-in period were recently etby the tale Board of Education. After theboard receives the cores from the fI T t fulladministration of the TAKS next spring, itwill re-examine the transition plan to deter-mine whether to maintain the schedule.

TAKS replace the l2-yearold TAAS.The new testing program, mandated by theTexa Legislature in 1999, expands the sub-jects and grades that are covered by thes tate ' te t ing program.

VOL. 31, No.4

Christine NelsonAssistant editor

r-..........-------,S ample T-A KSProblem IIIT~ -d i';e-;;~;n-; ~ f;- :rectangle are 2)(-5 and I3x-4, Which expression ~best represents thearea of the rectangle insimplest terms?A -17x2- 20B 6x2- 23x + 20C 6X2+ 20D 6x2 .. 7x - 20

CHORALE MEMBERS Diana Davis and Darrin Barton prepare toserve attendees tothe annual Feast of Carols held last weekend in the Blue Commons. The choirperformed for sold-out audiences three nights. photo by Sandy Farris

Yearbooks to be in color for the first tim e)017 VickA sis/ani editor

For the fir t time inBryan High hi tory, theSaga will beprinted incolor.Every page of the yearbookwill have ful l color photo-graphs and artwork.The change tocolor willalso make the yearbooktaff's job harder, accordingtoeditor Caitl in Hodge .

"My staff and rarehaving to pay close atten-tion to details, and we archaving to work harder,"Hodges said.

Th co lof producing

an all-color book is roughly$10,000 more than the u ualco t. The book price hasincrca. cd lightly. to$45 forear ly orders, and $55 afterthe winter holidays.

The reason for thechange iss imple. As tech-nology changes inthe print-ing industry, the co tof cre-ating an all-color yearbookha decrea cd. Taylor Pub-lishing Company, whichprints the BH b ok, iadopting this new technol-ogy, therefore making theavailability of an all-coloryearbook a reality.

The new yearbook will

look more contemporary.and have more of an appealto reader.

"Already there basbeen more of an interest inbuying lhi ycar 's hook, andI amsure after everyone el esee how great the book re-ally is, next year's sales willincrease dramatically,"Hodges said.

The Saga has consis-tently been recognized foroutstanding design and fea-tured in Taylor's annual"Yearbook Yearbook," ashowcase collection of year-books from around the na-tion.

The Texas Assc sment of Knowledgeand kil ls (TAKS) wi IIofficially be given forthe first l ime this year after changes madeby the State Board o r Education. The TAKStest, which replace the TAA , mea. methe statewide curriculum in reading. writ-ing, English language arts, mathematics,science and social studies.

TAKS will be imple-mented over a IW -year_iiiiiiijijiiijiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip riod. Though grade lOa n d I I wiIItake the new testthis year for assess mentpurposes, it will not be-come a graduation require-ment until the 2003-2004 Texas Asse smentchool year. At that time, IfKnow ledge and Skillsjuniors must pass the exitlevel TAKS to graduate.

"If a student fail the TAK test therewill be an effort to have that tudent re-ceive extra help for the future tes ts ," saidBecky Darcc, Dean of Education. Like theTAAS, students will have several cbances

9 :l:lMSUY.....J


2/12

AROUNDHE CAMPUS-'Runaways'tryoutsbegin todayViking Theatre. will be peforming amoving drama about teenage runaways.Auditi ns for "Runaway "are tonightand tomorrow from 4-6 p.m. inthe BlackBox Theatre. udit ion packets are avail-able outside Rill. 4150. For more informa-tion secMr. Lee (Rm. 4150) fine arts build-ing, or Ms. Knight in Room 3123.

Secret Vikings stillhave tickets lefttudents till hav a few days left towin a free movie pass worth $6.75. All astudent has to do is shake schoolemployee' hand and say "hello" and"have a good day." To win the pr ize stu-dents must shake the hand of the "SecretViking" employee who has th e movie tick-e to give away.

College Boardrecognizes seniorsFour Bryan seniors have been hon-

ored as part of the National Hispanic Rec-ognition Program (NHRP). Julia Almeida

and Adrian Santana have been recog-nizcd a. scholars in the programs, whileJcs e Ortega and Beatriz aldierna havebeen named as Honorable Mention Fi -nalists .

The NHRP was established in 1983.The College Board programs provide na-tional recognition of the exceptional aca-demic achievements of hi panic highschool seniors and identifies them topost-secondary institutions.

tudent enter the program by tak-ing the preliminary SATlNalional MeritScholarship Qualifying Tests as highschool juniors and by identifying them-selve as Hispanic.

Crimestoppersneeds informationon past tipstudent who have phoned the

C ri rn es to pp er s t ip Lineor talked to an ad-ministrator about a crime that has hap-pened inthe past three months and have[lotyet received their reward should con-tact School Resource Officers BuckRoger or Jeff Reeve .

NooN

BEAR HUGS--Nina Wright's 4th period Co-op class displays bears they re-cently created at Build-A-Bear inthe Woodlands Mall.The bears willbe donatedto Scotty's House as a Service Learning project for the class. At Build-A-Bears tudents were allowed to pick out the type of animal and clothes in addit ion tostuffing the bears themselves. pho to b y Jacki e P er ro ne

AFJROTCfood drive holds food."Operation Vittles" is another name forThe Berl in Airl ift . The Air Force's fi rs tHumanitar ian Mission, and marked thefrst challenge of a new Uoiled States AirPorce in l 9 48 . The AFJROTC project COIl-t inue the Armed Force ' long-standingand proud tradition of proving humani-tarian relief to people and countries inneed.

The Air Force Junior ROTC held a fooddrive tobenefit the KBTX Food for Fami-lies program. This project was conductedby the fourth period cla as their er-vice Learning Project. They collected ap-proximately 900 pounds of food for thosein need. Thi i just under a half a ton of

S tu d en t d emons tra te s in te grity by r et um i ng v a lu able sElisa ValadezStaff writerSenior Adrian Rodriguez

knew the sent imental value ofthe items he found in theWalgreen's parking 10l a fewmonths ago. especially theAggie ring included in the jew-elry. That's why he took thrings and watch to his Englishteacher, Debra Lawhorn, andenlisted her help in finding theowner of the jewelry.Lawhorn called Walgreen's

in earch of an Aggie who hadlost their belonging . With nresponse from Walgreen s,Lawhorn attempted to f ind thewner of the ring by contactingthe company who manufacturedthe cia s ring. Most class ringhave the graduate' initial orname engraved n the in ide.Later that day Lawhorn ar-

rived home to a message fromMs. Mills, owner of the lostjew-elry. Mills had been looking for

her belongings andalso had calledWalgreens.Lawhorn and

Mill arranged tomeet during 4th pe-riod whileRodriguezwas in class soMills would be ableto meet the honeststudent who re-turned her jewelry.There they meet andMills hawed greatapprec iation toRodriguez.Both Rodriguez

and Lawhorn feltproud of the deedthey bothpaticipated in."I felt good in-

side becau e, it wasthe right thing todo," Rodriguez said.Lawhorn wa proud of her

student fOT wanting the findrightful owner of the jewelry.

SENIOR Adrian Rodriguez (incostume fo r anEnglish presentation) gets a hug from theowner of some jewelry he found in theWalgreen's parking lot.photo courtesy DebraLawhorn"IL show how honest stu-

dents are at Bryan High,"Lawhorn said.

Bryan-College StationLibrary SystemWinter Reading Club 2002Ge:t' srvetphio@ yO1M'"l i .brcuy

What is it?The Winter Reading Club isan opportunity for teenagers 13-18 to read, participate in library activit ies, and win prizes.How does it work?Complete activit ies listed on game board squares. Some ofthe squares require a librarian 10 ini tial , but a few you can doon your own. Once nine squares are completed, tum inyourgame board for a chance to win a grand prize drawing.How do I sign up?Starting Dec. 15, visi t e ither l ibrary to sign up.What else is there?Free Craft Activity

Bryan - Dec. 20 - 2:30-4:30 p.m.College Station - Dec. 21- 1:30-4:30 p.m.

Film FestivalBryan - Dec. 27 - 1:30-4:30 p.m.College Station - Dec. 28 - 1:30-4:30 p.m.

New Year 's PartyBryan - Dec. 31 -1 :30-4:30 p.m.College Station - Dec. 31 - 6-9 p.m.

New Year's Computer WorkshopBryan - Jan. 2 - 7 p.m.

Bryan Libary - 260-5600 College Station Library - 764-3416


3/12

~~ __~ ~ FEATU"~~_Internet entertainment: web gaming ~Increasing popularity of computer games sweeps the nation g

GameSpy Arcade requires a one- Nt ime fee of $20 while Snood al- \Or. .lows afree trial membership and ~then require a one-time fee of p : : :$14.95 to ~

~Other uwebsites al- ~low the H

p\aysi te.cO~ g am e sp ya ra ca de . c omItSyourturn c. om

go.m es .yo.hoo.com \


4/12

EATURESNooN

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. -.. . . .. .-,~,. _

Elisa ValadezStaff writerThough once thought to be

too difficul t and expen lve,over eas adoption are hap-pening more frequently. Manypotential parent" are opting to

ado p tchildren"The first from for-time I realized e i g nthere were somany un-wanted chil-

dren waswhen Iplanned toadopt,"Becky DarceAdministrator

countriesratherthan gothrough asome-

changed their lives forever.Becky Darce, Dean of In-struction, and M'Lee Brooks,counselor, both adopted chil-dren overseas.Since childhood, Darce

had been planning to adopt."The first time Irealized

there were a many unwantedchildren was when Iplannedto adopt," Darce said.Adopting in the United

States was not a can ider-ation for Darce.'Since Imingle it would

not have been easy," Darcesaid.

lim e s Darce adopted two chil-len g t hy dren through the Great Wall

\.' , ot Sec\


5/12

5 SPORTS V ike s lo okin g fo r a no the r d is tr ic t t it leNeith HudackootaffwriteroN

importance of winning here; wehave to win berc,"said Coach JohnReese.

The only hindrance tbeViking have this year is that theyare one of the shortest teams inthe tate. With no man standingtaller than 6' I ,. the Vikings willneed to use their. peed to wingames.

This proved an effectivestrategy during the sea on openeragain t a taller top 20 team in TheWoodlands. The Vikings defeatedthe Highlanders 65-61.

The Vikings tried and truedefensive philosophy remainsunchanged this year: wear theopposition's defense down bypushing the ball up the floor andexhibiting constant ball movement.

The Bryan Vikings basketball\.0"team are looking for their eventh~ con ecutive district championship~ and their fi rs t state ti tle since theyI . I 4 won back-to-back championshipsF 8 in '8 1- 82 a nd '8 2- 83 .; : ; s The team began the seasonB ranked seventh in the s~at~by the~ TABC (Texas Association ofQ Basketball Coaches) polls.

They have a pair of return ing starter this year in point guard

~

De'Kyron Nicks and forwardTyrone Bazy.Their focus this year is on

~ peed, defen e and winning at~ home.o "We have talked about theZ

More important isthe Vikings'full court pre. they call "Fist."They refuse to let the offense seethe floor and cause numerousturnovers by frustrating their foes.A far as offense goes theVikes will use ball movement, highpercentage shots, and transitionbucket to run up the scores ontheir opponents.

The Vikings got a bigconfidence boo t after takingfourth place in the top 10-litteredAldine TS D tournament onNovember 20, and a controversialsecond in the Zizzcr Classic overthe Thanksgiving Holiday. Thememories of the 200 1 state finalslos [0Sugarland WiJlowridge arest i ll fresh in theVikings' memoriesand they are aiming to leave no

( top) Jason O'Dell pract ioes in gymnast ics class on the pommel horse while class-mates around him look on. (above) Michael Whitaker pract ices refining his ski lls onpommel horse. photos by Jon Vick

The varsity basketball team Is preparing for a challenging districtseason Ihis year. Coach John Reese looks forward to a good year.doubts this time around.

Bryan's emphasis on winningat home does not go unnoticed.

The la t time the Vikings lost in"the cave" was more than threeyears ago.

Golf team takes aim on new seasonAs far as the team' strength go,

Newhouse says the Viking's biggesttrengths lie intheir ability to drive the balllong off the tee, but their emphasis in onshan game since their practice facilitie donot accomodat long ball hilling.The boys team is lead by BrandonDestefano who isaveraging a score of 74.7per round.The gir ls team is also progressing well ,

although Newhouse says they are quite abit hen-handed with only two membersavailable for the fall season.The girls have participated in four tour-

naments. The tournaments include a pairof ninth place finishes in theViking Invita-t ional and Tiger Clas ic,The girls are led by A hley Deatheragewith an average of 79 per round.Although the Viking have had success

early on this season, the team plans tocon-tinue improving throughout the spring sea-son and district, aswell asthroughout post-season play.Gym n as t iCS te am s ta r ts th e s e a s o n o ff we ll

Keith HudackoStaff writerThe Bryan Vik ings galf season i s w e ll un-

derway, and the Vikings are aiming to im-proveon a regionaJ finals fini h inlastyear'playoffs.The boy team has already played inthree

tournaments: the Viking Invitational (BryanHigh), The Tiger invitational (A&M Con-solidated), and the Judson Invi tational(Conver e Judson).The Vikings won their own invitational

out of 12 teams entered. They placed thirdin the Judson tournament out of 23 teams,and sixth in the Tiger Classic out of 24teams. Overall, they are 49-7 for the falleason with the spring season just aroundthe comer.Coach Ron Newhouse att ributes much

of the team's success so far this season tothe team's senior leadership.' 'Experience has been a big factor so far,"

Newhouse said.

Jon VickAssistant editor

On Dec. 6, the boyscompeted at the Kingwoodlnvitational in a nine teamfield. Bryan gymnasts com-peted in a total of 67 rou-lines.

This year there are 14boys on varsity, with nineof those from last year andrive first time competitors.

The team best areas aresteel rings, parallel bars, andhigh bar. The team relies oneach other when competing.

"Without one we areweak. The team is very de-

pendent on each other aswell as grades and health,"boys gymnastics coach J.T.Fletcher, aid.The teams are expect-ing good things this yearand hope [0 succeed instate competition.

The team won state in96',98',99' ,and2000. Theyal a fini hed sixth I l ! S l year.

"We have a goodchance to finish at least inthe top three at state com-petition," Fletcher aid.

Gymnastics ha gottenoff to a fantastic start withmany out of lawn wins al-ready.

Recently, the team tookfirs t place out of six teamsat a Forth Wonh meet. Theyal a took firstplace ina com-petition in Hurst, TX.

The boys also wontheir dual. compulsory com-peti lion on Nov. 15 atRound Rock High School.


6/12

6NooN

a few more button anddidn't work all the time but,Mario Bros. I Duck HuM waa permanent f ixture in the sys-tem for anyone who had it.

S t r a it's Money forNothing shows the graphicswe grew up with,

with us. We had no Furbies Cor Poo-chi. We used our S:imagination.

dlb:tilaJcII

volume 32 number 4

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