NORSEMAN

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Norseman Staff The Vikings just scored a touchdown, making the score of the game 21-0, and an imposing figure emerges from the sidelines - a giant Viking! He runs back and forth in front of the crowd waving the viking flag as the crowd cheers for him and the team. Standing 7 ft. tall with an upbeat personality, some may say that senior Mark Kleckley was born to play the role of Bryan Highs mascot. Mark is the youngest of five brothers who have been heavily involved at BHS, with his brother Ben also acting as mascot.

Fall Sports Pics Awesome Game Page

Mark Kleckley: Big Man on Campus

I wanted to become mascot because I was tired of living in my brothers shadow Mark said. I wanted to outshine them all! Mark saw the chance to act as mascot as an opportunity to excel at something. I know I will never be the smartest kid in my class or the best football player, but I can have the most spirit, Mark said. Its hard not to see Marks school spirit on dress-up days; almost everyone looks forward to seeing his ridiculous costumes. If I can put on a goofy-looking costume and make someone smile, my days is a success, Mark said.

Bryan High School 3450 Campus Drive Bryan, TX 77802 December 2006 Volume 36 No. 3

My goal in life is to make people smile. He said the best parts of being mascot is meeting other interesting people and interacting with little kids at different events during the school year. There was a little girl about four years old who didnt even come up to my knees, Mark said. Standing next to her while we were playing red rover and having to lean down to hold her hand was one of the best memories I have of being mascot. Being mascot is not the only activity Mark is involved in. He is also currently Senior Class President, continued on page 2

Picture of the Six Weeks

Seniors Jerry Burford and DNae Pate dissect a cat during Anatomy & Physiology. If you would like to see one of your pictures in this space please bring the picture or camera card by room 6160 for consideration. Any school related activity is acceptable.

Senior mascot Mark Kleckley holds up the Viking V as the band plays the school song during a football pep-rally.

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Period Period 3 EXAM Lunch A Period 4A EXAN Period 4B EXAM Lunch B Balance Period 4B EXAM Period 4C EXAM Lunch C Balance Period 4C EXAM Period 4D EXAM Lunch D Balence Period 4D EXAM Period 7 EXAM BHS Exam Bell Schedule Wednesday, December 13 Exams 3, 4 & 7 From To 8:30 10:45 10:45 11:15 11:20 10:51 11:20 11:55 10:51 11:20 11:55 10:51 12:30 1:05 1:30 1:24 11:20 11:50 1:24 11:55 12:25 1:24 12:30 1:00 1:24 3:45 Minutes 135 30 124 29 30 89 64 30 54 99 30 19 135

December 2006

Bryan Viking Mascot

continued from page 1 4H President of District, and also a member of NHS, Key club, Mu Alpha Theta, Spanish Honor Society, and Habitat for Humanity. I feel most accomplished amongst the stress and craziness, Mark said. Homecoming was one of Marks favorite weeks of school because of all the craziness and events that happen each day. Homecoming is exciting because there is a new dressup day each day of the week and then theres the game and the dance, he said. Despite Mark being involved in so many extracurricular activities in and out of school he still manages to maintain good grades. Ive always focused on extracurriculars more, but somehow they help me keep my grades up, Mark said. Because Mark is graduating this year, Bryan High will be in need of a new mascot. The date for mascot tryouts has not been scheduled yet,

Period Period 6 EXAM Period 5 EXAM

BHS Exam Bell Schedule Thursday, December 14 Exams 6 & 5 From To 8:30 10:30 10:36 12:36 BHS Exam Bell Schedule Friday, December 15 Exams 2 & 1 From To 8:30 10:30 10:36 12:36

Minutes 120 120

Period Period 2 EXAM Period 1 EXAM

Minutes 120 120

but they will take place some time next semester. Students will be judged on energy, school spirit as well as many other things that go into being a great mascot. Its not about being big, its about love of BHS and a high level of enthusiasm, Mark said. Mark has finally made a name for himself as an integral part of the spirit of Bryan High. I like always having people looking up to me and knowing who I am, Mark said. Mark is attending Texas A&M in the fall and will have to start over making a name for himself so hes not just Bens little brother. Ben has already established himself at A&M as the current sophomore class president. Mark plans to be involved from day one and hopes to be elected as the freshman class president. If you know your limits, you can move them, Mark said as his quote for life.

Seniors - Remember that you have to take your picture at Specialties this semester to be included in the 2007 Saga yearbook. If you have missed your appointment or need to make one please call Specialties at 260-9016. Penny Chase - BHS raised over $1,300 for the United Way Youth Action Board. Mrs. Owens 4th period class raised the most with $290. Parade Awards - Three groups earned honors at the Tinsel Time in the Twin Cities parade. In the high school division: 1st, BHS Shy-Annes; 2nd, BHS Cheerleaders and in the Bands/Marching division: 2nd, BHS Band. Wrestling - December 16th, 10th Annual Doc Hess Classic Spring Semester - School will resume on January 3.

Around the CAmpus

December 2006

Getting Rude by Playing Family Feud

Has anyone noticed that over the years wintertime family get-togethers create random acts of arrogance and aggression. (Like when Uncle Raymond wants to show off his fake Rolex ten times and then gets angry when someone says

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Its the most wonderful time of the year; family, lights, food, and a lot of good times. However, Christmas isnt all fun and games. The preparation for the Christmas holiday is full of annoyances and a great deal of stress. Weeks before Christmas you have to brave the crowds to buy the perfect present but, before entering the store you can already hear the oh-so-familiar bell that is sure to give you a headache. The clanking of the tiny golden bell will last throughout the entirety of the Christmas holidays. Because of the colder weather people are sure to bundle up to fight the chills. After you bundle up to walk from your car to the store you must fight through the sound of a ringing bell and then after entering the store you find yourself sweating. The owners of some stores seem to remain unaware that their shoppers are not dressed for the 85 degrees the store sets its thermastat on, but for the outside temperature of 40. Even after all the gifts are wrapped and snugly placed beneath the tree, you are still not finished with your holiday struggles. There are still many household chores that remain unfinished. Your house must be spick-and-span in order to measure up to family and friends expectations. Dusting. Vacuuming. Sweeping. Mopping. These are just a small number of the tedious chores that must be completed in preparation for the holidays. Despite all the problems before the holiday, when Christmas finally arrives all the good things will definatley heal the everlasting headaches and stresses of past weeks and all will be well once again. ---Norseman Staff

Elisa Santana Co-editor

it is fake.) Im not saying these moments are a bad thing either; in my case they are the hilarious and heartwarming memories that make my family. The delicious holiday that spawns all of the winter-time madness is Thanksgiving. Every Thanksgiving they speak of Black Friday, where people camp out in front of Wal-Mart to buy a hundred dollar laptop at five in the morning. I had never done this before, but this year my cousins approached me with the idea of camping out of Circuit City to purchase one of the coveted laptops. I was out in the cold with them for seven hours and I couldnt have spent that much time in that situation with anyone other than my family. The elements led us to say things like You dont know me! and No cutters!

If someone cuts I am going to go crazy on them!. Even though I had to use my Tae-bo skills on a guy in the store, it feels good knowing that in my future when I may not be able to spend Thanksgiving with them I will at least have this memory. After Black Friday there is the magical celebration that is Christmas, and at our Christmas celebration it gets competitive. All games of course get ugly because there is only the winner gets a prize. I remember the days when I was prepared to push anyone who got in the way of my musical chair prize; and forget bingo, because someone always calls out someone else playing on too many cards. My personal favorite is Family Feud, you would think a family would know not to play a game that is titled Family Feud and especially not at Christmas, but no. We divide into teams and conquer the weak players who dont know the most popular state that starts with New. (Its New York, duhh Michael) Let me now take this time to say to my family that even though I may shout Youre A Loser! Im Number One I really mean I love you. Thanks for making the holidays interesting year after year and I hope to see you at the Family Feud rematch.

Bah Humbug

Si Se Puede: Yes You Can

America is the greatest country in the world. It is the country of opportunities. Americans should pride themselves in all the great attributes we hold. For instance, AmeriTiffany Torres can citizens have the Staff writer power of voice, voting. Also, American citizens have, for the most part, a good health care system. One of the greatest traits we should embrace is our education system. Some mainsteam media figures say our public education system is cracked, but I think it is the kind of thing that will be praised in our future history books. The one problem is that in schools, the majority of American students take public education for granted. Especially minorities, is it a fact that only 50% of black and Hispanic students graduate from high school.

In our neighboring country, Mexico, their citizens students have to pay tuition if they continue to go to grades 9th through 12th. First generation immagrants value school because they realize the importantance of education and how it will better themselves. While the later generations wane in eduacation. In 2010 Hispanic citizens will not be the minority in America. Let us be known for our achievements, not the stereotypes that people hold against us. College is a great aspiration, the percentage of minorities in even large universities is low, but it can be obtained by determination. There has been many Hispanics and AfricanAmericans that were even revered in times of ethnicity oppression. Diego and Freda Rivera are renowned painters. Dr. Cater Jackson is one of the most acclaimed surgeons of all time for being the first surgeon to accomplish a highly risky and difficult surgery. Hardwork and determination are a must.

NORSEMAN
Bryan High School 3450 Campus Drive, Bryan, TX 77802
Volume 36, No. 3 Co-editors Jason Galindo and Elisa Santana Staff Racheal Daylong, Logan Kickham, Tiffany Torres Adviser Rebecca Dominy
The Norseman is a publication produced by the Advanced Journalism Newspaper Production class at Bryan High School. The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not represent the opinion of the faculty, staff or administration of Bryan High School. Letters to the editor are welcome and may be delivered to Rm. 6160 or the Blue Campus Office. Member-UIL Interscholastic League Press Conference (ILPC) Winner of the ILPC Award of Distinguished Merit 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2001-02, 2002-03; Silver Star, 2001-02.

C h ristmas
iPod 80 Gig Cost: $349.00
Best place to buy: Directly from Apple so you can get it engraved Features: Listen to music, Watch movies, Watch TV shows, Play Games (Tetris, Pac-Man, Bejeweled, Mini Golf, Texas Holdem, Vortex, Zuma, Cubis 2, Mahjung)

Gift Card Cost: Optional

Best place to buy: You decide the best place to make this purchase and let your friends pick out their own gift

Puppy

Cost: --Best place to buy: The Animal Shelter, save an animals life and adopt your pet from the animal shelter

Perfume/Cologne Cost: $30.00-$65.00

Best place to buy: At Abercrombie and Fitch and Department stores Features: You are already looking good, why not smell good?

Nintendo Wii Cost: $249.00

Best place to buy: Because of the high demand for this item around Christmas time, anywhere where you can purchase this item is the best place. Features: Motion sensitive controllers, backward compatibility to GameCube, and SD memory card compatible

Mani/Pedi Cost: $25.00-$40.00

Best place to buy: Classy Nails and Star Nails deliver good service Features: Get away from life for an hour and have your nails in top condition

s L ist
Shoes Cost: $40-$70
Best place to buy: Anywhere but Journeys. Features: Many exciting colors. Look good while being comfortable

Digital Camera Legos Cost: $2.00-$200.00

Best place to buy: Walmart or Target Features: You can build whatever you want or follow directions and create a three foot tall Yoda

Kodak V530 Cost: $249.00 Best place to buy: Any electronics dealer Features: Available in 4 colors (silver, black, pink and red), 5 MP, 3X optical zoom

Christmas Popcorn Tin Cost: Under $5.00

Best place to buy: Trust me, dont buy one of these for anyone unless they did something horrible to you.

PlayStation 3

Cost: $599.00 Best place to buy: Because of the high demand for this item around Christmas time, anywhere where you can purchase this item is the best place Features: Next generation in gaming, 60 GB memory, Blue-Ray optical disc drive, and built in Wi-Fi

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December 2006

December 2006

Happy Feet Recieves Happy Reviews

Rachael Daylong Staff writer People of all ages awaited the release of the new animated movie Happy Feet. Many people may not be planning to see this movie because they confuse it with a childrens film. They are wrong. This movie contains many famous actors, including Robin Williams, Brittany Murphie, Elijah Wood, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Steve Irwin, and Fat Joe. A movie with this many talented actors could never fail. The wide assortment of these characters normally enacted genres account for the many themes of the movie. Robin Williams gives much needed comic relief to the more serious themes of not accepting a character that is different than everyone else. Along with the comic part of the movie it incorporates a love story, a political stance, an adventure, and a moral theme. The basis of the movie lays on the fact that all penguins must think of their own song to find their true love, however Mumble can not sing. Instead of singing Mumble tap dances. This be-

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Subject Yourself to Roc-a-fella Kingdom Tis the Season for Movie Flops Elisa Santana the highway.
Logan Kickham Staff writer Although most Christmas movies bring out the holiday spirit in everyone, Deck the Halls is sure to bring out the Scrooge in all moviegoers. Matthew Broderick, Danny Devito, and Kristen Davis filled the set of this film with talent, yet it still managed to be one of the worst Christmas movies I have seen in years. Optometrist, Steve Finch (Broderick), has a passion for Christmas and forces the family to go along for the ride. When new neighbors suddenly arrive in the middle of the night, problems immediately begin to brew. Buddy Hall (Devito) soon decides to take Finchs role as the town Christmas Guy after realizing that his house can not be seen from MyEarth, the online virtual globe. Buddy begins to buy every kind of Christmas light imaginable which sends Steve over the edge, pushing him to fight back by attempting to destroy his competition. From the start of the movie, the audiences feeling of frustration begins to emerge. At a time when most only want to enjoy a simple movie to kick off the holiday season they are forced to watch a film with horrendous attempts at many serious moments. Although the acting was not spectacular, it was an underdeveloped plot combined with poor story telling that made for a bad movie. I hate to be negative at this time of the year, but as someone who is generally a fan of most holiday-themed movies I must warn you: DONT SEE THIS MOVIE! Honestly, you could come out of the theater with a bitter hatred of all Christmas events to come for the rest of the year. Co-editor I know many of us were astonished when Jay-Z announced that he was retiring at the old age of thirty-two, but after collaborating on so many hits, who really knew he was gone? I guess he got tired of just being the CEO of Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella Records and decided that he would come out of retirement with the best album yet. Just looking at the packaging and cover art and you can tell a lot of thought went into making the album. The case is actually a clear red plastic that when put against a 3D picture of Jay-Z, a black and white picture of him shows up. The CD makes me happy that someone finally put in an effort to make my ten dollars worth my while. The title track Kingdom Come actually samples the late Rick James song Superfreak; it will immediately get you excited. You may think that MC Hammers spin on U Cant Touch This was already too much, but Jay makes it hot and even gives props to Hammer in the line had to dust off the Hammer dance-cant touch this. The single off the album is titled Show me what you got. Those who already have heard it know its a song that will make you feel good while roaring down

havior is looked down on by the elders and leaves Mumble friendless and outcast. The elders blame the fish shortage on Mumbles odd behavior of dancing. Mumbles adventure is to find why the fish shortage is happening and to stop it. Until he does he can never return to his colony. All the dancing noises in the movie are from actual tap dancers. The movie utilizes movement capture technology to record all the tap noise and move it to the computer to animate. The animators first animated the humans and used their movements to animate a penguin form of them. Not only is the animation and dancing amazing, the singing is also great. Brittany Murphie sings in much of the movie. She surprises the audience with her powerful vocals. For being an actress not known for her singing talent, she is quite an impressive singer. This movie is definitely one to see. It is amazingly animated, well acted, and the dancing is impeccable. No matter who you are this movie should appeal to you.

Other songs I enjoy listening to are Anything, a collaboration with Usher, Do U Wanna Ride featuring John Legend, and Trouble. Anything is a definite hiphop hit for the ladies and Do U Wanna Ride brings the best of John Legend and can be described in two words: simple and lovely. As for Trouble, the scribbles and hand claps that are infused within the beat are hypnotic and makes you set it on repeat. After coming back from his retirement, I expected Jay-Z to come out with another rap classic like the Black Album; I must say this album makes me miss the immediate rowdiness that 99 Problems produced. Remember though the Black album was so hyped up that he had some of the best producers putting their best beats on it and it also had the determination of Jay-Z to leave his mark on Rap, all of which made it the rhythmic and lyrical beast that it was. After all of the debate over his new album, I personally like it. I enjoy Jay-Zs voice on tracks and think he has matured a lot. The combination of his growth and urban lifestyle have created a smooth and selling album.

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Word Puzzles
1.

Game Page
F R E
3.

Cartoon Title

December 2006

Each of the boxes below depicts a phrase. How many can you figure out? Answers found below.

by: Jason Galindo

2.

E
4.

Barbershop Barbershop Barbershop Barbershop

XQQQME
5.

Cluck Cluck Quack Quack

6.

Me Quit
7. 8.

##### We i g h t

9 7 1 7 3 8 6 4 9 8 4 9 1 3 5 9 1 7 2 8 8 2 1 4 8 1 9 7 6 3 4 8 9 6 2
Directions: Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9, with each number only appearing once in every row, column, and 3x3 box. 4 2 9 1 5 8 6 7 5 7 8 2 6 3 4 1 1 3 6 4 9 7 2 5 9 8 7 6 3 2 1 4 2 5 4 8 1 9 3 6 6 1 3 7 4 5 8 9 3 9 8 5 7 2

Sudoku

8 6 2 5 7 4 9 3 1 7 9 1 3 8 6 5 2 4 3 4 5 9 2 1 7 8 6

Money Mind

Meal

1. Crossfire, 2.Barbershop Quartet, 3. Excuse Me, 4. Foul Language, 5. Quit Following Me, 6. 5 Pounds over Weight, 7. Money on My Mind, 8. Balance Meal