The Cougar Claw Newspaper, Tomball High School, Nov. 2014

16 Police Brutality

Point/Counter point on violence in the force.

The Cougar Claw Tomball High School Nov. 2014 Vol. 58, Issue 2 THSCougarClaw.com

Man vs Machine With two student deaths in the past three years involving ATVs, should parents and students weigh the risks of All Terrain Vehicles?

Pages 5-8

10 Late Friday Student band’s rise to fame

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taff List:

Editor-In-Chief: Jynn Schubert I love writing and design, but my favourite thing to do is torture the newspaper staff by asking them to do things like write stories and do their work.

Adviser: Jerry Fordyce I spent 25 years in the newspaper business. I believe people with a skill set have a duty to pass that information on.

Senior Editors News Editor: Samantha Abrahams Hello! My name is Sam, and I don’t really know what to put here.

Sports Editor: Leandra Carty I am the sports editor and I write about sports!

Opinion Editor: Austin Dominguez My editor made me write this. I enjoy writing, reading, ponies, and long walks on the beach.

Don’t forget to check out more of their work at: thscougarclaw.com

Staff Staff Writer: Joe Torres On wrooting, wise words of me.

Ads Editor: Charles Warren I am Groot

Tech Editor: Carl Buhr Bow down to my superior hair. All shall kneel before me.

Web Co-Editor: Danny Trchalek Hi! I love to observe whale behaviour and migration and I like pizza.

Current Events Editor: Julian Joseph

Staff Writer: Alex Joyner

I’m not the person in this photo ladies!!

Hi I’m Alex and I love to dance it up with all the

Web Co-Editor: Logan Wagezpk

Feature Editor: Ted Hujar

Hi! I am Logan, I am the founder of the pizza king club. I love singing and picking daisies.

I am a young free male 5’2” Asian.

Don’t let me fool you, I’m tall on the inside.

N tudent Life S eature Story F ech T ports S he Big Picture T ews

We’ve all heard “Safety first”; find out how ATVs can make it easy to forget about being safe.

Local garage band Late Friday releases new music; also, check out the latest reviews of new music. Pages 9-12

An update on the LGBT community’s progress in the United States, and a look into two sides on excessive brutality in the police force.

Apple’s recent new releases spur a conversation about Smart Watches, and some Tips and Tricks for using iOS8.

Charms and Football celebrate old-school style with team reunions; meanwhile, will our percussion state champs continue their legacy?

Is income inequality ruining our chances at the American Dream?

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etters To The ditor

Dear editor, I would like to address how in the English classes the teachers take up the phones of the students at the start of class and lock them away. What if something happens where we need to evacuate quickly? Last year, I was in English during the bomb threat.

- Chase Allison Chase, As silly and cliché as this is about to sound - They wouldn’t take them up if they didn’t need to. Do I agree with taking such a valuable emergency tool away from students during an evacuation? Not at all! I was lucky enough not to be in English last year and could tell my mom that everything was okay… But the problem isn’t with evacuations; it’s with regular old class work. So to answer your question: Stay off your phone in class, and maybe teachers won’t have a reason to remove the temptation for you.

- The Editor Dear Editor, An idea of mine for a new school club is fashion marketing or something along the lines of fashion. By introducing this club or class whatever it might be I feel like it might help guide people’s career. If it was available at this

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Jynn Schubert

school I would without a doubt sign up for it.

- Krissy Diaz Krissy, Then by all means, start one! It isn’t too difficult to start a club at this school.

All you need is a teacher to be your sponsor, and to get it cleared with administration. If you’re that interested in attending such a club, it shouldn’t be too much work for you and your friends to put one together. Good Luck!

- The Editor Dear Editor,

I’d like to bring up the topic of religion. I know you’re not supposed to talk about religion in school but I believe we should be able to because if we can respect somebody else’s religion why can’t everybody respect other people’s religions. It says in our pledge “one nation under god”, so why don’t we base schools and the nation under god like it says. I’m happy that in school we have bible study and stuff we can worship god even through school.

- Allison Love Allison, I’d like to answer your letter with a letter I got from junior Sarah Pfrenger:

Dear Editor,

I completely understand that during the holidays everyone is all hyped about Christmas and presents.

We put up this huge tree right in the middle of the school and have “Santa” pass out candy canes - but what about the kids who are Jewish and don’t celebrate Christmas.

I don’t feel like we should be putting all our emphasis into the holidays when some of us don’t celebrate it. I’m personally Jewish and when all I see is Christmas trees and Christmas everything it makes me feel different and out of place. I know that I’m a minority I would greatly appreciate it if sometimes you could put up a menorah or the Star of David to show that you actually care about other religions.

Also on that topic, I am constantly noted that I have to read many books for English now and in the past that has to do with constantly and the bible and it makes me feel very uncomfortable to read it. I know very well that there is probably not much you or I could do to change that but I would greatly appreciate it if maybe sometimes just get away from the aspect of Christianity and go to a more Jewish idea if not a neutral idea.

This is a long shot I know but I would feel a lot better if we could change this. Thank you for your time to read and listen to my letter. I really appreciate it.

- Sarah So to answer your question, Allison, it’s because even though it says “one nation under God” that doesn’t mean that everybody believes in God or that

everybody believes in God the same way. As somebody who doesn’t practice Christianity like the majority of people at our school do, I understand where Sarah is coming from. However, instead of trying to put every religion’s symbol up around the holiday season, I think it would be best if we all just accepted that there are many different opinions and went with a more neutral winter theme. Thank you for your letters, and have a happy holiday season!

- The Editor Dear Editor,

The subject that I am addressing today is facial hair requirements and punishments. I believe that the male student body should not be forced to shave, if the student’s facial hair does not exceed half an inch. Many of our students are missing valuable class time due to “distracting” facial hair. It’s silly to think that facial hair is distracting students from doing class work or to think and having all males shave. We can’t indicate whether or not someone is an “intruder” because they have facial hair. Let’s not be so strict with rules that are nothing but nonsense, and keep our students in class for the only reason we are here, and that is to learn.

- Stephen Bonnain Stephen, I agree. I think it’s silly that there are so many bodily requirements at school that are mostly useless and often result in kids missing valuable class time for dumb reasons. As my dad always said “School is for reading, writing and arithmetic, nothing else!”

-The Editor

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News

Man vs M

Too close to home Samantha Abrahams

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eptember 18 was a night like any other, except for the mud on the four-wheeling track from the rain earlier that day. It was a Thursday around seven o’clock, and Senior Fredrick Blake Cothren hopped aboard his 1995 Polaris ATV with his 13-year-old cousin.

Cothren, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s office, couldn’t handle the slick path and hit a tree. He was killed and his cousin was badly hurt.

The boys had waited until Cothren’s mother had left home before taking out the ATV. “They snuck it out and went riding without telling anyone,” Leah Cothren said. “Don’t take the ATV without your parents knowing. We had no clue.”

News of his death spread quickly across social media.

Those who knew and loved him were overcome with grief.

Machine: “I felt shocked when I first heard the news,” said Cothren’s girlfriend, junior Cassidi Hale. “I didn’t really believe it. The news still really hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Cothren was heavily involved in the agriculture department during his time here at THS. He raised turkeys and pigs for the FFA program. Within the last year he became more interested in the mechanical side of agriculture and even picked up welding.

“It has crazy impacted us personally as well our program, and it is a tremendous loss,” Cothren’s agriculture teacher, Mrs. Reeves said.

“He was hilarious. He was always lending a helping hand.

Riding All-Terrain Vehicles is an attractive sport for those who love the outdoors. The feeling of the wind blowing through your hair, the adrenaline rush you get as you speed along the trail, and the blur of the trees around you tends to be appealing. But keep in mind, ATVs can be dangerous.

“Don’t let anyone talk you into getting on one with no safety gear,” Mrs. Cothren said.

Cothren’s crash reminded many students and teachers of ATV accidents in the past involving THS students.

“We have had several injuries and deaths from ATVs in our FFA program,” added AG teacher, Mrs. Thomas. “I can agree they can be fun, but they are dangerous.”

Three years ago, sophomore Hudson Folkerts, also an FFA

standout, died in a horrific fourwheeling accident.

“The wind knocked off his baseball cap. He was on an ATV with two other kids, and they turned around so he could go back to pick it up,” said Mandy Folkerts, Hudson’s mom, “They slowed down, he leaned over to pick it up, and he lost his balance and fell off.

The ground was so hard; he hit his head in the most exact spot.”

Folkerts’ family used their tragedy to help others. They started a foundation in his honour.

The Hudson Folkerts Foundation gives students scholarships to help pay for animals, feed, and FFA jackets.

“We’ve been able to bless a lot of kids at Tomball who have been able to raise an animal, who otherwise couldn’t have done that. It’s so rewarding for my family to see his name live on,” Mrs. Folkerts said.

As for Cothren, he will live on in the hearts of the people whom he touched in his short 17 years.

“He was always positive about everything; he was always smiling,” Hale said, “I really miss fishing with him.”

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Man vs Machine: The Facts Austin Dominguez

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are probably a greater number or injuries, but these are only reported injuries that required hospital or doctor attention. Of these, over 85% have been easily treatable and patients were dismissed from the hospital immediately.

Of the more serious injuries, Contusions/ Abrasions (intense bruising/scrapes) and Fractures were the most common, each being 24% of the total. The most common area of the body injured is the arms, accounting for The number of deaths caused by ATV 29% of injury locations. Though the torso, legs, crashes has slowly risen in tandem with and head/neck follows closely behind, holding their popularity, hitting its peak in 2006, 22%, 21%, and 27%. before seeing a slight decline In cases where a afterward due to improved ATV SAFETY GEAR passenger is involved, safety features and laws the most common limiting the age of riders. situation is one in which However, injuries and even two people are riding on deaths on ATVs are not yet an ATV at once. In Fatal a thing of the past. Whether accidents where more using ATVs for recreational than one person was on purposes, sport, or a means of an ATV, 88% involved a transportation, it is important driver and a passenger. to remember that accidents However, this may be can and will happen. Statistics because two is the most do not always apply to the common number when individual. The number of ATV considering an ATV deaths may only account for a supporting more than small percentage of US deaths, one person. but this does not make riding The most dangerous without the proper precautions position for a passenger ok. is sitting behind the In Texas, all ATV driver on the seat, or operators under 14 must be on the back of the ATV. accompanied by a parent Though positioning or guardian at all times, and does not always have a great effect, as three children under 15 are limited to an engine out of four times, the death of the passenger of 90cc or smaller. Still, in 2012, 15% of ATV will result in the death of the driver as well. fatalities were children under the age of 16, In the state of Texas, a passenger will not be and of those, more than half were under 12 allowed on public lands unless the ATV is years of age. designed to carry more than one person.

Injuries are much more common, averaging at about 125,000 per year since 2007, there

exas is second only to California in the number of ATV sales throughout the United States. Along with this, Texas also reports the most deaths. For the 27-year period between 1982 and 2008, Texas reported 535 deaths because of ATVs, only 12 less than California’s 547.

The most commonly recommended piece of equipment recommended for ATVs is the helmet, due to the fact that most ATV fatalities are the result of injuries to the head. In terms of injuries, the helmet does not do much, as much more injuries damage the limbs and torso in comparison to the head alone. However In deaths, over 66% were not wearing a helmet when they died on an ATV. Another 20% were unverified, so it is unclear whether they were wearing a helmet or not upon death. It is clear, however, that wearing a helmet can greatly decrease the chances of death while on an ATV. UTVs, or “utility terrain vehicles,” have also risen in popularity, as they can carry more than one driver and can be used to store and haul equipment and supplies. “I prefer a UTV to an ATV,” said Brian Taylor, owner of Cypress ATV repair and services, “Because it has a roll cage and seat belts.”

Though they are the safer choice, said Taylor, they are more pricy than ATVs, as well as less

nimble and manoeuvrable.

“ATVs are a lot of fun, but they need to be supervised… they can be dangerous,” said Derek Macjeski, a student at the school who rides ATVs for fun. He stated that as long as ATVs are properly handled, they can serve as relatively safe, fun, recreational devices.

However some feel that ATVs are not worth the risks. Student Jacob Zillifro feels that ATVs are not worth the risk. Despite being in a family of ATV owners, he says he doesn’t ride them much anymore “Because [he] found out how dangerous they can be if you crash”.

But for many, ATVs are more than fun or sport, they are a method of transportation. On some large ranches and farms, of which there are an abundance of in Texas, ATVs are the primary method of getting around. In the case of Hudson Folkerts, a young man who died in an ATV accident, his mother had this to say.

“Our children were raised on a ranch, and this is a means to get around. Hudson was on an ATV since he was two years old.”

Brought to you by atvsafetynet.org

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Two Students’ rise To Garage Band Fame

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Carl Buhr

ate Friday is a band consisting of five young, talented musicians all brought together through their classical training.

They formed Late Friday in 2012, and later that year they won the Cypress Got Talent contest. The band continued their success in 2013 winning the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston Battle of the Bands.

Now, only two years later, they have a lot of things going for them, releasing an EP with all of their original songs, and starring in a documentary.

answered Brandon. The band actually built a recording studio in their backyard, where they practice and record many of their songs.

Late Friday has released their new EP and you can listen and download now at latefriday. bandcamp.com/ releases for free!

Both London and Brandon have been playing music since they were very small. Brandon started playing guitar in the age of 7 and violin at 11. His sister London was only 3 years old when her mom heard her sing for the first time.

Not only have the siblings worked together on an EP, but they are also a part of an upcoming documentary.

“We do not know that much about it, but our marketing agent has a friend who is a film director, he is making a documentary about us and North Til Dawn, another band a little bit older and more ahead of us. It is basically a tale of two bands up and coming. One of the cool things is that we shoot [all of] it ourselves, filming at practice and stuff like that” said Brandon. Late Friday is actually good friends with North Til Dawn and their lead singer Blake McCulloch, who is also Late Friday’s producer.

Brandon and London relaxing in their studio.

The siblings and Late Friday’s Drummer, Zach Couger at the House of Blues, where they’ve played before.

(From Left) Brandon Johnson Guitar), London Johnson (Vocals), Zach Couger (Drums), Kaitlyn Joseph (Bass), and Josh Tees (guitar)

Student Life

London, a junior, and Brandon Johnson, a senior, both studied at Six Strings Music Academy after being introduced to the school by a friend, where they were taught to play music with people they didn’t know and make friends through the music. That led to them meeting the current drummer of Late Friday, Zach Couger.

Starting off at Six Strings Academy the band consisted of 17 people, they later split up into smaller groups, and at last they separated from the Academy.

When they started writing their own songs the Academy became unable to teach them.

Singer London Johnson and guitarist Brandon Johnson, are siblings both playing in Late Friday.

As many people would imagine, being siblings and playing in a band together isn’t always easy.

“Not everyone likes us being brother and sister, but we always make it work” London said laughing, while Brandon added; “Yeah we make it work... After a lot of arguing!”

There’s only 18 months between the two so arguing is inevitable.

“We argue a lot, and it gets pretty intense, but I think it mostly comes out in our song writing, we play a pop-punkish style of music and we like mixing the genres. We both have a very different style of song writing. I like to start off very melodic while Brandon likes the punchier punk, so it is all about finding a happy medium” said London “Usually it’s not a happy medium but it is a compromise, and we always solve in our own special way”

The future of prom funding

Is the budget looking bleak for this year’s seniors with the change in fundraising opportunities?

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ith the split of Tomball Memorial our student population was cut in half and with that, our funding for prom was cut as well. Prom staff didn’t know if the students would be able to pull together and raise the money necessary for the seniors’ biggest night.

Also with Michelle Obama “Child Nutrient laws” schools are no longer able to serve food that is edible. Lunch and breakfast are two of the meals served at school and a lot of students either brought food from home or didn’t eat at all. School food in general isn’t very good so with this new nutrient expectation students just skip lunch.

For breakfast the senior parent organization sold Chick-fil-a in the morning on Wednesday to raise funds for project prom. But since the chicken biscuit isn’t up to code Chick-fil-a made a whole new product for Tomball High School.

For the first couple of weeks the senior parent organization tried selling the new grain biscuit to the school, but sales were low and students didn’t like the new taste. People became less and less likely to go to the once filled line to buy the chicken biscuit.

“I prefer the old chicken biscuit opposed to the new one because not only do the new ones taste worse it’s the fact that I can’t enjoy the foods I want at school.” Said Joe Torres.

Our Project prom funding was directly funded to the chicken biscuit like trash bag sales goes to prom itself. Last year’s seniors were racing to sell trash bags because they had to start from scratch.

To try and help reassure that the finances wouldn’t see a crisis, seniors are starting their

savings a little early, before they are even seniors.

Mr. Vierkant instructed juniors to start raising money by selling Yankee candles the year before their Prom so that savings can be a little more secure.

Even with this addition to fundraising, Prom’s expenses are still staggering at times and so fears still existed in the minds of the members of the Senior Parent Organization. But with every little fundraiser the school holds helps even a little to hold fears a bay.

The seniors rose to the challenge and met the problem head on, trash bag sales were fantastic and the money already saved from the Yankee Candles fundraiser gave an enormous boost to the budget for 2015’s Prom.

“The seniors did an outstanding job with the trash bag sales, they did better than last year and we should be perfect.” Said the assistant principle Vierkant regarding prom’s budget.

“We were a little worried about it last year when the class got cut in half but you guys really stepped it up. So we’re good, the fundraisers starting junior year are a big help and I’ve been talking to the other principles and the class sponsors about starting the freshman year and making sure that every year there’s a fundraiser.

If we start earlier and even just raise a little bit every year, it helps to relieve some of the pressure to sell the trash bags, even though you guys have always stepped up and gotten what we need.”

With all the changes to the school like population change, budget planning, and the new nutrient code the schools staff keeps on kicking back to keep the future bright for the class of 2015.

Chuck Warren and Ted Hujar

Music reviews King Krule- A Lizard State: A fast paced, spoken word track from his 6 feet below the moon album, also features an intro from a Hitchcock Hour episode.

A walking bass line and horns throughout, there’s a strong jazzy blues feel to this track, which could be found appealing to Jack White or The Black Keys fans.

Julian Joseph

Cloud Nothings-Psychic Trauma: A punk-rock band, oh what a rarity these days. Cloud Nothings has a large amount of punk influence in their music and they use it superbly. Originally coming onto the scene two years ago with their track Stay Useless, the band kind of faded away, but to my surprise, their “Here and Nowhere Else” Album that came out this year made it to “Spin magazines top albums of the year so-far” list. Psychic Trauma is a strong standout track to me. The song is mainly psychedelic surf-rock with fuzz driven guitars, some nice drum fills, and the vocals have this grungy, slightly British tone. I would although like to see more complexity in their playing, I understand chord progressions are a significant part of punk, but if they’re to bring back this dying genre some more skilled and layered playing will be needed.

FKA twigs- Two Weeks: Two Weeks is a much layered track not exactly for the musically declined from her LP1 album. FKA twigs brings a high, eerie voice to a masterful combination of a slow thumping bass creating exciting anticipation, trip step, and some art pop, and a lot more. She has the power to create a passionate mellowness within her music, and with each listen there’s an opportunity to hear a new sound magically rise from deep within the track.

Mick Jenkins –Martyrs: From The Water[s] mixtape

by Chicago based rapper Mick Jenkins who manages to turn our necessity of water into a very lively, but thought provoking mixtape. This specific track is pumped full of thumping bass and a ticking beat with an underlying piano melody. He starts the song with some nice witty lines, until he realizes the audience really isn’t “listening” and leads into a fluid flow of how things aren’t the way we see them, the outro brings along a chanting of things that bring the common person to their downfall. Even if you truly don’t find this track enjoyable it’ll probably be worthwhile to keep up with the artist.

Flying Lotus-Can’t catch me ft. Kendrick Lamar: From the upcoming October 6/7th album “You’re Dead”, Can’t Catch Me is a slow roasted mixture of jazz and trap, which gradually begins to boil over as the song grows to an end. A spring feeling piano starts the track along with some shakers, followed by a quick jazz drum beat and this alien like bass line, all the while Kendrick manages to stay on top of this other worldly beat with some great lines, which only get better when the FlyLo brings in a clapping beat allowing Kendrick to become more ferocious with his lines. The outro is ended masterfully with more of an electro melody replacing the piano and bass beats replacing the jazz drums.

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Students have to pay to take AP tests Samantha Abrahams

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ue to state funding, the recent decision has been made that for the 2015 school year students will be required to pay for their own AP tests.

The cost of each test is $91, which can be a challenge for students taking all AP classes.

“We hope the number of students that take AP courses is not affected. If students consider the average cost of a college course, $91 is a great deal for college credit,” said college and career counsellor, Emily Nichols.

But there are still concerns about how much

the tests are going to cost. Some students feel that, despite the deal they are getting on college credit, paying for their AP test is not worth their money.

“Paying for all your AP tests becomes a problem when you are enrolled in four or five,” Junior Joe Torres said, “You are also not guaranteed to pass. So if you fail, all the money you spent on those tests goes to waste.”

The deadline for ordering pre administration materials for the AP test is April 1, 2015.

The tests will be administered May 4-8 and 11-15, 2015.

Popcorn!

Support the student mediaBuy a bag of popcorn during all lunches every monday, wednesday, and friday under the main staircase by the front desk!

The Cougar Claw Staff Would like to give a special thank you to Thomas and Winnie Schubert for sponsoring this issue.

EDITORIAL CARTOONS

Hayley Beebe is a former Cougar Claw staff member who’s won editorial cartoon awards in the past.

We are glad to see her coming back this year as a guest artist.

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Features

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ue to their misuse of authority in the recent Michael Brown case, as well as 706 reports of police misuse of power in Houston between 2006 and 2012, the police have thus proven that they misuse their authority and employ excessive force. Furthermore, as shown by the fact that only 2% of these cases have been sustained by internal affairs, due to a study done by the Houston Observer, that they are not held accountable for their crimes. Not only do the police need to be punished for these assaults, but they must face demilitarization to prevent future excessive force.

Police Brutality

A point/counterpoint by Austin Dominguez and Chuck Warren

Chuck Warren: olice will only use excessive force when absolutely necessary, in almost every case the suspect refuses to comply with the precautions the officer orders and this forces the officer’s hand, so to speak. The police officer is then taking more precaution for their safety, and the safety of the public. Because if the officer does not use excessive force and the suspect is in fact carrying a weapon or has bad intentions, the officer and any citizen around are now in harm’s way. Excessive force is sometimes required in the officer’s line of work. 154 police officers die per year, 57,892 assaults on officers occur per year, 15,483 injuries to police officers happen per year, these numbers are far too high and if society would let police do their jobs, these numbers will decrease and our safety will be far more obtainable.

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What needs to happen is not restrictions or punishments, but instead the entirety of our population should do the obvious and not break the law. If someone is not breaking the law and

an officer is suspicious of you, let that officer do his/her job. If complied with no excessive force will be needed or used. Putting restrictions on our officers and demilitarizing our PD will only make crime impossible to handle, riots will be unstoppable, and chaos will erupt.

Austin Dominguez: While 154 cops may be killed per year, they kill over 400 civilians each year. Many of these were connected to reports of police abusing their power. Of the hundreds of police reports sent in around the US, a staggering 99% of these cases are dismissed. What we must keep in mind

is that, beneath the badge, officers are still just men. Men who must be held accountable for their actions, arguably more so than the average citizen due to the fact that they have accepted a position of elevated authority. These statistics show that not only is a misuse of power present, but that police are not being held accountable for their actions.

To say that a solution to the problem is to simply not break the law is not a fair conclusion. People will break the law, to attempt to

prevent that is the duty of the police officers. This does not mean that police may mistreat, beat, or even kill a person for breaking the law. As American citizens, we have the right to be tried in a court of law for our crimes, not handed punishment by a gung-ho man behind a badge who decides that he is the law. It is human nature to become corrupted by authority; we must not let this happen within our police force.-AD CW: So many cases will be dismissed simply because every time someone is suspected by the police they say police abuse their power, this is only because nobody wants to deal with consequences for their actions. Also, if complied with, no force is executed and your crime will in fact be handled in a court of law, however, if someone does not work with the police and does not comply, how else to get the person put through the justice system but by forcing them? Now to dispute with your high numbers of killed civilians, every one of those “civilians” were endangering officers and the public alike, if they were not dealt with accordingly

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Who’s to say how many lives they may have destroyed or even taken? From the hit movie ‘Wanted’ comes a good quote, “Kill one, save a thousand”. The officers in these situations were directly in harm’s way, and their judgment told them if they did not put the suspect down with lethal force they and others could have lost their life in the criminal’s place. Obviously some people are corruptible when authority is involved, but to punish the entire protection of our country because of a few who are not worthy of the position doesn’t make any sense. To give criminals a better chance by taking authority away from our police, to put it bluntly, is just plain stupid.

Only those who have been in a police officer’s shoes in any of these dangerous situations can judge whether the actions were right or wrong. Literally thousands of lives are saved every year because of our police; this fact is carefully not mentioned by those against the police because if people only see the few bad things they will believe all police are bad.

AD: While the trust my opponent presumes to put in our nations police force is admirable in its innocence, it is in no way plausible.

While our citizens do require a police force, one that continually oppresses innocent civilians cannot be accepted. As Earl Warren, American judge has said, “the police must obey to law while protecting it.”

Cries of deadly weapons and lying civilians are all well and good, but does the contingency of “killing one man to save a hundred,” apply to the case of Michael Brown, who was shot six times, two of these shots entering his head. Or perhaps in the case of Sebastian Prevot in Houston, who was arrested for simple traffic law violation and was beaten to the point of hospitalization by two local officers.

The Houston observer quoted citizens, community activists, a veteran Houston

police officer and even the president of the local police union as saying events like this happen “nearly every day.” Officers later joked about Sebastian’s torn tendons saying “you were hollering like a [explicit]!”

CW: Our police force simply does not oppress the innocent, just because a few people get hurt or killed because they broke the law, let me stop there and put emphasis on the fact that these people broke the law, and then continued to ignore police warnings and instructions does not mean that our police are evil and should all be locked up and have their weapons taken away. Michael Brown was reported attacking an officer and trying to take his gun, yes the police fired too many shots but if he was not stopped Michael might have killed the officers and others. But because he was shot rioting and looting was how the community honoured his memory, how does breaking pretty much every law going to save the dead criminal? The police had enough trouble with this pointless incident and yet people say that we should demilitarize our police, nonsense it’s not like the police are walking around with assault rifles in our streets or any other extreme, these military grade weapons are only used when a pistol is no longer enough to fight back against crime.

As I’ve said before, there are a small few of bad apples in the force, and in our huge country bad things may happen every day, but focusing on the few bad incidents and trying to punish all of our police is idiotic. The only reason people even hear about the bad is because media thinks that “police brutality” makes for a better headline than “police officers did their job again today and protected everyone”. So I apologize for my “innocence” if that’s what you call common sense, and I’m glad your ignorance is so much better.

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Don’t waste your chance at submitting your letters to the editors for the next edition of the award winning Cougar Claw! Drop off your letters to Mr. Fordyce in room 1201 to enter for a chance to have your words read by the entire student body.

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Cavasos International Mining

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Samantha Abrahams

5 ways to spend Thanksgiving Break Students are excited about the extra days over Thanksgiving break, but many are stumped as to what to do with their extra time. To help readers out, our staff has conjured up some ideas for how to spend the holiday break.

Go ice skating The ice skating rink in the Woodlands opens on Saturday, November 22. It is open from 11 am to 10 p.m. During school holidays, and from 1 p.m. To 9 p.m. On Thanksgiving Day. Catch up on T.V. shows Thanksgiving break is the perfect time to catch up on recent episodes of shows you

just don’t have time to watch.

Go skiing Let’s face it. Texas is not the best place for skiing. But a short drive to Ruidoso, New Mexico is worth it for a great, close to home ski adventure.

Study for Finals Mid-terms are just around the corner, and the extra time may earn you extra points on your exams.

Go on a shopping-spree With Black Friday comes the best holiday deals, and our week off is the best time to get ahead on buying Christmas gifts.

Concert list • 11/15, 8:00 p.m.: The Black Keys at The Toyota Center • 11/26, 8:00 p.m.: The 1975 at the Bayou Music Center • 12/01, 8:00 p.m.: Justin Timberlake at The Toyota Center • 12/05 , 7:30 p.m.: Usher: the UR Experience at The Toyota Center • 12/15, 8:00 p.m.: Fleetwood Mac at The Toyota Center • 12/19, 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.: Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Christmas

Attic at The Toyota Center

Saving money this Holiday Season Chuck Warren Felt Scarf Cup Wraps Bundle up your hot drinks in cozy, stylish charm.

Make the wrap: Cut a 1-1/4-inchwide strip of felt about 23 inches long.

Adjust the length to fit a travel cup. Snip both ends of felt strip to mimic fringe; remove slivers of felt to make fringe more obvious. Tie the felt strip around the cup.

Make the tag: Glue a bead to the end of a bamboo skewer. Cut a 1-1/4x4-inch rectangle from colored cardstock. Stamp the rectangle with a suitable sentiment.

Punch a snowflake from white cardstock and adhere beside the stamped sentiment.

Top with a gem sticker. Trim a V-shape notch in the right-hand side of cardstock flag, glue flag to skewer, and insert in scarfwrapped cup.

Ombre Pillows Give the gift of a trendy ombre pillow cover this Christmas. Dip sections of a purchased pillow cover in colourful

fabric dye (we used RIT brand) for varying times. For the most intense colour, soak for 30 minutes. Leave a portion of the fabric undyed for contrast.

My Favourite Thing Gift Materials Needed: • Shoe Box or Any Box With a Lid • Mirror • Card Stock • Paint • Crayons or Colored Pencils or Markers • Craft Glue • Paint Brush • Scissors Instructions: Start off by painting the outside of the box. Let the paint dry. You can then decorate the box using other items if you like. You can add stickers, glue on ribbon, or personalize it any other way you like.

Make a sign using the card stock and crayons or markers. The sign should read: “The person pictured here is one of the most special gifts in my life”. You can change the wording to suit the person you are giving this gift to if you like. Trim this sign so it fits into the box.

Open the box and glue a small mirror onto the bottom of the box. You want to be able to see into the mirror when you look in the box. You also need to glue the sign onto the bottom of the box. Let the glue dry.

21

A Status Update

T

Carl Buhr

he week of October 10th created a huge ripple in the ocean of Marriage Equality for the United States. The Supreme Court cleared the way for gay marriage by unexpectedly rejecting appeals from five states seeking to preserve their bans. This statement may signal that it is only a matter of time before gay marriage becomes legal in all 50 states.

The Supreme Court successfully made same sex marriages legal in 30 states, taking in every region of the country.

Challenges are now pending in the other 20 states.

The court ruling directly affected; Wisconsin, Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah and Virginia. Officials in these states had appealed lower court rulings in an effort to preserve their bans. Couples in six other states — Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming — should be able to get married soon since those states would be bound by the same appellate rulings that have been on hold.

How Texas feels, according to a poll by

the Texas Tribune and the University of Texas.

Austin Dominguez

A

s time goes by, we find that the opposition to gay marriage is dying. Now over half of the United States is currently in favour of homosexual marriage, and the number is growing rapidly. A study by Gallup revealed that 55% of Americans are in favour of gay marriage. Further study shows that those who are in opposition of homosexual marriage are usually older people.

The Republican Party, who has usually advocated against gay marriage, is now leaning towards it, or at least more so than it has in past years. Now 52% of Republicans are for gay marriage, and as age goes up, opposition rises. Among younger republicans, aged 18-24, three in five are for gay marriage, while older members, aged 65+, only one in five are for gay marriage.

Richard Tisei of Massachusetts, Carl DeMaio of California and Dan Innis of New Hampshire are all openly gay republican candidates for

congress. Currently they are involved in a GOP campaign that is raising money to elect them to congress.

“Our decisions on the Republican nominees we support will not be based on race, gender or sexual orientation, but will be based on the strength of their candidacy and their ability to defeat Democrats,” NRCC spokesman Ian Prior said, as quoted by the Washington times.

However, the Democratic Party has responded by saying that the Republicans are only using these people as a figurehead in order to secure votes in future elections, and that their policy on homosexuals, have not gotten better.

Speaker John Boehner, who has been aiding the campaign, faces both support and opposition within the Republican Party.

Thebigstory.org has quoted New Hampshire GOP strategist Jamie Burnett, as saying “Some social conservatives might object, but many Republicans might not care at all and perhaps see it as softening the party’s image. This is uncharted territory in recent New Hampshire Republican politics.”

(Left) Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of Springfield, member of the Westboro baptist church, protesting against same sex marriage in New York on July 24, 2011 (Right) Protesters at a gay rights rally standing up for human rights.

Smart watches T

he technology now a days is advancing at a speed that is almost hard to keep up with. It seems like there is always “something new” out in the stores or being marketed. Quite frankly it is very annoying; however it has become the norm to have what is new and that is why smart watches are going to be the next big thing in technology.

Wearing watches is dying out because everyone has phones that can tell you the time so there is really no need to have a watch. This is where the idea of the combination between technology and watches come into play. I know this sounds a little absurd, but journalist are saying that smart watches are the next big thing after tablets, and there is a run among companies around the world to stake a

A+

Joe Torres

claim in this promising new industry.

There are many reasons why someone would find smart watches useful. One reason is that it would mean pulling out your phone less to check the time and finding oneself sucked into checking apps.

We’re all guilty of this kind of behaviour which is partially a symptom of not having any other way to tell the time as watches fade from utility into more of a fashion accessory.

Another reason is that the wrist knows you: future smart watches will know what you are doing, your health status, emotional state, and various types of other information. As the generations continue to support the ideas of smart watches, they are predestinated to become smarter.

Combined with web services, they will enable applications we can’t even dream of now.

The Cougar Claw thanks

RADIATORS

422 W. Main Street, Tomball (281) 255-2512

Tips and tricks

• Find out which apps drain your battery Settings > General > Usage> Battery Usage.

• Use Siri hands-free with “Hey Siri” command Settings> General> Siri • Quick access to recent contacts and favourites Double tap the home button • Get notified when important e-mails come in Swipe left on any email, hit “More” button, select, “Notify Me” • Send an audio message to friends Tap and hold the microphone next to the “iMessage” box • Listen to audio messages by raising iPhone Settings> Messages> “Raise to Listen” • Detailed weather information When looking at the weather, scroll to the bottom for more accurate information • Optimise iPhone storage Settings> Photos and select

Samantha Abrahams

“Optimise iPhone Storage” • Set a Camera timer Tap the clock icon in the Camera app • Find your iPhone’s last location Settings> iCloud> Find My iPhone> “Send Last Location” • Record Time-Lapse video Swipe in the Camera app until “Time-Lapse” • Suggestions in Messages for faster typing Press the globe/emoji icon next to the keyboard, toggle on and off “Predictive.”

• Quickly send a video message In Messages, tap and hold the camera icon in the lower left corner of the screen.

• Hide private photos Tap and hold on a photo and you’ll see an option to “Hide” • Automatically delete Messages after 30 days Settings> Messages> Keep Messages

Tech

iOS8:

Sports

The best of times Title game run made ‘84-’85 teams something special Leandra Carty

F

ootball is big in Texas. Its not just a game, it’s so much more. Family, food, community, rivalries – it’s part of life in Texas.

That makes a run to the state championship so important, especially to a small town. And Tomball in 1984 was really big in small town football.

This past Friday’s game was the reunion of the 1984-85 teams and the coming together of what Tomball used to be. With all the guys back at the same place on their old stadium, they had to the chance to see what Tomball football became.

“It was so nice to have everyone together, it was the most fun I had in my life,” Coach Lynn Ethridge said.

Small towns make the best football towns; the everybody knows everybody concept is raw with the feeling of family and belonging.

“The town was on fire. The town basically shut down to come and watch home games and away games. On the ’84 team, the success we had was not expected by

the community before the season started.

As we win each game, the momentum and excitement built,” Frey said.

An exciting time for these guys to be back and reminiscing about old times, they enjoyed the company and being back together as one big family, and to be a team again; and although our cougars didn’t have the best of luck at the October 24th game against Brenham, they worked hard and put every ounce of effort they had into working their butts off.

The football coaches are the most important part. They are what make the boys what they are, that helps bring out the passion in them, and help to keep them in line and bring out their full potential.

“With 30 years under the table, it was also time to try and say thank you to the coaches we had. I wasn’t able to tell them all and the ones I did tell, I don’t think that I conveyed my feelings enough. We had excellent coaches and they have impacted my life from that day forward,” Jack Frey said.

Back in 1984-85 football, and family, team work, and friendships, was the biggest things that made Tomball high school what it was.

“Friendship was the biggest thing in getting us as far as we did. Everybody had a great friendship on the team, so we all tried extra hard on the field and off the field in class because we didn’t want to let anyone down,” Jim Tilley said.

It takes a lot of dedication to get to the championships in any sport you play, and it takes great team work and skill, and chemistry between the players. With a strong goal oriented team you work harder as to not let anybody down on the team.

“The atmosphere went beyond the high school. There was a lot of pride around town and excitement, a feeling of anticipation to move forward, everyone was involved,” Pavlas said.

Students rooted on our team in many ways like wearing school colors and wishing them good luck. The news of the football team’s advancements were told in every classroom; whenever a game was upcoming the teachers, students, siblings, parents, grandparents, business owners, etc. Left their homes to go and enjoy the game with the rest of the community.

The concentration was there as well when it came to focusing on your school work and making sure to keep your grades up so you’re not disqualified for the 6 weeks. When you’re in the championships you want to be on the field and practicing with your team, and you’re always trying proving yourself.

“Focusing on classes wasn’t easy, and the teachers didn’t give us much slack.

They enjoyed the fun we were having, but used the time to teach us how to

compartmentalize. You must excel in the classroom and on the field. However, we still had fun in the classrooms,” Frey said.

Between having fun in the classroom and trying to focus, you learn to use your resources, and work together as a team to make sure everybody is doing well.

“We all took it upon ourselves to help each other out and make sure our work was done, because we really didn’t want to be out for the 6 weeks and we didn’t wanna let our team down. So if somebody was having a problem or a hard time in class we made sure to help them out and get them to where they needed to be so they could play,” Tilley said.

Football was so important to everybody in the town. The players aside, it was the students, the teachers, the parents; everybody was a part of the excitement. It was constant. The town’s enthusiasm and encouragement towards the team played a key part in getting the guys pumped up and ready to show their talent at every game, and their skills both individually and as a team.

“The guys who played on the 84-85 teams were just a special group of kids.

They were very dedicated, as well as the parents and it was something these kids had really worked for,” Graham said.

This reunion was a chance for all these big guys to get together and look back on what they used to do. To miss the passion of the game, to see it in the younger guys, and the work ethic, and what it was like to always have a family of players that understood their own love for the game. It was reminiscence in the purest form.

Percussion Preview Carl Buhr

State champions 2014

As many of the students may know, last year was a great year for the high school’s percussion team. In April last year, the Tomball winter percussion team won the state championship with a very young, but talented team, competing against some of the best percussionists in Reed Arena in College Station.

The percussion team surprised everybody last year with their amazing performances.

“When we won first… There were tears everywhere.”

- Said last year’s percussion Lieutenant Jackie Whitis about their impressive state championship title.

2015 – Another good year

But is the percussion team able to rediscover their drive from last year? If you ask

the percussionists of our school, the answer would be the same – It’s only getting better since last year.

“The show was a lot easier last year than it is now… I think we’ll do a lot better this year, we’re doing very good and I am proud to be a part of the team,” said bandmember Emmie Schubert.

Last year the average age of the percussion team was very low, 13.8, but even though they were a very young team consisting of 7 8th graders, the overall talent carried them all the way to the state championship.

“Last year we did pretty well, but we keep improving through our practice, we started playing a lot better together and the team has also gotten a lot bigger since last year – we mature with our playing and keep improving.

All in all; we’ll do well!” said Mitchell Vereide, a section leader of the team.

Band enjoys successful football season Emily Ashlock The game is over, and as the spectators begin to leave, the band plays the school song.

They will not play those notes again until September of next year.

The Cougar Pride Band is done marching on the field, and their hard work has paid off.

The band has surpassed the expectations of the directors, who must now raise the bar again for next year.

At the U.S. Bands competition in Converse,

Texas, the concentration of the band was amazing.

“The focus and determination by the students at the night performance was riveting,” band director Steve Fry said. “There was a part of the evening performance where the students played right through a fire truck siren going by, and the students didn’t miss a beat.”

The band received straight 1s, a superior rating from all three U.S. Band judges that evening, landing them first place in their division and second place overall.

Charms re 40 th

union

Samantha Abrahams.

T

hroughout the past 40 years, over 799 high school girls have been involved in a dance organization unlike any other. The Cougar Charms, formerly known as the Tam O’ Shanters, are an award-winning dance team that has been around since 1975.

On October 3 Charms alumni, who dedicated many years of summer-practices and spent countless hours at every varsity football game, had a chance to return to the field for a special halftime performance.

The first Charms reunion performance kicked off with past and present military officers leading their team onto the field with the performance of officer strut. After recognizing the officers the Charms showcased a Jazz/Kick dance routine, choreographed by the Charms director, Brittany Melton.

Over 50 alumni were on the field attending with the present team sporting old-school hairstyles and make-up, and 80 past Charms attended the game to support their fellow Charms.

After the performance, the past and present Charms were invited back into the commons to reminisce on old times. There was a reception featuring old scrapbooks made by former Social Officers, and every old team composite with pictures of all 799 Charms.

It might have been a few years, but Charms alums can still hold their own when it comes to halftime shows.

Alumni return to help the Charms celebrate 40 years of dance, joining in the halftime show.

29

Income Inequality and the descent of the Middle Class

Julian Joseph

U.S. income inequality has grown higher than any other major country in the world. The top 10% now own 4/5 of pre-taxed income. Although the gaps between the rich and the rest of us has been clearly widening worldwide, the space is strikingly more drastic in the U.S.

“When markets are free, poor people can move out of their income group. In America, income mobility, which matters more than income inequality, has not really diminished. Economists at Harvard and Berkeley crunched the numbers on 40 million tax returns from 1971-2012 and discovered that mobility is pretty much what The Pew Charitable Trusts reported it was 30 years On a positive aspect, America still has a high ago,” reported Fox News. mobility rate between classes (although sadly The problem, though, is that mobility is the lower then Canada). And the poverty rate has same as it was 30 years ago while income instopped falling for 5 years. This can be negated equality is greater than it 30 years ago. by the fact that the top 10% are getting richer at While Democrats are split on the issue with the a faster rate than the rest of us. more liberal keen on solving the issue by taxing Typically money big businesses, the should move down rest would like to fofrom the rich and find cus on other issues. its way to the rest of As the midterm elecus, but according to tions approached, the OECD income Democrats feared report; the 99%s inthe issue would lead come will only rise an to being accused of average of 0.6% while “class warfare.” the top 1% has had Even President an income rise of 1%.

Obama, who called Usually the rich need income inequality “a the majority of people fundamental threat to spend more cash if to the American they truly want to pad Dream, our way of their pockets, which leads them to give more life and what we stand for around the globe,” raises and incentives to workers. wanting it to be a strong focus in his second But The Economist.com states that “many term, is currently backing away from the issue to of the underlying causes of the growing gap prevent backlash towards the Democrats. between rich and poor — fast technological Now that they have brought attention to the ischange and the rapid globalization of the econo- sue, Democrats will focus on raising the income my — are deep-seated and likely to persist. Tyler of the middle class, possibly by raising the miniCowen of George Mason University thinks the mum wage. John Schmitt, an economist with the population will soon be divided into two groups: liberal Center for Economic and Policy Research, those who are good at working with intelligent doesn’t seem to think this will help, as he has machines, and those who can be replaced by said, “…The new Democratic focus risks being them (see Lexington). The former will prosper; the solely about creating opportunities for some of latter will play a lot of video games.” the people at the bottom to go up, but leaving For such a mountain of an issue, our politicians the rest of the folks where they are.” are doing a superb job at sidestepping the subIn Tomball our average income per capita ject. Republicans seem to believe the gap is not (2008-2012) was $27,449, Waller had a $22,534 an issue at all.

employment and career prospects”, this is to be done by the federal government making new and better jobs with better in-work benefits and more incentives also providing lasting career jobs. The OECD says that the U.S. is on the right track but could be do much more with other countries spending overall 4 times as much as the US in trying to bring people to work.

It also urges “reforms of tax and benefit policies” which they say is the “most direct and powerful instrument to income redistribute income” This involves making sure upper class citizens pay their fair share of the taxes not just by raising their taxes but by also scaling back tax deductions which help the rich in a disproportionate way.

Finally we should focus on promoting and increasing access to public services, like higher-education and health care. The US spends more than any other country on health per capita but that health care doesn’t get distributed equally.

For example in 2008 the gap between the life expectancy at birth for the highest educated white males and lowest educated black males was more than 14 years.

The Bigger Picture

average income per capita, and The Woodlands had $50,613 income per capita. With the state average income per capita being $25,809, and the countries average being $28,051, we don’t seem to have a huge problem with income.

But our future feels questionable in the hands of politicians who care more about getting re-elected than actually solving issues. Democrats and Republicans are possibly being paid to bicker back and forth until the next election. And with many of them getting large sums of money from companies, some of laws they do enact are for the benefit of corporations.

In order to fight income inequality, the OECD provides four main matters to attend to, like more “investment in human capital” (skills, knowledge, or experience possessed by an individual or population). It recommends investment for this, be put mostly in elementary and secondary education by using state funds instead of local taxes in order to better help children in disadvantaged communities.

Simply put, that means more money for schools.

The next point by the OECD is to “boost

Ebola

Outbreak

Samantha Abrahams On Sept. 30, the first case of the Ebola virus in the United States was diagnosed in Dallas. The virus is deadly and rare, and needs close interaction to transmit.

It’s scary. And it was here.

Ebola is not as contagious as common illnesses such as colds, the flu, or measles. It spreads by skin contact or by bodily fluids.

Some of the symptoms of Ebola include: high fever, headache, join aches, sore throat, weakness, stomach pain, and lack of appetite.

As the virus spreads through the body, internal bleeding may occur and come out of the ears and nose. Some cases may cause vomiting

and coughing up blood or a rash.

To diagnose Ebola, a blood and tissue test must take place. If the tests come back positive, the patient will be isolated from the public and quarantined to prevent the spread of the virus.

As of right now, there is no vaccine to prevent the Ebola virus, and there is no cure for the illness. The best way not to catch it is to stay out of areas where a case of Ebola has been confirmed. The virus is only contagious once symptoms become present.

Only two people have contracted the virus on U.S. soil, and there have been four confirmed cases of the illness in the United States.

As of now, many doctors, nurses, and soldiers have been quarantined to prevent further spread of Ebola, and travel to West Africa is not available until further notice.

The virus made its way to New York, but there are no longer concerns about a mass “Contagion-style” outbreak.

To learn more visit: http://www.webmd.com/ato-z-guides/video/howebola-kills