Hairspray Movie Review

By: Uma Ribeiro

Co-News Editor

Based on the 2002 broadway musical and Starring Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Christopher Walken, Queen Latifah, and Zac Efron, Hairspray is a must-watch movie for all musical fans or for simply anyone who wants to see a fun and memorable film with a message.

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Taking place in 1960s Baltimore city in the midst of the Civil Rights movement, Hairspray follows bubbly, plus-sized teen Tracy Turnblad (Blonsky) who has a strong passion for dancing. She dreams of having a place on the “Corny Collins Show”, the local teen dancing program she watches on TV everyday with her best friend, Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes). She finds out there are auditions being held to perform on the program, and hurries to show the producers what she could offer. Tracy faces bullying from the antagonists of the movie, network producer Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer) and her equally vicious daughter, Amber (Brittany Snow).

Back at school, Tracy lands herself in detention where she meets a young kid with great dancing skills named Seaweed (Elijah Kelley), one of the many black teens who only get one day, called “Negro Day,” to show off their dance moves on the Corny Collins show. Tracy eventually earns herself a spot on the show after her crush, Link Larkin (Efron), sees her dancing, and she uses it to express her disdain of the fact that dancing is still segregated. She tells host Corny Collins (James Marsden) that if she won Miss Baltimore she would make dancing on the show integrated once and for all.

Tracy gains popularity on the show, much to the dislikings of Amber and her mother, who attempt to stop her from winning Miss Baltimore and oppose her ideas of integration. She must figure out how to beat Amber while also helping her friends earn permanent spots on a new and integrated Corny Collins show.

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The Truth Will Prevail

By: Carlos O’Ryan

Online Editor

It is ludicrous to think that there are people within our wonderful, intellectual community that give into baseless conspiracies, and make attempts to spread falsehoods about our planet Earth. It is unbelievable that there are Round-Earthers in Howard County.

Round-Earthers are literally the scourge of this beautiful, FLAT Earth. They feed our children lies and various airplane chemicals in order to appease their Evil Overlord, Barack Obama. And that is just the tip of the iceberg, speaking of which, don’t actually exist, since global warming is a fabrication by the Lizard-people from the Moon, (which, by the way, is a hologram created by NASA that is used to conceal their massive space station/death ray, the “Not-Alive-Inator”), in order to make good capitalist businesses to cut down on profits.

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Photo Credit: The Truth

 

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Hammond Wins 2019 Sportsmanship Cup

By: Claire O’Rourke and Uma Ribeiro 

Features and Co-News Editor

Hammond has received the HCPSS Sportsmanship Cup for the fourth time, truly demonstrating the positive teamwork Hammond’s sports teams reflect on a daily basis. With encouraging coaches and helpful teammates, it is no surprise that Hammond has been the recipient of this award four times in the past five years among all the other high schools within the county. Dr. DiPaula and Mr. Lerner were presented with the award by the HCPSS Board of Education.

Mr. Lerner, Hammond’s athletic director, commented on winning the award, saying “The award is a big deal. It’s the only athletic award that is recognized by the Board of Education. We have great kids and our coaches really enjoy what they do. One of the things [our coaches] try and do in addition to teaching the kids the sport is teaching them the right way to win and the right way to lose: to win with class and lose with class. We’re also always hospitable to our opponents and when we are at away facilities we try and leave them better than we found them. Our kids and coaches are doing the right thing, and that’s really why we win the award so often.”

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Sportsmanship at Hammond is seen everywhere, he continued. “You see [sportsmanship] all over the place. In athletic contests, like, [for instance], in wrestling contests, after [a wrestler] pins a kid, we might help them off the mat, and our kids don’t gloat if we win, and they don’t pout if they lose. Hammond is so great because we are so diverse and people really get along well. It’s pretty incredible to see, so not only is [sportsmanship demonstrated] within our athletics program, but it is in our whole school as well.”

The Sportsmanship Cup is not only impactful to our directors here at Hammond, but also holds meaning for many of the individual athletes.

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Varsity Softball Season Recap

By: Marcia Herrero and Alara Sheriff

Co-A&E Editor and Social Media Coordinator

Hammond’s Varsity Softball season this year has been one heck of a battle for the girls. This year they beat teams that they had not beaten in years. The Lady Bears ended the season on top of the League Standings and Section Standings with a 14-3 and 14-4 record— the highest in years, creating a new record for Hammond Softball.

Softball 2019

This season started off on a great note with a win for Hammond against Wilde Lake by a score of 15-4 on Monday, March 25th. But the day the season’s momentum changed was Wednesday, May 1st  when Hammond beat Howard with a score of 4-1 on their home field.

“The best part of the season [by far] was definitely beating Howard. Everyone was so excited, it was a really close game… until the last inning, so that was an intense moment” said Freshman Madison Berning.

Kelley Noppenberger, Sophomore, was happy as she recounted the best part of her season. “Beating Howard 4 to 1 which we haven’t [done] in about 10 years. Reportedly Senior Armonie Lane was sobbing happy tears and giving bear hugs to everyone on the team. The Lady Bears also won county championships which they have not done since 2007.

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The Challenges of College Applications

Amanda Russel

In-Depth Co-Editor

With college application deadlines coming and going for the next few months, seniors are currently in the midst of the lengthy, stressful, and tedious process of applying to college.

      At the beginning of the school year, seniors were instantly thrust into the chaotic college application process. Senior Luz Serna said “I wish it wasn’t so quick. We just got back from summer and it feels like there is no thinking time.”

With the earliest college application deadlines being due on October 15th, and the FAFSA Application opening up on October 1st, it is no wonder that seniors felt overloaded at the start of the school year. ”

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Taking The SAT and ACT Out of College Applications

Aubryanna Lee

Co-A&E Editor

Have you taken the SAT? Have you taken the ACT? Have you ever been worried about not getting into college because of your SAT or ACT scores? Well, if you are a student in the Class of 2023 or any of the following classes, you may not have to worry about submitting any standardized test scores to any colleges.

      There are over 850 schools that no longer require applicants to submit their SAT scores (The New York Times). Colleges say that removing the SAT scores helps them attract strong applicants that may not have previously applied. This includes minority students, those from low income families, and those whose academic abilities are not showcased by standardized tests. Data shows that tests like the SAT are biased against students from low-income households. Students coming from low-socioeconomic backgrounds tend to have a lower performance on standardized tests.

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Throwback Movie Review: The Thing

Carlos O’Ryan

Online Editor

It has been 36 years since “The Thing” was released in theatres in June of 1982. Director John Carpenter’s science-fiction/horror movie, which revolves arounds the bloody events that unfold when a shape-shifting alien finds itself at a research base in Antarctica, was heavily criticized at release for being an absolute gore-fest, where characters only existed to be grotesquely dismembered in a splash of blood and guts.

However, in the years following its release, it was eventually accepted for what it was, which was never an uninspired mess of body horror, but as a genuine classic full of thrills and absolutely wonderful practical effects, but at its initial release, it was heavily criticized for having characters that only existed to be chopped up, burned, and torn apart in gross ways.

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