elections: the power pendulum swings

November 17, 2006 Vol. 3 Issue 7
ELECTIONS: THE POWER PENDULUM SWINGS
By Sara Hutcheson
New House of
2004
2006
After the elections Nov. 7, 2006, the
Representatives
Democrats hold more seats in both the House of
Representatives and the Senate that results in a
202
230
Democrats
switch of power. Some think the Democrat’s new
advantage will produce many stalemates and nothing
will be accomplished. Truth is Democrats can’t come
in with blazing pistols and shoot down every
232
196
Republicans
Republican proposition. What they can do with the
advantage of having the majority is that their ratio
decides the percentage of Democrats to Republicans
1
0
Independents
in all House and Senate committees. With more
Democrats in these committees they tend to lean
toward democratic policies and laws. The country
will have to sit and watch how the new party scheme
Some races are still not settled at this time.
will work out.
109th Congress Senate Composition (2006)
Color Key:
Republicans
+/+29
-28
-1
110th Congress Senate Composition (2007)
Democrats
Independent
THANKSGIVING BRINGS OUT THE BEST IN ALL OF US
By: Zairinia Cruz and Eric Spears
I
f you thought Thanksgiving
was all about turkey and football, are
you in for a surprise! Saying grace at
mealtime is a special way of life for
many families. Some hold hands
around the table, others stand
behind their chairs or individually
bow their heads and recite a prayer
or psalm together, each family brings
a special meaning to the ”Thanksgiving” grace. Yet,
others are less fortunate without a meal to eat or give
to their own children.
When you are young, you don’t think of the
problems of the people around you, but as you
grow older, you will become wiser and realize
how fortunate you really are. There are people
dying of hunger; children without families or
homes; our soldiers fighting for our freedom and
the rights of others. These are just a few things
we should think about and help the less fortunate,
not just on Thanksgiving, but everyday. Just as
some of our own student body has done the last
two weeks, raising canned goods for those
families who will not be able to have a Thanksgiving dinner.
So as you sit around your table and pray, don’t just pray and
give thanks for what you have, but pray for others who are not
as fortunate at you.
THAT BUSY BUSY BAND
By Stephanie Hulsey
Yep, you guessed it; another
band competition! Saturday, October
18th, about 23 amazingly talented
band students will travel to Orangefield to take place in the All Texas
Small School Band competition.
ATSSB is a prestigious fight for
“who’s who” among the top
musically gifted students in
small bands across Texas.
Numerous hours of practice
and dedication are put into
the complicated music. This
all adds up to the nerveracking performance where
hundreds of people try out,
and only select few are chosen. On a different note, I’ll
add my own words when I
say that I have been trying
out for ATSSB since 7th
grade, and every year it’s difficult to
learn and become familiar with the
music and on top of that, actually
make the band. Sure it’s hard, but
after all the rehearsals, it’s an awesome feeling to place in the top 15
flutes that are accepted! Hopefully
one day all of my hard work will help
me reach my goal
of performing in
an orchestra for
something spectacular.
This brings me
into some insight
from other highperformance students in the Liberty High band.
Freshman
Kori
Jackson, sophomore Justin Windemiller, and senior Eric Spears all
want to continue their pursuit for
music after their studies are said
and done! I asked Justin what he
wants to do with music after college and he said he wants to either
be a music teacher or do something with science and music. Kori,
as-a-matter-of-factly and boldly
told me, said “I’m either going to
SFA or North Texas State University for a music major to be a professional musician or band director.” Lastly, Eric stated that after
high school, he’s going to continue
his percussion skills to become a
Drum-Tech. In other words, a percussion technician who helps
drummers with their technique
and sticking. They also teach
drumlines how to remember various rhythms and teach them different marching songs.
PERFECT ATTENDANCE EQUALS REWARD
By Ashley Rhine
Some of you may think that
coming to school everyday can be a
drag but you do get rewarded for
being here every day for each six
weeks. Each six weeks students with
perfect attendance get rewarded
with various prizes. The first six
weeks many students and teachers
had perfect attendance and were
rewarded with a candy bar and a
soda.
On Monday of the second
six weeks the prize was much bigger.
Perfect Attendees eat cake and enjoy music by some faculty
members with Karla Burris on vocals.
Students had a party with a Liberty
Opry singer, Karla Burris. She is
very talented and was kind enough
to sing to those students and
teachers.
There were over 200
students and over 15 teachers that
attended the party. They were not
only treated with food and drinks but
also heard three songs played in
their honor. So if any students or
teachers want to join in on the fun
they need to come to school
everyday.
TEACHER OF
THE WEEK
Randy Gunter, the AP English IV
teacher and state winning Literary
Criticism coach is the LHS Employee
of the Week.
Mr. Gunter is a
graduate of Liberty High School and
Texas State as well as University of
Houston Law School. He came to us
4 years ago. He is married and has
three sons, and he spends his “spare”
time working at his law practice!
PANTHERS WIN BIG 63-25… PLAYOFFS ANYONE?
By Chance Waller
The Panthers mauled the
Shepherd Pirates last Friday in a 6325 win! The Pirates were no match
for the Panthers. The Pirates
fumbled the opening kickoff which,
two plays later, lead to a 7-0 lead!
The Panthers continued their
success scoring 26 points in the first
quarter. The Panthers offense was
once again lead by the running duo
of Trevan Beaty and Sean Edwards.
The Pirates had a rough night trying
to control the Panthers powerful
running game. The Panthers headed
into the locker room with a 49-13
lead at the half.
In the second half, Coach
Stewart would take advantage of his
enormous lead and give Beaty and
Edwards a rest. Defensive greats,
Josh White and Daunte Winters,
would get a chance to show their
skills running the ball. White and
Winters pounded the ball into the
Pirates in the third quarter gaining a
bigger lead of 56-13. Finally, with
the game coming almost to an end,
the Pirates opened up their playbook
and found a way to score 12 more
points. The Panthers ended the
Trevan Beaty carries the ball against the Tarkington Longhorns.
game with a 63-25 win over the
weary Shepherd Pirates.
The Panthers win earned
them the third and final playoff spot
in district 22-3A. Today, the
Panthers go to Pasadena’s Memorial
Stadium to face the West OrangeStark Mustangs. The Mustangs are
the #4 team in the state and haven’t
lost a game all year but the Liberty
Panthers look to change all that with
a win. It won’t be easy but, the
Panthers are ready to defeat the
Mustangs in hopes of a State title.
LADY PANTHERS
BASKETBALL SET
By Brandy Lee
2006 Homecoming Queen Ashley Guillory is shown here
enjoying her ride around the stadium.
Staring in the Lady’s Varsity
Basketball team is Alicia Mallet, Amy
Arnold, Heather Godnich, Kacey
Vaugh, Michelle Braxton, Sharday
Freeman, Shelby Ames, and Sherry
Nelson. They claimed victory in their
first two games against Huffman and
New Caney. Unfortunately, messing up
their stride was Livingston, last Tuesday, but that didn’t
bring them down. They
have high hopes for
their next game. Good
luck to them and the
Junior Varsity girls
next Tuesday, Nov. 21
against Hardin Jefferson. Games begin at
noon here in the gym.