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Henry McKeand
Editor-in-Chief and A&E Editor The Apex High Speech and Debate Team travelled to Terry Sanford in Fayetteville for its first competition of the year on Saturday, Oct. 17. The team, which was formed last year, is coached by Alexandra Mann, an English Teacher, and is scheduled for two more competitions this season. The team put in a strong performance with the duo of Alexandra Shrinak and Allison Taft taking home a third place trophy in the novice public forum category. The team has grown since its first competitions and is trying to establish itself in North Carolina’s debate community. Thanks to the several new members this year, the team was able to branch out into multiple speech and debate categories. The team competed in humorous interpretation, impromptu speaking, original oratory, and public forum debate. For those interested in joining debate, Mann’s Advanced Research and Forensics classes offer students a way to get familiar with the various rules and expectations of debate. The next competition is scheduled for Nov. 14 at Cary High School. For more information about Apex High Speech and Debate, check out a previous article on the old website here.  Dylan Snyder
Staff Writer The 2015 Ohio State Buckeyes team comes into this season with all eyes on them. Last season they were 14-1 and had to overcome many obstacles. Prior to the 2014 season, All Big Ten quarterback Braxton Miller was injured in an August practice and out for the entire season. Backup JT Barrett stepped in and despite a loss to ACC unranked Virginia Tech, was leading a fast paced and efficient offense. Losing to Virginia Tech was the Buckeyes’ first home opener loss in thirty-six years and caused many people to count them out for the post season. Any Big Ten team hates to lose to the ACC, and it sometimes can ruin their chances at post-season play. Barrett, however, got his act together and was a Heisman trophy candidate until bad luck struck the Bucks again. In the season-finale against rival Michigan on November 29, 2014, Barrett suffered an injury to his ankle when trying to scramble for extra yardage. Sophomore Cardale Jones took over in the fourth quarter and held on for a 42-28 win. With Barrett out for the post-season, Jones was up for the starting job. Many people, including myself, were very doubtful of his abilities because the only playing time he really got was when the Buckeyes were up by a large margin in the fourth quarter. He was also famous for a tweet he sent his freshman year saying “Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL, we ain’t come to play SCHOOL, classes are POINTLESS.” OSU fans as well as many football fans did not have much faith in him due not only to his lack of experience, but also because he was not thought of as that bright of a person by his tweet. Going into the postseason, Jones was now in the spotlight as he made his first full start against the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten Championship game. He proved them wrong by going 12-18 for 257 yards in a 59-0 win. The quality of play continued as Jones led the Buckeyes to a victory in the Sugar Bowl against Alabama 42-35 and a big win in the inaugural college football playoff national championship versus the Oregon Ducks 42-20. The 2014 Buckeyes team was probably one of the best ever. They did not lose many impact players because many of their All-Americans and All-Big Ten players were underclassmen. They would surely dominate as everyone thought.  Nick Stines
Staff Writer Matt Wight’s position as principal of Apex High School was succeeded by Dr. Diann Kearney late last year. She is from Greensboro, NC and attended NC State and UNC Wilmington, where she earned her master’s degree. She is even fluent in Spanish. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to shadow her on Oct. 13, but since we are the same height, we agreed on the phrase “following each other around” as opposed to shadowing. She arrives to school at 6:30 a.m. and stands in the courtyard until about 7:30 a.m. to direct students to their classes. If available, she will use the next forty-five minutes or so to walk around the campus to visit classes to either say “hi” or check on students and teachers. Each visit is around one minute depending on whether or not a teacher or student wants to talk. Her job is much busier than most people understand. “The most challenging part is seeing students make poor choices and having to endure the consequences of those choices,” says Kearney. “A high school diploma is as good as money, and many students give up just months before they are set to graduate.”  Taylor Tyson
Staff Writer What is a mixtape? Today, the term is used to describe an amazing soundtrack created with minimal recording equipment. However, a little over two decades ago, a mixtape referred to a cassette tape full of different songs meant to convey a feeling. Mixtapes weren’t just a way to share music; they were a symbol of love, friendship, and adventure. On Oct. 17, or last Saturday, hundreds of music historians rushed to their local cassette stores to remember that feeling of excitement once again by celebrating National Cassette Store Day. Finding exclusive tapes such as AWOLNATION’s Run album or The Foal’s What Went Down album, nostalgic musicians were allowed to relish in their stereo decks and remember the good old days. Alike to Record Store Day, Cassette Store Day aims to encourage listening to a vintage style of music with exclusive albums, contests, and offers. According to Cassette Store Day’s website, this is the holiday’s third year of existence with “more international partners than ever.” The website didn’t share, however, that the participating stores were sparsely scattered around North America. The hardest part of the celebration was merely finding a participating store. Jessica Dorcelien Staff Writer The dresses featured at red carpet events are viewed as awe-worthy by the average person. The thousands of dollars draped over the various celebrities in the form of clothing were made to be talked about; that is what gets the celebrity selected as “best dressed”. For the sake of the audience who sits behind the television screen, the dresses are appealing to the eye while still reflecting the personality of the one being watched. The red carpet interviews are meant to make the average person envious. The average person is targeted by the red carpet, just as the celebrity is targeted by the runway. From the runway’s audience, the celebrity pictures herself in the gown. She imagines the positive feedback that she might receive, striving to be admired for her unique display of elegance and, in turn, disputing the critics. With a critic's presumed opinion taken into consideration, some of the runway’s featured gowns will not make the cut. Look below to see what does and what doesn’t make the cut. “At the prom, you are more about boys thinking you're cute. On the red carpet, you have to please everyone because there are a lot more people looking at those pictures.” – Laura Marano
Emily Sartin Staff Writer
 Henry McKeand
Editor-in-Chief and A&E Editor The first presidential Democratic debate took place Oct. 13, giving voters the first chance to see Democratic frontrunner Hilary Clinton face off with Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator who has been rising in the polls recently. Joining Clinton and Sanders was former governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley, former US senator Jim Webb, and former governor of Rhode Island Lincoln Chafee. Almost all of the current hot button issues were addressed, from domestic issues like gun control and racial justice to foreign affairs such as the conflict in Syria. The loud and passionate style of Sanders differed from Clinton’s cooler, more political demeanor. Clinton’s more moderate beliefs were contrasted with those of Sanders, a self-described socialist who is calling for a political revolution. While Clinton and Sanders exchanged heated words over many of the issues, however, they more-or-less agreed on the key points. In fact, all five candidates managed to play relatively nice. Aside from a few attacks on Hilary Clinton’s e-mail scandal and supposed lack of consistency, few personal jabs were thrown.  *stats updated as of 10/20/15 Cameron Goz
Sports Editor Daniel Murphy, second baseman for the New York Mets, is an above-average hitter with middling power and poor defense, and he is putting together one of the most legendary postseasons in both Mets and MLB history. Throughout the regular season Murphy hit a single home run off of a lefty this year, fourteen total. Now, through seven playoff games, he has three home runs off of lefties, with five total, tying a Mets record with Mike Piazza. In 903 career regular season games, he homered in back-to-back games only once; he has now homered in four straight games. The ridiculous stats do not stop there either, with the four game streak only trailing Carlos Beltran’s five gamer in 2004. Beltran is quite possibly the best postseason hitter in MLB history, only magnifying the incredible production “Murph” has achieved. Murphy is also only the third player to ever hit a HR off the regular season leaders in strikeouts, ERA, and wins, and the first to do that off three different pitchers. While outlandishly impressive, the names attached to these home runs are even more mind-boggling: two off of 3-time Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw, one against Cy Young front-runner Zach Greinke, a bomb off postseason stud Jon Lester, and a golf shot off Jake Arietta, who just had the best second-half in MLB history. When Cy Young ballots are placed next month, Murphy will have homered off the top three vote-getters in the National League (Arietta, Greinke, and Kershaw) in not only the same postseason, but in the same week. These types of mythical, fairy-tale like runs can be predicted, but in this case not much could have pointed to this type of production, especially considering that it is Murphy’s first playoff appearance. He simply wants it more, and what a coincidence it is that the goat that has haunted the championship less Cubs for 107 years was named Murphy. Dylan Snyder
Staff Writer This year’s 2015 women’s tennis team has had a successful season with a winning record of 12-4 and is third in the SWAC (Southwest Wake Athletic Conference). With a total of 142 matches, they have won 103 wins and thirty-seven losses. Things are looking up for them going into the playoff tournaments. Coach Lynn Thomas and senior Lauren Mcall sat down and gave their thoughts and opinions of how the season went as a team and what they thought had got them this far. Coach Thomas: What is the key to your success? The team has been consistent in play; the girls know each other well and can work together. Biggest improvement this year? Or best part to watch as a coach? Watching the girls grow as players and improve. Two of them came onto the team as freshmen and did not get to play much, and now after four years of hard work they are in the top six. Any comebacks? Doubles match at Fuquay-Varina ; Apex was down 5-6 and ended up winning 8-6. Since many of the players are seniors, how do you plan on replacing the talent next year? You can never truly replace them, but this will be a strong team next year. These kids will be missed, but there will be someone to step up next year to fill the role. What is the key to this team’s success this year? There are a lot of experienced seniors who have played on this team for all four years.  Andrew Bulieris
Staff Writer Fear the Walking Dead is a new spinoff of AMC’s most watched series The Walking Dead. The show takes on a whole new series of unfortunate events, as it is based in California and attempts to show how the zombie apocalypse really started. The idea of the show itself was great. With the major success The Walking Dead has received, a spinoff was inevitable. The show starts from the beginning with all new characters, a location all the way across the country, and the walkers we know and love. The main objective of this storyline, though, was to show how the zombie apocalypse came to be. In The Walking Dead, Rick woke up from a coma weeks after the apocalypse, giving fans no idea how all this started. Season one disappointed me in parts but succeeded expectations in many ways. The character development was poor but picked up at times mainly towards the end of the season. The last episode showed by far the most character emotion and proved to me that this show has much potential. The most surprising element was the huge lack if zombies. Every episode had a few minutes of zombie action, if any. This related way too much to The Walking Dead where the humans were the main threats, not the zombies. Every aspect of this show needs some work, but it’s only the first season with plenty of time for improvement. Hopefully season two includes more zombies. The main characters include Travis, a divorced dad who is remarried to a tough divorced mother of two, Madison. Her son is Nick, a drug addict that just cannot seem to get over his addiction all season, and her daughter is Alicia, a normal teenage girl with a bit of an attitude. Another character who played a big role in this season was Liza, a doctor who is the ex-wife of Travis and mother of Chris, a curious and sneaky teenager who has a shaky relationship with his parents. Last but not least the Salazar family; these characters were played by the right actors, and all played a huge role in how this season unraveled. This season was a huge stepping stone for a show that could potentially run for a very long time. Although the first season was a little underwhelming and sometimes very overwhelming, season two could be a great one. |
