I am a cheap person. I’m going to just throw that out in the open and avoid all confusion: I don’t like spending lots of money. Prom is probably going to kill me. However, going to the movies doesn’t have to.

I love the dollar theater. Though it’s real name is Cinemark Movies 8, I think Dollas Theater is a perfectly fine epithetic. However, don’t be deceived:on weekend nights, prices jump from $1.00 to a record $1.50, although prices on Tuesdays are a mere $.50.

The closet dollar theatre is on 420 Oak Bend Drive in Lewisville. Though the floor is sticky and the chairs creak perhaps a bit too ominously, it’s a good deal. Right now, they’re playing big-name movies from Princess and the Frog to New Moon. Though not every movie goes to the dollar show after retiring from the ridiculously over-priced big screens, many popular movies do.

For more information about show times, click here.

Staff Writer

In his song “My Stupid Mouth”, John Mayer sings, “my stupid mouth has got me in trouble, I said too much again, oh, another social casualty, score one more for me.” Oddly enough, these words are extremely relatable to Mayer considering his most recent publicity scandal, but at his March 9 concert at the American Airlines Center, he proved that even a little bump in the road can’t stop a good musician from singing hit songs out of the same mouth which got him in trouble in the first place.

Practically everyone has heard about the rather indecent things Mayer said within the past few weeks about African Americans and his former girlfriend, Jessica Simpson.  Before I went to the concert, I watched numerous television interviews with fans, asking people what they thought about Mayer. Many were livid and claimed they would never listen to his music again, but was there any truth to those claims?

The show started at 8 p.m. and began with a performance by Michael Franti and Spearhead, a Bohemian-style band that just recently gained its claim to fame through the song “Hey World.” Since I had only heard one song from this band in the past – and on a commercial at that – I was a little skeptical about how their set would turn out.

I should have known that any band who is opening for such a big name like Mayer would have to be nothing but brilliant – and they were just that. I’ve never been one for the Jamaican-style music, but the energy of the band was unlike any I’ve witnessed in a long time. Not only did Michael Franti jump around the stage from 8-9 p.m., but he also ran into the audience and pulled at least eight people onto the stage to sing and dance with him.

After that extremely energetic performance, the crowd was ready for Mayer.  He finally came out at around 9:30 p.m., opening with his new song titled “Heartbreak Warfare.”

I was really nervous Mayer would apologize publically to the crowd in the middle of his performance like he did at his Feb. 10 show in Nashville and rehash his crude public comments despite the amount of time that has elapsed since then. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Mayer mentioned nothing about the issue, and continued on as if it never happened, as I hoped he would.

Mayer’s first set lasted about an hour, and contained songs such as “My Stupid Mouth”, “Half of my Heart” and his first commercially released single, “No Such Thing.” The first act also contained a Mayer-style version of Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s “Free Fallin’” and was followed up by various “jams”, as Mayer called them, which was about a five minute guitar solo.

Mayer began to make it obvious to the crowd as to why he is so charming to all of the Hollywood ladies. Not only did he maintain a very funny and charismatic attitude throughout the entire show, but he also arrived back for the second half wearing a Jason Kidd Dallas Mavericks jersey, joking he would have to return it to Kidd the next day in order for him to play.

The second half contained songs such as “Bigger than my Body” and “Neon.” After the show finally came to a close at about 11:15 p.m., the lights went out and, of course, an encore followed closely behind. Mayer made a convincing exit off the stage, only to return moments later for such an encore, which contained the songs “Who Says” and “Gravity.”

I left that concert not only extremely impressed by Mayer’s vocal talents, instrumental mastery and stage presence, but also very forgiving of Mayer’s former comments. I remembered something that a boy in one of my classes, senior James Boyles, said days before about Mayer when he discovered I was going to the concert and someone said that I was foolish to support his bad actions by attending his concert.

“What he says in public doesn’t change the way he performs his music,” Boyles said. “Even though he may say bad things, I still enjoy his music.”

I could not agree more. And I’m pretty sure every person in that arena left not only feeling satisfied by his performance, but also confident that Mayer’s sometimes foolish words could never affect his abundant and flawless talents.

John Mayer performs at the American Airlines Center on March 9. Photo by Loren Hughes.

The movie includes actors such as Jeff Bridges, who recently won an Oscar for his performance in Crazy Heart, alongside Garrett Hedlund (Four Brothers, Troy), Olivia Wilde (House), Michael Sheen (Underworld movies) and many others.

Not only is the cast amazing, but a while back it was revealed that the French techno duo, Daft Punk, would be doing the score for the movie. Earlier this week on the 8th, a new trailer was released and the best part about it is… there happens to be a bit of Daft Punk’s score for the movie playing in the background. The last studio album the band released was in 2005 with “Human After All” so the score for this movie is a treat for fans of the group. Along with doing the movie score, fans also have their rumored upcoming tour to get excited about.

Okay, while it may look like I’m having a seizure as I wildly jump up and down and excitedly scream the word ”TSwift” over and over again, I promise you that I’m not.

The reason why I’m unable to control myself and look like some sort of crazy person escaped from the nearest hospital? Tonight’s the Taylor Swift Concert, and guess who scored tickets.

That’s right. There’s no typing mistake. Nine hours from now, I will be jamming out to some of my favorite, and come on you have to admit, catchiest songs ever released.

If you couldn’t already tell from the fall concert shirt I’m wearing when I went to the same show in September, I’m a big Taylor Swift fan. 

I know, I know, she’s not the best of singers, but her songwriting abilities and talents as a perfomer more than make up for the voice she lacks. Trust me, this concert rocks.

With really cool lighting and staging effects, incredible costume designs of different eras and unexpected performances, tonight’s one night that should not be missed.

With homework and studying thrown to the wind, I’ll be spending the night like many girls at CHS and within the Dallas area; rocking out with Taylor Swift.

On Tuesday March 9, Coppell boys soccer team played their last home district game against Lewisville. To keep with tradition, the last home game is set to honor the senior players.

“[Senior Night] is not just to celebrate our soccer careers at the high school but also to thank our parents for coming to all of our games no matter where or what the weather is like,” senior captain Colton Reese said.

Before the game began, each player got to cross the field for their last time with both their parents at their sides. The players thanked their mothers with a rose and the fathers a soccer ball. After the sentimental moments with the family, the team got ready to play Lewisville.

“After last weeks win against Marcus, the team was fired up for the game and ready to finish the district on a good note,” senior Brandon Donahue said.

In the first half, the Cowboys played very aggressive and made many attempts on the goal. After several tries, senior Eric Oesch finally scored putting Coppell on the scoreboard with 20 minutes still left in the first half but nothing happened.

“It was definitely a relief to get that first lead on Lewisville but we knew this game wasn’t over,” Oesch said.

About 10 minutes into the second half, senior Jordan Elgin gets his first goal of the night and a couple minutes after that makes another giving Coppell a 3-0 lead. Since Coppell was up by a lot, Coach Shane Bybee substituted some of his started for seniors who did not see much playing time this season.

“I promised all the seniors that once we had a good enough lead that they will all get a chance to play,” Bybee said. “It made it better that it was for most of the second half too.”

Seniors like Guillermo Aguilar, Jeff Johnston, Austin Dugger, Jaxon Williams and Andrew Nesbitt got to play for the rest of the half and got a little piece of the spotlight while other players passed them the ball.

Nesbitt, who has been the team manager for the last two years, finally got to play with the team for the first time. Besides getting the chance to play with his teammates, Nesbitt scored a goal with 12 minutes left in the half. Both players and crowd stormed the field to congratulate Nesbitt.

“It was an awesome night and I won’t ever forget it,” Nesbitt said.

As the team and fans started to calm a little after Nesbitt’s goal, Williams, whose position has been goalie for the past four years, scored with five minutes left. His goal fired up the crowd and ended the game on a high note.

With the 5-0 win against Lewisville, this guaranteed the Cowboys a spot in playoffs. The last district game is Friday March 12 against Flower Mound at Flower Mound.

The doors opened at 8 a.m. this morning at the McFarlin Memorial Auditorium, located on the campus of Southern Methodist University, for talented dancers that think they have what it takes to awe the judges on America’s hit series, So You Think You Can Dance.

Some of the basic requirements to audtion entailed being a U.S. citizen, being over eighteen and under thirty-one, bringing a music sheet and makign sure you are not wearing any designer clothing or apparel with logos.

Attendees had to fill our the forms found on the Fox website. Judges asked for participants to set aside the following two days for callbacks.

It was a hectic day for several, and the results can only be seen when season seven airs during the summer.

Members of the Coppell Jazz Club practice their sheet music in the commons after school. Photo by Frances Ruiz.

by Divya Kumar
News Editor

When the word ‘band’ is brought up at Coppell, the first thought in most minds is that of the high school’s marching band. However, the recent formation of a new Jazz Club created by juniors Alex Park and Krish Suresh looks forward to bringing a new type of band to CHS.

Park and Suresh, saxophone and percussion players respectively, are both active members of the CHS band. Both excel in their respective musical areas and show a passion for their instrument. This passion has increased within the last year, when thoughts of expanding the style of music that CHS is used to were brought up.

“I went to a jazz camp over the summer at Baylor [University in Waco],” Park said. “I loved the way the music sounded and how laid back everything was.”

Following up on this newfound love for jazz, Park and Suresh consulted Spanish teacher Patrick Melville, who recommended they form a club and volunteered to be its sponsor. The club currently holds around 26 members, who steadfastly meet every Wednesday in the cafeteria in order to practice. Members are instructed to bring their respective jazz instrument to each meeting, during which they will prepare for what Park and Suresh hope will ultimately end up with a performance.

“Really, we just want everyone to be introduced to this style of music,” Park said. “And we also want to give students and teachers the chance to fall back into music. It wasn’t too hard to spread word and get a group of students and sponsors.”

Beyond being just a sponsor for this upcoming club, Melville also happens to have a personal history in jazz. His beginnings in music originated with his parents, both of whom followed through with careers in jazz.

“My mom is a singer and my dad plays the trombone professionally with a band,” Melville said. “I remember going to bed at night to the sound of his band practicing in the living room. I guess you could say that I basically grew up with jazz.”

Melville allowed his passion for jazz to carry him through college at the University of North Texas, during which he decided to minor in jazz studies. Now he plays gigs in Dallas during the summers and performs at other opportunities during which a pianist, trumpet player, bass player or, the instrument in which he specializes, a guitar player, may be needed.

As for his role as sponsor, besides providing some extra personal jazz music for the club to practice with, Melville also volunteers to fill in for any missing instruments during practices. As for the other co-sponsor of the club, math teacher Ian VanderSchee, jazz may not be as prevalent a part of his life, however, his role as conductor of the band does serve as a rather important one.

“I’ve conducted before for church choirs, and I’ve really enjoyed it,” VanderSchee said. “I was really excited when Alex and Krish approached me to do this.”

The purpose of the club meetings are to help members hone their musical skills and learn more about the genre of jazz.

“The club is really just for fun and a good way to bring about appreciation for this genre of music, which isn’t really focused on much in areas around Coppell,” Suresh said.

The ultimate goal of the club, according to its founders, is to hold a spring concert alongside the official band in order to demonstrate the skills they have learned over the process of the semester. Beyond just prepping for this concert, club members appear to take an interest not only in the type of instruments they’re playing, but also the new type of music overall.

“What’s really inspiring about this whole thing is everyone’s eagerness,” Melville said. “It’s easy to start something half-heartedly with people occasionally showing up. But with this, everyone seems super excited to be a part, and I think that’s what’s going to carry us through.”

Melville also expresses hope for the club performing at non-academic UILs sponsored by colleges.  But for now, as the club is still in its early stages, members will continue to polish their music skills, practice their instruments, learn new music… and all that jazz.

Little is known to us in America about the situation in

Several IB students purchased LiNK shirts which advertised their policy and ideals. Photo by Aditi Shrikant.

 North Korea, the most isolated country in the world. On Friday, Feb. 26th, members of the Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) association came to the high school to speak to IB students about the perils of this secretive country.

Members of this organization emailed out several schools, asking to come speak to students regarding the situation. IB sponsor Jeb Puryear was one of the many emailed, and organized the event at the school. Due to the sheer haste of the whole situation, the presentation wasn’t able to be shown to the entire school.

“It’s not every day that you get someone that’s so in tuned with such an important issue come to talk,” Puryear said. “I saw it as a good opportunity for people to learn.”

The presentation started off with the airing of a National Geographic video, which showed what life in North Korea was like, secretly taped by reporters who traveled to the country under the facade of being doctors. Shocking images were shown – such as the perils that certain citizens must go through to escape and life for those who are unfaithful to the dictator of the country, Kim Jong Il.

“[The video] was actually one of the more eye-opening things I’ve ever seen,” IB junior Jeanne Feng said. “After the doctors performed 10,000 eye-surgeries, the first thing that the people would do was walk up to the picture of Kim Jong Il and thank him profusely, rather than thanking the doctor. Some of the things we saw were so difficult to fathom.”

The video depicted the unwavering loyalty that the North Koreans had towards their leader and the way that most citizens there wouldn’t answer the question as to whether their Great Leader could do anything wrong, not because they didn’t want to – but because they couldn’t even understand such a question.

Following the video, the two LiNK representatives at the school, Leah Garrard and Kat Key, both recent college graduates, explained the program to the students. These “nomads”, as they call themselves, are interns for the program who travel around the country to speak to various colleges and high schools during a 10-week tour to shed light on the North Korean crisis. The current tour started a week before the presentation, so the nomads were rather well-versed in their information.

The organization is founded around not only making people more aware of the situation in North Korea, but also around those of the “stateless children”. These children are the product of North Korean defectors – or refugees – who have fled to China and continued on with their lives. They neither belong to China, since they lack the proper paperwork, or North Korea, for they are no longer purebred, and therefore are deemed “stateless”. These children are placed in shelters, with no hope for future adoption, since it is not an option.

“Life for these children could be so much better if they only had the option of being allowed to be adopted,” Key said. “And that’s what we’re trying to do; since we can’t do anything in China or North Korea, we have to start at home, in the United States.”

The LiNK representatives urged students to write letters to local senators, asking them to pass legislation allowing adoption for these stateless children. Upon the end of the presentation, the floor was open to questions regarding the program. Most questions, it appeared, were centered around starting up a LiNK chapter at the high school, which IB students are now looking forward to doing.

“Since it’s required to do an international project for IB anyways, it would be so cool if we could choose this one for ours next year,” IB junior Lily Choi said. “We’re all aware of the situation and ways to help it, and if everyone votes on it, this is something we could look forward to fundraising for in the future.”

The presentation clearly seemed to succeed in its attempt of having a lasting impact upon the students. IB members, now rallied up, immediately began work towards starting up a chapter. More concrete details are to come up in later months.

“When you’re looking for a humanitarian crisis to help, North Korea has it all – starvation, malnutrition, and more,” Key said. “And it’s almost unheard of and there’s a need for awareness. We exist so that one day the humanitarian crisis in North Korea will not.”

To learn more about LiNK, visit the website http://www.linkglobal.org.

Number one seed: Duke is the number one seed in this tournament and should be able to win the tournament if they do not run into the hot Maryland Terps.  Other than the Terps, Duke may not be able to be stopped on their way to a number one seed in the NCAA tournament.

Bubble teams: Georgia Tech is really the only bubble team in the ACC currently.  If they can win against North Carolina and win their next round matchup then they should be locked for the ACC’s seventh team in the tourney.

Dark Horse: The only team that can work its way in the tournament is Virginia.  The Cavs started off hot but fell off the map a bit during the tournament.  If they can win the tournament then they are in but anything short of that and they can kiss their NCAA dreams good-bye.

If you’re a cyclist, or even a walker, who tends get lost on the path, you are in luck.

Google Maps recently added to its applications by creating bicycle directions, specifically tuned towards finding sidewalks and roadways meant for cyclists for people to get from Point A to Point B.

While this application will be most helpful for people in big cities, it can also be of aid to people in Coppell, where the many intertwining roadways can become confusing. To use the bicycle directions, simply enter the locations for directions, and select “bicycling” as the means of transportation.

Google also has directions for travel by foot, car and public transit.