Winter is a season dedicated to heavy coats, strengthening personal relationships, and cold weather. However, now that it is getting cold out, here are some tips to stay warm.

Stay nourished and keep your body temperature rising with these delectable foods. Soups and chowders make for steaming and delicious meals. For an extra hardy meal, chili is an excellent choice because it is more filling, and consists of a delicious soup-like nature. Avoid foods like sodium-filled chips and carbonated sodas. White bread and cucumbers are also chilling and won’t help in maintaining a warm body.

Incorporate cinnamon into your hot drinks, such as coffee and hot cocoa. For a break from boring, pre-packaged hot chocolate mixes, try looking up a recipe for exquisite homemade hot cocoa, such as this one. Tea is a good alternative for those who do not like hot chocolate or strong coffee, providing fellow drinkers with a rejuvenating substitute. Also, try adding honey instead of sugar for a rich texture, but the same sweetness.

Another way to stay warm is to layer clothing. Scarves are a foolproof way to add warmth to an outfit, and they are easy to find. You can purchase scarves for low prices at local stores like Target. Sweaters and coats are also a staple for winter clothing, as sweaters and cardigans are easy to layer under thick winter coats. This is a great way to stay warm because if you don’t feel like wearing a coat all day, sweaters and cardigans that have been layered underneath carry the potential for warmth while still being fashionable. A really simple way to stay warm is to wear warm socks. You can easily find fun, festive holiday socks this time of year, and you won’t have to sacrifice warmth for style, because chances are- these socks can easily be concealed under pants and a pair of boots.

More vital tips to stay warm include getting a full night’s rest of at least eight hours of sleep and surrounding yourself with contained fire. Sleep will give you the energy to endure the brisk winter weather and fire will keep you warm enough to be able to enjoy the other pleasures of life- good food, hot chocolate, and fuzzy socks.

The number one gift to not give someone would be a gift card. Gift cards say, ‘I know you enough to get you a gift, but I don’t care enough to find out what you would actually like,’ so giving someone you’re close to a gift card seems kind of insensitive. Although gift cards are a good scapegoat when you are shopping for that person that is impossible to shop for, you should try your hardest to find them a gift that would mean something to them; and if you are planning to give them a gift card, do not give them one to a restaraunt. Gifts are supposed to be meaningful, and giving someone something that will go in and out of their bodies within a day will be forgotten as soon as the food is digested. Give them a gift card to a special shop they love or a cash card that they can spend anywhere, that way they can definitely find something they love.

Another questionable gift to give is clothes. There’s an abundance of clothing stores out there, but finding someone that perfect shirt or those perfect jeans is really hard and it would be really embarrassing if you got them a size too big or a size too small. Also, it’s hard to find something that will fit perfectly with that person’s specific style. Nothing is worse than getting an ugly shirt or plain socks on Christmas; and even though they will have it longer than the gift card, every time they see the gift, it will be a reminder of that time you failed at gift giving or that time you got them a shirt that was too big and made them feel fat. If clothes is the way you want to go, though, try to get them a funny shirt or some cool socks, that way they can wear it ironically or you can both laugh at the joke for years to come.

If you want to do a sweet gesture for a member of your family or your significant other, make sure not to get them flowers. They may be pretty and they may be good for various other occasions, but the holidays are hectic and people are always busy. The receiver may not have time to tend to the flowers every day or may not even be home to receive them, so your flowers will just end up dead and droopy. A sweet alternative would be a mix tape filled with songs they love. They can listen to it on the go and nothing is better than finding good new music.

Although it will be easy to find bad gifts season, there are plenty of awesome ones out there, too. One of the hottest gifts this season is definitely the iPhone 4S. Despite the fact that it looks exactly like the iPhone 4, it comes with a higher quality camera, various internal improvements, and Siri, the most popular new feature added. Siri is a voice-activated assistant with incredible capabilities. The iPhone 4S may not be very different from the regular iPhone 4, but that didn’t stop Apple from making it more expensive. If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative, it might be better to just go with the iPhone 4, which is $50 cheaper and basically the same.

For the video-gamer in your family, a good investment might be one of the various videogames that have come out in the past couple of months, the biggest one being Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Everyone and their mother plays it (including my mother); and the receiver will be sure to love it on any console. Uncharted 3, the third video game in the critically acclaimed Uncharted series for Playstation 3, came out in early November and is the perfect game for any adventure-lover that wants to stay in for the holidays.

The list goes on, from brand new movies on DVD (the final Harry Potter installment, The Hangover Part 2), new technological gadgets (the Kindle Fire, the aforementioned iPhone), and even other random, but meaningful gifts that you can find this season. Do not be lazy and resort to lame gifts that give only a hint of satisfaction. All it takes is a little hunting and you can always find the perfect gift for someone that they will undoubtedly love.

The sounds of angry cries and shouts are heard by American citizens across the country as the Occupy movement spreads. The movement originated on Wall Street in New York on Sept. 17, but it has spread to cities across the country, including Dallas.

“Middle class Americans are upset with the way our government has bailed out Wall Street and the big banks,” Government teacher, Jennifer Haltom said. “They believe that corporate America is greedy and not doing what they can to help average Americans.”

The groups goal is to raise awareness about the issue and receive support from other citizens in order to make changes to our government; however, the group does not have a clear set of demands.

“I think, right now, our government is monitoring the issue; hopefully they will take the views of both sides into consideration, and do what’s best for our country,” Haltom said.

Haltom believes that it is going to take an election for the government to take action.

“I think, right now, there have been so many negative things that have happened in our government that it’s going to take a little bit of change, and it’s nobody’s fault, it’s just the way the two parties have reacted to each other,” Haltom said. “I think we need change in Congress. The political parties need to work together a little more, and hopefully we’ll get somewhere if they do.”

The protests have generally been peaceful, but some protestors have been arrested despite their first amendment freedoms, which include speech, press, assembly, petition and religion.

“The first amendment will protect any of the five freedoms as long as they’re not infringing on the rights of somebody else or that they’re not breaking any laws,” Journalism teacher, Stacey Dudzinski said.

However, some protestors have been arrested for starting fights and trespassing on city property.

“Sometimes protesters have to get permits in order to protest,” Dudzinski said. “They should look to see if there are any city ordinances that prevent them from doing that.”

Dudzinski teaches her photojournalism students the five freedoms of the first amendment, and then she details how it affects them as students.

“Although [students] are Americans in this country, a lot of times their freedoms are different because they are underage,” Dudzinski said. “For example, a student can’t just wear any shirt to school that has provocative sayings or promotes drugs and alcohol because it is against dress code policy. If offends somebody, then the school can get them in trouble, and students are not protected under freedom of speech for this.”

Despite the number of citizens that do not agree, the protests against the government will continue.

“I don’t think that there is anything wrong with the structure of our government,” Haltom said. “I think it’s worked for as long as it has, and I think we’ve got some people in Congress who are unwilling to work together; our government is based on compromise, so if they don’t work others, then our system will not work.”

In Africa, lions are dying off rapidly. 2,000 years ago, more than a million lions roamed the Earth. Since the 1940s, when lions numbered an estimated 400,000, lion populations have disappeared across the continent. Now they may total as few as 20,000 animals. Scientists connect the drastic decreases in many cases to growing human populations. The Big Cats Initiative program aims to halt decreases in the lion population by the year 2015, and to restore population to sustainable levels.

Also, according to the international union for conservation of nature, the Amur leopard, one of the most endangered of the big cats is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild due to habitat loss. Yet, these are not the only big cats in danger. Even now, there are more tigers in captivity then there are in the wild.

National geographic has come up with some creative ways to bring in donations. To support the cause, parents can dress their children up as a big cat for Halloween, collecting change while they trick-or-treat. Also, if participants make a donation of $5, National Geographic will post a picture of their kitten on their website.

Whether participants are dressing up, posting a picture, donating or just sharing the issue with others, every little bit helps in the effort to save these endangered animals.

“I had no idea there was a tradition behind mums, I just thought they were something high schools came up with to show off,” Junior, Jackie Fisher said.

The Chrysanthemum or better known as mum was introduced to North America in 1753 by Karl Linnaeus, a famous botanist. He created the word chrysanthemum by combining the greek word chryos meaning gold, with anthemon meaning flower. After the initial discovery of  the mum, it became  known as one of the most beautiful flowers, and was highly sought after.

As to how this became a Texas homecoming tradition, it is simple.  Since the mum was known as a fall flower, it became immensely popular to give a friend or girlfriend a mum of their favorite color and attach it to their torso. In the 60′s, young high school girls would receive a mum from friends, boyfriends and parents. Later came the boys version of the mum, called the garter, which is a smaller verison worn on the arm of the boy. Over the years, this simple tradition has evolved into a creativity and social contest of who has the best mum.

“I hear about girls freaking out on where they are getting it done, how they want it and how much they want to spend,” Senior, Michelle Rakaba said. “Some of these girls obsess over who wears it best. The bigger the better I guess”

As the mum grew popular, the corsages evolved from a simple flower into some of the biggest and most creative pieces of artwork.  These days the original mum flower has been replaced by a silk flower or flowers with many ribbons, bells, trinkets, and other creative accessories attached to it, and to some, this simple creative craft has become obssesive.

“There was this one girl who had her mum and it literally covered her entire front, and it had a one shoulder strap of smaller mums going over her shoulder so that it could hold up the weight. It was ridiculous,” Senior, Rebecca Rangel said.

Although this tradition is found in other states, the tradition of the mum is special to Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

“I move around a lot, and in other places the mum and garter thing is not as popular as it is in Texas. Other schools out of texas have mums and garters but very few people wear them,” Rangel said.

Along with the actual tradition of mums and garters high school students still enjoy the actual homecoming game and festivities.

“I enjoy the homecoming game  as well because it is a chance for me to see the homecoming court nominees and winners, watch an amazing football game and spend time with some good people,” Rakaba said.

Since this is a very popular tradition, there are many stores and establishments that can make mums and garters, but it is also very popular to make a date’s mum or garter .

“Mums and garters are awesome! They are really fun to make and it’s great to be able to personalize them for your date,” Fisher said.

Students traditionally wear their mum or garter during the day in school, depending on if the school allows them to be displayed.

“Students should definitely be able to wear them at school because it is one of the only times to wear them,” Rangel said. ”Some people will wear them to the football games, but it is not the same, mums and garters are for people to show off, that’s what they love to do. But one thing that should not be allowed at school are the bells on the mums and garters, seriously, by the end of the day you just want to rip off all of the bells and throw them away, they get so annoying.”

In all, homecoming is one of the most loved games of the year; one that students will remember forever.

“Homecoming is one of the big times of the year when the school comes together for a whole week to support the football team, and the energy that goes along with decorating the hallways and the dressup days;  this is an awesome time,” Junior, Victoria Evans said.

“The building was originally a house; it’s been around since the 1800’s,” owner of the Catfish Plantation, Richard Landes said.

The 116 year old home has a lot of history with it, and according to the owners and staff, the people that have lived in it still remain in the house.

“There are 3 known spirits within our restaurant,” Landes said.

The home was primarily owned by the Buyers family.

“Will Buyers, a farmer, died here from pneumonia in the 1930’s, and he is known to play with women’s long hair and touch their knees,” Landes said.

The second spirit is known as Elizabeth, but everyone believes her to be ‘Lola Roller’, who was shot in killed in the house by her ex-fiancé.

“Elizabeth is associated with the dining room and the woman’s bathroom; people will smell roses, which were her favorite [flowers] and see her in the front window wearing a white wedding gown,” Landes said

The last spirit is Caroline, a former owner who died in the house of old age in 1970.

“Caroline seems to think a lot of the time that this is still her home, and she gets very upset; she’ll often move things, like the fryers- they will often turn off and the baskets will levitate out of the grease,” Landes said.

After Caroline’s death, the house was abandoned until 1984 when Tom and Alyssa Baker bought the house and opened the plantation; later on the Landes family joined in the ownership. And for as long as the restaurant has been around, the amount of supernatural experiences people have had is not much of a shock.

“Probably the most frightening thing that happened to me was when I was in the kitchen [one day]; a knife levitated and came after me,” Landes said.

Though whether people experience anything or not, it is up to the customers to decide whether this historical Victorian house is really haunted.

“I think it’s very believable because it’s in a neighborhood and in an [actual] house,” customer, Lauren Forkner said. “I haven’t had any experiences but I really do think it’s haunted.”

People go to the catfish plantation for all different reasons, whether it is for the food, the history, or the paranormal.

“I love going here because the food is really good, and I think it’s awesome that it’s haunted; it makes [the experience] even better,” customer, Katie Bergvall said.

“I’m super proud of [my new album]. When it was released, it was one of the most exciting moments of my life,” Taylor said.

Yet, this is not Taylor’s first time making music. He released his first album, “Artificial Flavoring” in 2009, but has since taken it down from iTunes.

“[Artificial Flavoring] was bad. Really bad,” Taylor said. “But at that time I thought it was the coolest thing to have an album on iTunes. Nobody really told me how bad it was, though.”

He has since started writing songs with more personal background; with more ‘real’ lyrics, which many of the pop artists today do not use. But finding what he wanted to write about was not easy.

“I started out writing songs that had no meaning and were just really dumb, but I knew that I wanted to say something with my music,” Taylor said. “When I started writing songs for ‘Money Thinks I’m Dead’, I wrote down everything that was on my mind. My main inspiration for [the album] was DJ BK (Brandon Kyle), who produced almost the whole album. I would write over songs he produced and it just became a great collaboration,” Taylor said.

Taylor is about to shoot a music video for his new single, “Better luck Next Time”, which will release sometime in December. His next  EP, “Life of the Party”, is planned for release on iTunes in early 2012.

Taylor’s album “Money Thinks I’m Dead” is available now in the iTunes store.

Carson Taylor – Better Luck Next Time by CarsonTaylor

Recently, SMU student, Monica Resendez wanted to fill her college dorm room only with American-made products, but the problem was that she could not find any. Monica’s dilemma brought a lot of attention to the issue that Americans do not own many American-made products.

“We are in tough times, and if we had and bought more American-made products, we could create more jobs,” Senior,  Jason Solis said.

However, some would say that American products, like cars, are of a lesser quality than items from foreign countries.

“My uncle is a mechanic; he always says that American cars are always breaking down, and that they have a lot wrong with them, but foreign cars don’t,” Solis said.

Though some students would beg to differ, and are actually quite proud of their American items.

“I love my car, it’s made in America and it’s great,” Junior, Kyle Koons said.

Yet, some people just do not seem to care if the stuff they buy is American-made.

“I just buy whatever I think is cute; I never pay attention to labels,” Sophomore, Maria Morales said.

In 1960, foreign goods made up just 8 percent of Americans’ purchases. Today, nearly 60 percent of everything that people buy is made overseas. Some students think it is about time to change that.

“Since we live in America, most of our [products] should be [made] by us,” Sophomore, Mason Hagor said  

One thing that many people had agreed on was that if Americans payed more attention to buying American-made products, we could increase jobs within the country; thus boosting the economy.

“If we need more American-made products, we need more people, which means we’ll need more jobs,” Junior, Rachel De La Cruz said.

When told about Monica Resendez and her goal of increasing the economy by purchasing only American-made goods, many students were on board, and ready to join in.

“I want to be a part of helping our country’s economy, and I think joining in on buying American-made stuff is an easy way to do that,” Hagor said.

Throughout the year, several students from all of the high schools show up at Mansfield Bible church at 7:57 every Monday. The reason is Younglife.

“It’s a place where everyone can be themselves,” junior, Manny Sevilla said.

Younglife is a Christian organization who’s official goal is introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ, and helping them grow in their faith.

“It’s easier for me to talk to my God, and I’ve built relationships. It’s like one big family,” Manny said.

People wonder how Younglife is different from a normal church youth group, besides the fact that it meets on Mondays instead of Wednesdays.

“We’re not just some church that asks you to come visit us on Wednesdays. We live life with students, we go to your lunches, your plays, and hang out with you afterwards. We love you for who you are and let you be who you are,” Younglife director, Brandon Bergvall said.

Working for Younglife is different from any regular job.

“I have the best job ever. I get to throw a party every week on Monday night, and hang out with the coolest kids in Mansfield,” Bergvall said.

As of June 2010, Younglife has ministries in 4,647 schools and other outreach locations, as well as 34,393 leaders in the United States and around the world. So everyone finds out about it in different ways.

“I heard about Younglife when I was in high school,” Bergvall said.”A friend told me about it, but I never went until a cute girl asked me. So I finally went, and when I got there it was just like a huge party and I loved it.” Bergvall said

Younglife first began October 16, 1941 in Gainesville, Texas and in Mansfield in 1988. Now there are groups all over the country, along with 24 Younglife camps in America and Central America alone.

“Camp is life changing,” sophomore, Michael Slater said.

Everyone has different reasons to attend Younglife; whether it’s for religion, games, or hanging out with friends.

“I go because Monday nights are usually pretty dull, but Younglife spices it up with games and you get to hang out with friends,” junior, Jodie Alcivar said.

In an effort to cut spending, MHS is recycling Styrofoam trays in the cafeteria. This is a district wide decision, and every school in the district is joining in the effort to save money and recycle.

“We wash the trays, put them in a machine that will compost them, and then we will recycle them. It saves plastic bags and money,” Janitor, Ernesto Munoz said.

The district feels that this will have an impact on the money spent at the school. Although it may not impact the district immediately, it will significantly impact it over time.

“Maybe [it won't affect the school in] a month or even a semester, but with all the schools participating [in the program], sure,” AP, Maria Anthraper said.

Rumors have been going around the school that cafeteria workers are washing and reusing the trays for later lunches, however this rumor is not true.

“They are not washing and reusing trays! Are you kidding me?” Anthraper said.

Aside from affecting the janitors’ jobs, the budget cuts have caused teachers to change the the way they teach. Teachers now have a copy limit, which allows them to copy a certain number of papers, but only the amount they absolutely need.

“I will show some documents on the big screen using the document camera and have the students write down the information instead of running off copies for them,” English teacher, Stephanie Vreeland said.

The copy limit is not actually altering Vreeland’s teaching style, just her approach to it. For the most part, Vreeland sees the budget cut as a good thing, and she guesses that it could have a great effect.

“I believe budget cuts could increase class sizes, and perhaps change the high school schedule to be similar to the new middle school model,” Vreeland said.

Both Vreeland and Anthraper agree that the changes in budgeting are nothing short of an improvement.

“As of right now, the budget cut is not affecting me,” Vreeland said. “From what I understand, Mansfield ISD is in good shape overall.”