They got celebrities and news stations such as Mac Miller, Tech N9ne, and NBC News to tweet it. People got it trending so whatever they would tweet at the end like #ATB so many people were doing it that it started “trending.” Trending could be bashing on people or for an actual reason, for example, after the Ravens and the 49’s lost they were bashing Kyle Williams, and Billy Cundiff, saying who chokes more in the clutch. Just whenever you get a huge amount of people on Twitter or Facebook talking about a topic, and you can get people from around the world to do it, then its “Trending”.

We got to sit down with Nesquick and ask him a few questions.

Q: How supportive has your family and friends been of your rapping?

A: As far as family goes, not too supportive. My parents haven’t even really listened to a full song yet. They don’t dig it too much, but they don’t stop me from doing it really. As far as my friends being supportive, they’ve been really supportive. They definitely believe in me. I just try not to let them down.

Q: Do you pay for your own stuff?

A: Yeah, I pay for everything. I pay for the studio time, which is $55 an hour and the vids. My friends recently loaned me $350 to do this music video I’m putting out today. So, as long as I pay them back.

Q: How did the name Nesquick come around?

A: It’s chocolate milk and I guess when I first started I knew people would probably hate right off the bat. So, I was like how can I make fun of myself ahead of time? I guess the white rapper in the rap genre and I just called myself out before anyone else could.

Q: Do you have a special team of people that help you produce your music or does it change every time?

A: I pretty much have the same people I go to. When I go to record I go to Robert Rebeck who recorded with Tech N9ne for ten years, and then I have friends I go to for artwork or different things like the website. Then, I have friends I’ll go to artwork or the website and different things. Just different roles everybody helps out with, so yeah. I definitely have a team going.

Q: How long have you known you want to rap?

A: I started in the summer before junior year. I just kind of did it randomly, and then after that I just kind of kept going at it. Now I’m starting to get better where people are noticing, I guess.

Q: Just Pretend is coming to iTunes today, what did it take to get it there?

A: To get it on iTunes, I have a friend that does the website, and he knows everything online so he just looked it up for me. He found a good site, and it’s not as hard as people think. All you have to do is pay $20 and then you can put your stuff on there and get 25% of the earnings. As long as you have the content and artwork for it, you can pretty much do it as long as it’s original and you have the copyrights.

Q: How excited for the release are you?

A: I’m pretty pumped because this one is one of the best I’ve done. I had to pay $500 to do this music video and it turned out pretty nice, and the song, hook wise, and everything. So, I’m pretty sure when people see it they wont be able to dispute whether or not I’m doing it anymore.

Q: Are you going to put The Refreshment and Sledgehammer on iTunes, or keep them free?

A: I was thinking about keeping those two up for free and then I’ll just have Just Pretend up for sale. The only reason I’m really selling that is to pay back my friends for the video, because I’m going to need some money back because I don’t work enough at my job since I’m pretty lazy at that.

Q: Are you planning on making an album anytime soon?

A: As far as an album, I don’t know. I don’t know when I’d make it because if I made an album I’d want it to be pretty meaningful, and there’s still a lot more to tell, cause I’m only just starting. So, I’d probably just say I’d probably do a project, maybe like a small, six-song project of all real songs just about the meaningful stuff. But, it’d still have some upbeat stuff to it, too. I’m probably going to have something out by the end of the school year.

Q: What rapper is your biggest inspiration?

A: As far as an inspiration, I don’t know if I could pinpoint it on one. I mean, I listen to people flow wise, not lyric wise. Just people with flow. I like flows a lot, not necessarily what they’re saying, I guess. If I had to choose I’d probably say Big Sean or Tyga though, because they have good flow. I like whenever I see a video on Vivo, I just like working towards getting to a point where the stuff gets more legitimate.

Q: If you could rap with anyone, whom would you choose?

A: Oh, that’s tough. I just think his flow’s really sick, and I like his video style a lot, so I’d have to say Big Sean, probably, that’s just what comes to mind.

Q: How often do you get people asking you to write them songs?

A: Not necessarily write them songs, but I have people telling me to give them a shout out to them at assemblies, or let’s do a collab now. Even though they knew about me before, people notice me now and they want to. I know what you mean about writing songs, I mean people definitely want to hangout more, so it carries into a little bit of everything.

Brennan Hopper isn’t just an average high school senior, but he’s still not any different than the rest of us. Working for something you believe in is a respectable cause, and the way he’s doing it is great. As famous as he’s so obviously going to be, he’s a chill guy who just want’s to make his music.

Sophomore, Tanner Thompson: “I would do the same thing as Dr. Lake.”

Sophomore, Alec Hodges: ”I would get better lunches and have no school.”

Sophomore, Bailey Thomas: ”I would make school start later and have it end earlier.”

Sophomore, Conner Fries: ”I would make late arrival every day.”

Freshman, Anonymous: ”I would make school illegal and have early releases every week.”

What would you do if you were the principal for the day? Tweet us your responses on our twitter page, @bvwspotlight.

They are memes.

By definition, a meme is a picture, phrase, or abstract concept that spreads through the Internet. The word is pronounced as “meem”, even though the spelling seems to imply a different sound.  At first glance, the concept of a meme seems to be pretty straightforward, but it can be difficult to tell the difference between a true meme and a random Internet phenomenon.

Unlike most things that are briefly popular on the internet, a meme usually inspires many imitations and parodies. For example, the phrase used in the first sentence of this article originally became popular as “im in ur base, killing all your d00dz.” It spread around the Web as a video game reference, but quickly mutated into many different forms. It was considered a meme when it became a concept instead of just a single phrase. Now, there is a sort of “formula” to it. To invoke this meme, all someone has to do is write “I’m in your X, (Verb)ing all your Y”, and the reference is usually understood by people who spend a lot of time on the Internet.

Even though memes have become common only in the past five years or so, they have been around for decades. Even before the Internet, an author named Richard Dawkins coined the phrase to describe an idea that can spread from person to person within a culture.

When the World Wide Web took off in the 1990s, memes had a newfound space in which to grow and develop. One of the first well-known memes was the “Dancing Baby” image, a simple video file that was distributed over the Internet in 1996. It inspired several parodies, like a drunken baby and a Rasta baby.

Since then, popular memes have included “Rage comics” (crude drawings of stick figures that use a set of pre-drawn faces to express emotions), jokes about Chuck Norris, and Lolcats (pictures of cute cats with funny captions underneath. Often, the captions are memes themselves.)

In the past few years, memes have spread to every corner of the Internet and are beginning to spill over into the real world.  During the Occupy Wall Street protests in Fall 2011, many of the protesters carried hand-drawn signs that used memes to express their dissatisfaction.

And in the future? I expect to see a reference to a meme on every street corner.

This year for Veteran’s day, Scardino and fellow Social Studies teacher Aaron Anderson decided to involve their students in our Care Package Project. They found it valuable to do something kind for others, and not receiving anything in return.

Mr. Scardino explained to his classes how thankful his son had always been when he received support while deployed at sea, and how he would love for other fellow Marines to this joy, too. The 150 students (six history classes – four Western World classes, and two US History classes) responded in a tremendous manner. They hand-wrote 190 letters (on specially printed patriotic letterhead Scardino and Anderson created themselves) and collected over $210 in donations.

Mr. Scardino, Mr. Anderson, and their students are a great reminder of how nice it is to give back. Not only giving back inside the school walls and community, but anywhere else in the world.

The United Nations declared in May that Earth will have a staggering population of seven billion this year. Though the exact date of the seven billionth birth is incalculable, October 31, 2011 was “Seven Billion Day.”

“The date has been calculated by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which is in charge of monitoring the world population,” British news provider The Daily Telegraph reported. “It says the seven billion mark is being passed earlier than expected because people are living longer, more babies are surviving and more children are being born in the developing world.”

The UN announced Seven Billion Day with mixed reactions, celebratory and foreboding. Many pointed out that this event just raises questions about how humanity will maintain this population.

The Washington Post and CBC News reported that in New York, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gave a speech about his stance on the growing population.

“Seven billion population is a challenge [and,] at the same time, an opportunity, depending upon how the international community prepares for that challenge,” Ki-moon said.

Ki-moon also described problems that this population faces.

“Our world is one of terrible contradictions,” Ki-moon said. “Plenty of food but one billion people go hungry. Lavish lifestyles for a few, but poverty for too many others.”

Around the world, countries christened their national “Seven Billionth Babies”. The Philippines made the most news with their Seven Billionth Baby, Danica May Camacho. The baby girl was born in Manila on Sunday just before midnight.

According to a web article on The Daily Telegraph website by Michael Agar, when the world population first reached one billion in 1804, it took 123 years for the world population to become two billion in 1927. For three billion, the time was only 32 years (1959), four billion in 15 years (1974), five billion in 13 years (1987), and six billion in 11 years (1998/1999). To go from six billion to seven billion, 12 to 13 years passed. Agar also reports that Earth’s population is forecasted at ten billion by 2083.

Beginning in 2003, No Shave November, also know as Movember or Beardvember, was started to bring awareness to men’s prostate and testicular cancer. In 2009, this month-long event raised around $42 million for the cause.

High school is, for most, the peak of your hormonal activity, or the start of it. This means high school is the time when guys turn to men and start growing facial hair. Here at BV West, kids use this time to show what they have, and wear their hair long. Of the polled 65 boys, 58% said they were participating, and of the girls polled, 23% decided to let their leg hair grow out. It’s jeans month, anyways, right?

“I’m not doing it” sophomore Alex Robbins said. “It’s gross!”

Why not be natural for a month, if it’s for a good cause? Unfortunately, our community as a whole has an issue at being educated on this awareness month, especially on things that make people squirm, such as testicular or prostate cancer.

One reason some students and staff may not participate is due to the holidays coming up, particularly Thanksgiving.

“I’m debating on whether I want it to be growing during the holidays,” staff member Brian Kroeker said. “There’s Thanksgiving dinner coming up with my family.”

Even though those dreaded family gatherings are right around the corner, that doesn’t mean you can’t just let loose and be the way you were born, if only for a month. Yet, to add to the hype, if you are really dedicated to the cause you can continue from No Shave November to Don’t Shave December; a solid two months.

Whether it’s an excuse, or a ritual, students across the US are participating. Why not you?

Recently, chaos has filled the streets of the Plaza. Earlier this year a flash mob and a shooting made the news. Throughout the summer, the mayor of Kansas City, Sly James, had been debating the idea of a Plaza curfew for teenagers.

Until Mayor James was involved in the shooting, he planned to veto the idea for the curfew. But after the incident he decided to go through with the curfew.

The curfew, which is in effect at the Plaza, Power and Light District, Westport and Zona Rosa,  is 9 p.m. and it bans anyone under 16 years old from hanging out after 9 p.m. at any of those places without a parent around.

“It might help business,” sophomore Morgan Brooks said. “But I don’t think they should deprive kids of their fun so adults can have theirs.”

Students at Blue Valley West may not normally hang out at places such as the Plaza or Zona Rosa, but we are all teenagers and it is likely that students we know enjoy spending time there.

“It’s a good idea.” student resource officer Susie Tousey said. “If you’re 16 and under you shouldn’t be down there at that time.”

There seems to be a deeper problem other than just the creation of a curfew. The flash mobs and the shooting only involved a small group of teenagers.

This problem doesn’t only occur in the outside world. It also happens inside of BV West. There are countless rules, and it seems that they add more every year. If one person does something wrong it seems that they feel as though they must make a rule that prevents all of us from possibly doing what one person did.

An example of this is our structured JAG time. A majority of the student body used their JAG time productively but a few students didn’t and so the administration changed how JAG worked.

All of these rules make it seem like all adults believe that teenagers are all the same.

“We have the rules to govern the whole because there has to be a parameter set.” Tousey said.

There are also lots of rules in Blue Valley West relating to technology, such as no cell phones or iPods during class and restrictions on the computer. Also, each teacher has his or her  own rules pertaining to these things. Faculty thinks the technology is either helpful or hurtful.

“I think its helpful from the sense of education.” school resource officer Neal said. “A lot of schools are using technology to assist with learning. Last year there was a bad tornado and we went on lock down. Students had cell phones and contacted family to let them know they were okay. It’s a bad thing when they are using their cell phones to cheat or prevent themselves from learning.”

Many schools use technology such as electronic readers or iPods for textbooks, which can make a lighter load for the backpacks of students.

“You can not learn what they are trying to teach when you are texting.” Tousey said.

Adults and teens will always have conflict. Although it may never be resolved, it is still worth a shot. So, while some rules may need some tweaking or a compromise it is important that we follow the other rules as well.

Ten years ago, a tragic incident took place that will go down in our history books. The teachers remember the date very well. The students however, don’t remember quite so much.

“Some kids just didn’t understand the magnitude of what was going on,” math teacher, Les Page said.

The fact is, high school memories from this date ranged from nothing at all to a detailed sequence of that day’s events. It’s true that most high school students know all about it now, but at the time some of the kids didn’t know of it being a serious event that would affect Americans for many years to come.

Multiple students of varying age don’t remember 9/11 at all. There were a few that remembered a snippet of their experience.

“I remember standing outside Sunset Ridge after I got off the bus, all the kids were talking and everyone was worried.” junior Abbey Eubanks, said.

There were very detailed memories, however, from the seniors.

“I remember it was sunny outside and we had recess indoors, I was really confused.” Senior Heather Jackson said, “People were getting called down to the office and I hoped I was next.”

The teachers, however, remembered the situation better than the four through seven year olds that are high school students now.

“I was putting books into one of our math teachers rooms, we were just opening the school at that time and we were receiving new books,” said Page. “It was on the radio that a plane had hit a tower.”

Even the high school students didn’t quite understand what was going on: “We had some students who really just didn’t understand the severity and magnitude of the situation,” Page said. “Some were pretty joking about it. We had a long discussion and one even came up and apologized.”

Teenagers and children didn’t understand the implications that this event had on our country. Americans have been dealing with the consequences of others actions for ten years now to keep our country safe.

There were many mixed feelings floating around that day, from anger to sadness to confusion.

“I knew that people had lost their lives and somebody purposely did that.” Page said.

Ten years have passed and for some people, the pictures are still burning into their mind.

“I remember seeing a few flashes of a helicopter view of the buildings crumbling,” freshman Christopher Mason said.

“[I remember] how long it was… the planes circling, trying to land.” Page said. “The planes were leaving big contrails in the air, circles everywhere.”

Eight days ago was the tenth anniversary of this tragedy. For some this date evoked terrible memories and feelings of loss. Americans have an event that will lie in our country’s history forever. It affected U.S. laws, international relations, and security. Bin Laden’s death gave more closure to the situation and people involved. It’s important to keep memories alive though because memories are the glue that holds us as individuals and us as a country, together.

By: Emily Moore