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The girls varsity basketball team lost to Fairfax High School with a score of 43-60 on Dec. 13, making the current team record 4-2.

Marshall started slow during the first quarter and trailed during the second quarter.

“We needed to talk more on defense,” junior Elyse Smith said.

The Statesmen played substantially better during the second half with senior Christine LaBarbera’s rebounding skills, two three-pointers and three more points for nine.

Junior Maggie MacDonnell, scored nine points with two threes.

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The night before an IB Biology test, I am distraught by the amount of information I am unclear about. Upon posting a Facebook status and tweeting about my distress, to whom do I turn?

Salman Khan.

Salman Khan is the creator of the project khanacademy.org, a site that holds over 2,700 videos—topics covering calculus to history—all taught by Khan.

The site also includes numerous lessons in biology. I watched one ten-minute lesson on oxidative phosphorylation, and the subject became clear to me.

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DECA is expecting to provide INOVA Fairfax Hospital for Children with what is likely one of the largest-ever lump donations to the hospital, said DECA member Rachel Killmeyer.

“We just decided to work with them and come up with what they needed,” she said.

Members of DECA have spent the past week collecting items for patients at the hospital as part of their “Treats for Treatment” project.

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“Santa has left the building. I repeat, Santa Claus has left the building.”

With that announcement the holiday expo, held on Saturday Dec. 10, ended, marking its second year as a Marshall Community and holiday event.

The event showcased various small businesses in the area, in addition to having entertainment like pictures with Santa, periodic raffles that offered items donated by the vendors and performances from both orchestra and choir students.

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A universal pleasure:
Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa may draw different crowds, but they all gather around a dinner table. Food has the ability to make us feel comfortable and nostalgic. Holiday dishes often are rooted in individual cultures and family memories. For the juniors interviewed, the recipes they make during the holidays reconnect them to their cultural and familial traditions.

Annelisa Crabtree’s Christmas Vanille Kipferin
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Their winter concert had not even passed, but the Statesmen Singers were getting plenty of showtime through gigs in the community. The holidays are a concert season for the Statesmen Singers, who performed at five caroling gigs around the area in addition to this year’s pyramid winter concert.

“For the Statesmen Singers, the whole season is their performance and the concert to them is another gig,” choral director Keri Staley said. “Each performance that they do in the community is an opportunity.”

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The Gay-Straight Alliance club is attempting to become a large, active and positive force within Marshall, after a year of relative dormancy.

Currently, the club is attempting to garner publicity for pro-tolerance activities such as their sponsoring of classrooms as “Hate-Free Zones.”

An anti-bullying campaign of sorts, these zones are marked by large colorful signs and symbolize areas in which students can work or socialize without the fear of harassment.

A number of teachers have agreed to sponsor these zones by putting posters in their classrooms.

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Gymnastics has a core group of returning athletes, but it also has new talent joining the team with varying amounts of gymnastics experience.

The “group has a lot of talent and depth stemming from their individual participation in the sport in the past at both the competitive and noncompetitive levels,” coach Sue Walton said.

“The first meet went well and helped the girls work out all their jitters,” Walton added. “We scored our highest team score [107.9] since I’ve been coaching, but have the potential to score much higher.”

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Group 4 has experienced a dramatic increase in participants, having grown from 174 members in 2010 to 234 participants this year.

This increase made it difficult for some groups to collaborate on topics and come to agreements on what steps to take next, resulting in groups having to start over in some cases.

“We tried to use Google Docs to share our research, although some people did not use [it], making it hard to compare data,” junior Becca Toser said.

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1. Skyrim

This is by far the best game of 2011. Its huge open world map and extensive character customization make it a great role playing experience. The gameplay is fun and smooth, thanks to the simple and fluid controls that easily let you switch between your assortment of weapons and spells. The high replay value, engaging story and intriguing gameplay easily place it in the top of the list.

2. Batman: Arkham City

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