Commentary Article

A lot of high school students stress themselves out about their grades, and stay up very late to get all of their work done.  According to the gatherings of people, this is for two reasons:  one, a lot of pressure is put on students in high school; two, high school students get a seriously heavy workload.  We students sacrifice our mental health in order to get work assigned to us done, and it is completely unfair.

Missing one assignment, especially as you get further into high school, is the kiss of death for most students, whether in the teacher's eyes or the student's own.  Teachers tend to get insulted if a student does not finish or turn in a paper on time, and they have no right to.  Sometimes, students have so much work that they - in a literal sense - cannot get all of their work done.

I can understand where teachers come from, giving us all this work.  They believe it helps us learn, and helps us receive a better understanding of the concepts we are learning in class.  But giving us so much work hurts our brains us much as it helps us - with more work, we get less sleep, leading to more headaches and a whacked sleep schedule.  It also makes us constantly worried about getting everything done on time.

We do not like to disappoint our teachers, but our teachers constantly disappoint us.  Their attitude toward our workload seems to send the message:  "School is more important than mental health."  According to some students, maybe it is.  The thing is, though, our teachers should not decide this for us.  We should have the right to decide our own ratio of mental health to schoolwork.

This needs to be fixed.  Students should be able to regulate the amount of work they get everyday.  We are not able to assert any sort of influence in our schools, and the workload is never considered among things we should get a say in.  Yes, some people would say that students would just vote for no work at all, but not all students are like this.  There is a breaking point somewhere in the amount of workload we get, and all we would have to do is find it.

A survey could be created in order to find the approximate amount of work a teenager can do before they simply can't do any more.  Overall, the lessening of the student workload could help improve both their grades and mental health, while simultaneously creating an even better reputation for Bowie High School.

People are always saying that students need to enjoy their "high school experience," but how can we when we're constantly sat down poring over our work?  If the amount of work we get changes, we would finally be able to gather some enjoyment from these four years of our lives.

Current Events 2.3

1).  The new speaker of the House is Paul Ryan, and he's with the Republican party.

2).  According to Texas law, failure to identify becomes an offense if the person "intentionally refuses to give a name, residence address, or date of birth to an officer who has lawfully arrested the person and requested the information."

3).  The Mets and the Royals are playing at the World Series.

4).  Two Do's are:  Do purchase seasonal items in unexpected color combinations; do purchase high quality decor items.  Two Don't's are:  Don't go overboard with seasonal decor; don't buy seasonal items you don't expect to actually use.

5).  I'd like to do the UMLAUF Sculpture Garden and Museum's Haunted Garden.  I don't really like Halloween much, but it seems like a peaceful sort of setting.

6).  My initial opinion, after finishing this story, is that all of it is just really, really stupid.  Everything was started over stupid decisions - not handing over a phone, manhandling a girl because she wouldn't hand over a phone.  Honestly, if we were actually civilized people, none of this would have happened.
     Police brutality is definitely a problem in this country, and it seems to be getting more attention recently.  The number of people committing crimes in the U.S. is probably extremely huge, but the number of people handling the perps in the wrong way are extremely huge, too.  There is definitely racism behind these issues - whether they're on the spectator side or not is up to anyone.  Assuming a problem is a problem because of racism is just as racist as the problem actually being racism (it makes sense to me).
     People film what interest them, or what concern them.  For a lot of people, taking out a camera or a phone and filming as one of the first instincts they have when something troubling is about to or is occurring around them.  These being exposed on social media are a good thing because it helps get then people caught, or bring attention to the problem in the first place.

SNO Online Experience

"Should School Start Earlier?"

1). Mahad Rehman

2).  Whether school should start earlier (in the day) or not.

3).  They think that, rather than pushing school to end later to give students more time for work, they should start earlier.  They also think that pushing the start or end time of school doesn't solve any problems - the real problem is the amount of work we get outside of school, thus affecting our sleep.  "Maybe instead of pushing school times back to give students more time to work, schools should work to minimize the amount of work that is necessary for students to do outside of school so that they can come to school with adequate rest and a better mindset geared toward learning."

4).  Yes.

5).  Sort of.  Their opinions are clear, but it changes a little at the end.

6).  No.

7).  Third.

"New Principal's Dress Code Emphasis Draws Mixed Opinions"

1).  Lindsey Fast

2).  The new dress code at Brazoswood assigned by the new principal.

3).  This person obviously is against the new dress code, but it isn't stated directly anywhere.

4).  Yes.

5).  The opinion isn't straightforward, but it's pretty clear...does that make sense?

6).  Yes.

7).  Third.

"Fear Should Not Breed Ignorance"

1).  Kaylin Jones

2).  Terrorists, and how we (teens) are ignorant to them.

3).  She thinks we're stupid to let our fear breed ignorance in ourselves, and our ignorance gets us hurt.  "As a direct result of this ignorance, innocent Muslims in America and around the world after feel the consequences of the extremists."

4).  No.

5).  No.

6).  No.

7).  Third.

Personal Essays

1).  The most helpful thing there for starting topic ideas is when he said, "Give them the opportunity to say, 'Ah! Yes.  I've never been there or done that, but I can relate to what the author's talking about.'"

2).  "Make the emotions real and specific by noting specifics and details that draw the reader into the experience, rather than just setting them aside as observers.

3).  Three I'll probably use as a write are:  Letting the reader walk away from the article with a good idea of why I felt the way I did about my opinion;  Write as evocatively as possible;  Avoid philosophical rants which make no connection to your reader's experience.

Current Events 2.2

1).  One possible cause is an "intentionally set" burn pile in violation of the country's burn ban.  Another is an overheating shredder.

2).  Because he's awesome and has a natural passion for it, and he knows what he's doing.

3).  Lewis Hamilton is the favorite to win the race at Circuit of America.

4).  Ginger Gold, Honeycrisp, and McIntosh.

5).  "Real vanilla" sounds like something I would try - a love for vanilla anything runs way back in our family, so...

6).  We haven't purchased a hard-copy textbook to make up for the online ones, but the online ones definitely aren't reliable.  Yes, the online textbooks have hurt my grades, however minimally:  some nights I can't get the online textbook to work, and I'm not able to do the questions assigned to me, and I have to turn them in late (which is 30-50% off our grades).
      Going digital wasn't a good decision - if real textbooks are a hassle, it shouldn't matter, because it's our work and grades that should matter in the end.  Digital also isn't really an option for everyone, and it doesn't seem like this was considered among the people who made the decision to go completely online.
      This trend (sadly) probably will continue in the United States.  The majority of people will think it's easier or faster, but when it comes to school, it can't be a majority - it has to be all.  Some students shouldn't benefit where others suffer when it comes to materials.  Textbooks may be heavy or hard to distribute (which is probably why they decided to get rid of them), but they're tangible, and everyone is able to use them.  For the internet, this isn't totally true.

Opinion Writing Preview

"Student sharing, too much change or great opportunity?"

1-  Editorial

2-  The decision made after the vote over having FIT everyday or two days a week.  Also about how students should have a say in their schedules, not just teachers.

3-  They think that students should be taken more seriously and have a say in their schedules- "This vote done only by the teachers illustrates a larger problem at our school: students not being taken seriously and given the right to have a say about the schedule."

4-  Yes.

5-  No.

6-  No.

7-  First.

"The office welcomes the dawn of the technology age"

1-  Kelsie Stella

2-  The office's choice to use more technology for its many businesses

3-  Kelsie thinks it's a good idea.  She says, "I think that moving toward a more technology-based system for these two documents, especially at a school like this, is going to prove to be extremely successful."

4-  Yes.

5-  No.

6-  No.

7-  First, although she didn't need to use personal pronouns until the very end.

"I scream, you scream..."

1-  Nya Martin

2-  Blue Bell ice cream and Listeria mococytogenes.

3-  She believes that Blue Bell is at fault, and they were wrong for raising the prices.  She says, "This company will forever be responsible for this scary mishap and I believe the victims should press charges."

4-  Yes.

5-  Not at all.

6-  No.

7-  First.

"The problem with pep rallies"

1-  Annika Holm

2-  How pep rallies are counter-productive.

3-  She believes pep rallies should only be held for home games, or before/after school.  She says, "The problem with pep rallies is that they don't inspire pep, nor do they rally support for the school...pep rallies aren't doing anyone any good."

4-  Not really.

5-  No.

6-  No.

7-  Third.

"A call for athletic equality"

1-  Amaya Marquez

2-  Equality in the school sports-wise.

3-  She believes some sports are underrepresented, and should be able to get just as much attention as basic sports, too (such as basketball, football, soccer, etc.).  She says, "Some of those sports are represented as 'clubs,' those sports teams should be able to have classes just like the others."

4-  No.

5-  No.

6-  No.

7-  First.

"Emotional learning effective?"

1-  Melissa Weprin

2-  How emotional learning classes are pretty much ineffective, and how freshmen learn it in world geography without realizing it.

3-  She thinks S.E.L. lessons are helpful, but the way they teach it is ineffective.

4-  In a way.

5-  Yes.  She first said that S.E.L. lessons are ineffective, but if they changed the way it's taught she would think they're helpful.

6-  No.

7-  Third

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A)  A hard news story is factual, while an opinions piece has more emotion to it.  Opinions pieces are also very biased.  A lot of them are written from first point of view.

B)  Interviews and events didn't happen to cause these articles to be written, so there was nothing to take pictures of.

C)  School/mental health; High school credits;  the length of lunch (especially for seniors, who are allowed to leave campus but barely have enough time to do anything with that privilege).

Earthquake Story

On Monday morning at 8:12 a.m., an earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay area.  It hit hardest at Hayward Hills, which is right over the "Hayward Fault."

"I was eating my breakfast when the room started rolling," Hayward resident Mike Beamer says.  "I dove under the table just as I heard an explosion outside and a chunk of cement flew through my kitchen window.  That's when the screaming started across the street."

Across the street, at McHenry's Auto Supply, two people were killed and six were injured (names of the dead or being withheld pending notifications of families).  Three of the injured people were bad enough to be hospitalized.

Jennifer Vu, a public information officer from the Hayward Fire Department, said they were hospitalized at Hayward General Hospital.  She also reported that no further injuries had been reported.

It was found that Hayward Hills was the epicenter of the earthquake.

"The epicenter of the earthquake, which had a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale, was under the Hayward Hills," Penny Gertz, a scientist from the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, says.  According to her, it was a "strong one."

Directly after the earthquake and explosion, twenty-one fire personnel, twelve police, and five American Red Cross workers responded.  The firefighters used ropes to stabilize the building before conducting a search and discovering a gas leak.  The gas leak was immediately capped.

"People as far south as Los Angeles and as far north as Redding felt the quake," Vu says.

Huntington Story

At about 10 p.m. Wednesday, 53-year-old Janice Jones was shot in the leg while sitting in her motor home eating pork chops.  Her dog knocked her 9 mm handgun off a seat, and the weapon discharged, going straight through her leg and into the vehicle.

"It could have been worse," Rye says.  "The bullet hit two inches from the gas tank."

Jones was transported straight to Huntington Beach Hospital for treatment, and then to Irvene Medical Center.  Meanwhile, the dog, a Pomeranian named Tambo, was taken in by the Huntington Beach Animal Control officers, where it was discovered he was malnourished and had fresh cigarette burns on his head.

"It could have done with a little less abuse and a few more of those pork chops," Janet Ngo, one of the animal control officers, says.

Ngo suggested that her office would explore filing animal abuse charges against Jones.  It was also discovered that Jones did not have a permit for the handgun she had been carrying.

Lone Star Dispatch #1

1.  "Age old battle still on going"      :/

Who:  Parker Smith
What:  Dress code.?
When:  September 4, 2015
Where:  A school
Why:
How:

Summary:  After being dress coded, Parker Smith says that the way the school handles dress code makes people feel uncomfortable with themselves.  The administration of the school got involved; nothing changed with the dress code, but it's now clear that there are people who are willing to stand up and speak out against the way school handles dress code.

Quoted people:  Parker Smith (direct quote);  Marley Neth (direct quote);  principal Stephen Kane (direct quote); Jennifer Smith (direct quote); Brandon Smith (direct quote).

The whole thing was impressively unbiased and factual. (No opinions.)

The headline doesn't sufficiently summarize the story or give any hint as to what the story is about.  There are plenty of age-old battles that could still be ongoing.

Yes.

2.  "Building a better education thanks to AISD bond"

Who:  Students
What:  New training room and kitchen
When:
Where:
Why:  For the benefit of students
How:  Help from bond package passed by voters

Summary:  A new athletic training room and kitchen have been built on campus.  The training room, which has more room than the previous/current, will not be ready until the spring, possible January.  The kitchen is done, but cannot be used to its full potential.  Both of these are to help students have a better experience at school.

Quoted people:  athletic trainer Pablo Riera (direct quote);  trainer Brittani Thibodeaux (direct quote); chef Richard Winemiller (direct quote);  Janelle Seay (direct quote).

There is one sentence that says, "It think that this is so students can read the time easier while in a rush to class."  The "It" is probably supposed to be an "I," which would make it an opinion.

The headline does summarize the article nicely.

No.

3.  "SAT and ACT will change in March"

Who:
What:  SAT and ACT
When:  March 2016
Where:
Why:
How:

Summary:  The SAT and ACT-s to be taken after March will be different than the former.  Reading for 30 minutes everyday - no matter what it is - will help get a better score on the tests.  The students stress out about the test.

Quoted people:  Judd Pfieffer (direct quote);  Isabela Doberenz (direct quote);  Ricky Ramirez (direct quote).

The story is not opinionated.

The headline summarized the article...pretty much perfectly.

Yes.

4.  "Fit bell schedule remains the same after proposals last year"

Who:
What:  Bell schedule
When: Ongoing
Where:
Why:
How:

Summary:  The school's bell schedule is better than what had been proposed the previous year.  Alternating Fridays would have been "ridiculous."  Some changes made, though, weren't okay with the students.  The six-minute passing period is too short.

Quoted people:  Emily Heim (direct quote);  Nicole Moore (direct quote);  Kalia Aquino (direct quote);  Patricia Conroy (direct quote);  Matt Saucier (direct quote);  Lili Benitez (direct quote);  Sahaj Mann (direct quote).

The story is not opinionated.

The headline mostly summarized the article.

Yes.

5.  "AISD gives school bond for campus renovations"

...wasn't this the second story?

Who:
What:  16.5 millions dollar bond
When:  2013
Where:  Bowie
Why:  To make renovations to the school
How:

Summary:  Bowie was given a 16.3 million dollar bond for renovations to the school, and everyone is noticing.  Bowie had been low on the fund list for quite a while, and now that the ACs are suddenly working perfectly and there are new clocks and TVs and people are noticing.  There are still issues with the Fine Arts departments and in a few classrooms, but it's better, overall.

Quoted people:  Vicki Hebert (direct quote); Tanner Howell (direct quote); Robert Rasmus (direct quote).

The story is not opinionated.

The headline summarized the article.

No visual.

Car Accident Story

This afternoon at 4:45 p.m., three people were injured in a car accident when two vehicles collided at the intersection of First Street and Slaughter Lane.

"It happened really fast - the fastest car on the street sped into the slowest car on the street out of nowhere," says eyewitness Patty Jones.

Roger Clementine, 13, was driving at 60 miles per hour down a road with a speed limit of 45.

"The boy kept coming up behind people and passing them by at a crazy speed," one person at the scene says.  "When he passed me and I saw that he barely looked 13, I can honestly say I panicked."

Clementine was treated for minor cuts in the hospital, and then released.  He was arrested shortly after for driving without a license, speeding, and driving in the wrong lane.

"The moment saw some person in a Studebaker driving like a maniac down the wrong lane, I knew something bad was bound to happen," another eyewitness says.  "And something bad did happen not too long after that."

The people in the other car, however, were not entirely free of fault either.

"People were piled up behind the Yugo, honking and screaming at the driver.  He must have been going 10 miles per hour or something," Patty says.

The Yugo was, in fact, going 10 miles per hour.  The driver, 91-year-old John Jacob Jingleheimer-Smith, was committed to the hospital with a serious head injury.

"He's still at the hospital," his wife, Melba, says.  "He will be okay.  It was a disconcerting accident, but nothing too grievous happened."

Melba, herself, was treated for only a nosebleed before she was released from the hospital.

"I just want this mess to be over," Melba admitted.  "The accident was just that - an accident, and it's done now."

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302 words (I really struggled with writing a lengthy story to go along with a minimal amount of facts).

Current Events 2.1

1).  They felt uncomfortable taking the passes, because it would make them feel as if their presence at ACL would be an $800 expense to the city.

2).  He's saying that people that work with the law care the most about money, when they should be caring the children of the country.

3).  The possible law that students could carry handguns in dorms or classes would make him feel uncomfortable or unsafe.

4).  A new online marketplace featuring handmade items from more than 60 countries.

5).  This new game is mission-based without interruptions for exposition.

6).  This industry has grown this much because it's fast, and it's efficient.  My family and I don't generally use mobile delivery (we just procrastinate going to the store until it's almost too late), but mobile delivery makes sense to me.  They shoot for millennial shoppers because they're "impatient" - if they want something, they aren't going to wait for it.  This industry would obviously be successful with these people because they're super fast.  I, personally, probably won't use the services on a regular basis, but I can comfortably predict that a lot of people will - it will become a new thing, and then a cool thing, and then a normal thing, and then people will come up with something faster, and it will repeat.

The Big Day

The groom of a wedding is late - very late.  He runs into so many complications - slow cars in front of him, a train.  The bride, meanwhile, is anxious and worried.  Once the groom finally arrives at the wedding place, he sprints through the open door - only to find that the bride is getting married to someone else because he had been too late.  He blames the car, and his former best friend.  But mostly the car.


Factual Story:

On July 23rd, 2014,  Antonio Valez and Madison Paige were to be married in Italy - until she spontaneously married Valez's best friend, James Byrne, because Valez was a few minutes late to the wedding.

"The look on his face was devastating," says Valez's mother.  "None of us had expected this to happen - especially not Antonio."

Apparently, something had been going on with Madison and James for quite a while.  This, combined with Valez not showing up on time, seemed to push Madison to make the switch.

"Three minutes until the wedding, and he still hadn't shown up," Madison says to reporters.  "And I thought he had changed his mind.  So I changed mine, too."

Although Madison harbors no ill-will toward Valez, Valez certainly feels betrayed, especially upon discovering Madison and James had been together before the Big Day.

"My suit ripped at the elbow, and I couldn't get married with a ridiculous tear in the fabric.  So I left to get it fixed last minute," Valez explains.  "On my way back, I got stuck on the wrong side of a passing train, and I was a few minutes late."

The whole thing, according to almost everyone attending the wedding, was a huge misunderstanding.

"Madison misinterpreted Antonio being late, and Antonio misinterpreted Madison marrying somebody else when he finally showed up.  James is the only guilty one here, if you ask me," Madison's best friend, Sarah, says.

Despite everything being a misinterpretation, James and Madison are still married.

"The switch was very sudden," Madison's father says, "but I could tell even before that day that James and Madison had been together.  If James makes her happy, then she can do what she wants."

Valez jokes about the incident with his family.

"I blame the car," he says.  "If it would have gone faster, I would be married now.  It's the car's fault."

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313 words.

Current Events Quiz 1.5

1).  The Pope meeting with the Kentucky clerk is in the paper because it's a recent event - and her story has been all over the news for quite some time.  It's also an emotional topic for many people, and it's relevant to their interests and concerns.

2).  The Texas population support of same-sex marriage has increased 29%, and support of marijuana legalization has increased 13%.

3).  Nearly 2/3 of respondents said they supported the state Legislature approving $800 million for border security.  65% said they supported the federal action to stop the deportation of immigrants in the country illegally who are attending college or in the military.  17% of Texans say they have been discriminated against by police.

4).  They surveyed most of the state's adult population, rather than just registered/likely voters.

5).  Spieth won several different tournaments all in one year, and all at the age of 22.

6).  A wearable is a piece of technology that you wear on your body.  We're seeing more and more of them these days because they're convenient (such as fitbits and bluetooth ear pieces).  Google Glass was the wearable that appealed to me the most, if only because they remind me of spy movies.  I think we, most definitely, will see more of these things in the future, because technology is growing, and if this is the new thing, then it's going to be around forever.  I, personally, don't think that these would go far - it may be just me, but it would make me feel uncomfortable.  A lot of people, though, will think it's cool, and take it as far as they're willing to work for.