Bobby Hawthorne Introduces Feature Writing 

1) Bobby Hawthorne says to remember that "We're not collecting data. We want to tell stories." He suggests that reporters should not just collect data because even though all the information is there, it isn't going to win many readers. Instead of trying to only transact data, a reporter should attempt to tell a story in human terms. When reading a story there should be humanity, joy, humor, facts, emotion and the image that should be retained after finishing the story. To succeed, a story must not just simply state what happened.

2) Hawthorne says that writing a story that isn't so good is the equivalent of microwave popcorn in that it is ready quick, and won't fill you up. Hawthorne then goes on to explain how to write a better story by stressing more about the human elements of the story. Consider the who, what , when, where, why and how but also the dramatic devices: character, setting, plot, conflict, dialogue, order, anticipation, climax, and resolution.

Photos I liked for 2015

Made by Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters

I picked this photo because it was not like any of the other pictures I saw for 2015 and it was also just really strange.

Found here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/bigpicture/2015/12/29/year-pictures-part/3F6obe2vzWeddZ47FI4UCO/story.html?p1=BP_Headline

Made by Lintao Zhang
I picked this photo because it seemed like a relaxing image because of the simple color scheme.

Found here: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/27/sunday-review/2015-year-in-pictures.html?_r=2

I lastly liked this image that NASA released of giant columns of cold gas in a small region of the Eagle Nebula because I absolutely love space and the picture is so clear that it does not even seem real.

Found here:CNN Photos -- 2015: The Year in Pictures

All The "Best"/ Most "Important" Things of 2015

1) It Makes The Babies Want to Cry by George Clanton

I picked this song because I really like the style of music and how catchy it is. I also have been listening to it a lot for months now but I wouldn't consider this to be my absolute favorite song, just because every other song I really love was not made in 2015.

                                                                                           

  2) Brooklyn (2015)

I recently watch this movie and really loved it because it's set in the 50's (one of my favorite eras) and it's about a Irish immigrant that moves to Brooklyn New York. The set through out the whole movie is amazing and the actors did a great job. Though like my answer for music, most of my favorite movies were not made in 2015.

3) Same-sex Marriage Debate

4)

5)

Holiday Answers 

1) For christmas me and my family went to Dallas to see my aunt and uncle, we also celebrated my birthday at a bit early at their house because my actual birthday is on the 29th of December and I wouldn't get to see them for it.

2) I usually don't make resolutions, but I would like to try and procrastinate much less and make sure my work isn't late. I also would like to try and do yoga, just because it seems like the only form of exercise I could do without wanting to die.

3) Me and some of my friends are going to a concert in March!

Written by Ada Moore

Do You Believe In Alien Life?

Do you believe there are life forms beyond our Earth? Are they close, or far? Do you think they are very similar to humans? Are we alone?

On November 7th, 2015 there was a "UFO" sighting in LA that re-sparked the question "Do aliens exist?" With new technology being developed at a much more rapid pace, more and more people are able to catch a sighting on their phone, camera, ect. Which leads to more people believing in extraterrestrial life. 

The first people to claim to have been abducted by aliens where Betty and Barney Hill. During September 1961 they were driving just past the Twin Mountain when they saw a "odd-shaped" craft flashing multi-colored lights flying through the sky. Once they drove back home they realized they had 'lost' more than an hour of time and their car had strange marks on it. They soon after reported their sightings and it had been tracked as an unknown object. Later Betty had started having nightmares involving aliens.

With evidence going way back to the 15th century to current times, there has always been a fascination having to do with life beyond Earth. With the hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe I believe that aliens exist, and Earth being only a VERY small planet in just one galaxy there has to be more life out there. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson brings up a great point "If a super species walked by us, maybe they're uninterested in us because we're too stupid for them to even imagine having a conversation." I 100% believe this because it's true that if there were extraterrestrials out there they might not think much of humans at all, as if we were just as dumb as a small bug. 

NASA has come very close to finding life beyond Earth. For example Europa, the sixth closest moon of Jupiter. Europa has been found to hold water underneath it's surface of ice. "and we know that on earth everywhere there is water we find life" says Project Scientist Robert Pappalardo. Though not only have we discovered Europa, but also Earth's closest cousin, Kepler-452b. This Earth-like alien planet is about 60 percent wider than Earth and has a rocky surface that also has plenty of water, it also has a similar sun to our own. Many planets are yet to even be discovered that could potentially be home to any alien life forms. 

Though I think it's best to have an open mind, for some people aliens/extraterrestrials seems to be unrealistic or made up because they have not met an alien nor have seen solid prof, or that the technology should have proven it by now. Though this is true, I'm sure most people have not encountered an alien, believing in aliens is no different than believing in a religion, just like how not everyone is religious and it's okay to think different ways and believe in different things. I'm sure one day we will know the truth, but for now I want to believe.

                                      Current Events 3.2 

1) In the house of representatives they voted overwhelmingly Thursday to slap stringent - new screening procedures on refugees from Syria seeking resettlement. The bill would require that the director of the FBI, the secretary of the Department Homeland Security and the director of national intelligence confirm that each applicant from Syria and Iraq poses not threat. The measure received significant support from democrats. The senate is expected to take up the measure after Thanksgiving recess. 

Obama's response was a request for an explicit authorization of force against the Islamic State. The Obama administrative repeatedly said it would undermine American leadership in a region where Republicans have side it is lacking, and would undercut Washington's ability to command a coalition against the security threats in Syria.

2) On Thursday the Austin City Council voted to ease regulations for building garage apartments. The two primary benefits of the decision are that it provides less expensive housing and is a way to also provide supplemental income. The objection District 9 Council Member Kathie Tovo raised is that allowing garage apartments could override some neighborhood plans that had decided against
them. The similar point made by Tommy Ates was that because he lived in a garage apartment he know that it is an affordable way to live. District 3 council member Sabino "Pio" Renteria says that he also leases a backyard cottage to a tenant on his own property, which helps him remain in his longtime home. I think that people having a garage apartment is okay because it let's people to have a home in the neighborhood they want without having to spend as much money.

3) Leslie Pool is the Austin City Council member that serves my neighborhood.

4) Federal regulators on Thursday approved a genetically engineered salmon as fit for consumption, the salmon would now be the first genetically altered animal to reach U.S. supermarkets and dinner tables. One of the arguments made by the consumers and environmental groups was that if the genetically engineered fish were to escape into the oceans it could alter other wild salmon. The approval took so long because it was fist approval of it's kind and was wary of a political backlash. Ronald Stotish, the chief executive of AquaBounty said he was delighted and somewhat surprised by the approval after all this time.
One conclusion of the graph that went with the story is that the number of genetically modified foods is going up significantly and is at 115 products that are now GMO products, when in 1992 there were zero.

5) Don Zimmerman proposed a resolution that would block Austin's governments from spending money to help Syrian refugees resettle inside the city. Council member Greg Casar responded by saying "If council made any statement, it would be to express our support for families fleeing bloody conflict in Syria and refugees from all parts of the world." Mayor Steve Adler responded by saying "That's the kind of city we are and I want the rest of the world to know. Helping those in need and ensuring the safety of Austinites are not mutually exclusive goals." In Travis County, 1,225 refugees arrived in the 2013 fiscal year. The Facebook post from Sid Miller shows a mass of refugees and another depicting a cluster of snakes that says "Can you tell me which of these rattlers won't bite you?Sure some of them won't, but tell me which ones so we can bring them into the house." Texas Democrats accused Miller of fanning "the flames of fear and xenophobia."

6) Raphael Holiday was executed for setting a fire that killed his 18-month-old daughter and her two young half-sisters at an East Texas home 15 years ago. This would be Texas's 13 execution of the year. It has accounted for half of all executions in the U.S. so far this year. Lawyer Gretchen Sween argued that Holiday's court-appointed attorneys abandoned him after the justices in June refused to review his case. Holiday's attorney died an appeal saying the conviction and some trial testimony were both improper.

7)

Extra Credit

                         The Craft of Writing Editorials

1) The lead describes the details on working in a kitchen and the dangers that could come along with it. They then talk about about how the minimum wage frequently does not exceed the state minimum wage of $8 an hour.

2) The restaurant industry in the United States is exploding, just as the income gap is widening. 

3) She argues that the policies for anti-raising wages are very unimpressive and dismisses them by talking about how the number of employed citizens has increased since they stopped giving out below minimum wages. 

4) She talks about how the restaurants should raise the wages for the employees so they can take care of their children.

5) The 13 million-plus restaurant workers in the U.S. face a poverty rate that is nearly three times that of the rest of the country's workforce. It is seven on the 10 worst paying American jobs according to federal labor statistics. 

6) consumers must begin to pressure the industry or little will improve. The lawmakers should summon the courage to reject the demands of National Restaurant Association.

7) National Restaurant Association is largely responsible for Massachusetts "tipped minimum wage" under which restaurants are allowed to pay workers just $2.63 with the hard-to-enforce understanding that tips will make up the rest of the way to at least $8 per hour.

8) The restaurant owner blame these problems on slim profit margins amid these intense competition.

9) She says that raising wages would not change competition because every restaurant would have to abide.

Bring Home the Bacon (Or Not)

1) The World Health Organization reported that processed meats raises the risk of colon cancer. 

2) The meat industry reacted to this finding by saying that because the risk off getting cancer is pretty low that people shouldn't worry. The environmental groups respond by saying they want more warning labels on packaged meats. 

3) It was put into a group 1 category meaning that there is sufficient evidence that the processed meats will lead to cancer. The chairman of disease prevention says that the risk of cancer or other risks is lower than smoking and alcohol, so you can still have red meats in your diet but cutting down would probably be a good choice.

4) The cartoon shows that people are too ignorant and don't care enough to stop eating meat, even if they know it's bad for them.

5) I think the opinion Randy Bish has is that people should go vegetarian at least because they probably would't even care enough to make a comic of this topic without wanting people to stop and think about their decision to eat meat.

6) Yes, I do eat meat, and I would say kinda often, and nothing from the report is really news to me as I have read A TON of things relating to vegan/vegetarian life styles because I find them motivational as I have tried to go vegetarian before and want to in the future.

Music shaming at McCallum High School?

 A student currently attending McCallum overhears a classmate being teased for liking thrash metal, they were saying things like "ew, she likes that?" or "she's so emo!" which then resulted in unnecessary music shaming. 

 Like all people our music tastes differ from one another, just like our personalities. Many think that a combination of our social environments and our "nature" can influence our musical tastes. Does this give anyone the right to put others down for liking certain kinds of music? of course not! This is what music shaming is, basically the act of criticizing someone for having musical preferences that differ from your own. It is seen/experienced so often that it is not recognized as being much of a problem yet it definitely is, for instance you wouldn't criticize someone for liking a burger with cheese just because you like yours plain. So does music shaming happen at McCallum?

 To be sure I went to our freshman class president Isabella Hernandez to ask her thoughts and experiences on the matter. "My music taste varies from Alternative pop and I've been exposed to many classic rock due to my dad always playing Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and many other amazing bands and musicians" Hernandez says. I found this to be important because it goes back to how some of our favorite music is due to our influences. She also states that she has "never experienced direct shaming" for her music tastes, yet she also mentioned how people assume her personality based on her choice in music and stereotyping her, which she said happened at McCallum, so she concludes by saying "Yes I have experienced some shaming for my music".

 I then went to senior Maddie Moore to see if she had any experiences in music shaming or has seen it happen. "My favorite type of music is mostly electronic and though I have experienced music shaming at McCallum, it has never been at all extreme. It's mostly just comments like 'that isn't real music' ect."

 Though both Moore and Hernandez have experienced music shaming in some form. Me and many others feel the same pressure mentally like when someone new asks "what type of music do you like?" I or someone else might say something they don't mean because they don't want to deal with another persons judgement.

 I do believe that music shaming happens at McCallum to a lot of students and should be recognized more for being a type of bullying if it were to ever result in a fight, or put someone down mentally. "why start an argument when you don't have to." Moore says