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2013-2014 Journalism Final:

A Compilation of Everything

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Table of Contents:

Dedication – page 3

Photo Essay – page 4

First Semester Blogs – page 5

Second semester blogs - page 9

Article 10 – page 14

Article 11 – page 16

Article 9 – page 17

Article 3 – page 18

Article 1 – page 19

Article 8 – page 21

Article 4 – page 22

Thinglink – page 23

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Dedication:

To my fellow classmates,

Who helped me through this class.

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Journalism Photo Essay: Robotics

It’s imbedded into the icon. Just double click.

By: Anthony Lucid

Journalism Photo Essay:Robotics

By: Anthony Lucid

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First Semester Blogs:

1: Zero Periods in School.

Are Zero Periods really an alternative for athletes taking sports? Many kids like getting out of school

earlier, but several hate getting up that early. So, are zero periods really worth it?

I believe that zero periods are not worth it, because they are just too early. A 7 AM start time is killer to

most kids, and most of them just sit around school after 5th, waiting for a ride home. Others have to

stay at school to wait for their siblings. Also, zero periods are shorter, so kids get less teaching time just

because they can’t start any earlier.

Are Zero Periods really worth it? I say no, they are not worth the effort.

2: Tardy Policy

WGHS has a new tardy policy, where if you are late, you are locked out of class. This however, has not

been enforced zero period. I believe that this policy is unfair, and hurts the student instead of help

them. This has also caused students to miss tests, which runs their grade into the ground. Another thing

is the Attendance Office is supposed to report the absence as tardy, but this has failed to be done

correctly sometimes, causing students to have unexcused absences.

3: Public Transportation

In many major cities all over the world, millions of people use Public Transportation to get across the

city. Recently, San Jose beat out Jacksonville (and Detroit lost a large percentage of its population) as the

tenth largest city in the US. But did you know that a few years ago, it was ranked as the 19th most walk

able city in the 50 largest US cities? We also have a relatively safe transportation service, because the

Light Rail can stop and start to go with unexpected obstacles. So why do so few people use our

transportation services? Most people complain that it doesn't go everywhere, and that you have to pay

every time you switch buses. Most people don't even use Caltrain, because my friend said that coming

back from San Francisco, the train was full, but was nearly empty when he arrived back in San Jose. I feel

that if they were advertised more, and shown in a better spotlight, then more people would take it.

After all, it is safer than driving.

4: Invisible Students

In Connecticut, there are over 30K people in adult education programs, but 10k of them could be in high

school. This is a problem as most of them have been moved out of public school systems

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unwillingly, because the state decided that they were unequipped for high school. This is against the

National Governor’s Association Graduation Counts Compact. On top of this, their minority students’

graduation rate is very low, some say unacceptably low. They have been given a small grant to try to fix

the school system, but now they have a large hole to climb out of to help students who are struggling.

In California, we have one of the lowest percentages of high school graduates in the country, so much

that we have started forcing kids who have little chance of graduating to leave school, which has caused

some unwanted results, such as extremely small senior classes with a high graduating rate, and

hundreds of teens not even having a senior year of high school. I think we have a large problem like

Connecticut, and we need to fix it.

5: Rhetoric

The word of the week of October 8 was Rhetoric. Its definition is science of all literacy languages, or the

undue use of exaggeration.

In our school, several students brag about their grades, among other things. It is a normal part of our

school, so that is one reason Rhetoric was the word of the week.

In most writing, literacy languages are very important for describing, as well as to help move the story

along. Because most of our classes contain articles or problems we have o read and make sense of,

Rhetoric seems like a good word of the week.

6: History of All Hallows Eve

The beginnings of Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, is believed to have started with the pagan celts 2000

years ago. It began as A New Year's Eve, because their year started November 1st, in accordance to

winter. They believed that the spirits walked the earth, and could make people do crazy things.

People believed that costumes came around because people thought they were impervious to sprits if

they wore them, and so they could chase them out.

This tradition continued, even after the Catholics tried to end the tradition, and they eventually added it

to All Saints day and All Souls day.

Jack o'lanterns came around from the Stingy Jack tale, of a man not allowed in Heaven or Hell. People

thought that if they lit a candle in a gourd and placed it outside, then Jack would leave them be.

Pumpkins were soon used more and more often, so they eventually took over when people began

celebrating the holiday in the New World.

When the Irish immigrated to the Americas, they brought with them Halloween Traditions, and by the

1950's, it had become a massive commercial holiday with cost of around $6.9 billion dollars a year.

7: Animal Links

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/rainforests/index.htm

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This is trying to protect the rain forests, which hold most of the new species. They also hold most of the

world's species, and one fifth of the Amazon has been cut down, and it has not stopped. Madagascar

has also lost a large amount of its forests. Temperate rain forests are also problematic, but the one in

Canada is heavily protected.

http://blogs.courier-journal.com/watchdogearth/2012/10/15/primates-pushed-closer-toward-

extinction/

This shows an example of a species being pushed into extinction. This also extends to other apes, and

they also are trying to be saved, but it is costing $80 Billion a year.

8: Veteran’s Day

On November 11, 1918, World War I ended in France. At the time, World War I, or the Great War had

been the worst war in history, leaving millions dead. In 1919, Wilson had a parade in honor of the

veterans from the war. After several other ceremonies on the same day, Congress made it a national

holiday in 1938.

Nowadays, we celebrate veterans from every war, from WWI to the current wars in the middle east, and

sometimes even as far back as the Revolution. It is a holiday to commemorate the people who gave

their lives so we could be safe.

9: Thanksgiving

On November 22, it will be Thanksgiving again. It will be a time where we give thanks for what we have,

and sit around with family and/or friends and have a nice meal and talk about things in your life.

I am thankful for many things, including my family, my friends, and what I have. I hope that soon, the

world will become more and more peaceful.

10: WGHS’s Image

Willow Glen High School is seen as another one of the schools in SJUSD. Some of my friends say that

willow glen has some drug and gang problems, but not as much as some of the other schools. The Bomb

scare earlier this year didn't affect students' thoughts about the school.

Many parents are concerned for gangs, but they are overly so. The color ban has never really been

enforced, and hasn't caused any major problems in the last few years.

The only thing people talk about is the overpopulation of students, but that isn't too bad in most classes,

so it isn't a big problem.

Overall, most people see willow glen as a positive place, and I feel that they have a reason to think that

way.

11: Video

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Here my interview video.

https://vimeo.com/55505075

12: What makes Jake special?

Jake Miller, the focus of my feature article, is similar to a lot of students, but he is also very different. He

has friends and a loving family, but a tragedy struck in January. He also has done some things other kids

did not, such as stay at school during the bomb scare for almost 2 extra hours.

At Home, his life is relatively normal, with the exception of only having one parent.

13: Holiday Blues

This holiday, my sister, her friend, my dad, my best friend, his dad, and I are going to a cabin over the

weekend after New Years. Before that, we are having dinner at my Grandparents on Christmas.

I will not be blogging over my break. I need a vacation from school.

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Second Semester Blogs

1: Robotics 2013

On January 5, the First Organization unleashed the 2013 First Robotics Challenge, Ultimate Ascent. In

this challenge, teams have to throw Frisbees into goals, and climb a tower at the end of the match to

score points.

When Robo-Rams, our school's team, heard of the challenge, we thought about how to launch the

Frisbees, and how to climb the tower. One of the challenges was what style to make the launcher, and

how to place it so we could include a place to pick up the Frisbees from the ground.

We had originally thought about making a round launcher, but after seeing Robot in Three Days, a group

of engineers that made a Robot that could play the game in just 72 hours after release, we decided to go

with a linear launcher.

We went with the straight launcher for a few reasons. First: WE don't have a metal workshop so making

a smooth circular design with metal was not practical. Second: A straight launcher allows us to bring the

Frisbees further back. Third: Linear Launchers can accelerate Frisbees faster than circular.

We also had to sort through our lists of parts we got in the parts pack that comes with team registration,

as well as trying to come up with a design for the robot that worked. We eventually decided on a sort of

X shape for the robot, with the belt bring Frisbees up from the ground next to the shooter, and the

shooter going up the opposite way.

The truly tough challenge this year is climbing the tower. Robot in Three Days decided to only go for the

10 point climb, and our team was considering the 20, but the 10 as a fallback. We decided the 30 was

too difficult, because we'd have to balance on the 20 only before hoisting ourselves up to the 30.

Overall, this year the Willow Glen Robo-Rams are shaping up nicely, and we have already decided on our

design and how we are going to score points. The first week is down; now 5 to go before the build

season ends.

2: Article Reaction

Luis's article about under-aged drinking is full of scary facts, and has good information to help prove that

teens shouldn't drink. It shows the consequences of drinking and why teens should not do it.

I feel the article would b better if he said why teens drink, and how to tell if teens are drinking.

3: 2013 Presidential Speech

On January 21, 2013, President Obama made his second term inauguration speech. While it was shorter

than his first term one, this one went against the Republican Party’s goals, and showed a side of change

that his earlier speech did not have.

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Two of the topics hitting the republicans the hardest include Gay Rights, and Gun Control Laws. While

the extent of Gun Control is unclear as of now, it is clear that Obama wishes to see the Court case in the

Supreme Court in June, and wishes to pass laws that legalize gay marriage and give them more

protection.

While this speech does look like it could bring change, it is unknown how much of these will pass

through a republican controlled house.

4: 21st Century Plan for SJUSD

The San Jose Unified School District has come up with 5 objectives it will accomplish by 2017.

The first one is high quality academics. SJUSD will begin to try to find teachers to teach the material

effectively, and will teach it at a good pace. There will also be a rigorous path of academics, which may

be better for some students. They will also offer tougher classes.

The second one is to make students and parents feel engaged and satisfied at the schools. They will plan

to help bring news to the parents, and team up with companies and non-profits to help teach students

21sty century skills.

The third one is that the district will demonstrate efficient and exemplary practices in all of their

property. They will use this to refine and define their practices, allowing for faster and more efficient

communication. They will also monitor students so that they know where there are academic problems.

The fourth is that SJUSD will hire a good workforce, and hire teachers who know the material and who

can teach it well. They will also hire new administrators to run the schools more efficiently and who can

notify the district of problems.

The fifth one is that SUSD will give resources to get an equity policy and get an effective budget

management. To ensure this they will set up an accountability system for everyone who manages the

budget, and will give out an annual system to set priorities to the plans of the schools.

6: 826 National Blog

In 826 national, a place for tutoring and writing for students, National Geographic's Mike Hettwer took

more than 12000 photos of students in the place, and in a workshop in Chicago.

For many weeks he saved the photos, and compiled them into a book and sold it through the 826

national organizations.

7: Daylight Savings Time

This weekend, the time will shift to Daylight Saving Time. In my opinion, it is pointless, because now I

won't be able to ride my bicycle to school for few weeks! In Russia, they have decided to stop Daylight

Saving Time, and they do not use it in Arizona. I feel that California or at least the Bay Area needs to join

this group.

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8: Music

I listen to a lot of different music, and I have several genres. While I like some modern rock and rap, I

also love 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's pop and rock. My favorite new millennium band is Linkin Park. I like a

lot of the old bands, but I find 50's rock to be my favorite of the classic rocks.

9: Odyssey rewrite.

http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/frontpage/schoolid/98/articleid/443983/newspa

perid/74/The_Book_Review.aspx

I went to this story and read about how Zachary Mason rewrote the Odyssey, and about several of the

other books that they reviewed. It was interesting to read, and the books all seem to be very different

from each other.

10: Career Faire

Last Friday was career day for WGHS. They offered many different talks about several different

professions. I was in the computer science/ game design and architecture.

I thought the talks were great, but I feel that the way they explained computer science could have

changed to have been based on more normal careers, instead of across the board, switch companies

and creating start ups.

I feel career day is a wonderful thing, and helps students think about a career before they enter college.

11: Cell Phones in School

If schools allowed cell phones in class to teach effectively, it would be abused within days, with kids

finding ways to surf the net while class is going on. The available window to use cell phones to teach is

gone.

If Cell Phones were used in class, there would have to be limits on smart phones, as well as whom you

could text/call. To ensure appropriate use, a teacher would have to monitor the phones from their

computer (Good luck with that).

Appropriate use is defined by using the phone to help with school, and not doing anything you want on

them, especially age restricted material.

13: Why Taxes?

Taxes are a necessary thing to help run the government because our government is involved in a lot of

projects and helps keep the government efficient to help the people.

14: CSTs

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During the second half of April, 9th, 10th, and 11th graders in SJUSD have had to take the CSTs. At

Willow Glen High School, students take them on Tuesdays, and after the testing are allowed to go home.

This loses 3 days of schooling towards the end of the year, which could hurt finals, but also the AP exams

that are coming up in the first half of May.

15: Video Games History Part I

Back in 1966, Video Games were virtually non-existent. The only way to play them was on old arcade

like games (pinball mostly), or on huge computers that took up entire rooms. That changed when Nolan

Bushnell, Ted Dabney, and Allan Alcorn created Pong, a table tennis virtual game. This sold very well on

the arcade, but in 1972 the Magnavox Odyssey came out as the first home console, outselling Atari.

However, these game systems disappeared in 1977, when the video game industry crashed. Atari and

Magnavox bounced back, and soon the industry took off again, with the US leading the way. However, in

1983, the video game industry tanked

again, and it looked like it was the end, now that the US was out of the market. It looked like the end of

video games…

16: Video Game History Part II

After 1983, the video game industry was in ruins, and several people thought this was the end, as

arcades were currently raking in billions of dollars in quarters each until 1986. However, the video game

industry was revived in Japan on July 15th, 1983, when the Nintendo NES began selling. It was such a hit,

it began selling in the US in October of 1985, and began a new age of video gaming. On the helm with

Nintendo was SEGA, a newer video game console company that made it big with their Master System,

and Atari, which began to go into the recesses of history. The NES revolutionized the video game

industry, and brought the video game industry in North America back on its feet. Without Nintendo, the

video game industry might have died out in '83. So when you think of Nintendo as sad and overrated

while playing your Xbox or Playstation, take time to remember that it was Nintendo that helped Sony

and Microsoft enter the industry by recreating it from the ruins of Atari. Nowadays, Nintendo is the only

competitor of the third and fourth gen consoles, with SEGA ending consoles in 2002 and Atari failing in

the '90's, yet it still managed to outsell Sony and Microsoft. In light of this amazement during the

seventh gen, Nintendo is here to stay.

17: Mother’s Day

On Mother's Day at my house, my grandparents and aunt came over from lunch. My other aunt and

uncle were going to come, but an accident closed 17 and they were unable to come out from Santa

Cruz. We has sausages for lunch, and had chips and fruit as appetizers. After lunch, we all talked about

the last month, and opened the cards. My sister gave my mom a nice origami heart and a promise to

wash the car, while I gave her a card and helped garden the previous weekend all day Saturday. I was

glad to see my mom, even though I have been busy for the last few weeks studying for the APs and

Finals. Luckily, all of my relatives had a good time, and I felt happy for everyone. It was a nice and

relaxing mother's day.

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18: Tumblr owned by Yahoo

Recently, Yahoo has agreed to buy Tumblr for $1.1 Billion. While this could be a good way for tumblr to

have money to expand the site, it could also mean that Tumblr would be required to have ads. This

could be big, because the rampant use of ads is one thing which makes Facebook users crazy. When I go

onto Facebook, the ads are usually very noticeable, and they are usually ads for things I'd never do, or

even hate. If Facebook's ad policy is what the norm is going to be,

Tumblr might be in trouble. However, Tumblr could find something to do with the $1.1 billion that could

revolutionize the site. So, this buyout could be good, or it could be bad. We'll have to wait and see.

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Article 10:

The End of Consoles is near?

Anthony Lucid, 2015

10-May-2013 On May 21, 2013, Microsoft is going to unveil their new eighth generation

console, code named Xbox Infinity. Earlier, Sony announced their Playstation 4 (PS4), which they said

would be released during the Christmas holidays. While several long-time fans are excited, will these

consoles sell against smart phones and tablets?

One way to look at it is the fact that the last consoles that Sony and Microsoft made came out in

late 2005 and 2006, making it 7 years since a new console has been released from these two companies.

While people say that they waited for better technology, and it is supported by Sony’s new claim on the

PS4’s specifications; both Sony and Microsoft might have been short on the bandwagon, losing ground

to a much older gaming company; Nintendo.

Since 1983, Nintendo has been making home consoles, from the Nintendo Entertainment

system, to the newest console on the market, the Wii U. While the Wii U has not sold very well in the

last months, its seventh generation console, the Wii, outsold both the Xbox 360 and the PS4 by more

than 20 million units. Coupled with the fact that the Nintendo 3DS outsold the PS Vita by nearly 18

Million units, Nintendo has come out as the leader in the new consoles.

However, Nintendo’s Wii U’s low sales has had some people worried, and began wondering if

this is the last generation console. Seeing as consoles sold very well last generation, this generation of

consoles will sell well, but one of the console manufacturers might turn away from consoles. While no

one is sure, Sony has been making its money mainly from TVs and other electronics, and could decide to

not release another Playstation.

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While this is probably not the end of home consoles, this generation of consoles definitely has

its work cut out for it to battle the smart phones and tablets, as well as the resurgence of the PC gaming.

So, here’s to the next generation of consoles, and hopefully they are truly visionary.

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Article 11:

Mackenzie O’Kelly

Anthony Lucid, 2015

21-May-2013 This year, Mackenzie O’Kelly will graduate high school and go off to West Valley

College and then later on to Portland University. Her future looks bright, but what was her senior year at

Willow Glen like?

In her senior year, her favorite classes were honors physics and art. She likes drawing and

painting, and liked how Honors Physics was taught by Mr. Freedman and how it was engaging to learn

about the world in terms of science. However, before her senior year her other physics teacher, Mr. Old,

showed her the Willow Glen robotics team, where she said she met several intelligent and fun-loving

people.

While on the Robotics team, she was known for subconsciously (as fellow teammates claim)

knowing where tools and parts were, and helped organize the parts necessary to build the robot into a

marked storage unit. She was also known for being willing to drive other students to robotics meetings,

and trying to go to all the competitions from Cal Games to Davis to SVR.

While Mackenzie’s time as a high school student is over, she has left a lasting impression on her

friends and teammates, and will be remembered. Good luck in the future Mackenzie!

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Article 9:

I did a flow about how Proms have changed since the 1920’s.

Here is the url: http://prezi.com/fraai54oiekf/article-9-prom-prezi/

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Article 3:

Television viewings down?

This week, asked a few students if they watched TV and how much they watch it. While some

said yes, others said no. Out of the ones who said no, a lot of them watched shows on the Internet, via

sites like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon.

For a long time, watching Television was an American past time, with kids waking up to watch

cartoons on Saturdays and adults watching shows late at night. Nowadays, there are a lot more

channels, and almost every type of show is on all the time. There is also on-demand for many systems,

as well as new ways to digitally record television.

When I asked students why they didn’t watch television, some said that there wasn’t anything

on, but others said that they just watched movies and shows on the Internet. While this didn’t surprise

me, it was surprising how much ‘television’ that some people watched on the Internet.

Overall, I believe that television will still be popular for years to come; it is losing ground to the

Internet in terms of watching television shows.

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Article 1:

Robotics 2013

On January 5, the First Organization unleashed the 2013 First Robotics Challenge,

Ultimate Ascent. In this challenge, teams have to throw frisbees into goals, and

climb a tower at the end of the match to score points.

When Robo-Rams, our school’s team, heard of the challenge, we thought about

how to launch the frisbees, and how to climb the tower. One of the challenges

was what style to make the launcher, and how to place it so we could include a

place to pick up the frisbees from the ground.

We had originally thought about making a round launcher, but after seeing Robot

in Three Days, a group of engineers that made a Robot that could play the game

in just 72 hours after release, we decided to go with a linear launcher.

We went with the straight launcher for a few reasons. First: WE don’t have a

metal workshop so making a smooth circular design with metal was not practical.

Second: A straight launcher allows us to bring the frisbees further back. Third:

Linear Launchers can accelerate frisbees faster than circular.

We also had to sort through our lists of parts we got in the parts pack that comes

with team registration, as well as trying to come up with a design for the robot

that worked. We eventually decided on a sort of X shape for the robot, with the

belt bring frisbees up fro the ground next to the shooter, and the shooter going

up the opposite way.

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The truly tough challenge this year is climbing the tower. Robot in Three Days

decided to only go for the 10 point climb, and our team was considering the 20

point, but the 10 point as a fallback. We decided the 30 point was too difficult,

because we’d have to balance on the 20 point only before hoisting ourselves up

to the 30 point.

Overall, this year the Willow Glen Robo-Rams is shaping up nicely, and we have

already decided on our design and how we are going to score points. The first

week is down, now 5 to go before the build season ends.

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Article 8:

AP Exam Preparation

Anthony Lucid, 2016

1 May 2013 In the first two full weeks of May, all of the Advanced Placement (AP) classes have the

AP Exams. The AP Exams are important to students because successfully passing the exams, students

can get college credit, which means that they will not have to take that subject in College. Because of

this, all of the AP classes are preparing the students for this test in a number of ways.

One way to study is to finish the class before the Exam so that there is time to review all of the

material for the entire year. In this way, students have the chance to go over sections that they might

have forgotten or had difficulty with the first time. It is also a good idea to study using resources

obtained throughout the school year. In several AP classes, teachers tell the students to keep their work

for the AP.

Another method is to go over actual AP test questions from prior years for the purpose of

learning how to take the AP test. This also helps students to review, and gives them a look at what the

test will actually contain, worded just like the test itself.

The last method to study for AP exams is to take a practice AP exams, with or without the time

restraints. This allows for students to get the feeling of an AP Exam, as well as helping them improve

their times for the timed-writing and other timed tests. This has proven to be popular, due to the fact

that multiple classes are taking practice AP Exams. The AP Chemistry class took a practice AP over the

weekend, and it helped show them how they would fare in a real AP test. Most AP classes do this the

weekend before their exam.

Overall, there are many different ways to study for AP exams, but most students agree that

studying is a must if you want to pass the class. Good luck on the exam!

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Article 2:

12 Angry Jurors

Last semester, I was on the Fall play 12 Angry Jurors. While rehearsing for the play, I saw many

interesting things, but I also saw how actors memorize their lines, and how others help pick up forgotten

lines.

During rehearsals, everyone knew most of their lines, and only missed a couple. However, they

realized their mistakes and moved on. One of the hardest things to learn was the steps and action they

had to take, and when exactly do they say their lines.

Another thing I noticed was how easily people got rid of the attention with speeches, little

games, and just jokes. I was surprised how easily the stress melted away and all of us were laughing and

having a good time before performances.

As for my part, it was the easiest line wise, but my queues we different. For most of the play I

was behind the door, so I had to listen carefully to know exactly when to come out and give them the

props.

Overall, my experience doing the play was good, and convinced me to try out for next year’s fall

play. Also, the Denny’s after party was a nice reward for everyone working so hard.

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Thinglink:

I did a thinglink about the videogames I played at my old elementary school in first and second grade.

Here is the url: http://www.thinglink.com/scene/396332890104791041