Lone Star Dispatch Final

Front Page: Schedule change
     Next year there is a possibility of having the schedule for all AISD high schools changing dramatically. All Mondays and Wednesdays will be A days, and all Tuesdays and Thursdays will be B days, and the Fridays will alternate between A -B. There are many different pros and cons regarding the change, and plenty of students and teachers on either side for the change.
      There were pictures from election day, as well as a picture depicting the difference in this years schedule and the new proposed schedule.

Student Life: Summer
     Summer is finally here. Many students and teachers alike are going to be going on vacation this summer. Some will also be working to make some extra money, or working with kids.
     There is a graphic depicting arrows pointing all over the world, a picture of a sign outside the performing area for the choir in Disneyland, and some information on graduation statistics.

News: Weismantel
     AISD announced its annual 'Classified Staff member of the year award'. This years winner was AP Nick Weismantel of Bowie. He has had the position for 4 years after being a spanish teacher.
     There is a picture of the color guard performing, as well as a sideline quote from the front page story.

Sports: Baseball
     The Bowie baseball team has done very well this year. They were able to go to the playoffs and go 3 deep. However they lost to Oak Ridge 4-0.
    There is a picture of Kyle Gray pitching for baseball and Cat Munoz playing goalie in lacrosse.

Entertainment: Avengers
     In the new edition to the Avengers movies, Age of Ultron adds a plethora of new characters. The movie takes you into the backstories of characters like Black Widow, Thor and Hawk Eye. Overall cheesy and violent, but still a must see.
     There is the ACL lineup which I am excited about, adds for Thundercloud and and Orthodontics office, a movie ticket with ratings on Age of Ultron, as well as a picture of the Silver Stars performing.

Commentary: Teen Fun
     Kids generally enjoy elementary school. What happened to enjoying school? Now in high school, kids dread going to school, and we look for every way to make it more enjoyable.
     There is the editorial policy, a picture of a kid getting crushed by books, and a picture of houses with  an X on it.


1. The most powerful graphic was the ACL Lineup because its something everybody is excited about and can relate to.
2. The weakest was the one with the houses. I didn't get that at all.
3. I have no clue whatsoever.

Free Write 2

This kid came out of the restroom with toilet paper trailing behind him. He continue walking across the hall. Slowly heads started to turn towards the kid. He continued walking. Kids kept laughing, snickering, and pointing. By now everyone's attention was on this kid, teachers, students, AP's and janitors alike. This is when that girl got up and began to walk the other way. The kid kept strutting up and down the hall, everyone too afraid to go  up and let him know what was happening. The girl snuck around the corner to the other hall where the kid was just now making his way to. The girl joined in in laughing and pointing with all the other students, blending in. The kid gave the girl a sideways smirk, which she returned with a discrete smile. As he turned her corner, she continued the other end of the hall. When all kids and adults were back looking down towards the kid, the girl slipped into the office. Closing the door quietly behind her and locking it, she carefully stepped towards the adjacent corridor. Peering around the corridor, seeing nobody, she closed that door and locked it as well. Sitting down at the computer now, she logged in using a lunch lades password she obtained from befriending her from the first day of school. She got into the school cameras and saw the kid walking around, but then quickly stopped by an AP. He quickly reached around his butt, and expressed surprise. When the AP had left, the kid looked right to a camera and nodded. The girl now had work to do. She logged into the  database. Then entered and search code hand made by herself. Now a button appeared that was not there before. As she hovered over it, the door unlocked and the principal came in. She clicked the button, and nothing could be heard in that office other than the principal screaming at the girl. Out side however, you could students gasping in awe, popping noises, and confusion. The kid, casually standing outside in the halls, videotaping as thousands of balloons fell from the ceiling all over the school.

Illustator

For examples of art to be seen at art shows.

For ACL

For Gun Control

Inforgraph

https://infogr.am/app/#/edit/762d1504-d9a2-49f4-9f9d-e971e630bf50

CE 6.2

1. 9 people were killed, 18 were injured, 25-70 people were detained for questioning, during the biker shootout in Waco this weekend.
2. Tax Cut, Budget, Abortion, Gun Bills, and Border Security.
3. The rain through ought this past week really affected everyone in Austin as well as everyone in the state.
4. People use smart phones to video call and view the house through that with the agent.
5. The limit is because of a 1997 effort to help Amtrak one day be independent.


     The Boston marathon bombings were a terrible tragedy, so I can see why people would be concerned with Tsarnaev becoming a martyr when he is put to death. We would want to prevent all possibilities of repetition. However I don't think is is as much of an issue as we think.
     First of all, he won't be put to death for years, or even decades due to legal action (appeals and what not), so I think he will be long forgotten. The bombing itself will never be forgotten, but in years time, people will need to google his name to remember who he is.
     Also, there is no connection between him and the Islamic State, other than their religion. Other American mosques around the country have openly condemned the bombings, and that they hope others will join them. Overall, I think we have little to worry about in the issue of martyrdom.

"Captain Phillips" to Make Waves in Your Home

     Captain Phillips. The movie that has received great views across the country, and that found it's way into everyone's home after it's release in theatres. After having recently watched it, I see why it was such a hit. Captain Phillips is a thrilling movie, through constant tension between the epic battle of filthy Somali pirates and noble American seamen, based on the "true" story (why I say "true" I will get too later) of the real Maersk Alabama.

     Set in the oceans around the horn of Africa, Captain Phillips (played by Tom Hanks), is leading the containership, the Maersk Alabama towards Kenya, when they are suddenly attacked by Somali pirates. Though not uncommon in those waters, the crew is still taken by surprise as it takes place in the midst of a security drill. Captain Phillips keeps a cool head as he and Shane Murphy (played by Michael Chernus), the first officer, order the entire crew down to the engine room to hide from the pirates. When the pirates board, lead by one named Muse (played by Barkhad Abdi), followed by Najee (played by Faysal Ahmed) are extremely violent and loud towards the crew.

     The film is very character driven by Captain Phillips and Muse, who's acting was and is still praised for their incredible performance. I would like to continue to praise Barkhad for his portrayal of Muse, who played very well as a desperate, yet incredibly confident leading pirate. Tom Hanks was good as well, I just couldn't seem to get past his AWFUL accent. It was very cliche. Along with his incredibly corny accent, Phillips' crew is portrayed as a bunch of lazy coffee saturated, slackers.

     This leads me into the controversy on the actual truth of the movie. There has been much of an uproar from the majority of the actual cast from the real life event. They all have said that Phillips is very inaccurately portrayed in the movie. That in real life HE was the slacker, and that it was Murphy who ordered the security drills. Some also went to the extent of saying it was Phillips' fault that they were attacked, due to multiple dismissal of piracy warnings, advising all ships to be at least 600 mi. off the coast. The crew claims that during the attack, they were approx. 250 mi. off the coast.

     This movie was overall an exceptional film. Looking past the alleged discrepancies in the character roles, as well as Tom Hanks accent, it was a very enjoyable film. Every second of the film made me lean close towards the screen. This movie is for all ages, and teaches people to always stay away from pirates. I give this movie a 10/10 rating.

Movie Prep

1. Captain Phillips, Chief Engineer Mike Perry, and the main Pirate.
2. It seems like they wouldn't name the movie Captain Phillips. It seems everybody except the one getting all the attention is speaking out against the fact that he is such a hero in the movie. I would expect that they would get numerous warnings of pirates in the area, and to stay away from that coast. Then Cptn. Phillips would ignore those, requests in turn. I understand how they cut out one of the unsuccessful pirate attempts, to cut down on time. If they did have it though I think that it would be cool and it would add suspense.
I would think that they would give more credit to Mike Perry, because he's the one that locked everyone in the  engine room. He's the one who ultimately saved everybody. I would expect them to have a super dramatic scene where the snipers kill all the pirates in the lifeboat. That would be my favorite scene.
3. Because it was very dramatic and it's where the pirates didn't win.
4. To hold the crew for ransom and make money.

1. Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Faysal Ahmed, Catherine Keener, Max Martini
2. 4 stars or more
3. Paul Greengrass
4. Dana Brunetti, Scott Rudin, Michael De Luca
5. BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
6. $55 million
7. Everybody loved it
8. It seemed that everybody loved it other than the crew members

Movie Review Exploring

Avengers: Age of Ultron: EW review

1. Entertainment Weekly

2. Chris Nashawaty

3. 6

4. The alcohol inspired moments when they try to lift Thor's hammer.

5. The 5 action-packed repetitive fight scenes

6. Beyond the core spandex posse, a slew of familiar faces wanders in and out of the picture as if someone back at Marvel HQ were desperate to extend the film’s line of action figures. Still, my real beef with these movies—and this one in particular— is how same-y they’ve started to feel. Each time out, everything is at stake and nothing is at stake. Someone wants to destroy the world, but none of our heroes is ever in any jeopardy. With sequels already lined up for the next decade, how much danger could any of them be in? They’re too valuable to the bottom line. And where’s the excitement in that?

Jupiter Ascending (2015)

1. Richard Roeper

2. Richard Roeper

3. 1

4. The credits

5. Everything

6. “This epic, ridiculous and confounding space opera from the Wachowskis is so bad I almost want you to see it. Almost.”

Sports Current Event

1. http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/AustinAmericanStatesmanNIE/
2. Locked out an Empty Feeling
3. Recently Baltimore erupted in riots because of the Freddie Gray death. For the first time in MLB fans were denied access to the game between the Orioles and White Sox.
4. Foul- ball goes out of play
Out- When a players ball is caught, he gets tagged with the ball, or gets three strikes.
Strike- When a player swings at a ball and doesn't hit it.
Ball- When a pitch is out of bounds.
5. N/A
6. This would be a news update because fans have never been denied access to a game in history.
7. Orioles 8 : White Sox 2

Sports Exploration

1. St. Lois Cardinals
2.

3. 2015 Season (in progress)

NL Central	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	AWAY	L10	STRK
Cardinals	14	6	.700	-	7-2	7-4	7-3	W2
Cubs	12	8	.600	2.0	6-5	6-3	6-4	L1
Pirates	12	10	.545	3.0	6-4	6-6	6-4	W1
Reds	10	11	.476	4.5	6-5	4-6	5-5	L1
Brewers	5	17	.227	10.0	3-10	2-7	3-7	W1

4. 2014 Season

Central Division

Tm		W	L	W-L%	GB
St. Louis Cardinals	STL	90	72	.556	--
Pittsburgh Pirates	PIT	88	74	.543	2.0
Milwaukee Brewers	MIL	82	80	.506	8.0
Cincinnati Reds	CIN	76	86	.469	14.0
Chicago Cubs	CHC	73	89	.451	17.0

They made the playoffs, but lost to the San Francisco Giants in the pennant, who then went on to win the world series.

There are 3 outs per inning, 3 strikes on a single batter means an out, and if a ball gets to a base before a runner does, he is out.

Out- When an offensive player leaves the field after coming on, if he or she didn't score in the process (contributes to each innings out count).
Run- 1 point
Strike- When a batter doesn't swing at a pitch that goes over home plate, or when he swings at a ball and doesn't hit it.

The fans are on their feet!  changed to: The crowd is going wild!

Bo Jackson

Born in Besemer, Alabama
Went to Auburn University
Played for the Kansas City Royals
Only person to ever play professional baseball and football in consecutive seasons.

CE 6.1

1. There are riots there right now due to Freddie Gray incident.
2. They think that the army will be bringing in foreign prisoners of the Islamic State and confiscating Texan's guns.
3. 61 million phones were sold during the first quarter.
4. Girlstart is a non-profit who's goal is to promote STEM.
5. I think that it's good that someone found the power inside of them to get a sex change, as it seems like it would be a difficult thing to do. It's good that somebody famous is doing this because it might give many others the power inside to finally go through with it themselves if they're been struggling with it.
6. The tragedy in Nepal is shocking. It's terrible that ancient buildings, thousands of years old, get turned to dust. I would've guessed that this would be the case. My mom went to Nepal and said how the stairs are only attached at the top and the bottom, nothing underneath. This is simply terrible, and no other way to say it.
     It's also scary to think that another earthquake, even larger is around the corner. They say they are expecting an 8 to hit in the Himalayas. I hope that since it's in the Himalayas, perhaps there won't be as many deaths.

Free write

     I was born into a common family. My dad's a geologist and so is my mom. They like good movies, detective shows, and chocolate. They are both christian (dad catholic, mom protestant). Once they get an idea in their head, it would take god himself to change their mind. They also value education and their kids education which is where I come in. I am a boy, 15, at the age where I'm supposed to 'find myself', which is what my mom says high school is for. I love my parents; they raised me. Taught me to be honest, not to steal, respect adults, all the basic ideals that are generally thought to of to be the foundation for a kid to grow up and be successful.

     Their are different types of success, and different opinions on what those are.

     I never really listened to music until 5th grade. I had my parents music (John Prine, Beatles, some Aaron Neville), but I never really listened to it, it was kinda like white noise. I shouldn't say that, I heard it, learned some words, but never listened to the ideas, what the words I was saying meant. In 5th grade I got my first iPod. I mainly listened to hits radio, downloaded the catchiest ones or ones that I liked, and then put them on repeat more than the radios themselves. They were all the same, about partying, drinking, sex and what not. Eventually I dug into what wasn't on the radio. I found songs by people who yelled "FUCK SCHOOL" and "Do what the fuck makes you happy." within the same song. This came to me as a paradox. You have to go to school to get a job and go to college to be happy. My parents taught me that; taught me to get good grades and school comes first. This was all I had thought about until this point.

     These new artists I came upon preached disobedience and to disregard authority, just what you want even if you end up homeless and broke, because you can say that you did what you love. This seems like an all or nothing deal, and if it doesn't work out, then I don't know what to do. If I wanna do what I want, my parents probably won't accept that, considering that every time I play my music they refer to it as misogynistic, foul, and disturbing, without even giving it a chance, they just take it at face value.

FUN STUFF

Magazine Peer Review

1. Natural, by Kelsie Stella
2. The photo and the title
3. Where the sub headlines are and their size
4. The yellow of the type
5. Yes
6. Yes
7. Portrait

1. The Great Depression, by Nya Martin
2. The cover photo and the name
3. Changing the color of the sub headlines
4. The photo
5. Yes
6. Yes
7. Self-Portrait

1. The Watch Game, by Seyi
2.  The Name and font
3. Format sub headlines so it doesn't cut words in half
4. The font of the title and how it's hollow
5. Yes
6. Yes
7. Portrait

Burst

CE 5.3

1. Businesses would be able to donate 50% of the yearly franchise tax.
2. The two biggest civic challenges are traffic and housing costs.
3. I think it's saying that so many people are dying from police brutality, and even though the victims are laid to rest peacefully, it brings little comfort to know that the one who shot somebody you care about, was not indicted or convicted and sent to jail.
4. Jordan Spieth, 21 years old, won the Augusta Master's Golf Tournament this weekend. He attended UT and now makes a little less than 5 million dollars a year.
5. The number one movie in the country was Furious 7. I haven't seen it but I want too.
6. I don't think that people in America should vote by email. I think it's a great idea for those overseas, but people in the country need to go to a poll to vote rather than just sit at home and vote. People could create multiple emails and vote multiple times. However ways around this would be requiring to enter in your social security number when you vote along with your email, so that way any other votes would be considered irrelevant after the first one is sent in. Even though I don't think this should be a thing, I do think that it will happen in our lifetime.

Portrait and Self Portrait

Magazines Part II

Early Magazine Covers

Early magazine covers were nothing like todays magazine covers. Early covers sometimes didn't even have a picture on it, and were usually deprived on color in general. They were more book like that anything, and commonly had a table of contents and publishing information rather than an image. If a cover did have a image, it was for more decorative purposes rather than to reflect to the contents of the magazine.

Poster Cover

The poster cover is a more commonly used type of cover in today's magazines. These covers used pictures that took up the entire front page of the magazine. These photos are not usually coupled with words, and are the subject of the main story/ cover story (because its on the cover).

Pictures Married to Type

These magazine cover are more similar to Poster Covers than Early magazine covers. They are composed of a picture or main subject, which high lights the main story. However, the cover photo is often accompanied by a few sub-headings of other minor stories through ought the issue. This is to give an on looker more of an idea of the contents of the magazine.

In the Forrest of Words

Magazine covers of this type are almost a direct combination of early magazine covers and poster covers. Like poster covers they have a giant image centered in the middle of the magazine. But like early magazine covers, they are surrounded by sub-headings almost like a table of contents.

My Favorite Cover

The FADER, April/May 2012: "Philip Glass"

I like this portrait the most because of the creative element of a time lapse. Having the same person on both of the covers of a magazine is something I haven't seen before. This exemplifies how Phillip Glass has been around for a long time, and clearly has created and influence from whenever her was younger to his senior years. I think they used different background colors to better complement his age, as well as maybe signify how he has changed as a composer.

Magazine Tips

1. If the cover pops out from its background, don’t weaken it by fussing with it.
2. Arousing curiosity (that’s to pull the casual glancer in)
3. Intellectually stimulating, interesting (that’s to promise benefits)

4. If it is invisible like wallpaper, decide what element is worthy of becoming dominant by enlarging, by isolating, by more controlled color, by more clever wording.

5. Don't judge a cover on a screen because it glows in vivid colors that will inevitably turn disappointingly dull when printed in ink. A hard-copy printout may be closer.

Newspaper Spread No. 2 #2

Newspaper Spread No. 2

CE 5.2

1. The superintendent says that he could possibly create a 2nd Liberal Arts and Science Academy program at an already existing school in south Austin.
2. Hilary Clinton used her private email for official business and deleted thousands of emails from that email account.
3. The cartoon is poking fun at Hillary Clinton for her recent controversy over using a private email.
4. A micro unit is an apartment around 400 square feet.
5. Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa State, Baylor and West Virgina are all locks in the Big 12 tournament.
6. I think that the actions implemented by the University were justified by their strict and clear zero-tolerance rules. Free speech is allowed in the United States, but even though you are allowed to say whatever you want, if you are part of and organization or school, based on what you say, schools are allowed to expel you. I think I wouldn't try to stop it, but I wouldn't join in either, if people are racist thats their deal, but I'm not. I don't know if I would record it or not, I would greatly depend on the situation. It made it sound like the entire frat was participating, so I say that it was right to close the entire frat.

Types of Portraits

I like this photo because this guy if amazing. He has checkered underwear, and wears it with pride.

 I like this photo because the light on her face makes here appear very clean.

I like this picture because this guy looks really funny, and seems really serious about pointing at the camera.

1. An environmental photo has some sort of life from above shinning on the subject.
2. Environmental has a background of some sort, while casual portraits are more like stock photos with white backgrounds.
3. Most self portraits are black and white.
4. I will want to shoot in the courtyard if it's sunny out to get much better lighting.

Portrait Tips

Find an Interesting Subject

I have a friend who regularly goes out on the streets around Melbourne looking for interesting people to photograph.

When he finds someone that he finds interesting he approaches them, asks if they’d pose for him, he quickly finds a suitable background and then shoots off a handful of shots quickly (if they give him permission of course).

The result is that he has the most wonderful collection of photographs of people of all ages, ethnicities and backgrounds.

While many of us spend most of our time photographing our loved ones – perhaps it’d be an interesting exercise to shoot interesting strangers once in a while?

Take Unfocused Shots

As photographers we have ‘sharp focus’ drummed into us as an ultimate objective to achieve in our work – but sometimes lack of focus can create shots with real emotion, mood and interest.

There are two main strategies for taking unfocused images that work:

1. Focus upon one element of the image and leave your main subject blurred. To do this use a large aperture which will create a narrow depth of field and focus upon something in front of or behind your subject.

2. Leave the full image out of focus. To do this again choose a wide aperture but focus well in front or behind anything that is in your image (you’ll need to switch to manual focussing to achieve this).

These kinds of shots can be incredibly dreamy and mysterious.

Candids: Being Unobtrusive

You may want to make photographs of people going about their business—vendors in a market, a crowd at a sports event, the line at a theater. You don't want them to appear aware of the camera. Many times people will see you, then ignore you because they have to concentrate on what they are doing. You want the viewers of the image to feel that they are getting an unguarded, fly-on-the-wall glimpse into the scene.

There are several ways to be unobtrusive. The first thing, of course, is to determine what you want to photograph. Perhaps you see a stall in a market that is particularly colorful, a park bench in a beautiful setting—whatever has attracted you. Find a place to sit or stand that gives you a good view of the scene, take up residence there, and wait for the elements to come together in a way that will make your image.

If you're using a long lens and are some distance from your subject, it will probably be a while before the people in the scene notice you. You should be able to compose your image and get your shot before this happens. When they do notice you, smile and wave. There's a difference between being unobtrusive and unfriendly. Another way to be unobtrusive is to be there long enough so that people stop paying attention to you. If you are sitting at a café order some coffee and wait. As other patrons become engrossed in conversations or the paper, calmly lift the camera to your eye and make your exposure. In most cases, people either won't notice or won't mind. But be judicious. Don't keep firing away and become a nuisance. They will mind. You can also set the camera on the table with a wide-angle lens pointed at your subject and simply press the remote release when the time is right. Modern auto focus and auto exposure cameras make this easy to do as well.