My 1st Commentary Article

Art Supplies - 

In the art department at Bowie High School, supplies are being used daily by students in multiple classes. Because of the continuous use, the art supplies are in bad condition and need of replacement. I feel that new art supplies are to be purchased and made available to the many art students around campus.

After signing up for Art I in hopes of improving my art skills, I was shocked to discover that the brushes and paints, along with other supplies, aren't sufficient. The colors in the watercolor palette were mixed together, making the entire palette unusable and preventing me from completing my project. 

How are students expected to make these outstanding pieces if they don’t even have supplies to make it acceptable?

The teachers tell students, including myself, to sign up for contests. I would be compatible with entering the contests, but an issue is that it takes me too long to complete my submission.

This may be partially from my details and precision, but the majority of my time spent is trying to find a watercolor palette that has all of the colors, or paintbrushes where the brush doesn’t fall off when I try to wash it off. The paper we receive can’t withstand the amount of paint being put on it, and I’ve resorted to bringing my own colored pencils to get my work done.

At the beginning of the year, all art students were required to pay a twenty-dollar art fee. I assumed this money would go towards supplies, but after ten weeks in this class, no noticeable things were updated. The paints are still a mix of colors and the brushes still come apart while using them.

Another issue is the sketchbooks. Art students were told they were to be given a sketchbook for the year that they could complete weekly assignments in. Everyone I talked to assumed we were getting a real sketchbook, not the stapled piece of slick paper we received.

I realize that art supplies are expensive, especially for the amount of students taking this course. This might be a pull factor for less expensive supplies, but the current cheap supplies just aren’t cutting it.

This doesn’t mean that the most expensive paints, colored pencils, or brushes are needed. For example, a Prismacolor 72-set of colored pencils are approximately sixty dollars. A watercolor palette can get up to around four hundred dollars, but most 16-set paints are found for approximately twenty dollars. The art program doesn’t need the best supplies, but a step up from Crayola can only improve our work.

In order to get these new supplies, money has to be gathered to purchase them. This doesn’t have to come from the teachers or staff. Students can donate a small amount of money that goes directly towards supplies, or the art program can host a fundraiser to raise money.  If all classes donate or raise money for supplies, the art program will have sufficient materials in no time.

Sports and other common clubs get new equipment, etc. every year, but the less popular organizations don’t. This needs to be changed. Every class, specifically art, deserves better supplies and materials to make the program successful.

In conclusion, I believe that the art program needs better supplies, as the current materials are falling apart and in need of replacement. For as many students as there are, this seems like a reasonable request.

Word count: 572

CE 2.3

1. The speaker of the house is Rep. Paul Ryan and he's aligned with the Republicans.

2. The law in Texas specifically says that "...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. Two teams playing in the World Series are the Mets and the Royals.

4. Two Do's for bringing autumn into your home decor are one, buy high quality decor so it's worth the purchase and two, choose unexpected color combinations that allow the decor to be used for more than one season. Two Don'ts for bringing autumn into your home decor are one, don't buy decor that can only be used for one season or else they aren't used and two, don't overboard with season decor.

5. Out of the five things to do on the long weekend, I would want to go to the Umlauf Sculpture Garden.

Short Answer:

Yes, I've seen the video of the girl being thrown across the room by a deputy after flipped out of her desk. In my opinion, this incident is unbelievable. What this deputy did was unnecessary and he could've resolved the issue some other way. I understand that the girl was being disruptive, but physically flipping her out of her desk and throwing her is not the way to solving the issue. The deputy should be punished. Yes, I do think that police brutality is a problem in our country, because I think that police officers abuse their power and control. They think they can get away with illegal issues because of their position. I think there is racism behind these issues, as sad as that is. All of the incidents I've seen have a dark-skinned person as the victim, even if they weren't doing anything necessarily wrong. In this issue, social media and cell phones plays an important role. This was the reason behind this incident, and if the girl hadn't disrupted the class with her cell phone and herself on the cell phone, this mess could've been prevented. I think that it's important for other people to see what is happening in other parts of the country or the world. It helps bring awareness to different situations, although I do believe that there is an excessive amount of publicity and broadcast that can harm a person as an individual if they were involved.

Personal Essays

1. One idea that the writer gave that I can use to start deciding on a topic is to pick a topic that interests you, that you care strongly enough about to write about.

2. One idea that the writer gave to remember when writing my piece is to use a lot of details and avoid using abstract expressions and phrases.

3. Three suggestions the writer makes to use as I write are firstly, to write from a personal perspective, but keep in mind of the construction. Secondly, avoid philosophical rants about your topic that make no connections to the reader. Lastly, grab the reader's attention with a strong hook.

Story 1 - Focusing On What's Important in the Wake of Tragedy (The Talon)

1. Matt Davenport
2. This story is about an incident that occurred at the school, where a frame of construction fell and killed one worker and injuring three others. Both students, teachers, and others are trying to cope with this situation and figure out the cause.
3. "But more than anything, keep in mind what is really important while the school endures this ordeal, and keep your thoughts and words in line as you do."
4. No, didn't address other side of story.
5. No, Matt wasn't wishy-washy about their opinion. He was strongly on the side of staying supportive and understanding about this situation and to keep the killed and injured in their prayers.
6. No quotes
7. 2nd person

Story 2 - Making Mum Preferred Rather Than Buying (The Outlook)

1. Paulina Zuleta
2. This story was about whether a student should purchase or make a mum, and which is more expensive. Paulina shares advice in order to get the best price for the mums.
3. "I feel it's better to make your own mum because you know what you want."
4. No
5. No, Paulina was pretty set on saying a student should make a mum as oppose to buying one.
6. No quotes
7. 2nd person

Story 3 - A Case Against Valentines Day (The Prowler)

1. Damon Fullington
2. This story is about the bad things that take place on Valentines, with added humor and strong personal experiences from the writer, Damon.
3. "While there is no shame in having a day set aside in the name of love, there are lines that should be drawn"
4. No
5. No, Damon was strong on the idea that Valentines was over the top.
6. No quotes
7. 1st person

CE 2.2

1. The two potential causes of the Hidden Pines fire in Bastrop are one, an intentionally set burn pile and two, an overheating shredder.

2. Alan Glukian was nominated for a music educators award because SaulPaul was impressed with how he interacted with students, he had a great passion for it, and went above and beyond to keep the program running.

3. The favorite to win the F1 race is Lewis Hamilton.

4. 3 types of apples mentioned in the article are Ginger Golds, Honeycrisp, and Jonagold.

5. Out of the 8 items mentioned, I would definitely splurge on good dark chocolate.

Short Answer:

Yes, I've considered buying a textbook to compensate for the digital version available to me. Some of the online textbooks take a long time to get to, or make it really hard to find the page I need in order to complete my work in time. Not having a textbook has actually hurt my grades. One time, I was required to complete a review for a test, and a portion of it was on the online textbook. I tried to access the textbook for around an hour and a half, with no luck, so both my grade was docked and time was wasted. No, I don't think going all digital has been a good decision, although it is more convenient in certain situations. Sometimes the server is down or I don't have access to an online source, so I can't complete my work in time. I do believe that this trend will continue in the United States, because of the advancement of technology and the familiarity and access to everything technology. I think that schools and districts decided to do away with textbooks because it was a hassle to give all the students their own hard copy of a textbook, and they think the new system would be more efficient and easier to access and complete assignments.

Opinion Writing

Story 1:

1. Editorial staff (no specific name)

2. This story is about the Fit schedule and the policies of Fit, the opinions of the writer, and how the students don't have a say in the schedule.

3. "While I think we should have FIT everyday, I don't think that FIT is more valuable than actual class time." Another quote: "I think that shorter class times are with the extra 30 minutes of study time."

4. Yes

5. No, there isn't any back and forth opinions. The writer/s is strongly on the side of more FIT, but it's less valuable than regular classes.

6. No quotes

7. 1st person

Story 2:

1. Kelsie Stella

2. This story is about the new online services, the V.O.E. forms and parking permits, offered to students at the school and her opinion about how they will affect the school and students.

3. "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, the students that don't have access to the internet.

5. No, Kelsie is strong on the side of promoting these new online services.

6. Yes, but it's words taken from the article (writer's words)

7. 1st person

Story 3:

1. Nya Martin

2. This story is about the incident where Blue Bell ice cream gave people food poisoning, then came back to the market too soon and at a too high of price.

3. "I understand that everyone makes mistakes, but if a mistake that could've been avoided by doing your job drastically affects other people's lives, you should be held accountable and punished."

4. No

5. No, Nya was strongly against Blue Bell's decisions and how they made of the incident.

6. No quotes

7. 1st person

Story 4:

1. Annika Holm

2. This story is about the problems with our school's pep rallies, and how the problem can be fixed.

3. "The problem with pep rallies is that they don't inspire pep, nor do they rally support for the school." and another quote: "Though the general idea of a pep rally may be to encourage student support for all sports, it just comes off as a hard sell for football, and nothing else."

4. No, nothing on students who like the way of the pep rally.

5. No, Annika is strong on the rally for a better pep rally.

6. No quotes

7. 3rd person

Story 5:

1. Amaya Marquez

2. This story is about how some school sports, specifically lacrosse, doesn't get the same representation and equality compared to other common sports. 

3. "...all we need is a lacrosse field, and a class. Which would make things so much more easier, as well as making it better for lacrosse players."

4. No, she didn't have anything on people not on these uncommon sports

5. No, Amaya was strong on lacrosse 'equality'.

6. Yes, said by writer Amaya

7. 1st person

Story 6:

1. Melissa Weprin

2. This story is about the problems relating to the S.E.L. lessons that are currently ineffective to students, who are unaware they are even learning the lessons.

3. "If there was an introduction to S.E.L. as well as an explanation as to what it is, it could potentially stick better with the student by letting them know it's important and not just a way to fill time in the hour and a half class."

4. No

5. No, Melissa was set on saying that the current way the S.E.L. lessons are taught are ineffective.

6. No

7. 1st person

A. Three major differences between an hard news story and an opinions piece are one, the content. A hard news story is strictly facts, while an opinions piece is well, opinions from the writer. Secondly, a hard news story has quotes from various sources (not quotes from writer either) while an opinions piece typically has one or none, and it is pulled from the article itself. Lastly, an opinions piece is typically one sided, while the hard news story tells the entire story.

B. I think that there aren't that many photos on these pages because the stories are less informational and more opinionated. You can't easily take a picture of an opinion.

C. Three topics that I think would be good to write an opinions piece on are firstly, the appropriateness of the additions to the school campus. Secondly, the new technology (phones, etc.). Lastly, the outdated supplies for art courses.

Earthquake Story

who: residents in the San Francisco area

what: were injured or killed

when: Monday morning, 8:12 a.m.

where: San Francisco area

why: buildings collapsed

how: an earthquake occurred

Yesterday morning at 8:12 a.m., residents in the San Francisco area were hurt after McHenry's Auto Supply building collapsed from an earthquake the Hayward area. 

The fall of this building on 2342 Plum St. killed two people and injured six, according to Jennifer Vu, public information officer from the Hayward Fire Department. 

"When the building collapsed, three of the six people were injured enough to be taken to the Hayward General Hospital. It was a sad moment; I couldn't help but wonder how their families must be feeling," Vu said.

People from as south as Los Angeles and as far north as Redding felt the earthquake.

"Luckily, no other serious injuries have been reported in Hayward," Vu said.

McHenry's Auto Supply building is located next to resident Mike Beamer's apartment building.

"I was eating my breakfast when the room started rolling," Beamer said.

The rolling motion that Mike Beamer felt lasted for about a minute, with a big jolt in the middle.

"I dove under the table just as I heard the explosion outside and a chunk of cement flew through my kitchen window. That's when the screaming started across the street," Beamer said.

Shortly after the collapse, Hayward firefighters and other services came to stabilize the building with ropes and after finding a gas leak in the building, capped a gas line.

"Twenty-one fire personnel, 12 police and five American Red Cross workers responded to the building collapse, with some arriving within four or five minutes of the quake," Vu said.

Under the Richter scale, the epicenter of the earthquake measured a magnitude of 6.4.

"The earthquake occurred on the Hayward Fault. It runs along the [Hayward] hills, so this was a strong one," Scientist from the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park Penny Gertz said.


Word Count: 301

Huntington Story

who: Janice Jones
what: was shot in the right leg
when: around 10 p.m. Wednesday
where: parked on Beach Boulevard near Highway 1 in the back of her motor home
why: her dog knocked a 9 mm handgun off a seat
how: the gun was discharged when it hit the floor

At around 10 p.m. Wednesday in the back of her motor home, 53 year old Janice Jones was shot in the right leg after her dog knocked a 9 mm handgun off a seat and it discharged when it hit the floor.

Along with hitting Jones' leg, the bullet also passed through the side of the vehicle according to California Highway Patrol press liaison Tammy Rye.

"It could've been worse," Rye said. "The bullet hit two inches from the gas tank."

Tombo, Jones' Pomeranian, was placed in the care of the Huntington Beach Animal Control officers, and according to animal control officer Janet Ngo, the dog had fresh cigarette burns on its forehead and seemed to be malnourished.

"It could've done with a little less abuse and a few more of those pork chops," Ngo said.

Jones was taken to the Huntington Beach hospital and then transported to the Irvine Medical Center.

"First my dinner gets interrupted when my dog shoots my leg, then here I am, being taken to multiple hospitals to be treated. This is ludicrous." Jones said.

Along with possible animal charges against Jones, Rye cites her for expired license plate and no permit for her gun.