Carson Bailey - SJOY Portfolio

N O S CAR

Y E L BAI

rtfolio o p r a e y t of the s i l a n r 2011 Jou

*

CARSON

BAILEY

2011 student

JOURNALIST O F

T H E

Y EA R

Portfolio

HELLO

my name is

Carson Bailey and I am a

JJ

Texting as al

ways

02 Carson Bailey

JOURNALIST

ournalism started out as a scapegoat for me during my sophomore year. Half way into the first quarter I realized my web design 2 teacher was definitely on the crazy side and I couldn’t handle her daily nonsense. My twin brother told me I should join the newspaper staff because they were looking for a “technical” person, which I guess meant a computer geek, aka me. Web design 2 just so happened to be the same period as newspaper, so I quickly made the switch, not knowing what was in store for me.

I expected to be the technical guy who would give assistance in Photoshop or other programs definitely not writing stories, maybe sometimes laying out a page. I didn’t expect to be the leader, creator, or writer. I didn’t expect to be laying out color pages three issues in or writing lengthy controversial stories.

I never thought as a staff reporter I’d be proofreading the entire paper the night before we went to press. Along with designing five layouts, writing a story, and a column.

Turns out what you expect doesn’t always play true.

From day one as a Lion’s Tale staff member I started working on layout. Poor kid didn’t understand how to use Indesign and refused to learn, so the editors stuck me on his volleyball page. Mind you there were only two days before the paper was to be

sent to the printer and my inherited page laid blank.

For the next two days that layout became my baby.

I obsessed constantly over how I should place the pictures and if the layout met journalistic standards.

From that point on, I was hooked. The pure creativity you are allowed when designing a page intrigued me to the point I couldn’t get enough.

As I proceeded into my second issue, I found myself with not only a layout, but a story as well.

Never in my life had I written a story. In fact, I was quite turned off by the notion of writing.

Regardless, I was assigned a story and I knew I had a responsibility to deliver quality copy. I remember reading story after story trying to soak up the writing style and then trying to imitate that same style as my own. After about three hours of rearranging words, my first story was written. And although I finished the story, I wasn’t confident in what I had written. I thought the copy was garbage and most likely would have to be rewritten. To my surprise, that was not the case. In fact, even the sports editor from the Orlando Sentinel, who helped sports writers on staff from time to time, commented on my story. He said it was great and not much needed to be changed. I felt on top of the world after hearing what he had to say.

And armed with confidence I did just that anything and everything. I slowly progressed from

Food for the hungry journalist

Receiving our Silver Crown from CSPA in NYC black and white pages to laying out color. Instead of writing small feature profiles, I started seeking the larger, more in-depth stories. I even started learning how to use a digital camera so I could be my own photographer.

Within that year I learned the ins and outs of Indesign, how to photograph with a digital camera, interviewing techniques, proper AP style, and so much more. My strong commitment to the paper and willingness to learn led me to be selected as an editor my second year on staff. During that second year, I continued to grow as a journalist, still taking in-depth stories and laying out the center spread every edition, in addition to other black and white pages. But no longer could I focus on myself and my work: I was responsible for the entire paper. From front to back, I had to ensure staff members were working on task to meet our deadlines, and sometimes that proved to be a difficult task.

In addition to working on the newspaper that year, I made it my mission to revive the literary magazine. Sometimes I would go home after school and spend hours working on the development of Arts Unleashed and then have to switch to work on The Lion’s Tale. It was a constant balancing act because both publications depended so much on me. Yet never once did I fall through with my commitments,

all seven issues of The Lion’s Tale and 40 pages of Arts Unleashed got printed successfully on time.

I continue this year with the same drive and commitment as last year. Over the summer I redesigned The Lion’s Tale, took on an internship, and started to develop an online sidekick to Arts Unleashed – ArtsUnleashed.net.

Now as I journey into my final months as editor of The Lion’s Tale and Arts Unleashed I’ve come to realize what a substantial impact journalism has had on my life these past three years. The technical aspects of journalism and moral values that have been instilled in me through these journalistic experiences are indescribable. I will leave Oviedo High School’s journalism room a changed person. No longer will I question my confidence or ability but prosper in my passion to be that writer, designer, and leader: a journalist.

Journalism is and will always be a part of my life.

It’s made me who I am proud to be today and has given me the confidence I need to succeed. In the future I see myself staying with publications, and becoming a major force in the mass media. From writing, to design, photography to editing, you name it, I’ve done it. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

My fellow staff members and I after winning 2nd place for our on the spot center spread, which we only had two hours to create. The night before I was up late finishing our edition 6 centerspread as well.

Two center spreads in two days!

Carson Bailey 03

04 Carson Bailey

Application Questions

Has any of your work been used by the professional media? If yes, please explain.

Yes; While I interned at the Orlando Weekly I would create and work on ads every day. Sometimes I would be given a “spec” ad to work on. This particular type of ad was made to show potential ad buyers what their ad could look like.

If the buyer decided to place the ad, the designer received 10 dollars. Within the first two weeks I had 3 “spec” ads approved, you can see one of the spec ads on page 49. It was fun being able to flip through the paper each week to see what ads I had worked on or created.

What aspect of journalism and mass communications is your career goal?

I tend to dream big so when I close my eyes and dream I see myself as an Editor-in-Chief of a well-known magazine. Although I would also love to work as an Art Director while I work my way up the journalism ladder.

Ultimately the jobs that I have as a journalist won’t mean much unless I take action. It’s not enough for me to just be a journalist. I want to be a major force in the new and upcoming mass media. I want to help create and grow new methods of transferring quality information into readers hands.

Do you plan to enroll this year in a university journalism degree program?

I do plan to enroll this year in a university journalism degree program. I am looking into double majoring in journalism and graphic design.

Carson Bailey 05

Offical Transcripts OV IE D O HI G H S C HOOL

06 Carson Bailey

Table of

Contents

1 2 3 4

Skilled and creative use of media

page 8 - 22

Inquiring mind and investigative persistence

page 23 - 30

Courageous and responsible handling of sensitive issues

page 31 - 37

Variety of journalistic experiences

page 38 - 51

Carson Bailey 07

SKILLED

1

CREA

and

USEof MEDIA TIVE

Carson Bailey 09

photo: published 09.29.10 in The Lion’s Tale

1

Skilled and creative use of media Photography and Production “At the beginning of the 2010 school year, it became apparent our school administration had a goal to revive school spirit. I decided that I wanted to make a contribution to this effort by producing our first center spread focused on students and their school spirit.

As I took photos during the second pep rally, the outcome of the administration’s efforts really showed. Almost every student was on the floor cheering for the spirit stick by the end of the pep rally.

That was the first time since my freshmen year that I had seen such a spirited, exciting pep rally.”

10 Carson Bailey

photo: published 09.29.10 in The Lion’s Tale

2

Skilled and creative use of media Photography and Production “For the fourth issue of the 2010 - 2011 newspaper I was determined to get an action photo on the front page. The previous three front pages were primarily photo illustrations and I felt like it wouldn’t be right to produce all of our front pages as photo illustrations. When I heard the varsity girls soccer team made it to the regional final game I jumped at the photo opportunity. I went to the game armed with two cameras and my laptop to check pictures during the half time.

I didn’t want any reason to lose the opportunity for a great picture on the front page. The girls ended up winning the game and left me with a front page worthy photo.”

photo: published 1.28.11 in The Lion’s Tale

Carson Bailey 11

3

Skilled and creative use of media Photography “The front page of the paper had been scrapped due to a story falling through. We quickly needed to think of an alternative and it just so happened that NJROTC was having a competition. I volunteered to wake up bright and early on Saturday morning to photograph the shooting team. Compared to taking other sports photography I felt very calm during the match. No one was yelling or screaming to score a goal. It was a very different experience. You could see the immense concentration of the shooters which I focused on capturing. ”

photos: published 12.11.09 in The Lion’s Tale

12 Carson Bailey

photos: published 12.11.09 in The Lion’s Tale

photos: published 03.11.11 in The Lion’s Tale

SPLASH&

4

ATTACK Skilled and creative use of media Photography and Production “I’d never watched a water polo game before nor did I have any prior knowledge about how the game was played. I planned on using a bigger lens but once I started shooting, the pictures came out perfect. The emotions of the players really came through. When I was brainstorming ideas for the photo essay headline, I became very inspired by the photos themselves, specifcally the giant splashes of water that are seen in almost every photo I took during the two games.”

photos: published 03.11.11 in The Lion’s Tale Carson Bailey 13

design:

12.17.10 published

n’s Tale

in The Lio

photos: published 12.17.10 in The Lion’s Tale

5

Skilled and creative use of media Photography and Production “Our school auditorium is never good for photography. I really had to work with my Nikon’s manual settings to get these pictures to come out clear. After getting a great outcome for photos, I felt relieved to finally be able to photograph in the auditorium. The yearbook staff is also using one of my showcase photos on their opening spread.”

14 Carson Bailey

photos: published 12.17.10 in The Lion’s Tale

6

Skilled and creative use of media Photography and Production “To get this photo I set up lighting in my room at my desk and then took the photo with the self-timer. In photoshop I placed a texture on the background to give the photo a feeling of wires or brain activity. The different social media sites are there to illustrate that using the sites may be ‘rewiring’ the way people think.”

design: published 03.11.11 in The Lion’s Tale

Carson Bailey 15

8

Skilled and creative use of media Production “Every year The Lion’s Tale dedicates the center spread to the top ten highest GPAs for that year’s graduating class. I began the design process by first sketching out the placement of every student by his or her representative number. I then had a photographer go out with my sketches and pose each student. After the photos were taken I selected the most interesting interview questions from each student to include. Overall the package was effective because it allowed readers to get a glimpse at some of the highest achievers at school without reading a large in-depth story.”

design: published 05.14.10 in The Lion’s Tale

design: published 09.29.10 in The Lion’s Tale

7

Skilled and creative use of media Production “For two I turned, kerned, and changed the text at the top to create the exact look I was going for. I think the text illustration gives the page a fun feel and connects the content with design. I even further connected the two by incorporating elements that are seen on a tumblr blog, for example the view count, post date, and tags seen at the bottom of the page.”

16 Carson Bailey

ished design: publ

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he Lion’s Tale

09.29.10 in T

Skilled and creative use of media Production “In the past years of The Lion’s Tale, movie review pages were laid out very simply. However with the new style in place, I felt the movie review pages deserved a more entertaining and inviting feel. The white text on the black background printed very readable and helped make the page pop.”

design: published 10.30.08 in The Lion’s Tale

10

Skilled and creative use of media Production

“This was only my second time laying out a page as a Lion’s Tale staff member.

The lake Jenny practiced on was too far for me to travel to take pictures. As an alternative I decided to create a photo illustration that made her look as if she was actually at the lake. No one could even tell that it wasn’t actually taken on the lake.”

Carson Bailey 17

12 Skilled and creative use of media Production

“In the production of these two layouts, I guided our Diversions editor to create a page that would complement my ‘10 Gadgets That Will Change The World’ layout. I wanted the two pages to not compete with each other but at the same time deliver a lot of really interesting content to the reader.”

le

.28.09 in The Lion’s Ta

design: published 10

11 Skilled and creative use of media Production

“During my first year as co-editor I decided that the front page of the Opinion section needed reorganizing. The page before the revamp looked outdated and boring. This redesigned layout won 3rd place in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Awards competition under the B&W Editorial page category.” design: published 2.05.10 in The Lion’s Tale

18 Carson Bailey

design: published

10.28

le .09 in The Lion’s Ta

13 Skilled and creative use of media Production

“As Halloween came around the corner, many staff members wanted a center spread focused on the holiday.

I felt focusing an entire center spread on Halloween could be a little cheesy. Therefore, I suggested we take a less direct look at Halloween and shift it towards the spiritual feelings that are associated with Halloween.”

Carson Bailey 19

14 Skilled and creative use of media Writing and Production

“I insisted we at least have one story this year about the 2010 elections because so many students didn’t even realize elections were taking place. I think it’s important that as a student newspaper we not only inform the reader but also do it an easy to understand way. For both of these designs I wanted to keep the copy short and to the point, to get all students informed.”

One on One

writing & desi

gn: published

09.29.10 in Th e Lion’s Tale

Alex Sink: Education

• Enforce the placement of bachelor-degreed teachers in every pre-k classroom.

• Create a system to track students at risk of dropping out.

• Supports specialized high school diplomas for students with technical skills and certifications for careers.

• Grade schools based on many measures of improvement.

• Expand family involvement in schools.

• Launch a statewide Florida Fit campaign to promote healthier student lifestyles.

• Improve technology opportunities in the classroom.

Immigration

• Impose state fines on private companies that knowingly hire undocumented workers.

• Require business owners to validate a worker’s legal status.

• Require all state agencies to verify the legal status when hiring state employees.

• Require all companies doing business with

20 Carson Bailey

Florida to certify that the legal status of their employees has been verified before they can get any work from Florida.

• Require state agencies to verify the legal status of any applicant for taxpayer-funded public assistance programs who claims to be a legal immigrant.

Environment

• Will work to reduce energy consumption, expand our energy resources, and create new energy-related jobs for Florida.

• Implement smart grid technology. which would allow utility customers to monitor and manage their electric usage via internet.

• Promote current policies like PACE, property assessed clean energy program.

• Increase Federal investments in Florida’s clean energy economy • Develop new energy economy with solar, bio-fuel and nuclear industries.

design: published

Rick Scott: Education

• Believes in school choice, including vouchers and charter schools.

• Supports merit pay.

• Supports eliminating teacher tenure for new teachers.

• Supports homeschooling for parents who feel this is the best option for their children.

• Believes in accountability in education • Supports a constitutional amendment to modify the state’s class-size law.

Immigration

• Believes border security is an economic and national security issue.

• Opposed to amnesty and will fight amnesty for lawbreakers.

• Supports measures like the Arizona law that allow enforcement of already existing law.

• Believes in accountability in education

11.05.10 in The Li

on’s Tale

• Believes those who immigrate to America must come here legally, play by the rules and respect our laws.

• Will require all Florida employers to use the free e-verify system to ensure that their workers are legal.

Enviroment

• Will fight to ensure that any future offshore drilling does not negatively impact Florida’s beaches.

• Energy independence is essential to America’s economic vitality.

• Supports expansion of nuclear power, use of alternative fuels and off-shore drilling.

• Believes in accountability in education • Believes it is a bit ridiculous that foreign countries can drill for oil a few miles off Florida’s shores while citizens are getting hammered by high gasoline prices.

15 Skilled and creative use of media Writing and Production

“Recently I’ve become really interested in the environment and eco-friendly products. To get students interested in becoming environmentally friendly, I compiled an easy to follow guide on how to create a recycled bowl. This is another example of having minimal copy that makes an impact. Writing this piece allowed me to explore a new style of writing while having fun with it.”

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

Learn how to transform old magazines into bowls Step 1

First, grab lots of colorful magazines to tear pages from. The pages will be folded into strips.

Therefore, you’re really only interested in the strip of color that will end up showing.

After ripping multiple pages out, start by folding each individual page so that the strips are about 1 1/2” wide. To ensure that the strip stays together, use a glue stick and glue down the outside edge. This will make the strip compact and easier to work with.

Step 2

After making several strips, start the foundation of the bowl by rolling your first strip into a coil. Use scotch tape to secure the coil you just made, then continue by attaching another strip to that first coil. You will continue to add strips, making a

big coil until you have reached your desired bowl size.

Step 3

Once you haev finished your big coil, your bowl is ready to take form. To make your big coil into a 3-dmiensional bowl, start by placing your thumb into the center of your big coil. Pull the sides of the coil upwards, which will start making the coils ‘telescope’.

Continue to pull the sides upwards until you have reached a desired shape for your bowl. You can tweak the look of your bowl by sliding your slats around.

Step 4

To insure the shape of your bowl stays, apply two to three coats of ModPodge. Reinforce your bowl’s stength while it’s drying with a rubber band.

writing & design: published 11.05.10 in The Lion’s Tale

Carson Bailey 21

GOOGLE CS DO 16 Skilled and creative use of media Production

“After my first year on The Lion’s Tale staff I realized that we used tons of paper to print out copies of stories and layouts. I did some research and found this application called Google Docs, which allows collaborators to upload documents. I quickly set up accounts for every staff member and we now use this application for every edition. We can edit other staff member’s stories in real time without having to print out copies and waste paper. I also set up accounts for the school yearbook staff and continue to maintain their Google Docs.”

Deborah Jepson

L e t t e r o f R e c o mm e n d a t i o n

22 Carson Bailey

2

INQUIRING

MIND PERSISTENCE

INVESTIGATIVE

and

Carson Bailey 23

Sexting: crime of passion Technological fad punishable by law

S

enior Jasmine Campbell reaches into her pocket to retrieve her vibrating phone.

Slowly opening her phone, she expects to quickly type a message back to a friend. Yet she received the unexpected.

“Normally I only get text messages during school,” said Campbell. “But when I opened my phone it said I had a picture message which was weird.”

Campbell clicked a few buttons and waited intently as the picture slowly loaded.

“The picture finally loaded and I was never so shocked in my life,” said Campbell. “I was staring at a nude picture of a kid I barely even knew. I felt so grossed out and had no idea what to do.”

While Campbell’s picture message was unintended and unwanted, teens these days are now engaging in this new form of texting – Sexting.

“Sexting for me is like a more convenient version of cybersex,” said senior Carter Pratt*.

“It can be fun, but it’s really more of a last resort when the real thing isn’t readily available.”

This transfer of sexually explicit messages or nude images through text has combined the aspects of sexual pleasure and instantaneous

writing: published

24 Carson Bailey

on’s Tale

09.25.09 in The Li

communication to create a term known as sexting.

“Phones are so fast now and they bring you directly into connection with the person you are talking to,” said junior Morgan Cassel.

“Technology and sex are two things that teens use/think about most. Sexting was bound to happen.”

Not only may sexting be a faster way to sexual pleasure but a way for insecure people to feel secure in sexual situations.

“Some people are too nervous or scared to get physical with someone because of their body image,” said junior Cassandra Buelich.

“Sending sexual pictures lets them control what they want to show or not show.”

What many teens may not realize is just why sexting can be such a big mistake.

“I hear people in class talk about ‘that girl with the great body who sent me a nude last night’ but I don’t think they understand what they are saying,” said Cassel. “That can translate into a big mess with the law.”

If a person is found creating, distributing or has possession of minors [under the age of 18] nude, they can be imprisoned for life and posted as a sex offender under federal law.

1

INQUIRING MIND AND INVESTIGATIVE PERSISTENCE “During the time I wrote this story, sexting was all over the news.

From movie stars to local high school students - sexting was an obvious issue I felt needed attention. I talked with students about their personal experiences with sexting as well as parents and a counselor. I also called the high school executive director from our school district and asked him about the new sexting addition to the Student Code of Conduct.”

“That seems a little too harsh,” said Buelich.

“It doesn’t hurt anyone but the people who do send the pictures. If they want to make that choice, let them.”

Pratt also disapproves of sexting being illegal.

“I don’t think sexting should be considered way more punish worthy than normal texting.

At least it’s not violent. I’d say sexting is next to harmless,” said Pratt.

While this new form of texting may be faster and even help the scared and insecure, it has proven to be a big mistake for senior Jessica Feldman*.

“My boyfriend at the time had been begging me to ‘sext’ him,” said Feldman. “Eventually I gave in and sent him a nude picture of myself. A few hours later he broke up with me because he said he had what he wanted.”

Feldman went on to explain how the situation still haunts her to this day.

“My ex still has that photo of me. Knowing that I feel like I’ve lost my sense of privacy,” said Feldman. “If I had the chance to take it back I would in a heartbeat and would warn anyone that it’s a big mistake to sext anyone.”

The experience of sexting mistakes have

steered Feldman’s views in the opposite direction than those of Pratt and Buelich.

“I am glad sexting for teens is illegal and it should be kept that way,” said Feldman. “It has hurt so many people.”

Up until recently sexting was only punishable through law enforcement, but starting this 2009-2010 school year that has changed.

“Last year the school board addressed the topic of sexting and it was approved as an addition to the Student Code of Conduct ,” said High School Executive Director Walt Griffin.

“We were influenced by the numerous news articles and broadcasts. We decided something should be done to protect our students in Seminole County.”

These additions can be found on pages 8 and 34 of the Student Code of Conduct.

School officials now have the right to contact law enforcement along with giving school punishments such as OSS. “Wow, really? Law enforcement? I feel like that is a bad thing. It’s just totally ridiculous.

I mean, if someone was caught, that would be bad enough, said junior Ryan Fuller. “Law enforcement? That is overkill, and a violation

of privacy, in my opinion.”

On the other hand some students believe these standards and punishments fit just right.

“Students should be punished if found sending sexual pictures on campus,” said senior Paige Lenssen. “Inappropriate materials is forbidden on campus, and this applies to technological forms of communication as well.”

Sexting is not only an issue for law enforcement and school administration.

As teens get of age, parents must talk about rising issues for them such as drug use, alcohol consumption, and sex. The combination of sex and texting has added another topic for discussion.

“I feel it is important to begin discussing these types of issues with children at the appropriate age. Each child is different; therefore, discussions about sexting must be age appropriate,” said Oviedo High School parent Molly O’Kennedy.

O’Kennedy strongly believes teaching children about sexting is the right path, since the consequences of a simple act can be disastrous.

“If children are left to learn about this issue on their own they will not only not get all the information they need, they will rely on friends

who will give them misinformation,” said O’Kennedy. “All children, at the appropriate age, should be made aware of the legal implications if caught sending/receiving sext messages.”

With all these consequences in mind, Counselor Keri Nola advises students to think before sexting.

“Think about the consequences of taking, sending, or forwarding a sexual picture of someone under 18 years old, even if it’s you.

You could get kicked off of sports teams, face humiliation, lose educational opportunities, and even get in trouble with the law,” said Nola. *name withheld

Carson Bailey 25

Risky Business Cheaters run afoul of honor code

S

enior Amanda Hampton watches as a girl in her class artfully lifts the seam of her skirt to reveal her thigh. Scribbled in black ink across the girl’s thigh are the answers to the daily

quiz.

“The extremes that students go to cheat is sometimes very bizarre and definitely risky,” said Hampton.

Cheating has expanded from just looking onto your friend’s paper. iPods,cellphones, graphing calculators, and even body parts are now being used to help students pass tests, illegally of course.

“I’ve seen a student take a picture with their phone of the test answer key while the teacher had her back turned to us,” said sophomore Claire Cook.

Sophomore Morgan Cassel has also witnessed off the wall cheating methods take place.

“As I was taking a test one time these two kids in front of me kept holding up their hands with either one, two, three, or four fingers showing,” said Cassel. “After the test I realized that they had come up with a signal system to help each other on the test.”

Now that iPods can connect to the internet, they are more commonly being used to cheat as sophomore Hannah French explains.

“The students place the iPods in their laps during a test,” said French. “They are then able to access the internet and look up whatever they need such as definitions or diagrams.”

Students aren’t the only ones to experience methods of cheating.

“I’ve seen students with formulas written on a scrap paper,” said Algebra 2 teacher Maryann Montione. “Storing information in a graphic calculator is another method I have seen on rare occasions.”

Even objects such as writing utensils are being used as a

method for cheating.

“Once I caught a student who put the answers to a multiple choice test on his pencil,” said Chemistry and AP Environmental teacher Susan Carpenter.

These are examples of an emerging trend. A Duke University study showed that 75 percent of students admit to cheating. 90 percent of students admit to copying someone’s paper.

While some students do get away with cheating, many don’t realize the consequences until they are caught red handed.

“After I catch someone cheating I call the parent and give the student a zero,” said Montione. “I also contact the discipline office with the information because cheating in any form is a violation of the honor code.”

Getting caught for cheating gives students not only a zero on the assignment but brings on a whole new enemy for the students, called the honor code.

“I don’t think that the honor code punishes students enough for cheating,” said sophomore Alex Hoover. “Students who cheat should just have to take a much harder test instead of losing exam exemption.”

When a student violates the honor code, teachers are notified and a list of violators is distributed to teachers to ensure the students will not receive exam exemptions. The student also receives a zero on the assignment, parental contact, and Saturday school.

Depending on the number of times the student has been caught cheating the punishment worsens.

“The honor code punishes cheaters very well,” said French.

“Not only does it punish the student but I think that it also prevents other students from cheating because they don’t want to lose their

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26 Carson Bailey

exam exemptions.”

Some students feel as though teachers are not as alert to cheating as the students and are therefore making it easier for students to cheat.

“Most of the time teachers have no idea when a student is cheating,” said junior Morgan Gill. “I’ve only seen a student get caught once or twice out of the many times I’ve witnessed cheating.”

Hoover Agrees.

“Students almost always get away with cheating,” said Hoover.

“Most teachers don’t notice but most of the students notice and never say anything.”

Despite prior beliefs, teachers don’t have eyes in the back of their head, therefore some teachers have formed ways to make sure cheating does not take place.

“I either walk around the room, or continually change positions in the room to monitor the students,” said AP Spanish and Spanish 3 teacher Alida Eldridge. “I also have several different sets of tests for each class.”

Carpenter also takes precautionary steps to ensure students do not cheat.

“I make them clear their desks of all materials before tests are distributed,” said Carpenter. “Also they must take their backpacks out of their laps and I watch them during the test.”

Some students say that there are degrees of cheating. Cook says copying a test is definitely cheating but homework is another issue.

“I think cheating definitely qualifies as copying a test but I have mixed feelings on whether or not copying homework is cheating,” said Cook. “It’s fine if you don’t know a few problems and borrow

INQUIRING MIND AND INVESTIGATIVE PERSISTENCE “The idea for this story sparked during brainstorming when nearly the entire staff was talking about ways students at school cheat. I wanted to explore the different methods students chose to use, some of which were really bizarre. I enjoyed hearing teacher’s first hand experiences with cheaters, typically ending with ‘we aren’t as stupid as you think’. ”

a friend’s homework but not if you copy the whole thing.”

Disagreeing with Cook is junior Dimitri Wilks.

“Cheating only covers tests,” said Wilks. “If someone copies homework then they will do bad on the test.”

The pressure to succeed in school weights on students, some may say this pressure is even the fuel to the fire of cheating.

“It’s not just the dumb kids who cheat,” said Hoover. “Students who are perfectly capable of doing the work are the ones now resorting to cheating because they are under so much pressure to get good grades and get into the best colleges.”

Senior Iggy Johnson* admits to falling under this pressure.

“I get piled on with homework, tests, and quizzes,” said Johnson.

“In order to get everything done in time I feel like there is no other way then to resort to cheating. I don’t have a major problem with cheating because almost everyone engages in cheating whether teachers believe it or not.”

Students don’t always see the reality of cheating as Carpenter explains.

“Unfortunately, I think that many students see nothing wrong with cheating,” said Carpenter. “It will catch up with them eventually when they realize that they did not learn the necessary skills to survive in college.”

There are many ways to avoid cheating and getting help from a teacher before a test is just one way.

“If you really need help with something you should go to the teacher before a test, cheating won’t get you anywhere,” said Cassel. “If you cheat you’re never going to learn anything which is the reason you’re taking a test, to show what you’ve learned.” *name withheld

writing: pu

blished 03.1

3.09 in The

Lion’s Tale

Carson Bailey 27

3

INQUIRING MIND AND INVESTIGATIVE PERSISTENCE “Around campus I started hearing students talk about ‘legal marijuana’ and I wanted to find out more. I watched news reports and read articles on this synthetic marijuana. It became a pretty big deal at our school and many students started smoking it. We decided to write an article to inform students’ about the synthetic marijuana and it’s possible harms. I designed this front page to really grab the students attention, which it certainly did. For the photograph, I used a light box to give the picture good lighting with a clear background.

I didn’t want to buy an expensive light box so instead I built one out of a cardboard box and sheets.”

design: published 11.05.10 in The Lion’s Tale

28 Carson Bailey

Robert Lundquist

L e t t e r o f R e c o mm e n d a t i o n

Secretly planned skip day causes loss of senior privileges

S

eniors decided to take the day off on Nov. 2. 329 of them to be exact. This unexpected skip day resulted in the senior class having their weekly senior lunches revoked.

“We usually have advanced notice and little disturbance with the one senior skip day we allow,” said Principal Robert Lundquist. “This year it’s taken a completely different turn.”

One senior skip day a year is over looked, as Lundquist said.

But this year there was talk of multiple skip days planned by the seniors.

“Faculty members informed me that the seniors were skipping, and that they had plans for many other skip days - one the Monday after homecoming, for example, and at least one per nine weeks,” said Lundquist.

Seniors disagree on whether or not there were in fact more than one skip day planned.

“I only knew of one,” said senior Elaine Thoma. “The one that happened on the Monday after Halloween.”

On the other hand, senior Stefanie Cortes says there have already been two senior skip days.

“On Oct. 20 we had our first senior skip day because it was 2010 backwards,” said Cortes. “But not many people attended.”

The recent skip day took many teachers and administration at OHS by surprise.

“Many teachers contact me when they realized how many seniors were missing. They were upset because they had prepared lessons that would now go to waste and put them behind. To be honest, I was upset too. I had no idea it [senior skip day] was coming,” said Lundquist. “I feel that we give the seniors many rights and privileges, they took advantage of that. It felt like betrayal.”

Of the 329 that did skip, there were 117 who did attend school that day.

I thought taking away our senior lunch was too harsh for all the kids who didn’t go or have a chance to go,” said senior Dminitri Wilks.

Like it nor not senior lunch privileges are gone for now but perhaps not forever.

“The senior officers are drafting a letter to be sent to every senior letting them know how to earn their privileges back. Seniors need to come to school prepared to learn, respect the rules, keep up the campus cleanliness, and show school spirit in a positive manner,” said Lundquist. “When we see that they are back on track, they’ll receive their privileges again.”

writing: published 10.28.09 in The Lion’s Tale

4

INQUIRING MIND AND INVESTIGATIVE PERSISTENCE “Our principal allows one senior skip day every year with no fuss about it. Although last year controversy arose because multiple senior skip days were planned and two had already taken place. Because of the multiple skip days, seniors lost their senior privileges.

Many seniors were confused as to the exact reason they had lost their privileges. I wrote this story to set rumours straight and it also allowed our principal to tell the seniors what they needed to do to earn their privileges back.”

Carson Bailey 29

5

Gold medalist smokes more than competition

A

picture is worth a thousand words as Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps recently learned. On Feb. 1 the infamous photograph of Phelps smoking marijuana out of a bong surfaced in the British newspaper News of the World.

“It was surprising to hear that such a successful swimmer would be smoking marijuana,” said sophomore AJ Wynne. “But we all make mistakes.”

Senior Amanda Hampton believes that the example Phelps has set is not a good example for kids and teens.

“The example that Michael Phelps is setting as a role model is not one to follow,” said Hampton.

“He should be punished just like anyone else would be, kids need to understand there are consequences for your actions.”

Also opposed to the actions of Phelps is sophomore Jenny Atkinson, a member of the swimming and water polo teams.

“Being a swimmer I know how vital the lungs are to being successful in swimming,” said Atkinson. “We all know what an amazing swimmer Phelps is, so my question is why

30 Carson Bailey

would he smoke marijuana and knowingly risk damaging his lungs?”

Many questions have risen from this case, but the one big question is will Phelps be facing any drug charges? As of Feb. 16 the answer is negative.

Sheriff Leon Lott, who has been investigating the case, released a statement on Feb.16 stating he would not be going any further with the case.

“I’m glad the case has been dropped.Phelps apologized for his wrong doing and that’s enough for me,” said junior Jessica Gross.

Although Phelps will not face any drug charges he did not get through the scandal unscathed.

Along with the emotional consequences, the USA Swimming suspended Phelps for three months and Kellogg Co., which has been plastering Phelp’s face on their cereal boxes, will not be renewing their endorsement deal with him.

“The three month suspension Phelps is getting may be just what he needs,” said sophomore Lara Scherer . “It will allow him to think about what he has done and possibly regain some respect from the outraged public.”

In the eyes of sophomore Lindsay Broadhurst

INQUIRING MIND AND INVESTIGATIVE PERSISTENCE “I picked up this story after a staff member left The Lion’s Tale. The story was intended to be an update about the legalization of marijuana in the United States. But that focus quickly changed when pictures of Michael Phelps smoking a bong popped up all over the world. This created a great way for me to interview students about the legalization of marijuana because I was able to relate it to the Phelps situation.”

the Kellogg Co. has gone a little too far.

“Phelps is a human and makes mistakes just like any other,” said Broadhurst “It seems as though Kellogg doesn’t understand that. By having his face still on the cereal boxes it would show that yes people make bad choices but they are also able to overcome them.”

Despite Phelps admitting his mistake, apologizing, and pledging to do better as a role model it isn’t enough for the media and press.

“All I hear is what a bad role model Phelps is over and over,” said Wynne. “He has had enough embarrassment from this whole ordeal and it’s time for the media to move on to harass their next celebrity victim, Chris Brown?”

Phelps may have been the only one in the headlines but he wasn’t the only one smoking marijuana the night that photograph was taken.

“It’s funny how Michael Phelps took all the public embarrassment because he has celebrity status while there were eight other people involved in this case,” said Gross.

During the Michael Phelps investigation seven of the eight people were charged with simple possession of marijuana which carries a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail or a $575 fine.

While the possession of marijuana is illegal in most of the United States that could soon be changing.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that “... there is a whiff in the air that U.S. policy is about to change when it comes to medical marijuana.”

President Barack Obama said in the article, “I

think the basic concept of using medical marijuana for the same purposes and with the same controls as other drugs prescribed by doctors, I think that’s entirely appropriate.”

This change would allow citizens, to obtain and carry small doses of marijuana without being punished.

“I think that the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana is a good thing,” said senior Heather Jaeger.

Many students see legalization as a step in the wrong direction while others disagree.

“Marijuana could be legalized and taxed, just like with alcohol,” said junior Frankie Bannigan.

“There should be an age at which you can buy it, and a limit on how much you can buy at a time.”

Bannigan goes on to say that the legalization of marijuana could actually reduce drug abuse among students, paving the way for sensible moderation.

“I really believe that if it weren’t so taboo, people wouldn’t become fiends for pot,” said Bannigan.

Junior Kyle McCarthy hopes that one day marijuana will become just as common place as alcohol and tobacco.

“The fact is, the reason that marijuana isn’t legal already, is that the drug isn’t rooted in tradition,” said McCarthy. “The founding fathers drank, but because marijuana wasn’t the drug of the day, it remains unpopular amongst many Americans today. I guarantee you that if they knew there was a market for it in the fifties, Joe Camel would have been pushing pot on kids.”

3

courageous&responsible

HANDLING ISSUES of sensitive

Carson Bailey 31

Florida Virtual School Cheating

New methods of cheating evolve as technology advances

W

ith more than three Florida Virtual School (FLVS) classes to finish before graduation, senior Kayla Murphy* didn’t think graduating on time could be

possible.

That was until two weeks ago, when Murphy found the help she needed – senior Jenny Walters* of Winter Springs High School.

Walters isn’t your typical high school senior, consumed with senioritis. In fact she is quite the opposite.

Since the beginning of the school year, Walters has successfully completed three FLVS classes. To boot, she currently is working on three more, bringing her total completed class count to six.

Yet if you took a glance at her transcripts, nowhere would you find a course taken from Florida Virtual High School.

Instead Walters ends the course 100 dollars richer and Murphy a half-credit closer to graduating.

“My friend was telling me that she had to do algebra on FLVS and I offered to do it if she paid me. I didn’t really expect her to want me to, but she did,” Walters said. “After that people would mention that I did their FLVS for them, and other people would ask if I could do theirs for them.”

Word of mouth spread Walters’ name to new clients, which now span across multiple Seminole County Public Schools.

Typically she will gross 50 dollars per semester of a FLVS course. And if the student wants to get the course done faster, that means a larger paycheck.

“I check it [FLVS class] everyday to make sure she’s getting it done,” Murphy said. “She knows the quicker she gets it done the more she gets paid.”

This job doesn’t come without it’s consequences though, Walters must live under constant alert that she may one day be busted. Although that thought doesn’t seem to bother her.

“I worry most when I do oral assignments,” Walters said.

“But most of the time I feel pretty confident that the teacher won’t find me out. “ Throughout every FLVS course students must complete multiple discussion-based assessments, or ‘oral assignments’.

For this assignment teachers discuss topics learned in the students’ current module via telephone. The students receive a grade based on their ability to answer questions and have a conversation about the particular module.

32 Carson Bailey

This poses a problem when Walters’ clients are due for an oral assignment. But they’ve figured a way around that.

“I actually haven’t had to do one of these yet but from what my friend told me, she will text me when she needs to do one, then I will call her, and then three way my teacher. The teacher knows my phone number but she doesn’t know my voice,” Murphy said.

In some cases, student’s parents pay the bill that follows this online service.

“At first my dad didn’t support me paying someone else to do my work, but now he is the one paying for it,” Murphy said. “But the only reason he supports it is because he wants me to graduate on time and he understand that it wouldn’t be possible for me to get the online classes done by graduation.”

Money isn’t always the motive in online cheating situations.

Sometimes students will exchange assignment for assignment.

This allows each student to work at his or her academic strength.

Senior Jasmine Smith* experienced this type of online cheating first hand.

“I retook precalc over the summer on FLVS and I didn’t want to do some of the work that was difficult,” Smith said. “So I asked my friend if she would do my difficult precalc work if I did her vocab.”

The method in which Smith and her friend completed oral assignment doesn’t involve three way calling. It requires an empty house and a phone put on speaker.

“For oral assignments my friend would come over to my house when I was home alone,” Smith said. “We would then call my teacher on speaker so we could both hear. My friend would work out the math problem the teacher gave me and then I would say the final answer.”

Move a little bit further down the online cheating pyramid and you will find parents that help their kids pass their online tests.

“I didn’t cheat on my FLVS assignments because they were too easy,” junior Gabby Williams* said. “The tests were harder for me though, so my dad would sometimes help me with questions I couldn’t get.”

Other smaller forms of FLVS cheating include students plagiarizing, faking online physical education data, and opening multiple browsers during tests.

In an effort to combat cheating students, FLVS set up an

Academic Integrity policy. This policy maps out tools teachers can use to catch cheaters as well as discipline procedures for students found cheating.

“Academic Integrity is the most important things we do at Florida Virtual School. Our high standards and procedures are what set us apart as a learning organization to ensure our students are both productive and ethical,” said FLVS Academic Integrity Manager Angela.

FLVS personal fitness teacher Tabatha Harris agrees.

“We take academic integrity very seriously at FLVS. There are numerous training sessions to help us as teachers identify and deal with plagiarizing and cheating when it occurs. We have a very strict procedure that we follow to deal with it when it happens,” said Harris. “We also provide students tools in our courses to help them understand what plagiarizing and cheating is. I have a video about academic integrity in my welcome letter I send all students when they start the course.”

One vital tool FLVS uses constantly is turnitin.com. This site allows teachers to check students submitted work against any other work on the Internet, making plagiarism impossible to get away with.

“Every day more and more assignments are added into our Turnitin.com database,” said Anastacio. “When a student submits an assignment it is automatically added to the Turnitin. com database used by high-schools and universities throughout the world. It stores the students name as well.”

Anastacio and a team of 15 academic integrity specialists constantly monitor sites like Craiglist, Yahoo Answers, and Facebook.

“We monitor sites like Craigslist to find students who are seeking other people to complete their course work. If we do find a case, we will call the student and parent to discuss the situation,” said Anastacio. “Sites like Yahoo Answers are typically where students will post answers to assignments. We always contact the website and ask them to remove the copy righted content from their site. We also will contact the student and follow through with our academic integrity policy.”

Other ways of catching cheaters include tracking IP addresses “Tracking IP addresses is used as an investigative tool,” Anastacio said. “If we find a student logging on from two different IP addresses at once that can lead to us to become suspicious.

When teachers find it necessary they can limit access students

writing & design: published 01.28.11 in The Lion’s Tale have to their courses until the teacher talks with a parent.”

Along with a defined academic integrity policy, FLVS teachers try to develop a relationship with each of their students.

It is thought that if a student has developed a personal connection with the teacher, they will be less likely to cheat.

“At FLVS teachers are encouraged to develop a relationship with the students and parents,”Anastacio said. “By making a connection we hope that students will not want to cheat because they don’t want to damage the relationship they have built with their teacher.” *names withheld

1

COURageous and responsible handling of sensitive issues

“At first the story was going to focus on students plagiarizing in their Florida Virtual School classes but then I learned about students who pay to have their class completed. Without a doubt, I knew I wanted to get an interview with students who were paying to get their classes completed by someone else. With a little persistence I was able to score those crucial interviews. As I got further in to the story both my advisor and I worried about the possible punishment we could receieve for this knowledge. To ensure I was protected from releasing the student names, I contacted the Student Press Law Center as well as my principal.”

Carson Bailey 33

design: published 02.05.10 in The Lion’s Tale

2

COURageous and responsible handling of sensitive issues “For this bullying centerspread I wanted to illustrate someone being bullied without being overly violent. I drew an image of an emotional child onto the photograph I took to bring out feelings of loneliness and sorrow - emotions that many victims of bullying may feel at some point.”

34 Carson Bailey

3

writing: published 02.05.10 in The Lion’s Tale

COURageous and responsible handling of sensitive issues “When I started writing for The Lion’s Tale, I began to develop a real voice for myself. No longer was I keeping my opinions inside, I found a way to express it through columns. At first I was concered about printing this column. I worried someone might make fun of me for having a different opinion. But when I thought about it, everything I wrote in the column was exactly how I felt and not one negative comment would change my mind. So there was no reason to not print it.”

Don’t ask, don’t tell what the...?

F

or anyone who doesn’t know, the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy currently allows gays and lesbians to serve in the U.S. Military. There’s a catch, though. You have to lie about who you are.

That’s right. Gays have to lie about their sexuality if they want to protect their country.

I’m sorry, but can someone please tell me why sexuality is an issue when it comes to joining the army? Sexual orientation doesn’t determine your ability to fight, your capacity to love your country, or your willingness to serve.

Your enrollment in the army should not depend upon your sexual preference.

At least 28 nations allow gays to serve

openly in the army. It has even been shown by some of our NATO allies that allowing openly gay and lesbian members does not have an impact on discipline, morale, or unity among members.

Former President Bill Clinton tried to end the policy against gays serving in the military in 1993. When lawmakers rejected the proposed change, Congress passed the “don’t ask, don’t tell,” policy as a compromise.

That was back in 1993. We live in a new time, new millennia. The United States should be constantly progressing.

Appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by George W. Bush, Adm. Mike Mullen stated that he’s a strong advocate towards the rights of gays to serve in the military.

In 2006, a survey of 545 returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, 73 percent reported being comfortable around gay service members.

If the majority of soldiers felt fine fighting alongside gays, then why can’t the rest of America overcome homophobia?

Homophobia is the key issue here.

American citizens are afraid to give gays rights because they feel uncomfortable around gays.

Most people who are homophobs base all their knowledge on gays from seeing Ellen DeGeneres and Clay Aiken. I promise you, America: not all gay people are like Adam Lambert. Far

from it, actually.

Has our country grown so narrow minded that we can’t even accept those who want to fight for our country. We won’t even let those who want to fight for our country fight.

If one man can perform the same exact tasks as another, why would someone’s sexual orientation matter? Homosexuals aren’t going to run out on the battlefield with a pink gun.

They are just the same as any other solider.

Some people may argue it will disrupt the current gender separation but there is nothing to disrupt. People routinely undress in places such as locker rooms, doctor offices, and saunas without going crazy.

And if someone is going go crazy or have consensual sex, then a door or wall isn’t going to stop him or her. The setup of rules disallowing sex while in army living quarters could easily fix that.

Therefore, there really isn’t any reason to stop homosexuals from serving openly in the army. It’s just a discrimination against those who could truly be helping our country for the better.

People’s sexual orientation isn’t a question to get into college, or for getting a job. Why should it be a question when fighting for our country?

Carson Bailey 35

design &

Bullies roam internet spreading fear

C

licks of the keyboard fill freshman Laura Smith’s* silent room as she chats with friends via Facebook. Focused solely on the multiple conversations she is juggling, Smith is caught by surprise when a notification alerts her of a new post made to her profile.

Smith quickly reads the new post sent from one of her peers’ mothers that stuns her.

“Don’t worry I won’t beat around the bush, I’ll just come right out and say it, you deserve to be hated, you’ll be friendless in no time.”

And that was only the start of an almost sixmonth cyber battle taking place on Facebook.

“This mother almost in her 40’s told people

36 Carson Bailey

writing:

pu

1.05.10 blished 1

n’s Tale

in The Lio

not to be my friend and wrote other slanderous things. We tried to ignore it, but the comments got pretty bad,” Smith said. “She even brought my soon-to-be 11-year old brother into it.”

Cases like these are appearing all over the United States, with about 20 percent of students ages 11-18 admitting to online abusive behavior, according to cyberbullying.us.

“A month or two went by, and the bullying went into a standstill. Nothing happened, and I had almost forgotten about what had been done. But just recently, she started posting the comments again,” Smith said.

The slanderous and hurtful comments Smith

continues to receive can be classified as a form of cyberbullying.

Given the name cyberbullying for its virtual nature, cyberbullying is defined as willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices, according to Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying.

“Her comments got more and more hurtful, until she even suggested that my friends and I drown ourselves in a lake. It really hurt all of our feelings,” Smith said. “No one knew what to do anymore. I blocked her on Facebook and reported her as well, I have yet to get any more nasty comments from her.”

Facebook also played a role in senior Jackie Warner’s fight against cyberbullying.

After dating for a little over a year and a half, Warner ended her relationship with her boyfriend but still wanted to salvage a friendship with him.

As a few weeks went by from the day of the break up, she started to receive hateful messages through Facebook and even text.

“My ex-boyfriend was calling me horrible names through text messages and blowing up my Facebook wall with so many disgusting comments that I didn’t have time to delete them all before people could see,” Warner said.

“People started asking me about the comments where he would call me horrible names or tell me I was worthless, but I didn’t have any answers.”

As the hateful comments kept pouring in Warner decided the harassment and bullying needed to stop. She then deleted her ex-boyfriend as her Facebook friend, but that did not stop him.

4

COURageous and responsible handling of sensitive issues

“He still harassed me by following everything I commented on and commenting on it after me, still calling me horrible names. He would threaten to tell everyone my deepest secrets and ‘ruin me’. It got so bad that I was afraid to log on every day to see what new things he had said, I wanted to just delete my account,” Warner said. “He sent me friend requests for a week straight, sometimes with creepy messages attached or winky faces; after I kept receiving all of the friend requests I decided it was time to just block him.”

Warner went on to explain that if she had not blocked him, the bullying might have gotten to the point of filing a restraining order.

“Ever since I blocked him and his number, I have escaped the bullying completely. He’ll still talk about me to other people but for the most part none of it comes back to me,” Warner said.

“I don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

Text messaging and cell phones both add on to the ways in which cyberbullying occurs.

“A very good friend of mine was mad at me and started to harass me on the phone. She would keep calling me with people on the other line, recording me and laughing at what I had to say,” sophomore Ashley Johnson said. “I would then receive texts from her that were meant to hurt me, like saying the world would be a better place without me, and how nobody likes me.”

Some students are targeted because of specific qualities such as race, popularity, and sexual orientation.

“I have experienced cyberbullying on many occasions because I am gay,” sophomore Adam Clark said. “I find that cyberbullying is the perfect excuse for anyone to shoot their mouth

“To learn more about cyberbullying, I attended a workshop for teachers at our school board. Dr. Hinduja, a cyberbullying expert, spoke to the conference room filled with teachers and myself about how to recognize cyberbullying and procedures for dealing with it. I left the workshop with 10 pages of fresh notes and a whole new understanding of the serious topic. I created a sidebar on ‘how to take screenshots’ because a majority of students don’t even know computers have that function and it is a vital tool to keeping evidence aganist harassment/bullying.” off just because it can be done anonymously.”

Responding to Cyberbullying For 10 years now, Dr. Sameer Hinduja, a former graduate of Seminole County Public Schools and Co-Director of the Cyberbullying Research Center, has been studying cyberbullying and its effects on students.

“Cyberbullying isn’t an epidemic, but something needs to be done about it – it affects students every day,” Dr. Hinduja said. “A vast majority of students are using the Internet correctly and those who are not should be encouraged to get on board.”

Telling students to ‘just turn off the computer’ in regards to dealing with cyberbullying is something Dr. Hinduja advocates does not help prevent cyberbullying.

“Telling students to ‘just turn off the computer’ is flippant and dismissive. Turning off your computer doesn’t stop cyberbullying,” Dr. Hinduja said. “We do a disservice when we say the Internet is just a part of life, when it is their lives.”

Instead, Dr. Hinduja suggests schools, parents, and the community get involved as much as possible.

“Schools have a responsibility to teach students how to be responsible online. This can be done through setting up a better code of conduct,” Dr. Hinduja said. “When dealing with a victim, validate the experience with them. Get their perspective and they might even have a great solution to the bullying. I am not a fan of zero tolerance. Different situations call for different outcomes.”

Parents must also help to keep their child safe from cyberbullying. According to Dr. Hinduja,

lack of supervision on the parent’s part leads to a disconnect between child and parent.

“When parents allow their kids to have computers in their rooms it makes a disconnect between what parent’s know is going on. Therefore it’s not easy for kids to bring up issues that concern them, such as cyberbullying.” Dr. Hinduja said.

And while there may be a disconnect for some parents with their children, the administration wants students to know they always have a place to talk about their cyberbullying issues at school.

“Students should be informed that this behavior is a crime that will involve not only the discipline office, but possibly law enforcement as well.

If a student is dealing with this problem, they can come to the guidance office for counseling and also go to Mr. Hitt, who is responsible for discipline at Oviedo High,” guidance counselor Marcia Lightsey said. “We would like to make students aware that this behavior is a serious mistake; not only is it wrong, but it often has a more serious detrimental effect on the victim than intended.”

Currently, if a student is found cyberbullying on school property, as stated in the Seminole County Public Schools Code of Conduct Book, the student will be given discipline action that ranges from behavioral interventions up to and including suspension or expulsion.

Reported cyberbullying that is found to take place outside of school property will be referred to the appropriate law enforcement agency for investigation.

This policy was put in place two years ago when the Florida Legislature passed the “Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act.” This stated that all forms of bullying at schools,

including cyberbullying, are illegal and must be quickly dealt with by school officials.

Although administration can not provide disciplinary action for out-of-school cyberbullying, some students feel that should change.

“Administration should punish people who cyberbully even if it doesn’t happen on campus,” senior Morgan Cassel said. “Bullying is bullying and when it’s on the Internet it’s there forever.

I think that anyone who cyberbullies should be punished just as much as a kid at school who gets written up for verbal bullying.”

Senior Dan Robertson disagrees with Cassel, explaining that sometimes the violator doesn’t even attend the same school or live in the same state.

“Since its creation, the Internet has become a major entity in itself, one that has proven to be very hard to control,” Robertson said. “I don’t believe the administration has the authority to punish out-of-school cyberbullying. The sheer size of the internet is a far cry from our modest campus of about 2000.”

Regardless of school policy, it remains true for a majority of students that cyberbullying is a serious problem and measures need to be taken to help prevent it.

“Cyberbullying is a significant issue among teens because unlike harassment faced at school or other places, you can’t escape cyberbullying, after being bullied at school, kids can just come home to their safe haven, which is home.

Cyberbullying is experienced at home, so there is no virtually safe place to hide from it,” Warner said.

*names withheld Carson Bailey 37

4

VARIETY of

JOURNALISTIC experiences

Carson Bailey 39

ARTS

UNLEASHED 1

VARIETY OF JOURNALISTIC EXPERIENCES “Creating Arts Unleashed began as a small project that has really become one of the best learning expierences ever. I went in last year knowing nothing about literary magazines and today it seems like second nature. I taught myself through reading and looking up other high school and college literary magazines.�

Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Award: Literary Magazine Portfolio Honorable Mention

40 Carson Bailey

Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Award: Cover Design Honorable Mention

all designs: published Spring 2010 in Arts Unleashed

“The theme for the first issue of Arts Unleashed was Fuse and to tie together the theme with style, I chose to use cyan, magenta, yellow, and black throughout the entire magazine.

Cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are commonly known as CMYK and combine or ‘fuse’ together to form all the other colors during printing. Therefore I used those colors to further illustrate the fusion of artists and writers at my school.”

Carson Bailey 41

Tim Wong

L e t t e r o f R e c o mm e n d a t i o n

REDESIG N 2

11x17

to

11.25x12.5

VARIETY OF JOURNALISTIC EXPERIENCES “Over the summer I started developing a total redesign for The Lion’s Tale. My idea for this redesign started when I first saw the more compact tabloid size (11.25 x 12.5) of papers such as the Chicago Tribune RedEye. Our paper was always an inconvenience to students when they would try to read it at their desk. The new size is now smaller and more convenient for students.” design: published 09.25.09 in The Lion’s Tale

42 Carson Bailey

design: published 09.29.10 in The Lion’s Tale

design: published 09.29.10 in The Lion’s Tale

design: published 11.05.10 in The Lion’s Tale

design: published 11.05.10 in The Lion’s Tale

“While I was redesigning for The Lion’s Tale new size, I decided to make some additions to the paper. I created a sub-section for Diversions called Reviewed. This part of Diversions contains all reviews from music to movies to restaurants. I also added staff emails to the bottom of every story. I want to encourage students/community members who read the paper to comment on stories and voice their opinion.”

design: published 03.05.10 in The Lion’s Tale

design: published 09.29.10 in The Lion’s Tale

Carson Bailey 43

ONLINE

TheLionsTale.com 3

44 Carson Bailey

VARIETY OF JOURNALISTIC EXPERIENCES “The creation of TheLionsTale.com has been a slow process but should be very rewarding. The site design is done and I am now uploading content from the five editions of the paper that have already been published. I hope that with the TheLionsTale.com we will be able to get news to students quicker and interact with them more. The website is also a great opportunity for other students to learn about online media. In addition to the website I’ve created a facebook page where students can read posts we make about things such as school sports or when the paper will be distributed.”

4

ArtsUnleashed.net

VARIETY OF JOURNALISTIC EXPERIENCES “For the spring 2011 issue of Arts Unleashed I decided I wanted to incorporate not only a print publication but a digital sidekick. With this idea in mind I created ArtsUnleashed.net. The website allows students to create an account and upload their creations. Anything uploaded onto the site is automatically submitted to be reviewed for the print magazine. This year we have received over 100 submissions from the new site alone. The site also allows students to comment on each other’s work and create a profile, like facebook. It’s really cool seeing something I created in action and working so well.”

Carson Bailey 45

N APPLICATIO ENT DEVELOPM 5

VARIETY OF JOURNALISTIC EXPERIENCES “My latest project is the development of two iPhone applications for The Lion’s Tale and Arts Unleashed. Both of these applications will have a QR code reader intergrated into them, along with other features such as news. Many well known newspapers have started using QR codes in their publication and it helps to connect that divide between the print and digital mediums. A person can be reading a story and if they become really interested they can connect even further with videos and pictures. It also serves a great purpose in creating a ‘hub’ that will allow high school broadcast, newspaper, and yearbook staffs to all join together. I think that the media industry would be smart to hook on to this great way to connect print and digital. Everyone says print publications are going to die off but why can’t we keep them and integrate print media with new technology as it advances? ”

The Lion’s Tale iPhone App APPLICATION FEATURES: Home - allows you to browse TheLionsTale.com website where all stories, photos, and videos can be accessed.

Account - students can sign in or create an account to comment on stories Interact - this feature will open the QR code reader.

Connect -Pulls up all of The Lion’s Tale contact information including facebook, twitter, etc

Arts Unleashed iPhone App

*Mockup of The Lion’s Tale and Arts Unleashed applications 46 Carson Bailey

APPLICATION FEATURES: Creations - allows you to browse through the different student creations on ArtsUnleashed.net Account - students can sign in or create an account to comment on writing, art, videos, etc.

Interact - this feature will open the QR code reader.

You will be able to scan codes in the magazine that direct you to music or videos students have created.

Connect -pulls up all of Arts Unleashed contact information including facebook, twitter, etc Feature - brings you to stories about artists featured in the magazine, news about the arts on campus, and more.

How the QR reader works

1

Click the INTERACT button, this will open the camera and enable the QR code reader

2

Scan the QR code by clicking the button to take a picture. The phone will then process the image for a second and redirect you to whatever content is linked to that specific code.

Example:

Want more opinion?

Scan the code and check out this video!

In the FUTURE

This QR code would possibly bring up a PSA about being eco-friendly or more student’s opinions about being ecofriendly in a video.

design: published 01.28.11 in The Lion’s Tale

“The development of mobile applications for publications is something I feel very strongly about. I know that not every person has an iPhone but it is the easiest platform to start off on but I hope to soon be able to expand to other platforms. The Lion’s Tale iPhone application will be released in May 2011 for the Graduation Edition of the newspaper. The Arts Unleashed app will also be released in May when the print counterpart is completed. And although I am graduating, I plan to continue to help my newspaper literary magazine with the upkeep of the applications. The creation of SchoolMedia.com is also now in the works. This website will allow college and high school journalism staffs to learn about online media such as twitter, iphone apps, and QR codes.”

Carson Bailey 47

INTERNS HIP 6

VARIETY OF JOURNALISTIC EXPERIENCES “One day when I was browsing the internet I happened to find an ad seeking a graphic design intern. The ad was from the Orlando Weekly, a local newspaper and listed college credit as a specification to being hired. I wanted the position, so I typed up an email with links to my work and sent it to the production manager. Rick Andrews answered back and told me that my work was better than most of the college applications he receives.

He talked with his publisher to make sure it was okay and then offered me an interview. The interview went great and Mr.Andrews offered me the position right then. From there I contacted my principal to ask permission to set up a independent study class. He agreed and a few weeks later I started my first day as a graphic design intern.�

Rick Andrews

L e t t e r o f R e c o mm e n d a t i o n

48 Carson Bailey

“Spec” ad “I started my internship over the summer so I would typically go into the office around 10 and leave before 5. When school started I was allowed to go to my internship during 7th period on certain days. While I was there, I would work on about 5 - 10 ads. Some ads had to be resized, some just tweaked a little, and others fully created. Above are a few of the ads I created while interning at the Orlando Weekly. I also worked on ads for their sister publication DRINK.

7

VARIETY OF JOURNALISTIC EXPERIENCES “Nick’s Restaurant, a local pizzeria, purchased the backpage of our newspaper during my first year as editor. They did not have a ready made ad so I was left in charge of creating it. The most difficult part was creating something that would not compete with the 4 coupons the owners wanted on the ad.”

Carson Bailey 49

TY I N U M M CO WORK

50 Carson Bailey

7

VARIETY OF JOURNALISTIC EXPERIENCES “Over my summer break, a local gym contacted me and requested I create a brochure to advertise their summer camp. I took pictures of kids tumbling at the gym and then designed the tri-fold brochure.

The brochure was mailed to over 5,000 people in the city. The preschool teacher at the same gym then asked me to produced a brochure for her camp, which was sent out to around 2,000 people.�

CarsonBailey.net

( p h o t o g r a p h y, d e s i g n , w r i t i n g , a n d m o r e )

8

VARIETY OF JOURNALISTIC EXPERIENCES “Having a website online where I can house all of my creations allows me to keep my work organized and gives me easy access to it. Along with my photos, design, and writing, I try to upload sketches or preplanning for projects because it helps to look back and see how I was inspired.”

Carson Bailey 51

AWARDS

&

recognition

b

Below are awards that I’ve accumulated over my three years on high school publications, mainly from the three following associations: Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) Florida Scholastic Press Association (FSPA) Journalism Education Association (JEA)

CSPA Gold Circle Awards 2011: Single subject news double-truck: tabloid format 1st place NSPA Design of the Year 2011: Infographic 1st place 2011 Florida Student Journalist of the Year (FSPA) 2011 National Student Journalist of the Year Runner-up ( JEA & NSPA)

CSPA Gold Circle Awards 2011: Typography Lettering, calligraphy or creative use of letterforms: Use of a designed or art headline 1st place

CSPA: Gold Circle Awards Sidebar writing (2011) - 3rd place page 16 Typography: A designed or art headline (2011) - 3rd place page 16 Overall design: Tabloid format (2011) - 3rd place Page one design: Portfolio of work (2011) - 3rd place Photo story (2011) - 3rd place page 18 Single subject news or feature package, two pages, double-truck: Portfolio of work (2011) - Honorable mention Editorial page design: Tabloid format black and white (2010) - 3rd place page 18 NSPA: Design of the Year Newsmagazine cover (2011) - Honorable Mention page 28 FSPA: Individual Awards Straight news story (2011) - All Florida page 36 (3) Newspaper Design (2011) - All Florida page 16, 17, 28

52 Carson Bailey

NSPA Design of the Year 2011: Magazine spread Honorable Mention CSPA Gold Circle Awards 2011: Computer generated art/illustration 3rd place