Nous by LASA Ezine

N O U

UIL State, What it is, and How LBJ Got There

Au Naturale: The Best Foods for Athletes

Look Into the Lens of a Wilderness Photographer

CONTENTS MUSIC HISTORY OF THE iPOD HARPS

PIX

UIL STATE, EVERY BAND’S DREAM...LBJ’S REALITY SPORTS DANCING, FLYING JUST STRIP IT AU NATURALE OUTDOORS WHAT TO DO AROUND AUSTIN SCHOOL’S OUT, NOW WHAT? IT’S OUT THERE

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Meet the NOUS Staff

The Musician: Rebecca’s world is mainly based in horses, books, music and school. She takes horseback riding lessons at White Fences. Her favorite color is usually blue, sometimes green and orange when she’s feeling vibrant. She plays Flute (the awesomest instrument EVER) in the LBJ band and can even point out herself in the band pictures. She’d like to tell the world hi, because no one else is saying anything and the world deserves to be talked to. On behalf of the NOUS staff she would like to thank you for reading this and hope you enjoy our magazine.

The Sporty One: Kathryn loves to do anything active and especially loves being in colorguard/winterguard. Her favorite color changes day by day, but right now is baby blue. She loves sports and loves to play soft-ball and basket-ball. She would like to thank all of the amazing photographers for their permission, and everyone that we interviewed for working with us. She would like to tell the world that yes Flute is the best instument, but colorguard is still better.

The Outdoors-y One: Harper is a very outdoors-y person, he’s in boy scouts and likes hunting, backpacking, and camping. Harper is about to be an Eagle Scout and is favorite color is green. He’s more of the silent type so he’s not telling me what he wants to tell the world. It’s all good though, he’s working on our overall magazine right now. He doesn’t have anything to add so this is all that you’ll get about Harper.

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Harps

By: Harper H.

Double action pedal harps The modern double action pedal harp was patented in 1810, and aside from a few mechanical improvements is still in use today. The harp is often used in orchestras, as the instrument is difficult to move because it can be up to six feet tall and weighing up to 90 pounds. The pedal harp has 47 strings and 7 pedals which control which note is being played. Pedal harps work by turning a disk whenever a pedal is pressed, when the disk turns enough, it presses against the string, shortening it. The harp is called a double action harp because the pedals can be pressed twice to further shorten the string as opposed to other harps where the pedal can only be pressed once. photo courtesy of art experts inc.

Celtic harps The rise of the celtic harp began in 900 A.D. and by the late 1500â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, harps were becoming less common. In their peak, harpers were second in status only to royalty, as their skills with the instrument were so highly prized. Harps owned by nobility were often intricately carved and studded with jewels and precious stones. The materials used for the harp depended on where it was built, Welsh harps were strung with hair, Irish harps with wire, and Scottish harps with gut.

squidoo.com

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Old Harps

guitarsite.com

Bow harps are ancient instruments that are believed to have been developed from hunting bows. Bow harps can be up to six feet tall with up to 19 strings. piney.com

“harp” is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “to pluck” and ancient cave paintings of harps dating back to 15,000 B.C. have been found in France.

Chromatic Harps The double strung harp has two sets of strings that cross each other before reaching the soundboard. The cross strung harp was introduced around 1800 but was all but abandoned by the mid 1950s. It was abandoned because it was extremely difficult to play and simpler harps that were easier to play could produce the same sounds. From the Graese Gallery

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UIL State; every B LBJ’s R

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Bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dream.... Reality By:Kathryn L.

Page 9 by Zane Rankin, Henry Kellsion and Rich Gramann Photos

“

he very first feeling I get is that I'm terrified, generally speaking, but then the adrenaline kicks in and I'm excited to be up there, and the further we get into the show, I hear the chords and I see the smiles, the music sounds good, and things click, and it feels right, there is nothing that compares to that," says Maddie Hayhurst, a drum major in the LBJ band. The LBJ band is an award winning high school marching band. Every two years the band has the opportunity to compete for a spot in State. This year the band had the opportunity to compete in the UIL state competition. In order for the band to make it this far they must get all ones in region, be in the top ten at area, and then make the final four in finals, with their show. The UIL show for the 2009-2010 year is entitled "COLD" and features the music of Peter Tchaikovsky. The band has put in over 300 hours into perfecting the show, not including individual practice time. “You have to be completely committed for it to work well, in order to achieve the desired satisfaction,” says Maddie. “ The reason I love band is because we do well, but the reason we do well is because we take so much time, and have to spend that time focused and dedicated, and it is a lot of time” Yet no matter how hard and long they practice, the band members continue to practice for not only themselves, but others also. “To me, it’s important that we not only compete for

our own pride and benefit,” says head drum major Zane Rankin. “[But] knowing that you are with 150 other people that are willing to work weeks on asphalt in 105* heat is special.” Band really is something special, and means a great deal to those who march. "To me, the time spent in band is more fun and rewarding than if I went straight home to do homework or watch T.V.,” says Zane Not only is marching band more fun than going home and doing other things, but also it is almost immediately rewarding, and very satisfactory. "I put in the effort for lots of things and I worked so hard, but I don't see results or I don't see them for years, but with band I know that if I practice my music it will sound good and it will sound the way it was intended, and if everybody does it the whole field will sound good," says Maddie. And the whole field sounding good is the ultimate goal for this and all other bands. It is all about precision and working together, no one is the all-star and everyone must be in sync with each ither. "You can't have band without one person, it takes a lot of teamwork,” says Mrinalini Vijalapurum, another of the LBJ drum majors. Not only does this cause the band to trust each other to be in time, and not hit you when marching backwards, but it brings them closer together. "Community, family, words like that, [are

“You have to be completely commited for it to work well,”

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What the band had to do to get to State.... Spend Over 300hrs. perfecting

the show

what I think of when I think of band]" says Ana Hernandez, another one of the LBJ drum majors. "The band sees the other band members as a 2nd family. And in all truth, it does bring the band members closer together. “I feel like because we do spend more time together, with band practice, performances, and classes, and I am always sure to have classes with them to, so I am definitely closer to them.” Maddie says. And the time and effort really pays off on the competition and football field. The band is able to count on each other to bring them to the ultimate goal. The band works hard and plays hard together. “ I would have to say that we have more fun than other bands do,” says Mrinalini. And the band knows how to have fun. “[The first thing I think of when I think of band is] being rowdy in the stands at football games,” says Zane. Whether it is partying in the stands at football games, or playing Frisbee before practice, you can find the band members enjoying themselves. But not to say that they do not become serious when it is competition time. “ You know that there are stakes, and if you mess up you could be reason the band does not make 1st division,” says Ana. And the stakes were harder this year because of the opportunity to make it to state. Not only did

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Compete at Region and get all ones, or 1st division. Compete at Area and be in the top ten bands. Compete in Finals at Area and make the top 4 bands, (1 out

every 5)

Compete at the

Alamodome

STATE!!

the band have to make 1st division at regions, they made the top ten bands in the area semi-finals, and the top four in finals. This year on October 24, 2009, the band made it through the to the finals. “Nothing beats that experience,” Maddie says. “ I have never felt closer to the band.” When sitting in the stands waiting for the announcer to name the four bands going to State, you could almost feel the tension rising from all the bands. During the wait, members held hands, sang and had fun, doing anything to make the wait less stressful. Then, the moment finally came, the announcer name Dripping Springs, Hendrickson, and Hays High School as the first three bands. The moment of truth was upon the band, and when the announcer said the name if the final school, you could only here “LB John..” before chaos erupted and the band went crazy. “ I always feel very elated and excited to hear the announcers call our bands name. The four of us drum majors are really proud to hear LBJ Band come from the announcers box, especially [when we made it to State],” says Mrinalini. “Its basically the best feeling in the world.” The last time that LBJ competed at State was in 2003, six years ago. The band worked really hard to make it that far, and continued to work to compete at State, where they received (insert place, find out in Tuesday). The band proved that giving up half the summer to run fundamentals, sets, and sweat in the sun is completely, and utterly worth it, “It is difficult to describe the wall of emotions; joy,

pride, relief, excitement, [are a few] that occur when “LBJ High School” comes over the loudspeaker. The shear overwhelming happiness as we found out that we were going to State, The months of hard marching and rehearsals paid off, and in a big way; we [made] it to State!!!”

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MUSIC

History of the iPod The iPod. The device that has revolutionized music and how convienient it is to take have music everywhere. The First iPod was released in 2001 and had 5 Gigabytes of memory. It had a scroll wheel and the play controls in buttons around the wheel. Up untill 2005 Apple only modified the design for the iPod; adding a color display, more memory, smaller de-

iPod (Scroll wheel) Below are images of some of the aforementioned ipods. From left to right is the iPod touch, iPod Classic, iPod nano third

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sign. In 2005 Apple released the iPod Shuffle. The Shuffle did not have a screen, just a control pad and 1 G. The original ipod continued to be improved upon, but the first of the iPod Nanos came out in 2005 as well. There are now 5 generations of the iPod Nano, and the most recent one shoots video. In 2007, however Apple came out with the iPod touch, a 16 G mp3

iPod Shuffle

By Rebecca G player with a multi-touch screen. it also closely resembled the new iPhone. There are now 3 generations to the iPod touch. Appleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newest iPod is the third generation iPod Shuffle. The newest Shuffle has 4 G and comes in 5 different colors; black, sky blue, lime green, pink, and the original silver.

iPod iPod Nano Touch

generation, and the iPod shuffle second generation. All of these have come long ways since the original scroll wheel (Right). The designs have become more sleek and the mp3s have gotten more memory. Some of them are smaller than a standard 39 cent postage stomp, All of the new iPods have at

least 4 Gigabytes, and at most 160 Gigabytes on the newest iPod Classsic.

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S T R

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Flying ,

Dancing By Rebecca G

aking up on Sunday morning, I’m welcomed to my muscles straining in protest of their use. They continue to protest all day, but I’m used to it by now. My sore muscles are entirely my fault, and I brought them about willingly so that I can become a better equestrian. So I can learn to fly over jumps, and ride like we’re dancing in dressage. If that’s not a sport, I don’t know what is. What most people stereotype as horseback riding comes nowhere near the truth. The truth is you need a lot of muscle power and control to ride properly and well. You have to make sure that your posture is perfect and that you are one with the horse. People who don’t ride say that the horse does all of the work, but

I know better. In Jumping, I have to set the horse up to the jump and get the perfect trot or canter before I even think about the jump. I then have to keep the same trot or canter while my horse wants to accelerate, or chicken out at the last minute. Yes, my horse is the one Jumping, but I’m the one who makes it look good and who makes sure that everything is perfect so I don’t get hurt, and my horse doesn’t get hurt. In dressage, yes my horse is the one doing “ballet” but I’m the one giving the commands and making sure it looks seamless. There are times when the horse doesn’t want to listen to those commands. Horses have minds of their own and like to remind me of that fact. That’s where the leg muscles I’ve worked on and grumbled about

come in. This is where sitting in 2-point (jumping position) and walking around the dressage arena with your legs feeling like they’re going to fall off suddenly is helpful. I have to have a strong will and zero tolerance for anything except what I’ve asked for, or I could end up eating some of the arena’s dust (Trust me, it doesn’t taste good). If I get thrown, there’s more at stake than just my pride; I could get injured, or I could hurt my horse. Neither of which I plan on doing. I plan on having my saddle glue stick, and I plan on getting my horse to listen. If I don’t make her, she’ll know that she can get away with it, and I’m in for a world of hurt. If my horse thinks she can gat away with anything, she will. That’s one thing i’ve learned in my 9 or so years of horseback rid-

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ing; if your horse thinks they can get away with one thing, they will test you to try and get away with everything. That brings me back to how important my acquired muscles are, with strong legs and core muscles, I can keep my horse in line. I can’t stop them from toeing that line, but I can keep that line in place and fix whatever lingers off of it. A sport is defined as an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and is often competitive in nature. Horseback riding is an athletic activity, it requires skill and physical prowess. and there are many different competitions, some even on the international level. At the present time the person to watch in terms of international Show Jumping is Beezie Madden. She was the first woman and the first American rider to reach the Top Three in the Show Jumping world ranking list. She was also the first woman to pass the million dollar mark in

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Show Jumping winnings. Also, she’s won multiple gold metals along with being USEF Equestrian

Show Jumping; Grand Prix. In those competitions there are jumps and spreads up to 6.5 feet. Grand Prix is the level that the Show Jumping portion of the Olympic Games. It is one of the only events to have both men and women competing together on equal terms. Equestrian was inducted to the Olympics in 1900 with three divisions; Jumping, Eventing, and Dressage. Eventing was originally only open to the Military, and is still called Militaire in Germany. of the year in 2005 and 2006. She While Dressage and Jumping were was also the American Grand Prix open to civilians, dressage was origiAssociation’s Rider of the Year in nally practiced for warhorses, so 2004. Beezie was the second person that the horses could immediately to receive that honor. Beezie Mad- respond to the slightest hand and leg den competes at the highest level of signals. At the time it was very advantageous to be able to trot in place or change leads every other step. Now, since horses are no longer used in battle, dressage has become much more of an art form. A very intense, competitive art form. Today, all three divisions are still in place, and have become much more popular. The beginning of this popularity was in 1948, where still not many people competed on an international level but more people competed. For the Beijing 2008 Olympics the maximum Beezie number of competitors on a nation’s Madden Equestrian team as a whole is 13 ridon Authentic during ers, not including the reserve riders the First Round of and horses. the Olymipcs. Horseback riding, Equestrian, Equus. It’s not about the horse, and it’s not about me. It’s about the pairing of horse and rider. That team must work as one being so that both can fly over jumps, and dance in dressage. If that’s not a sport, then I don’t know what is. 9

“It’s not about the horse and it’s not about me. It’s about the pairing of horse and rider.”

Photo by Bob Langrish

Just Strip It!

fter a long and hard practice, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t

want to deal with the remarks about how what we do is not a sport. A sport, as defined at dictionary.com is an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature. Colorguard and winterguard match this definition, yet are not considered to be sports by most outside of the guard world. Color guard fits the definition of a sport perfectly. Not

by: Kathryn L.

only do we work hard, in the heat for part of the year, but we compete. I believe that guard is a very underappreciated, and misunderstood. We do not just stand around

pole over our heads, not to mention a metal sword, and wooden rifles. Getting hit in the head, or anywhere for that matter is quite painful. One of the worst injuries from this year would probably be when a member busted her lip, though from years past they have included broken fingers, sprained muscles, and torn ligaments, in-fact one

and spin flags, rifles, and sabres, but have to incorporate the whole body. Many people believe that guard is not a sport because they say that there is no chance of bodily injury. I would have to disagree. We throw a 6-7 foot

of the directors cut off a chunk of her nose with a sabre. I am pretty sure that these all count page X Page 18

The WVHS Winterguard during their 2008 show entiltled â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Other Side.â&#x20AC;?

photos used with permission from Burgess, Caitlynne, and Gramann, Rich

page X

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are injuries, so as I have said before there is definitely chance of bodily injury, and I guess most people know that isntsinctually, because they always flinch when walking down the color guard practice hallway, also know as the hallway with all the dents in the ceiling. Like all major sports guard has a professional competitive league, Winter Guard International, or WGI. WGI, is a competition known as “the sport of the arts.” On the official WGI website they describe it by saying that “it brings music to life through performance in a competitive format.” Winter guard alone competes in this, and color guard competes in DCI, or Drum Core International. So both aspects of guard have multiple competitions, and once again it proves that we strive to improve ourselves through competition. In fact it is being considered that winterguard will be in the next Olympic games. While guard looks easy, in fact it is not. We push ourselves constantly to the limit. What we do is work through the pain, and if it looks easy we are doing our job. There is a quote about colorguard, from www.angelfire.com, which is “ wave, toss, spin, dance march, jazz run, leap, throw bend and catch.....WE CAN DO IT ALL.” We have to do all of this while making it look good.

The physical movement of guard, curtsy of bodybuilding. com is shown when you add the different aspects of guard together you burn an average of 2,200 calories per day of guard camp, about 8 hrs., so about 275 calories an hour. Colorguard takes a lot of strength and time and no one respects that. I have told you only a couple of the ways that prove that it deserves respect and takes a lot of hard work. Yes, it is an art, but it is also a sport. NASCAR, and ping pong are considerd sports so why aren’t we.So I say this, and leave you with this quote from www.thecolorgaurdsite. com, “Their not “poles”, their FLAGS! Their not “swords”, their SABRES! Their not “guns”, their RIFLES! We don’t “twirl”, we SPIN! We don’t “throw”, we TOSS!! GET IT RIGHT OR GET OUT OF MY FACE!!!”

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Au Naturale “The foods I would consider best for athletes would be the foods that are best for the normal individual because I think we’re all athletes” Says Whole Foods nutritionist, Carly Pollack “It just depends on how far we’re pushing that potential.” It doesn’t matter if you’re just pushing your potential to stay in shape, or to maintain a professional level, athletes need balanced nutrition in order to advance in their sport. Whether it is running longer without getting winded or going to the playoffs in the NFL, every athlete wants to advance, but without good nutrition the options are severely limited. The best place to find food is a Grocery Store, so that’s where I looked to get all the ingredients for a list of nutritious foods for both an endurance athlete and an athlete who just works to stay in shape or just to have fun. I also looked for snacks that guarantee a

“You want to get as close to nature as possible so fruits and vegetables are best; especially greens.”

week full of nutritious food. The first section of the grocery store is the produce. Across the first stand are the apples. They reach across one side of the stand and continue onto the back almost invading the bananas. These two become the first two ingredients for a healthy week for an athlete. “You want to get as close to nature as possible so fruits and vegetables are best; especially greens.” Pollack divulges. Next comes the veggie stand, this is the residence of potatoes, along with bright red and orange peppers that stand out like a beacon to the sea of green around them.

Photo by

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By Rebecca G I put a few potatoes into the cart as a good source of starch along with some peppers and cucumbers to make roasted veggies for both my Endurance list and my Recreational athlete list. “You could do a roasted veggie +[as a full meal], which is really easy, and you’d get carbohydrates from the veggies – good quality carbohydrates and fiber not like the box kind that we usually get,” Pollack informs. Next come the bakery and the wall of cheese. Most every cheese from Mini Babybel to Brie reside on the wall. A piece of cheddar is going into the cart next and will adorn my potatoes once they’re baked. The bakery is no different; cakes reside in a counter waiting to be bought or just enjoying the longing looks of all of the children who walk by to see if there is a free sample of a cookie, coffeecake or just a piece of bread that’s on sale that week. I grab a loaf of

Photo by John Kernick

the fresh baked whole wheat bread for healthy, quick sandwiches and toast for breakfast for both lists. “It’s important that you start the day with some good quality carbohydrates to get your metabolism

“As long as you stay within that realm of unprocessed whole foods you don’t have to count calories” going and get the vitamins and minerals that you need to start the day with energy.” Pollack explains Meat is directly after the bakery. Beef, both ground and in T-Bone form are piled according to cut and cooking preference. Next comes the assortment of chicken arranged the same way. I put a good-looking cut of the grass-fed beef and a few packages of chicken into my cart where they join my apples, bananas, bread,

veggies and potatoes. The beef and chicken are more for my Endurance list than the Rec one but both need a good source of protein. “Quality proteins; grass fed meats, wild fish, turkey, chicken, [eat] all those good quality meats because they have the amino acids that your muscles need.” Says Pollack. Lunchmeats are next and reside close to the shredded cheese and lunch products. I grab a package of turkey for my lunch, and make sure it’s organic and as free of preservatives as it can be. “Most of us [athletes] get our food from processed sources and stuff that comes from a box or protein shakes and all that stuff.” Pollack says, “As long as you stay within that realm of unprocessed whole foods you don’t have to count calories, you don’t have to count portion sizes either because you know that everything that your eating is nutritious for you.”

The final ‘natural’ section in the store is dairy. I grab a gallon of organic milk, staying with the unprocessed theme, and put it in my cart as well as some yogurts for a Rec athlete snack. The yogurt has calcium for strong bones and some fat. “You want to make sure there’s three main components which are your protein, your carbohydrates and your fats; what we call macronutrients. Macro meaning large, you need them in large amounts.” She explains. At this time I’ve now moved into the isles of the store, and the first isle is the drink isle. I pass up the Gatorade and move onto some plain old water. It’ll keep me hydrated longer and it’s better for me. “Sports Drinks have their place” Pollack acknowledges, “But it [Gatorade] is filled with sugar; it’ll dehydrate you and make you need more fluid.” Right Top: Lebenese Lamb Chops with Lemony Lettuce is an easy way to stay healthy and gets you natural proteins and carbohydrates. Right Bottom: Although Chocolate Marble Cheesecake may not be the healthiest thing for your body it helps keep your soul happy.

Left: Peaches Under Meruinge is an easy way to have a healthy, natural dessert. Photo by Romulo Yanes

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Photo by Romulo Yanes

For an athlete, that’s not desirable at all. Dehydration is a very real threat, and a very dangerous one too. It doesn’t even matter how much energy is put in, you need to maintain the water level in your body. My last stop is in the Jam isle. I grab a jar of all natural grape Jam as a simple sugar for my Endurance list. I also grab a jar of peanut butter to make my Jam and bread more palatable at lunchtime. Endurance runners for example need a combination of complex and simple carbs to keep going. “They [endurance runners] want complex carbohydrates, which take a long time to break down so it keeps them satiated and gives them energy throughout. But they also want quick carbohydrates for maybe finishing a race or in between so they can use it quickly for stored energy.” She illustrates. As I near the checkout I go over everything in my head, what I’ve gotten and what I’ve accomplished. The overall goal, and the overall message that Pollack tries to give her clients is to try to eat naturally. “If you can’t grow it, and you can’t kill it, you shouldn’t be eating it.” Pollack says.

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Photo by Boda

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S R

O O

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Too Nice a day

By Kathryn L.

For a movie

So what to do?

veryone knows that being inside all day is not healthy. But here lies the problem, what is there to do you may ask. Well, I will tell you, plenty. Wheather you are really active, or want to realax there are countless things do to. And by living in Austin we are even more lucky because it is so easy to find an activity to do. You can got to Zilker Park, to see concerts and in the winter the Trail of Lights, there are multiple lakes around town just wating for someone to play in them. Even ACL is outside. Trust me, once you have read this list you will be able to think of a lot of things to do. It is very easy to forget how wonderful this city is between day-to-day lives, but so amazing when you have free-time and go and expierence it.

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Hiking is one of the most common things to do when people think of outdoors things. But you may say that it is boring, try spicing it up a bit with having a picnic, or a scavenger hunt.

Biking is also one of the common things to do in Austin. We have the veldtway and multiple bike trails in this town. Try going with a group to one on the many trails and racing with your friends.

What could be better on a hot day than playing on the lake on a hot summerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s day? I tell you nothing. The lake cools you off while you are enjoying yourself, be it by racing your friends in kayaks, ir relaxing in canoes, lakes are full of fun.

Zilker park and the Botanical Gardens have come together to create the new Dinoland exzibit. Now not only can you go and look at the briallance of mother nature but can find dinosaurs and trace their tracks.

One of the things that Austin is most well known for is not ACL in this case, but the Congress Avenue Bats. These bats are so amazing to watch and have made Austin known as the scariest city in Tx.

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Photo with permission from Explore MinnesotaTourism, Randall Elley, Flickr the commons, Bmaoly, and Laura Springer

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

out

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here By: Harper H.

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"My mother always said, why spend

the money to go to Europe before seeing everything in the U.S?" John Jefferson is a wildlife photographer, and has taken this advice to heart, traveling all over the United States to take pictures of the world around us. He started his photography career when he was only nine years old, took pictures for several weeks, broke his camera, and didn't get another one for ten years. Jefferson has been writing and photographing for wildlife magazines since 1969. He sent in a query to Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine in 1968, but was rejected, and ten years later, he was the boss of the woman who had rejected his letter. Wilderness and wildlife photography are two rapidly growing fields. New cameras with higher resolution, more mega pixels and better zoom are constantly coming into the market. Jefferson works as a photographer, taking family portraits and wedding photos. He used to use a Hassleblad, a Swedish camera,

for portraits and some landscape pictures, and a 35mm camera for wildlife photography. Jefferson tried to stick with good ol' film for as long as he could but the advantages of a digital camera were to large to ignore "I finally gave in and gave up." He then decided to go with Nikon, a reputable camera company, and is now using a Nikon D300 which fulfills the roles of portrait photography and wildlife photography. Jefferson was really inspired to become a wildlife photographer when he moved to Austin and started to encounter modern art and landscape art. "There was a man named Porfirio Salinas who did some bluebonnet pictures I admired and I decided that I wanted to try to do something like that with my camera, and my first portraits were terrible," but with years of persistence, Jefferson is now writing for several major magazines such as Texas parks and wildlife, Texas

wildlife and Texas outdoors journal. One of the first contests he competed in was hosted by Life magazine in 1970. The contest was split up into two divisions, amateur and professional, and the winning picture, no matter which division, would be put on the cover of Life magazine. As it was early in his photographic career, he was competing in the amateur division using a cheap $360 camera. And although he didn't win, the winning picture was taken by an amateur using the same $360

“I probably wouldn’t be here if he’d hit us” camera which encouraged him to keep photographing. It's been 39 years since that competition, and Jefferson is still competing, this year he is entering into contests hosted by the Professional Outdoor Photographers Association and the Texas Outdoor Writers Association. Wildlife photography also comes with some twists, turns, and trouble. In fact, Jefferson was recently out photographing mule deer in Colorado, and even got a couple of pictures of elk. He and his wife were going down a country road, his wife was driving, when a giant elk came charging down a hill right in front of the car, "I probably wouldn't be here if he'd hit us." This is just one example of the dangers associated with wildlife photography. Another danger travelling photographers face is for-

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and took several pictures before the phenomenon disappeared. In all his days since, he has never seen anything like it. Many enthusiastic photographers who get outside and take pictures experience a moment like this, a moment of shear beauty and serenity, an indescribable moment, the feelings of which Copyright John Jefferson Photography, 2009 you will carry with you for the eign government. When traveling, tures as you can and see what you rest of your life, and the only way a photographer could be injured or do and don't like." You can have to prove to all your friends that you even killed by the crossfire between a cheap film camera and be a pho- saw it is to show them the pictures government troops and rebels. Jef- tographer. Photography is also that you took. ferson went on a trip to Mexico this fun for sportsmen such as myself, summer to visit the world's largest hunting was what got Jefferson into white wing dove habitat, and dur- the outdoors, and helped to inspire ing his stay at Rancho Caracol saw him to do outdoor photography. multiple military units going to help His favorite picture was taken on in the fighting against drug cartels, a hunting trip, the rays of the sun and was repeatedly reassured by his were just coming over the horizon, host that the ranch was completely and the moon was still high in the safe. sky, and completely forgetting the All you have to do to be a wilder- reason he had gotten up so early in ness photographer is the morning, fumbled for his camera "get a camera and take as many pic-

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School’s out By: Harper H.

’m in my fifth week of high school and since I’m finishing up with boy scouts, I’m looking for another program to join. I did some research and talked to some friends, and here’s what I found. The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) and venture scouts are two great coed programs, and both have a lot of outdoor activities and hard work. The Civil Air Patrol was started before Pearl Harbor, operating as anti-sub civilian pilots, and was later adopted by the air force. The venture scouts were created as a coed version of boy scouts and are a branch of the boy scouts, started in America by Baden-Powell in 1910.

an emphasis on discipline and physical fitness, which appeals to me because I led my Boy Scout troop for six months, and the lack of discipline and fitness was infuriating. Venture scouts are a non-profit organization, made to allow teens to experience the outdoors like never before, with backpacking and camping, as well as water sports such as rafting and canoeing. Both are great programs, but I believe that the CAP is a better program for high school students. I say this because it has an intro to flight program, emphasis on discipline and fitness, and an in depth rank system that mimics the air force’s ranking system and takes a minimum of four years to "comThe CAP is a quasi-military or- plete." ganization, made to educate teens on aerospace engineering, flying, The CAP pushes members to emergency services. There is also be physically fit and disciplined.

There is a fitness requirement to join the CAP, and in order to advance in rank, one must pass a fitness test, aerospace test, and be an active member. As for discipline, CAP members are required to wear BDU's (battle dress uniforms) along with military style packs to regular meetings. They are required to wear "blues"(dress uniforms) to special ceremonies. Normal courtesies are required, such as saying sir, and standing at attention when an officer enters the room. This discipline allows for more organized activities, and more efficient meetings, whereas in Venture scouts, discipline is not as enforced, slowing down meetings and making activities take much longer than they should.

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CAP archives

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CAP members also participate in emergency response operations. These operations include search and rescue drills as well as security drills with the National Guard. On April 6, 2009, a Canadian by the name of Adam Dylan Leon stole a Cessna 172, a relatively weak single engine plane, and flew into America. The National Guard, flying f-16's (fighter jets) could have easily taken down the Cessna, but instead, thanks to their training experiences with the CAP, they were able to safely escort the plane until it ran out of fuel and was forced to land. Adam Dylan Leon was suicidal, and it was his last wish that he be shot down by a

fighter jet, however, thanks to the submit a written report, as well as CAP, he was saved. The CAP also completing a questionnaire for each takes part in rescue searches, finding plane you're qualified to fly. downed planes by tracking the signals from emergency transmitters. Some of you might be thinking that the CAP sounds to tough for While the CAP doesn't teach you, and that you'd rather go to the you how to fly, it does have schol- Venture scouts, which isn't witharships for pilot's licenses that you out merit, but it won't be a probcan compete for, as well as access lem. CAP, while challenging, is a to the largest fleet of single-engine fun and rewarding program, built piston aircraft in the U.S. CAP ca- for youth. With lots of positive dets also have access to gliders for encouragement and good friends, getting a gliding license and logging CAP is easily manageable, but don't flight hours. CAP pilots must be get lazy, and as long as you're a team 17 or older and hold a valid FAA player, you'll be fine. pilots license. You will also have to pass a flight check, and annually

John Chmiel

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THANKS FOR READING

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