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McCallum High School / 5600 Sunshine / Austin, TX 78756 / Oct. 17, 2014 / Issue 2 / Volume 62

y r r a c Voices Students participate in 2014 midterm election page 14-15

WHAT’S INSIDE Student’s father finds perfect match for bone marrow transplant

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New athletic trainer discusses goals, career before McCallum page 18

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Transportation Network Companies, such as Uber and Lyft, approved to operate in Austin New Internet provider created by Google to make its debut in Austin later this year

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Two Blue Brigade members traveled to New York to participate in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Guest director Lara Wright focuses on casting and character development in fall theatre production

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Senior Adam Freng talks about his experience covering McCallum football for “Friday Night Fanstand” Brothers Connor and Kyle Teseny play doubles in tennis, train together outside of school team

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Top: Junior Sofia Mock plays her clarinet for the track entitled “Trip” that was recorded while on the John Lennon Bus. Photo by Aiden Foster.

Bottom: Seniors Marilyn Connelly and Meredith Gates plant rosemary in memory of former teacher Rosemary Nauert. Photo by Seren Villwock.

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Choir Cabaret 7 p.m. shows Friday-Saturday Matinee Saturday-Sunday

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Holiday Band Concert in MAC @ 7 p.m.

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Boys basketball vs. Eastside Memorial @ MAC Orchestra Concert in MAC @ 7 p.m.

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Informal Dance Performance in FAT @ 6:30 p.m.

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Chamber Music Recital in MAC @ 2 p.m.

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Final Exams Holiday Break

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#Marrow4Matt MARY STITES

co-editor in chief

During the car ride back after a football game, freshman Davis Roe was felt a sense of relief when he got an answer about the complications that his father, Matt Roe, had been experiencing since January.

After months of symptoms and contradicting reports from doctors, Matt Roe was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia, a bone marrow condition in which marrow stops producing blood cells.

“We had known something was wrong with him for a while,” Davis said.

“It was a little bit of a relief to know what it was and how we needed to treat it, but it was also the realization that [his condition] was real and my family would have to go through this.”

Davis’ mother, Emily Roe, who is a Lamar dance teacher and Matt’s wife, said Matt’s first doctor had told him his condition was not serious. Skeptical of this conclusion, Matt visited MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to continue consultations with doctors. After a series of biopsies, the doctors at MD Anderson told the Roes to wait for two weeks for results. However, after just one week, the diagnosis came.

“His first doctor didn’t think it was anything too serious,” Emily said. “[Matt] was convinced that he was dying and he was very freaked out. I kept say-

ing, ‘It’s okay. Let’s just stay calm,’ but then when we finally got a confirmation, I was in shock. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, he does have a serious condition.’”

However, before the prognosis had officially been delivered, the Roes’ former neighbor and long-time friend, Amy Hufford, began coordinating information for a donor-drive to find Matt a compatible donor for a bone marrow transplant.

With the help of websites made for Matt’s donor drive and the promotion on social media, over 424 donors went to have their cheeks swabbed during the first blood drive on Oct. 26. Donor drives were also held at Dell Children’s Hospital, in San Antonio and in San Angelo. The attendance at the donor drives, combined with registrations that were mailed in, exceeded 500 donors.

“I did not think there would be that many people,” Davis said. “I knew that it was going to be great, but it really blew my expectations out of the water. It’s crazy and unbelievable to think about how loved you can be from complete strangers.”

Anticipating about 250 donors, Davis and Emily said the promotion on various social media, including the #marrow4matt and www.deletebloodcancer. org, allowed the family to find donors throughout the state.

“That was the most moving part, seeing strangers show up at the donor drive,” Emily said. “They gave us money, people that I didn’t even know. I just couldn’t fathom how many people are so selfless. You could just see that there was a certain group of people out there that are just sensitive and caring. A lot of times it is people out there that have had a similar situation in their life, maybe a loved one struggled with something. But they just know to reach out when they hear something.”

While waiting to hear back for the results to find a donor, Davis said he re-

Used with permission

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Dad to begin treatment for Aplastic Anemia Finding a Match

members to stay present and live in the moment. people in North “My mom tells me to stay America are diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia present and in every year the moment,” Davis said. “She tells me not to worry because worrying doesn’t really help of patients needyou out and it won’t do you any ing a transplant do not have a comgood. When I’m not living in the patable donor from their family moment, that’s when you start thinking about the worst possible situation.”

With just 1/100 in patients find a perfect match chance of finding a perfect match, A patient’s sibling has a in chance of Emily said she tried to being a compatible match avoid thinking about the reality of not finding a match. However, less than a month after the drive, Matt found a match, and I was suddenly filled found a 14/14 perfect Human Leukocyte with joy and relief.”

Antigen (HLA) match with an unnamed In January, Matt will return to MD 26-year-old male.

Anderson to begin chemotherapy and a “Most people can find someone who 100 day treatment. Davis and Emily said isn’t a perfect match but is compatible,” they encourage anyone to sign up to be Davis said. “A compatible person could an organ donator because you can save make them live, but it isn’t ideal. But my someone’s life. dad found a perfect match, which is reAs Emily wrestles with the Lamar ally rare. The counts were all the same; Dance Academy tutus during the final basically he found his genetic twin. I was dress rehearsal before the fall show, she overcome with joy. It was an awesome said the most important thing to rememand amazing feeling. I went from being ber is to be present with her family and scared and not knowing what was going to remember that life still goes on. on to feeling confident and ready to take “I just have to remember that evon the issue.” ery moment is a blessing,” Emily said.

Emily said the news of a perfect “Life is always going to have its ups and match was just the news she needed to downs and you can’t worry. You never hear. know what life has around the corner, “It was funny because I’m trying to and we just have to keep moving. I think be mindful and not get ahead of myself,” sometimes we deceive ourselves and Emily said. “When he got the call, he think we are in control when we are retried to get a hold of me, and for some ally not. I try to think about the grand reason I didn’t answer. I came home to scheme of things. We just have to trust in run a quick errand and he told me that God to carry us and sustain us. That’s all they had called. He told me that they had any of can do.”

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Transportation Network Companies get the green light from City Council MARY STITES

co-editor in chief

After multiple city council meetings and additions to Chris Riley’s transportation ordinance, on Oct. 16 city council members voted 6-1 to approve the legalization of Transportation Network Companies such as Uber and Lyft.

The city council met multiple times and made multiple edits to the proposed ordinance. For the next sixth months, TNCs will be operating legally in Austin. However, the ordinance requires the TNCs perform more rigorous background checks that include both fingerprint and warrant checks. The attempt to set a cap on the “surge pricing” (pricing rising with the demand) failed after council member Kathie Tovo requested the cap.

Uber, established in 2009, is a ridesharing company based out of San Francisco.

Uber is currently operating in over 200 cities and 45 countries worldwide. To use Uber, users download the Uber app,

make an account and sync a method of payment (i.e., credit card or PayPal). The app uses your location and displays the nearby Uber vehicles, along with an estimation on when your Uber driver will arrive. Users can wait inside until their driver has arrived to pick them up. Junior Lily Stuesser used Uber after being dropped off for dinner downtown.

“I would say that I like it more than using a cab,” Stuesser said. “They have the Uber app, and you can see all of the Uber drivers that are near you, so you always know how far away a driver is rather than calling a cab and having to wait and wait.”

Uber Austin consists of two programs, UberX and UberXL, geared for larger crowds. Both programs have their original vehicles that run throughout the year, but Uber cycles through different vehicles that are temporarily available, which are called “Sample Vehicles.” The UberX main vehicle is a black Toyota Prius, while the UberXL vehicle is a black Hon-

McCallum High School

da Pilot. The sample vehicles for UberX are currently a pedicab, the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. The Sample Vehicles for the UberXL are the Honda Odyssey, Ford Explorer and the Toyota Highlander.

To be an Uber driver, a person must sign up and provide the documents to drive and get the app that notifies Uber riders when drivers are in the area. Once the driver is hired, they can begin servicing Uber members. Drivers can use their own car or use an Uber vehicle.

“I thought it was more official,” Stuesser said. “It is really relaxed. They just hire anyone. You go through the training, and then you’re an Uber driver. I was a little skeptical at first because of this, but my experience was nice and there were no issues.”

City Council Member Chris Riley, writer of the ordinance, announced his “Peer-2-Peer Transit Resolution” in September as an attempt to reduce the number of drunk drivers in Austin. Wayne

$11-$15 4.2 mi

5600 Sunshine Drive 78756

$16-$21

McCallum High School

6.2 mi

5600 Sunshine Drive 78756

McCallum High School 5600 Sunshine Drive 78756

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$77-$103

Vincent, the Austin Police Association President, the director of the ATX Safer Streets, a member of the University of Texas student government and a Downtown Alliance member, joined Riley.

Riley told KXAN that the “Peer-2-Peer Transit Resolution” worked to bring the TNCs out of the shadows to make them more accessible to reduce drunk driving.

“I think more younger crowds will start using Uber and it will help with drunk driving. You see the Uber cars all of the time downtown, which is good,” Stuesser said. “It definitely provides a better, more easily accessible alternative for people trying to get home safely.”

Stuesser said her first ride was encouraging, and she will use Uber again.

“I was pretty comfortable in the driver’s car,” Stuesser said. “It was a dad, and he had waters for everyone. It was nice.

I’ve taken taxis before and they are usually pretty dirty and you have to wait for a long time, but the guy’s car that I was in was really clean.”

House Park Stadium 1301 Shoal Creek 78703

Zilker Park

2100 Zilker Metropolitan Park 78704

San Marcos Outlets 42.6 mi

4015 I35 78766

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Remembering Georgia Esquivel

‘I was there’ Students, staff remember Veteran’s Day car accident, honor woman’s life with memorial SEREN VILLWOCK co-editor in chief

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ust before the AISD Veteran’s diploma ceremony at McCallum Nov. 11, a pedestrian was struck and killed by a car. The accident occurred in the parking lot between the gym and the theater, where 83-year-old Georgia Esquivel was pronounced dead around 2 p.m. She had been walking through the parking lot to the ceremony in support

Elena Villalon, senior “I was attending the Veteran’s Graduation because I was singing the National Anthem. I guess I sang a couple of minutes after it happened. I walked out and the EMS was there, and some more police were arriving, and that’s when I walked out on the scene. There was tape blocking my car and all the other cars in the parking lot, and the EMS and the police blocked off the body from the other side, but I could see it from where I was standing.

Actually 12 hours before, I was driving home

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of her uncle, who was among 11 armed forces veterans to receive belated high school diplomas.

Due to the staff development day, school was not in session when the accident occurred. However, some students were on campus for arts rehearsals or athletic practices, including wrestling and choir, and a few staff members were witnesses. A memorial for Esquivel with candles and flowers was created in the lighted circle seating area next to the fine arts parking lot. from the airport and I was a witness to the 18-wheeler that flipped over the freeway. Then 12 hours later, this happened, and so I was just very frazzled. I think it was especially hard for me seeing that because I did have those flashbacks to when my parents were in a terrible car accident.”

Jeffrey Rudy, teacher “We were coming back from lunch break. I had just walked in [to my office in the band hall] and my phone rang. My wife said, ‘I think you need to get outside.’ It had been about 60 seconds or so. I real-

Junior Kaitlyn McWilliams had a moment of silence when she placed her vase of brightlycolored flowers among the others for Georgia Esquivel in the seating circle outside the small gym following the Veteran’s Day accident.

McWilliams said she will cherish her memories of Georgia Esquivel, who had been a close friend of her great-grandmother’s since they were in high school together.

“They were always hanging out,” McWilliams said. “She would come over for family gatherings. She was really sweet and really nice.”

Esquivel was very patriotic, McWilliams said, and not just on Veteran’s Day. “Every time I would go to her house, she was dressed in red, white and blue,” she said. “My great-grandma would buy her a green shirt, and she goes, ‘Angela, you need to take that back.’ She had a lot of fun laughs.”

McWilliams said Esquivel’s memorial at school is touching.

“It’s just so sweet,” she said. “ It’s heartwarming to know that she’s remembered here, even by people who didn’t know her.”

ized that somebody had been hit by a car real quickly. Your instincts kind of kick-in, and you just go, just kind of an automatic response. It was obvious that there was nothing to do. It was a blur. My role, looking back on it, was basically to keep people out of there. By that point, the policemen were starting to put up tape and I was asked to assist. We were trying to shield that whole scene from everybody that was passing by. There was no place for me to go because my car was blocked in, so we were in and out of the scene until it was over and they were clearing everything out.”

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Coming to a halt

Supreme Court blocks parts of 2013 Texas abortion restrictions law RACHEL WOLLEBEN staff reporter

When sophomore Alex Ellis heard that the Supreme Court halted parts of a Texas state law called House Bill 2, she felt relieved.

“I don’t know exactly what they blocked, but blocking any part of the bill as far as I’m concerned would help,” Ellis said. “The government has now taken a stand and is giving a position, which I think is very helpful.”

On Oct. 14, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked specific additions to House Bill 2, passed in 2013, that imposed strict requirements on facilities providing abortions for women, which allowed for several to reopen immediately.

“The Supreme Court order that halted the ambulatory surgical center provision of House Bill 2 from going into effect is a victory for Texans’ health and safety,” Zoey Lichtenheld, the Communications Coordinator for the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws Pro-Choice Texas, said. “We are pleased that the Supreme Court saw through Attorney General Greg Abbott’s argument that the widespread closure of abortion clinics would merely pose an ‘inconvenience’ for Texans seeking abortion.”

When the bill was passed, it forced all but eight abortion clinics to shut down in Texas, and it would have forced many women to travel more than 150 miles just to reach the facilities.

“It’s ridiculous,” Ellis said. “I mean, it’s already a burden to be pregnant.

And to be pregnant and have to drive 150 miles? That’s just ridiculous. It’s a ridiculous system put in place just to make it more and more difficult for women to get what they need or want.”

Texas received permission to move forward with the new restrictions from a federal appeals court ruling on Oct. 2, allowing the state to require all facilities providing abortions to meet the same building, equipment and staffing standards as hospitallike surgical centers, as well as requiring doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. As

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soon as the restrictions went into effect, abortion rights advocates asked the Supreme Court justices to intervene on an emergency basis.

“Without the order, there would currently be only eight abortion clinics open in Texas,” Lichtenheld said. “These clinics would all be in urban areas and would leave large regions of Texas without any clinics. While we celebrate the Supreme Court’s order, the back and forth between the courts has put a strain on abortion clinic staff and has caused confusion in the communities where clinics have closed and reopened multiple times since the passage of House Bill 2.”

State officials argued that the law’s requirements were needed to protect women’s health while abortion providers said the regulations were expensive, unnecessary and a ploy meant to put many of them out of business.

“Conservative Republicans, or the people that suggested the bill, are not doing it for the reasons they say,” Ellis said. “It’s not about health; it’s about their own agenda, which is wrong. They want it to make women’s health better, they want to make abortions safer, but honestly all those clinics were fine. I think the whole reason they’re doing all of this is because they think that a fetus has more rights than a woman.”

Further arguments from the state officials claim that Texas women would not be burdened by fewer facilities providing abortions, which the law’s opponents have countered by pointing out that the regulations leave nearly a million Texas women forced to go on trips longer than three hours to get an abortion.

“Women should have the right to choose what they

want,” Ellis said. “What about rape vic- obtaining an abortion, where the providtims? What about pregnancies that will er must show and describe the image to kill you? What about these things? Or, the woman, and even enforce that womdo you expect a woman who’s dying be- en are unable to receive public funding cause of her pregnancy to either keep it for abortions unless in the cases of life endangerment, rape or incest. or travel 200 miles to not die?”

“High school students should be Before House Bill 2 was enacted in 2013, Texas had more than 41 facilities concerned about abortion restrictions,” that provided abortions and other repro- Lichtenheld said. “These restrictions impact all Texans, and minors face an adductive services to women.

“House Bill 2 was passed under the ditional hurdle to accessing abortion in guise of protecting Texans’ health and Texas. They’re required to get parental safety, despite zero evidence of a demonstrated problem with abortion care in the state,” Lichtenheld said. “Abortion is by far one of the safest outpatient procedures and was already highly regulated in Texas. The restrictions of House -Alex Ellis, sophomore Bill 2, particularly the admitting privileges and the ambulatory surgical consent or judicial bypass first.”

The Supreme Court’s ruling, which center requirements, are onerous and medically unnecessary restrictions. Anti- blocked the newest additions to House choice lawmakers couldn’t outright ban Bill 2, does not have any permanent efabortion altogether, so instead they tried fect until more appeals can be filed reto make it unavailable and unaffordable garding the fairness of the law.

“There are definitely groups of stufor hundreds of thousands of Texans.”

The several restrictions enlisted in dents here at McCallum that care,” Ellis House Bill 2 require women to attend said. “There’s obviously some people state-directed counseling regarding who make it a point to avoid having the decision to have an abortion, after an opinion in most political arguments, which they must wait 24 hours which I think is really silly because it after to have their pro- really does affect you, and if not now it cedure, undergo an will. But I think that a lot of people do ultrasound before care, and I feel McCallum is the school to be at for these beliefs.”

Supporters of abortion providers Illustration by claim the high court’s decision to be a Rachel Wolleben significant step for their cause while the law’s supporters see it as a minor step back.

“I feel like this was a critical blow,” Ellis said. “If the federal government had never said, ‘No you can’t have these restrictions,’ then I feel like it would just get worse and worse and worse. But as it is, I think the situation is going to get better, and slowly.”

“It’s already a burden to be pregnant. And to be pregnant and have to drive 150 miles? That’s just ridiculous.

It’s a ridiculous system put in place just to make it more and more difficult for women to get what they need or want.”

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Keeping Austin Wired New Internet provider is coming to Austin neighborhoods HALEY HEGEFELD co-assistant editor

Austin will become the third market in the United States for Google Fiber, a new technology that will provide the fastest Internet service currently available.

“Fiber, in its simplistic form, operates on transmitting light as opposed to traditional signals, which are transmitted through copper cable,” junior Hunter Bagby said. “The bandwidth is increased by almost 100 times over what you would get with traditional cable, so the speed and potential of it is much greater than what you would normally get.”

Traditional Internet providers used copper cable, whereas Fiber, a gigabit (or 1,000 megabits per second) Internet, uses fiber-optic cable to transmit light. It will be the third ISP to provide gigabit Internet behind Grande Communications and AT&T GigaPower.

The service is currently only provided in Kansas City, Kansas, and is being extended to Provo, Utah, as well. Bagby said the combination of having so many technology companies based here and the market for technology makes Austin one of the first markets to get it.

According to Google Fiber’s website,

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the service is being extended to Austin because of the enthusiastic response by Austin’s leaders. Austin is also known as a place full of entrepreneurial spirit in many fields, as well as having the University of Texas and the new medical research hospital. All of these reasons led Google to expand Fiber into Austin.

“The technology that you see here, doesn’t matter if it’s your computer markets or manufacturers or general innovation, Austin seems to be on the forefront of leading technologies,” Bagby said.

“Whenever there is some-Hunter Bagby, thing new, Austin is the first place to get it, and to me, having Fiber seems no different.”

In December, the service will be available in South Lamar, Zilker, Travis Heights and Bouldin neighborhoods.

Other neighborhoods have the opportunity to sign up for the service at the same time, and the places with the highest demand will get the service.

After this, construction begins on the infrastructure needed to support the system.

licity about how they are digging new tunnels and trenches and all that in your neighborhood because Fiber is a totally different system than what is currently being used for telecommunications. It’s all underground.”

The online activity that will be most improved is video streaming, like Netflix and Hulu, Bagby said.

“If you have multiple people on Netflix or Hulu and you get such highjunior definition video that’s streaming, [the connection] will bog down, especially when you have everyone in the neighborhood doing the same thing,” Bagby said. “Fiber is supposed to alleviate the blockage and the slowdowns you would get from traditional broadband connections.”

Currently, AISD uses a fiber system called the Greater Austin Area Telecommunications Network, which is managed by an Austin business cooperative.

Math teacher Paul Schuler and principal Mike Garrison went to a City Council meeting where Google Fiber was dis“[The construction is] the main reacussed. At the meeting, the City Council son that the service is not already here,” members said all AISD high schools are Bagby said. “Google [has] a lot of pubgoing to get Google Fiber, Schuler said.

“The bandwidth is increased by almost 100 times... so the speed and potential of it is much greater than what you would normally get.”

“The main benefit I see is the download time, response time,” Garrison said. “Because I know a lot of teachers, like my wife is a teacher at Bowie too, a lot of teachers access YouTube videos or download things that they want to present in class, so we are talking quick downloads and also much smoother display of that.”

After this, Garrison said they broke into focus groups, in which they discussed the problems they foresee with Google Fiber.

Their group was concerned with how everyone was going to receive access to it, especially those without the means to upgrade their current technology.

“The main thing [that will change for the school] is who manages it,” Bagby said. “The cooperative that manages the GAATN is all run by businesses. It’s basically a collective that just decides [how it will be run]. Whereas Google, they control everything. At times the network is pretty bad here, especially when you get a lot of people on it, but that is due to the management.”

Bagby said basic broadband that you get from cable is usually about half the price of the premium Fiber service, but Google also offers a free fiber service, which only charges a basic set-up fee.

“We always seem to be the new test dummies for the new technologies,” Bagby said.

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Make room for preservation San Antonio City Council approves deal keeping development away from Bracken Cave RACHEL WOLLEBEN staff reporter

Sophomore Terin Dailey has gone with friends and family to see the Congress Avenue Bridge bats several times, but little do Austinites know that outside of this “bat crazy” city, Texas has faced some real bat conservation issues.

“Even in Austin there are some people who think, ‘Oh, bats are scary and we shouldn’t have them here because they could attack us’,” Dailey said. “Bats may seem a little scary. I know people may think they give off this threatening aura, but not all of them are bad.”

On Oct. 31, the San Anto-

nio city council approved a deal with San Antonio, the Nature Conservancy, the Austinbased Bat Conservation International and a real estate developer to stop development near land beside the popular Bracken Cave.

“The decision to preserve the area surrounding the Bracken Bat Cave came as a result of the public of San Antonio rightfully questioning the need for development over this area, which would have caused dramatic and permanent

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harm to this international treasure, along with threatening San Antonio’s primary source of drinking water in the Edwards Aquifer,” San Antonio City Councilman Ron Nirenberg said.

These entities came together to purchase 1,521 acres next to the Bracken Cave Preserve for $20.5 million to ensure the safety and conservation of the largest bat colony in the world that makes its seasonal home there, along with an endangered bird species. It is also a significant source of fresh water for the area.

“It was an easy decision to work toward conservation,” Nirenberg said.

“The importance of protecting our natural resources and our Hill Country heritage made a significant impact, but it was a very difficult effort to build the coalition and ultimately acquire the land.”

The area was previously reserved to become a 3,500 home subdivision before the deal was proposed, which would have put the constructed homes in the middle of a flight path for the bat colony that leads to agricultural areas south of San Antonio.

“It’s good that they put the environment into consideration because usually people would rather have money than bats,” Dailey said. “Bats live here along with

Illustration by Mary Stites.

us, so it’s good that they’re putting a hold on building as many new places for people to live and preserving places just for the environment.”

Preserving this area around the bats’ seasonal home allows them to play their role as a keystone species for their ecosystem and ensures that people can have the opportunity of seeing them in action.

“It is not a question of putting the environment first or the economy first,” Nirenberg said. “In fact, the strength of our economy is in lock-step with the resilience of our natural resources and environment. Those who would put one against the other are not working in the best interests of Texans. The relative effect on our natural resources and environmental assets should always be considered because, as best illustrated with the issue of water, that is the foundation of our economic health and quality of life.”

The high costs of preserving Texas’ colonies of Mexican free-tailed bats in areas outside of Austin can allow Austinites to rethink how they treat the famous high-flying mammals that make their home under the Congress Avenue Bridge.

“I think their fame is beneficial because it’s what makes us Austin. It’s one of the cool perks and weird things about our city,” Dailey said. “The bats are a huge part of that.”

Since the bat colony first moved under the Congress Avenue Bridge in 1980, it’s grown to be the largest urban bat colony in North America, with over 1.5 million bats that fly out from under the bridge every summer night to go and get food.

“I started the public bat watching cruises, and I now have two boats that go out seven nights a week just to see the bats depart,” Mike Pearce, owner of Lone Star Riverboat Cruises, said.

“My business would not be profitable without the bats. Without the bats we would all feel the effects and suffer.”

Around 100,000 people come to watch the bat colony emerge from under the bridge every year, and it’s estimated that bat-watching adds about $10 million to Austin’s economy, primarily from batthemed river cruises, kayak and segway tours, and restaurants that offer a view of the nightly flight.

“Just with my boats alone, approximately 9,000 to 11,000 people each year take one of our bat-watching cruises,” Pearce said. “Most people probably don’t come to Austin just to see the bats depart, however. I think it is something most people have on their to do list when they visit Austin. It’s just great to see how much fun people have and how excited they get watching the bats depart and learning so much about them.”

Despite the appreciation for bats seen in Austin, bat populations are declining, and certain species are endangered due to overharvesting and habitat loss.

“I think they’re being driven out of their habitats because of the new stuff that’s being built around them,” Dailey said. “There are probably still some people who are afraid of bats and don’t want them around.”

However, the San Antonio City Council’s decision to approve the conservation deal for the area around Bracken Cave may prove that steps are being taken in a more environmentally-conscious direction.

“We have three major points with our goal in approving the deal,” Nirenberg said. “First, to protect the Edwards Aquifer and thereby the main source of drinking water for this South Texas region. Second, to protect the largest colony of bats in the world, along with additional threatened and endangered species in that area.

And third, to push back against the kind of unsustainable sprawl that has had a detrimental effect on the economy and quality of life in so many Texas cities.”

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The right man for the job Student to create film adaptation of Stephen King short story MARA VANDEGRIFT news editor

When senior Thomas Magnuson was told that his film teacher Kenneth Rogers had selected him to create a film based on one of Stephen King’s short stories, he couldn’t believe it.

“I thought he was giving me this as an assignment and that Stephen King had nothing to do with it,” Magnuson said.

“After about a day, I realized that this is really big and this is really awesome.”

Magnuson said when Stephen King was in town for a book signing on Nov. 15, he heard about the McCallum film program. “[King] will contact up-and-coming film makers and give them the rights for one year to a short story to make into a film,” Magnuson said. “His agent asked Mr. Rogers to pick a student, and then it was me.”

Rogers said Magnuson had a lot to offer to this film.

“I think Thomas is technically a good filmmaker,” Rogers said. “I think he has a good vision. I thought Thomas would be able to do a good job of creating a screen-

play, and he did.”

After being chosen, Magnuson had to read all the stories available for adapting into a film and select one.

“I wrote a treatment for it, and that’s basically what I was going to do and how I was going to film it, and a little biography of myself,” Magnuson said. “If [King] liked that, he would send me the contract.”

Magnuson said he chose ‘The Man Who Loved Flowers” because it was simple to film yet had an interesting plot.

“I needed to find one that was a) interesting but also b) Senior Thomas Magnuson signs the contract to filmable,” Magnuson said. “All direct a film based on a Stephen King short story of them were awesome, but a lot as counselor secretary Jody Ray looks on. Photo of them were very hard to film. by Ken Rogers.

The one that I chose takes place in about two different locations done something like this, and he said it and it’s pretty short and it’s easy to film, will be good screenplay practice and crebut yet it has a lot of suspense and a big ating a “visual adaptation.” twist at the end, so it seemed like a very “It will be nice being able to film a fun thing to do.” decent story,” Magnuson said. “A lot of This is the first time Magnuson has times I have to write the script for my

films, and they don’t always turn out that great, and a lot of times it’s because of the script. This time I have a decent script from a really good story, so I’ll be able to make a good film.”

Magnuson said he hopes to submit his film to festivals and meet contacts who will help him in the future. He said he also wants to include as many people as possible in the process of making his film.

“I want as much help as possible because it’s not just me alone doing this,” Magnuson said. “Everyone who’s involved with this project, which will hopefully be a lot of people, [will have their] IMDB pages credited with Stephen King, so it’ll be an awesome experience for a lot of people.”

Rogers said he hopes this experience helps both Magnuson and other film students.

“I think it’s a great boost for Thomas,” Rogers said. “Just having a connection in IMDB connected with Stephen King will help him in the future. I’m hoping that if this comes out really good that they’ll ask us to do it again next year. It’s a great opportunity.”

news in brief

Student wins internation- TEAMS app created al guitar competition for easier grade access Senior Alex Lew won an international guitar competition head at Texas A&M University against 12 other people ages 13 to 19.

“I was actually pretty shocked [when I won], but it was awesome,” Lew said.

Lew said he hasn’t done many competitions but after winning this, he has been inspired to do more.

“It definitely opened the door to me realizing I should compete more,” Lew said. “I also want to study guitar in college, so that was awesome; I can add it to my resume.”

05 dec. 2014

Jack Guy, a senior at Bowie High School, developed an app called Grade Buzz to make viewing grades easier. It is designed to show students’ grades, attendance and teachers’ tutorial sessions.

Students log in with their normal username and password.

“TEAMS does make it harder to view my grades, especially on my phone,” junior Alexia Heinrich said. “When the system was first put into effect, I had to download Chrome just for the login to work. Also, having to sign in twice is super-annoying, and I don’t check my

grades nearly as much as I did last year.

I would check my grades more if it was less time-consuming.”

The app costs 99 cents and is available in the App store for Apple and Google Play stores.

Soccer players assist in developing app Several students have been working with a company called Mutual Mobile to give input on an app being developed.

“The app is targeted for footballobsessed teens,” project manager Travis McCutcheon said. “In our search of Austin, McCallum came up. Teenagers here seem football-obsessed, so we wanted to

include them in our research.”

The app is supposed to get kids outside and get them more active in the form of playing soccer.

“I like that fact that it’s really easy to use,” sophomore Reilly Bennett said.

“You can just look at a map and see where all your friends are. [The best feature is] the map for sure.”

The app developers have spoken to students from other schools besides McCallum hoping to get feedback from many people. “[The app will be in] 40 countries [with] 19 languages,” McCutcheon said.

“So the U.S. is our biggest market, but Mexico, Brazil, Germany and the United Kingdom are also extremely large.”

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Two dancers partcipate in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade The theme of their dance was I Y Gaming. At the beginning, the dancers held wood co-assistant editor blocks that were supposed to be game conSnow was falling in New York City trollers. They also had wands that confetti while sophomore Brittne Miller and senior flew out of. The Tetris theme song and the Blue Brigade captain Allie Faulkner walked Mario theme song were both included in the 50 blocks in the Macy’s music.

Thanksgiving Day PaThe dancrade. ers flew to New “It was really exciting York the Satto just see so many peourday before ple there,” Faulkner said.

Thanksgiving, “Everybody was yelling so they had time and screaming and I was to go on outings waving, and I felt so imand see the city. portant.”

“I went to The girls were right the Statue of behind the Ninja TurLiberty,” Miller tles and the Kool-Aid said. “I went to man and in front of Pisee the Rockkachu. About 600 dancettes at Radio er and 600 cheerleaders City. I went to participated, although Grand Central. they performed separateWe rode on the ly, Miller said. subway. I ate “There’s not actually a lot of pizza. I that many people around went to Times [while we danced in Square and front of Macy’s] because Toys ‘R Us, we were towards the Faulkner saw the two Rockettes handing the Hershey’s end,” Faulkner said. out advertisements for their show outside of Store and the “The people who had the M’n’M’s store. On Instagram, Faulkner M’n’M’s store. been sitting in the seeing said, “Too short to ever be a Rockette but a Just [chairs] had left, and Times Square girl can dream.” everybody in front of [was my favoryou is cameras. Since ite part], and I was in the middle for most of it, and then the chocolate stores.”

I moved to the front at the very end, it wasn’t Miller said this was her first time to be too nerve-wracking.” in New York (and her first time being on a

HALEY HEGEFELD

plane), so these were all new experiences for go. her. She was most looking forward to seeing “For us, you have to go to officer camp [to the Rockettes, who she said she would like to get All American],” Faulkner said. “Then at be a part of for a year. officer camp, you take different classes and in The girls had rehearsals throughout the those classes, if you get a red ribbon, which week. The dancers pracis for outstandticed in a ballroom, with ing performance the woman who was and technique, in charge of perfecting then you are the routine standing on able to try out. a stage with a microYou try out with phone and two helpers. your other of“The day we got ficers and then there, I got to the hoyou get chosen.” tel at 6:20 and then Faulkner the first rehearsal was said she had at 7, which was four been looking hours,” Faulkner said. forward to go“The next day, Sunday, ing since her juwe rehearsed for seven nior year when hours. The Monday we she was awardrehearsed for two or ed All Amerithree hours, and then can Honorable we did the NBC [dress Mention. rehearsal]. Tuesday, we “I had seen had off. Wednesday was officers in the another four-hour dress past go, like I rehearsal.”

Grace Miller and Faulkner wait for their sub- know In order to have McClure went way in the station before their perforthis opportuSydney mance, clad in their I Y Gaming wear. and nity, Faulker was went,” Faulkner posted this picture on Insta- Jones awarded with gram with the caption, “It snowed while Faulkner said. “I All American we danced but it was all worth it! Happy was always like, Dancer. Miller ‘That’s so cool.’

Thanksgiving from NYC y’all!!” got first in her A couple of girls small ensemfrom my studio ble, enabling have gone through their drill team, so it has her to been something I have been wanting to do for a while.”

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Theatre takes new direction Wright leads actors in latest production, ‘You Can’t Take It With You’ MAYA COPLIN

your own imagination to write biographies [as you] go through the scripts. You can start photo editor with a caricature, but it’s normally on the surUnlike most of McCallum’s previous pro- face, so I encourage them to delve as deeply ductions, the play “You Can’t Take It With as they can.”

After being in productions with her at You” features a guest director, Lara Wright.

After directing “Trench Coats in Common” Zach, Denning looked for opportunities to last year, Wright directed her second show at bring Wright in as a guest director.

“We were doing [a show] two ChristMAC last month.

One of the leads of the play, senior Jacob mases ago, and he was just talking about Roberts-Miller, said theatre teacher Joshua how full his schedule was and I was talking Denning and guest director Wright have dif- about how I would love to start getting into directing,” Wright said. “Then he asked me if ferent styles of directing. “[Wright] has been more focused on mov- I would be interested.”

Wright started the process of directing ing through the show and getting everything blocked quickly and running stuff as a whole the show with a table read where she read rather than running individual scenes,” Rob- the full script for the first time.

“I was crying with laughter,” Wright said. erts-Miller said. “We are also doing character work throughout whereas usually with Mr. “We were having so much fun. I just knew it Denning we will block a scene a few times was going to be a really collaborative experiand then we will have two or three days ence. I have a general vision of what I have to pull from the themes of the play and what where we work specifically on characters.”

Wright has a background as an actress, not, but that’s what I love about theatre. It’s so she encourages students to mark scripts to a collaboration.”

According to Wright, one of the hardbring the character to life.

“Well, the go-to is the script. The writer’s est parts of the process in creating the play vision has to be brought to life, so first off is casting. In order to be chosen for a part, a I encourage actors to come to the script.” student would have to be able to project well Wright said. “From there [you can] delve and be physically right for the role.

With 207 lines, sophomore Max Corney deeper and use your own experience and was one of the leads of the show. With help from Wright, Corney was able to transform himself from a teenage boy to a grandfather. Corney said it was difficult making his appearance as a grandfather stand apart from that of other teenagers.

“The process I went through was a very difficult one,” Coney said. “I’ve never played an old man.

I kind of wanted to make this character mine, so I didn’t watch any videos of prior productions. I could Sophomore Max Corney and freshman Tristan Tierney make the character mine, perform together in “You Can’t Take It With You.” The so that was really neat. I play was Corney’s first production here since moving had help from [Wright] creating this character, from San Diego

05 dec. 2014

Charecters Anna and Tony, played by freshman Anna McGuire and senior Jacob Roberts-Miller, come from different backgrounds but fall in love. “It’s good we get to [work with] various different people,” senior Jacob Roberts-Miller said about working with guest director Laura Write. Photos by Maya Coplin. and my friends actually helped me decide who I was as a character and helped me grow.”

Unlike the previous play “The Producers,” “You Can’t Take it With You” is not a musical. Because it is an ensemble play, there are less people in it, and each character has a more present role on stage.

“Auditions were right after ‘Producers,’ so a lot of us just had to pull together a monologue really quickly,” Roberts-Miller said.

“We auditioned, and once the cast list went up, we started rehearsals right away. We went through the show and blocked Act One and Two and went back and ran those a few times. [Then we started] blocking Act 3, [we then ran] Act 3 several times. [We ran] the show as a whole from start to finish until we hit tech week.”

Corney and Roberts-Miller said they enjoy acting in straight plays instead of musicals. Corney said his experience in “You Can’t Take It With You” has shown him that he prefers plays over musicals.

“Other productions that I have been in

were mostly musicals because teenagers do musicals.” Corney said. “They don’t really do straight plays. It’s really nice to do a straight play. I feel like I like it more than musicals, which is nice to know. I’ve done Shakespeare as straight plays, and that was fun. I love it, but it’s also really refreshing to do a modern straight play.”

Corney said the cast and crew were very welcoming in his first production at MAC since moving from San Diego. “[Wright] is fantastic,” Corney said. “She has really helped me along the way. Given me pro tips. The best tip she has given me is to create a character bio about 10 pages.

Through the process of the show, I have just added more stuff. I haven’t done it all at once, but I’ve added more every day.”

Wright said the cast members she chose would be able to make the characters come to life on stage.

“I feel like I ended up with a really strong cast,” Wright said. “Their contribution is just as if not more important than mine.”

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The gift of giving

Students, staff discuss community service during the holiday season Quick and Easy Care Package: Add a fruit

Add a juice

Add some candy

Add a water Add a sandwich

Add raisins

Add toiletries

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HANNAH ILAN staff reporter

Sophomore Alana Raper said volunteering during the holiday season isn’t about trying to do more for the community at that time, but actually about thinking of why it should be done and who should be helped.

“A lot of times, you can really see what you’re doing and how it’s making an impact, and I think that’s my favorite part because I feel like I have actually done something,” Raper said.

Raper added it is important to help everyone who is in need, no matter the person’s situation, because the point of community service is to be there for everyone and by doing so, other people are influenced to help their community as well.

“Right now I’m mostly volunteering with Partnerships for Children, which is for children who are in foster care,” Raper said. “We help the caseworkers by getting them supplies that they might need for children in foster care.”

According to the Center of Philanthropy, the average person makes 24 percent of his or her annual donations between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

This period of time, also known as the

Season of Giving, is an occasion where people are more generous with taking the time to help less-fortunate people.

Many students have so many great opportunities in life that helping others is the right thing to do, and it gives people’s holidays more meaning, librarian Jane Farmer said.

‘The earlier children start participating in community service the better, Farmer said. Then kids can make a habit out of volunteering and recognize that not everyone is as fortunate as they are during the holiday season, and they can try to improve other people’s holidays.

Assistant Principal Larry Featherstone said students should learn from others about how fortunate they are, and, because of that, they should give back to the community.

“I think it’s very important that we model as adults in front of these high school students who go here to McCallum so they know what giving and sharing looks like,” Featherstone said.

Junior Hayden Price said spreading the idea of community service by example is the best way to get others on board during the holiday season.

“I give to the homeless during the holidays because I just feel like people need to take care of them too,” Price said.

“They’re still humans. They need to be treated equally and they get to celebrate the holidays too. If others see me handing out food to the homeless, maybe next time they’ll feel more inclined to do something themselves.”

Not only is community service helpful for the givee, butthe non-materialistic reward helps the giver feel good as well.

“I like to see the smiles

on people’s faces when they get food and know that someone is looking out for them during the holiday season,” Price said.

Featherstone said it feels good to help others during the holiday season because otherwise no one knows what someone may be eating, if they would eat at all, or how someone’s holiday would go if it wasn’t for these helping out.

“The smiles on their faces and the ‘thank yous’ that we receive, it just brightens my day,” Featherstone said.

Students have the opportunity to help out the community by donating special items to McCallum’s holiday program to help support a family, or families, during the holiday season, Featherstone said.

They can also help the National Honor Society with its holiday season project by donating socks to help hand out to homeless people during the winter, Farmer said.

“One of the biggest needs that homeless people have during the winter is socks,” Farmer said. “They can layer socks, they can wear them for gloves.

You know, living outdoors, things don’t stay clean or nice and so they cannot get enough socks. So I’ve spoken with a volunteer at Mobile Loaves and Fishes, and she thought it would be a wonderful thing for us to do. So we’ll try to get the whole school involved. And we want to display them on a Christmas tree and make it sort of fun as well as something we can do to help.”

Just getting out whenever possible and helping in any way not only can brighten up someone’s holiday, but also to make the giver’s holiday more worthwhile, Farmer said.

“I probably spent some times when I didn’t do much for others,” Farmer said.

“I was more focused on myself, and it’s much more rewarding when you are doing stuff for other people.”

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A boy’s remedy Taylor Swift’s new album ‘1989’ not just a girl’s break-up medicine JULIA ROBERTSON staff reporter

Taylor Swift’s new album “1989” is expected to sell more than one million copies, which means it will be the first album of 2014 to pass the one million mark. While Swift is known to have a large girl fan base, some boys also find meaning in her songs.

Freshman Lorenzo Celli said he is a huge T-Swift fan and has been since he was 8 years old.

“On a scale of one to 10, I would say that I love her about at a nine,” Celli said. “I really became a fan when I was younger, and I won free tickets to her ‘Fearless’ concert.”

Celli said he loves Swift’s new album because all of the songs are really well thought out and written well.

“The song that really speaks to me is ‘Shake It Off’,” Celli said. “Not for the fact that it is really popular now but how she’s talking about everyone that hates on her for being herself and that she really doesn’t care what they say.”

While Lorenzo likes Swift herself, senior Alex Lew said he loves her songs and has learned some of them on the guitar.

“I would give Taylor’s new album about a six out of 10 in how much I like it,” Lew said, “but I like Taylor about an

Freshman Lorenzo Celli shows Swift’s album “1989.” Photo by Julia Robertson. eight out of 10.”

Lew said he can relate to Swift’s music because he can relate to some of the songs as a high school student.

“Her new album is kind of fun and different from what you would normally expect from her,” Lew said. “As a high school student, it kind of humors me some

of the lyrics of her songs.”

Lew has been a fan for a while and got into learning her songs on the guitar because his younger cousin was a really big fan of Swift.

“My favorite songs are definitely ‘Tear Drops on My Guitar,’ ‘You Belong With Me’ and ‘22,’” Lew said. “I honestly

“Taylor Swift.” 2006. Celli ranks “Fearless.” 2008. Celli ranks “Speak Now.” 2010. Celli ranks “Speak Now” at an 8 out of 10.

“Taylor Swift” at a 7.5 out of 10. “Fearless” at 8.5 out of 10.

05 dec. 2014

don’t know why those songs particularly speak to me so much. I guess it’s just she really speaks to my soul in those songs.

Yeah, that’s really it.”

Swift’s songs are all kind of dark and depressing about failed relationships with guys, Lew said.

“It would be really interesting to hear more songs about actual good relationships. Most of the songs are just kind of negative in a way,” Lew said. “It sounds happy in the song, but when you analyze the lyrics it’s pretty dark.”

Lew said Swift’s songs helped him when he was going through hard times of being a student in high school.

“I mean, I’ve never met her in person, but some moments she brought me through the hard times in my teenage life,” Lew said.

Swift gives out advice to teenage love-hungry girls in her songs, but that can also help Lew out, he said.

“Hearing all the advice really puts me in the right direction,” Lew said, “to really understand what girls are saying about guys.”

Celli and Lew are both Taylor fans who know many of her songs and have been fans for a long time.

“Maybe in the future from Taylor,” Lew said, “we could see some songs about relationships that were actually successful, healthy relationships.”

“Red.” 2012. Celli ranks “Red” at an 8 out of 10.

“1989.” 2014. Celli rates “1989” at an 9.5 out of 10.

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I voted!

The 140-character debate

AIDEN FOSTER

Responses to student’s political tweet go viral

staff reporter

SEREN VILLWOCK co-editor in chief

Senior Joe Cruz, who participated in his first elections, said voting was overwhelming but a milestone experience.

“I was one of the youngest people there,” Cruz said. “I expected to see a lot more people my age, but there were a lot of elderly people and more adults. I definitely felt a little out of place, but at the same time it was really rewarding because I got to use my civic duties.”

On Nov. 4, millions of Americans hit the polls to participate in the recent mid-term elections, but only 21.5 percent of young adults aged 18-29 actually went out and

Senior Charlotte Lichtenheld had people from all over the country responding to one of her tweets following the November elections.

Two people told her to kill herself, four people told her to move out of the country or state, one person told her not to reproduce, and one person continued commenting for days.

“I was really upset about the election results, and I tweeted, ‘My uterus isn’t safe here anymore,’” Lichtenheld said. “It was supposed to be a joke, and everything was fine and then one of my friends commented on the opposite side. That’s what kind of got attention.

Then [former student Justina Gil] was kind of tweeting some aggressive things about the election, and so when she retweeted my tweet, all the people that were hating on her went to me. I probably got like 50 notifications that day.”

Lichtenheld didn’t know the people behind these responses.

“It felt pretty bad, honestly,” she said. “At first, I figured it was just one crazy person, and at first it was fine.

I left it up there just because I didn’t want to let the other side win. It

Students particip

voted. However, senior Tabitha Copeland said she noticed multiple young people exercising their right to vote and was excited to voice her opinion.

“I felt like I was directly affecting my local and national government,” Copeland said. “I took the time to go and research what I was voting for, who they were and what they were about. Generally speaking, I don’t vote for parties. I just vote for people who will do their job.”

While Cruz and Copeland were excited to cast their first ballot, senior Christian McLucas was underwhelmed. “[Voting for the first time] was weird,” McLucas said. “I didn’t really want to vote.

My mom forced me to. I just didn’t really

5 things students should know about new Texa was kind of hurting my feelings that people were getting so aggressive over this, but it really didn’t hit me until that person tweeted at McCallum, and then I just wanted to break down.

That was when my sister called me and asked me if I was okay, and I told her, ‘I’m not.’ That’s when she told people at her work and I started getting all these positive messages, and after that people started supporting me and telling me to stand up for what I believe in.”

The reason her tweet caused such a reaction, she said, is the controversy surrounding abortion rights.

“People are really passionate about it, so I think people were just trying to defend their beliefs, but there’s a difference between defending and crossing the line into harassment,” she said. “Nothing I said was offensive. There’s stuff like that on Twitter all the time where it’s controversial, and the right thing to do is just not to respond if you don’t have anything positive to say because if you say something negative, you know you are starting an argument.”

Even though she was upset by some of the messages, she didn’t take down the tweet.

“I thought about taking it down at first, just because I wanted the messages to stop,” she said. “But, I knew if I took it down, those people were watching what I was doing, and I didn’t want them to know that they got to me.”

She did try to report some of the offensive messages to Twitter, and the website suspended one user but found nothing wrong with the other tweets. Lichtenheld said she believes there needs to be more awareness about harassment on social media.

“Social media is there so you can express your views,” she said, “and people have public profiles so their views can be expressed and anyone can see them, but there’s a difference between expressing your views and openly harassing someone.”

Photo illustrations by Aiden Foster.

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eld ate for first time in November elections know much about the candidates.”

While being unaware of politicians can push pushes people from polls, Copeland read the papers to get information and noticed political signs placed throughout the city.

“I think there are a whole lot of people who are discouraged,” Copeland said. “It is choosing the lesser of two evils.”

Senior Lili Hickman-Waldon said she found it hard to be unaware of the races with the media coverage. Living in a liberal household, Hickman-Waldon said elections were a common discussion topic.

“I was pretty familiar with the ballot,” Hickman-Waldon said. “In my government class we were going over the candidates,

which was really nice. I knew a lot about what was going on with my government moreso than what I previously knew. It wasn’t like I was looking at a ballot full of names I didn’t recognize.”

City council had a new way of electing its members with single member districting, to better have all parts of Austin represented in office. Now, instead of having the top 10 candidates put into city council, a single member from Austin’s 10 districts go into office.

“I was less familiar with the candidates from the districts because it was the first year that Austin did the single-member districting, but I did research them,” Cruz said. ”I knew about governor and lieutenant governor and

s governor Greg Abbott He wants to strengthen border security by allocating more funding toward enforcement. He is expected to sue Obama for the 31st time.

He doesn’t believe an urban rail would be a good use of taxpayer dollars.

senator.”

Cruz said although he gave thought on voting for Greg Abbott, he decided instead to support Wendy Davis.

“In the end, I decided to go blue, just because of what Wendy Davis represents; it’s this different way of operating Texas.”

Senior Brenna Dwyer, who also voted for Davis, said she

was disappointed Davis didn’t win.

“I really liked her position on women’s rights and what she was trying to do in Texas,” Dwyer said. “I am disappointed she didn’t win, though.”

Copeland encourages everyone to vote.

“It’s your right. By being complacent, it’s so much easier to just not think about [politics] and to let [politicians] do their job, but if we continue to be complacent, then it’s not a democracy anymore.

You have to take the step and decide that this is your country, whether you like it or not. It’s your job to make it what you want it to be.”

He wants stronger voter ID laws to prevent voting fraud.

He believes in improving education by giving campuses an A through F letter grade, starting standardized testing in Pre-K, and giving bonuses to teachers whose students score highly on tests..

He believes Obamacare is unconstitutional and wants to end it. He believes in localized control rather than control by the Federal government.

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Never gets old Student members take over leadership of McCallum’s Young Life organization EMMA CUNNINGHAM staff reporter

On Fridays at lunch in math teacher Stephanie Stanley’s room, a group of 20 students, all a part of the group Young Life, gather to talk, eat their food and just have fun being together.

“The objective of having the Young Life lunch is just to get people to come and just hang out,” junior John Carson said. “All kinds of people are accepted. That’s the overall idea of YL, just to come as you are and meet people.”

Young Life has leaders, or counselors, to lead and guide the meetings and be mentors for the students involved. However, since the leaders are no longer allowed to come on campus, the students involved in Young Life are taking on leadership roles.

“It’s been different [without the leaders], but the leaders [have] put us in a position to lead the meetings [this year],” Carson said. “It’s also been interesting ‘cause not many [students] have led [Young Life] before.”

Junior Hannah Smith joined Young Life at the beginning of her freshman year and has been going to every meeting since.

“A couple of the leaders, the first few weeks of freshman year, came up to us and told us about Young Life,” Smith said. “They were all really nice, and I hadn’t joined any clubs yet. It sounded really fun.”

Carson said Young Life is a safe, judgmentfree environment for students to interact and hang out with each other while also discussing Bible lessons.

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“[Young Life] helps me understand things I wouldn’t understand [on my own],” sophomore Keller Brown said.

Brown said even though members play games and just hang out, Young Life is also a place where students can learn about different ways to think about the Bible and its lessons.

“We just play games, hang out with friends and at the end we talk about Jesus,” Brown said.

Brown found out about Young Life from his older sister and thought he’d give it a shot. “[My sister] told me how much fun it was and encouraged me to try it out,” Brown said, “so freshman year that’s what I did.”

Smith has a different perspective on the absence of the leaders than Brown, but they both share the same general feelings on the matter. “[Leaders] are sort of like a brother you can hang out

with and talk to,” Brown said, “[so] not having them there is a little bit more difficult.”

Since both Smith and Brown had the leaders come to them and talk about Young Life and encourage them to join, Smith said it’s much harder for kids to get the idea of Young Life when it’s explained by students.

“I started going to Young Life when they came to school and talked to [my friends and me],” Smith said, “so not a lot of people get the same experience of [the leaders] coming [to talk] and hang out with us.”

Smith encourages students to try Young Life if they are interested at all.

“Anyone is always welcome, and it’s really fun,” Smith said. “You don’t have to be a part of a certain group or anything to come hang out with us, and you don’t have to come to every meeting. If you want to just come to one or two, then that’s fine.”

A special arrangement MAC alumni has three records out in stores RAMON WALKER staff reporter

Former McCallum student Jake Andrews has taken his skills that were partially developed in practice rooms here to a professional level as a blues-rock musician. While Andrews attended McCallum, the faculty arranged a special schedule for him so he could get time in to play his own music during the common school day.

“I had my schedule arranged to take regular classes, like history and English, but I would also have a period or two where I would go into one of the band practice rooms to work on my own music,” Andrews said. “It was a special arrangement they had made for me because I was already a professional musician, playing music so much.”

Andrews grew up around his father’s band, Mother Earth, and the musical impact formed him into the musician he is now. He really started playing guitar when he was between 5 and 6 years old.

“I grew up mainly listening to and trying to play music that [my father had,”Andrews said, “his vinyl records from the ‘50s and ‘60s, a lot of rock and roll, some soul, but mainly a lot of blues like Freddy King,

B.B. King, Albert Collins and Albert King. And rock and roll like Chuck Berry, Elvis and Buddy Holly.”

During his junior high years, Andrews became interested in other music like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and other rock from the late ‘60s. Around this age, he also got a full sized guitar to replace the smaller Fender guitar of his childhood. Even then, he was doing shows with known blues artists from Austin, like Albert King and Jimmie Vaughan.

“I was playing so much music professionally, even then [at McCallum], and traveling and recording, working on my first record in Los Angeles,” Andrews said. “I was doing a lot of that while I was going to school.”

Often, Andrews would get on a flight to Los Angeles right after school on a Friday and have shows there all weekend, sometimes even on Sunday night. After the show he would race to the airport and get on a flight around 1 a.m. and get back to Austin at around 6-8 a.m. and go straight to school.

Through the special accommodations that Mccallum made for him, Andrews was able to practice his own songs during school, and went on to record music and play live shows at a professional level, both in Austin and around the country. Andrews’ albums can be purchased at Antone’s Records.

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Potential potency Alaska

Recreational marijuana use now legal in two additional states, District of Columbia KEGAN ALEMAN staff reporter

Oregon

Washington

Following the 2014 mid-term elections, two more states—Alaska and Oregon— as well as the District of Columbia regulated the use of recreational marijuana.

“I think [medicinal and recreational legalization would be beneficial], mainly because if they made it legal for both they could tax it,” senior Charlotte Lichtenheld said. “Then [the government] could regulate it because right now when it’s not regulated, you don’t know what sort of chemicals and stuff are going in to the drug.”

Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannibol, the psycho-active ingredient that causes users to have a “high,” has increased in the past decades. Studies conducted by the University of Mississippi’s Potency Monitoring program indicate that the average THC levels have nearly tripled since 1993. An average THC of 3.4 percent measured in the 1990s has escalated to an average of 12.3 percent in 2012. However, University of Mississippi scientists say they have seen samples as high as 36 percent.

According to the news.vice.com

District of Columbia

Colorado 05 dec. 2014

Medicinal marijuana legal in these states

website, a public poll was taken in the conservative parts of Texas which found 61 percent of Texas voters, including 55 percent of Republicans, support decriminalization measures that would make it a civil, rather than a criminal, offense to possess an ounce or less of marijuana .

“The conservative family members I have think that it should be legalized,” sophomore Ransom Cloake said. “They might be biased because my grandma is sick and she takes Marinol, which is the THC pill.”

According to the national drug abuse website, a person’s brain stops growing when he/she is 24. However, many middle school and high school students start to experiment with marijuana, causing some problems “Well, it might seem like a less cool thing to do,” Cloake said. “People are going to try and use it because it’s illegal.

Because it’s something forbidden, they will want to do it more, but if it becomes more legal, they won’t be as interested in it.”

Lichtenheld disagrees, saying the age requirement will still keep it out of the hands of high school students.

“I don’t think it will affect them too

Arizona California Conneticut Delaware Hawaii Illinois Maine Maryland Massachusetts

much,” Lichtenheld said. “If they do legalize it, will most likely be for 21 or 18 year olds and that’s just like having e-cigs. They will have to make rules about not smoking it on campus and things like that, but I don’t think it will affect students too much.”

If a driver is under the influence of alcohol, his/her risk of a fatal crash is 13 times higher than the risk of the driver who is not under the influence of both alcohol and marijuana. The risk for drivers under the influence of both alcohol and marijuana increased to 24 times that of a sober person. In the 1970s, marijuana only had .9 percent THC in it although some had at least 1.3 percent. In 2014, almost every marijuana strain has more than 20 percent of THC in it. Some even have more than 30 percent In a report released by the Texas Department of Public Safety regarding significant crime issues on the Texas border, over 79 drug-related incidents were reported.

“I think that it would probably help border issues since right now there are illegal drugs coming in,” Lichtenheld said. “If you make marijuana legal, it would eliminate one of those illegal drugs coming into the country.”

Michigan Minnesota Montana Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York Oregon

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On the sidelines BELLA CUDE staff reporter

When former head trainer Kristin Rogers announced she was leaving McCallum for Vista Ridge, student trainer Dixie Tucker was upset and overwhelmed.

“I was mad and confused, like how could you leave us? I cried a little bit as well,” Tucker said. “She was like a mom.”

Linebacker Eric Sandoz said he was also shocked when he heard that Rogers was leaving.

“I was angry, upset. I really didn’t want her to leave,” Sandoz said. I didn’t really know what to do.

I also wasn’t very excited to meet the new trainer. We were all very sad.”

When Tucker first met trainer Matt Johnson, she said he was very quiet, but the more she spent time with him the more he’s opened up to her and to the rest of the football team.

“The first time I met Matt it was at girls basketball tournament. There wasn’t much conversation happening, but it wasn’t awkward. I think it was just different for the both of us because he was used to working with older people, and all girls and the football players were used to a woman,” Tucker said.

New head trainer Johnson has been an athletic trainer for six

1.

years. In high school, he was involved in sports such as basketball, baseball and tennis. When he was 22, Johnson started working at UT in the student health center applying casts, splints and orthopedic devices.

He also worked part-time as the athletic trainer for the cheerleading squads at UT. “When working with the cheerleaders, I would get nervous because of the dangerous stunts they would do,” Johnson said.

This is Johnson’s first year teaching.

“It took me a few weeks to make the adjustment coming into the high school setting,” he said, “but I feel like, for the most part, I’ve gotten the hang of it.”

According to the Board of Certification for Athletic Trainers, athletic trainers (AT’s) are health care professionals who work with doctors and certified physicians. The AT’s main job is to provide emergency care, give diagnosis and provide rehabilitation for athletes of any kind.

“People don’t really know what to call me. They think that we are strength trainers.” Johnson said.

“I think an athletic trainer is an allied health care professional who takes care of injuries, rehabilitation and medical concerns for athletes. “ Johnson said his favorite thing about being a trainer is watching the players

5.

3.

2.

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4.

Trainer Matt Johnson joins Athletic Department recover and get back out on the field after an injury.

“Having the chance to see the athletes at low point after being injured, and helping them back onto the playing field and making plays to help their team win is one of my favorite things about my job,” Johnson said.

Matts top picks: 1. Plastic wrap - used for wrapping ice bags on athletes.

2. Pre wrap - used to protect the skin from the adhesive on the tape.

3. Extra support tape - used for extra support when wrapping ankles.

4. Ace wrap - used for securing splints or sprained body parts.

5. Tape - used for wrapping ankles, wrists and fingers. Can also be used for securing power flex.

6. Cramp pills - helps decrease chances of athletes getting cramps while playing.

7. Matt’s bag - The bag that holds anything he would need in case there was an emergency at a game.

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6.

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A temporary crutch Senior begins road to recovery after football injury BEN BROWN

co-sports editor

Senior tackle Brent Chandler played a key part in an offensive line that helped create big holes for the Knight’s dominant rushing attack during the 2012-2014 seasons. The rushing attack led the Knights to an area championship against Leander in 2013 and back-to-back district championships. Chandler helped spring runners such as Sabian Cannon and Clement Jones to record-breaking seasons. But in the early third quarter of the Oct. 24 game against district foe Reagan, Chandler’s season came to an abrupt end when he went down in pain grasping his right leg.

“I was thinking that my season was over, about all the work that I had put in during the off season and how it was going to end at Reagan,” Chandler said.

“I wanted to play Travis for the Bell and make it to the playoffs. I just didn’t want my high school career to end so abruptly.”

Chandler left the game with a fractured knee joint, a fracture in his femur that stopped at the growth plate, and a torn MCL. “My growth plate was pretty much closed,” Chandler said. “If it had still been open, then part of my femur could have been broken off.”

The timetable for Chandler’s recovery involves a great deal of steps, but it will not require any surgery.

“I am going to have to be on crutches for four to six weeks, and it will take about eight weeks for the bone to officially heal,” Chandler said.

Chandler will have to go through some extensive physical therapy to get his leg back to normal.

“Right now for therapy I use the stem machine on my quad,” Chandler said.

“What that does is send pulses into the muscle to cause it to contract and it helps strengthen it. The stronger I get my quad, the faster I will be able to heal. “ Head coach Charles Taylor said Chandler is a very crucial part of the team.

“He was a senior captain, and when you lose a kid like that, you can’t replace him,“ Taylor said. It always affects you when you lose a starter, but I think kids are pretty much used to it. They know it’s football.”

The Knights rallied around their teammate and vowed to play the rest of the season for him. After making that vow, the Knights went on to win the final two games in district play, capturing the district title. Chandler was touched by how his teammates reacted.

“It was very emotional for me,” Chandler said. “I already knew that we were a really close family, but seeing this made me realize how close we actually were. It made me realize how much I was going to miss those guys when it was all over.”

Far left: MRI of senior Brent Chandler’s fractured right knee joint after his injury. Left: Chandler celebrates the 70-41 win over district rival Travis by ringing the Bell. Photo by Ben Brown.

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Like no one else Senior Adam Freng lets personality shine through in his coverage of high school football The Shield: What is Friday Night Fanstand?

Adam Freng: Friday Night Fanstand is the place to go for Central Texas high school football coverage.

They basically follow all of the schools with what they call iReporters, which are high school students. They film the games, call the radio station to give quarterly updates, tweet scores about the game and keep the fans updated.

Senior Adam Freng cheers to the crowd after a touchdown during the LBJ game.

Photo by Aiden Foster.

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Shield: What was your first game like?

AF: My first game was a 7-on-7 game, so not a real football game. But it was really awkward because I didn’t really know the football players well enough, and I wasn’t really sure what to do either.

Luckily Snoop [head iReporter Johnathan Daniels] came to the scrimmage and helped me.

The football players are always eager to help the iReporters and are always very friendly, so they made my first game a little less nerve wracking.

Shield: What was the most valuable thing that you learned from other iReporters?

AF: They really stressed that you have to let your personality shine through because I am the voice of McCallum Fanstand, so I

really had to let my school shine.

What are your duties on the sidelines?

AF: I have to film the game for highlights, and if it is a Thursday game, I just tweet scores and film.

But if it is a Friday, in addition to the footage and tweets, I will call in every quarter and give the radio station updates.

Shield: How is Fanstand different than any other high school football coverage?

AF: The goal of fanstand is not to give highlights about the game itself, but it is to show the personalities of the players. Like whenever [senior Sabian Cannon] scores a touchdown, get him chestbumping with [senior Clement Jones]. I have to get the players personalities as well as keep the crowd pumped up.

Shield: What is your favorite part about Fanstand?

AF: I really like filming and then watching the footage later because I realize that I say the weirdest things. Like one time Sabian was running and I yelled ‘Sabian’s legs of lightning,’ and then I watched it again and was like, ‘Why would I ever say that?’ It’s really amazing seeing all of the goofy things I say.

Shield: What sets you apart from the other iReporters?

AF: I think all of the goofy things I say on camera. Snoop has expressed his gratitude for that. I’ve also been complimented on how I call in. [Snoop] says it’s very good and very informative. People also

say that my personality shines through.

AF: Shield: How has Fanstand changed what football means to you?

AF: You’re right there, you get to hear the cracks of the helmets and you get to see everything from an awesome vantage point. Before Fanstand I knew that there were touchdowns and field goals in football, not much else. It’s really a different experience than when you are in the bleachers. Now I know the rules and I understand the game and it is so much more enjoyable. It’s also shown me that football isn’t just a bunch of boys running around on the field. It’s a family, and it runs much deeper than what you see from the stands.

Shield: What is the hardest thing about Fanstand?

AF: I really had to learn not to be afraid of the football players and the coaches because you have to get up in their faces to ask them questions, even after a loss. You have to stand there on the sidelines and do your job and not be worried about getting hit.

Shield: What is the most awkward Fanstand experience?

AF: There have been many times when I thought the wrong person had the ball, and I’ve yelled ‘Oh CJ, go, go” and it is actually Sabian with the ball. I also sometimes get so into the game that I just make the field mine and I accidentally interfere with someone that’s actually supposed to be on the field.

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His way or the highway Boys basketball team welcomes Fuentes as new varsity coach EMMA CUNNINGHAM staff reporter

Former JV basketball coach Daniel Fuentes has been promoted to varsity head coach, and he’s making sure his team knows what a team is.

“There’s a way we go about things this year,” senior Jake Holmes said.

“We’re more of a team because he sends us in the right direction instead of us all going in our own separate ways.”

Fuentes said he was very excited knowing that he achieved his ultimate goal. “[I was] very excited of course,” Fuentes said. “My ultimate goal was to be a head coach.”

Holmes played for Fuentes on JV his freshman year, so he knows how Fuentes likes to get things done.

“I really enjoyed [playing for him].

He’s a lot better [than he was freshman year],” Holmes said. “He’s learned more about the game, and he has more input on [the way we play].”

Fuentes has been coaching basketball for 19 years, two years in Smithville and 17 years at McCallum. He has coached freshman, JV and now varsity teams and has tried different techniques and strategies to ensure a winning season. “[Coach Fuentes] is really strict and has a really strict schedule,” Holmes said. “It’s his way or the highway, and I kind of like that.”

Fuentes wants to make sure his team understands the little details of the game this year.

“He focuses more on little details more than Coach Caldwell,” junior Jesse Levy-Rubinett said. “I think he has higher expectations [for the team this year].”

Fuentes said the bar is set higher for his young varsity players this year.

“It seems last year we lost a bunch of games, very close games by four points or less,” Fuentes said, “We’re focusing on the small things this year.”

Last year, the varsity team lost five tournament games, two district games

05 dec. 2014

and one play-off game, but they also won six district games and one tournament game.

Holmes said he was taken by surprise when he found out about the new coaching arrangement.

“I thought Coach Caldwell was going to coach forever, and I was okay with that,” Holmes said, “but I was happy to hear that [Coach Fuentes] moved up. I was excited to have a fresh start with a new coach.”

Levy-Rubinett said he saw it coming since last season.

“Coach Caldwell has been saying he’s going to step down for a while,”

Levy-Rubinett said, “so it wasn’t really that big of a surprise to me.”

Fuentes said Coach Caldwell has built a foundation of winning that he wants to maintain with a few extra tweaks of his own this season. Although he did love working with JV, he said varsity understands things more quickly and puts more work in than JV did.

“We’re playing a lot more [one-onone] man defense this year,” Fuentes said.

To ensure the offense, Fuentes wants to make sure the team has a more stable defensive line to back them up. Since it’s only the beginning of the year, Fuentes’

coaching styles are still to be learned.

“I think that the beginning of the year will be rough, but once we get into the season we’ll improve,” Levy-Rubinett said. “Coach Fuentes’s new system will hopefully start gaining traction and making us better in the long run.”

Holmes said though it’s only the beginning of the year, he already knows that this season will be great as long as they’re under the leadership of all of their coaching staff. “[He’s a] great coach. [I’m] glad to have him,” Holmes said. “Same with Coach Caldwell. The overall coaching staff is really good this year.”

Head Coach Daniel Fuentes watches the play during the varisty game against St. Andrews. Photo by Emily Goulet.

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shield Jazmyn Adkins-basketball

The Shield: What events do you compete in?

Jake Janssen: Right now I’m focusing on sprinting freestyle, so the 50 free and the 100 free, but I also do the butterfly for the IM medley. I also sometimes do the 100 fly and the 100 back.

TS: What do you like about those events?

JJ: I like the 50 free because it’s like over before you can start complaining about it.

Like if you get a good time, it’s like 24 seconds. There’s not time to stress about it.

The 100 I do a little better than the 50, so I like to do good. The 100 fly is nice because you can brag about it like, “Oh yeah, I’m the tough guy,” and then the 100 back is just something different. You know, spice it up. That one’s typically a little less competitive, so you can do better compared to others.

I didn’t know how to dive yet, so I belly flopped every single event.

You know you always have that “Ohhh” sound in the background, but overall I did better than I thought, so that was fun.

I liked the people on the team.

We had a really good team then. We do now too, but sophomore year was a very good time to join with the people and everything, so it was good but it was scary. It was my first kind of competitive swim meet ever, so it was definitely scary.

TS: Describe how you feel on the blocks.

JJ: There’s tons of adrenaline. At first it’s kind of like you’re going to throw up, and more this year it’s like “Okay, let’s do this. I’m ready.” So definitely the more you swim, the more confident you get, but you always have that adrenaline, especially if it’s a sprint event like the 50 free.

There’s not much more that gets your heart beating like that.

TS: What’s your favorite meet?

JJ: Probably Corpus Christi or regionals. Corpus Christi we spend the night there, and it’s TS: What are your perjust a fun environment. I really sonal goals this year? like the hotel. Regionals is kind JJ: I want to swim a of the goal meet. That’s our sub 24 in the 50 free or goal, to get as many people to around there. That’s regionals as we can. You know, pretty fast.

I really like that one because

you get to see these people TS: Do you think you can who are probably going to go make that goal? to the Olympics. They make JJ: I think I can. I hope me mad how good I can. And also our they are, but it’s district’s really easy this cool to watch them. year. Well, it’s a new You know you have no district, so it’s just us, LBJ goal of winning because you’re and Ann Richards, and never going to beat those guys, it’s only been around for two so it’s kind of a sit back and relax years. So setting a district record is meet, but also it’s a fun environment not that tough and last year, you and it’s also overnight. know the 100 back is not very competitive, but this year I want to do an TS: What was your first meet like? event that is more competitive, so JJ: My first meet, oh that was rough. maybe the 50 free or the 100 free.

Jake Janssen- swimming 22 sports

The Shield: What’s your favorite position to play?

Jazmyn Adkins: Forward. It’s pretty cool because you get to stop the ball and stuff. It’s good on defense and stuff.

TS: What are games like for you?

JA: Intense. I mean, it’s not always about winning, but I love winning and if we don’t win, I feel like we have to work harder next time.

TS: How do you feel right before a game is about to start?

JA: Butterflies. All the years I’ve been playing basketball, I still get the butterflies every time before we start.

TS: How do you feel when the game is over?

JA: Like if we won, I’m like, “Okay, we did it. We can do this again, like we’re a good team.” But if we lost, I’m like, “Alright, were gonna work harder in practice tomorrow or do what we gotta do tomorrow or work on stuff that we need to work on and work on what we need to, to win.”

TS: What was your first game on varsity like?

JA: I was pretty nervous because I felt like, I mean, I’m a good player and all, but just me being on a varsity team for a first time, I felt like if I messed up, I was letting my team down. It was very hard for me, but I got used to it.

TS: How does basketball encourage you to be a better student?

JA: It does because if I wasn’t playing sports, I would be slacking on my grades. I’d be like, “I don’t care,” but now that I play sports I always have to have everything good.

I have to be like, “I’ve gotta do this and do that,” tutoring every day.

TS: How have you guys developed as a team throughout the years that you’ve been on varsity?

JA: When we first started, we worked together, but now we are like working together as a team. So like before we weren’t really working as a team. We were just all about ourselves, and we were like, “Okay, we’re just on a team so…” Now I feel like we are one.

TS: How have you improved as a player?

JA: I have better ball handling now. I’m using my left hand more; my coach is always on me about that. So I feel like ball handling and me using my voice.

I was usually quiet, but now I’m using my voice, being a leader.

TS: What do you think you bring to the team?

JA: I feel like I’m a voice, like I’m a leader. Like when people are down, I pick them up and encourage them to do better.

TS:What’s your favorite memory from the team?

JA: Sophomore year, I made the winning basket. We had like one second left. I don’t know how it worked, but I did it and we won.

05 dec. 2014

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Outside the box

Horseback rider Amanda Biscoe does something a little different after school JULIA ROBERTSON staff reporter

“Fun” is how freshman Amanda Biscoe feels when she is horseback riding.

She rides at Switch Willow Stables after school. Biscoe has been riding for six years.

“A lot of my family rides, so I just got into it through them,” Biscoe said. “They have horses, so I would just ride their horses.”

Her horse’s name is Power Dust, but she really doesn’t like that name at all for a horse.

“It’s a really bad name for a horse, so I just call him P. Ditty,” Biscoe said.

“He likes me because I reward him with food.”

Amanda Biscoe smiles with her horse, P. Ditty. Photo provided by Biscoe.

05 dec. 2014

When Biscoe gets to the barn, she gets ready to ride and then she will get on her horse and trot and canter around to warm up her horse. Then she will usually do jumping courses for about 40 minutes.

Riding horses for Biscoe isn’t just about having another after-school activity. She said she learns a great deal.

“My favorite part of riding is definitely the jumping aspect of it and being over the jump with no feet on the ground,” Biscoe said. “I’ve definitely learned from riding about falling and the getting back up again to get on the horse and for you to win the battle, not them. I haven’t fallen off in a long time, though.”

When she falls off, she said doesn’t feel particularly sad or hurt.

“I was frustrated because I had fallen off at a show and I fell off onto the jump,” Biscoe said “It didn’t even hurt very much, so I just got back on. I wasn’t like crying or defeated, I just wanted to win over my horse.”

Although Biscoe has made many friends, riding is a huge time commitment, she said.

“I have to miss so much for it like Young Life and other stuff for school,” Biscoe said.

However, she has made many of memories with her friends from riding.

One of Biscoe’s best memories of riding was a Halloween party at Switch Willow a few years ago.

“They have a Halloween party every year,” Biscoe said. “They let the riders dress their horses up. It’s awesome.”

She gets to dress her horse up for the Halloween party. She said she was going to dress her horse up as a carrot.

P. Ditty isn’t the first horse Biscoe has had. She has had other ponies in the past that she describes as fat and stubborn, but they taught her how to tough it out and just keep trying.

“It helps me control my patience and control my temper,” Biscoe said.

Riding Lingo Lead Change When a horse changes which front leg is leading in stride Oxer A jump that has two poles parallel to each other, resulting in a wider jump Tack Up Putting things like a saddle and bridle on a horse Off the Track Thoroughbreds A horse that was once a race horse, converted to a jumping horse Flatting Around Warming up your horse by walking, trotting and cantering around

Biscoe shows at a local level, which means she is currently only showing in the Austin area. However, she would like to show out of town sometimes. Biscoe shows in the division called Modified. To be able to move to a division where the jumps are higher, she must improve her riding skills. The division has a course in which all the jumps are 2’6’’.

“I definitely get a certain adrenaline rush when I am riding,” Biscoe said,“especially once the jumps get higher.”

Biscoe said it is important for kids to be involved outside of school.

“It’s really important if you aren’t doing sports in school,” Biscoe said.

“You really need to be keeping healthy and doing things that keep you active.”

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sports in brief NICK ROBERTSON

“The season has been going really well,” sophomore Gillian McDonald said. “In all of the meets recently people have been doing really well. Everyone is dropping time [getting faster], so that’s good. I have been doing really well too.

I got my personal best for 100 breast stroke recently, which felt good.”

The team only has one senior. “[Senior Jake Janssen] has been doing a good job of leading us this year,” McDonald said. “He has had to take on a lot of the responsibility as a leader, and he has responded well.”

The district meet is in April, and the team is expecting to do well, according to McDonald.

“Our boys 200 free style relay has gotten the fastest it’s been in a couple of years, so that’s good,” McDonald said.

“If we keep on working hard, we should do well.”

co-sports editor

Varsity golf continues tournament play The golf team participated in its second tournament of the season on Nov. 18 at Wolfdancer in Bastrop. The team’s first tournament was a two-day tournament in October at Horseshoe Bay. “The golf season has been going pretty well,” junior Luke Richter said.

“It has been fun to compete against other schools and meet the people you get to play with.”

According to Richter, the team has faced some tough opponents at the tournaments so far.

“We haven’t been coming in first,” Richter said. “We have been beating the teams in our district, and we are only losing to teams like Westlake and Waco Midway, which are powerhouse teams, so I feel good about how we have played.”

The team has room to improve, according to Richter.

“We are working to get better,” Richter said, “so by the time we get to district in the spring, we are playing our best golf as a team.”

The team’s next tournament is in February.

Tennis season winds down fall season The varsity tennis team’s season is winding down for the fall after finishing third in district behind LBJ and Bastrop.

“The team played pretty well at district,” senior Lily Gates said. “I played my best tennis of the season, but with the addition of new competition from Bastrop and Cedar Creek, we were not able to make it to regionals.”

Although the fall team season is over, the individual players will compete in the spring.

“In spring, the team isn’t as impor-

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Senior Jake Holmes goes up for a rebound against St Andrew on Nov. 25. The team lost 42-45. Photo by Aiden Foster. tant,” Gates said. “If you do well, then you get to move on, but if your team doesn’t do well, then that doesn’t affect you. You can still move on.”

Varsity football team ends season The varsity football team lost in the first round of the playoffs 63-42 against Vandergrift at House Park on Nov. 13.

“I was pretty sad after the game,” senior Xavier Castillo said. “I feel like we played well. We just didn’t make some plays on defense and on offense. We needed to not turn the ball over.“ According to Castillo, no one moment was his favorite. He said the entire season was fun and won’t be forgotten.

“I want people to remember this se-

nior class for winning three straight district championships,” Castillo said. “Not everyone can say that they won three in a row.”

Going into next year, the team will need to replace some key players on both offense and defense, according to Castillo.

“They [returning players for next season] need to go into the weight room and make sure they work hard so that they can do it right next year,” Castillo said.

Swim team continues to prepare for district The swim team is about halfway through its season and is still competing in non-district meets.

Varsity basketball team gets ready for district games The varsity basketball team is gearing up for district games, according to senior Trey Hill. The first district game is on Dec. 9 against Eastside Memorial.

“The team is working really hard right now in practice,” Hill said. “Coach has been working us hard to get us better. As a team we all get along well, which is good for chemistry on the court, and that definitely gives us an advantage at times.”

The Knights faced St. Andrews and Anderson before Thanksgiving break.

Both games were close losses.

“In those two games [Anderson and St. Andrews], we didn’t perform like we know we can,” Hill said. “We weren’t quite in sync as a team, and that showed in the games. Going forward, though, we will hopefully learn from the mistakes we made so we don’t do them again” McCallum’s next home game is Dec. 19 against Reagan.

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Seeing double Teseny brothers work together stay on top of tennis game RONALD DOTSON staff reporter

Kyle Teseny

Connor Teseny.

Photos by Ronald Dotson.

05 dec. 2014

Strategy: move him left first, then move him to the right to outplay him. During each point in a tennis match, junior Connor Teseny focuses on his strategy to earn a winning title at a tennis tournament.

For his older brother, senior Kyle Teseny, “I hope I win this point” races through his mind with every stroke of the racquet. While the two have their differences when playing a match, they both agree that having a brother to play with has brought their relationship closer and gives them a natural connection on the court.

As a fifth grader, the tennis players he saw intrigued Kyle as he waited on his sister at Lamar Middle School. As Connor became more involved in tennis, the two became a “package deal” when it came to the sport.

Now that the brothers are both on the varsity tennis team, the two train together in and out of school to push each other to excel in tournaments.

“It gave us another varsity player and it pushes me a little bit more,” Kyle said. “He is good enough to where if I’m not playing well, he can challenge me, but usually I beat him. It is a little bit more competitive with him there.”

For Connor, playing his older brother can be frustrating. While Connor knows his brother’s style of play, he said Kyle is a tough competitor to beat. Despite the frustration that comes with playing against his older brother, Kyle offers advice for both on and off of the court.

“Kyle has been my coach for a while. He has really showed me how to adapt to the game,” Connor said. “I’ve also learned how to do that in life. I like [playing with Kyle]. Having a brother to play with can really help your game, and it makes you better. It’s also nice having a common ground.”

Kyle said he enjoys watching his brother play.

“I’m pretty happy for him when he does something great in a match,” Kyle said. “I might not show him, but inside I feel pretty happy for him.”

The two said they agree that playing doubles incorporates more of a team aspect to the game.

For Kyle, his favorite part about doubles is having

someone to cope with after a loss and celebrate after a win. But the emotion that Connor feels while playing with his brother is unlike what he feels with other partners.

“Playing with someone else is different because I don’t play with that person as often, so I don’t really know them very well, so we will go out there and have a good time and then it’s over, but when I play with Connor it’s different,” Kyle said. “I know that after the match is over, I still have to go home with him, so we try to be a little bit more competitive. We both work to be the best that we can be so that we can go home and say that we played a good match. It’s definitely more involved playing with Connor because we can talk about the match later on.”

Kyle said his connection with Connor on the court is hard to find with other partners.

“Sometimes after a point, I’ll just instinctually turn around and high five Connor, and I don’t always do that with a different partner because I don’t know them as much,” Kyle said. “But me and my brother can just do that a little easier. In a way, some things come a little bit more naturally to us. Our movement on the court, our ideas are more natural, but other times [I’m] so involved that sometimes [I] let the emotions get the better of me. When he plays a bad point, I’m just like, ‘Come on, just get the ball in’ and I get a little bit more frustrated, but if you’re playing good it comes easier.”

While Connor said he plays better with other partners, he said playing with Kyle comes naturally and he feels more comfortable on the court with his brother.

“Kyle really makes sure I stay confident on the court,” Connor said. “If I ever get down, he helps me get right back up.”

When Connor joined the tennis team, not only did he bring more competition to the team, he made tennis more personal for Kyle.

“Since I started playing tennis on my own, it has always been personal,” Kyle said, “but now that I have another family member that is playing, I play more and I have somebody to play with.”

Kyle said he hopes to see Connor take the number one spot on the team during his senior season, and he hopes Connor is able to take the skills he has learned in tennis and apply them to his life outside of athletics.

“If I could teach Connor anything, it would probably be not to sweat the little things,” Kyle said.

“He can get agitated about things that he doesn’t need to get angry about.”

25 sports

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shield

what’s new on macshieldonline.com feature recent headlines Students, teachers choreograph latest dance show Listen: Samba Knights perform in lunch courtyard Quiz: Which Austin area high school do you belong at?

Students share Thanksgiving traditions

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New featured photo every week

Like: facebook.com/ macshieldonline Follow: @theshieldonline on Twitter Above: Senior Meghan Mitchell signs her National Letter of Intent to Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania. Photo by Mary Stites.

Right: Sophomore Adina Morquecho and seniors Joe Cruz and Miguel Minick perform at the annual Knights of Steel dessert concert in the cafeteria Nov. 24. Photo by Seren Villwock.

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Behind the screen Social media users should be aware of risks With a rapidly increasing amount of platforms to share personal views and beliefs, the political climate has begun to depend more and more on social media.

Between Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and the countless other opportunities for individual commentary, the conversation surrounding every event in the news is being led by apps and smartphones. It is too easy for people to hide behind the screen and anonymously harass people on opposite sides of the country.

Though media itself has always been the most important part of politics and public debate, there is an influential spike in the personalization of arguments due to the voice that is automatically given to anyone with Wi-Fi access. While the concept of public voice is compatible with democracy and supports the core values of American government, it does not come without risk.

While expressing views and ideas online provides the opportunity to learn from others and communicate with a community of others who share the same values, it also subjects every individual to opposition, negative publicity and even harassment.

When the grand jury decision in Ferguson was announced Nov. 24, the world responded and used social media to do it. Between blog posts, Facebook rants and Twitter trends, the Internet was buzzing with individual voices commenting on the verdict. Arguments support-

ing every perspective imaginable provided social media users with the ability to pick a side and join the conversation.

However, every platform for social interaction also lit up with anger, hatred, threats and misunderstanding. A very serious political discussion became a personal matter for everyone who entered the conversation. Social media has no fact check or requirements for who qualifies to give out information. Rumors written as truth have no verification, and there is no guide for users on who to listen to and who to ignore.

Even if users filter who they follow to include sources they believe to be reliable, there is no measure to ensure that potentially hostile people aren’t hiding behind a fake icon and username. Regardless of settings and terms of agreement, there is no real privacy on social media. There is no protection from negativity.

While there is no obvious solution to the ease of harassment that social media offers, users need to be aware of the risks. Any opinions shared on social media are subjected to the hostility of people hiding behind icons, and cases of hateful comments can get lost in the truckloads of reports asking Twitter to remove unflattering pictures friends put up as a joke. While social media is a good place to use freedom of expression, users should think twice about the possible backlash before they click ‘post.’

A.N. McCallum High School 5600 Sunshine Dr. Austin, TX 78756 (512) 414-7539 fax (512) 453-2599 contact.macshield@gmail.om

the

shield staff

assistant editors Natalie murphy haley hegefeld

sports editors BEN BROWN Nick robertson

Cartoon by Seren Villwock.

editors-in-chief

mary stites and seren villwock

news editor MARA VANDEGRIFT

photo editor

adviser

MAYA COPLIN

Rhonda Moore

reporters KEAGAN ALEMAN, BELLA CUDE, EMMA CUNNINGHAM, RONALD DOTSON, AIDEN FOSTER, HANNAH ILAN, JULIE ROBERTSON, RAMÓN WALKER, RACHEL WOLLEBEN The Shield is published by journalism students in the Newspaper production class.

Although students work under the guidance of a professional faculty member, the student staff ultimitely determines the content.

Students may not publish material that is obscene, libelous, or that which

17 oct. 2014

will cause a “substantial disruption to the educational process.” Content that may stimulate heated debate is not included in this definition.

The Shield operates as an open forum for exchange of ideas. Opinions expressed in editorials are the ideas of the staff. Opinions expressed in the columns are that of the writer’s alone.

Letters to the editor are encouraged and must be signed. Positive identification may be required when a letter is submitted. Letters may be edited. Letters that are critical of the newspaper staff’s coverage of events or that present information that may stimulate heated debate will be published.

Letters that contain malicious attacks

on individual reporters, the adviser, or the principal will be rejected.

Anyone interested in purchasing an ad should contact adviser Rhonda Moore at (512) 414-7539.

The Shield is a member of the Interscholastic League Press Conference, National Scholastic Press Association and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

27 opinion

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Meet the Sycamores Theater Department performs ‘You Can’t Take It With You’

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28 photo essay

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1.1.

Senior Ben Dickerson playes Ed, the Sycomore’s quirky son-in-law in “You Can’t Take It With You.” 2. According to sophomore Max Corney, the grandfather is the mastermind of the family. “My character is like very smart,” Corney said. “He’s very witty. He is a little grumpy in a nice sort of way, in a funny sort of way.”

3.Grandfather tells Mr. Kirby, played by junior Ezra Hankin, that there is nothing he can do with all his possessions because “you can’t take it with you.”

4.Paul Sycamore, played by William Magnuson, is Alice’s father.

5.Characters Alice and Tony decide to stay together despite their families’ differences.

6.Grandfather convinces Mr. and Mrs. Kirby to stay for dinner even though dinner was planned for the following day. Photos by Maya Coplin.

05 dec. 2014