2011 You S.A.

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Students will see big cuts when school opens in fall

Breanna Robinson

2011 Warren High School graduate

Districts scramble to protect essential classroom services By Melanie Zook Marshall High School

Ribbons of toilet paper still hang from trees in front of Warren High School. The graffiti is gone. The four chickens were captured. The only other remnants of a vicious cyber-bullying attack that presumably spawned a rash of vandalism are the emotional scars. Victims of the online assaults may carry those a long time. The end of any school year is fraught with mindless sophomoric pranks that are barely noticed and rarely reach news media attention. But a mean-spirited, anonymous Facebook page not only captured that attention but appears to be linked to vandalism at three Northside ISD high schools. Officials have disciplined a group of students for the cyberbullying and acts of vandalism at one high school, but there are few answers as to who is responsible for the other acts of vandalism. At the beginning of May, school officials learned of the

As the state Legislature struggles to approve education funding, most school districts in the San Antonio area remain uncertain what effects students will see in the fall, predicting increased class sizes, fewer support staff and fewer resources. “Everyone’s going to have a little more on their plate,” said Elizabeth Guevara, a science teacher at Stevens High School. “I worry how it’s going to look next year.” In the fall, Guevara will likely begin teaching chemistry in addition to her current biology courses to make up for cuts in Northside ISD, the fourth-largest school district in the state. The state projects a $4 billion deficit in education funding, which translates to approximately a $48 million loss in NISD. Northside has not laid off any employees, including probationary teachers, but it has eliminated counselor, library assistant, academic coach and support staff positions. Schools also will have to share campus instructional technologists. The student-counselor ratio will increase from 425to-1 to 475-to-1. Consequently, students will have fewer resources available, and class sizes will increase by an average of two students each. To best deploy employees, some smaller courses may be dissolved as well, according to Stephen Daniel, assistant superintendent of secondary administration. “The No. 1 thing that (superintendent) Dr. (John) Folks and the school board wanted to do was to keep the quality of instruction in the classroom at the best that it could be given the state of the financial situation,” Daniel said. “Cuts were pretty deep in other areas to try to keep the number of teachers on campus.” San Antonio ISD has a similar focus. The district’s anticipated $34 million cut has led to the elimination of 85 library assistant positions and cuts in each department’s budget. With these changes, there could be a number of other effects that won’t be finalized until the Legislature reaches an agreement. “This has been a very fluid process,” SAISD spokeswoman Michelle Jimenez said. “The key is to minimize impact to the classroom.” Journalists around San Antonio have reported on the education crisis, including 18-year-old Joe DeGraff, a high school journalist and recent Joe DeGraff graduate of Warren High School. DeGraff’s mother is a seventh-grade science teacher at Jordan Middle School, while his father teaches special education students at Holmes High School. The perspective of his parents, combined with personal experience, prompted DeGraff to react angrily when he began researching the origins of Texas’ education funding crisis for his newspaper article. “I was disgusted,” DeGraff said. “I kind of felt the same way you would feel if you saw a mugging, if you were walking downtown and saw someone beat up a homeless man and take his shoes.”

See NO FRIENDS HERE, Page 8

See BIG CUTS, Page 9

Bria Webb Breanna Elise Robinson,18, who graduated from Warren High School, spoke out against bullying at her school.

An ugly war on

FACEBOOK Northside schools engage in vile name-calling, bullying and vandalism

By Bria Webb Sam Houston High School

YOU S.A.

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Rite on

June 23, 2011

Teachers, businesses battle poor writing skills of tech-savvy students and graduates who know buttons, not grammar By Katrina Dela Cruz Lee High School Social media like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter and almost real-time tools like texting have helped create a gadget-savvy generation of teens who seldom read long-form writing. Driven by a unique form of shorthand, these evolving communication platforms have prompted concern that the emphasis on informal writing will make it difficult or impossible for teens to complete college or to earn and maintain a corporate job. Most teens stick to what they know so well – writing in the same form they read, a quick and easy “omg chriss wut r yuu doinggg in dis videooo,” “Thnkz FO commnt” or “Alrdy miiiisss ya bruh.” “Language has changed like crazy,” said Roy Gonzales, Texas A&M-College Station telecommunication media junior and amateur rap artist who often manipulates language to fit his musical genre. “A lot of people get lazy. It’s not that it (writing) is deteriorated, it’s just people get real lazy.” The inability to write spills into the workforce, where many corporations require competency in oral and written communication. “Without a doubt, people who go into working careers with strong writing skills will make more money and rise faster,” said Ronda Templeton, a former San Antonio journalist who is now the senior manager of internal communications at Aflac, the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States. “Just being valued as an employee goes down to just writing a coherent email,” she said. Mike Burton, incoming chair of the English department at San Antonio College, said writing has been the most critical skill for the past 4,000 years. Burton said he doesn’t see that changing, but the casual and highly abbreviated writing used in social media and texting is all that is produced by a majority of teens. “In some ways, students write a lot more today than 30 years ago, but a lot of it is texting or Twittering,” Burton said. “Writing now is much more streamlined, more get in and get out.” It’s this ragged form of casual writing that litters social media, riddles text messages and pushes its way into emails. “Sloppy writing is sloppy thinking,” said Sarah Plaster, Aflac’s manager of internal communications. “If you can get those thoughts in order, a lot of times you can write.” Working for a company initially requires communications between employees and managers. “You have to be emailing constantly,” said Blythe Perez, University of Houston business sophomore. “I think professional people would judge me if I had misspellings and errors.” Plaster doesn’t believe people intend to look foolish when sending notes or emails, but their inability to write makes it inevitable. “If you can write, you’re less likely to look like a fool,” Plaster said. College students today are not only taking classic English courses, but developmental courses as well. Nearly 80 percent of students at SAC are required to take a remedial English course. “The developmental English courses basically cover the writing skills that a student should have gotten in high school; so essentially, they squeeze four years of the writing component of high school English into one or two semesters,” Burton said. Templeton says students in public or private school don’t have enough emphasis on writing; in turn, there’s not a lot of long-form essay writing. Whether in high school or college, students just don’t get enough practice. “There’s an art to writing, and I don’t think students graduate well-versed in that art,” Templeton said. “Students don’t know how to put their thoughts coherently on paper.” Jon McCarter, assistant director of the writing

Katrina Dela Cruz Jon McCarter, assistant director at the Writing Center at San Antonio College, talks about helping students improve their writing skills.

About the reporter Katrina Dela Cruz, a 16-year-old junior at Lee High School, simply and unequivocally loves to write. She attends the North East School of Arts, where she quenches her thirst for expressive, embellished writing as a creative writing major. “I don’t care if I’m in California or Australia, as long as I’m able to write,” Dela Cruz said. An Alaska native, Dela Cruz is still trying to conquer the broiling Texas weather after four years. Her environment has changed, but her passion for journalism has remained the same.

“Journalism is not just a career, it’s a life-changing phenomenon,” Dela Cruz said. When she is not studying for rigorous advanced placement and gifted and talented classes or fulfilling demands as her school’s newspaper editor, Dela Cruz is running hard for home plate. “Baseball has been a passion of mine since I was a baby,” she said. “My dad loved it; now I love it.” Dela Cruz is also a member of the Sign Language Honor Society at her school. “I’ve been interested in sign language since fourth grade,” she said, explaining she wanted to communicate with children in the neighborhood who were deaf or hearing challenged. “It started with just my ABCs, but now I’m able to fully communicate,” she said. While she may have a craze for pressing pen to paper and fervor for sliding into home, Dela Cruz’s aspiration is unpretentious. “My goal is to end up having a successful life with family and children,” she said.

Mariah J. Medina Roy Gonzales, telecommunication junior at Texas A&M-College Station, writes a rap about writing in Loftin Student Center at San Antonio College as he takes summer courses.

— Kelsie Karnes

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Senior Manager of Internal Communications at Aflac Carter said. “Today’s bachelor’s degree is the equivalent of the high school diploma years ago.” Many think over-specialization of majors is the shortcoming of the education system. Where the specified courses are important, core classes seem less pertinent. “When a major is over-specialized, some math, Cynthia Esparza UJW 1998 science or English class gets thrown aside,” Plaster said. Although school is where basic skills should be center and adjunct instructor at SAC, said al- learned, some corporations are willing to work with though education is required by society, much of employees whatever their struggles may be. IHGits support has disappeared. Army Hotels helps provide employees with tuition “Focus has shifted through education,” Mc- assistance and training dollars.

Katrina Dela Cruz Stacey Crawford, 35, works on an assignment in the virtual tutoring program at the Writing Center at San Antonio College. “If I had a hard-working employee and found out they couldn’t write, I would try to send them to school or at least fund them,” said Teresa Colatarci, regional director of operations at IHG Army Hotels. Writing skills are highly valued in the corporate world. Words are used to convey messages that enable clients to understand a product or a company message. “If you can write, you will always be employable; you will always be better where your peers are not,” Plaster said. “If you can write, you’ll be employed.” Some believe corporations wouldn’t want to train employees in writing if they were incapable. This suggests businesses will fill positions with a need for writing with English majors. “I don’t think they would spend money on it,” McCarter said. “Corporations are more about saving money. If they can save money, they will. Why bother training them?”

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June 23, 2011

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When coming home is harder than staying Veterans return to routines just as tough as war zones By Laura Elaine Torres Seguin High School

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sle Farah joined the Marine Corps in 2002 after graduating from high school, intrigued by a recruiter’s message of intense physical challenges and teamwork. Her father thought the military would be too difficult for her. She joined to prove him wrong. Physically and mentally, the drill sergeants tried to break her down and insulted her for being Muslim, which made her angry but also pushed her to work hard. “They picked on everyone, but I never cried,” Farah said. “I would last through everything.” The hardships brought the squadron closer together and created a bond that allowed them to work as a team. In 2003, Farah’s unit was sent to Fallujah, Iraq, where she was an intelligence-communication operator. She participated in convoys where her life was at risk. Farah’s environment was hostile and her group was threatened by sudden attacks of enemy fire. In 2006, Farah left the Marines to enroll at Texas State University-San Marcos, where she faced a different kind of challenge. Farah felt her classmates, the ones she called the “MySpace generation,” did not see a world outside their own. “You sacrifice so much and no one sacrifices anything,” Farah said. “No one chooses to die.” Veterans Affairs Counselor Coordinator James DeMasi at San Antonio College said veterans who return to the college environment can find that earning college credit is a challenge. They are trained to follow orders, never question authority and follow all the rules the military demands. Once out of the military, the framework for directives evaporates. College requires class work, a habit that may be foreign to some veterans. Studying outside and inside the classroom can be frustrating for some. Veterans with mental or physical disabilities are weighed down even more as their condition affects their interactions with people, DeMasi said. DeMasi has made a career of helping veterans. In 2011, he helped 2,200 veterans attending SAC, the highest number in years. He assesses federal VA policies, supplies and equipment while processing files that entitle veterans to their benefits. “Although they are all different branches, when they’re together, they share stories and similar problems,” DeMasi said. “They are glad to find out they are not the only one with problems like dealing with having not being told what to do. It’s hard to adjust to civilian life. It’s not the old military anymore.” DeMasi, a veteran of the Air Force and Army, says his office, primarily staffed by veterans, offers a sanctuary for former members of the military. Across the nation, colleges and universities are adding special offices to assist the increasing number of veterans enrolling in higher education. Clay Thorp, a 26-year-old studying journalism at Texas State University-San Marcos, enlisted in the Marine Corps right out of high school. He had his own reasons for fighting. He said he was taken by the Bush administration’s reasons for war and signed up to fight. After Thorp’s boot camp training in California, he was sent to work on aircraft in Florida. He said the service became his life and the squadron became his family. He left after two years of active duty and two years in the reserves. Once he was out, the readjustment process was tough for Thorp, who was used to a military environment full of “structure, rules and arrogant personalities.” “It took a while to learn how to treat people again,” Thorp said. “To even smile. To relax.” Rick Monroe, 61, dealt with some of the same issues Thorp experienced, but for Monroe, it was after two tours of duty in Vietnam. He enlisted in the Navy in 1971 after getting bored with the college lifestyle at Texas Tech University. He served aboard the USS Enterprise. Monroe said the hardest part of leaving the military was talking to people. He was used to being on a ship of more than 5,000 males, and he found it hard to talk to women. In 1973, he returned to Texas Tech, where he eventually graduated, then

About the reporter Volunteering is not a chore for Laura Elaine Torres; it’s her way of brightening the day. With her church, she hands out tacos to the hungry and teaches Catholic doctrine classes to young followers. After school, she is either at a nursing home helping the elderly or at schools helping to teach the young. “You get to help out in every which way,” Torres said. “Regardless of what it is, it will make them happy, and that’s what makes me happy.” Torres, a graduate of Seguin High School and soon-to-be freshman at Texas Lutheran University, prides herself on being involved and loving to help others. “When you help someone, it lifts you up. It means a lot to feel how much your help is worth,” Torres said. She loves to see the glow of the old hungry men as they shuffle away with their tacos. In high school, Torres was never the girl who strived to be like everyone else. “I always put my own angles to things,” she said. In high school, Torres was involved in newspaper for three years, serving as assistant editor for the last year. She also participated in law enforcement club as a reporter, Health Occupational Students of America, Family Career Community Leaders of America and Mentoring And Tutoring Students. “I feel like I have to push myself for my mom because I have to pay back my mom for all she has done for me,” Torres said. Journalism was another way to pay back her mom and help out others. “It’s my life’s goal to impact the lives of others through stories and the classroom.” — Bria Webb married and got a job. “Reassemble a successful life,” Monroe said. “There are two roads ahead. You can either accept it or sit on the couch and fall deeper into your shell. Life is going to go on.” Gloria Gonzales, senior secretary in the college Veterans Office, said most colleges have a veterans affairs office that serves the emotional and academic needs of veterans. The U.S. Department of Labor also offers a Transition Assistance Program, which includes a workshop for veterans to help ease the transition, help veterans find jobs and teach families how to cope with the transition. As Farah tried to readjust to life after war, problems arose besides ones she was already dealing with. The death of a friend overseas began to affect her and made her feel guilty about surviving. She felt depressed and had sleepless nights. She found it hard to interact with others, including her own family. “War does a lot to you,” Farah said. “You kind of lose your mind.” Farah said that although her first year during the transition was hard, time healed her. She found that if loved ones understand, they can offer more help. Farah also said that families can motivate a

Bria Webb James DeMasi is the counselor coordinator of Veteran Affairs at San Antonio College. He assesses federal VA policies, supplies and equipment.

Texas soldier pledges to honor his brother By Laura Elaine Torres Seguin High School Juan Ramon “Jay” Gonzalez Jr. joined the Texas Army National Guard as an 18-year-old after graduating from Southwest High School, and soon after, completed basic training. This month, he begins five months of back-to-back training, starting with airborne school in Fort Benning, Ga., and then Advanced Individual Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. When he returns home, he wants to apply for Army Ranger training. Gonzalez was inspired to enlist by his older brother, who always talked about joining the military but couldn’t because of a heart condition. His brother committed suicide in 2009 at age 29, and Gonzalez enlisted to honor his brother’s memory. His family and friends tried to change his mind after he enlisted, but eventually, they accepted his choice. “Who wants someone you love to be at war?” his cousin Vanessa Gonzalez asked. Gonzalez said his mother is proud of him and would rather see him fight for his country than waste his life on the streets. He said he understands that the military is the backbone of the country and that his job makes him obligated to his state and nation. He said he feels the military expects more out of its service members and understands that it will, and already has, changed him. He said he realized that the military has helped him treat others with patience and motivates him to become someone. “You go to change, not to stay the same,” Gonzalez said. “Being the same person whose loved one to find help with groups at VA hospitals, clinics or centers. The healing process comes fast when veterans are given the chance to talk out their problems

Samber K. Saenz Juan Ramon “Jay” Gonzalez Jr. enlisted after his junior year, went to basic training and will be considered active duty now that he has graduated high school. questions could get you or others killed. Having the wrong mentality could wipe out the platoon by you messing up.” Gonzalez said he would represent the United States wherever he goes. He hopes the military will help him achieve his other goals for the future — he wants to enter college and either earn a degree in law enforcement or become a firefighter. with people who are going through the same experiences, she said. “Some feel that getting help is a sign of weakness,” Farah said. “That needs to change.”

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BREAKING THE BINGE

June 23, 2011

Vulnerable teens must face down extreme peer pressures By Mariah J. Medina Clark High School 11 p.m. Halloween 2008. He didn’t bother changing the clothes he wore earlier that day. He locked his apartment door and went straight to his room. He crumbled to his knees in prayer; his shoulders were heavy with demons that had been riding him for years. Everything was coming back to destroy him. Ryan Proudfoot was only 18 and a kinesiology freshman at the University of Texas at San Antonio, yet he was already a veteran of late nights accompanied by hard drinking and casual hook-ups. “Drunkenness was the destroyer of me, my values and my morals,” Proudfoot said. “It was the defining factor of the times I fell.” Proudfoot is now 22 and a UTSA graduate. Four years ago, he was part of the 28 percent of youth aged 12 through 20 nationally who consumed alcohol. According to the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation’s report in 2009, 1.3 million underage youth in Texas consume alcohol each year. In 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that of the high school students who drank alcohol, two out of three reported binge drinking. The CDC said that binge drinkers often engage in health risk behaviors, such as driving intoxicated and risky sexual conduct. “I had no self-control, zero boldness. I didn’t stand up for myself like so many of us do today,” Proudfoot said. “The crowd of people I surrounded myself with controlled me.” In 2009, the CDC ranked San Antonio eighth out of 180 metropolitan areas for binge drinking adults. Twelve-step fellowship leader and San Antonio resident Raymond Loera, 46, lives by the belief that alcohol is a narcotic. He has been clean from his former addictions to cocaine and alcohol for 15 years, but Loera Ryan Proudfoot believes that alcohol acted as a UTSA graduate and gateway to cocaine. recovering alcoholic “The hardest part of it was to stop drinking,” Loera said. “I was told that it was a narcotic, and it was true because anytime I was high, I was also drunk. I started drinking alcohol at 14 or 15 on a regular basis, and I started combining them and by the time I was 23, I was using both frequently, together.” Neural behavioral researcher Charles Mathias, who has a doctorate in applied biopsychology, is studying the link between adults who drink excessively and adolescents. “What puts them at greater risk for addiction is when a parent or family member uses drugs or drinks alcohol,” Mathias said. Another study Mathias is conducting at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio focuses on teens with addictions. Mathias has identified one commonality in his studies – impulse. “When you’re a teen, it’s only normal to have a higher tendency to do things on impulse, but what we want to know is: does impulsivity increase because of drug use or do teens just come with that?” Mathias said. “Most studies conducted use adults and there is an obvious trend in the level of impulsivity in adults, but what I’m trying to find out is how were they before they started using? And that’s why we study.” Mathias said in the ’80s, the drug of choice was cocaine, while in the ’90s and 2000s, it was Ecstasy. Over time, the abuse of prescription drugs has gradually eclipsed past addictive trends. “In our area, it’s currently prescription drugs that are being misused,” Mathias said. “The drug of popularity changes over time, and it looks as if prescription drugs are replacing those widely used in the past.” To better combat the evolving world of narcotics, school districts have developed programs to help students. Northside ISD has several programs in place for those who are willing to come forward to a teacher, counselor or nurse about a substance abuse problem. If a student arrives to school under the influence of narcotics, the counselor must inform the parents and suggest treatment for the child. Following the completion of treatment, NISD students are required to enroll in an in-school counseling group that generally has six to eight sessions. “Student safety is the No. 1 priority,” said Kimberly Burke, coordinator of secondary guidance and counseling. “When a student discloses that they are using, it is (a counselor’s) duty to tell their parents and help them seek the services that they need.” While divulging such information to a school official is unrealistic for some adolescents, Proudfoot believes there are several options

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Mariah J. Medina Fellowship of Christian Athletes worship leader Ryan Proudfoot visits high schools in San Antonio to share his testimony about his experiences with peer pressure.

About the reporter Mariah J. Medina, 16, is a staff member of the Clark Chronicle and contributes design ideas and stories about the student body. Medina has been on the Clark dance team for two years and on the soccer team for one year, playing mid-field and defender. “I’m always in the studio dancing, even if I don’t have to … I still want to better my chances for every performance,” Medina said. for teens facing addictions. “I’ve come to an understanding that addicts have a void that needs to be filled — a void of love, of community or of acceptance,” Proudfoot said. “They make the mistake of trying to escape from reality, and that’s what it provides. My first answer to them will always be to run to the one who loves you without condition. Second would be to surround

Family-oriented and close to her two sisters, Mariah followed her older sister Lindsay Medina into the Urban Journalism Workshop. Lindsay, now a mass communication major at Texas State University-San Marcos, inspired Mariah to apply this year. “Both of my sisters act as mentors in their own ways — one academically and the other emotionally,” the junior said. Medina has plans to pursue a career in law and continue writing. — Samber K. Saenz

yourself with people who love you and support you for who you are and what you’ve done.” On that night in 2008, Proudfoot decided it was time to change. He credits his faith with helping him recover from his addictions. The dog tag he wears around his neck reads: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

YOU S.A.

June 23, 2011

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Mariah J. Medina Yvonne Gutierrez, vice president of public affairs at Planned Parenthood, believes the new abortion law, which will require those seeking an abortion to recieve a sonogram 24 hours before the procedure, violates the First Amendment.

New Texas law will make getting an abortion harder than ever But lawsuit is challenging provisions that critics call humilitating and unconstitutional

legs in stirrups and a trans-vaginal probe, how is she going to escape? Part of the First Amendment is captured audience” or, in other words, coerced speech. Gutierrez’s main concern is that presented with such a process, women may turn to less safe By Samber K. Saenz avenues for abortions. Warren High School “Our greatest fear is for women who seek other options involving hurting themselves,” On Sept. 1, the already complex road to abor- Gutierrez said. tion is going to get longer and more onerous. The 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling That’s the date the state’s new sonogram law protected patient privacy, opening the way for takes effect if it survives a court challenge by the women to legally terminate a pregnancy. Prior to Center for Reproductive Rights. that time, women seeking abortions were forced In the balance is a host of concerns regarding to turn to often unsanitary and unlicensed prothe implications of what the law, enacted by Gov. viders. Rick Perry last month, will mean for doctors and Those conditions often meant infection, hemyoung women in Texas. orrhaging or death. Some women were never The law requires a woman, regardless of age, able to have children. to have a sonogram 24 hours before the proceAdvocates of women’s rights to abortion andure or if she lives more than ticipate a time that women 100 miles from the clinic, two without options will turn to hours prior to the procedure. the Internet for do-it-yourself The doctor must provide a instructions, returning the detailed verbal description of practice to back alleys. the fetus and make the heartThe National Center for Rebeat audible. The law also reproductive Rights broaches quires that the woman be prethe law from a different angle. sented with a list of agencies Their lawsuit is filed on that provide free sonograms. behalf of Texas Medical ProYvonne Gutierrez, vice viders Performing Abortion president of public affairs Services and asserts the law vifor Planned Parenthood, said First Amendment rights Yvonne Gutierrez olates that while offering a list of of doctors and discriminates vice president of public affairs against women. agencies that perform free at Planned Parenthood sonograms has been preThe center argues that sented by legislators as an some portions of the law force attempt to assist women, it is doctors to violate medical ethics and practice. actually a move to steer those seeking abortions Gutierrez agrees, saying, “It’s such a severe into “women’s crisis clinics,” where they will be violation of practice.” counseled against having the abortion. Another concern is the effect the law will have Gutierrez asserts that the only agencies of- on today’s female teens. fering free sonograms are run by anti-abortion In 2006, according to the Kaiser Family Founorganizations. dation, 70 percent of legal abortions were per“It makes it very clear that that was the in- formed on women younger than 30; 17 percent, tent,” she said, also noting that the law will re- younger than 19. quire women to endure what she describes as Currently, teens can obtain a judicial bypass of a shameful, humiliating, unnecessary and poten- parental consent under some circumstances. tially unconstitutional procedure. “In Texas, if a minor doesn’t want to talk to “This is a First Amendment right violated,” their parents about a pregnancy due to issues of Gutierrez said. “If a woman is on a table with her violence or fear of being kicked out, they can re-

‘Our greatest fear is for women who seek other options involving hurting themselves.’

About the reporter From elevators and music to Junie B. Jones and school, Samber K. Saenz loves it all. The senior is editor of the Warren High School newspaper, the Chariot; historian of the orchestra; and aspiring academic decathlon member. “I love staying busy at school,” Saenz said. “I just love that school.” Saenz enjoys being social, active and productive. She is a “huge book series reader” and is currently working on the complete works of Shakespeare. She has read the works of Edgar Allen Poe, the Series of Unfortunate Events, Harry Potter, the Dark Tower series, Magic Tree House and Junie B. Jones. “Junie B. Jones is the first series ceive a judicial bypass,” Gutierrez said. “If a teen obtains an abortion from judicial bypass, they would not have to abide by the new law.” For those teens who have parental consent, however, the law will apply just as if the girl is an adult. Yazmin Ibarra is a pregnant 17-year-old senior at Warren High School. For such teens, the issue can be quite complex. “I actually did consider abortion, but not at the beginning of my pregnancy; I was never in favor of abortion,” Ibarra said. “I considered abortion because I felt like I was trapped, like I had no way out.” Although Ibarra decided against the abortion and is still opposed to abortion, she understands the difficulty the law will present for teens like herself. “I think the law would have made it a lot tougher to even consider abortion,” she said. “With all the details the doctor gives, it makes you feel guilty

my mom made me read,” Saenz said. “You get this sense of accomplishment when you finish a series.” Having been to almost every state, Saenz said her family moves frequently because her parents were first in the Air Force and later in civil service. Her parents are divorced, but family still plays a big part in her life. Saenz’s mother returned to active duty and is on her second tour of Afghanistan. For Saenz and her family, the situation may be difficult, but with the family motto “This isn’t our first rodeo,” they’ve pushed through it together. “Even though my parents are divorced and my mother is deployed, family has been the one thing that kept us grounded,” Saenz said. “If it weren’t for a sense of family, we wouldn’t be a unit that my mom needs. We hold down the fort, while she literally holds down a fort.” — Katrina Dela Cruz for even considering the option.” However, Ibarra is in favor of the law. “As far as the law, I feel like everyone should be informed about how the baby is growing – even though they don’t want to; they need to realize it’s a human being,” she said. At the same time, Ibarra, like Gutierrez, sees the potential of women going through different routes, which could be quite dangerous, to abortions to avoid the mandated steps. “The women who get scared and don’t want to go through the process may try to handle things in their own hands, which may lead them to not go to the doctor until the damage was done,” Ibarra said. Gutierrez said the law actually will not do anything to reduce abortions, but it definitely will make the process much harder for women who choose to have them. “The number of women seeking abortions will not decline, only the manner in which they are handled,” Gutierrez said.

YOU S.A.

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IT’S A SUMMER OF JOY By Melanie Zook Marshall High School

June 23, 2011

Teens getting involved with S.A. charities and agencies

Carver can be beneficial. “You get to see cultural events,” Guerrero said. “If you see some of these events in New York, you pay maybe $100. If you volunteer, you don’t pay anything.” Not every organization has seen increased teen involvement, though. Bob McCullough, spokesman for Morgan’s Wonderland, said the special-needs accessible park had many teen volunteers when the park opened in April 2010, but now no youth volunteer there. Morgan’s Wonderland offers free admission to individuals with special needs and aims to be as cost-

When Gabriela Tello sits down with her daughter to watch the Disney Channel, public service announcements frequently pop up with young adults describing their volunteering experiences. Add to that the growing focus on service hours by some schools and this increased attention may explain why many organizations are seeing an increase in teens volunteering. “It’s supported and publicized better,” said Tello, volunteer services coordinator for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. “More people want to get out there and give back to the community.” Tello encourages teens to keep getting involved, as volunteer service can lead to the discovery of new passions. The department’s website has a detailed list of monthly service events, and anyone younger than 18 is welcome but needs a parent or guardian with them. While Tello’s department specifically serves area parks, many other agencies also support teen volunteering, including United Way, the Humane Society Katrina Dela Cruz and the Botanical Garden. All three list Cheryl Menefee, 15, delivers food for Meals on Wheels to a event descriptions, contact information blind man as she and eight other teens volunteer through the and registration forms online. Boys and Girls Club. Menefee has volunteered every day this Smaller organizations, such as the Carver Community Cultural Center, summer with Meals on Wheels. are eager for volunteers as well. The Carver is an East Side arts center that effective as possible to be able to continue that practeaches fine arts classes and hosts cultural events. tice. Consequently, about 60 percent of the park’s Organizers look for volunteers to usher at events, staffing comes from volunteers. stuff and pass out programs, and assist the relatively Morgan’s Wonderland welcomes anyone 16 years small staff. or older who is willing to commit to assisting in the “It’s a benefit for us, and it’s a privilege for (vol- park. unteers),” spokeswoman Sharon Guerrero said. “It “We’re looking for long-term interest,” Mcgives them an opportunity to see what’s going on.” Cullough said. “Once volunteers get experience, This spring the Carver opened up to teen vol- they become very valuable.” unteers after a parent request. The center plans to To McCullough, the benefits of volunteering as a continue welcoming teen volunteers, preferably if a teen are clear. school or organization calls ahead to verify the pro“You volunteer because you see a need and you spective volunteers’ responsibility. want to help people,” McCullough said. “Our volunFor teens who love the arts, volunteering at the teers have the satisfaction of helping others.”

Laura Elaine Torres Claudia Kiolbassa, 15, visits with a camper during the Animal Botanical special-needs summer camp at the San Antonio Botanical Garden. Kiolbassa volunteers through the National Charity League and chose the Botanical Garden because she likes to work with specialneeds children and be outside. Kelsie Karnes Garrett Hinck, 15, takes a picture of a camper during the Animal Botanical special-needs summer camp at the San Antonio Botanical Garden. Hinck volunteered at the Botanical Garden because he was looking for a way to occupy his summer.

Katrina Dela Cruz Margarito Santoy, 17, delivers a meal in an East Side neighborhood for Meals on Wheels. Santoy volunteers through Boys and Girls Club.

Kelsie Karnes

After six years, Hurricane Katrina evacuees struggle with staying in Texas or going home By Ernestina L. Maldonado Home-schooled Derranisha Braud’s memories of Hurricane Katrina are far more vivid than the peeling, dull green and white paint on the Outspan apartments in San Antonio. The brown grass is dying beneath the searing rays of the Texas sun as Braud, a rising junior at Sam Houston High School, stands in the shade of a still green tree. At the age of 11, Braud lost her New Orleans home Aug. 29, 2005, when the force of Katrina wiped out the city’s aging levees and unleashed waves of floodwaters into its neighborhoods and streets. “The roof caved in on my mom’s bed,” said Braud, just one of the 25,000-35,000 displaced evacuees still living in San Antonio. The hurricane was predicted to be Category 4 (out of a possible 5). But it was reported to actually be Category 3 when it hit land, with wind speeds between 111 mph and 130 mph. The family slept at an elementary school, then moved to sleep on a bridge where they were given military rations. They had only the clothes on their backs and were forced to sleep on cold wet concrete without blankets or pillows. Helicopters with searchlights flew around at night. Braud remembers having a dream about a week before in which she was “sitting on a hard surface with lights flying in my face.” She now believes the dream was a warning of what would transpire. A helicopter finally picked up Braud and her family and took them to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Kenner. An Army plane then took the family to the former Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio.

Destiney Alarcon (left) and Jaclyn Sanchez prepare to dry off a five-monthold pitbull mix after giving him a bath at Animal Care Services in San Antonio. Alarcon has volunteered for the past month and Sanchez for the past year and a half.

From there, the family spent nearly a month at a shelter at Windsor Park Mall. Because most of her family and friends’ homes were not as badly damaged, many of them stayed behind in Louisiana. Fast forward nearly six years and we see the frightened preteen girl transformed into a young 17-year-old mother to be. She is still unused to living in an apartment. “We always did live in a house,” she said. It is difficult for Braud to be away from her extended family after years of being close to them. “I miss being home,” she said. Not living near the family is especially hard on Braud’s mother, who has been planning to go back to Louisiana since last year. They will leave in November. Braud said that her mother doesn’t like to live in one place for a long time. “She wants the best life for us,” Braud said about her mother’s decision about going back to Louisiana. Braud also wants to go, but thinks she will come back after living awhile in Louisiana. “This is home too,” she said. Her child’s father, who is also from New Orleans, lives here in San Antonio. This is another reason for Braud to return to San Antonio. She keeps in contact with friends and family members through Facebook and texting. “I don’t really need new friends,” she said. “I just need to concentrate on my education and my baby.” Braud compared the Texas schools as “caring a little more about us” than her school in Louisiana. She doesn’t have much to remember her old life by. A few childhood pictures were salvaged but they don’t bring any memories. “I don’t really remember much of them pictures,” she said. Asked if she thought about Katrina often, she

Ernestina L. Maldonado Nina Roma, 18, a Hurricane Katrina evacuee still living in San Antonio, is currently dating Adrian Bomhack, 17. After leaving Louisiana, Roma lived with family in Guatemala for more than a year, then came back to the states to live near her brother who was stationed in San Antonio. said, “It runs through my mind a lot.” Even so, Braud doesn’t like to cling to her “bad past.” She tries to forget. “I don’t really hold on to memories,” she said. Where is Braud’s home? Here in San Antonio or back in Louisiana? “It satisfies me to be here,” she said.

Too many bad memories Nina Roma, 18, another Katrina evacuee, lived in Metairie, La., before her home was flooded in the hurricane. She is now a 2011 Marshall High School graduate, but was in eighth-grade at the time the storm hit. Roma said she didn’t realize how bad the storm was going to be until a friend suggested she evacuate.

Melanie Zook Derranisha Braud, 17, evacuated from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and the resulting flood that destroyed her home. She has lived in San Antonio since then and is entering her junior year at Sam Houston High School. Because Roma’s family car was being repaired, she and her mother drove from Louisiana to Memphis, Tenn., in a rental car. They packed for only two days, thinking they would return home soon. “We all just took off,” she said. Because of the circumstances, she and her mother did not have to pay the rental fee on the car. The Romas left with Nina’s friend and his family to stay in Tennessee. They were there for almost two

weeks, then went to South Haven, Miss., to be closer to Louisiana. A church there provided Roma’s family with food and shelter. Roma was so grateful for their help that she even volunteered at the church to help others like her and those with even less. Roma’s family received $1,000 from Federal Emergency Management Agency, and her family in Guatemala also sent money. Nina’s godfather, the second black mayor of New

Orleans, also helped the family. When Roma’s family went back to Louisiana, they found their home flooded with nearly 5 feet of water. Squeaking pipes hung down and the windows were smashed. “It was a mess,” she said. Roma and her family tried to recover some valuables. “We tried to save the things that we could save,” but everything of value they managed to salvage was stolen a few days later, she said. Roma did not realize that she would not be able to return home until the night she was watching the news and saw the car dealership across her street getting torn apart in the heat of the storm. “I always thought we could go back home,” Roma said. After she saw the destruction of Katrina and after hearing of the deaths of two of her friends, Nina was devastated. “That’s when I realized that I wasn’t going back,” she said. “I couldn’t sleep that whole night.” Because their home was rented, Roma and her mother were not compensated with much money. They left for Guatemala to live near their family, and Roma attended school there. “I didn’t know any Spanish, but in two months I picked up the language,” she said. Roma said she did not feel a sense of normalcy until after the first three months in Guatemala. She lived there for a year. When Roma came back to the States, she found that school was easy because of the rigorous schooling she had in Guatemala, taking both physics and chemistry before entering high school. She also found it easy to make new friends and is currently dating Adrian Bomhack. Will Roma ever live in Louisiana again? Probably not.

About the reporter Since third grade, when Ernestina L. Maldonado began a home-schooling program, she has strived to avoid the stereotype that homeschoolers are quiet, socially awkward geniuses. “Most everybody always assumes things about homeschoolers that aren’t true,” she said. Now 17, Maldonado still aims to dispel those stereotypes. About to begin her senior year, Maldonado’s education is largely in her own hands, as she teaches herself the material from textbooks. She’s attempted public school several times, but each time, she was drawn back to the selfpaced style of school at home. For some traditional school benefits, though, Maldonado takes classes and participates in activities at a co-op, a home schooling organization made up “There are too many bad memories at this point,” she said. “Every time I hear the name Katrina, I think about it.” For now, Roma will live in San Antonio, where she said she feels “comfortable.” Roma wants to be a Navy officer and will attend Texas A&M this year. “I love every aspect about it,” she said.

Homage to Louisiana

Even after almost six years in Texas, many evacuees still haven’t returned home. These two teens

of several home-school families. A San Antonio native, Maldonado has three younger brothers with similar schooling experiences. In her free time, Maldonado pursues reading, writing and singing, as well as dabbling in a variety of athletics, such as basketball, softball and soccer. Maldonado is committed to the home-schooling co-op’s track team; hard training and persistence has helped her rise to varsity status this year. Through journalism and yearbook courses at the co-op, Maldonado has nurtured her love of writing, joining the San Antonio Express-News Teen Team her junior year to further explore journalism. As she looks at colleges, such as the University of the Incarnate Word and Our Lady of the Lake University, Maldonado is considering majoring in art, musical theater, journalism or dietetics. “I’m not too sure what I want to do with my future yet,” Maldonado said. “I like to do pretty much anything.” — Melanie Zook spent their formative years in Louisiana, but have spent a large portion of their lives here. They came with virtually nothing but memories, and what they remember, if they choose to or can remember at all — is often painful. They have new lives here in San Antonio. They’ve made new memories and met new people. But Louisiana will always be a part of their beings because, as Braud tells it, that’s home to their roots. “Everything I’m made of is made from there.”

YOU S.A.

8

June 23, 2011

NO FRIENDS HERE: District confronts cyber-bullies

Bria Webb Warren High School Principal Patty Denham Hill is dealing with the vandilism issue at Warren. Continued from Page 1 “Oconnor Trash Tlk” Facebook page, which has since been removed. The page started with O’Connor students bashing one another, then the venom spread toward students at Brandeis and Warren high schools. The “Oconnor Trash Tlk” page was a button pusher, produced to entice students to message the page with more “trash.” Its description asked students with something to say about someone to post it on the page’s wall or, if they wished to remain anonymous, send it in a message. “It was petty and immature,” said Breanna Robinson, a 2011 Warren graduate who participated in a school board-student dialogue during a May 18 special meeting. Robinson said wall posts to the page often called other students nasty names. “The words that they used were crazy, calling people out of their names.” The dialogues between trustees and two students of each of Northside’s 16 high schools are regular exchanges, but this time, trustees tried prompting students to detail the incident. You S.A. obtained an audio recording of the meeting. During the meeting Superintendent John Folks told students that at some point, there was talk of possibly filing criminal charges against those responsible for the Facebook page. Folks said Northside ISD had names of several students and that the case was expanded further than the O’Connor level. “It will go to the district level and, possibly, to the police level,” Folks said. Administrators said social media is a gray area as far as consequences go. “You can have freedom of speech. You can post whatever you want onto Facebook, but we can also say what happens at the school level,” Folks said. Participation in activities or athletics could be curtailed, he explained to students. Folks told them district officials, after learning about the trash talk page, contacted the district’s attorneys to determine what possible charges could be filed. In a telephone interview this week, however, Assistant Police Chief Charles Carnes said no charges will be filed against those involved. By press time, Folks returned none of several requests to be interviewed by You S.A.

About the reporter When Bria Webb walked through the door of her fourth-grade classroom, she burst into tears. Each new school year put her into an unfamiliar and frightening environment. The tables have now turned for Webb, a 17-yearold senior at Sam Houston High School who spends most of her time in downtown San Antonio at Ripley’s Haunted Adventure, where she dresses up to scare little ones and can even make adults cry. She is a member of Sam Houston’s academic decathlon team, a part of the theater program, a soccer player and a team leader for a college readiness program called GEAR UP that takes students to visit campuses, such as UCLA, Yale and Harvard. Although her school offers no real journalism training, Webb was introduced to journalism after San Antonio Express-News photographer Lisa Krantz visited her school. Webb shadowed Krantz after looking at pictures on her website. After seeing Instead, each high school will handle resulting discipline, Carnes said. While the Facebook page has been removed, it is not clear if someone from the district contacted administrators to ask that the page be removed. According to its website, Facebook routinely works with law enforcement officials and will take steps toward removing a page if it receives a subpoena or court order. Cade Martinez, a rising senior at O’Connor High School, said, “There were some students who loved the page and some students who were totally against it.” Eventually, the page caught the attention of oth-

a photo of a skinny African girl, Webb was pulled into the young girl’s world and into her story. “When I see pictures from these outstanding photographers, it amazes me, it intimidates me,” Webb said. “I want to be like them. I want to tell the stories people are afraid to do.” Webb was a member of the Teen Team, a teen advisory board sponsored by the San Antonio Express-News. Webb has had stories and photos published in the Express-News, including a story about dance style jerkin’. She also created a slideshow of photos for a show in Austin called “CU@Circus” where acrobats performed acrobalancing, juggling and other circus techniques. Webb’s dream is to be a photojournalist and live in an environment that changes by the second. She has grown out of being a shy and frightened girl and is now a young woman who wants to live her life by achieving big. “I want to be remembered for doing outstanding things,” Webb said. “I want to be remembered for writing outstanding stories and for taking outstanding photos. I want to experience everything the world has to offer.” — Laura Elaine Torres

“It would have stayed at O’Connor if they didn’t verbally attack one of the most loved, popular, amazing girls at Warren,” Robinson said. The “Oconnor Trash Tlk” then became what Warren students describe as an entire school attacking one person with degrading remarks. “It disgusts me. For the whole school to participate in such a thing shows no class,” Robinson said. You S.A. contacted the student at the center of the attack, but she did not want to be a part of this report. Animosity toward her eventually migrated from the virtual world to the real world — an early morning vandalism spree May 27 at Warren. Video surveillance shows six shadowy figures running through the campus during pre-dawn hours. The unidentified perpetrators used white paint to spray a giant penis on the football field, Gonzalez said. They also sprayed “SENIORS O.C.” on the Warren sidewalk and “SENIORS RULE OC” on Warren’s football field, according to police reports. Four chickens were released on the high school campus. Toilet paper littered live oak trees at the entry to the campus. Blow-up dolls were attached to a flag pole and in the student parking lot. And a spray-painted assault targeted at one student scrawled in the parking lot: “TAKE THAT (name withheld).” Vandals again targeted the school less than a week later and spray-painted the Stevens falcon mascot, S.H.S. and “E-SCRUBS,” which a student volunteering in the high school office last week said was slang for loser. “It’s bothersome, and there needs to be consequences,” Warren Principal Patty Denham Hill, said, adding that Warren students were quick to clean up their campus after the vandalism. She said it was as if the vandals wanted it to appear that Stevens’ students defaced Warren. On May 27, a Stevens custodian found pennies tarred to the concrete spelling out “W.H.S. 2011,” according to district police reports obtained by You S.A.

er Northside schools. What started with O’Connor students bashing one another mushroomed into a cyber war that pitted the Panthers against the Brandeis Broncos and later the Warren Warriors, district spokesman Pascual Gonzalez said in a telephone interview last week. Brandeis, a two-year-old school, was started with transfer students from O’Connor. The Panther-Warrior attack went viral after what appeared to be O’Connor students launching a vicious attack against a Warren senior, who tried to encourage students not to bash one anContinued on next page other.

YOU S.A.

June 23, 2011 Continued from previous page But the first act of vandalism administrators think could have been linked to the Facebook page occurred at 3 a.m. May 22 at Brandeis High School, according to school district police reports. Miscreant firebugs burned “OC� into the Brandeis football field, according to police reports. The damage was discovered on May 23. Principal Geri Berger said if students confessed and agreed to pay for the damages, the school would not pursue criminal charges, according to police reports. Brandeis Vice Principal Kenneth Vogel then relayed the principal’s intention to the parent of a student identified in the report only as “RP.� That student and his father met with school officials to provide a statement. When asked for his accomplices, the student proceeded to text another student identified as “RH,� who also came forward and provided a statement of his involvement, according to the police report. Later another three students, identified as “SQ,� “RR,� and “WG;� provided officials with statements, according to the police report. Gonzalez said it cost the district $750 to repair the scorched field. As restitution, each student had to pay for the repairs to the field and apologize to the principal and athletic coordinator, Berger said. Two students came with a parent, one came alone and the fourth did not apologize, Berger said. The district still has an open investigation into who caused the vandalism at the schools, Gonzalez said. Those responsible could face criminal mischief, trespassing and vandalism charges, he said in a telephone interview last week. “We will bust them and we will charge them,� he said. Meanwhile, in an effort to smooth relations between the high schools and counter negativity spawned by the Facebook barrage, three other pages were created for students to leave positive comments about one another. Anonymous people created “Warren Lovin’,� “O’connor Sweet Talkk,� and “Brandeis Love� Facebook pages. For Warren, these acts of violence were turned into positives “bringing them closer as a senior class,� Hill said. Northside follows a five-step process to stop bullying: s 0UT THE VICTIM AT EASE s .OTIFY THE PARENT OR GUARDIAN s &OLLOW DUE PROCESS FOR THE OFFENDERS s 5SE THE STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT s 0OLICE GET INVOLVED OR A HEARING IS conducted. “We make sure our teachers are very aware that it should be reported to administration and or principal,� Hill said. “We don’t ignore these situations. We’ve always acted on any bullying situations reported.� Northside is asking that anyone with information on these crimes to come forward or call 210-397-SAFE. To report on the Warren vandalism case, call Warren Crime Stoppers at 210-397-7884. Gonzalez and Hill are confident that the perpetrators will be discovered. After the Facebook page was discovered, school officials began monitoring it, and if students were found to be posting during school hours, they were called to the principal’s office. At Warren, Hill said that bullying is taken seriously. She said if a student makes a report or if faculty, staff or an administrator witnesses bullying, immediate action will be taken. Earlier this year, Warren’s student council launched an Open Acts of Kindness program, in which students promote good relationships on campus, Hill explained. In the audio recording of the May 18 board meeting, one girl told trustees her friend complained to a principal at the beginning of the year about being bullied. The student said the principal took no action.

9

BIG CUTS: Districts will do more with less

Kelsie Karnes At Northside Independent School District, Stephen Daniel, the district’s assistant superintendent for secondary administration, and Sara McAndrew, executive director for secondary instruction, are closely involved with how budget cuts are affecting students in the district. Continued from Page 1 Another consideration for districts is the new standardized test. At the high school level, incoming freshman will take the new end-of-course exams while the rest of the school will take the familiar TAKS test. Combined with increased class sizes and fewer resources, the new testing will be a considerable demand on some teachers and campuses. Sara McAndrew, executive director of secondary instruction in NISD, said the district is working to cut down on the confusion of dual testing. “They’re really working to try to protect the interests of the students,� McAndrew said. Not all high school students will face such significant effects of funding deficits. In SchertzCibolo-Universal City ISD, the only positions eliminated are those of the school’s nine-person police department. When news of the restructured taxes and projected education crisis reached officials in 2006, the district worked to remain fiscally conservative. In that same year, Texas House Bill 1 capped the amount of local tax revenues brought in by school districts at the 2005-2006 revenue levels. This benefited the district, as they had high property values and tax revenues that year. Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD still faces an anticipated $7 million in cuts, but spokeswoman Rebecca Villarreal said high revenues means a limited impact on students. “We were a little more fortunate than others,� Villarreal said. “We still had to cut, but we didn’t have to cut people.� NISD employees whose positions have been

About the reporter One of Melanie Zook’s favorite pastimes is watching films. She likes them so much that last semester, she co-founded the John Marshall High School Film Society. Every month, the society shows a film, usually a classic, in the new school auditorium. “We want to educate students on the impact of important films, not only in the cinematic community, but also in all of society,� Zook said. Last Christmas break, Zook learned to knit. She especially enjoys knitting scarves, which she plans to donate to Worshippers for Warmth, an organization at her church, St. Francis Episcut will move to other positions that have been vacated by retirement or resignation. The district also has created the Secondary Teachers Academy, where displaced teachers learn how to teach a subject in which they’re certified but not necessarily familiar teaching. Students will see changes in Northside and other school districts, but the specific effects are

copal, that provides winter clothes to refugees and low-income families. Though Zook, 16, is younger than most high school seniors, she doesn’t let that stand in her way. She has been ranked first in her class for the past three semesters, is principle clarinetist in her band program and is also the band president. Zook has always had a passion for writing, and she puts those skills to practice by writing for her school newspaper, the Rampage, where she has been copy editor for two years and editor-in-chief for one year. Zook plans to earn a degree in English but has yet to decide which college she will attend. “I’d rather go out of state,� she said. “I was born and raised in San Antonio, so I’d like to expand my horizons in college.� — Ernestina L. Maldonado

dependant on the outcome of the state Legislature’s special session. “We’re very committed, and we’re not going to stop that commitment,� McAndrew said. “It’s kind of like Dr. Folks says: Next August, the doors are going to open and the bells are going to ring and the kids are going to come, and we’re going to be there for them. That’s our job.�

YOU S.A.

10

June 23, 2011

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Paul Zoeller Workshoppers attending a dinner sponsored by the San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists pose on association President Elaine Ayala’s porch.

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By Kelsie Karnes Bandera High School After 26 years of changing lives and opening doors for high school students, the Urban Journalism Workshop at San Antonio College, sponsored by the San Antonio Express-News and the Dow Jones News Fund, is closing its own door this year. The workshop has fallen victim to budget cuts in higher education, but the president of San Antonio College, where the workshop is conducted, would like to see the program continued. “We are willing to look at any suggestions, any options, any ways that we might be able to do it differently,� President Robert Zeigler said. “I want to save it if we possibly could.� San Antonio College journalism Instructor Irene Abrego has been director of the workshop since 1995 and has been a part of it since 1987. She said the college is no longer willing to support its administration. “The processes that have been instituted in the last year have made everything take longer, involve more steps, lack any kind of efficiency, and are frankly confusing,� Abrego said. Zeigler said he is willing to evaluate the program and budget to discover if the workshop can be saved. “We are going to do our very best,� Zeigler said. “It’s a tight budget and there’s a lot of good programs we need to evaluate.� In 1990, Naka Nathaniel attended the workshop

and after college graduation went on to work for The New York Times from 1995 to 2008. “It gave me the opportunity to try a lot of different things in a small amount of time and that became the hallmark of my career as a journalist,� Nathaniel said. “It’s disappointing that the workshop isn’t going to be around for future generations to use as launching pads,� Nathaniel said. “There are so many great students that have gone through the workshop.� Javier Aldape is vice-president of niche products for the E.W. Scripps Co., a media group with newspapers and TV stations around the country. He attended the workshop in 1986 and is “deeply saddened to learn that the workshop is ending.� “It deprives San Antonio students of a proven, effective journalism training program,� Aldape said.

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The Dow Jones News Fund, a major financial contributor to 24 high school journalism workshops across the nation, provided the seed grant for UJW@SAC. “The San Antonio College workshop is one of the finest workshops we’ve had the pleasure of supporting,� said News Fund Deputy Director Linda Shockley. “The staff, the directors, have been top notch and very committed to journalism and working with high school students.� Abrego said, “My 25 years with UJW@SAC represents exactly half my life. It’s made me a better teacher and a better student, a better leader and a better team player. It’s taught me fortitude, patience and stewardship.� Beyond those benefits, she appreciates the people the workshop has brought into her life. “Through the workshop, I have had the opportunity to work with professionals across the state, the good fortune to have mentored outstanding young people and the pleasure of working with a group of outstanding journalists dedicated to education,� she said. “I can’t imagine a better way to have spent my life.� She appreciates the chance to “pass on my passion for free exchange of information.� Since its start, the Urban Journalism Workshop has helped launch successful journalists’ careers. “We’ve had several veterans from the workshop get hired here at the San Antonio ExpressNews,� said Dino Chiecchi, director of newsroom '**! M.#'')$B5#*/7)-$1#765#'$)$'(6-'6*$D6*$D6,*$ ',55#*'C$*#2#)'/-8$D6*5#*$A)-8#*$'0)DD#*$=),2$ c6#22#*$06$&6*;$0"#$0&6F&##;$(*68*)53$O/-7#$a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aF&##;$1660$7)5($D6*$(#6(2#$6D$7626*$&"6$&)-0$ 06$7")-8#$7)*##*'$)-.$&6*;$6-$0"#/*$"65#06&-$ -#&'()(#*'3$J/-7#-0$Y)</'C$D6*5#*$O)-$B-06-/6$ @622#8#$96,*-)2/'5$'0,.#-0$)-.$-6&$KH(*#''F%#&'$ *#(6*0#*$*#2#)'#.$06$0"#$&6*;'"6(C$)00#-.#.$0"#$ /-'0/0,0#$/-$aSSP3 !"#$e/-6*/0:$+#226&'"/($(*68*)5$6D$0"#$%#&'()F (#*$B''67/)0/6-$6D$B5#*/7)$/'$)$'7"62)*'"/($(*68*)5$ D6*$5/.F2#<#2$5)-)8#5#-03$!"#$(*68*)5$/'$.#'/8-#.$ 06$&/.#-$6((6*0,-/0/#'$D6*$(*6D#''/6-)2'$6D$7626*$06$ #-0#*$6*$).<)-7#$/-$-#&'()(#*$5)-)8#5#-03

YOU S.A.

June 23, 2011 administration at the San Antonio Express-News. “For recruiters, it’s really advantageous. You can’t ignore results from the workshop.� For Express-News education reporter Francisco Vara-Orta, who attended the workshop in 2001, the Urban Journalism Workshop was a “buffet of information.� “For the first time, it exposed me to the power of journalism and holding people accountable,� VaraOrta said. “These opportunities are Reggie Rivers shrinking. There’s money, but TV sports broadcaster less there’s such an appetite for media consumption.� Television sports broadcaster Reggie Rivers participated in the first year of the workshop in 1985. In 1991, Rivers graduated from Texas State University-San Marcos with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and signed with the Denver Broncos, where he went on to play six seasons. “From a mental standpoint, it helped me ground my expectations, my understanding about what journalism was,� Rivers said. “It really cemented my interest in journalism.� Even though the Broncos kept Rivers busy, he managed to pursue his career in journalism. After Rivers signed with the Broncos, he was hired to write a weekly sports column for the Rocky Mountain News. Rivers wrote for the Rocky Mountain News for eight years. He continued to work for several television and radio shows, including the “Broncos Beat,� “Sports Extra,� “Reggie’s Kids� and “Rolling with Rivers.� “Journalism is an art that has to be preserved,� he said.

The staff Katrina Dela Cruz Kelsie Karnes Ernestina L. Maldonado Mariah J. Medina Samber K. Saenz Laura Elaine Torres Bria Webb Melanie Zook

‘Journalism is an art that has to be preserved.’

Ernestina L. Maldonado Fransisco Vara-Orta, a UJW workshopper in 2001, is an education reporter for the Express-News in San Antonio. “It was in this program that I decided what I wanted to do,� he said. Jennifer Walsh attended the workshop in 1995. Now she is senior communication specialist for Total, a major oil and gas company. “Maybe I didn’t recognize it at 17, but now at 33 I look back, and that was my first opportunity to start a career and be successful in what I’m doing,� Walsh said. Walsh credits those who helped her at the workshop. “Journalism is a passion profession,� she said. “People don’t get into it to be rich; they get into it because they love it. Walsh said by not having the workshop, high school students will lose the chance to be exposed to the adrenaline rush and “the art that is journalism.�

About the reporter Kelsie Karnes, poet, blogger, aspiring journalist and a Bandera High School junior, is not your typical high school student. When the National Honor Society member is not busy with her family, serving as the Key Club treasurer and participating in UIL, she is performing community service. “I like to be involved with my community because I love to see the joy we bring to others by sharing simple deeds of kindness,� Karnes said. But writing is her passion. In her sophomore year, she took several writing classes.

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11

Former executive editor of the San Antonio Light and one of the early supporters of the workshop, Ed Rademaekers believes students were given the opportunity to find jobs they might not have gotten without the workshop. “The most important thing is that the workshop gave students a sense of what it would be like to work as a journalist, what it was going to take, and the skills they needed to develop,� Rademaekers said. “It was like a road map.� Shockley has seen the workshop publication You S.A. each year and has noted its exceptional quality. “You S.A. has been one of the best workshop papers in the country,� Shockley said.

That year, she also wrote a poem called “A Friendly Reminder,� which won first place in Awaken the Sleeping Poet competition. But she fell in love with journalism. In fact, a blog she wrote about getting her driver’s license garnered a first–place award from the Interscholastic League Press Conference last year. While school and writing consume much of her time, her love for family runs as deep as the roots of a wild fig tree. She enjoys movie nights with family and mini-road trips. Karnes plans to attend a college no more than half-a-day’s drive from home. “I don’t think I could ever bring myself to move far away from my family,� Karnes said. “We are just too close.� — Katrina Dela Cruz

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Our sponsors

Dr. Fred & Charlene Blevens â– Tricia Buchhorn â– Juan Garcia â– Chet Hunt â– Friends of Journalism at San Antonio College â– D.A. James â– Alicia Morse â– Marianne Odom â– Jennifer Rodriguez â– San Antonio Association of Black Journalists â– San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists â– Society of Professional Journalists â– Adrian Zamarron â– Dr. Robert Zeigler â– Paul Zoeller

AccuNet/AP In the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots in 1992, residents assess the damage. "E+(&2(A"4*$%E(A&,%B+B("%B(_+V$1"%(N&,0%"4$'#'( '++*$%E('-++B=(-0&1+''$%E(&2("'=4,)(-+#$#$&%'(2&0( N&,0%"4$'#'(#"0E+#+B($%(#3+(B0,E(1"0#+4(A"0'6 )*+,+-)+-./012-/3204 >)+0$1"%(%+A'-"-+0'('3&A+B("(<+0=('4$)( LQFUHDVH LQ QHZVURRP HPSOR\HHV ODVW \HDU ÂżQDOO\ 3"4#$%E("(#30++8=+"0(+V&B,'(&2(N&,0%"4$'#'6 93+(-+01+%#"E+(&2()$%&0$#$+'($%(%+A'0&&)'(#&#"4+B( .@6cX(-+01+%#?("(B+14$%+(&2(D6Tc(-+01+%#"E+(-&$%#'( 20&)("(=+"0("E&?("11&0B$%E(#&(#3+(>)+0$1"%(7&1$+#=( &2(P+A'(FB$#&0'?(A3$13(3"'(1&%B,1#+B("(1+%','(&2( -0&2+''$&%"4(2,448#$)+(N&,0%"4$'#'('$%1+(.Xcd6

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12

YOU S.A.

June 23, 2011

Withaalittle littlehelp helpfrom fromour ourfriends. friends. With

Parody illustration by Adrian Zamarron, Parody illustration by Adrian Zamarron, UJWUJW 19891989

30- - -30

This poster was designed to commemorate our workshop’s 25th anniversary in 2009.

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