Sam Munsey News Final

Sam Munsey 6th Period News Staff Final

Essay: Effects of Technology I will start this piece with a bit of honesty: I, like the majority of my generation, am probably guilty of having a cell phone addiction. I really want to stop this problem, and I hope one day soon I will, but right now it is very hard to not know what’s going on within Twitter, not check Reddit or other message boards, or not keep my snap streaks going and see where everyone is on a given day. Instead of focusing on the things I should be focusing on, such as the homework I have to do or the people in front of me, I tend to keep my head down in the phone and continue to live in this internet bubble that has been created by the modern smartphone. If I continue living this way without making an attempt to stop myself, I could feel the effects in a very serious way.

The effects of technology on our generation are devastating, and even worse, they can be permanent. The population of the developed world have grown up in this generation of constant phone stimulation, where people are constantly checking their phones, even when they don’t have an alert or reason to use it, without looking around and taking in their environment around them, and soon this movement will spread to the poorer nations in the world as well as technological advances infect their populations as well. This generation is losing the ability to connect with others face to face in favor of connecting with others hundreds of miles away, or wasting time dealing themselves with the opinions of people they will never meet face to face. When the kids of this generation go off to get a job, will they be able to deal with the responsibilities of the real world if they’re so obsessed with the virtual world? This is a question that society has to deal with and prepare for, unless the information generation can be responsible with their use of technology and limit it to appropriate times.

Of course, technology can be very useful and timely when you need it. For example, I’m typing this part of my essay on my phone while I’m out and about, allowing me to get work done while I can’t be in front of my computer. It has allowed my generation to be the most efficient in world history and has made multi-tasking an everyday norm, allowing for some breakthroughs in society. But what if we, the world’s largest population ever, decided to focus on one thing at a time instead of many and put our hearts and souls in to this field?

Also, on a more individual level, what could I be missing while I’m on my phone, whether I’m being productive or not? I could miss a family joke that will be remembered forever, or an important moment in the lives of someone close to me, or even what could be an important moment in my own life. While my friends are telling stories or playing sports, I could be stuck worrying about something meaningless, or looking up something that will never effect my life in a serious way. Finally, cell phones can have averse effects in even worse ways, such as a texting and driving accident.

Also, technology gives an out to avoid awkward in person interaction which may be important in the maturing process, giving people their cell phones as an “out� instead.

For example, two people who have had disagreements with each other and then see each other in person can easily avoid the other by walking by with their head in their phone instead of being forced to look the other person in the eye and potentially work out the problem. Additionally, the constant effect of technology on the brain is devastating and is ruining the way people think and communicate in the 21st century. The feeling of instant gratification, as well as the need to constantly know what is going on whether in worldwide news or local gossip has created a generation with little to no patience and a need to constantly be in touch with others. This need to be more social through our phones has actually greatly diminished overall social skills as it is much tougher for many people to communicate in person, and it allows for people who have trouble socially communicating end up stuck inside their shell with no reason to come out of their comfort zone in person.

This addiction to instant gratification and keeping up with the times has led to an addiction with cell phones that is eerily similar to the addiction to drugs, as reported by the Telegraph, CBS News and the New York Times. While as not as physically harming as a drug addiction, cell phone addiction can still wreck someone’s life and have disastrous effects, such as those I have already listed above, and this is just from the perspective of an individual with a cell phone addiction. If all of society ends up falling to this epidemic, the effects could damage human social relations beyond repair and major world problems could go unsolved as people fail to communicate with each other. We can stop this, but it will take the combined efforts of all in the developed world to do so. And if whoever reads this tries to put away their phone for just a few minutes, they could be the second in a long movement against cell phone addiction. Hopefully, I will be the first.

Story One: Titan Sotball Shows Fight After a long, hard fought season for Titan softball, they played their final game on Tuesday night, falling to Spruce Creek 4-3 in a 14 inning battle in the district tournament. It was a great season for the Titans, with many more ups than downs, but this game was a heartbreaking way for the year to close, as well as a tough final chapter on the careers of many of the team’s seniors.

The girls started the season on a roll, winning five consecutive games. They also won the Lake Mary Early Bird Tournament, rolling through the tournament undefeated against some top teams including Lake Howell, DeLand, Hagerty and Tampa Sickles in the championship game.

“The moment that brought the team together was when we won the Lake Mary Early Bird Tournament,” senior Olivia Hansen said. “When we went undefeated, I think we realized just how great of a team we were because we all trusted each other.”

However, once they hit district play the Titans stumbled out of the gates, starting off 1-2 within the district. After this temporary fall, however, the ladies went on a roll, winning 10 of their last 11 games on the way to the playoffs, including a wild 20-17 win on senior night over Pine Ridge. With a district championship and more on their mind, the Titans came in to the playoffs full of pride and determination.

In the playoffs, the lady Titans won their first game and were one game away from the district championship game and a berth in the regional tournament. However, their next game would be one they’d never forget.

The game lasted 14 innings, with many twists and turns for both the Titans and their opponent Spruce Creek. In the top of the 8th, Taylor Langworthy had a huge 2 RBI hit that looked like it could win the game for University. Then, in the 9th, McKenzie Jones had a big hit, knocking in a run to make the score 3-2 in the 9th inning.

“When Taylor pulled through and hit a single and scored those runners, it excited everyone in the dugout,” Hansen said. “It was a great moment.”

In the end, Spruce Creek came back and won the game after 14 innings and the Titan’s season came to a close. After a hard fought and passionate season, the Titans fell just short of regional goals.

Revisions The first thing I noticed missing from this article was that it only had two quotes and they were from the same person. This shows that I was lacking in total quotes as well as the variation between quotes. Also, I should have put in the effort to go deeper into the story and put in more detail. The piece as it is is somewhat lacking in telling the actual story, which was the angle I was going for, and instead was more of a general overview of the softball season and their accomplishments. Finally, I should have gone in to more detail for individual games, such as the district game against Spruce Creek as that was a major part of the story. Hopefully, I will be able to attend more games, and make more of an attempt to go in to detail inning by inning and even play by play.

Spring Sports Update The baseball team has been on a roll as of late, winning six straight games as of April 14th.

The team has five more games over the next two weeks before the playoffs, where they will be the number one seed in the district as they look to make a state championship run.

Logan Allen has been leading the effort in the pitching and hitting areas, but many others such as Nathan Peden, Cameron Robinson and Jesus Ruiz have made major contributions as of late.

Also playing well at the moment is the Titan softball team, who are currently 17-6 at the time of writing and face Pine Ridge and Seabreeze in their final two games. Sophomore Kendall Walsh and seniors Taylor Langworthy and Jenna Weldon lead the team at the plate, all hitting at least .340. On the mound, Walsh, Weldon and junior Marissa Adame all have ERAs below 2.00.

Also, there were many boys Titan lifters that made it to the state championship meet in DeLand. Brandon Elias, Joey Rago, and Anthony Pearsall were there, fighting for a shot at the state championship. Unfortunately, all three fell short of the championship but they all put in great efforts and had great finishes in their divisions.

“Seeing this many people on our team make it this far is truly an exciting time for the team and an inspiration for everyone else,” said senior Tyler Thompson.

Finally, the tennis team has had their season come to a close recently after the district tournament. The boys team fought hard but fell short in their doubles match against DeLand, while the girls had one winning duo on the first day that had the chance to move on to the next round but failed to pass further than that.

“It was a great season for us and it was a lot of fun to try tennis for the first time,” said senior Ryan Kenis.

Overall, the Titans are rolling towards the end of the school year with many great seasons, accomplishments, and possible championships. Between all these teams, the future is bright and the present is even brighter.

Revisions One of the major issues I see with this piece was my failure to cover track and field, a sport which was moving towards the end of it’s season but featured many important runners who had a chance to place in regional or state tournaments. This includes Lorenzo Lingard, who won a state championship in track after this piece was published.

To add on, I had just two quotes instead of the required three that I need to add more depth to the article. Finally, I should have gone in to more depth on some of the smaller teams. For example, I mention a tennis doubles couple that won without giving their names or the score of their match. With those added details, the article would have been much improved and had a much better overall flow. In conclusion, this was a good overview but some more research would have taken this piece to the next level.

Kurt Busch Wins Daytona 500 On Thrilling Last Second Pass In a race that tests endurance, patience and your ability to drive in the toughest conditions, Kurt Busch showed he can do it all and persisted through many accidents to survive and win the Daytona 500. Despite only leading one lap all race, that lap was the most important one and the final one, securing his first 500 win in his prestigious career.

“There’s nothing conventional anymore about the Daytona 500… so I just kept digging,” Busch said after the race.

Early on in the race, Kurt Busch’s younger brother Kyle won the first stage in NASCAR’s new format, which awards points to the winners of the first and second parts of the race as well as the race winner to give more points to consistent drivers and reward drivers for success early in the race.

After his crash in the second stage, Kyle Busch stated, “You’re trying to win the Daytona 500 here, and it’s just so disappointing (to wreck).”

Kevin Harvick, who was at the front of the pack for a large portion of the trace, took the second stage, setting up the sprint to the finish in the final 80 laps. Harvick, who won the 2007 edition of the race, led 50 laps throughout the race but finished a mediocre 22nd in the end.

The final stage was dominated by a multitude of young drivers looking to make a name for themselves by winning the biggest race of the year. This group included Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon, runner-up Ryan Blaney, and pole-sitter Chase Elliott, who took the famous number 24 that Jeff Gordon drove for many years before.

“It was a solid day for us… and a good start to the season,” Blaney said.

However in the end, the race came down to a few veterans who had a chance to bolster their resumes and get their years off to a flying start. Joey Logano, another past 500 champion, was aggressive and held the lead for a short period in the final stage, and veteran Kasey Kahne was also hanging back in the pack waiting for his chance to make a move.

But one man stood out in the last laps, and that man was Kurt Busch. Despite predictions that he would run out of fuel before the end of the race, Busch persevered and managed to make a last lap pass using the help of Blaney to secure victory. After 576 races at NASCAR’s top level, he had finally won the nation’s biggest race: The Daytona 500.

Revisions My major issue in this piece was my inability to relate the race and it’s relevance to University High School. While everyone knows the Daytona 500 is fairly local, I did not get quotes from people at campus or explanations from them as to what the race means to them.

Also, not only did I get two quotes for this piece instead of three, they’re both from drivers instead of people relating to the school. Finally, while I gave an overview of the race, I never gave an analysis of what happened as far as different moves in the race or driver strategy. This makes it hard for my piece to separate itself from the plenty of news articles already being published on the race.

In the end, this piece does not do enough to separate itself from the many, many other pieces surrounding one of the most popular races in the world, leaving it very tough to make it good enough to read.