The Booster Redux

Remember the time

rcrews — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:41:07 +0000

Photo By Jessica Curlee

At the age of 4, freshman Ana Priscila Ruiz arrived in Pittsburg. The first place her family stopped was Ron’s IGA. It is unknown to her why this was her first destination but what is not unknown is where she is from: Matamoros, Mexico.

Her Mexican heritage is one thing that most people don’t realize at first observation because of her fluent English and her lack of an accent.

Priscila remembers coming to the U.S. on a cold fall day.

She remembers learning the English language one letter at a time.

She remembers crafting the bond with her sister, junior, Isis Ruiz that still, to this day remains intact.

She remembers that she hates Fridays. She hates Fridays with an “epic passion” and loves Mondays. She says that Monday is a starting point and Friday symbolizes the end.

Priscila remembers “nerding out,” reading comic books, fantasizing about being a super hero and being different than any other little girls that she knew.

She remembers laying in bed, watching soap operas all day, being “girly” with her real life super-hero: her mother.

Her mother is a woman that even a blind man can see is a successful, loving and protective mother of five who would never let anything happen to any of her children. In fact, the choices that Priscila make today are directly related to her goals of being an architect, and to succeed in raising her future family.

Priscila remembers because she’s living her life. A story that can not be told by any living soul as accurately as her, as long as she can remember to tell it.

One thing of equal importance to her memories is pride.
Priscila is proud in how far her family has come but she still feels as if she has years of expectation to reach.

She is proud of how hard they have worked to reach such levels of respect.

She is proud to be a Mexican-American.

She is proud.

By Ryan Crews

Thefts hit Pittsburg

kphalen — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:54:44 +0000

When Ken and Marilyn Bishop, parents of Pittsburg High School principal Jon Bishop, heard suspicious noises downstairs while they were sleeping, they figured it was just the other getting up to get something to eat or drink. But when they woke up the next morning, they discovered that that was not the case.

When they walked downstairs, they found things were not how they had left them. Marilyn’s misplaced keys were the first sign. After looking around, they noticed their drawers had been searched through, and items had been pulled out. Though nothing was damaged, several valuables were taken.

“They took a lot of coins, jewelry, a wedding ring, and just some knick-knacks,” Jon Bishop said. “And a digital camera with about 600-700 pictures on it. That’s probably what they miss the most.”

The Bishops are not the only people who have been robbed this fall. According to the Morning Sun, the Pittsburg Police Department has seen a 100 percent increase in robberies in October compared to September. One of these victims was the Bishop’s grandson, who lives next door and was robbed the same night they were.

Bo Hughes, a senior at PHS, had just moved into his new apartment next door to his grandparents four days before the incident.
“They took my Playstation 3, two of my iPods, and my wallet with everything in it. They went through my car but were unable to find anything of value,” Hughes said. “The scariest part was one of those iPods was right above my head on my headrest, and I was home, sleeping.”

Since the incident, Hughes has had an alarm installed. But even with the extra security, he says he still feels scared in his own home.

“It’s been horrible. Even though we had an alarm system put in, which I’ve accidently set off on numerous occasions, it scares even me,” Hughes said. “I don’t sleep as well as I used to.”

Greg Shaw, PHS theater director, has also had his fair share of robbery experiences. Over the past 18 months, Shaw has had cars in his driveway broken into on four separate occasions. On one of these occasions, his car was actually stolen, and was not recovered for another two weeks. When Shaw got his car back, everything in the vehicle was stolen and about $3,000 worth of damage was done to the car. Since then, Shaw has installed surveillance equipment.

“I have them on video. The police have that video, and they’re going to try to track them down,” Shaw said. “Hopefully we’ll catch them.”

Even though the cause of the sudden increase in robberies is unknown, the time of year could be a contributing factor.

“Usually around this time of year, getting into the holidays, people rob places to try and get items to sell for money,” PHS resource officer Mike Reese said.

However, statistics show that the trend of thefts around town has not affected PHS.

“I think we’re about on par with where we usually are with thefts,” he said. “Usually at school it doesn’t really pick up. There aren’t certain times that there are more theft than any other time. It’s usually about the same.”

Even though PHS does not see a lot of theft reports, students are advised to keep their valuables locked in their locker at all times, or not take them to school at all. If anything is stolen out of your locker, its also advised that you file a theft report. This way, administration can help you retrieve your item and help you to keep your valuables safe in the future.

By Katie Phalen

The Booster Redux

Social media in the next generation

lrink — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 20:36:27 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Journalism evolving to keep up with the next generation adults

Social media is widely known as the thing that defines the next generation of adults. Teens and adolescents alike all across the world are using Facebook, Twitter and other social media websites almost constantly. While social networking websites can have negative effects, these networks are arguably more beneficial than hurtful. Though these websites have been the platform for cyberbullying, but they have also helped young adults form their opinions and share them with the world, free of censorship.

In the journalism world, the booming use of social media sites has been a definite advantage. Journalists can now get news out to the public in a matter of minutes. Facebook and Twitter have progressed from a social gathering site into a marketplace for new ideas and news updates as well as a podium for opinion sharing. Even if someone is not a professional journalist, being able to post virtually anything gives a person the power to be the modern distributor of information, and sometimes that is not always a good thing.

“Sometimes it’s just their opinion or it could be viewed as bullying or harassment so I don’t think it’s all really journalism,” Hannah Carrier,senior at Pittsburg High School, said.

In high school journalism, kids are using these sites to post events that are going to be happening in the school or around the community. At PHS, one of the writers on the Booster Redux staff uses Facebook to get feedback for some of the stories he writes. Ryan Crews, junior, posts reviews he writes over CDs and movies on Facebook once they are published for feedback and critique from other writers. Crews says he gets lots of ‘likes’ and comments on his articles which help him become a better writer.

“I have a lot of people on my Facebook who don’t live in town and we don’t put everything online so sometimes they don’t see it so I put it on Facebook,” Crews said.

Kids at PHS rely on Facebook and Twitter for updates on what is happening around town as well as at the high school. Now that journalism is becoming more intertwined with these social media sites, the Booster Redux uses them to their advantage to get news out to kids faster. By posting stories over events or notices about upcoming ones, kids can keep up to date on everything that will be happening in the near future around the community. Keeping up with the fast moving world of journalism, however, has definitely been a challenge.

“We have to work harder this year to get things done more on time so we can have more content for the website, so it’s been a little harder,” Jessica Curlee, junior, said.

Social networks are changing the way journalists and people go about their everyday life. This was best displayed in the Pittsburg community on Nov. 4, 5, and 6 when vibrations were felt from a nearby earthquake. Infinity Butcher, junior, awoke the next morning to hundreds of Facebook posts and Twitter updates with tidbits of information about what had happened while she had been sleeping.

“It wasn’t all correct information, but without the posts, I probably wouldn’t have even known about it,” Butcher said.

By being able to check a Twitter timeline and see that a fire is happening just down the block, a person can take action faster instead of waiting until the next day to see what happened in the paper. Whether people like it or not, the way information is released to the world is changing rapidly and it is up to journalists to evolve and adapt in order to accurately inform people of what exactly is going on.

For more information, view these resources:
http://www.pbs.org/
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/
http://www.statesman.com/
http://www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org/

story by Mariah Laman and Logan Rink
photos and video by Logan Rink

Double Duty: Students participate in more than one sport at a time

lrink — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:52:22 +0000

Many students at Pittsburg High school participate in either more than one sport, or a sport and activity simultaneously. Two students in particular are Senior, Dylan Gromer, and Junior Brianna Maxwell.
Gromer will be participating throughtout the school year in a variety of different sports and activities such as, Football, Basketball, Baseball, Math Club, Science Club, and also Spanish Club. Gromer believes that “in sports it’s more of a physical preparation than it is for a club”. Although, participating in different activities going on throughout the year may cause them to run together. For Gromer, that isn’t a problem.
While some students like Dylan Gromer are in sports and activities, there are other students participating in two sports happening in the same time range. Brianna Maxwell, Jr. during her Sophomore year participated in softball, and track at the same time.
“I have to admit that it was tough, just as tough as I thought it would be” Maxwell said.
Students who come to Pittsburg High School as freshman, you are not allowed to play two sports at the same time.
“I did both sports because I’ve been torn between which one I wanted to do since my freshman year,” Maxwell said.
Students who participate have to be approved by both coaches, and administration. Even though it was improved, it still provides a number of challenges.
“The way I worked both sports was I would get my reps of throwing in right after school till just after four, and then I would go to softball practice and work with the team on fielding as well as batting.” Maxwell said.
Many students may think its hard to do both, but with a little hard work and dedication, you can succeed.

By Rikki Appier

Photo by Brandon Smith

Mock interviews present help for student futures

lrink — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:59:24 +0000

Juniors got out of their English 11 classes on November 9 and 10 to participate in mock interviews; a simple way for them to learn what to say and how to act during a job interview. Interested seniors also could have participated in the interviews.
Business Education Alliance members from the Pittsburg area and students in Free Enterprise from Pitt State took time out of their day to gather in the Megan Mallatt Center to interview students. The same members of the community offered advice on students’ resumes during Speed Resume Day on November 1. The students were given advice on wording and job experiences.
“Students think they have not done anything because they have not had a job, but even the computer skills and the babysitting counts,” School to Career coordinator Koeta Bryant said.
This is the first year that the community members participated in both Speed Resume Day and mock interviews.
Interviews required an application and a resume. English 11 teachers focused on helping students write a complete resume and fill out applications. According to Bryant, the resume is one of the most important parts of the interviewing process.
“Resumes and applications gave the interviewer something to talk to the students about,” Bryant said.
Of the many students that participated in mock interviews, junior Shelby Hawkins enjoyed the input from experienced people.
“The community members offered good advice,” Hawkins said.
With these revised and completed resumes and applications in hand, the students were released during their English classes to participate in the interviewing process.
“Mock interviews help prepare students for the uncertainties of the real world,” English Teacher Melissa Fite said.
From a student perspective, these interviews helped in a different way.
“Because of the mock interviews, I think I will be less nervous and more prepared for future interviews,” junior Luis Hernandez said.

by Michaela Wagner
photo by Brandon Smith

We want YOU for our art competition!!!

lrink — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:17:11 +0000

Are you an artist????

The Booster Redux wants to showcase your work in it’s first ever
ART COMPETITION!

We at boosterredux.com will be hosting an art competition thatis open to all students (not just art students!). We want you tosubmit everything from PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, CARTOONS,GRAPHIC DESIGN, PHOTOGRAPHY, and MORE + a 100-300 word explanation of the work (that may include, but is not limited to,why you like art, how you hope to advance your artistic abilities,and how art has impacted your life.)
Works (or photos of works) will be due by 3pm December 1stand a committee will choose the top five. The top five artworkswill be displayed online at boosterredux.com and will be upfor voting by the student body. The winner of the art competitionwill be presented with a certificate and their work or photo oftheir work will be printed in the newspaper along with theirexplanation.
To sign up for this competition, go to room 312 (Mrs. Smith’s room)or email Logan Rink at lrink250@gmail.com (also email or contactme if you have any questions about the competition!!)
We look forward to receiving your submissions!!!Good Luck!

Veteran speaks to cast of “A Piece of My Heart”

lrink — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:01:19 +0000

Vietnam veteran Linda Guerue discusses her Vietnam nursing experiences to “A Piece of My Heart” cast members jr. Emily Commons and soph. Bailey Bennett.

Photo by Ryan Crews

Spanish classes aim to remember celebrities

lrink — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:33:29 +0000

‘Dia de los Muertos’, or day of the dead, is a tradition in Latin America where altars are made to remember the dead. In Angela Garner’s Spanish classes, the students are not only learning about these Dia de los Muertos traditions, but also practicing in them as well.
“It’s hard to think through a different cultural perspective, but this day is not anything that is supposed to be scary. It could be compared to our Memorial Day.” Garner said.
The students are creating ofrendas, which are altars people make to honor and remember the dead. These ofrendas are simply tables or boxes stacked up to create an altar and they are elaborately decorated in tissue paper and bright colors. In Latin American culture marigolds are flowers that symbolize the dead, these flowers are commonly added to the altar as well as traditional white or purple candles. The altars contain pictures of the deceased and items which symbolize their interests and/or hobbies. In many Latin American countries, the ofrendas also contain food, such as the person’s favorite entrees and desserts.
Ms. Garner’s classes are dedicating their ofrendas to deceased celebrities. They are creating tissue paper decorations and coloring pages to decorate the room to celebrate for the Spanish holiday. The classes also spent time creating and decorating sugar skulls, or calaveritas in Spanish. They had the choice to decorate them edibly by using icing or to use glue and glitter and sequins.
“Hands on activities are much more memorable than just lecturing the students with a PowerPoint.” Garner said.

by Michaela Wagner
photos by Michaela Wagner

Batman dominates gamers with Arkham City

lrink — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:02:22 +0000

★ ★ ★ ★
Warner Brothers Home Video
Rated T

If you’re a fan of bats or other creatures of the night, or just completely dominating your enemies as Gotham Cities’ favorite superheros, you may want to check out the new game Batman: Arkham City. The game has been a big hit, with the International Gaming Network (IGN) giving it a solid 9.5 stars. The game is the sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum. I’ve never played Arkham Asylum, but as a modest fan of the Batman movies, I was able to keep up with the beginning and intro schematics to Arkham City.
The only way to describe the game-play you will see in this game is fantastic. The graphics are shocking, the controls and actions are so smooth. Some people may not like the difficulty of skirmishes. With some seemingly basic fights you can be easily defeated on ‘normal’ difficulty. Strategizing is the best way to overcome all of your enemies. Learn the combo attacks, and counter attack controls. You won’t regret it later.

Arkham City starts off with Bruce Wayne getting thrown into prison. After an encounter with the Penguin, he contacts his faithful assistant Alfred, and is able to recover his suit and from there on he becomes Batman. You then go into a series of missions, which lead you to Penguin, Joker, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, Hugo Strange, and then back again, all while battling through officials of the law, thugs, and deformed and mutated monsters.
You also play in a side campaign as Catwoman that ties into Batman’s missions. Though her main missions are mainly involving Posion Ivy and Two-Face. It’s almost like a second game playing as Catwoman.
As you play, every encounter with villains you come in contact with result in gained experience points (XP) which allow you to buy upgraded armor, gadgets, and combat moves. Gadgets ranging from the batclaw, to batarang, to explosive gel. Although gadgets are introduced, when approached with different tasks and therefore do not take XP to acquire them.
I’ll be honest, the video game creators did throw a lot of main villains (Joker, Penguin, Freeze, Poison Ivy, etc.) that at times seems almost overwhelming, because most of the time you’re just wishing your enemies would die, as Batman never uses lethal force. Even after defeating Joker, Penguin, Two-Face, and others in hand-to-hand combat, you may still meet them later in the game!
While in prison at the beginning of the game, Wayne/Batman discovers that a new, seemingly mad scientist is running a closed off area of Gotham city cordoned Arkham City. Hugo Strange, the newly self-appointed leader of Arkham City, has developed a deadly poison that through a series of events, Batman ends up becoming infected with. With the poison in effect Batman only has a mere 24 hours to live. So all the while saving Gotham, you must also strive to find the cure that Mr. Freeze has concocted.
Arkham City is one of those games that once you sit down and play, you get hooked and don’t want to stop. Only after dying a few times against a hard boss character in the late hours of the night, will you call it quits.
Yet you’re itching for more the next day. The game, like every, has its glitches and downs, but the fact it keeps you hooked is whats very important.
Once you get to the end not only will you find a surprise, but once you finish the main story line you unlock all the gadgets, combat movies, and suit upgrades. You’ll also be able to roam around and do side missions, challenges, and, of course, achievement hunt. You won’t have to worry about finishing everything in the entire game anytime soon because already, scheduled for next month, two downloadable content packs are due to come out.
One of the biggest things that really bugs me is the third person view. For a while, it was alright and it was centered right behind Batman so you could see equally on both sides of the screen.
However, I noticed after some progression, that the camera would be set towards Batman’s right-hand side. After a lot of frustration, I gave up and decided I could not find a way change it. But I couldn’t let it get in the way of my addiction to this game.
I highly reccomend this game game for those of you who are looking for a good storyline and aren’t all about first person shooters like Battlefield 3 and upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. This game exceeded my expectations easily. It’s a great change from all the shooter games. Be warned, if you aren’t into strategy this game is not for you. It truly makes you think. All in all, it is…Batman.

By: Reece Burns

Paranormal Activity 3 jolts audiences

lrink — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:19:50 +0000

★ ★ ★ ✫

Imaginary friends: a common playmate for young children. No big deal, right? Generally yes, however, in Paramount Pictures’ new thriller, Paranormal Activity 3, the imaginary “friend” is anything but playful. The plot is set around two main characters, one possessing the invisible entity, featured in the previous two films. However this time, they are portrayed as children. Living up to the two former movies is something the cast, crew and directors had to overcome in making this spine-tingling prequel.

On its worldwide release date of October 21, it exploded box office sales with a monstrous $52.6 million generously covering the movie budget of $5 million. The excitement over the flick was illustrated by the audiences’ attendance, though the ratings, according to Rotten Tomatoes and Internet Movie Database, were not as thrilled. Viewer ratings only reached an average of 6 to 6.5 stars and a 70% approval rating for both sites. Although some thought the horror flick was a complete yawn fest, a majority of the viewers had a blood-curdling, hair-raising experience.

The film acted as an early preparation for Halloween and if spook housing just isn’t your thing, this is the more or less realistic equivalent. If you are one who experiences lygophobia, or fear of the dark, like myself, the mediocre and sometimes expected jolts in the movie will still make you grab the nearest hand and search the black theater around you checking for any monsters that have inconspicuously crawled out of the screen. From childhood to adolescence to adulthood, if you’ve always wondered what goes bump in the night and you have about eight bucks to spend, this would be the paranormal phenomenon for you.