The National Honors Society

The National Honors Society (NHS) aims to bring out the excellence in outstanding high school students. Roosevelt High School's population of NHS kids has increased by a third in just one year. These kids do so much and show their love for their school by being the leaders and organizing activities which benefit the school.

Although what does it take to be in NHS? At Roosevelt, applications can be turned in between September and October, and in November a select amount of students with a 3.5 GPA and must demonstrate that they have character, service, leadership and scholarly skills, to be accepted.

Mr. Perkins leads Roosevelt's NHS students in their  biweekly meetings. Within these meetings the students then become the leaders, organizing future activities for the group.

"Our meetings primarily serve as an organizational time, where we set up for the upcoming weeks," said Perkins.

By Danniel Arriaga

The Plagiarized Pieces of Jayson Blair

Jayson Blair, a 27 year-old staff reporter from The New York Times repeatedly wrote false pieces ranging from topics like sniper attacks in Washington to topics about grieving with war. Blair managed to keep his faulty pieces running through the press from October 2002 to April 2003; not a very long run.

Compared to the situation seen in the film "Shattered Glass", Stephen Glass managed to go years before being caught, and wrote 27 plagiarized pieces. Something that may have separated both Glass and Blair from each other was their characteristics.

Glass, in the film, is described as this awkward, nervous and self-conscious people-pleaser. Being this kind of character gave him an edge where other people feel they need to defend him. Blair maybe might not have had these characteristics or something similar to them, instead he may have been a suspicious person which would've led to him getting caught.

Below is the link to the The New York Times' message to their readers concerning Blair's plagiarism.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/us/correcting-the-record-times-reporter-who-resigned-leaves-long-trail-of-deception.html

The Heat: Good and Bad Reviews

Looking at both a positive and negative review of The Heat, by top critics Cath Clark and Stephanie Zacharek, it's obvious that The Heat wasn't the summer's blockbuster comedy. The Heat came across as  the standard comedy with hidden meanings which do not openly express themselves.

The Heat, starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, follows the story of an uptight FBI agent (Bullock) and an angered, constantly pushy Boston cop (McCarthy), both in pursuit of a drug lord throughout a majority of the movie.

Positive Review: A positive review of the film, written by Cath Clark, states that the film really does do a good job making a comedy where these two characters from different worlds, work together for a common cause. They do also state the presence of a hidden meaning for the film, which is how much disrespect the two receive in their two workplaces and how this is mainly the same for women in the police force.

Negative Review: In the review written by Stephanie Zacharek, she gives a slightly lower review on the film mainly talking about the predictability of the film. She touches base on some of the funniest moments and how ridiculous it is to find Bullock as the comedy fall guy to McCarthy. Zacharek also states that even though it features the dream team from Bridesmaids (director Paul Feig and actress McCarthy), it is not the blockbuster we were expecting.

My Word: I saw The Heat when I without social contact for a couple weeks and found myself in the situation to say, "Why not," Going in I wasn't expecting much although I also didn't know what to expect. But after seeing the film I still say that it's a bit underrated. Both the positive reviews and negative reviews point out the week points about the film like it's predictability, but it is a comedy film not next years Oscar.

The Heat created the unexpected combination of two brilliant actresses and put them both in an unusual situation to make a better comedy movie than most. These two critics are well known for their reviews and certainly can be trusted in giving you an honest, true review of films to come.

http://www.villagevoice.com/2013-06-26/film/the-heat-movie-review/
-Cath Clark

http://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-heat
-Stephanie Zacharek

Mr. Byron Williams: An Invisible Writer

Most everyone can have their profession identified by the way they look. Construction workers have the signature orange clothes and hardhat incorporatd with their uniforms. A business associate or an attorney may be seen more than once dressing up nicely in a suit or dress.

Writers however are the invisible people. A writer could be dressed in most anything in public, and you probably wouldn't know it. Mr. Byron Williams best captures the example of an “invisible” writer.

Williams is a Roosevelt teacher with a majority of his classes taking place in a workshop. He teaches classes which introduce students to the basic techniques of construction and metalworking. At the same time he finds time his day to express his creativity in writing.

Williams spends, on average, 30 minutes a week writing novels and short stories.

He puts teaching and his family and kids before his writing and hobbies, but even though he finds time to create stories when they're his priority.

“I used to make up stories for them at bedtime when they were younger. That's what I first started writing about,” Willams said.

Williams feels most comfortable writing during the evening where he can reach a calm, peaceful place where the matters of the world do not interfere.

Writing is not only a form of expression for Williams, but is also something for him to leave behind for the future.

Although writing wasn't something he always wanted as a kid, it was something that never left his thoughts.

“It was always something that lingered when I was younger. It wasn't a definite yes or not, but was a way of expression in my self,” Williams said.

Along with teaching the youth, he would also like to see more of the youth expressing themselves through writing. He feels that the youth can express their feelings and ideas through writing as opposed to acting out.

“”I think it's okay to write. I think we should let our youth know it's okay to do something not everyone else is doing, to do something different,” He said.

Williams is on his way to finishing his novel and will soon be on the road to publishing. Although most writers, like Williams, don't aim for fame, he aims to inspire.

Partner Interview

Manikka Creighton Crum, a Roosevelt sophomore taking Journalism that still has them time in her day to be not just a cheerleader, but Roosevelt's cheerleader.

A person can have so many favorite things, at least one for food, colors, feelings. Although one of Manikka's favorites is her time of the day. She definitely does not prefer the morning, but does prefer the late afternoon where cheer practice has just ended giving her relaxation time.

Her favorite color is light blue and her favorite food is chicken curry. Her favorite movie currently is “Grease”, she says this is because it's just a movie she's been watching a lot lately.

Her favorite pastime was when she lived in Bali a couple years back and spent time with her father. Bali is in Indonesia, which is obviously very far away, where a trip to see your father means a lot.

Manikka currently has a job at B-Bops, a well known burger joint here in Des Moines. Manikka also said if she were to change anything she would change the lunch food and the time periods for lunch.

Manikka's plans for after high school include going to college, where she is currently considering the University of Iowa or a college located in New York. Right now she has no favored or preferred major.

60 Minutes: Benghazi

Morgan Jones, an alias for his real name, witnessed the attack on the U.S. ambassador and could possibly say that the attack was premeditated. A traumatic experience for any normal person, although Jones has been through worse, either way he’s got a story to tell with a voice to speak.

Our interviewer keeps calm during the interview showing little expression; however this is a very serious topic to be discussed. Our interviewer listens and nods her head at everything Jones says, or at least from what we can see since there are several cut scenes.

This segment of 60 Minutes is something for the American people to watch whether they believe they are well protected or not, because these events that occur out in other countries affect us here as well. Seeing the way that Jones describes the scene and how likely it could have been that an attack was premeditated maybe weeks before really makes one question what’s really going on in the world.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50157981n

60 Minutes: Dick Cheney's Heart

In the 60 Minutes segment regarding Dick Cheney and his heart disease throughout the years, the interviewer does an outstanding job at being the interviewer. Some background on the interview, Dick Cheney has had a family history of heart disease and “bad hearts”, where he was drawn into the bad habits at a young age and striking back when he reached the older ages.

Dick Cheney has a lot to say, especially since he just came out with a book talking about his heart. So then the interviewer has to either openly listen and look intrigued by Cheney's life, or he really does those things.

The interviewer truly does his job, listening and bouncing off questions that come from Cheney's answers, showing how interested he is with his wide eyes when he hears something amazing or unbelievable.

Someone should watch this video if they want to know more about how the world of medical science is changing or if they have or know someone close with a heart disease. Dick Cheney is often looked at as a political figure that people either love or hate, although this video captures more of his personal life than his political life.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50157524n

The Most Amazing Thing

The most amazing thing that's happened to me this year, so far, wasn't really a physical thing. Really it was more like a series of events, that just occurred one after another.

I guess things kind of started up with clearing my head up, dropping most everything and picking up only what was important. Pretty much I got out of the mindset that I'm required to finish every new interest that comes my way. Even if it wasn't important.

I've spent a lot of time on school; not very amazing or special, although it helps. When you've got school and all your assignments out of the way you have more time for yourself. Like I was balancing things better.

The band has been going decently well, aside from some minor conflicts the main idea is to never give up. Other members or potential members could cause a conflict, although you shouldn't keep it going. Keeping a conflict active, in any situation, makes both sides look like fools.

Writing is going well, the book is coming along, it would be nice to spend more time on it. Right now it feels like I might have to rewrite it all, although in the end I'm concerned it won't turn out as well as it was in the beginning.

Everyone's got personal problems, some keep them to themselves and others can't stop talking about it on Facebook. I like to keep things to myself, but I keep one person close, if anyone else wanted to leave I would encourage them. But I would do anything to keep that one person close.

Aside from the great realization I've had, not much else has happened. Some more sleep would be nice, but that'd be a miracle.

Who Am I?

My name is Danniel Arriaga, I'm 16 years old with extravagantly long brown hair writing this for my Journalism class. I love writing and take my writing skills outside of school putting them into my own pieces.

I write short stories constantly and with the help of an overreactive and exaggerated imagination I hope to start my own novel series. I've already started, finished and am editing my first book titled “The Demon”, hopefully it will be out soon.

Besides writing books and such I'm very engaged in music, possibly considering being part of a band. I enjoy drumming, like a drum set drumming as opposed to marching band drumming.

I'm really big on listening to bands such as Korn, My Chemical Romance, and last but not least Daft Punk. Hopefully if this whole band thing works out I'd like to implement a new sound in our pieces, making our path in the music world.

In our band we have a bassist and a guitarist, both being my best friends, and are contemplating another person for our second guitarist. We're starting out slow although we are still moving forward.

I have a lot of little dreams in life as well as big dreams that I would do anything to fulfill. My second biggest dream is to be a writer publishing books, while my third is to have our band be well known some day.

I love to play soccer although I'm not the best player, maybe not even average. I'm more like an enthusiast who just plays to play. Skateboarding is pretty much my main sport right now, it's just enjoyable and relieves a lot of steam.

Other random facts about me: my favorite color is red, I'm really good at math and usually I won't speak out much until I'm one on one with a person or I become really close to everyone in a group.