Index 4

72Composite score based

on graduation rates.

Score needed: 75

After receiving an unacceptable rating under a new set of statewide standards, LBJ Early College High School is creating a plan to raise graduation rates and improve test scores. 16

Index 2

Shifting Gears

For the second year in a row, LBJ has been rated as some form of academically unacceptable according to the new State Accountability System, which was implemented by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) last year. LBJ’s designation as “Needing Improvement” reflects the scores and graduation rates of the LBJ class of 2012. This year, campus administration is putting in place new strategies to improve the school’s rating.

The previous system for school accountability focused on a broad criteria, while the new system focuses on specific aspects of measuring student achievement. The new system takes into account four separate indices; Student Achievement; Student Progress; Closing Achievement Gaps; and Post-secondary Readiness to determine whether or not a school meets standards. Schools are measured in each of these indices through a combination of standardized test scores and graduation rates.

“As I was told repeatedly by superintendents and educators, the old system had too many ways to fail and did not reflect enough of what a school district, campus or charter was doing well,” Texas Education Agency Commissioner Michael Williams said. “This revised version works to take into account other factors such as student progress.”

LBJ did not meet standards for two of the indices: Index 2 and Index 4. Index 2 measures student progress by comparing math, reading and writing STAAR test scores from the previous year to the students’ most recent scores. In order for a school to meet standards in Index 2, the composite score for the index must be at or above 17. LBJ fell short of this mark by one point.

“There’s just a few little spots where we were close and we need to do some things to pick ourselves up over the top,” LBJ Curriculum Director Mario Acosta said. “Basically what

Index 2 talked about is progress. The basic premise in Index 2 is they look at a student’s last STAAR score, and they only look in math, reading and writing. Those are the only three things that count, not any of the other tests.”

Pearce and Garcia middle schools, which feed into LBJ, both received the same “Needs Improvement” rating as LBJ. Since Index 2 takes into account eighth grade STAAR test scores for current freshmen, LBJ principal Sheila Henry said LBJ must work with kids to bring them up to par.

“The one that concerns me is Index 2,” Henry said. “For our kids, especially who work in a school that has been struggling for quite some time and so have the feeder schools that actually feed into here, it’s always an uphill battle. But you know what? It is what it is, and we need to teach them from the point that we get them.”

Acosta said because the school needs to accelerate students quickly to prepare them to meet the new standards, LBJ is working with middle schools to start the process earlier on.

“When you look at the schools that feed into LBJ, those schools also struggled in state accountability,” Acosta said. “I don’t think it takes a genius to understand that if the schools that are feeding our population are struggling all along the way, then we have a daunting task at the end of that pipeline. We are working with our central office to coordinate things with the middle schools and we’re trying very hard to vertically align the middle schools so that there’s more of a seamless transition for students from middle school to high school.”

LBJ missed the standard for Index 4 by three points. The rating for Index 4 is based on graduation rates for specific student groups and the rate at which students finish recommended and distinguished graduation plans.

“The plans that existed in the past were the minimum plan, the recommended plan and then the distinguished plan,”

Volume 40 Issue 1 7309 Lazy Creek Drive, Austin, Texas 78724Oct. 4, 2013

L I B E R A L A R T S A N D S C I E N C E A C A D E M Y,LY N D O N B A I N E S J O H N S O N H I G H S C H O O L S

Daniel Cope stares up into the iPhone camera from his wheelchair, wide-eyed, smiling and biting down on his mouth-guard. His mother asks him if he is excited. He nods, drops his mouth guard, turns his wheelchair around and races out the open door. The camera follows him and pans to the human-sized crate sent from the LASA robotics team sitting in his driveway. It contains what his father exclaims is “a beast” of an off-road-wheelchair, which was designed and built by the LASA robotics team.

Cope’s wheelchair-reveal video has received nearly 30,000 views on YouTube and has been featured in the Huffington Post. The “beast” is the product of two years’ work by the LASA robotics team as part of its Noncompetitive Projects Initiative. The design and primary construction of the wheelchair was completed by an earlier generation of the LASA robotics team which included LASA alumni and

Georgia Tech sophomore Casey Edgerton, and his successor Carlos Jones. Despite the years of work invested by students, LASA robotics sponsor Tony Bertucci is the only member who has met Cope, a 20-year-old Californian living with Cerebral Palsy.

“I met him at a wedding actually,” Bertucci said. “He has a computer screen that has a camera on it that tracks his eye movements. He looks at a letter and it spells out the words and synthesizes his voice and makes the sentence. He said ‘What do you do?’ and I told him. After a little while, he asked me if there was any way we could help him with a wheelchair so he could go on [unpaved] surfaces. I told him I had no idea, but I’d figure it out. So, I came back and we kicked it around with the team and we came up with an idea and we told him we’d try.”

Edgerton, the original project manager, said that building and designing the wheelchair was a new experience for him because he was not competing against another team, but he approached it the same way he approached other robotics

projects. He and the team set production goals to stay on schedule and corresponded with the Cope family to ensure that Cope would fit into the chair comfortably.

“We wanted to allow him to go off road and we wanted to keep him safe at the same time,” Edgerton said. “So, we tested multiple options such as springs and pneumatic cylinders for the suspension of the wheelchair on a small scale and then once we came up with the direction that we wanted to go with we ended up designing it in SolidWorks and then we manufactured it.”

As for the wheelchair, Bertucci said that he and the robotics team were happy to be finished with the project, but he would be willing to take on a similar project if he thought the team could make a difference.

“It was satisfying,” Bertucci said. “I would say if you saw the video and you saw the look on his face when he got [the wheelchair] and talking with him after the video on the phone, he just...The freedom that he feels now didn’t exist before. It was worth it.”

Robotics team delivers all-terrain ‘beast’ wheelchair to cerebral palsy patient

Members of the Women in Computer Science club work with the MIT App Inventor program. photo courtesy of Aryaman Lamsal

New club for girls fosters interest in computer scienceSammy JarrarNews Editor

The LASA computer science room is now home to the new Women in Computer Science club, which was started in early Sept. 2013 by Computer Science teacher Jacob Stephens and LASA senior Ximone Willis. The club, which meets every Thursday at lunch in the computer science room, is exclusive to girls, giving those interested in computer science a less crowded place to work for at least one day out of the week.

“We’re kind of trying to transition into less a ‘we teach them what to do’ and more of a partner programming, like pair programming, which is what the AB computer science class actually uses,” Willis said. “So, [the girls] teach each other, and we’re only there if they have questions, that way it’s more hands-on for them.”

Currently, club co-leaders LASA junior Lily Xu and LASA senior Jessica Wang are helping the club focus on basic programming via the MIT App Inventor program.

“[The program] is a really simplified way of making apps for Android phones on the computer,” Wang said. “It’s a visual programming language so it’s not like you’re really typing in codes, it’s more like a drag and drop box type thing and it tells you exactly how to code. So it’s really intuitive and a good start for girls who haven’t had any programming experience.”

Club leaders also plan on taking the club in a direction that deals with using more and more complex programming such as Python, a programming language similar to Java.

“An idea that people want to do is make an app that is like the map of the school so that you can pull it up on your iPhone or your Android and then ask ‘I need to go to room 259’ and it’ll tell you where to go,” Wang said. “We can try to do that once we get more in-depth and complex programming systems because the current app inventor we have probably can’t do that. It’d be really cool to do something like that and be able to help out the school.”

Stephens said he hopes that the club will change the social stigmas associated with computer science as a male-dominated field.

“The goal is that they’re learning stuff more than anything else,” Stephens said. “I also really want it to be a time where they can kind of come in where the boy-to-girl ratio in my room isn’t 30 to 1.”

Oran Lopez-ReedStaff Writer

Sammy Jarrar & Sam ZernNews Editors

The Liberator goes digital! Visit the revamped Liberator On-line to read additional stories and for multimedia coverage of news, sports and events. Follow us on Twitter @thelbjliberator or www.lbjliberator.com to stay in-the-know.

LBJ junior quarterback Zae Giles prepares to pass the ball during the Jaguars’ 36-35 loss to Connally. The Jaguars entered district with a 1-3 record. photo courtesy of Becky Gdula

ALL WIRED UP AND READY TO GO LASA junior Daniel

Weinberg poses with local villagers during his trip to Chaud, Peru as part of the AMIGOS program.photo courtesy of Daniel Weinberg

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

Composite score based on

student progress. Score needed:

17

A FRESH START

see page 9see page 14

Unacceptable

continued on page 5

Out of the four indices

measured under the new State

Accountability System, LBJ fell short of the mark

in Index 2 and Index 4 Unacceptable

Earlier this year, Edward Snowden publicly released highly classified government documents pertaining to the secret surveillance of US citizens. The controversial files exposed the true extent of government access to personal information and set ablaze a wildfire of panic across the country. It was revealed that The National Security Agency (NSA) has access to nearly all user activity on the internet. Microsoft had handed the NSA access to encrypted messages, going as far as allowing them to circumvent the company’s own encryption, allowing access to multitudes of private information. The group additionally collected millions of phone records from Verizon daily. The files provided by Snowden illustrated the shocking scale of cooperation between Silicon Valley and the intelligence agencies over the last three years. This is an obvious offence to the privacy and security of US citizens, and must be treated accordingly.

We, the Liberator staff, believe that unreasonable access of this nature and scale forcibly gained by the government is deeply concerning. Our right as American citizens to privacy is protected by the fourth amendment, which states “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall

not be violated”. The Liberator staff believes that these rights have been violated in obscene instances over the course of many years, such as phone taps and the government’s collaboration with corporations to gain access to private files and interactions

of the American people. Much of the uncovered information was private, so the government did not automatically have the right to access it. The fact that this much activity was happening right under, and through, our fingers, is not comforting, and should not be taken lightly. This may just be the first step in further

corruption in a government we should not have to worry about trusting. We, as the citizens of the United States, are entitled to the stipulations of our Constitution, and the blatant disregard for one of our unalienable rights is highly concerning. This, in

addition to the fact that the NSA worked i n

coalition with large companies outside their resources to gain access to private social media, makes us wonder if we are truly the free citizens of America we claim to be.

These documents exposed multiple layers of corruption in the United States Federal Government, and should not be taken lightly, as it is

evident tthat the majority of corporate America, or the pepole in charge of almost every aspect of personal lives of Americans, were sitting in the palm of the the NSA, forced to feed information to them behind our backs. We believe that the NSA and national government should have access to files and

information such as social security,

name, location, and statistics of citizens, as this information can be used to

further our understanding of

the basics of the American people. Tapping private phone calls or breaking into private messages on social media as exposed earlier this year should be met with strict repercussions. If members of the NSA are found to be responsible, for spying on people and countries that overstep their boundaries, they should be held accountable and lose their job at the least.

We may be a part of a nation, but we have the

right to be individuals with personal information that cannot be accessed by strangers. As Benjamin Franklin once famously said, “Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.” These words ring true hundreds of years later. We, as the people of America, should not let our government go astray and have access to the private information that we hold sacred.

STAFF STANCE

Have an opinion about a new school policy? Have a bone to pick with something the Liberator has published? Anything else on your mind? Write us a letter and drop it off in room 265 or in the boxes in the school offices.

Letters

Editorsto the

Dear Editor,

Dear Editor,

Dear Editor,

liberatedminds speak

Berlinda ReeseLBJ FreshmanI personally think that the law should not be able to look through anything that is personal. If they do have passwords they should stop doing what they are doing and stay out of other people’s business.

I think that it goes both ways. It is good to catch dangerous people, but its also not good for them to be in everybody’s business. For regular civilians living their day to day lives I don’t think it’s right for the government to get to see all of our personal things.

Kebriana Nash LBJ Senior

Without a warrant there are no taping laws for internet activity and there isn’t the same respect for telephone use. Any invasion of privacy in someones email is a huge violation of the fourth amendment without a warrant, it’s unreasonable search and seizure.

Pascal LegateLASA junior

Chelsea Banawis, Chris Buffum-Robbins, Eliza Cain, Isabela Contreras, Corey Dillard, Chloe Edminston, Frank Feder, Alex Friedman, Mary Louise Gilburg, Nathan Humphreys Lucas, Gil Johnson, Will Johnson, Abby Kappelman, Adam Kobeissi, Aryaman Lamsal, Ana Lopez, Oran Lopez-Reed, Zia Lyle, Frankie Marchan, Hannah Marks, Kapil Mattay, Meris McHaney, Surya Milner, Joann Min, Carter Pace, Dresden Timco, Daniel Vega, Tristan Wright.

STAFFERS

David de la GarzaMadeline Goulet

Entertainment Editors

Sammy JarrarSesha McMinn

Sam Zern

News Editors

Isabel SaraleguiMeagen Allgood

Sports Editors

Basab Ghatak-Roy Mazie Hyams

Commentary Editors

Logan KramerBaltazar Zuniga

Life and Feature Editors

EDITORIAL BOARD

EXECUTIVE BOARD

Stephanie ParkJamie Rodriguez

Daniel Zimmerman

Editors-in-Chief

Chris JonesBusiness Editor

Adviser Kim Katopodis

Editorial PolicyResponsibilities of a Free Student Press: Serving the primary com-munication link within the Liberal Arts and Science Academy and Lyndon Baines Johnson High Schools and between the school and the local community, this newspaper accepts the responsibilities inherent in being a free press. The Liberator staff strives to produce a professional-quality publication that follows the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists. The objective is to print the news in a fair and objective way with the utmost regard for integrity. Editorial Content:

1. The students on The Liberator staff will print articles which have been researched to the best of their ability to obtain most complete information. 2. The information will be presented in an objective, truthful and fair manner. 3. When personal commentary is given it will be in good taste on issues that have been researched, analyzed and where expert opinion has been sought, and then presented with the best abil-ity of the writer. In addition, all opinion or commentary will be clearly labeled as so. 4. No material which is obscene, libelous or that will cause an immaterial and substantial disruption of the school day, ac-cording to accepted legal definitions, will be printed.

The Editorial Boards and its Functions:The Liberator staff will be governed by an editorial board comprised of the following individuals: editors-in-chief, section editors and the business manager. The Editorial board will:

1. Determine the content of the publication (with input from other staff members). 2. Stress the editorial policy.3. Ensure the accuracy of the publication.4. Address disciplinary or other inappropriate behavior of staff. 5. Vote on removal of staff members.6. Change or add policy as necessary with three of four board members voting favorably.

Viewpoints:Printed material which is a view of a staff member or a contributing writer will be labeled as such. These views are not intended to reflect the view of the administration of Liberal Arts and Science Academy and Lyndon Baines Johnson High Schools nor the School Board of the Austin Independent School District. Viewpoints will be given in two areas in the newspaper.

Editorials: These will be determined by the staff consensus. The editorial will be unsigned and will represent the viewpoint of the publication. Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor are accepted for topics of general interest to the readership of the newspaper. Letters must be submitted typed or neatly printed in ink and must have the signature of the writer and the writer’s grade level. Editors reserve the right to determine which issue the letter goes in, with every effort made to print the letter as soon as possible. The editors also reserve the right to edit the letter for grammar, length and repetition.

Non-Staff Contributors: Bylined contributions are welcome.Correction of Errors: The staff makes every effort to print accurate information. In the case of errors, a written correction will be made in the following issue of the newspaper. Sources: In general, no anonymous sources will be used in reporting. Sources from within the school, as well as those not connected with the school, will be used. Under no circumstances will gifts, including coupons, etc., be accepted by the staff members from sources or advertisers. Note: The Liberator is an open forum.

The staff thanks:Thomas McMinn, Eun Ju Park, Christine Rodriguez, EunJu Park, John Zimmerman and Robin Zuniga

Victoria MycueGraphics Editor

Caitlin AndersonAudrey Halbrook

Willow Higgins

Web Editors

Anna Suits

LASA is a fantastic school, it has great classes and really fun electives. However the bathrooms have this funky smell that isn’t very appealing. Maybe air fresheners should be installed.

The student parking lot is ridiculous. I can feel the spine crushing speed bumps cripple my car at every turn, and the new drop off policy is overcrowding my morning even further. Please fix this. - LASA Junior

Zoe Kuhn- LASA Junior Eytan Bos Orent

I think the enrichment (study hall) is a waste of time and it takes out of our lunch, we practically wait half of the time in the lunch lines.

Parking Lot Issues Peeve Student School bathrooms lack freshness

Enrichment cuts out eating timeRaccoons breaking and enteringDear Editor,

- LASA Senior Jasmine Bertram

The raccoons in the ceiling are becoming too much to handle. They have screech fights with each other through the walls, and they use the bathroom all over the place, making our classrooms smell like pee.

- LBJ SophomoreBrittany Gonzales

Where should the line be drawn for the amount of personal information to which the NSA has access?

LASA sophomoreThe NSA should only be able to use information that you have on your Facebook profile. Email depends on whether you work for the government , like emails between students and teachers.

NSA watchdogs abuse unbridled constitutional powers, violate American public’s right to privacy

artwork by Marissa H

ansen

the liberatoroct. 4, 2013

Advice about surviving in high school seems to be everywhere and coming from ev-eryone, whether that be older siblings or well-meaning parents. But good advice is hard to come by. Here’s ours. Good luck!

Learn to go prone. With major traffic in the hallways, army crawling through the hall-ways on the floor might just be the fastest way to get to class. Don’t be daunted by the number of people in the hallway, especially how many you don’t know or don’t know you. Smile at someone new every day and don’t be-come overwhelmed.

Lift. It looks nice to have perfectly sculpted biceps, but it’s even better if you can put those muscles to good use! Students not only have to carry around backpacks, but textbooks, in-struments, sports gear, and a brain all around campus, so work those arms while you walk. Whether LASA or LBJ, students always carry a ton of things, but just remember: what you carry represents how many school activities you participate in and enjoy.

Go to football games, or games for any

sport, really. Wear as much purple as you pos-sibly can, and yell so loud you lose your voice. Do this especially if you have never been to a game before. It is worth the effort a million times over. There is a reason that the LBJ stu-dent section has been recognized as one of the best by the Austin-American Statesman. P.S. Don’t be afraid of silly string.

Learn the “bell” schedule. There’s nothing worse than being trapped in a sub-zero tem-perature classroom after class has gotten out. Save yourself, and your classmates will thank you. Learn the rules so you don’t make trouble for yourself. If you are going to break rules, at least you know what you’re getting yourself into. One thing we will caution against - no-body wants a surprise visit to an AP’s office.

Send selfies to your teachers. Nothing says “write me a college rec” more than let-ting your teacher see your lovely face every few minutes.

Appreciate school events. Whether it’s Field Day, the TAKS pep rally, or even the Mr. Jaguar talent show, enjoy the events that come

along with attending LBJ and LASA. It’s not every day that you get a chance to have some real fun and watch your teachers let loose.

Don’t be afraid to get lost. As the story goes, the LBJ/LASA building was designed similarly to a prison (perhaps a 1970’s AISD budget scheme?), but don’t think of it that way. Being able to brag that you actually know your way around campus is a skill that is cer-tain to reward you with a large freshman fan club. Also, don’t assume every upperclassman will give your bad directions, not all of us bite.

Value your lunch period. Perhaps “lunch” is misleading. Value your hour-long study-, nap- or vent-period. Or if you’re a senior with your last period off, just say a little ‘thank you’ every time you pass through the school doors on the way to your car in the middle of the school day.

Take a leap of faith. Whether that be trying out for dance team, putting your all into an extracurricular, or writing about something completely out-there, hoping for an A+ on your paper, don’t be afraid to take

a few risks and enjoy the best parts of the high school experience. Join clubs, be part of school sports and most importantly, believe that you can accomplish anything.

Story by Joann Min and Abby Kappelman

the liberatoroct. 4, 2013

Student reflects on summer exchange program

I’m wearing a sweatshirt. In June. Something is off. I dash across the street as small cars wait impatiently, following a fellow student to the S-Bahn station. We hop on the train with seconds to spare and sit across from our peers. As our exchange partners chatter with each other in rapid-fire, another student leans over me to get a good view of the city. The tram sails along its elevated track, gliding through the evening sky, giving us its own little tour of the metropolis. I can’t believe it. We’re actually in Berlin.

Over the summer, I travelled to G er many and the Czech

Republic with 20 other German students for an exchange program to immerse ourselves in the language and culture. The morning we left—and I mean morning, around 5 a.m.— was bright and full of hope. Everyone was accompanied by his or her parents and siblings and the goodbyes were heartfelt and bittersweet. We spent the next 30 hours travelling from Austin to JFK to, finally, Berlin. We exited the gate in a daze, exhausted but giddy about finally meeting our exchange partners we had talked to for months leading up to this moment. My partner, high school senior Gesine Kay (“guh-zee-nuh”), was immediately chipper and friendly. We all went home and slept, and then started the real trip—our exploration of the city— bright and early the next morning.

During our time in Berlin, every weekday morning we met at the German students’ school, Johann-Gottfried-Herder-Gymnasium. Our partners would go off to school as we embarked on the day’s adventures. We were able to visit many of the city’s most significant memorials and museums, such as Berlin’s TV Tower bettering our understanding of the rich history of Germany. The trip was the best

history lesson I’ve ever experienced. One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to the Deutsche Demokratik Republik Museum in Berlin. The exhibits were all interactive and allowed us to explore abundant artifacts from the Cold War era, transporting us to the past.

We were immersed in the history of the area in a way I had never been before. It’s one thing to listen to a lecture about Berlin during the Cold War, but it’s something else entirely to look up at a 12-foot concrete wall you’ve heard so much about. Before visiting the place itself, I had never grasped just how not only culturally, but also physically dividing and isolating the Berlin Wall was for almost 30 years. The most striking thing about the Wall, though, was its raw beauty. After its fall, many artists were asked to paint sections of the wall, resulting in the East Side Gallery, which we were lucky enough to visit. The spirit of the Berlin Wall is one that greatly mirrors that of Berlin itself;

the people of the city have

taken a horrendous event in their past and made the best of what they have, rebuilding their culture after such an infamous chapter of their history.

On the trip, our group not only gained a better understanding of the history of Germany, but also its current culture. Each student

lived with an exchange student during our three weeks in Berlin, and we were able to experience a slice of their life. Gesine took me to school, as well as showed me parts of the city we hadn’t seen as a class. Additionally, I spent a lot of time socializing with her and getting to know her friends, many of whom were a part of the program. We went shopping and hung out in Berlin’s beautiful parks, enjoying the gorgeous cool s u m m e r

evenings. On the trip, I was able to meet so many interesting people, such as the Russian students who attend Johan-Gottfried. Everyone was warm and welcoming to the Americans and wanted to get to know us. In today’s culture, where the spread of information is constant, it’s easy to form vast

misconceptions about other people, and I’m glad I was able to find out what life is really like in another country. Though we all live 5,400 miles away from each other, we found common interests, especially our taste in music. It was amazing becoming friends with

the German kids, and the wait before they came to Austin was positively agonizing.

Leaving Berlin was bittersweet. I was travelling on my own to Italy to visit my best friend who I hadn’t seen in a year (she moved away summer 2012), but I wanted to stay more than anything in the world.

In my three weeks with her, Gesine and I grew epecially close, and I felt I could tell her anything. Saying goodbye was impossible; we hugged and cried more than I’d like to admit. Leaving my fellow Americans was just as hard. I knew it would only be two weeks before I saw many of them, but we all knew that when we went our separate ways things would never really be the same again. On the trip, we were forced to become close very fast, as we were all experiencing this remarkable thing for the first time, and you can’t really recreate that. Now when I see those students walking the halls, and we smile at each other as we pass, I know it means something special. It was also impossible to leave the city itself. Berlin is a beautiful and rich and wonderful place, filled with such a vibrant culture I’d rather not go on about it, but instead simply say: go see it for yourself. My trip to Berlin this summer changed my life, and for that I couldn’t be more thankful.

We all knew that when we went our separate ways things would never really be the same again.

““Mazie HyamsCommentary Edtior

Syria conflict escalates, needs reform The conflict in Syria is bringing to light issues we would rather not face. Among these are empathy, what the role of international law is in our society and what atroci-ties we are willing to ignore going into the future. We have seen the Geneva Conven-tion used as a haven for perpetrators of violence, rather than a protector of the victims of a violent rule. Syria seems to be the

the country with the Arab Spring that won’t die down. Sure, there’s some instability in Libya and certainly big issues in Egypt, but Syria is the last of those revolution-ary countries in the Middle East that still has an all-out war between its government, led by President Bashar al-Assad, and its people. Ever since massive protests in 2011 turned into a violent revolution, fighting has not let up, leading to the current death toll of over 110,000 people. Now there are allegations of a Sarin attack by Assad on his own people, killing 1,429. This crosses the “red line” set by Obama last year and prompted international outrage. Sarin is a nerve agent that causes asphyxiation and is especially dangerous to civilians. Obama believes that Assad ordered the attack, and he qproposed military action against Syria with the support of France’s govern-ment, but not the American people or the international community. A Russian proposal that has been supported by the U.S., France, and Syria orders Syria to turn over its en-tire stockpile of chemical weapons to an international body, who will then destroy them. However, this plan will take both time and dedication, and does nothing to stop the violence that has plagued Syria for over two years now. All of this drama begs the question: why now? Assad has been attacking his own people for over two years now. It is

outrageous that we would react so harshly to a single attack rather than the conflict as a whole. The reasoning behind our sudden military approach can all be traced back to the Ge-neva Convention’s 1925 Geneva Protocol (of which Syria is a signatory) which banned the use of chemical and biological weapons. The convention’s protocols, like most international norms, are not well enforced. The general consensus in the international community is that Syria must be punished to set

a precedent that this breach of international law will not be tolerated. Some might bring up the issue of national sover-eignty, which is a State’s ability to exercise authority in its own borders without being subservient to the wills of another na-tion. They would be right in saying that nations should be al-lowed to make most decisions without constant international oversight. However, in this case, where a regime is so violently

opposing the will of its people, the international community has a responsibility to act. Adama Dieng, the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide said, “sovereignty no longer exclusively protects States from foreign interference; it is a charge of responsibility that holds States accountable for the welfare of their people.” A country is not allowed to simply attack civilians and then hide behind the veil of needing to protect its sovereignty. That is not how the

world should work nor is there any lawful reason for it to work that way. It is ridiculous to say that atrocities only become repre-hensible when they are done with certain types of weap-ons. I don’t believe that the purpose of international law is to create a wall behind which you can destroy and mur-der as much as you please until you cross it. Instead, it should be used as a tool by which nations can gauge how much they should react, not how much they are allowed to ignore. Would we be so outraged if Assad ordered an attack with machine guns and air raids that killed over 1,000 people? If we’re honest, we wouldn’t be. When we saw it in the news we would only sigh to ourselves, won-dering how many times in the past week this had hap-pened. It would be the same story, just on a different day. We lose track, then interest, then empathy. The amount of tragedy that we are comfortable with reveals how much we will sit idly by before finally coming to the aid of those in need. This threshold of horror is critical not only in this conflict, but also in future conflicts. Iran, who backs the Syrian regime, is using this conflict to see just how much it can get away with. They know now that we will allow a government to attack and destroy millions of lives, throw an entire region into instability and create a

two million person refugee crisis that will plague its neighbors for decades to come. We have historically seen what occurs when a government is aware of precisely how much evil it can get away with. We must not wait for these sorts of disgusting acts of violence to reach an item on a checklist before we act, as we have done in Syria. By the time they do, it is too late. We will have lost.

Alex FriedmanStaff Writer

The Conflict in Syriaby the numbers

Damascus

Syria

Jordan

IraqIsrael

Lebanon

Turkey

Over 100,000Number of casualties since the con� ict began

March 2011First protests over Bashar al-Assad’s political prisoners

42 YearsCurrent length of the Assad family’s regime

2 MillionNumber of Syrian refugees � eeing a country of 22 million people

1,429Casualties from the August 21st sarin attack in Ghouta

1,000 TonsAmount of chemical weapons in Syria’s possession

75%Sunni Muslims

While Sunnis represent the vast majority of Syria’s population, they do not have much political power under

the Assad regime. The rebels are almost exclusively Sunni. They are split mainly into The Syrian Islamic Front, The

Free Syrian Army and The Syrian Islamic Liberation Front.

12%Alawite Muslims

A tiny o� -shoot of Shiite Islam, Alawites enjoy a lot of political power in Syria because the Assad regime is Alawite. The Assad regime is backed not only by

Alawites, but also Shiites from Hezbollah and Iran.

Mid-2014Current deadline for Syria’s chemical weapons to be destroyed

SURVIVING LBJ AND LASA: 9 TIPS TO GET YOU THROUGH

art by Mazie Hyams

Riding the bus everyday home from softball or volleyball is never ideal. But because of my brother’s twice weekly occupational therapy, constant

tutoring in reading and writing and his recent switch to a new private school, my parents don’t have time to give me a ride to extracurriculars or school.

My brother, Brant, was diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia about a year ago. Dyslexia is much more common, affecting the way our brain understands words and prompting troubles with reading and writing. Dysgraphia is an inability to write correctly due to a disconnect in the part of the brain pertaining to fine motor skills. So things like tying shoes and folding papers frustrates Brant to no end. While both of these things are some of the more common learning disabilities, the fact that my parents caught these while Brant was 10 means that he already developed a strong aversion to any writing or reading.

My mom was the first person to notice that Brant wasn’t doing his reading or writing homework. I’ve always been expected to get my homework done in a timely matter, and that standard continued on to my brother. Suddenly, my homework time turned into tutoring time for Brant, with me staying up late to finish my own homework. It didn’t make sense to my parents. How could they have one child to whom school came relatively easy, and their other child flat-out refuses to do any homework that included words?

The situation gre worse when reading projects started in Brant’s

fifth grade class. Brant insisted that he just couldn’t read the books. My mom shoved book after book into his backpack, desperately hoping that something would spark Brant’s interest. Every time he sat down to read, he got through a page in thirty minutes and then furiously threw the book against his bedroom wall and locked his doors.

Writing wasn’t much better for Brant. He held the pencil with such a vice-grip that he blew through packs and packs of mechanical pencils. We bought him pencil grips, meant for five-year-olds who had no idea how to actually hold a pencil. His words danced around the page, slanting so much that you had to constantly turn the page to understand what was going on. I have near-perfect vision and I needed glasses to read anything he wrote for class.

Brant’s difficulty with reading and writing only frustrated him more. Irrational anger over making mistakes and having problems runs through our family like an unforgiving river. It’s

what makes us hate losing, and excel in sports. Brant could throw a 65 mile-per-hour fastball, and then switch it up with a curveball, blinding past the poor little ten year-old cowering over home plate, but he couldn’t write or read a sentence to save his life. And boy did it piss him off. He’d slam doors, flip over the couch, and run screaming out of the house. I started to wonder when I had begun living with the fifth grade verson of the Incredible Hulk.

My parents were so focused on fixing what they saw as the biggest problems in our family that my LASA start was ignored. I had a SciTech FDR and an

Algebra 2 challenge problem due the next day? Sorry, Brant needs your help on writing his state project. The two to three hours of precious sleep that I got were the only time I could get away from worrying that my brother was going to be the only kid in his class at Casis Elementary that failed fifth grade. The most memorable times from these months were having my little brother scream at me and lock me out of my room, then falling asleep in volleyball the next day. Yes, volleyball. The coach was lecturing us about making sure we transitioned off the net far enough to get a good approach to hit, and I layed down, falling asleep with a ball as my pillow.

My parents finally dragged Brant, kicking and screaming, to get help. A regimen of reading and writing tutoring, occupational therapy and daily reading for Brant ensued. It took hourly reminders to him that he was doing things right and he could compelte the assignments if he put his mind

to it. Instead of throwing books against the wall, he started to come home, sit down, and actually do his homework. Weekly trips to the bookstore decreased to every two weeks, then every month, and now they’re almost obsolete. Getting accepted to Trinity, where Brant can receive the one-on-one tutoring he can’t get at a public school, took

the weight and stress off my parents’ shoulders. Suddenly, family night wasn’t so tense, and I started to enjoy talking to Brant again.

Finally realizing that he wasn’t stupid might have saved my little brother’s grades, but it also salvaged the last ounce of energy and patience I had left. Instead of wanting to yell at every person that bumped into me at school, I actually started to get more than a nap in at night. Going through this experience made me appreciate the good things about my little brother. But now I’m just glad that when I escape to my room, I’m actually able to sleep.

SmallTalk

Clubs with Food Flat Tires Non-ironic Crocs College Visits P. Terry’s Caramel Milkshakes

Thumbs Up

Thumbs DownAbove are the opinions of The Liberator staff and not the individual featured.

Cracking the dress codeThe recent dress code

dispute constantly weaves in and out of regular discourse between the majority of female students at LASA. The simple set of rules governing the fine line between revealing and acceptable clothing has been disrupted. The mere utterance of the words, “too short,” sends girls in a frenzy, blaming our varied bodily proportions and splitting the seams in our factory-cuffed shorts so as to get by with finger-length bottoms.

The disparate shapes and sizes of the LASA student body make for many a debate over the validity of the rules set in stone, but, as some argue, rules are rules, and they should apply to everyone.

I come from a rather different background from the majority of the students; I wore the same uniform for the entirety of elementary and middle school, so the stipulations were pretty clear. We were to don a modest, white, collared shirt tucked into a navy skirt and white shoes. I initially faced the strict rules with defiance, but, nonetheless, I have been accustomed to a dress code all my life.

I went into public school thinking that one could get away with wearing pretty much anything, but I still played it cool freshman year. Come sophomore year, however, upon seeing the Property of LASA dress code violation accoutrements for the first time, all of the rebelliousness surged within me once again. Two days into the 2012-2013 school year, I was dress coded.

Allow me to divulge a little secret: Immature retaliations don’t help. That means crying, complaining, or even writing passive-aggressive articles in the school newspaper. I learned it the hard way when all of my not-so-eloquently voiced grievances proved to have no effect over enforcement of the rules.

What does help, however, is communication on the part of both the student body and LASA administration. The same pair of shorts will look entirely different on someone with my 5’3 stature, compared to someone with legs for miles and a sizable wingspan that inhibits her from wearing anything but bermuda shorts from The Children’s Place. The administration should acknowledge that the hellish Texas climate impedes us from wearing long johns and turtlenecks every day, but that doesn’t mean we should feel entitled to wear bikini bottoms and tube tops.

Personally, I think that females should wear anything they feel comfortable and confident in without having to worry about infantile behavior from their male counterparts, but, from a professional standpoint, it makes sense to protect the integrity of the school system and avoid as much controversy as possible.

The federal government is currently experiencing a shutdown as the deadline for a new budget has come and gone with no resolution. This lack of agreement threatens the economic stability of current and future generations of lawmakers and U.S. citizens. Come mid-October, a decision must be made on whether or not the debt ceiling will be increased, as our current debt and financial obligations have

almost reached a point in which they can be paid off if the debt ceiling is not increased.

The debt ceiling has been raised 13 times since 2001 and, as a practical matter, must be raised again. If it is not, we will likely face a near-time financial crisis that extends longer than the current government shutdown.

For the sake of the economy, we need to increase the debt ceiling for the short term, but we must also cut spending in order to curtail the need to increase borrowing. The debt limit has increased from 55 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2001, to 102 percent of the current GDP. This debt will have to be paid off by future taxpayers like you and me and those yet to be born.

Many government offices are facing a shutdown or curtailment of operations, in which workers are essentially forced to go into an unpaid vacation period. As a result of this shutdown, the government will have to function on whatever money it has currently raised from taxes and would be unable to meet its current obligations, including pre-existing debt.

Not only would it affect people working for the government, but also cause huge economic disruptions for the economy at large. It might result in a loss of jobs outside of the government and workers making less money, whether they are laid off as a result of the shutdown or not.

Lawmakers from both parties need to start looking ahead to the futures of younger generations. The Democrats are correct that the debt ceiling must be raised for the short term, but Republicans make a valid point that spending must be cut to lower the debt for the future. Both parties need to quit playing reelection games with the public finances and stop thinking purely in a purely bipartisan manner if they hope to solve this crisis.

Helping hands: Brant’s storyStudent contrasts LASA life, expectations with coming home to dyslexic, dysgraphic sibling

To make a long story jort...

Recently, while looking back through my childhood photos, I couldn’t help but notice that there seemed to be a common thread: the jean shorts draped over my skinny, tan legs. Comfortable, convenient and matching with just about anything, my “jorts” were the single most important piece of clothing in my elementary school wardrobe. Sometime

around sixth grade, however, my jorts went the way of the rolling backpack and quietly exited my life. That’s not to say jorts became completely obsolete; on the contrary, jorts were and still are immensely popular amongst females. It was the male population that faced a much harsher reality, as denim shorts came to represent a subset of the population that one Urban Dictionary user identifies as “NASCAR aficionados, children, men over 40… and douchebags”.

Recently, the situation has become even more confusing. The sight of any male wearing a pair in public instantly prompts a flurry of questions: Is this a tongue-in-cheek fashion statement, or a symbol of solidarity for a well-meaning Florida Gators fan? Is the wearer in question a redneck from the backwoods of Mississippi, or a trend-setting hipster looking to show a little extra thigh? Just as the motivations for wearing jorts are seemingly innumerable (and at times inexplicable) so are the various species of half-length jeans. The jorts can be frayed or cuffed, baggy or tight, and the wearers themselves run the gamut. For proof, look no farther than Jorts.com, a website that allows users to browse through a plethora of jorts photos and rank them from “poor” to “hilarious!” While a few of the photos were, admittedly, entertaining, something about

the site just didn’t sit right with me. Perhaps my discomfort stemmed from the amount of upper white thigh that I was exposed to, but in reality the problem extended far past clothing that would certainly earn the wearers a pair of dark green sweatpants within the LASA halls.

I’ve never quite been able to grasp why so much hatred and ridicule is directed towards a harmless clothing item. I

myself am not a diehard jorts fanatic, but I see no problem in taking a pair of scissors to some old jeans and making a perfectly good piece of clothing. I needed to find a more open-minded opinion, the yin to society’s jort-hating yang.

My saving grace came in the form of another website, this one advertising the 5th Annual Misprint Jortacular. The title of the event instantly caught my eye. An entire celebration dedicated solely to one of the most polarizing fashion items in existence? If there was to be any opportunity for me to find inner peace amidst the whole jort debate, this was it. I clicked on a link to look at pictures from last

year’s event, and my excitement grew as I scrolled through photo after photo of bearded hipsters wearing variations of the traditional cut-off jeans. I quickly made plans to attend.

Long story short, I never made it through the front doors of the bar in which the Jortacular was held. Turns out, there’s some law that says that minors can’t hang out with a bunch of wasted dudes and participate in wholesome events such as a jort dunk tank (sounds fun, right?). It’s ironic, really, that the “children” who consistute most of the jort-wearing public at large should be barred from the event made possible by their support. But if you take away anything from my sad tale, let this be it: when it comes to jorts, there shouldn’t be any such thing as an age restriction.

ana lopezStaff Writer

audrey halbrookStaff Writer

His words danced around the page, slanting so much that you had to constantly turn the page to understand what the heck was going on.

““

Ironic CrocsBlocked Sites

ThumbsSpeed Bumps

LASA junior Evan Williams

Chloe EdminstonStaff Writer

jamie rodriguezEditor-in-Chief

Search for cut-off jean nirvana leads to pilgrimage, ultimate rejection by local denim short aficionados

Debt ceiling must be considered as fiscal year begins, shutdown looms

art by Victoria Mycue

the liberatoroct. 4, 2013

Acosta said. “In the old system, they just said to kids to graduate, they didn’t care what kind of plans you’re using. Now they’re saying [they] only want to know the number of kids graduating on the recommended and distinguished plans. So if you were a school who was using the minimum plan to get kids to graduate, then that ended up hurting you in the new system.”

Henry said the school was not informed of the requirements for Index 4 until late in the 2013 school year, when there was little time to fix the graduation rates.

“We found out about Index 4 in April,” Henry said. “There was nothing we could do about the graduation rate; it was already set.”

Despite the setback, Acosta said that the school began working on fixing the ratings immediately for the next class.

“We found out about the rules when the game was over, so there was nothing we could do except fix it moving forward, so we’ve done that,” Acosta said. “What this number is going to look like next year is well above [last year’s] because it was just a matter of us learning the new system and making sure we fixed what we were doing to match what the system was looking for.”

Acosta said that in the new system, any student that was ever in the class of 2013 was still listed in the records, even if the student transferred or dropped out. These students still factor into the denominator for calculating graduation rates under the new standards, so LBJ had to track down these students to make sure the ratings were accurate.

“We made sure that for every student that was ever enrolled in the class of 2013 we knew exactly where they were and if they weren’t at a different school we went and got them summer schooled and got them the credits they needed for them to graduate,” Acosta said. “I had a registrar and a dropout [specialist] who dealt with that. We would go through old records and last known numbers and just get out in the neighborhood and find the kids and bring them in. It was a big part of what we were doing because we knew that all those kids count in the number and all the division.”

As a result of the rating, LBJ administrators are required to create a corrective action plan to guide the school’s operations in the coming year.

“Each second-year ‘Improvement Required’ campus is required to develop a reconstitution plan that meets the requirements of the state education code and addresses comprehensive school wide improvements in all aspects of the school’s operations,” Austin Independent School District Director of Campus & District Accountability Carolyn Hanschen said.

“The reconstitution plan should continue to build on the improvement process begun in the previous year, addressing

causal factors for low performance and planning for school reconstitution and redesign.”

Henry said that although the plan is required to go into operation for the 2014-2015 school year, LBJ is following the plan this year.

“We’re writing a plan that we’re going to use as a guide for this year that we would have to implement next year if we don’t meet all of our indices,” Henry said. “So we’re going to write a really great plan to guide our work this year, aligned with what we’re already doing in the building.”

According to Acosta, this year’s plan addresses all four indices, not just the two that LBJ missed.

“The plan is very detailed, because we not only focused on Index 4, we focused on Index 1 because we know that that’s going to impact basically everything across the board,” Acosta said. “The plan focuses heavily on reading, writing and math, because that’s what’s going to give us the bang for our buck. For us, its a matter of identifying where our students need help and then immediately helping fill that gap for them.”

As part of the new plan, LBJ is using a standards-based grading system. According to Acosta, standards-based grading is unlike traditional grading because it shows if a student is falling behind or excelling in a certain concept or skill closely related to the STAAR test.

“In traditional grading all your grades get lumped together and you might have an 80 in the class,” Acosta said. “But what that doesn’t tell you is which particular skills you’re good at or not good at, what you need work with and what you don’t need work with. What standards-based grading does is it breaks that apart into concepts or units or themes. As a campus, we’re not necessarily thinking about whether the kid has a 90, we’re thinking this kid needs help in this particular skill but not in this particular skill. For us, its a matter of identifying where our students need help and then immediately helping fill that gap for them.”

In addition to the new grading system, LBJ’s plan also features a 30-minute enrichment period during school where students can catch up in skills they are lacking. LBJ met and exceeded standards in Index 1, which measures student achievement, and Index 3, which measures closing achievement gaps.

“As long as we’re taking care of all of our kids, which we have to do anyway, Index 3 will take care of itself,” Acosta said. “We met the standard but we don’t want to be down there, we want to move that bar up and be a great school.”

Henry said that, with the new plan, she is confident that LBJ will meet standards for the 2013-2014 school year.

“We’re going in with our eyes open this time,” Henry said. “It’ll turn around.”

This year LBJ principal Sheila Henry started filming videos to show to students during the school’s new enrichment period.

“We have our enrichment period this year so we create lessons for that period for our kids and we ask them to make some commitments too, to some things that we’re asking them to do on campus,” Henry said. “I

make those videos so that I can have that conversation with them.”

As part of the new enrichment period, teachers develop a lesson that corresponds with the video. The videos and lessons cover a wide range of topics, including SAT preparation, writing and class specific help.

“There’s a lesson that goes with the videos that the teachers are actually teaching in that class,” Henry said. “I ask them to commit to some things in school, so it’s really great.”

Henry said that the reception from the students has been positive.

“The kids love them,” Henry said. “So we do put them on the website each week.”

The new Austin Independent School District (AISD) energy program for the 2013-2014 school year aims to reduce and conserve energy throughout the district. This year, energy saving methods range from replacing and tinting windows to replacing air conditioning systems. LASA principal Stacia Crescenzi said that the energy plan will save the district a lot of money in the future.

“Even if it means spending a little bit more money on the front end, if over 10 or 20 years it’s going to save you money, I feel [that] a large district that is trying to be a model for its students and its faculty is the right thing to do,” Crescenzi said.

According to Crescenzi, LASA is putting the energy plan into practice within the school in an attempt to promote simple energy saving techniques. The plan will focus on small things that students and teachers can do rather than on district-wide projects.

“I think at this point the main thing that we are doing is really working with staff members on basics,” Crescenzi said. “[They are] turning off the lights, shutting their computers down on weekends and at night when [they] leave. We are starting with the stuff that should be easy.”

AISD Executive Director of Facilities Paul Turner has worked on the energy plan to make sure that it fits the needs of the district. The plan is focused on reducing areas that currently are the greatest consumers of energy.

“Air conditioning and lighting are the two biggest users of energy in a building,” Turner said. “Then we also use

technology and design to minimize consumption like [turning] off the lights automatically or [dimming] the lights whenever you have outside light.”

“It’s essentially focused in four areas,” Turner said. “[We are] reducing areas of the greatest consumption, like air conditioning and lighting, the

two biggest users of energy in a building. Then we also use

technology and

design to minimize

consumption.”The district has done a

number of things to save energy, including adding new roofing to multiple AISD buildings. Other improvements such as replacing heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems with

more efficient systems have been included in this year’s

energy plan. “Putting in what we call ‘building energy

m a n a g e m e n t systems’ allows us to control the

temperature remotely up at the service

c e n t e r , ” Turner said.

“To save some

energy [we] installed reflective roofing, doing what they call ‘commissioning of building systems to achieve system efficiency.’”

In addition to creating buildings with greater efficiency, AISD is trying to implement daylighting, a design feature that maximizes the amount of outside light coming into a building. Daylighting reduces the need for interior lights in schools throughout the district.

“[AISD is] replacing windows to tighten the building to keep water out and the cool air in,” Turner said. “[We are] using window tinting and trees to shade western exposures to cut down on the heat this time of year. Then [we are] using daylighting, which reduces the need for interior lights.”

This summer, AISD took part in a summer shutdown, which included giving all employees the week of Independence Day off. This allowed everything to be turned off so that the district did not have to use any energy.

“[This] summer we did a ‘summer shutdown’ where we

closed the district down completely for a week,” Turner said. “We have the people that

are on duty in the summer work four day weeks so we didn’t have to run air conditioning systems

on Fridays for about nine of the Fridays during the summer.”

Crescenzi said that any building AISD is upgrading will now be more efficient and improved economically. She said the building improvements being made will also help the district in the long run.

“Anything new that they replace, they try to replace with things that are greener and energy efficient, including new buildings that are being built,” Crescenzi said. “I think that is the way to go. I think that it is unconscionable on us as a district to not be doing those things.”

There is currently no district-wide consequence for failing to reduce and conserve energy. Instead, AISD is offering $1,000 to teachers who make an effort to decrease energy consumption.

“I feel like instead of doing punishment enforcement they are sort of holding this carrot out there,” Crescenzi said. “However we can only get it if we all join together, hold hands and find places to save. If the district as a whole saves enough money, everyone can get the thousand dollars.”

According to Turner, the easiest way to save energy is to implement simple energy saving practices into everyday life until they become a habit. He said that these practices should be carried out through the district as well as at home.

“I think that anything that any of us can do, [like] turn off a light that’s not in use,” Turner said. “Or take that extra step to not use any more energy than you absolutely have to. That does help contribute in that direction.”

Austin Independent School District (AISD) partnered with Steep Creek Media, a Houston-based advertising company that specializes in mobile media, to place advertisements on school buses. According to the AISD transportation website, advertisements on school buses will target adults rather than children and will only be visible on the side of the bus opposite the door.

AISD Director of Transportation Kourosh Hafezi said advertisements have been placed on one school bus, but should be present on 400 school buses within the next three years. According to the AISD transportation website, once the advertising plan is fully implemented, the school district will earn an estimated $388,000 annually.

“This is a new program for our district and we are hopeful to get more [advertisements] soon,” Hafezi said. “Steep Creek Media is the vendor that does everything for us. They have told us there are more coming soon.”

According to the AISD transportation website, Steep Creek regulates the advertisements, prohibiting poor grammar, sexual suggestivity, obscenity, vulgarity or profanity and prohibiting promotion of anything illegal for minors. In addition to these restrictions, the superintendent and a district committee in charge of managing the advertisement messages are able to control the content of the advertisements.

Community members suggested the use of school bus advertisements during the 2010-2011 school year when discussing the budget cuts the district was facing. AISD reached the agreement to partner with Steep Creek Media in May 2013. They signed a three year contract with two optional one-year renewals.

Texas public schools underwent a change with the passing of Senate Bill 393, which prevents police from giving students citations for disorderly conduct or disruption of class. Previously under the penal code, students could face Class C misdemeanor charges for several forms of disruption on or near school property.

At LBJ and LASA, campus police officers Aaron Snyder and Joseph Manor are in charge of monitoring behavior. Snyder said that the ticketing ban does not keep students from facing consequences for their actions.

“It does not change our job,” Snyder said. “We still have to deal with [misconduct].”

By distancing students from prosecution, the ban is meant to ease the financial load on the educational and legal systems, protect youth from establishing criminal records and encourage schools to employ alternate deterrent methods.

Misbehavior in all its forms can be met with consequences ranging in their severity from removal from class to expulsion. The LBJ and LASA administrations might address disruption through a talk with a principal, detention or suspension in the case of constant misbehavior.

LASA assistant principal Alan Santucci said that the new law is unlikely to have much of an impact.

“It’s not a big issue,” Santucci said. “In the six years that I’ve been here, I’ve never seen or heard of a student at LASA being ticketed for school disruption.”

In AISD, over 700 tickets were issued over the last school year. The district has made an effort to reduce the number of tickets given, and the law will provide support in that respect. Tickets for other misdemeanors, such as truancy or fighting, and arrests for more serious crimes can still be issued on campus as they are not covered by the new law.

AISD begins advertisement program on school buses

Austin ISD introduces new high school ticketing policy

Henry produces video series for LBJ enrichment period

AISD to ‘socket’ to schools via energy conservation plan

LBJ sets plans to up TEA ratings

stories by Frankie Marchan, Daniel Vega and Sam Zern

Sesha McMinnNews Editor

art by Tabitha Vedrine

continued from page 1

the liberatoroct. 4, 2013

One of the first buses to sport revenue ads has already hit the roads.photo courtesy Steep Creek Media

Principal Henry signing off from video. photo courtesy lbjhigh.org

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The Austin Independent School District (AISD) is approaching the fourth year of its strategic plan FY2010-2015, which aims to guide AISD’s budget as well as other programs and initiatives within the school district. The program was approved in 2009 by the AISD Board of Trustees and focuses on dealing with budget inefficiencies throughout the district. This year the district is in a stable condition, with employees getting 1.5 percent pay raises starting in January.

“What I love that the district is doing with their money is putting it back to staff,” LASA principal Stacia Crescenzi said. “It’s great that the district has that extra money and it will certainly help schools by keeping staff happy.”

AISD recently approved the preliminary budget for the new 2013-2014 school year, which holds nearly $1 billion in expenditures. In the new plan, the only programs that are being discontinued are the IDEA Allan Academy and College Prep program, which, according to Lujan, will save the district $3.5 million dollars.

“AISD has healthy finances in spite of cuts, but will continue to look for cost-saving measures,” Antonio Lujan, a member of AISD’s media relations team, said. “Money is financed mostly from local property tax revenue and state aids.”

According to Crescenzi, the school will be receiving little, if any, money from the new budget.“The main problem with our district is that so much money goes away,” Crescenzi said. “Something

like 83 percent of our money goes away from the district to poorer districts. That’s the most interesting thing concerning budgets today.”

The money schools actually get is determined by the amount of students that school has as well as their students’ attendance records.

“When it comes to giving money to an individual school,” Crescenzi said. “[The amount] I have to spend on teachers is determined entirely by the amount of students I have.”

Of the $1 billion in reserve, $820 million will be for a General Fund, $40 million will be for the Food Service Fund and $109 million will be for the Debt Service Fund. Most of the general fund will go to instruction (teachers, classrooms, etc.), which will use $437 million of the nearly $820 million reserved for the general fund. The rest of the money will go to things such as Instructional Resources & Media Services, School Administration, Guidance & Counseling Services and more.

In the preliminary budget, AISD is planning to spend around $997 million in total for this school year, $28 million over what they currently have. This conflict will most likely be resolved in the FY2010-2015 plan, which will be implemented for the 2014-2015 school year.

“The goal of the district is to utilize our resources and funds to achieve as much as possible despite economic shortfalls,” Lujan said. “Education is at the top of the list.”

Adam Kobeissi Staff Writer

AISD budget hits $1 billion

the liberatoroct. 4, 2013

The debate over women’s reproductive rights in Texas came to a head this summer

when Governor Rick Perry called a special session that placed the Senate Bill 5 (SB5), regarding reproductive rights for women on the table. LASA sophomore Ari Tolany was one of many who went to the capital to stand with Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Ft. Worth) in her 11-hour filibuster.

“It was a pretty depressing feeling that despite how much effort all of us were putting into making our voices heard, that our opinions didn’t really matter,” Tolany said.

The most ardent opposition to the bill came in the form of filibuster by Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis from Fort Worth. This filibuster allowed Davis’s cause to gain national coverage, bringing the condition of

Texas women’s reproductive rights to the attention of the rest of the United States

and overnight propelled Davis, and her now-famous running shoes, into the

national spotlight.“She was what the cause needed

to get international and national attention,” Tolany said. “Stuff

happened in other states that did not get that

attention but because she filibustered

for so long it

was a really good publicity thing.”Senate Bill 5 was met with strong resistance

from pro-choice supporters who flooded the capitol in protest, stopping the bill from being passed in the first special session, though it passed in a subsequent session. Lize Burr, President of the Capital Area Democratic Women, said Davis had a crucial part of the protest’s events.

“Wendy Davis was perfectly suited to it,” Burr said. “Because she had the combination of being an expert trial lawyer, being very physically fit and had filibustered in the past, so she knew what it was like. It was like she had the ball in the last ten seconds of the game and sinking a three pointer. That was her job.”

Davis was not alone in the Senate chamber during her filibuster. More than 2,000 demonstrators showed up at the special session in opposition of the bill. Burr said that the use of social media helped the cause to garner nationwide attention.

“It was extraordinary,” Burr said. “That combination of people power rapid response to information was the primary strategy this summer. And to show that the legislature was clearly out of order and that the senate was clearly out of order. Going forward, the primary strategy is to change the leadership in this state.”

At press time, Associated Press reports from an unnamed Democrat source have confirmed Davis will make a bid for Texas Governor in 2014, against likely Republican candidate, Attorney General Greg Abbott, who confirmed in July that he would seek the Republican nomination.

Davis, though known mainly for the

filibuster during the summer protests, has also been involved in other facets of state law, including a filibuster in 2008 to stop $5 billion in education cuts. Tolany said that education and women’s reproductive rights are pertinent to students.

“If you look at the other political stuff she’s done, it hasn’t just been this she also filibustered for Texas education and she’s been a big supporter of improving different educational issues which has been a good thing,” Tolany said.

Davis also filed the Texas Jobs First Legislation, which gives preference to Texans in awarding state contracts and worked to protect the Veterans’ Assistance Fund from being used to fill budget gaps.

The last Democrat to occupy the governor’s mansion was Ann Richards, who was ousted by George W. Bush in 1994. Currently, Republicans hold the majority in both houses of Texas Legislature.

Zia Lyle contributed to this article

Shown above is the percent change of AISD’s budget spent in each category inbetween the 2009-2010 and 2013-2014 school years. (Data taken from AISD’s budget website)

Sen. Wendy Davis may run for Texas governor position in 2014

Pro-choice protestors, including Lize Burr, rally at the Texas state Capitol as Sen. Wendy Davis fillibusters the SB5 law during a special session. photo courtesy of Chris Hyams

The eyes of Texas are upon her

Protestors gather inside the Capitol awaiting the conclusion of Sen. Wendy Davis’ 11-hour fillibuster. photo courtesy Chris Hyams

The “Stand with Texas Women’’ bus sits parked just outside the capitol building. With the help of Wendy Davis, the bus was able to tour across Texas. photo courtesy Chris Hyams

art by R

ebekah Albach

Sam Zern

News Editor

LBJ Early College High School has teamed up with Get Schooled, an incentivised attendance program, to promote student presence in class. LBJ principal Sheila Henry said she expects the program to benefit LBJ by teaching students the value of attendance and education. A non-profit organization founded in 2010, Get Schooled offers incentives such as assemblies, events with celebrities and prizes for schools with the highest student attendance. According to the Get Schooled website, the goal of the organization is to improve high school graduation rates and encourage students to strive for a college education by using media and pop culture icons students are impacted by.

LBJ social services facilitator Joseph Dias is coordinating the program. Dias said he became involved with Get Schooled when Henry provided him the opportunity to partner with the program to help increase student attendance and awareness of how attendance affects academic success.

“I think incentive and reward type programs work better than the negative campaigning like court [or] tickets for too many absences or dropping out,” Dias said. “Being a behaviorist, I believe reward works better than punishment.”

Henry said raising attendance is a goal for LBJ, and student attendance affects both academics and funding. As part of the Get Schooled program, participating students make

a commitment to being in school in order to be eligible for the program’s incentives. With this pledge and the incentives it offers, Henry said she expects Get Schooled to help raise LBJ attendance rates.

“It’s a whole lot to do with our kids being here, talking about the Average Daily Attendance funding that we’ll lose if [students are] not here,” Henry said. “We moved our attendance rate almost three percent this year, so we want to get our attendance rates up; we’re shooting for 95 percent this year so [Get Schooled] is going go to help us.”

Dias said that public education prepares students for employment. According to Dias, school and work are tightly intertwined, though many students fail to recognize this connection. Dias said the working and attendance habits that students develop in school translate into the work environment later in life.

“Some students fail to see what the reward really is upon graduation,” Dias said. “They feel their attendance is not all that important in the overall picture.”

“I am noticing more interesting things every day about the LASA students. The first thing I have noticed was students’ dedication to high achievement. Everyone seems excited to pursue more knowledge in all of their classes instead of just doing the minimum required.”

“I’m a big fan of Bruce Springsteen. I went to his concert seven or eight times. One was at the Austin Music Hall - just a smaller show. It was hard to get tickets for that, had to wake up at like 6 am.”

“I have had a great career in science and technology. I just love inventing and coming up with new things. I also enjoy helping other scientists who have labored an entire career in a particular area of research and trying to find funding for them to chase their dreams.”

“One of the most interesting things about the students at LASA has been the snippets of conversations I’ve overheard in the bathrooms and the hallways. For example, I heard students talking about DNA while touching up their makeup. I appreciate that learning doesn’t end once the students leave the classroom.”

“I’m a hip-hop guy, but not hip-hop with this day and age. 90’s hip-hop is good for me but in order to really appreciate music you need to be well rounded, so I listen to everything. I’m not a fan of everything, but I listen to everything so that goes all the way to rock, metal, alternative, jazz, contemporary and classical.”

“I graduated from a large public high school in Memphis, Tennessee and was the first of my eight siblings to attend college. Through a basketball scholarship, I was able to get a college education, and play professional basketball. My greatest hope is that our students here at LBJECHS, will use their talents and gifts to create a productive and high quality life for themselves and their families.”

“The first few weeks have been an adjustment from being in one setting for 13 years and making the transition to a different city. Kids are kids but they have a different set of values than the kids in McKinney so there’s an adjustment on my part to adapt to them and enable them to adapt to my style.”

“A song I never tire of listening to is Justice’s D.A.N.C.E. An album I love is Best Coast, The Only Place. My favorite genres are Pop (electronic, classic, lo-fi) and Soul (Charles Bradley, the ‘Screaming Eagle of Soul’).”

What is something interesting you have noticed here at LASA?

What is the difference from the previous school you taught at?

What type of music do you listen to?

Why do you enjoy being a science teacher?

What type of music do you listen to?

How have you adjusted to the learning environment at LBJ?

Can you give some back-ground on yourself?

What type of music do you listen to?

Fresh into the jaguar’s den

“I really like it when I see students create something that’s incredible, that looks like some-thing they could’ve done in col-lege or as a professional artist. That’s always nice.”

What’s your favorite thing about teaching art?

Bob Chin Chemistry Rainer Mueller Comp. Sci. Matthew Enderle Math Molly McGarvey EnglishCaitlin Palmer English

Emily Atkinson ArtFrancis Jones DELTA Archie Johnson DELTA/ISSRandy Bryant BCIS

LBJLASA

Last school year ended with the campus saying

goodbye to several teachers moving on or retiring. LASA principal Stacia

Crescenzi and LBJ principal Sheila

Henry needed to re-staff their schools, so nine new LASA

teachers and 10 new LBJ teachers were added to the faculty listing for

the 2013-2014 school year.

Frankie MarchanStaff Writer

LASA English teachers Chloe Cardinale and Lauren Graeber rewrote the course curriculum for ‘Great Ideas’, the humanities survey course required for LASA sophomores.

“[The administration] asked us, Ms. Graeber and myself, if we would teach it and if so what would we change,” Cardinale said. “We decided we were just going to make it our own class and come up with the syllabus and the curriculum.”

The altered course will be different from the class LASA sophomores have previously experienced.

“The class has been an introduction to humanities and philosophy and it remains that,” Graeber said. “Those are expansive topics to try and cover, so the focus of Great Ideas might be different this year.”

While most of the previous curriculum was carried over, the biggest change to the course was the removal of fictional literature. Cardinale said that fiction was removed so that the students could be introduced to as much material as possible.

“We’ve tried to take the first two six weeks and introduce [the students] to as much as possible so by the third six weeks the kids can actually pick the area of study that they’re most interested in,” Cardinale said. “We are trying to cram as much in as possible so [the students] can grasp onto what they’re attracted to.”

The structure of the class has also been altered. The class was originally structured so that each unit would address an idea mankind has historically struggled with, including topics such as free will versus determinism, self versus other and beauty versus virtue. Graeber has reworked the curriculum’s organization with Cardinale to give a wide view of different philosophical questions.

“We’ve chosen four areas of interest that we think give a broad overview of some of the major philosophical debates humans have participated in,” Graeber said. “Man’s place in society and the formation of government, ethics and morality, education and aesthesis.”

Despite these changes, Cardinale said that a good deal of the previous curriculum was kept, some even by student request.

“We tried to keep the things [the students] enjoyed because there was merit in translating some of the curriculum over,” Cardinale said. “Anything that they were like ‘oh it can’t be Great Ideas without this’ we tried not to mess with. I’m very confident in it, but I’m also very biased. Ask me in a year from now.”

LASA humanities courseintroduces new curriculum

Chris Buffum-RobbinsStaff Writer

photos by Joann Minn, Sesha McMinn and Chloe Edminston

Teachers not featured: LBJ: R. Martinez-Florence, K. Hicks, A. Jack-son, J. Neely, S. Smith, T. VockeLASA: C. Barnes, L. Mishriky, D. Harper,A. Salinas

1400 South Congress Ave.Suite A-170

Austin, Texas 78704www.kendrascott.com

the liberatoroct. 4, 2013

Get Schooled program works with LBJ students

LASA sophopmore Alex Seiler stands at the ready alongside her friends behind a food vendor station, as a crowd of hippies with the munchies attempt to make their way towards them. The massive crowd is unyielding and some people wait in line upwards of half an hour just to get some of the Seiler’s prized root beer. Maine Root, the Seiler’s family-owned soda company, has run a stand at the Austin City Limits (ACL) for the past 8 years, and has become a staple of ACL cuisine.

During ACL weekend, the Seiler family arrives at the ACL grounds around 8 a.m. to get their stand organized and prepare for the upcoming day.

“Before ACL actually opens up, there is no one there,” A. Seiler said. “It’s pretty cool because you get to see bands doing sound checks and the behind the scenes stuff.”

Around noon, after ACL opens, the

masses rush to the Maine Root stand to quench their thirst with organic, handcrafted beverages from the Maine Root vendors.

“When we have a super huge rush, we have to work nonstop for hours,” Seiler said.

Before creating Maine Root, owner Mark Seiler sold enterprise software while his brother and co-founder, Matt Seiler, worked in restaurants.

“Matt started Maine Root because he wanted to fulfill an unmet need at the restaurant he was working in,” M. Seiler said. “I came on board because I wanted to do something more entrepreneurial than my previous job.”

While the Maine Root stand is currently a crowd favorite at the annual festival, M. Seiler said they got off to a rough start. Maine Root was founded in 2005, which was the same year Hurricane Katrina hit the United States.

“The truck carrying our soda almost didn’t make it to Austin in time because it couldn’t get through the storm,” M. Seiler said. “I had some of my last dimes on that truck. I would have ridden my dirt bike through the hurricane with a wagon

tied to the fender to get product to ACL.”

Generally, the weather is hot and humid and the workers are constantly standing up and dealing with large crowds. But the staff puts up with the weather due to the generous payoff at the end.

“I can go to concerts throughout the weekend, which is great,” volunteer worker and LASA sophomore Sam Pastor said. “Also, I get free drinks from Maine Root, which is god-given stuff.”

A. Seiler said the food vendors at ACL get just as hungry as the festival-goers do, and many stands trade food with each other.

“We get free food from all the vendors. We will trade root beer for ribs, P. Terry’s, Amy’s Ice Cream or kettle corn,” A. Seiler said. “Anything you can think of that’s in the stands, you can get.”

While most of the stands present at the music festival are well-known companies, the process to make your very own stand is easier than the Seiler’s originally expected.

“ACL vendors start with an online

application process that asks questions to determine if you can handle large crowds and long hours,” M. Seiler said.

ACL is not the only festival Maine Root does business with, but it is home to a lot of other locally-owned and small enterprise businesses because of its large environment and crowds of people.

“ACL is a great place for people to try our products in a very fun atmosphere,” M. Seiler said. “It’s a good place because people are out for a great time.”

Though the extra help may seem fun to his daughter, M. Seiler said he appreciates the extra hands.

“If I didn’t have family working the booth, I don’t think I could ever make a go of it,” M. Seiler said. “Mamie, Alex, [Alex’s sister] Frannie and their friends are the engine that makes the ACL Maine

Root booth happen. I just set it up and break it down.”

The first and only time I had the true ACL V.I.P experience was two years ago. And let me tell you: it was AWESOME. That year, the Advanced Micro Devices (A.M.D.) stage was my V.I.P. headquarters. After getting through the front gates each day, I made a beeline directly for the massive A.M.D. banner in the distance. At the stage, I flashed my badge all cool-like to the security guard, and he’d wave my goofy teenager self up the stairs towards the music-festival-mecca that lay hidden inside the metal scaffold and speakers. Once inside, I was immediately greeted by the scent of warm burritos and pie. A.M.D. hooked it up BIG TIME when it came to their catered food. There were tables upon tables of food from some of my favorite restaurants in Austin. After stuffing my backpack with burritos, I sat down in front of the biggest T.V. I had ever seen in my life. Every T.V. was hooked up to a Playstation 3, which I played every morning while eating burriots backstage. There were honestly moments when I completely forgot I was at a music festival at all. It felt more like going over to your ultra-rich friend’s house to hang out, except the Black Keys were performing 30 feet away from you.by David de la Garza

The Tale of Two Tickets

ACL

The normal ACL experience is completely different from the V.I.P. experience. The V.I.P.’s are the 1%, and everyone else is the 99%. Going to ACL with a regular pass is more tiring, much dirtier, and WAY sweatier than going as a V.I.P. One year it was so dirty in fact, that by the end of Saturday everyone was covered from head to toe in “Dillo Dirt”, which was later revealed to be processed human feces used as fertilizer for Zilker Park’s grass. Regardless, it’s still a seriously fun thing to participate in. Yes, the crowds will swallow you up. You WILL lose some friends along the way. You WILL get hungry, you WILL be tired, but you WILL have fun. Another advantage to having a normal pass is that you will undoubtedly make some friends. In V.I.P. lounges, you keep to yourself mostly, but when you’re in a massive crowd of sweaty people, you have no choice but to say hello and introduce yourself to the people you’re being crushed up against. For example, I once befriended a group of drunk Italians at ACL. By the end of it, you’ll be beaten and bloodied, and it might take you a week to fully recover, but I can guarantee you, other than the extreme sunburn you’ll definitely get, it’s all worth it.by David de la Garza

Escape the crowds and set out for a paddle on Lady Bird Lake. While you’re at it, check out the newest temporary art installation placed on top of the water underneath the First Street pedestrian bridge. This piece of art titled “Thirst”, symbolizes the devastating effects of the drought on Austin’s tree population. The installation will stand from Sept. 29 through Dec. 20.

The Power in the Park event welcomes locals and foreigners alike to a public yoga class held at the Long Center, hosted by Wanderlust Yoga. Benefiting Safe Place, Power in the Park also promises a musical guest, refreshments and an overall enlightening experience.

Musicians will be taking advantage of their location between week one and two of ACL. Those without wristbands don’t have to miss out on any of their favorite artists, as many bands will be playing shows at other venues throughout the city. ACL Live at the Moody Theatre will be hosting intimate shows for many of the ACL artists after festival hours.

The Captivate Conference is happening from Oct. 6 through Oct. 8 and will feature a variety of different leaders from digital entertainment industries. The conference welcomes the public to attend to be informed in the newest digital technology and arts. Those who have an ACL wristband can enter for free! Other tickets start at $10.

All who are environmentally driven are invited to join SXSW Eco during their three-day event from Oct. 7 through Oct. 9 at the Austin Convention Center. Interact with professionals fighting to solve issues in environmental, economic and civil society.

Carter Pace & Nathan Humphreys LucasStaff Writers

grap

hics

by A

bby K

appe

lman

Things to do around town during ACL weekend

graphic by David de la Garza

the liberatoroct. 4, 2013

No Ticket?No Problem

It’s 7-3 at the half, Hutto. The Jaguars huddle around new athletic director and head coach Andrew Jackson as he delivers strategies. Soon the time is up and they rush back onto the field. The student section screams as the Jags quickly finish a drive, scoring a touchdown. Two more drives, two more touchdowns and the Jaguar fans go wild. Silly string flies through the air as the student section explodes with excitement. For the first time in six years, the Jaguars have beaten the Hippos. The rapid turnaround was quickly attributed to the new leadership of Jackson.

“Coach Jackson is very disciplined and he knows what he wants,” LBJ senior LeeAnthony Dawson said. “ He wants us to give it our all on every play. With Coach Jackson, it feels like everyone wants to be here now. We just want to be one and make it to the top.”

Jackson said that he plans to keep his players focused and disciplined, and wants to instil respect in each of his players. He began his coaching career at age 27 as an assistant coach at Manor, the school he had once attended. After leaving Manor, Jackson spent eight years at Reagan High School. After that he became head coach and athletic director at Lancaster High school for nine years. The past two years he has been the head coach at Manor. He said that he felt he had reached the top of his potential at Manor and wanted to move on. LBJ, he said, was his ideal next school.

“When this job came open, I decided to apply for it and got it, so now I’m back here,” Jackson said. “So this is actually my seventeenth year, more or less, as a head coach. And I’ve only been coaching, this is my twenty-third year, so I’ve been blessed. I’ve really been blessed to be a head coach for a period of time.”

Jackson has led his teams to state three times and reached the semi-finals twice. Jackson said he believes he can bring the Jaguars to that same level of play.

“I came here to coach because I always have been intrigued with LBJ,” Jackson said. “Even when I was at Reagan, back in

Austin, I was always intrigued with them. I think this is one school in Austin that if it’s done right, you’ll have a chance to win the state championship.”

Jackson said that he feels his players are buying into his personal philosophies because they are aware of his successful past. With his three visits to state and the new leadership program he is putting in place, Jackson said that he is demanding discipline both in the classroom and on the field.

“I’m setting the bar very high,” Jackson said. “I think the kids are buying in because they know I’ve won everywhere I been. So they’re kind of starting to understand what I want from them: practicing hard, what the level [that] I want from them to play [is].”

LBJ senior LeeAnthony Dawson said that he has raised goals for the season due to Jackson’s leadership.

“The hopes for the season are to get a district championship,” Dawson said. “[Then] get through the first round of playoffs and make it to state.”

To bring themselves to this level, Jackson said that he laid out a tough preseason for the Jaguars. The Jags were matched against Hutto in their season opener, a team the Jags had not beaten in six years. Though the student section roared when they pulled out a win, Dawson said that the win was not something they could not have done before.

“Beating Hutto was just another win,” Dawson said. “We hadn’t beaten them in six years, but to us it wasn’t anything major.”

Unlike LBJ’s last two athletic directors, Jackson said that he plans on staying around for a while. He said that he is ready to take a chance on the talent at LBJ.

“We’re going to get it going, because we have a great mixture,” Jackson said. “I really believe we have a chance. I have seven years to retire and I think we have a great chance to play for a state championship between that time. Remember I said that. That’s my goal. I want to put LBJ back on the mountain, where they’re in top ten rating in the state as a program.”

The Jags will enter district with a 1-3 record. After their 23-14 win against the Hutto Hippos, the Jaguars played Vista Ridge. The Jaguars were scoreless until the end of the third quarter when LBJ senior Kevin Moore recovered a high snap from Vista Ridge and ran it back for a touchdown. The Vista Ridge Rangers won the game 32-7.

“The Vista Ridge game, the offense wasn’t doing too well,” LBJ junior quarterback Zae Giles said. “We had a team meeting, and said that offense needed to pick it up. The whole time we were tired. That was the game LeeAnthony Dawson got hurt. Our number one quarterback, and he was out.”

The Jaguars first home game was against the Connally Cougars on Sept. 13. The Jaguars started off with a touchdown, but the Cougars quickly scored three more. The Jaguars did not score again until the second half. The Jaguars came back in the second half with four touchdowns, including a 99-yard touchdown from Giles. With two seconds left in the game and the score at 36-35, a failed onside kick by the Jaguars allowed the Cougars to run down the clock and win the game.

“We ran into some injuries,” Jackson said. “You put a lot of time into your offense, especially your quarterback. When he was injured, you have a limited amount of things you can do.”

In the last non-district game against New Braunfels Canyon the Jaguars were shut out 20-0. Jackson said you have to find what works together as a team.

“I’m finding some good pieces that are going a long way. I don’t know all these kids too well, so it’s like a puzzle,” Jackson said. “You’re putting all your pieces together, and I think we’re starting to put this puzzle together. I think we can make some definite moves and we can win district.”

I want to put LBJ back on the mountain, where they’re in top ten rating in the state as a program.

-LBJ Head Coach Andrew Jackson

““

Meagen Allgood and Isabel SaraleguiSport Editors

Third Time’s the Charm

Head coach Andrew Jackson congratulates the LBJ Jaguars after their 23-14 win against the Hutto Hippos in their season opener on August 30. photo courtesy of Becky Gdula.

Jaguars head coach Andrew Jackson sets new standard

BY THE NUMBERS50

50

40

4040

4030 30

3030

10 20

20

20

20

10

1010

KEBRIANA NASH

Noah Stevens-Stein16:40.1

Isaac Metcalf18:09.1

Jacob Hammond18:54.1

Kills: 106

SHARLYCE JONES

CAMPBELL PONTIN

Kills: 37

Kills: 8

Digs: 116

Digs: 78

Digs: 82

Serves: 92

Serves: 106

Serves: 92

LBJ: 0NEW BRAUNFELS: 20

LBJ:23HUTTO:17

LBJ: 7VISTA RIDGE: 32

LBJ: 35CONALLY:36

the liberatoroct. 4, 2013

The LBJ offense prepares for the snap against the Vista Ridge Rangers on Sept. 6. LBJ senior Garylei Lovings leads the team onto the field at the start of the game. LBJ junior safety Lavarr Clark sets up for a play against Hutto. The Jaguars went on to beat the Hippos 23-17, their first win in six years. all photos courtesy of Becky Gdula

The top LBJ sports statistics from the past six weeks

After seeing five athletes qualify for the state tournament in 2012, the LBJ wrestling team has started the season early. The team has maintained its core from last year, with the exception of the two graduating seniors George Chen and Cole Stevens, and head coach Ruben Padilla is returning as head coach after being promoted mid last year.

Padilla is now entering his 26th year coaching wrestling, having split time between New Mexico and Texas. He also served as the assistant coach at Akins High School for three years. Padilla said that he is excited for this year’s new crop of wrestlers.

“This team will be more of a united front,” Padilla said. “We are very young, but we will be a lot more confident and have a better foundation for the sport as the year progresses.”

Padilla said that the key difference between wrestling and other sports is that wrestling is not a widely played

sport by today’s youth, making it harder to train the kids. There are often no middle school wrestling teams or clubs that students can join to try out the sport. For many, their first time wrestling comes during their freshmen year of high school. Sports such as soccer and basketball have youth leagues and clubs where young kids can play. Wrestling does not usually have such organizations.

“Athletes in other sports have pretty much been tutored and brought up in those sports, but when they come into wrestling they are starting from scratch,” Padilla said. “What you are trying to instill into a kid that has his own way of thinking and philosophy already, to get them to start off as if they were a little league kid, is challenging. But that’s where the challenge is for me. [Bringing] our kids from a low skill level to a competitive skill set is a good feeling and this is why I coach. We are molding our clay and seeing the bricks come together and building a house at the end.”

LASA junior Neomi Rocha was one

of three girls to qualify for the state tournament last year, along with LBJ juniors Shania Williams and Kerdiania Freeman. Rocha said that after starting out with a new coach last year, the team members have all gotten to know each other and are ready to go further than last year due to his coaching.

“I think coach Padilla cares a lot about what he is doing and that he will make it his mission for us to do well,” Rocha said. “He says, ‘you can hate me all you want, but in the end you are going to be the one who is wearing a gold medal at the top of the state championship and nobody else can take that away from you. You can take that home and I can’t.’ So in the end he does it for us and I think that it’s something that we can all admire because he does care about his wrestlers and pushes us to our limits.”

On the boys team, the only returning state wrestler is LASA junior Joseph Ramirez. He said that he is ready to push his own limits to meet the goals Padilla has set for him.

“Last year I made it to state and I hope to continue wrestling this year to make it past state and into nationals,” said Ramirez. “This year I am going to try to run 5 miles a day. I also want to do 1000 squats, 1000 push ups and 1000 sit ups in a month.”

Padilla said that he is dedicated to making his wrestlers as confident as possible. He said that his expectations are high, but that his students can reach them if they try hard enough.

“I try to run my kids and my practice like they do in class, with high expectations,” Padilla said. “Basically my biggest philosophy is for the kids to believe in themselves so they can have self-worth and achieve things beyond what other people might assume is not possible. If they believe in themselves, everything is possible.”

The Paper Jaguar

As the judges settle in their seats and the music begins, LASA sophomores Jasmine Stone and Emily Heubaum dive gracefully into the pool along with their synchronized swimming team. The girls resurface almost immediately, lifting one of their team members into the air for a flip without touching the pool bottom. The move looks effortless, but underwater the girls are moving their limbs furiously to stay afloat.

“A lot of people think [synchronized swimming] is really easy and that people are smiling because it’s easy,” Stone said. “When we were little they had to bribe us to make us smile during the routine. And if you look at little kids starting, it looks like they’re drowning.”

Stone and Heubaum are members of Austin Angelfish Synchronized Swimming. Also referred to as ‘synchro,’ the sport is a combination of swimming, dance and gymnastics in which groups perform solo, duet, trio or team of eight. Both Stone and Heubaum got their start in synchro about eight years ago at a swim camp before joining the Angelfish. The girls attend rigorous practices throughout the year to prepare for weekend competitions as well as regional and national competitions.

“We train a lot,” Heubaum said. “There is a lot of cross training involved, [so] instead of training in [synchro] the whole time, [the coaches will] have different trainers come in. We’ll do work with weights, and we do a lot of running.”

Stone and Heubaum said this weekly training has helped their team perfect several moves used during each routine,

including the ‘eggbeater,’ similar to treading water, and the ‘hybrid,’ where the girls put their legs in the air while upside down.

“The hardest move would be anything with a split in it,” Heubaum said. “It’s actually harder to have flat splits in the water. [Your legs are] supposed to be flat on the water, and your torso is underwater.”

Before each competition, Stone said, synchronized swimmers must style their hair in a special manner. Stone said the preparations take lots of time

and patience.“We put Knox Gelatin in our hair,”

Stone said. “It’s really gross, but you get used to it. We normally wake up two or three hours before we swim because we have to put our hair up and put [the gelatin] in. It smells like fish. It’s like 40 minutes in the shower trying to get it out of your hair.”

Stone and Heubaum said that although practices and competitions require a lot of time and can be stressful, especially when combined with schoolwork, the training helps prepare the Angelfish for the regional and national competitions.

“The [competition] that [lets us] judge how well we’re doing that year is Regionals, which is [the qualifying tournament] for Nationals,” Stone said. “We know we’re not getting anywhere at Nationals. Nationals is more like we go

and have fun, and we see how well we can do.”

However, Heubaum said the Angelfish will have to change a few things in order to place higher at Nationals.

“I think we would need more difficult routines,” Heubaum said. “But at the same time we have so many people that aren’t all the same skill level, we have to find a medium instead of a really challenging routine.”

Kara Myers, one of the Austin Angelfish assistant coaches, said she

hopes the team can improve their individual skills this year before Nationals.

“This year what [the girls have] been doing a lot more are land exercises,” Myers said. “So trying to build their muscular strength and flexibility and just being able to present themselves in a really positive way to the judges.”

Myers said that because synchro looks easy, onlookers sometimes make fun of it, although the sport actually requires a lot of intensity and dedication.

“What people don’t realize [about synchronized swimming] is how athletic these girls need to be to perform the sport well,” Myers said. “They’re not allowed to touch the bottom of the pool ever. When you see these swimmers and [their] entire bodies are up out of the water, they’re doing that simply through their muscular strength and technique.”

Stone and Heubaum said that although synchronized swimming is somewhat unknown, it is a sport that should not be overlooked.

“Don’t write [synchronized swimming] off just because it’s a girls sport,” Stone said. “I mean, a lot of people think it’s easy, but come try it out, and it’s not.”

What people don’t realize [about synchronized swimming] is how athletic these girls need to be to perform the sport well.-Synchronized Swimming Coach Kara Myers

““

Eliza CainStaff Writer

with Jamie RodriguezThe Paper Jaguar is an experiment in “participatory

journalism” which was pioneered by George Plimpton in the mid-60s. Plimpton wrote a book called The Paper Lion detailing his tryout with the Detroit Lions professional football team.

Inspired by the idea, intrepid former sports editor Jake Stewart practiced with a different LBJ athletic team each issue and catalogued his experience here. In this issue of the Liberator, Editor-in-Chief Jamie Rodriguez practices with the Texas Rowing Center Novice Boys Crew.

If there’s one thing that was made abundantly clear to me during my time as a rower, it would be this: nobody does rowing for “fun”. This might seem paradoxical, considering the level of participation, but just consider this little bit of knowledge: If you’ve been rowing for fun, you haven’t been rowing.

On the car ride over to Texas Rowing Center, LASA senior varsity rower Corey Dillard made sure to remind me several times that I was in for an extremely tough workout. While the varsity crew would be going out on the water, the novice boys crew that I was practicing with would be training on the ergs, land machines that mimic the action of rowing. As I would later learn, the ergs are basically modern torture devices when it comes to rowing. They present an uneven trade-off; no water means no stand up paddle boarders, but this bonus is vastly outweighed by the fact that rowers must work at nearly full effort with no distractions and no momentum in what amounts to 20 or so minutes (depending on the workout) of hell. But my friends from school were adamant. I needed to come to erg day.

When we arrived, I traded my pair of jeans for some athletic shorts and a University of Arizona t-shirt, but my lack of planning meant that I would keep wearing my Vans shoes (a decision which I would later deeply regret). Topping my list of regrets at the time, however, were the eight chicken nuggets that I had eaten for lunch. Just as I was beginning to have serious doubts as to my ability to complete any sort of workout, novice boys coach Colin Heneghan called the group to order and announced that we would be doing a 6K on the ergs. Immediately after the words left Heneghan’s lips, several of the boys sank to their knees and cried to the heavens, while a few others consoled their sobbing teammates. Eventually, half of the team positioned themselves on the ergs with resigned grimaces on their faces. I opted to go with the second half of the crew, hoping to gain some insight into how to actually use the ergs by watching.

When the first group finished, all were drenched in sweat and guzzling down water. If these were semi-experienced rowers, how would I fare? Coach Heneghan seemed to read my mind, and looked over at me with a grin on his face. “You still wanna do this?”

I took my seat on the erg and grabbed hold of the handle, which is pulled on to mimic using the oars. After getting a few pointers on form, I began the 6K. With a steady playlist of Jay-Z bumpin’ from a set of portable speakers, courtesy of LASA senior Mason Lynaugh, the first 1,000 meters weren’t much of a problem. I was careful to conserve some energy as the fear of being unable to finish still plagued my mind. Lynaugh encouraged me to go faster (“you’re rowing slower than the novice girls!”), and the workout grew increasingly taxing with each stroke. By the halfway mark, every muscle in my body was screaming for rest, particularly those in my legs and arms. In between encouragements from Lynaugh and listening to Heneghan’s advice to the other rowers, I had little room to think about anything more than the number of meters I had to go. “Don’t worry if you start to black out in the last 1,000 meters,” Lynaugh said. I nodded and wiped more sweat from my forehead.

As I approached the final 500 meters, my vision began to blur and the only thing I wanted to do was let go of the handle and down at least three or four bottles of water. I also wanted to ask if I could have “All I Do is Win” playing when I finished, but I couldn’t muster the words. Lynaugh was yelling for me to give it my all in the last leg of the 6K, and I managed to eek out the last of my energy and go my fastest before releasing my grip. The screen read zero meters remaining. My rowing punishment was over.

Walking unsteadily away from the ergs with what I can only imagine was the look of a deranged and fatigued individual on my face, I was overcome by a strange, euphoric feeling. If rowing isn’t done for fun, then surely it is done for the feeling that comes directly after having been pushed to the absolute limit. I can promise you, it’s unbeatable.

Aryaman LamsalStaff Writer

Wrestling team sets sights on successful season

This Stone doesn’t Synch

LASA sophomores Jasmine Stone(far left) and Emily Heubaum(second row, center) pose before starting their swimming routine. photo courtesy of Jasmine Stone.

LASA juniors Armando Rodriguez and Joseph Ramirez practice a half-nelson at a Jaguars wrestling prac-tice this season. Ramirez is the only returning boys state wrestler on the team. photo by Isabel Saralegui

Swimming in Synch

LASA sophomores perform synchronized routines

LASA senior Jamie Rodriguez fnishes the last leg of a 6K on the erg during a workout at the Texas Rowing Center. photo by Corey Dillard

the liberatoroct. 4, 2013

QuickHits

LASA sophomore Bertram Jernejcic closes into the last turn of the course at the Circuit of the Americas. It’s the last lap of the race, and, as the sweat drips off his competitors faces, he pedals past them, taking the win.

Jernejcic has been racing bikes for five years, and after his recent win at The Tour of Austin, he has moved up to race in the top local category. Although he has been racing with the Juniors, or the younger racers, since he started racing, he has also begun to race Men. According to Jernejcic, it takes more technique than just avoiding the wreckage left from Junior races.

“Juniors are messy, they like to crash in front of you,” Jernejcic said. “Men seem to have a little more common sense.”

Jernejcic races in multiple different disciplines of cycling such as road criterium, an hour long road race and cyclocross which is a short circuit race with many different obstacles. With hopes to be a pro rider in the future, Jernejcic already has many wins under his belt, including a stage win at this year’s Tour of Austin.

“You don’t really think,” Jernejcic said. “When you race it’s all instinct. When you’ve been racing for a long time you get a sense for all the moves and where you should be, what you should do next. You don’t really win by thinking, you win by what you do. If you waste time you’re going to fall back and you’re not going to win. You do what you have to do in the moment.”

LBJ senior and volleyball co-captain Kebriana Nash watches the ball leave the setter’s hands. She sees it arc and heads to the ten foot line, tracking the ball. Nash follows the ball and jumps, then seems to stop in mid air. After a split second of hang time, her hand collides with the ball. Shesends it crashing to the floor, leaving Travis players sprawled across their side of the court after diving to prevent Nash from scoring yet another kill on the Rebels.

The Lady Jags played nearly a dozen out-of-district teams before the Travis game to prepare themselves for the season. Nash also said that the preseason teams overprepared them for the 4A teams that they will play in district throughout the season.

“Actually, believe it or not, preseason went fairly well, although we played much harder teams,” Nash said. “It was a great thing playing against 5A top teams. We did well, fairly well to be honest, though it would’ve been nice to experience teams within our district, not just teams we’d never see again.”

LASA senior and co-captain Campbell Pontin said that the tough preseason did help, though they have a habit of lowering themselves to the 4A playing level when playing district teams.

“Preseason had it’s ups and downs,” Pontin said. “We did well in the AISD tournament, which felt really good. Then in San Antonio we played a lot of really difficult teams, and it wasn’t our brightest moment, but I think we learned a lot. Compared to the competition in our district, we’re a lot more prepared.”

Head coach David Jimenez has begun to make changes to the team, said Pontin. She said that the team has to adjust to the loss of five of the six starting players and to do that, Jimenez is trying to make the team more flexible by making every player learn every position. For instance, Jimenez has three different setters, just in case his main setter is sick or injured.

“He’s working more on having everyone learn and be able to play every position,” Pontin said. “I normally play outside, but this year I won’t always be outside. I’ll go middle, I’ll go right side. Same with all the other players. It’s good; we’re a lot more versatile than we were last year.”

Jiminez said that the talent this year made up for the graduation and loss of five seniors on the team. He said that he wanted to use the talent of these girls by making them more versatile, even if it is difficult for them than playing in their original positions.

“I think [the players] are better this year than they were last year,” Jimenez said. “Talent wise I think we’ve improved from last year. I think there’s a lot of things that are different from last year. It’s just about regaining that fun spirit they had last year.”

Pontin said that she feels the Jags have discovered their own spirit this year, and that the McCallum game helped bring it out of them.

“We vowed to ourselves that we would not let anything hit the ground, and hustle,” Pontin said. “It didn’t really work, but I think we just psych ourselves before that game sometimes.”

Jimenez said that if the team is to go as far as he wants them to this year, they are going to have to become more confident in their own playing ability. According to Jiminez,the team should be able to play up rather than down during district play because of how talented they are.

“[This year it’s] just [about] learning to play together, be energized and be ready, and I think they can do that,” Jimenez said. “It’s just learning to respect everybody but fear no one.”

LASA student progresses to adult mountain biking league

Peddling from the heat of the Texas desert to the cold Alaskan glaciers, a pack of orange and blue clad cyclists speed into Anchorage, the final destination of their

4,000 mile tour. LASA calculus teacher Charlie Barnes wipes beads of sweat from his brows and heaves a sigh of relief.

“Arriving at the finish line in Anchorage was really overwhelming and disconcerting,” Barnes said. “We had been sleeping in the dirt for three weeks, never being near more than just a few people other than our teammates. And suddenly, your entire family, all of the Texas Exes, the UT alumni chapter of Anchorage, camera crews from Anchorage, newspapers [and] TV news are there. It’s very overwhelming to be surrounded by thousands of people who are cheering and calling you a hero and all these weird things when you’ve become used to the quiet and simple existence in the woods and the mountains.”

This past summer, Barnes rode his bicycle from the UT Austin campus to Anchorage, Alaska with Texas 4000, a local organization dedicated to cancer research. The trip is available to all UT students which allowed Barnes, who graduated December 2012, to ride this past summer.

“I found out about it while I was in high school,” Barnes said. “A girl I was dating in high school had a connection to one of the first people to do the ride. I had just done my first triathlon and I met this guy who told me that he had just ridden his bike to Alaska. All I knew was that it was a small group of students who loved riding their bikes and they had just finished riding their bikes to Alaska. At that point I wanted to do it.”

Barnes has participated in a number of triathlons and several other charity bike races. His first charity bike race was the MS 150, which benefited the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the Livestrong Challenge, before he took part in the Texas 4000.

“The first [charity ride] I ever did was the MS150,” Barnes said. “I rode from San Antonio to Corpus Christi and I had very little cycling experience [so I] did not know how to prepare for it. I jumped on a brand new bike and headed straight into the gulf wind for 150 miles. At that time it was the most painful experience I had ever had in my life. I did not finish the first day.”

In the MS150 Barnes said he took note of people who were currently battling MS and still finished the ride.

“In all the charity cycling events I’ve done, including that ride, there have always been fighters of whatever disease it is that they face who outperform me,” Barnes said. “People see me as being young and tough and fit, but those guys are

inspiring.”Two of the 69 men on Barnes’ Texas 4000 team were cancer

survivors: Bucky Ribbeck, who had fought and beaten bone cancer, and Chad Ramos, who had overcome brain tumors.

“It’s hard for me to know what their experience was like,” Barnes said. “I’m not sure if they would say their experience is more profound because they have fought and beaten cancer or if they would say it’s less profound because to them. This might be much less of an accomplishment than the accomplishment that beating cancer was.”

Texas 4000 founder Chris Condit also fought cancer at a young age. He said he knew he wanted to help other people that were fighting cancer, but he was not sure how he was going to. He planned his ride to Alaska ten years after beating cancer.

“It just really turned out to be a cool way to share not just my story, but the story of all the riders who have had cancer,” Condit said. “It’s a way to share our stories with people and

hear their stories to promote the message that hey, we’re out fighting cancer for real. We’re actually doing something that’s making a difference for people. Maybe just in a small way, maybe through one person at a time that we’re meeting on our ride, or a few hundred thousand dollars donated at a time compared to the billions of dollars that are going towards cancer

research. The best part of it is that it created that opportunity for a lot of young people, for them to be able to have that experience and to have that satisfaction of making a contribution like that.”

Barnes said he enjoyed the ride, not only because of his love of biking, but also for the idea that he could give back by doing something fun.

“It felt over before it was,” Barnes said. “The time comes when you reach the Alaskan border and you take a photo at the Alaska sign with your bike over your head and you feel like you’ve made it.”

Barnes did not ride the entire way with his teammates Riddick and Ramos. There are three trails for the Texas 4000, one up the west coast, one up the mid-west and one up the Rockies. The three trails converge in Whitehorse, Alaska and the teams ride on together to the finish line in Anchorage.

“To Bucky and Chad I just told them that I was proud of them,” Barnes said. “I sort of had different messages for all the individuals on my team. But I would say primarily the message was ‘okay, so on to the next thing.’ All of us try to live by a mantra that this summer should not be the greatest thing that we do in our lives. We all try to challenge each other to outdo the summer we had riding our bike to Alaska. I have a list of things that will fill my summers for the rest of my life. Some of those include cycling, others include kayaking. All of them involve being outside doing something outdoors.”

Meagen AllgoodSports Editor

For the first time since Randon Knotts and Jose Arriaga, three sophomores have surpassed the odds and found their places on varsity. LBJ students DeAndre Wytaske and Johnny Williams, along with LASA student Mark Moreno, have grasped three coveted spots and said that they are ready to pick up the pace.

“Everything is so much faster,” Moreno said. “Sometimes it’s hard to keep up, but it’s something I have adapted to. The freshman team was usually slow and I could pace myself throughout the game.”

LASA senior and varsity captain Jaylen Rose said that the team is like a family; it’s okay if the underclassmen get confused during practice, because everyone will help them figure it out in the end.

“If a younger player messes up in practice we’ll mess with him some,” Rose said. “But then we coach [him] about what he can do to improve and get ready for games.”

Wytaske said that he didn’t feel that he was ready for the level of varsity at the beginning of tryouts, but the odds ended up in his favor. He said that he worked hard and was surprised when he was told he made varsity.

“[Before tryouts] I was a little nervous because I didn’t know the coach that well, but everything turned out [well],” Wytaske said. “[I] just practiced hard; you gotta shine and go hard.”

Moreno said that tryouts were not as nerve wracking for him, since he grew up on the field. He said that it was just about focusing and committing to himself.

“Go hard every play and just don’t stop,” Moreno said. “I’ve always loved being on the field. It’s my home.”

Surya Milner and Isabel SaraleguiStaff Writer and Sports Editor

Sophomore Jaguars secure starting spots on varsity team

LBJ sophomore tight end Jarod Reed-Washimgton(right) celebrates a touchdown with fellow Jaguar teammate. photo courtesy of Becky Gdula

Math teacher bikes to Alaska, shares journey with cancer survivors

We all try to challenge each other to outdo the summer we had riding our bike to Alaska.

-LASA calculus teacher Charlie Barnes

““

LASA senior Campbell Pontin(left) goes up for a kill. photo by Peg Allgood

Living aPeddler’s Life

Volleyball captains, coach encourage teammates to pursue district victory after loss of five seniors

Meagen AllgoodSports Editor

the liberatoroct. 4, 2013

Meris McHaneyStaff Writer

art by Abby Kappelman

the liberatoroct. 4, 2013

Cons

:

When applying for college, high school seniors worry about whether their list of extracurricular activities will

represent them well as students. For many of these students, their extracurriculars include jobs in a broad range of fields. Each of these students has their own reason for pursuing a job, and The Liberator examines how each of their choices will affect them when they apply to college.

“Your schedule would get really full. You’re going to have to work and you’re not going to have time.”

LBJ JUNIOR OMARI HENRY

For some high school students, getting a job is not about the money they will earn by the hour. But, for LBJ senior LaKeisha

Hopkins, finances are a major reason she found a job this summer and has been working 25-30 hours a week since.

“I [have a job mostly] for me and to help my family out because my mom works way too hard,” Hopkins said. “[My] parents are getting a little bit older. Dad’s already a senior citizen. Mom is heading towards that 60 range, so you have to help out. I don’t like seeing my mom stressed out all the time, home tired, and then she still has to take me to school and pick me up from work so I’m trying to do a lot.”

Hopkins now balances being a retail sales associate at J.C. Penney with participation in multiple organizations such as student council and National Honor Society. Hopkins said that her employer understands that school comes first, but her main struggle is finding the right time to complete assignments with a varying work schedule.

“It’s stressful, but in the end it’s worth it because if I can multitask and do all of that and still be making good grades in school then I’m a beast,” Hopkins said.

Hopkins can work and participate in her extracurriculars without missing class or neglecting her assignments, but she had to quit the LBJ volleyball team earlier this semester in order to continue working.

“Honestly, [quitting the team] really made me upset because I really wanted to play,” Hopkins said. “I’ve grown to love those girls since freshman year and even [those who were] freshmen when I was a sophomore. I really loved being around them. I almost cried when I had to do that, but it’s going to better me in the future.”

Though the demands of employment may affect a student’s grades or ability to keep up with multiple extracurriculars, colleges can be understanding of extenuating circumstances like Hopkins’. Students often have the opportunity to write personal statements directly to admissions counselors so colleges have better background information to understand a student’s situation.

“We’re humans,” High Point University admissions counselor Meighan Avalos said. “We understand things happen that are out of our control, so with [a situation like Hopkins’], I don’t think it’s a negative thing that she had to quit [volleyball].”

Avalos said that having a time consuming retail job like Hopkins’ can even be a positive factor in the college admissions process.

“Sometimes students have to have a job because of financial reasons and we don’t take that as a negative thing,” Avalos said. “It just shows that a student is responsible and has some knowledge outside of the classroom.”

Communities in Schools program manager Sarah McCafferty works with students every day who, unlike Hopkins, either have trouble balancing their job while keeping their grades up and dealing with other responsibilities or work for a company that does not understand the priority of school.

“It’s a balancing act because I understand for a lot of folks, they’re really trying to help support their family and help out,” McCafferty said. “How can we meet the obligations to our family

but then also meet our obligations as students and be able to successfully get through school and graduate from high school and beyond? It’s a hard balance. I really feel for students as they’re trying to figure that out.”

According to LASA counselor Megan Butler, LASA is not entirely insulated from the economic realities the forced Lakeisha to quit volleyball.She said that when LASA students seek out jobs, or take on more hours it is almost always the result of a job loss in the family. According to her this can have serious implications for a student’s well-being.

“I have had students working 40 hour week jobs working at Taco Bell [or] working at HEB 40 hours a week in addition to going to LASA, in addition to applying to college,” Butler said. “They didn’t have any social life. They were just struggling to keep it going.”

Butler said that the stress of working and going to school can be even worse for seniors like Hopkins. The pressure to prepare can actually force students to work more rather than less.

“I see a lot of students ramping up their hours senior year because they’re planning for college expenses and college a p p l i c a t i o n s ,” Butler said. “It’s usually the students who are on free and reduced lunch and who or come from low income families they feel like they have to be able to pay for those college apps and those kind of things that is why Ms. Kocian spends a lot of time making sure those people know that if they’re on free or reduced lunch they get free college apps or free AP scores.”

Balancing a job, schoolwork and responsibilities at home can be difficult whether a student is under financial pressure or not. When a student decides how to spend their time outside of school, there are a multitude of options for them to choose from, ranging from fast food jobs to science research internships. Especially for those students who don’t have an immediate concern about finances, internships may prove to be more helpful to students than other jobs according to Avalos.

“Internships [have] an added bonus because when you get to college, some majors require you to have an internship or highly recommend it,” Avalos said. “So having that before and even going on after high school just shows that [the students] are prepared for what comes after graduation.”

The popularity of internships during high school is difficult to measure because unpaid interns are not categorized as paid employees when data is collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But LASA college counselor Jamie Kocian said that various factors, including LBJ and LASA’s proximity to the University of Texas, have contributed to many students at LASA choosing internships. One such student is LASA senior Arnav Sastry. Sastry works for Indeed, an Austin-based job search website, as an intern

along with three other LASA students: senior Zoli Khan, alumnus Allan Sadun and sophomore Jonathan Sadun. Sastry and the Sadun brothers were offered internships after winning first place in a computer science competition.

“I actually got the job because [LASA senior] Zoli [Kahn]’s dad [Indeed’s CEO] is very involved with our computer science program,” Sastry said. “So, Indeed had a computer science contest and Zoli, Jonathan Sadun and I went and took first place amongst the high schoolers. Indeed’s Chief Techical Officer (CTO) also participated in the competition, and he swept the pack. He didn’t miss a single question, while we missed one at the very end. He, by himself, beat all three of us on the programming section, but we beat him on the written portion. So, after that we started talking and he offered us internships over the summer.”

Sastry said he contemplated returning to his previous summer’s internship at the University of Texas, but ultimately decided he would rather try something new. He said that he chose the

i n t e r n s h i p at Indeed because he had a passion for programming, not because he felt pressured to do it.

“When I do things I do them because I want to do them,” Sastry said. “I never u n d e r s t o o d why you would do something if you didn’t wholly want to

do it and I’m not afraid to quit clubs or jobs or activities if things aren’t working out the way they should be. I do these internships because I want to, not because I have to or anyone is forcing me.”

Even though having an internship may help a student stand out when applying to colleges Kocian said that this is not usually a concern for students like Arnav who pursue these opportunities.

“Sometimes I see students with different research or a couple of different internships over the course of three years,” Kocian said. “I don’t think it’s them saying, ‘Hey, I am trying to pad my resume.’ I think for our students it’s genuinely saying, ‘I am interested in these things.’”

For those who don’t have to work for financial reasons, internships offer an opportunity for students to try out a field they may be interested in. Sastry balances his internship with work at school, and said he enjoys that his internship at Indeed is educational but provides a different experience than he receives at school.

“I was there coding a long time every day, but it was also a lot of fun,” Sastry said. “I think it was good exposure to industrial culture, and exposure to working instead of school. They are very very different.”

In addition to serving as opportunities to discover possible career interests, both internships and community service activities allow colleges to get to know a student and their interests, according to Southwestern University admissions counselor Chloe Sikes.

“We get a lot of applications where a person works at Sonic or works at HEB or a movie theater or something and that is a really wonderful commitment, but if we do see someone who’s done something with a non-profit or who has a research internship or something where it is actually in line with the interest they’re pursuing, it gives us a bit of a glimpse at their academic commitment,” Sikes said.

While paid jobs are analyzed as extracurricular activities during the college admissions process, other extracurriculars that can be important are community service-based activities. In a study conducted by www.DoSomething.org in 2011, 76 percent of college admissions officers surveyed said they value leadership in community service as an integral part of admissions decisions. Colleges like Southwestern University take into account a student’s commitment to community service during the admissions process.

“[Community service] does help them stand out,” Sikes said. “It isn’t required at Southwestern or any of the public schools, but it certainly helps them stand out for strong leadership, strong commitments to service and that’s valuable in the application.”

LBJ senior Shamar Brown works as a paid intern for Urban Roots, a non-profit that combines youth internships with a mission to increase access to healthy foods. Brown has worked for Urban Roots in various positions since his freshman year, and now he serves as an ambassador for the program.

“This is my fourth year [at Urban Roots] so I’ve been there for a while and I’m a veteran,” Brown said. “I did a lot of leadership skills and training on public speaking.”

Brown said he appreciates what Urban Roots has helped him achieve throughout high school. He said he has learned better organizational skills and how to handle having a paid job.

“I think it’s really important to have a job as a high schooler because you need to learn the responsibility of getting your own money and having the knowledge of having a job so when you get older you can know the feeling of getting a paycheck and saying, ‘I’ve got to go to work [at a certain time],’” Brown said.

After working at the farm, which teaches interns about sustainable farming practices and healthy lifestyles, Brown has discovered a passion for environmental sciences.

“I want to major in environmental sciences so [working at Urban Roots] really helped me strive for my goal to major in that and continue what I’m doing with Urban Roots and look after my community much more,” Brown said.

McCafferty publicizes Urban Roots to LBJ students through Communities in Schools, and she said that she’s seen students come out of the program with higher self-confidence, better public speaking skills and an increased appreciation for the environment. As an employee of a non-profit herself, McCafferty said that non-profits offer an unique opportunity for students.

“At the end of the day, I think it’s about giving back and about being a part of making our society a vision of what we want it to be, making it a better place,” McCafferty said.

Though each student may have different reasons for pursuing a job, McCafferty said that working in high school can be a beneficial experience for students to learn skills they’ll need for the rest of their lives.

“I think [working in high school is] good because it teaches you responsibility,” McCafferty said. “I think it teaches you what the real world is like and I think you can learn a lot from working.”

Community Service

Pros

: “Whenever you want to go get something to wear or go out to eat something that’s not school food, and you don’t have any money, [you have to work.]”

“Working on top of school and on top of any extracurriculars you might do, it can definitely be overwhelming.”

LASA SOPHOMORE CAT LLAMAS

Cons

:Pr

os: “I think it would help to gain responsibility and time

management... Being able to manage the workload and work and being able to make your own money at the same time is really important and it also teaches you responsibility.”

Q:“You lose time to do schoolwork.”

LBJ JUNIOR DAVID GUZMAN

Cons

:Pr

os: “You have money for lunch and all that. [Having a job

in high school] gives you more experience while you’re young before you leave high school.”

“Especially at LASA, since there’s so much schoolwork, there’s such a disadvantage, especially if you have to close at your job and then do homework right after that. So you’re staying up until 2 or 3 in the morning.”

LASA SENIOR BRITTANIE JACKSON-GARCIA

Cons

:Pr

os: “Some of the advantages are if a student wanted to

become more independent, they’d have money to go out with their friends.”

Teen employment by industry (July 2012)

BACHELOR’S DEGREE AND HIGHER LESS THAN A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA

UN

EMPL

OYE

D (%

)

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

UNEMPLOYED ADULTS (25 AND OLDER)

2013UNEMPLYMENT16 - 19 YEARS:24%

2003UNEMPLYMENT16-19 YEARS:17%PERCENTAGE OF UNEMPLOYED JOB-SEEKING TEENS

Leisure & hospitality5,092,00026.2%

Retail trade3,772,00019.4%

Education & health2,231,00011.5%

Professional & business1,380,0007.1%

Government1,298,0006.7%

Manufacturing1,278,0006.6%

Transportation & utilities440,0002.3%

Self-employed427,0002.2%

Agriculture & related industries419,0002.2%

Other services870,0004.5%

Construction771,0004.0%

Financial activities696,0003.6%

Information340,0001.7%

Wholesale trade319,0001.6%

Mining128,0000.7%

Financial activities696,0003.6%

Transportation & utilities440,000

Leisure & hospitality5,092,00026.2%

Retail trade3,772,00019.4%

Education & health2,231,00011.5%

Professional & business1,380,000

7.1%

Government1,298,000

6.7%

Manufacturing1,278,000

6.6%

Other services870,000

4.5%

Construction771,000

4.0%

Self-employed427,0002.2%

Agriculture419,0002.2%

Information340,0001.7%

Wholesale trade319,0001.6%

Mining128,0000.7%

Unemployed adults (age 25 and Older)

Logan Kramer and Baltazar ZunigaLife and Features Editors

I have had students working 40 hour week jobs... in addition to going to LASA, in addition to applying to college

-LASA Counselor Megan Butler

““

Education

the liberatoroct. 4, 2013

hard for the...

2003

2013

Unemployed teenagers (ages 16-19)

are the

pros & cons of

as a high school student?

Finance

As the bus pulled away from the parking lot, LBJ seniors Sharlyce Jones and Stephanie Guyton steeled themselves for the grueling bus ride ahead

as they made their way to Louisiana to start the college trip. The students amused themselves on the long drive by playing pranks on each other and the teachers while trying not to get in trouble.

“The bus ride was really cool because we were always making jokes, pulling pranks on each other,” Jones said. “When people were sleeping, they’d have their mouth wide open. This one boy was drooling! We were all taking pictures of him, passing it around, sticking stuff in each other’s ears, laughing really loud. We were trying to make the best of what we had.”

This summer in June, Guyton and Jones, along with 150 other students from LBJ and Reagan High School, visited eight colleges and universities in Alabama, Florida and Louisiana. LBJ Special Education teacher Rhonda Thomas, who helped organize college visits in recent years, served as a coordinator and chaperone. Thomas said the trip helps p r e p a r e h i g h s c h o o l s t u d e n t s for college by introducing them to campuses and curriculum.

“I think the trip was very beneficial for the students because they had the opportunity to actually visit the campus and to go inside the classrooms,” Thomas said. “Most of the tours were led by students from the college. That gives [the high school students] an opportunity to get a bit of college life.”

The venture is traditionally geared toward students interested in science, technology, engineering and math, a field known as STEM, though this year the trip also focused on the liberal arts. Jones said she was impressed by the level of study at the universities, especially Alabama State.

“I want to major in political science and sports management because I want to become an entertainer,” Jones said. “We

were talking to Alabama State about how they have their own record label company, and I was thinking about all the different connections I would make. Starting there I could become an agent and branch out.”

Guyton said she decided to attend the college trip because she was curious to learn what college life is like. She said she took the opportunity to explore her options and discover colleges she might want to apply to.

“I wanted to see how different colleges worked and their campus life,” Guyton said. “[I went on the trip] to see where I wanted to go when I graduated from high school, like Alabama state and probably Florida State University.”

The week-long trip cost around $250 per student, most of which the students helped raise last year. Some students such as Guyton used earnings from their summer job to pay for the cost.

“We did fund raising on this one,” Jones said. “We sold candy bars, pickles, and ice cream stuff all around the school. The more we sold, the less we had to pay.”

Thomas said many of the students that went are not sure if they will attend college. She said the trip could spark an interest in higher education.

“A lot of times the [students’] parents didn’t attend college, and they don’t really force

college on their kids,” Thomas said. “I

think in this instance, kids have to see that it’s okay to go to college. A lot of them

don’t feel like they can afford it, or they don’t think they are college material, but that’s not the

case.”Both of Guyton’s parents went to college. Her

father attended Texas State, and her mother went to Huston-Tillotson in Austin. Guyton said her parents expect her to receive a college education.

“College is a big thing,” Guyton said. “[My parents] really want me to go. College is a big thing in my family, and they

really want me to do something in my life.”In between college visits, Thomas organized side trips

to Disney World, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) headquarters and Daytona Beach. Guyton said spending a day at the beach was her favorite part of the trip.

“We got to go to a beach in Florida which was really fun,” Jones said. “But Disney World. That was the best part of the whole trip. My cousin and I [went] on this ride called Space Mountain. It’s pitch black and she screamed the whole time. There’s this one part where the red lights come on, and she thought that it was over, but it wasn’t. The ride just dropped and she was terrified the whole time. I really enjoyed the trip.”

Thomas said that the most memorable experience for her on the trip was watching the students experience each college and form opinions about them.

“[I enjoyed seeing] the kids visiting the college campuses and realizing how big the campus and its student body are,” Thomas said. “[Also] the different activities each campus provides, like Alabama State actually put on a little skit for the students. They really enjoyed that.”

Jones said that while her favorite parts of the trip were going to Disney World and the beach, visiting the colleges was a great experience as well because it helped her become interested in applying and getting accepted into college.

“My top choices for colleges are between Texas A&M, University of North Texas, University of Houston and Howard University,” Jones said. “I chose the

s c h o o l s here in Texas

because my GPA is high. My rank is high enough that I know I have automatic acceptance into many colleges.”

Although there is still a lot of work left for Jones, Guyton and the other students in their senior year who are applying for college soon, Guyton said the trip allowed her to think about education options after high school.

“[The trip] made [college] seem like its going to be a little hard and easy at times, but it’s gonna be interesting,” Guyton said. “Like getting from place to place on time, going to all your classes, and paying attention.

Zia Lyle Staff Writer

Surrounded by the mountains of northern Peru, LASA junior Daniel Weinberg walks for 30 minutes through an entirely rural area to a stranger’s home for lunch and two hours of conversation. He met this stranger and the rest of Chaud, Peru’s 400 person community last summer as a part of the AMIGOS program.

AMIGOS sends high school Spanish students on summer service work trips in South American countries, where they are immersed in the language and culture of the community. Weinberg spent eight weeks in Peru living with a host family, teaching in schools and learning Peruvian culture.

“You hear the words ‘developing countries’ from the United Nations, but you don’t actually know what the terms mean until you’ve lived it or seen what it’s like for the people who scratch their living out of the mountains,” Weinberg said. “There isn’t much to farm up there, just potatoes. Lots of potatoes. I’m not going to miss potatoes.”

The mountains that served as a source of potatoes and income for many Peruvians were also a source of conflict. One of the world’s largest operational gold mines, Yanacocha, is located close to Chaud and is partially controlled by a US company. The environmental damage caused by this mine has angered Peruvians, leading to strong anti-American sentiment in the area as well as protests against the mine. Organizations from both the United States and Peru explained this situation to Weinberg and other volunteers the at the beginning of the program.

“We were told it was possible we would have to be evacuated at any time,” Weinberg said. “Last year there was a major protest and someone died. We were told we couldn’t mention the mine, if people asked about it you had to say you had no affiliation with it. There was a whole feeling of, ‘Do they really want us here?’”

After getting to know the members of the community, Weinberg said there were in fact many people who did want him there, and that people in the community didn’t share these anti-American sentiments. Weinberg said the people who welcomed him most were members of his host family.

“That was probably the best part, getting to know a family that wasn’t yours,” Weinberg said. “From the beginning we were a little cautious around each other, but over time I opened up. I had this little brother who was nine years old and he was

just the most fun person ever. His name was Antoni and once he came into my room and we spent maybe 30 minutes just balancing a stick on our fingers for as long as possible.”

Weinberg said that staying with a family for such a long period of time was difficult at first, but became easier as time went on. In Chaud, he also got to know all of the members of the community through meals and festivals, the largest of which was the community’s.

“It was a massive party that lasted for five days,” Weinberg

said. “There were fireworks and dancing and a giant soccer tournament. We sold pancakes to the people and they all loved them. They bought them faster than we could cook them.”

Cultural exchanges like the festival are among the goals of AMIGOS. Weinberg and the other volunteers were also there to bring together American students and South American people to inspire change in the community.

“We were there to be what is called a catalyst for social change in that we are supposed to be inspiration for the people around us to think about their lives and how they live and how we can make it better,” Weinberg said.

To accomplish this, Weinberg spent some of his time teaching in the schools. He taught lessons about English, health and leadership to younger Peruvian students. Weinberg and the other volunteers were also given $400 for a developmental project for the community. However, they encountered difficulties in trying to get the community

members to visualize what could be done with that amount of money. Instead, they bought plastic chairs for community members to use during meetings and in completing official paperwork.

“What AMIGOS has come to stress is that it’s not about whether or not you leave something physical there,” Weinberg said. “Instead it’s for giving you a motive to interact with the people in community.”

LASA senior Mayrose Porter also went to South America this summer with AMIGOS, but she stayed in a Domician community that was more urban than Weinberg’s. Porter said that she had a similar experience to Weinberg’s in that she quickly realized that no matter exactly what the project was that she achieved in her community, it might never live up to her expectations.

“I learned that no one is going to change the world in 6-8 weeks,” Porter said. “The best thing you can do is be flexible, integrate yourself into the culture, and do your best. No one will ever judge you if you try, and even the smallest thing might make an impact on someone.”

For Weinberg, the experience of meeting and interacting with new people was not the only unique part about Peru; the living conditions and environment were also different. The house he stayed in had adobe mud walls, dirt floors and no hot water, electricity or Internet. This type of living situation was different than the one Weinberg was used to, and it proved to be rather challenging at time. Weinberg said that some moments were very stressful, including one

in which he had to just separate himself from the community.“I decided that I was too stressed and I just took some

food and water and hiked up a mountain for about two hours and sat down and read some and watched the sunset over the mountains and then hiked back down,” Weinberg said. “I wasn’t worried about anything other than enjoying the time I had in Peru.”

Weinberg said that times like these and the connections he made with his host family and the other volunteers made the trip unforgettable for him. In the end, he said that the most striking difference between the United States and Peru is the level at which people are accepting and open-hearted.

“People in the community let us into their homes, they fed us, even talked to us, even if they knew we probably weren’t understanding what they were saying,” Weinberg said. “They all just really wanted to share and wanted to make us feel welcome and I think that is just incredible.

You hear the words ‘developing countries’ from the United Nations, but you don’t actually know what the terms mean until you’ve lived it or seen what it’s like for the people who scratch their living out of the mountains.

-LASA junior Daniel Weinberg

““

Eliza Cain Staff Writer

Summer tour takes LBJ students on ride to college

LASA junior spends summer abroad, helps Peruvian village

It Takes a Village

LASA junior Daniel Weinberg poses at the top of a mountain in Peru during a hike over summer break. As part of his trip through AMIGOS, he explored the area around the rural village of Chaud, Peru. photo courtesy of Daniel Weinberg

the liberatoroct. 4, 2013

art by Alex Fried-

Seats creak and whispers float around as the LBJ theater buzzes with the noise of 150 band members waiting to hear from Jaguar Band parent and booster Hal Weiner, a former high school and college band member, as he filmed a TED Talk.

Weiner was the speaker for an LBJ Band-sponsored TED Talk Aug. 26., in which LASA senior Chris Prinz helped with production and editing, while Jazz Band Director Ponder East ran point on sound. The TED Talk video will be posted to the LBJ Band YouTube channel at a date yet to be determined.

Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) was established in 1984 so that experts within those fields could disseminate new ideas to a variety of people outside their sphere of influence. Since then, topics have expanded to include a variety of subjects outside of those spheres - even gaming and love.

Weiner drew on his experiences as not only a high school and college band member but also as a teacher and manager

“The subject matter contained ideas that I think are the most relevant to high school marching band kids in terms of taking advantage of all the social and leadership opportunities,” Weiner said . “As well as how to succeed in a competitive environment and to have fun doing all of that.”

Weiner said he wanted LBJ Band members to understand how their band experiences, even in high school, can help shape their lives.

“I wanted kids to understand that ‘opportunity’ is not just a word and a process, but an attitude,” Weiner said. “Someone tells me we have a problem and I say no, we have an opportunity. Any negative situation, snag, roadblock or challenge is really just an opportunity to face it head on, deal with it, solve it and use it as a learning experience for next time.”story by Hannah Marks

5TOPHidden “Gems”

of Netflix

Kung Fu Dunk (2008)Do you ever find yourself searching for something to

watch, but don’t feel like watching something with actors who can change their facial expressions? “Kung Fu Dunk” is an underdog sports movie (like you haven’t seen enough of those) about an orphan (it gets better) who, due to his somewhat magical kung-fu abilities, is able to freeze space and time and sink hoops from half-court (I couldn’t make this up).The main character, Fang Shi Jie, is played by Jay Chou, a Taiwanese pop-star who you may recognize from monumental box office failures such as “The Green Hornet” and “The Viral Factor”. This movie does have some watchability due to how impressively terrible it is, and if you think of it as an unintentional comedy it’s almost worth spending the hour-and-a-half watching it.FRANK’S RATING: 4 FULL COURT SWISHERS OUT OF 10

Video Game High School (2012)Someone out there has scrolled past “Reservoir Dogs”,

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, even “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” to click on “Video Game High School”. I don’t know why anyone would watch this other than trying to find the single worst piece of “film” in the entire Netflix library. VGHS isn’t a movie, it’s a full web-series for CoD-playing 13-year-olds edited into a two hour pile of steaming audio/visual dung. Featuring cliché bullies wearing red and blue 3D-glasses and riding magical flying tandem bicycles, it’s obvious the creators of this series didn’t take the film seriously, because what would usually result in ironic humor, results in a garble of predictable and cringeworthy jokes that is painful to

God Bless America (2011)“God Bless America” has a message -- but it’s lost

somewhere between an exploding baby and cliched dialogue. This pretentious teen-angst fueled odyssey follows a middle-aged man and his teenaged accomplice on a murder spree across America, slaying anyone they encounter who doesn’t meet their standard of “intelligent” living. For a movie labelled as a “dark comedy” there’s a complete lack of humor and an abundance of shoving the pop-culture-is-trash motif in your face by way of grotesque bloodshed and oh-so-edgy dialogue. If this movie tried any harder, it would be a LASA student.FRANK’S RATING: 2 EDGY 4 ME

Two Headed Shark Attack (2012)Where other movies like “Sharknado” and “The Giant

Spider Invasion” have succeeded in being so ridiculous that they’ve been immortalized as cult classics, “Two Headed Shark Attack” is just bad enough to be difficult to sit through. Rendered with state-of-the-art-in-2002 CGI, the two-headed shark is easily the deepest character in the entire film [even more complex than the cautious teacher, or any of the twenty bikini-clad college girls]. “Two Headed Shark Attack” is ready to fill that emptiness you feel when watching a killer shark movie where the “king of the seas” has but one head.FRANK’S RATING: 1 SHARK HEAD OUT OF 2

A man hidden behind white gas mask thrusts forward a sign with the words ‘Nuclear Energy: A Dead End’ amongst a crowd of protesters. The camera captures the emotions of the crowd, relaying the fervent disapproval of nuclear energy to the audience. The documentary uses the protesters to expel common misconceptions about nuclear energy.

“Pandora’s Promise” is a documentary addressing benefits of nuclear energy in terms of mass energy consumption. Director Robert Stone, producer Ray Rothrock and featured environmentalist Michael Shellenberger held a viewing of the film at LASA on Sept. 6 and concluded with a question-and-answer session. Stone said he hopes the documentary will foster conversation about nuclear energy.

“I hope [“Pandora’s Promise”] gets people thinking and talking about an important technology for the future,” Stone said. “There are a lot of reasons to be depressed about the future, but this film is a very hopeful film, and I think it shows that we can actually get a handle on climate change and make a better world for everyone.”

According to Rothrock, the documentary’s mission was to restart the conversation about nuclear power, the only source the film claims can provide worldwide sustainable energy. Rothrock said most coverage of nuclear energy has been negative during the past 40 years due to concerns about radioactive nuclear waste.

“Over the decades since fission was first discovered, nuclear science and nuclear power has been both a maligned and life-saving science full of myths, untruths and much very good hard core science,” Rothrock said. “Through the eyes and experiences of five noted environmentalists, the film tries to set the nuclear record straight while also

making the case [that using] electricity to power the developing world is essential for human progress.”

LASA physics teacher Jackson Pace said the film conveyed scientific information in an effective and appealing way. Pace said he was impressed by the display of radiation readings at various locations around the globe.

“I was really impressed by the filmmaking,” Pace said. “I just couldn’t keep my eyes off of the filmmaking itself. The gimmick of them showing the dosimeter at all these locations was just so subtle and beautiful. You didn’t even care what the unit was on the meter. It was just such a beautifully crafted science treatment that I’ve hardly ever seen. You just don’t see science information dealt out that theatrically.”

LASA counselor Carole Crawford-McPherson, a family friend of Rothrock, said her opinion of nuclear energy had corresponded with that presented in the film. However, she said the film still had an impact on her by emphasizing the need to discuss nuclear energy.

“I was on the edge of my seat,” Crawford-McPherson said. “When I saw it, the impact it had on me was this needs to bring nuclear back to the forefront of our minds as an option instead of it being on the back burner.”

LASA physics teacher John Stormberg said he has concerns about nuclear energy because of its long-lasting effects. While the movie tried to dispel myths and fear about nuclear technology, he said people should question this view because the effects of the technology are uncertain.

“I was thinking about what they weren’t telling us,” Stormberg said. “For instance, they showed us the readings on the Sievert Scale from different locations, but they weren’t necessarily saying this was a scientific reading of all areas; they were just showing them kind of haphazardly. We don’t know how bad it was five meters over...they didn’t necessarily ignore a lot of things, but they glossed over.”

Stormberg said the film had a definite viewpoint and perspective, but that the film disparaged both wind and solar power by presenting them as being incapable of

providing a viable amount of energy.

“If we [had stuck] with the nuclear power plants in the ‘60s and never advanced them at all,

we’d have a bunch of Chernobyls around, so that doesn’t mean solar power is not going to advance; the technology is going to advance,” Stormberg said. “Right now, solar power might not be very viable, but in 30 years, it could be very viable.”

Stone said the film’s intention was to incite a discussion about the environment, the way it affects human life and how human actions affect it and solutions to the increasing demand for electricity around the world.

“This film [is] giving people who support nuclear energy something to rally around and talk about,” Stone said. “One film can’t save the world, but we’re helping jumpstart a conversation that’s really important to have.”

Stormberg said different goals should be set than those presented in the film concerning the expansion of energy due to America’s relative high energy consumption.

“One of the opening lines was that the world’s population is going to continue to grow and the premise was that we can have it all and ten billion people can lead as energy- intensive lives as Americans,” Stormberg said. “Instead of visualizing Africans and Indians and Chinese all living the consumptive lives that Americans live, I think it might be better to think of Americans living more like Africans, Chinese and Indians. That might be better for the earth.”

Though the film presented information about nuclear power and its feasibility, LASA junior Travis Duck said he hoped remaining disagreement will foster debate at LASA about the future of energy and the environment.

“I don’t think that the movie coming in should be a cause for everyone to be suddenly pro-nuclear,” Duck said. “I think, if anything, it should inspire debate on the subject because it’s not good enough for people to come into a situation and just accept it to be truth. I hope that people are still somewhat skeptical, and in doing so, will continue to discuss it from both sides of the issue, not just from the pro-nuclear side.”

“Pandora’s Promise” was first screened at Sundance Film Festival. Despite its film merits, Stone said the documentary has a scientific message as well. The film is organized as a story that he says he hopes is enjoyable to watch while also encouraging people to discuss the benefits of nuclear energy.

“I had an opportunity to communicate these ideas, communicate the promise of this technology and communicate some scientific truth about it that the scientists themselves were not able to do,” Stone said. “It’s not just a wonky science documentary. It’s really a personal story about a bunch of people [who] care about the environment a great deal, who were anti-nuclear their whole lives, and they changed their minds.”

100 Degrees Below Zero (2013)Whereas films before this one relied on interesting

plot, experienced actors and polished CGI to provide an enjoyable experience, “100 Degrees” throws all of that out the window -- replacing normally dynamic actors with static ones and swapping out what society would rather have as a “logical” plot for bowling-ball sized hail and v-neck-clad world leaders. Instead of traditional plot devices such as exposition and human emotion, this film instead relies on a shaky camera and near-fourth-wall-breaking explanations of what’s going on by the characters. While simultaneously creating a sense that the production team was trying as hard as they could to make a good movie, the movie fails spectacularly -- showing just how innovative the film is.FRANK’S RATING: A TRUE MASTERPIECE

Frankie MarchanStaff Writer

Nuclear EnergyA uranium pellet the size of a pencil eraser hasas much energy as...

1,78

0 Po

unds of Coal

One film can’t save the world, but we’re helping jumpstart a conversation that’s really important to have.

-Director Robert Stone

““

“Pandora’s Promise” screening at LASA sparks controversial discussion of nuclear energy among many students, teachers

Environmentalist Michael Shellenberger, director Robert Stone, and producer Ray Rothrock answered questions from students at the Sept. 6 screening of Pandora’s Promise. Photo by Willow Higgins.

Band parent brings TED Talk to LASA community

watch. Whoever agreed to put this on Netflix should be reprimanded, fired and beaten. Actually, they should be made to watch “Video Game High School” in its entirety.FRANK’S RATING: 1 TEAR OUT OF THE HUNDREDS THAT I SHED WHEN I REALIZED I COULD NEVER UN-WATCH VIDEO GAME HIGH SCHOOL

compiled by Frank Feder

graphics by Alex Friedman

the liberatoroct. 4, 2013

Energy sources of the United States Three Facts

about Nuclear EnergyTh e top fi ve producers of nuclear energy in the world are the U.S, France, Russia,

South Korea, and China

Th e largest radioactive waste store in the U.S. is the North Carolina

Shearon Harris nuclear plant.

Of the 99 nuclear-related accidents, 56 have happened in the U.S, which gets 19%

of its power from Nuclear sources.

Nuclear EnergyA uranium pellet the size of a pencil eraser hasas much energy as...

1,7

80 P

ounds of Coal

On the night of Sept. 21, LBJ and LASA students flooded the school gym

to attend the homecoming dance “Escape to Paradise”. For student council members, however, the day began much earlier. LASA senior student council president Aniket Patel takes the Liberator through the behind-the-scenes of the dance.

LASA seniors Sara Greaves and Emma Hyams discuss decoration plans with student council sponsor Melissa Alexander. “We had a hard time figuring out where exactly to put up a few decorations,” Patel said. “On the day of the dance, it was a little hectic.”

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LBJ sophomore Jennifer Vences pieces together floral decorations. “All officers showed up early on Saturday to ensure that everyone would have a good homecoming,” Patel said. “Every-one worked really hard to ensure that the deco-rations met our standards.”

LASA junior Jack Scott sets up part of the pipe and drape surrounding the gym. “This year, we did pipe and drape a little differently,” Patel said. “Instead of putting it all up ourselves, we had a team of stage laborers set it up for us. It made our job a lot easier.”

One of the stagehands unloads lighting for the dance. “This year’s lighting I felt really made the dance, especially because we had a lot of colors that matched the theme and blended ev-erything together into one cohesive unit,” Patel said.

5The finished balloon decorations surround the tables in the gym. “We wanted to bring back a concept that we used last year with balloons, be-cause it really highlighted the seating area of the gym,” Patel said. “It also brought a new life near the dance floor.”

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LASA junior Dylan Luo fills a vase with sand as part of the centerpieces for the tables. “Ms. Alex-ander had the great idea to use colorful sand to make up all the different colors that are incorpo-rated under the theme,” Patel said. “They brought a nice touch to the tables.”

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