The Hoot Through the eyes of an owl

FAU High Student Newspaper

P A G E 2 T H E H O O T

Table of

Contents Pg 3 Stay Open and Stay Excited

Pg 4 What Do They Think? FAU Professors’ Views on FAU High Students

Pg. 5 Driver’s Education

Pg. 6-7 Voices of a New Era: Meet the Vocaloids

Pg. 8 SuperHero Showdown: Iron Man Vs Batman

Pg. 9 One Direction: This Is Us

Pg. 10-11 The Prisoners: A Movie Review

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 3 I S S U E 1

Stay Open Stay Excited

By Jonathan A. Lu

ello fellow FAU High School Stu-

dents! I hope that your semester is

going awesomely! I know that

most of you are probably going

through midterms around now.

And yes it can be stressful… especially for all

of you sophomores! But I encourage you to

stay open and excited about your college ex-

perience! College life is an exotic experience

to all newcomers. Whether you’re an incom-

ing sophomore, junior, or senior, college life

is probably very different from what you

would usually experience in a regular high

school. Many of these differences are posi-

tive, like making your own schedule, and

joining collegiate sports and recreational

clubs. However, I admit that college classes

tend to be more rigorous and challenging than

regular high school ones. The course load can

be stressful at times, especially during finals

week. I remember repeatedly going to Dunkin

Donuts during finals week to buy their largest

cup of coffee so that I could stay up to study

for a test. It is true that college classes are

more challenging than your average AP high

school class, but it is also much more enrich-

ing as well.

One of the most important things I have

learned during my two semesters at FAU

High School is that staying open and positive

about school is the key to academic success. I

know it is tough to be positive about that 2000

word ENC paper that’s due this Friday, but trust

me, it’s better than moaning about it. One of the

things we need to remember is that although we

need to work much harder to achieve academic

success, we are also given many more opportuni-

ties to enjoy and relax compared to regular high

school students. I was talking with one of my

friends over the summer and I said that I rock

climbed at my high school. My friend was so sur-

prised that my school had a rock wall. He was

even more surprised that my school had a food

court where I could choose whatever cuisine I felt

like eating. There are a lot of perks to being an

FAU High School student - you can join recrea-

tional clubs, you can longboard, you can partici-

pate in high school sports teams, you can eat at

the food court and in my opinion, the best perk

about being an FAU High School Student is

EVERYTHING IS PAID FOR! You don’t have

to pay a single dime for your college tuition; now

isn’t that something to be happy about! So the

next time you are feeling stressed about an Eng-

lish paper or physics test, just remember a few of

the benefits I mentioned earlier.

Being a FAU High School Student is a great op-

portunity! I encourage you to take full advantage

of this wonderful time in your life! Stay open and

stay excited!

H

to take their courses, and went on to declare that in

most cases, the high school students excel further

than those at the actual university. Both praised the

high school students for being leaders of class dis-

cussion and having very strong work ethics.

However, there is one subject to which the two pro-

fessors disagree. I asked if they had the opportunity

to attend a program like this one when they were in

high school, would they have done so. "Yes, defi-

nitely. High school didn't have any classes for me

to take that were at my skill level," responded

Greenberg. However, Low had a different opinion

on the matter. She believed that she would have

preferred a regular high school experience, for col-

lege fails to provide the comfortable social envi-

ronment that four years of high school can bring.

In summation, two professors from two seemingly

opposite departments support the high school great-

ly. They encourage high school students to take

college courses, and continue to challenge them-

selves academically. Don't be afraid to tell your

professors that you are a high school student; you

never know what their opinions could be.

P A G E 4 T H E H O O T

AU High School is a place where the line

between high school and college is blurred.

As students, most of us desire to hide the fact that

we are in high school from both our peers and pro-

fessors. However, this might not always be a wise

decision. I took it upon myself to ask two of my

professors for their opinions regarding this unique

program. You may be surprised at the results.

Both Professor Low of the English Department

and Professor Greenberg of the Mathematics De-

partment had considerably similar views on the

high school program. Both saw it as a tremendous

opportunity. "It allows students to not be held

back, and to be able to use their full potential,"

said Greenberg. Both agree that its zero dollar

price tag is a positive as well. Low believed that

this program, being free of charge, allows for the

less fortunate students to still be able to rise to

their full potential.

Perhaps the most important question at hand is

whether or not high school students should be in

college classes. Both Greenberg and Low had very

positive responses. They both encouraged students

F

P A G E 5

V O L U M E 3 I S S U E 1

Driving is probably one of the most exciting

events in a teen’s life. We have all dreamed

of that moment when we would first place

our hands on the steering wheel without our

parent’s assistance on the gas pedal. Driving

can be a very exciting and life- changing

event, as long as all drivers on the road are

following the rules. Many people don't under-

stand the importance of road safety and rules.

Before you drive. with or without someone in

your car, make sure you are familiar with

road signs, road safety procedures, and the

streets you will be travelling on.

Driver’s Education

Some Driver’s Test Advice:

Steer smoothly at all times.

Accelerate smoothly. Don't race the engine or make it stall.

Stop the vehicle gently. Start braking well ahead of where you must stop to avoid sudden “jerks.” Know

where to stop. Be aware of crosswalks. If your view is blocked at a crosswalk, move forward carefully and

look both ways before entering the intersection.

Be sure your vehicle is in the correct gear. Don't grind the gears. Don't coast to a stop.

Always obey the posted speed limits. If needed, reduce your speed to adjust for existing weather, road,

and other traffic conditions. Remember to turn on your lights if you need to use your windshield wipers in

poor weather conditions.

Follow at a safe distance. Use the three-second rule. Increase your following distance in bad weather or

poor visibility.

Know what the traffic signals mean and obey them at all times.

Always use the proper lane. Turn from the correct lane into the correct lane.

Signal for all lane changes and turns.

Always look for potential hazards (scan). Check your mirrors frequently. Always look over the proper

shoulder before making lane changes or pulling away from the curb.

Drive defensively. Anticipate another driver’s errors.

For those of you who are looking into getting

your learner’s permit, you should know that

you are required to complete a 4-hour

Drug/Substance Abuse & First Time Driver

Class. FLVS (Florida Virtual School) offers

this course for free on their website, so you

should definitely take a look and plan on en-

rolling in the course. The FLVS course also

gives you more information on how to obtain

your permit and the restrictions in place while

you have a permit.

So when you do get your permit just remem-

ber, driver safety comes first. Follow the road

rules.

By De-Shaunah Dixon

P A G E 6 T H E H O O T

What is Vocaloid?

Vocaloid is a popular voice synthesizer de-

veloped by Yamaha. With this technology, people

can produce realistic, human-like singing from the

voice banks of Japanese singers. The software al-

lows you to alter the breathing, the vibrato, and

many other qualities to create distinct voices. Since

the release of the voice software in 2004, Vocaloid

took off, and Yamaha has produced specific char-

acters that are symbolic of Vocaloid as a whole.

Hatsune Miku, the lead Vocaloid, was created in

2007. Since then, hundreds, if not thousands, of

Vocaloid videos have been released onto Youtube

and other video sharing websites. Vocaloid fan art

can be found on every pop cultural website, includ-

ing DeviantArt, DollDivine, Pinterest, and Tumblr.

The characters have not only developed multiple

songs, duets, and performances, but they have also

developed personalities.

Who are the main Vocaloids?

I can tell you from personal experiences of

reading fanfiction, watching music videos, and

browsing fan art, that the most popular Vocaloids

include (B=boy; G=girl) Hatsune Miku(g), Megurine

Luka(g), Shion Kaito(b), Kagamine Rin(g), Len(b),

and Meiko(g). There are some Vocaloids that sing in

English, such as Sweet Ann, Sonika, Lola, and Leon.

Each Vocaloid also has a specific item (usually food)

that is used to represent them. For instance, Miku's

item is a leek, or a green onion. Kaito is always seen

carrying a tub of ice cream; their specific item carries

over into fan art and fan fiction. The main Vocaloids

even have concerts. In fact, it is tradition in Japan for

at least one Hatsune

Miku concert to be held per year. This year, on

March 9th, the concert took place in Wakayama's Big

Whale Sports and Recreation Center.

By Melanie Norberto Vocaloid

Voices of a New Era

P A G E 7 V O L U M E 3 I S S U E 1

What else can Vocaloids do?

Besides programming Vocaloid voice

banks to sing, you can also manipulate the char-

acters into something called MMD, or Miku

Miku Dance. Miku Miku

Dances are just as popular as the singing soft-

ware, and they are of- ten combined.

Because of the way the software is programmed,

you can use multiple 3D models and make all of

them dance simultaneously.

The Fanbase:

Vocaloids have a massive fan-base. To

give you an idea of the fandom’s popularity, on

fanfiction.net, there are over 14.8 thousand fan-

made stories, written in dozens of languages. On

deviantart.com, when you type in the word vo-

caloid, you get over 630 thousand results in less

than a second. The fan-base is gigantic, and they

not only support this fandom, but also manipu-

late it. One example is how they have created

gender-reversed characters that are now includ-

ed on fanfiction.net under character options.

Hatsune Miku's gender-bent counterpart is

called Hatsune Mikuo. Volocaids’ fans have

more influence over their fandom than most fan

bases.

Pictured Above: Left to right

Hastune Miku, Kagamine Rin

and Len, Meiko, Shino Kaito,

and

Megurine Luka

P A G E 8 T H E H O O T

When given no topic of writing, my mind tends

to wander to the deepest chasms in the back of

my head, and brings upon a vast new world full

of strange and obscure topics to write about.

Given that insight, Iron Man is a much better

superhero than Batman.

First and foremost, Batman's backstory lacks the

finesse that Iron Man's past consists of. Tony

Stark, an arms dealer, transformed himself from

someone who basically sold violence to the

world, to an amazing superhero rarely ever ter-

minating anything that isn't an evil robot. Bat-

man lost his parents and traveled the world de-

veloping skills. There isn't much of a change in

character for him. He is good for the majority of

his life, and stays good. He doesn't ever go

through the satisfying realization that he is not

who he wants to be, and is forced to change him-

self. Also, Batman is ridiculously secretive,

making a hideout cave and masking his identity.

Iron Man gets recognized as the amazing hero he

is, and his confidence could eventually inspire

other future heroes out there. He carries himself

with confidence, and that ever-present aura of

such outgoingness would make anyone feel awe-

some.

Batman has a sidekick - Robin. Iron Man lacks one

of those, due to his high levels of awe-inspiring in-

dependence. Iron Man doesn't need help from any-

body, he can save the world by himself; in fact, he

has, like four times already. Batman, on the other

hand, lacks the ability to do things properly on his

own. Half of Batman's life is wasted away wallow-

ing in regret and it could quite possibly just be a

mid-life crisis, whilst Iron Man is getting stuff

done, like building suit after suit after suit. Batman

also didn’t have such a great escape from the cave

prison, or hole, or wherever he was. All he had to

do was jump out. Iron Man had to pretend to build

a missile, but design and build a suit instead, all in

a cave surrounded by men with guns. He had to

make and execute an escape plan, and survive

through all of it. If he didn't do half of that, it would

still be impressive.

Don't get me wrong, Batman is a cool guy, but he

has nothing on Iron Man. Now, if they combined

their abilities to make the Iron Bat, that would be a

whole other story. I posit that a movie about that

would make billions of dollars. You’re welcome,

Marvel and DC. Basically what I am trying to say

is, Iron Man is not only the greatest superhero, but

he is the smartest, most intuitive, hilarious, and

overall the most awesome hero out there.

Batman

Battle of

Iron man

The Greats

By Nadia Sial

P A G E 9 V O L U M E 3 I S S U E 1

One Direction

This is Us by Heather Walker

The British-Irish boy band that has dominat-

ed the world, in a short three years, has yet again ac-

complished something that most musical artists will

never accomplish in their careers. The five boys of

One Direction embark on a journey around the world

like no other, documenting every second of it in their

motion picture, “One Direction: This Is Us.”

One Direction tells their story starting from

their early beginnings as a newly formed group on

the British show The X Factor, thanks to music mo-

gul "Uncle Simon" Cowell. After coming in third

place, it was only up from there. The movie contin-

ues with the preparation for their Take Me Home

Tour, performances of select songs from select dates

on the European leg of their tour, behind the scenes

and backstage footage from the tour, interviews with

the tour crew, fan interactions, and positive feedback

from fans and the music industry. The film gets more

personal when the film crew documents each of the

boys visiting their hometowns, the boys raising over

5 million pounds for Comic Relief, and interviews

with each of their parents.

The film is showing in theaters across the

globe in 3D and as a regular movie. It was released

in America on August 29, one week after being re-

leased in the United Kingdom. Only two short weeks

after the original movie was released, an extended

fan cut with twenty extra minutes of footage was re-

leased. The extended fan cut was released in both 3D

and 2D.

With a documentary directed by the amazing

Morgan Spurlock, made famous by his documentary

Supersize Me, it's no question that it will be a hit.

Millions of girls, in countries around the world, have

gathered at movie theaters or cinemas to see “One

Direction: This Is Us” with fellow members of

the "Directioner" family. I've seen the film three

times, the original twice and the fan cut once,

and I plan to watch the original cut again. Every-

one that I've encountered that has seen it has

loved it. I dragged my mom to a showing and she

absolutely loved it! It was very well documented

and their story is very inspiring. By watching the

movie, you get a certain understanding for the

members of One Direction; Niall Horan (20),

Harry Styles (19), Louis Tomlinson (21), Liam

Payne (20), and Zayn Malik (20). The boys don't

see themselves as famous. Niall said in the mov-

ie, "We are normal guys, we just have abnormal

jobs." This sums up One Direction perfectly.

They take their job very seriously, but at the end

of the day they are still five normal rowdy boys

that enjoy every second of their lives, spending a

majority of it with their four best lads. In the ex-

tended clip of the movie, Liam said, "I've always

wanted a brother. Now I've got four." Even if you

don't particularly like One Direction's music,

you'll definitely gain respect for them after

watching “One Direction: This Is Us.”

P A G E 1 0 T H E H O O T

By Eman Rahman

We finally get an emotionally heavy movie this

year to rival The Hunt, and this one's in English! If you

didn't know, The Hunt is one of my favorite movies this

year and it happens to be a foreign language film. I loved

it so much though because it was so emotionally tense

and real; I could really sympathize with the characters

and get engrossed into the situation. Thankfully, Prison-

ers delivers, essentially, the same thing. More people

will be able to experience it, too, thanks to the fact that it

is an American film!

To start off, this movie is incredibly demanding. It puts a

lot on your shoulders, so to speak, since it really takes

you on an intense, emotional ride. You will be on the

edge of your seat, biting your nails! Prisoners is a story

about two normal suburban families that live on the

same street and have Thanksgiving dinner together one

year. That night, the families’ two little girls decide to go

outside; they never come back. From then on, we have

an extremely deep and dark film, filled with great cine-

matography, immaculate editing, top-notch performanc-

es, amazing dialogue, and some of the most intense emo-

tional aspects of any movie in years.

The

Prisoners

If you wanted to see Wolverine go more berserk

than he did in an X-Men movie, you've found it,

because Hugh Jackman's portrayal in this movie is

astounding. He plays the father of one of the little

girls that gets kidnapped, and he does a great job at

conveying the disturbing depression and rage of the

situation. He actually feels like a real father who

would just do anything to get his daughter back.

He's one of those fathers who think, "The cops

aren't doing enough, I need my baby girl back. Let's

see what the hell I'm capable of." There are so

many layers to the character that you understand

what this situation is really doing to him, and yet

you're questioning whether or not you should be on

his side. One of the best parts about this movie is

the layering and diversity of its characters. Terrence

Howard's character, the other father, is a little more

timid and is sometimes scared of how far Jackman's

Score:

P A G E 1 1 V O L U M E 3 I S S U E 1

character is capable of going, yet you still know that he

wants his daughter back. The moms are also played well

(by Maria Bello and Viola Davis, respectively) in that

one wants to forget the event and move on, whereas the

other is trying to hide all of her sadness. Another great

performance in this movie is Jake Gyllenhaal's Detective

Loki. It's a great plus that Gyllenhaal went through real

police training for his last movie, End of Watch, and that

he's proven himself to be able to act characters like this

in prior movies like Zodiac. It all pays off because his

performance in this movie rivals that of Hugh Jack-

man's, since he's the guy who's actually trying to keep

everything under control and is the only one who is real-

ly trying to practically put together the pieces of this

puzzle. Rounding out the cast is Paul Dano, who plays

the prime suspect of this whole tragedy. His perfor-

mance is controversial, but I side with those who admire

his acting. His character is chilling and mysterious, yet

has an innocent look as well. This leads you to never

know if he really did the crime or was just some random

unlucky guy.

While the acting in this film is top-notch, so are the

technical aspects. The directing of Denis Villeneuve is

very David Fincher-esque (which is a huge compliment

since Fincher has directed some of my favorite movies

of all time) mixed with a little bit of Clint Eastwood's

flair from Mystic River. Just watching the movie makes

you feel cold and your jaws feel worn out. It really gets

you into the mood of this movie, as does the cinematog-

raphy. Also, the editing of the movie is something to

appreciate, since most movies nowadays just incorporate

quick cuts into all of their scenes. This movie takes its

time with its scenes, which helps add to the intensity of

the final product. And this movie would've fallen apart if

its writing wasn't good, but thankfully, it's great. The

dialogue seems natural and fits the situation, adding

to the realism and intensity that this movie has. Plus,

the story and plot elements all fit together great. The

crime is shaded and complex enough to keep you

intrigued, yet accessible enough to understand it all

when it's resolved.

All of these great elements make me believe that this

movie is one that's easily watchable, since it has so

many great perks and aspects. However, it's a tough

film, to say the least. The story and themes are very

dark, cold, and incredibly depressing. Watching this

movie is observing a family who's had their beloved

daughter suddenly and seamlessly stripped away

from them and then witnessing how much that seri-

ously affects them. For the two-and-a half-hour

runtime, I wasn't bored at all. The movie throws so

much emotion at you that you feel like you're a part

of this all. You're always anticipating what's gonna

happen next, while at the same time not even want-

ing to know. When a film can so masterfully engross

you in such a tragic experience, it's quite amazing

and quite exhausting. I can say that I really loved

Prisoners because it is such a beautifully crafted film

and it's so realistically and emotionally intense. It's a

heavy experience and a depressing one, but it's abil-

ity to keep you locked in during this emotional ride

makes it worthy of its 9 out of 10 Noodles. Oscar

season has started early this year.

For more relatable and accurate reviews of the latest

movies, check out noodlesmovies.blogspot.com,

Eman Rahman's movie review blog.