Article

Throughout the past few years, Austin has been a holder of unique races and walks. Most recently The Walk for Water and the Color Run have occurred here. The Walk for Water is a walk for raising money for developing countries, while the Color Run is a colorful 5k to promote healthiness, happiness, and individuality.

         The Walk for Water is a foundation that promotes the awareness of the distance children in developing countries must to walk in order to get access to clean drinkable water. The walk is a fundraiser, using the money for a clean water supply for the Songa region of Burundi, Africa. The walk took place at the Burger Center Sunday, April 27^th.

         Throughout the race, participants may choose to carry heavy jugs of water in honor of the developing countries.

“Bowie kids walked as a group and dispersed through the group were people carrying the jugs,” senior Emma Seal said. “When one person would get tired someone else would help them.”

The foundation’s goal is to create a clean water supply for these developing countries so they don’t have to endure the long walks.

“They said that all of the money we raised goes directly to Burundi and none of it goes to a third party”. Seal said.

         Participants could walk as long as they desired, and Bowie students showed a lot of dedication.

“I believe Bowie raised the most money,” Seal said. “We walked about 4 times around and we had a huge group of people, they even recognized us for it.”  

Participants were able to donate money for the cause.

“Before, during and after the walk, people would be able to donate money at designated areas.” Seal said.

Although Bowie was about the largest groups, others participated as well.

“I saw elementary schools, middle schools and high schools there.” Seal said.

         Over all, it was a successful accomplishment for Bowie and its students.

The Color Run, on the other hand, is a 5k where colorful chalky paint is tossed all over the runners creating an exciting fun environment to run in. The race took place on April 19^th at Bowie and its goal was to raise money for the Bowie Band.

“It was a fundraiser for the Bowie Band,” junior Jordan Dinkins said. “We are going to the UK next year. We’re performing in the New Years parade.”

This fundraiser is just one of the many fundraisers the band is doing this year to benefit their trip. The Color Run however, was a particularly special one to the students.

“We all bonded while running together,” Dinkins said. “It was an effective way to raise money for the organization while having a lot of fun”.

While the cause was important, some students ran it for the sake of having fun.

 “I’m a cross country runner and I’m training for next year,” junior Emma Hull said. “I thought it would be a fun little warm-up.”

The race helps participants forget about the running and just have fun.

“It kind of sounds cheesy,” Hull said. “But in a way it made me run faster around the areas that didn’t have the color so I could get more color and get there faster.”

The Bowie band directors were the ones who got to throw the paint at the students running. This made for an exciting experience for both the students and the directors.

“They blew a whistle for us all to start, and all of the band directors started throwing the colors at us.” Hull said.

The race made for a successful fundraiser as well as a successful fun experience for students. 

        

        

      

Current Events 6.2

1. Why did the grand jury decide not to charge deputy sheriff Randy McMillian? Page A1 "No charges in taser incident"
Nino de Rivera acted with aggressive behavior towards Deputy Timothy Stalcup, which prompted McMillan to use force.

2. Why is the European court ruling about Google searches so interesting? Page A1 "European court: Google can be forced to remove links"
It is nearly impossible to get a website to take information down, so the European Court of Justice said the search engine could be asked to delete the links.

3. Why did Michelle Obama recently have a photo taken of her holding a sigh with the words 'Bring home our girls'? Page A4 "US aircraft aid in search for missing Nigerian girls" BE SPECIFIC
300 girls were kidnapped in Nigeria and are being held as hostages. Michelle Obama along with others, are protesting by holding signs with "Bring home our girls" on them.

4. Why was the discovery of a chronometer such a big deal? Page B2 "Researchers: Chronometer was 'Big Discovery'"
The chronometer was used from the 18th century as a timepiece to determine ships longitude. The discovery of the chronometer is a reminder that the shipwrecks are time capsules in a way.

5. What will the iPad hopefully be able to do with the next software update? Page B8
It will have a split screen so it is able to run two apps at the same time so people can multitask.

REMINDER - Some of you are not writing enough here. A single sentence isn't enough. I expect you to expand upon your writing. If you think you have written enough, you haven't, write more. Be sure to answer WHY you think something.

Last week an inmate who was scheduled to be executed in Oklahoma was given the lethal injection, but there were problems with the drug mixture and it took him over 40 minutes to die. While observers and prison officials watched he writhed and struggled before finally succumbing to a heart attack. Lethal injections and the use of the death penalty have come under fire because of this event. The problems really started about a year ago because the main supplier of the drug combination went out of business and states have struggled to find replacements that are as powerful and work as well. 

If someone has been convicted in a state that has the death penalty, what should the obligations of the state be when it comes to actually executing that person? I am not asking you what you think about the death penalty, just what you think the state should have to do when they are going to execute a person.
The state should be 100% sure that the injection is capable of causing no suffering. If they are struggling with finding a replacement of some kind and are unsure of what they have created as an alternative, it should absolutely not be used. If someone is supposed to be given the injection but the state does not have the right injection, the death should be put on hold. 

Sports Current Event

Step 1: Find a recent interesting sports article from the Austin American-Statesman. (20 points) Provide a link to the article so I can read it. 

http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/AustinAmericanStatesmanNIE/

Step 2:  What is the headline? (10 points)
Senior's Deliver Dramatic Win
Step 3: Summarize the main point of the article in one or two sentences. (20 points)
The Longhorns softball team beat Baylor 3-2 on Sunday. Their starter Taylor Thom hit a walk-off double to right field, Brejae Washington scored from first base wining them the game.
Step 4: List any sports jargon (technical words related to a specific sport). (10 points)

• walk-off-double
• fly out
• tag up
• fly ball

Step 5: List any adjectives (descriptive words about players, games, etc.). If none, write N/A. (10 points) N/A

Step 6: Identify the type of article you found and explain why it matches one of the formats below: (20 points)

A recap because it describes at the beginning about who won the game. The article continues to go more in depth about specific events that happened during the game.

1. Step 7: Provide at least one example of how does your article handles one of the following: (10 points)

1. Wins, losses season records- Didn't mention it.
2. Game scores - At the beginning it tells the score of the most recent game.
3. Rankings- Didn't mention it.

Sports Exploration Activity

Directions: Follow the steps below to create a display of the sport of your choice.

Part 1: Researching your sport

1. Choose a sport to research: (Football, Basketball, Baseball, Volleyball, Soccer, Golf, Tennis, etc.)
Baseball
2. Identify your favorite team or athlete for your sport. Search the Internet and find a picture of mascot or photo of the athlete. Save the image to your student folder. Make a new folder called “Sports Exploration” in your student folder to save all of your files for this project. (10 points)


3. Find the most recent rankings for one team or athlete. Include a list of the top 5 teams or athletes for your sport. 
American:
Baltimore
Detroit 
Oakland

National:
Atlanta
San Francisco
Milwaukee

Base your rankings from an official ranking for your sport (like Hollinger Power Rankings). Not your opinion. (20 points)

4. Provide a summary of one team or athlete’s season performance. The summary should include the following: 

1. Wins, losses (5 points)
19 wins 18 losses
2. Did the team make playoffs? If there are no playoffs, name the major tournaments that your team or athlete competed in? (10 points)
Yes
3. Who won the top prize or top tournament for your sport last year? (5 points)
Red Sox
5. List three important rules for your sport. (10 points)

• An inning ends when the fielding team has gotten 3 players out
• If the batter reaches home homebase it is a homerun
• If a ball is hit over the outfield wall then all players gain a home run 

6. List three examples of jargon for your sport and explain what they mean in words non-sport followers could understand. (10 points)
Ace- Teams best starting pitcher
Dish- Home plate
Yakker- Curve Ball

7. What is an example of sports cliché associated with your sport or athlete? What is another way you could say it without using a cliché? (10 points)
"It's a beautiful day for baseball"
It's a nice day outside 

8. Name an athlete who is a legend for setting records for your sport? Provide a brief biography about the athlete that 
Babe Ruth

• birth place
Baltimore, Maryland
• school attended 
St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys 
• teams played for 
Boston Red Sox, Providence Gray's, New York Yankees
• records set 
Most innings ever thrown by one pitcher in a single postseason game 
60 home runs

Interviews

Emma Hull

S: Why did you sign up for the color run?
E: I'm a cross country runner and I'm training for next year, I thought it would be a fun little warmup

S: Have you ran anything like this before?
E: Yes, we run 5k's as competition for our cross country meets and I've run a 10k before.

S: What was it like when you first got there?
E: We got our shirts, changed into them, and they blew a whistle for us all to start, and all of the band directors started throwing the colors at us and some of us stayed behind and got more.

S: Did they give you colors?
E: They had a box and would grab some and throw them everywhere, sometimes it got in your mouth, it was gross.

S: Was it what you expected it to be?
E: Yeah bc at the color runs that are professionally run they have blowers that have the color coming out and this was just hand throwing it

S: So was this a smaller one?
E: Yeah, so I didn't get to have as much color as I wanted, but it was really fun still

S: Did it make your running experience different?
E: It kind of sounds cheesy but in a way, it made me run faster around the edges that didn't have color so i could get more color and get there faster. 


Emma Seal

E: IT was a charity walk, and it was 3.7 miles around burger center and some people in the walking group had big jugs for water and it was supposed to be symbolic of the long walks that people in Africa have to take every single day to get fresh waster. they raised a lot of money. They had big big jugs that were really heavy and some kids would try and hold them and they'd have this team effort trying hold just one.

S: You didn't carry the water?
E: I didn't carry one because they looked way to heavy. We walked as a group and dispersed through the group there were some people carrying the jugs and people would trade off. One person would carry it and get tired and someone else would help them. I believe we walked 4 times around. Before the walk, during money and after people would donate money at designated areas. The people from bowie, we were going through Mr. Ellebrock, before the race we had to give him some money to donate at least 5 dollars. I think Bowie raised the most money, and we had the biggest turn out. We had a huge group of people, they even recognized us for it.

S: Were there other schools there?
E: Yeah there were elementary schools, middle schools, high schools.

E: I think all of the money is going to a country called Berundi Africa. They said that all of the money that was raised goes directly to Berundi and none of it is third party.


Jordan Dinkins

S: What was the color run like?
J: It was a lot of fun.

S: How did you feel afterwards?
J: I was exhausted.

S: Why did you sign up?
J: It was a way to support the band.

S:Was it raising money?
J: It was a fundraiser for the Bowie Band, we are going to the UK next year.


Ferdinand Frias

S: How did you feel afterward?
F: I felt good, I felt like I did something good for a good cause.

S: How long was the walk?
F: About an hour, an hour and a half.

S: How was it set up?
F: We walked around the whole burger area. It was a lot shorter than I thought.