All posts by Faith Collins

Entertainment

New Battle Royale challenging Fortnite

Jordan Barton

Staff Writer

Apex Legends by RESPAWN is a battle royal similar to Fortnite. Pitting sixty players against each other with only up to three winning, it’s a high stake high-risk game that in many ways can be considered a survival horror game in its own way.

RESPAWN released Titanfall 2 in 2016 to critical acclaim, but commercial failure. Having an action-packed and original campaign and a small but dedicated multiplayer scene,Titanfall 2 was criminally underplayed, and currently boasting a meager 2000 concurrent players.

Since Titanfall’s release, fans have been scared since EA’s purchase of RESPAWN Entertainment, and EA’s bad reputation for buying then slaughtering beloved studios.Then the concept of a free to play battle royal with loot boxes under EA was spelling out a disaster. Luckily it wasn’t a disaster, it was a miracle with over ten million players in under 72 hours and no ad campaign leading up to release something about Apex is captivating crowds or maybe it’s just because it’s free.

RESPAWN made the most creative and innovative battle royals in years, using a new revive system whereby picking up a banner from a dead teammate you can go to a revive station and use that to bring them back to life(your teammates can revive you likewise).

“It’s a lot more forgiving especially with the banners and stuff but even if your teammate dies completely you can still get them back in the game and I just think that it’s more forgiving to the players,” Jude Hinojosa said.

Alongside the new banner revive system, Apex has implemented a new way to launch squads from the starting jet.At the beginning of the game when leaving the jet, you will have a randomly selected member of your team controlling where the team will go but at any time a member of the team may choose to divert from the route the leader takes.

These systems have contributed to a fresh and unique experience in the battle royale genre and it’s no surprise that they have achieved staggering player counts within the first few weeks.With EA funding Apex’s monetary situation is bound to be doing well.

Entertainment

Captain Marvel: “Higher, Further, Faster” – Students react to Marvel’s new heroine

Taylor Breig

Staff Writer

The release of Marvel’s first female superhero movie, Captain Marvel, has gone above and beyond the anticipation that had been developed since the end of Avengers: Infinity War.

The movie has made a message to all women of any age that they with- hold power that they should embrace despite how many will try to tell them to conceal themselves. Brie Larson has established her presence as an Avenger and as the strongest hero in the Marvel Universe in the form of Captain Marvel and has blown the audience away with her acting as the amazing superhero. Audience reaction has been positive currently and the domestic as well as international box office sales beat out Black Panther and Wonder Woman in its opening weeks.

With Captain Marvel making her debut on the big screen, many young girls have grown excited to have a female superhero to look up to that is part of the Marvel universe. As many girls in current times grew up with heroines like Wonder Woman and the Disney Princesses, there had never been demand for female superheroes until recent times of wanting equality and more of female presence in a male dominated genre of films and writings

The film presented the origins of Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) and shows what it means to be a female “hero” in a time that many deemed women incapable of being suitable for those roles, especially in the military. Because of the waves of support from actors, artists, and from the cast itself, the film will remain to have a lasting effect long into the future. Marvel also released the film with fan’s anticipation for Avengers: Endgame, where Captain Marvel will make her first Avengers appearance as one of the heroes in the film set to fight alongside the original gang of Avengers against Thanos after The Snap.

Around campus, many students agree that the film is a great way to pave the excitement and anticipation for Avengers: Endgame, coming out in April, “I believe the movie couldn’t of been any better in terms of leading up to Endgame. It was the puzzle piece needed to lay the way for Endgame,” sophomore Dylan Moran said.

Students, primarily females, have been proud of the film and feel that it will empower Marvel to create more inclusive films with female leads. Power comes with Captain Marvel’s character and the rise of more females as superheroes inspire a new wave of female heroes in
media.

“Marvel has always been lacking in good representation. Now, we have Shuri and Okoye and Carol and Nebula… I think the Powers that be will finally take the hint and give us more female-led movies,” senior Mackenzie Acree said.

With this positivity and revival of female heroes in media, Captain Marvel is bound to start a wave of new female heroines ready to bring hope and power to women and young girls across the world.

News

Striking success: Bowling goes to State

Jennifer R. Gardner

Staff Writer

Girls bowling team( le to right) Jennifer Doubrava, Hannah Burkhardt, Angelica Dominguez, Taylor Breig, (bottom) Meagan Lopez, Aleigha “AJ” James, Amber Talamantez. Boys bowling team (le to right) Louis Talamantez, Mason Stokes, Julian Villarreal, Josh Sowell, Adam Salinas, Andrew Salinas, Jonathan Zurita, Eliezer Lee. Photo courtesy of head bowling coach Greg Knierim.

Pins lined up at the end of a polished lane. Cheers arise from the seats behind the pit as the undefeated Girls bowling team encourage each other with a unique cheer for each of its members.When they send the ball down the lane, they remember to relax and stay loose. According to senior Angelica Dominguez, the success of her team made her feel like she can do anything.

“I think our experience together has been memorable. It’s been a great joy to make new friends and hopefully, those friendships continue on and we’ll be able to call each other and say ‘hey we’re going bowling let’s go’,” Dominguez said.

Both of our State bound Bowling teams have secured a place this year at the State level.The girls’ team held an almost perfect season of 9 to 1, with their one loss belonging to Brennan High School, while the boys’ team possessed the same score losing only one game earlier in the season. This success, however, is the result of their dedication not only to the game but to each other. According to the team and the coaches, they always take the time to give out pointers and tips in order to help each other become better bowlers.

“Usually we sit down before our team match after our singles and we just we talk to each other.We make each other feel better [and] sometimes the guys [bowling team] come over and they help us out and we go into the team trying to do our best,” Talamantez said.

Through all the trials and tribulations that comes with perfecting their game these girls shared that they count every sacrifice as worth their while, and Dominguez describes one of the ways bowling has impacted her in life is in the way it has to lead her to be more confident and with that confidence to rely more on herself.

“In my opinion, San Antonio and the State of Texas have one of the best high school bowling clubs in the states. They have been working hard to make it a UIL sport so maybe one day that will happen but the Texas High School Bowling Club (THSBC) gives students the opportunity to compete at local, regional, state and national levels,” Head Bowling coach Greg Knierim said.

Senior Jennifer Doubrava shared a discus- sion she had with one of her coaches about how much she had improved since she joined the team as a freshman.

“It’s a fun bond between all your coaches because they’ve seen you grow from the beginning for most of us because most of us started when we were freshmen and they’ve just seen us get better and better. [It is] a cool experience especially since I’m a senior and like I’ve done it for four years it’s a really nice dynamic [we have],” Doubrava said.

One of the crowning achievements of our girls’ bowling team is how they have earned relatively high ranks for the singles division, meaning that most of the top students are from our school. Their chances for securing the title of ‘State Champions’ is pretty high.With all the success of the bowling team, however, it’s important to keep our hard-working coaches in mind as well.They sacrifice so much of their own time, including time with family and friends, volunteering to coach the teams and shape them into the fantastic bowlers they are today.

“I don’t consider this a job. Bowling has always been my passion and the fact that I can give my knowledge back to the youth in an effort to grow the sport of bowling is the only job I have,” Knierim said.

Bowling, as described by both the coaches and the team, is a mental game. Meaning that it is a game where you have to be mentally prepared and relaxed to get better at it. Our girls all shared that at least one tip they would give to freshmen joining the team is that they should focus on the present instead of worrying over the next frame. As Doubrava shared; take it one frame at a time.

“There is a lot of advice that can be given to the students when there are learning but the best advice is to focus on the moment. Bowling is a sport that is about 10% physical and about 90% mental, meaning that the thoughts and emotions that run through your head have more of an effect on the physical game than the physical ability itself,” Knierim said.

In light of this season, the girls’ drive and ambition have led them to their district champion title; topping the charts and earning not one, but two banners at Bandera Bowl.

“My favorite part of being a coach is seeing the potential of each individual and how they grow during the season to become better. Based on their performance, several college scholarships are available for high school bowlers.These scholarships can provide a good bit of financial help as well as give them something fun to do in college that they may not have been expecting.This opens a lot of opportunities that may not have been available,” Knierim said.

News

Helpful SAT tips

Nicolas Weissenberg

Staff Writer

The SAT test includes reading, writing and language, and math with a total of 154 questions.The math section has two parts which consist of a calculator section along with a no calculator section.There is also an optional essay that can be taken. You get three hours and 45 minutes to complete the test, but every section has its own time limit. It can be tough when preparing for the test since it is very difficult to take.These tips may be helpful while you are taking the test.

Since most of the questions on the SAT test are multiple choice, it is easier to eliminate three wrong answer choices rather than finding the single right one.You can begin by eliminating answer choices that are clearly wrong such as an answer that is completely off topic or one that is not relating to the question. Another overall tip would be to bubble in your answers at the end. Instead of having to flip between the booklet and your bubble sheet you can just circle your answers in your booklet and save the bubbling until you are finished with that section. Only do this if you are certain that you can finish the given section with around five minutes to spare.

The test starts off with the reading section which has 52 questions.You only have 65 minutes to complete

this section, then you will have a short ten minute break before moving onto the next section.You should always begin with reading the italicized paragraph that lies over each passage to gain some prior knowledge of what you are about to read. Also attempt to find something interesting as you read the passage so you can become engaged with the story rather than feeling like you are being forced to read it. When you finish reading the passage find as much text evidence as you can while answering questions to ensure you circle the right choice.

The next section is the writing and language which contains 44 questions that must be bubbled within 35 minutes.A very useful tip is to not second guess yourself on the no change questions. If you believe that the sentence is grammatically correct, then do not hesitate to select the no change option. Since this section is tailored towards grammar, it wouldn’t hurt to remember some grammar rules before diving into this section.

For the third section of the test you must take the math portion which starts off with the no calculator part. In 20 minutes you have to answer 25 math questions without your calculator. Underlining important parts of the question may sound pointless, but it can actually prove useful in questions that have complicated steps. Before you get your calculator back you have a five minute break then you must answer 38 questions in 55 minutes.Though the math portion supports you with a list of formulas, it may be better to have all the formulas memorized or at least some of them so you do not have to keep turning to your list every time you encounter a question that requires a formula.

After the math section you are done with the SAT test unless of course you are doing the optional essay which will add an additional 50 minutes along with a two minute break.

Students who will be taking the test on May 4th will get their scores back on the 17th. If you are taking the test on June 1st then your grades will come back during the summer on July 10th.

Hopefully these tips should help you on the SAT test. Also be sure to study as much as you possibly can especially on the day before the test.

Opinion

She said, he said: School time change

SHE SAID

Bijou Davant

Staff Writer

Next year, instead of starting at 8:50 a.m we will begin school at 9:00 a.m. Also school will end at 4:15 p.m. instead of 4:05 p.m. It’s not a big change to our schedule, everything will just be shifted forward ten minutes. The time change was approved by the NISD school board.

High schools and middle schools in the district are the last level to experience a time change, elementary schools have already changed their times and middle schools are also working on a time change.
Students will get home ten minutes later which will push their schedules back ten minutes so they don’t really gain anything from the change. Everything will happen later, so there isn’t a “increase” in sleep unless you sleep earlier. Ten minutes later is really no difference at all.The change isn’t essentially different.

In addition to this, the buses will have to go through more traffic causing more kids to come later to school since traffic will be heavier at this time. Also, kids will have to change their personal schedules to conform to the new bus times.

Seniors who have off periods for first, seventh and eighth are the least affected by this as off periods work around these times. With all these drawbacks in mind this time change is pointless with no benefits for the students.

HE SAID

Austin Hurt

Staff Writer

With school starting later students can now get a little more sleep, even if it is only ten minutes. Anything is welcome when you are tired, especially when sleep and the lack of it is the biggest complaint around the school.

Also having school end ten minutes later isn’t a terrible thing, especially for those who have off campus for eighth period. NISD has been growing for years with many new kids and neighborhoods being built so the time change can help with this influx of kids and inevitably, traffic. Helping those who ride the bus, hopefully next year busses will have an easier time of getting to school with extra time in between picking up and dropping off kids.The busses have trouble going between all the schools and dropping off kids which is plainly seen if you ride the busses, now it’ll be fixed.The kids who are dropped off by their families will also be helped with the traffic decrease.

All this being said, they have to push the time back in the evening if they push it back in the morning because of a Texas law. Texas schools must have students on campus a certain number of minutes per year so moving the times around keeps the minutes at school the same despite starting later. But at least now we get ten minutes extra sleep, thankfully.

This change is a welcome one for students who love to sleep without a huge price tag attached.

Opinion

Gun laws in America vs. New Zealand

UNSIGNED

The deadliest mass shooting in modern New Zealand history occurred at a Islamic Mosque in Christchurch killing 50 people and injuring 50 more. Immediately after the attacks, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced “Our gun laws will change, now is the time … People will be seeking change, and I am committed to that.” New Zealand’s Parliament voted 119-1 to take legal action and ban semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles.Their government has made more progress in a month’s time than the United States has made in 20 years.

Many Americans who are used to little to no change in gun laws after mass shootings, are shocked by the quick government reaction. New Zealand has corrected gun laws to ensure better security of its people after every mass shooting in their country, the last major reforms occurring after the Aramoana massacre in 1992. Whereas, 103 mass shootings have taken place in the United States since 1990 each followed by pushes for change and no results.The United States has the weakest gun laws in the developed world, and considering the elimination of gun rights is debated in the aftermath of every mass shooting constitutional right and organizations such as the NRA who resist substantial changes.

In New Zealand, citizens do not have any constitutional rights to firearms, and considering 15,000 of the 1.2 million registered firearms are labeled semi-automatic weapons, they have a significantly low crime rate compared to the United States. However, they are subject to an extensive background check in order to obtain a license, which will then allow them to purchase a gun.

With no rights to a firearm, laws and bans can be put into effect with more ease than in the United States, which currently only guarantees a swift and easy background check in order to obtain a gun. Purchasers are asked to complete a form in which they are asked for their name, address, place of birth, race, and confirmation of citizenship. Their information is then entered in to a database called the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) which scans through the National Crime Information Center, the Interstate Identification Index,

and the NICS Index for indications of any record that would disqualify the customer to purchase a gun. In many cases, however, crucial records are not entered in the database which allows convicted felons to legally obtain firearms with no red flags.This crucial mistake has occurred numerous times, including the shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, TX. The shooter, Devin Patrick Kelly,

slipped through the cracks in the system simply because he was sure to avoid checking the box that would disqualify him from obtaining the six firearms he used to kill 26 victims in Nov. 5, 2017. Although it will be hard to ban semi-automatic rifles, only 1.2 million civilians have firearms which is easier to monitor compared to the population of civilians in the United States who own firearms.

While the second amendment cannot be changed and will always be a right to Americans, people should push for stricter gun laws, intensive background checks, and better administration of gun licenses to eliminate holes in the process of obtaining firearms. Implementing these regulations will aid in the further prevention of mass shootings in the United States.

News

New Assistant Principal joins from Stevens

Joseph Till

Sports Editor

Joining the administrative staff as the new Assistant Principal is Tanya Stivors who came from Stevens High School and ton fill the vacancy following the promotion of Mr. Christian to Vice Principal. Stivors worked in education for 19 years having taught at numerous schools, including McDowell Middle School and Hondo ISD before joining Northside in 2007 at Business Careers High School as a teacher and department coordinator. Stivors became the assistant principal at Stevens in 2014 and held it for the past five years.

During her time as a teacher, she taught CATE (computer and technology education) which includes intro to business, finance, and computer classes.

Stivors’ inspiration to come to work and try to have an impact on students trace back to her very own high school days.

“My lifelong goal is to continue making an impact on students, no matter my position in the school,” Stivors said. “When I was in high school and college I was very involved, both in academic programs and extracurricular programs. I enjoyed working with others and helping others. I knew that a career in education would allow me to continue being a part of all things that I loved so much growing up and in turn, would allow me to help make an impact on someone else as well.”

Being a teacher was enjoyable, but Stivors felt as there was a bigger impact that she could make elsewhere.Those feelings eventually led her to pursue a higher role within the education system.

“My desire to help others was somewhat limited to the classroom at the time. I knew that I would have the opportunity to reach a larger population as an administrator,” Stivors said.

“As an administrator, I get to work with both students and teachers. I know that when I help teachers, I am also helping students.This is a critical role that serves both students and teachers, which has always been my focus. I am very fortunate that being an administrator has continued to give me this opportunity.”

News

Christian promoted to Vice Principal

Sytha Beth Ortiz

News Editor

The office air was bubbly as secretaries and assistants bustled around, carrying the whispers and laughs around the room. Jason Christian sat in his office with the door open, often commenting on the activities taking place in the office and laughing as a life size stuffed teddy bear waltzed by his door. The vacant position of Vice Principal was filled with a familiar friendly face.The previous Assistant Principal has been promoted to Vice Principal and is excited to take on the job.

“The cool thing about being a Vice Principal is that no two days are ever alike. As Vice Principal, your day is defined by the different activities that are going on that day.Whether you may need to be out in classes or a discipline issue takes you away, it could be one of 15 different things, but everyday is different.That’s what I love about the job.When you come to work you never know what the day will hold and that’s really cool because you never know,” Christian said. Although the position of Vice Principal has its perks, the job is not to be taken lightly.

“My main duty is to overall make sure the students are safe. I am over the board of other assistant principals so making sure that we are all on the same page as far as discipline, going out and helping the teachers with any kind of problems they are having, and making sure that overall it’s a good experience for students here at O’Connor,” Christian said.

While Vice Principal is an exciting and challenging new job, Christian will miss requirements of the job as Assistant Principal.

“With the old position, you got to work a lot more with the student discipline, more one on one with the students, and in this new position, I won’t get to do that as much and there are many different reasons that it’s set up that way but that’s probably what I’ll miss the most, just a lot of one on one interactions with the students’ discipline because I used that as a springboard to help me build relationships with some students who were going the wrong way and then helping them through the rest of their high school career,” Christian said.

Although Christian still works with the occasional student, the position of Vice Principal has different duties.

“So as Vice Principal we have a lot more interaction with teachers and you deal a lot more with teacher problems than what you do as assistant principal. As Assistant Principal you deal a lot more with students issues and student problems and as Vice Principal it’s more teacher and parent issues.That’s the big overall difference between the two,” Christian said.

While the two position have their differences, Christian’s visions remain the same.

Uncategorized

Fast food does the body good

Bijou Davant

Staff Writer

  Fast food. America’s delicacy. Many people will argue that fast food can damage your health and lead to childhood obesity. I’d say, fast food is the better alternative. There are many pros of eating fast food.

  Some of these pros include, that it’s quicker than going to the grocery store and buying groceries and slaving over a stove and cooking for 4+ people. It’s cheap to buy a delicious burger and a side of fries that can fill you up and make you happy. It’s a waste of good time to cook for your family and them to not like it.

  Fast food is most of today’s youths favorite go to meals. We’re young, we can work it off by having 7 minute passing periods all day everyday. Most teens today prefer the fast food options around the school campus over other forms of lunch.

   Also, fast food restaurants offer healthier options and vegetarian/vegan options, if you’re into that for some reason. Around campus, people even pick the fast food options. Bill Miller is a favorite of many O’connor students as it is quick, close and delicious.

A common misconception about fast food is that it makes you obese.  this is not the truth. fast food is actually the quickest way to lose weight, with no exercise. it fills you up so much that you won’t eat as much.

  These charts show the statistics of preferred lunches and dinner.

Graphic by Bijou Davant

  People should stop trying to get rid of fast food and realize the potential they have to change the world and the diets.

As teenagers, fast food is clearly the better choice and should remain a common diet choice in the lives of growing teenagers.

THIS STORY IS PART OF OUR APRIL FOOLS ISSUE