By: Lotus Rogers

Staff Writer

Extra! Extra! For yet the second time this year, the journalism class has come out with another issue of The View. The November issue has perceived a common, reoccurring theme of giving and excitement from students before the end of the year. This issue contained articles about charities, national events, fads, social networking, and the grand homecoming week. From the hot and sweaty locker rooms, to the mindless behavior review, it is sure to be a good read for students.

“Our November issue was definitely better than the October one,” said View writer, Sydney Barendrick. “I feel that we put alot more effort into this one.” The Crew has worked hard to produce the issue, and are hopeful that they can be more punctual with the next one.

“Yes, we could be more prepared, and be expecting a deadline,” said Barendrick.

The student couldn’t agree more with the newspaper staff.

“They did really well this time,” said Hanna Crews. “It was more on time, and they had more interesting and timely articles.”

Articles such as Hot and Sweaty, the Secret Life of a Diabetic Teenager, and of course, the Homecoming center spread, were obviously the big hits for readers around campus.

“I personally liked the Mindless Behavior review,” said Crews. “It was very fun and easy to read and great information. My friends thought it was good as well. I am definitely looking forward to the December issue because they always have holiday stuff in there”.

Students are excited for the next issue which is set to have a theme of different holidays celebrated by different religions around the world.

“On the December issue, we will have lots of different cultures and holidays that apply to many of the students.” Barendrick said .

But that is just the center spread.

Unless, they really love getting pillowcases, filling them with goodies and dressing up like a ninja turtle. When people have gone through a few Halloween nights, they might want to mix it up. Other events going on when the wicked break lose call more attention to some than the old tradition of trick or treating. What are DV students doing for Halloween?

“I really want to go to a haunted house some time,” said Tori Lapre, a freshman. “But, I think I’m just going to stay home and watch scary movies with a couple friends this year.”

Haunted houses such as Chamber of Fear and The NEST may be more enjoyable to teens all over Phoenix. Going to parties like Doomtown, where people indulge in classic apple cider, as well as play several games, is festive enough to others. Either way most kids have ample opportunity around town to satisfy their evil proclivities.

But some high school students still prefer to carry out tradition, and have an undying desire to get free candy from neighbors. Freshman Madi Wilson said that she goes to trick or treat neighbors, not for any sentimental Hallows Even tradition, but purely for the treats.

Even people in their late twenties, are likely to be trick or treating around. Some would rather not see a six-foot, twenty seven year old guy in a ladybug outfit asking “trick or treat?” at their doorstep. Others might actually enjoy it. Alas, some students may never resist the temptation to go out and search for gumdrops, and all other allusive favored treats door to door, regardless of age.

It is vital that all people, as responsible Americans know what and how things are happening around us. The American economy is in trouble; it’s important that students begin to pay more attention to world issues as the future voters.

   It simply is because some students perceive they are uninflected by anything that rocks the foundation of the economy, and that such things are out of the hands of people so silenced within the system. As this is the case, teens need to know that there is a reason to know where we are headed and what people are currently doing to change the system.

   “It’s important teens know what is going on around the world because one day they are going to be able to vote,” said Rose Marion in student services. “They need to know how the world is going to be run.”

   As a result of not being able to vote, there is an apathetic mind set from young students overall, excluding teens involved in clubs like the debate team or economics classes. The economy is failing. Where the US will be in ten years is a mystery; the few that care cannot lead everyone.

   “I’m just not that interested in politics, it’s not like a priority to me,” said Tori Lapre, a freshman.

    Not all registered citizens end up taking an active part in the democracy we live in. The voter turnout, which is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in elections, has decreased over the years. This portrays that even when teens are allowed to vote, most simply do not.

    Currently, the voter turnout is 38 percent in the US. Behind countries such as Australia, which stands at a leading recent rate of 96 percent.

   When future voters will begin to care is unclear. Though citizens become eligible voters in America, the situations this nation gets into are some students may never want to take part in the change.

The garden will feature benches and many interesting plants including Desert Willows, Yellow Bells, and Eremophilas.  Students with Levy will plant all these plants and more.  Benches will also be in the Garden, they will be painted and decorated with the help of the ceramics classes.

Although administration and the district have already approved the plan, the garden will cost of about 10,000 dollars. Many clubs and organizations have already signed up to sponsor this, including The Renaissance Club, The Key Club, Thundermedia, and DV Volleyball.  Each organization will be covering the cost of one bench in the garden.

” I’m hoping it will create an attractive seating area for students and staff,” said Levy. She also hopes the garden will create a serenity, practicality, and community on campus. If the grants and all the money are collected in time, the project is set to start this spring.

Technology plays such a huge role in our lives these days, especially for teenagers. Laptops, smart phones, tablets, and i-pods are all items that are heavily used in our daily agendas. With the Internet being such a popular trend with teens these days, schools have taken advantage of it. Teachers all around Desert Vista have been using the Internet to make all our lives simpler with methods such as: using Turnitin.com to save paper and fight plagiarism; sharing their class schedules on Google calender to help keep dates and events organized; even e-mailing you and your parents what you’ve done in science class that day.

Thunder media beta app running on Nexus S 4G

However, just like what you wear, or even journalism itself, the Internet has its phases. Students no longer check their emails or browse our site as much as they use to. Instead of email, students prefer to get information through their phones or handheld devices. The days of signing onto websites from your desktop computer have ended. That’s why we’re taking DV Thunder Media and giving it a more mobile approach!

The Thunder media app is currently just a prototype, but it will be coming to your devices soon. The current build of the app is for all Android devices and will be available for download on the Android market for free. The app allows you to read all your favorite articles online and offline. Since the app is based around an RSS reader, you will need an Internet connection to update your stream. However, the process will be done in the background so you’re free to use your phone as you wish. Once the app is done syncing your articles, you will get a notification telling you how many new stories have been posted. You’re free to read your stories offline at any time! The app features several organized categories to make your reading experience optimal. You can toggle through the tabs at the bottom to view by all, latest, unread and starred. The starring system is a way to save your favorite posts for quick and easy reading. Think of it as a “bookmarks” feature. The DV Thunder Media app will create a newer, more appealing, way to read the site anywhere and everywhere.

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    The Desert Vista Thunder Media app will be coming to iOS devices later this year. Development has been focused on Android for now as it covers a larger audience of devices. It is also expected to have video playback in the near future so students can watch the latest DVTV clips. If you consider yourself tech savvy, and would like to beta test the Android App now, you can email me at ConnorGutman@gmail.com to lend some help in testing the app on different devices.

The View Reporter

The first week of school is always the hardest for freshmen, they do not know where any of their classes are. They are worried that they might get lost or not have any classes with friends. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors make fun of the freshmen because they are still wandering about outside trying to figure out where they are supposed to go. “I got lost going to all of my classes for the fist couple of days.” – Caitlin Sheridan. Some freshmen go and sit in the wrong class and sit there until the teacher says they do not belong to the class. How embarrassing is that?

“I got lost so many times, I lost count.” – Mariah Reyes. Not only do they not know where any of their classes are, they do not know where the office is or the nurse or the library. Other grades frown upon freshmen because they are new and do not know much about Desert Vista. High school is new for them so it is hard to get situated for about the first quarter, both socially and academically. They do not know where any of their friends are and if they even have the same lunch together. Although, some freshmen do not get lost.

“I did not really get lost. I went to freshmen Friday and with that help, I was able to find my way through the first week of school.“   - Maribel Rodriguez. Only some of the freshmen know where they are going. Even if they go to freshmen Friday, they most likely forgot where anything is. So, it is not unusual for freshmen to get lost on the first week of school. Even though other grades still get lost from time to time. In the end, it does not matter if you are freshmen or senior, everyone gets lost.

   Their first stop was the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism from Arizona State University. They got the chance to tour the campus and check out everything. The commons room located in the center of the building was an amazing area. A two story screen in the front of the room airs the latest newscasts around the country, along with little TV’s so they can keep up on the news in Arizona, too. 

   Dave Cornelius conducted the tour through the downtown campus, explaining that the innovations at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism make it the place to be if you are looking for a career in journalism.  

      “We have won more awards in the last year than probably all of the other schools in the nation,” according to Cornelius.

    ASU has some of the top professors from around the country teaching the students what they need in order to become a successful journalist. 

    “You are being taught by people here who are the real deal. All of the deans here teach, so that is a cool thing,” said Cornelius. 

   This is most likely due to the newscasts that they have had the chance to produce for the past few years. Their newscast is called Cronkite News Watch. It is played on different stations around the state and the students come together and put it on three times a week. 

   The Thundermedia group got to view the actual newsroom and see how it is done in the real world. Then, after the college tour, they were able to walk right down the street and tour the channel 12 news station. Scott Light, the morning news anchor for channel 12 gave them the low down on being a journalist. He encouraged students to take advantage of the fact that what high school students are learning and using in the Thundermedia program is in some cases, more than what professional operations are currently have access to.

    “It was so cool to be able to meet a real life anchor and sit in the chair that he sits in everyday to do his job. It was really inspiring,” said Senior Megan Johnson. 

    This inspiring experience gave the media students a chance to live the life of a real journalist for once, hoping to come back to DV with the knowledge and inspiration to put on their shows and publications, just like the pros. 

    For more pictures from the Thundermedia Field trip, take a look at the slideshow available on our website.

            “I still don’t really understand how to upload stories, said Sami El-Sayed, first year staff writer.  “I normally just don’t do it.”

            Out of small staff of 18, only two students are veterans to journalism.  Many of the first time journalism students have expressed that they struggle to grasp concepts in this class.  This has lead to a slower growth of the staff.

A typical year in journalism consists of eight issues and one special issue.  This year’s staff did not create a single issue until December.

“This is the first time since I’ve been at DV that we’ve had only one paper this far into the year.  But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, “ said Michelle Coro, journalism advisor.  We’ve made really good progress with our online site, DVTHUNDERMEDIA.COM.  It’s been a high learning curb, but if we stick to it, we will continue to improve.”

Though many staffers share Coro’s optimism, their outlook is still mingled with slight resentment.

“It’s a little disappointing that we have only put out one issue thus far,” said Lindsey Laski, Managing Editor.” “Overall, it was a good issue, but we always have room to improve.”

It has been a particularly difficult year for The View, considering the work they’ve done in the past.

“I think we made a lot of mistakes early on and that sidetracked us,” said Coro.  “Obviously, we want to be known as one of the premiere high school staffs in the state.  It’s going to take effort to get there.”

            Desert Vista’s journalism staff still has many possibilities for greatness.  All staffers have access to 42 computers and laptops and 24 SLR cameras.  Both editors and some staff members are ready and willing to take our publication to the next level.

“My vision is to have a full-scale media program,” said Coro.  “I want to help make journalists of tomorrow who are confident in writing, taking photos, shooting video, working with the web, designing, producing audio and more.”

What exactly happens inside the classroom of  “The View?” Along with keeping up with a monthly newspaper, for the first year students post stories on an online news website (www.dvthundermedia.com,) and write weekly summaries on chapters of the book “The Radical Write.” Journalism is a challenging class that gives students who want to pursue careers as writers a realistic start.
Student Christina Sirois explains the class as “not a class to take for an easy A.” At the beginning of each year Coro compares her classes to a ‘roller coaster’.  “Working on a news paper is not for everyone. There is a certain level of maturity and self-motivation that has to be inherent in a staffer. This is not the type of class that you get an assignment, review it, and take a quiz. It’s much more like a producing team,” explains Coro.  
Students write about news, sports, opinions and features that our related to Desert Vista.

There are many goals that Coro and her student staff members strive to achieve on a daily basis. Ayla Mitchell says, “ one of my main goals for this class is to meet all my deadlines on time.”  To get a good grade in this class you have to maintain stable responsibility and late work is not accepted.

“My vision is to have a full-scale media program. I want to help make journalists of tomorrow who are confident in writing, taking photos, shooting video, working with the web, designing, producing audio and more,” describes Coro. Taking this class teaches students more than how to write a good story. Students learn how to work as a team, speak in a proper interview, and use high tech cameras and much more.
This is definitely a challenging class that is worth the ride.

The tapping of Mac keyboards and the hush-hush whispering among editors of The View are eminent. The low frequency humming of the 42 processors set the essence of their home away from home—and the aroma of printer ink complete the scene.

Most of The View staffers may appear to be languid, but beneath the surface it is clear that their diligence is overpowering.  Zach Alexander, a Staff Writer, is often caught playing games and/or doing homework for other classes during class time.

“I feel embarrassed because I do want to help out The View and playing Blockzors definitely distorts my credibility,” Alexander sulked, “But I always write my stories to the best of my ability and have them in my staff folder by the deadline!”

The help of their editors Rosana Cruz and Lindsey Laski, The View staff has grown immensely since August of 2008. Despite the class’ optimistic view of themselves, Michelle Coro, the class instructor, had a slightly opposing view.

“We’ve come a long way since the beginning of the semester, but we still have a good distance to go before we reach our full capabilities.”

Coro’s constructive criticism has pushed the class to come close to their full potential—forcing the students to keep up with the fast-paced style and better not only their writing styles, but this teaching style has given them the tools to survive in the real world—not just a typical classroom.

“I’m actually interested in this class and Journalism is something that I want to pursue,” Proudly stated Staff Editor, Lindsey Laski, “So even if it does get though, I want to stick to it and be the best that I can be.”

The tough love provided by the staff’s instructor, paired with the tender sensibility supplied by their editors, have blessed Desert Vista with a unique newspaper staff that is coming out of the darkness, and into the view.