In a world where people are able to manipulate the elements Earth, Water, Fire, and Air, only one person, the Avatar, can bend all four.

100 years ago the Avatar disappeared, leaving the Fire Nation to take over the world. Now present day, brother and sister Sokka and Katara discover the absent Avatar, Aang, in a ball of ice. Once free, the trio along with an astray earthbender named Toph travel all four nations to make peace with the Fire Nation,

The story picks up 70 years after the original series with the new Avatar, Korra, learning how to airbend. Out of all the original characters, Katara is the only one still alive and is helping Korra reach her full potential. Along with the usual teenage problems such as finding yourself and a spark in your love life, Korra faces the threat of a group of anti-benders called the Equalists rebelling against benders.

The series premiere estimated about 4.5 million viewers making it the top ranked animated show of the week.

The Filtered Lens stated: “the show smartly separated itself from the predecessor while having enough connections and references to please their fans.”

Brian Lowry of Variety said, [The Legend of Korra] represents a bit more ambitious storytelling for older kids, and perhaps a few adults with the geek gene.”

All in all, critics give the show 9 out of 10.

The critics aren’t the only ones keeping tabs on the series however. Sophomore Alfredo Ortega tries to tune into the new episode every Saturday morning at 10 on Nickelodeon.

“It’s pretty awesome. I like the probending and how they made it onto a sport,” Alfredo said.

Whether you’re a diehard fan of Avatar or barely discovering The Legend of Korra one thing is for sure, the show can’t go anywhere but up.

Background: I graduated from UTPA in 1997 with a major in Speech Communications and have been teaching at SHS ever since.  I’ve coached UIL Prose and Poetry in the past and am currently coaching UIL Literary Criticism.

Why teaching?: I want my students to know that they have a voice that they can use to improve their community,  their family and their own lives.

If not teaching, then what?:  I would love to be a Speech Therapist, once again, to help people gain optimal use of their vocal skills.  Everyone wants to be heard.

Advice to students: Dreams are important to have but you need to work hard to meet all your goals.

Home life: I am extremely close to my family.  When I found out I got Teacher of the Year, I teared  up because I thought of all the sacrifices my parents did in order for my siblings and I to have a better life.  I know I am blessed to have an education, a job that I love, with students I adore – And a lot of laughter and love surrounding me every day.

 ”One day Bea came home from school in tears, confessing that a boy at school had called her fat. The incident crushed me, but it was a wakeup call,” Weiss wrote. “I need to put my child in a diet. She cannot be overweight any longer.”

So, Weiss then put her daughter on a strict diet, eating only healthy foods, no sugar and no fat in anything. Bea then showed up at her doctor’s office for her eight year checkup, sixteen pounds lighter and almost two inches taller.

Weiss said, “For Bea, the achievement is bittersweet. When I ask her how she looks now, if she’s proud of what she has accomplished, she says yes. Even though, the person she used to be, still weighs in her. Tears of pain filled her eyes as she reflected on her year long journey.”

Bea told her mom, “That’s still me. I’m not a different person because I lost sixteen pounds. Just because it’s in the past, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”

That’s the problem most people have nowadays. They care to be skinny instead of healthy. Weiss’ decision scarred the little girls’ life by telling her what to eat and what not to eat. She can’t even eat a cupcake without worrying about her weight.

Teens need to stop caring about what other people say about their body, and worry about being healthy, not skinny.

Former Sharyland High School student, Mariana Yanes, said, “Today teens are into many things, and they get influenced by other people. They have role models who are really famous, and those role models are always really skinny. I think that’s the main reason why people have health issues. Everywhere they look like the T.V, billboards, magazines, etc. the people in them are all in shape. You don’t see a Disney star being fat, and if they are, you see people making fun of them on the magazines. In this era, it is impossible for someone to be a little chunky, but still healthy. Everyone will judge you until you lose weight.”

 Those are just some reasons teens have health issues, but it isn’t just high school students, its all children and adults.

Every woman or man in their early adulthood stages usually has a body image problem. It is said according to Health Viva by Maneera, that up to 71% of people in their 14-30′s are unhappy with the way they look. Most of them have either tried restricted diets and/or unhealthy methods in order to lose weight.

This problem even expands to Facebook, noted by Andrew Couts from Digital Trends, where about 483 million users say that if they are putting a picture of themselves, they need to look in shape. The site makes them more conscious about their own body and weight. Some have low self-esteem and look for compliments on the website. When they don’t get them, they even go into depression after a while.

Some people now go to the extremes to lose weight, no matter what it takes. That’s when more serious health problems develop. Anorexia and bulimia are two of the most common ones. People with anorexia usually starve themselves with their ‘strict diets’. Others eat as much as they want, but then throw it up so they won’t gain the carbs ingested, they became bulimic. About 9% of females have both disorders, both diseases usually in woman from their late 20′s, early teens.

 Sharyland High School geography teacher and assistant softball coach, Babie Longoria, said “Most of these diseases develop because teens lack self-esteem. Instead of focusing on eating right and being healthy, they worry about being skinny. I remember one of my teammates had an obsession with her body weight. I did try to help, but things got out of control with her, so I felt the need to do what was best for her and her health, I told my counselor. She now leads a healthy, good lifestyle. ”

According to City Bright’s, the best thing to do if you know a person with a body issue, is take them to a rehabilitation center, where people are on the lookout for them 24/7. Studies have found that over 78% of patients put in a rehab center, have come out with an improvement in as little as 2 years.

 The University of Chicago Medical Center offers different outpatient services to help with eating disorders. This one is for people with a less dramatic body problem, they are usually shorter, and instead of focusing on family dynamics, the initial focus is on putting the parents in charge of the child’s diet. Once the eating disorder is gone, parents return the control of the child’s health and diet up to the child, helping him/her with normal development tasks.

Therefore, teens and early adults need to stop worrying so much about their body weight, and focus more on eating healthy and right. People shouldn’t want to change the way the look just because of one person’s opinion, and that person should also learn to be considerate of the other person’s feelings. Especially if they’ve read Bea’s story, “…Just because it’s in the past doesn’t mean it didn’t happen,” she said as she reflected on her year long journey. Obviously the situation has scarred her in more than a few ways. In conclusion, you should only make the decision to change your body if it’s for yourself, and in a healthy way.

The water she washed down the four pills with drops in her empty stomach and she hears another growl. She groans, after all, she has to wait another hour until she can eat. Then at night, go two more hours without food in order to take the next three pills, and wait another hour to finally eat.

This is one of the problems faced when having HIV, something she had once thought never happened to people like her. Swanson contracted this virus through sexual contact with her late husband in the 1980s.

When she first was diagnosed with HIV, she had to take her prescribed medication three times a day, each time she had to do this with any empty stomach. She could not eat two hours before or one hour after her medication. It meant she couldn’t eat nine hours out of the day.

Now a nurse working at Grady Health Ponce De Leon Center in Atlanta, one of the largest HIV centers in the country, she not only struggles with AIDS, but hopes to help other patients with this disease. 

Many people nowadays, especially teenagers, are very misinformed about AIDS. With the percentages of affected people rising, action needs to be taken. Teenagers should be educated correctly about the epidemic including what it is, its symptoms, and its preventions.

What is AIDS?

AIDS stand for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. It can be diagnosed if you have diseases such as HIV and it causes your immune system to be too weak to fight off infections.

According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, research has linked AIDS to Africa. Several monkeys and chimpanzees there were infected with a virus similar to HIV, and humans may have come in contact with the virus through these animals that are sometimes killed and eaten in Africa.

AIDS was first discovered in the late 70s and early 80s but was recognized by the public in the mid-80s.

A person can live with AIDS for years and be unaware. Getting tested is the only way to know if a person has AIDS. There are few warning signs like weight loss, frequent fevers, and lack of energy which makes it easy to mistake it for having something like a cold or flu.

There are several ways AIDS is spread, or contracted. It can be sexually transmitted in all forms whether it is vaginal, anal, or oral intercourse. Another form is by sharing infected needles to inject drugs, through pregnancy, breastfeeding, or coming in contact with infected blood through an open wound.

AIDS is not spread by being around a person that is infected, being stung or bitten by an insect, sitting on toilet seats, handling pets or other animals, donating blood, or coming in contact with saliva, tears, sweat, feces, or urine.

Statistics

The Center for Disease Control estimated that more than 1 million people in the US are living with HIV. 21% of those are unaware of his or her infection. The CDC estimates that by the end of 2008 there were 490,696 people living with an AIDS diagnoses in the United States.

Since 2000 the annual number of new AIDS diagnoses has remained relatively constant, with an estimated 34,993 in 2009. In total, an estimated 1,142,714 people have been diagnosed with AIDS in America since the beginning of the epidemic.

In 2008, 42.6% of people diagnosed with AIDS were African American, 33.3% white, 21.4% Hispanic/Latin, 1.3% multiple races, 0.9% Asian, 0.4% American Indian/Alaska Native, and  0.1% Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander.

Almost half of male adults and adolescents living with AIDS in 2008 became infected with HIV through male-to-male sexual contact. Two-thirds of female adults and adolescents living with an AIDS diagnosis in 2008 were infected through heterosexual contact.

Out of all the men, 61% were infected through male-to-male contact, 18% through injection drug use, 11% through heterosexual contact, 9% through male-to-male contact and injection drug use, and 1% through other.

Out of all the women, 66% were infected through heterosexual contact, 32% through injection drug use, and 2% through other.

The age group most affected is from 20 years old to 24. Their risks are 1 in 12,650.

Teenagers’ knowledge on AIDS

Several teenagers have many serious misperceptions about AIDS. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation said that while three-quarters of adolescents say they know a little bit about AIDS, and one-quarter say they know a lot, half of those surveyed did not know that 25% of sexually active adolescents contract an STD, and one-third were unaware that people their age make up for 50% of all new HIV infections.

Nine of 10 young adults regard sex with a condom “safer sex”, while 71% consider sex with other forms of birth control safer sex despite the fact that many other forms of contraception do not protect from STDs such as AIDS.

“Many teenagers think that you can’t get STDs by having oral sex, which is not true, and it makes it very dangerous and easy for misinformed teens to contract STDs this way,” said sophomore Sabrina Gonzalez.

Teens are taught to use protection or restrain from having sexual intercourse to prevent pregnancies, so they turn to other forms of sex like oral intercourse, unaware of the dangers they can cause, like AIDS.

“I think it is very important that teenagers are required to take a sex education class so that they can be informed about not only the importance of contraception, but know what sexually transmitted diseases are out there, and how they are spread,” said sophomore Priscilla Guerra.

A third of adolescents have engaged in oral sex, but one in five are unaware that oral sex can transmit STDs. One in 10 young adults disclosed that they had contracted an STD.

While AIDS can be spread in more ways than just sexually, it is still important that teenagers are informed and well aware of the other multiple means of contraction.

Foundations for AIDS

There are several foundations and organizations created to inform and help not only the people with AIDS, but other people as well.

There is the Elton John Foundation which was established in the United States by famous singer Elton John. It is an international non-profit organization with patient care services and AIDS prevention education.

Another Foundation is the Foundation for AIDS research which is raising the standards of HIV treatment and care all over the world.

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation publishes research and analysis of health-care issues. Kaiser both provides health policy news and information and assists working journalists to improve the coverage of health in the mainstream media.

Preventions

AIDS can be prevented by having safer sex, not sharing needles, and testing for AIDS before and after having sexual intercourse. Being informed and informing other is also a big way to prevent AIDS from spreading.

At the HIV Center at Meharry Medical College, directed by HIV biologist Dr. James Hildreth, they regularly invite high school and college students to attend a seminar called “What you need to know about HIV”. This seminar provides information about how HIV is transmitted from person to person.

Seminars like these, as well as providing sex educational classes in schools, can prevent AIDS. Reaching out to the public and making sure adults as well as teens are informed about AIDS can really help prevent the spread of AIDS.

Conclusion

Marianne Swanson who is now 55 years old will have to take medications for the rest of her life, unless scientists find a cure for AIDS. AIDS not only affected her but her two children who contracted the disease as well.

She, along with her family and the people who love her, will have to deal with this disease day to day. For now, all she can do is try to keep herself as healthy as possible and help other people that share this disease called AIDS.

“The R-word is an adjective that is used in a derogatory way that demonstrates a lack of respect for individuals with disabilities in our society,” Torguson said.

Torguson is the sponsor of Meet in the Middle, a club where students of the high school can interact and can compete with students with disabilities in the Special Olympics by becoming a unified partner. Recently, the club held presentations in classrooms about putting an end to the R-word.

Along with the presentations, students were asked to sign the Pledge, a commitment to remove the R-word from their vocabulary permanently. All of this work was done in to bring awareness of the campaign as well as awareness to the students with disabilities.

“It makes my kids feel like they’re a part of the school when someone interacts with them,” Torguson said.

Wearing pins with the letter R crossed out, posters, red ribbons with the words “Never Again” and T-shirts are a few of the many ways the club tries to spread the word to end the word.

“Hopefully, we can make a big impact, but if not, I hope it can hit home to at least some people.” Cynthia said.

Indeed, these hard efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. Freshman Jonathon Garza has since stopped using the R-word.

“When I was little I thought it was just another way of saying stupid,” Jonathon says. “I think people nowadays use it in the way it shouldn’t be. In a way they’re insulting the special needs kids. I thought about it and tried to stop because I really do care.”

So long as there are students like Jonathon who have stopped using the R-word, the Meet in the Middle club simply will not stop their efforts. More than anything, it encourages them to continue.

“Some people don’t know how much the word can offend people. Just one conversation with the kids is all you need for them to have your heart,” Cynthia said. The club encourages anyone who would like to join to go to room 432 and talk to Ms. Torguson. “It is a profound experience if you’re willing to open up to it,”Torguson said.

AP Exams are scheduled from Monday May 7 to Friday May 18.  Chemistry, Environmental Science, and Psychology are to be taken on Monday.  Computer Science A, Spanish Language, and Art History are to be taken on Tuesday.  Calculus AB and Calculus BC are to be taken on Wednesday.  These are only a few of the exams that are going to be available for testing on the first week.  This information can be found at any of the counselor offices and even on the College Board website for those that may need to know.  The website with this information is colllegeboard.com.

AP courses are college level courses that can help you gain knowledge and challenge you just like a college course will. By taking these timed exams, students are able to gain college credit and accomplishment as well.  Not only that, but taking an AP exam and passing it with a high number would also look really well when applying for college. 

AP Exams are tests that need to be paid for before they are taken much like the SAT and ACT exams.  All AP Exams cost $87 unless you are given a fee reduction.  Fee reductions can only be given to those with financial need.  People are able to find out whether they qualify for these fee reductions if they live in a low income home with more than one person in the family.  The College Board follows the economic need guidelines created by the federal government.

“I’ve been studying so hard for my AP History Exam,” said junior Andy Gutierrez.  “I don’t think I’ve ever studied for anything this much my entire life”. 

Andy is not the only one giving up so much spare time to prepare for this test.  

“I’ve taken the AP Exam before as a junior, so I know what I’m dealing with exactly,” said senior Irene Choi.  “I think I’ll be completely prepared this time around”.  Irene is going to be taking her Environmental Science AP Exam.  Last year she took an English and History Exam.  “The AP Exams I took last year were a lot more difficult than I expected,” said Irene.  “I felt well prepared though.”

For those students that may want to take AP practice sessions, there are some available after school in the library.  The AP Language Practice Sessions for example are held on Thursdays at 4:10 in room 148.

Not only did this storm bring shock, but it also left without electricity. A Large number of families lost their power during the storm and some didn’t even get their power back until a couple of days later. “My power was out for almost a week, all we could eat was take-out food,” said sophomore, Elinni Veliz.

The city most affected by the storm was McAllen, it was reported that some of the hail were the size of baseballs battering the area. Also, hail and heavy rain from the same storm was reported farther north in the Corpus Christi area. Technically, the farther north you were, the harder the rain hit you. The National Weather Service said a record 4.37 inches of rain was measured Thursday, March 29th at the McAllen airport.

Adrian Cuesta, sophomore said, “I was on my way back from the mall with my mom and we were parked under the bridge with about 50 other cars waiting for the rain to stop.” He says his mother saw all those cars and decided to take cover; they were waiting around for about an hour for the rain to lighten. 

Many roof got holes, windows got shattered, areas covered in disposable items and cars got dented. www.McAllen.net reported that 1,062 residences were damaged, 63 commercial structures were damaged, and 26 city facilities were damaged, including the new main library. The city of McAllen is suffering from having spent about $167,000 on debris removal and $90,000 on traffic signal repairs.

 The city of McAllen collects 12,000 cubic yards of debris a month, but because of the storm, the city had collected 40,000 cubic yards in one week. The people of McAllen are also dealing with payments to fix their homes and cars, not everyone has insurance. Mr. De La Cruz, Math teacher said, “There are holes in my roof from the enormous hail and I’m now going to have to pay for it.”

A lot of damage has been done to the city, but luckily no person was hurt during the storm. This extreme weather event was one to remember. It peeled back roof tops, stripped walls, toppled signs, shattered windows and flooded numerous neighborhoods.

“The job is simple, the money is rewarding, and it’s a lot of fun.” 20 year old employee Alex Vasquez said. “Scooping is a lot easier than flipping burgers and costumers tend to be in a happy mood when they get their ice cream so I like it.”

Having a simple, fun job allows more room to become more active with your job and have a better time when working.  Since all of the employees are younger than the age of 20, one can imagine that school must be a big issue to worry about when you work.

“It hasn’t affected school as much as you would think. As long as you choose your hours wisely you’ll be fine.” Said Celeste ponce a senior at PSJA High School. “Since we all go to school, we submit which days we can work and we work out our schedule around school.”

Most jobs can, and do involve stress with all the drama and finances that go behind the counter. In many cases, teens often quit their jobs early due to the fact that it can be too overwhelming to handle. Although this is common, it doesn’t seem to be the case with Ben and Jerry’s and what the employees have to say.

Since the Ben and Jerry’s employees are all under 21, how long does their calling scooping ice cream last for? With college and life ahead, what future does Ben and Jerry’s have with employees?

“I plan on being here until high school ends.” Said Dante Munoz, a sophomore at Nikki Rowe High School, “I’m one-hundred percent sure that when I leave, young high school students will be happy to fill my place. It’s the coolest first job anyone could have, so I do plan on seeing young adults working here in the future as well.”

Truthfully, how fun can scooping ice cream really be? Fast food chains at least offer fast-paced work with hungry people, and stores usually keep employees busy with their customers, but how fascinating can making a cone really be?

“Our daily rushes can get really full of people at times. Sometimes our lines can reach outside the door and really make work a lot faster and more exciting. People may not think it’s all that fun, but really, it’s not bad at all. We don’t just scoop ice cream…we make cones, cakes, cookies, brownies, smoothies, and more.” Dante said.

Teenagers want money, and to get money you need work. Ben and Jerry’s accurately sum up what teens really want in a first job. A good atmosphere, friendly hours, and a fun time are all aspects of what you can expect having a first job and our local ice cream parlor, Ben and Jerry’s.

The Hunger Games is a book set in a future time where their country of Panem is ultimately leading to disaster. It is a world where there is one wealthy district, better known as the Capitol, and twelve surrounding districts. In years before there had been an uprising in district thirteen and consequently the Capitol destroyed it. Now, in order to remind its districts what happens when citizens fall out of line, each district must choose one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve to eighteen. The twenty four that are chosen, better known as “tributes”, are then put in one televised arena where they must kill in order to be the only one left standing.

The movie and book is centered around sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen, one of the district twelve tributes that must participate in the games. She however is quite different from the others because she volunteered to be in the games in place of her twelve year old sister Prim.

The book has experienced much admiration from many readers due to the fact that it is extremely intense, romantic, suspenseful, and full of action all at one time. These characteristics that made the book so great however were poorly shown throughout the movie.

The director did a fantastic job when it came to creating the arena. The plates they stood on, the cornucopia, the forest, and the fireballs were all superb. The cannon balls and the dead tributes in the sky were also beautifully done. He also should be congratulated when it comes to the cast, because while many didn’t like the cast originally, once watching the movie they changed their mind. 

“The arena and the way that they put the people in the sky really was a lot more than I was expecting.  They made it even better than what I had pictured in my mind and I wasn’t expecting that level of awesomeness. I also appreciated the cast, and wouldn’t have don’t it any different. Josh Hutcherson was the perfect guy to play Peeta” sophomore Artie Ramos said.

However, many who have not read the book were more than likely extremely confused while watching the movie. In the book there was a narrative, in the film there was not, consequently leading to too many silent scenes. Suzanne Collins, the author of The Hunger Games, really portrayed both Katniss’ inner and outer conflicts, but the movie left gaping holes when it came to both of those aspects.

One of the most memorable parts of the book is Katniss and Rue’s relationship with each other. From the beginning Rue sort of follows Katniss and helps her sometimes throughout the games, and they eventually become allies. Katniss feels a sense of responsibility to protect her and kinship because Rue reminds Katniss of her young sister. In the movie, there was hardly a relationship between the two. The director rushed through their relationship though and made it seem almost nonexistent. What else was almost nonexistent? The romance between Peeta and Katniss. In the book you could feel the true longing that Peeta felt for Katniss, and in turn Katniss slowly began to develop feeling for him as well. However, in the movie all you had to do was blink and you would’ve missed it.

: My favorite part of the book was the relationship between Katniss and Peeta and watching it develop. It was crucial to the story and they practically deleted it all,” sophomore Somer Lawrence said.

Another part that many “die hard” Hunger Games fans may have been angered about is the fact that they cut and changed several vital scenes. Madge Undersee, daughter of the Mayor for district twelve, was supposed to give her the mockingjay pin that was crucial to the entire series. As matter of a fact though, Madge never even showed up throughout the movie. Confused? Well you weren’t the only one.

“I started the book and had hoped to finish it before the release date of the movie, but I never got the chance. I decided I would go see the movie anyways, which turned out to be a mistake mostly because I had a hard time following it. I was confused through several scenes, and sat there puzzled for over two hours. The friends that I had gone to see it with, seemed to have more emotion while watching it because they actually read the books. When Rue died I obviously felt sad, anyone with a heart would, but my friends were literally bawling their eyes out. Now, that I’m reading the book, I have a whole new admiration for The Hunger Games,” sophomore Gabby Villarreal said.

The dogs that attack Peeta, Katniss, and Cato at the end were supposed to be created in the image of the dead tributes. But, had you not read it, you would’ve never guessed. This was especially necessary so that you could feel a sense of betrayal, suspense, and anger and realize just how sick the gamekeepers are. Consequently, the ending seemed sort of cliché.

The movie overall was disappointing, and to many who haven’t read the book, it was just as well confusing. It’s understandable that due to the running time and the fact that the book was in first person it would be hard to convey the entire thought, nevertheless they could’ve and should’ve executed the movie to a point where everybody could understand.

Being the first of its genre to incorporate the scary longhaired girl or a curse that returns to kill people in seven days makes this movie original. Throughout the movie, you will be captivated by the film’s suspense, music, and various other elements.

“I really enjoyed this movie,” said sophomore, Josen Chan. “It was very refreshing to watch and experience a horror film that carved the way for many others. The movie did not fail to keep me on the edge of my seat.”

The most important element of this movie was the acting. The actors played their roles well and did a very convincing job. The two main characters’ roles were equally distributed and neither stole the spotlight from the other. They placed special emphasis on the emotional scenes and certainly left viewers satisfied. It should go unsaid that Nanako Matsushima and Hiroyuki Sanada (the protagonist’s husband) deserve a loud applause for their great acting.

“The actors played their roles really well. I was very surprised,” said junior, Ricardo Jacome a horror fanatic. “They left me incredibly surprised by how deep they went in portraying their roles. I was in disbelief.”

Ringu used a variety of silent scenes along with dark cinematography to convey scary and eerie moments. Many of these moments remain memorable to this day.

“I remember watching this movie as a kid,” said senior, Kohei Kaieda. “I can remember those sleepless nights and I realized that horror films aren’t what they used to be. They resort to very cheap tricks. Ringu is an underrated classic.”

This movie redefines what a horror film is or should be. Instead of clinging to loud music and continuous pop-ups, this movie keeps its viewers enthralled, scared, and excited simply with its slow pace and silent moments. After taking a ride on this horror rollercoaster, it’s needless to say that you’re scared out of your mind. Such a great movie as this can be found at a regular store like Blockbuster. It can be found stacked with the other American remakes and imitations. How ironic, isn’t it?

*phone rings*