Current Events Quiz 4.1

 Damaris Benitez

Period-6

1/27/2016

1.   The state Sen. Royce West asked the Comptroller Glenn Hager, "Is the sky falling in Texas?" He asked this question by realizing that the oil prices were going down, and how it might effect the state's budget.  Hager responded, by saying that the sky is not falling in the awesome state of Texas, but that it is something that has to be watched carefully, and that he would rather not be in any other state but TX. Hager, used lots of evidence to support his answer but mainly stated that yes, our gas prices are low. But, Texas does not depend on that type of industry as much as they did in 2014, therefore he doesn't think Texas will be affected as much. Severance Taxes are taxes on oil and gas producers, they will bring less money that expected because the 7.5 percent they get on market value for natural gas and 4.6 percent for oil, will decrease because of the low gas prices.

2.    Trump will be skipping the final debate, because he says that he does not want Fox News to play with him like a "toy", and that instead he will be hosting a charity event in the state to raise money for wounded warriors and veterans groups. This makes his decision a bit risky because he will be missing Thursday's presidential campaign, which is the last one before Monday's Iowa caucuses. I do not think it is a very smart move on Trump's part. He should go to the campaign, because if he want to be president, sometimes he would have to do things and attend things he more or less will not like, he isn't just not going to show up because he does not want to. The dilemma that the three candidates will be facing in Feb. 4, is a newly proposed debate, and just five days later the New Hampshire's debate. Regarding the event in Feb. 4,  I honestly think it will not take place unless the democratic party approves of it, because then Bernie Sanders will go then which will then come along with Clinton going. Which if it is not approved by the democratic party, its understandable if they do not go, maybe it will not do them any good in the race.

3.    Brazil is fighting against a mosquito blamed virus that is spreading and causing birth defects. To help the army will be going door-to- door to help in mosquito eradication efforts ahead of the country's Carnival celebrations. Zika, dengue, chikkungunya and yellow fever are what Aedes mosqutios transmit. The minister is not very reliable because of the lack of effort he has had to help fix these huge problems, when they were once small. Some huge events are heading that way and the government needs to watch out since they will be hosting the summer olympics.

4.   UT teachers are going to start to have guns in class. Two professors agree on, maybe having a meeting with the staff to make sure they will follow the law with the arms in class. Aug. 1 is when it is predicted to have the law enforced. An open carry law to place and is in affect since Jan. 1. Justin Wood said that people are still in concealed carrying and that he has not seen open carry in the street at all yet.

5.    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton objected Tuesday to the Obama administration's recent move to resettle Syrian refugees without giving state officials one-week notice. On Friday, the Justice Department moved the Syrian refugees to Houston TX. On Dec. 2, Paxton asked a federal judge to file a suit to block resettlement efforts. Which was later denied because of the concerns about terrorist acts.

6.   If Texas beats Kansas that means that the Lady Longhorns will hit a milestone by accomplishing 1000 all-time wins for a program that played in its first game in Nov. 1974. Right now the Longhorns season is going pretty well, with rated number 6 in the country and are18-1, and they are at no.2 for NCAA tournament. Right now the girls really need to work on turnovers and make them a bit cleaner to advance more in the games.

7.    Well both leads are really similar. However, the one that pays more respect is the one on the The Statement because it does not include the years that he had outlived unlike the New York Times obituary. The New York Times obituary just seemed like, it is ok that he is dead, because he lived 34 years over the regular person. Kind of saying like he lived a long life, move on. I like The Statement's obituary just for that small reason. 

Mitch Albom on Writing

1.   In the speech Mitch Albom spoke, he mainly talked about how to write a good story that would be featured on a news paper or just in general. He went into details with leads, middles, and endings. He eleborated a lot on how to keep the readers attention and not drowning them with information the entire article. Yet instead paint a picture to let the reader view the story and relate, with out them falling asleep. 

2.     In the leads, he said that you should include "how old somebody is, where they live, what they did, what they’re charged with", and have to make it sound a lot less, informational to keep the readers attention. Albom, also includes an alternative that is possible just in case you can't or don't seem to find a way without drowning the reader with information, and suggests that you paint a picture with words. He also gives the advice as making the lead as a movie trailer film, like giving the plot, yet not giving the ending and how. Albom, also said that if your story is pretty long and can't seem to be summarized in those ways to, "do it straight ahead with information, but if you’re going to do that, see if you can come up with some gimmick or some visual. Follow the path of a bullet that goes through this and goes through that. It’ll hold the reader’s attention that much longer". 

     In the next to sections, Albom didn't have much to say for middles and endings as much as he had to say for leads. However, in the middles he suggest just a couple of tips. One is to look and tell the story beyond of what you see in front of you, and to tell the story at different angle. Basically, move out of the 1st person point of view and look at the others who are also being affected, step out of the box. 

     In the endings, Albom states that you shouldn't have to feel like you should end with such a strong and huge and amazing ending but yet just summarize it. He suggests that you shouldn't tell the reader what is wrong with society and how they should fix it or what to do to fix it. But just paint a picture just like you did in the beginning.

3. 

"you can do it straight ahead with information, but if you’re going to do that, see if you can come up with some gimmick or some visual. Follow the path of a bullet that goes through this and goes through that. It’ll hold the reader’s attention that much longer"

This was on the topic of leads. I really like and agree with this quote and that's one of the reasons I choose it. But mainly because I struggle a lot with leads and this just makes it have more sense and reason on why I lead should be there. The paint a picture idea is genius and it's something I definitely have to try. 

"You’ve got to say how old somebody is, where they live, what they did, what they’re charged with, all the rest of it, it’s hard to put a lot of pizzazz"

Connects to the statement and my comment from the last quote, not only because it was from the leads but because this is exactly what my problem is, which made me relate and intrigued more into the reading. It's so hard to put some "pizzazz", I tend to state everything as if I were answering some questions, and this is why I choose this quote because k agree and relate to it a lot!! 

"what I did was like a movie preview. In one minute they give you all these scenes from all throughout the movie and you have a general pace of what’s coming up"

Probably another method I would have to try, it seems exiting to think about writing more in the movie way than in the stating information way. I love the way Albom uses this example that makes you want to visualize things in a way that you think is beautiful but put it into words. I so agree with this choice!!!  

"tell the story in a different point of view"

I have seen this been done before and has worked successfully every time I read an article like it because originally a reader doesn't really think about  different perspectives except for the main characters  because that's what were used to reading as kids.  This is kind of stating that you should step out of the box and see the big picture. Another thing I will definitely have to try.

 "Trust your readers, they’re pretty smart. They know how to read, they’re already ahead of most of the rest of the country"

 I've never thought of something like this before. We always seem to tell stories  as if you were talking to a five-year-old. Now what I write I will probably keep this in mind because I do need to understand that my readers are smart and will understand the context of the story without Meeks having to explain it. Something I definitely agree on with Albom. 

My Obiturary

          On the morning of January 24th, Damaris Benitez passed away peacefully in her night sleep, at the age of 80. Mostly well known for being a "youtube star", she had a fan base with over 20 million people watching as she grew and learned how to understand life by raising her kids, and dealing with the obstacles everyone faces everyday. It has been done that her fan base just got bigger from those joining in, even today. "She had always told me that all she wanted to do was to make more people smile." said Annie Lynch, her daughter. Damaris did not fail her task, and yet the one thing that she didn't want to happen was to make others sad. It does bring heartache to those who watched her videos, but the fans bring tremendous support for the remaining family. Even though she had not been posting for a couple of years, her kids did always keep the videos going and having her as a guest star and always mentioning as the lady who "started it all". She graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor degree on videos graphy, and was at the top 10% of her class in McCallum High School. Besides success, she fulfilled her desire to be a stay at home mom, with having her kids homeschooled, and in sports."We were all so close to her, she was not only our mom but she was also our best friend" said her son, Caleb Logan Lynch. Now she will join her husband, in peace and happiness as they rest. "I will miss her, but her love is never ending, so she is not really gone." said her daughter, Hailey Lynch had said. Damaris Lynch will certainly be missed by the joy and happiness she brought to this world and her family.

RIP January

1. I decided to read about Glenn Frey, David Bowie and Monte Irvin. However that was very interesting to me and that stood out the most was the obituary to Monte Irvin the New York baseball team player. The way that his life was written was very well, I felt like it did pay his respects. I personally think he was an important and symbol for the US, including the problems this man had to deal with because of the color of his skin, and for the joy and happiness he brought to families by bringing them together and watching baseball.
2. All of these obituaries actually have a lot in common. I have answered a question like this before and I always see the same pattern. In the obituaries we read, they all only focus on the good, the accomplishments, the peaks, and the happiness of the one who had past. They never mention anything about the downs, but they mention more success, to make their life appear fulfilling. However, another reason I really liked Monte Irvin's obituary was because they did mention at least one struggle, which was the problem with the color of his skin, but they still did make his life sound overall again, fulfilling. I get why people want to know and look at the good side of  that one's persons life just because you would want your memory of them to be positive. Which is why I think we see a consisting pattern, in all of the obituaries.

The Radical Write

1. Here I feel like Hawthorn, in that saying is basically stating that when writing you shouldn't make it sound like facts, and basically stating question and answer. But instead trying to take the information and putting them in chronological order to make it sound like a good story. Which I totally agree with. Just like Hawthorn said "write about specific people and their situation" not necessarily write about a standard q&a.

2. The way Hawthorn explains the perfect layout for a story is to go beyond the who, what, when, where, and how. And to take more of the dramatic route with the literary devices which include; character, setting, plot, conflict, dialogue, order, anticipation, climax and resolution.


*late because I was absent

Narrative Journalism -When Your Dreams Die

1. Well in the story that I read, I feel like the writer in order to make the story feel like more than just following one person around, did a good job of including family members, friends, and even coworkers. Since it was someone narrating the story, it gave the reader and advantage of not just seeing a story through someone's eyes, but seeing and feeling emotions among other people.

2. Well the author seems to be narrating the story, which does include him a lot in the story, voice wise. However opinionated wise and thoughtful wise, he did a great job of letting the story do its job and not trying to hint the reader the exact meaning of the story but letting the reader read and find out for themselves. Which the writing was excellent, and the meaning wasn't that hard to find.

3. In this story, there is well use of drama and order. Which were the two that really stood out. Drama, allowed the reader to see the story in obviously, a more dramatic view. We notice it at the moment when the author explains the hate phone calls the ref gets, the feelings that were explained on how the wife felt when she saw the empty pill bottles in the restroom, and one of the most dramatic scenes, was when he was writing the suicide letter along with how he started feeling when he was taking pills and how he knew it was a stupid thing to do. This then follows in with the order the story was out in, we notice that in the beginning the author decided to add the scene of the main subject walking with the suicide letter, to the shed, and the pocket full of pills he had in his pocket, after explaining that scene the author then moved on to the story, which was kind of a hook for the reader to want to keep reading more. This shows 2 literary devices hawthorn explained in his books.

4. The author seemed to use a lot of sources, from the subject himself, to coworkers, family, friends and maybe even enemies. Therefore I estimate that the author had about 12-15 people at least that he interviewed for this story. He wrote the story as someone narrating it so, he 100% had to ask the subject how he was feeling at every single scene and how others were feeling, plus what they said, did and thought. The author did a great job narrating, so effort was for sure evident in this story.

5.  "Melissa felt a pain in her stomach." - Here we notice that the author must have asked how this person felt at the moment they found out that her husband had taken a handful of pills and told his daughter that he was going for a "walk".

"..Gerdes slapped him, slapped him hard shook him." - Here we see that the author must have asked the person slapping him, why they decided to do that and how they felt in that moment. This quote I thought what strong because we see the anticipation and anxiousness from the character because we see that this person really wants the other to live.

"If it happens, it happens' Kenny says."- Here we see Kenny moving on. So more likely the author asked questions like how did he feel after everything that happen and how he moved on and maybe what his motto was afterwards.

Best of 2015

Damaris Benitez

Period-6

1/6/2016

credits to: Kimimasa Mayama-EPA

I like how this picture looks a lot like Austin. Which was the reason it stood out to me. It relates to things I have done in my own city. The picture seemed to capture a nice, relaxing moment. I think we may have found the, nicer and a lot cleaner version of the Zilker Park canoes. 

credits to: George Steinmetz 

I have actually seen this picture before. My pervious art teacher, had shown it to me early of 2015. Which is the reason why I picked it out. It reminded my of a moment in my life, and I had a special connection to it. It is also really unbelievable how all of the different colors are rows of tulips. 

credits to: Rex Hutterstock 

I would one day love to visit London. And seeing this picture just made me want to even more. It looks so cool and beautiful, the architecture is so old yet so modern makes me want to go visit London more. 

1st two pictures:   http://time.com/4124895/top-100-photos-of-2015/

3rd picture:  http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/03/world/gallery/year-in-pictures-2015/

Best Song of 2015: "Where Are U Now"

The reason I chose the song "Where Are U Now", by Jack U and Justin Bieber, is because when I went to my favorite band's concert, the opening act was a DJ and he played this song. Therefore this song takes me back and reminds me of the awesome time I had at the concert. Therefore, it was also a really good song, with a fun beat and very unique. In my opinion it deserves the best song of 2015.

Best Movie of 2015: "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2"

I waited for this movie to come out for about 366 days, as soon as the part one was released. As a fan of the books and movies, I really enjoyed watching every second of it. The action packed, love triangle and rebellion story, made this an awesome movie. However, as always the books are better, but they did a really good job of picking out the good scenes, even they screwed up some. It deserves the best movie of 2015.

Best News Story of 2015: Death by Police Officers 

In my opinion, I do not think we have heard a lot of deaths by police officers since we actually hit 2015. Making this have some oddity. Proximity and impact also allowed these news stories for the people around them. Some even causing rebellion. Allowing these stories to pop out, and catch lots of people attention. Therefore, these stories stood out and made a statement making them the best news stories of 2015, not because of what they have actually done in the stories, but what the impact was.

Most Important Person of 2015: Ellen Degeneres

I know Ellen was nominated for person of the year, but did not achieve the title. However I feel like she deserved it because who, else besides this woman can make you smile. She is generous, nice and sweet. What else can you ask for. She understand the meaning of happiness and tends to give it out. Therefore she deserves the title. 

Most Important Sport of 2015  



The Spurs, are my absolute favorite basketball team, they won the 2014 NBA championship, therefore 2015 should've been the year to honor them. Even though they did not do very well last season. I feel like they should be recognized for their hard work. However, basketball should be the sport of the year, just because it is awesome, and it is a great way for a family to get together, because honestly it is the most simplest game to understand and everyone could have a good time without having someone to ask what is going on in the game.

 

MY HOLIDAY:

 I do not celebrate christmas, but i did hang out with some family and ate dinner during christmas week. Also I went to my annual church winter retreat for the youth and I had a ton of fun. I had a great time and met lots of new people and of course saw similar faces.

My goal this year, is to have a better relationship with God. I want to be more healthy spiritually and so far I haven't been doing great but I plan on changing that. I want to also become more involved in my youth group because I want to become a youth leader when I grow up, as well as a teacher. And overall I want to become a better person myself and stay true to myself and stand up for what I believe in.

In 2016, I look forward for a new obstacle of adventures and hopefully lots of fun.