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This Year In Photos

Top Ten Stories of the Year

Newsweek Magazine Man of the Year

George H. W. Bush, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter pose in the Oval Office after their Presidential lunch January 7th, 2009.

The Last Word

Honest Thoughts from a Student

About the Cover January 7, 2009 was a very special day in White House history, on the 7th President-Elect Barack Obama had lunch at the White House with President George W. Bush, and former Commandersin-Chief Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. This grand meeting was of course held in the Oval Office, and was the first meeting of all the living current and ex-presidents since 1981. The men’s ages ranged from Obama, 47, to Carter, 84, with a combined total of 24 years of presidential experience. The meal and chatting between the presidents lasted 90 minutes. Bush told Obama, “We want you to succeed... we care deeply about this country. And to the extent we can, we look forward to sharing our experiences with you.” An insider said, “They had a wideranging discussion on many different issues facing the United States, and they all look forward to remaining in contact in the future.” Bush made it obvious that he was delighted to host the lunch and even thanked Barack for attending. “I want to thank the president-elect for joining the ex-presidents for lunch,” Bush said, even though he’s not quite a member of the club yet.

President-Elect Obama said, “I just want to thank the President for hosting us. This is an extraordinary gathering. All the gentlemen here understand the pressures and possibilities of this office, and for me to have the opportunity to get advice, good counsel and fellowship with these individuals is extraordinary, and I’m very grateful to all of them, but again, thank you, Mr. President, for hosting us.”

Barack’s inauguration will be held Tuesday, January 20.

Table of Contents 1

About the Cover

2

Letter to the Editor

4

Letter to the Editor

5-6

My Turn

7

Perspectives

7

Toon Time

8

Person of the Year

9-10

This Year in Photos

11-12 Top 10 Stories of the Semester 13

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The Last Word

NEWSWEEK | JANUARY 15, 2009

? YOU could be featured in our next issue! Submit your stories or photos to: www.Newsweek.com

Letter to the Editor Everyplace we go, there are a different set of rules, the location and culture that we are in shapes what we say and do. For example, if you are in the Vatican, you aren’t going to run around the place in jean shorts and flip flops and tank top eating popcorn. Instead, you would be dressed nicely and strolling around looking at the surroundings and trying not to make too much of a disturbance. Such is the case in Junior “Arnold” Spirit’s life.

Junior is a young boy who lives on an Indian reservation in Washington state. Junior is the smartest boy on the reservation and the school he is going to is not presenting him with a challenge. Wellpinit was a place where Junior was around people he fit in with, other Indians. These surroundings came with their own set of rules. Some of these rules included “If somebody insults you, then you have to fight him, if your mother or father beats up somebody, then that person’s son and/or daughter will fight you, you must always pick fights with the sons and/ or daughters of any white people who live anywhere on the reservation,” and the saddest one, “in any fight, the loser is the first one who cries” (Alexie 61).

Jon Meacham, Editor of Newsweek.

Directions for Writing a Letter to the Editor: Write a 4 paragraph letter expressing your views on a subject and stating what causes the problem or topic to be the way it is. Give specific examples from published literature regarding what you are talking about. Make sure to suggest some way to help resolve or decrease the intensity of the problem. If you want, be extra creative and add a picture!

Just another one of the “rules” Junior has to follow.

Thanks, The Newsweek Team This set of rules applied to those living on the reservation whom Junior interacted with every day. When Junior transferred to Reardon, a primarily white school outside the reservation, Junior didn’t immediately realize that the rules had changed. Junior got into a fight without thinking that it wasn’t the “normal” thing to do. Junior was immediately thrown into a new social world and forced to learn the new rules associated with it. If only people would write an official rule book of each place and social world, maybe then Junior would have been better off.

JANUARY 15, 2009 | NEWSWEEK

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Letter to the Editor You live in a neighborhood where you are scared every time you walk outside. You are simply scared that somebody close to you or even yourself will get killed or harmed. You live in the Chicago projects, in a “four-bedroom apartment had become their fallout shelter.” (Kotlowitz 26).

There is no one but your family that you can really trust. Most kids don’t even have that. This is the life that Pharoah and Lafeyette Rivers are growing up in. A childhood that really isn’t a childhood. Even their mother, LaJoe agrees that they are not children, the Chicago projects stole that from them a long time ago. “But you know, there are no children here. They’ve seen too much to be children.” (Kotlowitz x). The world that the Rivers family is in is not fair to anybody. They are caught in this social world that limits kids hopes and dreams. Most “normal”

children have dreams of being things such as astronauts or veterinarians when they grow up, kids in the Chicago project dream of much smaller, more attainable things, because they have been shown that dreams normally don’t come true whether or not you like it. “If I grow up, I’d like to be a bus driver.”(Kotlowitz x). Even in that quote Pharoah shows that he doesn’t even know if he will grow up. Where he lives, there is no telling when or where you will end your life and make it impossible for you to “grow up”. Somebody needs to go to the Children of the projects and show them that there is a larger world out there where people are good and dreams can be realized. By Concerned Ex-Chicago Resident

JANUARY 15, 2009 | NEWSWEEK

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My Turn My latest paycheck comes into my bank account and I can only think of purchasing one thing, cameras. By Liz Lockhart

For years, since I was in 6th grade, I have been known to my classmates as the girl with the camera. I started liking photography at a very young age. I would always have a disposable camera or a Polaroid camera with me to snap photos of my friends doing funny things or to take pictures of family members to last through the years so that we could remember what we used to look like and who used to be around. As a child my most popular subjects were my younger sister and the family pet.

In 2003 I purchased my first digital camera. It was a point and shoot with a 1.5 inch screen and a 2x digital zoom. It was a 2 megapixel camera and I thought it was the greatest thing ever created. I ran all around school, being a 6th grader and taking pictures of all my classmates in interesting poses. This was before MySpace and Facebook became popular so mostly the pictures were just for me. I was the only kid with a digital camera in my class, and I was so proud. I began archiving all the photos I took and burning them off to CDs for people to enjoy on their own, I was a source of information and entertainment for a lot of my classmates. I was the one with the technology that was far beyond anything they were dealing with at the time. I stayed with that camera until December of 2005. In those two years digital cameras had improved immensely and cameras were then being sold with retractable lenses, optical zoom, up to 5.5 megapixels, 2.5 inch screens and many features. I decided that the camera that I had since 2003 was no match for these new and improved cameras. I saved and saved and with some financing through my mother I was able to purchase a Canon PowerShot SD450. That was my pride and joy for a long time. I got it the night before a big event at school at which I had been asked by the teacher to take pictures during.

In 2005 MySpace had started to pick up and digital photo printers were becoming the new big thing and so it made sense for me to document the event with digital pictures. The event arrived and I was like a child, just bouncing around from one group to the next taking pictures and enjoying making people laugh at the moments I had captured them in. I loved having the “new toy” that nobody but me knew how to use. I had something to myself that was my thing. Photography was becoming my thing. Everything re- The picture that started it ally clicked on July 21, all... 2006. I was at Blue Ridge Beach with a bunch of friends and took a photo of the sunset. I thought this photo was just “good”, but my peers and parents thought otherwise. People were constantly asking for this photo so they could print it or use it as a screensaver or background on their computer. I was shocked that such a picture from my camera could be getting this much attention. This was the event in which I started to believe that photography could be a big thing for me, a way for me to express myself and enjoy doing something that other people enjoyed looking at later. After that and through all of freshmen year I took pictures of everything, and when I say everything, I mean it. I have pictures archived on my computer from everything from tradition week to Matt Haines drawing a sombrero on the chalk board in Sr. Brunelle’s

Liz in her “picture taking” pose.

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NEWSWEEK | JANUARY 15, 2009

I had become a camera nerd. I had researched extremely hard and decided that it was time for another upgrade. I wanted a Canon Rebel XTi 10.2 MP DSLR. I wanted a camera with a detachable lens and a professional look and feel. The XTi was the most cost-effective option for me. As I ogled the camera, I saved The Space Needle and saved, and kept shooting with the camera I still had. I submitted photos to Voices, my school’s literary magazine. They accepted 3 photos of mine and printed them in the magazine for that year. I was so excited to be published for the first time! I kept saving and saving, by that time pretty much all of my friends knew that I really wanted this camera. Then came my birthday. By April, when my birthday rolled around I had saved a little over $500 for this new camera. I only had $350 left to save! I had a birthday party that year, and when friends asked me what I wanted for my birthday I replied to them by telling them the story of saving for the DSLR. That birthday I received about $400 total towards the purchase of my new Leavenworth camera! I bought the camera with help from my friends. I think that is the best way to do something, with help from your friends.

When I got the XTi in the mail I was so excited! I continued taking pictures of abosoloutley everything and I loved being able to play around with functions and meters that I didn’t even understand. It was at that “Disconnected” point that photography became serious for me. That year, I got press and photo passes to Bumbershoot from the school newspaper. I felt that I had received the highest honor a high school photographer cold receive. I got free passes to the entire festival for 2 people and was able to go into restricted areas, all because of my love and skill having to do with using a camera. Everything has been uphill from there. I continue to use my XTi, and I have expanded my lens collection so that I can shoot pretty much anything I want exactly how I want it. I have replaced my point and shoot from 2005 with a 2008 model that performs great! I am really happy with my photography and the thing I can do with a camera and with post production of photos. Shooting is a time for me to relax and have fun, knowing that what I am creating is mine and that in someone’s eyes it may even be great. Anyone can be a good photographer, it just takes patience, practice, and the knowledge of what is going on within the camera and with your subject. I encourage everyone to try it out! Who knows, you may enjoy going down the same road I did, falling in love with the art. Liz’s PhoCandles found at Seafood Fest 2007 tography: lockhartliz.blogspot.com

More Recent Photography

JANUARY 15, 2009 | NEWSWEEK

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Perspectives

“Take your hope, and go somewhere where other people have hope” (Alexie 41). Math teacher, Mr. P on the fact that Junior needs to get off the reservation and try to embrace his true potential.

“If I grow up, I’d like to be a bus driver.” (Kotlowitz x).

Young dreamer, Pharoah on his dreams, the dreams of a boy living in the Chicago projects.

“Every book is a mystery. And if you read all the books ever written it’s like you’ve read one giant mystery. And no matter how much you learn, you just keep on learning there is so much more you need to learn.” (Alexie 97). Junior’s Friend, Gordy on his love for books and reading.

“I feel good not understanding.” (Kotlowitz 280). Pharaoh on how he likes to hide behind the fact that he is still a kid and that he doesn’t want to grow up.

“We’re gonna die one way or another by killing or plain out.” (Kotlowitz 51). James to Lafeyette showing he has lost all hope.

Toon Time President-Elect Barack Obama

has promised his two daughters that when they move into the white house that they will be getting a dog. Adoption groups all over the country have been pushing the fact that the Obamas should adopt a dog rather than buying one from a breeder. This way they are helping an animal in need. The American Kennel Club has taken a poll and the public has decided that the Obamas should choose a Poodle as their breed of choice for their presidential pet. White House Chief floral designer Nancy Clarke is fully prepared to begin taking care of the new presidential pet after taking care of Barney for many years. Will the new addition to the Obama family be a Poodle? I guess only time will tell. This comic is funny because it depicts Obama trying to pick out his new pet purely based on looks. Update: January 11, 2009: Obama has announced the new pet will be a Labradoodle or a Portuguese Water Hound. Story From Issue Dated: Dec 1, 2008

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“There are a lot of people in the projects who say they’re not gonna do drugs, that they’re not gonna drop out, that they won’t be on the streets. But they’re doing it now. Never say never.” (Kotlowitz 29). Lafayette on how all the people around him always say they will be good people but everybody ends up falling into the same mold.

“Traveling between Reardan and Wellpinit, between the little white town and the reservation, I always felt like a stranger. I was half Indian in one place and half white in the other.” (Alexie 87).

Junior on how he feels when he travels off the reservation to the white school just outide it. Alienated.

“But you know, there are no children here. They’ve seen too much to be children.” (Kotlowitz x).

Mother of Pharoah, LaJoe on how children living in the Chicago projects have seen too much pain and suffering to still be children at heart.

Person of the Year Criteria: To be nominated for person of the year, a person must show extreme helpfulness or care towards a group of people or persons. This can include taking care of people, donating to charity, and fighting for people’s rights.

The 2008 person of the year is LaJoe Rivers, an impoverished mother of eight children struggling to survive living in the Henry Horner Homes, a violent Chicago housing project.

LaJoe was nominated and won person of the year because of her outstanding and sincere dedication to her eight children, some of which have been in and out of jail a few times. LaJoe’s counterpart is a good for nothing druggie who does not set a good role model for his children. LaJoe and her family live in the Henry Horner Homes, a housing project in a very violent area of Chicago. Conditions are extremely disgusting and bad. Windows Henry Horner Homes and walls are either not there or are broken, appliances always have special “tricks” to make them work, and the heating system is a bit less than ideal. LaJoe gets through the months because she receives welfare checks that she uses to buy groceries for her family. She cares a lot about her children, and a lot of times ends up caring for a good number of other children at Henry Horner when their parents either can’t or won’t.

LaJoe and two of her sons, Lafayette and Pharoah.

One common trait of children living in the Chicago projects is that they mostly at one time or another end up in court or even jail. Most of the time the mother of the child in question does not show up for the child’s court date. LaJoe makes sure that she is always present when any of her children have to go in to court for any reason. She is there to make sure that they are treated properly and that nothing else bad happens while they are there that is completely uncalled for. The sole reason LaJoe is receiving this award, is because she has always been there for her children when other mothers have not, and she has been there for the children whose mothers just don’t care.

JANUARY 15, 2009 | NEWSWEEK

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Photos: A=Oct 6, 2008; B=Nov 10, 2008 C=Nov 17, 2008; D=Jan 12, 2008

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JANUARY 15, 2009 | NEWSWEEK

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Top Ten Stories of the Semester Obama Wins Presidential Election - On November 4, 2008 America

voted on who should be our next president. The main candidates were Barack Obama (D) and John McCain (R). Both Candidates were fully equipped and prepared to serve the presidency. The one thing Obama used heavily to campaign is the word “Change”. Obama promised to bring change to America that would be for the better. Obama was elected president. This election was a huge milestone in American history because Barack Obama is an African-American. America elected its first African-American President, a change that is monumental for this country.

Invasion of Gaza - Over in the Middle East Israel and Palestine have been at

war for as long as many of us can remember. This year however, things escalated. The Palestinians have decided that it is their time to take back Israel, a place that is considered a holy land for number of religions. Previously both the Israelis and the Palestinians had a truce that included a cease-fire order, a order under which they were trying to bring peace and order back to their countries. However, recently Palestinians have decided that peace is not good enough and they have invaded the Gaza Strip in Israel. Through all the fighting many civilians have been killed and it is creating a world-wide concern for the people of Israel.

America Enters into a Recession - Starting around June of 2008, the US

has slowly slipped into a recession. Stocks of all types have gone down drastically, and consumer spending had reduced. For example from June to September consumer spending, which makes up two-thirds of the US economy, went down by 3.1 percent, the first decline in spending since 1991. The big subject of the presidential campaigns became “how to fix the economy”. People everywhere have been getting laid off from their jobs and have been cutting back on spending immensely. Large companies such as WaMu, Ford, GM have put in petitions to the government for a financial bailout. The recession is included in the top 10 stories of the year because it affected everyone in the US, because in some way, a change in spending habits affects everyone.

Global Warming - This year global warming was a huge topic of discussion. Cit-

ies across the entire world have experienced mild weather and climate changes. Even Seattle had experienced some out of the ordinary weather for the area. In Alaska and around the North Pole, glaciers are constantly melting and pushing polar bears and penguins to starvation and death because they don’t know how to adapt to the constantly shrinking land that they normally take for granted. We as a planet need to step up our game and start taking action to help save the animals and people of this earth and to make efforts to try to stop global warming. This story is important because it effects the entire planet.

How the Republican Party Spent Donor’s Money - During the

heat of the Republican campaign, vice-president nominee, Sarah Palin was sent to Saks 5th Ave to get herself a new wardrobe. The Republican Party felt that this was a good use of their money because Palin had to portray a certain image. An image they thought had to cost $150,000. Donators to the campaign were quite upset when they found out where their money was going. This is why this story is in the top 10. Republicans were enraged because their hard (not not) earned money was being spent to dress up John McCain’s Barbie doll.

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Proposition 8: Gay Marriage Banned in California - On Election

Day, voters chose to ban gay marriage in the state of California. This decision annulled all the marriages that occurred when same-sex marriage was legal in California. People against gay marriage stated that recognizing same-sex marriage would damage society, and require changes to what is taught in schools regarding marriage. People against the passing of the ban stated that it was unfair to ban same-sex marriage after it had been proven that it was a good thing since California begun recognizing same-sex marriages in early 2008. Strong supporters of the ban on gay marriage included groups of Roman Catholics including the Knights of Columbus. This story is within the top 10 because people fought so hard to gain respect and recognition for same-sex marriage and then it all got taken away.

AIG Bailout Plan - Part of the American economy crisis had to do with AIG

(American International Group). AIG essentially went bankrupt and asked the federal government for a $85 billion bailout. US negotiators drove a hard bargain and the Federal Government lent $85 billion to AIG, and the Feds will now get 79.9 equity stakes in the insurer in the form of equity participation notes. This is a two-year loan that will carry an interest rate of the London interbank rate plus 8.5 percentage points. This story is included in the top ten because it is a extremely large financial issue and may end up being a complete loss of money for the government and for the people of the US.

The Year of the Hybrid - Despite the recession the hype about hybrid cars was one of the major topics this last year. Car companies were getting badmouthed for creating “gas guzzlers” and so in response, car companies started coming out with bigger hybrid vehicles. For example, Cadillac now makes a Hybrid Escalade, one of the largest SUVs available. Hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius can get up to around 40mpg and the 2010 model is getting 50mpg, a record for the industry. This is included in the top 10 stories because soon enough, all we will be able to get is hybrid vehicles, and everyone will be helping to make the earth a little bit greener.

I-1000 Passed in Washington State - Doctor Assisted Suicide - With the election in November, Washington voters had the chance to vote on a

life or death issue, I-1000 or doctor assisted suicide. The bill passed with the voters in Washington state, making it legal to ask your doctor to kill you if you so see fit. This bill had some fine print that worried voters. The bill stated that a person can commit doctor assisted suicide without telling their spouse or family. For example, if an elderly person just decided one day that they didn’t want to live anymore and the doctor agreed it was okay to let them commit doctor assisted suicide then that would be it. You would lose your grandma or grandpa, with no warning. This decision of the Washington voters is in the top ten stories because being able to kill yourself legally without tell any family members is a very scary thing.

When It Pays to Recycle - In Everett, Massachusetts a company called Re-

cycleBank has started a program that pays residents to recycle. Special trash cans with radio-frequency ID tags embedded in the containers communicate with special trucks that weigh the recycling and then pay the resident for recycling a certain weight of materials. The data regarding how much each household is recycling is posted on a website where it is converted into points and ten redeemed for discounts at stores such as CVS, Starbucks, and even on national brands like Coke. In Everett, where the program launched citywide in July, the average household now recycles the equivalent of 830 pounds a year, up tenfold since the program launched. “The recycling buzz is out there,” says Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria. “It’s fun filling that thing up to the top.” This story is important because I think that If RecycleBank expands to serve the entire country, a lot more people will start to recycle and it will greatly reduce the amount of trash this country puts into landfills.

JANUARY 15, 2009 | NEWSWEEK

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The Last Word When signing up for classes

for the 2008-2009 school year, I signed up for Social Issues in American Lit because I thought that it would just all be about racism and excluding people and different cultures, I thought it would be a lot of movie watching and that’s about it. I was wrong, this class made me learn about and examine the different social worlds and situations that people can get into and how they are fair or unfair and how they can best be resolved if they are unfair. I liked the books that we read as a class, I think that they were a good variety of genre and covered some important issues.

If we don’t pay attention to what is going on now we could get ourselves in grave danger later on because we did not learn from others mistakes. Especially the mistakes that are large enough to end up in the public news. This course taught me how to organize my speeches better and how to be a better writer. I learned that it is a bad thing to use a lot of “to be” verbs, and that expressing yourself in the classroom is an okay thing to do if it is called for. I learned that many different people deal with a lot of the same issues regarding culture clash, and that they all get over them in a unique way. The important thing is to accept who you are and to try to get yourself into the best situation possible, one that is in your best interest.

Farewell, Social Issues in American Literature My favorite book of the course was “The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian”, I liked this book because it was a quick read and it had a lot of humor along with the pain and clash of social worlds in Junior’s life. Junior was a good character to focus on because he deals with a lot of issues in his head as well as the ones in the world around him. He a very interesting boy, a true “part-time Indian.” I would recommend this course to a friend. I would recommend this course to people that have difficulties with public speaking and organization. Making the speech outlines force you to both be organized, and learn better public speaking skills. This course would also be good for someone who likes to express their opinions on an issue rather than just holding it inside like most Language Arts classes require you to do. I really enjoyed this class. Young people around the world should pay attention to social issues and current events because we may not be the generation that is making all the decisions in America right now, but our time is soon.

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By Liz Lockhart Special Thanks to Ms. Alokolaro for helping me through it all and supporting me no matter how I was doing. Thank you for putting up with my parents and their e-mails, and thank you for being a great teacher.

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