Same rules as the last time. Publication date will be late-October. Please keep that in mind when coming up with ideas.
Please post 6-7 ideas for the second edition of the year. You must have at least one article idea for each section (News, Sports, A&E, Features, Op/Ed, Center Spread). Be sure to read the other ideas BEFORE you post your own. You can elaborate on another person's post (with a citation, of course). Include an article idea for each section. Be specific and format each idea as such:
Article Idea: Must interviews (be specific ... "students" is fairly obvious and somewhat lame): Why will people want to read this:
8 comments:
News: Spirit week: I don't know if the edition is coming out before/during/after spirit week but it would be beneficial to give a recap or schedule and description of events during that week.
Sports: What is the most expensive sport to play? Compare costs of playing certain sports year round.
A&E: Inside the fall play! I think the fall play also opens around the time of the newspaper. I think it might be good to get a description of the the play, as well as some interviews with some of the cast members. (I know some of the plays last year were a little bit confusing!)
Features: Halloween! Creative costumes from last year, Halloween traditions, maybe some fun facts about the history of Halloween. Also possibly pictures of students as young kids in Halloween costumes....guess who that was? This could be cliché but I think that if we put a fun twist on a Halloween article it could turn out interesting.
Op/Ed: 14-Year Old Gay Teenager Killed Himself this week. He was a part of the "It get's better campaign". What really helps gay kids? Even as a part of the "it gets better campaign" the boy still committed suicide. How is MA different from many other places in the way it treats members of the LGBTQ community, how is it different?
Center Spread:
News
Article Idea: Communications Evening
The issue will come out a couple of weeks before Communications Evening, so a preview article could be interesting. I think some students are hesitant to go to Communications Evening, and perhaps don't really know what it entails; we could feature what will be addressed, as well as what's been done in the past and what people think of it.
Interviews: Sanjai, Joani, PR members (I'm one of them; Subei Kyle, Peter Krebs, Torie White, Amelia Howard, etc). As well as students who have attended.
Why: There's often an air of mystery surrounding PR and Communications Evening, and a straight news article would be a good way to lift some of that ambiguity as well as provide both a preview for this year's Evening as well as a history of past ones.
Sports
Article Idea: Why don't we have...?
As a small school, the BCL sports we participate in are relatively limited. I know last year a lot of my friends were talking about wanting to start a girls' lacrosse team, but it never materialized. It would be interesting to see which sports aren't represented that students want more of, and learn how hard it is to actually get the school involved in these sports.
Must Interviews: Josh Frechette, Josh Kalkstein, Travis, students
Why: Students who want answers to these questions and want to know why these teams aren't viable would definitely be interested in reading this.
A&E
Article Idea: Retro trends on campus
I envision this being a very graphic-heavy article, displaying the similarities between MA fashion and trends from decades ago. The long skirts a lot of girls have been wearing, for example, exude 70's flower child; some boys' obsessions with high-top Nikes can be traced back to the 80's hip hop culture. For this article, there would really only need to be a bit of text and the rest could be mostly photo comparisons (we could possibly even find some photos in old yearbooks from MA).
Must Interviews: Whoever is doing this article would have to be ready to photograph anyone displaying retro trends.
Why: A&E articles with great photos are always popular, and executed well, these photo comparisons could be really attention-grabbing.
Features
Article Idea: The busiest schedule at MA
We all whine about how little time we have to relax (for valid reasons), but I'm sure there will always be someone at MA who has even more on his/her plate than we do. We could attempt to find either one person or a few to feature, and write of their never-ending activities and homework.
Must Interviews: Writer would have to do some investigating on this front
Why: I, personally, would be interested in knowing how crazy some people have it. This would be a fun article that could also reflect the almost unreal amount of commitments some students have.
Op/Ed
Article Idea: Growing up in the 21st century
Either a staff member or guest writer could address these types of questions: Which aspects of society have truly shaped the development of child to adult? When does someone truly become an adult in our society? How do media and events through adolescence shape people's maturing views? etc.
Must Interview: Find a good writer who would be willing to talk about their experiences growing up, being influenced by a society in war, in debt, etc.
Center Spread
Article Idea: Technology and its overwhelming effect on our lives
It's everywhere, and it's time to address it more in our paper. From the StarBoards in the science classrooms to talk of the unveiling of the iPhone 5 this fall (before the issue will come out), we are surrounded by technology in our lives on and off of campus. What are the true implications of screens and gadgets in our lives though? It's obvious what websites like Facebook and StumpleUpon can do to us, but how much further are we affected by everything from the Internet to advancements in things like hearing aids? This center spread could have several different components, such as technology in the news, new technology on campus, etc.
Must Interviews: Brad Lakritz, Travis, teachers who use technology for their classes (I know Bill and Dave made a lecture video and uploaded it to Vimeo for their juniors to watch for homework), students who overuse and underuse technology, students who rely on technology to help them in everyday situations (Will Newell and his segway, hard-of-hearing students)
Why: As such an integral part of our modern society, technology should have some representation in our paper. I think that as a center spread, this could be great graphically as well as have good content, and I think it's an issue that a lot of students would enjoy reading about.
News: What were people's favorite conference on democracies? Did the issues talked about raise any awareness within our community. Maybe also a brief overview of all of them for people who missed one they wanted to attend.
Sports: Maybe just one big graphic of all the fall sports games showing all our wins and losses and the score. Since there isn't anything that officially announces how the teams do at away games, it would be informative to fans who can't come to every game
A&E: This idea is kind of inspired by Lena. It would mainly be graphics but there could be a take on 'people watching' like they do in people. We could take pics of students around school and pair it with a pic of a celebrity wearing a similar thing. The title would be something along the lines of-whose setting trends around campus or something. Its just a fun article for (mainly girls) to read. I know I like to see those types of articles in magazines.
Features: Thanksgiving cultural traditions; what does every MA family do to give thanks for the holidays? It would be interesting to see some other ways people celebrate thanksgiving besides the typical turkey and pumpkin pie.
Op/Ed: We could do an article on what it's like to be in Journalism and write the newspaper. It would be fun for our peers to take a peek behind the scenes and it would also encourage others to join!
Center Spread: Where are the MA alumni and how did they get there? It would be cool to interview some and ask them what they remember about MA. Also, maybe there is a correlation between the classes they took in high school and their job now. Did it help them get where they are today?
Features: School Spirit
Why is this interesting: Although students still attend sporting events, the crowds have seemed significantly smaller this Fall in comparison to other years. Varsity volleyball and soccer games used to be events that the whole MA community showed up at…so what’s changed? Is it because the caliber f playing has decreased? Have students just lost interest? The spirit captains also seem to have had a minimal presence this year….
Possible Interviews: Captains of Varsity Volleyball and Soccer,Evy Roy, Emily Bogin
A&E: Fall Fashion!
Why this is interesting: Who doesn’t love to read about the newest and hottest Fall fashion trends?!?! We do it every year…. why stop now? It’s a lighthearted piece, snd gives us the opportunity to fill the paper with fun pictures of students dawning their most trendy fall outfits. We’ll include guys too!
Possible Interviews: Lena Kristy, Ellie Cope, and any guys who people consider trendy!
Center Spread: Shift Happens….
Why this is interesting: In IR the other week we watched a Youtube video titled ‘Shift Happens’. It focused on quick facts intended to demonstrate the world’s state of constant change, highlighting the rapidly growing and expanding aspects of modern day society, and providing shocking numerical predictions for the future. Many of these, were fully applicable to the lives of MA students. It would be interesting to do a center spread on how high schools are currently preparing their students for an unpredictable future in which many of the most popular jobs have not yet even been created, and several other constantly changing aspects of the world that are difficult to prepare for.
Possible Interviews: Travis, Lynne, Leigh Kinney
Sports: Winter Sports
Why this is interesting: The winter sports season (basketball), begins just one week after this issue of The Voice will come out. We could do intro’s to the top players and give a small bio on the coach, and his goals for the team in the coming season. This could also potentially increase turnout to the games and get people excited!
Possible Interviews: Basketball Coach (jv and varsity), Jane Cavagnero, Andrew Schleeter, Danielle Flores, Emily Klein
News: Fall Theatre Production
Why this is interesting: Even if not too many people are showing up to athletic events, maybe we can get people excited about the theatre productions. We can do an overview on the story line and include small bios on the actors with leading roles.
Possible Interviews: David Sinaiko/anyone involved in the play
Op/Ed: Is Marin as Safe as We Think?
Why this is interesting: In the past few years, stories in the Marin IJ focused on strange men in vans offering rides to young girls reports of theft have have been increasing. Just last week, a former MA student was arrested for robbery in the Kent Woodlands area. Has Marin changed from how it used to be? Should people be more worried? Anyone who lives in Marin could write this piece.
News:
I think we should do a piece on conference on democracy. Like Tia said it would be cool to get reviews from all grades and teachers. This way we can see which ones were the most popular and the school could use this as a guide for next year. The must interviews would definitely be just the ma community.
Sports:
I like Avery's idea of introducing the winter sports. We can also review the fall sports. This would be interesting to everyone and it would be a great way to wrap up the season and welcome the new one! Must interviews would be athletes from the fall season and future athletes for the winter
A&E: We can do a piece on the upcoming events like concerts or plays. Many people miss these dates so it would help them to be able to plan ahead and come the events! Interviews would be cast members from plays, and musicians from bands.
Features:
We can write a piece about indigenous people's day and why people changed the name. I know a lot of people wonder about that. Obviously the newspaper would be published later, but it is still relevant. Interviews could be any randome student to ask his or her view on the topic. We can also ask teachers.
Op/Ed:
It's certainly not a recent issue, but it is a constant controversial topic. The death penalty. We can discuss the fairness or humanity of it.
Center Spread:
I think its always interesting to know what we eat. The meat companies and many others are corrupt. If we could get a story about the difference between food a hundred years ago and the food today, that would appeal to everyone! Interviews could be to chef Sean, or even some people at the farmers market, anyone who knows about organic foods and the ever changing things that are put in them.
News: Discussing the Outings changes.
What did people think of the outings selection change last year? Besides the obvious attendance issues, I think there's a good debate on the pros and cons of each system. Other questions people would want to know: How early do people actually get to school to turn their forms in? Do people think this is fair? What are students' ideas on new systems? Also, I was in the Cafe and saw that a few outings that should be popular weren't full- has popularity decreased?
Interviews: Whoever is number one on the most popular outings, like Sykes Hot Springs, and also the person that's #20 on the wait list. Peter, of course. An OLE student that wasn't at the assembly- Adam Sterry?
Graphic: Poll showing ratio of how many outings a student signed up for last year and how many they got into, also a comparison to this year.
Sports: Locker room culture/LGBT language.
Follow up on Hudson Taylor. I know when I was listening to him I couldn't really relate because I almost never hear hurtful language, much less in the locker room, but a ton of people raised their hands when he asked who had heard it in the past week. I think MA students are on a huge range in terms of how much they hear hurtful LGBT language, and they'd be interested to see how MA stands compared to the locker room described by Taylor. It could also include bits about who actually uses them, what they're like (why are there shower curtains in the girls' swim and new gym showers but not the guys?), etc.
Interviews: Josh F., Waterpolo, Cross country, Basketball and swimming kids, Charis or Sanjai.
Center spread/Features: The War and activism at MA.
There's a super interesting video that Mark Stefanski has from a while ago that shows almost all of MA out in San Rafael petitioning about the Iraq war. I could never see MA students now getting even 1/10th as into it as they were.
How have student activism changed over the years?
What is the current status of the wars in the Middle East? I don't think a lot of people keep track but would like to have a clear synopsis of the history and where we are now.
Who benefits from these wars? (There are a lot of companies that don't get a lot of coverage.)
How are they affecting the nation and MA?
Interviews: Pam (Middle East teacher), teachers that have been here for a long time such as Jim Baldwin and Mark Stefanski. Students that have relatives serving.
Editorial: I'm not sure exactly what our first center spread had on where MA's money goes, but an editor could walk through their day and what they eat at the Cafe without knowing how much it costs, what they charge to their incidental, how they get their MAPA treats, etc. and talk about where the money actually comes from.
A&E: Evolution of clubs at MA over the past four years.
It'd cover the past, current and brand new entertainment-ish clubs at MA like the Poetry Slam, Improv, Acapella group, Book and Music Swap, etc. I mean, what happened to the Poetry Slam? Does it still exist?
News: Communications evening (credit to Lena)
Why: For the freshman, and anyone else who's new to the event, it would be a great idea to preview what it's all about and what it's been like in the past.
Interviews: PR kids, Sanjai and Joani
Sports: Freshman and Sports
Why: It would highlight the importance of playing sports as a freshman, and how it helps emergence into MA.
Interviews: Freshman on a variety of teams; freshman who don't play any sports (or haven't so far)
A&E: Bands at MA
Why: It would be a good way to publicize the bands, who's in them and what kind of music they play, or just one song that they're best at. It would be cool to profile the bands like sports teams are profiled.
Interviews: Band leaders, Bob
Features: Naviance online
Why: Naviance offers an interesting approach to the college search: It allows us to look at where we stand in a completely objective way (the graphs with GPA vs. SAT/ACT, who got in who didn't). This can be a let down if were at a point on the graph that has no 'green squares' anywhere near it, and is surrounded by red X's. The article could be about if Naviance is a helpful tool or just a stressful addition to the college game.
Interviews: Seniors, the Jennifers
Op/Ed: Senior speeches: what they mean to us
Why: What do senior speeches mean to each grade respectively? How does this view change over the four years at MA? Someone who already gave their speech could write this.. someone like Neha. Neha could offer her experience, contrasted with the experience of listening to speeches (those who haven't given them yet), contrasted with freshman who have only heard a few.
Interviews: A few people from each grade, a few seniors who have already given their speeches
Center Spread: Semester abroad programs
Why: A number of students have participated in semester abroad programs like Cityterm and the Mountain school, and sometimes they come back and we don't hear a whole lot about it. The article could just show what the semester abroad meant for the students that did it, what they learned/ how it was different from MA, and if they would do it again (if they liked it more than MA).
Interviews: Those who participated/are away now
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