M A G OT H Y R I V E R M I D D L E Staff Grayson C. JP H. Patrick C. Amber B. Loralei B. In This Issue Page 1 and 2- Mrs. Herbert Page 3 Las Vegas Shooting Page 4 Two sides to every story Page 5 Cuphead game review Page 6 smart phone review Page 7- comic/ad The Hook W I N T E R 2 0 1 7-2018 A P U B L I C A T I O N W R I T T E N B Y S T U D E N T S, F O R S T U D E N T S L Our New Administrator is a Great Catch By: Loralei B. There are many new things at Magothy River Middle School: new students, a new schedule, and best of all a new administrator. I had the privilege to interview this very interesting person, Mrs. Herbert! Talking with her was amazing. I loved learning about her past and her strengths and weakness. Before Mrs. Herbert came to work here at Magothy River Middle School she worked at other schools. She worked in multiple school environments, not as a administrator but as a teacher. She worked in a K-8 school where she taught second grade and eighth grade in Tennessee. Then she moved to Maryland where she taught seventh grade math. She then became an administrator at Bates Middle and Brooklyn Park. After that she came over to Magothy River Middle School. Mrs. Herbert has never been a principal, yet. In my time with her I asked her a series of questions about Magothy River Middle School. Mrs. Herbert believes that this school's environment is very conducive to learning. As she walks about the building she sees many students active with their learning. As I spoke with Mrs. Herbert I learned many other things about her. She was compelled to take on the duty as administrator because as a teacher she felt as if she wasn t able to reach and/or connect with all of the teachers, students, and staff. When she was in the classroom she could only connect with those students in her classroom., but as a administrator her talents reach everyone. She says she has her strengths and weaknesses. Building relationships is one of her many strengths. Mrs. Herbert is very enjoyable to speak with and is very approachable, but she admits that time management is one of her weaknesses. We are lucky to have our new administrator. If you get the chance to get to know her, take that chance. She is very likeable and friendly.
P A G E 2 By Amber B. 1. Ten fish are in a tank. Two drown, four swim away and three die. How many are left in the tank? 2. This 5-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it. What is the word? 3. When you need me, you throw me away,but when you are done with me, you bring me back. What am I? 4. Many have heard me, but no one has seen me, and will not speak back until spoken to. What am I? 5. People buy me to in order to eat, but never eat me. What am I? Answers: 1. 10 2. short 3. anchor 4. an echo 5. a plate
P A G E 3 The Las Vegas Massacre: A U.S. Tragedy By: Patrick C. The 2017 Las Vegas shooting occurred on October 1st and left 58 killed has been the biggest massed shooting in the U.S.A. The shooting caused by Stephen Paddock left 58 killed and 546 wounded, adding up to a total of 604 casualties. Stephen Paddock had unknown motives and was found dead from a gunshot wound. The shooting had taken at place the Harvest Music Festival. Stephen Paddock Stephen Paddock was 64 years old and had not informed anyone about what he would take part in. He sent his girlfriend, who thought he was breaking up with her, to the Philippines along with $100,000. His brother had quoted that it didn t seem like the big brother that he knew. Stephen had fallen on hard times in the last year of his life, and may have which may have contributed to the shooting. Fake news websites posted articles claiming that Paddock was a registered Democrat who was working with terrorists none of these facts have been proven. The Shooting Stephen booked a hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and stockpiled 23 firearms and excess of ammunition. At 10:05 Stephen began shooting at the 22,000 guests attending the Harvest Music Festival. By 10:15, the firing had ceased and officers found Stephen dead, from a selfinflicted headshot wound. The wounded were immediately sent to nearby hospitals, while the dead were mourned. Aftermath ISIS claimed that Paddock was a member of their terrorist organization, however no evidence has been found to prove their claim. President Trump visited victims of the shooting, and flowers were placed around the Las Vegas sign a week later. U.S. senators are trying to pass a law restricting the amount of ammunition that civilian s guns can fire. The U.S. must not forget The Las Vegas sign, surrounded by flowers to signify that everyone is mourning the innocent victims of the shooting. this terrible day and must remember the victims of this terrible time.
P A G E 4 Two Sides to Every Story: Taking a Knee During the National Anthem Taking a Knee is Appalling By: J.P. H. Lately, some NFL football players have been taking a knee during the national anthem, which is a huge disrespect to our country. Why are these players doing this, and why are some people okay with it? It all started at a rally in Alabama where players refused to stand during the national anthem as a protest against police brutality. President Trump was not happy about this, and responded through a tweet calling them #$% &% *#@! %&. While I do think that the President could have handled it better, I completely agree with him that this isn t okay. Initially the protesters were trying to express their feelings about all of the police involved shootings of minorities. However, taking a knee during a sporting event in which everyone is looking to the athletes as role models is not the way to express your feelings about police brutality. This is because taking a knee during the anthem is disrespecting the entirety of America, not just the police. There are plenty of ways to protest against police brutality while still respecting our troops, president, and country in general. Taking a Knee is Perfectly Fine By: Grayson C. NFL players kneeling for the national anthem is perfectly fine. The people who are being ridiculed for kneeling aren t doing anything wrong; they are peacefully protesting police brutality. These players are exercising their first amendment which is the freedom of speech. They can keep doing what they are doing because this a free country and it is not hurting anybody. Even the NFL and MLB know this, they say that players are not required to stand during the Star Spangled Banner. If players were forced to stand, that would be stealing their right to express themselves which is not what our country stands for.
P A G E 5 Cuphead: Were the 1930 s Really this Difficult? By: J.P. H. Cuphead: Don t Deal with The Devil is a game designed to infuriate you. You need good reflexes and better patience to even get close to beating this game. The game was in development for seven years because practically everything in the game is hand drawn. You read that right, it is a completely hand drawn game. Cuphead draws all its inspiration from 1930s cartoons (such as Mickey Mouse, Tom and Jerry and Betty Boop). The game s controls are spectacular, so when you fail (which you will) it doesn t feel like the game messed up, it feels like you did. The game is mostly boss battles, and let me tell you, some of them are INSANE. Take Baroness von Bon Bon for example. She is a candy queen and to defeat her, you need to defeat her three minions while she`s hiding in her castle. When you finally beat the minions, she jumps on the roof and bombards you with a candy cane shotgun! The story of the game is sort of tragic, honestly. It begins with two brothers Cuphead (the red one) and Mugman (the blue one) wandering far from home (against their guardian, Elder Kettles, orders). They end up at a casino, which happens to be owned by the devil. They begin to do extremely well at the craps (a game played with dice) table, and the devil notices. He decides to make a deal with the boys (don t deal with the The two brothers fighting Baroness von Bon devil is part of the name, so this really can t go well for them...) If they win the next round of craps, literally all the money in the casino is theirs, but if they lose, he gets their souls. Mugman understands the risk, but before he can say no, Cuphead throws the dice. The boys lose miserably, and end up begging to keep their souls. They reach a compromise. If the two can retrieve the souls of all the people who owe the devil money by midnight, he might spare them. Now the two are out battling all the debtors, hoping to save themselves. All in all, Cuphead is an amazing game, but there are a few flaws. You literally must play on the Regular difficulty mode. There are three modes, Simple; which is probably harder than most games hardest difficulty, Regular; which is almost taunting you with its easy sounding name, and Expert, which is pretty much impossible. To collect the debtor s souls however, you need to defeat them on regular or expert. You can t beat the game without beating all the bosses on Regular or Expert! In this game, there`s such thing as too much difficulty! Cuphead is great, and it is a lot of fun playing it, but don t even think of buying it if you aren`t willing to replay the same level over and over until you finally beat it. The game is $20.00, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in it. Just remember, don t deal with the devil!
P A G E 6 The Latest and Greatest iphones are Here By Grayson C. This fall the high tech company Apple introduced two new iphones: the iphone 8 ( 8 plus) and the iphone X to the market. People have mixed opinions on the devices that have been released, but after researching several sites some clarification about the newest features might help buyers decide which phone is for them. The iphone 8 starts at $699, while the iphone 8 Plus costs $799 and up. They include a new improved camera which is where the iphone 8 and 8 Plus really shine. Testers say the cameras on these models are among the best you can find in a smartphone right now. The design looks just like last year s iphone 7 and 7 Plus. The Home button is still there and the headphone jack is still gone. This really aggravates iphone users because they still hate that they are forced to spend up to $200 on wireless earbuds or headphones. Some users say that the lack of a headphone jack is just a ploy by Apple to make consumers buy their earbuds/headphones. On the other hand, the iphone X has some features that smartphone users will love. The 5.8 retina display is just 0.3 in. bigger than the iphone 8 s 5.5 retina display. The iphone X starts at $999, and it s hands down the best iphone ever. But is the pricey iphone X the smartphone of the future? That s the million-dollar question. Considering the $1,000 starting price and the number of phones Apple is likely to sell, let s call it the trilliondollar question. The advantages of the iphone X are the updated design, fast processor, excellent screen and it s first-of- its-kind augmented reality front camera.
P A G E 7 Secure By Grayson C. Attention all 6th, 7th and 8th grade students: The Hook NEEDS YOU We are in need of writers, editors and publishers to work on the next issue of our student newspaper. If you like what you see and would like to be a member of this talented staff, please see Mrs. Humbert or just come to our club meetings on Tuesdays after school in the upstairs computer lab.