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ORCE1AThe Magazine.

Ex-Texas Villian Speaks:Interview with Vernon Stodghill, inside!

The great journey of a South African woman to America, interview and more!

Are American schools lagging behind? A foreigner’s perspective

FIR

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Air Force 1 Spring 2009

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4 - Risks and Rewards An immigrant’s journey, and how he was able to make a new life for his family.

6 - USA eh? Why America’s once revered education standard, is now falling below its potential.

8 - Scott’s Story From fame, to fugitive, and having to recreate his life, Scott Stodghill has been through it all.

10 - Brack Obama Following the Barack Obama’s remark about the special olympics, a writer responds to the sudden outburst of political correctness.

12 - Moments and Memories The journey of a woman from corruption, through hardship, and how she made a difference.

16 - Bailout or Failout Should GM, one of America’s indutrial giants, be bailed out.

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18 - The Super Bowl The Super Bowl is one of the biggest and most popular events in America. What is it that makes the Super Bowl so special?

20 - This I Believe How moments and events changed the life of a boy, after a huge accident. How sin-gle moments can change a life.

22 - The Dora Story A young girls story of her journey to American and her battle with her oppressors retold.

24 - Fattest and Fittest Cities of U.S. the fattiest and fittiest cities in America, and why they claimed their fame.

28 - The Heart The meaning of a life put into the terms of a journey with one’s own heart.

29 - A Journey and a Path The diretions and choices a per-son must make in living their life.

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Risks and Reward By Changseok L

“It’ll only be a tem-porary stay. It’ll be a great way for you to earn some money. You’ll be getting paid double salary!” Those were the words my dad were told when he got offered be become an assignee for International Sematech, the world’s catalyst for accelerat-ing the com-mercialization of technology innovations into manufacturing solutions. Just a month later, we were aboard a commercial plane travel-ing across the Pacific to Aus-tin, Texas from Seoul, South Korea. “Know-ing that this kind of opportunity don’t come by often, I was very thankful and very lucky to have been given this

opportunity,” Jinhyoung said. “ I always be-lieved that the Korean education system was corrupt and wanted my son, Changseok, and daughter, Jisoo, to experience what it was

like here in the United States.” On December 20, 1999, Jinhyoung Lee and his family arrived at the Austin Bergstorm International Airport. The very next day, he

got straight to work. He was

not a fluent English speaker at all, so he had a very hard time communicating with the people he worked with and doing his

work. “When-ever I turned in reports and meeting min-utes, they were always thor-oughly checked because there was no trust between my co-workers,” Jinhy-oung stated. “As time passed, people started to ap-preciate the work I turned in and real-

ized that it was always excellent. They started to trust me more and I started to enjoy going to work.” After a year or so he was well settled in and so was his family. “Life

A Korean Airplane at the Daeju Airport.

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was so much more re-laxed here. For once, I never worried about my ability to support my fam-ily,” Jinhyoung said. In May 2001, Hynix, the company he was being an assignee for, ordered Jinhyoung to come back to South Korea. “My wife and kids thought that we would have to go back to Ko-rea. When I saw how sad they were, I made the decision to stay here. Besides, I knew my kids were behind on the curriculum over in Korea, so it wouldn’t do any good going back,” Jinhyoung said. Seven months later, Jinhyoung Lee traveled to Seoul, Ko-rea where the Hynix headquarters are lo-cated. There he gave Joung-cho Lee, his CEO, a letter of resigna-tion. “Joung-cho looked and me in disappoint-ment,” Jinhyoung Lee said. Then, he spent the rest of the day taking care of paperwork and receiving his severance package. “It was the hardest decision ever. A decision that would

change my children’s lives forever,” Jinhyoung said. When he returned to Austin, he and his family were happy, but the only problem was there was no income. “It was hard quitting a job you’ve had

for 20 years. But it was worth the happiness of the family,” Jinhyoung said. All they had was the money they’ve been saving up for the two years they’ve been here. He started looking for a job in semi conducting. He first started with Se-matech where he worked

as an assignee for the past two years. They gave him a job right away. Sematech knew that all the major tech-nology companies in Ko-rea knew Jinhyoung Lee, so they made him Head of Foreign Relationships.

Even though he didn’t get paid much, it still allowed him and his family to apply for a permanent residence (green card). “ I never thought things would turn out this way. Things were working out so well

for us,” Jinhyoung said. The following year, he also took over a second job as an account man-ager. “Every time I think about the decision that I made, I think about the opportunity that I have given my kids,” Jinhy-oung said.

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USAeh?

A s 1st pe-riod starts, the teacher walks up to the board and writes the

warm up. I look to the right of me, there’s a guy already asleep; I look the left of me and the guy there is texting faster than I can type. I attend the Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA), the only exemplary high school in my district. LASA is one of the top schools in the nation that “offer a rigorous, innovative, and nationally recognized interdisciplinary curricu-lum to educate socially responsible leaders, prob-

lem-solvers and thinkers.” Yet, there are still a hand-ful of students at LASA that sleep in many class-es, text often, and don’t do

their homework Here in the United States,

attending

school is just a way of life for most people and basi-cally a part of the culture. Even though many kids do not enjoy school, it is considered a standard for many families in the U.S. What most American stu-dents don’t realize is that we should be grateful for a more secure and well-or-ganized education system compared to education systems across the world. The Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A) reports that that the United States spends about eight hun-dred billion dollars on this defective education sys-tem per year. All of this is not wasted though. Some students work very hard in

Why USA’sstandards are falling.

Ruth DeHolton

By Changseok L.

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school and become very successful. “The thought of going to school is only a dream for most kids,” said Ruth De-holton, a math teacher at the Liberal Arts and Science Acad-emy. DeHolton was born in the Republic of Congo in 1957. She lived there for 16 years and moved to the United States of America to con-tinue her education. She attended Swarthmore Col-lege, and then moved to Ethiopia to teach. Kids in Ethiopia cannot even pay for their school supplies, which are only about 5 to ten dollars. To people here in the United States, that is not very much for education. 5 dol-lars is not even enough to get a sufficient meal at a fast food restaurant. But 40 percent of families in Ethiopia that have a child

cannot pay this fine. Es-pecially those who have more than one kid. Students may think that they will never use the

things they learn at school in life. They may think that they don’t need an edu-cation and that they are ready to start life, but they should realize that even if it isn’t used in life, knowl-edge is power. These kids that think like this very soon start to realize how hard it is to live in soci-ety these days with-out an education. When I lived in Korea, school was

not a place where I felt safe and had fun in. School was practically a prison for me. In Korea, teachers are allowed to punish students for any vi-olations of the school rules or policies. This “pun-ishment” includes being beat on the calf muscles or the palm of your hand. There are many instances where students also have to clean the restrooms or the halls after school. Of course nowadays, these punishments have been considered inhumane and not allowed anymore, but there are still many schools that still practice this. One cause of this is because there is on aver-age about 50-70 kids in one classroom under one teacher. Therefore the teacher must have control of the class at all times in their class-rooms.

eh?

“The thought of

going to school is only a dream for

most kids.”

- Ruth Deholton

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Scott StodghillHis rise and fall in Texas Politics

By Sam T

“Iwant people to know that you can make a mistake, and your life can turn on a dime.” When I look at Scott

Stodghill for answers to my ques-tions, a pair of deep blue eyes stare back. There’s no doubt in my mind that Scott has been through more than most people could even imagine, yet he is still very collected about the matter. Scott believes that his story in Texas politics can do much more than simply entertain his readers; he believes it can teach them a thing or two about the choices they make in life .

“I was a little fish that fried up real big,” said Scott, trying to sum up his experience in Texas politics. As a rising star, he made it to the top, alongside acclaimed Texas bureaucrats Bob Bullock, Anne Richards, and Frank Erwin. His cocaine addiction ultimately led to his downfall, but not with-out a few twists.

Scott started up in politics not for his own reasons but rath-er to please his girlfriend, a cute young Texas Christian University freshman who was looking to marry a lawyer. At the time, the fastest way to become a lawyer was to attend Baylor University Law School, in Waco, and that’s what Scott had his heart set on. Scott attended The University of

Texas at Austin still looking in the future to Baylor Law . “I went to see my girl, at that time, but she basically told me that she was go-ing to marry a lawyer, but that he went to SMU and his name was George,” Scott said. At that point, Scott didn’t really know what he wanted to do with his life. He then got a summer job with his grand-father’s attorney, a Texas state

senator and ended up working in the state’s Planning and Coor-dination Department.

Right off the bat, it was clear to Scott that he had an in-herent gift for politics. “I was real-ly good at it.” He began express-ing his ideas, even as an intern,

spitting out good ideas from the second he walked into the Texas State Department. While his first plan to coordinate government jets to save resources didn’t end up being implemented, Scott still stirred up quite a ruckus fighting for his idea. Enough ruckus, in fact, to catch the attention of the Governor, Dolph Briscoe. Scott was soon transferred from the Planning and Coordination De-partment to the governor’s staff. Here’s when things got interest-ing. According to Scott, Janey Briscoe, the governor’s wife, was the real “power behind the throne”. Janey would be crucial to Scott’s great success in Texas politics. “She befriended me as kind of a mentor,” Scott said. He respected her highly, and he al-ways valued her opinion, which meant a lot to her. His good rela-tionship with the First Texan paid off ; “Before I knew it, I was still in school, she offered me a full time position on the governor’s staff.” Scott immediately accepted her offer and began his new position as an adviser to the governor. Not too shabby for a kid who was still in college.

Through his work in the Governor’s office, Scott become acquainted with quite a few in-teresting people, including Bob Bullock, Anne Richards, Frank

Vernon “Scott” Stodghill

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Erwin, and President Johnson. “Those guys were serious drink-ers; Bullock was in those days, and so was Frank (Erwin). I even ended up driving them home many nights.” Scott said. Even-tually the alcohol took hold of Scott as well, and that’s when he really lost it.

“I was drinking too much. That was part of the political life,” Scott said . Some days he drank so much that he found it impos-sible to get work done the next day. Drinking this much was new terrain for Scott, and he soon realized that it was a habit he couldn’t keep up. That’s when a buddy from the legal department introduced Scott to a new sub-stance, a “miracle drug”: cocaine. It allowed him to party at night, but then still be able to function and perform his duties during the day.

Cocaine did what it does best: it turned Scott’s life upside down. Soon it wasn’t something that he was doing for fun or so-cially; he was full-on addicted. “I just thought I’d found the answer to my problems,” he said. Scott didn’t realize what was happen-ing until it was too late.

Unfortunately, govern-ment jobs are middle class at best, and Scott was running low on money. Cocaine is, of course, a very expensive habit. Scott was an officer of the Texas Democratic Party, and was able to write checks from their ac-count. “One day I did something I never thought I could do. I just

wrote myself a check.” That was the day that none had foreseen. That was the day when bright young Scott Stodghill committed a felo-ny.

He went on doing this for about six months. One day his secretary called while he was at lunch and told him that a couple of Texas Rangers were waiting for him at his office. He knew he was in too deep and had to get out quick. “And then I

did the most mature thing I could do. I got in the car, I drove to Dal-las, I changed my name.”

Six months later, those that Scott once knew in Austin would hardly recognize the man he had become. He was living in Dal-las, hour by hour, pretending to be a lawyer. Scott knew he was no lawyer, and the prospect of getting caught frightened him at times. “I had all these clients, and I was living hour to hour. It was scary.” It had gotten to the point where he no longer responded to the name Scott Stodghill, but only to his alias name John Hen-ry McDonald. Scott seemed to have escaped reality, but unfor-tunately, it seems to always have a way of catching back up. One day, while he was in court filing a motion of continu-ance for a case, a state senator named Oscar Mossy recognized

him. Mossy said “Scott Stodghill? That’s Scott Stodghill, and every-one in Austin is looking for him, governor included.” Scott was ar-rested, and the next day it was national news.

Next came the trials. All the questions were asked, and Scott did his best to come clean. “I even had a psychiatric test. It turned up that I wasn’t crazy, just sad.” The state of Texas seemed to think that Scott was mocking them, which was not at all what he intended. Because of the em-barrassing nature of his crimes, Scott was sent to a particularly violent prison. In fact, it’s one of the worst. It was a prison called Retrieve in south Dallas, and Scott was the only individual in his entire unit who commit-ted a non-violent crime. There he was, not thirty years old, liv-ing amongst Texas’s rapists and murders. In his year and a half at Retrieve, Scott watched 6 fel-low convicts murdered, just feet away. “I was sent there as a sort of political payback,” Scott said, and admitted to me that to some extent, it worked.

After serving his prison time Scott, strived to make some-thing beautiful of his life that had fallen into shambles. He became a minister and is currently writing a book about his experiences. “I was just a boy who was lost then,” he said. He made it clear that you’re not defined by what you have, or where you are in life, but rather by who you are as a human being. He empha-sized how the choices you make can change what you have in a split second, and you have to be ready for the consequences. “My life has purpose and direction now.” I believe him.

“I was a little fish that fried up real big.”- Scott Stodghill

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America’s Push for PolitcalCorrectness

Does it cross the line?

Barack Obama doesn’t hate the disabled, and it is abso-lutely ludicrous

to suggest so. On March 19, America’s President Barack Obama was condemned for remarks about his bad game of bowling; he received the unimpressive score of 129. “It’s like -- it was like Special Olympics or something,” Obama said on the Tonight Show in response to Jay Leno’s sarcastic remarks. All across America, changes

to increase something’s political correctness have been occurring; whether its changing popular football game title’s from “shootouts” to “show-downs, or to making universities change their mascots to avoid Native American stereotypes, one thing is for certain. America had its mind set on things being prim and proper, and as of now, there is a revolution. At risk of sounding cliché, too much of any-thing is bad. Too much reform for political cor-

rectness is bad. Yes, president Obama shouldn’t have made the Special Olympics refer-ence, but without Ameri-can’s colossal need to persecute those who aren’t “politically correct”, the joke would have been inoffensive. The fact that people attack Obama for his “stereotypes” only adds more validity to the phrase, and blows the incident up into a nation-wide story. The American public needs to stop per-secuting public figures on their political correctness, because it creates a dou-

By Sam T

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ble standard between them and the VIPS. The change from Red River Shootout to Red River Rivalry seems miniscule, but it has some much more shocking connotations. If something as non-violent as a sporting event can trigger such a reaction, what’s next? Is the word death, even in serious con-texts, not to be used at all? And why bother to even have violent words if they will never gain the status of “political correctness”? That’s where infringing on people’s first amendment comes in. That’s when too much political correctness becomes a problem. When it really comes down to it, making changes to make a saying more politically correct is the first step towards cen-sorship. I don’t have to tell you about how America was founded on the princi-ple of freedom, in all shapes and sizes, and so infringing on those freedoms is simply un-American. Unfortunately, it is happening all across the nation. Years ago, Dis-ney was accused of being racist in its film Aladdin. Is it a coincidence that the more evil characters had darker skin? In just the first few minutes of Aladdin, the merchant song establishes the Middle East as a barren

wasteland where the justice system runs on a clear and simple limb-removal policy. One line in the song even goes as far as saying that the Middle East is a place

“Where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face” (oddly enough, that line was changed in the DVD version of Aladdin). In response to this political pressure, they made the almost too politi-cally correct Pocahontas, a film featuring a happy Na-tive American girl in tune with nature, that finds true love with a white man. Nice save. This is an example of how America’s desire for

political correctness can have a large amount of po-litical sway. While Barack’s com-ment about the Special Olympics was mildly offen-sive, it is something that an everyday American would say, well, everyday. Barack got elected for his appeal as just another American, and therefore the people should treat him like one. If he had been able to spend the time he used apologizing to America about his “blunder” on some of the more press-ing issues, like the economy and the war, then America might be in some better shape now. Analyzing every little thing Obama says is a waste of time. Let the man do his job. America’s com-pulsive need for everything to be non-offensive is most definitely not a good thing. It provides fuel for slander and allows naïve citizens to look down upon others. Take the word retard for example. The word retarded isn’t a bad word; it’s simply a word. It should seldom be used as an insult, but when referring to someone who is mentally disabled there should be little fuss. I worry sometimes that America will turn into a highly censored society, and lose the free-dom element that makes it so appealing to foreign onlookers.

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Moments and

Memories

A black man lies on the floor, crumpled in pain, while a

white man stands over him with a look of triumph, written on his face. A car drives by and a little girl sees something she will remember for life. A journey does not always have a start and a finish line, but moments inside it that define the way a journey plays out. If any moment could be described as the start of Denelle Silver’s journey, it is this one. “Something is wrong, we have to stand up, we have to say no, we have to fight injustice,”

Denel-le said. “Always have to, always have to fight.” And a long fight, Denelle’s life has been. From the corruption and struggle in her home of South Africa, to finding hope in a new country and having the hope snatched from her grasp. The endurance and strength of Denelle Sil-ver’s has been tested, but she has always found a way to persevere. Because she is white, Denelle was not subject to the rules of Apartheid. This did not change the fact that evidence of the corrup-tion and tragedy were all around her. She grew up

in an environment not unlike that in America in the 1950s. Black and white people had to use different entrances to the restaurants, different wa-ter fountains, and even different sidewalks. All of this deeply disturbed her, and she felt that she needed to stand up for what she believed in. As a teenager, Denelle finally had a chance to fight against all of the suffering she was seeing. She joined the Democratic Party of South Africa, the political party opposed to the rules of Apartheid. They were

By Gabriel K

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trying to prevail over the National Party Govern-ment, which supported Apartheid. To help the Democratic Party, Denelle worked on many different causes, including rallies, voting rights for black

people, and anything else that her party needed. “We were just try-ing to support people who had no rights and trying to get the government to change their views,” Denelle said. “We never

won anything, but still, it gives you some voice in some way.”Denelle then attended col-lege, and in 1985, gradu-ated from the University of Witwatersrand in Jo-hannesburg, South Africa

with a major in teaching. A year later, she began teaching high schoolers. Even though she was trained to teach younger kids, she always preferred the older kids. They add-ed to the learning experi-ence and even the way she looked at teaching.“Not to sound so cliché, but I loved teaching. I mean, I do love teaching, but it’s really more than the teaching,” Denelle said. “It’s not just learning about how to teach even better all the time and [learning] new ideas and keeping up with modern

ed-ucational trends, but really learning from the people I’m supposed to be teaching.” Though she lived in a troubled time, Denelle had a very good upbring-ing in South Africa. She lived in a very orthodox Jewish community with people who shared her faith and beliefs, and had a job she greatly enjoyed. Her life in South Africa was very happy, until in 1993, Denelle’s beloved mother died of lung can-cer.“I was the youngest in my

family and I was very close to her and I nursed her until the minute she died. That in itself is a huge loss,” Denelle said. “This left me feeling almost like an orphan.”One thing that helped her get through the death of her mother was her belief in G-d, and devotion to Ju-daism. She grew up in Or-thodox Jewish community, and had always followed the laws of G-d. Instead of turning away from G-d in her time of despair, she embraced G-d.

“The presence of G-d that I had always felt did not diminish after she died. The feeling and faith were still there,” Denelle said. “Also my mother strongly believed in G-d, and she ac-cepted that she was dying, and it strengthened her faith, so how could it not strengthen mine.”

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“The presence of G-d that I had always felt did not diminish after she died. The feeling and the faith were still there,” Denelle said. “Also my mother strongly believed in G-d,

and she accepted that she was dying, and it strength-ened her faith, so how could it not strengthen mine?” After the death of her mother, Denelle trav-eled abroad for a couple of years, and then came back to South Africa, but there was nothing left there for her. She taught for a few more years, but in the year 2000, at age 37 she moved to Austin, Texas to be with her sis-ter who had moved here

earlier. After immigrating to Amer-ica, Denelle got a worker’s visa to live and work in America as a teacher. She started off teaching middle school students at

the Austin Jewish Acad-emy, but after a couple of years, she moved on to a more formal educa-tion. Instead of teaching kids in a classroom, she worked with people of all ages. Denelle taught in programs such as a kid’s religious school to help prepare them for their Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, and the Melton Program to teach adults about Judaism. The experience of teach-ing in America was far different from what she re-

membered in South Africa.“Teachers are respected here,” Denelle said. “In South Africa, no one re-spects teachers. They’re seen as if you can’t do anything, you just go and teach because that is an easy job.” She was presented with an opportunity to help shape young minds, and she used this opportunity, not only as a teacher, but also as mentor to help influence the people she worked with and taught in ways that they could nev-er imagine. Community has always been an important part of Denelle’s life. She has always tried her hard-est, not only to teach other people what she knows, but also to learn every-thing she can from others. “Community is im-portant because we learn and grow that way and we become better people and if we are better people then the community is bet-ter.” Denelle’s impact on Austin’s Jewish communi-ty can hardly be described by just words. Many of her students are completely different people after they complete her classes.

Denelle Silver in Austin, Texas

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David Brockman was one of her students and a tutor at Congregation Agudas Achim. “I stand in awe of the respect she commands with our Congregation’s youth and their families,” said Brockman. “Denelle fulfills important responsi-bilities not only that others would execute less grace-fully but also with a pas-sion and deep knowledge of Judaism indispensable to the synagogue’s work.” Even though she was one of the most well-known and well-liked teachers in the Jewish community, she began to encounter problems. With the struggling economy, Congregation Agudas Achim, the place where she works, had layoffs where they cut jobs. One of these jobs was Denelle’s. Af-ter losing her job, she was faced with a whole new set of problems. Since they sponsored her worker’s visa, she lost the sponsor-ship when she was laid off and now had no way to stay and America legally. “I have applied

for a path to obtaining a green card but unfortu-nately that isn’t going to work. It’s so complicated to explain. I’m not going to try. All I can say is that $15,000 and 9 years later I am no closer than be-fore.” Denelle’s plan is to move to Canada to again stay with her sis-ter. She intends to work in Canada, but she can-not apply for a job yet because if she leaves the country, she cannot come back. For people such as Lauren Frager, her influ-ence on the Jewish youth in Austin will be sorely missed. “As my middle school teacher she in-stilled in me a certain con-fidence to always be my-

self,” said Frager another former student. Because of Ms. Silver, I entered a large public high school with a strong foundation of priorities and morals and I never waived from doing the right thing.” Many people see something they disagree with, call it out, and then forget it. Denelle Silver was not one of these people. After witnessing a tragic injustice earlier in her life, Denelle sought to fight against injustice and help prevent it in the future. Every student she taught is one more person who is willing to be strong. We all try to make a differ-ence to the world we live in, and Denelle Silver is a perfect example of a per-son who has.

15The South African Flag

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Bailout or Failout?Should we be bailing out big companies or giving our money to entrepreneurs with novel ideas?

By Gabriel K

“The only constant is change, continuing change, in-

evitable change that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be,” science fiction author Isaac Asimov once said. Maybe we would be better off learning from sci-ence fiction and making an effort to look to the future. America’s biggest companies are tum-bling down from an inability to adapt to an ever-changing world. The timeline is now almost 10 years into the 21st century, and companies such as General Motors are stuck reliving their glory from the 20th century. Yes, there was a day when people

would buy enormous cars that drove 10 miles per gallon of gas. But in those days, Bob Dylan was still cranking out hit songs, and gas cost 36 cents per gal-lon. For the times they are a-changin, yet GM is not. In July 2008, due to the economic downturn,

Merrill Lynch released to Reuters that the idea of GM filing for bankruptcy is possible. To try and avoid bankruptcy, they requested government aid for re-

structuring and rebuilding their company. In March 2009, Rick Newman, a reporter for US weekly, wrote that GM has already been granted $13.4 billion in government aid, and is pushing for as much as $25 billion more. I think that it is the government’s

job to make sure that this request is de-nied. Of course, there will be conse-quences to allowing an American symbol like GM to die off. GM employs over 100,000 Americans who will be directly affected if the com-pany fails. MSN financial commenta-tor Michael Brush reported that the failing of GM could also lead to at least 1

million people losing their jobs in the companies that supply parts to GM. GM owes huge debts to part supply companies such as Delphi and American Axle

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A Hummer, one of the biggest gas guzzlers onthe market, made by GM

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& Manufacturing, and if GM declared bankruptcy, their debts could be re-lieved, possibly toppling these companies and all the people who work for them. The loss of these jobs could then result in over a billion dollars in lost taxes. This seems like a lot

to lose, but sometimes, it is time to cut your losses. Who says that the billions of dollars GM has received are enough to bring them back on track? Car sales have dropped like a rock, and GM has shown that they can’t adapt to what consumers want. While foreign automakers such as Honda and Toyota no-ticed the shift in consum-er’s preference from Hum-mers to more fuel-efficient cars, GM was left behind.

It is also possible that a couple of years, or even months from now, GM will fail again and we will end up right where we started, minus the bil-lions of taxpayer dollars. Though GM’s CEO, Rich-ard Wagoner Jr., has been forced to resign, a CEO is only a small part of a com-

pany’s management. There is no reason that this will stop the poor management that led to gas guzzling SUVs, and as Michael Brush also wrote, the spending of $103 billion on employ-ee pension over the last 15 years. We can either take the hit now, and face the consequences of the lost money and jobs, or bail them out and have to go through

the same situation further down the road. During the recent economic recession, the American government has become too spend happy. On February 10, 2009, the Washington Post unveiled a government bailout plan-ning to spend almost 1.5 trillion dollars to rescue some of the country’s one-time economic giants. If America wants to call its economy free enterprise, then it needs to stop bail-

ing out the giants and let the market fix itself. The money saved can be spent saving the 401k’s of the people who have been or will be cut by GM. GM is paying for the bad business decisions they have made over the past years. It is not the govern-ment’s job to give them a second chance. Instead, the government should be investing in entrepreneurs with great ideas for energy efficient cars that will com-pete with the foreign mar-ket. Over the past 10 years, America has lost its title as the land of oppor-tunity. As long as we keep bailing out companies, the American Dream is dead. If Michael Dell asked for a loan to start building com-puters today, he probably wouldn’t get. Instead of trying to revive the gran-deur of once great com-panies, the government should be supporting what made America great in the first place: The chance for everybody to have his or her own fifteen minutes of fame. The chance to have your ideas heard. The chance to make it big. The chance, to live the Ameri-can Dream.

“The only constant is change, continu-ing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in soci-ety today.”

- Isaac Asimov

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The Commercials

Commercials cost 3,000,000 per 30 seconds, and they still all sell. They have the best commercials of the year, no question about it. Some people who could care less about the game watch it, just for the commericals.

The EventIt is the people’s time to hang out with friends, see the family, and party. Beers, chips, salsa. Millions of households are quiet for most of the night, but when the plays happen, the cheers can be heard across the street.

The Field

Workers spend hours bringing the field up to par, for one game. It needs to be perfect. The grass, the paint, the stands. It is the event.

The Super BowlBy Gabriel K

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The GameIt is the best game of the year. No questions asked. The best two teams play each other on the biggest stage. Not all games are close, but the memories, last forever.

The Fans100,000,000 people watch the game every year. One-third of the country. It’s the game. The cameras flashing, the lights. they play it in a warm place every year, just for the fans.

The Media HypeThe super bowl has two weeks just for media. Interviews, predictions, just talking about the game. They have it all. People love to talk about it alomst as much as they love to watch it

The Play

Not in every super bowl, but in some, there is that play that leaves the audience speechless. David Tyree’s catch on his helmet, Joe Montana to Dwight Clark, Santonio Holmes in the back of the endzone.Hero’s get remembered, but leg-ends never die.

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I believe that the life of a person is not measured in years but in moments. When a man lies dying on a hospital bed he does not go back and re-member all of the in-dividual years of his life, but the special moments of it. The times of his life that makes his life spe-cial. For we are all special in our own life, and by the end of it, each and every person will make a difference. I believe that every person’s life is made up of three

things, possessions I shall call them, for our entire life is based on using these three things, and even the poorest man has them. For the beliefs we hold dear, the choices we make, and the actions we perform are what

make a person’s life. I remember lying in the hot desert sand in the middle of the Arizo-na desert, watching the

blood drip from my fa-ther’s forehead and my mom groan in pain on the ground. I remem-ber lying on the hot desert sand, hugging a stuffed fish that was my only comfort. For I was four years old, and after our tire had blown

out, our car had flipped onto the side of a mainly deserted road. And I remem-ber the man. A man I did not

know and will never know or rec-ognize. The man who jumped out of his car to help the family of four lying in pain on the side

This I BelieveBy Gabriel K

Knowledge is made up of the things that you know to be true, and the things that you believe to be true.

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of the road. The man called the ambulance and had us transported to the nearest hospital. The man, the rich man, the hotel owner, who let us stay in one of his suites, free of charge, after a terrible car wreck.

I truly admire a man like this. A man willing to go to such a great length to help people he did not know. For this is honor. And it will never show up in his checkbook or in an awards case, or on anything tangible, but for the rest of my life, this man will be my

hero. And when I talk about the beliefs I hold dear, honor is my top choice. For the chance to make a dif-ference in the life of somebody else is the greatest gift of all any-body could give me.

And some people who know me well can un-derstand that after what this man did for

me, it takes somebody a long to time to earn my respect. For G-d has given each one of us the gift of spending time on this world, and it is our choice on how we want to use this gift. This man could have been anybody, but at that point in his life, he was a saint. I live a life of pas-sion, made by the very essential thing that I believe drives a per-son. His soul. And it is my soul, that everyday drives me to get off my bed and to make a dif-ference, in the hope that one day, I too may get the opportunity to accomplish something great.

Ambulances drive to scenes to bring wounded victims to the hospital.

Car accidents happen all the time. They can be dangerous and deadly as well as change the victims’ lives forever.

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To America!A young girls trip of a lifetime

Recreated by Sam T

As told by Dora Gross

My name is Dora. My parents, my three sisters and I lived in Kilinin, Russia, just northwest of Moscow. Some would say we lived a hard life, but I knew no other. But then, the yelling started. “Go die!” They would say. Not just to me, but to my whole family as well. We were nothing more than filth to them, just because we wor-shipped Yahweh as our god. In 1935, a day after our house was nearly burnt to the ground, my parents decided we

needed to get out. I was fourteen. At that time in Rus-sia, Jews were not al-lowed to simply leave the country. It made no sense to me; the gov-ernment wanted us out, but kept us in. We made special arrangements and gave away everything we owned, for a chance in America. It was a Russian soldier who made us the bargain. At first I thought he was be-ing kind, but then I met him. He was no different from any of the others in our town, coming into our house, demanding all of our things. But we had no choice. We packed the few things

we were bringing and got ready to set off. “NO!” said the soldier, in a condescending man-ner, “Leave the rope; it’s the thing worth the most in the godforsaken hellhole.” That rope was what we used as a make-shift leash for my four-year-old sister Rachel, but again, we had no choice. The next day, we snuck away from the ter-rible place we had called home for the last time. In Moscow, the ports were crowded. We held on to Mia and Rachel, my two youngest sisters, just to be safe. We could see our boat, and then we could hear it. It was

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leaving. We dashed those last 100 feet and barely made it. With the boat leav-ing, my family and I scrambled onboard. Rachel was nowhere to be seen, but there was no time. We had to leave her behind. One should never judge another from their beliefs or culture. I thought that went without saying, but apparently not.

Dora Gorss (second left), with her husband Albert (left), and their daughter Marsha (second right) and her new husband Norman (right).

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2 Philadelphia

4 Memphis

3 Detroit

5 Chicago

6 Dallas

8 New York9 Las Vegas

10 San Antonio

7 New Orleans

TOP TEN!TOP TEN!

Fattest Cities in America

Philly Cheese Steak!

Fast Food Tax

12 Inch Burger

Windy City

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Texas Three years running, Houston has had been crowned the fattest city in America; quite the honor. Due to factors such as the region’s climate, which is hot and humid, bad air quality and a relative lack of outdoor recreation, staying active presents a Tex-as-style challenge. In addition, Houston has large amounts of fast food, along with the rest of Texas. There are more than 150 McDonalds in the Houston area alone.

Philly Cheese Steak!

Fast Food Tax

Windy City

1Houston

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1 Baltimore

2 Honolulu

4 Tucson

3 Virgina Springs

5 Milwaukee

6 Colorado Springs

8 Seattle

7 San Francisco

10 Boston

9 Lousiville- JeffersonTOP TEN!TOP TEN!

Fittest Cities in America

Great Exercise Climate26

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1 BaltimoreBaltimore, Has been named the fittest city for the first time. Programs such as “Be fitBaltimore,” created by the city council helped people become more aware about physical fitness and proper nutrition. Baltimore prides itself on its superior fitness and the well-being of its citizens. Many additional factors helped Baltimore, such as the amount of public park space, access to health care, air quality, and the relatively small number of fast-food restaurants. Baltimore has become safer, more prosperous and more conducive to fitness.

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The HeartI look at you my heart,

My love, life, and want to be,My pain, death and sorrow,

The paths that we have chosen, And the journeys we will choose,

The life that is ours,And the moments that are true,

The prayers and pain and bloodshed,The hopes, curses, and fear,The need to keep on living,

Though ravens drown beneath,

Separate we are nothing,But together we are mighty,

For one may fall, but two will endure,And endure we did and always will,

What we hold and what we touch,What we need and what we want,How we live and how we fight,

Needing to cry and use our might,

I look at you my heart,And ponder what to say,

For what is there that you don’t know,And would be meaningful to say,

For you my lifelong treasure,And fire that is deep,

The love, life, and want to be, pain death and sorrow,The fight and drive that makes me live,

And the hurt and helplessness that circles in gold,The wings that will finally come and take me away,

And the judger of my deeds,The rights and wrongs, that I regret,

That made me love and moan,

The life is ours and the death is ours,Because forever, we will be together

By Changseok L.

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Ajourney and a pathDarkness falls, darker than the scariest nightmareThe air, colder than you’ve ever felt before settles in around youIt drives the last drops of happiness, pain, and hope away, until it is gone,Gone to a place much better, yet much worse than here

The noises cease as the air becomes silent,The world goes come in closer and closer until you can’t breathe, Suffocating on the air that once kept you aliveAnd then, it is only you,

Your life is gone, your hope is gone, yet you, still remain,You begin to struggle, harder then you’ve ever struggled before, Yet it is not good enough

You think of the sister, and her heart of gold,The friend, ever so loyal, yet ever so kind,And the girl, standing alone

Though the task is impossible, you continue to fight,Fighting for nothing, but for everything, as well,

The music starts, piercing the gray,Light grows closer, yet your eyes go dim,The shell spins and spins, like the top of child,But this one moves faster, yet slower as well

It spins and spins, until it can spin no more,Blurring the distance, yet brightening the far,The movements grow slower, as the shell grows weary,It slows and slows, until it can move no more,

It cracks not to fast, yet not to slow, Slowing the journey, slowing the fall,The air grows warm, and the lights grow bright,Cracking the shell, and beginning anew

By Changseok L

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Meet the WritersSam T. was born and raised in Goleta Valley; a quaint beachside town nestled on the coast of Southern California. Now living in Austin, he enjoys lakeside bike rides, sampling the local cuisine, and above all else, writing. Sam simply loves to write. Electronic Magazine is hands down his favorite class at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy of Austin, the magnet high school that he currently at-tends. When not brain-storming new ideas for his stories, Sam loves to play ultimate Fris-bee and soccer with friends in the park. He feels the sports have a kind of poetic element to them, and that each pass on the soccer field reminds him of wordplay in the English language. To Sam, each soccer trick is just another flawless word to add to his ever-growing vocabulary.

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Gabriel K. was born in Houston, TX. Work changes for his dad,

Tony, relocated Gabe often in his childhood, moving to San Diego at age 2, and finally settled down in Austin at age 4. He played soc-cer until an ACL injury to his knee at age 10 prevented him from be-ing able to play. Sports are and al-ways have been a big part of his life. Along with sports, Gabriel enjoys reading, watching TV and hanging out with his friends. He also enjoys spending time with his family. Gabe, his dad, his mom Kim, and his broth-

er Aiden make a point of spending time with each other, whether it is going out for dinner, or going on a family vacation. For this reason, Gabe is really close to his family.

Changseok was born and raised in Seoul, South Ko-rea. He moved to the United States in 1999 and has lived here ever since. He enjoys playing all sports especially tennis. He attends the Liberal Arts and Science Academy but dislikes it a lot due to the huge amounts of home-work everyday. Even though English is not his favorite subject, he has enjoyed the class Electronic Magazine very much, because he has never had a chance to use such a wide variety of fine Adobe programs to create a masterpiece.