The James Logan Courier

By Rick Montgomery
The Kansas City Star (MCT)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A University of Kansas freshman took a break from shooting hoops with friends outside his dormitory to talk about what some students call "study pills."

As final exams approached last semester, he took a couple doses of a prescribed stimulant called Adderall. "But all they did was make me feel nervous," said the chemical engineering major. "I'm off of it now."

He still has a vial of leftover pills he used for his attention issues in high school. And that's why he asked that his name not appear in this article: He didn't want to be pressed by dormmates to supply them with an illegal focus boost for upcoming finals.

By Derrick Daly, Courier Staff Writer

Each student is his own man with his own unique destiny and lifestyle, but one thing that most high school attendants have in common is getting a license.

From one who has a license, I can personally say that the experience of gaining a license is a necessary part of life that allows a teenager to gain knowledge about the responsibilities of becoming a young adult.

But my perspective definitely isn't the only one that matters. Many students at Logan feel privileged to be given the freedom and trust of a seat behind the wheel on the road. Alberto Oceguedo, a student who has recently acquired his license, speaks on the benefits he has discovered since becoming a driver.

By Tony Pugh
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved the sale of the emergency contraceptive Plan B One-Step for sale without a prescription to women ages 15 and over.

Designed to reduce the risk of pregnancy after unprotected sex, Plan B One-Step, made by Teva Women's Health of North Wales, Pa., is most effective if taken right after or within three days after unprotected sexual intercourse, according to the FDA.

The move takes the product out from behind the counter where it has been and lowers the minimum age for purchasers by two years, from 17 to 15.

Courier Staff Report

Logan's STAR test results may be invalidated after four students were caught uploading pictures of the test materials to the internet.

Principal Amy McNamara this morning took to the school's public address system to warn students against any further violations of the high-stakes test's security.

By Rick LaPlante, New Haven Schools Director of Parent and Community Relations

The Board of Education on Tuesday night approved the renaming of Alvarado Middle School to Itliong-Vera Cruz Middle School, effective September 2015. The name change honors the memory of Filipino-American labor leaders Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz.

The Board instructed District staff to formulate an implementation plan and secure funds to cover costs before the name change takes effect. Community groups have pledged to cover the costs, estimated at approximately $15,000.

By Francisco Sierra, Courier Staff Writer

If any of you are looking for something to spice up your weekend, here's your chance. Our school's M.E.CH.A. club will be holding the Anual Suavecito dance this saturday and is expecting the usual Latin music such as salsa and Cumbia, great drinks, and good vibes.


The dance will be held from 7 pm to 11 pm and the cost of entrance will be 8 dollars in advance and 10 dollars at the door. Anyone can wear whatever they want, but it is expected that you dress some what formal.

In speaking to Ms. Esquivez, ethnic studies teacher and coordinator of this event, I was curious to ask her a bit of background history to the suavecito dance and she responded "Hmm, well I'm really not sure exactly how long its been going on but, it was going on when I was in high school. So its been here for at least 8 years. It was gone for a while but I was able to bring it back when I started teaching."

By Al Pessin, VOA News

LONDON — Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died at the age of 87, following a stroke.

Family spokesman Lord Tim Bell said Britain's only female prime minister died peacefully on Monday morning. Within minutes of the announcement, ordinary citizens began to put flowers and condolence notes outside her home in London.

The British government said Thatcher would receive a ceremonial funeral at St. Paul's Cathedral with military honors - a step short of a state funeral - in accordance with the wishes of her family. It said a private cremation would follow later, but provided no details on the timing of the service.

By Nick Picerno, Courier Staff Writer

This year's senior skit exceeded the expectations of many.

Coming into the week of the annual class skit performances here at James Logan High School, the expected quality of the senior’s performance was extremely low compared to previous years. People close to crew members repeatedly stated that practices were unorganized and lacking full attendance. It also didn’t help matters that last year’s senior skit was widely regarded as the best one in the past few years. With this year’s supposed unprepared crew and last year’s exceptional performance, it was not looking good for this year’s senior skit crew.

But come crunch time last Thursday, the seniors delivered a performance that pleasantly surprised the audience, even drawing comparisons to last year’s revered performance.

By Madison Weisbarth, Courier Staff Writer

Our Freshman class of 2016 took to the stage to perform their very first spirit week skit. For it being their first time ever trying their hand at skit, it went over fairly well. In fact it is my personal belief that they did much better than the Sophomore class.

The skit did not go off without a hitch. James Logan being an exceptionally large school, you would think many students would participate. According to the freshmen skit, you'd be wrong. There were practically no dancers and the same goes for actors. But the lack of acting was fine, because there was no storyline!

By Deb Armstrong, Courier Staff Writer

The sophomores did a relatively good job on their skit Tuesday in the Pavilion.

Although the dances were choppy and the acting left a little to be desired, they
really showed that they had spirit. Their plot line was about kids in the 1960's who were learning first hand the injustice of racism.

By Rick La Plante, New Haven Schools Director of Parent and Community Relations

The Board of Education on Tuesday night approved the second interim budget for 2013-13, as well as budget projections for 2013-14 and 2014-15 that maintain austerity measures implemented during the past few years.

The District has yet to recover from years of budget reductions, having made more than $26 million in cuts over the past five years. The passage of Proposition 30 last November provided no new revenue, only kept the state from making further cuts, and federal funds that the District is receiving from its $29.4 million Race to the Top grant must be spent only on programs outlined in the grant. The interim budget and projections approved Tuesday night are consistent with the reductions the District hoped to avoid by placing Measure H on the ballot last June; however, voters rejected the parcel tax measure.

Courier Staff Report

James Logan High School is impressive, but needs to make a few changes to get better, according to the preliminary report of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) evaluation team that's been observing Logan's operations this week.

Logan needs to better involve every part of the school community in improving the school, the WASC team reported. That recommendation was among six recommendations for improvement presented at the 2 p.m. meeting in the Media Center yesterday.

By Rick LaPlante, New Haven Schools Director of Parent and Community Relations
The Board of Education held a public hearing Tuesday night on the possible renaming of Alvarado Middle School.

Several community members spoke in favor of renaming the school in honor of Filipino-American labor leaders Larry Itliong and Philip Veracruz, contemporaries of Cesar Chavez and fellow organizers of the 1965 Delano grape strike that led to the organization of the United Farm Workers movement.

Other community members questioned the need to rename the school, the cost associated with a name change and the process.

Courier Staff Report

James Logan High School's online student newspaper, The James Logan Courier, is getting back online after a nearly three-week absence from the Internet.

The problems began a the end of February when the Courier's web hosting service, Agent Black Hosting, notified the paper's advisor, Patrick Hannigan, that the data and software that generates the website needed to be moved to a new webserver.

Problems caused by software version incompatibilities defeated Agent Black's attempts to move the site to the new servers.

by Christine Cortes, Courier Entertainment Editor

There are quite a few stories about people who commit criminal acts (like hacking computers, not anything too intense!), that lead to career opportunities in the future. Frank Abagnale, Jr. was a conman in the 1960s that assumed many identities and escaped police custody multiple times. He did serve his time, a good four out of the twelve years he was sentenced, but eventually he started working with the federal government.

Abagnale’s story is so intriguing that it produced a lot of media based on it. His autobiography, Catch Me If You Can, spawned a film and a Broadway musical of the same name. Leonardo Dicaprio received great reviews for his portrayal of the conman in the film, and while the musical version was hidden in the shadows of The Book of Mormon from the critics, fans absolutely loved Aaron Tveit as Abagnale.