Have You Heard About Spotify?

By Sreevatsa Gottada
Entertainment Editor

          Most of the students at Falls Church High School listen to music on a daily basis. However, they all have a different method of doing so such as YouTube, iTunes, Pandora, etc. But, have any of them heard about Spotify?

          Spotify is a music streaming service that provides content from record labels including, but not limited to, Sony, EMI, Warner Music Group and Universal. It was launched in October 2008 by the Swedish startup Spotify AB, and has grown tremendously since that time. The service had approximately 10 million users as of September 15th 2010. The total users increased to about 20 million by December 2012.

          I'm sure this question will pop up, and yes, Spotify is free! Anyone will have the ability to listen to music for as long as they want granted their desired song(s) are in the Spotify library. However, free users will have to bare through advertisements every few songs unless they buy the premium subscription. And, features like offline listening and ad-free playback are also only available for premium subscribers of the service. For those of you who are wary of trying Spotify because you do not wish to pay, do not be! I have used Spotify for years now and I have never bought the premium subscription. I can truly attest to the fact that Spotify is still of the highest quality even when using it as a free user. The songs are great quality, there is a wide range of selections, multiple in-device apps, etc.

          The music streaming system is also very accessible as it is available for most phones including Android, BlackBerry, etc. However, as of December 2013, Spotify is not available as a Windows Store app for Windows 8. So, be patient for those who want Spotify on their Windows 8 phone. So, unless you have a Windows 8 phone, there is no excuse for you not trying out this wonderful music streaming service!

Sources:

1. https://www.spotify.com/us/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotify

Surprising Picks In The Draft

By Christian Marcia

Staff Writer

            This year’s NFL draft was great. Many trades and lots of surprises happened.
The Houston Texans with the first pick of the NFL draft, drafted Clowney. Clowney is supposedly one of the best pass rushers to come out of the draft. The Texans now have a great dynamic duo with J.J. Watt and Clowney.
            The Browns drafted Johnny Manziel with the 22^nd pick in the NFL draft. Teams passed on Manziel, because they don’t know if he make the transition to the pros. Manziel is a unique quarterback. Manziel can keep a play alive with his legs. Manziel is going to have a rough season this year, because of the loss of Josh Gordon. Josh Gordon is the best wide receiver for the Browns, and that’s a huge loss for a rookie quarterback. Let’s hope that Manziel has a terrific season, good luck Johnny football.

            The Bills traded up in the draft to get Sammy Watkins. Watkins was the best receiver in the draft. Watkins is a great pick for the Bills organization, because of his explosiveness and his hands. The Bills made the right decision moving up to get Watkins.

            In the draft many of the SEC quarterbacks didn’t get drafted till the end. AJ Mccarron the former Alabama player got drafted to the Bengals. Mccarron is experienced and knows how to win. Zach Mettenberger got drafted to the Titans. Mettenberger compliments Jake Locker, and he’s going to be a great backup. Aaron Murray got drafted to the Chiefs. Murray is a great quarterback and plays similar to Alex Smith. These three quarterbacks have the talent to start as rookies.

            All the teams got better in the draft. Good luck to all the NFL teams and have a great season. One more thing, 115 more days till the start of the season!

Is There No Justice Left?

By Diana Gudiel-Benitez
Staff Writer

   Some of you may be wondering, "what the heck is she going on about?" Well, I'm talking about rape. Before I go on about it, I would like to give a warning to those who might be triggered by this. This isn't an issue that's easy to talk about, but I would like to pull up this matter because I've had just enough of people not realizing how rape culture DOES exist. So again, a warning to those who may be triggered.

    Some of you may have heard the Maryville rape case. It caused a huge commotion across the nation. If you have no idea what I'm talking about then I'll give you the story. Matthew Barnett, a 17-year-old football player, was accused of raping 14-year-old Daisy Coleman on January 7, 2012, at a party being held in the basement of his home. He and along with a friend of his. Police later questioned them, and they both admitted in to have intoxicating the girls and raping them. Barnett was charged with felony sexual assault and misdemeanor endangerment of the welfare of a child. Zech, the one who recorded the whole thing, was charged with sexual exploitation. So why aren't they in prison for sexual exploitation of a minor and production/possession of child pornography?

   Because they're popular football players and Matthew Barnett is related to a politician. Therefore, nothing they can do is wrong or bad and they should never face punishment and should instead be rewarded for raping young teenage girls and filming their assaults. But it gets worse. Daisy was suspended from her school's cheerleading team (presumably for drinking) and slutshamed b y her peers. Daisy's mother, Melinda Coleman, was warned by online friends that her sons would be beaten up for this, and she was later fired from her job at a veterinary clinic. Her boss admitted to Star that he had ties with one of the boys involved. Then in March 2012, prosecutor Robert Rice dismissed the felony cases against the boys. The Coleman family moved 40 miles away. They learned that six months ago, their house was burned to the groun, and according to Stars, Daisy tried to commit suicide at least two times. A petition was created by the friend of the mother of the 13-year-old that asks for Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster to step in to investigate Rice's mishandling of the rape case.

  Now, I don't know about you guys, but I find this sickening. Is this really what society has turned into? That rape is ok as long as the rapist is somewhat tied to someone with a good reputation or contribute good service to the community? Absolutely sickening! I would rather die than live in a society like this. We need to change. Young girls are blaming themselves for the assault, and trying to end their life. And if you don't care about this, then leave. Do not leave hate or make this situation any worse. Like I said, we have to change. For the better. Please. I don't want to wake up in the morning, turn on the T.V., and listen to the news anchor report another case of a suicide that was caused by a rape.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

By Diana Gudiel-Benitez
Staff Writer

     Happy Cinco de Mayo everybody! Today, many Hispanics will celebrate, or "turn up." But why? What is Cinco de Mayo anyway? I'm glad you asked. (And if you didn't, then you just hurt my feelings.)

    Cinco de Mayo (translated into fifth of May in English) is a celebration held in the United States and Mexico. But what is it celebrating? It's celebrating the Battle of Puebla, which took place on May 5, 1862. In 1861, France sent an enormous army to raid Mexico, as they wanted to collect on some war debts. The French army was more advanced in training, so the Mexicans had a difficult time. The army rolled through Mexico until they reached their destination (Puebla), where the Mexicans took a courageous, and actually won! However, the victory was short-lived due to French army re-grouping and continuing with their raid. They eventually conquered Mexico City, but the glee of an unlikely victory against odds is remembered every 5th of May.
   
   People often mistake this day as the day that Mexico gained its independence; Mexico actually celebrates its independence on September 16, because it was on that day in 1810 that Father Miguel Hidalgo took to his podium in the village church of the town of Dolores and invited his flock to take up arms and join him in overthrowing Spanish tyranny. Independence Day is a very important holiday in Mexico and not to be confused with Cinco de Mayo.

  How do they celebrate this day? There are parades, dancing, and festivals. Traditional food is often served or sold. Mariachi bands fill the town squares, and a lot of beer is served. This day is also known as Mexican St. Patrick's Day. So, if you're celebrating Cinco de Mayo, then have fun and don't go to nuts over it, or else you'll be shot just like that 19-year-old in Detroit.

Scientists Discover Female Insects With Penises.

By Abhinav Mishra

Staff Writer 

Four insects have been discovered in Brazil that possesses female penises and the male insect has a vagina. This was the first time ever in the animal kingdom that a female of the species had a penis.

Sexual organs are not the determiner of a sex, neither are sex chromosomes rather biologists rely on the size of an animal's gametes — sperm in males and oocytes in females. The biologists are guided by the criteria that females are the sex that contribute the largest gametes, whereas males are the sex that contributes the smallest gametes.

The males produce the least amount of energy on producing these cells. Penises and vaginas are irrelevant in the factor of being male or female as the female insects in this instance produces the largest gametes, which are egg cells. It just happened that the female is in possession of a penis during sexual intercourse.

"The female penis is a completely novel structure," said Yoshizawa Kazunori, an entomologist at Japan's Hokkaido University and co-author of the study. Due to the presence of a penis in these four species of winged insects, called Neotrogla – the insects have adopted more of masculine traits. The Researchers discovered these cave-dwelling insects in Brazil's Peruaçu River Valley.

When it's time to mate, the female mounts the male and penetrates his vagina-like opening using her gynosome which is the term used to designate her female-penis. This mating behavior lasts from a range of 40 to 70 hours, as the females’ inflatable, spiny penis anchors itself to the male's internal tissues. During this time, the female Neotrogla gathers large quantities of sperm that she uses to fertilize her eggs.

"Because the female's anchoring force is very strong, a male's resistance may cause damage to his genitalia," Yoshizawa said. "Therefore, it is very likely that entire mating processes are controlled actively by females, whereas males are rather passive." This discovery has led to researchers making comparisons with other insects through the collection of genomic data to understand how the development of the female penis occurred.

Would you take the risk?

By Isabel Vargas

 

As some of us know, there have been some tornados in parts of, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Mississippi and somewhere there are always storm chasers taking a big risk in recording these dangerous storms.

The tornado in Louisville, Mississippi was this past Monday, April 28^th.

Most people would run away from tornadoes because of extreme fear or danger, but one brave person, Scott Peake, a storm chaser drove towards the tornado this past Monday and recorded very closely. The tornado crossed the road right in front of Scott, but luckily Scott was not harmed. Even though Scott is a storm chaser, it is still very risky to chase after a storm. Scott records videos for Basehunters Chasing. He uploads the videos that are usually 4-5 minutes long on YouTube with viewings more than 22,000 views on each one.

Another storm chaser, Nathan Rohrbough also records videos for YouTube but his videos are far more dangerous than Scott’s. In another storm in Tupelo, Miss. Nathan drove into this tornado. Nathan is very fortunate to still be alive to tell others what happened. He drove so far in the tornado that in the video he recorded, his voice is not audible anymore because of the tornadoes extremely loud wind. This is not the first time Nathan is close to danger due to taking risks when recording tornado videos for YouTube, he still takes the risk every time. Some of the comments on his YouTube videos criticize Nathan for putting himself into this amount of danger. Escaping just in time only with minor injuries, he has had three of his trucks windows smashed.

Nathans videos also 4-5 minutes long are viewed more than 56,000 times.

These storm chasers take a big risk in chasing after these dangerous storms and driving through them while taking videos.

 

Why I love Falls Church

By Emily Grabauskas

“Gossip Girl here. Your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan’s Elite.” 

Many of us Gossip Girl lovers would die for a day to enjoy Blair Waldorf’s wardrobe, but are you willing to deal with Queen B and her minions the entire time too. Surely Chuck Bass would not sweep you off of your feet. On the upper East side, there is rarely a dull moment. Whether there is family drama or fights with your best friend, the Queen B will always have her friends to stand by her; or does she? Blair Waldorf may actually be one of the most highly feared students at Constance High School, but that is what attracts all of her wannabes. Is that what makes life enjoyable? Wanting to fit in is understandable, but on the upper East side, the stakes are set too high of a price. Falls Church is definitely the more friendly of choices unless you, yourself, are ready to compete with Blair Cornelia Waldorf.

At Falls Church High School, everyone is welcome and there is no place that we feel safer. There are no mean girls and no cliques, and surely no queen that must always sit higher than you on the Met Steps. At Falls Church High School, we are all on family. One that does not spread gossip or judge others. We stand by each other and aim to make the high school experience enjoyable for all. So be careful next time you watch Gossip Girl because no matter how much you are dying for a day in the life with to die for clothes or a date with Chuck Bass, love where you are because there is no better home than the home of the Jaguars. 

“You know you love me. XOXO”
-Gossip Girl