The James Logan Courier

From Wikipedia:
Don Butterfield (April 1, 1923 – November 27, 2006) was an American jazz and classical tuba player.

Butterfield took up tuba in high school. He wanted to play trumpet, but the band director assigned him to tuba instead. After serving in the U.S. Military from 1942-46 he went on to study the instrument at Juilliard School, a prestigious music conservatory in New York.
He started his professional career in the late 1940s playing for the CBS and NBC radio networks. He played in orchestras, including the American Symphony, on albums by Jackie Gleason until he became a full time member at the Radio City Music Hall.

Read Don Butterfield's obituary, free from USA Today.

By Paul Tran, Editor-In-Chief

It's the start of the new year, and as American tradition dictates, it's also time to make a New Year's Resolution. This cheesy custom can be a great way to start some healthy habits for the year, but if you've had a few years of experience, you've probably given up on or forgotten about a resolution within a few months, or even weeks. If this situation sounds familiar, it's about time you tried something different.

By Joseph Doerr, Courier Staff Writer

Kendrick Lamar's new album, good kid, m.A.A.d city,has gotten outstanding reviews and praise. He's worked with such rap luminaries as Dr. Dre, Game, Drake, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, Pharrell Williams, Talib Kweli, Busta Rhymes, E-40, Warren G, Bun B, Tech N9ne and Lil Wayne. He's worked with pop star Lady Gaga, too.

Perhaps the reviewers have bought Lamar's claim that he is bringing "real" hip-hop back,or are impressed with his collaborators.

I'm not.

By Satwant Khangura, Courier Staff Writer

Reporter: Why are you against dissection?

Michelle Galaria, Science Teacher: I’m not against dissecting if the animal is obtained in a humane manner and isn’t preserved in harmful chemicals. So, like if you wanted to donate your body to science you have to sign a waiver. With using an animal for dissection it should be with the permission of the caretaker. The problem is that the animals being dissected are killed inhumanely by gas chambers or decompression. Overall, I am not against dissection but the way it is done. Other reasons include that it creates large amounts of waste, it is expensive, the chemical used to preserve them have a chance of causing cancer, and there are better alternatives.

Reporter: What are the better alternatives?

Courier Staff Report


Hundreds of James Logan students eschewed attending the S.F. Giants parade in favor of parading around the campus dressed up in their Halloween best as cartoon characters, demons, tea pots, loofahs and a wide variety of other things.

Logan Math Teacher Steve Fletcher, who came to school dresses as the Ace of Spades from Alice in Wonderland, said he dressed up simply because "It's Halloween."

By Satwant Khangura, Courier Staff Writer

Adam Wilke is James Logan High School's new band director, taking over from Ramiro Barrera.

Courier: How did you become band director?

Band Director Adam Wilke: I have taught for 13 years at California. I have taught at Fresno State University. I have always seen the James Logan program, the band, so when he job opened I had to go for it.

Courier: What do you think of the band?

Wilke: I think the band has been at a high level for a long time and I don’t think anyone has a nicer facility.

By Deb Witherspoon, Courier Staff Writer


Girls today are infamous for going to great lengths to get their own way, especially as liberated and independent young women of the 21st century. However when our religious, conservative, or otherwise protective parents get in the way we have to devise plans to out maneuver their outdated and “socially detrimental ways.”

One area in which we do this is fashion. With all the latest styles inspired by Teen Vogue and Instyle, parents just can’t understand that to stay with the in crowd, accomodations must be made.

By Sean Stewart, Courier Technology Editor


The new iPhone 5, released a little over a week ago, has shown itself to be a must-have, at least if you're entitled to an upgrade.

I was and in my week with my new phone, I've learned to love it and am proud to own it.

The iPhone 5 said to be the lightest iPhone ever, weighing in at 3.95 ounces and in comparison with its predecessors, it wins in that category (the 3GS model weighed in at 4.7 ounces, and the 4 and 4S models weighed in at 4.8 ounces). The phone itself is much slimmer and a bit taller, which allows for an extra row of apps. The iPhone 5 can also support 4G LTE connectivity.

By Alexus Ramos, Courier Staff Writer

Many people think that working in the fast food industry is easy, but really it´s not. The problem is the customers.

If you think the fast food process is simple and quick, you're a lazy bum who uses the drive thru instead of getting out of your car. I understand if you're in a rush, but if you aren’t, you might as well go inside to order instead of using the drive thru in order to see the fast food industry in it's true light. Using the drive thru will have you sitting in your car and waiting much longer than if you just went inside and ordered. Trust me, I know.

By Phillip Reese
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

SACRAMENTO, — Among many ways to show your patriotism: Fly a flag, join the Army, sing along with the national anthem at a game.

Or name your child after a Founding Father.

George Washington Jr., 75, of Sacramento, Calif., isn't sure why his father and grandfather chose that last route. But he's made the most of it.

"It starts conversations," he said. "People look at me and say, 'Ah, George Washington.' Everybody has an amusing comment about that.'"

Washington is one of a dwindling few Californians named for famous patriots.

By Salvador Rodriguez
Los Angeles Times (MCT)

LOS ANGELES — Google Chrome surpassed Internet Explorer last week as the world's most used Web browser, according to a statistic released Monday.

The Google Web browser received more usage than Microsoft's browser during the week of May 14 to May 20, marking the first time Chrome has received the highest traffic for a full seven days.

Chrome is now ahead of Internet Explorer, with Firefox in third place and Apple's Safari a distant fourth, according to the website StatCounter.

By Paul Tran, Courier Staff Writer

Potatoes are a wonderful, versatile food. You can boil them, mash them, or put them in stew. Discovered in America by colonists, the use of these easy growing vegetables has spread and they’ve become a staple food in many countries. Unfortunately modern methods used to prepare these roots are far too delicious. They’re often cooked in excessive oil and grease to make french fries or potato chips. These dishes are high in calories, fat, and sodium, and their popularity in the American diet has become a large cause of obesity.

In the past, potatoes were a staple food in Western civilization due to their year-round availability, difficulty to spoil, and high carbohydrate count, and were later picked up as a main food component by European countries for the same reasons. The importance of the potato in Eastern diets was shown by the Great Potato Famine where a potato blight struck Irish potato plants and caused 750,000 people to die from starvation and disease caused by lack of potatoes. Even more recently, mashed potatoes and baked potatoes are seen as parts of a classic family meal. However, potatoes have shifted into a far different purpose in the modern diet.

By Patrick May
San Jose Mercury News (MCT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. — With Valentine's Day upon us, application developers have come up with smartphone tools that can do just about anything short of guaranteeing you'll be head over heads in love.

There are apps for both the valentine-ready (digital flowers, anyone?) and the valentine-hungry, including every type of mobile-dating tool imaginable. These darts in Cupid's digital quiver, whether they're for iPhone or Android, free and fee-based, range from sophisticated to silly to downright stupid.

By Bryan Nelson
Mother Nature Network (mnn.com) (MCT)

If you thought that hydrogen power was a technology reserved for cars, think again. Apple has recently submitted documents to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for hydrogen fuel cells that may soon provide fuel for all Macbooks and iPhones, reports the Telegraph.

In the patent documents, Apple claims that its hydrogen fuel cells will be significantly smaller and weigh less than batteries. The new technology also could power devices for much longer — possibly for weeks.

"Such fuel cells and associated fuels can potentially achieve high volumetric and gravimetric energy densities, which can potentially enable continued operation of portable electronic devices for days or even weeks without refueling," Apple said.

By Jondi Gumz
Santa Cruz Sentinel (MCT)

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The numbers are mind-boggling.

The price tag for a year at San Francisco State University is rising to $25,000. At the University of California, Santa Cruz, it's $32,000, and private colleges cost more than $50,000.

In 1985, students paid for 25 percent of the cost of their education at state colleges and universities; the state picked up 75 percent of the tab, according to the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Today, it's about 50-50.