The Spectacle NEWS & Features UPDATE Oct. 14, 2011

By Pauline luhmanRepoRteR Every day there are students who use school computers to look up important information from where Christopher Columbus was born to the more trivial like where Paris Hilton is these days. One more popular use of online time, however, is finding and printing Guitar Tabs. Guitar tabs are useful

when learning to read and play music. They show what frets to play on, as well as which strings get pressed and strummed in songs. Most songs that are found on the Internet are not copyrighted, making it legal to download guitar tabs in order to learn how to play certain songs on the guitar. “They are used for

an easier way to play your favorite songs on guitar,” senior Thomas Romero said. Romero has recorded himself playing his guitar along with the background music for the last two years. Most of the songs he records he learns from guitar tabs he finds online, which he looks up at school and sometimes at home. The world of music has at the very least been consistent at Mesa Vista, school librarian April van Buren said. “It’s hard to say that the music is growing here, but the last three years I’ve been here the number of students printing guitar tabs has been constant,” van Buren said.

There are other students, like Romero, who also look up guitar tabs. Freshmen Brandon Terrazas and Joey Gallegos both look up guitar tabs at school and at home. The best web sites to find guitar tabs, according to all three young musicians, are:www.u l t imate -gu i t a r. com, www.911tabs.com and www.guitarcenter.com. Not all songs, however, are online, Terrazas said, because some songs are still copy righted by the actual bands that wrote and played them and are not willing to freely release their songs online. There are other songs on these web sites which might help someone learn how to play the guitar for free.

Library Music: Students access Guitar Tabs

SamPle GuiTaR TaB:“Airplane” by the Plain White T’s

College, University Recruiter Visits; Counseling Office

Events

•Oct. 17: 10-noon, ACT Test Prep•Oct. 18: 10-10:50, UTI•Oct. 25: 10-10:45, Lincoln College of Technology

For all counseling events, sign-up in ad-vance in the counsel-ing office.

The Spectacle staff is committed to accuracy and responsible reporting, however, we do make mistakes and would like to publicly correct those mistakes here:

Error in “New Staff” captionPrincipal Tracie Phillips was the Principal at Dulce High School from 2002-2006, not the assistant principal as the caption incorrectly stated.

Error in “News Briefs: FFA”The FFA Secretary is senior Katie Salas, not freshman Tiffany Archuleta as incorrectly reported in the Oct. 6 issue. Archuleta is the Greenhand secretary. “Greenhands” are

newer FFA members (usually in grades 7-9).

Error in “Sports: Cheerleading”A misunderstanding in the cheer captain leadership structure led to the error in the Oct. 6 cheerleading sports brief. Senior Katie Salas and freshman Angel Archuleta are the head captains. The co-captains rank slightly below the head captains.

Although errors are inevitable, it doesn’t make them acceptable, and the goal of the Spectacle is continuous improvement in accuracy. We apologize for these errors and promise to continue to uphold our commitment to excellence.

photo by Raphaela Viereck // Freshman Joey Gallegos looks up guitar tabs in the school library. Gallegos is one of several students who often look for new tabs to practice on the guitar.

CORRECTIONS

Homecoming: No Money, No Problem The Spectacle NEWS & Features UPDATE Oct. 14, 2011

At Mesa Vista High School it has been the tradition for the classes to elect homecoming candi-dates for king and queen. The school then awarded King and Queen to the candidates that raised the most money. This changed last year and continues to evolve this year. In 2010, the break in the fund raising tradition, changed into a popular vote to determine the royalty. Current Principal Tracie Phillips said she is meeting soon with other administrators in the district to iron out the details, but has some specific ideas for the 2011 Homecoming. The senior class, she said, will select three boys and three girls to run for King and Queen. The six seniors must have good attendance, grades and behavior to be eligible. The entire high school will then get to vote on their choice for King and Queen. “To me, there are some honors that need to be bestowed on seniors. You need to deserve honor,” Phillips said. “The king and queen need to represent the entire high school. If you’re a freshman, how have you earned that honor?” Grades 9-11 will also elect candidates for Prince and Princess, and will vote on the two for each grade. This means that the King and Queen will be seniors and the rest of the royal court will include a junior Prince and Princess,

a sophomore Prince and Princess and a freshman Prince and Princess. Middle School students will not be admitted to the dance, but they will be allowed to attend the pep rally and participate in other Spirit Week activities. The actual Homecoming dance and game will be on Jan. 28, as the boys take on the Mora Rangers.

Abiquiu Lake: Fun May Lead to Fines, Danger

During the Annual Northern Rio Arriba County Health Coalition Celebration on Sept. 12, Army Corps of Engineers Ranger Phil Martinez in-formed students that the infamous Caño-nes Cliffs, at Abiquiu Lake, are located on private land and visi-tors are trespassing. Throughout the year, the Cañones Cliffs attract many people, especially 16-24-year-olds. The cliffs are not only a nice place to sunbathe, but they create a sense of excitement,

adrenaline and danger when jumped off of, Martinez said, calling it an “At-tractive Nuisance.”  “The cliffs are more of a hang out, only about eight out

of 20 people ac-tually jump. A main concern of ours is that there is a lot of alcohol and drug use go-ing on,” Marti-nez said. There is no sign or fence that states it is private

property, so about 70 percent of peo-ple don’t realize it is, Martinez said. The Army Corps of Engineers has

given the rangers permission to edu-cate the public on this subject. Rang-ers will ticket trespassers, a minimum of $100, if they are on the land and caught diving. “We have given tickets because we don’t want to give the idea that it is okay to be there jumping and drink-ing,” Martinez said. The main focus is safety. When people jump, they do not realize that under the water there are dead trees and rocks, depending on the water level.     “If people can have fun without drinking at a lake, we will have less injuries and deaths. Just have fun, stay sober and stay alive,” Marti-nez said.

By aShTyn meGaRizReporter

photo by Katie Salas // Eighth graders Celina Valdez and Victoria Lovato style Amurae Varela’s hair during a Spirit Week competition before Homecom-ing last spring. This year, the middle school students will still be able to participate in most of the same events during Spirit Week, but will not be allowed to attend the dance or participate in the nomination and election of King and Queen.

By SPecTacle STaffSpecial Report

We have given tickets because we don’t want to give the idea that it is okay to be there jumping and drinking.

— Ranger Phil Martinez

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