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Covering the Bronco Nation.

The Rider Online | Legacy HS Student Media

Covering the Bronco Nation.

The Rider Online | Legacy HS Student Media

Covering the Bronco Nation.

The Rider Online | Legacy HS Student Media

Laura Baker

Laura Baker, Staff Writer

My dear fellow homo sapiens,
I’m more familiar with textbooks and periodic tables than newspapers, so you’ll have to cut me a little slack if my writing seems a little different. This is my first year on the newspaper staff even though I’m a senior—a result of College Board’s advice to become a “well rounded individual” and my wandering quest to gain as many eclectic (fancy word!) skills as I can during high school.
I enjoy reading, listening to a surprising variety of music and having epiphanies and random arguments about words. My friends may warn you to never say the word “sluggish” within my hearing, since it shows an obviously biased and unfair preference in the English language for slugs. No one ever says the word “slothish” or “turtleish”, as in “I’m worried about Laura; her actions are very snailish today.”
Sincerely looking forward to an interesting, slug-free year and wishing you a very merry unbirthday,
Laura Baker

lbaker@therideronline.com

All content by Laura Baker
Teens and Taxes

Teens and Taxes

Laura Baker, Staff Writer
March 20, 2013

Do I have to file taxes? For an unmarried person, $9,750* is the maximum you can make without filing taxes. This includes any income you make from employers and any money you made from side jobs like mowing the lawn or babysitting. Should I file taxes if I made less than $9,750? If your employer...

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Hot Experiment: Mrs. Mullis' Fire Lab a Favorite with Many Students

Hot Experiment: Mrs. Mullis’ Fire Lab a Favorite with Many Students

Laura Baker, Staff Writer
February 19, 2013

Sophomore Will Tullbane dipped his hands into a soapy solution and watched as his teacher lit his palm on fire. The flame exploded into a fireball, reacting with methane gas in the soap bubbles, but after a second it died down and Tullbane was left slightly damp but unburned. Tullbane’s Pre-Ap...

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Senior Daniel Bassininski has only known his friends at Legacy for less than a year and a half.

Daniel Bassininski

Laura Baker, Staff Writer
November 22, 2012

Imagine blank stares when you try to gossip with your friends about teachers from freshman year. Imagine not being able to look down the neighborhood street at lowlife, good-for-nothing jackanape scoundrels you've known since kindergarten. Imagine being senior Daniel Bassininski, who has has only known...

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Legacy to Host Texas Forensic Association Speech and Debate Tournament

Legacy to Host Texas Forensic Association Speech and Debate Tournament

Laura Baker, Staff Writer
October 30, 2012

Legacy hosts its first Texas Forensic Association (TFA) Speech and Debate tournament on Nov. 3. Over 300 debaters from 30 schools all over North Texas will compete in 15 different events all day. Friday before the tournament, debate teacher Howard Ritz and any assistants will put signs and directions...

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Blog: iPads Don't Carry Their Weight for AP Students

Blog: iPads Don’t Carry Their Weight for AP Students

Laura Baker, Staff Writer
October 8, 2012

When I learned last year that the high schools would issue iPads, my initial thought was one of joy. I thought with the iPads I wouldn’t have to lug around so many textbooks to classes. I thought virtual notes would mean I never have to frantically search for the notes to my math homework again. As...

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Laura Baker - Staff Writer

How To Deal with Walking Dictionaries

Laura Baker, Staff Writer
February 27, 2013

Don’t you just abhor those sesquipedalian hotshots who use unnecessarily long words like “lugubrious” instead of “sad”? Do you feel as if the vast majority of concepts can be said using words that are five letters or less in length? Well, so do I. But I have a confession. Sometimes, I use long...

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http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/66704/the-dumpuary-movie-club-hansel-and-gretel-witch-hunters

Review- Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

Laura Baker, Staff Writer
February 4, 2013

Try to combine the appeal of adults watching a childish fairy tale and children watching a bloodbath, and it’s easy to realize why a movie such as “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters” could never work. The movie contained an abundance of blood and violence, but it was unrealistic and distracted me...

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Physics students launch rockets for a lab in Mr. Davis' class.

Physics Class Launches Rockets

Laura Baker, Staff Writer
December 7, 2012

Bright, smoking objects fly up over the back of the school as junior Angelina Vinson watches her rocket’s success. Every year, students in Mr. Davis’s Pre AP Physics make and launch miniature rockets to get hands-on experience and understand the effects of air friction. Among rumors of missiles...

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Legacy by the Numbers

Legacy by the Numbers

Laura Baker, Staff Writer
November 1, 2012

In the spirit of election time, we’ve decided to overanalyze data and show Legacy through facts and figures. Usually we avoid this type of analysis since personality speaks louder than words, but demographics can show character as well. Statistics show trends in student population and highlight underlying...

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9 Period Schedule Means Tardy Policy Shift

9 Period Schedule Means Tardy Policy Shift

Laura Baker, Staff Writer
October 24, 2012

Several minutes after the tardy bell rings, junior Jake Sutton walks into his first period, AP English. His teacher, Stephanie Bonneau, scowls at Sutton’s lateness and hands him the assignment. “I always wake up at like 7:20,” Sutton said. “I’ve been counted tardy numerous times.” Waking...

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When The Government Steals Your Money

When The Government Steals Your Money

Laura Baker, Staff Writer
February 25, 2013

Two thousand years ago, if someone wanted to make everyone hate them, he’d become a tax collector. Throughout the course of history, taxes and tax collectors were associated with evil and unfairness. Colonists during the American Revolution got fed up with the unfair taxes levied on them by Great Britain;...

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Laura Baker - Staff Writer

Social Media Influences Language Degradation

Laura Baker, Staff Writer
February 4, 2013

Since the 1990s, the nation has gone through what some dub the “Social Media Revolution.” Along with exponential growth in telecommunications and the Internet, the development of social media results in the subsequent degradation of expression of written and spoken language. Our generation’’s reliance...

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NHS, Key Club Promote Food Drive

NHS, Key Club Promote Food Drive

Laura Baker, Staff Writer
November 2, 2012

NHS and Key Club are promoting a food drive between Nov. 1 and 9 for the Mansfield food pantry associated with Common Grounds, which services some of Legacy’s students as well as other residents. Students can donate dry boxed goods, canned goods, and other nonperishable items. Freshmen should take...

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Senior Song Voting Set for Oct. 30

Laura Baker, Staff Writer
October 29, 2012

Seniors will vote for the class song Tuesday, Oct. 30 in their English class. Seniors who take TCC English or do not have an English class can vote in Mrs. Shackelford’s room, AT217. The selected nominations include: “It’s Time” by Imagine Dragons “Good Life” by One Republic “Don’t...

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How To: Program the Quadratic Formula into a Calculator

How To: Program the Quadratic Formula into a Calculator

Laura Baker, Staff Writer
October 29, 2012

The quadratic formula torments students in physics and Algebra II. The lengthy, often used formula helps solve quadratic equations, find roots or solve for air time during the motion of a projectile. However, knowledgeable students can program this burdensome equation into graphing calculators,...

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UIL Academics Kickoff Meeting

UIL Academics Kickoff Meeting

Laura Baker, Staff Writer
September 6, 2012

UIL Academics hosts its annual kickoff on Tues., Sept. 11 in Mrs. Mullis’s room A-S223. Students in all grades curious about competing are welcome to come learn about UIL Academic competitions and the different subject areas. Snacks and drinks will follow. “It will be a good time for students...

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