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HHS Media

Where every person has a story.

HHS Media

Where every person has a story.

HHS Media

Martin Beck

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter

Martin Beck is a senior on the Newsstreak staff who enjoys writing, both journalistically and creatively. When he’s not typing the manuscript for his detective novel in a locally-owned coffee shop, Martin likes to lounge around in bed with a good book or take long walks at sunset.

All content by Martin Beck
A cup of coffee sits in a windowsill

A love letter to Coffee

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter May 29, 2018

Coffee, I love you, but I have not always loved you. We met at the supermarket, when I licked some grounds off a self-service bean grinder. Young and foolish, I had expected chocolate, but instead I...

A screen capture of the number of re-shares the post already has.

Future uncertain for Tropical Smoothie challenge

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter May 23, 2018

The Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Harrisonburg sits on the edge of a shopping plaza, in a squat, un-tropical building of brick and concrete. Its menu consists largely of alliterative drinks that revolve around...

King crosses the finish line.

4×800 meter relay team competes at Dogwood Track Classic

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter May 9, 2018

  Track and Field teams from across the nation converged on UVA’s Lannigan Field Saturday to compete in the 54th annual Dogwood Track Classic. Harrisonburg High School’s team competed against...

Vogel lays beside the change he counted out to supplement his coffee habit.

Vogel evaluates financial situation

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter April 5, 2018

For high schoolers who find their employment options limited, due perhaps to academic or filial obligations, affording even the cheapest gourmet coffee can prove difficult. Just ask senior Corin Vogel,...

The directors of the fundraiser talk about their program to the audience.

Empty Bowls fundraiser raises $15,000 for Kenyan girls’ school

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter April 4, 2018

The third annual Empty Bowls fundraiser collected an estimated $15,000 in donations from local businesses and members of the community. All proceeds will go to the Nasaruni Academy, a girls school in Narok,...

Vanessa Ehrenpreis stands above Tibet, a region in China. On this trip, Ehrenpreis was studying abroad for a semester in Nepal researching biodiversity and community forest management. She was also able to conduct research on Tibetan tigers while attending the University of Virginia. studying Environmental Sciences.

Ehrenpreis works to mend governmental policies

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter March 20, 2018

The Trump administration announced it intends to repeal many Obama era climate regulations, chiefly restrictions on offshore gas and oil drilling imposed after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon Spill. Trump...

Graffiti on the wall beside Greenberrys Coffee

People-watching is a good habit

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter February 12, 2018

There’s a parking garage downtown with two levels, the upper of which overlooks a small shopping district. I often climb up there to watch the people walking around below, each unique, as they stroll...

Two pharmaceuticals, such as would be ordered from the dark web.

Student mourns drug-related death of loved one

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter January 25, 2018

Although her friends don’t know it, Senior Lauren Shank is mourning a death. One year ago this November, Jake Fielder, her longtime boyfriend, accidentally took a lethal combination of prescription painkillers...

Harrisonburg City Council to vote on second high school

Harrisonburg City Council to vote on second high school

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter January 23, 2018

The Harrisonburg School Board has voted unanimously to build a second high school, but that doesn’t mean anyone’s laying bricks just yet. The city council has yet to approve funding for the project,...

[Video] Indoor track team competes at Liberty University’s Bulldog Invitational

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter January 19, 2018

https://youtu.be/dTqr7XGNr0U  

Senior Nick Burzumato boogies at homecoming with his friends. He did not come with a date, but that didnt stop him from socializing on the dance floor. I like hopping around and dancing with as many people as possible, Burzumato said. Im going to see zero of these people in six months, so thats pretty good.

Students dance night away at homecoming

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter October 10, 2017

It’s homecoming night, and Senior Daniel Heiser* doesn’t have a ticket. He sits at home in a leather swivel chair, stocking feet propped up on his computer desk, and texts his friends about the possibility...

HHS track team places first in city-county meet

HHS track team places first in city-county meet

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter May 1, 2015

Once again, HHS emerges with a victory. On Wednesday, April 29th, the boys and girls varsity outdoor track teams travelled to Spotswood High School to butt heads with other teams in the area: Spotswood...

Opinion: One is C418s best work

Opinion: One is C418’s best work

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter April 17, 2015

People tend to plop C418 and Skrillex into the same musical vein, often without a second thought. To assume all Electronica is classified by a monotonous series of bleeps and bloops is, in my opinion,...

Blog: I swore off Google for a week... Heres what happened.

Blog: I swore off Google for a week… Here’s what happened.

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter April 15, 2015

Before you call me a sadist, let’s get one thing out of the way: I still used Google Drive and Gmail (for school-related duties)... and YouTube. The extent of my abstinence was Google Search, and I must...

Senior Evan Dotas, Sophomore Patrick Badia, and Junior Douglas Richer show off their instruments.

Gallery: Tiny Tots achieves another successful performance

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter March 27, 2015

The HHS auditorium has seen lots of breeds: scientists, comedians, authors, and, on occasion, Kindergarteners. On March 24, 25, and 26 the Symphonic Band played their seventh annual Tiny Tots concerts....

Apples obession with skinny has gone too far

Apple’s obession with “skinny” has gone too far

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter March 23, 2015

The tech industry has a predilection for making anything and everything thin. Heck, “predilection” isn’t strong enough of a word – obsession! The marketability of tech today seems to be measured...

HHS bands receive Virginia Honor Band title at assessment

HHS bands receive Virginia Honor Band title at assessment

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter March 14, 2015

The HHS Concert and Symphonic bands participated in the regional band assessment on March 14 at Broadway High School. The assessment was conducted in front of a panel of VBODA (Virginia Band and Orchestra...

Birdman (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) deserved best picture

Birdman (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) deserved best picture

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter March 12, 2015

Doubtless you’ve heard of Birdman. It snagged multiple Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture. Come Oscar night, I had two picks for best picture....

Blog: Vimeo is YouTube... but classier

Blog: Vimeo is YouTube… but classier

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter March 10, 2015

Hands down, the best thing about writing this blog is translating wasted time on the Internet into something productive. I’m sure many of you can empathize with me on this account: One of my time wasters...

Blog: Was the dress a sign of a cultural shift?

Blog: Was the dress a sign of a cultural shift?

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter March 9, 2015

If you haven’t already, check out Evan Dotas’ thoughts on this issue. You won’t regret it. I promise. For those of you completely at a loss as to what issue I’m referring to, congratulations!...

The faces of a generation.

Who are the millennials?

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter March 3, 2015

The generation of students currently at HHS remained, for many years, nameless. Some branded them Generation Y. Some, Generation Us. Others, Generation We. Demographers, authors, and historians didn’t...

The browser wars continue

The browser wars continue

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter February 24, 2015

The browser wars are unique in that you can become a turncoat pretty easily. Changing sides isn’t a multi-hundred dollar affair like in the iPhone vs. Android debate. All that’s required is an Internet...

Blog: Apps for easing homework pains

Blog: Apps for easing homework pains

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter February 10, 2015

If you find yourself perpetually trapped in homework’s jaws, your life can start to feel like some cruel, vicious cycle of school-homework, school-homework, school-homework (immediately followed by school-homework,...

Adblock Plus cleans up the net

Adblock Plus cleans up the ‘net

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter February 3, 2015

Adblock Plus is a lightweight extension that runs in the background of your preferred browser and, hence the name, blocks annoying ads on the Internet from being displayed. According to Adblock’s site,...

Critically acclaimed musician discussed jazz at ELT event

Critically acclaimed musician discussed jazz at ELT event

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter February 2, 2015

Drummer Robert Jospé visited HHS on Thursday, January 29th with his jazz band: Inner Rhythm. He spoke to ELT participants about the history of jazz and played multiple arrangements from Jazz legends,...

Blog: Windows 10: Sorry, but have some holograms

Blog: Windows 10: Sorry, but have some holograms

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter January 28, 2015

The tech world wanted an apology from Microsoft at last week’s Windows 10 event, but instead we got a virtual reality headset. We wanted everyone at Microsoft to say, “Look, Windows 8 was a flop. We...

Blog: A cheapskates guide to online music

Blog: A cheapskate’s guide to online music

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter January 27, 2015

We live in an age where the Internet provides us with bountiful free music, and it’s a mere Google search away. Owning physical music is a relic of the past, and owning digital music may follow suit,...

Katya Kirilyuk plays violin at the showcase.

Fine Arts Academy freshman have showcase

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter January 16, 2015

The freshman Fine Arts Academy class gathered on Monday, January 12th, to present their artistic works to the public. Each student gave a five minute presentation depending on the “strand” they are...

Blog: Goodreads a bibliophiles fantasy

Blog: Goodreads a bibliophile’s fantasy

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter January 12, 2015

If you’re like me, your holiday reading haul is dwindling (fast!) and you are scrambling (hopelessly!) for your next book. My friends, now is the time to consult the presence that has all the answers:...

Interstellar floors Beck

Interstellar floors Beck

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter January 7, 2015

Before I delve in to my review of Interstellar, I think it’s best to look at the condition of 2014’s box office. Interstellar sits comfortably in the eighth slot of the “Top 10 Highest Grossing Films”...

HCPS to expand in 2016

HCPS to expand in 2016

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter December 11, 2014

Next school year, Harrisonburg High School will be at capacity. In other words, our school building will be sustaining the maximum number of bodies it was built to hold–that’s 1,547 individuals. From...

Incarnate book cover.

Who is Jodi Meadows?

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter November 20, 2014

Jodi Meadows is a young adult science fiction and fantasy author with residence in the Shenandoah Valley. You may have seen her novels peppered atop shelves in the library or in the hands of students in...

Opinion: The Giver is sci-fi done right

Opinion: The Giver is sci-fi done right

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter November 12, 2014

The film opens with a black and white shot of a suburban town. Before any characters are even introduced, one thing struck me: the art direction is phenomenal in The Giver (based off of a 1993 novel)....

Opinion: Sleep, please and thank you

Opinion: Sleep, please and thank you

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter November 10, 2014

You are familiar with the fruitless class. Not that class where you already know the content, or the class that you curse under your breath, no. I’m talking about the first period class. With the...

Who Is Howard Stevens?

Who Is Howard Stevens?

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter October 28, 2014

Howard Stevens was reunited with his old high school on Wednesday, October 22nd, when he returned to HHS. Stevens spoke to students and their families about football recruiting and setting athletic and...

The Apple storefront.

Has Apple forgotten how to innovate?

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter October 23, 2014

No better place affirms Apple’s influence over today’s society than an HHS hallway. iPhones are cradled in the hands of students like newborn children. Some slouch over their screens, swiping endlessly...

Representatives from James Madison University, Blue Ridge Community college, Bridgewater college, and West Point Military Academy came to Harrisonburg High School to discuss admissions and campus life.

ELT admissions discussion considered worthwhile by students

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter October 7, 2014

Upper and underclassmen alike flocked to the auditorium commons Thursday to glean information about college admissions. A panel of admissions counselors from multiple post-secondary institutions visited...

Opinion: The Slow Death of the Internet

Opinion: The Slow Death of the Internet

Martin Beck, Staff Reporter September 5, 2014

For the first time in all of history, the Internet is in danger. The bastion of free expression, instantaneous communication and cat videos hangs in the balance, and many of us don’t realize it. If we,...

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Martin Beck