School Lunches: They’re Worse Than Ever!

    We all know how gross school lunches can be. There are TV shows, movies, and books that all mention the torture of eating lunch at school. Obviously, media exaggerates to make the entertainment funnier, but recently school lunches have met up with the media standards of a gross “school lunch”. They added something in the meat known as Pink Slime, or in other words, ground disinfected beef guts.

Pink Slime

           Right when the words “Pink Slime” and “lunch” are used in the same sentence, you know you must be hearing wrong. Sadly, that is not the case. The U.S. is buying more than 7 million pounds worth of Pink Slime to use as filler in the meat served at school. But the school lunches aren’t where the Pink Slime showed up first. McDonalds and other fast food restaurants recently announced that they were no longer using the Pink Slime in their burgers. That’s when the U.S. found out that these disinfected beef guts just met the standards for food safety, so they decided that it was okay to use it as filler in the meat products served at school

Gerald Zirnstein, a former microbiologist who invented the term “pink slime,” says that the purchase of ammonium hydroxide-treated beef cuts for school lunches doesn’t make any sense. Zirnstein came up with the term “pink slime” when he toured a Beef Products Inc. production facility in 2002. When the animal by product is mixed with ammonia, it has a pink appearance.

          

          I asked Madison Giovanni, a 7th grader attending Stoller Middle School, why she doesn't eat lunch from school:

gross school lunch meat

“I don’t eat lunch from school because the pizza is greasy and disgusting, and when you pick it up, the grease drips off of it. The noodles are hard, and I question if the meat they serve is even real. Half the stuff in the salad bar isn’t even thawed!”

           

       I asked Alexis, another 7th grader also attending Stoller Middle School, why she thought the food served at school wasn’t actually “healthy”: “They advertise it to be healthy, but it’s not. They add things in the food to make it look normal”.

       Clearly, kids that eat lunch from school aren’t getting the nutrition they need. Without getting these vitamins and nutrients, students will perform badly academically and behavior wise during school, which affects their whole future.

By: Anjali Panikar

Word Count: 398

Flip Flops and the Threats They Have on the Society
By Madison Giovanni

    Even though flip flops can be cute, comfortable, and quick to slip on before school, they are a huge safety hazard and should be interpreted as one. Even though  some people, like Anjali Panikar would say that “I love wearing flip flops. They make me feel like I am flying in the air and I always feel so free when I wear these beautifully crafted shoes.”, she is unaware of of the extreme safety hazards these shoes bring forth.

Students sitting on steps, wearing flip flops.

    It is a reasonable thing to say that at school,  flip flops pose a serious threat to the safety of the flip flop wearers and their fellow peers. A possible scenario in an average high school hallway could go something like this;hundreds of students pour out of class rooms as the bell rings. Someone wearing flip flops could accidentally be stepped on, and due to unsafe foot ware, fall over. Then, with people hurrying to get to class, the person could be trampled and/or other students could fall over and injure themselves and others too. Some people feel that just avoiding wearing flip flops to school is a much better action,
Sitting on steps, wearing flip flops.
then putting students at risk of being hurt at school.    

Flip flops not only pose a threat in the day-to-day life of an average student, but in the time of an emergency, they can be even more dangerous. Gloria Fleming, the co-president of the Nyack High School PTA says “Not to sound like an alarmist, but we’ve had bomb scares, and when you’re trying to evacuate, wearing flip flops doesn’t seem like a good idea.”Alexis quotes “I think flip flops have risks, but they are comfortable, so it depends on what kind of flip flop it is.”. She goes on to say “I think it would be a better thing to be banned at school, because if there was an emergency, then you could trip and cause an accident and that would hold up everything.”.

    Flip flops provide little support and protection for the feet, and wearing them can result in tendonitis and arch pain. Although there are no studies linking flip flops to long term health problems, evidence does show that they can cause foot discomfort. It is not a wise thing to have growing teens wearing shoes with little support, because that can result in pain and can add onto the stress of day-to-day school life.
    Some people like Emily Purkey who comments “It is our business what we put on our feet! I will not show them my feet!”, haven’t been introduced to the threat that flip flops pose to the safety of students and staff at schools around the world.

Health Problems?

                         Health Problems?

                             By Dulce Sanabria 

 

The Unites States had the leading obesity rate in 2009.

      Many people in the U.S.A intake more added sugar than the recommended amount. These large amounts of sugar come from many foods and drinks. Some of the drinks that contain large amounts of sugar are soft drinks, juices, and sports drinks.
    

Many student athletes take sports drinks to their games or practices. Even though the sports drinks are healthier than most other soft drinks, they still contain more sugar than what we are supposed to be in taking. The average amount of sugar (in grams) in a sports drink is 14.5 grams. Gatorade, has 14 grams of added sugar in an 8 ounce serving. Though, most of the time, they come in  32 ounce bottles. That’s four times of what teenagers should be consuming.

Also, little kids love juice right? Well the average amount of sugar in an 8 ounce serving of juice is around 20 grams! That’s for the kids! Non-diabetic, average adults are not supposed to get over around 40 grams. Most kids drink juice with a snack or meal. And probably more than 8 fluid ounces at a time too.

A lot of  Americans have soda with their lunch and dinner. Research says that 5 out of 7 people drinks soda everyday. A very popular soft drink is Coca Cola. The amount of sugar in an 8 ounce serving is about 27 grams. Eight ounces is not a lot and is easy to surpass. Then your sugar intake will increase. With one of these servings an adult will be in taking more than half of what they should. And that’s only one of their drinks during the day!

Teenagers also like many soft drinks. Like here in school, there is a drink called 'Switch'. One can of this soft drink contains 30 grams of sugar. That’s twice as much sugar as teenagers should be taking!

This much amount of sugar in our diets can create many health problems. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states “ More than one-third (35.7%) of adults are obese.” Also, there has been a huge increase in the obesity rate over the past 20 years. In 2010, none of the states (in the U.S.) had less than 20% as their obesity rate.   

Almost 3 billion 32 ounce bottles of Gatorade are sold every year. And that’s just ONE of the many sports drinks. There are still lots soft drinks and juices that are probably sold by the billions every year too.

Word Count: 419
Media Frame: Demonize



 

Isabel Mercedes Celis with her dog. She should still be with her
 family and being happy.

6 year old Isabel Mercedes Celis, was reported missing from her family's home Saturday Morning

6 year old Isabel Mercedes Celis was reported missing from her family’s home Saturday morning in Tucson, Arizona.

            Isabel Mercedes Celis parents pleaded for her safe return on Wednesday. Her father, Sergio Celis, said “Please, Please, to the person or persons who have Isa( Isabel) tells us your demands, tell us what you want, we will do anything for her.

            Both of Isabel Mercedes Celis parents thanked the volunteers who have taking part of the search.

            In the beginning of the search there were more than 150 officers from various agencies looking for little Isabel. On Tuesday it was reduced to more than 20 officers and it should have lowered so much.

            Isabel was last seen by family members at 11 at night, when she was going to bed. On  Saturday police found that one of the screens for the window was removed. This brings lots of thoughts.

            The Tucson authorities describe the child disappearance as suspicious. They have not identified suspects nor they know what might have happened to Isabel.

            Tucson police chief, Roberto Villasenor called the disappearance a complex case and that they have limited information.

            Police have searched a 3-mile radius around Isabel’s home. They have also searched in a local landfill. They say the landfill search was conducted because trash had been taken out Saturday before police could secure the home.

            Police chief Roberto Villasenor said police have been shifting from searching to an investigating phase since investigators have revisited sites they believe could be relevant.

            This case is very similar to the Kyron Horman’s. They both went missing but at different times. They were also very young.

By:Liset Morales

Word Count:307

         

         

Mad cow disease found in California

Mad Cow Disease found in California

By Ashley Pun

Mad cow disease found in California. Will there be more cases?

During this last week, the fourth case of mad cow disease in the U.S. has been confirmed in California. While this may seem like a myth, mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is not a fantasy, but a real life disease. It takes over a cow’s nervous system and makes their brain swell up. Some symptoms of BSE in cows are lack of coordination, falling over, stumbling, and constant urination. (Thanks to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

 This virus is carried in the cow’s muscle tissue, and creates holes in the brain. The infected cow was randomly selected to be tested, and came back with results that were positive on Monday, the 23rd. So the question is, should people be concerned?

The USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) said “...[we] remain confident in the health of the national herd and the safety of beef and dairy products.” The USDA also stated that it was only a rare case of BSE not caught from contaminated feed. The odds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the chances of getting BSE even after ingesting contaminated meat, is less than one in 10 billion.

The USDA has made it clear that humans should not be worried. This incident, however, was an unwelcome reminder of the 1980s, when a large amount of mad cow disease was found in the U.K., and caused 171 people to die of the disease. So many people caught the disease, that it became an epidemic.

We interviewed a few people to see what they thought about the recent confirmation of mad cow disease. Mrs. Denio of the Beaverton School District said: "I would like to believe the USDA, but I buy organic meat or meat from my own cows or my neighbors because then I know what is in my meat. I don't have a lot of faith in many of the foods that are produced in this country where animals are concerned (chickens, beef, pigs, etc)."

             Many people have had this concern, and two major beef retailers stopped their exports overseas. Although it was just a mutation in the cow's system, these sort of things don’t happen usually, we should still be cautious about where we get our meat, to make sure that whatever caused BSE to spread in the United Kingdom, won't happen again.

Word count: 400 words
Photo courtesy of visualphotos.com 
Websites used: Cnn.com (used for quotes and articles, general information).
Media frame used: Equalize

Apple tries to make Jailbreaking illegal

Apple tries to make Jailbreaking illegal

By Casey Butz

The U.S government stated in July 2010 that “Jailbreaking” an iPhone, iPad and iPod touch is a legal act as long as the process didn'tget too carried off. Apple was very angry at the court because they had spent a lot of time and money into their devices. “Jailbreaking” is simply the process of removing the restrictions/limitations created by Apple on any iOS device through the use of custom kernels. I have my iPod touch 3G jailbroken, and so far I really like it. It’s much better than a non-jailbroken device. Apple says it’s unlawful to jailbreak an iOS Device, but they have not taken legal action against the tens of millions of people who have jailbroken their devices and used the Cydia app, which is where you get all of the new unrestricted tweaks. If I were Apple, and I hated jailbreaking so much, I would just research some of the advantages of jailbreaking, and copy some of them into their next software update. That way, people would decide to not jailbreak their iOS device.

 There are over 30,000 jailbreak themes and tweaks.  Jay Freeman, the person who runs Cydia, has said that over ten milliion people have his alterative market app installed on their iOS device. "If there was something on the books that made jailbreaking exempt, that would be painful", said Freeman. Apple declares that while jailbreaking may be legal, it will violate the Apple warranty on the iOS device.

This is a an example of a jailbroken iPod Touch. This is just some of the things you can do while being jailbroken.

A jailbroken iPod Touch

 

Word count: 266 

Supreme Court May Agree with Arizona’s Anti-Immigration Laws

Aakash Kurse
Word Count: 355 words

Supreme Court May Agree with Arizona’s Anti-Immigration Laws

Last Wednesday the Arizona’s anti-immigration law went to the Supreme Court  to see if it could be passed. Arizona has passed this law because it is the state with the largest levels of illegal immigration from Mexico, out of the 2 million Latinos that are currently living in Mexico, 400,000 are believed to be there illegally. The law has four major parts to it and they are:

The State of Arizona

The Supreme Court

-- A requirement that local police officers check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws if "reasonable suspicion" exists that the person is in the United States illegally.
-- A provision authorizing police to arrest immigrants without warrant where "probable cause" exists that they committed any public offense making them removable from the country.
-- A section making it a state crime for "unauthorized immigrants" to fail to carry registration papers and other government identification.
-- A ban on those not authorized for employment in the United States to apply, solicit or perform work. That would include immigrants standing in a parking lot who "gesture or nod" their willingness to be employed. (According to CNN)
    Some of the lawyers for the federal government have reported that the Federal government’s standing anti-immigration law isn’t as good as Arizona’s law, and that Arizona’s case is receiving more support. To quote “Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor told the federal governments' lawyer that key parts of his arguments were "not selling very well."” The federal government is against this new law because it may promote racism (since the only illegal immigrants are from Mexico). The threat of illegal immigration is considered real because it steals jobs from American citizens, and can cause safety problems (some illegal immigrants are members from drug cartels). The threat of job loss and illegal drugs affect the economy and the individual health of citizens of the US. This law may also stop job loss and will definitely reduce the amount of illegal drugs sold in the US.

Photo Credits:http://www.arizonahealingtours.com/images3/map-az.gif and http://www.acslaw.org/sites/default/files/imce/SupremeCourt2_0.JPG

Kony 2012

By Brian Kim

  Joseph Kony(top)

Joseph Kony is a madman who makes children kill their parents. He makes all
the boys part of his army, LRA ( Lord’s Resistance Army). The girls
become sex slaves for Kony. If the children resist him then Kony will
kill them or mutilate their faces. Kony is isn’t doing this with a
motive only just to maintain power. He isn’t supported by anyone and is
on the top criminal list. He also says peace but then later shoots.
Though Kony’s army is only about 250 he has done 440,000 dis place
that’s almost half a million. Kony has been started around the late
1980s."Stopping the LRA threat is not an easy mission" Donald Yamamoto, princible
deputy assistant secretary.


Kony got popular by the Kony 2012 video. Jacob had a brother who was killed
trying to escape Kony. Jacob was part of the LRA. He escaped from Konys
wrath and is now part of the Kony 2012/Tri/Invisible Children. Not a lot
of people know who is Kony is. Their plan is to make him popular, to
make the government stop him and track him down. When People heard about
Kony. A lot of people are talking about this on Facebook, Twitter and a
lot of other social networks.

 Kony has been killing and abducting and keeping captives. He isn’t just anormal threat if we don’t stop him now we may never be able to. BarackObama agrees and has sent about 100 soldiers to stop Joseph Kony's actions. The invisible children page has gotten 3,207,772 Likes on Facebook. Even Myspace a not so popular social network agrees with this.If you post “Help Stop Joseph Kony 2012” People will either say who is Kony? Or Something that agrees with your comment.


Word Count Is 297

Oklahoma City Thunder's James Harden out with a Concussion

Oklahoma City Thunder’s James Harden out with a Concussion

James Harden takes a Smack to the Head from Metta World Peace

When James Harden from the Oklahoma City Thunder got elbowed in the head from Metta World Peace he had to leave the game with 1:39 left in the first half with a concussion. The game took place in the Staples Center (L.A. California) on April 22, 2012. The Lakers won the game 114-106 in double overtime without Metta World Peace (ejected). James Harden hasn’t gotten a real apology yet but Metta World Peace has apologized to the Thunder’s association.

World Peace said “It was bad timing for me.” Metta World Peace also says that the contact was unintentional and that he didn’t know that James Harden was right behind him.

Even though he says that it was unintentional Metta World Peace was suspended for seven games. He will miss the first couple of games of the playoffs and his presence will be missed by the lakers.

The NBA thought about Metta World Peace’s background when they were deciding how many games he would be suspended. In 2004 he was suspended for 86 games due to a fight with the fans. He can be known as a troublemaker in the NBA.  

The NBA has been very good at not allowing violence during games. They have suspended many people two of which are Metta World Peace and Jason Smith. On March 22, 2012 Jason Smith from the New Orlean Hornets was ejected from the game and suspended for 2 games. He was charged with a flagrant 2 foul after he bodied Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers) at full speed. Griffin was okay and able to play on. Even with Blake Griffin the Clippers weren’t able to pull it off and lost 97-90. Blake Griffin has been through a lot. In the 2010-2011 season Andre Miller bodied him too.

Smith did apologize to Griffin, “I didn’t want to give him an easy layup, but there are a ton of other ways to go about it.”

James Harden is still not cleared from the concussion but he was able to fly back to Oklahoma City after the game Sunday night. He is going through the required steps with the NBA that you have to take after a concussion.

“We care more about James health than him beings on the court playing basketball for us.” says Kevin Durant one of Harden’s teammates as well as a close friend.

Maddie Muhlheim

Period 5

400 Words

An Upset For DPOY

An Upset For DPOY 

By Nick Daniel

Dwight Howard (right) blocking Ray Allen's (closest) shot

Dwight Howard is the defensive player of the year, without him the Orlando Magic are in a defensive and rebounding flux. Dwight Howard  leads the league in rebounding with 18.3 rebounds per game, and an over the top 10.8 defensive rebounds per game, more than the other DPOY canidates regular rebounding totals. Dwight Howard's three competitors are Serge Ibaka (leads the league in blocks with 3.6 blocks per game), Tyson Chanler (anchors the New York Knicks defense), and Lebron James (considered the most versatile defender of the group). Basketball experts predict that Tyson Chandler will be the winner, upsetting Howards reign of three Defensive Player of the Year awards. Basketball experts are saying that Tyson Chandler will win because people are tired of Dwight Howard winning. A similar thing happened in 1998 when Karl Malone won the MVP when Michael Jordan was most deserving. Karl Malone won because fans were tired of seeing Michael Jordan win MVP after MVP. Dwight has won the DPOY award for three years straight, so fans could be getting tired of seeing him winning, so they might vote Tyson Chandler, Lebron James, or Serge Ibaka. Goodthings have been said about all four of them. One basket ball fan said "Serge Ibake is the best blocker in the NBA today, he also works his but off in games and practices". Many people say that Tyson Chandler should win another fan said "Tyson Chandler is a hustle player, and he also makes a person's shot hard". But some people think Lebron should win, one fan said "Lebron is a freak athlete, he can do everything on the defensive end". There are a handful of players that deserve to win DPOY, but are their any that stand above the pack? Will voters be tired of Dwight Howards DPOY reign and vote somebody else? 

Word Count: 317

Do referees really help out the game?

Referee Uniform

Do referees really help out the game?

By: Aliya Mahmoud

For many years we have had referees monitored our athletic contests. Their job is to make sure the game is played fairly, that the rules are followed and to make sure nobody gets hurt. But do Refs actually affect how the game results turn out?

I asked some students their opinion about the Referees and here is what they had to say. "Sometimes I feel like they pick sides and don't make equal calls." said Maddie Muhlheim " Josef Triman said " They can make the game fair, but when they make the wrong calls, there can be no point in playing."

Referee Whistle

Referees are the ones who make make sure the game is played how it is suppose to be. But sometimes they can make the WRONG decisions which can effect the whole outcome of the game. They also can be unfair with the choices they make, as the calls can be in favor of the other team. Refs will also make certain judgments on a play and not make the right one. They will make mistakes but that can determine the result of the whole entire match. They can't see everything that goes on the field so they might miss something. And when they do they are risking how they game will end up. It isn't always fair.

I asked other student how we could find a solution to calls made by Refs. And here is what they thought. "They need to make sure that they know the sport and know the rules well." said Alexa Kerprich. Jared said "I think there needs to be more Refs so that they can have a better view of the call and review they play. It could be more fair."

So even though Refs will make mistakes and calls, you sometimes have got to keep playing and move on. As time will go by we will find more ways for the game to be fair and work out. So for now, just let the Refs make the judgment and play your game!


Word Count: 349 words

Should School Lunches Be Changed To Healthier Options?

School Lunch

Should School Lunches Be Changed To Healthier Options?

    For some families, lunchboxes might as well be relics from the past. Why bother when the kids can get a perfectly healthy meal at school? But, actually school lunches are filled with grease and are very unhealthy. An anonymous source says that school lunches are disgusting and gross and another anonymous source says that there are puddles of grease on her pizza. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition fact sheet says that thirty percent of an individual's calories comes from fat, and less that ten percent comes from saturated fat. And eighty percent of schools don’t meet the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards for fat composition. Also, fast-food standards for meat are healthier than those for school lunches. In the past three years, the government has provided the nation’s schools with millions of pounds of beef and chicken that wouldn’t meet the quality or safety standards of many fast-food restaurants, from Jack in the Box and other burger places top chicken chains such as KFC. A study of more than one thousand sixth graders graders in several schools in southeastern Michigan found that those who regularly had the school lunches were 29 percent more likely to be obese than those who brought lunch from home. Mr. Everson thinks that they have improved the lunches over the last couple of years in some ways but they do need better snacks and need to make sure that all the choices are healthy. And should have less fat and less chemicals in them. They should also make the salad bar more appealing he says. And buy snacks from companies that make the snacks healthier. He says that if his kids went to Stoller he would probably pack their lunches for them. Lunches are very unhealthy and we need to do something to change them.

By: Karina Shah

Word Count: 319

Metta World Peace Suspended For 7 Games

Metta World Peace Suspended For 7 Games

World Peace gave Harden a concussion 

from vicious elbowing

Many people know him as a forward on the Los Angeles Lakers with bad sportsmanship and temper control problems. That’s why when Metta World Peace elbowed James Harden of the Oklahoma City Thunder no one was surprised. He was ejected from Sunday’s game for elbowing Harden in the head and giving him a concussion. With playoffs just around the corner, World Peace’s 7 game suspension may cost the Lakers. He’s been playing on an average of 26.9 minutes per game during the 2011-12 season and his suspension will lead into the first round of the playoffs and maybe even into the second. If both teams make it through the first round, they will meet up again in the second with World Peace playing. Metta World Peace claims that the hit was just an accident but even his teammates weren’t defending his actions. "It's hard to get into a guy's head and know exactly what happened in that situation," Bryant said. "I haven't really spoken to him about it. You've really got to ask him."  

Due to his suspension, World Peace will be losing nearly $348,000 in salary if he serves the whole suspension this year. After Thursdays game in Sacramento, World Peace will be out for 6 of the playoff games. If the Lakers exit the first round, the rest of his suspension will be served next season. Many people believe that his suspension should be expanded to a longer period of time because of the severity of the hit. "The concussion suffered by James Harden demonstrates the danger posed by violent acts of this kind, particularly when they are directed at the head area," Stern said in a statement. "We remain committed to taking necessary measures to protect the safety of NBA players, including the imposition of appropriate penalties for players with a history of on-court altercations." In 2004, World Peace got the longest ban for an on-court incident in NBA history with an 86 game suspension for jumping into the stands to fight a fan. Also, in 2007 he received a 7 game suspension for his no-contest plea on a domestic violence charge. 

Maryam Rezaie

Word Count: 357

The Largest Landfill in America and how we can Reduce Pollution

The Largest Landfill in America and how we can Reduce Pollution

By: Jacob Michel

Terrible Trash at Puente Hills Landfill

It's about as tall of some of Los Angeles’s largest skyscrapers. It is the Puente Hills landfill, the largest in America. Every day, hundreds of garbage trucks come here to dump the garbage of Los Angeles. Most people take for granted how their garbage seemingly disappears from their curb. In fact, it doesn’t just disappear but comes right back into their house in the form of contaminated water in the form of water pollution. People don’t seem to notice how dangerous this practice that we have can be. Sure, there may be plastic sealant-like “membranes”, and machines that turn the odors into electricity, but pollution is still caused. This is because when the trash is dumped, it is not immediately covered up and sealed off. The trash-bulldozing equipment has to plow it into the landfill and sort through the trash. In that time, the trash is able to release dangerous gases such as Methane. Those gases are punching holes in the Ozone layer. The Ozone layer protects us from harmful rays of the sun. Not only do the gases pollute the air but also contaminate the soil and groundwater, right back to our homes. The toxic residue can still eat its way through the plastic membrane. We can reduce this by more reusing of materials such as simple things like use a plastic water bottle more than once. If we don’t stop this we will eventually destroy the Ozone layer. Hopefully we will be able to reuse more often so we don’t need giant landfills such as the one in Puente Hills.

Word count: 279

Japan Earthquake/Tsunami

This picture shows the devastating earthquake

.

Japan: Earthquake/Tsunami

         

Article By Aiden Woodworth Word Count 403 

A massive earthquake has hit Japan, killing thousands on March 11, 2011. The killer earthquake was magnitude 8.9. It struck 400 km north-east of Tokyo. It is one of the strongest earthquakes ever measured and the strongest earthquake to ever hit Japan. The devastating earthquake affected the lives of thousands of Japanese people.

To make matters worse a major tsunami hit Japan following the earthquake. The tsunami hit where the earthquake hit taking additional lives. After hitting Japan the tsunami traveled at a rate of 500 mph towards the US pacific coast. The tsunami waves were still 7 feet high by the time they hit the US west coast.

The gloomy days in Japan just don’t seem to be letting up.  The Fukushima power plant has exceeded normal temperatures. Thousands of people living near the power plant have been told to evacuate. Japanese nuclear safety officials say that the cooling system in the power plant failed and that they should deliberately release some radioactive steam.

Local seventh grade middle school students had the following comments about the Japan earthquake. The first question I asked was, “How did you feel about the Japan earthquake when you heard about it?”  “I felt devastated” said Jason L. “I felt sorry for them” answered Caleb C. “It was a big earthquake, tsunami, and power plant failure, I felt sad replied” Juame.  “I felt devastated in so many ways.” - Sergio M. I also asked, “Did you feel you should help?” Here is what some seventh graders replied. Michael M. said “I wanted to help.”   “Yes, I should have helped” replied Michael P. “I felt like I should have helped, but I didn’t know how” said Andrew V. “Yes although the relief efforts were great already” answered Jason T.

When asked about their knowledge of the situation in Japan, on average seventh graders said that on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the most knowledgeable, that they were a 7.

The disasters in Japan were devastating and will probably always be looked at as a terrible and scary chain of events. Starting with the 8.9 magnitude earthquake and followed by the tsunami which caused the Fukushima power plants to overheat. The chain of events was very unfortunate. It will be many months if not years before Japan will be able to overcome the horrific damage from these unavoidable natural events.

Gas Prices seen headed lower at the pump

Gas Prices seen headed lower at the pump

By: Mihir Palan

As the sun beats down and the cool air rushing, a lonely car, soon followed by the whole world was driving to their nearest gas stations to get his gas with a new surprise. It was thought that the gas prices were going to be $5 at the start of summer, but the prices are ticking lower and lower every week in April. This concept started by one of the future companies traded in New York. Their company (has been put to anonymous because of copyright) has dropped thirty cents, going from over $3.40 per gallon at the beginning of April to $3.10 on Wednesday. The local gas pumps right now are $3.84, an 11 cent decline from the start of April. Some financial scientists think that the dropping prices will follow throughout the USA.

The main reason for declining prices is the decreasing prices of Brent oil (the main ingredients of gasoline). Brent oil went from $125 to $120, a huge difference in the financial market. Another reason is the slowing of the economy. “We are definitely going to see even lower gas prices soon” said David Schork, publisher of the Schork Company.

Don’t get your hopes up just yet, because in the East Coast of USA and Europe the gasoline stockpiles are getting dangerously low. I asked UO business graduate Ankit Palan on what he thinks of the decreasing of gas prices. “The lowering of gas prices would do well for the economy because it saves more money, but because resources are limited and the demand is high, I believe this is unlikely. However, I think that if car companies produced more eco-friendly cars, we wouldn’t have the issue to begin with.” he said, “but as a consumer, I would want to lower gas prices because I then have more money to buy goods that I want.”

Word Count: 325 words

Saints GM Eavesdropping on visiting teams

                      

This is a picture of the saints GM Mickey Loomis

New Orleans saints General Manager Mickey Loomis has been eavesdropping on other teams for nearly three seasons. The Saints franchise has gotten themselves into a lot of trouble lately. The bounty scandal has taken head Coach Sean Payton out of the head coach position for one year. Mickey Loomis could listen to visiting coaches for most of the 2002-2004 seasons. The saints have hid this information for many years, it is recent news that they found out about the breaking of the rules.

                        A lot of this blame is being put on Mickey Loomis, if he knew about it should he be blamed? This is what Ben Teeter thought about this idea: “yeah, if he knew about it then it was his fault”. Since the blame is put on Loomis, rumors have it that he will be put on a 8 game suspension from GM of the Saints. There was a small survey done with some 7th grade students asking if he should be fired of just have a long suspension. There was some mixed answers, but most of the people questioned said that both Mickey Loomis and Head coach Sean Payton should be fired. This is another quote from Ben Teeter: “I think he should be fined, but not suspended because it happened a while ago”. This is true that it happened a while ago, but he still broke the rules of the NFL, so he should have some bigger penalties than a fine.  They did get penalties for the bounty violation, a loss in many draft picks and fines, but the eavesdropping penalties are still underway.                                          

Nick Wiley Media lit Per 5

Word count: 296

Mad Cow Disease: Should You Worry?

 Mad Cow Disease: Should You Worry?

Cows grazing in a field. Who knows how many have mad cow?

By Claire Ricketts

The U.S. Agriculture Department were recently checking all of the milking cows in California. What were they checking for? Mad cow disease. Many think it is only an expression, but mad cow disease actually does exist, and it was found on four different cows since 2006. The disease luckily hasn’t gotten out yet, but some people say it is only a matter of time.
    Mad cow disease is a simple way of saying Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE. It is contracted from eating the meat or drinking the milk of one of the affected cows. It is a sometimes fatal brain disease, and affects the senses, such as sight, hearing and perception, often starting out small but getting worse as time goes on. Mad cow disease hasn’t been a serious problem since the 80’s, but could it be again?
    The USDA are definitely doing their best to keep the disease in check. The dairy farm where mad cow was located has stopped all of its exports until all cows are checked and ready to keep milking. The U.S. is currently not taking any beef or milk exports from other countries, and all health requirements are being promptly met. Mad cow disease hardly ever occurs in a cow over the age of 30 months, but officials say you can never be too sure.
    A concerned citizen, Sarah Freeman, says that “There no evidence at this point of how the cow who had mad cow disease acquired the disease. They could have acquired it through the feed supply, in which case other cows could have the disease that we don't know about.” The USDA tests cows randomly for mad cow disease, but in some people’s opinions, they only test a very small percentage. “[Mad cow disease] is a much larger problem than the USDA wants to make it seem to be,” says Ms. Freeman.
    There are health officials that are worried, but many say that this is not going to be a problem. The catch is, California is not the only place where traces of mad cow disease was found. South Korea recently halted all exports of beef because there was a chance that their cows could be infected as well. This is not just a national problem. If mad cow disease affects even one person, it could grow into a global beef-sanitation frenzy. The disease is just devastating enough to cause a minor panic, even if it was caught by only one citizen.
    The cause of BSE to cows is unknown. There is currently no known cure. Doctors were working hard back when mad cow disease was a real problem, but they have slowed now. Not very much is known about mad cow disease. All that people do know is that it catches, it transfers, and it kills.

Word count: 470

Should Yoga pants be banned at schools?

 Should Yoga pants be banned at schools?

    Many people would agree on the fact that yoga pants should be banned from schools. Some people make the argument that they are too tight and are a distraction to the learning environment. From my research, about 90% of them said that they feel that they should not be banned. All of which had the reasoning along the lines of kids should be able to wear what they want. Personally, i agree that we should keep yoga pants in schools, i think that it is ridiculous that they are even considering banning them. If you went to your child’s school, you would be absolutely disgusted by the things girls wear to school. My opinion is that if schools think yoga pants are a distraction then they are going to have to ban a lot more things than just yoga pants. They will have to ban denim shorts, leggings, skinny jeans, jeggings, and anything tight at that matter.
    Parents should be the judge of what their kids wear to school. I don’t think that teachers should be telling what kids can and can’t wear. It’s a free country and we should be able to think, do, and wear what we want. Eva driscoll(seventh grader at Stoller Middle school) said “If your parents buy them for you then they expect you to wear them. And it doesn't go over the dress code.” “Kids want to be comfortable while learning. They are already sitting in a chair for almost seven and a half hours, the last thing you want to be is uncomfortable” said Mr. Wickham(Tlc teacher). However, I do think that there should be limits, depending on the school’s rules the limits could be different. I do think that parents should be the ones making the rules and regulations, and not the administrators. It is the parents that are sending their kids to school with those clothes on. 

By: Olivia Neal

Word count 321            

Yoga Pants are being banned in schools