Penn Points Staff

Phillies Season On The Line

In a nail-biting comeback, the Phillies managed to stay alive in the National League Championships by beating the San Francisco Giants, 4-2, on Thursday night in San Francisco.

Although the Philadelphia Phillies are currently behind the Giants 3-1 in the playoffs, they aren’t losing their die-hard Penn Manor fans.

Penn Manor junior Marc Summy is one of many students who believes strongly that the Phils can pull off all the wins they need to in order to go to the World Series.

Game one was held October 16th in Citizens Bank Park.

APTOPIX NLCS Phillies Giants Baseball — Juan Uribe hits a game-winning sacrifice fly, Photo by Google Images

The Giants won that game, a nail biter 4-3, Saturday in Philadelphia.

But the Phils did not give up. On Oct. 18 the Phils blew out the Giants 6-1, which tied the series 1-1. Game 3 was held on the night of Oct. 19 and the Phils lost 3-0.

Game 4 was held Wednesday in San Francisco and the Phils lost a close one in the ninth 6-5.

Game 5 was played in San Francisco. If the Phillies win game 6 in Philadelphia, game 7 will be in their hometown.

Penn Manor junior, Austin Richwine, supports the Phils from start to finish, no matter what.

“No, (I am not gonna give up on the Phils but) they’ve been in and out, up and down all year round,” said Richwine.

Dylan Weber agreed.

“I will support the Phillies through the entire series,” Weber said.

Wednesday night’s game was especially heartbreaking when the Phils were winning and ended up losing a close one in the ninth inning.The Phils season is on the line due to trailing in the series 3-1. The Phils need to win every game from here on out.

“Phillies and the Texas Rangers are going to be in the World Series,” said Penn Manor junior, Brandon Schuman.

Although the Phils are trailing it is easy to see that Penn Manor has not gave up there faith quite yet.

“They’ve been working too hard all year,” Schuman said. “(Opponents) can’t beat the rotation.”

Penn Manor senior, Tanner Kennedy, believes the Phillies can win also because of there outstanding pitching staff and roster.

The Phillies had an up and down season. Injuries were a major problem for the Phillies, but somehow Coach Charlie Manuel found a way to make everything work. The Phillies had a record of 97-65 during the regular season and finished first in the National League East.

They still have one more shot at completing their season the way Penn Manor fans wanted – with two more wins.

By Tyler Funk

Millersville Parade Marches West

Hi-yo Silver, away!

Many are familiar with the holler of the Lone Ranger to his white horse, Silver.

The dynamic duo will be stampeding through the streets of Millersville on Saturday, October 23, along with the rest of the Millersville parade. The parade, in its 13th year, is celebrating with a “wild, wild west ” theme.

With over 2,000 participants, this is its largest function ever.

The parade is set to feature 16 bands, Native American dancers, antique cars, clowns, mascots, community groups and the Lone Ranger.

Months of hard work and careful planning are spent preparing the parade and making it enjoyable for the viewers every year.

Many community members are involved in making the parade worthwhile. Penn Manor’s own marching unit is set to perform songs along the parade’s route beginning at Herr Avenue the preceding to Landis Avenue then George Street and ending on James Street with a final performance for the judges.

Senior Amy Wagner has performed with the Penn Manor Marching Unit for the Millersville parade for three years and “enjoys it.”

Wagner says “The best part of the parade is that it exposes many people to the band’s show music, people who otherwise wouldn’t get the opportunity to hear it”

For senior Bethany Napier, the Millersville parade is an important part of the community. She has been attending it “forever” and helps her church hand out free balloons and hot cocoa.

The parade begins at 9 a.m. Saturday morning.

Giddyup!

By Cassie Funk

Penn Manor’s Newest Arrival

Carter James Basile, a purely Penn Manor baby, was born on the tenth day of the tenth month of the tenth year of the new millennium.

Brandy Basile, a counselor at Penn Manor High School and formerly known as Brandy Yocum, gave birth to her baby boy at 9:08 that night. Her husband, Aron Basile, also works at Penn Manor High School as a teacher in the physical education department.

“Everything’s going great,” said Aron. “We only had one tough night.”

Carter was born at five pounds, nine ounces, but recently started eating more and gaining the weight he needed to, said his parents.

Carter James Basile was born 10/10/10 to Penn Manor parents Aron and Brandy Basile.

“He was a little peanut,” said his father.

Although both Basiles work at Penn Manor, this isn’t how they met.

“I had her younger sister as a student and she introduced me to her when I ran into her outside of school one afternoon,” said Aron. “That was actually before she was a counselor here, and she was already in the process of trying to get hired at Penn Manor when we started dating.”

Many people didn’t realize that they were together until the word got around that they were engaged during Christmas of 2007. Before that, they weren’t totally keeping it a secret, explained Aron, but they weren’t going around with a flag telling everyone they were together, either.

The happy couple got married in April, 2009.

Mrs. Basile will be out for 12 weeks on maternity leave.

Mr. Basile, even though being both a girl’s softball coach and a football coach at Penn Manor, said he will not force his son to play sports.

“I would love him to play baseball and football,” he said, “but I’m not going to shove a bat or ball in his hands. I’ll let him chose what he wants to play.”

They are both proud to be new parents and love their little boy entirely, they said.

Aron added, “He’s like a new toy that you never wanna put down.”

By Liz Lawrence

Boys Soccer Season a Success

The 2010 boys soccer team was “much more competitive this year,” said Penn Manor’s athletic director, Jeff Roth.

The soccer team went 8-7-3 this year but kept competitive in every match expect for when they were badly defeated by Conestoga Valley. The final score in that game was 4-1. Every loss except for that was by only one goal.

Although Penn Manor will be losing eight seniors this year, including William Chalfant who will be attending Temple University to play soccer, the team is looking forward to having starting forward Andrew Herr and goalie Taylor Skelly, return for next year.

Skelly, a sophomore who played this year to replace senior Kyle Kann, is looking forward to playing the next two years. Herr, a junior, who suffered with mono throughout most of the season, should be ready to lead the team next year.

Tyler Wilson, a senior midfielder, saw this season as a success, saying “my favorite part of the season was when we beat Township 2-1 at home.”

Wilson said their recipe for success was the fact they had played with each other for quite a long time.

“We actually all played together when we were little, so we played well together this season,” Wilson added.

The boy’s soccer team, who are know

n to be physical, was more productive than dangerous this year.

“I only got four yellow cards and one red card this season,” said Wilson.

Chalfant, who was a leader this year, stated “we came together as a team overall, and put forth a serious effort.”

Junior Andrew Herr is ready to return next year after suffering mono all season. Photo by Brian Dunne

But senior, Clark Habecker, one of Penn Manor’s senior defenders, said that teamwork was the key.

“As a team when we worked together, we performed well, and when we tried to work alone we performed badly,” Habecker said.

Habecker also added that he is looking forward to Austin Howett starting to replace him next year.

By Brian Dunne

Penn Manor Comets Defied Friday Night Predictions

Penn Manor Comets faced a well-performing Manheim Township football team, 3-0 in section play, Friday night. The physical game was a win for the Comets, (2-4) who came away with a 38-20 win.

The game started as expected, the Streaks marched down the field with an open drive touchdown. Township took a 6-0 lead after missing the extra point.

The expected win for Township came to a halt after they fumbled on their own 28-yard line. The Comets recovered, Garrett Young, (166 yards on 10 rushes) being the workhorse of the night, busted a 32-yard run to the one-yard line, which gave Sahd the one-yard keeper for a 7-6 lead over the Streaks during the first quarter.

“Outstanding play calling and an outstanding effort from our offensive lineman,” Young said about the Comet’s victorious Friday night.

Turnovers haunted the Streaks all night. Three back-to-back drives resulted in one interception and two fumbles.

“Sticking together on Friday was why we won the game. We knew we were going up against a good team, but we practiced and prepared for the win,” said Errol Hammond, a key asset on the Comets defensive line.

The Comets capitalized on the turnovers, scoring a touchdown on each of Township’s mistakes. The touchdowns included Sahd throwing a 15-yard touchdown, Teon Lee running a 34-yard touchdown into the end zone, and Sahd scoring on a quarterback sneak. This concluded the first half with the score 28-6 Comets on top.

The second half saw the Comets maintaining their lead as they did. Township produced two more touchdowns in the second half, but that wasn’t enough to stop the Comets. Penn Manor quarterback Adam Sahd bolted in on a 44-yard touchdown run. The game already sealed for victory, continued as Garrett busted a 57-yard sprint to set up Brian Sloss for a 28-yard field goal.

The Comets stayed on top, keeping their composure which led to their 38-20 victory. Beating section leader Manheim Township bumped the Comets up to a 3-4 record.

They continue fighting their way up the standings.

“I was excited about the game,” said Trevor Troup, a senior player. “I knew it was our breakout moment.”

By Ryan Mays

PM Rocket Club launches to Washington D.C.

The Penn Manor Rocketry club has not only won the Transatlantic Rocketry Challenge and the title of the best student rocketeers in the world, they have made it to the national capitol.

“It happened so fast, we just confirmed it on Thursday,” said rocket club advisor Brian Osmolinski. “We were pushing for this back in the summer.”

The four original 2010 Penn Manor graduates of the winning team and Osmolinski were reunited for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, a chance to meet President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C.

“Jordan Franssen and Nate Bernhardt got to meet Obama and shake his hand,” said team member Tyler Funk.

Obama with Rocketeers — Winning Rocket team members in black. Photo courtesy of the Washington Post

Jordan Franssen, Brendan Stoeckl, Nate Bernhardt and Tyler Funk, as well as the team’s coach Brian Osmolinski, participated Monday in a White House science fair.

The fair was put together to honor American students who have won science, technology, engineering and math competitions. The Penn Manor Rocketry club was one of only a dozen schools in the United States to show off their accomplishments.

The science fair includes a week of activities such as the USA Science and Engineering Festival, which is expected to intrigue more than a million people to view it at the National Mall.

Tyler Funk made it clear how many interesting people were at the fair during the rocket team’s time there.

“The science fair had winners of different divisions of science showing off their accomplishments,” Funk said.

World famous people were there as well.

“Jaime and Adam from Mythbusters were there, and Bill Nye the science guy (Scientists on television shows),” he added.

Obama points to Jordan Franssen — President Obama points a winning rocket team member Jordan Franssen Monday at the White House Science Fair. Team member Nate Bernhardt is at left.

According to advisor Osmolinski, two members of the team participated in the main science exhibition in the East Wing of the White House from 10 a.m. to noon. The team members not directly involved watched the activities from the neighboring Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Obama made a speech to the students about the need to improve American student’s abilities in math and science. Obama spoke and meet individually with Osmolinski and the Penn Manor students involved in the science fair.

Franssen and Bernhardt told President Obama about their accomplishments. The President seemed genuinely interested in what they had to say.

“Well, you guys are like the top dogs,” Obama told them.

Not only did the students get to meet with the President and famous figures in science, they got to meet officials from NASA and have discussions with other students in the fair.

It was a good day for science, and a great day for Penn Manor students to receive recognition for their accomplishments.

By Kendall Seigworth

Obama’s Plan For A Longer School Year

The government may be making plans to lengthen the six-hour day and 180-day school year.

President Barack Obama said he would like to lengthen the school day and lengthen the year to 200 days of school instead of 180 days to improve the academic success of students in America.

“We can no longer afford an academic calendar designed when America was a nation of farmers who needed their children at home plowing the land at the end of each day,” said the president. “That calendar may have once made sense, but today, it puts us at a competitive disadvantage. Our children spend over a month less in school than children in South Korea. That is no way to prepare them for a 21st century economy,” Obama said on EDU in Review, a news site for education issues.

In fact, American children spend the least amount time in the classroom when compared to other countries, according to the EDU in Review website. Currently, the school year length in the United States is 180 days. Advocates are pushing toward a 200-day school year, which would align with Thailand, Scotland and the Netherlands, and leave us a close behind Israel, South Korea and Japan, who leads with a 243-day school year.

days in school by country — A list of days in school by selected countries

Penn Manor learning support teacher Kathy Kirk agrees that if we have one month of summer break it would be enough because we are no longer in the farm fields working to survive, our economy is different.

On the other hand, if we have (only) a month break, “kids won’t have enough time to complete summer community service hours, no time to work which results in no money and no car,” she said.

Kirk also said if we shorten the summer, there will be no time for summer opportunities that give kids great experiences that they can’t get during the school year. She believes that if we shorten the summer break, school districts will probably give selected weeks off during school. For example, two weeks off in February or three weeks off in March.

“When shortening the summer break, Obama must think of the kids and the parent’s custody in the summer. Some parents may go from 10 weeks to see their kids down to 4 weeks. Some parents are going to have to go back to court and change everything around,” Kirk said.

Janice Bofinger, a high school teacher’s aide, said shortening the school summer and lengthening the days may help some parents who need child care or a nanny for their summer weeks or after school. This could save some families a lot of money that they would otherwise spend on childcare.

“When are teachers supposed to take their college classes? In most cases teachers take them in the summer and a result of shortening the summer, they will have no time to complete there classes teachers need a break too. No students want to go to class when a teacher is all stressed out,” said Bofinger.

Students believe that there is need for a good long summer because it prepares you for your next grade level and it gives you time for yourself.

“If anything, Obama should be shortening the school year and making us come in later,” said senior Patrick Miller.

“This isn’t the first time this was brought up,” said Eric Howe, assistant principal at Penn Manor. “The hardest thing to adapt to is that we are so used to this system we have now. By shortening the summer and lengthening the day you could still have the same amount of days off, it’s just spread out by selected weeks off.”

If Penn Manor would do this, Howe does not believe that students would get stressed out about the(extra) days at school. The hardest thing that everyone will have to go through is parents trying to adjust to the new schedule.

“There are pros and cons to everything,” said Howe. “I could adapt to changes if it’s changed, but I am used to what we have now.”

By Tyler Funk

Notorious Clunkers Driving on Their Last Leg

Penn Manor’s parking lot is littered with loads of junky cars. But they aren’t waiting for a tow truck, students and faculty are driving them away every day.

In a recent USA Today article, Tom Webb, an economist for Manheim Consulting, said used car prices have risen about 5 percent in the last year because there is more demand for cheaper cars with the faltering economy.

messy backseat — The cluttery mess in the back of Zach Rayha's car is part of his junky car appearance. Photo by Brian Dunne

These days it may be harder for a driver, especially a teen, to acquire a quality used car, with the economy struggling and used car prices soaring.

So if you can’t get a good used car, some aren’t too proud to drive a junky one.

Steve Hess, a physics teacher at Penn Manor, is one of many who regularly park their junky car in Penn Manor’s parking lot.

Hess drives an “economically friendly” 26-year-old Volkswagen Rabbit diesel with a staggering 358,000 miles.

Hess’ Rabbit may have been red at one point, but the years have faded it to orange, which could be a good thing because it hides most of the rust.

As if it doesn’t look bad enough, in the four years he’s had the car, it’s been through its fair share of mishaps.

It seems to have a little problem in the gear department.

The Rabbit has held up lines of traffic up hills while Hess struggled to get it out of second gear, leaving a trail of black smog and some angry fellow motorists.

And other more serious incidents.

“I was driving and made a quick turn and alls I saw in my mirror was a F-350 bumper as I three-sixtied into a ditch,” recalled Hess. “I looked at the man driving and he was an Amish man with a totaled truck and alls I had was a dent in my bumper.”

But he’s planning on keeping it for a few more years calling the car, jokingly, a “chick magnet.”

He certainly isn’t the only one with a crappy car.

Zach Rayha, a student at Penn Manor and a player on the school baseball team, drives a slightly girly junker. His 1998 Nissan Sentra is a light blue.

“The color of my car is a very light, faded baby blue. It reminds me of a newborn baby boy,” said Rayha.

When describing the interior of his car, Rayha said “The interior of my car smells like wet baseball cleats, and dried up sweaty T-shirts.”

His older brother literally wrecked any chance of driving the newer Camry the family once had.

“My brother was driving on a rainy day like today, and attempted to drift while driving through the curvy part of Cottage Avenue, he proceeded to total the vehicle and wound up paying for what I drive now,” Rayha said.

Tim Dueble received his car thanks to his parents generosity.

Every day he drives to school in his 1987 Honda Accord. The car, which has been in the family longer then he has, it has over 220,000 miles.

Dueble’s first summer with his car was a dreaded one, he spent the whole summer singing to himself, with no radio in his car. He said it got pretty boring.

Alicia Burns, who got her first car from her grandma, has had her fair share of troubles with her first junker. Her car, a 1991 white 98 Oldsmobile is temporarily out of service.

“About a week ago I was driving down 741, and my car just shut down, it was really embarrassing,” Burns said.

“I don’t know exactly what was wrong with my car, but it’s fixed now,” Burns said excitedly.

By Brian Dunne

Stink Bug Epidemic Bugging Everyone

Ew, what’s that smell?

Penn Manor, as well as the Lancaster County area, is being invaded with big brown stink bugs and resourceful consumers are finding ways to combat them.

Specifically named the “Brown Marmorated Stink Bug,” these insects weren’t seen on our continent until an accidental incident occurred in eastern Pennsylvania.

According to Penn State’s entomology researchers, these shield-shaped pests were first collected in September 1998 but were predicted to have arrived a few years prior to the captivation.They’re native to Japan, Korea and east China, but in those locations there are other bugs that prey on them, controlling the populations.

Many residents, including students at Penn Manor, are suffering the stink bug invasion within the walls of their own homes.

“My house stinks like them. It’s awful,” said senior Crystal Bugner.

“I was swarmed by like 60 of them the other day,” said Justice Hower, also a senior.

These bugs are also a huge nuisance to farmers, destroying important crops and fruit orchards such as peaches, apples, figs, soybeans, field corn, tomatoes and citrus fruits.

Tom Haas, owner of Cherry Hill Orchards, estimated that about 20 percent of this year’s peach crop was damaged and could not be offered for sale. He had to choose other options such as processing the fruit into juice in order to bring a small profit from the damaged goods. Still, however, a majority of the crop was wasted and thrown out.

Tele-Pest Inc., a Lancaster-based pest-control company with six offices in the county, said that toward the end of September they were getting up to 30 calls a day regarding the stink bug issue.

So what’s the good news? Unfortunately, there is none.

No known natural controls for the brown marmorated stink bug have been discovered yet. Nondiscriminating chemical killers can be used as a short term solution, but those sprays can also get rid of all the beneficial insects as well. If the useful bugs were killed off from the pesticides, unfavorable consequences would effect the environment and even the economy.

Have no fear though, other methods of eliminating the pests are being researched around the clock. One company is researching and producing an indoor trap for houses suffering from the invasion. The trap will attract the bugs using a pheromone chemical and confine them in one area as opposed to an entire house.

The most researched and practical way to control the stink bug population at this moment would be to bring in a few of the bug’s natural predators from Japan, Korea and East China. This however could take up to two years in order to study the effects the stink bug’s predators could have on the ecosystems in America. Scientists must discover if importing them into our wild would be more detrimental than the stink bugs themselves.

Until a useful method of containing the vermin is found, many have resorted to flushing them down toilets or vacuuming them up. But the downside of this is the bugs smell when you handle them and leave the room tainted with the smelly aroma.

“I catch them in water bottles and close the bottles to let the bugs die in there,” Said Bugner.

“I know the French make a gravy out of stink bugs. I heard its quite tasty,” said Hower.

cleaner spray — Certain household cleaners are known to combat stink bugs.

Regardless of the insane concept of this idea, there is indeed a recipe featuring roasted stink bugs called Stink Bug Pate. The recipe can be found at

http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/special/creepy/bugpate.html#axzz12jGZVmPp

A less stinky way of handling the epidemic within one’s home is to call a local exterminator. They spray low-level pesticides on the outside and insides of homes in order to prevent more bugs from getting in and kill off the ones already inside. This is not a fool-proof method however.

“We really can’t do much for people. There’s no guarantee,” said Ed Saunders of Tele-Pest Inc.

Methods such as garlic and mint leaves have been used in households to try to drive the insects away because their potent scents are repelling to stink bugs, according to contributors to eHow.com.

The household cleaner Fabulouso has also been known to eliminate the stink bugs. This cleaner can be diluted slightly, put into a sprayer and applied directly to the pests. Fabulouso can be purchased in stores such as Dollar General.

Even with the household remedies, the stink bugs are an epidemic that cannot be fully controlled as of now. Until a solution is found, the pests will continue to stink up the halls of Penn Manor and its residents’ homes.

“They are like cockroaches, they won’t die off!” said senior Casey May.

By Cassie Funk and Christa Charles

Hair “Die” Brightening the Halls of Penn Manor

Dying one’s hair is becoming a popular activity for students in Penn Manor High School. Using shades such as red, blue, purple and even rainbow, there’s no room for boredom.

Teenagers love to change their image from time to time and sometimes that begins with their elaborate hair colors.

But what can seem like harmless fun can actually be dangerous, at least to the hair itself, according to some experts.

Hair dye comes in different types such as temporary, semi-permanent and permanent. Permanent hair dye affects the hair shafts through chemical reactions causing a lasting dye job until the hair grows out or is dyed over.

katiealannahair — Katie O'Connor and Alanna Margoline share their love of creativity. Photo by Cassie Funk

Semi-permanent hair dye lasts for about five to ten washes and is a popular type of dye used by many students at Penn Manor.

There are many different reasons teens chose to change their natural hair color. The most common one is boredom.

“I get sick of it being the color it is,” said sophomore Sadira Royer whose hair is now black, but has previously been colors such as purple, pink, blue, and even red.

Junior Chelsea Daily, who currently has auburn hair, said she began dying her hair “just to get different colors.”

Alanna Margoline, a senior with her hair dyed purple, said that natural hair is just boring to her.

Katie O’Connor, a senior, is no stranger to changing her hair colors. She has had her hair every color under the sun. Even the rainbow. Currently her new look is Blue Envy.

O’Connor started out with blue highlights in her natural brown roots and progressed to more daring colors because she was “honestly just bored.”

Some students, like senior Becca Eckman, feel that dying their hair is more of a way to show off their individuality.

Eckman said, “doing different things to my hair is a good confidence boost because I don’t really care what people think anymore.”

“It’s a great way to show creativity and to express yourself,” said Margoline.

Physical damage to hair is evident if proper care is not taken after dying, however there has also been rumors of cancer causing substances in the dye.

alannahair — Alanna Margoline shows off her new maroon hair. Photo by Cassie Funk

The American Cancer Society led studies on the health concerns hair dye can produce for a routine user. They concluded that there is not an increased risk of cancer, not even for the hairdressers that are constantly exposed to the chemicals.

However, even though there is no direct link between hair dye and serious diseases, that does not mean that changing the natural hair on your head is a risk-free action.

Sophomore Mandee Trout has been dying her hair since she was in fifth grade and has had many different shades, noting that she began her freshman year with hot pink hair.

However, Trout began noticing significant damage to her hair from the constant use of hair dye.

“I had to slow down because my hair started to feel like straw,” Trout said.

O’Connor is aware of the damage hair dye can cause. For that reason, she uses special shampoo that restores her hair.

Margoline also knows about the damage that could occur from the dye. She realizes that she must take good care of her hair in order to continue her individualistic nature.

“It’s called dying for a reason…your hair dies.”

By Cassie Funk