For the first time ever, Penn Points is posting from the other side of the country.
Four of Penn Points’ staff members have traveled to Portland, Ore., for the National Scholastic Press Association convention. The NSPA, the world’s largest student journalism organization, has named Penn Points as a 2010 Pacemaker, one of the top online student newspapers in the country.
The editors from the Penn Points staff are learning all kinds of new journalism tactics to improve the entire layout and content of their online newspaper from the convention center workshops.
The Logo for the National Scholastic Press Association.
“I’ve learned that there are good ways to tell stories using pictures and videos,” Alex Geiger, Penn Points photo editor says of the media seminar he attended on Friday morning.
The students have been attending seminars given by journalists and design experts all morning and have heard several keynote speakers that have given them hope for the journalism field in their future, and in Penn Points’ future.
“The speakers were able to connect with us by using examples of real life scenarios and connecting them with everyday story writing,” says Rob Henry, editor-in-chief.
Not only have the students been learning new techniques for writing and storytelling, they have been introduced to new technology programs that will further improve the multi-media approach to journalism.
“Adobe has come out with a new program called Lightroom and it will help get tasks, that are usually done with Photoshop, finished faster than ever before,” says Lyta Ringo.
Lyta Ringo, left, and Abby Wilson show off their special tags as Pacemaker finalists at the National Scholastic Press Association convention. Photo by Lisa Mayo
The students are really taking in the atmosphere of the convention and are taking advantage of the opportunities that they have been given, thanks to the Penn Manor school board who approved the trip.
“It took the cooperation of everybody to succeed in the little time we had to do so,” says Henry of the immense support of the Penn Manor administration.
The students aren’t the only ones who are learning at the conference, the teachers have been given the opportunity to go to special seminars for advisers.
“The morning sessions were fantastic, I learned a lot of new ways to tell stories online. I’m excited to come back and share all of my new ideas with my students,” says Susan Baldrige, Penn Points adviser.
Penn Points adviser, Susan Baldrige, and chaperone, Lisa Mayo, plan the schedule for the convention workshops.
The students and teachers from Penn Manor are all ready to hear the results of the Pacemaker awards which will be announced on Saturday, they are one of thirteen in the nation to be nominated for this prestigious award.
“I got the butterflies going already, Abby and I are going up to get the award so I’m pretty pumped to show this town what I’m made of,” says Geiger.
Wait for tomorrow to hear the results of the Pacemaker award and the final day of the Spring National High School Journalism Convention.
Frowning is not an option when listening to ten males squish several Christmas carols into one song.
Twelve years ago, Straight No Chaser, a ten person acappella group, started in Indiana University just for fun. Now they have four albums and are starting their first tour.
One of their stops is the Lansdowne Theater, located in southwest downtown Philadelphia. They will be performing there on Saturday April 17 at 3 p.m.
The theater opened in 1927 and then closed back down in 1987 after a fire. After 22 years, and several restorations, it is being opened back up to the public.
Straight No Chaser has captured the hearts of many across the country and tickets are selling out fast. Prices of the tickets are $48, $38 and $28 and all seats are reserved. Tickets are now on sale at ticketmaster.com, Regency Café and Cinema 16:9.
Some say it’s a breeding ground for predators, others say it’s a great way to meet people around the world.
It’s creator hails the website as the new “Facebook 2.0.”
Chatroulette.com describes itself as a “brand new service for one-on-one text, webcam and microphone-based chat with people around the world.”
In other words, it’s like a newer, more high-tech and more dangerous version of the original chat rooms that popped up when the Internet was first available.
But the head of Penn Manor technology warns the popular site is a site taken over by perverts.
And although most people who use Chatroulette think they are totally anonymous, other applications allow the participants who are in the chat rooms to be located on a web map.
Chatroulette users may not be as anonymous as they think.
An online newspaper, TheWeek.com, which details national and international news, calls it “(Chatroulette), an anarchic venue where users of any age do whatever they like in front of live webcams.”
A junior at Penn Manor High School, Brittany Wright, is one student who regrets getting onto the site Chatroulette.
“I went on Chatroulette the other day ’cause it was on T.V. and I was curious,” Wright said, “There were half-naked people every other person I got, thank goodness for the “next” button.”
The “next” button Wright is talking about is one of the only considerate things on the site. It allows you to say goodbye to your current chat partner and get a new one, which in many cases doesn’t help at all.
The problem in question is exposure, people are doing whatever they want in front of a camera, sometimes the activities are disturbing.
Genny Leonards, another junior at Penn Manor says of the site, “Every time I would get another person it would be the exact same thing, all I saw was [male and female anatomy].”
Yes, people go on Chatroulette and show their private parts to other users who are usually caught off guard, even the “next” button doesn’t help.
But most of the people interviewed at Penn Manor say the sexual harassment is too much. Kiersten Creasy, a junior at Penn Manor, said, “I definitely won’t get back onto the site. It was so gross, who wants to get in front of a webcam and show themselves off? I mean that’s just gross.”
One of the most frightening aspects of Chatroulette is an application that allows the computer user to see a live map of those users in the area, or for any particular spot in the world.
The site Chatroulettemap.com takes away a users anonymity
Chatroulettemap.com, which is a map that shows where people who are logged onto the site live, eliminates a certain anonymity that generally a Chatroulette member would be looking for. The map shows a user’s exact location, a helpful zoom button lets you narrow down to nearly an exact address.
Creasy, Wright and Leonards agreed the mapping aspect takes the site too far.
Many people would think that a lethal combination of sexual harassment and that added creepy factor that Charoulettemap.com brings to the table, would make Chatroulette a website in decline, but surprisingly some major companies are interested in this growing phenomena. Google, DST, Skype and Yandex, all major multi-million dollar companies, have expressed an interest in investing in Chatroulette, according to its own website.
Andrey Ternovskiy, the 17-year-old founder of Chatroulette, told reporters that he’s not interested in selling the site, and that he would feel he would be letting Chatroulette users down if he sold it already.
The question on everyone’s mind right now is, how safe is this site?
Lindsay Shockley a Junior at Penn Manor warns future users, “I would say you have to know what you’re getting into because its not guaranteed that you’ll get nice and sweet people every time, most of them are perverts.”
Charlie Reisinger, the director of Technology for Penn Manor School district, answered a few questions about the technology and safety of this site.
Q. “Many people who have read about the lap-top camera fiasco at Harrington High school, which involved an allegedly hacked laptop camera of a student, have asked, could someone from Chatroulette hack onto a users laptop camera after they’ve already logged off?”
A. “As far as my knowledge, no. But that doesn’t mean someone couldn’t write a program and hack into a computer and do exactly that. Someone from a remote location couldn’t just simply turn on your camera and spy on you, but it could be possible from a worm or a virus from a hacker.
Q. “What would you say to people thinking about using the site?”
A. “I would tell them going into it you need to know that its an unregulated, uncontrolled, free-for-all. About 20 percent of the people using Chatroulette are perverts and people need to know that before going into Chatroulette.”
Q. “How do you feel about Chatroulette the site?”
A. “It was an interesting tool until it was ruined by perverts, its such an interesting concept, but the same internet safety rules apply, be very careful with the information you release to people.”
Q. “How accurate is the Chatroulettemap.com map?”
A. “It is very accurate. The map itself is based on IP addresses that each indivdual computer has. The IP address is matched up with a Chatroulette snapshot from Chatroulette, and your address is no longer anonymous. Everything you say on the internet or do can be traced back to you, and Chatroulette has no warranties, its basically use at your own risk”
Q. “Would you say Chatroulette is a breeding ground for predators?”
A. “I would definitely agree with that, it’s a shame because it could have been used as a very interesting tool.”
After a nail-biter win at states a few months ago, Coty Johnson went off to nationals to bring back honor to the Penn Manor name.
Although he did not come in first place, he finished in tenth, not bad for being the first Penn Manor bowler ever to make it to nationals.
Coty Johson
Saturday April 10, 2010 may have been the most stressful and the most glorious day in Johnson’s life.
At a 50-lane bowling alley in Erie, 25 of them were occupied by bowlers of the High School Junior Bowling League.
“We weren’t even seeded. We had to get seeded by bowling 15 games. We didn’t get a break all day. My pinfall (total pins knocked down) was 1856 after the 15 rounds. I just kept going,” said Johnson.
Johnson was seeded tenth after the preliminary rounds (out of 50 total players, one from each state).
“I thought I’d finish in the middle. I thought I’d be 20 to 25 by the end,” he said.
The tenth seed was the final seed to continue on after the preliminary rounds, almost a déjà vu experience since Johnson was the last seed to get into states and he ended up winning it.
“I qualified as the last seed possible to get into the finals.”
“I focused like I did at states. I concentrate I guess,” Johnson said.
“I just told myself, I can do it again.”
And he did just that, bowled his way up the ladder. He only got to his second match in the finals.
“My first round I won, the second I got beat. I finished kind of high, 195. It’s good but the others did better.”
As terrible as it sounds to hear that Johnson made it that far only to fall short, he remains happy with his place.
“I’m happy with eighth, of course.”
Johnson is the number one bowler in the state and now eighth in the nation. What does he have to say after all of his hard work?
“My bowling is 10 percent skill and 90 percent luck,” said Johnson modestly.
Whether 10 percent skill or not, the practices on Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday for three hours a day, have definitely paid off. Johnson said he will continue to practice to stay in tune for next year.
Johnson plans on going to West Chester University, which is fairly well known for their bowling program. As of right now, he has a partial scholarship but may have a chance to get a full scholarship. While he attends college he plans to major in sports medicine, and of course continue to bowl.
Many people will be watching Fox Network’s award winning musical comedy Glee, which returns at this odd time to the delight of its millions of fans, who are not only teens, but teachers, parents and the elderly as well, all who call themselves “gleeks.”
Glee follows the challenges of starting a show choir, named New Directions at the fictional William McKinley High School in Ohio. In the first 13 episodes, characters found themselves dealing with a competitive cheer leading team, romance and being bullied by their fellow classmates.
Glee returns April 13 for fans everywhere. Photo from tvfanatic.com
“There’s so much on the air right now about people with guns, or sci-fi, or lawyers running around. This is a different genre, there’s nothing like it on the air at the networks and cable” said show creator Ryan Murphy to variety.com.
After a four month hiatus, fans are more than ready to have the show come back.
“I love it! I really think this season will expand on all the drama that last season left off,” said Penn Manor sophomore Maranda Kurtz, “I love the different characters. I can’t wait!”
“Yea, I’m excited. I want to be able to see all the episodes because I didn’t get to last season,” said Tim Deubler.
The remaining nine episodes will feature brand new cover songs that will range from The Beatles to Christina Aguilera including an entire episode dedicated to Madonna.
“The songs are so catchy!” said Kurtz.
“All the music comes from so many different genres. It’s a great variety,” said Deubler.
The soundtracks have sold millions of copies, prompting the cast to go on tour – visiting Phoenix, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York according to gleetourdates.com.
Glee has already been renewed for a second season, and the creators are looking for new cast members who can send in audition tapes through myspace.com according to associatedcontent.com.
Fans can continue watching now until the season finale on June 8, and after that there are sure to be enough songs to hold them over for the summer.
One of the country’s oldest farmers’ market is getting a tune-up.
Lancaster Central Market, located in the heart of the city, has been more than just an occasional meeting place. Residents of the city and surrounding areas have been congregating in and around the red brick building on a weekly basis since 1889.
For the past 121 years, the Market building hasn’t changed much and outwardly, it still won’t. However, the market will experience several changes in the small things.
“Any changes will be in the details,” Market Manager (formerly known as Market Master) Michael Ervin said about the construction.
Central Market construction begins. Photo By Juan Montes.
Improvements will include modifications to the windows, electrical system, mechanical system, plumbing system and the masonry.
The market will be attempting to go “green” by installing 40 state-of-the-art, energy efficient light bulbs as compared to the 480 inefficient lights currently in use.
“It’s good they can focus on the environment without losing their historical aura,” said Penn Manor junior and Central Market attendee Haley Blazer.
The restrooms will also be improved, which comes as a relief to many market-goers.
“The toilets are kind of disgusting, so cleaner toilets are necessary,” said sophomore Brendan Kincade.
In total, the project will cost around $7 million and be finished sometime in March 2011.
The Market is running on its normal schedule, with three stands taking a break for every two-week period. Ervin said Central Market has not lost any business.
On March 18, a non-detailed threat was scribbled in a women’s bathroom stall for Friday, March 19.
The administration at Penn Manor High School did not specify a guilty perpetrator, if threats continued or if their were any suspects accused.
Families of Penn Manor received a prerecorded AlertNow message from superintendent, Mike Leichliter, in which he said that he was confident that the safety of Penn Manor would be protected during school that day.
“My philosophy regarding these types of situations is to share as much information as possible with all those groups [Penn Manor families] without compromising specifics regarding the ongoing investigation,” said Leichliter, who had experienced this situation for the first time as superintendent.
The attendance at the high school was slightly lower than usual, but nothing completely out of the norm.
Students and staff noticed a higher amount of security that day, which included a number of local police officers scattered throughout the campus.
“I tried to get out of school, but my mom wouldn’t let me,” said senior, Shannon Henry. “I think our school is safe though.”
Many students didn’t feel any paranoia concerning the situation.
Senior Mike Cotich shook his head no while scoffing when asked if he was scared by the threat. “I didn’t even know about it [that morning],” said Cotich.
There has been no new information released regarding the case.
As the administration stated repeatedly, “The case is closed.”
The PSSAs (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) are off to an amazing start at Penn Manor with good attendance and only one health issue, according to Penn Manor assistant principal Krista Cox.
Principals confirmed that one girl taking the test got a nosebleed during the first day of the PSSA testing but she just went into the hall and stopped the bleeding. She even went back in and finished the section.
Other health issues that are associated with the PSSA, according to officials, is that if a test is defaced with blood or something else, the school just needs to get the same numbered test from the state and the student finishes it.
The PSSAs sometimes bring a lot of stress because teachers and administrators always talk about how important the tests are to the school.
Juniors take the PSSAs but the state has approved a new form of testing – The Keystone Exam which students would have to pass in order to progress to the next grade and graduate.
The junior class finished the two long sections of the PSSA on Monday and Tuesday.
There are seven more days of PSSA testing left this month.
The Penn Manor quiz bowl team was facing tough competition Thursday night in the quarter finals of the year-end championship tournament, and without their captain.
Grant Elledge, the team’s strongest player, was incapacitated, recovering from a broken femur from a car accident when Penn Manor went up against the team from Cedar Cliff.
Although Cedar Cliff, who had lost before during the regular season of competition and returned thanks to the wild card system, was also handicapped having lost a player for unknown reasons.
The Penn Manor Quiz Bowl team.
But Penn Manor rose to the challenge overtaking Cedar Cliff 410-380, thanks to an early dominance by the Comet’s Lars Andersen and a late-game answer streak from Brendan Stoeckl, along with the efforts of Christine Sharp and Henry Stewart.
“He [Elledge] was out, but the rest of the team did a great job of making up for it,” said Sallie Bookman, Penn Manor Gifted Program supervisor.
The team now advances to the semi-finals round of the tournament, Penn Manor is already one of the final four out of 38 other schools which participate.
Penn Manor’s latest victory will be aired May 8 on WGAL’s show “Brain Busters.” Meanwhile, Penn Manor will be facing Cedar Cliff again, who returns in the wild card slot for a second round.
