Category: News

Crime rate in Penn Manor High School

Penn Manor is modernizing with technology, but so are the students who are committing crimes here

Officer Hottenstein is Penn Manor’s resource officer. Photo by Jessen Smith

Jason D. Hottenstein, the school resource officer for Penn Manor, said there will always be crim

e in schools but at Penn Manor, and probably other places, the type of crime committed is changing along with changes in technology.

Hi-tech items such as cell phones, computers and ipods are being taken and are being used to commit crimes of harassment.

“We have stayed about average for crime. We are a high school with a large population, so crime’s expected,” said Hottenstein.

A recent news story in Lancaster Newspapers reported that although crime is going down in the city, some suburbs, including Millersville where Penn Manor High School is

located, have seen an increase in criminal activity.

Hottenstein explained he does not believe that crime has gone down in Lancaster City and up in Millersville, but places everywhere else are catching up, making it look like the city is lowering its crime rate.

What is changing is the nature of crimes committed at Penn Manor.

“The biggest things we deal with are bullying, and harassment. A lot of ‘he said, she said, I heard this, I heard that’ type of stuff,” Hottenstein said.

Popular technology that has been known for being stolen in Penn Manor High School. Photo by Jenna Reel

“Another thing is theft, especially electronics, iPhones, iPods, etc. We combat this with cameras (security cameras in school hallways),” Hottenstein noted. “We can tell when people come in and out of locker rooms and such. The cameras are extremely pivotal for us.”

The school implements policies to deal with different problems.

“The school has a policy for everything. So for example, if somebody steals something they receive the punishment from school, and then they can also have to deal with the police,” Hottenstein said.

Bullying and harassment on the Internet have been reported by the media and people are becoming aware of the problems it causes in the lives of many teens.

In the news recently, six youth have allegedly taken their lives because of cyberbullying.

“Nowadays with Facebook and social networking, bullying is extremely electronic. Bullying is rarely happening face to face anymore,” Hottenstein said.  “The kids need to realize as soon as you post something, there is an electronic trail.”

Hottenstein recalled a recent incident where he had to get a search warrant from Facebook to pursue a bullying case.

Theft incidents of cell phones and ipods are becoming more common in school.

“I don’t think it’s really the kids that are causing the crime to go up, its the economy. The economy’s poor and instead of getting things the proper way, people decide to steal. That’s not just kids, it’s in general.”

By Jenna Reel and Jessen Smith

Penn Manor Tech Upgrades Come with a Price

Penn Manor students have gotten a technology upgrade in many facets of their school lives – from the lunchroom to the classroom.

Penn Manor’s students recognize the PolyVision Boards that have infiltrated  classrooms, or the finger scanners at lunch or even the laptops teachers use.

The Mac Mini
A new Mac Mini, and one of the many the school has purchase

But are all of the new upgrades for our school worth the cost?

“They (the PolyVision Boards) are, one hundred percent, an enormous tool for educators,” said science teacher Sally Muenkel of the classroom technology.

Last year, the computer labs in the school library replaced the old computers (which ran the Windows XP operating system) with brand new Mac Minis. The other school writing labs also got the Macs, so the school computers now run faster and more efficiently.

According to Apple, the Mac Mini is the world’s most energy efficient computer (and it’s small, too, at only three pounds), saving the school utility costs.

Every day,  the Penn Manor library computer lab is booked for all four blocks. With two classes of twenty occupying the space every block.  The library has over 160 students traversing it most days- and this doesn’t count the students using it before and after school.

“The bottom line is that the modern workplace is info rich and requires that our students are proficient with multiple forms of technology,” said Penn Manor technology director Charlie Reisinger.  “To not provide these services for our students would rob them of the skills necessary to be competitive in the global economy.”

Brendon Woods uses one of the Mac Minis.

Although one Mac Mini costs up to $699.00 retail Dr. Michael G. Leichliter, the district superintendent of Penn Manor said most of the new technology was paid for using the Classrooms For the Future grant money.

According to Leichliter, the district received about $600,000 to upgrade Penn Manor High School’s classrooms.

But before the technology could go in, the support for it had to put into the building itself.

Penn Manor High School was built in the 1960s, before wireless networking- or even the internet, so the school wasn’t built for the new network. The school spent nearly the same amount as the grant just to get the building ready for the technology.

The Mac Minis in the library and in certain computer labs were purchased with the technology director’s budget. Every year Reisinger has a set budget for replacement technology and new technology, said Leichliter.

The district is trying to be judicious, he said, in making upgrades from that budget.

The monitors on those computers were never replaced, even though they’re at least 10 to 15 years old.

The laptop carts alone cost around $35,000 each (including the laptops, of course).

“The library computers are checked out almost all the time. I would say 90 percent of the time,” said Susan Hostetter, Penn Manor’s high school librarian, as she surveyed the students working at the Mac Minis.

And then there’s the finger scanners, a entirely different technology.

In early 2009, Penn Manor implemented the M2SYS biometric systems so they could “increase the efficiency and security of the serving line transactions,” said administrators.

Every student (except the students who chose to opt out of the program) had their fingers scanned and entered into the school database in order to make lunch purchases quicker and more efficient.

“For a number of years, the Penn Manor School Board had been considering the finger scanners, and it was only recently that the action went through,” said Chris Johnston, the business manager for Penn Manor. “In some cases the finger scanners do make it faster to move through (the line), but when a student isn’t in the system or has trouble being registered, then it will cause a backup in the line.”

Almost every student chose to participate in the program.

But do the finger scanners – which are meant to save time and energy for both the cafeteria staff and the student – really save time?

“The finger scanners are really fast when they work.” said senior Lyndsay Funk, “But it’s really slow when there are difficulties – which is like once a week.”

She grimaces as she remembers  past lunch periods gone by. “It seems like half the time I scan my finger it denies me. Some kids it seems every day they have to scan like a billion times before the system finds them,” said Funk.

The finger scanners lose accuracy when a student with “greasy or sweaty hands uses them,” according to cafeteria personnel.  Then a film of dirt covers the scanner, and every student after that person begins to have difficulty scanning.

Technology advances lightening fast, and there’s only so much Penn Manor can do to keep up with it.

By Gabrielle Bauman

Miners Arrive Home from Work 69 Days Late

Eyes from all over the world watched with intensity, including the eyes of many people at Penn Manor.

Chilean miners were raised above the lithosphere after spending 69 days a half mile under the earth’s crust to be greeted by the ones they love and cherish, their family.

Thirty three miners in all were rescued lasting an astonishing 22 1/2 hours.  The first miner arrived at 4:14 EST,  elated to see his children and wife, but quickly returning to the hole to help aid the rescue of his fellow workers.

The stories within the stories were amazing.

These miners emerged after 69 days trapped in a Chilean mine. Photo courtesy of Reuters News Service

Before the mine collapse, the last miner rescued, Luis Urzua, made one day’s worth of food for 33 people end up lasting 17 days, at which point they received more.  “Palomas,” Spanish for carrier pigeons, were lowered to provide the miners with food, medicine, and necessities to survive.

At Penn Manor, the miners’ rescue affected students and staff.

“I would go crazy.  I don’t like small spaces and the dark,” said freshman Maggie Mclintock, of the agony of being trapped in a mine for 69 days.

“I’d probably miss my family and the sunlight,” said freshman Mackenzie Trimble.

“I would miss the fresh air,” said freshman Kerry Wakefield.

Heather Paquette, health/gym teacher at Penn Manor, watched this horrifying incident since day one and said she would miss her family greatly if she was one of the miners.

“The fact that they got tubes down so quickly is fantastic since they (weren’t) supposed to be out until Christmas,” said senior Becca Irwin. ” It’s stupid they monitored everything, but makes sense.”

“It started out sad, now it’s happy,” said sophomore Elijah Villalobos about the ordeal.

“It’s about time they got’em out,” said senior Ella Perry.

“They were rescued pretty fast,” said sophomore Patrick Ament.

Senior, Tyler Beckley, would miss being able to eat homemade food, he said.

Sophomore, Amber Kuhns, said she would miss her family, phone, boyfriend and lights.

“The people got trapped and they thought they were dead, but they weren’t.  I’d miss being able to do things and having a life,” said freshman Jesse Burkholder.

The whole rescue operation was a costly $22 million to the Chilean government.

Miners were given nausea prevention pills and sunglasses so the ride and arrival in the Phoenix, a 13 foot tall capsule painted with the colors of the Chilean flag, was not as stressful.

One by one, as all 33 miners stepped out of the Phoenix, Chilean President Sabastian Pinera greeted each one with a warm welcoming to life back on earth’s surface.

“I thought it was really cool that the president of Chile was there greeting everyone the whole time,” said junior Austin Fink.

These miners were the longest to survive trapped underground in recorded history.

All of the men emerged, wearing very little due to heat, in good health and were treated for physical and psychological issues.

This event will surely be remembered forever, here and around the world.

By Cree Bleacher

Sarah Garner, Toby Holsinger, Bri Reisinger and Jordan Sangrey contributed to this report.

Penn Manor Allergies Force Precautions During Lunch

When a student is feeling sweaty and faint and looking red, it may not be the flu. It could be a food allergy.

About three million children in the United States have food allergies and some of them are here at Penn Manor.

Penn Manor High School’s cafeteria takes precautions so that kids with food allergies are safe when they eat what the school provides.

Sherlyn Wolf, a lunch lady at Penn Manor, said, “With peanut butter we use a separate cutting board and utensils, and when were done we wash it off and sanitize it. All our menus have stars next to the stuff with peanut butter.”

Another way the school employees are working to keep students safe  is by keeping all the staff members in the school aware of the kids with allergies of any kind, according to Wolf.

“Any student that has an allergy has a paper in the nurse’s office,” said Wolf.  “When they scan their finger (in the lunch line), their allergy comes up. Probably once a year we have to ask the student if they are allowed to have what is on their tray. If they say they are allowed to eat it now, we send a paper home to update their allergies.”

Many times the school tries not to put peanut butter in things that don’t need it, like cookies.

“We mark the tray if we put out peanut butter cookies for parent’s night or special events,” she said.

School is not the only place where children with allergies have to worry about what they are eating.

Corey Morales, a senior at Penn Manor, said, “My nine year old brother is allergic to milk. When he was younger we really had to watch out for other foods that had milk in them.”

Many students with allergies pack their lunch most of the time just to make sure what they are eating is safe.

Junior, Selena Hasircoglu said, “I’m allergic to tree fruit and tree nuts as long as it’s not pasteurized. I normally pack a lunch. I have to read nutrition labels and carry an epi pen just in case I have an emergency.”

Many students have to take precautions about what they eat when at school and at home, but many students in elementary school are too young to know what they can and can’t eat, so the school has to get involved to keep the child in a safe environment.

Peanuts are a common allergy food.

A young boy at Conestoga Elementary has a nut allergy that school personnel have to watch carefully. There isn’t much the school has to do this year because the child isn’t involved with other children in other grades,” said an official at that school.

He doesn’t eat lunch in school yet and the kindergarten class has their own playground for recess. They may eventually have to turn the whole school into a nut-free zone.

Dr. Jason D’Amico, an assistant principle at Penn Manor, said, “I guess we would have to see where he is at. He has another nine years until he is here to figure out how to deal with his allergies in school. I’m not sure how allergies progress over time.”

Lisa Heisler, the school nurse at Hambright Elementary said, “We have children with food allergies that have a special spot to sit so they aren’t getting exposed. We’ve sent home letters if they send in birthday snacks. The children we have to be really careful for are the anaphylaxis,when they go into shock or have trouble breathing.”

By Liz Lawrence

End of the Recession Not in Sight for some Penn Manor families

It’s over.  The recession that is.  Sort of.

In a recent article posted in the Lancaster New Era, the National Bureau of Economic Research declared an end to the recession. They announced the end on September 26 2010. However, the bureau said it really ended back in June 2009.

Despite what the research shows, many Penn Manor Students have a hard time believing the recession is really over.

“I want to see the results of this ‘healthy economy’,” said senior Jeremy Vital.

The experts say the recession is over but not everyone agrees.

“We’re definitely  still in a recession, people are still having a lot money problems,” said another senior Jessica Burkhart.

Though the National Bureau of Economic Research based their decision on numbers and data, did they stop to take in account the burdens still being placed upon the American people?

The lives of many local families show that they continue to be affected by this economic crisis. Money is tight, expenses have been cut short, and jobs have been lost. The government may say the recession is over, but the lives of families say otherwise. Some of those families are part of our Penn Manor community.

Vital said that his family is having to vacation less often. He also had a terrible time finding a decent job.

Burkhart is in a similar position. Her mother had to go from being a stay-at-home mom to getting a part time job. Her family has cut back on unnecessary costs and are restricting how often they drive.

Ella Perry, a student at Penn Manor says her family is unable to buy her a car. They told her its not a necessity.

Not only are families restricting their budgets, many are facing unemployment. Parents are out of work, and jobs are incredibly hard to find. This hit home for senior Janine Haberstroh.

“My dad was laid off. it was hard on all of us.”

Students are still experiencing first hand the effects of the recession. Is the recession really over, or are we still in the midst of this economic downturn?

By Toni Warfel

L-S Homecoming Dance Canceled

Lampeter-Strasburg School District has canceled it’s homecoming dance because of “dirty dancing” and instead is having a talent show.

Carroll “Butch” Staub, the principal of Lampeter-Strasburg High School, has had enough of inappropriate dancing at their homecoming dances. “Three years of trying to get these kids to dance appropriately at school dances and it hasn’t worked,” he said.

According to Staub, the school district has tried putting lists of rules for the dances on the school announcements, putting a list of rules on the tickets, throwing kids out of the dances and turning on the lights during the dance.

“We could no longer sponsor the dance because of the sexual dancing,” Staub said. “It got to the point where we couldn’t even get chaperones for the dance.”

Out of the 1100 students in the high school, about 800 were in attendance to the last homecoming dance. According to Staub, the majority of the kids were sophomores and freshmen.

Staub said, “I told parents at parent’s night and they were appalled about how their kids were dancing.”

According to Staub, administrators from other schools were supportive of L-S bowing out of the homecoming dance.

Penn Manor administrators agreed students sometimes take dancing too far.

“If someone’s doing something wrong (we do ask) them to stop,” said Jason Di’Amico, assistant principal of Penn Manor High School.

Lampeter-Strasburg School District has decided to have a talent show which will include cash prizes, pageant winner Miss Maryland (a graduate from L-S), and a free ice cream sundae party afterward.

By Jessen Smith

Synthetic Marijuana is Entering the States

Synthetic marijuana or, as kids call it, “spice” or “K2,” is becoming the new drug of choice.  It gets kids high and is currently legal.

Although it’s considered a brand new drug, coming mostly from Hong Kong, some Penn Manor students claim they’ve tried it, others have never heard of it.

“I think it’s awesome,” said a Penn Manor senior, “I’ve tried it before but don’t remember the difference from regular marijuana.”

The Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Ind., wrote an in-depth report on the substance in an April 29 article.

According to The Gazette article, much of the K2 is packaged in Hong Kong.

Synthetic marijuana is sometimes called "K2."

The article explained that many tobacco or “smoke shops” claim the substances are herbal in nature but that they are actually laced with either JWH-018 or JWH-073, or both.

“Both of those compounds were created years ago in a Clemson University laboratory. Somewhere along the line, companies overseas obtained the compounds and started producing the herbal blends now being sold in the U.S,” the article states.

Lancaster’s Puff ‘n Stuff on North Queen Street carries a similar product.  Not called “spice, k2, or synthetic marijuana, an employee there insisted their product, sold as a herb, has the “same effect.”

The employee described the product as botanical or herbal incense and named some of the brands including, “Paradise and Bajou Blaster.”

According to an employee at Puff ‘n Stuff, you must be 18 years of age to purchase anything tobacco-related.

The Tobacco Palace in Park City Center said it does not carry any of the herbal incense products.

Nature’s Way in Elizabethtown carries both K2 and Spice which costs from $15 to $40 per gram and “must be smoked liked incense,” according to the clerk who answered the phone there.

Jason Hottenstein, Penn Manor’s Resource Officer said that he has heard of it but locally it has not been discovered yet.

“As far as the law enforcement community goes it has not yet been an issue,” said Hottenstein.

“I want to stress that these compounds were not meant for human consumption,” John Huffman, a Clemson professor whose group created the synthetic chemicals, commented in the Gazette story, “their effects in humans have not been studied and they could very well have toxic effects and they should absolutely not be used as recreational drugs.”

According to Huffman, these chemicals were created to understand relationships between structure and the biological activity of substances known as cannabinoids, which could result in new therapies for liver disease and other forms of cancer.

At this point, these chemicals are not being used for studies other than young kids wanting to get high.

According to The Phoenix New Times, the chemical JWH-018 in the synthetic marijuana is what is responsible for the high that kids are seeking.

Kids are bringing their new fad to school Photo courtesy of http://farm3.static.flickr.com

“We heard a little bit about it four or five months ago,” said Jerri Lerch, executive director of the Drug and Alcohol Consortium of Allen County, commenting in the New Times article. “High school personnel heard kids were sprinkling it on cereal and also smoking it.”

Within the last two months, Erin Roberts, Penn Manor’s Juvenile Probation Officer, said she has heard about it from kids she is monitoring.

“I would approach it like I would cigarettes,” said Roberts, “I would advise them to refrain from it.”

“Any mimic of drug use or possession is treated the same way as if they had illegal marijuana,” said Doug Eby, Assistant Principal. “[The punishment would be] ten days out of school suspension.”

After the ten days of OSS, a board hearing will be held and the board members will decide if the student(s) will be expelled.

“Synthetic drugs and herbal drug products like Spice and K2 are not made in a controlled environment and thus you are playing Russian roulette when it comes to these types of products,” said Dawn Dearden, a spokeswomen for the DEA, commenting in a published report.  The agency first began receiving reports about abuse of the substance last year.

“There is no way, outside of a controlled laboratory environment, to determine the chemical makeup, synthetic ingredients or amounts, and therefore there is no way to determine with any accuracy what the potentially harmful effects may be,” said Dearden.

Although this synthetic substance is currently legal, if you are pulled over, you will still be charged with driving while impaired, several law enforcement officials warn.

Penn Manor students have mixed views on the legal status of synthetic marijuana.

“It’s still negative to health and should be illegal,” said junior Quinn Nadu.

“I think it’s nice that it’s legal,” said junior Lindey Kunkel, “but I also think it opens a door to legalizing regular marijuana.”

By Sarah Garner and Kendal Phillips

Friendly’s Robbed at Gunpoint

A popular spot for Penn Manor families, Friendly’s restaurant on Columbia Avenue was robbed of cash Monday night.

According to Lancaster Online, East Hempfield police Det. Paul Fitzsimmons said two residents from York, Lamont Gorham, 56, and Lorraine Abuchaibe, 43, were arrested after fleeing the scene.

After walking in and asking the cashier for an application, police said Gorham pulled a gun from his pack and pointed it at the cashier, demanding the money from the register.

The two fled, according to the report, after receiving the money but luckily the employees were able to follow them and get their license plate number to notify the police.

City police Officer Kirk Wolfe was waiting in his cruiser at East King and Shippen Streets, according to the report, when he realized the suspect’s car passing him.

According to City Police Lt. Michael Bradley, Wolfe followed their car to Conestoga Pines Park where multiple city police cruisers were waiting.

When the suspects attempted to escape from the park, their car nearly missed one police cruiser before hitting Officer Martinez-Bender’s cruiser, then slamming into another behind it, the report stated.

The suspects were taken into custody.  Police said they plan on filing additional charges against them for the destruction of the police cruisers.

According to published reports, the suspects were sent to Lancaster County Prison, Abuchaibe’s bail was set at $150,000 and Gorham’s bail was set at $100,000.

By Sarah Garner and Kendal Phillips

AP Art Hosts Their First, And Last, Show

It looks like Andy Warhol has entered the building.

An “art walk” will be held in the art wing of Penn Manor High School Thursday, June 3. The event, hosted by the AP art students, will last the entire school day and it will showcase the work of students and faculty.

At any time, teachers may take their classes down to the art wing to view the artwork.

“It would be great if all classes could come see [the art] especially since not everyone comes down this hallway,” said senior Kayla Kauffman, an AP Art student.

Student art will be displayed during "art walk." Photo by Abby Wilson

The day is being planned by the current AP art class as a last hurrah since the probable cancellation of the class.

“We are starting an art movement,” said AP art senior Matt Blaisdell. “Gaining interest in the art department [is the goal].”

“It’s an opportunity to show off our work to students not in art classes and who normally wouldn’t see it,” said senior Addie Aukamp.

Despite disappointment over the proposed cancellation of the class, but the students are still excited for the show.

“[Our pieces] were really hard work, but it’ worth it in the long run because now everyone in the school can come see it and benefit,” said Megan Carr, another AP art student.

Art is already being hung in the showcases and signs are going up in the hallway.

“Come out and hang with some freakin’ cool art kids,” said Blaisdell.

By Emily Brody and Jacqueline Lennon

Keys For The City Make Music For Everyone

Lancaster City streets are growing pianos faster than spring showers can grow flowers.

On Friday, May 21, 20 pianos were set up around Lancaster city for the public to play whenever they please.

The pianos were donated by local families and churches and painted and designed by local artists.

Pianos have been place around Lancaster for the enjoyment of residents.

Music For Everyone, a non-profit organization that raises awareness of the role that music plays in the community, partnered with Society of Design, another non-profit organization dedicated to multidisciplinary design education and community service, to create this public art exhibit.

“[The pianos] allow citizens to interact and they will give responsibility to the community to treat the city better,” said Penn Manor junior, Felix Gonzalez.”They bring our community together and all that mush.”

The release of the pianos was preceded by a public concert in Lancaster Square and the pianos will be kept up all summer long.

“The early reaction was pretty positive,” said Craig Welsh, the head of Society of Design.

So far Lancaster citizens seem to be enthused about the addition and enjoying the benefits.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea and I like that people are now allowed to randomly showcase their talents,” said Melissa Telesco, Penn Manor’s chorus director. “It just goes to show how important the arts are in our culture.”

And while it has its benefits to the general public, it also has shown to be a playground for vandals. Only one short day after the pianos made their debut, there were signs of abuse.

One piano has been broken in three places and, according to Welsh, others criminals have left their mark with graffiti.

“It doesn’t surprise me but it saddens me that there are people who lack such self-esteem in their own life that they can’t allow others to benefit,” said Telesco.

“I’m disappointed because this might be an insight to how [the pianos] will be treated in the future,” said Gonzalez.

By Emily Brody and Jacqueline Lennon